Hey guys, I hope you enjoy this chapter, it's a pretty rough one at the start but it does get slightly better- and hey, we have the Queen bitch who I love and who definitely doesn't care at all, nope, not at all.
Possible trigger warnings for this chapter, talks about Alabaster being an abusive asshole, non consensual kissing again, things of that nature.

Days passed slowly. Percy was left mostly on her own- which Percy wasn't sure how she felt about honestly- it was mind numbingly boring- to say the least- but Alabaster did tend to visit for a few hours a day- talking at Percy, trying to get her to talk to him- it never worked. Whenever he visited her she sat in stony silence her entire body tense, or she screamed and raged, attacking him every time he so much as touched her- every time his hand brushed against her shoulder or her knee. He saw her as his- he didn't care that she despised him, Kronos had promised him she'd be his so he saw her as his. And, as weak as she still was, there was nothing she could do- she'd tried breaking out, tried it time and time again but there was no way. No escape.

To make it worse every time she did try and escape Alabaster would punish her- and it was always terrifying and brutal and she'd be left with gashes and bruises, and occasional bite marks on her neck when he was in the mood to really scare her- he'd toy with the idea of going further than kissing and she'd beg him not to.

And Drew visited too- she seemed to have been assigned to look after Percy- and oddly enough after the first day or so Drew seemed to have softened up very slightly- though not that much- and she'd probably order anyone who even hinted at that to jump off a bridge.

Still, it was after one of Alabaster's visits on the fifth day that things shifted. He'd kissed her again- he'd gotten tired lingering touches he'd been playing with that day, the ones that ended in Percy punching him in the face. She'd struggled of course, slapping at him and biting down- but his new skin of steel meant that not much that she did did more than irritate him.

When he'd gotten annoyed at her attempts to get away from him he'd pulled her hair, used it to drag her across the room and almost throw her into one of the walls.

The days in which he'd been hesitant to hurt her were long gone- and Percy despised him all the more for every blow.

And gods but she did try and give back as good as she got- at one point during the struggle he'd laughed and handed her back the dagger she'd been gifted by Luke for her fourteenth birthday and he'd let her desperately try to do anything- but nothing worked, not slicing or stabbing, scratching or anything.

She'd been left bruised and sobbing, her back against the wall as he'd stormed out.

And like clockwork, perhaps half an hour after Alabaster had left Drew let herself into the room.

The daughter of Aphrodite raised an eyebrow at the sight of Percy curled up the way she was, and she let out a sigh, even as Percy looked away, cradling the dagger protectively to her chest- it might not be Riptide and it might be tainted by what Alabaster had done, but it was the only weapon she had.

"What happened this time?"

"He kissed me again."

"Oooh." Drew sucked in a breath, "Sucks for you." she turned, locking the door behind her, carrying in a tray of food. "Let me guess. You didn't want to be kissed."

"However could you tell?"

"Dunno why he bothers." Drew moved forward, setting the tray down on the bed before she headed towards Percy, "Guy is hot as hell even with the scar, forcing a girl just wouldn't be fun." she reached out a hand and Percy reached up, accepting the offered hand and letting Drew pull her to her feet.

"Clearly Alabaster disagrees with you on that one."

"Well, he might look good but the boy is clearly lacking in the brains department. C'mon let's get you over to the bed. You look like you've went ten rounds with a bear."

"I'd much prefer ten rounds with a bear-"

"That's because you're clinically insane, loser."

"This coming from the girl who once very seriously told me that she'd choose make up over food any day-"

"Hey- don't diss the makeup Princess, a girl's gotta look her best when she's breaking hearts."

Even as they spoke Drew slid an arm under Percy's and helped her over to the bed and to sit down, "So, how bad is it this time?"

"Nothing serious." Percy shook her head, "Nothing a shower won't fix-" she gave Drew a hopeful look and Drew rolled her eyes.

"You know I feel like Alabaster would disapprove if he knew you spent like, an hour a day just sat in the shower."

"Yeah, well Alabaster can go die for all I care-"

"Yes, you've said so before. Repeatedly. Doesn't change your situation though does it. You know maybe if you smiled and went along with it-"

"No." Percy glared at Drew, "I am not going to smile and act like I like him-"

"You don't even have to do that much." Drew snorted, "Just stop attacking him and provoking him. I don't know what he did but you can't hurt him Percy. All that you ever do is piss him off and then he hurts you."

"Yeah well, I'm not going to stop."

"Of course you're not. Because you're a reckless moron-"

"This coming from the controlling bitch." Percy shot back- but neither of their words had any real heat in them. At this stage the insults meant nothing to either of them- Drew was blunt and nasty- and Percy could give back as good as she got in that respect.

"Ugh, I don't know why I bother to patch you up- gods what the fuck did you do to your hair princess it's all tangled to hell you look like a bird's been nesting in it."

"Alabaster used it to toss me around the room-"

"Oooh." Drew grimaced, "That's gotta have hurt."

