Chapter 20
Disclaimer: I own Zero. Zip. Nada. I don't know how else to say it.
This chapter has been betaed by the wonderful Anon516.
The hunters, Artemis, and Sara had asked quite a few questions about how his little excursion had gone. He answered honestly. There was no reason to lie to any of them. A few of the hunters looked vaguely concerned. Artemis seemed to understand. Sara looked almost proud. She was seriously pleased that his first encounter like that had gone well for him. She didn't seem surprised though. He appreciated that. It told him that she trusted his judgment and his skill.
Dealing with the money was an interesting task. He researched several charities and found 50 strong contenders to donate to. He divided the cash into the right amounts and left each charity a stack of $20,000 on their front desks. He didn't give his name or a phone number, or any way for them to track him. Unfortunately, they would be able to give a description if they were asked by the FBI or any other agency. He was a rather distinctive person. Not many 6'7 mountains came through charities, donating $20,000 in cash. He knew that he would stand out in their minds. But there weren't really going to be any problems resulting from it. Not from what he could tell. Even if the FBI, or whatever other agency, identified him, he didn't really have a life on Earth. They couldn't imprison him. They wouldn't even be able to find him once his mission was over. Plain and simple.
Thalia was having a few problems though. Like she couldn't really believe that he had done what he did. It was understandable. After he gave the rundown of his mission, she hadn't asked for any other details. She probably didn't want to think about how her cousin was a mass murderer, no matter how justified it was. Fair enough.
A few days went by and they were getting pretty close to camp. He figured that they would only need one more day at their current pace, and they would be there. He had some pretty mixed feelings about it. On
the one hand, he wanted to see his friends. On the other hand, he really didn't want to see Jack. He also didn't want to be reminded of all of his good times at camp. Maybe he could convince his friends to spend their time at Camp Jupiter. He had some pretty fond memories there too, but not nearly as many. It would be more manageable. He wouldn't need to see Jack either. Win-Win.
During that week, the 'trial' with the Olympians had finally taken place. It was pretty much as he had expected. Barely even noteworthy. It was kind of fascinating for him to think about. He was in a meeting with 14 of the most powerful beings on Earth and he had been bored. His life had taken a very strange turn.
Athena had been borderline petrified of Sara, who had just smirked at the reaction. There were several glares at both of them, actually. Dionysus and Demeter were glaring at Percy with pure hatred, but a slight apprehension to temper it. Ares just looked confused. Percy could see the idiot's tiny brain forming their petty excuse for thoughts. It was pretty easy. He was practically narrating his thoughts out loud, unable to simply think to himself. He seemed like he was trying to decide if he wanted to blame Percy, or if something else had happened. He had been charging at Percy in the Throne Room and then he had been unconscious. Unbeknownst to him, it had been Aphrodite who had knocked him across the room with a blast of energy. He had neglected to mention that fact. She would probably get into trouble for it, and he didn't want that. For some reason, he liked her. There was something about the way she acted around him that told him there was more to her 'Ditzy girl' personality than she let on.
The vote itself had gone as expected. Percy and Sara had won the majority, so neither of them was going to prison. Not that they would have gone to prison regardless of the outcome of the vote, but they were staying free legally, which made it all the better. Zeus had looked like he was going to burst a vein in his forehead when he had counted the votes, but he was still bound by the word of the law. His own law, which amused Percy even more. Even if he tried to circumvent it, Percy or Sara would just kill him. Let him rot in Tartarus for a few decades or even
centuries. He had a feeling she would let him be the one to do it. It was the kind of nice thing she would do for him. A sweet gesture.
The pair of them had practically pranced out of the Throne Room. They might as well have held hands and skipped away together. Talk about adding insult to injury, eh Zeus? Upon being officially freed, they spent a few hours in New York, as Percy showed Sara around. She seemed to like the city well enough. She thought that the Statue of Liberty was pretty damn cool. But he didn't show her too many of the touristy spots. That would have been far too impersonal. He showed her some of the places he enjoyed when he had lived there. Of course, fast food was completely out of the question. Dear Gods, after his last experience with the burger, he vowed never again.
Once they had enjoyed as much time together as they dared, away from camp, they shadow traveled back. It was starting to get dark, and the hunters were just about to eat dinner. They joined them, and enjoyed a very quiet meal. At the end of the day, not much had changed about his relationship with the hunters since he had arrived. Thalia and he were still on pretty good terms. He and Artemis were able to be civil with each other. Phoebe despised him like he had murdered everyone she had ever loved. He still didn't know why. They had encountered a few other men on their journey toward Camp Half-Blood, mainly hunters, and she had been pretty cold toward them, but nothing like how she treated him. If he gave a shit about what she thought of him, he might have asked her why she had it in for him. Instead, he just quietly enjoyed it. There was something so satisfying about making her mad at him. He didn't encourage her, but he didn't exactly dissuade her.
