"Yesterday's the past, tomorrow's the future, but today is a gift. That's why it's called the present." -Bil Keane
Capvt XXXI: To Be A King
THE wave crashed all around him. Percy barely had time to gulp down his last breath of air when the water cascaded over his head. The pressure lifted him off the ground and then made him hammer down against it; at least, that was what it felt like.
It made his eyes burn-the salt in the tidal wave, or whatever it was. The pressure crushed his skull, making it ache like it was being squeezed thinner and thinner - like pins and needles were pricking his mind - and for a moment he was convinced that he was going to die because there was no way a normal, mortal man could survive such pressure. But he couldn't. Die, that was. Not yet. He had a country that needed him, that he would one day rule - there were things he still needed to do, things he wanted to say. He still had to atone for letting Rachel die that day, too; it should have been him, not her - never her - the shadow monster had wanted his blood, but Rachel had stopped it and she had paid the price. He hadn't been able to save her, and by the gods, he would try to make up for that even if it took him a lifetime. He wasn't ready to give up now anyway.
You're in a giant ball of water! Get out of it!
Oh, right. That. But he didn't know how. His lungs were beginning to ache, and it wasn't like was a son of Poseidon so that he could breathe or manipulate the water somehow. He could wait it out for gods know how long, but that was a bad idea because he could drown by the time he got out of this sphere. Besides, Jason was stuck in here with him probably so that meant he could die as well, and Percy knew he was the best swimmer between the two of them -
Wait. He could manipulate water.
Memories came to the forefront of his head, somewhat blurry around the edges and monochrome - but the voices were startling clear. The first thing was her red hair, Rachel's red hair; it stood out in stark contrast with the gray areas of the memory. She was laughing, her green eyes lit up joy, tossing her head back while Reyna grumbled and twisted her hair around. Wringing it out? He had pushed her into the lake and had placed the blame on Jason, who had shoved him toward the water with his shoulder though he had caught his balance at the last second. He had felt guilty about pushing her in when she said something about catching a cold, so he had... concentrated on the water and imagined pulling it away, out of her hair, dispersing it into the air. She had rolled her eyes and punched him in the shoulder, but had smiled too and said thanks.
So, how could he apply the same principle to this wave? It felt like the wave was now trying to tear him into two separate pieces, everything from below his torso to go up while everything above his torso wanted to go down. And his lungs were beginning to burn.
I need air. Now.
His thoughts swirled in his head, ideas popping to the forefront of his head and then being quickly dismissed because they wouldn't work. He knew he had to move the water, but how on earth was he supposed to move such a large quantity of this stupid liquid so that he could breathe? And what about Jason? Did that mean he had to split it apart somehow? That was impossible! He couldn't--
Calm. Down. That voice sounded like Reyna, actually... Bless her. She was the only one who thought logically in the insane situations they got themselves into, even inside of his own head. You're running out of oxygen faster by panicking and you can't waste it what you still have left. Think quicker, idiot!
Okay. He could do that.
He could imagine pulling it apart so that the water would split into two sections and release them. One of them could have a broken bone or two, but that was better than dying.
Good.
He clenched his teeth and his fingers so hard that his teeth ached and his knuckles hurt. He could do this. He would be able to control the water in his head to magically sear it apart. He sounded insane.
Insanity didn't matter though; life mattered and he would make it out of this tidal wave alive even if it was the last thing he would do.
Later, Percy wouldn't be able to describe what he did exactly. All he knew was that there was this tugging feeling in his gut, and he somehow just knew what he had to do. He had shoved his hands in front of him, imagining the water obeying his command and... the pressure moved from tearing him apart to whipping around him, moving forward swiftly. Opening his eyes, he had thrown his hands parallel to his chest in a 18o° angle-- like the letter "T". The wave had abruptly parted, leaving him hanging over the treetops for a moment, staring at Jason who was floating a few feet above him, his eyes and mouth open as if he was surprised by the sudden appearance of air flooding into his lungs.
