*First Person Point of View ~ Proteus*
A great wave of fear rushed through my body. Summoning what little courage I had, I crept forward. "Okay," I whispered to myself, "It's now or never. I must do this…" My footsteps were small and silent. I could hear everything, and every creak of the floorboards sent jolts up my body.
The others were standing behind me, their support raising me up and keeping me on the path to victory. Every step was a mile, and a bead of sweat ran down the side of my face.
I was almost there. I faltered. My courage waned. "Nope. No. Nein. Nyet. I can't do this. Someone else do it," I said, spinning around on socked feet and attempting to escape my fate. Someone caught my arm and whipped me around. I whimpered.
"You have to, Proteus! I did it, last time," Hester hissed in my ear. Her lips were right next to my ear lobe, and sent shivers down my spine, but not those shivers. The shivers I got were of terror. My fate was sealed.
"But why?"
She scoffed. "Honestly, get a grip. It's not that bad."
I stared at her, mouth agape. "If it's not that bad why don't you do it? Last time, I almost died!" I protested. My second escape was similarly stopped by her, but this time, she shoved me toward my target.
"Fine," I grumbled. With a second push, I approached my destination.
Silently, I started to psyche myself up. 'I can do this. I know I can. I'm the fifth most powerful being in the universe. Single digits baby.' I grinned. Yeah. It wouldn't be so bad. After all, I'd done it before, and I was still around to tell the tale. My grin fell, suddenly as I stopped – right outside the door. 'I just wish Percy – Abaddon – hadn't slept in today. It must be nightmares. Oh no.'
I grabbed the door handle. My fingers quivered as I turned it, tediously. The door creaked loudly as it opened, and I cringed. Peeking inside, I called, "Percy? A-are… are you awake?" My voice was nothing more than a squeak, but for the life of me, I couldn't find it in me to speak any louder.
Just my luck, the lump on the bed was moving. At first, relief washed over me; he was waking up. Then, the relief vanished, and dread set in. He wasn't waking up; he was having a nightmare – and a terrible one by the looks of it.
With timid movements, I walked into the room, the others following close behind. Once I was in, the eight cowards hovered in the door frame, waving their hands to urge me on. I sent a withering look at Hester, who just grinned brightly at my distress. Seriously, that woman was trying to get me killed.
Shuffling along the smooth wooden floor, my socks gliding seamlessly over the surface. When I finally reached the bed, I noticed Haetros, who was lying next to Percy, his fuzzy head resting on his own plush pillow. There was a round pillow on the floor, but I guess Haetros didn't get the memo. He was just… there cuddled in his arms like an oversized teddy bear. I smiled. That humorous thought calmed my nerves, if only slightly.
The blanket was thrown to the side, and I saw – as usual, he was sleeping in just a pair of black sweatpants. Looking a little higher, I felt my jaw drop. He was perfectly formed, and I took a moment to admire his perfectly sculpted eight-pack of marble. That was the kind of definition that was only built from centuries of hard-core training.
I paused. Maybe what Hester said wasn't so far-fetched after all. Or maybe I was just jealous of his muscles. Yeah… I'll go with that. That'll help me do this way faster.
"Stop drooling and hurry up, boy!" Hester hissed. Adara had paused to also admire Percy's abs, but then looked at Caminus and seemed to decide that she preferred him, because those two were now busy making eyes at each other lovingly.
I glared at her, then spun back around to look at Percy, His wings would be hard to manoeuvre around, seeing as they were splayed out over the edge of the bed. That didn't look at all comfortable, but when being blessed with wings, you learn to live with them, which included finding a comfortable way to sleep. His hair, as usual, was messy and his surfer's tan was perfectly even.
It wasn't fair. Every girl – and even a couple of the guys – on Cofando that wasn't already taken kept trying to get a date with him. The problem is that Percy's from Earth and most of the people of Cofando are subtler than he's used to. I would wager that he doesn't even notice them ogling him whenever he walks down the street. Besides, he was always busy being princely and fulfilling his princely duties, no matter how much he hated to wear his crown.
Finally pulling myself out of admiring him – for purely appreciative, platonic reasons! – I focused back on the matter at hand. Looking around for something, I grabbed a ruler from his desk and reached out, the item shaking from the intense tremble of my hand. Ever so gently, I prodded him in the foot.
He shot straight up, wings unfurling. Haetros' eyes snapped open and he jumped out of Percy's arms.
And, with the bravest, most courageous smile, I said, "So, I see you're awake."
I'm lying. I screamed like I'd been kicked in the soft spot and ran out of the room, pushing the others out of my way as I went. They were on their own.
*First Person Point of View ~ Abaddon*
Waking up, the first thing I heard was a loud scream, so I burst out of bed, ready for battle. Haetros jumped out of my arms, and when everything finally came into focus, I saw that I was in my room and Proteus was running – screaming – out of my room.
The eight other commanders were standing in the doorway awkwardly; one of them was even whistling as if that would solve anything.
I scoffed and stood up, shoving the last of the blanket off my feet and bringing them to the floor. With my toes nicely encased in some slippers, I smirked, looking at Haetros. He was on the ground, just standing there, and we looked at each other, meeting eyes for a split second before we both burst out laughing. Well, I did. His laughter was silent to all but me, as his telepathic chuckles filled my head.
That was so weird – what just happened. What was wrong with him, I wonder? Did he not like the view?
It was then that I noticed the extra laughter playing in my head and realized that Crypt and Tile had been awake and must've seen the whole thing. I mean, it was pretty funny. "I don't think I've ever seen Luke wet his pants before," I thought.
"Me neither, but whatever that was, it was hilarious!" Tile responded with gusto, though how he managed to say that between his peals of laughter was beyond me.
