"How do I find the Master Bolt?" Percy asked.
Dorothy's withered body shuddered in her seat, and from her gaping jaw, more green mist swirled out and around her. Slowly, the fog began to take shape, and Percy resisted the urge to scowl when he recognized Gabe's ugly face and his table full of goons.
They were all sitting around the table playing poker like the last time Percy had seen them, but when Gabe turned his head to face him, it was eerie. His neck moved unnaturally stiff and when his mouth opened, his lips didn't move as he began to speak in Dorothy's young voice.
"You shall go west, and face the god who has turned," she hissed through Gabe's mouth.
The man next to him was the next to open his lips and she whispered, "you shall find what was stolen, and see it safely returned."
Gabe's other friend, the baldie who had at least tried to stop Gabe from being so cruel, gave Percy sad, empty eyes and muttered, "you shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend."
And, at last, it was Gabe's turn once more, and she sighed, "and you shall fail to save what matters most, in the end."
Dorothy's paper-thin skin rubbed against itself and made an unpleasant noise. The green mist began to dissipate, falling away and the attic returning to back before once more. It was like she hadn't said or done anything at all, and soon Percy was alone again, with only the body of a young girl as company.
"Crap," he said out loud.
《♤•••♤》
Dinner was already being served by the kitchen harpies when he finally decided to head down after a few hours of pacing and cursing.
Dorothy's words continued to disturb him. There were a lot of things wrong with what she said (and just her in general), but two things bothered him the most.
The implication that a friend would betray him and even worse, that he would fail to save what mattered the most in the end.
Did that mean that this quest was for nothing, and that he would never be able to recover the lightning bolt?
He wandered down from the attic in a daze and watched as the bonfire in the distance was lit. He could see various colors and shapes of smoke rise to the sky from the numerous food offerings, but he only headed towards the lake shore, too deep in thought to have an appetite.
He took off his sneakers and stuffed his socks into them. The sand was soft and cool under his bare feet as he started to slowly walk down the bank, trying to ignore the way the quiet lake waves tried to reach towards him whenever he got close.
He paused when he heard something in the distance, and it wasn't long before he realized it was two voices singing.
He began to approach a small source of light farther down the shore, and he breathed out a noise of fondness when he saw Will and Song-ee sitting together on the pier.
Will held a small ball of light in his hand as he sang along with Song-ee, the both of them humming a song Percy couldn't recognize, and he pondered on how to approach them.
He glanced at the water and smirked.
"Life's too short to care at all - HOLY HERA!" Will screamed in a high-pitched shriek as he was cut off mid-lyric when there was a large gush of water only an inch away from his face.
"시발!" Song-ee screamed in a similar manner, clutching onto both her chest and Will's neck with a fierce grip. She scowled as she watched Percy laugh from within the lake water below them, and she shouted, "Percy Jackson, you freaking nearly gave us a heart attack!"
"Constant vigilance, kids," Percy laughed as he flicked his wrist and the water obeyed easily. It lifted him up onto the pier beside Will, his entire being completely dry as he ruffled Will's hair and ignored his protests. "What're you doing here? Dinner's being served."
"Piss off, Jackson," Will grumbled, but he still scooted over to make room for Percy to sit and also dangle his feet down into the water. "And most of the campers aren't going to eat. Not after tonight."
It was a sobering thought. Most if not all the Apollo kids had to be wrapped up in helping treat the wounded children, and Percy resented the fact that someone as tiny as Janette had to be one of the medically trained.
She was just a kid, a tiny one at that, and she hadn't even reacted that much after getting away from the hellhound. It was too hard to think that she had been trained for this ever coming to camp, all because she couldn't control her birth or bloodline.
"You okay?" Percy asked Will. He checked him over with his eyes swiftly, trying to find any sign of injury. "How's your stomach?"
"Kyle took care of me pretty well," Will assured. He slipped up his shirt enough to show his side, where there wasn't even a scar. "He's older than us so he's got more experience. But if the hellhound had been venomous, then..."
