章節 103: Chapter 100: Murder at midnight
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So here's the 100th chapter, you guys have all been waiting to see how Percy would take on the drag-
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♥︎◆♣︎♠︎ || Book 5,5: Murder at Midnight || ♥︎◆♣︎♠︎
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Chapter 100: Murder at midnight
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(Percy POV)
"You need to come!" Nyx cried out, "It will be fun!"
I shook my head, "Look, I don't feel like celebrating Christmas, especially if my sister faded a few days ago." I told her.
Nyx sighed. "You can't keep mourning over that, Besides I talked with your mother. She agreed."
"She agreed?" I asked frowning.
She rolled her eyes, "Duh!"
"Did you told her your house is located in Tartarus?" I asked.
Nyx nodded cheerfully, "I told her I live in a rough neighbourhood. She agreed it's important you go out a bit more. She celebrates Christmas with Paul."
"But-"
"She expects you to go." Nyx added. Her eyes flared with determination and she had a smug smile. "So its the two of us? In the house of Night? Isn't that boring?"
She chuckled, "Of course. I invited a few of my children."
I flinched and had the urge to run away screaming. Nyx's children were known for being- Terrible!
I swallowed, "I don't think they'll like me."
She chuckled, "Don't worry. I'll only invite the ones who don't will kill you on sight. Besides, it will be really fun. You'll get to meet some of my children! We'll play games and we will have a great time!"
I sighed. It was not that I didn't like the idea of spending Christmas with Nyx it was just that the death of Despina was still to fresh, but I knew that if my mom and Nyx both had decided something; there was no way I could say no.
Not without losing my blue cookies.
"There's no way I can get out of this right?"
She nodded cheerfully, "Yup!"
She grabbed my arm and dragged me out of the Poseidon cabin, the sun was rising but most of the campers were either home or still asleep.
"First!" she said with a huge grin, "We are going to buy christmas stuff!"
"Christmas stuff?"
"Yes, A tree, those shining lights and reindeers." Nyx said thoughtfully.
"We are not going to buy a reindeer." I protested, "Do you even know what Christmas is about?"
"Darkness?"
"The opposite, it's the time of happiness and family.`
Nyx stopped dead in her tracks and turned around and gave me a serious look. "Is that a joke? On the radio they replay the same 12 christmas songs to drive mortals crazy."
"That-" I tried to say something but she cut me of.
"You brutally murder a child tree and decorate its corpse."
"Bu-"
But Nyx was getting really excited, she really liked to talk about dark stuff, "And ever heard of the Krampus, it's a demon with massive horns whose main job is to drag naughty children to Hell."
I was starting to get pale, "I'm sure that's just a story."
"Is it?" Nyx said with a smile, "What about those pine trees everyone loves? Did you know Attis castrated himself under one of them?"
"Okay I get it." I sighed, "Christmas is really dark and totally darkness. Now let's buy a coffee before we start Christmas shopping."
Nyx grinned, "That's my goodboy!"
(Timeskip)
"This is going to be discomfortable." Nyx announced as she held me my hands.
It was already dark outside, which was a possible explanation for Nyx's good mood.
She looked stunningly beautiful.
She wore a flowing blueish black (my favorite color, blue!) with the silver wings drawn on them which were similar to Nyx's dress when she was in her Egyptian aspect.
She wore an obsidian black with shining stones in them. When I asked her what those gems were she told me it were actual stars she brought down from the heavens.
She had put on purple lipstick and applied eyeshadow making it look like her glowing eyes were stars in a dark void.
I wore nothing special, just a t-shirt, black jacket and jeans.
"Discomfortable?" I asked, "It's just Tartarus we're visiting."
Nyx smiled not picking up my sarcasm., "I knew you could take it."
She grabbed my hands tighter and my world went black.
When I regained sight I was standing in a large dinner hall.
"Welcome in my house!" Nyx whispered and I saw she was nervously. She was shuffling her feet nervously and avoiding my gaze.
I gazed around in awe, I expected Nyx's house to be some kind of dungeon with dark halls, long badly lit corridors and a few deadly weapons hanging on the wall.
Nyx noticed my confusion, "I made it a bit cozier for christmas because I knew you would come."
I stared at her, "You did this for me?"
Nyx nodded and gave me a shy smile, "Yes. I thought you might get scared if I didn't change the interior."
