Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians
Story: Guardians of Light and Justice
Chapter 11: The Letter
Percy's POV
I awoke lying in the sand with my head resting on a rolled up piece of clothing. I sat up only to grab my head in pain as a massive headache shot through my skull. It felt like my head was splitting open. After a few minutes the pain and pounding in my head receded. I grabbed the rolled up piece of clothing and looked at it carefully. It was a woman's jacket and I recognized it as Annabeth's. I smelled the jacket deeply and took in the fresh scent of lemon with a hint of vanilla. I stood up unfolded the jacket and placed it on a rock outcrop. I walked around the beach for a few minutes trying to see if anyone was around me. I looked up at the wrecked forest just off the beach and a large crater near the hovercraft, suddenly memories came flooding back into my mind. I remembered the argument, the fight and briefly the aftermath.
"Erebus" I said. That bastard was in my body this entire time, I was the spy, how could I not have known? I paced around the beach trying to figure things out. I didn't deserve to be the commander of the guardians. I was the one who put people in danger. I was the one who let Erebus merge with me, just because of my anger and grief. Damn, I'm such a fool, I thought. I knew what I had to do. I walked into the hovercraft and then into the control room.
"Greetings commander." GAIL said.
"Hello GAIL, I need a private message setup and I'll need you to send it to the CoGaL (Council of Guardians and Light) when I'm finished." I ordered.
"Terminal one is ready commander." GAIL said. I walked over to the terminal and immediately started to type my letter to the council.
Dear Council Members,
It has been an honor to serve with you both as a guardian and as a council member for the past few years. We have accomplished a tremendous amount of good for mortals, half-bloods and the gods alike. You all have become my good friends. The recent events have proven to me that my further presence on the council and as a guardian may be a detriment to our duties. Therefore, I am taking a leave of absence from my post as a guardian and as their commander. I appoint my lieutenant Nico Di Angelo as my replacement until I return. I have every confidence in his abilities and I'm sure all of you will come to respect him as I do. I wish I could tell all of you when I will return, but I need to understand all that has happened to me and I need to know my place in this world. It is extremely difficult for me to leave all of you and I hope that you all understand my motives.
Your friend,
Perseus Jackson, Commander of GLJ
I read over the letter and I hesitated for a moment, but I knew that I had to do this. "GAIL, send private message, also send a copy to Lieutenant Di Angelo as well." I ordered.
"Yes, commander." GAIL said. I looked around the command center one more time. I walked to my small quarters in the hovercraft and packed my duffel bag, I felt in my pocket and Riptide was still there. I finished packing and walked outside. The air was warm and the sun shined brightly. I soaked up the sun, then I extended my wings and flew off. I knew where I was going, it was the only place where I could think and reflect. It was the place I found five years ago, the place that made me feel at peace. First, I needed to go to Olympus and my apartment, I needed a few things for this journey and I wanted to say goodbye to my home of the past few years.
Annabeth's POV
Aether and Apollo left an hour ago. My mom, Nico and I sat around the meeting table in the big house.
"We should go check on Percy." I said. My mom and Nico both nodded in agreement. We walked toward the beach where we had left Percy sleeping. He was no where to be seen. I found my jacket lying on a rock outcrop, so I put it back on.
"He might be in the hovercraft." Nico said. We followed Nico into the hovercraft, the walls of the craft were dark gray and there were small lights that illuminated the hallway leading to a large metal door. Nico walked ahead of us and as he reached the door he placed his hand on a panel to the right of the door and a red light seemed to scan his palm, the door slid open immediately. The three of us walked in.
"Greetings, Lady Athena and Lieutenant Di Angelo." A computerized voice said.
"Hello, GAIL have you seen the commander?" Nico asked.
"Yes, he was here just ten minutes ago." GAIL said.
"Do you know where he went?" Athena asked.
"No, I'm sorry my lady but he did send a private message to the council and to Lieutenant Di Angelo." GAIL said.
"Can you place the letter on the screen?" Athena asked.
"This is a private message my lady, the young woman behind you is not a party to the message." GAIL said protectively.
"Its alright GAIL, this is my daughter Annabeth, she is a friend of the commander." Athena said.
"If you vouch for her then I must agree. The letter is on screen one my lady." GAIL said. A screen on the opposite side of the room turned on we all walked over and stood in front of it. The letter appeared only a second later. We read the letter and after everyone was done we all stood there stunned.
"What a seaweed brain." Athena said, as Nico and I smiled.
"Erebus a primordial god takes over his body and he blames himself, who does he think he is?" Nico asked out loud to no one.
"You're right, we need to talk some sense into him. Erebus is extremely powerful now and that has a lot to do with his merging with Percy. Even now that they are separated Erebus still retains incredible power." Athena said.
"Mother, what do you mean?" I asked.
