Chapter 37 - Lost
Consciousness came to Percy slowly. He couldn't be sure how long he was out for, nor how often he jerked awake only to slip back under again shortly after.
Rumbling voices echoed around him, some he recognised and some he didn't, but only one he was sure of.
Kronos.
Percy stirred at hearing his voice, struggling to lift his head – to do anything – but even that movement was too much and burning pain rippled out from his stomach. The voices faded away, and Percy dropped his head back down to the ground.
The next time Percy woke, the world was suddenly in focus again. He blinked, shifting where he lay discarded on the ground, and immediately groaned. His stomach throbbed, a fierce ache that immediately had him stopping all movement as he waited for the burn to subside.
The demigod frowned, realising that his wrists were bound in front of him with a simple knot of celestial bronze fibres twisted into a rope. His ankles were unbound, not that he could even get to his feet with his stomach aching with the slightest movement. Percy considered trying to stand, but knew that the attempted effort of pushing himself to his feet would make him pass out.
Instead, Percy took a few deep breaths and twisted slightly – ignoring his aching stomach – so he could see where he was. Underground, of course. He was in a cave of some sort, one lit with an abundance of Greek fire torches, but no visible exits. The ground was cold beneath him, packed earth, mud and stone. And a few dozen feet away from him, there was a square of freshly tilled soil that seemed to imitate a vegetable patch, though what exactly was growing in it Percy couldn't see. Nothing seemed to be poking above the soil yet.
But that wasn't what caught his attention.
Set next to the vegetable patch was a statue, made of gleaming ivory and with its feet wrapped in wool. It looked faintly familiar to Percy, though he couldn't quite make out how.
"You're awake."
Percy's eyes snapped towards the shadows and he tensed, though that proved to be a mistake as pain burst through his stomach. Percy forced himself to relax as he frowned. "Torrington." Percy's voice rasped from his dry throat.
Alabaster Torrington smiled. "Hey, Percy."
"Where am I?" Percy asked.
The son of Hecate shrugged. "That's a good question," he said. He rose to his feet with surprising grace for a demigod. "I'd better tell everyone that you're awake." He turned to face the shadows behind him, but the wall of the cave split open before he could shadow-travel away.
Percy swallowed as a giant stepped into the cavern. He'd never met the King of the Giants in person before, but it was obvious just why this giant was the King. The cavern rumbled slightly, and the Greek fire that was closest to him tilted in his direction.
The demigod alpha had faced down Zeus, he'd argued with Kronos, and he'd fought gods. But this was entirely different – Porphyrion was entirely different to them. The giant was an alpha, that much was clear, and he was the strongest alpha that Percy had ever come across.
"Porphyrion, I take it?" Percy asked.
The Giant King smiled, his white eyes near-blinding in the darkness of the cavern. "Perseus Jackson," he greeted. "You don't look like much."
Percy didn't feel like much either. He was more than aware that he was still sprawled out across the floor, probably looking like an insect to the giant in that moment. "Neither do you," Percy said. "I was expecting a little more-" the ground rumbled around him, earth creeping up his limbs and pinning him down.
"Careful, demigod," Porphyrion warned. "There is no one here to help you."
Percy shut his eyes as the earth wrapped around his stomach and squeezed, and he screamed. Percy didn't know how long it had been until it stopped and the earth crumbled to dust, only that his voice broke halfway through. He trembled, and each little movement made him whimper.
Still, Percy swallowed and managed to look up at him. "I'm not stupid," he whispered, throat aching as he spoke. "There's a reason I'm still alive. Else I'd be dead already."
The giant's eyes narrowed at him, and he looked ready to smash Percy into the ground. "Perhaps," he conceded. "But that just means we can do anything we want to you, as long as it doesn't kill you." He smiled. "There's someone here who wants to see you," he added.
Percy's eyes furrowed, and his gaze snapped towards the immortal who'd just slipped in behind the giant. The demigod swallowed. "Kronos."
Kronos cocked his head to the side. His sharp golden eyes matched the smile playing across his lips. "Percy."
Porphyrion chuckled, his body shrinking down from giant-sized with dragon-feet towards a remarkably more human form. The giant King smiled as he squeezed Kronos' shoulder, and Percy glowered. That alpha was touching his omega.
The giant cast a glance towards Percy with a cruel smile, and realisation began to dawn on the demigod. "No," he muttered. But the giant merely turned and strode from the room, Alabaster scampering after him.
The wall rumbled back into place, sealing Percy in the cavern with Kronos.
Percy swallowed.
Kronos trailed his fingers across the gleaming ivory statue as he passed it. Percy's gaze flicked to the statue's features, and then back to Kronos. That statue looked similar to Kronos, but the few variations in the features – and the beer-belly – were too distinct for the statue to be one of him. At this point Percy wouldn't be surprised if it were the missing Statue of Saturn, though why it was looking down at the vegetable patch was another matter entirely. Just looking at the freshly tilled soil had his skin crawling.
"Why?" Percy finally whispered.
The look of disbelief that Kronos directed towards him had Percy frowning. "Why?" Kronos echoed. "Why the Tartarus not? I was forced into mating with you," he said with a glower.
Percy shut his eyes, shaking his head. "I didn't force you."
"What other choice did I have when surrounded by enemies? At least I'd get out of there still breathing if I mated with you." Kronos' eyes narrowed. "And even that wasn't enough. You had to ruin everything," he seethed. "Maybe it might have worked, if you weren't so stupid."
