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.

16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: Percy Jackson & the Olympians, Heroes of Olympus, The Vampire Diaries, and The Originals do not belong to me.

English is not my native language, so I apologize for any mistake I might have.

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Chapter 16

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Grover left town after their encounter with the sea god, and while the demigoddess felt saddened at the little time they spent together, she knew it was probably for the best. There were still things that hadn't been discussed between them, things that they needed to work with before claiming they were still best friends.

She decided to focus on her most recent problem- the fact that, apparently, the remaining Original siblings were not buried at sea.

Knowing that she needed to discuss that with Elijah- he deserved to know that his siblings were still alive- she did all she could to contact him, but none of her attempts were successfully.

Since using technology was off-limit for demigods, she had never asked for his cell-phone number, and so it was extremely hard to contact him, and the days passed without any sign from him.

The young girl was starting to think that perhaps she wouldn't see him again.

Percy wasn't sure if it was because she had tasted what peace was like after a long time of pure torture, but she was starting to care less about the safety of others and focusing more on her own well-being.

Percy finally had a life after years of only focusing on wars.

She had things she looked forwards to, and for once, none of them involved anything from the immortal side of her family.

There were still a couple of months left of her mother's pregnancy, but the demigoddess wanted to be there to see her baby sister being born. And the results from her SATs would be arriving somewhere around the next weeks, which is to say, everything was turning out just fine.

It was an almost normal life, and she didn't want to risk any of that.

Her nightmares persisted, but they weren't as troublesome as before. She hadn't caused any other earthquake because of them, and she also hadn't blacked out and committed another murder, which was more than she could've ever wanted for herself.

For the first time in ages, she felt in control of her own life, even when there were still days in which she could think of nothing but the wars, could see nothing but Tartarus and all the deaths she had caused, days in which she could hear nothing but Kronos' and Gaea's voice.

Those were certainly hard days, but she had started to get used to them, which allowed her to control herself a little better.

People often mentioned that life consisted of bad days and good days; she found herself having more bad days than good ones, but since it was impossible not to have a good day between those awful ones, she had started to develop a fraction of hope about her future.

Perhaps she could never get rid of Kronos and Gaea and Tartarus, but if she could forget about it, even for a small moment, things could be fine.

It was a good thing that the gods continued being absent from her life (except for Triton every now and then- usually when she had nightmares or started seeing Kronos around- leaving notes in the fountain on her room, reminding her that if she didn't get better he would make her brain melt. He was such a supportive brother) because it allowed Percy to breathe thoroughly and forget about that part of her life for some time.

Things at school were as usual- she struggled but managed to get acceptable grades- and as for her social life, she continued hanging around the Salvatore brothers when they weren't busy and accompanying Emma to the movies and to The Grill every now and then.

Percy had started to realize that her mortal friend had a certain edge of happiness to her that wasn't there before, and when asked about it, Emma would blush and say that she was reconnecting with her father.

Something about that statement didn't sound right to Percy, but she brushed it off, after all, she was not the most suitable person to have an opinion when it came to absent fathers.

Stefan kept mostly to himself. He was mostly concentrated on Elena, needing to make sure that she was safe, because while Klaus hadn't made any sign of being in town, he was still a threat.

Damon continued being his usual self around others (flirting and doing his best to annoy her) but when it was only the two of them, he adopted a kinder attitude.

He had told her about his mortal life, and several stories about his immortal years.

Percy didn't talk much about herself, but the few occasions she had revealed something of her life to him, he had realized how important those things were, and cherished the act of trust from her part.

She had told him a little about Camp- saying only that it was a safe-place for those of her kind- and very little things about her recent years.

Since Damon already knew about Annabeth, she felt comfortable telling him a bit about their friendship and how much they meant to each other.

Everything was almost too normal to be real.

Even her parents seemed happy with how things were. They didn't try to force her to over-share her thoughts with them, which made her feel at ease around them again, and they certainly didn't try to make her leave town again, which was good for both parts.

She should've known her peace wouldn't last much.

That night she was feeling a bit melancholic and off (she kept hearing Kronos' laugh, accompanied with the cries of those that perishes in both wars), and she found Damon lying in the middle of the street, drinking alcohol as tears fell from his eyes and he stared at nothing ahead of him.

She joined him there, and said nothing for most of the time, just leaned her head against his shoulder and allowed him to cry. She had learnt that sometimes people just needed someone to be there and not talk, because words were meaningless when someone was truly devastated.

Once his bottle of alcohol was empty, he leaned his head against the demigoddess, and she moved to allow him to cuddle her, because while physical contact was something they were still testing on their friendship, in that moment both could use a little contact.

"What happened?" Percy asked carefully after a little consideration.

She hated when people asked what was wrong when there were about a million things going poorly, but she wanted to make sure he would be all right after that passed.

Damon hesitated, but at last ended up saying a soft: "Do you remember Rose? I told you about her, she kidnapped Elena and then crashed for a while in my house." He paused for a moment, and when he felt Percy nod in confirmation, he continued his tale, feeling empty as he talked about the situation. "She knew what it was like to love someone that didn't love you back."

Percy tilted her head to the side, a little curious. "She was your friend."

Damon smiled a little, though it didn't reach his eyes. "I cared about her." The way his voice sounded strained allowed the green-eyed girl to realize how much it took him to say those words out-loud.

She found herself waving her hand through his hair, wanting to comfort him even though she was just as depressed as he was.

Listening to his problems, however, made her forget her own issues for a moment, which she appreciated.

When he leaned into her touch and sighed deeply, she ceased her movements for a moment. "Which is why you euthanized her."

He pushed away from her embrace and stared at her, his walls closing again. "How do you know?"

She gave him a soft look. "I know you. I might not know the details, but I think I have an idea of what happened."

It had happened before, a week prior to that night, he had a discussion with the doppelgänger and, out of anger, ended up attacked a human being. It was his nature, Percy had been expecting something like that to happen, and while she hated the knowledge that he had harmed someone else, she couldn't find it on herself to punish him for breaking their treaty. The person that he attacked was still alive, which was a relief, but it had been an attack nonetheless.

Truth was, she had two reasons for letting him live. The first one: Damon had told her about the act, saying that he was aware that he had broken their treaty and that he would face the consequences of his actions, something that surprised the demigoddess greatly. The second one: she had problems controlling her temper at times too (her blackouts, which had ended with people and creatures dead before) and it would've been hypocrite of her to act like she had never exploded.

And, while she would never admit it out-loud, she couldn't see herself harming the Salvatore brothers. Not anymore, at least.

Perhaps there was a third reason: they were her friends, and she cared a lot about them. She had gone soft, the thought alone had made her feel disgusted, but it was something she couldn't deny. She had a soft spot for them, something that was never meant to happen! As a demigoddess, she should've never gotten involved with monsters.

"She was bitten," Damon snapped, looking away, as though he had grown tired of someone seeing him being vulnerable. "There's another bitch in town, a friend of Mason Lockwood." He waited until she had processed that information, then scowled disdainfully, "When a wolf bites a vampire-"

Percy had read about it on the book she had been given by Artemis. "It's a slow and agonizing process. They go through high fevers, hallucinations, and an intense urge to drink human blood, as though they were rabid-"

"You sound like you swallowed a book," Damon sneered at her, still looking away. "Rose was suffering."

The demigoddess knew what he had gone through, similar things had happened between the two wars that she was forced to fight in. Moments like those were the hardest, but it had to be done. In that moment, Percy didn't know what to say to make him feel better, because she knew there was nothing that could appease that pain.

She settled for carefully touching his shoulder with her right hand, noticing that upon the contact he startled, and said a soft: "I understand what you're feeling."

A long silence surrounded them, one in which the demigoddess looked away from Damon, having felt as though she had revealed too much about her life with that single statement.

However, he used that silence to stare at her, realizing for the first time that she looked equally as wrecked as he felt that night.

He found himself nodding for a second, then muttering a: "You've lost someone too."

It was a statement, but the demigoddess chose to take it as a question and nodded.

Memories of the wars crossed her mind, faces of her deceased friends passing through like falling stars, until it molded together in a way that she was seeing those that had perished alongside with those that she had hurt unintentionally, her parents, Annabeth, Nico, Grover, and Apollo being some of the faces that mixed with the deceased.

It became too much for her in that moment, and she forced herself to close her eyes, wanting to push those memories away.

"What happened to you?"

She refused to answer, which annoyed him a little, but he had learnt to respect the fact that she was extremely private about her personal life.

Damon wrapped his arms around her and drew her into a hug, drowning his surprise when she allowed herself to lean against him and returned the hug, something that she usually never did before. He sighed against her head, inhaling softly until her scent had invaded his senses.

