DISCLAIMER: Percy Jackson and crew are the intellectual property of Rick Riordan
WARNING: Somewhat OOC Characters
HI AWESOME PEOPLE! :)) I'm only a day (or two days, as it is) from my self-imposed deadline, so HORRAAH! (Actually, I won't realize the date if it wasn't for my wonderful Beta, so thank youuu, dogbiscuit1967! :)) )
WE DID IT, PEOPLE! WE'RE HERE! THE LAST CHAPTER FOR OCEAN'S WINGS! CELEBRATE!
For all of you who have stuck with this story through thick and thin, whether it looked like I would quit and leave it unfinished, or when I was updating every week, THANK YOU. You guys don't know how much you all mean to me, whether you're only just reading it, or favorited and subscribed to it. Just, thanks for always being there. :D
Padfootette, Slytherin Studios, fantasylover4evr,DeathToPink300, IWantColoredRain, The fleeting wanderer - Thank you guys! I hope that with this, you'll all continue to support me and Ocean's Wings! :D
OmegaBanda14, spiritgirl16, blackblooded1, harryginny9, AnimeTurtlez, Guest # 1, Nurutos gurl - Check the Author's note at the end. ;)
Hippodog - Haha. When I posted it, it was Chinese New Year here. I'm in Southeast Asia, so I think our timelines are different. :))
slytherin13 - Haha. If you loved him, wait for the next book. (wink wink)
ultima-owner - Haha. And to think Poseidon was one of the ones scolded. :)) Hestia really is the epitome of eldest and youngest. :))
CharitinaX - Uhh, sorry about that. Think I should have upped the rating? I did put a warning. Right? O.O
dogbiscuit1967 - Hey there, my most awesomest Beta. Haha. Yes, yes you did do good. :)) Well. Haha. We'll both see. :))
mysteryreader6626 - Can I ask what about the conversation confused you? Because we wrote that part to be sort of a teaser for the rest. ;)
Allusive Ryder - The actual reason Poseidon did that isn't for revenge on the whole 'Lightining Thief' situation, though. Poseidon did that to
Dr. MKDemigodX2 - Haha. After this chapter, it'll be clear. :)
Siddystar101 - Thank you for the praise! Yes, that's the plan. :D Uhh, I really don't know, since I'm pretty much unconnected to FF these days because of work. :( Haha. That's the plan. :P
Cassy - One little dose of Athena, coming right up. ;) CLOSE. :))
aLazyButSmartFanPJO - Haha. Don't worry though. We both have surprises for all of you guys. :D
godess bubbles - Ah. Well, I made it a subtle implication that to be worthy of the title of 'Sea Princess', she must be free of the title of 'hero' that comes side by side with being a demigod. Any kind of monarch has to have compassion for his or her subjects. A hero powers through anything, whether the thing he or she is inconveniencing is a good person or a bad one. A good monarch must empathize, not just rule, because if empathy isn't present, the fall of the domain would be imminent. Just like King Arthur and Camelot. King Arthur is a great hero, but a crappy king, don't you think? That's why both Triton and Poseidon were pleased with Percy's choice. They saw that she has the required compassion, and not the instinctive drive that if you're a hero, you must vanquish evil or that sort of crappy thinking. Hope this insight helps. :D
Dragon Silhouette - Hope it wasn't that kind of brutal that had you running around about losing your own. :P :)) (if you have the required bits, of course. My bad. :)) )
Laude Dei - I sort of want it too, but it would so totally ruin EVERYTHING if I did that, so we're all stuck in this thing together. :)) Hihihihi. The thing about S.O.M. is the thing with C.C. (wink)
Freerunner4427, PadawanCassy - (wink)
Aria - You ask all of the important questions, and yet I can't answer even one of them! Well, at least one of the answers is in this chapter. :D
Caboosse137 - Hope I helped you out. :D
Εδώ είναι το επόμενο κεφάλαιο! (Here's the next chapter!)
Chapter 29: The End is Only the Beginning
Apparently, it really was a serious thing when you're given a quest that has world-changing implications AND make it back to Camp alive. As soon as I set foot over the boundary line Thalia's tree provides the Camp, I glimpsed a massive crowd that was apparently waiting for me to show up before I was whisked away in the direction of the Big House on someone's shoulders (and I'm betting the Minotaur's horn that it was either a really tall Ares kid or a really buff Hephaestus one, judging by the height I was at and the shoulders I am sitting on). Chiron was waiting on the porch, with Luke, Ethan and Grover, all of them wearing smiles. When I am finally set down, Chiron had the four of us line up in front of him and presented us with golden laurel wreaths on our heads and told we are to lead the procession to the bonfire inside the amphitheater so we could burn the burial shrouds made for us in preparation of our expected (Really. Thanks for the vote of confidence, guys) deaths.
Burial shrouds are what the Camp usually used when they know that a demigod has acquired a permanent residence in the Underworld and their bodies were nowhere to be found (or impossible to collect, enough said). They were usually made by the demigod's cabin mates, seeing as they supposed to be the said demigod's closest thing to a family.
This fact explained why Luke's shroud is covered by badly drawn Converse shoes with wings attached to it ("It's not badly drawn! I just had the wrong marker, dammit!" "So not an excuse, Travis.") while Ethan's is covered in little caricatures of twin Xiphos swords crossed together (I thought they were toothpicks at first until Connor looked at me with mock hurt, telling me he drew them to be swords, no matter what he thought that the cleaning implements suited Ethan more. He got himself a promise to be Ethan's 'training partner' once he commissioned brand new 'toothpicks' from the Hephaestus Cabin. Connor looked like he swallowed a lemon whole). Add the fact that both of the shrouds looked like they were made from used bed sheets. So it was with a look of glee on their faces Luke and Ethan watched as their shrouds burned.
Travis's reasoning for this is the whole cabin believed that they were coming back anyway, so there wasn't any reason t to make an effort on the shrouds. The only response he received was a raised eyebrow from Luke and an unimpressed scowl from Ethan.
As for me, seeing as I am the only claimed demigod child of Poseidon, I have no cabin mates to make me one, so Chiron asked for a volunteer cabin to make one for me. Apparently, even before he could finish the announcement, Silena had all but jumped up and down, telling him in front of the whole camp (they were in the mess hall when this happened) that the Aphrodite Cabin would be in charge of making mine, no questions asked. I was touched by this. Well, up until Silena handed me the thing and I unfolded it in front of everybody. Frankly, what was first gratitude turned to horror as the HORRIFYING shroud unfurled. I seriously had to stop myself from grimacing because it was PINK. HOT PINK. WITH GLITTER AND LACE. The upside of the whole thing was the beautifully drawn Trident in the middle, with its golden tips glowing green with power and, it was silk. Better than bed sheets, right?
Ethan looked both mollified and horrified at my expression, but Luke told me it was an accurate representation of who I am. I just turned and kicked him in the shins.
All in all, the three of us burned them gleefully, much to the shared joy and despair in Silena's expression as mine touched the fire.
As the Apollo Cabin led the sing-along and passed around s'mores in celebration, the four of us were surrounded by the Hermes Cabin, with all of them yelling out jokes at Ethan and Luke's expense, and wolf-whistling at me and Luke, who was back to being his overly flirtatious persona (as if he mellowed during the quest) while having equal fun and terror as Ethan's poisonous looks continually directed towards him. We were also bombarded by Grover's satyr friends, all of them admiring the brand new searcher's license that the Council of the Cloven Elders had given him when he and Ethan set foot inside Camp. The Council, with Dionysus' grumbling approval, called his performance on the quest as 'Brave to the point of nausea. Horns, whiskers and hooves above anything we've encountered in the past.' Of course Silena, Will, Malcolm and Clarisse were all beside me, hugging me (Silena) and crying with relief (still Silena) as well as congratulating me on bravely surviving the world while accompanied by the biggest idiot in the world (Clarisse's eyes were trained on Luke while she said this. Luke just pouted back at her).
