Chapter 13
Percy stared at the bottle, not quite comprehending what he was seeing. He slowly bent down and picked it up, just to prove to himself that it was really there.
He closed his eyes, swallowing his hurt. After everything he'd done for them, after trying so hard to earn their trust…He crushed the bottle in his fist suddenly, anger overwhelming him.
"Percy? Are you okay?" Ally asked, concerned.
She had turned around to tell him something, but had quickly noticed that something was wrong. All the little girls looked up at him questioningly, and soon, the whole table was looking at him. Most of them looked concerned, but some…didn't.
"What is this?" Percy asked Phoebe, who turned to face him slowly. His voice shook with anger. Phoebe feigned innocence.
"What do you mean? That's just glue, you know, for sticky situations," she smirked. Percy clenched his jaw.
"You glued the door shut? You…I could have...do you realize how much you jeopardized? What if the mission had gone wrong, and the mortals needed to escape? What if Thalia and Emily had tried to use that door? Someone could have been hurt- We could have been in a lot of trouble! I could have been caught and labeled a terrorist! Any of us could have gotten caught – do you realize how serious this is?" he spat.
Phoebe's smirk vanished under his glare. Artemis looked between Phoebe and Percy, her brow furrowed.
"Percy, what are you talking about?" she asked in a commanding tone.
"This," Percy held up the glue for her to see.
"After I had Thalia take Emily to safety, I caused a diversion before running after them, to make sure the police wouldn't see them. Thankfully, they must've gone out a different way then I did, because when I reached the back door, it was stuck shut with this glue. I was forced to smash the glass, and by that time the police almost caught me. I ran off before they could, but they could very well accuse me of being the crazed gunman, if they got a good enough look at me," he said venomously.
Artemis turned to Phoebe.
"Is this true? Did you glue the door shut?" she asked, her voice infused with steel.
Phoebe nodded, unabashed, though she couldn't quite meet her mistress's eyes. Instead, she glared back at Percy defiantly.
"Whatever you may think, however you may have weaseled your way in here, we aren't your family. You are a pathetic, worthless male, and you have no right to be here! You invaded our Hunt, all because you couldn't take it that a woman finally stood up for herself and dumped you. Your ego couldn't handle it, could it? You couldn't bear to face your friends, so you came crawling to the gods, sniveling like a little brat. And of course, the gods had to spare their poor 'hero', so we got stuck with you." Phoebe snarled.
Artemis's eyes flashed.
"Phoebe, that is enough-" she began, but Percy held up a hand, looking Phoebe right in the eyes.
"Look here, Phoebe. I have every right to be here, just as you do. You think I joined the Hunt because of my ego? You couldn't be more wrong. My parents are dead, and my girlfriend dumped me. You weren't satisfied with that explanation? Fine. Here's the full story."
"I'd had a crush on Annabeth since I was twelve years old. I couldn't find the courage to ask her out until we were fifteen, because I thought she had feelings for someone else. Last year, I decided I wanted to marry her. But it took a lot of planning to make that happen. I asked Hephaestus himself to help me craft the perfect ring, and I'd been waiting to propose for a while. I had to wait to propose because Athena wanted me to prove my worth to her, and so I would often disappear without warning, for days or weeks at a time, to complete tests and quests for Athena to prove I was worthy of Annabeth.
"I was forbidden to tell Annabeth about why I kept disappearing, and she grew increasingly frustrated. I told her what I could, but I could only say so much, so I hoped she understood and that it would be worth it in the end. In between Athena's tests and my time at camp, I also traveled to Camp Jupiter, specifically to New Rome. There, I built Annabeth and I a house near the college, because I knew she would want to go.
"I wasn't sure if she wanted to live in New Rome, or if she would want to attend college in the mortal world, so I built our house, then applied to every mortal college I knew Annabeth was, just to be sure. I got into most of them, even Harvard, although Chiron and Athena had to help me with most of them.
"Then, the day finally arrived. It was also our three year anniversary, the day we had gone on our first official date, and it was going to be the day she became my wife. When I saw her at the beach, she seemed to be really upset over something. I asked what was wrong, and she told me she wanted to go to college. I started to tell her what I had planned, about the house, the proposal, everything, but she cut me off." Percy explained bitterly.
"She wanted to go to Harvard. I was going to tell her we could do that, that I got accepted too, but she beat me to it. She said she was leaving, that day, without me. That we should break up." Percy rasped, pain evident in his eyes.
"She dumped me. On the night I was going to propose. She dumped me for a stupid school, after all we've been through together. I turned down godhood for her, survived Tartarus with her, and she still didn't believe that I'd do anything for her. Go anywhere, be whatever I had to be, for her. She broke my heart." Percy's eyes were sad, and many of the Hunters were looking at him with sympathy.