"You're a weirdo, I can't believe you're actually smelling my hair." Percy said, but made no attempt to move from the embrace.

His hand encountered her thigh, slapping hard at her words. "Don't call me weirdo, weirdo."

She found herself giggling at that. "Such a great comeback. I'm speechless."

Damon had grown to notice that upon asked a personal question, she tended to change the topic with a laugh or a joke; it seemed to be her defense mechanism. That time, however, she had laughed and teased him about his comeback, but it all felt forced.

"Will you tell me what happened to you?"

She remained quiet, staring right ahead of her.

He continued, a little hesitant, because he wasn't used to having to coarse someone into telling him something. He usually forced them to with his compulsion, or completely ignored whatever they were saying because he didn't care (which was what happened mostly when Jeremy Gilbert approached him with a concern about his sister).

"If someone hurt you..." He was careful with his words, and a little awkward, but he made his point clear. "Be sure to know that I will personally see to it that their life becomes a living hell."

Percy smiled a little, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Thank you."

She couldn't bring herself to explain that she was submerged in memories from her past, and that it overwhelmed her so much that most times she couldn't focus or concentrate on anything else. She couldn't bring herself to tell him what haunted her, to reveal all she had gone through those past years.

But, on the other hand, he had shown that he cared about her with his statement, however awkward it was.

It meant something to her, and she wanted to give him something back to show him that she cared about him too, and that she trusted him.

Sounding as awkward as he had when he last spoke, she could only think of something to say about her situation without explaining too much. "I just get a little distracted and stuff because of things that happened a long time ago, but um, I'm fine."

Damon acknowledged the seriousness of the situation, but since he couldn't find anything appropriate to say to that revelation, he forced a smile into his face and said: "You're so eloquent, I like how you can express so much with the words 'stuff' and 'things' and-" He stopped when she slapped his arm.

"Don't be an ass."

"But, um-" Damon cleared his throat, wishing that he would stop feeling so uncomfortable about her revelation. In all truth, it was strange to know that she was going through something, because she always seemed to be perfectly fine, she was always teasing him and annoying him- but then he remembered that he had seen her cause an earthquake in consequence of a nightmare and understood that there was more to her than he imagined before. "Will you be all right?"

Percy wanted to tell him that she wasn't sure but found herself shrugging and nodding at the same time, which must've looked a little goofy. "I will, I always am." And perhaps, she thought, that wasn't a complete lie.

They were submerged in silence for a little while, but it was a comfortable silence, both immerse on their own thoughts.

Damon broke the silence. "The first love always feels like they are the love of your life. But you will realize, as time goes by, that most of the time they are not."

Percy thought that was a good man- a good monster- even when he tried to act like an asshole without a heart.

The fact that he had mourned the death of his latest fling spoke volumes about his feelings. She thought that he had perhaps felt something towards Rose, but that after her death, he had gone back to thinking about Katherine and Elena.

"Do you miss Katherine?" The question was out of her mouth before she could process what she'd said. It seemed like a horrible idea to speak about a woman that she killed. The reaction it received made the demigoddess cringe, and quickly mutter a: "I'm sorry, that's not a very nice question."

"It's okay, I've grown to accept the fact that you're not nice."

"Again, you're an ass."

Damon gave her a smirk and made a gesture with his hands that was meant to portray that her words had proven his statement, and she found herself chuckling.

Because of the silence that surrounded them once again, she thought he wouldn't answer.

But after a few more seconds, he found himself grabbing one of her hands and holding them up, almost as though he were pointing at the sky, but he was just observing them.

"The only thing that she caused me was pain. I don't miss her." There was a hard edge on his voice, one that could not hide the fact that it strained him to say those words.

Percy could understand the way he was thinking. "You spent a hundred years loving her, it's completely normal for you to miss her, even if all that she caused you was pain and sorrow."

"Everyone always chooses Stefan," Damon blurted, as though having thought about that for a long time. He rolled his eyes disdainfully and continued, "It's always goodie-two shoes Stefan who everyone loves."

Percy considered that for a moment and realized that he had a point there. Every woman that he seemed to fall in love with ended up in a relationship with his brother.

She gave him a teasing look and bumped her shoulder against his. "Well, if I wasn't completely out of your league, and if you weren't a vampire, I would most definitely choose you over Stefan."

Through his life, no one had ever chosen him over someone else, and while he didn't love her in a romantic way, her words made his chest feel warm, and a real smile crossed his features. That young girl was something else, all right. He found himself joyous of having formed a friendship with her, even if it started with the both trying to kill each other.

"I would feel offended that you say you're out of my league, but since I saw a picture of your ex-boyfriend I cannot deny that you are most definitely out of my league." Damon raised one eyebrow. "It's crazy ridiculous how attractive that man is, and I never thought I'd say something like that about another man."

"I hope you didn't harm your fragile masculinity saying that, my dude." Percy smirked at him. An idea struck her, and she gave him the same puppy-dog eyes that used to make her friends succumb to her wishes. "Can we go to your place? I'm freezing out here."

"It's midnight, and you have school tomorrow" Damon pointed out, unlocking his phone to see what hour it was. "Shouldn't you be sleeping?"

Percy shrugged. "I'll sleep when I'm dead."

He disappeared, and when she blinked, he was standing in front of her, holding one hand out for her to take.

When he saw the curious look on her gaze, he wiggled his fingers in front of her face until she rolled her eyes and allowed him to pull her up from the ground.

"Come on, kitty. I'll make hot chocolate."

They intertwined their arms together, and swaying a little because of the vampire's intoxicated state, they walked towards the Salvatore's Boarding House. The lights were on, and near the entrance was the doppelgänger's car parked, which meant that she was on the house with her boyfriend.

As they neared the door, a soft echo of Stefan's voice could be heard, followed by Elena's laugh and another voice that the demigoddess couldn't recognize. The normalcy of everything seemed out of place after the death of someone that had been important to one of them, but then Percy had a realization. The reason for Damon to be alone on the street, away from everyone while he grieved, became too clear then:

"You haven't told them that Rose is gone."

Damon faltered on his steps, and since they were still linked through their arms, the green-eyed girl faltered too.

He seemed to recover himself, and opened the door for them, allowing past through the door before he did, and as he closed the door, he thought about a proper way to explain the situation.

"They wouldn't care that she's gone. I mean look at them, it's midnight and they're upstairs having a sleepover of some sorts," He rolled his eyes disdainfully. "They're playing board games and drinking and laughing as though there wasn't a dangerous vampire on the lookout."

He guided her towards the kitchen, and once there, he motioned for her to sit in one of the high chairs while he moved around collecting the things he needed to prepare their beverage.

She watched him move around the kitchen, thinking about his words.

"I'm not defending them, but to be fair, there are no news of Klaus being in Mystic Falls already."

But the demigoddess imagined that he was there already.

She knew the tactic that most monsters used- they liked to wait until their prey believed to be safe to pounce on them unexpectedly- and believed that he had to be somewhere around town watching them interact with each other, learning their weaknesses and preparing everything to attack.

It was another reason for her to want to see Elijah again, she wanted to have the confirmation that his brother was in town.

Damon raised one eyebrow in her direction, and she grimaced awkwardly, knowing that he had seen through her lie.

She decided to change the topic. "What are we going to do with the werewolf that bit your friend?"

"She's mine to kill," Damon snarled, a little defensive. Upon realizing how he had sounded, he forced a smile into his face and tried to change the subject. "When are your SAT's results arriving?"

"One, your attempts to change the conversation sucks. Two, in a couple of weeks."

There was a small silence after that.

Damon poured the hot chocolate he had been making into two cups, and then crouched down to get the marshmallows from one of the low cabinets of the counter.

Upon finding them, he emerged and smiled brilliantly at the demigoddess, gesturing for her to take her cup as he threw several marshmallows into both cups.

"I like my chocolate how I like my men," Percy's eyes twinkled mischievously. Damon's eyes rose to meet hers, interested with the joke he knew would come after her words. "Hot, sweet when you taste it, and divine."

Damon snorted, "That's the closest thing to a dirty joke that I've heard you say in months," He took a gulp of his beverage, and with a smirk he continued, "I'm proud."

She grinned at him. "I was going to say rich and dark, but I prefer sweet guys over assholes, and while money is always helpful, I don't like the thought of people wasting their money on me."

He threw a marshmallow at her, looking offended for something. It bounced against her nose and fell into the floor.

She held her hands out in a confused sort of sign, and he raised one eyebrow at her as he explained his actions.

He pointed a finger at her, "You said you would choose me over Stefan, yet you say you prefer sweet guys-"

"Stefan isn't sweet, he's also an asshole." Percy paused when she realized something, "And I completely forgot that he can hear me," She looked at the ceiling, knowing that since he was upstairs he must've been somewhere around there, "Sorry Stef, but you are kind of an asshole sometimes."