Then Percy gasped, because he could hold his breath no longer, and time had picked up again. The next thing he knew was that the ground was rushing up at an incredibly fast rate and the trees were attacking his flesh, sending flashes of pain that reminded of uneerily of when he had been flogged on Annabeth's behalf. Then his vision was darkening on the edges and blurring, and then it went black altogether when something - or someone - had yanked on his arm, dislocating it from his socket.
He heard nothing more after that.
~...~
When Percy woke up, his ear rung, there was a strange fogginess in his thoughts and Jason was staring at him, his blue eyes wide and worried. Percy smiled widely. He looked weird, like he needed a hug-but Percy didn't hug anyone except Annabeth or Reyna so he should poke him in his forehead instead.
"Percy? You alive?"
Percy giggled -though a part in the back of his cringed at the girly sound- and nodded. "'Course! Why else am I not sleepy?"
Jason stared at him for a moment, almost going cross eyed which was very funny too. Actually, everything looked funny- especially the bright purple trees. They were far too light and bright to be the royal colors on their togas.
"You're pupils are dilating. You must have a concussion."
Percy frowned at him. He didn't like the sound of that, concussions were bad- he felt fine anyway. Although he did have a headache... "Thank you, physician Jason. If I wanted a dia-dia- a test about my heeeealth I would have asked." He tried to drawl, but the effect was broken when he slurred a couple of his words, which made him erupt into a giggling mess again. Gods, he hadn't felt this happy and light in years.
Jason groaned. "It's going to take forever to get back to Tarentum at this rate... you're so lucky I tolerate your mad ideas, right?"
Percy beamed. "Yup!"
"Can you walk?"
He pouted a little. Of course he could walk. He wasn't a baby! So Percy stood up and tripped over his feet; he caught his balance though and walked forward toward the tree-and he hugged the bright pink trunk. Why did everything look funny anyway?
"Idiot... I hope you didn't give yourself permanent brain damage." Jason walked over to him and swung his arm across his shoulders-which was very uncomfortable, might Percy say. His body was beginning to hurt all over anyway. "How does this always happen to us?" He moaned then, shifting Percy's weight on his shoulder. Percy giggled as he tried to stagger away from his best friend for life! "Oh man, you're acting like you're sixteen and drunk again."
"I'm not sixteen," he said with a little pout. "I'm twenty-twenty-" he frowned and began to count the fingers off his right hand. "I'm twenty one hundred years old!" he crowed, very proud that he had figured it out all by himself. Jason sighed.
"I hope this is just a concussion and not something permanent. Oh, that would be awful. What would I say to your pater?"
"La la la!" Percy sang in response, "La de da de doo! I'm the biggest and the baddest and dum de doo de doo!"
"Oh, you simple headed moron who can control. water-"
"I know a song you sing in the taverns!" He interrupted quickly, because he did not want Jason to go down that path. That path made him feel uncomfortable and scared, because he knew only sons of Poseidon could control water and his pater was Octavius. Besides, he did know a song people sang in tavern houses, because he had snuck out once when he was sixteen and drunk so much liquor that his head exploded the next day. Reyna had joined him. Then again, at the time he was sad over Rachel... It taught him that he would never drink again though, because future Caesars were supposed to be dig-digni-something.
"I know you do," Jason muttered. "I taught it to you when I took you drinking all those years ago. I also remember the consequences of that song. You sang it nonstop on the way back, and Reyna was furious the next morning. That may have been because of her hang over. You're both weepy drunks."
Percy cackled loudly, and then he tripped over a rock which made Jason swear.
"I'll sing it again for you!"
"No, please don-"
"OOOOOoooH! Fifteen men on the dead man's chest-yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum! Drink and the devil had done for the rest-Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum*!"
"I hate you sometimes. I can just leave you here. I wouldn't even feel sorry about it."
Percy frowned. "But that's meeeeaaan Jasey! You can't do that."
