Until I Bleed Out

When I'm coming down is the most I feel alone.

He shredded through the monsters, nothing got within a swords' radius of him. His reputation stood true, he was untouchable, a true force of a warrior, the perfect weapon for any state. His armor had been broken, so shattered that he considered is useless and was fighting with nothing on his body but his shorts, long sleeve t-shirt, and vans. As a Demon jumped towards him, he sliced upwards, cutting the demon in half. A possessed human ran at him, and at this point he was beyond sympathy. After seeing her death, he knew he was past his rage. He grabbed the human, and tore it in half with his bare hands, picking his sword up, and continued battling.

I lost my faith.

I'm losing my religion every day.

Percy tore through the monster army, and he saw Giants on the other end. Where were the gods? He could not beat these beings by himself. But you can, my son. His mind was yanked out of battle mode, and immediately thought of his mother. There was a laugh in his head. I am not Sally, but your true birth mother. You are so much more than you believe. Percy felt power rush through his veins. He knelt. As he knelt, the demigods around him pushed forward, but he stood knelt. New knowledge flooded his memory. And a headache. But this power, was more than he'd ever felt. You're only unlocking the beginning of your true power. Show them who you truly are, Perseus Quasar.

Percy stood, and ran forward. He battled through even more monsters, more demons. Gaea's minions would not stop his vengeance for her.

Another thought of the sight, the stray arrow caught directly in her throat, her lifeless body laid on the hard rock, eyes open.

He went crazy. Only color he saw was red. Demons, Monsters, Titans, and even Demigods tried him. They'd all failed. A demon ran at him, and was killed with a wave of his hand. Krios, resurrected yelled something about the idiocy of demigods, and also charged at him. With one swift move, Krios' head laid 50 yards from where his body fell. The demigods stopped fighting, and fell back, just looking at the form that Perseus had taken. Polybotes screamed about being his fathers bane, and Perseus blew a hole through his chest with water, before kneeling again.

Time hasn't been kind to me, I pray.

Suppressing who I was inside.

Perseus had lost his voice, but prayed to the Gods of Olympus to hold their end of the deal, and help them, and immediately, Perseus felt the presence of Poseidon, and looked up to see Polybotes fading to dust, with a trident sticking out of his chest. Perseus looked around, and each Olympian had met with their respective children. This was the true climax of the war.

Then the earth shook, and a woman rose from next to Porphyrion, over fifty feet tall, with earthen grass, vines and dirt making up her form.

"I've seen you've unlocked it, Perseus. The truth. But it is too late, as I am awoken, and there is nothing you can do to stop it."

Perseus knew she was right. He was too weak to stop her right now. A sacrifice had to be made.

Awfully risky, Quasar. However, I do believe if anyone can survive such disastrous ideas, it is you. I'll try my hardest bend the balance in your favor.

He nodded to nobody in particular, but as his memories returned to him, so did his power. He needed time.

A tear dropped from his eye, relishing in the idea that he'll never be able to live happily with his one true love. The curse placed by Order was too strong to lift, and they'll never be able to live their lives out together.

Perseus prayed to the dead god. A trade to be dealt, and the dead god listened.

Immortality for a lift and an unlock. Perseus had offered his immortality for the curse lifted and his locked powers to be removed, on the conditions that he'd fade once dead. Order accepted, only being able to do so much from the void.

Everyone felt it. The air got thinner, colder. The aura around Percy had grown, hundredfold.

"You did not!" Gaea yelled, taking her true form, a beautiful woman, made from all of the earthen elements.

Perseus had once again found his voice.

"You know about bargains, Gaea." spoke Perseus, and his voice rang throughout the valley. Perseus rose, and turned his back to Gaea, looking back at Poseidon, and the other Olympians. His friends, those whom he'd bonded and made connections with. He mouthed to them, 'I'm Sorry.'

"In order to win the war for those whom I love, a deal had to be made." Percy grabbed his sword, and armor appeared on him, beautiful armor that should've been worn by the greatest warrior to ever live. Percy had never felt so energized and powerful in his live.

"With Order and Chaos. The two sides of creation." Percy turned back to Gaea, who at this point, was just fifteen yards in front of him, at his size.

"Your loyalty knows no bounds. You'll regret that deal as soon as you reach his palace."

"Maybe so, maybe not. But it is a deal I'm willing to take. However, I have another deal for you." Gaea looked intrigued.

"What's that?"