Once the hunters were asleep that night, he left camp. He told Sara that he was going to the Library, which he was. He told her he wanted to learn a bit more about the Arabic language, which he did. He didn't tell her that he also wanted to do some research into his lineage. He wanted to know more about what made it so special for Chaos to believe that he would be the only person to ever reach her 6th blessing. It stood to reason that he hadn't found it in her library in her realm. But there might be something for him in the library in New York, which was one of the
largest in the world, and it was in the city where his mother had lived her entire life. Surely, if there was anything to find, it would be there. He didn't even need much. If he found anything whatsoever, just the tiniest thread, he would be able to pull on it until he unraveled the entire story. He just needed somewhere to start, really. If he found something, he would gladly tell Sara. If he didn't, then there was no point in telling her. Especially since she and Chaos were pretty close, and Chaos obviously didn't want him to know. He didn't want to put Sara in an uncomfortable position with her lifelong friend and mentor. That would be selfish of him.
He kissed her on the forehead, and shadow traveled into the city. It looked a lot like he expected. The city that never sleeps, truly never slept. It was roughly 2 a.m. and people were still up. There were few people out on the street, but everything was clearly open. One wouldn't have to listen hard to hear the music coming from the bars and clubs, which were still, no doubt, in full swing. There were countless lights on in apartments throughout the city, in every neighborhood. The entire city hummed with a certain energy. It was kind of indefinable. He adored it though. He had truly missed the city. He hadn't even realized how much until he had arrived back.
It didn't take him very long to find the library. He knew where it was, and had made sure to travel to an alley that was pretty close by. He walked the rest of the way. As he walked, he passed several shady characters. Most of them looked away as soon as he glanced at them. A few of the braver ones held his gaze for a few moments before they looked away. The stupider ones almost challenged him. They didn't take too long to reconsider.
As he walked into the building, he made his way to the elevator. There was someone in there already. A man, roughly 6'4 and heavily built. He could easily have been 250 pounds, and not a single pound was of fat. This dude was serious. And he probably would have been intimidating to most people. Percy wasn't exactly concerned, however. The guy was dressed… interestingly. There was a pair of open-toe sandals. A pair of khaki shorts, with roughly a dozen pockets. A pink polo shirt. And a bucket hat. A fucking bucket hat. The man looked like he had been
dressed by an alien. The outfit contrasted greatly with the man's size and physique. He looked pretty friendly though. Percy stepped onto the elevator, standing in front of the bucket-hat-wearing gentleman. The instant the doors closed, a little voice in the back of Percy's head started screaming.
"Danger! Danger! You're gonna die!!"
He ignored it. He had no logical reason to believe that he was in any kind of danger. The man behind him was big, and cartoonishly dressed, but posed no danger. He was harmless. He used his senses to scope out the rest of the building. There was nothing there that could be used to threaten him.
Just as he thought that, his head was slammed into the wall ahead of him, hard enough to dent the metal plating.
There was instant, excruciating pain. But there was confusion too. Like he knew he was in pain, but he just couldn't fathom why. His entire face burned. He knew immediately that his nose was broken. He was sure that a tooth or two were missing, and half a dozen were probably loosened. His forehead had taken a big part of the blow. Luckily, the forehead was one of the strongest points in the body, the skull forming a perfect arch, and the arch being nature's strongest structure. It still hurt like a motherfucker though. He felt his brain jarring inside of his skull.
As quickly as his head had been slammed forward, he was pulled back. He felt something slip around his throat. It wasn't a pair of hands. Far too thin. Possibly some kind of wire. In tandem with the wire around his throat cutting into his airway, he felt a knee pressed into the small of his back, pushing him forward, further into the wire. All things considered, he was in a pretty shitty situation.
He came to a startling realization. He was going to die. He was going to be killed in an elevator. He was going to be killed in an elevator, by a man wearing a bucket hat. A man wearing a fucking bucket hat. No. That was unacceptable. He refused to be killed by a man who looked like he
should be fishing in Florida in the 60s. It simply wasn't going to happen. He wasn't going to let it.
He took a moment to gather his thoughts. It was easier said than done, however, with a wire cutting off the air supply to his brain. He managed though. He managed to use his senses to paint a picture of what his eyes couldn't see. He painted a picture of the man in front of him. He mapped out all of the weakest spots. Everything that was especially vulnerable to attack. And he had a plan.
The man was standing slightly to Percy's left as he choked the life out of him. Bad decision. Percy brought his right arm across his torso. He stuck out 2 fingers like he was indicating the number two. Then he shoved his hands into the place he guessed the man's eyes to be. He made contact with 2 soft, squishy orbs.
The man screeched and the pressure around Percy's throat vanished. The hat guy went stumbling back, reaching his hands up to his face. Percy sagged forward, against the elevator wall where his face had been shoved. He saw the dent he had made. It was almost shaped like his face. Percy greedily inhaled oxygen. His throat was killing him. His face was exploding in agony.
