Here Comes the Sun

3

Warning: more death in this chapter.

Percy's POV:

I hesitated a minute before knocking on the door to my mom's apartment. After everything that'd happened, I was scared to enter. I wasn't sure if being home would help me or not, but hey, it was worth a shot, right?

Taking a deep breath, I knocked on the white wooden door.

After a few minutes, I got worried. No one had answered, and I'd called my Mom before coming. She knew I was on my way, and said she'd be here...

What's going on? I thought, as my heart began to beat faster.

I tried the door knob. It was unlocked. Mom never left the door unlocked. Not even when she was home.

Opening the door, I called out to see if they just hadn't heard the knock. No answer.

Don't panic... I told myself, as I slowly entered the apartment. It's okay...

I walked through the small living room, then, not having found anyone, entered the kitchen.

There, on the middle of the kitchen floor, I saw a sight that not only stopped my heart, but shattered the few pieces I had left of it. I think it may have my sanity too...

Covered in blood that soaked in a pool around them, was my Mom, and stepfather. Both dead, with slit throats.

Everything I had inside me shattered and burst into flames. I fell to the floor and cradled my dead mother's head in my lap, crying like I'd never cried before.

Everything was too much. My friends, my family, what's next? You gonna kill my brother? Tyson was all I had now, and I wasn't even sure were he was after the war.

It took me a minute to realize that I was screaming. That I was cursing the gods and the fates. But I didn't care. I kept shouting out threats and crying, even after my throat got sore.

Then everything began to shake...

Apollo's POV:

~On Olympus~

The ground shook from the sidewalks of Manhattan all the way to the throne room of the gods. At first, we all thought Poseidon was angry about something one of us had done, since that was the only time an earthquake of this size ever occurred. But when he showed up in the throne room, looking just as surprised as the rest of us, I knew something else was going on.

Soon we were all searching for the source of the destruction, so that we could stop it quickly before all our temples were destroyed.

Poseidon found it first, and Zeus, Ares, Athena, and I followed as he vapor-traveled to a small, mortal apartment not too far from the Empire State building. Why we were here of all places, I had no idea. That is, until I heard the crying.

Someone was in the kitchen, sobbing in pure agony. They were cursing us, and the fates, and even went as far as their own birth. The voice sounded familiar, though I can't quite remember where I've heard it from...

Poseidon entered the kitchen first, closely followed by the rest of us, me entering last. And what I saw came as a shock, to not only me, but Zeus and Athena as well. Ares, like always, was stone-faced and ready for a fight.

Percy was sitting on the kitchen floor, sobbing as he held his mother's head in his lap. There was blood everywhere, and even though there were two bodies, there was enough blood to tell that they'd been dead for a while.

Poseidon tried to go near his son, but when he touched Percy's shoulder, a there was a violent shake to the earth, and Poseidon was knocked off his feet.

"Percy," he said from the ground. "You need to try to calm down...."

This only succeeded in making Percy angrier, and, although he'd stopped shouting curses at us, the ground shook even harder, and water burst from the pipes of the tiny apartment.

Zeus was about to strike him dead, but Poseidon stopped his brother, and they were soon arguing about killing the boy in front of them. Personally, I was with Poseidon. But how could we get Percy to calm down enough to contain him? Poseidon couldn't do it, but maybe that was just because he'd had the wrong approach...

"Apollo?" Athena asked. "What are you doing?"

An idea formed in my head, and before I could stop myself from doing something I'd regret, I walked up to Percy, and did what I did best. Something stupid.

Percy's POV:

I was just barely aware of the 5 Olympian gods behind me. All I could focus on was all the dead. Everyone I had lost. When I had felt the cold hand on my shoulder, it felt like one of them. Like my mother, or A- her... cold, like the dead. I couldn't take it, and somehow, the ground shook harder. But I didn't care. Everything I cared about was gone.

Cold and dead.

Then, the last thing I thought could possibly happen, happened. Something warm touched me in the coldest, darkest point in my life. Someone's arms wrapped around me, and this time, they weren't cold. They were warm, and alive.

I felt myself relaxing against whoever it was hugging me, still crying. My surroundings stopped shaking, and I felt the person's hand being pressed gently against my forehead, and a wave of weariness washed over me.

I saw someone rush over to us out of the corner of my eye, then the drowsiness became too much, and I fell asleep on the man's warm chest...

Apollo's POV:

I watched as Percy grew drowsy, and snuggled into my chest, before he fell asleep.

Poseidon rushed over towards us, worried for his son, and knelt beside me and Percy's slumbering form. "Is he okay?" he asked me.

I sighed. "That depends on your definition of the word." I replied, picking Percy up bridal-style and carrying him to his bedroom.

"What do you mean?" Poseidon asked, his voiced strained with concern.

I placed Percy on his bed, and covered him. "I mean, Percy has been through enough trama to challenge a god! He needs time, rest, care. But there is no one to give that to him."

"I can!" Poseidon roared angrily.

"No, you can't." I replied. "You know gods can't favor their children. And besides, Percy flinched away from you. There's no telling what's going through his mind right now, and I think it would be best for you to stay away from him when he's conscious."

For a moment, I thought Poseidon was going to strike me down, but Percy said something in his sleep, and we both froze, worried that we'd woken him.

Then Percy fell silent, and his father and I both let out breaths I hadn't been aware of holding in. We continued, only this time, we spoke in quiet whispers.

"Maybe you're right..." Poseidon relented. "But that doesn't mean I don't care! He's my son, and I want him to be okay. Better than okay." He seemed to be thinking something over, and I wasn't sure I was going to like whatever it was. "And that," he said. "Is why you will be taking care of him until he's better."

"What?!" I asked.

"You were able to calm him down, and I can't be the one to help him, and he can't go back to the camp in the state. So it must be you. Zeus will want to speak with him about his actions, and judge what to do with him. You and I will convince him to let Percy live, under your care until he gets better. Understand?"

The look he gave me as he said this made it clear that there was no choice in this. He was forcing me to help his son, whether I liked it or not.

But I did like helping Percy.

The question is, why?