Chapter 5: Coping
A/N: hey guys sorry for the late update. I have exams coming up like in a week but I took some time off revision to update this as kind of a stress relief. And, I lost a bet with my friend who said I needed some humour in the story and by losing I had to have the majority of this chapter funny so…On with the story. I don't own PJO or HoO.
A/N 2: updated quite a few changes. Please read the authors note on the first chapter.
Last time: I stopped and smiled sadly. Before I could continue towards my friends, I heard someone yell "Wait!"
Percy POV:
I turned around towards the source of the noise and saw one of the Goddesses I thought was least likely to talk, let alone tell me to stop leaving. Artemis. I could sense everybody was looking at her curiously, wondering why she had spoken. Artemis's face was expressionless. She looked at Zeus as she addressed him.
"Father, I believe that what Perseus is doing is admirable. Sacrificing power and position for the sake of others. I think it is only fair to reward such loyalty and humbleness with a just reward that benefits him. I therefore propose that Perseus should be bestowed partial immortality like my hunters."
There was a stunned silence. I was shocked and I could tell everyone else was too. I knew she didn't hate me like other men but it wasn't like we were friends or anything. Artemis, the world's biggest man-hater had just complimented, praised and said I should be rewarded. Zeus was the first one to recover from the shock as he pondered about Artemis's proposal.
"Very well. Perseus we shall grant you partial immortality." A faint glow surrounded me and then promptly vanished.
"If that is all, council dismissed." I turned around once again before a thought crossed my mind. I gestured for my friends to continue, and that I would catch up with them. I then made my way over to the god of the forges.
"Lord Hephaestus." I gave a short bow as he looked towards me. He nodded to tell me he was listening.
"I know you are going to get Calypso lord Hephaestus, but I have one last favour to ask that I think would make your son very happy. Is it possible to allow Leo to go collect her?" I looked at Hephaestus with a hopeful expression.
He smiled and nodded before saying "very well Perseus, call him and I shall keep Festus ready with a tracking device and supplies for his journey. And…thank you for considering Leo your friend. My children often have trouble making friends due to my characteristics, but you make friendship look easy. Thank you." I smiled before bowing and running off to find Leo and the rest of my friends.
I found them by the elevator waiting for me. I smiled in greeting. I was met with a hug by Hazel and man hugs from Frank and Leo. "Thank you, Percy, I don't think we can ever thank you enough or ever repay you," said Hazel. I smiled at her sadly. "You don't need to thank me or repay me Hazel; your friendship is enough." She smiled radiantly. "Now," I said, "I have one more thing to do before we leave. Leo, come with me." He looked confused but followed anyway.
"I talked to your dad and I got him to allow you to be the one to go get Calypso off the island. I know you promised her you would get her off the island and I believe you should always keep your promises. So…go get her Leo." Leo looked dumbfounded. I knew he was struggling to find words to express himself. "Leo, no need to thank me; Festus is outside waiting for you, equipped with a tracking device and supplies." Leo leapt forward and engulfed me in a hug. "Thanks Percy." He ran off, leaving me to stand alone in the throne room to stare longingly at the plaque containing Annabeth's name.
Time skip-5 months
Narrators POV:
Camp Heroes had been fully built 2 weeks after Annabeth's death. It had taken the leadership of the Athena cabin, the skill of the Hephaestus cabin and the help of the campers and the legion. The romans had been given the option to have separate accommodation for the different cohorts or stay in the improved and larger camp cabins; they had chosen to integrate themselves with their new brothers and sisters in the cabins, but they would still train as cohorts. Capture the flag and war games had different teams: sometimes Greeks versus Romans, sometimes half the campers would team up with half of the cohorts against their other halves. Camp started to go back to normal and morale was slowly starting to reach back to normal. New friendships were forming daily and couples could be seen getting together. Leo had returned with Calypso, who was welcomed with open arms and granted a room in the Big House.