He didn't allow himself much time. The fight still wasn't over. But it was about to be. Percy launched himself off of the wall he had been leaning on, and shoved his knee into the guy's stupid, bucket-hat-wearing face. He was delighted by the fantastic sound of the guy's nose breaking against his knee. There was a short burst of blood. Percy wasn't done. Immediately after the knee snapped the guy's head upward, Percy launched a brutal punch into the guy's solar plexus.
The solar plexus was one of Percy's favorite anatomical points. It was a little cluster of nerves right in the middle of the diaphragm, and it was awfully sensitive. If someone hit it just the right way, it totally shut down the body. All air was instantly blown out of the lungs. Most cognitive thoughts broke down. There was a stunned sensation. And it was excruciatingly painful. And Percy had hit it just the right way. But he still
wasn't done. The bastard had broken his nose, and shook his teeth out. He was going to suffer for that.
He came in with another hard punch to the chest. It wasn't designed to target any specific points, or do any debilitating damage. It was just meant to hurt. He felt at least 4 ribs break beneath his hand. Once the punch had been delivered, he went back in for one final blow. He landed an elbow straight into the side of the guy's head. The weakest part of the skull was called the Pterion. It was a few millimeters above the eyebrow, and just behind the ear. When Percy's elbow slammed into it, the unfashionable man was knocked unconscious instantly.
Once the fight was truly over, Percy sagged against the wall. He gave himself a few seconds to breathe. He felt like he hadn't taken a breath in a very long time. In reality, he knew it couldn't have been long. The elevator doors hadn't even opened yet. He was only going up to the 4th floor. At that very moment, the elevator doors opened with a pleasant ding. It was a good thing that there weren't many people intent on reading in the New York public library at 2 o'clock in the morning.
He reached down and grabbed the unconscious man by the collar of his pink polo and shadow travelled them both back to Artemis' camp. Once they were there, he started dragging him towards his tent. He was going to tie the guy up and force him to answer a few questions. He had the training to do so.
Sara came running out of the tent before he made it there. She looked a bit panicked. He realized that he was coughing profusely. He must have been making a lot of noise. Sara looked scarred as soon as she laid eyes on him. He could guess why. His face must have been pretty disfigured. His nose was broken, he had a few missing teeth, there was no doubt in his mind that he had two matching black eyes, and there was almost certainly a massive bruise on his forehead. Her eyes flitted down to the man he was dragging. Instantly, she looked 10 times more scared.
She crossed the distance between them faster than he could blink. He was mildly startled by that. There was a good 80 meters between them,
and he didn't even register that she had moved at all, until she was standing right next to him. He always forgot how fast she was when she wanted to be. He was reminded of how she had easily beaten the Goddess of wisdom into submission and confirmed his belief that she could kill the entire Olympian council at the same time. It vaguely registered in his mind that he was in a pseudo-relationship with one of the most dangerous beings in the universe. That had to be what she was.
She was closely examining his face as soon as she got there. Her lips pursed into a thin line when she saw his broken nose and his missing teeth, but they both knew that he would be mostly healed by the morning. He could hear her teeth grinding against each other as she saw the deep indent around his neck from the wire. Her jaw set and a fire lit behind her eyes. He knew it wasn't directed at him, and he was unbelievably grateful for that. If she wanted to kill him, nothing was stopping her. It was a good thing that she was on his side.
As soon as she saw that he wasn't about to drop dead, her attention turned to the man he had been dragging. The shift in her demeanor was instant. Whereas she had been tender and concerned when she was checking on him, she immediately switched to cold and furious when her eyes dropped. Whoever this guy was, she did not like him. He couldn't say he blamed her. He wasn't exactly overly fond of the guy, himself.
"What the fuck happened?" was her first question. He felt like it was a fair one.
"I got on the elevator and this dude was already there. As soon as the doors closed, he attacked me. As I think you can see, I took care of it."
She looked concerned.
"Did he say anything?"
"Not a word."
She bit her lip.
"Then we'll make him." They found some rope. Hardly a difficult task in the hunters' camp. They used the stuff for various things, so it was simple enough to get their hands on some. They tied the guy to the thickest tree trunk they could find. They were very liberal with their use of the rope. Clearly, whoever this guy was, he was pretty damn strong. Strong enough to shove Percy's face into a metal wall hard enough to dent it. The wall, not his face. Though, Percy didn't exactly walk away unscathed…
The tree they tied him to, was a decent distance away from the hunters' tent, where they were all fast asleep, but it wasn't far enough. As soon as he and Sara got started, this guy was going to be making a lot of noise. They were going to wake up the whole damn forest, the hunters were guaranteed a wake-up call. And what a wake-up call that was going to be; for Thalia in particular. She was going to have to see her cousin torture a man. But the man deserved it, and Percy wanted answers as to why he had almost been killed while trying to find a goddamn book. He had been known to be curious about things like that.
Once several rolls of rope were secured to every inch of the man, except his mouth, they just had to sit back and wait for him to wake up. Percy was sure that they were going to be waiting for a while. He had gotten him with a fantastic elbow to the Pterion. That motherfucker wasn't going to wake up anytime soon.
