I don't own Percy Jackson, obviously, or else I wouldn't be doing fan fiction instead of the real thing. I also don't own The Lord of the Rings. Again, obviously.


Chapter Five: The Weight of the World

Thunder boomed outside, and Percy groaned as he looked up at the weather. Dark clouds gathered around the perimeter of the camp, leaving a gaping blue hole in an otherwise black sky. It had been a week since his victory in the capture-the-flag game, and during that time the recent storm seemed to only get worse and worse. He'd asked Chiron about it, but the old centaur had only told him that Mr. D would come back from Mt. Olympus with more information.

Eyes widening, Percy ducked his head as a celestial bronze sword nearly chopped it off. "Focus Percy, focus!" Luke said sternly, stabbing at his young apprentice. Percy berated himself for his fleeting attention, cursing his ADHD. Sidestepping Luke's lunge, the trainee stepped forward with a horizontal slash.

Luke hastily retreated, but Percy kept up the offensive. They continued sparring in the forest clearing for a few minutes, until Luke raised his free hand and called for a stop. The older teen sheathed his weapon and looked at Percy, who had unceremoniously crumpled on the ground, breathing heavily.

"Uh, Perce?" Luke said, holding out his hand to the exhausted demigod. "Need some help there, bud?"

Percy took his teacher's offered hand and, with a labored groan, pulled himself back up. He walked over to a tree and leaned on it, holding a spot on his arm that would surely bruise over. "Luke... d-do you r-really have to... b-beat me up every time we train? I'm p-pretty sure this is ch-child abuse." he said, wincing at the pain in his jaw.

Luke crossed his arms, a smirk on his face. The sword prodigy had some cuts here and there, but otherwise looked perfectly fine. "Hey, you agreed to it," he reminded Percy with a cheesy peace sign. "Plus, the best way to learn how to not get beat up is to get beat up!"

Percy, instead of snorting or scoffing like usual, winced again. Luke frowned in concern. "Seriously though, you need any help getting back to the cabin? I could get a medic-"

"Don't worry... about it," Percy interrupted, standing straight on his feet and giving Luke a thumbs up. "You go on ahead... I'll be right there. I just need to c-catch my breath is all."

Luke rubbed his chin uncertainly. "Well... if you're sure..."

Percy smiled at him. "Y-Yeah, I'm sure. See ya later okay?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Luke turned around and started walking back to camp. "If you say so Perce," he said, and disappeared into the foliage.

Sighing, Percy sat down on the ground, leaning his back against a tree. He took off his shield and laid it next to him, then capped his sword, turning it into a pen that he put in his pocket. After a few moments, he finally got his breathing under control, but was still incredibly tired. The young demigod decided to close his eyes, finding the forest floor comfortable enough for a nap.


Percy woke up to the sound of snickering. He opened his eyes to find a strange, gnomish creature holding his shield with both its hands. His face twisted in confusion. "What... Hey!" Percy stood up, groaning at the soreness of his body. "Give that back you- you..."

The creature was small, only reaching up to his knees, and looked like a baby goblin from Lord of the Rings. Despite its height, it didn't seem to be having any trouble carrying his shield. Percy thought back to everything he'd learned about Greek mythology, and remembered Chiron teaching his class about dwarf-like creatures that stole stuff and pissed people off. "Kobalos... Give me back my shield you little bastard!"

The kobalos just snickered again, waving the bronze shield mockingly, and ran into the forest. Percy cursed himself for being stupid enough to sleep in the forest around camp and, as quickly as his body allowed, chased after the little creature. He may have been tired and injured, but the psychokinetic was still faster than the small gnome on its stumpy legs. When he got close enough to the kobalos, Percy dived for his shield, arms outstretched.

The short creature looked back, and yelped in surprise at Percy's daring move. Luckily for the kabolos, it was running straight at a tree, and the small dwarf climbed onto it with its clawed hands, holding the shield between its feet. Percy, not anticipating this, crashed face-first into the wooden trunk. Rubbing his nose, Percy glared up at the snickering creature. He huffed before starting to climbing up the tree, wincing at every branch he got ahold of. "You better give me back my shield, 'cause when I get up there you'll be in a world of hurt, buddy!" he shouted, pulling himself up on another branch.

