The Moon's Tide – Chapter 7

Percy let out a frosty breath, watching it blows away and disappeared into the night sky. The moon hid behind a thick blanket of clouds, as if blocking its own view of him. He stared down the empty road, illuminated by streetlights that dyed everything orange. Another frosty breath escaped from between his lips, he was a lone figure walking in the night, accompanied by only the howling wind.

"Go away Ally."

The wind spirit giggled, her disembodied voice was but a whisper, barely reaching his ear. "How did you know it was me? I thought I blended into society pretty well."

"You were never one for subtlety. Always appearing out of nowhere and disappearing faster than humanly possible. After my own friend hid his identity from me, I learned how to look for the signs."

"Hmph, well said as the demigod who's only friends with supernatural beings." She materialized to walk next to her heart broken friend. "So you already knew our true identity, we've been trying so hard to hide it from you."

"Well, you guys really can't do it better than a goddess."

"I knew from the start, why do you think I ran away so fast when you first met her? Death glares man. If I said anything, she would've ratted me out to Zephyros, and I definitely don't want to leave this life and go back to making wind blows. That's hella boring and not my vibe."

"I don't know how such a gentle wind god employed such a flamboyant spirit." Percy looked at his longtime friend, noting that her clothes stayed still despite gust of wind passing by.

"Well, dad met my mom during a hurricane, she said he was the most charming god she ever met. He dotes on me too much, but still made we do work. Weird right?"

"Well you know, he probably didn't want you to be spoiled. But I guess that didn't work out like he wanted."

They continued to walk the street of New York, without a care in the world. The cold winds that were blowing made space carefully for the two as they continued their journey. The night stayed silent, with only the occasional cars passing by, a rare night for the city that never sleeps. Percy and Ally filled the gap with their conversations, liveliness contrasting with the calm that swallowed up everything else. They stopped at a small neighborhood park, sitting down at a bench while watching people play basketball at the court nearby, trying to keep themselves warm by constantly moving. Ally took out a pack of cigarettes from her pocket.

"Want a smoke?" She said as she lit up one.

"You know I always refused you before."

"Something might be different this time around. It might help."

"I think talking with you helped me a lot already."

Ally held it up in front of his face and gave it a shake. "Last chance Perce." He sighed and reluctantly reached his hand out, but she took it away before he could. She pulled one out herself and lit it with end of her own. "I always wanted to do this for someone else, it makes smoking together more intimate. Like I'm giving you a kiss."

"Don't let Arty hear that, you might be in a worse place than back at your dad's." He took a drag and instantly started coughing. "Bleh, how do you do this every day?"

"To spite my dad. You'll get used to it soon, demigods are strong."

"That excuse doesn't work for everything." Percy said as he took another drag, but just as Ally said, he didn't feel the burn in the back of his throat as much anymore. Instead, he felt it replaced by a dull ache at the top of his head. The buzz was slightly uncomfortable but satisfying at the same time.

"Feels good right?" Ally blew out a slow stream of smoke. But every wisp that came out from them were streaming into her body to be cleansed.

Percy cracked a small smile as soon as he noticed it. "Your dad must be real proud."

"What do you mean?" She said while tilting her head to one side.

"It's nothing." He leaned back and turned his head towards the sky. The moon was still hidden from his view, to sad to face him. "So what do I do now?"

"Why do you only ask me for advice when problems come your way."

"Well you ask me for everything when problems aren't headed your way. It's a fair trade really."

"What did you do?"

Percy took a long and hard drag this time, forced to close his eyed when dose of nicotine hit his system. "I lashed out after something happened. I don't know what came over me. I've never been so…"

"You always been like that for as long as I've known you."

"What? I've never been that way."

"No. Stop right there. Maybe you were always gentle in the past, and you are most of the time now, but you've always had these episodes when things don't go the way you wanted."

Percy sat lost in thought, puffing on his cigarette. He couldn't muster up the words to counter Ally. Thinking back on the past five years, he remembered all the time people have been sad at him for some reason he couldn't figure out. In his whole life, he has never considered it was his fault. Ally lit up another one for herself and uses it to start one more for Percy.

"I don't think this is healthy for me."

"I don't do it because it's healthy for me. Come on, one last kiss from your best friend."

