𝒍𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒛𝒆 - pjo x hp [₂]

prologue (ii).

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!" Sirius yelled, yanking on the curtains. It took a few tries, but he managed to get it closed.

"Sorry," Bill whispered.

"Don't worry about it." Raya turned back to Chiron, "You'll have to whisper, because we don't want a repeat of that. But what's up?"

"I just wanted to inform you that Annabeth and Grover have returned from the quest," he told her, completely unfazed by what had happened. "You should leave soon if you'd like to arrive in time for the burning of the shrouds."

"Wait, Annabeth and Grover are back?" she repeated. "What about Percy? Is he okay?"

"He's gone to Olympus to deliver the bolt," Chiron answered. "He should be arriving shortly. Will we be waiting for you?"

"Yeah," Raya nodded. "I'll get a Portkey made, and I'll be there right away. See you."

"Goodbye, child."

The second the Iris-Message faded, Raya went to Remus to ask him to create a Portkey for her. He didn't ask why, and neither did he argue. After kissing Kayse goodbye, she went off, returning to Camp.

Raya landed on the floor of the Apollo Cabin, scaring the shit out of her younger sister, Elisha.

"Holy Hades," she yelped. "A warning would be nice!"

Raya ignored her, stretching as she got up. "Did I miss the festivities?"

"No," she shook her head. "We're still waiting on Percy to return. He should be back any minute now."

"What are you doing in here?" she ushered her along. "Let's go wait for him at the hill with everyone else."

The two made their way to the hill, waiting only a few minutes before Percy arrived. According to Camp tradition, him, Annabeth, and Grover were bestowed golden laurels and carried to the pavilion where a feast was prepared in their honor.

Raya hugged Percy, "I told you you'd do great! I hear you managed to get some people free appliances."

Percy laughed, "Thanks, Raya. And well, I don't know how much longer they have to claim those appliances."

Raya raised a brow, but Percy merely smiled to himself, refusing to answer.

After the feast, they led a procession down to the bonfire, where they burned the honorary burial shrouds.

Annabeth's was a gray silk shroud, embroidered with owls. Grover had a simple green one, with decorations of leaves. Since Percy had no cabinmates, the Ares Cabin offered to make his.

They'd taken an old bedsheet and painted smiley faces with X'ed-out eyes around the border, and the word LOSER painted really big in the middle.

It was fun to burn.

Apollo Cabin led the sing-a-long, and Raya forced Percy to participate in This Land is Minos' Land. He played along, grinning and dancing as Raya taught him the words. He was so excited, Raya even managed to convince him to take part in My Grandma's Getting Ready for War.

"I'm glad you made it back," he told her once the sing-a-long was over. "You were the only one who didn't treat me differently once you found out who my father was."

Raya shrugged, "Well, I guess a part of me knew I was going to have to find out how that felt for myself."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Apparently — well, not apparently, actually — my biological dad was a Death Eater. Those are bad guys," she explained at his confused look.

"Oh," he muttered. "Wait, I thought Apollo was your dad."

"Demigods can have two moms or two dads," Raya shrugged. "The Gods don't technically have a gender, so it works out in weird ways. Anyways, a person shouldn't be judged based on who their parents are. That's not a testament to their own personality."

"Yeah, you're right," he nodded to himself. "It's like how Kronos — the bad guy — was the father to the first generation of Gods — the good guys."

Raya tilted her head in his direction. She had a feeling Percy wanted to tell her more.

"Exactly like that," she said. "Is there something you want to tell me?"

He hesitated, but lowered his voice, "Ares wasn't the one who stole the bolt."

"What?" Raya asked. That was what Chiron had told everyone.

"He had intercepted the actual thief, but someone convinced him," Percy said. "This whole plan — it's the plan of someone, something completely different. Something older than the Gods, piecing itself together in Tartarus."

Raya shivered, remembering the dreams she used to have of the voice. The puzzle slowly began to fit itself together.

"Kronos," she whispered. "He's — he's recruiting demigods, building up strength. He's been doing it for years, speaking to them in dreams. He wants to demolish the age of the Gods."

Percy raised a brow, "How do you know all of that?"

"He used to visit my dreams," she admitted. "Never told me who he was, but the voice, it was terrifying."

"It would freeze your limbs," Percy muttered.

"You heard him too?" she asked.

"Once. While he was talking to his servant."

Raya shivered, "It's been a while since I got those dreams, and they always left me unsettled afterwards. If you get a dream about him, let me know right away. I've got to head back to London soon — it's a disaster with Order members running in and out. They're messing up everything Kayse, Kreacher and I worked so hard to fix. But Iris-Message me. Anything goes wrong, it doesn't even matter if it's two in the morning. Call me, Iris-Message me, whatever it takes to get the message to me. Got it?"

"I will," he promised. "You — you're not going to stay for the summer session?"

Raya smiled sadly, "I wish I could. But with the Dark Lord rising, Cedric still in a coma, the Ministry refusing to take action... everything's too hectic. I can't stay here and enjoy myself while some of my friends go out and practically risk their lives. It's not fair."

Percy nodded, but he looked a little upset, "I'll still see you before the end of the summer?"

"There's only a few weeks left," Raya shrugged. "I'll try to be back for the bead ceremony, but based on how crazy things are back at Grimmauld, I can't promise anything."

"As long as you try," he shrugged.

REY WRITES!

thanks for reading!!

I FORGOT IT WAS MONDAY I'M SO SORRY!!
i had an exam and a lab and i was soo tired when i
got home, i literally JUST remembered LOLL

thoughts?

comments?

headcanons?

theories?

questions?