WUJU! After so much waiting, it's finally the first of the month!
AND WE HAVE A NEW CHAPTER!
*Imaginary cheer* *Engraved applause* *More imaginary cheers* *More imaginary cheers*
Yes, yes, I'm excited too, but first I'd like to make a small announcement:
As you all may have noticed, English is not my native language. And while I use a pretty good translator, it's clearly not perfect. Many, many, many thanks to all the people who pointed out errors in spelling or grammar that I had no idea there were in the translation. I really appreciate that you took the time to read my story, and don't worry, that's why the following is coming:
I am officially looking for a "Beta Reader". That is, a person to whom I can pass the translated document before uploading it to the net and can clean and/or correct any grammatical or spelling errors that may be present. The Beta package comes with multiple benefits: you will be able to read the chapters before anyone else. You'll be mentioned in the author's notes with a huge thank you. And if you call within the next fifteen minutes you will receive a nice sleeve on the occasion of your OTP n_n (hahaha sorry, I couldn't resist).
But yes, guys and girls, I want to bring you a quality story that everyone can really enjoy and for that I need the help of someone who really masters the language. And since the updates are every month, and I have the fic way ahead of schedule in Spanish, there really wouldn't be any need to worry about time. So... PLEASE! HELP! I NEED A BETA!
(And while we're at it, also one for French, Portuguese and Italian... Hehehehe... What? I'm ambitious n_n)
Now, with that ready, let's go to the next chapter!
Chapter 2:
"I can't take it anymore"
-Ah...-Quirón was still sitting in his wheelchair, in the shade of the big house's porch, and trying to concentrate on reading Gabriel García Márquez. But he found it really difficult to read a line without his concern clouding his mind.
"-Perhaps he was right." His student's words kept repeating in his head. Luke was a hero, everyone in the camp, and even Olympus, agreed on that. Where opinions differed was in his methods. His decisions were wrong, his path perhaps not the best. And Percy respected him more than anyone else, something Chiron was well aware of. That's why he was so concerned.
Luke had sought recognition and revenge by force. He was angry with his father and the gods. He had not seen the full picture. Now Percy was hurt, angry and, more than that, frustrated. His judgment could be clouded by this. But Percy was loyal, correct. He would never hurt his companions. He was capable of sacrificing himself in order to save his friends. It was his nature. It was his fault.
Anger. Loyalty. One heart divided in half was enough to break a person. But Percy was strong.
It was like taking two unlabeled chemicals, mixing them in one bottle and then shaking it. I had no idea that it was going to work. In his years of experience, and to say "many" would be nothing more than a euphemism, he had rarely seen, or felt, so eager. No, it would be better to say nervous, in the face of all possible reactions and the odds of each.
Percy was like a vortex about to explode. A most frightening thought.
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-So I just kick you out, just like that? -
-If Frank just nodded his head in agreement, I think it was just an accident.
-She is becoming unpredictable -Reyna intervened, sitting from the sand stands.
-No, the Roman jumped right away to defend his cousin. It was an accident; he wanted to leave and I was just swept away by the current and...
-That's exactly it. Jackson would never hurt his friends.
-I'm not hurt!
-This time!
-Whose side are you on?
-I'm just objective!
-Jason stopped that discussion in one move; everyone turned to look at him. He was standing there, with his arms crossed and his brow slightly furrowed. I was silent for a few minutes and then released tension in a heavy sigh. Then I look at them all, their serious, cold eyes-it hurts me to say it, but Reyna is right...
-Jason-Concilio Hazel at her side, calm and with a slight hint of fear in her eyes. She respected Percy and Jason equally, so she refused to think badly of anyone-Percy ever-
-You're right- Jason's stand-up-but even if he didn't do it on purpose, he ended up throwing Frank out of the water. He's already impulsive...
-I can't believe it!" The southern woman jumped up, and Jason could almost feel the ground shaking at his feet.
-Because we are friends I can't stop worrying!
-What does that mean?" Frank asked, taking Pluto's daughter to calm down.
-Because I know Percy," explained Jupiter's son, "now he feels guilty; if he accidentally hurts someone, he will only break.
