Chapter 8 (Percy POV) (8 months later)
The training was hard. Very, very hard. I was sweating bullets after killing yet another fake shade that Nyx threw at me. My powers over hellfire were getting increasingly powerful as time went on, and now I can summon and control hellfire almost as well as I can with normal fire. And as for Bryan, he's gotten super good at hiding in shadows, to the point where it's impossible to see him.
"Good, Perseus, again!" Nyx said, and she summoned another 5 shades for me to fight.
They ran at me, and I quickly put a wall of hellfire to protect me. Then I froze time around the shades and threw a bunch of hellfire at the time barrier. Then I unfroze it, and the fire melted all 5 of them.
"Good job Perseus, you can go sit now, Bryan it's your turn," Nyx said
Bryan stood from the stands once I reached there and started walking down after giving me a bro hug. I sat, taking heavy breaths each second as Bryan got set up to train. He summoned his new spear, which he had named Pcychi (soul in greek). It was a long black spear, with two curved ends. Nyx gave it to him as a gift when she also gave me my new set of armor.
(start flashback) (1 week after they started staying with Nyx)
"Perseus, Bryan, I called you two here because I wish to give you both a gift," Nyx said
"You've already given us so much, Nyx," Bryan said
"Maybe, but you don't even have your spear anymore," she replied
Bryan smiled sadly, "Yeah, you're right,"
"Anyway, Bryan, I am going to give you a new spear, it works the same way the spear from your mother did, you can summon it at will, and it is double-sided," she said, summoning the spear.
The blades on both sides are beautiful, with a large blood-red ruby embedded inside the curved blade. He picked it up, twirling it in his hands.
"Thank you, Nyx," he said
"You are welcome, Bryan. As for you Perseus, I give you a new set of armor. You can summon it at will, just like your weapons. Bryan already has this from Hestia, so I give you this,"
She waved her hand and it appeared on me. It was lightweight, and it was dark black with a hood on the top. It had hidden blades inside the arms that I could retract at will. (imagine assassins creed armor with hidden blades...you know what I'm talking about)
I smiled, "Thank you," I said, then paused, "my lady," I added, just to annoy her
"None of that 'my lady' nonsense Perseus, your brother gets it, why don't you," then she saw my expression then grinned, "It is my pleasure Perseus. Now, you're training starts tomorrow so be ready,"
(End flashback)
Bryan fought against the shades like a madman, using gravity to completely crush one while sparring with two at a time, his spear a blur. He spun it around, blocking and striking, and he killed 20 shades in a minute. It's a drill she had us do, where she constantly makes shades as we kill them, and we have to see how many we can kill in a minute. You are fighting 5 at a time, as you kill one she makes another. I got 18, he got 20.
He grinned up at me, and I shook my head smiling.
"I won bro," he said to me mentally
"I have more wins in our 1v1 spars!" I yelled, and he laughed.
We have been keeping track of our wins/losses in our spars since we were only 10 years old. I have won more, at 9,546, and Bryan has won 9,281. It's always a competition between the two of us since we are twins.
Nyx watched our interaction with a smile on her face. Our days (or whatever passes as a day here) usually start with our training, then at night the three of us do stuff together in her mansion. She'd become like an aunt to us, where we love her, and she takes care of us, but she still has fun with us and does dumb stuff with us.
"Alright Bryan, next exercise," she said, laughing
Bryan nodded, and they continued the training. I heard Nyx's horses from the mansion stables, and it reminded me of my phoenixes, which are my sacred animal. Bryan's are golden eagles, they were pretty cool but not as cool as my phoenixes (winky smile). I actually have two sacred animals, the other one being wolves, which for some reason I share with Artemis. Then again, Artemis also has her deer.
In all honesty, as much as I love being with Nyx, I miss Olympus, the pranks we used to pull on Apollo and Hermes, hanging out with Artemis, spending time with midnight (my wolf), being up there is just better. I know we'll miss Nyx, but we can force her to visit, I'm sure she will.
"Soon, Perseus, soon," Nyx said, suddenly in front of me, as if she was reading my mind.
I looked ahead and saw Bryan at the entrance to the mansion of night, smirking in my direction. I've been lost in thought for a while. I smiled and stood with Nyx.
"Maybe, Nyx," I said, and we walked together into the mansion of night.
"So, what do you guys want to do tonight?" Nyx asked
"Do you know how to play basketball?" Bryan asked
"I...kind of? Not really?" she said
"Can you make a court?" I asked, getting more and more excited
"I guess," she said, then she focused a little, and made a basketball court out of shadows.
