MAIN TITLE: The Keeper of Fate
WARNINGS: See first chapter for warnings.
NOTES: Thanks to dreamin'Big, angel2u, Neela4232, MeganLeBlanc, whorendale, and KittyKat for reviewing this chapter!
DISCLAIMER: I don't own the PJO series. Rick Riordan does.
Chapter 14: I Nearly Get My Eyebrows Seared Off
"Crap," Travis groans. "What do we do now?"
"What do think we do, stupid? We get the flag," I shoot back.
"I know that, thanks. I meant how are we going to get the flag while Thalia's guarding it?" Travis' voice is filled with irritation.
But he's nowhere near as annoyed as Gareth. "Shut up for a second, will you? And that goes for both of you," he adds when he sees I'm about to speak. Gareth scratches his head, his nose scrunching up the way it does when he's thinking deeply.
"Okay, so it's not like we didn't expect them to have someone guarding the flag. They'd be complete idiots if they didn't," Gareth says. "The only thing is–don't you think it's odd that Thalia's the only one there? We're allowed two guards each, after all."
"Now that you mention it," I say slowly, "that is weird."
"That's great and all." Travis is impatient. "But how are we going to avoid Thalia and whoever else might be here?"
"We can't," Gareth replies. "Our best bet is to take her–them–by surprise."
"And how exactly would we–" I begin.
"Gardner assigned us to get the flag for a reason." Gareth says thoughtfully, scratching his head again.
"Travis, you're stealthy–some of the time." Gareth ignores Travis' indignant "Hey!" and instead continues, "I'm strong, and Dess, you're fast. So you and I will charge her, while Travis comes around from the back and gets the flag while no one's looking. Then he'll pass it to you and he and I will cover your back while you run like hell. Is that all right with you guys?" He gives us a look that seems to say 'It better damn well be all right with you guys.'
Travis and I glance at each other and shrug.
"Sure," I say. "It's not like either of us could come up with a better plan. Let's do it."
Gareth claps Travis on the shoulder. "All right, kid. Try not to mess this up."
Travis' expression immediately becomes one of mock devastation. "How can you doubt me, Captain?"
Gareth grunts and shoves Travis in the direction he's supposed to go in. Though I think that he, like Katie, enjoys being addressed as 'Captain', because his push doesn't have much force behind it.
We wait until he's out of sight. Gareth turns to me and grins. "You–"
"Ready?" I finish for him. Then I quote Clarisse: "Bro, I was born ready."
Things go wrong almost immediately. For one thing, Thalia notices us right away. I guess I shouldn't have snapped that twig in half. Whatever. Thalia raises her spear and Aegis. My skin crawls as I try to avoid looking at the shield directly. That thing is so creepy.
I see Gareth nod out of the corner of my eye. My hand tightens around the handle of my sword. If she kicked Percy's butt, then Gareth and I don't stand a chance–at least not separately. But we're fighting together, so maybe…
We charge her. I swipe at her legs while Gareth aims higher. Thalia blocks Gareth's attack with her shield and mine with her spear. She forces us back easily and then jabs at me with her spear. I push it away with my sword while Gareth attempts to knock her shield out of her hand.
We fight on for a while, but Thalia shows no signs of tiring. I steal a glance over Thalia's shoulder for just a second and am relieved to see Travis tiptoeing closer and closer to the flag.
And that's when the plan blows up in our faces.
Cheryl appears out of nowhere and has a sword at Travis' throat before he can even blink. Thalia electrocutes Gareth when he tries to duck under her spear. He hits the ground, dazed.
"Cheryl?" I say to Thalia incredulously. "Cheryl is the other guard?"
Thalia smiles and shoves me back with her shield, sending me sprawling. "They didn't really trust her with anything else."
With her blade still against Travis' neck, Cheryl protests, "That is not the reason! They just figured if you did happen to notice me–which you didn't–you would underestimate me."
I scramble to my feet and parry Thalia's oncoming blow. "I'm going to have to agree with Thalia here. After all, the only reason she's here at all is to make sure you don't completely mess it up, am I right?"
Cheryl shouts, "No!" at the same time Thalia says, "Pretty much."
Meanwhile, Gareth has managed to pick himself up off the ground and stumble toward Cheryl and her captive. Cheryl, who is already distracted by our conversation, completely shifts her focus off of Travis, who in turn takes the opportunity to dart away from her.
"Cheryl," Thalia screams. "For the love of Zeus, pay attention!"
