Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson

Chapter 7: The One Where Christina Almost Catches a Thief


Two months later…

"Are you really going to be gone all year?" Christina asked Grover, as she hugged him goodbye on the top of Half-Blood Hill.

The satyr nodded. "Unless I can get him to camp sooner, or something bad happens, I'll be gone until the spring."

"It's just that you've never been gone this long before." Christina said, sighing. "Not even when you left to bring Annabeth, Thalia, and Luke to camp."

Grover grinned at her, but his smile was forced and pained. "I'll try to Iris Message you when I can, as long as I'm careful not to get caught."

With that, he picked up his backpack and trotted down the hill, towards where Chiron and Argus were waiting next to one of the camp vans. Will and Annabeth, who stood on the hill next to her, put their hands on Christina's shoulders.

"He'll be back." Will promised, as the three of them walked back towards camp. "It's Grover, he'll be fine, and he has Chiron with him."

Christina sighed. "I know, but I can't help but be worried. He's my best friend. I love you guys too, don't get me wrong," She hurriedly corrected. "But I've been friends with Grover longer than anyone else. He saved my life as a baby, and I don't know if I can ever repay him for that. And if something happens to him, I don't know what I would do."

"Grover's a strong satyr." Annabeth reassured her. "I would know. He'll be okay."

Christina sent one last glance back towards Half-Blood Hill. "I hope so." She murmured.


Three months later…

"Grover!" Christina grinned, throwing her arms around her best friend, as he stepped through the border. "How have you been?"

Grover smiled back, returning the hug. "It was interesting, to say the least. But I'm glad I'm back here for a couple of weeks."

"And we get to go to Olympus." Will said, grinning. "I wonder what it's like."

Annabeth's eyes flashed with excitement. "I heard the architecture there is absolutely breathtaking! I can't wait to see it."

"Let's go catch up, before Annabeth begins to go on and on about architecture." Christina joked. "Come on, we can go hang out in my cabin before it's time to leave for the trip." She told her friends, as the four of them walked towards cabin three.

Luke leaned up against Thalia's Tree, watching the four of them disappear down the hill. In his heart he knew he was betraying them, betraying those he considered little siblings. But he knew he had to do it, if not for them, then for every half-blood who had been killed or had their life destroyed by the gods, for Thalia.

"I'm doing this for you, Thals." He thought, looking up at the tree. "It's their fault that you're dead, and I'm going to make them pay for it."


Three hours later…

"Is everyone here who is planning on coming on the winter solstice trip?" Chiron asked, as Christina, Grover, Will, and Annabeth walked up the hill.

Looking around, Christina spotted Katie and Miranda from cabin four, Clarisse, Sherman, and Mark from cabin five, no one from cabin six, except for Annabeth, Kayla, Austin, Lee, Michael, and of course, Will, from cabin seven, Beckendorf from cabin nine, Silena and Mitchell from cabin ten, Luke, the Stolls, and Chris from cabin eleven, and Castor and Pollux from cabin twelve, along with a few satyrs.

Kayla and Austin were bouncing up and down, the two seven year old's beyond excited to go to Olympus, while Lee and Michael shook their heads at their younger siblings. Will slipped away from their group to go help his older brothers, while Christina walked over to where the Stolls, Chris, Silena, and Beckendorf were all standing together, Annabeth went to talk to Luke, and Grover went with the few satyrs coming on the trip.

"We're all here Chiron!" Travis shouted, shooting the centaur a thumbs up.

Chiron shook his head. "I hope that is the truth, and not a way to trick me into leaving someone behind Mr. Stoll. But very well, you can all get into the vans."

The assembled demigods all shot down the hill, chattering excitedly to each other. For most of them, this was one of the first times they had been outside of camp since arriving, and for some like Christina, Castor, and Pollux, it was basically the only time they had been outside of camp, ever. Luke, the only one who had been on a quest before, shook his head at their excitement, before following his brothers into one of the vans.


After a short, one hour car ride, in which Christina had to deal with the Stolls shooting paper airplanes and spit balls at Katie and Miranda, and Kayla and Austin, who were sitting on the other side of Will and her, shooting rapid fire questions at their brother, they finally arrived at the Empire State Building.

"Woah!" Annabeth breathed, looking up at the building as they all stepped out of the vans. "It looks incredible."

Chiron, who was in his wheelchair, cleared his throat. "I want everyone to stay together now that we're here. Does everyone understand?"

He was met with a chorus of agreement from the assembled demigods and wheeled himself around, leading them into the lobby. Christina hung back with the group, as they watched him wheel up the desk, exchange a couple of words with the security guard, before being handed a key card, and turned back to them.

"Come along." He told them. "The elevator is this way."

As the group approached a rather normal looking elevator in the wall, Christina glanced at the sheer size of the group, and then at the small size of the elevator. "Is it even going to fit all of us?" She asked Will.

