A/N: Some (hopefully many) of you have been waiting for the next chapter impatiently and for that I'm deeply sorry. My homework is killing me these days and I have to do a bunch of crazy presentations. You all must have experienced this feeling before so I won't ask for your understanding. Thank you for all your amazing support!
Special thanks to ShadowFlame Gabe and 00 for following along with favoring me and my story. You really made my day!
Dman (Guest): Thanks for your review. A lot of readers who have read this story asked for romance between Percy and Plasma, too. Maybe it's time for me to consider about it. Enjoy.
Huy: You should really try to improve your grammar.
BeautifulNoMatterWhat: I hope your excitement is still there after two weeks. Thanks for reading.
00: Thanks for your sweet review! It makes me want to fly into the air! But don't worry; I'm still on Earth to post the next chapter so here it is. Thank you for your support and enjoy the new chapter.
Also thank you for the calls from Ashland (New York) and Melbourne (Australia).
Chapter 16: We blind ourselves with our emotions
Empire State Building, 600th floor
"Do you know any whereabouts of Perseus Jackson?" – Zeus's voice shook the air in the throne room and perhaps if some people from miles away caught heart-attacks, the cause wasn't a mystery at all.
"If we knew we would have told you, Drama Queen." – Poseidon grumbled, glaring at Zeus. He was tired after the 199th time the king of gods had asked this question.
"Barnacle Beard, that cowardly puddle of sea scum is technically a part of you, so there's no reason…" – Athena denied her uncle's statement immediately like she had been preparing it for ages and indeed she had.
"You know nothing, Owl Face! He's not the Seas' anymore! It's been that way since he shook Kronos' hand. So stop…"
"Are you gods or dogs? Because we're actually barking at…" – Hera chimed in the fight, her face was serious like the world would crumble soon. Ironically, according to their knowledge, it was actually crumbling down.
"Oh please, mother, it's been like this for… what? Years? Decades? Oh right, millenniums!" – Hephaestus snorted at the Queen of gods bitterly. She was the very person who created so many conflicts and discords around this place.
"Honey, you shouldn't talk like…" – Aphrodite's eyes were glued on the mirror but still she warned her husband sternly.
"Hey, I'm supposed to be your honey!" – Ares protested at Aphrodite's words although he was having a good time sharpening his spear.
"I swear if I get my hands on this disgrace of mankind he will definitely wish he's never been born!" – Announced Artemis murderously, recalling the encounter with Percy.
"Cool down sister, it's not the end of the world that a boy has outrun you." – Apollo replied soothingly, but his mind wasn't paying attention. He was trying to at least have a glimpse of a vision, a prophecy, anything like that.
"Oh, for heaven's gods' sake, will you guys SHUT UP?" – The Goddess of Hearth, who had always been the quiet one, spoke up in rage. The red flame around her was dancing fiercely which did a good job shutting everyone in the throne room up. But then, her face came back to the usual calm and composed state and sighed. – "Or perhaps if it suits you, just continue."
"Actually, we're very curious about your thoughts at this situation, Hestia." – Stated Zeus seriously; he never actually noticed Hestia's presence in the room after Dionysus took her place. Sometimes he felt stupid for ignoring her but his pride had prevented him from neither apologizing nor making up to it.
"I have no comments of whatsoever, Zeus." – said Hestia calmly, not fearing the Lightning bolt one bit. She was unimportant after all. No-one had ever believed her to be a strong god, but they forgot the fact that she was actually the oldest god.
"Hmm, I don't think so, Hestia. We underestimate your knowledge and power many times before and I think we're not foolish enough to repeat a mistake like that again." – A voice came from a portal made of shadow appearing from thin air in the middle of the throne room. The God of Death had joined the party. – "Did I miss anything or we've just begun with a little conversation?"
"We just get started." – Hera replied in disgust, glaring daggers at Hades, who ignored the looks. He had got used to those as soon as they got out of Kronos's stomach. – "Anything we should know about in your realm?"
"What's happening in my realm right now is kept in the People's Republic of None of your Damn Business, Hera. I'm only here because Nico's been pestering me since forever about how important meetings these days are and your loyal husband has actually sent me an invitation." –Hades spoke in neutral tone, eyes sweeping the throne room with caution.
