Hey, guess what? TODAY IS THE FIRST INSTALLMENT OF THE THREE ONE-TIME-ONLY POVS! They're not going to be all in a row, though. But this is the first one. Can you guess who? (I'll give you a hint: It's Chiron.)
He might be a bit OOC...after all, this is my first time attempting to right from his POV before. Also, I've never really read much in his POV before, either, so...don't expect too much, 'kay? And the chapter's a little shorter than usual, mostly for the same reason; I couldn't think of what more to add.
The reviews are getting really cool...I love how you're all making friends and how it's turning into a chat room. I'd join the party, but since I'm the writer, reviewing my own story would kinda make a lotta people mad...*sigh*
Okay, no one worry: I've noticed the drama. To the REAL DaughterOfAthena: I'm sorry some people are so mean...and you really are a nice person. I think you might've reviewed more than anyone, and that's an accomplishment to be proud of. Also, since you're only-what, ten?-ignore the next bit of my author's note, cuz things might get a little ugly...
To the FAKE DaughterofAthena: SCREW YOU, BITCH. YOU CAN BASH ON ME AND MY WRITING, I DON'T GIVE A SHIT ABOUT THAT, BUT MESS WITH MY REVIEWERS, AND IT GETS PERSONAL. NONE OF THEM, ESPECIALLY THE REAL DAUGHTEROFATHENA, DESERVED ANY OF THAT, AND THERE ARE SOME REALLY YOUNG REVIEWERS THAT DON'T NEED TO BE READING THAT SHIT. AND IF YOU'RE GONNA BE A FUCKING SLUT, DON'T WRITE ABOUT IT ON HERE. FUCK YOU, STOP WITH YOUR SHIT, AND GET YOUR ASS OFF MY STORY.
Okay. *deep breath* Sorry about that, guys. And you don't need to worry; I don't get mad at a few polite reminders...it's just when people start posting nothing but reminders to update that I get a little upset. Well, maybe more than a little. But that all happened at a really rough time, and I'm better now, so you can relax a little, okay?
I'm going to delete the worst of the FAKE DoA's posts, all right, guys? I don't want the younger kids to be reading that...or the older kids, either, actually. No one needs to see that.
And, guys? All of you that defended the REAL DoA, thank you. You all give me hope. And seeing that kind of compassionate defense always lifts my mood. So all y'all-THANKS.\
And, since there's been a bit of speculation about my schedule: I go to school until three every day, except for Fridays, when I get out early at 2:30. I go to church on Sundays, too, from ten to eleven (a.m.) and then we usually have errands to run afterwards so we often don't get home until around one or two p.m. Saturdays are normally free days, but since they're my only free days, I often end up with plans that limit writing time. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I have Spell Bowl practice after school until 4:30. On Mondays, I usually go to the library after school until 6.
It doesn't leave a whole lot of time to write, but so far, I'm managing it all right. The chapter's might be a bit shorter than usual for a bit until I find my stride again, but that'll have to work for now.
On the next update, I'm going to respond to reviews-not all of them, obviously, since that would be impossible, but a decent number-so try not to flood me with too many. I mean, review, but not so many I can't keep up.
Also, I'm trying to up the numbers of my follows and favorites-apparently, a great deal of analyzing goes into those numbers, so I'd like to gain some more. Problem is, only members can do it, and most of my audience are guest reviewers. I'm not telling all you guests to get accounts, though-I wouldn't do that. But for those of you that do have accounts-care to help me out?
Enjoy the chapter!
Chapter CI
Chiron
Chiron watches from the pavilion as the shadows fold the two figures into their chill embrace, the world warping for a millisecond until they're gone, leaving nothing but wisps of shadowy mist like smoke in their wake.
He sighs through his nose, and folds his hands across his lap-he's in his wheelchair today, not having felt up to the challenge of being himself. Being less than human.
Two more heroes gone to fight a war in the name of the gods. He thinks to himself. When will the gods learn that their children have their own battles to fight?
He's sent too many heroes off to battle. There have been too many heroes who never returned. Theseus, Achilles, Odysseus...Although Odysseus, he supposes, did return, in time. After many years lost at sea. But his Penelope never gave up hope, and Chiron sometimes believes that it was her unswerving loyalty to him that finally brought him back.
Odysseus and Penelope. Chiron muses. Now there was true love. Percy and Annabeth remind me so much of them, sometimes...Annabeth's faith that he would return, through all the eight months of his absence; Percy's whole-hearted belief that she wasn't dead after the fall from that cliff, even though all the evidence pointed otherwise. Annabeth, again, taking that knife for him in the Titan War, even though she knew he was invulnerable-the slightest feeling that he was in danger drove her to risk her own life for him. And then, Percy's greatest sacrifice-refusing to let her go, refusing to do anything but fall with her, even when it was into the unfathomable depths of Tartarus, the one place even the gods dare not venture.
