Black Magic

Hey Guys! So, it's a school week, and as you know, it'll probably be an update a week now. Maybe more than one if I find time. So, I hope that's okay.

Also, sorry about all the Percy P.O.V. It's just a lot more comfortable for me to write in his point of view. I'll make sure to switch it up from time to time.

Okay, so, the story? Let's get to it!

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Percy Jackson P.O.V (First Person)

The crowd parted to show where the voice came from. Thanatos was standing behind everyone, his cold power ebbing from him. His black, feathery wings were resting on his back. His face had a smirk on it, and his black eyes were sad, but satisfied - how a person would look when they died at the age of 90.

He was wearing a black tunic instead of a suit like the other gods. His black hair was almost as messy as mine, and he looked just about as pale a Nico. He looked kind of like Eros, except just looking at him made me want to sleep forever - not like Eros, who made me want to punch him in the face for outing Nico.

He laughed again, snapping us all out of a trance that we didn't realize we were in. His chocolatey voice rolled over us like warm waves on a sunny day. So relaxing. I had to make sure I stood my ground and didn't close my eyes, because if I did, I'd never be able to wake up.

He smirked again, "Names have power, you know."

Nico smiled, "Sure they do. You just saved me a trip to Morpheus."

Le Lord of Death rolled his eyes, "What did you need me for, Monopoly Master?"

Tony, Leo, and I had to laugh at that. Leo had tears in his eyes. Nico pouted, making us laugh harder, "It's not that funny!"

I smiled and patted his shoulder, "Whatever you say, coz."

"Di Immortales." He mumbled. Nico looked back to Thanatos, "I want to call in that favor you owe me."

Thanatos stopped smiling. His eyes got darker and his power, colder. He looked at me and and then back at Nico, "I see. Who do you wish to bring back?"

Nico hesitated a little, as if debating whether or not bring back the dead was good idea, "Jason Grace, Son of Jupiter."

All of camp was quiet again, including Tony and Leo, who were still holding in some laughter. My gods guys, it wasn't that funny. Why were you laughing so hard?

Anyway, Thanatos pulled out a tablet - the one that documented every soul he had to kill. He scrolled up, going to his older kills and clicked on one name. He showed his screen to me and Nico, "Is this him? The boy who died to a spear in the back?"

I cringed and nodded, "That's him. We need to bring him back for a prophecy."

"I knew I shouldn't have gambled for life. I wanted to play Monopoly normally, but nooo, Nico wanted to play with high stakes," Thanatos mumbled to himself. I snickered, and Nico just pulled up his hoodie.

Thanatos sighed, "He's a child of the Big Three. I need more power." He looked at us, "You two need to help me."

Nico and I shared a look of worry, but we agreed nonetheless. Thanatos stretched his wings - feathery black spans of 5 feet each. His eyes glowed black, looking like the void of Chaos itself. He looked like a demon.

He pointed at Nico, "Summon his ghost, but with it, you must add more power. Once his ghost is visible, search your core power and bring out his skeleton."

Nico nodded, as if that was the easiest thing ever. I saw Will in the background, looking nervous. He ran over to Nico, who was about to raise a dead body. Then, Thanatos turned to me, "You, have to create blood, and infuse it within the skeleton. I'll breathe life into the body, and he'll turn into a human again. Understood?"

I nodded to him, but in truth, I had no idea how to make blood! Who makes blood?! That's messed up! As I was pacing back and forth, Annabeth walked over to me and put a hand on my shoulder. I stopped in my tracks and turned to her.

Her face sported a smile, and her eyes had that look of determination - the look that showed she had a plan. I sighed, "How do I do this?"

Annabeth kept her smile, though it now looked strained, "It's black magic, Percy"

I wanted to laugh. Black magic didn't exist. It was a 'myth' in its purest form, but when I saw Annabeth's expression, I saw that she was dead serious. She cleared her throat, "Like all Black Magic spells, you need blood to start the spell."

I couldn't speak. Black Magic was real, and I was helping carry out a spell using it. I didn't know what to say, but managed to sputter out, "Meaning?"

She sighed, "If my theory is right, you need to make a puddle of water, pour some of your blood in, and say some initiation words to make the blood and water merge and mix, creating a magic substitute for blood."

I tried to wrap my head around that, "So...I have to control blood."

Annabeth nodded, "Percy..."

