Disclaimer: I only own the plot and my OCs. Anything you recognize as not mine belongs to Rick Riordan, Greco-Roman mythology, and/or their otherwise respective owners.
Author's Notes: Hi, y'all! My medical procedure on Monday went well. Still recovering from it, but overall feeling much better than I did last week.
Not quite sure what the next chapter title is gonna be, as I have two options for what to do next (both lead to the same result), but idk which one I like better yet. Regardless, I hope you enjoy.
Until next week,
~TGWSI/Selene Borealis
~The Finding Home Saga~
~Finding Home~
~Chapter 47: The Fleece Works Its Magic Too Well~
We arrived in Long Island just after Clarisse, thanks to the centaurs' travel powers. I rode on the back of Chiron, but we didn't talk much, especially not about Kronos. I knew the titan had to be a hard subject for him, not only because of the Great Prophecy and what it meant for me, but also because of how I remembered that Kronos was Chiron's father; he was technically my uncle. He and Dolops had been born from him and an Oceanid nymph named Philyra, and...you know what, that isn't really a story I can relay to you in a couple of sentences. Suffice to say, it's not a happy one. No story concerning my paternal grandfather is.
Anyways, I didn't want to push him with questions about Kronos after remembering his parentage. I mean, I've met plenty of embarrassing parents, but Kronos, the evil titan lord who wanted to destroy Western civilization? Not the kind of dad you wanted to admit to having, much less inviting him to school for career day. And I didn't want him asking me any further questions, either. If the ones he wanted to ask were about my life before I discovered I was a half-blood, I just wouldn't be able to handle it.
When we got to camp, the centaurs were anxious to meet Dionysus. They'd heard he could throw some really wild parties, but they were disappointed. The wine god was in no mood to celebrate as the whole camp gathered at the top of Half-Blood Hill.
The camp had been through a hard almost-two weeks. The arts and crafts cabin had been burned to the ground from an attack by a Draco Aionius (which, as near as I could figure, was Latin for "really big lizard with breath that blows up stuff." Why we were calling it by the Latin name, I didn't know). The Big House's rooms were overflowing with wounded campers. The kids in the Apollo cabin, who were the beast healers by far, and Will Solace specifically out of their lot had been working overtime performing first aid, and all were exhausted. Everybody looked weary and battered as we crowded around Thalia's tree.
The moment Clarisse draped the Golden Fleece over the lowest bough, the moonlight seemed to brighten, turning from a simple grey to the color of liquid silver. A cool breeze rustled in through the branches and rippled through the glass, all the way through the valley. Everything came into sharper focus – the glow of the fireflies down in the woods, the smell of the strawberry fields, the sound of the waves on the beach.
Gradually, the needles on the pine tree started turning from brown to green.
Everybody cheered. It was happening slowly, but there could be no doubt: the Fleece's magic was seeping into the tree, filling it with new power and expelling the poison.
Chiron ordered a twenty-four/seven guard duty on the hilltop, at least until he could find an appropriate monster to guard the Fleece. He said he'd place an ad in Olympus Weekly right away, and peruse Hermes' catalog in case that didn't pan out.
In the meantime, Cabin Five carried me, Clarisse, and Silena all on their shoulders. Make no doubt, those kids are strong. Bianca, Annabeth, and Alabaster got lost in the crowd from us quickly, although I saw Alabaster get reunited with Lou Ellen before I lost track of them, who promptly slapped him in the face before throwing her arms around his neck. The children of Ares led the entire camp down to the amphitheater, where we were honored with laurel wreaths and a lot of celebrating around the campfire.
It was also at the amphitheater where I was able to properly talk with my half-sister again.
"Percy Jackson!" she shouted at me, her voice bordering on her sonic scream. At first, I thought she was going to do what Lou Ellen had done and slap me too, but when she rushed over to me, she just pulled me into a hug that almost felt like it could crack my ribs. "I swear to God, you are the most insufferable, stubborn, reckless half-brother I have ever – "
I was mildly surprised that she hadn't fallen into the Ancient Greek style of cursing that the rest of us had, but whatever. It'd only been two weeks since she'd found out she was a demigod.
"I'm the only half-brother you've ever met," I pointed out.
