For those of you who were confused the past few days about my updating, I made a few changes to previous reading chapters. There are a few changes besides formatting that you might want to look over for future reference, there weren't many changes and they aren't big, just something I decided to do for a future chapter between Percy and Clarisse about their special training the futures do.
I also had somebody ask about Artemis blowing up over Gabe hitting a girl. She decided to wait and see what Gabe's punishment was later on. Both Sally and Percy hinted that he got what he deserved, so she's going to see what it is and then go from their. As much as she wants to pound his face in, she believes in letting women fight their own battles when they are perfectly capable of it, although she will step in if she wants to. That's this stories Artemis anyway.
I apologize for any confusion.
"Chapter three, Grover unexpectedly loses his pants?"
Hades asked in confusion. As the Grover's blush, everyone else starts rolling on the floor laughing. This is just what they needed after events of the past couple of hours.
(Confession time... bus terminal.)
Everyone else grumbled, but knew there was nothing they could do about it at the moment. It was done, that didn't mean they could be happy about it though.
Grover just glared at Percy, although if anybody had been paying attention, they would have noticed that there wasn't any real heat to it. Grover knew he'd been freaking Percy out. Well, he knew now. At the time...
(I know, I know. It was rude.)
Sally gave him The Look. The one all mothers have perfected to make their kid uncomfortable enough to try and defend themselves.
Hades kept reading though, so he didn't get the chance to.
(Grover was freaking me out,)
Sally conceded the point and instead started quietly lecturing Percy on why he should never do that no matter how freaked out he was.
(looking at me like... have to be sixth grade?")
Thalia, both Annabeth's, and both Luke's growled.
(Whenever he got upset, Grover's bladder acted up,)
Grover huffed.
(so I wasn't surprised... and First," I told the driver.)
"Cool! We know where... wait a minute, we already know where you live! And that isn't it!" The Stolls said together, earning weird looks from those not as used to them, and blank looks from those that were.
(A work about my mother, before you meet her.)
"Amazing!"
"Supercallifragilicousexpialidotious!" (is this how you spell it? Eh, close enough)
Everybody turned to stare at Nico.
"What? It fits." He defended. Everyone shook their heads at him, Hades wondered how much time that the kid spent in the Underworld and whether or not being in the Lotus for so long did something to him. Or maybe he'd just been hanging around Percy too long... He'd have Apollo check his head later, he decided.
(Her name is... died in a plane crash)
Everyone turned to glare at Zeus, who ignored them, even whistling innocently.
(when she was five... no family, and no diploma.)
Athena sat up and glanced at Sally, asking a silent question. Sally grinned and nodded, yes, she had gone back and gotten it. She even nodded towards her husband the English teacher.
(The only good break she ever got was meeting my dad.)
Poseidon looked somewhat proud... Amphitrite looked miffed. Just because she liked Sally and Percy didn't mean she liked being reminded that Poseidon had cheated on her.
(I don't have any... She has no pictures.)
All the demigods sighed. Most of their mortal parents were the same way. Those that did have pictures never showed them, more often than not, the god/goddess just leaving them hurt too much.
(See, they weren't married.)
Hera and Amphitrite both gave Poseidon a look. He shrunk back on his throne.
(She told me he... Not dead. Lost at sea.)
Hermes whistled. "Not a lie, and not the truth either. I approve." He said, flashing Sally the thumbs up and a goofy grin.
(She worked odd jobs... But I knew I wasn't an easy kid.)
The futures looked at each other, then at Percy, then they all screamed, "YA THINK?!"
Those not expecting it (all those not from the future and not from CHB) jumped a few feet in the air, Clarisse even reached for her spear.
(Finally, she married... as a world-class jerk.)
Quite a few of the demigods hissed at him, but made no move towards him, they figured that they might as well save their strength for the bad parts. That and they were too lazy at the moment.
(When I was young... wrapped in gym shorts.)
Several people gagged, Percy sure had a way of describing things. That was pretty accurate, of course, actually having him near you and smelling like that was another story...
While Gabe struggled against his ropes and yelled stuff at Percy until Poseidon gifted him with a seaweed gag, Amphitrite made the room smell like the ocean, the problem was that she had to make it pretty strong in an effort of completely covering up Gabe's smell.
They would have to think up another solution later, she knew that not everybody could handle ocean smell for too long, especially at that intensity.
(Between the two of... all over the carpet.)
Percy grumbled something that nobody could quite guess, although the look on Percy's face told people that he was having the same thoughts.
(Hardly looking up... the last six months?)
Both Percy's cracked up, "Dude, if he actually said that I think I would have a heart-attack!" Percy exclaimed.
"I know, right! Remember when we came home that first summer he was with us?" Percy asked.
"Dude! That was priceless! The look on her face!" Percy yelled, and they both dissolved into loud, long laughter.
When people looked at Sally for an answer, she just smiled and shook her head.
(Gabe had put on weight... handsome or something.)
People looked over at Gabe and gagged. That was a pretty accurate description.
(He managed the... course. Always beer.)
Eyebrows rose, Dionysus was not happy
(Whenever I was... punch my lights out.)
Sally snapped. She didn't know what happened, all she knew was that one second she's sitting next to Paul glaring at the thing she called an ex-husband, the next, she's being dragged away from the thing by Paul and Poseidon.
The thing was rolling on the ground moaning around the gag, it looked like his nose was broken...
Several of the younger demigods looked at Sally like she was from another planet or something, while the older ones looked admiring and jealous.
Admiring that Sally was so awesome, and jealous that she was Percy's. But, they supposed that Percy of all people deserved her most...
