BETA : Inperiosus
[March 4th 2016]

There were several things that Percy and Hemera never spoke about, these were the no-go zones. The incident with the mirror was one of these things, after falling into a pitiful, tearful sleep, he had bounced right back the next morning -seemingly like his old self again. Hemera, however, saw right through Percy's façade. Oh, she saw how he would scowl to himself when he thought she wasn't looking, she saw the concerned glances he'd direct at the mirror, the faraway look he'd unknowingly get in his eyes, oh she saw it all. And yet every time he smiled that odd lopsided smile (no matter how forced it sometimes seemed) she couldn't help but to smile back. Hemera loved the way his eyes would light up every time Briares would babble about nothing to him, she swore that Percy positively glowed when Briares first word was 'Percy' - well his first word was 'Per-key' but Percy'd ignore her if she tried to tell him otherwise.

The mirror incident took place over a year ago and Hemera hadn't failed to notice that Percy hadn't allowed his hair to grow back into it's old shaggy self, he seemed to be wearing his scar with pride. Another one of the no-go zones was Percy's family (more specifically his brothers and father). Hemera didn't question him on his family and he left the subject of her family alone -even though they were technically cousins but she'd rather not think about it.

It didn't take long for her to realise that Percy was absolutely hopeless with children. Sure, she'd admit that he was good at some aspects (playing with him mostly) he'd always managed to find a way to keep all of Briares' one-hundred arms occupied but as soon as he'd start crying, Percy would panic and hand Briares back over to her looking like he was about to start crying himself. Hemera had had to sit Percy down several times and explain to him that Briares crying was not his fault. Percy would assure her that he wouldn't panic again but always came back to her with the same upset look on his face. She'd long since given up.

It also didn't take long for Percy and Hemera to realise that Briares aged twice as fast as a normal immortal would until they learnt to change their age. Hemera felt oddly disappointed about this. She knew that she should be happy that she didn't have to bother Percy any longer than she already was, and yet she found that in the small space of a year Percy's small cottage tucked away in the woods more like home to her than her own temple would ever be. Even then a small voice would whisper that, it's more than the cottage you'll miss, and Hemera knew, she knew, that it was right but she would always argue, he's my friend, she'd hopelessly respond, nothing more and nothing less.

No matter what she'd tell herself, looking out of Percy's kitchen window and ignoring the blood of the animal she was gutting staining her chiton, no matter what, she knew this little voice was right. Staring at Percy trying to keep Briares occupied with that ridiculous grin plastered across his face -she knew then that she'd miss more than the small cottage tucked away in the woods but rather she'd miss it's occupants. She could get used to a life away from responsibilities.

~ Ψ ~ Ψ ~ Ψ ~

Percy'd never admit it (his pride would never let him) but he'd rather enjoyed having company. He'd never enjoyed being alone but found it necessary for his own survival, he'd rather not be visiting his uncle down under anytime soon thank you very much. But if there was one thing Percy liked more than company was a challenge and Briares certainly provided exactly that. When he was still a few weeks old, Percy had absolutely no clue about what to do, when Briares cried or needed something Percy would just lean over Hemera's shoulder and watch. He'd also store away the information in his mind for later use, yet when he tried to use the information from the memories he'd stored away Briares would just cry more, disheartened, Percy would hand him back to Hemera.

Percy just didn't understand, was he doing something wrong? No. he couldn't be, if Percy so wished he could enter his own mind, a maze of winding corridors, each pathway leading to different memories and experiences. Percy never forgot anything he merely stowed it away for later use and Percy could come and go in his own mind and force the information to resurface. Entering his own mind wasn't difficult, it had never been but he knew that the same couldn't be said for his siblings, they spent years learning how to access their minds and then, he came along able to come and go from his and others minds -he suspected it was something to do with him being the titan of life, access to the minds of living things fell under his domain- it was no wonder his siblings began to hate him. He was able to do something in one try which took his siblings years of practice and dedication.

And yet no amount of knowledge or experience helped him when it came to children, they were... complicated. Although, despite his difficulties to begin with, Percy found ways to keep Briares entertained and quiet, allowing Hemera to catch up on sleep to rid of exhaustion (not that immortals needed sleep but it helped).

To begin with Percy would give Briares moving objects, lots of moving objects, in order to keep him entertained. But by the time Briares was ten Percy began to catch Briares reshaping and building things. When Percy caught him doing this Briares just smiled sheepishly and tried to apologise. Percy had just smiled his lopsided smile and encouraged this, he could build things (they later discovered that Percy was only good at building living things). Percy had hugged Briares, not discouraged by the fact that his younger brother had one-hundred arms or was nearly double his height, he didn't care.

