LOKI AGGRESSIVELY JABBED A BLUE colored pin into the life-sized doll's skull, only for the porcelain eyeball to pop off. He grumbled under his breath and jammed it back into the socket before taking another pin and stabbing it into a different area of the skull.

"Not here..."

Jab.

"Not here either..."

Jab.

"Also not here..."

After several minutes of muttering angrily to himself and jabbing pins all over the doll's body, Loki stepped back to admire his work: the lifeless replica of Percy Jackson stood at 5'10", long waves of dark hair threaded into the 'skull', perfectly painted tan skin and glassy sea-green eyes, and nearly a hundred pins stabbed into every piece of skin Loki managed to touch.

All those spots... and yet none were the one he was looking for: her mortal spot. The only spot in her invulnerable body where one strike was all that was needed to take her down.

"This is a whole new low, even for you, Loki," a familiar monotonous voice drawled.

Loki snapped a pin in half and whirled around. Beelzebub stood at the center of his secret room, his presence undetectable thanks to the cloak he now donned.

"A doll? Seriously? Have you no other hobbies?"

Loki flicked a pin at his face but it redirected itself around Beelzebub and hit the far wall instead.

"Why are you still here?" Loki raised a brow. "The sleepover is over. If you're hoping for free breakfast, perhaps you can try finding scraps in the trash."

Rather than responding to his insult, Beelzebub took the time to look at the life-sized Percy doll in front of them. Everything about it, from the dull orbs staring back at him to the amount of pins tacked onto parts of the body, made his metaphorical hackles rise—and he wasn't even the one in danger.

"Why are you so hellbent on killing her?" He asked.

"Easy. She wronged me," Loki answered with a simple shrug. "She attacked me and humiliated me in front of my uncle and my cousin. Did you seriously think I was gonna let that go?"

Beelzebub narrowed his eyes. "...You're lying."

"Huh?!"

"You're lying," he repeated. "You may be the god of deceit, but I'm the Father of Lies*. You're not the only one who rules over that domain. You're lying and you don't even realize it."

Loki's face twitched into hideous anger. "I am NOT!" He shrieked, stomping his foot like a child having a temper tantrum.

Beelzeub's lips curled up into a smirk. "How pathetic. You're like a child unable to understand his own feelings."

Loki hurled a table in his direction, but it ripped itself into pieces before it could even touch him.

He chuckled. "You really are nothing but a child. But fine, I'll go along with your tale. Even if you truly were angry with her about that, she already apologized to you," he pointed out.

"She did," Loki nodded in agreement. "And she truly meant her words. How sweet of her," he sneered. "But I don't care. She pissed me off so I want her dead."

Beelzebub scoffed, sensing the lies pouring out of him like water leaking from a broken dam.

"And here I thought the Greeks were petty..." He rolled his eyes. "That happened months ago. If anyone is to blame for what happened that day, then it is me. I was the one who manipulated her emotions to attack you. I used you both as an experiment. Percy is innocent."

He raised a brow curiously. "An experiment?"

"Yes. I wanted to see whether her sword worked as a Divine Weapon, so I manipulated her emotions to make her attack you in order to test it out."

"Ugh. I should've known. No wonder her anger felt ingenuine," Loki groaned. "But it doesn't matter anymore. She has humiliated me far too much for me to forgive her now—"

"—I don't care about your petty grievances," Beelzebub glared, a noticeable edge to his voice now. "You are hardly innocent, Loki. This all started because she attacked you that day, and that was my fault. Leave Percy alone."

There was a tense silence that followed after, but then Loki grinned wickedly, as if he had just caught him airing out all his dirty laundry.

He threw his head back and started to laugh. "BWAHAHAHA! I really didn't think it was true, but oh my gods it is! You actually care about that half-breed, don't you?!"

Beelzebub refused to speak, opting to glower at him in silence instead.

"Not gonna say anything? I know what's going on in that busy head of yours, Beelie," Loki playfully spat out Percy's beloved nickname for him. "You can't deny it, 'cause I'll know that you're lying. So you're keeping your mouth shut as if that alone isn't obvious enough. You care about her. You like her. You might even love her! All the better for me!"

"You're delusional," Beelzebub scowled. "Trying to convince yourself that you hate her for such a petty reason."

"Like you're any better," Loki snorted. "You're the one trying to convince yourself that she means nothing to you. If that were the case, then why haven't you told her the truth, hmm? Shouldn't you have told her by now that I'm trying to find a way to kill her? Wouldn't that make your job easier? Oh but wait! Wouldn't you have to tell her how I know about her Achilles Heel in the first place? What? Afraid she's gonna hate you for betraying her trust?"

He walked forward and patted him on the shoulder.

"Since you wanna take the blame so much, don't worry. I plan on getting rid of you both in one hit when you least expect it," he cooed, smile widening. "I did tell you that you'd regret messing with me, remember?"

He vanished right after that, leaving Beelzebub alone in the room with the doll.

Beelzebub let out a sigh of frustration, running a hand through his messy hair. Loki was right. He couldn't shield Percy from Loki forever. He could make it easier on himself and just tell her the truth; tell her that he had given up the truth about her Curse of Achilles in exchange for Loki's cloak, knowing that Loki intended to kill her.

It wasn't entirely his fault anyway. She was the one who suggested getting Loki's cloak. He was just doing what she asked.

I'll tell her, he decided, teleporting out of Asgard and back to the bifrost undetected.

‧₊˚✩彡𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟‧₊˚✩彡๋ ࣭ ⭑ ࣭ ⭑

Percy didn't expect to catch her father snooping through her phone right after waking up.

Any sense of sleepiness quickly went away the second she caught him holding her phone, casually scrolling through it without a care in the world.

She quickly sat up. "What are you doing?"

"I'm looking through your phone," he answered shamelessly, not even bothering to glance her way. "Care to explain why this is my contact name?"

He showed her the screen and she could feel the color in her face drain when she was reminded of what she had decided to name him on her phone: PISSeidon 😐🔱

SHIT! I was just in a silly mood that day, I'm sorry! She internally wailed.

"Um, hahahahaha!" She laughed to hide the terror she was feeling. "Loki! That silly goose! He must have changed some of the names on my phone!"

She tried to make a grab for her phone but he held it away from her and started interrogating her some more. "And who is Lumaow and why do you keep talking about him in every conversation you're in?"