("I don't have... up everything else.)
Athena raised an eyebrow. Don't ask why, but she had just now caught on to why Sally married this guy.
"You married him to cover Percy's scent?" She asked Sally. Sally looked around from where Paul was still trying to calm her down and nodded, looking confused. Had she really just figured it out?
Everyone else was confused too, they figured it out almost as soon as Gabe showed up. Athena was losing her touch.
Of course, if any of the demigods said that, they would be dead. The rest of the council on the other hand...
"Did you just figure that out Athena? We've all known since that thing showed up here." Hermes said. He couldn't believe that the oh-so-smart Athena took so long to realize something.
Hades quickly kept reading before Hermes could be skewered.
("You took a taxi... Am I right, Eddie?")
Annabeth whistled, "The walrus can do math... I'm impressed." This was said as sarcastically as is humanly possible. Or as demigodly as possible, whatever.
Percy smirked from his spot by Mrs. O'Leary. He had long since given up on trying to get out of the ball she had curled herself into around him and his younger self. He knew she was protective and all but, sheesh. This was a whole new level.
(Eddie, the super... "The kid just got here.)
Sally grumbled that at least Eddie tried.
("Am I right?"... passed gas in harmony.)
Some girls (some guys too, don't let them tell you any different) just scrunched up their faces and turned green, a couple didn't care, and the rest passed out. It took about a half hour for them to bring Aphrodite around, everyone else woke up when Percy splashed water on them, but Aphrodite was another matter.
Hephaestus tried everything he knew that would wake his wife up, nothing worked, not even threatening to dismantle her shoe closet that held who knows how many shoes.
Then Poseidon tried dumping water on her, Percy estimated about half the ocean. Finally, Apollo tried with some doctor thing. She finally woke up when Hestia got annoyed with it all and set her hair on fire.
Hey, peaceful does not mean a perfect angel. She can be quite devious when she wants to be. Everyone else thought it was hilarious that it was finally her hair that woke her up.
("Fine," I said... "I hope you lose.")
Dionysus grinned evilly, which surprised people because they thought he was sleeping again.
("Your report card... act so snotty!")
Demigods from the future grumbled furiously, a couple even got up to go beat some respect into the walrus.
As they walked away, they felt tremors under their feet that seemed strongest where Gabe was, but when they looked back, all they could see was Gabe screaming through his gag about a earthquake.
When they looked back at Percy, he just smiled innocently back, not that anyone bought that. The Sea people were impressed. To display that much control over an earthquake...
They needed to get him under the sea for a while.
(I slammed the... cigars and stale beer.)
A few more people started to go after Gabe, but before they could he was surrounded in a small hurricane to replace the earthquake.
While those who did not know Percy's abilities stared at him, Poseidon now realized just how much his son had been holding it in earlier. Now that he finally had a way of letting his anger out, he was still holding back so as to not destroy everything.
Zeus was also starting to be his paranoid self. Not that anyone was surprised by this...
Several people took the hint to leave Gabe to Percy for a while and took their seats again. Sally was just sad that she had ever thought that man would help protect Percy, even if he didn't know what he was doing.
(I dropped my suitcase on the bed. Home sweet home.)
Everyone chuckled at his sarcasm. Oh, how they missed it.
(Gabe's smell was... snipping the yarn.)
Several eyebrows rose. Jason was the only one to voice what everyone was thinking though.
"Wow, I know that he's bad and all, but..."
Percy smirked. "Yup." And left it at that.
(But as soon as I... go home without him.)
Percy looked surprisingly dejected by this, he muttered something that only Annabeth caught. She looked ticked. She would have gone over to beat some sense into him for that except for the fact that he still had an over-protective hell-hound curled around him not letting anybody close. Not even her!
Hades kept going before she had a chance to say anything, she decided to bring it up when that part came up. Sally being taken was not his fault blast it!
(A sudden chill... horrible talons.)
Everyone's eyebrows shot up, except for Annabeth and Sally's. Those two were the only ones who knew just how bad his nightmares were.
Everyone else was just wondering how wild his imagination could really run.
(Then I heard... my fears melted.)
Percy spoke before Ares could, staring at the war god as he opened his mouth. "Proud of it, remember?"
Ares sat back sulking. It was no fun making fun of somebody if they were proud of what you were going to make fun of them for.
Sally just smiled. Remembering all those times before Gabe came into the picture of going to wake up her boy from his nightmares before he woke up his sister and then she would've had to deal with getting both of them back to sleep. She was happy that even now, a war and so many years later, she could still chase those away.
(My mother can... into the room.)
If it was possible, Sally's smile grew bigger. Others looked between her and Percy in envy. Poseidon looked proud of her too.
Gabe would have said something nobody wanted to hear, but before he could make a sound the gag tightened and the hurricane around him sped back up.
(Her eyes sparkle... not even me or Gabe.)
Now everyone looked very impressed. Now that they knew what the walrus had done, for her to never raise her voice... although now that they saw how she reacted to him, they knew part of that had been fear, but they also knew Sally. They knew the lengths she would go to protect Percy or even just to make her point clear.
They had a feeling that her never yelling at Gabe was more to self-control than anything else.
("Oh, Percy."... since Christmas!")
"Ok, can one of you adults please explain to us kids why that is always, without fail, one of the first things out of any adults mouth when they see you?" Luke asked this one.
The other demigods nodded, they also wanted to know.
The gods looked startled, but thinking back on what they had observed or even what they themselves had done in the past, they realized that the demigods were right.
Sally just smiled conspiratorially and replied that they would understand someday.
