Percy Jackson: The God of Magic - chapter 55 (Patreon)

I woke up to find Hades, Hestia and Persephone talking, Hestia was brushing my hair, like she would normally do in our movie nights.

Was this real… it had to be, besides Adam… if this is fake, is better than the alternative, remember the motto, always look to the bright side.

“So…. sorry?” Was the first thing I said, I had, after all, attacked them, thinking they were fake.

Hestia looked at me, smiling, “I’m sorry…” tear threatened to fall down her cheeks, “I had no idea you would suffer this much,”

I wasn’t really mad at her, well… at one point I was, thinking they had all forsaken me, but how could I be mad at her… she’s the nicest person I know, “It’s okay… I know there must be a reason why you guys didn’t get me out sooner,”

“Adam… that’s the thing… since you left l, it has only been twenty five hours,” Hades sighed, “Nothing has changed… it has only been a day since you entered Tartarus…”

A day… one hundred and forty years…. “I….”

“I assume from our violent encounter Tartarus was torturing you with illusions of us right?” Hades asked and I nodded, “I thought as much, and sorry for trying to knock you out… in the end, all we needed was Hestia to hug you, quite a lethal weapon she has there,” he smiled, winking at me.

“Have you actually hugged her?” I chuckled, “It’s like hugging a heater without burning, it’s the best feeling ever,”

“I do give the best hugs!” Hestia proclaimed, puffing her chest out proudly.

“Alright… not that I am not glad he’s alive, but I will address the elephant in the room… is he or is he not a God?” Persephone asked, and… well, it was a good question after consuming so many souls had my body changed to withstand my new found power, “How old are you now Adam?”

“One hundred and fifty three,” I muttered.

“No…. he’s not a demigod either, not anymore…” Hades hummed, answering Persephone’s question, pressing his lips into a thin line, “He is somewhere between demigod and god…. kinda like in the middle,”

“Hmmm… I knew I should’ve gone for a more fiber oriented diet,” I chuckled.

“That’s another thing I wanted to ask… how many souls did you consume…” Hades asked, his voice carrying a tone of doubt.

“I don’t know… I stopped counting after the million,” I answered, and both Hestia and Persephone gasped, “As soon as I got to that place… my world rule was kill or be killed…”

“I see… perhaps that was the catalyst to your slow metamorphosis into a god…” Hades nodded, his arms crossed.

“I had no other option,” I added, a weak smile forming on my face in trepidation, “I tried for a month to survive with my own power… but the environment was too harsh, I needed power, and… soon my need to survive overwhelmed my morals,”

“Nobody is blaming you,” Hestia smiled, an honest smile that said, I know you are still you, “I know if you had any other option you would’ve taken it,”

“Alright… now that I know time has… not moved at all since I left… can someone lead me to the exit… I have a demigod to kill,” Luke had at one point my pity, not anymore… I was going to kill that little shit.

“We…. We can’t let you leave,” Hades sighed. “The little bastard played his cards…. and told Zeus you were in an alliance with Kronos,” the god’s hand curled into a fist, anger radiating from him.

“And… they believe him?!” I asked, this had to be a bad joke.

“Yes,” Hestia nodded, her gaze lost as if looking right through me, “Luke somehow found a way to lie to Apollo, and… they all believed him,”

“Don’t worry though… Hestia cursed him for good….” Persephone muttered angrily, “If it were up to me, I would have the little shit down here, strapped to a table, making him scream…”

“I know that wasn’t supposed to sound sexual but...” I snorted, getting a few playful punches in the arm by both Persephone and Hades, “Alright…. I get it, so I’m a fugitive, well… at least until my name is cleared,”

“Yes,” Hades nodded, “For now… it’s best to save your time to find a way to prove he’s a traitor,”

“Me?” I asked, bursting into a fit of laughter, “I will not do such a thing,” why would I? If Zeus was that stupid to let someone lie to him so easily, he was asking to be killed, “I will let them figure that out themselves, as for me…. I will either stay here if I’m still welcomed, or I will go a visit Odin,”

“I see,” Hades nodded, “I understand your rage…. the sense of betrayal by your own kin, your brother… and your sister, I understand it, so I will support your decision,”

“But Hades…” Persephone began but Hades cut her abruptly.

“But what?! The only thing he will get is hate from others… knives of his back… looks for his own family…. and only because he was doing his job!? Zeus will never be happy with what he does… and nothing he does will ever be enough for those bastards…. No matter what we do we will never be accepted by them… because we are not treacherous snakes, so why even try!” Hades was… crying?

“Oh.. honey,” Persephone hugged him.

“I… I’m sorry, I might have projected some of my problems in there,” Hades smiled, “The point is… he is free to make his decision, and we should all support it,”

“Yes we should,” Hestia nodded, giving me a fierce hug, good how much I missed her hugs, her smell… her smile, I couldn’t believe how much I missed Hades and his sense of humor, or Persephone and her antics, “But we should still do something about Kronos,”

“Relax,” I winked at them, “Luke will have to reveal himself as a traitor if he wants to actively start helping Kronos, so… when the time comes…. I will kill him,” that much was a promise to myself, Luke would die, screaming like a bitch.... the moment his daddy issues brought into this... was the day he offered his life to me.