Silena Beauregard
Despite her exhaustion and fatigue, the sleep that followed was uneasy and restless. The ebb and flow in the crowds of the dead gently pulled her along and endless hours melted away like a fly moving through amber. She stood on an outcrop and in the distance were two rivers. She yearned for either release. Either the clean slate of Lethe, or the sweet oblivion Styx promised. She knew she was denied both.
Ever further she wandered away from the Underworld's heartland, away from the palace and its sinister grandiose, away from the judges and the checkpoints, to where the pale crowds slowly began to thin out until only a few souls were even in view. Perhaps they were as lost as she was, or simply could not find the way back. She was not sure she could if she tried.
No more voices sought out her allegiance, and soon Silena was sure that was that she had truly reached the final lines of her story. Just as this certainty settled in, the sharp snap of leather wings ripping open to catch the air. Silena did not turn around and only continued her aimless stroll as three shadows descended from the darkness above and silently landed behind her in the pale grass.
What did the dead care about the corporal world?
Just then, something burning hot wrapped itself around her throat and a moment later, furious red flames engulfed her head. Silena did not have a body. She had no nerves that could feel pain, or skin that could be scorched. It was the first thing she had felt for a very long time. A piercing scream tore from her lips and Silena collapse to her knees, clutching at a cord that felt as hot as molten iron.
Finally, the flames died, and she found herself kneeling in front of the three furies. "The lord of the underworld demands your presence!"
Before Silena could come up with a response, the three furies began dragging towards Hades' palace.
Annabeth had at some point described the palace to her, and had she known she would be down here so soon down, she might have listened closer, and not be turned off by Annabeth's overly elaborate description of the gothic architecture?
The garden of Persephone was quite beautiful, though she did not have the time to appreciate it. And the undead warriors, standing their eternal vigil, certainly took away from the charm. The throne room was as grim and majestic as she had imagined it to be.
Two gods sat on their throne, one tall, pale, and unmistakably her host. The other was beautiful, with willowy hair and rosy cheeks.
"My Lord," the leader of the three furies crooned, bowing deeply a few feet away from the throne.
"This is the traitor?" Hades asked, gazing down at her with cold, uncaring eyes.
"Yes," Persephone replied, glancing over at her husband in an exasperated manner. "One might be drawn to the conclusion that you do not watch Hephaestus TV, my little Grumblebun."
If she had the facilities, she might have puked at the nickname.
Hades sighed in the manner of someone suffering greatly. "I might be able to if your mother ever shut up."
"She hasn't been here since winter," Persephone argued defensively. "And she doesn't talk that much. That is beside the point. You said you were out of ideas and here it is. Even you could not possibly argue that this one here would be a poor fit."
Silena did not have the faintest idea what the two gods were talking about and doubted it bode well for her, but realizing there was nothing she could do about it, she just stayed silent and stared at her feet.
"Apart from her being a traitor?" Hades asked.
"That is the best part," the goddess replied. "The fair deceiver," Persephone quoted some source Silena did not recognize but did not seem to bode well for her. "No one could possibly take offense over this."
Persephone rose from her throne and approached Silena, and raised her hand. The clothes on her body seemed to instantly dissolve into flower petals and were blown away by some alien wind she could not feel, leaving her as bare as on the day of her birth. When the goddess then reached out for her, Silena tried to shrink back, but to her dismay, she seemed to be frozen in place.
The goddess reached, cradled one of her breasts in her palm, and looked back at her husband quizzically. It wasn't an overtly sexual gesture, more reminding of her rancher gauging the quality of a piece of cattle. Somehow the goddess seemed to make physical contact with her and for the first time in a long time, Silena felt the warm touch of another living on her skin. Had it not been for the nature of this contract, she might have cried off joy. Instead, she only stood frozen, helplessly waiting for the fate that she now suspected she might be in for.
"Would you not agree that she is of especially exquisite make?"
Hades sighed, "She is, dove. But he does not strike me as one to appreciate being given a slave, traitor or not. It might even put in him a complicated position."
At least she would not be kept by Hades, Silena thought to herself, trying to be optimistic. Though she knew that the alternatives weren't likely to be any more desirable.