All the demigods just groaned and would have said something unflattering towards Jackson mothers had it not been for the look the Percy's were giving them, daring them to say anything about his mother, despite the fact that they themselves wanted to know the same thing.
(Her red-white-and... when I came home.)
"Wait, what?! Hey Perce..." From all the futures. Percy just looked at them and grinned, while Percy put a finger to his lips as though to indicate that they weren't telling.
Sally laughed at their antics, yup, they were her sons alright. Never willing to share their candy.
Others were still a little shocked at how... alike these two were. I mean, yeah they know that they are the same person and all, but there was also a major age difference. They should not still be this similar!
(We sat together... sour strings,)
A few of the Greek futures groaned at the mention of blue food.
The Percy's just grinned again. Percy was just happy that it seemed like that habit of theirs never went away.
The past people and the Romans were a little confused, although Hazel did remember Percy having his pop blue the night before...
At their confused looks, Annabeth decided to explain that Percy was obsessed with blue food. He never explained why, he just ate nothing but blue food if he could help it. Now everyone understood that part, but now they were wondering what was up with the obsession. They had a feeling that only the three Jackson's knew, judging by the understanding on Percy's face.
(she ran her hand... doing all right?)
People smiled at Sally. She was a good mother, they had a good relationship. Hera once again wondered why she didn't have that kind of relationship with her sons. Why she doesn't seem to understand is anybodies best guess.
(I told her she... glad to see her.)
Sally and the Percy's smiled at each other. They didn't need words, they knew.
(From the other... I gritted my teeth.)
As did everyone else in the room.
The hurricane around Gabe increased again, although this time Percy looked at Poseidon shocked. He shrugged before telling the room that he couldn't let Percy have all the fun.
This time the hurricane was so huge that Triton and Percy had to work together to form a water barrier to keep it contained, people were really glad that Gabe was gagged, otherwise his screams would be much, much louder.
(My mom is the... jerk like Gabe.)
"You know, I think I'll settle for a really nice English teacher..." Percy said thoughtfully while looking at the ceiling. Paul beamed at him before pulling Sally in for a hug.
Percy just smiled at the ceiling.
(For her sake, I... convinced myself.)
Hermes whistled, "The mark of a good actor and/or liar. To be able to put yourself in the role so well that you convince yourself."
Sally looked troubled while the Percy's just smile at each other. If it looked a little sad, nobody commented.
The Stolls were actually looking a little cheated that they hadn't known that Percy was such a good actor, in fact if they had him on their side they could get away with anything, even blame... it... on somebody... else...
Their eyes widened, they suddenly shot up and glared at Percy before shouting, "It was you!"
Percy looked over confused. "What was me?" Only Percy, who knew the guy so well since he was the guy (?), saw the signs that showed he was in full acting mode.
He smiled inwardly, another mark of a good actor was when nobody could tell you were acting.
The Stolls faltered for a moment before continuing. "All those pranks we got blamed for, the ones we didn't claim but nobody would believe us, that was you! We got blamed and punished for YOUR pranks!" Normally they speak in turns, but when they get mad like this... they tend to speak in unison the whole time. The futures were a little taken back. They had never seen the Stolls this angry before.
Then again, some of those punishments they were talking about had been kind of harsh... and if the Stolls hadn't pulled the pranks... but were still punished... and the whole time it had been Percy?!
Before Percy could say anything to get himself out of his newest mess, Clarisse spoke up. "Wait a minute, are you telling me that the guy who can't pull a successful prank to save his life actually out pranks the Stolls, and then pins it on the Stolls?! Without ever getting caught?!" The futures were starting to look like their world was ending. Truths that they knew, were no longer truths. What was next, was Artemis secretly married?!
Now everybody was staring at Percy in shock. Percy realized that he was caught, did it seriously take them four years to figure out that he was a master prankster? Of course, he was nothing alone, but when he was with Lily...
The Percy's just grinned, but there was something different to it. Now, his usual mischevious grin surpassed Hermes by far. They thought his troublemaker grin spelled trouble before, but now...
Percy stood up and bowed, "Allow me to reintroduce myself. Percy Jackson, part of the Twin Pranking Terrors of Manhattan." Here he grinned again. "If you thought those were good, you should see what I can do with my sister, honestly, pranking just isn't the same without her. Most of my pranks were actually designed and thought up with two people in mind, I just modified them a bit."
The futures just stared at him. Sally was trying to hold it in, oh yes, she remembered their pranks. Honestly though, she doubts that she even knows of half of them.
Suddenly Percy turned to Percy. "Remember that one time when we went to the station?"
Percy grinned and laughed, "Oh, man. Their faces!"
Now both Percy's were gone. Everyone just continued to watch as they lost it. Every so often one of them managed to choke out some detail of a prank that seemed absolutely meaningless out of context, but apparently was the best part.
The rest of the Seven froze as they thought of something. They were going to be on a ship for who knows how long. A small ship with only so much room to move around and release excess energy, with a cooped up Leo and Percy. Two devoted pranksters, two highly hyperactive boys who couldn't sit still to save their lives, one of whom could prank circles around the Stoll brothers and not get caught. They. Were. Doomed. (Hazel and Frank were already informed about the trip to Rome that was being planned. The four working on the Argo II already figured that if Percy was going to Alaska with them, then they were probably the 'missing' two members of the crew)
Judging by the Greeks reactions, the Romans were suddenly very glad that Percy was leaving for Alaska. Hopefully he didn't manage a prank on his way out the door...
