CHAPTER FOURTEEN
—dumb boys

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  —JUDITH had come to the jolting realization that you could hate someone with a fiery passion and still miss them. It was not really advertised, the average lifespan of a demigod. But it wasn't hard to figure out that a midlife crisis occurred in their teens.

  They say the star that burns twice as bright, burns half as fast.

  And the son of Poseidon — well, Percy Jackson was the brightest star Judith ever had the misfortune to meet. The constellations above paled in comparison to his vibrant heroics on earth. He was the sun next to their twinkling specks, and he burned accordingly. He left everyone in the ashes, wondering where it all went wrong and where they were to go from there. Correction: he left Judith in the ashes, and she was wondering how to go on.

  The future suddenly felt hazy and impossible to navigate, hidden beneath the embers of a lost legend.

  The daughter of Ares, specifically, couldn't see a damned thing through the reddened smoke of her fumes. The flares in her chest had long since spread to the rest of her body, begging to be unleashed upon the world. Her hands yearned to break something indestructible, to show the fates just what they'd done. They'd killed something that should have been unkillable.

  The crimson shade over her eyes made the blue-green shroud look burnt. She could hardly recognize the trident insignia stitched onto its center, glaring at her in mockery.

  The sea beyond the coast was tranquil and Judith wanted to scream at it, at the god who ruled it. Demand recompense for bringing a stupid hero into this world only to have him be swept away the next second. She wanted storms, hurricanes, typhoons, anything to make it seem like there was someone out there who cared as much as her. She wanted a storm to match her rage.

  It had been two weeks, and still, she wanted violence and frenzy. She'd waited and waited, just as everyone else had, for something to happen. For a miraculous revival or a storm to shake the earth and tear everything apart.

  And neither had happened.

  It was like the world had gone forever still in Percy's absence. The earth waited on baited breath to see who would strike first — the tides or the moon.

  Judith couldn't stop the whirlwind of memories from flooding into her mind of that day. She'd hacked away at the metal door, sparks flying as celestial bronze hit iron and gold panels. She'd only made one single dent before Annabeth found her, screaming curses at any deity who dared to listen. The daughter of Athena had never seen the girl so worked up, so completely distraught and furious. The anguish on her face burned itself into her subconscious.

  Annabeth had managed to drag her along to follow the spider back to Hephaestus's current forge where they'd wait for him to finish. Judith had been silent the whole time, so mad at what the boy had done to her that when the television where they'd seen Mount St. Helens on the first time switched on, she had paid it no mind. That was, until a news broadcaster quickly ran on in a breaking news sequence.

  "Still uncertain about further eruptions," the newscaster was saying. "Authorities have ordered the evacuation of almost half a million people as a precaution. Meanwhile, ash has fallen as far away as Lake Tahoe and Vancouver, and the entire Mount St. Helens area is closed to traffic within a hundred-mile radius. While no deaths have been reported, minor injuries and illnesses include — "

  "He blew up my forge," Hephaestus had said, appalled.

  Annabeth had choked and asked the god to replay it back twice over and on third time he'd refused. Judith had just stared absently at the screen, watching the eruption of the volcano on repeat until Hephaestus couldn't bare to watch Annabeth cry anymore. He had programmed the spider to lead them back to camp, Annabeth wearing her invisibility cap to cry in peace while Judith was despondent as they ran along.

  The camp had already heard the news when they'd arrived. Annabeth was practically inconsolable and Judith didn't want anyone to touch her, see her, or talk to her. On her way to the Ares cabin, she'd kicked the exterior of Cabin 3 four times before feeling her toes go numb. Her brothers and sisters gave her the space for the rest of the day, trashing her bed before sleeping in it. The sleep was terrible.

  Judith's eyes were red from forcing the tears back. She didn't want them to fall, she didn't want to cry over him. Stupid Percy Jackson and his stupid heroic plans to get his stupid self killed.

  All after some stupid kiss.

  He was so stupid.

  And this funeral was stupid. The silk cloth she held was tempting her to rip it apart, to shred it until it resembled what her insides felt like. Annabeth held the other side, eyes downcast and dropping tears. Chiron was saying words that were going in one ear and out the other, talking about things Judith already knew about.

  He was a hero.

  He had many friends.

  He was brave. He was courageous. He was —

  He was right there.

  Like some death-defying paragon. Like an impossible god. Like a stupid boy who played tricks on those who —

  Judith dropped the shroud and stomped across the camp's amphitheater to the entrance, everyone's eyes following her until they gasped. The oblivious boy in front of her smiled like he had just played the best joke in prank history. His grin dropped instantly as her scowl didn't let up. Judith's momentum aided her as her hands shoved the boy — almost to the ground — and then yanked him back by his shirt. "You are so — stupid doesn't even begin to cover it!"

  A girl of many words.

  She let his shirt go as the fear in his eyes diminished to guilt, a realization of her emotions hitting him. Judith swiped at a tear that his eyes were vigilantly glued to. "Ugh! I hate you, Percy Jackson!"

