Percy POV
I arrived back at the apartment with eyes burning in rage. How could he? I slammed down the door, to see the man half-passed-out with a bottle in his hand. "Wh-Who are you?" He slurred out, taking a long swig. Without an answer, I grabbed him by his neck, and slammed him into the wall. "Hey!" He shouted, no longer drunk. "What'd you think you're doing!?" I sneered. "Notice something?" I asked, voice cold. He looked around. "Hey…where's my daughter!" I wanted to test him here. "Your daughter ran away and got hit by a car. She is dead." In the dimly lit room, I saw the man smirk. "Ha! Good riddance! She was useless anyways." My blood boiled. I raised my hands, and black tendrils drew out of the ground.
The man looked confused. "Hey, what…?" He muttered, then the tendrils grabbed him by his limbs, and smashed him into the wall. "Ow!" He yelped, dropping the bottle. When the bottle shattered, I got an idea. "Y'know, I've always wanted a human plaything." My mouth became a thin slash across my face, and I took one of the shards. "Glass is very dangerous, you know. It can hurt a lot."
Confusion flashed across his face, before he began to sweat. "No, no no no. Please, no. I-I don't…please" I sneered. "You didn't show your daughter mercy when she begged, didn't ya?" I rammed the glass into his arm, burying it into the flesh. I felt it scrape against something, and smiled. I laughed. "Oh, it's fun to get back to the sadistically insane side of me!" I exclaimed, pouring water on the shards. I will them to rise up, and looked at him. "when I'm done with you, you'll be begging for death"
I caused the sharp bits to fly around in a maelstrom, cutting and slashing at each of his limbs. As they did so, I allowed the tendrils to slowly pull. He screamed and hollered in agony, causing me to cackle. I drew out a dagger, and looked at it. "No no. This is too sharp!" I waved my hand over it, and the blade turned a little slippery. Rust and mold crawled over the knife, and I rammed it into his shoulder. He howled in pain, and I laughed like a carefree child. I waved off the whirling glass, and grabbed his face. His watery, pleading ones met my emotionless, cold ones. "I would want to drag this out, but I only have thirty minutes to spare. Enjoy them."
I summoned a tank of water, and looked at him. "This is a tank. I hope you have fun with it!" I gleefully grabbed his body, and shoved him inside. Sealing the lid, I watched him struggle frantically. It was amusing. I tugged him out after a few seconds, and he laid on the ground, gasping. I suddenly had an evil idea.
"Don't go away, I need to get something!" I chuckled at the irony, and drew out a sword. I slashed at the general area of his tendons, and he bellowed in pain. He was now immobilized. I popped over to the supermarket, and found a few peppers, and some mustard and hot sauce. I grinned internally. This was going to be fun.
When I reappeared at the apartment, I saw the man crying and weeping. "P-please, stop. I'll do anything. Anything!" I shook my head. "You didn't show mercy when you were asked to. Why should I?" He laid there, unable to move, as I pulled out the pepper. "Hehe. This will be rather spicy" I shoved the peppers (I think it was a ghost pepper) into his mouth, and conjured up some duct tape. His mouth now sealed, he began leaking tears now. I took some mustard tubes, and smiled. "you like mustard don't you? Well, you'll love this" I shoved the tubes into his nostril, and his body shook. The mustard went into his sinuses, making him cry uncontrollably. I grinned at his struggling form. I took out another knife, and waved it around. "Your life, from now on, will become a living hell." I looked at him, and he looked back at me, eyes dull.
30 minutes later
I stood up, covered in blood. The creature before me resembled nothing close to a man. In fact, he looked like a red mess. I licked some of the blood off of my lips. I was insane, wasn't I? This place, Camp Half-Blood, was killing me.
The body twitched a little, and I leaned down. "Be glad that I have better things to do. My uncle will deal with you myself." I drew out another dark, midnight black sword, and stabbed down. The body wriggled around, flailed about, then went limp. I chuckled a little bit as the body dissolved.
Line Break
I arrived back at the hunter's camp (and camp half-blood ugh) I saw something incredibly stupid. There was Rose, being dragged around by a couple of Zach's goonies. "I think hunter girl here needs some initiation!" he shrieked from the sidelines like the coward he was. I shimmered a little, and appeared next to the campers. I drew back my fist, and slammed it into the one who was grabbing her arm, causing him to slam into the other camper. They both fell down, and I turned toward Zach. "What the hell are you doing?!" I shouted at him. He smirked right back at me. "She's new, and I don't think she has initiation yet." I growled, and raised my hand. A thick, black tentacle shot out of the ground, and grasped him by the throat. "I would tear you apart, except my patron frowns upon demigods being killed. Be grateful, because I have no such scruples. Should you ever try my temper again, I will kill you. Painfully." Damien, despite the constriction pressing on his throat, smirked. "That a threat? Because I'm sure you aren't strong enough to kill me!" He boasted. I smirked right back at him. "It's not a threat. It's a fact." I willed the tentacle to drop, and he fell. I picked up rose as gently as I could, and dropped her off at my tent.
