Chapter 16: Regicide
It was next to impossible for Annabeth to find the will to loosen her arms from around Thalia. That worked itself out because Thalia's embrace was just as unshakeable. The reunited pair sat on a log together sobbing into each other's arms. On the opposite side of the small campfire, Nico and Piper sat stifling small laughs. Their reactions were playful, though, considering the tears streaming from both of their eyes.
The reason they found it even a little bit funny was that they'd all reunited several hours ago; it was the dozenth time since they'd sat down that Thalia had wrapped her oldest friend into an iron hug. And each time, it would take several minutes before they'd detach themselves from each other.
Slowly, Thalia let go first, withdrawing her arms as she wiped her eyes and laughed softly.
"Sorry, sorry," she coughed, turning to the snickering duo across the campfire, "Piper, what were you saying?"
The daughter of Aphrodite cleared her throat as she wiped her own eyes.
"I-uh, I was talking about how we need to tell Reyna and everyone else from the–the Argo about what happened on Olympus."
Piper didn't meet Annabeth's gaze as she spoke, but she could feel it on her. In truth, the new huntress couldn't understand why her old friend was calmly listening to her talk, considering everything that Piper had been complicit in doing to her. Even after all of it, Annabeth had been the one to save her in the Parthenon; she'd been the determinant reason that the Olympians had won the war against Gaea on the Grecian front.
And now, in the corner of the rebellion camp that Piper had only recently learned about, Annabeth was alive. And she'd hugged Piper back when the daughter of Aphrodite had sobbed after seeing her again. How Annabeth had whispered to her that "it's okay," Piper genuinely would never get it.
The knot festering in her stomach unwound itself when a warm hand reached straight through fire and gripped hers, dragging the demigod out of her thoughts. Piper's head snapped to Annabeth to find her smiling softly at her. Nico and Thalia exclaimed at the sight of the demigod's arm enveloped in flames as she held it in place within the flickering campfire.
The daughter of Athena gave them a sideways glance as she raised her arm for a moment, revealing her white gauntlet and vambrace that'd materialized to protect her from any burns.
"It's even cooler than I thought," Nico whispered, remembering how the armor had melted off of the demigod the night before.
Annabeth returned her eyes to Piper.
"Thalia already told me everything. I know how horrible you felt after it all went down. I know you struggled so much during, too. You were stuck somewhere terrible, and you don't deserve the kind of weight that you've been carrying around this whole time." Annabeth paused for a moment. "I'm not going to pretend I've forgiven y–"
"You shouldn't," Piper cut in, her voice shaking.
"But, I need you to know that I don't hate you. I thought I did, but we've all gone through our own awful trials, and the thing is, we're going to be okay. I'm alive, P-Percy is alive." Annabeth's voice broke. "And he'll be here soon, too. I don't want you to let this keep eating at you the way it is now. The only way to go now is forward."
Tears trailed down Piper's face as she squeezed Annabeth's hand tightly and nodded.
"Thank you, Annabeth," she whispered before she saw the worry in the demigod's eyes, "Nico told me about Percy. The way he was in the throne room. How are you?"
Annabeth knew the weighing in her chest wasn't regarding Percy's physical state. Of course it had hurt to see him like that, but she had unshakable faith that he would find his way back to her. What had her more afraid than she'd like to admit was who, exactly, he'd be when he reached his destination. The ache in Annabeth's heart wasn't figurative as she thought about what Percy had had to go through in that hell, what he'd been forced to become to survive it.
The daughter of Athena realized a minute of silence had already passed since Piper had asked the question. Thalia squeezed Annabeth's shoulder and wiped a tear from her cheek that she hadn't realized had crawled its way out. As Annabeth opened her mouth to answer, a scream ripped across the campground followed by the piercing shatter of the mystical barrier meant to conceal their forested alcove.
The deafening thunder of thousands of charging feet rolled in alongside the screeches of the creatures they belonged to. In an instant, from all sides poured hordes of peacocks the size of compact cars. The colorful creatures screamed madly as they whipped their spread tails, the massive semicircles shooting feathers sharp enough that they cut through whole trees. Several demigods closest to the edges of camp stood no chance of escape as their screams silenced abruptly under bronze beaks and talons.
The four around the campfire bounded from their seats as their weapons appeared in their hands. Not wasting a moment, Thalia barked above the raucous screeching for the rest of the stunned demigods to group into formation.