"Apollo, Aether and I were no match for him, how was that possible?" Athena asked.
"He was merged with Percy, so he could draw on Percy's power and abilities as well." Nico said. I nodded my head in agreement.
"That's partially true, but how was Erebus able to hold Aether and Apollo at bay just with his power over darkness and shadow?" Athena asked. I had no idea. "Aether, Apollo and I believe that he merged with Percy to draw power from the darkness within Percy, his sadness, pain, guilt and anger over his parents death and the thought that he tortured to death those two demigods. Those emotions are dark ones and Aether speculates that his father can draw power from them. He has grown powerful over these last five years continuously drawing from Percy's dark emotions." Athena said. Nico and I stood there in silence.
"Shouldn't Percy be free of those emotions now, all that pent up darkness within him is now gone since Erebus was forcibly detached from him?" I asked. My mother looked at me and smiled.
"You've been away from Percy for a while my dear have you forgotten his fatal flaw?" Athena asked. I saw the look of dread on Nico's face.
"His fatal flaw is loyalty." I said. Then the realization hit me like a ton of bricks.
"He blames himself for letting Erebus take him over and he blames himself for being the spy." I said. My mother smiled, but I could tell she wasn't happy.
"Yes, he blames himself, he believes he failed all of us. None of us would blame him, Erebus would be impossible to sense, he would hide himself within Percy's dark feelings. We need to find him because something tells me that this is the worst timing for our commander to go on a quest of self-discovery." Athena said.
"Any ideas where he would go?" I asked.
"Ultimately I would say that he would go back to the temple in Nepal, but I hope he plans to go to his apartment back on Olympus." Athena said. Nico nodded and I had a hopeful smile on my face. "Gather around me, your both immortal so this should not hurt you." Before I could ask what my mother was talking about she turned into a golden light and I could barely see anything then I realized that she was in her godly form. I felt myself dissolve into the light and suddenly I reappeared in a hallway.
"Where are we?" I asked.
"We're in Percy's apartment building on Olympus." Nico said. The hallway was dark, the walls were made of granite and I recognized it as the same stone that made up the bedrock of Olympus. The walls were dark with specks of white crystal within them. The crystal sparkled as the overhead lights in the hallway shined down upon us. We reached an apartment door with the name Jackson written under the peep hole and right above the doorbell. "We don't want to alert him to our presence so no ringing the doorbell or knocking." My mother walked forward and extended her hand over the deadbolt lock and I could hear gears turn as suddenly the deadbolt unlocked. Nico turned the door handle and the door opened up into a spacious apartment.
I looked around the walls in the living room were a deep sea green color. The furniture was made of a dark wood and a large entertainment center anchored one wall with a large flat screen television and audio/video equipment beneath it. The couch and chairs were made of the dark wood and dark brown leather. What caught my attention as well as everyone else was the four shrines setup around the four corners of the living room. Two I recognized instantly as statues of Zeus and Poseidon, but the others were definitely not Greek. One had the image of a half-man, half-woman sitting. She/he had multiple arms and appeared to be meditating. My mother must have read my thoughts as she looked at the statue.
"Shiva" Athena said plainly. The statue seemed to glow with power. The fourth statue was more familiar since every time I went to a Chinese restaurant I would see a similar shrine. It was Buddha, he was also sitting with his legs crossed in meditation. When I looked at the statue it made me feel at peace and I instantly recognized why Percy had a shrine to this eastern deity.
I continued to explore and I noticed that the living room flowed directly into a kitchen/dining area. The kitchen also contained cabinets made of the dark wood with granite countertops and stainless steel appliances. The one thing that struck me about Percy's apartment was that it was very clean, almost too clean like he was hardly ever here. I guess Nico could sense my thoughts as well.
"A very nice place, but he's never here." Nico said.
We all heard the water running in the bathroom and all of our hopes were up. We made it here just in time. We all sat down in the living room waiting for Percy to come out of the bathroom. After twenty minutes of waiting the door opened. We all turned around to see steam coming out of the room, then we saw movement. Percy walked out of the bathroom wearing only a large white towel that covered him below the waist and down past his knees. His chest and abs were bare and I could feel my cheeks burn. What struck me as odd was that my mom's cheeks were a little red as well. Percy's hair was wet and glistened in the low light of the room. When he saw us his eyes grew wide in surprise.
"What in Hades name are the three of you doing here?" He asked.
We came to talk some sense into that kelp filled head of yours." Nico said quickly earning a death glare from Percy. Nico didn't back down he just smiled fiendishly.
"We received your letter commander, we cannot let you do this." Athena said. Percy's eyes narrowed and I could tell he was getting mad.
"Cannot let me, how in the name of Zeus himself do you think you're going to stop me?" Percy asked incredulously.