The kabolos seemed to contemplate his words, and after a few seconds decided to grant his request. So, with a mischievous grin, the little creature dropped the bronze shield right on Percy's head, making the young demigod slip and fall back down on the ground. With a final snicker, the kabolos jumped away, heading back to wherever it was it came from.

Percy groaned in pain, holding his head with one hand as he grasped his shield with the other. "Stupid little midget..." he muttered, picking himself up. He wondered how a creature like that managed to make it past the camp boundaries, and decided that it must've been considered too harmless to worry about.

With a start, Percy noticed that he was right at the border of the forest, and he could see the Big House just a few yards away. Strapping his shield securely onto his back, Percy walked back towards the camp, not wanting to be late for dinner.

As he walked past the Big House, Percy glanced into one of the windows and stopped when he saw Mr. D talking to Chiron in his office. The young demigod looked around, making sure no one was looking, and headed to the window as stealthily as he could. When he reached it, Percy sighed in relief that neither Mr. D nor Chiron had seen him. Back against the wooden wall, the psychokinetic then focused on using his powers to increase his hearing.

"So it is Zeus. I would rather the storm be something else entirely, but I suppose it was too much to hope for," said the muffled voice of Chiron.

"Yes, well you know how he gets. It was a miracle that Poseidon and the others were able to keep him calm for as long as they did," the muffled voice of Mr. D replied, sounding weirdly serious compared to his usual annoyed tone.

'Perfect,' thought Percy. 'Man, am I glad I learned how to do this.'

-Flashback-

"Percy, your powers are cool and everything, but why am I doing this again?"

Said boy grinned back at his plant-loving friend. "Because it's something completely new, and I need someone here in case I mess up and hurt myself."

Katie crossed her arms and leaned on one leg. "That's great Percy," she told him, "but I'm asking why I'm here. Can't someone else drag your injured body back to camp?"

Percy scratched his cheek. "Yeah well, I haven't exactly told anyone else," he responded. "You're the only one I can trust with this."

Katie's eyes widened before she smiled slyly. "Oh Percy, I didn't know you felt that way."

If she was hoping for an embarrassed reaction, Katie was sorely disappointed. Instead, Percy only scoffed at her teasing. "Katie, I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm like twelve years old. Girls may not have cooties anymore, but I don't think I've even begun puberty yet."

Katie pouted. "You're no fun."

Shrugging his shoulders, the young demigod led her to their usual 'training ground'. Once the two friends reached it, they both sat down, Katie leaning against the tree and Percy cross-legged in front of her.

"So what's this about?" Katie inquired, curious at the supposed 'new thing' her unclaimed friend had brought her there to see.

"Well," Percy began, "I've been reading-"

"You actually read!?"

"Hey!"

"What? How's that not surprising?"

"As I was saying," Percy continued, eyes closed in annoyance, "I've been reading some anatomy books from the Apollo cabin-"

"You stole them then? I knew those Hermes campers were a bad influence."

"It doesn't matter, and stop interrupting me already!" Percy huffed, completely missing the irony of the situation.

"Alright, alright," Katie assured cheekily. "So, why have you been reading anatomy books?"

"Well, I had an idea yesterday," Percy said. "I thought that if I apparently couldn't use my powers on other people, maybe I could use them on myself. I tried it, and I could feel something, but I needed to know more about my body if I was gonna make it work."

"So?" Katie asked, now truly interested, "What were you able to do?"

"Well that's the thing, isn't it?" Percy asked with a smile. "In theory, I could augment my senses, and maybe even my muscles!"

Katie looked shocked, and Percy was pleased at her obvious surprise. Getting a reaction like that from someone who already knew about his powers was a welcome occurrence.

"Since when do you have a vocabulary like that?"

"Aw c'mon!"