"Then I would have done anything to cure you," Song-ee said. She reached over and squeezed Will's hand briefly before she smiled sweetly at Percy. "You hungry, sugar?"
"Yeah, sure," Percy said, not even surprised by this point when she whistled lightly and in the distance, a little sapling sprang to life in the dirt.
It was only a couple of seconds before it grew into a single branch, which lengthened to the size of at least a dozen feet before it stretched over their heads and dropped several apples into Song-ee's laps.
"I went to go see Dorothy," Percy admitted as he bit into one and relished in its sweetness. "She's creepy."
"Already?" Will said, looking a little alarmed as he also started nibbling on a fruit. "I knew Chiron would act fast, but not at this pace."
"Things are getting precarious," Song-ee sighed, looking rather dejected as she picked absentmindedly at a few of the leaves on the apples left behind in her lap. "The solstice is only six days away."
Percy frowned at her tone and reached behind Will's back to grasp her elbow. She leaned into his touch and his hand trailed down to hold her as he said, "you're paler than usual. You should eat, too."
Song-ee's nose flushed, a sign which he was starting to understand meant she was embarrassed.
She really was paler than she usually was, and her voice was tiny as she said, "I can't."
"Huh?"
"She can't," Will repeated, looking a little upset as he finished his apple and handed the core to Song-ee, who blew on it gently and scattered the apply blossoms it transformed to into the breeze. "She can't eat anything she makes."
Percy stared in confusion, furrowing his brows further as she only played with the end strands of her hair and refused to make eye contact. Now that he thought about, did she ever eat any of the fruit she grew him...?
"I haven't been able to talk with my mother," Song-ee mumbled in a poor attempt to change the subject. She looked almost mournfully down at her apples before she offered another one to Percy, who took it after hesitating. "It's been too long. Usually she dreams with me at least once a week, but to go without talking to me for a month is something she's never done before."
"Dad's been absent, too," Will said. He didn't seem particularly dejected about it like Song-ee was, but he still frowned as he glanced up at the sky and placed a hand on his chin in thought. "It's so weird. Usually when a prophecy like this happens he appears in his children's dreams to brag about it. But he's been silent."
"What did the prophecy say exactly, sugar?" Song-ee asked gently, previous embarrassment forgotten as she looked at Percy.
He looked down at the water and tried not to think of his father at the sight of the ripples around his ankles.
He felt Song-ee rub his knuckles with her thumb and Will leaned into him slightly for comfort. Their warmth was soft and mellow, just enough to keep him comfortable in the breeze, and he felt like a rock was forming in his stomach at the potential betrayal of either of them.
"A lot of stuff," Percy finally muttered after at least a few minutes of silence. "I have to go west and find a god. It says I'll find what was stolen and see it returned, but..."
He fell quiet.
His heart was beating wildly in his throat and he felt his breath go faster, and he didn't even realize what was happening until Will murmured something and pressed a hand against Percy's shoulder.
Almost immediately he felt himself relax, and he released the tension he didn't even know he had as he sighed and glanced at Will, who stared back with pursed lips and a concerned gaze.
"You were having a panic attack," Will said quietly. "I managed to dispel the symptoms before you went full-blown."
Percy placed his face into his hands and took in a deep breath.
"The prophecy says I'll be betrayed by someone who's my friend," he whispered. He was tired, so tired, and he hadn't even started the quest itself yet. How was he going to pull this off? "I just... I can't do this. Not without either of you. And if one of you betrays me, I don't even think I would care. I would just follow you."
That was the scariest part to him. How much he didn't care about the potential of being burned by either one of them. If they turned out to be the traitors, Percy knew himself enough to predict he would simply allow it and chase after them anyway.
He knew objectively it was wrong, but what else could he think? They had nursed him back to health and cared for him.
Percy didn't want to abandon his friends, even if they abandoned him.
"That is not going to happen," Song-ee said fiercely. Her tone was so sharp that it caused Percy's head to snap up and watch as she glared at him with roses in her eyes. "I won't betray you. I won't. I don't care if the gods come down and strike me, or if the Fates try to put us on opposite sides."
