Disclaimer: The Pistol Annies' I Feel a Sin Comin' On for today's title.
CHAPTER 15: And I'd Be The Only One To Blame
Hallo, meine Süßen….
Or something like that. It's been a while since I've been to Germany.
Yes, yes, I know. What the Hell? Trust me I haven't a clue. You know- 'cause I was sleeping. Long Night. Real long night.
Last I remember, Baby Jay tackled me out of the dreamscape. Little Roman bish. Man if it's easy to get a rise out of them, all the Romans, then I'll probably consider a visit…. On second thought- Nah! Too many sticks up the ass to pick out.
Right- back on course. I was still on Olympus, the only thing I knew. And the fact that important shit went down - that I did not hear, fuck you very much. Oh, and the regret of gobbling the sleeping tonic with half the bottle of Dio's wine that was left after the game's after-bonfire-aka-sneaking-away-and-getting-shit-faced.
I know, not good. But I was desperate for a couple hours of sleep before da- eh, sperm donor's quest. I knew, with absolute certainty, that I won't be getting much sleep, if at all. I'd be worried too much for my quest mates.
Now, thanks to Annabeth's stuffing me with all the useless rules that'll never be used, I know fairly enough. Since Luke was the last quester in a couple years, it's a touchy subject. I hate crushes. Alot. And I'm often thankful for my stone cold heart…
At the moment I was standing in a grassy plain of nothing. Wait a sec, a giant oak tree with a carved, grey boulder were behind me. The place where I let people telepathically talk to me. A wide empty place where you can see nothing, hear nothing, and gain absolutely fucking nothing from my pretty head. Never had a corporeal place for it.
Oh, and it seems someone wants to talk to me. I could feel sperm donor and Tía easing the person in.
Huh, something bad must've happened. I was proven right when a powerful yet wary presence was taking form. Now, as a knee reflex, I am going to sicc a violent something to chase it out. A dark shadow was already forming beside me on the boulder.
"I come in peace, lil one," a sweet voice with a southern lilt placated. I stopped the shadow for a moment. Instincts told me the being was- in fact- coming in peace, mostly.
"Go on," I murmured. Just 'cause my instincts weren't haywire with red flags didn't mean it was going to be easy. If anyone was watching (I'm sure the Olympian council was), I didn't want any of them thinking it was an easy-breezy task to get in. If only I knew…
I felt a wave of comfort and love. Ah, so that's what Pops and Tía were there for. Though I'm not gonna lie, the love part surprised me. Whatever. I resisted the urge to purr like a goddamn cat.
Speaking of cats, Marlowe was going ballistic back at camp. My tattoo was buzzing. We were both connected, blood-bonded. I closed my eyes and called her. I was surprised to actually feel her licking my face. Didn't think it would work, ha!
I opened my eyes just in time to put a finger to my lips. She growled low but said nothing. Sorry, but someone's here. Behave. She understood me but looked offended at my silent words.
"What was that, Percillia?" the same voice asked even more hesitantly. Dad and Hestia seemed alarmed too.
"Nothing to worry you, ma'am," I drawled. "Whatcha tryna do?" I asked, a bit more preppy.
"Just talk," the voice assured, as if talking to a cornered animal. Honey, I'd be more worried for myself if I was you.
"Why?" I was having too much fun.
"I'm sure you're aware you're on Olympus?" she questioned. I hummed the affirmative. "We need something only you seem to have at the moment. The Council deems it important information."
"Why?"
I could hear her getting frustrated. I rolled my eyes, immortals. They have all the time in the world but no patience. I was petting a calm Marlowe. She was a beautiful sight, even as a katze. She was obviously amused. "It is vital information that is needed. The Council demands-"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk," I stopped her. "The Council demands shit from me." Cue my dramatic pause, "They can nicely ask."
I could hear the Titaness- at least I figured out her species. Curious though, who it could be. Titans and Olympians don't exactly mix- clear her throat. "You're lucky only I can hear you, girl. Your insolence would've gotten you killed," she seemed peeved. Oh, well.
