Percy: Okay, well Hinata001 asked if we could introduce this chapter since she's kinda busy.
Hinata001 (Dancing): Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!
Percy: Don't ask. Anyways. She wants to say that she doesn't own Percy Jackson, though she wishes she could. Hey!
Hinata001: What? You're every girl's dream.
Percy: Shouldn't you be dancing somewhere?
Hinata001: Nope. I'm all done.
Percy: What was that about anyways?
Hinata001: I looked at this stories stats more closely and since I posted the last chapter I've gotten way more hits and visitors! *sighs* But still no more reviews. *Goes into the corner and curls up into a ball.* (Mutters) What do they think of it? They hate it don't they. *starts crying*
Percy: Ok. Let's hope her rapid mood swings don't affect this chapter.
Dionysus: That's not going to happen
Percy: Where did you come from?
Dionysus: I've been here the whole time. Pay attention Peter Johnson.
Percy: It's not… *sighs* whatever. Let's just get on with the story.
A.N.: Sorry, thought I'd do something different for a change.
Ch. 4: Secrets, Revelations and Bulls
As the throne room filled again the focus of the two sea and wisdom couples was not on the next chapter but on the presence they had felt and heard just moments before. All four of them recognized it and feared what it meant.
Annabeth glanced over at her boyfriend who shared a knowing look, his fingers teasing her strand of silver hair. There was no doubt in their minds who or rather what they had sensed. They had both felt its power once before, had carried its burden. It was something they would never forget.
Athena was doing her best not to glance over at Poseidon as she conversed telepathically with him.
"When should we tell them," Poseidon asked.
"Soon," she replied. "Knowing them they probably sensed her and have at least figured out who she is." She glanced over to where Percy was playing with Annabeth's strand of gray hair while seeming to converse with her silently like they were.
"I'll read," Nico said, the book appearing in his hands. This distracted the two couples from their musings.
Chapter 4: My Mother Teaches Me Bullfighting
Poseidon, Percy and Paul (who Sally had told the story to) groaned.
Hades trembled in his chair, waiting for the two beings of the sea to turn their anger on him but was shocked when they didn't. The two of them seemed too busy dealing with whatever had happened over the break. Sighing he shook his head. He'd never understand them. They were as unpredictable as the sea they controlled. Paul,however… He shuddered surprisingly under the mortal's glare.
"I'm right here guys," Sally said, chuckling at the three's overprotectiveness. She leaned against Paul, who just grinned sheepishly.
We tore through the night along dark country roads. Wind slammed against the Camaro. Rain lashed the windshield. I didn't know how my mom could see anything, but she kept her foot on the gas.
Every time there was a flash of lightning, I looked at Grover sitting next to me in the backseat and I wondered if I'd gone insane, or if he was wearing some kind of shag-carpet pants.
"Seriously, shag-carpet pants?" Reyna asked, raising an eyebrow.
Percy blushed. "I was in denial," he said.
But, no, the smell was one I remembered from kindergarten field trips to the petting zoo— lanolin, like from wool. The smell of a wet barnyard animal.
Grover huffed.
"Well it's true G-man," Percy said. "You are part goat which definitely doesn't mix with rain, which you had been running in for hours."
Grover glared at him.
"Percy, honestly, you have no tact," Annabeth said, reaching and hitting her boyfriend on the back who yelped.
"OW! Wise Girl!" he exclaimed. "That hurt!" His eyes widened and he stared at her. That had been his Achilles Heel. Apparently, even though his invincibility was gone the spot was still his most sensitive spot.
"That was the point, Seaweed Brain," she said, grinning.
The rest of the throne room watched this with amusement. They had a feeling it wouldn't belike this for much longer.
All I could think to say was, "So, you and my mom... know each other?"
Graver's eyes flitted to the rearview mirror, though there were no cars behind us. "Not exactly," he said. "I mean, we've never met in person. But she knew I was watching you."
