Tension, Tension Everywhere

Rose and I wrapped up our little bath session in no time. I made her promise to speak with Nimba when she got the chance.

Now redressed and feeling revitalized, though somewhat drowsy after the long day, I steered myself in the direction of the living room. Piper still lay rested on the couch, her light snores failing to echo throughout the room. The blanket had fallen off of her and lay heaped on the ground beneath her.

With a sigh, I wrapped the blanket around her once again, tucking the edges beneath her warm body. I caressed her cheek as she slept, hoping with all I could that she felt better in the morning.

"Sleep tight, Pipes."

I gave her forehead a quick kiss before making my way to the dining room.

My presence didn't go unnoticed at the table. Of course, I was the last one to show. Everyone else was already digging into the scrumptious meal. The smell gave off a pleasant odor of blackened bass. I wasn't quite sure how to feel about that. On one hand, fish were my father's subjects; on the other, the smell made my stomach rumble in anticipation. Take a guess as to which side won.

No time was wasted before a whole school of fish vanished down my gullet. It was delicious, but a tinge of guilt weighed on me. Annabeth still wasn't back. She wouldn't get to enjoy that meal because she was still stuck on Olympus with Hephaestus. It was my fault that she wasn't on my lap at the moment.

Then again, she may not have missed much in terms of the setting. Very little was spoken, aside from hushed whispers. New groups were formed, much to my appreciation; such as Hazel and the Hunters or Rachel with Calypso and Katie. Overall though, no one spoke out. It was more than apparent that Drew was being ousted from the others' conversations, so she ate with pout affixed to her face, making no further efforts to intrude. The empty chair next to me, Piper's chair, was a point of tension amongst the girls, drawing weary glances and mutters.

Reyna sat in silence, trying her best to avoid drawing attention. I wanted to speak with her; talk to her about earlier. It was unfair for her to go through so much just to find me in the arms or lips of another girl whenever she saw me. But I couldn't talk to her then. She deserved better than to be called out for this very private matter in front of everyone.

"So," I said, doing my best not to choke on the awkwardness of speaking out, "How's everyone been these past two days?"

Rachel snorted. "About as merry as an Olympian family reunion."

I frowned. "That bad, huh?"

Katie spoke. "Depends on who it is. All things considered, most of us are pulling through. Just a few… hiccups along the way…"

She glanced towards the empty chair, making no effort to hide her shifting eyes.

"So is it true?"

I turned back to an expectant looking Rachel.

"Is what true?"

"About Piper."

Because that narrows it down…

"What about her? A lot's happened with Piper these past few days."

She sighed, exasperated. "Is it true that she… well… attacked Khione?"

Crap, I forgot to check up on her! Ugh, I'll go tomorrow morning…

"We both did, okay? Let's get it out in the open. Yes, it happened. I won't act like it didn't."

Several heads turned away at this news. No one dared to meet my eyes, except for one person.

"Oh, come on, girls," Calypso said, "you need to stop this! It wasn't their fault!"

Thalia scoffed. "Right, so when I walk into the dungeon because of the screaming, and see Piper taking her knife to Khione like a voodoo doll, it's totally Khione's fault…"

"It's no one's fault," I said. "There was something else at work then."

Thalia faltered. "What?"

"It's true," Calypso said. "I felt some other magic at work. I don't know whose it was, but someone was influencing them."

Thalia leaned back in her chair, taking everything in.

"Huh, that would explain a lot… Wait, please don't tell me that it's Medea or Circe meddling again. We've dealt with enough charmspeakers for a lifetime."

I couldn't help but nod in agreement. "Yeah, well… hold up. If you saw Piper doing that, why didn't you stop her? You could've done something about it."

Thalia raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, like I'm gonna try and stop Piper as she's laying waste to a goddess. What could go wrong?"

"Cut her some slack," Hazel interjected. "She's been through enough."

I smiled at Hazel, thankful she still stuck up for Piper. "Yeah, everyone here just needs some time to unwind. We're all still tense from the war, so let's just take some time to relax."

"Relax?!" Thalia said, slamming her fist down on the table. "You just said that there's someone controlling you and making you attack other people! We can't just relax!"

"... Well, for one thing, it's only happened once. Also, it seems like it might be tied to a specific area."

"What?" Everyone looked on with newfound curiosity.

"Whatever happened seemed to wear off the moment Piper and I left the dungeon. Almost like walking out of a trance in a sense. So as long as we avoid it, there shouldn't be any issues for now."

"So, what?" Thalia said. "You're just going to abandon Khione down there? I can live with that."