Cheryl whirls around and realizes that she's in trouble. Travis is already out of her reach, and Gareth is closing in on her. Thalia is still locked in combat with me, so she can't come to Cheryl's rescue. I figure we've won. Cheryl's not exactly the best fighter around.
And then Cheryl does something none of us are expecting. She lunges toward her team's banner and grabs it. Instead of running away with it, she throws it up into the branches of the nearest tree. It ends up about five metres above our heads. There's no way we can get to it without climbing the tree.
Now, this shouldn't really be that much of a problem. We have three people on our side. Two to fight off Thalia and Cheryl, and one to climb the tree. The problem? I'm the best climber out of the three of us, and I'm stuck battling Thalia. Gareth would be the second best choice to get the flag, but Cheryl attacks him and he has no choice but to stay there and defend himself. Which leaves Travis.
Travis does not like climbing. He's had some bad experiences with the giant wall that spews lava. Now he stares up at the flag, his face a little green.
"Travis, get the flag or I'll beat the crap out of you when this is over!" Gareth threatens, at the same time deflecting Cheryl's sword.
"I can't–"
"Yes you can, Travis!" I shout at him, but he still looks doubtful. Damn it. The other team could be stealing our flag right this minute. We're so going to lose. Katie's going to kill us–and then inspiration hits me.
"Travis, if you get that flag and we win, I'll get Katie to kiss you!" I have no idea how, but he doesn't need to know that. I'll figure it out later.
Travis' eyes widen, and the next second he's scampering up the tree like he was born to climb. He seizes the flag and drops back down to the ground, immediately taking off toward the boundary line.
Thalia, who is very much aware of the fact that Cheryl has no chance of fighting off Gareth and then stopping Travis from making it back to our side, uses her spear to twist my sword out of my hand. I falter as I realize I recognize the maneuver. It's a variation of a disarming technique that Luke once tried to teach me, and, oddly enough, Cheryl.
My hesitation is all Thalia needs. She once again slams her shield into my chest. I hit the ground, inwardly cursing whoever gave her that version of Aegis. That shield is really damn hard. Cheryl witnesses the entire thing and, unable to resist, shouts out a (mean-spirited) taunt.
"Take that, Dess! Maybe you should've tried to learn more from Luke than how to play tonsil hockey! Thalia totally just kicked your butt!" she gloats, like I didn't already know that last part.
Unfortunately for Cheryl, her words make Thalia freeze in place. She stares at me with disbelieving eyes.
"What is she talking about?" Thalia demands.
Oh, crap. I stand up and vaguely wonder why I didn't wear electric-proof armour. If it even exists. Travis pauses and looks back uncertainly like he's unnerved by the fact that no one is chasing after him while brandishing some sort of deadly, sharp object.
"Um, well, you see–I, uh–" I trip over my words, and then quickly decide to do the smart thing. I wheel around and take off like a bat out of Hades. Wait, do they have bats in the underworld? Yes, I know, that's a stupid question. Just forget I asked.
By the time Thalia comes to the conclusion that she should run after me, I've caught up with Travis. Following the original plan, he hands me the flag and hangs back to take on Thalia.
I glance over my shoulder and am glad to see that Gareth has Cheryl in a headlock. Unfortunately, Travis doesn't even have time to lift his sword before Thalia knocks him flat. Knowing that there's no one to slow Thalia down, I speed up.
I remember Luke telling me once that Thalia is a really good long-distance runner. Not that I know much about it, but I figure that means running at a steady pace. She's probably used to running really fast occasionally (being a daughter of Zeus and constantly stalked by monsters means she pretty much has to be), but even so, she's probably more used to running at a moderate speed. I, on the other, am used to always pushing my body to the limit, going as fast as I possibly can. So I'll most likely be able to outrun her. The problem is that the rest of her team is eventually going to notice me.
And sure enough, just as I catch sight of the boundary line, several Apollo kids catch sight of me, holding their flag in my hand. They race towards me, but the demigods on my team who were part of the frontal assault are all gathered here, so they intercept the children of the sun god.
So I'm safe from them–and, I realize, Aphrodite's children who are sitting off to the side, fixing their make-up and their hair or staring at their own reflection in the creek. Well, except for Silena. I don't know where she is. Come to think of it, I don't where Pollux, Castor, Percy, and Annabeth are either.
I dash towards the line, and at almost exactly the same instant, Annabeth appears, holding our flag. But I'm closer than she is, and faster. Percy and the twins are fighting off Katie, and Jake and a few of the other people who were on border patrol. I feel a little uneasy as I wonder where Silena and Sherman are, but I push the thought out of my mind and focus on my goal.
