Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"You drained me of my identity and

Injected self doubt into my veins

Left me questioning my own sanity

Walking around aimlessly

At war with my own body everyday

Trying to scrub your heavy words off my skin

My mental state has been shaken to it core

I don't know who I am anymore."

- Percy Jackson (e.s)

"HEY, HEY PUNK! WHERE'S MY BEER?"

Percy winced as he tried to use his hand to open the fridge. Smelly Gabe did something to it this morning because he had closed his door too loud. Smelly Gabe came home light last night reeking of beer and alcohol. He said the bang gave him a headache so Percy had to be punished.

Not being able to use his hurt wrist and a cut on his right hand that got infected kept him from using it, the five year old boy hung his head, sniffed back any tears, and grabbed the knife mama only brought out on his birthday.

"RETARD, WHERE'S MY BEER?"

Percy tried to call back, but all that came out was a painful rasp. He fingered the rising bruises on his neck. He was crying to hard and he almost woke his mama so Gabe came in to "shut him up". It was not a good day for Percy. It was about to get worse.

He slowly, limped(because Gabe threw him into a wall for trying to run from punishment) into the room where his stepfather was laying on the couch. Gabe watched Percy walk around the room gathering stuff, not even trying to stop him. Inside the broken tv box. Under one of the rickety floorboards. In the dusty unused chimney. Finally he approaches smelly Gabe.

In his hands are; a rope, a gag, and a carving tool. Gabriel holds out a fat layered hand. Slowly and reluctantly, Percy hands him the knife that was supposed to cut the cake his mama was gonna bring him today.

With movements that should be impossible for a guy his size, Gabe slices Percy across his eye, leaving a cut going from his right eyebrow to the corner of his mouth. He stumbles back from the force of it and from shock. Smelly Gabe never cut his face in fear of being caught by Sally.

"THAT'S for taking so long, idiot."

Another slice across his chin.

"And THAT'S for getting my hopes up about my beer. By the way, where is my beer?" By now, Percy's legs were getting weak from the lack of blood and he could barely see because of the blood in his eyes.

After a few failures in using his voice, and taunts about he's too stupid to know how to talk, he was finally able to say something.

"I i I coudent open… I coudent open da refiguator door becub becub, my my my my hand, my hand… it… it hurts." Percy holds his infected hand out to show his step- father.

With fake concern, Gabe takes Percy's hand in his own. For a few seconds, Percy thought smelly Gabe was good. But his Naïveity wasn't something that should be shown around Gabriel.

With practiced skill, Gabriel stabs Percy right in the cut. Not expecting it, and from the excruciating pain, Percy screams before falling on his knees, feeling smelly Gabe clamp a cold sweaty hand over his mouth.

With a sadistic grin, Gabriel gets off the couch and walks into the kitchen. A few seconds later, he brings with him a chair. Eagerly, Gabe ties Percy up, but doesn't put in the gag. Not that anyone would help Percy, even if they did hear him.

Smelly Gabe grabs Percy's chin roughly enough to leave bruises and whispers into his face: "I'm in a bad mood, you bastard child, ya want to know why?" Percy shakes his head no, then gets cuffed by Smelly Gabe as punishment. Percy's opinion doesn't matter, is what Gabe keeps trying to drill into his head. Maybe, just maybe, Percy is starting to think he's right.

"Because, of your DAMN blue. So much fucking blue. Guess what, dumbass, I got fired because this little half-blood bitch decide to complain when a little blue got in her hair. And this little girl managed to trick everyone into believing her!"

Percy's stepfather cut The five year olds shirts away, not caring if he cut the boy, and began carving another word to go along with the others, when, he suddenly stopped.

"You know what, this isn't the only reason I'm mad. You want to know the other?" No reply. "Your mother decided to not satisfy my urges last night like she did last week. So we can have some fun like last week, before, we get to the punishment." Without waiting for any sign from Percy, Smelly Gabe had his… fun. He didn't stop for hours. And when he finally finished his two new carvings to go along with the others.

Slave

Weak

Worthless

Retard

Toy

Basterd

Just as he sat the knife down, Sally texted.

Working late till 1:00 am all week, make sure to feed Percy.

The clock struck 11:00.

Another savage grin sent into the direction of the unconscious boy. Gabriel had knocked his head against the wall after he had untied him, due to the boys struggles.

"Another hour of fun won't hurt him. Definitely won't hurt me."

"You tell anyone about this, I'll kill your mother."

- Gabe to Percy, age 4

Chapter Text

I am so broken that I can feel it.

I mean, physically feel it.

This is so much more than being sad now.

This is affecting my whole body now.

-A left out confession from Percy Jackson

to someone who used to care about him.

Percy hadn't seen his mama for a week. I mean, he never saw her much because of work, but still. And another thing that was bugging the child was that he didn't mind not seeing her. She had grown distant and definitely not as loving as she used to be.

Percy missed late night blue cookie snacks, with a glass of cool milk, laughing away with his mama. He missed getting tucked in with a kiss on his forehead. He missed her kind words. He missed her patience. Two weeks ago, when he was having trouble sitting still while mama did his hair, she had spun his around with a raised hand and blazing eyes.

She said what Smelly Gabe always said: "Bastard child!" Right before she hit him through, she froze and with one more faulting glare, turned and walked right out the house.

Percy got punished for that too. She had taken his car and with that, Gabriel's chance to have his way with her. So he had to settle for someone else. Percy. And without any proper preparation and due to the child being small, the child was unable to walk right for days.

Speaking of being unable to walk, Percy had woken up unnaturally hot, hurting and bleeding from wounds old and young, and unable to do anything about it because of the fiery pain in his backside that left him unable to move.

His mind pounded with hateful thoughts. About the woman who used to be his mama, the disgusting man who had claimed him, all the people who could do something but didn't, and especially about the man who let this happen.

His father. He made the woman not care for her child. He let the bad man into his life, his short miserable life.

Percy hated him, but it was getting harder, and harder to think. The room started to spin even through he was still laying in his blood, urine, and sweat soaked bed. He started to shiver with chills even through he was boiling hot.

His headache got worse and so did his aching muscles. His whole body throbbed. His stomach, which had been digesting itself the past six day from getting no food (since Gabriel had not given him any), was suddenly dulled due to his loss of appetite.

Percy's mouth felt impossibly dry, which made him wish for the heavenly bliss of the cool liquid on his tongue. And it was getting harder and harder to keep his eyes open, darkness weighed heavily on his eyes, promising an end to the pain inside the darkness. With each blink, it was getting hard and harder to open them.

So he listened to the dark siren call and finally closed his exhausted eyes, but not before he thought he saw a woman engulfed in black, silver, white and blue leaning over him with an unsettled expression.

Even as he was lost in the dark, he could forget her beautiful silver eyes flecked with black and blue.

"I keep it all inside

Because I'd rather the

Pain destroy me, than

Anyone else.

-Percy Jackson to the first

person who really listened.