"Obviously, this 'vital info' you need isn't as vital," I said sweetly. I felt like a godsdamn villain, sitting on my stone throne and petting my black cat…. Hehe. "You could play nice or I can wake up, get the Hell out of there. And keep the info to myself."
"You can't wake up," she sounded a bit confident. "The sleeping elixir and alcohol you drowned yourself in won't let you."
"You forget children of Poseidon don't drown," I replied a bit nastily. I could burn it all up, if I want, from my system. My body's already doing it double the average demigod metabolism. It takes a lot to get me drunk. I tugged on dad's calming wave, making a point. "Try me."
"You don't understand! You literally have the only proof my brother's on the move." A sister of Kronos? Not G-ma, I'd know. Nostalgia- she was flaring her aura to scare me to submission, bitch. Mnemosyne then. "Zeus refuses to believe what is in front of him," she was almost pleading. Damn, she must be very apprehensive of her brother.
"So that's why someone was poking in my head earlier?" I was genuinely curious. "That wasn't very comfortable. I'm sure you know Gramps isn't one of the easiest people to be around. And neither is being anywhere near Tartarus. The intruder made it worse," I was snapping furious. If they wanted something, they could have just asked like this nice lady I'm giving a hard time.
"You know 'bout that?" She sounded as if she didn't want the answer. "Morpheus was trying to get the dream from your head-"
"You do know he could've just plucked the dream from the Dream Frequencies, right? He had no business messing around in my head," I cut her sharply. I felt her surprise. Come on people, give me some credit. I know shit. And I'm also close to five-year-old Nathan Sleepwalker, son of Morpheus. He knows the basics his father showed him once upon a dream. I love the little one. Off topic. "And especially had no business doing it while he reeked of your brother," I snarled. Hestia and sperm donor were trying to calm me down. Not working.
A surprised- almost scandalized- gasp. "You know that is a very serious accusation. You could be just saving your face, especially after what you've done to him," she snapped back.
"Oh? And what was that?" I was dripping sarcasm.
"You reduced a god to a whimpering, broken mess! You turned his insides on him! Seven-fold! You returned the pain he caused ya Seven-fold!" She was bellowing too loud in my head.
I pushed my panic to the side, and stomped on it- they know, they know, oh, fuck they know- and crushed it to nothing. So what if they know, all the more reason for them to not fuck with me. "He deserved it then," my voice was low and void. Fake it till you make it. "Grandfather's appearance in my dream was weakening enough, if Morpheus just happened to be looking in my head for the dream then you've got to know that that is bullshit. He has all dreams at his fingertips. He had absolutely… no reason to look inside my head. Unless there is an ulterior motive." I took a deep calming breath. I wouldn't want to hurt the nice old woman. My favorite aunt and my father seemed rather attached to her. "I'm not gonna pretend I don't know what's happening. He's a spy for Kronos." I've always hated beating around the bush. Got it from my Mamma it seems. "Kronos has been trying for a while to get into my head, he knows I have a whole graveyard worth of dirt and skeletons on his ass. He wants to control me. He wants me on his side. He-" I choked up, too angry. My grandfather was a sick fuck.
"I see," Mnemosyne's voice was calming when she didn't want to rip my throat out. She must've heard the honesty in the anger. "Could we please talk face-to-face now. Your father and aunt are holding you. And you got quite angry a moment ago. Zeus doesn't need any more fuel to his Crusade against ya. And your Fae heritage seems to be a bit wilder and more untamed"- tell me about it- "than the already wild and untamed nature ya got from your father…. Now, could ya please open up?" She sounded hopeful.
I hummed, "Sure." I opened a teeny-tiny slit for her to slip through, Marlowe monitoring me.
