Chapter Text
Percy decided to speak up, “Can we stop for today after this chapter?”
Those who knew abstractly what was happening next, agreed with him. Others were more confused, but eventually decided it was getting pretty late and they were reading Percy’s thoughts, so he should have at least a little say in this.
“Could one of the gods read? I want to have everyone here and kind of just relax.” He said.
“Absolutely, Percy,” his aunt agreed. She motioned for Thalia to give the book to her father.
Zeus looked slightly affronted at being giving the book without any confirmation from him, but opened the book nonetheless. “My mother teaches me bullfighting.”
Seeing Percy tense up between his father and Rachel, the demigods had all moved closer to him. Those hesitant to sit close to a god sat closer to his right. The circle it had previously been, looked more like a deformed moon now.
We tore through the night … she kept her foot on the gas.
Leo looked a little green at the thought. Percy reflected that he hadn’t liked it either, but he — unlike Leo — didn’t get carsick, probably making it much easier to deal with.
Every time there was a flash of lightning … some kind of shag-carpet pants.
“… Shag-carpet?” Piper asked, disgusted at the thought itself.
Percy grinned, “Yeah, aren’t you aware of the new trend, Piper? It’s so hot right now—” His words had gotten an almost valley-girl sound by the end of the sentence.
She had gotten up and held her hand on his mouth, stopping him from saying anything more. He smiled from under her hand and winked, giving Piper little time to prepare for him licking her hand. She shrieked, jumping back toward Annabeth and wiped her hand on a towel that had come from nowhere.
“Ew, Percy,” she said. “That’s disgusting, both the shag-carpet pants and your saliva.”
But, no, the smell was one I remembered … The smell of a wet barnyard animal.
His best friend had apparently already gotten used to being insulted by his thoughts. He said nothing. He did shoot a slightly dirty look at Percy, though.
All I could thing to say … “Watching me?”
“Hey, you even admit to stalking him,” Nico brought up the argument from earlier, shrugging with his hands in a ‘well, you did’ position.
“Keeping tabs on you. … my best friend is a donkey—”
There was a collective intake of breath from everyone. Jason’s eyes almost popped out of his skull, “You have met coach Hedge, right?”
Snickering, Percy responded, “Yeah, but not at that point. I also hadn’t processed anything yet.”
Grover let out a sharp, throaty “Blaa-ha-ha!”
Katie nodded agreeingly with thin lips.
I’d hear him make that sound before … “You just said it didn’t matter.”
From his left, Percy heard his dad snicker.
“Blaa-ha-ha! There are satyrs that would trample you underhoof … you admit there was a Mrs. Dodds!”
Annabeth and a few other rolled their eyes slightly at Percy.
Thalia came to his rescue, though a few others looked like they would’ve done it if she hadn’t, “He had been gaslit into believing Mrs. Dodds never existed, he’s allowed to confirm that she was real, and be a bit pissy.”
“Of course.” … like that should be perfectly obvious.
Percy sighed. That is how almost everyone had talked to him — at least at first — whenever he asked a question.
“We put mist over the humans’ eyes. … what do you mean?”
“You are explaining this all so poorly,” Reyna complained.
The weird bellowing noise rose up again somewhere behind us … Who’s after me?”
“Oh, just everyone and everything,” Leo joked.
“Oh, nobody much … a few of his blood-thirstiest minions.”
Leo startled at saying something along the lines of what Grover had said, then high-fived the satyr.
“Grover!” … “The summer camp I told you about.”
The campers sat up a little higher, proud of their camp.
My mother’s voice was tight … when someone’s about to die.”
Nico sighed disappointedly at Grover slipping up, “He’s not going to let that go.” Grover nodded gravely.
“Whoa —
Thalia snorted, interrupting her father, at how predictable her cousin was.
“Whoa. You said ‘you.’” … “Boys!” my mom said.
“Thank everything for your mom, because I was already getting a headache.” Complained Clarisse.
She pulled the wheel hard to the right … and our car exploded.
Everyone was silent for a bit, before Gwen said, “Your car… exploded?”
I remember feeling weightless … Lightning. That was the only explanation.
Poseidon glared at his younger brother, but didn’t interrupt the reading.
We’d been blasted right off the road … I don’t want you to die!
Percy moved a bit so he could sit closer to his friend, hugging him.
Then he groaned “Food,” … made it look like he had horns.
Poseidon looked concerned for his son, but was too far away to say anything without anyone else hearing, so he focused back on the book and his brother reading.
I swallowed hard … Do you see that big tree?”
Wanting to ease the tension a bit, Thalia joked, “Hey, they’re talking about me!” This only got her some confused glances.
“What?” … “Mom, you’re coming too.”
Personal loyalty.
Her face was pale … And the points that looked like horns . . .
Amphitrite and a few other gods now looked at the demigod with slight concern too.
“He doesn’t want us,” … I got mad, then —
Some of the demigods who had known Percy for a while cringed slightly.
mad at my mother, … Help me with Grover.”
“Personal loyalty,” Athena spoke out of nowhere, startling a few of those around her. When nobody answered her, she turned toward Percy and said, “Personal loyalty is your fatal flaw.”
He nodded at her, but turned back toward Zeus, wanting to get this chapter over with.
I didn’t wait for her answer … stuffed like baseballs under vein-webbed skin.
