The Awakening

Lil Water Boy

"Just smile and nod, Fork-dude," Leo leaned closer to Mr. Forkle, being the one directly next to the gaping old man, and stage-whispered.

Mr. Forkle promptly closed his mouth and nodded timidly. He cleared his throat, "Mr. Vacker, can you alert your father of our departure? And, be quick."

Fitz nodded quickly and jumped up from his seat to scurry up the stairs. Mr. Forkle dragged his eyes back to Tam, the dumbfounded expression on his face making it hard for me to hold back a giggle.

Tam noticed the attention and brought his eyes up to meet Mr. Forkle's. Mr. Forkle resorted to looking at anything, but Tam's death glare.

Tam, pleased with the loss of attention, resumed his blank face and sulking.

The silence hovered over us like a blanket of fog, until Fitz raced back into the room, panting slightly.

"He knows," he managed to breathe out.

Mr. Forkle merely nodded his head at the teal boy and raised his crystal to the light above him. We all quickly got up from our seats and joined him at the end of the table, all holding hands.

Keefe squeezed my hand reassuringly, probably still sensing my unease. We smiled at each other as particles dissipated around us, the light dragging our bodies away.

✧♡(◕‿◕✿)

"So, you two feel comfortable with the plan?" Mr. Forkle asked us, looking into Percy's eyes first and then locking onto mine.

We both nodded slightly, anxious for the upcoming meeting.

After we travelled here, Mr. Forkle immediately dragged us to the common room of the place. It was another tree house, like Alluveterre, but named Forsari.

This treehouse had way more rooms than Alluveterre, all with a view of the beautiful lake surrounding the massive treehouse. We were led up big, polished stone steps to get to the cabin-like common room. A bookcase crowded the walls of the room, with small doorways planted evenly around to the rooms.

The rest of our friends stood around a meeting table in the middle of the room, while Percy, Mr. Forkle, and I stood off to the side, next to a part of the bookcase wall where a single scroll poked out. I had curiously reached for it, but Mr. Forkle had pulled my attention away before my hand even touched it.

"I need to go get the crystal from my office, but we leave in ten," Mr. Forkle said, turning around to leave us. He seemed to rethink his actions, because a second later, he turned back to us. "I need you kids to understand that I physically cannot disclose any of the information that Fintan spews. Just try not to get too mad, okay?"

Percy and I, once again, nodded timidly and in unison.

Mr. Forkle smiled sadly at us, before actually making his way to his office.

With him gone, I turned to look at the scroll from the wall, not even attempting to reach for it, or anything, just zoning out.

I must've had a frown on my face, because Percy lightly pulled on my shoulder to get me to face him.

"Hey, we just need to get through this meeting, and then we can watch IT 2 together," Percy tried to reassure me.

It did the opposite.

"Great," I sarcastically said, a more bit weak and dry than my usual sarcasm.

"I'm actually offended," he feigned hurt, pressing a hand above his heart. "You don't want to watch a movie with your twin?"

"I'd rather not," I said nonchalantly, but cringed when I saw that his bottom lip was actually quivering. "Hey, hey. I'm just kidding. I would love to watch a movie with you, Perce."

"I knew you would," Percy instantly perked up, pulling his lips into an easy grin. I gaped at the sudden mood change.

Little Water Boy was playing me the whole time.

"Hey, Perce, I have a good idea for your singing name," I said loudly, just loud enough for all of our friends to hear. I knew that they had from the way their talking had abruptly come to a stop.

"Wait, what are you doing-?" Percy asked in confusion, his eyes widening slightly once he realized what I was doing, and cut himself off.

"I think it should be Lil Water Boy," I said, throwing an arm around his shoulders. "You would sell out stadiums with your talent, brother."

"Wait a minute-."

"What do you guys think?" I asked, dragging Percy over to our group. "Should Lil Water Boy take his talent to the stage?" I queried cheekily, sending a small wink to a very suspicious Annabeth.

She seemed to have gotten the message, my thoughts giving me that conclusion due to the smirk filling up her face.

"Yeah, he's such an amazing singer, guys," Annabeth mused. "He should sing for us sometime, before he gets too famous."

"I agree," I chirped. "It would be a shame to let such talent go to waste."

"Gods yes!" Leo cried. "How come you've never told us, dude? You should perform for everyone tomorrow, raise everyone's spirits!"

"Now, hold on a-."

"Yeah!" Jason piped in, walking over to clap Percy on the back. "We totally support you, man."

"Wait-."

"This is so exciting!" Linh exclaimed. "We don't even have music here in the Lost Cities, or at least, human music."

"No, I-."

"Alright, kids, time to wish Miss Foster and Mr. Jackson luck on their meeting," Mr. Forkle stepped back into the room, pulling out a small crystal from his pocket.

Percy grumbled lowly, finally ducking under my arm that was around his shoulder, and sent me a glare. I grinned, knowing that he hadn't even been able to turn down the request that he sing tomorrow with all of his 'talent'.

If talent was sounding like a cat dragging its nails down a chalkboard. Or, a dying pig.

We hugged our friends goodbye, mine and Keefe's being the longest. He had barely released me, before embracing me again, effectively rendering me unable to breathe.

"Need. Air," I choked out, wheezing as his arms tightened ever so slightly before disappearing all together.

"Don't Foster it," he whispered, before finally stepping back and looking into my eyes longingly.

I smiled adoringly at him, almost blushing under his intense stare. He seemed to snap out of it as a smirk found its way on his face, and I immediately sighed in relief, glad to be rid of the intense atmosphere.

"Don't miss me too much, either," he said with finality, offering me a small salute before walking backwards. He turned at the last second, shooting me a genuine smile beforehand, and made his way to the rest of our friends.

"Are you ready to do this thing?" Percy asked, strapping on his fireproof gear.

"Never been more ready," I smirked, reaching for the gear he threw at me.

And, never been more wrong.

A/N: i promise this is the last filler chapter before actual action happens. ap physics, ap psych, ap lang, ap spanish, ap calc, and adv dance hit me like a truck this first week of school lol.