Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians
Chapter 30: Protective Custody
Camp Half Blood
Percy's POV
I ran out of my cabin ignoring the looks from other campers as I headed for the big house. I didn't even notice Annabeth, Luke and Chris as they exited the training facility. I was so preoccupied with my conversation with Bianca. Could there be a traitor at camp and one with the intent of killing Luke? I didn't know for sure, but it was definitely a possibility. If the Furies could turn against their former master then why couldn't a camper, especially one who held a grudge against Luke. Actually, that made more sense then I wanted to think of at the time, especially with the way the majority of camp treated him. I finally made it to big house and ran through the great room and ended up in the kitchen where Chiron and Mr. D sat talking about the preparations for the camp beach party that was scheduled for next week.
"Percy, what's wrong?" Chiron said as he saw me run into the kitchen.
"You look like you've seen a ghost." Mr. D said. I would have laughed if I weren't so worried.
"Actually I have seen a ghost." I said as I told both of them about my conversation with Bianca, I made sure to leave out the part about Nico.
"So Bianca believes that these dreams that Luke has been having are actually his visions of actual events related to the two escaped titans?" Chiron asked skeptically.
"Yes, sir and it makes sense he was Kronos's host he would have some lingering connection to the minds of titans, especially those that are free from Tartarus. The idea that he would be targeted and that a camper would help unfortunately makes sense as well." I said. Chiron looked surprised, but Mr. D nodded in agreement.
"I have to agree with Percy, I think Luke's dreams could be related to the titan's plans. The titans must know this as well, so it stands to reason that they will try to kill him, there is clear animosity toward Luke from many of the campers. I believe it is likely that the titan's could have a spy and possibly this spy could be an assassin as well." Mr. D said. I found it interesting that Mr. D was pleading my case, but I have to keep telling myself that this is the Mr. D that is only here during the summer and gets to see his wife the rest of the year. This Mr. D is a friend and a mentor to campers and not the pain in the ass from the past. I could see Chiron processing Mr. D's words.
"All right, then what should we do about this?" Chiron said.
"The traitor would get suspicious if we suddenly had people guarding Luke, so I think we just need to keep Luke close to his friends, so I suggest that at least one of his friends accompany him at all times, I also suggest that he be moved from his cabin and allowed to stay in the big house." Mr. D said.
"A good idea, Percy, we will consult with Theseus and let the other gods know. Until we find the traitor I think it appropriate that Luke stays at camp. Once the traitor is found he may be sent to Olympus at least until the titan's plans are revealed. We need to know who this traitor is because in the long run they would be a liability that we cannot have, do you understand?" Chiron said rationally.
"Yes, sir I do. Should we talk to Luke about this?" I asked.
"Yes, we need to, I will call a meeting with Luke, you and the rest of his friends once we complete our conversations with the gods." Chiron said. I nodded in agreement as I left the big house, I felt a presence behind me as I walked out the door, I turned suddenly with Riptide uncapped.
"Hold on seaweed brain it's just me." Annabeth said as she took off her cap and suddenly materialized in front of me.
"I guess you overheard my conversation with Chiron and Mr. D?" I asked. Annabeth's face turned red.
"Sorry, but you ran passed me without even a glance so I knew something was up. Do you really think Luke is in danger?" Annabeth said trying to change the subject.
"You're forgiven wise girl and yes I believe he is in great danger actually." I said, Annabeth's face turned red again and then I saw her face change to a thoughtful expression. I knew she was processing this new information.
"So Chiron is going to tell him after he consults the other gods, what do we do in the mean time?" Annabeth asked.
"We stay around Luke and keep him out of trouble until Chiron calls for us." I said.
"Well Luke is with Chris at lunch right now and I'm sure the rest of the gang will be there soon. How did the conversation go with Nico?" Annabeth asked.
"As you overheard I used my astral projection ability to talk with Bianca, but I primarily used it to spy on their conversation, I know its wrong, but I needed to know if it would work or not. I think Nico will be ok with Luke, now we need to get Thalia to forgive him, a much harder task." I said. Annabeth nodded in agreement. We walked to the mess hall and entered. We both grabbed some food and made our offering. We sat down at the Poseidon table. Annabeth and I both received glares from the Athena table as we passed. "Malcolm and your other siblings seem to be pretty ticked that you're not eating with them?" I asked rhetorically. I saw a frown appear on Annabeth's face, she clearly wasn't happy.
"They're not mad that I'm eating with you." Annabeth said defensively.
"They better not be or uncle Percy is going to knock some heads." Annabeth smiled when I said the uncle Percy bit. "So I take it they're upset that we're eating with Luke?" Annabeth nodded in agreement.
"Terra has been taking some heat from the Demeter cabin as well. Although Katie doesn't have a problem with it." Annabeth said reassuringly.
"Well I hope our overall plan works to get the rest of camp to forgive and forget. Speaking of the rest of the plan, I need to go talk with Nico." I stated.
"He's over there at the Zeus's table with Thalia." Annabeth said as she angled her head towards where Thalia and Nico sat staring at us.
"This should be fun." I said sarcastically. Annabeth sighed in agreement.
