Chapter 12
POV: Perseus Heitor Jackson
I woke up with a terrible headache, it was killing me, when I tried to move, I felt my whole body aching, everything was hurting too much, with difficulty I sat up in that strange bed, I'd never been in it before, but I immediately recognized where I was, looking around, because the inside of the tent was familiar, It was warm and comfortable, silk rugs and cushions covered the floor, in the center, a gold brazier seemed to burn without fuel or smoke, at the bottom of the tent, on a polished oak apparatus, was a huge and beautiful silver arch, carved to resemble the horns of a gazelle, also hanging on the walls were animal skins: Black Bear, Tiger, Blue Antelope, as the name suggests, he was blue, I thought an animal rights activist would have a heart attack looking at all those rare skins, at the back of the tent, near the bed a deer with shiny fur and silver antlers, was resting, when he noticed my presence, he looked at me excitedly, wiggled and ran towards me, taking his head contentedly so I could stroke his head, I petted his head.
"Hi Faline, how are things? Where is everyone?" I asked as I continued stroking. I needed to talk to Arty, she must be worried about me, after all, she found me extremely wounded. For a moment, I found myself thinking of something strange, a voice, something that at the same time was familiar, seemed so far away, but forcing myself to remember it made my head hurt, so I shook it away from those thoughts. I got up with difficulty, half staggering, when I looked down, there were some wounds, cuts, on various parts of my body, I saw water, in a container next to the bed, I went to it and tried to heal myself with the water, but for some reason, I couldn't, maybe because I was so tired, but there really was something different about me. Next to my bed was a long-sleeved black shirt. It was time to face Artemis, after all, she must really be a beast with me, I walked with difficulty out of the tent, Faline had returned to her corner. As soon as I stepped out of the tent, I realized that I really was inscribed, that scene sent a shiver down my spine, a feeling of near panic in fact, I really am dead. My father was hugging my grandmother Athena, who was crying compulsively, this is really unheard of, but for my grandmother to be crying like that, things are really bad for me, not to mention that my mother, Hera and Hestia were also crying, while they were hugging, Apollo and Artemis were also crying, she had her head on the chest of her twin brother who was stroking her hair, and that girl I saved, Artemis' lieutenant, her name was Zoë, she was also crying a lot, while she was hugging another girl, a very beautiful blonde, probably Apollo's daughter. It was a strange and confusing scene, even a bit amusing, but it wasn't for me, because I knew very well what I would see next, that is, a beautiful and refined punishment, thinking about it made me panic, so I kind of acted on impulse. "Who died?" I barely closed my mouth, because the next moment I said that sentence, I didn't see anything anymore, I just felt a blow on my body, and the next thing I knew, I was on the ground with two bodies on top of me, with two crying and very angry goddesses.
"YOU STUPID, IRRESPONSIBLE BRAT, THE WAY YOU LEAVE ME WITHOUT MY CONSENT, I SHOULD KILL YOU." Said my mother screaming and crying, she was on top of me and punching me repeatedly in the chest, it was certainly too much love, but it was hurting, even more so because I still had a lot of open wounds under that shirt. Standing next to me, kneeling and watching this complicated scene, was my grandmother Athena.
"Calm down, Mom." I said with difficulty, automatically trying to hug her, to maybe stop the punches in my chest, "I'm going to be okay, it's okay." I said firmly, trying to sound confident.
"YOU'RE GROUNDED UNTIL YOU DIE, YOU'LL NEVER LEAVE MY SIDE AGAIN." Saying this, she calmed down a bit, after, of course, giving me a few dozen kisses and hugs, and finally got off me, I tried to get up, but I was hugged and thrown down again, only this time it was Athena.
"I TOLD YOU NOT TO LEAVE, YOU IDIOT, YOU'RE MY GRANDSON, YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE IMPULSIVE." Said Athena, crying and hugging me. After all, I wasn't impulsive, I had planned and asked to leave Olympus a hundred times, thousands of times, but they never let me leave, because they were overprotective, in the end, they were right, and I fell into a trap.
"Seriously Grandma, I'm not a god like you, who lives for thousands of years, I'm only human, and I've been locked up in Olympus for five years now, it's not easy." I said seriously, but she didn't change her expression, in fact, she got even angrier, as she slapped and punched me. "OW OW OW... STOP IT STILL HURTS." I groan between the slaps, and finally she stops, hugs me and kisses me a few more times and gets up. Before I get up, I ask playfully. "If anyone else wants to knock me down, save me the trouble of getting up again, and just hug me before I get up?" No one said anything, so I felt confident about getting up. As soon as I did, I felt a new blow on my body and I was on the ground again, only now with two children and not women hugging me, one was Hestia, who was crying and just hugging me, and one Artemis, who was hitting me from the other side. "Damn" I laughed, although I was still in pain from the wounds and the blows Artemis was giving me.
