I don't own any Percy Jackson related content.
INTERLUDE: CALL OF THE WILD
The Tale of Two Soul Mates
Percy leaned his head back on his hands, strolling down the sidewalk next to a miserable satyr. "Damn, this place could really use some air freshener."
Grover coughed, a loud, grating sound breaking out of his throat. It almost sounded like a dog growling, except that instead of being threatening it made Percy want to snicker. Which he did.
After glaring at his friend, Grover looked up at the smog covering the sky, waving a hand in front of his sensitive nose. "It isn't funny. Gods, this place is just the worst! How do people even live here?" He cringed in disgust. "You're so lucky that you can't feel yourself breathing in this stuff. I might not get out of here without lung cancer."
Percy shrugged, giving his friend an apologetic glance. While Grover's satyr nose was the best at sniffing out anything ever, it wasn't much of a boon when walking through the most polluted city in the country.
He was sure that it had a proper name at some point, before the factories spread out all over the place turned its air into the equivalent of a breathable garbage dump. Now, most people who knew of it just called it Smoketown, a name ironically coined by one of the previous mayors, who must've admitted even to himself that his charge deserved it. Somehow though, for as polluted as it was, the town wasn't in most maps. Percy figured that the government or whoever was in charge of such things wouldn't want the rest of the world to know that the United States was home to what should've been considered one of the worst places in the world.
The demigod didn't blame them for hiding the location. It was supposed to be daytime, but the sky was tinted in an ever present haze that made him think the sun had always been a naturally brown color. It was like the entire city was just a big grey blob in the middle of nowhere, the buildings and people mixing perfectly with the horrid atmosphere. All of the residents seemed to realize this too, for everyone they passed by had their heads down and would always be quick to get out of sight.
Percy hummed. "I'm starting to think that coming here might've been a bad idea," he mused out loud.
Grover spluttered, then got into a coughing fit so harsh that they had to stop so that he could catch his breath. "What... are you talking about?" he asked, resting on his knees. "This was all your idea! You said that maybe the reason Pan hasn't been found yet was because he could be hiding in really polluted places!"
"Yeah, emphasis on could be," Percy said. "Now I'm starting to think that Pan would've had an instant heart attack just from looking at this place. I mean, you're doing bad enough."
"Okay, that's it!" the satyr exclaimed. "From now on, we're not going anywhere you say we should go! This has been the worst hour of my life! I-" He got into another fit.
Percy patted his back with a grimace, somewhat glad that his own hyper sensitive smell could be turned on and off at will. Now that he thought about it though, he kind of felt like powering up his nose for a bit, just to see what it was like. It felt like the time he and Grover went to a restaurant and the waitress told him that he should wait before eating because his plate was hot. To put it short, it was. Really, really hot. And that's why he didn't tune up his nose.
"Alright, we should get outta here before you go into cardiac arrest," Percy said. He looked up, spotting various smoke plumes rising over the buildings, no doubt originating from the factories that turned the town into what it was. "This place freaking sucks. I can feel the awesome leaking out of my body and being replaced with sulfur dioxide."
Grover readily nodded, but he held up a hand, coughing a bit more. Sighing, Percy placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "This is ridiculous. How do people even live here and not get a stroke every five seconds? If I wasn't so great then I'd probably grow a second head or something."
Just after he said that, someone bumped into him. The person had been wearing a rather shifty-looking trench coat, complete with sunglasses and low-hanging hat, but the impact knocked him onto the ground. While the passerby fell back, Percy, of course, didn't move an inch. Nothing really made him stumble after getting slammed into a wall by the Minotaur.
The demigod looked down at the person who crashed into him, only to find that it wasn't even a person at all. With the hat and sunglasses fallen on the ground, Percy came face to face with... well, nothing. The creature, whatever it was, had no face, it's head instead holding a blank space.
"Uh..."
The thing stood back up, now looming over Percy and Grover, who had replaced his hacking cough for speechlessness. Around them, more and more of the creatures began to shrug off their disguises, beginning to surround the two.
Positioning themselves back-to-back, Percy looked up at Grover from the corner of his eye as he unsheathed Riptide, it's celestial bronze blade gleaming in the murky light of the city. "G-man, what the hell are these things? I'd tell them to get the hell away, but they don't have any ears."
"They're the Faceless, Psyche's attendants," the satyr responded, gulping when he saw the amount of monsters they were being cornered by. "Her husband, Eros, got so jealous about how all the servants at his palace fell in love with her that a few hundred years ago he just took away their ability to see her, smell her, hear her, or kiss her."
"But there are girls here too!"
"Psyche's supposed to be really pretty."
"Whatever," Percy said, his cheeks a little red. "We've gotta get out of here for real now. When I say so, duck, okay?"
Grover nodded, and Percy got ready to put his plan into action. The demigod coated his sword with so much air that the winds began to whip at his clothes and hair, making him grin despite the situation. Doing that a few months ago would've had him on his knees, gasping for breath, but it seemed that practice really did make perfect.
"Duck!" he shouted. Percy then spun around to face Grover, who was already kneeling down, and threw his sword like a frisbee at the crowd of faceless.
Riptide easily cut through the immortal creatures, not slowing down a bit even as it sliced what had to be dozens of bodies in one throw. The flying sword dispersed each creature it hit the instant it's coat of sharp winds touched them, leaving behind a trail of golden dust wide enough for Percy and Grover to escape unscathed.
The two ran past the mass of faceless, with Percy grabbing Riptide out of the air when it came back around. "Ha! Bet they didn't see that coming!" Percy shouted as he and Grover dashed through the streets.
"No, they most likely didn't," Grover deadpanned. He was sweating, and not going as fast as Percy knew his goat hoofs could carry him, but the demigod decided they had more important things to worry about. "It's not like they could've... No eyes, you know."
Percy scowled. "You can't ever let me have any fun, can you?"
Whatever Grover was about to say was interrupted when they went around a corner and were met with another crowd of faceless, all coming for them. The two immediately stopped in their tracks and turned around, running in the opposite direction.
"Holy crap, how many freaking servants does this lady need!?" Percy shouted.
Grover huffed, looking like he was about to say something, but then coughed harshly and almost fell. Seeing this, Percy slowed his pace. "C'mon, let's move!" he said, pulling on the satyr's sleeve.
