Chapter 12

"Hera surprise wasn't that pleasant"

First off, I can't imagine that Hera surprise was to claimed Toby but then he also got claimed by Hermes, and I could see by the claiming there's a fight between both of them, like changing the symbol on Toby head making everyone confuse including me. Not every day the Gods fight because of claiming a Demi-God.

Besides, I was confident enough that Toby indeed a Hermes kid, everything made sense now, the smile, the mischievous smile that every kids in Hermes cabin had also the loved of stealing thing. But why Hera won't let Hermes claimed his own kid, usually Hera would just scoffed with us, the Demi-Gods but why suddenly he claimed a child that wasn't her. I really need to check on Hermes on this one.

So after the game Capture the Flag, I went straight to meet up with Hermes at the lake shore, feet in the water, back against the sand. Light grey clouds peppered the blue skies, and the waves were choppy. The reason that I need to because first, he must knew why Hera claimed Toby not him and why he gave up that quickly to claim him. Second it had been nearly a month since my arrival at Camp Half-blood, and I knew that soon my curse would activate. Already I was weakening, a sure sign that the curse was gaining power. The only problem was that I was out of cure.

So, I had Iris-messaged gods. I was expecting one of them- probably Hermes- to arrive in the next few days.

In the days since Nico's revelation, and of course after seeing my 'wise girl' crying like that. I could rarely hold myself back and the little glamour Aphrodite had given me- shrinking my height, changing my face shape- were beginning to fade. I was hoping the others would put it down to me having a growth spurt and filling out. I was still pretty thin from Tartarus and being on the run, but the weeks here had helped me gain weight.

I was tired. I was sick of hiding and holding back, of keeping up the heaviest mask I had ever worn, of hiding the pain. I was sick of the nightmares and flashbacks and visions. I was sick of being Trent.

I watched the rainclouds stop at the camp's borders and hover there. Rain fell, and I watched it splatter the water outside the borders.

"Percy" a voice said. Hermes.

"Hey" I said, still staring up at the sky. Footsteps crunched across the dry sand, and a shadow fell across my face. Hermes put his face above mine.

"You okay?" he asked, sitting down beside me.

I snorted. "Completely."

The middle-aged looking god sighed. "Stupid question."

"Yep"

Hermes wasn't looking like the usual Hermes, he's gloomier like when Luke died and he can't even do anything to prevent it. I knew something must have the connection to Toby and of course involved with my favorite Aunt in the world Hera. (AN: Feel the power of Sarcasm)

"Hera is willing to drop the time from eight week to five." Hermes said conversationally, his blue eyes serious.

I sat up, interested. "Did she say why?"

"Gaea is rising again." Hermes said, unusually solemn. "And she's planning to release Kronos to destroy Olympus"

I froze eyes wide with horror. It can't be, she's awake again but how can this happen.

"How can this happen?!" I demanded my heart beating unnaturally fast.

"We still don't know why Percy" Hermes replied, clutching his cell phone. It quickly morphed into his caduceus, where George and Martha were agitatedly twining around. "We assumed that she's looking for Kronos host"

"But Luke already killed himself that mean scattered Kronos into pieces, how can she look for Kronos"

"Percy, you know why Hera claimed your friend Toby?" Hermes asked. His eyes look sadder than before.

"I was going to ask you about that, but then why did you let her claimed him?!" I asked.

"And why he looked much like Luke" Hermes said.

"No..." I muttered, fear clutching my heart. "He can't be Luke and he can't be still hosting Kronos inside him, he's Toby Carter not Luke!"

"I'm sorry Percy" said Hermes. "There's a reason why she claimed him Percy, so she can protect him from Zeus, I'm also mad about the claiming and I'm promise that I would protect all of my kids"

"You promise?!" I said in an angry tone. "When you promise did you think about the other Hermes kids that joined Luke at the Second War, did you think about their mortal parents?"

"Perseus Jackson," Hermes said, his voice booming through the camp. "Because you're the Savior of Olympus and I had no intention to fight your father I must spare you. You are in the hands of the Fates now. But you will never speak to me like that again. You have no idea how much I have sacrificed, how much—"

His voice broke, and "My son, my greatest pride . . . my poor May . . ."

"Now he's back and I thought that I got a second chance, to fix the mess that I made but-"

He sounded so devastated I didn't know what to say. One minute he was ready to vaporize us. Now he looked like he needed a hug.

"But there's a way to try helping him, besides we make our own fate and Toby won't die and you'll keep your promise" I said.

