"Hey, lets take a break after this chapter?" Percy asked.
"Dude, this is literally the third chapter we're reading today." Nico said with raised eyebrows.
"Migraine be kicking in." Percy joked. "I'm just kidding. I'm just very hungry. Apparently, coffee doesn't suffice as breakfast for me." He said.
"Its all right. I can sense that not all of us are in the mood to read today and its not like we have a deadline. We can take it slow especially since they book will be relatively more grating on everybody. Lets not read today." Hestia smiled gently and all the demigods and a couple of gods cheered. They genuinely weren't in the mood to read.
"Oh, this is perfect. I just wanted to stay wrapped in a blanket with coffee and read a book. Especially since its going to rain." Jason said happily. Zeus chuckled lightly at his son.
"Ooh which one are you reading?" Annabeth asked Jason.
"Divergent." Jason grinned.
"Oh, the first one's brilliant." Annabeth nodded.
"I'ma go over to Will's. We're watching a movie." Nico informed Hades who nodded.
"Which one though?" he asked.
"Red, white and royal blue." Will piped in. "I finally convinced him to watch it." He said.
"Its actually really good." Apollo nodded.
"Okay now that we've all made plans, lets read so that we can actually execute those plans." Artemis said with a small smile and picked up the book.
PIPER COULDN'T EXPLAIN…never get them out of her head.
"I swear, some of them really scare the shit out of you." Connor shook his head.
"I remember when mom used to tell you the story about the man and his wife and you'd get so terrified, you would refuse to let go of me when you slept." Travis chuckled fondly. Connor turned red but smiled.
"Now it's the opposite." He grinned.
"Oh shush. That was once." Travis said to him with a smile.
"Was it the story about the wife haunting the husband?" Hermes asked the Stolls who nodded in surprise.
"How-?" Travis asked in confusion.
"It was your mom's and my favorite one. It was told to me when I was younger and then I told it to your mom. But I had no idea that she told it to you two as well." Hermes said with a soft smile on his face.
"She never told us that." Connor said with a small smile.
"Who told it to you?" Chris asked curiously.
"Uncle H did when he came over once." Apollo supplied. Everybody turned to look at Hades who had a small smile on his face but shrugged.
Artemis continued reading once everybody had come back from their memories and were looking at her.
Cherokee spirits were always restless…even realize that they were dead.
"That's…sad." Beckendorf murmured.
"It is. It happens mostly to those who can't cross the Styx or to those who don't. The journey across the Styx not only gets the soul to the Underworld but it helps them to accept their death. That's the reason that the Styx gets so polluted as well." Hades explained.
"But…like…why not let them keep their dreams?" Clarisse asked.
"Well, see, most of the people who end up in Elysium keep their dreams because many of them never regretted their deaths. They accepted it before even crossing the Styx but many if not most end up in Asphodel. Retaining their dreams only makes their existence in the Underworld worse for them. They only dwell on that part of their lives that they can't fulfill anymore and not on the Underworld." Hades clarified.
"But I had my dreams and all?" Hazel said. Hades grimaced at the reminder that his daughter had been in the Underworld but answered the question nonetheless.
"Because you were ideally supposed to go to Elysium. You'd already accepted your death as well. The reason you were in Asphodel was because of the bargain that you made. That way seeing as you didn't discard your dreams in the Styx, you retained them in Asphodel." Hades told Hazel who nodded in understanding.
"The Underworld sounds different from what I expected, I'm not going to lie." Chris mused.
"It always does." Persephone said with a small smile and squeezed her husband's hand.
"Which reminds me-" Annabeth looked at Persephone gratefully "-Percy, Leo, Beckendorf, Tyson and Nico, could you both stop by the map room once we break. I promise it won't take too long." She said.
"Well, wise girl, we have the whole day. Of course, we'll drop by." Percy smiled and placed a kiss on Annabeth's forehead who smiled.
The more Piper learned about…spirits in her dad's stories.
"That's another reason as to why the whole giant encounter shook so much." Dakota said to Piper who nodded.
"Because it was so similar to what he feared." She sighed and Aphrodite nodded with a small, sad smile.