"Can't... breathe... Need... Inhaler..." Grover then passed out, the toxic fumes finally getting to him.
"Damn it!" Percy cursed, glancing around at the growing amount of faceless that were already starting to surround them again. He growled, picking Grover up over his shoulder. The psychokinetic got ready to tear through as many faceless as it took to escape, but a sudden cry stopped him.
"Hey, kid! Over here!"
Percy looked over the innumerable amount of nearing faceless and spotted two people, both of whom were wearing gas masks. "Come on!" one of them shouted.
Well, he didn't have many options. Either he went with them or got into a fight with an army of freaks. He'd probably win, but the chance of Grover getting hurt was too high. With that in mind, the demigod sheathed his sword and dashed forward.
When he was at arms length of one of the faceless, Percy jumped up and planted his foot firmly on the creature's blank head. A surge of repulsive force later and the psychokinetic flew over the rest of the monstrous crowd, landing hard on the pavement next to his two new allies. "Alright, let's get outta here!" he told them.
One of them, a woman, hesitated, seemingly shocked that a thirteen-year-old had managed to jump so high and far, but the other one, a man, grabbed her arm rather roughly and pulled her along with him as he ran. "Follow us, kid!"
Grover hanging from his shoulder, all Percy could do was grunt and do as the stranger said.
The two strangers, both of which Percy was increasingly suspecting to be demigods, led him to a rather abandoned part of town. They stopped in front of one of the apartment buildings and unlocked a door, letting him inside before the man turned around and locked it again.
The place wasn't bad at all, looking more like a home than the rickety hideout Percy had been expecting. There was a kitchen, its sink under a boarded up window, and a living room complete with a flat screen over a bookcase filled to the brim with all sorts of reading material. A stairway led to what Percy assumed to be the bedrooms, and a closed door next to one of the couches hid what was surely a restroom.
He turned back to the couple, who had already taken off their gas masks and hung them on a hook on the wall, which he figured was placed there for that exact purpose. The woman was short, only being a head or so taller than Percy himself, with long brown hair that reached down to her waist and a rather big nose that sort of ruined what could've otherwise been a cute face. The man, on the other hand, looked like he could've been a model. Tall, handsome, and muscular, not that Percy would ever say any of that out loud.
Percy walked to the living room and unceremoniously dropped Grover on one of the couches. The satyr didn't even groan.
"That's a bit presumptuous, don't you think?"
Percy scoffed, not even turning around. Instead, the demigod sat himself on the same couch that Grover was currently drooling on. "You're the one who let me in," he said, crossing his arms.
The man, who was sitting across from him on a leather sofa, chuckled. "Good point. I'm Neil, by the way. The one in the kitchen getting us something to drink is Beatrice."
"Percy," the psychokinetic introduced himself, then pointed at the satyr next to him. "That's Grover. He's pretty cool when he isn't passed out."
"I bet." Neil leaned back on his seat. "Now, what are two kids like you doing in our neck of the woods?"
Percy glanced at the gas masks hanging off the hook next to the front door. 'I should be asking the same thing,' he mused. Instead of voicing his thoughts, the demigod shrugged. "Looking for someone."
Neil tensed slightly. It was such a small action that Percy would've probably missed it if it weren't for his admittedly and in no way self-gratifyingly sharp eyes. "You don't say..."
Before he could say anything else, Beatrice came from the kitchen, holding a can of Coca Cola in one hand and a glass of wine in the other. "This is all we have for a kid your age besides water," she told Percy, handing him the soda. "I figured you wouldn't mind."
Percy didn't really care either way about what he drank. If anything was starting to annoy him though, it was constantly being referred to as a kid. Yeah, he was young, but he could probably drink all the alcohol they had and still be able to walk in a straight line! He'd have to get his liver working overtime, but still!
The psychokinetic was about to tell his hosts of the superiority of his metabolism when Neil sent Beatrice a scathing look as she sat down on a chair beside him. "Hey, what about me? Don't I get something to drink?"
She rolled her eyes. "Do I look like an octopus? I've only got two hands."
"I swear, you are the most infuriating-"
"I'm not your personal maid, you lazy-"
"This happens every single-"
And just like that, Percy was completely out of his depth. 'They're worse than Katie and Travis,' he observed, a bit shocked that they'd be arguing right in front of him. 'Did they forget that we're here?' A jolt went through his body, and he turned to Grover, who appeared to be mumbling something in his sleep.
Right. That. He had almost forgotten that his friend was suffering from some sort of poison-induced incapacitation. The fact that the couple in front of him needed masks just to go outside made it increasingly apparent that whatever the air was full of, it was bad. And Grover was a satyr, meaning that it was around ten times worse for him. Percy was honestly surprised that his friend had lasted a full hour without passing out.
On the other hand, he had been able to last a full hour without even feeling it. Percy mentally gave himself a high-five.
"Mmm... Aluminum..."
'Not the time, not the time!' He shouted in his mind. Maybe all of his friends had a point when they said he had a big head?
...
Nah.
Shaking his head, Percy took a long gulp of cola before calling out to the two grown adults who were bickering like children. "Yo, cut it out for a sec!"
Neil and Beatrice immediately stopped shouting at each other, leaving the room in an uneasy silence. Looking them over, Percy almost sighed. There was so much tension between those two that he could probably cut it with a baseball bat.
"I don't know how you didn't notice, but my friend isn't doing so hot right now," he said. "What's the deal with the air around here? Hell, what's the deal with this town? I've never gotten mobbed by a bunch of faceless freaks before."
His hosts eyed him warily. "You were out there without a mask," Neil stated. "What's your deal? How are you completely fine right now?"
Percy rolled his eyes. "I'm just cool like that. Not important right now. Tell me what's going on in this town and why Grover got knocked out by pollution."
Neil and Beatrice looked at each other, their expressions wary. They finally relented when Percy started tapping his foot as loud as he could.
The big-nosed woman glanced at the sleeping Grover, her eyes taking on a hint of pity. "I'm sure you noticed all the factories around here. Well, they aren't exactly normal."
The psychokinetic frowned. "What do you mean?"
"They produce magic," Neil answered. "At least, the smoke that comes out of them is made up of magic. It's the byproduct of a powerful spell." He cringed in distaste. "It's been happening for a long while, so you can imagine how much of that stuff has polluted the air."