I gave her a glare. "No, I'm not. I'll go check on her tomorrow morning. I'll get someone to watch over me from the outside to keep me in check."

"Pfft, right. No offense, Kelp Head, but if you lose your cool, no one in their right mind would try and stop you."

"Well, I guess that makes you the perfect candidate," I said with a smirk.

She raised her finger and opened her mouth to respond before hesitating. Her hand closed, as did her mouth before she took a breath.

"Okay, fair point."

I raised my fork to take another bite. "Then it's settled. You'll help keep me in check tomorrow."

ZAP!

My fork hit the table as a jolt of electricity made my entire arm go numb.

"What was that for?!"

An evil gleam shone in her eyes.

"My service fee. It's also my way of warning you to not try anything tomorrow."

I groaned. "Like I needed a reminder. Besides, I'm taking Silena to get you guys clothes tomorrow. My schedule doesn't have time for that."

A tense silence fell upon the room as those words settled. Little did I realize what my words entailed… until just too late.

"Excuse me," Reyna said. She stood from her chair and hurried from the table. As she did, a single teary glare bored into me before she turned away, making her way towards her room.

"Aw, crap." I stood up to follow her.

"Don't even think about it, Kelp Head," Thalia said. "I've seen that face before, and you won't make this any better. I'll go talk to her."

With that, Thalia followed Reyna. I stood there for a few seconds, unsure of what to do. Following my eventual return to my seat, dinner wrapped up without another word. Silena stared down at her food, but made no effort to eat any more, drawing some unfriendly and envious glares from a few of the others.

With the conclusion of the meal, everyone trickled away from the dining room to their own respective abodes. As for myself, my return was cut off by none other than a bashful oceanid.

"Well, hello there. I see you've been patient."

Palírroia bowed her head. "As patient as I could muster. It has been difficult waiting for you, Master." Her eyebrows shot up. "But only in the best of ways!"

I chuckled in response. "Well that's good to know…"

She frowned. "Is there something wrong, Master?"

My hair swayed with the shake of my head, covering my eyes. "Don't worry about it. Just a long day."

"Oh." Her head bowed before shooting it back up. "Would you like to talk about it? I'd be more than happy to listen again."

The hint of excitement in her voice didn't go unnoticed. There was no denying that venting a bit would help.

"Alright, you've twisted my arm. Let's head on inside though."

She paused, not quite registering my choice of words before listening to the last part. We made our way into my room and rested on the bed. As we rested against the headboard, she pulled her knees up to her chest, eyeing me as though I were a lion; relaxed and lazy, but waiting for the proper moment to strike.

I couldn't help but notice the way her dark hair reflected blue in the light. The lush curtain accentuated her high cheekbones and contrasted with the otherwise lighter hues of her skin.

"So… um… what troubles you, Master?"

I let out an exhausted sigh. "It's just stressful trying to keep everyone in line and happy. On one hand, some of the girls are fighting among themselves. Then there are others that are fighting against me. It's just… well… exhausting."

Palírroia tucked her chin between her knees. "I am sorry to hear that, Master. If it helps, you made a very good impression on Rose."

"Oh?" I raised my eyebrow.

She nodded. "Yes. She wouldn't stop talking about the time you spent together. I'm glad you gave her an enjoyable experience. She needs to build up her pleasant memories."

My lips took a downturn. "So I've heard. The whole debacle with Nimba's sister really took a toll on her."

She frowned. "Sierra… Yes, you were supposed to have six handmaidens. But a few hours after we arrived, Sierra tried to swim away from the island… to no avail."

I rested my arm around her shoulders and pulled her against my chest. Minute sniffles left Palírroia as she wept for the lost nymph.

"I have a feeling that I already know the answer, but do you know why she did that?"

She mumbled into my chest. "Is it so difficult to believe? The temptation of freedom was too great for her to resist. She panicked and fled in hopes of escaping a life of servitude."

That hit me like a punch in the gut. No matter how she tried to coax her words, their implication was clear. I was the one they were afraid of.

"I figured as much. This may not mean much, but for what it's worth, I am sorry about that. No one should have to go through that."

She stared up at me with glassy eyes. "To hear those words from someone that I once thought would be a tyrant… well, I can say with a whole certainty that you have earned my trust."

She pulled herself up and gave me a delicate kiss before returning to her resting place on my chest.

"Speaking of trust," I said, "what are your thoughts on the other girls?"

She glanced up with bleary eyes, but quickly darted them away, resting her head snuggly against my chest.

"I cannot say much. They don't really speak to us all that often. Apparently, Hazel is in good standing with the others. As are Katie and Calypso."

