Sorry this took a while. I didn't have the energy to write anything for a few days, but I have some somewhat good news.
I plotted out most of the rest of this story and got ~80 chapters figured out, so it's gonna be a long one, assuming I can last that long, which I really hope I can because I'm enjoying this story a lot and don't want to give it up.
SKTCreator: I am currently figuring out the plot for a Percy/Bianca story and plan on uploading the first chapter within the next few weeks. I'll announce it on this one when I do!
fridgeraiders: It was more to embarrass Luke, to prove to his army that he wasn't a capable leader. He also wanted to send a message to Kronos that he wasn't going to lay down and give up just because his mother had been killed.
combatwombat14: Percy's going to take a very dark turn soon. It will follow a rough outline of the canon plot, but with unique details (I hope).
Yesse2362: Yeah, it would have been cool to destroy the rock, but destruction takes a lot more power than just moving something. He's not quite that powerful yet, but he will be eventually. I'm trying to space out how quickly he gains specific abilities so he isn't a god among mortals.
I do NOT own Percy Jackson or its universe. Those rights belong to Rick Riordan and his publisher.
ENJOY!
The centaurs stopped in a trailer park at the edge of a lake, except the trailers were all horse trailers that had been modified to accommodate televisions and mini-refrigerators and mosquito netting. The Party Ponies dispersed to unload their gear, chatting excitedly about the fight against Luke and his army of monsters and rogue demigods. Two of them charged at each other and knocked heads, then went staggering off in opposite directions with crazy grins.
Chiron sighed. He sat Annabeth and Grover down on a picnic blanket next to Percy. "I really wish my cousins wouldn't slam their heads together. They don't have the brain cells to spare."
The peanut butter pegasus landed next to them, and Hylla and Reyna dismounted.
"Who are your friends?" Chiron asked.
"Their names are Hylla and Reyna…" Percy trailed off, frowning. "Actually, I don't think you ever said your last names."
"Ramírez-Arellano," Hylla supplied.
Reyna glared at her and said something incredibly offensive in Spanish. Chiron's eyebrows rose and Percy bit back a laugh. He hadn't understood the whole thing, but he knew enough Latin to get the gist of it.
Hylla just smirked.
"Do you know who your godly parent is?" Chiron asked.
"No," Hylla said. "We didn't even know we were demigods until Circe told us."
Chiron blinked. "You were students of Circe?" He turned to Percy with a questioning look. "I feel that there is much to catch up on."
"Maybe when we get back to camp," Percy said hopefully.
Thankfully, Chiron agreed and changed the subject. He told them how he suspected they would emerge from the Sea of Monsters near Miami and asked Iris to alert him to any important communications in the area so he could eavesdrop on Percy's Iris-message and traced the signal.
"So what now?" Percy asked. "We just let Luke sail away?"
"I'm afraid, Percy, that today has been something of a draw," Chiron said. "We didn't have the strength of numbers to take that ship. Luke was not organized enough to pursue us."
We didn't need numbers, Percy thought bitterly. If that centaur hadn't picked him up, he could have killed Luke right then and there before moving on to the monsters. He could have used his powers to wipe out most of the army.
But then he remembered Annabeth and Grover, Hylla and Reyna. They would have struggled a lot more than he would against all those monsters and demigods. They hadn't been trained by hoplites and wolves and gods like Percy had.
They would have died.
"At least we got the Fleece," Annabeth said. She looked upset about something. "Clarisse is on her way back to camp with it right now."
Chiron nodded, but he looked uneasy. "You are all true heroes. And we shall soon head back to Half-Blood Hill. The centaurs shall carry you."
"You're coming, too, right?" Annabeth asked hopefully.
"Oh yes, I'll be relieved to get home. My brethren here simply do not appreciate Dean Martin's music. Besides, Mr. D and I are due for a much needed discussion. There's the rest of the summer to plan, training to do. And I want to see… I'm curious about the Fleece."
Percy had a feeling he knew what Chiron was thinking.