I'm so close now. In movies this is usually the part where something completely unrealistic happens and I somehow lose. But this is real life (never mind that in real life kids don't play capture the flag with swords), and I make it our side and win the game.
Cheers explode from the blue team while the demigods on the red team groan. Annabeth stops running and drops the flag to the ground, looking very putout. Pollux, Castor, and Percy look just as disappointed.
I on the other hand, am elated. I can't believe I–we–actually pulled this off. I look down at the now steel grey banner with a hammer on it. You know, I kind of liked it better when it was purple. Whatever, as long it doesn't represent Dionysus anymore, I'm happy.
I can see Jake bounding towards me, a smile stretching across his face the way a rainbow stretches across the sky. I take step in his direction, my lips automatically pulling up at the corners the second I see his joyful expression.
Then a hand wraps around my elbow. I whirl around and instantly feel the blood drain from my face. Thalia is standing there, her features twisted with absolute fury. Gareth and Cheryl run up behind her, both looking worried.
"Hey, uh, I think it's party time, so maybe you could, uh, postpone this conversation 'til later?" Gareth suggests.
Thalia glances over her shoulder at him, and the expression on her face makes him shudder. After the daughter of Zeus has turned back toward me, Cheryl mouths the word 'sorry' to me. Yeah, I'll just bet she's sorry.
Thalia tightens her grip on my arm and starts towing me away from the mass of confused campers. Her eyes wide with alarm, Annabeth breaks away from the crowd and follows us. Jake attempts to do the same, but Gareth restrains him.
"Hey, wait a second," I protest to Thalia. "Where are we going?"
"Somewhere where we can talk in private," she replies curtly, and still dragging me along.
I toss the flag to my brothers, worried that if I keep it with me Thalia will accidentally set it on fire. Gareth catches it, still looking concerned. He murmurs something to Jake, who is glaring daggers at Thalia's retreating figure.
Thalia continues to haul me after her even when we're out of view of the other campers. She finally stops when we reach the stables and the Armory. Annabeth hovers a safe distance away, her gaze fixed on Thalia and me, watchful and wary.
Thalia releases me and I massage my arm, trying to get my blood circulating properly again.
"Sorry," Thalia mutters, staring out at the strawberry fields in the distance. "Didn't mean to cut off your blood flow."
"It's fine." Which is totally not what I wanted to say, but at this point pissing her off even more would just be suicidal. "It's not like I'm going to have to amputate it or anything."
Thalia ignores this. Then she abruptly turns to face me. "What exactly did Cheryl mean? You didn't–you didn't date him, did you?"
I keep silent.
"How long were you–I mean when did you–"
"January, a couple of years ago. We were both seventeen."
"And you two were together 'til he left last summer?"
I nod.
Thalia looks stunned for a second. Then the anger surfaces. "Why the hell didn't you tell me?"
I don't know whether it's the stress of always worrying about Apollo's note in the back of my mind, or if it's the build up of jealousy toward Thalia, or if it's just the fact that my blood still isn't circulating properly, but her question makes me explode.
"Because it's none of your business! Why the Hades would I tell you?"
"Because it involves Luke! Of course it's my business!" Thalia snaps back, electricity flickering across her palms.
"So what? So it involves Luke! Is there a law that says you have to know every single damn thing about his life?" I shout at her.
"He's my friend! My best friend! I knew a thousand times better than you ever did–"
I feel like I've been slapped across the face. Because she's right. She did know him better. But the last thing I need is her pointing this out to me, and the only thing I can really do is contradict her, even though she's telling the truth.
"Really?" I interrupt her. "You knew him better? You haven't seen him in what, six years? People change. Luke changed. He's not the boy you knew when you were twelve."
Far from appearing hurt by my admittedly cruel words, she simply looks defiant. "Yes, he is. I don't care what everyone else says. I don't care what you say. If you cared about him even half as much as I did, you wouldn't believe all that shit about him joining Kronos!"
That's going too far. Does she think I want to believe that? Doesn't she know I would do absolutely anything to be able to put my faith in him again? She doesn't understand. She didn't see what he did to Percy, what he almost did to camp and all of civilization.
"Are you stupid or something? All that 'shit' about him joining Kronos is true. For Hephaestus' sake, he poisoned your tree!" It's a low blow, but she needs to get the point through her abnormally thick head. There's a chance she might end up in the same situation I was in last summer, when Luke was asking me to join him. She needs to understand that he's not the good guy anymore.