She took my hand and led me through the giant dinner hall we were standing in. She must had sized it down to human size because I could not imagine Nyx in her primordial form fitting in the room.
The room was like a typical hunting hut living room, it had large horizontal tree barks for walls, (though I was pretty sure the actual walls were not made of wood), a marble floor and in the corner stood a christmas tree decorated with black christmas balls. In the opposite side of the room was crackling hearth build into the wall with a coffee table and a few couches facing the hearth.
Typical christmas decoration decorated the walls and gave of a cozy feeling. The only thing that kind of ruined it was the roof, or lack of roof.
There was no roof, only darkness over our heads. The walls just stopped at a certain point and blended in with the darkness, but strangely the room was well lit.
"I love what you did to the place." I said, "Though I don't have a frame of references since I had my eyes closed the last time I came down here."
Nyx gestured me to sit on the black couch, "Of course this is just one of the many rooms I have in my house."
"Are they ll so nice?"
Nyx smirked, "Definitely not."
"So now we wait for the guest?" I guessed as I sat down on the couch, "And then we start dinner?"
Nyx frowned, "Dinner?"
"Christmas dinner," I said and stared at Nyx confused face.
"Wait, you say there is supposed to be dinner?" Nyx amazed, "Wow, I didn't know that."
'You're kidding right?" I asked, "have you ever watched a christmas movie?"
Nyx shook her head, "No I haven't. Besides, all my guest are immortals or monsters."
"You invited monsters?" I asked, feeling myself losing hope.
Nyx playfully kicked my leg, 'Come on Percy, you can summon food for yourself and my children promised not to eat or kill you."
She said it like it was the biggest gift imaginable.
"We're not going to eat you Percy," A voice behind me said, a voice I recognized.
I turned around and met the eyes of a young woman wearing blue and gold shimmering , she had long hair that was made of, my guess, pure light. She had glowing soft blue eyes and smiled brightly, which was explainable once I understood who she was.
Next to her, holding her hand, stood a handsome young man, not even older than 20. He was wearing an Adidas jack, with shirt and sport sneakers. He had a bored, My-wife-dragged-me-to-this-lame-party smile on his bronze tanned face. He had the same eyes as the woman but they were not as gentle as the woman's. But still a bit playful.
I gasped and Nyx smirked, "Well, Percy. I think it's time for you to meet them in real life."
I was not sure if I had to bow, ask for their autograph, run or make a cheesy joke. I known these two for all my life, well my new life, and they helped me (Hemera more than Aether) through a lot of thought situations. Sometimes by just supporting me.
All though they were nothing more then mere voices in my head [I know it sounds crazy] I never thought of seeing them actually.
Luckily Hemera narrowed down my options by flashing to my other side on the couch and hugging me, "Wow!" I cried out as I tried not to get strangled by the primordial of Day.
I noticed Aether shot me a jealous look, I quickly pulled back from Hemera, as not to make Aether jealous. Right now I had the Styx already mad at me, the Primordial of light was someone I wanted on my enemy list.
"Oh daughter," Nyx said as Hemera and I broke up, perfectly mimicking Hemera's voice. "You embarrass me."
Hemera blushed while trying to glare at Nyx, which was not a good combination., "That's not how I sound."
"Yes you do." Nyx and I said in unison.
"It's just cool to see you in real life for once." Hemera explained as she grabbed a black pillow and turned it to solid gold.
Aether sat down on another couch and summoned a golden shining iPad and began to play something that looked similar to flappy bird.
It was clear that he had no interest in Christmas at all, Hemera was the exact opposite. She had summoned a santa hat and put it on. Which was really funny considering her hair was gold and shiny.
"I just can't believe you convinced mom to celebrate christmas." Hemera told me with a smile.
"Actually it was kind of the opposite." I admitted as Nyx grinned wildly. "She dragged me into this."
'Same here!" Aether groaned from the other couch, not looking away from his iPad.
Hemera frowned, "But then…" her expression changed, as if she just realized something. "Oh!"
'What oh?" I wondered buy Nyx shot Hemera a glare, which made Hemera gulp.
Then behind us someone coughed and we turned around.
Nyx shadow traveled from the couch to the middle and hugged the newly arrived guest.
It was a girl, or at least she looked like one. You could never be sure with immortals.