A beautiful, middle-aged, brown haired woman with plump lips and wide smile appeared. She didn't have a headache-inducing aura. I looked to Marlowe out the corner of my eye. Her voice drifted in my head, "She only came with a little of her essence, as to not seem threatening I assume. Now do not be fooled. She is a powerful Titaness and your body is still out there with them," she warned. "Maintain eye contact, for respect, and showing her that you are not submitting. That you are all talk and no walk. It is instinctual for powerful beings to test these aspects. Mnemosyne is one of the nicer ones. I said nicer, not nice. Keep your guard up at all times. Don't falter. It takes her one look in someone's eyes and she knows absolutely everything they do. And you do not want that," she was very serious. Hell yeah, I don't. I love that cat- dragon- eh, "Now, use that shield you pride yourself with. You maintain eye contact. But show her absolutely nothing you do not want seen. Eyes are windows to the soul, my little fledgling. I'm here for you," she assured me. The power in her voice was always refreshing.
I followed Maré's instructions. I added a rather innocently charming smile of my own as I extended my hand to shake, "A pleasure, auntie."
She shook my hand and smiled back, "The pleasure's all mine." Marlowe definitely didn't lie about eye contact. It's like she tryna gouge them out with her own to see what's behind. I did my frosty trick on them- extra caution never hurt anyone. "With a personality and a face like yours I s'pose I could begin to understand my brother's fascination with you." Compliment? Eh, why not. Her smile was begrudgingly appreciative. I widened my smile. I am a lovable person, of course she'll fucking like me.
I almost snorted out loud. "Could I ask you for a favor?" I tilted my head to the side and my eye went a little wide. I probably looked like a curious kitten if Marlowe's amused huff was anything. "In place of my dream?" Nothing's for free, bitch.
"I feel like I have to be wary of that politeness. Something in your eyes tells me it really, really rare?" She raised an eyebrow, as she sat at another boulder I thought up for her.
"I'd just want to see what happened with Lord Morpheus. Beginning to end. No more, no less," I added a little pout. She continued to raise an eyebrow. I almost scowled and rolled my eyes.
I sighed and focused on something. I was sure my eyes were glowing at this point. I breathed deeply and let it go, as the last breath left a small vial with a glowy sliver of something was in my hand.
"My memory," I shook the vial in front of her face. Although that was a little necessary for the Titaness of Memories. Ha! "For yours," I reached my hand out with a smile.
"Hmm, you're a smart one," she hummed looking at the memory. I closed my hand and held it under Marlowe's belly. "Lovely cat," she began. "But why are ya scared is what I'm tryna found out. What would a pretty, little, young thing like you want hidden six feet under?"
I bitter little chuckle left me without consent, "I'll show you a bit when you show me what I want if you're so curious."
"A little confident, are we?" I only smiled. Stalemate, bitch.
A little glare-down later, and I'd watched what I did to Morpheus in 'cold blood'. Now at least I'm sure he deserves it. Bitch-ass fucker…. Clearly neither Apollo or Dionysus bought his bullshit. Neither did my old man. It was touching, especially Apollo- never met the dude. And… I sighed out loud. I knew those Pains in the ass would get me in trouble. They were too deep in bloodlust to notice anything. And I considered Lupe the smart one….
Well cat's out the bag. Marlowe rubbed her head with my cheek, rubbing the murderous look off my face. I'm in love with her already.
A string of thought passed by, I caught it to analyze later. Now, I have a Titaness to deal with.
"You got something for me, little one?" She was clearly getting impatient. Immortals, no patience. Time barely passes here, woman, you should know!
"Now this is no trip down memory lane," I smirked as I put my hands on her cheek and pulled her face close. Eye contact, "But it'll do."
It was dark, and it was raining. They were in an alley. A dead end. There was no sound, as if everything was muted. There, behind a green trash can, a little girl was shivering. She had tear streaks down her bloody and dirty cheeks. Hell, she was dirty all over, scrapes were still bleeding. She couldn't be more than five. There was a golden sheen to the area around her. Monster dust. The girl was sick and tired.