"He knew you guys would get the Fleece! He did all that stuff because he wanted me back! You said so yourself!"
I stare at her, and for a second I'm tempted to tell her that he only wanted her back so she could take Percy's place in the prophecy. But the expression on her face… She so desperately wants to believe what she's saying. And no matter how angry I am, I can't lie to her and tell her she's wrong. That would make me as bad as Mr. D.
"Listen. I know what I said, and I was telling the truth. But the fact is that Luke is on Kronos' side. And if you don't believe me, then ask Annabeth," I say, jerking my head towards the blond girl who is quickly approaching us.
"Thalia, Dess is right," Annabeth says softly. "I'd give anything to change that, but I can't."
Thalia finally nods, but I can tell she hasn't been completely disillusioned.
She takes a deep breath as if to calm herself and says, "Then back to original point of the argument– Why didn't you tell about your relationship with Luke? And don't tell me it's none of my business," Thalia adds quickly, "because it is. I mean, I spent hours pestering you for info on what happened while I was gone, and I spent just as long prattling on about how nice it was to talk to someone who was unbiased towards Luke, because I thought you didn't know him, and obviously you did. Do you know how stupid I feel right now?"
It's my turn to stare out at the strawberries. "So I knew him. So I dated him. Does it really matter? It's in the past; it's done, it's over." I look back at her, hating the bitterness in my voice.
Thalia seems to deflate a little. The anger is still there, but there's also a hint of pity in her gaze. Fabulous. That's just what I wanted. Pity. As if I don't get enough of that from the Aphrodite and the Hermes cabin (except for Silena, Cheryl, and the Stolls).
"I still deserved to know. He and I were–" She stops short.
"What? You were what?" I ask her, my voice far too calm.
"Friends," she repeats quietly, not meeting my eyes. "We were friends."
"Fine. Whatever. So you know now. Are we done here?"
She stares at me. "Did you lov–"
I cut her off. "I'm going to go join in the celebrations. I'll see you two around, I guess."
Thalia knows better than to argue. Annabeth gives me a sad, sympathetic smile. We both know that I'm not going to be spending a lot of time with either girl in the near future. Thalia is still ticked, and Annabeth… Well, I still care about Annabeth a lot, but to be honest, we don't hang out as much as we used to. It's hard for both of us to even just sit next to each other, because it will always feel like there's a gaping hole between us where Luke should be. Plus Annabeth has given up on trying to teach me Ancient Greek. I'm hopeless.
I think about that as I walk back into the forest where I'm sure the blue team (blue is so much cooler than red; and I'm not just saying that because I'm on the blue team, even though whenever I'm on the red team I say red is cooler) is still partying.
I was right. I'm completely obsessed with Luke now. He's ruining everything good in my life. He's changing my opinions of people. Before Luke ditched camp, I just thought Percy Jackson was a bit of a loser (even though he saved the world), but I didn't dislike him. I used to think that if I had somehow gotten the chance to meet Thalia, we would be friends. Now any possibility of friendship is gone. Once upon a time, Annabeth and I would sit in the shade and talk or, if we were really bored, braid each other's hair. Now we can barely look at each other half the time.
Hell, the only other time I can remember things being this awkward between us is the time when I had to explain to her why her underwear were suddenly all stained with blood. You would think a daughter of the wisdom goddess would already know what was happening to her, but no. Her regular schooling ended when she was seven, and Chiron never bothered to prepare her for the inevitable.
You know, it wasn't even the talk with Annabeth that was awkward. It was more what happened before that…
"–so then this empousai appeared out of nowhere, and I took out my sword and–Annabeth what's wrong?" Luke stops bragging about all the monsters he's defeated the second he catches sight of Annabeth's panicked face.
"I–I'm not sure–" she confesses. "I'm sort of–bleeding–I think–"
"Bleeding?" Luke looks alarmed. "What happened?"
"I–I don't know," she admits, sounding incredibly frustrated.
"Well, just show us where–" Luke begins, but Annabeth instantly blushes and shouts "NO!" so loudly that several dryads poke their heads out of their trees.
Luke is shocked. "Listen, honey, we can't help you if we don't know where–"
"I–I can't show you where– Look, just forget I said anything. I'm sure it's not that big of a deal, it's probably nothing." Her face is growing redder by the second.
Luke still looks taken aback by her outburst and concerned by the fact that she's apparently wounded. I don't really blame him; if I had an eleven year old sister that was hurt but refused to tell me where her injury was, I'd be freaking out.
