To Be the Hero || Book 1 ▪️On Hold ▪️

Chapter 7: Has blue food become a thing?

"Meaning?,"

Annabeth straightened. "Athena. Goddess of wisdom and battle."

"And my dad?" Percy questioned. 

"Undetermined," Annabeth said, "like I told you before. Nobody knows."

"Except my mother. She knew."

"Maybe not, Percy. Gods don't always reveal their identities." I felt bad for squashing his hopes.

"My dad would have. He loved her." Annabeth gave him a cautious look. She didn't want to burst his bubble like I just did. "Maybe you're right. Maybe he'll send a sign. That's the only way to know for sure: your father has to send you a sign claiming you as his son. Sometimes it happens."

"You mean sometimes it doesn't?"

Annabeth ran her other palm along the rail. "The gods are busy. They have a lot of kids and they don't always ... Well, sometimes they don't care about us, Percy. They ignore us."

"So I'm stuck here," Percy deadpanned. "That's it? For the rest of my life?,"

"It depends," Annabeth said. "Some campers only stay the summer. If you're a child of Aphrodite or Demeter, you're probably not a real powerful force. The monsters might ignore you, so you can get by with a few months of summer training and live in the mortal world the rest of the year. But for some of us, it's too dangerous to leave. We're year-rounders. In the mortal world, we attract monsters. They sense us. They come to challenge us. Most of the time, they'll ignore us until we're old enough to cause trouble-about ten or eleven years old, but after that, most demigods either make their way here, or they get killed off. A few manage to survive in the outside world and become famous. Believe me, if I told you the names, you'd know them. Some don't even realize they're demigods. But very, very few are like that."

"So monsters can't get in here?"

Annabeth shook her head. "Not unless they're intentionally stocked in the woods or specially summoned by somebody on the inside."

"Why would anybody want to summon a monster?"

"Practice fights. Practical jokes." I said, stealing another one of  Annabeth's lines.

"Practical jokes?," Percy said, alarmed.

"The point is, the borders are sealed to keep mortals and monsters out. From the outside, mortals look into the valley and see nothing unusual, just a strawberry farm."

"The strawberries are magnificently delicious." I added, trying to stay relevant in the conversation, but my efforts were in vain, and I spaced out for a little while.

—————

"Well... no. Back at my old school, I overheard Grover, Y/N and Chiron talking about it." I zoned back in when he said my name, and I realized what they were talking about. "But I don't think Y/N knew anything." He added, as I shot him a pointed glare. "Because I don't!," I defended myself.

"Grover mentioned the summer solstice." Percy continued. "He said something like we didn't have much time, because of the deadline. What did that mean?,"

Annabeth clenched her fists. "I wish I knew. Chiron and the satyrs, they know, but they won't tell me! Something is wrong in Olympus, something pretty major. Last time I was there, everything seemed so normal."

"You've been to Olympus?"

"Some of us year—rounders—Luke, Y/N, Clarisse and I and a few others—we took a field trip during winter solstice. That's when the gods have their big annual council."

"But... how did you get there?"

"The Long Island Railroad, of course. You get off at Penn Station. Empire State Building, special elevator to the six hundredth floor." She looked at Percy like she was sure he must know this already. "You are a New Yorker, right?"