At the mouth of the alley, three men were passing. The street seemed deserted. The stopped and looked inside. They were tripping, laughing boisterously. Drunk, obviously. The men were talking, but they heard nothing. The men approached. The silence was deafening, especially as one guy threw the garbage can to the side. He shouldn't be able to do that… if it wasn't for the golden tint in his eyes. His buddies followed, cornering the terrified little girl, throwing around anything she used to hide behind.
Obviously, the men had no good intentions. Pedophiles, they all were. The girl was a thing of beauty. Her black hair, mused though it was, gleamed in the rain- the men had ripped a fire escape and a metal awning in their pursue. Her wide, beautiful blue-green eyes were widened even more in horror. The men liked it, the fear. She scrunched her little nose, she could smell their intentions and them. Her small but full dark pink lips were trembling. She didn't want this. The yellow toothed smiles, or the lewd looks- she didn't want any of that.
The first man took off his belt, then pants. He was talking but they didn't hear anything. Again, his buddies followed. As soon as the man reached a filthy hand to touch her hair, he recoiled. He began screaming, the rain took up a bit- lightning followed by thunder drowned the man's pleas. His buddies this time turned around, trying to shove whatever dignity they thought they had left in there pants and ran. And tripped.
The first one was writhing on the murky concrete. The little girl was on top of him, a vicious glint in her storming eyes, a small, lifeless smile on her lovely lips. She had chopped the filth's dignity off, and his hands, and tongue. She was looking at the bloody heart in her hands in fascination. The man had a wistful smile as life left his eyes, a painful death, but the last thing he saw was worth it. An angel.
The little girl turned to the two other guys. They were desperately trying to melt into the wall. She frowned when she smelled piss. These men were disgusting. They needed a shower.
The rain was coming down in sheets. The men only saw glowing eyes looming closer- poor eyesight. The little girl stood in front of her prey. She smiled a small smile. The men's pleading turned grateful at the sight of the gorgeous, heartwarming smile. They smiled too. They smiled, as the beautiful little girl ripped their throats out with her razor-sharp claws.
Mnemosyne took a deep breath as I yanked us out the memory. She tried to break contact. I held tighter, and looked into her eyes. You asked for this, auntie. Enjoy. I took another deep breath and forced her with me.
It looked to be before dawn. But it was dark, it was always dark in this place. And cold, so cold. They were looking at a snow-covered plain. Again, there was a little girl, different this time though. She couldn't have been more than eight. Her hair, a blue-white platinum, was billowing behind her like dirt-crusted cape. Her pale skin was flecked with red and blotched with blue. She was too thin, almost skeletal. Her paleness did not help the previous observation, her skin was near translucent. The young girl was severely underdressed for the frosty weather, but she blended with the snowy plain.
There was sound this time, the young girl's labored breathing and the snow and grass crunching under her nimble feet as she ran fast, faster than the bullets and arrows she was dodging. There was talk in the background, and the grinding of loud and big cars. The talking could have been some garbled Slavic lingo, but with the blaring silence and the labored breaths they were hearing, it could've been gibberish.
The young girl still kept running. The sun was rising, not that it meant anything, it'd still be hellishly cold. The girl kept dodging and running. Running, running, running. The blood flowing from where an arrow had lucked out froze on her skin and tattered clothes. But the poison kept flowing throw her blood. Blue poison dart frog venom. The arrows were fermented in it, she could smell it. The bullets were poisoned too, and she was getting too woozy to dodge. The bullets were water hemlock. Chosen specifically for her, they'd leered when they'd set her off for their hunt. She was fighting off the symptoms she was afraid of most- muscular paralysis. She couldn't stop running, wouldn't. She couldn't let the men kill her, wouldn't let them.
She ran and ran and ran, the nausea was too much, the swelling, her bloated lungs, crippled feet. She couldn't take it anymore. A bullet was the last tether. She was shot into a frozen river. She broke the ice, the young girl was going down… down… down.
