Ch. 17

Percy felt a weight on his chest.

His wasn't sure what was going on but he could feel something small pressed against his chest as the world slowly began to come to life around him. His eyes started to flutter open and after the initial discomfort he felt by the bright lights, he adjusted and looked down to find a mess of black hair spread out over his torso.

At first, he thought it was Reyna but he quickly realized this was somebody way too small to be the daughter of Bellona.

Zoë, he realized with a small smile. No, not Nightshade, that would be a different kind of pleasant surprise altogether… Damn those teenage fantasies.

He took a deep breath and the hair immediately began to stir. He reached up and ran his hand through it smiling at the pleasant surprise of finding his little sis waiting for him to wake up.

Zoë looked up in surprise and before he could get a word out, the small girl wrapped her arms around his neck, surprising him with how tight of a grip she had.

He chuckled lightly, "Who let you in here, squirt?"

Zoë turned towards the door and Percy followed her gaze. Reyna stood in the doorway holding the hand of another small dark haired figure. She gave him a gentle push in Percy's direction and little Luke climbed onto the bed and joined his twin in hugging their older brother.

Percy was a little taken aback. Luke had always been a little distant with him for whatever reason. But rather than question it, he just wrapped his other arm around Luke, unable to keep the smile off his face having his little siblings so close.

They stayed like that for a moment until Luke rolled himself off the bed, a small smile on his face knowing Percy was alright.

Percy scooted back in his little hospital bed, dragging Zoë with him as she seemed to have no interest in letting go yet. He looked at Reyna, gratefulness evident in his sea green eyes.

"So, give it to me straight Doc, how bad is it?" He smirked but when Reyna looked worried, the smirk melted right off his face.

Rather than say anything, she grabbed a mirror from the bedside table and held it out for Percy to take. Nervously, he brought it up to his face and flinched a little at what he saw.

The entire right side of his face was a deep purple; both his eyes were black and a deep scar ran from his forehead, through his eyebrow to the top of his eye. Zoë looked up at him nervously, eyeing his injuries with worry.

He stared at himself for a moment, not saying anything as Reyna waited for him to react.

Finally, he lowered the mirror, "Damn, there goes my modeling career."

Reyna let out a snort before she could stop herself. She looked up and found Percy grinning before he picked the mirror back up and reexamined his face.

"Well, to be honest, it's really not that bad. I guess having a drakon's tail smack you across the face is bound to leave a few marks." He pulled up the pant leg of the athletic shorts he was wearing, deciding not to think about who had put him in these, though he was praying it wasn't Frank. He grimaced at the deep scar running from his inner thigh clear across to the other side. "I suppose it was necessary for them to cut my leg off to get the imperial gold out?" His frown deepened, "And there go my speedo wearing days."

"The worst part about that is he's not kidding." A new voice said from the doorway.

Percy looked up and found Frank and Clarisse standing in the doorway, both smiling at seeing him awake.

"Don't be a hater because you can't pull it off, Zhang." Percy laughed as he put Zoë on his hip and moved to the edge of the bed, stumbling a little before catching himself as he found his feet.

"Wow Percy," Clarisse said still grinning. "You look like shit."

Percy rolled his eyes, "Well I was waiting for Mars to hook it up with that blessing that makes you invulnerable but apparently that's reserved for his kids and not random demigods lowering the boom on unsuspecting drakons."

"One time," Clarisse muttered.

Percy raised an eyebrow, "Right and in Kamdesh when you took three AK-47 rounds to the chest it was just a weird occurrence of developing Kevlar skin and a strange red aura."

Clarisse just rolled her eyes rather than respond. Percy put his hand to his face before his eyes went a little wide.

"Whoa," he said shocked at the thick five o'clock shadow on his face. "How long was I out?"

"About twenty eight hours," Clarisse answered, ignoring his look of disbelief.

"No one thought they should wake me up? What if there had been another attack?"

"We tried," Frank grumbled. "You weren't having any of it. And cut the crap, we can handle ourselves without you. There were a few minor attacks but we don't need you there to kick a little monster podex."

Percy hoisted his little sister a little higher on his waist and looked her in the eyes.

"Can you go with Uncle Frank and Aunt Clarisse for a few minutes? I need to talk to Reyna but I'll come get you right after.

To his surprise, the little daughter of Poseidon smiled, "Can we go back to work?"

"Work?" His eyes were on Frank and Clarisse with a look of confusion and perhaps a little worry.

"For Mr. Terminus!" Zoë said excitedly. "We guard borders!"

Percy almost dropped her as he pulled back to see if she was serious or not.

"You work for Terminus?"

She nodded, a big smile on her face, "Everyone work! We help protect the city! We keep the monsters away!"

