Forged Destinies

Blows to the Head Hurt

Ch. 13

Percy took a seat at the table, Hazel and Nico both watching him warily. It wasn't that they were scared of him; no, Percy would never do anything to hurt them. But his unpredictability gave them both a sense of unease. Even if he hadn't showed it yet, they both knew how badly he was hurting on the inside.

Percy pushed the plate in front of him into the middle of the table and then placed his hands at the edge of the table. His fingers gripped the wooden edge and his body tensed. Hazel could see his knuckles turning white. She was about to say something when he finally relaxed. He looked at her and then at Nico before he lowered his head.

"I'm sorry."

Those two words hung over the room as neither child of the god of the dead knew what to make of it.

"Percy," Hazel began when Nico cut her off.

He stood up from his seat and walked over to his brother. His body was tense and for a moment, Hazel thought he was going to attack him.

Nico put a hand on his shoulder and took a shuddering breath, "It's not your fault."

Percy looked up and opened his mouth to say something when Hazel rose from her chair. She walked over and put her hands on Percy's cheeks. She kissed him softly on the forehead and gave him a smile as a tear trailed down her cheek.

Percy closed his eyes for a moment then let out a ragged breath as he pushed his emotions deep down.

"Alecto will come for Bianca's body. Once we've finished this, we'll give her the proper honors," he paused as he realized how unlikely that was given what lay ahead of them, "or, we'll join her."

Both Nico and Hazel frowned at his cryptic words but neither disagreed so they both remained silent. Nico pulled his hand from his older brother's shoulder and steeled himself.

As Percy watched Nico do exactly as he had done, he realized how much he'd grown up from the mischievous and sometimes annoying boy he'd found at the Wilderness School in Maine. He was taller, of course, but it was mostly his demeanor. Despite their lack of biological connection, no one could deny the fact that this was his kin. From his attitude to his mannerisms, he was just a smaller, Italian version of Percy Jackson.

"I'm going to go find Leo and see how long he thinks until we arrive in Olympia."

Percy nodded and watched as Nico walked away, his grief and sadness suppressed in order to focus on the task at hand. He couldn't help but feel a bit of pride at Nico's mature attitude towards the work that lay ahead.

He turned to Hazel and his lips twitched just a bit, "I thought it would have been you going to check on Leo..." He kept his expression stone faced as Hazel's dark cheeks managed to turn a little darker and she waved her hand at her face, an old fashioned gesture that broke Percy's stoicism.

He smiled and placed a kiss on her cheek, "Go ahead, he's a good kid."

Hazel's embarrassment only grew as Percy gave his unnecessary blessing. He walked past her then paused at the door without looking back.

"Of course, if he ever hurt you, what I did to those monsters in father's temple would look like a strong scolding compared to the pain I would inflict on him."

Percy didn't need to look back to know a smile had crept onto her face at his protective, albeit slightly sadistic, warning to a boy foolish enough to hurt her.

With his spirits lifted at the short but productive chat with his siblings, Percy exited the galley feeling a little better. Of course, his happiness was cut short when he saw the pair of beautiful but dangerous dark eyes glaring at his from the other end of the hallway.