She furrowed her brows. She didn't recognize that name. "Who?"

"Lumaow," he repeated, frowning as if he didn't quite know how to say the name.

It took her a while to realize what he was saying. "Are you talking about 'lmao'?" She would've burst out laughing if she wasn't weirded out by him going through her phone. "That's just text-speak. It's an acronym that stands for 'laughing my ass off'."

His frown only deepened. "Do not use such ugly words, Percilla. It's unbecoming of a princess."

She gave him a sheepish look, but on the inside she was groaning. "Right, sorry. So can I get my phone back now, please?"

"Not yet," he replied, turning his attention back to her phone. "I'm still looking through your Gossipmonger account. I can't believe you bothered to get one. This app is pointless and serves no educational value, it's full of brain dead people speaking out their brain dead opinions..."

And in a typical dad-fashion, he went on to lecture her about the dangers of social media and 'talking to strangers' (which was ridiculous because the only people she was following were those she knew).

"Okay, I got it, don't talk to strangers, unfollow Uncle Zeus, I got it," she waved dismissively. "Can I please have my phone back now? This is a total invasion of my privacy..."

"As your father, you aren't supposed to have privacy from me," he said in a matter of fact tone. "I am to know everything that goes on in your life."

Whatever parenting book he got that idea from seriously needed to be banned from the bookstores because what the fuck?

"You talk to too many people," he continued on with a displeased scowl. "That wretched Titaness, those filthy demigods, even Adamas and Shiva... Why are they—"

Boldly, she reached out and snatched her phone away. Alarm bells were ringing in her head, but she was too affronted to care.

"You can't just go through my phone like that," she told him, frowning.

Poseidon didn't speak for a few seconds, only staring at her as a tense silence followed. It dawned on her that maybe impulsively grabbing the phone from him probably wasn't a good idea, but she didn't waver, only staring back at him unabashedly.

"I'm doing this for your own good," he stated, not mad... but there was something about his tone that she didn't like. The way his face softened too. It looked patronizing. "The sort of people you fraternize with—"

"—Fraternize?"

"It means to associate yourself with people you shouldn't be," he explained in that same blunt, yet patient tone of his.

"I know what fraternize means. I think you're misunderstanding something because these guys are just my friends and—"

"—That's exactly why I'm concerned. You go around carelessly forming bonds with people, through no fault of your own of course. You are just a child, you don't really understand what you're doing. You see, my daughter, these friendships are... empty, and circumstantial at best. You do not need these people in your life. You only need me. What use are these supposed friends of yours when you have a father ready to give you everything you desire?"

Have you lost your mind?! You sound crazy! Were all the things she wanted to say, but doubted it would go well if she actually said them.

Instead, she swallowed down the lump that formed in her throat and tried to go for the peaceful route.

"So you just want me to be miserable and alone forever?" She asked, trying to make him appeal to reason.

He frowned. "No. I just want you to be mine, and I, yours. Everyone else outside of us is irrelevant."

"Okay, and what about Mr. Proteus?" She challenged. "Do I need to start avoiding him too?"

He snorted. "Of course not, don't be ridiculous. Proteus is your servant and tutor. He is not your friend."

She started to shake her head. "No, this is not okay. You can't just control who I—"

He shushed her, holding her face in his hands. Percy stiffened up. A part of her wanted to give in, but the other part of her knew that everything about this was wrong. That what her father was doing was wrong.

"I only do this because you don't know what's best for you," he said gently. "But I do."

She tried to shake her head and scoot away from him. "No, I—"

"—I am your father," he told her, his voice stern, still holding that firm tone that left no arguments. "I am all you need. I am the only one you should hold in your heart, as I do with you. You agree, don't you?"

Percy really didn't want to say yes. What he wanted wasn't right, you were supposed to spread your love to the people around you, not push it onto solely one person. But she didn't want to upset him any further and nodded silently.

He smiled, pleased with her answer. His thumb stroked her cheek lovingly.

"Good..." He whispered, leaning down to kiss her. He kissed her in the corner of her mouth, but his lips were dangerously close to hers. She couldn't help but shiver as he pulled away.

That wasn't right. Instead of kissing her on the cheek or forehead like he usually did, his lips were planted a lot closer to her lips now... Like, right at the corner of her lips. He had never done that before.

Whether it was an accident or not, Poseidon didn't show any reaction aside from the piercing gleam in his eyes.

"I knew you would understand," he murmured, stroking her cheek once more. "Good girl."

Percy's gaze darted away. There was something about the look in his eyes that made her stomach do somersaults.

Suddenly he started moving closer to her. She looked back at him, heart thrumming in her chest when she realized their faces were now inches apart.

And then he froze for a brief second before pulling away.

"It seems we have an unwanted visitor," he said, narrowing his eyes. "I'll deal with that. Go eat your breakfast, I'll see you soon."

She watched wordlessly as he got off the bed and swam out the door.

There was no way her dad was trying to actually kiss her... right?

While Percy got dressed for the day, Poseidon flashed into the throne room with a less than pleased expression.

"Beelzebub," he addressed. "I do not appreciate spontaneous visits to my domain without alerting me beforehand."

As if you'd ever allow me in regardless, Beelzebub thought.

Nevertheless, Poseidon must have been in a good mood because instead of trying to vaporize him for such impertinence, he merely sat down on his throne and motioned for him to speak.

"I came with a request, my lord," he began. "In order to further my research, I'd like to have more access to your daughter. A semi-form of a longitudinal study if you will, except I'll be taking a more active presence in your daughter's life."

"An active presence? What, you wish to be my daughter's caretaker?" Poseidon questioned, his expression darkening. He clearly did not like the idea of anyone else taking care of his daughter.

"No of course not," he said placatingly. "Proteus may teach her the ways of a princess. I will happily take care of everything else. I'll take charge of her academics, watch over her diet and make sure she consumes the appropriate amount of nutrition needed—"

"—Everything you are saying is practically synonymous to 'caretaker'," he glowered. The water next to him started to ripple, his signature trident taking form.

"I can also teach her fractions," Beelzebub quickly offered.

The water stilled.

"Fine."

