Boil 18

Any idea is dangerous under the right circumstances. Father knew as much. It was all theory at first. He proved it could be more.

-Excerpt from Azazel's unpublished memoir, Fallen into Paradise

There came a knock on Percy's door. He stopped halfway through tilting his head back. "Who is it?"

From the other side came Ingvild's voice. "It's me. May I come in?"

He blinked. The words took a second to register, and when they did, he let go of a breath to clear the haze from his mind, then set the bottle in his hand down on the desk. "Uh… Yeah, yeah, sure, come in."

"Thank you," Ingvild said as she entered. She closed the door behind her and stood stock-still, arms held in front of her.

The room's mood quickly turned awkward.

They had gone separate ways after returning to the Underworld yesterday. Percy went to see Tiamat so he could break the news to her, while Ingvild chose to take the rest of the day for herself. He understood perfectly well that she needed space. She hadn't asked too many questions about the thing with Athena, making his life easier, but he was sure her mind had been a whirlwind.

On the other side of the spectrum, Tiamat had been nothing but curious and upset. Knowing that he was once more traveling to the Netherworld—this time, with Athena as his guide—apparently rankled her. Though since she figured that he had a good chance of dying this time (this was Hades they were talking about), she had given him a few things from her personal hoard to take, including a couple of vials of Phoenix Tears, a necklace with built-in warding sorceries, and a dagger made by somebody called "Old Fleshmaker" on the off-chance Percy was disarmed.

Afterward, she'd warned him to be wary of Athena.

"I have spoken to her many times. In this world, where violence of action is so often fetishized, brilliant strategists and tacticians the likes of Athena are often underappreciated and overlooked. Make no mistake, she is ruthlessly pragmatic. If she deems you useless, she won't give you the time of day. Predictably fickle, that one."

Unfortunately, that sounded pretty much exactly as Percy remembered Athena. Maybe more extreme than the one back home. Though maybe not. He hadn't known her very well in his timeline, so he couldn't say how similar the two versions were.

But he was digressing. It wasn't fair for his thoughts to wander when Ingvild was still standing right in front of him.

How could she even stand to look at him? He'd turned her into a weapon.

"Are you busy?" Ingvild asked, barely able to meet his eyes.

"Not so busy that we can't talk." He gestured around. "Make yourself at home."

The rooms in Ajuka's estate were pretty big. At least the ones that he'd provided for Percy and Ingvild. They were luxurious, unlike the ones in his medical facilities, which were nearly barren. Their rooms both had wall-mounted televisions, rich rugs, four poster beds, and warmly painted walls.

Ingvild sat down on the bed. He grabbed the bottle he'd just opened and held it up to her. "Want some?"

"What is it?"

Percy squinted at the label. "Scotch whisky."

"N-No, thank you." Her eyes drifted to the two other empty bottles he'd left on the nightstand. "Are you all right?"

Percy took a drink. "Not really."

"Oh. Maybe this is a bad time after all."

"No," Percy shook his head, stopping her before she could finish standing up. "No. You're here, you want to talk, so we'll talk."

"Okay then." She sank back down.

He ran a hand through his hair and blew out a gusty breath. "Listen, about yesterday… I'm sorry for pushing you like that. I should've known better. I do know better."

Ingvild's eyes searched his face. "Then why did you do it?"

"Tiamat and I thought it was the best way to get you ready for what might happen."

"So it was for my sake. That's about what I thought." Eventually, she let loose a small sigh. "Thank you for your apology, but that isn't why I came. I'm not brave enough for that."

Percy frowned. He wondered what had brought her around, in that case. "Everything considered, I'd say you're being way too brave."

"Really?"

"For sure. Not just yesterday, either. This whole time. These last few months. It takes a lot of courage to do what you've done."

"W-Well, I don't know about that."

"I'm telling you it's true. You're brave. If not, then you would be running from your problems instead of getting ready to face them. You'd be hiding behind Tiamat rather than having her beat the crap out of you every night. You'd never even try to follow through on your promises. Trust me; I know what bravery looks like. You've got it."

"If I'm brave, you must be—"

Percy shook his head. "If bravery means overcoming fear, then I'd have to do something unforgivable to be considered brave. But this isn't about me."

