Prytaneum
Hot Water
We entered the Soma Familia home through the enormous gaping hole I'd made through the front. From what I understood from Finn's words—which really wasn't all that much, to be honest—things were probably going to break down like this. Before too long, everyone and their mother would be swarming around this place, wanting to know what had happened and who was responsible, and rumors would spread like wildfire, as they tended to. The Guild would arrive more slowly, largely because none of the people in it were particularly superhuman, and they'd try to establish order. Everyone involved on either side would be 'asked' to come with them to sort things out and refusal wasn't an option. The Guild would investigate, the gods would assemble, and they'd talk things over to decide our fate.
Simple enough, really—it basically meant the gods would be voting on whether I lived or died, which they did every now and then. Before too many people got here and it was out of our hands, Finn wanted us to talk to Soma, the other major party involved. While there weren't too many living eye-witnesses left, the wealth of evidence should be in our favor, but if we could get Soma to just accept responsibility for his Familia's actions, things would supposedly go a lot more smoothly.
But truthfully, I didn't really care about that. Odd, I know, when it was basically my ass on the line, but it wasn't the reason I was here. Hell, I'd never expected to get off scot-free; I'd know I was doing to be in big trouble the moment I kicked down Soma's front door. The fact that I might not be in trouble depending on how things shook out was nice and all, but wasn't really my priority so much as an unexpected surprise.
I wanted to speak to the guy for my own reasons.
And apparently I wasn't hiding that very well, because Welf and Lili were both shooting me worried looks.
"Be careful, Percy," Welf murmured, which had become no less pointless than the last time he tried to do so as everyone could still hear him just fine. "I get how you feel, but don't do anything crazy. However they look and however they seal their power, any god could still wipe this city off the map if they tried. The would probably get stopped before they could go all the way through with it, but…you've already died once today, Percy. Maybe tone it down some?"
I hummed, not surprised by the note on their power, though it was nice to have confirmation—but frankly, that was fairly normal for gods. It didn't really change things, though, even if I understood Welf's concerns; I'd throw myself into danger again if I had to, recently deceased or not. I came here for a reasons and I wasn't leaving until it was done.
"Mr. Percy, please don't do anything rash," Lili said at my other side. "After all that's happened, Lili…Lili will be fine. Lili's grateful enough for everything Mr. Percy and Mr. Welf have done so far, so…"
"Don't worry about it, Lili," I said, smiling at her. "I know how to speak to gods."
She seemed unconvinced. I suppose I couldn't really blame her for that, though.
At that moment, Finn stopped as if listening, and then knocked on a door nearby. Each knock was a loud, echoing sound that should have been easily heard within the room, but there was no reply even after six knocks, at which point Finn seemed to take silence as consent and simply open the door. Inside was…
I honestly don't know what it was called. A place to make wine, I guess. A brewery? Whatever. But basically, Soma was sitting in a workshop with a bunch of devices and tools I didn't recognize, making wine through a process I didn't know, with ingredients I wasn't familiar with. Besides grapes, I guess, which just reminded me I was hungry. I thought about going over and eating them just to be petty, but I stopped myself. I'm mature beyond my years, you see.
On the whole, the room seemed intact, but a fair bit of water had still gotten into the room in one way or another, not that Soma seemed to pay it any mind. As far as I knew, he could have been in here working the entire time, without the slightest care for what had been happening right outside.
"Lord Soma," Finn said, voice respectful without sounding submissive. "I am Finn Deimne, of the Loki Familia. If I'm not mistaken, I believe you're familiar with my goddess?"
"Mm," Soma hummed, not even looking towards us. An admittedly pleasant smell began to spread through the room from whatever he was working on.
"My companions and I would like to speak to you about what's transpired here recent. Earlier today, Zanis Lustra, the captain of your Familia, robbed this young man here, Welf Crozzo of the Hephaestus Familia. He stole a very powerful magic sword and, what's more, used it within the bounds of Orario itself. Not only were many members of your Familia hurt or killed, but the damage spilt over onto the main street as well. People are already busy dealing with the aftermath, but there's no way of knowing how many have been hurt or killed. I shouldn't have to explain this to you, but this is a very serious matter. The Guild will no doubt involve itself shortly and the consequences could be quite dire."
The time, Soma didn't reply at all. I wasn't sure if he wasn't sure how to answer or if he'd stopped listening, but it was clear I wasn't the only one annoyed by his silence. Though he hid it well, Finn's lips pursed slightly and the Amazon beside him seemed visibly pissed off. Bete's ears twitched, Riveria's eyes narrowed, Welf frowned—
And I walked right by Finn, grabbed Soma by the shoulder, and turned him around, completely uncaring of what he was working on. Only then did he actually look at me.
"Hey, Soma," I said, as though talking to an old friend. Except minus any actual friendliness. "Mind talking to me for a moment?"
Soma looked at me with disinterested eyes for a moment before slowly tilting his head.
"Who are you and why are you naked in my house?" He asked, eyebrows furrowing slightly.
Despite myself, and the constant self-reminders, I still couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed about that whole thing. There was no way in hell I was letting this guy know that, though.
