Silena Beauregard
For some reason, Silena found no sleep that night. She stared up at the ceiling for hours on end before finally pulling on the bikini and shorts she had abandoned a few hours ago next to her bed. At that moment, some part of her cursed her decision to stop sleeping with Percy, pending the outcome of the Annabeth situation. She could have really used it at that moment. Then, with recent developments, it looked like her temporary veto might turn into a permanent thing. Still, she knew it had been the right decision.
Then she grabbed her sword and made her way back up to the top floor and into the gym, where a few practice dummies clad in bronze armor stood, waiting to be someone's victim.
Tonight, it would be Silena's victim.
Despite certain preferences at camp half-blood to almost exclusively be armed with sidearms, Percy being a big champion of that doctrine, Silena preferred fighting with a shield.
Even so, she moved into a ready position, three steps forward, and opened up with a fast, fluid, upward angled thrust. If she were fighting a human or demigod, the blow would have been devastating, penetrating the abdomen just below the sternum, and then angled upwards to pierce the thorax and damage vital organs, cause catastrophic bleeding, and let the shock put the enemy out of the fight.
She twisted the weapon and yanked it free and followed up with another fast sequence of cuts and jabs, going for the chinks in the leaver-bound statue's bronze armor. Just because she didn't enjoy combat, did not mean she had spent more than a decade at Camp without learning how to use a sword.
Thirty seconds later the dummy was covered in deep gashes and cuts and with a panting Silena stepped a few steps back the dummy repaired itself, holes in the leaver membrane sealing smoothly and cut and bent armor reforming to a polish.
Again and again, she went through sequences of attacks, parries, and counters.
"Woof," Mrs O'Leary finally announced herself, clearly no longer content with allowing Silena to cause a ruckus, and not get any attention.
Silena sighed and lowered the blade as the giant of that hound trotted up and leaned down to lick her face.
"No girl!" Silena warned and threw her arms around the hellhound's snout in a hug, trying to keep it shut to further discourage any over-enthusiastic head-to-toe kisses.
Unfortunately, Mrs O'Leary took it the wrong way and seemed to be under the impression that Silena wanted to go for another round of wrestling and simply swept her head to the left and sent her tumbling to the floor, and forced her to roll the momentum off.
"Fine girl. I've been cleaning after you ever since you came here. You want to play this easy, we can play it easy. You want to play hard, let's pay hard. By the gods, I am going to give you a haircut tomorrow. But for now, you are going down!"
Then Silena launched herself at the massive hellhound and used the momentum to swing herself around on Mrs O'Leary's neck and playfully tugged on her ears and pulled her head back and forth.
Mrs O'Leary barked with the force of an artillery gun and bound out for the pool, and chased her tail for a few seconds as if to establish her dominance. No, she was spinning around as she tried to turn her head far enough to lick her.
Silena Beauregard clung on for dear life.
"No..." she warned. In the rotational blur, she noticed that they were drawing awfully close.
A moment later there was surprised bark followed by a big splash. For a moment Silena was asking herself why she wasn't underwater until her feet dipped into the pool. Then she realized that due to Mrs O'Leary's massive size, the hellhound could comfortably stand in the pool with her barely getting wet.
"Ha! Ha! So I have bested you!" she taunted the hound.
The hellhound barked again in excitement and then just decided to roll into her side, taking her down for a plunge in the warm and wet.
Silena kicked free and broke the surface to see the Hellhound enthusiastically rolling around in the pool, raising waves that would even impress Percy as she did. Not wishing to accidentally be crushed by the Hellhound's well-tempered ferocity, she pulled her legs free and kicked off the hound's back.
She climbed out of the water and realized that half the courtyard was now a single large puddle and deckchairs had been knocked out of the Hound's path. Two deckchairs lay below the pool.
"Oh, go to the crows," Silena cursed as she watched Percy's dog happily roll around before starting to chew around on one of the deckchairs while staring up at her with content, happy, puppy eyes.
While Percy might be committed to not making her feel like a hired maid, something told her she would be the one cleaning this mess up.
"Ding! Dong!" the doorbell suddenly announced itself.
