Percy Jackson and the Four Horsemen
Chapter 5: Revelations In The Mist
PREVIOUSLY ON THE FOUR HORSEMEN:
Percy took a deep breath.
"Lou Ellen was killed…" Percy said, "…by a hellhound in the forest."
Utter silence. Percy knew that he'd have to admit that she was dead. Now, here came the difficult part. But by now, dear reader, you must know that Percy's fatal flaw was loyalty. And you should've known his stance on this argument.
So despite the logical part of his mind yelling "NO NO ARE YOU DUMB" over and over again, Percy continued, "After Leo and Calypso ran out of the bunker, Lou and I had an argument."
"…I really hope there's something else except that because that really sounds like you killed her, amigo."
Calypso shot Leo a frustrated glance," Percy wouldn't kill any demigod. He literally just said that a hellhound killed her."
Leo raised his hands up, "Yeah, I agree, but he does have a hellhound... but yeah, Percy would never kill a person. Only monsters."
"Thanks for the lack of suspicion, Leo."
"No problem, Aquaman."
Chiron butted in, "Alright, so how did she pass, Percy?"
"Um, she ran off, possibly to find Leo and Calypso, or talk to you about her suspicions of me, I don't know. I chased after her because it isn't safe to be running around alone in the forest. I did lose her, and I was ambushed by a hellhound. After I managed to get its stupid claws off of me, I saw that a bead necklace was tied around one of its paws."
Chiron grimaced. "It appears, my dear boy, this will have to be brought to the attention of the gods. I am truly sorry if something bad does happen to you."
Percy shrugged. Most of the Olympians would believe him… probably. And he could just swear on the River Styx, everything would be fine. What he was worried about was the person who had killed Argus. Who was he? And who were the Four? And who was- wait, he already thought that.
"…Percy, you there?"
"What? Oh, yeah, I'm here."
Percy's vision came back in focus as he realized his equine and divine mentor had disappeared.
Calypso stared at him with concern, just a little bit. Leo was clearly making a mockery of her by putting his face a little too close to Percy's and staring.
"Chiron asked us to go get some sleep. Especially since your girlfriend is showing up tomorrow."
Oh, right. Annabeth. Yay.
But before that, dreams. Oh, no.
Percy hated sleep. Well, he didn't hate sleep. He hated the things that came with sleep. Stupid dreams. Whoever controlled dreams deserved nothing but pain.
Fortunately, (for the dream dude wherever he or she is), Percy was asleep. Unfortunately (for Percy), that meant dreams. He was mentally prepared for the same old routine of Tartarus nightmares, and he was getting what he expected.
He was back in The Pit.
He felt the glass ball break.
He felt the power of poison.
He felt Akhlys choke on her own concoctions.
He felt like finding out just how much misery Misery could take.
He felt… no, he loved the feeling of power, a burden off his shoulders, more control yet less control.
But he loved something, someone, much more. And her face was still the same, terrified.
And so, the burden came back. He-
He heard a dog whine?
Percy was confused. The whirlwind of emotions was usual. But not the voice. And definitely not the change in environment to some purple-tinted lab.
"You killed a demigod?"
Percy's vision cleared. What he originally thought was some purple tint was just the glow of several old-timey monitors, each displaying a bunch of random information that Percy would not be able to read to save his life. The pictures on some were… interesting, to say the least. One was easily recognizable. The angel of death known as Thanatos, could neither hide his magnificent wings nor his ethereal appearance, even in the mortal realm. The other three were unrecognizable, though there was a sense of familiarity with one of the unknown deities, like someone he had met once but promptly forgot about.
Percy was brought out of his thoughts as he heard what sounded like a dog whimper, except much gruffer. He saw a silhouette in an office chair in front of the monitors turn around to face the giant hellhound.
"Why are you stupid dogs so unreliable?"
Another whimper.
"DON'T EVEN APOLOGIZE! I ASKED YOU, VERY NICELY, TO BRING THE DEMIGOD TO ME! BUT NO, YOU HAD TO HAVE YOUR FUCKING DINNER RIGHT THEN AND THERE!"
Percy was never one for animal abuse, even if perhaps they were irredeemable monsters. A masculine figure unsheathed his sword, turning the room just a little bit lighter, illuminating his orange tee under his dark cloak as he swung it.
"Worthless little hellspawn."
The sound of disintegration was nothing compared to the breathing of the man, which was slowly decreasing in intensity after his quite loud shouting.
"And you, Percy Jackson. Lord Morpheus must really favor you to let you see where I am."
The man bent to the pile of dust and picked up a bead necklace, the remains of Lou Ellen Blackstone, and replaced it with a golden drachma.
"Her sacrifice will not be forgotten."
Percy wanted to tear through whatever barrier prevented him from being corporeal and beat the Hades out of this man. He yelled and screamed but all that came out was nothing.
The sun shone into the Poseidon cabin. The little sea creature ornaments rustled and tinkled on the ceiling. It was a good environment for someone with constant nightmares to wake up to. It was calm and serene, like the floor of the ocean.
However, Percy was sweating in his bed. The dream unsettled him in more than one way. The fact that this new villain of the week (probably more but Percy really hoped all this wrapped up in a week) was powerful enough to even sense Percy in his dream form was worrying.
Of course, the horse in his doorframe was a little bit concerning, but considering it was Blackjack, he didn't really mind. And he knew why Blackjack was here. Although he wasn't that sure about where Blackjack would wait, the airport parking lot or the runways.