"Dude," Will said quietly. He looked a little hurt as he said, "why would I ever betray you? You get it, right? We're ride or die. We're your people, Percy. Don't doubt that."
Percy let out a breath and flopped onto his back, ignoring the way the wood dug uncomfortably into his arms. He looked up at the stars and refused to acknowledge how watery they looked as he said, "I know. You're my people. I'm just... I don't know what I'm doing."
The two of them lied down as well.
Percy felt Will's arm press against his own, and he nudged Song-ee's ankle when it brushed against his.
"I'm going with you on this quest," Song-ee said simply.
"So am I," Will said just as calmly.
Percy laughed as he placed a hand on his forehead and thought to himself how much his mother would have loved them both. "Yeah, I figured."
"What the Hades, seaweed brain?"
Percy wasn't too proud to admit that the squeal that was heard was his as all three of them scrambled to their feet and brought out their various weapons.
Harvest Moon and Riptide flared brilliant bronze in the moonlight while Will's dagger gleamed alongside them.
"Chill out, dweebs," came the same annoyed voice, and Percy felt like sagging in both relief and embarrassment when a familiar head of blond curls appeared in front of them after the sweeping of a baseball cap. "Solace, you're holding the knife wrong."
"Oh," Will said as he glanced down at his hand. "Woops."
"What're you doing here, Annabeth?" Song-ee said. She sounded more resigned than anything as she banished Harvest Moon back into its hairclip form, but she didn't bother pinning her bangs back again as she scrutinized the daughter of Athena carefully. "Did something happen at dinner?"
"No," Annabeth huffed. She marched over and squeezed herself onto the pier on Percy's other side, seemingly completely fine with how she was squished against him. "I was trying to find Will when I heard something over here. I thought it was the idiot who summoned the hellhound so I came to investigate."
"The hellhound," Percy said a little slowly. His brain always did have a hard time keeping up whenever he was around her, and he glanced back at Song-ee, who was suddenly tense. "Wait, I forgot. You told me already how the tree protects camp. And since it's fine, someone actually summoned that stupid thing from the inside?"
"A traitor..." Song-ee said, a hand to her mouth as she stared hard at the ground in thought. She had never looked or sounded so serious as she walked over to Annabeth and crouched beside her. "Tell me what you've found."
"Nothing," Annabeth said, looking defeated at the prospect of not knowing. "We investigated the area where it was first spotted thoroughly. There's no way something like that could have been summoned without leaving behind some kind of trace, but it's like it appeared out of thin air."
"Maybe it was an accident."
All heads turned to stare at Will.
Even Percy, who often felt like he went around camp these days only knowing left from right, made a dude, seriously? expression on his face.
"Look, I'm just trying to think about this in another point of view," Will said, raising his hands in an attempt to look innocent. "We can't just go around accusing people over this. Think deeper beyond just the summoning. Whoever did it was careful enough to not leave anything behind. Their true goal might have been something like this; discourse and animosity."
"Eris," both Song-ee and Annabeth said.
"Who?" Percy asked painfully. Just another thing he didn't know.
"The Mother of Chaos," Annabeth said, her eyes troubled and her mouth twisting into an unsettled frown. She hopped onto her feet so quickly that it made Song-ee fall over, who was caught quickly by Percy so she didn't tip into the lake. "Will's right. This isn't the time for inner fighting. Even though I should beat you for daring to even think of going on this quest without me."
She directed her last sentence at Percy along with a finger pointing right between his eyes, and he felt like he had whiplash as she loomed over him and said in a threatening voice, "you have to take me too, seaweed brain. These two might be your friends, but I need this quest just as much as you do."
"I don't really think - "
"And another thing! How could you ditch Grover like that?" Annabeth said, her voice getting more and more heated with each second. "He brought you here and you can't even volunteer him for your quest, too? He still needs his searcher's permit, you know! Ugh! This is why men are pigs!"
