Intertwined || Percabeth Hogwarts AU

Chapter 72

But before any of the three men could get into a stance, Seth let out a yell.

A devastating, gut wrenching yell that chilled Poseidon to his very bones. He watched with an agape mouth as Seth clutched at his head, spasming, crying out, and dropping to his knees in pain.

"Please, master! I didn't go against—" Another loud scream tore from his throat. "Please!"

"What's happening?!" Poseidon barked. "Brandon! Snap out of it!"

"It's our master..." Brandon whispered, taking a few steps back from Seth. "The mark... linked..."

And then it clicked.

Seth screamed again, louder this time, and clawed at his chest desperately. The scythe mark was glowing a burning red, cracks spiderwebbing from it at an alarming rate. And then it quelled, a sizzling sound piercing the air. The screaming stopped. Seth's face smashed into the ground and he went into a paralyzed state for a count too long.

A sharp, ragged inhale echoed through the chamber.

Seth's shoulders shook as he stood up, his face shadowed and sullen. His skin was a desiccated gray and there were veins bulging all over his neck and face. He was hardly human anymore; it was repulsive, some sort of homunculus figure. Vile magic—the kind that went against the very nature of the concept itself.

Poseidon's hatred burned anew when Seth looked up.

Brown eyes had been replaced with an eerie gold. A glow to them that had been long seared in his memory.

Seth looked down at his hands and grinned, too wide and too disturbingly for it to be him anymore. The cloth bag—the amulet! He was still holding it.

"Poseidon Jackson," Seth's voice was vacant, echoing with another's. "Why must you always be a pain in my side?"

"I could ask you the same," Poseidon returned, swallowing hard. Seth's body was overtaken by the only man in the world who could bring forth this panic in his chest. "Leave Seth's body at once. There are some things that are not meant to be controlled. Human life is one of them."

An icy chuckle crawled out of his throat. "Now, where's the fun in that? I simply wanted to be a part of this reunion. We are old friends, are we not?"

"Of course," Poseidon bit out. "The very best of friends."

The cracks in Seth's chest receded a miniscule amount. But he noticed it all the same.

"You're on a time limit. You can't host his body with your curse for long, can you?"

"How very astute." Seth's gaze narrowed and the veins in his body became a molten orange. "Come now. We mustn't waste the inkling of life Seth Abner has left in him. The boy's been quite the talker, it seems. We can't have that now."

How dare he?!

Poseidon's bloodlust pulsed; it started out like the trickle of water over jagged rocks into a rapid—slow to rise but quick to completely overtake him. His Avatar armor resurfaced and he gripped his trident tight, drawing a deep, prolonged breath and when it fell, they were off.

In a mad dash, Poseidon met Seth's charge, impaling him in the chest and through the heart with his trident. That should've ended anyone else. He should've known the same didn't apply here. Seth gripped the lance right under the prongs and looked up at him, that deranged grin now blood stained and so wide the skin around his mouth began to tear.

"Not bad! Not bad at all, Poseidon!"

Seth's fingers sparked and then, in an instant, the two of them were set aflame. Encompassed in an orb that burned and burned, so hot his skin felt like it would melt off, and it would've had it not been for the armor. In a quick dart back, Poseidon shot out of it and panted heavily, watching as the fire surged and gave away to Seth with his skin charred black and red, the golden eyes still so bright.