And here's the next one.
Still not mine.
I both love and hate my life right now.
I'd left Camp Half-Blood almost a year ago, with Claire and Ali, and we spent it hunting monsters.
When not hunting beasties, I took my girls out. Every other night was something new.
Then Hades came to me, when I was on watch last night, and told me that I needed to get to Washington, and fast.
And we did.
It took us a week. Apparently, mortals aren't used to three teenagers on an extended camping trip.
Made getting a train harder.
But back on track, yeah?
We got to D.C., and received the worst shock I'd ever gotten.
"Permission to kill, milady," a girl I recognized as a Huntress of Artemis asked. She had a silver tiara on, and was aiming a bow at a monster, the Manticore to be exact.
Said beasty was holding a pair of kids in his grasp.
The kids I recognized. Bianca and Nico.
"This is direct interference! Against the Ancient Laws," the monster yelled.
Artemis snorted, and assured him it wasn't.
He backed up, closer to the apparent cliff.
I leaned to my girlfriends, and pointed to the cliff.
"Need a gust of air to knock the kids forward, Ali. Claire, get ready to run him through," I whispered to them. Thalia had gotten a new power, though a weaker one than her lightning. She could somewhat control the wind currents, a major boon in battle.
They nodded, and I closed my eyes, and concentrated. Water from the ground below me slowly collected, and moved behind the Manticore. A wind picked up, making the effort that much harder.
"Now," I hissed. The water formed an icicle, and pierced his tail. A wind blew the children forward, and an arrow and spear hit the Manticore at the same time, in his eyes and gut, respectively.
And then a glimmer of silver caught the corner of my eye as we stood, and the monster became dust.
An arrow, I realized, before I made the wood's moisture increase. The shaft of the arrow became pre-paper wood.
In laymen's terms, it resembled wet bread.
"Who are you, boy," spat the Huntress from earlier.
I sighed, and looked at her, before I noticed Artemis staring at me.
"Perseus," she said, snorting. I bowed towards her.
"Very odd of me to show up, milady, but my year's up, and there are bad tidings from the west," I said. I received a slight glare from the goddess, before her eyes widened.
"Thalia, Clarisse, Perseus. We need to get to Olympus. Children of Hades, girls, I want you to await my return. I will not be long. Zoë, don't kill the boy. Hades is already mad Bianca is being scouted," Artemis said, before she grabbed my companions and I and flashed away.
Zeus and Hera were already sitting in their thrones when we materialized.
Fighting, of course.
"Hail, Lord Zeus. I bring bad tidings of dark times," I shouted. They stopped, and I let out a silent breath.
Zeus nodded at me, and thunder boomed.
A second later, all the Olympians were present, plus Hestia.
"What news do you bring, Perseus," Zeus asked.
"His throne is fully reformed. Othrys stands as tall as before, and the Titans have amassed an army like none before it. Many minor gods, demigods, and almost every monster they have are part of it. There were whispers, also. Some claimed SHE was waking," I reported.
We spent a while on the west coast. I got to spy on whatever opposition I faced, and we killed monsters while doing it.
But my last comment unsettled Zeus.
"Preposterous! She has been asleep for millennia! Why should she wake now?!"
I shrugged.
"They are just whispers, my lord. But I believe if she is waking, this war is going to speed up the process by several years, at most." The council murmured in Greek, and looked at me, and my girlfriends.
"We will keep an eye out for this new threat. You may go." I nodded, and bowed my head to Zeus and my dad.
Artemis flashed us back to the impromptu camp, and I set up my tent. Ali and Claire, plus the Huntresses and Artemis, went into a giant silver tent. Nico had vanished sometime earlier.
Gods, my mind is going to shit. I should be constantly aware, but I'm not.
And then there was the exhaustion I seemed to be cursed with these days. I slept harder, longer, and yet, got less rest than I should have.
"Snowball," I heard Ali call from behind me.
Turning to face her, I rose an eyebrow.
"Set out the bigger one. One bed. Artemis says Apollo's going to give us a ride to camp in the morning," she said, walking briskly towards me.
A frown marred her beauty, and Claire seemed to glare at the very trees...
Well then.
We got inside the tent, and I immediately sealed it shut.
"What happened to piss you two off," I asked as I fetched us a pizza from the night before last.
None of us could cook, it seemed. So we ordered our own food often.
"Artemis' Huntresses tried to convince us to leave you. I punched the lieutenant girl in the nose, and comments flew," Ali said. I quirked an eyebrow, and slid out of my jacket and shirt.
Ali blushed, and Claire's eyes were dancing with amusement as she stared rather openly.
"I've walked shirtless around you two for the better half of a year. And you STILL blush when I do it, Ali?" Claire laughed, and I crossed the tent, and kissed them both.
Things happen when I make one feel more special than the other.
Once, Claire and Ali kicked one another's wonderful asses because they were jealous of each other.
Being me with two girls is hard. I can't mess up, or be lax in my attentions. If I do, I get my ass kicked.
But I'm Dee Snider, and they're my Suzettes.
I'm almost totally useless with out them.
Sleep used to be so wonderful, Percy thought as he sat on the bus Apollo had foolishly let Thalia drive.
Some poor mortals probably died...
Anyways, Percy had come to an impasse with Morpheus.
Last night, despite his wonderful girlfriends being beside him, Percy had a really shitty dream.
