The Darkness Within the Sea

by GallifreyanDemigoddess

Persephone Jackson, the two-times Heroine of Olympus, was not recovering well after the war(s) and Tartarus. She moves to a small town in Virginia with her family, hoping to have a normal life. There was only one problem: Mystic Falls was a monster-infected town. There, as new friendships are formed, she explores the darkness within the sea (within herself) in an attempt to heal.

11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: Percy Jackson & the Olympians, Heroes of Olympus and The trails of Apollo don't belong to me, obviously. Same goes for The Vampire Diaries and The Originals.

The links for the girls outfit for the masquerade ball are on my profile.

English is not my native language so I am very sorry for the mistakes I might have.

...

Chapter 11

...

"We're willing to let you aid us in our mission," Annabeth stared at Damon, Stefan and Alaric, to then meet Percy's eyes. "But for that we need to trust each other. We need to know Katherine's plans, the reason she's back and why is that little stone so important."

"It'll be to no avail if we kill her but her plans carry on." Percy continued, crossing her arms over her chest, discretely feeling for the little moonstone she'd taken from the well without the Lockwood werewolf noticing.

"We have a deal," Stefan faced Annabeth, pointing briefly to the raven-haired girl at her side. "Percy and us, a peaceful treaty."

Annabeth raised her eyebrows. "I am aware of that."

Stefan nodded. "It means something to us. We hope it means something to you too."

Before anyone else could say something, Damon piped in with a, "What my brother is trying to say is, basically: you do something against us, we kill you."

Anger made the raven-haired demigoddess squirm, but she said nothing, knowing her friend was more than capable of defending herself.

"I'd like to see you try," Replied the grey-eyed girl. "Leech."

Damon took a threatening step forwards, but was promptly pulled back by his brother and best friend.

Percy and Alaric shared a look, and then the younger girl took a step forwards. "We're here to plan the murder of Katherine Pierce, not ours, so just fucking chill and stop acting like impulsive idiots."

"She started it-"

"What are you, five?" Annabeth mocked the vampire.

Percy sighed exasperatedly, sharing a look with Stefan and Alaric. "Mr. Saltzman, tell us about the curse Katherine wants to break, please." She begged him.

"Please-" Stefan interrupted them, one of his hands actually making the motion of stopping something. "Just promise me that whatever happens, Elena stays out of this. I don't want her involved in any of this."

The two half-goddesses in the room took a moment to process his request, sharing a curious look before the dark-haired girl shrugged and nodded.

"You're telling me vampires are capable of love?" Annabeth raised her eyebrows, startled. "You love a human girl?"

"Very Edward and Bella," Percy joked to herself.

"Vampires are capable of pretty much anything a human can do," Damon forced a smile at the blonds girl, choosing to ignore the Twilight comment. "Though we're better by far."

"The better species in the room begs to differ."

Damon blinked at the blonde demigoddess. "Oh, you mean Percy?"

Said girl looked at him, frowning in confusion.

He seemed to rejoice in the way those grey eyes flared dangerously, and said with a thoughtful expression:
"We've seen Percy use her freaky water powers a couple of times. We, however, have never seen you do anything. What help could you be to us?"

The blonde demigoddess lost her mind over that petty little comment. "I don't need powers to destroy you-"

Percy grabbed her and pulled her back before she could actually pounce on the vampire. "Control your hubris, Wise Girl. And you, shut the fuck up before I make you forget your name."

Damon smirked, and all but purred out his words. "You can make me forget all you want, sweetheart."

"Alright," Percy sighed, settling her very tired eyes on the only human in the room. "Please, do tell us the story before I let my friend commit murder on this very tiresome vampire."

Damon put his hand over his dead heart was, faux hurt.

Alaric obliged. "We don't really know much about it. The Sun and Moon Curse is an ancient Aztec curse that a great shaman put 1000 years ago on vampires and werewolves. The curse decreed that the werewolves would only be able to turn into a werewolf on a full moon, and that the vampires would be weakened by the sun, which made the werewolves servants of the moon, and the vampires slaves to the sun."

"We know that," Percy told him politely. "What else?"

"We are yet to know how to break it or what elements are required to begin the ritual," Stefan shook his head. "All we know is that the moonstone is important."

"It mustn't fall into wrong hands," Damon looked at Percy, but didn't mention to his brother the fact that he knew where the moonstone was.

Percy was surprised, having thought that he'd tell everyone she had it.

"We also know that Mason didn't really want to break the curse, but that he was actually doing it only because it was what Katherine wanted," Annabeth continued, deep in thoughts by then.

Something wasn't right, something about that curse seemed strange.

"But, why would Katherine want this curse to break? She's not selfless, she's far from it. Not to mention that she would be giving werewolves the power to destroy ever single vampire in existence-"

"Oh, gods, that's tempting," Percy almost purred those words, heat surging through her whole body at the thought of destroying a whole species so easily. The darkness she'd tried to repress almost screamed at that, almost tasting victory.

The vampires and vampire hunter scowled almost at the same time, thinking almost the same. Gods?

"I agree." Annabeth smirked.

Stefan agreed with Damon. "There must be a reason for her to want the curse broken. There's something she wants, something she desires."

The daughter of Poseidon thought back to the way Katherine had mentioned something about the Original Vampires.

After a second, she waved that thought aside.

There was no way all that mess was related.

"Anyways, with that discussed, let's talk about how we're going to act tomorrow." Annabeth cleared her throat.

"Tomorrow she dies," Percy said icily, fueled by hatred as she remembered the way Katherine had thrown Annabeth across the room. Her veins ached with rage, hating the image of her friend laying unconscious on the floor. "It has to be tomorrow."

The raven-haired teenager wasn't willing to jeopardize her education any longer; college awaited her. Life outside of high-school awaited her.

Hopefully, if Asclepius managed to make her demons disappear, happiness awaited her.

"Katherine dies tomorrow," Stefan and Alaric echoed, feeling obliged to.

They looked at Damon, doubt on their eyes. He had loved her for 145 years. That was something not easily forgotten.

"Salvatore?" Annabeth glared at him, catching the way the others seemed to doubt him.

"Tomorrow," He agreed.

And so, the murder of Katherine Pierce was planned.

...

Both demigoddesses refused to stay longer than necessary at the Boarding House, so when all was planned, they walked away. Damon accompanied them, possibly thinking they could be killed in such a long trip.

"You are so observant," Damon commented sarcastically when the blonde demigoddess mentioned how ridiculous it was for him to walk with them when they were perfectly capable of walking alone.

"And you're a fucking asshole."

The blonde demigoddess huffed and then walked as fast as she could without running, distancing herself from her friend and the vampire.

Damon smirked. "Language."

The blonde girl raised her left hand, giving him the middle finger without even turning.

Damon's smirk widened, if it was even possible.

When she was finally out of earshot, Percy slapped Damon's arm. "What did you do to anger Annabeth?"

"You mean she's usually not this cheerful and polite?" Damon raised his eyebrows. Percy gave him a look, and he simply shrugged. "I made a comment about blondes-"

Percy groaned, disgusted. "Ugh, say no more. Really, shut up, I can't stand you."

"I love you too, goddess."

Percy stopped, holding one hand out for Damon to stop too. She looked back at her house, seeing her parents eyeing her from one of the windows and Annabeth waiting for her by the door.

Damon raised his eyebrows at her, confused by her sudden stop. "What is it? Oh, right, okay, no flirting with you-"

"Shut up, that's not it. Listen to me," Percy's hand on his arm felt warm. He frowned, confused. "We have to talk."

Truthfully, the green-eyed demigoddess wasn't sure why she was having that conversation with him. The only thing she was sure of was that she wanted Katherine dead; she was endangering Mystic Falls…

She had endangered Annabeth.
That she could never, ever, forget nor forgive.

Damon took a moment to process her words, then narrowed his eyes. "Know the whole life story?" He pushed her hand away.

"Nope," Percy shook her head. "Listen, I just know you had a thing with Katherine-"

"And you think I'm going to fuck it all-!" Damon's scowl was venomous.

"I'm not doubting you, unlike your brother, I know how complicated love is." She paused, thinking that maybe she should've said nothing. "I just wanted to let you know that I won't let Katherine get away this time. I promise you I will end her."

And I need to you promise that you won't back down when Katherine starts begging for her life.

Percy thought about how painful it could be to see someone you love, or loved, dying. The last thing she wanted, or needed, was Damon or Stefan backing down at the last moment.

For Stefan she wasn't really worried, he had Elena. But Damon? He had no one.

"You pity me," Damon looked sick. "You discovered what happened between Katherine and me, and you pity me, so you decide to add me to your little murder plans-"

"Pity you? No, please," Percy scoffed. "I can't pity you for loving someone. That's something pure, something good."

"Oh, but you're wrong," Damon glared at her, almost spitting his words out. "I loved her; she never loved me. It was Stefan who always had her heart. There's nothing pure, nothing good, about being used."

There was more history to the Salvatore brothers and Katherine Pierce than she could ever imagine.

How painful that must've been. To love someone to the depths of your heart, only to have them prefer your sibling.

"Damon, I'm so sorry." Percy said sincerely. "I can only imagine how much that hurts."

The vampire watched her carefully, desiring to know if the young girl was being honest about her words or not. He could only see sincerity on her eyes, so he accepted her words with a curt nod.

"I know you're taking it quite personal because Katherine hurt your friend, you clearly care about her. But my brother and I have more reason to want her gone. This is our fight."

"Damon, I just want to make sure you'll be alright," Percy said carefully. "Seeing someone you love, or loved, dead isn't pretty."

And because I need you to be ready for when Katherine dies. Percy wanted him to understand that whatever happened, Katherine would die. There was no way she would let her escape again. He had to be ready to see her dead, to understand that he wouldn't see her ever again.

Because if he tried to stop her from killing Katherine, she wouldn't hesitate to kill him.

"Do you know that by experience?"

The question was so unexpected and sudden that it made the young girl froze, her breath dying on her throat.

Damon watched her carefully, a glimpse of malice on his eyes. "It's painful, is it not? To be forcefully reminded of your past?"

"You don't know anything about my past," Her voice was hard, an edge of anger there that he found entertaining.

"Neither do you about mine. Yet you still opened your mouth and talked about what didn't concern you."

She opened her mouth to start retorting, "I-"

Damon cut her off. "I'm not willing to live up to anyone's expectations, Percy. You might know something about my past, but you don't truly know me. Don't you dare make another speculations about who I am or what I would or would not do." He wanted Katherine gone, end of the story.

"Damon-" Percy started, but didn't know how to continue. The vampire was right.

"I'm not the good guy and I will never be."

The next words that came out of her mouth were just something impulsive her mind thought but that she never processed before saying. "I know."

Damon looked like he was just hit.

They stared at each other for some long seconds.

Why did he look so hurt? Anxiety filled her stomach and she wondered if what he was wanting to hear was that she had faith in him, even if she didn't. The truth hurt, but it was something she always preferred over a lie. And she was honest with Damon.