Beatrice nodded. "Your friend is probably suffering from overexposure. It happens when you breathe in too much of that nasty stuff." She pointed to the gas masks. "It's why we wear those whenever we have to go out."
Percy hummed. "That explains why those things out there aren't passing out in the middle of the street. They can't smell that funky stuff even if they wanted to." Cracking a smile, the demigod let himself feel relieved. "Alright then, that doesn't sound too bad. So, when can I expect him to wake up?"
...
Raising an eyebrow, Percy regarded the two in front of him. "Uh, guys? When's Grover waking up?"
Neil chuckled uncertainly. "Yeah... About that..."
"He's not," Beatrice said.
Just like that, Percy's brief moment of respite was over. "Wha? What the hell is that supposed to mean!?"
"It is magic," the woman told him, as if he should know already. "You can never really tell with something like this. One thing's for sure though, it's never that easy."
Neil nodded, looking at Percy with a strange guilt. "The only thing that can help him now is some sort of antidote, but we don't know how to make something like that. We don't even know what this spell is supposed to do."
"Isn't it obvious!?" Percy shouted. "It's supposed to piss me off! And it's doing a pretty good job of that!"
"That's just it," Beatrice said, her face deadpan. 'This kid needs to calm down,' she thought. "This spell, whatever it is, it isn't working. The person trying to cast it hasn't figured it out yet."
"She's been trying for years, though, so I guess you've got to admire her perseverance," Neil grumbled. Beatrice shot him a sideways look, seemingly displeased at what he said.
Percy huffed, crossing his arms. "Who is it? I'm gonna go beat her up, have her make Grover an antidote, and then beat her up some more for ruining my day."
His hosts shifted uncomfortably. "It isn't that simple..." Neil said.
Beatrice looked down at the ground. "She's not just some random sorceress. She's a... goddess."
Percy almost flinched at the way she spit out the word, but the moment she did he was also able to connect the dots. "Grover said something about Psyche. That would explain the faceless, though not why there're so damn many of them."
"She's always been a spoiled bitch," Beatrice growled to herself, rather loudly.
The psychokinetic didn't know what to say to that, but Neil completely ignored Beatrice and turned to face him. "That's the one. This all started when we met her that day."
"That day?" Percy asked, somewhat annoyed. "Dude, spit it out already. I wanna know why she's doing all of this to decide how hard I'm gonna kick her."
Beatrice snorted. "You think you stand a chance against a goddess? A runt like you?"
"Hey, I'm the strongest person in this room," the demigod responded. "Sure, I might not be able to do too much against an Olympian, but she's just a minor goddess, right? And I'm like a hundred times better than I was a few months ago. I'll figure something out." He looked at Grover out of the corner of his eye. 'Not like I have much of a choice...'
Neil sighed. He could already tell that there would be no stopping the kid in front of him. "Listen up, then," he said.
When he was sure that he had Percy's full attention, he began. "A dozen or so years ago, when I was a stupid kid like you, I fell in love with her," he pointed at Beatrice rather unceremoniously, to which she just huffed. "We were pretty happy for a while, I guess, but then I met her." His eyes glazed over for a moment, as if remembering the exact moment he was talking about. "She was the most beautiful girl I've ever met. Still is, actually." He and Percy both pretended they didn't notice the very audible teeth grinding that came from his side. "Psyche tried to seduce me, and it almost worked, but then..."
Neil trailed off, looking unsure, and Beatrice clicked her tongue. "He rejected her for me," she told Percy, who almost fell of his seat at hearing that. "She didn't like that very much."
The psychokinetic's eyes went back and forth between the two. 'But they look like they wanna rip each other's heads off!' he thought, completely dumbfounded.
After a bit of hesitation, Neil nodded. "I said I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. Psyche got really angry when she heard me say that." He smiled ruefully. "Then she granted my wish."
Seeing Percy's befuddled reaction, Beatrice elaborated. "Psyche's the goddess of the soul, so it was easy enough for her to literally make us inseparable. Now our souls are so closely intertwined that if we try to take more than a dozen steps away from each other, we'll start dying." She shuddered. "That was about a decade ago."
Now their attitude made more sense. 'I probably wouldn't like anyone that much if I had to spend every second of every day with them either,' Percy thought.
"We've been trying to figure out how to counter her curse for years," Neil said. "Apparently, it's something that can only be undone by Psyche herself, but I don't think she'll be very helpful in that regard."
Percy stood up, having heard everything he wanted to hear. "If she doesn't wanna reverse the curse, then we'll just have to make her, won't we?" When the resentful couple didn't move from their seats, he gave them a pleading look. "Hey, you guys have to help me out! Psyche's the only one who can make a cure for Grover, and she's also the only one who can fix your souls, right? Let's go!"
"You want us to go with you to fight a goddess?" Beatrice asked. When Percy grinned at her, she sighed. "Do you realize how crazy you sound right now? Even if you're as good as you say you are, we aren't."
Percy pouted. "C'mon, don't you wanna get back at her at least a little?" Neither Neil nor Beatrice showed any obvious reaction, but the demigod noticed how tense they became. "Hey, it's either sit around here with each other forever or go out there and try to get your lives back. How is this even a choice?"
Reluctantly, Neil stood up. "I guess it's not, is it?" He looked down to Beatrice, who didn't look like she was going to move an inch. "He's got a point, it's time we confronted her. Plus, I know you want to go slap her silly."
Bitting her lip, Beatrice grunted and stood as well. "At least I'll die knowing that my hand left a mark on her cheek."
Percy pumped his fist, already walking towards the front door. "That's the spirit!"
"- and that was just last week! Could you be any lazier, you bum!?"
"Not this again! You're starting to sound exactly like your mother!"
"Don't bring my mother into this! It's not her fault you can't ever get a job!"
"I can't get a job because I'll die without you there!"
"Oh, so it's my fault now, huh!?"
"Why you large nosed-"
"Don't you dare finish that sentence!"
Percy tried covering his ears, but it wasn't helping at all. Neil and Beatrice had gotten into another fight the moment they had walked out of their house and started heading to Psyche's main factory, where the goddess herself could be found. After half an hour of it, Connor's excuses for not having a girlfriend made a whole lot more sense. It certainly looked like more trouble than it was worth.
