It had been hours, hours of waiting, hours of worrying, hours of not knowing. Hours since Artemis, Athena and Hestia had returned with a sleeping percy. They were all horrified at the state their hero was in her body was thin, battered, bruised, burned, she was in no shape to be up and about let alone doing any of the trials that this man had been putting her through. It hadn't been all that long since they had seen Percy at the mall, but from her state it looked like it had been years since they last layed eyes on her. When they had gotten back all the Olympians were waiting in the throne room, when the trio had gone they used Hecate's magic to get there they did the same for the way back, the goddess nearly collapsed bring them back the strength of the spell she needed to get them their and temporarily break the barrier. The hero of Olympus looked tiny in Artemis arms, everyone held their breaths as Apollo used his magic to try and heal some of her wounds but it seemed no matter what he did he could only heal her bruises, the burns and cuts were not healing at all, it took Apollo a while to come to the conclusion that the wounds she bore were cursed he couldn't heal them they just had to wait for them to heal on their own. Now Percy just lay in the infirmary, the Olympians were sitting around waiting for her to wake up, Ares' eyes scanned the young demigoddess taking in every detail, she looked like a china doll. The longer she remained sleeping the angrier he got and he could tell everyone else felt the same.
"I'm going to make father look like a saint when I get my hands on this monster," growled Poseidon, clenching his hands together.
"Believe me brother none of us would blame you, in fact I'm sure everyone here would help you" said Hades looking at Zues who nodded in agreement. It was a rare sight to see the three brothers agreeing with one another but all of them would prefer that it was due to better circumstances.
"We can do that once we figure out who he is and how many are involved," said Athena ever the voice of reason.
Aphrodite chimed in, "we also need to make sure she is safe again."
Everyone in the room nodded in agreement.
Percy's body hurts. She was in so much pain she was so scared. She felt the blankets draped over body, she hadn't opened her eyes yet, she just assumed that she was in the chambers that she had been locked in. she felt a small whimper leave her lips. She was still there. She was still in that place; it was only a dream. A small tear made its way down her face, she felt it run down her cheek, shuffling caught her attention, someone was there, another whimper left her lips as she tried to open her eyes and shuffle away from who she thought it was. Her eyes opened and blinding light hit her, she was surrounded by people. Her fear grew significantly more; it wasn't just one person she had to protect herself from but multiple. It didn't help that everything was blurry so she couldn't tell who it was.
"Shhh percy it's ok," said a voice she remembered, a voice she missed.
Two small whimpers escaped percy and a tear fell from her eyes which caught everyone's attention as percy tried to scurry back poseidon placed his hand on his daughters shoulder which caused her to flinch back. She tried to yell but it didn't exactly work, her voice was horse but full of fear, "no stay away from me, no!"
Poseidon flinched back regret across his face; he clearly didn't mean to scare his daughter. Hestia was the next to speak, " Percy dear you are safe you remember me, Athena and Artemis came to get you, you are safe," Percy seemed to recognise the voice and looked towards them shaking her head tears streaming down her face, it broke Ares heart to see her in such a state, she was looking at them with so much fear in her eyes but after a short while she seemed to relax.
"This… this is real…" percy cries, "i'm not there any more,"
"No sweet one you are not there, you are safe." Hera comforted as she stood from her chair and slowly made her way over to percy making sure her face was close enough for percy to see that it really is her.
"I'm not there," whimpered percy
"No child you are not,"
Percy seemed to calm a little, taking a deep breath as she looked around the room. "Perhaps we should only have a few people in here so percy can breath,"
Everyone nodded leaving only poseidon. Hestia and Apollo in the room with percy.
Ares walked away from the group Aphrodite following him. His breathing was heavy, he was fuming, his soulmate was hurt, she was in so much pain and she was terrified she was terrified of him. It hurt to see. Even if she was afraid of all of them he didn't want her to ever be afraid of him. It amazes him that he once would have preferred her to be afraid of him but now, now he never wants that, he wants her to feel safe being with him. "Ares!" called the love goddess grabbing his arm stopping him from walking.
"What aphrodite,"
"I know you are angry but this won't help,"
"She was scared of us dite, she was scared of me,"
"She was scared cuz she didnt know what was happening, it's not because of you. I promise."
" that bastard best hope i don't get my hands on him,"
"You still not going to tell her,"
"No not when she is this scared i don't think i will ever tell her,"
"You can't just hide it from her,"
Ares knew that not telling Percy will confuse her. He was always so cruel to her, he was a real prick especially their last meeting. His sudden protectiveness may confuse her or scare her he heard about soulmate bonds being intense. He doesn't really know what to do but he knows one thing he has to do to make sure Percy is safe.