Hades.
It was Hades. He'd both broken the oath and not.
Nico hand Bianca had been his children but they were born before the oath was made, hidden away in the Lotus Casino and brought back out in time for the prophecy. And Nico had disappeared after Percy told him about his sister.
They'd scoured the woods for hours but there was no sign of Nico anywhere.
Percy refused to let them tell anyone what they'd learned about Nico. The last thing they needed was the gods fighting one another again, but this wasn't exactly something they could hide forever. But Percy just said he needed two years - he just needed two years until he was sixteen. He chose the prophecy. He wanted it to be about him and not Nico. He couldn't let Nico go through anything else and he still felt guilty for Bianca. And he also vowed to keep Luke busy, personally, so that he was too distracted to find Nico or get a hold of him.
It was things like that that made Cressida proud to call Percy Jackson her friend. Actually, she was surprised that she found herself wanting to kiss him again for that because it was both brave and stupid. But that was a feeling she buried very deep down inside her.
Grover had left soon after they reported Nico going missing to Chiron because he was playing music in the parlour and drinking coffee by the bucketload before Pan spoke to him in his mind.
I await you.
It was all the Lord of the Wild said but Grover had left instantly.
Annabeth had also decided to go back to San Francisco with her father, promising to keep an eye on Mount Tam. Percy was also leaving soon for Manhattan and another year of school. Annabeth had left the day after Grover so she could get back to the west coast and back to school. Percy decided to stay a few extra days, needing some time in his second home after everything. And it was the middle of the night when someone knocked on his cabin door.
"Wine Vine? What the hell are you doing here?" Percy asked as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, his hair messy as he stood in a tank top and a pair of basketball shorts.
"Shh," she said before she reached for his hand. "Follow me."
"Whoa!" he exclaimed as she pulled him out of his cabin and towards hers. "Uh, are you trying to get me killed? If your brothers, your father or the cleaning harpies find me, I'm dead meat."
"Oh, shut up and relax," she whispered back as she led him to the side of her cabin rather than the front.
"What are we doing?"
"Gods above, for a guy who has been on three quests at the age of fourteen, your sense of adventure is abysmal," was all she said in return before Percy let out a small yelp as a grapevine that decorated the cabin reached out and wrapped around his torso and began lifting him and Cressida up onto the roof.
"Yeah, well those quests are usually never by choice and I kinda like living," Percy replied as they sat on a little ledge on the domed roof that was covered in grapevines, partially hiding them from where they now sat on what looked like a very large dog bed but it was surprisingly comfortable.
"You're no fun," she replied as she leaned back on the roof and looked up at the sky.
"Can you tell me what we're doing up here now?" Percy asked and she simply pointed up at the sky.
"We're savouring whatever moments we can before Kronos throws everything he has at us in a battle where we probably die," she answered before he leaned back on the roof next to her and stared up at Zoë's constellation.
"This is nice," he admitted and she nudged his shoulder.
"Told you so. Grapes?"
"Why not?"
And he plucked a bunch from the vine she moved in front of him. "So, I assume this is a favourite hiding place of yours and your brothers?"
"One of two spots. This one is better for seeing the stars," she replied.
"And they won't hear us up here?"
"Please, they sleep like the dead. I swear, defeating Kronos will be easier than waking them up," she said and they both laughed.
"It must be nice having siblings."
"Hey, who knows? Maybe if this thing between your mom and Paul might work out and you could end up a big brother," she suggested.
"Paul does seem nice - then again, anyone is better than Smelly Gabe," Percy said, gazing back up at the sky.
"Hey," she said as she nudged his shoulder again. "Paul isn't like that and nothing like that will ever happen again to you and your mother. I won't let it happen, you won't let it happen and now that protecting you is no longer necessary, Sally won't let it happen either. I don't think Gabe made her smile the way Paul did."
"No," he confirmed. "Actually I don't think she ever genuinely smiled when she was with him."
"Not everyone is a bad person," she reminded him. "You taught me that."
"I'm a pretty good teacher too, aren't I?" he smirked and she rolled her eyes.
"I will neither confirm nor deny that, you're already arrogant enough, but what I will confirm is that you are going to be just fine, Fish Face, prophecy or not."
"How can you possibly be so confident about that?"
"How can you not be? I've never met anyone more stubborn in my life."
He chuckled at that before his head rolled to look at her. "I can maybe think of one person."
"Gotta keep up with you somehow," she shrugged nonchalantly, a small smile on her face.
"Oh, hey, I almost forgot. I have something for you," he said as his hand brushed his pants pocket and he realised that's where he'd hidden it.
"Is this that thing that you stole my bag to retrieve?" she asked with a raised brow.
"Yeah. I got it while we were on the quest and I stuffed it in your bag because I figured we'd end up losing ours and we did - three quests in a row."
"That has to be some kind of record," she laughed.
"Probably, but I stuffed it in my pants pocket so you wouldn't see it and then I forgot which pants it was in."
"I'm not surprised. Your cabin is atrocious."
"Hey, I'm hardly in it!"
"Which is even more confusing! You're hardly in it, yet it's so messy."
"Just shut up, close your eyes and hold out your hand."
"Ohh, another charm. I wonder what this one will be," she grinned as she did so.
"How'd you know?" he asked as she felt his hands on her wrist.
"Past repeats itself, Captain Nemo. And we have a nice little tradition. I get a charm for my bracelet, you get to slide down grapevines and any other presents I deem you worthy of."
