A/N:
Wow! I'm overwhelmed with the response on this story! I'm so happy everyone is enjoying this so far. And I'm glad I'm doing a good job at capturing the character's reactions. If you're interested in any of my other works, go to my works on the X-Men. Excelsior!
Chapter 4 – Piper and Nico
Free period was a time many campers cherished. It was an excuse to have a break from their lessons and training, and an opportunity to wind down before the next onslaught of weapons. Luckily, Percy and Annabeth's last class they were teaching together that day was sword-fighting. At least that wasn't until later. Then they were scheduled to have Capture the Flag right before dinner, which was typical of a Friday night. Then, Percy and Annabeth would be headed back into the city to visit Sally, Paul and Estelle at least until Sunday. They figured the least they could do was give Sally and Paul a break from the baby so they could have one date night.
Percy, who remained at the bottom of the canoe lake, waited for the others. He'd decided a swim wouldn't hurt at all. And as he sat there at the bottom of the lake, he had a lot to reflect upon. He knew the others would be reading even more out of his journal. And they would only be confronted with more from his past . . . some of which he'd rather forget about completely.
Knowing Annabeth had learned about Gabe's past abuse left him a little unsettled. The last thing he'd wanted was to ever hurt her. He thought the pain would be too much for her to bear after all they'd been through together. But he counted himself lucky that Annabeth was one of the strongest women he happened to know.
Breathing, some air bubbles escaped from the water as he noticed Annabeth stepping forward towards the docks, smiling down at him and looking every bit the angel. He swam upwards towards her willingly as her hand extended forward. He intertwined his fingers with hers and noticed she had a fresh shirt for him, as he'd taken his off before getting in the water.
"Do you think my powers would be considered too big an advantage if I join Goode's swim team?" Percy asked her, grinning.
"As long as you allow yourself to get wet, and you don't use your powers in the pool, it shouldn't be a problem," Annabeth said. "Besides, you deserve your chance at it before you graduate."
Percy nodded in agreement, sliding the shirt on as Piper, Jason and the others joined them. Leo already had Percy's journal in hand.
"So, who's reading?" asked Percy, sitting beside Annabeth.
"I'll start," said Piper.
"And then I'll go afterward," said Nico. "I've yet to get my chance to go."
Percy nodded in agreement, leaning back before lying on the dock. The sun beat down on his skin as Annabeth kept their fingers laced together. Piper opened the journal to the fourth chapter.
"My Mother Teaches Me Bullfighting," she read. "We tore through the night along dark country roads. Wind slammed against the Camaro. Rain lashed the wind shield. I didn't know how my mom could see anything, but she kept her foot on the gas."
"Okay, our fathers really must've been at each other's throats that night," Jason commented, whistling low.
"I still dream about that night," Percy said, shuddering slightly. "I'd rather not repeat it ever again."
"Every time there was a flash of lightning, I looked at Grover sitting next to me in the backseat and I wondered if I'd gone insane, or if he was wearing some kind of shag-carpet pants," Piper read. But Leo started snorting with laughter.
"Shag-carpet pants!" Leo laughed.
"I hoped I was imagining things," Percy said. "Okay? I had a really, really bad day that day. First, the Fates. Then Grover panicking about how I wouldn't get past sixth grade. Then coming home to Smelly Gabe. I didn't know how it could get worse than that."
"Somehow, it always does, my bro Percy," Jason said, shaking his head as he sat up on the dock.
"I know from experience, my bro, Jason. Because each time something like that happens, you have a god or goddess to blame for ruining your day," Percy said in agreement as Jason's arm wound around him firmly. But the gesture got Nico rolling his eyes and making a gagging sound.
"You two act so fucking gay," he groaned. "And I'm the gay one here!"
"Should we kiss next?" Percy asked, smirking in Jason's direction as the blonde teen batted his eyelashes like a girl.
"Please don't!" Nico griped. "Do you know how weird that would be? We're related, last I checked!"
"You had a crush on me!" Percy shot back, rolling his eyes. "So you're one to talk, Corpse Breath."
"Like that mattered to Beckendorf and Silena. They dated even though their parents are married on Olympus, yet they didn't hesitate to go at it like cats," said Annabeth, rolling her grey eyes. "And last I checked, Poseidon is my mother's uncle. So that means my mom is Percy's second cousin."