"Stalker," Hazel muttered, remembering the fauns at Camp Jupiter. She understood that Grover was different and just doing his job but it was still hard not to associate him with Don and the others that kept following her for her jewels that they didn't know were deadly.
"Watching me?"
"Keeping tabs on you. Making sure you were okay. But I wasn't faking being your friend," he added hastily. "I am your friend."
"I am," Grover said, staring at his two friends worriedly. He had felt relieved when he saw their interaction but he could still sense that something was wrong and that they were extremely worried about something.
"I know G-man," Percy said grinning, causing Grover to relax slightly.
"Urn ... what are you, exactly?"
"That doesn't matter right now."
"It doesn't matter? From the waist down, my best friend is a donkey—"
Dionysus chuckled evilly "Bad move Perry."
Grover let out a sharp, throaty "Blaa-ha-ha!"
I'd heard him make that sound before, but I'd always assumed it was a nervous laugh. Now I realized it was more of an irritated bleat.
"Goat!" he cried.
"What?"
"I'm a goat from the waist down."
"You just said it didn't matter."
"In his defense you did say that," Thalia said.
"Blaa-ha-ha! There are satyrs who would trample you underhoof for such an insult!"
The mortals shuddered at the thought while Dionysus seemed to relish it.
"Whoa. Wait. Satyrs. You mean like ... Mr. Brunner's myths?"
"Were those old ladies at the fruit stand a myth, Percy? Was Mrs. Dodds a myth?"
"That wasn't really the best time to get philosophical Grover," Jason said.
"I was trying to get him to realize the truth," Grover replied, "something I should have realized would never work."
"So you admit there was a Mrs. Dodds!"
Thaliai rolled her eyes. "That's really not the point he was trying to get across Kelp Head," she said.
"Of course." "Then why—"
"The less you knew, the fewer monsters you'd attract," Grover said, like that should be perfectly obvious. "We put Mist over the humans' eyes. We hoped you'd think the Kindly One was a hallucination. But it was no good. You started to realize who you are."
Jason raised an eyebrow. "You make it sound like he's a god or something."
Percy chuckled. "Or something."
"Who I—wait a minute, what do you mean?"
The weird bellowing noise rose up again somewhere behind us, closer than before. Whatever was chasing us was still on our trail.
"Percy," my mom said, "there's too much to explain and not enough time. We have to get you to safety."
"Safety from what? Who's after me?"
Annabeth sighed. "Who isn't?"
Athena and Poseidon shared a glance.
"Oh, nobody much," Grover said, obviously still miffed about the donkey comment. "Just the Lord of the Dead and a few of his blood-thirstiest minions."
"And that's the least of my worries," Percy muttered.
"Grover!"
"Sorry, Mrs. Jackson. Could you drive faster, please?"
I tried to wrap my mind around what was happening, but I couldn't do it. I knew this wasn't a dream. I had no imagination. I could never dream up something this weird.
My mom made a hard left. We swerved onto a narrower road, racing past darkened farmhouses and wooded hills and PICK YOUR OWN STRAWBERRIES signs on white picket fences.
"Really?" Frank asked. The demigods who had been to Camp Half-Blood nodded.
"Where are we going?" I asked.
"The summer camp I told you about." My mother's voice was tight; she was trying for my sake not to be scared. "The place your father wanted to send you."
"The place you didn't want me to go."
"Please, dear," my mother begged. "This is hard enough. Try to understand. You're in danger."
"When aren't I? Percy asked.
"Because some old ladies cut yarn." "Those weren't old ladies," Grover said. "Those were the Fates. Do you know what it means—the fact they appeared in front of you? They only do that when you're about to ... when someone's about to die."
"Whoa. You said 'you.'"
"No I didn't. I said 'someone.'"
"You meant 'you.' As in me."
"I meant you, like 'someone.' Not you, you."
"Anybody else as confused as I am?" Leo asked. Ares, Apollo and Hermes raised their hands.
