"And you're right once again. What a surprise. You know, I'm trying to help you with your fatal flaw, but it's kind of hard to convince you you aren't in the right one hundred percent of the time when you are ninety-nine percent of it." "I know, I'm a lot to handle. But not too much for you, right?" "Right" "I don't know why, but I just needed that little extra bit of confirmation" "That's fine. People have turned against you in the past, so you expect them to keep doing it. And I can't really force you to get over it or something. Just know that I will not leave you." "What's happening? I just called to check up on you and now I'm being showered with love and validation." "I guess that's what happens when you have such an amazhang boyfriend." "I'll agree with you on that one. You're amazing and I don't know what I did to deserve you" "Do you have any idea how many times you saved my life? You did more than enough to deserve me" "Yay, more validation" "Is there a little nearby?" "Maybe, why?" "You just sounded really excited, like a child." "I mean, it's possible. I do kind of feel not alone right now. Speaking of alters, I made a program for external communication. It basically works like a WhatsApp group, but it's all on one machine. The code is based on- are you even listening?" "No, because I wouldn't understand it anyways, but I love to hear your voice, especially when you explain stuff you like, so please, keep talking." "So, most of the frontend code just comes from WhatsApp. Some of the backend as well. If this code was a house, it would be made from old pieces of a demolished house held together by duct tape. That is probably not 100 percent legal but who cares? I'm not using it commercially. A few aspects of the design are my own though, for example…" I then spent a good five more minutes explaining "…to solve this, I used a system called-" "Sorry to interrupt you, but do you know where Piper is?" "Why?" "Oh, I was just wondering since she's always been with you during all the other calls." "Oh, she decided to make some friends or something, even though this gives her many chances to be betrayed or abandoned. Seems this girl hasn't faced repeated abandonment in her childhood and it shows." "I think that maybe, just maybe, you're the one misjudging people here." "Maybe. Making new friends might not be that bad for her after all. Back to the communication app?" "Sure" "I used a system where all clients and the server…" I kept explaining everything about how I had tricked my computer into thinking it was a server and a client at the same time. Many clients actually. After a while, I heard footsteps. "Percy, I think someone's coming to you" "Are you sure it isn't on your side?" "Wrong surface. They're walking on some sort of pavement, and that doesn't really exist anywhere near me." "Maybe we should stop the call then. Well, the mist is probably going to hide it anyways" "Hey Percy" Someone suddenly said. A girl, around our age, walked into the picture. "Uh, what is that floating picture thing?" Instantly, my ability to explain and overcomplicate kicked in. "It's a visual interface system that uses the fact that different wavelengths of light interact differently with lenses. This is also the reason why rainbows exist. In this case, more complex len-" "Too complex for me. Next question: who are you?" "Annabeth, Percy's girlfriend. You?" "Julia, nobody's girlfriend" "Like Penelope" Percy said. "Penelope?" "Yes, she's the girlfriend, or rather wife of Odysseus and when he met Polyphemus,-" "He claimed to be nobody" "I could have guessed that you're Julia" I said. "How?" "Because you're supposedly the only person in the school who's nice to Percy and also…" I held my black ring into the view of the iris message. Julia brought her white ring forward as well. "Ayyy" we said in somewhat perfect sync. "What is your ring made of?" "Obsidian, I have a friend who's really good with that" "Mine's just plastic" "Does that change what it means?" "Not really I guess" "Then it doesn't matter what it's made of. As long as you wear it with pride, it does what it's supposed to." "Why is everyone so nice to me?" "Because everyone deserves kindness." "Well, I didn't really get kindness. I'm so used to being excluded." I heard a knock on the door and opened. Piper came in. "Hey Pipes. I was just talking to Percy. Well, technically I was talking to his classmate Julia. So, you mentioned feeling excluded. By whom exactly?" Piper, Percy and I spent the next few minutes practically bombarding her with queer positivity, ending with the not-quite-promise to get her an aro flag. "Wow, thanks for that guys. Imma go reflect on how schisty my previous life was" She left for who-knows-where. "Seriously Percy?" "What?" "She's only known you for like six days and she's already using the word schist" "I only used it once when she happened to be around and she straight up stole it. It was not my intention.
