POV: Percy
After fleeing from the amphitheater, Percy flew a short distance away to the lake. He wasn't going to leave, not really, he just needed to think.
Here, he was by himself. So he let the hood of his cloak fall away from his face. He let the scars show.
Looking at himself, he hardly recognised the person staring back at him. It just made him so… angry.
He hit his reflection in the water with his fist and turned away.
At the bottom of the lake, the naiads got scared at his outburst and swam away. All except for one.
It was smaller, somehow younger looking than all of the others. And as it swam closer to him, he couldn't help but smile at its innocence.
Gently, almost as if she was scared, she reached out and poked his foot. Just in a playful manner, but before he knew it, he found himself in the water playing a strange version of tag with the small naiad.
When he finally came up, he was smiling. A genuine smile, one he hadn't used in a long time.
Willing himself dry, he waved goodbye to the small naiad as it swam off to join the others, once again leaving him to his thoughts.
The stupid smile was still on his face when he looked down at his reflection again. But this time, he wasn't so startled by the boy looking back at him.
Percy was made immortal at age 21. He looked good. The boy staring back at him had a lopsided grin on his face that made his large scar crinkle around the edges and look less scary.
His hair fell into his eyes, reminding him that he really needed a hair cut. The smile even reached his eyes, making them seem a lighter shade of their usual churning green. Chasing away the sadness, if only for a little while.
No. He would be okay. This was him. The real him. It was time for him to stop hiding.
With that decision made, his gaze travels upwards, away from the water for the first time in the entire afternoon.
The sun had long since set without him realising, and the moon shone brightly, easily lighting his path as he walked away from the docks.
Opening his wings, he relished the feeling of the cold wind brushing against the sleek feathers of his wings before letting the wind lift him up.
Finally, he reached the tall tree that he had been using to spy on the camp earlier in the day.
Up high, the branches were plenty thick and sturdy, and he had no trouble at all finding one that would reliably hold his weight.
Setting down, he retracted his wings into his back and leaned against the trunk of the tree.
Finally alone, and not in any danger of hurting anybody, he released some of his power. The branch he was on immediately froze beneath him, and a cold wind swept through dropping the temperature to several degrees below zero.
"Now that's more like it".
Content, he leaned his head back against the trunk of the tree and fell asleep.
He was accustomed to having nightmares every night, that's why he always slept high above the earth and water, that way his powers wouldn't disturb anything. But tonight he found himself in the throne room of Chaos' palace.
At first he thought that he was just reliving a memory, but then she spoke.
"Percy. I have seen what you did today with Tartarus and I am very proud".
"Thank you, my lady", he kneeled down in front of her, but she just chuckled and told him to rise.
"However, you and I both know that you will not be able to defeat him alone".
At her words he began pacing, absent-mindedly picking at the feathers in his wings.
"Because of this I am sending you Xavier. You must work together with the half-bloods, and find the main source of Tartarus' power. Destroying it is the only way that you stand a chance against defeating him".
"Of course, my lady. But, if I may, where is it?".
He had stopped pacing at mention of Xavier. He had missed his friend and working together on missions was always fun.
"I'm sorry to have to tell you this, Percy, but his main source of power is located deep in the pit. The unruled areas. The monsters there aren't even under Tartarus' control. Nobody has ever ventured down there before".
At the word Tartarus, the room darkened and the shadows seemed to grow longer.
Chaos put a finger to her lips signifying that he was listening.
Soon, the feeling passed, and they once again began speaking.
"Percy. I have taught you about the power of names. In this quest I want you to use this power to your advantage, hone your skills".
"But my lady. How did he even get in here? This is your palace".
She sighed and gazed out her window at Earth before replying. "He is much more powerful than I feared. You must hurry, Percy. If he launches his attack on Olympus before you destroy his source of power than I'm afraid there is nothing more I can do".
He nodded grimly, crossing his arms and readying his wings. "I will await Xavier and try to ready Camp Half-Blood as much as I can".
"Good. And Percy?".
"Yes, my lady?".
"Try to warm up to the new campers a little bit. You gave them quite a scary show yesterday".
Percy grinned under his cloak. "My lady, you forget which domain I am in charge of, I do not warm up to people, I cool them down".
"Oh stop being so dramatic. I heard your whole speech yesterday and I'm honestly curious if you actually did practice saying that".
They were both smiling now. This was like a long-term joke with them.
"A magician never tells their secrets, my lady".
He grinned again once more before she flicked her wrist and he woke up. Still in his tree, exactly where he had fallen asleep.
POV: Annabeth
The meeting with the gods had gone on for longer than usual yesterday due to Percy's disturbance. And by the time they emerged Chiron had managed to gather most of the campers in the dining pavilion and was struggling to get them under control.
As soon as the gods emerged, everybody immediately stopped talking, and turned their eyes towards them. Or more accurately, towards Lord Poseidon.
Finally, someone spoke.
"We are so sorry if we have angered you Lord Poseidon. Whatever we did I assure you we didn't mean to".
All the other campers nodded their heads and stared at Poseidon anxiously.
Soon, he realised what they were talking about.
"You are referring to the huge storm that was created?".
They all nodded their heads.
"That storm was not of my doing. I am not angry, do not worry".
The campers seemed to breathe out a collective breath that they had been holding in relief. But then the full extent of what the god had said set in.
"Excuse me, Lord Poseidon. But what do you mean that storm that was created was not of your doing? It was a hurricane! Forgive me, Lord Zeus, but that is not within your domain".
The gods looked around nervously to each other.
Before emerging from the amphitheater, they had come to the conclusion that Tartarus was indeed rising, and they needed Percy's help to stop him. They hoped that Percy would be back by morning, and decided that they would let him explain what was going on.
"Do not worry. Everything will be explained to you tomorrow". The gods did not have a reply for the questions that her sibling had been asking, so Annabeth took control.
"We will have another meeting, tomorrow. In the…", she trailed off. Looking around, it was as if she was just noticing how much larger the camp had gotten. All the tables were full, and some campers were overflowing outside of the pavilion all together. "The meeting will be held in the amphitheater tomorrow".
Chiron threw her a questioning glance, but she ignored it.
"Now, let's just have a nice dinner. Everything will be explained tomorrow"
The younger campers followed her orders without question, but some of the older ones continued to look at her skeptically before finally returning to their food.
The gods had decided that they would not be staying for dinner, but before they left Annabeth approached Apollo.
"Excuse me, Lord Apollo. But… well… Percy will be coming back tomorrow, right?"
He looked down at her, an unusually tense look on his face before he replied, "I'm sorry, Annabeth but I just don't know. Prophecy doesn't work like that, I can't pick and choose what I see".
She nodded her head in understanding and stood nearby and watched as the gods gathered together and disappeared.
If Percy didn't come back tomorrow…
She shuddered. They would solve that problem when they came to it.