Dripping wet Silena groaned in exasperation. It was what, almost midnight? Who could possibly come by at this time? Silena swore to herself that if this was a shitfaced Thalia, she'd give the blacked-out huntress a makeover.
After recovering her sword, she made her way over to the door and tore it open, her eyes narrowed in a forming glare.
"Do you really think it is proper to greet your mother with a sword in hand?" Aphrodite chided her. As she stepped over the threshold, she blew a kiss on her daughter's cheek. The goddess's long hair was tied in a ponytail and she wore a tight brown police officer's uniform that complimented her form, complete with a gun belt and gun, radio, and a star on a chest with the inscription "Olympian County Sheriff's Office."
"Mother, what are you doing here?" she asked.
"I heard some loud crashing," Aphrodite announced innocently. "this is both a noise complaint and a welfare check."
Silena looked at her mother skeptically. "A welfare check? You're a fucking Deputy now?"
With another deafening bark, Mrs O'Leary announced herself a moment before her two glowing red eyes announced her almost melting out of a shadow and bounding towards the open door.
"I was playing with the dog," she explained and put herself between Mrs O'Leary and her mother and was treated to a vivid mental image of a furry bowling ball rolling, knocking aside a dozen pins.
Fortunately, the dripping wet Hellhounds came to a skidding halt only inches away from him, her hand resting on his muzzle.
"No girl, back in the house," she ordered sternly.
"I do not see why Perseus keeps such a beast around," Aphrodite mused and looked the Hellhound straight in her glowing red eyes. "If you lick me, I will make a coat out of your pelt," the goddess warned, a hard edge suddenly entering her voice.
Silena couldn't tell if the Hellhound understood the goddess or only sensed the change in mood but her ears drooped at a moment later the hellhound lumbered off back into the house with a sad whimper.
"What are you doing here, mother," she hissed. "If you want to talk to Percy, come back tomorrow at a reasonable time."
Aphrodite only smiled innocently.
"I thought you were here for the noise complaint?" Silena challenged.
"Well yes, could you not cause such a ruckus at such a late hour?"
"I am so sorry, we'll keep it quiet. Good night! May I show you to the door?"
Aphrodite looked at her daughter reproachfully, an actual tear dramatically sliding down her cheek. "Must I make up excuses to visit my favorite daughter?"
"No, you don't. You could literally come by anytime. Percy has no problems with me receiving visitors, you know this. Hence, I am inclined to believe that this is a conversation you expressly don't wish Percy to be a part of."
At these words, Aphrodite pouted like a petulant child being told no for the first time. "Well, I couldn't help but notice that Perseus and that daughter of Athena are spending a lot of time together?"
"Is that a question or observation?" Silena asked and crossed her arms.
Aphrodite offered her brilliant smile and pinched Silena's cheeks. "Well, I wanted to see how this made you feel. If my memory serves me it seemed to me, and forgive me if I am wrong, this was counter to any ambitions you might have."
Silena blankly stared at her mother. "What do you mean, ambitions?"
"Well, judging by the amount of lingerie you bought...:"
Silena raised a finger to silence her mother. The goddess only smiled sweetly.
"Mom," she began patiently, deciding that she did not like the direction this conversation was taking. "Whatever Percy and I are doing behind closed doors is none of your business."
"Forgive me, I was just worried that you were being tossed aside for Ms. Chase. Seeing as you aren't a virgin anymore it does not take Aristoteles to conclude what you have been up to," Aphrodite reasoned.
Silena's jaw dropped for a moment and it took her a moment to find her voice. "What do you mean, tossed aside?" she spluttered.
"Percy didn't toss-..." she trailed off. "It was my... you know what, mom? This is really not any of your business."
She was saved from having to come up with coherent thoughts when a drowsy-looking Percy walked into the room.
"Silena, what is going on?" he asked, rubbing his eyes. When he spotted the goddess he stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes widening in surprise.
Percy looked down himself self-consciously. In his defense, being shirtless suited Percy just fine.
"My mother decided to come by?" she explained the obvious.
"Ahem, Lady Aphrodite," Percy stuttered and bowed awkwardly before joining Silena. "How can I help you."
