madness and ecstasy // leo valdez

-Tartarus: five out of five stars-

Percy blinked, "sorry, what?"

"Right, she didn't tell you, course I have to explain everything," Tony muttered, scratching at the strap of something under his bloodstained shirt grumpily. "So, that Giant didn't actually fix Teqi. She's still how she was before."

"That can't be right," Annabeth breathed, her eyebrows knitted, she turned back to Percy like she needed confirmation she wasn't going crazy. "She was okay before-"

Tony shook his head with a grimace. "No, I was just possessing her. It was awful, I had boobs again." He looked down to his smoky body, not shrivelled like Percy's was, but he was still, well...Dead looking. "Back to normal now."

Annabeth, for the first time, looked lost. And not the wandering around Tartarus with no idea where to go lost, the I have no idea what is going on lost. "How did you possess her?"

"Twin telepathy."

"Sure, don't tell us, but you do have to explain who you are," Annabeth pressed, and then eyed the chasm of darkness next to them. "Maybe when we're somewhere a bit safer, why did-"

Tony squinted at her, and Percy reached for Annabeth just in case he decided to try some of his ninja moves out on her as well, "you don't believe me. Listen smarty-pants, Teqi is really fucking powerful because I'm not, but I can still read minds, everyone in our cabin can read minds. And twins have a whole hive mind thing going on, I don't know why, but so did Castor and Ollie."

Percy realised he probably should've asked a bit more about Teqi's personal life before they were thrust into the pits of hell together as a bonding experience, because he had no idea what this guy was talking about.

"And apparently that doesn't stop when one twin dies, so don't ask questions if you don't want the answers," Tony snapped.

Percy had another realisation. This guy was a bit of an asshole.

"You try living next door to Silena when she's the one who got you stuck downstairs in the first place, and everyone thinks she's a goddam hero," Tony said with folded arms and a glare that could probably kill.

"Silena," Annabeth whispered, and then her eyes grew as wide as Hercules' shield, "you're dead, you're... you're Teqi's twin brother."

Tony sighed, "bada bing, bada boom. Yes, I'm dead. Why do you think I could fight Misery? I've been made of mist for..." he trailed off, expression wavering. For the first time, he didn't look bored or annoyed. "Time works differently when you're dead, Hazel told you that, didn't she?"

"Hold on," Percy started, "you know Hazel?"

"What part of hive mind do you not understand?" Tony drawled, his face wavering like the tarmac of a road in the middle of summer when a gust of wind pushed all of their cotton candy forms around. "She just didn't realise she was thinking my thoughts cause she was busy being a lunatic, but I've been listening to... well, thinking half of Teqi's thoughts all my life...And death. "

Annabeth tilted her head, "All of them?"

Tony's eye twitched. "I have been thinking about that Leo guy's hair for about a decade. I nearly went for rebirth just to get away from it. Kathryn and Anne stopped me. It was so mean."

"Who?

"Kathryn Howard, Anne Frank," Tony explained, then rolled his eyes, "my roommate's, when I'm not in the fucking dungeons."