Sorry for another late chapter! And Annabeth will be mentioned next chapter. Don't worry guys!
Chapter 11: The River Styx?
We arrived at Mt. Orthys the next day. I called on Blackjack and his friends to come and pick us up at Gila Claw, Arizona.
"What up boss?" he had told me.
"We need a ride back to Mt. Orthys," I told him as he nodded.
"Donuts? Sugar cubes?" he asked, and I sighed.
"At the ship," I told him, "I'll give you tons of them, alright?"
The pegasi whinnied chaotically.
"Well, hurry up!" Guido yelled, "We want sugar cubes!"
Since the pegasi flew extremely fast, we made it on the next day. We landed on the ship with a thunk as Luke, Bob, and Atlas came to greet us.
"How was it?" Luke asked, cracking a grin.
"Meh," Willow shrugged as Luke's face turned worried.
"We killed Phoebe and that was all," I said, avoiding eye contact with everyone.
"Is everything ok, Percy?" Luke asked as I nodded.
"Did you go directly against my orders of not sparing that Hades spawn?" Atlas questioned, has he raised his eyebrows.
"Maybe," I mumbled as I turned and walked in the ship.
"I told you not to spare her!" Atlas bellowed after me, "You went against my orders!"
"I couldn't kill her!" I replied going downstairs, "I think I love her."
"What did Luke say about love?" Atlas roared, "Love will only get in the way of our plan! You can get that foolish thought out of your head and think about winning the war for a change!"
"I want to win this war!" I retorted, "Just whatever. We still killed Phoebe."
"That worthless hunter?! Those spawns of Hades or my daughter would have been a better kill! You didn't even injure them to the point of no survival!" Atlas told me.
"We still made progress. That's all that matters," I finalized.
He threw up his hands and stormed upstairs.
"Not a good move Percy," Luke told me.
"I don't care," I replied.
Luke sighed, "Look Percy. I know it's very hard, but you must try to supress that feeling. Atlas is being really kind. No one can be this patient forever. Someday, when you try and help Bianca at the cost of one of our life or this mission, Atlas won't be so lenient."
I groaned loudly, "I swear. Then I wish I hadn't met her at all."
Luke pat my shoulder, "I know that feeling."
"At least Thalia is on our side. You guys have all the time in the world to improve your relationship," I replied.
Luke gave me a sad smile, clapped me on the back, then exited.
Suddenly angry, I grabbed my pencil holder and threw it at the wall. Pencils and pens flew everywhere. I flopped angrily on my bed.
I sighed and thought about my life. My kind of girlfriend betrayed me and saved my life. The general who could kill me on spot was angry at me. Life was great.
But why did Bianca save my life? Was it because I didn't kill her? Maybe she had feelings for me...and she wanted to come back to my side...!
I remembered how I had saved her life and my almost good mood shrunk. She was just being fair. I clenched my fists in anger.
Why did life have to be unfair? I hated it! I punched the bed frame and my fists throbbed.
"Percy!" a voice cried, and I got up quickly, drawing Hellfire. Willow looked at me with an annoyed look on her face. "What are you doing? Put that down!"
"What do you want?" I grumbled.
"It's dinner," Willow informed. "And wow, anger issues!"
"Get out."
"Make me," Willow taunted.
"Biatch," I mumbled.
"Ass," Willow retorted.
"Ugly."
"Fat."
"I'm not fat," I pouted, "You need to think of insults that fit me."
"Then I'm not ugly!" she roared back.
I tried to hold my laughter as Willow smacked me...hard.
"Ow!" I winced, and Willow smirked. She left the room with a smug air and I rolled my eyes. I left my room and headed to the Dining Hall.
Luke and Thalia weren't there yet, oddly. I went to the chef.
He smiled nervously at me. "What do you want today?"
"Um...can I have a hamburger and some blue coke with fries? Also, two patties and no pickles," I said.
"What is this place, the Krusty Krab?" Willow mumbled, and I laughed.
"Are you implying that this chef is Spongebob?" I asked dryly.
Willow sniffed, and the chef quickly made the burger. It only took five minutes, and I thankfully took the meal.
Willow got a tofu burger and I cocked my head at her choice.
"Vegetatrian much?" I muttered.
"Well, I'm against killing animals. Why should we kill animals if we can get the food we need from the ground? I mean, ever heard of salads or-"
"I get it. Next you'll be blabbering about HeforShe," I said darkly.
"What?" Willow blankly.
"Never mind..." I said.
"Better stop before you start," Bob informed. I didn't realize he was waiting for Willow and me. "Let's go."
We all went to sit down at the table we usually sat at. Except Thalia and Luke weren't here. I took a big bite from my hamburger and nommed on some fries.