Percy was kind of right. He had been expecting 4-5 hours. In the end, it had been 3. He had been pretty close, but not close enough for his standards. The guy blinked his eyes open, and looked supremely disorientated. He took a moment to let his eyes wander around the camp. They settled on Percy for a moment. He could see the guy thinking.
"Wasn't I killing you?"
Once the guy's eyes left Percy, they found Sara and hardened. There was no more confusion. Just hatred. Pure, unfiltered, hatred. Percy felt some kind of internal need to beat the guy to a bloody pulp with his bare hands. He was pretty protective of those he loved. He had to be, after the alley. It was one thing to try to kill him, but even looking at Sara like that was a recipe for disaster. Of course, Sara was in no danger at all. If Percy had managed to beat the guy into unconsciousness, even after he'd been surprised from behind, then Sara could beat him to death without breaking a sweat. But he still felt the need to stand up for her. To defend her.
"Hello, Christian. You look unwell."
"Sara. Likewise."
Percy was slightly stunned, but he didn't dare show it on his face. That simply wouldn't do. But just because he didn't show it, didn't mean he didn't feel it. He knew that there must have been some kind of link between them, but he hadn't expected them to be on a first-name basis. It was clear that they loathed each other, but still.
"What exactly do you think you're doing, Christian?" Sara asked menacingly. He had never heard her voice sound like that before. He had always adored her voice. When he had first met her, he thought she could have read him the phone book and he would remain transfixed. That was still true. But apparently, she had a lot of control over it. Gone were the calming, soothing tones that felt like caramel dripping through his ears. They were replaced by a noise that promised nothing but pain and suffering. He had no doubt that she could make someone want to curl up in a ball and cry, merely by speaking to them. He worked hard to repress the shiver that crept down his spine.
"What does it look like? I thought you were supposed to be smart."
Percy wanted to wipe that snarl off his face. He held himself back though. Something told him that it would be best to take Sara's lead on this.
"Christian, I'm going to ask you again. If you don't tell me, I'm going to let my friend ask you. He's not going to be as pleasant as I am."
The man, Christian, apparently, scoffed at them both.
"Him? He's just a recruit. I know that for a fact. You must be losing your touch if you're leaving your dirty work to him."
"You must be losing your touch if you got your ass handed to you by a recruit," Percy cut in snarkily.
The man looked pissed and Sara was quietly pleased. He knew that she would never let that show in front of a captive prisoner, but he could sense it. He knew her well enough to know when she was happy and when she wasn't.
"I'm going to ask you one more time, Christian, "she continued as if nothing had happened, "What the hell are you playing at?"
The bound captive glared at her with hatred. A few moments went by before Sara took a small step back. It was a clear indication. She was telling Percy that it was his turn. He stepped forward, eager to inflict some more pain. But he had to be at least somewhat diplomatic.
From the limited interaction he'd had with the man, he was able to learn a fair deal. He knew that the guy had been a part of Chaos' army. That was clear from the bullshit he had spouted off about how Percy was just a recruit and how he knew that for a fact. It was obvious that he had a connection with Chaos' army. He also knew that he wasn't current. He seemed to despise Sara like nothing else, so she probably had something to do with him not being with him getting kicked out. He didn't need much else from the guy.
Percy took a breath and crouched down to bring himself level with the head of the man who had tried to kill him. He let out a deep sigh.
"This is an interesting situation we find ourselves in, isn't it, Christian? You don't mind if I call you Christian, do you?" Percy asked, as if beginning an interview rather than an interrogation.
Something he had learned from Sara herself, during the interrogation classes she taught. Interrogations worked better if the subject felt more at ease. At least, that was the case at the start. Later on, the subject would not feel at ease. She had also taught that it was good to use the subject's name a lot. It asserted a kind of dominance. It made the interrogator the lead in the conversation. Most people weren't even aware when it was done in casual conversation.
In response to Percy's question, Christian just shrugged.
"Well, I'm going to regardless. Now, Christian, you tried to do a pretty bad thing to me. I didn't really appreciate that. In fact, I really didn't enjoy it. I'm sure you know the feeling though. What you need to understand, is that there is going to be a lot of unpleasantness now. And I mean, a lot. But, luckily for you, it doesn't really need to be directed toward you. You see, I don't like it when people try to kill me, and I feel the need to punish the person responsible. At the moment, that person, is you. But if you were to change that, by giving me the name of the person who sent you, then I can take out my frustration on them, and you can just scurry away back to whatever rock you emerged from."
Christian didn't say a word.
"This is your last chance, Christian. I'm really not all that reluctant to torture you until you scream and beg. I just thought I'd give you a chance to get through this first."
"Did it ever occur to you that no one sent me? That I'm doing this for myself?"
Percy didn't miss a beat.
