𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐍° ! percy jackson

𝐢.𝐯𝐢 - 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐝𝐨𝐥𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐧? (𝐩)

"Mr. D wants to see you." Grover trotted inside, chomping on a soda can. "He wants to kill... I mean, I'd better let him tell you."

"Big storm out there, Shark Boy." Aurora's tone was full of warning, but Percy couldn't decipher what her chocolate eyes were trying to tell him.

Grover glanced uneasily at the sky. "It'll pass around us. Bad weather always does."

Percy gulped, eyeing Zeus' domain. This storm... this one was huge.

As he and his best friend walked throughout camp, everyone, although going about their normal business, looked tense. They kept their eyes on the storm.

Percy and Grover walked up to the front porch of the Big House. For days, he'd been half expecting to be summoned there anyhow.

Happiness never lasted long for Percy. One way or another, he'd be kicked out or expelled.

Dionysus sat at the pinochle table in his tiger-striped Hawaiian shirt with his Diet Coke, just as he had on his first day. Chiron sat across the table in his fake wheelchair. "Well, well," the god said without looking up. "Our little celebrity."

Percy waited, unsure what to do. He lifted his foot, hesitating with every little movement.

"Come closer. And don't expect me to kowtow to you, mortal, just because old Barnacle Beard is your father." Mr. D said. A net of lightning flashed across the clouds. Thunder shook the windows of the house. "Blah, blah, blah. If I had my way, I would cause your molecules to erupt in flames. We'd sweep the ashes and be done with a lot of trouble. But Chiron seems to feel this would be against my mission at this cursed camp: to keep you little brats safe from harm."

Now, if Percy was Aurora, he would let out an adorable snort and say something cool and a little self deprecating like, "Kill me. I want to die anyway."

But he very much wasn't Aurora, so he kept his mouth shut for the first time ever.

"Spontaneous combustion is a form of harm, Mr. D," Chiron put in.

"Nonsense," Dionysus responded with a flick of his hand. "Boy wouldn't feel a thing. Nevertheless, I've agreed to restrain myself. I'm thinking of turning you into a dolphin instead, sending you back to your father. Well, there's one more option. But it's deadly foolishness. I'm off to Olympus for the emergency meeting. If you're not gone when I get back, I'll turn you into an Atlantic bottlenose. And Perseus Jackson, if you're at all smart, which I doubt you are, you'll see that's a much more sensible choice than what Chiron feels you must do."

He snapped his fingers and turned into a hologram, then a wind, and then he was gone.

Chiron cleared his throat and smiled at Percy, gesturing for him and Grover to sit. He laid his cards on the table, a winning hand he hadn't gotten to use.

"Tell me, Percy," he said. "What did you make of the hellhound?"

Just hearing the name made him shudder, which was probably the wrong answer. Chiron probably wanted him to say, Heck, it was nothing. I eat hellhounds for breakfast. But he didn't want to lie.

"It scared me," Percy said blatantly. "If you hadn't shot it, I'd be dead."

His chin raised ever so slightly, a sign of his defiance. A trait he got from his father. Something he learned from his new friend.

"Whatever you do, don't show that you're scared. Don't show that you're doubting yourself. Even if you're gonna die, even if you're wrong, be stubborn. Be the fucking annoying person I know you are, Jackson." Aurora chastised as Percy succumbed to her sweet talking tactics again. "Gods, is your brain full of kelp? Be strong."

"You'll meet worse, Percy. Far worse, before you're done." Chiron warned gravely.

Percy hesitated, frowning with confusion. Huh? "Done... with what?"

Chiron took a deep breath. His attempt for a smile fell flat and morphed into a grimace.

"Your quest, of course. Will you accept it?"

ೀ⋆｡🌷 notes ...

word count: 1366

date published: february 17, 2024

thoughts: i just wanted to say thank you to any of the readers out there who are commenting and voting! i know i just started off writing, but i appreciate every little piece of support i receive, so thank you <3