"YOU LITTLE BRAT, YOU NEARLY KILLED ME WITH WORRY." Said Arty angrily, she beat me, kissed me and hugged me, it was hard to understand this bipolar family of mine. "AND YOU SHOW UP HERE, ALL BLOODY, HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED IF I'M GOING TO HAVE ZOË KILL YOU, YOU IDIOT?" Every word was a punch in the chest. "I SHOULD CAPTURE YOU AND RIP THIS OFF BEFORE YOU LEARN HOW TO USE IT." I paled, she never joked about that, and I knew stories about demigods that had irritated her to such an extent that she kept her promise.
"Okay, let's keep calm Artemis, I'll explain what happened when I can breathe." I laughed, kissed Artemis on the cheek and said calmly. "Calm down Arty, I'll always be here."
"Don't call me that, you lost that right after you made a fool of yourself running away from Olympus." She said, still hitting me. I laughed and gave her another kiss. Artemis has always been like that, at least with me, she even seems like an older sister, it reminds me a lot of the way Rhoda treats me too.
"That's good, Lady Artemis." She gave me a few more slaps and stood up, I looked at Hestia who was kneeling next to me, smiling, although she still had tears as red as lava on her face, I hugged her and she hugged me back.
"The important thing is that you're well, nothing else matters, my champion." She smiled at me, I nodded and kissed the top of her head, and got up with a little difficulty, but Hestia was by my side to help.
"No one else to take me down?" I asked seriously, I was getting tired of being knocked to the ground. My father came up to me and gave me a strong hug, crushing everything and making my unhealed wounds hurt a little. "Ow..." He let go of me, startled. I laughed at his reaction and hugged him again. "Calm down, old man, you hugged me too hard." I laughed and he laughed back, hugging me a little weaker.
"I'm glad you survived, Percy." He broke the hug and looked at me worriedly. "I couldn't bear to lose you either." He said sadly, that made me sad too, I knew he was talking about my half-brother, Triton, who betrayed him. I smiled and he walked away, Apollo came over and patted me on the back.
"Yeah Percy, my disciple, this poison is no joke, and it looks like you've fought with it in your body, no?" asked Apollo seriously, and I nodded positively at his question.
"Soon, I'll tell you." I said, turning to the last person standing near me, she was a little further away, watching my family's celebrations. "I hope you don't want to kill me now?" She smiled embarrassedly at my joking question, and took a few steps forward, approaching me. "Zoë, I know you don't like men, that's why you're a hunter, I'm really glad you didn't get hurt because of me..." I was interrupted by the Huntress's hug, which surprised me a lot and at first I didn't reciprocate, she was crying on my neck, finally, I returned the hug.
"Thank you, Percy, you almost killed yourself for me." She said, still hugging me.
"Well Zoë, I couldn't let you die because of me, even more because of my irresponsibility, if you hadn't come to save me, I would never have had to save you in the first place." Saying this, she smiled more broadly at my response, and walked away, giving me a warm smile, which I reciprocated in the same way, I finally seemed to have made a new friend. My mother and Athena came and stood in front of me, each on one side, pulling me by the ear and taking me to sit by the nearby campfire, where all the other huntresses were. "HEY..." I complained, because of the pain I felt in my ears. The huntresses laughed at my embarrassing situation.
"Now, Perseus, tell us all what happened." She ordered my mother, with all the sovereignty that exuded from her, but fortunately my mother had let go of my ear, and Athena too. Everyone sat around the fire, including the huntresses, who looked at me curiously, ready to hear my story. "Tell us Percy, now." Said my mother sitting on one side and Athena on the other, they both rested their heads on my shoulders, it was really nice to have them with me. The other gods sat and waited to hear the story.
"Yes Percy, and in the smallest detail." Said Athena excitedly, being the goddess of wisdom, Athena likes to hear or read about new stories and adventures, she loves knowledge.