The only ones who weren't joining in the festivities were some people from Ares Cabin (who Clarisse herself called 'bitter, jealous pussies who shouldn't really be Children of Ares because they don't respect power'. Though Clarisse took one look at me and snorted, saying, "And excuse us if we don't want to treat you like royalty, Princess. We don't want our stepmom to be younger than us." And I wholeheartedly agreed with that) and more than half of Athena's Cabin with a stone-faced Annabeth in the lead.
I was fine with a large part of that, although I winced at the thought of talking with Annabeth to fulfill my promise to Luke even before we set out on this crazy quest. I just hope that somehow preventing World War III will earn me some brownie points with the Daughter of Athena.
Even Dionysus' grumbling 'welcome back speech' had me wanting to laugh, not internally wincing with pity for the grounded god. "Yes, yes, the brat succeeded and all that. And now she'll think herself the Goddess of Victory herself. Hurrah for that. On another note, there will be no Pegasus riding contests, as I don't like that request. Terrence Stone, you and your brother Christian should just stick with your pranks on the ground…." Connor and Travis just high-fived each other at the incredulous looks they received once the campers worked out that they were the ones that came up with the ridiculous request.
I moved back to Cabin Three, though it really didn't feel that lonely anymore. During the day, I have my friends with me, but the big difference is that no one was watching me like they were waiting for me to spontaneously combust anymore. They are treating me like an actual human now, albeit a celebrity (which I could totally have done without, but a human, nonetheless), and not like an animal inside a cage at the local zoo. By night, I lay awake on my bed, staring at the abalone ceiling, smiling as my ears picked up on the sound of the sea on the Sound, knowing that Dad and triton were out there; that my Mom and I weren't alone anymore.
Speaking of my Mom. It seems like I don't need to worry about her anymore, seeing as she now has a chance at a better life. Her letter had arrived a week after we got back to Camp. She wrote that Gabe has mysteriously vanished (just completely disappeared) even the local police she called in are baffled by his disappearance. They advised her to fill out the form to petition for her to receive his pension from wherever it is he works. They repeatedly apologized for not having a lick of evidence or lead that would cause them to suspect foul play or anything, so they couldn't make a case out of it. They just hoped that he would come back someday, but she had a feeling that he wouldn't be coming back at all, and that suited her just fine.
On a seemingly unrelated note, she sold her first ever concrete life-sized sculpture, entitled 'The Poker Player', to an eccentric collector, through an art gallery in Soho. She'd gotten so much money from it that she managed to put down a deposit on a new apartment and made a down payment on her first semester down at NYU. The Soho gallery was clamoring for more of her work, calling it 'Very avant-garde. The first step to super ugly neorealism.'
'Don't worry, though, Bluebell.' Mom wrote. 'I find myself done with sculptures. I've already disposed of the box of tools you left me (I know the proper way of disposing them, don't worry). I think it's finally time for me to go back to writing, don't you agree?'
At the bottom, she wrote a post script. 'Bluebell, I've found a good private school here in the city. I promise it's in the city this time, at least. I've put in a deposit to reserve you a spot, in case you want to enroll for the seventh grade. You could live at home. Though, if you want to go year 'round at Camp, I'll understand.'
I read the note each night, trying hard to decide on what I should write back to her. In the past, I would jump at this. Now, I'm having second thoughts.
…..oo00oo…..
On the Fourth of July, it was camp tradition for the Hephaestus Cabin to bring out their best fireworks and entertain the camp with the wonderful colorful lights that light up the midnight sky. So, that evening had me, Luke and Ethan spreading down a picnic blanket for the four of us, with our other friends' blankets scattered around us.
"So, why the hype? I mean, fireworks are beautiful, but it's just colorful explosions in the sky, right?" I asked as I leaned back on the picnic blanket, with Luke lying on his back with his hands folded behind his head, and Ethan busying himself by rooting through the basket I packed for the four of us.
Luke blinked at my statement, and turned to look at me incredulously. "Damsel fish, think for a moment on what you said. Fireworks display. Hephaestus Cabin. String them in a sentence."
"I think what the moron is trying to say, sis, is that the Hephaestus Cabin really prides themselves on anything fire-related, seeing as Hephaestus is the God of Fire. So, these really aren't your ordinary run off the mill fireworks." Ethan rolled his eyes at the melodramatic way Luke was acting and just passed me a ham and cheese sandwich, which I quickly devoured.
"Is that why they're launching off shore now?" I asked, pointing to a barge with what looked like the entirety of Cabin Nine.
"Yeah, they have these rockets the size of Patriot missiles that they shoot so quickly it would look like you're watching an actual animation, just made from fireworks in the sky. Cool, right?" Connor chirped as he slid up to us, unassumingly wrapping an arm around my shoulders. A few seconds later, though, he disappeared from my side, reappearing quite a distance from us. I blinked, then looked to my side, seeing Luke scowling heavily at the prone body.
"I told you you wouldn't get away with it, Connor." Travis sighed as he passed us and pulled his brother upright, then pulled him away to their own blanket, where a few of their siblings were snickering at the disoriented prankster.
"You didn't have to hit him that hard, Luke." I told the still scowling blonde, who just huffed and laid back down again.
"If he didn't, I would have cut him up. I still have a dagger with me, even if my swords are all but lost to that hotel, you know. You want more, sis?" Ethan calmly said, looking through the basket as if he didn't confess to doing harm to one of his cabin mates. I just groaned and said no ham.
"The finale is what you're supposed to look forward to, though, Mare. It's a couple hundred foot tall Spartan warriors fighting a battle then explodes into a million of colors." Grover's voice drifted out to us. I smiled as I turned around to greet my best friend, but I stopped myself before I could get a word out of my mouth, blinking surprised at his attire. He was wearing his usual orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirt, but now he was wearing jeans and sneakers, topped off with his rasta cap on his curly brown hair.
"Are going off now?" I asked, frowning as he just smiled a little sheepishly and nodded in confirmation. "Can't you wait until the fireworks are done, though, Hircum? This is my first Fourth of July with you, you know."
"Sorry, but today's the best night to start, with monsters mellower than usual. I think they enjoy watching fireworks too." He laughed a little, his voice cracking a little.
Luke huffed out a laugh at that. "Congratulations, Goat Boy! You're finally hitting your growth spurt!"
Grover just smiled and I inwardly agreed with Luke. In the last few weeks, he started to look older, almost like how a high-schooler should look. His goatee had gotten thicker, he looked like he put on a little weight so he didn't look like an awkward gangly kid anymore, and when a breeze blew by, his rasta cap lifted a little, revealing horns that were visible now.
"Still, be safe, alright? If you have time, try to IM me. I'll feel better if I know nothing's eaten you yet." I laughed as I stood up and hugged my first and oldest friend tightly, trying not to let the tears pooling inside my eyelids fall.
Grover just smiled and held back onto me just as tightly. "I promise. Though, if I don't IM you, just know that I don't have the drachma to afford it."
"I'll hold you to that, Hircum." I let him go after one last squeeze.
"Where are you going, though? Do you have a lead?" Ethan asked as he took a couple of sandwiches and rolled them up on a napkin, holding them out for Grover to take.
