The Animal Within

Chapter 45 - Waffles

Percy was disappointed that the other demigods had sacrificed Achilles' Spear. He could have used it to get Poseidon's attention.

After he'd been returned to the Argo II by a sombre Apollo, Percy had firmly ignored the other demigods, shoving them aside and making his way straight to his room. All evidence of his last night with Kronos had vanished. The crumpled wall from the jet of water that had bludgeoned Kronos across the room, the bloodied sheets which had been from the dagger going through his abdomen by Kronos' hand. Percy swallowed, resting one hand on his stomach on the scar from that injury, unable to be healed completely by even Apollo due to Kronos messing about with its healing, keeping it locked in time to keep Percy compliant. Though resting his hand on his stomach had him thinking about that other thing.

The baby.

Percy didn't know if it would have been a son or a daughter, but that didn't matter to him in the slightest. Either way it would have been his. His and Kronos'. Percy imagined that his mother would flip when she heard, probably scold him for having a child at his age and insist on Kronos never being around him again – the further he was from Percy, the safer Percy was. But the son of Poseidon didn't care. He wanted to prove himself to Kronos, he wanted for them to curl up on the sofa back at his house and watch The Lion King again, if only to hear Kronos complain about the various flaws in the movie.

A sob broke through, shaking his chest. He hadn't wanted to cry on Olympus, in front of Apollo or Kronos, hadn't wanted them to see him like that. Kronos hadn't been too upset with losing a child, but that was fine because Percy was upset enough for more than the two of them. Percy curled up on his bed, now more alone than ever and tucked his knees up to his chest, hugging them close. His side throbbed, though more in remembrance than anything else.

--

Percy woke to a knock at his door. "Wh –" He paused and cleared his throat, scratchy and sore from crying himself to sleep. "What?"

It was Annabeth whom spoke. "We thought we'd all better have a meeting over breakfast... if you're up for it?"

The son of Poseidon was tempted to scream at her, tell her to go away. He didn't want a meeting with anyone but Poseidon, with anyone unless they could help him get Kronos out of Olympus. But he cleared his throat. The world is ending, he reminded himself. Priorities. "Yeah," Percy said. "Ok. I'll be along in ten minutes."

"I'll make sure the boys save some waffles for you," Annabeth promised. Percy waited until he heard her footsteps disappear before he slowly got out of bed.

He glanced towards the mirror briefly, but the sight of his red eyes, nose and cheeks made him turn his head away. Percy rubbed at the tears that had dried on his face, making his way to the shower and determined to wash them off. The other demigods looked up to him, he had to force on a smile for them, pretend that he was fine while all he really wanted to do was break down and cry. He was the leader, he couldn't simply curl up in the corner and ignore them all no matter how much he wanted to.

Percy felt significantly better after his shower. He grabbed some clothes, an orange Camp Half-Blood shirt among them.

"Hey," Jason greeted when Percy stepped into the large room.

Percy nodded slightly to him as he made his way to the spare seat next to Annabeth. His breath caught when he saw the blue waffles piled onto the plate. "Blue cookies yesterday," Kronos had said. "Blue pancakes today. Will it be blue waffles tomorrow?"

The son of Poseidon cleared his throat. "Thanks," he said to Annabeth. He shifted slightly, staring down at the waffles. Damn you, Kronos. Percy cut them up. "Right," he said through a mouthful. "Let's hear everything."