"You never said there would be Hell-Hounds involved!"
"I never said their wouldn't be Hell-Hounds either, did I?"
Percy opened his mouth to retort, but settled with, "Fair enough." because Thalia and Chiron were moving towards the God and the Godling.
"Now now, you're being a bit unfair to our young Hero, don't you think?" Said Hero, Percy he wouldn't tell you his middle name if you had a gun to his head Jackson, couldn't help but cringe at Chirons words. It wasn't that there was anything wrong with what he was saying, in fact; if he was trying to cut a deal for Jackson, he could go right on ahead. Percy just saw everything the man said as incredibly awkward, even if everyone else seemed either not to notice it, or not have a problem with it. Especially Thalia, who nodded enthusiastically to everything Chiron said. Though, Percy supposed she was happy to have him back. The look on her face did make Percy smile a small, toothless smile. "He was not only a part of a Quest to save our Camp, but he also fought Scylla! And single handedly brought down Medusa!"
"You what-" Thalia was cut off by the centaur, who could not seem to get enough of singing the Son of Poseidon's praises.
"Not to mention calming the mighty Charybodis, and escaping the Goddess Circe! Yes, a right Heracles we have here!" The Teacher of Heroes let out a mighty chuckle, but there was something off about it. They locked eyes a moment, and Percy could see it. Fear. Not fear for his own safety, he suspected that Chiron could take Percy quite handily. No, he feared what Percy could be. Not that the boy himself knew what that fear was, but he knew that Chiron had no reason to be afraid of him at the moment. That merely added to the suspension that had been building inside the Demi-God. Ever since the first quest he had gone on, he had thought it the tiniest bit odd that Three children of the Oldest Gods all had kids around the same time. For the Trainer of Heroes to be afraid of one of his trainees, it had to be something big. Percy's question was, why him? Chiron didn't have that look when he was talking to Thalia, or even Nico. Was he under some assumption that Percy was the strongest of the three? Because that was just straight up false. He got lucky with a couple monsters, that was it.
"Anyway.." Thalia started, because a tense silence that she didn't particularly like had enveloped the room. Except for Dionysus. He was sipping from his Diet Coke.
"Warm. You took too long." He stated dejectedly at Percy.
"Yeah cool. Anyway! Perce, we should get going. Tyson's leaving soon."
"Oh heck. Right." He turned his attention to the God for a second. "I'll do better next time." He then made a head nod to Thalia, and they booked it to the beach to see his half brother off.
A rather uneventful run later.
"Are you sure you wanna be going down there, Tyson?"
"I am sure, Brother. War is coming, I can smell it. Dad wants me to forge armors, so I will."
"So are you doing this because you think it's a good idea, or just because Poseidon told you to?"
"I act because I have to, brother. Just because the Gods want it, doesn't mean it's a bad thought."
"I've been predisposed to the Gods making pretty bad choices; Tyson."
"You need to stop counting yourself among them."
A stunned silence fell to Percy, and Thalia sorta kinda regretted coming. Thalia half expected him to play it off as a joke, or dismiss it all together. She had never seen the Son of Poseidon as one with such negative thoughts. She knew that his pride was kind of sensitive, and he had a tendency to blame himself for things completely out of his control, which she had assumed was just a guy thing. To see Percy with such a shocked expression, like it was some big secret he didn't want anyone to know, it.. Hurt her. She knew that it shouldn't have. It was his life, if he wasn't comfortable sharing his feelings, he didn't have to. Her mind itched with the question however, 'Why doesn't he feel comfortable sharing it with me? I'm like, his best friend.'
Percy opened his mouth to speak, and Thalia was ready for just about anything. He sighed, and then spoke. "I love you, Tyson."
Tyson's face lit up. "Love you too, brother!" He seemed to forget completely about that stand off the two had just moments prior, then continued with an infectious aura of excitement. "Made a parting gift!" He shuffled around his pockets, and pulled out a watch. A Poseidon watch. Like a Mickey Mouse watch, where each clock hand was one of his hands.
"Awe.. Thanks buddy. I'll think of you whenever I want to know what time it is." His voice held some of its signature comedic sass, but he did appreciate the gift, no matter what it was.
Tyson rolled his eye. "Turn the hour dial."
