Thank you guys for reviewing! I'm really glad you guys enjoyed the first chapter! Here's the second one, and no I still do not own Percy Jackson :( I hope you enjoy this chap as much as you enjoyed the first one. Please review!
2. Someone Steals My Horn
At Camp Half Blood, every day is a sunny one and I don't think I need to describe it all the time. Only difference today, was that it was Capture the Flag. Annabeth was signaling out the teams, ignoring the protests of a couple of the kids. Grover and Chiron had returned late last night with another Mrs. Dodds flittering behind them. Oh, how I don't miss those days. They were one brother and one sister. Their parents are still unclear because they are only eight and nine years old. I guess their parent hasn't gotten around to claiming them yet. So, they are staying in cabin eleven for now. Chiron is explaining the dos and don'ts of being a demigod, so he left Annabeth and me in charge of putting the teams together. Of course, I decided to lay back and watch Annabeth do double the work since we've always had different ideas for making the teams.
"I'd hate to be one of those kids right now," Grover said, chewing on a soda can. "Having to deal with those monsters Chiron let loose this morning. Oh, this is Daedalus all over again."
"Relax, man. They aren't overgrown scorpions this time and no one will be pushed into the Labyrinth," I said, tapping his shoulder with my fist. He glanced at me, chewing his tin can more ferociously. I guessed he was remembering all those moments we had in the labyrinth. Not to mention the ones he experienced when we split inside that maze. He never really spoke about it.
Chiron clopped out from the Big House with the two demigods following behind. He nodded towards me and Grover and walked down towards where Annabeth was yelling the orders and trying to keep them under control. Chiron murmured a few words to Annabeth and she came strolling back towards the Big House as Chiron took over the Capture the Flag activity. All I could think was poor new demigods. This was torture on their soul to play Capture the Flag their first day at camp. I sent a silent prayer to my dad that these kids survive it.
"Hey Percy. Hey Grover," Annabeth said, sitting down next to me. Annabeth looked at me.
"Don't think I didn't notice what you did. Leaving me to deal with those unbearable kids," Annabeth said, cocking her eyebrows. I sent her a grin. She scoffed. Watching her get annoyed seemed kind of cute to me. Not that it hadn't before, but it seemed cuter this time. Then my heart hammered when I remembered that thought I had yesterday.
"Hey, Annie, I broke the sole of my shoe, do you think you can get me another pair from my cabin for me?" I asked. Annabeth turned to me.
"Why don't you get it yourself, Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth asked jokingly.
"See, that's the point. I'll burn my foot walking over there," I said, trying to sound convincing.
"Oh, come on, let me see," she said, standing up to check my shoe.
"You don't have to," I said, reaching down to break my shoe. She walked around and knelt down. I was able to break it in time.
"See?" I said, showing her the big hole in my shoe. She sighed.
"I'll be right back, then," she said, ruffling my hair and leaving the porch. I let out a sigh of relief and put my foot down again.
"Ow!" I cried. When I looked at the hole of my shoe, there was a huge splinter dug deep into my skin. Well, that didn't work out exactly as I planned, but at least it got Annabeth to leave for a moment. As I pulled it out Grover raised an eyebrow at me. I leaned forward to make sure Annabeth was out of earshot.
"Your shoe broke?" Grover asked, picking up another tin can.
"I know, I know. Listen, I wanted to ask you something important, G," I said. Grover leaned in. I realized then, I didn't know how to bring up the subject. My hands felt a tad bit sweaty just trying to get the words on my tongue.
"Do- I mean- I was thinking that-" I sighed.
"Ye-e-e-es?" Grover bleated.
"Don't do that. You sound like a goat when you do that," I said. Then I realized just how stupid I was for saying that. Grover's eyes bore into my face. I just grinned at my own stupidity.
"Grover, I'm just going to say it. Do you think I should ask Annabeth to marry me?" I asked. I tightened my hands into fists, waiting for Grover to start cracking up, but when I looked at him; his eyes were over flooded with excitement.