"Well, you see, I came here with clothes on, but your motherfucker of a captain burnt me alive," I told the god. "Me and a lot of other people in the process—a lot of people got hurt because of what he did, including members of your own Familia. He all but blew up the street in front of your house and I'm betting a lot of people are going to be really upset about that, so maybe you should actually pay attention. And I'm not naked; I have a towel on."
Damn me.
"Ah," Soma said, frowning slightly.
"'Ah?'" I repeated, not even trying to hide my displeasure. "I was kind of hoping for a bit more of a reaction, Soma. You should already know, right? What's happened to your Familia. Zanis has been giving people Soma to make them work harder; it seems he took complete control and did anything he wanted. A lot of people got hurt. A lot of lives got ruined. A lot of people probably even died. Anything you want to say to that? Or are you going to say you had no idea what was going on in your own home?"
"I noticed," Soma said, voice soft but slightly more intent. He was looking at me oddly now.
"Were you in on it, then?" I asked. "Did you tell him to do it?"
"No," He replied evenly. "Zanis' actions were his own."
"But you knew about it," I said. "And you didn't stop it."
"Mm," Soma said. Maybe in agreement or maybe he was just trying to get this conversation over with.
"He's dead, by the way," I said, growing more and more pissed off by his lack of reaction. Even if he wasn't the one directly responsible, he's the guy who could have stopped it at any time—and didn't. "Probably. I didn't really check or anything after he barbequed me and all, but he got messed up and nobody was really around to help him after he, you know, murdered a bunch of his Familia. Their corpses are still on your lawn if you want to come see. Odds are they aren't the only members of your Familia Zanis has gotten killed while you were busy making wine, but perhaps you should show some concern?"
Soma stared at me and I had no idea what he was thinking. Maybe my words were sinking in. Maybe he wasn't sure what to say. Maybe his goddamn brainwaves were flat-lining, I don't know—but it was making me really mad.
I'd let my family down too, of course—but I'd tried. I'd tried as hard as I could to save them, tried until it literally killed me, and I couldn't understand why someone else wouldn't. That wasn't my Fatal Flaw talking, or at least I didn't think it was; it just seemed like the natural thing to do. I mean, that's what it meant to care about people and love them, what it meant to have family and friends. A lot of people who'd run away from something normally would turn around and charge into danger for the sake of the one they loved, right? People did that all the time. I'm not going to say something like that wasn't special because it was, special and important and more, but…it was also just human. No, not even human; it was just something people did, whatever their species.
Even after seeing it again and again, I couldn't fathom how someone could let the people close to them down like this. Not just the family they'd been born into, but the family they'd chosen. Soma let his family fall under Zanis' sway, Luke poisoned Thalia and hurt Annabeth, Gabe hurt my mother and beat her down, and so many gods just left their children at the wayside and never even acknowledged them. How could someone do something like that? What could matter to them so much that it seemed right? It wasn't even a matter of responsibility; if you had people who were close to you, who were nice to you, who helped you and made you happy…you should want to see them happy, too, right?
How do some people not get that?
"What do you want?" Soma asked at last, looking between Finn and I.
Finn frowned for a moment, apparently needing a moment to formulate his thoughts. Maybe he was as upset about this display as I was.
"…Under the circumstances, it would be noble of you to lend these three your aid," He said. "While it may have occurred without your knowledge, the fact of the matter is that your Familia caused them a great deal of trouble and inflicted a great deal of harm on many innocent people. The evidence is going to point in their favor one way or another, but if you were to accept responsibility for your Familia's actions upfront, I believe things will go more smoothly for you as well. Otherwise—"
"Let Lili go," I interrupted. "I don't care what else you do, but release Lili from your Familia. After everything you and they have done to her, she deserves that much. We came here today to help her because we care about her more after a few days than the entirety of your Familia cares after knowing her her entire life. Zanis kidnapped her from my Familia home and drugged her with that drink of yours, but she broke free of that and she deserves to be free of the rest of you, too."
At that, Soma blinked, seeming startled for the first time since we started talking.
"Is that true?" He asked. "Lili?"
"Lord…Soma?" Lili murmured, look at him. She seemed more focused than before, but still looked as though she were, you know, drunk. Because she was.
"…Yes," He said, looking only at her now. "I can tell that you drank Soma, but…if it true that you wish to leave, despite that?"
Lili swallowed and seemed to brace herself—but then she nodded, looking between Welf and I.
"Yes," She told him. "Lili wants to go with Mr. Welf and Mr. Percy. That is…that is all that Lili wants."
Soma watched her silently for a long minute before nodding sharply, only now actually seeming interested in what was happening. Somehow, it was like Lili had gotten through to him more with those few words than everything I'd said put together.
"Very well," He said. "What else?"
I wanted to say no. That I'd nearly died, I could forgive as long as he let Lili go, but that I wasn't the only one who'd gotten hurt. That countless people had been harmed by Zanis' actions and Soma's apathy, that he needed to do something and actually take some responsibility for his damn actions and act like a god should have instead of how most of the gods I'd known actually did. I wanted to tell him that. Hell, I was about to tell him that.
But maybe it was because I'd been out of the rain for a while or maybe because I relaxed slightly, but I started getting dizzy all of a sudden, as if whatever had been keeping me going had begun to fade away.
I let go of Soma, staggered back, and began to fall.
This needs to stop happening, I thought.