"You're doing what?!"
Directly after dinner, Percy Jackson used the small fountain in his cabin to Iris Message Annabeth Chase. He tried his best to play down the danger of the quest he was about to embark on in less than ten minutes, but Annabeth wasn't having it.
"Percy, you are very likely the one the monsters are looking for!"
"I know that, but we can't let-"
"Don't give me excuses, Percy." Annabeth pressed her fingers on the bridge of her nose in exasperation. "I understand that a big part of the reason you'd prefer the Seven to find the monster HQ is because you don't want to feel responsible for whatever happens to the demigods on the quest; you don't want to be their burden."
She was right, of course. Annabeth Chase knew Percy Jackson better than anybody else- even better than his own mother. She knew that his fatal flaw was personal loyalty, and she could tell that Percy wanted to attend this mission largely for the reason of protecting his friends. He didn't want his friends to have to protect him.
"Annabeth, I know what I'm doing. I won't…I can't let anyone risk their lives to save me."
"That's what friends are for, Percy! We want to help you, and if you let some of the other demigods do this quest-"
"No." Percy looked into Annabeth's grey eyes determinedly. "The Seven are more prepared for this; in order to defeat hundreds of monsters at their base, we need experienced campers."
He could see Annabeth getting defensive as her shoulders rose and eyes narrowed. "That's exactly the problem. If we only ever let 'experienced' campers go, then the others will never get a chance to prove themselves!" She was breathing heavily; Percy had touched a nerve. "I would have never gotten the chance to go on my first quest if you hadn't been so important! I probably would have lived most of my life in camp, and I'd have gone mad!" The daughter of Athena had been the first to volunteer for Percy's first quest back in middle school. Percy could still remember twelve-year-old Annabeth's determination to succeed, her lust for adventure, and her desperation to get out of Camp Half-Blood and prove herself. She had a good point, though. The other demigods would never grow if they never were given the chance to go on a quest.
"I understand that," Percy assured her. "If this were a different quest, then I would agree with you. However, we don't even know the extent of danger we're getting ourselves into, and sending first-timers could end up being a suicide mission. I've got Jason, Nico, Piper, and Hazel by my side, and I'm still anxious about this. There's too much unknown to send a new quester."
Annabeth knew Percy was right, but that didn't mean she had to be happy about it. After taking a deep breath, she smiled sadly at Percy through the screen of mist. "Then stay safe out there, Seaweed Brain. I'll see you when you get back."
Percy smiled too. "I'll do my best, Wise Girl."
Percy raised his hand to swipe through the mist, but Annabeth cut him off. "Percy…only go as far as is necessary, okay?"
"What do you mean?"
"Don't, um- just keep in mind what you're capable of. Only use the amount of power necessary to get the job done." Percy nodded in response. Annabeth was warning him not to repeat the fight with Misery.
"Will do. I love you," he said, ready to swipe through the Iris Message.
Annabeth blew him a kiss. "Love you too."
With that, Percy's hand cut through the mist and broke their connection. He slipped on a black hoodie and began packing a little black backpack with ambrosia, nectar, and Finding Nemo band-aids. The Seven had decided to wear all black for their night mission, which Nico had had no objection to. Percy, on the other hand, didn't own any black jackets, so Nico agreed to lend him one. The zipper had a tiny silver skull on it and was fortunately one of Nico's less death-themed articles of clothing.
When Annabeth had mentioned their encounter with Misery, the image of his girlfriend's horrified face flashed through his mind. That was the first time Percy had scared a friend like that- at least, he thought it was the first time. Had the others always been afraid of him? Was he that intimidating all the time? Sure, some people saw him just as a goofball, but what about in battle? How many people had he frightened before?
Jason Grace knocked on Cabin Three's door and called in, "Percy, you almost ready to go?"
"It's open," Percy responded, and Jason entered the room. It struck Percy that this was the first time Jason had been in the Poseidon Cabin. Jason stood for a second in the doorway, taking everything in. The fountain cast watery light around the room, which stood out even more now that the sun had set. The bottom bunk, which was Percy's, was a disaster, but the top one remained pristine. Tyson was a lot neater than Percy, that's for sure.
"Is that horn from the Minotaur you fought when you were twelve?" Jason inquired, pointing at the horn hanging on the wall.
"Directly from the old bull's head," Percy affirmed, zipping up his backpack and throwing it over one shoulder. "I'm ready."
Jason didn't seem to hear him. He was entranced by Tyson's metal mobile, which hung delicately from the ceiling. Each little figure showed a part of the quest in the Sea of Monsters. There was Annabeth fighting a hydra, a trident to symbolize Tyson being claimed, Percy and Tyson in a chariot, a Monster Doughnut logo, a guinea pig, a pirate ship, and funnily enough, Grover in a wedding dress. Tyson had given it to Percy as a birthday gift to commemorate their first quest together. On the wall opposite of the Minotaur horn, Percy had hung Tyson's shield and celestial bronze hippocampi. Each of Tyson's creations filled Percy with joy and a twinge of guilt. Percy hadn't treated Tyson well when he'd found out they were half-brothers, and someday Percy would give Tyson a gift that would show his appreciation for the lovable Cyclops. Maybe a giant sculpture of peanut butter- though Tyson would probably prefer the real thing.