The futures were a little floored that all those pranks that they thought had been the Stolls, weren't. They had been brilliant, and at the time the Stolls had insisted that not even they could dream up something like this, that this was way beyond them, how insulted they had looked at the thought that somebody could out-prank the pranking menaces of Camp Half-Blood... and all this time it had been Percy. The Stolls suddenly found themselves on the receiving end of some very apologetic demigods.
The guy they would have sworn up and down that he couldn't prank somebody to save his life.
When they finally calmed down, Hades decided to just keep reading at Sally's request. She really didn't want her boys to start sharing their pranking stories. Those could go on for hours and that was only the pranks she knew about. She also didn't want any of the Stolls to get anymore ideas than they already had. Nor did she want the futures to take revenge for those pranks at the moment.
She just hoped and prayed that the demigods never fell victim to Lily's pranks...
(I started choking... didn't seem so bad.)
The Stolls grumbled at the reminder of Percy's acting skills. It just wasn't fair!
(Until that trip to... scare you?" "No, Mom.")
Sally raised an eyebrow. Now that she knew the full story, she knew that wasn't true. Why was he lying and how had she not catch that? Of course, she still felt that something was up, but... to just miss an outright lie like that... for that matter, why was he lying about it?
Others in the room were wondering the same thing, while others felt like they knew the answer to that one. He didn't want to worry her, nor did he know that she would know what he was talking about.
(I felt bad lying... would sound stupid.)
Sally bit back a groan. Seriously, that's why he was outright lying about this? She understood why he had been lying about how Gabe treated them, she wished that that hadn't been needed, but he had a better reason there. This was no reason! She would have said something, but Percy caught her eye and she decided to settle for later.
The demigods who had been wondering why too now understood. They'd all been there before.
(She pursed her lips... didn't push me.)
Sally muttered something that nobody caught, but her sons felt like they knew anyway.
Percy was a little surprised, either his older self hadn't quite lied as well as normal, or she was getting better at catching him in a lie. He was going to go with her getting better.
("I have a surprise... nights- same cabin.")
All three Jackson's and Poseidon grinned at mention of that beach. They loved that place.
("When?" She smiled... wasn't enough money.)
Percy shuffled into a more comfortable position against Mrs. O'Leary before stating softly that another reason was that it just wasn't the same there without Lily.
Very few heard him, though those that did pretended they hadn't.
(Gabe appeared... you hear me?")
Poseidon appeared near Gabe within the hurricane that was still going on. Luckily for the younger kids, they couldn't see what he did.
He came out and announced that from now on, anyone who wanted to beat up Gabe need only signal and he would let them in. The hurricane would not hurt them and would provide some cover since the younger kids didn't necessarily need to see that.
(I wanted to... get out of here.)
Percy gritted his teeth. If the hurricane got a little stronger under the influence of two powerful people, nobody said anything. It was now at a level that could rival Hurricane Katrina. Luckily for the throne room, the two were demonstrating a surprising amount of control over it.
It was only worse now that he knew the full story behind why his mom had not wanted to anger him, why she had cared.
("I was on my... serious about that?")
Several people disappeared inside the hurricane. They looked much calmer when they came back out. That was when Poseidon and Percy made the executive decision of ending the hurricane. They were getting tired, it was getting harder and harder to control the hurricane.
Poseidon still told them to ask when they wanted at him, he would send them somewhere until they were done.
People were just going to have to wait. The rest of the council could easily take him somewhere else if they wanted to no problem.
("I knew it," I muttered. "He won't let us go.")
A lot of the demigods grumbled, which Percy grinned at. Honestly, he was a little surprised by their support of him against Gabe. He had been scared that they would start thinking he was weak, that they couldn't trust him to fight alongside them, now he knew that that was stupid.
("Of course he will,"... Sour cream. The works.")
Hermes whistled again. He was really liking this mortal. Now he had an idea of where Percy got his apparent mischievousness that rivaled his sons. Percy and his missing sister were master pranksters and actors, and Sally was sneaky with getting what she needed. He needed to go through their ancestry, they had to be distant legacies of himself or something, there was no other explanation.
(Gabe softened a bit... clothes budget, right?")
Aphrodite screeched. Those who hadn't been prepared for it themselves felt their ears ringing for hours.
She turned to Sally and told her in no uncertain terms that they were going shopping. Sally looked a little shocked and apprehensive, but when she looked to Percy for help, he just shrugged resigned. She then looked to Amphitrite, who just smile sympathetically.
Piper joined her in asking others for help when her mother demanded that she accompany them, she too got no help. All the other futures knew that there was no getting out of this one. Those who didn't have personal experience with Aphrodite had heard the stories from those that did.
("Yes, honey," my... but there and back.")
At mention of the car, Percy, Sally, and Grover grinned. Percy's grin scared some people. A lot of them felt that they were going to have nightmares for a while.
Gabe also started struggling against the ropes. Apparently, all his beatings hadn't gotten through his thick skull. Oh well, people were too tired right now to bother.
They did have to wonder about the car though. Only Annabeth seemed to know everything that happened, having been the one to help Chiron bring the boys into the Big House.
The rest of the futures just knew it was destroyed somehow, although they had a feeling it had something to do with Percy's Minotaur horn.
("We'll be very careful.")
They just grinned again. Careful didn't take an angry Minotaur into account. Gabe started struggling harder against the ropes.
Finally, Poseidon set off a small earthquake under him in warning. He would have gotten worse, but Poseidon didn't have the energy to deal with him at the moment.
(Gabe scratched his... my poker game.")
A few people turned towards him in disbelief. He didn't interrupt it, he funded it for crying out loud!
