Dace journeyed back to camp with me. When most of the demigods saw him, swords were drawn and arrows notched. I held my hands up and stood protectively in front of him, "Don't shoot, stab, injure, or kill the god." Clarisse snorted and shoved her sword back in its sheath. She gestured for the rest of the cabin to do so, when everyone had backed down. I walked through the busy camp and found Chiron discussing something with Mr. D.
"…he really thinks that?" Chiron was saying, his eyebrows knitted together like a sock.
"I suppose he does, I mean he did accuse Percy. What makes Poseidon think he wouldn't be part of this? Idiot father…married to his job." Thunder rumbled over head and Mr. D sent it a glare. "Oh shut up. Over dramatic king." He grumbled. I ran up the steps, Dace trotted quickly after me.
"Chiron. Dionysus. I would like to formally introduce you to Dace, god of hellhounds. AKA "The Golden Hellhound"." Mr. D burst out laughing; Dace sent a growl that made him shut his mouth. "Anyway you were talking about Zeus and Poseidon?" I leaned against a porch pole.
"Yes…well, Poseidon assumes Zeus awakened Levus and kidnapped Pearl, in order to get back at him for accusing him of stealing his Lightening Bolt. So all in all it's the same old, same old petty brotherly arguments. Ah family." A group of Ares kids punching each other rolled past. Ah family. Dace was watching intently, his large thick golden tail pounding on the porch making it shake.
Farther away from the porch a giant black hellhound emerged, chasing after Percy. Mrs. O'Leary, her sleek black fur was a mass full of white feathers. Oh gods what had Percy done to the poor thing now? What beautiful maiden is that? Dace asked in my mind, I filled him in. She's so graceful…and-and, Mrs. O'Leary tore apart a giant squeaky ball Percy had thrown her, delicate. I gave Dace a skeptic look and saw a tall figure strolling towards the porch.
Marcus. Why was he here? Why in the gods name was Marcus here? Where was Jordyn? I was about to have a cow, then Jordyn popped up from under the porch. "Hello Penelope!" She waved; I laughed and pulled her up.
"Sweetheart what are you doing down there?" She pointed toward Marcus; his bright intense blue eyes caught me off guard. "M-Marcus…" He smiled and bowed to me,
"My lady." He turned to Mr. D. "My king's son." Dionysus rolled his eyes,
"Well excuse me, didn't mean to interrupt the love fest." He sighed and walked into the Big House. I watched after him for a short moment, I was trying to look everywhere but Marcus' eyes. Chiron winked at me got up from where he was standing and leaped down from the porch. Great. I seemed to be thinking that more and more sarcastically everyday.
I turned slowly and saw Marcus looking at me. It wasn't creepy or odd, but his eyes slowly moved up and down my body. I met his and I locked my gaze with him. They were endless and so clear and clean, there was a point of oblivion in his eyes. I was lost… Only one other person had made me feel that way. I quickly looked away…shit. No, I would not ruin our friendship with this dumb fling.
"Goddess, I was wondering if I could accompany you to Tartarus…I-I would like to come with you." Oh Marcus, bless your soul.
"I can't allow you Marcus… I'm so sorry." I looked to Dace he gave me a doggy smirk. I snapped at him, and turned back to Marcus. "It's just that well Dace, here is coming with Percy, and me with Annabeth. I'm afraid its set." He nodded, but his face had hardened into one of his unreadable masks.
"Very well my goddess. I will follow as you command. But my fair maiden, you will not be unsafe for as long as I live." Marcus had a fierce look in his eyes which personally, scared me a little. I nodded and he left to walk along the rocky path that ran along the camp. Something in my heart lifted as he looked back, what was it? A lighter shade of something, it began to tear at the endless drapes over my heart.
