HP: Monochrome

Percy Jackson

A high-pitched scream echoed through the room, and a platter laden with snacks fell to the floor with a jarring clatter. Without a doubt, the girl was a natural beauty. She required no makeup, yet ironically, it was probably the first time he saw her without any. She wasn't very tall. On the contrary, the woman was a shorty and seemed smaller and even more fragile than he had remembered her. She still sported the curves he remembered, with ample breasts that had probably haunted several young campers, admittedly including him, in their sleep. While she was slender, she wasn't as trimmed as Annabeth, who had a martial artist and athlete's body.

But then, he had been two years younger than her. If memory served him, she had been about eighteen at the time, and it didn't look like things had changed much.

"Percy!" she cried out in surprise, clutching her chest.

"Silena?" he asked in wonder, not quite believing his eyes yet. "You were dead... I saw you die."

Silena looked down at her feet uncomfortably. Though Percy paid her obvious discomfort no heed, stepped forward, and wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace. For a moment, Silena tensed, but then she seemed to melt against him. Her own arms wrapped themselves around his waist, and she leaned her head against his chest. After a few long moments, she released him and pulled back. To his surprise, the daughter of Aphrodite's eyes were suddenly looking very wet. "Sorry, it's just been a while since I touched anyone alive," she explained, her voice shaking ever so slightly.

"Sorry," Percy said hastily, but Silena shook her head. "Don't be. I needed this. Honestly, I am just grateful that you don't hate me."

Percy shook his head. "Of course not!"

The daughter of Aphrodite breathed deeply. "I forget my place. Welcome home, Master. I didn't expect you to arrive for another day or two; otherwise, you would have received a much warmer welcome."

Percy didn't hear much after the "Master." Finally, it clicked. Apollo's reference to Hades's gift and Artemis's apparent displeasure at the thought. If he wasn't much mistaken, his uncle had gifted him a slave.

"Gods no, Silena. I won't..-" he trailed off when Silena raised a hand. "Please say nothing we will both regret later," Silena quickly cut him off and then added more smoothly. "Why don't we finish your tour? We will have all the time in the world to catch up later. So, how much have you seen?"

Despite his apprehension, he quickly gave her a summary of his exploration so far, and she smiled. "Not much left then."

Silena promptly led him through a living room with another TV. Black leather armchairs, couches, and beanbags occupied the space around a cold and dark fireplace. Swords, spears, and shields hung from the wall next to pieces of coral and shells. A smaller bar stood in the corner with even more alcoholic beverages, leaving him curious as to when he was supposed to drink the vast amount of beverages. "So, here is the living room," she explained.

What followed next were two smaller bedrooms, a large bathroom with those fancy stylists' mirrors, a smaller dining room with a view down on New York, a generous library, and finally, the master bedroom.

What struck him first was the Emperor size bed with dark blue pillows and covers. A large aquarium graced the corner, and another large flatscreen hung from the wall, surrounded by more armchairs and couches. "Turns out the windows are only semi-transparent. You can look out but not in," She explained, nodding at the far wall.

What she referred to as windows was basically a glass wall that reached from floor to ceiling. A glass sliding door offered passage out onto a balcony with a mosaic floor, the tiles arranged in a manner that very clearly sexually objectified naiads. Marble statues of equally lightly clad women flanked the screen door's entrance. Camping chairs surrounded a large bronze brazier. The balcony, overlooking the lower tears of Mount Olympus and New York City, was built into the sheer rock face, just like most of his mansion windows.

She then showed him the attached bathroom, which offered everything from a large shower with additional massage nozzles to both steam and a regular sauna. There was also a large jacuzzi or bathtub with air nozzles, and finally, a mostly empty walk-in wardrobe.

