demigods from the present, demigods and people from the future with younger counterpart, MS from the future
telepathy
"Done." Annabeth announced. A few people were still staring at Percy, hardly able to believe he had just done that.
"You," Reyna finally said, pointing at him. "Are one crazy Graecus."
"Why thank you." Percy said with a grin.
She glared. "That wasn't a compliment." His grin just widened.
"I will read." Hestia said, stopping the argument between the two camp leaders. Annabeth handed off the book to her, and went back to sit with Luke. "Chapter twelve: We get Advice from a Poodle."
"A poodle?" Thalia asked, clearly questioning what was left of their sanity.
"It was Grover's idea." Percy grumbled, while Grover glared slightly. He happened to like Gladiola, he was a very smart dog.
(We were pretty miserable that night.)
"That's a good way to start a chapter." Somebody grumbled.
(We camped out in the woods... obviously been using for parties.)
Dionysus and Artemis frowned, and she shot a quick glare at him. After all, parties were his domain, and kids tended to leave a mess behind for her to try and clean up. Apollo frowned too.
"Why didn't you just stay at the warehouse?" Leo asked, if it was him, he would have stayed. He knew, that if you had a chance for a roof over your head, you had to take it. Because you never knew when you would get another chance for it.
"Creepy statues." They said, as if that explained everything. And for many, it did. But Leo just frowned again, who cares about the creepy statues. A roof is a roof.
(The ground was littered... cans and fast-food wrappers.)
Apollo and Artemis both growled, startling everyone there.
Grover sighed. "Don't worry, I have the nature spirits keeping and eye out and cleaning up where they can." He placated. "It shouldn't be our job to clean up after the humans, but there we go." He grumbled. Honestly, they should learn how to pick up after themselves, at least.
"I'm surprised the place isn't covered with beer cans or bottles." Dionysus muttered, sipping at his wine and leaning back.
(We'd taken some food and... a fire to dry our damp clothes.)
Leo grumbled. At least they had the brains to gather some supplies from the place. Although, it would have been better if they just stayed there the night.
Poseidon frowned. "If you had more time to train and get to know your abilities, then you could have dried all your clothes off." He said. He didn't hold it against them though, Percy had only known that he was his son for maybe a week. And it didn't sound like he'd really had a chance, between training and camp activities (not to mention worrying about the part where he wasn't technically supposed to exist) to really see what he could do. Not to mention, there was no older sibling to show him the ropes like some of the other cabins had. And, if he could, Poseidon would have sent somebody to at least get him started, but if he was on the verge of war...
Percy and Annabeth froze, staring at him. Then, both facepalmed and started muttering about how they were idiots for not thinking of that sooner.
Grover muttered something about not finding bags or something and bringing more food with them. Sure, they cleaned out the cash register (of both mortal and godly currency), but they only took enough food for that night. Even for breakfast, they had to go find something else. But, they could have fried up some burgers, brought some wax paper, and maybe some buns for later. And whatever else they could find in there. Her fridge had been full. Could have brought more than some bags of chips... they really should have planned ahead better. By the time they got to Colorado, they were hungry.
Percy and Annabeth glanced at him and agreed. That first day had not gone well, at all. On so many levels.
(The Furies and Medusa had... want to attract anything else.)
"That's true."
"There would have been less risk of that from inside the warehouse, though." Leo muttered. The quest trio blinked at him. He wasn't going to let that go, was he?
(We decided to sleep in shifts... as her head hit the ground.)
Annabeth snorted. That was the last time she ever fell asleep so easily outside the safety of camp or her bedroom at her dads. Although, even her bedroom was iffy sometimes considering there was no magic boundary keeping things out. And the spiders...
(Grover fluttered with his flying shoes to the lowest bough of a tree,)
Hermes nodded approvingly. "You got the hang of those shoes fairly quickly. Impressive." He complimented.
Grover flushed red, "Considering the circumstances..." Hermes just quirked a grin and left it at that. He would give him that one.
There was a momentary distraction when Leo got up to sit with Beckendorf and showed him what he was sketching earlier. When Beckendorf saw the blueprints for a whip, made of a mix of Celestial Bronze, silver, and Imperial Gold, his eyebrows rose. Two of those were difficult metals to work with on there own, let alone getting them to bond together. Adding silver into the mix... well, it was a mortal metal, which was technically forbidden, but... it might be allowed in this case because silver was also used by the Huntresses. (And it was the only thing that could affect they Lycan's, and since they themselves were considered monsters…) He read the notes off to the side about it being able to withstand heat, and whistled.
Depending on how hot he wanted to go, that wouldn't be a problem, none of those metals melted easily. It would have to be enchanted, though, just to be on the safe side, wouldn't want him accidentally going hotter than the metals could handle in the middle of a fight. Plus, the repeated exposure to extreme heat could compromise the metals integrity. And, of course, it would have to still be flexible enough to use as a whip. The enchantments that would need to go into this was probably the only reason his little brother was showing him before even getting started on it. Fire-users couldn't enchant things, they didn't have the right magic for it. Because, Leo certainly didn't show him it to check for design flaws, he was better than that.
"Yeah, this can work. You want to start working tonight? I can take care of the enchanting while you do the rest?" He asked, thinking they could use the palace forge. This was Leo's project though, the only thing here that Leo couldn't do himself was the enchantments needed. Of course, when he said that, he wasn't taking into account that Leo could provide all the heat and fire they needed to shape the metals.
Leo just grinned and held up his hand, lighting it on fire. Beckendorf grinned back and Hephaestus, who had been watching them, waved his hand and provided the materials they needed.
The two of them grinned at their dad, then found a corner and got to work.
"Why didn't I think of that?!" Leo asked the others, almost whining. Frank reached over to pat him on the back consolingly.
(put his back to the trunk... signed up for this stupid quest?")
"Nah, that was more terrifying than anything else." Grover said, watching as Percy and Annabeth started another game of hangman, while some of the MS pulled out a deck of cards and started a game with Clarisse and the Stolls. They did a pretty good job of it, what with limiting their speech and all that.
"I don't think the quest is what he's talking about, either." Artemis said quietly, watching all the demigods finding various activities to hold their attention while they listened. She was glad they could find things to amuse themselves so easily, she really didn't want to deal with hyperactive demigods. Which is what would have happened if they tried to focus on just the reading for a long time. She was surprised they managed it this long.
("No. This makes me sad."... They've polluted the sky.)
"Men." Zoe and Artemis said in disgust.
Rachel cleared her throat. "It's not just men that mess things up." She said, thinking of her mother and some of her father's business partners. Artemis looked at her, about to shoot her down, but stopped when she saw the look on her face.
"You've never seen the night sky how it used to be, Satyr, but yes, it was beautiful." Artemis said instead.
(This is a terrible time to... be an environmentalist.")
His comment got him glared at by Artemis, Zoe, Apollo, and Thalia. Hermes' glare was more half-hearted than anything else, but he still took offense. After all, the wild was his sons domain.
Percy gave them a look, asking 'what?'
(He glared at me. "Only a... It's useless to lecture a human.)
"Hey!" Rachel glared. Not all humans were hopeless, thank you very much.
