Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Chapter 34

"I'm sorry Perce," Hermes apologized, entering the room and seeing the teenager stare at the wall blankly. "But I have to do this. It's now or later you know."

And without another word, Hermes ran forth to grab Percy. He picked the younger figure up, heaving him across his shoulders like a rag doll before sprinting back towards the dining room like a robber.

It never occurred to the adult that the teenager never once protested.

"I've got him," Hermes called out, not even out of breath as he arrived with Percy.

"Well that sucks," Ares commented, looking at the food that was prepared.

It was Hestia was gave Ares a harsh glare and he retreated under her stern gaze.

"If you have nothing better to say then leave or be quiet," Hestia told him.

Ares took the quiet route, and stayed silent, only making furious eye contacts and glares to others. If he ever so much as tried to open his mouth, surprisingly Athena would stare at him with those intimidating grey eyes, which would scare the hell out of him.

"Why am I even here?" Percy mumbled, his voice muffled by Hermes' shirt. "I don't even belong here."

Hera looked alarmed. "Yes you do, you're family!"

"Not everything is family Hera!" Percy retorted angrily. "Don't you know, family can hurt you more that anything?!"

"You think I don't know?!" Hera screeched, standing up abruptly. "Do you know how long I've had to deal with all their problems? Sure I regret throwing Hephaestus out of the roof, but he-!" She pointed at Ares. "He is the worst! Always muttering swearwords, loving all the war and gore. I bet he can't survive a day in a war country!"

"Hey!" Ares yelled, looking extremely offended. He didn't even care if Hera was his mother or not. "I'm tired of this bullshit. Every time we have this stupid family gathering, it turns so awkward and crappy, it isn't even amusing anymore!"

"It's-" Hera started to protest.

"This is my speech and you're gonna listen to it!" Ares roared, slamming his fist down onto the table. "I don't know who the hell that punk is, thinking he can barge in here and interrupt this 'nice happy family gathering,' but I certainly don't like it. It's your choice: either he leaves or I do."

There was silence. Percy, who was put on the ground already, gritted his teeth in annoyance. He could see his cousins' eyes looking at him, pleading him not to go silently. Mentally laughing bitterly in his mind, he made his decision.

"I'll go," Percy stated curtly, turning and heading towards the doorway all so suddenly.

Hestia didn't even try to stop anyone this time. Thalia leaped out of her chair like a hunter and ran speedily towards her cousin. Nico soon followed after, slower, but still managing to catch up to them eventually.

Rain fell all of a sudden. It splattered all over them, and Nico cursed himself for not bringing an umbrella.

"Are you crazy?!" Thalia yelled throughout the wind. "Come back! I'll kick Ares' ass for you too, he can go!"

"You don't understand Thalia," Percy replied, his messy hair flying everywhere. "Do you think the Olympians would like it if Ares went?"

"Yeah!" Nico came in, speaking truthfully.

"They wouldn't," the son of Poseidon said menacingly. "They've only met me- seen me- for only what, how long? Thirty minutes at least, yeah, of course they would want me to stay!"

"You're insane Percy!" Thalia repeated her phrase from the beginning with modification. She tried a different tactic. "Where else can you go?"

"There's always the streets," Nico pointed out carelessly.

"You're not helping," Thalia growled. She turned back to her other cousin. "The point is... You know what? Screw it, just come back inside!"

The daughter of Zeus ran to Percy, and she only had good intentions.

Too bad Gabe thought he had good intentions too.

Percy felt as if he was hallucinating and Thalia changed from a teenager to a huge fat walrus dude that resembled Gabe. He couldn't help it; he yelped and let out a small scream. It wasn't being a chicken or a coward. It was being human.

"Thalia stop chasing him!" Nico yelled, running after both of his cousins. "It's not helping at all!"

"Stop!" Percy shouted, and before Thalia knew it, he slid down on one of those hedge holes in the garden and made it to the other side. "Don't run after me... I'm not worth it."

The sound of footsteps soon followed after those haunting words. Thalia was about to follow him. She went as far as having a head start and running to slide down like Percy did when she slipped. She fell face first on the muddy ground.

The son of Hades placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't touch me!" Thalia growled, shrugging the hand off fiercely. She stared at the ground that was only inches away from her face. "He's gone."

Nico's hand lay limply at his side and his solemn face stared straight ahead like a soldier. He didn't talk at all.

"He's gone Nico," Thalia repeated defeatedly. "He's really gone."

"Don't go insane Thalia," was the only thing that Nico said before turning around to go back to the house. "The Olympians will be pissed if we're gone."

The daughter of Zeus whirled around the face her cousin. "And that's all you think about, the Olympians being pissed off about us being gone for too long?!"

"No," Nico responded, slight calm, slight aggravated. "It's because maybe my hope is lost."

"You sound corny... You know, if we chase after him right now, we could get on our motorcycles and see where he's going!"

"And what if he went on his motorcycle?"

"... Good point."

Then there was silence. The weather got harsher and the wind whipped around furiously as rain hailed and hit them both in the face. The only thing Thalia did was put up her hood, which was what Nico had done before.

"Do you think he'll be okay?" Nico asked worriedly, pulling his jacket closer to himself.

"I don't know," Thalia muttered. "I really don't know."

"Where's Perseus?" A loud voice boomed. "Where is my son?!"

Thalia seemed to know exactly who the person was. She whirled around, her electrical blue eyes flashing. "Where's your son?! Why don't you chase after him yourself from the beginning?! Maybe he would still be here instead of him being out there!"

Poseidon seemed to forget that Thalia was yelling at him, and only processed the last phrase. "He's... Gone?"

Nico seemed to take it the more sarcastic side to make up for the emptiness. "Maybe you should take some medication for those deaf ears Poseidon; they seem to be getting a bit rusty."

"And you didn't even try to chase after him?!" Poseidon roared, trying to ignore the teenager's sarcasm.

"We tried!" Thalia responded back in the same tone. She looked furious. "We really tried, I chased after him, fell on the mud and now he's gone! Why don't you chase after him since you're attempting to be a great dad?!"

"Attempting?" Poseidon asked in barely above a whisper. Thalia knew she struck a nerve but at the same time, knew he deserved it. His tone got louder. "Attempting?! I'm trying to be a good dad but he won't accept me!"

"Have you ever thought why he doesn't accept you? Or why he hates your guys?" Nico asked bitterly. He stared at Poseidon straight in the eye. "It's because you left him. You left him with no family but Sally. Great idea! Oh look, she got killed by Gabe, who began torturing him till now. Tell me, who wouldn't hate your guts after that?"

A/N: Happy New Year everyone! Hope you had a great holiday and everything. Sorry for the slight late update, I was going to update yesterday but something occurred. Thanks for all the support!

7NationArmy: Nothing wrong with joking around. Thanks!