Hermes's shoulders sagged. "I try, Percy. Oh, we'll all try to keep our promise. And maybe for a while things will get better. But we gods have never been good at keeping oaths. You were born because of a broken promise, eh? Eventually we'll become forgetful. We always do."

Hermes laughed. "After three thousand years, you think the gods can change their nature?"

"Yeah," I said. "I do."

"The world is finished." said Hermes. "Unless you reveal your identity and help my son and the other Camper before Gaea awake"

I stared at Hermes, shaking. "I can't!"

"You can, Percy!"

"But-"

"If you don't, we are all dead."

"But-"

"Percy!" Hermes exclaimed. He looked me straight in the eyes.

Kindness and faith filled them, and I was reminded why the only god I truly trusted was Hermes. Along with my father, Hermes had been the only one to fight with Hera. Hermes was the only one willing to help me after my escape.

"I believe in you."

I took a deep breath. "Okay. Okay. In two weeks."

"In two weeks." Hermes repeated.

I bit my lip and touched the water, sighing at the peace it brought me. "Do you have it?"

"Have wha- oh, right!" Hermes said. He put away his caduceus- now a cell phone- and drew out a new vial of antidote. "There's enough in here for two uses." He paused then. "You drew it awfully close last time, Percy"

I rubbed my head. "Well...sorry. It came earlier than I expected, and I was in the middle of a battle."

"I know..." Hermes said. "Just don't do it again."

I smiled slightly. "I'll try not to"

Hermes thought back, staring at his phone-caduceus. "Before you go, can you please give this to Lu- I mean Toby"

He gave me a box with a bow on the top of it also a letter that slipped through the bow. It's had the name Toby on it so I assumed it's an early birthday present for him.

"What's this?!" I asked. "It won't exploded or anything right?"

"No of course not kiddo" said Hermes. "Just give it to Toby, alright and tell him that I love him, even I had never met him before"

"Don't you think its better that you give this yourself" I said.

Hermes looked at me, with a look that I never would forget, the look of guilt. He pocketed his cell, which was ringing, and his winged sandals- his nice tennis shoes had transformed- were fluttering. "Sorry, Percy-"

"You've gotta go." I said simply. Hermes nodded. An uncomfortable silence fell between us.

"I'll talk to Apollo about your scar, and to Hera." Hermes said finally after a moment. "Maybe to Aphrodite about renewing the glamour's."

"And Dad?" I asked, trying to hide the wistfulness in my voice.

"I'll get him to come to his senses. He's so worried about you, it's ridiculous." Hermes said, shaking his head. "Of course, he's acting like a total idiot."

I snorted. "Like Zeus?"

The sky rumbled.

"That was bad." Hermes said, running a hand through his now salt-and-pepper hair. I shrugged; the man had gone along with Hera's incredibly stupid plan of throwing me in Tartarus. The little respect I had of the man had been shredded to tatters after that. Understandable, really.

"I better go, good luck kid" I sighed. Hermes rose into the air, waving.

"Don't call me that," I muttered. "I stopped being a kid a long time ago."

Hermes smirked and disappeared. I sat back down on the sand, looking up at the bright stars. What was I going to do?

When I made it back to camp, I was surprised to see no witch-hunt, no angry or curious campers, and even more surprised to see Annabeth not threatening my life to get information about Percy. Because, obviously I knew what had happened if I was talking about him to a god. I slipped into my cabin and fell into my usual nightmares and visions. The final days of the Romans visit inched closer, and I felt jumpier as time went on.

Whenever people looked at me for too long, or whenever Annabeth stared at me with suspicious grey eyes, I couldn't help but wonder if they knew.

After that I wanted to go straight to bed but then I remember the present that Hermes gave me, how can I explained that we need to kept my identity a secret also revealing he's actually reincarnated and possibly going to be Kronos Host again just like he's past life. So I decided going to his cabin tonight, Cabin 2 Hera's cabin that was just for an honorary cabin and she does not have any children with mortals since she is the goddess of marriage.

When I got inside the cabin, I saw a woman standing beside of Toby's bed tucking him in his bed like a mother would do, especially my mom, Gods I missed her. She has very long, silver hair woven into braids with golden ribbons, a "sunny smile", and wears a dazzling white dress that ripples and "shimmers with colors" like oil on water when she moves. Hera also wears a glowing golden crown, and her arms are bedecked with golden jewelry.

"Who are you?!" I said in a protective mode, preparing to unleash Riptide.

"Hello, Jackson" she said calmly, her golden eyes flashing with amusement. I contained my rising anger and made my arms hang complacently at my sides.