"If that were the case, you wouldn't have waited so long. I've been over there for 20 years and I didn't lay eyes on you once. That means that you were kicked out of Chaos' army a minimum of 20 years ago, but it was probably even longer than that. If I were to guess, I would say that you became an assassin after you were forced to leave. You had the skills and the training, and you'd already been doing it for a while, why not start making money for it? Someone with your training, you would easily be one of the best, and you would be suitably compensated, I'm sure. So someone hired you to either take me out specifically, or hurt Sara. Either way, neither of us was happy with your choice of action. But we don't want you. We want the person with the bigger vendetta. So give them up, or suffer for your actions yourself."
Christian had nothing to say to that. The silence in of itself, was confirmation. He could feel that Sara was pleased with him. It made him feel oddly proud. Christian made his choice. He was going to be difficult. But that wasn't a problem in the slightest. This guy was hardly innocent.
He revealed his knife and slipped it between the ropes holding the guy down. A shallow cut across his waist. Not designed to do any damage. Just to hurt. Then there was another cut to the other side of the waist. Then there was a stab to the chest. Things got pretty gruesome after that. Things were cut, slashed, stabbed, or even severed entirely. A few minutes after Percy had started, the screams began to be heard. They were loud.
Artemis was the first to arrive. She had clearly been woken up. Her hair was a mess and she looked sleepy, but alert at the sound of possible danger. He had no idea a literal goddess could look so disheveled. She also looked shocked beyond words. He was literally torturing someone, after all. Right in her camp, too.
Thalia arrived shortly after. She looked worse than Artemis. Sleepier and more disheveled. She looked even more shocked, too. She wasn't just seeing someone being tortured in her camp, she was watching her own cousin do it. Not to mention that he looked like he had fallen through a
meat grinder. His face was all kinds of fucked up and blood had leaked onto his clothes. He must have looked like a slaughterhouse victim.
The rest of the hunters showed up shortly after their lieutenant. Phoebe and her little clan looked shocked and somewhat appalled. The younger huntresses' eyes went wide and their hands flew to their mouths. Percy paused for a moment. He didn't want to torture someone in front of the entire hunt. The youngest member was roughly 40 years old, so it wasn't as if he was traumatising children, but he still didn't want to do it.
"You should all leave. You aren't going to want to watch this."
His voice was enough to snap Artemis out of her stupor.
"Perseus! What in the name of the Gods are you doing!?"
"What's necessary. Now, leave."
"No," Thalia cut in, "We aren't going anywhere until you tell us what the hell is going on!"
Percy sighed and turned to face them properly.
"This guy just tried to kill me. Apparently, he and Sara have a history. From what I can gather, it isn't pleasant. He tried to kill me, and someone put him up to it. I'm going to find out who, and put a stop to this before it gets out of hand."
He turned back to Christian, only to find him dead. There was foam all around his mouth. He must have slipped some kind of pill. There must have been something in one of his teeth. He probably would have figured that he would talk eventually, so he decided to spite him and Sara one last time. Leaving them completely in the dark as to who was trying to kill them. He and Sara took a moment to make sure he wasn't faking. But there were signs of death that couldn't be faked. When Percy shoved his fist down the guy's throat and there was no reaction, it was confirmed. He was gone.
With a deep sigh, Percy and Sara started untying him. But, apparently, Artemis and the hunters weren't done with their incessant questions yet. Artemis still looked shocked. Thalia looked slightly sick. The other hunters looked concerned. They seemed worried that he was willing to torture someone for information. But they lived in a cruel world, where people didn't tell other people things they wanted to know. The guy had been given every opportunity to talk and had chosen the unpleasant option instead. And then he had taken the other way out. As far as Percy was concerned, the only thing he would do differently, if he could do the whole thing again, would be to keep the guy alive long enough to get a name.
There was a long moment of silence. No one could quite believe it. The hunters were shocked because there was a dead guy in their camp. Percy and Sara were shocked because they truly hadn't expected that. It had pretty much come out of nowhere. But they weren't stunned by the death. Sara had seen more death than most people would in a hundred lifetimes. She had been the cause of a lot of it. Percy hadn't exactly waded through as many bloodbaths as she had, but he knew what it was like to take a life. He knew what it was like to see dead people. All too well. It wasn't something that really bothered him anymore. It was what it was. This guy hadn't been a close, personal friend of his. The exact opposite, in fact.
Once the shock had cleared from the hunters, they began to react. Phoebe and her posse glared at Percy even more fiercely. Artemis looked concerned. Or, perhaps, apprehensive. Thalia had moved on from the guy mostly and was instead looking worried about Percy.
"I'll be fine by the morning," he told her, to alleviate her concerns, "We can take care of the body. You should all go back to bed. Aren't we going to finish the journey to Camp, tomorrow?"
Artemis shook her head slightly as if she was trying to physically remove the thoughts she was having, from her head. Then she nodded at him.
"Yes, Perseus, you're right. Come on, girls, let's go."
The hunters left. Thalia shot Percy one more concerned look, which he replied to with an assuring smile. Phoebe shot Percy one more loathing look, which he responded to with a raised eyebrow as if to say 'Try me'. She was starting to annoy him. It had been fun, but he was getting sick and tired of her.
