Percy Jackson

Months had passed since the whole thing with Hektor and the Minotaur. Percy learned that Annabeth had shown Hektor around camp, which kind of disappointed him. He totally wanted to show Hektor where all the candy trade spots were. Annabeth would never show any of the secret spots, she wanted to be a good influence, or so she said.

By now, Hektor was starting to actually look the part amongst the campers at Camp Half-Blood. He remained unclaimed but as far as Percy knew, he was adjusting just fine. In fact, Connor was currently teaching him the ropes on how to steal without getting caught. He wasn't a Hermes kid but he certainly was starting to act just like one.

It also helped that Percy had sort of become Hektor's mentor. Every week, they'd train in the arena. Percy didn't teach him everything, mainly so he didn't try it in a real fight and get killed. He only taught him things that he knew would actually be tested. It was quite ironic, Percy was starting to act like Luke, just without the evil Kronos part.

"Get your sword up!" Percy warned as he slashed at Hektor.

Hektor dodged, retaliating with his own strike. He was good but flawed. He was slow and insecure about his attacks. Percy noted there was a slight pause before he attacked, as if he was hesitating. So of course, he decided to fix that.

Percy launched a barrage of slashes, getting faster by the second. "Faster." He said between strikes, "You gotta get faster than that."

Hektor started blocking and dodging but his eyes grew wider and his lip quivered. After a minute, his defenses started to break. He sloppily attempted counterattacks, only to be forced to defend. He'd attempt to move, only for Percy to block his retreat.

Sword clashed against sword. Metallic banging sounds rang through the arena. Sweat ran down both demigods. Percy narrowed his eyes and started to push Hektor even harder. He was going to need this training if he ever had to fight in another war and knowing demigod lives, there would always be another war.

As soon as the barrage started, it all ended when Percy slammed his blade against the hilt of Hektor's sword, sending it flying and clattering against the arena floor. Hektor stood there with his hands up, a look of defeat plastered across his face.

With a sigh, Percy lowered his sword. Not many campers could really keep up with him. Only a select few such as Jason and Annabeth could really match him. He knew he should've went easier on the new campers but he couldn't help but think of the guilt he would feel by sending them off to war only for them to die because he didn't teach them enough.

"Go get your sword, bro." Percy said.

Hektor briskly walked over and gathered his sword in his hands. He walked over and asked, "Are you mad?"

"No, no. You did good, really, you're showing improvement." Percy said.

Hektor beamed, "You think so?"

"Yeah. I mean, against Clarisse or Annabeth, you'd probably lose but I mean you should be able to take down any monster that tries to bug you in the mortal world."

Hektor looked like he was in bliss. Percy didn't know what was up with the guy. He always seemed so happy when Percy complimented him and he stuck to him like glue. He understood that he was new but it still irked him every once in a while to have someone following him around like he was a superhero.

"Anyways, you did good." Percy said, "Lessons are over for today. See you next week, yeah?"

"You bet!"

Ω

Weeks passed by without anything exciting. Aside from the occasional satyr bringing back a half-blood with a monster on their heels, nothing really happened at Camp Half-Blood. Meanwhile, things were picking up at Camp Jupiter, or at least, that's what Percy heard.

"So, Frank and Hazel are praetors now?" Percy asked while playing with Riptide.

"Yep." Jason said while scrolling through his phone, "Won the vote by a landslide. I still think you and me would've made awesome praetors though."

Percy chuckled, "We'd be a nightmare."

Jason looked up with a offended look but eventually started laughing, "Probably yeah. Can you believe that Piper knew about it before I did? I mean, I was a praetor and Piper knew about it before me."

"You're going senile, Grace." Percy said in a mocking tone.

"Fuck you too." Jason said while holding up his middle finger, "But I'm glad for them though. Frank and Hazel are good people, they're like the power couple right now."

"Like you and Piper aren't a power couple," Percy scoffed, "You guys are the talk of the Aphrodite cabin right now."