"Then I think we'd love to visit the People's Republic of None of your Damn Business, Hades. You're the first one to know if something stirs in that place." – Athena said politely while Hades settled down on a chair. – "And the fact that you three…" – Athena pointed at Zeus, Poseidon and Hades. – "Have a mortal sister is very fascinating to all of us. Where's she been all this time?"
"Don't. Mention. Of. Her." – Zeus spitted the words out like they'd been big pain in his ass for a long time but letting them go wasn't quite easy either.
"Unfortunately, we have to talk about her since she inherits almost all the powers that Kronos has not to mention what kind of mortal her mother is to strong enough to give birth to a half-mortal, half-titan child." – Hades rolled his eyes at his brother.
"I believe that none of us has ever imagined something like this would happen." – Poseidon mumbled under his breath, but everyone could still hear him.
"Nothing's possible." – Hestia let out lowly, but Apollo heard her.
"Why do I have a feeling that you know something that we don't, Aunt Hestia?" – Apollo said in wonder, looking at the Goddess of Heart with a raised eyebrow.
All the heads turned to Hestia with suspicious looks on their faces. Was she a part of this? Hell no, Hestia was never known as a betrayer.
"Apollo, I was the first god that came to life. Of course I know more things than likely everyone here. Even Athena is irrevocably smart, nothing's going to change the fact that I'm the oldest and I've seen and heard more than you have." – Hestia explained warmly and gently, like she was lecturing very slow students.
"Then enlighten us with something useful please because we're pitifully blind here." – Artemis snarled impatiently.
"Do you really want to know what the real problem is?" – Hestia asked, eyeing every individual in the throne room.
"Y-E-S!" – Everyone shouted and did the gesture that said "Duh! Come on!"
"Well, the first thing you need to know is: you're not blind. It's just there, and you refuse to see it."
Everyone was speechless. Most of them didn't understand what the hell Hestia was talking about. What was there? And why did they refuse to see it? Surprisingly, a certain Messenger god voiced up his thoughts:
"Hestia, do you mean that the answer is already clear, but we blind ourselves from realizing and taking it?"
Hestia gave her nephew a small smile that warmed up every dark corner in this world.
Tartarus, Percy's Point of View:
Despite all hardest efforts, I couldn't find the way out. There was no way out. Not anymore. But inside, something else slowly formed. It was a new way. But it didn't lead me out. It dragged me deeper into the inside, and before I recognized anything, getting out was no longer an option.
"Little demi-god, are you too tired to fight? Do you want a helping hand, you pathetic little..." – A deadly familiar voice disturbed my exhausted brain cells, stirring everything up.
"Not right now gramps, the sun hasn't come up yet." – I hissed angrily, clenching my fist and letting my knuckles kiss the hard soil. Wait, not hard soil, but something fluffy and actually pretty warm. What?
"The sun will never come up." – An hollow voice entered his eardrums, making me shoot up immediately. I wanted to make sure she was real. The original blue eyes of Plasma Knight bored into mine, and what pissed me off most was that she looked just like the first time I met her. Cold, distant and demonic.
I knew that I had to be like that, too if I wanted a surviving chance. But… it was just… simply wrong. If I tried to stay alive but in the end losing my humanity, then what was the point of trying? The word humanity resounded in my numb mind. Lelantos, the Titan of Air and hunter's skill of stalking preys. The fight replayed in my mind, but somehow there were too many blank spots that I hadn't been able to fill in. It wasn't blurry, but totally empty, shattered into pieces and fragments. It was like a part of my brain had been broken. My past was quite uncertain as well; of course I still remembered the main details. I didn't realize that Plasma had joined me on the quilt.
"You think…"
"You die. I know that, Plasma. Just… it happened so quickly." – I said quickly, somehow ashamed of my own words. It was like I was scared of what happened.
"You're asking yourself how you had managed to beat a titan without godly help." – She tilted her head, the image of "mental check-up". A part of her that I created up there was still in there, good.
"I believe that you've always interfered, Plasma." – I said accusingly, demanding to know whether she had set up the whole thing so that I would always win a battle.
"Your perception is unfortunately very wrong, Percy. I can't control a titan and you know that I didn't even touch my weapon during the fight." – Plasma reminded me softly, like she was careful not to break my nerves.
"His last words were impossibly friendly, too friendly coming from a foe." – I picked up undeniable evidence. But knowing "the Kid", she always had a reasonable explanation. I just needed to hear it with my own ears, not knowing it absently in my mind.