Aphrodite laughed, the sound ringing through the night like a bundle of bells. "I fear I am beyond help, Perseus. Though it is sweet that you ask. Though if you were offering, I wouldn't mind a massage. No, I am just here to make sure my daughter is taking good care of you."
To Silena it was fairly obvious that Percy was overwhelmed. Still, she was touched when Percy blushed furiously. He looked over at Silena uncomfortably. "Silena is great," he mumbled uncomfortably.
Aphrodite looked at him for what felt like a long time and then her gaze softened into the most innocent smile imaginable. "I told you I would make your love life interesting. Would it be alright if I talked to my daughter in private?"
Percy looked back and forth between them, clearly suffering from some sort of whiplash.
"You okay?" he asked.
She nodded and rubbed her arms. "I'll be fine," she finally assured him. "Don't worry about the courtyard. I'll clean it up tomorrow. Mrs O'Leary got a bit excited."
He nodded and headed back into the house.
The moment he was out of earshot, Silena rounded on her mother. "Mom, I want Percy and Annabeth to get back together. I actually have been trying to help things along as much as possible. If that means I lose my rebound, then that is something I can live with," Silena whispered. "Are you worried about me, or are you just trying to screw with Percy's love life again?"
"Can't I be doing both? I did tell him last time I spoke to him that I wished one of my daughters could break...I mean steal his heart. You'd make such a cute couple," Aphrodite offered generously. "And as his slave, the path to his heart is not far. A guy like that, all you would need to do is get knocked up and he'd insist on doing right by you. Men like him are rare." At this Aphrodite brushed away another tear with a flourish of her hand.
This time it was Silena's turn to blush. "Mom, why would you think I would do such a thing? Just playing in my role here, am I not supposed to be making Percy's life easier, not harder?
"You can make Percy's life a lot easier and look out for yourself at the same time, honey," Aphrodite argued.
Silena held her mother's gaze. "Mom, I happen to think that Percy and Annabeth are adorable together. I want to dance a little time they give each other those longing looks. I don't think I could live with myself if I destroyed that. Besides, don't you think that purposefully screwing with Percy and Annabeth would kinda be against the terms I agreed to?"
Aphrodite pursed her lips and Silena hoped that this would be the end of it. "Please stop trying to get involved here, mom. I am content with my lot, do not ruin this for me. Now, forgive me if I am rude, but I should go to bed. It's late."
Percy Jackson
Percy found himself returning to Camp Half-blood only a few short days later, and not mainly for Juniper. Deep down, he somehow knew that he wasn't going to like what she wished to discuss with him. Having heard of his new glorious endeavor, Leo had reached out to let him know that he had apparently acquired some sort of maritime transport for them and was in the process of doing some retrofitting and so he had made the trip back down to camp on Blackjack.
As previously planned he met Leo in front of Bunker 9 shortly afternoon.
"Hey man," Percy greeted the latino elf and Percy slapped his shoulder in a "bro" type manner. Leo wore normal camp shorts with a brown lever apron, along with his handy utility belt.
"Lord Percy?" Leo greeted him awkwardly. "Please don't smite me or anything...," he added with that slightly deranged grin spreading across his face.
"Call me Lord one more time and I will smite you," Percy replied though he had no clue how to actually do that.
"Deal," Leo replied.
"Now, word in the hood is that you need a boat," Leo noted, resting his hands on his belt's side pouches as if they were akimbo gun holsters.
"Yeah kinda, flying thousands of nautical miles over the Sea of Monsters on Pegasi seems kind of short-sighted, even if they could make the trip," Percy agreed.
"Don't tell Chiron about this," Leo then whispered, a conspiratorial grin spreading across their face. "-but before we go in, a friendly disclaimer. The Hermes cabin launched a quest to assist in this led by the Stoll brothers."
This didn't bode well but Percy nodded, keeping a straight face.
Leo turned around and headed over to a keypad next to the bunker's heavy doors. After typing in a password, orange lights started blinking and the two blast doors, each more than two tones, began to swing open on hidden hinges, barely making a sound as they moved and they stepped into the large hangar. All the usual workstations cluttered up the large chamber inside and as they entered lights flickered aside. A few of Leo's siblings, large and muscular teens the lot of them, were working on projects. One was hammering on a glowing hot sword. There one was working on some sort of engine.
