WAIT! Okay, now that I have your attention, I have a couple of things to ask.
1) What have you guys thought of the story so far? I would love to hear your thoughts!
2) I've been thinking about sketching a picture to put at the beginning of each chapter that would depict a major scene. Thoughts?
We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.
# # #
Another couple of days passed, and Jacob and Hannah had forced Percy to push their cots together so that they could be close. They never let go of one another, always holding hands or something of that sort. When sleeping, Hannah would cuddle into Jacob's chest and he would hold her close. It reminded Percy of how he was with her after Tartarus. He didn't know what they had been through, but it could not have been good. On the fourth day Percy, Thalia, Hannah, and Jacob sat together, just talking. Hannah was leaning back against Jacob's chest, and he was resting his chin on top of her head.
"What happened to you guys?" Percy suddenly blurted out. "You disappeared for like eight months."
"We, we don't really want to talk about it," Hannah replied. "Not yet."
Before the conversation could progress any further, Gracey entered the tent followed by a rough looking girl of maybe twelve.
"Hey Gracey, Elizabeth," Percy greeted.
"I, um, brought the items you requested," Elizabeth said shyly as she lifted the small sack she was carrying.
"Great, bring them over!" Percy exclaimed before turning to his injured friends. "You guys are gonna love this." He was bouncing like a small child as she brought the bag over and opened it, clearly Percy was excited about whatever it was.
Reaching in, she pulled out something very familiar to Jacob. "My glasses!" he exclaimed. "You fixed them! Thank you so much!"
"I reinforced them with some Olympian Silver, so they should hold up in combat better now," Elizabeth explained as she handed them to Jacob.
"Thank You!" he said before putting them on. "I can see again!" Jacob cheered as he looked around. His eyes narrowed when they landed on Thalia. "What did you do to your hair!" he blurted out.
"Jacob!" Hannah scolded as Thalia turned red and started fidgeting.
"I, I grew it out?" Thalia replied.
"Well I like it," he said resolutely. "It suits you."
Thalia blushed as Elizabeth cleared her throat. "Anyways, this was pretty difficult to make," she said as she pulled a hunk of silver metal. "I hope it works." Elizabeth then revealed what it was she was holding, a prosthetic hand made from Olympian Silver.
"Oh, wow," Hannah breathed. "Thank you, thank you so much!" she whispered. Jacob patted her knee in support, a huge smile across his face.
Gracey came over and unwrapped the bandage before helping Elizabeth attach the new hand. "There, that should do it," Gracey said after about fifteen minutes. "Try it out."
Everybody stared intently at the hand. After a few moments the fingers closed into a fist before opening again. "It works!" Percy cheered.
"This is so weird," Hannah said. "It's like I can feel things from it, but I can also tell that it's not my hand."
"It'll just take some getting used to," Gracey reassured.
"I'm just glad it works!" Elizabeth said, greatly relieved. "It took me forever to figure out the joints, and Victoria to figure out how exactly to create a spell that would allow feeling."
Hannah brought it up for a closer look. "Guess there really was a silver lining this time," Jacob teased from behind her. Everyone froze and looked at him.
"Please tell me that did not just come out of your mouth," Thalia groaned.
"I don't know, I thought it was funny," Percy laughed.
A few moments of awkward silence passed before Jacob broke it again. "So, got anything for this?" he asked Elizabeth, gesturing towards where his eye used to be.
"Yes, actually," she replied, making his face light up. It dropped again once she just pulled out an eyepatch. "I'm sorry," she replied. "I tried to make an eye, but it's just too complex."
"It's fine," Jacob said sadly as he took it from her. "I appreciate the effort. Just wishful thinking on my part."
Percy decided to try and lighten the mood. "Hey, doc," he said to Gracey. "Do you think that they could go outside now?"
She thought for a moment. "I don't see why not," she replied. "Hannah has her prosthetic now, and the scratches on his face are closed up enough that we can take the bandages off now."