That brought a smile to my face. "I can't say that surprises me. What about the Hunters? Anything on them?"

She shrugged against me, her voice now drooping with fatigue. "They wished to be left to their own devices. We respected that."

"Hmm." I stroked her hair as her breathing slowed. "What about Drew?"

She tensed. "That… is another story all on its own."

My fingers paused halfway down her raven locks. "How so? What happened?"

Palírroia pulled herself up and rolled off of me, resting on her elbows to my side, her chin held up by her hands.

"Ever since she arrived, she has tried ordering us around like clockwork. We have tried explaining to her that we are to follow your will, not hers. Despite that, she still persisted."

I pressed my hand to my chin, taking in her words. "Anything else?"

She pondered for a moment. "I… I believe I heard talk among some of the others, Rachel and Katie especially. They brought up something about Drew trying to bargain her way to the top. Something about sharing your bed as a play for power."

I sighed in exasperation. "No surprise there. She almost got her title of head counselor back. Seems like it's in her nature to try and grasp for power."

She nodded, her eyes downcast. "It seems as though your previous words were true."

I cocked an eyebrow. "What words?"

"That this is nothing more than a glorified prison. Complete with power hungry subjects. It honestly reminds me of the training guilds."

"How so?"

Her shoulders sagged. "We all answer to the will of one person, whom we cannot ever protect ourselves from. The only power we carry is among the other slaves, or concubines in this case. And the biggest threat comes not from the trainers, but from the other girls."

I wrapped my arm around her shoulders, drawing her slightly closer. She eagerly leaned in and rested her head against me, her eyes closing slightly.

"How were the other nymphs the biggest threat? And I'm not really as bad as the trainers, am I?"

Her eyes shot open. "NO! I didn't mean it like that, Master!"

"Hey, hey, hey, it's alright," I said, running my fingers through her hair once more. "No need to panic. So how were the nymphs worse than the trainers? The trainers were the ones to beat you."

She frowned with a wince, likely recalling the details of her experiences. "Yes, but if another nymph gained their favor, she could use that to her advantage. Oftentimes, at the expense of another nymph's life."

"Why would they do that?" I gave my best efforts in keeping my voice level.

"Why would Drew attempt to take charge of handmaidens that do not belong to her? Because it is a simple power play. We nymphs had no power within the ranks, so the few that earned it through favor were often corrupted by it."

"Great. So even the meek can become tyrants."

"They often become the worst."

I sighed in resignation. "Well, you won't have to worry about that with me. Like I said when we first met, I want you guys to keep me in check."

Her hand snaked under my shirt, trailing her fingers up my abdomen. "And we will. Though I do not believe it will be necessary for quite some time."

"Oh, yeah? What makes you so sure about that?"

"Because we have been lying in your bed for near half an hour and I have yet to be defiled."

I narrowed my eyes at her words. "Oh, so it's like that, is it?"

She giggled innocently, but her hand trailed downwards, inching closer to my pelvis.

"Well," I continued, "it doesn't look like you mind the idea of being defiled."

She eyed me from beneath her lashes. "Not at all. In fact, I have been craving it for the past few hours."

"What if I told you that Piper was supposed to join us?"

She hesitated. "That… could be interesting. She is very beautiful by all accounts; and she has been kind to us as well. Returning the favor would not be an issue for me, but…"

"… But?"

"But I heard she is not well."

I sighed. "No, she's not. Like I said, she was supposed to join us. The incident which led to her incapacitation is what I was getting at earlier."

"Oh… I am sorry to hear that."

"Don't worry about it." I smiled mischievously. "But maybe I should demonstrate my cruelty to you to make up for it."

She paled at my words. "If… if you wish it."

"Good." I kissed her forehead. "Because I'm going to do absolutely nothing."

"Master?"

"Let me rephrase that. I'm exhausted, so I'm going to sleep without giving you the relief you wanted."

She let out a breath of relief, to almost immediately perk back up. "But… you promised…"

I gave my best impression of an evil grin. "Yes I did. But since you wanted to poke fun at me for not taking you tonight, I'll simply deny you that pleasure… for now."

She pouted. "Yes, Master…"

I pulled her close to me as I settled under the covers, dragging her under with me. "Don't worry, I'll make it up to you tomorrow."

She smiled as I gave her a peck on the lips. "Thank you, Master. I look forward to it."

With that, she pulled herself against my chest and fell asleep. Only a few minutes passed before I followed suit and did the same.