As the men celebrated her fall, the young girl had a satisfied smile on her face. But down, down, down she went.
"Why," Mnemosyne croaked out. Her eyes were slightly puffy. It seemed auntie didn't like what she saw. As an immortal, how much has she seen, already? Soft-hearted pusssy. Don't bite more than you can swallow, and digest.
"The why doesn't concern you," I whispered in the eerie silence of the grassy field. "Memory lane wouldn't've been nice. My head is a dangerous place, ma'am." I let go of her face and smiled dangerously, while still managing to look innocent. I offered her the vial.
Her face went stony as she snatched it with as much dignity as she could muster. I must have really shaken her. Marlowe was seated on my shoulders. With all the talk of eye contact and shit, her face never once met Mnemosyne. Incognito it is then, ancient dragoness.
I felt a little smug, not gonna lie. I gave her a message, then waved her out of my reception. "Ciao-ciao, auntie. Have a lovely rest of your day,"
"Till we meet again, little one," she poofed out, not smiling. Aww, was I a bad host?
I looked to Marlowe, "Whaddya think? Too much?" I smirked.
"Nah," she purred and stretched, baring her belly. "Just enough."
I hummed in response, the boulder melted into a jelly bean bag. I took a few deep breaths to recenter myself. Just because I see it all everyday doesn't mean it still isn't sometimes crippling and exhausting. I matched my breathing to Marlowe's.
On the bright side, at least now I know why I'm on Olympus. They can't survive without me. Still creepy knowing that I was watched sleeping. Is no one safe these days?!
I never wanted my Fae parentage out like this. And to the Olympian Council of all places! Only two can keep a secret if one of them is dead, and it won't be me. I still haven't found a way to permanently kill golden-blooded immortals. But when I do, well….
Well, at least now I won't have to find a way to sneak during the quest away from their view. They seem to have a habit of 'watching over me.'
Now, I can go on that damn quest sometime soon. Two weeks were left till Solstice. Two weeks left to find and locate it. It would take me a couple days solo, even with divine intervention- not a good thing, btw. But if I'm staying at Camp, I could at least follow one tradition.
I sighed. I still got one more stop- if I can pull it off. Then maybe a half hour of legit sleep would be left. I sighed again, and started working.
Olympus
It was five minutes later that she surfaced. Time's different in minds. It could have been a second or an hour in there for Lady Mnemosyne for all they knew. She pulled her hand from Percillia's forehead as if burned.
"Was it that bad inside, Mnemosyne?" Zeus lifted an eyebrow. He seemed more focused and serious. Weird.
"I wasn't even in," she spat angrily. "A reception mindscape of sorts. As far as I'm concerned, no-one gets into her head," she swallowed.
Her pale and angry appearance wasn't doing anything good to the already high tension and general anxiety. It was unlike her, she was always preppy to the point of exuberant indifference.
Hestia took her niece, who snuggled happily in her arms, and sat back at the Hearth. Poseidon's face was already wiped of emotion, but a dark aura followed him.
Unbeknownst to them all, his daughter had let him in too. He witnessed what went down. Witnessed his failure as a father, he couldn't protect her when she most needed it. Oh, how he hated this feeling, and how he got used to it. It happened all the time, and each and every time he most absolutely loathed it. But like his little Princess says, Oh, well.
"Did you get it though?" someone asked her- she didn't care who at the moment. A child should never have to kill. And she was only a baby when she slaughtered these men. Now, Mnemosyne would've gutted them herself, Artemis would've had a field day. They don't tolerate rapists, which is very funny since basically everyone was a rapist in the Throne Room. Irony, bitch. But still the girl was a baby, she should be learning the alphabet letters not Murder 101. It was a horrifying image- a gorgeous, innocent, five-year old sadistic killer. She chuckled darkly, "Yeah, I've got it alright, hun."