Percy glared at them before turning to Annabeth and wrapping her in his arms. Though she was keeping up a brave front it was obvious the reminder of Luke had hit her hard and that she had just realized she would have to hear about what he had done for Kronos.
"Boys!" my mom said.
Artemis and Thalia nodded.
She pulled the wheel hard to the right, and I got a glimpse of a figure she'd swerved to avoid—a dark fluttering shape now lost behind us in the storm.
Everybody tensed in anticipation.
"What was that?" I asked.
"We're almost there," my mother said, ignoring my question. "Another mile. Please. Please.
Please."
I didn't know where there was, but I found myself leaning forward in the car, anticipating, wanting us to arrive.
Outside, nothing but rain and darkness—the kind of empty countryside you get way out on the tip of Long Island. I thought about Mrs. Dodds and the moment when she'd changed into the thing with pointed teeth and leathery wings. My limbs went numb from delayed shock. She really hadn't been human. She'd meant to kill me.
Annabeth chuckled dryly. "You're so slow Percy."
"Hey," he said. "In my defense I was twelve and couldn't really believe all the weird stuff that was suddenly happening."
Annabeth grinned. "Really, and what's your excuse now?"
Then I thought about Mr. Brunner ... and the sword he had thrown me. Before I could ask Grover about that, the hair rose on the back of my neck. There was a blinding flash, a jaw-rattling boom!, and our car exploded.
All eyes turned to Zeus at that much to Hades' relief only for it to crash when he noticed Poseidon wasn't just looking at his brother. Both brother's shuddered at Poseidon's glare.
I remember feeling weightless, like I was being crushed, fried, and hosed down all at the same time.
"Ah, the good old days," Percy said. The dips in the Styx and Little Tiber had been a lot worse.
I peeled my forehead off the back of the driver's seat and said, "Ow."
Thalia stared at him. "Really Percy, that's all you can say."
"Percy!" my mom shouted. "I'm okay... ."
I tried to shake off the daze. I wasn't dead. The car hadn't really exploded. We'd swerved into a ditch. Our driver's-side doors were wedged in the mud. The roof had cracked open like an eggshell and rain was pouring in.
Paul glanced worriedly at his wife, reminding himself she was okay.
Lightning. That was the only explanation.
Everyone's gazes returned to Zeus who blushed under the weight of all the glares.
We'd been blasted right off the road. Next to me in the backseat was a big motionless lump. "Grover!"
He was slumped over, blood trickling from the side of his mouth. I shook his furry hip, thinking, No! Even if you are half barnyard animal, you're my best friend and I don't want you to die! Then he groaned "Food," and I knew there was hope.
"I"ll have to remember that," Leo said laughing. At Grover's glare he stopped. "Or not. I'd be glad to forget that."
Several people laughed, glad for the humor.
"Percy," my mother said, "we have to ..." Her voice faltered.
I looked back. In a flash of lightning, through the mud-spattered rear windshield, I saw a figure lumbering toward us on the shoulder of the road. The sight of it made my skin crawl. It was a dark silhouette of a huge guy, like a football player. He seemed to be holding a blanket over his head. His top half was bulky and fuzzy. His upraised hands made it look like he had horns.
Those who hadn't known about the Minotaur or knew some of what he had faced stared at Percy in shock.
I swallowed hard. "Who is—"
"Percy," my mother said, deadly serious. "Get out of the car."
My mother threw herself against the driver's-side door. It was jammed shut in the mud. I tried mine. Stuck too. I looked up desperately at the hole in the roof. It might've been an exit, but the edges were sizzling and smoking.
"Climb out the passenger's side!" my mother told me. "Percy—you have to run. Do you see that big tree?"
Thalia grinned.
"What?"
"More like a who," Percy whispered to Annabeth who smiled slightly, though she was still tense with worry.
Another flash of lightning, and through the smoking hole in the roof I saw the tree she meant: a huge, White House Christmas tree-sized pine at the crest of the nearest hill.
Reyna turned to Percy and Annabeth. "Is there something special about that tree?" she asked.