Jason rolled his eyes. "I was addicted to Opium for gods' know how long and I still don't really care about what's nice or not. Believe me, I can leave you here, all alone, and I wouldn't even feel a twinge of guilt."
Percy poked him in the chest. "Not even that much?"
"Nope. Not even that much!" He said with a smirk. Percy sighed.
"You're a big meanie."
"You're going to be so embarrassed if you remember this later-I'll make sure to remind you if you don't." The edges of Percy's vision began to darken and he stumbled. Jason literally growled like an animal-perhaps a lion? "I swear to all of the Olympians, if you're being hard on purpose-"
"Jasey," he said soberly. "I think I'm going to go night night."
"You're going to wha-"
Percy went night night.
~...~
Why, oh why, did his head feel like he had gotten into his pater's store of alcohol and spent the night drinking it all?
Light. Why was there light? DESTROY THE LIGHT. He had to . . . kill the light . . . or something.
"Welcome to the land of the living."
He groaned. What a high-pitched voice . . . he should kill that too. Wait, no, he shouldn't. That was Jason. Thinking hurt so much . . .
"What did we do last night?" he mumbled. "My head feels like it's gonna kill me. Ow." He flopped an arm across his eyes to block out the sunlight.
"Well, you didn't drink yourself until you became a giggling loon, if that's what you mean." Jason . . . he was so cruel, talking so loudly and his voice was so high-pitched . . . kill the voice, and the light . . . "Actually, your migraine wasn't entirely your own fault. Something happened at the ocean, and then you controlled a huge wave thing. By the way, you hugged a pink tree, giggled like a school girl, and called me a meanie. I intend to take revenge too."
"Stop," Percy moaned, lifting his head up so that Jason could hear him. The minuscule movement made his head pound. "Head . . ."
"Yeah, I know. Can't do anything about it though; they don't want to risk you going into a permanent coma. You might as well go back to sleep."
"'kay."
~...~
Thankfully, the next time Percy woke, he didn't feel like he was going to throw up and his migraine had faded into a dull headache. He pushed himself up and reached out for the cup of water someone had thoughtfully placed on the end table. His hand shook, so he stretched his other hand around his chest to steady the cup as he brought it to his parched mouth.
Steadily, the events of what happened that day came back to him, and he slowly put the glass down in his lap. He didn't know what alarmed him most. The fact he reacted to the sea so badly for some reason, or that the gods were involved in this somehow, or that that woman kept calling him prince.... He wasn't entirely sure she was referring to the fact he was the apparent heir of Rome.
And he was pretty sure that he had controlled that wave somehow, though everything was rather fuzzy. The door creaked loudly, and he looked up.
A girl stood by the door, maybe ten or eleven years old. Her hair was a bright red color, like the sunset, but her blue eyes were glassy and unfocused. Her hair color surprised him; the only girl he'd known who had red hair had been Rachel. Actually, if he had just seen her hair, he would have sworn he just saw Rachel's ghost.
"Are you awake?" She asked. He nodded, but then he realized that she might not be able to see him-one of his tutors had eyes like hers. He had been blind physically, but he had been one of the wisest men Percy had known. Actually, one of his favorite maxims had been, "You're more blind than I am, because you see merely with your eyes."
"Yes."
"Good." She walked into the room, trailing her fingers against the wall. She was blind then. "Your friend's been worried sick. Don't you know not to go to the Dark Area? That place is evil; you're lucky you weren't killed, and that your friend was able to carry you. Poor fellow looked half way to Hades by the time we found him though. I'm Demetria by the way. What's your name?"
She spoke quickly, without taking a breath. Her voice rose in pitch the longer she went, and it sounded like she was talking through her nose instead of with her tongue. His head throbbed.
"My friends call me Percy."
"Oh? What's your real name? I don't meet very many people so I don't get to know very many names; besides, I can't read. Well, I'm a girl. But I'm blind too."
He rubbed his forehead. "It's Perseus."