She seemed to be around 16 years old. Her hair had the color of gilded copper, she had blood-red lips curled in a cruel smile, her eyes were solid gold but not like Kronos' but a more subtle shade and she had war paint on her face.
She wore a grey wolf's head over hair head, like a hoodie, and the rest of the wolf's skin hung over her back, like some kind of cape.
She was fully dressed in battle armor, though that didn't meant she was fully protected. She wore what looks like some kind of armor an Amazon would wear. Bronze-and-iron breastplate, leather skirt that didn't left much to the imagination, golden knee-high armored combat boots with red stripes on them that looked suspiciously like blood stains and bronze gauntlets.
Strapped to her back was a silvery sword that gave of a green glow and she had two daggers on her belt.
She looked like she was going to kill someone. However Nyx was hugging the newcomer tightly, "You came!" Nyx cried out as she was strangeling the girl.
"Yeah!" the newcomer said, "I was curious what all the fuss was about."
Nyx pulled back and turned to me, "Percy meet Lyssa, Lyssa meet Percy."
I offered my hand but Lyssa glared at me, "So this is the demigod you've been talking about?"
She said demigod like it was the most disgusting thing in the world. I frowned, "My name is Percy. Who are you."
I saw the girl's golden eyes roll over me, observing me like I was some kind of animal and she was estimating how long it would take for me to die.
As she studied me I met her gaze and unintentionally read her emotions, and she hated me.
Her stare was scary and made me want to run around and scream but I managed to suppress those strange feelings.
I had no idea why she hated me but I also knew that gods and goddesses don't need a reason to hate mortals.
I frowned and made a mental note to act extra kind towards Lyssa.
I shot her my kindest smile but she only glared. "My name is Lyssa and I'm not gonna touch your hand you mortal."
I frowned and lowered my hand, "Okay…"
"Lyssa, act nice." Nyx said glaring at Lyssa.
Lyssa returned the glare, "He's a demigod. There's no reason to act nice. Besides his eyes are green."
I frowned and wondered what was wrong with my eyes, "What's wrong with green?"
"He's not just a demigod." Nyx said accusingly, "He's my friend."
They began to discuss, throwing around words and soon they changed from English to a language I could not understand. It was definitely not Greek.
As I was staring uncomfortable at Nyx discussing with her, I assumed, daughter.
Hemera noticed me staring at the scene and pulled me back onto the couch. She shot me a nervous smile, "Don't worry about Lysas, she likes nobody except Nyx and the Maniae."
I frowned and tried to remember what or who the Maniae were, "Who is she?"
"She's the goddess of Madness, rage, fury and rabies." Hemera said.
My eyes widened, "say what?"
Hemera nodded, "Yes. I know. It sounds crazy."
I wondered if she realized the pun she made, "So she's your sister?"
It was hard to imagine Lyssa being the sister of Hemera, although most of Nyx's children were pretty terrifying and Hemera was one of the exceptions.
To my surprise Hemera shook her head, "No, she's my half sister. She was born out of the blood of Ouranos that rolled down into the realm of Nyx."
"Uh-m, you're saying-"
"Yes, I know," Hemera said and she sounded a bit worried. "It's weird and I guess you would rather not know the details right?"
I nodded, "Yes."
Then a question popped up in my mind. A question that had been lingering around for a long time but I never investigated.
"You know, I've noticed you nor Nyx ever mentions Erebos-"
The moment I said the name Hemera's eyes widened, "Don't."
I frowned, "Don't what?"
Hemera nervously glanced around, Nyx and Lyssa were still talking and Aether was still taping away at his iPad.
"Don't mention that name." Hemera whispered and shot me a warning look. "We don't mention his name and it's better if you don't."
I nodded, not wanting to anger Hemera. Though I was getting curious about Erebos. According to the legends Erebos was Nyx's husband but Nyx never talks about him nor did anyone else.
I couldn't help but feel a little bit better after Hemera told me that, though I was not sure why.
We waited for a few minutes and finally Nyx and Lyssa had stopped their discussion and made peace.
They strolled towards the couch and Nyx crashed down next to me, and summoned a diet coke and began drinking it.
Lyssa crashed down next to Aether, shot me a mean glare which made me shiver.
Then she turned to Aether and began tapping at Aether's iPad, resulting in him getting an Game over screen.
"Seriously?" Aether groaned.
"You're not allowed to break my highscore." Lyssa snarled.