"Oh, his heart was just broken. That girl left him. The fates only know why. It is now the perfect time, trust me!" Persephone insisted. "This one is young, charming if properly motivated, and very beautiful. The perfect spring to a broken heart's winter."
Hades sighed, as if resigning himself to unpleasant consequences in the spirit of appeasing his wife. "Very well," he finally replied. "When you have figured out the formalities, you may seek out Thanatos!"
As Persephone beamed at her husband, the god of the underworld seemed to instantly combust to flakes of ashes. The furies, too, melted away from reality, leaving her along with the goddess of spring. "It is time you and I had a world, little traitor."
Silena had always imagined the goddess of spring to be a gentle creature. The sparkle in Persephone's eyes did not strike her as particularly friendly.
Within the blink of an eye, they shifted locations out to the goddess garden. "Now, I have a proposal for you."
"Yes, my lady," she replied quietly, already guessing what the nature of this proposal was going to be.
"You were acquainted with a son of Poseidon named Perseus?" Persephone asked mildly.
"Yes," she replied, using as few words as possible. Even from beyond the veil, the guilt over those betrayals still stung quite deeply.
"The past few months have been somewhat chaotic and the details mustn't interest you. What is of relevance here is that he was just raised to godhood."
Did this mean that Percy and Annabeth had broken up? Silena asked herself. The thought saddened her, even if that wasn't particularly high on her list of priorities.
"I shall keep this brief. I intend to provide you to him as a welcoming gift."
"You mean a sex slave?" Silena summarized in kind. Remembering the sweet, quite handsome guy she had gotten to know over the past few years, she found herself agreeing with Hades' earlier skepticism. The only one more uncomfortable than the girl in such a situation would arguably be Percy. But perhaps he had changed. People tended to do that. In either case, she stayed silent about it.
"An immortal servant," Persephone corrected. "And a spoil of war to some extent, seeing as he hasn't yet claimed any. To look after the residence and address his needs. Though you certainly seemed to have understood the general idea. To summarize, your soul becomes his, and your reprieve from the underworld lasts only as long as your service to him. Your body is his to do with as he pleases."
Silena was not fooled in the slightest. While she could see Percy needing a private maid, she knew that sex was at the center of this arrangement.
"Why me?" she asked quietly.
"You were hardly on the top of my list," Persephone agreed. "I considered a few possible candidates. Helen of Troy, and so on. The usual candidates."
"But in my case, no one would care...no gods could possibly take offense. Even my mother would hardly care," she replied.
"That," Persephone agreed, apparently pleased with her catching along fast. "And I hoped your previous association would motivate you to be especially generous."
"Generous?" Silena asked.
"If he desires to punish you, that is obviously his purgative, as it would be any gods. But I imagine his needs will be a lot more simple. Entertainment, pleasure, and all the things that come along with that. Not that other females can't provide those, but you I hope can offer a more personal touch."
Silena stayed silent for a long moment, weighing her options. Back when she was alive, the thought of becoming some guy's sex slave beyond perhaps short-term play with a lover would have been horrifying. That hadn't changed, for the record. But after spending who knows how long in the underworld, it now seemed like a relatively small price to pay.
So what if she had to play Percy Jackson's maid? So what if she would be expected to sleep with a guy she once fancied, and maybe even end up pregnant? She and Annabeth had already tagged him as husband material back when he was fourteen, though she had gracefully stepped aside for Annabeth back then.
Worst-case scenario, Percy had changed, and maybe she'd get knocked around a bit. But Silena very much doubted that. Even if their former friendship was beyond saving….
No, it certainly wasn't glamorous. But compared to her afterlife? Anything was preferable to that.
"So what do you need me to do exactly?" she asked.
"Swear an oath to the river of Styx that you will be a loyal slave to Percy Jackson and not act against his interests. Before you agree, if you break your oath, your life will be terminated and you will be returned to Asphodel or the fields of punishment, depending on your conduct."
"I'll do it then," Silena agreed, deciding on the spot that whatever things Percy Jackson might demand from her, it would be preferable to the underworld.
"I thought you would agree. Wait, a moment while I summon Thanatos with his funny keys. I hope he hasn't lost them again."
Silena woke up to a disturbance in the bedroom, the recollections of her dream still quite vivid in her memory.
