I don't own Percy Jackson, and I don't wish I did. You can't trust me with a series like that.
Chapter Fourteen: Sunrise and Sunset
"This is not good."
Percy sat at the edge of Olympus' hearth, his back facing the calm flames dancing in the giant pit. He leaned on his knees, supporting his head with his hands, and watched Hera stride to-and-fro around the empty space of the Olympian Council Room in her normal form.
"This is not good at all," she said. Her face, usually as beautiful as any other goddess', now looked older and much more stressed. She suddenly stopped walking about and faced him. "Do you know what this means?"
Percy was caught off guard, not expecting Hera to ask him anything. "Uh..." He scratched the back of his head. "It isn't good so... It's bad?"
The goddess groaned, her anxiety now joined by frustration. "You don't understand. This is the absolute worst thing that could have happened right now."
Percy blinked. "So... It's really bad?"
Hera ignored his statement and began walking around again. "I can't believe that my father could be rising once more. If he were to return fully then we would stand no chance against him."
The psychokinetic raised an eyebrow. "Hey, wait a minute." Percy sat up, not noticing the flames behind him rise as well. "Didn't you guys already beat the titans the first time? You could just do the same thing as before, right?"
Hera shook her head, thinking back to the first Titan War. "Back then, humanity was fully aware of us, so they were on our side, as were many other gods. The titans themselves weren't expecting us to rise up against them, so we also had the element of surprise." She sighed, closing her eyes in an attempt to fight the migraine that was already starting up. "There were many other factors in our victory, factors which aren't in place now. Considering how my father was somehow able to get someone to steal the Master Bolt, his forces must be very strong as well. It seems like this time we're the ones who got caught off guard."
Percy gulped, now a little more worried about the whole situation. He had thought that Kronos would be a minor issue that the Olympians could fix without any real problems, but apparently that wasn't the case. "Well, can't you just tell all the other gods? You guys can all start getting ready for... er, whatever it is that'll happen."
The goddess of marriage rubbed her forehead. "If only it was that easy. My husband would try to deny it until indisputable proof is presented, and the rest of the Olympians would most likely brush me off without a second thought."
Now Percy was confused. "Why? I thought you were supposed to be the queen of Olympus and all that."
"The thing is, the rest of the Olympians and I don't really get along very well. If I were to tell them, they'd probably think it to be some kind of trick. It's situations like these that make me regret some choices I've made," Hera told him, though her tone was anything but regretful. If anything, she sounded slightly proud of herself for whatever it was that she did to the other gods.
The young demigod groaned, palming his face. "Seriously? C'mon, this is the second time this week that your family issues could end the world!"
Despite herself, a rueful smile grew on Hera's face. "You get used to it eventually," she said, but Percy didn't know if that was really a good thing. Her expression then shifted back to one of worry, and she huffed in what he easily deduced was irritation. "These circumstances are terrible, though. Why did you not tell this information to the council when you had the chance? That way, some of them might've at least considered your words."
Her voice sounded a little accusing, and Percy frowned. "Hey, it isn't my fault this happened! I had to drag myself all the way over here, and then you guys tried to get me killed! I'm pretty sure a near-death experience would make anyone forget that kind of stuff!"
Hera looked guilty then, and she sighed deeply. "I... You're right. I apologize," she said, and Percy had to restrain himself from gaping. If there was anything he had never expected a god to do it was to ask for his forgiveness, especially after the first impression some of the Olympians had just made.
"In truth, it is our own fault that we are so unprepared," she told him. "For years, Artemis has been reporting a rather exponential increase in monster numbers. When confronted about this, my brother Hades denied any part in it." Walking over to him, Hera sat down at his side and slumped on her knees like he had been doing, poise be damned. "Of course we still thought it was him, even with all the evidence pointing against our suspicions, but now I wonder if we were just trying to convince ourselves that the titans had no part in it."
Percy tried leaning back, but flinched and decided against it. 'Of course everything still hurts. Great.'
The goddess beside him noticed his pain from the corner of her eye. "You are hurt. The Master Bolt, I take it?" Her response was a dull nod. "It is only right. No one could handle the amount of power such a weapon possesses, not even someone like you," she said.
Before Percy could even think about what she said, Hera asked him something that nearly brought him to tears. "Would you like me to heal you? I'll make sure you are as good as new."
"Please!" He answered, loud enough that his voice echoed throughout the empty council room. "You've got no idea how awesome that would be! It feels like there's a million bees constantly stinging me all over!"
Hera covered her mouth and nodded. "If that is what you want. It might be a bit of a shock, but remember, you were the one who asked for it."
The demigod swore that he heard a small chuckle, and then he was suddenly pushed backwards. His eyes widened and he swung his arms forward to try to reclaim his balance, but it was already to late. Falling into the hearth, Percy shut his eyes and swore to the heavens that he would find a way to get the traitorous goddess back for what would surely be a painful death.
He landed on his back, eyes still closed, and waited for the inevitable feeling of his skin getting melted off his bones. After several seconds of suspense, Percy opened one eye and looked up to see a very pleased goddess of marriage, her features tinted orange. He slowly stood up, still expecting to feel the burning sensation that should've taken over by now, and found himself surrounded by what should've been sizzling flames.
To his surprise, the psychokinetic felt his pain start to recede. He looked down at his hands, enticed by the fire dancing around his form. 'Healing fire?' he thought, his wonder then replaced by annoyance. 'Oh right, I'm in Olympus. Just the fact that it exists should be impossible in the first place.'
Percy cranked his neck to face Hera, who was looking down at him with the most infuriatingly small smirk he had ever seen. "You got a real kick out of that, didn't you?" he asked.
"Your eyes resembled that of dinner plates, and I mean the ones I use in my godly form," she said, which he basically took as her classy version of 'you should've seen your face'.
"Yeah, yeah," the demigod grumbled, climbing out of the fire pit with ease. 'Ive gotta give it to her though, it feels great to move around without wanting to die after two hours of it,' he thought, mentally thanking her.
"You're welcome."
Percy's eye twitched. He'd completely forgotten that gods actually got their prayers, even ones as small as those. "I think I liked you better when you didn't have a sense of humor."
The fact that her face remained impassive didn't help his mood, either. She wasn't even smirking, but Percy could still feel the satisfaction oozing out of her.
"Perseus, we still have to deal with our little problem," she told him, and Percy groaned, almost having forgotten about the huge threat of the titans again.
"Right. So, what can we do?" he asked, now able to lean back on his seat, though he made sure not to get within a foot of the fire. "I mean, none of the other gods'll listen to you, and I don't think they'll appreciate me knocking on their door like some kind of Girl Scout."
Hera scowled, and right then Percy knew that he wouldn't like whatever she was about to say. "I cannot see a way for us to convince the rest of the council about my father's rising without undeniable proof. Unfortunately, my duties here are too important for me to spend time out looking for it." Yep, he'd been right.
Percy rubbed the bridge of his nose, already exasperated at the fact that he would have to leave camp again. "I can see where this is going," he said. "You want me to go out on some wild goose chase to prove that your jerk of a dad is actually starting trouble."
The goddess considered him. "Actually, I was going to request the help of another demigod under my charge, but I suppose this should stay localized. Jumping pantheons is always a bit too risky in these situations..."
"Wait, what did you just-"
"It is decided then," Hera interrupted, taking ahold of Percy's shoulder. "You will be my agent down below. If you manage to find anything of substance, make sure to present it to me immediately, got it?"
Percy gaped. "H-Hey, I haven't agreed to anything!"
"Perseus," she said, her tone tight, "I've helped you several times now. I'd like to be a benevolent goddess, but that just isn't who I am at the moment. You understand?"
The psychokinetic paled a bit. Hera wasn't holding a particularly threatening expression, but for some reason Percy didn't think that denying her orders would be very good for his health. "Uh-huh, I got'cha! Yep! You can count on me, sir- I mean, ma'am!" he announced, giving her a quick salute that couldn't of been more unnecessary.
"I'm glad we've come to an understanding," she said, smiling down at him. The goddess stood and walked over to the foot of her throne. When it looked like she was about to teleport away, the young demigod sighed lowly to himself, almost having had a heart attack.
"Oh, and Perseus?"
Looking up at the goddess of marriage, Percy almost fell back into the flames at the eerie smile on her face. "Uh... Yeah?"
"Taking your situation at the time into consideration, I've decided to let you get away with killing one of my sons just this once. But remember," her eyes then took a terrifying glint, "this is a one-time-thing, okay? If I hear about any of my children having to reform themselves again because of you, well..." She trailed off, taking pleasure in the look of absolute horror on Percy's face. Smirking, the goddess vanished, leaving the trembling demigod to sit alone in the giant room.
Percy clutched at his beating heart. "Holy c-crap..." he mumbled. "I've stared down the god of the underworld, but Hades doesn't have anything on her." He wiped away the sweat that had formed on his forehead. "Who knew that such a nice person could be so downright scary?"
Though he didn't notice, the fire behind him rose as if in agreement.
Dark clouds gathered over Camp Half-Blood, but the campers were far too focused on their ceremony to care. Unlike the storm that had been cast over the country the previous week, all of those present couldn't help but feel that it was fitting weather for the event they were taking part in.
There were twelve burial shrouds lined up on a platform next to a large fire, with someone from each deceased camper's cabin ready burn them. The worst thing about it was that at least one camper from each populated cabin had died.
Percy, who had just gotten back from Olympus earlier that day, wore black like everybody else in the crowd of campers. They were all looking up at Chiron, who was set to speak. Next to the centaur stood Dionysus, who was particularly sullen compared to his usual attitude. Percy couldn't even be angry for their previous encounter, and instead felt pity for the god. It must've been hard to lose one of his only two demigod sons.
Chiron stood in front of the flames, not betraying any hint of emotion. The young demigod guessed that three thousand years of his heroes dying must've made it so the centaur was used to this sort of thing.
With a small cough, Chiron inadvertently made the silence of the crowd that much more unbearable.
"Today is a day of both victory and sorrow," he began, his voice booming in their ears. "For the first time in years, our lives as we know them were put at risk. Lords Zeus and Hades were at the brink of war, and thanks to our efforts, Olympus stands stall in the aftermath." He paused, and this time Percy didn't think it was for dramatic effect. "However, while your courage is deserving of praise, this is the time to mourn for those we lost."
The centaur stepped over to the edge of the platform, giving everyone in the crowd a good view of the fire he had been standing in front of. "Here is the bonfire in which the shrouds of the fallen will be burnt. May their souls reach Elysium."
With that, the campers standing before the shrouds of their siblings picked up their burdens and formed a line facing the fire. Their hearts heavy, Camp Half-Blood said goodbye or eleven of their own.
Luke and Beckendorf wore tight expressions as they lay their shrouds over the fire, with Luke almost spasming in the same kind of anger that Percy had only seen once before: when he talked about his father. The psychokinetic had been unable to tell his teacher about Hermes when he got back, and now he knew that whatever Luke had against the god of thieves wouldn't disappear anytime soon.
Clarisse had the worst of it. Her cabin had lost five members, the most out of any in the camp. Percy didn't exactly like the aggressive girl, but he was sad to see that the weight of the five shrouds in her arms wasn't the only cause of her heavy steps.
When the Demeter cabin head dropped her shroud, Percy's gaze immediately set itself on Katie, who was a few feet ahead of him. She was shaking, and Percy gulped before starting to walk over to her. Before the demigod could take another step, Grover, who had been standing next to him the entire ceremony, grabbed his shoulder and shook his head. Percy wanted to protest, but when he turned back, he saw Katie being comforted by the rest of her cabin, all of them giving each other encouraging words and hugs.
Sighing, Percy lowered his head. Grover was right, it wasn't his place. While Katie was by far his best friend, it didn't mean that he was hers. He wouldn't of known what to do anyway.
All throughout the ceremony, Chiron had been calling out the names of each deceased camper. The raven-haired demigod didn't know most of them, and even the ones he knew had been acquaintances at best, but each syllable made him feel worse and worse. There was also a cold anger inside him, one that rose after every sharp intake of breath, every tear that dropped to the grassy ground. He knew that the blame rested on Kronos, but after everything that had happened, Percy was ready to rip Zeus and Hades to shreds. If it wasn't for their childish squabble, none of these deaths would've happened.
Finally, when the last name was called, Percy's head rose in shock. He glanced at Grover only to find the satyr as surprised as he was. Eyes wide, they both looked on as one of the Athena campers, Malcolm, raised a blue shroud with a golden owl proudly sewn in the center. Right as he dropped it into the fire, Percy's anger peaked.
Five seconds later, Malcolm gasped in surprise with the rest of the camp when he saw that the shroud had disappeared. Kneeling on the other end of the platform, Percy bundled up the singed shroud in his arms.
The psychokinetic stood, glaring at the Athena camper before him. "What the hell do you think you're doing!?"
Malcolm, to his credit, came back to his senses a second later. "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm burning my sister's shroud!"
"You idiot, Annabeth isn't dead! I already told you that!"
The Athena boy frowned. "You said she was trapped in the Underworld, didn't you?"
"Yeah, trapped. As in, not dead!"
Malcolm flinched, looking down at his feet. "I know that, but..." He gulped. "Let's be honest here. No one's ever made it out of the Underworld before. She... She'll be dead soon, if she isn't already..."
Percy's eyes darkened. "So... You already gave up on her, just like that?"
"Y-Yeah, I did. It's the smart thing to do," Malcolm muttered. "No one can possibly go down there and get her now that Hades took all his monsters back." Percy opened his mouth, about to say something, when the Athena camper cut him off before he could even begin. "And yeah, you guys were able to get the Master Bolt back. Congratulations. After that, Hades would have the Underworld guarded so well that an insect couldn't fly over the wall without getting disintegrated."
The psychokinetic shook, not believing what he was hearing, from Annabeth's own brother no less. "That doesn't matter! We can't just do nothing!"
"Who could do it then? You?"
"Of course! I won't leave Annabeth to rot in some cell! Who the hell do you think I am!?"
Malcolm glared at him, his grey eyes full of loathing. "I think... I think you're the one who left her behind in the first place!"
Percy snapped. Before Malcolm could react, the psychokinetic ran forward and punched him square in the nose, blowing the son of Athena off the raised platform to crash-land onto the grass below.
When Percy tried to run at the downed camper, Chiron placed a hand on his shoulder, holding back the young demigod. Unable to hit Malcolm again, Percy settled for screaming at him some more. "You wanna get your ass kicked!? Is that it!?"
The son of Athena had his eyes closed in pain, holding his now bruised nose with one hand. "Gah! W-What the hell!"
"You're pathetic!" Percy shouted, not caring about how much it probably hurt to be on the receiving end of one of his punches. "So you want to leave her in the Underworld? That's such a load of crap! If the smart thing to do is abandoning her there, then I'd rather be completely brainless!" He struggled against Chiron's grip, but found it impossible to break out of. "I don't care whether you believe in me or not, but the least you could do for your sister is to find a way to break her out yourself!"
"Percy," the centaur beside him said, his voice stern. "That's enough."
Percy turned his glare on the camp director, only to be met with Chiron's hard gaze. Clicking his tongue, the demigod brushed off the hand on his shoulder and started to walk away into the woods nearby.
Without turning back, Percy held up the bundled shroud on his hand. "I'm keeping this by the way," he said. "When Annabeth comes back home, I'll give it to her. She can burn it herself for all I care."
The stunned audience watched in shock as Percy disappeared into the foliage. After a long pause, Chiron sighed and began his own trek into the woods. Wearily, the centaur considered his luck. It seemed that there would always be a hero too complicated for his tastes.
Percy sat on a low branch, tying up a long string of roots that one of the more generous wood nymphs had given him. He finished his knot, almost losing his balance in the process, and wiped off his hands with his camp shirt. With a grunt, the demigod let himself fall off the branch and landed on the forest floor. Turning around, he narrowed his eyes and looked up at his handiwork.
Hanging on the branch was Annabeth's shroud, it's upper edges tied to the branch with an assortment of roots and vines. The blue and gold quilt slightly waved in the wind, almost making it look like some kind of flag.
"That is quite the decoration."
Huffing, Percy turned to face his camp director. "What is it, Chiron? Am I grounded?"
To his surprise, the centaur merely snorted and took out a celestial bronze sword. Getting into what Percy figured was his stance, Chiron pointed the tip of his sword at the demigod. "Well? Come on, then."
It was so unexpected that the psychokinetic's anger was momentarily forgotten. "Wh-Wha?"
Chiron chuckled. "Talking through whatever is on your mind won't help in your present state, so have at me."
His glare shifting back into place, Percy took his pen out of his pocket. "Are you sure? I don't want you to break a hip, or whatever it is you have."
The old centaur didn't even twitch. "That is exactly the kind of overconfidence that got Annabeth trapped in the first place."
Percy uncapped Riptide, already charging forward. "Why you!"
A half hour later, Percy was laid out on the ground, panting. Next to him, Chiron looked down at the demigod, not a single scratch on his button-up shirt. The trainer opened his mouth, about to say something, but felt a light tap on his hoof.
Looking down, Chiron was amused to see the tired demigod still trying to hit him, though the exhaustion took away any force he might've had. "You're persistent, I'll give you that."
Percy wanted to growl at the horseman, but his heart wasn't in it. Instead, he closed his eyes and sighed in annoyance. "Ugh, now I get it. You wanted to tire me out so that I'd have to lay here and listen to you, right? Sneaky bastard..."
Chiron gave him a serene smile. "I've been training heroes for around three thousand years, Percy. I have more than enough experience when it comes to temperamental problems." He shook his head. "However, that is besides the point. About what you said back there..."
The demigod scoffed. "Oh, please. Don't tell me I have to go apologize to that little-"
"Of course not, my boy," Chiron said. "While the time and place of your words were... misplaced, to say the least," Percy looked sideways, somewhat sheepish, "I wholeheartedly agree with what you said. Annabeth must not be left out to the wolves."
"Thank you! At least you have a brain," Percy told him, then muttered under his breath. "Some son of Athena..."
Chiron sighed. "Malcolm was certainly putting too much faith into his logic, but you should place yourself in his shoes, Percy." Catching the psychokinetic's questioning gaze, he elaborated. "Just think. After such a hectic week, and after several deaths, Malcolm then finds out that his sister is caged up in the Underworld of all places. With all that has happened, it might be easier for him to accept her death than to hope for her return."
Percy stared ahead, his eyes thoughtful. "Yeah, I guess that makes sense." He scowled. "He's still an idiot, though." The demigod sat up, now having enough energy to do so. "I guess that's it, then?"
"No, of course it isn't."
Percy slumped back to his previous position of laying on the ground, his hands now behind his head. "Great. I wanted to rest on the hard forest floor anyway."
"You don't exactly make it easy on yourself," Chiron told him, scoffing. His face became stoic, and Percy knew things were a lot more serious than he wanted them to be. "Back there, you mentioned something about rescuing Annabeth?"
Percy's lips thinned. "I meant it too. I'll get her back here, whatever it takes."
Chiron nodded. "I believe you, but Malcolm wasn't just spouting off nonsense. Hades has surely upped security in his domain, and if he catches you trespassing in there again..."
He trailed off, but Percy knew what the centaur meant. There was no way Hades would let him out of his turf alive twice.
"I don't care," he said. "I'll find a way in there and get her out, somehow."
His camp director looked down at him. "Percy, I'm sorry, but I must insist that you don't go anywhere near the Underworld, at least not now."
Percy glared. "Why the hell not!?" he shouted.
"Because it is a fool's errand!" Chiron shouted right back. The demigod was taken back, never having heard Chiron scream at anyone, not even when he was disguised as his history teacher. "As things stand, you are much too unprepared for such a quest! If you try to rescue Annabeth now, the only thing that you will accomplish is getting yourself killed!"
Percy opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He had no retort for that. Gritting his teeth, the psychokinetic turned his head. "But... I've gotta do something! I can't just... I..."
"Percy," Chiron said, now more subdued. "I understand why you want to save Annabeth, believe me, but there is no reason to put yourself in danger so needlessly."
The demigod stood up, his fists clenched. "You don't get it... Malcolm was right. It's all my fault!"
Chiron raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"
"I couldn't keep us from getting captured. I couldn't break her out. I was just too damn weak!" Percy brought his head down, unwilling to look at the centaur's face. "Even after that, the only reason we won the fight was because of dumb luck and that stupid bolt! I couldn't do a thing! I-"
He stopped when he felt the weight on his head. Looking up, the demigod was stunned to see Chiron smiling down at him.
"Oh, what's this?" The centaur asked, ruffling Percy's raven locks. "Who would've known that you of all people could show any amount of humility?"
Percy closed his gaping mouth, a small smile growing on his own face. "Yeah..." He sighed, kicking the dirt at his feet. "So... What do I do, Chiron?"
He felt his hair get ruffled again, and the deep voice of the camp director responded. "You move forward, Percy. You keep going without looking back."
"But what about Annabeth?"
"You'll be glad to know that people we've met and journeyed with are never truly left behind." The centaur patted his shoulder and turned, trotting back to camp. Just before he disappeared from sight, Percy heard him. "Wherever it is you're going, I'm sure you'll meet her again along the way. Until then..."
The psychokinetic watched Chiron leave, then looked up at Annabeth's shroud. "Right," he said to himself, a natural smirk coming back into place. "Until then, get stronger."
'Whatever path I'm on, wherever it is that I'm headed,' he thought, beginning his own trek back to camp, 'I'll make sure you're with me every step of the way. See ya later, Annabeth.'
"Hey! Wait up!"
Percy took off after the beaming daughter of Demeter, only reaching her once she stopped at the base of the tree that had slowly become theirs. She turned around, giving him her patented mischievous grin. "What's the matter, hero? You went coast to coast and back in a week, but you can't even beat me in a little race?"
The psychokinetic slowed to a stop, doing his best to hide the small huffing of his breath. "I already told you, I was sitting on a giant crab the entire time!" He crossed his arms and raised his chin. "And you just started running all of a sudden! What's got you so excited, anyway?"
It had been a week since his return to Camp Half-Blood, and in all of that time, Katie had been a complete disaster. She hadn't even come out of her cabin at all the first two days, forcing one of her siblings to go and bring her food. It was only the day before that he'd finally seen her, but it was brief, and he barely said two words to her before they were separated by their archery instructor on account of 'wasting class time'.
'This is a summer camp, damn it! What class time!?' he thought, a particularly dirty look on his face.
"Hello? Earth to Percy?"
The demigod blinked and immediately blushed. Katie's nose was inches from his, and Percy got the sudden urge to back away as soon as possible. Not one to ignore his instincts that's exactly what he did...
...only to trip and fall flat on his ass.
"Ow!"
Katie, of course, immediately began to laugh.
Percy scowled at her, trying to ignore the ever-increasing burning of his cheeks. "What the hell, Katie? Give me a heart attack, why don't you?"
The daughter of Demeter was still laughing too hard to say anything coherent, but her gasping breaths spelled out something like, "You... Should... Have... Seen... Your... Face!"
Here she stopped, giving him a curious look. She wasn't looking at him in the eyes, but Percy turned his head anyway, if only to keep her from seeing how red his face was. It didn't work.
"Oh my gods!"
Giving her an irate glare from the corner of his eye, Percy huffed. "What is it now?" he asked. His eyes widened when he saw the absolute glee radiating off her. 'This can't be good...'
"You're blushing!"
Percy stood up quickly, looking panicked. "N-No I'm not!" he said, blushing even harder.
"Are too!"
"You're colorblind or something!"
She rolled her eyes. "Percy, if I was colorblind then I most likely wouldn't see red." Her grin returned. "Which, by the way, I'm totally seeing right now!"
"S-Shut up! I'd never blush, especially in front of you!"
Katie took on a hurt expression. "Oh... Percy, you don't think I'm pretty?"
"Wha..." Percy gulped, suddenly realizing the minefield he'd walked onto. "No! I mean, I never said that! I think you're pretty!"
His friend perked up, and The psychokinetic almost palmed his face. 'Damn it, shut up, me!' he thought, then froze when Katie got her face close to his again.
"Mmm... So you do think I'm pretty?"
Percy tried taking a step back...
"Gah!"
... only to fall again.
Laughing, Katie held out her hand to him. His face now vermillion, Percy glared up at her. "I hate you," he said, taking the offered hand and pulling himself back up.
"Percy," she told him, her amusement reduced to small chuckles. "This'll be so much fun!"
The young demigod was seriously considering jumping into the lake and just ending it right then and there.
"Anyway," Katie said, "I brought you here for a reason, so let's get on with it."
Percy stopped rubbing at his cheeks, though he knew the slight tinge of red was still present, something that Katie thankfully ignored. "Uh-huh, so what is it?"
She walked until she was right in front of the tree and turned to face him. Taking out a dagger from behind her waist, the daughter of Demeter pointed its tip at him. "I want to fight you," she said.
When Percy's only response was to cross his fingers behind his head, Katie placed her other hand on her hip. "So? Are we doing this or not? Come on, take out that pen of yours and throw it at me, or whatever it is you do with it nowadays."
Grunting, Percy reached into his pocket and took out Riptide. "You know how this is gonna end up, right? I'm gonna bury you, Gardner."
She had a strange expression, like she was trying hard not to laugh, but the psychokinetic shrugged it off. Sure, Katie was good, technically speaking, but he was Percy Jackson. He had faced monsters ten times bigger than a human being, any trap she had for regular campers and monsters wouldn't work on someone like him.
"Alright," she said, her entire body tensed. "Go!"
As soon as she said it, Percy blasted off the ground and reached her in less than a second. Katie looked surprised at his sudden charge, or how fast he was going, but her demigod reflexes allowed her to duck under his swinging fist and put some distance between them.
Percy was about to come after her again, but found that he couldn't. Looking down, the demigod gasped when he saw the roots twirling their way around his legs and up his chest. Soon enough, Percy was completely immobilized, standing in an awkward position. The psychokinetic tried to move his arm, but the roots wouldn't give him an inch, and so he glanced up at the smirking daughter of Demeter.
"Not so tough now, are you, hotshot?" she asked. Percy only scoffed.
"I guess you got pretty good at this stuff, huh?" he asked, his voice strangely calm. Katie was perturbed, having expected him to at least lose his temper over getting caught in her trap, but decided that he must've just accepted his defeat.
"Yeah, good enough to set up this trap for you." She knocked on the roots that held him, looking very pleased with herself. "I can make them bigger, but considering how you are, I figured that the smartest thing to do was make sure you couldn't move even a little. So, smaller and tougher it was."
"Not bad," he told her, then smirked. Seeing this, Katie tried to run, but it was already too late. "But don't underestimate me!"
Without any other warning, Katie fell into the ground with an embarrassingly high-pitched cry. Looking down at herself, the daughter of Demeter gasped when she saw that she was buried into the ground from the neck down, just as immobile as Percy.
"What!?" she exclaimed, looking up at the raven-haired demigod.
Percy's smirk widened. "Hey, I did tell you that I'd bury you, didn't I?
Katie groaned. "Ha-ha, very funny." She tried moving again, but the struggle was fruitless. "How'd you even do this? I thought that you needed to point at things to use your powers on them."
The psychokinetic would've nodded if he could, but instead gave her a light hum of agreement. "I don't really need to though, it just helps me focus. It's the same for you, right?"
The demigoddess nodded. "Yeah, I see what you mean." She quickly began feeling uncomfortable in her current position, and got an itch in her nose that would kill her if she didn't scratch it. "Whatever, I guess this ends in a tie. Can you let me out now?"
Percy blanched. "Uh... The thing is..."
Katie looked at him, her eyes threatening. "Percy..." She said slowly, "I need you to take me out. I need my hands to take you out of my trap."
The demigod chuckled nervously. "Heh, yeah. Y'know, that's really funny, 'cause I've got the same problem."
"... What?"
"I need my hands to take you out, too. I haven't exactly mastered the 'filling the hole back up' part yet."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"... Katie?"
"... So you trapped me in here knowing that we'd both be stuck like this?"
"Well... I couldn't just let you win."
"..."
"Uh, Katie? You okay?"
"You better pray to every god you know about, Percy, because I swear that you'll need every single one of them to survive what I'm gonna do to you after we get out of here!"
Percy crouched behind a bush, the Stoll brothers at his sides. Tentatively, they looked up from their hiding spot and saw that the way to the Aphrodite cabin was clear, with most campers in line to the showers.
"I don't know about this..." Percy told them, pulling his head back down. He might've been staying in the Hermes cabin, but the demigod was sure that he wasn't related in any way to the god of thieves. He liked to come out with guns blazing, not hide in the shadows.
Travis, who was kneeling on his right, put a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, Perce! It's totally worth it! There's gotta be a reason why those Aphrodite girls got a shower for themselves in that cabin!"
Connor, kneeling on his left, also put a hand on Percy's other shoulder. "Yeah! You've seen their mom, right? Just imagine how her daughters must look!"
Blushing, Percy tightened his grip on the two items in his hand. On one, he had a small camera, and on the other, he had Annabeth's invisibility hat. "Aphrodite is by far the most beautiful lady I've ever seen," he told them, "but she also hates me. If I get caught, then her daughters'll hate me too. I don't think I wanna spend the rest of the summer getting beat up by half a cabin's worth of girls."
Travis grinned and patted him on the back. "There's no need to worry, my little friend!" He ignored Percy's grumble and pointed at the Yankees cap. "You'll be invisible!"
Connor nodded, his grin matching his brother's. "The only thing you need to worry about is being quiet," he said, putting a finger to his lips. "That's half the fight right there!"
"But-"
"Oh, please Percy!" Travis begged, bowing to the psychokinetic with his hands in a prayer gesture. "You wouldn't let us use that hat, so you're the only one who can!"
'The only reason I don't let you guys use it is because I can't even begin to imagine how horrible it would be,' Percy thought, his face deadpan.
Connor got on his knees as well, taking the same posture as his brother. "C'mon Percy, all the guys are counting on you! If you can get those pictures, you'd be the camp hero!"
"Eh!? I already saved the world, didn't I!?" Percy exclaimed.
The Stolls held their chins, and hummed in perfect synchronization.
"It's true that what you did is to be commended," Travis said.
"But tell me, what is the greater accomplishment?" Connor asked. "Saving the world..."
"... or getting nude pics of the hottest chicks in the country?" Travis finished.
Percy rubbed his forehead. "You're kidding me, right?"
The Stolls hummed again, and Travis narrowed his eyes. "I think the better question is..."
"What team do you play for?" Connor finished.
"Uh..." Percy scratched the back of his head, thoroughly confused. Then it hit him. "Woah, woah, woah! What the hell are you two getting at!?"
"Any other guy would've jumped at the chance," Travis said.
"Mhm," Connor agreed, "screw the consequences. This is the perfect opportunity."
They both looked at him intently. "Percy, if you don't do this, then we both know what that would mean," Travis told him.
"So what are you gonna do?" Connor asked.
Eyes wide, Percy scrambled to his feet. "Okay, okay!" He looked at them with his head held high. "Don't worry, I'll get those pictures even if it kills me!" His shoulders slouched. "Which it probably will," he muttered.
Without another word, the psychokinetic put on the hat and disappeared from sight. The Stoll brothers waved goodbye, shouting words of luck and support, before grinning and giving each other a high-five.
"Am I interrupting something?"
Travis and Connor turned to see their cabin head giving them a questioning look. Without saying anything, the siblings stood and wrapped an arm around each of Luke's shoulders.
"Why nothing, my fellow Hermesian!"
"Yep! Absolutely nothing going on inside the Aphrodite cabin!"
Luke crossed his arms. "I know that look," he said. "It's the one you both get when you just played a prank on someone." When they wagged their eyebrows at him, the Hermes cabin head groaned. "Gods, don't tell me..." He rubbed the base of his nose. "It was Percy, wasn't it?"
"Of course not!"
"We just sent him on a quest, is all!"
"The most important quest he could ever partake in!"
"So you got him to go take pictures of those girls," Luke deduced, already used to his half-brothers' pranks. When they didn't respond, he sighed. "That kid... He might be strong as hell, but he's so gullible that I think he'll believe you if you told him there was an extra number between one and two." Shaking his head, Luke glanced at each Stoll in turn. "What did you do, then? Alarm clock in his pocket?"
"Nope."
"Magic shoelaces that tie each other up?"
"Ha! I remember that one! No, no, that's not it."
Luke scratched his chin. "Hmmm..." His eyebrows shot up. "The camera... You turned off the flash, right?"
His answer came in the form of multiple shrieks coming from the Aphrodite cabin.
"PERVERT!"
For the next couple of minutes, Luke heard various unmanly yelps of pain from the cabin, the two Stolls kneeling in laughter all the while.
"Fire! Someone bring the hose!"
Percy, who had been talking to Beckendorf about finally fixing his dented shield, was alarmed at the call. "Fire!? What's going on?"
The two half-bloods looked over at the Hephaestus cabin, which was already generating plumes of black smoke. The psychokinetic was about to take off and help, but Beckendorf grabbed his arm before he could.
Rattled at the sudden change in momentum, Percy looked up at his friend with a raised brow. "What's the deal? Your cabin's on fire, man!"
Beckendorf waved his other hand in dismissal. "Don't worry about it. We're the children of Hephaestus, remember? With all the forging and whatnot that happens in there, fires are pretty common."
Percy didn't exactly enjoy standing around and doing nothing, though. "Shouldn't we at least try to help?"
"We've got it," the large boy reassured him, then pointed back at the cabin. "See?"
Just as he said that, a long, bronze cart filled with barrels drove up next to them. Each barrel was made out of steel, with a circular indentation near the bottom. As soon as the aid arrived, the campers around the burning cabin unhooked a metallic hose that had been hanging from a hook at the side of the cart.
Percy zeroed in on the strange hose. "What's that?" he asked the demigod beside him. "It looks like it came right out of a fire truck. Y'know, except for how it's made out of metal."
Beckendorf smiled proudly. "It's one of my cabin's newest inventions," he said. "The Ultra High-Pressure Hydraulic Cannon. Depending on how we set it up, it could blow a hole right through a foot-thick titanium wall or shower the entire camp in a wide spread!"
The son of Hephaestus crossed his arms, nodding to himself. 'Of course, the moment he says how cool it is, I'll tell him that I'm the one who designed it!'
"Who came up with such a stupid name?"
Beckendorf slouched.
"I mean, how uncreative do you have to be to call it something like that?"
The big demigod rubbed his arm, all his confidence gone.
"Seriously, you come up with a hose that can go through titanium and then you-" Percy stopped when he heard sniffling. Looking beside him, the demigod cocked his head when he saw Beckendorf. "Uh, Beck? You alright?"
In an instant, the large demigod forced himself to go back to normal, his usual scowl back in its place. "Yeah, I'm fine," he said, "but that fire sure isn't!" Beckendorf held his hand out to the Hephaestus cabin, his other hand holding his hip. "Just watch! The Ultra High-Pressure Hydraulic Cannon will take care of it, no problem!"
Percy glanced up at his friend. 'Jeez, he's pretty pumped up. Heh, pumped.'
Ignoring the young demigod's snicker, Beckendorf turned to his half-siblings. "Okay! Is everything ready?"
The hose must've been extraordinarily heavy, as it took three of the biggest Hephaestus campers to just hold it up. The one carrying the nozzle gave Beckendorf a thumbs up, then stumbled before taking it up with both hands once more.
Seeing this, Percy voiced his concerns. "Beck, I'm not so sure that-"
"We're ready!" Beckendorf shouted. Pointing dramatically at the burning cabin, the son of Hephaestus screamed his command. "Fire!"
Percy snickered again. "Heh, don't you mean water?"
Beckendorf looked down at him with a deep scowl. "Shut up, you," he said, making the smaller demigod take a step back. "Now," he pointed once more, "FIRE!"
The Hephaestus camper next to the cart flipped a switch and the Ultra High-Pressure Hydraulic Cannon unleashed a blast of water wide enough to cover the entirety of the Hephaestus cabin three times over...
... right at the ground.
"Hey! What's going on!" Beckendorf shouted, half in surprise and half in frustration.
The campers that were supposed to be holding up the hose were instead on their knees, huffing and puffing in strained breaths. "S-Sorry Beckendorf..." one of them apologized. "We can... b-barely hold th-that thing up!"
Beckendorf froze, and Percy scratched the back of his head. "Huh," the young demigod commented. "I guess whoever made this thing didn't think about how heavy it would be."
With that, Beckendorf went into a vegetative state. 'No...' he thought. 'That's not possible... I'm supposed to be the best in the cabin...'
With his huge friend apparently out of it, Percy sighed. "I guess I've gotta do this myself, then," he muttered.
The psychokinetic spread out his legs and clapped his hands before holding them both up, palms facing skyward. The metallic containers in the cart groaned loudly, making everyone in the area cringe and cover their ears. Then, to the jaw-dropping awe of those present, all of the water inside the barrels erupted upwards and condensed into a giant liquid ball above Percy.
With a heave, the young demigod made a throwing motion towards the Hephaestus cabin, and the water ball followed suit, flying at the building with great speed. The moment it made contact, all the condensed water seemed to explode, covering the entire area.
Satisfied, Percy brushed his hands against each other and turned to see how his friend was doing. "Well, I guess that's that."
When he saw Beckendorf, Percy was shocked to see the other demigod dripping wet. Looking around, the psychokinetic began chuckling nervously when he noted that every camper there had gotten doused by his efforts.
Beckendorf spat a long stream of water, which would've amused Percy if it wasn't for the twitching of the larger demigod's eye. "Percy," he said, clearly irritated. "Do you know how flooded our cabin must be now?"
All the Hephaestus campers began surrounding him, and Percy held up his hands in a placating gesture. "Heh heh," he laughed, trying to diffuse the situation. "C'mon guys, I helped you stop the fire, didn't I?"
"Yeah," Beckendorf said, taking a mop from one of his half-sisters and holding it out to the young demigod, "and now you get to help us clean up after yourself. And by help, I mean do it on your own."
His head low, Percy took the mop and started his walk to the cabin. 'This is what I get for being a nice guy,' he thought. 'I'm never helping these guys again. Ungrateful jerks...'
"Happy Birthday!"
Percy grinned at his friends, all of whom surrounded him on the table. "You guys, I can't believe you did all this."
He really couldn't. They currently occupied one of the tables in the Dinning Pavilion, which was empty as lunchtime had only ended an hour before. In front of him was a circular chocolate cake with the words 'Happy Birthday, Percy!' with thirteen candles around its circumference.
It wasn't much, but it was way better than anything he had gotten at the orphanage. They had tried throwing him a party when he had grown old enough to understand the concept of birthdays, but most of the kids seemed peeved about having to show up for it. It wasn't a surprise when his birthday was skipped over the following year.
"Of course we did it!" Beckendorf told him, patting him on the back and making the smaller demigod stumble in his seat. "Turning thirteen is a big step! It's the transition between the boy you used to be and the man you are now!"
Percy beamed at the large demigod, but Katie snickered. "He's pretty small for a man, don't you think?" she asked, splitting the cake up into triangular pieces.
The birthday boy's shoulders slumped. "You're not that much taller than me, y'know," he muttered.
"Oh, it's alright Percy," said Silena Beauregard, the head of the Aphrodite Cabin, "I think it's kind of cute how you're the shortest one here."
After the 'Invisible Peeper' incident, as the female population at camp had taken to calling it, Beckendorf had taken Percy and Silena aside to clear the air. She had forgiven it easily enough, though the psychokinetic was sure that it was only to get on Beckendorf's good graces. Regardless, it was nice to be at peace after two whole days of being chased around by insulted girls.
They had really hit it off after that, mostly because Silena's kindness was a huge step above her half-siblings' generally shallow attitude. It didn't hurt that she was also incredibly beautiful, even if her hair was always a different color every time Percy saw her.
"Whatever," the young demigod said, taking a piece of cake from Katie. When he bit into it, his eyes widened, and in mere seconds, the plastic plate in his hand was empty. "That's the best cake I've ever had! Where'd you get it?" he asked, holding out his plate for seconds.
"I didn't," she told him, frowning at the Stoll brothers. "Why don't you ask these two bozos?"
"Bozos? That's harsh, Kate," Travis said, pouting.
"I told you that my name was Katie! Ka-tie!"
"Anyway," Connor said, catching Percy's attention as his brother and the daughter of Demeter launched into an argument. "It wasn't hard, Perce. As the genius brothers that we are, we managed to acquire it from our outside connections!"
"They stole it," Luke said, not taking his eyes off the cake in his hand. After another bite, he continued. "I saw them sneak into the Big House last night. Pretty sure this was supposed to go to Michael Yew from the Apollo cabin."
"Now that you mention it," Grover mused, looking down at the cake while eating his plastic plate. "Percy's name is spelled out with different colored frosting."
Travis turned away from Katie, who was still ranting on about the profit loss in the camp store. "We ran out of red right after writing the first two words," he said, not even trying to sound convincing.
Beckendorf gazed at Connor. "Why don't you guys ever just admit to something you did? Everyone knows it was you."
"Ah-ah," Connor said, wagging his finger at the large demigod. "There's always a possibility that we did it-"
"A pretty big one," Silena muttered.
"-but no one can ever prove it. We aren't about to self-incriminate ourselves."
Stifling a laugh, Percy was about to dig into his third piece of cake when a light cough interrupted him. Looking over at the entrance to the pavilion, Percy and his friends were surprised to see a nervous Malcolm staring back at them.
The psychokinetic stood up and walked over to the Athena camper, who seemed to shrink under the numerous eyes that were fixed on him. "So..." Percy drawled, "what do you want?"
Malcolm bowed his head, wringing his hands together. "Look," he said, his voice barely audible, "I'm sorry, alright? You know, about what happened..."
Percy hid his surprise with a yawn. 'He's apologizing to me?' the demigod thought. 'Even after I punched him in the face? I guess miracles do happen.'
"You were right," Malcolm told him. "Annabeth... She's my half-sister, and I shouldn't give up on her, so..." He gulped, refusing to meet Percy's eyes. "I thought that... maybe... I could help you save her. Not because I can't do it on my own!" he quickly added. "Just... Well, we have the same goal now, so it would be smart to help each other out."
For a long moment, Percy said nothing. He looked intently at Malcolm, and the Athena boy fidgeted in place. 'I don't know... He's kind of an ass,' the psychokinetic pondered. 'Then again, so am I. And holding grudges isn't really my style...'
With a sigh, Percy held up his slice of cake. "Welcome to the team, I guess." Malcolm became much more relaxed at that, and accepted the raven-haired demigod's offering with a relieved smile.
Luke and Percy sat on the grassy ground of the forest, sharing a comfortable silence as they rested their bruised and battered bodies. Both idly sipped on their respective bottles of nectar, the son of Hermes making sure to not overdo it like his student, who had no qualms about gulping down the entire drink.
"I'll never understand how you can get away with doing that," Luke commented, making the demigod beside him smirk.
"I told you already, I've got a killer liver," Percy said.
Luke chuckled, taking another swig of his bottle and flexing his arm to see how far along his healing was. "If you say so," he said. The Hermes cabin head then sighed, placing the bottle next to him on the ground.
Percy looked over at his teacher in confusion. "What's wrong?" he asked, then smirked again. "Are you sad that I finally beat you? I guess the student really did surpass the master, eh?"
"You're right," Luke told him. "That puts the score up to 61-1. Good job, Percy."
The young demigod pouted, not being able to think of a response. He didn't have to, though, since Luke wasn't finished.
"I guess you have gotten pretty good, though," he amended, making Percy perk up. "I mean, if I hadn't of held back, you could've maybe even gotten a hit off on me."
The psychokinetic cocked his head, a bit annoyed. "You were holding back? What kinda lame excuse is that?"
"You were holding back too," Luke said. "You should know by now. In a real battle... when it's your life on the line... things are different. Any wrong move could end it, and you're much more inclined to make split-second decisions if it means getting out in one piece."
Percy threw his head back, looking up at the ceiling of branches above them. 'He's got a point,' he thought. 'Back in my fight with Orion, and even against the Minotaur on the last day of school, I could've gotten myself killed at any moment. It isn't that I was scared or anything, but I guess I became a lot more aware of how easy it would've been to die.' Remembering all his spars with Luke, the young demigod cringed. 'If those were real fights, I'd be dead sixty-two times over. Man, am I glad that I don't have to face Luke that way...'
The psychokinetic was so deep on his thoughts that he never noticed when Luke stood up, put a backpack on, and patted his head. Blinking, Percy tried to look up at his teacher, but couldn't move his head. In fact, it was suddenly impossible to move any part of his body. "Wha... Wh..." He tried to form words, but they came out as uninterpretable gurgles.
Luke kneeled in front of his frozen form, a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry about this," he said to him, and the son of Hermes really looked like he meant it. "You know, I was supposed to leave weeks ago, but it felt like something was holding me back from doing it." The swordsman sighed, giving Percy a small smile. "I guess I got pretty attached to you, squirt. It would've been easier to run off at night or something, but I felt that you of all people should get an explanation."
That sounded bad. Whatever Luke wanted to tell him, Percy didn't want to hear it. Somewhere deep in his mind, the demigod had an idea of where this was going. It was the same part of his mind that still remembered Luke's face whenever his father's name came up, or the words he had spoken about the Olympians in his first week of camp.
"Before anything else, you should know that I'm the one who stole the Master Bolt," Luke said, getting Percy to double his vigor in breaking out of whatever curse or spell he was under. "I work for Lord Kronos. I have for a while actually, spying on the camp for him."
Percy's desperation must've shown in his eyes, because Luke refused to meet them. "I just couldn't let those gods up in Olympus lord over us anymore. They're cruel, Percy, you should know that. Our cabin... hell, this camp, is full of examples of their mistakes. Even you, as strong as you are, still haven't been claimed by whoever your godly parent is. My guess? They forgot you. It's the only possibility I can see. Doesn't that make you angry? Isn't it unfair how you were forced to live in an orphanage for years just because the person who brought you into this world was too careless to remember your existence?"
'La-la-la-la-la, not listening!' Percy thought, not wanting to deal with those things at the moment. 'How do I get out of this? What is this? C'mon, Percy, think!' Then, the psychokinetic got an idea. 'Wait a minute! Whatever this is, it's in my body! All I have to do is look around myself and get it out!' With this in mind, Percy started using his biokinesis to search his body for any abnormalities.
"This is why I'm leaving camp, Percy."
'Uh-huh, keep talking! Give me more time!'
"I just wanted you to know that I couldn't of asked for a better student. You've made me really proud these past couple of months."
'Head? No. Arms? No. I don't know, chest? No! Damn it, where is this thing!?'
"I... Well, it would be great if you came with me. I'll make you really strong, and we'll save Annabeth together. I know it's a bit confusing, but-"
'A-ha! Spinal cord! Gotcha'!'
In a flash, Percy had his fist cocked back, already coming at Luke mid-sentence. However, the best swordsman in the last three-hundred years couldn't be defeated that easily, and Luke jumped back the instant he saw his student free himself from the paralysis.
"That's a no, then?" he asked, calmly crossing his arms.
Percy glared heatedly at his teacher. His friend. The traitor. "Of course it's a no," he told him. The demigod would've said more, but it was hard enough to control the rage burning in him as it was.
"Why?" Luke asked, and Percy was sure he saw frustration break through his teacher's blank mask. "Don't you want to be free of the chains these Olympians strapped on you? Why would you fight for them, knowing how terrible they are?"
Percy held up a fist in front of his face, quivering in barely restrained anger. "Because, Luke, I don't fight for the Olympians."
That appeared to have at least confused Luke, as the son of Hermes frowned ever so slightly. The raven-haired demigod grimaced. "It might be super cheesy, you probably won't get it at all, and it could even piss you off a bit by how stupid it sounds, but I fight for my friends, damn it!"
Percy cringed, looking like he had just swallowed something disgusting. "Ugh. I promised myself that I'd never say something like that out loud, but it's true!" he said, his glower back in place. "What about you, Luke? What about all the people here that you care about? Your half-brothers and sisters?" He growled when Luke avoided his gaze. "Hey! Look at me when I'm talking to you!"
"I'm helping to build a better world, Percy," Luke said. "One that everyone can enjoy. I'm sure that they'll forgive me once everything is done and over with."
The psychokinetic stepped forward. "What the hell kind of world is that!? A new one built over the old one's ashes!?" he shouted, shaking his head. "Whatever, I don't care! I'll stop you and that creepy asshole down in Tartarus!"
Percy dashed forward, planning to kick Luke in the stomach, but the son of Hermes jumped up higher than the young demigod thought was possible and landed on a tree branch at least twenty feet above him.
Shocked, Percy planted his foot on the ground, stopping his momentum. "How!?" he gasped, looking up at his ex-teacher. When he did, the psychokinetic was surprised to see little wings coming out of Luke's shoes, connected on his heels. "What-"
"Surprised?" Luke asked, a bit smugly. "You should recognize these winged shoes. They're related to your namesake, after all." Smirking at Percy's shock, the blonde decided to show off a bit and flew onto another branch several feet away. "My father," he spat the word, "gave them to me as a present. Ironic that these would be useful in bringing about his overthrow, huh?"
Growling, Percy dashed forward and began running up the side of the tree Luke was on. "Some fancy shoes won't stop me!" he announced, kicking off the trunk and cutting through the air at Luke, who didn't look very concerned.
The master swordsman ducked under Percy's flying roundhouse at the last second. Twisting around in midair, the young demigod landed harshly on a branch a few feet below. Hearing a chuckle, Percy glared up at the traitor.
"What's so funny? Did you finally realize how hilariously stupid this all is?" he asked, getting ready to jump at his new enemy again.
"No, not that," Luke said, taking something out of his bag. Holding it out for Percy to see, the blonde smirked at the glare he received.
"You took Annabeth's hat? You little-"
"I am a son of the god of thieves, as loath as I am to admit it," Luke stated, preparing to put it on. "Anyway, I should go now. It was nice seeing you one last time, Percy. I wish I could've left on better terms, but I guess I should've expected this. You were always too rash."
Before Percy could do or say anything else, the son of Hermes disappeared. His eyes widening, the psychokinetic held out his hand at the branch that Luke had been standing on and blasted it into splinters with an invisible repulsive force.
When nothing happened, Percy was forced to assume that Luke was long gone. Those winged shoes would get anyone far away in a short span of time, so there was no realistic way that his traitorous teacher was anywhere close anymore.
His head down, the demigod shook. He didn't know whether he felt sad, angry, or a combination of both, but right then the only thing on his mind was Luke's expression as he vanished from sight. Sorrow.
'You feel sad about this?' Percy thought, clenching his fists hard enough for his nails to cut into his palms. 'You...'
"YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO FEEL SAD!" he screamed, punching the trunk of the tree and leaving behind a hole the size of his head. "LUKE! COME BACK HERE, YOU BASTARD! LUUUUKE!"
"Are you sure about this?"
Percy and Grover stood at the entrance to Camp Half-Blood, surrounded by all of their friends and the light of the mid-afternoon satyr had a large backpack strapped onto him, filled to the brim with an assortment of clothes, medicines, and rolls of tinfoil in case he needed a snack. Next to him, the psychokinetic had a bag slung over his shoulder that only carried three extra camp shirts, several sets of underwear he had been forced to buy, and one other pair of jeans. On his back was his shield, fixed and polished.
"I'm always sure of everything I do," Percy responded, giving everyone a thumbs-up. "You guys need to stop worrying so much. I mean, it's me and Grover! The dynamic duo! Am I right, G-man?"
Grover was shivering, his eyes going side-to-side in quick succession. "I- We- Monsters!- Why-"
"You see?" The young demigod asked, the smile on his face barely twitching. "We got this."
"But what about school?" Katie asked. "Or all the monsters that are going to be chasing you? Or your training? Or-"
"Sheesh mom, cool it." Percy grinned at the demigoddess' frustrated glare. "Don't worry about it. School's for chumps, and I memorize everything perfectly anyway, remember? I'm awesome enough to take care of any monster that attacks us, and even if I need help, I've got Grover here," he ignored the satyr's terrified mumbling. "And my training? Katie, how am I ever gonna learn how to fight monsters if I don't actually fight monsters?"
Beckendorf scratched the back of his head. "I still don't get why you're doing this in the first place, Percy. Grover's searching for Pan, but what about you? Why the sudden interest in leaving camp?"
Beside the large demigod, Silena gave Percy a worried look. "Is it because of... you-know-who?
The psychokinetic's expression darkened, but he shook his head. "No, it's not about him at all."
Travis looked at him intently. "Even if it isn't, you'll still look for him right?"
Connor nodded. "Yeah, I mean, if anyone can knock some sense into our bro it's you."
Percy frowned, looking down at the ground. It suddenly came to him, an image of a dying son of Poseidon laying on the cold hard floor.
We are both committed to our sides...
He shook his head. "I think he's beyond reason at this point," he muttered, loud enough for everyone present to hear.
The Stolls became downcast, an incredible difference compared to their usual demeanor. "But..." Connor said. "If you do find him... Can you at least try? Please?"
Percy was already sure that Luke couldn't be saved anymore, but he nodded anyway, if only for the sake of his friends. "Anyway," he said, not wanting to leave on a bad note, "I've gotta do this, guys. It's a quest... sorta..." 'It's more like an investigation, but whatever. Hera better be paying me some serious dough, I mean what do I look like? A detective?'
"A quest?" Malcolm asked. "What kind of quest? What's the objective?"
"Ah..." Percy glanced over at Chiron, silently pleading the centaur to step in.
The message was received. "I believe that what Percy is trying to say is that this is a personal quest to better himself," he told everyone, managing to sound surprisingly convincing.
"Uh, yeah! That."
Malcolm gazed at both of them, obviously not buying it, but the son of Athena seemed to deem the matter unimportant enough to let go.
"I still don't think that you should go," Katie said. "If you want to train, you could just stay here year-round."
"Yeah, me and the five other people who also stay year-round," Percy stated. "That's boring. Why's it such a big deal? You have somewhere to go, so we won't see each other 'till the beginning of summer either way."
"I know that," Katie muttered, shrinking into herself. "I'd just feel a lot better if you stayed here where it's safe."
Percy smirked. "Safe? You know me, Katie, safe is the opposite of what I want." Grabbing Grover's collar, the demigod began walking away, dragging his mumbling friend along with him. Putting up a hand, Percy waved behind his head. "I want adventure! Hey, maybe I'll see you along the way? That would be pretty sweet!" Turning his head back to look at his friends, the demigod grinned. "When we meet up again, I'll have plenty of stories about how great I am! Until then, see ya!"
Sighing, Katie stared at the disappearing forms of the demigod and his satyr companion. "Do you think they'll be alright?" she asked Chiron, who laughed.
"Oh, heavens no," the centaur said. "They will be anything but alright. In fact, I'm sure that young Perseus will seek trouble if things get too mundane." He smiled, crossing his arms contentedly. "However, I am sure that they're ready for whatever they will face, purposefully or not."
Katie sighed. "I guess I can't ask for much more," she said, getting a nod from everyone else. With nothing else keeping them there, the campers made their way back to their cabins, ready to pack up all their belongings and leave Camp Half-Blood.
Summer might've been over, but the adventure was far from done. With this in mind, Percy Jackson strode down the empty streets of Long Island, dragging a comatose Grover with him.
'I don't know where we're going, or who we'll meet,' he thought, a wicked grin on his face. 'I've never been so excited in my life!'
"Isn't this great, Grover?" Percy asked his friend, getting a moan in response. "Man, the world won't know what hit it!"
Groaning, the satyr looked up at the clear blue skies. 'No,' he thought. 'It really won't.'
END OF PART ONE
AN:
And finally, part one of The Myth of the Mind is done. Man, what a piece of work that was.
Here's where the story really starts to pick up, but before we get any further into it, I'm planning to show a few episodes in Percy and Grover's adventures throughout the United States. As you can imagine, a bunch of stuff happens, so I don't want to just skip over all of that and head straight to part two. This all means that you can expect next chapter to be an interlude of sorts, and maybe I'll do more than one depending on what I feel needs to be addressed.
I know I haven't done it before out of some misplaced sense of pride, but I'd just like to thank everyone who has reviewed, followed, and favorited this story. My amazing skills may cause some to forget that this is actually my first story on this site, and my first multi-chapter story ever. So yeah, it actually means a lot to me whenever I see a new review, or one more person who favorited my story. Even if it's the mostly useless 'good job' or the scathing flame of how stupid I am for making Percy lose his sword (Riptide can't be lost, read the god damn books, you insolent little child), I still appreciate the support.
I hope you've enjoyed so far, and that my procrastination and general lack of discipline when it comes to writing hasn't annoyed anyone too much. If there's anything that you want to know, feel free to ask. My vagueness will depend on the question. Otherwise, stay tuned for the next chapter!
