Bright

Chapter 1

On a late morning at Camp Half Blood, Percy was practicing his sword fighting on the training field. The sun was shining brightly, bathing the whole camp in a warm golden glow. Percy stopped for a second. It was shining too brightly, actually. Percy capped Riptide and went to find Rachel.

×-×-×-×-×

The Oracle was chatting with Piper when he found her. They were sitting under a tree so he plopped down next to them. Piper and Rachel stopped talking and looked at Percy curiously.

"What do you need Perce?" Piper asked.

"I want to ask Rachel something actually."

Rachel blinked. "Huh? What is it?"

Percy flopped down on the grass. "Is Apollo trying to kill us or something? It's so hot! And the sun's so bright!"

Piper and Rachel frowned and looked at each other. Their gazes met in confusion.

"What are you talking about, Seaweed Brain? It's not that bright," Piper asked.

"'Not that bright'? Dude, I was literally melting on the training field! See? See?"

Percy stood up and walked away from the shade of the tree. He was instantly bathed in bright golden light. Rachel and Piper had to cover their eyes to not blind themselves.

"Wow. You're actually right. It is bright. But only where you are, Perce. Look, the light around you is brighter," Piper pointed out.

Percy looked down. Huh. Would you look at that. The light around Percy really was brighter. He looked up at the sky and back down. And then he looked at Rachel.

"Can you talk to Apollo about this? I've been sweating buckets all day!" Percy said, arms thrown out to emphasize his annoyance.

Rachel and Piper laughed seeing Percy pouting.

"Why don't you ask him yourself, Perce?" Rachel asked after she calmed down.

The Son of Poseidon blinked and tilted his head to the side, unaware that the girls were inwardly squealing at his cuteness. "I can do that?"

"Of course you can. I'll call him down and you ask him, 'kay?"

"Okay! Let's do it right-" Percy's reply was cut off by the conch horn, signaling it was time for lunch.

"-after lunch," Rachel continued. She and Piper stood up and the three of them went to the dining pavilion together.

×-×-×-×-×

After lunch, the Oracle, the Daughter of Aphrodite, and the Son of Poseidon went back to the tree.

Piper leaned against the tree, watching Rachel and Percy.

Percy was practically bouncing on his feet. He stood under the shade, in front of Piper but behind Rachel. He was anxiously twirling Riptide around in his hand.

Rachel stood a few feet away from the tree, out of its shade. She planted her hands on her hips and looked up at the sky. Then she shouted. "Apollo! Get down here!"

Not even a second later, a blinding light suddenly appeared in front of Rachel. When the light died down, a man could be seen.

The man was young, maybe in his early 20s, his golden blond hair was short and a little wavy, and his blue eyes were as bright as the sea on a summer morning. He was wearing a bright yellow t-shirt paired with white board shorts. His feet were clad in black sandals. All in all, the young man looked handsome.