Chapter 8: Olympus
Phoebe's POV
The next day, I woke up next to Thalia in Zoë's old tent. She was still sleeping and she was on a cot, while I was in my sleeping bag on the ground.
"Luke..." Thalia mumbled.
She looked like she was about to cry in her sleep. I remembered that when we tried to recruit her before, she said no because of her friend Luke. She wouldn't leave him behind. She must've become a Huntress because he's not holding her back from it anymore now that he's working for Kronos. I feel bad for her, especially since now she has to deal with me loving Connor when she's got problems of her own.
"Don't leave... I love you..." She mumbled again.
Then she woke up with a gasp and looked like she wanted to cry. But when she saw me looking up at her, she took a deep breath and went to change into her Huntress clothes. When she came back, I'd changed into some clothes that were next to my sleeping bag.
"Are you okay?" Thalia asked.
"Fine for now, what about you?" I answered.
"Fine." She seemed like she was trying to hide her feelings.
"You don't have to lie, I remember why you wouldn't join us before." I said.
"Nothing's wrong." She lied.
"Yes there is, and you were going to cry before you saw me, so it's okay if you do it now." I offered.
"I don't cry." She choked out.
"Everyone does, even over dreams..." I started.
"It wasn't a dream, it was an empathy link I used to see him so I could try to show him that he could come home." She started crying.
I stood up and hugged her.
"It's okay, maybe we can go look for him..." I was cut off again.
"No, Artemis wouldn't release you to help me, because I'd probably get kicked out for trying to find him for my reasoning, and I'm a first lieutenant Huntress now, so I have more important duties." She kept crying.
"Not to sound contradictive, or go all Mulan on you, but isn't your duty to your heart?" I tried to comfort her.
"I don't know, is it?" She smiled and laughed a little.
"Good God, what's with all the crying lately?" Fiona complained.
"Get out!" Thalia threw a knife in Fiona's direction.
"That's what she said." Fiona said as she ran away after narrowly dodging the blade.
"She's annoying." Thalia pointed out.
"I know." I agreed.
Then we went to the pavilion and ate breakfast. Lady Artemis seemed distracted and sad. I think it's because the anniversary of the original Perseus' death is coming up. I never thought about it before, but their friendship was very close, so that's probably what Apollo meant in the theater the other day. It was only the other day? It seems like longer now. Artemis and Apollo's birthdays are also coming up, so maybe she'll feel better then. But there's also Zoë's death.
"Alright, the party on Olympus is today, so you can wear whatever you want, and we'll go to Olympus later today. Just get ready, or Aphrodite threatened to make you get ready." Artemis smiled at the last part.
All the Huntresses looked nervous and ran to get ready. Thalia even left so she could find an outfit. She mentioned something about this being "one of the last times she makes her own dress-code". I guess she has a point. So I went to my tent and picked out an outfit. It was a Camp Half-Blood T-shirt from the 50's, a pair of blue jeans, and some converse shoes. Plus, I wore a ponytail in my hair. When I found Thalia, she was wearing an electric blue T-shirt, a pair of black jeans, and some weird looking converse shoes.
"Their winged like Hermes' shoes. A lot of Hermes' kids have them, and mine were a gift." Thalia explained.
Probably from Luke, but I shouldn't ask that question.
"We're not leaving yet, go do something you want to do." Artemis announced.
Artemis was wearing a plain silver T-shirt, some black jeans, and a pair of converse. I think their the winged ones Hermes gave her on her birthday around when I first became a Huntress.
"Good luck." Artemis said as she passed me.
I hope.
Connor's POV
When I woke up, Chris was reading a newspaper while sitting in a chair by my bed.
"Morning." Chris greeted as he put down the newspaper.
"Hi." I yawned.
"Are you ready to go see her on Olympus today? I arranged something with Dad, so we can go earlier than the rest of Camp." Chris grinned.
"Thanks." I hugged him.
"Dude, even Clarisse was worried about you. That's when we should all be desperate." He laughed.
"Good point." I smiled.
"Hey Chris, your dad's here." Clarisse opened the cabin door.
I think I saw relief cross her face when she saw me, but then it went back to her poker face.
"Okay, thanks." Chris smiled.
She smiled and left.
