Per…cy…
Percy…
Percy!
PERCY!
The son of Poseidon gasped, sea green eyes flying open. The room smelled heavily of smoke, and Percy choked on the air he had sharply inhaled.
"Percy? Oh my gods, you're okay."
The voice calling his name was clearer now. It was Piper.
"You've been out for a long time, and we were beginning to think- oh gods, I'm just happy you're alive."
Percy blinked hard and squinted at his surroundings, trying to understand the blurry view before him. It took a few seconds, but eventually the greys and reds around him came into focus. The reds became walls, which were lined with torches, and the high, domed ceiling was clouded with dark grey smoke. The stone floor was riddled with ancient Greek writing and images of tiny people running into battle. It reminded Percy of New Rome's temple of prophesies, where Octavian used to work. About twenty-five yards away from Percy and Piper, a man stood hunched over a glass cauldron that cradled a shining, boiling liquid inside, looking as if someone had bottled a sunset and superheated it with evil.
"Where…" Percy croaked, his voice rough from the smoke and lack of use for the past- how long had been out?
"Well, we made it to the monsters' headquarters. Of course, in my mind I hadn't really imagined being tied up with ropes to uncomfortable chairs, but hey- questers can't be choosers."
Percy jerked forward, but indeed, his entire torso was wrapped in a cocoon of rope, tying him to the wooden chair he was presently seated on. His ankles were bound to the chair's front legs, and even though his hands remained free, his arms were bound in the ropes down to his wrists, leaving his hands, quite frankly, useless.
"How long was I out?" Percy asked as he continued to wriggle in his bonds, attempting to create any ease in the rope's cutting grip. His voice was returning to normal, but it stubbornly kept a slight wheeze from the cauldron's smoke.
"Honestly, I don't know. There's one window behind us, and it's still dark out, so that means we've either been out for one or two hours or the entire night. All I know for sure is that I've been awake for what feels like half an hour- the others shortly woke after myself- and that guy over there hasn't so much as looked at us yet."
"The others-" Percy glanced down past Piper on her left, and there sat Hazel, Jason, and Nico, all tied up like Piper and Percy. "Is everyone okay?" Percy called down the line, careful not to raise his voice high enough to attract the attention of the cloaked figure still muttering nonsense over the cauldron.
Jason nodded in response, and Hazel replied, "We're all okay; Nico's not awake yet, though." She glanced at her half-brother, worry written all over her face, but she knew there was nothing she could do about his condition at the moment. "How about you? You were out for a while too."
"Good. I'm fine." Percy's mind was distracted. We're in too deep. We're already prisoners. However, Percy kept his anxiety to himself. There was no use in worrying the others, since they all probably understood just how much trouble they were in already. So, Percy simply responded, "My head feels wet but other than that, I'm fine."
Piper leaned back as far as she could to peer at the back of Percy's head. "I think you were bleeding. Your hair's really matted in the back, and it looks sticky. Whatever that laestrygonian giant hit you with, it must've cut you."
"Laestrygonian giants? Are those what attacked us?" Percy wasn't looking at Piper as he spoke. His head was craned down towards his hands, where he was trying to stretch his fingers towards his pocket. If only I could reach Riptide…
"Yeah, Jason and I were the only ones who saw them attack."
Hazel coughed. "Guys, keep your voices down."
Quieter, Piper continued, "They crawled out of the sewer cap in the street, and before I could drop the leaves they were attacking. The first one grabbed Nico by the ankle and dragged him out of the tree. We didn't know what to do-"
"Didn't know what to do?" Percy almost laughed, eyes still focused on his outstretched fingers and wriggling wrists. "You help, that's what you do."
"We knew that laestrygonians are pack monsters, so where's there's one-"
"-more are sure to follow," Jason finished for her. "We couldn't afford for all of us to get captured."
Percy froze, taken aback by Jason's logic. He paused his escape efforts to look at Jason incredulously. "So, what? You were just going to let Nico get dragged off by cannibals?"
"We were trying to play it practical," Jason defended.
"You were playing it wrong," Percy snapped back. "Didn't you hear him scream? He was in trouble!"
"Guys!" Hazel pleaded, her voice kept to a hush. "Please, not-"
"And what do you suppose we should've done? Leapt down like you, only to get knocked out within seconds?"
"I was trying to save my friend! Besides, you're one to talk about getting knocked unconscious in a fight."
"Hey, I-"
"Stop it!" Hazel spat, angry and desperate to cease the argument.