-Flashback-

He had yet to reach the limits of this new sub-power, it had only been a week after all, but so far he could increase the potency of his senses at will. He tried to do the same for his muscles, but had almost passed out from the strain. Apparently, augmenting his muscles caused them to use up more calories than usual. The amount varied depending on how much stronger he wanted to get, but the difference was enough that Percy would need to eat much more than he usually did if he intended to regularly use the technique.

"Does the council know who took it in the first place?" Chiron asked Mr. D, unknowingly causing Percy to refocus on the task at hand.

"We've been suspecting Hades since the beginning, and the increased amount of monsters prowling the country has all but proved his guilt. Artemis and her hunters can barely keep the beasts controlled as it is, but now we'll surely need to send out campers to deal with at least some of them."

"You know how I feel about sending out campers..." Chiron trailed off, worry clear in his voice.

"Well then you'll surely hate that a quest must be issued to bring back my father's bolt."

"What!? But Lord Dionysus, if Hades did steal the bolt, then that means-"

"The quest would bring them into the Underworld itself," Mr. D sighed. "It's dangerous, I know, and probably fruitless, but it must be done. We have to at least try, or else the world will be consumed by war. Not the mortal kind either, but a full out war between two of the most powerful gods. You surely know what that would entail."

There was a pause, and then Chiron finally let out a long, somber sigh. "Yes, I know. The end of the world as we know it, humanity most likely destroyed. I wish there was another way, but I suppose it can't be helped. Now we only need to decide who would lead it."

"Don't we have someone on the waiting list? You know the one."

"By the gods, but she's so young!"

"She is, but she is also the most intelligent of her cabin. If anyone can succeed, it'll be her."

There was a pause.

"Lord Dionysus," Chiron said, suddenly sounding somewhat amused, "is that praise I hear? For one of your campers?"

"I'm just stating facts, you old horse," Mr. D responded, back to his usual lazy self. "Now hush, we wouldn't want our little eavesdropper to hear any more than he has to."

"I agree," Chiron said, and Percy could almost imagine the bemused smile on the centaur's face. "I think it's about time we had some privacy."

Percy gasped, and without another thought, ran off, almost tripping. He didn't turn back to see if the two millennia-old entities saw who was listening in on them, and instead focused on getting back to his cabin before Luke got worried.

'Stupid!' he berated himself. How could he underestimate Mr. D, or even Chiron? The old centaur was incredibly experienced at everything, and Mr. D, while lazy and unpleasant, was still a god, and therefore practically omniscient.

Once he'd reached the Hermes cabin, Percy slammed the door open, frightening several of his cabin-mates.

"Percy!" Luke shouted, quickly walking over to the young demigod. "What's wrong? Did something happen?"

"I.. uh..." Percy was at a loss for words. He'd just learned that the world might end, and frankly, causing a mass panic didn't really sound like a good idea. He tried thinking of something to say, and ultimately decided on the first thing that came to mind.

"I'm dirty as hell!"

With that, Percy shut the door close and rushed away, planning to take a long, long shower.


When dinner time came around, Percy sat down on his cramped table like every other day. The difference was, the young demigod seemed to be having a miniature panic attack. Several of his cabin-mates were looking at him strangely, remembering his weird behavior earlier in the evening, but thankfully seemed to know enough that they left him be.

Apparently, the apocalypse was coming, and for the first time in his young life, Percy had to deal with the fact that he was mortal. 'It can't be that bad...' he tried to reassure himself, 'I mean, I've had some good times... Like that one time when Aaron got the rest of the orphanage to stop talking to me for an entire week... or when I accidentally blasted our caretaker through a door and got grounded... or the time when I got detention because Ms. Shelly thought I cheated on my test...' Percy held his face with his hands.

'Okay, so I don't have too many good memories, but at least I've had some great friends right? Lets see... There's Katie obviously, Beck, Luke, and maybe Will Solace from the Apollo cabin, though I'm pretty sure he'll be pissed when he finds out I stole his books.' Percy groaned. 'Maybe Annabeth? Damn, I'm really stretching it here... So that makes what, like five people in twelve years?' Percy almost cried. 'Wow, my life sucks.'