"Rachel, you are one of the rare few." Grover said quickly, he didn't want to get the hairbrush thrown at him. She was deadly with that thing. Especially since she got one made special with Celestial Bronze along the edges, so she could actually take monsters out with it if need be.
(At the rate things are going, I'll never find Pan.")
"Pam?" Percy asked, confused. Why was he looking for cooking spray? It wasn't that hard to find, just go to the store.
The Grover's and Hermes glared, while Percy was trying really hard not to laugh.
("Pam? Like the cooking spray?")
Several palms met foreheads and sighs of either exasperated fondness, or just exasperation swept the room. Hermes and Grover looked highly offended, while Poseidon and Triton looked like they were trying not to laugh. Too hard, anyway.
A couple of people absently wondered how many bruises Percy had the next morning.
Both Percy's ignored everyone else to smirk at each other.
("Pan!" he cried indignantly.)
"I would be indignant too." Somebody muttered.
("P-A-N. The great god Pan!... been in these woods.)
All the gods sat on the edge of their thrones in shock, staring at Grover.
"That's the most anybody has heard from Pan in 2,000 years." Hermes whispered faintly, watching Grover in interest. 2,000 years of searching, on both his and the satyrs part, and the first sign that he was even still alive was made to this satyr.
This was proof, proof that his son was still out there and this satyr was the one to find him. His son was waiting for someone like this satyr to come along...
"If all the nature spirits work together, than maybe we can restore places like this clearing to what they used to be." Grover murmured, making mental plans and ignoring the stares of the Olympian council and their spouses.
(Suddenly I was nostalgic for something I'd never known.)
"You'll know it soon enough, Alaska is full of places that have never been touched by human beings." Hazel murmured.
"Especially since we have no idea where in Alaska we're going." Percy snorted in agreement when Frank dryly pointed that out.
"Why are you going to Alaska?" Poseidon asked carefully.
"Searching for the Legions standard. Among other things." Percy told his father cheerfully.
Alcyoneus... Hades shivered. That old giant was the only thing in Alaska that the Legion could possibly be after. The reason they had lost their standard in the first place. He had interrogated some of Michael Varus's men back when they came to the Underworld. Purely because they had died in Alaska. Considering what happened to Hazel in Alaska... He knew exactly where it was that Hazel, Frank, and Percy were going. It wasn't good, but if they could pull this off... well, maybe he should give them a few hints to help their way while they were here. Increase their chances of survival if nothing else.
("Tell me about the search," I said... I was just making fun.)
"I would never do that." Percy said, honestly offended that Grover would think that.
"I know you wouldn't." Grover said with a small smile. Percy gave him a quick look, trying to figure out what the caution was for in the book then, before smiling back.
("The God of Wild Places disappeared two thousand years ago,")
Hermes slumped down in his throne and ran a hand over his face. He would find out what happened to his son in these books. He was almost afraid to know. For now, though, he resigned himself to hearing the painful story. Hopefully it would be the short version.
(he told me. "A sailor off the... the great god Pan has died!')
The Romans frowned. "We've never heard this story." Reyna murmured.
"Pan disappeared a couple of centuries before the Roman empire came into being. So, I'm not surprised if you never heard about it. As far as Roman history is concerned, Pan never really existed. The Satyrs and nature spirits are the only ones besides his friends who seemed to really care and showed any concern at the time." Hermes said, somewhat bitterly. He had honestly not been happy when some humans 'celebrated' Pans disappearance and started pillaging from nature as they pleased without him there to stop them.
Reyna frowned, and decided that she should probably study Greek history closer than before, considering the Greek's history was much more extensive and ancient than the Roman one. It seemed like it would be a very good thing to know, especially since they were reading these books about the Greeks. Even if it was from Percy's point of view.
"I thought gods were immortal, that you couldn't die." Paul said, a little confused on that point.
"We are, and we can't. Well, if we take too much damage, then we might for a while. But we will return. We, can, however, fade. Permanently. We won't, though, as long as there are still people who 'acknowledge' us." Poseidon answered. Paul frowned, but nodded his thanks for the explanation.
(When humans heard the... pillaging Pan's kingdom ever since.)
The Hunters in the room all scowled, while Hermes glared at the wall. Dionysus sighed. He tried, he really tried to keep Pan's domain safe while he was gone, but he was afraid that he had his own domain to worry about, and lately he had camp as well to take care of.
(But for the satyrs, Pan... and wake him from his sleep.")
"Wow." Was the general comment from those who hadn't already known about this. Being the Romans and trio. They were a little amazed at the dedication the Satyrs showed, while the Romans were wondering why the Fawns didn't do anything like this.
"I bet none of them thought of looking in Alaska though." Hazel said, somewhat dryly. "It's the perfect place to hide, and it's pretty wild up there. Being away from the gods influence and all that." She shrugged when the satyrs looked at her in shock.
"You know, I don't think Alaska was ever searched." Grover said thoughtfully. He was trying to shore up some courage to go there himself, once he got his license. Hopefully, that wouldn't be necessary after these books.
"How do you know so much about Alaska?" Artemis finally asked Hazel. She herself had been to Alaska several times, there was good hunting there, even if she could never stay long before starting to get tired from being out of the sphere for so long. Alaska was something of neutral territory between all the Pantheons, nobody could really stay there for long, think of it like the eye of a storm, with all the action happening around it, but not touching it.
"I used to live there." Hazel said blankly. Then she cheered up a little. Despite everything, she had made a little home for herself, roaming the countryside as she did. "It's beautiful countryside, there's a lot of gold laying around under the grounds surface too..." She shrugged. The gods were looking at her like they couldn't quite decide what to think.
Before Hestia could continue though, Hermes thanked the satyrs in the room for their long dedication to finding his son.
("And you want to be a searcher."... the first searcher to return alive.")
"Whoa, wait, what?" All the Romans asked, shocked. Did he just say the first? Grover crooked a bittersweet grin.
"And you were." Percy said with a sad, but proud grin. Proud of his best friend for everything he accomplished, but sad that so many satyrs died over the years, sacrificing so much... just to be the next meal. Why was it the only half-siblings he had that were decent were Tyson and Triton? The rest of his siblings were all a bunch of jerks who wanted to either kill him, or aid the enemy. What was up with that?
Grover looked at his older self in amazement, with a little bit of hero worship in his eyes.
("Hang on-the first?")
"Yeah, answers, please." Gwen called. She had to know about this one.
(Grover took his reed pipes... two thousand years?"
"No.")
A few people whistled. "Now, that right there is dedication." Piper voiced what they were all thinking for a bit now. She was slightly impressed, but also a little disturbed. That was a lot of satyrs going out, a lot of families left behind.
"How come we never heard of this before?" Jason asked, he would have thought that they would have heard about it, it seemed to be common knowledge for the others.
"There's no need to continue the search." Grover said sadly. "Pan was found." He didn't give any details, though. He kept saying that it would be in one of the books, and he didn't want to go over it. Hermes had looked hopeful, but... at the tone Grover used, was now slumped over in his throne, mourning a loss that he'd known was coming, but still hoping wouldn't happen. Apollo was doing his best to comfort him, but he didn't really know what to do.