"Are you okay?" I asked, looking at her concerned. She nodded, still a little shaken up. I held up my hand, and a black tendril wormed out. It flew to Rose, and rubbed itself over the cuts. Each on winked out, like a spark. Once it was done, the little string of energy flew back to me. She said quietly "They wanted to use me for revenge, I guess. Maybe they wanted to hurt you, maybe they wanted to hurt the hunters, I don't know." I nodded, a calm face on the outside, a roiling turmoil on the inside. "So, I trust that you were able to be admitted into the hunters without a problem?" She nodded her head. "Yeah. Miss Artemis took me in without much trouble". I nodded again, but remembered something. "Rose, how come you are taking everything so easily? Normal people would freak out knowing gods are real. You seem to be taking things well.
She chuckled a little. "Whenever my dad…you know, I would sometimes fall unconscious. I would have dreams of a man telling me something about the gods and their kids. I never took it for anything, and I thought I was going crazy." She looked sad. "I suppose I won't meet Hermes?" She asked, voice trembling. I shook my head sadly. "unfortunately, no. The gods don't really care about us-" as if on cue, a light flashed in the corner of the room. Hermes stepped out, looking like his twenty-year-old form. Rose looked confused for a second, and she glanced at me. "Who's this?" She asked nervously. Hermes laughed a little. "Rose, my daughter." Rose's eyes widened, before she said "Dad?" The word was so quiet, just above a whisper, but Hermes heard it. "Yup. I'm your father, Hermes." She flung herself at him, hugging him with a bone crushing hug.
Sobbing, she lifted her head. "Why weren't you there when I needed you? Did you hate me? Did you hate mom?" She cried out, fresh tears leaking out. I stood awkwardly in the corner, as Hermes said reassuringly "No, no sweetheart. There are rules that I must follow, and I couldn't help you. As much as it tore me up to see you get beaten and yelled at by that horrible man, I couldn't come and interfere. The ancient laws forbade me." She looked down, still sad. "But I see that you've found a new friend." He exclaimed, gesturing at me. "Don't mention it" I said, waving my hand. "If you knew how many people I've murdered, you probably wouldn't see me as a friend." Hermes chuckled again, with a glint of nervousness in his eyes. "Right. I'm sorry Rose, for not being there, but I loved you and your mother dearly" He gave her one last hug, and a kiss on the forehead, before vanishing in a puff of smoke.
Rose quickly looked at me, wiping her tears. "You know, I expected him to be taller." She muttered, and I chuckled a little. "Yeah, I'm sure he gets that a lot." Rose laughed too, before looking at me apologetically. "Sorry Percy, but I have to go. The hunters wanted to see me" I waved my hand. "Yeah sure, that's fine." Opening the tent flap, I heard a muffled stumble, and Rose was gone. In stepped Electra, looking amused. "So then, daughter-father bonding time?" she asked, mischief glinting in her eyes. "Yes…what were you up to?" She shook her head. "Training. Those campers are horrible with a bow. The ones with bows, at any rate. Weren't you, when you were a demigod?" She asked, and I straightened. "Uh…yeah." She frowned. "What's bothering you, seaweed brain?" My hand trembled a little. "I. would. Prefer. You. Not. Use. That. Name." I stuttered, ramrod straight. "Why?" she questioned curiously and worriedly. "Too painful" I muttered, before feeling a punch to my shoulder. "Perseus Jackson, you will tell me what is wrong with you, and you will do it now".