"I didn't – what did I do wrong?" Percy demanded. He wanted to back away as the Titan approached, but he knew he'd pass out if he even tried.
Kronos growled, snatching hold of Percy's shirt and lifting the demigod off the ground. "What did you do wrong? You turned down immortality, remember?" He demanded.
"What? But I never… I never told you-"
"When you were talking to your mother," Kronos said, his fist tightening around Percy's shirt. "I heard you. You turned down immortality because you didn't want to leave them behind, but what about me, huh? Do you think I want to be the omega to a mortal alpha, knowing that it will be a blink of an eye before you're gone? There's no point to it."
Percy swallowed. "Kronos, I didn't… I didn't think-"
Kronos laughed bitterly. "Nothing's changed there. You didn't even think that maybe turning down immortality when you have an immortal omega wasn't the best idea?" He sneered at Percy. "But no harm done, right?" He growled, and then Percy was airborne.
The demigod alpha only had enough time to think: shit. He collided with the wall back-first, pain rippling up and down his spine even before he had even landed heavily on the ground, unable to even scream as all the air was driven from his lungs at the impact. Percy whimpered, trying to wrap his bound wrists around his stomach as if to keep himself from falling apart. He gasped, and promptly threw up his last meal.
Kronos stalked after him, a fire smouldering in his golden eyes. "You made all your promises, but you don't care, not really." His jaw tightened. "You never have."
"No," Percy whispered, clutching at his stomach. "I do, Kronos, I do. I've never lied to you. I love you-"
"Liar," Kronos seethed. "You're a liar."
Percy just shook his head, wanting to argue, but not able to find the words. Sure it had started off rocky, but he'd honestly thought that things had been getting better, at least until now. But evidently, Kronos had been more upset than he'd let Percy know. Of course, there were no questions as to why. At the time Percy had turned down immortality, he hadn't been thinking about Kronos – he'd only just mated with him, and he'd realised that Kronos had used him to escape the metaphorical noose that Olympus had placed around his neck. The thought of accepting immortality because of Kronos hadn't even crossed his mind.
"Kronos-"
"Shut up," the Titan snapped. "You've made your decision. You don't want to be immortal, fine. I don't want to waste a century having to follow you around then."
The demigod took a deep breath, forcing aside his pain. "You'd really rather be with Porphyrion?" His eyes glowed with anger at the thought of that giant even laying a hand on Kronos. "I made a mistake, Kronos," he whispered. "Please, don't… do you really think that Porphyrion will treat you any better than I have?"
"If I have to make a choice," Kronos said, "I'd prefer an immortal over a mortal. No matter what."
Percy stared at him. "I don't believe that," he murmured. "You think Porphyrion will let you disappear off like you have been with me? He'll keep you by his side all day and night, every day and night. You like your freedom, Kronos," Percy reminded him, voice surprisingly fierce despite the agony racing through his body with each minor movement. "With Porphyrion you will never be free again. He'll keep you away from everyone else, a prize to be flaunted."
Kronos merely shrugged. "He can try," he said.
The demigod trembled, feeling something warm soaking across his stomach. He glanced down, past his bound wrists, to where blood was soaking through his shirt. Odd, considering he distinctly remembered being naked when Kronos had launched his attack back on the Argo II. Percy blinked down at the blood, not too surprised that the collision with the wall of the cavern had caused him to bleed again. Percy took a deep breath. "Did you dress me?"
Kronos ignored him. "You'll be here for a while," he said. "We need to wait for Annabeth to join us before sacrificing you, so I'd get comfortable if I were you." His gaze lingered on Percy's wound and it glowed softly, before a fraction of the pain faded as it scabbed over once again. Percy frowned. "Your blood is needed," Kronos defended. "I'd hate for you to lose all of it." He shoved his hands into his pockets, cocking his head to the side as his eyes drifted towards the vegetable patch. "You can keep the Moly company while you wait."
The Titan turned away from Percy, facing a wall of the cavern.
"Kronos, please-"
"Goodbye, Percy." A wall crumbled down and Kronos stepped out of the cavern, glancing back briefly as it reassembled behind him.
Percy shut his eyes, resting his head on the cold stone beneath him. He should probably be thinking about his current situation, about how he was stuck in the cavern with no way out other than the crumbling walls – probably controlled by Gaea – but the only thought running through his mind was that Kronos was so desperate to get away from Percy that he was willing to turn to Porphyrion to do so.
Where had Percy gone wrong? He'd tried. He'd tried to make it work with Kronos, he'd tried to not restrict what the Titan did despite what Olympus and the gods wanted.
But it seemed to have all been for nothing. In the end, Percy had lost and Porphyrion had won.
Poor Percy. Unfortunately, the Percy-abuse isn't over quite yet, and won't be for a time to come. Is Kronos an idiot in trading away his freedom? Yes, yes he is. No one picked up on it, but Kronos did start acting odd immediately after Percy and Sally had that conversation in the kitchen :).
bookish-things: I'm telling you nothing xD. But yeah, there will be lots of heartbreak to come still for Percy.
ghostfall: Yup! It was soon :)
Thatgremlinbitch: Yes, that is exactly what happened. Kronos stabbed Percy because he doesn't make the cookies. xD
LilithAztecs: After I finish an on-going work. I don't know what that will be.
1234booklover: Well, you now know how Percy is :).