"But... what is killing the satyrs?" Reyna asked, disturbed.
"At the time, we didn't know. We found out the summer after this, so it should be the next book...?" Percy asked Annabeth, who confirmed that the next book should be the quest to the Sea of Monsters.
("And your dad? You have no idea what happened to him?"
"None.")
Those who had a loving parent (both Percy's, Leo, Frank, Piper, etc.) winced and looked at Grover in sympathy, and those who had lost that loving parent understood exactly where he was coming from. Even Percy, even though he was lucky, he got his mom back. And he was never letting her go again.
Those who didn't have the best home lives before camp, they didn't really know what to feel about it. Sure, they didn't want something to happen to their mortal parent, but at the same time... they weren't sure how they would feel if something did happen.
("But you still want to... be the one to find Pan?")
"I know you will be." Percy said quietly, looking at Grover. The two satyrs and Chiron were the only ones to really hear him, aside from those sitting next to him. Grover looked startled, like he couldn't believe Percy had that much faith in him, while Chiron looked at both his future/current student in pride, and started thinking about how sending Grover to Yancy was the best decision he ever made.
And he absolutely no doubt that Grover really succeeded.
("I have to believe that... Pan can still be awakened.")
"Although, I think... in the last few centuries or so, the Council has started sending satyrs more for... personal or political reasons then out of any hope of them finding Pan." Percy said. When everyone turned questioning looks at him, he huffed and turned to his people, "You all remember how the Council was treating Grover after New Mexico. He found a sign, and what did they do? They tried to banish him. Because it 'was impossible that Pan would show himself to someone like you.'" He said it as sarcastically as possible, showing exactly how he felt about the Council of Cloven Elders.
"Therefore, they choose Satyrs based a little on politics, and a lot on who they want to be rid of."
And really, it was perfect when he thought about. After all, what better way to get rid of somebody without being blamed, than to send them on a search that everybody knew they weren't going to come back from, and just hoped that they would be the one to come back?
Grover, Hermes, and Dionysus frowned, but had to admit the boy had a point. Dionysus had needed to step in and stop the Council several times when they tried to do exactly that. Of course, there were probably cases that slipped by him, he had many responsibilities, after all.
Hermes resolved to pay more attention to the Council of Cloven Elders.
(I stared at the orange haze)
Only the rest of the MS noticed Percy and Annabeth shiver at hearing that. Since they came out of Tartarus, they had problems seeing darker shades of orange, they couldn't even bear to look at the sunset anymore because of the orange streaks in the sky. Reddish colors could be a problem sometimes, too, mostly if they were paired up with the orange, though.
(of the sky and tried... do we have against a god?")
"None."
"Absolutely none."
"Che, don't flatter yourself, kid."
All the Titan War veterans grinned secretively at each other while Percy's family watched the room and muttering gods with raised eyebrows.
"Are we the only ones who remember Percy's titles?" Poseidon asked his wife and son mentally. They both gave a mental shrug back, since it appeared to them that they were.
"I can't wait 'till the chapter where you fight Ares." Annabeth muttered to Percy, who grinned ferally. He had honestly enjoyed that fight, which he hadn't realized until the fight was over and he realized that he was still alive, but hey. Those gods that were watching the demigods shivered at the look on Percy's face, they weren't sure what to make of it.
Nobody watched Hades watching Percy thoughtfully. So far, this kid seemed capable of doing the impossible. Could he be the one... he glanced at Apollo, who shrugged. He didn't know.
("I don't know," he admitted... a plan all figured out.")
"Wow, you guys did not like each other much back then, did you?" Piper muttered, watching the couple.
Percy hesitated, trying to figure out how to word his somewhat complicated feelings for Annabeth back then. "It wasn't so much that I didn't like her... it was more that I was frustrated. We'd been getting along well enough, and then she found out who my father was, and she became condescending, and almost outright hostile. And then there was how she blamed me entirely for the fight with Medusa, as if it were my fault just for simply being a son of Poseidon. It was just starting to get to me, being blamed for something out of my control. Especially when, at this point, I'd never even met my father."
He shrugged.
It didn't bother him anymore, he and Annabeth had worked past this years ago. She'd warmed up to him through this quest, and their relationship got better from there.
Through his entire explanation, Annabeth went a little red, and the seafolk stared at her a little blankly. Poseidon was thinking that he may approve of her now, after observing her with his son, but if he'd heard this information a couple of days ago, he would have outright forbidden her from seeing his son, no matter Percy's thoughts on the matter. She was lucky her attitude had clearly improved over the years.
("Don't be so hard on her... "Forgave you for what?")
Zeus snarled, scaring a few of the younger kids. His grand-daughter may have forgiven the Satyr, but he wouldn't. He wasn't anywhere close to forgiving him. He glanced at his youngest daughter and mentally grimaced when he noticed the look on her face, she glared at him a little, probably for his attitude towards Grover, before she started whispering harshly into Grover's ear.
Thalia was not happy that Grover seemed to blame himself so heavily for what happened to her. She chose to stay behind, nothing that happened to her was in any way, shape, or form his fault.
(Suddenly, Grover seemed... playing notes on his pipes.)
"It was a bit of a sensitive topic." Annabeth said, "For both of us." Percy nodded, he understood that, and he honestly hadn't meant to bring up bad memories, it was just... he had finally realized something.
("Wait a minute," I said... first assignment that went wrong-")
A few people who didn't know the full story blinked and suddenly remembered a random bit of information from earlier in the story. Annabeth was at camp for five years... Thalia was twelve when she was turned into a tree, and if she hadn't been turned into a tree, she would be seventeen right now in the book. That was a five year difference...
They were shocked when they put it together that Grover was the Satyr sent out to lead Thalia to camp.
That was what he was blaming himself for the entire time in these books. They glanced at him in shocked amazement.
This also explained why Zeus seemed to especially hate him so much.
("I can't talk about it,"... start crying if I pressed him.)
"Huh." Annabeth muttered. "Were you really about to start crying, or..." She asked Grover.
"A bit of both, actually. I noticed a long time ago, that if it looks like him pressing the subject is going to make you emotional, he'll usually back off. Usually, mind." Grover said, and Grover nodded. He had noticed that at Yancy with his Percy. That was part of what made their friendship real. It didn't take long before the job, was no longer a job for Grover. Where he genuinely enjoyed being with Percy, and protecting him.
Especially in moments like this where Percy was 'pouting' at him amid everyone else's laughter. He looked like somebody kicked his baby seal, and it was honestly a little adorable. Something he would never admit. Not for all the cheese enchiladas in the world.
Sally was privately thinking that Lily abused that tactic to get anything and everything from her brother that she was able to get. He'd always been a bit of a sucker for tears. Real or pretend. Which basically meant that his future wife (most likely Annabeth) was going to end up being the one to discipline the kids.
Especially if said kids found out what a sucker he was for those tears.
("But as I was saying, back at... Something isn't what it seems.")
"Hopefully you figure it out in time." Reyna murmured. "You only have ten days, if you go all that way only to have it confirmed that Hades doesn't have it, will you still have enough time to find out who does?" She asked.