Chiron wonders, briefly, if they could be a reincarnation of Odysseus and Penelope-their souls seem so old to him, so fragile, even though their light never wavers when they're with each other. Perhaps it is just a result of how much they've been through, together, that their souls seem so utterly ancient, but still inevitably drawn to each other through it all.
Nico and Reyna, too, have seemingly ancient souls. Nico's could very well be the result of his being born in the 1930s and being placed in the Lotus Casino to slow his aging through the decades. His soul, through that, never stopped growing older in the way his mind and body did.
Reyna reminds him of the warrioress Atalanta, who did not wish herself to be dominated by a man through marriage. And yet neither did she wish to become a Huntress or a member of the Amazons. In her time, she was revolutionary. Unique. As is Reyna in this time, though many don't see her as such.
A sound to his left diverts his attention, and he smiles before returning his gaze to the horizon. "Grover," he calls softly, "you can come out now."
The satyr trots slowly out from behind a column, his eyes looking down guiltily. "Sorry, Chiron. I didn't mean to disturb-"
"You didn't." Chiron interrupts. "I was merely lost in my thoughts."
"How'd you know it was me?" He asks, suspicious.
Chiron just smiles. "Hooves sound different on marble than shoes, dear Grover."
"Oh." He replies. "Right."
"What is it you sought me out for, Grover?" Chiron asks quietly, turning his wheelchair to face him.
"I'm worried about Percy." He blurts, and Chiron remembers another conversation that began quite like this one, so many years ago...the way Percy had finally found out something more was going on. Except, then, Grover had insisted on calling him 'sir.' It took years to break him of the habit...
"As am I, Grover. What of it?" Chiron continues. They're all worried about Percy, so for Grover to be coming to him about it...there must be more to it than just worry.
"It's not just because he's going to be fighting Gaea, sir." Grover tells him, then blushes when he realized he slipped up in Chiron's request not to call him that. "Sorry, s-" He bites down hard on his lip to stop the word from escaping, and Chiron smiles faintly.
"Quite all right, Grover. Continue."
"Well, there's the battle here, too." He says, fidgeting nervously with his reed pipes. "With our empathy link...what if I put him in danger?"
Chiron stills. "Ahhh." He says, nodding in realization.
"It goes both ways. I told him that years ago, and offered to remove it, but...he didn't want me to. And it has been useful, I'll admit, but if I die during the battle, so will he. Either that or he'll become a vegetable. Either way, I don't like their chances of defeating Gaea without Percy." Grover admits. "And the way Rachel keeps going on about how Percy's in danger, muttering in her sleep about how he's on his way to his death, saying that he's going to die...what if all that is because of me?"
"Is there any way for you to remove the empathy link?" Chiron asks, already knowing the answer.
Grover shakes his head. "No. He'd have to be here with me. It's been done before, without being in the same place, but it's always dangerous, and it usually damages the minds of both people involved. I don't want to risk it. So...no."
"Have you thought about staying out of the fight?" Chiron continues. "Staying behind to care for the wounded, to watch for any enemies that slip past the defensive lines?"
"I have." Grover nods. "But I don't think I can. I'm a Lord of the Wild now; if I stay behind, how will that look to everyone who's following me? I'll look scared, and that'll just make the battle ten times worse for all the nature spirits and satyrs. A lot would probably refuse to fight."
Chiron nods and turns back to face the ocean, his eyes lingering longingly on the place where sky meets sea. "Grover, I do not believe Gaea's forces will make their main attack on the camps until August first. Small battles here and there, yes; they'll want to keep us guessing. But it is, after all, the end of the world: Gaea will want to make a spectacle out of it. So goes the arrogance of the enemy."
"But that's the day it matters most." Grover replies.
"No. That's the day both of you will be fighting for your lives." Chiron tells him quietly. He hears Grover shift next to him, the rustle as he fidgets with his reed pipes.
"Percy's my best friend." His soft voice finally says, and in those four words, Chiron hears all the fear he won't let himself express. Fear that Rachel is right, and Percy is going to die on August first.
"Percy is the greatest hero in centuries. The most powerful demigod I've ever seen..." Chiron trails away. "And I fear for him too."
He hears Grover's sharp intake of breath, and knows that the satyr was hoping for him to voice words of encouragement, an expression of belief and faith in Percy. But had he allowed himself to say those words, the ones he was so tempted to say, then he would have been lying.