Percy waved to me as he raised a slobbery half eaten log. Mrs. O'Leary tackled him to the ground, knocking the breath out of him. He laughed; she began to lick his face uncontrollably. Percy tried to shove her off, but only was dissolved into a lump of laughs. "Alright Mrs. O'Leary, go! Go see Penelope!" He spanked her large rump and she shot across the yard to me. I opened my arms to her, doubling in size so she wouldn't shove me to the ground. She licked my face, her breath smelled horrible but I adored her like she was my own dog.
"Whoa, toots did you grow since we last saw you?" I looked and was met by mischievous glares. The Stoll brothers. "Connor I swear she got bigger, hey my tootsie come 'ere!" A blond haired girl with very pretty dark brown eyes came other and rolled her eyes,
"What Travis? No, I'm not going out with you. I HAVE A BOYFRIEND!" Travis pretended to be injured in his heart,
"Wow that hurt Katie, anyway look it's our beloved Penelope she's the size of a horsey now." Connor laughed,
"Yeah the size of a hore-see." Travis and Connor started to laugh; Katie rolled her eyes once more and stepped over to me.
"Hey Pen!" She gave me a friendly hug, she smelled like sweet strawberries and fresh baked bread. A weird combination, but smelled great.
"Katie, Travis I see has finally found someone to fall in love with." She sighed in exasperation,
"You don't know the half of it. What I don't understand, is that he waits till I have Will, and then he gets all sweetly on me. First it was just simple looks of interest, you know the usual, 'Hey toots'. Then he started the whole, every-time-Will-touches-you-I'm-going-to-punch-him-in-the-nose. Finally he grabs my ass ten times a day, claiming I have the best ass at camp. I seriously hate him." She pushed a lose strand of curly hair back behind her ear.
I started to laugh hysterically. I had no idea what it was, but the fact that Katie was just so normal and friendly that I hadn't had that in awhile. Maybe that was it… We went on like that, talking about Travis and Connor-both of them, we had come to the conclusion were insane-for a little while. When we both heard the horn. This time it wasn't just for lunch it was for something worse. It meant camp was under attack.
Katie and I parted as she went to go find her siblings for battle. Travis and Connor ran off to arm themselves with gods knows what. I stood there frozen, I could feel a call, a plea, and it was the saddest thing I ever heard.
My lady! HELP! Help- Lilivinth. I ran to the beach, my feet were moving fast but not fast enough. All I knew Lilivinth wasn't stirring or else I would have felt his spirit within mine. I rushed to the ocean Percy stood over it looking down at it. He reached out to it; I felt everything screaming inside of me to get to him. "PERCY! NO DON'T DO IT!" He turned and I pushed him out of the way just as the ocean tried to take a swipe at him. "YOU FUCKING BASTARD! NEXT TIME YOU TRY TO TOUCH ANY OF THEM, I'LL KILL YOU WITH MY OWN HANDS!" My swearing even surprised me; I turned and saw red seeping through the water, a massive shape under the cloud of red wasn't moving.
Pain struck through me and I jumped into the water, ignoring Percy calling after me. I swam through the water, gills formed on the sides of my neck, and my feet grew webbed. Well that was new. I called out of Lilivinth. He didn't respond. That asshole was going to pay. I knew exactly who it was that had hurt my precious baby, I found him, and his great midnight black eyes were closed. His long snout rested on the bottom of the ocean, unmoving. "Oh Lilivinth…" I dove deeper and petted his smooth scaly skin. His eyes opened a crack.
I hope you can forgive me my lady. I wrapped my arms around the small patch of skin I could fit onto. "I love you Lil'." He took one last breath through his massive gills and was still. "Lil'…" I whimpered, but he was gone. Anger hit me and the kelp that grew around me started to grow rapidly. I couldn't hear my own thoughts for the blood pounding in my ears. I adjusted my dress strap and swam into the ocean, looking for any sign of Levus. He wouldn't get away with this… Lilivinth had been like a loyal best friend to me…
Out of the corner of my eye something moved. Darkness started to twirl into an upward circle and a handsome boy stepped out. He had long black hair that swayed to the left; it was shaggy but cute in a way. His shirt was off and flowered bathing suit bottoms hung loosely on his hips. I looked into his face and breathed in a gaping sigh, he had our mother's eyes. A beautiful hazel that sometimes, in the light, had slashes of light green. His nose was upturned and he appeared to be un-evil at that moment. He looked to be about my age, a few years older maybe twenty or so. His lips the same form at my own, very tight and straight-lined, like he always had a concentrated expression.