They just grinned. "You'll see," Percy said.
"That's the property line," my mom said. "Get over that hill and you'll see a big farmhouse down in the valley. Run and don't look back. Yell for help. Don't stop until you reach the door."
"Mom, you're coming too."
Hera stared at the young hero she had chosen to be one of the Seven. His loyalty to others would either be a great help, or a huge hindrance in the war to come.
Her face was pale, her eyes as sad as when she looked at the ocean.
"No!" I shouted. "You are coming with me. Help me carry Grover."
"Food!" Grover moaned, a little louder.
Everyone laughed causing Grover to blush.
The man with the blanket on his head kept coming toward us, making his grunting, snorting noises. As he got closer, I realized he couldn't be holding a blanket over his head, because his hands—huge meaty hands—were swinging at his sides. There was no blanket. Meaning the bulky, fuzzy mass that was too big to be his head ... was his head. And the points that looked like horns ...
"Were souvenirs to keep on your cabin wall?" Nico asked in a serious voice causing most of the readers to stare at him like he was crazy.
"Only one," Percy replied in the same tone, then grinned and chuckled as if remembering something funny.
"He doesn't want us," my mother told me. "He wants you. Besides, I can't cross the property line."
"But..."
"We don't have time, Percy. Go. Please."
I got mad, then—mad at my mother, at Grover the goat, at the thing with horns that was lumbering toward us slowly and deliberately like, like a bull.
Several of the crowd shuddered and glanced at Percy wearily.
"Uh, oh," NIco said, grinning. "Here comes Percy's famous temper that has gotten him into several messes and out of a few others."
I climbed across Grover and pushed the door open into the rain. "We're going together. Come on, Mom."
"I told you—"
"Mom! I am not leaving you. Help me with Grover."
"And there's leader Percy," Thalia said to the other demigods who didn't really know Percy. "When he gives an order it's impossible not to obey."
They glanced at each other and at Percy. With everything they were learning about him he seemed more and more unreal and dangerous. Who exactly was he?
I didn't wait for her answer. I scrambled outside, dragging Grover from the car. He was surprisingly light, but I couldn't have carried him very far if my mom hadn't come to my aid.
"I'm sure you would have found a way if you weren't so loyal," Annabeth said. She turned to Sally. "No offense Mrs. Blowfis."
"None taken," Sally replied. "It's one of the things we both love about him."
Percy, who had been frowning at Annabeth's comment blushed and then grinned when his mother said that.
Together, we draped Grover's arms over our shoulders and started stumbling uphill through wet waist-high grass.
Glancing back, I got my first clear look at the monster. He was seven feet tall, easy, his arms and legs like something from the cover of Muscle Man magazine—bulging biceps and triceps and a bunch of other 'ceps, all stuffed like baseballs under vein-webbed skin. He wore no clothes except underwear—I mean, bright white Fruit of the Looms—which would've looked funny, except that the top half of his body was so scary.
"Tell me about it," a ghostly voice said. The crowd turned their eyes to the ghosts that had flocked into the room, most of them past heroes. The one who had spoken was Theseus. Beside him walked Percy's namesake Perseus. At this realization they looked at Hades and Nico who shrugged.
"I brought them here," Thanatos said, following after the ghosts. "They won't talk much but I heard about the books and thought it would be a great idea for them to hear about the latest heroes. They won't be the only ones to join us. I'm sure a few other people will come in later chapters and books." He shared a knowinggrin with Apollo.
Coarse brown hair started at about his belly button and got thicker as it reached his shoulders.
His neck was a mass of muscle and fur leading up to his enormous head, which had a snout as long as my arm, snotty nostrils with a gleaming brass ring, cruel black eyes, and horns—enormous black-and-white horns with points you just couldn't get from an electric sharpener.
I recognized the monster, all right. He had been in one of the first stories Mr. Brunner told us.
But he couldn't be real.
I blinked the rain out of my eyes. "That's—"
"Pasiphae's son," my mother said. "I wish I'd known how badly they want to kill you."