"Among the Seven, we have the most powerful demigods in centuries." Chiron continues. "Jason Grace, the most powerful and influential son of Zeus since Hercules." He sees the boy's face in his mind's eye; the storm of fire raging in his eyes as he called down the lightning strike. "Piper Mclean, a daughter of Aphrodite who's words can sway even a god." Her, talking, charmspeaking her siblings without even realizing she was doing so. "Leo Valdez, the most recent son of Hephaestus with power over fire, possibly the most brilliant inventor since Archimedes himself." The elfin face, grinning sheepishly as he dismounts the dragon that had terrorized them for months. "Hazel Levesque, a daughter of Pluto with power over the Mist." He hasn't met her, but he knows her, and knows her well... "Frank Zhang, the son of Mars with rights to more worlds than can be counted." Greek heritage, to Roman lineage, to China, to Canada, to America, and then back to Rome, back to Greece-back to his roots. "Annabeth Chase." He whispers softly, and clears his throat. "Daughter of Athena, and the brightest warrior this camp has ever had." Her steely, stormy gray eyes as she argues with him about the prophecy, for what must have been the thousandth time.
He finally turns to Grover, and folds his hands across his stomach. "And Percy Jackson. Son of Poseidon, retriever of the lightning bolt and the helm of darkness, who braved the Sea of Monsters. He held the sky to save a goddess, and navigated the depths of the labyrinth. Bane of Kronos..." He leans forward. "And, above all, our hero of Olympus."
Grover meets his gaze for the briefest of seconds, and then looks down at the marble floor.
"Percy Jackson is the most powerful demigod in history." Chiron reminds the satyr. "He will not die easily. And if he does perish in the battle, I am certain that the war will be won because of it, and he will have made the ultimate sacrifice." He closes his eyes, remembering the countless wars, the infinite battles, rivers of blood...so many lives lost. Almost without thinking about it, he mutters, "As so many heroes have before him."
"I still don't want him to die." Grover mumbles, and Chiron opens his eyes in surprise.
"Well, of course you don't! I doubt anyone here wants him to die. I certainly don't. I'm just reminding you that if he becomes a martyr, it will not be in vain." Then Chiron allows himself a smile. "Besides, you are forgetting one thing."
Grover looks up, his hands stilling. "What?"
His smile widens. "Annabeth Chase is very much in love with him. And years ago, she made a promise to me that she would keep him safe. An oath like that is not given lightly. She's not about to let him die."
With that, he stretches his arms over his head, arching his back, and then braces his hands on the arm rests of his wheelchair and rises up, up, up, stepping out of the accursed metal box.
"Ahhh, that's much better." He looks sternly at Grover, noticing him fidgeting again. "What now?"
"If Annabeth tries to protect him, I could just end up losing both of them." He points out, mumbling the words.
Chiron throws his hands up to the heavens, staring at the sky. "Poseidon's underpants, Grover. Be more optimistic!" He trots forward, placing his hooves delicately on the slippery marble, and claps Grover on the shoulder. "If anyone can evade death, it's Percy. He's done it so many times before, it must be easy for him by now, wouldn't you think?"
Grover smiles uncertainly, looking up at him. "Thanks, Chiron."
Chiron waves away his thanks. "There's nothing to thank me for, Grover. Now, where has everyone gotten to?"
"I think Clarisse is beating Octavian up in the sword arena." He offers, and Chiron nods thoughtfully.
"Yes, that sounds likely. Well, I best be off, then. We have a war to plan, after all, and only a week to do it." He smiles cheerily and gestures back to the woods, where there's a lone figure standing half-hidden behind one of the trees. "I think Juniper is getting worried as well, Grover, so you might want to get back to her sometime soon."
"Oh, right." He says, straightening and smoothing his shaggy curls back, glancing to the treeline. He places his reed pipes in his shirt pocket and nods respectfully to Chiron. "Don't be a stranger, Chiron."
"Never." Chiron replies seriously, and then offers a parting smile to the satyr. "Time for you to do some planning of your own, isn't it?"
Grover nods, and quickly turns, walking across the pavilion towards the woods, his hooves clicking on the floors. As he steps down onto the grass, he raises a hand in farewell. "See you later, Chiron."
"And you as well, Grover." Chiron replies, and watches the satyr trot to the treeline and greet his girlfriend by picking her up and spinning her around, before they both disappear among the shadows of the trees, the young Juniper resting her head on his shoulder.
Chiron looks once more at the horizon, that ancient, timeless place where sea meets sky. "All is not lost." He murmurs, and as if in agreement, the breeze blows harder, ruffling his hair.
Today, your assignment is this: What would you like more books to be written about? I really want to write a book, but I don't have any "best-seller" ideas in my head, currently, and I'd like to know what you guys want to see out there. And your answers can be vague-just a topic, like angels/fallen angels, mythology, vampires/werewolves, more books similar to TFIOS, etcetera-or they can be more detailed. I don't really mind. I just want everyone's opinions-so GIVE THEM, PLEASE!
I love you, keep your heads up, never lose your kind spirits, and don't be afraid to BE YOU, because you're pretty dam awesome! :-)