aProcrastinatingOrange: I've fixed the formatting for the previous chapter, thanks for that! RIP Kimberly, you will be missed, dear. Percy's going to sleep really well after all the excitement he's had over the few days. As for Ajax and Sciron... read on to find out!
Moncef: The fun part about writing this story is that I already know how the entire series is going to end, so the prequel is definitely tailored for that. The way all the heroes: Greek, Romans, demigods, legacies, witches, and wizards are involved have definitely changed over the course of the stories.
Darling Kim, your presence will be felt in the coming chapters.
Ajax is the proper foil for the heroes these kids are trying to be. He's been in the game for thousands of years and believes that he knows exactly what any and every hero desires. But our protagonists might just surprise him.
Fun fact, I'm going to bring Prometheus in for a couple of scenes in the last fic. Definitely going to touch upon his actions of bringing fire to mortals and other choices.
Choice is such an important factor of these stories. I love the fact that you've mentioned them. Under the best and worst circumstances, what kind of choices are available to us, and what we decide – these things can be scary. It's so much easier to explore them through fictional beings.
The power to have the freedom to choose easily is also something our three main people have over others. Rachel, Harry, and Percy are incredibly capable in their own ways.
You're right, Percy fears his destructive powers.
Harry doesn't really hide his powers, but he hates the labels that make him seem one thing. He's so much more than a healer (as what a prophecy might say). He'll have to learn how to open up and deal with his past. When the spirit from No. 3 Privet Drive is revealed to everyone, Harry's going to have to learn some hard lessons.
Rachel feels a little distanced from Harry and Percy, because she joined the trio late. She has the classic outsider-syndrome. She knows how bad her visions can be. She's still learning how to be an efficient Oracle without having to hurt her friends.
DJ's choice of defending Percy (an immortal) against the killing curse will haunt Percy for the rest of his life. This even was repeated with Tyson, who also shielded Percy from the Drakon's venom. Percy will learn what it is to love someone, even an immortal, to the point of sacrifice.
Rachel, Harry and Percy do love mortals. Soon, they'll learn how to truly help without losing any more friends/family, but it's going to be a journey.
Listening to: Forever Alone by Smash Into Pieces
Sciron's accidental reservoir still hovered near the ceiling. It was no longer the Lethe or the Styx, but the fluid managed to stay in close quarters without exploding. Cassandra pulled out her crossbow, arming it with a load of arrow bolts. Lily exhaled, unable to look away from the grey shimmering water lingering near the stalactites.
"Is that some kind of hell monster?" she asked. The two women crouched at the edge of the broken basement, looking down into the vast cavern.
Cass grimaced. "If we're lucky, no. It's not the safest, so we gotta be fast. You get Percy. I'll get Ajax."
"Right," Lily nodded with a gulp. Excess energy thrumming through her limbs, Lily tried to hold her tremours in, holding her wand aloft.
With a shared look, they jumped down the hole, landing ten feet below on a rocky crown.
Percy blew a raspberry right into Ajax's ear. If anything the saliva brought some relief to his burning skin. But he still abhorred it.
"You're gonna pay for that," Ajax whispered. He wiped the drool out and slid down the rest of the way to the bed of the vacated Lethe.
His bracelet sat against the sand grains unassuming in all its ways. On the other side of the river, a tall wall of obsidian rose. Ajax squinted his eyes and caught sight of Sciron's knife jutting out of the rock.
He ought to return it.
Ajax adjusted Percy in one arm and picked up the bracelet. Above them, the river rustled maddeningly. The baby drooled over his little fist, looking strangely at home against the vitriolic air down here.
Something was keeping Percy safe. Ajax frowned at the baby soft skin, unharmed by the fiery atmosphere. Staring longer, he could make out a soft yellow light hovering over the infant.
What kind of witchcraft was this? Ajax wondered.
Sciron finally managed to separate the Styx, letting the river fall back into its usual path. He immediately turned to focus on Ajax, but couldn't see him at all.
He yelled from the plateau. "Make it quick!"
"Would you cool it?!" Ajax snapped.
"We're in literal hell!" Sciron roared.