"Full lethal!" Thalia shouted, and the dozens of demigods littering the campground shot towards the surrounding pallets.
Already-armed campers fought for their lives as they defended their companions that were shoveling through the weapons crates. Celestial Bronze spears and shields vanished from silos as quickly as the boxes were opened, all of the demigods mobilizing into formation after arming themselves. The groups filed into thin phalanxes as quickly as they could, shoving the kaleidoscopic, hulking creatures back with their shields while tearing them to golden dust with bristling spears.
Nico vanished into shadow as Piper and Thalia climbed into high trees and rained down unending streams of arrows. Explosions of golden grain began to cake each of the stout phalanxes trudging like turtles through the ambushing enemy. Massive fists of shadows erupted from the earth, shattering the avians against dirt or between the black knuckles conjured from the night itself.
The peacocks replenished from the surrounding forest as a ceaseless tide, and lightning began to hail down in sheets of blinding white, eviscerating the beautiful monsters by the dozens. The creatures seemed to shriek louder as they poured into the campground, hissing and biting each other as well as the demigods unlucky enough to shoulder themselves out of formation.
Thalia, conducting herself like a lightning rod, surveyed the campground from atop her lofty perch as her eyes emanated a bright white glow. While massive bolts of lightning refracted off of her, she tried to pinpoint where the sea of surrounding enemies seemed densest. A much more blinding glow beneath her seemed to accomplish the job first.
Annabeth, equipped in her full suit of armor, ripped through over a hundred peacocks in the blink of an eye as her vision narrowed towards where all of the monsters were pooling from. They crowded in most heavily from directly north, only fanning out to the whole campground from behind thin trees. Instantly, Annabeth understood that the hordes of creatures only seemed to be invading from all directions; their mistress wanted the demigods to believe they were surrounded by a ceaseless wave. Annabeth whipped her wings, rocketing skyward as her plumed appendages ripped a dozen peacocks in two, and she shot towards the culprit who she was certain was hidden in the forest.
"Where is she going?" Piper shouted to Thalia, her gaze sporadic as she followed the impossibly quick blinks of Annabeth's form tearing across camp.
"She found Hera," Thalia grimaced, certain that the Queen of the Gods was behind this attack.
Diving back beneath the treeline, Annabeth began to thin the herd that she'd have to allow to continue entering camp. The barrelling tide of mad creatures spun their heads and whipped razor projectiles in every direction in the hopes of striking their nearly invisible enemy. Their sharp feathers worked against them, ripping into each other as Annabeth ducked and slid and sidestepped each of the thousands of projectiles that moved in relative slow-motion to her.
Annabeth's sword split into her daggers, and she slashed in wide arcs on either side of her. The twin blades cleaved through the surrounding sea as Annabeth propelled herself forward with her wings. Golden dust framed a thick trail for the demigod as she charged through the monsters who'd begun to tear away from her. Slashing with her wings to extend her range, Annabeth caught the staggering lines of backpedaling peacocks, but she didn't avert her path from the growing aura she sensed further ahead.
The peacocks peeled far around her, straggling towards the campground where lightning still rained ceaselessly and entire avatars of shadows ground monsters under their massive boots. Annabeth allowed herself a moment of awe as she felt how much stronger her old friends had become. She quickly silenced the feeling and tore apart a particularly thick line of trees. Her sword sliced through the massive trunks like butter, and she shouldered straight through the falling arbor to find herself in her own clearing within the forest.
A dozen peacocks squawked as they materialized before her, and Annabeth cut them down in an instant. As the golden dust cleared, the glowing gaze of Annabeth's owl helm settled on the revealed Queen of Olympus. Hera breathed a shuddering sigh, her expression shifting to rage as it centered on the armored demigod.
"So, you were already there?!" she shouted as she tore forward with a blade in her hand.
The goddess' shimmering dress unleashed colorful sparks as she drew near, small explosions meant to bite at her opponents. Annabeth grimaced as one struck her armor, making her teeth chatter but otherwise leaving her unscathed. She raised her sword and blocked the strike of the curved peacock feather blade.
"I wasn't the target?" Annabeth shouted back, eyes wide, "You meant to attack just regular demigods?"
"Traitorous demigods!"
Hera shoved against Annabeth's weapon, but the demigod whipped her wings and overpowered the goddess. As the Queen of the Gods backpedaled, Annabeth bridged the gap in an instant and sliced a thin gash across her shoulder.
