Percy was standing in a cavern. He could hear whispers all around him, but he didn't understand what was being said. Percy just knew that he felt terrified. He didn't know where he was, all he knew was that he really didn't want to be here. He needed to get out of here, but he couldn't move at all. His fear kept him frozen.
For a few long moments Percy was stuck there with nothing but the chill in the air and the whispers in the dark for company. Eventually he realized that one of the voices stood out from the others. It started getting louder and louder until Percy couldn't block it out. It echoed through his head and sent shivers down his spine.
"You forget your place, boy," The voice said, and it didn't sound happy. Percy was worried that the voice was addressing him, but then he heard another voice and Percy realized that he wasn't the unlucky soul the voice was talking to.
"I-I apologize, my Lord." A familiar voice said. Percy felt like he should be able to place it, but he really couldn't. "I was just-"
"Silence!" The lord's voice echoed through the chamber. Percy would have cringed if he could. He thought he heard the other voice, the boy, whimper, though he wasn't sure. "Your little adventure has made you careless Do you truly believe that you can ignore the gods and hope they'll forget about you? Do you need a reminder of what the gods have done to you?"
"N-no." The boy's voice shook. My lord, please, don't-" His plea trailed off into a pained whine. Percy felt a slight change in the air, and he didn't like it. He couldn't shake the feeling that the boy was hurt. A few minutes passed very slowly, but finally Percy heard the boy let out a gasp that sounded a little like a sob.
"No more," The boy said quietly. "Please, my lord, don't show me more. I'll do better. I won't let you down."
"See that you don't," The lord warned. "I won't accept failure."
"I won't fail," The boy insisted. His voice trembled slightly, but he sounded confident. "We're close to the bolt, and once we have it-"
Percy jolted awake when he heard a loud roll of thunder that seemed to shake the car. Percy sat up and looked around rapidly. The terrified feeling he'd felt in the cavern in his dream was still there. He knew it wasn't real, and he wasn't there anymore, but he still felt incredibly unsafe. The thunder and rain outside didn't make him feel any better. How could he feel safe when he knew that the god that was responsible for this massive storm hated him?
Percy looked outside and frowned at how dark it was. The only thing that broke through the night was the lights of the rest stop that the car was parked in front of. Percy glanced towards the front seat of the car and relaxed slightly when he saw Luke curled up on the passenger's seat. He must have kept true to his word and pulled over to get some rest.
Percy was relieved that Luke was getting some sleep, but it clearly wasn't restful. Luke was muttering and shifting in his sleep. He was having a nightmare. Percy knew that Luke needed all the sleep he could get, but he'd never seen somebody so clearly distressed when they were having a nightmare. Percy couldn't just leave him upset and vulnerable like this.
Percy leaned forward in his seat and nudged his friend's shoulder. "Luke...Luke! come on, man, you gotta wake up." Luke stayed sound asleep. Percy had to take a different approach. He grabbed a water bottle, opened it, and poured it over Luke's head. The older boy gasped and sat up. Luke instinctively lashed out and hit Percy's forehead. Percy winced and drew back, holding his hands to his head. That hurt a lot more than he would have expected.
"Wha-Percy?" Luke looked at him in confusion and slight concern. "Are you okay?"
"Don't worry about me," Percy muttered. He rubbed his head. "Are you okay? You seemed upset."
"I'm fine," Luke leaned back and rubbed his eyes. "Just a nightmare."
"You've had way too many nightmares." Percy said. "I don't think these are just dreams anymore." Luke's small flinch made Percy wonder if they had ever been just dreams in the first place. "Seriously, Luke, this can't be healthy. Can you just tell me what's going on?" He may not be able to help, but Percy didn't think that Luke talking to him would hurt anything."
"Luke watched Percy for a long moment before he sighed. "It was just a nightmare about being back home with my mom."
"Was it about her bad days?" Percy asked quietly.
"For part of it," Luke said. "Mostly I dreamed about her during her good days, except they didn't seem so good now." Luke shuddered slightly and wrapped his arms around himself. "When I was a kid I just noticed how much she couldn't take care of me, but what I saw in my dream...she can't even take care of herself. Her mind is gone." Luke let out a shuddered breath and clutched tightly at his arms. "And it's all their fault."
Percy had come to recognize this tone of Luke's. "The gods?"
"My mom was just trying to help them." Luke's voice trembled. He sounded both older and younger than Percy was used to hearing from him. "She was trying to do something to serve the gods, and she got caught in the cross-fire of this stupid rivalry between the gods have issues with each other, and she's the one who gets punished for it. We get punished for it, and it's not fair!"
Percy bit his inner lip and did the only thing he could do to help. He climbed into the passenger seat, practically sitting on top of Luke, and leaned against him in a kind of embrace. Luke immediately relaxed slightly and let go of himself so he could put an arm around Percy instead.