Percy turned her eyes to Reyna who was smiling at the explanation. She give an, I'll explain later, look which Percy grudgingly nodded to. He set the girl down who immediately ran towards Frank who already crouched down expectantly. Without missing a beat, she launched onto his back. Frank stood up abruptly and spun around a couple times as he made this way through the door, Zoë giggling happily as she clung to his neck.

Percy watched them disappear, Clarisse with Luke over her shoulder in a fireman's carry which he tried to squirm out of, though he was laughing and smiling the whole way out.

Percy just shook his head at his friends, gods of Olympus he loved those two. The way his siblings had already taken to them only accentuated how grateful he was to have them.

"I'm glad you pulled through," Reyna said breaking him from his thoughts as he turned to her and waited on the other side of the room for whatever he wanted to talk about.

"Terminus? Really?" He arched an eyebrow in question, unsure how he felt about it.

"What?" She protested. "They were going through hell sitting around my house. They needed something to take their minds off their idiot brother and the fact he was close to death by the time we got you to the infirmary."

He ignored the second half of her comment, "And you think they're safe with Terminus?"

"He's a god, Percy." She answered, "He may be an annoying and pestering god but he is still a god. There is no safer place than at his side. He will protect them should the need arise, I'm sure of it."

The more the idea sunk in, the more he knew she was right. For all his ridiculous rules, Terminus was more loyal to Rome than any god he had met. He knew his brother and sister would be safe in his care.

"You wanted to talk?" Reyna looked a little unsure what this was about but by the way she was playing with her hands, it was obvious she was a little nervous.

Percy made to take a step towards her but stumbled, finding the pain in his thigh far worse than he'd first realized.

Reyna walked to the other side of the room and tossed something at him. He caught it and smirked when he saw realized it was the ridiculous cane he had bought before their date in New Rome.

"Are you sure you aren't a descendant of Apollo?" Reyna inquired. "It seems you saw this moment coming."

He laughed and took a few steps, doing a little spin on his good leg before he clapped his hands together very pleased with his improved mobility.

"Prophet?" He asked, "No." Then he smirked, "Reckless demigod prone to injury? That about sums me up perfectly!"

He stepped closer to Reyna, his smile starting to waver a bit.

"Right," he said getting back to her question. "I think I promised you a talk before the attack," he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "You know, when I dumped my siblings on your doorstep right after being a complete and total dick."

She took a step back, "That sounds about right."

"Well," he tried to find a good place to start but realized how bad he was at this. "Um, what are the chances we could forget about everything I said after the Senate meeting?"

Reyna didn't quite know how to respond. In reality, she didn't actually know the answer to his question. She hadn't had much of a chance to think about with the camp being attacked and then Percy nearly dying. She had pretty much forgotten about her anger and been focused on preparing the camp for future attacks once Percy was out of the woods.

"You were an asshole." She said honestly.

"I was," he conceded. "But to be fair, I wasn't really in my right state of mind. After the message in the Senate from Darth Dickhead and then you putting the city at risk for me, I said some things I'm really regretting now."

Reyna thought about it for a second. She felt a little bad dragging this out seeing Percy leaning on his cane, his pain clearly evident on his face but she was also enjoying watching him squirm a bit for a change. She doubted there were many times that he was on this side of a conversation with the opposite sex and she couldn't deny it was a little satisfying to know she was the one having that effect on him.

"I don't really know what you want me to say," she finally conceded. "I'm not going to forget you were a complete jerk but I don't hate you for it. It was an argument, they happen. What happens from here is up to you I guess. You have to figure out what you want."

She kept her eyes on the ground between them. This awkwardness of the moment made her uncomfortable and she didn't really want to look up to see what he was thinking.

Then she felt a hand touch her chin. She looked up and had no time to react before Percy pressed his lips to hers. She was too stunned to respond as Percy's right hand snuck around her waist while his left leaned heavily on his cane. Working on their own accord, her lips responded in turn, her hand to finding the back of his head and pulling him closer, a sudden desperate need to be as close as possible. Percy dropped his cane as his other hand went around her waist and held her tightly as the kiss deepened. Without thinking, Reyna put her other hand to his cheek causing him to break the kiss as he flinched back in pain.

"Oh gods," she said apologetically. "I'm so sorry."

Percy just smiled as his face was scrunched up in pain, "Totally worth it."

She glared at him, "What was that?"

Percy leaned against the wall, his leg throbbing in pain, "That was me figuring out what I want." He gave her a serious look. "If that's still an option, that is."

Reyna scooped up his cane and handed it to him, allowing him to move around again. She surprised even herself when she gave him a sly smile, "We'll see." Her smile grew when he looked displeased. "But you'll have to work harder for it now."

His expression turned into a smirk as he limped back over to her and put his hand on her backside giving it a soft squeeze that made her yelp in surprise.

"Like I said, totally worth it."