"Sooo….." I began as Nyx tossed away the cola can, making it dissolve into darkness mid-air. "Is Lyssa going to kill me?"
Nyx shot me a smile, "Nope, she won't kill me."
That's great news, "So...why'd you invited her?" I asked.
Nyx frowned, "She's my daughter. I like her."
"It looked like you two were having quite a discussion."
"Yeah, we got a few difference. She thinks you're worthless, I think you're not." Nyx said casually, then her mood brightened.
"The others arrived." she said with a smirk and before I could ask what she meant two flashes appeared in the middle of the room.
I knew that the gods could flash to anywhere and that the whole flashing-to-the-middle-of-the-room thing was just for the drama. It clearly runs in the family.
Nyx touched my shoulder and shadow traveled me to the middle of the room (which was just a few yards away.)
In front of us stood 2 immortals, I recognized none of them.
The first one was a young woman. She had Nyx's pale look and gleaming eyes and a smile that would put a serial killer to shame. Not that it made her look unattractive, she had her mother's beauty but it was more cold and distant instead of playful. She wore her hair in a high ancient greek style ponytail and wore a volcanic black robes.
Next to her stood an old man, and when I say old I mean really old. It was like seeing a movie star from my mom's childhood. Once this guy might have been attractive and handsome but now he was old and shriveled, yet he still held a bit of his former glory.
He had white thing hair and blue piercing eyes. He wore a striped suit that would be perfect for a funeral, not for christmas.
He was heavily leaning on a wooden walking stick and for some reason I had the urge to kick it away so he would stumble.
"Eris!" Nyx cried out, "Geras! You guys made it."
Eris, suddenly I realized who the new guest were.
Eris was the goddess of strife, and also Nyx's daughter. She was the one who kicked of the Trojan war by throwing a golden apple with the message, for the prettiest.
Though it led to one of the bloodiest wars in history I had to admit the plan was quite brilliant.
The other dude was Geras, if my memories were correct he was the god of old age. Which would explain his appearance.
"Hi mom." Eris said cheerfully.
"Hello." said Geras, he spoke like old people did. Slowly and trembling. After he said hello he coughed so hard I expected him to cough up his own lungs.
Eris turned to me and offered me her hand, "Ah. and you must be Perseus Jackson."
I shook her hand,. "Call me Percy. And you are Eris?"
Eris smiled, clearly pleased I knew her name. Which wasn't hard since Nyx just called her that.
"Yes, the goddess of Strife. By the way, what you did to the Blemmyae?" Eris said and she let out a sigh, "I loved it."
"You saw it?" I asked frowning.
Eris shook her head. "I told her about it." Nyx admitted, "I thought it was pretty cool. We blew up an entire motel!"
She gave Geras a playful punch, which made him almost lose his balance and fall to the floor. "And Percy, this is Geras. God of Old age."
"Ahhh," Geras said, "The young demigod I've heard so much about it."
I felt a little bit unsure how to approach this man. Sure he was a god but he looked also old, was I supposed to call him sir?
"Yes sir." I said, hoping I didn't sound like a complete idiot.
Nyx threw her arm around me, "Don't call him Sir Percy."
Geras gave me a weaK smile, the smile a dying man would give his family members before passing out. "I'm not that old, I hope."
I blinked a few times, not sure if he was joking or not.
Luckily Nyx saved me, "So where's Thanatos and Hecate?" She asked Eris.
Eris snarled, "Thanatos couldn't come. Something about a lot of people dying during Christmas."
Nyx pouted. "That sucks, what about Hecate?"
Geras shrugged, `She told us she doesn't believe in Santa."
Eris grimaced, "Always with her head in the mist."
"You mean clouds?" I asked.
"Anyway." Nyx said and she clapped her hands, without even touching us, she teleported us to the couch.
I was not sure if the teleport had randomized all the seats but the layout was like this: Nyx, Aether and I shared a couch, Hemera and Eris shared one and Lyssa and Geras shared one.
The room interior had also rearranged itself, now the three couches were positioned around a rather large coffee table, none of the immortals seemed to be surprised by this. Maybe it was something Nyx did on a regular basis, must suck though.
Imagine being stuck on the toilet because Nyx decided to remove the door.
"So what are we going to do?" Eris said with a snarl, "I suggest we do a free for all."
"Yes!" Nyx agreed, "It's going to be a blood bad."
