Disclaimer: I own none of the bold words. I wish I did.
("My father?" I asked,... of the Sea God.")
Will closed the book with a snap. "That's the end of the chapter. Who wants to read next?" He asked, holding the book up.
Poseidon raised his hand, and Will walked over to hand him the book. He quickly found the right chapter and cleared his throat, Chapter nine. I Am Offered a Quest.
"Uh, oh" Hermes and Apollo muttered. They had a feeling they knew what this quest would be. And considering that both Zeus and Hades were after the boy over this... yeah, this wasn't going to be good.
(The next morning,... and a toiletry bag.)
"That's not a lot of stuff." Rachel noted. Percy shrugged. It was what the camp gave him when he arrived. He wasn't the only one, either. He heard from some of the other campers in Hermes cabin that they arrived with nothing but the clothes on their backs too.
(I got to sit at... listen to anybody else.)
"Cool." Most of the Hermes crew breathed. The other four Big 3 children all winced. This was not cool, Percy was probably miserable. If there was one thing all of them could agree on, it was that they hated being singled out for being a Big 3 kid.
Poseidon shook his head at them, he knew Percy would not like it either. His son liked his space, yes, but he didn't like being singled out.
(And I was absolutely miserable.)
"What? Why?" All the Hermes crew cried, looking at Percy like he grew a second head. He raised an eyebrow, but it was Nico who answered.
"How would you like it if you were just singled out and separated like that?" He asked.
"Being alone sucks." Thalia agreed.
"It makes it even harder to connect with your peers." Jason said.
"You are the first to be blamed when something happens, because you are more powerful than the others." Hazel tacked on the end.
Percy nodded, "I had just started to feel like I was accepted."
Everyone looked at the Big 3 kids in shock. You knew it was serious when all five of them were in complete agreement. Especially Thalia and Percy, those two fought like cats and dogs. Sure, they were family and they loved each other to death, but they could rarely carry on a conversation without insulting each other or bickering.
Poseidon sighed, "And that is why I try to give my kids a few weeks without the camp knowing who their father is, so they can make those connections, so people can see the real person without being in my shadow. Unfortunately, it would appear that circumstances were not in our favor this time." He said regretfully. "There is a reason why my children are historically the most well liked in camp, because people know them before they learn their parentage, and then after they learn their parentage, they realize that the only thing that changed regarding my child is that they now know who their father is. Of course, there have been a few that let the knowledge go to their heads and are generally the most hated in camp, but that is rare."
"It helps that our father doesn't have a massive ego that rubs off on us." Percy said with an impish grin. Poseidon nodded his head, laughing while Jason and Thalia glared at him. He noticed their glares and said, "I didn't say it was you two." He pointed out.
"You may not have mentioned us, but everyone knows our Father has an ego the size of Mount Everest." Thalia said with narrowed eyes.
"Hey!" Zeus protested, but Poseidon got his laughter under control and started reading again before
he could go any further.
(Just when I'd started... some rare disease.)
The Hermes crew winced at the thought. Ok, yeah, maybe they all had a point. That would make anyone miserable.
(Nobody mentioned the... been considered safe.)
"Most of us were wondering who could have summoned it. Sure, we summon monsters all the time, for training and hunting mostly, and the occasional prank, but nobody there would ever summon a Hellhound." Clarisse said, "But, yeah. We were also kind of scared of what it could mean that a Hellhound showed up moments before you were claimed.
(The other campers steered... the Ares folks in the woods,)
"We also didn't want your dad to get mad at one of us for hurting you in training." Connor said with a shrug. The other campers who had been there looked ashamed of how they avoided him, especially after hearing how miserable it made him. And he was right, he was accepted in cabin eleven before this, and they honestly really liked him. Then they had to go and let finding his parentage change how they saw him.
Poseidon put the book down and stared at him blankly, Triton and Aphrodite raised an eyebrow at the campers. All three of them were wondering where on earth they got that idea, it was well known that, while Poseidon was one of the more caring parents, he also let his children fight their own battles, kind of like Ares. Of course, he also stepped in if he could if it was clear the fight was too much, unlike Ares.
And besides, if you didn't get hurt a little in training, then how were you going to learn the moves so you could avoid getting hurt during a real fight?
Connor started to squirm under Poseidon's stare, so he slowly raised the book, still staring, and didn't take his eyes away until he started reading again. Inwardly, he was laughing his head off, but outwardly, his face was blank. Percy hid his smirk in Annabeth's hair, he knew what his father was doing.
(so my lessons with... up in the process.)
Poseidon looked up again and nodded his thanks to Luke for not treating his son any differently, other than pushing him harder. But that was a different he could live with.
("You're going to need all the training you can get,")
Hermes sighed softly and looked at his son with a sense of pride, that right there showed him that Luke was fighting Kronos in some small way.
Poseidon nodded in agreement to what Luke said, that was exactly why he was going to take Percy under the sea for a while.
(he promised, as we... Fifty more repetitions.")
Ares nodded in approval.
(Annabeth still taught... Got to make a plan...")
"Wow, you really did not like him in the beginning, did you?" Will asked in amusement.
Annabeth shook her head, even while Athena nodded, that was how it should be between a Sea-spawn and one of her daughters.
Percy grinned and pulled Annabeth closer, kissing the top of her head. Sure, they got off to a bad start, but they learned to work together for the sake of the quest. And then, they became rather close friends, then they started dating while ignoring all the bets that exchanged hands afterwards.
(Even Clarisse kept her... every day than be ignored.)
"Then you should have said something!" Clarisse exclaimed. "I'd have challenged you every chance I got if I knew." She grumbled. Percy shrugged. He probably would have, eventually, if it weren't for the simple fact that she, like everyone else, had been avoiding him like the plague.
(I knew somebody at... floated around on the page.)
Poseidon stopped reading out loud to read the article to himself first. His face darkened with anger as he read. How. Dare. They accuse his son of harming Sally, the boys own mother. He turned to glare at Gabe in his corner, and started up a new mini-hurricane that was restricted to that corner before he forced himself to read the article out loud.
BOY AND MOTHER STILL MISSING AFTER
FREAK CAR ACCIDENT
By Eileen Smythe
Sally Jackson and son Percy are still missing one week after their mysterious disappearance. The family's badly burned '78 Camaro was discovered last Saturday on a north Long Island road with the roof ripped and skidded for several hundred feet before exploding.
Mother and son had gone for a weekend vacation to Montauk, but left hastily, under mysterious circumstances. Small traces of blood were found in the car and near the scene of the wreck, but there were no other signs of the missing Jacksons. Residents in the rural area reported seeing nothing unusual around the time of the accident.
Ms. Jackson's husband, Gabe Ugliano, claims that his stepson, Percy Jackson, is a troubled child who has been kicked out of numerous boarding schools and has expressed violent tendencies in the past.
Police would not say whether son Percy is a suspect in his mother's disappearance, but they have not ruled out foul play. Below are recent pictures of Sally Jackson and Percy. Police urge anyone with information to call the following toll-free crime-stoppers hotline.
People were shocked. Luke lowered his head in shame. He had been the one to place that paper, he hadn't wanted to, but Kronos thought it would make good motivation for them to send Percy on the quest already. They had thought the Hellhound and Percy being claimed would have been enough, but for some reason it wasn't.
(The phone number was circled in black marker.)
A few people sucked in a breath as they recognized the threat for what it was. This was either a prank done in extremely poor taste, or somebody wanted him out of camp.
(I wadded up the... had my worst dream yet.)
"Of the time, anyway." Percy muttered.
