Ch27

Well nothing beats a long awkward taxi ride with an angry girl Magnus thought as he let out a small sigh. After his cousin stormed off he and Percy ran after her and Annabeth did not take it well when they explained the monster attack and was more upset that they had met Gunilla and Rachel before. They didn't tell her much about Gunilla and her friends since they were forbidden from telling the other campers about the Norse world; still he knew that his cousin was very mad for some reason.

I can't believe I gave up falafel for this he thought as he sat between Annabeth and Percy. Annabeth was acting like they had eaten lunch with her stepmom behind her back and while Percy tried to talk to her but she only gave him some vague explanations about camp and whatnot. He personally tried to act as a middle man but his cousin was not happy. I did invite her to join us why is she acting like this?

He looked at Percy who obviously was upset at the awkward situation that they were in and the fact that Annabeth hadn't spoken to him in a while. He did want to see her, he would ask me about her whenever he got the chance, I'll try to cheer him up.

"So Percy orientation was cool huh?" He said as the taxi sped across the road.

Percy looked at him with his bright eyes while Annabeth only stared out the window, "Yeah it was interesting glad we had help," he said awkwardly trying not to mention the fact that Gunilla and her friends helped them repel those monsters.

"Yeah we have some interesting classmates hopefully this year is fun. Your mom's boyfriend seems cool do you get along with him?" He asked

Percy nodded, "Yeah he seems like a good guy and my mom likes him so that's good. I guess we will have an interesting year with our new classmates."

"Um kid I hate to interrupt but your cousin looks more pissed," Gram warned in his head.

What why? He carefully turned and saw that Annabeth's fists was clenched as if she were about to stab something with her knife and her reflection in the mirror and looked as if she had just gotten out of a fight with her stepmom.

Gram sighed in his head, "You both really are clueless just chill it with talking about other girls."

Magnus rolled his eyes, "Fine thanks for the advice," he said sarcastically.

"No problem kid I got your back," Gram said. "Can you ask him how Riptide is doing?"

He looked at Percy who from the look on his face guessed he was talking with Gram, "So um how is Riptide doing?"

"Um good as always Riptide always comes in handy. I polished Riptide not too long ago," Percy said with a small laugh. He remembered how surprised Percy was when he found out that Riptide was a girl and laughed when he said Gram thought she was hot.

"Dude don't start drooling over my friend's sword now," he said to Gram who was making some rather interesting sounds upon hearing that Riptide had been polished.

He and Percy chatted about various other mundane things while the taxi headed to camp. He would look at his cousin occasionally but her mood did not appear to be getting better. Eventually, the taxi stopped at the border of the camp and they all got their stuff and got out.

"I'll let Chiron know you both arrived. He will want you both to attend the trial; I need to talk to Clarisse," Annabeth said not looking at either of them as she headed towards the border.

"Clarisse? What does she want to talk to her?" Percy said both of them looked surprised at what his cousin had said. She might have well had said she wants to eat an old smelly boot he thought as they both headed towards the camp.

"Wonder what Chiron needs us for?" Percy asked as they crossed into the camp.

"No clue man do you want to head to the sword arena?" He asked as they passed by some of their friends and said hi to them.

Percy smiled and nodded, "Sure dude I need to calm down after that ride."

"Yeah I don't know what her deal was I mean we invited her to eat with us," He said as they entered the sword arena. However, when they both entered the arena they both stopped at the sight of what was the biggest hellhound he had ever seen.

Magnus felt his eyes widen and his legs shake as he stared at the hound in horror. He still had a problem with large dogs and wolves. "Don't worry I got this," Percy said as he stepped in front of him and drew Riptide.

"Damn she is as hot as ever," Gram sighed in his head. He ignored his sword as Percy stood in front of him and charged at the creature. However, just as Percy was about to strike a man parried the attack causing the dog to look up.

Percy jumped back and the two looked at the man who appeared to be in his mid-fifties. "Don't worry she is harmless; her name is Mrs. O'Leary." The dog barked and it did not sound angry instead it sounded excited as it pounced on a training dummy.

"Who are you?" Percy asked as they both sheathed their swords.

"I am Quintus I will be replacing Lord Dionysus for the time being," Quintus said as he looked at both of them. "Don't worry I said she is harmless," he said looking at him.

Magnus looked down and realized his legs were still shaking. "My friend has a fear of wolves and large dogs. I am Percy and he is Magnus," Percy as the two shook hands.

"Pleasure to meet both of you," Quintus said with a smile.

"Yeah n-nice to see you," he said as he looked at the large hellhound who looked at him with a curious gaze, he gulped as he looked Mrs. O'Leary in the eyes his heart raced even though he saw curiosity and friendliness in her eyes.

