Tyrant King - A Percy Jackson FanFic

Chapter 27

Annabeth was washing her face when the iris message popped up in front of her. She yelped and stumbled back.
"Relax," Thalia said, "It's just us."
"Oh," Annabeth said, feeling slightly embarrassed, "Hi."
"We have news," Piper said, "Rachel just spewed a prophecy about you and Percy."
Annabeth perked up, "What did it say?"
"The Owl shall come to stop the Sea," Thalia recited, "And end his reign of tyranny. The Tyrant King's wrath shall one withstand, and save us from his unstable hand. She'll guide him out from the dark, and be the one to bring back his spark. But the price he'll pay shall be steep, and thus will come his final sleep."
Annabeth frowned, "That doesn't sound good."
Piper nodded in agreement. Thalia sighed, "So yeah, we need you to come back and help us fight him."
Annabeth shook her head, "How can I guide him out if I'm with you?"
Piper tilted her head to the side, "That's a good point."
"How about," Thalia suggested, "You try to guide him out and if there isn't any progress by the end of the week, you come back to us."
Annabeth nodded, "Okay, I'll do my best."

***

Percy sat on his throne when Annabeth came in. 
"Hey," she said. He raised an eyebrow at her, "Hi?"
She walked over and stood next to him, which made him even more suspicious. 
"What are you doing?" he asked. She shrugged, "I got bored lounging around. I decided to come see how you were."
He frowned, "For the last time, Annabeth. You don't need to worry about the shower incident!"
"I know. But I can't help being worried."
He sighed, "I'm broadcasting out to the camps in a few minutes. If you don't want them to see you with me, I'd suggest you leave now."
"I'm not going anywhere."
"Suit yourself."
He created mist from the moisture in the air before throwing a drachma into it, "Show me Camp Half-Blood."
He threw another drachma into another spot of mist, "Show me Camp Jupiter."
Two screens appeared before him. In one, it showed Chiron sitting at the ping pong table with all the head counsellors. The other showed praetors Hazel Levesque and Frank Zhang in front of the Senate. Chiron stood when he saw Percy. He bowed, "My King."
The whole Senate of Rome bowed. As did all the head counsellors and Chiron, except Piper. Percy narrowed his eyes at her, but didn't ay anything when she just glared back. 
"I'm surprised you're all here," Percy said to the counsellors at Camp Half-Blood, "Usually when I make my random calls, it takes some scrambling around to get you all here."
He leant forward, eyes glittering dangerously, "So what are you planning?"
It was Leo who answered, "We're discussing problems around camp, and which ones can be fixed easily."
Percy leant back, "Have you fixed the toilets yet? I remember exploding them."
Leo picked up a notepad and scribbled something on it, "Thanks for letting me know."
"Well I am the King. I'd be pretty useless if I didn't get you to fix the toilets."
Wait... did he just manage to sound humorous? Percy smiled to himself. Maybe he wasn't a complete maniac after all. 
"Is there a specific reason you are contacting us?" Hazel asked. It was amazing how she managed to sound polite and hateful at the same time. Percy leant on the arm of his throne, "Just checking camp functions. Is everything running smoothly?"
"Yes," Chiron said, "No one has committed treason in the past week."
"Same here," said Frank.  Percy nodded, "Okay. Does anyone have any questions?"
"Did you give Jason proper burial rights?" Piper asked. Percy's eyes narrowed at her, "Yes I did have a shroud constructed and burned."
She nodded in satisfaction. She didn't thank him, however. It made sense. Percy got the feeling that Piper hated him. 
"How's your mom?" Thalia asked. Percy frowned, "I meant questions about the way things are being run, but my mom's great, thanks."
"And Estelle?"
"She's loving the food. Any other questions?" 
No body said anything, so Percy said goodbye and slashed through the screens. Annabeth came and stood in front of him. 
"I have a question," she said, "Are you okay?"
He frowned, "For the last time Annabeth! I am fine!"
"I saw you smile in a funny way when you said the joke about the toilets," she argued, "The old Percy would've grinned or laughed. Not smiled to himself like he was proud of himself."
"The old Percy died four years ago when he was thrown into Tartarus," Percy said, "Actually, the old Percy died when his dad let Ares whip him till his back was in shreds."
Annabeth didn't back down, "The old Percy is in there somewhere. And maybe if you let him out, people wouldn't hate you so much."
"I would," Percy said quietly, "I would hate me."
"See!" Annabeth chided, "You're not okay!"
"I'm fine, Annabeth!" Percy insisted, "Please just leave me alone."
She turned on her heel and strode out, but not before saying, "This conversation isn't done!"
"Yes it is!" Percy called after her. He got up from his thrown and walked swiftly to his room. He barely made it inside before he collapsed onto the floor.

