Shadows and The Sea - The Darkling

War Room & Not Leaving

Percy's POV

I woke up in the same, curled position on my bed but the room was dark now instead of light like it was when I first came in. Everything was silent which meant it was probably late at night and I missed dinner. Great.

I sat up with a sigh and ran a hand through my dark hair as everything from today hit me.

My heart lurched at the reminder that Alina was scared of me. My eyes started to burn at the thought, but it soon changed to anger when I remembered what Baghra insinuated in her cave.

She knew about demigods. She knew about the gods and yet she's talking about how they were killed and should have stayed that way? I didn't ask to be here, it's not my fault my dam uncle went all paranoid and decided it was a good idea to kill me.

I slowly slid from my warm bed and noticed my bag still sitting on the vanity. I walked over and reached my arm in until I felt a heavy sack. I pulled out the pouch and gently opened the top and pulled out a golden drachma. I stared at the coin in contemplation before tucking the ancient currency in my hand and putting the sack back where it belonged. It wouldn't do any good to have it laying around for anyone to see.

I was about to slip it into the pocket of my Nemean pelt before I realized that wasn't what I was wearing. The coat was black instead of the tan I was expecting. It was a thicker material and I was suddenly aware of the longer collar that tickled my cheek.

Keeping the coin in my hand, I kept my steps light as I made my way to the door and pushed it open as quietly as I could. I checked both sides of the hallway before slipping out and lightly treading through the empty palace.

It was so different at night. There weren't any echoing footsteps of loud conversations going on. It was actually kind of peaceful.

I let my mind wander as my feet took me through the dark halls without a care in the world. The tiles chilled my feet but with everything wheezing through my head, it didn't bother me too much.

Alina was scared of me...would Mal be too? I couldn't help but think the worst. They were my two closest friends here and I didn't want to lose them. Fedyor and Genya were great but Alina and Mal were with me for the past five or so years so they held a special place in my heart. Knowing Alina could be scared of me hurt.

But maybe she's right to...

I stopped all of a sudden and looked around to figure out where I was. The dark painted hallway was a signature to Aleksander's preferred color palette but the door in front of me was cracked open, letting a stream of light shine through. I saw Aleksander's back, clad in a black, flowing robe facing me as he stared at a rather large table littered with markers and geographical models.

A War Room?

Before I could oh so elegantly back away from the door, he turned to face me and looked slightly shocked by my appearance, "Persephone."

He said my name so quietly that I almost missed it but with the entire palace being asleep, there was no background noise to distract from his smooth voice.

"Sorry to interrupt, I'll leave you-"

"No. No, please. You didn't interrupt anything. Can't sleep?" he asked after reassuring me that I wasn't intruding.

I hesitantly took a step into the lit room and hovered near the door just in case I was asked to leave.

"Had too much, really. Couldn't help but give into the urge of exploring the palace," I vaguely explained with a small smile that might have come off as a grimace.