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Collections/Challenges: Whumptober, Day 28 (+ 29)
Prompt(s): “I could always see straight through you.”, “I hope you see the sun someday in the darkness.” | Last One Standing
Character(s): Jason, Percy, mentioned—Annabeth
Rating: Teen
Summary: Zeus tried to kill him, it’s the only thing Jason can think until he’s back to camp.
Zeus tried to strike him down with lightning—him. His own son. His own flesh and blood. Like it wasn’t a big deal. Like Jason was nothing more than a pesky fly in his ear, annoying and useless.
But he failed. Jason deflected it.
He failed.
————————————————————
Jason was still high on adrenaline.
He ignored the looks he got from his fellow campers, brushed off the questions about his singed shirt. They didn’t need to know what had just transpired between Jason and his father. They didn’t need to know that the king of the gods had tried to murder his own son and failed.
(Another spike of adrenaline shot through his body at the reminder and a pleasant shiver wracked his body.)
He reached his cabin in no time, the door clicking shut behind him, bathing the room in darkness. Jason’s fingers were still tingling with leftover electricity, heart still pumping like he’d just finished a marathon.
He kept thinking back to the look on his father’s face. The horror. The fear.
Gods, it was exhilarating.
It was clear to him that something had snapped within himself. A tension, his morals, the very thing holding him back, gone. He felt free—freer than he ever had before.
His brain was working a million miles a minute, endless possibilities flashing in his mind. He absentmindedly chucked his shirt into a corner (conveniently, the same corner Zeus’s statue stood loud and proud) grabbing another out of his dresser drawers. He pulled it over his head, dully noting the static shocks spanning his entire torso.
Jason escaped death. Redirected a bolt of lightning shot by the very king of the gods himself.
If he could do that…what else could he do?
He looked down at his hands, summoning small bursts of lightning. He watched the blue light dance between his fingers, caressing every digit with a tingling sensation accompanied by a barely there warmth.
Jason knew how important electricity was to the human body. Electricity was the key component keeping everything together and running smoothly. Electricity sent signals to your brain. Electricity told your body what to do and when to do it. Electricity made everything possible.
Jason wondered if he could control that—wondered how far he could take it. If he managed to fine tune his powers enough, could he interrupt the signals sent from someone’s brain? Could he change those signals, forcing someone to do something completely different?
He’d be unstoppable if he could, and the very thought made him dizzy with desire. He could effectively brainwash anyone he wanted, control them like a puppet on strings.
He thought about air next. It was one of the most important things humans needed to survive. Breathing was a bare necessity. Oxygen. The lack of which would kill you so much faster than the lack of anything else (except, you know, blood.).
What would the average person do if he just stole the air right out of their lungs? What would they do if filled their lungs up with so much air that they popped like balloons? What if he stopped the wind-flow over their vocal cords, silencing them until he decided otherwise? What if he compressed the oxygen in their throat, choking them alive despite the fact that there was nothing blocking their airway?
It was a trick question; they wouldn’t be able to do anything.
The possibilities were endless, the fear that had been holding him back was gone. Snapped like a rubber band. All he could think about was everything he’d held back on—everything he’d been told was evil.
Was it really evil, or was it just unknown?
He was still thinking about the logistics, the potential for his powers, when he heard a knock at the door. He walked over absentmindedly, opening it with faraway eyes, nothing but half-crazed ideas on his mind.
It was Percy.
He looked relaxed yet confused, hands held loosely in his pockets, an easy smile settled on his face despite his eyes pinching together.
Jason grinned sharply, his eyes darkening ever so slightly. “Jackson.” He greeted with a nod.
“Grace.” A nod back.
Jason stepped outside without being asked, shutting the door behind him. He kept walking past Percy, beckoning him to follow Jason down the steps. He was heading straight for the forest they always used for capture the flag—somewhere private but still close by.
Percy didn’t seem to mind, following him without a word.
“What brings you here?” He asked slowly, already suspecting that Percy knew something happened. He’d been with him when he was summoned to Olympus; he must know shit went down while Jason was gone.
“Just a few rumours, Leo said your shirt was full of holes when you came back.” His tone was light, easy. He clearly didn’t mind the walk and internally, Jason was grateful.
He didn’t want an audience anyway.
Jason brought himself back to the conversation, grinning. “That it was.”
Percy hummed knowingly, kicked a rock and sent it flying. They were still a minute away from the trees, and they spent the rest of the walk in silence.
When they finally arrived, heading a short distance into the foliage, Jason stopped. Percy turned to him, shifted on his feet, glanced back towards camp. Jason didn’t move, only watched the other demigod with the same grin he had on earlier.
Percy finally sighed, bringing his arms up across his chest. “What happened on Olympus, Jason?”