Her smile widened as she... hopped onto the edge of his bed. He pulled back quickly, so that she wouldn't sit on his legs. Jason once decided that it would be fun to convince Reyna and Rachel to dog pile on top of him, and his legs had never recovered from their combined weight.
"Like the Heir Apparent? Have you heard he got married recently? Like, no more than half a year ago! They say his wife is really pretty, but also kind of fierce."
"She is." He agreed before he really thought about it-and then he wanted to smack himself with something hard. Why did he just say that? He had a better filter on his tongue than that! It wouldn't be hard for her to connect the dots now-
Demetria leaned forward, pressing her hands against his ankle. He tried to shake her off, but she wouldn't budge.
"You know her? Do you know the Heir Apparent then? Are the stories true then, that she's a warrior princess from Greece? Does she really fight with her bare hands and teeth? Does she have oddities, like pointy ears or she writes with her left hand?"
Oh, forget it. She'll figure it out anyway. Might as well answer her questions.
"No, she wasn't a warrior-she didn't even know how to hold a sword. She can fight with her hands and feet if she wanted. Her ears are pointy, but she doesn't write with her left hand." He considered her for a moment. Jason wouldn't be thoughtful enough to leave him a glass of water, and she may be the only person who lived here if her father was fighting in the army and her mother was gone. "Did you leave the water here?" She nodded. "Thanks! My throat had been dry."
She shrugged. "No problem. You were in a bad shape. What were you doing anyway?"
Instantly, he felt a little more guarded. Had he said too much . . . ? But no, this was only a child. "We were looking for something," he said. "I ran into something bad down there, and it . . . well, I don't know exactly what it did to me."
"Your head was so hot it felt like it was on fire, you kept vomiting all over yourself and having seizures, and apparently you had migraines. Daddy says it was a case of black magic and something else."
So, she doesn't live alone. Her tone was so matter of fact that they could be discussing the weather. He cringed. He didn't like being so vulnerable, even around Reyna or Jason or Annabeth. Especially Annabeth.
"Thank you for taking care of me then. That mustn't have been pretty."
She shrugged again. "You're welcome. You talk kinda funny, you know that, right? Like you're an aristocrat or something, but at the same time, there's something else in it."
He grinned. "That's because I'm special." He replied. Her blind eyes seemed to brighten and she lifted her chin a little higher.
"Do you live in Roma?" He nodded. "Can you take me there?"
"What?" he asked. "Take you to-no," he shook his head. "You can't be more than eight or nine; there's no way I can take you back with us."
She scowled. "I'm fifteen."
"Oh. Oops." He rubbed the back of his head, remembering Annabeth's reaction when he thought she had been younger the first time they met. He had been a little bit overwhelmed at the time, he remembered . . . with the Cyclops attacking and then finding out that she was his future wife, who he was not supposed to meet until the wedding. Something with Apollo and the Sibylline prophecies; he couldn't even remember the reason anymore. "Sorry." Then he paused, "Wait, fifteen? How come you're not married yet?"
She rolled her eyes. And with that, he decided that Demetria didn't remind him of Rachel, she reminded him more of Annabeth.
"Most of the boys are too scared of me." Her voice was so casual, it was almost scary. He felt the urge to inch away from her. "Most people call me a demon. That's why we moved out into the woods- to get away from everyone. Only daddy goes into town now."
Unexpectedly, there was a pang in his chest- not exactly an ache. He hated people like that, the judgmental ones who cast things they didn't understand as abnormal or evil. "That's awful. How come?"
She bit her bottom lip, reluctance in her expression, but then she sighed. "Apparently, my eyes turn green and I sprout off a lot of nonsense. I don't remember those episodes though- I'm always somehow knocked unconscious."
Where have I heard about that before? Because he knew-he had heard something like that happening before; he knew he hadn't seen it because he was sure it wouldn't be something he could forget. Perhaps someone had talked about it or he had read about it in some book? He shook his head, he can always think of it later.
"Well, don't listen to them. Whenever something or someone is a little different from what is considered normal, man usually calls it horrible names and labels it evil. And you're obviously not evil." He wrinkled his nose. "You're too scrawny to be evil."
