Shout-out to A-gods-flame for being my personal autocorrect, and to Death Fury for boosting my ego even if you write the same reviews in all stories. This reached 7000 views and I can only thank you guys. This is my first fic that I have written that is somewhat readable (excluding the commie Percy one because that one is crack, although good crack), so I just have to thank you guys so much. We've come a long way. Next chapter will be the conclusion of the Bunker "arc". Happy New Year!
At a luxurious restaurant in New Orleans, two men meet.
Two brothers.
Both of them have the same raven black colored hair, but that's where the similarities end.
One had a pale skin, black eyes that resembled the darkest of nights, and was wearing an impeccable suit. His posture was extremely formal, and overall resembling a successful businessman.
The other possessed a Mediterranean skin tone, sea green eyes, and while his clothes were still visibly of the highest quality possible, he was more laid back, and unprofessional compared to his sibling sat in front of him.
"You called me. I'm here." The first, and older brother stated, taking a quick glance at the menu, before calling a waitress with his hand.
"Yes, sir, how may I serve you both?" She approached the table, speaking to them in a well mannered way.
"I will take the best wine that you can offer me." The black eyed brother ordered.
"I will take a glass of wine as well, same as his." Complemented the younger brother.
The waitress noted the order in a small notebook and nodded. "It will be coming pretty soon." Both brothers made the same gesture to the waitress, a simple nod.
"Indeed I have called you, brother. I would like to discuss some... subjects." The sea green eyed man said, causing the black eyed one to raise an eyebrow, mostly because of the usage of the term "brother".
"I'm hearing whatever you have to say, Poseidon."
Poseidon simply looked around the table, as if he was worried about someone hearing this conversation.
"It is not a taboo matter, or anything like that." The sea god clarified. "I just wanted to know if... you knew about Percy not being dead."
At that moment, the waitress returned with a tray that contained two empty glasses, along with a bottle of wine. She put the glasses on the table, following that by opening the bottle and serving the wine to the two brothers.
"Thank you." Hades took a sip of his wine, before removing a small flask from his pocket, and mixing the contents of it in his glass. He took another sip and this time he seemed satisfied. "It will always make it better."
Poseidon now raised his eyebrow. "Mixing nectar and wine doesn't seem too healthy. Some tales depict that this combination made our father... well, you know." Poseidon himself took a sip from his wine that did not contain any nectar, and seemed to like it the way it was tasted. "Anyway, what is your answer?"
Hades put his glass on the table. "Yes, I knew. His soul never reached my realm. Miss Chase was judged and sent to Elysium where she resides since. But for Jackson, there wasn't a trace of him at Erebus. Either his soul got claimed by forces beyond my control... or he was alive. Which he ultimately was."
Poseidon grimaced at his brother's words. "I understand. I should have probably gone straight to you after the funeral. His body was never found, according to that former lover of Owl Head. I searched where I could, but I was unsuccessful."
Hades pouted slightly, before taking his glass of wine and giving it another drink. "Perhaps you shouldn't just content yourself with the areas that you are the expert. Maybe..." Hades leaned forward. "Contact others for help."
The sea god simply sighed at the provocation. "Whatever. I admit my mistakes, but I'm happy that he is alive and... well." He drank more from his wine, but this time he had a grim on his face after swallowing it. "Could you...?"
Hades did not understand for a time, before opening his mouth and subsequently closing it without saying a word, but he did get what his brother way implying. He grabbed the flask from his pocket and threw it to Poseidon, who grabbed it with ease. He then deposited a few drops of the godly liquid into his wine, before returning the flask to its owner. Drinking once more from the now combination of nectar and wine, Poseidon was much more satisfied.
"I guess thy speaks the truth." He admitted with a shrug of his shoulders, earning a smirk from his brother. "Do you... do you think we get too attached to them?"
Hades's smirk faded. "To our children? Sometimes. But only after they leave to do something else."
