Curse of the Triblood

Chapter 33

Percy POV

I woke up the next day with the sun on my face. It was closer to sunset the next day. Apollo was probably angry that I was taking too long to save his sister. That was his way of telling me to hurry up and get her to Olympus, or he was not taking me out clubbing for the rest of my current life.

My body was sore. It felt as though I worked out the entire day the day before. A burning sensation filled my lungs and muscle as if I was still doing weights and exerting myself too much but was too determined to even think about quitting.

I couldn't see from my right eye. Considering that I gave it away as a sacrifice to make sure my lions and I survived drinking the vials, it made sense. I grabbed some bandages that I had gotten as supplies from Butch in the nightclub and wrapped them around my missing eye. It would take some time to adjust since missing I was an eye and depth perception.

I picked up some broken glass from a mirror that I saw before and looked at it. I looked the same except for the stains of blood that were nowhere near what an average person should have as blood. Instead of red or the rose gold coloring, I used to have to signify that I was a three-fourths god; now, I had blood that looked like a mixture of gold and silver. It mixed about as good as oil and water, meaning that the colors didn't combine but rather the two separate colors were just together.

I stood up from my sitting position and accidentally broke the ground by putting my hand down on it to steady myself. It looked as though a giant wrecking ball slammed into the ground, leaving spiderweb-like cracks. I fixed my black lion's fur coat and realized my own two lions were nowhere to be found.

"Aperio and Aioniotita!" I screamed. "Aperio and Aioniotita! So much for sticking together," I grumbled sarcastically.

Once I said that, I heard a low rumbling sound. No, it sounded like an animal was holding back a roar, and its throat was identifying that it was a dangerous predator. I opened my hand, and Olethros flew to it. Unfortunately, I could barely catch it due to me not being used to only having one eye. At that moment, I had to question how any fictional character that ever ripped out their own eye could fight after doing something like that. I have been fighting for thousands of years, and even I need time to adjust to something as being literally half-blind.

I turned to face the foe or foes but was met with two large creatures. Their piercing eyes were the first thing I noticed. They burrowed deep into my soul and made it feel like it was being analyzed for any weakness. One set of eyes looked like space itself while the other looked like molten gold, shimmering and moving. The creatures were at least five feet tall on all four legs. They had to have weighed at least five hundred pounds each. They had the early stages of manes coming in, different fur around their necks and heads but nothing as elegant or beautiful as a full-grown male. It didn't take long for me to realize who I was looking at, Aperio and Aioniotita. They had turned into teenage lions due to the vials. Talk about a growth spurt.

"Come here," I told them.

I turned Olterhtos into a spear and slammed into the ground to help steady myself. Then, the two lions came up to me. Aperio's golden fur and Aioniotita's multicolored, black glistened in the sun. I could practically hear Apollo laughing, telling me that the lions definitely did suit me. They were the only things crazy enough to drink god-maker-juice and walk it off in the morning as if nothing happened.

Aperio and Aioniotita noticed my missing eye before they entirely walked up to me. Aperio came first and nuzzled into my neck. I had to hold myself down unless he knocked me over by accident. Aioniotita followed next. This was how lions interacted with those in the pride. This was to show they would support each other fight any prey or competition together.