Percy looked back briefly when she heard the main door open. Paul was at the porch, looking at them with his arms crossed over his chest. For once he actually looked more like a strict parent than the handsome model she often thought him to be. She looked back at where Damon had been, but he was gone.

"Come inside, Percy." Paul voice was kind, warm. "It's late."

The young demigoddess knew they had lots of things to discuss before the night ended. They deserved to know about the attack, after all. Not the whole thing, though. They didn't need to worry more about the messy situation she had gotten herself involved in.

"I'm coming, Paul."

She entered the house, not before looking back at the Salvatore's Boarding House in the short-distance that separated their houses.

Paul guided her gently towards the kitchen, where they found Sally waiting for them. Annabeth was nowhere to be seen, which made Percy think she had gone upstairs to give them some privacy.

Sally trapped her in a gigantic hug.

"I'm fine, mom," Percy chuckled, but melted into the loving embrace of her mother.

"How are you?" Paul asked, rubbing her back gently when she separated from Sally. "What happened earlier?"

"I took care of the situation," Percy assured them, a bit tense at the memory of Mason Lockwood. "I'm sorry for the mess I created. Mom, I destroyed your favorite table, and there's a hole in the wall. I tried to fix it but it was impossible."

"Oh, none of that matters!" Sally rolled her eyes. "What matters is that you're safe. Don't look at us like that, dear, we're fine. That monster only made us fall asleep."

"Still, I should've been there to protect you instead of being moping in my room," She lamented.

Sally and Paul shared a look, then rolled their eyes almost at the same time. Percy had to fight hard to hide the smile that threatened to show on her young face. That was the good thing about them, about her parents, that they were able to understand that as a demigoddess, monsters were going to attack her, and they weren't easily frightened by them.

"We can protect ourselves," Paul reminded her, smiling in a way that was almost smug. "Actually, it's kind of thrilling to fight monsters. Love, do you remember when I shot down that monster in Manhattan?"

"I do remember," Sally chuckled. "I killed another monster myself."

Percy grinned at them. "And that was totally badass of you two."

Sally and Paul shared a grin. He took one of her hands on his own and kissed her palm very gently, muttering something that only Sally heard, ("That's my queen"), which made her blush lightly, a warm, loving smile on her face.

"I love you," Sally brightened, already deeply lost on her husband's eyes.

"And I you."

Percy looked away, a little uncomfortable.

Her parents noticed, and both blushed at how easily they had forgotten about her there with them.

"Should we inform Chiron about the attack?" Paul asked, clearing his throat.

Sally looked anxious, and said, "Do you want to go back to Camp?"

Of course she wanted to go back, New York was her home. Camp was her home.

But it was gone now, that part of her life where she lived there was long gone.

All the good times she spent there were just a distant memory that threatened to dissolve with every passing second. She had a new life now, a life in another state.

A life that she needed to get used to before it was too late.

Percy had to get used to many, many things. Moving around being one of them. From Manhattan to Mystic Falls, then at the end of the year to California, to a camp that wasn't the one she practically grew up at. While she liked Camp Jupiter, she was starting to feel kind of empty at the thought of changing her beloved Camp Half-Blood for it.

But then she imagined herself in Camp Jupiter with Annabeth. All she could see was light, a place where they could build a future.

A place where they could grow old together and find happiness.

She was swallowed by something that felt like a flashback but wasn't. She had a glimpse of a modern, clean apartment in New York. An attractive blonde man accompanied by two identical little girls with blonde hair and sea-green eyes, the three of them laughing and looking like a happy family. Percy felt herself walking in their direction, like drawn to them, drawn to the light they irradiated. They looked up, their faces brightening upon seeing her. The twin girls jumped on her and kissed her, squealing. The blonde man chuckled and moved to kiss his wife, asking her how her day at work had been.

And she was happy, she was whole.

And that was why she hated to think of the future.

Gaea's vision had always bothered both Apollo and her greatly; it was a vision of all they could never have.
Percy always tried not to think about it, but she heard the word "future" and that plagued her mind.

"Dear?" Sally's voice sounded almost far away.

"No," Percy was grateful for the interruption. "I'm staying here."

"Are you sure?"

"Think it through, love" Sally moved to the refrigerator and bent down to look for something. "You safety comes first. If you have to go, we understand."

"I'm fine," Percy smiled, sincerely smiled. "Or I will be, I promise."

She thought of Camp Jupiter with Annabeth again, and that was enough to make her regain her joyfulness.
And Hades, even thinking about Gaea's tempting vision made her jubilant.

That would never happen, not with Apollo, but so what? Having a house and a husband and children was something she still wanted. It was a part of her future that she would be able to have eventually, and the thought of living long enough to get it made her happy.

A normal, loving family of her own. Without Kronos in her life, without the gods ruining everything for her.

Yes; she desired that, desperately.

"So I was thinking that-" Sally started.

The daughter of Poseidon planted a kiss on her cheek, making her laugh delightedly, uttering a "Percy!" that echoed through the room.

"You're either happy or just wanted me to shut up," Sally noticed with delight, straightening and holding a water bottle towards her husband. "Oh, dear gods above, our daughter is happy."

"Is there a reason for said happiness?" Paul grinned, accepting the bottle his wife offered him.

Percy was lost for words. Asclepius words came back to her, and she couldn't hide the brilliant smile that cornered her lips. She shrugged her shoulders, still irradiating some kind of new light.

"I'm just hopeful for the future, I guess."

Looking at it now, actually thinking about the situation instead of gulping it all down as she had earlier that night, she realized that she was indeed feeling a powerful hope that set her bones on fire and made her want to scream out from excitement.

She was going to get better.

She was going to learn how to control her urges.

She was going to stop seeing Kronos everywhere!

Oh, gods of Olympus.

She was going to be the girl she used to be.

Her happiness was fractured when an ugly thought crossed her mind, a voice alike Kronos' own raspy, hoarse one whispering doubts at her.I won't be destroyed so easily, child. Not this time.

No. Percy gasped out. I won't let you bring me down again.

Her stepfather seemed content with the last thing she had said. He clapped his hands once, and said, "That's the spirit, dear. Now why don't you go upstairs and wait with Annabeth while we make a quick dinner for you two, huh? Does that sound good, honey?"

Percy forced a smile at them. "You got it, Paul."

As the young demigoddess turned and headed for the staircase, Sally sighed happily, leaning into Paul and smiling when he kissed her forehead. One of her hands found her still plain stomach, caressing gently at it as she wondered when would it be a good time to tell her daughter the news.

"Soon," Paul kissed her cheek lovingly. "Soon we'll tell her."

"Soon we'll be a proper family."

"I'm just worried about her reaction," Paul admitted. "I don't want her to think she's less important now. She's seventeen so I shouldn't worry so much about it, but I really don't want to damage the relationship I've managed to maintain with her."

"Oh, Paul. You know Percy-"

"Not as well as you," Paul shook his head. "She's still getting used to me, to us. We've been married for almost two years now, but-"

"Stop worrying, she loves you." Sally said, keeping her voice down in case her daughter could still hear them from the stairs. "This is something important; I want to be able to speak with her without any sort of interruption. You saw what happened today, that monster-"

"Maybe tomorrow there won't be any interruption." Paul said, always the optimistic. "No monsters, no friends coming over to visit, no interruptions of any kind."

"Maybe," Sally agreed, sighing. "I hope so."

...

There were dark waters between the daughter of Poseidon and the daughter of Athena. That much was obvious. After all, there was bound to be some hesitancy between them after what happened.

Percy entered her room feeling optimistic and hopeful. Feelings that died away when it was evident that her best friend didn't want to see her.

I told you so. I told you she was ashamed of you.

"Look, Anna-" Percy started to say after the silence was unbearable and Kronos' voice seemed to get louder. "I don't know what to tell you. I can't change what happened. I understand that it bothers you, so if you want to leave, you're free to do it."

Are you ashamed of yourself too, Persephone? She felt his laughter, and started to see his shape forming close to the closet at her left side. It started at the face, Luke's once handsome face- now covered in red blotches. Then it was his chest and his arms, and finally his feet. His whole body seemed to be red, like he'd taken an excruciatingly long sun-tan. It frightened her so much that she quickly looked away and forced her heart to calm down, now knowing that it was only a hallucination and that it couldn't really hurt her. How sweet, you want her to leave town so she doesn't see what a mess you are.

"I'm just-" Annabeth breathed out. "Percy, you tore his heart out!"

It won't work. Even a blind man would notice the mess you are.

"I-" Percy closed her mouth. "I know."

Annabeth was in silence for another long while, shaking her head all the while.

Then she looked up, fire on her stormy-grey eyes. "This thing you have with Kronos is clearly damaging you, controlling you even-"

Kronos started to walk around the blonde demigoddess, even daring to put one of his burned out hands on her neck, almost like he wanted to choke her. What he did was worst; he licked at her neck. How kind of her, but she doesn't believe that. She's just saying what you want to hear.

"-We need to find a way to get it fixed. I won't lose you too to Kronos, I'll fight him myself if I have to."

She looked to where she'd last seen Kronos, but there was nothing there. Annabeth seemed normal, then Percy reminded herself that it was an actual hallucination; her friend couldn't feel Kronos licking her.

Her anxiety started to leave her body.

She was safe.

"There's no need for that," Percy said, though deeply touched by those words. "Kronos is still rotting in Tartarus. I'm the one with the problem."

A couple of seconds passed in complete silence.

"Oh." The blonde girl breathed out after what felt like a thousand years. "Oh, Percy, I am so sorry. But how?"

How? Tartarus, Hera messing with her mind, fucking Gaea resurfacing. That was how.

"Artemis checked Tartarus with Uncle Hades and found that Kronos' essence is still scattered down there. They put two and two together..." Percy sighed tiredly, moving one hand over her hair. "So Artemis sent Asclepius to me."

Annabeth was surprised and devastated. She was relieved it wasn't that Kronos was actually back, no one wanted nor needed another war. But the concern she was expressing for her friend's mental health was heart-wrenching.

"Asclepius, you say? Apollo's son?" She asked quietly, her mind working extra-fast by then.

"That would be him, yes."

"He's a great doctor," Annabeth assured Percy, nodding thoughtfully, though clearly stressed. "Last year when I was working on how to re-build the infirmary, I saw him. What I saw Asclepius do to an injured nymph was truly astounding."

"That I've heard. He assured me he can help me, so there's something worth looking forwards to."

"When do you start meeting him? And where? How will the sessions be?"

"We start tomorrow, as for where and how it will be, I don't know. But he promised to help me get through everything and vowed to do all he can to help me overcome this thing-"

"PTSD," Annabeth added helpfully.

"I know the name, Wise Girl, I don't like using it."

There was yet another pause between them.

The blonde demigoddess shook her head and forced a big smile to her friend. "Cheer up, that means you will get over it! A god will help you, and know some gods are quite stubborn when they want to do something."

Percy nodded, though couldn't seem to find the happiness and hope she had just minutes before.