"The more I think about it the more gross that sounds," Nico complained.
"Because the Western Civilization has turned into nothing but prudes," commented Hazel. "If we were born a few billion years ago, this would've been normal. It would've been celebrated by people."
"So they'd celebrate if a son of Zeus and a son of Poseidon started fucking each other?" Nico asked.
"Well, I don't know if we'd go that far. We're close, but not that close," Jason said.
"I wouldn't want to be that close," Percy agreed.
"Good," Annabeth said, snuggling into Percy's side. "Because last I checked, you're mine, Seaweed brain. And I would hate to lose you to Jason."
"You would never," Percy assured her, pressing a deeply passionate kiss against Annabeth's lips. He even managed to slip her a little tongue, which got Nico gagging again.
"You two make me sick," he complained. "Oh, miei dei!"
"Your dad's personality has rubbed off on you, Di Angelo," said Percy, pulling away from Annabeth.
"Okay, can we continue reading now?" Frank asked.
"Agreed. We'll discuss Nico's sudden narrow-minded points of view on relationships later," Leo said, which earned him an elbow to the ribs from the son of Hades before Piper continued to read. But a smile played on her lips, still clearly amused by the sibling-like banter.
"But, no, the smell was one I remembered from kindergarten field trips to the petting zoo – lanolin, like from wool. The smell of a wet barnyard animal," she read.
"One of the worst smells in the world," said Leo, sighing. "After having spent so much time with Frank, I thought I would get used to the smell. But no. It's still bad."
Frank turned and glared at the Repair Boy. "I can turn into a sheep, take a dive into that lake, and force you to breathe in the scent for this next hour or so. Would you like that?"
Leo shook his head, suddenly panicked. "Keep reading, Beauty Queen!" he pleaded.
Piper nodded, sighing. "All I could think to say was, 'So, you and my mom . . . know each other?'"
"Of course you would ask that," Annabeth said, rolling her eyes.
"What else would you have liked me to say?" Percy asked.
"Grover's eyes fitted to the read view mirror, thought there were no cars behind us. 'Not exactly,' he said. 'I mean, we've never met in person. But she knew I was watching you.' 'Watching me?'"
"Okay, that just makes him sound like a stalker," commented Frank, sighing.
"'Keeping tabs on you. Making sure you were okay. But I wasn't faking being your friend,' he added hastily. 'I am your friend.' 'Urn . . . what are you exactly?' 'That doesn't matter right now.' 'It doesn't matter? From the waist down, my best friend is a donkey –'"
"Really, bro? Donkey?" asked Jason, his grip around Percy's shoulders tightening.
"Something tells me Grover didn't like that," commented Hazel.
"Grover let out a sharp, throaty 'Blaa-ha-ha!' I'd heard him make that sound before, but I'd always assumed it was a nervous laugh. Now I realized it was more of an irritated bleat. 'Goat!' he creid. 'What?' 'I'm a goat from the wait down.' 'You just said it didn't matter.' 'Blaa-ha-ha! There are satyrs who would trample you under-hoof for such an insult!' 'Whoa. Wait. Satyrs. You mean like . . . Mr. Brunner's myths?' 'Were those old ladies at the fruit stand a myth, Percy? Was Mrs. Dodds a myth?' 'So you admit there was a Mrs. Dodds!'"
"But that's not the point!" Annabeth said.
"'Of course.' 'Then why –' 'The less you knew, the fewer monsters you'd attract,' Grover said, like that should be perfectly obvious. 'We put Mist over the humans' eyes. We hoped you'd think the Kindly One was a hallucination. But it was no good. You started to realize who you are.' 'Who I – wait a minute, what do you mean?' The weird bellowing noise rose up again somewhere behind us, closer than before. Whatever was chasing us was still on our trail. 'Percy,' my mom said. 'There's too much to explain and not enough time. We have to get you to safety.' 'Safety from what? Who's after me?' 'Oh, nobody much,' Grover said, obviously still miffed about the donkey comment. 'Just the Lord of the Dead and a few of his blood-thirstiest minions,'" Piper read, her whole body tensing as Jason went to grab her hand into his. Even Percy seemed to tense considerably. He closed his eyes, as if remembering exactly what happened that night.
"Why did you assume it was my dad?" Nico asked.
"It usually is," said Jason, rolling his eyes.