"Do you know how mad they are at me for not being married yet!?"
"You're the one who didn't want to get married!"
"Yeah, to you!"
Like a lightbulb turning on in his head, Percy got an idea. Slowly, the sound of their shouting began to tune out before it got muted all together, along with the ambient noises of the city. The demigod smiled, closing his eyes in relief. He might not have been able to hear anything, but complete silence was better than the alternative. 'I love my powers... I love them so much...'
And that's how things went for a long while, the soul-bonded couple lashing out at each other while Percy marveled at the wonders of a world without sound. That is, until the three were stopped cold on their tracks by an explosion of gold dust just centimeters in front of them.
It took a long moment for them to get over their surprise, and even longer to realize that they were getting dive bombed by faceless who apparently considered their own lives worth sacrificing if it meant taking out the intruders to their city. Percy and his grouchy companions took shelter under one of the many overhangs on the sidewalks, and while that protected them from any more raining monsters, it didn't do much to deter the masses of Psyche's attendants stumbling towards them.
Percy reached into his pocket and looked back at Neil and Beatrice, both of whom didn't look very confident at their chances for survival.
"When I give you the signal, you guys run, okay?"
Beatrice set her worried gaze on him. "What's the signal?"
Instead of answering, Percy threw out his hand, releasing several small, black balls that looked to be about as big as his fingernails. The moment the first of them smacked against the head of a faceless, the psychokinetic's eyes took on a sharp concentration, and the balls exploded, wiping out a vast majority of the humanoid beasts. The force of the blast was so great that even those who weren't directly hit by it were knocked down, including Neil and Beatrice, who's desperation had quickly turned into shock.
"That's the signal!"
Without another word, Percy dashed forward, running past the clouds of golden dust that had yet to settle onto the ground. Neil and Beatrice, though still quite shaken, managed to get back on their feet and follow him.
"What was that!?" Beatrice asked as the group went into an alley.
"Hyper-concentrated gunpowder pellets ignited post-deployment by yours truly," Percy told her, smiling so wide that it threatened to split his face. It had been one of the greatest moments in his life when Malcolm proposed the idea, on the foundation that he could use his powers to rub two particles together and produce enough heat and energy to blow things up. Getting the required materials had been hard, and convincing Beckendorf to make a ton of them had been even harder, but all the effort was worth it when he used his first one.
"How... Why... Where..."
"You're kinda nosy, you know that?" he asked her. The accidental pun was not lost on anyone, and Percy paled at the sight of Beatrice's flushed face. "I mean, you're kinda noisy! Y'know, 'cause you argue a lot... Heh heh... Don't kill me."
However, before her righteous female fury could be unleashed, Neil threw an arm around Percy's shoulders. "He didn't mean it like that!" he exclaimed, forcing an easy-going grin. "It's just that you ask a lot of questions, am I right, Perce?"
Percy was quick to accept the help. "Yeah! You totally ask too many questions, Beatrice!"
The woman huffed and continued the trek to Psyche's factory, forcing Neil and, through relation, Percy to follow after her.
"Thanks for the save," Percy whispered. "I'm way too young to die."
"No problem," Neil said. "It's not like she would've actually hurt you, though. She isn't too into violence."
That made Percy hesitate. "Is that gonna be a problem? I mean, she knows what we're getting into, right?"
"Oh, don't you worry about it," the man told him, a wry smile barely showing. "She's been repressing her hatred of Psyche for years now. Her morals aren't that strong."
Percy have him a strange look. "You sure know a lot about her, huh?"
At that, Neil refused to look down on him any longer, instead setting a glare onwards. "You learn a lot about a person when you're stuck with them twenty-four seven. Some of it can be good, but knowing everything about someone ruins them in your eyes. It did for me."
Percy frowned. "I don't know about that. If I was gonna spend the rest of my life with someone, then I'd rather know everything instead of having them hide stuff from me. Even if it is bad, couldn't I just get over it? Maybe I can even start to like it."
Snorting, Neil patted him on the head. "You're just too young to understand, kid. Believe me, there's no way I could ever even start to tolerate all of Bea's faults," he told him, walking on ahead to catch up with Beatrice, who had picked up the pace.
With a scowl, Percy blew a strand of hair out of his eyes. "I bet he hasn't even tried... Probably too busy arguing with her that he doesn't think of just not arguing with her..."
Shaking his head, the demigod followed after the unfortunately inseparable couple, wanting nothing more than to be done with the whole mess all together.
"So... How're we getting inside?"
Beatrice's question brought forth a shrug from her reluctant partner, and a curious glance from the young demigod accompanying them. After hiking across the city, the three were finally at the entrance of Psyche's main factory, but it seemed that the iron-tight door in front of them was enough to halt their progress.
Stepping forward, Percy placed his knuckles against the hard surface. "Well, why don't we knock?"
Neil. And Beatrice both deadpanned. "Percy," the man began, "I find it hard to believe that they would actually open the door for us."
The psychokinetic smirked. "Who said anything about them letting us in?"
Knock.
Knock.
BOOM!
Their jaws hanging open, Neil and Beatrice watched as the previously impenetrable barrier was thrown off its hinges from Percy's punch, sliding several feet inside before stopping with a grating, metallic screech.
The factory was huge, filled to the brim with supply lines and raised platforms with railings. An uncountable amount of faceless worked in tandem, passing around glass bottles containing a strange greenish, blueish fluid and adding ingredients to it every once in a while. Above, large metal cauldrons that could fit several people were being moved to and fro by a rail system, with the containers spilling the same weird liquid into each other. Finally, on the far side of the factory, Psyche herself was observing the entire operation from her spot on a platform, marching back and forth while every once in a while shouting out orders at her workers.
Seeing her, Percy could see that she was definitely tired, which left him somewhat befuddled, as he hadn't thought that gods could ever exhaust themselves. She wore a muddled purple suit filled with stains and wrinkles, her disheveled blonde hair was done up in a bun that only barely hid the extent of its disorder, her gleaming orange eyes were bloodshot and surrounded by dark rings, and her skin was dangerously pale, to the point that Percy found himself wondering if she, a goddess, had actually come down with some sort of disease. It was enough of a statement that she hadn't noticed their entrance, considering that it was loud enough to nearly echo throughout the factory, though that might've been attributed to the eardrum-annihilating noise inside.