(I was running along... hills in the distance.)
"Los Angeles." Nico and Hades said. Poseidon did not look happy as he continued.
(About a hundred yards... darker, and the wind rose.)
The council looked like they had all seen a ghost. None of them could remember those two ever fighting this bad before.
(I had to stop them... fighting over a toy.)
This time, not even the Romans could keep themselves from laughing out of respect to the King. They were laughing just as hard as everyone else while Zeus sat there and scowled at everyone. He barely refrained from using his lighting on any of the laughing demigods, especially his brat of a nephew, who was the one to dream this up in the first place.
Poseidon chuckled, this did sound remarkably like Zeus, just an overgrown kindergartner. Especially in the beginning, after they defeated Kronos. None of them knew Zeus, they had all grown up together, just the five of them within their fathers stomach for years. It took a while for them to warm up to him, and he was a whiny brat the entire time.
(The waves got..., Stop it! Stop fighting!)
Apollo snorted. "Hate to tell you this, kid, but once those two start, nothing will stop them short of victory or for the both of them to lose interest in whatever they are fighting for. Once in a while, Hera or Aunt Hestia can get them to stop, with Amphitrite's help, but..." He shook his head. Percy sighed and nodded while Triton scowled. His father wouldn't even listen to him.
(The ground shook... it turned my blood to ice.)
The gods sat up, alert. Who was this... this didn't sound like Hades, which is what they normally thought when the thinking of anything underground.
But at the same time, the only one they could possibly think of that would match that description was Kronos. Of course, Zeus was still denying the possibility, but the others were thinking of ways they can counter his rise or fight him if it actually happened.
(Come down, little hero, the voice crooned. Come down!)
Poseidon stopped reading and exchanged concerned looks with Sally and Amphitrite. He was definitely bringing his son under the sea. If not for extra training, then at the very least so he could protect him. He was rather protective of his children. And he could easily say that Percy was his favorite demigod child by far.
(The sand split beneath... darkness swallowed me.)
Poseidon paused again. Demigod dreams were usually prophetic to something that was going to happen, or a warning to what could happen if the demigod wasn't careful. He was going to have a hard time getting Zeus to leave his son alone if Zeus decided that this was a warning that Percy could fall and turn on them.
He met Apollo's eyes and he shrugged and shook his head. He didn't know which it was, and even if he did, he wouldn't say. Or rather couldn't. Poseidon was one of the few who knew that the Fates themselves dictated what Apollo could and could not say when it came to his prophecies. Which was why Poseidon was the only one aside from Artemis and Hestia that ever defended him when something happened and the rest of the council got on Apollo's case about not warning them.
(I woke up, sure I was falling.)
"I hate it when that happens." Pretty much everyone muttered. That was the worst feeling.
(I was still in bed in... "Mr. D wants to see you.")
"Oh this is going to be good." Poseidon muttered with a suspicious glare at the camp director, who just blinked innocently at him. The man was already acting more like his old self since Zeus let him have wine again. Of course, whether or not his wine ban would still be lifted after the reading was anybodies guess.
("Why?"
"He wants to kill...)
Poseidon growled, but kept reading.
(I mean, I'd better... to deliver their verdict.)
"They wouldn't dare harm you." Poseidon assured his son, both of them, while glaring at those on the council that would be pushing for the boy to be killed before he got to powerful. Namely, Zeus, Ares, Athena, and Hera. Dionysus might, and potentially Artemis. Although Artemis would probably simply be because Percy was a boy. He chose to ignore the fact that Percy said it was a crime for him to be alive. Because it kind of was... but it wasn't his crime, it was Poseidon's. And his son would not be punished for his father's actions. Not if he could help it.
(Over Long Island Sound,... coming in our direction.)
A few people frowned, and some glanced at Zeus. He was the only one they could think of that would send a storm to the camp. Although they really wished he would keep their children out of this.
(I asked Grover if... weather always does.")
"Really?" Reyna asked in interest. That would certainly be interesting and beneficial... Not that Camp Jupiter got much bad weather, being out in California and all that, but still. Maybe if they had some way of keeping wildfires away from New Rome...
(I realized he was... this one was huge.)
"It was." Chris muttered. Percy shifted somewhat guiltily. Technically, it was his fault. Zeus was kind of punishing the whole camp because of him. Despite the fact that he didn't actually do anything.
(At the volleyball pit, the... their eyes on the storm.)
Everyone who was there nodded in agreement. Of course they kept an eye on it, normally all clouds that appeared on their horizon would dissipate before ever developing into storms that big.
(Grover and I walked up... shirt with his Diet Coke,)
Dionysus grimaced and tightened his grip on the wine he still held in his hand. He despised Diet Coke. The stuff was disgusting.
(just as he had on...-Beard is your father.")
Poseidon scowled, but didn't say anything. He didn't really care what everyone else called him, unless they called him that.
(A net of lightning flashed across the clouds. Thunder shook the windows of the house.)
"I thought influencing the weather was a Zeus thing." Frank muttered.
Poseidon, Percy, Triton, and Amphitrite blinked at the boy and they all gestured towards the corner where the mini hurricane was still going on. Frank looked over there and blinked before he blushed in embarrassment. Oh, right.
("Blah, blah, blah,"... clopping back and forth.)
Hermes clenched his teeth and glared at Dionysus, not happy at all with how his sons subjects were terrified of the wine god.
("If I had my way,"... with a lot of trouble.)
"Dionysus." Poseidon warned. Dionysus frowned and shrugged while inwardly he cringed. He wouldn't have actually done it. He didn't feel like spending time in the dungeons of Atlantis. In his opinion, that place rivaled the Fields of Punishment, especially when Poseidon was mad at you.
Zeus, though, looked like he approved of the plan to combust Percy.
(But Chiron seems to... back to your father.")
There was a short, disbelieving laugh from the corner the MS were sitting in. The bigger figure turned to one of the others and leaned in to whisper quickly. Whatever the other figure said, the bigger one's shoulders shook with laughter as he slapped a hand to his forehead and shook his head in disbelief.
The other figures were also shaking in their efforts not to laugh. Two of the figures looked at each other and shrugged.
They either didn't know what their companions found so funny, or this involved some kind of inside joke at their expense.
("Mr. D-" Chiron warned... But it's deadly foolishness.")
Poseidon frowned, but inwardly sighed. As much as Dionysus pretended he didn't care about the kids, he really did. Him warning Percy against this quest was proof enough. Of course, he would never stop a demigod from going on a quest, but that didn't stop him from trying to warn them away. Not that they could refuse... well, they could. But the gods didn't exactly take that very well.
(Dionysus rose, and... an Atlantic bottlenose.)
Percy and Poseidon shrugged. "Could be worse." Poseidon said.
"Yeah, I like Atlantic bottlenose's. They provide surprisingly good conversation. If you can get past their... flightiness, anyway." Percy agreed. Poseidon nodded wisely. Everyone else either stared at them in disbelief or facepalmed. That was so not the point.
Nobody saw some of the MS turn to the one who was being questioned earlier in disbelief. Not that anybody could see their expressions, but they could read their body language.
(Do you understand?... feels you must do.")
"He said your name." Will said quietly. "He only does that with the new kids and the ones he doesn't think he will ever see alive again."
Percy shrugged. That quest had been a little... intense. Especially for a first quest.
"I think I know what this quest will entail." Poseidon muttered quietly. He thought about what he knew so far and what he had guessed. Zeus's Bolt had been stolen, and Percy was being blamed, which meant that he, Poseidon was being blamed. Then, Hades sends his Furies after Percy, searching for something. Then, to top it all off, Hades takes Sally, presumably as leverage of some kind.
