The Final Reading, Part 5
PERCY JACKSON NOTICE HOW THIN the book became to the right of his hand, only a few pages left. Then they all get to go home. He probably would never see Carter or any of his friend again, which was perfectly fine by him. Now don't get him wrong. He liked all of them but ever since they been here, Percy was on the edge of his seat, nervous and scared something was about to go wrong and a fight would break out. They just had to read the last few pages and everything would be okay again. He took and shared glances with all his friends, and knew they were thinking the same as him.
Percy thanked the gods in his mind since the book was in Cater's point of view. Ever since the time they came here, he made sure not to say his name "Carter". His hand witch at the thought.
"You know how to read, Seaweed Brain?" Thalia's jaw dropped in fake surprise. Percy rolled his eyes but smiled. Percy was thankful for Thalia and Nico to be with him and Annabeth during all of this. it was out of character for them to be jokers and be friendly, especially for Nico, but they knew, just like him, one false move can cause utter choas, so they keep everyone happy, laughing so no one will get killed.
He soon began to read.
Half an hour later, we were sitting in a diner off the Montauk Highway. I'd shared the rest of my healing potion with Percy, who for some reason insisted on calling it nectar. Most of our wounds had healed.
We'd tied the crocodile out in the woods on a makeshift leash, just until we could figure out what to do with it. We'd cleaned up as best we could, but we still looked like we'd taken a shower in a malfunctioning car wash. Percy's hair was swept to one side and tangled with pieces of grass. His orange shirt was ripped down the front.
I'm sure I didn't look much better. I had water in my shoes, and I was still picking falcon feathers out of my shirtsleeves (hasty transformations can be messy).
We were too exhausted to talk as we watched the news on the television above the counter. Police and firefighters had responded to a freak sewer event in a local neighborhood. Apparently pressure had built up in the drainage pipes, causing a massive explosion that unleashed a flood and eroded the soil so badly, several houses on the cul-de-sac had collapsed.
"That's a new one." Annabeth mumbled beside him.
It was a miracle that no residents had been injured. Local kids were telling some wild stories about the Long Island Swamp Monster, claiming it had caused all the damage during a fight with two teenage boys; but of course the officials didn't believe this.
"I wounded what would happen if they did..." Nico thought to himself.
The reporter admitted, however, that the damaged houses looked like something very large had sat on them.
"A freak sewer accident," Percy said. "That's a first."
The couple smiled at each other.
"For you, maybe," I grumbled. "I seem to cause them everywhere I go."
There were a few giggles shared by the magicians. Percy thought he was joking at the time, but appearently not.
"Cheer up," he said. "Lunch is on me."
He dug into the pockets of his jeans and pulled out a ballpoint pen. Nothing else.
"Oh…" His smile faded. "Uh, actually…can you conjure up money?"
"Oh Seaweed Brain..." Annabeth groan and Nico and Thalia chuckled along with the magicians.
So, naturally, lunch was on me. I could pull money out of thin air, since I kept some stored in the Duat along with my other emergency supplies; so in no time we had cheeseburgers and fries in front of us, and life was looking up.
"Cheeseburgers," Percy said. "Food of the gods."
"Agreed," I said, but when I glanced over at him, I wondered if he was thinking the same thing I was: that we were referring to different gods.
Percy inhaled his burger. Seriously, this guy could eat. "So, the necklace," he said between bites.
"Chew and swallow your good before you speak." Thalia explained.
"What's the story?"
I hesitated. I still had no clue where Percy came from or what he was, and I wasn't sure I wanted to ask. Now that we'd fought together, I couldn't help but trust him. Still, I sensed we were treading on dangerous ground. Everything we said could have serious implication—not just for the two of us, but maybe for everyone we knew.
Percy didn't really think about it that way. He didn't think of any of this in that way. This meeting right here, in the book and the one happening now could change and maybe even destroy everything for not only him but for all the people he loved in this world...
His hand shook a little.
I felt sort of like I had two winters ago, when my uncle Amos explained the truth about the Kane family heritage—the House of Life, the Egyptian gods, the Duat, everything. In a single day, my world expanded tenfold and left me reeling.
Now I was standing at the edge of another moment like that. But if my world expanded tenfold again, I was afraid my brain might explode.
Everyone in the room agreed with Carter. This was very dangerous.