Poseidon chuckled. "I think it's because of their age. They just die so quickly. And for us specially, not having children..." Poseidon paused for a moment, seemingly in thought. This did not passed unnoticed by the god of riches, but Hades decided not to comment on that. "Anyway, I just get so overprotective when it comes to Percy. I don't know if it happens with your Nico..."
"It sometimes does." Hades admitted. "But I have said... terrible things to him in the past." The god of the the Underworld grimaced. "In times of crisis. But since then, I've been trying to be a good father. At least for our standards. Giving him gifts. Making him welcome in my palace if necessary."
Poseidon nodded. "I too have said poorly thought things to my son." He drank again from his wine, emptying the glass. He grabbed the bottle and filled it up again, much to Hades's curiosity as to why he would subject himself to all that work just to have his glass full. It wasn't like he couldn't just conjure more wine with a wave of his hand. "In the first time we met, I said I was sorry that he was born. That he was a mistake. Can you imagine?"
"That doesn't even come close to what I have said." Hades responded with a bitter laugh. "I said to him, and I kid you not, that it would have been better if he had died instead of his sister."
"By mother." Poseidon too laughed. "We are terrible father figures."
"Our father figure swallowed us both. Do we really have something to base off here?" Hades remembered.
"Indeed. But at least we try to improve."
"That, is undoubtedly true. At least regarding these last years."
And as the Sun Chariot set, giving room for the Moon Chariot to thrive through the starry sky, the two brothers remembered the old times, simpler times, they would say. Times where they would act as brothers. Love themselves like brothers.
Perhaps the recent events made room for improvement of relations.
At a usually peaceful grove, swords clashed.
Not just swords, but fists and claws as well. The Butcher, as they knew him, came forward without mercy for the scattered monsters.
Just a few moments ago, they had been destroyed by what they only could assume was the doing of Zeus himself. Perhaps the king felt like he needed to intervene more. That he needed to be a more active foe for those who threatened his rule.
Of course, they were wrong. Percy knew that Zeus was probably courting another woman, or something that was considered unimportant by most. It didn't matter. He and Thalia had started this, and he would finish it.
Riptide brought panic to the monsters' ranks, if those could even be called ranks at this point. Percy haven't stopped using the sword, not even close to it, but he did miss some action. Relying too much on his powers could in fact a problem. Maybe Artemis was right in that regard.
Speaking of which, Percy could make up the glow of silver arrows that brought the end to the monsters' unlucky enough to come into contact with them. Percy didn't know why, but he was appreciating the moon goddess's company. He really did expect this to be much worse.
Funnily enough, when Percy had looked back for a brief second, he could see that Artemis was once again at that older appearance, like that of the gas station. He made a mental note to ask her later what that was all about.
For now, he concentrated on the massacre that he was gladly performing. Some monsters tried to fight, but were quickly defected. An arrow flew in his direction, but he managed to dodge it with ease. He ran and sliced the dracaena that had shot the arrow.
Never again.
By this point, there was barely any resistance. But Percy would not let anyone escape.
With a stretch of his hand, he held exactly fourteen beings in place.
He closed his hand and the last screams of those unfortunate enough monsters to receive that treatment resonated throughout the forest.
Soon, nothing was left of them apart from golden dust. Percy did not wait and immediately went to the building that he saw monsters coming from earlier.
"Percy!" He heard Artemis calling from afar. He sighed and leaned at red door that was apparently the entrance to the underground building. Around him he saw some barracks, tents, and the weapons of the fallen army, along with the remains of said army.
Soon, his favorite goddess, probably, approached him. Not that he really liked many goddesses. Most of them just chose to mess with his life. Percy had to focus himself to not look too long. She was, just like at the gas station, stunningly beautiful. Her skin almost shone in the darkness that the clouds provided. Those silver eyes that she possessed as always giving him a feel of a cold yet amicable night.
It was better to shove away these thoughts, though. He liked being a human, thank you very much. He did not need to be turned into a jackalope at this exact moment.