He had a feeling he knew exactly what this quest would entail. And he didn't like it. Not. One. Bit.
(Dionysus picked up..., please. And Grover.")
"At least he was polite about it." Percy grumbled, shooting a glare at Dionysus. Who ignored him while continuing to enjoy his wine.
(We did. Chiron laid... he hadn't gotten to use.)
Dionysus hit the arm of his throne and cursed. Even when he wasn't there, he still couldn't win.
Chiron grinned smugly.
("Tell me, Percy," he... hellhounds for breakfast.)
"I could. They are kind of easy to fight." Percy muttered, reaching behind him and patting Mrs. O'Leary reassuringly on the side. He hated having to fight Hellhounds. He could take them out easily, that wasn't the problem. It was the fact that he had one for a pet. And he loved his dog. Every time he fought a Hellhound and killed it, he felt like he was betraying Mrs. O'Leary somehow.
Artemis frowned. This sounded like something any boy would say.
( But I didn't feel... shot it, I'd be dead.")
Artemis frowned while the Future Greeks nodded. This boy was very humble for a male. He was different. And that made her curious.
("You'll meet worse, Percy. Far worse, before you're done.")
Sally frowned. She didn't like the sound of that.
("Done... with what?"
"Your quest, of course. Will you accept it?")
"You haven't even told him what it is yet." Poseidon said with a raised eyebrow.
Chiron shrugged. His book self seemed rather distracted nearly every time he came up in this book so far.
"The way he worded it sounds kind of like Mission Impossible." Leo whispered to Jason and Piper.
"Just, you know, less dramatic." He said. Piper raised an eyebrow but shrugged. It kind of did. Jason, though, had no clue what they were talking about.
But then, he was raised in Camp Jupiter, and only really left for a quest. So... he didn't really spend a whole lot of time in the mortal world, which meant he didn't know what movies and such were out there. Leo and Piper had been trying to educate him, but they didn't have a lot of time between defending the camp, training, building the Argo, and planning the trip to Rome.
(I glanced at Grover, who was crossing his fingers.)
"That's right. You had to go on a successful quest and bring Percy back from it safely in order to get your license." Will suddenly remembered.
Grover grimaced. He still wished this quest never happened. Along with that Polyphemus' Island fiasco. Honestly, most demigods first quest was to go find something that another god 'stole' and hid from its owner, or to defeat a certain monster, or even simply running errands. No... Percy's first quest is to break into the Underworld and talk Hades into just handing over the Bolt.
Only to find out when they get there that, Surprise! Hades never had the stupid thing in the first place.
("Um, sir," I said... sea were boiling together.)
Amphitrite reached out and took her husband's hand. The rest of the gods all frowned again at hearing how bad the fight was.
("Poseidon and Zeus,"... stolen, aren't they?")
Athena leaned forward in her throne. Maybe now they would finally find out what was going on. It made her really mad that everyone else had it figured out but she kept coming up blank.
(Chiron and Grover... excitement. "It must be!")
Grover sighed, "This was before I knew what this quest would actually involve." He said in despair. Grover looked more than a little scared by this.
("Only the Oracle can determine.")
"Sadly, it wasn't Rachel. At least she isn't nearly as creepy." Percy muttered to Annabeth. She nodded in agreement.
(Chiron stroked his bristly... precise: a lightning bolt.")
Zeus slowly sat up in his throne. His hand went to the Master Bolt at his side. He narrowed his gaze at Poseidon, who noticed and rolled his eyes in annoyance.
(I laughed nervously... god-level explosives.")
Jason and Piper glanced at Leo on the floor between them when they heard a whimper. He had looked up from the machine he was still building to gaze longingly at the weapon Zeus was still clutching protectively while staring at Poseidon suspiciously.
Uh-oh.
They each grabbed a shoulder and held on to keep him in place. The last thing they needed was for Leo to try and 'study' the master bolt.
("Oh." "Zeus's master bolt,"... bombs look like firecrackers.")
"Whoa." A few people muttered. Piper and Jason looked around and noticed that both Hephaestus and Beckendorf were looking at the master bolt just as longingly as Leo. They figured it must be a Hephaestus thing, Hephaestus must have been wanting to get his hands on it for centuries. Study the craftsmanship. Although the other two looked more controlled than Leo did.
("And it's missing?")
Zeus held onto his bolt even tighter and started glaring at Poseidon. He had finally figured out why the boy was here, and he finally remembered the title of the book. He opened his mouth to accuse Poseidon, when Percy spoke up, glaring at him.
Nobody saw Athena's slack jaw throughout this entire conversation between Percy and Chiron. How on earth had she missed this? It seemed so obvious now!
"Neither I, nor my father had anything to do with this. So, don't you dare accuse us without proof." He said icily. Some people looked at him and shivered, scooting farther away from him, they had never seen him like this. When they looked though, they saw Poseidon and Triton staring at him with the same icy looks on their faces.
("Stolen," Chiron said.)
Zeus growled and held his bolt closer, but didn't say anything. Poseidon and his sons were still giving him that look.
("By who?" "By whom,"... teacher. "By you.")
"POSEIDON!" Zeus boomed, standing up and aiming his lightning bolt at him.
"SIT DOWN!" Hestia's sharp reprimand cut across him like a torpedo. She glared at him, she was getting tired of him always being so quick to blame. "Now, I would thank you to remember that the boy has already denied all involvement, not to mention the fact that at this point in the books, he has only known of our world for a little over a week. He could not have taken anything." She continued, staring at her youngest sibling. Honestly, why did she have to be the oldest again? It was so exhausting.
"Whoa." Several of the demigods said, eyeing Hestia carefully. She raised an eyebrow and mentally smirked.
Percy, who had been quiet for a while now, muttered that he couldn't even steal from Gabe, Lily was the klepto of the two.
(My mouth fell open... had an argument.)
Everyone could guess what the argument was. The younger, past demigods, had a pretty good idea that they were now discussing the same argument the future Greeks had interrupted when they first appeared.
(The usual nonsense... disasters,' et cetera.)
Poseidon sighed, bored and annoyed. Truthfully, he only got into those arguments to humor Zeus. They got old centuries ago, but he humored his brother, like any good older brother would. Even if Zeus was a whiny little brat sometimes, and didn't treat his siblings at all like how he should treat them. The one's he treated decently were Hera and Hestia. For one thing, he married Hera, and for another... who didn't like Hestia?
Of course, it was also a matter of pride, especially when he brought up the air/sea disaster argument. He already knew who Rhea liked best, she admitted it to him in private. She couldn't stand Zeus's attitude.
(Afterward, Zeus realized... under his very nose.)
Hephaestus sighed, "How many times have I mentioned upgrading the security on this place? And how many times have you ignored my suggestions?" He muttered to himself.
(He immediately blamed Poseidon.)
Poseidon stopped reading to sigh, "Of course he blamed me, something goes wrong, it's Poseidon's fault. A prophecy was made that he doesn't like, it's Apollo's fault. Forgetting the fact that he can't control the Oracle." He muttered.
(Now, a god cannot... human hero to take it.")
Poseidon sighed again as he watched Zeus nodding along with Chiron's explanation. Naturally, the first person Zeus would blame would be Percy. He would probably use the fact that Percy was in New York over Christmas as his proof. Forgetting the fact that the present time's Percy knew nothing of the Greek world even existing.
"Ten bucks says he blames Percy." Leo whispered to the closest demigods. He forgot the part where Chiron already claimed Zeus was blaming Percy.