~Flashback~

Percy walked towards the screaming. Whoever Gaea was torturing this time sounded like they were in more pain than any of her previous victims. He pushed open the door to the training arena to see Gaea standing above a writhing girl.
"For this mistake you will suffer through two," Gaea was cackling, raising another syringe above her head.
"No!" Percy yelled without thinking.  He charged forward, and stood in front of the girl. Gaea raised an eyebrow, "Percy, what are you doing?"
"Please don't give her two."
"And are you willing to take her second?"
He glanced down at the girl, who had stopped writhing. If she hadn't been in so much pain, she would've been extremely beautiful. She had chocolate brown hair and sparkling blue eyes. Her skin looked extremely soft. 
"Yes," Percy said, "I will take her punishment."
Gaea frowned, "Your fatal flaw should've been destroyed when I injected you with the serum. No matter. I will give you a second shot after you've finished suffering."
Gaea stepped forward and shoved the syringe into Percy's neck. Pain immediately errupted in his body. He fell to the ground, writhing and screaming. All he was aware of was the pain that had taken over him, coursing through his veins, destroying every inch of his being. He wanted it to end, he wanted everything to end. The pain began to cease, and he became aware of Gaea's cackling laughter. He also became aware of the soft hand on his shoulder, moving up and down in gentle strokes. He heard the soft, melodic voice whisper, "I'm here. Just listen to my voice. Think about people who you love, and who love you back. That's how I get through it. Think about times when you felt safe, when you felt love. Think about happy things. Think about anything except the pain."
He listened to her words. He pictured Annabeth in his mind. He pictured his mom and Paul and Estelle. He saw Grover, and Thalia. He saw Jason, Piper, Leo, Frank and Hazel. He saw Reyna and Nico and Will. He even saw Clarisse. He pictured Chiron's smile after he succeeded in climbing the lava climbing wall at Camp Half-Blood. He saw his friends throwing him and Annabeth into the canoe lake after they'd caught the two kissing. He saw that quiet moment sitting in the stable room of the Argo II with Annabeth, not long after they'd been reunited during the giant war. Slowly, he forgot the pain, forgot the place he was in. He drifted into a dreamless sleep.

Percy woke on his soft bed. He rubbed his face and slowly sat up. 
"You're awake," someone said. He turned to see a young girl standing beside his bed in a white nightgown. 
"You're the girl who Gaea was punishing."
She nodded, "You shouldn't have saved me."
"Gee, I was expecting a thankyou." 
"Idiot, now she's planning to experiment on you to figure out the right way to get rid of your fatal flaw."
His stomach lurched, "Oh."
She gave him a grim smiled, "Hopefully she'll keep you sedated."
"That doesn't make me feel much better."
She shrugged.
"What's your name?" Percy asked. 
"Leah," she replied, "And I already know who you are, Percy Jackson. I know everything about you."
"That's not creepy at all."
"I had to learn it in order to impersonate you."
He frowned, "What?"
He yelped as her skin changed, and he found himself face to face with himself, except Leah's version of him was wearing a white nightgown.
"You stole Poseidon's trident," the realisation came to Percy suddenly. Leah shifted back to her own form and bit her lip, "I didn't have much of a choice."
"Where is it?" he stood, walking up to her. Maybe if he gave it back to the gods...
"They won't accept you back," Leah said, "The gods all believed that you were too powerful. They were looking for a way to get rid of you."
Percy shook his head, "No. I saved them twice."
"They're gods, they don't care about that. All they care about is the power they hold and how to keep that power."
Unfortunately, she was right. 
A knock sounded at the door. 
"Come in," Percy said. Unfortunately, the person who opened the door was none other than Gaea herself. 
"Come with me Percy," she said. He stood, dread curling in his stomach. Before he could leave, however, Leah grabbed his hand, "Don't let her break you."
Percy nodded, "I won't."

~End Flashback~

Percy sat up, leaning his back against the wall. After a moment he realised he was quietly sobbing. He wrung his shaking hands. 
Get it together Percy! He scolded, You're supposed to be King!
But was he king? Or was he just a fool running around pretending to be king? A king was supposed to be good, fair, loyal. Percy was a tyrant. He was a villain. 
And he hated himself for it.