-Percy would never hurt us, or anyone else. There were already several diamonds at the brunette's feet, but she paid no attention to them. Hazel only had her angry look at her former praetor. She turned around and stepped firmly out of the sand. Behind her, only Jason, Reyna and Frank remained.
A tense silence settled over them as soon as they were left alone. Jason stared at a point in time while the pretenders thought only of the situation with Poseidon's son. But they didn't last long like that. After the centurion left, Leo came in, who seemed to be confused by something.
-Why does Hazel seem to want to send everyone to her father? Luckily, it was enough to take the invisible weight off their shoulders.
-Forget that, he'll calm down in a minute-Jason allowed himself to let go of his arms and relax his shoulders. He was too tense.
-Okay, and about our sea star leader... There's no sign - I say the dark one shrugging - no one has seen him, and neither have the naiads; so he must be on the beach.
-Then there's no point in going after him- -I conclude Jason by dropping into one of the stands.
-I understand that you need your space but if you continue to isolate yourself it will be worse-Kingna also seemed to have few options to propose.
-We could invite him to New Rome," suggested Frank, "you know, a change of scenery.
-Annabeth had planned to go to her senior year together, Reyna reminded her - just to invite him would be counterproductive. But...-She seemed to have an idea, although she was not entirely convinced.
-I think it's a good idea-but Jason was thinking the same thing; he changed his eyes from Puerto Rican to Canadian. I will convince him to go back to New York for the rest of the summer with his mother.
-I ask Reyna with a skeptical tone and her hands intertwined.
-You go talk to Chiron-it was the blond man's answer before he walked out of the sand-I'll take care of Percy...
Once he left, Reyna looked at Leo:
-What do you think? I ask, as serious as she used to be but there was something in her eyes. Something, soft.
-About sending Percy to his mother? -Confirmed the brunette receiving only a nod of the head- I'm not sure...-I knew why Reyna was asking him. In fact, the three of them had lost their loved ones in a terrible way. Perhaps they were the ones who could best come to understand Percy's pain-I was sent to my aunt, and it wasn't exactly a positive change.
-I understand - For once, Reyna allowed herself to be less formal - my sister and I escaped, it was hard change, but it made us stronger.
-I arrived in New Rome days after learning that my mother had died, too.
-To everyone's surprise, Reyna smiled as she kept her fingers crossed near her lips.
-No-but the pretender just went back to her seriousness. Meanwhile, Frank noticed how good it felt to be hugged as Leo was doing at that moment.
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The afternoon continued to heat up but for Percy, who had just come out of the fresh water on the beach, it was nothing special. He was wearing nothing but his camp shorts, not feeling in the mood to wear the orange shirt. The other campers who saw him tried to approach him to talk to him but as soon as they looked into his eyes they just pretended to swim and kept on walking. In this way, he made his way in silence to his cabin, where a certain blonde companion was waiting for him:
-You're scaring everyone - it was his greeting as soon as he noticed how aggressive his friend's eyes were. But he kept his eyes on her, crossed his arms and leaning against the door of the cabin.
-I want to be alone," said Percy, standing inches away from Jason.
-Of course - despite not wearing a shirt the air around Percy felt cold. His tone was soft but his look was firm. Jason felt a kind of icy rage-he just stopped by to tell you that Argos is waiting for us in a while.
-I'm not interested-Percy didn't even ask.
-You'll go with your mother for the rest of the summer. What he didn't expect was that Percy, after standing in the doorway for a few seconds, would only respond:
-I'm going to pack.
-Okay...-And the door to cabin three closed in his face. I never expected it to be so simple, I had even been prepared to face Percy. In truth, this submissive and obedient side of Percy was very disturbing.
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Convincing Chiron to let Percy go before the end of the summer was easy. In fact, when Reyna and Frank went to talk to him, it was as if they had come up with the solution to the Elysées. The centaur agreed to send the ojiverde back to his mother. And obviously Mr. D didn't object at all.
-So, is it official? -Will was practicing shooting. While he was aiming, Leo and Frank were sitting on the bench watching him.
