Twins of Chaos

14

Adrian's POV:

I'd woken up about ten minutes ago, feeling groggy, but relaxed. The anger had dulled, and Will had given me something else, saying it wasn't nearly as strong as the last sedative he'd given me before.

I was now sitting in between him and Lucy in the Great House 'meeting room'. Basically just a ping pong table with food. Everyone was staring at me as though I could explode at any minute, though I wasn't really paying much attention. I was too relaxed to really care about that, but not so drowsy that I couldn't stay awake for the meeting.

"So," Will said, turning towards me. "Now that you've calmed down, what have you been feeling since you touched the sword?"

I rubbed my eyes tiredly before answering. "I'm not really sure." I replied slowly. "I mean, I've been angry, and that word doesn't really even cover it. But I don't know why I've been so angry at everyone, just that I wanted to take it out on everything. Anything I could. I just want to... destroy."

Will nodded, and looked to Chiron. There seemed to have been silent conversation between the two of them, because Chiron then picked up where Will left off, and they both questioned me on my condition.

Soon, there was a question that really got my attention. It was Chiron who asked it.

"What's causing your anger?" He asked. "I know you said that you weren't sure why you were angry, but, do you know what you're angry at in general?"

I thought for a moment before answering.

"Well," I began. "There is this...this one thing..."

"What is it?" Lucy asked.

"It's just, this memory keeps coming to my mind. It hasn't stopped, and it just feels so... raw." It was harder to explain than you'd think.

"What's the memory?" Will asked.

I looked at Lucy. "It's that night." I said. "The first time I've ever felt... ever felt hate. Pure, hatred, and it's just as strong as when it first birthed."

Lucy gave me a look of understanding. "The night out mother tried to kill us..." she said quietly.

I nodded, while everyone else was awed into silence. I decided to take this as a cue to continue. "And the worst part is that I'm not even mad at her. It's like, my hate was changed. Like, it used to be focused only on her, but now, its spread out and I equally hate everything. I know in my head that I don't. But it's not the same anymore. I just want to...let it go. To just let loose and destroy everything in my way. You know?"

Lucy nodded, while the others seemed to be a little more jumpy now.

"So," said Percy, "now the question is, what are we going to do about it?"

There was a pause as everyone seemed to be thinking.

"We could always lock him downstairs until we figure out what to do!" Travis suggested cheerfully. I scowled at him, causing him to flinch while his brother, Connor snickered.

"I'd like to see you try that." I growled.

He raised his hands in surrender. "Just a joke, man...sort of..."

"There will be none of that." Chiron interrupted. "I believe it is best that we keep en eye on you, Adrian, just until we know what we're dealing with. I will visit Olympus and seek the gods council."

I nodded. "That's smart." Although I didn't really like the idea of everyone 'keeping an eye' on me.

"Very well. Now that that's settled, meeting adjourned. I will travel to Olympus now, and return as soon as possible with news."

As everyone nodded and turned to leave, Piper and Lucy came up to me.

"Hey, Tough Guy," Lucy said. "Why don't you go beat the crap out of the training dummies for a while? Hitting things is a major stress reliever."

I nodded. "Sounds good."

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Okay, now I know something's wrong with you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, but she and Piper walked away before I got an answer.

I shrugged it off and made my way down to the training arena. Lucy was right. I really needed to hit something.