He smiled as he took them and carefully stowed them away on the backpack slung over his shoulders. "It's kind of a secret, but I'm going to start where all of the searchers before me started. It's kind of our only lead to Pan." Here, he looked embarrassedly at the three of us. "I'm sorry if I can't say anymore. And I wish I could bring you guys too, but humans and Pan…"
"We understand. Though, do you have enough cans for the journey?"
"Yeah. I have a supply right here." He patted the strap of his backpack.
"Your reeds?"
"In my pocket."
"Don't forget your fake feet, alright?"
"Did anybody tell you you'll make a great mom someday, Mare?" He laughed, but he looked grateful at the fussing.
"I have a great example." I just laughed a little shakily.
He smiled at me as he gripped his walking stick and hitched the backpack higher on his shoulder. Gods, he looked like a regular mountaineer you see down the road. He looked nothing like the gangly awkward kid that had befriended me back in Yancy.
"Wish me luck guys!" He said as he gave us one last wave and walked back through the dunes.
As he walked, though, the fireworks display started, painting the night sky with thousands of colors, depicting the myths as the world sees them; Artemis with a bow and arrow shooting at her prey, Hercules killing the Nemean Lion, Odysseus poking Polyphemus on the eye, and what looked like a Pygmalion worshiping his Galatea.
"Grover!" I shouted above the din of 'Oooh!' and 'Wow!' of the other campers.
He looked back at me just as he was about to enter the woods.
"Wherever you're going, I just hope they make good fast food!"
"Not going to eat them, even with your Dad's ex looming behind me!" He grinned as he waved heartily back. And then his figure was swallowed by the darkness and the trees of the woods.
"Don't worry, sis. We'll see him again." Ethan smiled at me as I sat back down on our blanket.
"Yeah. He's our Grover. If any satyr can do it, it has to be him." Luke looked up at me, lips slanted in a quirky grin.
I just nodded, wanting to believe in their words. They were right. I had to have faith. He's my best friend for a reason, and I know that being weak wasn't one of them. He HAD to be the first to come back. He had to be.
…..oo00oo…..
July passed in a whirl of camp activities it was practically routine for me. I spent my days like I spent them before we went on that stupid quest. Malcolm and I still met, though, this time it wasn't for lessons, but to update me on Annabeth's feelings towards me. I clued him in to my promise to Luke, and he agreed with my thinking that I needed to see how Annabeth was doing with the mere mention of me for us to have a relatively safe conversation that won't result in us battling it over in the arena. Apparently, while doing better than when we were still on the road, she's still pretty adverse into seeing me, as, apparently, my ignoring her for Luke and Ethan was a bitter blow on her pride seeing as the whole camp apparently knew that there was a prophecy about her being instrumental to the appearance of a child of the Big Three.
How the Hades should I have known that little tidbit?! It wasn't as if we were on speaking terms and we're not exactly friends! Malcolm just shrugged apologetically at me, saying that I may need to wait a while longer.
Then I went canoeing with Aphrodite's Cabin, with Silena continuously hounding me to wear a swimsuit when I was or near the lake. I just countered that I could just will myself and my clothes not to get wet. She just pouted and said it was the principle of the thing.
I was often accompanied by Apollo's Cabin whenever I was in the stables, seeing as whenever it was my turn to see to the winged horses, the Apollo Cabin would just happen to have the same schedule as I did. Will laughed at me and told me it was coincidence. I called it conspiracy. Lee Fletcher just blinked innocently at me and told me that my ability to communicate with the horses had stable duty bumped down from one of the most tedious camp activities into one of the easiest, and of course they would take advantage of that little tidbit. I just rolled my eyes at them all.
As for sword fighting classes, I always got paired up with Either Cabin Eleven or Cabin Five. Ethan let it slip to me that Luke and Clarisse were duking it out every time they would arrange a schedule, seeing that Clarisse wanted me to be with them when they were practicing to show her stubborn siblings the reason why their father had me pegged as his next play thing (and wow, big confidence booster there. Clarisse just rolled her eyes at me and told me it was the highest compliment a woman that wasn't a Child of Ares would get from them) and Luke wanting his own cabin to be there to protect me from 'those evil, evil siblings of yours, La Rue!', never mind that he himself was the instructor. I just smacked my forehead with the heel of my palm and told them to alternate.
Whenever we had free time, though, Luke and I would spend it by the lake, devising strategies against Ares and Athena, seeing as we have a permanent alliance and whoever had the most advantageous proposal would get our combined power, may it be Ares or Athena. Ethan was with me when I cleared the climbing wall for the first time, this fact explaining that when I got down from the wall, he all but whisked me away to the infirmary, all but demanding the bemused on duty Michael Yew to treat me of my shallow burns. Connor and Travis introduced me to some of their friends, their excuse to pull me away from Luke or Ethan and integrate me into their plans for pranking the Demeter Cabin when it was their turn to pick strawberries. Well, that last one introduced me to Katie Gardener, the Councilor for Demeter Cabin, and now I'm one of the ones teasing Travis for all that he's worth. Sadly, though, I haven't interacted with the Hephaestus cabin much, so I had little teasing material for Ethan.
All in all, it was peaceful. Calm.
From time to time, though, I'd walk past the Big House, get a glimpse of the attic windows, stop dead in my tracks and just think about the Oracle and the prophecy she gave me.
Four shall go West and face the god who has turned.
I gathered Luke, Ethan and Grover, and the four of us successfully went to Los Angeles despite the many (and I mean many ) delays we had. Only, the god we all suspected to be the bad guy (and I'm still kicking myself for that one even though we already resolved it) turned out to be one hugely misunderstood Lord of the Dead and that the real culprit was the one who really should have been obvious to everyone, but then we all had assumed it was the bigger fish, not the little one (sorry for the insult, Ares, but it really is true).
You shall find what was stolen and see it safely returned.
Well, the whole point of our cross country escapade itself was to find the damned Master Bolt, and find it we did. Though, again, it really was unfair of us to accuse Uncle Hades when he himself was missing his Helm of Darkness (again, our fault for seeing the bigger fish than the smaller, more slippery one, but then it's partly Uncle Hades' fault too, for not telling anyone about the theft. But then, he made an excellent point with why he didn't. So, really. I blame the Lord of the Sky). Thankfully, though, that turned out alright.
You shall be betrayed by one who calls a friend a friend.
This line still bothers me, even though everyone said that the prophecy was all but fulfilled now. But still, 'betrayed by one who calls a friend a friend'? Does that mean whoever it was wasn't my friend, but considers a friend of mine to be one? Great, that narrows down the list of possibilities to, well, everyone in Camp. Heck, even people or gods I haven't even met! My thoughts always lead me back to Ares, who was considered Aphrodite's 'friend' in the loosest meaning of the term, and Aphrodite and I became fast friends. So, that means it was him. Right?
And you shall fail to save what matters most, in the end.
I failed to save my mom, because it turns out she really didn't need saving at all. She just needed a little push in the right direction and I became a hero in her eyes. I knew it was the right thing to do.
So why the Hades was I still uneasy about the whole thing?
…..oo00oo…..
My routine was shattered, though, as on the last day of the summer session, I received another visitor. Godly visitor, that is.
I was doling out oats for the pegasi in the stables, complaining to the winged horses on why is there no one doing their feeding that day, seeing as I was not the one scheduled and when I went there to say goodbye to the horses, both the feeding and the water troughs were as empty as the desert.