"Shut up," Callie said. When she pulled away, her eyes were watery. "I thought you were gonna die. Everybody kept on saying how dangerous the Sea of Monsters is, and I was left here all alone because of your sheer stupidity – "
"I wasn't gonna die," I told her, sounding more confident than I'd felt while on the quest. "And I'm sorry I left you here alone. I didn't mean to ditch you like that. But it had to happen."
"Yeah," she agreed. "I know, it had to happen."
Later that night, as we were roasting s'mores and listening to the Stoll brothers tell us a ghost story about an evil king who was eaten alive by demonic breakfast pastries, our burial shrouds having been burned, Clarisse came up behind me to put me in a headlock and ruffle my hair. I yelped and tried to move away, but she was unrepentant. "You know, you're not that bad, Jackson," she said. Then, she leaned in close and whispered into my ear, "Don't worry, I'm not gonna rat you and Silena out or tell anyone about your secret. Whatever the fuck you and Castellan do is your own business."
When I looked up at her, I was more relieved than words could describe. "Thanks, Clarisse," I said truthfully, honestly.
"Don't worry about it," she said, before stalking off.
Callie gave me a weird look. "What was that about?"
"Nothing," I told her. "We're just both glad to be home."
The next week passed by without much fanfare. Once the shock of everything that had happened in such a short while wore off, the camp mostly fell back into its usual patterns. Alabaster was welcomed back to camp with open arms for the most part, people being relieved at his return and hopeful that it could mean the same for others they knew who had joined the other side. There were some people who resented him, but they didn't get a chance to complain too much. Clarisse, Silena, Katie, Annabeth, Bianca, and I all protecting him sent a loud enough message. Nobody wanted to piss off the people who had saved the camp, especially when four of us had pretty powerful abilities and the other two were children of war deities.
I spent these seven days finally deciding to keep true to my promises of practicing, both in sword-fighting and with my powers. Callie and I hung out at the beach, and I showed her the basics of how our powers worked, starting with the tug behind the navel and how to summon it. "How are you just naturally so good at this?" she complained at one point, placing her hands on her hips. "This is so darn difficult."
"I'm not," I said. "I've just been doing this longer than you."
"Yeah, sure," she muttered. "You go with that."
"Callie."
"Percy."
Some things did change more than they had to. The morning after I came back to camp, Callie and I woke up to discover that we had a fountain in our room. It was made of grey sea rocks, with a spout that was formed into a fish. Coral decorated the bottom of the basin, which also had many drachmas resting on top of it. The sound of the running water was soothing, like it comforted a primeval urge I my brain.
"Who gave us this?" Callie said when she woke up about a minute or so after I did, scratching at her hair.
There was a note stuck to the stand of the fountain, like the kind that was stuck to package deliveries. I peeled it off and examined it. "Our father," I told her. His name was written on the "From" part of the note.
But the package detail wasn't the only thing that was written on the note. Scrawled on top of it in icy blue ink and a handwriting that most people could only dream of having was a simple: Thank you.
Undoubtedly, it was from Hermes.
I didn't question how he knew of the decision I had made; I was a little surprised he hadn't come to speak with me himself, but I didn't question that, either. Him showing up at our cabin to talk to me would've undoubtedly been suspicious to Callie, and this wasn't a part of my life I wanted her to find out about yet.
My relationship with Annabeth seemed to undergo a metamorphosis, too. We were, tentatively, friends. We smiled at each other in the dining pavilion, and she was a bit nicer to me during my Ancient Greek lessons. When another round of Capture the Flag was announced for the second Friday after my quest, I teamed up with her cabin without any complaint or bartering. We weren't ever going to be close friends, that was a given, but I was okay with that. I was just relieved to not have somebody acting as a pain in my ass at camp anymore.
All in all, it was nice to be back at my home away from home. It was nice to be back with my sister, most of my friends, and almost everyone else that I cared about. I missed Luke, but for now I was content with the simplicities of life, and I knew if he wanted it, we would be reunited at the end of the summer when I went back home to my mom and our apartment. I could be patient until then.
And yet, all of this being said...
There was a distinctive itch at the back of my brain. I felt like there was something more to come on top of everything else, something that we were all missing. But I didn't know what it could be. Everything had happened as it was all supposed to have gone, so my half-sister, friends, and I could all enjoy the rest of the summer without much disturbance, right?