They all looked like he was crazy. "Suckers bet." Thalia whispered back with a smirk.
("But I didn't-")
"Exactly." Percy muttered. He was still sore about this.
("Patience and listen, child,"... his brother's lightning.)
"Influence I have only used twice, and both times because you were throwing a temper tantrum and would have destroyed half the world in your childish fit if I didn't take away your ammunition." Poseidon said with a hard stare at his brother.
Zeus glared at him, ignoring the snickering demigods. They never really heard people calling Zeus childish before, and now both Percy and his father called him childish to his face.
(Zeus believes Poseidon... Zeus from his throne.)
The sound of many palms being slapped across people's forehead's, and then dragged down their faces in exasperation was heard. Zeus's older siblings were wondering when on earth their youngest became so paranoid. 1) Poseidon never once made an legitimate attempt at getting the throne. 2) Poseidon already had a kingdom to run. One that was actually more extensive than Zeus's was, along with Hades, since those two actually had subjects and a city. Or, multiple cities, in Poseidon's case.
Well... technically, Zeus had subjects... but all of those subjects happened to fall under everyone else's domains or answered to somebody else pretty much all the time.
(The only thing Zeus... has found his thief.")
"I didn't even know Olympus existed when I was in New York over the winter holidays." Percy deadpanned. Everyone else snickered. Zeus glared.
("But I've never even been to Olympus! Zeus is crazy!")
Percy nodded. Back then, he didn't know Zeus, had never seen him before. Now that he had, he could honestly say that he underestimated just how crazy.
Zeus glared at him for daring to call him crazy, but he couldn't do anything, not with both Hestia and Poseidon in the room watching. (Not to mention Sally, but he wasn't about to admit the mortal woman scared him.)
(Chiron and Grover... like a coffin lid.)
"That was terrifying." Will said quietly.
"The barrier kept bad weather out, but now... we didn't know if we were being punished for something or if the barrier fell." Clarisse said in agreement.
The Romans looked at their Greek counterparts thoughtfully. They may get more attention from the Olympians, but at the same time... they also seemed to get more trouble.
("Er, Percy...?"... the Lord of the Sky.")
"Thank you, satyr." Zeus said stiffly. He never forgave Grover for Thalia dying.
("Perhaps paranoid," Chiron suggested.)
Zeus glared at Chiron, who just looked back innocently.
("Then again, Poseidon has tried to unseat Zeus before.)
Poseidon frowned and tried to remember when he ever tried to unseat Zeus. The only thing he could think of was... Oh come on! That whole thing was Hera's idea! He banged his head with the book a few times, grumbling under his breath before he started to read again.
Zeus was still nodding in agreement with what Chiron was saying in the book.
(I believe that was... question thirty-eight.)
A few (Athena and Artemis) nodded in agreement. They didn't expect anything either.
(How could anyone accuse... without getting busted.)
Everyone looked at Percy in surprise. Considering how many pranks he got away with over the years with nobody being any the wiser, this was surprising. They didn't say anything though, they didn't want to remind Percy of some of his... more elaborate pranks and potentially ask for a repeat.
(Chiron was waiting... ruler, right?"
"Correct,")
Athena and Artemis's jaws dropped. They really weren't expecting him to remember.
(Chiron said. "And Zeus has never trusted Poseidon since.)
"Oh brother," Poseidon muttered before he continued louder, "And I don't know how often we have to tell you, that whole thing was Hera's idea." He said tiredly.
(Of course, Poseidon... at the accusation.)
"Of course I would/I hate being accused of something I didn't do." Poseidon and Percy muttered.
(The two have been... after World War II,)
Percy furrowed his eyebrows and said slowly, "Which Zeus had already done... twice..." He said, twisting around to look at Triton, who grinned at him.
"Exactly, but... Uncle Zeus doesn't usually see things that way." He said, ignoring said uncle's glare.
Percy frowned, but only muttered, "Hypocrite." And left it at that.
(that he's fathered a... bolt stolen, did he?")
"Of course not!" Poseidon said, offended that his own son would even ask such a thing. Although... he was also proud, this was the first time that book Percy called him dad.
(Chiron sighed. "Most... Poseidon's style.)
"And I think we all know that Zeus rarely thinks things through." Hades said dryly. Transferring the glare from Percy and Triton to himself.
(But the Sea God is... the summer solstice.)
"Kind of hard to do when I don't have it." Poseidon growled, not at all happy.
(That's June twenty-first, ten days from now.)
"Ten days? That's plenty of time." Leo said. They had much less time when they had to save Hera.
Percy, Annabeth, and Grover all looked at each other. "Ten days is really not. Especially not on a quest like this." Grover said.
"Never. NEVER assume you have plenty of time." Annabeth said in a serious voice. Percy nodded in agreement with them.
(Poseidon wants an apology... two brothers see sense.)
The three women sighed and thanked Chiron for their faith in them, but apologized for not being able to stop them this time.
There were just some cases where the boys were too far gone for them to stop the fighting and force
them to get along.
(But your arrival has... would like, Percy?")
Even Ares looked apprehensive about what a war of that scale would look like. Sure, he liked war and all, after all, he was the god of war. But something of that magnitude...
("Bad?" I guessed.)
"That's one way of putting it..." Ares said slowly.
"Bit of an understatement though." Athena muttered. Percy shrugged.
("Imagine the world in... a water-balloon fight.")
"Whoa." Leo said, his face was sheet white just thinking about it.
"Sounds pretty accurate." Hera muttered, glaring at her brothers.
("Bad," I repeated.)
"How on earth do you keep defining stuff like that in such simple terms?!" Annabeth was very confused and just a little angry about it. It wasn't a laughing matter, yet she felt like he was making it seem like less of a big deal than it really was.
Percy shrugged, "Guess that's just how my brain works." He said.
"And you, Percy Jackson, would be the first to feel Zeus's wrath.")
Percy sighed. "Story of my life, right there." He muttered. The other four grimaced and nodded in agreement. They were pretty much the same way.
(It started to rain... silence at the sky.)
"It was a shock. It had never rained before unless we wanted it too, and usually Chiron would tell us ahead of time so we could plan accordingly." Luke said. Even he had not been expecting the rain. And he had this huge plan to get Percy to leave camp and go on a quest already.
(I had brought this... camp because of me.)
"Hey, Luke." Percy said quietly. "Was this...?"
Luke frowned, but shook his head slowly. "Not that I know of... but he also didn't share every single plan with me." He said apologetically. Percy frowned, but nodded.
(I was furious.)
Most people flinched. That was never a good thing. When he was annoyed, it was a good time to duck and cover. The only ones who could really deal with him them were Annabeth, Grover, and for some odd reason, Clarisse. Not Thalia, she usually only made the problem worse.
When he was angry, that was when they found an enemy and pointed him at it, letting him go. When he was furious... well... they learned to stay out of his way. And on occasion they pitied the poor soul that earned his fury.
("So I have to find the stupid bolt," I said. "And return it to Zeus.")
"It's not stupid! And yes! You do need to return it!" Zeus raged. How dare this sea-spawn upstart call his lightning bolt stupid!
Percy raised an eyebrow, but it was Percy that answered him. "Kind of hard to return something that you don't have."
("What better peace... return Zeus's property?")
"Never going to work." Hera, Poseidon, and Hestia all muttered. Who knows what Zeus would try to accuse Poseidon for instead.
Chiron sighed. He could hope, though, couldn't he?
("If Poseidon doesn't have it, where is the thing?")