"It could've been your dad, too," Nico pointed out.
"Maybe it was," Percy said, his eyes remaining closed before Piper continued reading.
"'Grover!' 'Sorry, Mrs. Jackson. Could you drive faster, please?' I tried to wrap my mind around what was happening, but I couldn't do it. I knew this wasn't a dream. I had no imagination. I could never dream up something this weird."
"He's right," agreed Annabeth. "He has no imagination whatsoever."
Percy turned and glared at her, shaking his head. But Annabeth playfully kissed his nose in a teasing manner, nodding at Piper to continue.
"My mom made a hard left. We swerved onto a narrower road, racing past darkened farmhouses and wooded hills and PICK YOUR OWN STRAWBERRIES signs on white picket fences."
"At least you're close," murmured Jason. But he felt Percy tense even more under his arm.
"'Where are we going?' I asked. 'The summer camp I told you about.' My mother's voice was tight; she was trying for my sake to not be scared. 'The place your father wanted to send you.' 'The place you didn't want me to go.' 'Please, dear,' my mother begged. 'This is hard enough. Try to understand. You're in danger.' 'Because some old ladies cut yarn.'"
"The way you say it, it sounds ridiculous," said Frank.
"But it's so horrible, you can't make a joke about it," Annabeth muttered, moving to snuggle further into Percy's arms.
"'Those weren't old ladies,' Grover said. 'Those were the Fates. Do you know what it means – the fact the appeared in front of you? They only do that when you're about to . . . when someone's about to die.' 'Whoa. You said, 'you.'' 'No, I didn't. I said 'someone.'' 'You meant 'you.' As in me.' 'I meant you, like 'someone.' Not you, you.'"
"Okay, I don't get it," Leo said.
"He doesn't mean Percy. He means somebody else. You is just a hypothetical," said Annabeth before Piper kept going.
"'Boys!' my mom said. She pulled the wheel hard to the right, and I got a glimpse of a figure she'd swerved to avoid – a dark fluttering shape now lost behind us in the storm. 'What was that?' I asked. 'We're almost there,' my mother said, ignoring my question. 'Another mile. Please. Please. Please.' I didn't know where there was, but I found myself leaning forward in the car, anticipating, wanting us to arrive," Piper read. But her hands trembled so badly she could hardly hold the book still. Already, she was sensing something really about was about to happen. And Percy could tell that she didn't want to keep going. As tough as Piper was, even she had her breaking point.
"Piper, you want me to read?" Nico asked, offering to take the book from her.
Piper nodded, and the minute the book left her hands, she allowed Jason to pull her into his side. She rested her head on his lap as she laid down, her legs spreading across Leo's lap. Her eyes went from green to a shade of grey – which only happened when she got really, really scared of something. And Percy was tensing considerably as Annabeth went even tighter into his side, moving so she was practically in his lap like she'd been the other day. She just rubbed her hand along his spine gently.
Nico, looking over at them, sighed before glancing at the page. "Outside, nothing but rain and darkness – the kind of empty countryside you get way out on the tip of Long Island. I thought about Mrs. Dodds and the moment she'd changed into the thing with pointed teeth and leathery wings. My limbs went numb from delayed shock. She really hadn't been human. She'd meant to kill me," Nico read. "Then I thought about Mr. Brunner . . . and the sword he had thrown me. Before I could ask Grover about that, the hair rose on the back of my neck. There was a blinding flash, a jaw-rattling boom! And our car exploded."
"Oh, shit," whispered Frank.
"That's not good," Hazel said, moving to snuggle in her boyfriend's warmth as Frank began whispering soothing noises to her in Canadian French.
"I remember feeling weightless, like I was being crushed, fried, and hosed down all at the same time. I peeled my forehead off the back of the driver's seat and said, 'Ow.' 'Percy!' my mom shouted. 'I'm okay . . .' I tried to shake off the daze. I wasn't dead."
"But you did have a pretty bad concussion," recalled Annabeth, moving so she could kiss his forehead, as if she remembered where Percy had hit his head in the accident. "I was so worried you wouldn't wake up."
"So, you were worried at the time," Percy said, looking at her.
"Only because I thought you were the one to bring me on the quest. And I was right," Annabeth said.
"But you also cared," Percy argued. "You wouldn't have nursed me back to health if you didn't."