"You will make it, I know it. I'm here for you, now and always." Annabeth promised.

"Thank you," Percy said truthfully.

"We all are, all of us-"

"No, no," The daughter of the sea was quick to shook her head. "Our friends cannot know about this."

"Alright, I respect your decision, Seaweed Brain. But there's someone that deserves to know about the situation, remember? Nico. He's going through the same thing as you...as us."

Too immerse on his own demons and how to control them, the son of Hades had a ray of sunshine on his life to help him, quite literally. Percy didn't want to be the unnecessary burden on his shoulders.

"Remember," Annabeth added gently. "You are not alone. You have us. You have me."

No. Annabeth was busy looking for her cousin and also working to keep her grades up.

Nico had Will.

The seven and Reyna weren't close enough for her to actually seek their support.

She loved them and would die for them, but some things were too personal to share.

Apollo wasn't in her life anymore.

Hermes wasn't really around lately.

Her parents were busy, (she hadn't seen Poseidon in months) and she'd rather die than admit to them that she was sick.

She had no one.

That was something she was forced to face alone.

"I'll call him tomorrow, after we kill that vampire. It's been a while since we last IM'd each other."

The daughter of Athena moved to sit at the bed, thoughtfully watching her friend move around the room. Percy searched for something to do, anything else to say, but had nothing.

"I'm tired," She said quietly, almost to herself.

"What did Artemis say?" Annabeth asked out of nowhere. "What were her exact words regarding Kronos' and Tartarus?" It could be important, she was sure of that.

Percy closed her eyes and rested her back against the nearest wall. "I dunno, she wasn't here."

"Artemis wasn't here?"

The raven-haired demigoddess shrugged again in answer, hiding how much that hurt her. They had been close. But apparently, like everything good in her life, that was ancient history.

"She didn't even call? No I.M?"

"Not really. I mean, she left me a letter with Asclepius-"

"What are you waiting for then? It might be important! Go on, read her letter!"

"But it's downstairs," Percy complained. "At the table, and I'm tired. I want to sleep. And eat. But mostly sleep."

"You're impossible," The blonde demigoddess rolled her eyes. "Should I read it for you? Knowing you and your lazy ass, you won't even get through the first line without complaining. And don't you dare give me the dyslexia card. I am dyslexic too yet I read."

"I like to read," Percy defended herself. "I don't do it often but I do read- oh, never mind. Yes, please; read the letter for me and tell me what it says."

The green-eyed girl was too tired to actually care about the letter, even if it was from Artemis.

The grey-eyed beauty tried to hide a smile at that, but couldn't. "I'll be right back."

But Annabeth's "I'll be right back" was a complete lie. Percy was drifting away into Morpheus arms, half an hour later, when a light tap on her shoulder waked her. The first thing her sea-green eyes saw were a pair of stormy-grey ones. She blinked a couple of times to focus on that familiar face.

"Oh, hey, sorry I fell asleep-" She moved her fingers under her chin, worried she might've been drooling again.

"I need you to be properly awake, Seaweed Brain."

The way she looked intrigued the other demigoddess so much that she was able to shake her sleep off her, and moved to a sitting position. She moved to take Riptide from under her pillow, but stopped when her friend shook her head.

"No, no, there's no need for that," The blonde girl hesitated a little, then offered her a broken envelope with a golden parchment inside. It took her a moment to realize it was Artemis' letter. When she did, a groan escaped her lips.

"Are you seriously waking me up to tell me to read?"

"Percy, it's not from Artemis."

That confused the green-eyed, raven-haired teenager. "What do you mean it's not from Artemis?" It had to be, it had an A on top and that goddess had been the one to send Asclepius to her, there was no one else that would want to write her.

She shook her head. "Read it."

Percy scowled at her and then at the letter between her fingers.

"Wise Girl, you're frightening me. Just tell me what's wrong, who is this letter from?"

She didn't want to admit she was scared to open and read it. Her friend's face was too sympathetic for her liking.

Panic overcame her senses, and she grabbed the letter from her friend's hands almost violently. She was about to take the parchment out of the envelope when a knock on the door made both girls jump. Annabeth swiftly motioned to Percy to hide the letter, and she did. The door flew open and Sally appeared before them, eyebrows raised in contemplation. "Girls, dinner has been ready for almost an hour now. What are you two waiting for? Are you not hungry?"

They were there, frozen on spot with their hearts hammering wildly. Every single time something remotely important happened, one of Percy's parents would come upstairs and interrupt them.
Every single time.

"Nonsense, I'm always hungry, mom."

Percy rose from the bed and moved to follow her mother, the letter still hidden on her jean pockets. Her friend tugged at her arm and shook her head discretely, eyes firmly set on her pocket and the bulge on it.

"Don't read it downstairs."

Annoyed with all the mystery that letter seemed to contain, Percy scowled at her friend, but listened to her, knowing her friend probably had a reason to say so. She left the letter on her bed, and then they descended behind the sea's daughter's mom.

"We made you your favorite. We figured you deserved it after fighting a monster for the first time in months."

Both demigoddesses flinched at the unknown lie.

They entered the kitchen, with the daughter of Poseidon purposely ignoring the wide hole in the wall that she could perfectly see from her spot at the table, besides the daughter of Athena and in front of her mother, who had already ate but wanted to keep them company.

They forced the food down their throats, no longer hungry but anxious. Sally noticed their efforts to hide whatever was bothering them, and tried to distract them.

"Dear, do you have plans for tomorrow?"

It was an honest question, so she was confused when both girls flinched.

Percy swallowed the food she'd been chewing before nodding. "Mhm. We're going shopping first thing in the morning, and since it's been ages since we had some fun, we thought of going to the masquerade party you mentioned a while back."

That's where they've planned to kill Katherine at. Stefan and Damon wanted to make it public. At first the demigoddesses refused, thinking of the mortals around them, but in the end accepted.

"I leave Mystic Falls the day after tomorrow," Annabeth added nonchalantly, picking at her food. "We decided to have some fun before my departing. You know, girl stuff."

Girl stuff was getting a cute, pink dress or gossiping about cute and/or hot boys.

Girl stuff was definitely not planning on buying a red dress so Katherine's blood wouldn't stain her dress. Still, Percy was sure her friend would look gorgeous in red.

"What color of dresses have you thought of?" Sally inquired.

"Red, like the blood of my enemies," Annabeth joked, stone-faced.

"Blue..." Percy shrugged. "Though preferably golden. I like how white and golden looks."

"Blue and gold looks rather good too," Sally suggested. "But it has to be dark blue."

"And black and gold," Annabeth jumped suddenly. "Please, Seaweed Brain, you got to find a black dress with gold accessories. You'll look like a queen."

"A queen and someone who dresses like the blood of their enemies. I think we make quite a team."

Sally laughed when the demigoddesses shared a high-five.

They stayed talking for a long while, but when it got too late, Annabeth and Percy went to bed.

As Percy reached out to take the letter that had been haunting her mind for hours, Annabeth stopped her.

"Don't," She said softly, gently. "Let's just go to bed."

Percy wanted to point out that her anxiety regarding that letter had been caused by her, but, too tired to actually point it out, she nodded and let herself be consumed by Morpheus arms again, Annabeth's own arms wrapping themselves around her waist, pulling her to herself.

Percy didn't question it. She was thankful for the warm contact.

"Hey, Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth asked seconds before drifting to sleep.

"Mmm?"

"Don't drool on me, please."

She laughed, despite herself. "I can't promise anything."

...

The following morning, Percy was getting ready to go out and buy a dress when her mother barged into her room, scowling while saying that someone was looking for her. Curious and confused, the demigoddess went down, only to see her neighbor at the door, looking cross and annoyed.

"Hi, Damon," She greeted politely, knowing her mother was watching intently their conversation.

"We have a complication," Damon started upon seeing her. "It's getting quite hard to contact you lately, why don't you have a phone?"

"What happened?" Percy asked, alarmed. She felt for Riptide on her pockets, but didn't actually took it out.

"Where's your friend?"

"Taking a bath," Percy replied, then repeated. "What happened?"

Damon motioned her to step away, looking behind Percy, where the young girl was sure her mother was discretely keeping an eye on her. Sally used to find Damon charming, but it alarmed her how much they'd been seeing each other. The least she wanted was her daughter to have another relationship with an older man.

When Percy stepped outside and closed the door behind her back, Damon inclined his head towards hers to be as quiet as possible.

"You're gonna love this," He said sarcastically. "Caroline saw Katherine today at the Grill. She sent us a nice, polite message. Either we hand her the moonstone or she rips this town apart until it rains blood. Oh, and she wants us to meet her at the masquerade ball."

Percy had been frowning since hearing the threat against the mortals, but at the end of his sentence, she started to smirk.

"We have her where we want her to be," She breathed out, a dangerous gleam on her green eyes. "She's desperate, killing her werewolf probably threw her off guard."

"We're going to need a witch," Damon pointed out, stressing his words.

"Why?" Percy frowned, against the idea of having a witch with them that night, much less if said witch was Bonnie Bennett.

"Knowing Katherine like I do, she probably has a witch with her and will find a way to protect herself against any attempt we might make to overthrown her. Is there any way you or your blonde friend happen to be witches?"

"I told you already, I am no witch," Percy rolled her eyes, exasperated. "We're perfectly able to take her down without having to retort to a witch, but if it makes you feel better, I can contact a friend of mine."

"Perfect," Damon interrupted her. "So we have a witch, two vampires, a vampire hunter and two unknown species."

Percy ignored his lame attempt at being told what she was, and grinned. "She's going down tonight."

"Listen," Damon said suddenly. "Ric's coming over to the Boarding House in a few..." He let the statement hang in the air, shrugging.

"Well, um, we're going shopping for dresses. But we'll be there," Percy promised. "Um, I'll call my friend too, so the three of us will be there before we leave. I suppose you want to go over the plan again, right?"

"How will your friend arrive here before tonight if you still haven't talked to her? New York is far away-"

"She lives in California," Percy interrupted him. "And she'll manage, don't worry about that."

As he was walking away towards his own house, Damon stopped and turned back to look at her, hesitating a little before making his mind and nodding.

"Be careful," He said, voice gentle. He felt the urge to protect her and watch out for her well-being, which was ridiculous since he knew she was more than capable of taking care of herself. "Katherine might go after you."

Percy wanted to brag about being more than able to take her down if she indeed decided to attack, but decided against it.

"Be careful there, Damon," She had an edge of amusement on her sweet voice. "I might start thinking you care about me."

He was struck with how truly gorgeous that young woman was. It felt like taking something for granted as tolerable only to then realize how different and truly alluring it was.

"You and me both, honey." He replied.

She giggled, her sea-green eyes gleaming.

...

It was nice to go shopping with her best friend. Made Percy feel almost normal, like a normal seventeen-years old girl without any worry in the world.

