Claimed by Twelve

16. Heroes

3rd person POV

"You know we can't trust him." Annabeth hissed at Percy, who was pacing the small room. Piper and Hazel seemed to agree with Annabeth, Frank was unsure of what was happening, and Jason hadn't spoken since they'd entered the room.
"We have to. If what the prophecy says is true—"
"We don't even know if it's him!"
"—then we can't give him a reason not to trust us." Percy finished.
"Percy. He's already halfway gone! If Khione gets to him—" Piper started to argue.
"Then we make sure she doesn't!" Percy countered. He stopped pacing and returned to the small table that the others sat around. "This is our camp. We've defended it before. We've got hundreds of Roman soldiers that are willing to die for this camp. We keep him here, and Khione can't touch him."
"And if he runs?" Frank made eye contact with Percy. "We can't stop him, not if Khione is helping him like last time."
"We give him a reason not to run." Jason spoke for the first time since they had entered the room. "We show him he can trust us. Show him that this camp is worth fighting for."
"And if that doesn't work? You've seen how hard headed he is." Piper glared at Jason.
"And how are we any different? We had to learn to trust too. You have to give him time." Hazel interjected.
"Sitting around talking about it isn't going to help." Jason pushed back his chair. The scraping sound was painfully loud against the silence. He walked to the door and walked out before any of them could protest.
Percy sighed. "I'll talk to him." He followed Jason out the door.
      "Jason!" Percy jogged to catch up to him. Jason slowed for Percy. "Hey. You alright?" Percy huffed when he caught up to him.
      Jason shrugged. "There's just something different about him. I feel like we're going about this all wrong."
      Percy sighed. "He's just out of place. He's not used to this yet."
      "It's not that." Jason shook his head. "I don't know. Something about him is just off."
      "We know he's different."
      "It's more than that. I get the feeling that he's more on edge than the others."
      "More on edge?"
      "He's closer to tipping. If we push him the wrong way, or if we push him at all, he'll fall."
      "Then we don't push him."
      "But we can't count on him to choose right."
      "Khione has her leverage. We'll find ours."
      "What? His mom?" Jason laughed. "That might drive him over the edge."
      "She said she would talk to him." Percy countered.
      "She said she would tell him the truth. I don't think he needs the truth right now." Jason sighed.
      Percy hadn't realized how far he and Jason had walked. They were now standing at one of the two bridges that led over the river. Percy turned his attention to the water as they crossed the bridge. "You're sure?"
      "Yes." Jason replied. Percy stopped at the edge of the bridge. Jason turned around and paused. "I understand him you know."
      "How so?" Percy glanced at his friend.
      "He never wanted this. He didn't ask for it. Sometimes I feel like it would be easier if we weren't demigods. Or children of the big three."
      Percy smiled, a sad smile. "A hero isn't a hero because of  the circumstances he's thrown into. He's a hero because he does what is right in those circumstances when no one else will."
      Jason smiled. "I thought wisdom was an Athena thing?"
      Percy laughed. "I guess Annabeth has been rubbing off on me."
      Jason laughed with him. It felt good, he decided. After all, he hadn't laughed in a while. A shout drew both of their attentions back to the camp. A demigod was running toward the bridge they had crossed.
      "Jason! Percy! It's—" The demigods voice was lost among the rest of the shouts of the camp.
      Percy nudged Jason. "Come on, hero. Time to get back to work." Jason rolled his eyes at Percy and started to jog back to the camp. Percy wasn't far behind.
      Percy's words played through Jason's mind the whole way back. A thought occurred to him on along the way.
      What if a hero doesn't make the right choice? He thought. Then a more sinister one crossed his mind.
      What if Jules doesn't?

The next updates might not be for a while. I've got a lot of school stuff but I write when I can. Thanks guys! Keep reading and stay awesome!