...Right?
A week after returning from the quest, the night was a stormy one. It parted around the camp like it usually did. Lightning flashed across the horizon and made the air staticky while waves pounded the shore, but not a drop of rain fell in our valley. We were protected again thanks to the Fleece, sealed inside our magical borders.
My dreams were restless. As I somehow knew that Callie slept peacefully and soundly, I tossed and turned. I heard Kronos taunting me from the depths of Tartarus: "Polyphemus sits blindly in his cave," he said, "thinking that, despite the loss of his remaining sight, he has won a great victory? What of you? Do you think yourself to be any less deluded?" His cold laughter echoed in the darkness.
He wasn't the only deity I dreamt of. When the scene shifted, I was standing in one of the most beautiful, Ancient Greek-style palaces I had ever seen. I knew I was on Mount Olympus. The columns were an off-white color, like the actual stone alabaster, and covered in ivy. I was standing underneath the arched roof of an outdoor walkway, so I could see the night sky above. The stars in the night sky were brilliant, and up here, there were no clouds to obscure them.
"Milady," I said. Demeter was standing not far away from me, dressed in a white chiton with a golden girdle. There was likewise gold netting in her hair, a gold snake armlet on her right arm, and, when she turned around, she was wearing golden earrings with emeralds in drop cages and an emerald pendant hanging from a golden chain. She looked every inch the goddess that she was. "I take it you wanted to see me?"
"Yes, Percy," she said. She gave me a smile. "You and your companions did good on your quest. Your father and I are proud of you, as I am sure you know. You took the Fleece, and you saved my daughter."
"Of course I did," I replied. But I was confused. Why was she summoning me now and not a week ago, when I'd officially come back from the quest? And why was she talking to me in a dream, not in person? It would've been less awkward for her to appear in the cabin with Callie there instead of Hermes. The list of people who knew I was the champion of Demeter was quickly growing, and I figured I could come up with a way to explain it to her without mentioning Luke.
My patron interlocked her hands together, letting them rest in front of her. "I am afraid we do not have much time, my champion," she told me. "I will have to keep this message short. You must brace yourself."
I frowned. "What does that – ?"
Before I could finish my sentence, an arc of lightning cracked across the heavens, coming from above. Somehow, I knew it was from the top of Mount Olympus, where the building that housed the throne room was. A meeting among the twelve ruling gods was being called.
Demeter's smile became strained. "And there it is," she went. She shook her head, looking away from me and up at the sky. "There's been a...complication with the Fleece, Percy. I cannot tell you what it is succinctly enough in order to prepare you, you will have to find out yourself. But it was not expected, not even by us gods. And suffice to say, it may have the propensity to change...everything."
"Wait, milady," I complained. She summoned me, only to do this? "What do you mean? Why do I need to – ?"
That was when I woke up.
There was a banging at the door. Katie threw it open without waiting for permission. Callie rolled over in bed, apparently too tired to sit upright like me, and whined pitifully. "Katie," she mumbled. "Wha – ?"
Katie had eyes only for me."P – Percy," she stammered out, looking like she had seen a ghost. "Annabeth...on the hill...she..."
The expression on her face told me that something was terribly, terribly wrong. I knew that Annabeth was supposed to have been on guard duty tonight, protecting the Fleece. If something had happened to her –
I ripped off my covers, my blood like ice water in my veins. I threw on some clothes while Katie tried to explain what was going on, but she was too stunned, too out of breath. "She's laying there...just laying there...I don't even know how this is..."
"Percy," Callie said. It was now she managed to push herself up into a sitting position. She rubbed at her eyes. "Wait – "
But I didn't wait for her. I didn't even bother to put on shoes.
I ran outside and raced across the central yard, Katie right behind me. Dawn was just breaking, but the whole camp seemed to be stirring. Word was spreading. Something huge had happened. A few campers were already making their way towards the hill, with nymphs and heroes in a weird mix of armor and pajamas.
No, please no, I begged. Annabeth had to be fine. She just had to be. Because more than just her being my friend –
If Luke was going to have go through losing her, on top of everyone else he'd lost...