A couple of the older kids who didn't really care about the younger kids in the room cursed a bit before the women stopped them with a look. But seriously, lets face it. They're demigods. If none of those kids have never heard the same or worse then it would have been a miracle.
Sally in particular was looking at Percy when she scolded the older kids for their mouths.
Jaws dropped when the kid, the 8 year old, nonchalantly informed her that he'd heard worse. When Sally made to demand who from, he just looked at Gabe. Percy nodded beside him.
The next thing everybody knew, they were waiting for Sally and Gabe to be brought back.
(Maybe if I kick... soprano for a week.)
"Please tell me-" Percy started but was cut off by Percy shaking his head sadly and looking at Sally.
Percy would've gone off with the colorful words Gabe taught him, but Percy felt that something like that wouldn't be good for his hearing later, so he stopped him.
A few of the demigods had a feeling they knew what Percy had stopped and looked a little shocked. They were learning all kinds of new things today.
(But my mom's... what he thought?)
Sally and Percy all sighed and grumbled something. The select few that hadn't caught on yet (and hadn't been paying attention earlier when Athena figured it out) what that reason was were excited thinking they were finally going to figure it out.
("I'm sorry," I muttered... go back to it right now.")
Nico sighed. "You know, is it sad that I missed his sarcasm? 'Cuz it's the best."
Future demigods in the room nodded. They had all been at the receiving end of Percy's sarcasm, and yet... they missed it. It was annoying when he was obvious about it, and now they wanted it back.
Percy just grinned. Leo narrowed his eyes. Did they just imply that Percy was better with sarcasm than he was?
Dude, he INVENTED sarcasm!
(Gabe's eyes narrowed... whatever," he decided.)
Everyone burst out laughing. It took them a while to stop.
While they couldn't really say they were surprised the walrus was too stupid to detect obvious sarcasm, they still found it hilarious.
(He went back... to tell me, okay?")
Percy raised his eyebrows and looked at his mom from the future warily. Percy caught the look and silently reassured him that he was just off his game that day. Now that he knew their secrets were safe, not that they had that many left anymore at this point, he leaned back against the giant dog still curled around them to continue listening.
(For a moment, I... odd chill in the air.)
A few people tensed slightly. Chill in the air that was in no way related to the weather was not good near a demigod.
(But then her... been mistaken.)
Nobody else thought he was mistaken. They all glanced at him wondering how he made it camp alive when stuff was happening around him and he didn't even know that it was real and couldn't protect himself.
(She ruffled my...- for the whole weekend.)
Hera started grumbling about idiots who don't care for their wives. Her and Gabe disappeared for a bit.
("Not a scratch on... "Not one little scratch.")
Gabe saying that in the book for some odd reason made the futures fall out of their seats laughing, and Gabe started struggling against his ropes, trying to break free so he could presumably strangle Percy.
In answer to the looks Percy was getting from the rest of the room, he just grinned mischievously and told them they would find out in the book.
That's about when Hermes started the betting pool on how the car ended up being destroyed. He also mentally asked Athena to look up Percy's mortal ancestry. Sally had to be one of his legacies.
(Like I'd be the one driving. I was twelve.)
Percy glanced at Percy and muttered so that only he could hear. "Like that's ever stopped us before..."
Percy glanced down at him and grinned. Good times, good times.
(But that didn't... find a way to blame me.)
Percy grinned. "Technically..."
"Technicalities don't count." Percy countered. "Besides, that was Lily."
Percy paused, then shrugged. "So?"
The future demigods were thanking everybody they could think of that they had survived four years of knowing Percy, a few of them were also grateful that Lily wasn't around. Camp would've probably burned within the week. Now that they thought about it, camp was pretty quiet and prank less since Percy disappeared. Huh, and here they thought the Stolls were finally out of ideas.
(Watching him... movement toward Gabe.)
"That's not going to..." But Athena was cut off by Hades who kept reading.
(The screen door... shot from a cannon.)
Athena slowly turned her head to stare at Percy, who was engrossed in coming up with prank ideas with Percy to use while they were here.
The others suddenly didn't want to be in the same room as them.
The council struck up a quick mental conversation that involved Zeus being paranoid and ended with Poseidon warning the others what would happen if they touched a hair on his sons head.
He also instructed that they were leave his son alone and leave talking to him about his abilities to him.
The conversation ended when Hades noticed that the Percy's had finished planning and the demigods were getting antsy waiting for them to keep reading.
(Maybe it was... enough to find out.)
The Hermes crew raised their eyebrows. Maybe they didn't need to bother forcing Percy to memorize the rule book over the years... he obviously knew what he was doing...
(I got in the... too cold to swim in.)
Annabeth looked over at Percy. "Minus the spiders, sounds like a really good place."
He grinned over at her, "After we get back from our quests." He promised. She grinned, Athena twitched, Percy and Annabeth looked like they were still trying to figure this out.
Aphrodite snorted, don't let her tell you any different, "Considering your father, somehow I doubt that the cold water bothered you."
(I loved the place.)
Aphrodite looked around like, 'See?'
Everyone else just rolled their eyes, like they needed her to state the obvious here. Some were more discreet with their eye-rolling than others. Those that weren't got the 'Pink Treatment.'
In other words, they, their clothes, and their hair were now covered in pink. Several of the guys yelled and ran for the nearest bathroom (led by Ares), but no matter what they did it wouldn't come off.
