".. This is so wrong, I can't go on, do you believe?
That that should be me.."
-THAT SHOULD BE ME by Justin Bieber ft. Rascal Flatts
CHAPTER 2: Something Isn't Right..
"Percy!"
Before Thalia could assess what she was doing, her feet moved to its own accord. She rammed right into Percy and hugged him tight, relief, joy and panic flooding her. He didn't return the gesture. Percy just stood still, his green eyes cold. Thalia loosened her embraced and noticed the slight crunch of his eyebrows, a sign she knew all too well to be annoyance.
"Who are you?" he asked impolitely.
Thalia took a step back.
She never heard that kind of tone from Percy before. Percy may have been a dare-devil but he was never, in any sort of way, rude. Even when he's being sarcastic, threatened, bickering and insulting enemies, he always had that playful bout in everything he did. It's what made him so lovable and irritating. It's what made him so alive and vibrant. And now, when it's nowhere in sight, Thalia couldn't help but think of what only made him seem; cold and dead.
"Percy, it's me. Thalia, your cousin." she said.
Behind Percy, an Asian boy that resembled a panda bear and a coffee skinned girl flanked each of Percy's sides protectively. They stared at Thalia, calculative and cautious. Thalia felt a pang of jealousy and nostalgia at the sight, remembering when it had been her, Annabeth, Nico, Tyson and Grover.
"I don't remember you." he said, scowling even harder. "And the last I checked, every other demigod here is my cousin."
Thalia scowled and was about to retort when Reyna spoke.
"Jason Grace, son of Jupiter, we welcome you back home from what seemed to have been quite a long journey." Reyna said formally, eying the weary traveling Greeks knowingly. "Holding the title of praetor, we are obliged to give you a semblance of our trust with your friends despite our history. Should they cause any mayhem or traitorous acts within the vicinity that our culture would deem worthy of an offence, we are also obliged to take action in defense of the city and the legion and you be stripped of your title and position and considered as a traitor. Do you agree to these terms?"
Jason nodded. "I do." He added for all to hear for good measure. Reyna nodded, officially accepting his affirmation.
"I am Reyna, daughter of Bellona, a praetor of the Legion." Reyna said to the Greeks. "Welcome to Camp Jupiter. Come. It's warmer inside and we can talk over dinner in the mess hall. You are welcome to join us." She gestured politely to follow the legion like a gracious host.
"What? You're letting them in?" a voice demanded. Reyna looked annoyed at the speaker. He had a teddy bear tucked on his belt next to his knife, sandy greasy hair and cold eyes that he glared at Reyna.
"These are our guests, Octavian." Reyna said, the authority in her voice was missed by no one. "We will welcome them and we will talk to them. As augur, you should burn an offering to thank the gods for bringing Jason back to us safely."
"But Reyna, surely-.." Octavian insisted and challenging her authority in front of her Legion had been the last straw for Reyna.
"You have my orders. Now, go." She hissed coldly.
The Augur grumbled and glared at the praetor but turned and headed back to camp to do her orders.
"Centurions!" Reyna called out and a few Romans, who were clearly officers, rushed to her side. Brief introductions were made. Thalia had discovered that the Asian boy that resembled a panda bear had been Frank Zhang and the coffee skinned girl was Hazel Levesque who seemed to have been oddly stunned at the sight of Leo.
"Formations." Percy simply but firmly stated after the introductions finished, his voice carrying out an authority unmatched by any she'd met, including her own brother, Jason. He stood straight, far from the lanky boy she once knew, eyes fierce but soft.
Every inch of a leader Thalia knew him to be.
The demigods in purple T-shirts stood in attention, Thalia observing that they carried out Percy's orders with respect and pride, following their respected centurions. As they passed, they gave the Greek campers curious and cold glares. Before Percy and Reyna disappeared among the crowd to stand in front like some regal procession, Thalia saw the strangest thing. For a moment, she thought she saw Reyna reaching out to hold Percy's hand but they were gone ahead, the Romans forming two straight lines behind them in a disciplined fashion.
The Roman camp was huge.