‧₊˚✩彡𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟‧₊˚✩彡๋ ࣭ ⭑ ࣭ ⭑

Percy nearly choked on her corned beef hash benedict when Poseidon swam into the Great Hall with Beelzebub in tow. Why? Because not only was she not expecting him to be here, but he also wasn't wearing any clothes.

Gone was his usual emo priest getup. Now his bare chest was exposed for everyone to see and Percy had to clench her jaw hard to make sure it wouldn't fall when she saw the sight of his eight pack abs and popping pecs.

Okay, look, she knew judging by his stature of being tall and broad-shouldered that he had to have some form of a good build underneath all those clothes, but she was not expecting him, of all people, to be that muscular. You couldn't blame a girl for being surprised! She wasn't expecting him to have a tattoo either! On the left side of his chest there was a black tattoo of a rose full of thorns. She never pegged him as the type to like tattoos.

Why are you tatted up?! Why are you ripped?! Why do you have boobs?! Good gods, put some clothes on! Aren't you cold?!

But then her eyes trailed lower and she really couldn't stop her jaw from falling this time. He was donning a mer form now, but instead of having a fish tail, he had tentacles. He was a cecaelia, a subset of merfolk that was half-octopus. From the waist down, he had six black tentacles dotted by blood red suckers.

Aside from the red suckers, he kind of reminded her of Ursula from The Little Mermaid.

It was then that she realized that she might have been gawking too long because now they were both staring at her. Quickly, she cleared her throat and tried to act cool.

"Hey, Beelzeboob—bub—whatever, uh—what are you doing here?"

She inwardly cringed. So much for acting cool.

"Your father appointed me as your new caretaker, second to him of course," Beelzebub replied smoothly, probably pretending he didn't catch her staring at him for her sake (which she appreciated).

"So like an unpaid babysitter?" She blinked.

"...Essentially."

She frowned. "Awww... daddy, you should pay him." She insisted.

"Divine society does not rely on a monetary system. That is a burden the humans have created for themselves," Beelzebub explained. He looked up at Poseidon. "I see now why you are concerned, my lord. Percy speaks too much about human society. I will do my best to remedy that."

Poseidon nodded in approval. "See that you will. Percilla, on the weekdays, Beelzebub is in charge of your education, dietary needs, and mortal health. As for your weekly sessions together, those will be moved to the weekends."

"But what about Mr. Proteus?"

"He will still be in charge of training you in your duties as a princess. Everything else he used to do will be delegated to Beelzebub."

"Oh... okay," Percy didn't really see a problem with that. She was actually quite happy! After Poseidon's red-flagged spiel about how she 'didn't need friends', having Beelzebub around more was a relief because somehow Beelzebub managed to avoid her father's radar.

(Maybe he hadn't read their one-sided text conversations where she would spam him with annoying memes and emojis, or maybe he did read the conversation and commended Beelzebub's lack of response, calling it 'professionalism'.)

Breakfast resumed, but not like normal. Sure she and her father were eating together like they usually would, but Beelzebub stood just a few feet away from them, all quiet and emotionless as he waited for them to finish. Percy tried to gesture for him to join them, but both Beelzebub and Poseidon rejected the idea.

After breakfast, she was always sent off to the library where all of her lessons took place. Except, now it was Beelzebub taking the charge.

"Okay, what exactly is going on?" She asked bluntly once she took a seat.

He picked up a tome. "Our first lesson is history, so I'll be starting where Proteus left off—"

"—That's not what I meant and you know it," she cut him off, arms crossed. "Last night, you freaked out when you realized Loki was with me and joined the slumber party where you constantly made sure to keep him away, and now you're here volunteering to be my babysitter. You're not being very discreet, you know."

He sighed, setting the tome back down. "Of all the times your brain decided to work..."

"Hey!" She flicked him on the forehead with the water.

"It's really nothing you need to worry about. This is... my problem, alright?" He said, as if Loki wasn't a major threat to her life at this very moment. "I'll take care of things."

She frowned in concern. "Is Loki bothering you? Does this have to do with the cloak? I noticed you're not wearing it."

"I managed to procure it," he replied, lifting up his hand where an amethyst bracelet dangled around his wrist. "It's able to take multiple forms and I can control whether or not it's activated."

Her eyes lit up. "Oh! How'd you manage to get it?"

"I have my ways," he answered vaguely.

She started to talk again, but then gasped, as if realizing something. "Is that why you're acting so weird about Loki? Is he mad about you taking the cloak? Do you need help?"

"There's no need for you to offer help—"

"—'Course there is! We're friends."

Beelzebub went still. "...Friends, huh?"

"Yeah," she nodded, like she hadn't just signed her death warrant from those words alone.

He looked away from her, unable to take the honesty shining in her eyes. She meant it. She considered themselves as friends. She cared about him. She wanted to help him.

...And he had given away her fatal weakness to Loki.

He swallowed thickly. "...I don't need your help. I am a god. I can handle this on my own."

"...Oh. Sorry." He didn't see it, but she shrunk in her seat.

"Let's begin with the lesson now."

The next few days remained like that.

He could tell that Percy was struggling to get used to his now constant presence. He was around her pretty much 24/7; making sure she learned the right things, making sure she ate the right foods (she got pouty when he limited her dessert), making sure she went to bed at a healthy time, making sure she read the right books, making sure she watched the right shows... it was never ending. Aside from Poseidon, he was the only other person who had total control over her life.

Meanwhile, he was beginning to understand the dynamic between father and daughter. The Tyrant of the Seas loved his daughter very, very, VERY much. He was openly affectionate towards her, even when he or the staff were in the room. Beelzebub had witnessed too many instances where Poseidon would hold his daughter, hands too close to certain places on her body, the way he would kiss her close to her lips, the way he would pull her onto his lap...

And he could tell that Percy was growing increasingly uncomfortable about it. She would always glance at the other people in the room, ashamed that they were around to witness it. And then she would look at him... like she was asking for help before she would turn away in shame.

"—Can't take it anymore," she was telling him by the end of the week, voice hushed like she was afraid someone might overhear. "He hasn't always been like this... I think. He's gotten so overbearing. He's been snooping through my phone and I already had to tell Mnemosyne and the Valkyries to be careful of what they send me, but this is so fucked up!"

"How?" He asked, genuinely curious because he couldn't see anything wrong with the constant surveillance.