He hasn't notice that he had come to the end of his own one. After looking down at it, he stamped it out on the bench's armrest and tossed it into the trash can. "Just this once, I don't plan on making it a habit."

"If you ever miss the taste of these lips, just ask me for another."

"You're such a bad influence on me, but I can appreciate that side about you." He took it from Ally's hand but hesitated because of what she just said. Instead, he stared at it for a moment before waving the thought away and took a puff. "So what do I do now?"

"Go talk to her dummy!"

"After everything I did? After all that I've said?"

"After everything you did and after that you've said. It's your mistake and no one else will fix it for you."

"Can I finish this up first?" Percy said but as soon as he finished saying that he was sitting on the stair that led to his girlfriend's apartment building, the cigarette that was between his fingers lost in the wind.

"Not a chance Perce." A disembodied voice rung out. "Don't let this haunt you for the rest of your life." With that wind returned back to being howls and he was alone in the street again.

The young man looked up at the second floor of the building, through the window of his girlfriend's apartment. The lights inside were turned off, curtains blocked out any remaining thing that he could've made out in the darkness. He went inside and mentally prepared himself for the long conversation he was about to have, running simulations over and over in his head. After standing in front of the door for five minutes, hesitating on whether or not he should go through with it. Remembering his friend's words, he turned the doorknob. It was unlocked, just as he had left it.

Making his was through the dark apartment, Percy reached the door that tested his resolve the most. Steeling himself and open that door was the hardest thing he had ever done up to that point in his life. Inside was a figure he couldn't quite see, but he couldn't miss the glowing silver eyes that were pointed straight at him.

"Hey, you left your doors unlocked. What if a thief came in?" He rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "You wouldn't want that right…?"

"And yet the thief who just entered my room without permission is trying to save himself now." Diana was trying hard to choke back a sob, she got teary eyed as soon as she heard his voice again. "What do you want? Perseus."

"Ouch, that kinda hurts a little." He got closer and sat down next to her. His hands reached out to try and touch her, but it was slapped away. "Come on, at least let me wipe your tears a little."

"So what? You can make me feel comfortable and then hurt me again?" She shouted straight into his face. "I don't want to keep doing this if all we're ever going to be is toxic to each other!"

Percy pursed his lips. He knew that the words that she was saying was true and couldn't deny that. He struggled for a way to explain himself but couldn't find a way to placate the grieving goddess.

"Do you want to hear a story?"

"I don't Perseus."

But he continued regardless. "It's about a boy, a boy who went through a lot of loss in a short amount of time. He lost everything he ever wanted, not just a person, but even his dreams and hopes too. There was also this girl, she was a lot wiser than him, but she lost a lot too. They met up with each other at a lake and talked and talked. The boy gained a lot that day, that girl gave him a second reason to live, so he used it to build his life and gain much more things to live for. But as humans goes, he stumbled along the way and fell into depression. The trauma and memories haunted him and changed him so much. He was so self-absorbed that it wasn't until his friend had to intervene that he realized. But it was too late, and he has hurt the girl deeply. Even so, he still loves that girl and wants to make up for it. Well, that's it, I don't really know about the girl's half of story yet."

Percy wiped a tear from Diana cheek. "The boy in the story? That's me." He pointed a finger at himself and then turned it to the crying figure in front of him. "And the girl? That's you. And I so want to make it up to the both of you, but"

Without saying anything, Diana tackled him down on the bed and buried her face in Percy's chest, taking in comfort from his warmth. He started stroking the goddess' head, trying to calm down the stream of hiccups that only served to remind him how much he has hurt her. The other arm pulled her in even closer, scared that if he let go, she would once again leave him. They stayed like that a while, until her sobs subsided, replaced by

"You stink."

"I don't plan on making it a habit," Percy said. "It's just a onetime thing."

"I'm not talking about the cigarette smoke. I'm talking about the scent of that wind spirit."

"Uh, haha. I don't plan on making that a habit either."

"What? Flirting with other girls?"

"Ally's not like that, probably. And she most likely would lead me down a road of self-destruction." He grabbed her face with both of his hands and brought it up to his own. "So am I forgiven for being a jerk?"

"No, you're still being punished." Diana grabbed the back of his head and plunged her lips into his. It was a just normal kiss, something mundane, but they could both feel their worries melting away. "And you still have another goddess to calm down."

A/N: Don't smoke please. It's bad for you.