"No, we didn't." Annabeth answered bitterly.
"Luckily, we had been given the right clues along the way." Percy said, tiredly. This whole quest had been exhausting. "It was just a matter of putting it all together once we got to the Underworld, after we spoke with Uncle. But, yeah. It wasn't until after the attack on the bus that we really started to worry about our deadline." He shrugged.
"Well, at least you realized something wasn't right, way before it was too late to realize. It gave you time as you traveled to think of other options." Luke said with what was supposed to be a smile, although it turned out to be more of a grimace. Annabeth had been in so much danger on this quest. This quest that never would have happened if he hadn't stolen the Bolt and Helm.
("Well, duh. I'm getting... were sort of holding back.)
Hades grimaced. "Even with them holding back, you killing them is still an amazing feat." He said with gritted teeth. He hated admitting that, hated complimenting them on their defeat of his Furies, but it was a huge feat. An amazing accomplishment, as much as he hated it. Persephone gave him a small, proud smile and patted his arm.
Percy and the other demigods looked at him in shock. Percy recovered the quickest and gave him a small 'thank-you' for the compliment, then made sure the other demigods stopped staring at him. Which Hades was grateful for.
(Like Mrs. Dodds at Yancy Academy... at us: 'Where is it? Where?'")
Athena frowned, trying to think what could they possibly be wanting. The only thing she could think of, was if Hades thought Percy had the Bolt too, and wanted it as a bargaining chip for something.
Hades scowled. So, he thought as Zeus did in this instance? That the boy had to have stolen his Helm, or at least had an idea where it was. But that didn't make any sense. He knew that the boy didn't know about Olympus, so why was he going after him as Zeus was? He was usually more level headed than that. Unless... his dreams were being manipulated too. He lived practically right next to the pit. It wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility for Father to do that without him even noticing.
("Asking about me," I said... person. They said 'Where is it?')
"Yes, but what are they looking for?" Ares asked, somewhat bored, but also wanting to know. After all, maybe they could get back to the action faster that way. Athena was frustrated that she couldn't figure it out, while a few others started to get a feeling that they knew. They glanced at Hades and decided that they were on the right track when they saw the expression on his face. They were pretty sure that meant he'd already figured it out and wasn't happy.
He also seemed to be clutching at his Helm kind of like how Zeus was clutching at his Bolt earlier in the book, when they first read about it being stolen.
(They seemed to be asking about an object."
"That doesn't make sense.")
"At the time, it really didn't." Annabeth agreed. She hadn't known that they stayed up talking, luckily she'd learned over time not to be such a deep sleeper outside of camp.
("I know. But if we've misunderstood... days to find the master bolt...")
"That won't be much time." Somebody said.
"Hopefully, if they can find enough physical evidence that neither Hades nor Poseidon were the ones to take the Bolt, it will be enough for Aunt's Hestia, Demeter, and Mother to calm down Father long enough to buy time. And not declare war with Uncle Poseidon." Hephaestus said with a shrug. Athena turned to him, shocked, because that sounded intelligent. Hephaestus and his sons noticed her look and scowled. He was very intelligent, thank you very much. He wouldn't be nearly as good at inventing things or new engineering and mechanical concepts if he wasn't.
"Yes, hopefully that will be enough to buy them a little more time." Demeter said, agreeing with her nephew. She didn't hold out much hope of them talking Zeus down even then, though. Amphitrite should be able to calm Poseidon's temper if the event Hephaestus just described played out, but at the same time... Poseidon's temper happened because he'd been called a thief and wanted an apology. Something that Zeus wasn't likely to give.
"You know, I think I prefer the time constraints on this quest," Percy said, gesturing to the book. "over the time constraints we had after Maine, or the current one to get to Alaska. At least here we had more than an idea of where to go, we have no real idea where to even begin looking in Alaska."
"Didn't I tell you where we going to start?" Hazel asked, frowning.
Percy looked at her and frowned. "I know you said you think you know where the giant is, but we don't know for sure if the giant has the legions stuff, or if that's even where they're keeping Thanatos. And we have a lot less than nine days to figure it out if we get there and he's not." He pointed out.
Hazel and Frank frowned then while Reyna looked worried. They hadn't even thought of that... although they supposed that the smartest thing for the enemy to do, would be to lure them to one location, while keeping Thanatos somewhere else. Keeping Thanatos where the giant was, was really kind of foolish.
(He looked at me like he... was worse than petrification.)
Percy made a face. "Just to be clear, never listen to the monster. Even if what they are saying is the honest truth. Don't listen." He said to the younger kids.
Poseidon looked disheartened that Percy thought that he, Poseidon, was just using him. Poseidon was pretty sure that he would be watching every step of this quest, was pretty sure that he'd argued with Chiron against his son going, especially so soon after he got to camp in the first place. His son wouldn't be on this quest if there was ANY other choice. Not when he was still so untrained...
("I haven't been straight... so I could bring back my mother.")
"I think both he and Annabeth knew that." Thalia muttered to Luke beside her.
He huffed a laugh. "I think we ALL knew that. Well," He amended. "Those of us who knew something happened to her, anyway."
"Why would you not care about my Bolt?! That is the only thing you should be caring about!" Zeus yelled, glaring at Percy. Percy glared back.
Zeus tried not to show how terrified Percy's glare was and how sure he was that Percy was going to kill him right that minute.
"The only thing I cared about on this quest was my mother and making sure the world didn't explode because of your temper tantrums." Percy hissed coldly. Everyone shivered and swore the temperature dropped to Arctic levels. They'd never heard Percy like that before. The only ones to be unaffected were Percy, Annabeth, and Sally. They knew that Percy would never hurt them no matter how angry he got, the others weren't so sure. They'd never seen him like this. Even five of the MS in their corner were affected, Gabe was whimpering quietly to himself, hoping that he wouldn't be noticed. Poseidon was shocked, and a little scared.
Percy got his temper, combined with his mothers. That wasn't good. Luckily for the world, it took quite a bit to get them worked up to this point normally.
Zeus gulped and licked his lips nervously. Swallowed a couple more times, and then finally nodded and squeaked (he did, don't let him say differently) that he understood, Sally Jackson came first.
Percy glared at him for another moment before Percy finally came up behind him and laid a hand on his shoulder. "He got the point, your scaring everybody." He whispered in Percy's ear. Percy glanced around, saw the looks on everybodies faces, and visibly calmed himself down. After a moment, he said, "I'm going for a walk. I'll be back later." And walked out, restoring the temperature in the Hall to normal levels and letting everyone breathe again. Sally stared at the door for a moment, worried, but knew that he would be alright, and he just needed a moment alone. Annabeth stayed for the same reason.
"I've never seen Kelp-head like that before." Thalia whispered.
"I have, once." Annabeth said. "It takes a lot to get him like that. And I mean, A LOT. Don't worry though, unless you're the one who made him mad, you're perfectly safe." She reassured everyone, Sally nodded in agreement, with Percy joining in.
Annabeth leaned into Percy's side. "That reminded me of down there." She whispered. "I haven't seen that temper in a while."
