The Forgotten Olympian |BOOK 1| PJO X HP | Alexandra Marine

Chapter 108 - Percy - A Discussion Worthy of the Rec Room

We were sitting on the bed, gathered around Alex. She was staring down at the mattress, picking at the stray pieces of string and whatnot.

"What happened?" I asked, concerned.

When Alex didn't answer, I turned to Jason. He just shrugged at me. He wrapped his arms around her protectively.

"Sis," Nico said, "you felt something, didn't you?"

Alex just stared down at the mattress for a whole twenty seconds. And then, she nodded.

"What did you feel?" Annabeth asked, extremely excited. I was concerned about her  too now. (Ow! No pinching!) 

"I could feel her," Alex said slowly. "Before I went into the... the trance."

"Eris?" I asked.

"Yeah."

"I don't know," Nico said, "but I felt something too. Kind of like an odd chill, a shiver down my spine, the whole deal. I just felt like someone was spying us all the time."

"But how come?" Annabeth asked. "How come only you and Alex realized it?"

Will cleared his throat, as though getting ready for a lecture. "Let me explain, kids," he said. "Nico is the son of the God of Death. War, discord, chaos. All three are the major causes of death. And when you can feel death, I assume you can feel chaos too. And besides, every demigod has the heightened sense to find anything suspicious. Nico just happens to have an extra boost of power because of his lineage."

"But- Alex?" I asked.

"Alex is a literal goddess," Annabeth said, nodding. "And that too, the goddess of warriors-demigods. We are literally supposed to be like a part of her."

"Like, ten percent of her each," Will said.

"So she has, obviously, better senses and stamina, and power compared to every other mortal demigod out there, even though she's mortal right now."

"That's why she's able to constantly use her power to keep us at the same age...otherwise we'd have turned twenty an hour after she'd turned us sixteen."

Alex smiled slightly. I knew that she was secretly enjoying all that praise, that idiot. (OW!)

Will took out his little black notebook. "Anyone with a pen?" he asked. "Oh, you know what!" He reached for my shirt pocket and brought out Riptide. 

"Dude," I said, shocked, "that's my sword!"

"And pen." He willed Riptide into a pen and began to write in Greek.

"She's in someone here," Alex remarked suddenly. "But I feel like she isn't going to be our greatest problem yet."

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Jason.

"I- I've been having weird dreams lately." Alex paused. 

That brought some memories into me. The past few weeks, I had had funny nightmares too. And it was always about him. 

"I think we always have weird dreams, right?" I asked nervously. I didn't want them to be true at all. "I mean, that's pretty normal after three thousand kilos of PTSD."

Alex shook her head. "These ones- they're new."

Annabeth's face paled. Jason stared at me for some reason, expecting an explanation. 

"Please don't tell me you had a dream about Tartar Sauce too," Nico said. Tartar Sauce was the only name that we could use that didn't bring Annabeth and me memories of the good old days. He looked at each of us. 

"I did. Been having it for the past few days," Will said sadly.

"So did I," Jason said hesitantly.

"We have been too," I said, "but we thought it was just nerves."

"I mean," Alex said, "we just get over here, Eris is out of control and we're all having nightmares about Tartur- Tartar Sauce. Doesn't that just seem a bit weird to you?"

All of us just stared at each other for a minute straight. Silence filled the air. No one wanted to say it out loud, but she was right. I did not want to admit that she was right. Our lives had just started to get better, and we just had to get pulled into their game- once again. 

I wanted to break the window and jump out onto the street. But I knew that I wouldn't even be allowed to die without the permission of the 'Almighty' Zeus. Or maybe he'll just air-fry me first for 'flying' through the air.

Besides, I thought about Mom. Paul would cry buckets and buckets. So many blue cookies would go to waste without being eaten by me.

I remembered Estelle, waiting for her precious earing set that I promised to buy her when she turned twenty one.

I remembered Mrs. Castellan, making thousands of PB&J sandwiches everyday, every hour, waiting for her son to return home.

I didn't want that to happen to anyone else I knew. 

I got up. "If that old son of a gorgon is gonna try to kill us all," I said, "he might as well. But he's not getting to those I love without getting past me."

Annabeth stood up with a new resolve. She clenched my arm tight. "And I'll be there next to you."

"So will I," said Jason. 

Nico and Will stood up, their arms intertwined. "Percy, this could be dangerous," Will said.

"But after the first and second wars," said Nico, "we don't see any harm with just another primordial god or a normal goddess. Piece of cake."

"We need a plan," Annabeth said. She turned to Alex. "And I already know that only you can stop both Eris and Tarta" -she took a deep breath in- "Tartarus."

I turned to Annabeth in shock. She shrugged. "Just like Hermione said, fear of a name only increases the fear of the thing itself. I won't fear him anymore."

That very moment, I wanted to kiss my wife. But then that might have been slightly embarrassing considering our situation, so I held myself back. I nodded at her, smiling.

Alex looked up. Her face was filled with worry. "This is very dangerous. For all of you," she said, concerned. "I- I don't think I want to lose the best warriors born up until this date."

"Warriors find peace only in knowing that their life has been sacrificed for a great cause," Jason said. "We'll always live in the hearts of those who love us."

Alex took a deep breath in. "Are you sure, all of you?"

"Yes," we said in unison. 

Alex smiled. "Then let me just see you one last time as you were once." She spread her arms. We rushed into a group hug.

Before I knew it, I was holding on tight to a couple of twenty year old young adults. We pulled away, admiring our lovely bodies as they had been before we left for the wretched quest. In my excitement, I kissed Annabeth so hard, Alex was the one saying, "Ew."

And in our excitement in being twenty again, I guess we didn't hear the door opening until Bill Weasley gasped loud enough for the whole district to hear.

Sparkles set of from Jason's hand. Nico took a step back and melted into the shadows. Annabeth put on her invisibility hat. Will began to glow instinctively. Riptide was full out, open in sword form in my hand, and Alex's hands were burning with green flames.

"Who are you?" Bill questioned angrily, his wand raised. 

I put my hands up in the air, and let Riptide fall. "Woah, big guy," I said, "it's alright. It's alright, we're not gonna hurt you-"

BANG.

_____________________________________

Imma leave this here right now because... CLIFFHANGERS.