Gothicshadows21: That was a great decision…thanks for the treat Grover
Grover: It wasn't a treat! I lost a bet! Which didn't include me putting jalapenos in my hash browns by the way!
Grover glares at Percy
Percy: You lost a bet G-man…gotta 'pay' up
Gothicshadows21: Good one
Grover: No, not good one! The deal was I pay, not burn my tongue off with double jalapeno hash browns! I won't be able to taste anything for a week!
Gothicshadows21: I'll get you some milk. Mind doing the disclaimer for me again, Grover?
Grover: Sure…Gothicshadows21 does not own the Percy Jackson franchise…nor an ounce of compassion.
Gothicshadows21: Darn straight, I don't.
Percy: Seconded
Chapter 4
Percy POV
Thalia was extra careful sneaking me into her cabin, her back towards me the entire time until she shut the door behind her. My mind was racing too much for me to notice that this was the second time today that I had been snuck into Thalia's cabin. She flipped on the light switch on the wall, shutting off the swirling thunderstorm on her ceiling and blinding us both with bright, albeit dull light, and slid the black curtains shut over her windows. Not that I ever thought about it a lot, but I had always wondered how Thalia decorated her cabin. But as she hurried about the room, sliding off her combat things, hanging her bow and quiver of arrows on nearby hooks, and pulling off her combat boots, I had no interest in looking around. She cast a quick look into a nearby mirror hanging just above her dresser and ran her hands chaotically through her hair, shaking her head just enough to flick the hair away from her eyes, and then turned towards me. I didn't have time to avert my eyes to anything so that it didn't seem like I was just staring at her. But she didn't seem to mind.
"You can sit down, you know," she remarked, knocking my feet out from under me with a desk chair, and sinking down on the edge of her bed, shrugging out of her spiked leather jacket to reveal a black Marilyn Manson sweater, which exposed the tops of her shoulders and teasingly hinting the presence of her collar. My face was burning slightly.
"Like what you see?" she asked. My heart leapt into my throat and starting pulsing rapidly.
"What? I wasn't…I didn't mean to…"
Thalia looked confusedly at me, her eyebrow raised; I took this as the cue to close my mouth and figure out whatever the Hades it she was talking about.
"I was asking if you liked my room," she said slowly and carefully. "You know, because it was dark when you snuck into it this morning?" My face felt like it was on fire and I wouldn't have been surprised to find out that I was blushing. Course, why Thalia was able to make me blush, I have no idea.
"Oh…yeah…right…" I breathed, trying to ignore the image of Silena's knowing smirk swimming to the forefront of my brain.
With Thalia being the only occupant, the Zeus cabin was pretty much like a really tiny house with a lot of guest beds. Not an inch of wall had been wasted, though, or maybe Thalia REALLY hates looking at electric blue walls. Nevertheless, it was really interesting to watch the wall transition between typical emo teen wall decorations, like band and movie posters, saved concert tickets, and old pictures of her and Annabeth to…well, stuff that I would have never guessed about Thalia…like an ability to draw. There were a whole bunch of pencil and charcoal drawings tacked side-by-side, almost as though Thalia was trying to draw Camp Half-Blood piece by piece. The most prominent in my opinion was in the direct center, and I guess Thalia must have loved this one the most, especially since there seemed to be three different renditions adjacent to one another, one in pencil, another in charcoal (which was by far, the most intricate), and what looked to be Thalia's attempt at painting. It wasn't half bad, but blending definitely was not her forte. And what was even more, my ADHD wasn't even attempting to act up as I stared at the museum section of her walls.
"Holy crap, Thals," I commented, staring up at the picture of what looked to be a full moon, its beams reflecting off the glassy waters of the adjacent sea. My picture-perfect scene of serenity...whatever that felt like. "You never mentioned that you could draw."
"That's because I don't mention it," she confirmed, a sneaky grin plastering her face. "I'm Thalia Grace, the certified bad-ass of Camp Half-Blood, not Thalia Grace, the secretly introverted artist." Her feet dropped to the floor and she stood purposefully beside me, gazing up at the drawing.
