VII.
After Percy is claimed, he is quickly moved to the Poseidon cabin, taking all his belongings with him.
Peter remains at the Hermes cabin, alone and unclaimed. The other Hermes campers are fine company, sure, but Peter has no real friends. Even Silenos is busy these days.
Luke begins to tutor Percy in sword fighting, and during his first lesson, Percy manages to disarm the more experienced camper. After that, many campers begin to gather around to watch Percy fight.
Meanwhile, Chiron invites Peter to test out different activities: running, sword fighting, archery, chess, and many more. Peter does not seem exceptional on any of these fronts, and when Peter enters the water to attempt canoeing with a tiny flicker of hope that maybe, maybe he is still Poseidon's son, he can only manage to lose control of the canoe and fall out.
In the end, Peter is left behind as Percy continues to become more popular, more well known, more respected. Now Peter begins to avoid Percy; Annabeth often walks with him, and Peter cannot stand the sight.
And so life at camp continued. For Percy, it was a nice change, a way to cope with the loss of his mother, perhaps. For Peter, it was only a reminder of what he had lost.
And one day, Peter overhears something very interesting. Something about...a stolen lightning bolt.
"The truth is, Percy...Zeus believes that you have stolen the master bolt." Peter can see Chiron pacing back and forth on the porch of the Big House.
It is nighttime, and Peter was just taking a walk beside the lake when he hears a conversation. Naturally, Peter beings to eavesdrop. He is hiding beside the wall, just out of sight.
"But I haven't!" Percy's voice rings out, alarmed, and Peter scowls.
"No matter if you have or have not, Poseidon has claimed you as his son. You are, of course, the primary suspect. If you fail to deliver the bolt by the winter solstice...Well." Chiron's pacing begins to pick up speed. "Times are dark, my boy," he says, "It's best if you can find the bolt and return it soon, regardless of who took it."
Peter understands the gist of the conversation. After all, he knows what will happen from his past life: Ares will have stolen the bolt and given it to Hades, and, through a series of difficult challenges, Percy will steal the bolt back from Hades and hurry back just in time to stop the Olympian's war.
Peter also knows that the winter solstice is approaching. Soon, a quest will be given to Percy. And Peter realizes that if he is to gain any sort of recognition from his fellow campers, he will have to stop Percy.
At any means, Peter must be the one to return the lightning bolt to Zeus. That is the only way he can regain some shadow of his past life, some hint of is past glory.
In a way, Peter regrets being so cruel to Percy. Easily, he could have made friends with the other boy. But they are too different: Percy is too young, to naive. And Peter is too old, too bitter.
With this goal in mind, Peter beings to plot. And the first thing to do is to enlist a certain someone's help.
The next morning, Peter tells Luke that he wants to talk the him privately. After the rest of the Hermes campers leave, Luke turns to Peter.
"So, what do you need?"
Peter gazes at Luke steadily, hoping that Luke will not stab him in the back for revealing this secret. "I know you're working for Kronos," Peter begins, watching very closely.
Luke just smiles back. "What an interesting accusation," Luke says, as if he didn't care that Peter had just revealed Luke as a traitor. "Whatever makes you think that?"
Peter shakes his head. "It doesn't matter. I overheard last night that Percy was going to take a quest to find Zeus's lightning bolt. I know you don't want him to return the bolt, so I'm offering to help you -I'll steal the bolt back and return it to you."
Peter's words come out rushed, his heart beating fast. Who knows what Luke will do to him, now that he's revealed his knowledge?
Luke continues to wear that infuriating smile. "How creative your imagination is. Perhaps you should get more sleep at night." And Luke exits the cabin, leaving Peter alone in the room.
Peter wonders if Luke has just accept his offer or denied it. But if Luke was also against him, it would make this game much more difficult to play.
It turns out that Peter is not so alone when he wakes up the next morning and discovers a small package beside his bed containing a blue marble.
Picking it up and depositing it into his pocket, Peter casts Luke a meaningful glance and leaves to prepare for the long journey to Hades' kingdom.
Meanwhile, Percy talks to the oracle, and begins his quest, choosing Annabeth and Grover as his companions.