"So, this is it on this floor," Silena announced and led him down another, less grand flight of stairs. "Here we have the part of the house that would most certainly be out of bounds for any guests. You will find living arrangements for myself and any other domestic servants you wish to have down here. That includes dormitories, a general laundry room, a small kitchen for our use, and a bathroom with community showers," she explained. Silena showed him the windowless room that she had been assigned to. A simple cot, a chest, and that was about it. "I've been staying here for two weeks now," Silena explained.

Lacking any personal possessions, all she had were spare dresses lying around, along with a few toiletries. The room was empty and quite depressing, and Percy made a mental note to make sure that Silena never slept in that room again.

"This was here too, so I guess if you are in the mood for such things….," she explained and flicked on the lights.

Red lightbulbs came to life and showed off what could only be described as an elaborately equipped BDSM dungeon. Fitted with everything from pillars, cages, a rack, a wooden X, a finely assembled collection of whips, what looked like a large water bed with lava lamps in the bedposts, and shelves filled with things he didn't even know the name of but looked quite unpleasant. "Apollo thought you might have use for it. I took the liberty to disinfect everything nonetheless," she explained.

"What would I need this for?" he asked. However, the teenager inside him immediately came up with a few unsavory mental images of Silena strung up on some of those contraptions.

"I think the use for such rooms is quite obvious," Silena explained offhandedly, maintaining a straight face. "Apollo said you might need it for me. According to him, the daughters of Aphrodite are too free-spirited."

For a long moment, Percy stared at her open-mouthed until he decided that Silena was pulling his leg. Finally, they stopped in front of a large, round celestial bronze vault door. "There is no actual key. Only you and anyone you grant access can open it the easy way. To everyone else, this door is pretty much unbreakable."

"See," she explained and tried to turn on the large bronze wheels that wouldn't budge.

However, when Percy tried, he could quite comfortably spin the wheel until he heard a series of low clicks. The vault door swung open to reveal the vault's interior. Several empty shelves occupied most of the room, while set up against the wall next to the entrance were two bronze cages or cells with simple cots and manacles set in the wall. "I think this room's purpose is self-explanatory," Silena explained.

"Wouldn't you run out of air in here?" he asked the first question that came to mind and pointed to what looked to be a latex covering for the head with a zipper over where the mouth would be.

Silena shrugged, "Maybe this is meant for prisoners that don't need to breathe..."

"What could I possibly need this for?" Percy asked. "Not that some might be into such things... ."

Still keeping a straight face, she shrugged. "It wouldn't be my position to judge."

Percy looked at her with exasperation. "Really?"

Silena shrugged, clearly happy to avoid the subject. "So, this is it. Is there anything you would like to know?" she asked, neatly folding her hands behind her back again.

"The first thing I would like to know is how you are here, not that I am not thrilled to see you. My second question would be how to take that ridiculous collar off?" Percy declared and Silena smiled gratefully.

"When Lord Hades learned that you and Annabeth had broken up-"

"We didn't break up. We are on a break," Percy corrected, and Silena rolled her eyes. "Sweetie, a break means broken up pending further review. Trust me, I am the daughter of Aphrodite. We know these things. Even Annabeth came to me for advice a few times to talk about you...oh."

Silena mockingly clasped a hand over her mouth. "I wasn't supposed to mention that to you, my bad. But hey, I took it to my grave."

"Oh, ..." was all Percy said, not quite sure what to make of that.

"Anyway," Silena continued. "After you and blondie had you're falling out, Hades figured that you needed something to cheer you up and concluded that a daughter of Aphrodite that no one would miss and could be properly motivated, would be an ideal slave to rebound with and start your existence as a god," Silena reasoned. "So he had the furies put a leash on me, drag me off the fields of Asphodel all the way to his palace, offered me immortality, and the chance to leave the underworld if I agreed to be your willing slave. My reprieve from Asphodel would be conditional to me remaining in your service."

"So, if I were to set you free?" Percy started.

"I assume they would force me to return to Asphodel. I am stuck with you as much as you are stuck with me," Silena confirmed.

