Sorry for the late update! I got hyper focused on other things and ended up making a PJO/HoN crossover roleplaying discord server-in any case I apologize for keeping y'all in the dark for so long. We are almost to the end of the plot of Marked! I am so excited. I also looked up the time line of HoN and it looks like that Jason, Leo, and Piper will be doing their Camp Half-Blood quests during the events of Chosen/Untamed as it happens in December. So. . .expect some refences to things going on! Happy Reading!
"That was the most prodigious circle-casting I have ever experienced!" Damien explained as we all worked to gather the candles and smudge stick after Zoey closed her circle.
"I thought 'prodigious' meant 'big,'" Shaunee said, and Damien shook his head, his smile not going away.
"It's also used to show exciting wonder and can refer to something stupendous and monumental," Damien quickly answered, and the Twins just shrugged.
"For once, I am not going to argue with you," Shaunee commented, which was a surprise to us all.
"Yeah," Erin said, having so much wonder in her voice. "That circle was prodigious."
"Did y'all feel your elements when Zoey called them?" Stevie asked, and Mrs. O'leary nudged me, and I looked down at her, chuckling. "I could feel the earth around me—like I was a part of a growing wheat field!"
"I know exactly what you mean," Shaunee said, and I felt someone nudge my arm and saw that Erin was smiling at me. "It was like fire exploded through my body."
"The air encapsulated me," Damien said as he fixed his bag.
"I felt like I was liquid," Erin said, which caused me to tilt my head. "Like I was one with water like I was the ocean or rivers."
I let them discuss it. I saw Zoey lost in thought. I couldn't blame her; I had my worries. I walked up to Zoey and addressed her.
"Z-bird?" I asked her, and she looked at me surprised. "Whatcha thinking about?"
Zoey asked, her voice barely audible as the others discussed her gift. "Why did Nyx give me this powerful gift? It can't be just to take Aphrodite down and better the Dark Daughters and Sons. Not to mention Anastasia already had everything ready for you."
I nodded and ran my hand through my hair, thinking about it. More was going on than just Nyx wanting someone to set one specific House of Night's Dark Daughters group back on track. Yet I couldn't place what was going on. I haven't had any dreams since I've arrived here. Sure, a voice speaks to me, but that didn't tell anything other than something was going on.
"Well, from my experiences, it will become more clear as we live our lives," I said and saw the disappointment on Zoey's face. "Yeah, I know I hate it too."
"Percy? Zoey?" I heard Damien ask, and we both looked over and saw that our friends were all looking at us. "Are you guys okay?"
"Yeah, just a lot going on," Zoey answered, and I saw she was struggling to tell them.
"Something more is going on here," I said, and they all looked at me. I then looked at Zoey, who looked at me thankfully. "Zoey's gift is such a responsibility that it can't just be to take Aphrodite down—and Anastasia knew I would be coming to her for lavender and sage."
"Well, she's a vamp," Shaunee said pointedly, but her face told me she was just trying to stay calm.
"It makes sense she would know–" Erin said, and I shook my head.
"No, her vamp intuition is not what let her know I would ask for them," I said calmly, proceeding to explain how Demigod dreams work and why for the longest time, any sleep I got was anything but restful. Our nightmares are prophetic and need to be taken most of the time seriously. Everyone was quiet for a while after I explained it. I knew it was a lot to take in, but Stevie Rae being Stevie Rae, spoke up in a cheerful voice.
"Well, then it's a good thing we became your friend." She said; the rest of my friends nodded, and I felt safe. I felt heard. "So we know you'll tell us if you dream about anything regarding the bigger picture."
"One hundred and ten percent," Damien said linking his arm around mine with a smile. "You wouldn't keep anything from us that's important."
"We've known you for like two days now," Erin said, a cocky smile on her face as she looked at me. "We know we can count on you to tell us that stuff."
"Not to mention," Shaunee said, budding in a similar but more warm then cocky expression her face to Erin. "With you on our side, we will figure out just why Nyx has blessed our Zoey. Other than changing the Dark Daughters for good." Zoey and I both looked at Shaunee, and she just smirked before she continued to explain. "I mean, that has to be part of it. Aphrodite was gifted an affinity for Vision. That's why she's the leader, so the Goddess gifts Zoey with a powerful affinity—knowing Zoey would understand that she isn't to use the gifts for her selfish desire."
"Right," Damien said simply, and everyone chuckled a bit, and I looked to see Zoey getting lost in thought.
She held Nala petting her biting her lower lip. I understood what she was feeling. I remember just how overwhelmed I felt leading up to the Battle of Manhattan, how every move I made didn't seem like the right one. I looked at the others who now wore worried expressions. I cleared my throat, and Zoey looked up and went to speak, and I shook my head.
"Hey, Z-bird, you need to think alone, don't you?" I asked, and she took a deep breath nodding. I nodded and smiled at her. "Alright, well, then I'm going to lead these guys to the common room. If anything—"
"If anything happens, I call you guys," Zoey said with a smile cutting me off. "I have Nala, and you saw how ferocious she can be."