"… I mean, I get that it's the last day, and everyone's looking forward to the bead awarding later tonight, but why in the name of Hades are they not looking after you guys? You all need to eat, too!"
"My Lady, thank you for being indignant on our behalf, but we understand the excitement. After all, the ones we call our masters are but mere foals themselves." A beautiful palomino mare answered me, shaking her mane softly.
"We can survive a missed feeding, Princess." The chestnut stallion that was beside her corral neighed at me, looking as if he wanted to sniff at my hair but was too shy to do so.
"Still, when I get my hands on whoever missed this feeding, they're going to find themselves suddenly taking an unexpected dip in the Sound." I scowled as I stroked the stallion's muzzle, prompting the other pegasi to complain about being left out of my attention.
"So that's why the pegasi were so noisy." Luke's voice floated back to me as both he and Ethan walked towards me, both blinking at the ruckus the winged horses were making.
"They're complaining about being left out, right?" Ethan sighed a bit exasperatedly as he himself got a bucket from the floor and helped me scatter the oats as Luke took to refilling the empty water troughs.
"From food and me." I just sighed.
"Hey, at least you could understand them, Damsel fish. An Ares kid had the misfortune of being paired up with an injured stallion that we didn't even know was injured. Fell as the stallion decided to notify him of his injury, which was on the underside of its wing." Luke said. I winced at the imagery I painted.
"How many days was he stuck in the infirmary?"
"He almost didn't make it. Clarisse said it was the greatest shame the guy got."
"At least he lived." I shook my head in disbelief as I straightened up, finished with the task.
"And he got this 'awesome' scar that Travis swore up and down looked like a lightning bolt. Only, he couldn't say where it was, seeing as the guy caught him snooping and promised him the fight of his life if he told anyone else." Ethan dryly said as he dusted himself up.
"Idiots should have asked us first. We'd answer them." A disgruntled black stallion snorted. I bit my lip to halt the laughter I wanted to belt out.
"Can I interfere with you three for a moment?"
The three of us stiffened in shock as none of us heard anyone approach us, and the stable floor was littered with hay so we'd hear if someone was walking towards us. When we turned to look, though, Luke's carefree expression blanked out into nothingness as Ethan lightly grimaced and subtly took a step towards his best friend, as if offering him silent support.
I blinked at their reactions, though when I looked at the intruder, all the instances where Luke refused to answer me when I was asking about his dad, or when he abruptly changed the topic rose to the forefront of my mind as I instantly recognized the Messenger God.
Hermes looked like an older version of Luke, only with salt and pepper hair instead of his sandy blond. He was dressed in what looked like a mailman uniform, with a beige short sleeved polo, cap, shorts and white sneakers. In one hand, he was holding what looked like a parcel of some sort, and in the other was a steel clipboard.
Eyes that were both the exact shade of blue met for a few minutes before Luke blinked and turned his head roughly away.
Hermes' eyes glimmered with an emotion too fast for me to catch for a split second before blanking out as his blue gaze caught Ethan's. "I have a delivery for one Ethan Nakamura."
Ethan blinked at that, honestly surprised, before nodding and moving forward to receive the parcel from the Messenger God. Hermes waved his hand and materialized a pencil that was etched with what looked like two intertwined snakes. He gave Ethan the pencil and indicated where he should sign on the clipboard. He then nodded as he absently materialized both the clipboard and the pencil.
He looked at Luke once again, though the blond had his head resolutely turned away. His lips tightened and his hand twitched as if he wanted to touch Luke, but he didn't make a move towards his son. Instead, he looked at the Ethan and I and smiled a little.
"Congratulations on your successful quest, you three."
I cleared my dry throat before replying. "Thank you, Lord Hermes."
He opened his mouth again, looking resolutely straight at Luke this time, but a ringing in his pocket interrupted whatever he was going to say. He sighed and took out the pencil he had Ethan write with and flicked it. Instantly, the pencil transformed into a mobile phone, with the two snakes stenciled on the side.
"What?" He groaned at the phone, scrubbing a tired hand on his face.
"Zeus is on the line. Demanding where the replacement suits he ordered are." A raspy male voice replied back.
Hermes muttered darkly to himself for a few minutes before sighing once more and stowing the phone away. "Well, it seems like I'm needed once again."
Ethan nodded tightly as I smiled a little at him. Luke refused to look back. Hermes' smile was a little strained as he nodded back and turned around. In the blink of an eye, he was gone.
In a flash, though, Ethan handed me the parcel he got as he was instantly by Luke's side, a steadying hand on Luke's subtly shaking shoulders.
"Can you open that for me, sis?" He asked me, silver eyes pleading at me. I nodded in understanding as I stepped back from the two, letting them have a little privacy as I began to carefully unwrap the parcel.
I blinked as when I removed the brown wrapping from the box, there were two envelopes sitting on top, one in silver and the other in gold. I carefully took the two, eyebrows furrowing at the distinctly different ways of writing, marking the two envelopes as coming from two different people. I was about to exclaim on this, but the differing names and the duo's reaction a few minutes ago connected in my mind and I just shut my mouth. Instead, I took a discrete look at the two to check if it was alright to interrupt now.
Seeing as Luke wasn't being supported by Ethan anymore (I know what happened. I'm not that dense), I approached them and held out the envelopes.
"This was sitting on top of the box, guys."
Both of them looked at me then blinked at the envelopes. Ethan took his while I held out the one with Luke's name on it to him. He looked so lost and indecisive that Ethan had to nudge him a little for him to regain his focus.
"Right." He swallowed as he hesitantly reached out and took the envelope from me.
"You don't have to open it right away, Luke." I said, handing over the parcel to a still reading Ethan to put a comforting hand on Luke's bicep.
"You-. You don't care that I have a strained relationship with my dad?" Luke asked me, his blue eyes pleading at me to tell him that no, he wasn't alone.
"Hey. Can I tell you a secret?"
He gave a laugh at that, brittle and harsh at the same time. "I doubt that the secret would be bigger than mine."
"I don't care. I just don't want you to be pressured into thinking that you're the only one who harbored bitter feelings for your parent. In fact," I smiled a little as I gestured towards the letter. "You don't even have to open it right now, if you can't handle it."
"I'd have to advice on not doing that and opening it, if we're going to see if this thing's real." Ethan's surprised voice had us both looking at him.
He was looking at the opened parcel with shock and incredulousness, with a hint of awe and gratefulness.
I blinked at that, curious to what caused that reaction in the normally unflappable Son of Nemesis, so I grabbed Luke's hand and dragged him closer to the parcel Ethan was holding out for us.
The parcel held three of the most unrelated and unassuming things, and yet even I could sense a subtle power in all three of them.
Gleaming bronze earrings (the kind that you see on rock stars. You know, the straight solid ones) were sitting on top of a book about fairy tales. And by fairy tales, I mean normal fairy tales, not Greek ones. A bronze bangle was by the book's side, etched with the greek letters νίκη.
I picked up the bangle curiously, as Ethan's gaze was directed to it, and not the two other items. I turned it around, blinking at the depicted etching of a war being won, if by the raised swords of one group of men against what looked like hellhounds and gorgons.
"What is this?"
For once, though, Ethan ignored my question and directed his gaze at Luke's stunned visage. "I mean it, Luke. Open the letter."
Shaking hands fumbled with the gold envelope as Luke unsealed it with pinched lips. His voice shook as he read the two lines that were printed in neat writing.
"I think you know who this belonged to. Fitting, don't you think?"
"Oh dear Hades it really is real." Ethan's hushed voice had me scratching my head.
"Uh, can someone please elaborate? I'm left in the dark here."
