To Swear On Styx

Chapter Twenty Four: Jason Gets Knocked Out in This Chapter

Playlist Part Twenty Four:

Deliverance - Bear McCreary

The Painful Way - Darren Korb

Enchantress - Two Steps from Hell, Thoman Bergersen

Chaos - Rok Nardin, Samuel Kim

~*~

The next morning, when Percy padded into the living room and Kronos wasn't curled up awkwardly on the too-small couch, Percy figured he might have a problem on his hands.

It was about seven, still barely-bright outside. Pinkish light shone in through the window by the T.V., and, in her crib, Estelle was cooing, a bottle clasped in her little hands and her feet kicked up in the air. The sight soothed the tension building up behind Percy's eyes, and a slight smiled flicked across his lips as he trailed over to her, smoothing her salt and pepper hair back.

Estelle's face lit up, and Percy crouched down in front of the crib, straightening out her blankets. "Hey, Estelle," he murmured, "-Where's Kronos? The scary-looking guy who slept out here?"

His younger sister babbled in response, and, with a sigh, Percy disentangled the now-empty bottle from her grasp, and started off to the kitchen to warm up more milk, and, hopefully, track down Kronos. It wasn't like the Titan King had anywhere to go, except, maybe, Camp. Or Olympus. Or-

Trying to force those thoughts away, Percy toyed absently with the plastic cup's lid as he rounded the corner into the kitchen. Over by the stove, his mom was busy cooking breakfast, and, worryingly, Kronos was still nowhere in sight.

Caught off-guard, Percy wavered by the doorway for a beat, before setting the cup down on the counter, any thoughts of milk or being a good older brother forgotten.

"Uh," he began by way of greeting, leaning to the left to glance into the half-open pantry like Kronos might be hiding in there. "-Morning?"

"Good morning," Sally replied distractedly, her eyes trained on the pancake she was flipping. It was blue, Percy noticed faintly. That, and the quick, albeit strained, smile his mother shot him confirmed his suspicions that the breakfast was a peace offering- maybe not one extended to Kronos, wherever the fuck he'd slunk off to, but one thing at a time.

Distracted, Percy sat down in a chair at the kitchen table, drumming his fingers against the wood. "Mom, have you seen Kronos?"

Sally's shoulders drooped at the first mention of the Titan King. "Well," she huffed, irritated, "-I did see him in your bed last night-"

"Mom!" Percy groaned, rubbing his hands over his face. "Nothing happened. We always share a bed."

His mother wrinkled her nose, side-eyeing him with distaste. "-but no," she finished hotly. "I haven't seen him today, thank the gods. And-" she spun on her heel, waving her batter-covered spatula at him. "-It certainly doesn't make me feel any better hearing that, Perseus Jackson. Sharing a bed every night?" She scoffed at the light blush on Percy's face before turning around, flipping another pancake out onto the growing stack of them on the plate beside her. "The man looks at you like you're- you're-" she floundered, flicking her spatula around haphazardly. "Oh, I don't know! Spiked nectar, or something you Titans like, I don't know."

"I- uh-" Percy fumbled for words, trying to string together something reasonable to say. Thankfully, as if sensing his plight, Kronos chose that moment to flash into the kitchen, causing Sally to nearly drop the plate of pancakes she had just picked up, and Percy to heave a sigh of relief that almost immediately died off, replaced by an open-mouthed gape as he stared incredulously up at the older.