Ajax grumbled under his breath. He ducked under the deadly spray and grabbed the handle of the knife, yanking the blade out of the rock. He pressed the blade to his lips, winking at Percy.
"Hold your pegasi," he called out, starting to scale the wall.
Sweat dripped down his burning skin, evaporating when the water hit the ground. Sciron tried to unclamp his shoulders. This was fine. He was fine. They'd get the baby and get back to the surface.
The top of Ajax's head appeared over the edge. Sciron waited for him to come into view with the baby. As soon as Percy's face was visible, Sciron began to lower the river. Ajax reached the plateau, getting to his feet with a great grin. Percy sneezed and wiped the smile off the man's face. Sciron's spirits raised.
Then, Ajax grabbed Percy by the back of his t-shirt and held him at arm's length.
Sciron's heart stopped. Percy was dangling mere yards above the empty bed with the Lethe hovering directly overhead. The baby began to squirm but Ajax was just focused on the bracelet clasped in his hand.
"What're you doing?!" Sciron screamed.
Ajax scoffed. "You really thought I was going to let two bastards of the damn sea loose in the world?"
And with that, he dropped Percy.
Sciron yelled and so did someone else from above. Percy's fall slowed before he could hit the ground and even the baby looked comically stunned.
Ajax bared his teeth and looked up to find the red-headed witch on a ledge high above them, her wand outstretched to save the baby. He pulled out his crossbow and aimed it at her, but she was pulled away in time by Cass who pushed her behind and aimed at Ajax with her own cross-bow.
He jumped out of the way and shot a volley of arrows at the two women. The witch gasped and tried to block some of them, losing control of her hold on the baby.
If Percy died, that would be the final blow. Sciron threw his dangerous creation of water up at the ceiling, willing it to stay there while he launched across the plateau, leaping down the edge and grabbing Percy.
And perhaps, he'd been exhausted. His body was burning from the air and didn't help matters. So when the Lethe finally crashed down on both demigods, Sciron's hands shielding Percy as gently and quickly as possible, his only thought was, dry-dry-dry-dry-dry!
And yet, his last thought was the encumbered agony that surrounded him like boiling oil. Sciron crouched over Percy's tiny body, unwilling to yield, not wanting to give up, but he couldn't help his instinct to scream. His mouth opened and he gulped in the river's water.
It tasted like—
Cass jumped down to the plateau, rolling to a stop. She snapped to her feet in a quick move and rammed her crossbow into Ajax's torso. He snarled at her, grabbing her arm to throw her off her stance.
The Lethe was roaring, crashing against the rocks as it flowed, getting accustomed to its path once again. The strange water near the ceiling began to bubble and drip all over the floor. Lily watched in horror as the grey-silvery liquid melted holes into the rock and granite of the plateau.
Swearing up a storm, Lily slammed her shield charm against the polluted water, holding all of it to the ceiling as close as possible.
"Cass!" Lily screamed but Cass was fighting with rage blinding her. Ajax gave as good as he got, delivering steaming hot blows with his fists that were strong enough to break bones. Cass gritted her teeth and caught his wrist, using his weight and power against him to pull his energy away and slam her knee into his gut.
She buckled, pain coursing through her.
Ajax shook the blow like it was nothing, his skin rippling in dark designs. Cass's jaw dropped, scrambling away with a dislocated kneecap. "You… What have you done?"
He grinned and stuck his tongue out at her. Cass stared at the burnt top layer of the flesh, no longer pink, but now a mix of angry red and poisonous green.
"Oh, you thought I'd roll over and plead for mercy when you took my bracelet away?" Ajax crooned, advancing towards her.
That's why his hits were physically hot. He'd ingested the dragon blood. Cass was incensed. "Báll eis kórakas!"
Ajax shook his head. "So disappointing. I wonder what the boss lady's gonna say about your little betrayal."
He raised his crossbow and took aim at her, but the air blasted around them and Ajax's armed hand was wrenched away by the mortal lead bullet that flew with pinpoint precision into his wrist.
It caused a dent in his skin, embedding itself halfway into his wrist. Ajax's face scrunched up, irritated, barely in pain. He looked up and could do nothing else because a second bullet hit his head, wedging itself into his skull.