"Good thing Caly isn't here. She really wouldn't approve of this," Leo muttered and Percy almost sighed in relief.
As much as he would like to see her again, meeting Calypso again was not high on his to-do list, at least not in front of Leo. Best case, she'd hate his guts and cause a scene. Worst case, she still visibly had a thing for him and it would make Leo feel like crap. The way Percy saw it, the less Calypso had to do with the gods, the better. Artemis seemed to share his position there, the council really didn't like it when their exiles returned.
A giant mechanical dragon bronze raised his head as they entered and burst of flames burst from its nostrils.
"Stand down, Festus," Leo ordered. "Sorry, some Hermes kids tried to get in here. We needed a security upgrade."
"Now, this is the beauty we are working on," he announced and took him over to what looked like an open-going houseboat with a rich red hull and white deck, surrounded by scaffolding. A pilot's house was at the rear. It looked more like some sort of a utility boat than a yacht with a pilot's house at the rear, and a weather deck before it. Small windows on the side of the dark hull hinted at hidden cabins or other sorts of living arrangements. There was a narrow walkway surrounding the softly rounded white deck which was a foot taller, the rounded edge also holding windows.
"Almost fifty feet long, and about fifteen tonnes in displacement. Ice-proofed hull, should you plan any arctic expeditions. Cruising speed in reasonable sea conditions is about twenty knots and she has a range of four thousand nautical miles. The Stolls...tactically acquired Now, we've been retrofitting her with the monsters you might face in mind. You are going to love this, even took a page out of Raytheon's book with this one."
"Don't tell me you added cruise missiles or something?" Percy asked.
"Nah, that sort of guidance system would never work in the Sea of Monsters. Becides, that boat doesn't have enough juice in her wiring. Come on!" Leo explained.
Follow me!" Leo announced and they climbed up the scaffolding just as Jake Mason gave him a wave and mounted a celestial bronze prop. They climbed onto the boat and Leo first led him over the pilot's house. It was a pretty sweet design, with a comfortable-looking pilot's armchair at the controls and two jump seats in the back. The controls were all LCD displays, and he liked the lever bound steering wheel and throttle sticks, the child in him thinking, playing around with them would be pretty cool.
"Before you leave, we will brief you on the controls," Leo promised and led him back out and pointed at the roof-mounted radar mast with the usual assortment of antenna, surface radar, and navigation lights.
"So," he began enthusiastically. "See that Apache Longbow style white donut on the top?" he asked.
"Sure," Percy agreed blankly.
"That's a multi-directional, low-range, low-resolution Doppler radar," he explained, and that mildly deranged fire of a crazy inventor appeared in his eyes.
"Cool, what is it for?" Percy asked.
Then he pointed at additional at something that looked like a three-dimensional octagon mounted on the roof and at five panels mounted at an angle around the sides of a boat.
"We had some brainstorming at dinner a few days ago about the Scylla problem. Now, turns out Nyssa's mom is a US Marine Corps tank commander and she had the idea to mount an active protection system like they use against anti-tank missiles. Basically, you can basically arm the system, and if something of sufficient speed approaches, the system engages. Now, these panels are filled with celestial bronze softair gun balls and explosives. The idea is that if Sylla comes popping down for a snack, she gets a face full of celestial bronze shrapnel."
As Leo announced this with a wide grin he noticed that all of the guy's siblings were now looking over at them, eager to see his reaction. "Though I would not recommend being outside when that thing goes off," Leo added. "Just as a disclaimer. Bunker 9 is not liable for any fatalities or injuries."
"You think it will keep Scylla away?" Percy asked.
"Reasonably confident. Might just even kill her," Leo replied confidently. "Though no guarantees on that one."
"And what about Charybdis?" he asked.
Leo shrugged. "Honestly, just stay away from that one. Now to the underdeck part?