The seat was too small for both of them to sit in it comfortably, but neither of them cared. Percy was used to getting hugs from his mom in cramped spaces, and he knew that Luke had given his fair share of comforting cuddles to some of the younger campers when they got really lonely.
"It sucks," Percy said. "The gods suck." His first exposure to the gods was being accused of being a thief. His mom had to sacrifice so much just because of who his dad was. Luke and his mom had been put in an impossible situation. Then there were all of those kids back at camp who were either completely ignored by their godly parents. Or, even worse, the kids whose parents couldn't even be bothered to acknowledge them as their kid.
"The world deserves better than to be ruled by gods who couldn't care less about it." Luke said. His tone was trying to be angry, but he just sounded tired. "But it's hard to stand up to your parents, let alone your parents who are running the whole stinking universe." Luke turned his head and stared out the window, a distant look in his eyes. "I'm doing the best I know how right now, but sometimes...sometimes I feel like I'm doing everything wrong."
"Well...you're doing it for good reasons, right?" Percy asked. "My mom tells me that what's most important is meaning well." It had made Percy feel a lot better whenever he was kicked out of another school. Percy's mom could see that he was trying as hard as he could, and that he meant well, so no matter how much trouble he got in at school, his mom was always on his side, and Percy appreciated it more than anything.
Luke scoffed. "You know what they say about the road to hell being paved with good intentions."
"Well, that's a good thing, right?" Percy gave Luke a weak smile. "We're on our way to the underworld, aren't we? We're on the right path."
Luke laughed and tightened his grip on Percy. "Alright, smart guy. I guess that means I'm sticking to what feels right." Percy nodded. It sounded like a good plan.
"I'll help you with it." Percy said. He didn't understand why Luke stiffened slightly.
"I don't think you'd be saying that if you knew just what I was doing." Luke said, and he sounded incredibly sad. Percy nuzzled closer to Luke.
"You're my friend," Percy said. "And I stick by my friends no matter what."
Luke sighed and pulled away from Percy, who was wondering what he had done wrong. "Can you give me your jacket? I gotta get some fresh air."
"Uh, yeah, sure." Percy said. He didn't want to let go of Luke, but if he needed space Percy wasn't about to force affection onto him. Percy backed up and struggled to take his jacket off in the cramped space. He handed it to Luke, who bundled it up, opened the door, and stepped out into the storm.
Percy shivered and looked out the window to watch Luke. The older boy slipped under a pavilion near the rest stop to get some protection from the rain. From the pavilion lights Percy could see Luke take a few things out of his pocket. Luke was too far for Perc to be able to see just what it was, but he saw the flicker of a small flame and he saw some very familiar looking arm movements.
Percy suddenly realized just what Luke had shoplifted from the convenience store in New York, and now he understood why Luke had felt the need to steal it. After all, in New York nineteen year olds weren't old enough to buy packs of cigarettes.
Percy felt anger and concern warring in his head, and he really didn't know which one was stronger. Either way, Percy was upset and needed to make Luke stop. Ignoring the rain, Percy stepped outside and ran to the pavilion.
"Luke!" Percy shouted. Luke looked at him in confusion, and Percy took advantage of that confusion to pull the cigarette away from his grip. Percy threw it into the rain before Luke could fully process that he was there. "What the heck, man?"
"What's the big deal?" Luke asked.
"I thought you said you were getting fresh air?" Percy asked angrily. "This is the opposite of that."
"Kid, I needed to relax." Luke said tensely. "I've had a long day and a rough night. I deserve a break."
"I get that, but not like this," Percy said just as tensely. "This is my quest, and I've not going to sit in a car all day with a smoker."
Luke's expression darkened dangerously. "I get enough of the health lectures from Chiron about this, I don't need it from you too."
"This isn't about your health." Percy said. Yes, he was concerned about it, but Percy ate unhealthy food all the time. He wasn't in any place to tell Luke to make better life decisions. "I just...I don't like the smell of it. It reminds me of my stupid stepdad." Percy hadn't often seen Smelly Gabe smoke, but the smell lingered around the man and the apartment constantly. It made Percy gag every time.
Luke groaned but he pocketed the pack. He kept the lighter that he'd also stolen out, but he just flicked it open and closed. "I don't do this all that often. Just when things get really bad and I need a way to clear my head. I don't want to become addicted or dependent or something like that. But if you really don't want me doing it, I'll cut back around you. I can't promise I won't do it again on this trip, but I'll do it away from you and keep the smell down to a minimum.
Percy didn't like it, but he thought that the compromise was fair. He nodded. But if Luke smoked to cope with stress and Percy was keeping that from him, he needed to help him find a different way to cope with stress. Luke was clearly dealing with a lot, and he needed help.
"Do you want to spar?" Percy asked. He knew that Luke loved to sword fight, and Percy could always do with more practice. He was surprised when Luke sighed, shook his head, and lit the lighter.