"Hi." He greeted with a smile, looking directly at her eyes. He noticed that she slightly avoided his gaze. He had seen other people do it, but Artemis? And that was he was doing his wolf stare, courtesy of Lupa. But now he was just looking normally at her.
"Hi." The goddess aknowledged him, examining the door. "Is this it?"
"Indeed." Percy confirmed. "What's up with your form?"
Artemis seemed confused, manifested by her blinking a few times. "I beg your pardon?"
"I mean... You do realize you are looking twenty years old, right?"
Only now Artemis seemed to realize. "Uh... Reyna told me that battling in the form of a child is ineffective unless against a much bigger opponent. That's why." She explained in a not so convincing tone. So much so that Percy didn't believe that at all.
He narrowed his eyes, but decided to push this subject away. "Makes sense, I guess." He tried to open the door, but it was locked. "Well, damn." He got a few feet away from the door. "I wish we had a kid of Hermes with us." He said taking a deep breath, before running in the direction of the locked door.. With one kick, the thing was torn away, hitting something loudly. He could see that beyond the door lied a hall.
That something screamed in panic. Apparently he had hit a dracaena with the door. "Please! Don't leave me!" Percy raised his head to see that she was yelling at a group of monsters consisting of a hellhound, two giants, another three dracaenae and one empousa that was clearly not Kelli. One of the snake women was desperately trying to press a button of an elevator, but it didn't seem like it was going well.
"Well, good evening." Percy made sure to greet them with formality. Only the monsters' loud breaths could be heard when he finished speaking. He approached the dracaena in the ground, removing the door from above her, and holding the monster's neck, pushing her at the wall. "What's your name?"
There wasn't a response.
"Last chance. I asked," he clenched his fist to take a grip of her blood "what is your name?"
The monster was pale as she could be with that green skin, but she kept her silence.
"Shame." Percy pressed his hand forward, causing the unnamed dracaena to scream in agony as her blood boiled. It didn't take long for her to dissolve into the characteristic dust.
Percy turned to the group at the end of the corridor and gave them a grin. "Who wants to be the next?"
Of course, no one answered him, so he simply started to walk in the direction of the elevator. The monsters panicked, the giants and hellhound taking fighting stances, but Percy could see that they were trembling. That made the grin on his face to widen even more.
He made his way slowly, enjoying the moment as much as he could. The dracaena still tried to press the elevator button repeatedly.
But even if the elevator did arrive, would there be mercy?
The answer was quite obvious to Percy, since with a soft "ding" signaling it, the doors of the elevator were opened automatically. The monsters ran above the others' heads to get inside, but it wasn't meant to be.
With another simple stretch of hand, he got control of their blood current, like he had done with the other members of the horde. Monster blood felt different. It felt rough, wild, just like the creatures themselves. He had felt human blood before, he couldn't lie about that, and it felt smoother. More natural. Safe to say, Percy had never felt ichor, but he could imagine what it was like.
The Butcher had done many things with beasts' blood in the past. Making it pressure the veins and arteries so it would basically make them explode. Boil the blood, cooking them from the inside. Making the blood itself stop inside the veins, causing an enormous amount of pain. You name it.
The truth was that he enjoyed it. Some of these creatures had been terrorizing and maiming demigods for millennia. It was only fair for them to suffer the same.
And as for the group in front of him, he first approached the hellhound, kneeling in front of the snarling monster, who was crying thanks to the pain that only increased further as time went on.
"I give you the benefit of the doubt." Mercy for the innocent. Or at least the ones that weren't fully rational, as far as he knew it. He brought Riptide straight into the hellhound's back, vaporizing it immediately.
The others would not be so lucky.
"You two..." He walked to the frozen giants. And not because they were Hyperboreans, that for sure. "You are always so eager to feast on the flesh of the fallen children of the gods. Let's see how you like being burned, shall we?" He clenched his fist, causing the temperature of the blood inside the taller creatures to skyrocket. The cyclops roared in pain, and soon nothing was left of them, but dust.
