Hey guys! Here's chapter eight of this story. I took a while to figure out how I was going to do this whole chapter; in fact, it took bits and pieces through last weekend and yesterday. And today I finally got it finished, woohoo! :D Enjoy, as I think you will like this chapter for special reasons.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the PJO characters!
Percy's POV:
I stood between a grim Hazel and a torn Frank. Leo Valdez leans on a table, and Piper stands next to Leo, her hand interlaced with Jason's.
"So you're saying that smart, mature Annabeth has run away?" asks Leo in disbelief and a little amused. "Why?"
My heart pounds with sadness. "How should know?" I try to say agitated.
"Um, maybe it's because you're her boyfriend? You know her more than anyone here..." Piper points out with an obvious tone.
The innocent comment makes my stomach knot in guilt. "I really don't know," I say quietly, and a silence gathers around us.
I turn to look at Hazel, and I notice a look of guilt etched on her face, too. Her eyes lock with mine, and her look turns into that worried, grim gaze again.
"And you want us to follow you to find her?" Jason asks, his eyes flickering to Piper. He looked worried too, but not about the recent events.
I scowl at him, my jaw clenching. "Of course not," I sneer sarcastically.
"And who is going to run Camp Jupiter? Are you going to leave Reyna to run it alone?" Jason replies simply, but I catch an edge to his voice.
I shoot him a killing glare, and I feel my cheeks flushing in anger. "Why do you even care about her? I thought breaking her heart was the only attention you gave her since you landed here," I spat.
Jason frowns, and his eyes looked wary. He quickly changed his face into an angry scowl. I continue to glare at him, and he scowls at me. We hold our angry gazes at each other.
"Percy, calm down," says Frank in a concerned tone. I realize I have glared at Jason for a whole minute. My eyes do not leave him as I mutter, "Sorry."
I shoot Jason one last disgusted look before tearing my eyes to the remaining people. Frank seems to be shifting on his feet awkwardly, Leo is busy staring intently on the ground, Piper flickers her eyes worriedly from Jason to me, and Hazel has a hollow, vacant look on her face.
"It makes sense to follow him," Hazel mutters, "Annabeth might be the seventh child of the prophecy, and being a child of Minerva, we'll need her in the war against the giants for battle strategy."
Piper finally speaks up. "Well, wherever you're going, I'm in. Percy helped the Romans not attack us when we landed; I owe him my life. This is the least I can do."
Jason shoots her a look, and she leans in to whisper something in his ear. Jason whispers something in return, and Piper's face grows white, then red in anger. After some seconds of quiet arguing, Piper nods her head stiffly and turns to face me.
"Jason's not going." she says in a hushed tone.
I scrunch my eyebrows together and tilt my head to the side. Why would he stay if Piper is going with me?
Then it hits me.
Reyna.
I widen my eyes and a sudden rush of rage consumes me, filling the top of head to the tip of my toes. I clench my fists so tight, my nails dig into my palms.
"No," I say firmly. "He's going with us."
Jason says nothing. Instead, he rises up to meet my face.
He's not taking no for an answer.
I meet him halfway, and my jaw tightens some more.
Frank and Leo look ready to break up a fight, and Hazel has been knocked out of her trance, and is looking horrified. Not as much as Piper, though.
She squeaks fearfully and rushes to put herself in between us, yelling, "Stop, guys!"
"Move, Piper." Jason growls. "I'm going to show this kid, to not boss a son of Jupiter around."
I laugh darkly and narrow my eyes at him. "Bring it on, airhead." I taunt.
"Stop!"
Piper's command is harsh, but to my ears sounds as soft as velvet. My head twitches to her, and I feel all the anger being drained out me.
The girl sighs in relief and laughs nervously. "Thank you, Mom, for charmspeak," she mumbles to herself. Her eyes finally flicker to mine, and she says, "I think you should let Jason stay; he could run Camp Jupiter while you're gone. Plus, he's been praetor before, so it won't be anything new."
I bite my lip angrily, but nod stiffly. What can I do? I can't reveal everything now; they'll reject following me to find Annabeth. They'll call me sick and a cheater.
They're right.
But then why does it feel so right?
"Fine," I growl, and Jason smiles in triumph. "Sad, you're girlfriend has to win your battles for you," I add icily.
Jason shoots me a murderous glare, but doesn't push it. I smirk in return. Leo steps up to look at me and clears his throat. "I, for one, can count on me totally going!" he says excitedly, and I smile, because he reminded me of Nico when he was given his first quest.
I nod, and Leo comes to stand next to me. "Well," Frank says, his eyes shifting to Hazel, "I don't know if Hazel is going or not, and I will go with her wherever, no matter what."
I catch Hazel blushing, and I feel sad.
My mind shifts to all the times I've caught Reyna blushing. My heart especially picks up speed when I think of the times I was the reason she was blushing. My heart ached to kiss her again, to hold her hand.
I hide a smile forming on my lips as I realized how crazy the praetor was making me feel. Especially how fast she could make my world spin and shatter at the same time. She was a demon for playing me like she has, but an angel all the same for just being her.
"Percy? Why are you smiling?" Hazel says, breaking my thoughts.
Oops, so much for hiding it.
I shake my head and turn to my friend. "I was saying," Hazel continues. "That I'm with you, Percy."
Frank nods happily, smiling. "Me too!"
They both hug me tightly and Leo exclaims, "So it's settled! Operation 'Find Annabeth Chase' begins!"
I grin at them. Maybe I'm not so alone after all.
Plus, when I come back, things are going to change. And Reyna and I will be together, I think, growing old and happy in New Rome.
The thought makes me feel light and hopeful.
And so let me start off with that I'm so sorry this chapter is so short! I would've wanted to make it longer, but I just wanted to end it with a happy note, previous to all these sad chapters. I hoped you liked, and please REVIEW!
-The TimeMachine