He was about to comment on their target, but the smell of the place hit him full force. A moment later, he paused, looking around in confusion. "Huh..."
"Wh-What is it?" Neil asked, deciding that the kid before him was so full of surprises that there was no point in even questioning what had just happened.
Percy sniffed, raising his nose in the air. "There's none of that poisonous leftover magic stuff in here. You'd think that it would be even worse than outside, but I can't smell even a little bit."
"Really?" Beatrice asked, hesitantly removing her gas mask along with Neil. After taking a tentative breath of the clean air, she blinked. "I wasn't expecting that at all. Why do you think that this factory is apparently the healthiest place in the city?"
Neil rubbed his chin. "Well, obviously it would be a bad idea if the people who made that weird potion got assaulted with its poisonous gasses, but faceless can't smell anything anyway, which means..."
Percy gave a grunt in agreement. "They're filtering out all the funky gasses outside so that Psyche doesn't get affected by it. She's vulnerable to her own magic."
Neil nodded, taking a moment to look around the factory, especially at the large containers moving about above them. He then followed the guiding rail all the way to a spot right on top of where Psyche was, his thoughtful scowl turning into a pleased grin. "That gives me an idea," he told his companions, who perked up at hearing that he had a plan. "It's a little risky, especially for you, kid, but if everything goes the way I think it should then we've got this in the bag." He looked down at Percy, who had become visibly excited at the word 'risky'. "How good are you of a distraction?"
The demigod smiled widely. "I can take up so much of your attention that you'll forget to breathe!"
Psyche glowered at two of her attendants, one of which was holding out a potion to her. She took it, popped open the bottle, and sniffed. After careful consideration, the goddess growled and threw the potion down at one of the faceless grunts working the supply lines, killing it the moment the glass container exploded on its head.
She turned back to the two Faceless who had brought her the incomplete potion, both of which took a step back, knowing she was angry without having to see it. "It needs more hydra scales, you dimwits! I thought I already told you that!" she screamed. After having been served by the faceless for hundreds of years, she already knew that they couldn't actually hear what she was saying, what with them having no ears. It still felt good to scream at someone though.
Regardless of whether or not they could hear her frustrations, all the faceless in the factory began adding hydra scales to the unfinished drink, her orders being instinctively transmitted to them.
Seeing this, Psyche managed to calm herself down a little, holding her hands together behind her back as she watched over the accumulation of a decade's worth of work. "Soon, it'll finally be done," she whispered to herself, having acquired the habit after years without any conversation or interaction with intelligent beings. "I'm so close, I can feel it. Wait for me... Just a little more."
Without any warning, an entire section of her factory exploded and collapsed in on itself. From the now destroyed area, a small boy dashed through the faceless below, slicing and dicing his way towards her. Psyche barely reacted when Percy appeared in front of her, standing boldly on the metal railing.
"Why are you here? Do you want to die?" she asked him, not even getting into a ready position.
Percy twirled his sword in his hand, not being able to hold back the slightly manic grin that formed on his face. He said it before, and he'll say it again, explosions were fun. "You replaced all of this city's citizens with freaks, destroyed its ecosystem, ruined a loving relationship, and then indirectly risked my friend's life. You should ask me why I shouldn't be here."
Psyche sighed, looking more annoyed than mad about the fact that a chunk of her factory was now a smoking pile of rubble. "That was all inadvertent." She shrugged uncaringly. "As long as I fulfill my goal, nothing else matters."
The demigod before her furrowed his brow. "Okay, now you're just starting to sound like a usual run of the mill villain. 'As long as I fulfill my goal, nothing else matters'," he said, mimicking her in a high pitched voice. He then grimaced, what he had just said tasting like ash in his mouth. "So boring. Can't I get an interesting bad guy, or do those only show up for end of the world situations?"
The goddess of the soul was unperturbed by his nearly instant dismissal of her motivations. "I guess I can't expect a kid like you to understand."
That got rid of all humor in Percy's expression, and he rounded on her with a special glare that he used only on those who underestimated him. So, basically everyone. "That's it! You're done, Psyche!"
Percy ran at her, Riptide held high in preparation, but had to dodge out of the way of a grey-colored spell released from Psyche's hand. 'What is that?' he asked himself, having never seen such magic before. Until then, all he'd experienced was demigod powers and advanced technology, and the power that he avoided was different from all of those things.
He was so caught up in it that he didn't even see the follow up spell that caught him in the chest. The moment it hit him, Percy dropped to the ground, clutching at his chest and gagging on empty air. It didn't exactly hurt, but the impact left him devastated. It felt like he just lost something extremely important, but the memory of it was just out of reach.
"Idiot," Psyche remarked, looking down at his kneeling form with cold eyes. "Whatever you're trying to do, I recommend that you stop. Fighting me is way too dangerous for mortals like you."
With great effort, Percy glared up at her. "What did you do to me?"
The goddess put a hand on her hip. "I destroyed a part of your soul. If you're lucky, it wasn't permanent, but I can't tell you for sure. My magic is fickle, you see."
Percy tightened his grip on Riptide. He instinctually knew she wasn't lying, because there was definitely something missing. A part of him was completely gone.
He resolved to not get hit by one of those things again.
Forcing a smirk, the demigod got back on his feet. "Heh, I guess that I shouldn't mess around with you." He ignored the irritating burn inside him, knowing that it was just his soul trying to grow back whatever it had lost. "This is gonna be fun! I haven't gotten serious against anybody for a long time, y'know. Now I can finally stretch my legs a bit."
Psyche had a minute frown on her face, one that could barely be made out. If the demigod wasn't scared, and from the looks of things was actually excited about facing her, then she would have to apply some effort.
"This is all so troublesome," she said, sighing as the boy before her got ready to charge. "I hate having to get my hands dirty, but I suppose I'll have to kill you."
Neil and Beatrice ran side by side to a control panel just at the edge of one of the raised platforms. When they got there, Neil pushed the faceless operating it over the railings, where it fell and died.
"Remember the plan," he told his partner when she got in front of the panel, already reaching out for the switches and buttons. "Make sure to get that hunk of metal on top of her while Percy makes sure she doesn't see it. I'll watch your back."
