Hey, guys! I'm back! I forgot to do A/Ns on the last chapter, so:
Sorry about the wait. I published the first chapter right I left for school, and it was Friday, so I didn't post till later. Also, sorry for the short chapters, I think they get longer by this chapter or the next. I should(emphasis on should) have the next ten-ish chapters out by noon. My time. So basically, an hour and change.
What do you think is next in store for poor Percy? R&R! (Okay it took me awhile to figure out what that meant but I'm 99.99% sure it means read and review)
—Alex
(Will's POV)
When Percy wasn't at breakfast, Chiron got worried and pulled me to the side. "Will," he'd said, "do you know where Percy is?"
"Percy?" I asked. "No, I haven't seen him. Why? Is he okay?" That first question bugged me. Last time someone couldn't find him, Hera kidnapped him, wiped his memories, and sent him to the camp for the Romans.
Chiron muttered to himself. "Never mind." He'd said finally. "He probably overslept. Go eat your breakfast."
But I didn't. I couldn't eat my breakfast with the question of Percy hanging over my head like a storm cloud. "I'm sorry, guys," I told my siblings, "I've gotta go check on something." Then when I go check on Percy, I find a small little guinea pig and his poop everywhere. I panicked. Then the guinea pig helped me figure out that he was Percy.
I was so lost in thought, the guinea pig—no, Percy, I corrected myself—nestled against me and fell asleep. I sighed and sat on one of the extra beds. There was no shortage of those. I sighed again, taking a deeper breath. One of my best friends was a guinea pig, and I had no idea what to do. Some healer I was.
I needed to tell someone. But then I thought of the way Percy came running out from his hiding place, terrified, when I mentioned alerting Chiron and the camp. It dawned on me that he wanted this between us, and not being scrutinized by his friends. But I had to tell someone. I mean, I couldn't keep this secret all by myself.
I ran my free hand through my hair. I thought of people I could tell, the people close to me and Percy. Nico, my boyfriend, who's life Percy saved many times; the other Six of the Great Prophecy; Annabeth, Percy's girlfriend. Gods. Annabeth. She'd want to know what happened immediately.
I thought back to breakfast. I didn't think I saw her at breakfast, though she could've overslept. I gulped down my fear. She's fine, I thought, she probably just slept late. But I just couldn't convince myself. I took some of Percy's clothes from the floor and padded the bottom of my satchel I used to carry around medical supplies. Because it never hurt to be prepared with a full-fledged first-aid kit.
"Hey, Percy," I gently nudged the sleeping guinea pig from where he lay on my lap. The little animal's head shot up like an arrow from a bow. He tried to get up, then shrieked in frustration. "Hey, man, it's okay. It's all right." I coaxed. I picked him up. He was breathing heavily, and I could feel his tiny heart beating at the speed of a racehorse through my fingers. I held the small form of Percy up to eye level.
"Hey, Percy, I'm sorry I woke you up, but I need you to jump into my satchel here." I patted my satchel. "Is that okay? We're gonna go see Annabeth." I saw his tiny blue eyes flicker with hope. Then fear. "Hey, I'm not gonna tell anyone unless it's okay with you. You just have to lay here and don't make a sound. Is that okay with you, man?" Percy nodded, or what was probably the closest thing to a nod with him. "Okay, here we go," I muttered, and gently lowered him into my bag.
I walked to the door and quickly exited, making a beeline to cabin number six.
When I arrived, I knocked on the door. "Annabeth," I called, "are you in there?" Silence. "Is anyone in there?"
"Will?" A voice called from inside. "Is that you?" It was Malcolm Pace, one of Annabeth's brothers, and her right hand sibling.
"Yeah, it's me, Malcolm. Can I come in?"
Malcolm hesitated. "Yeah, sure." He said. I opened the silvery-grey door and walked into the cabin.
It was all tidy, the only unclean part about it were the beds. They were all unmade, except for one, rumpled and strewn with books. Annabeth's.
Sitting in front of the bunk was Malcolm, cross legged on the floor.
"Hey, have you seen Annabeth?" I asked Malcolm. "I'm here with Percy." I felt Percy shift in my bag.
Malcolm paled. "Is he waiting outside, or….?" He asked.
"About that…No, he's in here." I patted my bag, and saw the last remaining blood in his face drain. I heard a scratching noise coming from the floor. Oh no, oh no, oh gods of Olympus, no. I thought. I heard more scratching, and a head stuck out from behind Malcolm's legs. A small, furry head.
I sat down on the floor, across from Malcolm. I held my hand out. "Hey, Annabeth," I cooed to the small creature, "it's me, Will Solace." The guinea pig squeaked, and scrabbled over her brother's legs towards me. Slowly, without startling Annabeth, I reached into my satchel and pulled out a squirmy Percy. Annabeth let a loud squeal when she saw me holding Percy, and Percy doing the same for her.
Malcolm and I both sighed. I had gone to Annabeth for advice and to warn her, but instead of the big, tough blonde girl, in her place was a small, short-haired guinea pig, with blonde fur and those same stormy grey eyes.
I must've been staring, because Annabeth stopped huddling with Percy to give me a piercing stare—although it was slightly misty, like she wanted to cry—something that didn't leave her along with being a human.
The tension was thick enough to cut with a knife. "So, Percy got it too, huh?" Malcolm broke the silence.
"Yeah, you could say he 'got it' if by 'got it', you mean turned into a little fuzz ball."
Malcolm held his hands up in surrender. "Just trying to crack the iceberg, man."
"I'm pretty sure it's 'break the ice', not 'crack the iceberg'." I said.
"Well—" he started, but never got to finish his sentence. Kids were coming back from breakfast. I cursed.
A light bulb went off in my head. "I've got an idea!" I blurted, but the campers' voices were growing louder every second. "Can I take Annabeth with me back to the Poseidon cabin?"
He looked at Annabeth, helpless in my lap. I could tell didn't want to leave her. "I'm coming with you." Malcolm said.
I shook my head. "Malcolm, you should go to your normal activities."
He opened his mouth to protest. "I mean, your cabin's already missing their head counselor, they don't need to be missing you, too." I said reasonably.
Malcolm nodded hesitantly. "But you'll tell me what's happened afterwards, right?"
"Of course," I said. "But don't tell anyone. Not yet." He looked at me suspiciously. "Percy's choice."
Malcolm nodded. "Annabeth's, too. Good luck, Will." He called softly as I slipped out of his cabin.
"You, too, Malcolm." I muttered to the visibly distraught boy as I slipped into the throng of campers.
Well, it's not exactly a cliffhange, so yay me! But, Malcolm and Annabeth are involved, too? And Annabeth's a guinea pig, too! I am an evil writer. If you don't think that(yet), just wait for the rest of the story. *smiles evilly*
Also, as I've forgotten to mention multiple times, the story is mostly just Malcolm and Will's POV(point of view), with one or two(or three!) Percy chapters and a large chapter for Annabeth.
Just a quick note: if I offend you by saying "Guys" or "dudes" I don't mean that literally. I call all my friends that, girl or guy or anything else. It's just part of the was I speak, and so I've put that mainly on Will. I've tried to make the other characters have different speech patterns, but one or two guys and/or dudes might slip through the cracks. If so, my apologies! Or should I say, Apollogies? *laughs maniacally* Okay, I'm done now. See ya next chapter!
—Alex