I heard the clop of horse hooves, and Chiron galloped behind us, looking grim.
"Is it true?" he asked Katie.
She could only nod, her expression dazed.
I tried to ask Chiron what was going on, but he grabbed me by the arm and effortlessly lifted me onto his back. Together we thundered up Half-Blood Hill, where a small crowd had started to gather.
I expected to see the Fleece missing from Thalia's tree, but it was still there, glittering in the first light of dawn. The storm had broken and the sky was blood red.
"Curse the titan lord," Chiron said darkly. "He's tricked us again, given himself another chance to control the prophecy."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"The Fleece," he answered. "The Fleece did its magic too well."
We galloped forward, everyone moving out of our way. There at the base of the tree, a girl was laying unconscious. Another girl in Greek armor was kneeling next to her.
Blood roared in my ears. I couldn't think straight. Had Annabeth been attacked? But then why was the Fleece still there, if she had?
Thalia's tree looked perfectly fine, whole and healthy, suffused with the energy of the Golden Fleece.
"It healed the tree," Chiron spoke, his voice ragged. "But poison was not the only thing it purged."
That was when I realized Annabeth wasn't the one laying on the ground. She was the one in the armor, kneeling next to the unconscious girl. When Annabeth saw us, she got up and ran to Chiron. "It...she...just suddenly there..."
Her eyes were streaming with tears, but I still didn't understand. My mind was too tired and too freaked out to make sense of it all. I leaped off of Chiron's back and ran towards the unconscious girl. Chiron shouted, "Percy, wait!"
I knelt by her side. She had short, spiky black hair and freckles across her nose. She was built like a long-distance runner, lithe and strong, and she wore clothes that were somewhere between punk and goth – a black Green Day t-shirt, black tattered jeans, and a leather jacket that had buttons of even more bands, most of which I had never heard of.
I didn't connect the dots together immediately. I knew she looked familiar – like somebody out of a forgotten dream, because I didn't recognize her from any of the cabins.
"It's true," Katie said, panting from her run up the hill. The di Angelos and Callie both were not far behind her. "I can't believe..."
Nobody else came close to the girl.
I put my hand to her forehead. Her skin was cold, but my fingertips tingled as if they were burning.
"She needs nectar and ambrosia," I said. She was clearly a half-blood, whether she was a camper or not. I could sense as much just from that one touch. I didn't understand why everybody else was refusing to approach her, to help her.
I took her by the shoulders and lifted her into a sitting position, resting her head on my shoulder.
"Come on!" I yelled to the others. "What's wrong with you people? We need to get her to the Big House!"
No one moved, not even Chiron. They were all too stunned.
The girl took in a shaky breath. She coughed and opened her eyes.
Her irises were a startling electric blue.
The girl stared at me in bewilderment, shivering and wild-eyed. "Who – ?"
"I'm Percy," I told her. "You're safe now."
"Had the strangest dream..."
"It's okay."
"...I was dying..."
"No," I assured her. "You're okay. What's your name?"
That's when I knew. Even before she said it.
Her eyes weren't the same color, and she looked at least a year or two older than she had before, but –
"Can you make him happy?"
The girl's blue eyes stared into mine, and suddenly I knew why Luke would have been so willing to give us the Fleece after he'd used it on Kronos, or why he'd even poisoned Thalia's trees in the first place. I understood everything. His goal – Kronos' goal might have been to get himself resurrected again, first and foremost, but he'd known there was a chance of this happening. A possibility of him being given another chance to control the prophecy, since I was obviously being so unwilling and stubborn in his eyes to do what he wanted.
There were too many emotions going through my system for me to register anything else except for my shock. I was too caught up in thinking about what this would mean – not for the Prophecy, because honestly, fuck the Prophecy right now. It was the least of my worries.
No, I was concerned about what it meant for me and Luke. Our relationship.
After all, I wasn't the first person he had fallen in love with.
The girl I was currently holding in my arms was.
"I'm Thalia, Thalia Grace," she said, instinctively jutting out her chin slightly as she spoke. Like she already had an inkling of who I was, although I couldn't even begin to decipher what part of my identity she'd caught onto first. "Daughter of Zeus."
Word Count: 3,510
Next Chapter Title: I Play Out Some Teenager Stereotypes