"You just explained what to do a minute ago, Neil. I'm not stupid."
He almost lashed out with a snide response of his own, but held himself back. Percy's words still held strong, almost irritatingly so, and it was not the time. Instead, Neil broke off a metal bar from a rusty part of the railing and got ready to push back the faceless that were already shuffling their way towards them.
Beatrice gingerly handled the joystick on the control panel, her eyes on the big cauldron full of Psyche's potion that was slowly being moved to its required place. She heard the sounds of fighting behind her, the crunching of metal meeting flesh and the following poof of a deceased monster, but didn't let that distract her from her task.
However, she spared a look back when the sound of Neil's startled gasp reached her ears. The man was being pulled at from all sides, his makeshift weapon lying on the floor far out of his reach. Even worse, he was getting dragged further away from her every second.
The effects of their slow separation didn't take long to make themselves present. Beatrice could feel her life being sucked out of her, the crushing weight of her imminent demise almost too much to bear.
Looking back at the cauldron, her eyes widened when she saw that it was already in position. Psyche was still fighting Percy. All she needed to do was press a button and the poisonous liquid would splash down on the one person who ruined her life. Suddenly, her eyes took a glint of mad fury. Years of having a leash limit what she could do and where she could go flashed through her mind. The slow alienation of her friends and family, the eventual departure from society, the closing of all options for her future, everything. Beatrice reached for the release button.
"Gah!"
And then, without even consciously meaning to, she pulled back. Beatrice reached down to pick up the metal bar that Neil had dropped and ran to the jumbled mess of faceless all vying to rip the man to shreds. She then unleashed all the ravenous, animalistic anger she had channeled on them, covering all of both herself and Neil in golden dust. When she was done, she held down a hand to help her partner back up, a gesture that he gratefully took advantage of.
"Thanks," he said, looking a bit put off. "You were... really intense."
Beatrice shrugged, not meeting his eyes. "I freaked out okay? You were getting too far away from me. I don't want you to..." She stopped herself, not wanting to admit that she had actually been worried about him. Even then, it was only for half a second. Really. "I... didn't want to die."
He seemed to accept that, if only because it was at that moment that he noticed that the potion container was ready. "Oh, you did it. Alright, let's end this once and for all."
The two walked over to the control panel and stopped, taking a few moments to appreciate their revenge. Neil looked down at her, nudging her shoulder. "You just saved my ass, so you do the honors."
Beatrice nodded and reached out her hand, her finger hovering over the button that would end it all. "What about Percy? He could get doused by it too."
Neil shook his head. "Don't worry, he can get away fast enough to not get hit. Just go!"
Her worries abated, she pressed the button...
... and nothing happened.
Confused, Beatrice pressed the button again, only to get the same result. Absolutely nothing. "Why isn't it working!?"
Neil took a closer look at the control panel, then cursed. "Damn it, it's out of electricity! Percy blew out the power lines when he made that big explosion, and this thing must've just ran out!"
"What do we do now? There's got to be another one of these somewhere, right?"
Her partner glanced around the factory, and not even a minute later he found another control panel. "Over there!" He pointed at it, nestled much closer to the fight between Percy and Psyche. "It's on the other end of the factory, though. I don't know if we can go through all the faceless to get to it."
Beatrice scowled. Looking up, she saw something that gave her an idea. "Neil, up there." She pointed out the platform above them, specifically the spaced supports underneath it. "Couldn't we use those to get over there without having to go through those blank-faced creeps?"
He considered the thought for a second, but then grunted. "They're too far apart. Neither of us has enough reach to get between one and the other."
She was disheartened at hearing that. "What now, then? We can't just give up."
Neil glanced at her, sharing her sentiments. There had to be something they could do. They'd done well enough so far, granted with a bit of teamwork, but still-
Hold on...
"Bea," he said. "I have an idea, but we're gonna have to work together on this."
She looked up at him,meager to hear what he had to say. "What is it?"
"Give me your hand."
"Wha? Neil, what the-"
"Just... Give me your hand."
Hesitantly, she did so, and he gripped her hand with his. He then grabbed one of the supports above them with the other. "Like this, we can get across."
Now understanding, Beatrice nodded. "Okay, let's go."
'This is getting annoying,' Percy thought as he jumped out of the way of another spell. Psyche's dexterity with her casting was a whole lot better than he'd previously thought, and she had been keeping him from making any real attack right from the beginning. Anytime he tried to get in close, she would just fire off spell after spell until he would be forced to get back or risk getting hit.
After barely rolling out of the way of another supernatural projectile, Percy decided it was time to come up with a plan. To do that, though, he'd need some time to think. With that in mind, the demigod placed both hands down on the metal surface of the floor.
Almost immediately after, a portion of the floor rolled up in front of him, creating a wall. 'Okay, how am I gonna get around her? I need to catch her off guard somehow.'
Before he could think of something more concrete, a grey mass of magic somehow phased through his wall. He was so surprised that he nearly got a face-full of soul destroying energy, but luckily his reflexes were just good enough to warn him.
He then heard Psyche's almost condescending voice. "Stupid kid, my magic can't be stopped by a physical barrier."
Grunting, the psychokinetic got out from behind his useless wall. 'What the hell is that stuff even made out of?' he thought, dodging another spell that had immediately shot at him the moment he got back in his opponent's view. 'It felt solid enough when I got hit by one, but a solid can't pass through another solid like that.'
He was really curious now. Usually, he'd have to read extensively about an element if he wanted to control it with his powers, because they didn't work properly unless he understood what it was that he wanted to control. However, the magic that Psyche used was unlike practically everything else he'd ever seen. If he managed to get some comprehension of it, he could find a way to counter it.
Percy grimaced, now knowing what he had to do. There were no books about soul magic, not that he would have the chance to read in the middle of a fight, so the only way to gain even a little knowledge on it would be through more hazardous means.
So, when Psyche shot another spell at him, he didn't dodge. Instead, the raven-haired demigod stood his ground and caught it with his hand. The spell dissipated the moment it touched his palm, and Percy felt a part of his soul breaking apart once more.
Psyche shook her head, seemingly amused. "You thought you could catch my magic? From your face, I can see that it wasn't worth it."