Once they were gone, Percy and Sara got to work. They made absolutely sure he was dead and then untied him. He ran into the tent he shared with Sara and changed his clothes. He chose an outfit with slightly less blood.
Then, they shadow traveled to a crematorium that had been closed for the night. Percy hadn't been inside though, so they popped out of a shadow into an alley near it. Percy took the body over his shoulder and darted to the main door, picking it as quickly as he could. Sara kept lookout. No one saw them. The door swung open and they moved inside.
It took them a moment to figure out the right controls, and soon after that, Christopher's body burned. Once the process was complete, they gathered the ashes in a little box that was lying around.
Percy shadow traveled them to Dubai, where they walked down to the coast. Leaving Sara on the coast, he shot through the sea like a torpedo and then dumped the ashes roughly halfway between the Dubai coast, and Iran.
A truly untraceable crime. Technically, they had committed one, after all. And he had cleaned it up. He was more than willing to admit that he probably wouldn't have needed to have gone through all the effort, but he would rather avoid an investigation. The thought of mortals sniffing around the divine world made him nervous.
Zeus might just decide that the mortal knew too much, and he had no choice but to take care of the threat to their secrecy. He could easily see
the king of the gods going down that path. Then he would have to explain to Chaos why he had murdered the King of the Gods.
Once they had dumped the body, they had some fun in Dubai. He showed Sara the Burj Khalifa. She had researched it when they had found out it would be the target of a terrorist attack, but she had never seen it herself. They went on a little unofficial tour of the place. It was pretty fun.
After that, they found a nice restaurant and enjoyed a meal together. They didn't discuss the attempted murder that had just taken place. They tried to ignore the fact that Percy's face was practically caved in. They certainly ignored the stares of all of the random strangers in the room.
Instead, they talked and joked and laughed and had a good time. Even though she had clearly been stressed throughout everything that had just happened, she had relaxed. The situation was over, and she could calm down and enjoy herself again. She was such a luminously wonderful person, that he couldn't help but be infected by her good mood. He loved her for that. And it wasn't even something she did consciously.
Eventually, they needed to leave. It would be best for at least one of them to be at the hunters' camp. Sara shadow traveled back, alone. Instead of going with her, he shadow traveled back to the village where he had slaughtered the terrorists. He popped out of a shadow a mile away from the warehouse. First, he visited the police station. They were all fine. He knew they would be, but there was no harm in making sure. He walked down to the warehouse. He could sense the massive presence there. They weren't terrorists though. Cops. UAE police, Interpol, and a few guys in sunglasses who were obviously CIA. There were dozens of forensics people there too. Everyone was milling around, being busy. It looked like a big operation. He was glad. He knew it would be, but once again, it was good to make sure.
Satisfied with what he found, he shadow traveled to the airport he had landed at when he came over from New York. He bought himself an
economy-class ticket to New York and boarded the plane an hour later. The flight to New York from Dubai was 12 hours. He had no intention to sit on a plane for that long again. From the moment he boarded, he made his presence known. He eagerly greeted everyone and pretended to flirt with every woman on the plane. It was a strange sight, considering the current state of his face, but he wasn't trying to get laid. He just wanted to make everyone aware of him. It wasn't strictly necessary, but he did it just to be sure. Half an hour into the flight, he went to the bathroom. He closed the door behind him and didn't lock it. From there, he shadow traveled to New York.
Once he was in New York, he found his way to the library where he had been attacked. A quick glance at his HD video memory told him that there had been a camera in the elevator. He figured it had been installed to stop people from having sex in there. The world was a strange place. He made his way to their security room, where he promptly destroyed all records they kept of recordings from the past week. A critical networking error, they would conclude. They would take measures to ensure that this kind of thing didn't happen again, and strengthen their cyber-security. Really, he was doing them a favor.
After the cameras had been taken care of, he made his way back to the hunters' camp. They were all asleep and Sara was doing some research. He wasn't sure what she was looking into, and he didn't care at that moment. He could ask her later. Instead, he took her by the hand, and smiled at her. She didn't seem to mind the missing teeth
"I'm gonna go to bed. I think I'll want a few extra hours after tonight."
"Alright. Get some rest. You should be ok in the morning."
He gave her a tired smile, walked back to their tent, and collapsed into bed. He fell asleep almost instantly and was blessed with dreamless sleep.
When he woke up, he felt a lot better. He felt around his mouth with his tongue and found that his teeth had regrown. The dentist could suck it. Raising a tender hand to his face, he poked himself experimentally. First poke; nose. Tender, but liveable. It had certainly righted itself during the night. It wasn't the wrong shape anymore. It felt reasonably straight. His eyes felt slightly bruised, but better than they had been after his 4-hour sleep. His forehead was still pounding slightly, but it was on its way to healing.
And best of all, Sara was right next to him. She must have come to bed a little while after him. Her blonde hair was spread out over his chest, making it look kind of a halo. She looked like a bona fide angel. He spent a few moments watching her. He couldn't bring himself to tear his eyes away. The contrast between that morning and the previous night, was astounding. Last night, she had been threatening and imposing. Utterly terrifying. But now she looked serene and peaceful. He couldn't wrap his head around her much she could shift. He liked it. It kept things interesting.
