Percy's POV
Extending my hand in front of me I attempt to stall for what minor moments that I have left, "You-"
"Killed them all? Such is the way of life." He interrupts with an unentertained groan
"You don't get to decide that!" I shout back at him which only increases his already heavy gaze on me
"Not everyone get's a choice, I'm afraid that's just how it is" He lifts his oversized hand, extending claws and preparing to slash me with them
Coiling into a ball to protect myself I instinctively call out something. A word that paused what remaining time that I had left and left the beast in front of me stunned. "Monster". My soft voice whispers out from under my breath.
My eyes remaining shut and time feeling as if it's paused for just us two, the crackling of fire surrounding us being the only evidence to prove that isn't the case. "You. Called me. The Monster?" I open my eyes to see his face grinning uncontrollably, feeling an unease sense of death washing over me in response to my clear mistake.
"Do you care to repeat that...?" He briefly waits a moment, instead he continues to observe me as if now interested in what I'm capable of.
"Y-you're crying" I stutter out
"And why woul-" He stops himself upon hearing the sound of a droplet falling to the scattered metal beneath him. "I'm not. A monster." He quotes once again. Instead of responding I glance at the carnage around us. The croaking voices of people begging for their lives, some choking on their own blood as they reach for their lovers and children's remains. "I'm. Not" He silently whimpers to himself as if having an internal war with his own emotions.
Taking the chance to scamper away I gradually crawl behind a home to place myself out of his sight, "I'M NOT!" The ground thumps with an intense energy, cracks of light beginning to form from his stomping tantrum. 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘱 "Huh?" I call out to myself, reaching for the piece of ground that's arched up towards me. 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘱 "Ow!" I quickly cover my mouth at the sudden pain that spiked through my finger, looking at my hand to see it now drawn with blood. 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘱 the previous haze in my head slowly clearing up...I can hear it. The smashing of glass...I peer from behind the home, glancing back at the beast who's filled with rampaging emotions.
"FREYA! ATLANTA! THEOS! EROS!" He chants out in annoyance, the dark clouds above us now forming into a spiral that drowns out the previous flames that were bursting with life.
𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘱 A piece of space in front of me cracks
𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘱 A piece from the house falls off, shattering on impact with the floor
𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘱 Pieces from the space around us begin to fall like a hail of glass, leaving white spots in replacement of their absence.
"FENRIR!" He stops breaking away at the terrain, instead now staring dead into my eyes. His drooling mouth near foaming in rage, Each and every hair on his body fluxing with a mesmerising pattern. He slams his paws in front of him, now dropped to all fours and kicking his back legs off the floor. Bursting the air behind him and shattering everything around him like a sonic boom, "WAI-" I call in defence but his oversized figure seemingly disappears into a shadow, reforming right in front of my face. His breath reeking of blood and meat, making me gag in response but before I could release anything a strike of thunder falls between us. Shattering the last remaining pieces of the world around us and causing him to drop me.
"And now it's your turn." A small voice giggles to the left of us, ceasing the beast's anger momentarily. "Oh no, don't let me stop you. Kill each other. Now." A figure of pure white, their body lacking any identifiable details to the point where it doesn't even have eyes or finger tips. Simply an overbearing grin that's whipped across what seems to be a face.
"I know you. Don't I?" The beast calmly states, catching me off guard for how quickly his anger dissipated.
"You both do, but you weren't even meant to make it into this space. Mind if I ask you how you accomplished that?" The figure corrects, kicking the ground as if dissatisfied with the outcome.
"You want to know my name? It's Veritas. You broke me, I am what you would call "The truth". An image that all beings are afraid of, let me share with you some of that fear...shall I?" The distorted voice sings out, waving their hand to shatter the very flesh off me and replacing it with a grey pelt. My height now towering over the one I previously called a beast. My mind isn't my own...I feel someone...else lingering in the back.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
"Now this is what I like to see!" They cheer out, clapping their hands and changing the space around them to a land I'm familiar with. "Now now let's play it back in reverse!" Another cheer, followed by heavy chains clamping me down to the earth, piercing my limbs and entering the land as if entrusting it to hold me down.
"No." The beast whispers in disbelief but lacking a hint of weakness. Instead carrying a weight heavy enough to kill.