However, one person was miserable. He would walk around trying his hardest to curb his growing depression, smiling a fake smile to everyone he passed so that they would not see the hopeless situation he was in. It was 4 months since the son of Poseidon had felt that he would never feel the same as he once felt. The first month after Annabeth had died, he had tried to keep his promise to her and move on but he couldn't do it. He would throw himself into his training most of the day, slashing and hacking at the dummies and automatons in the training arena as he blamed himself over her death. No one would come near Percy during this time as they knew that this was his way of coping. He barely ate and would rarely talk to anyone.
Over by the Hermes cabin, 3 campers were talking to a certain Cyclops and a Hundred Handed One.
Percy POV:
I was staring at the ceiling when I heard a knock on the cabin door. I sighed as I got up to open it. Leo and the Stolls were standing in the doorway with mischievous grins stretched across their faces.
"Come on Percy, you been in here sulking and shutting everybody out. So, I want to offer you a challenge. Rock, paper and scissors. If you win, we'll leave, but if I win, then you must do what we say. Do you accept?" Travis looked confident but I was pretty good at that game and it was the only way to get them to leave.
"Fine," I said, "but I rule at this game." Leo and Conner smiled evilly at me and I instantly thought I had to look out for their cheating.
"Ready?" asked Leo and Conner together. "Rock. Paper. Scissors." I smiled triumphantly at the rock in my hands as I saw Travis hold out 2 fingers. Then, my smile faltered and my eyes widened as I realised what had just occurred.
Travis had opted for a hand gun. It was the same trick I had used on Briares in the Labyrinth.
"You talked to Briares," I said annoyed. "Fine what do I have to do?" Leo snickered as Conner said "well…there's a camp fire tonight and we may have told Chiron that you were going to be doing stand-up comedy instead of the usual sing song." I glared at them as they ran out of the cabin laughing.
Great, I thought, now I must think of a comedy routine.
Time skip
The time for the camp fire came quicker than I had expected. I had tried to come up with a comedy routine for about half an hour before giving up and deciding to wing it. How hard could it be? I watched as Travis waltzed onstage with a mischievous grin. He looked at the demigods assembled in front of him before speaking.
"Welcome fellow demigods. I know you were expecting the regular sing-along but tonight we have a special treat for you. Now please give a warm welcome the comical stylings of Percy-and please hold the tomatoes if he is bad." I couldn't tell if he was joking. I walked onto the stage and cleared my throat.
"Hi," I muttered nervously. "I'm Percy-most of you know me. I'm a son of Poseidon, god of the seas. I'd like to start by telling you that I'm not a comedian and even if I do tell jokes, they're more like one-liners rather than story jokes so…" I was interrupted by Conner who shouted.
"Stop stalling and start telling jokes Jackson." I sighed. Here goes I thought.
"Anyways, let's tell you guys about me, my life and some of the people in it. Let's start with me. Um, I'm the only child in my family and I like parks. I was standing in the park earlier today wondering why a Frisbee gets larger the closer it gets. And then it hit me." A lot of groans met that joke. Shaky start, I thought.
"My stepmom Amphitrite- we've recently started to get along but it's difficult to say what she does-she sells sea shells by the seashore." A couple of giggles-not bad.
"Most of you guys know my mum-Sally. She's amazing. She worked on her own to provide for us so you know I tried to help by getting a part time job-but it wasn't easy. I got fired from my job at last-minute .com for being persistently late." That got a couple of snickers, and a couple of groans as I felt my confidence increase a bit.
"I quit my job at the helium gas factory. I refused to be spoken to in that tone." The number of laughs were increasing, which was good.
"I used to be a mime, but it's only now that I can talk about it. I used to make clown shoes-which was no small feat." The Stolls and Leo were laughing now as well.
"My mum's boyfriend Paul-nice guy-has hay fever and then found out he had diabetes; so I tried to cheer him up you know, flowers, and chocolates." Leo was on the floor holding his stomach. I grinned, this was fun.
"Paul's parents-Nancy and Eric, they don't like me. Whenever they come around, they always complain about how much things cost. $2 for a cup of coffee, $1.25 for 3 custard creams and I'm like guys, you just popped around, I didn't invite you." Almost everyone was laughing, but there were still people groaning.
