Before I Die (Split Souls part 1)

17: An Uncle's Second Chance

"Why should I not tell her? And what kind of nightmares are those?" I demand.

"The kind of nightmare where your soul- or whatever- is dragged into the Pit, so someone can get back at you for escaping. Don't tell Annabeth because she can't help me any more than what she's already doing. I don't want to make her feel guilty."

"What the fuck?" I breathe the question, rhetorically.

"Annabeth and I escaped the uh, 'hell' part of the underworld. It's where all the monsters reform when they die. Even the gods don't go there." Percy shares.

My fists clench. "Why? Why did you have to do that?"

"We had to stop Gaea from rising. We fell during part of our quest." Percy explains, his tone going hollow, burying the emotions so he can tell me.

"Quest? Fell?" Two words catch my attention. I mean, Gaea is a big one, but I can figure that out myself.

"A quest. We get a prophecy, and stuff happens. We fell into the Pit."

"Do you remember the prophecy?" I wonder.

"Seven half-bloods shall answer the call,
to storm or fire the world must fall,
an oath to keep with a final breath,
and foes bear arms to the doors of death."

Chills crawl down my spine and travel through my arms and to my toes. I don't even know what all of it means.

"Seven? Did all of you make it?"

"We aren't sure. One of us is unacounted for, but we don't think he's dead."

That's good, I think. Better than what my mind thought up. "How old is he?" I ask, stressing the present tense.

"Fifteen. Leo is fifteen."

I let the subject drop. I don't want to push him. "When did Annabeth tell you I shocked you awake?" I ask suddenly.

"Um, she didn't?" Percy says, somewhat sheepishly.

"Then how..?"

"I've been shocked before. I recognized the feeling, and you had something tech-y on your hand, so I figured."

"You were coherent enough?" My jaw slacks.

"Yeah. I should get Will to give Bruce a  crash course in patching up demigods." Percy adds.

"Will?"

"Yeah. He's head doctor at camp." Percy elucidates.

"Oh. Why would he need to teach Bruce?" I wonder.

"Ugh. Don't get me wrong, Bruce is a great doctor, I think, but for mortals. For demigods, he's too slow."

"Too slow?" I raise my eyebrows. Bruce seemed pretty capable earlier.

"Yeah. He's all 'okay, this is gonna hurt' like yeah, no shit sherlock. I know it's gonna hurt. It already hurts. Just get it fucking over with. 'on three' I don't care about 'three' just do it!" Percy vents, throwing his arms in frustration through the water.

I can't help it. I laugh. I worry that I've just offended him, but he's only shaking his head with a rolled-eyes face.

"You are one of a kind." I tell him.

"Thank you. I think I'm quite known for that among the gods." Percy smirks.

"Oh, and why's that?" I ask, embracing the lighter atmosphere.

"Because I don't kneel to them. Unless I respect them. Which is a very few."

"I kinda felt how strong Poseidon was... And he wasn't using much of his power, was he?" I share my thoughts.

"I kinda think that when he shows up to be all fatherly, he isn't necessarily the all-powerful Poseidon. I think he just lets himself be a father, but he can't dismiss his godliness."

"That's interesting... So that was barely any of his power, right?"

"Yep." Percy pops the 'p'. "How did it feel?"

"Well, kind of like if the air was waves...?" I don't know how to describe it.

"Ahuh. Around Zeus, it sometimes feels like he's just holding you in place, thousands of miles above the ground, ready to drop you at a moments notice. That's just what it feels like, but your feet are firmly on the ground." Percy shares. "And around Hades, it's like the shadows want to take you somewhere. It's a pull, a tug. not necessarily in a bad way, just, a 'be cautious' way. If anything, the calling of the shadows is kinda scarier than the threat of falling. Because it isn't a threat. It's powerful enough to be an invitation that isn't afraid of a decline to the party."

"Wow." I blink, trying to absorb the information.

"Don't compare gods' power. I didn't really mean to, but I think I'm mostly safe at the moment." Percy adds quickly.

"That's refreshing." I comment, absently.

He laughs. It's good to hear it.

The atmosphere is disturbed when a huge-ass shark shows up. I'm two centimeters from screaming when Percy talks.

"Hey."

I look at him, trying to keep my pants clean, and he's just chilling.

"Nice to meet you, Wendy." He says cheerfully.

There's a pause, and then he looks over to me. "Oh, sorry. Wendy, this is my mortal Uncle Tony. Uncle T, this is Wendy, a great white shark. You don't have to look so freaked. She won't eat you."

I'm suspended in the second-before-you-lose-all-your-shit moment.

"Well, it was nice meeting you, Wendy. He's not used to this stuff yet, I hope you forgive him."

'Wendy' leaves.

"Was that a great white shark?" I squeak out.

"Yeah. She has a name, you know. Wendy." Percy scolds lightly.

"Wendy. Did you- did you just talk to a freaking great white shark?"

"Yeah. You doing okay over there?"

"Um." I swallow. "what the fuck."

He laughs. A loud, free laugh. "I can talk to fish. They like me, because of my father. They can make excellent company at times. Though, they do have a habit of calling me 'lord'."

"So, you just became friends with a great white shark named Wendy?"

He nods. And for now, everything is okay.

A/N

To SirenTheShapeshifter who requested that they become closer, I hoped this lives up to your expectations.

Side note: I just had my 15th birthday party, and like, two people gave me entire gift bags full of candy and I have like zero portion control, so RIP me