Thunder and Blood

27

Percy

I always knew bloodbending was a possibility, I have for a while. 

It used to scare me, the idea of killing someone with a single thought, of making someone follow my command without having to say a word. It scared me, I never wanted to be that powerful. I never wanted to be that dangerous. 

Now, all that has changed. 

I have a voice in the back of my head telling me what to do. I can't resist, no matter what I do, I can't say no. It has me making choices I would never have made before, like bloodbending. And I won't lie, it felt good to have that amount of power, it felt good to have control, to have everyone afraid of me. I liked it. 

Somewhere in my mind I know what I'm doing, I know that craving more power isn't something I should want. But I can't control it. 

I know that the voice is the nogitsune, he is telling me what I should do and how I should do it. He can be lenient, he loosens his hold on my actions for short periods of time. He lets me see Annabeth, he allows me to touch her, to heal her. But it is all on one condition. 

If I try anything - it doesn't matter what I do - if I try anything at all, he will take my memories. And if I can't remember who I am, if I can't remember who my friends are... I will have no limits. I will have nothing to hold me back. Annabeth is the only thing keeping me from going insane, and if I don't have her, I will surely do so - and take all of Camp Half-blood with me.

We are almost home now, we've been in the air for a few hours already. I can even see the light of New York City on the horizon. I tried to talk to Annabeth, tried to make her laugh. But she seems off. 

I know for a fact that she senses something is off with me too. She has good reason to. But she's more relaxed now than she was when we left, I'll take that as a good sign. 

"We're almost home." I say, looking back at her. I smile. 

She looks out at the horizon, and I see a faint smile tug at her lips too. She rests her head on my shoulder. Some part of me can't wait to get back, to see all of my friends and family. But the other half is telling me to turn around, to get as far away from Camp as I can. 

What could be there that is so dangerous? 

I brush the feeling off, feeling Annabeth's grip around my waist tighten slightly. 

Home. 

I'm almost home. 

The first thing I am going to do is have a word with Chiron. I completed his silly quest, I got the nogitsune. But as far as he will know, the nogitsune is still in Stiles. He doesn't need to know what is inside me. Does he? 

No. 

He doesn't.

The voice in the back of my head is arguing with me, telling me what I am going to say, what I am going to do. I know what is best for me, so I listen.

Annabeth's hold on me tightens some more as Blackjack swoops downward, towards Long Island Sound. He glides through the air, steadily declining in the direction of camp. For Stiles' sake, I hope my instinct is right. If not, he might end up as a bloody mess on top of the force field surrounding camp. 

The moment of truth comes as Blackjack is about a hundred meters from the shield, and closing. Annabeth seems worried too. 

"Percy." She shouts over the wind. "Percy, Stiles can't go through."

"Yes, he can." I respond, then muttering, "I hope," into the wind. 

When the moment of truth comes, I find myself holding my breath. But all four of us pass through the shield, no one left behind.