"You can come!" Percy squeaked when she looked a little too close to stabbing him. "And Grover, too! Look, he's my best guy, of course I'd let him come!"
"That's a lot of people," Will said from behind him. He sounded a little squished and it was only then that Percy realized in his haste to escape Annabeth's wrath that he was practically sitting on Will's lap by that point. "Quests are usually meant for groups of three."
"Chiron would have a fit," Song-ee said, looking a little put off as she eyed Annabeth warily. "You're asking for a lot, Annabeth."
"I know," Annabeth said. At least she was aware of it. "But I need this. You know I do, Calli."
Song-ee looked down at her feet and didn't say anything for a couple seconds. Then, with a sigh, she said, "your wisdom is definitely an advantage. You can take my place and I'll talk to Chiron - "
"There's a lot of talking about the quest I'm supposedly leading," Percy said loudly as he pushed himself off of Will and said a sorry when the son of Apollo muttered ow. "How about asking me instead?"
Song-ee had a chastised smile on her face as she said, "you're right, sugar. Of course it's your decision."
Percy glanced at all of them, at all the people who had worked to save his life. He couldn't dismiss the eagerness in Annabeth's eyes along with her fierce determination.
He couldn't stop thinking about Will and his healing hands, who had come to warn Percy about the hellhound even though he was hurt, and had to be one of the bravest people Percy knew.
And Song-ee, ah. He looked at her, at the way her hair rustled gently with the summer breeze, at the soft tulips that grew in her eyes when she smiled. He saw both sides of her, the one that loved to take care of him and laugh, and the other that wielded her mother's power with a scary precision and strength.
Percy smiled at her and she blew a kiss as a response, and he knew he had to make a decision.
"Alright," he said. "Let's go talk to Chiron."
《♤•••♤》
"No."
"Chiron!" Percy said incredulously.
"It is far too many people. You are all powerful in your own rights, and the amount of enemies you would attract is many," Chiron warned.
He looked tired, even moreso than the last time Percy talked to him, and he felt bad for pushing so much when it was clear that the centaur was obviously exhausted.
But Percy was never one to back down.
Just as he was about to open his mouth and retort that he could protect all of them, Song-ee's sweet voice interrupted as she said, "I can take care of that. Grover would be able to help, too."
The satyr, whom Annabeth had fetched right before they all went to the Big House, startled as he looked up from chewing on some flowers Song-ee had given him.
He looked like a deer caught in the headlight with his large eyes and flattened ears, but he swallowed hastily and bleated, "huh?"
Song-ee nudged him a little in the ribs and he scrambled back onto his hind hooves as he said, "oh! You mean - "
"Yes," Song-ee said, and her brows furrowed in concentration as she crouched down to the ground and began to mutter under her breath.
At the same time, Grover fumbled to take out a set of reed pipes and quickly blew a tune, one that Percy belatedly realized was some wacked up version of Moonlight Sonata.
Seriously?
Even Will looked bewildered, but that soon turned to awe when there, right in front of Song-ee, a bushel of lavendar began to grow.
But there was something off about it. The flowers were so perfectly purple and supple, and it took another moment of staring before Percy nearly gasped at the sight of its branches.
They were made of solid gold along with the leaves, and Song-ee looked a little pale as she finished right around the same time Grover's song came to a close.
"Whoa," Percy said, catching Song-ee in time when she tried to stand up and instead fell back almost instantly.
She clutched his arm and didn't seem inclined to let go, but her voice was strong as she said, "sorry, that takes a lot out of me, even with Grover's nature magic. See, Chiron? I can help."
"Good Hera," Chiron muttered.
"Wow," Annabeth breathed. Even she seemed impressed, and she leaned down carefully, almost like she was too scared to get too close as she observed the shimmering lavendar. "This is the eternal draught of living death, isn't it?"
"That's a mouthful for a bunch of flowers," Percy said, carefully sitting down and pulling Song-ee with him.
She seemed grateful to be lying down and she curled up in the grass, her head still in Percy's lap as Will crouched beside them and began to mutter a few healing hymns.