"Tristan's a good man. He's scared of the fact that our world exists but if he's told about it in a calm surrounding, then the only thing in his mind would be worry for you." Aphrodite smiled at Piper who gave a light chuckle.
"That's exactly what happened." She said.
Piper had a gut sense…told them to go away.
"They're like little kids." Silena snorted.
When she was done explaining…whinnying in protest.
"Nope. My guy was giving the beats for the song." Percy snorted in amusement.
"Aaand who taught him that?" Annabeth asked fondly.
"He taught me that." Percy clarified with a grin, making his girlfriend laugh.
Finally Hazel exhaled…Hazel too was a ghost reborn.
"That's one way to put it. I'll be honest, it sounds much cooler." Hazel grinned at Piper.
"She said 'cooler'!" Leo whooped and punched the air, making Hazel snort in amusement.
"So…" Frank rubbed his hand…had turned glassy and gold.
"Oh you've got to be bloody kidding me." Triton muttered. The elder six especially Poseidon, Zeus and Hades did not look happy about their sons and nephews having gold eyes.
"Hey, at least the charmspeak worked." Lee said, trying to look at the positive side.
Hazel caught her breath…put his back against the wall
"Bruh, who or what did you think I was?" Leo asked Frank with raised eyebrows. The son of Mars turned red. "Like, you broke the freaking chair." He said.
"That was an accident." Frank said sheepishly.
"Not a reason." Leo snickered.
"Oh, gods." Annabeth looked…No, she refused to think about it.
"Its still my hand." Jason said with a pout.
"Yeah but you were possessed." Piper told him with a small smile at her boyfriend's antics.
"Yeah but like an eidolon couldn't be as romantic as I am so technically it wasn't active then." Jason said, trying to add logic.
"An eidolon isn't something you can deactivate like a robot." Nico raised an eyebrow.
"Shush. I don't care about the technicalities." Jason whined, making everybody laugh. Piper squeezed Jason's hand.
"See, this is better." She said with a smile, making Jason's face light up as he grinned widely.
She focused on Leo because he was the least intimidating.
"Thanks, Pipes." Leo said with a muffled snicker.
"Hey, boyfriend-" Piper said, gesturing towards Jason. "-New intimidating guy I met." She said, gesturing towards Percy. "Little bro." she said, gesturing towards Leo who grinned.
"Fair. Fair." He nodded. "Obviously, because you love me the most." He said. Piper chuckled lightly.
"I like that description. New intimidating guy." Percy nodded approvingly.
"Now its changed though." Piper said. Percy raised an eyebrow curiously.
"It is now old cinnamon roll surfer guy." Piper smirked and Percy couldn't help but chuckle.
"Love it." He said.
Are there more of you…Leave our friends alone!"
"Were you going to like shoot an arrow at us or something?" Leo asked Frank who shook his head.
"Self defense." He said. Leo tilted his head and shrugged. He would've done the same.
Leo turned toward him…Jason drew his sword.
"That is happening way too much." Jason groaned.
"Stop!" Piper ordered…very un-Percy-like way.
"What'd it sound like?" Percy asked.
"Kinda like an angry wolf combined with the Edward Cullen growl from Twilight and then you just multiply the whole thing with like pure ice and hundred pints of more scariness." Piper described.
"That is…very descriptive." Hermes chuckled.
"Nah but that's actually how he actually sounds when he gets pissed off." Grover said to Piper and Percy looked surprised.
"Seriously? That's how it is?" he said.
"Buddy, someday we'll record it and make you listen to it." Grover chuckled. He then looked at Piper. "Seeing as you just met him, it'll probably unnerve you a bit more." He said.
"A bit? Bruh, if I'd been his actual enemy, I would've fled." Piper chuckled dryly.
"I cannot imagine that its that terrifying." Percy protested. "Grrr. See!" he said
"Bruh, you sounded like an animated dog but that's because you're not actually angry." Nico said amusedly.
"I'm not going to lie but I actually kinda feel proud of myself then." Percy said sheepishly.
"And I'll be frank, its something to be proud of." Annabeth grinned at her boyfriend.
"Daughter of Pluto…do not control the dead."