QUESTION OF THE DAY: What is the name of Nico's mom? ANSWER IN THE REVIEWS!

Chapter Text

"Hate leaves ugly scars."

-Said to Percy Jackson

"Well, as you can see I have plenty of scars, what's a few more gonna do that he didn't already do?"

-Replied the son of Poseidon

"Percy! Hey, yo, Percy!" The nine year old turned to see Ajax Hale and his sister running down the street, trying to catch up with him. Perseus didn't bother holding back his sigh of annoyance. He just wished they would leave him and his… household, alone. It was none of their business to what went on behind closed doors.

Ignoring the boy's calls, Perseus kept walking like he wanted to go the house. Which he didn't.

"Hey!" A hand gripped his shoulder and, in a panic, Perseus ripped away from the touch, but didn't bother to walk away again.

With his back still turned, Perseus made sure the large dark hoodie hid his neck and arms. He pulled the hood lower on his head, hiding his face in the shadows. Hopefully, the sunglasses hid the part of the scar that the hood couldn't.

Turning around, Perseus fixed the boy with a glare even through he knew the boy was unable to see him.

"What do you want, Hale?" A quick look around the boys shoulder, "And little Hale." She scowls, and steps around her brothers protective body.

"I'm not little. Jax is only older than me by 15 minutes. Anyway, how are you today, Percy?" Her voice has a sympathetic lit to it, which only causes Perseus to scowl angrily.

"My name is not Percy, it Perseus. Say it with me now, Per-sea-us. Perseus. And how I am today, or any other day is. Not. Your. Business. Now take your nose and stick it somewhere else because it's not wanted here."

Her face crumbles for a second, but the boy can't find it in himself to feel anything about it.

"Look, Percy," -he scowls at the repulsive nickname- "I know how you feel and I- we want to help you."

The ground trembles slightly when Perseus takes a foreboding step towards the twins.

"Help me? Help me? You don't want to help me! No boDY WANTS TO HELP ME! NOBODY WANTS USED GOODS, NOBODY WANTS A BROKEN TOY!" He rips off his sunglasses, his normally dark murky green eyes, toss and turn between a violent green to a dark void green, sucking the twins into their riptide.

Kia gathers her courage.

"But-"

The raging child takes another step forward, sending shock waves through the ground, making Kia and Ajax stumble before falling, entailing together.

Something in Percy snapped as he stalked towards the fearful kids three years his elders. The air suddenly became dry, like something was leaching the moisture from the air, the temperature dropped, even through it was spring turning summer, a blueish-green aura shined around the child, but black sneaked throughout it like broken glass.

"But what. You're different from every other shitty person that lives on this miserable planet? No matter what you say, your EXACTLY like everyone else who's sliver lined words hide the blackness of their meaning. There's nothing left here you can help. I'm a slave that can't control their own life. I'm so weak I'm not sure how I'm still standing. I'm so worthless there is nothing I can do right, nothing I can contribute. I'm a retard that can't think for themselves. I'm a Toy who has no purpose anymore. I'm a basterd born from a relationship that shouldn't have happened in the first place." Perseus' voice was horse the whole time throughout his rant but still it seemed to echo around the children.

His eyes go back to their darky murky green, but the twins can now clearly see the black cracks moving in their endless depths.

He turns to walk away when a voice stops him.

Ajax is back on his feet, favoring his right leg.

"What are you hiding, Perseus Jackson? What under that mask you where so much that you can't even take it off?"

He once more looks Ajax right in his eyes, causing the older child to flinch, but keep his gaze steady. With a steady hand and a black face, Perseus flips back his hood, showing his pale complexion and a long scar going from the left corner of his right eye brow, across his eye, to the right corner of his mouth. Purplish-blue bruises are shown wrapping around his throat, and other nicks and cuts.

With a calm, quiet, and low voice, Perseus answers his question.

.

.

.

.

"A monster who wants to kill you where you stand and laugh about it."

"Percy, if you ever feel upset or lost, just look at the stars,

they'll give you hope."

-Kia Hale to Percy Jackson

"Kia… the stars don't shine for monsters."

-Percy Jackson to Kia Hale

Chapter Text

"I realized today that I have

stopped living

life. I literally just trying to get

to the

next day, just living in the

thought of

tomorrow. I'm not living I'm

waiting. And

the trouble is I don't know exactly what

I'm

waiting for.

All I know is that

I'm

tired of waiting."

-Realization

of Perseus Jackson

Five months later

When Perseus came home from his… business, it was quiet. Too quiet. Normally, you would hear Gabe yelling, cried of pain, shattered glass, or his drunk stumbles. Not exactly in that order. But no, it was quiet. So, like demanded, the boy came in without a sound. A ghost, which, ironically, described him perfectly. A ghost of his past self, a remnant of Percy Jackson. And all that was left was Perseus.

Gliding into his "room", Perseus is shocked to find his mother standing in the middle of the room, he back to him, trembling.

"Mama?" He reaches out a hesitant hand in her direction. But just before he could make contact, she swirls around, fist clenched at her sides, her eyes blazing.

"Mama? Mama? Who do you think you are to call me "Mama"? You lost that right when you made me marry that sick monster!"

Perseus stumbles back from the heat of her anger. "What? I don't- what? I was only, I was three!"

She laughs a lost, cruel laugh. "Oh, so your blaming this on me, are you? It was your fault, along with your bastard father!"

"I don't understand, you said he left us. Before I was born."

"DAMMIT! Don't you understand? Your father had the ability to protect us! He was a fucking god! With all his powers, he couldn't just snap his fingers and get rid of that bastard? Of you? You weren't- you aren't worth this price!"

She steps into the faint moonlight. Her eye was purple and just getting darker. She had bruises around her arms, but that's as far as her injuries went.

"Poseidon, oh! Poseidon! Coming in with his charm and promise of greatness! He brought this upon me, he brought you upon me! I could have been happy, I could have finished school, got my degree, and lived happily. Ever. After." With each word she stopped closer and closer to her son.

"Poseidon…. You mean like... God of the sea, Poseidon?"

Her eyes had a crazed look to them, a madness directed straight into the broken soul of her son.

"Of course! Who else would I mean? Other than that bastard, I didn't have intercorse with any other god," a powerful smell makes its way from Sally's mouth, to Perseus' nose. A smell he was familiar with from his stepfather. "How does it feel that you ruined you own mother's life, Destroyer?"

Her taunt cut another word onto his body.

Destroyer.

"No..." Percy moaned, holding his head, as if trying to block out the pain.

She grins sadistically at the blow she felt she had given the boy.

"How does it feel to be unwanted by the man who gave life to you?"

Unwanted.

"No…."

How does it feel to be hated by everyone, even your own mother?"

Hated.

"No.

"How does it feel to be the outcast?

Outcast.

"No!"

"How does it feel, being such a disgrace, that your own father couldn't stand to wait for you to be born before he left?"

Disgrace.

"NO!"

Perseus fell to his knees, the ground shaking, debris falling all around them.

