Apparently, I'm Dead

Chapter Twenty-One

Disclaimer: I own only the plot.

Here's the vote for today. It'll be over soon, so vote is you want to:

HP/PJ crossover-7

or

PJ w/ dif. parent- 6

MAGNUS

Jack removes his sharp tip from Percy's back. Percy's teeth gleam in the light of the setting sun. "That was fun. We should do it again some time."

Reality comes rushing back. While watching Percy and Jack spar, the real world seemed to fade away, leaving only the two opponents. But now...

"Um, no," I interrupt. "You should not do that again. I'm going to be so tired when I take Jack back. Also, you should not spar right after you injured your arm."

Percy looks affronted. "I injured my arm? How the Hades do you think I burned my arm in the shape of a hand?"

I blink. "In the shape of a-?" I think back to healing Percy, and I realize that the burn was strangely hand shaped. I suck in a breath. "What happened? Who did that?"

Percy looks at me strangely. "Did Alex not tell you?" When I shake my head, he fills me in. "I was dreaming. Then Loki showed up, and..."

Percy's voice fades out. All I can hear is, "Loki," echoing in my head.

Loki, who killed my mother.

Loki, who tried to kill Alex and Sam.

Loki, who tried to start Ragnarok three times.

Loki, who killed Uncle Randolph.

Loki, who has attempted to kill every member of this team so many times, I can't even keep count anymore.

"Magnus. You okay, man?" Percy's voice filters back in. I blink, waking myself from the trance-ish thing. Percy is looking at me concernedly, his eyes impossibly kind, given that I've seen him bribe a goddess with her own net.

"Yeah... yeah, I'm fine," I mutter, blinking a few more times. I suddenly feel a stinging pain on my palm. I look down and unclench my fists. There are red, crescent shaped marks. I was stabbing myself with my own nails. I hum, healing myself quickly. My hand glows, then the marks are gone.

Percy stares at me for a moment, his sea-green eyes boring into my gray ones. "Let's talk," he says slowly. He stands up, beckoning to me. "Sam, Alex? We'll be leaving now."

Alex seems to be about to protest, but his sister holds him back. "Take whatever time you need," Sam says. Something seems to pass between Sam and Percy, a message. Percy smiles, then turns to go.

I stay seated. That was abrupt and strange. I don't know why he wants to talk, and the only reason I can think of is me scratching myself. "Ummm..."

Percy rolls his eyes. "Well, I'm not going to kill you. Come on." When I don't move, he exhales, his eyes growing brighter. He walks towards me, then around my back. My chair starts moving towards the doorway.

"Gah!" I squawk. "Okay, okay! I'm coming-stop that," I hiss, smacking at his hands through the chair. He snickers. I jump out of the chair and run out of the room, laughing. He follows after, chasing me around the deck, where I end up at the bow of the boat. It's where I was before Alex came to get me to heal Percy. Percy sits down next to me.

"So," he says, looking up at the sky, which is starting to show some stars. "Tell me about Loki." He pauses, letting me gather my thoughts and speak in a way that is understandable.

"Loki..." I whisper. "He's Sam's dad and Alex's mom. Loki is able to be male or female, so that's how that works. He's the god of mischief and lies. Ummm... he wants to start Ragnarok? I don't really know."

Percy side-eyes me. He looks slightly disapproving. "I know who Loki is. I want to know what he did to you."

I blink. I hadn't noticed that I strayed away from telling who Loki was to me, personally. I bite my lip. "Well," I sigh. "That is a long story."

"We have time,'" Percy says quietly, still staring at the stars.

I blow out a breath. "He killed my mother," I blurt out. "He-he sent the blue wolves, and she told me to run, and then they killed her." Tears come to my eyes, and I look up, trying not to let them fall.

"And, um. He killed Mallory," I continue. "He tricked her, told her to place a bomb in a bus that he told her held enemy soldiers. It was actually a school bus." Percy's eyes widen, but before he says anything I rush into saying, "Mallory took the bombs out with her knives, but they blew up on her, and that's how she came to Valhalla."

"He tried to kill Alex and Sam, his own children!" I yell up to the stars. "He has this thing where he can kind of control his kids, and he told them to stop breathing. To stop breathing!" The air grows hot with my anger. My eyes grow blurry with repressed tears, and shaky breaths come from my mouth.

A cooling weight on my shoulder. I come back to Earth, and Percy is looking at me. There's a look in his eyes that I can't quite decipher. But it's not pity, like I was expecting. It looks a bit like... understanding?

"I told you about Bianca di Angelo and Zoe Nightshade," Percy whispers, looking at me instead of the sky for the first time. "And I told you about how many casualties there were in the Titan War. And I haven't even told you about the Giant War yet." He sighs, looking back up at the stars.

I start to feel a bit guilty. Here I am, complaining about my life when Percy's been through two wars. I've only heard about the first one, but it sounds awful. Yeah, I've done some stuff, but nothing that had nowhere near the amount of strength it must have taken for Percy to finish all his quests.

"I'm not telling you this to make you feel guilty," Percy promises, as if he's reading my mind. "I'm just telling you... I know what you're going through, and you can talk to me if you want to."

He pushes me gently backwards so I'm laying on the deck, then lays down next to me. He spends the rest of the night pointing out the constellations, and we both fall asleep on the deck. 

I won't be writing for a while. My grandfather just died, so give me some time.

Thanks,

ATOTALMUSICALNERD