"That's okay," Stefan's voice said from the door. "You're always an asshole."

He was standing there, on the edge of the door and the hallway, accompanied by two girls.

Percy and Stefan smiled at each other, none of them taking offense on the other's words.

The doppelgänger, which was leaning against her boyfriend's arm, pursed her lips and looked down when she felt a strange anger settle on her stomach at the sight of the green-eyed girl and Damon being together in the kitchen.

The witch grimaced disdainfully and turned her back on the group, not knowing which of them she hated the most, if Damon Salvatore or Percy Jackson.

Damon reached through the counter and discreetly pinched Percy's side when an uncomfortable silence covered the room. The demigoddess knew what her monster friend wanted her to do, and she forced herself not to roll her eyes, but obliged.

She swallowed her pride and smiled politely at the two girls. "Hello Elena, Bonnie."

Stefan discretely pinched Elena's side, and she forced herself to mumble a soft: "Hi, Percy."

Bonnie wasn't moved by their small interaction, she continued giving them her back and didn't plan to move. Damon shared an annoyed glance with Stefan, both thinking that she should've respected their wishes since she was on their house and not the other way around.

However, a phrase came out of her mouth. "How did this happen?" While she was still giving them their back, they knew exactly what she meant.

It was Damon who answered her. "Turns out if you spend time with someone and don't kill 'em you actually become friends." He paused when he recognized the dark tone of voice she used. "Mess with her and it won't be good for you."

Bonnie's jaw twitched in anger at his threat. She turned and started to open her mouth to hex him, but then the demigoddess rolled her eyes and stepped between them, which made the witch stop her actions, remembering that her witchcraft hadn't worked on her before.

"You might want to reconsider your actions, witch-bitch," Percy said calmly, with an edge of something very similar to amusement on her voice. "You receive what you give, and darling, you adore showing others your powers, but I assure you: you do not want to taste mine."

Bonnie opened her mouth to speak, eyes flaring dangerously.

"Enough," Elena snapped before her friend could respond. "That's enough."

Shad meant to defend Bonnie, but when the Salvatore brothers gave her a smile, thinking that she had wanted to stop their upcoming banter, she realized it was better if she acted as though she were defending the demigoddess instead.

"I'm heading out," Percy finished her drink and moved to put it on the sink. "It's getting late. I don't want to take advantage of my welcome here."

Elena swallowed down her pride and forced a polite: "Goodnight, Percy. See you tomorrow in school."

The demigoddess knew exactly what the doppelgänger was trying to do- she could read her almost perfectly well-, but she decided to play along, not wanting to abuse the situation and end up bickering with both girls before leaving.

"Goodnight, Elena, Stefan." Percy completely ignored Bonnie, but it was Damon raised an eyebrow at his own lack of goodbye, but before he could comment on it, she had touched his elbow and ordered: "Walk me home."

"Only if you ask nicely," Damon teased, but he was already walking at her side out of the kitchen, through the living room, and towards the main door.

"No."

He shrugged. "It was worth a try."

They were at her doorstep in a matter of moments, and after saying goodbye to each other, the demigoddess went inside, making sure to close and lock the door as quietly as she could. The lights were off, which allowed the green-eyed girl to guess that her parents had gone to sleep already, and so she didn't dare turn them on in case it woke them up. She had sneaked out of the house after seeing her friend sprawled across the street, waiting for a passing car to go through him, and the least she wanted or needed was for them to know she had sneaked out.

She disregarded of her jacket in the living room, and slowly walked towards the staircase, in direction of her room, when something moved from the corner of her eyes, and she froze on her steps.

All at once, her heartbeat turned erratic, and her whole body filled with adrenaline.

There was someone in the house.

She continued frozen there, until the only thing she could hear was the soft sound of her parents snorts upstairs, and the crinkle of the soft breeze that rustled the leaves of the trees outside. In that state of quietness, she was able to sense other things- it was a bonus from her ADHD, since she needed to be in constant movement, when she forced herself to remain settled in one place, she shifted her attention somewhere else, and was able to notice other things.

She could feel someone's presence there, lingering on the air.

It wouldn't have bothered her, had she not recognized that the presence lingering around the house was not one of mortal monsters, but of a deity from her world.

A familiar sensation overwhelmed her senses, followed by another shot of adrenaline coursing through her body.

Annoyance was the first emotion that she acknowledged, then anger.

It couldn't mean anything good if a deity had gone to her house when she was not there.

While she was concerned about the meaning of that visit- which, again, could be nothing good- she was more concerned about the fact that her mortal parents were at the house while the deity was.

Not all gods were benevolent to mortals- in fact, most of them despised everyone and everything below them.

She readied herself for a fight, but before she could turn, something passed by her, too fast for her to have an actual glimpse of it and disappeared on the staircase.

The demigoddess followed it instantly, fearing that it was after her parents.

Once upstairs, she stopped in the hallway, looking at the different closed doors surrounding her.

Almost at the end of the hallway was her parents room, and a few places to the left, the bathroom. On the other side was her room, and the music room, then her mother's study.

She'd never realized before how big her house was. It always seemed so normal, but when there was someone inside, hiding somewhere around the house, it felt bigger than it was.

Percy sighed deeply and closed her eyes, willing herself to concentrate on the presence that she still felt lingering around.

A soft echo of music came from the room at her side, and she barged inside without hesitation. It was the music room.

She took her pen out of her pocket, and uncapped it, freeing Riptide. She tried the lights at the side of the door, but they didn't work.

Suddenly, as she looked towards the middle of the room, she stopped once more.

A little speck of light had appeared and started to swirl through the room. The only way the demigoddess could describe it was by comparing it to the pixie dust that was portrayed in Disney movies when a fairy moved around. Beautiful and strange all at the same time, and completely unexpected.

Not knowing what to do, the demigoddess simply watched as it moved through the room.

Then, all at once, it expanded.

There was light everywhere.

Sunlight swirling through the room, like a sandstorm getting caught in a tornado, even though it was almost two am in the morning, and there was not supposed to be sunlight inside of a room.

As it danced gracefully around the four walls of the room, it brought warmth and peace on its path.

The presence became intense and overwhelming, and it was only when it swirled around her that she was able to recognize the warmth it had on it, and once she did, a gasp escaped her throat. She took a step back, her sword falling out of her hands and crashing into the floor with a deafening sound.

The name was out of her lips before she could stop herself, "Apollo?"

The golden gleam swirled twice around her form once again, then seemed to expand until it covered the whole room, leaving a golden warmth through its path, but intense enough for the demigoddess to realize that what she was seeing was the true essence of a god, and almost immediately, she closed her eyes and moved a hand to block the light that seemed to grow more intense with each passing second, hurting her eyesight even when she had blocked it with her hands.

Just when she started thinking that she was going to be blind from the intense brightness of the light, it all stopped.

There was no more warmness, no more music echoing through the room, no more brightness.

Percy waited a couple of seconds, just in case, and then, with trembling hands, the demigoddess dared to uncover her eyes and look.

She didn't know what she expected to see, but the loneliness of the room made her uncomfortable.

Everything was dark again, and she tried the light switches that were by her side again, and this time they illuminated the whole room.

But there was nothing there.

She observed the whole room, looking everywhere for a signal of what she had just seen, but there was absolutely nothing there.

A cold breeze passed through, making her shiver and swallow thickly.

It brought a reaction out of her that she never expected- because, from the first day on that house, she had found solace in that room- and she realized she couldn't- wouldn't- be there alone.

She felt scared of that room, and without further thought, she moved as fast as she could from there, wanting to put distance between that place and herself.

It was only when she was going down the stairs and towards the main door that she allowed herself to take in what she had seen there.

Her limbs gave out, and she collapsed with her back against the door, her whole body trembling with a different kind of adrenaline than before.

She guided her hands to her face, hiding behind them, and closed her eyes and she tried to control her own body and the strange reaction she had had to the presence on her room- a presence she was sure belonged to her ex-boyfriend who was, the last time she checked, being punished by his own father.

Guilt overcame her senses, and she moved her hands away from her face, trembling from head to toe as another shot of anxiety coursed through her body.

In all those months that had passed, after she had that dream where she talked to Hermes, Artemis and Apollo, she had done nothing more to try and discover what his punishment was.

How could she have forgotten that?

She felt like a bad person for forgetting that she was trying to discover what his fate would be, but had to remind herself that she had no obligation whatsoever to do anything in regards of him, because they had broken up a long time before, but it was something that she had wanted to know. Because, no matter how much she tried to deny it, a great part of her still cared a lot about him.

And the realization of what she had seen...it was earth-shattering.

That had been his grace, his very essence.