At her exclamation, Nico groaned, his head rolling into an upright position. His dark brown eyes blearily blinked open. "What…"
"Finally!"
Everyone jumped at the sound of a new voice. The man in the cloak was staring at them, grinning from ear to ear in a most unnerving manner. He looked surprisingly young, maybe in his late twenties or early thirties. Percy had expected some old guy, like the wizard from Disney's Sorcerer's Apprentice. Or maybe Gandalf. Or Dumbledore.
Instead, this guy had lots of light brown hair that was frizzy enough to be the "before" in a shampoo commercial, and his eyes were too bright, as if he'd suffered multiple electrocutions but had kept some of the electricity in his eyes. His teeth were immaculately white- Percy could see that even from this distance- and his smile looked almost painful. While the man looked young, his cloak was far from it. It was stained by every color imaginable, torn and fringed at the ends that dragged on the ground.
"I was waiting for everyone to wake up before I began," he added. "You little demigods sure can sleep!"
"What exactly were you waiting to begin?" Piper asked nervously.
"My experiment!" The man unveiled a syringe from inside his cloak and proceeded to dip in it the orange, sunset-like liquid, filling it up. "This concoction is my greatest one yet; it'll kill at the opening- quite literally, ha!"
"What-" Nico gulped, eyes wide and fully awake now. "What does that stuff do?"
"This beauty right here," the man said, leaning on the rim of the glass cauldron, "is called Hyde. This is what- whoops, that's hot!" The man's arm shot off the cauldron, syringe still in hand. "This is what will allow us to unleash the true killer inside- or, in other words, bring out the Hyde in you Jekylls!" He let loose a short maniacal laugh, which quickly became a series of uncontrollable giggles.
"This guy's insane," Percy whispered. Then, yelling to be heard over the man's giggle fit, Percy called, "Hey, Einstein! When's this 'opening' you're talking about?"
"Well, Mr. Jackson," the mad scientist began, sauntering over to where the son of Poseidon sat defenselessly. "The opening is when I unveil the new you! Or, the new one of your friends!" The mad scientist took a sweeping look at his prisoners, still smiling that scary grin. "The monster armada has hired me, the infamous Dr. Derideo, to convert the most powerful demigod into a lean, mean, murdering machine as their secret weapon." Dr. Derideo gasped, covering his mouth comically. "Oh, I spilled the secret! Ha, well, you all were going to find out anyway- ha, ha!- because one of you lucky five get to turn- ha HA- turn on all of your friends and KILL THE LOT!"
Dr. Derideo was leaning in Percy's face now, and Percy found himself to be truly terrified. This man- Dr. Derideo, whatever- was crazy. His eyes reflected years of knowledge, knowledge that drove him mad with power.
"I am a man of science, and when I was introduced to this world of myths, the door of knowledge was blown of its hinges! I can do so much, I know so much now!" The doctor pulled away from Percy, muttering to himself, "Knowledge, power, knowledge equals power, so much information, information equals magic…" His eyes were glued to the shining orange liquid in the syringe, and even though he was smiling, his eyebrows were furrowed. "Hmm. This should be a little more…pink. Yes, pink! Ha! I know what's missing!"
Dr. Derideo ran back to where he'd left the glass cauldron and stomped on a loose tile next to the fire blazing underneath. A large slab of stone sunk into the ground and was replaced by a metal table, an assortment of bronze tools laid out on top. The man emptied the syringe back in to the liquid and switched the medical tool for a pair of scissors and what looked like a grocery store barcode scanner.
"We need to leave. Now," Percy whispered. His heart was beating frantically. This man was close to completing his potion, and from the sound of it, said potion would have the power to break down all of the walls Percy had spent seven years building. He knew that if he were given that shot, his powers would be released like a dam exploding. He had a dam problem, that was for sure.
"Percy's right. We can't let anyone get that shot," Hazel agreed. She closed her eyes and looked to be in deep thought. After a few seconds, she reopened her eyes, sighing. "There are no precious gems nearby that I can call. And the smoke-" She was cut off by Jason's coughing. "Well, none of should be breathing this air in."
If Dr. Derideo were able to break down Percy's mental barriers holding back his power, bad things would happen. I can't let him do this.
Jason took in a shaky breath. "This isn't healthy."
Percy's qualms about his "new" powers would disappear. I can't let him do this.
Piper's shoulders twitched as she tried to loosen her bonds, to no avail.
Percy refused to control poison. Not yet. I can't let them know. I can't-
The potion!
