Memories of a Hero

12

Turns out, the very first deity in existence likes cheeseburgers.

Nihil was happily munching through her burger while Percy ate in nervous silence. It's hard to really grasp his head around the fact that he's eating cheeseburgers with Chaos.

Or Nihil. Whatever.

Luckily, she'd turned her eyes into normal eyes so she didn't seem that creepy.

"You mortals come up with new inventions almost every day," Nihil said. "But I swear to me that cheeseburgers are the best one yet."

"Do primordials like you even eat?" Percy asked. He mentally smacked himself in the forehead. That was a stupid question.

Nihil laughed. "Technically, we don't get hungry. So we never really have to be worried about eating. But it's not like we can't eat. I just love the taste of food." Nihil said as she took another bite off her burger.

Percy nodded absently. Based on everything Nihil had explained, Percy was sure that he's doomed, but it was still kind of a lot to take in.

First off, Gaia betrayed him. How did that not occur to him, he had no idea. After his incident with Zoe, her voice had stayed silent.

Maybe the idea of saving his friends blinded him into following Gaia's orders. She'd told Percy to get these relics in order to get the powers for herself. She intends to absorb the relics' energy to fuel her own powers.

Secondly, Zoe is working with Gaia, which brought a bitter taste to Percy's mouth. Percy didn't know why, but apparently Zoe wants to work with Gaia. As for Bianca, he didn't know. As far as Percy knows, Bianca might be working with Gaia as well. This was Gaia's whole plan. Both of them were raised through the Doors of Death just to mess with him.

"You're pretty smart," Nihil said as she licked the leftover cheese off her fingers.

"I thought we agreed not to read my mind?" Percy asked.

"You're right," Nihil held her hands up. "But in my defense, I can't help it. You keep blaring your thoughts out like a speaker."

Percy groaned.

Nihil chuckled. Then, her face turned serious. "So, what are you planning to do now?"

Percy stared far into the table. "To be honest, I don't know. I found out that the girl I cared for was actually working for Gaia. Then I found out that Gaia's actually lying. And all of my friends don't remember me at all. On top of that, I'm eating cheeseburgers with an all powerful deity." Percy said sadly. "So, I don't know what to do."

Nihil pouted. "Poor Perseus. Lost from the yellow brick road. No one remembers him. No one wants to play with him. He's all alone." Then she slapped Percy hard on the cheek. "Wake up, doofus."

"What?" Percy was shocked. He was shocked not because of being slapped but because he was slapped by Chaos.

"You're being pathetic. Not miserable, not sympathetic, just plain pathetic." Nihil said angrily. "You are a hero. You were not made to become this pathetic human being."

"But I –"

"If you insist on becoming this . . . weakling, I shall choose another apprentice for my plans." Nihil stood up and was about to leave but Percy stopped her.

"Wait, apprentice?" Percy asked.

Nihil raised an eyebrow. "Interested?"

Slightly, Percy thought mentally. "Why?"

"Look, I don't really care about Gaia or Olympus." Nihil said calmly. "I've watched this sort of thing happen from time to time. But I can't have her going rampant and out of control. That would destroy everything as we know it. When that happens, everything would cease to exist. When everything cease to exist, nothing is there anymore. I would have to rebuild everything from scratch Do you know how long I'd have to wait before mortals invent cheeseburgers again?"