"Maybe a little." Annabeth's face went red as she admitted that.
"The car hadn't really exploded," read Nico. "We'd swerved into a ditch. Our driver's-side doors were wedged in the mud. The roof had cracked open like an eggshell and rain was pouring in. Lightning."
"Okay, my dad really must've been out to kill you," commented Jason as he watched Percy grow even more stiff.
"That was the only explanation," read Nico. "We'd been blasted right off the road. Next to me in the backseat was a big motionless lump. 'Grover!' He was slumped over, blood trickling from the side of his mouth. I shook his furry hip, thinking, No! Even if you are half barnyard animal, you're my best friend and I don't want you to die!"
"Okay, that was just the weirded thing you'd ever written," Leo commented, sighing.
"Then he groaned, "Food," and I knew there was hope," Nico said, smiling with relief. "'Percy," my mother said, 'we have to . . .' Her voice faltered. I looked back. In a flash of lightning, through the mud-spattered rear windshield, I saw a figure lumbering toward us on the shoulder of the road. The sight of it made my skin crawl. It was a dark silhouette of a huge guy, like a football player. He seemed to be holding a blanket over his head. His top half was bulky and fuzzy. His upraised hands made it look like he had horns."
"More like, actual horns," whispered Annabeth, feeling Percy tensing up even more. Looking at his face, she saw a wet trail making its way down. This had been another memory Tartarus had plagued him with.
"I swallowed hard. 'Who is –' 'Percy,' my mother said, deadly serious. 'Get out of the car.' My mother threw herself against the driver's-side door. It was jammed shut in the mud. I tried mine. Stuck too. I looked up desperately at the hole in the roof. It might've been an exit, but the edges were sizzling and smoking. 'Climb out the passenger's side!' my mother told me. 'Percy – you have to run. Do you see that big tree?'"
"Thalia," murmured Annabeth, running her fingers along Percy's spine. She got one hand underneath his shirt and traced her fingers along it to soothe him.
"Wait, my sister was a tree?" asked Jason.
"Very long story, Jay," mumbled Percy, clearly trying to keep it together as Jason's grip around him tightened a little.
"'What?' Another flash of lightning, and through the smoking hole in the roof I saw the tree she meant: a huge, White House Christmas tree-sized pine at the crest of the nearest hill. 'That's the property line,' my mom said. 'Get over that hill and you'll see a big farmhouse down in the valley. Run and don't look back. Yell for help. Don't stop until you reach the door.' 'Mom, you're coming too.'"
Annabeth could feel Percy's tense body shivering slightly. She knew that this memory was a sore spot for him. Although it was over, it still scared the shit out of him. It having been one of the first times he'd fought a monster, it left its mark on him. And they all knew how protective Percy was over his mom. It would be his worst nightmare if his mother fell victim to that once more. And it had been a close-call during the Second Titan War in Manhattan when Sally and Paul had been put under that sleeping spell.
"Her face was pale, her eyes sad as when she looked at the ocean," read Nico as the others looked at Percy sympathetically. "'No!' I shouted. 'You are coming with me. Help me carry Grover.' 'Food!' Grover moaned, a little louder. The man with the blanket on his head kept coming toward us, making his grunting, snorting noises. As he got closer, I realized he couldn't be holding a blanket over his head, because his hands – huge meaty hands – were swinging at his sides. There was no blanket. Meaning the bulky, fuzzy mass that was too big to be his head . . . was his head. And the points that looked like horns . . . 'He doesn't want us,' my mother told me. 'He wants you. Besides, I can't cross the property line.' 'But . . .' 'We don't have time, Percy. Go. Please.' I got mad, then – mad at my mother, at Grover the goat –"
"Sounds like a twisted Disney program for children," commented Frank.
"You would fit right in as the guy that can morph into animals," Leo joked, only for Frank to jump to his feet, preparing to chase Leo around the lake.
"Frank, please," said Annabeth. "Nico, continue before Frank loses his shit."
Nico nodded, and Frank sat back down beside Hazel. But he still clearly wasn't over Leo's comment.
