Salvation.

7. Tension

Percy

I stood in the middle of one of the gardens on Olympus, watching some members of my army water the plants and trim the leaves. 

I had told them that they didn't have to take care of the gardens, and that I could get the mortals do it instead, but they insisted on doing it.

"My Lord!" Someone shouted, and I turned to see another member of my army jog towards me. 

"Esme." I greeted as the grey-eyed daughter of Athena skidded to a stop directly in front of me. She smiled mischievously at me and lowered her head slightly when I acknowledged her. 

"Hello, my Lord. Ethan sent me to tell you that there's a fight about to happen in the castle between two members of the army." 

I sighed and reached up to put a hand against my forehead. "Again? This is the third time this week. Show me where they are." 

Esme saluted me before turning and running back towards the castle. I took one last look at the gardens before following her. 

We walked past more members of my army before Esme led me into another hallway. There, standing in the middle facing each other were two of the newer recruits. 

Ruby, the daughter of Nemesis and Ethan's half sister, was currently glaring at a girl with purple hair and green eyes. 

"Seriously?" I asked, causing both girls to jump and turn to face me. "What are you two doing?" 

"I'm sorry, my Lord. I was just minding my own business when she tried to goad me into a fight with her." Arwen, the daughter of Nyx, said shyly. 

My expression softened as I looked at Arwen. I remembered the time when Nyx had visited me to tell her that she had a daughter who wanted to join me. I was shocked to hear that Nyx had a child, but I of course accepted Arwen into the army. 

"It's alright." I said before narrowing my eyes at the daughter of Nemesis. "Ruby! Why do you always cause so much trouble?" 

Ruby shrugged, and Esme giggled while I rolled my eyes. "Arwen doesn't want to fight you. If you  really want to spar with someone, go find Ethan." 

"But I always win against him. That's no fun." Ruby said with a frown. 

I chuckled as I thought about what Ethan would do if he was here and heard what his half sister had said. 

He would've probably challenged her to a fight right there. 

"Fine. Instead of fighting, I have a job for you. Go to the library and make sure everything is nice and clean." I said. 

Ruby looked like she wanted to object, but she knew she couldn't refuse an order from me. "Whatever you say, My Lord." The daughter of Nemesis said grumpily. 

"I'll come with you, Ruby!" Arwen exclaimed, and Ruby looked genuinely surprised. "Why?" 

"I have nothing to do, so I might as well come with you! Is that okay?" Arwen asked. 

Ruby smirked as she placed a hand on Arwen's shoulder. "That sounds good. I'm sorry for trying to pick a fight with you." 

The daughter of Nyx smiled and said "That's alright! Let's go to the library!" 

I watched as Ruby and Arwen left the hallway before shaking my head and turning to face Esme. "Those two. I'll never understand them." 

"Me neither. My Lord, is there anything I can do to be of assistance to you as well?" Esme questioned. 

I smiled at how eager she was to help me. "Not at the moment. You may take this time off for now until I do need something." 

Esme looked disappointed, but she bowed slightly before walking off down the hallway. 

"Now that the commotion is over, I'll go see how my old friends are doing." I muttered before leaving the same way Esme had gone. 

Leo

"YES!" I shouted as I stared triumphantly at the small water spout that I had managed to conjure. "Take that, Andrew!" 

"What am I taking?" A familiar voice asked, and I jumped and turned to see the son of Khione standing at the entrance to the training room. 

"Jeez! I thought you were going to bed after Katie showed you to your room!?" 

Andrew raised an eyebrow as a small smile appeared on his face. "No. I heard someone yelling in here so I decided to go see who it was. I'm not surprised that it was you." 

"Shut it." I grumbled as I turned back to face the water spout. "Now, how do I get rid of it?" 

"Like this." Andrew said as he stepped towards the water spout. He stretched his hand out and his fingers brushed the water. I stared in awe as the water spout turned into ice. 

The son of Khione glanced back at me with a smirk. "My mother is a Snow Goddess, Leo."

"I know that." I said. "What do you want? Here to tell me that I'm not going to be helpful in taking down Perseus?" 

Andrew placed a hand on the ice as he frowned. "No. I want to apologize. I know that figuring out how to use the new abilities you had received from the Primordials isn't easy, but you're trying your best."

I stared at him in disbelief. He wanted to apologize? 

Andrew noticed the look I was giving him, and he scowled at me. "Listen, if you don't want to accept my apology-" 

"No, I'm just shocked." I said, interrupting him. "I didn't think you would ever say sorry." 

"Are you trying to piss me off after I came all the way here to apologize?" 

I laughed as I raised my hands in surrender. "Nope, not my intention."

Andrew rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I have a question I'd been meaning to ask you." 

"What is it?" I asked as I stared at my hands, trying to figure out if I could summon two balls of light at the same time. 

"Perseus Jackson. What exactly happened to him?" I glanced up, narrowing my eyes slightly at the question Andrew gave me. 

"What do you mean?" I knew exactly what the son of Khione meant, but I just had to make it seem like I didn't. 

Andrew trailed his fingers against the ice that he had created. "I heard about him from my mother. He was a hero, he saved Olympus. What happened to make him turn against the very thing he had saved?" 

"I've heard that he was betrayed. That's it." I said carefully. "I wasn't around when it happened." 

Yeah, of course I wasn't around. I was dead. 

"I see. Well, I had a lovely chat with you. I'll be leaving now." Andrew lifted his hand off of his ice creation and left the training room without another word. 

I watched the son of Khione leave, and wondered if he could be someone who I can trust in the near future. 

Word count: 1159 

i'm back with another chapter as promised >3

also, i'll be adding more oc's in the next chapter :)