"Right." I said, running my hands over my ears, trying to calm the pain, some of them laughed, including the ones causing the pain. "Hello huntresses, my name is Perseus, but just call me Percy if you prefer." I had to be careful with my words, or Artemis might get angry at my daring to talk to her girls and throw me out. "I am the son of Poseidon and Hera." Some gasped in surprise, so I went ahead and explained the different situation regarding my descendants. "Wait, I'm a son adopted by Hera, well, it's a bit complicated to explain my story, but I'll tell you, I think with a bit of luck, I'll be able to come and visit you now, won't I, Lady Arty?"
"Maybe, Percy." She said thoughtfully, then my mother moved uncomfortably next to me, then I remembered, that after today, I would never leave Olympus, I would be locked up by my mother.
"No, you can forget it, young man, after what happened today, you'll only leave Olympus under the supervision of a god and with Festus, after a decade of punishment." My mother said, and I rolled my eyes.
"What's the matter, Mom, I'm almost nine." The huntresses gasped in surprise at my age, after all, I had a different development from an ordinary demigod. "Well, my body develops differently, and that I have the "blessing of Heracles" so to speak." As soon as I said that, they all looked at Zoë, who didn't let her expression change, but I could tell there was something there and I'm going to find out. "My story begins when my father, Poseidon, fell in love with a daughter of Athena, my mother, Sally Jackson. My mother was a very powerful demigoddess, she protected me all my life, from monsters, from any risk I might take..." So I continued my story for a few minutes, telling my story superficially, I told my whole story, with many interruptions, mainly from Apollo (that the huntresses stayed as far away from him as possible, I didn't understand, but it was as if he was toxic, or something) who kept telling me to stop being humble, until finally "well, and like these super-protective goddesses who love me." I barely closed my mouth and I was already slapped by Athena and my mother, and a few ugly looks from Arty, and Hestia shrugged and smiled, as she always does, she's very kind. "Whoa... come on? I'm telling you the truth." I complained about being slapped. "Due to such reasons explained by me, I escaped from Olympus this morning, I went to Central Park, to visit the place again, and well, I was distracted and took a strong blow to the head, I fainted and woke up in a shed, I was tied up and well one of the Dracaenaes, said I was poisoned, but didn't say by what, and speaking of which, do you know what the poison was Apollo?"
"I do, it was from the Tartarus Serpents, they're second only to Python when it comes to poison." Everyone gasped in surprise, and I widened my eyes. I wasn't an expert in poisons or medicine, but I guess poison is no joke.
"And how am I alive?" I asked in surprise.
"I have no idea, Percy, they're capable of putting gods to sleep for years" He said seriously, that was quite a surprise for me, I was really shaken by that information, how I survived something like that. And they didn't inject you with a little, in fact, they injected you with a lot."
"I see." I finally said, of course I didn't understand, but the look of disapproval and fear on my mother's face made me quickly want to change the subject. "Back there, I was tied up, and I could see my body bent and weak, and there were 5 hellhounds, 10 Dracaenaes and 10 Cyclopes." I said seriously, everyone's eyes went wide, including the gods, but Athena interrupted me.
"You're getting bigger, Percy, be serious." Said Athena with wide eyes, staring at me in surprise.
"No Grandma, you know I don't lie and I swear on the River Styx that I'm not making it up." In response to my oath, a bolt of lightning cut through the sky and nothing happened, proving that I was telling the truth, everyone's eyes widened and I continued with my story. "I killed a few in there, and ran out of the shed, trying to escape, I ran to the clearing where you found me, that's when the last 2 hellhounds caught up with me, knocked me down, I killed them, and I think in the end there were only 5 Dracaenaes and 4 Cyclops, they ran away, and when Arty recognized me, and started hugging me and cursing me, for a moment, that distracted everyone, the huntresses stood to look at me, I raised my head and could see the same blonde Dragon woman, who had just rendered me immobile with a knife throw, and that I had already lost the movement of my right arm, and she made a cut in the connection of my left shoulder, and I was missing both arms, and they saved me from certain death." I said pointing to the huntresses, who smiled at me. "am eternally grateful to Artemis and her girls, and when I saw the knife coming, I acted on impulse and stepped in front of it, my body did it on its own, before my head could think." Athena slapped me on the head. "Hey, stop hitting me Grandma." I said seriously, and everyone laughed. "Stay laughing, she has a heavy hand and it hurts a lot." She grimaced and massaged the spot where she had hit me. "I stepped in front of the knife and after that I remember waking up in Arty's tent in pain."
"You're lucky I didn't let you die, young man." Said my mother seriously, although I knew she couldn't let me die, except at her hands. "You'll never get away from me again." She said, hugging and squeezing me.
