Mortals Meet Demigods

Oliver Smith (Part 2)

Heeeyyyy *nervous laugh* sooo, um, yeah. Here I am. It's been really long. If you're still here, then thank you so much for sticking with me! 

  Rejoice, demigods! The casting process for the Percy Jackson series is now in its earliest stages. For more info, https://rickriordan.com/2021/04/preliminary-casting-call-for-percy-jackson/
And if you plan on auditioning, then, https://percyjacksonopencall.20thtelevision.com/   
  Wattpad, apparently, doesn't allow us to link anything unrelated to Wattpad, except for YouTube in the stories, so I'll post the links on my mb, if anyone wants to check them out.

Thank you  BlueFood1  for loving the story so much and asking me to post again. Shoutout to them! You're the best. Thanks for those blue potatoes.

Camp felt pretty empty without Annabeth. But, it probably had something to do with the fact that, with her here, I hadn't bothered to make many friends. Also, without her Clarisse and her cronies bullied me more than usual. Even after Lee had warned her that one more time I was sent to him because of her, he'd curse cabin with that weird rhyming curse, she hadn't stopped.

  In fact, she increased it. She ignored others just to get to me.

  Chiron's word did not affect anyone, anymore because he was blamed for poisoning Thalia's pine. I didn't exactly love the centaur, but I knew enough to figure out that it wasn't him. 

  When Annabeth finally came back, she came back with Percy (of course) and they were battling metal bulls whose name I hadn't even bothered to learn. One good thing which came out of that is Clarisse was harmed. Probably the best thing Percy Jackson had ever done in his life. 

  All the optimism washed out as Chiron left and Tantalus came. The Chariot Races were a cool thing, but the whole metal birds part was a bummer. And — of course — Percy had to fight them. Even though, I hate him, what Tantalus did was wrong. He gave them detention. Kitchen duty.

  Maybe, I wouldn't have felt sorry for him if Annabeth hadn't also fought and got detention. They were in similar situations, so if I say Percy deserved it, then I'd be saying Annabeth deserved it, too. No . . . Now that I think about it, it is Percy's fault. If he hadn't fought them, then Annabeth wouldn't have, either. She could have hidden inside with me.

  Any sympathy I had for him vanished, when Annabeth, him and his freak brother came out closer than ever. Then they left. 

  Days passed slower than ever, now that Annabeth was an outcast. No camp reinforcement going to get her back to us. Even if she did come back. Tantalus would probably order her execution. I was freaking out. And now that I didn't have to worry about Clarisse, I had plenty of time to sit around and kill Percy Jackson in my head.

  On a day — or night — as normal as any other, the camp got an I.M.

  And you guessed it! Percy-I'm-Everyone's-Hero-Jackson, stood, with his cute little sword in front of Luke who also had his sword, surrounded by an army of monsters. Behind him, Annabeth and Grover were dangling by their collars, held up by a huge bear-like creature.

  "This is no time for heroics, Percy," he sneered. "Drop your puny little sword, or I'll have you killed sooner, rather than later."

  Percy ignored the — order(?), and asked, "Who poisoned Thalia's tree, Luke?"

  "I did, of course," Luke said. His snarl sent shivers down my spine. He looked scary, even from the back.

  Percy used Luke's anger to get a confession out of it. The relief that spread throughout the demigod ranks was almost visible. Chiron was coming back.

  And then — of course, Percy-God-Of-Sass-And-Drama-Jackson — said, "Because I wanted everyone in the audience to hear you."

  "What audience?" Luke turned. He truly was scary. His blond hair on his face. The scar, glinting. The pure, rage and craziness behind those narrowed, blue eyes. The sword helped, too.

  "Well, some unplanned dinner entertainment," Dionysus said, calmly.

  "Mr D, you heard him. You all heard Luke. The poisoning of the tree wasn't Chiron's fault," the saviour of the world said.

  Mr D sighed as if the thought saddened him, but it was obvious it didn't. "I suppose not."

  Tantalus' attention was on a cheeseburger, but he said, "The Iris Message could be a trick."

  "I fear not. It appears I have to re-instate Chiron as activities director. I suppose I do miss the old horse's pinochle games."

  The cheeseburger stopped running away and Tantalus grabbed it. "I got it!" he cackled, forgetting what it meant.

  "We are no longer in need of your services, Tantalus."

  "What? But — "

  "You may return to the Underworld. You are dismissed."

  Tantalus dissolved into mist with a distorted no, his fingers desperately clutching at the food.

  Back at the ship, Luke bellowed with rage. I'm happy to say I'm not the only one who yelped, as he slashed through the mist.

   After some time, Clarisse arrived at camp with the Golden Fleece. Chiron and his centaur buddies brought Annabeth back. Oh, and the two boys, too.

  The effect of the Fleece was immediate. All life around turned happier. And I don't mean, just the plant life. Everyone visibly straightened. Smiles adorned the tired faces of the fighters, the wounded, even Clarisse managed one.

  Camp was back to normal. Chiron conducted the chariot races again. 

  When I found out Percy and Annabeth were going in together, I completely gave up even trying to ask her to help me. And as it was, they won. Percy said something about his half-brother, who was no longer considered a monster, and Annabeth kissed him on the cheek and the camp erupted into cheers and lives go on, move on!

    Oh, and apparently, Thalia is alive. And scary.