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Chapter sixteen: Reprimanded
~Penelope's POV~

The way back took them longer than the way there, as all three of them were scratched up and bruised, Piper was limping and Penelope's shoulder still hurt like hell.
All the time they didn't speak, until Penelope couldn't bare it any longer.
"I'm sorry" she told her friends, her voice crushed.
"Pen, it wasn't -" Piper started to say, but Penelope cut her off
"Yes it was. I asked you to go on this trip with me, it's my fault you got hurt. I just" to her horror tears started to well up in her eyes "I just wanted to be normal, for a day. To know what it's like to be...just a girl."

Her friends looked at her sadly, and Annabeth took her hand and gave it a squeeze.
"Hey, it's okay. We all feel like that sometimes. But the thing is that demigod life, monsters and all of it, that is our normality. You'll get used to it, don't worry."
Although she knew that Annabeth's words were kindly meant, Penelope couldn't help but feel a little sad at them. Monsters, that is our normality...
Absent-mindedly, she fingered her necklace, the one that had simply appeared around her neck when she'd awoken at camp all those weeks ago, and that couldn't fall off.
It was a beautiful thing, with a stary design made out of black and white diamonds, strung on a leather cord. Penelope had been convinced her mother had sent it to her, to keep her safe, but now she wasn't so sure. Mormo wouldn't have tried to kill her if her Hecate hadn't allowed it, would she?
A sigh escaped Penelope's lips.
"That's pretty" Annabeth said, obviously trying to distract her. "When did you get that?"
"It was there when I woke up after Leo found me. I don't think it comes off." Penelope explained.
"That's odd, I've never noticed it before." Annabeth's brow furrowed.
"Me neither" Piper said. "Let it go for a second Pen."
She did so, and the other two whistled.
"Nice! It seems to go invisible when you're not touching it with you hands." Piper smiled.
Penelope looked down as best as she could at her neck, yet she could still see the pendant.
She told the girls so, but Annabeth didn't seem surprised at all. "That's normal with magical items."

Half an hour later, they arrived back at camp, and slowly made their way up the hill.
Penelope was feeling pretty nervous about being reprimanded by Chiron, and felt guilty for her friends' injuries, even though those could be healed by a little nectar.
When they got to the Big House however, three other people beside Chiron were waiting for them: Jason, Chleo and Leo.
Jason looked relieved when he saw them, and jogged over, scooping Piper up in his arms.
"Thank the gods you're okay! You're much later than you told me."
"Sorry" Piper's voice came out muffled against Jason's shoulder. "We, er, got held up."
Chiron and Chleo looked relieved as well, though Chleo's face was slightly disapproving.
There was one face though, that looked very angry.
"What were you thinking!" Leo shouted, rounding on them. "You could have been killed out there! That was the stupidest thing you could've ever done!"
Annabeth and Piper looked pretty taken aback at this outburst, which nobody had expected from the usually so cheerful Leo, but Penelope shifted guiltily.
"Leo" Chiron put a calming hand on Leo's shoulder, trying to calm the son of Hephaestus down, but Leo merely shrugged him off, and walked away, fuming.
"Don't worry, he'll calm down" the centaur said, an amused look on his face "As for you three-"
"Chiron, it was my idea. I asked them to come with me, because I wanted to explore the town a bit. I'm so sorry, please don't punish Piper or Annabeth." Penelope quickly said, her cheeks turning bright red.
But Chiron only chuckled. "I wasn't going to punish anyone of you, Penelope. I thought it a good idea for you to get a, let's say, reality check, before you embark on your quest. As for attracting monsters, which is I assume, what held you up, well, as demigods you can hardly help it."
This was not what Penelope had expected, and the weight she'd felt on her shoulders since encountering Mormo seemed to lift a bit.
"Now, please go to the sickroom and each get a square of ambrosia. And then, to dinner."
Chiron said, turning away from them.

They did as they were told, and then, feeling better, made their way back to the cabins.
"We'll see you guys at dinner" Piper winked at them, following Jason into cabin one.
Annabeth rolled her eyes and then turned to Penelope.
"Listen, Pen, two things. First, don't beat yourself up about the Mormo thing. We'll tell Chiron all about it tomorrow and we'll figure it out. And second, I think you should go talk to Leo."
It was amazing, Penelope thought, how Annabeth always seemed to know exactly where the problem was. She nodded, and then, on impulse, gave the blonde girl a hug, who returned it.
"I'll go change." Annabeth smiled, as she walked over to the Athena cabin.
"I'll see you at dinner." Chleo told Penelope, and then added "and I'm glad you're okay."
With that, she walked off, leaving Pen to face cabin nine.
Sighing, she knocked on the door, but when Nyssa opened, she told her that Leo wasn't there.
Of course not, Penelope thought, and then made her way to Bunker nine instead.
There, she wasn't surprised to find the door unlocked, and, slowly, swung it open.
"Leo?" she called, looking around.
"What do you want?" his voice called back, from somewhere inside the Argo II.
He didn't sound happy, though maybe not as angry as before.
Penelope climbed into the ship, and after a few minutes searching found Leo in his room on his bed, fiddling with some wires in his hand.
Penelope sat down at the end of the bed, but Leo didn't look at her.
"I'm sorry" she said, quietly.
For a moment, her friend didn't say anything and then, with a sigh said: "I know why you did it.
But you scared me Pen. You could have been seriously hurt. I don't want you to get hurt."
Leo's brown eyes looked troubled, and inside, Penelope felt that nervous fluttering again.
She had gotten used to Leo acting protective about her, but only now did she start to think that maybe it was a little more than that. Maybe.
"I know. I'm sorry." she repeated, her voice even softer.
Finally, Leo met her gaze, and now the familiar devilish smile crept back on his face.
"Just promise me one thing." he said.
"What?"
"Next time you go, take me with you"