The woman he once called mother, settled for one. Final. Blow.

"HOW DOES IT FEEL, PERSEUS JACKSON, THAT YOUR OWN MOTHER WISHES YOU DEAD?"

With that, Perseus ran. He ran through the city, he ran through the memories, he ran through his dreams, he ran through his nightmares, he ran through his reality… until he could run no more.

He stopped when he saw a group a silver tents gathered in a clearing.

His eyes traveled from it being all girls, to bows, arrows, and daggers, to the deers, wolves, and other animals, and finally, to the moon that seemed to hit each individual girl just right, to give them a glow that immortalized their features.

'The hunters of Artemis. She wasn't lying…. She wasn't lying about anything.'

Perseus turned to go, than recalled the countless stories he had been told about how many men had died, just by 'running across' the hunters camp.

Without any hesitation, Perseus stopped where they could see him, his head hanging low, his long and unruly hair covering his face.

Bows were drawn, all arched with arrows.

Aim was taken, all without hesitation.

But none were fired, all told to halt, by command of a goddess.

A nine year old girl came to the front of the group, her auburn hair braided over her shoulder.

Her own bow was sling across her shoulders. Her silver eyes were cold and unforgiving, looking much like quicksilver as they reflected and absorbed the light of the moon.

"What are you doing, boy?"

He looks up slowly, showing the girls his scar and shattered soul, before falling to his knees, looking Artemis straight in her eyes, and begging:

"Please kill me."
§~§~§~§~§~§~§~§~§~§~§~§~§~§~§~§

Ten minutes later.

Percy was sitting in the corner of the room, his knees up to his chest, his head on his knees, hair covering any showing skin.

With one more worried look at the boy, Artemis walks out of the tent into the waiting storm. Looking skyward, the goddess covers the temporary camp, protecting it from from the unrelenting rain, and lighting strikes. The boom of the thunder was tuned out with the protective shield.

Walking across the sodden clearing, the goddess sees the wondering hunters shoot weary glances to the extra tent they had packed away, which contained the boy- child.

Walking into the tent where the eldest hunter were already talking, Artemis sat on a log, huffing a breath. All eyes turned towards her.

"M'lady? How is the child?" The goddess looks up to see her lieutenant, Zoe Nightshade, standing with her hands on the table, shoulders tense making Artemis note to herself to ask what they were discussing before she came in.

Rubbing her temples, Artemis went to her 24 year old form, shocking those around her.

"He hasn't spoken since his… request. And after a quick look over, it seems like he is extremely dehydrated, suffering with malnutrition, and is covered with a multitude of scars on his arms and some on his face. There's two on his arms that even… spell out some things."

Zoe stands up, her arms crossed, gripping her upper arms. "What kinds of things Lady Artemis?"

Artemis leans forward on her elbows, her face in her hands. Her reply is muffled.

Phoebe, a close second to Zoe, leans forward. "What was that, M'lady? We could not understand you."

With a sigh, the goddess looks up. "Slave and Toy."

Everybody in the room stiffens. A rather emotional hunter, Erin Luis, stands up and stomps out of the tent. Knowing her train of thought, Artemis flashes her back in, doing it repeatedly until the hunter stops with a huff of anger and annoyance.

"What are you doing, Erin."

She glares out the door.

"I'm going to murder whoever the fuck did this to him. Then I'm going to murder who let them do it."

Zoe sighs. "Look, Erin…."

All of a sudden, Apollo flashes in, not even flinching when fifteen nocked arrows were pointed at him.

Artemis started in shock at her twin. "Brother, you look older?"

Not even acknowledging her question, Apollo looks around the room and asks a simple question:

"Who's dying?"

Without hesitation, Artemis, Zoe, Phoebe, and Erin, run out of the room, Apollo following close by.

As they burst into the boys tent, the immortals see him lying in his own blood, eyes closed, breath shallow.

As Apollo rushes to his side, the girls see what caused this as the god rips away his shirt, trying to get to the core of the problem.

Six new cuts the bled impossibly fast, a bloody pocket knife weakly held in his hand.

Destroyer.

Unwanted.

Hated.

Outcast.

Disgrace.

And finally, which scared the immortals present….

Poseidon.

Chapter Text

"The bravest thing

I have ever done,

was continue my life

when all I wanted to do

was die."

-Percy Jackson,

to people who expect the best.

After Perseus saw black, he didn't expect to open his eyes to a stark white room. And the strange thing was, that he was clean. Perseus couldn't remember the last time he washed his hair. Or took a shower. That wasn't necessary for a slave.

But here he was, standing in this room, new, clean clothes, clean skin, his shoulder length black hair was shiny and didn't have any blood or dirt in it. And it was soft. This was way weird.

He suddenly shivered, the cool breeze coming out of nowhere. He rubbed his hands against his arms and….

His arms….

NO SCARS!

Perseus looked all over his arms, turning them in every angle. He looked at his legs, than ripped off his shirt and looked over his chest. If you could call it that. Yeah, he was still a skeleton, yeah, he still didn't like eating that much, but that wasn't the point. The scars that had riddled his chest were gone! Euphoria spread through his chest, warming him up.

He slowly brought a hand up to his face. He felt above his eye, on his cheek, and near the corner of his mouth. No scar….

He grins.

Then, out of the corner of his eye, he sees a black rectangle fills the once white space. He turns to his left.

It shows a girl. Can't be more than two, maybe three years older than him. She walks down a school hallway, guys jeering and cat calling, girl scowling and hissing. Her head gets lower and lower, until she suddenly looks up. Her eyes are a crystallized green, and they look like they just shattered into a million pieces. It then shows her with a gun. The screen went black, but you could still hear the sound… of a gun going off.

The screen changes.

It shows a boy. Looking around sixteen. He was obviously gay, but didn't really care what people thought. He was still laughing, still smiling, still ignoring glares, still hiding his bruises with makeup. He was used to not being in a relationship. Until he met a boy. He fell in love, and when they were about to kiss, his lips met a fist instead. The boys friends came out and jumped him. Later that night, he jumped off a bridge.

Another one.

Another girl. Had to be eighteen. She was walking home at night, looking around every now and again. When she was close to her home, she relaxed, until she was grabbed by invisible hands and thrown into a dark alleyway. She lost her virginity in the worse way. A few months later, she discovered she was pregnant. She couldn't kill the baby directly. So she cut her wrist.

Another one

This one was different. At first, all it showed were notes on a locker. 'Slut.' 'Whore.' 'Bitch.' 'Go back to Africa.' 'No one wants you here.' 'Ugly.' 'Desperate.'

'Go kill yourself.' Then finally, it showed a beautiful African American girl, she looked fourteen, hung by a rope in a school hallway. Beside her was a poster, that had responses to every note she ever got. 'No.' 'How?' 'Why are you so mean to me?' 'I was born in America!' 'I know, you don't have to remind me.' 'I am.' 'Desperate for what? Friendship? Yes, I am.' 'Ok.'

