Chapter Text
Percy woke up to a loud bang.
Still disoriented, he got up and took riptide out of his pocket. He got into position while he looked around and decided the sound had come from outside.
The group of people outside consisted of the gods and those of the prophecy of seven. Leo looked up and waved at Percy, who was still glancing around, looking for what had made that sound at such an ungodly hour.
“Hey Percy!” Leo grinned at him. “How are you doing?”
Percy grunted, “Better, since I slept well, but what the f*ck made that sound?”
He swore Leo looked almost guilty. “Well, you know…” the fire-user mumbled something Percy did not hear over the noise of the wind – which wasn’t that loud, so Leo probably had been guilty.
He raised an eyebrow, silently asking Leo to repeat what he had said.
“I woke up to a spider being too close for comfort, it wasn’t my fault that there were explosive materials near me when I heated up. I was scared!” He hissed.
Percy imagined his friend running around with flames all around him and decided to just ignore how crazy his life was.
He patted Leo on the shoulder, comforting him, even though he was just slightly embarrassed. “Let’s go eat breakfast and then read.”
Getting a nod in return, he took off.
After an interesting breakfast involving the Stolls, catapults and corks, they were all sat at the tree, back in the circle. Poseidon was sat at Percy’s left and Rachel at his right.
Athena had taken the book and was waiting for everyone to quiet down so she could read. “I play pinocle with a horse.”
Chiron looked mildly annoyed at the title, but when Percy started to apologise, he shook his head playfully and waved toward the book.
I had weird dreams full of barnyard animals. Most of them wanted to kill me. The rest wanted food.
Grover nudged Percy with his foot, causing him to sheepishly smile at his best friend.
I must’ve woken up several times … smirking as she scraped drips off my chin with the spoon.
Annabeth spluttered something that roughly sounded like: ‘I don’t smirk’, but honestly could’ve been anything.
Piper consoled her friend with her arm slung around her shoulder. She blushed when Percy winked knowingly at her.
When she saw my eyes open … and the girl quickly filled my mouth with pudding.
“The only way to make Percy shut up,” Annabeth and Thalia chorused, making Percy laugh.
The next time I woke up … Not the goat boy.
“I’ll have you know, I’m both normal Grover and the goat boy at once,” Grover huffed playfully.
So maybe I’d had a nightmare … And . . .
Luke looked sadly at Percy.
“You saved my life,” … It hadn’t been a nightmare.
It hadn’t been a nightmare, Percy thought almost hysterically. He was looking at the ground and picking at his skin. It hadn’t been a nightmare. Oh, how he wished it had been.
“The Minotaur,” … Nothing should look beautiful.
Though she felt sad for the boy, Aphrodite was almost giddy with how much he loved his mother.
“I’m sorry,” … I’d find tiny horns on his head.
Grover looked laughably offended at that. Maybe it was because this whole scenario was insane, but Percy started laughing.
“Hey, Percy, are you okay?” Grover gently prodded his shoulder after he got to him.
He didn’t answer, still laughing, though he did hug his friend, trying to convey he wasn’t really laughing at Grover.
When he calmed down, he laid down with his head in Grover’s lap and waved for Athena to continue reading.
But I was too miserable to care that satyrs existed … I’d do something.
Clarisse couldn’t help but snort, “Prissy, you could not have passed for seventeen by then.”
“Maybe for eleven,” Annabeth joined in. Percy, still in his emotional state, mock-glared at them before getting up to hug them both.
Clarisse stiffened before relaxing – Percy had gotten his ma’s skill in giving hugs, after all. When he hugged Annabeth, she hugged him back immediately, she knew how great his hugs were and wasn’t going to waste any of it.
Slowly, Percy went back to his place with his head on Grover’s lap, vowing to himself that he wouldn’t interrupt the reading for at least the rest of the chapter, because dam was the glare Athena was giving him scary.
Grover was still sniffling … I recoiled at the taste,
Poseidon raised an eyebrow.
because I was expecting apple juice.
He huffed, amused.
It wasn’t that at all … and told me everything was going to be okay.
The nights at which Gabe had been worse than usual, she would sit at his bed and talk to him softly. Spanish, Gabe couldn’t understand that, it was theirs and only theirs. He knew his mom was from Mexico, but all he knew about his dad was that he wasn’t Mexican. Thinking about it, his mother might have actually said once that he was half Greek. He felt kind of dumb for not remembering it, would’ve made the believing a bit easier.
He was shaken out of his thoughts when Athena continued.
Before I knew it … Chiron and Mr. D are waiting.”
“Did anyone explain anything to you?” Jason asked. When Percy shook his head silently, he breathed out loudly and closed his eyes slumping against Leo.
The porch wrapped all the way around the farmhouse … I wasn’t going to let it go.
Clarisse and Ares made gruff sounds of agreement.
As we came around the opposite end of the house … some of their horses had wings.
“Yeah, you’ve been imagining the Pegasi for the past few years, Percy,” Nico said drily.
His friends huffed out laughs and Percy raised an eyebrow at Nico, amused.
Down at the end of the porch … He looked like a cherub who’d turned middle-aged in a trailer park.
The romans raised their hands to their mouths in shock while most of the greeks tried to muffle their snickers. Thalia, Nico and Percy did not do the same thing; they started laughing at the look on Dionysus’ face.
Some of the other gods thought it was funny as well, seeing as Apollo and Hermes were hiding their smiles behind their hands – which didn’t work at all.