The daughter of Athena got a red dress that made her look like a queen, quite literally. She was truly and undeniably gorgeous, so much that it made her friend's heart jump in her chest when she saw her trying it on. Percy got a black dress with golden accessories and a golden mask, like he friend and mother suggested her to. She thought she looked pretty, but not as downright gorgeous as her best friend.

After getting the dresses, they drove away from the local mall and towards The Grill to get lunch. The daughter of Poseidon felt excitement building up on her stomach and then traveling through her whole body. They would meet their friend there! They sent her an Iris Message and agreed to meet there.

"Hi, Matt," Percy greeted happily as she entered the restaurant with Annabeth following.

"Hi, Percy, how are you?" He walked towards her, hands on his apron.

As they greeted each other politely and animatedly, making small-talk about silly, unimportant things, the blonde demigoddess looked around curiously. Her eyes settled on a girl sitting at the back, looking at a menu and happily ordering something to another waitress.

"Do you want a table?" Matt asked, smiling at them.

"Yes-" Percy started to say.

"No," Annabeth interrupted her, pointing to where that young girl was sitting. "We're with her."

She pointed to an African-American young girl with shoulder-length curly cinnamon brown hair and gold eyes. Those eyes, instead of frightening her as Kronos' golden ones did, warmed Percy to her very core and filled her with happiness.

"We're with her, thanks," She gave one last smile to Matt, who seemed happy to help.

Then both demigoddesses quickly made their way towards their younger friend, grinning widely all the way.

"How's my favorite girl doing?" Percy said as a way of greeting her.

Startled, the dark-skinned girl looked up.
A wide, brilliant smile appeared on her face when she recognized them. She quickly stood from the chair she was sitting at and enveloped the daughter of Poseidon in a big, warm hug, then did the same to the daughter of Athena.

"Oh, Percy! It's so good to see you!" She cried enthusiastically. "You too, Annabeth!"

"We missed you so much!" Annabeth chuckled. "How are you? How is Camp Jupiter, how are Frank and the others?"

"Oh, we're fine," The young witch waved the question aside. "Frank is an amazing Praetor, I'm so proud of him. You guys should see him," She blushed a little. "Anyhow, how have you girls been? What can I help with?"

"Well," Percy started in a sigh that meant that everything was awful.

Her friend was there and with her the feeling of being able to rely on her and her kindness, it made her feel so safe and so good. She could barely talk at all.

"There's a lot going on," Annabeth continued for Percy. "Let's have lunch while we share stories, how does that sound?"

"Perfect," She said cheerfully. "I cannot stay for long, though. Reyna wants Frank and me to go to Camp Half-Blood tomorrow. Friendly visit, she says. But we all know she just wants an excuse for me to be able to visit my brother. I'm very grateful for that."

"Oh," Percy was disappointed to hear that she wouldn't stay much longer, but forced herself to smile again. "No worries, dear. This will only take you a couple of hours."

"You're free to go as soon as we finish this self-applied mission." Annabeth added.

"So, who are you going to kill?" The thirteen-years old girl asked curiously, then gasped abashedly. "Okay, killing sounds too harsh. How about, who are we seriously going to injure?"

"A vampire," Annabeth informed her, watching her reaction very carefully. "A mortal vampire, mind you."

"Though we wanted you to help us out protecting this one mortal girl that seems to be the target of said vampire. Or even better, every single mortal at the party-"

"Okay, hold on. Explain. I don't understand."

Annabeth made a sound of agreement. "Kelp Head, I know you suck at explaining easy things, but if you'd please make some effort into letting our friend know about the thing we're involving her into, that would be great, thank you."

Rolling her eyes at the manner in which the blonde girl had spoken, the raven-haired girl nodded her head and started to explain the situation at hand. Not wanting to be overheard by wrong people or even by mortals, the young witch- Hecate's protégée, actually- was quick to manipulate the Mist around them so that anyone with bad intentions could not be able to hear their conversation.

When all was said, Percy had only one last question to make.

"Will you help us?"

Eyes set and mouth tightened into a thin line, the younger demigoddess nodded without hesitation. "I will."

...

It was good that Percy's parents had planned to have a romantic date out of town that exact same night, because it would have been hard for Percy to explain that her other demigoddess friend has just arrived in town, and that she was just there to go to the masquerade party with them.

Sally was smart, she wouldn't believe that even if the god of truth itself was telling her.

So, Percy savored her small triumph, getting ready for the party and helping her friends get ready too.

The daughter of Poseidon hid Riptide (on it's pen form, of course) on the space between her breasts, not having any other place to put it since her beautiful dress had no pockets. The daughter of Athena hid her dagger on the garter she was wearing under her red dress, and the daughter of Pluto masked her long Spatha as part of her outfit, which consisted of jeans and a cute white shirt.

When they were ready, they marched towards the Salvatore's Boarding House.

"What happened to your drakon bone sword, anyways?" The cinnamon-haired young girl asked curiously.

Annabeth flushed a little. "I still have it, of course. But I got this new dagger last month, it's easier to wield. I'm more used to using a dagger than a sword, if I'm honest."

"You're skilled either way," The young girl smiled at her, which made her smile too at her kindness.

Percy knocked at the Salvatore's door, which opened within a couple of seconds of her knocking on it.

There stood Stefan Salvatore, already dressed in a tux and looking ready for anything. He was attractive, the young girls had to admit that.

"Hi," Percy greeted him, almost casually. "You cleaned up nicely, well done. I was almost able to overlook the beast within your edgy charade."

He moved aside to let them enter. "Thanks, Percy. I think you look as lovely as ever." He sighed tiredly, then seemed to realize there was another unknown teenager there.

Before he could ask, his brother and Alaric appeared before them, both men properly dressed and ready to go. The vampire hunter had a crossbow on arms, along with some other weapons the demigoddesses chose to ignore for the moment.

"Welcome, girls-" Damon chuckled cynically, "Feeling in the mood to kill a manipulative, nasty bitch?"

"Always," Annabeth replied.

The icy-eyed vampire widened his eyes at the sight of the blonde demigoddess, stunned by her and how royal she looked. He smirking, drowning in the sight of such beauty. He looked at the next girl, though he could not recognize her, he was able to say she was brutally gorgeous too, though probably thirteen or fourteen years old.

His eyes went back to the blonde girl, unable to take his eyes off her.

"You look hot," He commented casually, having fought against the urge to call her gorgeous. "Keep it up."

"I'm flattered," Annabeth said sarcastically. "Deeply touched, gee, thank you."

"He meant to say you look gorgeous," Stefan smiled kindly at her.

"And that red is definitely your color," Alaric added hopefully.

They looked at Damon, who nodded. "Absolutely."

Annabeth was scary, and even them, who barely knew her at all, noticed it.

Percy found the whole situation amusing, but only showed it through a small smile.

When her blonde friend turned to her, she adopted a more serious attitude and stepped forwards, being in the middle of the room and consequently the center of everyone's attention.

"Alright, so listen very carefully because I will not repeat myself. Tonight is the night that we kill Katherine Pierce, as redundant as that is starting to sound just now. God, it's all I talk about lately." Percy sighed, "Um, anyways, let's go over our plans, shall we? Alaric?"

"I'm the back-up plan. If things fail and she tries to run, I'll be at the back entrance with a stake in hand and a vervain grenade, ready for her." Alaric straightened then added, "She'll expect me to be at Jenna's looking out for her, so she won't suspect of my presence at the party."

"Precisely. Wise Girl?"

"I will be keeping an eye on Tyler Lockwood, who I, if I might add, have never seen before-"

"That's irrelevant, continue."

"We know Katherine is on edge since Mason died, she's probably already looking out to make Tyler trigger his lycanthropy. I'll make sure nothing happens tonight to him so that he stays human."

Percy nodded in agreement to the plans so far, then stepped towards the dark-skinned girl, gently bringing her forwards until they could see her clearly.

"This," Percy smiled proudly. "Is one of my best friends and cousin, Hazel Lavesque."

Hazel gave them all a sweet smile, though her eyes watered at the horrible stench those monsters had. Something inside of her wanted to snap, wanted to tear their faces off and destroy them, but she pushed it down. Killing them all without them giving her a reason would be incredibly rude of her.

If that was the effect mortal monsters had on those half-goddesses such as herself, Percy and Annabeth, she hated it.

"Hello, Hazel, welcome to Mystic Falls," The green-eyed vampire said politely. "I'm Stefan Salvatore and this is my brother Damon, and our friend Ric."

"She's the witch you mentioned?" Damon glanced at Percy.

The three demigoddesses shared a look. Hazel wasn't actually a witch, but the apprentice of the goddess of magic. All she was going to do that night was to be done with Mist and not with actual magic. Hecate hadn't started teaching her how to work real magic just yet.

"Yes..." Hazel hesitated a little, something that didn't go unnoticed by anyone.

"Dear Hazel here will be protecting Lockwood's mansion so no mortals inside gets hurt." Percy told them. Stefan started to open his mouth. "Before you ask, yes. Hazel will also put a spell on your precious doppelgänger and her family so that Katherine won't be able to hurt them or use them as leverages anymore." There was a small pause. "I thought of everything."

Stefan's face was grateful, his smile sincere. "Thank you."

For the first time that night, Percy felt a little insecure. "Don't thank me, I'm not doing this for any of you. I'm doing this for me."

"Selfish little brat," Damon commented with a smirk. "I knew there was a reason for me to like you."

"I'd rather you didn't like me at all."

"C'mon, I thought we were friends."

She ignored him. "As I was saying, the rest of you will be occupied, Stefan will lure Katherine somewhere far from mortals, where Damon and I will be waiting. She bargains for her life, she tries to manipulate you two, she fights back, whatever; I stop her and Damon here will stick a stake through her heart."

"You've been awfully cooperative lately," Stefan commented, an edge of curiosity to his voice.

First helping them fool Sheriff Forbes into thinking they were just mere humans, then killing Mason Lockwood and now preparing everything for them to murder Katherine Pierce.

"I can't be hostile all the time," Percy sighed. "Believe me, I've tried."

Hazel and Annabeth stiffed their snorts, knowing perfectly well how true that was.

There was a small pause in which the vampire hunter showed them all the weapons he had and how to use them. "This works with compressed air. The trigger mechanism is up here. I have two of these in a different size. For you I recommend this one, it fits nicely under the jacket sleeve. You use the trigger when you're ready, and..." He fakes killing a vampire.

Damon and Stefan shared a look.

Alaric smirked a little, "You wanted me to show you how to kill a vampire."

Percy laughed at their widened eyes and how fearful they looked. She was starting to like her History professor more and more as time passed.

"How will you stop her?" Annabeth suddenly asked, turning to Percy. "You never said how."

Percy froze, heart hammering wildly on her chest.

The vampires in the room looked at her, startled by her agitated heartbeat.

That reaction was enough to let the blonde girl know that she had planned to use her powers- powers acquired in Tartarus- to stop and capture Katherine. Unable to hide her disappointment, the blonde girl looked away.

"Wise Girl, trust me," Percy ended up saying, choking up her pain at her friend's reaction. "I know what I'm doing, so please, just trust me."