"Hold up. If you'd been there, how long would it have taken you to get rid of them?" Hazel asked Nico who shrugged.
"Five minutes. Say two minutes up as a leverage. So about 7-8 minutes." Nico answered after thinking about it. The seven stared at him.
"Yeah, you just had to get kidnapped?" Percy teased lightly and Nico chuckled.
"In the situation, it sounds like a you problem but like technically it's a me problem." He snickered.
"Ghost king privileges, huh?" Hades chuckled and Nico grinned.
Annabeth reached toward him…"We promise on the River Styx."
"Good job." Hades and Persephone said approvingly to Piper.
"What would happen if they didn't abide by the promise?" Thalia asked.
"They'd burn in the River Styx for eternity." Hades said casually with a shrug. Thalia nodded.
"Huh. Cool." She said.
"You are dead…fell face-first into his pizza
Everybody couldn't help but snicker.
"Fun." Poseidon said as there was now some sauce on his face. He gave an amused look to his son who looked like he wanted to burst out laughing.
"You can laugh, you know. It is pretty funny." Poseidon said with a chuckle. Percy nodded and he, Triton, Tyson and Amphitrite roared with laughter.
"Gotta- take a pic." Triton wheezed out. Poseidon gave the peace sign as he got his photo clicked.
"Send it on the group." Apollo grinned at Triton who nodded.
"Definitely." He said with a grin.
"Percy!" Annabeth…Leo hit the floor.
Hephaestus grimaced slightly. A couple of people glared at Frank.
"You're supposed to be a team. You're genuinely taking this whole 'my girlfriend used to date somebody similar looking to Leo' thing a little too far. Everybody has a past, get over it, for gods' sakes." Travis snapped at Frank. Not many had seen Travis angry many times and honestly, it was always unexpected much like Hermes seeing as they were pretty laid back.
"You literally just let him get hurt for no reason. He was possessed and the least you could have done was make sure that he wasn't going to get hurt and check on him after he got rid of the eidolons. Nobody's saying that you have to be best buds with him but at least start acting like a teammate because otherwise you're quite seriously going to end up being a liability if you don't learn to start working with him." Beckendorf nodded in agreement, glaring at Frank who was shuffling his feet.
Even Ares wasn't looking too happy but he didn't want to hurt Frank's feelings seeing as the other demigods were already making him understand what he did wrong.
"You're right." Frank said finally. "I really am sorry, Leo. I should've understood tha even though you and Sammy looked similar, you were totally different. The fact that you looked like Hazel's ex-boyfriend was no excuse to have treated you like that. I know that we eventually resolved everything but there shouldn't have been so much to resolve in the first place." He said, regret in his eyes as he looked at Leo who waved it off with a smile.
"All's good, bro. Don't worry about it." He said and Frank gave him a grateful smile.
"Ow!" he groaned…getting head injuries now?
"Wouldn't be so sure of that with you." Nico chuckled and Jason stuck his tongue out at him.
"Not that wrong though." The son of Jupiter conceded.
Piper laughed…around her for support.
Zeus and Hera's hands were shaking slightly as the curse began to act up and their legs began to feel a little numb so they both clenched their hands into fists.
Leo stood at the helm…You saved me again."
"Hey, that's what we do. No need to thank me." Piper said with a smile as she gave Jason a light kiss.
He put his arm around…Best. Boyfriend. Ever.
Most of the couples in the room if not all looked at each other and chuckled.
"To me, you're the best." Annabeth said to Percy who grinned widely.
"Obviously." He responded cheekily and Annabeth chuckled fondly.
She wanted to kiss him now…head every once in a while."
"What the fuck, man? Seriously?" Triton glared at Jason.
"You don't even know the guy. I mean what is it with judging somebody so early? At least get to know the guy. Just because you both a couple of squabbles doesn't mean that you know him." Pollux rolled his eyes. He was honestly grateful to Percy ever since the demigod had been looking after him after Castor.
"Yeah." Jason sighed. "I'm sorry, Perce. I didn't mean for it to come out that way." He said. Percy shrugged.
"All good, bro. I mean sometimes even I tell you to fuck off, don't I?" he said.