"OW... OW... " I whimpered from the tightness in my wounds, and she opened her eyes wide. "Careful mom, I still have a lot of wounds."
"Percy, take off your shirt and let me see." She ordered, I really didn't want to disobey her, even more so now that I'd worried and irritated her so much, but taking off my shirt around so many girls, even more huntresses, was too much. Unconsciously I blushed a lot and she understood. "I understand, Artemis, I'll go with Percy to your tent, okay?" She nodded seriously and stood up. "Come with me, Apollo and Poseidon." We walked to the tent and entered Athena came along. "Now take off your shirt." She ordered again. I took off my shirt, which was long-sleeved to disguise my wounds. My mother's eyes widened and I thought I was going to hear more lectures, a lot more lectures. "You irresponsible idiot, and worse than your father, why did I choose the most IDIOTIC AND IMPRUDENT demigod EVER?"
"Why am I irresistible?" I asked jokingly, without thinking straight, she started slapping me and crying loudly. "Stop, mom, it's hurting."
"Calm down, Hera, this way you're going to kill our son." Said my father hugging his sister who buried her head in my father's chest and cried, he looked at me more seriously than ever before. "You were very irresponsible Perseus, what if you had died?" He asked seriously. What would have happened? I was going to meet my uncle Hades sooner than I thought. As much as I thought it, it would be better not to say it out loud, everyone's spirits were too high, I thought it best to keep quiet. Apollo came over to me and looked at my wounds, snapped his fingers and a canteen of Nectar appeared in it.
"Drink it, it'll make you stronger and help you recover." Apollo said, I nodded and took a sip from the container, I could taste my mother Hera's hot chocolate, it was my favorite drink, I felt stronger, but the wounds were still there. "Well, I think you're going to have some scars."
"Really?" I asked excitedly, as mature as I was, I was still a fan of heroes and fantasy warriors, and the coolest and most badass characters always had a lot of scars, but I remembered that my mother was a beast with me, I don't even want to see Aphrodite when I find out about the scars. "The important thing is that I'm alive and well, Mom." I said, going over to her and hugging her cautiously.
"You're coming home with me right now." She said seriously, I was about to complain, but when I saw the almost murderous look she was giving me, I thought I'd better keep quiet. "And without a sound, otherwise I'll leave you locked up in a room until you're old."
"That's fine, Mom." I said defeated, I knew I had crossed the line, disobeyed her, and on top of that, I had almost died, now, she would have an infallible argument in a discussion with me, the first and only time I left Olympus, I almost died, and on top of that, it was hidden from her. I'll never leave again, no matter how hard I try. "Please let me say goodbye to Arty and the huntresses, they saved me." I begged her, and she thought for a second.
"You have 10 minutes, not a second more, understand?" She asked, I nodded, why did I have to have the most protective mother in the world, what a pain in the ass. I put my shirt back on and went outside, the girls were talking around the campfire, I walked over to them, they noticed me and looked at me, the conversations died down quickly and all eyes turned to me.
"Right, and I wanted to thank you for saving me, and tell you that I'm going to have to leave, my mother is furious with me, I don't think we'll see each other for the next 20 years, maybe more." I said seriously, although some laughed, except for Zoë, who was all seriousness and a natural leader and warrior. "Well, I'll see you around, maybe one day if Arty lets me, I'll come and spend a day with you, if you want me too, of course." I said seriously, some smiled at my words, others remained impartial, but none reproached the idea, so I think it was good. Zoë got up and came over to me and gave me a hug, now I immediately returned it, she was a little taller than me, a little over 150cm, she had tears in her eyes. "Well, I hope we can be friends."
"But of course, you saved me, you're my only male friend." She smiled at me.
"Well, I could say the same, that you're my only friend, but I don't know if bronze dragons and divine owls count as friends." I said laughing, and she followed me. "Hey, smile more, your smile is beautiful." She laughed and slapped me on the arm, and I laughed along with her. "See you later, Zoë, I'll do my best to come and spend some time with you, see you later girls" I said waving to the other huntresses, they waved back, I went over to Arty and bowed and said nostalgically. "Lady Artemis." I know she hates that, and as expected, she slaps me upside the head. "Hey."
"Come here, you irresponsible idiot." She hugs me and kisses me on the cheek. "Don't make any more trouble, you idiot, and I'll try to get you to spend some time here with me and the girls."