Percy did as he was told, and the watch morphed into a shield. "Woah!" The boy said in surprise. He looked at the front, and his smile faded. It was him, shirtless, falling into what he assumed was the water after fighting Scylla.
"Okay I like it but like.. Why do I have such a horrified expression?"
"Just made it accurate."
"Oh, you sassy bi-"
"Kay bye brother!"
Percy's brother then ran off towards the beach, the odd horse fish creature popping out of the water to carry him to their fathers realm. Percy smiled, but he felt a ping of pain in his heart. He would definitely miss Tyson, but he got the feeling that he'd be happier down there. It was more his speed, a Demi-God camp was no place for a Cyclops. He turned to Thalia to leave, but found that she has been staring intently at him as well. She looked troubled, and he had an idea why. He really didn't want to go through this right now, today was sad enough, saying goodbye to see you later to Tyson. Percy never liked to say goodbye, because that always implied an end. He never wanted to think it was the last time he'd see his brother. To digress, Percy really didn't want to get into an argument with Thals today. He'd always had a low sense of self worth, came with his upbringing. Learning he was Half God didn't exactly help. He felt like Poseidon's afterthought. Like, his main purpose was bedding Percy's mom, and Percy himself was a side effect that the God couldn't wait to be without. Not exactly magic for the self esteem. He'd never share this information, of course. He couldn't let himself be that weak. Not now. Not even for Thalia. So, he asked asked a simple question instead, "Where's Nico?"
Thalia didn't respond.
"Thals?"
"Hm? Oh. He, uh, hit it off with a Nymph."
"Really? Nico? With a Nymph?"
"Dryad to be exact."
"Death Breath with a Dryad? Ironic."
Thalia snickered. "Guess so."
There was quiet around them, like they were the only ones in the world. Thalia, without a word, walked up to Percy, turned herself one hundred and eighty degrees to be standing beside him, and took hold of his hand. "Let's get you home."
Percy blushed, he hadn't exactly held hands with a girl like this before. He was confused for a second on what she meant, he was already at camp. Then it hit him. "Are you sure? I'll stay if you want me to."
"Of course I want you to stay, idiot-"
"Then I will."
"Let me finish. I want you to stay. But I get the feeling you need to go home." Percy couldn't argue with that. He wasn't sure why, but he definitely at least needed a mental break from all of this. "But uh," She continued, Can I walk you home?"
"You want to.. Walk me home?"
"Yep."
"You know we're in the middle of nowhere, New York right?"
"I know."
"And.. I live in Queens."
"I know."
"That could take more then a day."
"I know."
Even while they were having this conversation, they were already moving past Grover's tree. A few kids were guarding it while they waited for the dragon they ordered from E-Bay to show up, but they walked past with little resistance. Because if a Son of Poseidon and Daughter of Zeus walk out of camp; what are you gonna do? Stop them? Good luck. As soon as they were out of ear shot, they continued to talk.
"You might as well stay for dinner then."
"That sounds nice."
"Do you like blue food?"
"Like, blueberries?"
"No like, food dyed blue."
"I like blue."
They paused their conversation, and walked in silence for a while. Then, after a grand total of ten minutes, he spoke again. He tried to keep his tone casual, but it did have a tense feeling to it. "Do you.. Have feelings for Luke?"
Thalia giggled. Percy still wasn't used to that. "There was a time that I thought I did. But, looking back on it, it was just a sense of belonging that I felt with him, like he was family. Ya know?"
Percy nodded, nervously. "And, uh.. How do you feel around.. Me?" He gathered the courage to ask. Thalia answered by ceasing all movement. Percy stopped as well, and immediately started apologizing, thinking that he'd idiotically crossed a line. Thalia put her index finger from her free hand on his lips to silence. Thalia got onto her tip toes, because Percy was a bit taller then her, and planted a kiss on his cheek; her black lipstick leaving a smudge on him. Thalia then started moving again like nothing big happened, and stated;
"Come on! Let's go meet your mom!"
Well, it was official.
Percy Jackson had no idea what was going on. But, he sorta liked it.
A/N: Well y'all, it's been a ride. Took a long break, that I apologize for, but I gotta say, I'm much more proud of this one then book one. I've already been cooking up ideas for book three, so be on the look out for that! If you really can't wait, make sure to follow me, and you'll be alerted when the project is posted. Have a nice one!