Ingvild fidgeted in her seat, tucking some hair behind her ear. "I have been trying to overcome my fears, even if it's been hard. I suppose I have you and Tiamat to thank for that, though I'm not quite like either of you."

He scoffed. "Good. You shouldn't try to be like us. Tiamat and I are old hat."

"Old hat?"

"Means we're behind the times, out of touch. You don't want to be like us."

"I'm old enough to be your great-grandmother," Ingvild muttered. "It's too late to warn me about being behind the times, you know?"

"I guess what I mean is that you shouldn't get stuck in the past," Percy said, carefully choosing his words. "Your age doesn't really matter in that regard. I think people can get stuck at any point in their life. Being old or young doesn't mean anything."

"What does that mean for you and Tiamat then?"

"I don't know if I can speak for her, but I'm as stuck as a fly in amber."

"Is that so?" Ingvild tilted her head and regarded him sadly. "It doesn't seem that way to me. Tomorrow, you'll be invading the Realm of the Dead."

"Yeah."

"Tiamat told me about Hades."

"Yeah?"

"She thinks your odds of success are exponentially higher with Athena there, but not your odds of survival."

"Yeah."

Ingvild's hands balled into fists. "That doesn't worry you in the slightest?"

He shrugged. "Not really? There are two ways this whole thing ends: I live or die. Can't be surprised by the outcome when it's laid out so nicely.

I mean, live or die, that's about as black and white as it comes."

Percy had heard plenty about Hades from Tiamat at this point. People considered him freakishly strong. But so what? On paper, Atlas should have easily wiped the floor with him and his friends, and he probably would've done exactly that if they hadn't put him back under the sky. One slip was all it took to bring down the greatest Titan warrior.

All the strength in the world wouldn't matter if someone knew how to exploit your weaknesses. Percy was sure Athena would be ruthless in that regard.

"You scare me sometimes," Ingvild mumbled. He offered her the bottle again, and this time she nodded. Percy went over and handed it to her, then sat beside her on the bed. "I just wish there was something I could do to help you."

"I know the feeling. Trust me. I've never been good at sitting on the sidelines while somebody I care about is in a bad way. Gotten into plenty of trouble that way, but it's always worked out. Well, almost always."

Ingvild stared at the contents for a few seconds. Then, she quickly brought it to her lips and tilted her head back, taking huge gulps as if she were drinking water. She only set the bottle down once it was empty. Her face twisted unpleasantly.

"Uh…" He stared dumbly at Ingvild. Since Percy had only taken sips, the bottle had been close to full when he passed it off. She'd just chugged the rest of it in no time flat.

She stuck her tongue out and shuddered. "Blegh. Please don't let me do that ever again. Ever. Under any circumstances."

"I'm not sure I could stop you even if I wanted to. You're as strong as me now, right?"

"No way. I don't think that's possible."

"Yeah, you're right." Percy rubbed his chin thoughtfully, then smirked and nudged her with his elbow. "You must be stronger."

Ingvild blushed. "Now I know you're messing with me."

"Maybe a little," he chuckled.

"Maybe a lot," she corrected, bumping him with her shoulder as payback. Wistfully, she said, "I still have a long way to go."

Sighing, Ingvild leaned back, using her arms as support. She tilted her head to look at the ceiling before closing her eyes.

They sat in silence for a minute or two. Percy glanced at his nightstand. The clock, which he'd changed to read in US EST, told him all he needed to know. He would be fighting Hades in less than twenty-four hours, and the odds of him coming back could have been between hopeless and guaranteed.

Athena had chosen her words carefully, as Tiamat had pointed out. Their odds of success were favorable. To Athena, success just meant detaining Hades. If Percy died in the process, that would be an acceptable loss in her eyes. She probably only needed him to fulfill a particular role that she herself couldn't fill and would only work to keep him alive as long as he remained "tactically relevant."

Maybe that should have worried him more, but it didn't. Not really. And it wasn't as if he disliked Athena because of her callous, robotic pragmatism.

Wait, on second thought, that's exactly why he disliked Athena. She would absolutely lie to him without remorse if she thought it would bring her closer to accomplishing her goals.