"You've got quite the legacy," Jason mused, tapping the mobile and causing it to spin, reflecting more light about the cabin.
"Bro, you're one to talk," laughed Percy as he headed for the door. Jason grinned but didn't follow Percy. His mind seemed to be elsewhere.
"Jason, you okay?"
Percy turned around and placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Hey, what's wrong?" he asked softly.
Jason continued to stare at the mobile. "You've got a place here. People know you and what you've done, and you've established yourself as leader. People respect you and consider you the epitome of 'Greek Hero.'"
Jason turned to face Percy. "I'm Roman, but I feel Greek. I've proven myself to be a good guy, I like to think, but I still feel like- like an outcast here."
Percy opened his mouth to speak, but Jason cut him off. "Don't get me wrong, everyone has been really kind to me and treated me fairly, but…there's an undertone to everything. I can see it in their eyes; they don't think of me as one of their own."
"Hey."
Percy gave Jason a sympathetic smile. "Everyone at Camp Half-Blood respects you, trust me. And as for seeing you as a Greek, well, that may never happen. The whole Roman/Greek feud has only been lifted for six months so far, but eventually no one will care which side you're from. Nico used to be treated like an alien, but he's found plenty of friends now. Even I used to be the outcast, back when I was first claimed." Jason looked at him strangely.
"I was the second child of the Big Three to be born after their promise to not have children, and the first was a tree. The campers didn't want anything to do with me, but as time went by, I was welcomed too. It'll happen, bro. Just give it time."
Jason pulled Percy into a hug, then cleared his throat. "Thanks, bro. I think the team's waiting for us by Argus' bus."
"Well, let's not keep them waiting any longer."
The five demigods all packed into Argus' van, with Hazel taking the front seat, Percy and Nico in the middle row, and Piper and Jason in the way back. The van rumbled off on to the beaten road and shot into the night, headed straight for Central Park. Argus' multitude of eyes kept glancing around outside, keeping an eye out for any monsters on the loose. At one point, a deer sprinted across the road and Nico nearly chucked his Stygian Iron sword at it out the window. Everyone was tense and anxious about what was to come. The entire plan rested on how stealthy they could be; one slip up and everything would come crashing down.
When Argus pulled up next to Central Park, the setting was eerily silent. There was no wind blowing, no leaves rustling, no mortals strolling through the park. The demigods had only just filed out of the van when Argus saluted them and sped off back to camp, tires screeching as he swung around the corner.
"Goodbye to you, too," Piper mumbled.
"Was this really a good idea?" Hazel whispered, afraid to break the thick silence surrounding them.
"At this point, it's too late to turn back," Percy whispered. "So what do we do now?"
Nico pointed up into the trees above. "Let's each pick a tree, and if one of us sees a monster, we'll signal the others. Then we rendezvous at the first person's tree and track the monster."
"What should our signal be?" Jason inquired, taking his glasses off to clean them on his black, long-sleeved shirt.
"We could do a bird call," Piper suggested, raising her hands to her mouth to demonstrate.
Nico put up a hand. "Yeah, I'm not doing that."
"You got any better ideas?"
"We could drop leaves," Jason suggested. "It's silent enough to not bring attention to it, and if the monster sees it, it'll assume it's just a bird."
Percy shrugged. "Sounds good to me." The demigods spread out around the park, close enough to watch for falling leaves but far enough to cover a wide area of surveillance space. Percy jumped up to grab the lowest branches of his tree and hauled his upper half over the branch, swinging his right leg up next to fully pull himself up. He continued upwards for a few more feet until he was completely hidden. Inching forward, Percy found a small gap in the leaves through which he'd spy for monsters.
After ten minutes passed, Percy realized just how boring this was. The most interesting thing he'd seen was a pigeon that had pecked at a piece of trash for two seconds before flying off. For a kid with ADHD, hiding in the park was, well, no walk in the park.
That's when he heard it. An ear-splitting screech filled the air, emanating from somewhere off to his left. It was followed by a loud thump and a muffled yelp. Percy's mind leaped into overdrive. The scream had been male, so either Jason or Nico had just been attacked by who knows what. Holy Hades, Holy Hades, Holy Hades, was all Percy could think. He ditched all precautions and dropped out of the tree, landing at first on his feet but then slipping on to his butt. Scrambling to his feet again, the son of Poseidon scanned Central Park for signs of his friends or any monsters, his heart racing as fast as Arion.
He saw nothing new. Nothing had been disturbed.
Nobody had moved.
No one made a sound.
Something's wrong. Something's very wrong. Something's-
"PERCY!"
Percy didn't have the chance to call out to Hazel before he was hit in the back of the head by something hard, knocking him completely unconscious.
A/N: Hello everybody! Man, it's been over a year since I've written on fanfic, and to all of you returning from my old fics- hello again! I'm so glad to see all of this story's positive feedback, so please continue to review! The next chapter is going to be intense, so buckle up my friends! :)