Can I just say I love Percy's internal monolgue- she's literally just there imagining ways to kill him whilst pretending she's warming up to him.
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Undeath9087: Ah- but Annabeth is on the Argo II and it only makes sense for her to be the one to have the dream- and I mean that changes things very slightly- you'll see. And yeah, Nico and Leo are worrying about the wrong thing.
Guest: True Lol- it's similar to what Alabaster did to Percy when he was trying to lure her to mount Tam except without the creepiness.
Percy often contemplated which monsters she hated the most- she had a nice long list of monsters she'd fought in the past after all- the Minotaur was pretty high, that asshole had been a pain not just once but twice. The Stymphalian birds were annoying too, though they were fairly manageable- there was Polyphemus of course, she hated him, and the Nemean Lion- and some of her different half siblings that she'd met over the years.
But if there was one monster that she could say really just pissed her off it was Kelli. The empousai had been a nightmare from the moment they'd first met during her orientation for Goode. The monster had been weirdly jealous of
Percy- and she'd had a thing for Alabaster- which Percy didn't have a problem with as such but- it was the weird jealousy thing, it had grated on her nerves. She'd kept trying to stake her claim and Percy had repeatedly made it clear that she didn't care but the demonic cheerleader had been all too aware of Alabaster's feelings for her.
In any case, waking up to Kelli's voice was not pleasant.
She and Alabaster had taken another break- Percy was still weak from the manticore's poison spike and they'd taken shelter inside of a small cave.
Alabaster had even wrapped his jacket around her shoulders while she slept- clearly trying to convince her that he wouldn't listen to that little voice in his head telling him that he should be hurting her.
"I didn't expect to find you down here Alabaster. It's been too long." and Percy felt her entire body going tense as she very, very slowly shifted, turning her head so that she could see to the entrance of the cave.
Alabaster had summoned a little magical light, which was casting a faint glow, and she could see him silhouetted in the cave entrance, almost- well, almost blocking the doorway, shielding her from the monsters view Percy realised.
"It has." Alabaster agreed, and was there a note of amusement in his voice. "I was very annoyed when I heard that the Chase bitch killed you-" and Percy did not twitch, she did not twitch, and she definitely wasn't imagining shoving Alabaster face first into a meat grinder.
"She'll pay when I return to the mortal world." Kelli almost purred the words, "They all will. I heard what that little whore did to you- I always told you that you should move on- there are much more... pleasurable, ways to sate yourself."
Gross, so very gross, Percy was sure she was twitching slightly.
"I'm sure." Alabaster spoke smoothly. "Lady Gaea's spoken to you too?"
"Of course. I was travelling with a group of my kind but-" Percy could hear the little growl, "We had a bit of an issue. Your little lovers brothers-" and it took every ounce of Percy's self control to stop herself from vaulting to her feet and flying at the monster, demanding to know where Leo and Nico were.
"Oh?" Alabaster's voice was suddenly more interested, and tense too- did he know she was awake? "Did you kill the little brats?" strangling him violently, that was a nice mental image.
"No." Kelli's voice was a growl, "We would have but Iapetus stopped us."
"Iapetus-" Alabaster's voice was tight suddenly- and Percy's eyes widened and she forced back a gasp.
Iapetus- the Titan she'd dunked into the Lethe. But what was he doing in Tartarus... did it even matter? He was with Nico and Leo and he'd turned friendly after their fight. That meant that her brothers had a much better chance of surviving now. Percy could have sobbed with joy if she wasn't doing everything she could to stay silent.
"Yes." Kelli tilted her head, "What happened to him? Why was he helping those annoying boys?"
"What do you think?" Percy could almost see Alabaster's eye roll, "Percy Jackson happened to him. She fought him after I had him rescued from Tartarus and tossed him in the Lethe. He has no memories. I didn't know what happened to him after that but clearly she managed to get to him-"
"Ugh." Kelli scoffed, "Men are so easy to manipulate. Really I don't know what you all see in that little-" and Percy winced as Alabaster's hand shot out, suddenly wrapping around the monster's throat.
"Watch your tone." his voice was a low growl. "You do not talk about her like that. You don't talk about her at all." then he was letting go and Kelli let out a growl.
"You still have your little obsession I see." Kelli sniffed loudly before pausing, and Percy could see her head moving as she sniffed again before- "Oh... oh I see what you're hiding in there." And Percy's heart plummeted. "I can smell her Alabaster-"
"Don't even think about it." Alabaster's voice was a low threatening growl. "She's off limits Kelli-"
"Awe, come on Alabaster-" her voice was almost singsong, "We could play some games with her- don't worry you could join in. It would be fun- just like I know you used to imagine-" and Percy forced down a whimper at those words, her fingers sliding into her pocket to curl around Riptide.
"No." Alabaster growled the word, "She is mine Kelli. Mine and mine alone. No one else touches her. Least of all you-"
"After what she did to you? Are you really protecting her?"
"I'm keeping my property intact."
"Your property-" Kelli laughed, "That girl will never be your property. You always have been too in love with her for your own good. If she was your property you'd have claimed her by now-"
"I was waiting for our wedding." Alabaster snarled the words, "and for your information I have claimed her. Not a day will ever go by that she doesn't have my mark on her skin-"
"Oh... oh now that's more like it." Kelli snickered, "What did you do? Brand the girl? You know she'll try and run away as soon as she gets the chance."
