The next day Percy for the first time in months felt truly rested after having slept through the night. When he left his house and roamed out through the surrounding region to scout for any unwanted intruders the difference was astonishing, his senses much sharper like a fog had been lifted from them allowing him to finish his rounds much faster than what he was used to.
Barely an hour had passed before he returned to his home, having slain a pack of wandering Laistrygonians on his patrol. Most monsters didn't require him to exert much effort anymore, even when so much of his strength was unavailable in Alaska, the only exception being perhaps named monsters such as the Nemean lion.
Still fighting put his mind at ease and focused his otherwise fragmented thoughts and so he spent the vast time of his day on just that. Hunting monsters and practicing with some self made dummies. It was a far cry from his training at camp but it was training at least. To his surprise however, his godly acquaintance from yesterday was already waiting for him when he got back home, looking up to acknowledge his arrival.
Upon second look, the deity was fiddling with one of his dummies, tying something around it to make it more resilient. He did remember beheading that particular dummy two days ago. For a moment, Percy didn't know what to do. He had wanted to train now anyway so having his dummy fixed was quite welcome but he also didn't know what exactly Void wanted with him.
"You wouldn't mind having an actual sparring partner for a change, would you? I figured dummies wouldn't really cut it in your case." For an instant Percy just blinked before he simply nodded and uncapped his pen. He did yearn for a real opponent to test his skills against so he certainly wouldn't turn down this offer.
He quickly entered a ready stance while watching Void flick his wrist, a simple sword appearing in it. The blade was slightly longer than his own so he had to close the gap if possible. As such the moment their spar began he charged forward, his blade angled in a slash to deflect anything his opponent might attempt while he got close. Opposite to his expectation, Void also kept a defensive position, stepping towards his attack and deflecting him to the side.
As he passed the god he also found himself too far to use his shorter blade properly and so he continued his assault, moving into his opponent and pressing him relentlessly. He could intuitively feel the pressure he was applying, prompting his opponent for some mistake. He slashed, blocked a counter and slashed again, his sword in permanent motion, testing his opponent at every instance.
He didn't dare try stabbing motions since his opponent had more reach than him and therefore would gain an advantage he couldn't give over, but his assault still came from a multitude of angles, his feet constantly moving and positioning him anew. Void on the other hand stayed in a defensive form, parrying and blocking his attacks while frequently throwing counters his way. Despite his continued aggression the god gave no indication of being pressed.
This dance continued for a couple minutes with Percy never finding a decisive opening but also never giving one to his opponent until he eventually slipped up. In another offensive dash, Void managed to catch his blade near perfectly, sliding his own along it and flicking it to the side. For a brief moment, Percy was unguarded, his sword too far down to protect his upper body and that was all it took for the cold steel to press against his nose. At least Void had turned his blade in the last moment so he didn't need to heal a cut.
"Impressive, truly. Your judgment is good, you managed to stop quite a few of my attempts to disarm you despite your continued failure to get past my guard. In addition, you kept a calm mind despite it all and didn't leave yourself susceptible to any doubt. Though you definitely shouldn't try to pressure an immortal like that. Our thoughts are much faster compared to a mortal's, so it's entirely ineffective."
"Sounds plenty unfair to me…", he was heaving a little to get air through his lungs "Didn't feel that bad when I fought Ares before though" Void glanced his way, judging his physical state before answering his unasked question.
"Ares is a fool who let a child taunt and provoke him. Immortals think faster and are thus able to improve their decision making, but they are not above emotions. He was dumb enough to let anger cloud his judgment and he paid the price by letting you catch him off-guard. Though I assure you that you'd definitely defeat him if he were to slow his thoughts down to your level, even without taunts."
He breathed in deeply one last time before raising his sword again, leveling it at the god. Void mirrored the action, tapping the tip of his blade against Percy's own to signal the start of round two. And then round three. And round four. Time flew by as he repeatedly tested his limits against the elder god, trying maneuvers and attacks as he pleased to try and catch Void off his guard. He threw faints, stabs and slashes from all sorts of different angles, danced around the god to evade any counterattacks and even tried to take up the defensive position and parry Void in turn. He went through the full plethora of options at his disposal and yet he could never land a decisive blow. Whenever he felt he had an advantage or an opening, Void would somehow move just enough to still deflect or block his incoming blade.
Considering his status as a prodigy of swordsmanship among demigods and even immortals, it had been a dejecting five hours of him being outclassed but somehow having a new goal to strive for instead reinvigorated him. It was nice to have this sort of motivation, even if it was shallow.
He plopped down onto his couch, letting his tired body get some rest while letting his godly guest take a seat across from him. He had already sprayed some water onto himself and could feel it recharge his batteries, but his mental exhaustion still demanded him to lie down. Even his supercharged mind couldn't help but calm down after hours of combat training.
For a few minutes he just laid there, staring blankly at the sky and only barely aware of the passing of time. His body was slowly recovering, his breathing slowing down and with that his thoughts came back stronger than ever. Maybe it was what happened yesterday, but he found himself suddenly zoned in on the memory of his parents, his mortal parents. How painfully obvious that has become now. He tried to wrestle down the thought, tried to distract himself. The woods around him, snow slowly falling and an immortal being next to him, there were other topics, he just had to pick one… "Did they make it to Elysium?"