"The necklace is enchanted," I said at last. "Any reptile that wears it turns into the next petsuchos, the Son of Sobek. Somehow that little crocodile got it around his neck."
"Meaning someone put it around his neck," Percy said. I didn't want to think about that, but I nodded reluctantly.
"Who would want to do that though?" Sadie asked out loud, but no one answered. Percy had thought about this many times, but didn't really have a clue of who would really want to.
At the same time, Sadie remembered something surprising important. Lacy. Lacy, the innocent cutie back home at the 21st Nome. She mention that she, along with that brat of a Drew, went to a camp in Manhattan... Where Percy said he was from... If this is what she thinks it is... Lacy wouldnt do something like that though, But maybe Drew... Yes she wasn't a magician, but if she found out...
"So who?" he asked.
"Hard to narrow it down," I said. "I've got lots of enemies."
Percy snorted. "I can relate to that. Any idea why, then?"
I took another bite of my cheeseburger. It was good, but I had trouble concentrating on it.
"Someone wanted to cause trouble," I speculated. "I think maybe…"
I studied Percy, trying to judge how much I should say. "Maybe they wanted to cause trouble that would get our attention. Both of our attention."
Percy frowned. He drew something in his ketchup with a french fry—not a hieroglyph. Some kind of non-English letter. Greek, I guessed.
"The monster had a Greek name," he said. "It was eating pegasi in my…" He hesitated.
"In your home turf," I finished.
"Some kind of camp, judging from your shirt."
"Camp Demigods?" Walt guessed.
"That's surprisingly close."
He shifted on his bar stool. I still couldn't believe he was talking about pegasi as if they were real, but I remembered one time at Brooklyn House, maybe a year back, when I was certain I saw a winged horse flying over the Manhattan skyline. At the time, Sadie had told me I was hallucinating. Now, I wasn't so sure.
Finally Percy faced me. "Look, Carter. You're not nearly as annoying as I thought. And we made a good team today, but—"
"You don't want to share your secrets," I said. "Don't worry. I'm not going to ask about your camp. Or the powers you have. Or any of that."
He raised an eyebrow. "You're not curious?"
"I'm totally curious. But until we figure out what's going on, I think it's best we keep some distance. If someone—something—unleashed that monster here, knowing it would draw both of our attention—"
"Then maybe that someone wanted us to meet," he finished. "Hoping bad things would happen."
"Or maybe they knew something we don't know." Zia wondered. "Such as, they known that one day, our sides will need to join together for a giant reason."
"She has a point." Thalia agreed. "This happen for a reason."
"But how do we know if was a good reason? That this person didn't want to start choas but intruding Percy and Carter? How do we know that this is right? We been kept apart from each other for a reason probably because the two of us wouldn't be so peaceful." Annabeth challenged.
She turn to Percy for support and Percy's breath was gone and his heart skipped a beat once again-like always- but there was still a little something they didn't know.
Percy's hand was shaking like mad. He kept reading.
I nodded. I thought about the uneasy feeling I'd had in my gut earlier—the voice in my head warning me not to tell Percy anything. I'd come to respect the guy, but I still sensed that we weren't meant to be friends. We weren't meant to be anywhere close to each other.
"See," Sadie pointed out. "This was to never happen. It's oblivious."
"Still though..." Nico mumbled. His mood was back to normal at this point since he was serious now. He twirled his skull ring around his finger and was in deep thought. His dark eyes were even dark, to the point you could see that they were blue, and his thin pink lips were in a tigh line. Percy coutined reading.
A long time ago, when I was just a little kid, I'd watched my mom do a science experiment with some her college students.
Potassium and water, she'd told them. Separate, completely harmless. But together—
She dropped the potassium in a beaker of water, and Ka-blam! The students jumped back as a miniature explosion rattled all the vials in the lab.
Percy was water. I was potassium.
"Thats deep." Walt whispered. No one really heard him.
"But we've met now," Percy said. "You know I'm out here on Long Island. I know you live in Brooklyn. If we went searching for each other—"
"I wouldn't recommend it," I said. "Not until we know more. I need to look into some things on, uh, my side—try to figure out who was behind this crocodile incident."
"All right," Percy agreed. "I'll do the same on my side."
He pointed at the petsuchos necklace, which was glinting just inside my backpack. "What do we do about that?"