I walked onto the court to see, and I felt a small feeling of recognition. I smiled as Bryan grabbed the ball Nyx made and shot it, and then laughed when he air-balled. He frowned at me,
"We haven't played in almost a year, dude," he said, then threw the ball at me, "Let's see you try,"
I shot and watched as the ball ended up air-balling 5 feet to the side of the hoop. I winced, that was bad.
Nyx laughed, and I couldn't help the small smile that came on my face.
"So, Nyx, here's how you play basketball,"
(Artemis POV)
The last 8 months had been tough. After about a week of mourning, I decided to go back to the hunters, and just trust that they would somehow make it out. It was getting increasingly difficult as time went on, it felt like they would never leave, and honestly, it seems that they won't. Which primordial would help them?
"Lady Artemis," Thalia asked, walking up to me, she had joined the hunt after the titan war, "Why are we going to Camp Half-Blood?"
"I believe we should go there, seeing as the war may be starting soon. We need to help them. Also, since your brother and your cousin were used for the exchange, we must make sure everything is going smoothly.
"Then shouldn't we go to Camp Jupiter?" Thalia asked, "It's not Jason I'm worried about, it's Nico, he doesn't follow rules, and the Romans are strict,"
"Maybe, but I think going to Camp Half-Blood will be best," I said, and she nodded, bowing her head and then leaving.
Hera had made a plan to bring the two demigod camps together, in which we swapped two of the demigod leaders. They would've switched Thalia and Jason, but Thalia joined me, so they went with the next best demigod, Nico Di Angelo, who is Bianca's sister. (AN: Just so you know, neither Zoe nor Bianca died in this story)
Zoe and Thalia are now co-lieutenants of the hunt. Since the titan war, things have been different in the hunt. Not only because Perseus and Bryan are gone, but I remember what the fates told us. They told us to fear our fatal flaws, and everything makes sense now. Gaia, Ouranos, and Erebus took advantage of Perseus and Bryan's fatal flaw of attachment, so I tried to lessen my prejudice. We don't kill men for breathing near us anymore, we just avoid them. We only kill rapists and other vile men.
Oh, we also hurt men who flirt with us. So basically, as long as they aren't flirting with us, we tolerate them...mostly. I sighed and got up, magically fixing my tent and strapping it onto my back. I saw all my hunters were ready, looking towards me expectantly.
I nodded, and we started walking to Camp Half-Blood.
Chiron bowed when he saw me, "Lady Artemis, to what do we owe the pleasure?"
I waved my hand, "With the war almost starting I decided it would be best to stay at camp for now," I said
He nodded, then left us. The campers who were walking by would look at us for a moment and then keep going wherever they wanted to go. It was irritating but understandable. We hadn't informed them beforehand of our arrival, so they most likely weren't expecting us.
Later that night, after Thalia spent some time talking to her brother, we sat around the campfire together like we always do. The fire's warmth soaked through me, reminding me like it always does, about two of my best friends.
"I don't know if we are going to, but we need to school them in capture the flag again," Phoebe grinned
"Yeah, we do. We just do what we always do, and win for the 78th time in a row," Zoe laughed
I smiled, I had trained them so that they could beat the entire camp in this game. We've kept our streak going for a long time. The closest they got to winning was when Thalia and Bryan were both on the other team. That time they got the flag, and the only reason we won was that I was fighting Bryan, and Zoe got the flag to our side before Thalia got our flag to their side.
"I will talk to Chiron about doing it tomorrow," I said, and the girls grinned
"This time can I be part of the offensive? I've been training with my knives," Bianca asked
"Yes. I think offensive should be Zoe, Bianca, me, and Atalanta, and defensive will be Pheobe, Lily, (AN: insert random names that I'm too lazy to think of)" I said
They nodded, then I got up to talk to Chiron. I sighed, walking towards the big house, and ignored all the strange looks given to me. I opened the door, glared at Dionysus (because why not, he's a pig), and walked up to Chiron.
"Chiron, my hunters wish to do capture the flag tomorrow," I said
"Of course, I will let the campers know," he said
I nodded and walked back out the door, back to my hunt.
(Hestia POV)
I sighed, walking into my palace, as I tried to think of something to do. There wasn't much to do because usually, I would spend this time with my children...who aren't here currently. I've been feeling so empty these past few months, although I haven't tried doing anything again since last time, I'm still not quite...happy.
