Chapter Twenty Eight - Picking Sides

The satyrs of Camp Half Blood had been in a state of confused excitement ever since an older satyr named Ferdinand had walked over Half Blood Hill with a young demigod in tow. Apparently he'd been a hotshot protector nearly twenty years ago before achieving the enviable goal of earning his searcher's license. He'd gone missing not long after, and everybody had assumed he'd died like all the others before him.

As it turned out, he'd caught the scent of a young demigod while passing through the Garden State and was going to escort him to camp when they ran afoul of Medusa. And that would have been the end of his story, if not for a group of three demigods and their satyr companion - Ferdinand's own nephew, Grover Underwood. The girls had defeated medusa and figured out how to reverse the cursed transformation inflicted upon her victims. So it was, that twenty years later, Ferdinand managed to return to Half Blood Hill with his young charge to tell the tale.

For the rest of the camp, his return brought some much anticipated news of the quest group. To their disappointment, he could only tell them that they had somehow killed Medusa, used her lair as a temporary campsite, then left to catch a train further west the next morning leaving him to unpetrify the rest of Medusa's victims. The news that the cursed transformation could be broken with running water was of major interest to a small set of campers in Cabin Eleven who had an interest in such things.

Of course, Annabeth had also called back to the camp twice using the Iris Network - both times to talk to Luke, and both times Percy had been nearby. It just made sense, as both Percy and Luke were taking Penny's request to train seriously. It didn't hurt that the older teen was one of the only campers that wasn't looking at Percy like something they scraped off their boots.

The first time she called, the day before Ferdinand had shown up to the camp, she mentioned that they had just defeated Medusa in her lair. She also claimed that Penny had looked her right in the eyes as she decapitated the monstrous foe - but that was probably an embellishment to make the story more interesting. Right? The second call came a few days later from a bathroom that looked like it could have belonged in some Fifth Avenue mansion. She claimed they were staying overnight in some fancy five star hotel after having flown halfway across the United States on the backs of a couple griffons.

That was a few days ago, though, and she'd already missed her next check in. Luke tried not to show it, but Percy could tell he was worried. Percy was worried too. About his sister, and about his best friend Grover. The deadline for returning with Zeus' bolt was rapidly running out, and nobody seemed to know what was going on with the quest group. It was like they'd suddenly dropped off the face of the planet.

"Hey, Percy," Luke's voice snapped Percy out of his thoughts.

"What's up?"

"Chiron called a meeting in the Big House for all the cabin counselors," Luke said. "And, since you're in a cabin of your own, that puts you on the invite list by default. Come on."

Percy followed Luke into the Big House and down the hall to what looked like a gaming room. There were a couple of old arcade cabinets pushed against one wall, a pinball machine against the other and a ping pong table with chairs around it in the middle. Chiron was there, and so were the other cabin leaders. Percy recognized Silena from Aphrodite cabin and Beckendorf from Hephaestus cabin, as well as Clarisse from Ares. He thought he recognized the Apollo cabin leader from the infirmary, but couldn't remember his name. He didn't know any of the others.

As if sensing that, Luke spoke up and made the proper introductions; "Guys, this is Percy. Percy, that's Katie from cabin 4, you know Clarisse, Silena and Beckendorf already, I think. Malcolm over there is representing cabin 6 while his sister is on the quest with yours. Cabin seven is headed up by Lee, and rounding it out are Mr. D's twin sons Castor and Pollux for cabin twelve."

There were a couple of mumbled greetings, and then Chiron spoke up, calling the meeting to order.

"As you all are no doubt aware, a quest was issued by Lord Zeus to be carried out by Miss Jackson. According to reports, Miss Jackson and her group were making considerably good time crossing the country. Unfortunately, it would now seem that contact with her group has been lost."

Instantly everybody started talking over everybody else. After a few minutes, Percy abruptly stood up, causing everyone to fall silent.

"What does that mean?" He demanded.

"It means your sister failed," Clarisse said before Chiron could say anything. "It means that Lord Zeus won't be appeased, and it means there will be a war."

"We still don't know who took the bolt," Luke said.

"It doesn't matter at this point, does it?" Clarisse smirked. "It could have been Jackson all along after all."

"My sister's not a thief!" Percy glared.

"How do you know that?" Lee from Apollo asked, calmly. "No offense, but you don't know her. Or, you haven't known her for the last six years or so. You've spent half your lives apart, and those years were probably way more formative than the first half you did spend together."

"Maybe he took it," Malcolm said, gesturing to Percy. "Classically, the children of Poseidon have been thieves or worse."

"Hey, let's try to keep parental rivalry out of this," Luke chided. "I know your mom is Athena, but that's no reason to distrust Percy. Besides, my dad is the god of thieves. Do you think I took it?"

"Let's just calm down," Silena said. "We don't know that they failed. There's still a few days before the deadline. Maybe there wont even be a war."

"Even if there is," Luke said, "we don't have to choose sides. Aren't we all on the same side already?"