She looked at him as if he had gone crazy. "How? How?! Dude, if you had a kid, would you be snooping through their phone, trying to control their life, and isolating them from having friends because 'yOu'Re alL TheY nEeD'?"

He blinked. "Yes."

She threw her hands up in the air. "You all need to go to therapy."

He shook his head, unable to get her. "Come on, finish your test. It's Friday, once you're done with this, you have the rest of the weekend off. Well, aside from our session tomorrow."

"At least I get to leave," she grumbled, picking up her pencil and beginning her exam.

She really wasn't enjoying it here anymore... He knew from experience that humans and animals started to get antsy when trapped, and Percy was beginning to resemble that.

"...How about I take you to Valhalla tomorrow?" He said, only to instantly straighten up because what the fuck? Why did he say that?

Percy was already perking up before he could take it back. "Really?!" There were practically stars in her eyes.

He was about to reject it... but it was hard to let the 'no' out of his mouth. Especially when she was looking at him like that. In the end, he sighed in defeat and nodded silently.

She fist-pumped, "Aw yessss!"

"But," he went on. "I will only take you out if you pass the test. Now go on with it."

As she eagerly got started, Beelzebub silently cursed his recklessness.

First off, Poseidon would never allow her to go to Valhalla with him.

Secondly, there was still Loki to worry about.

Why the Hel did he ever offer to take her to Valhalla?!

After he spent an hour quietly questioning his life choices, Percy finally finished her test with a cheery, "I'm done!"

It's fine, Beelzebub tried to tell himself. It's a math test and she's horrible at it. There's no way she'll pass. And he was correct. By the time he finished with corrections, he was absolutely impressed... at how wrong she was. No wonder Proteus was more than happy to relinquish the teaching job to me.

Everything was fine up until she got to the questions that involved fractions. Some she hadn't even bothered to answer and just doodled cartoon flies with sad faces. As for the ones she did answer, he could tell she just made up the numbers.

He couldn't believe it. This was the girl who might one day kill him. Was this really the way he wanted to go? Killed by a teenage girl who couldn't do fractions? Was he really willing to be remembered like this?

"Sooo..." Percy trailed off, giving him a hopeful look. "How'd I do?"

He stared at her, half wanting to throttle her and the other half wanting to quit this job.

"Be honest with me, Percy, do you actually think you passed?"

"...No. But I tried my best!"

"You failed."

She shrunk in her seat. "So does this mean I can't go to Valhalla?"

Poseidon would never allow this and Loki's in Valhalla, he reminded himself, but the more he stared at her stupid, puppy-like stare, the less inclined he was to listen to logic and reason.

"Oh fine. We'll go to Valhalla." He rubbed his forehead. Gods couldn't get headaches, but he had a feeling he was about to get one soon.

‧₊˚✩彡𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟‧₊˚✩彡๋ ࣭ ⭑ ࣭ ⭑

Beelzebub would soon realize that venturing out to Valhalla with Percy was like taking your puppy out for a walk... without a leash.

After he deceived Poseidon into thinking he and Percy were having another one of their usual research/experimentation sessions at Helheim, he threw Loki's cloak over her and went straight to the bifrost. He practically had to drag her through the rainbow bridge because of the sensory overload she was suffering from, and once they were in Valhalla, she nearly hurled into a bush.

"I hate using the bifrost," she gagged. "At least knock me out before pulling me in."

He rolled his eyes. "You mortals and your inferior brains. And put your hood back up, you can't let anyone see you."

He ignored her grumbles as he propped her hood back up and made sure Loki's cloak covered the rest of her body. As lovely as her light green outfit was, it was best she remained hidden. 

"People barely even know me and the cloak hides my presence anyway, they won't know I'm related to Poseidon," she protested, trying to push the hood back so she could at least see.

"I'd rather not risk it."

"And how do you change the size of this thing? It's way too big on me..." She whined. He had forgotten to change the size of the cloak before forcing it onto her, so it was too big for her body. The end of the cloak dragged on the ground, the sleeves covered her hands, and the hood nearly covered half of her face.

"I'm afraid you'll have to deal with it. Teaching you will be pointless." He sighed, hiding an amused smirk.

"Hey!"

"Are you ready to start walking? Remember, I cannot detect you with the cloak on, so stay near me at all times."

"Yeah, I know..."

"And never remove it either. Any god will be able to sense you here."

"I know."

After she recovered from the trip, they were able to start walking around. Beelzebub had no idea where they were even going, and he hoped she wasn't relying on him to act as a tour guide because he rarely frequented the nicer areas of Valhalla.

"Where do you want to go?" He asked her.

She shrugged. "Dunno. Never had a destination in mind. I just wanted to get outta the house. Dad was beginning to drive me crazy."

"...I doubt my presence helped much."

Another shrug, but no response.

"Percy..." He began. "I'm sorry for what I said back then."

"Huh?"

"When I first came down to Atlantis. You were trying to offer me help, but I was callous to you. I'm sorry for that."

Her eyes widened, like she hadn't expected him to apologize for that. "Oh, that? It's cool dude, I get that you were stressed so you didn't mean what you said."

"You're truly not upset?" He asked, a little surprised.

"I mean, I was kinda hurt, but I understood that you were going through something," she grinned at him reassuringly. Her smile was so bright that it almost hurt for him to look at it. "I'm more curious as to how you got my dad to hire you as my part-time babysitter, especially after he gave me that stupid lecture about how I 'don't need friends'." She mocked Poseidon's cold voice.

"Poseidon, like many gods, sees me as a recluse, and they're not wrong," he explained. "I don't have any friends and I do not enjoy socializing with people. I see others strictly as variables and subjects to potential experiments and am incapable of forming personal bonds with others. Poseidon trusts me to never form a bond with you. That is why he felt it was safe to hire me."

(Plus, he offered to teach her how to do fractions. He was pretty sure that was his selling point.)

"...But that's not true though," Percy insisted. "You are capable of forming personal bonds with others. Uncle Hades likes you, Uncle Adamas is comfortable going over to your house, and you're not as boring and stoic around them. And... well, we're friends too, aren't we?"

He wanted to tell her no, for her own sake and his, but even after killing the people he loved and spending billions of years all alone, he was still so pitifully weak.

So like a coward, instead of giving her an answer, he turned away and changed the subject, "Oh look. There's an ice cream parlor."