"Well I see you both met our new instructor," Chiron said as he walked into the arena. "Quintus do you mind if I borrow Percy and Magnus for a bit?"

"Not at all Master Chiron," Quintus said with a bow. He and Percy looked one more time before they said goodbye to Quintus and headed off with Chiron.

"He seems interesting," Percy said when they were far away from Quintus.

Chiron sighed, "Very much so. Oh Annabeth told me you both ran into some Empousai is that correct?"

He exchanged a quick look with Percy before responding. "Y-Yeah we did," he said as he and Percy explained the fight with the cheerleaders minus the part about Gunilla and the other Norse people but he did talk about Rachel and how she helped them.

"Hmm ironic to be saved by a mortal we shall speak of this attack on the camp in the future but for now we shall go to the woods Grover would want you both there. He has a hearing with the Council of Cloven Elders." Chiron looked at him and Percy, and he had a feeling he knew that they weren't telling the entire story.

Since they were in a hurry Chiron let them both ride on his back as they soon were galloping past the cabins to a place that neither of them recognized. They arrived at a place where a bunch of satyrs were sitting in a circle in the grass. Grover stood in the middle, facing three old fat satyrs. Grover appeared really nervous and to his surprise both him and Percy were taller than Grover now since satyrs age half as fast as humans do.

Standing to the side were Annabeth, Clarisse, and another girl he did not recognize. He and Percy joined them and Clarisse glared at them and called them punks under her breath. Someone is in a good mood he thought as he watched his cousin comfort the other girl.

"He will be fine don't worry," Annabeth said calmly as she patted the girl's shoulders. She looked at them and mouthed the words Grover's girlfriend

"Master Underwood we have been hearing scandalous things about you hearing the god Pan speak," one of the old Satyrs said.

"But I did," Grover said calmly

"Blasphemy," another satyr said. "As if the great Pan would speak to him." He and Percy watched as Clarisse and Annabeth held back Grover's girlfriend.

"We have given you plenty of time to demonstrate your claims but so far you have shown us nothing. You have one more week to prove it or you will have to find another career," The old Satyr in the center said.

"But sir this job is my livelihood," Grover protested.

"This meeting is adjourned," the satyr said as the three old ones got up and left.

Grover got up looking really dejected and walked towards them. "Hey Percy hey Magnus long time no see. I see you both met my girlfriend Juniper. That went well huh?"

"Oh They don't know how hard you worked; you are great," Juniper said as she went and hugged Grover.

"There is another option," Clarisse said darkly.

"No I won't have Grover do that," Juniper said

"I'll think about it," Grover said as he patted his girlfriend's back.

"What are you talking about?" Percy asked.

Annabeth still avoiding their gaze only turned around, "I'll tell you both later we better go back cabin inspection is starting soon," she said as a conch horn sounded in the distance.

"Oh crap," he said as he looked at Percy and they both made the realization that their cabin was still dirty from last winter.

They both ran to the Poseidon cabin as fast as they could and burst through the door when they got there. However, when they both got to the cabin they were met by a surprise guest. "Percy Magnus," Tyson said smiling at them. The cyclops had a broom in his hand and dropped it as he went and hugged them.

"Hey big guy," Percy said as Tyson squeezed them both.

"Hey Tyson please watch the ribs," he said as Tyson let them both go.

"You both are okay?" Tyson asked. "Not eaten by monsters?"

"No we are good thanks big guy," he said as he rubbed his sore chest.

"Yay now we can ride ponies together and eat sandwiches and make things go boom," Tyson said happily.

"Sounds good man," Percy said as he smiled at Tyson. "But first we should, wow," he said. Magnus looked around and was equally as surprised as Percy. The bunk beds were made and the floor was swept. "Tyson did you do this? It looks amazing," Percy said in awe.

"Yeah and I put fish ponies on the ceiling," Tyson said pointing to the mini hippocampi on the ceiling that looked as if they were swimming through the air.

Magnus went to his bed and was surprised to see his celestial bronze ax which used to have a dent in it. "You fixed this," He said looking at Tyson.

"My shield too," Percy said holding his shield in his hand.

Tyson nodded with a big goofy grin on his face. "Well thanks man," he said as he held the ax in his hand."

"Wow dude this ax has history he has a bloody history one of his owners fought for the emperors of Byzantium," Gram said in his head.

"Wow he is a dude? He must have seen a lot of things," he said as he held the ax in his hand. The ax gleamed in the light and looked sharp enough to decapitate the head of a large monster, "Does he have a name?" He asked Gram

"He said don't worry about naming him he doesn't mind as long as he gets to chop stuff. He says he enjoys working with you too and is glad to be of use again so he can chop things up again," Gram said. "He kind of swears more than you though and says he enjoys chopping things up for you."