"You always end up hurting yourself when you use those powers, don't think I didn't notice how shaken you were yesterday," Annabeth reminded her quietly. "I'm just worried. Are you sure you can do that and not, um, be triggered?"

Alaric scowled at that, wondering and trying to pierce everything together.

Truth was, Percy wasn't sure at all about anything.

She had planned on stopping Katherine without having to retort to choking her like she choked Mysery, like she choked Mason.

But truth be told, Katherine was probably hard to be stopped, and if she had to retort to those powers to stop the evil vampire, she wasn't going to hold back.

"Triggered?" Stefan frowned, sharing a look with his brother.

Damon was scowling at the teenagers. "What do you mean?"

"None of your business." Percy snapped. She changed her language to ancient Greek, wanting some privacy. "I swear I won't let it control me. And if I do, remember I'm supposed to meet Asclepius later tonight. I will be alright."

But Annabeth wasn't reassured at all, and if she was honest, Percy herself wasn't really sure about how alright she would be.

"But if you see Kro-" Annabeth started in English, to then realize they were surrounded by untrustworthy people. And Hazel, they could trust Hazel, but Percy didn't want her to know.

"I'm meeting Asclepius tonight," Percy repeated firmly, again in Greek. "I will be alright."

Hazel watched them silently, frowning in contemplation. She observed the girl she had grown very close to in a matter of a couple of months, but couldn't find anything different about her. Only her eyes; they lacked its usual gleam.

"Are you okay, Percy?" Hazel asked worriedly.

What could be so private that they'd shift to their godly language? She didn't know Greek, so she was very lost.

"I am." Percy assured her in a quiet voice, wanting to keep the whole situation private.

"What the hell was that?" Damon scoffed, scowling all the while, trying to recognize the language.

"That's a dead language," Alaric breathed out. "That's-"

"Mr. Saltzman, please," Percy gave him a look. "Let's focus on what's important."

Alaric was starting to feel extremely confused. So far, those girls had mentioned really strange things. Like their mention of the Mist after Percy killed Mason. Then now they were speaking ancient Greek...

The vampires stared at her for a little while, still very confused and a little worried for themselves, but then Stefan looked down at the watch on his wrist and looked up.

"It's time," He said.

"Let's go," Percy looked at Hazel and Annabeth. "Ready?"

"We are."

They looked at each other, for the first time and probably the only time it would ever happen, as a team rather than enemies.

...

The Lockwood's mansion was quite impressive. More on the inside than the outside. It was a mix of modern and ancient style, so obviously, the blonde demigoddess loved it; she was in awe as they entered through the main door.

Hazel disappeared immediately, moving towards where she could feel an unknown, magical presence lurking. A witch hunting for another witch.

After being told who Tyler Lockwood was, Annabeth approached him and his group of friends.

"Hazel's spell will only last for tonight, so we ought to end this now," Percy advised them, "Don't go around thinking your precious Elena will be safe forever with that spell."

They nodded in understanding. "Still, thank you."

Percy wished they'd stop thanking her. It made her feel connected to them, as if their treaty was extending and forming into a friendship, something which she never wanted.

Hermes had told her to remember that they were monsters; told her not to get too involved with them...

And there she was, deeply involved with them in a mission to murder another vampire.

She could almost see Hermes face-palming and shaking his head at her.

"Percy," A petite girl appeared in front of her. Brown hair and black eyes. Sun kissed skin. Pretty smile and freckles all around her cheeks and nose. "I thought you weren't coming to the party!"

"Emma," Percy breathed out. "Hi. Gods, you look gorgeous."

Emma giggled a little, a blush appearing on her sun-kissed cheeks. "Thank you, Percy. You look very beautiful, too."

Percy felt a blush warming her cheeks, and smiled down at the floor.

"Do you want to hang out with me for a while?" When she looked up, she saw that Emma had been staring at her with a small smile.

"Of course!"

Her only mortal friend in Mystic Falls High School was Emma. Percy adored her to pieces.

She was one of the cutest humans Percy knew. Quite literally. Always kind and polite, always cheerful and upbeat. Emma dressed in light, cheerful colors; though when it was awfully chilly, she wore ugly sweaters that looked very comfy and warm. Once or twice Percy saw her wearing a black leather jacket, which was a drastic change to her usual cheerful, bright style. Percy was intrigued then; she wanted to know all there was to know about that cute girl with, apparently, a hidden punk side.

Best of all things, she loved the ocean. Like, really loved it. She was part of a club of freaks that loved nature more than they loved themselves- Emma's words, not Percy's- that cleaned local beaches every week.

"I saw the cutest thing this morning and thought of you," Emma brightened, smiling at Percy.

Flustered, Percy breathed out a, "Oh, really?"

"Yes, yes. I was in St. Richards- that's a beach, mind you- when I saw this thing that was a lot like a sea-shell, but suite bigger and more brighter." Emma stumbled over her words. "I can't verbally describe it," She lamented. "But I took it with me! I have it in my backpack, so I can show you tomorrow at school how it looks. It's super, super pretty."

Percy smiled. "You find everything pretty."

Emma smiled back. "I do. There's beauty in everything."

"Even in me?" Percy joked, aware that she looked like shit on school, always wearing hoodies and thick jackets, her hair always pulled back into a messy pony-tail, her face never bearing any kind of makeup.

"Specially in you."

Even more flustered than before, Percy found herself scoffing to hide the blush on her cheeks.

"Please, girl. I'm trash, I'm shit."

"High quality trash, then." Emma winked at her, making her internally die. They moved around, not quite planning on going somewhere but content with moving around. "What made you come to the party? I thought you didn't like this sort of things."

"I don't particularly dislike these events, I just think there's a lot of them in this town. And besides, I always end up messing shit up; burning stuff down and making halls explode."

Emma raised her eyebrows, amusement marked on her face. "How?"

"I'm very, very clumsy," Percy lied, abashedly.

Emma, who was extremely clumsy herself, couldn't help but laugh at that. Percy was everything but clumsy, she'd seen her walk around gracefully and without any kind of hesitation. "Sod off, you. You're making fun of me now."

"I would never," Percy playfully bumped her hip against Emma's. "But really, I guess that luck is just never on my side."

She took a strawberry from the nearest tray. What kind of party had fruit as one of its appetizers? Emma returned the friendly bump, one of her hands moving and taking the strawberry Percy was guiding to her mouth. Percy raised her eyebrows, about to open her mouth to sass her for stealing her strawberry.

But then Emma took a bite of the fruit and smiled. "Well, I think I was lucky to meet you."

Percy couldn't do anything but smile.

They talked for a lot of time. It was when the dancing was about to start that Percy was hit with a familiar stench. She stopped laughing at what Emma was saying, and scowled.

Katherine had arrived.

Looking at Emma, Percy felt the need to protect her. Hazel had put a spell around the mansion, so they were safe, but she still didn't want to risk her friend.

So she said, "Hey, Emma. Is it too improper of me to be in this party and not know Carol Lockwood?"

Emma raised her eyebrows, then Damon passed them by, touching Percy's back and leaning towards her to say against her ear, "It's starting. Be careful." He walked away, disappearing between the mass of mortals dancing and talking.

"You too," Percy whispered, knowing he could hear her.

When she looked back at her mortal friend, she saw her curiously looking to where Damon had disappeared.

"We're neighbors," Percy shrugged, not knowing how else to describe the relationship she had with the Salvatore vampires.

"He's insanely attractive," Emma whistled low.

"I suppose, but his personality sucks. He's a dick."

Emma laughed. "Aren't we all?"

Percy laughed too, then remembered Katherine was around there somewhere and that she needed to start moving and looking out for her.

"I'm going to look and see if I can find my mom or Carol Lockwood, so, um..." Percy trailed off, not really wanting to leave. "I'll see you later?"

"Probably, I'm stuck here," Emma sighed. "My knuckle-headed brother won't leave until he gets to make-out with at least one or two drunk girls. Disgusting, I know."

Percy grimaced. "If I see you after I- after I find Carol or my mother, I'll take you home. Promise"

Emma brightened. "That would be lovely, thank you."

"And if not, I'll see you at school tomorrow," Percy blew her a kiss, then turned and walked away, her body trembling with adrenaline and the promise of the hunt.

It was starting.

...

"Finally," A familiar voice sighed.

Percy had entered the room where she could feel the Mist most prominent at, turned once she was inside, and saw Annabeth there.

They removed their masks, Percy with a little sigh of relief.

"I'm sorry I'm late."

"Where were you, Seaweed Brain?"

"Not important, I'm here now."

Annabeth nodded and started to tell her the progress of the situation. "Hazel did all we asked her to do; she also immobilized the witch Katherine brought with her. Stefan is currently in the gardens dancing with Katherine, I think she's going to ask him about the moonstone soon."

Percy had left the moonstone hidden on her house. It was safe there, no vampires had been invited to her house.

"Alaric is ready too," Annabeth added. "And I took care of Tyler. He's safe and having fun. The cute boy you talked with at that restaurant we went to today? He and this other girl were compelled by Katherine to make Tyler snap and kill them."

"Katherine did what to Matt?" Percy asked, confused. At the look her friend gave her, she had to act as though she knew what that was. "That bitch. Are Matt and the girl alright?"

"They're fine, I just had to knock them out. The mind-compulsion will wear off when they wake up."

Oh, so that was compulsion. Mind-control.

Wait, vampires had mind-controlling powers? What?

She shook her head, pushing that back. "Where's Damon?"

At the mention of the icy-eyed vampire, the blonde demigoddess flushed a deep scarlet color. Apparently flustered by something, she opened her mouth but all that came out of her lips was a huff of indignation, then more blush was added to her cheeks. Percy watched all those reactions with confusion, one eyebrow raised in contemplation. She waited and waited, but her friend seemed to have no words to say.

"Wise Girl?"

"I don't know where he is," She said at last. "He should be here."

Percy was about to tear her hair off. Katherine was there! They had to act quick or they would lose the opportunity of ending her! Everyone else was in place, even her, who was having a very nice time with Emma Darcy, why the hell couldn't Damon be responsible and-

"And here I am," Damon appeared suddenly before them, a smirk dangling off his lips. "Hello, girls."

"And this is my cue to leave. I'm heading down to watch over Tyler again, and help Hazel out in whatever she needs. Good luck to you two."

"Oh, don't go-" Damon started, eyeing her ass as she passed by him.

Percy sighed, fed up with his behavior. Moving towards him, she grabbed his wrist and dragged him towards the door which, once opened, revealed itself to be a closet.

"Claws down, kitty," Damon remarked, making force on her hand to see if she would budge. "Ouch."

"There," She removed her hand. He quickly went to touch his slightly sore wrist, though he would never admit how much had her touch hurt. She was seriously strong; he was still shocked over her strength. "We must stay here until she comes. I don't know what's happening down there but-"

"That's because you don't have a phone," Damon stressed, closing the closet door and turning to face the demigoddess. "You're a teen, you're bound to have one. Why don't you?"