"That's different." Jason said, waving him off. "I shouldn't have judged you this quick." He apologized.
"Don't worry about it. I'll have my revenge eventually." Percy smiled and Jason chuckled.
"You could have killed him."
"Ahh, Piper. I hate to break it to you but instead of dreaming about you, Jason actually dreams about beating me. It's a pity it can't come true though." Percy smirked at Piper. A couple of people Ooh'ed at that. Piper choked on her own saliva as she burst out laughing and Jason was staring at Percy open mouthed but everybody could tell that he was on the verge of laughter as well.
Jason's smile faded…don't take him away.
Nico looked sadly at Piper.
"None of us have the right to decide who deserves to die, Piper and at the end of the day, no hero deserves to die but we don't have the right to decide." He said. Hades and Persephone looked at Nico with sad smiles, understanding the truth that rang in his words all too well.
As soon as she had made…anything Piper had experienced.
All the gods grimaced, knowing just how much their kids had already gone through in the books that they had already read and how much more they probably went through in the pending books. They had a feeling that the whole Alaska thing was going to start seeming easy and that was something they were not looking forward to.
And from the way…by some sign…the Mark of Athena."
"They're led to their godsdamned deaths!" Apollo yelled. He'd had enough. He made to get up but Hermes and Ares shot out of their seats before their brother could hurt Athena. They didn't push him back down but made sure that he didn't progress any further.
"You lead them to their deaths or something even worse! NONE of them have come back and you don't even care. The demigods accept that quest out of devotion to you and that too without an option to deny it but you send them to their deaths without giving a damn." Apollo yelled at Athena who looked taken aback. It took several seconds for the goddess to formulate a reply.
"I believed that Annabeth could do it." She said finally and Annabeth shuddered.
"No, you believed that every demigod you sent before could do it. Honestly, it was no different with Annabeth. She just proved to be more resilient but you proved to be just as callous." Apollo snarled.
"Brother, relax. Let us see how this progresses. Do not waste your energy." Artemis said gently, glaring at Athena.
"Your childrens' deaths are on your hands." Apollo spat finally before sitting down, making Athena's eyes go wide as she looked at Zeus who was also glaring at her.
"He is not wrong, Athena. There was absolutely no reason to send so many demigods to their deaths. If you knew that Annabeth was the one then there was no reason to offer up the others as sacrificial bait. I understand that the statue could unite the Romans and Greeks but this was definitely not the way to go about it. I also agree with Artemis. We shall see how this progresses but if it leads to something horrid, then you and I will definitely be having a serious conversation." Zeus told her, holding up his hand before Athena could say something. "We're done here." He said and Athena swallowed.
Poseidon, Hades, Demeter and Hestia exchanged a look, seeing a bit of their younger brother again in Zeus. Percy and Annabeth looked at each other, knowing exactly what was coming.
"If Annabeth is one of those…Annabeth suddenly turn vengeful.
"That's why you all are different. Any other generation of demigods and it would've been chaos. The prophecy could not have picked a better set of demigods in order to make sure that the world remained safe. Trust me, its painful to see you guys already go through so much but no other generation could've gone through so much without turning on each other." Hermes said to the group of demigods with a smile on his face which all the demigods couldn't help but return.
Then again, Piper couldn't…his face much more interesting.
"Bitch tried to eat a stapler." Thalia snickered and Jason grinned sheepishly.
"I was stupid to ask you…felt that way toward Reyna," Jason said
Everybody looked at Jason, disbelief on their faces.
"You just admitted that you two dated. I am so confused." Michael said.
"I didn't lie…It just wasn't the whole truth. Reyna and I used to go around but the reason we broke up was because we just didn't have romantic feelings towards each other anymore." Jason explained and Piper shook her head and chuckled. Reyna nodded.
"Huh." Is all Leo said and all that summed up everybody's thoughts at that moment.
"So I didn't think about…in the blade of her knife.
"I told you." Dionysus said but the god had a sad smile on his face.
"Chapter's done. Seeing as it has luckily not ended on a cliffhanger, I believe we can go ahead with Lady Hestia's idea and break for the day." Chiron smiled.