Chapter five, I Play Pinochle with a Horse
When Sally paused, most of the Greeks started glancing between Mr. D and Chiron.
Leo, Piper, and the Romans looked confused when they asked what pinochle was. Now the past Greeks were confused on why Leo and Piper didn't know what it was, the Romans they could understand. But weren't Leo and Piper Greek? How could they have gone any amount of time at camp without being taught how to play pinochle? It was practically a requirement that they learn it after all.
Percy noticed their confusion and simply told them it was a long story, but Mr. D wasn't actually at camp at the moment, reminding those who had been paying attention to what Annabeth said earlier about him being recalled. He decided to ignore the looks from the council demanding that he explain and simply asked his mother to keep reading.
(I had weird dreams... The rest wanted food.)
"You know... that's actually probably the most normal dream I've had since arriving at camp..." Percy said thoughtfully.
The rest of the kids looked at him weird, if he considered that normal... just how crazy did his dreams get? Grover just turned red. He was part of the reason behind that dream afterall... and the other stranger ones Percy had over the years.
(I must've woken... passed out again.)
Zoe snorted. That sounded about right to her for a boy. A few of the demigods snickered, and the Stolls were about to say something but decided it would be best for their health if they didn't. The look Percy was giving them...
A few of the gods even shivered and had to resist the urge to hide at the look Percy was giving the Stolls.
(I remember lying... with the spoon.)
While Percy promptly disappeared behind Mrs. O'Leary's paw, face beet red, Annabeth had nowhere to hide. She settled for leaning over with her face between her knees while the rest of the room cat-called or chuckled at the couple. A few comments on how cute they were was heard from the females.
Piper would forever deny thinking such things. Thank goodness she resisted the urge to say it out loud. She did not need to turn into her mother blast it!
It didn't help anyone that Aphrodite was practically hyperventilating with how cute the scene was.
(When she saw... summer solstice?")
At this, several gods, Athena included, leaned forward expectantly. The demigods who noticed this watched in amusement, did they seriously not figure anything out yet? And did they realize that at this point in the book, Percy still hadn't even been told about the Greek gods and all that, meaning that he obviously knew nothing about the solstice.
Apollo and Hermes were the only ones from the council to figure anything out at this point, and they both figured that if somebody was being blamed for stealing something on the winter solstice, then the summer solstice was the most likely deadline to be set for apologies before war broke out. Both of them glanced towards Percy, who simply nodded, knowing that the two of them were smarter than they sometimes appeared and had likely already figured it all out. Well, most of it.
(I managed to croak,... got a few weeks!")
Those closest could hear Athena muttering to herself. "Stolen?... important... fighting... who... what...?" To say that those who knew- the future Greeks, Apollo and Hermes- were a little confused that she hadn't figured it out yet was an understatement.
"You seriously haven't figured it out yet, Athena? I thought you were supposed to be smart...?" Hermes asked. His face was scrunched up a little as he tried to figure out this newest puzzle. While she started bickering with him, the demigods discussed this newest phenomena in their lives.
"Maybe its because she's so smart and strategic...?" Clarisse suggested hesitantly, glancing over at Annabeth for her opinion. "I mean, maybe she's just over thinking it because she's, well..."
"That could be... that could also be how Apollo and Hermes figured it out... Those two and Athena are polar opposites. I mean, we all know the two of them are smarter than they act." Percy said. The others nodded in agreement. All the demigods looked up to find all the gods watching them, Apollo and Hermes were just surprised while Athena was looking like she might vaporize Percy then and there for daring to suggest that those two idiots could ever be smarter than her.
("I'm sorry," I... mouth with pudding.)
Thalia and Nico found this even funnier than the others for some reason. While the others snickered and teased Percy about it a bit, Thalia and Nico were too busy rolling on the floor laughing to even breath.
Finally Thalia managed to choke out that that was probably the most fool-proof way of shutting him up. Percy started sputtering out an excuse, but nobody could really hear him over Thalia and Nico's laughter. Finally, he just dumped a few gallons of sea water on them to get them to shut up.
While they sputtered, Percy calmly asked his mother to keep reading.
(The next time I woke up, the girl was gone.)
"Percy..." Thalia started, but she didn't get very far before finding Riptide stuck in the couch on one side of her head, while Nico found Annabeth's knife stuck in the couch on the opposite side of his.
Neither of them spoke, just glared at anyone who looked like they dared say anything. It didn't take long for Sally to take pity on the demigods and keep reading, chuckling as she did so.
(A husky blond dude... the backs of his hands.)
Hera beamed with pride over hearing about Argus. When Ares and Hephaestus saw this, they both turned to each other and started muttering that she never looked at them like that. Instead it was always nagging over ever little thing. Needless to say, their mothers treatment of them was the only thing those two could really agree on.
Percy smiled thinking about their camps security guard and how much he preferred Argus over Terminus any day.
Annabeth noticed the Romans confusion over who the surfer dude with all the eyes was, so she explained that he was their head of security. Which prompted Frank and Dakota to start grumbling about OCD border gods. A few of the other Romans looked like they agreed, but didn't really want to say anything that would be disrespectful. He was still a god after all.
(When I finally... about my surroundings,)
"For the first and only time." Percy grumbled. After that he went on a rant that nobody could quite follow since it seemed to be in a mix of Latin, Greek, and English. Even the immortals had a hard time following, he switched languages so randomly. And they were the only other ones in there who spoke all three!
(except that they were... smelled like strawberries.)