Jason’s grin got wider, almost manic. “Oh you know, the usual.”
Percy raised an eyebrow. Jason continued. “Zeus tried to kill me.”
Percy’s jaw dropped to the floor and Jason snickered quietly, the shocked expression on his face was a lot funnier than he probably intended it to be.
“Zeus tried to what?” Percy demanded, blinking a few times like that would help his brain process faster. Jason felt something warm and fuzzy in his chest at the demigods outrage on his behalf.
“You heard me right. He shot a lightning bolt at me; but I deflected it.” He chuckled at the memory, even if it was only an hour ago. “You should’ve seen his face, Percy. Gods, that was priceless.”
Above him the sky rumbled, almost like Zeus himself was warning him not to say anything else. Jason didn’t care though, only felt the same intoxicating thrill shooting through his body that he had earlier. Buzzing and delicious. Like his very blood had been infused with the sweetest liquor known to man.
Across from him, Percy looked like he was torn between looking horrified or impressed.
“And… what happened after that?” He asked tentatively, like he was ready for Jason to admit that he blew up the throne room.
“I left.”
Percy let out a relived sigh, nodding slowly. His eyes flicked from Jason up to the sky, and back to Jason. “And what about him?”
“Don’t know,” Jason shrugged. “Don’t care. He tried to kill me, as far as I’m concerned, he doesn’t exist.”
Once again the sound of thunder filled the sky despite the clear weather. Percy winced; Jason smiled like a psychopath, his nerves tingling with anticipation.
“You don’t actually mean that.” Percy said, clearly trying to keep Jason from getting smote. Jason laughed loudly at that, was still laughing when he responded with: “I’m pretty sure I did.”
Percy bit his lip and looked out towards Camp, they may have been hidden from view but they could still head the distant sound of laughter, occasional screaming. The sound of other demigods mingling about, kids, teenagers, living their lives with minimal cares in the world. Innocents.
“The gods don’t care about us.” Jason said slowly. “You know that, don’t you?”
Percy shook his head, but it looked more like he was trying to convince himself than anything. “You can’t say for sure.”
“Of course I can.” Jason said with a shrug. “When was the last time the gods did anything for us? For you?”
“My dad—“
“Your dad watched and didn’t do anything.”
Percy snapped his mouth shut. Jason’s eyes grew darker with every passing moment. He knew he probably looked crazy (had been looking crazy) but he didn’t care.
“The gods don’t care, and even if they do, they don’t care enough to help us. I get it now.” He looked out into the trees, glanced over the bushes, the leaves. “They’re inherently selfish beings who only ever procreate for their own gain, to create their own pawns to move around as they please.”
Percy was shaking his head, looking at the floor. Jason stepped forward. “I’m done being a pawn, Percy.”
“You can’t say that Jason, you don’t know what they’ll do.”
“But that’s the thing; I don’t care what they do.” Jason took another step forward, splaying his hands out to the side. He got it now; understood everything perfectly. “I could always see straight through you Percy—I know you agree with me. I know we can be more than this—and you do too.”
Percy was shaking his head, unknowingly backing himself into a tree. “Stop it Jason.”
“Why should I?” His eyes were wide with mania, getting so close he was practically caging him in. “So I can keep doing shit for those ungrateful pricks?”
Lightning struck the ground next to them. Percy jumped, Jason sucked in a breath, his heart practically beating out of his chest.
He felt lightheaded. He felt powerful.
“Come on, Percy. You know I’m right.” His voice was taunting now, low and breathy. He was sure Percy could hear his heart hammering with how close they were.
“You’re wrong.” Percy spat, but his voice was wavering. Jason could see it, the doubt, the hesitation. It was written all over his body. The way he refused to meet his eyes, the way he kept looking towards camp, the way he didn’t actually say anything about the gods being good; it all spoke volumes.
“Am I?” Jason queried, a half smirk settled on his face. Percy nodded, but still, he refused to meet his gaze.
“Just think about it Percy.” He said darkly. “We’ve been holding ourselves back for them. Without their influence, think about how powerful we could be. A team. You and me.”
Percy’s body tensed, breaths coming out in short puffs. Jason was close enough now that he could feel it on his skin, warm and tantalizing. An hour ago he would’ve balked at being in such a position; now he wanted nothing more than to take his breath away. Both figuratively and literally.
He wanted to take the air right out of his lungs, watch him suffocate, choke. He’d wait until just before Percy died—right around the time where his face would start turning purple—to give it all back. Then he’d watch him heave, gag, desperately sucking in the much needed oxygen.
He closed his eyes for a moment and practically shivered just thinking about it.
