Chapter Text
The peacekeepers escorts me and Drew to two little rooms, where I found my mom waiting for me. Her eyes are shining with tears, but she looks at me fiercely, the soft afternoon light shines through the stained glass, tinting her face with the beautiful colours of the ocean and casting a colourful mural of the sea on the mirror-like floor.
“Percy,” she looks at me with her intense blue eyes,
“Yeah?” I say lightly with a forced smile on my face. If I don’t look nervous or scared, everything will be fine, I’ll be fine, we’ll be fine–
“Percy!”
I snap back into focus, wow, why is the room shaking? Then I realize my mom is shaking me, oh that makes so much more sense.
“PERCY! Listen to me, I know that you will make it out, you’re a strong boy, but promise me, don't kill unless it’s necessary.”
“Not even hunting for food?” I look at her with my baby seal eyes.
Wow, who knew hearing someone tell me I’m gonna make it out was so relieving? And about the “no killing unless necessary” I wasn’t planning on it anyways,
She rolls her eyes at me, but I could feel her body shaking as she folds me into a tight hug. She tries to be strong for me, correction, she is strong, Sally Jackson is the best mom anyone could ever ask for, call me a mama’s boy, but I am going to make it back for her. No way in Hades am I leaving her here with Smelly Gabe.
“Mom, don’t worry, when I win the games, we can move into a big house in victor’s village and leave Gabe behind.” I murmured into her shoulder.
“I’m not worried–"
I raise an eyebrow at her,
“Alright, fine, I’m worried, really worried. How could I watch you go into that bloodbath? You have your demigod strength, but you won’t be able to use your powers without exposing us, and the careers, they’re feral what if they are as strong as you, what if-”
“Mom, you said I would make it out, you need to believe in me.”
She wipes a tear of her face,
“Okay, you’re right, but Perseus Jackson, if I do not see you standing in front of me with all your limbs intact in a few weeks, I will personally drag you out of the Underworld, and then I’ll ground you, FOREVER."
I throw both my hands up in the air,
“Consider me warned and terrified. ”
She wraps her arms around me again, I feel her rhythmic heartbeat along with my own, I always feel safe when I’m hugging her, but just when I start to relax, the door opens with a slam, and two peacekeepers in white uniform burst through the door.
“Time to go”
I’m pretty sure the one on the right said that he had a deep and rusty voice, like an old man, but his movements are quick and precise when he and his partner rips my mom away.
“Wait no- please! One more minute! Please!” I plead with them, I try grabbing onto her dress like my life depended on it, but it’s no use,
Warm water streams down my face, I can taste the salt in my mouth, but it’s not salt water from home this time, not the salt water from the comforting ocean. I catch my reflection on the polished stone floor. Gods, I’m a mess. There’s slimy snot dripping from my nose, eweewewewewew.
Peacekeeper number 2 reaches for the door handle when my mom plants her heels into the soft mattress outside and swats away peacekeeper number 1’s hand.
“Hold up! I have something to give him, all tributes are allowed a token from home, you have to let me give it to him.”
Peacekeeper number 2 sighs and releases her, but not without a not-so-gentle push, then he snickers,
“Mama’s boy," He snorts and continues,
"So soft and gentle, don’t worry, the games will teach you otherwise.”
I can almost see him sneer at me behind that stupid helmet, peacekeepers, more like peachkeepers, from how they hoard all the food…
“Percy, I made these for later, but I guess there won’t be one for a while, take them, a piece of home.”
She hands me a bag of her blue chocolate chip cookies, and yes, I grip onto those cookies tighter than I have gripped anything else.
“Honey, I’ll watch you, please, keep yourself safe, and kick some butt! No killing though–”
They push her through the door before she could finish her sentence and closes the door with a soft click. Geez, where do they think I could run to, this place is swarming with peacekeepers with rifles and guns and who knows what else?
“No killing Percy!”
“This one's a bit weak no?”
“Hmph, I could take down opponents twice my size when I was his age, no idea why they assigned me to the districts, gosh I should be in the capitol, serving President Snow as his personal guard…”
“Will you ever shut up?” I blurt out, yes, yes, I know! I definitely shouldn't have done that, but I’m so tired of rich and privileged people gloating, and complaining about how “hard” their life was while the less unfortunate are out here suffering and barely getting by. I consider my family (aka, me and my mom) lucky to have just enough money and food everyday, can’t say that for most of my classmates though. Believe it or not, district four may seem wealthy and fancy with its bloodthirsty careers and training, but there are still areas of extreme poverty, like where I live, people starve and die horribly of illnesses. Both Gabe and Mom have jobs, so we have better lives, and as much as i hate to admit this, Gabe’s jobs in the richer areas as an electronics manager really helps, but if he asks, I never said this, okay?
I know I’m in serious trouble when both of them turn and look at me with wide eyes, (ik you cant see their eyes, but lets just pretend you could for the fic) their brows nit together ,and peacekeeper number 2, of course it was him, puts a gloved hand on his rifle,
“What was that?”
“I said, will you ever shut u-”
Before I could even finish my sentence, my neck snaps sideways as the butt of his rifle connects with the side of my cheek, my eyes blurred from the sharp pain, and I feel my probably bruised cheekbone. Wait, that's not right. I feel warm and sticky blood on my fingers, that hit definitely shouldn’t have caused blood. When I look over, he’s standing there holding his rifle and laughing while his buddy patted him on the back and said something like “Good one”. My eyes find themselves at the end of that long, white gun and to my surprise it's studded with metal spikes, the bastard. I can almost feel the smugness radiating off him as he shoves me into the wall to prove his point even more.
“Come on, spunk, wouldn’t want your annoying little escort to start fussing and complaining, you tripped and fell by the way.”
They keep leading me out of the Justice Building while occasionally not-so-gently nudging my back if I’m going “too slow”.