Cass did a double-take, watching Ajax finally drop the crossbow and fall, his body twitching angrily.
She looked up and saw Sally standing on the ledge beside Lily. While the witch was struggling to keep the water away from Cass, Sally was panting, both hands clasped around her gun, eyes wide in shock.
Ajax was panting, his unharmed arm shaking to reach up and dig out the bullet in his head. "That bloody bi—"
Cass spun around, bringing her good leg out to kick into his hand. Her toes cracked against his iron limbs but she didn't even wince, scrambling up to grab her bow and shoot the sharpened bolt into one of the softest parts of his face.
Ajax's body jerked once and went completely limp, the arrow bolt sticking out of his open eye.
She immediately dropped the crossbow and struggled to pull back his shirt, ripping open the sleeve on his right arm…
There was the bracelet, branded back onto his upper arm like it had never left.
"No!" Cass groaned, grabbing her hair, feeling everything rush back to her. The distraught energy only grew as she stared at his hand where the first bullet was being pushed out by the muscles in his body. He was already healing.
She wanted to kill him all over again—make him feel the pain he'd given to the world for so long.
With the hate bubbling in her, Cass clambered to her feet and dragged him by the ankle. She tugged him to the edge of the Styx—bubbling black in all its notorious glory—and pushed him into the river.
The Styx sizzled at his flesh, eating at it with haste. With no blessing from his mother, the river dissolved his body leaving behind the immortality bracelet that was swept away in the tide.
With any luck, he'd take a few months to regenerate and Cass and Iphy would have a few plans ready to take him down properly.
"Cass!" Sally shouted from the ledge. She pointed at the second river flowing with equal rage and vigour behind Cass.
The Lethe was nearly as deadly as the Styx, but as Cass watched the white water, she realized that it may not be as powerful as the latter. Rather, there was somebody crawling out of the river right before her eyes.
"Sciron!" she gasped, hobbling over to the river. Her knee snapped back into place with a pop and Cass grunted, skidding to a halt to grab a soaked and shivering Sciron by his vest and pull him out of the water.
The vest was wet and the water burned the palms of her skin. Cass hissed but didn't dare let go. The water left freezer burns in the grooves of her fingerprints and under her nails. She tried to rub it off on his clothes, reaching back to pull him to dry land. She had to keep in mind that Sciron had sixty pounds on her… although, right now it felt like thirty.
He collapsed on the ground, shivering madly, wisps of air leaking out of his clothes and hair. Cass held her breath. He stank of the Lethe, the water had seeped through the layers and drenched his skin. Sciron moved feebly, unwinding his arms and letting a completely dry and unharmed baby fall into Cass's waiting hands.
Cass fumbled for a moment, surprise taking over. Percy blinked up at her, his form shielded in pale yellow. He was busy gnawing on his fingers, drool spilling over liberally. But unlike any of them, he was the least hurt. His skin was baby-soft and unblemished. The air of Tartarus had done nothing to it. In fact, to Cass's highly trained eyes, the yellow vapour was more than light.
Somebody was shielding this little baby. Even far down here at the peak of Tartarus, Percy Jackson was under mysterious protection.
"Someone has great plans for you, child," Cass whispered to him. Percy babbled, reaching out to touch her face with sticky fingers.
Then she looked over at Sciron, her face falling when she realised that his clothes had grown very loose on him. Even before her eyes, she saw him shrinking into himself. His limbs began to grow smaller, skin turning smoother, hair growing back and disappearing under the top layer. Cass held Percy tight, staring gobsmacked as Sciron was regressing back through the years.
The Lethe, she understood in horror. Sciron was succumbing to its effects. He was ageing backwards.
She swore and set Percy in her lap and began to madly divest the groaning demigod away from his waterlogged clothes. The more he shed, the slower his transformation was.
Droplets of the Lethe splashed on her arm and she cringed against the incredibly sharp pricks of excruciating pain. Each drop left pale marks on her arms like they were acid.