"And I was only just beginning to worry," Sally said, shaking her head.
"But he's the Min—" "Don't say his name," she warned. "Names have power."
"I know," Percy said. "I just don't care. That hasn't stopped them from finding me before."
The pine tree was still way too far—a hundred yards uphill at least.
I glanced behind me again.
The bull-man hunched over our car, looking in the windows—or not looking, exactly. More like snuffling, nuzzling. I wasn't sure why he bothered, since we were only about fifty feet away.
Before Annabeth could answer, Percy shook his head. "I know now Wise Girl, Mom told me."
"Food?" Grover moaned.
Everyvody chuckled.
"Shhh," I told him. "Mom, what's he doing? Doesn't he see us?"
"Nope," Percy answered his own question.
"His sight and hearing are terrible," she said. "He goes by smell. But he'll figure out where we are soon enough."
As if on cue, the bull-man bellowed in rage. He picked up Gabe's Camaro by the torn roof, the chassis creaking and groaning. He raised the car over his head and threw it down the road. It slammed into the wet asphalt and skidded in a shower of sparks for about half a mile before coming to a stop. The gas tank exploded.
Not a scratch, I remembered Gabe saying.
Oops.
The whole room filled with laughter. Trust Percy to find humor in a deadly situation.
"Percy," my mom said. "When he sees us, he'll charge. Wait until the last second, then jump out of the way— directly sideways. He can't change directions very well once he's charging. Do you understand?"
Athena nodded. "Good advice," she complimented causing everyone to stare at her in shock. "Let's just hope he follows it."
"How do you know all this?"
"I've been worried about an attack for a long time. I should have expected this. I was selfish, keeping you near me."
"It's obvious you didn't just get your loyalty from Poseidon," Annabeth whispered to Percy who nodded.
"Keeping me near you? But—"
Another bellow of rage, and the bull-man started tromping uphill.
He'd smelled us.
Everyone listened anxiously.
The pine tree was only a few more yards, but the hill was getting steeper and slicker, and Grover wasn't getting any lighter. The bull-man closed in. Another few seconds and he'd be on top of us.
My mother must've been exhausted, but she shouldered Grover. "Go, Percy! Separate! Remember what I said."
Percy clutched onto Annabeth like a lifeline while Poseidon trembled in his chair, glancing between Athena and Sally who was comforting Paul. Hades glanced around the room for a possible escape if needed. One glare from Athena, Annabeth and Sally however stopped him.
I didn't want to split up, but I had the feeling she was right—it was our only chance. I sprinted to the left, turned, and saw the creature bearing down on me. His black eyes glowed with hate. He reeked like rotten meat.
Theseus's ghost nodded in agreement. "Not something you forget," he said.
Percy chuckled. "Gabe, my first step-dad, smelled a lot worse."
He lowered his head and charged, those razor-sharp horns aimed straight at my chest.
The fear in my stomach made me want to bolt, but that wouldn't work. I could never outrun this thing. So I held my ground, and at the last moment, I jumped to the side.
Everyone sighed in relief.
The bull-man stormed past like a freight train, then bellowed with frustration and turned, but not toward me this time, toward my mother, who was setting Grover down in the grass.
The relief turned to worry and everyone glanced at Sally.
We'd reached the crest of the hill. Down the other side I could see a valley, just as my mother had said, and the lights of a farmhouse glowing yellow through the rain. But that was half a mile away. We'd never make it.
Hazel and Frank glanced between Percy and Sally in worry. They knew they were okay but what had the cost been for making it to the camp. Something had definitely happened judging by their faces.
The bull-man grunted, pawing the ground. He kept eyeing my mother, who was now retreating slowly downhill, back toward the road, trying to lead the monster away from Grover.
"Run, Percy!" she told me. "I can't go any farther. Run!"
But I just stood there, frozen in fear, as the monster charged her. She tried to sidestep, as she'd told me to do, but the monster had learned his lesson. His hand shot out and grabbed her by the neck as she tried to get away. He lifted her as she struggled, kicking and pummeling the air.
