Protecting Home: Forgotten Power, Part Two!

Chapter 17: Tempest - Percy

A/n: since nobody complained about my last Percy chapter being inaccurate to his personality, I'm gonna do another one! Once again, if it's really bad, I want to know so I can change things if I make another one. Here's the chapter!

PoV: Percy

If Hazel's screams were still ringing in my ears, I couldn't imagine what Frank was going through.  I couldn't even look at him, since I knew he was glaring at me. After I had first woken up, Piper and Frank had been awake still. A few Neverseen members, including Tempest, had taken the three of us to the forest. I couldn't remember quite what happened after that, except that, whatever had happened, I had ended up telling them Hazel knew where my friends were.

That was why they were waiting for her to wake up; because I turned her in since I was too selfish. I just wanted Annabeth to be safe. Of course, I cared about Hazel too, but Annabeth was my highest priority. And now I was slapping myself for even mentioning Hazel, when I could've just kept my mouth shut.

 "How could you, Percy?" Frank asked me.

"I'm sorry, Frank." I replied. Because I was. I was genuinely sorry.

"I don't know if that cuts it. She didn't even do anything."

" They would've hurt her anyway. "

"How do you know that, Percy? I haven't seen them drag Jason away yet." By the way Frank's voice was cracking, I could tell he was probably crying.

"Frank, listen. I didn't think she actually knew where they were. "

"Then why'd you pick her? Out of all of us, you chose her."

"Because I knew she knew at least a bit of it. "

"A bit of what?" Frank was getting close to yelling, "What would be so important to know that Hazel could be hurt and you wouldn't care?"

"I do care, Frank! I just..." I sighed, "I was being selfish and wasn't thinking. "

"You've got that right." Frank muttered.

 I stole a glance at Piper. She gave me a sympathetic look, but I could tell she was also angry at me. When she had been taken with me and Frank into the forest, she had tried to use her charmspeak on some of the cloaked figures to convince them I was lying. It worked on some, but the others tied on the gag she currently wore to stop her. And now her effort was in vain.

I heard Hazel scream one more time, though it was shorter than the last few. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. When I opened them, I found Fitz looking at me. "What?" I asked.

 Fitz took a slow breath. "Can you both calm down?" He asked with a calm expression, though anger was laced into his words.

" Why are you angry? " I asked him.

 "I'm not angry, I'm just frustrated."

 "Okay, sure. But can you stay out of this?" Frank asked.

 "We don't need you guys fighting each other, " Fitz countered, "Trust me, fighting within your own group doesn't turn out well for anyone."

"It can turn out well if you do it right, " a familiar female voice stated. We all turned and found Tempest carrying an unconscious Hazel. Slowly she dropped onto her knees and set her down where she had been sitting before.

"What did you do?!" Frank demanded.

"The same thing I did to you three, " she replied, gesturing towards Frank, Piper, and myself, "Only less spread out."

"You hurt them?" Jason asked, anger shining in his eyes.

"Not as much as I could've. Even what I did to Hazel is a small fraction of what's possible."

"Why?" I asked, "You say you're on our side, only to hurt us more. Why?"

"For the same reason you revealed Hazel, Mr Jackson. When you want to protect something or someone, you're willing to let someone or something else accept the consequences. "

"That's a horrible habit," Jason muttered.

Tempest stood and turned to look at him. "Tell me, Grace, " she said as she walked towards him, "If Piper and I were in danger, and you could only save one of us, who would you pick." 

"Piper."

"Why?"

" Uh, because she's my girlfriend and I don't know you?"

"Exactly. You'd let me take the consequences of your choices because you care more about Piper than me. It's just how people are, demigod or otherwise. So, even though my main goal is to keep at least most of you safe, I'm willing to slightly bend those rules to keep those I actually know and care about safe."

"So you joined the Neverseen to protect people you care about? " I asked, "Honestly, every part of that seems wrong. "

Tempest turned towards me. "Alright, Jackson. If Annabeth were being held captive and the only way to save her would be to join her captors and fight with them, would you?"

I thought about it for a few milliseconds before responding, "Yes."

" Even if it means you can never leave, or they'll be out in danger again? "

"I would."

Tempest smiled, "Again, you prove my point. All people would sacrifice their entire lives for those they care about. Take you for example, Frank," She turned to Frank, "If I told you that, with the snap of my fingers, I could bring you back in time and put you in Hazel's place, would you? " Frank said nothing, but nodded, "But, I can't. And so, life moves on. We can't change what we did, or correct past mistakes. All we can do is try to make sure we don't make those same mistakes again in the future. How you go about that is beyond me, but at this point, it's all we can do. "

Tempest turned and started to walk away on her silent feet. As she reached the top of the stairs, she looked over her shoulder at Fitz, "You know how drastic of measures people can take to try to help. I'm just wondering why you didn't follow their influence. It could've led to something better than this."

"Or much worse, " Fitz countered.

Tempest shrugged, "Sometimes things need to get worse before they get better. Another strange thing life throws at us. " with that, she turned and continued walking down the stairs until she was out of sight.

Here's a bit about Tempest for ya! If you couldn't understand a few things, don't feel bad. I purposely tried to make her a little confusing. I kind of want to update again today, but I may not find time to. Soooooo  I'll see you later! See ya!