"How come I never heard anything about you being able to draw?" I asked her again. Thalia sighed, then shrugged.
"I mean, Grover knows," she half-contradicted, and I ignored the slight pang of jealousy towards Grover. "But that's it…Annabeth's been too busy sweeping through Daedalus' laptop with Beckendorf to create overconfident practice dummies to really be interested in what I do, anyways."
There was a slight edge to her voice that I had never heard there before. I looked at her just as she decided to sink back onto the edge of her bed.
"Siri, play Soft by Motionless in White," she called.
"Sure thing, Thalia," a mechanical voice echoed from somewhere, and a few seconds later, a hard, gritty rift of electric guitars burst from the walls, almost as though we were at a concert. I sat down beside her, watching her as she watched her wall.
"If there's one thing being in the Huntresses has taught me Percy, it's that the world is a lot more beautiful than I originally gave it credit for," she asserted. "I was surrounded by its beauty on a constant basis; all I needed to do was open my eyes." And at this, she looked pointedly at me. My heart leapt into my throat as I gazed into her electric blue eyes and my breathing felt…oddly shorter and more constrained.
No…not…Thalia…
"You're really good, Thalia…" I managed to say, trying to lessen the sudden tension in my torso. "And not to sound weird… or anything…"
"Which means that I'm about to be creeped out," Thalia mused, a joking grin appearing momentarily on her face. I breathed, gathering my courage.
"I think your hair looks…really good this way," I complemented, changing midway the complement I had originally chosen. Thalia smiled appreciatively at me and started waving her legs lazily through the air, softly kicking me every fourth kick. I didn't mind it…not one bit.
"There's a lot more beauty in Tobias than Annabeth…or really the rest of the camp gives him credit for," Thalia went on. "You believe that he had no idea about those daggers, right?"
That was a hard question to answer. Sure, maybe he wasn't entirely certain about what the daggers would do, but he had this odd urge to use them in battle, like it was an obligation. And Grover said he's gotten ahold of a sword too, but he's only used it a few times.
"Yeah, I do," I agreed. "I think Nico knows, though. Why he would give them to Tobias, though..."
"Yeah…it's strange…" Thalia went along. "Annabeth's changed, Percy...she hasn't been the same since the Battle of Manhattan. She wouldn't even listen to Tobias' side of the story, even though she saw what everyone else saw and still chose to get mad at him."
"So, what are you saying?" I asked, raising my eyebrow testily at Thalia. "Are you trying to say something in Annabeth snapped during the Battle of Manhattan?" Thalia looked unsure, unsure in the sense that she didn't want to say whatever was on her mind. She stared sadly at me like I was somebody on their deathbed.
"I think Luke's death broke something in her," she finally announced. "I mean, yeah, you two have had this thing for Zeus knows how long..." Her voice was slightly bitter as she spoke, but she hitched it back almost immediately.
"I don't know, Perce…I just really hope I'm wrong…"
"Wrong about what?" I asked, almost frantically. Thalia shook her head, her gaze pointedly averted from me. "What do you want to be wrong about, Thalia?"
"It's nothing too important to worry about, Percy…" She flicked her eyes on me for a couple of seconds before she said, "I think we should get some sleep; I'll walk you back to your cabin."
Feeling sort of irritated at Thalia, I waved her offer aside, but not without a longer-than-average hug from Thalia, sealed with a slight squeeze and a sad look before I strode from her cabin. In the back of my mind, I could hear a tiny Grover calling me an idiot over and over again.
Tobias POV
I could hear Grover tapping his hoof nervously in the other room as I stared at my reflection in the mirror of my cabin bathroom. My eyeshadow-eyeliner makeup had run slightly from the amount of sweat that ran during my duel with Clarisse. I could see Selena's and Annabeth's looks of deepest contempt, hear the silent astonishment of the crowd as I stared at my more-loathed visage. Plastered in the forefront of my mind was everything that led up to Clarisse's look of utmost terror, her languid movements, her lackluster battle-style, the scream…The scene cut back to my glimpse of the blackened scratch on her hand, the scratch my dagger – I had made.
