Chapter Text
Word had gotten around that Percy was dead.
There was a new Law in place at Camp Half-Blood—if you visit Sally Jackson, don’t mention her son. Just don’t do it. It’s easier that way; easier to keep the secret from her, easier to let her mourn on her own. The sad look that crossed her face whenever one of Percy’s stories was told was never worth the potential soft smile at the end.
Jason stood in front of the Blofis apartment, fist poised to knock. Was this a bad idea? This was a bad idea, wasn’t it?
He’d tried forgiving and forgetting. Gods, he’d tried so hard. More than a few times, Jason had reached a point where he thought maybe he was ready to let Piper go, and each time he’d failed. All it took was one glance at Leo, following Calypso around like a lost, lovestruck puppy, for the bitterness to dig its claws back into his heart. Laughter coming from the Aphrodite cabin would have his hurt rearing its head, desperate to know how they could have moved on so quickly. Each mention of the war was like a needle under his skin.
The smart thing to do would be to get in touch with Reyna, Frank, and Hazel, and find a place in New Rome. The smart thing to do would be to stop spending his free time at the beach in hopes Percy would show up again so Jason could lash out at him. The smart thing to do would be to honor Piper’s memory and move forward, no matter how hard it was.
Jason wasn’t doing the smart thing.
He knocked once, twice, three times.
Behind the door, voices sprung to life, followed shortly by footsteps that grew louder and closer. A pause and a chain clink later saw Jason face to face with Percy’s mom. “Mrs. Blofis,” he started. “My name is Jason Grace. I was one of the demigods who went to the Ancient Lands with—“ He cleared his throat as her face grew sad. “I wanted to offer my condolences. Percy was…a great guy, and…I just—it’s hard, losing someone like that, and—if you need anything, please, let me know. It’s the least I can do.”
“Oh, thank you, honey.” Sally gave him a small, polite smile. “How did you end up on that quest?“ She asked.
Jason scratched at the little scar on his lip. “That’s, uh, a long story. I was the one who went missing from the Roman Camp, the way he did here. And—a lot happened.”
“Why don’t you come in for a snack?” She asked. “I’d love to hear about how you two met.”
Jason’s heart leapt in his chest. “Are you sure? I don’t want to impose—”
“Oh, of course.” Sally ushered him inside. “I have a fresh batch of cookies, and no one to share them with. Please, I insist.” Jason stepped over the threshold with a nod. Triumph settled in his chest. Sally didn’t know why he was really here, probably wouldn’t have invited him in if she did, but Jason’s mission was going well.
From farther inside the apartment, someone said, “No one to share cookies with?” Sally rolled her eyes and rested a hand on her stomach.
“Oh, you know what I meant, Paul.” Jason had a feeling she meant, no demigod son to share them with. There was a clear empty space where Percy had once inhabited. “Come meet one of Percy’s friends!” Percy’s stepdad, Paul, bounced his way into the sitting room, newborn baby Estelle on his hip.
Estelle did not look happy to be awake. Her thick tuft of hair was sticking up every which way, and her chubby little face was bunched up in an approximation of a scowl. Her dad and her ocean blue onesie had drool on them, as did the rattle in her hand.
Jason stopped in his tracks at the sight of it. Sally followed his gaze and chuckled. “Poseidon must have slipped in to the hospital,” she explained. “Stella’s refused to let that rattle go.”
Poseidon, right. They didn’t know. They couldn’t tell the difference. That rattle radiated power, and it wasn’t Poseidon’s. Where Poseidon’s power would swell and recede like the waves, this was like an onslaught. The intent behind the blessing on the rattle was clear: to seek out enemies, and make them suffer. To make anyone who hurt the people it protected regret…well, everything, probably.
Jason had to hope that blessing didn’t extend to Percy himself. He grinned weakly. “He must be looking after you.”
Sally’s smile grew. “He must be.” Jason took a deep breath and steadied himself.
He wasn’t going to stop now.