"L-Lady Hera," I choked out, watching my body language carefully.

I was only enduring this hell so Camp Half-Blood would be safe. I couldn't imagine pissing off the Queen of the Gods was exactly helpful to that. Hera stared at me thoughtfully, and I tried to puzzle out the reason for her visit. I found out soon enough.

"As you know, I'm the Goddess of Marriage and need to maintain my marriage with Zeus my husband" she said.

I spoke up. "Then why did you claim him?!"

"Because Hermes asked me to persuaded Zeus not to kill the boy, Luke's reincarnation and of course he's son" said Hera. "But the only way my husband won't kill him if, what you mortals called this day, oh right 'adopting him' of course Perseus"

"You should know that this will not change your current predicament. I am still watching you, and if you go against our agreement, I will not hesitate to inflict the punishment we've already discussed."

"Our agreement?" I scoffed. "Which one?"

Hera's eyebrow quirked.

"Both." was her reply. "If you leave this Camp prematurely, you will leave ruin in your wake. And if you fail to properly conceal your identity, I will ensure that all your friends-sorry, allies-feel my wrath"

Then she raised the corner of her lip in a patronizing smile. "Oh, and Perseus?"

"What?" I sighed.

"Just because I hate Demi-Gods or maybe mortal, it didn't mean I hate and didn't even cared about him" said Hera as he run a hand trough Toby's hair. "I was just here to tucking him in, he also got a nightmare about…" she trailed off from a moment and then continues.

"So I asked Hypnos to gave him a great dream for a once, he's tired Perseus so I asking you to take care of him when of course I occupied in Olympus"

"Trust me Hera, without you asked me that I would do that" I said.

"Great Perseus, and also, Acid rain is anything but my style." With that, her illusion burst apart, leaving a peacock feather in its place. I clenched my fist and turned sharply. So much for a respite.

Finally I went outside from that crazy place and proceed to my favorite place on earth; I collapsed onto the ground and buried my head in my hands. I felt that familiar ball in my throat that proceeds to the taste of guilt of course. The guilt of making my own best friend Toby's to taste being the Host of Kronos that maybe would kill him.

Sometime while I wrestled with myself, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I jumped and turned. Annabeth smiled sympathetically at me and crouched down beside me, pushing the sack of knives over. I didn't say anything. Her smile, those smile the only thing that made me still alive because thinking of her. The smile that I remembered when Hera put me to sleep of course.

"What do you want?" I demanded. "'Cuz I'm not going back to that cabin. Not for a while, anyway. Even assholes need breaks."

Annabeth didn't say anything for a moment. I ignored her and stared at the water. It was so deceptively calm and tranquil. It reflected the moon and the stars, slight ripples distorting the image, but only barely. It gave me a perfect image of my scarred, fragile expression. Talking about the perfect date or maybe the perfect night.

"Why are you here, Trent?" Annabeth asked suddenly.

I didn't answer.

"Trent?" she prompted, placing her hand on my shoulder again, but I shrugged it off. I didn't need her sympathy or condolences.

"I'm taking a break." I said impatiently. Annabeth laughed.

"You might want to be careful doing that," she warned. "The Harpies are notoriously merciless."

"So the rumors about resident man-eating monsters are true?" I asked dubiously, inciting another laugh and answering nod from Annabeth. "So why are you out? Or did you follow me?"

"Of course not," she snapped. "I...seniority have its advantages."

She decided cryptically, making me glower at her angrily. Annabeth shook her head. "I've been here for fifteen years, and that's the single longest of anyone else here. I'm also a veteran of the Titan War and counselor of Cabin Six, so I have some liberties others don't have. Nico and Clarisse are the same way, even if they haven't been here as long as me."

Annabeth tucked her legs underneath her and sat down next to me. "You don't know mind if I join you, do you?"

I nodded, I can't even say no to my 'wise girl'. "Actually, I do. But I doubt you're going to leave, so..."

I stood up and wanted to leave maybe going to the arena to killing some of training dummy. But then I looked at Annabeth with her grey eyes blazing trough the lake, she's seriously still hasn't forget about me, I think she's remembering the time when we kiss underwater. That was the best underwater kiss ever. I then sat down beside her again, in which case we could snuggle around but in this case we snuggle, Camp Half-Blood got destroyed.

"So, any luck about finding this Percy Jackson guy" I asked.

"Yeah, well there's no progress actually," she said. "Why did you asked?!"

"No reason" I replied.