She never imaged she would get to see that- see a part of it and live, because mortals weren't meant to see a god's true essence.

It was pure light and therefore ended destroying everyone that gazed upon it. But it was beautiful, it was indescribable…

But it also meant horrible things.

She was most concerned about the fact that, since she had seen it just casually swirling around her room, it meant that it was no longer a part of Apollo. As far as she knew, for a deity their essence was what the soul was to a mortal being.

Meaning that they were nothing without their grace.

A horrible thought crossed her mind, forcing her to suck in a breath.

Did that mean he had ceased to exist?

She couldn't remember exactly what she had seen happen when the god Pan had faded away in front of them, all those years before, which made her hate the fact that some of her memories were still blurry from the time that Hera erased them.

She needed to know, because if it meant what she thought it meant...-

It was impossible.

Apollo couldn't have faded away.

A god could only fade away after being forgotten by those around him, and Apollo was one of the most important gods, being the ruler of several domains that were still essential to the world; the arts, the music, the prophecies, the sun, etc. People still believed in him, his name was still spoken in several places, and artist still honored him for their talents- at least those that were aware of the existence of the gods.

There was no reasonable explanation for what she had seen.

But then again, Zeus was looking for a way to punish Apollo for allowing his descendant (Octavian) to do as he wished in the war, and for allowing his prophecies to be heard before the time was right.

She felt breathless at that thought, thinking that it was impossible.

Zeus was an awful father, but somehow it felt too horrible to think that he would be capable of forcing one of his children to fade away after a mistake.

But then she remembered that gods were twisted creatures capable of anything and everything, and her heart seemed to shatter into a million pieces, her body filling with pure fear.

Had Zeus forced his own son to fade away as a punishment?

She had known that it was very probable that she wouldn't see him again after their breakup, but part of her had hoped that in one of the council meetings, or in a mission, or just by sheer luck, they would see each other again and... now that she thought about him fading away, her chest seemed to collapse, forbidding her from breathing.

Fading away was the gods way of dying.

She never imaged that Apollo would die. It was just something that she never thought of, something that she never considered happening, and so the pain that she felt was too overwhelming for her to deal with.

"Apollo," She breathed out, horrified with her thoughts. "What have they done to you?"

...

Emma's life wasn't going as planned.

She barely saw her adoptive father around, which made her feel extremely sad, but she was aware that there was a reason for their distance: If her biological parents knew he had come back into her life, they'd do everything on their hands to separate them once more.

The solution had come to Niklaus immediately: they had to be dealt with.

However, he desisted from his plans when he realized that it wouldn't appease his dearest Emma. It was clear that she had grown into a kind and sweet woman, someone that would never harm anyone.

While she had seen few of his darkest sides when they lived together, she had been too young to comprehend the extents of his temper.

He didn't want to scare her away from his life, but he knew that they needed to make that point clear: he was her adoptive father and he cared a great deal about her, but he wasn't the knight in shining armor that she had believed him to be back when she was a child.

If he attempted to harm her biological parents, she would never forgive him.

Therefore, Niklaus had tried to spend as little time with her as possible, even when the separation was destroying him.

It was for the best.

He was currently making the preparations necessary to take advantage of the nearest full-moon, which would happen in the matter of fourteen days, to break his curse. Meanwhile, Emma needed to continue acting normally so that when the time of the possession came, no one would notice something about her was different.

He needed to focus, he couldn't afford to be distracted when he was, finally, for the first time on his immortal life, two weeks close to breaking his curse.

And while Niklaus adored Emma Darcy, he had to admit that she- and her family- was a big distraction.

He couldn't afford to allow them to damage his plans, which was another reason for him to keep his distance from the young woman while he made sure that no one dampers his plans.

Mr. Darcy had been a close friend to Niklaus, but after he had been released from the hospital all those years back, he had tried to distance himself from the supernatural world and all it involved, choosing to become a hermit and hide on his apartment when it became evident that the supernatural would never leave Mystic Falls.

Rosalie Darcy was another problem. That woman was capable of doing anything if it meant it would separate her daughter from the supernatural world. After all, she had been the one to bring Mikael into town all those years before, something told him that she was capable of that and more.

In a way he could understand their point- they wanted their daughter to be safe.

But he wasn't willing to risk it all just for the sake of a set of absent parents trying to do what they never did for her before- protect her.

At the end of the day, those extreme precautions that Emma's parents tended to take when it came to her were the exact same things that would end up damaging her in the future.

It was a thought that Niklaus abhorred with his whole self.

He had lost an adoptive son before- and it had hurt him so much that there were times in which he still grieved his loss- and when he took that small girl into his life and cared for her, it was as if life was giving him another chance to start over.

Marcel had perished at Mikael's hand because Niklaus had been selfish and had kept him at his side through the years; he planned to be selfless with Emma because he did not want to lose her.

It was only for a little while, he tried to convince himself, just until he managed to find a way to destroy Mikael for once and for all; once that was done, they could all be a proper family, with no more daggers to the heart, with no more concern for their future.

That was what Niklaus wanted.

He knew it wouldn't be an easy task.

If he managed to destroy his father, he'd have to work on getting his siblings to trust him again, and once that happened, he had to find a way to get his younger brother to accept Emma into the family. Out of his siblings, the one that concerned Niklaus the most was Kol- judging the way he had acted with Marcel (going as far as traumatizing him), it was obvious that he would not accept Emma.

But all that was unimportant- Niklaus forced those thoughts back into his mind and decided to focus on the first part of the plan.

He had to break his curse first to be able to do all that he wanted.

One day at a time, as his brother Finn used to tell him back when he didn't have a dagger up his heart.

The blond man sighed deeply and moved to the window, watching as his witch made her way back from town, a bag of ingredients hanging from one of her shoulders.

He watched for a second before he turned away from the window and stared at his latest painting, it was a portrait of Emma, a little gift he intended to give to her in hopes of having her forgiveness for being absent.

There was no way he could explain everything to Emma, not when he'd have to explain many other events that she was not aware of, so he simply mentioned that he was extremely occupied with the preparations for his curse, and thus he heard that she was spending her afternoons with a friend after school, and that on those days that she was not with the other girl, she was at her father's art study, distracting herself with paintings, a trait she had inherited from him.

"Klaus," Greta's voice echoed through the small apartment, making the vampire grit his teeth in annoyance at her interruption of his thoughts. "I have news that will interest you."

Niklaus used his inhuman speed to appear at the witch's side, impatient with the news she was would bring him, leaving behind every thought that didn't involve his curse; therefore, leaving behind the thoughts of his lovely Emma.

"Your doppelgänger will be attending a celebration tomorrow. In fact, the whole town will be there."

The Original hybrid considered what that could mean for him. He had been waiting for the perfect opportunity to taunt his doppelgänger and her vampire bodyguards, and it appeared that the occasion had finally arrived.

"A celebration?" He questioned. "What's the occasion?"

"A charity picnic of some sort," Greta rolled her eyes, not really caring about said event. "I heard it's being held at the Forbes' house." She swallowed and gathered her courage, "I was thinking that maybe you and I could-"

"Your work is not to think, love," Niklaus forced a faux smile at her, amusement dancing on his stare when the witch looked embarrassed at his words. "But you do have a point. It does seem like the appropriate situation to terrorize my doppelgänger and to meet the suitors for the other sacrifices." He thought for a moment, then smiled brilliantly. "How wonderful."

Greta fidgeted, uncomfortable.

Niklaus raised an eyebrow at her. "Is something bothering you?"

"There's something else," She admitted at last, seemingly out of words. However, since her boss was extremely temperamental, she forced herself to continue talking. "You ordered me to make sure that Emma Darcy was safe at all times-"

At the dangerous gleam that crossed his eyes, the young witch took one step back, terrified of the fury that his stare held. "Is that a problem for you?" His voice made clear that if it was she would most definitely suffer the consequences.

"No," She hurried to say, smiling nervously. "Of course not, but-"

"Enough chit-chat, go straight to the point."

"I believe your daughter could be in danger," Greta blurted out, heart beating fast against her chest, her limbs trembling under his stare.

Niklaus observed the witch in front of him, knowing that there was something else that she wasn't telling him. Annoyed with the situation, he blurred in front of her, invading her personal space, and roughly grabbed her face on his hands, his pupils widening. "Tell me now."

Greta obliged, her voice coming out monotone. "I believe that your daughter's friend is not human because she has a strange aura around her. It's as though she were in the exact same middle of a human and a creature, because there are times in which her aura shifts, sometimes she feels human, but others it's just- there's so much power coming from her, it's unlike any other one I've ever felt, and it's certainly not a power that can be felt coming from a simple human-"

Niklaus took one step back, breaking his compulsion.

Greta fell quiet, looking down at the floor as she waited for him to speak.