"It's not a thing." Both Ares and Zeus muttered. Ares was slightly insulted because it was a very powerful weapon, and he loved powerful weapons.
("I believe I know."... counsel of the Oracle.")
All the futures grimaced. They had almost forgotten, but this was the time when they still had the mummy. They really weren't looking forward to getting a description of that, especially given how detailed Percy was so far with his descriptions.
Apollo looked down at mention of his Oracle, he never did find out what happened to her. Hades was making a point of not looking towards Apollo or Rachel, while Nico and Percy weren't looking at Hades.
("Why can't you tell me where the bolt is beforehand?")
"Very good question." Zeus said, now he was looking at Chiron suspiciously, Chiron just rolled his eyes.
("Because if I did, you would be too afraid to accept the challenge.")
"Good reason." Percy muttered.
(I swallowed. "Good reason.")
Percy blinked, while his older self smirked at him and a few others snickered.
("You agree then?"... nodded encouragingly.)
Grover shuddered. He hated this quest, he should have never gone on this quest. "Big mistake." He muttered.
(Easy for him. I was the one Zeus wanted to kill.)
"Actually, Zeus wanted to kill me too. After everything that happened with Thalia, yeah..." Grover said with a shrug. Grover nodded, but he was also staring at his older self in awe. How was he not worried about that?
("All right," I said. "It's better than being turned into a dolphin.")
"On second thought, I'll take the dolphin." Percy said, raising his hand like he would in class.
Dionysus smirked at him.
("Then it's time you... sane, we will talk more.")
"Wait..." Reyna said. "Assuming you are still sane?"She repeated incredulously. All the Greeks shrugged.
"Personally, I prefer the old Oracle to Octavian any day." Percy grumbled.
"Oh yeah, didn't he destroy your panda?" Hazel asked.
Percy eyes narrowed and he muttered something that sounded suspiciously like, 'worked hard to steal that thing with Gorgons on my tail.' Sally narrowed her eyes, but decided that she would ask later. In private.
(Four flights up, the stairs... my breath and climbed.)
"I held my breath, too." Clarisse and Luke both assured Percy. Beckendorf nodded in agreement. The smell was a little strong when the door was first opened.
(The attic was filled... shields pitted with rust;)
"Wow, you don't go up there much, do you?" Gwen asked quietly. The Greeks noticed that the Romans were pretty quiet unless they were directly spoken to or had something they were wondering about in regards to their camp. Reyna in particular seemed to be comparing.
(old leather steamer trunks plastered with stickers saying ITHAKA, CIRCE'S ISLE,)
"Hate that place." Reyna muttered.
Percy winced. Now that he actually remembered that incident... "Sorry, about that, by the way." He told the Praetor. She shrugged.
(and LAND OF THE AMAZONS.)
"My sister is the Amazon Queen." Reyna piped up again. When people looked at her incredulously, she shrugged and said it was a long story.
"That's why you told me to seek her out!" Percy realized. "So she could send aid." Reyna winced, but nodded.
"Aid?" Jason asked, worried. "What's happening in my camp?"
"Don't worry, we'll take care of it. You just focus on the Argo." Percy reassured him. He didn't look reassured though.
(One long table was... WOODSTOCK, N.Y., 1969.)
"Why would you keep some of that stuff?" Hazel asked, a little disturbed.
Percy shrugged. "They used to be battle trophies, but the demigod they belonged to died at some point, and they were moved up there. Either that, or they belong to one of us," He gestured to all the demigods he fought with, "and we just didn't want to keep it in our cabins. I keep my horn in my cabin, but I've stored a few other battle trophies up there over the years." He said.
"So have I." Annabeth said.
(By the window, sitting... dead a long, long time.)
"What is that?" Reyna asked, looking green. Most of the people who never saw the mummy Oracle were currently looking a little green.
"That, is/was the Oracle." Chiron and Percy both answered her. Apollo looked a little down again at the thought of what his Oracle currently was, but then he looked at Rachel and reminded himself that the problem fixed itself, whatever was wrong, it righted itself and he got a new Oracle. Hades winced again at the description, and he caught Percy and Nico eyeing him. Great, so the two of them knew. Perfect. Leo was apologizing to every remark he ever made to Rachel about her being the Oracle.
"You preferred a dead mummy to Octavian?" Hazel asked him with a weird look on her face. Percy shrugged. The Romans looked at each other and figured it must be a Greek thing or something.
(Looking at her sent... and opened her mouth.)
"You got to be kidding me!" Leo yelped, he was officially freaked out now, and very grateful that they had Rachel.
(A green mist poured... get to the trap-door,)
A few people nodded, yup, they all made that move too. A few shuddered at hearing about it.
(but it slammed shut... Approach, seeker, and ask.)
Some shuddered. That was creepy. Sally in particular looked disturbed, while Paul looked like he might run out of the room, especially if the way he was eyeing Apollo indicated.
(I wanted to say, No thanks, wrong door, just looking for the bathroom.)
People chuckled, trust Percy to come up with a suggestion like that.
(But I forced myself... Dodds or the Minotaur.)
"Of course it's not! Its just my Oracle." Apollo said, slightly offended that his Oracle could be considered evil.
"I don't know..." Percy said, and Apollo looked at him sharply. "You've clearly never seen Rachel in a bad mood." He finished with a smirk.
Rachel glared at him and threw a hairbrush at him, which he barely dodged. "Where did you get a hairbrush?" Jason asked slowly.
"And why do you have a hairbrush?" Piper asked.
Rachel shrugged. "You never know when I need to throw something at a titan as a distraction." She answered cryptically. Nico, Annabeth, and Percy found this extremely funny for some odd reason. Everybody else just decided not to ask. They didn't want to know.
(It felt more like... in killing me, either.)
"One of the few." Percy deadpanned. Hazel and Frank winced again, again thinking about the trip to Alaska they were about to go on with him. Sally and Paul in particular looked uneasy.
(I got up the courage to ask, "What is my destiny?")
"Because that's not dramatic at all." Grover muttered to his friend, who just grinned at him.
"And he is just like his father in that regard." Amphitrite muttered. Poseidon grinned at his wife, much like Percy was now grinning at Grover.
(The mist swirled more... Gabe and his buddies.)
Growls were heard throughout the room at the thought of the Oracle using them in her vision. Gabe and a few of the demigods just happened to be transported to the other room not a few moments later.
Chiron frowned in disapproval, but still made absolutely no move to stop or scold them. He actually wished he could be doing the same, but that wouldn't be setting a very good example for all of his students. Present or future.
(My fists clenched, though... god who has turned.)
"The west?" Athena murmured. "But only one of us lives in the west."
Hades narrowed his eyes. He didn't like where this was going. "Last I checked, my address doesn't make me guilty of anything. It said he would face a god in the west. Not that the god lived in the west. For all we know, it could mean Apollo towards sunset." He said with narrow eyes, ignoring the protest from Apollo.
"Prophesies often have double meanings. They are very rarely straightforward," Apollo said after a few seconds of pouting. He sounded strained, and he avoided looking at Zeus. Something that only Poseidon, both Percy's, Will, and Hermes picked up on. Which was understandable, his prophecies got him in a lot of trouble with Zeus for some odd reason.
(His buddy on the right)
"Wait, do you even know the names of his poker buddies?" Annabeth asked suddenly. It was so random everybody turned and blinked at the girl for a few moments before both Percy's finally shook their heads no. They only really knew Eddie because he also happened to be the building super.
(looked up and... it safely returned.)
"Yes!" Zeus yelled, happy and relieved that it would be found. Everybody else rolled their eyes.