"You coming with us Travis?" Chris asked.
Travis was staring at the ceiling with a sad look on his face.
"Hello, Earth to Travis the traveling stealer Stoll." I said.
Travis looked up in confusion.
"Sure." Travis agreed.
So I got dressed and we went outside to see Dad. He held out his hand to us and we all grabbed it. Then we were teleported to Olympus. When we got there, Aphrodite was reading, half the decorarions were put up, Zeus and Hera were arguing, and Athena and Poseidon were sitting in a corner with Athena giggling.
"What's Aphrodite reading?" I asked.
Chris squinted in her direction and said, "Looks like a Maximum Ride book."
"Why aren't the decorations finished?" Travis asked.
"I'd like to know the same thing!" Dionysus exclaimed.
He ran up to Zeus and Hera and asked them why the decorations weren't finished.
"We're too busy arguing, Aphrodite looks too lazy, and... Athena, what are you and Poseidon doing?" Zeus was confused at the last part.
"Giggling at his stupidity." Athena turned red and pushed Poseidon out of his chair.
"Ouch." Poseidon said.
"Sorry." Athena mouthed.
Zeus roared with laughter, Hera face-palmed, Dionysus twitched a smile, Dad held in a laugh, and Aphrodite grinned through her face-palm. He really is stupid, isn't he? Even Hera knows, but she's keeping it to herself.
"Alright, well I'm the God of Parties, so I can't just leave it like this." Dionysus declared.
Then he suddenly zipped around the room like a tornado and within a few minutes, the room looked like it was ready for a party, minus the refreshments.
"Get to the kitchen and get some food!" Dionysus exclaimed to Dad.
So Dad sped to the kitchen, got the food, and came back within a few seconds. This should be interesting.
Phoebe's POV
It's 3:00! I'm really excited because Connor should be on Olympus with the rest of the Campers! I must be grinning like an idiot.
"What's with the stupid grin?" Fiona annoyed me.
"What's with the stupid dress?" I countered.
Most of us were wearing shirts and jeans, but Fiona was wearing a really short dress. Probably for Apollo. Before she could lunge at me, Thalia whacked her with a shield that had Medusa on it. We both grinned at the silence brought by her unconsciousness.
Then we teleported to Olympus, and I immediately ran to find Connor. Travis is standing by the punch bowl, Chris is hugging Clarisse, Annabeth and Percy were dancing as Athena walked towards them, Grover was trying to get a can from Katie, and Hermes was talking to George and Martha (the snakes on his caduceus). Where is Connor? As I kept looking, I saw Artemis sitting with Athena, Fiona dancing with Apollo, Chris dancing with Clarisse, Annabeth and Percy dancing really close, Grover eating the can as Katie rolled her eyes and sat with Travis, and Hermes feeding a rat to George and Martha. Then I saw something really strange. Thalia was pushed up against a wall by a sandy blonde haired boy who was kissing her. When they stopped, I saw that it was Luke. But he's the enemy, how did he get here, and why isn't anyone saying anything?
"I'm sorry, I promise I'll explain it if you come with me to somewhere no one will here it, and expose me. Then things would be more dangerous." Luke whispered.
"I love you, but I can't be with you unless you come home..." Thalia was crying.
"Thalia, I'm not really evil, I just couldn't tell Annabeth, because she might tell Percy. Just look at them, she can't keep something that big from him." Luke explained.
"What do you mean?" Thalia was still crying.
"I'm a double agent. I work for Camp, and give them i formation about Kronos, but Kronos thinks it's the other way around. I promise, and if you don't believe me, say Agent Titan to Chiron, he'll confirm it. It was his idea in the first place." Luke elaborated.
Thalia was staring up at him sadly.
"Do you believe me?" He asked sincerely.
"Yes. But what does it change? I'm a Huntress, everyone thinks you're working for the enemy... What am I supposed to do now?" Thalia was sad.
"Remember that I'm not the enemy, and if I can get out of this, I want to date you. If you're willing to let go of being a Huntress..." Luke trailed off.
"I'll definitely consider it." Thalia smiled sadly.
"You always came up with better plans." Luke smiled.
"I was an imaginative twelve year old." Thalia smiled.