Percy was shaken out of his depressing thoughts when the camp was called to attention.

"Campers!" Chiron cried out. "If I could have your attention please!"

The various conversations throughout the pavilion fizzled out, and all eyes were on the old centaur as he prepared his coming speech.

"Mr. D came back today from an important meeting in Olympus, and he brings very dire news," he announced, and paused for all the campers to understand the gravity of the situation. "I'm sure you've all noticed the storm around Camp Half-Blood, and I'm also sure that many of you have figured out the cause. Several months ago, at the Winter Solstice summit on Mt. Olympus that some of you attended, Lord Zeus was robbed of his Master Bolt, the symbol of his power."

There were several gasps of surprise, and some campers seemed relieved to finally get answers. "So what now then?" someone asked, and there was a chorus of agreement.

"That's what I'll be telling you all," Chiron assured them. "For months now, the gods have suspected The Lord of the Dead for the crime, and Lord Zeus seems to have finally decided to take matters into his own hands. Now, we need not worry about the actions of the gods, only the two tasks we've been given."

The trainer of heroes paused, building up suspense, and Percy fought the urge to roll his eyes despite the situation. Chiron could be overly dramatic sometimes, and this was surely one of those times. It seemed to work, as Percy noticed a few campers fidgeting slightly and shuffling on their seats.

"Here is what we need to do," Chiron finally said, "There has been a recent resurgence of monsters. There are simply too many for the Hunters of Artemis to handle, so we've been ordered to help send them back to Tartarus. I will be sending out teams of campers starting tomorrow. Heroes, your training will finally be tested."

There was a cheer, and shortly after, the entire camp seemed to be jumping in excitement. Percy could understand, and actually felt a little relieved. Being stuck in a camp, training to fight monsters, but never fighting monsters could get boring.

Chiron managed to calm the campers after a few minutes, and continued his announcement. "I'm sure you're all excited, but unfortunately not all of you will be participating in this..."

There was a loud 'boo' from nearly every camper, but Chiron wasn't finished.

"... because three of you will be going on a quest to retrieve Lord Zeus' Master Bolt."

Excitement quickly overtook the camp again, and soon everyone was curious as to who would go on such an epic-sounding quest, especially after such a long time with nobody going on quests.

"Luckily for us, there is a waiting list, and the quest leader, who will be picking his or her two companions, has already been decided. Annabeth Chase, will you accept this task?"

There was a mix of joyous cheers and jealous boos. Annabeth herself didn't seem shocked that she'd been picked, almost like she had been expecting it, but everyone's attention made her nervous nonetheless. The daughter of Athena stood, and took a few moments before speaking. Percy guessed she needed to plan out what to say. Athena always had a plan, after all.

"I accept!" she shouted confidently, "and I've already decided on my two companions!"

There was another cheer at her acceptance, and the moment she said that she already chose her companions, many campers started begging to be chosen. 'Idiots,' Percy thought, 'don't they know that they'll have to go to the Underworld? Who'd actually want to do something like that?'

"I choose Grover Underwood and Luke Castellan as my companions!" Annabeth announced, and many campers groaned in disappointment. Luke, who was seating next to him, stood up in attention, as did a satyr sitting in Mr. D's table, though he did so somewhat nervously. That seemed to be the end of the whole ordeal, but Chiron spoke up before anyone stopped paying attention.

"Actually, Annabeth," he said, "I'd like it if you choose someone else in Luke's stead."

"What?" Annabeth asked, slightly surprised that Chiron disagreed with her decision. "Why?"

"I need someone strong and experienced to lead the camper task force here," Chiron told her, almost apologetically, "I'm sorry Annabeth, but Luke is the only one I feel I can trust. I need you to pick somebody else."

This got the attention of most campers, and many restarted their attempts to get in the quest. Annabeth seemed troubled, and the chaos didn't help her get her head straight. Finally, Luke himself called out for attention.

"Hey! Everyone listen to me!" he shouted, and stood up. Almost instantly, the crowd of demigods quieted down. "The truth is, I agree with Chiron. Sorry Annabeth, but someone has to stay here and make sure everything turns out alright."