"I can send it somewhere safe," I promised. "It won't cause trouble again. We deal with relics like this a lot."
"We," Percy said. "Meaning, there's a lot of…you guys?" I didn't answer.
Percy looked up to see the there other magicians across from him. And these three gave him enough stress on his pankicy nerves. He didnt know how to react with all of them...
Percy put up his hands. "Fine. I didn't ask. I have some friends back at Ca—uh, back on my side who would love tinkering with a magic necklace like that; but I'm going to trust you here. Take it."
I didn't realize I'd been holding my breath until I exhaled. "Thanks. Good."
"And the baby crocodile?" he asked.
I managed a nervous laugh. "You want it?"
"Gods, no."
"Turn down the croc, Percy?" Nico glared at him. Percy saw him but act like he didn't. Nico was scary with that glare.
"I can take it, give it a good home." I thought about our big pool at Brooklyn House. I wondered how our giant magic crocodile, Philip of Macedonia, would feel about having a little friend. "Yeah, it'll fit right in."
Percy didn't seem to know what to think of that. "Okay, well…" He held out his hand. "Good working with you, Carter."
We shook. No sparks flew. No thunder boomed. But I still couldn't escape the feeling that we'd opened a door, meeting like this—a door that we might not be able to close.
"You too, Percy."
"That should have been our final farewell." Carter mumbled.
He stood to go. "One more thing," he said. "If this somebody, whoever threw us together…if he's an enemy to both of us—what if we need each other to fight him? How do I contact you?"
I considered that. Then I made a snap decision. "Can I write something on your hand?" He frowned. "Like your phone number?"
Sadie and Zia knew exactly what was happening, what Carter was doing.
"Uh…well, not exactly." I took out my stylus and a vial of magic ink. Percy held out his palm. I drew a hieroglyph there—the Eye of Horus. As soon as the symbol was complete it flared blue, then vanished.
"Just say my name," I told him, "and I'll hear you. I'll know where you are, and I'll come meet you. But it will only work once, so make it count."
Percy considered his empty palm. "So I'm trusting you that this isn't some type of magical tracking device."
"Yeah," I said. "And I'm trusting that when you call me, you won't be luring me into some kind of ambush."
He stared at me. Those stormy green eyes really were kind of scary. Then he smiled, and he looked like a regular teenager, without a care in the world.
"Fair enough," he said. "See you when I see you, C—"
"Don't say my name!"
"Don't scare him that way!" Sadie looked ready to punch Percy. He was slightly afraid with that roaring fire in her eyes.
"Just teasing." He pointed at me and winked. "Stay strange, my friend."
And then he was gone.
"Oh Percy..." Annabeth smirked. He smiled back at her.
An hour later, I was back aboard my airborne boat with the baby crocodile and the magic necklace as Freak flew me home to Brooklyn House.
Now, looking back on it, the whole thing with Percy seems so unreal, I can hardly believe it actually happened.
I wonder how Percy summoned that whirlpool, and what the heck Celestial bronze is. Most of all, I keep rolling one word around in my mind: demigod.
I have a feeling that I could find some answers if I looked hard enough, but I'm afraid of what I might discover.
For the time being, I think I'll tell Sadie about this and no one else. At first she'll think I'm kidding. And, of course, she'll give me grief; but she also knows when I'm telling the truth. As annoying as she is, I trust her (though I would never say that to her face).Maybe she'll have some ideas about what we should do.
"I do." Sadie said. She didn't look as confident as before. "Since Carter put that on your hand. I think it should stay there, in case of emergencies."
"But our world is never to know or even meet your world. We all are suppost to be apart from each other." Annabeth pointed out.
"But they said that about the Greeks and Romans too. Hell, Percy was even praetor! Just because we weren't suppose to meet thousands of years ago doesn't mean that still includes today. And, if I'm wrong, Percy will never use that thingy on his hand." Nico spoke.
"But still. What if somehow there is danger and we misjudge our problem and bring in the Egyptians when we don't mean them. We drag them into our dangerous situation and can possibly cause the end of there lives!" Annabeth was nervous now and the Egyptians didn't look to happy either.
"Look," Zia hold up her hands. "Carter gave Percy the connection for a reason- if theres any danger For him and his camp that might also invole us. If that does happen then both worlds would have signs of it coming. If this does happen we need a way to contact each other."