The Greeks were proud as they watched the Romans jaws drop at the description of the view. It sounded amazing, and Percy hadn't even finished describing it yet. Percy was looking wistful. He hadn't seen his home in so long...
(There was a blanket... it for a nest.)
"Percy... how do you know what that feels like?" Sally asked slowly, looking over at her son, who had sunk low behind Mrs. O'Leary's paws in an attempt to avoid his parents.
Nobody missed how angry the future Greeks looked, or how Luke was avoiding looking at anyone. Or when the futures started muttering stuff that sounded really random and strange out of context, but apparently Sally got to some extent, because now she looked angry.
Apollo and Hermes were getting a bad feeling that Luke was involved in the bolt being stolen, as well as whatever bad things happened in the future that caused these books to be written.
Luke was starting to look apprehensive. He didn't know what his older self did after stealing the bolt, but it looked bad.
It didn't take long for Sally to notice how uncomfortable the younger kids looked with the looks on the olders faces, so she decided to keep reading. She had a feeling that a description of their home would cheer everybody up.
(My tongue was dry... a maraschino cherry.)
"I'm hungry now... some nectar sounds good..." Apollo whined.
"One more chapter after this then we eat, remember?" Hestia reminded everyone what she had decided earlier. Apollo and Percy looked about ready to protest, they were hungry now! but decided not to when they glanced her way. She had that mothers look that said, don't argue.
The Romans looked a little put-out that the Greeks had such easy access to nectar.
(My hand was so weak... familiar voice said.)
"Ah, she only spoke once and you already remember what she sounded like." Thalia tried to tease, until...
"Dude! It was Grover. She was off with Chiron and Mr. D." Percy said. Everyone started looking between the annoyed Percy and the red faced goat. Sally decided to keep reading.
(Grover was leaning... Not the goat boy.)
While Grover started grumbling, Percy, Thalia, and Nico high-fived before Percy and Thalia started debating who started calling him that first.
It didn't take much for everyone else who didn't already know what the cousins liked to call the satyr. The cousins were so engrossed in their debate that they didn't notice Grover get the Stolls attention and gave them the sign. Sometime during the war, the demigods had come up with various hand signs to use for various situations, this particular one was to signal that a prank was needed. Those that noticed had a feeling that Percy, Thalia, and Nico were the next victims.
The Stolls were slightly excited to have a chance to prank the one who was now revealed to be a master prankster.
(So maybe I'd... some reason. And...)
The light mood was gone as everyone remembered what happened to Sally and again had to avoid looking towards the Percy's. Luke was suddenly feeling a little guilty about what happened, it was his fault to an extent after all. He was the one to steal the Helm and Bolt, although he hadn't expected Percy to get blamed for that and the Minotaur to be sent after him as a result.
("You saved my life,... with dried blood.)
A few demigods looked slightly impressed, although they felt they could have gone without the dried blood part.
"You've cleaned that thing off right?" Katie asked hesitantly.
"No, I never got around to it... Tyson did though. He had that thing shining last I saw it. He seemed to like cleaning... for some odd reason. And for somebody who was living in a cardboard box when I met him, he was pretty good at it too." Poseidon looked at him thoughtfully when he mentioned Tyson. He only knew of one boy by that name, and he was already making plans to bring his two sons together, looked like it worked and they got to know each other.
Katie and the other futures 'ahh'd' and nodded, smiling, at the thought of Tyson. They liked the big guy, he was pretty cool for a cyclops.
(It hadn't been... isn't a good idea-")
"Nice try Grover, nice try." Annabeth said as she patted the satyr on the head softly. The other futures looked at him sympathetically. "I'm afraid that its just a lost cause. He just won't get it."
Percy raised an eyebrow, "You know I'm right here, right?"
"Yeah, we know." Thalia answered. "We also know the success rate of getting you to stop blurting out names every two seconds is currently stuck at 0%, despite the whole camps best efforts. I mean, we consented to the Stoll brothers giving you lessons on why, as a demigod, blurting out names is a bad thing. They had you for three hours before admitting defeat. They had to run off to go rob a convenience store blind just to work off their frustration."
Poseidon whistled, Sally dropped her head into her hands, the past people looked impressed, and the Stolls were now staring at Percy in fear.
Percy shrugged. "I've never really had a problem with it. Besides, its not like any of them can actually come into camp unless directly summoned anyway." He answered.
Jaws dropped. Several of the futures yelled, "Never had a problem with it?!"
Clarisse continued, "What about the Fourth of July incident? How was that not a problem?" The other futures shuddered. That had not been a fun Fourth of July.
"Ok, one time where something happened, that wasn't really that big a problem, we handled it just fine..."
"I don't call a giant sea snake showing up out of nowhere and tilting the barge so all the fireworks fired AT US to be a 'not a big problem', Percy. In fact, I call that a very big problem, especially when said sea snake proceeded to attack us on the beach."
"Technically that wasn't my fault. Triton was the one leading the hunting party that chased it our way... so... yeah." Triton raised his hands in the surrender position while he stared at his half-brother, trying to figure out just how on earth something like that could happen from a snake getting away from the hunt.
"Regardless, you were the one talking about sea snakes minutes before it showed up." Katie finished the argument by gesturing for Sally to keep reading, all the futures expertly ignoring the looks on the others faces.
You could practically see the question on everyone's minds, 'how are they all still alive?'
("That's what they..." He looked down.)