"Oh yeah? So are you and Annabeth!"

Percy smirked, "We've always been like that. Even before we were dating, the Aphrodite cabin was screaming about us."

Jason set his phone down, "Speaking of you and Annabeth, have you guys figured out what you want to do? After high school I mean."

"Yeah, college in New Rome." Percy smiled, "Then it's either living in New Rome or coming back here."

"You know you need letters of recommendation from gods to get into New Rome University right?"

"Yep, I think I'll ask Athena, Hermes, and Hephaestus. Sucks I can't ask my dad." Percy said.

Jason chuckled. He pointed to himself, "Sucks for me too. I could've definitely got in if I asked Jupiter for a letter of recommendation. All it would take is his letter but no, can't ask parents because they're biased."

"They are!" Percy said, "My dad would literally write a whole shining report about me. Somehow he'd make me blowing up Mt. Saint Helens look good."

"I'm sure he would. My dad would probably—hey, is that Annabeth over there?" Jason asked, pointing.

Percy turned and saw Annabeth walking side by side with Rachel. Both of them had grim looks on their faces. Rachel was holding her head in her hands while Annabeth was rubbing her side in a attempt to comfort her.

"Yeah," Percy said slowly, "Why does Rachel look like she's crying?"

"I don't know, man." Jason said, "You should go check it out."

Percy got up and made his way towards the two girls. The closer he got, the worse the scene seemed to get. Annabeth's gray eyes were full of concern while Rachel was wiping her eyes constantly. Now that he thought about it, he'd never really seen Rachel cry before, at least not like this.

"Hey, is everything alright?" Percy asked as he walked up to them.

Annabeth looked up and shook her head before turning back to Rachel and whispering words of comfort. Younger Annabeth would've never done such a thing but clearly something was up.

Rachel looked up at Percy and said, "I'm scared, Percy."

"Scared of what?" He asked. To his knowledge, there really wasn't anything to be afraid of. Why would she be scared in a camp that was safe?

"Yesterday, Apollo came into my room in the Big House. He kept saying something like 'where is it?' and his eyes were twitching. When I asked him what was wrong, he started giggling at me with the craziest look on his face." She said, growing more tearful as she spoke, "Something's wrong with him."

Percy admitted there was something wrong with that situation. Apollo was crazy but never crazy enough to just lose it like that in front of Rachel. It was odd but not really something worth being terrified over, at least in his opinion. Maybe Rachel had some weird ability that he didn't know about.

"Everything is going to be fine." Annabeth said, "Just…leave it to us, okay?"

"Okay." Rachel said. She walked ahead, stopping to stare at the sun before continuing her walk to the Big House.

"Something weird is going on, Percy." Annabeth said.

"Okay, I mean, I get it, Apollo is acting like a weirdo but is it really worth being this scared—"

"It's not just Apollo." She said, "Artemis is acting weird too. I was up on Olympus a few days ago and she was muttering something about her bow. Apparently, she's refused to go on any hunt with her Hunters. Thalia doesn't even know why."

This was news to Percy. Artemis was usually a level-headed person. If she was acting like Apollo, something was off. He was slightly concerned but at the same time, he didn't want to get involved. He didn't want to risk his neck only to find out this was some sibling rivalry or game being played.

"Do you have any ideas?" He asked.

Annabeth shook her head, "No. I'm trying to think of what might be causing this but I just can't figure it out. I don't want to ask either of them because it really isn't any of my business."

Percy was glad he wasn't the only one who shared that opinion. He knew better than to get involved in the business of the gods. Usually, a simple question was enough for one to be sucked right into the middle of whatever was going on. Sometimes, he didn't even need to do anything and the gods would get him involved anyways. If it was important enough, surely Chiron would find him.

"Well, I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get to it, huh?"

"I'm sure we will." Annabeth said.

Both demigods turned and looked as they heard thunder rumble in the distance. They both gaped at the large thunderstorm. The thunderstorm heading towards them.