"The hieroglyph is so we can see if there really is any danger on there side so we can see if this is the time of joining sides." Nico sided with her.
"But what if it's not and we use the hieroglyph? We waste our only strong between either. And what if it is years and years from now? To where Percy is dead and gone? How do we get another one?" Annabeth Question against the two and it looked like Walt was on her side, knodding along with her worring questions.
"Annabeth," Thalia said towards her. "It's us! Our lucky is just like this! Hell, this just might be what happens to us in the next hour!"
Carter now stood up. "Me and Percy meeting happened for a reason. I admit, I gave it on an impulsive decision, but it was for a good reason. We have no real harm if Percy keeping it. It's in good hands...Or on a good hand... Either way, it's a safety net." Carter looked at Annabeth pleading for her agreement. Percy took her hand for help. He smiled up to her and she smiled back but Percy still could see the uneasiness in her eyes.
"I promise, wise girl. This is a good plan." He eased on to her.
Annabeth sat down in defeat. Percy kept reading, feeling guilty for her still worried face.
Whoever brought Percy and me together, whoever orchestrated our crossing paths…it smacks of Chaos. I can't help thinking this was an experiment to see what kind of havoc would result. Potassium and water. Matter and antimatter.
Fortunately, things turned out okay. The petsuchos necklace is safely locked away. Our new baby crocodile is splashing around happily in our pool.
But next time… Well, I'm afraid we might not be so lucky.
Somewhere there's a kid named Percy with a secret hieroglyph on his hand. And I have a feeling that sooner or later I'll wake up in the middle of the night and hear one word, spoken urgently in my mind:
Carter
"Thats the end." Percy laid the book down on the table. "What now?"
"I guess we wait to be transported back home." Annabeth said. Everyone sat, waiting but nothing happened. After what seemed like forever, Percy'a ADHD finally got the better of him.
"Is anything-?!" Percy was cut off by a small flash of light that faded on the table.
None of them moved. Everyone just stared at the red glass bottle with a rolled up piece of a paper and a red rose poking out at the top. Percy was the first to recover and slowly moved towards the bottle, afraid it might explode in his hand. He pulled out the rose and paper, and read what was inside. His mouth soon dropped and his eyes got wide. Oh no...
"What is it?" Annabeth took his hand in fear.
"Truth or Dare..."
Dear Demigods and Magicians,
I'm terribly sorry but I cannot send you back home yet. You must complete an entertaining game of Truth or Dare. Then you will send home and nevet borther again. Thank you.
"Are you kidding me?!" Thalia screamed up towards the ceiling. "Artemis is going to kill me!"
Your precious goddess was going to be the cause for the end of your life one way or another. Just be happy she isn't going to turn you into a rabbit or something and hunt you down...maybe. Nico couldn't help but think as he remembered his sister who was also a hunter when she died. She died for Artemis on a quest to rescue her and Annabeth, along with Percy and Thalia And another hunter name Zoe. Thalia became a hunter shortly after and Nico just hoped she get out of it soon safely. Thalia was his cousin, his friend. He didn't want her to meet the same faith his sister did. Especially if it's all for Artemis.
"I agree with the hunter." Sadie said. She seemed annoyed too with this new request. "Amos is not going to be happy with all if us when we come back."
Nico raise a brow at them. Who was Amos? The magicians were full of mysteries.
"Lets get this over with." Carter mumbled. He took the bottle and handed it to Walt. "You go first."
Walt took it and gave it a good turn. It stopped spinning and landed on his girlfriend, Sadie. The blonde with red strips glared at him, like she was daring his tI try something funny.
"Okay, Sadie, truth or dare?"
"Dare." She responded without hesitating. Walt smiled evilly at her, and she glared at him even more. Carter and Zia scouted away from the two which Percy and Annabeth soon follow. This couldn't be good.
"I dare you to admit, once and for all, that you actually care about your dear brother." Walt smirked even more. Sadie's moUtah dropped open in shock and she glared at Walt with pure anger. But Carter, on the other hand, smiled brightly and move towards Sadie, waiting for her to do her dare.
"Anything you want to say, sister?" Carter leaned in.
"I want to break up." Sadie kept her eyes on Walt. He laughed, "Sure you are."