I've been trying to pass the time, unsuccessfully. My brothers seemed to have noticed my boredom and sadness, and now they both come around every couple of days, and we do stuff together. We've gone walking through Olympus, we've played volleyball, and even just sat together talking, which is something we have NEVER done before now.
It helped when they were around, but nothing could make things easier for me. I sighed, laying on my bed, staring at the ceiling. A warm feeling spread through me, one that comes when a demigod sacrifices part of their food to us. This one feels different, though. An audio message came into my head.
"Hey, mom," It said, and I sobbed...Perseus…That is the last voice I expected to hear" Me and Bryan are...doing okay here. We know that you were under Gaia's control, and I...I don't hold anything against you. I love you mom, I hope I can see you soon,"
I jumped out of my bed and ran out of my palace, tears of joy running down my cheeks as I ran into the council chambers.
Perseus spoke to me!
(Percy POV)
I sighed as the feeling of getting food sacrificed to me entered my body. It's been happening a lot to me since we fell into Tartarus, with me being the god of heroes and all. Only this time, I realized something. If I can't send mental messages the normal way, but these sacrifices can reach me, can I use them to talk to the other gods?
I quickly jumped up, producing fire and summoning a piece of pizza, then I put it in the fire.
"For Artemis," I thought, "Hey Arty, I hope you are doing good up there. If you can hear this, send me a sacrifice with a message, hopefully, we can communicate this way. Bryan and I are good, I miss you. We might be able to get out soon, I hope. If you get this, send me a message back," I thought, then paused, watching the smoke rise into the air. I sighed, hoping to get a response.
(10 minutes later)
I felt the comfort of another food sacrifice, this one came with a message that put a massive smile on my face.
"Perseus, holy shit, I...you guys are okay? Oh my god, you have no idea how happy this makes me. The council has been heartbroken, it wasn't them who banished you. Gaia, Erebus, and Ouranos were controlling them." I smiled since I already knew it, "I don't know how you will get out, you need a primordial to willingly release you, but I trust you, Percy, tell me if you get this"
I grinned, sending her another message confirming that I did indeed hear her. Then I sent a message to my mother as well, oh, my poor mother was probably in so much pain.
After I sent the message I ran out to tell Bryan and Nyx of my discovery.
(Artemis POV)
Hestia called a meeting, and I had a nagging suspicion of what it was about. I flashed into the throne room with a bright smile on my face, and I turned to look at Hestia.
Tears were running down her face, but she didn't look upset. She looked happy, no, she looked RADIANT. All the gods and goddesses flashed in, confused as to why we both looked so happy.
"Sister…" father started, "Why have you called this meeting?"
"Perseus contacted me," Hestia said, and Zeus's jaw dropped.
"What? How!" he asked incredulously
"He sacrificed food to me, and sent a message with it," Hestia said, and I nodded.
"He messaged me as well, and I was able to respond to him the same way," I said
Zeus smiled, as he shook his head, "Incredible," he said
Athena's eyes went wide, and she sat straight up, a smile blooming on her face. All of us watched as tears slowly started filling her eyes.
"Bryan…" she whispered, and we all heard it.
'Percy must have told him,' I thought to myself
Athena jumped from her throne and ran to Hestia, "Can you summon fire and something to burn in it? Please?" she begged
Hestia smiled warmly, and Athena sent a message to Byan, though refusing to tell what she sent, not that I blame her.
"Perseus said a few things to me that make me wonder…" I said
All the eyes in the room shot to me and I continued, "He said that he might be out soon and that he knows that you all were controlled. The only thing is, that must mean he knows about the primordial lock, which means they have a primordial ally," I said
"Not that I mind your enthusiasm," Apollo said, "But if they had a primordial ally, why wouldn't they leave immediately?"
"Maybe they had to prove themselves to the primordial," I said
Apollo shrugged and I grinned, 'maybe they will get out soon,' I thought
"This is good," Zeus said, "We've needed some good news, and we haven't gotten it in a long time. We just have to keep faith in them. They WILL return, and when they do, we can celebrate, for now, this meeting is over,"
I ran to Athena and hugged her, as she cried into my shoulder, but from happiness this time.
"They're okay," she whispered in my ear, "They're okay,"
"Yes, they are," I grinned
(Bryan POV)
To say I was happy would be an understatement. Percy just found out that we can send messages to the normal world. This is also a way for us to talk to Nyx after we get back up again!
