Nexus (The Demigod Wizard) Part 2

The Assembly

"How did you bloody do that?" Ron cried in amazement.

"Son of Poseidon, remember?" Percy said. He smiled nervously at them. Harry realized this was the first time they'd really discussed the secret he'd kept for years.

Hermione stared at him. She did not seem happy with Percy at all.

Percy's smile dropped. He looked down, composing his expression into blankness before pushing himself out of the lake. His pants and hair were soaked but he didn't seem to notice.

"Can't you dry yourself with your magic?" Ron asked, gesturing to Percy's drenched self.

The demigod looked between the three uneasily. Then he suddenly dried; clothes, hair, and skin.

Hermione threw her beaded bag at him forcefully and stormed away to start putting up the protective charms.

Percy stared at Ron and Harry, baffled. "What—"

Ron and Harry shrugged and helped the demigod set up the tent. Percy nodded at them, subtly asking them to finish up. Then he took out his want and went to join Hermione at the boundary.

The witch was standing twenty feet from the tent, hands raised, murmuring under her breath. She looked at Percy out of the corner of her eye when he approached but otherwise ignored him.

Percy began casting the incantations along with her. Hermione frowned, wondering how he had learned them. But then again, Percy had changed a lot over the past year. He was taller, tanner, more handsome, and stronger. He was seventeen when they'd last seen him, and now he was nineteen. He'd taken down those snatchers effortlessly. And violently.

They worked in silence for a few minutes, quietly casting charms.

"You're angry with me," Percy said at last.

Hermione said nothing.

"Will you tell me why?"

"You should know why," Hermione snapped.

"I think I do, but I want to hear it from you. You're angry that I left Harry, right?" Percy asked.

Hermione lowered her hands and rounded on him. "Of course I am! Harry is my best friend and you are his only family. But it's more than that."

Percy frowned. Now he was confused. "More than that?"

"Yes!" Hermione cried. "You complete arse, Percy! You disappeared for a year and expect things to be okay? You think I'm going to act like nothing happened?"

"Ah," Percy said, now understanding. "You're angry that I kissed you and then left."

Hermione opened her mouth and closed it again, not having expected Percy to be so direct.

"I'm sorry. That wasn't good of me to do to you. I swear I thought leaving was best for Harry," Percy explained. He moved to stand in front of Hermione, forcing her to make eye contact with him. "I never meant to hurt you. Or make you hate me. I can understand if you don't want to be friends now. We don't have to talk anymore if you don't want. But I still need to be here. For Harry." Percy turned and walked back to the tent, his heart heavy. He knew it was unreasonable to expect Hermione still had feelings for him, let alone that she wouldn't mind his company. He had been gone for a year, and had hurt her in the process. Although he still cared for her, her feelings had certainly changed.

He'd seen Hermione and Ron dancing together at the wedding.

Percy found Harry and Ron sitting at a table in quiet discussion. They stopped talking abruptly when Percy entered, although the demigod pretended he didn't notice.

"Where's 'Mione?" Ron asked.

Percy ignored his stomach twisting. "Finishing up the protection spells."

"So...you said you got tortured by You-Know-Who?" Ron asked, leaning forward. "He didn't get anything from you?"

Percy snorted. "Of course not. I'm equipped to handle torture."

Harry and Ron looked at each other. "How can you be 'equipped' for torture?"

Percy leaned back in his chair. "Ever heard of Tartarus?"

Harry frowned. "Isn't that the ancient Greek version of Hell?"

"Yep. The air is acid, the ground is the skin and veins of a primordial. Glass beaches, lava rivers, the whole shebang. If I can survive Hell, I can handle a noseless freak."

Ron's eyebrows shot up into his hair. "Jeez, Percy."

The demigod smiled. "Well now that you guys know what I am, I can speak freely."

"Why were you in Tartarus? Was this the year you disappeared—the first time?"

Hermione entered the room quietly and plopped down in a chair across from the demigod, a sour expression on her face.

Percy prevented himself from wincing. "Yeah. I was on a quest with some demigods. Gaea, Mother Earth, and the giants were ready to tear down Olympus. We were on a quest to stop her, but my ex girlfriend had a separate quest. We went to pick her up. The floor caved in. I caught her before she fell, but I couldn't pull her up. There was a massive spider and a car tugging her down, and Tartarus is like a vacuum. So I let go."

Harry stared. "Hold up. You held up a giant spider, car, and a teenage girl with one arm? How is that even possible?"

Percy shrugged. "Adrenaline?"

"Yeah no. That's not how that works."

"Demigod adrenaline?"

"Percy, a car, monster, and girl has to be over 4,ooo pounds. What even--"

"Look, I dunno. I'm half-god, I guess some things are just weirdly possible for me?"

"Well no wonder you let go of her! That's insane that you held her up at all. You shouldn't blame yourself for her death," Harry insisted.

Percy scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "Yeah that's not actually what I meant. She's alive—I let go of the ledge and fell into Tartarus with her. She's not my ex because she's dead."

Ron stared. "Damn. You did all that for a girl."

Percy frowned. "She wasn't just a girl. At the time she was my girlfriend. And you should know that I'm very loyal to the people I care about," he added, looking at Hermione. The witch returned his gaze. "I'd do that for all of you, easy."

"Alright, well as lovely as that pledge of devotion was, we need to talk about horcruxes," Harry said, leaning forwards. "When I went to the cave with Dumbledore looking for the locket, this is what we found."

He handed the fake locket to Percy. The demigod opened it and read the letter inside.

"R. A. B.," Percy muttered. "Who is that?"

"We don't know," Hermione admitted.

"Well it doesn't matter," said Percy.

The witch bristled. "How does it not matter?"

"I know where the real locket is," the demigod declared with a satisfied grin. "The Ministry."