“I do not understand how he hasn’t been blasted in the future yet,” Zeus said since Dionysus was too shocked at the kid thinking that in the first place. “He clearly doesn’t respect us one bit.” He pointed at Percy from where he was sat.
Percy was too busy trying to get Thalia – who had falling over from laughing so hard – off of him. How she had gotten there, he had no idea. He was pretty sure she was at least 3 meters away from him, and she was not 3 meters tall.
Athena decided to continue reading since he was obviously not listening to them.
He wore a tiger-pattern Hawaiian shirt … “Mr. Brunner,” I cried.
Interrupting herself, Athena corrected him, “Chiron. The satyr just said that.”
The Latin teacher turned and smiled at me … I was a satyr.
From where his head was situated in Grover’s lap, he could see the satyr’s face very well. A face he couldn’t see well, was Thalia’s. Or at least, not until she was all up in his face.
“I’m sorry you had to go through that,” she hissed (whispered?), anyone else might have thought that she was threatening him. The mean look on her face, the way she left immediately after she delivered the message. But Percy knew – along with Grover – what she had said, that she cared.
Percy felt all warm and fuzzy on the inside.
“Annabeth?” … except her eyes ruined the image.
Annabeth looked startled at that, frowning slightly. Piper kept her arm around the girl, comforting her. Percy silently urged Athena to keep reading, he hadn’t meant it that way.
They were startling gray … as if she were analysing the best way to take me down in a fight.
Percy looked at Annabeth again, hoping that she understood he hadn’t meant to be mean. She seemed placated, smiling at him for the description.
She glanced at the minotaur horn in my hands … “You drool when you sleep.”
Percy flushed. “I do not,” he tried to defend himself. When his friends looked at him disbelievingly, he conceded, “Maybe I do a tiny bit.”
“Percy, just admit: you drool in your sleep,” Jason stopped his rambling. Percy blushed more, the blush now showing up on his skin tone.
Then she sprinted off down the lawn … “House call?”
“You were just confusing him, Chiron.” Thalia chastised her former teacher.
“My year at Yancy Academy … I was liking the camp director less and less.
Thalia groaned and put her head in her hands.
Piper glanced at Thalia, then tried to comfort Percy. “Well, at least it’s reciprocated?” Looking at Percy’s dry expression, she figured it wasn’t her best work. “Can I do your make-up next break?” She changed the subject.
He lit up, “Yeah, of course!” He couldn’t even lay still in Grover’s lap anymore, he was so excited. So he sat up. Piper mused to herself about how easy it had been.
“Well,” … “Orientation film?”
Annabeth sat up straighter, “You didn’t see the orientation film?” When Percy shook his head, she looked like her whole world had been rocked.
“No,” … “Smaller?”
Just as Athena read Percy’s reaction, Zeus said, “Smaller?” When he realised what had happened, he looked disgusted.
“Yes, quite … They’re what people believed in before science.”
Poseidon winced.
“Science!” … which I never told anybody—
Connor wondered why Percy wouldn’t, when he turned to look at Percy, however, he saw Athena was still reading.
“what will people think of your ‘science’ two thousand years from now?” … and keeping his mouth shut.
The god of the sea looked at his son, proud of how observant his son was.
“Percy,” … that it sounded like a pretty good deal,
Those that were in the room when Percy declined immortality wondered what had changed.
but the tone of Chiron’s voice made me hesitate … But I don’t believe in gods.”
“I’m actually impressed that you managed to stay so calm,” Amphitrite complimented her step-son, who looked shocked that she had spoken to him – complimented him.
“Oh, you’d better,” … My jaw dropped,
Piper and Leo nodded sympathetically.
but Chiron hardly looked up … like a pouting little kid.
Zeus was about to say something about that, when his wife put her hand on his shoulder and said, “There was a wood nymph off-limits, you can’t talk.” Percy’s eyes widened, but he mentally cheered Hera on, which was something he hadn’t imagined he would do in a hundred years.
“And . . .” … “A god. You.”
Frank sat with his mouth open, staring at Percy, wondering how he was still alive.
He turned to look at me straight on … He would plant a disease in my brain that would leave me wearing a straitjacket in a rubber room for the rest of my life.
The seven turned to Percy, all at the same time – which was quite impressive – and started snickering. Percy started, “Tremble before the horror of diet co*ke!”
Jason and Leo became the scared dolphin-men, since they had been knocked out. Piper, Annabeth and Hazel began acting possessed.
“Oh no! Frank is turning into a crazy dolphin!” Frank acted clueless. “I said: Frank is turning into a crazy dolphin!”
Frank sounded like he was reading off of a script again, “Oh no, I am turning into a crazy dolphin.”
They all broke character and started laughing again, while the others looked at them like they had turned into crazy dolphins – all of them.
“Would you like to test me … in America?”
“That was something I took a while to get used to,” Percy admitted.
“Well … “And then they died.”
Nico turned to him with the driest look ever on his face, “Yep, and then they died. We lived happily ever after.” Then he narrowed his eyes and hissed, “No, of course not, idiot!” When he realised he had called Percy an idiot, his eyes widened slightly and looked if he was offended. Percy just snorted and waved off his concern.
“Died? … as if I were part of some club.
“Yeah, welcome to the cult,” Travis mock-introduced him to everyone there. Luke was looking at his brother, smiling at the happy gleam in his eyes.
“Who are you … Let’s meet the other campers.”