Jason looked at Percy with a look that varied between intrigue and disgust. “Muscle Man magazine?” He questioned.
“Hey,” Percy tried defending himself — not that it worked well, based on the look Rachel gave him. “Whenever I went out with mom, they had those laying around in the shops. I can’t read, so all I had was pictures.” Jason laughed disbelievingly, but gave up on getting an explanation.
He wore no clothes … horns with points you just couldn’t get from an electric sharpener.
The Stolls laughed and Connor said, “An electric sharpener? You really should say more thing aloud.” Percy smiled at him appreciatively.
I recognised the monster … “Names have power.”
“You’ve been told that how many times now, Percy?” Asked Thalia.
He shrugged, “A few times, but if they’re planning to kill me already, saying their name wont make them suddenly appear. Others — like the gods —, I don’t care about too much. Yeah, they get stronger and sh*t by me saying their name, but I honestly don’t talk about them that much.” Some of the gods looked slightly affronted at that, others just with understanding.
The pine tree was still way too far … the bull-man bellowed in rage.
Even those who remembered that it turned out alright, looked on with nerves.
He picked up Gabe’s Camaro by the torn roof … Oops.
Leo fist-bumped Percy.
“Percy,” my mom said. … He’d smelled us.
Everyone was nervous, some more than others.
The pine tree was only a few more yards … horns aimed right at my chest.
Those sitting around Percy tried getting even closer to their friend, effectively trapping him.
The fear in my stomach made me want to bolt … as the monster charged her.
He hated feeling like he couldn’t do anything. That was his whole thing — doing something. His mother had disappeared because he had been too scared.
She tried to sidestep … and she dissolved before my eyes,
Percy felt himself slipping away, thinking of his mother and how he’d failed to save her.
melting into light, … Anger replaced my fear.
If she had been dead, he wouldn’t have had a home. He wouldn’t have had any family, no friends, nothing to his name. He probably would have died, he had nothing to survive on, nobody to rely on other than Grover — but he’d been passed out.
While he was no longer there, he got a concerned look from his father. Others kept listening to the book in the same way as you couldn’t look away from a train wreck.
Newfound strength burned in my limbs … I couldn’t allow that.
Grover had come over, sensing his friend’s distress. “Hey, Perce,” he whispered. “Can you come back to us?” Percy had had moments like these thinking about the wars or Tartarus, meaning Grover knew what to do. The reading went on while the two sat there, Percy finding comfort in his best friend.
I stripped off my red rain jacket. … Ground beef!”
Normally Clarisse would’ve made a dumb comment making fun of prissy, but she had noticed her acquaintance — they weren’t friends, no way — not fully being there and found it cruel to do that, though it might’ve helped with keeping everything familiar.
“Raaaarrrrr!” … thinking I’d jump out of the way at the last moment.
“That’s not going to happen,” Annabeth decidedly said.
But it didn’t happen like that.
Annabeth looked proud.
The bull-man charged too fast … How did I do that?
“That’s something I’d like to know as well,” Zeus said gruffly.
I didn’t have time to figure it out … the impact nearly knocked my teeth out.
Thalia looked at her cousin, he was already looking at her. ‘Did you feel that?’ was the clear meaning in his eyes. She shook her head minutely, Percy cared way too much for his friends and family. It wasn’t a bad thing, but it was his fatalflaw for a reason.
The bull-man staggered around … this thing only had one gear: forward.
Piper glanced at Percy appraisingly, “You are really perceptive, you know?”
Meanwhile, Grover started groaning in the grass … gave a surprised grunt, then—snap!
Clarisse and a few other campers that had known about this had understandably been curious as to how Percy had gotten the horn. They weren’t surprised – who is even surprised anymore by the things he can do, he can do anything –, but they were baffled that Percy could do that at twelve.
The bull-man screamed … a ragged bone the size of a knife.
The gods’ eyes widened.
The monster charged … right up under his furry ribcage.
Ares looked at Percy with something close to approval, which seriously freaked him out.
The bull-man roared in agony … The monster was gone.
There was some quiet clapping for twelve-year-old Percy, who had lost his mother and had still fought and killed a monster.
The rain had stopped.
Percy considered that maybe he could’ve been the one making it rain, shoving the thought aside.
The storm still rumbled … but I held on to Grover—I wasn’t going to let him go.
Grover gave him a tight hug. After Percy sputtered an “I’m suffocating” he settled for sitting next to him, still smiling at his best friend.
The last thing I remember is collapsing on a wooden porch … Bring him inside.”
“He’s the one?” Piper teased Annabeth, who turned red and sputtered a few half-hearted excuses.
Percy sat up straighter and said, “Well, I’m going to bed early tonight, so I’ll see you all tomorrow.” With that, he got up and walked away. Others did the same, while the gods stayed there a bit longer, discussing the past chapters.
Percy entered his cabin – it actually did look a bit like his cabin at camp. He had a bed and other necessities, but also a few things just for fun.
He saw that the stairs down to the sunken in pool were accompanied by a slide. The walls were decorated with posters and pictures of his family and friends, and the bedsheets had little sharks on them.
After changing into the ridiculously comfortable pyjamas he found, he brushed his teeth in the bathroom and got into bed.
He slept quite well that night.