I pulled a makeup wipe and rubbed my eyes clear of makeup and strode back outside towards Grover, who gave me a half-hearted encouraging smile.
"On the bright side, you beat Clarisse," he piped up, and under his breath, I heard him mutter: "Technically."
"Yeah, that's a bright side," I remarked sarcastically. "The fact that I just turned the entire camp against me is no big deal. The fact that I nearly killed someone with stolen cursed daggers that my brother planted for me to find." I looked resentfully at Grover and sank down beside him on my bed. Grover patted my shoulder comfortingly, only for me to shrug him aside.
"I just screwed our capture the flag team, too," I added gloomily.
"You didn't screw the team," Grover contradicted. "We still have the rest of the Ares cabin, not to mention whatever satyrs join up."
"So…just you."
Grover opened his mouth to argue, but closed it, probably acknowledging the fact that I was right. After today, most of – oh, who am I kidding – all of the satyrs would probably join Annabeth's team. Forget being a child of Hades; who'd want to be the person that joined the team with the guy who nearly killed a fellow camper with cursed daggers, in which, the two campers 'coincidentally' had some argument hours earlier.
"I'm running away, Grover," I announced, getting to my feet. "I'm not staying here; everything I do gets someone hurt. I caused all that trouble on the way here and when I ran away from home. I'm not causing anymore trouble…maybe I'll get eaten by the Hydra or Carcinos when I leave…it'll be a huge favor for the world."
"Tobi, no!" Grover shouted, leaping to his feet, blocking my way to the door. "You can't leave camp! Do you know what would happen to you if you left? Every single monster in the woods would come after you! And plus, Chiron would never let you get far! You're too dangerous to be left alone! And worst of all, your leaving would devastate the only people who actually believe and LIKE you!"
"But…"
"Thalia, Percy, and I would be torn up if you left the camp!" Grover interrupted. "And whether or not she wants to admit it, so would Annabeth and Clarisse and Silena and a lot of other people. You're still just in shock from the fight."
He sighed and pursed his lips in a throwing caution to the wind sort of way. "You want to go for a run? Take your mind off things?"
My initial thought was to refuse, but to be honest with myself, kicking Grover out of my cabin would only make me feel worse and I damn sure would not be able to sleep tonight, even if I ran that whole damn trail.
"Yeah, sure," I grumbled. "I just need to get my cold weather stuff on."
I changed into my Nike Pro-Combat cold weather gear, pulled on a hoodie and some gloves and followed Grover outside. We were especially careful as we made our way towards the trail, mainly because I wasn't entirely certain whether or not I had a more distinct scent to the patrol harpies Grover told me about. I really wasn't keen on finding out, though. A quick glimpse to our right caught a silhouette of a couple leaving the Zeus cabin. Whoever they were, neither seemed too concerned with being caught out of bed by the harpies, more like they trying to get away from something…like thoughts.
"Is that Percy?" Grover whispered, careening his neck to get a better look. "Why is he leaving Thalia's cabin?"
"Dunno," I said in a low voice, keeping my very plausible theory to myself.
The next few days leading up to Capture the Flag were absolutely horrendous. No matter what Grover said about there being a rather sizeable group of campers who would have dismayed at my absence, I seemed to be witnessing the opposite. I was greeted with death glares or uncomfortable glances every time I walked into the pavilion, and despite the food's impeccable decadence, I couldn't ignore the frequent glances and mutterings. Worst of all, Clarisse was still laid up in a closed ward in the infirmary. My Greek lessons with Annabeth weren't that bad, though, mainly because I was used to receiving death glares from narrow-minded teachers at this point. Pegasus riding was a whole different ball park. Apparently, Silena has been talking some smack about me to the pegasi so that every single time I try to ride, the creature would do everything in its power to throw me off…or kick me in the head when I'm not looking. There was one Pegasus who didn't seem to resent me, or at least, it didn't recoil or attempt to kill me whenever I approached; it was pure black, almost darker than the night sky on a starless, new moon night. Silena warned me that under no circumstances am I allowed to ride him.