I gripped my hair, "I-I don't want to. I'll feel like a monster." I glared at Annabeth, making her flinch, "You saw me as a monster when I controlled Nyx. I c-can't."

She smiled at me. I know it wasn't for me to show my fear at Annabeth, but there was no way I was controlling blood again. It made me feel nasty. Annabeth looked like she wanted to say something, but the Avengers came up to me before she said anything.

Natasha eyed me carefully, "You do this, Percy, you'll be doing black magic."

I groaned, feeling pain in my chest. She continued, "It's corruptive."

"Stop it," I almost screamed. I fell to the floor, shivering. This was more of a nightmare than The Pit.

She held my shoulder and looked me right in the eye, "You have to, Percy."

I stopped struggling and looked at Natasha and the Avengers. She smiled, "We have an enemy to defeat, and we can't do it without this...Jason Grace. You need to do this. Stay strong, and even if the magic starts to take you over, you need to stand your ground."

I stared at her, "How do you know so much about this?"

She looked secretive, "I'm not the science person of the team. I might be a spy, Percy, but my roots...they're different."

I nodded and got up, still shaking slightly. I stole a glance at my cousin. He looked like he was about to pass out. Summoning Jason's ghost was one thing, but his skeleton? In a place where he wasn't even buried? Nico could die.

I needed to do this quickly. I looked at Annabeth, "Any chance you have Black Magic books in your shelves? I need examples."

She raised an eyebrow, "Since when do I not have a book?"

I nodded to her as she ran to her cabin to the get the book. I walked to the beach and sighed, "Dad?" My voice cracked, "Who knew Black Magic was real thing? Huh. First the myths, my powers, the Avengers, and now...magic. I guess Hecate had her bad ideas, too."

Annabeth walked over to me, book in hand. She handed it to me, and scrolled through the table of contents, thankful for it being in Greek. I stopped at the chapter name of, "Merging".

I flipped to page 394 (A/N: HARRY POTTER REFERENCE) and skimmed the page. Annabeth was right. I needed a puddle of water, my blood, and some magic words. Then, I'd turn into a frog.

Just kidding.

If I did this right, I'd have blood fit for rich vampires. Okay, anyway, I used a hand to pick some water up from the ocean, using my powers to separate the salt and fresh water. I left the water suspended in the air. I set the book down and uncapped riptide.

I watched my blade gleam in the moonlight before cutting my forearm. I winced but kept going as Annabeth focused on bandaging my cut. I used my free hand to take my blood drops and mix them into the suspended water.

That wasn't so bad. Then again, I didn't start the spell, yet. I slowly picked up the book with my bandaged arm, ignoring the ache. Annabeth sent me a worried look. I smiled at her.

"Okay," I sighed, "Let's do this."

I set my arms down, using my mind to keep the water-blood mix in the air. I read the spell out loud, in Greek, "Winds from all eight corners of the world, use your powers to mix and merge this liquid blood of Jason Grace."

I felt my hands tingle as the cold flooded over me. My eyes got blocked off with black tendrils. I could see the veins in my forearm, ebbing black, as the magic crept up to my neck, making me choke and fall to the floor. It was so powerful...so tempting.

I wanted to thrust out more power, but that little sliver of conscience crept into my mind, forcing me to hold my ground and not let out any more power than needed. Once the deed was done, I used all my strength, forcing myself to stay awake and stand up at the same time.

I had a splitting headache, but when I looked at the floating blob of red liquid I had created, I felt relief. I looked at my forearm, where the dark veins were retreating. I vowed to myself that I'd never do that kind of magic again, mainly because I wanted to do it more.

I used my remaining strength to walk over to Thanatos. A now passed out Nico, was leaning on a very fussy and worried Will Solace. I was surprised Nico hadn't turned into a shadow, but I couldn't be happier for it.

The confused ghost and skeleton of Jason Grace stood in front of me, his back turned. Thanatos nodded to me, and I thrust out my hand, letting the blood float into Skele-Jason's ribcage.

Thanatos used his magic to bind the blood to the skeleton, but before I could watch Jason come back to life, I passed out.

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I know, I know. Black Magic? Why?

I wanted to. So ha.

It was just an idea, and I wanted to try it out.

Also, I had nothing to do at school today because I'm an over-achiever and ended up finishing everything 20 minutes before we went over it.

So, I had time to write.

Be happy!

I've also read like four Harry Potter books, and stopped there because I got bored...I'll read it again soon enough.

Okay! SEE Y'ALL NEXT TIME!