So, any reason you called other than the fact that your severe trust issues create the need for daily affirmations of my love for you?" "Why are you calling me out like that." "Because it hurts you, but not enough to not be enjoyable" I'd like to clarify one thing here. What Percy was doing here was absolutely not abusive. It was all fun and games, the emotional equivalent of playfully poking someone. With your finger, not with a knife. Every couple has their boundaries and this was well within ours. "But honestly, not really. Except there's one thing I wanted to ask you: do you agree that Nico needs a hug?" "Well, he's not really a fan of physical contact, but yeah, he definitely needs a non-physical act with an intention and meaning similar to a hug" "That's pretty much what I meant as well. So, I was thinking we could help with that. You'll finish school early tomorrow, right?" "Let me check" He searched his bag for way longer than my ADHD-influenced patience wanted to put up with. "Correct, I'll be done by 1:50." "Good. I'll actually finish a bit earlier than that because a teachers is sick, so I'll have enough time to strategize" "Strategize for giving Nico a hug?" "Well, you, me and Nico are all several kilometers apart, so I'll have to figure out the transportation first. If I want to organize transportation, I'll also need some sort of schedule to know for when I'll need to arrange the transport. And there's so much more that needs to be done" "Alright, I get it. You need to plan a lot of stuff. Well, I won't try to deprive you off that enjoyable experience" "Thanks, anything you want to say?" "Nothing, apart from the fact that I love you and that you're awesome and smart and good at math and I'm not and I have this massive homework due on Wednesday that I-" "I'll consider it. I'll tell you next time we call. Let me know when you're done tomorrow" "Bye, see you tomorrow. Love you" "Love you too, bye"
I ended the call by picking up the prism and hiding it in my bag. I wasn't really worried about it being stolen. Okay, let me rephrase that. I wasn't really worried about losing it to theft, I was only worried about the thief since the prism might be cursed. Luckily, the curse only affected those wanting the gems for their monetary value (or it had simply disappeared), otherwise not just the prism but also my ring would have killed me long ago. My ring, which was of the same ever so slightly translucent black as the ground in- I think you can guess what happens next.
Piper
I agree with Annabeth, you can guess what happened next. I'll save you details. The flashback was over rather quickly, and didn't even involve that much screaming and crying. After only about ninety seconds, it was already pretty much over. "Hey Piper" A male voice said. "Haven't seen you since you triggered me out by freezing the body. When even was that? And where are we?" "Let me think. If I'm not mistaken, it was eight days ago. We're at school, but we don't have any more lessons today. All that's left to do is our homework. And maybe Percy's homework as well." "I'd complain, but I owe the guy not just my life but also my existence. I'm serious, if it weren't for Percy, we literally would not have lived long enough to experience the trauma that led to my existence. And also that of some others. We're still figuring everything out, but we're pretty sure our time down there created more than just me" He didn't elaborate further than that. "Then I guess I'll do the homework then. It'll be a nice distraction from the trauma that's still haunting me" "I know. Those first few minutes after a flashback are… difficult. So, we've got a task on DNA replication, something on tangential graphs and a really smart rat." "The first one sounds good. I'll have to learn some of this stuff first, but that shouldn't take too long." We both did our homework. I finished the biology task a bit before Chris (was this actually Chris? He hadn't introduced himself, but I didn't know any other alters that were related to Tartarus and had met me after I triggered them out via freezing) probably because he had to first relearn the material by the book while I already knew everything thanks to Annabeth's amazing analogies and explanations. I decided to check up on our monster "friends". I took my knife (just in case they'd break the truce) and left.