Line Break

It took a few days but the pain in his leg slowly began to subside; apparently having a godly metal so deep into his body made for a slow recovery. His face was even slower to heal. The bruising was deep and rather extensive. The scar faded a bit but he knew that one was going to be a keeper, joining more than a few others he had accrued over the years on other parts of his body.

He spent his recuperation time mostly with Frank but also with his siblings whenever their new boss would let them off border duty. Though as soon as he had showered and gotten out of his hospital gown, the first place Percy went was to visit his old friend Terminus.

But after a long talk with the annoying minor god, Percy had a new-found respect for the old armless statue.

Through the rather long winded explanation, Percy became convinced the minor Roman god would care for his siblings as if they were children of Rome themselves.

'Siblings of a former praetor!' Terminus had boomed. 'They're as close to royalty that a child can get in the Empire! It's my duty as protector of this city to take these younglings under my care!'

Protector of the city, Percy had wondered…Maybe a bit of a stretch but he had no plans to poke fun at the god's ego. Not when he could relax when the kids were away from him. And the way the two had taken to little Julia had the grin threatening to split his face.

The only person he hadn't seen all that much of was Clarisse. It was clear she was mad but he didn't really want to go barking up that tree given the situation in New Rome. An argument with one of his best friends was not high on his to list at the moment.

It wasn't hard to figure out what was wrong with her; the way she looked at Reyna and the way she would eye them whenever they were together made it clear she knew there was something between them.

Percy half wondered if Frank had opened his big trap.

Since their intimate moment in the infirmary, things had been pretty formal between him and Reyna… Well, in public anyway. When they were alone, well that was a different story. After their first night together, he hadn't really been sure what to think. Reyna was hot, like really hot. Early twenties Latina girl with a body that was carved from years of military training… Well he'd have to be Nico not to notice how much different she looked since their last meeting at Camp Half Blood. But there were countless girls who could claim the same. What surprised him was how much he enjoyed their non-intimate moments. When it was just the two of them, after the day's work was over and they were just hanging out at her house or around the city. She had a side he would have never imagined… She was fun.

Once you melted that cold and guarded exterior, underneath was a smart, funny and surprisingly relaxed girl. He still couldn't get over how easy she was to talk to. In just a couple days, he felt as relaxed around her as he did Frank or Clarisse and that was saying something.

But regardless of all the things he liked about her, he still wasn't sure what he wanted between them. She was awesome but at the same time, he was worried. He hadn't allowed himself to get closer than a one night stand with a girl since he lost Annabeth.

Despite how many similarities Reyna and Annabeth had, it was not the same. It didn't feel the same and he didn't want it to feel the same. Annabeth had been his everything; his best friend, his voice of reason, his kick in the ass and the love of his life. Even thinking about Reyna in the same respect felt like a huge insult to Annabeth, something he would never do. No, Reyna wasn't Annabeth. But he also couldn't really deny how happy he felt when they hung out.

Then there was Clarisse.

To be clear, he didn't look at Clarisse that way. She was more like a sister or a best friend. Despite a few, uh, occurrences, where things had been different… That one drunken night, a few intimate moments away from Frank and that kiss in his father's palace; it didn't change the way he saw her. But he wasn't sure if she thought the same. The way she looked at Reyna and the way she glared when he and Reyna were together were obvious signs of jealousy.

Despite not wanting anything romantic with her, Clarisse meant more to him than just about anyone else in the world. She was family and if whatever this was between him and Reyna would threaten the relationship he had with Clarisse, then he needed to think carefully about his next move.

And on top of the ridiculous internal conflict he was having about his romantic life, it all paled in comparison to what was really bothering him.

The dark figure hadn't been seen or heard from in over two days and that wasn't a good thing.

He highly doubted that the guy was simply bored of him and decided to go bother some other demigod. The silence was almost worse than being attacked. At least if he were attacking, Percy would know where he was and what he was up to. But the longer the peace dragged on, the more he started to fear when the other half of the pendulum would drop.

He had this terrible sinking feeling that something very bad was about to happen. As much as he tried to stop himself, he couldn't stop his mind from thinking of horrible scenarios for the people he loved. He worried about everyone; the Romans, the Greeks, his parents, hell he was even worried about Olympus.

In the middle of his mental torment, he felt something touch his shoulder.

On instinct, he grabbed the offending object and twisted, bursting out of his seat and pulling the pen from his pocket in one fluid motion. At the last second, he jumped back as Riptide sprang to life mere inches from the startled face of Frank Zhang.

"Dude," Frank said apologetically. "My bad."

Percy capped Riptide and looked at his best friend sheepishly.

"Uh, sorry bud." He apologized. "You surprised me." Frank's expression immediately put Percy on edge. "What is it?"

"The entrance," Frank explained tentatively. "He's here."

Percy went rigid.