Ethan looked at me, gray eyes glinting. "Sis, what do you know about Peleus?"
"Not much. He was Achilles' father, right?"
"Right. And what do you know about the mythical Sword of Peleus?"
"Uh, nothing? Mom didn't feature Achilles much in her stories. She said that he was too arrogant and didn't want me idolizing him."
"Right." Ethan sighed as he turned to Luke, finding the Son of Hermes to still be looking dumbstruck at the letter. "Luke."
"Yeah?" He asked as he looked at Ethan with glazed eyes.
"Put the bangle on. It's yours. My letter told me the other two were mine."
"But this is-!"
"Luke. Remember what we talked about?"
Luke visibly swallowed the words he wanted to say as he nodded and held out his hand for the bangle. I gave it to him uncertainly, confused at the whole situation. He put it on his left arm, the bangle immediately resizing as it rested snugly on his wrist.
"Is there an activation word?" Ethan asked as he studied the accessory with sharp eyes.
"No. But I think one half of it could be twisted." Luke quietly said as he twisted the thing, and before our very eyes, the bangle emitted a soft light as it transformed into a gleaming bronze Makhaira. Luke softly swore as he inspected the sword while Ethan rubbed his eyes with a weary hand.
"Is that like Riptide?"
Ethan nodded, still rubbing his eyes. "Sis, Peleus was a friend and comrade of Heracles. He had a sword that was said to be enchanted and given by Hermes himself when he was set up to die by Iolcus' king and queen. It was said that Hermes had Nike imbue the sword with her strongest blessing, that whoever wields it would meet victory wherever he goes."
Realization struck me like one of Zeus' lightning bolts and I felt my eyes widen at the implications. Luke looked like he was torn in gazing at the sword with awe and disgust and loneliness and longing. So, I turned to Ethan and pointed out the other two items. "What about those two, Ethan?"
At my question, Ethan looked up and smiled at me, his gray eyes holding a touch of longing in them as he reached down and patted the book. "They're a present from Mom. The earrings, she had commissioned from Hephaestus for me, seeing as I'm her only currently claimed child. The book, she just said that it was a surprise."
I smiled back, grateful for Hades for telling us, and for Nemesis herself, who had taken the initiative and had gotten in contact with her son. Though, my smiled dimmed a little as I looked at Luke, still gripping the Sword of Peleus intently. "Will Luke be okay?"
At my question, Ethan just smiled, bittersweet and understanding at the same time. "In time, sis. In time."
…..oo00oo…..
The last night of the summer session in Camp came far too quickly for my liking. Maybe it was the routine I had down, but it felt like one minute we just returned from the quest, and the next minute, I was sitting down on the Poseidon Table at the mess hall, having my last dinner for the summer together with the other campers.
As usual, though, before we could eat, we burned offerings up to the gods. I offered my usual offering to Lady Hestia, Aphrodite and Hermes, though I put in an extra helping of brisket for Dad ever since we got back to Camp. I smiled as the brisket hit the flames, the smoke that should have been wafting straight up curled around me, and instead of smelling like burnt offerings, it smelt like the salty sea.
As we finished our meals, Chiron directed us to the amphitheater, where, instead of Cabin Seven congregating at the front with musical instruments, all of the Cabin Councilors lined up and awarded their own cabins with the end of summer beads.
Luke was smiling, giving up no indications of the earlier incident, as he himself gave me my leather necklace, and when I saw the bead, I was really hoping that the dark covered up the bright red blush that instantly sprang up my face. The design was a really simple pitch black, but the catch was at the center, a shimmering green Trident glittered like a neon light.
"The choice for the design was unanimous. This summer's bead is a reminder for all of the claiming of the first ever Daughter of the Sea God, and the quest she and three others undertook into the Underworld itself to stop an impending catastrophic war!" Luke all but shouted as he grabbed by hand and raised it as high as it could go. Immediately, each and every camper got to their feet and clapped and yelled and cheered. Even those who I knew were at odds with me were obliged to stand and take part of the celebration. Cabin Eleven steered Ethan towards Luke and I and the Cabin Councilors took a step back, making the three of us the center of attention.
I was laughing as Ethan gave me a one armed hug.
"You did it, sis!" He shouted at my ear just so he could be heard through the din.
"Silly! We did it!" I hollered back, smile threatening to split my face into two.
Though, before I could hear his response, my world was suddenly spinning as Luke grabbed me and twirled me around like in one of those movies.
"Put me down, Luke! I'm going to fall!"
"Don't worry! I won't let you fall!" He laughed at me as he stopped spinning and just settled his hands on my hips. The cheering turned into catcalling and whistles by this time, and before I could smack Luke in the head for pulling out a stunt like this in front of the whole Camp, Ethan was suddenly beside me, looking at Luke with murder written in his eyes.
And thus, our last night at camp was spent with much laughter and mayhem, courtesy of an enraged Son of Nemesis (not that anyone but the four of us knew that. We haven't told anyone, even Chiron, with the bad stigma attached to Nemesis' name) and a pitifully crying Son of Hermes. I was laughing so hard I had tears on my eyes, though, to tell the truth, I wasn't sure if it was really due to laughter, or the fact that tomorrow, most of the campers who, I'm glad to say, are as close to me as family would be leaving for the year.
…..oo00oo…..
Early the next morning, I found a form letter waiting for me beside my bedside table. How it got there without me knowing, I will never know. When I opened it though, an exasperated smile overturned my lips as I knew Mr. D made it and filled it out, because Chiron would never mistake a camper for someone else. Besides, I don't think Chiron would throw away his composure to write something like this:
Dear Penelope Johanssen ,
If you intend to leave Camp HalfBlood or stay all year long, you must inform the director and supervisor by noon this day, or else we would have assumed you to have vacated your cabin, or even more wonderful, died a gruesome, horrible death. Cleaning harpies will begin their work at sundown and they are authorized to eat every unregistered camper they meet (please don't register). All personal belongings left behind will be incinerated at the lava pit.
Have a very pleasant day!
Mr. D (Dionysus)
Camp Director, Olympian Council # 12
My smile petered out at the end of the letter and I took out the well-read letter I stowed away on the drawer of my bedside table. So, this was it. Summer was officially over. Campers were all required to make the decision to remain as summer campers, or go all year round here at camp. The day to decide was finally here, and I still haven't made a decision yet. I sighed and plopped back down on my bed, staring at the two letters clutched in my two hands.
It should have been easy, right? Nine more months of training to beat up monsters that were never ending, or go back to some school where most of the kids poke fun at you for being different and teachers either peg you to be lazy, dumb or a troublemaker. Or worse, all three. If you think about it like that, then staying at camp wins hands down, no questions asked. But I had Mom to think about, too. This would be the first time I could spend my life with only her. We could be free to do whatever we want. No more Gabe to tell us not to go to Montauk because of monetary issues. No more poker in the living room with disgusting friends and Eddie looking at me apologetically. No more hitting my mom and peeping on me.
Though, my thoughts took me to the downsides of being with Mom. Would my scent be so much more pronounced just because I'm a Daughter of Poseidon? Would monsters come knocking at my front door, pretending to be mailmen or salesmen looking for a clueless chump to swindle, and then suddenly transform to their original selves and cleave whoever answered the door in two? I thought about Thalia and her fate. Would Dad do that to me if I somehow end up on the brink of death? Would Chiron and the others even come to our rescue, and if they did, would they come in time, or would it all be too late?
I sighed and tossed the two pieces of paper that held all of my problems on the bedside table as I put on sandals and walked towards the one place I could think clearly. And maybe, if they're listening, get some worthwhile advice while I'm at it.