She threw the vial in the air then blasted the thing into a large screen. At least the girl knows how to extract a memory. It completely slipped her mind to check, though her gut was telling her it was untampered and HD. Still, rookie mistake, made her look incompetent in her own eyes.
They all sucked a breath when Tartarus appeared, the room went colder and darker. Oh, dear.
A pair of malicious golden eyes appeared down, low in the pit- barely visible, but they saw it. Oh, fuck.
And there was Percillia, looking as tired and fed up as can be. Ha! She's only been to this world what? A week, two? Tough luck.
"Hmm, you look just as stunning as your grandmother." Well, that settles it. Shit.
"And your voice is just as charming as the annoying static from earlier, grandpa." Well, that settles the little one's level of I-don't-give-a-fuck. Insulting a Titan! And Kronos out of them all….
And giving them a heart attack, Kronos fucking laughed. Besides the sound feeling like cheese graters going in and out their ears, that reaction was absurd. The girl should be dead, yet here she was purring happily in the Hearth. "You amuse me greatly, granddaughter."
"Aww, you're calling me family," she somehow managed to look thrilled, not dead. "Too bad you burned all your chances to be my grandpa," she pouted thoughtfully and pretended to think. "What with the astounding count of assassination attempts you send especially for me." This didn't sound like the right tone for this specific conversation.
"Only the best for you, granddaughter," he crooned. How fucking sweet. "Yet here you are," he sighed mournfully, as if someone had killed his puppy via tickles. "I had to use a… not insignificant amount of power to talk to you." Then he added thoughtfully, "Since surpassing your mental barricades proved too taxing and would really defeat the purpose."
Percillia hummed. "Flattery will get you nowhere," she crooned at the psychotic murderer. She added playfully, "But I still hope you found them interesting though."
"Oh, don't you worry your pretty head, engóni"- Percillia snorted- "They were far more interesting than your cousin's," Kronos amended. "Bloody and cannibalistic battlefields can only repel one for so long." That statement was met with horrified silence.
Ares paled, a furious look morphed his scarred, handsome face to something terrible. He was at a loss for anything coherent. The Middle East took the brunt of his anger.
Zeus looked deceptively thoughtful, he was furious. The girl was right, how? He didn't know. Though he could tell the others were wary of his reaction. No matter how predictable he's been, he is still full of surprises. He looked to his furious son, the girl so far was right? Another leap of faith on his side, he turned to the screen. The girl said she helped him in the letter, then he is helped. Fathering Skills: ABSENT.
Kronos continued as if he didn't just drop a bomb, "And I ate my children, you know." Fathering Skills: NON-EXISTENT. Said children grimaced. Too much acid in one conversation. "But you already figured a way around that, I suppose?" He chuckled darkly, "Since I can't even entertain myself with visions of puny mortals destroying each other."
Ares focused his ire on his baby cousin. He was trying to melt that tiny, satisfied smirk off her face. Oh, when he gets his hands on her…. He didn't even care how wrong that sounded, he was so damn angry.
Percillia rolled her eyes and severe annoyance flickered in her eyes. She put a complete fake smile and said in sarcastic enthusiasm, "Trips to Olympus are absolutely delightful, grandfather! Especially at night. It most certainly gives New York a run for the title of 'The City that Never Sleeps.'"
Dionysus closed his eyes and sighed through his nose. He gave himself a mental facepalm. Of course, just stealing my wine isn't enough for her. He couldn't hold on to his younger form anymore. Welcome back, trailer park dweller.
Kronos changed his tactics. He went for menacing, well, more menacing. "You know you won't be able to find it."
Zeus sat a bit more forward, listening more closely now that his Bolt was mentioned, no-matter how vague. He's not dumb, thankfully. (Arguable!) Though for some the implications did pass over their heads.
"Not even he knows where he hid it before you… saved his mentality," Kronos continued.