It was designed in a military manner with barracks lining up in a neat pile all around them. The trip was silent and Thalia felt more stares trailing her as they went deeper into the camp, whether those eyes were Romans or ghost-like, she felt them pierce her back like daggers all the same.
"Jason, you and your friends could join Percy and I on the high table." Reyna said, pointing at the long table in front of the hall. Thalia saw Percy frown, like he didn't like that at all but said nothing.
When they sat, Thalia couldn't shake the feeling of excitement that ran through her to be with Percy again. Just like old times, but not so much. The whole time they ate, Percy didn't utter a word and just had this blank look on his face as if in a trance, even though Leo cracked jokes that even made Reyna crack a smile. Percy would just look away and frown, looking like he wanted to be somewhere else right now.
"Water." Thalia said.
"What?" Percy asked, as if she just pulled the word from his head.
"You want to be in water. Ocean is best but I don't think they have an ocean around here." Thalia said, smirking knowingly.
"How'd you know?" he asked.
"Believe me, I know that face all too well." Thalia said.
All those times she found Percy stressed and giddy before and after a dangerous mission or when another demigod had been slain by a rouge monster or when a new recruit couldn't make it to camp, Thalia would notice this pensive look on his face and he would disappear. Later, with her standing from the distance, she would find him by the pier with Annabeth in his arms and he would be himself again.
"Were we friends?" he asked, his tone was bleak but Thalia heard that faint hope, curiosity and confusion buried underneath it.
"If you call bickering and almost killing each other friends, then, yeah, I guess we were." Thalia said, grinning.
"Maybe we weren't." Percy muttered and excused himself. Thalia was left there, dumbfounded. The others tried to remain as polite and nonchalant as they could to reduce the awkward tension in the air. Thalia stood abruptly. The others jumped when she did.
"I'll send word to camp that we found Percy." Thalia announced. Thalia exited the hall and walked around. She found a fountain that seemed to be dedicated to a foreign goddess she didn't know. The moonlight's glow combined with the street light reflected off the fountain, creating little rainbows.
She threw a drachma and said, "Oh, Iris, accept my humble offering." The coin disappeared. "Chiron, Camp Half-Blood."
Thalia saw Chiron's image appear in the mist. "Chiron, we found Percy."
"That's wonderful news, Thalia." he said, smiling. "But I expected Annabeth to deliver this message."
"There's bad news, Chiron." Thalia said. "Annabeth was kidnapped. Gaea's monsters took her."
"Oh, dear," Chiron said, frowning.
"Thalia." someone called out from the other end.
It was Nico di Angelo.
He stood just behind Chiron dressed in black; his pale skin looked like the moon against the night.
"Where's Percy?" he asked, eyes darting behind Thalia, looking for a certain seaweed brain demigod.
"We have another problem." she said and sighed. "Percy's.. not the same."
She recapped the story of them being ambushed, Gaea's strange monsters and Annabeth being kidnapped to the part where Percy was being downright rude. They were silent for a few moments.
"I have news, too." Nico said.
"Is it good or bad?" Thalia asked, rubbing her forehead.
"Both." Nico said. "Gaea has announced that she wants peace."
Thalia snorted. "Who is she kidding?"
"I know but I heard whispers that she'll sacrifice a pure soul in reparation for the downfall of the Titans in the last war. Then, she'll go back to sleep along with her other children. And rumor has it that she'd already chosen a sacrifice." Nico said grimly and through gritted teeth by the end of it.
Thalia put the pieces together.
"But that would mean-.." Thalia couldn't even finish her sentence.
She knew why Gaea took Annabeth.
She was the sacrifice.
Thalia found Percy by the shore of Little Tiber, his eyes were glued to the stars but they were empty and glazed. He'd taken off his armor, leaving the strange purple T-shirt, dark jeans and a pair of navy blue Converse. He had a tattoo on his forearm, no doubt it was like the other tattoos Thalia had seen on the other Romans. Thalia couldn't quite see the markings properly under the dim moonlight and Percy tugged his sleeve down when he noticed her approach and saw her staring at his marks.