Then I felt someone tap my shoulder. I turned and saw Connor.
"Connor!" I jumped on him.
"Hi Phoebe." He stroked my back.
I helped him up and hugged him.
"Do you want to dance?" He asked.
"Yes." I answered.
So we walked to a random place on the dance floor and started dancing. It sounded like a slow song to me, but most people were dancing to a fast song. Except Annabeth and Percy. I noticed that Thalia was gone, but I'm not too worried about her.
"Good luck." Aphrodite winked as she passed by with Hephaestus.
Ares is dancing with Khione. That's not weird at all. Artemis was talking to Hades about something, Zeus was dancing with Hera, and Athena was dancing with Poseidon. Then I noticed Grover running away with Katie chasing him and Travis following Katie.
"Grover, I'm not done with that soda can yet!" Katie shrieked.
"Mine!" Grover said in a Gollum/Smeagol voice.
"Give me a break!" Travis muttered.
Connor and I laughed along with some other people who just saw that. We danced until Artemis said it was time to go for the Hunters.
"But I don't want to go..." I was suddenly nervous.
"Maybe you don't have too." Connor said.
"What do you mean?" I was curious.
"Come home with me and tomorrow you can tell them that you were sidetracked by one of the Olympians. Like Dionysus for example. He's so drunk, he might believe it..." Connor suggested.
I looked over and saw Dionysus flirting with a nymph that I'm pretty sure is the one who got him stuck at Camp in the first place. He'd believe it tomorrow morning.
"Okay." I agreed nervously.
Then he dragged me through a bunch of people and we exited in the elevator. There were also some couples who were making-out in the elevator. Connor held my hand on the way down and the couples didn't even notice.
"Hey Silena." Connor laughed on his way out of the elevator.
Silena and Charlie turned red
"Fiona the whore." I coughed.
"What? Who said that?" Fiona pulled away from Apollo.
Even Silena looked at them with disgust. Charlie was just red. Then Connor and I sat outside waiting for a taxi. A weird, smoky looking taxi appeared that said Gray Sisters on it. Oh no.
"The Chariot of Damnation?!" I exclaimed.
"Fastest taxi I know. But Annabeth doesn't like it, and Percy turns pale at the mention of it..." Connor rethought about the taxi.
"Get in!" One sister ordered.
"But only if you have drachma!" Another one declared.
"Be polite! Remember what the new Perseus said about customer service?!" The third one mentioned Percy.
Connor and I got in silently as I threw them some drachma.
"Please don't go fast we explode..." I begged.
"Haven't done that in centuries!" One said.
"We almost did to the new Perseus!" Another one exlaimed.
"Shut up!" The third one said.
"We'll be okay..." Connor reassured me.
Then the sisters drove and had their usual rant about the eyeball, which almost made us fall in the Hudson river and nearly run into the Empire State Building/Olympus. Then we almost crashed into a nice green house.
"Stop! Or my mom will kill me!" Connor begged.
"Please..." I pleaded.
"Here you go dearies!" The third one said.
"Have a nice day! I mean night..." One said.
"Or not." Another one said as they drove away.
"Never again..." I started.
"Agreed." Connor understood.
Then we went inside the dark house.
"My mom's home, but she should be sleeping." Connor said as he locked the front door.
"Okay then." I feel like I'm in one of those cheesy movies where the teenagers sneak upstairs and hide while someone's parents are asleep.
I kind of am, because we went upstairs to his bedroom. When he turned the light on, I saw some Mythomagic cards on his desk, along with some running medals (how ironic, a thief that likes to run), some shaving cream, a messenger bag, some pens and pencils, some composition notebooks that were titled Prank Ideas, and a bunch of files organized A-Z that were titled Completed Pranks. On the walls there were pictures of the Hermes cabin, some posters of Robin Hood, Blackbeard, Jesse James, and Prometheus, and a couple of posters of Aphrodite. I looked at him quizically.
"It's Travis' room too." Connor explained.
Then I noticed the second bed. One had light green sheets, while the other was dark green.
"I was just planning on sleeping." Connor clarified.
"That's what I figured." I giggled.
So we took our shoes off and laid down on the light green bed.
"I love you." Connor whispered.
"I love you too." I whispered back.
And then we fell asleep.