"–at the thing with horns that was lumbering toward us slowly and deliberately like, like a bull. I climbed across Grover and pushed the door open into the rain. 'We're going together. Come on, Mom.' 'I told you –' 'Mom! I am not leaving you. Help me with Grover.' I didn't wait for her answer. I scrambled outside, dragging Grover from the car. He was surprisingly light, but I couldn't have carried him very far if my mom hadn't come to my aid. Together, we draped Grover's arms over our shoulders and started stumbling uphill through we waist-high grass. Glancing back, I got my first clear look at the monster. He was seven feet tall, easy, his arms and legs like something from the cover of Muscle Man magazine – bulging biceps and triceps and a bunch of other 'ceps, all stuffed with baseballs under vein-webbed skin. He wore no clothes except underwear I mean, bright white Fruit of the Looms –"
Leo and Jason both managed weak laughter at the description. But Percy wasn't laughing. Clearly this memory still traumatized him. And Jason immediately stifled it out of sensitivity. Because he got the sense that what his best friend had gone through that night hadn't been fun. Just hearing the description let him know something terrible was about to happen.
"–which would've looked funny, except that the top half of his body was so scary. Coarse brown hair started at about his belly button and got thicker as it reached his shoulders. His neck was a mass of muscle and fur leading up to his enormous head, which had a snout as long as my arm, snotty nostrils with a gleaming brass ring, cruel black eyes, and horns – enormous black-and-white horns with points you just couldn't get from an electric sharpener."
"Oh, shit," muttered Hazel, shaking her head. "Not good at all."
Percy seemed to tense even more, and Annabeth just rubbed her hand along his spine. "Are you okay?" she mumbled to him.
Percy nodded. But he wasn't fooling anyone there. A few more wet trails made their way down his face. Jason practically had his head resting on his shoulder at this point, and Piper gently took his free hand in hers, giving his fingers a squeeze.
"Shhh," she murmured, her voice laced with charmspeak, Luckily, that seemed to help. But Percy was still tense under Jason's hold.
"I recognized the monster, all right," Nico read. "He had been in one of the first stories Mr. Brunner told us. But he couldn't be real. I blinked the rain out of my eyes. 'That's –' 'Pasiphae's son,' my mother said. 'I wish I'd known how badly they want to kill you.' 'But he's the Min –' 'Don't say his name,' she warned. 'Names have power.' The pine tree was still too far – a hundred yards uphill at least. I glanced behind me again. The bull-man hunched over our car, looking in the windows – or not looking, exactly. More like snuggling, nuzzling. I wasn't sure why he bothered, since we were only about fifty feet away. 'Food?' Grover moaned. 'Shhh,' I told him. 'Mom, what's he doing? Doesn't he see us?' 'His sight and hearing are terrible,' she said. 'He goes by smell. But he'll figure out where we are soon enough.' As if on cue, the bull-man bellowed in rage. He picked up Gabe's Camaro by the torn roof, the chassis creaking and groaning. He raised the car over his head and threw it down the road. It slammed into the wet asphalt and skidded in a shower of sparks for about half a mile before coming to a stop. The gas tank exploded. Not one scratch, I remembered Gabe saying. Oops."
"At that point, I was just worried about going home to him beating the living shit out of me," Percy whispered shakily. "I could take dying. But being beaten by him would've been worse."
"You thought death would've been more bearable?" Jason asked, surprised.
Percy nodded. A single tear made its way from his eye, and Annabeth responded by tousling his hair in her fingers lovingly.
"I just knew he'd blame me for what happened," Percy said. "And in a way it had been my fault."
"It probably would've happened either way," Annabeth argued gently.
"I know," he said. "But in that moment I wished I hadn't been born."
"Don't say that," Piper murmured soothingly.
"'Percy,' my mom said. 'When he sees us, he'll charge. Wait until the last second, then jump out of the way – directly sideways. He can't change directions very well once he's charging. Do you understand?' 'How do you know all this?' 'I've been worried about an attack for a long time. I should have expected this. I was selfish, keeping you near me.' 'Keeping me near you? But –' Another bellow of rage, and the bull-man started tromping uphill. He'd smelled us."
"Merde!" cursed Hazel.
"Oh Gods," whispered Frank tightly. And Percy tensed even more.
"The pine tree was only a few more yards, but the hill was getting steeper and slicker, and Grover wasn't getting any lighter. The bull-man closed in. Another few seconds and he'd be on top of us. My mother must've been exhausted, but she shouldered Grover. 'Go, Percy! Separate! Remember what I said.' I didn't want to split up, but I had the feeling she was right – it was our only change. I sprinted to the left, turned, and saw the creature bearing down on me. His black eyes glowed with hate. He reeked like rotten meat," read Nico.
