[Friend of a Friend] PJO x Marvel

[12. Cremation For Dummies]

   There was nothing left for them to do, and while the group angrily spat out insults towards Quill, it wouldn't change the fact that Strange ended up surrendering the time stone. Thanos had left feeling like some sort of king, and they were left with no way home. Percy was mainly just confused as to what he was supposed to feel, he felt like a stranger; felt like he did when he was twelve and had just discovered his teacher was a horse and his best friend was a goat.

  Strange sat away from the others, silently staring at seemingly nothing. Percy always considered his friends to be strong, but Strange was a whole other level. To witness so much, to be given the fate of the world in your hands and to know things others can't, it wasn't easy. To top it off, Strange never seemed phased, always just thinking and planning and strategizing as if it were nothing. Percy wouldn't have dealt with all this so easily, if he had to witness the deaths of his loved ones millions of times, he would most certainly hide himself away and never sleep again.

  "I feel like i'm putting too much trust into your plan, I need you to help me out here. You got me into this mess, how can I know this all doesn't end badly for me?"

  Strange looked up, almost as if he were looking through glass. There wasn't quite anything directly he was looking at, and that made Percy worry.
  "I can't promise you anything, kid. Just because I've seen the winning battle doesn't mean that everyone will cooperate to lead us down that path. It's a gamble, and you aren't going to like what happens next." Strange finally focused his eyes at Percy, the eye contact only created more tension.

  "I never end up liking anything that happens next anyways. With war, things only seem to get worse. Burying friends, the win never actually feels like a win." Percy sighed and sat down in front of Strange, "Is there anything you can tell me? Any hope, any course of action, plan? I don't know anything about your world, this whole superhero thing and the magic wizard nonsense. I know gods, I know monsters and I know of all these crazy powers that descend from the gods, but this? It's all new to me."

  "Things get worse before they get better sometimes, Percy. Things seem hopeless, and you may think nothing can be done anymore, but the battle will be far from over."

  He sounded like the dam prophecies, just a bunch of words that really hold no meaning until you actually experienced what the message was. Percy had almost become an expert at understanding prophecies though, and he knew exactly what Strange was implying. He felt his heart drop, sinking down into some bottomless pit, possibly even down into Tartarus.

  "So he wins? Half the universe just gone in the blink of an eye? Are you kidding me?" He laughed, almost out of pity, "And you? You're just going to stick me in this mess and then die on me? Just like that?"

  His silence said everything that Percy needed to know, he didn't know whether he should be angry or sad or whatever anyone in this situation was supposed to feel. In a way he felt numb, part of his mind going back to all the wars and battles and loss, it all shaped him in ways he wasn't sure were good. The only way he felt alive was because of his friends, but he couldn't protect them this time. There was no fighting against the snap of a finger, no fighting when the enemy can't be found, when the final battle is in the hands of people he'd never even met before.

   Percy sighed. It wasn't good to build up this desolate feeling of hopelessness, and so he walked away and over to Peter. Stark sat near him with a concentrated gaze, maybe planning some way off the planet. Peter just sat and watched the chaos that surrounded them, but turned towards Percy as he approached.

"Hey!"And while Peter was usually full of joy and energy, he had become quieter, the word coming out so soft and helpless. "It's so crazy how I was just tutoring you in Physics, and now we may die in space together!"