"Long story."

"I have time. Forever, actually."

"Not if you keep asking me personal questions."

"You know, your death threats are seriously starting to annoy me."

"Your whole existence annoys me," Percy returned sweetly.

Damon would've answered her had he not heard his brother come into the room, Katherine following closely, laughing and purring all the way. There was a loud bumping sound and then some moans.

Of course, what better way to lure Katherine than to have her crush make out with her?

Percy's eyes were wide when she looked at Damon. But he was purposely fixated on the crossbow Alaric had given him. He could feel her eyes on him, eyes filled with sympathy, and that only fueled his rage even more.

Another bumping sound, but this one was different.

Stefan grunted a little, but it was Katherine's voice that they heard. "You don't really think that you can kill me with that now, do you?" She sounded cold.

"No," Stefan sounded calm, relaxed. Since Katherine was staring at him, she did not see how the closet door behind her back opened, Damon and Percy stepping out of it. "But he can."

Damon aimed the crossbow at her, and shoot.

The stake went through her back smoothly, close to the heart but not quite there.

She grunted.

Then the fight actually started.

Katherine was stronger than Damon and Stefan by far. They tried several times to stake her, but she always managed to overthrow them. Percy watched without moving, letting them have that fight; they needed to feel useful, to feel like they were the ones to hurt Katherine this time.

When both Salvatore vampires were on the floor and groaning, Katherine turned to Percy. "Oh, boys. This little bastard won't be able to stop me."

Bastard.

And it was Elementary School all over. All those kids sneering whenever the subject of Percy being the daughter of a single young woman and an unknown man was brought up by any teacher. Then in Camp, the whispered words of the nereids about how disgraceful it was for Poseidon to have cheated on Amphitrite again. In Atlantis, the way Amphitrite acted upon meeting her. She'd swam away even before Poseidon could finish introducing them. The way Triton had mocked her for her bravery and bluntly declared his dislike for her, obviously annoyed that her father had let that little bastard child enter his domains.

The demigoddess snapped.

She used all the strength she had to throw a kick in Katherine's direction. The vampire went flying sideways and crashed against the closet door, breaking it upon contact. The door was wooden, which created multiple splinters that impaled Katherine on her stomach and arms, pinning her there.

"Try again," Percy replied coldly.

Damon moved forwards, stake ready. Percy forced herself to move away, wanting to be the one to murder Katherine but knowing she had to leave them have a go at it.

"Goodbye, Katherine," Stefan smirked.

Damon flicked the stake before moving his hand up to get better impact, and then-

"I've linked Elena to myself," Katherine laughed through the pain. Damon froze. "All you do to me, she feels."

Pain flashed through Stefan's eyes, before he forced himself to trust the witch they had on their side.

Katherine laughed and then rose to a standing position, taking the splinters and the stakes she had stuck on her body out. She grabbed the stake from Damon's hands and tauntingly walked away.

Damon urgently looked at Percy, who shook her head discreetly. Elena was safe.

"You think you two are the only ones with a witch on your side?" The demigoddess was starting to feel fed up with how smug her words were. "Wrong, and something tells me that my witch is better than your witch."

"I'll..." Stefan breathed out. "Elena-"

He was a good actor. Percy would've believed his grief was real had she not been the one to plan the protection of Elena Gilbert with Hazel and Stefan himself.

"Oh, Elena, Elena, always Elena," Katherine mocked. An idea surged through her mind. She held the stake in the air and made a movement to stab herself on the stomach. "This is really going to hurt."

"Wait!" Damon cried out at the same time as Percy slapped the stake out of her hand.

Katherine pouted at the demigoddess. "It's not fair. I didn't know we could bring deities to this encounter. I would've called a few friends had I known."

Percy tensed.

"Oh, don't start with Percy now," Damon rolled his eyes at his ex-girlfriend. "She is with us in our desires to see you rotting in hell, but this is between the three of us."

Stefan nodded in agreement. "Leave her out of this."

Percy was surprised. They were defending her?

Katherine widened her eyes, then laughed loudly, head thrown back in laughter.

"Oh, this is too good to be true. The huntress befriending its prey. Your daddy would be so disappointed right now. I imagine that is why he hasn't been around lately-" Her laughter turned into a choked gasp.

Stefan and Damon scowled, startled.

They turned to look at Percy when they remembered what she could do, though immediately wished they weren't looking at her in that moment.

The demigoddess looked downright demonic.

It scared them to some extent; her eyes were hard and cold, her mouth pulled back into a sneer of disgust, her hand slightly raised in Katherine's direction. They could've sworn her sea-green eyes were a dark grey now, like the color of the sea during a hurricane.

The smile completely dropped off Katherine's face as she fought to regain her breathing, fighting against the liquid that was suddenly filling her throat.

"Don't you dare talk about my father," Percy sounded cold, ravenous. Then she willed the water filling the vampire's throat to go down again. Some part of her was curious as to how Katherine knew so much about her, but she was so angry that it escaped her mind to ask.

Katherine gasped deeply, finally getting some air into her lungs.

"This is the kind of girl you're relying on?" Katherine snapped at the Salvatore's, "She knows I'm linked to Elena and still made me choke!"

"You're not linked to Elena," Damon told her, exasperated and still slightly agitated by the way he'd seen Katherine choke. It worried him to end up annoying Percy too much one day and finding himself with that same fate.

That was definitely not the way he wanted to be tortured.

Katherine looked at him like he was a child. "I am."

"You're not," Stefan was the one laughing now. "For once, we thought ahead of you-"

But Katherine would not believe them.

Percy moved away from them, hands trembling. She could feel the darkness inside of her begging to be left lose; it scared her so much. She didn't want to lose control again, not after the last time. Not after what happened in Camp all those months back, not after she lost control with Mason and ended up killing him.

She needed to gain control, she needed to...breathe.

She was choking. The daughter of Poseidon, choking on the sea of darkness that demanded to be left loose.

Katherine sighed and sat on the only couch in the room. "Where is the moonstone?"

Stefan didn't bat an eyelash as he asked, "What do you want with it?"

Katherine ignored his question, settling for looking at both vampires in the room and purposely ignoring the demigoddess. "Does Elena enjoy having both of you worship at her altar?"

Percy winced, still trembling but unable not to hear that. "Yikes."

Stefan looked at Damon, who shrugged, and then he looked back at Katherine.

"That was really desperate, Katherine. Don't you think that we can see right through you?"

Katherine smirked. "So it doesn't bother you that Damon's in love with your girlfriend?"

Percy grimaced again, not understanding what kind of family could be like that. What kind of siblings could just share a girlfriend? She understood about poly relationships and respected them, but what the Salvatore brothers had with Katherine was so not healthy and so not alike a polyamorous relationship.

It was just strange, and sick.

"Oh, stop it."

"Or what? You'll hurt me? Come on, Stefan. Everything that I feel, Elena feels, so go ahead and hurt me."

When Stefan made no movements as to even touch her, Katherine turned to Damon. "Or better yet, kiss me Damon. She'll feel that too."

Damon gave her a look.

Stefan decided to switch topics, talking about the moonstone again. Percy then shut their voices out of her brain, focusing solely on regaining her senses.

She, however, was unable not to hear this, "In 1864 you faked your death. Who were you running from, Katherine?"

Percy quickly looked up.

Katherine had been running from someone? She thought back to how she had asked for help regarding the Original vampires. Desperate enough to ask her, a demigoddess, to protect her against them.

Katherine swayed her hips seductively until she was standing in front of Stefan. "In 1987 you were in Chicago, at a concert of all places with that wench, Lexi."

Surprise flashed across Stefan's features. When it hit them that for Katherine to know that it meant that she had been watching over Stefan, Damon looked away, accidentally meeting Percy's eyes in the process.

"Come on Stefan, don't look so surprised. Of course I checked in on you over the years. You were standing in the front row, dancing all night. You were watching Bon Jovi and I was watching you."

Stefan wasn't fazed, and if he was, he didn't show it. "Who were you running from?"

Katherine doesn't answer but mouthed "I love you" to Stefan.

Percy decided to step in in that moment. "The Originals. That's who she was running from."

They all looked at her, Katherine with dark eyes. The older vampire looked at Damon and Stefan, but they didn't seem to believe the demigoddess, which made her feel triumphant.

Damon rolled his eyes and waved that away. "The Originals are a myth. No one has ever seen them."

Katherine opened her mouth to say something, eyes still glued to Percy's face, but Stefan interrupted her. "You know, this whole Mason thing has me a bit confused. Why a werewolf? The moonstone can break a curse that would help them destroy all vampires, so what's in that for you?"

Katherine said nothing.

"Sorry about your pet wolf, probably should have kept him on a tighter leash." Damon remarked.

"I'll have to remember that for next time." Katherine forced a smile at them. "He's not the only wolf in town."

"You won't get another werewolf," Percy stepped up towards Katherine threateningly. "As long as I'm alive, I won't let Tyler Lockwood trigger his curse."

Katherine merely smiled. "You won't be alive for long."

Damon scowled again. "I told you to leave her alone, Katherine." His voice was dark, dangerous, his eyes glaring daggers at her.

Katherine was surprised. After a few seconds, her mouth curled into a nasty grin. Damon noticed his mistake instantly, but there was nothing to be done about it. "I like how this scene is playing out. The four of us together. The brother who loved me too much, the one that didn't love me enough and the rebound girl."

"And the evil slut vampire who only loved herself." Damon added, forcing a smirk at her.

Katherine raised her eyebrows, startled. "What happened to you Damon? You used to be so sweet and polite."

"Oh, that Damon died a long time ago."

"Good, he was a bore." Katherine sneered, then returned to stare at the demigoddess. "How does it feel to be the rebound girl?" She chuckled a little. "I'm sorry, I forgot you're used to being one." She lowered her voice, as if telling a secret no one was supposed to hear. "You and I both know that Apollo only saw you as a rebound for Hyacinth, and Daphne, and all the lovers he lost."

That was the last straw.

That's what it made her finally snap and give in to her urges.

Katherine choked, just like she had earlier, just that this time Percy didn't stop. Quicker than before, Katherine blacked out from lack of oxygen after throwing up her own internal fluids, an image that was unforgettable for the immortals in the room.

"Percy-" Stefan started, cautiously moving towards her.

She looked at him, and he backed away.

The other times they had seen her using her powers, she had looked frightening. Now it was completely different. The control she seemed to have on her actions snapped, the sea that was her existence crashing against all reason and seemingly making her lose her mind.

She didn't look like herself.

She looked different, more dangerous, more...inhuman.

It scared them. A set of immortal beings, terrified of the look on her face.

"Death is too kind for her," Percy breathed out. Even her voice sounded off. "She deserves to suffer."

"We can have her rot in the tomb," Damon muttered, still shaken. "W-without blood she's start to rot and decay, eventually turning into a mummy. That's the fate she was supposed to have."

"The fate she escaped from," Stefan added carefully. "It's quite poetic, I think."