"Is that a fair trade?" Percy wondered.
"Well considering you had me do it in central park in the middle of the night last year, you could do a little better."
"Ok, you can open your eyes now."
And Percy was greeted with the sight of her indigo eyes shining in the moonlight as she looked down at the shimmering gold charm that was a small replica of the Hoover Dam.
"Oh, pretty!" she exclaimed as she held it. "Wait, but, when did you have time to get this?"
He didn't know why he didn't mention Rachel, but he knew that her name didn't belong in a conversation with Cressida, that he didn't want to even talk about another girl that wasn't her.
"Long story. I was being chased by skeletons. I was in a gift shop."
She seemed to buy it as she marvelled at the present. "So you were being chased by killer skeletons and you still had time to get me a present?"
"Yeah," he answered quickly, the grapes he was eating suddenly turning sour in his mouth as he lied to her. Rachel had been holding that charm in shock when Percy had run her through with his sword, mistaking her for a skeleton. And when it had fallen to the ground, Percy snatched it before the redhead had pulled him towards the bathroom and stuffed it into his pocket.
"Thanks, Fish Face," she smiled.
"You're welcome," he returned before she laid back against her cabin. "Hey, how about next summer, you come to the city for the day?" he suggested suddenly. "I'll treat you to a very normal day. We'll go to a movie, visit an arcade and eat some street food, ride a subway."
She narrowed her brows in confusion. "That sounds amazing, but, what's the occasion?"
I'm lying to you. I hate it. I don't know why I can't tell you about Rachel and I feel guilty. Aphrodite was right and I hate it. I like you and it kills me that you will probably never like me back. But I still want you to be happy.
Despite the thoughts raging inside Percy's head, he only grinned as he said, "So we can savour moments before Kronos throws everything he has at us in a battle where we will probably die."
She smirked. "Touché. Alright, Barnacle Brain, you got yourself a deal. If my father lets me out."
"Please, you have him wrapped around your finger. You got your father to vote not to kill Bessie and not to kill me. Not only do I owe you, but changing a god's mind doesn't seem like an easy thing to do."
Her smile was small. "My father was human once. He still makes mistakes from time to time and I'm here to call him out."
That was probably the nicest way she could say that the gods weren't always right without saying it outright.
"How... how about we just sit and watch the stars for a while?" he suggested and her expression was appreciative.
"That sounds like the best plan you've ever had."
"Shut up," he said and she laughed before she rested her head on his shoulder. And he forced himself to forget and to just enjoy it.
Maybe she was more than a friend, maybe she would be more than a friend in future or maybe not - but she would always be his friend. And right now he wanted to stargaze with his friend. And it was nice.
And neither of them knew that things wouldn't be nice for a while.
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The next morning, Cressida thought the banging on her cabin door was Percy getting her back for keeping him up for hours that night and only letting him get at least three or four hours of sleep. But it wasn't Percy.
"La Rue? What's going on?"
The girl was standing at her door, still dressed in her clothes from yesterday but with an even more anxious expression on her face.
"Remember how you said you'd help me?"
"Yeah?"
"Well, I need you to help me. Right now."
And Clarisse grabbed her elbow and dragged her towards the Big House.
"Ok?" Cressida said hesitantly. "Can you tell me why?"
"My recon mission? Yeah, it didn't exactly go so well."
"You didn't find Luke's attack point into camp?"
"No, but what I did find is probably even worse," Clarisse explained.
"La Rue, I'm going to need a bit more than that," Cressida said.
"I found a labyrinth entrance and -"
Cressida stopped walking as she yanked her arm from Clarisse's grip. "Please tell me you found a way to close it, destroy it, wipe it off the map?"
The daughter of Ares shook her head. "You of all people should know it's magic. The entrance just moved a few feet away. Even if we find the entrance that leads into camp, there's no way to seal it or move it outside the barrier."
"There's something else," Cressida sensed. "You found something else inside the labyrinth didn't you?"
Her nod was grave. "You know how you did that magic thing to try and strengthen my psyche or whatever beforehand?" she asked and was met with a nod as equally as grave as hers. "Well, I found someone who we know that didn't have your protection."
"Who?"
"Chris Rodriguez."
Cressida's eyes widened in horror. "If Chris was in the maze, that means Luke sent him. He hasn't found a way to navigate it yet. Chris might know Luke's plans. Please tell me you apprehended him alive."
"Of course, he's alive," Clarisse snapped as if she was offended by the notion. "But you won't be getting anything out of him."
Her shoulders fell as she sighed. "Tell me he's not -"
"I'm afraid I can't do that."
"Dammit!" she cursed. "Where is he? How bad is it?"
"You have to swear on the Styx that you won't tell anyone about this. Your father isn't back from Olympus yet, so you are his only hope. Chiron doesn't want anyone else knowing who doesn't need to know."
"La Rue, are you sure about this? I mean, I -"
"Swear it."
"I swear on the River Styx, not to tell anyone about what you're about to show me who doesn't already know."
Clarisse then nodded again before she took Cressida's hand and led her into the Big House and down to the locked basement. The second Clarisse swung the door open, the screams could be heard.
Tied to a bed, thrashing and screaming, was Chris Rodriguez. And the words coming out of his mouth weren't even English or Ancient Greek.
"I know you said to me once that I'd make a great practice dummy," Clarisse said as Cressida gaped at the state of Chris. "Well, now you've got a real one."