He smiled tightly at her. "The reason I took so long to get his attention. I was trying not to think about it." She gave him a searching look, and then nodded to herself when she was sure he was really alright.
"We're going to be hearing about it a lot from this point. You had a few dreams on this quest, didn't you? Of that place?" She asked. He hesitated a moment, then nodded. "Ok." She breathed out. "We'll get through this. And when it's over, we'll be stronger than ever." She murmured to him, trying to convince herself as much as him. He nodded in agreement anyway.
(Grover blew a soft note on... I don't care about him.")
Poseidon made a soft sound, and Amphitrite put her arm around his waist, "Remember, this was before the two of you really spent time together. Give him time in these books. He's obviously come around and doesn't think this way anymore." She murmured. He sighed, but nodded. He knew that, he did. It was just hard to hear one of his children say things like that about it.
"He was in hard denial up until St. Louis." Annabeth murmured. Grover winced.
"I was trying to forget St. Louis happened." He complained, glaring at Annabeth. She shrugged and said she was sorry, but everybody knew she wasn't the least bit sorry.
Everybody was wondering if they wanted to know what happened in St. Louis, or if they would be happier not knowing. A few that hadn't been at camp then (Piper and Jason on an outing to the Mortal world, plus Frank) remembered hearing news reports about a crazy kid that torched the Arch and started wondering...
(Grover gazed down from... not as smart as Annabeth.)
"You're still pretty smart." Grover turned a little red at the unexpected compliment from most of the room.
(I'm not as brave as you.)
"You're a very brave Satyr."
"I'm happy to fight beside you any day." Grover turned a little redder.
(But I'm pretty good at reading emotions.)
"There were moments where I got a pretty good idea on them since we got to camp. Most of the time, though, they were more chaotic than ever." Grover said, shaking his head. "It would have helped us figure out his parentage if we knew that before this reading, though." He complained grumpily.
"Hmm. I don't think so," Chiron disagreed. "I already figured that his father was a sea deity. The only question I really had was, which one? It stands to reason that the turbulent emotions the satyrs sense is true for ALL children of the Sea, and not just children of Poseidon." He reasoned out.
Poseidon smirked at him and confirmed. It was that way with all children of the sea, his children were just harder to read at times because of their stronger parentage.
(You're glad your dad is alive... to notice what you'd done.")
Annabeth sighed. "While all that is true, it's not something Percy was necessarily ready to hear." She said with a grimace. Poseidon had looked proud and vaguely hopeful, but when she said that, he grimaced too. Percy was stubborn, so he'd likely be hearing all about how much Percy didn't like him and didn't want him for a long time yet, in this book.
Grover sighed, too. "Yeah, well. He needed to hear it, anyway. Give him a good kick in the right direction." He grumbled. Honestly, Percy's emotions whenever his dad was brought up had actually been giving him a headache. And, like he told them in the warehouse, Satyrs couldn't even get headaches!
("Yeah? Well maybe satyr... I don't care what he thinks.")
"Wow. Somebody was denial." Was muttered.
Jason glanced over at Percy, wondering on how on earth it was that the guy with the most envied relationship with his father, at one point tried denying his father existed. Clearly some effort was made on both sides at some point, but wow. That had to have quite some effort.
Jason was thinking that he completely understood where Percy was coming from, having gone through it several times growing up, just wanting Jupiter to acknowledge his efforts in some way... and then it never happened. Instead, Juno gave him his old coin, and said to become Praetor. To work harder to make her proud. When she wasn't the one he wanted acknowledgement from.
(Grover pulled his feet... "Okay, Percy. Whatever.")
Grover sighed. "I was not awake enough to argue about it with him." He muttered. Annabeth looked sympathetic. She'd been there before. Once Percy got in the mood to argue about everything, it was best to just end the conversation there and try to continue it later, when he was in a better mood to listen to their side and actually think, and reason.
("Besides, I haven't done anything worth bragging about.)
"Are you...?" Several people tried to ask Percy at once, before remembering that he wasn't in here right now. "Is he serious?" They asked Annabeth and Grover instead.
They grimaced, and after a short debate, Annabeth answered. "Percy has some... issues, when it comes to acknowledging his accomplishments. Personally, I think it's left over from the years of living with Gabe constantly tearing him down and all that. He doesn't really think he's all that powerful, either, he's always saying that he's just been lucky all these years, or that he only got through it because of the people with him at the time. There will be moments, when he'll actually acknowledge that he has plenty of bragging rights over something or someone, or say something arrogant that he has every hard-earned right to say, but those moments are rare." She said.
Grover picked it up then, "He has a habit of focusing more on his perceived failures than any of his accomplishments." He finished. Annabeth nodded in agreement. A few of the other Titan veterans nodded their own agreement, they'd noticed a bit of this over the years, too. Obviously not to the extent Grover and Annabeth had, but still.
The MS were trying to ignore how Annabeth was staring Percy down, with a well practiced look on her face that proclaimed him to be an idiot. They knew that if they looked, they would start laughing, or telling Percy off for those ideas again. They'd noticed those habits of his not long after they left America. He'd mostly been sulking about the whole 'getting trapped and not being able to get out' thing, but there had been a few other times when he thought he failed everyone.
Hades snorted. "That kid probably has the most bragging rights in the world at this point." He muttered. A humble demigod... who knew it was possible.
Hazel heard his comment and snorted to herself. Oh, yeah. He had bragging rights, alright, she thought bitterly. He could brag all about how he survived the Pit and now could barely sleep at night because of it. Some bragging rights.
(We barely got out of New... money and no way west.")
"He's got a point with that one."
"Like I said, he focuses on his perceived failures and ignored his accomplishments." Grover said again.
"Besides, we found a way west." Annabeth murmured, scratching Mrs. O'Leary and making her whine in pleasure when her humans mate hit a sweet spot. Annabeth smiled fondly at the hellhound.
The youngers stared at the girl and hellhound in silent shock and awe. They never would have imagined that one of the most dangerous monsters could act so much like a normal dog. Just how on earth did Percy get her, and where?
(Grover looked at the night... huh? You get some sleep.")
"I thought you said you were too tired?" Clarisse asked deadpan.
"I was said I wasn't to deal with Percy in that mood. I never said I was too tired. Besides, I needed some time alone to think about a few things." Grover shrugged. He was watching Annabeth rope Percy into continuing to play Hangman with her, she said it would help him practice his Ancient Greek. She promised to use English for him, and write the Greek equivalent underneath it, while if he knew some Greek, to go ahead and use it on her all she liked, as long as he told her which language he was using.
The card game in the corner with some of the MS and others was still going strong.
(I wanted to protest, but he... Concerto no. 12, I was asleep.)
"How did he know what I was playing?" Grover asked, surprised. He'd never pegged Percy as a classical listener.
"Lily loves Mozart. You could almost say she's obsessed. She'll buy anything with his music on it that she can, we're even setting aside money that we're supposed to be giving to Gabe, from our summer jobs, so she can start piano lessons." Percy explained. He didn't mind, either. He had fun keeping it from Gabe, even if he was terrified of what would happen if Gabe ever found out about it. Especially with Gabe in his corner, trying to get loose so he could go and strangle the 'little thief'. He got blasted with ice-cold sea water.
