I walk out of the tent and find Percy sitting with his head in his hands. I stomp over to him and he turns just before I get over there.
"You're okay?" He asks, standing up. His shoulder that was cut up and gross had healed as well, making me not feel bad for punching his arm.
"You fucking idiot!" I yell, ignoring Bianca telling Nico to cover his ears nearby.
"Oh, don't blame me!" he replies.
"You ran out here on your own! You-"
"Well maybe if you weren't dancing with that dude than you could've been out here. If I had the help then Annabeth wouldn't necessarily been gone! You and Thalia blaming me isn't right," he interrupt. I fall silent, feeling a tear fall down my face. He blames me?
"I wasn't blaming you," I say, wiping the tear from my cheek. "I was mad at you because you went 1 V 1 with a manticore, but now I know you blame me for Annabeth . . . " I laugh spitefully. "I won't worry."
I turn away from him, beginning to walk away. It takes him a second to grab my arm, telling me to "wait a sec." I rip my arm from his grasp, making eye contact with him. "Don't touch me."
I walk away, looking for a quiet place away from everyone. Maybe I could go find Annabeth right now. All I need is to figure out where she is . . . gods! If I hadn't danced with that dude and saw them leave I could've helped them get out of the situation earlier.
It really was my fault. I should've been paying more attention. They invited me on this quest to help, but I didn't help.
I sat down on the ground, in the cold, wet snow against a tree. I tilt my head back, letting the snow that began falling again melt against my skin.
It didn't take long for me to hear the sound of snow crunching towards me. I look up and see Thalia, eyes red and looking utterly tired. She sat down next to me.
"I heard what Percy said, and it wasn't your fault," I heard her say. I drop my head onto her shoulder.
"Yeah, well it sure feels like it." She puts her head on mine.
"It wasn't though. You were doing what you were supposed to, he wasn't. He shouldn't have gone in alone, then we would've been in a better position to deal with the situation."
I sigh, "it wasn't completely his fault either. We went against a fucking manticore. I mean, what are our chances?" She laughed lightly. "I hate being a half-blood. Always being hunted."
"Yeah being on the receiving end is pretty shitty."
"Don't you ever kind of wish that you could be on the giving end?"
Thalia lifts her head off of mine and turns to me. "What do you mean? You want to be a monster?"
We both laugh for a second before I respond. "No, I mean like, hunt down the monsters. Make the monsters be the ones that have to look out. Stop the monsters from even getting near any other half-bloods."
"Well, I guess that's what being a hunter is. But you don't want that, right?" Thalia waits for me to respond, but I don't. "You can't join them, Emelia!"
"And why not? What is so wrong with them? They saved my ass a month or two ago and they are doing good for the rest of the half-bloods. They are actually doing something while I am just sitting around waiting for something to happen to me! Plus, a dude is the reason I was distracted today, if I'm a hunter . . ."
Thalia stands up abruptly. "I already told you it wasn't your fault. And if you join them then you are stuck in that life!"
"But I will be stuck somewhere!"
Thalia looks hurt, angry, but she doesn't argue any further and just storms off.
I don't get what her problem is. I just brought it up, hoping she could help me decide, but obviously she has some buried resentment towards the hunters, so she is no help.
With Annabeth gone, Thalia mad at me, and Percy being an asshole, I am alone. Maybe that is just what I'm destined to be. Rather accept it than dwell on it, I guess.
I walk back to the camp they set up, ignoring the many eyes on me. I grab my bag from the place where one of the hunters that grabbed our stuff from inside put it.
"Where are you going?" Percy asks.
"Don't worry about it," I respond, not looking at him and walking back towards the woods where I could shadow travel away.
"You can't leave."
"Leave me alone, Jackson."
"So this is it?"
I stop. "You know what? It is. I am done with this."
"You have to come back to camp, help us get a quest to look for Annabeth, get her back."
"Oh, yeah, I forgot. It was my fault so I have to get her back."
"No, I didn't mean it-"
"Sounded like you did. But don't you worry, I'm gonna get her back and you will never have to worry about me getting distracted on your little quests." He frowns.
"They offered it to you too, didn't they?" I stay silent. "So you're actually going to join? You won't go to camp but you'll give up the rest of your life for them?"
"I'm not doing this right now." I try to walk away but he runs in front of me. "Move, Jackson."
"No, you can't go out on your own again. Especially not on a dangerous mission."
I laugh for real this time. He has to be joking. "You stopped having an opinion on anything concerning me when you blamed me for Annabeth."
"That was wrong, yes, I know. I didn't mean it! I was angry with everything. Me, Thalia, Annabeth. And Thalia had just told me it was my fault, and I know this isn't an excuse, but I took it out on you and-"
"Just stop, just stop. I can't do this, I can't go back to camp, and I really can't be talking with you right now. I need to go and be anywhere but here." I don't let him finish and step behind a tree then disappear.
I turn up back in Connecticut, back at the playground. I walked over and sat on a bench. I haven't been back here since the incident over the summer. There is no one there because it is midnight and only people who aren't afraid of the dark are out.
It feels like hours that I just sit there staring into space while trying my best to figure out what to do. I mean, what could I do? I need to figure out where she is if I want to shadow travel there.
I walked over to the swing set and sit down on one of the swings as the sun rises. When I push off the ground it creaks just like it used to when I first lived here.
"Time will always fly,
But memories will not fade,
Hi, Emelia."
I look to the swing next to me and see who I can only assume is Apollo. "Hello."
"I'm on my way to pick up your friends, I thought you would be there as well." He gives me a warm smile. He seems nice.
"Yeah, well we are not very fond of each other right now and I have things to do."
Apollo reaches out his hand, holding the same type food Percy gave me in the car. "Eat this while I tell you something." I take it, trying not to refuse two gods on the same day. "You are going to fail alone. If you don't try and not be so emo, you will fail, and we can't have that."
"Why? You have two other possible children of the prophecy, why am I needed alive?" Apollo laughs and smiles at me.
"You are not the child of the prophecy, but you are the child of a prophecy. I'm surprised your mother didn't tell you." My stomach drops at the mention of my mother hiding something from me.
"What do you mean? What prophecy am I part of?"
Apollo shakes his head. "Oh, I can't tell you that. All I came to tell you was that you are doomed to fail if you continue down this road that is marked DANGER, DO NOT ENTER OR DIIEEEEE!"
"Well, thank you for that. I appreciate you telling me that."
"You aren't going back to camp though, right?" I nod. "Well, let the fates know I tried. Actually, let your dad know I tried. When you die and go down to see him, it's not on me."
That I laugh at, the first time I found something funny in the last few hours. "I'll make sure he knows."
"I appreciate that. Now I think I have to get going to pick up your friends or my sister will be mad at me!" He gets off the swing and turns to leave.
"Wait, can you do me a favor?" Did I really just ask a god for a favor?
"Depends."
"Could you tell your sister I am still thinking about it. You know, maybe I will choose to not be alone."
He gives me another smile and wink before disappearing into the morning.