"Hey, Percy…"

"Hm?" He glanced over to find Ingvild watching him worriedly.

"What are we going to do now?" she asked.

"Hopefully, taking Hades out of the picture will solve some of our problems. That's priority number one for me right now. After that, I'm not sure. Guess that depends on what everybody wants to do."

"What do you want to do?"

"I don't know."

The world didn't make sense anymore. He was just as in the dark now as he ever had been in the past. Things were still so far out of his control that it made him wonder why he even bothered to care. He wanted to be more proactive, but there was only so much he could realistically do with so many factors at play.

It had been this way for too long. He was tired. Seeing his city destroyed once had been bad enough. Twice, though? Twice? It felt like a bad joke.

Except it wasn't a bad joke. It was a nightmare he couldn't wake up from. No matter how hard he tried to run, his legs moved in slow motion. He could hardly fathom what was happening around him. Everything straddled the line between normal and surreal.

Reality was his nightmare.

Percy suddenly felt hot. So hot he had chills. His breaths came short, in and out through his mouth. The world was spinning. His skin had gone clammy.

He got up and rushed to the bathroom, ignoring Ingvild's concerned calls. His stomach did flips as soon as he saw the toilet.

Pushing the seat cover up, he didn't have a chance to think twice before puking. He caught Ingvild following him into the bathroom at the edge of his vision. She hesitated at the threshold for a few seconds, then stepped inside and knelt beside him.

A touch made him shiver. He spat into the bowl and glanced over his shoulder. Ingvild was rubbing circles into his back. Her fingers came inches from his Achilles spot more times than he should have been comfortable with, but it wasn't like she knew about the curse, and it wasn't like she was trying to hurt him, so he put the tingling sensation out of his mind to focus on keeping his stomach from following his lunch.

"Percy…"

"I'm fine," he lied, flushing the toilet again. "Drank too much."

"I don't think that means you're fine," Ingvild said.

They stayed in their spots for another little while. Ingvild's touch remained gentle, both distracting and helpful, reminding him she was still there. He wondered if she'd wanted something like this yesterday. It wasn't as if he'd done much to comfort her when she'd thrown up. He hadn't wanted to cross any boundaries. What worked for him might not work for her. But maybe he should have done more; at least tried to do more.

Whatever the case, he appreciated that she was with him. This wasn't rock bottom for him—not by a long shot—but it wasn't a moment he'd be glad to look back on.

Once he'd gotten a handle on his nausea, Percy flushed again for good measure and pushed away from the toilet to sit with his back against the wall. The cold tile was nowhere near as comforting as Ingvild's fingers had been, but oh well. The warmth from her touch lingered, and that was enough.

Ingvild sat by the vanity, away from the toilet. She hugged her knees to her chest. The way she looked at him made Percy realize how much of a sorry sight he was.

Percy let go of a breath. The tension drained out of his body with it. He looked at Ingvild, a grim line pulling at his mouth. "Sorry you had to see me like this. I've been kind of off-kilter all week."

Ingvild sank into herself. She spoke quietly, softly, but with a strength he hadn't heard from her before. "I don't mind. In fact, I'm sort of glad. None of us is an island unto ourselves. I already knew that, of course, but you and Tiamat seemed intent on proving me wrong for months. Now I realize it still holds true for the two of you. It's selfish, I know, but seeing you like this makes you… more human? Or maybe just more relatable. I feel like there's common ground between us this way."

"You don't think there wasn't any between us before?"

Seeing his frown, she backtracked a bit, "No, I think there was. Surely! And, well, you're still kind of unfathomable, but not as much as before. It's not a bad thing."

"I'm not mad or anything. Just surprised," Percy reassured her. He smiled tiredly when she relaxed. "I guess that means we'll see eye-to-eye more often now."

"I hope so."

"So do I," Percy said.

Ingvild hugged her knees tight. "I'd help you if I could. You know that, right?"

"I do now."

"Good. That's good. It's just… One day, I will be strong enough to help you. Maybe I'll be able to save you when that time comes."

"Yeah? I appreciate it."

She shook her head. "This isn't altruism. Not really. Even so, I hope you'll wait for me."

"Wait?"