"Why?" I asked.
"Because he belongs to Percy," she snapped with an air of finality as I ducked a ferocious kick from a nearby Pegasus.
Archery wasn't too bad, mainly because it was taught by Chiron. I was okay with a bow and arrow, but given my way, it would just stay in the armory.
"Tobias, hold back for a second," he requested when the conch shell sounded for lesson change. I walked dismally up to Chiron, who stared over me at the other campers as they glanced repeatedly back at us as they made they made their ways elsewhere. When there was no one else around, he said: "There's no need to look uneasy, child."
"I'm not uneasy," I lied uselessly.
"Tobias, I've trained heroes for many eons," Chiron reminded me. "I know the look of a troubled demigod, especially a troubled teenaged demigod." He studied my expression for a few seconds, and, when next he spoke, it was as though he had plucked the thought straight from my brain.
"I do believe you about the incident, involving Miss LaRue," he remarked. I felt my eyes widen in surprise.
"You do?!" I commented in shock. "But…you weren't there! You only saw the end of it! How do you know…"
"Because if you were really truly at odds with Clarisse, you would have never ceased your attack," he deduced logically. "You stopped the duel, ergo, you did not knowingly inject a drug into Clarisse's bloodstream. You showed restraint and compassion towards your fellow camper, despite your loggerhead status, overcoming your own personal grudge. That quality is especially rare in children of Hades. It's extremely and understandably dangerous for them to possess to grudges."
"Right," I responded, not knowing how I should have responded. Chiron shut his eyes and sighed, as though preparing himself for something.
"Mr. Underwood told me an illuminating detail," he began. Oh Lord, here we go… "I heard that you want to leave camp, feeling it would be better for the rest of the campers, is that correct?"
Cursing Grover in the back of my mind, I nodded.
"And you understand why I must deny that?" he went on.
"Because I'm dangerous?" I guessed. Chiron nodded his confirmation. "But what if I don't care about dying? I mean, my parents care too much about cocaine to really care about me, and the people that I hung out with only cared about pot, sex, and punk music. If something happened to one of us, big deal. Let's just smoke the pain away."
There was a weight in my chest, the same dreading weight that strained the muscles of my heart when I finally ran away. Also the same weight that suddenly disappeared when I got attacked by a sphinx just an hour later. Chiron looked sadly at me.
"Unfortunately, there is no way to fix that particular sentiment. Mr. D – and Lord Zeus, too – feel that a psychologist is unnecessary for you youngsters, that your intensive skill training would work your ill feelings out," he said. "But please believe me when I say that I care too much about you to let you put yourself in harm's way…with the intent of dying. So much so that I would send the best search party available to track you down and bring you back to Camp Half-Blood."
I wanted to doubt Chiron, but something his blue eyes let me know that he was not like all the other guidance counselors who told me the exact same thing. His words were like iron shackles, binding him to his word. Still…there would probably be less incidents like Clarisse's if I weren't around. Chiron was wearing the same expression as Grover, looking as though he were reading my thoughts as they were in print.
"Tobias, there are hundreds of teenaged demigods who take up residence here," Chiron explained. "Your incident, nasty as it was, will most certainly not be the last, even if you were to depart and never darken our doorstep again."
Damn him, I thought bitterly, seeing the truth etched in his words.
"Can I see Clarisse?" I asked before I had a chance to think. Chiron was silent for a few seconds, probably pondering how much of a risk this was.
"Just for a few moments," he accepted, and he led me up to the infirmary, watched hungrily by every camper we passed, including a couple of Ares kids. Silena strode by us, intent upon reaching the stables, determinedly looking in any direction that wasn't mine. My heart sank into the pit of my stomach; Chiron patted me comfortingly on the shoulder.