"No!" Everyone (Except the obvious) screamed.
"Mom!"
She caught my eyes, managed to choke out one last word: "Go!"
Then, with an angry roar, the monster closed his fists around my mother's neck, and she dissolved before my eyes, melting into light, a shimmering golden form, as if she were a holographic projection. A blinding flash, and she was simply ... gone.
"I'm fine guys," Sally said.
"But, how?" Hazel asked glancing between her and Hades who she noticed was scared. She didn't think it was because Sally was like her. The resurrections hadn't started until just a few months ago, not enough time for her to go ahead and marry someone else that Percy obviously knew.
"No!" Anger replaced my fear. Newfound strength burned in my limbs—the same rush of energy I'd gotten when Mrs. Dodds grew talons.
Annabeth grinned dryly. "And now you're about to see Percy the warrior when he's angry."
"You said he had a temper," Hazel said.
Annabeth nodded. "Yes, but there's a huge difference between that and an angry Percy, especially one who just lost someone he cares about."
The bull-man bore down on Grover, who lay helpless in the grass. The monster hunched over, snuffling my best friend, as if he were about to lift Grover up and make him dissolve too.
I couldn't allow that.
I stripped off my red rain jacket.
"And here comes stupid plan Percy to join Warrior Percy," Thalia said.
"Hey!" I screamed, waving the jacket, running to one side of the monster. "Hey, stupid! Ground beef!"
Several people chuckle.
Perseus stared at his successor. "You've got guts kid. I'll give you that."
"Raaaarrrrr!" The monster turned toward me, shaking his meaty fists.
I had an idea—a stupid idea, but better than no idea at all. I put my back to the big pine tree and waved my red jacket in front of the bull-man, thinking I'd jump out of the way at the last moment. But it didn't happen like that.
"What did happen was a whole lot cooler," Percy said, puffing out his chest, which Annabeth promptly smacked.
The bull-man charged too fast, his arms out to grab me whichever way I tried to dodge.
Time slowed down.
Percy narrowed his eyes at that. It sounded like Kronos but he doubted the Titan had done that. It felt like someone else.
My legs tensed. I couldn't jump sideways, so I leaped straight up, kicking off from the creature's head, using it as a springboard, turning in midair, and landing on his neck.
Most of the room, including several of the Olympians and ghosts, gaped at Percy who just grinned smugly.
How did I do that? I didn't have time to figure it out. A millisecond later, the monster's head slammed into the tree and the impact nearly knocked my teeth out.
Thalia glared at Percy. She had felt that.
The bull-man staggered around, trying to shake me. I locked my arms around his horns to keep from being thrown. Thunder and lightning were still going strong. The rain was in my eyes.
The smell of rotten meat burned my nostrils.
The monster shook himself around and bucked like a rodeo bull. He should have just backed up into the tree and smashed me flat, but I was starting to realize that this thing had only one gear: forward.
There were several light chuckles at this but most of them were too focused on what was happening.
Meanwhile, Grover started groaning in the grass. I wanted to yell at him to shut up, but the way I was getting tossed around, if I opened my mouth I'd bite my own tongue off. "Food!" Grover moaned.
The room filled with laughter this time causing Percy to huff at the fact that they had laughed at Grover and not at his joke.
The bull-man wheeled toward him, pawed the ground again, and got ready to charge. I thought about how he had squeezed the life out of my mother, made her disappear in a flash of light, and rage filled me like high-octane fuel. I got both hands around one horn and I pulled backward with all my might.
"Nice try kid but unless you have my strength it's not going to work," Hercules said.
Percy just smirked and gestured for Nico to keep reading.
The monster tensed, gave a surprised grunt, then—snap! The bull-man screamed and flung me through the air. I landed flat on my back in the grass.
The stunned silence in the room combined with the shocked stares and gapes from everyone (gods, demigods and creatures alike) he was getting made Percy blush.