She woke up a few minutes later. Her gorgeous eyes blinked open and she gave him a dazzling, sleepy smile. She looked happy to see him. Or rather, happy to see him mostly recovered. He gave her a smaller smile in response. He was still a bit tired, but he wasn'y used to sleeping for more than 2 hours per day, so he had woken up anyway.
"You look better."
"Good. The stares were starting to bother me."
"People are gonna stare. Fuck 'em."
"Poetic."
She snorted and swatted him across the chest.
"I'm serious! 'Fuck em'. It's inspired, really. Did you think of that beforehand, or was it spur-of-the-moment genius?"
She laughed and retaliated against him by bitting his shoulder. Not exactly gently, but not too bad. He gave a fake scream and rolled them over so that he was on top.
"Now that was just mean!"
"Oh yeah? What are you gonna do about it?" she challenged playfully.
For the next 2 hours, he proved exactly what he was going to do about it, and they both had a fantastic time throughout the demonstration. Once they were done, they spent a few minutes lying together in bed, boneless, sweaty, and totally satisfied. She smiled at him lazily. He grinned back. Eventually, they got up. They joined the hunters at breakfast and there was a pretty tense silence as they ate. The hunters were clearly concerned with everything that had happened. Phoebe was still glaring at him. He just ignored her. Thalia looked like she was contemplating the meaning of the universe and life itself. Artemis looked like she was pondering something far more simple, yet still problematic.
When they finished their food, the camp was dismantled and their journey began. They walked for a few hours before Percy shadow traveled back to the plane he had boarded in Dubai. He appeared in the bathroom and took his seat in economy. The flight was beginning its descent, so he strapped in. He smiled pleasantly at the people next to him. They furrowed their brow at him and looked pretty confused. Some slight mist-manipulation later, they had no questions about where he had been for the last 11 hours. He needed a record of him re-entering the United States, since there was a record of him leaving Dubai. He couldn't get on another flight from the US, if his passport had no stamp of return, it would raise all kinds of questions. Questions that he would prefer not to be asked. But there was no way in hell he was going to spend 12 hours sitting still on a plane if he didn't absolutely have to. So he planned out that little system. He just had to be sure that the dates didn't look a little bit too suspicious. A week-long holiday to Dubai didn't mean anything to anyone. Someone arriving in Dubai a few hours before
100 terrorists were killed, and then leaving the country an hour after that, would raise a few red flags.
The flight landed, and he got his passport stamped re-entering the United States of America and he was home free. He left the airport, found a secluded shadowy spot, and shadow traveled back to the area where he had left the hunters. His senses picked them up a little while away. He set off at a fast sprint and caught up to them in 10 minutes. He was really fast and they were pretty slow when they were lugging around all of their equipment. He slowed to a jog when filled in with them and matched pace with Sara, who was pretty much strolling through the forest. He wrapped an arm around her waist and she shot him a smile as they walked together.
It wasn't long before they reached camp. As they approached, he felt a ball of lead forming in his stomach. It started off small and only grew as they got closer and closer. The first memory came flashing back to him when he smelled the aroma of strawberries radiating from Camp. It smelled just like her hair. A scent he remembered well. He couldn't even begin to cound the mornings where he had woken up with all of that hair in his face, breathing in the wonderful aroma. He remembered thinking that it was the best smell in the world. The ball of lead got worse.
The second flash of memories that invaded him, came from the sight of Thalia's tree. He saw the Peleus wrapped around it, sleeping soundly. The tree still looked strong and he saw Thalia look at it wearily. But it was the sight of the fleece that did it for him. It brought back all kinds of memories from the second quest he went on. Back when things had seemed so immensely complicated, but in fact, had never been simpler. Before he knew what real pain felt like. Before his life fractured into too many pieces to be put back together. The ball of lead grew larger still. Unconsciously, he dropped his arm from Sara's waist. He hadn't even realized he had done it, but she did. And she knew why. She didn't say a word.
By the time they had reached the top of the hill, they could see camp, and Percy felt like he couldn't breathe. His pulse was hammering against
the inside of his head. His mouth felt as dry as a desert, but his palms were sweaty. It felt like an elephant was sitting on his chest. The ball of lead felt like the size of a wrecking ball.
The hunters announced their presence by blowing on a big horn. They kept walking down the hill, as campers came over to greet them. They all looked fairly welcoming, but their expressions shifted to that of shock as soon as they laid eyes on the 6'7 mammoth with them. They blinked at the male presence withing the hunt of famous man-haters. The hunters walked on. Thalia was nodding to a few people. He didn't recognize most of them. Phoebe and her posse were glaring at virtually every male within camp, and even a few of the females. He was confused for a second, before he figured it out. She and her posse were glaring at the girls that were standing with boys. The girls who were clearly in relationships. He felt his fist tighten. If she limited herself to glaring, then he wasn't going to say anything, but if she took action then he would be forced to do something about it. He wasn't going to let a bunch of people get abused by her, just because they were happy together. But he wasn't really paying much attention to her and her little group. He was scanning through the crowd, looking for someone in particular.