"Ah, yes. I remember the look on her face when I had to tell her that she couldn't have piano lessons." Sally said softly. She could have taught her, herself, of course. Except it had been years since she played, and even longer since she had a piano of her own to play on. She'd had to sell her uncle's piano when he got sick, in an effort to have that little bit of extra money. After that, she'd go over to a school friend's house to use theirs. And, then, once she'd found out she was pregnant and not even married, that friend wanted nothing more to do with her.
(In my dreams, I stood in a dark cavern before a gaping pit.)
There was a whimper from the MS that they couldn't hold in this time. When they looked, they noticed it came from the girl with the Drakon bone sword, and the one with his sword fuzzed out was trying to comfort her, although a few of them could see by how tense his shoulders were that he was trying to hold it together himself.
Sally sucked in a breath, the only reason her boy and Annabeth would be acting this way... was if they went to Tartarus themselves. And survived. And she did not want to think about her boy being anywhere near there.
The other five MS were looking helplessly on as the two tried to keep it together. They knew that if any of them tried to help, if the two of them were touched while they were like this, they could make it worse.
Zeus was heard muttering denials that this had anything to do with Kronos, and seemed to have decided that Percy's demigod dreams were just stranger than most.
(Gray mist creatures churned... were the spirits of the dead.)
Hades looked worried. "He's dreaming about the entrance in the Underworld."
"Which means that, either way, the answers to this whole quest lie in the Underworld somewhere." Amphitrite said with a sigh, while watching Percy and Annabeth struggle to calm down.
Eventually, the two of them just got up quietly and left.
In the Gardens:
"Well, it's clear that it will take a while before we can just hear about it out of nowhere." Annabeth said after they sat for a few minutes out in one of the gardens.
"Yeah. Well, we knew that it would be a long time, if ever, before we were back to normal." Percy said, mostly repeating what his mom told him when he completely lost it about feeling so weak because he couldn't handle a few memories even weeks after it happened, when everyone else needed him to be strong.
"True." She said, and left it like that.
"You calmer, now?" Percy called, and Percy's head slowly came up out of the water in the fountain.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm good now." He said. "I'm just not sure if I should go in just yet... I forgot the kids were in there... and I know that they are us, but-" He finished helplessly.
"But they haven't gone through the same experiences, they are still so young and relatively innocent. Naive." Percy finished for him.
"Well, as young innocent and naive as a demigod can ever be." Annabeth muttered beside him, pulling a grin and agreeing chuckle out of her Seaweed Brain's.
Percy sighed. "Where are they in the book?" He asked, and then frowned in worry when they froze and had to pull themselves together, looking frustrated with themselves while they did.
"They just got to the part with your dream, in the Underworld."
Percy frowned in thought, having to search his memory to figure out which dream they were talking about, he'd had a lot of dreams during the quest of the Pit. "Before we met Gladiola?" He asked to be sure. He didn't even stop to think that they might not know what he was talking about, these two knew who Gladiola were, they were there just like he was.
"Yeah, before Gladiola." Percy snorted a laugh, wondering what the point had been in the Fates telling them not to say who they were. Anybody with a brain would have it figured out by now. Unless, they were just messing with those who hadn't figured it out...? That was possible, after all, the Fates had to have some fun too. Hopefully that fun just didn't involved bringing about the Apocalypse or something similar. That would be bad... for obvious reasons.
Percy frowned. "I'll go back later, for now I'm just gonna stay here." He quirked a grin and disappeared back under the water, leaving Annabeth to huff a laugh at her boyfriend while Percy looked like he wanted to join him.
Back in the Throne room:
"I hope those two are alright." Sally whispered the Hestia beside her.
"They will be." She reassured. "They just need time."
(They tugged at my clothes, trying to pull me back,)
Hades actually sat back a little and breathed in relief. Sometimes the spirits could be tricky near the pit. He tried to keep them away and usually they were too afraid of it, but sometimes... These must be some of the guards he had in place to keep the others back.
The last thing he needed was for one of the Ancient ones within the Pit to set a spirit on the rampage. Which could sometimes happen when they were grabbed and twisted. The mortal tales of Poltergeists had nothing on what they turned into. He did not want that happening again. No, sir.
He also didn't want Percy getting pulled in there, even if it was in his dreams. He'd had to go down there once... he never wanted to go back. And he was a god, he could handle it a lot better than Percy's mortal mind could. He glanced at the door where Percy and Annabeth had disappeared. He would have to ask them, later on when he was sure they wouldn't freak out on him, how they survived it and escaped.
(but I felt compelled to... very edge of the chasm.)
"Oh no." Was the general consensus. Annabeth and Grover looked at bit pale. If Percy had been drawn into the Pit, even in his dreams... well, there was a reason why the Beings in the Pit only drew mortals dreams to edge, and not down there with them.
Mortals were no use to them when their bodies were lying in a hospital, brain-dead, after all.
They were so lucky Percy hadn't been pulled in.
(Looking down made me... it must be bottomless.)
"Yes and no." Hades muttered.
(Yet I had a feeling that... something huge and evil.)
"Oh, it was evil alright." A few of those who fought him muttered. The faces of all those who fell fighting him flashed through their minds.
Zeus frowned. He really didn't like where this was going. He didn't like it at all.
(The little hero, an amused... but perhaps you will do.)
"Do for what?" Clarisse asked suspiciously. Whenever something very old and very powerful told you that you would do, it wasn't usually a good sign. AT ALL.
Annabeth grimaced. "I think I know what he was talking about." She glanced at Luke, and he grimaced. If Kronos had been able to turn Percy to his side, then it would have been Percy's body he inhabited. It would have been Percy's body with Kronos in command of it that would have led the armies against Olympus. Luke himself had been the secondary choice.
A few of the older kids caught on to what Annabeth was saying, and they weren't sure whether to be horrified for Percy, or sympathetic for Luke. Nobody likes being the backup plan, after all. But at the same time, in cases like this... nobody really liked being part of the plan at all.
(The voice felt ancient-cold... me like sheets of lead.)
Both Lukes shivered at hearing it described this way. It never felt this way in their dreams, it was usually, well... not really warm and inviting. But it didn't feel oppressive like it did for Percy.
Luke wondered if it would have been easier to resist if he had felt like it was oppressive, and not neutral like Kronos was when whispering to him. Because dream-Percy was describing his real aura to a T, and the real aura spoke at odds with what Kronos said he wanted to do.
(They have misled you... dissolved in a shower of gold.)
"Clever." Hades murmured with a grimace. Then again, this was Kronos they were talking about here. "Pretending that he took the boys mother, and saying he can give her back. He was probably going to have Percy challenge me or something after telling him that I was the one who actually had her.
"Don't listen to him." A few of the younger demigods muttered, to the older ones amusement. Percy wouldn't listen to him, if anything he might make a direct challenge to him. I'll beat you, and you'll give her back. Or something like that.
"Also cruel." Poseidon whispered, watching Sally almost collapse at hearing that her 'death' was being thrown in her sons face as a bargaining chip. She, of course, remembered none of this.
(Her face was distorted with... directly at me, pleading: Go!)