Percy pinched the bridge of his nose. "You know, you just dropped an enormous amount of responsibility on my lap here."

Silena smiled apologetically. "I am really sorry about that, but I think you can understand why I had to take the offer. You've seen Asphodel, I was going insane down there. During my judgment they banned me from trying for rebirth, so all I really had to look forward to was an eternity of gloom, misery, and monotony, as that place slowly stripped away my identity and memories until nothing more than a husk was left of me."

Then Silena looked up at him with wide, innocent eyes, "And you were always one of the nicest people I ever met." Then she offered him that dazzling smile that had already taken so many young men's breath away. "...and kinda cute..."

Percy looked down uncomfortably, his cheeks feeling very warm suddenly. Percy of course knew he was being manipulated but couldn't help it. She was just that pretty.

"All jokes aside," Silena said, suddenly serious again. "You are my last chance. You taking me in and treating me at least somewhat decently is more than I could have ever dared to hope for. I don't know how strict to interpret the terms of my deal with Hades, but I would rather not find out the hard way. Please just roll with it. I will be your maid, your cook...and if you want to...you know,.. entertainment as well."

Percy nodded slowly, deciding to ignore that last part. Nothing good could come from that.

Silena sighed as if relieved that the matter was finally settled.

As he came to terms with this new reality, the more horny part of his mind had noted the entertainment part, and he was quite sure that Silena was discreetly referring to sexual favors. Her calling him cute was not by accident either, she was trying to sell her case to him. Something else struck him. "Your deal is with Hades, not that I wish to sound paranoid, but he has a lot of power over you..."

Silena shrugged. "You are right, of course. Percy Jackson, I swear by the River of Styx that I will be your willing slave. I swear that my loyalty is to you and that I serve no other Lord or Master."

Her almost casual tone and swift delivery took him aback, though then he realized that Silena had probably been preparing for this conversation for quite a while.

"To your second question, the key is in the drawer of your bedside table. I didn't dare take it off..."

"Come with me," Percy ordered and led Silena back to his bedroom, where he freed her of her bronze collar with due expedience.

"Thank you," Silena said, rubbing her throat. "You wouldn't believe how uncomfortable that thing gets after a while."

"I can only imagine," Percy replied.

"So..." Silena started after a long moment of silence. "I believe I have some cleaning up to do. Are you hungry?"

Percy shrugged, "One might think that being a god, I wouldn't be. But I am."

"You liked Pepperoni Pizza, right?" she asked lightly.

Percy nodded.

"Okay then, Master. Unless you need anything else from me."

He hastily shook his head and cleared his voice in the sternest way possible. "Call me master one more time, and I will beat your ass."

She offered him another of her lovely smiles. "I will bear that in mind, Percy. Dinner will be served in forty-five minutes. Oh, by the way, there is a binder with a manual for the house..." Silena trailed off when she saw his expression and they both knew he wouldn't be reading any manuals.

"You will be eating with me?" Percy inquired. "If we are now living together, then it would be stupid to eat separately."

Silena nodded, smiling, clearly pleased that he had accepted the new paradigm in their relationship with no further argument. "I would like that."

Percy left Silena to her own devices and headed out into the city. He needed to clear his head. It was simply too much. Becoming a god, the entire Annabeth situation, and now suddenly being a proud slave owner. It would take a lot of getting used to, and he doubted that Annabeth would take kindly to him now living together with another girl, especially a daughter of Aphrodite.

"You out here, Jackson?" someone asked as he walked down the road. Percy turned around and spotted Apollo catching up with him.

"I am," Percy confirmed.

"I thought you would be busy with that daughter of Aphrodite," Apollo mused.

"Not funny," Percy retorted. "She has a name, you know. Silena Beauregard. Sacrificed her life to defend Olympus from the Titans."

Apollo raised his hands in defense. "I meant nothing by it."

Percy sighed, "It's nice to see her again; I really missed her. She's making dinner now."