"Traitorous? You're killing kids after abandoning Olympus!"
The wound from Annabeth's primordial blade hummed as thin lines of silver spidered from it and traversed the goddess' shoulder. From behind her helm, the demigod could see a moment of serenity on Hera's face before the expression contorted back to anger.
"And your goal is to save Percy Jackson! A true murderer! A god killer!"
Hera spun as she slashed her weapon only for Annabeth to bound straight over her form. The demigod trucked into the goddess' back and flattened her against the ground. Pinning her down, Annabeth headbutted Hera's mouth as the Queen of the Gods fought to release herself from the demigod's iron grip.
"And how does he compare to the saint you married?" Annabeth hissed, anger clouding her mind, "It's one thing to rise against a god and win; that's power. It's another thing entirely to terrorize people much weaker than you. To use them as pawns. To sacrifice them when you deem necessary!"
But Annabeth thought back to what Nico had told her about Leo's interaction with Percy. The son of Poseidon had shoved his fist through Leo's chest even after Gaea had already been defeated. Where was the power in that? And at Camp Jupiter, even disregarding Jason, when Percy had tried to kill those innocent legionnaires just to bait Annabeth to come down and fight him. Weren't they also just sacrificial pawns?
Annabeth's grip must have loosened because Hera exploded upwards as she unleashed a wave of force, launching the demigod a dozen feet back. Annabeth shattered the tree that caught her, and she tore forward with a vengeance. Regardless of Percy's choices, Hera was the one killing demigods right in front of her. The screech of faraway peacocks met Annabeth's ears alongside more eruptions of lightning.
Back at the campground, multicolored explosions of gas billowed across the clearing and forced the formations of demigods and peacocks alike into coughing fits. Several of the pallets carrying gas canisters had erupted during the chaos of the sudden battleground, unleashing and mixing their contents. Demigods fell unconscious or stumbled to remain upright while peacocks dropped limp and others became more enraged.
Piper climbed higher up the tree as she continued her relentless rain of arrows, targeting the screeching birds going after demigods slumped against the dirt. Nico commanded a guard of spartoi and stood at the center of his own shadow avatar, wielding it as a suit of armor as he crushed the thrashing peacocks. Running like a blur, Thalia dragged sleeping demigods out of harm's way and deposited them in the corner of camp that Will Solace had staged as an infirmary. Clarisse stood guard, covered head to toe in golden dust and breathing heavily.
"Their numbers are thinning fast, but there's a storm coming in," Thalia warned as she dropped off another limp body, "We have to finish this now."
Clarisse nodded gruffly before roaring as she charged forward. The daughter of Ares bounded over a backpedaling phalanx, and she crashed into the advancing birds. At the same time, Thalia launched herself up a tree with impossible agility. Locking her legs around a thick branch, she raised her arms towards the heavens. A brutal tug in her gut shortly followed, and Thalia thrust her hands towards the earth below. The sky obeyed. A heaving bolt of lightning exploded against the huntress before countless tendrils shot from her extended fingers and spidered their way through the huge birds scattered around camp. Several dozen at a time, the peacocks incinerated into mounds of dust.
The sparse phalanxes of demigods shouted as they advanced on the remaining creatures, thrusting their spears from behind their shields and skewering any peacocks not smart enough to turn their tails. Sharp projectiles launched as the birds spun to run, digging into the nearing shields to cover their retreat. Clarisse shouted for the demigods to drop their shields, and they threw them to the ground before charging forward. Quickly, as the evening sky dimmed to black, the demigods cleared the rest of their campground of invading monsters and beat away the spewing clouds of gas.
Rain began to shower all at once, a thunderous downpour that washed the golden dust away while the demigods recovered the bodies of their companions. Thalia and Piper descended from their trees, quickly finding their way to each other.
"Are you alright?" they asked in unison, only to stifle their own small smiles and look away.
"Is Annabeth back yet?" Piper then asked after they checked each other over for any wounds.
"No, but she will be." Thalia steeled her nerves as she prayed to see white wings carrying her friend soon enough.
In the tiny clearing deep in the forest, Hera ducked beneath the glowing blade and slashed her own weapon against Annabeth's abdomen. The demigod's armor screeched as a thin cut appeared against it before groaning when Hera's lowered shoulder crashed into the breastplate. Annabeth stumbled back, catching herself on her wings, before she narrowed her eyes. Hera slashed forward as Annabeth split her sword into daggers, catching the goddess' blade against one and stabbing the other into her thigh.
