Salvation.

10. Conflicted

Percy 

I glared down at the kneeling forms of Alex and Jake, fighting the urge to incinerate them right then and there. 

"Well?" I demanded, crossing my arms over my chest. "Are you two going to explain why the training arena is completely wrecked?" 

Alex glanced at Jake, and his twin took a deep breath before raising his head to meet my gaze. "We were just having a friendly spar, My King." 

I raised an eyebrow as I heard Crystal stifle a laugh. The daughter of Oceanus was standing a few feet away from me, clearly enjoying seeing Alex and Jake face my wrath. 

"A friendly spar." I repeated. "Does a friendly spar include trying to kill each other? Do you know how much damage you two have caused ever since we moved into Olympus?" 

Jake lowered his head slightly, trying his absolute best to avoid making eye-contact with me. "Yes, we're aware, Sir." 

My eye twitched, and I had to dig my fingernails into my palms to calm myself down. "If you're aware of that, then why do you two always insist on continuing to fight each other?" 

"It's fun." Alex interjected. Like Jake, he refused to make eye-contact with me. 

"Fun?" I questioned. "You think damaging property is fun?" 

"No, that's not what he meant, Sir." Jake said quickly, trying to save his twin from being murdered. "You know that we both enjoy fighting, and somehow our spars always end up getting out of hand." 

I took a step back and sat down on my throne, growing tired of standing. Alex and Jake remained where they were, keeping their gazes locked onto the floor. 

"It's because you two need to learn how to control the powers that you've inherited from your father, Hyperion." I said. "Fire is a great ability to have, yes, but without proper control, it can be devastating." 

Alex and Jake exchanged confused looks, and I sighed in exasperation. "Remember when you two burned down Camp Jupiter?" 

"Yes, how could we forget?" Alex asked, and I smiled at that. "That's true. Fire isn't meant to be contained. It likes to destroy, just like how you two manage to create so much damage whenever your fire powers are involved." 

Alex and Jake blinked before matching grins appeared on their faces. "That makes a lot of sense, My Lord." Jake said. 

I clicked my tongue and waved a dismissive hand. "Of course it would. Now leave, I want you two to keep training hard in order to properly control your fire powers. But don't burn down anything else, or I'll kick both of you off Olympus without a second thought." 

The twin sons of Hyperion paled at the threat before they quickly got to their feet and left the room. Crystal watched them go before she turned her attention to me. 

"What is it?" I asked impatiently, and the daughter of Oceanus stiffened before she gave me a small bow. "Hades wanted me to tell you that he wants to have a word with you." 

I raised an eyebrow, intrigued. I didn't speak to the former Lord of the Underworld often, unless i had something for him to do. For him to seek me out must mean that he wanted something important from me. 

"Interesting." I commented. "Where is he right now?" 

Crystal gave me a weird look before she shrugged and said "In the training arena. I think he had been cleaning the weapons before he told me he wanted to talk to you." 

I rose from my throne and gave the daughter of Oceanus a small smile. "Take me to him. I'm curious to see what Hades wants." 

Crystal looked like she wanted to say something, but she sighed before leading the way out of the throne room. I trailed after her, and she led me towards the training arena.