The campgrounds were mostly deserted as I walked towards my destination. Almost all of the campers were inside their own cabins, packing up for their journey back into the real world, or else running around the place with mops and brooms for the final inspection a selected Cabin Councilor delivers. In the distance I could see Argus lugging down massive creamy Gucci suitcases as the Aphrodite kids that owned the said suitcases chatted behind him, exchanging tearful farewells and well wishes. They were heading up towards the hill, where, I'm guessing, Argus had shifted the delivery van into a shuttle that would probably get the campers to the airport, or the nearest Greyhound station.
I arrived at the sandy beach, peering over the sea that glittered like the rarest diamond in the glare of the August sun. I walked down to where the surf kissed the beach, took off my sandals, and waded into the water until I was knee deep. I sighed as I willed myself to become wet, tilting my head up towards the horizon.
"So, summer's finally over. I hope that the aftermath of the whole averted war has been peaceful for you guys. I know it has been for me." I smiled a little as I raised my hand to shield my eyes from the glare of the sun. "I know both of you are wondering what I'm doing here when I'm supposed to be packing up to go back to Mom, or else running around the camp, saying goodbye to my friends, right? Well, that's kind of my problem. I'm not really sure what to do. I want to go back to Mom, and live the life we had been imagining our whole lives. Just the two of us. No Gabe, no distractions. But at the same time, I'm worried, Dad. What if being your child makes my scent more appetizing for monsters? What if I endanger Mom if I insist on living with her for most of the year? But she told me that she wanted me to stay with her, so I really don't know which of the two choices is me being selfish. What should I do?"
The sound of the surf just continued, giving off no sign that either Dad or Triton had heard me or that they don't know the correct decision either. I just sighed and rubbed a frustrated hand through my raven hair.
"Excuse me?"
I blinked as I looked back at the beach, resisting the impulse to rub my hands over my eyes disbelievingly as I spotted Annabeth standing beside my discarded sandals, looking uncomfortably at me.
"Yeah?"
"Um, if it's alright with you, can you spare some time to talk with me?" She asked, rubbing her hands over her arms as she looked at me tilting her head down and looking at me through the fringes of her hair.
Hope flared inside my chest at her words. Is she giving us a chance to be friends? Is she setting aside the inherent dislike she harbored for me just because I'm Dad's daughter? Is she looking past genetics and just want to be friends?
'Or maybe she's just doing this to be closer to Luke,' a snide voice reminded me at the back of my head. Funnily, the voice sort of reminded me of Silena when she was chastising Drew, that time she bitched at me when she apparently got fed up with Silena's close relationship with me.
'I don't care,' I resolutely thought as I nodded to her and waded back to my sandals, putting them back on. "Okay. Where do you want to talk?"
Annabeth smiled a little at that, her golden curls bouncing a bit as she nodded in a random direction. "Uhh, is somewhere other than here alright with you? I've always had a fear of the sea ever since Luke, Thalia and I encountered a hydra coming out of it."
I winced and nodded, keeping pace with her as she walked from the beach towards the edge of the forest. We walked for a while searching for some place cool to talk because once we entered the forest, we kind of realized it was extremely hot. Finally, we found a nice shady spot by the creek, where I was nearly mauled to death by that hellhound.
Annabeth apparently saw my wince and asked quietly, tentatively. "I'm sorry. Would you feel better if we found somewhere else?"
"No, it's fine. Besides, I need to build on the good memories here so they can overshadow the bad ones, right?" I said as I smiled lightly at the blonde, making her smile back just a little.
"You know, I wish I had your courage." She said, curling up on the rock that she was sitting on. "You knew that your chance of success on that quest was so slim that it could have been imaginary, but still you pushed on. And you succeeded, pushing past the adversity and just made it work for you. Me? I always run away if I know I can't solve the problem. I always push it on to someone else, whether they can do it or not. Is that cowardice?"
"Honestly, I'm not sure. Everyone has their own ways of coping with a situation. You're the lucky one. With your description, you think before you act, and that makes you a brilliant strategist. I'm more of the impulsive kind, a whatever works kind of girl. You'll beat me at chess anyday."
She giggled a little at that, looking amused at my description of myself. She stood up, and stretched as she walked towards the middle of the clearing. Once she was there, she looked back at me with her lips lifted in a sardonic smile. "You're the impulsive kind, huh? Then, what do you think your impulsive reaction will be when I tell you that you're too gullible for your own good?"
I blinked at that, suddenly wary of the change in atmosphere the Goddess of Wisdom's daughter is exhibiting. "What do you mean?"
"Honestly. Are you always this slow, or is it because of your heritage?" she sighed mockingly as she snapped her fingers, and suddenly, campers started to emerge from the trees, looking decidedly fierce as they looked at me with different variations of leers and mocking smiles. I recognized some of them as the ones Clarisse pointed out to me to avoid for the time being, seeing as they were always speaking ill of me whenever they thought Clarisse couldn't hear them. Most of the others were all blond and gray eyed, a sure sign of Athena. And yet, the most baffling part is that I recognized one or two campers from Cabin Eleven itself.
I got up from my rock, hurriedly grabbing Riptide from my shorts' pocket and pulling it out, just in case. "What's going on, Annabeth?"
"You thought I wouldn't notice my own brother keeping tabs on me? A little digging informed me you promised Luke you'd talk to me and resolve the bad blood between us and Malcolm was in the whole thing. So, I used the situation and designed my own plan." She said, her eyes sparkling in silent laughter, I'm guessing at my expense.
It all hit me like one giant sized fist.
You shall be betrayed by one who calls a friend a friend.
"You?!"
Slowly and loudly she started clapping, the sound reverberating through the clearing, which I suddenly noticed, was filled to the brim with campers armed and ready to attack at any given signal .
"SO nice of you to have caught on to that fact." She sighed melodramatically. "I guess the nickname we at Cabin Six gave you was an appropriate one. Right, Seaweed Brain?"
The clearing was filled with a mocking laughter, making my face burn red hot in embarrassment. "You do know that if you maim me, Luke won't look at you any more favorably than he already does, right?"
Annabeth laughed, cold and harsh. "You think maiming you is what we're after? No, we need you out of the picture permanently, Seaweed Brain. We gave up hope of bringing you to our side when you took the one person that could have tipped the balance in our favor over to the side of the gods. We knew then that you'd never switch sides."
"Side of the gods? We're not in a war, Chase." I bitingly said, mentally cataloguing how many fighters were present and if I had a chance at surprising them before they could attack me. Things aren't looking good for me at the moment.
"That's where you're wrong, Jackson. There is a war coming and it's closer than anyone thinks." She smirked. "The darkness is stronger than ever, monsters reforming more frequently than they used to. And us halfbloods? We're just pawns, disposable pieces that the gods use so that they could cling on to their illusions of grandeur up there on Olympus."
"That's our parents you're slandering, Chase. You better stop while you're ahead." Okay, I need to keep her talking and hopefully I can come up with a plan to survive this. Fortunately for me, the others are all content on waiting for her signal. So I need to keep her talking until I can come up with a plan or hope someone notices something is going on back here.
"And that's supposed to make me stop? You stupid girl. The one we serve is infinitely more powerful than Zeus himself."
With that statement all the pieces clicked into place. "The Lord of Time? You all serve him?!"