And so did several of the other demigods, although they were also wondering how she was here reading this if she was dead. Not to mention the fact that all the futures knew her, most of them had stayed at the Jackson apartment at some point when they were in New York and just needed a place to crash for a bit. Either for a mission back during the war, or, more recently, them just finding an excuse to go be with her while her son was missing.
The only way they could think of for her to still be alive would be if... but, nah. Percy was crazy, but not even he would... wait. Yes. Yes, he would.
(I stared across... huge pine tree on top.)
A few of the Romans whistled at the description. They may be surrounded by hills and mountains out in California, but... this sounded amazing. They all vowed that Octavian was never learning where this place was. And they had a feeling they hadn't even heard of all of it yet. They also noticed that the Greeks looked distinctly proud of their reactions to hearing about the Greek camp.
'They are very proud of their home.' Reyna thought. This was something she could relate to.
(Even that looked... should look beautiful.)
Now Hades was starting to look uncomfortable. All the gods knew that Sally didn't die, she had been taken, but that didn't stop Hades from being uncomfortable and slightly guilty at the 'death' of this boys mother. He was kind of starting to like the brat after all. His mother kind of reminded him of Maria in some ways. That and he supposed that the boy was family...
("I'm sorry,"... satyr in the world.")
As one, Thalia, both Annabeth's, and both Luke's either facepalmed or started banging the backs of their heads against the couch they were sitting on. Grover looked apologetic while Grover had a look on his face like he was agreeing with his book self.
(He moaned, stomping... across the clear sky.)
"Is that you or the Styx itself? Because..." Annabeth trailed off as she looked at Zeus, waiting to see if he would answer.
Instead, it was Hades who answered. "That is the Styx, she's very old, and she doesn't really like it when she's referred to in that manner... something I can relate to." He said that last part almost as an afterthought, as though warning the demigods to stop doing it.
While Annabeth nodded thoughtfully, Annabeth looked intrigued and that's when Percy begged his mother to keep reading.
(As he struggled to... tiny horns on his head.)
Both Grovers grabbed their heads and stared at their respective set of Stolls. Daring them to do it. When that didn't seem to deter the pranksters from their plans, Percy cleared his throat while looking at the ceiling. When the four looked at him, he said one word, "Dolphins."
The older Stolls paled and the futures that weren't already trying not to laugh joined those who were now laughing on the floor. The younger Stolls took one look at their older selves and decided that whatever they were planning just wasn't worth it.
(But I was too... dissolved into yellow light.)
"She wouldn't have been gone permanently then... obviously you found a way to get her back... but the fact that she was dissolved means she was taken. But why..." Athena was still struggling to figure out what on earth was going on. This was so frustrating! She was Athena! The goddess of knowledge and wisdom! She was smart, and great with strategy! This shouldn't be such a mystery!
She only became even more frustrated when she noticed how Apollo and Hermes were staring at her, they looked smug, with that look that clearly said, 'I know something you don't know, I know something you don't know.' The future demigods that knew about the theft, too, were staring at her like, 'when is she going to figure this out?' She briefly debated vaporizing all of them then and there... but sadly the fates themselves forbade such actions against them... not to mention how protective Poseidon could be where his children were concerned.
Poseidon, while Athena had her meltdown, was glancing between his brothers suspiciously, trying to figure out which one of them would have the nerve to kidnap Sally. It's kind of a given by the fact that she was Percy's mother that she had his favor and protection, so... Percy caught his eye and shook his head, clearly telling him to drop it. He frowned for a moment, before deciding to trust his sons judgement on this, afterall, Percy was the one who lived this whole mess... and he said that there was a lot going on here than what he could tell in the moment.
(I was alone. An orphan... I'd do something.)
Many eyebrows went up, but nobody said anything. Luckily for them, they all realized that Percy had just woken up and had yet to have ANYTHING explained about what was going on and just where he was. Although many would have said something about the living with Gabe comment if not for Sally just reading on through and not letting anyone say anything.
Nobody except Poseidon noticed a couple of the future Greeks disappear for a bit with Gabe into another room. Poseidon had almost forgotten the stupid mortal was there until the two of them mentally requested stress relief with him.
(Grover was still... wasn't your fault.")
Thalia threw a look at the Grover's that both of them expertly ignored.
("Yes, it was. I... At least... I was.")
"And you still are." Percy said before nodding like the matter was settled.
"Ummm, technically, Perce..." Grover started.
"Nobody cares about technicalities anymore G-man. You may be the Lord of the Wild, but you still protect stuff. Therefore you are still a protector. Besides, aren't you also technically still assigned to me?" Percy asked with a smirk. Grover opened and closed his mouth a few more times before he realized that, yeah, he was technically still assigned to Percy.
("But why..." I... expecting apple juice.)
"Everyone always expects apple juice. Why is that I wonder..." Athena said softly.
Annabeth just looked at her mother like she had grown another head. "Umm, mother... that may be because it LOOKS like apple juice." While Athena blushed at missing such an obvious fact, Annabeth and the other futures looked over at Apollo, silently begging him to please look at Athena later, something was clearly wrong with her if she was starting to space out and miss the simple facts like that.
(It wasn't that... was going to be okay.)
Sally paused in her reading to smile softly at her sons. They both looked a little red in the face, but they smiled back. After all, this was their mother, what was there to be embarrassed about?
(Before I knew it... wistful, I felt guilty.)
"You feel guilty about the strangest things sometimes..." Thalia muttered.
The Romans and past people just figured it must've been some kind of inside joke because all the future Greeks started snickering.