Percy still lay right next to her, so at first, she thought it had to be Juniper bringing them breakfast. No,... she realized. The steps were too heavy. "Good morning Annabeth," she groaned, risking as little exposure to the cold as possible.
"It's like eleven o'clock," she complained. "Why aren't you up yet?"
"Long night," she grumbled into the blanket.
"Yeah," Percy agreed.
"Fuck, it's cold here," Annabeth then complained, and she heard the young woman undressing. "Scoot over!" Annabeth ordered, sitting down on the bed next to Silena.
"Annabeth!" Silena complained.
"Silena," Annabeth complained right back. "For a girl in my boyfriend's bed, you are complaining a lot."
Silena squealed in protest as Annabeth pulled the blanket open far enough to slip in herself, exposing her to the bitter cold to an unacceptable degree. It lasted mere moments as Annabeth slid under the blanket right next to her, wearing only a sports bra and panties.
"Girls," Percy groaned from his side of the bed. "Be quiet"
Turning onto her back, Silena realized her sore she was. Literally from her legs to her throat, every muscle in her body seemed to ache. "I know I encouraged you to embrace this harem thing, but damn, what did you do with the poor girl? Silena looked like a strangled chicken," Annabeth joked from her other side as she cuddled up against Silena's side, leaving her feeling a bit like the sausage in a hotdog.
"So many things..." Silena complained innocently. "So many things. The depravities..."
"I thought having a harem meant there wouldn't be so much complaining," Percy grumbled.
"I think that ship has sailed," Annabeth joked. "Way too lax on discipline. Though I see Silena got that collar on again..."
Silena punched her pillow and heard her blush. She had almost forgotten she was still wearing it. "If I let you crawl to my other side, will you shut up?" Percy asked.
Annabeth took the deal and climbed over the two of them, accidentally stepping onto Silena's hip in the process.
It was another hour before they finally left the bed, after making Percy leave the bed to close the window and turn on the heating. After eating a very late breakfast, which effectively meant lunch, Annabeth let Khione back out of her cage. It was fairly obvious that Annabeth was trying hard not to gloat at Circe, still locked up in her cage. Fortunately, Percy had reluctantly agreed to take the collar off, and the cold weather provided her with the convenient excuse of wearing a turtle neck that hid her hickey.
Percy Jackson
"Someone really had a rough night," Annabeth muttered, poking at the marshmallow in her hot chocolate, as she snuck glances over at Silena who was limping around.
"Jealous?" Percy asked, digging into his own plate of waffles.
"No,.." she replied immediately, then seemed to reconsider before admitting, "Maybe a little bit," she conceded.
"You need anything else?" Juniper asked, walking over to them.
"Not right now, Juniper," Annabeth replied kindly. "So, Seaweed Brain. I thought later you and I could go out for dinner with Sally. The little monster is going to be here very soon, and I don't think we will have much time for something like this."
"Let me guess, you already made reservations and Sally is already invited."
Annabeth grinned innocently.
Just as Percy settled in for what would undoubtedly have been a calm and relaxing day, Thalia's arrival announced trouble in paradise.
"Good afternoon, Thalia," Percy greeted her brightly. "Oh, what's going on?"
"Nothing," she grunted. "Just wanted to know if I can have a word with Elsa and that hag downstairs?"
"Sure, why?" Percy asked. He wasn't actually worried Thalia might do something stupid, but he was still responsible for both of them.
"Lady Artemis has just ordered me to lead part of the Hunt on a quest to track down Medea. Apparently, the lady has caused Zeus a headache, and he wants her sent back down under. I have no clue where to start, so Khione and Circe are as good a place as any," Thalia explained.
"Well, at least you weren't sent," Annabeth mused. "Wouldn't know where you would even put that crazy bitch."
Thalia cracked a smile, "Neither do we, but that is a concern for another day. If I get my way, we'll just send her straight back to the underworld."
"Anything gossip on Artemis's spat with Hades?" Annabeth asked curiously.
Thalia shrugged. "Not really. They just keep on fucking with each other. It is getting rather annoying, to be honest."
So, another short upload. Sorry for the short chapter, trying to line up the next few plot points, and otherwise this would have quickly become another very long chapter.
Henry James Locker over and out.