"We fight. Here. To the death. Loser fades. Winner gets to live, and their army gets to annihilate the others." Percy offered. He could audibly hear the Olympians gasp.

"Risky, Jackson. Or is it Quasar? A very risky deal for those whom you love, but a deal I'd love to take." Gaea formed a sword from the earth, and armor grew from her body.

"I wish to see you again soon, sister."
"If you haven't faded on your terms, I wouldn't mind that." Gaea said, smiling, and charged Perseus.

Her skills with the sword were not to be mistook. She was brilliant, but he was better. Every move, matched perfectly, and Perseus never made a mistake. They dueled, and dueled, and the demigods watched, the monsters watched, all in harmony. Gaea swung downwards, before Perseus deflected, and sent her sword flying from her hands, far beyond recovery, and Gaea, tired, knelt before Perseus.

"Yield?"

"I Yield, Brother." She said, before lowering her head.

"I shall see you soon, sis." Perseus said, as he lopped her head off.

Until I Bleed Out.

Until I Bleed Out.

Perseus was now on Olympus, along with much of the demigod population, but he wasn't with them. He was sitting on a bench, looking at a pond. He was just thinking over the deaths of the war, and what's next. He felt a presence approaching, a goddess, Artemis, he thought.

"Quite a show you put on out there." She said, sitting next to him.

"Only the most dramatics for the kings and queens of dramatics."

"What curse was Gaea talking about, Perseus?" He froze.

"You're asking a dangerous question." Percy nearly growled.

"I'm only curious. Why is that so dangerous?"

"It's long before your time. When I served under the manipulation and evil master that was Order."

Artemis frowned. "Was?" she asked.

"He's faded. In the void. Long gone, but still influences our worlds as we know them."
"That's who you contacted to go supernova versus Gaea, wasn't it?"

Percy's head fell into his hands. "Unfortunately."

"So what was so heavy in value about this curse?"

Percy leaned back, and raised his head. And visualized his past, newly remembered.

"I was Order's right hand man, his top general in war. Nobody was more powerful than me, other than him and his sister. One day, this girl showed up at our castle, yelling peace offerings, claiming to be the daughter of Chaos. I took her to Order, and he proved her claims correct. Chaos thought that if her daughter and Order's son were to marry, then the friendship that they once shared would be mended. She was wrong. Order was dying, fading to eternity, never to be seen again, and his paranoia of me grew. It was already set in stone I was to inherit great amounts of power once one of the two original creators faded. Written in stone to keep the balance of power even. Order feared he was losing me, I was going to Chaos' side, and that we would kill him soon enough, all because of Chaos' daughter."

"What was her name?" Artemis asked

"Annabeth." he breathed. Artemis gasped.

"In his dying breaths, Order placed an eternal curse on us, that every time we reached the point of marriage, or she gets her memories back, she is to die, and I am to lose my memories, until I regain them. He wanted eternal suffering for me and eternal hatred between him and Chaos. There was no other option. I've been searching for hundreds of thousands of years for a way around the curse, a lifting, a potion, a spell, and nothing works. I've had the greatest magicians and wizards try to remove it, even Chaos herself, but Order has woven his words in such a way where the curse was untouchable by anyone other than himself. Such a cruel game, but a cruel game is a game I'm willing to play. So I fall in love every time, and every time, she dies in front of my eyes, and there is nothing I can do to stop it. When she died now, I had faced enough torment for thousands of lifetimes over, and I knew I had reached an end. So I struck a deal. I am to no longer be cursed, and I will have one lifetime with her, and I will be at peak power for the entirety of this lifetime, however, once I die, I will return to Order's side, to become his general once again, to kill, murder, and to restore balance to his name."

"But I thought he faded?"

"He has, but with such there is always a way back for someone like him. I am required to become Order, he will manifest within me and we will become one in one. Father and Son." Percy said, looking out into the moonlight.

A twig snapped behind them. Artemis looked back, but Percy's eyes stood fixed on the moonlight.

"You're a brave one, Aether."

"Not as brave as you, brother. The risk you take with this deal is… immense. It will lead to great wars, great deaths. Chronos and Ananke have foresaw such. However, it seems that she will remain with you, no matter what." Percy's gaze flicked back to Aether, immediately.

"You lie."

"I do not do such sins, brother."

"She is destined to die finally in this life, you know it as damn well as I do!" Percy yelled, now face to face with the shorter Aether, before teleporting away, to who knows where.

"I thought so too, brother. But, there is something that prevents her from dying. Maybe your final twist in your story." Aether pondered, walking to sit on the bench.

