He slowly turned as the soft steps came as the door opened to reveal none other than Raven, his daughter's icy blue eyes glowing within the gloom of the cabin.
"Papa…" she murmured softly as she approached him.
...
He didn't question it as she walked up until she could lean against him and bury her face into his chest, instead merely wrapping his arms around her and rubbing circles into her back. He felt her nuzzle into it for a moment before pulling back to look up at him.
"What is it sweetheart?" he asked as he raised a hand to her head and gently ran his fingers through her hair making her relax somewhat even as her gaze fell at his question.
"Mama said we should leave you alone for a bit but we really need you back on the mountain," she replied as she looked back up at him.
"We?" he asked.
Raven nodded as her eyes gained a more serious intensity. "It's Athena … Cloelia's getting worse and Athena isn't doing much better."
"Worse?" he asked as he stopped trailing his hands through her hair, his eyes narrowing at this news.
"Will did another scan and Cloelia's starting to show signs of Essence Decay," Raven answered as she took a step back. "The way she integrated your essence from the curse on Riptide was patchwork at best and it's starting to pull apart at the seams."
Percy clenched his fist as he took a deep breath to steady himself looking to his daughter.
"How long?" he asked, dreading the answer but needing to know as he already started to visualize Will's clinic.
Raven's face fell as she answered, "A week at best, a couple of days at worst."
Percy held back a curse as he instead nodded as he heard that before asking, "And Athena?"
That got a grimace from his daughter but she answered nonetheless.
"It's bad. Medusa tried to take her back to their house but Athena wouldn't leave and then found out about Cloelia. She hasn't slept since and won't leave Cloelia's side no matter what we say and we don't want things getting physical." Raven then paused as she glanced around for a moment before returning her gaze to him. "And … she tried healing Cloelia herself."
"What!?" Percy asked sharply which only made Raven jump. He tried to calm down, just managing as he gave a frustrated sigh as he ran a hand through his hair. "That idiot, is she trying to get herself killed?" he griped as he thought on the goddess.
Athena was still linked to the bounds of The West and so was out of her territory while on the mountain meaning she couldn't even recover her divine power but was slowly losing it. She'd already been low to begin with thanks to the state she was captured in and her attempts at initial escape with flaring her power in large bursts. Eating ambrosia and nectar while limiting the use of divine power to near zero did more to stall the loss than actually recover.
But no! The goddess had to go and try divine healing even when she was in no condition to even think about it. An agitated growl rumbled within the confines of his chest as he looked at his worried daughter and asked, "Why am I only now learning about this?"
"Because we were trying to handle it but she's been either ignoring us or asking about you the moment she failed to heal Cloelia," Raven responded.
He looked at his daughter for a few moments, mildly upset that she didn't come to him or one of the other council members sooner. However he could understand that they were only trying to help and tried to handle things on their own first before looking for help.
"She hasn't tried a transfer of power has she?" he asked.
Raven quickly shook her head in the negative.
"Good. Then let's go before she gets desperate enough to change that," he instructed as he held out his hand to his daughter who took it immediately.
Sparing one last glance around the cabin he promised himself to return and check the other cabins before both disappearing in a burst of shadow, the world distorting into shards of darkness and greys for some seconds. They appeared in another burst of shadow right at the entrance to the clinic. The moment his feet were grounded he took off in a brisk walk, Raven right behind him, as he entered.
He barely spared the greeting attendants a moment as he made his way to the stairs and up, flying up the steps and entering the hall holding Cloelia's room. As he approached he noticed Medusa standing just outside the closed door and leaning against the frame, her gaze turned towards him as he got closer.
"She's waiting," she said as she softly opened the door and gestured in, her own face marred with worry as he nodded to her and did just that.
While outside there was a general hum of activity as nurses and visitors moved around, the occasional doctors passing as they made check-ups, inside the room it was nearly silent. In fact the only consistent sound was that of the heartbeat monitor and a newly placed oxygen mask over Cloelia's face.
Seeing the godling made Percy pause as he took in how different a little less than 24 hours had made. While before Cloelia had been pale and sometimes breaking into a cold sweat, now it was as if she was starting to dry out. Percy could make out cracks in her skin that weren't near the curse's effect and the baby-fat of her cheeks was less pronounced. He also spotted IV connected to her now having a diluted bag of nectar steadily dripping the nourishing fluid into her system.
"Perseus."
The call of his name ripped his attention from the child to the only other person in the room, his black-flaming eyes meeting the dulled steel gaze of Athena. She was dressed in the same shirt and shorts from the night before but that was all that remained untouched. Her skin looked clammy and her hair was splitting at the ends as it spilled over her slouched shoulders, the tear tracks and puffiness of her eyes standing out from her fair skin.
She was sitting in a chair pulled right against Cloelia's bed, one of her hands clasped in the godling's nearly black one as she adjusted to facing him while he walked closer until he was level with the foot of the bed. They stared at each other for some time, seemingly weighing what they wanted to say before she finally broke the silence.
"Will you save her?"
Her voice was low and carried a slight croak, her eyes searching his even as he saw the plead within them. However he could not give her an answer, not yet anyways.
"I'm not sure," he said gently but that wasn't what the goddess wanted.
"Not sure?" she all but hissed as her eyes hardened. "What is there to be not sure about?" she asked as she turned her body in the chair to face him fully. "You have the power to do it and don't lose anything so why?"
"It isn't my choice alone," he retorted, his tone getting icy.
"Like hell it isn't! You're the goddamn king, who's going to stop you?" she snarled, her empty right hand clenching as she glared at him.
"This isn't Olympus," Percy answered as he looked down at the angry goddess. "Here we don't just do whatever we please and expect everyone else to deal with the consequences."
Athena scuffed at him before her eyes narrowed as her frame started to gain a slight glow, an angry crackle of static filling the air around her. Feeling the change in her Percy's eyes darkened as he looked at the goddess.
"Athena, calm down right now … or else," he ordered, the deep growl within his voice causing a tremble in the very air around him as Athena paused.
However whatever hesitation she had was shoved aside with her persisting anger as she clenched her jaw hard enough for him to hear her teeth grinding as her power continued to rise.
"You're not so different from them," she said, her voice low and harsh as her eyes started to glow as if the steel of her eyes was being superheated.
"If she were anyone else, born to anyone else, you would have already saved her but no. Because of who her parents are, because you were the spurned lover, you're not sure," she mocked as the air around her started to get heavy, the cracking of tiles beneath her getting a glance from Percy. "And what? Your pack of bitches don't want to save her either or are they yo-ack!"
Whatever she was going to say was cut off as Percy closed in on her in a blink, his right hand wrapping around her throat and giving a squeeze. Athena chocked up as her hands came up to grab his wrist on reflex, her eyes widening as she looked at his. The moment her hands were off Cloelia they were swallowed in a wave of shadow, their world distorting in darkness and cold before they burst out the other way.
With a flick he tossed the goddess back, making her stumble and fall over onto the grass of the Temple Garden below her. With another flick of his wrist Percy erected another barrier, one meant to contain noise and sight as the goddess coughed while getting to her feet.
...
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