RAGING SEAS Chapter 45
A/N:- Hey guys, I'm Not Dead! Uh, sorry I know I said, 2 weeks, and am coming after 3 or 4 weeks… and actually, I didn't really have the internet connection because I was shifting houses and all… and now with my college starting next week, I will have even lesser time to write, so updates will be scarce… sorry… anyway on with the new chapter!
Apollo and Percy reappeared in front of the gates of Olympus, where the sun god said, "Percy, if you want, you can come, if you don't, well no one can force you."
"Uh… Apollo, I would rather stay out here, I can't deal with all that shininess right now…" Percy said.
Apollo nodded, "Very well, I shall meet you here once the meeting ends…" and flashed away.
From inside, Percy could hear muffled voices.
"As for my brothers, we are thankful"—Zeus cleared his throat—"erm, thankful for the aid of Hades."
"And, of course," Zeus continued, "We must . . . um . . . thank Poseidon."
"I'm sorry, brother," Poseidon said. "What was that?"
"We must thank Poseidon," Zeus growled. "Without whom . . . it would've been difficult—"
"Difficult?" Poseidon asked innocently.
"Impossible," Zeus said. "Impossible to defeat Typhon." The gods murmured agreement and pounded their weapons in approval.
"Which leaves us," Zeus said, "only the matter of thanking our young demigod heroes, who defended Olympus so well—"
Percy sighed and walked forward to the edge of the mountain, hands in his pockets.
He sat down, dangling his legs. He was sad, though sad didn't fit the feeling… he felt like a broken china doll, taped together misshapenly with the same hands of the child that had broken it. He felt disappointed in himself, that he wasn't able to save those people who he cared for, that he wasn't able enough.
Wars have casualties, it's true, but it doesn't have to be that all your friends go to Hades' realm.
He sighed again and stood up, knowing what he had to do.
Percy took a deep breath and jumped, falling into the eternal darkness.
-ONE-WEEK-LATER-
A cheery guy, with blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes, walked into a small restaurant and sat down, taking off his coat and placing it on the chair. The whole place had a dim yellow ambiance with soft music playing in the background.
A young boy, with black hair and grey eyes, welcomed him in. "Hello sir, welcome to the Café Ply, I'm John, what can I get you?"
The blonde guy said, "Hi John, I'm David, what are your best dishes?"
To that, John replied, "Our specialties are Black Forest Pastries, Hummus Cookies, and the most famous Wood Bark pudding!"
"Wood Bark pudding? That's something new, I'll take one!"
"Great," John said. "Can I get you something else?"
"A cup of coffee would be fine!" David said.
"Sure!" John said and went behind the counter to talk to someone.
David was sitting there, earphones in his ears, humming along to the tune of 'I Can't Stop Loving You,' by Elvis, when suddenly John appeared again with a covered dish and a cup.
"Your order's ready sir!" John replied.
"Wow, that was quick! Thank you!" David said removing his earphones.
"Thanks, our baker is the best! And he gets things done really quickly, which is why our restaurant has the best rating ever! Hope you enjoy it!" John said and walked away.
David picked up the spoon and started to eat with caution. As soon as he took the first bite, his eyes lit up and he devoured the whole thing at once.
Then he drank the coffee and wiped his mouth.
David rung the electronic bell kept on his table and John came out holding a bill.
"How'd you like it?" John asked.
"It was amazing! Can I meet your patissier please?" David asked.
"Sure!" John said. "I'll just bring him in!"
Sure enough, 2 minutes later, John came out with another person, with messy black hair coming down to his neck and two different colored eyes, one black and one green. He had a gloomy expression and dark circles around his eyes and was wearing a brown jacket over a Led Zeppelin sweatshirt and black pants.
"That's the guy who ordered the pudding!" John said to the older boy. "He wants to meet you!"
They both came in front of David, whose eyes widened the moment he saw the other guy.
He gasped. "Percy?"
Percy's eyes widened and then narrowed.
"Oh, I see you both know each other!" John exclaimed.
"John, go, I need to speak privately with David." Percy spat the last word out with so much hate that John stepped back.
"Ok-Okay…" John said nervously, noting the tension between the two older guys, and rushed back to the counter
Percy grabbed a chair and turned it around and sat down.
"Why are you here, Apollo?" Percy whispered, angrily.
"Percy! Look at you! You've grown bigger! We were looking for you everywhere! We didn't know you were here and we were worri—" Apollo said.
"That isn't it…" Percy asked, his eyes closed. "Why were you looking for me?"
The sun god sighed. "We need you… it's another quest—"
"Why?" Percy asked.
"Listen, I promise that it's nothing, you just need to investigate something!" Apollo pleaded. "Please…"
"Why me? Why not someone else?" Percy asked emotionlessly.
"Because… we need someone who won't spill out the secrets of camp half-blood… we need someone who will blend in with the rest… we need someone like you…" Apollo said. "And right now, we don't have anyone like you…"
"So you come and find me? Someone who is supposed to be dead?" Percy asked and got up from his seat, ready to leave.
"Wait! Please listen Percy…" Apollo said. "I'm sorry… but we really need you…"
Percy turned around. "Why don't you just tell me why?"