Percy just scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
("Sorry," I said. "I should've let you taste.")
Both Dionysus and Hermes looked about ready to explode with that statement, but Percy just waved his hand like, 'yeah, yeah, I know' while Sally just kept reading.
(His eyes got wide... Bobofit a hundred yards.")
Artemis and Zoe narrowed their eyes, but looking back on the girl's behavior they figured that she would have deserved it... to an extent. Girl needed to be brought down a notch. That and by now they knew that he hadn't been raised that way.
Sally just raised an eyebrow in his direction, proving the Huntress's theory, and kept reading when he quickly shook his head at her, as if to say that he wouldn't have really done it.
("That's good," he said... more of that stuff.")
"Yeah, please don't." Was heard from several people scattered through the throne room.
("What do you mean?"... D are waiting.")
All the Greek demigods sighed and sat back to get comfortable, they had heard all this before, some of them more then once depending on how often they helped Chiron with the newbies, and they kind of found it to be a boring conversation. It was all second nature stuff to them by now after all.
A few of them actually looked like they were about to take a nap. They were certainly considering it. The Roman's actually looked interested in how they were going to tell Percy his heritage. As Romans, they never that problem. All Romans to come to camp had already had training with Lupa after all, so they came already knowing this stuff if they hadn't grown up in New Rome.
(The porch wrapped all... I caught my breath.)
All the Greeks who had been about to take a nap perked up and turned towards the Romans, eager to see their reactions to hearing about their home. In all the Greeks minds, there was nowhere more beautiful on the planet.
(We must've been... their horses had wings.)
Throughout the whole description of the camp, the Greeks grins only got wider as they watched the Romans jaws get closer and closer to the ground. None of the Romans missed the fact that this sounded like an actual camp rather than the military post that their own camp was, and yet the Greeks were still amazing fighters, as evidenced by the way Percy tore through the First and Second Cohorts the other night during War Games.
Reyna was also hung up on the fact that the Greeks seemed to have so many Pegasi around. She happened to own the only Pegasi in Camp Jupiter after all. And here the Greeks had Pegasi everywhere.
They all wished they could see this place sometime, although they didn't really see how they could without Octavian finding out and destroying the place. Maybe they could find a way to get rid of him during the war or something.
It took them a minute to notice the Greeks staring at them with huge, proud grins on their faces. Happy that the Romans looked impressed with their home, and proud at the thought of maybe showing it to their new friends someday.
(Down at the end... rail next to them.)
Before the Greeks went back to sleep, they heard Percy groan as he remembered what his first impression of Dionysus was. They looked over at him only to see him starting to shrink back down against Mrs. O'Leary while staring at Dionysus in something that almost looked like... fear? No, he looked like he didn't want to be here for whatever they were about to hear. The Greeks suddenly felt wide awake.
They wanted to hear this.
(The man facing... in a trailer park.)
There were a few minutes where nobody said anything, instead just staring between Percy and Dionysus while Dionysus glared at Percy. Clearly wishing he could incinerate the boy where he was trying to melt into Mrs. O'Leary's side to escape.
All it took was a snicker. Unsurprisingly it came from Dakota.
The only thing keeping Dionysus from striking Dakota down for starting the others twenty plus minute laughing session was the fact that Dakota was his son on the Roman side. All the same, he promised that Dakota was grounded when this was over. That shut the boy up. It still took the rest of them a while to calm down though.
In fact it wasn't until Sally decided that it would be in all the demigods best interest if they calm down, so she started reading loud enough to get their attention. They gradually calmed down as she read.
(He wore a tiger... even my step-father.)
"Of course I could idiot." Dionysus muttered. To suggest he couldn't was possibly the most insulting thing. Right after how his little cousin described his appearance.
("That's Mr. D,"... just about anybody.)
"How long have you been at camp, Annabeth?" Reyna asked, interested in how their Greek counterparts came to camp. The Annabeth's just looked at each other as if trying to decide who would answer.
"Uh, I've been at camp since I was seven. At this point, that was only five years and I had already been there longer then just about everybody. Especially after..." She glanced meaningfully at the other futures.
"Huh. I think its pretty safe to say that Jason is the one to claim that title at Camp Jupiter. You've been there, what, 12 years? Since you were, like, 4?" Reyna asked Jason.
"Uh, yeah... Mom gave me to Lupa when I was 3ish and she sent me to camp not long after. And I've been in the Legion ever since." Jason said. He was trying to ignore Thalia growling from where she was sitting by Nico. She would never forgive their mother for that one it seemed.
Reyna looked like she wanted to keep asking about how they got to camp, but Sally suggested that they should keep reading, and Chiron said they could discuss it later.
(And you already... choice answers B.)
"Woah, woah, woah. How could the guy who constantly interrupts our pranks have a sense of humor like that? Come on!" Connor said, frustrated. The rest of the Hermes crew nodded in agreement while everyone else just stared at them.
Grover looked over and commented that that had been just the week before, the last thing they did in class before Winter break. Chiron just nodded before informing the Hermes crew that their pranks weren't quite as harmless to personal property and dignity as one concerning the answers to a quiz.
Connor just pouted while Sally decided to keep reading.
("Ah, good, Percy,... for pinochle.")
"Ok, what is pinochle? Is this some camp thing we missed out on with Mr. D not being around?" Leo asked. "Or is it something I missed out on because I was in the bunker all the time?"