(The guy on the... who calls you a friend.)
Everyone went silent. Luke practically froze, he did not see that one coming. Was this why Percy took his betrayal so hard? Because he considered them to be friends? As for everyone else, particularly Annabeth, they finally understood some of why Percy was so insistent on Luke being evil and beyond saving after he came back from the Sea of Monsters. For a guy with a fatal flaw like loyalty to be betrayed like that...
(Finally, Eddie, our... matters most, in the end.)
Sally sighed and looked at her son sadly.
Zeus frowned, "It said the bolt was found and returned, what else matters?" He asked. A few glared at him, but nobody bothered reminding him that Sally was also stolen.
Percy frowned and cocked his head to the side, he hadn't thought about this prophecy in years. "You know... now that I think about it... I think only the first two lines had anything to do with the bolt. The second line, that could refer to all three of the stolen 'items', the third one is obvious... but I think the last one might actually be referring to the friend who betrayed me. And I don't think that line was limited to just this quest, either." He said, being careful not to mention Luke by name.
Annabeth frowned too, "You mean, the soul of the traitor is the thing you would fail to save in the end? Because in the end, he died after giving his body, mind, and soul to Kronos, and then fighting back at the very end. And the Fates did carry his body away themselves." Nobody noticed Hermes lean over and put his head in his hands or Luke frowning and looking at his older self in question.
Percy nodded. "Think about it, if I'd managed to turn him away from that path before Kronos fully rose, then the whole war would have never happened. Either that or we would have had a valuable information resource on our side. So many lives wouldn't have been lost." He said. "But I also don't think its just talking about the original traitor. Remember? The spy?" He said. All the other demigods nodded in agreement now, this did make perfect sense now that they thought about it.
Apollo looked thoughtful too, but without knowing what exactly they were talking about, he couldn't confirm or deny what they were talking about. Of course, he had a pretty good idea from his visions of the future what was going to happen, but the future was becoming more and more blurry the more they read of this book.
(The figures began... will I fail to save?")
"Sorry, but once she's said her bit, that's all your going to get from her." Apollo said quietly. Percy shrugged. He was still thinking about the revelation he had earlier.
(The tail of the mist... room full of mementos.)
"Creepy mementos." Hazel muttered, and everyone else nodded in agreement, although the Greeks shrugged. So what if some of that stuff was a little creepy, they worked hard to defeat those monsters, those were their battle trophies.
Chiron winced though, "We should probably go up there and clean some of that stuff out. Some of it has been in the camps possession for centuries. I can contact some of those that accepted immortality and see what they want done with their trophies, but some of the other stuff... I will have to think about it. I did not know that it was so cluttered up there though." He said. He looked at his current students. "Which means that if you have stuff up there and you want to keep it, you better go up to the attic when we get back and retrieve it." They nodded. The Romans gave them strange looks.
Sure, they understood the concept of taking battle trophies, but... body parts?
(I got the feeling that... pressed. "This is important.")
"Yes, it is, but also vague and its not a good idea to try and interpret in your own way." Apollo said, "especially as I have a feeling you are about to let your current knowledge and prejudice cloud you interpretation." Chiron raised an eyebrow, what was wrong with him trying to help out one of his students? Especially with that students first prophecy.
(My ears were still... I didn't have that many.)
Sally winced and hung her head slightly. She had always wished her boy could have more friends growing up, but with how often he switched schools, and then their money situation... nobody really wanted anything to do with him. Until Grover, but even then Grover was there on orders, especially in the beginning.
Luke grimaced, yet another reason why Percy took his betrayal so harshly. Even if he did try to be nice and kill the boy so he wouldn't suffer...
(And the last line-... the way, you'll fail.)
"Double meanings." Apollo practically sing-songed, and then chuckled when Percy made a face at him.
(How could I confess... events come to pass.")
"Ain't that the truth." Several demigods muttered. Those closest to the MS's corner thought they could hear the seven muttering their own agreement.
(I got the feeling he... make me feel better.)
Chiron chuckled. "When you have been teaching children and teenagers for as long as I have, young Percy, you do tend to tell when they aren't telling you something." Percy smiled slightly at him.
"You also hesitated too long." Hermes muttered, which all his children nodded in agreement with.
("Okay," I said,... god in the west?")
"Could be any of us. It's not like we're restricted from going west. It would actually make Apollo's job difficult if he can't go west." Artemis said. "Beside's that, all the best hunting is in the west."
"New Rome is also in the west, and we have Terminus guarding the city." Reyna said with a shrug. Percy shrugged and muttered something about OCD border gods, which made the Romans all chuckle.
"Yeah, he does take some, uh, getting used to." Jason said. "But Julia is a sweetheart." All the Romans nodded in agreement again.
"Julia?" Piper asked, some of her old insecurities of Jason having a girl back in New Rome that he didn't remember coming back to her.
"Yeah, she's, what, six? Seven? Her parents live in the city, and she helps Terminus out. She's a cutie." Hazel said with a small smile. Piper sat back, somewhat relieved. She glanced at her mother, who was giving her a knowing look, and looked away again with a scowl.
("Ah, think, Percy,"... who stands to gain?")
"Not me." Hades protested immediately, he really hated being the one blamed. Well, him, Poseidon and Apollo were the ones blamed, but still.
("Somebody else who... was divided eons ago,)
"That rumor started from Zeus's paranoia. I'm quite happy where I am, thank you very much." Hades said, slightly offended. "Of course, if I was allowed to actually come visit my family more often..." He trailed off with a shrug.
Persephone put a hand on his arm and rubbed, trying to give him some sort of comfort. She knew how much he disliked being banished from Olympus. He wasn't even sure why he was banished.
(whose kingdom would grow powerful with the deaths of millions.)
"Whoa, hey. The last thing I need right now is millions more flocking to the Underworld. Do you have any idea how many souls I am already looking after? The commute time? I'm currently in the process of trying to figure out how to expand the Fields of Asphodel because I'm running out of room to put them all. And the expenses that keep piling up!" Hades protested. "You have no idea the chaos the Underworld gets thrown into every time the mortals have a genocide or major war. The Holocaust was a nightmare! And not just for the Jews!"
Nico and Hazel nodded in agreement. Nico often helped his father with the paperwork, and Hazel remembered the crowds from her time as one of those spirits in the Fields of Asphodel.
(Someone who hates... the ground. "Hades.")
Hades groaned and banged his head back while Nico and Hazel glared at Percy for automatically thinking of their father. Percy just sighed, he really should have known better than to automatically assume like that. He used to get after Lily for doing the same thing.
Everybody ignored Zeus muttering to himself, glaring between Hades and Poseidon suspiciously, and clutching his master bolt protectively.
(Chiron nodded. "The Lord of the Dead is the only possibility.")
"No, I'm just the only possibility that you want to consider." Hades muttered.
(A scrap of aluminum dribbled out of Grover's mouth. "Whoa, wait. Wh-what?")
Grover sighed, and Annabeth reached over to pat him sympathetically on the back. They were both kind of thrown in to the ride on this one with barely a clue of where they were going. All they knew was to head west. Honestly, they should have asked Chiron where the entrance to the Underworld was before they left. Among other things.
Everyone else was just chuckling at the picture of Aluminum falling out of Grover's mouth like that.
("A Fury came after... only one lord: Hades.")
Hades frowned suddenly. "Wait a minute, earlier you made reference to three stolen 'objects'. One is obviously the bolt, and then your mother... what is the third object? And why am I sending Furies after you, if neither of us has the bolt?" He asked Percy suspiciously, his hands were curling around his Helm of Darkness at his side.