Willow looked up from her tofu burger and stared at my fries. I smirked.
"Mmmm, the fries are so good," I exagerrated. "Bob, do you want one?" Bob sniffed.
"Those fries are unhealthy because of the amount of grease that they were exposed to. This can cause indigestion to the stomach," Bob said snootily.
I stared at him.
"In other words, you get really gassy," Bob said flatly.
"Heck, it's still delicious!" I replied as I popped one in my mouth.
I caught Willow staring at the fries and I kind of felt bad for her...kind of.
"Want one?" I asked as she nodded.
I grabbed one and gave it to her and the moment she tried to take it, I popped it into my mouth and smirked. Her face turned from confusion to anger to rage. She got up and overturned the whole table and just caused a scene. I looked up at her angrily as I saw Thalia and Luke approach us. They stared at Willow in shock.
"What happened here?" Thalia asked as Willow still glared at me.
She charged at me. I did not see that coming, so my guard was down. She tackled me to the ground and began yelling profanities at me. Bob, Thalia, and ?Luke tried to calm her down, but she just had only one focus: Injure me severely. I was worried for my life. Would I die by a girl's anger? I thought not. Finally, Bob got pried her away from me as she still was shouting at me. Where she got that energy, I have no idea.
"Willow please, calm down," Bob pleaded, "Don't hurt yourself or him over this. Just sstay calm."
"How do you expect me to stay calm?!" Willow yelled, "That-that turd tricked me! That was such a low blow!"
"Psh your the one who overreacted," I retorted, "I've never seem someone this riled up over a...over a french fry!"
I burst into laughter at that thought. I couldn't control myself as I laughed until my sides hurt. I literally rolled over the floor laughing. Luke silently snickered, Bob looked at me incredulously, Thalia rolled her eyes and Willow, well let's just say she turned redder than a tomato. So red, you'd think that her blood vessel would all burst.
"Please Percy, just stop," Luke warned, "Don't make it worse then it has to be."
With great difficulty, I finally stopped laughing.
"I think I'll do everyone a favor and go to my room," I wisely said as everyone nodded. Well, almost everyone. Willow just glared at me, taking deep breaths.
I sighed and went to my room. I lay in my bed for a while until I figured I had to take a shower. When Willow tackled me, I fell to the floor and I got dust and grime all over me. Curse you Willow. I started up the shower, then decided to take a nice bubble bath. Yeah, the Andromeda has those complementaries. I turned on the hot water as water and bubble began to mix. Steam began rising into the air as the smell of strawberries filled my nose. I looked at the bubble container. It read Strawberry Delight. Great. I should've chosen blueberry or any fruit that was blue.
I got into the water as warmth flooded me. I sighed and began basking in the pleasure. After around an hour blowing bubbles and testing out my water powers, I decided to end this. I turned on the shower gauge and cleaned myself up. Feeling all refreshed, I dried myself, put on my pajamas and plopped down on my bed. I wanted to watch another Spongebob while my brain told me to go to sleep. I had an internal struggle for quite some time. My thoughts were interrupted by a knock on my door.
"Come in!" I said as the door opened. Willow stepped into my room and I involuntarily tensed.
"Is it a bad time?" she asked softly.
I shook my head, "Sorry asbout that. Why?"
"I just wanted to apologize for overreacting," she said, choosing her words carefully, "It was pretty stupid of me, you know?"
She was turning red and I knew it was very hard for her to apologize. I understood how she felt. I had a hard time apologizing also.
"Willow, it's fine," I replied, "And the first time we met, we used to that extremely long argument so I'm not surprised."
She nodded and stared at the ground.
"Can I tell you something?" Willow asked as I slowly nodded, "It's just that I think...I think that I...you know what? Never mind. I'm really tired."
Being the seaweed brain I was, I didn't get the hint she just showed me.
"Yeah. Ok. Good night," I told her as she returned the greeting.
She stepped out, but she turned to face me, "And Percy?"
I looked at her.
"No Spongebob, go to sleep," she ordered.
I cracked a grin and saluted her, "Alright Cereal Girl."
"Shut up Fart face."
"Nimrod."
"Idiot."
"Fatty."
"Chubby."
"Weirdo."
"Lunatic."
"Stop saying the synonym of my word."
"Terminate uttering the alternate of my vocable."
"..."
"..."
"Stop."
"Conclude."
"Seriously."
"Earnestly."
"SHUT UP!"
"HOLD YOUR TONGUE!"
"Good night."
"Sweet Dreams."
On that note, she exited my room and I sighed. Finally, peace and quiet. Taking Willow's advice, I turned the lights off and fell asleep. I had a dream. I was in the pits of Tartarus, directly facing Kronos.