Percy babbled mournfully. Cass finally wrenched a naked Sciron away from the river and his clothes, watching as he carefully stopped changing. Eyes shut, a loud reedy wail burst from his tiny pink lips, his body flailing uncontrollably. He was even smaller than Percy now, his little limbs moving under duress. The tiny infant was no more dangerous than a little ant.
Protego Horribilis
Protego Horribilis
Protego Horribilis
"James!" Lily wailed, her hands trembling with the weight of her shield.
Protego Horribilis
"A little busy!" James yelled from above earth. Lily could feel the massive shield the Aurors were creating outside the building. James was clearly helping with that, even without his wand. Sally moaned, the gun shaking in her hand. The two women couldn't see what exactly Cass was doing with Sciron and Percy.
"Can you send the water into one of the rivers?" Sally whispered, her breath catching on every other word. Lily winced. She could sense the immense power radiating from both rivers below them. There would be nothing short of an explosion if this polluted convergence touched either the white or black shimmering rivers.
Protego Horribilis
"Too risky," Lily grunted.
The water began to seep through her shield, burning holes as easily as the killing curse could have done. Lily was panicking now.
"Cass!" she screamed.
"I'm trying! Give me a few seconds!" she yelled back, her voice echoing around the terrifying cavern.
Protego Horribilis
"Can you see him? I can't tell!" Sally fretted. "Is he okay?!"
Lily tried to maintain her focus on her shield, but it was beginning to drizzle over them. Every drop incinerated the ground around Cass, leaving nought but ash and a deep hole that must have run for several feet below.
Lily looked up at her wand, wishing James had had his so he could have helped her…
She kept staring at her wand.
"We just need an active, self-reliant source," Cass had said. "No one has to actually power it, it should keep the shield locked down for long enough until the energy dissipates."
Wands were incredibly long-lasting and functioned with self-reliant magic. She could hear Ollivander's voice in her head saying, "Faithful unicorn hair from its mane. Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow. Nice wand for charm work."
There was a reason why they'd explode when broken—a rebellious response against such violence. Lily brought the wand to her face, clutching it gently in both hands and whispering, "My darling, help me save an innocent and keep them safe as I have promised."
The gentle request was powerful. The wand hovered on its own accord, leaving Lily's grip entirely.
It reinforced her shield.
Sally stumbled back as a flash of bright light erupted from the wand. Even Cass looked up in stunned silence, watching the water near the ceiling becoming imprisoned in an ice casing, held there by Lily's wand which was embedded in the ice for all to see. The ceiling shone silver, reflecting light all over them.
Goodbye, Lily thought, swallowing heavily.
She felt light-headed and feverish. Lily hadn't been without her wand ever since she was eleven. She felt empty and child-like without it.
Cass appeared to understand that she'd been given time. She managed to grab two small things, wrapped them up in a bundle using her coat and began to run up, using her powerful legs to scale the wall with seeming ease.
When she finally reached their ledge, Sally and Lily helped her up and they climbed up to the basement of the crumbling jail centre.
"Pepe!" Sally cried, making a mad scramble for her baby. Percy practically launched away from Cass with a gleeful squeal, chattering to his mother in delight. Lily stopped and stared at the second baby in Cass's arms.
"What the… who's baby is that?" Lily hissed, terrified that Cass had plucked someone child while in Tartarus. "And where's Sciron?!"
"This is Sciron," Cass groaned. "I'll explain when we get outta here!"
Sally either chose to ignore the shock of the statement or just focused all her attention on her child. She held him close to her, revelling in his presence.
They ran past the fragmented corridors, making their way out of the building that was mere seconds away from collapsing.
James, Iphy, and Omar were waiting for them at the entrance.
"You said five minutes!" Omar complained, looking relieved in any case. He nodded to his fellow Aurors and they began to seal the building from the outside world.
Lily looked around the plains. More Aurors had apparated in, arresting Ajax's fighters and carting them away. She found James conjuring a white sheet to wrap around Kim's body. Her heart was in her mouth.
From behind, Iphy came up to her and took ahold of her elbow.
"We can't let them interrogate us," the woman whispered as she shoved an old comb into Lily's sweaty palms. The comb began to glow and Lily barely inhaled before the portkey zapped them away, the land around them deconstructed entirely.
