Tyrant King - A Percy Jackson FanFic

Chapter 5

Percy woke up feeling strangly refreshed. He had slept through the night, with no nightmares even though he was in Tartarus. He sat up and looked around the room. It was black, surprise surprise! It seemed as if the whole house was made from obsidian. Looking down at himself, he realised that he was still in his pyjamas from before he'd even been captured by the gods. And he still had golden shackles around his wrists.
That's when Kelli walked in. Percy frowned, "Are you following me or something?"
"No," she said, "Gaea asked me to bring you some clothes since you probably wouldn't want to spend the day in trashed pyjamas."
"Couldn't she have sent someone else to give them to me? Like a guy maybe?"
Kelli laughed, actually laughed, "There aren't any humans in Tartarus except you, Percy. Breakfast is at eight, which is in ten minutes. Hurry up and get dressed."
She left, and Percy inspected the clothes she'd brought him. To his surprise, they were exact replicas of the t-shirt and jeans he'd worn the day of Rachel's vision. Now that he thought about it, the way she'd gasped and said "oh Percy!" Had she seen him being thrown into Tartarus for something he'd never done? Or had she seen something else?
Percy picked up his clothes and headed to the bathroom. Stripping off his pyjama shirt, he noticed two things. First was the ring of burned flesh surrounding his throat. The second was the pale pink scars just noticeable from the side of his body. Turning so he could see his back in the mirror, he winced at the hundreds of long scars that would forever mar his body. If he ever got the chance, he would kick Ares' butt. 
Someone knocked on the door. 
"Percy!" Kelli's voice rang, "Gaea's waiting for you to have breakfast!"
"Sorry," Percy called out, "I'll just be a moment."
"You're like a girl," Kelli grumbled, "You take forever to get dressed."
Percy threw on the t-shirt and jeans, throwing his pyjamas in the bin at the corner of the room. He exited the bathroom. Kelli was waiting by the door, and she didn't look happy, "I said ten minutes! What took you so long?"
"Sorry," Percy said again. 
"Stop," Kelli ordered as they walked from the room and down the hallway. He frowned, "What?"
"Saying sorry. That won't get you anywhere here. You are currently in a house filled to the brim with monsters who don't really care if you live or die. Gaea and Tartarus will think you're childish and weak if you say sorry to them."
"So if I do something wrong, I can't apolopgize?"
"If you do something that you consider wrong you will probably be congratulated."
They arrived at the dining room, and Percy held his breath as he spotted Polybotes the giant, who was leering at him from the other end of the table. Around the table also was Phorphyrion, the King of the Giants, Hyperion the titan, Krios the titan and Gaea. There were two seats left, which Percy assumed were for him and Kelli. Gaea smiled at him, "Sit, Percy Jackson. We have much to discuss."
Percy sat, with Kelli next to him. In front of him were plates of pancakes and bacon and eggs. The giants and titans were digging in, piling up food on their plates. He looked at Kelli, who was serving herself some pancakes and mayple syrup. 
"Are you going to eat Percy?" Gaea asked from the end of the table. Percy couldn't hold back anymore. He blurted out, "Aren't you supposed to be asleep."
Gaea smiled, "I am asleep. Whilst underground, my non-corporeal form can go anywhere, giving off the illusion that I am awake. I can't really touch anything though, like a ghost."
She reached her hand out to the table, and it went straight through a pancake. She smiled again, "Eat, Percy. You'll need your strength today."
He was very hungry. So he reached out to the table and pulled a pancake onto his plate, pouring syrup onto the plate. He took a bite, and had to hold back a moan. Damn these pancakes were good! He piled on four more, realising that Gaea was not trying to poison him, and did not hesitate to dig in. Kelli chuckled. Percy frowned, "What? I'm hungry! I haven't eaten in forever! I don't even know how long its been since I was arrested!"
"No its fine," she said, "You're just shovelling like Polybotes."
Percy snuck a glance at the giant, who was indeed shovelling his food, even making pig noises. Percy scrunched up his nose and tried to eat a little neater. Once they were all finished, the food disappeared, leaving the table clear. 
"Now," Gaea addressed Percy, "You are probably wondering why we have bothered with you."
In truth, Percy was wondering that. He had been under the impression that Gaea hated him and had accused of stealing the trident as revenge for destroying Kronos and defeating the giants. He sat up straighter, eager to hear what she was about to say.
"You probably think I was the one who planted the image of your betrayal in the minds of the gods. You would be correct."
Percy tensed. And Gaea continued, "I have many reasons for doing things, many of which I do not share. But I will share this with you. Sooner or later the gods would've found some way to get rid of you. You were too much of a liability, too powerful for them to not be worried. I decided that it would be better to have you sent here now, rather than a few years from now when you will be of no use."
Percy wished he had Riptide. Kelli was right, he'd get no mercy here.
"I've decided to train you," Gaea continued, "Each of the people seated at this table will be your teachers, except Kelli of course. Once I am satisfied with how far you've come, I will remove the chains nullifying your power and make your immortal."
She would do what? He had to admit, immortality sounded extremely tempting. And so did getting those chains off.
"Why do you need me?" Percy asked. Gaea shrugged, "You'd be an asset. You're powerful, which makes you dangerous. The gods are afraid of you."
She went silent, letting Percy think. He was surrounded by monsters and enemies he'd killed over and over again. He'd killed most of the people in the room, but none of them seemed to be very angry about it. Last time he was in Tartarus, he'd even heard Kelli say she was going to get revenge on him and Annabeth, and then proceeded to try and kill him. Now she was being downright civil. He thought of what Gaea was offering. Immortality, freedom, power. 
No. He'd never ever even considered doing something for thise reasons. He'd even turned down immortality once. He thought of the look Annabeth had given him before he was thrown into Tartarus. The eyes that basically said he had no hope. But he could never betray her.
I love you too, Seaweed Brain.
The last words Annabeth had ever said to him. He couldn't hurt her. He could never hurt her.
"Sorry," he said, "I'm not going to join you."
Gaea's eyes turned dark. She nodded at Kelli, who grabbed Percy and slammed his head forwards, onto the table. He blacked out almost instantly.