He spotted him. His brother. HIs flesh and blood. He was standing far behind everyone else. Clearly, he had been on his way to greet the hunt, but had frozen at the sight of his monstrously large brother. The two siblings locked eyes, and Percy felt the entire world melt away. The hunters were all gone. The campers had never even existed. The entire camp was empty, aside from the two of them. He was vaguely aware of Sara beside him, but she wasn't saying anything. He could tell that she knew who he had seen. She knew him extremely well.
A few long moments went by, as the two brothers were seemingly frozen. It was Jack who moved first. He carried on walking towards the hunters. Towards him. Percy stayed still, watching hi, approach.
"Lady Artemis, it is an honor to have you in our camp. May I ask how long you intend to stay, or are you yet unaware?"
"Yet unaware, demigod. It might be a few weeks. I should know more later on."
"Of course, my lady, we are more than happy to accommodate you for as long as you wish. Is there anything else you shall require?"
"No. We can manage on our own."
Jack gave a slight bow, "Of course, my lady."
His brother turned to face him, an unreadable look on his face.
"Hello, brother."
Percy punched him. Hard. He felt the glorious sensation of bones shifting and breaking beneath his fist. The fucker's skull was damaged. Good. But, unfortunately, Jack was a God now, so he healed from the damage pretty quickly. The punch from Percy sent Jack flying back, and he was mostly healed by the time he got up. But Percy wasn't even close to satisfied. He darted toward his brother. Jack tried to go for a sword, but Percy didn't let him. His knife made its new home in Jack's palm. There was a satisfying scream, which Percy had to put an end to, but Spartan kicking him in the chest, sending him flying yet again.
A few campers tried to get between them. They were too young to have been at Camp while Percy had been there, so they just saw some massive dude attacking their leader. He could sympathise with them to a degree, so he made sure not to hurt them. He used the shadows to lightly push them aside, and he continued on his way to his brother.
He was vaguely aware of Thalia and Artemis trying to stop him, but Sara made sure they didn't. She was the only one who knew what Jack had done to him. What he had taken from him. She was more than willing to let Percy extract vengeance in full.
Jack came at Percy, getting off defence, and go in for an attack of his own. It was a decent enough attempt. But Percy was so much better. He
had been fighting wars while Jack had been in kindergarten. Not to mention all of the training he had received from Chaos. Jack was a God now, and he had clearly been spending his time wisely, but he couldn't even approach Percy's level. Jack had tried to crouch down low and shoot a punch at Percy's knee from the side. It was a decent target, and it doubtlessly would have been a good blow, if it had connected. Percy took a quick step backwards just before the fist would have reached his knee. As the arm flew through empty space, Percy stepped forward again and stomped his foot down on Jack's elbow. There was a loud popping sound and Jack screeched.
Percy reached down and took the knife out of Jack's hand. He used it to carve a long gash across Jack's chest. From the tip of his sternum, to his bellybutton. It was shallow enough that it wouldn't kill him, but it was sure as shit going to hurt. He deserved it. Once the large cut was done, Percy slipped the knife back into his sheath. He straddled Jack's chest and started raining down punches. Initially, Jack had attempted to cover up somewhat, but the punches just didn't stop coming, and eventually, Percy broke through his guard. He kept going until his brother's face wasn't visible anymore. There was just a golden mess of Ichor. Once the face of the man who had ruined his life was gone from view, Percy stopped. He knew he had to leave him alive. Chaos had specifically told him. He couldn't ignore her orders, no matter how much he wanted to.
He wiped his Ichor-covered hands on his brother's clothes and stood up. Jack stayed exactly where he was. He was certainly unconscious. He looked around camp. The campers were horrified. The older ones that he recognized looked shocked beyond words. The hunters looked mildly unsettled, though they didn't seem to have much of a problem with it. Thalia was taking it the hardest. She looked utterly stunned, though he could see her eyes that she understood. She didn't know what Jack had done, but she knew that Percy wouldn't have done what he did, if he hadn't had a reason. She trusted that the brutal attack was justified.
Sara looked approving. She was the only one there who knew what Jack had done. She was the only one who knew that he deserved worse than he had gotten. He searched her eyes for any trace of doubt, but he
couldn't find anything. She seemed to genuinely support him in his actions. He felt a rush of gratitude towards her.
He walked back to the hunters and stood beside Sara. She reached over a little bit and clasped his hand in hers. She squeezed reasuringly. He squeezed back.
A/N: Well, that's another one. Hope you all enjoyed. This chapter had been betaed by the wonderful Anon516. Next chapter will have him meeting his friends and some fallout of what he did to Jack. But anyway, let me know what you thought. Might not be a new one for a little while now, since exams are a pain in the ass. Stay safe, everyone.