I awoke to a strange, albeit not unwelcome, feeling. The mound under the covers of the bed kept no secret as to the lecherous activity in progress. Pulling the blanket away, I found myself gazing upon the form of Palírroia. Her eyes glanced up as she gave me a cheerful grin. Of course, it looked a bit weird with a length of flesh in her mouth.

"Well, good morning, Palírroia."

She responded without a word, but with cradling my balls in her hand and forcing the entire length down her throat, keeping eye contact the entire time as she did. Her warm mouth enveloped me, her tongue massaged the underside of my shaft.

I let out a soft sigh as her throat massaged me, simply taking in the joy of the calm morning.

"I see you're enjoying yourself…"

Uh, oh.

Annabeth lay to my side, though she refused to look at me. Rather her gaze was fixated on the nymph laying at my waist. She wore nothing aside from some simple underwear, but the morning light glowed radiantly against her tan skin. That very same light also happened to accentuate the ferocity of her grey eyed stare.

Palírroia noticed the silence and looked up to meet Annabeth's gaze, though she still kept me inside of her mouth. Unsettled, she immediately lowered her eyes, her once cheerful smile turned to an expression of panic. Annabeth refused to relent her glare until Palírroia completely removed herself from me, leaving my erection standing full mast, glistening with her saliva in the morning light. I slightly groaned from the loss of contact as Palírroia scooted back until she sat at my feet, keeping her head bowed under Annabeth.

"That was unnecessary," I said.

Annabeth huffed. "I come home last night to find you in bed with someone else, and she's sucking you off as I wake up, but I'm the one being called out?!"

Palírroia whimpered pitifully at Annabeth's words, shrinking away until she was nearly off the bed entirely.

I let out a sigh. "Palírroia, come up here please." I held out my hand and beckoned her towards me.

She obeyed and crawled to me, taking extra care to avoid direct eye contact with Annabeth. Upon reaching me, she knelt down to my side, opposite of my girlfriend, taking my hand in hers, though she gave no indication of realizing she did. Her fingers trembled in my grip.

"You've done nothing wrong." I leaned in and kissed her forehead. "Go ahead and take care of your morning duties. I'll come looking for you in a bit."

She nodded and skittishly took her leave of the room. I turned my attention to a pouting Annabeth, her gaze locked firmly where Palírroia was kneeling.

"What?" she snapped.

"You know very well what. She didn't deserve that."

"Oh, so I'm the bad guy?" she snarled. "I'm sorry that I have a problem with seeing my boyfriend's dick in someone else's mouth!"

"If I recall correctly, you were the one who told me to enjoy myself. What did you expect would happen?"

She hesitated. "Yeah, but… but… argh!"

"Besides, just three nights ago, I walked in on you and Piper."

"But you already had sex with her!"

"What, did you want a turn with my nymphs now as well? Also, where is this even coming from? You weren't nearly this hostile with the others."

"... That was different."

"How? What suddenly makes this so different that you had to nearly give a nymph a panic attack with your glare alone?"

"It's not my fault that she's so easily shaken."

My shoulders fell. "Annabeth, she's spent her entire life being abused. Do you realize that your glare may have been very familiar for her?"

She paused, paling as the realization hit her. "I… I didn't think…"

"Didn't think what? I don't think you get it, you're terrifying."

She clenched her fists in the sheets. "Well, maybe you shouldn't go bringing other girls into our bed! You ever think about that?!"

"... So that's it then? It's not about what I'm doing, but where I'm doing it? Besides, that's pretty hypocritical for someone who was eating out her best friend on this bed a few nights ago."

"I already told you, you already had—"

"That doesn't change anything! Annabeth, you told me to enjoy myself. I figured since you brought Piper in here, you wanted some fun as well. I wasn't going to call you out on it. But now here you are, upset about the very thing you told me not to worry about."

"... But I didn't have to see it then." Her eyes teared up as she looked at me. "For the past several days, I've simply been pretending that nothing was happening between you and the girls; that we were out here on a permanent vacation. It was made even easier since I started my classes. But now… now I can't pretend anymore. Not with that image seared in my mind."

"Annabeth…"

She buried her face in her hands. "I was never happy about this, Percy. After so many months, I thought I had you to myself. But I was wrong. I guess this was the gods' way of laughing at me for getting my hopes up."

"So that's what this was all about? You got—"

"Yes, I got jealous, okay?"

"I was going to say territorial, but close enough… You could have talked to me, you know. I've been wanting to see you these past couple days anyways. A lot's happened."

She groaned. "So I've heard."

"And you know that I could always use your help as well. We could have talked about this already."

"Pfft, right. Let me complain about how you're banging chicks left and right. That's not exactly something people like talking about."