By the time Briares was sixteen (well eight if you were going by normal years) he could build almost anything that you asked him to, excluding living things he Briares left that to Percy. At the age of sixteen Briares was the height of three Percys stacked on top of each other (not his titan-ly height though, Percy was a head taller than him then but wouldn't be for much longer) he had to practically bend in half to fit in Percy's cottage, his home whilst growing up. Briares hated and loved the thought of moving out all at the same time. When he first brought up the subject of moving out, Hemera had burst into tears and clung to Percy whilst the latter had just smiled and mouthed 'give her time' and Briares did just that... for about a month (he blamed his impatience on Percy, he could not sit still). However the second time Briares had mentioned moving out it was a lot less tearful. Hemera had demanded that he visited frequently -she had sort-of moved in, Percy wasn't getting rid of her anytime soon- and told her exactly where he was living. She also mention not to panic if she just randomly popped up wherever he was living, she had a tendency to just appear without you noticing. Hemera had said all of this with her arms crossed and a stern look on her face whilst Percy laughed his bark like laugh offering him no support what so ever. It took all of this for Briares to realise just how much he was going to miss the pair of them, the two people who had replaced his parents and raised him.

Percy had seemingly read his mind (he probably actually had) and grown to his titan height in a few short strides and embraced his younger brother. Briares had clung to Percy's chiton and hugged him with all one-hundred arms. Percy had been the first to break the hug, now standing a head taller than Briares, clapped him on the back and told Briares that he better hurry up and leave before Hemera changed her mind and forced Briares to stay. Briares had laughed and walked away, only glancing back once to see Percy and Hemera waving him off. Turning back around Briares took no notice of how his eyes filled with tears and that his surroundings blurred slightly, he didn't care. It was Briares turn to find a place for himself and no matter what he was going to make space for Hemera and Percy in it. And -if he can- he's going to find a way to make sure his siblings in Tartarus apart of his life.

~ Ψ ~ Ψ ~ Ψ ~

It was a few days after Briares' departure that the note arrived. Percy and Hemera had been sat in the meadow towards the edge of the forest (Hemera had unofficially moved into Percy's cottage, even if he wanted to Percy doubted he'd be able to get rid of her) when a lioness had approached them, a note in it's mouth. Percy was frozen in shock at it's sudden arrival that he had just sat there and stared. Hemera just laughed at him and retrieved the note and handed it to him. The lioness left and Percy stared at the note.

"Well?" Hemera said. "Open it then."

Inhaling deeply Percy unravelled the parchment and began to read quietly. Hemera sighed, "Aloud, Percy, read it aloud." Inhaling deeply Percy began to read the curvy writing that could only belong to his sister Rhea.

Dear Perseus,
You'll probably just throw this away, I'm honestly not sure why I'm even bothering. Hopefully you'll realise that I sent this to you using one if my lionesses and it'll occur to you that it's me sending the letter. I haven't come to tell you this personally (obviously) because I know you want to be left alone and I understand that. Many of our siblings are still dreadful, apart from Kronos, he's fourteen now in case you wanted to know -what am I going on about? You probably already know, your all seeing or something. You also probably know that I've taken over his lessons. He's patient (unlike someone I know) and has nearly mastered changing his age, give him a few more days and he'll most likely have it. You, of course, probably already know this.
Anyway discussing Kronos wasn't the reason I wrote this, Mother is gathering all of our siblings for what she calls a 'proposal for greatness'. She'd been trying to contact you, also, but you've seemingly disappeared of the face of, well, her. I guess learning all those runes have payed off huh? You're untraceable to anyone who doesn't know where you are. Congratulations!
I'm not sure why Mother is gathering us all but I thought you'd appreciate being told. If you're coming the gathering is on the day after the full moon at midday. If you're planning on coming please get back to me... or don't. I know you'll probably want to do you're strange entering with the wind, cloak billowing behind you thing and y'know scare the living daylights out of me. Whatever you want.
I hope to see you there, remember the day AFTER the full moon and at MIDDAY!
Your sarcastic sister who loves you dearly (even though you NEVER visit me).
Rhea. XXX.

Looking up from the parchment in his hands, Percy couldn't help but to laugh at the shocked look on Hemera's face. "Is she always like that?" Percy laughed more.

"Worse, you should have seen what she was like when we were kids. I've lost count of how many times she broke Krios' arm as a kid." Percy paused, a look of horror crossed his face. "I'm so dead. Rhea is going to kill me." It was Hemera's turn to laugh.

"So, are you going to go?"

"Go?"

"To your apparent family gathering, you dunce."

"Oh, OH yeah, I'm going to go."

"Well you better get moving then."

"What? Why?"

"Well in case you didn't notice, the full moon was last night and midday is in a few hours."

Percy nodded blankly and pushed himself to his feet and offered his hand to Hemera. They walked back to his cottage in silence. Once they had entered the cottage Percy walked away from Hemera and into his room. A few moments later he emerged with his cloak tied around him. Partway to the door he stopped and scratched Universia behind one of her ears.

Straightening up he turned to Hemera and said, "I shouldn't be gone long. A couple of hours at the most." And before he could even think about leaving, Hemera pressed her lips to his in a quick kiss and then pulled away.

"I'll see you soon." And with that Hemera turned on her heel and marched away to chaos knows where, leaving Percy gaping in her wake.

Shaking his head and lifting his hood so that it covered his face and disappeared in a gust of wind.

Their relationship was another one of their no-go zones.

[March 6th 2016]
[Edited: N/A]

This is it! The longest chapter yet! 2228 words! Excluding this authors note! I'm really chuffed with this chapter. What did you guys think? Does this make up for the dark stuff in the last chapter?
REVIEW!

~ForlornSpirit