They were all holed up in a small hotel room in Alexandria.
Sally was holding onto Percy a little too tightly. He kept squirming in her arms, whining, trying to reach for her face. At some point, she realised that her cheeks were wet. Iphy walked into her little room with bottled water. Her face was appropriately sober and clear of extreme emotions, but Sally still wanted to lob the bottle at her head.
"Before you leave," Iphy said carefully. "There's a matter of long term protection."
Sally stared. Was she supposed to say something to that? Percy yanked on her hair, utterly besotted by the water bottle. Iphy handed it over to him and he promptly dropped it.
"You're gonna make me forget everything that happened here," Sally finally said. "Clean out all the mistakes."
Iphy's eyes crinkled as she sighed. "It's never as easy as that. Cass and I wouldn't be asking this of you if this wasn't for your safety."
Sally shook uncontrollably. Percy yawned this time around and she had to physically move him to the small bed to let him rest.
With the moment's reprieve, she could focus her anger properly now. "You don't get to say that!" she hissed.
Iphy pulled a face. "Sal—"
"You kidnapped Kim and Percy! You brought them here! This is on you and Cass!"
"It is," Iphy agreed, her voice growing incredibly sad. "But there's so much more to this—"
"Go to hell," Sally snapped. "You don't get it, she's gone! She's gone! And it's all your f—"
Cass knocked on the door. Iphy exhaled in defeat and Sally geared up to start yelling. But her words found a block when she realised that Cass was holding the second baby in a soft bundle.
Sally almost couldn't digest it. She'd read about the Lethe, knew its immense powers- but this was on a whole other level. Sciron was now an infant after being directly exposed to the river, trying to save her baby. He was younger than Percy and it boggled her already overloading brain.
"Can I put him in this room with yours?" Cass whispered. Sally saw that baby Sciron was moving sluggishly, very tired and sleepy. His little eyelids were heavy and his face resembled Percy's so much, Sally had the instinct to just wrap him in a hug.
This person had saved Percy and had given up all his memories from the past 2000 years for it. He was no longer Sciron, feared demigod warrior, in control of all the elements. He was a lost infant with no one to care for him.
An ugly thought entered her head.
"Do I owe him a life debt?" Sally asked, her voice barely audible.
Cass didn't look surprised at the question. She seemed to be thinking it over as well.
"No," she decided. "He was complicit in our plan. He's also family to Percy, nevermind he didn't like to see it that way. There is no debt to be paid."
It didn't make her feel better. "What's gonna happen to him?"
Iphy bowed her head and gently moved some of the fabric away from Sciron's little face. He was so tiny and fragile, squalling softly at the careful touch. Iphy smiled.
Cass saw her face. "No."
"We shouldn't send him to camp," Iphy said, earnestly. "Lupa would know who he is."
"We can't!" Cass said, frantic. "If the Earth Mother found out—"
"We've hidden from her before. We can do this as well," Iphy said. She reached in and took Sciron with expert hands. He settled in happily and turned his face into her chest, breathing slowly. He fell asleep almost immediately and Sally was overcome with the emotion in Iphy's face.
Suddenly, Iphy and Cass didn't look like untouchable Immortals. They were just two women trying to fix a situation that had gone horribly wrong.
Sally couldn't find it within her to be angry. No, the emotion welling up in her was deep seated sadness and love with no outlet to go.
"It's been so long since we'd had one," Iphy whispered, cradling the baby.
Cass grimaced. "It's too dangerous, Iphy. We need to get Ajax's child out of Busan as well, remember? We can send both babies to safety somewhere far from all this."
"Ajax will come back," Iphy said.
"Yes! And he'll come after them."
"He'll be after them either way," Iphy pointed out. "It doesn't matter how young they are, he'll make them targets."
Sally stepped back, flashing a terrified look towards Percy. "But… you said… you got the bracelet off him, he shouldn't be able to—"
"He got it back," Cass said, blinking hard. "I checked, he had it on. I got so mad… I pushed him into the Styx."
Iphy raised her head. "Oh, Cass."