Wait a second. Eleven years old…
"Oh," I say, realization sinking in. I'm not entirely sure, but I certainly can't ask in front of Luke. Annabeth would probably die of embarrassment.
"Listen, kid, just head over to my cabin and wait there for me. My brothers are all at the forges, so the place is empty. I think I know what's wrong. I can help you," I tell her kindly, my voice a lot gentler than it usually is, probably because she looks so frightened and embarrassed. Plus I remember what it was like for me. And for all I know, she might be having cramps right now.
"Thanks, Dess," Annabeth says, too relieved to tell me off for calling her 'kid'. She takes off toward the cabins.
I turn to Luke, knowing that he's not going to let me go until I've explained what's wrong with his (sort of) little sister.
"I think she's having a feminine emergency, but it's not a big deal. She'll be fine," I assure him.
This just seems to further perplex him. "Feminine emergency? What are you talking about? Is she having some sort of make-up crisis? Styx, she doesn't even wear make-up."
Oh. Well I guess not everybody uses that term.
"What I meant is that it's her time of the month," I explain.
Luke rolls his eyes and speaks, his tone patronizing, "Dess, I hardly think she's been turned into a werewolf. We don't even have any at camp."
Okay. So I guess that term isn't so common either.
I decide to use the official terminology. Surely he knows that. "She's started menstruating."
He stares at me blankly.
Oh. My. Gods. "As in she's on her period?" I try.
He continues to stare.
I snap, losing what little patience I have. "As in the lining of her uterus is deteriorating and blood is pouring out of her vagina!"
"Oh." Luke's face is even redder than Annabeth's was.
"Yeah, oh. For Zeus' sake, Luke, didn't you learn this in school?"
"I ran away when I was nine!" he protests, his tone defensive.
"But you told me you managed to talk your way into whatever school happened to be in the area you were in," I counter. "I heard you tell Chiron that you continued your education while you were on the run."
Luke coughs. "Well, I did, but–"
I arch my right eyebrow, at the same time placing my hands on my hips. "But what?"
"Look, I– It's not my fault, okay!" he bursts out. "I listened to the teacher explaining how babies are conceived, but when she got to the specifics of the sperm and the egg and all that shit, I only paid attention to male part, okay?"
Seized by an overwhelming desire to laugh at his obvious discomfort, I decide it's time to find Annabeth. Kid's probably going out of her mind with worry right now.
"Whatever, Luke. I'm going to go help Annabeth. And if you ever tell her that I told you where she's bleeding, I'll make sure that you don't have to know how babies form because you won't be able to have babies. Are we clear?" I ask, my voice poisonously sweet.
Normally he doesn't take my threats seriously–and why would he? He could kick my butt easily–but this time he nods vigorously and replies, "As crystal."
I roll my eyes and spin on my heel, muttering the word 'boys' under my breath.
When I reach the still partying demigods (well, the blue team is still partying, at least), Jake runs up to me and asks me if I'm okay.
"I'm fine," I assure him. "She didn't fry me or anything."
Off to the side, Clarisse is berating Sherman for almost costing us the game. Apparently the red team sent Silena to charm any male guards by flirting with them in an attempt to distract them. It worked. Sherman didn't even notice when Percy snatched the flag and tossed it to Annabeth.
I glance away from the daughter of Ares and her (as usual) cowering half-brother, only to see Travis Stoll headed in my direction.
When he reaches me he asks, "So Thalia didn't kill you or anything? You're one hundred percent fine?"
I flex my arm experimentally. My blood is flowing correctly again, so that's good. "Yeah, pretty much."
"Right. So, uh since you're okay… Can I ask you something?" His face is oddly hopeful.
"Sure, I guess," I answer, eyeing him suspiciously.
"When are you going to get Katie to kiss me?"
I groan and shove him so hard that he falls right onto his back.
I step over his body, once again muttering "Boys." under my breath.
Author's Note: I realize the flashback is completely pointless. When I'm done revising this story I'm probably going to take it out (along with some of the other ones, maybe) and put it in a separate story which will basically be a collection of oneshots that taken place in The Keeper of Fate universe or whatever you want to call it.
I realize it's unrealistic for Annabeth and Luke to not know what menstruation is. But then again, Annabeth grew up at Camp Half-Blood, and Luke...well, I don't have an excuse for Luke, except that he's a male teenage half-blood who never got a proper education.
Anyways, reviews and constructive criticism are appreciated.