Aether sat, and turned towards Artemis.

"He will kill you." Aether said, calmly.

"W-What?" Artemis stuttered.

"Every deal comes with a sacrifice, young one. Believe that. His sacrifice was that in order to live one last lifetime, where he can achieve his dreams, at the end, in his ascension with Order, Earth will be destroyed. He will slaughter every single Olympian brutally, and you will be able to do nothing about it."

Artemis' was shaking at this point. Not every day that a protogenoi tells you your fate.

"It will be a glorious day, that one. All of your god race people squashed like bugs under the foot of what is to be my brother's true fate. His true power."

Artemis was scared. Very scared.

"Won't Chaos be able to do something?" Aether laughed.

"Honey, do you know why Perseus is so powerful?" she shook her head. "Chaos split her power up among us, her children, and we have been passing it down, all the way down to you little fools." Aether said, poking Artemis in the nose after 'fools.'

"On the other hand, Order has had one biological son, Perseus. His true inheritor, and Perseus has kept every bit of that power. Yes, Order has somewhat faded and is weakened, but that power must go somewhere, it cannot disappear. Once Order has ascended, and combined with Perseus, Order will be gone, truly, and fade. Perseus will remain Perseus, only his power to increase hundredfold. Nothing will be able to stop him, even mother. Our only hope is that we pray that he doesn't get greedy."

"What-What about the protogenoi? Won't you guys stand a chance? There's a lot of you? Maybe if we combined-" Aether hushed Artemis.

"We are but bugs, in Perseus's windshield. He will not even glance at us, and we will be dead. For we have all accepted it. Gaea has already begun to fade, and there will be more, I promise you. Remember this: Order's curse was his greatest creation, for the torment of his son has sealed the fate of the universe, quite genius, I might say. I would've never thought of such trickery. Perseus has realized it by now, what he is to gain. I do not see why he doesn't see the idea that Annabeth will stay with him. His only weakness, but his greatest strength. Such irony! I love it." Aether giggled.
"I must go! Artemis, please try to relay what I've told you to your brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers, for the fate of the universe is sealed! Gosh, what a glorious time to be alive!" Aether kept giggling, before teleporting away.

X

"I know what comes next, Annabeth."

He stood in Greece, where the arrow hit her throat.

"I don't know how, but we're to meet again. And I will fall in love again. For the last time. Only to die again, but this time it is different."

He knelt.

"We'll die together, I'm sure of it, and I'll go gain power, so much that I'll be the strongest in the universe. I can- I can avoid death. I can make us both immortal. We can live our lives once again, as partners, as lovers, together." he smiled, and a tear dropped on the dry, blood-stained stone.

"I love you more than anything in the world." a voice said behind him.

Perseus' head whirled so fast he could've gave himself whiplash, but he was met with the most beautiful girl in the world. Grey eyes, blonde curls, everything that he dreamed of. He ran to her, and hugged her, and didn't let go.

"I can't breathe you stupid, ugly, hunk of meat." she stuttered at him. He pulled away.

"You're- You're alive." he stammered. "It worked. It all worked."

"You made a deal that was very questionable Percy, but the intention makes it all go away." She leaned up, and kissed him.

It was the most glorious kiss he'd ever had. She pulled away, smiling. He put his hands on her shoulders, struggling to get the right words out.

"I've- I've plotted it all out, everything, I'll be able to make sure we can live together once again, and nothing will be able to interfere. I'll destroy anything in our way. I do not care who it is, Olympian, Guardian, Norse or whatever. It'll die by my hand if it wishes to stop me from coming back to you." he said, and tears dropped from his face.

"I love you more than anything in the world, and I'll do anything to protect us. I want to live my life with you, Annabeth." She had tears drop from her face aswell.

"I love you too, Perseus." and they kissed again, before he teleported them to a villa somewhere in France.

"Where are we?"

"Somewhere nobody will be able to find us. I want to cherish as much time as possible." Percy said, still completely dumbfounded that she was here.

"But Percy, the friends we have in America…" Percy sighed.

"I know… I know… I just don't want you to leave me. Ever again. I don't think I'd be able to control myself if you left again. I'll fight for you- for us, forever and ever. I swear on my life."

"I do like the sound of King Perseus of the Universe…" Annabeth giggled.

"I like the sound of Queen Annabeth more" Perseus smiled. "How about a tour of the villa?" Percy offered.

"I'd like to start with the bedroom." Annabeth whispered in his ear.

"Gladly."