I sent a message to Athena, and I said this, "Hey, 'thena. I hope you've been doing good for yourself. I had told you not to cry about me, to trust that I would be okay. I am okay, and I will come back to you. I love you Athena, and I WILL see you soon,"
When I got her response, happiness overtook me like a storm. I felt a surge of emotion, and I hugged Percy. He hugged me back, and I grinned.
"I didn't know you were smart enough to figure stuff out like this," I said, "It seems I've underestimated you,"
"Oh shut the fuck up bro, and stop talking like a 21st-century Shakespeare," he said, and I burst out laughing. Nyx smiled at us, and she brought us both into an embrace.
"I believe you two are ready," she said, "I will release you from Tartarus now,"
We smiled, holding her closer to us, "We love you, Nyx, thank you for everything," Percy said
"No, thank you two. You have brought me company, I will miss you two," she said
I looked at her and saw that while she was smiling, tears were brimming in her eyes. I smiled sadly and wrapped my arms around her again.
"Nyx, don't worry, you will see us again soon, I promise," I said
"Yeah, if you don't come to visit I will be mad!" Percy grinned, but I could tell it was bittersweet for him too, "plus, we have a way to communicate now!"
Nyx smiled sadly at us, kissing our foreheads softly before putting her hands on our shoulders and muttering something under her breath.
"Goodbye, Perseus and Bryan, may we meet again soon," she said quietly, walking away as we teleported back to the mortal world, out of Tartarus after 9 months.
(Percy POV)
We reappeared on Olympus, outside the throne room. I stood, smiling, as we took a breath of the fresh air. I sat down on the steps, grinning.
"Well, Bryan, this certainly brings back memories," I said
"Yeah, it does," he said, looking around happily.
I gestured toward the throne room, and he nodded. I took a deep breath before opening the door to the throne room. It was mostly empty, except for a red-haired goddess sitting by a fire in front of her throne.
A wide smile crept onto my face as we walked up to our mother slowly. When we were about 8 feet from her she looked up at us with her bright red eyes, and her face went through multiple emotions at the same time. Shock, then happiness, then tears of joy as she jumped at us, throwing her arms around us.
"Perseus, Bryan," she whispered as she pressed multiple kisses to our foreheads, "I'm so so sorry,"
I smiled at her, "it wasn't you mother,"
She just smiled at me, before hugging Bryan close to her. I smiled at the goddess who was holding Bryan close to her, but something on her arm caught my eye. She let go of Bryan and was about to hug me, but I stopped her.
"Mom…" I whispered as I grabbed her arm softly and looked at the scars on her wrist. Instantly she looked down in shame.
"No, no, Mom no!" I whispered as I hugged my mother, the mother who...who... "Mother why?" I asked with tears falling out of my eyes. Bryan was crying too, having seen what I had too.
"It was in the beginning, the first couple of days. I thought you would hate me, I thought you would think that I don't care about you, that...that…" she stopped
I smiled sadly at her, "Mom, we love you," I whispered, and then Bryan and I both wrapped our arms around her, holding our shaking mother close to us.
Once we let go, we sat casually in our thrones, having the comfort of the extreme power rush.
"Mom, you call the meeting. I don't want to spoil anything by calling it," Bryan laughed cheekily, and Hestia smiled, signaling a meeting.
The gods slowly started flashing in, their jaws dropping when they saw us, casually sitting on our thrones as if we hadn't ever been gone. Artemis flashed in, and her eyes went wide when she saw us.
I hopped off my throne and ran right into Artemis as she hugged me, shaking.
"Percy…" she said
"Shh…" I silenced her. No words were needed. Not yet.
Bryan lept off of his throne as Athena ran into his embrace, kissing him passionately. I smiled at them, it was unfortunate that they got separated 4 hours into dating.
"Nephews…" Zeus said, "I cannot tell you how happy I am to see you,"
I smiled, "I think we're happier to see you, uncle," I said
Zeus grinned at us, "If I may ask, which primordial let you out?"
"Nyx," Bryan said, smiling sadly, "she was good to us. She blessed us and trained us too, that's why it had been so long,"
"She blessed you?" Aphrodite asked incredulously, "No wonder you two look so hot now,"
She was shut up by a glare from Athena and Artemis.
"To answer your question," Bryan answered warily, "yes. My skills are now greatly increased at night, specifically my vision, hearing, and stealth are greatly increased."
Zeus nodded thoughtfully, and Bryan continued, "Percy is now the god of hellfire as well as regular fire,"
Everyone looked at me surprised,
"So that's why your eyes are now red and purple," Artemis commented
I know we just got out of Tartarus, but I couldn't help myself,
"Awww, you pay attention to my eye color? How cute," I teased
Artemis groaned, slapping her forehead "Remind me why I was upset that you were gone?"