"Were you aware?" Somebody asked Sally, timidly.
She smiled softly at him, but shook her head no. "I think I was frozen. I don't remember anything after being picked up." She answered, making a few people sigh in relief. It was good that she didn't remember. Being able to see through the Mist or not, there were some sights that a mortal brain just could not handle, and seeing the Underworld would be one of them.
They only got around that because of the godly blood in their veins. It buffered them from a lot of things that would turn ordinary mortals insane.
(I tried to cry out, but... force pulled me forward.)
A few people gasped, worried. Once again, they forgot that he was here, well, not in the room at the moment, but he was here. He was safe, he didn't get pulled in. (This time, anyway.)
The MS exchanged looks, if they were reacting to him almost being pulled in, then how would they react when he was pulled in?
(It would drag me into... against the treacherous gods!)
The gods all sucked in a breath. There was no doubt to their minds what was going on now. Most of them knew who it was, A couple were in denial still, but knew that there was a threat coming. Hades frowned in concern, trying to think how he could convince Zeus that the threat was real, and they needed to act now. Zeus had always been so difficult to convince in times like this...
Right now, they were all just hoping Percy didn't listen, especially with the promise right in front of him, the promise of getting his mother back.
(The spirits of the dead... using me to pull itself out.)
A few of the gods started muttering amongst themselves. Only the strongest residents of Tartarus would be able to do that.
The demigods were pale, this was horrible! They had bad dreams, sure, but nothing like this! When they looked at the other Big 3 kids, they noticed that none of them looked particularly disturbed, as if they were used to this sort of thing. Well, they probably were being Big 3 kids themselves, but still! Was this really an every night occurrence for them? They couldn't imagine being able to sleep knowing that you might have dreams like this one. It gave them a new understanding of what it meant to be a Big 3 kid, and made them understand that it wasn't always the envied position that some of them thought it was.
When they looked at Poseidon, they noticed him frowning in concern, but he was acting like the other kids, like this was only marginally worse than usual for a Big 3 demigod.
(Good, it murmured. Good... Annabeth said, "the zombie lives.")
"We'd been trying to wake him up for ages." Annabeth explained while everyone else sighed in relief that it was over. They were worried, though, about just what this meant, especially that this being seemed so interested in Percy.
It was then that Annabeth and Percy came back in from where ever they were hiding during the dream. How they managed to time it so well... What they didn't know was that Percy had been using his control over water to sort of hear what was happening. Not even to hear what was being said, but enough to know when it was safe.
The gods didn't care about that, though, they were arguing with Zeus over what that dream meant. Zeus was positive it was nothing, Beings within the Pit stirred every now and then, nothing had ever come of it. It most certainly WASN'T Kronos. The others were trying to convince that it was, and even if it wasn't, they should prepare so they could be ready if it WAS. Numerous attempts were made to remind him of what Percy's titles were, what the young demigod had said when they first arrived. Ares repeated his observations that the kids went through war, but nothing would get through to him.
He absolutely refused to believe that Kronos was rising, was even capable of rising.
Finally, to his relief, Hestia called a stop to the argument so they could continue reading and hear for positive. Even though she agreed with everyone else...
Zeus was terrified of what it meant, that Father could come back. It meant that all their old enemies could come back. First the Titans, then what next? The Giants? The Primordials themselves, deciding that they'd slept long enough? They'd won the first Titan War by the skin of their teeth last time, and then barely beat back the Giants once they appeared. No, he refused to believe that they were really rising. He refused to believe that this little dream was anything but a false alarm.
He was terrified that it wasn't, and they wouldn't be strong enough to win this time.
(I was trembling from the dream... from Aunty Em's snack bar.)
A few people snorted while Annabeth shrugged. "Nice cooking skills." Rachel teased as the last of the tension from the dream faded.
Annabeth grinned at her. "I thought so." She said brightly.
("And Grover went exploring. Look, he found a friend.")
"A friend?" Katie asked curiously.
"Eh, kind of." Annabeth said with a shrug.
(My eyes had trouble focusing... It was a pink poodle.)
Piper cocked her head to the side, as a half-formed memory came to mind. Why did something about this sound familiar?
"That's just cruel. Turning a dog pink. That poor thing better at least be female." Somebody muttered. Grover and Annabeth had a sudden coughing fit.
"Percy couldn't even tell it was a dog because of it at first."
Nobody saw Percy's face turn red underneath his hood at the fact he thought it was a stuffed animal. In his defense, though, the thing was pink, dirty, and a little ragged looking, like a little girls favorite toy would be.
(The poodle yapped at me... said, "No, he's not.")
"Hey, what was he saying, anyway?" Annabeth asked, curious. She never asked before, she'd kind of half-forgotten this conversation, actually.
Grover cleared his throat. "You don't want to know." He said, uncomfortable. And really, where on earth did dogs even begin to get ideas like that? He and Percy were NOT mates!
(I blinked. "Are you ... talking to that thing?")
"Something else you forgot to tell him." Annabeth told Grover dryly.
"Oops?" He said sheepishly. "I think I've told him the important stuff by now though..." He said cheerfully. At least, he was pretty sure he had by now. But, one never knows, they had kind of been going from one fight to the next for years now. And, it wasn't anywhere close to calming down yet. Not by a long-shot, they still had to start the Giant war, despite the attacks they'd been enduring for months now. All of them without half of their leadership at camp... and soon both of their leaders would be gone on yet another important, fate-of-the-world-in-their-hands, quest. He still wasn't sure why they'd asked Hedge to go with them, and not him. But, he was pretty sure his duties as Lord of the Wild had something to do with it.
Hopefully things would calm down after the war with the Giants was over.
(The poodle growled.)
"I'd be offended if I was called a thing, too." Somebody muttered, and everyone else nodded in agreement.
("This thing," Grover warned, "is our ticket west. Be nice to him.")
A bunch of people groaned at hearing that it was, indeed, a MALE pink poodle.
("You can talk to animals?"... Gladiola. Gladiola, Percy.")
Piper gasped as she suddenly remembered. Then she started laughing, because that dog hadn't stayed put for very long after being returned. Not that she blamed the poor thing... with an owner like that? When she calmed down, Jason was watching her with a raised eyebrow, "Care to share?" He asked, amused.
"Gladiola belonged to a work friend of my fathers. They were in Jersey for a shooting, and Gladiola got out of the trailer, took off. A couple of days later, he was returned, and didn't even make it three hours before he was gone again. And to my knowledge, he was never found a second time. To think that you guys were the ones who found him..." She snorted.
"Were you there?" Annabeth asked, curious.
"Yup, school was out, so I could go with dad on his trips." She made a face. "Oh, I wasn't there that day, though. I was in the city with dad, he wasn't scheduled for anything that day with the film, so he took me sight-seeing. It was one of the few days I got to really spend with him." Until, of course, the paparazzi (she preferred to think of them as payed stalkers) showed up about halfway through visiting the Statue of Liberty. They always showed up and ruined everything.
"Where all in the city did you guys go?" Percy asked, curious.