Percy looked queasy at the description. In fact, his face went green, as if the description of the smell alone was enough to make him nauseated. He started to breathe heavily. He probably would've vomited if Piper, Jason and Annabeth weren't practically on top of him, trying to calm him.
Annabeth just stroked his scalp, murmuring, "Eínai entáxei, eínai entáxei" – "it's okay, it's okay" in Ancient Greek.
"The fear in my stomach made me want to bolt, but that wouldn't work. I could never outrun this thing. So I held my ground, and at the last moment, I jumped to the side. The bull-man stormed past like a freight train, then bellowed with frustration and turned, but not toward me this time, toward my mother, who was setting Grover down in the grass," Nico read, his voice tensing.
"Oh, Gods," whispered Leo, shaking his head, while Hazel and Frank gasped. Piper squeezed harder on Percy's hand.
"We'd reached the crest of the hill. Down the other side I oculd see a valley, just as my mother had said, and the lights of a farmhouse glowing yellow through the rain. But that was half a mile away. We'd never make it."
"Way to be a pessimist," mumbled Frank.
"The bull-man grunted, pawing the ground. He kept eying my mother, who was now retreating slowly downhill, back toward the road, trying to lead the monster away from Grover. 'Run, Percy!' she told me. 'I can't go any farther. Run!' But I just stood there, frozen in fear, as the monster charged her. She tried to sidestep, as she'd told me to do, but the monster had learned his lesson. His hand shot out and grabbed her by the neck as she tried to get away. He lifted her as she struggled, kicking and pummeling the air."
"No, no, no," whispered Piper, knowing what this meant as she shook her head. A single tear of sympathy made its way down her cheek.
"Damnare!" cursed Jason in Latin.
"'Mom!' She caught my eyes, managed to choke out one last word: 'Go!' Then, with an angry roar, the monster closed his fists around my mother's neck, and she dissolved before my eyes, melting into light, a shimmering golden form, as if she were a holographic projecting. A blind flash, and she was simply . . . gone," Nico read, his voice trembling. At that, a sob finally made its way past Percy's throat as he trembled fiercely. Annabeth responded by tightening her arms around him. But even she couldn't stop the tears from making their way down. She recalled that night. And in hindsight, it had been downright horrible to witness. Hearing the description was almost as bad.
"'No!' Anger replaced my fear. Newfound strength burned in my limbs – the same rush of energy I'd gotten when Mrs. Dodds grew talons. The bull-man bore down on Grover, who lay helpless in the grass. The monster hunched over, snuffling my best friend, as if he were about to lift Grover up and make him dissolve too. I couldn't allow that," Nico said.
And Jason felt a rush of pride go through him as he admired Percy's bravery. He didn't know if he'd be able to do that.
"You had guts, man," he said to his friend softly.
"Well that night I felt like a fucking loser," Percy countered shakily, sniffling slightly.
"Shhh," Annabeth hushed.
"I stripped off my red rain jacket," Nico read.
"Oh, dammit," whispered Annabeth as she kissed Percy softly. "There you go, doing something stupid again."
"What other ideas would you have had?" Percy asked her, his voice still trembling as more tears made their way down.
"Not that," countered Annabeth, kissing him again.
"'Hey!' I screamed, waving the jacket, running to one side of the monster. 'Hey, stupid! Ground beef!'"
"Really, you couldn't have come up with a better taunt?" Frank asked.
"That's what came to mind," Percy mumbled.
"'RAAAARRRRR!' The monster turned toward me, shaking his meaty fists. I had an idea – a stupid idea, but better than no idea at all."
"Here you go again," Annabeth said with a roll of her eyes, kissing him again.
"I put my back to the big pine tree and wave my red jacket in front of the bull-man, thinking I'd jump out of the way at the last moment. But it didn't happen like that. The bull-man charged too fast, his arms out to grab me whichever way I tried to dodge. Time slowed down. My legs tensed. I couldn't jump sideways, so I leaped straight up, kicking off from the creature's head, using it as a springboard, turning in midair, and landing on his neck. How did I do that?"
"That was the ADHD keeping you alive," Piper whispered, watching as more tears made their way down Percy's face. "Maybe being impulsive isn't such a bad thing after all."