Percy tried shaking it off, the feeling of absolute grief that came when losing a part of himself almost bringing him to his knees. Something else then wormed its way into his mind, and it made him smile despite the shock that the attack gave him.
The goddess scoffed at him. "Smiling in the face of death? Well, if you're asking for it." That said, she fired another spell at him, one that she was sure would break enough of his soul to send him to the Underworld.
And then, with widened eyes and disbelief on her face, she watched as Percy sliced right through it with his sword.
Seeing her awe, Percy smirked. "Your magic is really weird, you know that? The atoms that make it up are so slippery that they can slide through the atoms of other substances, but so connected that they don't break apart until they reach someone's soul for some reason. I wonder... Is the soul made out of the same thing?"
Now was the time to strike, if her clear amazement was anything to go by. Percy shot off like a rocket, ready to land his first hit in the entire battle.
And then, all of a sudden, he flinched. Inside, his soul had finally repaired a piece of itself that had previously been broken off by Psyche's spell. It made him hesitate, and that was enough for Psyche to get herself back together.
Before Percy knew what was happening, he was grabbed by the neck and lifted up. The demigod tried to raise his sword, but then Psyche did something to disastrous that he could do nothing but scream.
With a hand on his chest, Psyche began the slow process of forcefully taking his soul. A luminescent glow started to come out of his body, the goddesses hand dragging it out.
"I was hoping it wouldn't come to this, if only because of how much time it takes," she said casually, as if she wasn't literally sucking the life out of him. "You have a very interesting soul, though. It'll be fun to look at it more closely after I'm done here."
"You're not gonna be done!"
Raising an eyebrow, Psyche looked over to the source of the voice, only to see Neil and Beatrice behind one of the control panels on a platform just next to the one she was on.
She was so surprised by their presence there that she dropped Percy, his soul quickly going back where it belonged. "Neil, is that you?"
"That's right!" he said. "We're here so that you can finally break this curse!"
"Okay."
That stopped Neil from anything else he was going to say. Beatrice seemed just as shocked at her acceptance, and even Percy briefly ceased groaning in pain to look up at Psyche in disbelief.
"Wh-What did you say?"
"I said I'd do it," Psyche told him, sounding more eager in those four words than any others she'd spoken all day. "It's easy, Neil, just come to me."
When he didn't move, she smiled at him, almost reassuringly. "Just walk away from her, Neil. I'll protect your soul, don't worry."
Beatrice gasped. "Hey, wait just a minute!"
"You hate her, don't you, Neil?" Psyche asked. "Remember the day we met? You were so angry at her, and ever since then she's showed her true colors. Please, come here."
Neil looked back at Beatrice, who was paling rather quickly. He hated to admit it, but the offer was strangely tempting. He'd always wondered what his life would've been like if he'd chosen Psyche over Beatrice, and now the choice was presented to him once more. Objectively it was obvious that he should go with the beautiful goddess over the person he despised.
"Dumbass..."
The weak voice reached all of them, and everyone turned to see Percy, who still couldn't get up from his place on the metal floor. "Don't you dare... walk away..."
Psyche hissed. She wanted to walk over and kill him already, but that wouldn't do her any favors at the moment. "You shut up!"
Percy ignored her, looking right at Neil, who's indecision could be seen plain as day. "If you really hated each other... as much as you said you did... then you both would've just picked death over spending all this time together... You would've walked away and killed yourselves!" He struggled to at least lean on his elbows. "But you stayed there for each other instead! Doesn't that mean anything!?"
That made the decision clear. "You're right..." Neil said. He then glared at Psyche, who flinched when his angry eyes reached her. "And who the hell are you to say anything to me!? This all happened because of you!" The man looked down at his feet. "I can't believe I even thought about it." He looked at Beatrice, who appeared relieved and strangely happy. "Do it!"
She nodded and pressed the button. Psyche was confused, but when she heard the sounds of shifting metal above her, she looked up to see the giant cauldron about to pour her incomplete potion on her. She made to get out of the way, but found to her surprise that she couldn't move.
Psyche looked down and saw that her feet were being held by the metal floor, which had come up to cover them and prevent her from running. She set her wide eyes on Percy, who gave her a pained smirk.
"It's bath time."
Those incredibly infuriating words were the last thing she heard before getting doused with her potion.
Neil, Beatrice, and Percy loomed over her when she opened her eyes. Psyche tried to get up, but her body was too weak. Not for the first time did she cursed her inability to finish her creation.
"No. No! It can't end like this!"
Percy stepped forward, that insufferable smirk still on his face. "Too bad for you, huh? Now listen, I know that you probably won't feel like giving these two what they want after we beat you in such an awesome way, but you don't really have a choice in all of this."
She glared at him, making his smirk widen. "You see, I'm pretty sure that what you're doing in this town is against the rules. Driving out all the mortals, making some kind of twisted potion, wrecking the environment. I think someone normal would've noticed this eventually, and the Mist can only do so much. It would be terrible for you if the other gods found out about how you risked everything."
Psyche didn't want to admit it, but he was right. If this got out, she would be jailed somewhere for the rest of her eternal life. Defeated, she grudgingly reversed the curse on Neil and Beatrice.
They instantly felt the difference. Where before they were instinctually connected, now they could feel a sense of independence that had almost been forgotten.
"We... We did it. It's over!"
"Let's try it out!"
The two started walking away from each other, and when they didn't feel any loss of soul, they gave out cries of happiness.
Percy and Psyche were still in their previous spot, looking on as the once hateful couple celebrated their newfound freedom. 'The day saved, the hero prepares to walk away into the sunset, in search of more adventure,' the demigod narrated, nodding. However, his merry thoughts were interrupted by the quiet sobbing of the goddess beside him.
"Are you crying?" he asked her, greatly surprised. She didn't respond, and instead let the tears roll off her dirty cheeks. 'What should I do?' Percy asked himself. 'She's the bad guy, but I can't just stand here and let someone cry like that! What the hell is she even crying about!?'
"I suppose I should thank you."
Percy almost lost his balance at the sudden voice next to him. He looked up and was shocked to see the goddess of love looking on as Neil and Beatrice hugged each other.
"What the... Aphrodite!? What are you doing here!?"
She narrowed her eyes at him. "That's Lady Aphrodite to you, Jackson."