I said, "Right," and gave Zoey a knowing look. I then looked at my friends and started walking away. I didn't know how I knew, but I knew they would follow me. We walked in silence for a while. I felt a nagging feeling that kept going down my back. I knew that Zoey needed to be alone, but I still was worried about the bigger picture. I wanted nothing more but to call Chiron and ask his advice on this situation—though something was telling me just to let it all play out. I had a similar feeling when I followed the hunters to find Annabeth. My brain was telling me one thing—call Chiron, but my mind was telling me another—let it play out. I found better luck when I followed my heart versus my mind.
So walking with my friends to the common room to just chill out was the option I took. As I started walking, I remembered the Spanish homework I had. And the Ritual Zoey and I agreed to go to tomorrow.
"Shit," I said out loud. I may have agreed to do it, but I didn't want to be around Wasp, War-like, and Terrible so soon.
"You okay, Percy?" Erin asked, and I felt her hand touch my arm. I looked over and saw the rest of my friends looking at me. Damien had a look on his face, and I knew he had a different train of thought from the rest of them.
"Yeah, I just remembered that Sahaim Ritual with the Dark Daughters tomorrow," I said, pausing for a bit. Damien's look and my freak out with Annabeth came to mind. "I'm also dealing with a lot of feelings that I've discovered within myself—so honestly, there is just a lot of feelings."
"Well, you have a group of four people right here that can listen while we hang out waiting for Zoey," Stevie Rae said, and I chuckled a bit, smiling.
"One of those people understands the feelings you're going through," Damien spoke up, and I smiled at him.
"Yeah, I uh," I said, a lump starting to form in my throat. "Yeah, I think that would be great."
Erin and Stevie Rae linked arms with me, and they led us all to the common room. Once we got there, we gathered some snacks and picked the couch and TV that we claimed as our own I started to relax more. Shaunee turned on the TV, and I noticed how the TV guide said it was 6 am. I leaned back into the sofa while Erin and Stevie Rae flocked both my sides. I smiled, feeling at home. I hadn't felt that way in a long time.
I watched as Damien sat in one of the armchairs, and he gave me an encouraging look. I felt Stevie Rae place her hand on my shoulder, and I looked over to see her head tilted with a concerned look on her face. "What's on your mind?"
"Yeah," Erin said, smiling looking at me. "What's eating at you?"
I took a deep breath, chuckling sitting back; I oddly felt comfortable sitting on the couch, flanked by two of my new friends. One who represented water, and the other who represented earth. I just started speaking—no ranting. I talked about the battle, specifically getting the curse of Achilles and how Annabeth was my connection to the mortal plane. How Annabeth somehow knew where my heel was and how she took a dagger to protect me. I talked about how since I was 13, I had feelings for her—how I was angry at finding a flyer for Lady Artemis's hunt in her bag. I didn't know why I was mad at the time; and how I now see that it was because I had fallen for her. I talked about how the only reason she is my ex is that I don't want her to be tied to me when I reject the change. I don't want her to be linked to me when she is destined for great things, how she deserves to have a partner that will grow old with her.
I talked about how not being with Annabeth has made me more aware of my attraction to men. It is making me hyperaware of things I did or felt in my past that I pushed aside because I was more focused on Annabeth. How I'm not ashamed, but it is just making me wonder how well do I know myself. Why didn't I realize these things sooner?
I ended up feeling a lump in my throat as I stopped talking. Not because I felt terrible but because I could express what I had been thinking about. I thought about Zoey and whatever plan Nyx had for her. I then chuckled a bit, shaking my head.
"However, nothing worries me more than Zoey being wrapped up in godly B.S," I said flatly, laughing, not knowing what else to do. "Nyx doesn't intervene; why does she need Zoey to be her hero? Things will happen, and I know I am the only one here with experience with it, but I don't know how I ever succeeded. I don't know if I will be able to help Zoey."
"You loved and still love Annabeth," Damien said, his voice gentle, and I looked at him. His expression wasn't pitying. It was one of understanding. "If you didn't get marked, I bet you two would have become one of the only successful High School Sweethearts."
"Yeah," Stevie Rae said, nudging me giving me a cheerful smile. "Plus, it's never too late to figure out yourself."
"I didn't figure out I was gay till a couple of weeks before I was Marked," Damien admitted shrugging his head. "My parents found out I was gay the same day I came home with the mark on my forehead. They accepted me becoming a vampyre better than they did that I was gay."
"And if your parents have a hard time with it," Stevie Rae started to say, her voice gentle. "My mama will gladly take you in."
"My mom and step-dad support me," I said, smiling, thinking about the phone call I had in professor Nolan's office. "They just want me to introduce them to whoever I fall in love with."
"Your 'rentals sound amazing," Shaunee said, and my smile got bigger thinking about my mom and Paul.
"Yeah, I mean, there is a reason I changed my last name to Blofis."