There were a lot of things that Niklaus had to deal with, but his curiosity overcame the other thoughts he had about the preparations for his curse.

As far as he knew, his daughter had normal, mortal friends; but if the description that Greta had given him was accurate, Niklaus had an idea of what could be around his daughter.

The thought was interesting enough to surprise him, and he found himself making a small consideration sound.

"It's not a vampire," Greta added quietly, hating the fact that he had used compulsion on her. She'd been foolish enough to think that he respected her enough not to do that. "It's not a witch, and it's most certainly not a werewolf. I don't know what she is, but it's not normal."

"Your information has been of value, for once," Niklaus dismissed her away, turning and walking towards the small kitchen of the apartment, pouring for himself a drink. "Leave."

She did as she was told.

He was left alone, and as he guided the glass to his lips, his thoughts took another turn.

It appeared that the charity event happening at the Forbes house was the perfect occasion to kill two birds with one stone. He could get to meet his doppelgänger for once and for all, and on the other hand, he would get to see if his theory about his daughter's friend was correct.

A smirk covered his lips.

It seemed that things were starting to get interesting in Mystic Falls.

...

The next day, the demigoddess forced herself to continue as though nothing had happened the night before and followed her stepfather to his car after breakfast.

Sally and Paul been talking about buying Percy a car, because they only had one car for the whole family, and, while her friends usually gave her a ride when Paul couldn't lend her the car, they had to admit that it would be safer for everyone if she had a car of her own.

They'd been thinking about the possibility of her having to go somewhere for a mission, which drove them to realize that it was safer for her to have one of her own than to borrow their car, or ride in public transportation. After all, she had mentioned how in one of her missions some monsters had been on the public transportation too and had almost killed all the passengers just to get to her.

But the demigoddess had turned down the offer, embarrassed that they would be willing to spend a lot of money on her.

Besides, she tried to convince them, she hadn't had a mission in a long time.

That morning, however, Percy had been too mentally exhausted to fight them back when they started mentioning the issue of the car again.

After everything, she had reached a conclusion.

She needed to speak to someone that knew more myths than she did. Before coming to Mystic Falls, her number one choice had always been Chiron, and if he wasn't available, one of her friends.

But things had changed, if she called Chiron after months of not bothering to check up on him, he'd know that something was up, and he'd try to question her choices about staying in town. There were things she didn't want him to know, mainly the fact that she was involved in some matters that concerned mortal monsters, which made her realize that she couldn't contact Chiron with her doubt.

She had to settle for someone else, because there was no mention of what she was seeking in the mythology books she owned.

The day went by agonizingly slow, she couldn't concentrate on any of her classes because she was trying to decide if what she planned to do was worth a shot or not.

In the end, she couldn't stop herself and, before she could change her mind, she had crossed the hallways in direction of Alaric's office, and had knocked lightly upon the door.

He wasn't an expert in mythology, but he was the closest thing that there was in town.

"Come on in."

It was a long shot. Alaric was a smart man, which meant that if he started to put two and two together with her question, he could end up discovering what she was.

Out of everyone in town, Alaric was the only person that Percy was worried would discover what she was, because the others were ignorant and self-centered. But he knew better, he had already questioned how she knew ancient Greek, back when they teamed together to kill Katherine Pierce, and he had watched very closely the strange runes engraved on her sword.

She gathered her courage and entered.

It could end up backfiring against her, but it was a risk she was willing to take if it meant she'd know what Apollo's fate was. She couldn't continue living without knowing if he was alive or not. It was something that she needed to know.

"Percy," Alaric smiled pleasantly when he saw her entering his office. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"Yes," She fidgeted nervously, which annoyed her a little. "Um, I have a question. About Greek mythology."

He gave her a confused look. "We covered mythology a long time ago, I don't see why you would have a doubt about that. The assignment due next week is about the eighties-"

Percy cleared her throat. She realized she must've looked awkward standing there and fidgeting uncomfortably, but pushed the thought away, reminding herself that she could trust him- he had always been nice to her, and he was also Damon's and Paul's friend.

She could trust him, but she didn't want to.

"It's for a personal matter," Percy gave him a helpless look. "I-I didn't know who else to ask."

He seemed taken aback but honored that she had chosen him. "Very well, take a seat," and once she had taken a seat in front of his desk, he continued, "What can I do for you?"

It took a small moment for Percy to speak, there were a lot of things that could go wrong in that moment if she dated to trust him with a personal matter of that size.

It was an irrational fear, but the part of her that had seen how close friends betrayed one another (the perfect example being Luke with his relationship with Thalia and Annabeth) couldn't help but worry about Alaric realizing what she was and telling the Salvatore brothers. They were friends, but she wasn't sure she could trust them with her secret like that- after all, she had seen close friends turning their back on each other and trying to destroy one another.

However, she pushed all thoughts away and concentrated on the matter at hand, there was something she needed to know.

"I want to know if it's possible for a god to lose their divinity and remain alive."

Her words were so blunt that it took a moment for Alaric to process them.

Once he did, curiosity and confusion overcame his senses, but he refrained himself from asking, knowing that she wasn't very keen on sharing personal information.

"I'm-" Alaric scowled. "I'm not quite sure if I understand correctly what you're asking-" The demigoddess started to think that perhaps it had been a bad idea, maybe his knowledge about mythology was limited to what he had taught them. "But here, let me see if I can find something on my books."

Percy closed her eyes tightly, exhaling in exasperation. She readied herself for her next sentence, and then, when she found the courage to do so, she stopped Alaric from bringing his old books out.

"My question should've been: can a god punish another god by-" Percy faltered at the look she saw on Alaric's face, a look that made her nervous because she had seen that look before in other people, those that had eavesdropped on her when she talked about mythology and used to think she was insane.

"By stripping them away from their divinity?" Alaric guessed carefully, the look remaining on his face, but looking less judging than she thought at first.

When she nodded in quiet confirmation, he elaborated: "It has actually happened before in the past, here." He flipped through one of his books and moved it, so she could see what he was pointing at.

The book seemed to be really old, the letters were extremely small and there were so many paragraphs that the demigoddess felt a headache coming just by looking at them.

"I-" She swallowed down her embarrassment. "I can't read that."

It took a moment for him to understand, then he quickly apologized and moved the book back in front of him. "Sorry, I forgot. But yes, there are several stories here that mention how Zeus often punishes other gods by stripping them of their divinity and sending them to the Earth."

"B-But that means that they remain alive even without their divinity?" Percy insisted, heartbeat growing a little agitated. She fidgeted on the seat again, something that the man in front of her noticed. "They don't fade away?"

"Fade away, you say?" Alaric tilted his head to the side, observing her thoroughly. "That's a very curious term, Percy."

Knowing where that was going, she simply sighed deeply and looked away. "Just answer the question."

"If that were to happen to a god, they'd remain alive. Basically, the only thing that punishment does is turn them into mortals. There are stories of Zeus using that punishment against others. The god Apollo seems to be the one that got tuned into a mortal the most, you see once his son Asclepius was killed he went on a rage of some sort and killed a bunch of cyclops or something, as a punishment, Zeus turned him into a mortal and forced him to work with a mortal man on fields or something like that."

While Alaric's explanation lacked a lot of context, the pieces of the puzzle started to fit together.

On the letter that Apollo had sent her all those months before, he had asked her to investigate what had happened when Asclepius had died. She had tried to ask the god that when he was her therapist, but he had gotten angry and refused to answer.

It made sense then.

That was his punishment.

That was what Zeus had done to him- he had turned him into a mortal man again.

Alaric continued talking over her. "And the time that Hera started the first Olympian riot against Zeus, when it was all over, everyone that participated was punished in that way. Apollo, Poseidon and Athena lost their powers and became mortals for a year as a punishment."

"It makes sense," Percy said, but she was talking more to herself than to the man in front of her. "Apollo is known to be the most powerful son of Zeus, after all, that is exactly why he was granted more domains than the other gods. Zeus is not only punishing him because of his actions, he's stripping him from his powers because he's scared!"

Alaric gave her a confused look, opening his mouth to question her words, but the young girl in front of him was too immerse on her thoughts to remember who she was with.

She rose from the chair, motioning with her hands as she talked.

All the while, he watched and pulled the puzzle together.

"There was a prophecy that said that one of Zeus' children would overthrow him, just like they had overthrown Kronos before! Zeus thinks it might be Apollo-" Percy was interrupted when a loud, thunderous lighting shook the sky.

It was all the confirmation that the demigoddess needed, and she started to move towards the door, wanting to go back home to find a way to communicate through Iris Message with her best friend and tell her what she had discovered.

"You're a demigoddess."

Her happiness ended abruptly.