Anothe-...

This one showed a boy. He had black hair. Sea green eyes, and a happy carefree face. Then, a bloody word flashed with a black background. Slave. Back to the boys face, his eyes got dimmer, his smile smaller. Another word. Weak. Dimmer. Worthless. Dimmer. Retard. Dimmer. Toy. Dimmer. Basterd. His eyes were dark and lifeless, none of his smile reflected in his eyes. It wasn't over. More words. Destroyer. His smile got smaller. Unwanted. Smaller. Hated. Smaller. Outcast. Smaller. Disgrace. Smaller. Poseidon. His face was blank of any emotion. And his soul shattered.

The screen faded back to white. Perseus turns away to find a man watching him, his face identical to the one that was on the screen. The man looks at him, his face betrayed nothing as he stared. He had dark silky shoulder length hair, his skin was pale and his eyes were dark. An aura of darkness surrounded him. The silence is deafening. Then, he speaks.

"You have quite a lot of scars, Perseus."

Perseus looks down at his scar-free body, confused. With a quick apology, the man snaps his fingers and every single scar pops back into existence. Once again, he feels around his face. Yes, he feels it. The scar.

Perseus looks back at the man, shaking, although, he has no idea why. "What… what did you…. what was that." His voice is monotonous and empty.

"That, dear demigod, was the mist. The Mist is a supernatural force that twists mortal's sight from seeing monsters, gods, Titans, and various other mythical creatures by replacing them with things the mortal mind knows about and can comprehend. I just used it to make it seem like you had no scars. All you have to do is concentrate, get an image in your mind of what you want, and snap your fingers. Now, do it until you can hide your scars yourself."

It took a few tries, but eventually Perseus managed to do it.

"Now it is very important that you never let anybody else see your scars. I took care of those who did see them, as the memories were still new in their minds."

He felt his arms, face, and lifted up his shirt. Nothing.

"Who- who are you?"

The man ignores his question and instead, asks one of his own.

"Why do you want to die?" This took Perseus by surprise. He stuttered out a reply.

"It- it's really not… how is this, how is that any any any different from the other kids?"

The man's face looks critical. "Because they wanted to end the pain. You actually wish for death. Usually, I only feel that from my own children."

A buzzing begans all other Perseus' body and he looks at his arms to notice he can actually see through them.

"Ah," the man sighs, "I see that you are needed elsewhere. Goodbye Perseus Jackson. Don't die yet."

"Why are you like this?"

-somebody to Perseus Jackson

"Everyone has that line that should not be crossed. It's not my fault I've been pushed pass that line about eight year ago."

-Perseus Jackson replied

Chapter Text

"Some people

are just born

with tragedy in their blood."

-Apollo to Melpomene

Perseus jackson didn't leave the tent after he waking up. For day he stayed in there, and he still wasn't talking. Of four people who ever went inside, Artemis, Apollo, Erin, and Zoe, Apollo was the one who visited the most. He hadn't left since he had flashed to the camp in a panic, thinking someone was dying.

When questioned by his sister, the god would get a far away look in his eyes, and his sunny aura would darken. He would answer saying how he felt an intense aura of death surrounding the camp. Then he would walk away to Perseus' tent. Today was one of those times.

As the god walked into the tent he shared with Perseus, he was shocked to see, Melpomene, one of his muses, leaning over the now sleeping boy.

"Melpomene? What are you doing here?" She turns around to look at him, her long straight white hair laid over Perseus like a blanket, the gold strands in it glowing. Her usual dull and dark blueish grey eyes were now the same color as Perseus', they even had the black cracks running through them. Tears ran down her cheeks and splashed near her cothurnus.

"I- I sensed great tragedy, have for… for years. But I could, I couldn't ever pinpoint it. And and now…." her voice cracked. Her black mask was on the boys face her and grey knife was in her hand.

"The mask and knife had leaped from my hand and led me here. The mask was already on his face…and I caught his hand before he could use the knife." The muse started sobbing. She threw the knife away, it's point sticking in the dirt, and collapsed on Perseus' concave chest. His eyes shot open.

Without missing a beat, he started stroking the goddess to comfort her. He didn't seem to notice the mask on his face. And to the shock of Apollo, who had tried to get him to talk whenever the boy was awake, Perseus stared murmuring to the goddess in an attempt to calm her down.

Soon, her tears had stopped.

As soon as he made sure Melpomene was ok, Perseus started trying to sit up, but struggled. Apollo and his muse helped him until he was sitting up in his bed. The god sat on a backwards chair, and Melpomene sat beside Perseus on the bed. She took off the mask and kept stroking a line on his cheek with a shaky hand, as if she was feeling something.

The demigod closed his eyes and let her continue to do it, before gently taking her hand in his, and setting it down on the bed beside him. He looked at the god.

"Where am I?" Apollo ran a hand down his face, and debated morphing into his 17 year old form before deciding to stay in his 32 year old one.

"You're still in the hunters camp. Um, in Manhattan, New York-" he cut himself off when he saw Perseus struggle to get up. He stood up and gently pushed him back down.

"Whoa whoa whoa. Perseus you almost died, you can't get up until-"

"I. Can't. Be. Here." With those firm words, He looked Apollo straight in the eyes and the god was sucked into their riptide(yes, this is going to be a repeated thing). Apollo turned to get help from the muse, but found her eyes to be exactly the same. Apollo straightened up.

"You cannot get up until I say you can. Doctors orders." Perseus' eyes reminded Apollo of Charybdis.

"Doctor? Doctor?" Percy laughed sadistically, "Where were you when I actually needed a doctor? All those times I had to patch myself up, sometimes with only one hand available. Back then, I would have listened, but right now, I don't need you. And I never will. So take your doctors orders and shove it up your ass."

Apollo glared at the boy.

"You can't talk to me that way."

Percy snarled at him. "I can't talk to you anyway I want, Apollo. Yeah, that's right, I know who you are. And why would I want your help. All you do is screw shit up, I bet you have more people aids then you healed them, seriously, aren't you supposed to be the god of self control? And don't think I don't remember the tales of how many people you killed. Orion, Cassandra, Niobe's innocent children, Coronis, Cyparissus, Daphne, Hyacinthus-"

Light filled the room, forcing the demigod to closed his eyes.

"SHUT UP! YOU CANNOT, WILL NOT SPEAK OF THEM! I-i-i…."

"You what? You got Hyacinthus killed because of a petty argument, Daphne didn't want to be with you so badly she turned into a tree and-" Perseus stopped talking when he felt a mask being slipped over his face. As soon as he looked at Apollo through the eyes of the mask, he saw a dark force all around him. He snorted, but didn't say anything else.

"Good talk sunshine. You can leave now."

After the god stalked out, Melpomene tried to take the mask back off, but he shooed her hand away. She flashed out and took the knife with her. And he was alone.

"Just because you can say something,

doesn't mean you should."