Leo led him back into the cockpit and then through a narrow hatch in the front that led down below. The hatch opened into what looked like a cross between a living room/dining room/ and galley, with a small kitchen, but also a nice flatscreen. It was finished look a luxury yacht, with gleaming wooden paneling on the walls, and shimmering white lever on the upholstery that would likely cause Grover to suffer an epileptic seizure.
Some of the curved windows he had noticed outside would offer very good lighting at sea, additionally to the LED lights in the ceiling.
"This one is rather self-explaining, and we didn't really change anything. Mind you this boat has a saltwater purifier so you'll be able to refill the water tanks. Gray water gets sent pumped off into the ocean," Leo explained and led him around the table to the narrow hallway behind him. "Now, most quests have only three people but to be safe we retrofitted the space down here to have four cabins, two on either side," he announced and showed off the small cabins with neatly made narrow bunks with more flat screens on the opposing wall and wardrobes for storage. Behind that was the lavatory with a toilet, shower, and the usual amenities. Opposite to this was the storage room, which according to Leo would also serve as an armory. Finally, they came to what had once been a stateroom in the bow, but Leo had revamped it into additional storage space, and a brig for their special mission requirements, with bronze cell bars, and bronze rings secured into the wall to chain someone up over a narrow cot.
"Fuck man, how quickly do you guys work?" Percy marveled.
"We have no Unions, man. Keeps the pace up. Dude, it's been a total blast. Much of the Aphrodite cabin helped to keep the interior design livable. We wanted to go with a submarine vibe originally. Clarisse talked to me yesterday and we will explore the possibilities of arming this baby," Leo rambled off.
"Damn, you are a genius," Percy admitted. He couldn't help but be impressed. Once they left the boat, Leo crossed his arms, and Percy noted that the rest of Leo's siblings present were assembling.
"So, Percy. You think this boat would be useful on your quest?" Leo asked hopefully, his siblings staring at him with wide, hopeful eyes.
"Hell yeah, this is more than I could have ever asked for. You guys are literally amazing," he replied.
Leo nodded gravely and turned around to his siblings. "See, I told you he'd like it. How many people are you planning to take?"
"Just Annabeth to be honest!" Percy replied.
There was some sniggering in the group but Nyssa silenced them with a sharp glare.
"Then we will stock her accordingly. We will have her ready in a week or so."
"Now, at this point, I must point out official contributions. The Hermes cabin under the Stoll brothers, for providing us with the boat. Katie Gardener, for looking the other way as the Hermes cabin provided us with the boat. Ares cabin for bringing in good ideas, and the Aphrodite cabin for handling the interior design," Leo announced. "Finally to my cabin, the most amazing group of ugly basterds under the sun. Come on, ladies and gentlemen! Group hug!"
It almost looked comical, short and skinny Leo being involved in a group huge with his siblings who all towered above him by a heads length, even the younger ones.
For another few minutes, Percy congratulated the sons and daughter of Hephaestus on a job well done before he and Leo walked back out of the bunker.
"Are you and Cally doing alright?" he asked.
Leo faltered for a moment. "Yeah sure, why do you ask? Did Caly say anything?"
Percy shrugged, "Just asking. Hope the two of you are happy. So you are staying here around the year?"
Leo nodded. "Yeah, almost went to school with Jason. But then I would have to leave Bunker 9 unattended... ."
Percy soon departed, it was time to face what was without any doubt be the harder part of this trip. He made his way through camp but purposefully kept a low profile until he reached Zeus's fist, that odd assortment of borders.
"Juniper?" he called out.
There was a moment of silence but a moment later the dainty dryad melted out of the trees, looking at him with nervous woodruff green eyes. She now looked to be about eighteen, and still wore that purple silk outfit of hers. Her skin was a pleasant shade of green and her hair fell down her back in long, amber curls. Her ears were also pointed, which was kind of adorable and also gave him Lord of the Rings vibes.
"Lord Perseus, I thank you for sparing me your attention," she began and Percy straight up silenced her with a raised hand.
"It is just Percy Juniper. I am still the same guy I have always been," Percy replied.
Juniper nodded and then hesitantly approached him.
"As you are probably aware, Grover and I have broken up a few days ago?" she began.
"I am," Percy confirmed.
