Meeting Of Swords and Wands

Chapter 11: The Cruelty of Wizards, Monsters, and Demigods, pt. 2

Taking my own advice, I walked into the dorm room, stripped down, and went to sleep. That's when the nightmare started.

I was back in Tartarus and I was faced with Akhlys. She started to send poison towards me and I felt full, unbridled anger. And with anger, I felt unparalleled power. I felt that glass ball shatter as I turned the poison back on the Mistress of Misery. The fumes and poison started to burn her and she began to cry. In retaliation, I started to choke her on her own tears and poison. The more I looked at her, the angrier I became. She tortured Nico, Annabeth, me. She is the cause of all the suffering with us demigods. Time for her to pay. The more she screamed, the more I enjoyed it.

"Good." A voice said, "Very good." I knew that voice. A flash of fear came across me as I searched my dream for the titan. 'No, he's banished.' But, I couldn't mistake the sharp, cruel voice.

"Good Percy, just a little longer and you'll have your revenge." Kronos encouraged, "It's what you want, isn't it? Revenge to the gods for every transgression they have ever performed? Might as well start with her."

"No! No like this!" I said as I let up. But, I felt my body be taken over and the torture of Akhlys continued.

"Yes, it is what she deserves. You know it. You want it. You crave it." Kronos said.

"No!" I screamed. I managed to wrest control for just long enough to stop. Then, I felt searing pain as Akhlys' poison and tears took hold as I began to torture her against my will.

To my horror, Aklhys turned into me. I felt everything I was doing to myself, but the more pain I felt, the more anger I felt.

"You can't stop Percy." I heard a voice say. I screamed at the top of my voice as I recognized the voice. Out of the mist, Luke came out of the mist. "Your sense of justice won't prevent you from stopping."

"No! I will stop, just as I stopped you!" I shouted with more bravery than I felt. Luke looked exactly like he did the day he died, except he had blue eyes instead of the gold eyes of Kronos.

"Really?" He taunted, "Then stop." I tried, but couldn't. My powers and anger conspired to destroy me. "You can't, can you? Because this is what you want. This is what you desire."

"I want them to change! Not destroy them!" I yelled back in a fearful voice.

"You and I both know they won't change. They're incapable of even fulfilling one solemn promise." Luke said as I continued to torture myself.

"I don't want to." I begged with tears following down my face.

"You can't not want to my dear old friend." Luke laughed, my other me turned into a mirror which came right up to me. It reflected my image: my vibrant, poison green eyes, my tan, my scar. Luke appeared next to me. "Because you and I, are one-in-the-same. We are one." Luke and my reflections overlapped. We matched up perfectly; our height, our chin, nose, eye position, and scar. I screamed as Luke's image merged into mine and my eyes turned golden. The mirror turned back into me, who looked into my eyes before exploding.

"No!" I screamed as my body started acting on its own. Aklhys revealed herself, then vaporized into black dust. Ares: poof of dust. Aphrodite melted into sand. Hestia was drowned in the water of her own tears. Hades was turned into sulfur as Hermes was turned into a golden cloud of ash.

"No! Stop!" I begged myself. But I only got a heart-chilling merciless laugh in return. Artimis exploded. Apollo melted into gold dust. Athena was wiped out. All that I left of Zeus was Ichor. Poseidon looked at me with a look of deep heartbreak before exploding into dust.

To my fear, I found myself pulling Riptide out and slaying Chiron. His look of disappointment etched on his face.

"No!" I screamed as tears began flowing down my face. Annabeth screamed as I cut her down.