Quickly sliding my mask on, I ran outside, completely ignoring the others as they yelled. They were saying something about me forgetting my cloak and shirt, but… maybe that was a conscious choice. You never know. I smiled under my mask, looking around to see if I could spot Proteus.
I found him easily enough, just outside the cabin, crouching behind a small bush. His usual strong hands were covering his head and he emitted soft whimpers. I approached him cautiously, like how one would approach a frightened animal, but it was no use. As soon as he looked up and saw me, he just screamed again and jumped up, running again.
At this point, we'd drawn a crowd, which was unfortunate for him – as they blocked his exits – and Proteus was left to run in circles, still screaming. I paused for a moment to admire the ease at which he made those impressive turns, but after a while it got old, so I called out his name.
That did nothing. Not even when I commanded him to stop in my loud, princely voice. The campers were everywhere at this point, and even the Amazons – who, true to Zeus' word, were right on time. Artemis and her hunters were hanging back a little, probably half annoyed that we were making a ruckus right outside their cabin and half reciting the stupidity of all men in their heads as they watched, not looking amused in the slightest. They also seemed to be the only ones who'd gotten changed before coming out here. That, or they slept in their uniforms.
After that, the gods teleported in one by one – though, most of them still in their pyjamas as well. I had to stifle a laugh when I saw Zeus. He was wearing striped pyjamas and had a sleeping cap on his head to match, which was lopsided. I mean, I wasn't one to talk, but at least I wasn't wearing a sleeping cap!
"What is going on here?" he asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He yawned. "Do you know what time it is?"
"An ungodly hour?" I guessed with a grin on my face. He sent me a sleepy glare, so I continued, "It's actually pretty late. Usually, the army would all be up and training half an hour ago."
That was the moment when I realized that once again, I was in the middle of camp without my shirt. Maybe I just liked to distract them, but then I remember how much I hated attention. It seemed like they were are staring, some trying not to, but others shameless with their hungry gazes. The hunters seemed to be the only ones disinterested, though I did catch a glimpse of one or two pretending too hard to look away.
I'm pretty sure I even heard Aphrodite whisper, "Oh my gods, he's beautiful," but then again, maybe I was just hearing things.
Looking back at Proteus, I caught his ear as he ran past me and flipped him, sending him smashing into the ground with force.
"Ow," he wheezed, a little winded from the move. "That was painful."
I hauled him up and placed him beside me. Thankfully, he hadn't actually wet his pants, as I'd suggested earlier, but he still had made an utter fool of himself in front of the entire camp.
"Well…" I said, my eyes wandering back over to the swarms of campers. "I'm going to go get some clothes on, then maybe you'll all remember what eyelids are for. Bye now." With that, I darted back inside, leaving Proteus to the whims of the campers. He wasn't too far behind, and scampered inside after me, shutting the door and barring it to keep out the obsessed fangirls – and boys.
After I was safely back in my room and had a shirt pulled over my torso and a heavy cloak hiding me completely, I went outside. Good thing I could telepathically make my weapons go into all of their secret pockets, because it would've taken hours just to stow away my assortment of knives, let alone the daggers, brass knuckles, short swords, and my crossbow and all of its arrows. Yes, I can shoot a crossbow. It took many, many, many years of training, but I can shoot a crossbow. A longbow is another story altogether…
Anyway, I went outside. The other warriors were already there and as soon as I stepped outside, their backs straightened, standing in two perfect lines of four on either side of the cabin door. I gave a quick hand signal and they relaxed.
Surprisingly, everyone else had gotten dressed in the meantime and were all waiting for me. Why they didn't just go to the dining pavilion was beyond me, but then again, maybe some were already there. The others, though, had decided to stay back and wait – maybe they wanted another peep show, I wouldn't know – dressed and watching me with expectant eyes.
"Excuse me," a clear and distinct voice startled me out of my thoughts. It was Hylla, queen of the Amazons. Wow, she lasted a long time as queen. That's good.
I bowed formally to her royal majesty. "Lady Hylla, a pleasure to finally meet you," I said, holding out my hand in offering.
She looked a little uncomfortable – probably because her first sight of me was without my shirt – but placed her hand in mine and I brought it to my lips for a swift kiss. Releasing her hand, I stood, only to see her face flush a bright red.
"So…" she said, "You are this prince I keep hearing so much about?"
I shifted uncomfortably. "Heir to the universe, at your service, milady, but please, just call me Abaddon. I'm not overly fond of the title."
"Wouldn't know it, though, would you, since he never wears his crown," Proteus muttered from behind me. Then, his eyes lit up, and I felt dread settle in my stomach. "You know what? I'm going to go tell their royal highnesses right now that you're not wearing your crown." He darted out of place in line and went back inside. I didn't even try to stop him, knowing my fate was sealed either way. I sighed.
I mean, I could've stopped time to grab him, but it was no point. No one could force me to wear that crown, not even Chaos himself. I mean, Order may be able to, but she knew how much I hated to wear it. I would only let that vile ring of metal touch my hair when absolutely necessary, and both she and Chaos knew that.
"Well, that was strange," I said, turning back to look at everyone. "I apologize for waking you all up earlier this morning; that was most inconsiderate of me." I didn't even want to mention the whole 'shirtless' part of it, so I left it at that before things got awkward. Well, more awkward.
I clapped my hands together with a crisp smack. "I think now is the time for breakfast, and then we should get prepared," I advised them. I began to walk toward the dining pavilion.
Annabeth intercepted me, her hand on my shoulder. I glanced down at it, turning slightly.
The warriors gasped in unison, staring at her.
"Prepared for what?" she asked, unaffected by their disbelief.
My eyes met hers through my mask. "Training, of course," I replied smoothly. "I'm sure you've heard of a little game called Capture the Flag?" The last three words brought a maniacal grin to my face.