Thalia was sitting, mouth agape, her fists clenched.
"So I headed back to my cabin, and left camp. I went to see my mom, because she is – was – the only one who could comfort me. But I was too late. Their room was torn apart, a chair thrown out the window and blood on the broken glass. I went down to the alley to IM Chiron for help, and found her and my stepdad, Paul, dead. Killed by some monster. I took them to Montauk, where my mom and dad first met, and buried them at sea.
"After that, I felt had nothing left. Without Annabeth, I didn't know what to do with my life. College was what she wanted, but all I had wanted was to be with her. Now my parents were gone, and I couldn't take it anymore. So I went to the gods to die. I wanted them to kill me, so I could join my parents and my friends in the Underworld.
"So I could see them again, and apologize – to Luke, Bianca, Zoe, Beckendorf, Silena, to all the campers and all the people that died for me or because of me – but they refused. They sent me here instead, to give me a purpose. To give me a family. And I thought…I had hoped that I had found it," Percy threw the bottle to the ground, which had begun to shake under his feet.
"But obviously you don't understand. You're so wrapped up in your hatred that you couldn't see how hard I was trying. I tried everything to show you I was different, but if you don't want to see it, how could I? I can take the petty pranks. I can take mean comments, or jabs, or whatever, but putting mortals – and even worse, your sisters – in danger to get at me? All because I'm a man? There I draw the line.
"You've made it quite clear that you don't want me around. So, fine – have it your way. I'll be going. You won't have to see me again, won't have to waste your time trying to make my life miserable. Hopefully, your sisters will be safer because of it," he spat, and Phoebe flinched.
"You know, I thought I'd found a chance at a fresh start, with what I was hoping would one day be my new family. But I guess I thought wrong. You got your wish – have a nice life," Percy finished, striding away from the table.
"Percy, wait!" Ally cried, too late, stumbling to her feet and attempting to close the distance between them.
"I'm sorry, Ally-Cat," he said softly, his eyes sorrowful, before throwing one last withering look at Phoebe, unfurling his wings, and taking off.
The Hunters watched him fly off, stunned, until he was out of sight. As soon as he was out of sight, the girls turned towards Phoebe.
"I-I…" she tried, but she couldn't find words to express how sorry she was. She had been mistaken. Very mistaken.
"How could you? He's our brother! We love him, and he loves us, and you drove him away! We'll never see him again…and it's all your fault!" Ally sobbed, tears streaming down her face.
"I hate you, I hate you and I'll never forgive you!" she cried, before turning and sprinting to the girls' tent.
"You let your hatred of men ruin our family. Couldn't you see that Percy was happy here? That he made us happy? You ruined everything! What did he ever do to you anyway?" Alexis accused, her voice tight with anger as she swiped under her eyes with the back of her hand.
Cali merely glared at Phoebe, before bursting into tears and running after Ally. Alexis, Luna, and Emily followed, each of them in various stages of distress as well. Thalia marched up to Phoebe.
"You may have just ruined the best thing that has happened to this hunt since Zoe died. I hope you realize what you've done," she said coldly, sparks practically jumping off of her, before striding towards the tent to comfort the younger girls.
"I – no, guys wait! I didn't mean-" Phoebe pleaded as the girls drifted away, some giving her disgusted glares, others pensive. Soon Phoebe was the only one left in the clearing, save Artemis. Phoebe couldn't bear to meet her eyes.
"I do not mean to antagonize you further, but you must know that this is one of the reasons why I did not consider you for the position of my Lieutenant, despite your seniority among the Hunters and your dedicated loyalty to me. You must learn to let go of past grudges, and to be more open and trusting of others.
"Perseus was not the betrayer here. You have made a colossal mistake, and though Perseus will be back, it will be difficult to earn his trust again. Be warned. You do not want him as an enemy." Artemis advised her gravely.
Phoebe nodded at the ground, and Artemis looked at her once more before sighing.
"I am not going to expel you from the hunt, Phoebe. We are a family, though a dysfunctional one. It will be up to you to fix your mistake. However, as punishment for jeopardizing the mission and your fellow Huntresses, it is now your duty to do Perseus's chores," Artemis informed her.
Phoebe nodded again, and Artemis watched her a moment more before crossing the clearing and entering her tent. A moment later, a silver glow radiated from the tent, then dimmed, and Artemis's silhouette was gone.
A/N: Yeesh. That was intense. Thanks for reading, and I really hope you liked it! Please don't forget to review – your feedback inspires me to write faster and update sooner! Until next time!