The doctor was coming back, scissors and scanner in hand.
The potion! Percy's eyes widened as a plan formed in his head. If he could tip over the cauldron and spill the potion, Dr. Derideo couldn't use it.
"Let's see which of you is the perfect demigod for my potion!" Dr. Derideo approached Nico first, who grimaced but remained still has the madman held the scanner up in front of the son of Hades. It beeped.
Dr. Derideo whistled. "My, my. Quite the powerhouse, indeed."
Percy stopped listening and instead stared intensely at the potion twenty yards away. He imagined it was part of him. He could control it. He had to control it. This time, he had to ignore Annabeth's warnings.
The scanner reviewed Jason next. "My gods! Sorry, Mr. Di Angelo, but Grace here is above you on my readings." Dr. Derideo giggled. "Isn't science fun? I manipulated this mortal-made machine to measure magic! Ha! How ingenious!"
The potion began vibrate in the cauldron. That's it! Percy thought to himself, stifling a smirk. Come on…
"Hazel, my dear, you are quite the demigod too! Not only a daughter of Pluto, but an apprentice of Hecate? However, you are marginally under Jason, so today is not your day," he tsked.
The cauldron budged.
"Doctor, your readings don't matter," Piper charm spoke, batting her eyes innocently at the insane man. "We aren't powerful enough, not for you."
Dr. Derideo laughed. "Ms. Mclean, my mind is far too full for your charm speak to take affect."
"More like your mind isn't sane enough for it to work," she mumbled as he scanned her.
"Piper, you are above average for the demigod standard, but Jason is still in first!"
The cauldron began to tip. Come on!
"Percy?" Dr. Derideo mused, following his line of sight.
Keep going! The cauldron leaned farther off its perch. Kee-
Dr. Derideo slapped Percy Jackson across the face, breaking his concentration. The cauldron of potion rolled back to where it sat before. Percy stared at Dr. Derideo, openmouthed and red-faced. The others were equally shocked.
"Don't push my buttons, child. Or my cauldrons, for that matter." For the first time that evening, Dr. Derideo wasn't smiling. He hefted his scanner up and held it in Percy's face. It beeped, and upon reading the results, the doctor's grin returned full force.
"Well, that is interesting. You and Jason are about equal, power-wise, but you are quite a bit more unstable than he is. His powers are precise and controlled, while yours are restless and pushing to be used. How interesting! Your core is fractured and ready to break, but you won't let it. And I, for one, don't like to keep things caged."
Dr. Derideo grabbed Percy by the hair and yanked him forward, much to the loud protests of Percy's friends. The madman lifted the bronze scissors dramatically and chopped off a chunk of black hair from Percy's bangs. Dr. Derideo shoved Percy back and speedily walked back his workspace, laughing the whole way. Once there, he dropped the hair into the cauldron and whooped as it simmered away, a pink tone spreading throughout the liquid.
Percy was shaking with anger and fear. This man was a menace, but he spoke the truth. Percy was ready to break.
"Percy, are you alright?" Jason asked cautiously. "You're shaking."
"This is bad," was all he could say.
"I know, and we'll get out of this. Just-"
"No, Jason, you don't understand. This is very, very bad. That potion is going to make me lose control, and that will most definitely lead to people getting hurt.
"We can fight this-"
"Can you fight me?" Percy asked, his voice shaking along with his body. He sighed and hung his head back in defeat, eyes staring up into the smoke above. "I've only lost control once before in my life, and it ended with me exploding a volcano and causing the evacuation of thousands of people. People were injured. People could have died. And I did that when I was only fifteen."
It was quiet for a moment as that sunk in. "I don't remember anything like that in the news-" Piper began, but then she gasped. "Oh my gods- Mount St. Helens."
"That was me," Percy said quietly. He lifted his head and stared emptily forward. The memory of the eruption was one he liked to ignore. He had caused so much damage that day, and if he hadn't sent Annabeth away- oh gods. He watched absentmindedly as Dr. Derideo pushed yet another loose stone down, and up sprang a sink. Percy normally would've made some remark at how well equipped this mysterious lab was, but worry was eating away at his insides. Dr. Derideo washed the syringe's needle to clean it of the pervious version of the potion, then turned to re-
A sink.
There's a sink. And where there's a sink-
"Oh my gods." Percy couldn't help but smile. In order to have a sink, there had to be plumbing. In order to use plumbing, there needed to be water, and lots of it.