He started walking towards it, trying to ignore the way Percy's face fell after his dismissal.

Since they were on the human side of Valhalla (it would be too risky to be on the gods' side), his godly presence was enough to deter a bunch of humans from the surrounding vicinity, so he didn't have to fall in line (not that he would've regardless).

But unfortunately for him, getting her a cone of blue ice cream wasn't enough to get her spirits back up. They walked around the streets of whatever human-infested city they were in, Percy miserably lapping up her ice cream while he trudged on beside her, regretting ever coming here.

This... was just one big mess. He could've easily avoided this if he just stopped acting irrational and told her the truth. Or even better; stopped caring so much. So what if she felt betrayed by what he had done? So what if she would want nothing to do with him afterwards? So what if Loki actually managed to kill her? He still had the multiverse to look into after all.

Unfortunately, while Beelzebub was having a mental health crisis over his sense of morality, he failed to realize that, in his frustration, he was walking too quickly and completely forgot to check back on the very girl who constantly occupied his mind.

When Percy looked up from her ice cream, Beelzebub was nowhere to be found.

"...Beel?" She called out, looking around. "Beel? Geez, did he get sick of me that quickly...?" She tried to joke, but it only made her feel worse.

She took another lick of her ice cream. I can't believe it. That jerk seriously just left me here?

She instinctively reached for her phone, only to remember that her father had confiscated it after he caught her listening to human music because, according to him, "human music is bad for you because it can give you brain damage".

So she ended up wandering aimlessly, wondering if Beelzebub really did just ditch her or if he just hadn't realized that they had separated. Either way, her mood just took another nosedive.

How am I even supposed to go back? She took another lick. If I can't find Beelzebub, maybe I can ask someone for help...?

She retraced her steps and went back to the ice cream stand. Now that Beelzebub was gone, there were more humans inside it, but the second she stepped in, they all tensed up and stared at her fearfully, as if expecting her to obliterate them.

She cleared her throat, feeling a little awkward now that all eyes were on her.

"Um, hello," she made a harmless wave. "I'm, uh, lost. I was wondering if you knew how to get to the god's side of Valhalla?"

Someone cleared their throat, and a gloved hand rose. Sitting at the far back of the parlor was a man who definitely wasn't from the modern times. He was decked out in a Victorian era suit with a steampunk tophat and a monocle over one of his mismatched eyes. Another thing she noticed, he was the only person here who didn't react in fear when she entered.

He gave her a polite smile. "There's a teleportation point nearby here. I can take you, if you'd like?" He offered, a noticeable British accent in his voice.

She nodded and they started to leave the building.

"My name is Jack, my lady," he introduced himself as he held the door for her.

"I'm Percy," she replied as he started leading her away.

He just hummed, eyes planted on her.

She was beginning to regret accepting his offer. Throughout the whole walk, he wouldn't keep his eyes off of her. He stared at her in a way a scientist would stare at bacteria in a petri dish. What made it more unnerving were his eyes; one was grey, but the other was red. She had never met a human with red eyes before, aside from albinism, but this red was too deep for it to be that.

He began to speak up, "You know Percy, you have a very nice color."

She blinked, then took a cautious step away. "Dude, racist much? Say that again and I'll shove this ice cream cone so far up your ass that you can't even shit it out—"

"—Oh! No, no, no!" He laughed heartily. "I'm so sorry, I didn't realize how insensitive that sounded. I didn't mean your skin, I meant, well... Ah, our meeting shall be short so it's pointless to explain. Let's just say I can see things most people can't."

Slowly, she started to relax, but she kept a tight grip on her ice cream just in case she needed to use it as a weapon.

"Like... you can see ghosts and stuff?" She asked, admittedly curious.

"Something else," he answered vaguely, before stopping. "Ah, here we are."

Right in front of them was some massive stone archway that was as big as a building. It had glowing green runes carved on it, and despite her dyslexia, she spent enough time with Loki to realize that the runes were Asgardian enchantments. Inside the archway was a billowy veil that would show various locations throughout Valhalla like one of those digital picture frames.

"This is what allows us to freely explore Valhalla," Jack began. "But humans rarely venture to the gods' side of the realm. We aren't welcome there. May I ask why you go there? Are you a goddess, Percy?"

"Oh, no, definitely not," she chuckled with a shake of her head. "I'm mortal. I just need... help with something."

"And you think anyone from there is going to help you?" He asked, doubtful.

She nodded. "Yeah! I have some friends on that side. That other dude who was with me was my babysitter, but we got separated and I couldn't find him, so I was just hoping that maybe Shiva or Mnemosyne or one of the Valkyries could help me find a way back home?"

Jack looked more and more bewildered as she casually listed off the names of some immortal beings. "Back home?"

"I'm from Midgard," she replied.

"You're alive?" He asked incredulously.

"Um... yeah?" Was she not supposed to tell people that?

Suddenly Jack threw his head back and burst out into laughter. Percy nearly dropped her ice cream cone in shock.

"Apologies," he said between laughs. "I just realized that things here are beginning to get interesting. You must be the child people have been talking about nowadays."

"People have been talking about me?"

"So here's how to use a teleportation point," he said swiftly as if she hadn't spoken. "You can either say aloud the location you wish to go to, or sign it, or write it down and present it to the archway. As long as it's in Valhalla, it shall appear. Wait until the image changes and step in. Simple, right?"

"Okay..." She stared at the archway. "Mnemosyne's house."

Nothing happened.

"Um. Lady Mnemosyne's House? Lady Mnemosyne's palace? Temple? Uh..."

"There might not be a teleportation point near her house," Jack told her. "Try being less specific."

"Um... Olympus, then?"

The veil shimmered and a new image appeared: the familiar sight of shiny large palaces, temples, hills, mountains, and clouds. Olympus.

Her face lit up. "That's it! Thanks for helping me, Jack!"

He gave her a kind smile in return, but his eyes had a steely glint to them.

"It was no problem, young lady," he replied. "But Percy, you seem like a good child, so let me give you some advice: to be so involved with the gods will only lead you to ruin. Be careful."

And without another word, he shoved her through the veil.

‧₊˚✩彡𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟‧₊˚✩彡๋ ࣭ ⭑ ࣭ ⭑

Good news: she didn't faceplant like an idiot after being thrown out of the archway.

Bad news: her ice cream landed splat on some reptilian dude's head.