"Hey!" she complained, but she laughed at the same time. She stood up and took the tray with her. "I have to go tell daddy you're back in the land of the living. Your friend will be glad to know you're alive."
"How long was I out anyway?" he asked.
"Hmm, probably about three or four days."
"What?!" He squeaked. Three or four days? Then they were supposed to be back four days ago!
"We decided to give you some ambrosia after the fifth day-" fifth day? Okay, what? "-figured it would be better to risk it, since you were burning up anyway. Somehow, the fever came down. Are you a demigod or something?"
"No," he said quickly, shaking his head. He would know if he was a demigod, though he might be a legacy. "Fifth day?"
She smiled. "Yeah-three or four days after your fever broke and you came to, according to Sir Jason. Before that, you'd been thrashing around with a fever for three or four days. I kind of lost count."
We've been around Tarentum for ten days? ...Oh, no . . . Pater probably sent out patrols a week ago. I hope they didn't do too much damage to the town. That would be another thing I would have to make amends for.
Malcolm!
Where was Malcolm? Then he remembered. Malcolm had run when that wave had arrived. Coward, he seethed. He hated cowardice almost as much as ignorance.
"I think Sir Jason sent a letter out about seven sunrises ago," she went on. "Not sure how he afforded it though. He said you were travelers from Roma."
"We are," he said. His headache was coming back.
"Well, guess I should go then." She waved her hand in his direction vaguely. "No offense, but you still look exhausted."
His head rolled back into the pillows, like her words had made his body realize that it was still exhausted. He wriggled back under the covers.
"Yeah, well . . ." Sweet oblivion consumed him, and he couldn't remember what he said after that.
~...~
The next time Percy woke, he was able to get out of bed, walk around on his own (with Jason hanging on his shoulder like a mother hen) and keep down some broth and stale bread. His stomach turned at the thought of eating anything else.
Demetria's pater, Darius, was a genuinely kind man who smiled a lot. When Percy had thanked him and offered to compensate him with money, the man had waved it off and said, "Got to be an example to the lass, don't I? I'm the only one she's around now." In fact, he almost seemed insulted.
"I figured when she mentioned the town had ostracized her. My wife was the same way when we first met-I thought she was younger than she really is."
For some reason, Darius looked at tad disappointed, but then he brightened up immediately afterward.
"Well, I'm glad your own your feet again, though you probably won't be able to get back to your city for at least another week." Percy was a little too relieved at that, the idea that he could stay for a little longer. He had no interest to go back to the ocean, but he really wanted to sock Malcolm in the jaw and he wasn't sure he would be able to handle the rough ride back to Roma. That was, if they could find their horses, which was another matter altogether. He'd hate to lose Jamie Boy; he'd had him since he was sixteen.
Later, he was walking on the edge of the forest with Jason by his side - as it should be, he was his most trusted advisor and one of his closest friends - he asked,
"Did you send my pater a message? I don't want him worrying too much since I told him we'd be back a week ago."
Jason hummed positively. "I did; told him he found some interesting things and that we would be delayed... before the tidal wave though. I figured I'd let you tell him of your bout of illness." Percy caught his eyebrows furrowing out of the corner of his eye. "You really did look bad."
He grimaced when his chest tightened and stopped walking for a moment to let the cramp dissipate. It was like the cramps he got in his toes occasionally when he stepped on them strange; hurting for a moment and tightening, and then he had to flex his foot until they left. He sighed. "I still feel awful, to be honest."
"Well, you better get more rest in that case. I wish you would take it easier though... Darius said you're pushing yourself too hard."
"Please don't give me the Mother Hen crap, Jason. I'm a grown man and a soldier. I know what I'm doing."
Jason poked him in the forehead, and then on his chest. Percy crossed his arms to appear more majestic and kingly. "You're a child in a grown man's body; and you're the future emperor, not an officer like Reyna or me."