"Maybe not, but it beats holding it in all this time. Besides, you do realize that if you wanted to have sex or just spend time with me, all you'd have to do is find me."

"And risk seeing you pounding Drew like a five dollar whore? Thanks, but I'm good."

"Actually, we haven't done anything. Not for a lack of trying on her part. Regardless, what is it going to take for you to get through this?"

She glared at me with puffy red eyes. "Nothing. I'll be fine."

"No, you won't." I paused for a second as an idea came to mind. "This is going to sound weird, but why don't you go taking some of the other girls for a spin."

Her mouth dropped. "Percy, you know I'm not into girls."

I raised an eyebrow. "Piper?"

"That was—"

"Different, I know. And it's always going to be 'different' with each girl. So you may as well assert your dominance somewhere, and get this out of your system."

She glared back, repulsed. "I can't even believe you'd think I would just go sleeping around like—"

"Like me?"

She turned away. "You know that's not what I was going to say."

"No. But it's true."

I let out an exasperated sigh when she didn't respond.

"I guess Calypso was right," I muttered.

Annabeth turned her head. "What was that?"

I turned over, facing away from her. "Calypso warned me that there would likely be conflict between the girls here. You, in particular, were of special interest, seeing as you appeared in one of my first nightmares in days."

"Then why didn't you tell me about it before?! Why go to Calypso?!"

The fact that she didn't even ask about the nightmare grinded my gears a bit, but I maintained my composure as best as I could.

I turned looked over my shoulder to see her face reddening.

"Maybe because this happened when my mom was around. I didn't want her worrying again. Not this soon after seeing me for the first time in months. Calypso's been helping me out with all the crap while you were gone."

"You could have Iris messaged me. It wouldn't matter what time of night or day it is; I'm always here."

"I wasn't thinking straight the night it happened. Plus it was only one of the three nightmares I had. Calypso understood my nightmares better because she was there to witness the… stuff that happened."

She crossed her arms and huffed. "So you won't even tell me what happened? Glad to know you found someone to latch on to while I'm away. I was expecting Piper to be that girl."

I gave her a frustrated glare. "Leave them out of this. I wanted to tell you, Annabeth. I needed to tell you. But right now, you aren't in the right state of mind. You're angry, I get it. I was too, but you were the one who told me to push through this."

She stood up from the bed and made her way to the dresser.

"This is going nowhere. I have to get ready for my classes."

"Annabeth, could you at least—"

"No! Besides, I'm sure you have plenty of other things to do today."

I didn't like that implication.

"So you're just going to let this go unresolved?"

"There is no resolution to this, Percy. Just forget about it. Better yet, go talk to Calypso about it, since she's your new buddy."

"I told you to leave them out of this. The others don't deserve for you to put them down like that."

She turned back to me, fully dressed.

"Well too bad. Don't think for a second that they don't do the same with me. I know damn well that people talk about me behind my back."

"Only thing I've heard so far is how damn scary you are, especially when you get mad."

"Psh, right. Remind me for the hundredth time, will you? Whatever… But on the subject of other girls… Something tells me that more happened between you and Calypso than you're letting on."

"What gave you that impression?"

"I'm not an idiot, Percy. I know how you felt about her long before this."

"Really? Please tell me then, because I didn't even know what to feel about her."

"That's besides the point. Answer the question though. What happened?"

Not giving me much room to work with here…

"I may have offered her to be one of the mistresses… She said yes."

If looks could kill, I'd be on the Fields of Punishment right now. Annabeth's icy glare left a chill in my spine before she strode over to the door. I jumped out of the bed and took hold of her wrist, to which she nearly bit my hand off.

"Of all the things you could do, that's what you go for?! Of all the girls—"

"Of all the girls, she's the one who most deserves freedom! She's spent millennia on one island!"

"But you had to pick the one who's been trying to replace me?!"

"... Wise Girl."

"I see where your priorities lie, Percy. And here I actually thought that you would prioritize me just a little bit."

"How? What do you expect me to—"

"No! Just forget about it. It's too late, Percy. Your window is closed."

She continued for the door. I went for broke and lunged at her, wrapping my arms around her shoulder. I buried my face in her neck and gave her as many tender kisses as I could.

"I love you, Annabeth."

She hesitated for a few seconds before sniffing.

"Yeah."

She shrugged my arms off of her and left the room, closing the door behind her. I was left there standing, hopelessly praying that she would come back in the room and throw her arms around me. Maybe we could look back on this as the day that she duped me into thinking she was angriest with me. Maybe all could be forgiven as our kiss melted away our problems.

No such luck; the door stayed shut.