She soon signed and turn to her brother. She even looked alightly green in the face and like she was trying not to vomit. "Carter...you are not too bad half the time... Most of them most, you're very...caring and...kind... I'm... I'm happy to have you as a brother... I-I... I don't hate you." Sadie stammered through it all but Carter smiled, like he the king of the world. Walt was grinning too.
Sadie, once she regain herself, glance around the room. Nico guessed she wasn't going to use the bottle.
Her eyes landed on Thalia and smiled. "Thalia, truth or dare?"
"Dare." The day Thalia picked truth was the day hell froze over.
"I dare you to put on a pink dress and make up." Sadie said and Thalia looked ready to kill. "Where the h-" Thalia was cut off but a big puffy pink dress landing on her head with a big pack of big. Thalia torn the dress off her head and stared at it in disgust at it. Nico was trying hard not to laugh with Percy. He had a big grin on his face and a loud, happy laugh.
Annabeth was smiling the biggest out of them all. She took Thalia by the wrists, "Come on! I've been dying to pretty you up for years!" Then she grabbed the bag of and they disappear into the bathroom. Nico was now on the floor with Percy and the magicians were giggling uncontrollably by the way Thalia'a face turn to terror and shock as the blonde took her away.
After about 30 minutes of loud unrecognizable noises, snarly curses, and sparks of lighting blasting the door, the two girls returned. Thalia wa s in the hot pink dress that went to the floor and expose one one arm and shoulder. Her face was cover in only a bit of make up but she still looked pretty. Nico made eye contect with Percy. They shared the same thought. Wow...
"Thalia, you look beautiful!" Annabeth cried happily and the others agreed, but Thalia only scowled and then glared at Sadie. Sadie smiled, "Your turn."
Thalia stopped glared at Sadie and turned to Annabeth with an evil grin. Annabeth frowned. "After everything I have done for you-!"
"You put me in a dress and put make up on my face! You're lucky I havn't killed you yet!"
"Technically, Sadie made the dare so-"
"That's it! That's your dare! I dare you not to talk all smart and all that junk for the rest of the week! If we are in here or not! You can say any long words over 8 letters long!"
"Thalia that's not fear! It's Sadie's fault! Not mine!"
"Yeah, but I'm afraid to hit her! For all I know she might turn me into a duck or something! For Hades sake, her brother part chicken!"
"Hey!"
"I can understand that, but still!" Annabeth cried in anger again.
"And you give me you turn!"
Annabeth though her arms up in the air. "Fine!" She then plotted down on the couch beside Percy who was secretly taking pictures of Thalia and posting it on Facebook.
Nico, who was taping the fight, now sat in his chair trying to act innocent as possible as Thalia turned to him. "Who?"
"I say you pick Percy." Nico replied. He didn't really know or care. He just picked Percy because...well why not?
"Percy, truth or dare?"
"Dare."
"Kiss Sadie." Everyone 'a jaw dropped in shock, then Walt, Sadie, Annabeth, and Percy glared at the daughter of Zues. Nico already started planning his cousin's funeral.
"On the hand." Thalia added before anyone would kill her and the four mad teenagers relaxed. It was okay for a hand kiss, but on the mouth was not going to happen. Nico remembered how the first letter asked them not to kill each other. That was almost broken.
Percy did his dare and Sadie wiped her hand on her jacket which caused all of them to laugh.
But then Nico looked to his left and saw Percy eyeing him with a small grin. Nico tried to ignore the fuzzy feeling in his stomach. This couldn't be good, Nico knew Percy. He played truth or dare with the boy before , and knew how cruel he could be.
"Nico," Percy smiled down at him like prey. Nico's heart began to race like crazy. "Truth or Dare?"
Nico recalled the time Leo said dare when he was in the same situation. Let's just say, Leo was found hanging on the flagpole back at camp, only hanging by 2 rubber bands and only wearing his boxers. And he stayed up there for the next two days. Nico didn't want that to happen to him.
"Truth." Nico replied. Percy looked slightly disappionted by his choice. He thought for a moment.
"Nico, please share with us your deepest darkest secret."
Oh hell... Nico thought as he felt everyone's eyes on him. He did have a deep, dark secret but there was no way in hell he was going to share it with everyone in this room. Especially, if Percy was one of them. He had to think something up, they could never tell if he was lying or not, at least that was to his advantage. Nico started to twirl his ring around his finger.