Chiron looked worried when the bunker was mentioned, he locked it up for a reason after all, while Percy could be seen whispering to Annabeth, probably about since when they had a bunker.
"No, it's mostly a Mr. D thing. Before he was recalled, it wasn't uncommon for him to randomly call entire cabins up to the Big House for a pinochle tournament. Regardless of what we were doing before being called. Even if we were in the arena practicing out swordsmanship. Actually, the only time anybody was safe from being called while in the arena was if they were in the middle of class with me." Percy answered when Annabeth was done explaining where the bunker came from.
"Why would he spare your classes? And why are you even teaching, swordsmanship classes are reserved for only the strongest retired legionnaire fighters to teach, not campers fewer accidents and such that way." Reyna asked, somewhat surprised. She knew Percy was strong, but for him to be in charge of teaching too...
"As for his classes being safe... he got tired of constantly being interrupted by satyr's asking that his students report to Mr. D in the Big House, so he made a bet with Mr. D." All the Greeks who were there smirked as they remembered what happened. "Basically, they had a competition, whoever won got to make one request, and the loser had to comply without question or fail, they swore on the River Styx and everything. Well, Percy won. So, he requested that Mr. D stop interrupting his classes for his, and I'm quoting here, 'pointless and time-wasting tournaments'. As for him teaching, why shouldn't he? He's the strongest in camp." Clarisse, surprisingly, said.
While the younger kids looked impressed that Percy had beaten the god at something, Dakota wanted to know what his dad had been beaten in.
"Um, ok, so... mom, don't freak out, it was his idea, not mine and well... he was the one being challenged, so he got to pick the challenge... nothing I could do about it... it was a drinking contest." Percy finally got out. While everyone stared at him, wondering how a simple demigod could beat the god of wine, the guy who practically invented drinking contests, in a drinking contest, Sally calmly handed the book to Paul, and just as calmly stalked towards Dionysus.
Everyone who tried to stop her was stopped by Hera and Poseidon. Hera because she was never going to get in the way of a mother protecting her son, and Poseidon because he was just as angry. As a result, everyone had to watch and listen for a half-hour to an angry mother beat and yell at the wine god for forcing her underage son who'd already been through enough into a drinking contest.
When she was done, it was time for Zeus to lay into his son about pulling an underage demigod into a drinking contest, AND for doing it despite his restrictions. To which Annabeth answered that there was actually a loophole that they probably found to let this happen. Annabeth agreed and said that they would tell him what it was later in private, to prevent Mr. D from taking advantage of it as much as possible.
Finally, the big question was asked. How did Percy Jackson beat Dionysus the god of wine, in a drinking contest. Percy just smirked and said that everybody had their secrets. Which just made all the futures smirk. They had an idea how he did it, since they knew his abilities with water, even if they didn't know the full extent of it. Regardless, anybody who can out-drink the eternally drunk wine dude was impressive.
Only Poseidon had a feeling he did it by using his control over water to repeatedly purge the alcohol from his system. Ensuring that the entire time they were having their contest, Percy never once felt the slightest effect of the alcohol. And then of course he would have known exactly how he was supposed to act from watching Gabe for years.
(He offered me... glad to see you.")
Several of the gods raised their eyebrows, they were really questioning the wisdom of sending Dionysus to watch their children as his punishment. First the drinking contest, now his obvious uncaring attitude.
("Uh, thanks." I... I was a satyr.)
A few people laughed nervously while looking towards Sally as if she might attack them next. It seemed that alcohol would be a touchy subject for a while.
("Annabeth?" Mr. Brunner... ruined the image.)
All the gray eyed people in the room started slowly turning towards Percy threateningly, but stopped when Sally kept going and they heard the rest of Percy's description, after which they looked smug.
(They were startling... down in a fight.)
"I was, by the way."
"I know."
(She glanced at the... something like that.)
While everyone turned to Percy, most of them thinking that he really didn't know Annabeth very well at that time, Artemis and Zoe were both thinking that the boy had been doing so well so far.
Percy had slowly been endearing himself to the two of them, both of them starting to think there was something different about this boy, and then something like this came up in the book. With that comment they started to think of him like any other boy again.
(Instead she said, "You drool when you sleep.")
Over the sounds of the demigods laughter Sally was heard informing Annabeth that she didn't know the half of it. She should have seen him when he was younger. That just made those who could hear her laugh harder.
(Then she sprinted... You may call me Chiron.)
The Greeks decided that the interesting parts of this chapter were probably done at this point and went back to their various nap positions. Hoping that they wouldn't be roused again until this chapter was over.
Several of the parents found this amusing, especially when Percy actually fell asleep almost as soon as he got comfortable against Mrs. O'Leary's side. The Romans were actually interested to see what the Greek teacher would say, so they were a little offended by the Greeks falling asleep at this part until they remembered that some of these kids probably gave this same speech several times and could probably quote parts of it in their sleep.
Even the Grovers got comfortable for a nap!
("Okay." Totally confused... them for no reason.")
"Didn't the others yell at Percy earlier for constantly saying the names?" Dakota asked Gwen.
"Yup, apparently he even ignored the advice when a god gave it to him." Reyna answered first. All of the Romans looked at Percy amused.
("Oh. Right. Sorry.")
"Yeah, because that totally made an impact." Rachel said as she rolled her eyes. She had never gotten the full explanation, her introduction into the demigod world had come in the form of Percy swinging a sword through her torso. So she felt the need to hear this conversation despite her current position in the camp.
("I must say, Percy... wasted my time.")