Annabeth was at Clarisse's side when we arrived, sitting on a stool and chatting animatedly with her. For some reason, this seemed odd, for I had a feeling that they were usually less than cordial with one another.
"Annabeth, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave for a moment," Chiron announced. Annabeth's eyes narrowed as her gaze found mine and her expression turned instantly into a glare.
"And why should I do that?" she protested. "He shouldn't even be up here, Chiron. He's the reason Clarisse is in here."
"Miss LaRue's present condition was not Tobias' intention," he cut across. "And I implore you to realize that. Now please, leave us, just for a moment."
Annabeth glared at Chiron, and for a moment I was afraid she wasn't going to budge. But she got to her feet and strode out of the room. I had a feeling Clarisse's lying here had forever placed me on Annabeth's 'Do-Not-Forgive' list. I sat down in Annabeth's empty seat and stared down at my combat boots while Clarisse watched the ceiling with exorbitant intent, as though she expected to collapse on us at any moment.
Finally, she spoke up: "I know you didn't mean to, punk."
Her words nearly knocked me off my stool. I had this characterization of Clarisse as the type of person incapable of forgiveness, that I was going to rue the day especially when Clarisse was up and about again. That didn't seem to be the case…or at least, this time, anyways.
"That doesn't mean I'm not angry with you for putting me out of action this Friday," she growled. "Trust me when I say that when I'm one-hundred percent, I'm going to pulverize you, and that's a promise."
Ah, there it is.
"I look forward to it," I countered, again not thinking before I speak. "So, you don't hate me? You don't want to gut me like a deer?"
"I hate everyone at this camp," she muttered. "But no, you are not so special that I hate you more than I do everyone else. That spot is reserved for kelp breath."
"You mean Percy?"
"Whatever," she confirmed. She paused once more, not as though recuperating from a sudden, sharp wave of pain, more like she was steeling herself for whatever it was she was about to say. "You fight good. Even without those stupid daggers."
"You beat my ass for most of it," I pointed out, and here, Chiron cleared his throat disapprovingly, probably at my word choice. "Sorry, it's just that you were kicking my butt for the most part."
"And I probably would've turned you into a pile of mince meat if you hadn't gotten that lucky shot," she agreed. "But accidents happen, punk. You move on with life. You had really powerful weapons, just like I did. Just know that when I get my hands on you again, you're really going to feel it. I'll be ready for you, this time."
I didn't know what to say. Clarisse's mouth twitched slightly; was she grinning at me?
"I think we should let Clarisse rest," Chiron interjected, holding his arm out to me. Clarisse stopped me as got to my feet, her eyes glaring imploringly back into my own.
"Kick some butt for me tomorrow night," she said.
I couldn't help but grin at her.
"Will do," I assured her, prompting a wicked grin from Clarisse as she laid her head back on the pillow, her arms folded behind her head.
Thalia devoted herself to training me in the use of my daggers, her regiment including throwing and close quarters combat, all in the name of preparing me for quote, 'what the Athena cabin had in store'. I had no doubt in my mind that Annabeth, along with every other member on her team, was extremely intent on punishing me for even acquiring the daggers, even though they probably assumed that I stole them myself…or that my Dad had given them to me. Whatever they thought, I guarantee that I don't look good. The night prior to Friday, Thalia thrashed me hard, her feet as light as a gazelle's as she maneuvered around me, slashing and stabbing with her hunter's knives. After a few days of training, it became easier to parry, dodge, and maintain my stance without staggering, even though Thalia still managed to destroy me every single time she stepped across from me. Sweat was pouring down my face despite the temperature being below freezing and the arctic air was making my lungs burn in the effort of keeping up with Thalia. Percy had wheeled out the killer dummy again for Grover to practice with his cudgel; miraculously, he had only been punched in the face twice.