-Yes, Chiron said they would leave as soon as Argos returned from delivering the strawberries-Frank was leaning forward, resting his arms on his legs. I hear the whistling of an arrow and then the complaint of an archer for not hitting it.
-I thought you Apollo guys were good at this stuff-Critical Leo spinning an arrow; then I gently tap Frank on the shoulder-Your turn, big guy
-Y-Yes... -While Frank was taking his bow Leo wasn't taking his eyes off him. The Canadian had been acting strange for a while. Or to be more precise, he was acting a little slow; as if his mind were occupied with other things. Although Hephaestus' son only attributed it to the recent state of mourning everyone was going through.
Frank released the arrow and went straight to the target, although he only hit a few centimeters difference from the center point. A good shot, especially compared to Will's arrow at the end of the target.
-After that they would never let Leo take a bow and arrow again in his life. Courtesy of a furious Dryad with her flaming leaf hair
-Ah, here they are-Reyna entered the infirmary, where Will was bandaging Frank's arm where he had a few scratches caused by branches, followed by Hazel-Te was looking for...
-The Roman asked, noting with Hazel that she avoided looking at his face.
-Yes, we stayed longer than planned," Belona's daughter replied.
-Vale-For some reason, Reyna noticed that her colleague Pretor's face looked a little saggy.
-aldez-I call the brown guy who was playing with the medical supplies-I hope you can take us- Frank looks up in surprise.
-Of course, Valdez Airlines is always at your service," he replied with his usual joking tone.
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Percy's farewell was not particularly loud. Only those closest to the camp went to wish him and Jason a good trip, who for some reason was leaving with him as well. Another non-attendant was the usual effusiveness of Poseidon's son, who simply said goodbye with a simple goodbye:
-Bye-before you take your suitcase and get into the van. Where Argos was already waiting in the driver's seat.
-I'll talk to him," said Jason, though he really had no plan. "See you in New Rome.
The trip was quiet, silent. Even Argos, who loves good music, did not turn on the radio; and not because of the pressure in the back, but because of the absence of it. Jason kept thinking about it. He wondered how to approach a conversation. But the sad thing was that he couldn't think of one. And not for fear of an aggressive reaction from his cousin; but rather the opposite tone. Percy looked so calm, so collected, that it was hard to believe it was the same person.
So in that absolute silence the journey came to an end. Argos parked in front of the sidewalk of the new apartment building where Sally lived. She said goodbye to Percy with the usual nod and half a smile. The green eye returned the gesture and came down; it was his last chance:
-Percy! -In a second the blond man came down and circled the car, catching up with his cousin at the entrance to the brother building, I-and once again Jason had nothing to say. The only difference was that this time he was surrounded by his cousin's arms.
Not that they would have ever embraced each other. When winning a competition, joking, or simply to annoy the other with a mellow attitude. Only this time it felt so different. He was literally trapped by the strength of his cousin. He could also feel a little cold, as if he still hadn't recovered from being at sea. And Percy had his face hidden in his chest, he could almost feel as if he was shaking.
-Brother? -Doubtful and immobile question.
-Just for a second, her voice sounded slightly muffled because her face was still hidden. A moment later he felt himself released from the grip, but Percy kept his hands at the sides of his arms-Jason.
-They were his words sharing the gesture and taking Percy by the side while squeezing him a little in an attempt to comfort and strengthen him.
-I will -It was all Percy's response before he turned around and walked in. Though leaving the blond with a strange doubt, had his cousin responded to the first or the second? He had a bad feeling about it. But he pushed away all his negative thoughts by shaking his head.
I trusted Percy.
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His arrival home was exactly as predicted: he was surrounded by his mother's arms and a squeeze on the shoulder from Paul. Sally loved Annabeth very much, they had become very close during her son's disappearance, and she could not hold back a tear when she told Percy how sorry she was. Paul, for his part, had known little of his stepson's girlfriend, but he had a very good image of her and knew how much he loved her.
But there was something Sally couldn't notice in the midst of the pain, and Paul could. It may have sounded insensitive, but he could have a more objective view of Percy's state: he acted very indifferent. And not in the sense of pushing people away, no, he reciprocated his mother's embrace as strongly as she did. It was something different, as if he was trying to keep a cool head and figure out how best to bury his pain. Although perhaps a bit of an exaggeration, it was normal for a teenager to want to avoid pain. That's why he didn't keep thinking about it.