Percy was thinking hard then. After a couple of deep breaths, she was able to control her agitated heart and turn towards them, trying to ignore how disoriented she felt. "It's too bad I've never been a believer of kindness towards monsters," And taking Riptide from her bra, she uncapped it. It turned into her sword, to the astonishment of the Salvatore brothers.

"And here I thought I've seen everything." One of them muttered, but she ignored them.

"I'm thinking about a fate worst than being stuck in a tomb rotting away," Percy told them, breathing hard. "I can have her imprisoned on the deepest parts of the ocean, unable to breath or move since she won't have oxygen."

The vampires looked at each other, shocked. Her powers went beyond controlling water? She could imprison someone as powerful as Katherine on the ocean?

"Percy-" Damon started.

"How?" Stefan asked.

She shook her head. "Fine, if you two don't want that-" And in that exact moment Katherine woke up, instantly lunging at her. Percy was more quick and threw a punch at her, making her stumble back against the wall.

Stefan and Damon immediately took a step forwards as Katherine snarled, ready to protect the young girl if necessary.

"Back off, you two-" Katherine snarled at them, pushing at them and throwing them to the other side of the room. "This is between us girls."

The real fight started.

Percy attacked first, using Riptide as a bat and hitting Katherine as hard as she could. The vampire groaned in pain but was clearly good at resisting. She stood and lunged at Percy, throwing her against the wall.

Damon and Stefan moved forwards to attack Katherine, but once again the older vampire threw them away as if it was nothing.

From the floor, they watched both women fight. They'd seen Katherine in action before, but never Percy. The young girl fought like a demon, constantly moving and not letting the other woman overpower her once.

Percy lunged at her, balling her fist straight into her face and making her fall backwards. Now on the floor, before Katherine could move to stand, Percy hit her straight on the face with her high heel, leaving a whole on her forehead that healed rather quick. Katherine snarled and moved to attack her, her face morphing into a monstrosity with fangs and red eyes.

The vampire threw a punch at the demigoddess, but Percy's hand caught her first. Making a lot of force on her fist, Percy managed to break it easily, which left the vampire screaming in pain at the unexpected move.

"Nobody taught you not to mess with species stronger than you?" Percy taunted, moving back until she gave the vampire space to recover. "Or are you just arrogant enough to think you can beat me?"

As was to be expected, Katherine lounged at her, snarling all the while.

Percy stepped her foot down hard, hitting against the end of the crossbow Damon had tried to use against Katherine, making it jump into her hands. Katherine froze a little, but in those seconds of hesitation, Percy shoot at her legs multiple times, making her fall to her knees with a scream.

"Did I forget to mention?" Percy blinked innocently. "We bathed the stakes in vervain. Oops."

Since Katherine was now immobilized on the floor, unable to move, Percy threw the crossbow away and stepped forwards, swinging Riptide- which she had set on the floor as she fought Katherine hand to hand- all the way.

Damon and Stefan stepped forwards, moving so they were at each side of the demigoddess.

"You're making a big mistake," Katherine breathed out, breathing hard as her whole being was in pain. "You can't kill me! Elena needs protection! She's the doppelgänger- she needs to be protected!"

Stefan stirred a little, but Damon wasn't bothered by that. "I'll protect her, then. We don't need you."

Katherine was desperate now, looking back and forth at Stefan and Damon. "Remember what we had! It was special, it was-" She choked up as the vervain on her body seemed to pierce her whole body. "You can't kill me-"

She called herself a survivor. She had survived the Originals themselves, she could not be destroyed by a petty bastard like Persephone Jackson-

"Watch me," Percy wasted no more time and sliced her with her sword.

Katherine screamed in pain, then disappeared into a cloud of dust very similar to sand. Damon and Stefan yelled out and covered themselves, but Percy simply moved her head to the side to be free of the disgusting monster-dust that were the remains of Katherine Pierce. The necklace that protected her from the sun fell to the floor,and that was all that was left of Katerina Petrova.

"What did you do?" Stefan gasped.

"I killed her," Percy turned back to look at them. "She's gone."

They had never, ever, in their decades on Earth, seen something like that.

"What are you?" Damon breathed out, mouth open in shock. The last time he'd asked that, he'd tried to attack her. This time, he didn't even move. Slowly, he closed his mouth and his shock was replaced with confusion, then wonder.

"I'm a who, not a what," Percy repeated, using the same words she'd told him before.

"Is she- is she dead?" Stefan dared himself to ask. "Or is she-?"

"She's dead," Percy assured them. "Currently in the underworld waiting for her trial, if mortal-monsters such as vampires even go to the underworld."

"Trial?" Damon and Stefan looked at each other. They didn't question the mention of the underworld, they just thought it was her way of saying 'afterlife'. She had strange ways of saying normal things, they were starting to realize that.

"It's not a myth when people say that in the afterlife you're judged for you actions. Katherine will get the punishment she deserves, that I can assure you two."

There was a stunned silence for a couple of minutes.

Percy moved around trying to fix what they destroyed and threw away on the fight, unable to stand destroying someplace as nice as that mansion was.

"Percy, can I hug you?"

The question startled her.

She turned, only to see both Salvatore vampires looking at her in a new way. She took a step back at the question, then it hit her just then that she killed the person that had hurt them more than anyone else in the whole world.

Swallowing her nausea at their stench, she found herself reluctantly nodding. "I guess I can accept a hug from a monster after what happened."

Damon pushed his brother away and enveloped the seventeen-years old girl in a bone-crushing hug. She breathed out and then returned the hug, letting herself put her defenses down for a second. There was nothing wrong with a hug, even if it came from a monster.

It didn't mean they were suddenly friends or anything...

When Damon moved away, Stefan was the one to hug her, albeit more softly than his brother.

"Thank you," Damon broke the silence surrounding them.

Startled, both Stefan and Percy turned to look at him.

"You didn't have to kill her, you didn't have to help us, much less when we've been so annoying towards you. But you did," He softened his voice, offering her a real smile. "So thank you."

Percy didn't know what to say. She never expected to receive such gratitude from them, from monsters.

"What my brother said," Stefan nodded, smiling too. "Thank you."

Percy opened her mouth to try and acknowledge their words. But in that exact same moment, Elena Gilbert entered the room, out of breath and looking frightened. "Caroline told me that you were-" The doppelgänger froze when she saw his ex-boyfriend with his arms around the raven-haired girl, and something alike jealousy flashed through her eyes.

"Hey, Elena," Damon called, saving her from whatever she was going to say to Percy and Stefan. "Katherine is dead."

And that was enough to shock her and shut her up. "What?" She breathed out.

Stefan approached her. "Let's go outside, I'll tell you everything."

"Is she...she's really gone?"

Stefan and Elena moved away from the room, walking together towards the gardens.

Percy watched them go away, head tilted to the side.

"Katherine forced them to end their relationship. Now that she's gone, they'll be able to get back together and live happily ever after." His voice changed at the end, something she noticed.

"I'm sorry," Percy acknowledged. "I know you love her."

Damon sighed and looked at her, a little annoyed.

Percy shrugged defensibly. "To be fair, Katherine mentioned you being in love with Elena. And since your brother looked at you rather coldly, I imagined it was true."

Damon shook his head. "Let's go downstairs. I'll grab a bite and some drinks. We can find your friends."

"I hope that by bite you mean actual, human food."

Damon nodded, rolling his eyes. "Unless you're offering to give me some-"

"No."

He raised his arms in defense. "Claws down, kitty. I was kidding."

She glared at him, but then rolled her eyes and moved downstairs with him.

...

The main dance had started. Lots of couples were on the dance floor, laughing and dancing; Stefan and Elena being one of those couples. The daughter of Athena was laughing with the daughter of Pluto when Percy and Damon approached them.

"We made it, she's dead," Percy told them, triumphantly.

"I know, I felt it." Hazel reminded her of her ability to feel when someone died.

Annabeth observed Percy, trying to see something off about her. When she couldn't find anything, she grinned widely. "Well done, Seaweed Brain."

A young boy came forwards and asked Hazel out for a dance. She blushed and tried to deny it, fanning her face in embarrassment, muttering something about Frank, but after settling that it was something completely platonic, they moved away to dance.

"Wanna dance?" Damon offered his arm to Annabeth, who promptly ignored him and moved to dance with Tyler Lockwood, who had been looking at her for quite some time.

Damon then turned to Percy, who raised her eyebrows. "As if I'll ever be your second choice."

"You're not," He promised, hand still outstretched.

She allowed herself to smile. "Fine, but just one dance, and only because we made it."

He escorted her to the dance floor. As they took their positions, with his hands on her waist and hers on his shoulders, she asked him. "How are you feeling?"

He actually had to think about it for a second.

"Apart from shocked about your powers and that freaky sword of yours, I feel accomplished," Damon decided. "Katherine's finally gone. After all this time, she finally got what she deserved." Something crossed his eyes, and he then smiled sincerely.

"Success feels addicting, doesn't it?" Percy said knowingly.

That was what demigods loved most about their job, how addicting and earth-shaking it felt to succeed and triumph over their enemies.

"It does." They were in silence for most of the dance. When it ended and Percy started to move away, Damon grabbed her hand gently, and echoed again. "Thank you, really."

She allowed herself another small smile, still startled by his gratitude. "You're welcome."

Percy had started to walk away, but doubt ate away at her brain, refusing to leave.

"Damon, wait-"

He stopped and looked at her.

"Back when we were talking to Katherine, she called me your rebound," Percy started carefully. "I need you to understand something, regardless if what she said is true or false. I cannot be romantically involved with anyone right now, much less if that someone is a monster."

She couldn't even deal with herself, she really doubted she could be in a healthy relationship when she was so messy and broken, hallucinating every five minutes.

Damon smiled a little, which surprised her. When his smile died, he sighed. "Percy, I have no friends."

She was startled by his sincerity. "But Alaric-"

"It's complicated with him. I'm a hard person-"

"I don't find that hard to believe, honestly."

Damon rolled his eyes at that, but promptly softened his stare. "Katherine was wrong. You're not my rebound in any way."

"Then?" Percy asked him, confused. "What do you want from me?"

"I want to be your friend."

That was definitely not what she expected to hear.

She was out of words, considering a friendship with a mortal-monster something she would never, ever do in her young life. But then again, they had made a good team that night. They had lots in common, and as time passed, she found that he wasn't as annoying as she thought him to be when he wasn't trying to discover what she was.

"Like I said, I don't have much friends. Elena and Alaric are probably the only ones I can trust in this town. And I know that you're a prejudiced person; you don't like us monsters. But I like you. You're one of the few mortals I've got to like in such a short time-"

"You're babbling," Percy interrupted him, amused. "Are you nervous?"

"Well, of course. I'm not particularly fond of choking to death." He sounded a little sarcastic.

She laughed a little. "I won't make you choke as long as you don't do anything against me. That includes annoying me."