I knocked on the door behind which I had been in a battle for my life not even 24 hours ago. Jennifer the dracaena opened the door. "Hey Piper, want to test your luck?" "I have this dagger here and I'm feeling pretty confident about my ability to jam it into your chest at the slightest hint of you or your friends trying to kill me. Also, you wouldn't want to kill me because if you succeed, you'd face the wrath of Annabeth Chase and believe me, you don't want her angry at you." "Okay, we won't kill you because you'll kill us first. I think this tactic worked before, for like fifty years and it was called the Cold War" "That's pretty much what's happening here. I was just-" The door opened and the other two girls came in. Now I really had to trust that truce since there was no way I could win a battle. "Hi girls. I was just here to check up on you and acknowledge the weirdness of the situation I guess. A demigod just sitting in a room with three monsters and not being scared for her life, like where do you get that" "Fields of punishment probably. A lot of demigods, even more monsters, but no one fears for their lives" "I mean, they don't have lives, so it doesn't really count. Speaking of the fields of punishment, any tips for dealing with having been to Tartarus and being traumatized from it?" "Good question." Martha said. "For me it always sucks when I remember that I will almost certainly go back at some point in the future, but that isn't the case for demigods, so I guess that though would help Percy and Annabeth and what was the other one called again? Niclas?" "You mean Nico?" "Yes, that one" "He escaped Tartarus as well, why isn't he famous among monsters?" "Because he didn't escape. He was caught by giants who took him back with them. It's like a prison; if you successfully break out, you'll be famous, but what happened to Nico was about the equivalent of finishing your sentence." "Makes sense I guess. Any other trauma advice?" "I got nothing, sorry. But I'll tell you when I think of something. But I also don't really struggle with trauma. Maybe monster brains are just different" "Thanks. My friends really need some help." I spent a few more minutes talking to the three girls until my hand got tired from having my knife constantly ready to strike. "I gotta go back now. See you sooner or later" "See you" I left and went back to our room. When I came back, someone was sitting on Annabeth's desk, doing her homework. (By someone I don't mean a stranger, it was Annabeth, I just didn't know who was fronting. "Who is this?" I asked. "Good question. I'd turn around while talking, but I'm not responsible for that muscle group. So, if you're asking who's talking to you, the answer is Luisa. Chris is still working on writing down some homework stuff. Annabeth is reading something and I kind of ended up here. I'm small, so I'm good at co conning" "It doesn't seem like physical size, albeit in the inner world, should have to do with your ability to front. But what do I know?" "It's not just that. I also have a small personality. I can't explain it. I'm seven, I don't know stuff" "Is it because your parents diminished you into someone who won't speak her mind, so you aren't noticeable and that's why your influence is small?" "Mhm, like that" "This system will never cease to amaze me" "We're amazing. Annabeth, your hubris. Sorry. Did that just work? Would this be considered internal or external communication? Would you guys please be quiet? I'm trying to work here. Sorry. Sorry." "Uh, what was that? Co-con external communication?" "Pretty much. Looks like we all have control of talking right now. We can also all hear, so it works" "DID is absolutely amazing. I mean, the trauma you've been through is horrible but still, amazing, just in a fascinating way, not in a good way. "Can we do this homework now? But I like talking to people. But it's distracting me from the homework. And I want to read and the dyslexia already makes that hard enough. Fine. Sorry Piper" While they continued doing their homework, I did the next of my assignments. We finished at around the same time, except that the system had completed all three assignments which I was still missing math. "Everyone, can I pleeease copy your homework?" I asked, but no one reacted. I looked at them- dissociated. I saw the hairbrush sitting on Annabeth's bed. It had stripes of tape around it, I'd ask Annabeth about them the next time I saw her. Now I gave it into her hands hoping it would help with grounding. After just a minute, I heard an excited "I won. Dam, this thing is good" "Let me guess, Luisa?" "Guessed right. I just felt like maybe I could come out. Hey cool, I can move my head." "That sucks when you can't, doesn't it" "A bit. Why did Annabeth have to read? She can't even read properly" "Oh, she can read, better than most Greeks actually, she's just not very good at it" "She's better, but not good. That doesn't make sense" "Oh, it does. Better is just a relative description while good is somewhat absolute. Something can be better than something else while still not being good" "Then he lied to us" "Who lied to you?" With the most dramatic voice her seven year old mind could conjure up, she said "My first grade English teacher. He told me better always came after good, but that was a lie!" "Aren't you overreacting a little bit" "Maybe. I'm sorry." "Hey, it's okay."