Project Percy (Kotlc Meets Percy Jackson)

Chapter 48

Percy's dreams were a horror show of ghostly voices and black figures and fire. He woke up tangled in covers, only to find an enormous gray beast with a hawk mask towering over him. He screamed as black fear swirled through his mind and his whole body trembled.

"Stop, Percy," Athena warned, shaking his shoulders. "Stop, you're hurting him."

Her voice washed the darkness away and his vision cleared. The gray beast twisted in pain on the floor.

"Horus won't hurt you," Athena promised. "The Council assigned you a goblin bodyguard to keep you safe. It's not a good idea to inflict pain on him."

His jaw dropped. "Inflict?"

Athena nodded. "It seems you're an Inflictor. A melder causes temporary paralysis, so Annabeth  was semiconscious during your escape. She told me you made everyone collapse in pain. I wondered if that meant you could inflict. You just did it to Horus, so it appears you can."

His eyes widened and he turned to the barely conscious goblin on the floor. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

"He'll be ok in a minute," Athena promised. "Goblins are tough."

And yet he'd incapacitated him without even trying. "But...I'm a Hydrokinetic."

"It is possible to have more than one," Athena said. "Very rare, but possible. Bianca di Angelo had two. She was a Telepath, but she was also a Shade. And considering how special you are, I wouldn't be  surprised if you still have more abilities that you haven't discovered."

"What, I'll just wake up and suddenly be able to walk through walls?"

"Not quite. Most abilities stay dormant until they're activated. That's why we have ability detecting. It seems like the trauma of your kidnapping activated some of your latent talents. That's why you can inflict, why you're concentration is stronger now, and Annabeth said you're a Polyglot too. It's a very rare skill. You'll be glad to have it as you advance in multispecial studies."

"I guess." He wasn't sure he would ever be excited about having more weird talents.

"We'll run some tests when you're stronger. See if we can find out what else you can do."

He shivered. He could still hear the high voice of the kidnapper saying something similar while she interrogated him.

What if he didn't want to find out anything else?

Horus heaved himself to his feet and moved back to his post in the shadows. "I'm so sorry," he said.

"It's all right." Horus had a gruff voice and an authoritative tone, like he was used to giving orders. "It's nice to know my charge can defend himself if I fail."

Percy shivered. "I take it this means you haven't caught the kidnappers."

Athena squeezed his hands. "We won't let them get anywhere near you ever again. The nobility is working overtime following the leads we have." She handed him a memory log and a pencil and flipped to a blank page. "Do you remember anything that might help?"

"I was blindfolded the whole time. But the leader was a Pyrokinetic, so it had to be Hyperion."

"You're sure?"

He rubbed where his hands had seared his skin. "Positive." He must have been mimicking to sound like a woman.

A deep pucker formed between her brows. "Then we have an unregistered Pyrokinetic. We're still monitoring every move of the other Pyrokinetics, and it couldn't be Hyperion."

"Why not?"

"The sample you collected proved the fires were Everblaze. Hyperion was arrested the day you and Annabeth disappeared, and he's been held in custody ever since, awaiting tribunal."