"I don't really feel like using Backbiter right now." Luke said.
"You could borrow one of my swords," Percy suggested. That was another advantage to having two weapons. If Percy's ally needed a weapon, he had one to spare. Luke shook his head.
"I don't want to use a weapon used by any of the gods, so I'll pass on using Riptide," Luke said. "And you need to get used to Chaos Bringer." Alright, so sparring was out. Percy didn't think that Luke was in the mood for telling stories about the gods or old heroes.
Percy thought of the things that he did when he needed to relax. After a particularly hard or stressful day at school Percy would frequently break into the gym when he could manage it and just throw around a basketball or run a few laps. Percy had never joined a school sports team, because his grades were never good enough, but messing around and burning his energy and anger out was incredibly therapeutic. Maybe Luke would find it beneficial too.
Percy saw some large trees nearby. They looked perfect for climbing. Percy knew that it was probably really dumb to climb a tree in this kind of storm, but he wasn't known for being the smartest guy. He did what felt right at any given moment, and what felt right tonight was to climb a tree and act like a little kid.
Percy grabbed Luke's hand and pulled him towards the largest tree. "When was the last time you climbed a tree just for the fun of it?"
"I think I was, like, six or something," Luke laughed and let Percy pull him along. "You're nuts, kid."
"Nuts and proud of it," Percy let go of Luke's hand to grab onto the tree bench. It was a little slippery, but he adjusted his grip on the branch and was able to pull himself up. Luke grinned and grabbed a higher up but thicker branch. He climbed up with the ease of somebody who had mastered the rock climbing wall at Camp Half-Blood.
Percy grabbed onto a shorter branch in front of him and swung towards a slightly lower branch. His foot slipped slightly when he tried to land on it, but his grip with his hands was solid and he was able to find his footing.
"Watch your step there, Perce," Luke said. The older boy jumped slightly to grab onto a branch above him. Percy wanted to explore the whole tree, but Luke seemed more interested in seeing how far and high he could get.
Percy climbed and swung around for several minutes until he nearly slipped right off a branch. He then decided to just sit down close to the trunk and catch his breath for a minute. By this point he was completely soaked, and Luke was as well, but he didn't seem to care. Luke was having too much fun climbing on branches that he should probably avoid.
A roll of thunder that Percy could feel in his bones made him feel sick and nervous Zeus was clearly not happy, and Percy wondered if maybe it would be best to not test his patience. "Luke, the storm's getting kinda bad. Do you think we should go back in the car?"
Luke glanced towards Percy and scowled slightly when he saw the nervousness in his eyes. Percy was worried that Luke was disappointed in how sheepish he was about a little rain, but then Luke smirked and moved his attention to the sky.
"Hey big bad master of the skies, why don't you take your all-powerful lightning and shove it up your-" Luke's shout was covered by another loud roll of thunder, but Percy had a good idea of what Luke was saying. Maybe it was crazy to talk that way to such powerful gods, but Percy couldn't help but calm down slightly and grin at Luke's boldness.
"And you call me nuts." Percy said. Luke laughed and started to climb down.
"Come on," Luke said. "If I'm awake we might as well get back on the road."
"How long until we get to Los Angeles?" Percy asked.
"At this pace, probably two more long days of driving." Luke said. "We're about two hours away from Chicago right now. If we drive all day I should be able to get us to Denver by tonight." It seemed like such a long time, but Percy had seen enough maps of America to know that Colorado was really far from New York. It was strange to think that twenty four hours ago he had been back in New York, and he had travelled so far in what really was such a short period of time.
"Let's get this over with," Percy stretched and started to climb down the tree. His stomach rumbled halfway down and he realized how hungry he was. "First though, breakfast."
"We've got cold pizza and chocolate chip cookies from yesterday." Luke said.
"Sounds like my kind of feast," Percy grinned. Day-old food had never sounded so good. "Let's eat and get going." Percy was tired of being in the car, but it wasn't actually as bad as he thought it would be. Between sleeping and listening to Luke's stories, time really flew. They should be in Los Angeles by tomorrow, and then they just had to find the master bolt, which was still an impossible task, but at least Percy knew that he had his friends to help him.
This quest sucked and Percy had never wanted to go on it in the first place, but for something that he really had to do, Percy didn't mind it as much as he thought he would. It was fun, and it was a little easier to deal with this crazy situation when he knew that he wasn't the only one that the gods were screwing over.
Percy didn't know what Luke had in mind about getting out of the control and influence of the gods, but he hoped he learned it soon. Whatever Luke's plan was, Percy wanted to be a part of it. Luke had done a lot more to show that he cared about the half-blood children of the gods than the gods themselves did. Percy was sure that Luke would do what he thought was best for all demigods, and Percy trusted him completely.