"I can go with you if you want." Annabeth offered.
"No go to our table and join the others, make sure that Luke doesn't suspect that we believe he is in danger. I want that revelation to come from Chiron." I said.
"You got it seaweed brain." Annabeth said as she kissed me on the cheek and walked over to Poseidon's table. I made my way over to Zeus's table, as I approached I saw the glare that Thalia gave me and the sympathetic look that Nico was giving me, maybe this plan had a chance after all.
"What do you want kelp head?" Thalia asked angrily. I tried to ignore the anger, the old Percy with the dark side would have probably said something sarcastic that would have ended in a fight, but I wasn't going to be baited.
"Nice to see you Thalia." I said sincerely. The sincerity in my voice seemed to throw her off a bit. "Actually, I need to talk to Nico." Nico looked at me questioningly.
"What about?" Nico asked curiously.
"It's a personal matter, can we speak in private, say outside the mess hall?" I asked. Nico looked at Thalia and she nodded. Nico got up and followed me outside.
"All right Perce what do you need?" Nico demanded.
I ignored his demanding attitude. "I'm setting up a band at camp and I need a keyboard and synthesizer player. You're the first person I could think of." I said. Nico was clearly taken aback by this question.
"Who else is in this band?" Nico asked. That was a question I was waiting for.
"Will Solace on lead guitar, Chris Erickson on drums, Luke Castellan on bass guitar and yours truly on lead vocals and guitar." I said. I saw Nico's eyebrows lift in surprise when he heard me say that Luke was in the band.
"I don't know if I can join if Luke is in the band." Nico said. It wasn't a no and I knew his talk with Bianca had changed his mind a little towards Luke.
"I understand I know your holding a grudge against Luke, so I know its tough to go against your fatal flaw. I will try to find someone else." I said with a tone that showed that I was more disappointed in his lack of self-control than the fact that he wasn't going to join.
"Hey, I didn't say no, Thalia has a problem with Luke not me, as long as he doesn't bother me I won't bother him." Nico said. I got him now.
"So is that a yes or a no." I said matter-of-factly.
"It's a yes, but don't tell Thalia. I'll let her know on my own." Nico said.
"You got it, besides she's not speaking to me anyway." I said. Nico looked at me sympathetically.
"Don't judge her too hard she had an argument with Luke and she can't understand why her friends support him over her." Nico said.
"Luke is very sorry for that argument, but Thalia won't listen to reason or to an apology, so she's going to have to live with the consequences." I said. Nico nodded sadly. "Hey we are going to practice in the large boathouse down by the ocean after dinner make sure you stop by."
"Sure thing Perce and thanks for asking me to join, it should be fun." Nico said as he turned to walk back to Thalia.
"Don't mention it what are friends for." I stated as I walked to the Poseidon table. As I approached everyone looked at me anxiously. "He said yes." A collective sigh of relief escaped from everyone around the table.
"Great, so that part of the plan worked." Annabeth said.
"Good job Perce." Chris said.
"Yea Percy thanks for doing all of this." Luke said.
"Hey, I didn't do it just for you, this band idea was a long time coming and besides Nico is like a little brother to me, I couldn't have him all gloom and doom all the time even if he's hanging around with Miss Sunshine over there." I said sarcastically as I gestured toward Thalia. Everyone smiled at that comment. We ate our lunch and talked about our day of training. I could tell by Annabeth's expectant looks in my direction that she was worried about Luke and the idea that there was a traitor in our midst. I worried about the same thing. Calypso and Rachel left together when they finished. They had been spending a lot of time together and I wasn't sure why. I needed to talk to one of them about that.
"What are you thinking about seaweed brain?" Annabeth asked breaking me away from my thoughts.
"I just noticed that Rachel and Calypso have been spending a great deal of time together. Does anyone know what's up with that?" I asked. I looked around the table and everyone shook their heads.
"I can ask Rachel if you want?" Annabeth said. "I might even acquire some information regarding Calypso and a certain older brother of yours." I smiled at that.
"Sounds like a good idea to me, make sure you don't sound too interested in that relationship, Rachel is pretty perceptive." I said.
"I agree, I'll make sure it sounds like casual curiosity." Annabeth said. I nodded in acceptance. The bell rang for the end of lunch we needed to go to the training facility for Luke's first lesson in Theseus's training techniques. Annabeth, Luke and I walked to the training facility. Annabeth and I kept a look out for anything strange. We made it to the training facility without any problems. We found the new meditation room no one was inside.
"Sit with your legs crossed and close your eyes." I said as I sat on the floor. "Concentrate on your center, the power within you. Look for a part of you that is in constant motion that is your ADHD. Concentrate on it and then surround it within your center, within the core of your power." I could hear the slow exhales from Luke and Annabeth. "Now open your eyes." I said. Luke and Annabeth opened their eyes they both had a serene expression on their faces. "Do you feel calm, do you feel in control?" They both nodded. "Good, now focus your power and your center on using the ADHD, bend it to your will use its power to enhance your abilities." They both opened their eyes and I stood in front of them my arms extended from my side. "Now stand and use your power to block these projectiles." Annabeth and Luke were about to ask about the projectiles when I began to form balls of water in my hands from the water vapor in the air. They both stared at my hands and the balls of water. I began to slowly throw the water balls at them one at a time. They both easily dodged them and then I began to form the water balls more quickly and began to hurl them one after the other in quick succession. Finally when I could see they were exhausted I halted my onslaught. They both stared at me in disbelief.