"Probably." The son of Apollo said, shrugging. "It is an elevator built by the gods. I wouldn't be surprised if it were expandable."

Sure enough, as the elevator doors dinged open and the group filled in, the elevator seemed to expand more and more internally, until everyone was inside. Chiron, who had rolled his wheelchair near the buttons, inserted the key card he had gotten from the security guard, which disappeared, and pressed the glowing, six-hundred button, before the elevator lurched up and traveled sky high. As the elevator traveled farther, Muzak started playing.

"Apollo chooses the music." Chiron explained, at their confused looks.

Just then, a ding sounded, and the doors slid open, revealing a narrow, stone walkway floating in the middle of the air over Manhattan. At the end of the walkway was a set of marble stairs that disappeared into the clouds. Above the clouds was a mountain peak, with dozens of Ancient Greek palaces lining the side. Roads wound up the mountain peak until they reached the largest palace. An open air market, an amphitheater, a hippodrome, and a coliseum were scattered along the mountain.

"One at a time, children." Chiron instructed them, as they began to cross the walkway. "We don't want anyone to fall to their deaths."

One by one the demigods crossed the bridge, and Christina breathed a sigh of relief when she reached the stairs. Logically, she knew the walkway wouldn't break, but it was still nice to be on something a little more solid looking. The group ascended the stairs and came out above the clouds, in the middle of Olympus.

Wood nymphs giggled at them, a few winking at Grover, who blushed. As they walked through the market, hawkers from the stalls attempted to sell their wares, but were silenced by a look from Chiron. Christina spotted the Stolls steal at least one apple, but put it back after a glare from Luke. The muses were tuning their instruments in a park, and Austin looked like he wanted to join them, but was pulled back by Lee and Will.

The group finally reached the grand doors to Olympus' throne room, which opened by itself when they all came to a stop in front. Christina stood gaping at the sight in front of her, and next to her, Annabeth's jaw had dropped. The throne room was so large that Christina suspected it would make any monumental building in the mortal world look like a broom closet. Thirteen large thrones were arranged in a reversed U shape, and each of the gods and goddesses, even Dionysus, who had come back the day before, sat in their respective thrones. Next to the roaring hearth sat a girl around twelve years old, who Christina had recognized from camp but knew was actually the goddess Hestia.

"Campers, welcome!" Zeus thundered, from his spot in the center. Next to him, Hera sighed, looking like she'd rather be anywhere else. "Apollo has gratefully offered to give you a tour of Olympus, so listen to him. Chiron, may I have a word with you?" The king of the sky asked the centaur, who nodded.

Apollo flashed off his throne, appearing next to them in human size. "Welcome to Olympus, demigods. The great Apollo is going to give you a tour now. Hey, Lee, Michael, Austin, Kayla, and Will, how have you been?"

Next to Christina, Will put his head in his hands, evidently not too pleased with his godly father.

"Why does he have to be like this?" Will asked miserably, as Apollo led them through the palace, pointing out things of importance, but mostly statues of himself, as the rest of the half-bloods watched him unimpressed, although Austin and Kayla seemed extremely excited.

Annabeth patted his shoulder sympathetically. "At least your dad acknowledged you. My mom didn't even look at me."

"I don't know which is worse." Christina mumbled to herself.

From behind them, Luke narrowed his eyes. "Maybe, just maybe." He thought to himself. "They'll join me willingly. That would make it better, then I won't have to hurt any of them. But first, I have to steal the Master Bolt."


Two hours later…

After a two hour long tour of Olympus, which gradually devolved into Apollo talking about how amazing he was, at which point even Austin and Kayla looked unimpressed, the group arrived back in the throne room.

Demeter smiled sympathetically at them. "These children look absolutely famished. They should get some cereal in them, that'll make them feel better."

"Cereal isn't the answer to everything in life." Aphrodite groaned, but waved her hand anyway, summoning twelve tables just like at camp, with food on them. "I think we should all sit with our children, yes? This will be the one time we can talk to them without Zeus' rule."

The king of the sky looked perturbed at that, but nodded, seemingly approving. Christina sent one last glance at Will, who looked extremely unhappy to deal with his dad again, after suffering through a two hour tour, before going to sit at her own table.

At the Hermes table, the god seemed to be trying to engage in a conversation with the Stolls, Luke, and Chris, who had gotten lumped in at the table, but only the Stolls seemed into it. Luke kept trying to look anywhere but his dad, and Chris was staring off into the distance, seemingly trying to figure out who his dad was.

When she reached her own table, Christina was shocked to see her dad staring at her in curiosity. For the first time, she understood what Chiron meant when she said she looked just like her father. He had black hair, a black beard, a deep tan, and sea-green eyes. He wore Birkenstocks, khaki Bermuda shorts, a Hawaiian shirt, and a cap with fishing lures.