Ares was… furious, to say the least. But he reigned it in, no point in showing any weakness. With all that's happening, if he was seen as the weak link, well, his ego won't allow it or allow him to think it. His evil grandfather was up and at it…. And not lying to himself, it was a clever move, taking Ares over. The damage he could've done would've been in epic proportions. Taking out the God of War, using him to fuel the anger between two of the most powerful beings against each other, creating an all out war would have made things way too easy for Kronos and his plans.
And yes, he wouldn't have minded a bit of chaos or blood here and there. But let's be smart, if he was under Kronos's thrall any longer he wouldn't have even been there to witness his handiwork. He would be reforming in Tartarus. And that it was that little cretin who, somehow knowing while himself and all-powerful gods were fooled for an apparently long time, saved him made him hate Little Moxie even more. Hate is a strong word, but an ego's got to ego. And since when had anyone of them been all that reasonable with anger, or at all?
At least his ego can feed itself with the knowledge that he was the one to find the Master Bolt and not one of the others. Despite not knowing the how's, who's and what's.
"Oh, quit with the pronoun game," Percillia chastised and rolled her eyes at motherfucking Kronos. If Ares could do one thing nice at the moment, it would be admiring her bravery. Little girl's got balls. Some might argue that this was stupidity, it is debatable. She continued this time a bit more bored, "It's old, overused and absolutely useless, g-pa."
Yeah, stupidity it seems.
"I should smite you for your insolence!" He bellowed, enraged at the demigodess's disrespect. Kronos was done playing games. Even through the memory, the power he released was cold and unforgiving, the occupants in the room felt it close like a vise around their throats. Zeus remembered just why the don't-speak-of-my-evil-deadbeat-dad law was issued. The others surely did too, at this moment. Well, lucky you that law was just annulled!
Props for Percillia for going on like nothing was happening and appearing unfazed, "But ya didn't." And a big fat fucking boo! for aggravating the Evil Titan Lord and mocking him. "Cause ya can't," she crooned in fake pity, with a hand on her heart.
They didn't know whether they wanted her to just shut up or for her to go on to rectify this horrible, terrible mistake. They couldn't do anything to stop this trainwreck from happening anyway, so they might as well enjoy it. She is still sitting there, unharmed…except for the deluxe-frozen-fingers courtesy of two dark, oppressing beings.
Percillia ploughed on, her happy-go-lucky face gone and replaced with a hard, no-nonsense, serious expression. "If you only brought me here to mock me… well… you wasted your breath. And power. Just like you did with that ward during the game. You can't even give yourself a form to appear with instead of this darkness," she curled her lip in distaste and flicked her frozen fingers in dismissal. "Now I'm not even interested to know why I am here. Goodbye, grandfather."
They were at awe.
Kronos began bellowing. They were barely containing a flinch at the terrible power the voice held.
And proving, furthermore, that she doesn't give any shits, she bit her thumb-cue more uncomfortable Kronos noise- and said in a low, mocking voice, "No, sir, I do not bite my thumb at you, sir; but I bit my thumb,sir."
Then everything went dark. They weren't going to mention it but….
"Whatever possessed her to do that, at least we now know the Titan Lord of Evil reads Shakespeare," Hermes snorted. His comment worked and broke the silence. They all laughed, the laughter taking on a hysterical edge.
Poseidon was kept on his metaphorical toes all through this confrontation. On one hand, his daughter was talking to his father. On the other hand, his daughter was talking to his father. His supposedly defeated, imprisoned, powerless, I-don't-want-to-see-you-for-never-in-a-million-years father.
"I s'pose this is proof enough, hun?" Mnemosyne broke the hysteria, looking oddly serious as she made eye contact with Zeus.
He looked like he was about to reply with all the self-righteous fury of a thumb tack parading as a spear. Mnemosyne interrupted.