  She felt her hands clench up into fists and Percy stepped back, expecting an uppercut in the next instant. But she just punched his chest with only a fraction of her strength, letting him know that she didn't actually want to hurt him. Kill him, yes, definitely. But never hurt him.

  Chiron cantered up beside the girl, Judith finally looking away from the boy to scrub at her red face. "Well," he sighed with obvious relief. "I don't believe I've ever been happier to see a camper return. But you must tell me — "

  "Where have you been?!" Annabeth interrupted, shoving aside the other campers to reach her friend. She latched him into a fierce hug, a much more welcomed reaction than Judith's had been. Annabeth then pushed him away as if also realizing she should be a little mad. "We thought you were dead, Seaweed Brain!"

  "I'm sorry," he said. "I got lost."

  Judith jabbed him in the sternum, her face rid of all remnants of sadness and replaced with livid offense. Percy noticed that her forearms were red from irritation underneath her arm guards, her nervous tick back from the grave. "Lost?" she asked dangerously quiet. "Two weeks. It's been two weeks — "

  "Judith," Chiron interrupted. "Perhaps we should discuss this somewhere more private, shall we? The rest of you, back to your normal activities!"

  Without waiting for anyone to protest, he picked up Judith, Annabeth, and Percy as easily as if they were kittens, slung them all on his back, and galloped off toward the Big House.

  "Two weeks?" Percy asked lowly.

  Judith scoffed, refusing to give him the time of day. Her and Annabeth arrived at camp three days after the events at Mount St. Helens. The time it took to get out was only a few hours, but time moved incredibly fast on the surface. The next ten days involved a lot of silent mourning and Judith was chewed out by Chiron for her impulsive decision to go against his explicit orders, but he tried not to be too hard on her for obvious reasons. Losing Percy had to be punishment enough.

  But now he was there. He and the fates had just played a terrible trick on her, and she was not about to forgive and forget.

  And she made that fact known as soon as they settled in the Big House, choosing pointedly to lean against a wall instead of sit in the open seat beside him. His eyes raked over hers, the sting evident, but she refused to give in.

  Percy might have had a good excuse for his disappearance — detonating a volcano before being carted off to Ogygia by the gods ( knowing who exactly resided on that island made her bristle ). But Percy also made the decision to lock her out of the forge, cutting her off from helping him. And she couldn't drop it, especially not after his bright idea to sell out a mortal girl's help through the Labyrinth. It was outrageous.

  Annabeth pondered over the idea curiously, but Judith left in a flurry, too worked up to voice her hatred of the idea of some other person joining their group. A person — she wanted to point out — that was still a total stranger to Percy. And to make things worse, Mrs. O'Leary was still keeping guard over the sword arena after Quintus decided to up and leave. Judith took one step in and the hellhound was snarling at her in warning.

  "You know what," she muttered angrily, storming inside without a care. She had already been forced out of the arena for the two weeks that she really needed it, and she wouldn't stand for this anymore. Mrs. O'Leary made a whimper of shock and cocked her head sideways to watch her come in. "Tear me up or don't, I am training."

  Mrs. O'Leary made one last growl but didn't pounce on her, probably sensing the internal turmoil, so Judith continued to the dummy in the far corner, unlatching her ax swiftly.

  The daughter of Ares was practically drenching in sweat after the workout. She had gone into a whole new mindset where the only things that existed were her and her blade, her and her red smoke, her and her anger.

  A boy's shout pulled her out of her loop. "Whoa, girl! Can't breathe! Lemme up!"

  Judith's grip tightened and she took one last final swing with enormous force, breaking the rod the dummy was connected to with a resounding crack. The body slammed onto the ground and she heard Percy and Mrs. O'Leary go silent.

  "Judith?" he asked, approaching slowly.

  The girl loosened her arm guards and scratched at her arms as she turned to him. "What?"

  Percy glanced down to her fidgeting hands, fearing that his disappearance had caused her to revert to old habits. "Are you okay?"

  The girl narrowed her eyes. "Yeah ... " There was a moment of tension. "Actually, no. You locked the door."

  The boy was confused for a minute — but blushed as he remembered what he had done — and pondered what to say next. His pause made Judith all the more outraged.

  "Right after you said you wouldn't dream of moving." She picked up the dummy and dragged it over to the wall to keep it out of the way. "What? Did you just want all the glory of being the miraculous hero again? Is that it?"

  "No — "

  "No? Well, that's what it seemed like. Shoving me out the door in order to take on the horde yourself," she reiterated. "Maybe Dionysus was right; all heroes really are the same."

  Percy reached out to grab her arm before she could run off but her reflexes made sure no part of him got too close. The back of her hand connected with any part of him that came close. "Judith — "

  "No. No, don't touch me." This is what she needed, this release. She wanted to punch him, kick him, tell him how much he hurt her. Her chest was aching to be freed, her ribs cracking with pressure. "You — you used it against me. You kis — you kissed me and you knew, you must have known it would distract me, so you used it and pushed me away." The boy made another desperate grab for her and she finally snapped. She shoved him back. "Stop it!"