Chapter Text

"The only people

I owe my loyalty to

are those

who never made me

question theirs."

-Perseus Jackson to the last person he let fool him

"What are we going to do about the boy?"

Zoë was shocked as she was suddenly flanked by eight of her own sisters, all with varying degrees of hostility their faces.

"What dost thee mean? He is but a child, who can't have any ill intent towards us, he is half our size!"

A hunter, Veronica, stepped forward and crossed her arms.

"Yeah, that's right. He is a child. A child who could have an older brother who does have 'ill intent' or a father, Zoë. He has to go."

Zoë bristled, stepping forward until they were chest to chest, crossing her own arms. "What dost thee wanteth to doth? Sentence the child to grisly death by a monster, or mortal? Dost thee wanteth to killeth him thyself? Is that it?"

The hunter shrugged, "Does it matter if he dies? I mean, he willingly stepped into our camp, and begged us to kill him. Actually, we would be doing what he wanted. A good death wish." The hunters around her agreed.

A voice behind Zoë scoffed, "Look, even if Zoë wanted to do that, it's not her call, the decision belongs to Lady Artemis." So if you have a problem, go take it up with her, not someone who is unable to retaliate in the way you know they want to."

The person walked up to Zoë, putting a hand on her shoulder. The lieutenant looked over to see Erin glaring defiantly at her surrounding sisters. Zoë smiled gratefully.

Veronica stepped forward, her fist clenched at her sides. "I'm not bugging M'lady for some trivial question that I asked Zoë not you. So butt out will you?" Erin's own fist clenched.

Phoebe pulled her back after she walks into the argument, with a few other girls herself.
"Well, Veronica, if it's just a question, did you really need to bring that whole group with you? From anyone else's point of view, it looks as through you're trying to threaten your lieutenant. Is that what this is, Omega?" Veronica's answering snarl could have rivaled a wolf's for sheer ferocity.

Connie, a child of Hypnos, glided into the middle of the argument, her sleepy soft voice echoing loudly in the clearing.

"Why are we… fighting. We… are… sisters. We should not… let a child… let alone a… boy… make us forget that. Stop… arguing."

The omega's anger turned on the sleepy daughter, of a peaceful god. "No one asked for the opinion of the most worthless girl in this hunt! What do you do, but sleep all day, and only wake when we move and eat? Go sit down somewhere, before you get hurt, by the real hunters of Artemis."

Erin stepped forward, ready to teach the arrogant hunter her place, but Connie's outstretched arm stopped her.

"Are you sure, Con?"

Connie's head is down, her brown hair falling over her cocoa skin, sleepy, but sharp, blue-grey eyes flashed behind the cover her hair provided.

"Positive." Her murmur clearly got to the protective hunter.

"Veronica. You ask me what I do. I protect all of you from the nightmares that plague demigods, as well as the nightmares you all should have from past experiences. I know it all, everything that you dream, comes to me. I know everything. And Veronica?" Connie turned her sharp gaze on the hunter. She tried to hide her nerves behind a vicious snarl.

"What?" she growled.

Connie came forward to whisper in her ear. "I know what you are trying to hide, Veronica. And if you cross my path with the intent to hurt again… you won't like what i do with that information, Omega."

Connie turned away, her cloak, a gift from her father, twirls with her.

Everyone watched her go with nervous eyes, besides Erin, who watched her go, looking pridefully at her friend.

Phoebe stepped forward and placed a hand on Veronica's shoulder, the girl in question turning away, hiding her face.

"What did she say?"

"Nothing."

Phoebe sighed, "Veronica…."

Veronica pulled her shoulder from the older girls grip.

"I said she said nothing!" She shoved Phoebe into Zoë.

Erin gets in her face. "Don't you EVER do that again!"

Just as Veronica was about to do something she would regret, a few of Veronica's follower appeared carrying a struggling form. A talking struggling form.

"Let me go! Let go of me! I don't even want to be here! Let! Go!"

Four hunters carried him, two of them had his hands and the other two had his ankles. They didn't have a scratch on them, they looked in top shaped, if you don't count how tired they looked. Where Perseus, has bruises all over his skin, and one of his eyes were turning a dark purple.

Erin stomps up to them and they drop the child. Everyone winced at the sound his skull made on the ground.

She kneeled down next to him, then turns and glares at the offending group, her hand still on his forehead as he blinked slowly at his surroundings.

"What did you do to him!?" Erin yelled.

"What he deserves, and what I'm going to finish."

Perseus tries to back away, but a pounding headache forces him back down. "Please… please don't hurt me. Not anymore…."

Just as Veronica was about the reach him, Perseus threw his hand out as an attempt to block her and waited for the pain.

The pain never came. Perseus looked around to see the girls frozen where they were, their bodies starting to get a bluish tint.

He got up and started running. He didn't get very far, after a few seconds he ran into Artemis, who surveyed the clearing. Then she turned her silver eyes to the boy covered in bruises, crying as he looked up to her in fear. A fear too similar to the looks some of her hunters had when she first found them.

"Perseus." He flinched. "Perseus, can you go and point out who did this to you?" He rubbed his eyes, which did nothing to rid his face of tears, and nodded, walking over to the hunters.

He pointed out the four who grabbed him and beat him, the ones who threatened him, and lastly, Veronica. Who still had her knife clutched in her hand. Artemis' eye hardened.

"Perseus, can you please let everyone else go?" He nodded once and flicked his hand in their direction.

Artemis paced back and forth in the tent, part of her essence standing guard over a sleeping Perseus. She turned and faced her top hunters. All of them looking pissed.

"It is decided then, if Perseus is the child of the prophecy, then he needs to be able to fight, not only for the prophecy, but in defense from mortals, monsters, and…" the goddess scowled. "and demigods. He will stay here to train until further notice. It is obvious that the camp is too incompetent to protect him due to the issue with father's daughter. We do not want a repeat of that." With one last seething look to the guilty hunters, Artemis walked out to do some of her nightly duties.

"How could you do that?"

-Someone who Percy did not trust to let in

"It was easy"

-Perseus Jackson, to someone he did not trust

Chapter Text

"It hurts everyday,

the absence of someone

who was once there."

-Perseus Jackson to someone who needed to get used to it.

Perseus' breath wheezed past his lungs, his muscles ached, but the vicious and victorious howls and growls encouraged Perseus to push his tired legs farther and faster than before.

It was dark, the only source of light coming from the silver full moon, but even that could barely help him through the dense forest. As soon as the demigod turned to check the distance between them and the monsters close behind, his ankle slipped into a hole, twisting painfully as he fell to the ground.

At the last second, he managed to turn his body, so the half unconscious form of the hunter he was helping fell on top of him instead of under. Something wet brushed against his leg and the girl let out a high pitched wail of pain. Perseus cursed loudly. He could hear the howls getting closer as they were targeted.

"Shit!" he swore.