She stopped just when her right hand was touching the doorknob. The green-eyed girl met Alaric's eyes, all the color draining from her face at his words and realized that she had foolishly discovered herself in front of him.

She opened and closed her mouth several times but didn't know what to say.

The knowledge that was present on his eyes allowed her to realize that he knew, no matter how much she denied it, he wouldn't believe her.

This time it was Alaric who rose from his chair and walked through his office until he was standing in front of her. "You speak ancient Greek, you have a sword that morphs into a pen, you are stronger than vampires and werewolves, you can control water-" He stopped himself off, shaking his head in amazement. "Good lord, demigods are real."

There must've been a great amount of fear on her face, because he took a step back and gave her a kind look, followed by a sweet smile that warmed her heart.

"Your secret is safe with me."

Percy was too surprised to react instantly, but after a few seconds, she observed him.

There was nothing but sincerity on his face, and determination.

Perhaps she was a fool for trusting him, but part of her believed his words. She forced a smile into her face and muttered a grateful: "Thank you."

"However, I have questions."

"I imagine you do." Percy's face only portrayed seriousness about the situation. He had never seen that young girl look like that before. "I came to you with my doubts because I trusted you."

Alaric nodded thoughtfully, knowing that it was a serious situation that needed to be addressed as such.

She continued before he could assure her again that he wouldn't tell anyone. "I need you to understand that no one must know about me. It's bigger than the Salvatore brothers and their Scooby-Doo gang, it's bigger than the doppelgänger and her first-world problems. This is my life, the things that you've read-" She gestured to the open mythology book on his desk. "-that is my life."

"But-" Alaric shook his head, amazed. "You're so young."

He couldn't see how it could be her life. As he thought about his realization and fully processed all it involved, his stomach dropped. Greek mythology had never been pretty in any way, there were horrible stories about horrible topics, and if that girl was part of that- he couldn't understand how someone that young could be involved in such awful and dangerous things.

For the first time since meeting her, her personality started to make sense.

She was energetic, like a bullet, but her mood changed drastically at all times. It was often hard to guess how she would react to something- she was, quite literally, a ticking bomb that everyone was scared would go off at any moment.

There were times in which she acted as though she were above them, ordering them around and sneering at the vampires, but most of the time she was just like a normal teenager had to be- she had shown them a goofy side, one full of teasing and laugher and just normalcy.

However, he couldn't stop thinking about the way she had effortlessly fought against Katherine and even against Damon. When she was in a bad mood, her power was more palpable through the air, and as Alaric recalled those times, he realized that he could see her being half a deity.

Her eyes were often glassed over, as though her mind was somewhere else. She had an old man's stare, and it was then that he realized why.

Percy chose carefully her following words, not wanting to reveal more about her life. "I'm almost old by demigod's standards. Only few of us manage to survive and reach adulthood in one piece."

She meant that both literally and metaphorically. Most demigods died before reaching adulthood, and then those that managed to survive were unfortunate enough to have gone through a lot.

No demigod ever reached adulthood without having lost a part of them in some way- for the three demigods that went through Tartarus in the second war, their loose piece had been dropped into the deepest, darkest part of that wretched place.

The history teacher tilted his head to the side as he considered the young girl in front of him, curiosity overcoming his senses as he realized he was staring at an unknown species.

"Paul is your stepfather, which means that your mother is the one that-" He stopped himself, blushing at how inappropriate that could sound, and continued. "Who is your father?"

There were things that Percy was not going to tell him.

It was enough that he knew what she was- hell, it was stressing enough the realization that someone knew what she was, and she wasn't even close to him at all- he didn't need to know more.

She forced a hard smile at him. "That, as Damon would say, is for me to know, and for you to dot dot dot."

Alaric nodded. "I understand, you know?" At her curious glance, he elaborated: "The reason for you not telling Damon what you are even though you're both best friends." He paused, thinking that perhaps the girl would like to say speak after that, but she didn't. He continued, "It's normal for you to fear-"

"Damon doesn't scare me," Percy said sincerely, amusement crossing her features. She had seen him doing all kind of things that accentuated his humanity- the least she felt towards him was fear.

"I know he doesn't, you mock him at all times," Alaric snorted, crossing his arms over his chest. "And I also know that you could hurt him more than he could you." At that point his voice has softened, and he noticed that she refused to meet his gaze. "And that's what scares you, his reaction. You know what he's capable of, he's impulsive and careless. And you don't want to have to end up killing him."

"If it ever came to the protection of the town and his life-" Percy stopped herself abruptly.

In the past, she would've been able to say the rest of that sentence without any trouble. She lived to kill monsters, it was her duty.

But things had changed- a friendship had been formed.

Suddenly, Athena's words came back to her. You would let the world burn if it meant saving a friend.

Alaric watched her carefully, "I hope you know you can trust me. I won't tell anyone what I discovered, your secret is safe with me. And if you ever need help in any way...I'm not sure I would know what to do, but I'd help you anyways."

A real smile formed into Percy's face.

She pushed her thoughts aside and focused on the moment. "Thank you, Alaric. For everything."

Taking it was a clue to leave, she started to move towards the door once more, feeling more at ease because she trusted him not to tell her secret.

"I hope your friend is all right," Alaric added as an afterthought. She didn't turn to look at him, but she stopped by the door to listen. "I imagine your question must be because someone you care about is going through that punishment. I hope things turn out okay for them."

Percy sighed a little, then moved out of the room. "I hope so too, Alaric."

She was just crossing the hallway when she run into her stepfather, who looked relieved to see her. Holding one hand out, he stopped her when she tried to pass through him and continue walking.

"Just wait a moment, Percy," Paul chuckled. "Do you have plans for the evening?"

The girl tilted her head to the side as she thought about it.

She wanted to see if she could find a way to make an Iris Message get though whatever was stopping messages from getting through, but apart from that, she had nothing to do in mind.

When she mentioned that to her stepfather, his relief grew. "Amazing! Because the Forbes invited us to a picnic at their place. Since they were kind enough to do so, we decided to go."

Percy groaned. "Oh, no-"

"And by that," Paul continued. "We mean the three of us, you included."

"But-" She sighed irritably, then refused to say more, knowing that it would be in vain. When her parents had something in mind, they wouldn't let it go.

Truthfully, Caroline Forbes had been the only one of the Mystic Falls gang to remain neutral towards her since the beginning, which meant that the raven-haired girl had nothing against her, so the thought of a celebration at her house wasn't exactly what bothered her.

It was the fact that she didn't want to go anywhere.

She wanted to stay home and do her homework.

She wanted to see if she could talk to her friends, because she hadn't heard from them in ages.

She wanted to think about all that had happened in such a short amount of time- she discovered Apollo's punishment, Alaric knew her secret, etc.

"It'll be nice," Paul promised. "You'll see your friends; the Salvatore brothers are going, and it is highly probable that Ms. Darcy will be there too."

"I haven't seen Emma today," Percy scowled, a little worried by that because her friend never skipped classes, not even when she was sick. "She wasn't in the class we share, and I didn't see her at lunch either."

Paul directed her an amused wink. "You'll see her at the picnic. Everyone is going, literally the whole town was invited. I wonder how people can do parties and prepare for the whole town to attend, it sounds exhausting."

She gave him a pointed look. "It's bound to be so boring."

"I know," Paul sighed, his facade of enthusiasm dying away.

At that, the demigoddess raised her eyebrows at him, and he explained himself. "I don't want to go either, but your mother wants to, which means that we will go-"

"-just because she says so," Percy continued for him, groaning once more. "Gods, I swear that pregnancy has made her more stubborn than before."

"And to think we still have five more months of her pregnancy." Paul smiled tiredly.

The demigoddess sighed tiredly. "Joy."

...

Emma was tired and sad.

It had been a couple of weeks since her adoptive father arrived back into her life, but nothing had changed.

She understood why things were still the same as before, but understanding wasn't the same as accepting.

Upon waking up, she decided to go to her father's art study instead of to school. She spent her entire day painting, a tactic of distraction that she had inherited from Mr. Darcy.

When the receptionist mentioned that there was a journalist wanting to speak with whoever was in charge for an interview, the young girl sighed tiredly and moved from her place behind the canvas, knowing that since her father was never in the store it was her duty to speak with the journalist, and regretting having been there at all.

The least she wanted was to be interviewed. She wasn't in the mood for that.

However, she plastered her best smile upon her face- even when the least she wanted was to smile at anyone ever again- and walked downstairs, cheerfully complimenting the other students painting around the rooms.

The journalist was standing by the main door, observing some of the paintings that were adorning the walls.

She approached swiftly, wanting to get it over with as soon as possible.