Apollo said sadly. "I can't… I can't until we're sure we can trust you…"
"What do you mean, trust me?" Percy asked.
"I need to trust that you won't sell us out to the enemy… and I can't be sure until you swear to work with us…"
"What do you mean 'sell you out to the enemy'?" Percy asked, taking his seat again. "I don't even know who the fucking enemy is!"
Apollo just said, "Please, just tell me whether you'll help us or not…"
Percy sighed. "Urgh… fine… I'll do it… but just because you promised it's nothing more than just investigating…"
"Yes! Great," Apollo said, a little cheerful. "Now come with me… I'll tell you the plan while on our way."
"What do you mean 'On our way'? Where are we going?" The son of Poseidon asked Apollo who was getting up and wearing his coat.
"The new destination," Apollo said. "Now come on."
Percy sighed and followed him. When they were out of the cafe, he snapped his fingers.
"Why did you do that?" The sun god asked.
"Oh nothing, just returned things back to normal," Percy said. "The thing is, I used the mist to make it seem like I worked here… so now I just undo'd it all… so that the true baker comes back…"
"The mist can do things like that?" Apollo asked, bewildered.
"You're a god… you didn't know that the mist can do something as simple as that?"
"Well, there are many mysteries even we don't know…"
"That's fine… now where are we going?"
"San Francisco…" Apollo said.
Percy stopped in his tracks and his eyes widened. "Are you… Are you sending me back to Mount Othyrs to check for the titans? Cuz if you are, then I won't do this… I have tried really hard to make myself forget everything, but they still haunt me… every single person I've killed, even the ones I murdered before Camp Half-Blood…"
"No, we've investigated the mountain thoroughly…" Apollo said. "What do you mean by 'haunt you' and 'the ones you murdered before Camp Half-Blood'?"
"They keep coming back, not allowing me to sleep… I can't look at myself in the mirror without seeing their bloody and dead faces… sometimes it's like they whisper to me, and only me… the last week has been terrible…" Percy said. "And for your second question… I was an assassin before… for my father… I would kill people, bad people of course, but they were nevertheless people…"
"Oh…" Apollo said shocked and stood there. "That's good…"
Percy sighed and walked past him, looking at the setting sun.
"It's no good thinking about the past… tell me… where are we going?" He asked, his voice lacking any emotion.
"Right, we're going to a place beyond Mount Tam," Apollo said. "It's a camp, like Camp Half-blood, for demigods… except it's not for us Greeks."
"What?" Percy asked.
Apollo laughed, though it lacked any real amusement. "I see you are still as dim-witted as ever…"
"Excuse me!?"
"It's a camp for Roman demigods, offspring of the Roman version of us Greek Gods…"
"What? You mean the Romans—"
"Are not dead? Not gone? Still alive?" Apollo asked. "The answer to all these is yes…"
"So, you're sending me to investigate the Roman camp?"
"Well, yes but no…" Apollo said. "You have a quest over there to accomplish as well…"
"What! You lied!" Percy exclaimed.
They had reached a farmland of some sorts, with yellow maize growing in the fields.
"I'm sorry but that was the only way to convince you…" The sun god said solemnly.
"But… but—"
"Please Percy," Apollo said. "That day, you just disappeared without any trace… a nymph said that she saw you jumping down the side of Olympus and we all were deeply saddened… but I was actually perplexed by how quickly the other Olympians got over your 'supposed' death. Everyone except Poseidon, Hades, Artemis, and I didn't accept it. We kept quiet about it to the campers, told them you had gone on some super-secret mission and won't be coming back for a long time…"
They turned around a corner and kept walking, Percy listening, his eyes getting wider each second.
"We immediately set out to search for you by ourselves, and have been doing so for the last 6 days. Today after failing to find you, I came into that Café, and then met you… I bet the others would be happy to hear about–"
"No, don't tell the gods I'm back, not even my fathers… tell your sister if you want, but don't do more than that…" Percy said, his hands in his pockets.
Apollo sighed. "Fine…"
"Good, how's Hector? Annabeth? Sally? Paul?"
"Hector and Annabeth got together—"
"Finally, huh?" Percy said, a small smile on his face. "I was getting tired of Hector being so oblivious…"
"Yeah, the news' spread all over Olympus like rapid fire!" Apollo said, smiling, but then that got wiped away from his face. "Your parents are worried about you… Do you want me to tell them about your being alive?"
"No, you said you told them I was on a quest, right? Let them think that I won't be coming back for another few weeks…"
Apollo sighed and said, "Very well, come hold my hand, I'll flash us there…"
Percy grabbed the god's hand, and closed his eyes, as both of them disappeared with a bright light.
When they reappeared, it was night. The entire scene had changed and they were now standing in front of a service tunnel.
"Why didn't you do this before?" Percy asked first, then asked surprised, looking around. "Where… where are we?"
"Caldecott Tunnel, Oakland Hills, San Francisco," Apollo said. "Welcome to Camp Jupiter."
A/N:- Hey guys, uh, hope you liked this chapter, I know it's short… but it's the longest I could come up with at the moment! Also, I will be updating only on the weekends from now on… cuz weekdays won't be free… so, yeah… anyways, more updates coming! Bye, have a nice day!