"You do realize the proper etiquette when you asked a person and they asked you why they asked the question; mean you had a reason about it?"

I scoffed. "Of course I realize that, Your Highness.

"However, I have no desire to put up with you longer than is absolutely necessary, so if you would excuse me..." I turned to walk away again, but Annabeth grabbed my arm.

Consequently, I found myself comfortably close to her, so much so that I felt her covered breasts against my chest. Her breath tickled my nose hairs, and I snapped back, wrenching my arm from her grasp. I can't, Hera would kill her.

"I would thank you to not grab me." I told her curtly, stepping back.

"Why are you always so tactless?" she demanded, crossing her arms over her chest. I swallowed and put together a quick, even more hurtful response.

"Tactless?" I demanded in the meantime to stall. "Who the hell uses the word tactless?"

Annabeth eyes flashed and she took a step forward, jabbing me in the chest. "Just because you're too stupid to read a dictionary doesn't mean..."

"A dictionary?" I scoffed. "That's a hoot. I'm dyslexic, you moron. I couldn't read a dictionary even if I wanted to. Not to mention school was never really a big part of my life, so..."

Annabeth looked taken aback by my reboot and she stopped. She pursued her lips. "You know, uh, the store sells all kinds of books printed in Ancient Greek. If you wanted to take a look, I'm sure..."

"And I have the money to pay for it. Sure." I shook my head. "You know what, princess. Not everyone's as privileged as you, so why don't you just get off my back, huh?"

It hurt to treat Annabeth like this, she's my 'wise girl' and of course I hate to treat him like this, but what was I supposed to do? Decency was not part of the deal for me anymore. It was either be a hated man or watch everyone you used to love die. Even though I had cut ties with Camp Half-Blood, that wouldn't lessen the pain when I saw it fall apart.

"Princess?" Annabeth demanded. "Privileged?" she scoffed.

"I beg to differ. Every single day of my life has been an uphill struggle."

"Oh really?" I countered. "How so?"

Annabeth curled up her lip and drew her knife. For a moment, I thought she was going to throw it at me or maybe stab me because I asking that question, because those questions mean she would remember her past with Luke and Thalia and of course about her dad and step-mom, but then she tossed it at the ground and it embedded itself in the earth.

"My father didn't really appreciate having a half-blood for a daughter. He resented Athena for leaving me with him, tried to offer me back to her. When that didn't work, he married some horrible woman with kids and made my young life miserable. Monsters kept attacking the house, and eventually I got the message and took off. After a while, I ran across Thalia Grace and Luke Castellan. Luke gave me that knife and a promise that I was part of their family. That they would never hurt me."

Tears welled in Annabeth eyes and she spun on her heel away from me.

"I was seven and confused, but when I found Luke and Thalia, I thought everything was going to be alright. And then Grover found us and...We were making it up that hill. But the monsters were right behind us. Thalia told us to go on ahead..." Annabeth voice caught and I knew that although Thalia was back and alive and safe, it still stung to talk about it.

"She said she could handle the monsters. She was the daughter of Zeus. I never figured she would die, but...she was so close to death. Her dad turned her into a pine tree to preserve her spirit. She's back now. The Fleece saved her, but..."

"Luke was never the same after Thalia died. He betrayed Olympus. He took on Kronos' spirit. Housed it. But he tried to make amends in the end. It was too late to save him like I had always hoped, but...he killed himself to stop Kronos from reaching full power. And the gods survived. We were rewarded. All the veterans. The heroes. And Percy turned down immortality to give all demigods equal rights. Things were fantastic. And then my seaweed brain had to talk to that meddlesome goddess and his father, and the next thing I knew, I was speaking at his funeral and we were burning his shroud. It seems I'm doomed to lose everyone I fall in love with"

Annabeth looked back up at me. "Everything else resolved itself in the end. But Percy and Luke are never coming back. They're gone. And I have to live with the knowledge that I'm at least partially responsible for their deaths. So no, Trent. I might be privileged, but I'm privileged to pain and guilt. And I am anything but a princess. Princesses don't walk around with permanent scars in their hearts because their prince was brutally murdered."

My eyes were wide. I couldn't figure a decent comeback to that. I couldn't think of anything to say that wouldn't exponentially make Annabeth feel worse, and trying to comfort her by telling her who I was and hugged her also maybe got some Judo flips and kiss her slowly absolutely out of the question. So I was left with a single course of action.

I scoffed.

"Why did you feel the need to tell me about your incredibly depressing life?" I asked her, raising an eyebrow and pushing the sack higher up on my arm. Annabeth frowned, like she was thinking, and shrugged.

