Act II Chapter XVII: "Fate can never be outran, Perseus."
"I still can't believe you drank all of those energy drinks. That could seriously hurt you," Annabeth chided Luke. The boys had just finished retelling their grand story of heroically out drinking Dionysus and beating him in Pac-Man. Clarisse looked more interested in her breakfast than their story. Annabeth seemed enthralled, and Reyna just played with her food the whole time.
"I'm fine, Annabeth. It really wasn't that bad," Luke swore. Percy smiled because he knew that Luke had not slept much since the contest. He thought it was because of the energy drinks, but maybe, it was due more to worry. "I'm more concerned about your injuries. What happened?"
Annabeth recounted the story of going to the Amazons base. Clarisse chimed in with a few comments on her own. Reyna just stayed silent. She hadn't talked much since returning. All she really did was look a million miles away. Had her sister really tried to kill her? And why?
As Annabeth told the story, Percy felt guilt running through him. He had it easy compared to the girls. They got to go to a big Pac-Man convention where the most dangerous thing was a hand cramp from playing too many games. On the other hand, the girls had almost been killed by the Amazons.
Percy dug into his breakfast as Annabeth told them of how they found Iris and the fight to escape. His gaze moved to the far end of the camp where the three immortals were talking. Lupa's tail was wagging slightly like she was happy, and Iris did have a small smile on her face.
Iris looked much better now. She had cleaned herself of the golden ichor and replaced her destroyed rags with blue jeans, a rainbow shirt, and a rainbow shawl. Dionysus on the other hand wore pants that barely fit him and a shirt that had his fat belly poking out from underneath it.
Chiron was helping out some of the Dryads as they made the camp. They were going to start simple by making cabins for everyone to live in and the place they used to call the Big House. Once they had more demigods and were in a comfortable routine, they would add more buildings. Chiron kept talking of a rock climbing wall and an archery field.
"Iris used her powers to get us away, so we don't know what happened with the Amazons," Clarisse tacked on. Percy glanced over at Reyna, who just stared at the ground. "I personally think it would have been fun to keep fighting, but Princess had to get stabbed."
"Still not my fault," Annabeth spat back with a look of annoyance. Luke gently tapped her arm.
"As long as you're okay," Luke said. He put his empty plate down and stood. "I'll be right back."
"Chiron said they sent out a few Iris messages," Annabeth said. She finished her plate, and Will started to gather them up. Clarisse stood to help him and carried away the plates. Percy poked at the fire in front of them and watched the smoke rise.
"Shouldn't we be worried about monsters?" Drew questioned. She sat a little further away than the rest of them but listened to the story.
"Hopefully, we don't have to with Terminus around," Percy spoke up. Next to him sat Will.
"Terminus said that he made a barrier. It won't last against a full blown assault of monsters, but it should hold off against a single monster trying to break in," Will explained.
"Lupa mentioned setting up another guard rotation for the first few weeks," Reyna muttered. She slowly looked at them. "I already volunteered for nights. I'm sure Clarisse will take the day. You three can continue training."
"We'll probably need your help with the new demigods too," Annabeth added. She smiled. "I'm so proud of everyone. We actually did it."
Luke made it back to their side holding onto the jacket they won at the Pac-Man convention. He looked at Reyna and held it out, "Here. I got this for you. I hope it's your size."
Reyna moved her gaze to Luke and then the jacket. She slowly took it and spoke, "Thank you."
Luke gave her a huge grin. Reyna studied the jacket and carefully placed it into her lap. Percy glanced up as he saw the immortals were parting ways. Dionysus started to walk toward the Dryads, thought better of it, and turned toward the demigods. A huff left him as he circled around not sure where to go.
Iris moved to Chiron's side and began talking to him, holding his hands gently. Lupa walked a few feet away and seemed to study the camp. Percy stood and made his way toward the wolf goddess. Lupa turned to look at him.
"Perseus," Lupa greeted. "Did you rest well?"
"Kind of. I had a dream," Percy began. Lupa nodded and studied him. Her silence made him continue. "It was about you and another goddess: Bellona. Who I think is Reyna's mother."
"The Roman goddess of war," Lupa confirmed in a soft voice.
"Yeah. She, um, mentioned that Camp Half-Blood had averted their doomsday. Which is Thalia, right? I was wondering about Thalia."
"Why not ask Chiron?" Lupa wondered.
"You were closer," Percy admitted. Lupa looked at him, and something like a grin slowly split her lips.
"Thalia Grace was a great hero at Camp Half-Blood. I have learned of some of her exploits from Chiron, though I don't know many of the details. Her first quest was to retrieve her father's lightning bolt when it was stolen. A year later, she found the Golden Fleece. After that was rescuing Diana. I believe she joined Diana's hunters not long after."
"Right before she could turn sixteen," Percy deduced. Lupa nodded. "So, could she decide to just turn sixteen now?"
"Not without breaking her vow," Lupa said with a shake of her head. "The gods argued for a long time about what to do with the prophecy. Only some of the Olympians know the full prophecy. The rest of us only know that a child of Lord Jupiter, Lord Neptune, or Lord Pluto will make a choice that saves or destroys Olympus."
"Thalia delayed the inevitable when she joined the Hunt. She gained immortality to avoid ever turning sixteen. Fate can never be outran, Perseus. Thalia only pushed off what will happen eventually."
"Annabeth told me that the gods couldn't decide what to do about the children of the Big Three. Do you know who thought what?" Percy asked.
"Just that there was a divide," Lupa answered. "I was more focused on training Roman demigods than the arguments of their parents. I learned too late how terrible it really was. But Perseus, that is why it is so important you tell no one who your father is."
Whoops.
"I won't," Percy promised. Anymore at least. Lupa nodded like she was satisfied. "You said that you were busy training Roman demigods."
"At my Wolf House," Lupa explained. A noise that Percy couldn't identify left her. "Camp Half-Blood had Lord Bacchus to be their director. A god always watched over them. Camp Jupiter was different. I trained every demigod before they reached the camp. Those that were strong enough moved on. Those that didn't were fed to my pack."
Percy waited for the goddess to laugh and say she was joking. She did not.
"After that, I did not interfere with Camp Jupiter. The demigods were left to fend for themselves," Lupa continued. Her gaze grew distant. Lupa blinked and looked back at Percy. "You should enjoy a few days of rest before we pick up training again."
"With new faces this time," Percy said with a huge grin.
"Hopefully," Lupa agreed. She studied Percy. "I would like to continue our training, but that would require having to leave the camp. We will have to wait to train in the water. For now, we will work on your fighting techniques."
"Oh cool," Percy said without complaint. "How do we do that?"
"Do you agree to spar with me and not stop until I say so?" Lupa questioned.
"That sounds a little scary," Percy admitted. Lupa just watched him with the same old stare that pierced his soul. "But, yeah. Sure. How should we do this?"
"Do you have your blade?" Lupa asked. Percy nodded and grabbed his pen out of his pocket. He uncapped it and watched as the blade appeared in his hand.
"Right here," Percy said. "Should we head to the forest or…?"
Lupa looked at him for a moment. Then, she leapt up and swiped at his head with her paw. A yelp left Percy as he ducked underneath and took a step back. Percy spoke, "What was that?!"
"Keep your guard up!" Lupa ordered. The wolf goddess lunged at him.
It was going to be a long day.