"Thank you Arty, I'm tired of living in Olympus, I can't wait to go out on missions and stuff." I said seriously, she smiled and gave me one last kiss on the forehead, like a kind of blessing.
"Go soon, little Hero, before you get any more beatings from your mother and grandmother." She said at last, and I nodded and went over to my mother, who was talking to my father. Apollo gave me a smile and said.
"We'll see you tomorrow at practice, Percy." The sun god said, I nodded positively and he went off in a blaze, very bright, I had to turn my face away from the glare.
"Show off." I said walking over to my mother, she was still sulking, her arms crossed in front of her breasts. "Sorry mom, I promise I'll only leave with your consent."
"It's the least you can do, you irresponsible, foolish, delusional..." She began to give me various adjectives about my actions.
"He's already understood Hera, there's no need to dictate to a glossa..." My father started to say, while he was rolling his eyes, but he shut up with a slap on his chest.
"Shut up, Poseidon, or you'll get beaten up instead, do you want that?" My mother threatened, making both my father and I turn pale, and quickly denied it. "Good, you, young man, go straight to your room and stay there for the next few months, understand?" I nodded, she put her hand on my shoulder and we teleported to her palace. "Go and have a shower, I'll bring your dinner." She said seriously, sadly, I think she was hurt by me this time, but I was going to make things right, I was going to repay her for my follies. I ran upstairs to my room, took a long bath, it strengthened me, and healed some of the wounds, but there were still some left, and they hurt a bit, I came out of the bathroom just wearing slippers and sweatpants, I sat on the bed, waiting for my mother to bring me my dinner, it was almost 9pm, but it had been 2 days since I had been away from home. Soon my mother came into my room with an angry face, but her eyes showed happiness, and I knew she was just being angry, I've never really seen her angry, they say she was really cruel, I know some myths. But when I looked at what she brought, chicken lasagna, my favorite dish, I laughed internally, she handed me the tray, and brought the magic chalice, just think of the drink and it would automatically fill up, and the temperature according to how you like it, mine was always ice cold. I thought of Fanta Orange, and the glass filled up, my mother came up to me and said:
"Why did you disobey me, Percy?" She asked seriously.
"I'm sorry, Mom." I said, bowing my head.
"But of course I'm sorry, my love." She kissed me on the head. "I love you so much, but answer me, why did you disobey me?"
"I love you too mom, but I'm stuck here on Olympus, I don't have any friends mom, friends my own age, not gods thousands of years old, I just wanted to make friends my own age, and have some fun mom." That was really my wish, at least in theory, but when I was there, in that playground, watching the children playing, I hesitated, I didn't go and play with them.
"I'm sorry if sometimes I get too carried away, I get on your back, my son, but I love you too much, if you die, a part of me dies with you, a part that I never want to let die." She said, hugging me.
"I promise I'll never let that part die, Mom." I said seriously, and she smiled sweetly at my words. "Mom, I was wrong."
"What do you mean?"
"I had the chance to go and play with the other children in the playground, but I didn't go, it seemed so far away, further away than in my thoughts and fantasies, it was as if I didn't belong in their world, I can't explain it, all I know is that I didn't get to play with the other children, what does that mean?" I asked confused, my mother hesitated to answer, then, after a few seconds, she gave me a big smile and said.
"It doesn't mean anything, just that you didn't like the look of those children, nothing much." She smiled, that answer seemed strange to me, but it was my mother, she knew things. "Now, eat my dear, you need to regain your strength." I kissed her cheek and began to eat.
"It's delicious, mom." I said with my mouth full of food.
"Give me a break, Perseus." She slapped me playfully on the arm. But she looked at me reproachfully. "Swallow before you speak, how many times do I have to tell you this?" She said indignantly, and I laughed.
"Always, Mom, always." I smiled and she watched me finish eating. When I'd finished, she took the tray and put it on the bedside table, and sat on the bed, I lay on her legs, she kept stroking my hair, and occasionally kissed me on the cheek and forehead, I was starting to get sleepy. "Mom, will you sleep with me here tonight?" I asked her, making a face like a pouty puppy.
"Aren't you already too old to be stuck at home, you want to go out and conquer the world, aren't you almost 9 years old?" She asked dismissively. I just laughed in response. "And you want to sleep with mommy, aren't you too old for that?"
"I'll never be old enough to stop sleeping with my mother." She laughed and snapped her fingers and was dressed in a white nightgown, she lay down and hugged me from behind, I snuggled into her arms and murmured before going to sleep. "I love you very much, Mommy."
"I love you too, my little Hero."