"I'm...I..." Nico couldn't really think of anything to say.
"Yes?" Carter asked.
"I don't have a deep dark secret." Nico replied. "That can count as my secret."
"No it can't!" Annabeth stated in a harsh tone. "You have to have a deep dark secret. Everyone does."
"And I just said that that was my secret." Nico grinned at the girl. It wasn't everyday he out smarted a child of Athena. "You can prove if it's wrong or not, now can you?"
Annabeth bit back her replied and glared playfully at him.
Percy looked disappointed. "I don't like this. I don't like this smart Nico."
"Hey!" Nico said defendantly as everyone else laughed at Percy's joke.
"Me either." Annabeth mumbled. Nico ingored it and picked his next victium from the magicians. Carter seemd like the perfect target.
"Carter, truth or dare?"
"Dare."
"I dare you to give everyone a dare and a truth that they must all complete." Nico said. Carter smiled, "Thanks, I like this game now."
"Oh gods..." Percy groaned. "This can't turn out well."
"Okay," Carter rubbed his hands together excitedly. "I'll start with Zia."
"Remember Carter, she's probably the only girlfriend you'll ever get." Sadie said beside him and he glared at her.
"Zia, who in this room do you want to throw a fireball at the most?" Carter asked.
"Right now, its between you, for actually doing this." She joked with him. "Or Nico for the power he gave you."
Nico greeted her with a innocent look, and Carter just smiled. "Okay then. I was going to dare you to throw a fireball at them, but Nevermind. So just give me a second to think of any other one here."
"The last time we play this at camp," Percy giggled. "We made Jason do a dance for Frank. Remember that, Nico?" Both the boya laughed at the memory.
Thalia's jaw dropped. "You made my brother give a lap dance to the chinese Canadian!?"
Everyone laughed at that statement. Percy and Nico were on the floor. "We never said anything about a lap dance!" Percy managed to get out through his laughing fit.
"I think we jist gave Carter his new dare." Nico chuckled and him and Percy started to die of laugher again.
Zia stopped laughing and glared at her boyfriend as he began to swear he waant going to do that. Her hand was out like she was ready to throw a fireball at him.
"You know what? You don't have to do a dare!" Carter promised and Zia smiled and put her hand away. She seemed please of how easy it was for her to control Carter and get what she wanted.
"Walt! Who do you find most annoying in this room?"
"Thalia." He said automatically. Thalia waved at him and smiled.
"Now, kiss a girl in here execpt Sadie or Zia."
"CARTER!" Sadie looked ready to kill her brother but Walt hold her back.
"You ain't kissing me." Thalia stated. "I'll be killed. But, of course, before then, I'll kill you."
Percy then did the math in his head which took him a minute. "Oh, NO! Annabeth is mine!"
"Oh calm down Fishboy." Walt signed. "Annabeth just give me your hand." The blonde did so and Walt kissed it. Sadie didn't killed anyone, and Percy didn't cause any water trouble.
"Well that went good, surprisingly." Carter noted and turn to his sister who was still glaring at him. "Sadie, who do you want to punch right now?"
"You. My dear, sweet, loving, darling, amazing brother." She said all of this through gritted teeth.
"Good, I'm doing my job then." Carter winked at her playfully. "Now do a imitation of someone in this room."
Sadie actually smiled at her dare. She immediately flopped her feet onto the table and locked her fingers together and settled them into her lap as she laid back in her chair. Nico realized quickly that she was sitting like he was. He raise a brow at the blue eyed girl as other began to snicker.
"Hello." Sadie spoke in an imitation of a low and deep voice that sounded like Nico's. "I am Nico DI Angelo. I am also known as the Ghost King. I appear to be an eom and depressed teenage boy."
Everyone was laughing at Sadie and her play on Nico. He even cracked a little smile to keep the high spirits but it seemed kinda mean of Sadie to call him eom and depressed. So Nico decided to pull the new trick he just learned recently. Nico put his fingers to his lips.
"I am the son of Hades, whate-" Sadie'a mouth just shocked closed. she tried to open it back up but couldn't. Everyone was cracking up. Percy was on the floor again and Walt wasn't far behind.
