He Shall Return, The One That Lost It All, A Close Friend Of His Will Fall

Chapter Three (Third Person)

Percy jogged out of the camp. He had barely entered the woods, but he was already far enough away that none of the huntresses could see him.

Percy climbed the tree and magically made the leaves grow longer so that it hid him.

A few minutes later, Percy heard someone walk into the woods and call his name.

Thalia.

Percy jumped down soundlessly in front of her.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Dinner," Thalia replied. "But I want to talk to you first."

"Okay, sure," Percy said.

"Why did you leave?" she demanded, lightning coming down and zapping him. He didn't even bat an eye when the lightning connected with his brain.

"Oh, I left for secret reasons that Nobody knows about."

"Nobody, like Annabeth, or nobody like nobody?" Thalia asked.

"Both."

When Thalia didn't say anything, Percy continued. "Okay, so then I was dragged back into Tartarus. Now no more questions."

Percy jogged back to the camp with Thalia right behind me.

They ate dinner. Percy was pounded with questions.

"Why did you leave camp?"

"Where were you the past few thousand years?"

"What about Annabeth? Why'd you leave her?"

Percy winced at the last one.

The girls saw that and fell silent.

Well, except for one.

"Why did you betray Annabeth, boy?" asked a girl. Percy turned and glared at her. She tried not to cower but failed.

"My fatal flaw is loyalty, didn't you know that? I am incapable of betraying anyone! I left because of her." I told them angrily.

"W-what do y-you m-m-mean?" the girl asked. "Annabeth said th-that y-you betrayed h-her."

All the anger left Percy, and it was replaced with shock.

"She did?" Percy asked.

"Y-yes," another girl said. "She said y-you
l-left her and the c-camp b-because y-you didn't want to be there w-with her."

"Betrayal," Percy hissed in the language of the snake. "It's a betrayal. Why would she do that?"

Everyone else looked startled.

Artemis looked at him weird.

"What was that?" she asked.

"The language of the snake," he said in English.

"How'd you learn it?" She asked.

"I had some help," I said. "But why did she lie about me? Cousin Athena, can you please come here?" Percy looked behind himself when he said that.

There was a flash. Percy didn't look away like he used too, because he was a god too.

When the flash died down, Athena stood there.

I'm not going to describe Athena's true form. If I did, you would probably burst into flames just from seeing it in your mind.

"Percy?" she asked.

"Over here," Percy said. She looked at him.

She ran over to him.

"Percy!" she exclaimed. She hugged him.

After the second giant war, Athena had accepted Percy's relationship with her daughter. The two of them had become good friends.

Then Percy had disappeared.

Anyway. . . .

She pulled back.

"Athena," he said, "is it true what Annabeth said? Did she really lie about me?"

Athena nodded sadly. "She's no daughter of mine anymore."

Percy felt a tear trail down his cheek. He stared off into space.

I told you it wasn't you who wasn't worthy, said Gaea. She wasn't worthy.

Why didn't you tell me? Percy asked her.

. . .

You were right.

There was a silence. Percy knew everyone was staring at him, but he didn't care.

Percy hadn't cried in over five thousand years. Torture can do that to you. It gives you a high pain tolerance. It makes you feel like you don't matter. You eventually stop screaming and crying because you just don't care anymore.

But there is a pain worse than that. It peirces the heart and crushes the soul. It can make even a strong person break down and sob. It breaks the mind and spreads insanity. Someone who survived years of torture would be suddenly opening up for the death that had been avoiding them. It's the pain of betrayal.

Percy was no stranger to betrayal. He had been betrayed before. Luke betrayed him. Gained his trust, then tried to kill him multiple times.

But this was different. With Luke, Percy had gotten angry and wanted nothing less than to see Luke die for hurting his friends.

This time, he had been cast out by the person he thought loved him. He understood her reasoning---- fear. She gave him a choice, and he chose the one that would bring her less pain.

Then he was tortured in the place of his worst nightmares. When he escaped, he escaped still thinking that he hadn't been worthy. He blamed himself. He was only mad at himself. He didn't feel betrayed.

But now, all these years later, he had learned that she really had betrayed him. He chose the path that would bring her less pain, and she took it to her own advantage. She blamed him for breaking his heart.

He definitely felt betrayed now. And his fatal flaw being loyalty, it effected him differently.

At first, all he felt was shock. Shock that she would do this. Shock.

Then he felt slight sadness. But the sadness, the despair that settled on him was different from anyone else's in his situation. It was a sadness mixed with shock, where a lone tear might find its way down his cheek, but nothing more. The rest was shock that she did this.

The next step was slight insanity. After believing it was all his fault for so long, after living through so much mental and physical torture, he had suddenly learned it wasn't his fault.

That was too much for any mind --- even Percy's immortal mind --- to live through. So, his mind cracked slightly.

So, he's still in shock, he's no longer sad, he wasn't angry, just in shock.

He unsteadily got up and balanced himself. He stumbled a few steps and Athena helped steady him.

He was vaguely aware of Artemis and Athena directing him to one of the tents, and he was barely aware of the huntresses staring at him as he stumbled away.