He Who Rose From the Ashes

Prologue

    I couldn't see their faces until they pulled away for air and when I could, I wished that I hadn't. There was MY Annabeth, face flushed red and a smile painted across her now red lips, and a smirking Jonathan. I couldn't take anymore of it so I jumped down and stepped into their range of sight.

    "A-Annabeth? Why? What did I do wrong?" I asked, tears welling in my broken eyes. She had the decency to look ashamed and pulled away from his arms, mouth gaping like a fish out of water, but unable to say a thing.

    "She's mine now, Jackson. Can't you see that she never loved you? If she did she would've been harder to convince to be mine instead of drooling over me the moment we met." the slimy bastard in question decided to butt in, smirk widening across his ugly face. "Now get lost, we're busy." And with that he pulled Annabeth back into his chest and placed his disgusting lips back on hers. To my horror, she melted into it immediately and seemed to forget I was there.

    I turned and ran back to my cabin, a deluge of tears falling down my pained face. I got stares and some people even called out to me with concern, but I ran past them and locked myself into my cabin. I didn't come out for 4 days.

    In that time all my friends tried to talk to me, knocking on my door and leaving food on the porch for me, but I never ate it. I left it there every time and curled in on myself in the darkest corner of my room. I'd stopped crying sometime during the 2nd night, not having any hydration left. I felt my stomach churning in hunger, but I ignored it, the pain helped me to distract myself. Finally, after the last day, I heard footsteps coming towards my door. These steps were light and almost inaudible but the knuckles rapping on my door were deafening in the darkness.

    "Percy, it's Thalia, please open up. I don't want to kick this door down or force-feed you, but we both know I will if I see fit to." she called, voice thick with emotion. She must have just arrived with the hunters of Artemis, they probably just found out that I haven't been taking care of myself.

    "Fi-ne." I croaked, my vocal cords feeling like sandpaper in my throat from nonuse and dehydration. I shakily pulled myself to my feet and wobbled over to the door, joints and bones aching in protest at the sudden movements. I pulled the door open and came face-to-face with a horrified face, wide eyes, and a small mob of huntresses who all mirrored the daughter of Zeus's expression.

    "Gods, Percy! What have you done to yourself?!" I glanced behind me into a full-length mirror and winced. I looked more deathly than Hades. Huge, dark circles surrounded dull green eyes, oily black hair more messy than usual, clothes rumpled and filthy, but worse than all that was my body. I'd lost so much weight my clothes hung off me like bags, my arms looked thin enough that one wrong touch would snap them, and my skin was so pale it made Nico look tan. "Come on, Perce, let's get you to the bathroom. Lavender, can you go find Will? Tell him it's urgent."

    The youngest hunter nodded and ran off while the others dispersed and Thalia pulled me gently into the bathroom. She sat me on the side of the tub and went to my drawers, picking out some older clothes that were on the smaller side. Will burst in with his medical bag in hand and rushed over to me immediately.

    "Percy! Oh gods!" He gasped as he tugged my shirt over my head. He pressed a cold stethoscope to my chest and frowned at my slightly labored breathing and heart beat. "Come on, buddy. Let me help you bathe and get dressed then we'll go with you to get some food and water ok? The bathwater should help rejuvenate you and relieve some of your symptoms." He pulled me up and turned the water on to fill the large tub as I lost the rest of my clothes. I wasn't embarrassed to be naked in front of him, he had Nico and they were super happy together.

    Fifteen minutes later and my body had regained a healthier glow and my hair was being towel-dried into its usual messiness. The clothes Thalia got for me fit much better than my other ones and I felt much better. The two of them led me outside for the first time in days and I got sad stares, sympathetic smiles, and even some encouraging cheers as people saw me emerge.

    'Maybe I can get over this. I still have so many others here who care for me. I don't need... her.' I straightened up slightly at the thought and walked with a bit of life back in my step towards the dining pavilion.

    "Percy!" My attention was drawn to a blur of brown hair as Hazel ran over to hug me gently, careful of my newly fragile physique. "We were so worried about you! Please don't hide away again! We need and want you around, even if Annabitch is stupid enough to think she doesn't!" I was taken aback by her cursing and name-calling but opted for hugging back and giving her a reassuring smile.

    "As long as you all want me around I'll be here, deal?" I asked, already knowing the answer. She just smiled brightly and dragged me to the table where they all made sure I ate. Will still hovered like a helicopter parent, buzzing about how I needed to take it easy with my stomach and how he needs to put an IV drip in my arm to resupply my body's water supply.

    "So the coward finally came out of hiding then?" came a vile voice from the other side of the pavilion. "What's the matter, Jackson? Can't take some rejection?"

    "Shut it, Turner! You're worse than any monster!" Thalia shouted, the others holding her back from smashing his face in.

    "Whatever, lesbian. Nobody cares what you have to say." he said back. This time he's crossed a line. I stood and held Riptide to his neck, pinning him to a pillar.

    "Listen up you worthless piece of monster slime," I growled in almost a feral manner, "I will tolerate many things, but insulting my best friends is NOT one of them! If you say another foul word to anyone I care about again, I won't hesitate to decapitate you and toss your remains to Peleus. GOT IT?!" I shouted into his rat-like face. He just smirked at me and looked behind me, making a face of terror.

    "Chiron! He's gone crazy! Somebody get him off me!" he shouted, faking desperation.

    Two pairs of hands grabbed me and forced me to my knees in front of said councilor. "Perseus Achilles Jackson, for attacking another camper with intent to maim or kill, you are hereby banished from Camp Half-Blood! Pack your things and be gone within the hour!" He said, rage and dismay swirling in his narrowed eyes. For the second time in less than a week I felt broken.

    I used some of my power to vapor travel to my cabin and haphazardly throw my things into a small backpack. If I'm going to be forced to leave, I'll go to mom and Paul's place. They'll know what to do. I finished packing and made my way to say goodbye to my only remaining friends. At Thalia's tree were Thalia, Nico, Hazel, Frank, Will, Leo, Jason, Piper, Clarisse, and Chris. Grover was off somewhere taking care of King of the Wild duties.

    "Percy, we're so sorry. Chiron wouldn't listen when we tried to explain what happened." Hazel sobbed, Frank trying to calm her down through his own tears.

    "I'll be ok guys, don't cry over me. If this is what the Fates had planned for me there is nothing you could've said that would change it." I said, pulling each of them into one final hug. "Promise to take care of each other and the camp for me, ok? I won't be here to save your asses anymore." I joked, looking them over a last time before walking down to where Argus was waiting with the car. I got in and waved one last time at my best friends and we drove off.

    When I got to the apartment my senses were going haywire, something was horribly wrong. I crept up the front steps and inspected the door, the lock was broken like it had been kicked in and the door still hung ajar. I pushed it lightly and took out Riptide, the glint from the blade falling on a gruesome sight. There was my mom covered in blood and motionless on the floor, her pale hand reaching toward Paul's, his body in a similar state but his head stared at me from the counter. It took everything in me not to retch and I looked around to see if the culprit was lingering somewhere, but all I found was a note on the wall, written in the blood of my family;

You shouldn't have threatened me, now you'll pay with their lives.

    Something inside me broke, it was all too much; the pain in my chest, the sting of salty tears in my eyes, and worst of all was the cold pit in my core telling me I'm all alone. That was what made up my mind. I knew what I had to do and no one was going to dissuade me.

~End Flashback~

    So here I am. Standing before the doors of the Council's throne room. I drag in one final, steadying breath and pushed open the large double-doors, accepting the fact that I probably won't exit them alive.