Part IV

Lassa

I'm cleaning the stables with Jesse when Percy and Annabeth land with Blackjack. I smirk, glad Annabeth took my advice of going to their apartment. I may be young, but I'm not that sheltered. And I know a general view of Christians is that we're super prudish, so I told Annabeth she might want to disprove that to Percy sooner rather than later. By the flush on Annabeth's face when they land, I'd say it was a good morning as well as night.

"Good morning, Y'all." I smirk at them. "Good night?"

"The best." Annabeth answers, winking to me. "Now, Percy has something to tell all of us and he's been keeping me on the edge of my seat the whole morning." Annabeth tells us. Percy sits down on a hay bail and Annabeth lays down with her head in Percy's lap, his hand tangled in her hair. I flip an empty bucket over and sit in front of them.

"You too, Jesse." Percy says. I look into the stall Jesse was mucking out as he wipes the sweat off his forehead and walks into the hall with us, leaning against the doorframe and smiling in my direction. My stomach flutters, and I notice for the first time in weeks Percy isn't glaring at him.

"Okay, first off, I need to apologize to Jesse." Percy says, catching me off guard and making both me and Jesse turn towards him sharply.

"Apologize? What for?" Jesse asks.

"For how I've treated you. At the end of the day, you helped save my sister. You turned your life around. You aren't a threat to her now, and I need to stop treating you like you are." He says, then kisses Annabeth's forehead before gently scooting out from under her and standing up and offering his hand to Jesse to shake. Jesse takes a second, suspicious of this 180 on Percy's part, then accepts he means what he says and shakes.

"I forgive you. And I'm sorry." Percy tells him.

"Likewise." Jesse says. They break apart and Percy goes back to Annabeth, and Jesse comes over and slides down next to where I'm sitting with his back to the stall.

"So what else?" I ask, knowing there's more to this. Percy takes a deep breath.

"What was last night for you was six years ago for me." He says. I scrunch my eyebrows together and Annabeth sits up to look at him sideways. "I'm serious. I told you two," He says to me and Annabeth, "That I wouldn't believe in Jesus as savior unless I saw how he was different than the Olympians. Well, After Annabeth and I went to bed, I woke up on a beach and had a talk with an Angel named Castiel. He offered me a deal. I could go on a trip, without risk of dying, and get to see what makes Yahweh different than everyone else. I wouldn't age in this time either, and when my journey is over I'd wake up right where I went to sleep, not missing any time at all. I also got to be totally mortal in this time. So, I took the deal." He says.

"Seriously? An angel appeared to you?"

"Yes. And he took me on a trip through time that spanned about six years. I was there to see the Fall in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. I was on the Ark with Noah during the flood. I saw The 10 plagues of Egypt, Moses parting the sea, bread from heaven and water from a rock, met Rahab and the spies and saw Jericho fall, Was there for the battle with Gideon, Spent a few years with David from the time he took down Goliath until he became king, saw fire from heaven with Elijah on Mt. Carmel, Daniel rescued from a den of Lions, The fiery furnace, Jonah, and most importantly saw Jesus Birth, ministry, and resurrection until he ascended into heaven." He explains. My jaw drops open. I search his face, looking for a trace of this being a joke. There is none.

"Wow." I breathe. Annabeth looks quizzical.

"You were with David from Goliath until he was crowned? But that was decades, I thought you were only gone for six years."

"I wasn't there for all of it. I kinda jumped through time."

"But you were with Jesus for his entire ministry?" Jesse asks. Percy nods. "Why aren't you mentioned anywhere in scripture, then?"

"Because Part of the deal was I couldn't change history. So whenever I left and moved on, I was completely forgotten by everyone I'd met."

"This is amazing." I breathe.

"I also owe you two an apology." Percy says to me and Annabeth. "The last time I saw you, I was pretty condescending about your faith. I wasn't trying to be, but I was. I'm sorry."

"Completely forgiven." Annabeth says. "Wow. So you've really been gone for six years?"

"Just about. It was a long journey. Much longer than I was expecting it to be, or I wouldn't have agreed to it. I'm glad I did, though. Otherwise I never would have accepted Christ." He says. I get a big smile and run over to hug my brother.

"Percy, I'm so excited for you!" I tell him. He embraces me and laughs softly.

"Me too." He says.

"Tell us everything!" I ask. He smiles, and gently leans back. I go sit on the floor next to Jesse, and he laces his fingers with mine when I sit down. This time, Percy doesn't glare at him, so he doesn't let go. Annabeth smiles and leans over to whisper something into Percy's ear, making him blush and smile. Then he clears his throat.