What did surprise them was that, after leaving his suitcase in his room, Percy went out and asked them if they could go out to dinner. Sally agreed and Paul found no reason not to, it was a good way to keep the mind busy without denying the mourning. So they went to eat at a pasta restaurant where adults used to go when they wanted to change their routine.
Although little and nothing was said by Percy the conversation flowed naturally. Words were not forced, and sometimes they were left alone eating in silence.
-Percy, where will you be in your senior year? -People ask in a spontaneous moment. Being a neutral subject he thought he was on safe ground.
-The call was not answered immediately, he only left his fork halfway through the call a few seconds before returning it to the plate before answering-I still don't know.
-I can get you a seat wherever you want-His stepfather offered it.
-Thank you Paul- That's all he said on the subject before he went on with his meal. Silently Sally and her husband exchanged a look, between confused and worried.
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They returned home before eleven o'clock. Sally and Paul left their son to rest and went to his room. While they both slept in the dark, the light from the sidewalk filtered faintly through the window, hardly anything could be seen in the dark; a night table, an extinguished lamp, a pair of earrings and a sheet of paper folded in half.
-I didn't know this melodramatic side of you. That soft and sarcastic one took you so by surprise that you almost tripped over the step. Percy quickly recovered and saw Nico waiting for him at the foot of the building's entrance stairs.
-He asked as soon as he reached sidewalk level.
-Call me crazy, but I knew you'd do something like this," his cousin answered by shrugging his shoulders and walking beside him.
-Why are you following me," said Percy, completely ignoring Nico's manner in referring to his mother.
-I want to make sure you won't do anything stupid," said the son of Hades. After crossing a few streets, Nico looked at Percy, his face still impassive.
-Don't you think you can stop me?
-Neither will I accompany you-guessing the next question. Then he got a skeptical look with a raised eyebrow-I know what you're doing, and I know you need it-Explain-but I don't want you to do the same thing I did.
-You just said you wouldn't stop me.
-I mean, get out of the way," Nico said as they waited for the light to come on a deserted street.
-Jason is waiting for me somewhere," asked Poseidon's son, ready to walk in the opposite direction.
-Only I know that you will go, to I don't know where, at the camp they will still think that you are with your family -I say Nico-Unless you want to leave a message... Nothing? Okay, can I know where you're going?
-Even I don't know." Percy's tone remained stoic, which worried his cousin.
-Okay, I only have one condition, unless you want me to take you straight to Chiron now! -He quickly added, "I want you not to be alone, okay?" The next thing Percy noticed was the huge mastiff dog coming out of the trees in the park, it was black and wearing a shiny new red collar.
-Hello baby-Percy greets his hellhound by scratching her ear- Do you want her to watch me?
-We love you, Percy," Nicolas replied. "Now get upstairs before I get sentimental, let's go long.
Percy did not respond immediately. He first climbed onto the back of his dog from hell and gave a faint smile to his younger cousin. The first one in days.
-Not...-Short cut Nico with a threatening finger when he sees Percy open his mouth-you might want to say goodbye!
Percy just closed his mouth and nodded his head. Deep down, he felt better about himself knowing that someone knew he was leaving. Nico was a very reassuring presence, although many thought otherwise. He leaned into his dog's ear and whispered:
-Run-
The last thing Nico saw was the bitch from hell disappearing into the shadows with her cousin in tow. He only sighed and prayed to the gods for the safety of Poseidon's son. And his own, if Jason or anyone else found out that he had been complicit in Percy Jackson's escape.
To be continued...
Discover it next month, in this same channel and in the same profile!
Anyway, my dear loves, I'm sorry to have to pass you another chapter in "raw". Don't worry, as soon as I get a Beta I'll make sure to update these chapters so you can enjoy them as they should be. For now, just be a little more patient, okay?
In the meantime don't forget that reviews are part of a balanced diet to keep your author healthy and updating diligently n_n