Thalia threw a well-placed, extremely sharp elbow to my ribs and sliced so ferociously that I could've sworn she had sheared off an inch from the top of my hair when I ducked. Somewhat instinctively, I pivoted her arm into an awkward position and maneuvered myself behind her, the blade of my bone dagger across her throat. I felt a rushing in my ear, as though my body could sense the fragility of life, how vulnerable Thalia was…how easily her life could have been extinguished by my hand. Gasping, I pushed her away from me. Based on her expression, she seemed to sense what I felt, as she appeared somewhat relieved.
"That's good," she complemented, breathing heavily. "Well, you'll at least be able to survive against most of Annabeth's cronies, anyways. We should probably discuss tactics while we're here, because you know Annabeth's done it a shit ton with Beckendorf, already." There was a look in her eye, a look that was only a half-step from a knowing expression simply because she lacked proof. Grover seemed to have noticed it too, but a few seconds extended observation cost him dearly in the form of a hook to the side of his face, sending him sprawling into the dirt.
"Percy, will you turn that thing off? We need our team in one piece," Thalia lectured as the dummy performed a strange victory dance. Percy obliged and switched the machine off before going to help Grover to his feet.
After long talk about squads, diversions, plan of attack, and other details, Thalia dismissed us, lingering behind with Percy, who was rambling around, trying to find his sword, Riptide.
"That's a load of minotaur dung," Grover remarked as we set off. "Riptide has an enchantment so that it would always return to Percy's pocket if lost." He careened his neck to keep them in view as we drew further away from them.
"Do you think there's something going on between them? I mean, they were in Thalia's cabin a couple days ago…"
I shrugged, preferring to keep my presumptions to myself just in case I was wrong. The campfire had already been extinguished, and the new moon presence cast a darkness that even I felt unnerved by. I probably would have no clue where the hell we were going if the green torches of my cabin door weren't lit.
"Hold it!" Grover stopped, seizing my arm. "Who's that over there?" He jabbed his finger in the general direction of my cabin. For a couple seconds, I had no clue what he was talking about, but a few seconds' gazing picked out Annabeth, accompanied by a tall, dark figure with a low, yet very audible voice. There was no denying the familiarity of that figure, whoever they were. Nor was there any ignoring the image of Annabeth's arm wrapped around his vaguely muscular arm, laughing at a joke that Grover and I could not comprehend from this distance.
"Isn't that that Beckendorf guy?" I asked. Grover nodded; in the faint light, I could make out the bulging whites of his eyes, his expression distorted in horrified realization.
"Oh no," he mumbled. "Oh no, no, no, no, no, no…"
He sounded as though his worst fear had just been confirmed, exaggerated as he watched their procession towards the beach. A part of me, the confused bit, was sure that he was a split second from sprinting the length of camp towards Thalia's cabin, but the logical part of me stood just as rooted as Grover was, simply staring after Annabeth and Beckendorf, both of us acknowledging that Percy was much better off in Thalia's cabin at the moment, woefully ignorant to the tragedy Grover and I beheld.
Grover: That…is so…sad… (blows his nose and wipes a tear from his eye)
Gothicshadows21: Lucky that Percy went to the bathroom so that he wouldn't have to witness this part.
Grover: I just can't...I just can't believe it!
Gothicshadows21: Well, believe it, Goat Boy, because it just happened.
Percy: (shutting the door behind him, faint sounds of a toilet flushing shut out) What just happened?
Grover: Nothing, Perce!
Percy: What did you do to me?
Grover and Gothicshadows21 look at each other.
Gothicshadows21: We'll fill you in during the break. In the meantime, review please! Sorry about the bombshell, but this really is tragic. It's going to take a bit to iron everything out. Stay tuned, Chapter 5 and Capture the Flag is in the making.
Percy: Grover…what happened?
Grover: (sobbing uncontrollably) I can't Percy, I can't…
Grover runs from the room; Percy looks at Gothicshadows21.
Percy: Seriously? Are you guys going to tell me what just happened?
Gothicshadows21: Sit down, Percy…this is going to be a while.