Chapter XIV Whhhaaaaaat? No! I Didn't Kill Him! (Huehuehue)

Percy yawned as he woke up, rubbing his eyes sleepily. He sat up, and looked around him. He didn't have any water, sadly, so got up to get his own. He frowned slightly as he remember the events from last night. He was proud of his work, yes, but...he didn't feel like that was the best thing he could have done. Now he had a dull throbbing in his chest, an ache to his bones, the effect of wanting to die from a bond being broken but being unable to.

Percy almost wanted to lay back down for another day. Logically speaking, he knew it was the best thing he could have done. Grover, with his connection to Percy through the bond could only bring bad things, but still. His chest hurt, dammit! Percy blew some hair out of his eyes in annoyance, and walking along a narrow hallway.

He heard fast footsteps approaching him, and almost got ran over when Annabeth rushed into view. She was out of breath, her eyes were watery and she looked completely surprised by his presence in the hallway. Jason was right behind her, for some reason, looking almost as panicked as her.

"Percy! You're still alive!" Annabeth breathed out, sagging against the wall in relief. "You're alive." She murmured to herself. Percy looked over to Jason with disbelieving eyes, who looked almost as relieved as Annabeth.

"Why wouldn't I still be alive, exactly?" Percy asked slowly, eyes slowly sliding from blonde to blonde. Annabeth suddenly rose from the wall, eyes narrowed.

"Grover is missing. Or...dead. They found blood in the center of camp and Juniper doesn't know where he went, but she said she saw him right before he went to his sleeping quarters." She did a lot more than just see him, I'll tell you. Annabeth spoke shakily, but only slightly. She was a strong girl, and glared at Percy suspiciously.

"He-he's dead?" Percy parroted, feeling slightly foolish as he acted this out. Honestly. Boring. Annabeth analyzed him, probably examining his reactions.

"That's what...that's what Chiron and everyone else thinks, I know, but no one wants to actually say anything. I thought-I thought if you were dead, we'd know." Wow. That's nice. I can see how much you care.

"I-I don't know. The bond...it hurts. My chest hurts, and my bones ache. But...I don't know. I'm sorry. I hope he's okay. But, Jason, why're you here?" Percy asked suddenly, shifting his attention to the taller man. And the most interesting subject. He was over Grover now. Gah, emotions. So hazardous and pointless.

"I was with Annabeth when she just took off, spouting nonsense of you being dead, when I was trying to tell her you couldn't be because you accepted the immorality. But she wouldn't listen." Annabeth looked slightly sheepish, but only for a moment.

"You can never be sure with life-bonds. I had to check." She snapped. Jason backed off, hands in the air. Percy was rather thankful for him winding her up, causing her to forget his hapless change in subject. "I'm going to see what Chiron is going to do." She said, before leaving with a snap of her heel.

"Has she always been like this?" Jason asked after a moment.

"Only when she's scared or stressed. I've never been extremely close with her, but we did hang out a lot at one point." Jason nodded in understanding. Percy was starting to wonder if Jason even remembered the dream he had given him the night before, until Percy looked up at him through his fringe, and Jason suddenly looked frozen.

Percy smiled innocently. Jason continued to blandly blink at him. "I'm going to get some water. Would you like some?" Percy asked, looking over his shoulder as he walked away. Jason stared after him, before catching up and nodding.

Percy was cackling internally. Holy Hades this was so much fun! Soon he was handing Jason a plastic cup of water while holding one in hand for himself. He waiting until Jason was taking a drink to ask his question, just to confirm.

"What do a raven and a writing desk have in common?" Percy asked idly, causing Jason to choke suddenly on his drink. Percy moved out of the way as he coughed into his hand violently. "Are you okay?" Percy asked in concern, only for Jason to wave him off.

"Fine, fine, I just wasn't...expecting that."

"Why did you react like that?" Mwhhahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahaha I'm amazing and you love me mwhahahahah

"I...no reason, I guess." Liar liar motherfucking fiery pants of doom on your cute ass!

Percy raised an eyebrow. "Ooookay."

"I should probably go, see if Chiron or Leo or someone needs me, or train or...something." Jason said, wincing at his own excuses before leaving. Percy sighed, rolling his eyes. Poor boy doesn't know what to do with himself when in my presence.

Percy fabulously flipped his hair while sipping his water. An idea struck him. He could leave now. Sure, his muscles ached but he could deal with it. I should train. It's been awhile. Maybe I'll catch Jason...smirking evilly and cackling slightly, Percy jogged lightly to his room, changed his clothes and skipped to the training arena, Riptide twirling in his hand.