"Percy," his voice rasped, "I couldn't speak to you sooner because I'm having some problems. Monsters everyone are restless and they are begging me to free them. Since I can't have you dying so easily, I have a proposition. Have you heard of the River Styx?"
"Kinda," I replied, "I just know that it's a river in the Underworld and it is extremely filthy."
"There is more to it," he said, "I need you to bathe in the river."
"Bathe?" I asked, "Why?"
"You will become invincible," Kronos replied, "I will not go into detail until you accept my proposition. It is really risky, I can guarantee you that, but if you can fight through the pain, the results will be really beneficial to you. I will give you chance to think about it, but I need an answer today. Go ahead, think, I won't disturb you."
I pondered. Would I be willing to take this risk? This risk Kronos hasn't told me yet? Is it that big? I knew I would eventually have to give in to his demands or he would force me. It was all obvious what I had to do.
"I'm in," I told him as he chuckled.
"Looks like I chose the right person for my host," Kronos mused.
"Yeah, yeah," I replied, "Now tell me the risk."
"When you dip in the River Styx, you will have to focus on your mortal point," Kronos explained, "As I have told you, you will go through immense pain. It will feel like your soul is being ripped apart from your body. Fight through that. The pain will be one of the greatest pain you have ever felt. Focus on a single spot on your body such as a tiny spot in your back, the palm of your hand, something concealing. That mortal point will be the anchor to the world. You will virtually be more powerful and invincible, but if you are struck in your mortal point, you will die."
I took all the information in and at first, I was silent.
"What would be the first step?" I asked Kronos.
"You must ask for your mother's blessing," Kronos told me.
My eyes widened as I shook my head.
"No, please, not her," I begged, "I don't want to tell her that I've failed her. Please, can we just go right now?"
Kronos was silent for a while.
"Now?" he asked, "I'm afraid not."
"What? Why?" I asked impatiently.
"First of all, the river is in the Underworld which we must plan to bypass without attracting the attention of Hades," Kronos patiently explained, "Secondly, I'm sure some of your...friends are against you doing this. You must gain their consent. Third, going in the Styx without your mother's blessing is a big risk. Are you sure you want to bathe in the Styx without your mother's blessing? If you die, it would be a loss for all of us."
"I'm sure," I finalized.
Kronos was silent for a few more seconds.
"I see," he answered, "Wake up Percy. If all goes well, tonight, you shall bathe in the Styx. Good luck."
And with that, Kronos faded in me. I woke up and looked at the clock: 7:00a.m. Breakfast was at...7:00 a.m. I cursed and quickly changed into my clothes then raced upstairs. I made it just in time as the chef was wrapping up.
"Good morning chef," I greeted and he returned the greeting.
"Your just in time boy," he smiled, "What can I get you?"
"I would like just 4 pieces of bacon and toast with butter," I replied as he nodded. He made the meal lickety split as I carried it to my table.
I guess the River Styx had me preoccupied because I tripped on my way and dropped my food everywhere as the plate shattered into millions of pieces. Fine, I will stop overexaggerating. Thousands-no hundreds of pieces. Everyone could tell I was in no mood to joke around because I only heard hushed whispers. No laughing at all. I grumbled and began picking up the pieces and putting it in the trashcan.
"Take a seat Percy," Luke told me, "I'll let the minions clean your mess."
I nodded as I aimlessly made my way back to my seat.
"Minions!" Luke ordered, "Clean this mess! Chef, cook Percy another batch!"
The chef saluted Luke as the telekhines began grumbling and picking up the broken pieces of the plate and bacon and throwing them into the trash can.
"What's up with you Percy?" Thalia asked as the chef came over and gave me a new meal.
"Hm?" I answered.
"You're acting really weird," Willow commented.
"Oh, yeah, about that," I replied, "Kronos gave me a proposition and I'm scared."
"What was it?" Bob asked.
"Bathe in the River Styx," I answered as Luke spat out his orange juice.
"What?!" he asked, wiping his mouth with his sleeve.
"Yeah and he said if I don't focus correctly, my soul will be incinerated and washed away by the river like yesterday's trash," I continued, "But since I'm going to become invincible, I think that makes up for it."
"No, it's too dangerous," Thalia told me.
"I have to Thalia," I replied.
"Unbelievable!" she exclaimed, "Anything that has your life at stake is not a very good deal."
"Kronos said there would be some disagreement," I mumbled, "Come on Thalia. We have to win this war."
"Or maybe we don't have to," she fought back, "Maybe we can make peace with the gods and everything will be alright."
"It's easier said than done Thalia," I sighed, "I have to and that is final."
"You are the single most annoying person I've ever met!" she exclaimed as she threw her breakfast at me. She stood up angrily and left, muttering curses.
I looked at her and growled. I will get her. I will make her pay, even if it costs her or my life.