"I don't really do that by the way-just in case you thought I did. My dad's other son Triton bought the complete box set of doctor who and we watched it back to back. Unfortunately, I wasn't the one facing the TV. When I was at school, I spent half my time scared of things like fractions. Well I say half my time. My ex stepfather Gabe-the one that my mum turned to stone-was a lollypop man at one point. At first, I refused to believe he stole from his job as a lollypop man, but all the signs were there. My mum has some distant cousins-about 4 of them, they're all police marksmen, but their dad was a bank robber. He died recently…surrounded by his family."
There were constant laughs at the moment as I stated joke after joke. I was running out of jokes though. "I was outside the empire state building and this girl needed some help so I helped her and then I asked her name and she said Chantelle and so I said well if you're not going to tell me... Then I walked away. After the war, we had to go to Olympus and Conner farted in the lift-which was wrong on so many levels." Everyone was laughing, but at Conner, who was fake glaring at Percy whilst trying not to die of embarrassment.
"Have you guys ever wondered why Medusa never got the snakes on her head removed via a haircut? And if she did cut the off, does this mean she won't be able to turn people into stone anymore? And if that's so, does that mean that she would have ereptile dysfunction?" Everyone was in stitches, crying their eyes out.
"Thanks for listening I guess." I walked off to a round of applause. I thought about what Annabeth would say and my mind immediately came up with a response-really seaweed brain? Ereptile Dysfunction was the best you could come up with?
I smiled sadly. This whole camp reminded me of Annabeth, and I wouldn't be able to move on here and fulfil my promise to her. I had to leave and find my way again, no matter how tough or painful it was to leave behind the place I called home, and my friends. I slowly made my way to my cabin to pack my essentials-clothes, my sword, some pictures, ambrosia and nectar, drachma and mortal money and my water bottle. I wrote a quick note to Chiron and placed it on my desk in the cabin. They would find it there. I had to sneak out before they noticed. I put my stuff in my bag and slung it on my back. I carefully tiptoed to the hill, ready to race away when a voice said…
"Where are you going Percy?" I stopped walking and turned around. Hestia stood in front of me with an eyebrow raised; I bowed.
"Lady Hestia, I'm leaving to fulfil my promise. I have to move on." She studied me for a while before saying "very well, I have a proposition for you. Would you be my champion?" I was shocked. "Why me?" She laughed. "You are a brave hero Percy. Kind and noble and willing to do whatever is right. You are the perfect champion for me. The hearth has the power to heal and harm. You can heal with fire and use fire in battle. You would also be able to instil hope in any living creature as well as summon cooked food."
I blushed. "I would be honoured Lady Hestia." She raised her hand as a warm, orangey glow emitted from her palm. I felt stronger, filled with more hope. She thought for a minute before saying "I think I know what you could do. You can go around helping demigods who are still yet to make it to camp. I can tell you where and when you are needed." I thought for a moment before carefully saying "that sounds like a good idea, however I will need some time to train my powers and fighting styles. For that I will need a few years so that I can protect these demigods to the best of my abilities. And I also need to see my mum and tell her where I am and what I am going to be doing."
She smiled and nodded. "Very well Percy, I will change your appearance slightly and mask your demigod smell so that you will have less troubles on your journey." She muttered something in Greek that I didn't quite catch. My eyes suddenly watered and my head started throbbing as well as my muscles. Then suddenly the pain vanished. I opened my eyes and Hestia gasped as she summoned a mirror. I was taller, around 6'0 with my hair darker than usual. My eyes had gone from sea green to red with sea green irises so that no one would recognise me if they saw my eyes. My muscles were bigger so that I looked less scrawny but not overly muscular. I smiled at my new appearance. I thanked Hestia before I raced down the hill towards my mother's house.
A/N: well that's the chapter. My longest one yet. I try to get at least 1000 words per chapter but I will try make them as long as I can. Hope you liked it. Please review if you have any questions or just to say what you thought. If you didn't understand any of the jokes then review or dm me and I will reply as soon as possible. As I said I have exams next week so the next update may be sometime in late May. But hopefully not too late.
PS: I need an OC demigod less than 10 years old for Percy to rescue when he gets back. Dm me your character with their name, age, description of appearance and their godly parent. If you want you can send a back story that I can use-though it's not necessary. I will select one to use but I may use the others too.