"I didn't have time to figure it out," Nico kept reading. "A millisecond later, the monster's head slammed into the tree and the impact nearly knocked my teeth out. The bull-man staggered around, trying to shake me. I locked my arms around his horns to keep from being thrown. Thunder and lightning were still going strong. The rain was in my eyes. The smell of rotten meat burned my nostrils."
"I still smell it," Percy mumbled, his face going green once more, as if the smell were right there. Annabeth just rubbed his back soothingly, hoping to prevent him from getting sick.
"The monster shook himself around and bucked like a rodeo bull," read Nico. "He should have just backed up into the tree and smashed me flat, but I was starting to realize that this thing had only one gear: forward. Meanwhile, Grover started groaning in the grass. I wanted to yell at him to shut up, but the way I was getting tossed around, if I opened my mouth I'd bite my own tongue off. 'Food!' Grover moaned. The bull-man wheeled toward him, pawed the ground again, and got ready to charge. I thought about how he had squeezed the life out of my mother, made her disappear in a flash of light, and rage filled me like high-octane fuel. I got both hands around one horn and I pulled backward with all my might. The monster tensed, gave a surprised grunt, then – snap! The bull-man screamed and flung me through the hair. I landed flat on my back in the grass. My head smacked against a rock. When I sat up, my vision was blurry, but I had a horn in my hands, a ragged bone weapon the size of a knife. The monster charged. Without thinking, I rolled to one side and came up kneeling. As the monster barreled past, I drove the broken born straight into his side, right up under his furry rib cage. The bull-man roared in agony. He flailed, clawing at his chest, then began to disintegrate 0 not like my mother, in a flash of golden light, but like crumbling sand, blown away in chunks by the wind,t he same way Mrs. Dodds had burst apart. The monster was gone."
"Holy Hades!" Frank commented, turning to glance at Percy, a gleam in his eye.
"Percy, that was some mean Minotaur slaying!" said Jason, impressed.
"Glad you're impressed," Percy said shakily. "That night scared the shit out of me. I would never want to repeat it ever again."
"I'm sure none of us would. But still – you killed a Minotaur!" said Leo. "You really are a superhero!"
Percy managed a weak smile. Leo somehow managed to think the best of him.
"The rain had stopped. The storm still rumbled, but only in the distance," Nico read. "I smelled like livestock and my knees were shaking. My head felt like it was splitting open. I was weak and scared and trembling with grief. I'd just seen my mother vanish. I wanted to lie down and cry, but there was Grover, needing my help, so I managed to haul him up and staggered down into the valley, toward the lights of the farmhouse. I was crying, calling for my mother, but I held onto Grover – I wasn't going to let him go."
Just hearing that caused the tears to streak Percy's face one more. Annabeth just kept him in her firm hold. Jason tightened his arm around his shoulders, to a point where Percy's face was on his chest.
"The last thing I remember is collapsing on a wooden porch, looking up at a ceiling fan circling above me, moths flying around a yellow light, and the stern faces of a familiar-looking bearded man and a pretty girl, her blond hair curled like a princess's," Nico read, and he smiled knowingly at Annabeth who's face went scarlet. Leo and Frank both snickered. Piper cooed gently. And Percy managed a weak smile.
"You were the best thing I saw that night," he told her, his shoulders relaxed. And Annabeth responded by kissing him softly on the forehead.
"I love you," she murmured to him.
"They both looked down at me, and the girl said, 'He's the one. He must be.'"
"And you turned out to be," beamed Annabeth.
"'Silence, Annabeth,' the man said. 'He's still conscious. Bring him inside.'"
With that, Nico closed the book just as they heard the conch horn, signaling it was time for lunch. After that, they had another free period before more lessons started.
"Well, let's get to the dining pavilion. And we can continue after," Frank suggested.
Percy nodded, and Jason, Annabeth and Piper disentangled themselves from him. Annabeth grabbed his hand and helped him up, running her hand along his face.
"At least we're past that," she murmured, kissing him gently.
"Yeah." Percy nodded, shivering slightly. "I'm glad that's over."
"I didn't know if affected you that badly," Annabeth whispered.
"I hid that well," reasoned Percy. "Come on. Let's eat."
Annabeth nodded in agreement, squeezing his hand as they went off to lunch.