When he saw his nephew's eyes flick over the Helm, and then flick back to his face, he groaned and started plotting the painful afterlife of whoever had the gall to steal his Helm. He didn't say anything though, he knew that very few would have caught onto what he was talking about and then the boys glance at his symbol of power. And those few were Hermes, Apollo, and Poseidon. Plus maybe a few others. They wouldn't say anything.
("Yes, but-but Hades hates all heroes,")
Hades held up his hands and moved it side to side in a 'sort-of' motion. "It depends on how much
that particular demigod has ticked me off and lived to tell the tale. Honestly, it's there fault if they decide to be annoying." He said with a shrug.
"That explains a lot." Percy muttered.
(Grover protested. "Especially if he has found out Percy is a son of Poseidon...")
"Now that, I could care less about. Well, I care in the sense that he's my nephew, but beyond that..." Hades shrugged again. "I'm not mad at either Poseidon or the boy. At the moment, anyway."
Percy shrugged too, his uncle was actually pretty cool, when he was in a good mood. Zeus on the other hand... enough said.
("A hellhound got into... can take on the quest.")
"Right scenario, wrong culprit." Percy, Annabeth, and Grover all said at once.
"Besides that, the hellhound was so they WOULD send you on a quest." Luke muttered under his breath.
("Great," I muttered. "That's two major gods who want to kill me.")
"Oh, the good old days. I only had two major enemies." Percy said dreamily. Several of the other demigods who had ever fought alongside Percy or happened to be there when he was attacked nodded in agreement. He did have a lot of enemies.
Once again, Sally and Poseidon looked worried for their sons safety and sanity.
("But a quest to..." Grover... nice this time of year.")
Thalia, Grover, Percy, and Annabeth all shivered. "I hate Maine." They all muttered. Percy's protective grip around Annabeth got even tighter. Not that she was complaining.
("Hades sent a minion... Zeus would blame Poseidon.)
"Again, right scenario, wrong culprit. Although this time, the one who 'hid' it isn't the same person who stole it." Percy said with a shrug. "Well, sort of." He avoided glancing at Luke, he didn't want to give him away too soon, although he had a feeling that Hermes and maybe Apollo already knew.
(I don't pretend to... and reveal the truth.")
"Oh, the truth was revealed alright." Annabeth muttered.
"And it was not what we were expecting," Percy said, shaking his head.
"Not at all." Grover finished with a scoff. They were really lucky Zeus decided to be nice and not knock the plane they were sitting in out of the sky. Although he doubted it had anything to do with Zeus being nice and everything to do with the fact that they were carrying his master bolt. But, who was keeping track of that stuff.
(A strange fire burned... and the hellhound.)
"Ok, the hellhound was definitely not me. That one, I can say with certainly. The Minotaur, who knows." Hades said with another shrug. He was doing that a lot lately. "And please, stay out of my Underworld." He practically begged/demanded of everyone in the room.
(It was his fault my mother had disappeared in a flash of light.)
"Uh-oh." Hades muttered, and started muttering 'please don't do it, please don't do it...' under his breath. Persephone heard him and grimaced. Because, honestly, they all knew by now that the boy was going to do it.
(Now he was trying... to take him on.)
Hades groaned and banged his head against the back of his throne, and just kept it there, muttering about which duties he was going to have to assign the Furies so he could oversee the new security measures, and get the fresh stack of paperwork done.
(Besides, if my mother was in the Underworld...)
Hades paused in his planning long enough to mutter that the boy should be lucky she was merely being held hostage and not actually dead.
(Whoa, boy, said a small part of my brain that was still sane.)
"That exists?" All his friends asked in shock. With Clarisse, Annabeth, his dear cousins, and Grover being the loudest. Percy rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue out at them all.
(You're a kid... cards like potato chips.)
Dionysus groaned. "Chiron! How many times do I have to ask you keep the pinochle cards out of reach when the satyr's get worked up?! Do you have any idea how many packs of cards I have to replace every month?!"
"You could always, oh, I don't know, not replace them." Several demigods muttered. They were sick and tired of the game.
(The poor guy needed... fail? This was suicide.)
"Most quests are. But demigods are remarkably brilliant at finding ways out of the bad situations." Artemis murmured. How many quests had she watched from her chariot at night? How many demigods had she seen in a desperate situation that she was positive was about to kill them, only
for them to defeat their opponent, then get up and walk away like nothing happened?
("Look, if we know... are not the same,")
"Exactly." Apollo, Poseidon, and Hermes all muttered.
(Chiron said. "Besides,... operate through humans?")
Zeus scowled. He hated that they had to rely on demigods so much. In his mind, it pointed out a glaring weakness and security risk to his rule. If he could get away with destroying all of them (except for his own children, of course) he would. But, if he did that, they would probably all fade away, that was, if the others didn't kill him first.
"You know... I don't really get that. We can't be held accountable for a hero's actions, and yet... most if not all of the time, we are the ones who send hero's to do this or that in the first place. Doesn't that make us accountable, since they were only doing what we asked of them?" Hermes asked, looking around. Everyone else blinked at him, while Athena gaped and Zeus was too busy thinking about what he would like to do with everybody else's brats sometimes if he didn't think it would make their parents start a revolt.
("You're saying I'm being used.")
"Uh-oh." Annabeth and Sally muttered. They didn't like where this conversation just went.
("I'm saying it's no... situation. He needs you.")
Poseidon, Amphitrite, and Triton all groaned, and Sally informed Chiron that he worded that in the worse possible way. "That will only make him think that Poseidon only claimed him now because he could be useful, and not that Poseidon actually cares." Everyone turned to look at Percy, but he refused to meet anyone's gaze, same with Percy from his spot encased in Triton's protective grip.
(My dad needs me... Now suddenly he needed me.)
"I didn't ignore you. I just couldn't let you know I was around." Poseidon said quietly. Percy smiled at his father reassuringly.
"I know, dad."
(I looked at Chiron. "You've known I was Poseidon's son all along, haven't you?")
"Yes." All the Greeks muttered.
Chiron and Dionysus both shrugged. It wasn't there fault they weren't allowed to say anything until the child was claimed.
("I had my suspicions... the Lord of the Dead.")
Hades sighed and started writing down his tentative plans for delegating duties and tightening security down. He was going to need the list.
"When you put it that way... how did you survive this quest?" Clarisse asked Percy with a raised eyebrow. Percy just shrugged and laid his head on Annabeth's shoulder.
("Check." Chiron said... weapon in the universe.")
"Better believe its the most powerful." Zeus muttered.
("Check." "And get... solstice, in ten days.")
"Plenty of time." Leo said again. He clearly either forgot or just hadn't listened when Annabeth said earlier that you never assume you have plenty of time on a quest.
("That's about right."... time of year?" he asked weakly.)
"I'll pass on Maine." Grover said. "And Florida. And California. Hmmm... I've never been to
Hawaii..." He said.
"Sure, we could use a vacation when all this is over." Percy said. He was all for going to Hawaii with Grover and the others.
("You don't have to... underground places... well...")
Grover shuddered and nodded. He hated the underground.
Grover sighed and started banging his head on the back of the couch. Percy grimaced beside him. "Stupid, of all the places to hide, that was the perfect one..." Grover muttered. "Satyr's are so stupid."