"Is that permanent?" Carter asked.
"Only if you want it too?" Nico offered.
Carter thought about it for a minute. "I'll get back to you on that."
Sadie screamed at him as much as she could through a sealed mouth.
"Now Percy! How many times have you wanted to kill me during the little adventure we had?"
Percy looked up to the sky in either thought or praying to the gods for an answer. Then he began counting on his fingers. He stopped at nine. "About nine times." he answered cooly. "I'm sorry but I found you really annoying. at the time I mean. before I knew how cool you were."
"Thanks." Carter smiled. "Now you have to dance for all of us for 3 minutes. And no lap dancing please."
Percy shrugged. "I'm going to need music." Just then 'Let's See How Far We've Come' by MatchBox 20 came on. Percy started right away. He began to do crazy dance moves that no one had ever seen before. He just rocked out in front of everyone who were roared with uncontrollable giggles. Once he was over he landed on the spot next to Annabeth, to find he and she were the only ones who were not on the floor laughing. Nico saw Percy blushed a little and it was a pretty rosey pink color that was spread into his cheeks.
After all of them calm down, Carter moved on. "Annabeth, who do you want to kill the most in this room?"
"Percy, because that was humiliating." She joked, still slightly giggling.
"Humiliating is over 8 letters!" Nico called out.
"Annabeth!" Thalia cried. She pinch her that popped out sparks. Annabeth squealed and jumped away from her friend and glared at her while rubbing her arm.
Thalia only smiled. Carter moved along, and Nico hoped Annabeth say anything no-no word.
"Now swallow a huge spoon full of salt." Just then a giant spoon that hold what looked like a hold bag of salt appear in front of Annabeth. The girl swallow away her fear and open her mouth for the spoon. The spoon went into her mouth by its self and pulled of her mouth and disappear. Annabeth swallowed and squirmed at the way her throat felt but she pulled herself together and took the water bottle that sat on the table for her. She didn't see it appear.
"Okay, now Thalia." Carter turn towards her. "How mad are you really about your make over?"
"Very." She snarled.
"Good. But I think you would look even better in a puffier, pinker, and even more girly dress. I just want to see if I'm right."
Thalia started at the Kane boy with pure hatred. Then, a dress that was exactly like what Carter describe.
"There is no way in hell-" A bright light flashed, right were Thalia was sitting. It almost blinded Nico but when it died down Thalia stood with a new dress on and Nico just about died. She looked like the good witch from The Wizard of Oz. She had the giant crown on her head, the ungodly puffy sleeves, and everything.
Everyone burst out laughing, unable to control themselves at the sight of Thalia. The black haired girl's face turn bright red but she didn't hurt anyone, or worst, pinch anyone.
Once they all calm down again, Carter turn to his last victim.
"Nico, the last but not the least. Im going to just skip the truth part and go straight to the dare. Tell us the at least 3 crushes you had in your life."
"Okay," Nico called. "What is up with all you people? What is today? 'Pick on Nico' Day?"
"Like you have any room to talk." Thalia growled at him. She was sitting down in her chair which made her dress puff out of the sides. The ends of her gown were tickling the end of his face. He whacked them away.
Nico panicked again, on the inside of course. The only crush Nico ever had was the one he still had... And he was not going to admit that. So he thought of a few lies-some fake girls with fake names- to tell them. Some they couldn't prove if it was true or not.
"In preschool, I like some Sally girl because she was the prettiest out of the class. Then Maggie Jean moved in at the end of the year and she was the new shiny toy. Then in, like, the summer before either 1st or 2nd grade, Rebecca Smith or something like that, became a friend of my sister and she came over a lot but I never really got the courage to talk to her." Nico finished. He spoke it all like it was a little thing to talk about, even though he tried very hard to keep a straight poker face.
"Okay." Carter accepted his answer.
"Do you think that was good enough game to go home on?" Annabeth asked and before any of them could even blink, a blinding flash of light cover everything that they could see and suddenly they were back home.
Thanks for reading! I couldn't have done it without any of y'all support! Hope y'all liked it!
WINNERS: Girlfriend- Annabeth Chase Best Pets- Percy Jackson
Thanks to everyone who comment for the dare and truths. I know I didn't use it all but I still couldn't have done it with y'all.
Thank you reading for everything. I don't own anything.
-LF