"It did." Percy scowled, reaching up to touch her hair- which was tangled where he'd grabbed it. "I hate it when he tries to play with my hair. I fucking hate it." and Alabaster did touch her hair a lot- he liked playing with it- he seemed to think it was romantic. Percy thought it was creepy.

And it was infuriating because she loved Annabeth, her mom, Luke, the people she loved playing with her hair. She used to find it relaxing- now the thought of anyone touching her hair- other than Drew made her feel sick to the stomach.

"Yeah, you've said. More than once." Drew pulled a hairbrush from her bag, "Let me brush it out for you?"

"Ugh." Percy groaned, "Is there any point- as soon as I piss him off again he'll grab it and drag me around by the hair- maybe it being all tangled will put him
off from playing with it like a creep."

"I gotta admit- your hair is nice." Dream moved so that she was sat on the bed behind Percy, gently starting to brush out the mass of tangles on the side of Percy's head, "It's so long and shiny."

"I've only ever got it trimmed." Percy admitted quietly, "I used to love my hair."

"He ruined that for you huh?" Drew's voice was quieter, softer. It was a side she very rarely showed.

"Yeah." Percy nodded quietly. "Just like he ruins everything."

There was a long silence as Drew slowly brushed the tangles out of Percy's hair- and then after a while she spoke again. "So- what if you had short hair?"

"What?"

"You have that dagger. And by the way, nice of you not to try and stab me-"

"You could literally just order me to stop-"

"You could just cut it all off if you wanted to."

"What?" Percy's eyes widened and she turned her head slightly to look at Drew. "You-" she reached up, brushing her fingers through her hair, "I could cut it." and if she cut it short enough Alabaster wouldn't even be able to pull on it.

She picked up the dagger, holding a lock of her hair tightly- and she sawed through it until she was holding a clumped handful in her fist- and a clump of her hair now hung at chin height where she'd hacked the rest away.

"Holy shit." Drew let out a loud laugh, "That's my loser of a friend! Now let's get the rest of it off and at least looking semi decent okay?"

"Short." Percy handed Drew the dagger quickly, "I want it cut up as short as you can."

"Oh it will be my genuine pleasure." Drew smirked, and as she hacked away the hair from Percy's head Percy felt as if a weight was being lifted off her shoulders- and it was more than just from her hair she knew it.

Sure it was one small gesture, it was nothing huge and it wasn't really going to do more than piss Alabaster off, but it was a sign.

She hadn't given up, she wasn't ever going to give up and let him win. She was a fighter, and even if all she could do was hack away her hair, well, she was damn well doing it.

And when she was done and Drew helped her into the bathroom to see Percy found herself smiling widely into the mirror for the first time in days- it was rough and choppy looking- Drew wasn't a hairdresser no matter how good she was at styling hair, but it didn't actually look bad- was it was so short- before the cut it had been down to the small of Percy's back, now- now it didn't even cover the back of her neck, it was was all cut up short- Nico had longer hair than her now- hell Leo would have hair longer hair than her- and she forced back the rush of pain at the thought of Leo. No. She couldn't think of him. There was a chance. A slim chance that he'd gotten out of it alive- and... and she couldn't mourn until she knew. She'd mourned Nico's loss and he'd still been alive.

She wouldn't do that again.

She reached up, combing her fingers through her short hair- and it felt so weird, soft and fluffy in a way it had never felt before.

"Hm, I hate to say it but it looks kinda cute." Drew remarked after a long moment in which they both stared into the mirror, "Which really should be criminal because that haircut should not look cute on anyone princess. But do you know who's going to hate it?"

"Alabaster." Percy smirked at her reflection- and she saw Drew smirking too right behind her.

"He is going to lose his shit when he sees this." Drew ruffled Percy's hair. "The pure defiance-"

"He's gonna learn that he might have me trapped here but I am not his." it might not be much but at least Percy still had a little bit of control in her life.

"Damn right you're not." Drew stepped back slightly, a sudden strange look crossing her face, and Percy frowned, turning her head.

"Drew is everything okay?" Because Drew's expression had gone blank, she'd closed herself off.

"Yeah. Yeah it is." Drew nodded, "You should shower, wash away the hair, Alabaster said something about paying you another visit tonight. It might be his last for a little while so you should make sure you're ready."

"Drew what-"

"Just clean up loser." and Drew was leaving the bathroom quickly, and Percy stared after her bewildered for several long moments before her shoulders slumped.

Something had changed but she didn't know what. Drew had thought of something she was sure.

Not that there was anything Percy could do other than what she was told.

She had her shower, and she changed into her chiton- which was their usual routine, Drew would sit with her back to Percy when she got changed and turn when Percy said she was dressed. Usually though the snipped back and forth at each other, Drew would tease her about the fact that she was shy and Percy would find something to shoot back at the daughter of Aphrodite but... this time Drew was silent. And as soon as Percy was dressed, before she could even try and ask her what was wrong Drew was leaving- leaving Percy alone with a tray of fruit slices and cheeses on the bed and several questions she had no hope of getting answers for.