He smirked a little, then went all serious. "Look, I understand that you don't like us monsters-"

"I have my reasons, you know? Monsters haven't exactly made my life easier."

He gave her a curious look before continuing. "My life is constantly filled with shit and problems that I can't seem to solve. To have a friend that is not involved in any of that would be something that I'd like very much."

"Damon, I'm just..." Percy sighed a little. "I'm not a nice person to be around lately, I'm unstable."

His words surprised her, and she found herself extremely related to that. She had Emma in Mystic Falls, but she had to hide who she was with Emma. Damon had already seen her in action and her powers- he didn't know what she was, but still- that was something she realized she liked.

She liked being herself and not having to explain anything to anyone.

She liked the thought of having a supernatural friend that wouldn't judge her. After all, he was pretty messed up too. It would be hypocritical of him to judge her.

Damon shrugged. "So am I."

There was a long pause between them, then, hesitantly, she found herself nodding.

Knowing she wouldn't say anything else of the matter, he found himself giving her a grateful look. "Do you need a ride home? We're neighbors for a reason, I don't mind taking you and your friends to your place."

"Don't worry about it, I've got Paul's car. I'll drive us home."

He nodded. "I'll see you around, then."

"Goodbye."

He gave her one last look. "Just know something-"

She stopped once again, turning to face him. "Mmm?"

"I don't trust very easily. But I'm trusting you." He paused a little. "Don't make me regret it."

"The same goes for you," Percy nodded a little, surprised by his sincerity and his request. "I don't trust easily either, and I've never been friends with someone of your kind. Don't make me regret it."

He smirked a little. "Everything you say ends up sounding like a threat."

She grinned a little. "Oops?"

...

After looking around and not finding Emma Darcy anywhere, Percy moved to meet her friends at the exit. The daughter of Wisdom had been talking all night to Tyler Lockwood, something that surprised and pleased Percy. Her friend hadn't seem interested in anyone since Luke... And Tyler was handsome. And human. Sometimes relationships between demigods failed.

"We're leaving?" Hazel asked when she saw her friend approaching them.

"Yes. Do you need us to drive you somewhere?" When Hazel shook her head, Percy wondered, "Did you arrive here on my dear half-brother Arion?" There was an edge of sarcasm on her voice. Arion was the most proud and sarcastic immortal horse Percy had ever met.

"Not really, I came by shadow-travel," Hazel smiled a little. "Nico's been teaching me how to shadow-travel since August."

They were walking towards where Percy stationed the car, and stopped when they reached it. The three demigoddesses looked at each other for a while, swallowing the uncomfortable lump on their throats.

"It was so good to see you," Annabeth managed to say.

Hazel bit her lower lip and then enveloped both older girls into a hug.

"I'm going to miss you, Queen Haze," Percy chuckled through the pain of the departure. Many people underestimated how much the daughter of Poseidon actually loved the daughter of Pluto. They went through a lot in Camp Jupiter and on their mission with Frank.

"And I you," Hazel sighed against her shoulder.

When they separated, Hazel gave them a watery smile. "But hey, we'll see each other sooner than you think. Jason came to Camp Jupiter with Piper the other day, and he seems quite excited for the idea of having Argo II monthly reunions."

"I can't wait for that. Remember to tell everyone I miss them-"

"We," Annabeth corrected her friend, as usual. "We miss them all a lot."

"Please, if you see Nico, tell him to Iris-Message me. I fear I might forget to."

Hazel looked back at them. "I will, I promise."

After one last hug and the promise of seeing each other again, Hazel moved towards the nearest shadow and, after looking around to see that no mortals were looking, she melted into the shadows.

The daughter of Athena and the daughter of Poseidon sighed and looked at each other.

Without another word, they entered the car together, closing the door and starting the motor.

Before she could start driving, however, the grey-eyed demigoddess asked the green-eyed one a question that had been eating away at her.

"Is Katherine really gone?"

"She is," Percy sighed, relaxing against the seat. "There's no more imminent danger in town. I can finally relax."

"How are you?"

Percy hesitated a little, but then decided to be sincere. "I thought I'd lose control and never regain it. But I made it, and I feel normal now."

Annabeth observed her for a little, then decided she believed her. "I'm proud of you, Seaweed Brain."

Percy's heart leaped with joy.

"I want to spend some time with you before Asclepius gets home, Wise Girl. It feels like these days that you've been here we haven't actually spent time together."

"We technically haven't. The Mason thing and now the masquerade, but I think we can spend some time together before Asclepius arrives at your place. He didn't say when he would come?"

"Nope. I'm just blindly hoping he does arrives tonight."

They were in silence for most of the ride.

But then the green-eyed demigoddess couldn't help but express her doubt to her best friend.

"Anna? Do you think I'm an idiot for wanting to be friends with a vampire?"

"Not necessarily. I've come to realize that vampires are very alike mortals, just that they drink blood and can kill you in a blink. Other than that, I don't see any danger in you befriending them."

Percy was startled. She had thought he friend would reprimand her for it. She had forgotten how understanding her best friend actually was. God, she was starting to forget how her friend was. How did that happen?

"Really?"

She turned to look at her, to then look back at the road when her friend slapped her arm and yelled at her to look at the road and only the road.

"You can take care of yourself, Seaweed Brain. Better than anyone else I know, for what matters. I'm sure you'd be alright."

"I'm all alone here," Percy tried to explain herself. "I only have one friend and she's mortal, and Damon is-"

"A monster," Her friend cut her off. "But we've grown to realize that some monsters aren't as bad as people make them seem."

Both demigoddesses thought back to Bob and Damasen. It was something they could never forget.

"You're not disappointed?" Percy was nervously awaiting her answer.

Her friend scoffed. "I could never be disappointed in you, Seaweed Brain."

The feeling of warmness and contempt filled Percy from head to toe again, and she found herself smiling.

When they got to the Jackson house, they noticed that Paul and Sally were yet to come back from their date.

"That's unusual," Percy muttered, scowling. "They're supposed to be back by now."

"Maybe they're on their way."

The god of medicine was nowhere to be seen either, for what they thought they could have some alone time for themselves. At the blonde's request, they went to the music room instead of Percy's room.

The daughter of Poseidon started to distractedly press her fingers against the piano keys, trying to remember another song, but the only one she truly knew was too personal for her to share again with her best friend. That one time she had left her vulnerable.

She could feel her friend's eyes on her, but since she wasn't saying anything, Percy refused to speak either, thinking that maybe her friend was collecting her thoughts.

"Can we talk about Apollo?"

Percy's fingers crashed against the piano, making it emit a sound that made them both wince.

"I'm sorry- but why?" Percy couldn't fathom why her friend would want to talk about him. Granted, they used to be friend, both of them spending time together since they both loved Percy, but it was strange.

Annabeth shrugged, though couldn't seem to meet her eyes. "I dunno. How are you feeling?"

"About him?" Percy hesitated a little. "You know how I feel. I miss him a lot. It hurts to realize that I don't even have his friendship anymore. And he promised, he promised that even if we ever broke up, we'd still be friends." She took a deep breath, and mentioned what really hurt her more than anything else. "He broke his promise."

Her biggest insecurity were promises. She was the result of a broken oath and she had seen the world crash and burn because of a broken promise. It made her queasy to even think about one.

"Did you ever see a future with him?" Her friend asked suddenly, apparently out of the blue. "I mean, he is a god and you are a mortal. You'll grow old and die. He won't."

"As stupid and naive as it sounds, we talked a lot about the future."

The blonde girl couldn't find that stupid. When someone loved, truly loved, someone, it was to be expected for them to think about their future together.

"It's not stupid. Can I ask you something, though? You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

"You know can ask me anything." Though it made her anxious as to what could be so delicate that her friend was asking for her permission to ask.

"Apollo told me what Gaea offered you two, back when she wanted you to join her."

Percy tensed, thinking about that again.

"He told you?"

She flushed. "To be fair, you don't have to be embarrassed. She offered me something similar."

Percy looked at her in wonder. "She did?"

Knowing her friend, it would be something like what she saw when they met those sirens. Their family together, Athena and Frederick, and Luke there with them.

Her voice was a soft whisper when she said, "Gaea told me she could bring Luke back for me."

Percy looked down in sympathy. "But no one can raise the death."

Annabeth nodded, looking down.

She took a deep breath and looked at her best friend. "What she offered me was impossible, but I know for sure that what she offered Apollo and you was more than possible, and that it was something you both wanted. At least that's what he told me."

"I wanted that." Percy took a deep breath, fighting against the emptiness on her chest.

"Then why did you deny her offer?"

Percy gave her a startled look, shocked that she would even ask that. If she was honest, sometimes she wondered if she had made the right choice. But of course she had. Gaea was gone before she could actually wake up, and everyone was relatively safe.

"Because that wasn't the right thing to do." She looked down at her hands, which were currently distractedly tracing invisible lines on the piano. "The whole world was at risk, we weren't going to surrender to Gaea so easily."

"Really?"

"We loved each other," Percy looked up to meet her eyes, "But I wasn't willing to give up the whole world just for a future with him. And neither was him."

"What does that mean?"

Percy pursed her lips a little. "It means that while it was something we both wanted, we weren't willing to acquire it over Gaea's conditions. The whole world was more important than what we wanted for ourselves."

"So you were selfless," Annabeth finally got it. "Just like when you turned down immortality, you were being selfless."

"You can't compare being offered immortality to being offered a future with the man I loved."

"Was it not the same thing?" Annabeth raised her eyebrows knowingly.

Percy looked away again.

"Percy..." Annabeth sighed a little, then made up her mind. "Read the letter."

The green-eyed demigoddess had forgotten about that until then. "Now I can read it?" She inquired sarcastically.

"Yes, go."

Nodding her head, she rose from the piano seat and walked towards her room, expecting her friend to follow, but she didn't.

Upon entering her room, she swiftly looked for the letter, and upon finding the envelope, she extracted the parchment out.

Her breath died on her throat when she recognized the writing style, and it was most definitely not Artemis'.

Persephone,
My punishment has started. Father dearest has forbidden me to step outside of Olympus, my sun-chariot is currently being driven by my sister. I think it's not necessary for me to add that as part of this never ending punishment, I have also been forbidden to see and interact with you.
Nothing in the world hurts me as much as knowing that I've broken my promise to you. My sweet Persephone, I want to be there for you, I want to assist to your needs and help you. I am so sorry for being such a disappointment and for breaking my promise to you. I don't seem to do anything right and I am so sorry for hurting you, that's something I never wanted to do.
Please know that I care and listen to you. Your voice is the only thing that keeps me sane in this maddening imprisonment.
I've sent Hermes to check on you a couple of times, but my father has forbidden me to talk to anyone apart from Artemis and Asclepius. When you see my son, ask him about his death and what was done to me by Zeus. You'll understand what my father is planning to do to me.
Once again, I'm sorry, you deserve better than my sorry excuses. I should be a better friend, I

The words abruptly stopped, as though someone had stopped him from writing more.

"Percy, Asclepius is here."

She looked up.