Hera hissed as the blade exited her leg, and the wound hummed again. And again, her face fell to calm for a moment while the gash spidered, but it returned to rage the moment after. She teleported behind Annabeth only for the demigod to read the movement and already be slashing towards her rematerialized form. The Queen of the Gods barely deflected the blade that would have torn into her ribs, her eyes widening. In a fluid movement, Annabeth shoved her sword forward before somersaulting back, pistoning her leg into the goddess' stomach to force a dozen feet between them.
Ichor poured from Hera's wounds as she caught herself, and her breathing became labored. Her lip was still split, ruptured by Annabeth's helmet, and she spat out her godly blood before speaking.
"Your blade… it is fading me. I can feel myself returning to Chaos– returning home." The goddess' voice became shaky. "It feels peaceful."
Annabeth's sword dipped from her defensive stance. She'd noticed the serenity on the goddess' face after each slice of the primordial weapon into her skin. The blades of light must hold the same warmth as their original owners; even as a tool for death, its end purpose is peace. Hera wasn't someone Annabeth regarded as deserving of forgiveness, but a peaceful death was an acceptable compromise. The demigod steeled herself and didn't offer a response before she bounded forward.
Hera surged in tandem, slashing her blade in a wide arc towards Annabeth's midsection. The daughter of Athena had expected the attack, whipping her wings upward and forcing her into an instant slide. She slipped far beneath the sharp peacock blade and launched up within Hera's guard, stabbing ahead with her own sword.
The Queen of the Gods inhaled sharply and dropped her weapon. Looking down, she found Annabeth half-kneeling, her glowing white blade buried to the hilt in the goddess' stomach. The outline of the demigod's owl helm seemed to dim for a moment before it rekindled, and Annabeth straightened herself as she cleanly wrenched her blade from the crevice it'd created.
Stumbling through backwards steps, Hera's breathing shallowed as a dark storm rolled in and drenched the pair in sudden rain. Ichor washed from the goddess' face while her gaping wound hummed, forging more silver cracks over her form. Relief washed over Hera's face, and she held a small smile. The goddess opened her mouth.
"Ann–hugh!"
Hera's tranquil expression contorted to anguish as the tip of a black blade exited her chest. The weapon's wielder lifted her from the earth, and the goddess screamed as each of the silver cracks creeping across her form shifted to a burning orange. Her eyes held unbearable agony as her form began to flicker. All at once, the orange cracks ripped across her entire body and incinerated her, abruptly silencing the goddess' wailing cry.
The black sword dipped as Hera's body vanished, and Annabeth caught her breath when its wielder inched forward, one labored step at a time. Rain continued to pour endlessly in the otherwise silent clearing, and Percy's helm dematerialized at the same time as Annabeth's. Even through the ceaseless sheet of water between them, Annabeth could see the unbearable weariness in his eyes. His blade fell from his hands, and Annabeth's fell from hers.
"I promised I'd find my way back," he whispered, choking through his words.
"I promised I'd be waiting," she answered just as shakily.
Annabeth surged forward, and Percy fell against the earth as his consciousness failed him.
(Line Break)
Percy's head throbbed from the strain of simply trying to lift his eyelids. But eventually, they opened, and his world spun as it slowly came into focus. He was lying on his back in some sort of tent while surrounded by an absolutely unnecessary amount of black furniture. But the background of his setting mattered very little to him. Most importantly, his head was cradled in a lap that shared the same owner as the grey irises he found himself staring into.
Annabeth was looking down at him, tears streaming from her eyes, as her thumbs drew small circles on his cheeks. Percy felt a lump in his throat as he stared up at her, his entire body too tired to move. It had been beyond a treacherous climb out of that gravity well, and he didn't feel even close to somewhat recovered. For now, almost all he could do was speak.
"I'm not still dreaming, am I?" he whispered, dematerializing his gauntlets as he tried to reach up and touch Annabeth's face.
She smiled as she shook her head, grabbing his hands and carrying them most of the way.
"No, you're not." Annabeth pressed his palms against her cheeks. "We're both alive. We're both here."
"I missed you so much."