Annabeth looked at him, hurt in her eyes, but seemed to understand what he was saying.

"Luckily for all of you, I know someone who can take my place. If he goes, I can assure you that the quest will be victorious, and Zeus' Master Bolt will be returned. You see, for a few weeks now, I've had an apprentice..."

Percy paled. 'Luke, you bastard!' he thought, already knowing where this was going. He was about to protest, when Luke continued.

"I've taught him everything he knows, and I can already tell that he'll be a hell of a hero. I've never seen someone with so much natural talent, and the truth is that after a few more years, he might even be better than me. As it is, he's already the most powerful demigod I know, and I'm not just talking about his sword skills."

'I'm that good? Really? Huh...' Percy thought, and suddenly, he was filled with confidence. If Luke, his idol, thought he could do it, then he'd do whatever it took to make him proud. The young demigod clenched his fists, anticipation building within him. He'd show Hades to put his world in danger...

"So who is it already?" someone asked, and the campers burst with a wave of questions.

Luke clasped Percy on the shoulder, and pulled him up, silencing the entire camp. Even Chiron and Mr. D looked surprised, at least to a certain extent.

"You've gotta be kidding me!"

As one, everyone started complaining. Most were reluctant to put their lives on the hands of some newbie, even if he did defeat the 'great' Minotaur, others were jealous that they didn't get picked, and some just straight up hated him. Annabeth in particular didn't seem very happy, but appeared to respect Luke's decision enough to not say so out loud. Katie's face was whiter than a sheet of paper, and Beckendorf was in full-out scowl mode.

All of a sudden, the sea of campers started parting, until Clarisse poked out and stood face to face with Percy. The crowd quieted, and Luke's grip on his shoulder tightened in preparation, but the daughter of Ares did something no one could've expected.

Astonishingly, she nodded once and turned around, facing the rest of the campers. "You all want to know what I think?" she asked. "I think that Luke's right," and as everyone got blown back by that bombshell, Clarisse walked up to stand beside Percy. "It's simple," she said, "this guy beat me in a fight. If he can do that, there's no one here who stands a better chance than Jackson!"

After a revelation like that, no one could justify complaining against Percy's inclusion. It was pretty well known that Clarisse was amongst the camp's elite, and the most ruthless fighter they had. Anyone who could beat her in a one-on-one fight had to be incredibly strong, and to think that some new guy managed to do it spoke volumes of his skill and talent.

Clarisse didn't seem too happy to admit losing to him, but Percy appreciated what she'd done, and promised himself that he'd make it up to her eventually. Luke smiled proudly, and turned to a shocked Annabeth. "So?" he asked. "What do you say? If he's not good enough, no one is."

Annabeth could only nod her head, and Chiron gave Percy an incredibly guilty look, like he wanted to apologize for him getting on the quest, for bringing him to Camp Half-Blood, for getting him involved in all the hero business. The old centaur merely shook his head slowly, and spoke up.

"That would be acceptable," he finally said. "We must go get a prophecy from the Oracle now. If the quest-takers would follow me please."

Chiron began trotting to the Big House, with the satyr named Grover right on his heels (er, hooves). Annabeth quickly followed after the pair, and Percy did the same after a slight shove from Luke. After a few steps, he turned back to find Luke giving him a thumbs up, Clarisse pretending not to care, Katie with her hands clasped against her chest, and Beckendorf giving him a reassuring nod.

Percy smiled, and trailed after his new quest-mates. Sure, he was heading to what was arguably the worst place in the world, and would surely be facing certain death, but maybe his life wasn't too bad after all.


Percy sat on a sofa inside the Big House living room with Chiron and Grover, waiting for Annabeth to come down from the attic. There had been a deafening silence present ever since he sat down, and it hadn't taken long for the psychokinetic to grow bored with the lack of action. Minutes felt like hours, and his eyes grew heavy. Percy jumped awake when Annabeth walked into the room, looking noticeably paler than when she'd exited.