Uh oh, she thought as a pair of slitted eyes glared at her.

"You think this is funny?!" He hissed, his forked tongue darted between his teeth as he started to storm towards her. He looked pretty ridiculous given that he didn't even bother to remove the ice cream from his head.

Behind him, his other snake-friend took one good look at her and his scales nearly went white.

"Oh shit...!" He squeaked, scrambling forward to grab his friend. "I know that girl! That's Poseidon's kid!"

One minute the other guy looked ready to swallow her whole, and now he looked like he just took a giant shit in his pants.

"Y-y-y-you're Percy?!" He stuttered, oozing pure fear.

She furrowed her brows. "How do you know my na—"

"—I'M SO SORRY, MY LADY! PLEASE DON'T TELL YOUR FATHER ABOUT MEEEE!" He wailed. A second later, he and his friend were speeding away. Her ice cream remained stuck on his head.

Percy blinked.

This was a new experience. Usually, back home, monster attacks went like this:

Random asshole: Oh you're the daughter of Poseidon? WELL THAT MAKES ME WANT TO KILL YOU MORE! DIE!

Meanwhile in here, it went more like this:

Random asshole: Y-Y-You're the daughter of Poseidon?! AHHH! I'M SO SORRY, PLEASE DON'T TELL HIM ABOUT THIS!

It was actually really nice to not have monsters want to kill you every day! This was definitely something she could get used to.

And yet...

"To be so involved with the gods will only lead you to ruin." While the shove was totally unnecessary, the warning had cemented itself into her head.

It wasn't anything new; she learned the same thing back in her own universe but to hear it again in this one made her spine tingle.

She knew very well what would happen once a god laid their eyes on a mortal. Their lives fell apart and their ruination—ruination, not death, because there were worse things than death and some had the misfortune of facing it—became stories for the next generations to learn from.

Even gods with good intentions did more bad than good. Whether they liked it or not, the gods' love language was pain. She learned that first-hand with Luke and Hermes. Luke was always meant to die, but sometimes she wondered that if Hermes had just obeyed the Ancient Laws, if he just stayed away and stopped trying to save Luke from his fate then maybe, just maybe, Luke would've had a kinder ending.

It doesn't matter, I'll be fine, she tried to tell herself. I'll return home eventually and I'll go back to being ignored by the gods... until they need me to fix their messes again.

She shook her head. She shouldn't be thinking so negatively about her home, it would only make her want to stay here more and she couldn't do that.

Suddenly, she paused, the familiar sound of reed pipes whistling in the air. It filled her with a sense of nostalgia. Grover. She whirled around until she found the source: a group of satyrs playing a melody as the plants started to dance around them. The sight of them made her heart clench. She missed Grover so much.

Since she was still donning the cloak, they didn't sense her until she drew closer and cleared her throat. The music stopped, even the plants stopped dancing. The satyrs stared at her the way satyrs back home would stare at statues of Pan.

She waved. "Hi. Sorry for interrupting. I'm a little lost? Do you know the way to Lady Mnemosyne's house?"

It was like a dam broke.

The one in front perked up. "I know where that is!"

"So do I!"

"Me too!"

"I can take you there!"

"No, I can!"

"No, me!"

"Me!"

The first guy let out a sharp whistle and everyone shut up. He gave them all pointed looks before flashing her an innocent smile. "We can all walk with you to Lady Mnemosyne's house."

"Oh. Well, you don't all need to—"

"—No, we insist!"

One of them ambled over to her and started dragging her forward like an eager child. Another hurried over to her other side, grabbing her arm, to lead her away too. Soon enough, she had a whole crowd of satyrs happily leading her away while the guy who spoke first stayed at the front to guide them.

"Um, thank you," she said awkwardly, slipping one of her arms free.

"It's nothing," one of them said brightly. "Say, are you nymph?"

"Oh, no. I'm—"

She neither heard or saw it coming. One second, she was able to give the satyr her name and not even a millisecond later, there was an arrow of light sticking through his forehead.

Her eyes widened and she jumped away in horror. The other satyrs didn't realize anything was wrong until his body finally hit the ground. Then they began to scream in terror.

The sun beamed over them and while Percy could only feel the harsh sting on her skin, the other satyrs were literally steaming as they screamed in agony.

Apollo descended from the skies, the sun's rays flaring angrily behind him. His golden eyes were glowing with anger.

"It seems like the flaying of Marsyas was not a good enough lesson for you satyrs," his melodious voice echoed throughout the area. "You dare touch what belongs to me? For that, you shall burn."

One by one the satyrs burst into flames and the volume of their screams reached tenfold.

Apollo's golden lips curled into a sadistic smile, but it was quickly wiped away when he felt a tidal wave wipe him out from behind. It smacked him to the ground, meanwhile the flames that nearly incinerated the satyrs were quickly doused, but that was all Percy could do to alleviate their pain.

Apollo lifted his head up and coughed out water. He could hear Percy storming towards his direction, but before he could look up at her, she delivered a harsh kick to his face that made him roll back several feet.

He slowed to a stop, facing the skies. Percy quickly took over his vision. Even in her anger she was perfection. He could feel a dazed smile take over his lips as she lifted up her foot and started stomping on his face.

"What—" STOMP! "The fuck—" STOMP. "Is—your—problem?!" STOMP! STOMP! STOMP!

She stopped what she was doing and grabbed him by the front of his robes. Apollo quickly assumed that she was going to bring him in for a kiss, but all she did was yell at him more.

"Are you even listening to me?! What the fuck is wrong with you?! Why would you DO that?!" She shrieked, shaking him around.

The dopey look on his face melted away. "Wait, what? Y-you don't know? I was saving you!"

She stared at him like she couldn't believe the words that came out of his mouth.

"Saving me...?" She said shakily. "You just KILLED a bunch of innocent satyrs who were doing NOTHING to me!"

He broke out into laughter. "'Innocent' and 'satyrs' are not words that belong together in a sentence, my sweet. Satyrs are not innocent. Did your father not warn you about them?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Satyrs are nothing but deviants who go around trying to seduce and rape women and nymphs**," he told her.

She wanted to hit him again. That was the most ridiculous thing she had ever heard. "Those satyrs were just trying to take me to Mnemosyne's place."

