ʙᴏᴏᴋ ɪ : 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙇𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙚𝙛 | 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚌𝚢 𝚡 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛

Chapter 3

When they were a few feet away, Annabeth said, "Jackson, you have to do better than that."

"What?" He asked.

She rolled her eyes and mumbled under her breath, "I can't believe I thought you were the one."

"What's your problem?" Percy was getting angry now. "All I know is, I kill some bull guy-"

"Don't talk like that!" Annabeth told me. "You know how many kids at this camp wish they'd had your chance?"

"To get killed?"

"To fight the Minotaur! What do you think we train for?"

Y/N stepped in between before the fight escalated and said, "Annabeth, hey, he JUST got here and.." she looked behind at him, "you know about his mother. There's a lot to process. It will take him time to understand. And I don't think he knows anything about..."

Percy moved aside and said, "Look, if the thing I fought really was the Minotaur, the same one in the stories ..."

"Yes."

"Then there's only one."

"Yes."

"And he died, like, a gajillion years ago, right? Theseus killed him in the labyrinth. So ..."

"Monsters don't die, Percy. They can be killed. But they don't die."

"Oh, thanks. That clears it up."

"They don't have souls, like you and me. You can dispel them for a while, maybe even for a whole lifetime if you're lucky. But they are primal forces. Chiron calls them archetypes. Eventually, they re-form."

Percy thought about Mrs. Dodds. "You mean if I killed one, accidentally, with a sword-"

"The Fur ... I mean, your math teacher. That's right. She's still out there. You just made her very, very mad."

"How did you know about Mrs. Dodds?"

"You talk in your sleep," the girls said in unison.

"You almost called her something. A Fury? They're Hades' torturers, right?"

Annabeth glanced nervously at Y/N, as if she expected her to do something and just make him understand without pissing him off.

Y/N looked at her face and turned to Percy, "You shouldn't call them by name, even here. We call them the Kindly Ones, if we have to speak of them at all."

"Look, is there anything we can say without it thundering? Why do I have to stay in cabin eleven, anyway? Why is everybody so crowded together? There are plenty of empty bunks right over there." Percy pointed to the first few cabins, and Annabeth turned pale. She whipped her head at Y/N's direction, but her friend just smiled in return and started explaining to the boy.

"You don't just choose a cabin, Percy. It depends on who your parents are. Or...your parent."

Y/N stared at him, waiting for him to pop up another question and ultimately to the point where she has to talk about her father. But he was still confused.

"My mom is Sally Jackson," Percy said. "She works at the candy store in Grand Central Station. At least, she used to."

"I'm sorry about your mom, Percy. But that's not what I mean. I'm talking about your other parent. Your dad."

"He's dead. I never knew him."

Annabeth sighed. Clearly, she'd had this conversation before with other kids.

Even with Y/N. This time though she waited for Y/N to do it. She wanted someone to take her place instead and show the newcomers around.

Y/N chuckled and said, "Your father's not dead, Percy."