"I don't know, maybe because I'm awesome," I laughed
Hestia smiled at our little argument, "Anything else to tell us?" She asked
I nodded, "Yes, actually. I got new armor from her and Bryan got a new weapon." I said
Hestia looked a little sad, so I kept going. "I still use the weapons you gave me, and Bryan still uses your daggers and armor."
Hestia smiled warmly at us, "That's good,"
I smiled back, "Well, I think you guys have things to tell us too. What's going on about the war?" Bryan asked
"Well, monster attacks have lessened dramatically," Artemis said, "I think it's safe to say that the primordials are almost ready to attack."
"Alright," Bryan said, "I believe it is best if no one else finds out that we are back. I think it's better if we wait as long as possible to reveal ourselves to Gaia, Erebus, and Ouranos. If we reveal ourselves to the demigods or hunters, the word could somehow travel back to the primordials."
"Are you accusing the hunters of being traitors?" Artemis asked dangerously.
I looked at her surprised, but Bryan just looked at her thoughtfully, "No, but if a monster scouts out the camp and hears them talking about us with each other, then we could be revealed."
Artemis nodded, and Zeus spoke, "Then it is decided. No one is allowed to reveal anything about Perseus and Bryan's return until we decide it is ready. This meeting is over."
A few gods teleported out, Ares, Hephaestus, Dionysus, Demeter. Most of them stayed, however. I hugged Athena,
"Hey, you take care of my brother when I'm not around, alright?" I said, and she nodded, pulling away from me smiling.
Apollo gave me a man-hug, same as Hermes. Aphrodite tried to make out with me, which was awkward. Thank god Artemis and Hestia were there to pull her off of me.
I hugged Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. Even though we don't always get along, they are my uncles, and I've missed them.
"Your mother was scared to death for you," Zeus said sadly, "she tried…"
I stopped him, "I know," I said, "I saw the scars. It was in the beginning, right? She hasn't tried again in a long time?"
Zeus nodded, so I finished, "Then it's okay. She'll get better, we'll make sure of it."
Zeus smiled warmly at me and then teleported out.
Mom hugged me again, "I've missed you so much Perseus," she whispered
"I've missed you too, mom," I whispered, hugging her back
She smiled, "You and Bryan have to come to my palace for dinner today," she said
I nodded, smiling, and Hestia teleported out of the throne room, leaving just me, Bryan, Artemis, and Athena.
Bryan was shifting slightly awkwardly, holding Athena to his side. I could tell exactly what he was thinking, and I laughed.
"Go, guys. Enjoy the rest of the day together. Don't die though," I said, and Bryan grinned before he and Athena left the throne room.
I turned to Artemis, wrapping my arm around her shoulder, "You wanna go for a walk?"
"And why would I go for a walk with you?" she asked, raising an eyebrow,
I instantly backtracked, "I don't know, I just thought...maybe...I…." I was cut off by Artemis clutching her stomach laughing.
"You dummy, of course, I'll go for a walk with you, I was joking. Your reaction was priceless though," she grinned
"That was mean," I said, but I smiled too, as we walked out of the throne room together.
"Hey, do you know where Midnight is?" I asked
"Oh, last I checked he was in your palace," she said
I nodded, smiling, "Can we go there first, then?" I asked
She nodded, and we started walking to my palace.
"Midnight!" I yelled once I got into my palace, "Where are you bud?"
I heard steps running toward the door, and I fell onto my knees, holding my hands out as I smiled widely. A large black wolf with blue eyes came tumbling down the stairs, knocking me over and licking my face.
"Hey, Midnight, I'm back, bud," I laughed, as he continued to lick my face.
"Boss! I've missed you so much! Can we go hunting together? Please? Please?" he asked,
I grinned, looking at Artemis who was smiling warmly. She could hear Midnight too, and she nodded.
Midnight turned to her and bowed slightly, "Lady Artemis,"
"Don't bow, if you don't bow to Percy, you don't bow to me," she said, and Midnight stood, wagging his tail excitedly.
"So, Arty," I grinned, "Let's go hunt"
I hope you guys liked this chapter, it's my longest chapter so far, 4,600 words, so I hope you guys liked it :) This is also the last reupload chapter so the next chapter will be me currently writing :) SO updates will be a little longer...maybe 1 per week hopefully
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Love y'all :) Bye!