I frowned, "Wait, you said-"
Lyssa reached for the sword on her back (how can you sit on a couch with a sword strapped to your back?) and grinned at me, "Oh this is going to be fun."
"MOM?" Hemera asked unsure and even Eris looked concerned by the thought of a free for all.
Nyx only gave us an sinister smile she waved her hand, on the coffee table a dark form began to materialize, at first it was shapeless but slowly it began to reform into something solid.
"It's gonna be all or nothing," Nyx continued and she finally snapped her finger.
The dark shadow's pulled themselves away from the object on the table.
"Let the battle begin." Nyx whispered as the shadows finally revealed….a box with written on it with black shiny letters:
Monopoly
I blinked,
Nyx grinned,
Hemera coughed uncomfortable,
Lyssa glared at me,
"Well?" Nyx asked with anticipation.
We all glanced at the box with confusion and...well, more confusion.
"I've seen this once before, when I was a young fellow." Geras said.
Lyssa punched him, "What is this mom? I thought I got to kill-"
She didn't finish her sentence but her glare told me who would be on the number on spot on the to kill list.
Eris grinned, "Is this what I think it is?"
"Monopoly?" Hemera said studying the box, "It's a mortal board game right?"
Nyx nodded, "Yes. Apparently doing stupid board games is part of the christmas tradition."
Eris snatched the box of the table and hugged it, "I know this game!" she cried out. "
She grinned wildly, "Does any of you how many family fights these board games start?"
"They do?" Lyssa asked.
Eris grinned, "Yes, just google Murdered over Monopoly one time and you'll learn how evil this game is."
Aether frowned, "Can't we just pla-"
"I want to play it!" Lyssa said clapping excitedly, "Who knows this will ends with dead."
"So you want us to play it?" I asked Nyx and she nodded.
"So how does this game work?" Hemera asked.
Nyx pulled open the box and took out the instruction manual.
"Let me read this through." Nyx mumbled as she started reading the instructions.
"I know how to play this game," I said and pointed at the metal tokens, "Everyone has to choose one."
"I want the car." Geras said and reached out for the race car but before he could grab the car it dissolves into shadows and re-appeared in Nyx's hand. "Mine." she snarled.
"I take the dog," Hemera said, "It looks cute."
"I want the Top Hat." Geras said. "And I am the oldest so I can pick first."
He noticed Nyx's glare and quickly added, "After mom of course."
After a long discussion we could finally start to play the game, which raised a couple problems before we finished the first round around the board.
"You can't buy anything when you are the first lap." Geras insisted, "Those were the original rules."
"The rules don't mention anything about the first round." Nyx mumbled while reading the game instructions.
"So I can buy the railroad." Eris grinned.
"No you can't!" Geras shot back.
I sighed, this was going to take a while.
(45 minutes later)
"It's not fair!" Eris cried out, "Hemera and Aether are teaming against me!"
"Oh, you think that's bad!" Hemera shot back, "Aether pukes in his nose!"
"Hey!" Aether shrieked while Geras laughed at him.
"Let me just kill Percy and you get my out of jail card." Lyssa offered Eris.
'No!" Nyx shot back, "You can't give those away, that's against the rules."
"What about the killing me part?" I asked.
"You are in jail," Nyx comforted me. "She can't kill you unless she lands on go to jail or
throwing three consecutive doubles in one turn."
She threw away another coke can, "Where's the dice?"
The moment she asked it something appeared on the table, it dropped right out of the air and landed on the monopoly board.
It looked like a metal football, it had around the size of a regular football but it was made of a dark metal and had glowing green lines all over it.
We all stared dumbfounded at the new object that had literally crashed our game.
Then it suddenly spun around on and revealed a hole shaped like a pipe.
Before I realized what was going on the pipe extended outwards, like a gun barrel.
Then I realized it was aimed at me.
A Psssst sound came from the metal ball along with a metal ticking sound,
'A bomb.' I realized and my shield sprung to life.
Just in time; a concentrated beam of green gas shot from the metal ball, directly aimed at my face.
I held my breath, trying not to inhale whatever it was.
Around me everyone jumped up from the couch and weapons appeared in their hands, they all stared at the metal ball.
Geras, who hadn't jumped up, smashed the ball with his walking stick. The ball broke into several metal parts, revealing the insides of the ball. Metal wires and hydraulic pumps were revealed along with other parts I didn't recognized.
