Act II Chapter XXVIII: "We have a chance to fix all that"

"Hold still," Percy began.

"I'm not moving," Reyna commented as she looked up at Percy. He met her black eyes and smiled slightly. She scowled. "You're not focused."

"I'm trying," Percy said as he tried not to whine. It wasn't easy for him to stay focused on one task, especially when Chiron kept droning on about how to safely apply a splint and the numerous different ways to apply it. He spoke slowly and succinctly. Which was great. Just not for Percy. "It's been forever."

"It's been three minutes," Reyna corrected. Percy groaned.

"Something wrong, Percy?" Chiron asked.

"No," Percy called as he looked up. They were in the back of the row of people sitting down for the lesson. Beckendorf and Silena sat up front. Beckendorf had Silena's arm in his grasp, but he was too busy making loving eyes at her than to help.

A demigod who had arrived there that morning, Kayla, sat with Will. Everyone was taking turns putting a splint on their partner. And Chiron was running his first aid class with an iron fist.

A little tighter, Will. Not that tight, Drew. A centimeter too high, Annabeth.

Percy focused back on Reyna's arm. She had shrugged off her jacket and held her arm out. Percy carefully started to put the sling on. A shadow passed over them, and Chiron hummed as he watched Percy work.

"A little too tight," Chiron stated.

"Oh, thanks," Percy said as he worked to fix his mistake. It didn't help that Chiron just stood over him, and Reyna stared at him. A glance over showed that Thalia kept looking his way as well. Percy ignored the gazes and finished.

"Very good," Chiron remarked as he stepped away. Percy took the splint off and looked at Reyna.

"Your turn."

Reyna finished it in the same amount of time it took Percy to tear the thing out of its packaging. All Percy could do was stare at it, and Chiron stepped by again, "Very good."

"Really good," Percy commented.

"I've picked up a thing or two on my own," Reyna shrugged. "And the first time I showed my skills to Lupa, she promised to tear my arm off if I did a splint like how I used to."

A small smile came to Reyna's face like it was a fond memory, "It was drilled into my head."

Percy nodded as the sling was taken off. Reyna held her arm out silently, and Percy practiced again. Once he was comfortable enough that he could perform emergency surgery in the middle of battle, he broke apart from Reyna.

And made his way toward Thalia.

Percy was intrigued by her since they met. For one, she was a child of Zeus and a forbidden child. Just like Percy. Granted, he couldn't mention that as a bonding point.

"Sup," Thalia greeted as Percy stopped next to her.

"I was just curious," Percy began. Thalia raised an eyebrow. "Well, Annabeth told me you were at Camp Half-Blood before becoming a hunter of Artemis. And before everything was destroyed."

"You have questions about the camp," Thalia assumed. Percy nodded. "Come on. Let's take a walk."

Thalia turned and walked away. Percy glanced back, but it seemed like everyone else was leaving the lesson. He turned and followed behind Thalia. There were so many questions that he had, but he had to pace himself.

"Any questions in particular?" Thalia asked as they walked into the burnt out part of the forest, heading toward the healthier regions.

"How did you know you were a demigod?"

"Well, monster attacks for one. It's pretty bad when you're a child of Zeus. Monsters smell how strong you are and want to challenge you. It happened a lot when I was younger, and after my mom died-"

"Sorry to hear that."

"Don't be," Thalia stated. Percy almost recoiled with how quick Thalia was to dismiss the death of her mother. If something happened to Sally, Percy didn't know what he would do with himself. "I found myself being attacked by the woman who was supposed to be part of CPS but was really a monster. I managed to get away, and an eagle led me to Camp Half-Blood."

"How old were you?"

Thalia frowned and looked up as she thought about it, "I don't know. Maybe twelve? Thirteen? Somewhere around there."

"And you went on a quest?"

"A few of them," Thalia answered. "There was a pretty big stir when I arrived at camp considering I wasn't supposed to even be born."

Percy could relate to that.

"I know there was a lot of discussion on Olympus," Thalia said as she pointed a finger to the sky. "It became moot as someone stole my father's lightning bolt, and he didn't trust anyone else besides me to find it. The god of war, Ares, had been manipulated into stealing it because someone wanted even more dissent among the gods.

"Let's see..." Thalia trailed off and stopped. She looked around the forest and looked like a bunch of memories were running through her head. "They called this Zeus' rock. It was my favorite place."

Percy turned to look at the stack of rocks, "It looks like a pile of droppings."

Thalia glared at him. Percy averted his gaze, and Thalia spoke, "The Golden Fleece was next. We went to the Sea of Monsters to retrieve it. Long story. But, Chiron had been poisoned, and the fleece was the only thing that could save him. We didn't know who did it at the time, but now..."

"The Romans," Percy assumed.

"The Romans," Thalia confirmed. She leaned against the stack of rocks, looking like it was going to suck her into the crevice. "The golden fleece was lost when Camp Half-Blood was destroyed. If I can find it again, we could heal the forest almost instantly."

"Can it really do that?" Percy asked. Thalia nodded. "That's so cool."

"It was," Thalia confirmed. "My next quest was with Lady Artemis. Then, I wasn't here when Camp Half-Blood was destroyed."

Thalia shook her head and scowled. She sighed, "I wish I had been here. If I had known..."

"We have a chance to fix all that," Percy said. "More demigods are joining us, and we are training them to be able to defend themselves."

"It's a great goal," Thalia said. "It's also a lot harder in practice. I can talk to my lady about getting some additional help for the camp or resources."

"We need any help we can get," Percy admitted. "So, um. How do you deal with having this prophecy thing hanging over your head?"

"I just put it off as long as possible."

Procrastination? Percy could really get with that.

"I figured when it was time, I would know," Thalia said. She sighed and pressed her arms back against the rock to push herself off of her leaning post. Percy heard a noise, and Thalia's eyes widened. She seemed to slip back into the rock.

Percy darted forward to catch her and grabbed hold of her wrist, but his foot hit something. He tripped forward, and with the momentum of Thalia falling back, he fell with her. The two tumbled into darkness.