I Guess This Counts as Spoils of War
What Percy felt had been several minutes had actually been no more than the blink of an eye, because when he opened his eyes again, he was no longer standing in that beautiful place from before, facing that dragon man... or whoever he had been.
He was back in the Garden of the Hesperides, still standing atop Ladon's body, which was slowly turning into dust and mist. Even the aura flowing out of Ladon had not yet completely entered his body, though the ancient song he had heard had already fallen silent.
And his friends were still staring at him, shocked, confused, and almost spellbound.
But they snapped out of it when they realized Ladon had truly been killed by none other than Percy, and they hurried over.
"You're... completely insane," Zoë repeated the very same words she'd said before the battle with Ladon had begun. But this time, instead of having a face full of panic, it was filled with astonishment... and almost excitement.
"What the hell were you thinking?" Thalia said accusingly, recovering from her initial amazement. After everything Percy had just done, as incredible as it had been, it had also been unbelievably dangerous. Literally one wrong step, and they all would have died.
"But... what was that? It was like you absorbed something from Ladon. We saw it enter you. And then those drums... that music. I've never heard anything like it," Grover added, still even more stunned by that song than by everything else that had happened.
Grover had aged decades in the blink of an eye, burning through his own life force to keep summoning his companions to help Percy. His hair was now filled with white strands, and deep wrinkles covered his face.
He looked like Grover several decades older. The satyr, who was much older than Percy but had always looked about twelve years old, had turned into an old man because of him.
Percy ignored the questions.
Instead, he stared silently at Grover, paying no attention to the new strength roaring inside his chest, as though it were searching for a way to break free.
Then Percy looked around, searching for something on the ground.
Until his eyes landed on one of the apples that had fallen from the tree. The first one, to be exact. The one that had started this entire fight to the death with Ladon.
Percy walked over and picked it up.
But several footsteps rushed toward him at once, and as soon as they saw what he was doing, they shouted,
"You can't take that!"
It was Zoë's sisters. After fleeing in cowardice during the battle, they had finally come back. Even so, there was still a trace of panic on their faces, especially whenever they looked at Percy—the same person they had claimed only moments ago didn't seem particularly threatening.
"Why not?" Percy asked in a serious tone. Combined with the aura that still hadn't faded from him—and now mixed with Ladon's own aura—it made his voice sound genuinely intimidating. Even the youngest of the three took an involuntary step backward.
"The golden apples belong to Hera. Only the gods may possess them," one of them answered quickly.
Percy held the apple up in front of him.
"And who's going to stop me?"
The three of them fell silent.
Percy swept his gaze across them.
"You three? Do each of you happen to have a hundred heads like the thing I just killed? If you do, I wouldn't mind starting another fight. For some reason, I feel a whole lot stronger than before."
None of them answered.
Percy let out a dry laugh.
"I've been making the gods angry ever since I found out who my father is. Even Zeus couldn't kill me and ended up organizing a competition to try. So no, I'm not worried about making Hera angry too."
The Hesperides opened and closed their mouths several times, unable to come up with a reply.
"Good," Percy said before turning around and tossing the golden apple to Grover. "According to the legends, they grant eternal youth... or even immortality. I don't know which one is true, but I think either one would be a lot better for you right now, don't you? Unless you don't feel like living a whole lot longer..."
Percy didn't get to finish.
The moment Grover caught the apple, it was as if his goat instincts completely overpowered his satyr instincts. Just from smelling that intoxicating fruity aroma, he shoved the golden apple straight into his mouth and started chewing as fast as he could.
The instant Grover realized what he'd done, his face turned completely pale. But with the apple's juice already filling his mouth—and after unconsciously licking his lips—it didn't really help his case.
"Oh, no..." Grover muttered, realizing he'd just eaten one of Hera's most sacred fruits.
Meanwhile, Zoë, as a former Hesperid, looked utterly stunned, while at the same time feeling completely conflicted.
Thalia, on the other hand, seemed, just like Percy, not to care in the slightest.
She let out a quiet snort before bursting into laughter at the sight of Grover wearing a face full of panic after devouring a divine fruit.
Percy started laughing as well, watching Grover's body, which had been as withered as a dried leaf only moments ago, begin filling with vitality and recovering at an incredible pace, returning to its normal appearance.
Though it looked like that appearance would now last a little longer than it should.
Which was good in one way... but maybe not so much for Grover, since he'd keep looking like a little kid for much longer than a satyr normally should.
Grover grabbed his head, wondering whether he should spit the apple out, but it was obviously far too late when he saw his soft, youthful hands again and felt that renewed vitality flowing through every part of his body.
"Well, now..." Percy said as he looked around, his eyes settling on the other golden apples that had fallen to the ground because of his battle with Ladon.
And of course, as Miraak's disciple, after a fight the next step was...
Looting.
Meanwhile, the Hesperides could only watch in silence, seething with anger but not daring to say anything else.
Even Zoë couldn't help feeling a little guilty for a moment and tried not to look at the shameless Percy, who calmly stuffed the golden apples into his backpack as though they were nothing more than ordinary fruit that had fallen from some random tree.
As though he'd completely forgotten they still had to continue toward the mountain's summit to face the General, save Annabeth, and, at the same time, rescue Artemis.
But it seemed no one actually dared to stop him.
Trying to stop someone stealing your fruit after they'd just defeated a hundred-headed ancient monster—one capable of turning you into pulp with a single attack—wasn't exactly an appealing idea.
Percy tucked away the last apple, gave the bag a couple of satisfied pats, and nodded to himself.
"Yeah..." he murmured under his breath. "This definitely counts as spoils of war."