He glared at her. "What are you doing here?" Percy demanded. There was that rude, snappy tone again.
"What happened to you?" Thalia asked, sitting beside him, ignoring his murderous scowls.
"Nothing." he said coldly. Thalia was about to retort when he continued in a cold tone. "Nothing that concerns you."
"It definitely concerns me, Seaweed Brain." Thalia said.
"Don't call me that!" Percy snapped. Thalia recoiled.
She knew he didn't like anyone calling him Seaweed Brain except for Annabeth. It made Thalia wish Annabeth was there all the more and the guilt and anger of how she had failed to save her friend, her little cousin, consumed her even more.
"Percy, we're friends, family even. You can trust me." Thalia said.
"I don't trust people who I've just met, especially the ones I know only by their first name. And haven't we established that every other demigod here is practically a relative?" Percy said, rolling his eyes.
"Grace." Thalia said. "My name's Thalia Grace. I'm Jason's sister."
"Nice to meet you." he said sarcastically.
"That's it, Jackson!" Thalia snapped, losing her temper. Between Annabeth's kidnapping and Gaea's ultimatum, no one can actually blame her. "I don't know what your deal is but you get your lousy butt out of your-.."
"My last name is Jackson?" Percy asked, cutting her off. He sounded so lost and confused, maybe even scared. His eyes became glassy, his mind rolling the new information about himself like chocolate upon taste buds. He barely noticed Thalia's exasperated and angry tone.
"You didn't even know?" Thalia asked, her temper deflating like a balloon at the thought of her friend not even knowing his last name. What must it felt like to have nothing? To remember nothing? Not even your own name. "No one even bothered to tell you?"
"No one knows me." Percy snapped at her. He hated the pity in her eyes like he was someone vulnerable, someone incapable. He was far from it. The Romans had confirmed it themselves when they chose him as Jason Grace's replacement.
He had proved himself during the battle before the feast of Fortuna. He had proven himself along with Frank and Hazel during the quest to free the god of death, travelling to Alaska and bringing back the eagle that restored the legion's morale. He had brought home weapons that helped gain the Romans the upper hand in battle. He still remembers Reyna smiling at him in relief, as if he was the prayer upon her lips just then. He defeated a giant with a god's face. He stabbed terror into the enemy's soul.
He was Percy Jackson (and, somehow, the name sounded so right, so fitting), the formidable son of the sea god. Some say his power rivals Jason Grace himself, perhaps even more so. No one had dared insult Neptune in front of him again, not even Octavian.
He was a warrior.
He was a Roman.
He was not weak.
He is not a Greacus.
"That's not true," Thalia said, breaking into his thoughts. "A lot of people know you, care about you. Your parents and brother are worried sick. Your friends, Chiron, Nico, Grover and Annabeth, you have no idea what they've been through looking for you. We all know you. We all care for you. Especially, Annabeth."
"Who's that?" Percy asked.
"She's your girlfriend," Thalia said, softly. "She searched most of the United States for you and-.."
"Well, where is she? I don't see her. If she's worried sick, then, where is she?" Percy said, cold, sarcastic and.. hurt?
"She was kidnapped by Gaea on her way here, looking for you." Thalia explained. It seemed like the best thing to do, to try to explain to Percy that if Annabeth had a choice, if Thalia was fast enough, strong enough, she could've been here with him.
That Annabeth would never abandon him. Not even if her life depended on it.
"Look, Thalia Grace, I don't know what your game is here, but this is my home now." Percy said firmly. "This is where I should be."
Percy's eyes were glazed, as if he was trying to convince himself than Thalia. She wanted to cry out, grab him by the shoulders and shake him senseless until his memories come back, to scream all the things she had seen the people that loved him do when he was gone. How awful it was to witness such sadness on the wrong people, how they tear themselves apart at the seams worrying about him, thinking about him. He had no idea what waited him back home and he was throwing it away.
He stood, cleverly masking how shakily he did so it was almost nonexistent, and left her there alone and was lost through the shadows of the night.
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
So, here, revamped chapter 2. And yes, I'm still listening to Bieber. Unfortunately. Feel free to leave a comment.