Deception | p.j.¹

-06

CHAPTER 6 | BEGIN QUEST NOW

—IN THE DAYS FOLLOWING THE enlightening capture-the-flag game, Raven felt completely lost. Well, not as much as the newly found son of Poseidon, but still.

Percy's mere existence was problematic. Whether you knew about prophecies or not, the entire camp knew about the oath Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades took, swearing off siring anymore children. Children of the Big Three were rumored to have been extremely powerful, and Raven means like starting a civil war powerful. Percy Jackson, the twelve-year-old illiterate boy who struggled to sit still for over 60 seconds, had the potential to level cities and conjure hurricanes.

In the meantime, Annabeth had been distancing herself from Raven (on purpose or not, she didn't really know) and muttering about a quest or something. The daughter of Apollo tried to meet up with her a few times but once the other blond had her mind set of something, it was like speaking to a brick wall.

Percy was ostracized by most of the camper; out of fear or jealousy, she didn't know. Those that did speak to him were only interested in his parentage and not him. He'd gone from being known as Percy with over a dozen roommates to Poseidon's son with an empty cabin. Once again, the shadow of the gods had ripped his life away.

She assured him many times over that their friendship wasn't affected by him being claimed. He didn't ask her too, but she knew he'd feel better hearing it. She didn't care who his dad was. Unlike many of the campers, she didn't feel like she owed the gods anything.

Every time Raven passed Poseidon's cabins, she felt the overwhelming urge to peek inside and see what it looked like. His cabin was beautiful, constructed of stone embedded with shimmering seashells that smelled of the sea. She didn't, however. It wasn't her place, and she knew Percy needed some space to work through the mess that no doubt had taken residence in his mind.

She still brought him around her own cabin and was proud when most of her siblings had taken him in immediately. The crowd of golden blondes and golden retriever smiles had made him smile, and she'd never loved her siblings more. Though he was banned from the ER by a unanimous vote; Percy and organized, serious places did not fare well.

Presently, Raven was curled up by the fireplace in her cabin, sipping on hot chocolate out of her favorite mug, when she heard a knock. Her cabin was empty, the residents playing in a night volleyball tournament against the satyrs, and Percy had disappeared with Grover to the beach a while ago, so she had the place to herself.

She groaned as she unfolded herself from the butter-yellow couch and slipped softly over to the door. All of the lights were off, and the room was illuminated by dozens of candles on every surface. Apollo had enchanted them to never catch anything else on fire, so they burned at 24/7. She creaked it open and was surprised to see Annabeth, the girl looking excited and nervous at the same time. The firelight warmed up her stony gray eyes, which were always less guarded when it was just the two of them.