When he heard her approaching, he turned to meet her gaze, and she felt her heart stop momentarily. A well-dressed man with short chestnut brown hair and dark eyes. Extremely handsome, with a strong jawline and a straight nose, but what truly made her heart grew erratic was the fact that she recognized him almost immediately.

It was Niklaus' brother.

It was her Uncle Elijah.

Before she knew what was happening, he had extended his hand towards her, smiling politely at her as he seemed to take the innumerable changes she had gone through in the process of adulthood.

"Ms. Darcy, it is a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance."

His voice brought back multiple memories, beautiful moments that she had forgotten through the years and the compulsion, but it came back to her in that moment.

All the times that the man in front of her had taught her everything a young child had to learn in order to become successful in the future.

But he had cared for her too- he wasn't only a teacher of sorts- he was also her family.

She found herself frozen on her spot, unable to react as she was still shocked at seeing him after all those years.

Heart leaping with excitement, she swallowed down all she wanted to say, muttering the courage to say a polite: "The pleasure is all mine, sir," while shaking his hand.

"I was told that your father doesn't come to the store much," Elijah started a conversation, searching the inside pockets of his suit and pulling out a small notebook, as though he were an actual journalist.

Emma cleared her throat, hoping that he wouldn't notice how overwhelmed she was in that moment. "He doesn't come here often, it is now my job to be on the store managing everything."

"Do you have time for an interview?" Elijah gave her a charming smile. "I work for a newspaper company in Georgia, I was sent here to collect as many interesting stories as I could, and certainly this shop has my undivided attention. There is so much beauty and passion in the art it portrays-"

"What's the real reason for you being here?" Emma found herself blurting out, to then promptly blush.

The Original vampire tilted his head to the side, observing her thoroughly, and after seeing the gleam reflected on her eyes, and after hearing her agitated heartbeat, he knew.

A pleasant smile covered his face. "You remember."

Emma couldn't help but smile too, a little embarrassed by not being able to hide that from him. Tears filled her eyes and she bit her lower lip to keep herself from shedding them.

"It's good to see you again." Emma's voice broke a little, but the happiness that her stare showed made him portray the sincerest of smiles upon his young, handsome face.

He opened his arms out for her to jump in, and she obliged immediately. Sighing contentedly against the contact, he muttered a soft: "You've grown so much, my sweetheart," and left a soft kiss above her head.

The petite girl held tightly into him. There were a lot of things going through her mind- the most notorious one being the fact that since Elijah was there, she could have a chance of reuniting the two brothers for once and for all.

Niklaus had made her swear that she wouldn't tell anyone his plans or the place where he had his siblings' coffin's hidden, but the older Original brother was an intelligent man. Perhaps she could give him a few clues about those matters without actually explaining it to him.

She held her arms away until they had separated from each other. Still holding his arms on her hands, she smiled a little at him, and said: "We have a lot to talk about."

Elijah held her stare.

The fact that she had her memories back meant that his brother had been unable to stop himself and had ended seeking her out. He wanted to know just how much he had told his adoptive daughter about his plans. If the handsome man knew something, it was that his brother would never be completely honest with Emma.

His paranoia would never allow him to, he would constantly fear her abandonment after knowing all that he planned to do.

It was a low move, but he thought that if he could inform her about those awful deeds that Niklaus would commit to break the curse, perhaps the girl would abandon Niklaus, causing him pain enough for him not to fight back against Elijah's attacks.

It was a low thing to do, and Elijah hated himself for even considering fooling the sweet girl in front of him, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

He had to remind himself that his brother had done a horrible thing to their other siblings. Niklaus deserved his wrath and more. He couldn't continue trying to make him redeem himself.

Besides, the further away that Emma was from Niklaus, the safer she would be.

The fact that he had destroyed those of his own blood allowed him to think that he could harm Emma without hesitation if he wanted. The thought horrified the old vampire greatly.

"I believe that we do," He extended an arm towards her, "Shall we?"

Emma smiled at him, melting his heart.

Though she had grown through the years, her smile remained the same as before; sincere and unfiltered, completely luminous and warm.

She intertwined their arms together, and guided him towards a more private room, saying a gentle: "We shall."

As they crossed through the hallways, there was a knock on the door.

The receptionist's voice echoed behind them, welcoming whoever had knocked. But then a breeze from outside made its way through the place until it reached the vampire's senses, and he immediately stiffened upon recognizing it.

Emma noticed. She raised one eyebrow at him and stopped walking in case he wanted something. "Is everything all right?"

A new thought came to her, and she paled considerably.

He imagined what she had thought when he stiffened, and realized that she knew the risk they were facing when going behind Niklaus' back.

"I believe a friend of yours came to visit," Elijah said gently, hearing that familiar voice question the receptionist about Emma's whereabouts. "It would be impolite of you not to attend her-" He gave her a reassuring smile. "Our talk can wait."

"But-" Emma started to say.

A new voice interrupted her, followed by soft steps that seemed to echo through the hallway they were on, "Emma?" and then a second later, a young girl with raven-hair and sea-green eyes appeared through the place they had just walked through, and Emma forgot what she had meant to say.

A broad grin covered her pretty face. "Percy!"

The demigoddess had stopped abruptly when she saw the Original vampire there, but managed to smile at her friend and return the eager hug that the brunette gave her as though nothing concerned her.

Deep down, she was extremely surprised to see those two together, but her surprise was mixed with fear- the least she wanted was her only mortal friend to be involved in the supernatural world, and to see them together was a great shock. Out of all the vampires she could've gotten involved with, sweet Emma had to choose an Original, quite literally the most dangerous vampire in the history of mortal-monsters.

Percy felt as though she could tear her own hair out by concern.

In the hug, as she leaned her head on top of the other girl's, she stared right into Elijah's eyes, who seemed to be as stoic as ever.

"What are you doing here?" Emma grinned as they separated.

Percy forced herself to look away from the vampire, and back to her friend. "I was worried about you. You never skip school."

Had Elijah forced her to skip?

"Oh," Emma fidgeted uncomfortably. "I-I wasn't feeling quite well, so I decided to stay home. I came here a few minutes ago, to check on the studio."

Out of all the times that the brunette had told the green-eyed girl, that one hurt the most. She had the tendency of scratching the tip of her nose when she lied, and when she said that specific phrase, her hand had itched towards her nose.

Percy felt hurt that she wouldn't trust her, but part of her was worried that it was a result of a compulsion. She met Elijah's eyes once more, unable to stop herself from looking towards him.

Emma noticed and swiftly moved to introduce them. "Um, Percy, this is Elijah, he's a journalist. He wants to write an article about the store, isn't that cute?" She grinned nervously at her friend, then turned towards her uncle, who bore a polite smile on his handsome face. "Elijah, this is a friend from school, Percy."

He was the first to step towards her and extend his hand for a formal greeting. "Pleasure to meet you, miss."

Percy put extra strength into her handshake, which made Elijah's lips twitch upwards, eyes filling with amusement. She made her words sound extra careful, though she was tense enough for it to seem forced. "Likewise, sir."

Before anything could be said or done, the receptionist called for Emma, mentioning something about her father being on the phone. She apologized to both Percy and Elijah, then moved back towards the main room to take the call.

All at once, the demigoddess advanced on the vampire before he could do anything, and taking hold of his left arm, she guided them towards another private room, which allowed the vampire to discover that she had visited the Darcy's studio before.

"Ms. Jackson-" He started, raising one eyebrow at her when he saw her closing the door behind her back and turning to look at him, anger on her eyes.

"What are you trying to do?" She hissed at him, pointing to the wall at her right, signaling to the place where Emma was supposed to be attending to a phone call. "What's with the whole journalist thing?"

Elijah didn't need much to understand what she thought of him. "Do you think so lowly of me, Ms. Jackson?" There was a frown upon his face, as though he had grown offended. "Emma is a lovely girl. I would never attempt anything harmful towards her."

Percy scowled right back at him. "How do you even know her?"

Elijah seemed even more annoyed at her lack of respect than ever. "Ms. Jackson, I don't indulge myself in your personal life, for which I suggest that you do not try to indulge in mine."

There was a small pause between them.

"It's not that I think ill of you, Mr. Mikaelson. It's just that Emma is my best friend," The sea-green eyed girl said fiercely, then allowed herself to take it down several notches because the vampire had a point there. It was none of her concerns who he frequented, even when she cared a lot about the petite brunette. If she continued trying to indulge in his life, she would be acting like Elena Gilbert, and that's the least she wanted.

She softened her voice and said: "So please, be careful with her. I don't want to lose her." She'd already lost nearly all her friends, she didn't want to add Emma to that list.

Elijah's annoyance died away, being replaced with softness. If the stories he had heard about the Heroine of Olympus were true, then he could see the reason for her concern over her friends.

