Hermes took me to Apollo's personal infirmary, at his palace. I knew because it wasn't as extravagant, nor as large as the main infirmary. Also there was a big sign by the entrance that said, "Sexy man's infirmary," with a large poster-sized picture of Apollo. I shuddered.
Hermes motioned me to sit in a bed. I listened, sitting on the closest bed, while Hermes sat in the chair next to me. He sat in silence, several times it seemed as if he were going to going to speak but caught himself at the last minute. In the end, Hermes summoned his Caduceus. The petrified snakes, regained their color, and began to move around.
"Hey… You got a rat, do you?" George said "they sure are delicious…"
"George… Don't bother Percy, he has been through a lot," Martha said.
"Alright, but he still owes me a rat…" he said," A rat is my greatest treasure,"
"What about me George?" she hissed.
I chuckled but unable to contain it, I burst out laughing. How long has it since I laughed so freely, without any worries? A long time indeed. I wish this moment would never end. The world is too cruel. I miss the laughter, the warm of the sun, the coolness of the moon but what I miss the most is the joy to be alive. I don't feel like I am alive anymore, just an empty husk.
Hermes looked straight at me. "Percy, let me tell you everything," he said. He did not falter. His eyes bore into my soul.
"Everything…What do you mean?" I asked, confused over what he meant.
"Umm... how do I explain it?" he said, "It wasn't your fault… we put a love potion in the wine or so we thought"
Love potion? I the wine. So that means the wine we consumed was drugged. But why? The gods I trusted, fooled me. Haven't I been through enough? If I was drugged, then it would mean Artemis was also drugged… does she know?
"Why… why would you do that?" I said
"It was a prank… that horribly went wrong," Hermes said," we thought a scare would cheer both of you up… but we accidently stole Aphrodite's strongest lust potion… thus ending badly."
Ha… so they say it was accident… a mistake. How do I now they speak the truth? For all I know the gods set this up in order to find an excuse to kill me. I have quite a few enemies who would be glad to see me dead.
"So you say…" I said, "You probably wish to kill me too."
Hermes flinched. "Perseus… forgive me," I said," I don't wish to kill you… you are like a son to me."
"Then why?" I said," don't you think I have had enough…of these wars… failing to save my friends… and now what I did to Artemis… I can't handle it anymore… I only want some peace."
The world seems so bland. It has lost its vigor and color. If the world has abandoned me, so will I. I will not take my own life that would be an insult to my mother who brought me into this world. I will forsake fate. I will follow my own path if I can but my throbbing heart cannot handle such pain. I failed to save those I cared about, Annabeth is injured but as along as those two are content, I don't mind my fate.
A certain silver eyed goddess flashed into my mind, no… Artemis only wishes my death. Nothing will ever blossom between us. If we ever met again, my shall be forfeit. Her hunters would tear me to pieces.
"Percy… don't be so hard on yourself…"He said, "Those types of thoughts will destroy you,"
"How would you know?" I said.
"You are right… I may only have a slightest clue of what you feel," he said," I have seen many times, the downfall of men… you must live for those you love and for yourself."
"Percy, be strong… remember why your mother named you Perseus," Martha said, "only demigod to have a peaceful life,"
What? How do you know that? Sure it might be public knowledge but only to close friends who have meet my mother. Weird that Martha would know about. Then again Hermes is the god of travelers so it might have been leaked somewhere.
I had forgotten that small detail. That was the reason my mother named me Perseus, she wanted me to have a so called happy ending. She knew my fate, so she did everything to protect me. I know wants be to be happy but how? How do you live with all this regret and sadness that tears my heart to shreds? What is there to live for anymore? Just pain that never ends. It is a fate worse than death.
I looked at Hermes. My entire being wanting to get rid of this pain. How do I live on Hermes? Why isn't there a magical book, called "get rid of all negative feelings." How did you pull through Hermes? After losing Luke. Was it this painful? Or was it worse? Losing a child is a painful ordeal. I guess it would be.
What about Artemis? What is she feeling? I did something unspeakable to her. It is something that can never been redeemed. I don't care whether it was a potion or not. I should have been stronger. If I were, nobody would have died and Artemis and my mother wouldn't have been harmed. It is all my fault…I should have trained or something… I should have become stronger.
"Hermes… hypothetically, let say that if I didn't exist, would those that died…live?" I said.
"Percy…what are you saying?" he said,"You aren't thinking of dying…are you."
"No of course not… I am just asking," I said. He frowned. Almost as if he didn't believe me. His eyes kept a watchful eye on me. Almost as if he were frightened of what could occur if he lost sight of me.
"Fate cannot be changed… if you had not existed, even more lives would have been lost," Hermes said, "You saved who could…"
"Saved who I could… does that justify the lives I failed to save… all because I wasn't strong enough." I yelled.
"Something's just can't be prevented," Hermes said.
Why? Why do you keep saying that fate cannot be changed? It can't be… why? Damn… those fates.
"Hermes, I see you are back to your fate cannot be stopped lecture," said a voice. I looked to see Apollo enter through the doorway. "Hey Perce… welcome to my lovely and humble… non-explicit infirmary," he said as he entered, "I will take it from here…"
"Very well then, I will inform… Zeus of the situation," Hermes said. He left in the standard golden flash.
"Percy… we have much to talk about…" Apollo said as he walked toward me. His eyes held no emotion, I have never seen Apollo like this… it made my blood freeze. My body froze, unable to move.
* Another chapter... finally finished it... might to to do some edits here and there but it is finished. i planned the next chapters. so i will see how it goes...