Sally stopped reading to turn to stare at Chiron, wondering if she shouldn't invest in some videos on positive speaking or something and donate them to Camp Half-Blood.
("House call?" "My... a leave of absence.")
"What did you do to him?" Paul asked, wondering if maybe he shouldn't find another job. He didn't want something happening to him just because a powerful demigod happened to pass through his classroom!
"Don't worry, we simply moved him to Hawaii." Chiron said calmly. Now Paul was wishing a really powerful demigod happened to pass through his classroom. He wouldn't mind moving to Hawaii with Sally.
(I tried to remember... always the first test.")
Thalia muttered something, and the others understood that maybe she wasn't quite asleep yet. Neither were the Annabeth's or Luke's either when they all muttered something back before shifting to get more comfortable.
("Grover," Mr. D... tiger-print Hawaiian shirt.)
A few on the council sniggered appreciatively while Mr. D fumed. Unfortunately, he couldn't take it out on the boy, because A) he was asleep and didn't even know what was going on, and B) his mother was there. He honestly didn't know who he was scared of more. Sally Jackson or Poseidon. Both were scary when their children were involved.
("You do know... me suspiciously.)
"Is pinochle like, a requirement? Other than the fact that he sprung surprise tournaments on you guys all the time." Leo asked. Despite them telling all about it earlier, he was still a little confused about why pinochle was mentioned so much.
"Yes." Practically all the Greeks that were still awake enough to have an idea what was going on grumbled. The number of half-conscious demigods in the room was decreasing as they all fell asleep though.
("I'm afraid not," I... director less and less.)
"Feeling is mutual." Dionysus grumbled. Sadly, the boy was sound asleep, so he couldn't actually tell him anything.
("Well," he told me,... landed in his pile.)
Hermes frowned. He did not like the fact that the satyr's were so afraid of Dionysus. He knew that his son would never stand for it either. He glared at Dionysus to let him know that they would be talking about this later.
(Chiron smiled at me... bidding or not?")
While Sally frowned, she didn't bother saying anything about Mr. D's assessment. Instead, she kept reading, not giving anyone else a chance to say anything either. In a way, she knew it was true and that she had been lucky to keep him to herself as long as she did without anything major happening.
("What?" I asked. He... won't be sufficient.")
"Oh, that explains so much." Rachel said softly. When the Romans and council members looked confused, she said, "Annabeth is always telling me stories about how clueless he was when he first came to camp. Of course, he still is kind of clueless with some stuff... but him not seeing the orientation film actually does explain a lot. If he's literally just learning as he goes for the most part... its really a miracle he's still alive."
("Orientation film?" I asked... are very much alive.")
"You know, I think it's much more believable to be trained by an immortal wolf for a while than just told, 'oh, hey, by they way. The gods are real, enjoy your life'." Frank grumbled.
Hazel laughed. "I would have preferred the wolves to what I got..." When she noticed the other Romans looking at her weird, she just waved them off.
(I stared at the... tallied up his points.)
"Is it just me, or is that a disturbing image? No? Not just me? Ok, I'll stop now." Hermes tried, it didn't work. What he got were a few goddesses giving him a dirty look.
("Mr. D," Grover asked... chewed it mournfully.)
Hazel had a feeling that if the Greeks were awake they would be teasing and laughing at their satyr friend.
("Wait," I told Chiron... That's a smaller matter.")
"Chiron..." Zeus said warningly.
"Yes, brother?" Chiron answered back innocently. Whatever Zeus was about to say he clearly wasn't going to say it anymore. He hated it when Chiron pulled the brother card!
("Smaller?" "Yes, quite... You mean them.")
"He didn't say your name, Uncle P." Apollo was barely staying in his throne, he was laughing so hard at his uncle's misfortune of his son not even mentioning him.
Apollo and Hermes both got several hundred gallons of seawater, complete with random bits of seaweed somewhere in the mix, and a crab, dumped on them. With Hermes being the lucky new owner of one annoyed crab. Hanging on his nose.
(And there it was... there was science.")
Nearly all the gods flinched back. They hated it when science was brought up. They had lost so many believers because of it and had run the risk of fading for a while, and would have if not for constantly having children with mortals.
Sally looked up at them and smiled softly, whether in apology or in pity was hard to tell. All they knew is they preferred to think of it as an apology.
("Science!" Mr. D scoffed... I never told anybody-)
"Wait, what's wrong with his name? I like it." Poseidon said. Ignoring the smug look on Zeus's face when he said that he liked the name Perseus. They had had many arguments in the past over what a stupid name it was.
"I'm not sure... he would never tell me what happened, but I think there was an incident when he was younger with some of the other children in our apartment building..." Sally said with a frown. Something that the others decided did not belong on her face. She knew it was an unusual name for kids these days, but she still couldn't believe that other children could be so mean over a name of all things. Sure, kids could be pretty mean to each other, but...
Both parents turned and watched Percy slide down so that only the some of his hair was visible.
("What will people... boy and tell me.")
"Actually, I think mortals have come very far, considering there was a time when we didn't even know fire existed. Look at everything we have created now." Sally said with a frown towards Dionysus. Paul and Rachel joined her as the only other mortals in the room.
It was Hestia who stepped in and saved the council from a lecture on mortals and whatnot by suggesting that perhaps they should keep reading, they could have this discussion later.
(I wasn't liking Mr. D... made me hesitate.)