Those who had avoided the Pink Treatment, (Percy, Nico, all the girls except for the Clarisse's, Poseidon, and Hades) were busting a gut laughing before they came back and it was learned that the pink wasn't coming off for a while. Percy was laughing at his younger self so hard that Mrs. O'Leary started growling softly, all his laughing was vibrating her side and it tickled. It took a while for Hades to stop laughing so he could keep reading. Persephone was smiling, it had been a while since he laughed like that.
(We'd been going... where she'd met my dad.)
All the Jackson's and Poseidon grinned. Amphitrite raised an eyebrow at him, so that's where he had been disappearing off to... well, it was quite the beautiful stretch of beach for it being so close to the city.
(As we got... brought from work.)
"Awww, man. I love that cleaning routine! Why can't cleaning always be that much fun?" Complained the Hermes crew and all the other demigods that were not Katie, Annabeth, Piper, or Roman.
Sally and the other mothers were not happy if their faces were anything to go by.
"And what's-"
"With all the-"
"Free candy all the time?" The Stolls inquired.
The Percy's just grinned.
(I guess I should explain the blue food.)
"YES PLEASE!" Shouted everybody who did not know. Which was, everybody.
(See, Gabe had... streak, like me.)
"I'm sorry, streak? Percy Jackson you do not have a rebellious STREAK. You have a rebellious HIGHWAY. Like, at least 6 lanes wide." Nico said, with Thalia nodding along beside. The other futures nodded too once they thought about it, even Chiron once he thought back to the past year of teaching him. Luke especially had been on the other end of that rebellious side, now, several duals to the death later, he fully understood and appreciated what Percy meant when he said 'the sea does not like to be contained.'
Percy just shrugged. They were getting tired of him shrugging everything off.
Sally groaned and muttered to Paul that it was a good thing Lily was the calm one of the two. Just the more devious.
"Seriously though, your obsession with blue food started because of an argument over whether or not blue food existed." Annabeth asked incredulously.
Percy grinned. "Yup."
"But you forget, it was an argument with Gabe." Percy tacked on.
"So, it only makes sense that it stuck. Rebellious highway, remember?" Percy finished.
For some reason people started looking between the two of them and the Stolls.
(When it got dark... the candy shop.)
"Oh! That reminds me," Percy turned to Sally. "How's it going, your still working on it right?"
She smiled and said that yes, writing was how she coped. Percy breathed a sigh of relief.
He didn't want his mom to just waste away or something because of him.
(Eventually, I got... of hearing them.)
Beckendorf smiled. "None of us do." It was said so softly the gods almost missed it. It made a few of them feel bad about never getting in touch, but they only had to think about what happened to Hermes to know that it was for everyone's own good.
The demigods all nodded in agreement. Even the Romans, and they were all about discipline, but at the same time the Roman versions kept their distance even more than the Greek versions did.
("He was kind... and his green eyes.")
The Percy's, Poseidon, and Triton grinned. Yup, it that was them.
(Mom fished a blue... would be so proud.")
Poseidon smiled again before nodding his head at the Percy's when they glanced over. They both looked away again hiding smiles of their own.
(I wondered how... sixth time in six years.)
Leo whistled. "Wow, you beat my record. I wasn't kicked out, I usually just stopped going, cuz, you know. Stuff." Only Piper, Jason, and his dad had any idea what he was talking about.
Percy just scratched the back of his head a little awkwardly as he looked over at his dad's unreadable expression.
Finally Poseidon said that he wanted to talk to both Percy's later that night, after they were done reading for the day and before whatever it was the futures were up to later that night.
("How old was I?"... you were born.")
"Wait, what? But..." Percy trailed off confused. Percy nodded, he knew exactly what was going through his younger self's mind.
Poseidon frowned, he had a feeling he knew what was coming, he'd seen it so many times between other children and their mortal parents. This was not going to be fun.
(I tried to square... never even seen me...)
"I did." Poseidon stated softly. "Your mother wasn't home and the sitter was in the living room not doing her job. Zeus was busy somewhere else, so..." He trailed off at the expression on Percy's face. Pure joy.
Hades decided to keep reading before Zeus could get on his high horse.
(I felt angry at... stuck with Smelly Gabe.)
"Believe me, if I had known what was really going on there..." He finished with a threatening look towards Gabe, adding a mini-quake just to prove his point.
At this point, Gabe didn't even try to rise to the bait.
Percy just smiled softly. "I know, dad. I know."
("Are you going... want me around?")
Percy closed his eyes as he listened to the sharp breath intakes around the room. Mrs. O'Leary whimpered and nudged him with her nose, she didn't like seeing him like this. He was supposed to be strong and reckless, not... this.
He sighed and found an interesting spot on the floor to stare at while silently praying that Hades just keep reading and not give people time to badger him about it. Either Hades got the message or he was feeling merciful today, because he kept reading.
(I regretted the words as soon as they were out.)
Any protests anybody had over what Percy said earlier to his mother stopped at that. A few of the demigods even felt like they knew where something like this was coming from.
Percy laid a hand on his older versions self, he kind of knew where it had come from too, even if the book Percy had four extra years of dealing with it.
(My mom's eyes... me to leave Yancy.)
At this reminder, a few people turned to glare at Mr. Brunner/Chiron for this reminder. They figured that it was good that he at least had the decency to look sheepish about it.
Mrs. O'Leary somehow managed to curl herself tighter around her humans.
("Because I'm not normal," I said.)
Nico, Thalia, and Luke snorted. "You bet your not." They all said this in unison, which kind of creeped some of the futures who fought Luke in the war out. They had actually forgotten he was there, he had been quiet just so they wouldn't get uncomfortable around him, after all, he did betray them and try to kill them... nothing to be uncomfortable about here, nope. Nothing at all.
