Son of Chaos

Chapter 58 - Journey to Alaska (Edited)

Percy POV

Despite my insane day and a million thoughts running through my head, my body took over and said: You will sleep now.

I had dreams, but they seemed to be attached to my lost memory.

I saw the most beautiful girl in the universe, and I knew who it was.

My girlfriend.

Crystal.

"For more than a year!" she called. I tried to run toward her, but I couldn't. I felt like there was something holding me back from her.

She started to say something, but then she was gone.

The images accelerated. I saw a huge ship in a dry dock, with workers scrambling to finish the hull and a guy with a blowtorch welding a bronze dragon figurehead to the prow.

The scene shifted. I stood on the Field of Mars, looking up at the Berkeley Hills. Golden grass rippled, and a face appeared in the landscape - a sleeping woman, her features formed from shadows and folds in the terrains. Her eyes were closed, but her voice spoke in my mind.

So this is the demigod who destroyed my son Kronos. You don't look like much, Percy Jackson, but you're valuable to me. Come north. Meet Alcyoneus. Juno can play her little games with Greeks and Romans, but in the end, you will be my pawn. You will be the key to the god's defeat.

I suddenly woke up, shivering. For a moment, I didn't know where I was. Then I remembered: Camp Jupiter, the Fifth Cohort barracks. I lay in my bunk, staring at the ceiling.

Apparently, somebody named Alcyoneus was waiting for me in Alaska.

Wonderful.

But what unnerved me more was that sleeping woman's face in the hills. You will be my pawn. I didn't play chess, but I was pretty sure that being a pawn was good. They died a lot.

I sat up in my bunk. My roommates were rushing around, getting dressed and brushing their teeth. Dakota was wrapping himself in a toga, and one of the Lares was giving him pointers on where to tuck and fold.

"Breakfast time?" I asked hopefully.

Frank's head popped up from the bunk below. He looked like he hadn't slept well. "A quick breakfast. Then we've got the senate meeting."

"Should I wear my bedsheets?"

Frank snorted. "That's only for the senators. There's ten of them, elected yearly. You've got to be at camp for five years to qualify. "

"So how come we're invited to the meeting?"

"Because . . . you know, the quest. We have to be in on the discussion. You, me, Hazel. I mean, if you're willing . . ."

"I'd better get ready."

Timeskip

At breakfast, I was conscious of everyone looking at me. They were all whispering about the previous might.

"Two gods in one day . . ."

"Un-Roman fighting . . ."

"Water cannon up my nose . . ."

I was too hungry to care, though. I filled up on pancakes, eggs, bacon, waffles, apple, and several glasses of orange juice. I probably would have eaten more, but Reyna announced that the senate would convene in the city, and all the people in togas got up to leave.

"Here we go." Hazel fidgeted with a stone that looked like a two-carat ruby.

Reyna and Octavian led the procession of senators out of camp, with Reyna's metal greyhound dashing back and forth along the road. We trailed behind. I noticed Nico in the group, wearing a black toga and talking with Gwen, who looked a little pale but surprisingly good, considering she'd been dead last night.