"Yes, please. I know it's selfish to ask, but I would never need anything else from you. If you could just wait for that time to come... I won't let you down."

Percy stared at her. He wasn't even sure who he was looking at. In that moment, she was the very picture of determination. "Okay, I'll be waiting."

Ingvild graced him with a beatific smile. It lit up her entire face like nothing else could. She pushed some hair away from her eyes. He noticed she did that a lot. Maybe he could get her a headband or something.

No, that was stupid. She already had a bunch of hair ties; Ingvild usually wore her hair in a ponytail when she trained with Tiamat. Of course, she looked good regardless of whether her hair was down, back, or up. Though she probably didn't have those ties anymore now that New York was…

"Then I'll stop bothering you. Unless you'd like me to stay?"

For a second, Percy considered it. In the end, though, he shook his head. "Sorry. I think I'm gonna hop back on the horse—meditate, get my ki in order, all that jazz. Big day tomorrow, you know? If Wukong knew how much I've been slacking, he'd never let me hear the end of it."

Ingvild seemed a little disappointed but nodded in understanding. "All right. Will I see you tomorrow?"

"Probably. I'll be around for a few hours. We can have breakfast or something. Then I'll go."

"But you'll come back, too, right?"

"Yeah. For sure."

Ingvild didn't linger for much longer. Once she was gone, Percy was alone again. Now, though, the loneliness didn't cut quite so deep.

The rest of the night dragged on for him. Sleeping wasn't any easier, but between his waking hours, he dreamed of a girl.

She's a powerful girl. So powerful that Kronos flees when she takes to the battlefield. She succeeds where he fails. Her hair is pale lilac, her eyes copper orange.

They're walking at first. Percy talks to her, lectures her. Slowly, her pace quickens. Her stride is unsteady at first, as if her ankles are made of spaghetti, but every step bolsters her confidence. Her pace quickens more. By now, she's pulled ahead of him. Percy smiles as she breaks into a desperate run. He stops walking and decides just to watch. Eventually, she reaches the horizon.

That's enough for him. He sits down, grunting as his knees creak, and closes his eyes to rest.

The sun finally slips below the horizon.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

"You're here," Athena said.

"You don't sound surprised," Percy said.

They were standing in the middle of 10th Ave again, where they had first met. Old blood painted random patterns on the curb a dozen feet away from him. Manhattan's air was acrid and stale at once, a reminder of his failures past and present. Anemic clouds bleached the sky blue and white. The sun bore down on the city as it had so many times in the past, but nothing was familiar about what Percy saw. Metal and stone and ash choked the life out of New York, smothering it, burying it, the only things left after its cremation, every sagging building a shattered bone, every fire-husked car a twisted tomb.

Focus. Earth to metal. Metal to water. Water to wood. Woof to fire. Fire to earth. Percy repeated the generating phase cycle to himself. He would need to bring everything to bear against Hades. Now wasn't the time to be shy about showing off.

"Why would I be surprised?" Athena smiled humorlessly. Even under the scorching sun, she wore the same military jacket from before, from which she pulled a pack of cigarettes. "I put my faith in heroes such as yourself. You lot rarely disappoint me when it comes to the things that matter. Though I will say, I didn't realize you were involved with Ajuka Beelzebub."

"And who said I'm involved with some Battleborg guy?"

"The magic circle you stepped out of bore the sigils of Astaroth and Beelzebub." Athena lit the cigarette in her mouth and put the rest away, though not before offering him a smoke.

He shook his head. "You don't miss anything, do you?"

Needless to say, she was absolutely right. Percy had been using Ajuka's personal teleportation network to move between the Underworld and Earth. Apparently, Ajuka's method of teleportation was something he'd come up with on his own, and it didn't require the traveler to use their own demonic energy for the magic to work.

It was a temporary arrangement between them with a lot of caveats, not something that Percy would be able to use willy-nilly. Still, the Devil King was doing him a favor, and Percy appreciated that.

Between Ajuka and Sirzechs, I'm starting to pile up on debts, Percy thought grimly.

Percy had never planned on using the card that Sirzechs had given him during their first meeting. Even after Tiamat had explained how it worked based on desire and that he was essentially pre-approved to make a contract with Lucifer, he insisted that she keep the card.

