Percy Jackson: The Knight of Chaos

A Change of Heart

(A/N: For all those who've read this far: thank you thank you thank you! I appreciate it so much. I would love it if you could vote or comment, so you can let me know how I'm doing! All feedback is appreciated. Enjoy!)

Nico grabbed my hand, his pale, cold hand against my own. We looked at each other, both thinking what the other couldn't say. Whatever happened, succeed or fail, this would be the last time we'd be at Camp Half-Blood for a long, long time.

Taking one final glance at the sparkling lights shining from the dining pavilion, I felt myself sliding away into the darker world as Nico shadow-traveled us away.

-

When I opened my eyes, we were standing in a very familiar place: the hill above the Caldecott Tunnel, where I'd fought Medusa's gorgon sisters, carried Juno across the highway, and met Hazel and Frank and the rest of Camp Jupiter. Though at first I was hit with a shock of happy memories and victories, fear and doubt surged through. What if the Romans treated me the same as the Greeks?

Nico started down the hill, and I followed suit. When we reached the camp entrance, two armored guards raised their weapons at us.

"Halt! Who approaches?" One called.

"Gwen?" I said, recognizing the voice.

"Percy!" She smiled at me, then gestured for the other guard to lower his spear. "Nico, it's good to see you too."

"Hey." He replied, executing a perfectly awkward wave.

"Why are you here?" She asked, leaning on her sword like a cane.

A lump formed in my throat. The passionate words spoken from Annabeth and Dionysus came rushing back to me, and it was all I could do to avoid breaking down in front of a bunch of Romans. No, I reminded myself, you're stronger than that.

Clearing my throat, I began, quickly retelling the horrific events that had occurred since Troy had arrived at Camp Half-Blood. Gwen turned irate, and when I finished she seemed to be suppressing an angry rant within herself. Her fellow guard frowned, but stayed quiet as well.

Together, the Romans opened the entrance to Camp Jupiter, waving us in. Gwen clapped a reassuring hand on my shoulder before Nico and I walked through the entry.

-

"This is an outrage!" Reyna raged, slamming a hard fist onto the arms of her chair. Nico and I had just finished the same story I'd told Gwen, and the response was both frightening and consoling. I breathed a sigh of relief, that the demigods at Camp Jupiter were much more understanding than those at Camp Half-Blood.

Reyna looked at me. "And you say Annabeth is involved with this?"

I nodded, biting my lip.

The daughter of Bellona looked up at the ceiling of the large hall we were in, as if praying to her mother. All of a sudden, there was a shift in the air. A change, but not in the physical form of things. The world looked exactly the same, but something was different. It set my teeth on edge and I glanced at Nico, and he seemed to recognize it too. There was a sense of familiarity in the air. I felt as though I had experience this before, but when?

"Perseus. Jackson." Reyna growled. The shift appeared to have affected her too, but not in the way I would have liked. In an animalistic way, her eyes narrowed at me, reminding me of the she-wolf Lupa.

"You, Perseus Jackson, are the greatest failure any god could have ever managed to produce. You have failed, over and over again; even when  you succeed, it was not without the immense help from your allies. You owe your life to more people than you could possibly remember, and why should you? You're Percy Jackson, the heroic demigod who 'saved' the world, or did you? I doubt you did more than show up at the right time at the right place, after letting the others do all the heroic saving for you." Reyna's voice amplified throughout the high-ceiling hall.

My heart skipped a beat as Dionysus's earlier words washed over me, and instantly I realized where the familiarity was coming from. The atmosphere was similar to the one in Dionysus' purple and grey dead party room.

Reyna continued, "You have five seconds to get out of this hall before I call the entire Roman army to destroy you, Percy. And I can assure you that it will not be a swift, merciful death."

"What's happening?" Nico questioned, taking a step backwards as Reyna slipped off her throne and padded to us like a panther stalking her prey.

"I — I don't know, but I don't think it's gonna turn out well for us. I'm guessing we should go?" I answered.

"Good idea."

With that, Nico grabbed my hand once more and we faded into the shadows.