They arrived in Long Island just after Clarisse, thanks to the speed centaurs could travel at, which surpassed even the fastest of pegasi –– not the immortal Pegasus, but his children. Percy rode on Chiron's back, but they didn't talk much. Hylla and Reyna had negated using the peanut butter pegasus in favor of speed, but the pegasus had promised to catch up later.
It had been a rough two weeks for Camp Half-Blood. The arts and crafts cabin had burned to the ground, the Big House's rooms were flooded with wounded demigods, and the kids from the Apollo cabin, who were the camp's best healers, had been working overtime. Everybody looked weary and battered as they gathered around Thalia's pine tree.
Clarisse draped the Golden Fleece over the lowest branch, and the valley seemed to come to life –– the moonlight brightened, turning from grey to silver; a breeze rustled the branches and grass; the fireflies in the woods glowed brighter; the strawberries smelled stronger; the waves on the beach sounded more lively; and the needles on the pine tree turned from brown to green.
Everybody cheered –– it was working.
Chiron ordered an around-the-clock guard duty until a time he could acquire an appropriate monster to protect the Fleece.
Clarisse was carried on her cabinmates' shoulders down to the amphitheater to be honored with a laurel wreath and a lot of celebrating around the campfire. Percy clapped from the outside of the group, standing beside Reyna and Hylla.
Clarisse walked over to him and shook his hand, but said nothing.
That was probably as close to being friendly as he and Clarisse would ever be, but that was fine with Percy.
Chiron decided to continue with the chariot races since they were already scheduled, but Percy still wasn't interested in participating. He spent the next two days training Reyna and Hylla like crazy –– Hylla had decided that she wanted to find the Amazons in the Northeast United States and said that she would need all the training she could get.
Reyna, however, had surprised Percy.
"Would it be all right if I stayed with you?" she asked him after he disarmed her for the tenth time in a row. "I'm not interested in the Amazons, but I don't really have anywhere else to go."
Technically there was Camp Jupiter, but Percy didn't want her to go, either. Some strange instinct told him to keep Reyna close, like she would be really important sometime soon. He didn't know her all that well, but his instincts had never led him astray, so he trusted that gut feeling.
"It won't be easy," he warned her. "And you'll have to keep a lot of secrets."
Reyna smiled bitterly. "I'm used to it."
"Then welcome aboard." Percy winced. "If only I still had my ship…"
Reyna snorted.
"Come on," he said. "Five more attempts before dinner."
"You're on."
That night Percy stayed late at the stables. He was checking on the two pegasi –– Blackjack and the peanut butter one that had taken a liking to Reyna. She had named him Scipio specifically so she could nickname him "Skippy," like the peanut butter brand.
"Fine animals, horses. Wish I'd thought of them."
Percy turned to see Hermes, this time dressed like a postal carrier with a white pith helmet on his head and a mailbag over his shoulder.
"Hermes," Percy greeted stoically.
"Hello, Percy."
It took a moment for Percy to realize why Hermes had visited. "About Luke…"
The god arched his eyebrows.
"We saw him, but…"
"You weren't able to talk sense into him?"
"We tried to kill each other."
"Ah, I see." Hermes nodded stiffly. "The diplomatic approach."
"Luke feels like you abandoned him," Percy said cautiously. "He's too far gone."
Hermes was silent for a long time, but then he sighed. "Do you ever feel your father abandoned you, Percy?"
Only a few thousand times a day, Percy thought. He had never spoken to his father, and he had only seen Poseidon once. Percy had been ignored his entire life with only his mother to depend on, but then his "all-powerful" father had done nothing to save her. Zeus insults Poseidon's pride and war is threatened, but when the mother of Poseidon's only child is murdered?
Nothing.
At least Luke had spoken with Hermes. Percy didn't even have that. Luke had been hand-delivered a quest by his father –– who cares that it had been done before, at least Hermes had recognized his son.
The only time Poseidon had done anything with Percy was when he needed something done that he couldn't do himself.
Percy hadn't even received a simple "thank you" for nearly dying a dozen times to clear his father's name.
