Never Change

Chapter 6

A lone tear slipped from his eye. His tongue slipped out, catching the drop.

Bitterness, he tasted. Sadness for what was lost. His Wise Girl... his old friends. He couldn't go back... couldn't go home...

His shoulders sagged, and he swung his feet onto the floor, throwing on some shoes and shoving his ballpoint pen into his pocket.

He headed for the rooftop to clear his mind.

-----

Crickets chirped quietly in the night as the wind gently breezed past his ears without a care in the world.

"Bob says hello."

Percy smiled wistfully up at the starry sky, covered in blackness.

The sky. The everlasting blanket of glittering stars spanning across the horizon from edge to edge.

Be a star, they said. Be a hero. The twice savior of Olympus, the shining beacon of light for all to follow.

A paragon of the demigods, the most powerful of his generation, and of history.

And yet he couldn't stop the demise of his friends, his family, his home.

He chuckled bitterly.

Heroes. Was being a hero worth the cost? Even if it meant losing yourself in the process?

He idly sketched his finger in the air as he pondered. Teal lines formed in the air with no power, and each resulting ward did absolutely nothing.

Would it happen again?

Would he have to stand by and watch as his friends, his home were burned to the ground again?

Never again, he thought.

He'd have to work for it.

-----

Yang groggily shook her head as the two teams piled onto the roof of the dorms.

When Ruby had woken her up in the middle of the night, her team leader disappearing was the last thing she had expected. Then her little brat of a sister had gone to the JNPR's dorm to get them up as well. Then they'd searched and combed Beacon's grounds, before Ruby sent them all a text saying to meet her on the roof.

A lone figure stood atop the roof, blending against the darkness of the starry sky. As they approached, it became clearer who it was.

His raven locks fell to either side of his forehead as he wistfully stared at the shattered moon of Remnant, his beautiful sea green eyes glistening with tears.

"I had a friend-" he choked, "say to me he wished to see the sky once again. He told me, 'tell the sun and stars hello for me'.

He turned towards them. The group made their way slowly over to Percy, cautiously so that they didn't scare him away.

His eyes were full of emotions- grief, despair, sadness, among others. They seemed broken, old, full of memories.

"We were a little village. A village of eighty or so, all of us tight with each other. We were family. We fought like hell for our home, tooth and nail. Would you believe me if we had no aura? One claw and you gained a scar," Percy lifted his shirt.

Yang gasped.

She hadn't seen it that first day since she was far away, but his skin was littered with small scars, three claw marks going across his abs and several more on his chest and back.

"One swipe and you lost a limb, one hack and... you died. We were all child soldiers. Forced into quests and wars we didn't want. I was twelve when I was sent on my first quest... But all these experiences... they lent themselves to making friends along the way. Friends you would give your own life up for. Friends who always had your back, no matter the cost. But there was one who was a... traitor, but proved himself a hero at the end of it all. After the first war, a second one came a few months later. We had no time to prepare. The second war was bloody, brutal. Our village and another one we were allied with were wiped out. In the blink of an eye, it was off the map. I guess we won though," he gave them a broken smile, "because I was the only one left. All my friends, gone, reduced to bodies on a battlefield. A pyrrhic victory."

"I had a girlfriend, you know. Her name was Annabeth. She was intelligent, beautiful" he choked again, "blonde hair and gray eyes. I wouldn't have gotten anywhere without her and her ingenious plans. We faced our challenges together and grew closer as a result," a wrangled cry of anguish came from him, "She would say better a pyrrhic victory than no victory at all."

Yang felt the ugly head of jealousy rear its head at the way he described his ex, before she squashed it in hate. This wasn't the time for jealousy. Percy needed them.

He choked again, "All the heroes fall... I'm just waiting for my turn."

"Oh Percy..."

Pyrrha whispered, the rest of the group having gone silent at his tale.

"We all have secrets. Some larger than others, some life-changing," he spread his arms, "that is mine, but only half of it. In time, the other half will reveal itself. I have shared with you all that I can bear to."

"Percy," Yang started, feeling the rest of the group's eyes on her, "No matter what you've been through. Know that we have your back. We won't turn on you, never in a million years. You're the best leader we," she said, gesturing to team PRWBY, "could have asked for. Don't doubt yourself. You're smart, capable, strong, handsome, and resilient. You may have gotten used to relying on yourself, but we'll be damned if we let you take on everything like you're used to. We're your team for a damn reason!"

"Did you really just sneak 'handsome' in there?" Blake half-whispered to Yang.

Blake, ever the perceptive one.

"Of course."

"Team JNPR has your back Percy!" Jaune nodded his head in affirmation.

"Yeah!" Ruby and Nora cheered enthusiastically, as the others began mimicking them.

Percy accepted her hug, and it soon turned into a massive hug fest, all of their bodies piling on top of Percy's.

"Alright, alright guys, thanks, really..."

He let out an oomph, "C-Can't breathe-"

The two teams piled off him, as he rose to his feet and dusted his hands.

"Story time's over! It's time for sleep!"

The group groaned collectively, knowing they would all be grumpy come morning.

AN: A bit short of a chapter, but it was just to show that Percy's been bottling everything up, so a bit of grieving here makes a lot of sense.

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