“I hope you see the sun someday in the darkness. Truly.” Jason said quietly, half lidded eyes locking with Percy’s. He looked scared. Intrigued. Jason licked his lips, heard Percy’s breath hitch, deliberately let his eyes roam over the demigods face before he finally took a step back, giving Percy some room to breathe.
Percy visibly relaxed, straightening himself up before he gave Jason a hesitant, barely there glare. He was shaken, cheeks flushed, eyes dark.
Jason just barely held back a grin.
“If you go down this path you’ll end up dead, Jason. The gods are at the top of the food chain for a reason.” His voice was colder than ice, a warning, a threat. It sent a shocking pleasure down Jason’s spine and he barely resisted the urge to lean into it, instead chuckling in response.
“Because no one’s ever defied them and lived to tell the tale. But I have.”
He leaned in closer, his breath fanning across Percy’s face. “You have.”
Percy didn’t say anything, didn’t need to. Jason knew he was right, and whether or not Percy wanted to admit it to himself, he knew it to.
Jason stepped back again, letting his eyes flick over Percy’s body with a dark hunger he didn’t know he possessed. He thought back to his powers, how he’d been severely limiting himself. He thought about Percy, the potential he had.
Percy had told him about the poison bending down in Tartarus, how he felt powerful, fearless. How he would’ve killed Akhlys before realizing that he was scaring Annabeth.
His eyes drew together at the thought. Annabeth. Percy’s girlfriend. He glowered, glaring at a tree past Percy’s shoulders. That girl wasn’t doing anything to help him reach his true potential, if anything, she was actively hindering him. But Jason?
Oh. He’d happily help Percy realize what he could do.
“Let me help you, Percy.”
He just shook his head, moving to step past Jason. Jason let him, turned around again to face him with an imploring expression.
”You can’t help me.” Percy said firmly, crossing his arms over his chest. Jason bristled at the rejection but that wouldn’t stop him.
”I’d help you better than Annabeth ever could.” He muttered darkly, smirking, knowing exactly what he was doing by saying that.
Just like he thought, Percy’s eyes snapped to his, his anger rising faster than a tidal wave. He stepped closer to Jason with a proper glare, his voice dark. “The fuck does that mean, Grace.”
Jason hummed. “Think about it. You’re holding yourself back for her. You’re limiting yourself for a girl.”
He opened his mouth but Jason held up a hand, silencing him before he could say anything. “I could help you get stronger. We could help each other. Don’t you see? We’re children of the big three, we were never meant to be weak. We were never meant to hold ourselves back for the very people we were designed to oppose.”
Percy scoffed, narrowing his eyes. He was scanning Jason like he was calculating exactly how to take him down at any given moment. It sent a pleasant thrill through his stomach, almost like butterflies—but sharper, tingling and hot.
“What if I don’t want to get stronger? What if I’m perfectly content where I am right now?”
“But you’re not.” He said simply. His lips curled up into a smirk. “Come on, don’t you want to test your limits, see how far you could go? Don’t you want to push yourself until you figure out how to control anyone just by manipulating their blood? The water in their body?”
He stepped forward. Percy stood his ground. “I do. I want to see how far you can go. How far I can go.”
Percy was shaking his head, looking to the side like ignoring Jason would do anything. He stepped closer, brought his hands up to lightly brush over Percy’s shoulder. He used his electricity to leave (what he hoped was) a pleasant tingling sensation in their wake. He watched Percy’s spine straighten, heard the sharp exhale from his nose, watched the way his fists clenched.
”We could change the world, Percy.” Jason said quietly. He leaned in, letting his breath ghost over his ear. “We could be gods.”
Percy ripped himself from his hold and took a step back like he’d been slapped. Jason only watched him, eyes dark, a hungry smile on his face.
They could kill the gods who refused to change. Eradicate the invasive species that demanded worship like it was their right.
“You’re crazy, Jason. Absolutely mad.”
“Maybe.” He said distantly, licking his lips. “But I don’t care. I want to know what else I can do if I put my mind to it. I want to know my limits—or lack thereof.”
Percy was staring at him like he was finally seeing him for the first time. Maybe he was, Jason didn’t care. It felt like he’d finally taken off his own rose tinted glasses, had the shackles ripped off of his wrists. He’d had his first taste of defiance and he didn’t need to try them to know that it was better than what any drug could do for him.
“You could join me, Percy.” He said softly. “But if you don’t, I promise you, I’ll be the last one standing.”
Percy opened his mouth to say something but it was too late, Jason was already walking away with all the confidence of a world renowned billionaire. Percy wouldn’t want to make a scene, and he knew Zeus would never risk killing him at Camp if he wanted to avoid a war. As long as Jason stayed here, practiced within these walls, tested his skills within the safety their border provided, he would be fine.
He left Percy reeling, a smirk on his face while his hands danced with electricity.