He looked away and exhaled. "Sometimes, I think it would be easier if I was a soldier like you two. There have been times when our difference in status has strained our friendship when we were younger."
Jason didn't respond for a moment, and he began to walk again because he knew he wouldn't-they never really had an answer to it when they brought it up, so why should they now?
"Wait." He said, and Percy halted. He was sure his eyes had widened-but why would they not? He was surprised-no, he was shocked, because nobody ever told him that. He turned around and stared at Jason, but he was staring at the woods with that look in his eyes-the one he got when he was about to say something not entirely stupid. It was the same look he got when he said that one day, he would become Praetor so that he could help him change their country.
"To be a king, to have the opportunity that you have... Percy, so many people would kill just to be in your place. You have the power to change the world, which I know you will do because I can see it within you. It's not a curse; it's a blessing you should cherish and make use of.
"And we're still here now. We're still your friends-gods, you and Reyna are like family to me. I'd do anything to protect you. Maybe it was tested, and maybe the metal that links us together is tarnished, but we made it and our bond is stronger for it. We're going to stay like this forever. You, and me, and Reyna. Rachel too. She'll always be with us in our hearts and minds."
Percy wasn't quite sure about what he was supposed to say to that onslaught of words-in fact, he felt a little teary eyed-so he just walked over to him and hugged him, because that was what brothers did. Jason stiffened, before he hugged him back. They pulled away quickly though-because any longer would become girly.
He laughed. "Jason, you should be an orator. I'm horrible at public speaking!"
Jason smirked lazily. "You can't control perfection, Perseus. It just comes naturally."
"Stop being an arse." He bumped his shoulder against his and began to walk again. Jason followed.
"You know, there's this tavern song you sang when you were in that concussion..."
Percy felt the blood drain out of his face. "T-tavern songs?"
"Yup. You have an impressive voice."
He moaned. "After that headache, I decided I would never drink more than one glass of ale or mead."
Jason clapped him on his shoulder, and Percy grunted at the force he used. "Well, it was a learning experience at least."
"Reyna nearly killed me."
"Because she had a hangover. "
"I had one too!"
"Yes, but you're not homicidal. She is."
"You know, she could hear you."
"If you tell her I said that, I'll tell the Senate you know a tavern song."
"I won't tell her if you don't tell anyone."
"Deal."
They shook hands on it.
Author's Note: PERSEUS LIVESSSS! What, you think I'm going to kill him now? ;) No, no, no. I still have plans for our lovely future king that doesn't include dying... yet. x) Oh! Just out of curiosity, who is your favorite male and female character in ACOGL? >not PJO/HOO, though you can certainly tell me if you want. I'm always interested.<
I'm not going to be able to update for a while - midterms are coming up and I'm-- not going to panic over exams. >.< Lord, how is it already October? I was able to open up the house all. day. long. today. And it wasn't even hot! Or humid!
Dedicated to xXHorseLoverXx. HAPPY BIRTHDAY LIZ! Ugh, I can't believe you're already almost 12... I remember when you were 2 years old and sweet and cute... I wonder what happened to that. ;)
(You better appreciate the bear cake I made. It took two hours to decorate.)
Side Story:
"You are a worm." Perseus repeated. "And you can possess me."
Envy rolled his eyes. "Stop sounding like a broken record. Of course I can possess you! Even if you squash me!"
"If I squash you, you'll be dead."
A horrible, evil glint crept into Envy's eyes and his lips peeled back into a replica of a serial killer clown. "Ah, foolish mortal boy-- I am a Hormunculus!"
"I'm sorry. What's a hormunculus?"
Envy's soul left his body, leaving him an empty, white husk while it floated above him in the form of a ghost. "I AM WHO YOU WISH TO BECOME!"
Percy raised an eyebrow. "Right. I want to become a worm."
"No, no! Immortal! I am immortal! I am the greatest and the baddest and the bestest-- I am the envious!"
"Don't you want what other people have all the time?"
"...Shaddup."