"What? That was nothing," he said. "Nobody messes with people I care about," he added more seriously. He glared at a few of the Olympian gods who did their best to not show their fear. Poseidon just grinned proudly at his son.
"Yes," Zeus said, his voice trembling slightly. "I believe we've learned that."
"Definitely not a wimp," several people heard Ares mutter from his throne.
Hephaestus chuckled, wrapping his arm around Aphrodite. Any kid who could beat Ares and several Titans was good in his book.
My head smacked against a rock. When I sat up, my vision was blurry, but I had a horn in my hands, a ragged bone weapon the size of a knife.
"And here it comes," Thalia said, having been one of the few who had not been shocked by what Percy had done.
The monster charged.
Without thinking, I rolled to one side and came up kneeling. As the monster barreled past, I drove the broken horn straight into his side, right up under his furry rib cage.
The bull-man roared in agony. He flailed, clawing at his chest, then began to disintegrate—not like my mother, in a flash of golden light, but like crumbling sand, blown away in chunks by the wind, the same way Mrs. Dodds had burst apart.
The room filled with cheers and applause. Percy blushed, not knowing whether he preferred the stunned silence.
Jason turned to Thalia. "You keep mentioning all these sides to Percy," he said. "I can see why now."
Thalia nodded. "Yeah, he's as unpredictable and mysterious as the ocean. It's just who he is. You learn to go with it."
The monster was gone.
The rain had stopped. The storm still rumbled, but only in the distance. I smelled like livestock and my knees were shaking. My head felt like it was splitting open. I was weak and scared and trembling with grief I'd just seen my mother vanish. I wanted to lie down and cry, but there was Grover, needing my help, so I managed to haul him up and stagger down into the valley, toward the lights of the farmhouse. I was crying, calling for my mother, but I held on to Grover—I wasn't going to let him go.
"After what you just did Hun," Aphrodite said. "You deserve to cry all you want."
The last thing I remember is collapsing on a wooden porch, looking up at a ceiling fan circling above me, moths flying around a yellow light, and the stern faces of a familiar-looking bearded man and a pretty girl, her blond hair curled like a princess's. They both looked down at me, and the girl said, "He's the one. He must be."
Everyone stared at the couple who were both bright red. Nico and Leo were laughing hysterically at Percy's princess comment while Piper and Aphrodite grinned.
"I didn't mean it that way at the time," Annabeth choked out.
"Sure Annabeth, Sure," Nico said through his laughter. "Even if you didn't that doesn't take away the fact that it's totally true."
Suddenly water appeared out of nowhere and soaked him and Leo while several owls and seals appeared and began to peck and slap at them. Everyone stared at Athena and Poseidon who shrugged, though they had knowing looks on their faces. The stares then turned to Annabeth and Percy who were staring at each other in surprise to everyone's confusion.
"How did that just…" Percy said
"happen," Annabeth completed. "Did we just…"
"do that," Percy finished.
Annabeth frowned. "Okay, this is weird."
"Annabeth, can you call these owls off, please?" Nico cried out.
Annabeth shook her head. "Sorry, but I can't."
"Why not?" Leo asked.
"I'm not the one who summoned them," she said.
"I did," Percy said causing everyone to stare at him in disbelief. "Annabeth summoned the wave and the seals."
"Okay guys, jokes over," Nico said. "Now call of these stupid birds and fish!"
Annabeth and Percy as well as their godly parents grinned. "You shouldn't have called them that," they said together.
This was obvious as the seals and owls began to chase Nico around the room causing people to have to dodge left and right.
Once it was obvious it would cause too much destruction Annabeth and Percy looked at each other and called the animals to them and then with the help of their parents sent them away.
It took an hour for everything to settle down.
Finally, Thalia, grabbed the book from Nico, slapping him before reading the last line.
"Silence, Annabeth," the man said. "He's still conscious. Bring him inside."