(Flashback)
Percy watched as he ran through a thick blizzard. He had no idea where he was. Only that they were coming.
Prometheus, Hyperion, and Krios.
Gods, what had he done to piss three of them off, he wondered.
But it was his element they traversed upon. For in the north, snow layered with ice.
And HE was the Ice.
The snow blinded him, and he slowed to a stop. He couldn't hear the Titans anymore.
And then the snow grabbed him, and fire wreathed around him.
A wall of ice shot up, but it was smashed to pieces as the trio stepped into his view. Behind them was a person he'd never expected to see.
"No..." They grinned.
"Yes." His vision was marred by gold.
(Flashback End)
And that was when Percy woke up.
The bus was landing, and Percy was only too happy about that.
He was the son of the SEA. Air was NOT his friend!
A horn sounded in the distance, and Percy smiled.
THIS was home.
I haven't even been back a full WEEK before something happened!
I was sitting under the moon, atop my cabin, entertaining the Titaness Selene with small talk, when I heard Artemis speak in my head.
'Perseus... H-Help...' I shot up. An image flashed into my head.
Artemis, the strongest goddess I've had the pleasure of talking to, was struggling under an invisible weight. Her auburn hair was greying, and her clothes were worn with monster dust and dirt, and stained with blood, mortal and godly, and cuts.
But what truly scared me was her eyes. Her silvery eyes, once proud and hard, were gone.
Anger welled inside me, but I forced it down.
'Hang in there, milady. I'm on my way,' I projected to her. Hopefully she heard me.
The image was burned in my mind. Engraved. Like Annabeth's face was, whenever I saw a blonde, or an Athenian child.
It wouldn't leave.
I slipped on my boots, and leapt from the roof.
Rolling as I hit the dirt, I sprung forward.
'Get the Huntresses, Perseus. I will wake Chiron,' Selene's voice echoed into my head.
'Thank you, Lady Selene.'
"Move, boy! Something urgent has come up," shouted a Huntress, as I neared the cabin they slept in. She darted passed me, and I followed her.
"I'm aware. Lady Selene woke Chiron. He will know by the time we arrive," I informed the girl. Her black eyes narrowed.
Shit. This was the lieutenant, I realized as we ran.
Her eyes were glaring at me the whole time.
"Why would a boy know about milady," she spat.
"I have slept outside every night I've been here. It's not my wish to join the rising antlered rabbit population, so I asked her if I could do so. She allowed it, as long as I owe her a favor for every summer I stay out here. Plus, I try to be entertaining. Methinks driving the moon is boring, don't you?" We reached the Big House, and barreled inside.
Chiron was waiting for us.
"Zoë! Perseus! Zoë, consult the Oracle. Perseus, you may want to look in a mirror," he said.
I sighed, and did as such.
My shirt was silver, and a red moon was upon my chest. My pants were silver camo, as opposed to the jungle camo they were this morning. My jacket had become silver as well.
"Ah. Well, I can't help but think silver is best in small amounts," I commented. I swore I would find out who was changing my clothes on me!
Chiron nodded, and we waited until Zoë came down the stairs. She was pale, and her eyes were showing fear, and sadness, and also acceptance and determination. To the untrained eye, her face was impassive.
But it was a look people got when they were about to die.
Her mouth opened to speak.
"Four will head west to free the goddess in chains,
One shall be lost in a land with no rain.
Wisdom's pain shows the trail,
Dead, Huntresses, and Campers prevail.
The Titan's Curse must one withstand,
Or find a fate worse than death at a parent's hand."
I paled a bit, scowling at the prophecy.
"Athena's pain," Chiron muttered. Our eyes met, and I shuddered a bit.
"Bianca, Phoebe, Perseus, and I will go. The four of us carry a connection to milady, and Perseus is the only camper well rounded enough to be of the most use to us in a battle," she said. I sighed a heavy sigh.
We left the Big House, and I went to Zeus' cabin.
Ali opened the door, dressed in a pair of plaid pajama bottoms and one of my tees. Her hair was down.
"Mm," she grunted at me, looking tired. It WAS five in the morning, though.
"Ali, something's happened. I've been chosen to go on a quest, and I have to go now. I'll be back by the end of the month." I leaned over, and kissed her lightly.
"G'luck, Flake," she mumbled. I smiled, and headed for Ares cabin.
I knocked, and saw Mike, Claire's youngest sibling, answer.
"Clarisse! Jackson's here for you," he shouted.
There was some bustling, and Claire appeared before me.
"I have a quest, Claire. Milady needs help. I'll be back before the month ends," I said. I leaned down to her and kissed her.
"If you don't come back, I will kick your ass," she said after we split.
"Jackson! Time to go," I heard Zoë yell. A dufflebag hit me in the leg, causing me to buckle.
"You're questing with three girls," Claire said, looking behind me.
I turned, and saw the other three standing and laughing at my fall. Thalia had packed my bag, and Phoebe had thrown it at me.
Phoebe looked a hell of a lot like Claire, but more violent, and sporadic.
"Two lesbians, and a girl I rescued two years ago. All three are Huntresses."
Claire nodded.
"Have fun, Snowflake," she said as she shut the cabin door.
Fun? No. I had a better chance of getting out of Tartaros.
CUUUUUUUUTTTT!
So close!
Review!