He chuckled, "Mnemosyne's palace is in the other direction, dearest. They were trying to lure you away to have their fun with you," his eyes flashed dangerously. "You should have let me punish them."

Percy fell silent.

Were they really...? It was hard to believe. She had always seen satyrs as friendly and warm. They were protectors. They kept newfound demigods safe and tried to take them to camp. Different universe or not, she could never picture them... harming a woman. It was just too dark. Too horrible. It went against everything she believed.

Due to her distracted state, she didn't realize that a bunch of golden threads had sneakily wrapped themselves around her body until it was too late. The second Apollo pulled his hands back, Percy was forced to release his robes and her whole body was immobilized.

Before she could topple over, Apollo sat up and caught her. Within a second, he was standing tall, her tied-up body now cradled in his arms.

"Let go of me!" She thrashed.

"Settle down, my love. Let me take you away from the area. I'm sure the smell of burnt goat is bothering you too." He chuckled, as if the thought of the bloodshed he caused was funny.

He started to fly away with her. She continued fighting against him. At least the Curse of Achilles would prevent her from getting flattened like a pancake should she fall. She was just about to yank at one of his piercings when he finally stopped and said, "Look down."

"Fuck you!"

He beamed. "Awww, you're so cute! But anyway, Percy, look down!"

Grunting, she looked down and paused. Right below them was Mnemosyne's palace... but then that meant...

"See? I told you those satyrs were leading you in the wrong direction," Apollo huffed. "They wanted to hurt you, but I saved you just in time. Are you not grateful?"

"...Put me down."

"That's not a thank you~" He sang.

"You were right, is that what you wanna hear? Put me down already." She glared.

He sighed dreamily. "You're so lovely even when you're mad at me... I can't wait until we get married!"

"I'm not marrying you, dude."

He lit up. "Call me husband!"

"No."

He pouted, but then he gasped excitedly, as if an idea popped into his head. "I know what to do! How about I take you on a date?"

She started to shake her head, but before she could get a word out, he had already teleported themselves away.

He took her to some lookout points at the top of a cliff. Surrounding them were stone columns with angels carved onto them. Above them, the sun shined brightly, leaving a gentle halo of light around her head. She wondered if Apollo was doing that on purpose.

A table of food had already been set up for them. Against her will, he plopped her down on one of the chairs before placing himself uncomfortably close to her seat.

"Isn't this lovely?" He beamed.

She had to admit, it was actually pretty beautiful. The top of the cliff gave her a good view of the scattered Greek buildings and palaces, a floating waterfall whose mist created a rainbow, and soft clouds surrounding the area. It was magical, and she probably would've been able to enjoy it more if she wasn't fucking tied up.

Her arms and legs tried pulling against the golden threads, but they were too strong for her to break through or even loosen up. She wondered if she could try gnawing on it, but Apollo would surely notice that.

If only she could call her dad like last time... But that would only screw her and Beelzebub over since they weren't supposed to be up here in the first place.

I'll just play along for now, she tried to strategize. And I'll strike once he unties me.

"It's not a proper date without any food!" Apollo clapped his hands and a bright light appeared over the table. When it died out, the table was now filled with platters of traditional Greek meals that were cooked to a level of perfection that would make Michelin star restaurants cry in envy.

She noticed that her golden goblet was filled with wine.

"I don't drink wine," she told him. "Too young."

"Nonsense! Nobody's too young for wine!" He laughed. "Why, when Dionysus was born, my father fed him with wine in a bottle!"

Percy stared at him in bewilderment. Why on earth would anyone trust Zeus with a baby? That was just asking for disaster.

"Please just give me something else," she said, tired.

"Oh alright. Strawberry lemonade?" He asked. At her nod, the dark red liquid in her goblet turned into a light pink and the familiar scent of lemonade drifted into her nose. To her relief, he had the decency to add a straw since she couldn't, you know, actually hold her drink.

"Can you, um, scoot back a bit?" She asked politely.

He scooted his chair back a centimeter.

"A little bit more."

Another centimeter.

"Bit more than that."

And another centimeter.

"You know what, I'll just move my chair instea—" She started to move, but Apollo quickly scrambled to stop her.

"No, wait! I'll move," he said, finally scooting away to give her more space. He now sat across from her.

"Thanks." She said blandly, and tried to continue enjoying her lemonade but then she started to feel his foot playfully nudge hers. "Stop playing footsies with me."

He immediately stopped.

"Also, how do you expect me to eat anything? I'm tied up, remember?" She pointed out, raising a brow as she tried gesturing to all the threads wrapped around her.

Rather than taking the bait and releasing her like she hoped he would, he gave her a handsome smile and said reassuringly, "Not to worry! I'm going to feed you, of course! What sort of husband would I be if I cannot even feed my own wife?"

"What kind of husband kills people in front of his wife, kidnaps her, and ties her up to forcefully take her out on a date?" She shot back.

"The kind of husband who wants to protect his wife," he smiled charmingly, before his expression turned into something... kinder. With a curl of his finger, her right arm was pulled up and laid over the table, like a marionette on strings. He reached out and grasped her hand, his warm fingers rubbing soothingly over her knuckles. "Are you still upset about the satyrs, dear?"

His voice sounded like honey. It was warm and inviting, the kind of feeling you get when you're listening to your favorite playlist on a regular day.

"Of course I am," she replied tightly. How did he expect her to eat after he just made her watch him incinerate people?

"Well that's just silly! They're only satyrs, sweetheart. They were going to rape you if I hadn't stepped in." He giggled.

"Like you're any better?" She deadpanned. "You kidnapped me and tried to strip me naked against my will."

To her surprise, he actually deflated.

"Ah, right. About that..." He cleared his throat delicately. "I would like to apologize for my... forwardness. I understand that I may have startled you a bit."

She frowned. "You did a lot more than startle me."

He winced. "Yes, I know. I truly am sorry for that."

She narrowed her eyes. "Yeah right. The only reason you're apologizing is because you're afraid of my dad."

His eyes widened, "No, no! That's not it! Yes, I am very much afraid of your father—especially now that I realized that I, for some strange reason, was not actually his favorite nephew—but my remorse is genuine!"

"And I'm supposed to buy that?"

He furrowed his brows. "Buy... what?"

"I'm supposed to believe you?" She clarified, inwardly snorting at how different this Apollo was from her own. The Apollo back home loved using modern day slang. This Apollo seemed too fanciful for that.

