Secrets....

𝐊 𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐊𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝

I ᴛʀɪᴇᴅ ɴᴏᴛ ᴛᴏ ғᴇᴇʟ ʜᴜʀᴛ. Hᴇʀᴇ ᴡᴀs ᴍʏ ᴏᴡɴ ᴅᴀᴅ, ᴛᴇʟʟɪɴɢ ᴍᴇ ʜᴇ ᴡᴀs sᴏʀʀʏ I'ᴅ ʙᴇᴇɴ ʙᴏʀɴ.

«J͜͡a͜͡s͜͡o͜͡n͜͡»

I'm not really fond of the beach.

Being a child of Jupiter, I don't really take interest in Poseidon/Neptune's domain. Hades/Pluto is neutral. He doesn't mind anyone.

But anywho, for some reason, everyone voted to hang out on the beach. Everyone except me and Nico.

So, we sat there. On the beach. Leo joked making us laugh. Piper looked really good when she laughed, but then again, when doesn't she? Thalia really got along with Rachel. Annabeth huffed on Leo's stupidity. Hazel and Frank pulled a Captain America by screaming 'Language' every now and then. Grover chewed on anything he could see that wasn't meat. And oh, don't even ask about Percy. He was being a sarcastic schist. But a lovable sarcastic shit. All in all, it felt nice.

We were always in some kind of danger. Be it a serious war or staying alert for monsters. This was a rest for all of us. The fact that we could laugh and joke without any tension from an upcoming war was..... unbelievable. Not that I'm complaining.

"It feels good, doesn't it?" Annabeth asked all of a sudden. "To not worry about an overpowerful being trying to kill us."

"Yeah, it does..." Rachel sighed.

"You know, I notice.... things" Annabeth announced. "When we were at war, Jason's lip scar was a little pink from the tension. Now, it's almost invisible. Piper's eyes used to linger on dull colours for a longer time during the war. Now, they are all bright. Leo's grin was a little... unsettling. Like it was missing a part of it. Now, it's complete. The missing part was relaxation. Hazel's eyebrows creased slightly during the war. Now, they are high up. Whenever Frank transformed in the war, his forms were always darker. Be it fur or skin. Now, they are light and soft. Every arrow Thalia summoned on the war was heavy and with many splinters. Now, she summons arrows with detailed finishing. Everyone has something that differs from the time at war and now.

Nico's skin pales during wars. Now, it's a little less pale. Rachel's hair fall increases during wars. Now, I haven't seen a single hair shedding. Reyna's ear turned red at the war. There are little things like this that I notice-"

"Wow, Annabeth... that's a lot of observing. No wonder your mom is Athena." Piper complimented.

"Yeah, that's some serious skills." Leo agreed.

"Thanks guys, but that's not my point. My point is, everyone acts a little different one way or the other at situations like wars. I noticed everyone's except.... except Percy. Percy doesn't change. He was exactly like this then and is now. It-it isn't normal. The change in habit is our body's way of coping with the sudden stress.

Percy didn't change, its like.... he wasn't stressed, during the war, at all." She finished.

All of our eyes turned to Percy. He was like a deer caught in headlights.

"Wasn't stressed? During a war? Wow, Percy...." Thalia stammered.

"Not a surprise, really. I mean, have you seen him? He's like perfect in every angle. Like a fictional character in a book." Leo said.

"..... thank you?" Percy said but it came out more like a question.

"By the way, Percy, you were amazing-" Rachel started but got cut off by Frank.

"AmaZhang." He coughed.

Rachel rolled her eyes and continued "You were AmaZhang at the first war. You didn't really get a compliment about it on your face enough."

Then everyone started hording him with compliments but he kept dodging it or giving the credit to others.

Oh my gods, what is it with this guy? He is.... impossible. I don't get what's so great about him. I mean, I know he is handsome and good-looking. He is also funny and fun to get along with but he isn't great at fighting. They say he's scary and all but just look at him! Even his looks scream dork.

Suddenly, I didn't know what got in me but I snapped. At him. Right there.

It was so out of the blue that even Nico jumped.

"Oh come on, not you guys too. The whole camp babbles about his fighting skills and all but I don't see what's in him! He isn't perfect, you know. He has literally killed so many people." At that point, my goal was to make Jackson break down. As his fatal flaw is loyalty, I guessed his vulnerable point was that.

"I've heard so many names. Bianca, she was Nico's sister, wasn't she? Lucas, Selena, Backindoor, Ethan, Micheal, Li, Linius, you haven't forgotten about them, have you, Jackson? You know their death is your fault. Admit it. Don't tell me you forgot them after getting the spotlight."

I paused. He gave me an expectant look like trying to say 'go on'. It made me more mad.

"You know what, Percy? Your is ego is high. Too high. You're egoistic. A lot. Everyday we have to feed your ego but I'm stopping here. Stop being a child and face the fact that you're a murderer. You are the cause of many demigod deaths. All the name I just said were just a little portion of the people you killed at the second titan war. I haven't even started on with the second giant war. You are evil, Percy. You kill. A lot more than you realize. Just wanted to remind you of the people you killed just for fame." I ranted.

I expected him to cry or shout or try to kill me but he didn't. He just looked at me with a sad smile and a glint of wistfullness in his eyes which just angered me more.

With a sad smile he softly said "I know, Jason. I know. You don't have to remind me. But thanks for the effort. I remember all of them Bianca, Luke, Silena, Beckendorf, Ethan, Micheal, Lee, Leneus. There is more. Zoë, Pan, Bob, Damasen, thousands of demigod I didn't even know. I remember. Don't worry, I may be a killer but I've got my punishment. I'm still paying for it. I see all of their deaths like they are still happening. I'm sorry. I wasn't a great hero. Nor was I a good friend. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry..."

By that time, Thalia was tearing at the mention of 'Zoë'. Grover was a sobbing mess. Annabeth was crying too. Everyone was either weeping or glaring at me.

I snapped out of it.

Oh my gods, what did I do?

I ruined it, didn't I? What got into me, all of a sudden?

I tried to apologize but no words came out. Instead, I ran away. To my cabin.

Good job, Jason. You made Annabeth and Thalia cry.

𝙰/𝙽 𝙻𝚘𝚘𝚔, 𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝙹𝚊𝚜𝚘𝚗, 𝚘𝚔𝚊𝚢? 𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚗𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚊𝚛𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚞𝚙. 𝙷𝚘𝚙𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝙹𝚊𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝚏𝚊𝚗𝚜 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚔𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚖𝚎!

𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐!

𝙱𝚢𝚎...