"Did he say anything?" she asked.
"Only that he doesn't know why," Percy replied.
It was fairly obvious that Juniper was nervous about his reaction. However, ending a relationship was well within her rights and he wouldn't hold it against her.
"I know I earned no friends with my choice," Juniper admitted. "I got to see Grover once every few months, and even then, he is occupied with his duties as a lord of the wild. I do not blame him. Please understand that being with him puts a target on my back, a lot of nymphs would very much like to get rid of me and with you and Annabeth rarely visiting camp these days, I don't have that many friends around. Grover is a good Satyr, a kind one, and I love him. I do not wish to be in a relationship like this, and I would not force him on my account. We talked about it a few months ago and he promised it would get better. I think we both knew that his duties were too important."
Juniper looked genuinely miserable, her slim shoulders sagging as she spoke.
"Juniper, I am not getting in the middle of your breakup with Grover, and I am not angry with you in any way. So, what can I do for you? It was you who reached out after all?"
Juniper sat down on one of Zeus's fists smaller boulders and pulled her knees to her chest. "I don't want to be at Camp anymore. I don't want to be that hated ex-girlfriend forever."
Percy tried to find the right words. Words that would make all this go away. "They'll forget about it in a few days...," was the best feeble argument he came up with.
"We dryads have a very long memory, and I would rather not wake up to someone carving rude things into my tree," Juniper defended herself. "Once they have it out for me they won't forget. I've been lonely around here for a long time anyway."
"I don't see anything that could be done about that unless you can uproot yourself and walk your tree somewhere else," Percy reasoned.
Juniper dropped her gaze. "That is what I wanted to talk to you about. There is only one real way to get out of here for me and that is to be moved. Usually, this happens when some god likes a dryad and wishes to take her home with him as a servant."
Slowly the nature of Juniper's plan began to dawn on him.
"I heard that you have that Silena girl with you."
"No Juniper, I am still on the fence about the entire Silena story. Why would you ever think that I would even want to turn you into a slave?" he asked, keeping his voice low, but intentionally choosing the harsher word.
Juniper blushed a dark shade of green.
"I don't know. It's just a few days ago you took so good care of Silena and I thought it would be a good place to move. If you don't want me I am sure I'll find someone else," Juniper mumbled.
"Some other god?" Percy asked incredulously.
Juniper met his gaze and held it. "I have no wish to stay at camp like some leftover."
"In a few weeks, everyone will have moved on. People break up all the time. It isn't really a big deal," Percy tried to assure her.
"I won't forget," Juniper argued, and Percy was struck with the realization that Juniper was deadly serious. "And neither will they. The trees remember, they always remember."
"So, will you have me?" Juniper asked hopefully.
Percy looked up at the sky, asking himself why all women around him seemed to be going insane. Silena had at least made a reasonable decision, taking being a slave to a guy she had been friends with over the underworld. This just seemed quite drastic and short-sighted.
Something stopped him from outright refusing her though. Perhaps it was wisdom slowly beginning to blossom but Percy figured that worse case if he rejected her outright, she might start merrily sending offers to other godlings until she got what she wanted.
Deciding to buy some time and give Juniper a chance to reconsider her choices he went with what at the time had seemed like a more elegant solution. "I will make you an offer. Give me a while to consider this, when I come back from my mission for the Olympians I will give you my answer?"
Juniper didn't seem too happy about this but nodded, perhaps having hoped to be returning to Olympus with Percy that very day. "How are you going to leave this place anyway? Your tree is here," Percy asked.
Juniper looked at him as if he were being on the slow side of things. "The tree would be moved by magic," she explained as if this were obvious. "Gods have been taking nymphs home for many millennia," she then added as if this made it better. "You must know how this is done, you are a god..."
Percy chose not to educate her that he didn't.
That day Percy sat down with Annabeth and Silena he caught them up on his trip. Annabeth seemed satisfied with what the Hephaestus Cabin had come up with. Strangely enough, neither seemed to be overly surprised when he told them about Juniper. Caught off guard, sure. Surprised, not really.
"You should have seen stuff like this coming," Selina mumbled through a full mouth and swallowed. "Sorry, bad manners," she replied blushing.