In the end, that card helped save Tiamat's life. Percy's desire to keep her alive had been strong enough to activate the magical contract, and Sirzechs had arrived on the scene only a couple of minutes after Samael's attack in New York. The Devil King had taken one look at the situation and wasted no time taking them back to the Underworld.

"A favor for a favor," Sirzechs had later said. "I won't ask for anything outrageous as payment. Though, if you'd like to become a devil, I still have a spot in my peerage."

Percy had declined, and they went their separate ways still on good terms.

"I make it my business to know things," Athena said. "Now, let me introduce our other member."

The goddess stepped aside to reveal a guy who had been standing behind her. He was around twenty, give or take a couple of years, with short brown hair and a sharp face. In his hands was a bow, and he wore a bronze cuirass, greaves, and forearm guards over his regular clothes.

"Uh, hey! Nice to meet you." The guy stepped forward and held his hand out. Percy shook it on reflex. "Heh, strong grip there! Nice, nice. Uh, my name's Perseus."

Percy's eyes widened. "Perseus? As in…"

"Yup. As in the legendary hero. The one who slew monsters like Medusa and Cetus." He puffed his chest out a little, then quickly deflated and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "That said, I'm not the actual Perseus."

"Oh, so you're named after him?"

"No, it's more like… I'm me, he's him, but I'm also a little bit him."

"What?"

"What he means to say is that he wound up with the legendary hero Perseus' spirit animating him," Athena explained. "This boy has none of Perseus' psyche. The spirit contains no information for the conscious, meaning their identities are essentially separate."

Percy tried to wrap his head around that. The best comparison he could think of was choosing rebirth via the River Lethe and gaining your past self's memories, but even that didn't sound right. Or maybe it was more like Kronos using Luke's body? No, that still sounded wrong.

Well, not like it mattered much. It would have been cool to meet the original Perseus, but that wasn't why he was here. They had bigger fish to fry. Everything else could wait.

"I see you're still confused," Athena said. She hefted her shoulders helplessly. "In that case, let's call him Jann. After all, that's what his parents named him."

"Lady Athena!" Perseus—Jann—cried out with abject dismay.

Percy shook his head. "No, it's fine. Nice to meet you, Perseus. I'm… Percy."

"Percy? Ah, now I see. My apologies, Lady Athena. You just wanted to avoid confusion," Perseus said. He scratched at his eyebrow and laughed. "Well, this is a weird little coincidence, huh? I mean, neither of our names are all that common, so you'd normally never have to worry about getting them mixed up."

"Yeah, pretty weird," Percy agreed.

Especially considering my full name. Not that I'll be bringing it up right now.

"For now, we should go with Jann, though," Perseus said. His grin was wide as he patted Percy on the shoulder. "Thanks for humoring me, but Lady Athena is right. It wouldn't be wise to lose focus because of poor communication, especially when we have a perfectly acceptable alternative. Our mission is too important for that. You know, I think pride is the most unnecessary emotion for humans like us."

Percy reconsidered the man across from him. At first glance, he wasn't anything special. He didn't carry the same intimidating aura as Tiamat, Hades, or Athena. He didn't have the calm confidence of Sun Wukong or Thanatos. But Percy knew better than to underestimate people. His biggest advantage had always been that his enemies underestimated him or overestimated themselves. It wasn't wise to write somebody off just because of how they looked or talked.

"All right. Jann for now," Percy said. "Once we're done, I'll go back to calling you Perseus if that's what you're more comfortable with."

"Once we're done, eh? Ha! I like your confidence! Yeah. For sure. Once we finish this whole thing… Yeah… Okay! I'll hold you to that promise, Percy!" Jann held his fist out, which Percy gave a solid bump. "Speaking of the mission, though, you look a bit underdressed. No offense, of course! Are you able to summon your gear at will?"

Percy shrugged. He wasn't wearing armor—both because he didn't own any and because it wouldn't do him much good. Hades would be able to tear through metal as easily as paper. Percy figured he'd make do with his impenetrable skin. He also had Tiamat's necklace looped around his neck and Old Fleshmaker's knife strapped to his leg. Plus, he had the Phoenix Tears in his pocket, along with Sun Wukong's seal.