Sally, Paul, and Rachel all grinned at that. They all knew that Percy had been offered immortality after the Battle, and they had been a little confused when Percy thought it sounded like a good deal.
Jason, Leo, and Piper were a little confused too, they had heard rumors around camp that Percy had been offered immortality and rejected it. And they said as much to the council and Romans. The looks on the Romans faces were priceless, as were the gods when Sally confirmed the rumors.
Percy was also slowly working himself back into Artemis and Zoe's favor.
("You mean, whether... call you a myth,)
"Actually, some of the younger campers do kind of see him as a myth. Not the ones who were there and fought with him, obviously, but the ones who came after he disappeared." Rachel said, shrugging as if she hadn't just revealed that Percy was on the same level as the gods in the eyes of those just hearing about the Greek world.
While the Romans and gods stared at her, Jason, Leo, and Piper coughed, knowing they were kind of guilty of the same thing. And they said as much.
(just created to... losing their mothers?")
"CHIRON!" Both Sally and Paul were angry. Sally even more than Paul, at what they just read. "That was just completely uncalled for."
"My dear, please remember that none of this has happened yet, Percy and I have yet to have this conversation, for me, anyway..." Chiron muttered the last part as though hoping that if she didn't hear it, she wouldn't remember the time difference between the two.
"Maybe it hasn't happened for you, but it has certainly happened for MY SON!" Sally yelled before grabbing the book again and starting to read, angrily.
(My heart pounded... incinerates you.")
A sleepy voice cut Sally off, "Ooooh, there's one we missed, add it to the tally, Thals." Nico mumbled sleepily.
"Yo, Roman guys, remind me to do that when I wake up." Thalia answered just as sleepily, waving a hand lazily through the air. Then going back to sleep.
"It would appear, that the two of them woke up just enough to hear D threaten to incinerate Percy." Apollo said, amused.
"Although, I don't think Uncle P and Sally are going to like this tally they mentioned." Hermes said with a frown.
Sally glanced between the cousins with a worried frown on her face before sighing and going back to the book, deciding that she really didn't want to know.
(Grover said, "P-please, sir... itself with red wine.)
Zeus raised his eyebrows, looking towards Dionysus, who glared back. He really didn't care what his Father thought about that right now, after all... how can he be the god of wine, WHEN HE'S NOT ALLOWED ANY WINE!
(My jaw dropped... "Old habits! Sorry!")
"Old habits, yeah right, more like just trying to see if Chiron or myself noticed." Zeus scowled at him. Why couldn't his son just do as he's told?!
"Are you kidding me?! I'm the GOD OF WINE! You taking my wine away from me like that is like, like, taking Apollo's music away from him! Or us taking away your lightning! It's who and WHAT we are! You can't just say, 'oh, yeah. Your not allowed to have this for blank amount of time,' and then expect it to just happen!" Dionysus had stood up at some point while yelling at his father. It was clear he had been wanting to say this for years. "It's bad enough you stuck me babysitting YOUR brats," He pointed at the council who had kids at camp, "But then you just had to take away my wine, too!"
He sat back down with a huff, and Apollo and Hermes looked suspiciously proud as they applauded their half brother. They'd been wondering when the explosion would happen for a while now. In fact, so had everyone else. None of them agreed with Zeus putting Dionysus on probation and taking away his 'aspect'.
"YOU..." Zeus started standing.
The Romans, Leo, Piper, Rachel, Paul, Sally, and Percy were watching all this happen with wide eyes. Even Gabe over in his corner.
"ENOUGH!" Hestia shouted, standing up. "Brother, I told you then, and I'll tell you again now. In fact, I think it safe to say everyone agrees with me. You have always punished Dionysus unfairly, but this one was taking it too far. However, this is a discussion best for the privacy of our chambers, away from mortal eyes. And those of our children's." She said, gesturing towards the demigods and mortals still awake in the room.
A few of them noticed that some of the sleeping Greeks were giving them a one-eyed glare for interrupting their naps. They didn't care who they were with, you don't interrupt a demigods nap!
(More thunder... can of Diet Coke.)
Dionysus curled his lip in disgust. He hated that stuff. Whoever invented it clearly had no sense of taste.
(He sighed unhappily... been declared off-limits.")
Hera turned to glare at her husband, knowing full well why that nymph was off-limits, but glanced at Hestia without interrupting Sally.
("A wood nymph," I...' Ha! Absolutely unfair.")
"At this point, I don't know who it was more unfair to... you for being sent there in the first place, or the children who have to deal with you and your attitude." Sally said scathingly. "But I guess I can understand why you would be bitter, although that doesn't mean you have to take it out on the children. It's not there fault you are there." She finished her lecture and started reading again before Dionysus could respond.
Not that he would, he and the rest of the council were too busy staring at her, shocked. They now had an even better idea why Poseidon had fallen for her.
(Mr. D sounded about six years old, like a pouting little kid.)
Chiron facepalmed. He had been trying to get Mr. D to start acting his age around the campers for years. He had even pulled the Uncle card!
("And..." I stammered... is Zeus, of course.")
"How is he supposed to know that when he doesn't even know your name yet? Mr. D, you know full well that I am teaching him everything he well need to know, but if he wasn't even told something, how's he supposed to figure the rest out?" Chiron asked. He was not happy with the slight on his teaching. He'd been teaching for thousands of years, he knows what he's doing, blast it!
(I ran through D... Mr. D were his master.)
Hermes frowned at the last bit, but was overall pretty impressed with how Percy figured it out on so little information.
