Chapter 45 - Waffles
Percy was disappointed that the other demigods had sacrificed Achilles' Spear. He could have used it to get Poseidon's attention.
After he'd been returned to the Argo II by a sombre Apollo, Percy had firmly ignored the other demigods, shoving them aside and making his way straight to his room. All evidence of his last night with Kronos had vanished. The crumpled wall from the jet of water that had bludgeoned Kronos across the room, the bloodied sheets which had been from the dagger going through his abdomen by Kronos' hand. Percy swallowed, resting one hand on his stomach on the scar from that injury, unable to be healed completely by even Apollo due to Kronos messing about with its healing, keeping it locked in time to keep Percy compliant. Though resting his hand on his stomach had him thinking about that other thing.
The baby.
Percy didn't know if it would have been a son or a daughter, but that didn't matter to him in the slightest. Either way it would have been his. His and Kronos'. Percy imagined that his mother would flip when she heard, probably scold him for having a child at his age and insist on Kronos never being around him again – the further he was from Percy, the safer Percy was. But the son of Poseidon didn't care. He wanted to prove himself to Kronos, he wanted for them to curl up on the sofa back at his house and watch The Lion King again, if only to hear Kronos complain about the various flaws in the movie.
A sob broke through, shaking his chest. He hadn't wanted to cry on Olympus, in front of Apollo or Kronos, hadn't wanted them to see him like that. Kronos hadn't been too upset with losing a child, but that was fine because Percy was upset enough for more than the two of them. Percy curled up on his bed, now more alone than ever and tucked his knees up to his chest, hugging them close. His side throbbed, though more in remembrance than anything else.
Percy woke to a knock at his door. "Wh –" He paused and cleared his throat, scratchy and sore from crying himself to sleep. "What?"
It was Annabeth whom spoke. "We thought we'd all better have a meeting over breakfast... if you're up for it?"
The son of Poseidon was tempted to scream at her, tell her to go away. He didn't want a meeting with anyone but Poseidon, with anyone unless they could help him get Kronos out of Olympus. But he cleared his throat. The world is ending, he reminded himself. Priorities. "Yeah," Percy said. "Ok. I'll be along in ten minutes."
"I'll make sure the boys save some waffles for you," Annabeth promised. Percy waited until he heard her footsteps disappear before he slowly got out of bed.
He glanced towards the mirror briefly, but the sight of his red eyes, nose and cheeks made him turn his head away. Percy rubbed at the tears that had dried on his face, making his way to the shower and determined to wash them off. The other demigods looked up to him, he had to force on a smile for them, pretend that he was fine while all he really wanted to do was break down and cry. He was the leader, he couldn't simply curl up in the corner and ignore them all no matter how much he wanted to.
Percy felt significantly better after his shower. He grabbed some clothes, an orange Camp Half-Blood shirt among them.
"Hey," Jason greeted when Percy stepped into the large room.
Percy nodded slightly to him as he made his way to the spare seat next to Annabeth. His breath caught when he saw the blue waffles piled onto the plate. "Blue cookies yesterday," Kronos had said. "Blue pancakes today. Will it be blue waffles tomorrow?"
The son of Poseidon cleared his throat. "Thanks," he said to Annabeth. He shifted slightly, staring down at the waffles. Damn you, Kronos. Percy cut them up. "Right," he said through a mouthful. "Let's hear everything."
Percy had missed a lot during his forced vacation. His eyes furrowed, pausing in shovelling in his first proper breakfast in weeks. "Rhea?" He echoed, staring at his fork. His expression blanked. "What did she say?" He questioned.
He didn't say about what, but he didn't need to. Leo shrugged. "Said not to trust him," the son of Hephaestus said. "That he was a lying, manipulative bastard."
Percy's hands fisted. He didn't like it, but he knew it was true. "Hey," Jason said, glancing over to Leo. "He's had a tough time." Jason cleared his throat. "Enceladus had Amalthea in the Ideon Cave," he continued. "An immortal couldn't get in there without being trapped – Nico said they were Old Tongue runes?" He glanced over at the son of Hades, whom simply nodded to Jason in confirmation before returning to staring at his food. "But once we got rid of them, Rhea helped us with him. And Zeus."
The son of Poseidon raised an eyebrow. "Zeus?" He echoed.
Jason nodded. "Yeah. Trust me, I was surprised to see him too. Something about the Ideon Andron being his birthplace helped him settle his Greek and Roman forms."
"That's why he was able to crash down on Kronos and Porphyrion," Percy realised.
Jupiter's son nodded. "We think so," he said, and they continued onto the events in Epirus – Bob being killed and Hyperion turning on Clytius.