"He spoke to each and every one of us. Showed us the bigger picture. That we are all just dancing to the tune of the gods. That we are being manipulated into being their source of life while they just throw ours away. When Hermes gave Luke that quest where he received his scar, he left with two others; one Son of Athena and one unclaimed demigod. Luke was the only one to come back from battling the dragon guarding Hera's golden apples. Do you know how that made us feel? Like used tissue, Jackson! They give the best camper in our midst a quest that was already accomplished by the world's greatest Greek hero, and after that? The lives of the two who accompanied him were all but lost to the stars, and Luke himself was discarded like yesterday's news." Here, Annabeth clenched both of her hands, eyes bright with emotion. "I wanted to tear down Olympus for him, brick by brick. When I saw the devastation he carried, I wanted war. That's when I dreamt of our lord. He told me he could bring me what I wanted, but I needed to be his hands for a while. I agreed."
"You were the one who stole everything."
"When we visited Olympus for the annual Winter Solstice camp outing, I snuck out while everyone was asleep. It was a sign that told me that I was doing the right thing when not one god, not even Hermesnoticed I took the Master Bolt and Helm from Zeus' and Hades' thrones." Here, Annabeth flipped her curls back, smirking at me. "They were so arrogant they believed that no one would dare steal from them. Their security was ridiculously simple. The Campers were just passing through the boundary line when I noticed the thunderclouds forming.
"Then why didn't you take the items directly to Kronos?"
Annabeth's smirk disappeared as a heavy scowl adorned her usually pretty features. "Do you even think before speaking? Stupid Seaweed Brain! Zeus sent out his best, his sons and daughters to find me; Apollo, Artemis, Hermes, even my mother. Of course I wouldn't deliver it immediately after I stole it! However, Ares can apparently sense the symbols of power of the two elder gods and caught me red handed. He cornered me when I was by myself in the woods during a game of Capture the Flag. He materialized the items before me, threatened me that he would flash straight to Olympus and burn me alive for the trouble I had caused him."
"Let me guess. You tempted him with war." Gods. Okay, that took away 1% of my hatred towards the prick. The other 99% would never fade unless the bastard apologizes for being a sexist jerk.
"Of course. He IS the God of War! Why wouldn't he want that? I convinced him to hide the items for a while, watch the impending war escalate into a real one. He was immediately hooked on my suggestion." Annabeth's scowl disappeared, a glimmer of fear replacing the arrogance she exuded. "My lord punished me with nightmares of Luke dying for my miscalculations. I swore not to fail him again. He told me there would be a demigod who could be tricked into delivering the weapons all the way, from Ares to him down in Tartarus. And then you showed up."
"You summoned that monster here!" The nerve of the bitch bringing me here!
During her tirade, I realized that the only chance I had is to use my newly found powers. You see, whenever I could (well, without Luke and Ethan suddenly materializing out of thin air to disturb me), I'd go down to the beach down on the Sound and just meditate and just try to bring out my latent powers. Surely, being the only spawn of one of the Big Three would mean that aside from my being a gourmet morsel for monsters, I should have powers above that of a normal demigod, right? So, working on that theory, I started practicing. The Nereids, when they saw what I was doing, gave me tips. Slowly, I grasped the idea of moving the water to my liking, though the only thing I could do for the moment was to slowly make thin but durable strands of water.
It was exactly what I needed.
Slowly I started siphoning water from the creek, a little at a time; making the water crawl down on the ground and slowly wrap thin strands around each renegade camper's feet. The strands were all still connected to the creek, so it was slowly but surely draining me of energy to maintain it. Still, even with my slowly mounting fatigue, I kept a blankly enraged expression on my face to keep Annabeth from realizing that I was doing something.
"I had to make Chiron think it was Hades and that you weren't safe anywhere, even here in camp. It worked. After all, I know the old centaur best."
"Why did you give the cap to Grover if you wanted us to fail from the start?"
"He'd protect Luke. I wasn't about to lose the one who I'm doing all of this for just because of your stupidity. Besides, I was sure you wouldn't survive a minute out in the real world without it."
I gritted my teeth, partly because I was absolutely disgusted with myself that she was right, partly because I've chained about 10 people already and it's still less than half of the total number of traitor campers in the clearing.
"Well, now that our chat is over, we'll just kill you now so that no one will suspect anything, and then we'll leave."
'No!' I thought to myself, scrambling a bit with the water I was still guiding to the others' feet. 'I'm not ready!'
Annabeth clapped her hands twice and immediately, the others all began to close in on me, weapons drawn and sneers intact.
"How will you guys leave? Everyone will see you and become suspicious!" Distract her, distract her!
"Oh, don't worry about us, Seaweed Brain. We have our own exit point."
Damn it. Time to try another tactic. "Annabeth, don't do this! Thalia didn't give her life for you to become like this!"
Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say as her face contorted into sheer unadulterated rage. "Don't you DARE speak her name! You don't have the right! Zeus let her die! THEY WILL PAY!"
She opened her arms wide, gesturing to her veritable small army compared to my lonesome self. "Look at us, Bitch! Look at us and tell us that we're going to lose. No! It's you and the Olympians who are going to lose! Lord Kronos will rise and we will drive the Olympians from their thrones and coral humanity to live in caves where they belong! All except the strongest! Us who serve him!"
Okay, now I have a chance to prolong their distraction. "If you say that you're one of the strongest, prove it and fight me!"
Annabeth laughed shrilly. "I'm not an idiot, Jackson. I won't be baited into fighting you. I told you, I think before I act. Our lord is waiting for us. We don't have time to waste on pathetic trash like you. Goodbye, waste of space. Too bad you won't see the dawn of the New Golden Age! Kill her!"
Unfortunately, I didn't have the time I needed to complete my desperate plan. Annabeth finished her ranting about the gods and ordered the demigods to attack me. When Annabeth yelled for them to kill me, I immediately tried to defend myself against those that were still free, while the others all realized what I had done and tried desperately to free themselves, with Annabeth's enraged shrieks of "Attack her, you fools!" mixed in the background.
I desperately ignored what she was saying and tried to split my concentration between fighting off the still free demigods while keeping the others chained.
As the remaining renegade campers converged on me, easily shredding my defense and finding holes to slash at me and injure me, I realized I needed to concentrate and immediately released my hold on the water, freeing the other demigods. Immediately, I started slashing and hacking away more voraciously, careful to keep the wounds I'm inflicting from being lethal but enough to knock the fight out of them.
However, they didn't give me the same luxury.
I knew I was losing due to my injuries and fatigue from using my powers on the water chains (it looked like a good idea a while ago, Hades damn it!). To make things worse, for every opponent I injured, two more would take their place. It was an endless battle, one that had me at a terrible disadvantage since they weren't even giving me the opportunity to jump on the creek and get a power boost. Inwardly, I hoped and prayed that someone would be curious about the commotion and investigate.
When suddenly I hear a familiar voice yell out "What is going-?! What in the name of Hermes are you all doing to Percy?!", I thanked every god there was for answering my prayer, never mind that my help was either Travis or Connor.
"Travis, get help! I'll try to help Percy!" Connor yelled out.
"Got it!"
"Stay out of this, Stoll! Our business isn't with you!" I heard Annabeth's biting comment directed towards Connor, though I didn't see them seeing as even with the minor distraction, the others all just kept on coming at me, giving me no time to even speak out.
"What are you doing, Annabeth! Stop this!"
"Sorry, Stoll, no can do."
"Wha-? Arrrgh!"
My blood ran cold when I heard Connor's agonized scream. Dear Poseidon, if Annabeth killed him for coming to my rescue-!
Though, even before I could finish that thought, an agonizing pain, worse than the numerous sword cuts I was sporting all throughout my body, blossomed on my left shoulder blade. I screamed, going down on one knee at the pain.
