Shattered

Percy

Don't gulp! Don't gulp! Don't gulp! Don't gulp!

Percy gulped and Hades' lips twitched ever so slightly into a smirk; making his boyfriend's father the victor in this contest of wills.

And that is not a good thing...

When Hades had drug him into his office with Jason following behind, he had been expecting a lot of screaming, death threats, skeletons, and maybe a lightning strike or two. Instead, Hades had sat him in the highly uncomfortable wooden chair across from his desk and stared at him for what seemed like an eternity with such intensity he was positive that the god was looking at him at a subatomic level. Percy didn't dare break eye contact, even if he could hear the son of Jupiter practically foaming at the mouth behind him. He could also hear Demeter's light breathing from the doorway, and he was pretty sure she was the only reason Jason hadn't struck him dead yet, if the flickering lights were anything to go by.

But then again, Hades could be doing that too... Or they could be taking turns... I'm not sure how much of his strength has returned.

The intimidating man rapped his knuckles against the ancient desk, startling everyone in the room, before leaning back into his chair; the ancient joints of the furniture creaking from the sudden shift in weight. "When I first met you, I thought you were just another victim of the so called great prophecy, like so many demigods before you. You followed the script; forced to confront one of the gods over the theft of another god's symbol of power, only to find it had been planted on themselves by a traitor. Yes you were a little mouthier than previous heroes, but I didn't exactly play fair to coax you to the underworld now did I?" The god said with a sad smile.

"You kidnapped my mom," he answered, confused as to why Hades was bringing up the past. Is this a villain monologue? Is he going to open a portal beneath my feet and send me to the underworld? Why am I panicking so much? Seriously, Mr. Chase and Athena were less scary than this! And Annabeth's dad had a gun!

"And I gave her back when that act came to a close," the god said, threading his fingers together. "And that should have been the last time we encountered one another until just before the final battle against Kronos, but little did I know that you made an unscripted detour into the Lotus." The god's eyes narrowed and Percy would swear the gaze was somehow stabbing his very soul. "I don't know what the three of you did, but somehow you destabilized the magic of the casino, forcing me to withdraw Bianca and Nico from the only place on Earth truly safe from my brothers." He watched in silence as the god paused and reclined further back into the chair and he could practically feel Demeter cringing at the sounds the ancient chair was making. "So I kept them at a distance, in hopes that they wouldn't be dragged into absurdity of it all. But to my surprise and horror, not only did Kronos find them, but that idiotic satyr as well!

"Don't talk about Grover like that!" he snarled, digging his fingers into the armrests. "He was just doing his job!"

"Well him just doing his job got my daughter killed!" the god snapped back, slamming a fist down on the desk hard enough to make the laptop in the center bounce. "I may have not been allowed to directly intervene, but I would have used everything at my disposal to keep them safe!" Hades sank back once more into his chair and the anger drained from his face and suddenly he looked tired. Older even. "But for the second time you wandered into my life," the man sighed. "And I knew then you were going to be a thorn in my side until the day you died, and even then, you'd still be bothering me!" The god ran a hand down his face before taking a deep breath. "When I next saw Nico, he had changed drastically. Gone was that sweet little boy who clung to his mother's skirts, who trailed after his sister doing anything she wanted, my child who embodied the best of the underworld." Hades stopped again and Percy's stomach twisted in guilt. "In his place was this scared, bitter boy, who was torn between loving and hating the same individual. Persephone didn't know how to handle the situation and only made matters worse and I was under constant scrutiny by the others so I was unable to do much more than watch."