"I might not like it, but Silena is right," Annabeth grudgingly admitted. "Though I did not see Juniper taking this route... . Talk about long term solutions to short term problems, good that you bought time. We'll have to try to talk her out of it. Maybe you can do that Silena..."
"What are you talking about?" Percy asked incredulously.
Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "Oh please, at this point nymphs giving themselves to gods or other immortals is the mortal equivalent to teen girls running off to LA to become actresses or models. Most never realize their dreams, and a disturbing amount of them end up in deep shit. I really didn't think Juniper would ever do something this stupid."
"What do they think they'll become?"
At this Silena suddenly looked very uncomfortable while Annabeth pointedly nodded at her. "Become what Silena is right now. End up as a personal servant or lover to a gentle and wealthy master, to be honest. The problem is that there is a fair amount of racism involved," Annabeth explained.
"You see Percy," Silena continued. "Around here, even the gods will notice me. In the eyes of Apollo and the others, I am a prized and valuable commodity, to be taken or bought and enjoyed. I am the kind of slave that might even end up as a concubine, or even wife and bear my master's children."
At this part she paused, clearly comfortable. "Nymphs are seen as a dime a dozen, even the quite pretty ones like Juniper. Where Silena...," she looked over at Silena apologetically. "sorry about talking like this.
"It's fine," Silena assured her. "I knew what I was getting into."
Annabeth sighed, still clearly uncomfortable but continued. "Where Silena here is seen as almost priceless, nymphs are seen as below pets, more like toys,...you know too be enjoyed and then later discarded. They are used up and tossed aside. Most don't last very long. A few years ago there was this scandal of a minor god cutting a dryad's tree in his front yard to make space for a water fountain, while the dryad was begging for her life?"
"What happened?" Percy asked mildly, suddenly feeling disturbed.
"Oh, Zoe Nightshade apparently stepped in and offered to find out how many arrows can fit in a minor god if he didn't stop," Annabeth explained offhandedly.
Percy bumped his fist against his chest and a warrior's salute, muttering a few words of silent prayer for the fallen huntress's soul.
"And you have always been a great guy," Silena summarized. "So don't act too surprised that someone noticed. What do you think that water fountain and that flowerbed in your atrium are there for?"
"For nymphs...?" Percy guessed.
The uncomfortable silence confirmed. "I honestly thought it was just a nice fountain for Iris messages..."
Annabeth pointed a finger at him. "The sad thing is, I actually believe that. Percy, for the love of the gods, you need to learn the culture around here. Many of the local rules and customs haven't changed much in the last three thousand years."
"So what do I do, she said that if I didn't take her she would find another god. She might have broken up with Grover, but I still don't want to see her get hurt."
Another awkward silence spread in which they poked around in the fruits of Silena's labor. "This might seem counter to my interests," Annabeth began, "but if you want to protect her from her own lack of far sight, you might have to take her in. No one is forcing you to actually do anything with her,.."
"I'll imagine she will not be pleased by that," Silena muttered into her glass of orange Juice.
Annabeth looked over at her. "Hmm?"
"Oh please Annabeth, little dryad going for the attractive shiny new god. That girl is gunning of a rebound.. ."
"I don't think so, this is Juniper we are talking about," Annabeth reasoned.
"The innocent-looking ones are always the worst, Annabeth," Silena argued with a grin, seemingly brushing past the fact that she too had been perfectly happy to take the rebound sex. In her defense, it took two to tango, and he had certainly been an enthusiastic participant.
"I'm getting ice cream. Do you guys want some?"
So, here we go for now. Another update. Juniper doesn't get enough love and I think having her around more is definitely worth the effort of incorporating her. Really looking forward to writing more Percabeth. Finally fixed the Scylla problem. We'll have to see if it actually works because I am honestly not sure at this point. I have a bad habit of putting my characters into situations they can't survive, and it has a tendency to screw over my I will soon have to increasingly delve into Percy's godhood but so far it simply isn't a priority, and Percy isn't overly interested in it.
Anyway, I do hope you have enjoyed yourselves. Leave a few Reviews.
Henry James Locker over and out.