This is a uniquely brillant Idea, and One I am beyond fond of... Please be kind and if you have suggestions send them my way!
"Who am I... what am I... why am I so cold?'
"Child, you must wake up..." A warm, but tense voice echoed in my ears, but it was fuzzy, as if it was underwater. I struggled through an endless sea of darkness, following the voice...
Another voice then sounded, female and cold. " How is their two of them, Chiron?"
"I have no idea... Annabeth, I truly do..."
Light blossomed in the sea of darkness and I opened my weary eyes. I saw two familiar faces, but for some reason, no joy leaped into my heart. " Chiron... Annabeth... why... who am I?" Pain shot through my soul, like I was missing limbs and they hurt anyway. I moved around, realizing I was in the Infirmary with Ananbeth and a very tired Chiron ina his wheelchair. Looking around I turned, feeling a pull in my chest. Following that feeling, I turned over and saw a horrible sight. My reflection, only they were not in a mirror. " Why am I over there too... ?" I shivered, and felt a magnetic pull towards this other Me... " Who am I?" I groaned, agony shooting through me once more. "Why does everything hurt... "
Chiron wheeled to me. "Child... what hurts? You have... no... physical injuries..." Chiron said it softly, but with an edge of fear that shocked me.
"It's like I... I feel empty..." I wanted to cry and so I did, but there was a hollowness. " I know this isn't right, I shouldn't be here...I feel like I... " And words poured forth, like ancient knowledge ingrained into the fabric of my existence. "I used to be him, Chiron... I used to be Percy. Someone cut me out!" And the memories returned, not in images but knowledge. "Luke, he threatened us with a scorpion but we used a wave of water to get it away, Luke slashed us with his sword and there was this terrible cold, and I felt myself being pulled away... It was so cold, and I heard this chanting in my head and... we fell into the water and... it was like we were healing but not... and then... I was here... "
Chiron sighed, losing all color. "I Know what you are... Kronos has done a terrible thing. The sword, Backbiter you called it, can only be a manifestation of the Scythe created to destroy Ouranus. It has the power to destroy souls in full form, however, in it's weakened state it could only splinter your soul. The Titan Lord must have, through the use of magic, taken advantage of that damage and used the fragment that should have faded away and turned it into a new being. That would be you... since this Percy has the physical damage from BackBiter. Falling into the water, since you still are tied to the Water, allowed you to manifest quicker... but not enough." From somewhere, Chiron pulled out a mirror and showed to the Not so Percy. " Look at yourself."
The Not Percy, the mere fragment of a soul, looked at himself and gaped in horror. "I am so... weak!" He looked like a Holocaust victim, skin and bones and little else. His eyes were bulging, his skin sallow.. and he lacked the passion and power so present in the other Percy, the real Percy's eyes. "How could he do this?"
"Gods can exist in many places, their essence is more flexible than humans. Being a demigod, you inherit some of this. It is what facilitates demigod dreams in fact. He could not have done this to a pure human." Chiron looked dower, terrified and his words were like requiem knell.
Annabeth moved forward. "What does this mean, Chiron?"
"It means that, now, there are two sons of Posiden... the gods must be notified..."
"Wait... " I asked...terrified, knowing from the memories that I was likely going to die. "What... what is my name? I am not Percy, that boy is Percy..." The words came out quickly but with great panic, he didn't even have a name. He realized then something odd. " My memories are all weird, there is no... energy there. It is like watching a movie... I know He likes you and Annabeth but all I know is who you are and what you've done, there is nothing behind it... I feel... empty, nothing... just... emptiness and panic."
Chiron gave me a strange look, one of pity and sadness but a lot of distance that for some reason sent a spike of anger through my heart. "You are not Percy, that is true... it seems Kronos, clever being he is, essentially created a new soul from a shard of Percy's... that shard is essentially a seed, from which a new soul will grow... I wonder what else you will have, what you will be..." The man sighed. "You do need a new name... do you have any preferences?"' I shook my head, as a wave of new pain came, and this time it came from the realization that I was a nobody, a copy of a copy, unbound but still carrying the baggage of my... brother? "Perhaps... Alexander? I think that is a good name..."
A sense of peace settled then and I felt like my soul grew, like some of the emptiness faded away and I felt... just a little bit more whole. My hand moved to my chest as warmth blossomed. "Alexander... I... I like it..." I told the man then what I had felt, in my core.
" That only confirms my thoughts onto what you are... a name is a powerful thing, part of your very soul. Without it you were not entirely whole... and now you are just a little bit more yourself... please, relax. I know your fears... I will speak to the gods, and try and convenience them that you are to not be harmed." His smile was not as reassuring as it should have been.
He left then and I, the newly minted Alexander, turned to Percy. "I am sorry..."
"It's... ok..." Percy said, moving away from him ever so slightly, looking almost sick. "You were just made from a piece of my damaged soul, no big deal..."
A wave of exhaustion over took me then, the excitement too much for my new body. Without meaning too I feel back onto my back. I noticed then that Annabeth was starting at me with deep curiosity and a tinge of fear...
And it was then, and that moment, that I knew I was not in for a good time... and my life, as Alexander, would not be an easy one...
Hate rushed through me, as instinctive as the panic I felt, and I did not push it away as I knew Percy would... instead I drank of it and felt it nourish my soul...
'I didn't do a damn thing, why fear me... 'The feeling was intoxicating, it strengthened me and gave me focus...
And with in, riding on those waves of hate, I heard the laughter of Kronos echoing in my head.
I was a pawn in a game thousands of times older than me. I was a literal infant, burden with the memories and baggage of a demigod hated by many for existing...My very existence was a tool to cause havoc by literal diety of evil and chaos...
What that meant for me was unclear, but I knew it was never going to be good...
I just hoped that I could live to bear it all...
My memories of the stories of the gods made it clear that I would never come of this unscathed or even alive, my brief existence ( which I felt suddenly possessive of) could very well be snuffed out...
I could only pray Posiden felt some kind of pity for me...
I could only pray someone cared...
Otherwise my momentary presence was over.
Chapter end, tell me what you think in the reviews.
This was a random moment of brilliant inspiration... a twist on the Twin of Percy stories everywhere...
I love it! I have so many ideas...
Love, your Ninja Overlord,
Mika.