Hermes adjusted his mailbag. "Percy, the hardest part about being a god is that you must often act indirectly," (Percy nearly snorted) "especially when it comes to your own children. If we were to intervene every time our children had a problem… well, that would only create more problems and more resentment."
Except they didn't need every problem answered. Almost every demigod just wanted to be acknowledged by their immortal parent –– to feel like they weren't an accident created by a god's or goddess' lustful desires.
They didn't want to be ignored.
"I should probably get to bed," Percy said in a horrible attempt to change the topic.
"One second." Hermes dug around in his bag. "I've got a delivery for you." He took an electronic signature pad out and handed it to Percy. "Sign there, please."
Percy almost dropped the stylus when he noticed the tiny green snakes entwined on it.
Hermes traded the pad for a sea-blue envelope after Percy signed it. Percy knew at a touch that it had come from his father –– the first time Poseidon had ever contacted him –– he could feel the power of the ocean in the cool blue paper, as if it had been folded out of a wave.
Percy's fingers trembled.
"Goodbye, Percy," Hermes said. "For now."
Small white wings sprouted from his pith helmet. He began to glow, so Percy averted his eyes before the god's true divine form was revealed. With a brilliant white flash, Hermes was gone, and Percy was alone with the equines.
He stared at the envelope in his hands. It was addressed in strong but elegant handwriting.
Percy Jackson
c/o Camp Half-Blood
Farm Road 3.141
Long Island, New York 11954
Percy's mind raced with things it could say. Poseidon could explain why he hadn't gotten in contact with him before now, apologize for ignoring him. He could praise him for doing a good job on his two quests. There were so many things that Percy wanted it to say.
He took a deep breath, opened the envelope, and unfolded the paper.
His heart sank when he saw that only two words were printed in the middle of the page:
Brace yourself.
Percy's hands shook with rage.
Poseidon had ignored him for his entire life, and only sent a message to him with two words that meant absolutely nothing. Percy was so angry it felt like the world was shaking with him.
It wasn't until he heard the whinnying horses that Percy realized the ground was shaking.
He had accidentally caused a small earthquake in his fury.
Percy closed his eyes and breathed heavily, inhaling deeply and exhaling slowly. The shaking stopped, the horses and pegasi calmed down.
The next morning, everybody was buzzing about the chariot race.
Percy couldn't have cared less about it. He hadn't been able to fall asleep, lying awake all night long, thinking about Poseidon's message and trying to push away whatever anger was left so he didn't accidentally destroy the entire camp, which was now starting to look back how it should: the meadows were green and lush; the white columns gleamed on the buildings; dryads played happily in the woods.
It would have been a shame to see it ruined so soon after it started to heal.
Percy wasn't surprised that Clarisse won the chariot race for the second time in a row. The Athena chariot, pulled by Annabeth and her brother Malcolm, had been taken out by a leather pouch full of Greek fire, thrown by the Hephaestus chariot.
Grover announced that afternoon that he would be spending the rest of the summer with them at camp before continuing his search for Pan. The Council of Cloven Elders had been so impressed with Grover for not getting himself killed and saving future searchers that he had been granted a two-month vacation and a new set of reed pipes.
Grover said he could dissolve his empathy link with Percy, now that they were face to face, which was something that Percy was quick to accept.
Rather than be offended, Grover looked oddly relieved.
"If I get in trouble again, you could die, Percy," he explained. "It was extremely dangerous for me to do it, but I couldn't think of any other solution at the time."
"It's all right, Grover, don't worry about it."
While Percy didn't like the thought of Grover in danger, he would rather not have Grover being capable of reading his emotions from anywhere in the world whenever he wanted.
He was just glad that Grover hadn't set up the link until the day he was captured.
That night brought a raging storm to Long Island, but it parted around Camp Half-Blood like it was supposed to. Lightning flashed against the horizon, waves pounded the shore, but not a single drop landed in the valley that was once more protected, thanks to the Golden Fleece.
Percy awoke to a banging on his door. Grover flew inside without waiting for permission.
"Percy!" he stammered. "Annabeth… on the hill… she…"
His eyes were slit-pupiled with terror. Annabeth had been on guard duty that night, protecting the Fleece.