Nyx waved her hand and the green gas immediately dissolved into the air, she gasped for air.
"It's save!" She announced and I released my breath, finally breathing fresh air.
My shield turned back into an ice watch and stared at the metal ball, trying to figure out what happened, only one thing was clear.
This was supposed to kill me, or at least harm me.
Suddenly a scream erupted behind me, I turned around and saw Aether lying on the floor, his eyes were wide and filled with horror and fixed at something only he could see.
He was squirming in his place, breathing heavily and screaming his lungs out, sweat streamed over his forehead and his mouth wide, gasping for air.
As he screamed in terror flames erupted around the room, they were not regular flames but brighter than any flames I've seen.
I waved my hand and the flames disappeared but Aether was still in a state of panic.
Hemera hurried over to her husband and knelt down next to the screaming Primordial.
"Aether, stop!" Hemera cried out as she grabbed Aether's hand, trying to comfort her.
Aether calmed down a little but he was still looking at something invisible, "The sky," he whispered with dread in his voice. "It burns."
Hemera turned to Nyx who was frozen in shock, "What was that gas?"
Gas, Aether had breathed in the gas. Whatever it was, the gas must have caused some kind of panic attack with hallucinations.
Nyx grabbed the broken device from the table and sniffed it. Which would've been funny wasn't it for the screaming primordial.
"What is it?" Eris asked as she warrily stepped forward. Nyx poked a few times at the device and pushed away a few wires which revealed a vial.
The vial was small, not bigger than a Kitkat, it was almost empty except for a small layer of green liquid. Nyx poured down a few drops of the liquid on her finger tips and licked it.
Her shining eyes widened and she turned to Hemera. "You need to bring him to Apollo," she
Tossed Hemera the vial, "Tell him toto reverse the effects of this liquid."
Hemera nodded determined and both primordials disappeared with a bright flash.
"Is he going to be alright?" I asked worried.
Nyx gave me a shaky nod, "I hope so."
"What was that stuff?" Lyssa asked Nyx, glancing at the spot where Aether had flashed awau.
Nyx glanced at Lyssa, her shining eyes flared brightly and shadows in the room became restless and began to swirl around their queen.
A shadow formed in Nyx's hand and solidified into a dagger.
Eris flinched, "Mom?"
Geras grabbed his walking stick and glanced nervously at Nyx while Lyssa didn't seem to be impressed at all.
"What?"
"You!" Nyx said threateningly, "You made that ball."
Lyssa laughed then her expression turned serious., "What!?"
Geras stepped away from Lyssa and Eris followed, giving Lyssa the spotlight of Nyx's attention.
"Wait," I said, "What do you mean Nyx?"
Nyx kept glaring at Nyx, "Do you know what was inside that vial?"
"Gas?" Eris guessed.
"Green gas?" Geras tried.
Nyx grimaced, "A fear inducing liquid, one heated up it turns into gas."
"Fear?" Lyssa guessed, "You mean-"
"That Aether is now in a constant state of fear." Nyx said gripping her dagger tighter, "Some would even call it madness."
Suddenly it struck me, "Wait you mean Lyssa made that boll."
"That's ridiculous." Lyssa huffed but she sounded unsure.
Geras raised his walking stick, a sharp knife shot out of the bottom, turning it into a spear.
"You're the one who hates Percy the most." Geras said, speaking with an old voice that made me want him to narrate the full terms and conditions of apple software.
Lyssa stumbled, "Wait this insane." she giggled, "Insane."
"Which is something you are known for." Eris snarled.
Lyssa realized that Nyx was serious and her expression changed, "Look, I didn't summoned that gas ball."
As she said that I felt a tugging sensation in my stomach, it was not really something I felt physically but more emotionally.
Although I had no idea where the feeling came from I knew one thing; Lyssa was telling the truth. I easily could swear it on the Styx (wasn't it for the fact Styx was mad at me), that was how sure I felt.
But why?
Then it struck me, something that had happened just a few days ago.
Apollo had blessed me, using my Athena brain [No not owl brain!] I tried to figure out the connection. When an memory popped up.
Apollo was the god of truth.
'It must be a new power,' I thought. Honestly, sensing if someone tells the truth sounded pretty cool. I glanced at Lyssa who was now starting to realize no one believed her.
'You should not tell her.' a voice said in my head, 'She doesn't deserve your help.'