"Because what you've gone through, Trent, it...it isn't all there is to life. The wounds you've sustained are probably never going to heal, but maybe it's time for you to stop ripping them open farther. Let it go. Whatever is gnawing at you just let it go. Don't be afraid of it."

I had started to feign sleep during her incredibly philosophical conclusion, but my head snapped up when she said

"Don't be afraid of it"

"I'm not afraid of anything" I told her quickly, and Annabeth smiled weakly.

"Everyone's afraid of something, Trent. You can't go through life without fear. Otherwise, what's the point to courage?"

'To be honest right now 'Wise Girl', I'm more afraid of losing you but I can tell you that, I'm afraid that I can't kiss you or love you or maybe hearing you laugh'

I narrowed my eyes at her. "What?"

"Thanks for the advice, Bodhidarma, but was it really necessary?" I said to her."And if everyone's afraid of something, what's your fear?"

Annabeth bowed her head and didn't answer. "I'm not afraid...of much."

She added hastily, realizing she almost contradicted herself. I waved my hand in a "go-on" motion and Annabeth swallowed nervously. She took a deep breath and muttered something incomprehensible. I knew what she was saying, of course. But I seriously wanted to hear the meek squeak come from Annabeth. It's fun to mess with your girlfriend sometime.

"Sorry," I said. "Didn't catch that?"

"Spiders," she snapped loudly, covering her mouth and glancing back over at the cabins to make she hadn't woken anybody.

When she was confident no one was on their way to check on us, she dropped her hand and sighed.

"Alright? Its spiders. Like all my other siblings."

I scrunched my eyebrows together and looked down at her leg. "Like that one?" I asked, pointing at her pajama pants.

She answering squeal made my night. Annabeth jumped up and down and desperately swatted her pants leg, looking panicked. I laughed hysterically, and Annabeth punched me across the jaw. That's Annabeth for you. She'd take a hook punch over a slap any day. I howled in pain, holding my chin.

"Holy Hera, Chase" I roared. "What in Zeus's name was that for?"

Annabeth glowered at me.

"For making me think there was a spider on my leg" she replied angrily. "And you catch on quick" she noted, referring to my use of the Death god's name in anger. I nodded, still holding my cheek.

"I'm a fast learner." I spat at her, straightening up and wincing in pain.

It had already subsided, of course, but I couldn't let Annabeth know that. She'd get suspicious.

"Whatever, Wise Guy. But don't pull crap like that on the other campers. I got used to Percy pranking me, so I don't have a problem. But Malcolm and Christine might not be as forgiving." Annabeth turned around and started walking back to her cabin.

"And Trent?" she asked.

"Yes?"

"It's okay to be afraid."

With that last piece of Athena wisdom, Annabeth ran off toward her cabin, leaving me speechless and confused. I sighed and bowed my head, running off toward the beach, sick and tired of avoiding the ocean, and dove in headfirst. I decided to take a quick swim that would clear my mind about anything.

As soon as my head was submerged under water, I drew in a deep breath and plunged farther below, kicking my legs and cupping my hands, pushing the water behind me. I usually avoided pushing how far under I could go out of fear that there was a point where I'd be crushed, but tonight was a different matter. I had just had a confusing conversation with an old friend, and now I was ready to let off some steam. However far below sea level that happened to be.

I felt the coolness of the sea against my skin, but of course my clothes were completely dry. I laughed, the water distorting the expression of joy slightly, and started doing barrel rolls under water and stupid tricks just because I felt like it. After so long of being kept from my father's domain, I was ready to laugh a little. After Poseidon knows how long, I resurfaced. But I deliberately popped up above the water periodically to make sure it wasn't lightening yet. Little did I know as I inched open the door and crept back inside that my now rogue life was about to take a turn.

Well hello, this is the answer what you guys been asking, i know why now you updated it why not yesterday or stuff. It's my third year in my school my last year with my friends and i INDONESIA there's an exam that's not like final exam but some useless goverment exam that really hard and probably made someone take their life and stuff so, if i don't pass the exam, i can't go to college or maybe working and stuff we do after we're graduate. Because our goverment is dumb, we don't have any remedial so if you fail, then you're fail.

THERE'S SO MUCH PRESURE FOR A SCHOOL KID IN MY COUNTRY!

ANYWAY!

PLEASE REVIEWWWWWWW! I NEED A LOT OF REVIEW IF ANYONE WANT ME TO CONTINUE THIS STORY!