Apollo nodded and grinned. "You know, if you sleep with her tonight, I can win my bet with Artemis. She said you'd be a perfect gentleman and protect her honor."

"Oh, shut up," Percy said and playfully slapped the sun god's shoulder. "You know you need to grow up."

"And you need to relax, mate," the god countered. Apollo chuckled, and they continued walking down the still bustling streets of the holy city. He spotted other gods, satyrs, demigods, nature spirits, and even a few Centaurs, drinking in cafes and bars, or just milling around. This was the second night on Olympus, the first one culminating in his first dance with Annabeth. Strangely enough, it all seemed rather normal. Sure, there was a girl in a cocktail dress dancing with a guy in ancient Greek armor. Two drunk muses were drawing a crowd by singing and dancing in a water fountain while the city guards tried to get them to go home.

"I think it is time that I finally got back," Percy finally announced.

"Have a nice evening," Apollo replied suggestively and after rolling his eyes, Percy made his way back.

He was surprised to find the atrium brightly lit and the courtyard bathed in green and blue mood lighting. Silena Beauregard stood at the pool, looking as beautiful as ever. She was nervously kneading her hands as he approached. A large platter with two pizzas waited in front of her on a small table between two deck chairs.

"Did you wait long?"

Silena smiled. "I just finished." The young woman then beckoned at one deckchair, inviting him to sit down.

Once he had, she sank to the empty deckchair, picked up her glass, and took a deep sip. "It's been hard to stop myself from eating all the time," she admitted.

"By all means, dig in. Thank you for cooking," Percy replied and picked up his plate.

"So, what exactly happened between you and Annabeth?" Silena inquired between bites.

The young god shrugged. "Zeus graciously bestowed his gift on me. Annabeth decided that she needed time to think," Percy summarized. "

Silena frowned. "I think you'll get her back..."

"Really?" Percy asked, perking up slightly.

This time it was her turn to shrug. "I don't see why not. Mind catching me up on what I've missed? So far, no one has been willing to get me up to date. There was another war I take it?"

Percy almost choked on his Pizza. "You could say that."

And so he started giving a brief summary of what had happened over the past two years. Silena was a superb listener. Unlike Annabeth, whose thoughts quickly shifted to topics that interested her more when the information wasn't conveyed in an efficient and precise enough manner, Silena seemed to hang on his every word, gasping and groaning in all off the right places.

"I've got to meet this Piper McLean," Silena finally announced after he finished his tale. "It is high time that a daughter of Aphrodite got some recognition. I also owe her a drink for putting Drew in her place. You really went to Tartarus for Annabeth? Her calling a break seems kinda low in hindsight..."

"At least someone has seen it my way..." Percy joked.

"Have you actually met any of your friends since the Annabeth incident?" Silena asked pointedly.

"Ahm...no," Percy admitted.

"Then how could you possibly know what they are thinking?" Silena asked bluntly. "Annabeth is adorable, but she is both insecure and very emotionally sensitive. She also tends to be a bit unreasonable at times. You know better than most that she overthinks stuff."

Percy sighed back and stared at the night sky before his gaze fell on the pool. "Want to take a swim?" he asked, embracing the excuse to change the topic.

"I already have..." Silena replied.

"Now?"

The daughter of Aphrodite laughed. "Percy, all I have to wear is this dress,... so unless you are trying to get me naked which would be which would be very cheeky, bold but cheeky, I will have to decline that offer."

"Then we should probably take you shopping," Percy reasoned.

"That would be nice," Silena replied. "I don't even have any undergarments."

Percy glanced over at her, and sure enough, he could see her nipples poking through her dress's blue fabric.

"So, listen. It's quite late, so unless you need anything from me, I would clean this up and go to bed?" Silena started.

"Sure, go ahead," Percy replied. As Poseidon's son, he felt obligated to investigate this body of water and jumped in, breaking the surface early enough to get quite a good view of Silena walking off.