At least, when they saw me take the hit of whatever injured me, my attackers all retreated, picking up their fallen comrades and all but hightailing it deeper into the woods. Only Annabeth was left, standing over Connor's prone form that was flat down on his face, his right arm sporting a gash that was oozing green liquid and blood. Annabeth then looked at me and smirked. She lifted her right arm, and immediately, a snowy owl emerged from the thick trees and alighted on her cloth covered arm.
"This is Reckoning. She's beautiful, isn't she? Her talons are dipped in the venom from a gorgon's hair. You and Stoll have less than two minutes to live. Fitting way for you to die, right?" She gave me one last sardonic wave and sauntered out of the clearing, going in the direction her army had gone.
I shakily got up, fighting against the sudden nausea that overcame me as I dragged myself to Connor and painstakingly dragged the both of us back towards Camp. If both of us collapse out here, we're sure to become monster food, the fact that Travis went to get help not emerging from my thoughts until, when I myself collapsed on the forest floor, unable to even lift myself up, never mind with another person in tow, I heard voices calling out for me and Connor. I was then lifted bridal style, blue eyes looking at me in panic.
"Percy, hang on!"
My world bled to black.
…..oo00oo…..
I returned to consciousness with hushed whispers around me.
"What in the name of Hades happened?! Oh, my poor Percy!"
"Silena, keep your voice down. Both of them are still recovering."
"But Will!"
"No, Silena. We'll find out what happened when the both of them regain consciousness. Travis is still at the arena, hacking down straw dummies and refusing to tell anyone what happened."
"….Alright, Chiron."
I opened my eyes to find all of my friends at the foot of my bed, Luke on my right side and Ethan on my left. I was propped up on a bed in the infirmary part of the Big House, my left shoulder feeling stiff as I felt all of the bandages keeping it in place. Argus was standing guard at the corner of the room. I noticed the bed next to me was occupied and I inwardly sighed in relief, thanking every god there was that both Connor and I made it out alive.
Luke was the first one to notice I was awake. Seeing this, he immediately jumped up and grabbed the glass on the bedside table and pointed the straw at me, blue eyes imploring me to drink. I gave in, seeing as my mouth felt as dry as the Sahara. Immediately, the others all burst into action as Ethan grabbed a washcloth and dabbed my sweaty forehead down. Silena cried as she declared she'd go tell Travis I was awake and all but hightailed it out of the door, Will right on her heels telling her to be careful. Clarisse was standing with Chiron, her face a stormy scowl while the old Centaur was smiling, relieved that I was ok.
"Thank the Olympians you're fine, Sis." Ethan caressed my forehead with a smile as put the washcloth down.
"You and Connor were green and gray when Ethan and I found the both of you on the forest floor." Luke himself was looking gray as he looked at me, giving a relieved nod as the various cuts I received all healed over and the pain in my shoulder lessened to a light buzz. "If Chiron hadn't recognized the poison-!"
"You give me too much credit, Luke. The both of them are stubborn children." Chiron smiled, though his smile did nothing to relieve the stress lines adorning his face. He looked straight at me, brown eyes glittering sadly. "How are you, child?"
"Like my insides are all messed up and are in all the wrong places." I groaned.
"Apt description, seeing as the poison was the venom of the snakes of Gorgons." Here, his smile completely vanished as he stared at me with his brown eyes that looked so very old.
"Percy, I need you to tell me what exactly happened. We're running blind currently, seeing as Travis is not cooperating."
I nodded and between small sips of nectar when my throat refused to work, I told the four present the situation. In the middle of my explanation, Travis, Silena and Will all burst back in, Travis all but demanding to know what happened. So, I backtracked and started all over again.
When I finished, Luke was all but slumped down in his seat, white and shaking and all but looking as if his worst fears were confirmed while Ethan was by his side, keeping one hand on his shoulder and the other on mine. Clarisse was looking as if someone told her she couldn't fight, her face set in a fearsome snarl. Silena was clutching Travis tightly, seeing as the Son of Hermes was all but thrashing, snarling quietly that he'd hunt the traitors down. Will was chanting, laying hands on Connor to speed up his healing process to alleviate Travis' rage. Chiron just looked every year his age.
"So my worst fears have been confirmed. Annabeth truly has sided with him." He sighed, back straightening. "I must go to Olympus immediately. The Council must be informed."
"We ourselves must act, Chiron. Zeus closed the matter down. He doesn't even want to hear the name." I countered, gritting my teeth as I tried to sit up, forcing my muscles to somehow cooperate with me. Ethan immediately helped me prop myself up as Luke shook himself out of his funk and helped him.
"No, Percy. You must rest. The rest of us will hunt down the traitors. Every single one of them." Luke's voice was quiet, but the resolve was clear.
"Yes, child. You of all halfbloods must be careful."
I looked straight at the Centaur then. "Is there a prophecy about me? About me being the reason for all of this? Because that's the only explanation I can think of on why you're advising me to be careful."
"I'm afraid there is one, child. And Annabeth knows the Prophecy as well." He sighed as he trotted beside my bed, laying a calm hand on my sure to be messy hair and lightly ruffling it. "The Lord of Time knows your value, and he wants you unsettled, unraveled. He wants you to only know fear and anger. DO NOT give him that satisfaction. Train hard, and your time will come."
"If I even live that long."
"You will, child. Trust me." He looked at me with an assessing gaze. "Now, you must decide, on whether you want to remain here and train, or go back to your mother and the real world." Looking at him, I knew his advice would be to remain. He then nodded to the others and cantered towards the door.
I wanted to ask him to tell us the contents of the Prophecy, but I knew he wouldn't give anything more. His eyes were firm. He wouldn't, couldn't, tell us any more.
"I'll be back as soon as I can, and when I return you must tell me your decision." He motioned to Argus. "In the meantime, your friends and Argus will be here to protect you."
I heard the clipclopping of his hooves on the wooden floor as he cantered out of the Big House, leaving us plunged in total silence.
"So what's you plan, sis?"
"I don't know." I sighed as I laid back on the pillows he and Luke propped up for me. "I think Chiron wants me to stay, but what about my Mom? Can I really train here, knowing that I'm leaving her all alone?"
"It's your choice, Princess." Clarisse's voice rumbled. "Choose what your heart wants. Sappy, I know. Any of you tell the others it came from me, you'll get the beating of your life."
"Whatever you choose, Percy, know that we'll be here to support you." Luke smiled softly at me, clutching my hand in a gentle hold.
I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and opened them, looking at my friends with firm resolve.
"I'll be back next summer." I promised all of them. All of them smiled back at me, most likely every single one of them figuring out my decision before I could. "I'll definitely survive up until then. After all, I'm Poseidon's daughter."
"Alright. First, though, we'll make sure you can stand properly before Argus takes you back to your home." Luke said, smiling softly at me.
"Yeah," I said as Will stepped up and began chanting hymns to Apollo for my recovery. "Home."
I'M CRYING AS I TYPE THIS, AND IT'S WEIRD BECAUSE I'M DOING THIS WHILE I WORK AND MY WORKMATES ARE ALL GIVING ME WEIRD GLANCES. BUT BOOK 1 IS FINALLY FINISHED! CELEBRATE!
For the surprise, we have two! The first! An EPILOGUE! JUMP FOR JOY! :))
The second one, well. Anyone wondering about Nemesis? ;)
READ, REVIEW AND WAIT FOR THE START OF BOOK TWO! LOVE YOU GUYS!