He tried to pick himself up but fell almost immediately, his ankle screamed and he cursed

He growled and forced himself to stand, he could deal with his ankle after they reached the safety of the camp. When he went to pick up the hunter, she was dead weight in his arms. He didn't think that boded well for her. He struggled at first to carry her bridal style, as she was older than him, but as soon as she was placed properly, he started a running gait that made him feel like he was breaking his ankle over and over again.

"Hang on. We have to be close. Don't you dare die on me." His muttering was more for his own sanity than for the reassurance of the girl, because, well, she was unconscious.

Perseus stumbled again, but this time, it wasn't at fault of the forest. The demigod begin to get light headed as his legs get wobbly and his stomach growled.

His stumble shook the girl more than he wanted to. She seemingly forced her eyes open and looked around, only to see, that she couldn't see.

"Wha? Wasgoinon?" She mumbled.

He looked down at her and cursed, her eyes seemed to have a difficult time focusing on anything and her skin was deathly pale. Clearly she was in shock, or about to be.

"Do you want to truth, or whatever you need to get you to go back to sleep?" 'Or unconsciousness, whatever works.' Percy thought grimly

Her gaze focused on him for a second. "I wanta truf and naden but da truf."

He couldn't bring himself to smile.

"Okay, Erin." He said panting. She was beginning to get heavy. "We were on a hunt, when we heard a scream. We ran to where it was and found- and… and found a little girl being attacked by a pack of hellhounds. It was over before we could even lift our bows. I think they smelled us or something because they started attacking us. You were so angry, when you were attacking one, you didn't notice another one sneak up behind you. It tore up your leg pretty badly, and you got a few scratches. They're shallow, but one or two may scar. I managed to reach you before… before anything else happened and set off a flare in their faces. I grabbed you and ran. And now, I'm trying to find the fucking camp, but I'm injured too and the hounds are gaining."

He knew there was a large possibility that only one of them would make it out alive, and he'd do anything in his power to make sure she was the one to make it, because Perseus didn't care if he died, actually, he still kinda preferred it. But there was no way in Tartarus he was going to let what happened to that little girl, happen to his closest friend at this gods forsaken camp!

But he couldn't do it carrying Erin, she was older than him, and his steps were getting slower and coming down heavier.

"Erin… can you... can you walk if I take care of your right side?"

Her dark eyes were getting more focused and Perseus took that as a sign that she could make it. She would make it. She had to.

"I am a hunter of Artemis, I die, it will be in battle, not because I bled out being reckless!"

Perseus wanted to smile. But he couldn't, so he just settled for getting her settled into his side and taking off again. Erin was giving him instructions so he could dodge multiple obstacles that he couldn't even see.

"Rock in front of us, too late to turn, step up!"

"Duck!"

"Bush to your right!"

"There's a hole in front of you, step long!"

Perseus glared at the ground. "How the hell can you see?"

Erin became quiet, and he glances up at her, to find out he can see her. He realized they were in a clearing and there were no trees blocking the light of the moon.

"Percy, I am not as old as you think I am. My godly parent is-"

At that moment, a hellhound appeared out of the shadow of a tree, and tackled them. Erin went flying from his arms.

The demigod landed on his back, knocking his breathe out of his body.

"Erin!" He wheezed. Perseus struggled to bring himself to his hands and knees, the invisible scars on his body ached from being pulled so violently.

He saw her getting backed up into a tree by the hound, who slowly prowled up to her.

Just as it got closer, a rock hit it in the back of its head. It whined and looked back with a snarl. Perseus had thrown the rock, and he wasn't regretting it.

He took out his hunters knife, positive he could take out one hellhound. That was until he heard multiple growls behind him.

The rest of the pack had gotten there.

And they looked pissed.

"Oh my fucking gods!" Perseus hissed. With a desperate look around, he finally turns to Erin, who was looking at him with horror.

"Erin…. Erin! I… I need you to leave."

The horror turned to confusion, than outrage.

"I'm not leaving you alone with a pack of hellhounds and a month's training!"

"I'm not asKING YOU! ERIN YOU NEED TO LEAVE! Erin, please. I can't lose anymore family!" His voice cracked, as much as he fought it, he had gotten attached. If she died… it'll be his fault. He was cursed and anyone he cared about paid the price.

The hunter looked wide-eyed at Perseus. Then a determined glint came to her eyes. For a second, Perseus thought she was going to leave, because the only thing keeping the hellhounds away was his knife. And soon that wouldn't be enough.

Then she began to speak.

"Percy, my godly parent is Hades. I was born before the World War that led to the pact of the gods. I want you to remember, not everything is how it seems, okay? Can you do that for me?"

Perseus' arm lowered. "Erin, Erin what are you talking about?"

The hounds chose this moment to attack. Perseus tried to bring his guard back up, but it was too late. Then the monster yelped as it was dragged away from him… by a shadow?

Behind it, Erin was already pale and sweaty from using her powers.

"I love you like a brother. Remember that, will you Percy? And tell my Dad, I said sorry and I love him."

Then, Perseus fell into a shadow himself, the last thing he sees, is the pact converging on the weak hunter.

At The Hunter's Camp

As soon as Perseus opened his eyes, he immediately regretted it. A hunter's knife with a angry hunter behind it, was level with his throat.

"Where. Is. Erin." Veronica hissed.

At her name, Perseus jumped up, and started limping into the woods. Just as he was going into them, shadows encased his wrists, keeping him from moving.

Perseus fought against them with everything he had.

"NO! NO NO NO NO! LET ME GO! I HAVE TO GO BACK, NO! SHE'S- I CAN'T LOSE YOU TOO! Please, Erin. Please let me help…."

As soon as the shadows dissolved, Perseus knew it was too late. He fell to his hands and knees… and began to sob.

"Perseus. Perseus, what… happened?" He showed no sign of hearing Connie, Erin's best friend.

The sleepy hunter's eyes hardened as she feared the worst.

"Fine. If you wont tell me. I will watch it."

She placed her hand on his head, and he passed out immediately. Her eyes glowed a milky white.

It was only seconds later, when her eyes returned to normal, and she collapsed in tears.

"What is going on here? Where is Erin?" Artemis stormed into the clearing, looking furious and scared.

Veronica turned bitter eyes towards Perseus.

"Why don't you ask the male." Perseus isn't shocked at how similar her growl is to the hellhounds.

Artemis turns sharply to Perseus, her silver eyes reminding him of steele.

She stomps up to him and kneel so she's face to face with him in his position on the ground.

"The only reason i haven't killed you yet, boy, is because of your past and that you can tell me what happened to my sister. So you better tell me before your past reason aren't enough."

At that, Perseus curled in a ball, and just as the goddess went to draw her bow, a sea green aura, with black streaked through it like claws exploded outwards, send the goddess and her hunters flying backwards.

When they got up, the smell of salt was in the air and the area around him was muddy with black lightning occasionally flickering into existence from Perseus' skin. Artemis narrowed her eyes.

Phoebe walked up to her mistress, soaking wet with mud covering her back and lower body.