"The usual spots for New York. Statue of Liberty, Broadway, Central Park. Those places. We couldn't get to everything we had planned though." She made a face again. "Stupid photographers thinking they can have a right to other people's privacy." She grumbled.
Percy crooked a grin, "You and your dad come back, and you can go on a Tour A la Percy." He said, volunteering his older self. Annabeth snorted. Piper looked amused, but accepted his offer. After all, he was the New Yorker, he would know all the best places, right? Percy snorted at his younger self, and shook his head.
(I stared at Annabeth, figuring... but she looked deadly serious.)
"I was. We needed that dog to get west." She said with a shrug.
"It's even funnier now that Percy is known at his school as 'the poodle guy'." Thalia said with a grin.
"Wait, what?" Annabeth and Grover asked. "I've never heard about this." They glanced at each other, startled before they focused back on Thalia.
"He never told you?" Nico asked, surprised. When they shook their heads 'no', he and Thalia glanced at each other, surprised. Then they glanced at Persephone, before Nico started a heavily edited version. No need to get her in trouble over something she hadn't done yet, after all. "Persephone was having something made, sort of as a surprise, you know? Well, Iapetus" He ignored how Percy and Annabeth gasped and almost lost it again, "had stolen it and was trying to get out of the Underworld with it, so she sent us after him to stop him. The way she summoned us, well, she just kinda... reverse shadow-walked me there. I don't know, she waited until Thalia was on her own, hunting a stag or something and summoned her, but Percy was in the middle of an exam at school."
"So, she sent Mrs. O'Leary to get him out." Thalia said cheerfully. "And since mortals can't see through the Mist very well..." She trailed off suggestively.
"The mortals saw a Poodle in place of a hellhound." Thalia nodded.
"And since Percy is kind of the school troublemaker, the fact that he has a poodle was great teasing material for the other students." Paul said ruefully. "The students were expecting him to have a tougher looking dog, not a poodle."
"What happened to Iapetus? Did you guys get it back?" Travis asked.
Nico and Thalia glanced at each other again. "We ended up chasing him to the edge of the River Lethe. Well, Percy decided to be, well, Percy, and pull off a stupidly reckless move that should never have worked, but somehow did."
"Wait, I think I know where this is going." Annabeth interrupted, with a long-suffering look on her face. "He shoved both himself and Iapetus in the River Lethe and then managed to control the river so he didn't get wet, therefore keeping his memories intact."
They nodded. "Turns out that the River Lethe is too strong for even a Titan. His name is now Bob, and he works in Fathers palace as a janitor."
Percy gave a choked sounding sob before he managed to rein it in, Annabeth was beside him, trying to hold it together herself, and the other MS were rallied around the two trying to offer some comfort. Once they came out of the Pit, they'd managed to share with the rest of the group how they escaped, particularly the part Damasen and Bob played in it.
Nico heard the sob, and flinched. He glanced towards Thalia, "I'm guessing things didn't end well for Bob." He murmured. But, he supposed that they would find out eventually. He only hoped that he would get to stay to hear it.
Hestia waited for a few of the demigods to finish congratulating Thalia and Nico (Percy wasn't there) on getting the stolen object back before she continued. The chapter was almost over, thank goodness. Luckily, the others managed to rein in Zeus before he could go on another paranoid rant about how the boy was too powerful and needed to be destroyed.
("I'm not saying hello...
I said hello to the poodle.)
There were a few chuckles, and teasing comments made towards Percy that probably would have been funnier if he were here to hear them and defend himself, but he wasn't so they moved on pretty quickly.
(Grover explained that he'd... away from a rich local family,)
"I thought you said..." Leo started.
"I did, and they are. Not all actors and actresses live in California, you know." She said wryly.
(who'd posted a $200 reward for his return.)
"$200? That's it? That's all their dog is worth to them?" Rachel asked, incredulous. She knew that if it was her dog, she'd be paying a lot more than $200.
"Yeah, well." Piper said with a sigh. "They weren't the most attentive owners anyway. Like I said, Gladiola was gone again three hours after he was returned. Never to be seen again." She shrugged. She honestly hoped the dog was alright, it wasn't fault he had the owners that he did.
Rachel scowled.
(Gladiola didn't really want... it meant helping Grover.)
There were a few wolf-whistles and catcalls that had Grover flushing bright red and glaring before playing a quick tune on his pipes and making the floor rise up to encase those who whistled or called. Then he put his pipes away calmly like nothing ever happened, leaving only their eyes, ears, and nose free so they could still listen to the story and breathe.
He got a few people moving away from him slowly when they noticed the satisfied glint in his eyes. Grover stared at him in amazement while Chiron looked particularly proud.
It seemed that Grover had finally come into his own. He always knew the satyr was particularly powerful, Grover and even the Council just could never see it themselves.
("How does Gladiola know..." Grover said. "Duh.")
"Dogs can read?" Was quietly asked.
"Some dogs, the more intelligent breeds. There are others though..." Grover shook his head, he honestly wondered about some dogs.
("Of course," I said. "Silly me.")
"I think he was starting to get overwhelmed with the order of the world again." Katie said sympathetically.
"Yeah, he was probably waiting for up to become down and right to become left." Piper said in agreement. Grover and Annabeth glanced at each other. They had really not done a very good job of making sure Percy knew some of what to expect when they first introduced him to the Greek world.
("So we turn in Gladiola,... to Los Angeles. Simple.")
"And hope nothing else happens on the way." Clarisse added on.
"Yeah, like another monster attacking the bus,"
"Or whatever mode of transport you chose this time." The Stolls chimed in from where they were still playing cards with Frank and Piper.
"How about hoping they have enough money to get them as far as they need to go first." Jason said dryly. That was a pretty big concern. Would they be able to make it all the way with the $200? Especially if they planned to eat at all during the trip.
Annabeth and Grover grimaced. Yeah, the $200 wasn't enough to get them all the way, but it got them most of the way and they then found a way from there. In that case, the casino was a mixed blessing. Grover wondered idly if Percy still had his card from that place... and if it would still work. Because if it did, then the Argo could stop near Vegas after picking up the three from the Roman camp, and get some money for the trip. The camp would only be able to provide so much for such a long trip, after all. They would have all the food they needed, but they might need to purchase other supplies.
(I thought about my dream-the... warily.
"No," Annabeth agreed.)
"Oh, good." Was muttered.
(She pointed downhill, toward... train leaves at noon.")
"Well, at least the train would actually get you there faster than the bus." Clarisse said with a shrug.
"Yes, but if the train was attacked, there are way more mortals that could get hurt or in the way on a train." Chris pointed out.
"Yeah, but they also have more room to maneuver. And, they could just lock the mortals in one car while they deal with the monster in another. Built in containment system." She argued back.
"That's the end of that chapter." Hestia broke in, shaking her head. "Who wants to read next?" She asked, glancing at the chapter title and getting worried. It wasn't really to the boys death... after all, he was out wandering the palace right now... the boy would be fine, right?
"I guess I will." Rachel said, looking up from where she was drawing something on a sketchpad.
After she got the book, she glanced over at the doors, wondering when Percy was going to come back, when she decided to just start reading. He would come in when he cooled off. " Chapter thirteen: I Plunge to My Death