"Everything dies. Everything fades. Everyone goes away. Nothing's forever." – She stated it wistfully with some kind of tempo, like she was singing a sad melody. I waited patiently; she never gave a straight answer.
"He knew that. I know that. You know that. There must be a time when we reach the accepting term." – She gave me a meaningful glance. – "He decides that he's done hiding. He wanted to check if he had enough qualities to live any longer. Losing a battle to you proved that it was his time to accept the last phase the cycle of nature."
"So you two did talk about this?!" – I murmured disappointingly.
"His will to win wasn't any weaker than yours, Percy. If not he would have given in at the first blow. You're annoying to spar with." – Plasma smirked a bit, but it looked forcefully and I frowned. – "Besides, you also needed to prove whether you're worthy a resident of Tartarus."
"So you mean he would have killed me if he was able to?" – I wanted to check the information again.
"He fought his hardest. He even believed in victory. He didn't know about the curse of Achilles." – All my doubts were lifted. It was a real fight and I could have ended up becoming a resident of Tartarus the hard way.
"Before I passed out, I felt…"
"Powers entering your body in a sudden which overwhelmed you, isn't it?" – I nodded. I couldn't find better words to say anyway.
"After defeating Lelantos, you possess all his powers. They'll be pretty much handy in near future." – She said, handing me two pieces of toast with peanut butter on them. I gritted my teeth as my mind flashed an image of Tyson, my half-brother who was a Cyclops. – "I know it's hard but you need to…"
"Eat with me then." – I pushed the other piece towards her as my green eyes pierced into hers, not taking a refusal. – "Sooner or later we will run out of food anyway. We just need to figure…"
"Look outside." – Plasma took a bit of the toast as she gestured towards the funny-looking cylindrical window on the stony wall.
I held my breath as the sight of a long black river hit me. The River of Styx. Of course, it flew through Tartarus to the Underworld.
"Of course, we can now swim in the River of Styx just like any normal rivers! We can sneak up onto the surface and take some food." – It was all planned. Wait, where were we anyway?
"I've stayed here since I decided that I wanted to make Kronos fade with my own hands." – I eyed her carefully; she avoided saying since my mother died.
"You didn't lose your humanity, Plasma." – I reminded her the fact that she kept refusing to believe in. – "If you did you would have left me rot here at first place."
"How about thinking of my deeds in a different direction, Percy? What if I'm using you just to kill my father and accomplish my own selfish purposes? To take my father's place and rule the world instead?" – She asked me, challenging me to deny the possibilities.
"Without an army of monsters or mastering your potential power, you've managed to humiliate the gods' abilities to rule, Plasma Knight so I don't think you have difficulty in taking their places at all if you really want to do that. The truth is, you're anything but like that! You're not your father, Plasma. You're not your mother either. You're just… you! You're Plasma! Why don't you see things that way?"
"Which way, Percy? I'm a creation of pure corruption! Why don't you see that?"
"No, Plasma, we have to stop talking about this crap! I. DON'T. GIVE. A. DAMN. ABOUT. YOUR PARENTS! All I see is a teenage girl who has a shitty past that she doesn't deserve to even know about, who has unwanted gifts but knows how to use them wisely and also who's thirsted for a thing called normality that neither of us had a close definition of! So if you're going to give me the sh*t about how… evil you are, then let me tell you something. If you're evil, then everything that ever exists is terribly indescribably evil. And if there's any word that describes something bad much worse than evil, I'll happily use it to describe the world when you're evil."
She stared at me with wide blue eyes but her face betrayed nothing. Her expression was like as if my words didn't get through her at all, she was just simply stunned at my sudden outburst. At that moment, we both avoided each other's eyes and settled down our stuff in awkward silence. I didn't know it was just us or Tartarus was indeed messing everything inside of it up. Whatever I had to face out there was going to be crap and beyond. But like they said, practice makes perfect, so let's check it out. My spine chilled and I immediately turned around to meet the sight of Plasma looked like some kind of… warrior or killer.
"What do you think of visiting our neighbors? I'm sure they'll be fascinated to discover a newcomer and also his new powers."
"Sure, why not? Is it just friendly greetings or a killing spree?" – My eyes washed over the chain hanging on her shoulder around her torso and a scimitar that was big and quite like a boomerang in her small hand.
"What would a visit be like without presents?"
A/N: Okay, another chapter! I'm irrevocably beat. Please read and review. Also, I have another story called "Just another bloody dawn" in category "Avengers". You might want to check it out.