"Right..." He scratched the back of his head, just remembering that this particular goddess didn't like him very much. "Anyway, you said something about thanking me? How does all of this have anything to do with you?"
Psyche was apparently too depressed to notice the Olympian that had just appeared, and Neil and Beatrice were too happy. Either that, or Aphrodite was making herself invisible or something to that extent. "Tell me, do you know what was being made in the factories of this city?" she asked him.
Percy shrugged. "I dunno. Some kind of poison?"
Aphrodite shook her head. "Nothing like that." She leaned down to wipe some of the stuff off Psyche's shoulder, an action that wasn't noticed in the slightest by the weeping goddess. The Olympian then held it up in front of her face. "This is a love potion. At least, it would've been if it was complete. The reason it's so poisonous now is because it's unfinished."
Seeing Percy's questioning look, Aphrodite wiped the potion off her finger with her dress, which stayed spotless. "Many people have tried to find the secret to artificial love. Psyche wasn't the first, and she won't be the last, but she did get much closer that anyone ever has." She sounded a little impressed, but the clear disgust in her voice made it clear that she did not approve. "If she had actually done it, I can only imagine the trouble it would've given me. Just think of how others could use something like that."
The psychokinetic could see her point. If love potions were given to the world, there were quite a few things that could go wrong. There was still something that nagged him about the whole thing, though.
"Why did Psyche even want to make love potions?" he asked. "She should've known that it was a bad idea."
Aphrodite didn't answer him, instead smiling serenely at Neil and Beatrice, who were still too caught up in their celebration to notice anything. It was then that everything clicked.
"Woah, no way," he gasped. Percy glanced down at the crying goddess of the soul, then at Neil and Beatrice, and then back at Aphrodite. "She was still in love with him? Even after ten years?"
Aphrodite nodded, making him scratch his head. "That's... Huh." Percy sighed, giving up at trying to explain it to himself. "I don't get it. Not one bit."
"You're too young to understand," she said. The demigod stopped himself from making some sort of rash response. "You know, I consider love to be the most powerful of all emotions."
Percy snorted. "You don't say."
"Just think about it," she told him, ignoring the sarcasm. "An entire town ruined, and two lives nearly destroyed, all because of love. It can fuel some terrible things. But..." She smiled, and both her and Percy glanced at Neil and Beatrice. "It can also make some of our best memories. Love is truly confusing, wouldn't you say so? Even I can't fully comprehend it."
Percy didn't know what to say. That was probably as close to being sincere as Aphrodite would ever get to being with him.
"Don't get me wrong," she said, becoming slightly displeased, "this doesn't mean I forgive you for what you did on the Summer Solstice." Aphrodite then held out her hand, and gave him a flask full of orange liquid. "So, since I don't want to be indebted to you of all people, here's an antidote for your friend. Hope that we don't see each other again."
Percy grabbed the cure. "Uh..." he trailed off when he noticed that Aphrodite was no longer there. "... thanks."
Next to him, Psyche was also missing. It seemed the goddess of the soul had gotten herself black together, if only to make her departure. Sighing, the demigod got ready to interrupt the happy couple, ready to continue his and Grover's search.
"You guys actually want to stick around?"
Those were the words that marked Percy and Grover's departure from Smoketown, and the demigod thought they needed to be said. Who in their right mind would actually want to stay in such a terrible place?
Neil smiled, or at least Percy guessed he did. He couldn't really tell with the gas mask covering his face. "Yeah. This was actually a pretty standup place back before Psyche started this whole mess. We figure we might as well try getting it back on its feet somehow."
Beatrice patted Percy's head, making him growl a bit. He'd helped them beat back a goddess, and they still treated him like a kid? What did he have to do to get some respect? "We can't thank you enough, Percy, really. If it weren't for you, we'd still be stuck with that curse, and Psyche would still have complete control of the city."
Grover, who wore a gas mask as well, scratched his head. "Heh, sorry I kinda slept through the whole thing."
Neil waved him off. "Eh, don't worry about it. Everything turned out alright anyway, right?"
Percy gave the two a questioning look. "That's cool and all, but I would've thought that you two would go somewhere else. Preferably far away from each other."
The couple looked away, looking embarrassed. "Uh, yeah well," Neil gulped. "I guess you were right before. We never really tried to see past each other's... less than stellar qualities."
The woman beside him grabbed his arm, bowing her head. "We got so frustrated at being forced together that we took it out on each other since we were the closest people around. Now that we can make our own choices, well..."
The psychokinetic shook his head, still not understanding the whole thing. "Love really is confusing. I'm glad I don't have to deal with that stuff yet." Shrugging, Percy turned around. "C'mon, Grover, let's get outta here. We don't want Pan to wait around for too long, right?"
The satyr perked up. "Yeah!" He waved goodbye to Neil and Beatrice. "Good luck! I know that the nature spirits that used to live here would appreciate what you're trying to do!"
When he caught up to Percy, the demigod turned his head. "You guys better not start fighting again, you hear me!?" He grinned. "I'll come visit later, and I expect to see some babies!"
Neil and Beatrice blushed, jumping away from each other at hearing that.
"H-Hey, don't go saying things like that!"
"Yeah, wh-who do you think you are!?"
The last they saw of Percy was his shaking shoulders, the mischievous laughter ringing throughout the empty city.
AN:
Yo! I'm back with another chapter, finally. Sorry about the long break, but at least you can rest assured in the knowledge that I've basically mapped out how this story is gonna go for parts two and three, not to mention these in-between chapters.
I feel like I should warn you guys, the fighting will progressively get more and more over the top. Like, so much that by the final battle (and by that I mean the final final battle) even I can't accurately picture the sheer scale of the attacks getting thrown around. Just something to think about as the story moves forward.
Some of you might resent me for not updating in such a long time and then coming out with this seemingly unnecessary chapter, but bear with me, because I've got at least two more of these before part two. Don't worry! I'll make sure to be more consistent.
And it's not like this chapter was unnecessary. I feel like it's important to show just what Percy and Grover are up to for the next nine months before summer vacation starts again. Nine months is a pretty long time, you know.
So, what did you guys think? Especially about this chapter in particular, because it's the first one of the story that was made up completely by me with no influence from canon.
Next time, something that I've been meaning to do since December, which may give you an idea of what the next chapter is gonna be about.