"I am the god of truth, I cannot lie even if I want to." He explained.

"That's a nice excuse." If she could cross her arms, she would.

He looked genuinely despaired at the thought of her seeing him as a liar. Pleadingly, he asked, "What if I swore it on the River Styx? Would you believe me then?"

She stiffened. "The River Styx?" She echoed. They swore oaths on that river here too?

He nodded, "Yes. It is one of the most serious oaths anyone can make. If a god were to perjure themselves, they would be given the worst punishment. Would swearing on the Styx that I've been speaking nothing but the truth satisfy you?"

She gave him an unimpressed look. She knew from firsthand experience that gods swearing on the River Styx was pointless. "As if that's gonna—wait. What'd you say?"

He tilted his head. "What?"

"You said... gods get punished for breaking their oaths?" She said slowly.

He nodded his head, looking... ashamed, for some reason. "Yes. It has... happened to me." He admitted.

She leaned forward—well, as much as she could, being tied up and all. "Really?"

He grimaced. "Yes. It was millennia ago. My son Phaethon***, he was just a little tyke at the time, but he had me swear an oath on the River Styx to grant him anything he wanted for a day. Foolishly, I accepted and swore I would give him whatever he wanted. Imagine my horror when he asked to drive my sun chariot!"

"So you didn't let him drive and broke your oath?"

"Er, no," he answered sheepishly. "I let him drive it."

"Dude."

"I didn't think he would be such a terrible driver!"

"Didn't you say he was a tyke? Isn't that like a toddler or something?"

"Well, yes..."

She stared at him judgmentally. "...You let yourself get bound to a super serious and potentially deadly oath by a toddler?"

"I thought he would ask for toys!" He cried out defensively. "I didn't think he would ask to drive my sun chariot!"

"Aren't you the god of prophecies? Shouldn't you have seen that coming?"

"It—it doesn't work like that!" He sputtered, cheeks flushed gold. "And I wasn't finished. I let my son drive, but the Scorpio constellation scared him and he lost control of the chariot and scorched Midgar. I took over the reins and drove us back to safety, but because of what I did, I ended up breaking my oath. I was stripped of my divinity and was forced to live in Midgar as a human for nine years****..."

Her eyes widened. "What?"

"It sounds awful, doesn't it?" He shuddered. "It was horrible. I was constantly hungry. It was the worst time to be a human, especially since my son accidentally scorched more than half of Midgar's agriculture!"

While Apollo continued to ramble on about the woes of being human, Percy blanked out.

An oath sworn on the River Styx had serious repercussions not only on mortals, but on gods too. They actually got punished. Unlike back home, where the gods remained untouchable and the punishment fell onto whoever else was closest to them. She and Thalia were still suffering because of their father's actions. Their brutal lives were the punishment.

That's not fair! I didn't do anything wrong! she remembered always thinking, back when she was still young and bitter. Oh, if only the gods were actually punished back home then all of this anguish could've been avoided...

"—so would you like me to swear on the River Styx that I've been entirely truthful to you?" Apollo's voice drew her back in.

She turned her focus back to him. "No. It's okay. I believe you."

He blinked, not expecting that. "Are you sure? I can—"

"—No, it's really okay," she shook her head. "I'm just sick of oaths. I don't wanna think about them right now."

He must have been able to read her expression, because he nodded his head and didn't push her any further. His lips then curled into a sunny smile.

"Well then! I believe it's about time for us to eat, yes?" He picked up a spoonful of moussaka from her plate and held it out for her. "Say ahhh~"

Her shoulders slumped in defeat. Might as well just eat...

Begrudgingly, she opened her mouth and he began to feed her.

It was kind of embarrassing to be spoon-fed like this, but honestly, she had done cringier things and at least nobody was around to witness this! She let herself enjoy the meal, which was easy since the food was pretty good.

The hard part was looking at Apollo. The god practically had heart eyes as he fed her, not even bothering to feed himself. The lovestruck look on his face made her want to turn away.

"I'm full now," she told him. "Thank you for, um, everything. Aside from the part where you traumatized me... but anyway, can you let me go now?"

By now, the sun was setting and the skies were a beautiful blend of purple, orange, and yellow. Her father would be going to Helheim soon to pick her up from Beelzebub's castle, and he would not be pleased to find them both missing. She might get let off easily, but Beelzebub certainly wouldn't.

His face fell with disappointment, but thankfully for her, he nodded in acceptance. "Oh alri—"

Before he could finish his sentence, the atmosphere drastically changed. The skies, which was once a beautiful sunset, blackened like spilled ink, red cracks revealed behind the clouds as if they were bleeding. The nature around them started to die and the smell of decay invaded their noses as the leftover food became rotten. The sound of buzzing flies replaced the chirping birds. Percy was struck by a sense of dread and terrible fear.

Apollo was glaring at something behind her. Before she could turn around, two hands clasped around her shoulders like iron.

She could hear Beelzebub's icy voice behind her, "Am I interrupting something?"

— author's note —

* The Devil is also known as the "Father of Lies" so that's why Beelzebub referred to himself as that

** Yeah in the myths satyrs were known to (mostly unsuccessfully) seduce and rape women and nymphs. They're veeery different from their pjo counterparts lol.

*** Phaeton is more commonly believed to be Helios' son, but there are some who believe it to be Apollo. Obviously, I went with the Apollo route

**** Swearing an oath on the River Styx is taken much more seriously in ror verse than in pjo verse. In pjo verse, gods don't get punished because they're gods, so them swearing is pointless. The punishment transfers to whoever's close to them; in the case of Zeus and Poseidon, Thalia and Percy are being punished for their father's actions. In the myths, gods did get punished for breaking the oath, so I did the same for the ror gods which is why they take the oath more seriously.

For those wanting to find out the REAL reason why Loki wants to kill Percy, here's an unhelpful vague hint: he has a very stupid reason and you're all probably gonna facepalm once you find out lol.

Here's some beautiful fanarts from yagodnyizefir 😍:

Cute chibis fanart from aniat101:

Picrews from littlestar-11821!!:

Picrew of Percy in the POV of Apollo (he's delusional, she would never smile at him like this LMAO) from nobodyunimportant: 

Picrew from fanficboysarebae: