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PERCY:
If somebody would've told him that his father literally chased a mortal boy around Olympus, he would've declared that person crazy.
But to actually see it for himself, it was a hundred times worse.
It wasn't that it repulsed him to see a person get doe eyed for another person of the same sex. It was just that any kind of love affair of the gods repulsed him.
He watched as Poseidon chased after Pelops around Olympus and the younger boy kept hiding behind a temple, a fountain or a statue, shyly.
He noticed that his dream had a slight sea green tinge around the border and then things started to click together.
Just then Pelops gave in and let Poseidon escort him to his magnificent golden chariot let by four beautiful golden horses.
"Dad", Percy called, not to the Poseidon in the dream but in general.
"Dad! I know you're right here. Get me out of here!"
No response.
"Dad?", Percy asked uncertainly, "Get me out!"
No response.
By now, Poseidon's chariot had reached a part of Olympus that seemed completely dedicated to him.
"DAD!", Percy shouted insistently, "I'm pretty sure there's some adult rated stuff coming up here with you starring in them. I'm can assure you that mom won't be too fond of me getting scarred for life, let alone my own feelings on that matter."
Percy waited and slowly the scene dissolved and Percy let out a sigh.
He appeared in front of Poseidon's castle, underwater, in the front garden. His father himself stood in front of him, inspecting one of the underwater bushes.
"Dad", Percy said again, this time a little less harshly. "What was all that?"
"I thought, you ought to know about me and Pelops", Poseidon sighed.
"Uh", Percy replied, "An email would've worked. I didn't need a full high definition playback"
Poseidon didn't look too well. He was generally very calm and collected. Percy saw him as one of the wiser Olympians but that could've been because he was his father too. Now he just looked strained and worried.
"It's just that with the recent things that have been going on-", Poseidon started but Percy cut him off.
"I'm not gay, dad", he replied, understanding what he father was probably getting at.
Poseidon sighed again, this time slightly irritated.
"Perseus", he said and it came off too strong and Percy winced, "Would you say I am gay? Yes, I was in love with Pelops, I was in love with your mother, I have been in love with my wife. I have had kids! 'Gay' is a label invented by mortals, Perseus, and it will not apply to you unless you choose it to"
Percy tried to take in everything his dad had said. "Then what was this about, father?"
"This war, against Gaia", Poseidon said in a low voice, "Is something much larger than the titan war. Every choice that you make has a particular effect on the current situation. Each choice matters and tips the scale of balance in the direction of or against our favour. Seven of you have been thus chosen and each is very important in their own way. Hera's gamble has paid off, it looks like. But listen to me carefully, daughter of wisdom has problems of her own going on. The son of Jupiter will help you, and so will the son of Mars. And you still need the son of Hades. Be careful. Your loyalty will get you killed"
Percy went cold. Poseidon didn't say may, or might, or probably. He said will. "Your loyalty will get you killed". As if it was undoubtedly sure.
Anger bubbled inside Percy. He was a pawn already, just like Gaia had said. But a pawn of the gods.
"You despair too soon, son", Poseidon said softly, noticing Percy's face full of hopelessness, "Death will come, but for the first time, it won't be necessarily permanent. I have faith in you and the others, Percy. If we have a chance of winning, it is only because of the choices you make."
His body did become a little warmer after hearing that.
"Now, it's time for you to wake up", his father said, his voice already distant, "The roman needs rest too"
Percy woke up with a jolt. And that too in time.
Jason looked ready to pass out.
"Hey, hey, hey", Percy called out and Jason's eye lids opened up all the way, "Sleep", he ordered and that did it. Just hearing the word made Jason's body go limp and head go down and he fell asleep in an awkward angle. His body was definitely going to give him crap when he woke up.
Percy uncapped Riptide and sat leaning on some hardwood tree he didn't know the name of as the firelight shone on Riptide's blade and kept unfriendly creatures away from them.
Annabeth woke up with a jolt as the Argo lurched forward.
And right in time because she was thrown off her bed and she landed on her hands. She groaned as her injured shoulder took her body weight. She rolled on the floor, breathing hard.
Last night, she hadn't admitted how badly she had been injured. She had to be brave in front of the others. They had been looking up to her ever since she and Percy had come back from Tartarus. Now with Percy and Jason gone, they had needed her even more.
It angered Annabeth that the guys had been so pigheaded as to leave the ship without discussing things with all seven of them. They hadn't even thought of a plan and now they were separated. She had told Leo off for letting them go and now she felt a little guilty for scaring him.
Just then there was a knock on her door.
"Come in", she said gritting her teeth but a gasp came out.
The door swung open and Piper let herself in. She had taken an injury to the side of her head but she looked fine now.
"Damn", Piper cursed and kneeled beside Annabeth, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine", Annabeth replied stiffly, "But why in the name of Hades' underpants did he stop the ship again?!"
Okay, so maybe she didn't feel that bad for Leo.
She got up and sat, leaning on her bed, breathing heavily.
"We've hit some kind of a wall, or barrier", Piper explained nervously, "Currently, we're suspended in midair"
Annabeth cursed in ancient Greek and got up and flexed her hurt shoulder and winced. It was still sore and the last fall had done nothing in her favour.
"You're okay, right?", Piper asked nervously and Annabeth nodded.
She bundled her hair and tied it back tightly. If Percy were here, he would tease her and pull the band out of her hair and refuse to give it back. Ask for kisses in return for it.
She growled at herself and Piper seemed to jump.
She sighed and walked out as Piper followed her.
Leo, Frank and Hazel were standing at the railing on the dock peering at something.
"There are giant white birds in the sky", Leo informed them.
Annabeth glanced towards where they were all looking at and saw deformed birds which were definitely very far away.
"They're not giant birds", Hazel confirmed, playfully slapping Leo on the arm.
"I'll go check it out", Frank told them and looked at Annabeth for permission.
A roman praetor was asking for her permission to do something.
It was dangerous to send Frank alone but the threat had to be checked out. If it was a threat at all, but in demigodland, 98% times it was a threat.
She nodded slightly and Hazel asked Frank, "Are you sure you should? Are you strong enough?"
Frank smiled wanly and suddenly he was gone.
A bald eagle was perched on the railing looking at them sternly with his beady eyes. With a slight nod of its head, it flew away towards the white bird like things.
It was a long time before something happened.
The things were not, in fact birds.
They were pegasi.
There were five of them and Frank flew with them.
Annabeth, Piper and Hazel had their arms drawn, ready to attack. Pegasi weren't evil but only gods knew if they were fine on this side of the world.
The five magnificent animals lightly landed on the dock. Their grace must've affected Frank too because he landed on the dock as lithely as a cat.
One of the pagasi were definitely larger. And the most beautiful. It was the whitest thing Annabeth had ever seen. It was so beautiful that it seemed to emit its own light. It's mane was braided and its tail swished around smoothly. It's eyes were old and wise like Chiron's. It seemed to be the head of the heard.
On further inspection, Annabeth noticed that even though all the other four were white too, they were tinged with various colours. One of them was slightly pink, as if somebody very pale was blushing slightly. One of them was slightly blue and Annabeth was sure it could vanish among clouds on a clear blue sky. One of them was tinged with yellow, almost the colour of the sun's rays. One was slightly grey, as if it's coat was fashioned from the clouds on a rainy day.
"I'm Pegasus", a voice boomed inside her head. The voice was rich and ancient, full of power.
The largest pegasus raised his head.
Hazel and Piper gasped, but Annabeth had seen weirder stuff.
"The Pegasus?", Piper asked, "The original son of Medusa?"
"The one and only", Pegasus replied, bowing his head slightly.
Annabeth regarded Pegasus with respect and said, "To what do we owe this unexpected pleasure?"
The other pagasi neighed but Pegasus himself stomped his foot and the others shut up.
"You now enter the area of airspace protected by my magic", Pegaus said again, inside their heads, "It cannot be entered through air without me enchanting this ship to pass"
Annabeth looked down to the ground. They had been flying over land since the whole incident with gryphons near Preveza, so as to reach Pyrgos faster.
Annabeth had picked a low key city so they didn't meet any of Gaia's minions. Pyrgos was a random city in Greece, nobody should have any cause to suspect anything.
"So, if you will, Lord", Annabeth said politely, "We must be on our way to meet with our friends"
"Oh, yes, Perseus Jackson", Pegasus said, "Son of Poseidon. I didn't know Athena was too fond of Poseidon"
He sounded slightly mocking and Annabeth realized Pegasus' mother was Medusa and his father, Poseidon. His mother had been cursed by Athena herself for sneaking around with Poseidon in her temple.
"She isn't", Annabeth replied courteously, but stiffly, "But I'm not my mother"
He neighed, which was probably a laugh, "Wonder if Athena is too happy about that"
Annabeth glared at Pegasus who replied, "Hey, no need to get angry, I'll enchant this ship and be done with it"
"Uh, it won't cause any harm to my ship, right?", Leo asked uncertainly, glancing at the floorboards where Pegasus stood. His hooves seemed to emit smoke.
The smoke started covering more area. It spread around the dock, around them and even seeped through the floorboards.
There was a sudden flash of light, so strong that Annabeth had to squeeze her eyes shut and cover them with her hands and still her eyelids appeared bright orange from the inside.
When the light had dimmed and she dared to open her eyes, she couldn't see any visible difference to the ship.
"If I may, I will take your leave now and leave my children to guide you through as safe passage as long as they can", Pegasus boomed inside their head and without waiting for a reply took off, his great wings making such strong motions in the air that Annabeth had to struggle to keep her balance.
The other pegasi regarded them with narrowed eyes and took off too, taking the front, back, left and right sides each as the Argo started moving again.
"Oh. Okay", Frank said slowly, "That was quite weird"
"At least we're moving again. Also my ship seems fine", Leo shrugged and bounded to the control room.
"I'll take up the guard", Frank said to no one in particular and went towards the back of the ship and Hazel left with him.
Only Piper and Annabeth stood on the dock now, staring at the land they passed below. They weren't flying too high, even though Annabeth had wanted to fly higher, so as to reach Pyrgos as soon as possible. The land below was clearly visible as Leo had been looking for a place to land and fix the celestial bronze in the needed places.
"I need to tell you something", Piper told Annabeth in a low voice.
"I'm hoping it's something good", Annabeth said even though her instincts screamed that this was something really bad.
"I looked at Katoptris", Piper started and all Annabeth's hoped for something good blew away with the strong gusts of winds that blew around them.
"I saw the battleground", Piper continued as Annabeth's blood went cold, "And Frank burst into flames"