"Hello sister." His voice was ageless, he could have appeared anywhere from eighteen to hundred with it. I began to tense as he strode toward me, "I see you hate my tactics, but the dinosaur had to be destroyed my sweet little sister. It was only a matter of time before Poseidon believed you were trying to get him with the creature." He emphasized 'creature', like it meant monster. Anger began to boil within me, my vision tinted to a red.
"Don't ever call me sister again. I'm no family of yours, if you can't even show respect for the things I love." I said this dangerously low, it was all I could do not release everything I had burning inside of me to unleash it onto him. He smiled and an evil, amused smile formed on his face.
"So you do have the family's streak. Mom didn't want anything to do with me, obviously that's where I got the temper that I have." He bended down and drew in the sand, "My powers are almost fully formed Penelope, do you know what happens when their complete?" His face was a mask of unreadable expression.
"I'll take a guess, your going to try to destroy the gods." My words perfectly calm and placid, two could play at this game. He laughed and the sea seemed to stir as the rumble of his chest echoed across the empty dunes.
"Your smarter then I thought. That's exactly what I plan on doing." I chose my words, and soon found the right ones.
"You won't succeed Levus," I smiled cruelly; "You won't ever win. Zeus and Poseidon, they'll figure out your plans. If they don't, I'll tell them what your problem is. Cause' personally brother I see right through your lies." He narrowed his eyes at me. There it was, that was all the indication I needed, I raised my hand and a glowing ball of power formed in it. "Plus right now would not be a good time for you to piss me off, I don't play nice nowadays."
"I see, well Penelope. We'll see who believes who, we'll definitely see, won't we?" His answer chilled me, and he started laughing like I had told him the funniest joke ever. He smiled and was gone in a cloud of blackness. I felt suddenly weak and overused. I collapsed on the bottom of the sea floor. Tears started to form in my eyes, but they didn't stream down my cheeks. They were lost with the vastness of the ocean.
I realized I had to get back to camp. People would worry, that was not something I wanted the demigods to think about right now. They were happy these beautiful summer days, the days when the daunting task of trying fit in with the world wasn't with them. They were all one at camp and for that reason I adored it.
The surface lapped against my breastsas I rose out of the water. The warning horns were silenced and I saw Percy had a worried expression on his face, he stood on the shore. The water caressing his feet, he saw me and relief flowed on his face. I leaped out of the water and landed on my feet. I was automatically welcomed into his warm, strong arms. Percy was my best friend, and despite everything we had been through I still had feelings for him.
"Oh dear gods, why the fuck would you do that!" He became angry, "My gods Penelope! Do you even know what you're doing? I was so fucking worried I think I almost gave birth," I stifled a laugh at that comment, "I don't even think that's possible. For one Annabeth and I haven't even had sex…yet, and two…well that would just be wrong…" He stared at the shoreline, his face morphed with a look of far off speculation. I backed out of his arms,
"I'm sorry Percy, but you have to understand, Levus is just my stupid brother. I can take him." Percy looked skeptical.
"I still think your that scrawny girl that was at the beach a few years ago, that I saved, that I-I…loved." He took my hand in his own, "Pen, Annabeth…she's my life. She's everything I ever will be. But you…you're one of my best friends. Don't scare me with any life threatening, stupid-ass, I-can-take-half-god-half-titan-because-I'm-hot-shit, moves." I smiled and kissed his cheek. We walked away from the shore and up to the Big House, not even noticing the set of startling blue eyes that followed me as we went.