The price of the war was one that few weren't able to pay- and it was a sad thing to know that someone so young had successfully paid the price. She had lost many of those whom she loved. The Original vampire sympathized with her in that moment, he couldn't find it on himself to feel irritated by her reaction anymore.

"I understand. I apologize for frightening you," He added as an afterthought, which surprised the demigoddess. "I imagine it must've been quite a shock to see me in the company of your friend."

Percy looked away, a little uncomfortable.

She couldn't fathom how he could be so patient and understanding with her- he was an Original vampire, he was supposed to be different. Frightening, dangerous. But he never seemed to show her that side of him, which could be a dangerous thing in the future. If she grew used to his patient nature, she wouldn't be able to expect his rage if it came.

She sighed deeply, then forced herself to change the topic. "I've been looking for you."

He gave her a curious look, the edge of his lips curving upwards once more. "Have you?"

She had meant to be serious with him, but the look that he bore on his face in that moment made it a challenging task. It looked as though he had wanted to smile but was refraining himself from doing so. And thus, it was the demigoddess who was unable to hide her own smile, feeling nervous for some strange reason, and extremely aware of her own body and existence.

He looked too handsome, that specific look on his face- the one where he tried to hide his amused smile- made the demigoddess stomach flutter lightly, an effect that few people managed to cause on her. It had been quite a long time since she had seen him, and thus his good looks overwhelmed her for a moment.

"I have," She cleared her throat, feeling a blush emerge to her face. His knowing look only made the situation more frustrating to her, because his smirk was even more alluring than his smell and his looks. "I discovered something, about your siblings, that I believe you must know."

Elijah's attention was on her immediately, his intentions of talking with Emma long forgotten as he heard his siblings being mentioned.

He exhaled deeply, noticing the seriousness in with which she had spoken, and realized it couldn't mean anything good.

When the demigoddess noticed that she had his complete attention, she cleared her throat and tried to find a proper way to explain what she had discovered. A few moments passed, and she had no idea, to which she simply decided to be completely blunt about the situation.

"They're not in the ocean," She blurted out, lowering her voice in case her mortal friend happened to walk by in that moment. "I called in a favor from a deity and discovered that your siblings were never buried at sea." She paused, waiting for him to process her words.

He exhaled deeply. "Does that mean-"

"That your siblings are alive," Percy nodded, swallowing down her concerns about the situation because she saw how his walls had dissolved and he had looked completely stunned at those words. Slowly, as though he couldn't quite believe the situation, relief flooded through his whole self.

She couldn't bring herself to express her concerns when she knew that, if the cases were reverted and it were her siblings that were still alive, she wouldn't want anyone to speak ill of them and burst her happy bubble.

The Original vampire couldn't hide his relief. "Are you certain?"

"Like I mentioned, a deity helped me look. And deities don't make mistakes. It's a fact that your siblings are alive, probably daggered, but not in a comatose state caused by the high pressure of the sea." She took a deep breath, and continued, "Meaning, when we find them, you may un-dagger them, and they will be completely fine."

It was a lie, because no other being in the whole universe committed more mistakes than a deity, but the Original vampire didn't need to know that.

Elijah raised one eyebrow at her, focusing his attention on her phrase rather than his emotions. "Are you willing to help me look for them?"

The demigoddess looked confused. She had thought that it was her duty to find them, that he would force her to continue looking until she managed to find them, but his reaction allowed her to realize that she had been wrong.

"I thought it was what you wanted."

"It is, but I'm not going to force you-" Elijah shook his head. He heard his adoptive niece walking back from the main room, and he sighed in exasperation at the interruption. "Emma's coming. We are not at liberty to speak freely here."

Percy pursed her lips. There were still a lot of things they had to discuss. "Are you planning on assisting the Forbes' picnic thing?"

Since she had no friends there- only the Salvatore's, but they were probably going to be too busy worrying over their doppelgänger to spend time with her- she thought that it would be a good place to speak privately with him.

"Allow me to say I admire your eloquence," Elijah teased, which surprised the demigoddess, but he continued before she could answer his statement. "I am. I assume you are too," at her affirmative nod, he made a sound of consideration and added: "How would you feel about being escorted there?"

"I would find it annoying," Percy said sincerely, then shrugged. "But if it's you who will do the escorting, I think it wouldn't be that bad."

Elijah couldn't hide his amusement at her, fondness clearly visible on his eyes. "Very well, Ms. Jackson." He gestured towards the door, "Shall we go find Emma before she finds us here and draws her own conclusions?"

"We shall, mister."

The Original eyed her. "Someone's on a good mood today."

Percy tilted her head to the side.

The news that Apollo didn't fade away removed a heavy weight off her shoulders.

Nothing could be bad enough to stress her further than she was in normal occurrence.

The fact that he was alive made everything a little easier. She could breathe thoroughly, she could think straight. She felt alive knowing that he was as okay as he could be.

"I have my days." She noticed that his face looked brighter than before, as though his shoulders had been lifted of their weight, too. "What's your excuse?"

"My siblings are alive, Ms. Jackson," Elijah replied simply. "That makes me happier than I've been in a long time."

"Where does that leave Niklaus?" The question was out of her lips before she could stop herself.

"He needs to be held accountable for his actions, my mind has not been changed about the matter, I assure you. He still inserted a dagger through their hearts- through my own heart at times- and stole years from them that they will never get back."

Their conversation died when they saw Emma approaching them by the end of the hallway.

As they walked towards her, the demigoddess couldn't help but feel slightly uncomfortable.

She always pictured Emma as her escape from the supernatural, as someone extremely far from that bullshit, so to see her being so open with an Original vampire unnerved her. However, she forced a smile into her face, and acted like everything was completely normal.

Part of her wondered what other secrets her best friend could be hiding from her.

It appeared that each had their own secrets to protect.

Percy couldn't judge, not when she would never be able to tell Emma what her own secret was.

It was enough that someone knew her secret, she couldn't afford to have someone else in town know. It was already dangerous with a vampire-hunter being aware of her existence. There was no way she would risk that, not even for the sake of a friendship. Not even for Emma Darcy, and certainly not for Damon Salvatore.

Some things were too personal to share.

She was smart enough to realize that said phrase could also apply to Emma Darcy.

The demigoddess knew her friend enough to notice when things were different. Emma had mentioned that she was happy because she was reuniting with her father, but Mr. Darcy was still hiding away on his apartment. And instead, it was an Original vampire who was there with her.

It was Elijah who had claimed he would never harm Emma.

It wasn't hard to put two and two together, not when she noticed how Emma's face brightened upon seeing the Original vampire walk towards her, and not when Elijah's own face reflected fondness towards the young girl.

Percy swallowed thickly and forced another smile into her face.

There was something wrong with the whole ordeal, there was something too bizarre about the situation for her to fully process in that moment.

But then- when Emma intertwined her arms with Elijah, and then pulled Percy close to them, intertwining her other arm through hers, the green-eyed girl forced herself to push those thoughts away.

As long as her friend was happy, Percy had to accept that she had taken her choice.

If the mortal girl wanted to play friendly with an Original vampire, she couldn't get involved.

It was, after all, none of her business, as Elijah had kindly reminded her.

"Are you going to the picnic?" Emma asked Percy in a friendly way, seeking a topic of conversation to indulge on.

"At the Forbes place, you mean?" Percy met Elijah's eyes over Emma's head. They were both taller than the brunette, being around the same height as each other. "Mom's forcing us to go as a family, so yes. What about you?"

"Well," Emma started, haltering as though she hadn't expected Percy to ask that. Her eyes shot to her side and swiftly met Elijah's, then she smiled nervously and turned to her friend. "My father wants me to go with him."

The demigoddess' stomach sank, noticing how she had looked at Elijah at the mention of her father.

She didn't have a good feeling about the situation, and it must've been portrayed on her face, because the vampire cleared his throat and stirred the conversation away.

However, Elijah himself felt uneasy at that declaration.

He had been too engrossed with the demigoddess to eavesdrop on Emma's phone conversation, so he did not know if she meant Mr. Darcy or Niklaus when she mentioned her father.

Either way, it could go wrong through both sides.

Mr. Darcy could recognize him and try to steer Emma away from town. Something that Elijah didn't want to happen, because he had grown fond of the idea of spending time with her once more. It would also enrage his brother to the point of creating a massacre through town, something that would most definitely make the demigoddess have to act out to protect the mortals around town.

But if it was Niklaus who would go to the picnic with her, things would get out of hand at an unexpected time.

Knowing his brother, the vampire imagined that he would try to find a way to torment the doppelgänger to amuse himself, and if he realized that his brother was also there, the element of surprise that he had planned to use would be lost.

Percy and Elijah shared a brief look, both realizing that nothing good could come out of the Forbes' picnic that day.