"Percy, are you serious? Marriage?" Grover yelled in excitement. I slapped my hand over his mouth as he trembled with excitement.
"Any louder?" I said, cautiously taking my hand off his mouth.
"I'm sorry, Percy… But it's so cool!" he said with a wide smile.
"But do you think-" I shut my mouth when I saw Annabeth walking back up towards the porch with a pair of shoes in her hands and a worried look on her face.
"Keep your mouth shut, k man?" I said to Grover as Annabeth walked up the porch steps.
"Percy? I need to tell you something," Annabeth said in a serious voice, placing my shoes on the table. I nodded and cast a nervous glance towards Grover. Had she overheard something? I really hope not. She stretched out her hand and I slid mine into hers. She walked to the other side of the porch, with me trailing behind.
"Percy," she said seriously. She was starting to scare me. "Your Minotaur horn is gone." My eyes opened wide in surprise. I waited for her to crack up laughing, but she was dead serious.
"What?" I yelled. I was shocked. "Wait here. I'll be right back. I have to check this out," I said. I turned and sprinted towards my cabin. I felt a slight burn under my foot. That was the worst excuse I used to distract Annabeth. It really backfired on me. I finally reached my cabin. I opened the door and ran inside. There, directly above my bed, where the Minotaur horn should be, was empty. My heart leaped out of my chest. No one ever touched it except Tyson, Annabeth, and Grover and of course me. But none of my friends would take. I was sure of that. All I knew was that someone broke into my cabin and stole the horn.
I rummaged threw my drawers, just in case someone was playing some practical joke on me, but the horn was officially gone. I slowly walked outside and sat down in front of the door. I felt violated just thinking someone touched one of my most prized possessions. I sat there and tried to think of someone who might have it in for me and just decided to hurt me by stealing a precious memory of the past. I sighed. I wanted to go running and search for my horn, but I just had nowhere to begin. My head was buried in my hands when I heard a familiar voice.
"Hey Percy," a voice said. I glanced up to see a much older Nico walking towards me. I was glad to see him, but the look on his face was like a copy of Annabeth's. He had some serious news and since his father was Hades, the news wasn't always the best.
"Hey," I said stretching out and resting my arms on my knees.
"Percy, something's happened. Something my father isn't really happy about," he said, sitting down next to me. He passed his fingers through his hair as if the news was hard to say. I didn't say anything.
"Someone's escaped the Underworld… alive." My head snapped towards Nico, who was looking at the ground.
"What? How is that even possible?" I asked. Nico looked towards me as if I should know. I was about to ask why he was looking at me like that, when it dawned on me. Twice I'd gone to the Underworld and survived; Nico accompanying me the second time.
"Oh. Right," I said.
"Anyways, my dad wasn't very happy about it. He caused an earthquake that shook three states. Luckily Persephone was there to calm him down. Otherwise, there would've been a lot more damage." Something clicked inside me when he mentioned "earthquake".
"Your dad caused that earthquake?" I asked.
"Yeah. Look, I can't stay for very long since we're trying to find leads on who escaped. Charon was able to give us a description, though. He had black hair and an eye patch, but that was it. Charon wasn't exactly much help. Anyways, I just came to ask you to keep an eye out for someone you think died or should've been dead. If that happens, send me an Iris-message and let me know. It's really important that we find that escapee," Nico said, barely meeting my eyes. When he mentioned the escapee's description, something seemed familiar, but I couldn't exactly remember. I ignored it, since it could've been just some random stranger on the street I saw a few days ago. I wouldn't remember a face.
"Nico, are you okay? You're acting a little weird," I said, noticing his lack of eye contact.
"I'm fine; my dad's just giving me a hard time about it. As if it was my fault or something. Just promise me you'll tell me if you've got any ideas."
"I promise," I said, bumping him with my shoulder. He chuckled.
"Well, I got to go now. See ya."
"See ya," I said as he disappeared into the forest.