"Um cool tell him I am glad he is back," he said as he looked around the cabin, it was nice and clean and looked pretty cool though he still wasn't crazy about the color blue as Percy was. It still beats being in the Hermes Cabin though and besides being near the beach is pretty nice. He was definitely grateful for Poseidon allowing him to stay in his cabin with Percy, especially since they were good friends.

He and Percy talked a bit with Tyson when somebody came in, "Oh my," they turned and saw Silena Beauregard walk in the doorway with her inspection scroll, "Well I had my doubts but you both clean up nicely. I'll remember that," she said with a wink as she left the room.

He spent the rest of the day with Percy catching up with Tyson as he talked about the underwater forges. They walked around the camp and Tyson loved playing with the hell hound, Annabeth continued to not talk to them and only made comments about being busy when they tried to approach her. So he just hung out with Percy and Tyson until it was time to go to bed. Percy tried to contact Nico di Angelo but was not successful. Overall though he was glad to be back at camp with his friends

When he fell asleep he felt his mind wander off to a dream. It was strange because it seemingly appeared to be a good dream which was rare for a demigod. He and Percy were out walking along some trail along the beach dressed as if they were on vacation. He and Percy were both laughing and talking about various things in their lives and in general everything felt fun.

They then walked around the beach; the smell of the ocean was amazing as they jogged by the sand when Percy pointed to a small boat resting in the water. "Want to take it our for a spin?" Percy asked with a cocky smile.

"Sure man lets do this," he said as they both ran to the boat. They both got to the boat and pushed it into the water before getting in. When they got in he turned around and was surprised to see his cousin Annabeth peering at them from the tree line almost as if she were spying on them. "Annabeth come and join us," he said as they both waved at her.

"Yeah Annabeth come on," Percy called out waving at her.

However, despite their calls, Annabeth stared at them with an emotionless look on her face. They called to her again before turning and looking at the ocean. The waves were coming to pick them up. He looked back at Annabeth but this time her face looked dejected and hurt. They felt the boat move into the water and suddenly they felt the boat move. He looked back at his cousin whose face was red as if she were on the brink of tears.

His cousin did not move but he saw the look of sadness in her eyes as if they had both done something horrible to her.

"Annabeth come on you can still make it," he called out extending his arm.

"Yeah Annabeth come on," Percy said as he looked at her longingly.

However, Annabeth just shook her head and gave them a cold look. He and Percy tried to call out to her but she just continued to stare at them as if they had just betrayed her. They stared at her and called out to her some more as the boat pulled out into the water and the land along with his cousin became more and more distant on the horizon. Before he knew it Annabeth was out of sight.

He woke up panting as he heard the waves outside the cabin, he took a deep breath realizing it was just a dream. What was that about, he didn't know why he had that dream or what it even meant. He looked around and was surprised to see Peter by the fountain, "Hey Percy what's up?" He asked as Percy looked as if he just seen a ghost.

"Its Nico, he is looking for me," he said seriously his eyes looking as if they had just seen the pits of Tartarus. "And you, you look like you had a bad dream too," Percy said with a sigh as he sat back down on his bed.

Magnus rubbed his head, "Yeah it was, though it was pretty weird too," he said as he and Percy told each other what had caused them to wake up. Percy told him about the weird Iris Message while he told him about the dream. When they were both done both were sat at the edge of their beds looking at each other. "So Nico is after you huh?"

Percy nodded, "Yeah, hopefully we can make him see some sense." He sighed as he looked at him with his bright sea-green eyes. "He seemed like he grew a lot he is definitely someone we cannot let our guard down around."

Magnus nodded, "Yeah, hard to believe that he is the way he is. I remember when he was still a nerdy little kid."

"I know right?" Percy said with a sigh before looking at him. "Your dream though do you have any idea what it could mean?"

He shook his head, "I'm not sure. Maybe Annabeth is dealing with something personal, I know she is very worried about the camp and the war maybe she is just stressed?" He said with a sigh as he looked at Percy with a sigh.

Percy nodded his head, "Yeah maybe she is just stressed and needs some rest."

He sighed, "Yeah hopefully." With that, the two returned to bed as they listened to the sound of the waves outside.

AN: So from what i gathered timeline-wise during the BoTL book Magnus's mom dies and he begins his life on the streets, Sam becomes a Valykyrie, and Alex is kicked out around the same time as well. I have some plans for Sam and Alex but they won't be in this part of the story yet.