SOPHIE
Oh no. We can't fight Percy. He's really powerful, and we still don't know the full extent of his abilities. He doesn't know the full extent of his abilities. We have to work fast before he has time to do anything.
Percy reaches into the air, his eyes closed. He weaves his fingers with each other, creating water with every stroke. I watch, transfixed, as he brings his hands down towards himself, the water forming into a dagger. He freezes it, then pulls out his sword-pen. Double-wielding.
Keefe swallows nervously. "I don't want to fight, Percy."
Percy snarls. "Don't charmspeak me!" He throws the dagger so hard it pierces rock, pinning Keefe to the edge of the cave. Somehow it doesn't shatter, so I think that Percy must be holding it together by force of will. I also notice that he didn't hurt Keefe, so he doesn't want to hurt us, just to stop us from what he thinks will hurt him.
I walk towards him, getting ready to inflict. That will hurt, but if I do it right, it won't hurt for long, and it'll knock him out. Somehow, he senses me and whirls around. "What are you going to do? Have a hard rock you're going to throw at my head in there?" He points at my many, many pockets.
That makes me realize that I have something else in my pockets. One of those silver disks that releases a sedative. If I can just twist it…
I take the disk out of my pocket. Percy eyes it warily, scanning it for sharp edges. "What is that?"
I don't answer, instead twisting the top of the disk and holding my breath. The gas comes out of the disk rolling through the air towards Percy. And then it stops. It just hangs in mid-air, and suddenly I can see Percy through the fog.
He is standing, hands clenched. His eyes are far away, as if he's somewhere else. A cruel grin creeps over his face. "Let's see how much misery Misery can take." Then there's a sound, like shattering glass.
And I.
Can't.
Move.
I start to panic. I try to move one of my fingers, but it just stays still. I have lost control of my body. If I can't control myself, I can't control anything. And suddenly, there's a sharp, wrenching pain that starts in my legs and sweeps up my body. My legs are moving me towards the cloud of gas. My only hope is to get Percy to stop. I have to appeal to his loyalty, his fatal flaw. "Percy, stop!"
His eyes flicker for a moment, turning their normal sea-green before returning to the color of a murky ocean that will drown you before you realize you are underwater. Those eyes fill me with terror. I'm going to die.
"Percy, please stop, you're scaring me!"
He gasps, and stumbles away from me. Then he shakes his head, determination clear in his eyes. He walks hurriedly towards the gas, breathing in as much as he can. I can see as his eyes go glassy, and he falls to the ground, unconscious.
Immediately, the Councillors are surrounding him, asking questions. Finally, Councillor Oralie asks, "What is he?"
I exchange looks with the rest of my friends. Can we tell them?
Suddenly, there's a scream from inside the cave. We rush to the entrance, seeing that one of the members of the Neverseen is lying on the ground. Presumably, they tried to light leap away. But at least it got the focus off of Percy and onto where we'll put the Neverseen.
The Council debates for a while, and eventually decides on putting them in an even higher security prison than Exile. I don't really care as long as they are gone.
And they are. They're actually gone. These people that I've been fighting- that we've all been fighting- for the past 5 years are not going to bother us anymore. It's over. We're done. The Lost Cities can finally have peace.
PERCY
I'm staring up at the ceiling in the infirmary at the elf school. What's it called again? Something to do with fungus… and dogs? No, foxes. Ummm. Foxfire!
'Percy, please stop, you're scaring me!'
It echoes through my head again. I immediately turn my thoughts in another direction. You know, some of the elves' abilities are really, really lame. It's kind of not fair. Like the guy who can scream really loud, versus someone who can control fire, or water.
Sophie's terrified eyes flash through my thoughts. I swear under my breath. I can't hide from it, can I?
I am a monster. I have been a monster since Tartarus, and I'll be a monster who can't escape Tartarus's grasp. He'll always be able to control me, even when I've escaped, even when he isn't talking to me.
Annabeth always helped. So did the rest of the demigods. I need them to be good, to be human. But they're dead, and I can't do anything about it. I think my mom knew they would die. She knew I would go to Hades for them, but then made it so I couldn't. But I need them! And. They're. Gone.
A soft knock on the door stirs me from my thoughts. I groan and roll over, stuffing my face in the pillow. I can hear the door open and Sophie, Dex and Keefe's laugh as they see my position. "Go away," I grumble.
The bed sags as Keefe sits down. "Nope!" he replies cheerfully. I snort into the pillow.
Sophie sits next to him. I smile internally. Keefe is so obviously in love with her. She's as oblivious as I am. She likes Fitz. I feel my lip curl. For some reason, Fitz just rubs me the wrong way, but I don't get to choose who Sophie is attracted to. And Dex. Dex is great. He likes Marella. Obviously. Or maybe Linh. I haven't decided yet.
Someone's hand grabs the back of my shirt and hauls me up into a sitting position. I slap them away, but stay sitting. When I take my head out of the pillow, Keefe is laughing, Sophie is trying to conceal a smile, and Dex is shaking out his hand, which I must have slapped.
I glare at them, then turn away when they shrink back. I always forget that my glare is scary. I am scary, apparently.
Sophie sighs behind me, then places a hand on my shoulder. "Percy… you know if there's something you want to talk about, I'm here." Keefe coughs indignantly. I'm absolutely sure she's rolling her eyes. "We're here."
"How can you still like me?" I blurt out. "I hurt you. I hurt your friends. I killed your mother, Keefe. How can you stand being around me?"
Keefe sighs. "I was a bit creeped out when you killed her. But she was a horrible mother and an even worse person. She kinda deserved it." I can hear the charmspeak in his voice, but I let it comfort me.
Sophie smiles at me, a bit wary, but trusting me nonetheless. "And you were terrified when you controlled me. You thought we were going to kill you. It was all self defense." That doesn't condone what I did. I still took away their free will. And I could do it again. Part of me wants to do it again. And the rest of me wants to take out that part of me, squash it like a mosquito, and throw it into the River Lethe in the deepest depths of Tartarus.
I sigh and lie back down on the bed. "I don't deserve you guys," I mumble.
They roll their eyes and walk out of the room. I can hear them whispering outside the door.
"We need to cheer him up. He's been in there for a week already."
"He won't listen to any of us when we say it's not his fault. He's too loyal."
"That's his fatal flaw, idiot!"
"What about his friends?"
"But the short guy is creepy!"
"And too much like Tam."
"Deal with it! We need to help him."
"Ugh, fine."
I smile at the ceiling. My friends are coming soon! Maybe Nico will be able to summon… them, and they can tell me I'm not a monster. They can be awfully persuasive, especially Piper.
Gods, I miss them so much.