"She's never getting away from me again. And I carved my mark into her back. She's mine just as she always has been. And I am not going to let you meddle and take her away from me Kelli."
"Well the girl is interested in girls- maybe I cou-" Percy flinched when Alabaster let out a furious noise and lunged for Kelli, smashing into her and knocking her out of sight.
Percy let out a panicked little curse as she scrambled to her feet and rushed out of the mouth of the cave, Riptide in her hands- and her eyes widened in shock when she saw that Alabaster was on the ground, groaning in pain- Kelli had smashed his head into something and he had thick claw marks down his chest, he was bleeding heavily-and Kelli whirled to face Percy, her eyes glinting madly.
"Well hello Percy Jackson."
"Kelli." Percy gripped Riptide tightly, "You don't want to fight me-"
"No, no I do. I want to kill you and drag your beaten and broken body up to the mortal world where I can toss you at your whore of a girlfriends feet-"
"Well that was graphi-" Percy dropped and rolled as Kelli flew at her- and wow but she'd forgotten how fast the monster could move, she only just avoided getting her face sliced open by the monster. "Rude!"
"I will kill you-"
"No-" Alabaster's voice was weak, "Percy-"
But Percy couldn't focus on him, couldn't let him distract her as she and Kelli circled one another. "Bas just shut up a sec-"
"Bas-" Kelli almost cackled, "Oh my. What's he done, cast a love spell on you or something? That's just too good."
"No love spell." Percy tightened her grip on Riptide, resisting the urge to say 'I just need the bastard alive and I'd rather not have him torture me'. Instead she added, "He- It's complicated." and oh that was a good one.
"Hmm... how about I kill him and you and I can have some girly talk." Kelli offered, baring her fangs at Percy, "Wouldn't that be nice."
"I feel like your version of girly talk would involve you murdering me so I won't be taking you up on that offer- also, as crazy as it may sound I don't actually want Alabaster dead right now so I mean- I can't let you do that either." after all, when she'd tried to open the bottle herself it had been empty, he hadn't been lying about it being anchored to him and if she wanted to survive she needed the Phlegethon water- speaking of.. she needed to drink some of that pretty soon, she could feel her breath becoming pained, labored again, and her skin was starting to blister once more.
;"I never thought I'd see the day." Kelli sneered, "The fierce daughter of Poseidon broken down and made into a little whore for Alabaster-"
"I am not a whore." Percy was lunging, sword flashing, catching Kelli's arm, though Kelli took advantage of her clumsy lunge to rake her claws across Percy's side- and oh but that was not a nice feeling, Percy forced down a cry of pain, ducking sideways and straightening up again, and they were circling again-and gods damn it but Alabaster was looking worryingly pale and that was a lot of blood.
And fuck but she really did not like the fact that she needed him alive. It would be so much simpler if she could just run away and leave him to bleed out.
The fight went on.
If Percy had been full strength to begin with- without the lingering pain from the manticores venom-and if she'd had her powers, well, it would have been over within minutes and Kelli would already be a pile of monster dust.
As it was Percy was managing to hold the monster off- earning herself a few nasty cuts and such, but she knew she was running out of time. If Alabaster died then so did she.
And she needed to survive, needed to get back to Nico and Leo.
And it was that desperation which spurred her on- and then she spotted an opening and she dove in, slamming her blade through Kelli's chest.
She gave a smug smile when she met Kelli's shocked horrified gaze- and then the monster imploded into a burst of monster dust.
Percy didn't waste time gloating though- she sprinted over to Alabaster- who was led where he'd fallen, his breathing was shallow-and his skin matched his name.
Percy cursed colorfully under her breath as she slipped her hand into his pocket and pulled out his baggie of ambrosia, breaking off a square of pressing it into his mouth- and gods but there was only one other square left- not good. Really not good- and she pressed Alabaster's mouth closed- and after a moment he let out a faint noise, mouth slowly moving, chewing- and Percy saw the injuries start to heal, and Alabaster's eyes fluttered open.
"W-what-" his voice caught, "Am I in Elysium?" and Percy resisted the urge to scoff at that, though she let herself exhale in relief.
"No. No you're still in Tartarus." she leaned back on her heels as Alabaster slowly pushed himself up onto his elbows.
"Kelli-"
"Is gone."
"You- saved me again."
"Well duh." did he have to state the obvious? "Listen we're running low on ambrosia- we need to save it for life and dea-" his hand caught her wrist.
"Percy-"
"Bas- please do-"
"You got hurt defending me."
"Yes." Percy did not roll her eyes but it was a hard battle. "I'm not your property by the way."
"I-" Alabaster winced, "I'm sorry. I was trying to get her to back off-" he paused, "You should use the ambros-"
"No. Just give me some of the Phlegethon water. We can't risk needing it for something more serious."
"I-" Alabaster stared before nodding. "Of course." and he was pulling out the bottle, opening it up- and Percy took it,
grimacing as she drank the spicy water- but still it eased the pain- though it would still leave the scars, and once she was done she put the lid back on and held it out to Alabaster.
"Here Ba-" but his hand was on her cheek and his lips were on hers- and Percy forced herself not to panic and jerk backwards.
Instead she slowly, hesitantly kissed back, she was winning him over. He was starting to trust her. Just a bit more and maybe she could guilt him into removing the bracelet.