Percy was whistling lightly as he walked into the arena. It was empty, but that was fine. Preferable, even. He had never really liked to train out in the open anyways. He looked around himself. Should he bother with armor? No. Useless. He was thinking of bathing in the River Styx soon so he could become a bit more immune to pain, just in case. Rock wall? No, he wanted to slash and fight. He didn't want to climb. Percy turned to the simply hay dummies littering one wall. He shrugged and pulled one out. At least he could satisfyingly obliterate them.

He took his stance, a crooked smile coming to his face. He solidified his feet, squared his shoulders and steady his arms. He lunged. He did this with all the dummies until there were no more left. He was panting only slightly, an excited hop in his step. He missed sparing. Fighting Ares has been amusing, but he wanted to sword battle with someone, someone who was good. Good enough to stand a chance against him, anyways. But there hadn't been anyone at Camp who could do that since Luke had trained him.

He idly twirled his sword around, the balanced blade moving around his hand perfectly as he looked around, wondering what to do next. That's when he spotted someone at the door. "Hello. How long have you been standing there?" Percy asked, facing the shorter male.

"Not long, but dude, you're good. You're Percy, right?" He asked, walking forward. Percy nodded. The man was shorter than him by several inches, with dark skin and curly, dark brown hair.

"Yeah, that'd be me. You?"

"Leo Valdez, Hephaestus."

"You look like a Hephaestus kid."

"Thank you?"

"You're welcome. You wanna spar?" Percy offered offhandedly. Leo snorted like Percy was stupid for offering.

"No way I' going up against you after I saw that. Besides, I don't have a weapon yet. Haven't found any I like." Leo shrugged. Percy nodded in understanding.

"You'll find one you like eventually."

"I hope so. Good luck with the dummies man, I'll catch you around." Leo said, waving as he wandered off. Percy shrugged. That was a nice meeting. Percy spent the rest of the training session thinking. He wondered what kind of weapon would suit Leo the best. Really, it was hard to decide. Percy finally gave up roughly two hours after he entered the arena, trudging back to the infirmary, before he remembered he could go back to his own cabin. Percy trotted happily to his home cabin, sinking into his water bed once he got there, sighing in contentment.

He stared at the ceiling for several moments, seeing rabbits and raccoon's and armadillos and chinchillas that weren't there running along the seams and cracks in his roof.

Percy sat up in his bed abruptly, a noise of triumph leaving his throat that scared the imaginary animals away. He'd just sneak into Hephaestus' palace and steal something that would suit Leo! It was brilliant. He might as well knock out the big H while he was gone too. That way he didn't have to make an extra trip. Time saving all around!

Percy laid back down with a smile on his face. But when to plan it? He had gotten rid of Grover just last night, and was feeling rather lethargic, but what reason did he have to wait?

Well, Chiron could start getting overly suspicious.

Percy sighed. Well, that was rather bothersome. Now that he had come up with the excuse of murdering Ares and cursing Athena while under possession, what would happen if he went around dooming Hephaestus? They'd either assume he was lying (though really his acting was on point, he didn't think that would be their immediate conclusion) or that he was still being possessed. Percy grumbled to himself. Strategically taking over the world was so bloody complicated once you got down to the nit and grit.

He could get rid of Chiron, yes, but then the camp would be in complete disarray and Annabeth would no doubt suspect him. Growling, Percy turned over. He could frame someone. That wouldn't be too difficult. But still, that was more effort than he really wanted to put forth. He also wanted to get rid of the blubbering buffoon, Dionysus, but he'd be on lock down after Chiron!

Percy whined. He punched the bed, sending him rocking, which made him feel better. Was there some way he could get rid of two in one go?

Percy jumped up. A light bulb came to life over his head. He began cackling, falling back onto his groovy mattress. So simple! Though, it would take some time to organize, perhaps several days, if not weeks, but that was okay. The longer the took, the less susceptible he was to everyone else.

While he wasn't sure why he wanted to help Leo get a weapon, he was glad for his moment of charity, since it did lead him to creating plans to progress his whole taking-over-the-world plan. Ah, how the mind could create solutions to every problem.

~~~

Like I said, slow-paced story. Am I boring you? I feel like I'm boring you. WAAAAA

So how you guys liking it?

Oh Jason (be still, my fangirl heart), how tempted I was to Jercify your picture.
GAH OTP
There'll probs be a Jercy picture at some point. I'd be surprised at myself if there wasn't.