The question blurted out before he even knew it and suddenly the atmosphere turned from calm and peaceful to more serious, Void's eyes zoned in on him. "They did, both of them got in fairly easily given the lives they lived."
"Both?" Again he spoke before thinking, his emotions outrunning his mind at a fast rate. "Yes, Sally and Paul Blofis, your parents. Your sister died too young so her soul lacked a foothold in this world. Because of that she went past the underworld and straight into the void beneath. She's in my domain which is why I could transfer her message to you yesterday."
He looked at the immortal for a second, then two, then three. His mind just wasn't able to wrap around what he heard there. His sister was gone, truly gone. He failed to protect her. He wasn't there when she needed him. He…"She isn't gone, just one step ahead. The void is where every soul from your world ends up eventually and she just got there a little earlier. Once your story ends and you fade from this world, you'll be reunited there and until then she's watching over you from there."
His mind calmed once more, this time in a more pleasant way. Something about Void's alternate viewpoint was more comforting. He took a deep breath before meeting the deity's eyes, staring straight into a glazed mist. "How did it happen? Their death…how did they die?"
He didn't know where his sudden fit of courage came from exactly, whether he felt encouraged by his sister's support or just couldn't bear the uncertainty any longer. But it was there and he'd be damned to pass up on it.
"They died fighting with everything they had. That day, your mother spotted the monsters entering the apartment complex. They had slightly strengthened disguises but her being clear-sighted was enough for her to still spot them out. She told your stepfather and he grabbed the alloyed sword you left with them. When the monsters barged in through the door, he took them by surprise and cut down one dracaena immediately. After that a second dracaena charged at him and was also cut down because she underestimated your stepfather. The remaining three monsters were scared at that point because they knew the torture that waited for them should they fail to kill your parents so they held nothing back. The empusa among them attacked your stepfather with full force and plunged her claws through him. He died on the spot, quickly enough to not suffer much and your mother took the chance of the empusa having her claws stuck to kill it in return. After that the remaining two dracaenae took no chances and killed her quickly. After that they…they started leaving wounds all over their bodies to make it look like your parents had been tortured and had suffered greatly before their death. They also killed your sister and took her body with them to make it seem as if she'd been eaten by the empusa. They set the apartment on fire in the end and fled the scene."
Something inside of him was churning as he heard the story, the very nature around him vibrating, shaking whenever he breathed in or out. It took all he had to not explode right there, to not hunt down those snakes and rip them apart personally. And yet underneath all that rage, there was a part of him that was glad. Glad that his parents and sister didn't have to suffer. That they at least died quickly. That they are together in Elysium now. "Can I talk to them?"
This time Void shook his head, a solemn look in his eyes. "I can act as a partial bridge between you and your sister because she's now a citizen of my domain, but your parents are still of this world and therefore not for me to meddle with, even if I would like to help you."
At this Percy couldn't help but scoff. "Aren't you supposed to be almighty? Or was that a lie?" He came off harsher than he meant to but that didn't matter at the moment. Not when it could get him a chance to see his parents again.
" I am, but this world is simply not mine. My daughter created and nurtured this world through her will and careful action. As a father, I will offer her advice and help whenever she needs it or asks for it, but I won't force myself into it any more than that. My domain lies strictly outside of here and so do the things I will interfere with directly. Especially since you can just ask this as a favor off your uncle when you meet him again, he still views you favorably."
Percy could feel the impulse to scream at the deity course through his system, wanting to jump the god for denying him something that he could do with a flick of his wrist, but he wrestled it down quickly. While he didn't like it, Void was being reasonable and he could hardly ask the god to damage his own family just because of him. If he could truly ask this as a favor from Hades then it was all the better. "So that's it, they were killed and…mutilated because of me, to make me feel bad?"
He felt a bile rise in his throat as he said that, his voice icy and full of sorrow, but even he could notice how much less self-loathing there was within his words. Knowing that they had not had to endure any torture for him had made it much more bearable for him. "Not to make you feel bad but to break you. They also tried to twist the mist to make the mortals think of you as the culprit, though that failed because of your father and Hecate preventing it."
He sat still for a while longer, having nothing to say anymore. He still felt sick, like his stomach had been twisted and then repeatedly punched but compared to how he felt whenever even the thought of his parents came up even just a month ago this was nothing. At least he didn't feel the need to throw himself off a cliff anymore.
It took a few minutes to gather his bearings again and once he did, he noticed that Void had stood up and gone to the door. "You'll probably need some time to digest this so I'll be leaving. See you tomorrow."
He remembered saying something along the lines of a goodbye in return, though the god had been perfectly right. His mind was still spinning with the new information, a mixture of guilt, rage, sadness and a small light of relief that things had not been as bad as he thought they were. And unbeknownst to him deep inside a little part was taking the first, small step to moving on, the first step towards acceptance.
And that's part 2. Next chapter will start after a time skip and will set the tone for the ensuing action. Everything that happened during the skip will be explained through flashbacks when (and if) it becomes important.
Percy will leave Alaska in two or three chapters and the main story will commence thereafter. As I said in the last chapter, I'm still figuring out exactly how that will go.
Bye
M