"He's broken so many oaths on the river, she won't be kind to him," Cass promised. "We have some time till he's back. We can send everyone away, make sure they never cross his paths."
Sally gulped. "Then I should remember all this! Otherwise, how would I know to avoid him?"
Cass tilted her head to look over at Percy. "Sally, I swear, if you remember, then those memories alone can make you a target. There's a reason why demigods are more potent to monsters when they realise who and what they are. It's not just a scent, it's their aura that grows stronger with the more knowledge they gain. This happens to all beings. Memories make a part of your character, your story. It's part of you, it is you. You'll be on the map, the more you know about these things. We use the trick of forgetting to keep people under the radar so others find it harder to track them down. It's similar to Witness Protection. Erasing your identity on a higher level involves your sense of self and the experiences you've lived through."
Sally's face crumpled. "I don't wanna forget. She was family."
Cass winced. Iphy went over to place Sciron beside a barely stirring Percy. They watched the two babies drift into a peaceful sleep.
"Shall we talk outside?" Iphy asked. Sally nodded, rubbing her cheeks quickly. They stepped out and moved the door until only a sliver was visible through the gap.
Sally sat on the closest chair. Iphy took a spot by the window to look out towards the city of Alexandria. Cass paced by the shelves.
"You won't forget your sister," she finally said. "But the exact circumstances would be taken away. You'll know that someone came for Percy… but everyone else involved, since you met all of us in the past few days, you'll forget all knowledge of us."
Sally nodded. "You swear? I won't lose any memory of Kimberly?"
Cass grimaced again. "Perhaps… a few moments from what happened in the past couple of days. Anything relevant to this event would be gone."
Sally sniffled again. "I hate this."
Iphy scratched her arm, holding onto the bracelet through her shirt. "We can help keep an eye on Percy if you'd like?"
Her head snapped up. "What?"
Even Cass was reticent. "Wait, Iphy—"
"We owe a great deal," Iphy interrupted her. "The least we can do is cast a few protection charms on him."
"You can do that?" Sally asked, desperately.
"Wait, his father will know," Cass vyed. "And he's already under someone's protection."
Sally frowned. "What? Poseidon's?"
"Well, probably. But I believe another deity is keeping a close watch on Percy," Cass said, stopped by the door. "When I was down there, my skin was burning from the air, because—"
"Because hell," Iphy said, sitting up straight. "Even Sciron's skin was scarred, especially around his feet."
"His shoes had melted," Cass sighed. "Ajax was mostly alright because the fool had taken dragon blood. But Percy was perfectly fine. Someone was shielding him from the poison."
Sally held onto her chair tight, knuckles straining. "W-who?"
"I don't know," Cass said, worried. "Anyone who can manage such a thing has to be incredibly powerful. Even Olympians don't mess with Tartarus. This god was flouting that rule with no disregard."
Sally nodded. "That's good, right? Somebody helped Percy. They're on our side?"
Cass and Iphy shared a look. "In our experience, gods never do anything for free. We can't give you all the answers, Sally, I won't lie to you. But we can give you time. You and Percy can stay safe enough without these memories. We'll keep Ajax from you both for as long as we can."
It was an ultimatum that Sally hated. Whatever she chose now would define the rest of her life. She wouldn't remember Cass and Iphy. Wouldn't remember Sciron who saved her Pepe, or how her baby sister died. She wouldn't remember Lily and James, the random witch and wizard who fell into her life and helped anyway.
But she and Percy would be safe for a while.
When Sally had first discovered magic and the gods, it had been a whirlwind. She believed that she peaked at seventeen, meeting Poseidon and falling in love. She was free on a highway, feeling the sea breeze in her hair, with open skies to shower her with beaming rays of sunlight.
And now, Sally knew that the way to happiness wasn't the route she needed to take. Safety was the name of the game and it was a long series of steps to that particular paradise.
"I accept," she whispered. Cass and Iphy perked up. Sally continued. "If you swear on the Styx that you'll never grab Percy or me again like you did with Kimberly."
Cass and Iphy gave solemn nods but Sally didn't feel victorious.
Q: One more chapter to go. Lily is about to have a vision of somebody. Care to take a guess? :P
Cabba K.