"I've got everything I need," Percy said, giving Athena and Jann a lazy salute, though he tried not to sound too nonchalant. "Don't worry about me."

Athena merely nodded, turning to Jann. "Percy has been under the tutelage of the Great Sage Equal to Heaven. I have faith that this hero knows what he is doing and that we are not witnessing his downfall brought on by arrogance. Though he has every right to prove me mistaken."

"Thanks for that vote of confidence," he deadpanned.

"You're welcome," Athena said. Unfortunately, he couldn't tell if she knew he was being sarcastic or not.

Jann gave Percy a wide-eyed look of awe. "The Buddha Victorious in Struggle chose you? He turns away hundreds of hopeful pupils every year. It's been ages since he last had a student learning his ways. He must have seen great potential in you."

"Uh, I guess? He's a pretty strange guy, that's for sure. Can't say I know all of Kong's reasons, though I'm pretty sure one of them is obligation."

"Cao Cao was also a pupil of Sun Wukong, was he not?" Athena asked.

Jann winced at the name Cao Cao. Apparently, that struck a chord with him. "For a time, yes, Cao Cao was part of that orbit. He and the higher-ups had a bit of a falling out, and by the time he helped form our group, the Great Sage was no longer his master. Of course, you already knew that, Lady Athena."

"Yes, perhaps I did." She pinned him with a flat smile. "But it's best you remember how fickle the gods can be. Myself included, to an extent."

"Understood, Lady Athena."

"Now, both of you listen closely." Athena looked between them. Once she was sure she had their attention, she nodded and began. "Our goal is to capture Hades. To that end, I have devised a strategy that should work. Our success or failure heavily depends on whether the two of you fulfill the roles I give you. I must impress, then, that you hold nothing back. He will focus on me, as I am the largest threat. His power is great but not infinite, and he is not clairvoyant. More than anything, though, Hades is vengeful and—as most gods are—proud. These are the traits we will exploit."

"What are our roles, then, Lady Athena?" Jann asked.

The goddess held her hand up. "Allow me to explain one thing first. You may be wondering about my thinking. We are but three, and our opponent is Hades. Attacking him with one god and two humans may seem foolish, but we can win. Jann, your Sacred Gear will be critical to our success. In addition to Orion's bow, you are a known variable. I'll be counting on you to provide long-range support."

Jann hefted the bow and nodded. "I won't let you down, Lady Athena."

"And you, Percy, well… you already know why I chose you for this mission, don't you? Fight hard, and keep Hades close. His body is held together by magic, and he is difficult to harm, but as we deplete his admittedly large reserves of energy, he will lose the ability to heal. He has no heart, but he has something akin to a brain in his skull. Do not target his head. Not at first. My strategy has four parts to it, and we want him to feel as confident as possible until the third step."

"All right," Percy shrugged.

"Hmph. Are you ready for the bad news?"

"Wait, what was the good news?"

"The only way into the Netherworld at the moment is through the Underworld. Hades has closed all other entrances. Thankfully, he cannot close them all." Athena took the cigarette out of her mouth and let it drop, crushing it underfoot. "We will be invading through Blood Slough Promontory, a dimensional waypoint located within Crag."

"Why is that bad news?"

"Crag-spawn are extremely dangerous. Moreover, Crag is inhospitable; the atmosphere was warped by a magical calamity thousands of years ago. Nobody knows what happened with any certainty, though some think the rat-people were involved."

"So rat-people do exist."

"Certainly not. At least, not anymore. I suggest you put them out of your mind for the rest of your lives, lest the instrument of their destruction also set itself upon you."

Percy and Jann shared a troubled look. "Uh, Lady Athena, it sounds like we'll have some trouble in Crag. Is it really wise to fight Hades right afterward? If one of us is tired or wounded, wouldn't that lower our overall chances?"

Athena nodded, entirely unperturbed by Jann's question. "The situation is far from ideal, but teleporting into the Netherworld is out of the question. We must take risks. It's good that you're worried, as it shows you understand the gravity of our circumstances but have a little more faith in me, Jann. Months of planning have gone into this contingency. We will fight. We will win. Now, as I said, the strategy has four major components to it…"

Author Note: Thanks for reading.