Sally noticed most of the council's surprised expressions and sighed. She hated that everybody always failed to realize that her son was much smarter than anybody ever gave him credit for. After all, there was more to life than sitting in a classroom learning facts that you would probably never use again, or need to survive on the streets. Naturally, he was the one to teach Annabeth that.
("You're Dionysus," I said. "The god of wine.")
Dionysus grumbled again about not being allowed to have any. Zeus sighed and waved his hand in his sons direction, causing a goblet of wine to appear in his hand.
Dionysus's eyes widened as he spent a couple minutes staring from the wine in his hand to Zeus, before finally taking the first sip he had in years and practically passing out in joy.
(Mr. D rolled his eyes... Aphrodite perhaps?")
"Ummm, please, don't joke about that." Dakota said. Mr. D switched forms for a moment for Bacchus to apologize to his son be switching back, holding his head and groaning from the headache that caused.
"I agree with Dakota. That is not something to joke about." Aphrodite said, eyeing him in concern. He was usually the least affected by the headaches...
("You're a god."... for the rest of my life.)
"Dionysus..." Pretty much all the parents with kids at camp warned.
He simply held his hands up in surrender before going back to enjoying his wine. Which, seemed to keep magically refilling itself...
("Would you like... "No. No, sir.")
"Smart boy." Was all Mr. D said about the matter.
(The fire died a little. He turned back to his card game. "I believe I win.")
Mr. D looked up with hope in his eyes, that was crushed as Sally kept reading.
("Not quite, Mr. D,"... "The game goes to me.")
Mr. D sat back in his seat and sulked. He never won... how was it that the old centaur always won? It wasn't fair!
Chiron just smirked. Something the Stolls would be freaking out about if they were awake. As it was, he felt safe doing it. He also had a feeling Mr. D was questioning the fairness of always losing to him. Oh well, let the guy wonder for eternity how he always won.
(I thought Mr. D... "Y-yes, sir.")
"D, I really don't like the way my nephews are so scared of you. When you took over my sons duties, nowhere in that job description did it say to terrify the hooves off your new subjects." Hermes said. For once very serious and very angry.
Mr. D's eyes widened as he realized that he now had half of Olympus's pranking menaces after his head. If he got Percy to help him... or even just those Stoll menaces...
(Mr. D turned to me... your manners.")
"Umm, so I thought they said that he always says their names wrong on purpose? Because I didn't hear his name said wrong once that whole conversation, and Mr. D said it, like, three times." Piper said, confused.
"Oh, he does. Its just with the new campers that he makes the effort to be nice enough to say their names right." Rachel explained. "Once you've been there for a few hours, he figures your acquainted enough with the camp that he doesn't need to bother."
(He swept into the... go back to Olympus.")
Dionysus muttered again about how unfair that was, but couldn't really find it in himself to get worked up again, must be the wine talking. It always did have a way of calming him down. Which makes sense considering he's the WINE GOD.
("Mount Olympus," I... the West."
"The what?")
"Chiron, not to question your teaching methods, but... I'm kinda with the kid on this one. How's he supposed to just know what your talking about when you start talking about the heart of the West?" Hermes asked hesitantly. He knew exactly how the old centaur reacted to how he taught being questioned.
Chiron just shrugged. He had an idea why his book self was distracted. He, like Apollo and Hermes, had figured it out a few chapters ago. "My, ah, book self sounds a little distracted right now. This is not the usual speech I give... plus I usually have them watch the film." He answered.
("Come now, Percy... forces, the same gods.")
"You forgot to mention the different personalities, Chiron. Remember, they were stricter as Romans. Why do you think Camp Jupiter is so militaristic?" Reyna said.
"Again, I would like to point out that all of this is in the future for me. That being said, I imagine my future self felt that too much information at that moment would be... counter productive."
("And then they died.")
"Does anybody else like the way he words things? 'A big fight and the gods won'. 'And then they died.' He almost sounds like a kid whose very used to either dumbing things down so others can understand and get the point, or dumbing them down so others underestimate him." Apollo said.
Sally looked up at him with a beaming smile on her face. Happy that somebody finally recognized her sons intelligence.
Percy looked a little put out that somebody had noticed, and now they would stop underestimating him. Something that Poseidon and Triton noticed.
The others were just thinking about what he said. While only a couple of them actually recognized Apollo's intelligence for what it was, they all had to admit that he was good at reading people. They all resolved to pay better attention to what Percy said and how he said it.
("Died? No. Did the... And we are here.")
"What happened to too much information at once?" Reyna grumbled.
(It was all too much,... from the waist down.)
"Fortunately not." Chiron said with a smile.
("Who are you?" he... simply adore chocolate.")
"Understatement!" Was sing-songed by all the gods at the same time. Plus Sally, Rachel, Piper, Leo, and Jason.
"I think obsessed would be a better way of putting it, dear Chiron." Hestia followed her family in stating.
Chiron turned deepest shade of red that any of them had ever seen.
(And then he did... human legs attached.)
"You know, Chiron, that is actually a little creepy to watch the first time. Especially with no warning at all." Leo said, with Jason and Piper nodding beside him. Chiron just raised an eyebrow and looked away.
But everybody he was facing could see the smirk on his face.
(I stared at the horse... meet the other campers.")
"That's the chapter! Umm, who wants to read next and who wants to wake up the demigods?" Sally asked, staring at the kids in amusement. Honestly, only these kids could just conk out like this.
Percy suddenly shot up and happily said that he would do it.