Annabeth reached around Percy to pat him on the shoulder. She knew that none of the satyr's ever thought to search underground because none of them really agreed with the underground, it made them extremely nervous. For Grover to have found Pan underground... to him it made the entire satyr race seem like a bunch of idiots. Instead of continuing to search above ground, they should have been searching in the underground, where their lord would have known they would never go and would have therefore thought it was the perfect place to hide.
(He took a deep breath,... I won't let you down.")
Grover's eyes widened. He was really going to willingly go underground? Sure, he liked Percy and wanted to keep him safe, but...
Chiron smiled, he knew there was more to that satyr than Grover ever let himself believe. Maybe this would prove everything he'd ever been telling Grover.
(I felt so relieved... than a few months.)
Sally let out an explosive sigh and leaned forward with her head in her hands while Paul wrapped an arm around her.
"Mom?" Both Percy's asked, worried. The two of them started to get up to see what was wrong, but Paul waved them off.
"She's fine, just mad about... something. Don't worry, boys." He said reassuringly. He had a feeling he knew what she was mad about, but he also didn't want his step-son to think it was his fault. The boys sank back down in their seats, but kept shooting their mother worried looks.
Hera smiled at seeing yet another example of the relationship that mothers and their children should have. Regardless of the boys father, this was fast becoming her favorite family just for how Sally and Percy treated each other.
(I wasn't sure what good a satyr could do)
"Hey!" Both Grover's protested. Grover took it one step further and hit his friend over the back of his head, causing Percy to lean away from him and raise his hands, either in surrender or defense. Who knew.
"I'm not that hopeless," Grover muttered with a scowl.
(against the forces of the dead,)
"Oh, ok. Yeah, not much." Both Grover's conceded with a grimace.
"Well, I can do more now than I could back then, but..." Grover continued with a shrug. Percy smirked at him.
Hades just smirked at the satyr's.
(but I felt better knowing he'd be with me.)
"Aw, thanks buddy."
"No problem, man."
("All the way, G-man."... it's in America.")
Percy sighed explosively, "WHERE in America?" He asked, exasperated. Honestly, what was with people and not answering his older self questions properly?
Chiron gave him a funny look.
("Where?")
Faces met palms all over the room as Percy crossed his arms across his chest and nodded imperiously.
(Chiron looked surprised... is in Los Angeles.")
"Chiron, he has only known about the Greek world for a week, and you never showed him the video! How on earth would that be obvious?" Sally asked, exasperated with the centaur's seeming memory lapses where her son was concerned.
Chiron turned a bright red as he realized. "My apologies, I fear I might have become a little too, ah, accustomed to what I would consider facts of life to consider sometimes that others won't always have the same information." He said softly, mentally reviewing his behavior with new campers and seeing if he did the same thing to them, too.
("Oh," I said. "Naturally. So we just get on a plane-")
"No!" Poseidon, his wife and Triton, Sally, and most of the demigods yelled.
Percy got a deer-in-the-headlights look on his face as he said quickly, "I know! I know, flying is bad, I am aware of that now."
Poseidon breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. My brother does not show the same restraint that I show my nieces and nephews when it comes to them being in his territory." Everyone who had been confused about why Percy shouldn't fly, now understood.
("No!" Grover shrieked... died in a plane crash.)
"While those are both true and valid reasons, they were not my only reasons." Sally said with a slight glare towards Zeus. She determinedly avoided looking in Gabe's direction.
("Percy, think," Chiron... come down again alive.")
"Just to make this clear now, all of you are welcome to spend time in the sea as often as you like." Poseidon said, looking at the sons and daughters of Zeus and Hades. The fact that half of said pair was Roman the other was Greek made it slightly ironic to his mind, especially considering they were opposites. The son and daughter of Hades and Zeus, versus the daughter and son of Pluto and Jupiter. The Greek pair were also the oldest, which also represented the Greek/Roman mess pretty well. Their Greek halves were older than their Roman halves, not to mention slightly... wilder. Certainly less disciplined.
The four demigods, especially the two Romans, looked startled before they smiled at him. He could understand Hazel and Jason's reaction though, the Romans always feared the sea. He wasn't quite sure why, it wasn't like he couldn't cause just as much, if not more, damage on dry land. He wasn't called the Earthshaker for nothing. But then again... they did live in California... but those quakes were mostly Hades fault. He was quicker to lash out than Poseidon.
(Overhead, lightning crackled. Thunder boomed.)
Several people rolled their eyes at the dramatics. He was such a drama-queen!
("Okay," I said, determined... if you will accept her help.")
"Gee, I wonder who that would have been." Thalia drawled sarcastically, looking towards her 'younger sister'.
Annabeth smirked at her while Percy, for some reason, groaned and hit his head on the back of the couch. Athena was already resolving to lecture her daughter's on the dangers of sea-spawn and why they were to not hang out with them. She didn't like how close her daughter and this one were, and she would not have her younger Annabeth falling for his charms too. The fact that her daughter was apparently going on a quest with this sea-spawn only made her resolve to speak with the girls sooner.
("Gee," I said, feigning... for a quest like this?")
Thalia blinked once, and then bashed her head against the back of her own couch (that was happening a lot, wasn't it?) before muttering about how she thought like Kelp-for-Brains.
She ignored Percy and Annabeth smirking at her or the soft snickers that came from Nico (everyone else decided long ago to stay out of any potential fight the three cousins might have, their fights were legendary in camp, like the one between Percy and Thalia during Capture the Flag after the Maine fiasco), who once again held a plate with some blue birthday cake on it. Seriously, where was that coming from?
(The air shimmered behind... into her back pocket.)
Annabeth became wistful again, thinking of her beloved Yankees cap. She wished she knew why it no longer worked.
("I've been waiting a... from messing up.")
Athena nodded in agreement to that. A child of hers was the best when it came to keeping others from messing up. Although, Annabeth was going to have her hands full keeping the sea-spawn in line.
("If you do say so yourself," I said. "I suppose you have a plan, wise girl?")
"Always." Both Annabeth's crowed. Percy smirked at his girlfriend proudly.
(Her cheeks colored... all the help I could get.)
"Very true. Boys do need all the help they can get." Artemis said quietly with a raised eyebrow. She was, against her better judgement perhaps, starting to like this boy. He didn't have the arrogance or views on women that she found most males to possess.
"A trio," I said. "That'll work.")
"A trio is how it always works because that is usually what is safest." Apollo murmured.
Athena nodded, although she gave Apollo a dark look. "Three is a powerful number." She agreed simply.
("Excellent," Chiron said... supposed to have violent weather.)
"That was terrifying." Will whispered. The others who were there, including Luke, grimaced in agreement. They had no clue what was going on.
The other gods were angry that Zeus was punishing their children like that when nobody had done anything wrong. No matter what he seemed to think Percy had done.
("No time to waste," Chiron said. "I think you should all get packing.")
Poseidon closed the book with a soft snap. "That's the chapter. Who wants to read next?" He asked. He was torn, on the one hand, he wanted to hear about his sons quest, on the other hand, he really didn't want to read about his son venturing down to the Underworld. Oh, he really hoped Percy could keep his 'act first, think later' tendencies under control when speaking with Hades. Hades was the opposite of him, it didn't take much for him to get annoyed, and he could hold grudges for centuries.
After a moment, he was surprised when Zoe raised her hand and said she would read. She would never admit this to anyone, but she was becoming intrigued by this male hero.
Once she opened the book and found the right chapter, she raised an eyebrow and read... Chapter ten: I ruin a perfectly good bus"
She looked at Percy, who shifted while rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly while avoiding Annabeth's slight glare. After a moment, he shot a glare at Hades before settling back down and asking that she read, her question wasn't going to be answered by staring at him.