She raised an eyebrow, "I hope to see something done soon… or we are all doomed and you damn well know this. He managed to go under all of y'all's all-mighty noses and steal the Master Bolt and who knows what else besides your dignity on the way," she sneered. She was absolutely done, with a reality check from a baby on how far here nephews and nieces had let this world go, she was furious. "My sister did not sacrifice all that she did for a laughable, irresponsible, foolhardy council of disappointments to turn this"- she gestured angrily around her and with every insult she spat out they flinched- "into their little own sandbox." Mnemosyne was trembling in barely restrained rage.
She was always a calm person, and she prided herself to being able to keep her cool, but enough is enough. "You can't go declaring war on each other for no reason. Yes, your Bolt was stolen! But what did you do? Sit on your ass and sent out your dogs to look for it while you just miraculously managed to turn your head to the side and accuse the first thing you saw. And lucky us it was Poseidon. And with both of you being too prideful and childish to look over that and talk it out, and figure out who exactly dared to steal from you, trespassing your security and your senses, and invading a supposedly safe territory. You got to it so bad that when Ares found the Bolt and in extension who stole it, he was too high on the bloodlust you two were oozing for my damned brother to somehow appear and overpower him. And if I did my calculations correctly, he's been under Kronos's thrall for nearly six months till a week or so ago. Thanks to a little mortal- albeit her being a bit more- was able to find and eliminate a threat that would, could and will, if given a chance, destroy us inside out in a matter of her two week stay here."
They looked embarrassed and angry. Good. But comparing a mortal to an immortal never ended well.
She lowered her voice, "My brother is like the plague, and I am under no delusions that he did not spread to others, either controlling them unknowingly or them being fully aware and his allies. She took out a root, yes, but there are more. I give credit where credit is due, and the only one who did something was Percillia Jackson. Not one of you!" she bellowed. Mnemosyne lowered her voice, again, but she might as well have been shouting in the silence of their indignant, self-righteous, angry shame, "And you better start doing something before this is all over before it even began."
She turned around, and left with her head high, leaving them to wallow in the dust. She needed to calm down. When she loses the southerness out of her accent you know you're fucked. And she left it behind as soon as she opened her mouth to say something that was the complete opposite of what was actually said.
The silence was highly uncomfortable. Or that may have been the sour tang of fear, shame and regret coming from the thirteen Olympians.
Percillia Jackson shifting in Hestia's arms brought them out the funk.
"She'll be waking soon enough," Hestia murmured sadly. She only slept for less than a couple hours, but she's always up at dawn somehow. "I'll be back soon," she announced before her Hearth exploded in flames, taking Hestia and her niece to her brother's Cabin.
Without Hestia's calming aura they flashed back to do their jobs, keeping up appearances and all. They were gonna discuss it eventually. Had to actually. With even Hades there, since it wasn't just a trivial check-up. They were just fucking apprehensive. Actually… they were terrified. And thanks to Mnemosyne reminding of, well, a whole lot of stuff…. They were just frozen in that moment of horrible realization, minds working a mile a second, though.
If there is one thing they were sure of? It was that they were woefully unprepared.
Hello, I'll get on with the summary...
Summary: From Percillia's point of view (finally). Perci is asked for the dream that Morpheus risked his existence for, a bit dramatic if you ask Percillia, but to Morpheus it sure felt that way. She plays Mnemosyne a bit. We get two exclusive looks to her past. It leaves the Titaness uncertain, which to immortals equates to anger. Perci thinks important stuff over, and heads on to do a last thing before sleep. Marlowe shows up
Back on Olympus, Mnemosyne is filled with indignant anger from Percillia's rather rude dismissal. She showcases the memory, and it doesn't get any better from there. Reality finally catches up to them after a millenia followed by a harsh and jarring verbal spanking from Mnemosyne. (petulant children..."My father will hear about this." Hell yeah he is now, unlucky you!) Time to see if they float or sink.
I'm tired. So this is a goodbye chapter for summer break... Enjoy and tell me what you think, please and thank you. Ooh, ! ! I reached 150 followers and I am so proud of me! Thank you so much!
-3anona, out!