Tortured Hearts

Chapter 2

Song: This Is Gospel by Panic! At the Disco

Sorry for updating a little bit later than I would have like to but school is especially difficult now that we're nearing the end of the year but I hope to update more frequently during summer break.

Thank you for reading my story and I'm grateful for every single one of you 😋. So without further ado, on to chapter 2.

Apollo P.O.V.

I'm such an idiot. Why would I ever think that Percy was into guys, especially not the guy with nonsense haikus? Speaking of haikus, the perfect one popped into my head.

"I'm an idiot

I just kissed Percy Jackson

What was I thinking"

That pretty much sums up my life right now. I don't even know what came over me. I walk outside before Percy can even react and hurry to my palace. I don't even notice the other gods heading to the throne room until I hear a summons for a meeting.

I flash into the throne room and take a seat on my throne. My family doesn't approve of my actions against Percy. They believe he should be tortured and I don't. I looked around the room and my eyes settled on the middle of the room where there was a pair of shackles bolted to the ground. I wondered what they could be used for until the door to the room opened and in walked two guards carrying a half-conscious Percy between them.

They brought him to the center of the room and chained him with the shackles, after which they left, closing the door behind them. There was silence until Zeus spoke up.

"I have summoned you to this meeting to discuss Percy's fate," he said.

All at once, the Olympians began shouting out different tortures and evils that should be inflicted upon the once great hero of Olympus. I remained silent until they all stopped yelling. Only one person regained their composure and sat quietly with their hand raised: my vengeful sister, Artemis.

"I suggest he be banished to Tartarus," she said.

At the word, the room seemed to grow colder but no one questioned her. They all seemed to consider the punishment until I spoke up.

"Are you really going to punish the hero of Olympus, the one who saved the world and remained loyal to us after all the wrongs we committed?" I asked incredulously.

They all looked at me with question clear in their eyes before Poseidon spoke the question on everyone's mind.

"Why do you care what happens to Percy?"

"I believe that he hasn't done anything wrong and doesn't deserve punishment. If anything, you deserve punishment for torturing an innocent person because of your opinions, and the person who saved your butts, nonetheless!" I said, fuming.

"He killed our children!" shouted Zeus.

"He would never harm another person who didn't deserve it," I retorted, deadly calm.

The room fell silent until Zeus spoke again.

"Nevertheless, Percy is sentenced to banishment in Tartarus for standing by and watching our children die instead of saving them. All in favor?"

Everyone raised their hand except me.

"You sicken me. Punishing an innocent hero, I thought you'd never stoop so low but I should have expected from corrupted assholes like you," I stated with absolute loathing. I walked out of the throne room and flashed to my palace. I sat on my couch, one thought plaguing mymind: how could they be so stupid?

Percy P.O.V.

As soon as the Olympians reached a verdict, Apollo flashed out of the room in rage. I was still in shock that all of the Olympians agreed on something for once, that something being my punishment. As soon as Apollo left, I was forced into a standing position while Zeus immediately shrunk down to human size and approached me with a look that would frighten even the bravest giant. He brought his hand up along with the other Olympians and they began to chant in ancient Greek.

When they finished the incantation, the floor seemed to open up and crack. I saw a mass of blackness move upwards from the crack and I suddenly felt as if I was falling. I had the sensation of falling down a chute and soon smelled a lot of sulfur which I identified as Tartarus' atmosphere. I continued to fall until I cleared the atmosphere and saw the River Lethe beneath me. I tucked into myself to make myself a smaller target for when I hit the water and I braced for impact, but it never came.

I was soon engulfed in a golden light and when the light cleared, I found myself on the beach beside the River Lethe with Apollo standing beside me. He helped me up and I was left almost nose to nose to him until he stepped back. Almost immediately, he began to speak.

"I have charmed you so you won't have to drink from the River Phlegethon to survive and I would like to apologize for my family and their willingness to to blame Gaea's actions on you. I know I'm rambling but I just wanted to say that I'm sorry about kissing you in the dungeon later, I shouldn't-"

I stopped him by closing the distance between us and giving him a gentle kiss on the lips.

"Don't worry about it," I said playfully, a smile present on my face.

AN: This chapter's a little bit shorter than the first one but I hope to update again over the weekend so look forward to that and I hope you guys have a wonderful week and weekend.😜

~Emily

( All characters belong to Rick Riordan.)