  "Judith, it's not like that." He rubbed against his shoulder where she'd put all her force. "I swear it."

  "Then tell me what it's like, Percy Jackson. Tell me what made you do it if wasn't for the glory." Her eyes blazed. "It was selfish, admit it."

  Percy shook his head incredulously. "That was not about me being selfish! The last thing I want is stuff like that, you know me! When have I ever wanted that? That was the last thing I was thinking about."

  "Then what in Tartarus were you thinking about?!"

  "Keeping you safe!"

  Judith's mind shut down. Any feeling that was welling up in her chest to prepare her for a meltdown, fizzled down to nothing, steam billowing in front of her face. Her silence invited him to further explain himself.

  "I would gladly have you fighting with me in a fair fight, but we were outnumbered ... by a lot." His eyes looked in the distance as he thought about it. "There was no winning that one. And if you had been with me, well, you probably wouldn't have survived the eruption if it came down to it."

  Judith refused to meet his eyes, something stirring in her and she desperately fought against it. She would not forgive, she would not forget. She refused. "You still took advantage of me in that moment."

  The son of Poseidon's head drooped and he raised a hand to scratch the back of his neck. "That — that was purely selfish." His eyes trained back on her. "You can hate me for that."

  You know that feeling you get when a parent tells you what to do, and you had every intention of doing it before they told you to? That feeling where it suddenly becomes the last thing you want to do? And you'd rather die than listen to them?

  That was what Judith felt in that moment.

  Hate him? She could positively throttle him, she loathed him that much! But his words seemed to flick a switch in her brain, and all she wanted in that moment was to ... unhate him. Judith panicked as the feeling was practically burning her from the inside out. Stop — stop it!

  "Judith?" Percy got her attention. She hummed as she was pulled from her whirling trance. "Are you okay?"

  No. "I'm fine." Tell me not to hate you so that I can go back to the way things were. "If you ever, ever keep me from a fight again ... "

  "You'll kill me," Percy finished for her, eyes alight with amusement as the corners of his lips lifted. "I promise I will never stop you from monster slaying again, no matter the odds."

  Judith wondered if there was a book out there titled How to Hate Dumb, Stupid, Heroes. Because she'd just lost all prior knowledge on how to do exactly that.

  —THAT night, Judith had a dream. And just like all the others, it involved Nico. But to her dismay, he was speaking to Minos' ghost.

  "You little twerp," Judith muttered. The girl knew that something like this might happen, but it still hurt to see that he'd gone against his word and chose to confide in the dead king again. She assumed that the ghost probably took crazy manipulative measures to get the boy to agree.

  Their words were muffled and impossible to make out as she watched. But from what she could muster, it looked like Nico was wary of the man's intentions — as he should be. But ultimately, Nico nodded in agreeability and they were leaving the safety of the Ranch House at Triple G Ranch to descend into the Labyrinth.

  "Absolute numbskull," was the last thing she said before drifting off into an dreamless slumber.

  The next morning, Judith was woken up at dawn. Apparently, Percy had managed to convince Chiron to let Judith join him and Annabeth on the next stretch of the quest now that Grover and Tyson were separated. Whether this was to make up for his absence or for his selfish ... action, the girl didn't know. But she appreciated it.

  She sat in-between Annabeth and Percy in the backseat of Argus's car to Manhattan. Her and the boy had shared an awkward good morning exchange, opting to forgo any more arguments for the time being. Judith would postpone her task of forcing herself to hate him again.

  A few minutes into the ride, she disclosed her dream from the night before. Eurytion had also sent an Iris Message to her earlier that morning, confirming it. "Nico's gone back in."

  Annabeth closed her eyes in distress. "That kid will be the death of us."

  "I thought he said he wouldn't," Percy wondered aloud.

  "King Minos must have gotten to him again, the manipulative bastard," Judith mumbled. "Honestly, if he wasn't just some mist, I'd wring his neck."

  Her two friends nodded, agreeing with the violent sentiment.

  "He's in danger," Percy concluded.

  "No kidding. Minos is one of the judges of the dead, but he's got a vicious streak a mile wide. I don't know what he wants with Nico, but — " Annabeth added.

  "That's not what I meant," the boy interrupted. "I had this dream last night ... Luke found a half-blood in the maze."

  Judith sat up in attention. "Was it Nico?"

  He shrugged. "Well, I didn't know until now. But it seems likely, now that he's gone back in."

  Annabeth's jaw clenched. "That's very, very bad."

  "So what do we do?" Percy asked.

  "Follow your master plan," Judith replied darkly, still thinking that bringing along a mortal girl was not ideal. What was it she said back in Mount St. Helens? 'Remind me to never follow your plans ever again.' She stood by that. Judith was just irritated. Irritated that this mortal girl even existed. Irritated that Percy knew her. Irritated that they needed her help. But what irritated Judith most, was the realization that she definitely was very jealous and she was going to have a very hard time hating Percy again.

NOTES ;

I EDITED THIS CHAPTER LIKE CRAZY, AND I'M KIND OF SATISFIED WITH IT???

edited : 09 / 10 / 2020