Percy flew out of his bed and got dressed while Grover attempted to speak a full sentence, but he was too out of breath. "She's lying there… just lying there…"
Percy ran outside and raced in the direction of the pine tree, Grover on his heels. It was barely the break of dawn, but the entire camp seemed to be waking up as word spread that something huge had happened. A few campers were making their way towards the hill –– satyrs, nymphs, and demigods in a strange assortment of armor and pajamas.
Chiron galloped up behind Percy and Grover, looking grim.
"Is it true?" he asked Grover, who could only nod with a dazed expression. The centaur hefted Percy effortlessly onto his back and thundered up Half-Blood Hill, where a small crowd was gathering.
"Curse the Titan Lord," Chiron said. "He's tricked us again, given himself another chance to control the prophecy."
Percy's heart dropped to his stomach, praying that he hadn't heard correctly.
Chiron galloped forward. Everyone moved out of their way. At the base of the tree, a girl was lying unconscious. Another girl in Greek armor was kneeling next to her –– Annabeth.
"It healed the tree," Chiron said, his voice ragged. "And poison was not the only thing it purged."
Annabeth ran to Chiron when she saw them.
"It… she… just suddenly there…" Her eyes were streaming with tears.
Percy's eyes, however, were focused on the other girl. The one who shouldn't have been there, yet she was.
She had short black hair and freckles across her nose. She was built like a long-distance runner, lithe and strong. Her clothes were a cross between punk and goth: a black t-shirt, black tattered jeans, and a leather jacket with badges from a variety of rock bands.
"It's true," Grover said, panting from his run up the hill. "I can't believe…"
Nobody got close to the girl.
Reyna and Hylla came to a stop next to Percy, giving him questioning looks. Percy just shook his head, silently telling them that this wasn't the time for answers.
Thankfully, they understood and didn't press him.
Percy moved through the crowd to the girl's side.
No one tried to stop him.
He put his hand on her forehead. Her skin was cold, but his fingertips tingled like they were burning. He could sense a similar power in this girl as Zeus' master bolt.
"Does anyone have nectar or ambrosia?" Percy asked the crowd.
Only silence answered his question.
Utterly incompetent, the lot of them, Percy thought scathingly. All of these children of Apollo and not one of them prepared to do their job when it's needed.
The girl took a shaky breath, coughed, and opened her eyes, revealing startling, electric blue irises that Percy had only ever seen in one dream before, over a year ago. She stared up at Percy in bewilderment, shivering and wide-eyed.
"Who ––?"
"My name is Percy. Just relax, you're safe now."
"Strangest dream…"
Percy stiffened.
"Dying…"
She could remember that? Had she been in a constant nightmare for the last six years, never waking up as time progressed without her?
"No," Percy assured her. "You're not dying, you're okay now. What's your name?"
He already knew, but he needed to know if she did, how much she was able to remember for the moment. Everyone seemed to hold their collective breath, anticipating the answer, yet hoping that they were wrong.
"I am Thalia. Daughter of Zeus."
After ensuring that Thalia was capable of being moved, Percy carried her to the Big House so she could recover away from prying eyes. Only Hylla and Reyna joined him for the journey, and the three of them kept Thalia talking so she wouldn't fall asleep until they could guarantee it wouldn't do more harm than good.
Hylla had some basic medical training from Circe's Isle, so she offered to stay with Thalia until the rest of the camp could get their minds working again help her.
Percy and Reyna found Chiron, Annabeth, and Grover waiting in the living room.
"How is this possible?" Annabeth was asking.
Chiron sighed wearily and ran a hand over his face, almost as if he had already answered that question several times already.
"The Golden Fleece has restored Thalia, Annabeth," Chiron said tiredly. "As I have told you many times on our way here."
"But she was dead, Chiron," Annabeth said stubbornly. "Dead."
"Clearly she wasn't," Percy said, announcing his presence. Annabeth and Grover jumped, not having noticed him before then like Chiron had. "Hylla's keeping an eye on her," he added when Chiron looked like he was going to ask. "She has some minor healing experience. Enough to last until one of Apollo's kids can get in here."