"Wake up, Luke," Clarisse snapped. "You think a war in the heavens will stay in the heavens? You ever hear of the Iliad? You know, the Trojan War? If our parents do decide to fight, they'll expect us to back them up."

"My mom doesn't really do war," Silena said.

"Oh yeah? Then why does she keep my dad on speed dial?"

"Wow," Dionysus' twins said in unison.

"Alright, that's enough," Beckendorf said, not raising his voice but still being heard. "Right now, there's not enough information to go on. Silena is right in saying that there are still a couple more days until the deadline. Jumping at shadows and drawing lines in the sand when we don't even know what the sandbox looks like won't accomplish anything. If it does come to a conflict between our parents, we'll figure it out then. I, for one, believe the quest group will succeed."

"Well said, Mr. Beckendorf," Chiron said. "I've noticed similar arguments running wild throughout the camp over the last few days. As cabin leaders, I would like to ask that you please make your best attempts to keep the disruptions to a minimum where at all possible. If conflict does in fact arise from this situation, please try to keep Mr. Castellan's words in mind. Here at camp, we are all on the same side. And with luck, the Olympians themselves will also realize this."

After that, the meeting became a round table discussion between the cabin leaders concerning inter-cabin drama. Katie, from cabin four, opened the discussion by telling Luke that his younger siblings Connor and Travis had been caught shoplifting goods from the camp store. Luke promised to have a word with the both of them, assuring her that she wouldn't catch them stealing again. Percy tried to pay attention, but his mind was stuck on his sister and the quest. Was she alright? Would she make it in time? Eventually, the meeting let out and Percy was all to happy to make his escape.

Outside, the sky overhead was clear and blue while thundering storm clouds ringed the valley threateningly. Percy sighed, once again thinking of his sister. Out there. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of flesh impacting against flesh, and he turned around just in time to see a fellow camper hit the ground hard. Andros - the brother of one of Penny's quest mates - was standing over the fallen camper, his shaking hands curled into fists. This was especially strange to Percy since Andros had seemed to be one of the quieter kids around. He was more likely to be found standing apart from the crowd, nodding along with the conversation but never really joining it. Not that Percy paid that much attention or anything.

"Say that again," Andros snarled. "I dare you."

"Hey, what's going on?" Percy asked, running over. "Is everything alright?"

"I'm fine," the kid on the ground said, picking himself up and walking off.

"Yeah, walk away," Andros said, still glaring at the back of the other kid.

"Seriously," Percy said, confused. "What's going on?"

"It doesn't matter," he said. "The jerk deserved it, and more."

"O...kay..." Percy said, slowly."Hey, why don't we go cool off a bit, huh?"

"I'm not going to the lake," Andros said.

"That's... cool?" Percy blinked. "I was going to suggest maybe getting a glass of lemonade in the dining pavilion? Even with those dark clouds over there, it's still pretty much summer hot in the camp. Besides, I kind of noticed you tend to break off from the group when Eleven goes to the lake for boating."

"Oh," Andros said, a little surprised. "Uh, yeah. I... I don't really do well with water. Not like your sister, or anything like that, before you... I just... I guess it's a sort of an irrational fear? Maybe not so irrational, since I never really learned how to swim."

"You don't know how to swim?" Percy asked.

"I just told you I don't like going in the water," Andros said, defensively.

"So why were you and that other guy fighting?" Percy asked, trying for a less touchy subject.

"We weren't fighting," Andros said.

"well, it kind of looked like-"

"He ran his mouth off, so I punched him. Not my fault he couldn't take a hit," Andros said, then let out a sigh. "He was going on about how you and your sister stole Lord Zeus' bolt."

"We didn't steal anything."

"Yeah, I believe you. My sister wouldn't have gone along on that quest if she didn't think you two were innocent, either."

"You're worried about her, aren't you?" Percy asked. "Your sister, I mean."

"Yeah, I am," Andros nodded. "Annabeth too, to a degree. But, this is the longest we've been separated. We've been together our whole lives, you know? The Johnston Twins through thick and thin."

"Gotta say, I'm a little jealous," Percy admitted. "My own twin sister ran away when we were six. You know, we thought she'd died? And then six years later she turns up out of nowhere at a summer camp for demigods, alive. Shorter than me, and too thin by far. But she seems happy, at least. And mom would have probably broken down crying to see her again, but..."

"Hey man," Andros put a hand on Percy's shoulder. "I'm sorry."

"The really weird part of all of this," Percy said around a lump that had begun forming in his throat. And why were his eyes stubbornly growing misty? "The really weird part is that my twin sister is only my half sister. How does that even work?"

"Honestly? I don't want to think about it," Andros shook his head. "Hey, lets get that lemonade, yeah?"

"Yeah," Percy agreed. "Sounds good. Maybe afterward I can teach you how to swim."

"Fat chance!"

Unknown to either boys, a certain goddess watched their interaction from her palace on Olympus - her lips twisted into an amused grin.