I could see my mom grow angry she stood up and walked toward Percy. She stopped just three or four feet from him. "It seems that you've forgotten that I lead the council and therefore I'm your superior." Athena said. Percy's face turned red and I could see steam come off his skin as he faced my mother.
"If you're going to order me to stay then I guess I will have to just quit the guardians." Percy said matter-of-factly.
"Perce, have you lost your mind?" Nico yelled as he stood up and faced his friend.
"Let's see, I had a primordial god ripped from my essence after spending five years within me. I say that's grounds for losing your mind." Percy spat.
"Perseus, you can't blame yourself for what Erebus did." Athena said. Percy looked at her and I could see the anger subside slightly.
"Why can't I, he offered to help me that night I found my family dead, I accepted his help that means I'm responsible for the consequences." Percy said.
I couldn't take anymore of this. "Did you know it was Erebus?" I asked. For the first time Percy noticed me as I stood up and walked toward my mother.
"No, but I still agreed without knowing who offered to help." Percy said.
"Did he tell you what kind of help he offered?" I asked.
"No, he just said that he could help me catch their murderers." Percy said.
"Did he tell you that he needed to join with you and become a part of you?" I asked.
I could see Percy think about this and I could almost sense the dread as he remembered what happened. "No, he just enveloped me." Percy said.
"So he took over your body by force then?" I asked hoping to make a point. I could see my mother smile at my reasoning. I could see Percy think over my question and then he shook his head with a sad and disappointed look on his face.
"Its not my fault?" Percy asked it almost like he pleaded for us to answer. I could see my mother waiting for my response.
"No, its not your fault seaweed brain." I said with a hopeful smile.
"I'm such an idiot." Percy said, I saw my mom and Nico smile.
"You're not an idiot Perseus, you went through a traumatic experience it is understandable that you would feel confused, but that doesn't mean that you need to leave." Athena said.
"You're right, but can you trust me after all I was the spy?" Percy asked.
We all looked at him and said in unison, "We trust you." Percy gave us his crooked smile and we all smiled in return. Percy looked down at his lack of clothes and I could see his cheeks turn red.
"If you'll excuse me, I'm pretty exposed at the moment." Percy said as he darted off into his bedroom and closed the door.
"I think we should go." Athena said as she looked at Nico. They both walked to the door and I followed them. "Where do you think you're going?" I stopped and looked at them with confusion written all over my face.
"I'm going with you." I said.
"I don't think so, you need to finish what you started." Athena said.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"You're the one that reached him and I sense that the two of you have some unresolved issues. Besides I need our commander back in complete working order that means he'll need help to recover." Athena said.
"Mom, I'm not a doctor, maybe ..." I said as my mother raised her hand cutting me off.
"No arguments, he needs you, he always needed you. Good night my dear." Athena said as she walked out the door. Nico nodded at me and smiled. They closed the door and I was alone standing in Percy's living room. A few minutes later Percy walked out of his bedroom wearing a sea green v-neck shirt and a pair of faded blue jeans and a pair of white converse.
"Where did they go?" He asked suspiciously.
"They said that they need to get back to camp to bring in the hovercraft." I lied. Percy smiled and motioned for me to sit down. I sat in a large leather chair and Percy sat on the couch next to me. We were both quiet for a few moments.
"Thank you for talking some sense into me." Percy said with a cautious smile.
"Anytime, I know this past day has been tough on you." I said trying to forget how tough the last few days had been on me.
"Annabeth, I'm sorry." Percy said sincerely.
"About what?" I asked.
"The thing I said at the beach. I was filled with so much guilt about what I thought I did to those two demigods that I never believed I deserved happiness." Percy said. I felt my heart swell with hope.
"How do you feel now?" I asked. Percy stared into my eyes, when I looked into those amazing green orbs the guilt and pain were gone, instead his eyes were filled with hope and love. They were the eyes I dreamed about every night for five years.
"I feel at peace for the first time in a long time. The last few days with you have been great and I haven't felt this good in years." Percy said. I hadn't noticed before, but Percy and I were both leaning forward from our seats and we were only two inches apart. I could feel his breath on my face.
"These past few days have been great and they reminded me how much I've missed you." I said. Percy smiled and then he looked expectantly into my eyes.
"I love you Annabeth Chase and I'll never leave you again." Percy said as he pressed his lips against mine. The kiss wasn't the soft and tender one like on the beach. This kiss was needy and desperate, like he waited to kiss me this way for years and maybe he had. I returned the kiss with equal passion. We broke apart as we knelt on the floor and hugged each other tightly.
"I love you too seaweed brain." I said as I held onto him with all my strength. For the first time in my life I felt at home.
AN: I know I made you wait till the end of the chapter for Percabeth. The Hand's plan will be revealed in the next chapter.