"His aura. That's what happened. His aura was too strong for you to hide. M'lady, we have no choice but to send him to camp half-blood. He cannot stay here."

With a wave of her hand, Artemis sent him away. To the one place that can keep him safe.

The goddess turned and walked away. Just when she was going to into her tent, she looked over her shoulder and addressed one of her oldest friends.

"You're right, he cannot stay here." She sneered. "But he sure as Hades isn't going to that camp."

"Not everything that is bad

comes to hurt us, Perseus."

-An assurance to Percy Jackson,

that he is finally safe.

BONUS!

Perseus uncurled his body when he felt his back hit rough concrete. Before he could sit up, a cheery face appeared in his vision and he flinched, reaching for his dagger, but stopping when his muscles protested. The shadows around the man's face made his smile look sinister as he began to talk.

"Hello sir! Do you have any bags you want me to take? Oh, and here is your Cash Card! We're making a new Golden Deluxe Card, it give you access to so much more, believe me, you'll never want to leave."

Chapter Text

"It isn't my past,

it's my everyday."

-Perseus to someone who told him

to let his past go.

Perseus' breath wheezed past his lungs, his muscles ached, but the vicious and victorious howls and growls encouraged Perseus to push his tired legs farther and faster than before. It was dark, the only source of light coming from the silver full moon, but even that could barely help him through the dense forest. He almost trips on his feet, his seconds worth of hesitation causing his foot to catch on his other.

Perseus slowed, not welcoming what was going to happen. He sped up nonetheless, wanting to get this over with as fast as he could.

He always went through the motions of this repetitive nightmare as fast as possible, not having to pause anymore to remember the obstacles.

Dread, fear, and sorrow pounded at Perseus' heart. His body slowed without him noticing, the clearing shown clearly as the moon lit it up with its mocking silver glow.

Just as he was about to step into the light, a large shadow forced him back into the neverending Darkness that didn't want to relinquish Its cold hold on him.

Perseus was blinded. He couldn't see past the Darkness, all he could do was listen to the hellhounds paws as they brushed up against the damp grass, he had to listen to its growl that promised a gory death. He listened until he could not listen any longer.

The pain started in his head, his hands instinctively went to his temples, applying pressure in an attempt to stop the pain. It didn't work. It spread to his chest, then his legs, causing him to fall to his knees. From there, he curled in on himself, repeating an accusatory plea.

"It's not supposed to be this way! No no nononono!" He sobbed, "Please, it didn't happen like this! What are you doing? Stop!"

Unknown to the panicking boy, a blue-green glow began to stab through the Darkness, although, the black tendrils spread throughout the light began to latch onto the Darkness and pulled it closer, but soon, the ocean colored light exploded outward, eradicating the Darkness.

Noticing that he was no longer in pain, Perseus turned towards Erin. Seeing that another hound had joined the first, he shot two arrows at one, throwing it backwards into a tree where it stick there, struggling to get free.

Barely pausing, Perseus leapt at the other, his knife already drawn. As soon as the beast was pinned underneath him, Perseus held his silver knife to its throat only to discover it wasn't a growling monster underneath its shining edge, it was a glaring Bianca.

"THAT WAS AWESOME!" A voice yelled. Perseus turned towards the tree where the hellhound was seconds before, to find that Nico was pinned to the wall, two arrows in his shirt keeping him there.

Bianca pushed Perseus off of her, irritation shown clearly on her face.

"What was that about?!" Perseus looked away as he put the knife back away in his sheath under his shirt sleeve.

"Nothing. It was just a nightmare. I didn't know it was you."

He turned to free Nico from where he was squirming on the wall, but Bianca's hand on his shoulder stopped him. She didn't see his flinch.

"Perseus, maybe you should talk about them… it may help." her face was soft, pitying. Perseus's face hardened.

He pulled his shoulder free of her hand. "No, I'm good. Thanks for the opinion through, I'll definitely think about it."

Bianca's lip twitched. "Why won't you tell me about your nightmares? They're a danger to us and you!"

"Why won't you tell me about your past, huh, Bianca? Hell, how do I know you aren't a danger to me?"

Her face gets red and she gets in Perseus' face.

"You know why I can't!"

"And you know why I can't!"

"Umm, can I come down now?"

Their heads whip to where Nico was still hanging on the wall, his legs kicking gently. They back up from where they had yelled in each others faces. Perseus turned to let Nico down, but he paused at looked back at Bianca as she closed in on herself. He knew he went too far when he mentioned their past, it had always been a sore subject, and it hit Bianca the hardest.

"Look, Bia, I'm sorry. Just forget it, okay?" He whispers. She gives a curt nod, still glaring at her shoes.

After pulling Nico down and putting his arrows back in his quiver, Nico jumps on his back, yelling joyfully.

"WHOO! Gettiup, Perseus! Lets go get FOOOOOOOD!" At Nico's neverending joy, Perseus' face lights up. It's not a smile, but he's getting there.

"NICO WATCH OUT!"

Nico dodges to the left, barely escaping the snapping jaws.

"Whoa! Nice catch, Perseus!"

"Okay, Neeks. This is a Hydra. One bite and you're dead. What do you do to defeat it? Watch out for that acid spit!"

"Umm- whoa!" he jumps up, leaping out of the way of the acid being spit at him. "Okay, um, after I cut a head off, I need to burn it so two more can't grow out of it. If I don't have any fire, then I go for a shot at the heart!"

Immediately, Nico tries to use his sword to stab the beast through the heart, but its tail swats him away. Before he can make it to his sword, the Hydra eats him. Nico and Perseus fall to their knees.

"NOOOOOO!"

"HE WAS TOO YOUNG!"

Bianca scoffs, shaking her head.

"You two take that game waaaay too seriously. It's just a stupid game."

Perseus looks at her pointedly, "That doesn't seem to stop you from listening when we're talking about the monsters and how to kill them." Bianca blushes.

"Whatever, you dorks." Nico grins cheekily at her, and she sticks her tongue out in retaliation.

She walks out, taking Perseus' bow and arrows with her. He rolls his eyes fondly and goes back to telling Nico about different monsters.

"Now let me tell you about Canadians."

With a whistle, the arrow flew through the air, but Perseus knew as soon as the arrow was shot, it was off. True to his instincts, the arrow landing a little bit outside the second blue ring.

Bianca went to throw down the bow, but stopped herself remembering Perseus' protectiveness for his silver bow. She settled for stomping her foot instead.

"UGH! THAT WAS EVEN WORSE THAN BEFORE!" She growled

Perseus, sensing she was about to lose her temper, quickly went up to her and grabbed her hands. He flinched, her small hands reminding him of his mother. Bianca, herself was shocked, as this was the first time he touched her willingly.

"Bia, it's alright. I didn't get this over night. Come on, let me see your stance."

Slowly pulling her hands from his, Bianca picks up the bow and turns a questioning look towards her friend.

"Stance?"