Luke rolled his eyes and stated, "Perce, if you were normal, I- your enemies would have killed you a long time ago. Instead, you gave them the headache of all headaches trying to figure out how to take you down or get you to join m- them." Here's hoping none of the past people who didn't know about his betrayal caught his slip-ups.
The futures all raised an eyebrow at him. At least Percy gave him a headache while Luke was trying to kill him, that was something at least. They just weren't expecting Luke to sound... apologetic. It was official, they needed to talk later. Traitor to betrayed.
Those from the past who did catch his slip-ups had a bad feeling about Luke's involvement in all this. They decided not to say anything though, they didn't want to start something with no proof, besides, it seemed like whatever issues there were got dealt with when Luke first arrived.
Everyone else just felt inclined to agree that Percy was anything but normal.
("You say that as if it's a bad thing, Percy.)
Some shot pointed looks Percy's way, others decided that it wasn't worth the effort, Percy was just as pointedly ignoring them.
(But you don't realize how important you are.)
More pointed glares that he was still just as dutifully ignoring.
(I thought Yancy... "Safe from what?")
This time it was Katie. "Just about anything and everything that ever lived."
The younger people laughed. Until they realized Katie and the rest of the futures were absolutely serious.
Percy was even grumbling something about Poodles and English exams for some reason. Whatever that was about, Mrs. O'Leary seemed to find it amusing. Thalia and Nico did not. Was it everybody else's imagination, or did the three of them turn to glare at Persephone?
(She met my eyes... the middle of his head.)
People started to turn to Poseidon before Percy interrupted them by saying yes, Poseidon sent him. End of story.
(Before that- a... my meaty toddler hands.)
Leo whistled, "Just like Hercules."
Next thing Leo knew, Percy was standing over him with Riptide embedded in the couch by his throat.
"Do. Not. Compare me to Jerkules. Ever." He growled. Everybody except Annabeth, Thalia, and Grover were shocked. One, what did he have against Hercules. Two, why did it require such a reaction?
If Zeus was offended by Percy's name for his son, he didn't show it. Even he had to admit that Herc's attitude could get a little annoying. Part of the reason he shipped him off to guard the entrance to the Ancient Lands. Far away him.
Zoe and Artemis were just floored. They thought everybody wanted to be like him. Percy put Riptide away when Leo frantically nodded his head and promised never to do that again.
Then, Percy looked to Zoe and told her in no uncertain terms that he was nothing like Jerkules. Annabeth, Grover, and Thalia nodded in agreement to that. What he said next really floored Zoe, "I don't make promises I don't intend on keeping at somebody else's expense." To say that Zoe's jaw hit the floor is an understatement.
It wasn't until Percy calmly returned to his 'seat' that Hades seemed to pull his own jaw off the floor and cleared his throat before continuing the chapter, after checking that they were almost done.
(In every single... I didn't want that.)
Percy started grumbling something again, to which Sally replied that if they had left right then, it could have caught them on the road in the middle of nowhere instead of right by camp. Percy was going to argue but Sally signaled Hades to keep reading before he could.
All the futures had a feeling they knew what the next chapter would be about.
("I've tried to... stand to do it.")
Dionysus sighed. "That's how most of them get killed you know." He pointed out.
As the rest of the council turned to yell at him, Sally stopped them. "He's right. Percy and I almost died before I could get him to camp... not to mention all the other times over the years Percy was in danger."
Dionysus stared at Sally and blinked. A mortal honest about her failures? A modest demigod? What was happening to his world?
The others looked at her to protest, but she politely asked Hades to finish out the chapter.
("My father wanted...mentioned it before?)
"He has a point there, Sally. Why-" Annabeth started before being cut off by her older self stating that she didn't need to know everything, some things were private.
Sally sent a grateful look Annabeth's way, while Percy grumbled about books and privacy. Those that overheard him couldn't decide whether to by sympathetic or amused. Some went for a mix and ended up with some very interesting facial expressions.
Athena raised an eyebrow Annabeth's way. It sounded like she was speaking from experiance.
("I'm sorry, Percy,"... a summer camp...")
"You know, when you don't know what the place is like and what it's for, I can see why you'd be confused about not being able to see her again." Rachel said softly. Again, surprising everyone because they forgot she was there.
(She turned toward... she would start to cry.)
Nearly all the males in the room started grumbling about women and tears. Seriously, why were those things so powerful?!
(That night I had a vivid dream.)
"Hear we go..." grumbled all the Big Three kids in the room.
At the confused looks from those that had no experiance in being around a Big Three kid, Thalia decided to explain that the five of them were more powerful than the average demigod. So, their dreams tended to be worse than the average demigods. It didn't help that every time something happened Big Three kids tended to be thrown into the front lines and expected to deal with it first, so they tended to see more stuff that they really rather they didn't.
At the dark looks on the Big Three kids faces, those that had been slightly offended by Thalia just calling them more powerful, they decided that maybe not being that powerful wasn't such a bad thing. They didn't want to fight the battles these guys fought.
For some reason, Percy, Thalia, and Nico all glared at Persephone again. Even Mrs. O'Leary growled softly at her.
(It was storming... at the edge of the surf.)
All the gods froze. This sounded serious, they couldn't remember the two of them ever fighting THIS bad before. Sure, they fought all the time, but...
(The eagle swooped... animals to fight harder.)
The future demigods gasped. He was dreaming about it even before he reached camp!