"Want the whole story? Well, here goes." He says and starts into his journey. We're there with him for hours as he recants it all from the Fall of the world until he gets Baptized and Jesus ascends into the sky. Jesse, Annabeth and I just sit in silence the whole time letting him talk, which is a rare thing for a group of ADHDers. When he's finished, all of us just sit there. We don't know what to say. Percy does, though.

"Jesse? Annabeth?" He asks.

"Yeah?" They both say.

"Neither of you have been baptized yet, have you?"

"No." I say. "No, they haven't."

"Want me to do the honors?" He asks. They both smile.

"Yes!" Annabeth tells him.

"Absolutely!" Jesse agrees.

"Well, let's go now." He says, and we head down to the coast. All of us wade into the water, and Percy takes Annabeth by the hand.

"Annabeth Jackson." He smiles. "I love your name so much. Annabeth Jackson, because of your faith in Christ, I now baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit." He says and leans her back into the water, then pulling her back up.

…

Annabeth comes out of the water smiling, her white dress dripping water and catching sunlight in a way that makes her look angelic as Percy picks her up and carries her to shore. He wills her dry, and then goes back in.

"Jesse, because of your faith and belief in Christ, I baptize you in the name of The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit." Percy says and then puts him under. He doesn't remember to plug his nose though, so he comes up sputtering a bit. All the same, the way the sunlight hits his blonde hair and frames him from behind, I don't think I've ever found him more attractive than I have now.

I will him dry when he gets back on the beach, same as Percy did with Annabeth, and while those two go back to the cabin together, Jesse and I go to finish up the stables.

"So I guess your brother should probably lead our Bible study from now on."

"He probably should since he spent three years learning from Jesus himself."

"Yeah. Wow. I mean, I believe him, but have you ever heard of anything like this?" He asks. I shake my head.

"I'm glad it did, for more than one reason. He'll be way better at disciplining you and Annabeth than I ever could."

"You've been doing a great job so far."

"Thanks, I appreciate it, but It's honestly not my place with you."

"How come?"

"Not a woman's place to teach a man. I wouldn't have done it in the first place if I wasn't your only option." I shrug.

"Have I ever mentioned how mature you are for your age?" He asks as she shovels another load of manure.

"Not particularly, why?"

"It's weird. In a good way, but weird. Most 11 year old girls are still in their whole girls vs boys phase. Hell, most girls my age are too. You're just way ahead of your age."

"I'll take that as a compliment." I smile, shoveling the last bit into the bucket. "All done. Can you handle dumping all this on your own? I need to get to archery." He smiles and leans against his pick.

"Sure thing. It's supposed to be my job anyways."

"Thanks. And by the way, I'm almost twelve."

"Really? When's your birthday?"

"July 4th." I tell him. "Fireworks every birthday."

"So Sunday?"

"Yeah. You don't need to get me anything, though. It's really not a big deal."

"Thanks for the heads up. Now go before you're late to archery or Chiron might make you wash dishes after dinner tonight."

…

When we go to the campfire tonight, Percy goes in front of the camp and tells the story of his journey. The fire is almost confused, high then low and an array of different colors. The campers all seem nervous with what Percy's proclaiming, afraid Zeus will smite him for blasphemy. A collective gasp goes through the group when he straight up says The Olympians only have the power that God allows them, and they can never compare to his might. Thunder rolls and we physically feel the ozone thicken, but lightning never strikes. I smile. Like Percy said, the Olympians only have the power God gives them. And he hasn't given them the power to kill Percy.

Percy finishes up, and says anyone who wants to learn more can find him after then gives the stage to the Apollo kids.

"So." Austin says, walking to the front. "On that note, let's start out with down by the Aegean!" He plays a note on his guitar, his siblings following suit on their instruments, then the whole camp joins in. It takes a minute for us to find a rhythm, everyone is thinking about the pretty heavy story Percy gave us, but before too long it feels like any other night, with the campfire blazing high.

Percy starts to walk towards Annabeth, me, and Jesse when Chiron stops him on his way. I watch as they talk and then seem to argue for a second before Chiron just looks down and shakes his head and gestures that Percy can go.

Percy seems irritated when he comes back over, but relaxes soon enough when he puts his arm around Annabeth and kisses me on the top of my head. He doesn't even seem upset that Jesse's holding my hand.

After the campfire, Piper, Jason, Rachel Elizabeth Dare, and five or six other campers I don't know come to the cabin with us on Percy's invitation to find him after. We invite them to spend the night in our cabin so they won't be breaking curfew, and stay up the next few hours with them talking about Christ. For maybe the first time ever, Annabeth stays quiet as Percy leads the group, just drinking in everything he says.

The next morning, Percy baptizes six new Christians on the shore. I've gone from the only Christian at camp to one of ten. That's out of a couple hundred, but I'll take it. It's a start.