Tortured Hearts

Chapter 1

Link to full story playlist: https://open.spotify.com/user/9jqrqa22ch899lhe6df04e09e/playlist/2zVCbmJ0TAtFCoy0npJxUi?si=X391XajzRUihjY6aOKusbg

Song for chapter: Let You Down by NF

(The cringe begins.)

Third Person P.O.V.

Death. (8th grade me was soo edgy😒) It was all that Percy could see. He remembered the look in Annabeth's eyes as they won the fight. The other 5 of the 7 had died, but they had survived. Leo was speared by a dracenae, Jason had been crushed by a rockslide, Piper had been stabbed with a sword by a giant, Frank's firewood had caught fire and burned out, and Hazel had been pulled underground by Gaea.

Percy had started walking towards Annabeth after the battle when he noticed an earthborn coming up behind her with a knife. He screamed her name but it was too late. The earthborn stabbed her in the back just as Percy chopped its head off. Percy cradled Annabeth's body to his chest until the light in her eyes went. That was when the darkness took over his body and he was consumed by it.

Percy P.O.V.

I woke up in a dark cell with chains on the walls. I tried to stand but knew there wasn't a chance of standing up when I saw the heavy celestial bronze shackles on my wrists and ankles. I knew something was wrong but I couldn't figure out what until the memories came rushing back. My friends, dead. Annabeth, dead. I began to wonder what happened after Annabeth died. All I remembered was darkness.

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(WARNING: 8th grade me was sadistic and there's a lot of violence and graphic scenes coming up)

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I was wondering how long I'd been there when the door opened. In walked Zeus. He attached my shackles to a metal loop on the wall and pulled out a celestial bronze dagger. He began stabbing and slicing me while I screamed, shouting something about how it was my fault that Jason was dead and I soon blacked out.

When I came to, it was Ares' turn. He pulled out his spear and began etching words into my skin, words like "failure" and "traitor". I almost blacked out but I was not so blessed.

Soon after Ares, Athena came in. She summoned a hoard of owls (couldn't remember if it was canon or not if she could summon owls or not so I left it in for nostalgia sake *shrugs sentimentally*) and commanded them to peck and tear at my flesh until my skin was almost nonexistent.

After Athena came Hades. He summoned an army of skeletons and ordered them to stab and slash at my torso and they did. Soon my torso was covered in blood and had few strips of flesh on it.

Then came Hephaestus, (Jeebus, so much violence, I must've been holding a grudge against Percy)  he arrived with a group of mechanical spiders. He programmed them to bite and inject me with venom that was excruciatingly painful but non-lethal.

Then came Aphrodite. I couldn't help but notice that she no longer looked like Annabeth, she looked like my mother. Even though she wasn't my mother, it still hurt when she began to call me a failure and a coward. It hurt as much as any other torture that was inflicted upon me. But what hurt the most is what happened next,

My dad, Poseidon, came in and called me a disappointment. He disowned me and almost at once I felt a searing pain, letting me know my water powers were gone. I felt exhaustion overcome me and I collapsed.

Apollo P.O.V.

I was summoned to Olympus for what my dad, Zeus called an emergency, When I arrived, I was immediately taken to the dungeons. I was escorted to the cell at the end of the hall. The door was opened and in the middle of the room sat a bloodied and beat Percy Jackson in shackles. I was bewildered as to why the two-time hero of Olympus was being held in a dungeon but my unasked question was soon answered by Artemis.

"Percy has betrayed us and killed his friends," she said. (WOW straight and to the point, I like it. Good job 8th grade me, at least you did one good thing *high fives past self*)

I was too shocked to answer for a moment, but I finally managed to speak.

"Percy Jackson? The same Percy Jackson that saved the world twice and would do anything for anyone in trouble?" I ask and she nods.

"We need you to heal him so we can once again show him what happens to traitors," she said with absolute hatred.

I was about to argue with her but was stopped by a sudden groan from Percy (😏). I walked over to him only to see that he was almost completely covered in blood and most of his skin was gone, ripped off by the merciless gods, and I immediately kneeled down to heal him. It took almost 2 hours and all of my powers over healing but he was soon back to full health. As soon as I was done, he regained consciousness. He looked at me with surprise in his eyes as I fell to the ground, exhausted and weak.

Percy P.O.V.

When I was fully awake, I saw Apollo kneeling in front of me. He looked at me and fell over. He started to snore and I suspected that he had tired himself out healing me. I looked to the door and saw Artemis with Hestia behind her. Hestia stepped forward and I realized that instead of looking 7 or 8, she looked around 20. She walked up to me, her auburn hair swaying softly on her shoulders, and placed her index finger on my forehead. I suddenly felt pitiful and grief-ridden and I knew that she had taken away all of my hope. I felt depressed and lonely. My thoughts centered on one thing, my mom.

She and Paul were the only ones I truly cared about besides Annabeth and my friends. She was my rock and now she was dead because of spiteful monsters that wanted revenge on me. Paul died with her, trying to defend her and my unborn sister.

I looked to where Hestia once stood and I saw no one, but the gods soon returned and continued to torture me. All of the gods helped except for Apollo. At first, when it was his turn to torture me, he would heal the worst of my wounds but that ended when Zeus found out and reprimanded him for making me feel less pain. After that, he would sit with me and just hum a song or take a special interest in his bow and arrows. One day I asked him the question that was on my mind.

"Why don't you torture me like the others?"

"They tell me that you killed the rest of the 7 but I believe that you're just misunderstood and I don't believe that you could kill anyone."

As soon as he was finished, I felt gratitude that he, of all people, believed me. Before I could react, he leaned forward, pecked me on the lips, and left the room before I had even realized what had happened, but for once in my life, I didn't feel lonely.

AN: ayeeeee the end of the first cringe chapter. I hope you liked it and if you didn't then that's alright...I mean....it doesn't hurt my feelings or..anything at all *single tear slides down my cheek*

Jk but again if you do see any mistakes or you have any criticism on my writing feel free to tell me and also if you want to make a cover or playlist for this book I will gladly use them and give you credit for them

That's all for now but I hope all of you have a wonderful few days until the next update and I hope you all achieve what you want in life

Byeeeeeee

~Emily

(All credit for the characters goes to Rick Riordan.)