SERENDIPITY ~ A. Chase

vi ~ A Positively Precious Pink Poodle

Percy didn't listen. What a surprise!

"Wait a minute. Your first keeper job was five years ago. Annabeth has been at camp five years. She wasn't . . . I mean, your first assignment that went wrong-"

Kelp head actually had his smart moments.

"I mean have you seen her. She's definitely gone wrong. Athena would agree." Cassie muttered as the sky rumbled in warning.

"I can't talk about it."' Percy could tell Grover was on the verge of tears so he didn't press. "But as I was saying back at Medusa's, Annabeth and I agreed there's something strange going on with this quest. Something isn't what it seems."

"Well, duh. I'm getting blamed for stealing a thunderbolt that Hades took." Percy deadpanned.

"That's not what I mean. The Fur-The Kindly Ones were sort of holding back. Like Mrs. Dodds at Yancy Academy . . . why did she wait so long to try to kill you? Then on the bus, they just weren't as aggressive as they could've been."

Cassie pulled a face. "So, you wanted them to be more aggressive? I mean, yeah, Mrs. Dodds would've done us a favor killing Percy sooner, but Grover I didn't expect you to admit that."

She gave Percy a sympathetic look and burst out laughing when he shoved her.

"They seemed plenty aggressive to me." Percy said.

Grover sighed at the two. "They were screeching at us: 'Where is it? Where?'"

"Asking about me." Percy replied.

"Maybe . . . but Annabeth and I, we both got the feeling they weren't asking about a person." Grover informed.

"I don't remember this conversation. Probably wasn't paying attention, but they did say, 'Where is it?' It's like they're talking about an object." Cassie added,

"That doesn't make sense."

Cassie shrugged at Percy.

"I know. But if we've misunderstood something about this quest, and we only have nine days to find the master bolt . . ."

Grover and Cassie stared at Percy as if he had any answers. The son of Poseidon thought for a bit.

"I haven't been straight with you-" Percy started.

'You don't have to be straight around me,' Cassie thought to herself, but she didn't dare say that aloud.

"I don't care about the master bolt. I agreed to go to the Underworld so I could bring back my mother." Percy confessed.

Cassie was first to reply.

"Well duh." She mocked him.

"I know that, Percy. But are you sure that's the only reason?" Grover questioned, friendlier than Cassie.

"I'm not doing it to help my father. He doesn't care about me. I don't care about him."

"We never said anything about your dad, Percy" Cassie pointed out in a sing song way.

It went silent and Grover spoke up softly.

"Look, Percy, I'm not as smart as Annabeth or as fierce as Cassie." He got a grin from the girl.

"I'm not as brave as you. But I'm pretty good at reading emotions. You're glad your dad is alive. You feel good that he's claimed you, and part of you wanted to make him proud. That's why you mailed Medusa's head to Olympus. You wanted him to notice what you'd done."

Cassie glanced over at Percy. She knew what he was feeling but she was too stubborn to admit it.

"Yeah? Well maybe satyr emotions work differently than human emotions. Because you're wrong. I don't care what he thinks." Percy grumbled harshly.