Annabeth bit back more tears listening to Percy's hoarse words. His eyes shone as they traced her face again and again, pausing at the way her lips curled when she smiled, the way her eyes creased in tandem.
"I missed you just the same."
Annabeth lowered her head to kiss him, and Percy inched upward to bridge the gap, but the pair paused simultaneously when Thalia and Nico kicked through the tent flaps. Nico stepped on his own foot as he and Percy met each other's gaze, and Thalia caught him with an extended arm.
Percy felt the warmth in his chest grow as his two cousins stood frozen inside the tent that he quickly put together was Nico's. In their recent dream, Annabeth had told Percy about how Nico and Thalia had established some sort of rebellion following their presumed deaths. After the treachery he and Annabeth had been through, Percy felt so grateful to know that there were still people who hadn't been complicit in their fates. Then Piper swept into the tent.
The warmth in Percy's chest erupted into an inferno, and an explosion of adrenaline seemed to return his weary body to his command. Palpable rage emanated from the demigod as he moved to shove upright, and all three of the tent's recent entrants scrambled backwards as his gauntlets reformed to complete his body armor. Annabeth's eyes widened in terror as malevolent aura poured from Percy in waves, but she reacted an instant later when he climbed from her lap.
"YOU–"
The building roar from Percy's mouth cut off as a glowing gloved hand wrapped itself over his face, and another arm coated in white armor latched around his torso. Annabeth shoved the demigod back to the earth, collapsing on top of him as she sobbed. Percy fought against her for a moment, but even his anger could only grant so much strength to his broken body. The demigod turned himself around though, whipping his head away from Annabeth's palm over his mouth, and came face to face with her. Through his own narrowed, searing eyes, all he saw was fear in her tearful ones. Percy's body fell slack as his chest tightened, all of his rage washed out by a tidal wave of regret.
Annabeth pinned him to the ground, and he made sure to not struggle for a moment longer. His eyes remained on her while she looked up at the trio that'd entered the tent. They'd stumbled back to the edges of it, none looking more abjectly horrified than Piper. The daughter of Athena looked at her somberly before she shook her head at all of them.
"Please leave. For now, please," she begged, and all three cleared out as quickly as they could.
When the tent flap returned to its rest, Annabeth slowly retracted her knee from Percy's abdomen. She shifted him, seating his nearly limp form upright against the room's central table.
"I'm sorry," Percy croaked, wheezing as Annabeth sat down across from him.
She wanted to tell him it was okay, but it wasn't. None of this was okay. None of it was right. The deep guilt etched across Percy's face told her that he knew the same. The pair of them had been through so much, and it would stay with them for the rest of their lives, however long those might be. Whether they died tomorrow or millenia from now, neither of them felt that this segment of their lives would ever be something that could be moved past. Percy swallowed the lump in his throat.
"You said we couldn't talk about this while I was still down there, but I'm here now. You don't have to keep it in anymore, Annabeth."
The demigod's voice held nothing but sorrow. His trembling hand reached forward and softly turned Annabeth's head back towards him, refocusing her glossy eyes that'd been lost against the tent walls. Behind her stormy gaze, she seemed to be wrestling with herself about her next words. Her worry culminated in a furrowed brow that, for all of the grief in the room, Percy felt his heart lurch towards. But his spark of ardor vanished when her voice relented alongside fresh tears staining her cheeks.
"I'm scared of you, Percy," she whispered, "Everything I've done since the day I lost you, it was because I thought it was what you would've wanted. Fighting the war in Greece. Going to Camp Jupiter to save Jason–"
Through no conscious decision of his own, in the form of gnashing teeth and narrowed eyes, Percy proved her point. The instinctive anger only died when his vision sharpened on Annabeth again, finding her choking through her endless tears.
"But this," she pointed at him halfheartedly, "This terrifies me. I ca– I can't– can't se–"
Percy closed his eyes as Annabeth's voice faded from his mind. He forced his focus on the piercing ring accompanying his spinning head. Annabeth may have still been speaking, but Percy would have had no idea. Slowly, his mind fought to stabilize as it leveled the cresting tide and eased the sharp jab in his ears. A sickening idea emblazoned itself at the forefront of his thoughts, and he spoke it aloud, silencing Annabeth.
"I'm not who you fell in love with," he said in a harrowed voice, "Something's broken inside me."