"Thank you, Percy," Chiron said, smiling.
Percy nodded stiffly. He wasn't too sure how to feel about a daughter of Zeus being around with the current situation of the world. If she was anything like their father… well, the current generation of demigods might get a good idea of what World War II had been like and why the gods had made the pact of the Big Three.
Lee Fletcher, the counselor for Apollo cabin, walked in with one of his siblings. They only exchanged brief nods with the others before heading to the back room where Thalia was. Hylla came out less than a minute later to join them.
"Thalia's asleep," she informed them. "She's just exhausted and a little freaked out."
"I can only imagine…" Chiron murmured sadly.
Annabeth bit her lip. When she spoke, her voice was barely above a whisper. "It's really her, then? This isn't all some… some trick to confuse us?"
"Both would be my guess," Percy said.
"What are you talking about?"
"The prophecy."
The room fell deathly silent. Chiron's face was pale. Annabeth's eyes widened when she realized what Percy was saying. Grover whimpered. Hylla and Reyna both looked confused but didn't say anything. They would learn more by remaining silent.
"Another child of the Big Three as entered the playing field," Chiron said grimly. "This gives the Titan Lord another way to manipulate the Great Prophecy in his favor, especially a daughter of the Sky God."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Annabeth demanded furiously.
"Peace, child," the centaur placated. "I meant no offense to Thalia, but children of Zeus are quite popular for inheriting their father's ambition for power. If the Titan Lord can offer her something more than we can, it could tempt her to switch sides, especially with Luke working for the enemy." Chiron's expression saddened. "She could see their goals as more rewarding than ours."
"No," Annabeth denied firmly. "Thalia would never ––"
"You were only with her for two months when you were seven, Annabeth. She and Luke were together for two years."
Annabeth didn't seem to know how to argue that.
"Percy," she said suddenly. "Would you consider joining Kronos?"
That offended him.
"Of course not!" he hissed. "He got my mother killed!"
If Kronos hadn't asked Luke to steal that stupid bolt last year then Zeus wouldn't have killed his mother, he wouldn't be in danger all the time, and he would have a home to return to that wasn't filled with corpses and skeletons.
Annabeth flinched.
"Your point, my dear?" Chiron prompted before the situation could escalate.
"Right," she mumbled. "I was just going to say that I think Percy and Thalia are so much alike it's scary. I mean, either they're going to be best friends or they'll strangle each other."
Chiron's face darkened. Percy knew they were thinking the same thing.
"What do we do now?" Percy asked, changing the subject.
Chiron sighed. He looked every bit his five-thousand years of life in that moment. Percy felt awful for the immortal centaur, having to deal with this on top of everything else.
"We wait," Chiron said, sounding depressed. "That is all we can do, for the moment."
"Great." Percy clapped his hands together. "Hylla, Reyna, up for a spar?" He didn't really want to be around Annabeth at the moment. He knew they would end up fighting because of Thalia and Percy wasn't in the mood for that. "I think you wanted to try spears, right?" he added to Hylla.
"Yeah, I did. Let's go!"
Hylla swept to the door, Percy and Reyna following closely.
It was going to be a long last month of the summer.
AN: So there's that. Next chapter will have some fallout from Thalia's revival. It's always bugged me that they skipped that last month of the summer where everyone reacted to a daughter of Zeus in their midst.
By the way, I'm not necessarily trying to make Poseidon such a dick, but it does seem more accurate to mythology that the Sea God is distant unless he is personally insulted, unlike the kind, caring father that Rick Riordan makes him out to be.
I'm not sure if I'm going to bring back the Queen Anne's Revenge. I just can't think of a way to do it plausibly.
Would anyone be interested in a Percy Jackson, son of Hecate story?
Hecate is older than the Olympians, as a Titaness and a goddess, so I think it would be interesting for the child of the Great Prophecy to be someone conflicted about whether to fight for the people who dismiss his mother for being a "minor" goddess or the Titan army that promises respect, but Sally's morals coming into play and wanting him to do the right thing.
THANKS FOR READING!