"That's it," Thalia said, marking and closing the book. "I'll read next. " She turned to Percy and Annabeth. "Now will you two please explain what just happened?"
"They're blessed by us," Poseidon said, causing all eyes to turn on him. "That along with the strong bond they have allows them to sometimes use each other's powers and know what the other is thinking or feeling."
Athena nodded. "It's part of why Percy couldn't forget Annabeth when Hera erased his memories even though he forgot everything else. Their bond was only amplified when Percy took the Achilles Curse as proven when she instinctively knew his weak spot. It only grew stronger when he lost it. It's like an empathy link but stronger." She glared at Hera. "If you hadn't tried to block them from each other it wouldn't have exploded like this."
To say the whole room was shocked was an understatement. Athena had blessed a son of Poseidon and allowed her daughter to be blessed by him. Not to mention the bond between Annabeth and Percy.
Nico, getting over his shock, grinned. "See, I was right," he said.
Ignoring him, Annabeth and Percy stared at Athena and Poseidon. "Is there anything else you're keeping from us?" Annabeth croaked out, thinking of the horrible meeting with her mother and the gift she had gotten.
The two gods glanced at each other. "We should talk somewhere private," Athena said. She turned to Zeus. "If that's alright with you father?" she asked. Zeus simply nodded. Whatever was about to happen he had a feeling things were about to change.
Athena turned to Artemis. "Then we need to talk later Sister," she said.
Artemis shook her head. "No need, it is done. I had a feeling something would happen. I may not be Aphrodite but I'm not blind." She glared at Poseidon. "You better take care of her," she said causing most of theroom to gape as they realized what they had been talking about.
Amphritite glared at her husband and Athena. She should have known.
Aphrodite squealed causing many to cover their ears.
Sally just smiled, happy for her ex-lover.
The varied reactions went on long after the two and their children slipped out of the throne room.
"At least I wasn't attacked," Hades said. "I'm surprised I wasn't skewered by Poseidon's trident. Should have known Athena had something to do with it."
"Wow," Thalia said, collapsing next to Nico, Grover and the other demigods. "No one from the camp is going to believe this."
Nico chuckled. "I wonder what the rest of Athena's cabin's reaction is going to be when they find out their mom repealed her oath and she and Poseidon are together."
Thalia grinned. "Probably the same as when they discovered Percy and Annabeth were together." She looked over to where the four had disappeared. "Speaking of which, I wonder what they're talking about in there."
Nico shrugged. "Who knows. Whatever it is I'm sure it's something big judging by Poseidon and Athena's faces. We'll just have to wait and see."
A.N.: Okay, this chapter was pretty hard to write at first because I wanted to hold back some things but give you some more hints. I hope I did a good job and made the character's reactions and the bond realistic as well as the ghosts. Did I explain everything well enough. I hadn't really planned for the ghosts to come or for the whole power switch. They sort of wrote themselves. I definitely like the whole reveal and reactions for Pothena. The power swap and bond definitely helped me with my decision to have them talk to Annabeth and Percy. It was the perfect opportunity. If you have any advice please give it. Tell me if I'm going too fast with the revelations or if I should go ahead and explain more. (This will be very useful in deciding what to do for the next chapter and whether I bring in a couple more people in then.)
By the way, I'm starting to write a Young Justice story with the Past (Season 1), Present (Season 2) and Future (a surprise that I'm sure people will like) watching the T.V. show. A fair warning, a couple from the future will be O.C.s and the characters you recognize might be OOC because I've never read the comics and they don't really appear in the show. This might change in Bloodlines for a couple of the characters. We'll see. It will be a couple of weeks but it will be well worth the wait. It's going to be different from this one as I have to write the episodes myself while watching them and for the script I'm writing in a different tense than I'm used to. Well, wish me luck that the over 30 odd characters don't take over and stage a revolt. It would be just like them. They've done it before. That's how the Team got started after all. Oh well. Red Hood says I have to get back to writing (not saying which one. Hint: It is NOT J.T. *Though he might appear in the story*).