I sighed, and motioned for her to sat down. A dark couch appeared, and she plopped down on it. I took a breath, and explained. "Before I was employed by Void, I used to come here." I said, staring at the ground. "Life was normal. For a demigod, at any rate. I went on quests, go a girlfriend, and saved Olympus. Then, the gods" I spat the word out, hating it. "Took away my memory, and I was sent to the Roman camp." Electra nodded. "That explains the two groups." I mirrored her nod, and continued. "Anyways, I made friends, and I thought they would never leave me. I continued going on quests fought pirates, dolphins" at that Electra laughed. "and crab walking giants. Whenever things were looking the worst, I thought I always had my girlfriend supporting me. I thought Annabeth loved me. How wrong I was. Even after falling into Tartarus for her, her saving me and vice versa countless times, she left me. Just like everyone else did." Somewhere, I heard a little sniffle. It took me a moment to realize it was me. I was still staring at the ground. "Soon after the rewards ceremony, a new camper arrived. Zeus apparently couldn't keep it in his pants, and the kid was Zeus'. An arrogant little brat. Zach. You've heard of him?" Electra nodded. "Yeah, I've seen his behavior. Thinks everyone should bow to him." I snorted. "Yup, that's him. Anyways, he broke my friends' possessions. He turned them against me with the help of newer campers. They supported what he said. Especially some campers who worshipped him. My friends bought it. I don't know if it was peer pressure, or some kind of bullshit like that."
Electra nodded in sympathy. "Go on." I continued. "One day, I asked Athena for my girlfriend's hand in marriage. She said yes, and instructed me to go on a quest. After completing several tasks of Hercules, she said yes. Then, one night I was dreaming. Poseidon, my father" Again, spitting the word out like poison "confronted me in a dream. Apparently, my mother was dead." Electra drew in a breath. "I'm so sorry." She muttered, and I smiled bitterly. "Well, that pompous god wasn't visiting me to console me. He chewed me out for not taking care of her, then, to spite me, he showed me the sight that basically broke me." I took another breath. "There was my girlfriend, Annabeth Chase, the one I jumped into Tartarus for, hooked up with the same asshole who took my life from me. Zach Woods." She now had a look of fury. "I swear, I will-" "Don't" I said, holding up my hand. "The damage is done. No point now." The bitter look on my face said otherwise. "Anyways, I woke up in my cabin, and started feeling really bad. Sick, to say the least. Then, my Achilles heel burst open, dripping blood. I started yelling, which was a bad decision. Annabeth came through the door, and she saw me. I confronted her, and she told me the truth. I was a fool." Electra was now pacing back and forth, but she stopped. "You don't have to continue if you don't want to" She offered, but I shook my head.
"Getting this off of my chest helps. To you especially. I barricaded all entrances to the cabin, and no one could come in. For one week, I just sat and thought in my cabin. 'what had I done wrong?' I repeatedly spoke over and over in my head. 'why did they leave me?' the questions haunted me. I threw up blood after day two, and ate the occasional ambrosia square. If the gods cared, or even noticed, they did nothing. Sitting in their thrones as they watched their savior break" As I spoke, a tear traced itself down my face. "The ambrosia wouldn't heal me. The pain was mental. Every time, replaying the images, I would feel that horrible, burning, unbearable pain at my back. I finally had enough strength to scribble a note: burn in hell." Saying that, I felt the pain again, and I felt the splitting. It was a distinctive crack. I glanced down at my hand, seeing a black line trace its way over my palm. "Hm. That's long" Electra was looking at that curiously. "What is that?" She asked, looking at me. Her eyes met mine, and I spoke through gritted teeth. The pain would fade, but it hurt right now. "You don't want to know." "I do" she insisted, and I sighed. "Fine then. Don't say I didn't warn you." I took off my shirt, and let my back faced her. The gagging was enough to cue me to turn around. Let me explain for you. On my back was a mess of wavy lines, black, blue, and purple. Some were red. They all originated from one spot: my ex-Achilles heel. "Oh…" She breathed, sitting down. Her eyes were unfocused, as I slipped my shirt back on. "yup. That's what happens when an anchor betrays you." She looked at me, eyes focused on me. "Annabeth was your anchor, I take it?" She asked, still a little bit shocked. I nodded numbly. "The lines appear every so often. After 750 years, I would expect more."
Her eyes clouded with rage. "When I get my hands on that son of a bitch spawn f Zeus, I will tear him limb from limb!" She shrieked, standing up. I smiled sadly. "No, no. Don't try now. Besides, I want to kill him myself." She sat down, still seething, and we stayed there in silence. Then Finn burst through the door.
"We need you. There's another attack" He said in a voice too grave for a twelve-year-old.
A/N And there it is! Thanks you guys for reading! I hope you enjoyed this. I'm listening to nightcore now, which I've been addicted too for the past week. That was totally unrelated. Anyways, thank you guys for reading (again). Also, if you can guess what the second meaning of the chapter title is, I will give you a shoutout!
aVeryPissedOffDwarf, saying goodbye, for now