"We're beat and you don't even look tired?" Luke said as he caught his breath. I ignored that comment.
"Annabeth you did better than last time and Luke you did very well for your first training session." I said.
"Thanks teach." Luke said. I smiled at that.
"Let's head to the mess hall for dinner." I said just as the dinner bell rang. As we left the training facility I saw Thalia and Nico walk passed us, Thalia giving Luke the death glare. Once passed us Luke just shook his head and I could see the solemn expression on his face. I saw Rachel and Calypso walk passed us and they both smiled as they saw us. Other campers walked by also either avoiding Luke or glaring daggers at him. As we walked passed the woods just passed the training facility I heard a noise. I knew that Annabeth and Luke heard it as well as they stopped beside me. Luke and I pulled out our swords and Annabeth held her dagger in her hand. Suddenly two hellhounds jumped out of the woods, one just barely missing Annabeth. The first hellhound was the size of Mrs. O'Leary, but that's where the similarity ends this hellhound had glowing red eyes and its large gaping mouth dripped with drool passed its large canine teeth. The second hellhound was huge it was barely smaller than Cerberus, but its eyes glowed red and flames were visible in those blood red eyes. When the creature breathed it was like heat from an oven and it too drooled buckets passed its incredible eight-inch canines. The first hellhound had Luke and Annabeth busy fighting it. The large one seemed to narrow in on me as its main obstacle. I knew they were after Luke, but this thing knew that I was its biggest threat. It lunged for me, but I back flipped out of the way. The ground shook as the creature landed just in front of me. I swiped with Riptide and barely grazed the front of its muzzle. It growled angrily, its huge paw moved at incredible speed and knocked Riptide out of my hand sending it careening into a nearby tree where it imbedded itself up to the hilt. I heard the tell tale sign of a destroyed monster from the other side of the fight and I knew that Annabeth and Luke had dispatched there target. Before I could reach for my dagger or extend my armor the creature leaped at the last second something inside of me remembered my battle with Atlas and I felt myself dissolve.
Annabeth's POV
Luke and I still worked as a good team, but not as good as Percy and me. We both turned to see Percy facing the hellhound that was the size of Cerberus. I noticed that Riptide was imbedded in a tree nearby and faster than Percy could react the hell hound lunged and when it turned toward us Percy was gone, like the creature had swallowed him whole. I froze I couldn't believe that Percy was gone. Luke grabbed my arm and shook me awake.
"Annabeth wake up this things is after us." Luke yelled. I focused again and held my dagger. We were facing a hellhound like no other except for maybe Cerberus and at least he acted like a dog. This thing had only one thing on its mind, death. The creature ran to jump in front of us, but before it could lunge at us it stopped abruptly. The glowing red eyes turned blue and then leaked with some type of liquid. The liquid spread from its eyes, mouth, ears and nose until it covered the monster's body. Suddenly the water stopped flowing and then flash froze. Standing before us was the largest hellhound pop sickle in the world. As quickly as it froze I could tell that the monster had no clue what happened. Then the monster exploded into millions of pieces. All Luke and I could do was cover our faces to block shards of frozen dog from hitting us. After the pieces of the monster fell to the ground we looked in front of us, kneeling on the ground was a person made entirely of ice. Luke removed the towel that was around his neck from our training session and threw it to the ice-man. The man caught it and placed it around his waist. The ice began to melt and the water solidified and changed into none other than Percy Jackson. He was completely naked, except for the towel.
"How did you know?" I asked Luke pointedly.
"Well, Percy was missing and who else in camp could do that?" Luke said logically. Percy walked over to us and I could tell that he was still in shock.
"What happened?" Percy said softly. Luke and I both looked at him with concern. We told him what happened and then the realization hit him.
"I need to go to my cabin." Percy said, he looked down and blushed at his near naked state. "Thanks for the towel." Luke and I both watched as Percy walked quickly toward his cabin avoiding the glares from other campers. Once I collected myself and pulled Riptide out of the tree, Luke and I proceeded to the mess hall. I left Luke at the Poseidon table and then made my way to Chiron and informed him of what happened.
"So you overheard us in the big house?" Chiron said. I looked down at my feet. "Its ok I knew you were there anyway. Now getting back to the matter at hand, we need to talk to Luke and get him to the big house for now. The hellhounds that you mentioned are unlike any that I have heard about before. I will inform Lord Hades myself. After dinner take food to Percy and then meet us in the big house, I want all three of you there." I nodded and walked to get some food. The attacks have begun and only a camper could have summoned such creatures into the camp. We did have a traitor amongst us.
Sorry about the harpy/fury mix up I have corrected that in past chapters. I received a lot of comments on the traitor and only one person got it right so far, but I'm not telling yet. So the attacks have begun and now we know that there really is a traitor in camp. What's up with the very large and unusual hellhounds?