"So, Annabeth?" Grover asked. "What's the prophecy? Is anyone gonna die? Are we going underground? Or fighting a basilisk? Please tell me it's not a basilisk-"

Percy decided to interrupt the satyr's rant. "Dude," he said, "calm down. We're probably not gonna fight a basilisk," he paused. "We're going underground for sure though. Really underground."

Grover looked like he was about to cry, which made Percy feel a little bad about assuring that his fears would come true.

"That's interesting, Percy," Chiron spoke out, "how do you know you'll be going to an underground location?"

Percy stammered. "I... uh... well I dunno I just figured..."

Chiron chuckled slightly, but his amused expression shifted into a somber one. "The prophecy, Annabeth?"

The daughter of Athena nodded, and cleared her throat.

"The child of Athena will head out West,
a hero's courage to put to the test.

Chased by hunters with zealous glee,
burdened with no chance to flee.

The judgement of Death must one readily face
for the symbol of strength for another to retake."

There was a moment of silence where they absorbed the words. "Great," Percy finally stated, "so we finish the quest, but at least one of us gets screwed."

Grover started shivering after that, and Percy wondered why Annabeth decided to take someone so... cowardly to a quest for the fate of the world. Personal attachments could only count for so much.

"That's not necessarily true, Percy," Chiron spoke, trying to calm Grover's mounting nervousness. "As you should know, prophecies are never entirely clear until they are completed."

Percy just nodded. While Chiron was right about prophecies, this one in particular seemed pretty clear to him. A line like 'The judgement of Death must one readily face' didn't really leave much wiggle room. "I guess you're right," the young demigod said, more for Grover's sake than anything else. "What about the hunters with zealous glee? Hunters as in the Hunters of Artemis?"

Grover got a faraway look on his face. "Gods, I sure hope so..." he said dreamily. Percy chuckled, and even Annabeth gave a slight smile.

"Well I guess I'm gonna be hanging out with a pervert for the next few days," Percy teased, and Grover snapped back to reality.

"Wha-What!? No! It's not like that, really!" he shouted, blushing furiously.

"Sure Grover, whatever you say. Just, if we do run into them, you might wanna keep your eyes up here," Percy pointed to his face, "instead of down-"

"Blaa-ha-ha!" Grover said, and with that, the satyr looked away to hide his red face.

Percy laughed, as did Chiron and Annabeth. "Well anyway," Percy said, "when are we leaving, Ariel?"

Annabeth's cheeks flushed angrily, which was good because she really needed to get some color back on her face. "We'll leave tomorrow," she said as calmly as she could. "We need to deliver Zeus' Master Bolt before the summer solstice, and that's a week from now."

Percy stood up and stretched. "Well I guess we better get some sleep then, huh?" he asked rhetorically, and headed to the front door. "I'll see you guys tomorrow." With a final wave, Percy left the Big House and walked to his cabin.


After a full night of sleep, Percy was as ready as he would ever be for a deadly quest. He put on his jeans and orange camp shirt, strapped his shield on his back, packed all his other clothes into his bag, and walked out of the cabin. Outside, there was a large group of campers waiting for him, Annabeth and Grover among them, both looking ready to travel. He strode over to them and together they said goodbye to everyone else and hiked up the hill to Thalia's tree. When they got there, Annabeth and Grover were surprised to see that Chiron wasn't alone, and Percy just smiled at the sight of Katie and Luke.

The three quest-mates walked up to their fellow campers, and the daughter of Athena immediately hugged Luke. "C'mon Annabeth," the older teen said, "I'll see you later okay? You were born to lead, I know you can do it."

Annabeth just nodded and hesitantly backed away, a blush on her face. Luke then looked over at Grover. "Hey bud," he told him, "you keep these two in line alright? Can't accomplish anything if you fight amongst yourselves."

Grover nodded nervously, not looking very excited at the prospect of having to get between Annabeth and Percy if they decided to kill each other. Finally, Luke turned to Percy. "Perce," he said, and put his hand on the young demigod's shoulder. "I believe in you, alright? You're the muscle here, so you take care of them both."