One thing that Percy didn't think was fair, was that they always took just a few seconds to die. But even with that, it was quick enough to be efficient, but long enough to make it last.
Without saying another word, he made his way to the panicked dracaenae, and simply repeated the gesture of closing his hand, making the blood in them stop. They barely had time to scream before they themselves crumbled. He never felt like toying too much with this type of monster.
At last, the empousa. She stared at him with horror with the red eyes that she had. Percy got close to her face and felt it getting warm from the monster's blazing hair.
"Please..." Percy heard the monster whisper.
"Oh, what's that?" The Butcher asked, placing the tip of Riptide right into her neck. That made the empousa shake in fear even more, along with heavy breaths.
"Please, mercy, have mercy, just finish this already..." She managed to mutter these words while staring right at Percy. Her eyes screamed for compassion. For a quick death.
In response, Percy just kept grinning. "How many have you killed? To how many have you not shown mercy?"
"I haven't, I swear to Hecate herself, I haven't killed a single soul before!"
Percy's grin faded for the first time. He released the grip that he had on the monster's blood. But even if the empousa did sigh in relief at first, it didn't last, since Percy pressed Riptide forward into her neck, threatening to send her to the pit the quick way.
"Swear to me."
The monster was caught in confusion. "W-what?"
"I did not stutter. Swear to me."
He pressed the sword even forward. More than that would pierce the empousa's pale skin and bring her destruction.
"I swear to you!" The monster yelled. "I swear on your name that I haven't killed an innocent soul. Please!"
Percy once again smiled. "Would you do it again, but this time on the Styx?"
For the first time, the empousa was dead silent.
"That's what I thought. And since you swore on my name, I deliver the punishment. I am the witness of your crimes." He once again had his wild grin back on his face, and once more reached for the blood of the monster, holding it in place. Percy clenched his fist, only to open it right after, causing the veins of the blazing haired monster to break as the blood forced its way out of them in a violent push.
Her screams were agonizing. Just like Kelli, blood started to come out of her orifices. She tried to plead again, but was too occupied drowning in her own blood and tears.
"Percy, that's enough!" A voice from behind him spoke.
He turned to the speaker, only to find himself lost at the sight of the goddess of the moon, who had a very disapproving look in her eyes.
The natural rage that came with Percy's streaks seemed to fade away in a few moments as he stared at the goddess. Without saying a word, he pierced the empousa, once more creating a pile of dust at his feet as his blade pierced the monster's skin.
"That's too much." Artemis approached him, putting her left hand on his shoulder. "Please, control yourself. I don't want to see you like that. You are better than this, Percy Jackson."
Percy leaned against the wall, sighing deeply and looking at the ceiling. "Am I?"
Artemis was taken aback by Percy's honesty in his question. "Yes, you are. If you were not, I wouldn't even be trying to tell that to you. I know that you have good in you. That you are not a mindless beast. That is why I want you to calm down. You are better than this, trust me."
Percy once more looked into the goddess's face. His rage was all but gone. He had to admit, he had times where he reflected his doings. But never like this. He didn't want to be seen doing what he did.
He didn't want Artemis to think he was a monster like Kelli had portrayed him to be.
He was not.
"We will see if you are indeed correct, Milady." Percy sighed again, walking with difficulty to the elevator. Although not because of physical wounds or fatigue. "Time to end this."
Artemis joined him shortly. He pressed the button to with an arrow pointing straight down, and the doors closed.
His mind went back to the Doors of Death, along with Bob and Damasen. At least nobody needed to press the button on the other side for them this time.
He shivered as the elevator started to go down at a slow pace.
And we reach the end. I didn't plan for the tenth chapter to be the one to conclude this specific plotline, but I'm happy with it. And I wanted to include that Poseidon and Hades scene not only to fill up space (lol) but because it's going to be important later. Props if you spot the reason why. Not that subtle. Anyway, review, and have a happy New Year!