Climb (Percy Jackson x Reader)

eighteen

✺ GOLDEN VEINS OF POWER ✺

"You're back."

(Y/N) chuckles softly, nodding. "I'm back."

The wolf goddess' gaze is sharp, nearly poking into her skin as it scrutinizes her from head to toe. It softens, and Lupa steps forward, her ears flicking with curiosity. "You were dead."

"I was."

"And now . . . interesting." Lupa tilts her head. "There is a battle within you, isn't there?" she asks, her paws padding softly through the turquoise grass. Her reflection in the pool wavers only slightly, thick red-grey fur rustling with her movements. "Part of it brought you back. And now, it—"

"It's killing me," (Y/N) completes Lupa's sentence, rubbing at her hairline and squeezing her eyes shut. A bubble of exhaustion wells inside her, making her head go light for a brief moment. A firm shake of her head wards it away.

"What happened?" Lupa's question, so simple and straightforward, prompts dread to swirl in (Y/N)'s gut. Her words carry the faintest tremble of frustration as she recants the ritual that revived her and Hecate's failed efforts to reverse it.

"I tried to balance it out while practicing, as they only act up when I use them, but it didn't work," (Y/N) explains, carefully watching the goddess for any reaction to her words. "I almost lost complete control. And as I was searching for something to ground myself again, I thought of this place. And it . . . for some reason, it was so strong. I must have shadow-travelled all the way here."

Lupa sits, her tail settling around her to rest atop her front paws. "How do you feel now?"

(Y/N)'s brow furrows as she focuses her mind, searching through her power and energy. The massive, uncontrolled current from before now flows as calmly as an undisturbed stream, seeming anything but out of place as it travels through the rest of her power. No longer fighting for control, it was content. Comfortable.

"I feel . . . fine," (Y/N) says, her words drowning in confusion. "A little tired, but fine."

Silver eyes twinkle with knowledge, and (Y/N) can swear that a smile creeps onto the wolf's features.

"Did you know," Lupa begins, tilting her head up and closing her eyes in the warmth of the sun, "that this place was created by your mother?"

The world seems to spin around the daughter of Persephone, her feet growing unsteady. "What?" she asks, the word practically inaudible. Lupa opens her eyes, looking at (Y/N) with prominent concern.

"Come sit, child. You look faint." Her tail flicks off of her paws, brushing at the grass in front of her in a gesture of welcome.

(Y/N) approaches, sinking gratefully into the grass as she faces Lupa. Gentle vibrations run through her upon contact with the ground, and warmth shoots through her body. Instinctively, she relaxes. A thread seems to tug at her heart, nearly begging her to check up on her friends at Camp Half-Blood, but she ignores it, determined to stay focused on the goddess' words.

"It was on one of her visits away from the Underworld," Lupa begins to explain, the clarity of her eyes becoming obscured by a hazy fog of memory. "She met someone. She wanted to create a safe place where they could see each other."

"How did Hades take that?" (Y/N) asks, the gods' new, budding relationship making its way to the front of her mind. "They seem to have made up, but he used to treat her horribly."

"Did he?" Lupa asks, tilting her head down at the girl. "Are you sure that there was no external factor to influence them both in the presentation of their relationship?"