He nods, studying an arrow Bianca didn't even notice he took from the quiver. "Yeah, your stance. How you stand before you shoot." -she gets into her stance, abait, hesitantly- "That's good, that's good, Bia. Now, pull back your arrow, and as soon as you know where you're aiming, breathe, relax your muscles… and shoot." as soon as Perseus said shoot, she let go of the arrow….

And made a bullseye. She squealed and jumped to give Perseus a hug. He froze for a moment, not knowing how to feel with females anymore. Slowly, he hugged her back. They stood there for a second, until Bianca pulled back and picked up a spare bow laying around. She handed Perseus' his bow back.

"Bet I can make more bullseyes than you!" Perseus' eyes sharpened determinedly.

"Oh you're on."

It had been two months in the Lotus Hotel when the first monster found him. He was with Nico in the Archery Room because he wanted to see Percy do some trick shots. Perseus had forgotten to ask Bianca to keep Nico occupied while he had some time to himself, and Nico had come looking for him, finding him just as he had fired a complex shot that ricocheted off multiple surfaces until it hit a bullseye in the center of the room.

Nico had made his presence known by shouting at the top of his lungs, "THAT WAS THE COOLEST THING I'VE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE!" And ever since he wouldn't stop begging to see more.

"Nico, calm– N-Nico, come on! Your sister– Bia would kill me if I shoot– I can't shoot with you in the room!"

Nico pouts and starts to walk away, when he freezes and turns around with a devious smirk.

"Ya know, Perseus," the way he say his name causes a bead of sweat to drip down Perseus' neck, "It would be a shame, if Bianca were to learn that you shot an arrow with me in the room and, gods forbid, she learns that you almost shot me, yes, it truly would suck to be you."

Perseus slowly put the bow down and backs away from it. He narrows his eyes.

"What do you mean Nico? You weren't even in here when I shot that shot."

His smile gets wider.

"But Bianca doesn't know that."

Perseus' eyes widen almost comically. One could almost hear the old western themed music.

"You. Wouldn't. Dare."

Nico skips over to him gleefully, and ignores their height difference when he (tries to) get in his face.

"Try me." Before he could reply back, Perseus glimpses something over Nico's shoulder.

"Fine, you fucking gremlin. See that Butterfly over there?" as Nico turns, Perseus quickly uses the Mist to make the Stymphalian Bird look like a Butterfly.

"Yeaaaaah?"

"Watch this." Before Nico could blink, Perseus shot an arrow. To him, Perseus just missed the Butterfly. In actuality, the arrow went straight through the monster.

Nico looked unimpressed.

"Well, guess I'll just have to go get Bia and–"

Perseus snorts. "Hold on, hotshot. Follow me."

They walk over to the wall where the arrow was embedded in the wall. When he takes it out, and with a bit of Mist, Nico sees tiny black hairs on the silver head. His mouth drops open.

He looks to Perseus in awe.

"You. Did. Not. Just. DO THAT?!" with a twitch of his wrist (and a bit of Mist), the hairs disappear.

"You're right, I didn't." he gets his stuff together and quickly gets both of them out of the room.

"Hey, Perseus?"

"What up, Neeks?"

"Can I use your dagger?"

"No."

It took one more month for the secret to come out. And it wasn't how Perseus wanted to tell them.

It had started out as a weirdly good day. Perseus didn't have any nightmares, so when Nico (the little fucker), jumped on his stomach, instead of finding himself pinned down with a dagger at his throat, Nico found himself being tickled mercilessly.

After that, Bianca finally let him teach Nico how to use a sword and a dagger. To Perseus surprise, Nico was a natural with the sword, but struggled with the dagger for a bit before he started getting the hang of it.

While still fighting, Nico opened his mouth to say something, but stopped himself abruptly. To the untrained eye, it would have just looked like Nico had stopped talking. But unluckily for Nico, Perseus was trained by the greatest demigoddess of this century. Perseus saw that the second Nico stopped himself from speaking, his arm stiffened and his grip on his dagger loosened. With a quick swipe of his own dagger, Perseus disarms him and holds his dagger at Nico's throat, his look imploring Nico to give up. With an embarrassed growl, Nico backs away and dips his head.

Just as Nico was going to walk away to pick up his dagger, a voice speaks up from behind them.

"IT'S YOU TWO!"

Both boys turn to see a red headed boy there. Only… it wasn't a boy. Where his legs should have been, there were shaggy goat legs. Perseus' eyes widen.

"Fuck."

Even Nico's shock at the goat-boy-thingy didn't stop him for scolding Perseus with a sharp "Language!"

He was ignored. Perseus' full attention was on the satyr, which was unfortunate for the satyr, because Perseus was enraged.

Bringing out his bow, Perseus shot four precise arrows which embedded themselves through the now terrified satyr's shirt and into the wall behind him. Throwing his bow backwards, knowing Nico would catch it, Perseus let his glare connect with the satyr's eyes. His struggles stops instantly as he got lost in the intense riptide that threatened to drag him to the bottom of the dark, almost black, ocean, never again seeing the light of day. A slave to the wave.

But then, the clouds covered the moon, and the satyr could swim out of the beautifully dangerous ocean. Just as his vision cleared, he found Perseus in his face.

"What the fuck are you doing here?"

Still in a daze from the effect of those breathtakingly evil eyes, the creature continuously tripped over his own tongue.

"Quest! Zeus! Bolt! Furies! Food! Annabeth! Hades! Zack! Oh, gods please don't kill me!" that only seemed to make Perseus angrier.

"I. Don't. Care. About you stupid quest! I have seen many of you here! And you fucking chose to find me when I'm with him?!"

"PERCY!" Perseus stiffened in shock and turned to look at Nico, who was trembling and looked on the verge of tears.

"What did you just-"

"Percy, please stop! Please, I don't know what's going on, b-but you scaring me, p-please d-don't hurt it-him." Perseus heart broke, he didn't mean to get so angry, but, telling him and Bia about their world… it would only put them in more danger, and he didn't want to lose anyone else to this damned life. If you could even call it that.

Feeling guilty, Percy walked over to the shacking boy, and hugged him to his chest. Whispering assurances and apologizes apologies to him.

With one last scathing look to the satyr still sitting stunned on the ground, Percy hisses at him over Nico's shoulder.

"Get out. Get out and do not come back." By the time he finished speaking, Percy already had his face buried in Nico's hair again. As he heard the frantic footsteps (hoofsteps?) leave the room, Percy held onto Nico tighter as the boy hid his face in his chest, and thought with the utmost self-hatred: 'You just had to get fucking attached didn't you, you fucking retard? Oh gods, I'm so screwed.'

"I fucked myself up getting attached to you!"

-Perseus to his betrayer

"Exactly."

-Them to Perseus

Chapter Text

Yeah, I'm rewriting this wow. Its cringy and I hate it, but I had a lot of good ideas for this book and I'll be damned if I don't do this! I can't promise this'll be updated anytime soon, if you haven't noticed, the last time I updated this was 2018. So yeah, might have to wait.