𝙢𝙖𝙙𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙖𝙜𝙞𝙘 || 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘺 𝘫𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘹 𝘰𝘤

ɪɪ - ᴛᴏɪʟᴇᴛ ᴡᴀᴛᴇʀ ᴅᴏᴇꜱɴ'ᴛ ᴛᴀꜱᴛᴇ ɢᴏᴏᴅ

——TOILET WATER DOESN'T TASTE GOOD

"JACKSON, YOU HAVE TO DO better than that." annabeth said, pulling him to the side.

the three of them were a few feet away from the cabin. lilith could tell annabeth was frustrated. she looked between the two.

"what?" percy asked, eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

annabeth took a step away and mumbled, "i can't believe i thought you were the one..."

percy looked to be getting angry, "what's your fucking problem? all i know is i kill some bull guy—"

lilith interjected, starting to get annoyed herself, "don't say shit like that. do you even know how many of us would kill to have your chance?"

"to be killed?"

"to fight the minotaur! what do you think we train for?" annabeth said.

percy shook his head in disbelief, "look, if that thing i fought really was the minotaur, the same one in those stories..."

"yes." annabeth answered.

"then there's only one." percy stated.

"obviously." lilith agreed. she was glad he could do basic math.

"and he died, like a gajillion years ago. theseus killed him in the labyrinth. so..."

"monsters don't die, percy. well, they can be killed. but they don't actually die." lilith explained.

"oh thanks. that clears it up."

she tried not to slit his throat right then and there, she sighed and spoke calmly, "they don't have souls like you, me, and annabeth. you can cast them away for a bit. maybe even for a whole lifetime if you're luck is that good. but they're primal forces. chiron refers to them as archetypes or whatever. they always reform eventually."

percy looked like he was remembering something not so pleasant, "you mean if i killed one, accidentally, with a sword—"

"the fur—i mean, your math teacher. that's right. she's still out there. you just made her very, very mad." annabeth answered for lilith.

"how did you know about mrs. dodds?" he asked, confusion spreading across his face.

"you talk in your sleep. a lot." lilith muttered.

percy's face flushed a small shade of red, then he turned to annabeth and said, "you almost called her something... a fury? they're hades' torturers, right?"

annabeth and lilith's breath hitched. they both instantly gazed at the ground, praying his talk of the kindly ones wouldn't get them killed.

"you shouldn't call them by name, even here. we call them the kindly ones, if we even have to speak of them at all." annabeth warned.

"look, is there anything we can say without it thundering?" percy whined like a small child.

lilith cringed. she didn't want to admit it, but he sounded like her when she first came to camp half blood.