7. 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘺 𝘎𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘍𝘳𝘦𝘦-𝘍𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨

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𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟕: 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐲 𝐆𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐞-𝐅𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠

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𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟕: 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐲 𝐆𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐞-𝐅𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠

June 11, 2018

IT WAS A MISERABLE NIGHT.

After Percy mailed Medusa's head to Olympus, they all camped out in the woods, a hundred yards from the main road. They'd taken some food and blankets from Aunty Em's, but it didn't really matter since Annabeth refused to light a fire. She said she didn't want to attract anymore monsters.

Olivia was suddenly extremely grateful for the way she could adjust to her environments. It made her a lot less cold, but she still didn't feel much better after the night's events.

They decided to sleep in shifts. Percy volunteered to take first watch.

Annabeth curled up on the blankets and was snoring as soon as her head hit the ground. Grover fluttered with his flying shoes to the lowest bough of a tree, put his back to the trunk, and stared at the night sky. He and Percy had a short conversation before he finally went to bed. Olivia hadn't heard much of it.

"You can sleep, you know," Percy said.

Olivia turned to him from the picnic table. "What?"

Percy gave her an encouraging smile. "You've been through a lot today," he said. "You seemed really upset about killing Medusa."

Olivia's cheeks warmed. "It's easy to kill monsters when that's how they act," she said. "But she... Athena and Poseidon made her into a monster, and even then, it could've been something she used for good. It's... it's disheartening when a monster feels like a person."

"You don't have to talk about it," Percy said. "Grover told me that you're all about life and healing and all that."

"Thanks," Olivia said slowly.

"You do that sometimes," Percy said, realization on his face. "You emphasize words weirdly."

"I had a lisp when I was really young," Olivia told him. "I tried dropping it after Thalia died, but it's hard to break the over-enunciation habit."

"Right," Percy said. "Thalia. The tree girl."

"She meant a lot to me," Olivia said defensively. "She and Luke took me in. We were all together for a while before Annabeth joined our little family."

"You were away from your mom for a long time?" Percy asked. At her quizzical stare, he added, "You mentioned her and you didn't seem to dislike her. You, uh, you seemed so close to her before. Closer than Luke and Annabeth seem to their parents, anyways."

"I never said she was glad to see me gone," Olivia said. "But yeah, we were separated for almost a year. To this day, it's the longest I've ever been away from her. I don't like not being home. I don't like not being with my mom."

𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐌𝐒 | P. Jackson, A. Chase¹Where stories live. Discover now