Beating Hearts

Rising Tides and Blustering Flames

Thalia Grace was glowering at some unseen foe hidden in the woods. It could've been a monster, a god, even a titan for all she cared- she just needed to be left alone. Of course, that stupid little Angel Boy couldn't let her have even a moment of peace. "'Sup. You in an argument? Did your fellow pine trees call you names and now you're mad at them?" Nico hung upside down, in a crouching position. He was dangling from a branch behind Thalia, but she could tell that despite the annoying persona he'd adopted, he was thinking about the exact same things as she was. 

"Shut your pomegranate-hole, Corpse Face," she retorted, poking fun at his hatred for the fruit. She could feel him scowling behind her, his glare burning into the back of her head, but she just sighed. The small smirk disappeared from her face, replaced with a thin line across the bottom of her face. "But seriously...Death Breath, do you think we'll ever get a break? They just keep sending us out- again and again. 

"I know you've been there, too, but Percy only jumped for Annabeth, only lived for Annabeth...and now she's gone. He doesn't have anything to tie him to this world anymore, and that place...We both know that he's hiding something about what happened down there- how can we possibly be sure that he's still sane if he refuses to share whatever's bothering him?" Nico walked up beside her. 

"Thals...We both know he isn't sane. Not one demigod ever is. My only worry is how bad it is. He's been through more than both of us, Thalia, and if he unlocked some secret power down there, something he doesn't want to use again- then it's something evil."

Thalia opened her mouth to yell at him, scream at him for saying such a thing about Percy, but he held up a hand. "I'm not saying Percy is evil. It's just that...He's powerful, and if he learned, or even speculated that there was more out there for him than hurricanes and tidal waves...he would've used it. We both know he would have! If it saved Annabeth, he'd do anything." Nico's tone took on an ominous feel when he said that. 

The cousins sat in silence for a few moments. 

"We might not all make it. But if anyone dies...I doubt he can handle any more death. I'm scared for him."

Thalia snorted. "Ha! You? Scared? This must be really bad then..." She said it as if she were joking, but her words held no humor in them.

Nico twisted his ring, willing his sword to appear. He stared at the void-like blade, searching for a reflection that wasn't there. Thalia's shoulders sagged. "That bad, huh?" Nico pressed the tip of his sword into the dirt, creating a patch of wilted greenery.

"There was someone down there, on the brink of Chaos, literally. Akhlys, goddess of misery. She said that I was...It doesn't matter. Not right now. What I'm saying is, I only ran into her by chance. Percy and Annabeth would've needed to seek her out and request Death Mist."

Thalia gasped. "You think Percy was provoked."

The Hades-spawn nodded. "Annabeth was most likely threatened, harmed. He...he would've done anything. And I think, just maybe, he sacrificed a bit of his humanity down there. His morals, his center, everything about him was altered, but the main thing that was just...off about him was that spark in his eye. Not a good spark, like in those horrid romance movies, but one where..."

Nico locked eyes with Thalia. "He's insane. Deep down, he knows it. I know it. Everyone can see it. The primal part of a person is terrified by it, but the logical part, that's what makes him so endearing. He's still Percy, just with a fundamental change in his mentality- one that he doesn't show around other people."

"You can't just say that!" Thalia hissed. "Do you even know what you're suggesting? Kelp Head...he's the best person I've ever known. He wouldn't do something that drastic."