Percy nodded resolutely. "You got it Luke! I'll keep 'em safe for sure!"

Luke smiled at his student's determination. "By the way, Beckendorf couldn't be here because he got sent out with the first group of campers, but he told me that he knew you'd put his shield to good use."

Percy smiled, and Luke stepped away to look at all three of them. "I wish I could offer more help, but with the weather the way it is I don't think you could use my flying shoes very well."

Annabeth shook her head. "Don't worry Luke, we're as ready as we can be. It's enough that you came to wish us luck."

Percy rolled his eyes at Annabeth's lame comment. It wasn't hard to figure out that she had a crush on Luke. In fact, it was so easy that he actually questioned his teacher's intelligence. How could someone so smart and cool like Luke miss something so painfully obvious?

Luke walked back next to Chiron, and Katie stepped forward, holding a messenger bag in her hands. "Here," she said, handing it to Annabeth, "it's got some nectar and ambrosia, and some money too, just in case."

Annabeth took the bag and slung it over her shoulder. "Thanks," she told the other girl. Katie said goodbye to her and Grover, and finally she stepped in front of Percy. They stood there for a few moments, just staring at each other.

"C'mon Grover," Annabeth said awkwardly, "let's go say hi to Argus."

"Uh, yeah! I haven't seen him in a while!"

Chiron nodded. "I think I should go with you. Argus and I rarely talk anymore, it'd be good to catch up."

Luke started heading back to camp. "Yeah, we'll see you guys in a week!"

Before they knew it, Percy and Katie were alone. A few moments passed, and Percy started snickering. Katie followed his example, and soon they were both laughing loudly.

Once they calmed down, the daughter of Demeter crossed her arms. "You better come back in one piece, Percy," she threatened, "it would suck if you saved the world and lost an arm in the process."

"Don't worry about me," Percy said, "there's no monster in the world who could compare to my awesome!"

Katie flicked him on the forehead. "Stop being so cocky already, it'll get you killed."

That comment sobered them up, and the silence that followed only dampened their spirits.

"Listen, Katie," Percy started, "I'll be alright, I promise. You said I'm the strongest demigod ever, remember?"

Katie smiled despite the tears threatening to run down her cheeks. "Yeah, I know," she said, "just... be careful okay? Seriously, don't get into fights if you can avoid them."

Percy nodded solemnly, and found himself enveloped in a hug that he hesitantly returned, not exactly used to the idea of being shown more affection than the average pat on the back. He felt like he had to say something, like this could be the last time he'd ever see her again and he'd hate himself if he didn't tell her something profound. Unfortunately, he couldn't come up with anything like that, and when his friend let go of him only thing he could think of was to be honest for once.

"You're the best friend I've ever had."

It was cheesy and incredibly lame, but Katie just smiled warmly at him and began heading back to camp. He stared after her, and after some time, decided he'd kept the others waiting long enough.

The psychokinetic made his way to the white SUV, where his quest would begin, and could only think of Katie, Luke, and Camp Half-Blood. There was no way he would let the world end, and as selfish as it was, he suddenly wasn't doing it for the greater good, or because it was the right thing to do. He was doing it for his friends and his home, and that's all he really needed.


AN:

Boom, another chapter down, many more to go.

And now were're really getting into it, as the quest for the bolt begins! Don't worry, this won't just be a copy-paste of canon with a psychokinetic Percy. Believe me, I have a completely different journey for our heroes to face, and the ending to this quest will be a major divergence that'll pretty much change everything.

Before you people start complaining about Percy being too OP, believe me when I say that this is nothing compared to his power later on in the story. Plus, there's really no way to make anyone OP in this series, y'know, 'cause there are gods, which are all pretty much overpowered up the butt, and then titans, which are even more overpowered, and then giants, which... well you get the idea.

And I better not hear anyone saying anything about pairings, because that moment was completely platonic. Percy summed it up pretty well: "I'm like twelve years old, and I don't think I've even started puberty yet."

Then again, what's an adventure story without a little romance? Meh, maybe later on, after I've introduced all the characters.

Anyway, 'till next time! :D