The gods threw looks Hades way, but Percy loudly and clearly stated that it wasn't him. Zeus tried to say that there was no one else it could be until Percy gave him a look that had Zeus outright forbidding the topic, still insisting that there was nobody else it could be. At this point, Luke was ticked that his plans were so easy because the one time he needed the paranoid idiot to be a paranoid idiot, he wasn't. Luke was actually feeling a little hopeful that this might be easier than he thought.
So, Percy singsonged, "Destroyer of Kronos..." When Zeus still refused to believe it, Percy looked him dead in the eye with the most seriousness anyone had even seen on his face and told him very bluntly that that kind of attitude was going to get everyone killed and Olympus destroyed.
Luke felt all hope that had appeared at Zeus's outright denial disappear when Percy reminded the room of his titles. This was not going to be as easy as he thought.
Finally Hades decided to keep reading before the future demigods decided to mutiny. They did not look happy with Zeus right now.
(I ran toward them... woke with a start.)
All the demigods looked shaken except for the Big Three kids. They've all had worse.
When a few of the others looked at Percy in concern, he shrugged and said as much. Then he looked at Nico and Thalia and silently communicated that they needed to find a spot to train while they were here. That's how they coped, they trained instead of sleeping.
(Outside, it really... said, "Hurricane.")
Now the gods were really concerned. That wasn't just any vision, that was live. What on earth happened at the winter solstice? Surprisingly, it was Apollo who remembered the books title.
He abruptly stood up and stared at the demigods in horror. Whispering, "It was stolen?"
Percy raised an eyebrow in his direction before glancing at Athena, only to see her looking as confused as the rest of the council. He looked back at Apollo before saying yes, and there was more going on here than what appeared. He refused to say anymore.
Meanwhile, Annabeth was staring at her mom with her jaw on the ground. First, Athena is the last one on the council to realize why Sally married Gabe, and now she can't even remember back to the books title to figure out what's going on? What's more, Apollo beat her to it!
Seeing the look on Annabeth's face and the rest of the futures looks made Athena feel like she was seriously missing something here.
(I knew that was... to have forgotten.)
Everybody turned to glance at Zeus and Poseidon again, all of them except for Apollo wondering what on earth happened.
Apollo had already figured out that for some reason Zeus was blaming Poseidon but couldn't figure out why until he looked at Percy. So, he mused. It's not Poseidon getting blamed so much as it is Percy, Zeus must be thinking that Poseidon put him up to it or something though...
(Over the roar... hair stand on end.)
For some odd reason that only Annabeth, Nico, Grover, and Thalia seemed to understand, Percy suddenly yelled out, "Hamburger! It's been so long!"
Now everybody knew he was insane. Especially when he turned to Annabeth and reminded him to pay Hamburger back next time for hurting Blackjack.
Luke raised an eyebrow, he had a feeling he knew what Hamburger was.
(Then a much... he wasn't exactly Grover.)
"Really? then-"
"What, pray-"
"Tell, is he?" All four Stolls asked. Travis paired with Travis and Connor paired with Connor. The others found it a little creepy.
Percy just raised an eyebrow before he mouthed something that had the older Stolls jaws on the ground with them drooling. Percy smirked, that trick works every time on small time pranksters like them.
Everyone else in the room slowly backed away from the crazy demigod. Whatever he just told the Stolls, they didn't want to know.
("Searching all night," he gasped. "What were you thinking?")
"I was thinking that my friend was acting weird and was seriously starting to creep me out." Percy replied.
Grover just shrunk back in his seat, beet red.
(My mother looked... didn't you tell me?")
"A lot apparently." Sally grumbled.
Percy just looked sheepish and called out, "Love ya mom!"
She just sighed and smiled. Yup, that was her boy.
(I was frozen... theoi!" he yelled.)
"Language, Underhill!" Dionysus snapped. Both Grover's jumped about a foot in the air before yelping out a 'yes, sir!'
The rest of the Greeks just snickered while the Romans looked confused, they thought his name was Underwood?
("It's right behind me! Didn't you tell her?")
Percy just sheepishly scratched the back of his neck again.
(I was too shocked... where his legs should be...)
People's eyebrows rose. Ok... the futures had a feeling they knew where this was going.
(My mom looked... "Percy. Tell me now!")
Percy's eyebrows shot up. His mom just... did she just... that was new.
(I stammered something... flashes of lightning.)
Sally sighed, "Your stammered answer didn't even begin to cover what all happened."
(She grabbed her... Both of you. Go!")
At the mention of the car, Gabe started thrashing around again. Everyone stared at him, to be honest, they forgot their anger relief was there. They just got so caught up in the story. Poseidon set off another earthquake under him as a reminder to keep quiet, then Hades continued reading like nothing happened.
(Grover ran for the Camaro... when he walked.)
Now his shock made sense to so many more people. Seeing a satyr for the first time would be a bit of a shock.
(Because where... were cloven hooves.)
"Done." Hades announced before tossing the book to Triton.
Hestia glanced at the time and announced two more chapters before dinner, then a couple more before bed and whatever talks or competitions were scheduled to happen.
"Chapter four. My Mother Teaches me Bullfighting."
Ok, my reasons behind making Athena into an idiot are as follows. I feel like she would be very analytical and statistical. People like that tend to miss what's right in front of them and the most obvious. Also, I just don't really don't like her all that much, she just seems way too proud and set in her ways to ever really change 'for the better.'
I'm having Apollo be all smart and stuff because he strikes me as the exact opposite of Athena and the most underestimated aside from Hermes. He sees what's right in front of him because he seems to live more for the here and now, while Athena is always making plans for tomorrow.
So yeah, there's that explanation.
Sorry this took so long, college.