Chapter Four
Percy
Percy stared as Nico fell to the ground. He tried to look away, but he couldn't. The spikes of water vanished from Nico's body, but the wounds they'd created still gushed blood and stained the grass.
Campers glanced around at one another, all of them seeming too scared to do anything. Scared of him.
What have I done?
Percy thought of Akhlys. He remembered the feeling of broken glass inside him as he pushed her poison away. He remembered so clearly the feeling of… power. Invincibility. Violence.
He knew the things he was capable of, but he didn't want to. He didn't want to be the vicious creature that had just murdered Nico di Angelo. He did not want what had been given to him at birth.
A whisper in the back of his mind disagreed. Be sssssssstrong, it growled. Powerfullll. Think of what you could dooooo… Percy righted himself after realizing he'd been listing sideways.
"P-Percy?" said a familiar voice. Leo stepped forwards, his expression more frightened than Percy had ever seen.
Crack, crack, went the voice. Break the glasssssssss, alreeeeeeeady broken. Percy flinched at its menacing singsong.
What's happening to me?
Percy tried to meet Leo's eyes and see a friend, but the voice didn't like that. Instead, Percy's vision tunneled and all he saw was an inky black void. He blinked once, twice, before his eyesight cleared and he found himself lying on the grass, moist earth clinging to his shirt and hair.
His head throbbed as though he'd hit it on something.
Percy tried to push himself up on his arms, but nothing happened. He frowned and tried to make his arms move. Nothing. He lay there, limp, unable to move.
"H-" He tried talking. Nope. Just gargled choking came at every attempt of speech.
Leo started forwards again. He bent down and hesitantly reached out a hand, but Percy didn't want him to. He didn't want to hurt his friend like he had Nico…
"Stop!" Percy tried to cry out, but his throat was dry and hoarse. Leo jumped back as he curled up in a tight ball and a hissing cough came out of his mouth instead of the warning.
The shards of glass spiderwebbed with cracks. Just one touch, and it would all break.
"NICO!" yelped a new voice. Will Solace came running up, pushing demigods away and dropping to his knees as he reached out a hand to Nico's bloody wrist. He bit his lip and tied to pick up Nico, but he was thin and barely larger than the son of Hades. A few other campers rushed forwards and helped him drag Nico away towards the infirmary.
A new wave of guilt washed over Percy.
The sound of thunking on the ground caught Percy's attention. Chiron galloped up, the campers backing up to allow the centaur a path the Percy and Leo.
"Percy." Chiron's voice wasn't questioning. It was just… pitying? Disappointed? Percy couldn't tell.
"What happened?" Chiron asked, and it took Percy a moment to realize he was asking Leo, not him. Leo and Chiron were standing behind Percy, so he couldn't see them from his position on the ground.
He tried to push himself up with his arms, and to his surprise it worked. He was weak and tired (for some reason), but he managed. Chiron and Leo looked up from their conversation about what had happened and towards Percy.
Chiron frowned sadly. "Percy," he began slowly. "I'm sorry about Annabeth."
Fire flared inside Percy.
Ohhhhhhhhhh, yesssss, hissed the voice. He lies, tooooooooooo… don't trust him, can't you seeeeeeeee… he is lyinnnnnnnnnnng…
Percy tried to shake off the thoughts, but the voice lung to him like sticky seaweed. It dragged him down, down, down. Down into the deep, dark depths of the pitch-black ocean.
He couldn't escape.
A/N
AnimeWeeb002, Blazingcomms, Haaroon08, alexberto2508 and Nelly-half-blood, HOLA, BONJOUR, AND HELLO! HI BabaLooWho! I LOVE YOUR GUYS' SUPPORT! THANKS SO MUCH!
THIS IS A GOOD DAY FOR - ERM - WRITING THIS AT 12:17 AM THE DAY AFTER EASTER… AHEM
HAEHAEHHAHE DEFINITELY NOT 1:49 AM NOW HEEHEHEHEHEHE SLEEP-DEPRIVED AND DELIRIOUS HEHEHEEHEH
THANKFULLY IT IS NOT 2:00 AM ANYMORE. IT'S 4:50.
PM, I MEAN. 4:50 PM.