"It's not just a bunch of flowers," Grover said. He at least didn't sound like he was two seconds away from imploding with sadness whenever he was near Percy, but he still avoided eye contact as he bent down and plucked a single stem of flora. "It's a flower only found in Demeter's private garden. They say if you smell it directly, drink its tea, or ingest the pollen, you'll sleep forever."
Oh.
"So why exactly is that here, then?" Percy said, eyeing the now dangerous flowers. He didn't have any interest in falling asleep forever, thanks. Didn't he already have enough issues?
"Because it is one of the few things that may deter a monster's way of tracking your demigod blood," Chiron sighed. He rubbed at his forehead from where he stood, but he still seemed a little impressed as he turned to Song-ee and said, "Calli, my dear, how did you learn to grow such things?"
"I might have begged Persephone for some of the seeds a while back," Song-ee admitted sheepishly. Will's hymns seemed to be doing her good as she sat up fully and beamed. "It's awesome, right? I didn't think I'd be able to pull it off, but even just a few flowers are enough to mask most of our scents."
Percy couldn't help but stare at the back of Song-ee's head as she went on to talk about the genus and the species of the flower, her voice getting faster with each word. It was hard to imagine that such an easilt excitable girl was sisters with Persephone, and had in fact managed to contact her semi-regularly from how she described their relationship.
Just how many tricks and secrets did the daughter of Demeter have up her sleeves?
"She's right, Chiron," Annabeth said. Even she started to look excited as she put her hands on her hips and gestured down to the glowing bushel. "This is more than enough to last us the entire quest. We'd be able to deter the monsters and fulfil the prophecy at the same time. And the longer we stand here waiting for approval, the less time we get to do that."
Chiron glanced between each of them. Finally, he sighed, smiled tiredly, and said, "I know when I am defeated. Very well, then - "
Their cheers of success cut him off, and he fought to keep a laugh back as he said over them, "but you all need to tell your head counselors, understand? You have an hour to pack before you leave; go on, now!"
It was quick work returning to their cabins.
Percy didn't have a head counselor to talk to, at least not anymore, and he gathered what meager stuff he had in his bed in the Hermes loft before he hesitated on his way up to Thalia's tree.
He stopped right in front of cabin three, where he was now entitled to, and he closed his eyes as he smelled a salty sea air and a warm ocean breeze ruffle through his hair.
His father's presence was there, no matter how minimal it was, and he couldn't deny the comfort that settled deep in his chest. He didn't know the god, much less understand or even love him, but he still found a sense of relief knowing he wasn't doing this entirely alone.
"Bye, Dad," Percy said out loud.
It was strange to say when he had never called anyone father in his life, but he hefted his bag up his shoulder and carried on.
He blinked as he approached the tree and saw another person already there. He hadn't thought someone else would beat him to it considering his position as an only child, but he felt a little guilty when he recognized Song-ee's skirt ruffling in the wind and her black hair gleaming in the starlight.
She didn't have any siblings or head counselor, and her mother had essentially abandoned her.
They were the same in more ways than one, and Percy was sure it was written all over his face as he approached her and softly called out, "hey."
She looked up from her feet and smiled at him. "Hey, sugar."
"Are you cold?" He asked when he saw her shiver lightly.
"A little," she said.
"I can keep you warm," he said, and he opened his arms.
"You always do," she said kindly, and she leaned into him, her arms winding around his neck as they hugged against the breeze.
Her soft hair tickled his cheek and he couldn't help but inhale lightly. He loved her orange scent, a reminder of her friendship and loyalty to him, one he had only ever experienced with Grover.
It was nice, maybe even intoxicating, to know she cared for him so much.
"Percy!"
Song-ee jolted slightly in his arms but kept close as they both looked down the hill to see Luke waving up at them. The son of Hermes seemed winded and was panting a little, but he sported a big grin as he said, "did you really think you could leave without saying bye?"
"Sorry," Percy offered earnestly as he untangled himself from Song-ee and led her by the hand down to where Luke stood. "We were in a rush. I'm surprised you managed to find out so quick we were leaving."
