Cabin 13

44| The Sorrow of Tears

Will scrambled out of his seat. "That needs to be treated immediately!" 

Piper just sat, frozen. Percy's hair-raising scream still ringing in her ears. 

"This needs to stop!" Will pleaded, looking at her with only concern. But his cries fell on deaf ears, everyone's eyes were glued to the web of scarring on Percy's skin.

The crowd at this point had gone deranged, growing even louder as he slowly stood. Percy flourished his sword as he threw his head back in wild laughter. This time the whole crowd went silent to hear his words.

Percy's feral grin had yet to leave his face, even as he took a moment to assess the wound, peeling at the singed black material. "Now that hurt more than I remember." He cocked his head, looking back up. "Has someone been practicing?"

His voice cut across the arena, leaving Piper feeling as though her breath had been torn from her lungs. She could feel it. The pure bloodlust that surely, if she reached out, was tangible. Percy was filling the entire stadium with a dark buzz. 

"Well, at least I know we're done playing like children."

"If you don't start fighting back, this is going to be over quickly."

At that, Percy's brow arched. "Oh?" He scoffed. "You really shouldn't taunt me like that." Eyes flashing, he leaned in. "I'll show you quick."

Jason growled, launching himself forward. 

This time when their swords met, it was with a brutal back-and-forth pace. Both on the offense. Now the strength of half-gods became apparent. The impact of their strikes seemed to ripple out in waves of power. 

In their dance, Percy made a slight misstep. Though he jumped back, Jason's swing still managed to catch his upper arm, just below the shoulder. Deep. Jason was gaining, but while he mistakenly took a moment to regain his balance, a solid kick to the stomach threw him to the ground. Percy continued forward, blade raised. Jason, in recognizing his narrow time frame to turn this around slipping away, called another bolt of lightning down to him. 

This one, just like the last, found its mark. 

But Percy hadn't stopped his advance in the slightest. Aftershocks of the electricity still jumping off him, he yanked Jason up by the scruff. "The same trick twice?" He shook his head. "Tsk. You wouldn't last a minute in Tartarus."

Unlike the last time, the sky stayed dark, the storm Jason brewed spread. Clouds rumbling and the winds whipping. Manipulating the air, Jason threw himself back, out of Percy's grasp. 

"Parlor tricks," he bit. 

"I've yet to see you do better," Jason retorted.

"My tricks—" Percy, capping Riptide, raised a hand. "—are all closers."

At first Piper didn't realize what was happening, none of the water from the moat reacted. Then Jason's gladius clattered to the ground and her eyes snapped to him on the other end of the arena. His hands clawing at his chest, face pale, and mouth sputtering for air.

"W-what is he doing?" Piper panicked, frantically looking to the demigods at her sides. "What's happening?!"

"My, my. It seems the boy is manipulating the water in his body."

"How?!" She shook her head. "He couldn't do that before!"

Nico leaned forward. "No, he couldn't."

"He's stopping the blood flow in Jason's body, not allowing it to his brain."

"That'll kill him!" Will, again, was on his feet. "This fight is over, call it off Eros!"

Jason had dropped to his knees. Percy hand still raised, took his time in approaching him. 

"Stop!" Piper shouted, "Stop, please, please, stop!" Her words stumbling and fueled from pure terror. She was drowning in the emotions Percy was emitting. "You can't! Percy, no! No, no, no, no... Eros stop this!"

"Do you give up?" Percy asked, with a mocking face of concern, as he bent down to Jason's level. "Is that all you've got?"

Jason's only response was a deadly glare before his eyes rolled back and he lost consciousness, his body falling to the ground with a distant thud.

Percy sighed, "I'm disappointed." He released his hold. "You're going to wake up with an nasty headache, Grace, but you earned it."

Piper's knees bucked in relief, throwing her to the ground. He would wake up. Hazel quickly took to her side, holding her shaking shoulders, her own eyes still wide at the scene that had just taken place. 

"Well ladies and gents, we have our winner! Perseus Jackson!"

With cheers and boos and bets being passed around, the crowd lingered. Though some, likely with unfavorable wagers placed, already began to blink away just as they'd come. 

Nico hadn't moved a muscle, watching Percy closely. His mind mulling it all over. Something wasn't right. These new abilities had to have come from somewhere. His eyes narrowed. Percy mentioned Tartarus, but now, in his new state, if Percy hadn't had Annabeth with him in the Pit... perhaps he'd come out darker. 

Will raced down the steps, shoving aside spectators, to get down to the arena. 

Piper still couldn't move. She couldn't even think, couldn't imagine what she should be feeling. Anger? Relief? But she had wanted  them to fight, she'd agreed to Eros' methods. Maybe it was herself she should be ashamed of.

Consumed in thought, the rest of the demigods were beckoned by Will to help move Jason. She'd hardly even registered the words. The tears had returned, she wasn't sure when, but they streaked down her face and she watched as they fell onto the ground below her. Attempting to regulate her breathing, she wiped her eyes. It took longer than she would have liked to admit. The feelings of helplessness was hard to shake. Just like their last fight. And the one back in Kansas. 

She'd been so foolish, all she'd cared about was fixing her error. The problem with Percy was her fault in the first place! How was she supposed to explain to Annabeth what she'd done? She thought this could reverse it. But again, all she'd accomplished was pitting her friends against each other. 

Piper shook her head. She should go down and see Jason. Help. 

"Are you alright?" 

She flinched at the soft voice, turning. Percy stood behind her, his shirt with a gaping hole and one of his hands grasping the bleeding cut on his upper arm. 

Piper didn't know how to respond. Especially to him. Without warning, silent tears were overflowing again. It was him, he was affecting her. His emotions rolling off him in waves. It was confusing, and conflicting. 

Still on her knees, and without the strength to pull herself together, Percy's gentle arms lifted her up and held her against his chest. 

He pulled her close. "I'm so sorry," he whispered, holding her tightly, "Please stop crying."

The back of her mind screamed that she shouldn't find comfort in the terrifying half god who had just held her boyfriend's life in the palm of his hand. Like it was something he could take whenever he pleased. But guilt was addling her brain. In a way it was her who had unleashed this monstrous power. Piper's body melted into his strong form, if just for a moment.