"What? An attack?" He grabbed the front of Frank's shirt, a feeling of panic consuming his mind momentarily. "Why aren't we preparing to defend of the city."

Frank grabbed hold of his wrists tightly, holding his friend in place so he could look him in the eyes.

"He's already gone." Percy's expression immediately turned to confusion before Frank continued. "The guards spotted him but before they could sound the alarms he was gone."

Percy only became more confused.

"He left a package at the border," Frank swallowed the lump in his throat. "It's addressed to you."

Percy immediately looked out towards the borders from his spot in the barracks where he saw a large gathering of demigods. He had been so caught up is his thoughts he hadn't noticed that the barracks were empty.

"No one wants to touch it and no one wanted to get you." Frank's discomfort only seemed to grow. "Perce, I think you should let me and Clarisse deal with this."

Percy took off at a jog for the border. When the Romans saw him approaching, they made a wide aisle for him to pass through. He immediately noticed the way none of them would meet his eyes. Before he could get a good look at the entrance, Reyna stepped in front of him.

"Percy," she looked nervous but whatever else she had wanted to say seemed to elude her.

He walked past her and froze.

At the entrance of the camp was a large box, maybe big enough to fit a couple basketballs. But what caught his eye was the bottom of the box.

Soaking through the bottom was the unmistakable crimson stain of blood. Percy immediately felt like throwing up. He knew whatever was in the box was going to kill him psychologically.

Reyna tried to grab his hand but he shook it from her grasp and approached the box. When he was a mere five yards from it, a voice turned his blood to ice.

"You don't call, you don't write, I was worried you had forgotten about me."

Perched on a low hanging limb of the tree near the entrance was an all too familiar figure. Hidden behind his hood, his voice simultaneously had Percy wanting to attack him and break down in tears of frustration.

"What is it?" Percy's voice was a low, gravelly tone as he tried to keep his emotions in check.

"It's one of those glittery unicorn dolls I know you've been wanting!" He said with mock excitement. "Just open it you silly goose!"

Percy lowered into a crouch and reached for the box with trembling hands.

"Percy!" Clarisse's voice warned him from the crowd of demigods but he ignored the pleading in her tone.

He pulled open the top with ease, the seal breaking apart with a slight popping sound before he fell back onto his butt, a look of horror on his face.

Immediately the figure began to laugh, throwing his head back and letting a howl of amusement fill the otherwise silent area.

"I thought I'd be doing you a favor seeing how many monsters you've killed in your lifetime. Well," he hoped off his branch, landing only six or seven feet from Percy. He crouched down so he was at Percy's level. "Now you can check one Cyclops and one Harpy off that list."

Reyna approached Percy slowly and finally got a look at the contents of the box.

The decapitated heads of Tyson and Ella were at the bottom, both their eyes open and looks of terror showing their final expressions just before being sent to Tartarus.

Before she or anyone could stop him, Percy vaulted to his feet. Without even pulling his weapon, he lunged at the figure only for a shadow to engulf his body before depositing him a few feet to the left as Percy hit face first into the earth.

He laughed again, "You're so silly Percy, you should know you can't touch me. I am the master of shadows and trickery. No one can stop me, I am without equal!"

Percy jumped up ready to attack but stopped when he saw the shadows gathering a few feet behind the figure. Percy charged anyway only for another shadow consumed the figure.

But then something happened.

Instead of popping back on his feet a feet away, a strangled scream erupted from the spot he had vanished. Suddenly the figure reemerged in front of Percy, crashing to the ground unceremoniously at Percy's feet.

A second figure appeared out of the darkness. An older teenager with pale skin and dark onyx colored eyes glared down at his prey.

"Fool," he growled. "I am the King of Ghosts and master of the darkness! You dare to claim yourself my equal in my own domain!?

Before the figure could stop him, Nico reached down and pulled the hood back, revealing a man with dark green eyes and disheveled brown hair. He looked around, a look shock on his face before it contorted into a vicious sneer.

"You will pay for this child of the Underworld. The time for games has ended and now the battle will truly begin. I will soak the earth with the blood of demigods in the name of my mistress! Hear my words," he looked around at assembled Romans before settling on Percy's confused face. "Savor this day for it will always be remembered as the final day before Night consumed this world!"

A mist surrounded the figure just like the shadows had before he was swallowed by them and vanished from sight.

For a good twenty seconds, no one moved and no one spoke. Almost everyone seemed more confused at what had just happened than anything else.

Finally Percy, with a couple tears tricking down his face as he glanced at the box, voiced the question of just about everyone's minds.

"Who was that?"

At first, his question was met with only silence. But then Nico looked up from the spot where the man vanished from.

"I know who that is," he said, his face brooding and dark. "That was another product of Olympian justice." Everyone stared at Nico, waiting for him to elaborate."That was Alabaster Torrington," He took a deep breath, "And from what I think I know, that is big trouble."