The next morning, Chiron moved Percy into cabin three.
He didn't have to share with anybody. He had plenty of room for all his stuff, which wasn't a lot: the Minotaur's horn, one set of spare clothes, and a toiletry bag. He got to sit at his own dinner table, pick all his own activities, call "lights out" whenever he felt like it, and not listen to anyone else. He was his own head counselor.
And he was absolutely miserable.
Just as he had started to feel accepted, to feel like he had a home in cabin eleven, and he might be a normal kid—or as normal as you can be when you're a half blood—he'd been separated out as if he had some rare disease.
Nobody mentioned the hellhound, but he got the feeling they were all talking about it behind his back. The attack had scared everybody. It sent two messages: one, that he was the son of the Sea God (yay!); and two, monsters would stop at nothing to kill him.
They would even invade a camp that had always been considered safe.
The other campers steered clear of him as much as possible.
Well, not everyone.
Everyone except Aurora.
He was so lonely to the point where he even considered inviting the only person who seemed to want to talk to him over, which was the daughter of Persephone herself.
It was funny, because before he was claimed, Aurora hated him. (Valid, because she had a good reason to). But, strangely, it was like they connected on a deeper level due to them being the only child of their godly parents at camp.
She still acted annoyed at him, probably because he was annoying, and said things like he was stupid and insufferable, but Percy still liked hanging out with her.
(It wasn't really hanging out, because she was forced to spend time with him, but Percy didn't need a reminder of that).
Aurora always wanted her own cabin, to not feel like an imposter in a group of siblings.
"In a way, you're lucky." She said as she offered him a hand. He was on the ground for the third time that day.
Because Luke was still in charge of teaching everyone else at the camp how to sword fight, Aurora became his personal trainer.
"I mean," Aurora talked through her demonstration of the viper-beheading strike. She moved with such grace and precision, it was like she was born to fight. "Yeah, you're basically alienated from everyone like you have the plague. That's why I don't tell anyone who my mom really is. I mean, even you were like, all annoying about it. But your dad is Poseidon, Percy."
Percy rolled his eyes, mocking her with noncoherent sounds. He attempted the move Aurora had done, but instead knocked over a vase of water lilies Aurora had conjured. "Oops," he muttered as they both winced at the sound of shattered glass.
Aurora paused, her hand latching onto Percy's wrist, the one without Riptide, so he would meet her eyes. The weird thing was, he was never able to keep a steady gaze with her, because every time sea green met warm honey, his stomach would feel weird and his entire body would light up in flames.
"Just think about that, alright, Shark Boy?" She smiled her Aurora smile, and he felt his heart flutter in a strange way. It was more sardonic than usual, but he took it. "You're basically Ariel. My little Disney prince."
At that, Percy had to crack a smile. Aurora was the only one who could bring him out of his ditch of depression, ever since he was claimed.
They both jumped at a clopping sound at the door, Grover peeking into the cabin with a worried expression on his face. His furry eyebrows raised immediately to see Aurora's grip on Percy's hand and their matching grins, but it quickly melted into his previous concern.
"Mr. D wants to see you." Grover trotted inside, chomping on a soda can. "He wants to kill... I mean, I'd better let him tell you."
"Big storm out there, Shark Boy." Aurora's tone was full of warning, but Percy couldn't decipher what her chocolate eyes were trying to tell him.
Grover glanced uneasily at the sky. "It'll pass around us. Bad weather always does."
Percy gulped, eyeing Zeus' domain. This storm... this one was huge.
As he and his best friend walked throughout camp, everyone, although going about their normal business, looked tense. They kept their eyes on the storm.
Percy and Grover walked up to the front porch of the Big House. For days, he'd been half expecting to be summoned there anyhow.
Happiness never lasted long for Percy. One way or another, he'd be kicked out or expelled.
Dionysus sat at the pinochle table in his tiger-striped Hawaiian shirt with his Diet Coke, just as he had on his first day. Chiron sat across the table in his fake wheelchair. "Well, well," the god said without looking up. "Our little celebrity."
Percy waited, unsure what to do. He lifted his foot, hesitating with every little movement.
"Come closer. And don't expect me to kowtow to you, mortal, just because old Barnacle Beard is your father." Mr. D said. A net of lightning flashed across the clouds. Thunder shook the windows of the house. "Blah, blah, blah. If I had my way, I would cause your molecules to erupt in flames. We'd sweep the ashes and be done with a lot of trouble. But Chiron seems to feel this would be against my mission at this cursed camp: to keep you little brats safe from harm."
Now, if Percy was Aurora, he would let out an adorable snort and say something cool and a little self deprecating like, "Kill me. I want to die anyway."
But he very much wasn't Aurora, so he kept his mouth shut for the first time ever.
"Spontaneous combustion is a form of harm, Mr. D," Chiron put in.
"Nonsense," Dionysus responded with a flick of his hand. "Boy wouldn't feel a thing. Nevertheless, I've agreed to restrain myself. I'm thinking of turning you into a dolphin instead, sending you back to your father. Well, there's one more option. But it's deadly foolishness. I'm off to Olympus for the emergency meeting. If you're not gone when I get back, I'll turn you into an Atlantic bottlenose. And Perseus Jackson, if you're at all smart, which I doubt you are, you'll see that's a much more sensible choice than what Chiron feels you must do."
He snapped his fingers and turned into a hologram, then a wind, and then he was gone.
Chiron cleared his throat and smiled at Percy, gesturing for him and Grover to sit. He laid his cards on the table, a winning hand he hadn't gotten to use.
"Tell me, Percy," he said. "What did you make of the hellhound?"
Just hearing the name made him shudder, which was probably the wrong answer. Chiron probably wanted him to say, Heck, it was nothing. I eat hellhounds for breakfast. But he didn't want to lie.
"It scared me," Percy said blatantly. "If you hadn't shot it, I'd be dead."
His chin raised ever so slightly, a sign of his defiance. A trait he got from his father. Something he learned from his new friend.
"Whatever you do, don't show that you're scared. Don't show that you're doubting yourself. Even if you're gonna die, even if you're wrong, be stubborn. Be the fucking annoying person I know you are, Jackson." Aurora chastised as Percy succumbed to her sweet talking tactics again. "Gods, is your brain full of kelp? Be strong."
"You'll meet worse, Percy. Far worse, before you're done." Chiron warned gravely.
Percy hesitated, frowning with confusion. Huh? "Done... with what?"
Chiron took a deep breath. His attempt for a smile fell flat and morphed into a grimace.
"Your quest, of course. Will you accept it?"
ೀ⋆｡🌷 notes ...
word count: 1366
date published: february 17, 2024
thoughts: i just wanted to say thank you to any of the readers out there who are commenting and voting! i know i just started off writing, but i appreciate every little piece of support i receive, so thank you <3