Something slammed into Jason from behind, knocking him face first into the wall of the amphitheater. “What are you doing?” Percy hissed. Jason grunted and tried to push off of the wall, but Percy had a hand flat on his back, and an arm across his neck. He wouldn’t be moving until he was allowed. “I swear to the gods, if you’ve hurt them in any way—“
“Hurt them?” Jason tried to shake his head. It didn’t exactly work as well as it could have. “No. I just want to hurt you.”
Percy let go and backed up. “Explain that to me,” he demanded. “I won’t let you use my family to get leverage on me.”
Jason turned to look at him. Percy’s poison green eyes bored into him, intent and angry and murderous enough that Jason knew the wrong answer meant death. The very air around the two of them was thick and still and heavy and expectant.
This was an answer he wanted to give. Jason laughed bitterly. “This isn’t about leverage. It’s not about hurting your family. It’s all about you. You woke Gaea up. By proxy, you killed Piper. You took her from me, from her siblings and her parents. Now, I didn’t take your family from you—but something tells me it kills you to stay away, just like it kills me to have this empty space where Piper should be.”
Jason took a brave step forward. “I’m helping your family. I’m giving your mom a connection to the world you lived in. I’m watching your little sister when your parents go out. I’m stopping by with a flower here and there to try and cheer Sally up. I’m being a friend. I’m being present in their lives in a way you never can be again, in a way Piper will never be in my life again.”
Percy had been tense and wired for a fight, but once Jason spoke, he relaxed. Why? He wasn’t supposed to be chill, he was supposed to be hurt. He was supposed to feel how Jason felt. He was supposed to mourn, and rage, and ache.
“You want me to know how you feel. You want me to feel how you feel.” Percy shook his head. “I do. I do feel it, and you know it. This? With my family? You aren’t trying to get even. You’re rubbing salt on a wound because you can, because you want it to make you feel better.” Percy stalked closer, pinning Jason to the wall again, this time facing him.
“Here’s what’s going to happen,” Percy said. “You’re going to keep it up. You’re going to be a friend to Mom, and Paul, and little Estelle. You keep doing exactly what you’re doing, but this time? Your goal isn’t to hurt me. It’s to keep them safe. I have protections in place, but they can’t beat actively being there, watching over them. The Blofis’ safety is your job now, and if anything happens to them?”
Percy had always had an air of danger about him. He had always made Jason just a little uneasy, like the thought of being alone in the ocean, above an abyss, unable to see below him but certain there were predators waiting. His gaze had a physical weight, a pressure, like being leagues under the sea. There was always some instinct in the back of his head, warning Jason that the ocean’s deadliest predator was nearby.
Now, it was like he’d taken that hint of danger, that little whisper, and amplified it. Jason’s nerves were screaming at him to run, to hide, to get somewhere safe. That pressure intensified, pushing down on him, locking his limbs in place. The abyss below him had opened up, unleashed the worst predators it had, and they were all jetting right for Jason.
“If anything happens to Sally, or Paul, or Estelle, that you could have prevented? I will make you wish for death. I’ll draw it out as long as I damn well please. I’ll make Misery’s death look quick and easy, and when I finally do kill you, I’ll spend eternity keeping you from Piper.” Fear danced up Jason’s nerves like lightning. “Whether I drag your soul to Tartarus myself, or convince her to try rebirth, or get Hades involved...“ Percy shrugged. “I’m creative. I’ll surely figure something out. Are we understood?”
Jason swallowed hard and nodded.
He wouldn’t have hurt them. He knew with everything in him that that hadn’t been an option. He wasn’t capable of hurting innocent people just to get revenge. But he wouldn’t have protected them, either. He would have used them, and left. Now? Jason thought perhaps his point had gotten across. Percy would never show his hurt, especially not if he considered Jason an enemy, but he couldn’t hide all of it.
He couldn’t hide his white-knuckled grip on the pen in his hand. He couldn’t hide how the wind had picked up, just a little, the second Jason had started talking. He hadn’t been able to hide his fear that Jason would hurt his family.
He’d laid the ball in Percy’s court, and it had been received. Percy had just spiked it back.
This would end here. The Blofises were his to protect.