Moving over to Jacob she removed his bandages, rinsing his socket and cuts with water and nectar. His face looked a lot better, the scratches weren't nearly as inflamed now. They were still a bright red, but that was to be expected. After Jacob had put on his patch to protect his socket, Percy and Thalia helped the injured demigods out into the midday sun. As they stood there adjusting to the brightness, a huge shadowed swooped overhead. Everyone looked up, and saw a giant eagle circling the camp.
# # #
It had been three days since Leo, Calypso, Hazel, and Frank had left Camp Jupiter. They had scoured likely routes from where Jacob and Hannah would have used to head west after Leo had dropped them off. So far, there had been no sign of them. Leo was hopeful though, as they had been flying he had been able to upgrade Festus' sensors. They were flying above a road in Pennsylvania when Festus started creaking and whirring his teeth.
"What is it?" Calypso called from behind Leo.
"Festus said that there are traces of blood and monster dust in those woods over there. It's faint and dispersing, but it's there."
"We should head down there!" Hazel called from behind Calypso.
"Already on it!" Leo replied as Festus started downward.
"I'll scout ahead, see what I can find," Frank said as he jumped off of Festus and turned into a giant eagle. He dove downward and skimmed across the tops of the trees, head on a constant swivel.
Festus zoned in on a break in the trees, but it was too small for him to land in. "This is the source, but Festus can't land," Leo said.
"How do we get down then," Hazel pondered.
"Watch and learn little lady!" Leo grinned before pressing a button on the panel at the base of Festus' head. A hatch popped open on both of his shoulders, a rope uncoiling and dropping to the ground below. "Green light, go, go, go!" Leo shouted before jumping on a rope and sliding down.
"You're an idiot, you know that?" Calypso said once she was on the ground next to him.
"You know you like me," Leo grinned as he nudged her shoulder with his own.
"Zeus knows why," Calypso grumbled as she took in the scene around them. A little to their left were two bloodstains, fine golden dust surrounding them. Most of the dust looked like it had already dispersed, but there was still enough to know that a lot of monsters had died in this clearing. Footsteps also covered the clearing, showing that a lot of people had been here at one point.
"Oh good, you're here," Frank said as he landed in the clearing and reverted back to himself. "I found something that you might be interested in." They all looked at him expectantly. "I was flying, andI found another clearing in that direction," Frank pointed. "There was a camp set up there, and it looked big enough for at least two dozen people."
"Then let's go!" Leo exclaimed. "Festus can follow us from the air."
Frank led them in the direction he had seen the camp, and they arrived there in less than five minutes. As they got closer the group noticed wolves shadowing them in the trees.
"We're being watched," Hazel whispered.
"Wow, really?" Leo replied sarcastically. "I couldn't tell."
"That's far enough!" a girl in silver ordered as she dropped down from a tree in front of the group, a bow drawn and pointed at them. More soft thuds sounded, and the group found that they were surrounded by five more similarly dressed girls.
"The Hunters," Frank breathed.
"Silence boy!" the lead hunter spat.
Knowing the reputation of the Hunters, Hazel stepped forward. "We're sorry to disturb you, we were just looking for two of our friends," she explained.
"They are not here Roman, now leave."
"Please, you must have seen them," Hazel begged. "We think they're hurt and-"
"I said they Are. Not. Here," the lead Hunter interrupted. "Now leave before we are forced to kill you."
Hazel went to say something again before Calypso stopped her. "We apologize for the misunderstanding. We shall be going now," she said before starting to herd the others back towards the way they had come.
They had barely gone a step before a new voice spoke, this one male. "Harassing my friends, Ata?" it teased.
All four whirled around, they knew that voice. "Percy!" Leo exclaimed.
A/N: So, Festus the attack helicopter anyone? Also, my apologies for the horrible pun, I couldn't help it. I know this chapter was shorter, and more filler, but I didn't really have a whole lot of time today. My copy of the book The Man in The High Castle arrived, so I was reading that and drawing the picture that you can see below.
Also, I would like Y'All to meet Jacob Firth, Son of Apollo and Hannah Andle, Daughter of Hecate.
Not the best drawing ever, I know, but this is how I imagine them looking.
I hope that everyone has a fantastic day!