"Just leave me alone." I say as I start to walk out of the infirmary and out of this conversation.
"No way. What kind of friend would I be if I just let this go?" She says waving her arms up in the air.
"A not-so-clingy friend." I say, and regret it as soon as I do, but don't take it back.
"I'm not letting you do that. Not this time." She says.
"Do what?"
"Push me away! You did it after Luke left and after you killed that camper!" She says making me flinch at Luke's name and the mention of the camper.
"I'm done with this conversation." I say as I start to feel that ball of energy inside me, but it was replaced with anger.
"Stella, I'm sorry. I shouldn't of brought them up." She admits.
Coming from Annabeth, I know she meant this cause she would never admit to doing something wrong. I don't feel that ball of energy, or anger, inside me anymore. I guess I've learned to control it.
"I believe that your sorry. And I'm sorry that I keep pushing you away."
"I just want to be there for you. So please let me." She says with a smile.
I sigh and walk over to her, consenting to her checking out my injuries.
"Gods! Stella, it looks like you may have cracked a rib!" She exclaims.
I shrug.
"Cool." I hear her say under her breath like I couldn't hear her. "Drink some nectar, but, you can't train until these are fully healed."
I sigh, but agree. The faster these heal, the faster I can get back to training.
"Alright, I'm going to bed." I say.
"Me too. Night." Says Annabeth as she cleans up all the supplies she used in the infirmary.
As I walk back to my cabin, I make a turn and head towards the lake. I still go to sit at our spot every night. It sounds crazy, but talking to him everyday, at that spot, it just keeps me sane. Percy, Annabeth, and Grover are always there for me, but without Luke, I feel like I'm falling apart.
Narrator's POV
As she sits down on the rock, on the sacred ground where they shared their first kiss, where they fell in love, she feels a tear rolling down her cheek and starts to frown at the slight thought that he may be gone for good. She shakes her head and starts to talk to him, as if he was right there next to her, as if everything was the way it used to be.
"Today went very unexpected. Annie found out about the bruises and that I've been training really hard. I don't know why I push myself so hard." She sighs.
In her mind, Luke would say something like 'You push yourself because you want to prove yourself to your father. You want to show him your not weak. Trust me, I know the feeling.' Then he would crack a joke and soften the mood.
Stella just sits there and stares at the empty space next to her, wondering if it will ever be filled again.
"Well, it was nice not talking to you, again." She says as she kisses her hand and pats the empty space where he once sat. "I miss you." She whispers.
As she walks away, she hears footsteps behind her and quickly turns around. Her first instinct is to grab her knife and inspect the area, but no one is there. And she is too tired to fight someone.
"Its probably nothing." She says to herself, thinking she is just paranoid.
She walks back to her cabin, all alone, and gets ready for bed. She received a gift from Chiron a couple of weeks ago for her hard work. Its a device that when pointed towards a solid object, projects through it, making the solid object invisible and the other side of it visible. She points it at the ceiling of her cabin and stares at the sky that appears above her. She has learned all the constellations and stares at Cetus. One of the many constellations in the sky.
She shuts her eyes and drifts off into a long, needed sleep.
———
The horn blows in the morning, waking up all the campers.
"Ughh." Exclaims Stella as she rolls out of bed.
She puts on some clothes and goes to find her friends.
"Percy! Wait up!" She calls as she makes her way over to the group. "Whats up?" She asks as she notices their facial expressions appear to be a mixture of worries and fear.
"Percy is being summoned by either Chiron or Mr. D. We are kinda hoping its Mr. D." Says Annabeth.
"I don't understand. I haven't done anything wrong." He says, waving his hands in the air.
"Don't worry! If its Mr. D, its probably just about cleaning something for him, but, if its Chiron...." Stella starts to say.
"Oh..you are so massively screwed." Says Stella and Annabeth as they see the centaur pacing in the courtyard.
Percy glares at them as he walks over to Chiron and builds up the courage to speak to him.
———
Stella's POV
A half hour has gone by since Percy went to see Chiron. The first fifteen minutes of him being gone were fine, but now I am officially very worried.
"Lets get some breakfast." Says Grover. "Percy will meet us there."
"If he's still alive." I say jokingly, kind of.
They both look at me with shocked expressions on their face.
"What? I'm just kidding!" I say, more to myself than them.
Grover and I walk to our table and say goodbye Annabeth as she goes to her's. As we sit down with our breakfast, I notice Grover's worried expression.
"Whats wrong?" I ask him.
"Whats wrong is that I'm supposed to be Percy's protector and he is probably getting in trouble for something right now. I don't know," He sighs, "I just feel like I've failed you guys sometimes."
"Grover, you have most definitely not failed him. Or me. You helped us save Olympus and stayed behind in literal hell. You are a hero." I reassure him.
"So are you." He states.
I pretend not to hear what he says and just look down at my plate. Then, Grover gets up from his seat.
"Percy! You good? Who's this?" He asks.
I look up to see Percy, unharmed, but he brought someone new. He is very tall and is wearing a pair of sunglasses.
"This is Tyson. My brother." He says, but the last part sounded hard to say.
"Brother?" Grover and I say in unison as I choke on my food.
"Yup!" Says Tyson cheerfully.
"I'm Stella." I say as I offer my hand for him to shake.
He grabs my hand and just holds it. I guess he isn't familiar with this kind of thing.
"Your supposed to shake it." I say. "My hand."
"Oh right! Cool!" He says as I gesture for him to sit next to me.
"So Poseidon's your dad?" I ask.
"Well, obviously." Says Percy, obviously annoyed. He then turns to Grover and starts whispering.
"Your half cyclops." I say as he takes off his glasses.
"Yeah. Why? Are you afraid?" He asks embarrassed.
"No! Of course not. Believe me, I know how it is when others are scared of you because of who your parents are or your legacy." I say.
"Who's your parent?" He asks.
"Hades." I state vaguely. "Don't tell me your scared?"
"I'm not. Its just that Hades is kind of scary, you know?" He says, making me confused and a little annoyed.
"Is he playing some sort of joke on me?" I hear Percy whisper to Grover. "I mean a brother?"
"I think its cool to have a brother!" Says Tyson.
"Yeah." I agree. "I would do anything for a sibling."
Tyson nods and asks Percy for his food, which Percy gladly gives him. I continue to make conversation with Tyson, while forcing Percy to participate in it, when Clarisse approaches.
"Oh! Somebody's got a new brother!" She says with a cold smile, "And he's got daddy's eyes, well, eye."
Tyson puts on his glasses.
"Shut up, Clarisse. Go back to gloating." I say.
"No one was talking to you, Darke." She turns to Percy. "You haven't really been doing it for Poseidon, I bet. Maybe Poseidon sent him down to, you know, represent." She says to Percy.
"Bull." Says Tyson making everyone laugh.
"Excuse me?" Asks Clarisse making me roll my eyes.
"It smells like bull." He says making everyone start to panic.
All of a sudden, the table starts to shake, along with the ground. I look around to see the source of the shakes, my eyes focus on the barrier. Something is trying to get through.