A/N: Haven't updated in a while; went on a vacation. Anyway, churned this out. Sorry about the shorter length, I deleted an earlier finished draft of this, which took up most of my time. Enjoy.
Disclaimer: All rights go to the man, the myth, the legend Rick Riordan.
Chapter 11
Third Person POV
Smells of breakfast at the orphanage that Percy had accustomed to filled his nose. This was his wake-up call ever since the blizzard. It was January, several months since Percy had seen Luke. Luke was staying year-round, and, pending a disaster, the coup (for lack of a better term) was forming. Percy blinked the sleepiness out of his eyes and yawned. The blizzard had cut the electricity off; he relied on smell to wake him up. Percy didn't like the blizzard, but not for the reason you'd think: the storm fell exactly on winter break, so he couldn't miss any school. He headed downstairs to the kitchen where they were serving the usual breakfast, which was comparable to a continental hotel buffet.
Percy decided to go to the rec room. There was a new kid Percy saw playing pool: black hair, blue eyes, reasonably tall, decent-looking. He had a green shirt that read BOSTON RED SOX. Percy immediately didn't like him, or his shirt at the very least, but offered his hand and introduced himself. The new kid took it his hand and replied, "Name's Joshua, but you can call me Josh if you want."
They played pool. Percy crushed him both times. They soon became good friends.
When the blizzard, and winter break, concluded, Percy went back to school. Josh was 12, so he'd be in 6th grade, opposed to Percy in 7th. Josh was one of his few friends outside camp. Percy didn't mind too much, but having someone else sure helped with life in general.
The school year trudged on. Percy didn't like school much, but could scrape B's. He was just mainly waiting for summer.
The last day of school came and went. It was 2:36, the middle of 4th block, when he saw someone sprint through the hallway. Percy would barely even notice, much less care. It was the last day of school: he was thinking about Camp and summer. But a roar shook the building that could only be explained with one way: a monster. He asked to use the restroom and ran out to the hallway.
The kid had run left, so he turned and tore through the hallway. He hoped the monster wasn't a large one. He turned the corner and he halted. Two surprises were in store: one, the monster was already dead. Second, the person standing there, knife in hand, was Josh. They stared at each other: both in shock. Finally, Percy's mind acted. He didn't question the odd circumstances: no satyr, how he got a weapon, or how he fought the monster. He gestured for Josh to follow and they tore out of the school.
-Line Break
"What's going on?" Josh asked.
Percy paused. He didn't know how to answer. He managed out "The Greek Gods are real."
Josh stared, then stayed silent. They ran to the nearest bus stop. Josh asked, "Where are going?"
Percy impatiently sat there, tapping his foot. "Tell you later." Percy didn't like staying in the dark about this, but was afraid he'd mess up and sent Josh in the other direction, thinking this was a practical joke. They boarded the bus and sat in silence. Josh asked Percy to explain further, but all Percy said was he'd tell him later. The bus was full of people and Percy didn't want to attract suspicion.
The nearest stop to Camp was a 10-minute walk from the nearest bus stop. The ran over and got within the boundaries. They stood there, panting hard.
"What the hell is going on? I went to get a drink of water, and some mutated dog fucking attacks me?" Josh fumed.
The sudden outburst form Josh, and the sight of Percy, attracted a mini-crowd at Camp. The year-rounders weren't expecting summer campers until an hour. Percy looked through the people, and found Annabeth. She was good at this stuff. "Umm… Here, Annabeth will tell you about this place.
Annabeth fixed her gaze on Percy. She gave a look like, "Oh, great. I'm the official Camp-Half Blood tour guide. Thanks." Nonetheless, she and Josh walked off, Annabeth giving him a tour.
After Percy settled down, he looked for another person he wanted to talk to: Luke. Percy headed towards the Hermes cabin.
Luke was sitting down, filing his nails with a… switchblade? Percy decided not to question it and decided to ask about the coup. Luke said it was going as planned. They currently didn't have many people: just Luke, Percy, Annabeth and Grover. However, given that there weren't many year-rounders, this was OK. Luke was planning to recruit the Stoll brothers, Clarisse, another Ares kid called Mark, and all the minor gods' children. Luke said this had only been going around for a month; they met in the forest at night, waiting until Chiron was asleep. Percy thought it was good progress.
-Line Break-
Percy was accustoming to life at Camp. It was Friday. The summertime campers were rolling in. Josh hadn't been claimed yet, but that was normal. No one got claimed overnight. Percy was currently at the lake, swimming around. Percy wasn't even tired, but being a son of Poseidon, that was normal. Percy and Josh were talking when Annabeth came up to Percy and whispered in his ear, "Woods tonight at 11. Be there. Go just outside Camp's boundaries so we don't get caught." Percy knew she was talking about the coup, but Josh, who didn't, snickered.
"What?" Percy asked, confused.
"You guys dating?" Josh chuckled.
Percy registered this in his mind, until he realized what Josh was saying. "No, no, not like that!" He blushed.
"Then what are you guys doing?" Josh raised an eyebrow.
"Come to the forest at 11 tonight." Percy vaguely replied.
-Line Break-
Percy snuck to the forest. It was quiet and dark, and the fear and angst of getting caught was like a vice on Percy's heart. After an agonizing couple of minutes, Percy arrived at the woods. There other people there were what Luke said: Annabeth, Grover, Luke. However, there were a couple
(COUP-le, haha) recruits: Malcom, the Stolls, Clarisse and some minor god children. Josh was also among the crowd.
Annabeth started off. "Let's cut to the chase." (haha, like her last- damn it, used that joke already.) "Well, don't you sometimes feel like the gods are getting out of hand? You know, neglecting their children, not caring about the mortal world, letting their pride get the better of them?"
All the kids looked like they agreed, especially the children of the minor gods, who nodded.
"Well, we're trying to do something about it. This is what our meetings are about. We don't want to destroy the gods or something like that, but we want to make them better." Percy finished. "The Olympian's ego has gone on for too long. The gods are getting out of hand."
The recruits nodded and murmured in agreement. One even clapped.
"Now, who wants in?" Luke announced.
All the new recruits raised their hands.
"Great. Now, you'll need to swear on the River Styx. If this information goes in the wrong hands, we'd be dead." Luke stated.
Each one of them stepped up and swore on the River Styx. The meeting started.
-Line Break-
Hera POV
The meeting concluded in little groups of twos and threes. Hera watched from above, impressed.
Everything was going according to plan.
With Percy and Luke, this group had some traction as leaders of the group. She smiled, then slumped back in her chair. These days, her prison was as monotonous as ever. Her only source of entertainment was Hephaestus TV, which barely even qualified. This was just like the Fields of Asphodel: not necessarily bad, but just boring. Hera slumped in her chair. Her hair had grown out of control. She no longer emanated beauty, since room was enchanted to strip her of her power. She felt undignified; she just looked like a regular middle-aged mortal. She grew lazy and lost her desire to do anything. She would've faded, but the plan was keeping her alive just like food or water would. Hera sighed. She went back to bed, like she too often did these days.
