A Billionaire's Bodyguard

Chapter 53: The culprits hang their heads in shame

------------------ Percy's POV: --------------------

By the end of the game Leo's hair was on fire, Piper had sworn her revenge on Frank, Annabeth had to dodge a lightning bolt, and I barely missed a flying wrench. To say Uno was dangerous was an understatement. 

It was why I was only slightly grateful for the call back into the chamber. We all quickly recollected our things before walking back into the now much more uncomfortable and tense room. My father looked furious, the spots on the chair where he was gripping had broken, sending cracks sparking off in various directions. 

We all stopped in the middle of the room, with Annabeth's hand placed carefully on my shoulder. 

"Percy Jackson! I'm glad you're back." I nodded once, giving him a brief smile. "I'm afraid we've found that some...godly meddling was in play during your unfortunate disappearance." Zeus spoke as if the mere thought made him want to vomit. "We would like to apologize for this mistake on our end." 

I nodded, looking over the group to find any look that may incriminate them. I scanned until I noticed Ares and Hera were gone. I could feel something that almost felt like a light in an attic flick on in my brain. 

Somehow this outcome made sense. Like it was normal. 

I looked over to the side to see Hera and Ares sat in chairs next to Hestia, their faces a mixture of anger and humiliation. Hera looked over, making eye contact with me for a brief second and as her face scowled I couldn't help but furrow my eyebrows. 

Why?

The question rattled around in my brain, pounding away at my skull and sending small spouts of pain down my spine. I turned back to Zeus to see he'd pursed his lips, either not happy with me having found them or not happy with what had happened thus far. 

With a deep breath he continued on. "Due to my wife's unfortunate jealousy, I'm afraid that she enacted her anger towards you. We will return your memories, have Hera and Ares promise you something, and, for my fav...one of my favorite nieces, we will grant you a wish, anything within our power, including immortality if your memory loss has changed your stance on anything." Poseidon elbowed Zeus lightly, as if this were a sore subject between the three of us.

I nodded, sparing one more glance as Ares and Hera who'd turned their attention to the ground. "So how exactly do I receive my memory maybe I-" With a snap a small bottle of a mysterious liquid appeared in my hand, the ominous substance's surface rippling before coming to a stop. I felt my brows furrow again as I looked up, trying to tell if this was a prank or not. 

"With that, drink it and within the next few hours you should hopefully receive your full memory back." Zeus motioned towards the drink as if pushing some air, which, surprisingly, I did feel a gust come my way, pushing my hair fully off my shoulders and behind me. I looked down to the drink, staring at it's contents and trying to examine anything I could find that looked off, but nothing came to mind, nothing to pick apart or worry of. I looked back up to them, turning back to the others and I could see a smile on Frank and Hazel's faces, one that was reassuring enough to convince me of anything really. Something told me that even though the others looked confused, their looks were enough. I nodded slowly, taking a deep breath before downing the liquid in one go. 

Immediately the thick liquid rolled down my throat, leaving burning wherever it touched, I brought my hand to my throat as I fully swallowed, coughing into my hand as the liquid fought with my stomach, an immediate stomach ache following suit. "What is this???" I asked, holding the bottle out in front of me as if it could continue to hurt me if nearby. 

"Gorgon's blood, from the right side that is" Hazel said, giving me a short smile as she pat me on the back. "you've taken it before." I pursed my lips, not liking the continuation of the burning in my throat, my stomach beginning to join it in the pain department.

"Be grateful, that one came out of my own reserves," Hermes said, immediately gaining a glare from a few other gods. He held up his hands at his bad joke. 

"If you'd like you can lay down with me?" Hestia spoke up from her spot besides the fire. "I'm sure you guys need to be getting back to your kids soon, being away this long can be...frustrating in the real world." I turned back to the others to see a look of realization mixed with frustration cross their faces. 

"N...No, we can wait." Piper said with a half tried smile. Obviously something was wrong. 

"We've only been here an hour or two, is something wrong at camp?" I asked. Annabeth shook her head. 

"Percy, time here... it moves differently. Down there, it's probably been a while, but for us, it's been maybe minutes, possibly a few hours if we're unlucky." I nodded slowly. So minutes must turn to hours or something like that. I pulled my lips into a line while I tried to calculate how long that might've been. After a minute of failed calculation I came up with a random number and decided on that one. 

"You guys go. I'm sure I'll be back soon and I don't want to keep you guys from important family times, trust me, I'd rather be with the kids right now honestly." I let out a short laugh only to receive a barrage of bewildered looks. 

they didn't push though, eventually all leaving with various forms of convincing. With that I was left with the massive gods. After a minute of catching up with my dad I eventually took up Hestia's offer, laying down on her long skirt which radiated a type of heat you could only find once you got comfortable in your own bed. The type that only seemed to occur just when you needed to get up, the forbidden comfort. 

With this type of comfort it wasn't long before I was out, sleep overtaking me like a net, dragging me into the depths of it's clutches. As I fell into slumber my mind continued to piece things together, like a self repairing machine. 

Hopefully I could awake to a feeling of having everything in order. 

Peace. 

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1098 words