To Swear On Styx

Chapter Ten: I Take a Bath

Playlist Part Ten:

No Children - The Mountain Goats

Ode To Aphrodite (Original Composition For Replica Lyre in the Ancient Greek Hypodorian Mode) - Michael Levy

~*~

"If they find out-"

"They won't find out. Not until Perseus' loyalty has turned, anyway."

An exasperated huff. "Kronos, you're playing an extremely dangerous game."

"Of course I am. This is chess, Iapetus, and I always win."

Silence.

"The last time this happened, you were betrayed, Kronos. Your heart was effectively torn out of your chest, stomped on, cut up by our bitch of a sister-"

"Perseus isn't Rhea."

"No." A moment's hesitation. "He's worse."

...

Percy woke up to the sound of crackling embers. Slowly peeling his eyes open, he stared up at the ceiling for a beat, not wanting to sit up and face the headache and pain in his back that he was sure would accompany any movement.

After another moment, he let out an annoyed huff, slowly pushing the covers down and sitting up, his back rested against the headrest. He was in his and Kronos' room- a fire burned in the fireplace across from the bed, and, to his right, Kronos sat at the desk by the window. He was faced away from Percy, with stacks of papers spread out before him. The older was stooped down, his hair falling in front of his eyes, and the pen in his hand furiously scratching away as he continued on with his work, seemingly oblivious to the fact that Percy was awake.

Hesitantly, Percy pushed the covers back all the way, before sliding out of bed and padding over to the window beside Kronos. It was dark out- hopefully it was still that same night, and he hadn't been asleep for a week or something.

Ignoring Kronos' gaze- the Titan King had stopped his work the second he'd heard Percy's feet hit the floor- Percy kept his attention on the view beyond the window. San Francisco's skyline lit up the night, sending beams of light flaring up into the sky, effectively blocking out most of the stars. That same light filtered down onto the ocean beyond the city, and Percy watched the reflections shiver as the waves rolled in.

It was calm, and for a moment Percy almost forgot about everything that had happened in the Underworld. Almost.

To his left, Kronos let out a heavy sigh, before rising to his feet. His chair screeched lightly across the floor as he stepped forward, making his way to the younger. Percy felt a hand settle on the small of his back, and he resisted the urge to wince, swallowing down the soft noise of pain building up in his throat. "Don't touch me," he said bluntly.

After a moment, Kronos' hand fell away. "You're angry," he said. There was no irritation, or accusation, or anything like that in his voice. It was just a neutral observation.

Percy tsked, rounding on Kronos. "Of course I am! What the fuck was that, anyway? What the Tartarus happened down there?!"

Kronos' lips were set in a thin line, and he took a step back, his hands clasped placidly in front of him. "I am sorry for what happened," he offered after a moment. "But it was necessary."

With narrowed eyes, Percy's gaze flickered over Kronos', searching his expression for anything else, any other information. After a beat, Percy's shoulders drooped, and he glanced back toward the window, knowing Kronos wasn't going to give him anything else to work with, and that was that.