"What is it?" Hazel asked him, curious about his sudden mood swing.
"This building has plumbing. Oh my gods, we're saved," he laughed.
"You better hope those aren't your last words," Nico noted.
"No, the plumbing means there's water." Percy shut his eyes tight and sent out his senses. He could feel it, gallons of water racing through hidden pipes in the walls and floor. He'd hit the mother load.
Peeking out of one eye, Percy saw Dr. Derideo heading back towards the demigods. It's now or never, Percy thought, and again shut his eyes. He didn't have time to be careful; he needed water now. There was that familiar tugging sensation in his gut, and he heard the pipes groaning as the water strained to get out. Percy didn't ease up and concentrated harder. The sea does not like to be restrained, Percy reminded himself, and with that slogan in mind he pushed on. Then, he felt it. Just like in Tartarus, something inside him cracked.
The walls shattered, the floor was ripped to pieces, and Dr. Derideo's sink was blasted into the air. Gallons upon gallons of water flooded the room, swirling over every fixture, extinguishing every torch, and splashing up against the demigods.
"Percy!"
Percy turned to see who had called his name. Whoever it was, their urgent tone applied to the whole group. Everyone was still tied to the chairs, and the water was rising fast. He hadn't thought about that.
"You horrible little demigod!" Dr. Derideo shrieked, splashing around by his spilled cauldron, the potion swiftly being washed away by the rough waves. "You- ha!- you wicked little child!" The doctor was trying to salvage all of his belongings in the tide, and in his hands he currently held the scissors.
Before Percy knew what was happening, Dr. Derideo screamed and lurched in Percy's direction. I need those scissors, Percy thought, staring at the doctor's hand with a ferocity he'd never experienced before. Again, the doctor jerked forward, his hand that held the scissors dragging him through the rising sea of water.
"Bring me the scissors," Percy commanded, his gaze unrelenting as the doctor stumbled forward, screaming curses at the son of Poseidon.
"Percy, how are you doing that?" Nico yelled. At first, Percy mistook his tone as astonishment, but then he realized that Nico was horrified. Absolutely horrified.
It was too late now. Dr. Derideo was at Percy's feet, scissors held out before him as an offering. "Let me go, you insolent-"
"Cut me loose," Percy demanded, and the doctor was forced to do as he was told.
"It hurts!" Dr. Derideo exclaimed, but only his face was under his control. Percy controlled every limb; his heartbeat matched the demigod's, and his scissors sliced through Percy's bonds against his will. "Stop this! It hurts!"
The last rope was severed, and Percy snatched the scissors from the doctor and relinquished his control of the body. The doctor collapsed, sobbing, and disappeared beneath the waves.
Percy turned towards his friends, who were up to their shoulders in water but doused head to toe by the spray and onslaught of waves. Percy wanted to cry when he saw their faces. They were petrified in a portrait of terror, each face reflecting the same fearful expressions.
"I'm sorry," Percy choked out, stumbling forward to release his friends. "I'm sorry, oh gods, I'm sorry." Nobody spoke to him, and as he at last cut Nico free, they stood huddled in a group a few feet away from him. Percy reached out, but they took a step away from him. This felt like a sword through Percy's heart, and silent tears flowed from his sea green eyes. This was his ultimate fear, coming true. The very thing that kept him awake at night was standing before his eyes.
His friends saw him as a monster.
"I'm so sorry. I didn't know I- I didn't want to know! Please, say something!" Percy pleaded, but before the other demigods could answer, a giant wave slammed into them, knocking them all down under the water. It was then Percy noticed the current dragging them towards the broken window. He didn't know how far of a drop it would be to the ground below, and he was about to stem the flow of water when he felt a rope around his throat.
Gasping under the water, Percy clawed at the rope, but it only seemed to tighten. He tried to call out to his friends, who were being washed out through the window, but no voice came out. Out of the corner of his eye, Percy caught a glimpse of a worn out sleeve flapping behind his head. Dr. Derideo had him captured, and together they surfaced up near the ceiling, where the water had risen to and the smoke was thickest.
Percy couldn't breathe, in the water or out. The air he did retrieve was clogged with smoke and worsened his condition. He felt a sharp pain on his shoulder that lasted for a few seconds, and as he began to black out, Percy heard, "I guess you didn't need my potion to become a monster."
A/N: Whew, that was long! Over 3,000 words! As always, I love to hear feedback, so please review! My updates may be a little less frequent going forward, but stick with me. This story is't over yet!