Nyx was gripping the dagger tighter, she was clearly affected by what happened, I could tell that without trying to read her emotions.
'No, I have to tell her.' I thought and I stepped forward and grabbed Nyx's shoulder. She turned around, clearly annoyed.
"What?" she sneered.
"She is innocent." I said, "She didn't summon the ball."
"What?" Lyssa asked, then she realized I was actually helping her and nodded encouragingly, "Yes! I didn't attack Aether nor Percy." She cried out.
"Nonsens," Geras said, "Madness and fear are your domains!"
Nyx gave me a skeptical look, "Percy, that ball could only be summoned by someone in this room, that is one of the rules in my house."
I hoped she meant magical rules and normal rules, otherwise that argument.
"Lyssa must have done it," Geras said, "She tried to kill you."
Again I felt that strange feeling, now I recognized it.
Geras was lying.
I took out Riptide and uncapped it and summoned Frostsilver in my other hand.
"What are you doing?" Nyx asked uncertain while Eris just grinned, clearly loving this.
I slowly rose my sword to Geras' throat.
I stared into his eyes and tried to read his emotions, immediately a surge of hate filled my heart.
I grinned, "I think I know who made that ball."
"Who?" Nyx asked confused, then her eyes widened. "Wait, you're kidding right? Geras is to much of a mommy boy."
"He did it."I insisted.
Lyssa slowly stepped closer to me, "Geras? You did this."
"I'm loving this," Eris grinned, "But in case you guys want to know, Geras did it."
Geras stumbled backwards, his walking stick rose from the ground.
"What are you guys talking about?" Geras protested. Lyssa drew her sword and glared at Geras, "So you wanted to put the blame on me?"
"Mom!" Geras cried out but Nyx was frozen on her spot. "I don't get it." She muttered.
Eris smirked, "Well, I'm not sure why but Geras is certainly guilty." she sniffed the air. "I can smell the eny. The moment Percy said you did it I realized the smell came from you and not from Lyssa."
Geras began to tremble, "She's lying."
Nyx knitted her eyebrows and stepped closer to us, her expression was stern. "You made the gas meant to harm Percy."
Geras grinned.
Wait, what?
He leaped forward, his walking stick now had a spear point and was aimed at my throat.
I was caught of guard, blame me.
He just looked so old and fragile, that I never thought he could even jump. Let alone attack me.
As the spear was about to hit my throat it was parried by a long silver sword.
Lyssa had parried the sword and pushed the spear to the ground and jumped forward. She kicked Geras in the nuts, Geras let out a howl of pain, which paralyzed Lyssa but as Lyssa was about to kick him again she suddenly slowed down like she was stuck in slow motion.
Eris was laughing hysterically and didn't seemed to be bothered by the fact that her siblings were fighting.
Geras had managed to grab his walking stick while Lyssa was stuck in slow motion.
As Geras touched the walking stick it turned into a kitchen knife.
He aimed the knife and...suddenly froze in his movement. A void black dagger had pinned itself in his forehead.
Geras gasped, his shriveled mouth opened itself, trying to scream but nothing came out.
Then he disappeared, there was no flash or bang, the dagger dropped to the ground and I swear it sparkled for a second, then it flew back to Nyx's hand.
Nyx stared at the dagger in her hand and a memorie popped up.
The dagger was made of solidified void Nyx had told me that the dagger was a void that wanted to be filled. A wound inflicted by Nyx's blade would never heal unless she wanted it, and every life taken by the blade will be a perma death. According to Nyx it could even kill immortals.
And now it had taken the life of Geras, the god of old age.
Lyssa was released from the time spell and jumped to her feet, "I killed him!" She cried out with joy.
Eris had stopped laughing and stared at Nyx, "Does this mean what I think it means?" she asked.
Nyx slowly nodded, still staring at the blade. "He's dead. Permanently."
I stepped closer to Nyx, I saw how bad she felt for killing Geras and lowered the blade in her hand.
"You did what was right." I said and I tried to fill Nyx with hope.
"Just one question." Lyssa said, "Why did Geras tried to kill Percy?"
Eris grinned, "Well, turns out Geras was a big mommie boy and was jealous of Percy."
"Why would Geras be jealous of me?" I wondered.
Eris chuckled, "Come on. Use your little brain demigod."