It was Annabeth's turn to have a sharp ring rip through her mind, but she silenced it in an instant. The demigod lurched towards him, shoving his legs apart and all but crawling until she was face to face with him. Cupping his head in her hands, she shook her head profusely as she wiped his cascading tears.
In that moment, she decided her fear didn't matter. They'd been through unbearable trials, but Percy had been trapped in hell itself. And still, he'd survived. He'd escaped. He'd done terrible things, but how could anyone have ever expected otherwise in that circumstance? And Annabeth was strong; she knew it, and so did everyone else. She could overcome her fear, and Percy could find himself again. She needed it to be true.
"No, no, no," Annabeth repeated, still shaking her head, "No. That'd never happen. I love you; that won't ever change. It's just–"
Percy mirrored her, shaking his head as he cupped her face. He steadied her before he kissed her softly, and Annabeth finally stilled. They each tasted the salt of their tears, not pulling away until their need to breathe forced them to.
"You're right to be scared," Percy said, quaking, "I'm scared too, and I wouldn't be able to live with myself if we just moved forward with the way we are now. With you hiding your fear, and me being the reason you're always feeling it."
A deep silence fell between them as they both closed their eyes. Annabeth pressed her forehead against Percy's, the pair sobbing soundlessly for what felt like a passing eternity. It was only when Annabeth's eyes began to burn as they emptied of anything left to release that she opened them. Percy followed suit a moment later.
"So what now?" she asked, her voice smaller than it'd ever been.
Before Percy could respond, Nico tore through the flaps of the tent with horror stricken on his face. The red-rimmed eyes of both Annabeth and Percy snapped towards him as his chest heaved,
"Olympus has been overrun."
A/N: I unfortunately have some bad news. I've got a lot of stuff going on between my job and some personal things, and I can feel myself moving towards a bit of a rut in terms of writing. One thing that I won't ever let happen is allow writing, especially for you guys, to feel like a chore because that'll affect the quality itself as well as my relationship with my favorite hobby. In "good" news, there isn't more than a handful of chapters left in this story, but I can't promise a weekly upload schedule without it affecting the story quality, so I won't. I can guarantee that I'll still finish this AND begin my next story because I actually am very excited to write it, but the time horizon is a little uncertain. I'm really sorry about it, but I thought I'd let you guys know. Regardless, I really hope you guys enjoyed this chapter.
levisorous: insane percy for the win for sure, i know ive mentioned it in previous reviews but damn do i love the way you write shit. it flows and just moves the story along beautifully. looking forward to the next chapter man
Really appreciate you man, hope this was up to par :) I decided to get more complex with insane Percy because I really want to give our poor couple at least a chance of having a happy ending. We'll just have to see what happens regarding these serious issues going forward.
guest: I'm loving this story, but I have to ask. Will you do another Pertemis story? Or even Perzoe?
Happy to hear that you're enjoying it! Honestly, I don't think I'll ever do another Pertemis story. Maybe it's a little self-serving to say, but I seriously love what I did with Divergent Path regarding their relationship, so I don't want to ever touch it again. If I decided to rewrite Divergent Path, then yes. Otherwise, no. As for Perzoe, yes. I'd love to give that a try, but that would be a lot further down the line. My next story after this one will be Perlia because I think it's not something I've seen done super well, so I want to give it a shot. But after that, I'd be very down to do Perzoe.
Dragon21356: Aye sorry on the slightly later than usual review, life kinda caught up to me and i had to answer it BUT MY GOODNESS WHAT A VIBE. This chapter was Tartarus' cruelty vs Percy's need to escape and i was drawn so deep into it. I love how you didn't take away from percy's characteristics now as a more bloodthirsty and vengeful individual (with the fights against the monsters) and tactfully weaved in his desperation to escape Hell itself. I simply cannot wait to see more use of the godly weapons, especially what you are going to concoct with Dionysus' staff and i can't wait to see what kind of antics Annabeth is up to as well. This week needs to end faster…HAHAH, hope you have been well and I too really appreciate the fact that I now have a new friend on this sitecheers to more!
Believe me, getting caught up with life feels very relatable right now haha. I hope I wasn't too heavy-handed on Percy being very different than who he is "supposed" to be, especially when he's angry. Decided to expand on that this chapter, and now we've gotta worry about how his shift is gonna affect his future with Annabeth. Fingers crossed in that department. Gonna have some fun with the godly weapons going forward heh. Maybe Percy won't be the only one wielding them...