Percy frowned. "Did he win?" He asked.
Hazel pressed her lips together. "We don't know," she honestly said. "We left before it could finish. Assumed we wouldn't want to be around for whoever won to then turn on us." If Hyperion was still alive... Percy couldn't think of anyone better whom may be willing to break Kronos out of Olympus.
Percy then filled them in on his end, leaving out all of the conversations he'd had with Kronos, and the one with Alabaster Torrington. That one still left his head swimming and he really didn't want to dive into that now. "But the Moly – my blood still..." he took a deep breath. "Just before Zeus arrived," he said, "Porphyrion jumped the gun and managed to get my blood over the Moly." He tapped a finger on the table, raising his head. "So the giants only need the blood of a female demigod now." He took a deep breath. "If they manage that... the giants will be completely invulnerable. We won't be able to kill them, even with an immortal's help."
None of the others looked too pleased with that, but it was hardly as if Percy could have stopped it from happening. He was a demigod. In the end, what good was a little, easily squashable demigod against a giant such as Porphyrion?
Annabeth was the last to fill them all in, with the news that the Doors of Death were still locked open down in Tartarus.
Jason swore under his breath, startling everyone else. "Great," he said in frustration. "So what now?"
Nico swallowed. "They have to be closed," he said, his hands fisting on his lap. "We can't risk keeping them open."
"There's no way," Hazel whispered. "Unless we all want to go down to Tartarus."
"No," both Annabeth and Nico snapped.
Percy shook his head. "Yeah. I'd like to avoid that option."
"The Doors have to be closed," Frank said. "But how?"
None of them had any answers.
Percy fiddled with his fork, staring thoughtfully at his blue waffles. "Hey... you guys mentioned that Bob had died, right?"
"Yes," Nico said, looking like he had an idea as to what Percy was thinking.
"Would he be able to close them?" Percy questioned.
Nico hesitated. "I don't know," he admitted. "I don't know if he'll reform in time, if he'll even be able to. Maybe they're being guarded twice as much now." The son of Hades shrugged. "But I could try to find out."
Jason nodded slightly. "I know he's helped us a lot already," he said. "But it would be extremely helpful if he did."
Percy nodded in agreement. "Yeah, if he could," he said. "But he might not want to if he knows whom he is now." He shoved the remainder of the waffles aside. "Here, Nico," he said, since his cousin had nothing on his plate, "you have the rest."
Nico's eyes widened slightly. "What?"
The son of Poseidon simply shrugged. "I need to rest a bit more," he said.
Annabeth frowned slightly. "What happened on Olympus?" She questioned.
Percy froze, already out of his chair. "What?"
"When you came back," Annabeth prompted, "you didn't say anything. What happened?"
Percy swallowed past a rock that seem lodged in his throat. He glanced back at them. "Kronos was pregnant," he said bluntly, some part of him enjoying their exclamations of shock and their wide eyes. "That's what happened – Apollo told me." He clenched his fists. "So, if you don't mind," he continued, tone fierce, "I'd like some time alone. To grieve." He grabbed his plate of blue waffles since Nico was looking like he'd be sick if he had them.
Annabeth gaped at him, and Percy couldn't help but feel a fierce satisfaction at the look in her eyes. He didn't feel remotely sorry for her as he turned his back and strode from the room, determined to find his way back to his bedroom.
But he wouldn't be sleeping, or resting.
Percy would find out if Hyperion was alive or not, and if he'd be willing to start a jailbreak for Kronos. He hoped the Titan of Light would accept half-eaten blue waffles as a sacrifice.
thegoldraven: Thanks! I used to be awful at foreshadowing, probably because my first few stories were never planned out - I kinda just wrote whatever, which wasn't the best of ideas. This one I actually have plans for so it's a lot easier to foreshadow. I'll leave the giving birth up to your imagination! Nah, not much you can do in England when you turn 21, most just when you're 18. But it's a milestone at least XD.
1234booklover: I'll admit, I was astonished too. Sally will be furious yes. Especially after she went to great lengths to keep them from having sex... Kronos could, but he doesn't want to.
bella wu yeet: My lips are sealed.
Guest: My characterisation makes perfect sense. Percy mated with Kronos, as far as Percy's instincts are aware Kronos is his mate. That's that. Combined with his loyalty fatal flaw, and he doesn't even think that it's Kronos' fault, he's just blaming himself (yes, that will be sorted later down the line bc, but it's angst and I like angst).
Thatgremlinbitch: lmao yes, Sally's gonna murder them. And yeah, Hyperion is not gonna be happy when he finds out that Percy got Kronos pregnant XD.