"Enough." Nyx interrupted and she glanced at Eris. "Geras is no longer my son, thus we will not speak about him anymore."
Lyssa grinned, "I have no problem with that."
Eris shrugged, "Me neither."
Nyx turned to me, "Percy, I'm going to bring you home," she then turned to Lyssa and Eris, "You two try to find out how Geras got that fear gas."
"Yeah, we will interrogate Geras." Eris snarled, "Oh, wait. We can't. You should've tortured him instead of giving him a quick death."
Nyx knitted her eyebrows, "That might be a problem."
Then her expression changed, "Well girls, say goodbye to Percy."
Eris gave me a wink and disappeared with a flash.
Lyssa on the other hand avoided my gaze and stared at the floor.
"Lyssa," Nyx said on a motherly tone, "Don't you want to say something?"
Lyssa slowly looked up and muttered under her breath, "Sorry."
Nyx frowned, "I didn't hear you."
Lyssa stared into my eyes, "Sorry Percy."
"Don't worry." I said, "It's nothing."
Lyssa gave me a small smile, "So we are cool?"
I grinned, "Yes we are cool."
She smiled and suddenly gave me a hug and I almost dropped to the floor, "Thanks Percy for helping."
She stepped back, "Well, I like you, despite your green eyes."
"Green eyes?" I wondered, "What's wrong with my green eyes?"
She grinned, "Nothing, though they have a spark of madness in them."
"Definitely." Nyx agreed.
"Wait, what do you guys mean?"
Lyssa gave me the smile of someone who lost their mind, "Nyx told me about your plan. Your plan is complete madness. I like it."
I turned to Nyx, "You told her?"
"About the suicide you planned?" Nyx said innocently, "I might have asked for a second opinion,"
"And will it work?" I asked Lyssa.
Lyssa shrugged then stepped back and gave me a military salute, "Cya!"
She stepped back and fell through the floor, like she was a ghost.
"Well, that was useful."
Nyx grabbed my hand and my world dissolve into darkness. A moment later we stood in front of a five-story brick row house.
It was really dark outside, I glanced at my watch and saw it was already past midnight.
"Shit, Mom is going to kill me." I muttered.
Nyx grimaced, "Well, If you can survive gas you can survive Sally too right?"
I smiled, "Trust me, the house of night is nothing compared to my mother when I'm late."
Nyx chuckled, "Well you better get inside."
She turned around to walk away but I grabbed her hand just in time, "wait!"
Nyx turned around and looked at me a bit annoyed, I saw how tired she was from everything that had happened tonight.
"What's wrong Percy."
I grinned and summoned my backpack in my free hand.
"Close your eyes." I demanded.
Nyx frowned but nonetheless closed her eyes.
I unzipped the backpack and took out a black box and handed it to Nyx.
"Open your eyes." I said.
She opened her eyes and stared at the box, "What is this?"
"A christmas present." I said smiling, "open it."
She blushed, "Oh, but."
"Come on, you love presents." I said and she grinned, she opened the black wooden box something wrapped in plastic.
She unwrapped the plastic excitedly and revealed a silver bracelet.
The bracelet was made of silver rings and nothing special except for a small shining diamond in the middle.
Nyx gasped and stared at me with awe.
"You like it?" I asked unsure, I was really worried she might not like it but honestly I knew that Nyx could by (read steal) everything she wanted. I had decided to go with jewelry as this always pleased immortals.
Nyx shot me a warm smile. "I love it."
Then she turned red, "But Percy, I don't have a gift for you."
I chuckled, "you don't have to-"
"Wait!" Nyx said and she gave me a wide grin.
"Close your eyes!"
I frowned but nonetheless followed her command.
As I had my eyes closed I felt Nyx stepping closer to me.
Suddenly I felt something warm pressed onto my lips, it was soft and wet but pleasant and it filled me with warmth.
My eyes shot open and my brain tried to comprehend what was going on.
As my eyes adjusted to the darkness I noticed nothing was going on. Instead, I was standing on the sidewalk alone.
I blinked a few times, trying to think of what the Hades just happened.
Did she just…
No she wouldn't...right?
I blinked a few times, just to be sure. Maybe it was my imagination, I opened my backpack and tried to call out for Nyx's bracelet but it was gone.
So does this mean…
I shook my head and sighed, feeling frustrated and satisfied all at the same time.
I turned around and entered the my house.
This was certainly a night to remember.
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