"I had a gut feeling," Luke said, and the smile on his face was fond as he reached over and brushed back strands of hair from Percy's eyes. "You'll do great. You have the makings of a genuine hero, Perce, and I can't wait to watch you grow."
Percy tried to dispel the lump in his throat, but his voice was noticeably thick as he muttered, "thanks, man. I wouldn't be able to do this without all the help you gave me."
"Speaking of help, I have one last gift before you go," Luke said, his grin widening as he held out an old shoe box with his other hand. "Take these. They were a gift from my father."
Percy took the box and opened it, tilting his head at the pair of converse inside. They didn't seem all that onteresting to him, but Song-ee let out a small gasp, and she said, "Luke, are you sure? These are - "
"Special, I know. Perfect for my friend, the son of the sea god," Luke said, winking at them both. "You two take care of each other. It'll be dangerous from here on, and you need to keep a level head."
He turned around to leave, his hand raised in a final farewell, but Percy couldn't help it as he took a step forward and blurted out, "I wanted you to come."
Luke paused and looked over his shoulder at him, his blue eyes bright with his surprise, and Percy offered him a half-smile.
"I was going to ask you," Percy said. "But I didn't have the time and suddenly everyone wanted to come, so I'm sorry - I know a quest probably means a lot to you - "
He was cut off as he was embraced in a tight hug. Percy held Luke back just as hard, fisting the back of his t-shirt and trying to soak up all the warmth and bravery Luke had to offer.
"Good luck," Luke whispered.
"Thank you," Percy whispered back, and they slowly peeled away from each other, matching smiles of fondness on their faces.
"Oh, hey, Annabeth. Safe travels," Luke said swiftly when he turned around and nearly crashed into Annabeth, who stared at them both with round eyes and an open mouth.
"Uh-huh," Annabeth said a little numbly as Luke called out a last goodbye to Song-ee and jogged back towards the main campgrounds, leaving them all behind.
As soon as he was nothing more than a dot in the distance, Annabeth whirled around and gave Percy what had to be the stinkiest eye in all of human history.
He gulped at the look of ferocity in her gaze, and the pure frost in her voice as she said, "you're close to Luke, then?"
"Annabeth," Song-ee chided, but there was a note of amusement in her voice. "You're scaring the poor boy."
She wasn't scaring him. Maybe he didn't like the way she looked so menacing, and maybe his heart trembled with the idea that she seemed ready to tear his throat out, and maybe his palms were sweating rivers, but he wasn't scared.
(He was scared.)
"Good," Annabeth said darkly, and her tone didn't calm down even as she raised her arm in greeting when Will and Grover began to approach them from the distance. "Count your days, seaweed brain."
He was officially deemed a love rival to the girl he had a crush on.
The quest was off to an amazing start, and he slumped into Song-ee's side, nuzzling into her hand when she tucked some of his hair behind his ears.
Great.
《♤•••♤》
Okay so this is like my fourth or fifth time messing with the cover and all I have to say is that I don't know a thing about photoshop lol. Each one only marginally improves but this one is the most appealing to me so far so I'll leave it for now.
It only took 11 chapters for them to finally leave camp. It's been dreadful because of the amount of exposition I had to get out of the way, but thank god it's (mostly) over. The fun stuff finally starts.
I'm a firm believer in physical bonding as friends considering how touchy I can get with the people I love. Also Percy seems like the type to suck at words of affirmation so acts of devotion and physical touch seem more his style. That being said he only sees Calli as a friend; a best friend, sure, but still just a friend.
You might also be asking yourself why the story's so far only been in Percy's POV considering this is an alternate version of canon and Calli is now one of the main cast. The reason is because Percy's still our protagonist and I didn't want to take away from that.
That being said there will definitely be alternating POVs sometime in the future, but most likely not until I get past PJO and move into HOO, kind of like how Rick did it.
Thanks for reading. Leave comments and all that jazz, and vote for me as your next president. Cheers.