"Okay okay now let's go! Roar!" The figure bounces up and down like impatience from a child
My body as if responding the call now attempts to rise, the trees and mountains around me shaking from the tremors of my muscles tensing. The pain of my pierced limbs having holes torn through them rings through my head but being replaced by a determination that screams to me, "Reclaim it!". First my right paw, my left and finally my two back paws. Each carrying a mountain sized amount of earth with them, I toss them away as if batting away a fly. The golden chains that previously bound me now slowly draining of their colour, instead turning into a rusted grey. I take my first step forward, 𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘬. I pause, an overwhelming sickness filling my stomach as if remembering something.
𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘬 The plants around me wither to black dust
𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘬 The rivers dry up and evaporate into a rising steam that cloaks my body
𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘬 A chill creeps up my spine, the resonating sound of the clanks bringing a familiar feeling to me. I know who I am. I know what I am.
The now discoloured land and trail of death that I've left in my wake being nothing of what I can truly do...I feel it...the power that I hold. I can do so much more. The screams of people, the cries of new borns, the silence of life coming to a halt. I can do more. So much more. Seeing the figure of white standing on my shoulder, mimicking my own facial expression...I'm smiling.
"I desire the two that were cast here, undo the violation done by her. Bring them back." A voice firmly calls out in the distance. The sound causing the figure of white to frown but nonetheless dismissing it. "I haven't had enough fun yet, let me show you more!" They jump from my shoulder, waving their hand and forming a wolf of black and a wolf of white. I feel my bond to them, the burning radiance of the sun and the chilling freeze of the moon. "Did you ever think to yourself, who persuaded them to do what they did?" Veritas cackles to themselves but stopping at the call of the voice.
"PER-, ORA-" It screams out once more, a fuzz of static blocking the words from my head
"Be quiet!, be quiet!, be quiet!" Veritas' voice sounding like the ringing of glass slicing the air as it raises in pitch
"-CY! -CION!" The voice calls once more
"THEY HAVEN'T PAID FOR DESTROYING ME, CONTINUE BREAKING EVERYTHING YOU LOVE, EVERYONE YOU LOVE! DO IT PERCY! CAST OUT YOUR EMOTIONS ONCE MORE AND RUN RAMPANT ORACION!" The figure snaps their head off, tossing it into the air and forming a great mirror in the air. My gargantuan form being shown to me...a pupil of gold...a pupil of violet. The same as that beast...what was his name again?
"Oracion..." I murmur, the sensation of each letter feeling forbidden to leave my mouth.
"Percy..." The beast below me responds with a look of denial.
"You freed us...from that prison, let us return the favour" A child like voice speaks to me, although their cries sounding familiar to me. "Listen to them...open your soul".
"NO!" Veritas booms, causing chips to from within the floating mirror in front of me.
"PERCY! ORACION!" Now a woman's voice screams to us, the slices in the mirror beginning to line up into two recognisable faces. A hand made of glass extending out towards me, the overbearing urge to take it feeling like my true desire.
"I'm here" I respond to the calls, my voice unrecognisable to myself but undeniably my own. The beast below me now jumping up my body, dashing from my shoulder through the air and into the mirror ahead of me.
"YOU WILL NOT LEAVE ME HERE!" Veritas screams, once again chipping the mirror even more.
"Take their hand" The voice encourages me once more, as I place my claw in the palm of their hand no matter how much my own body screams to me "RECLAIM IT! RECLAIM IT!". A ribbon of gold slowly turning my figure back into the form I started with. My weight being pulled into the glass with a chattering crunch of it shattering behind me. A final scream resonating through the fragments, "THIS WON'T BE MY ONLY CHANCE PERCY!".
-
"So. You made it?" A deep but voice full of warmth welcomes me, two giant arms swinging around me and embracing me into a hug.
"Who...?" I question, trying to release myself from the overpowering weight of his crush. Flopping out of his arms and staring up into his eyes. "Chris?" I guess out loud, making the giant figure smile with gleam before Athena runs up to me, copying the same greeting and hiding her tears behind my back as we hug each other but doing nothing to silence her obvious sobs for me.
"You guys are back...I believe we have some stuff to discuss before we separate once more." Chris' sand coated jackal like form not doing him justice for expressing emotion effectively but nonetheless folds his arms to calm himself
"What do you mean separate?"
"We can't leave here for the time being Percy...I'm sorry but 𝘐. Can't return with you at the moment." Athena takes her head from behind me, opening her eyes to reveal the neon green that's shared with Chris..."I don't understand"
"So you bonded?" Aeon chimes in, seemingly already understanding the conversation
"Can someone explain!" I beg, falling to my knees as if feeling abandoned once again...it's always me, isn't it?