"Hi." Christina said softly, sliding into her seat and pulling one of the plates of food towards her.

Poseidon smiled. "It's so good to finally meet you."

"Yeah, well it's about time. I'm eleven, now." She told him.

Poseidon's face fell. "You know I couldn't."

"Yeah, but that doesn't make it hurt any less." She told him bitterly. "You couldn't have done anything? Found a loophole, or sent a sign, or something? I could have died when I was a baby if Grover hadn't found me."

Poseidon frowned, turning away. "Your mother was a difficult woman, but she only wanted what was best for you. When I told her that your life would be dangerous, being my daughter, I never imagined she would do what she did. I only wanted to warn her, so she was prepared when it was time for her to take you to Camp Half-Blood. I never thought she would abandon you."

"Well, let's get this lunch over with." Christina grumbled. "I came to Olympus because I wanted to see it with my friends. You can't be friends with Annabeth for so long, without gaining some sort of appreciation for architecture. Not because I wanted to work things out with my father."

Poseidon turned to her. "You're friends with Athena's daughter?"

"Yeah." She commented, stabbing her food with her fork. "Which I'm sure you knew because you pay so much attention to my life. Are you mad? Annabeth and I could care less about our parents' rivalry. Are you going to tell me to not be friends with her? Because it won't work."

Poseidon shook his head. "I don't care about that. I'm just surprised. But, I have a feeling that Athena might care."

The two of them turned towards the Athena table. Annabeth was trying to engage her mother in a conversation about something, most likely architecture. But Athena wasn't paying attention. Instead, she was staring at the Poseidon table with a look on her face that said, "stay away from my daughter, or else."

Christina groaned. "I don't care if she's a goddess or whatever, no one can tell me who I can be friends with or not."

"And no one should." Poseidon told her.

When Christina looked up, she saw her father staring at her with a look of almost pride and amusement on his face. She broke out in a small smile, and it began to dawn on her that maybe, just maybe, she could have a relationship with her father.


When the meal was finally over, Aphrodite decided to lead them to another part of the palace, where they would be sleeping. "Girls are on the right side, boys on the left." She told them. "Stay in your respective rooms, or don't, I don't really care."

"I do." Chiron mumbled, but no one paid attention to him.

Aphrodite spun on her heel, her skirts swirling around her legs. "Have a good rest. Silena, Mitchell, good night my dears." She strutted out of the room, disappearing around the corner.

"Why does my mother have to be so embarrassing?" Silena groaned, as the rest of the demigods smiled sympathetically at her.

Chiron, who had gotten out of his wheelchair when they had arrived on Olympus, turned to them. "You heard Lady Aphrodite. I want everyone to start getting ready for bed. Cabin counselors, you are in charge."

Chiron trotted out of the room, leaving the demigods alone for the night.


Four hours later…

Christina groaned, rolling over in her sleeping bag. Despite how exhausted she had felt earlier, she could not go to sleep. Maybe it was the excitement from being on Olympus, maybe it was something else, but the fact still stood that it was two hours after everyone had gone to bed, and she was still awake.

Realizing that there was no way she would be able to sleep any longer, she rolled out of bed, hoping a walk around Olympus would make her feel better. Creeping around demigods, to avoid stepping on someone and waking them up, she finally made it out of the room. She had gotten not even five feet down the hallway, when a body crashed into her, sending them both flying.

She blinked, rubbing the dreariness out of her eyes, hoping that she had just crashed into a nymph, but what she saw instead surprised her.

"Luke?" She questioned. "What are you doing up?"

The Hermes cabin counselor blinked at her. "I couldn't sleep so I took a walk, what about you?"

"Same." She said, nodding.

Luke inclined his head towards the room she had just left. "I'm going to go back to sleep now. You have a good walk."

"You too." She whispered back, watching him disappear into the room.

But as she set off down the hallway, she couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right, and he was hiding something.


The next day…

As Christina watched the Empire State Building disappear behind them, squished in between Annabeth and Will again, she got the same feeling she had felt when she had run into Luke the night before. That something was off, and whatever it was, it was big and connected to their trip to Olympus.


If I hadn't made it clear before, I am not doing Luke's crush on Annabeth. That was weird, and all kinds of gross. Annabeth still will have her childhood crush on Luke for a little bit, but it will entirely be one sided. And Luke doesn't have a crush on Thalia either, she was just his best friend, and first true friend who understood what it was like to be a demigod.

Since I am on the topic of romantic relationships in this chapter's notes, I would like to clarify that Will and Christina's relationship is and will always be, 100% platonic. There are no crushes with either of them, they are simply best friends.

I want to recommend that everyone should listen to the Hadestown soundtrack. It's an absolute bop, and what I always decide to listen to when writing this.

Please review. I love reviews.