𝔭𝔢𝔯𝔰𝔢𝔲𝔰

Chapter Nine [Tartarus and Percy] - Turning Tides

We all sat at the dinner table in my father's household, waiting for Percy Jackson to show up.

    Of course, it would be his choice entirely. I wouldn't hold it against him if he didn't. He had been through a rough couple of days. Discovering new things about himself, finding out that almost everything he knew was a lie.

    Even though I didn't know him, I considered him family. And family stuck together. I would do anything to help him figure out who he was and cope with it.

    Chaos sat next to me on the right. Ouranos on the left. Nyx, Goddess of Night, wouldn't be able to attend, for she was keeping an eye on Mount Olympus, seeing what the Olympians reaction to this "kidnapping" would be. So far nothing yet. They were being very secretive. But Nyx would figure out what they were planning sooner or later; She always did. I knew I would be grateful for any information she could get. I figured Percy would, too.

    I looked at my father now, raising a dark eyebrow in question. How much longer should we wait for him before we started?

    "Not very long," he told me. His tone was as if he knew something I did not. But of course, he always did. It really shouldn't have surprised me.

The doors open and in strode Percy.

I have to admit, he looked different from when he had in my realm. There he had been disheveled, injured, tired... I had not been able to believe that he was family - or that he was a player in two Great Prophecies. But seeing him now, he was every bit the part.

I don't think he even had to try. He was wearing a regular sea green T-shirt with jeans and converse, but the way he held himself told you everything. His face wasn't open like it usually was; it was closed, void of emotion. But I suspected that the only reason that mask was in place was so he could hide how he was really feeling. If I were in his shoes, I would do the very same.

"Perseus," Chaos said pleasantly, gesturing to the chair between he and Ouranos. "Sit. We have been waiting for you."

Percy didn't dip his head as I would have done. He merely walked over and sat down, his gaze meeting mine. I held it, not backing down. He would have to first. It seemed he had the same idea.

"I guess I should thank you," Percy said at last. "You haven't harmed me in any way - except my shoulders are burning from the claws of that gigantic bird thing."

I blinked. That was one way to show gratitude, I supposed.

We all remained a little silent for a while. I noticed Percy giving confused glances at Ouranos. I saw when it dawned on him who the Sky God was. It surprised me when he chose to give Ouranos a little smile, which Ouranos promptly returned.

Ouranos had chosen to take the form of a man in his middle twenties. Light brown hair and pale blue eyes, a lanky build, but full of cunning. "Where have you been?" Percy asked him. Ouranos looked away and didn't respond, looking slightly ashamed. I would, too.

"He chose to return when Gaea was driven away by the Olympian's tools," Chaos said softly. I shot him a look. Percy wasn't an idiot - he would catch that insult immediately. I looked back at Percy and saw nothing on his face. That same stone look that he had donned when entering the room.

Had he come up with this mask just now or had he before?

"We believed in what we were doing," Percy said, his voice as flat as his expression. "We fought for what we believed in. I'd hardly call that a tool."

"Really?" Ouranos finally summoned the courage to speak. "Have they not used you and discarded you when you were worn beyond repair."

I saw Percy flinch. Anger swelled up in me. The boy had been through a lot - they had no right to treat him this way.