"Good morning, boss."
Percy sighed. He never was able to get Blackjack to stop calling him 'boss'.
The Pegasus neighed. "Get into your clothes, we have to go to the airport, boss."
"I know, man."
"Annabeth's coming."
"I'm well aware."
"Then what are you waiting for?"
"For you to get out so that I can change in peace?"
"Oh. Right."
Blackjack slowly backed out of the cabin and Percy shut the door, changing into a freshly washed pair of jeans and another camp shirt, while listening to Blackjack neigh on about how humans saw pegasi naked, so it should be fair for the other way around. Percy just nodded and hmmed along, not really having any good points.
A few minutes later, Percy was soaring through the skies on the back of his pegasus, his thoughts on Annabeth, and not on whatever the fuck was going on.
Okay, maybe a little part of his mind was on that, but it was all the way in the back of his brain.
With Blackjack safely kept nearby along with a few sugar cubes, Percy currently was scanning the crowd that came out of the airport for the familiar blonde head that he knew and loved. And like it was fate, she popped up in front of him.
The both of them stared at each other from a distance. There were at least a hundred people separating them, but they only had each other in their eyes. Percy felt his heart beat faster, like he did the first time Annabeth kissed him, though at that point he was pretty sure he was going to die a fiery death. A smile appeared on her lips, like she knew what he was feeling (and felt that exact same thing too). And both of them took steps towards each other, slowly and steadily.
Percy forgot about everything else as he saw Annabeth coming closer.
And closer.
And closer.
And closer.
And they hugged. It's always a warm feeling to hug someone you love. Percy's nose immediately picked up the smell of lemons from her hair. He loved that smell. He loved her.
He heard a voice, muffled by his shirt, "Okay, Percy, I think people would probably be weirded out by now."
"But you just got here."
"Exactly. We have things to do."
Percy let go of Annabeth, albeit with a pouty face. She just smirked in that cute way, before turning her head around.
"So, where's the Prius?"
"Uh, probably with Paul. Why?"
"So you got Blackjack?"
"…Yeah…"
"Percy, how are two of us supposed to fit on a 1-seater horse?"
"We'll manage."
She smirked again.
"What about the baggage?"
"We hold them."
"Please tell me Blackjack can be sustained by ambrosia."
"You know, I haven't tried that. Do you think it would work?"
"I don't know."
Percy raised an eyebrow at Annabeth, who replied, "Shut up and come on."
"As you say, Wise Girl."
The wind whipped past the pair of demigods as they flew in the sky. Percy loved riding a pegasus. Despite being in the wrong environment, something about flying on a horse was just unique to him. The past few minutes had been spent by both Percy and Annabeth recapping recent news, with Percy's being unsurprisingly more dramatic.
"So you're telling me you may or may not be scheduled for a trial where you're accused of murder of a demigod and Argus."
"Yep."
"And also someone's trying to frame you."
"Yeah."
Annabeth glanced at him with concern.
"And you're not worried at all."
"Now that you're here with me, not really, no."
"Hmm- alright then. How are the… nightmares?"
"I had a horrible one today, though it wasn't related to the Pit. You?"
Annabeth shivered against him.
"Those nightmares are always the worst."
They both knew what their respective worst nightmares were. After all, both stemmed from the same incident that happened before they were zombified.
"It's okay, Annabeth. You know I'd never become that kind of person."
She leant into him.
"I know that, Percy. It's just… what if it was only you down there… would you have stopped despite the horrible, horrible things you were doing?"
"I hopefully would not have."
In truth, Percy didn't know the answer to that either. A twisted part of his mind loved the rush of power that he had unlocked, while the rest of his brain was horrified.
"On that topic, have you tried any other substances that you could control?"
Annabeth was just looking up at him, now completely leaning back on his chest.
"No."
"What about ice?"
"That could work, but I haven't."
"You should."
They continued to spend the next few minutes of their pegasus taxi flight trip in silence, enjoying being with each other, until on the horizon, the residential gilded ivory statue appeared. As they came closer and closer, Thalia's Pine came into view and Percy could even see Peleus and the Golden Fleece from up here. Another thing that came into view was the gathering of demigods that were staring at them from far below.
They were the heroes of Olympus, after all.
Blackjack descended slowly, which was a tough feat for the pegasus (Percy mentally noted to give him some more sugar cubes as a reward) and finally, the stallion settled on the ground, waiting for Percy and Annabeth to get off before galloping away to the stables, probably to eat or sleep or do whatever pegasi do in their free time.
Annabeth began to catch up with a bunch of her old camp friends while Percy just stood to the side. There was a bunch of newer demigods who were staring in awe at both Annabeth and Percy. One kid, who looked to be around a year younger than Percy just gave a quick smile and nod to Percy, and then disappeared. Most of the others were all fanboying or fangirling or fan-enbying.
But then, when Chiron came out of the crowd, talked a bit with Annabeth, and then looked at him with a serious expression, even those inexperienced knew that something was up.
"I am sorry, Percy, but the Olympian Council has come to the conclusion that you must be trialed for the murder of Lou Ellen Blackstone and Argus."
Percy sighed, barely audible over the deafening silence. The next week was going to be one hell of a week.
Sorry for the long delay, and unfortunately the long delays will probably be usual. Writing is fun but life is not. Thanks for reading.
-Scythe7137