Chapter 18

Percy

I awoke before everyone else did. I was soon out of my tent and walking towards the lake. The sun was only beginning to rise and the birds were chirping loudly. Surprisingly, I found Artemis sitting by the lake.

“Lady Artemis.” I greeted. She nodded.

“I have to go and attend a council meeting today. I have already informed the hunters yesterday.” She informed me. I nodded and she teleported to Olympus.

I stayed by the lake for a while, watching the birds flying around and chirping. I started to hear the hunters waking up so I headed towards the dining area and summoned blue pancakes.

A little bit of sadness welled up in me from the reminder of my mom but I pushed it away as some of the younger hunters came in. They took their seats and waited patiently for their other sisters to come in. Once everyone had arrived, they started eating.

I wasn’t really that hungry so I declined when Daisy asked me to join them.

A few of the hunters thanked me for the meal and they all left. The dishes magically disappeared and I walked back towards the lake.

I watched the fish come to the surface.

Lord. They greeted me.

“My name isn’t lord, and I’m not a god, so can you please not call me that?” I asked them. “My name is Percy.”

The fish looked at me confused.

Percy? But you are a son of the sea god. A large catfish asked me.

“I’m still not a god.” I argued. The fish eventually consented and called me by my name.

“It was your fault, you know.” I heard an angry voice say. I didn’t realize that someone had approached. I turned around and saw Phoebe. “Zoe died because of you. She was my best friend you know and then you just had to get her killed on that quest!” She yelled at me. My eyes started to water. “What about the others? I saw you get Selina killed too. She was one of the girls from the Aphrodite cabin that I actually respected. You only get people killed. Don’t you ever feel guilty?” She asked me. “You are sitting there now, expressionless! I bet you didn’t even care when they died. I bet you wouldn’t care if your own mother died!”

That was too much. I couldn’t stand it anymore. I stood up and started running; away from Phoebe and the lake and all of the memories. The memories followed me though…they followed me where ever I went.

“Run like the boy you are.” Phoebe yelled at me.

Tears were now streaming down my face. I didn’t know where I was running. I couldn’t even see in front of me. My sight was blurry from my tears. I just knew that I had to get out of here. I wanted to get out of this place. I wanted to not remember anything. I wanted to forget all the things that I have done. I didn’t belong here. She was right. I did get people killed. I wanted to get off the Earth. I didn’t want to exist anymore.

I ended up at my tent. I saw my rack of knifes and I just grabbed one. I saw flashes of red and then a flash of black and I felt someone grab my wrist.

Stop. A firm voice in my mind said. I didn’t want to stop. I wanted to relieve the pain. I wanted to bleed out until I was nothing. The knife was wrenched out from my hands. My cuts hadn’t even hurt.

Why will nothing stop the pain? Why won’t anyone just let me die?

You can’t die, Percy. Do you know how many people would sad if you died? A voice spoke. I didn’t reply. I didn’t have the will to. I saw a flash of sliver light and I heard someone ask if they could come in. I didn’t respond. The person on the other side of my tent flap waited for a few seconds and then burst in. I heard a gasp. I didn’t even look up. I knew it was Artemis.

Artemis’s Point of View

I was at the council meeting and we were discussing the possibilities of an upcoming war.

“The monsters seem to be grouping together and then attacking.” Athena stated. I threw a glance at my uncle, Poseidon. He usually had something to say about battles and strategies. Today however, I could see that he was thinking of something else. His thumb was running back and forth across this notch in his trident. It was strange. There were a couple of other notches, yet this one seemed to be the only one without a slash mark through it. I brought myself out of my thoughts as the war meeting continued.

“Why would they be doing that? It doesn’t make sense that they would be doing that.” Hermes asked.

“Possibly another war is coming and some powerful deity is grouping them together.” My half-sister replied.

Artemis, you must go to your camp at once. Go to Percy’s tent. I heard a voice speak in my head. It was Chaos.

“Excuse me.” I said as I abruptly teleported out of the throne room.

I appeared outside of Percy’s tent. I asked if I could come in. It was only because I was being polite. I got no answer. I tapped my foot impatiently and then burst into his tent.

I gasped. I saw Percy sitting on the floor; a knife lay on the floor next to him, covered in blood. Percy had tears streaming from his eyes. He didn’t even look up.

I saw fresh cuts on his arms that were bleeding.

I didn’t know what to do. I only comforted girls, not boys.

I saw Percy’s hand move towards the knife. I kicked it out of his reach before he could grasp it.

“Percy,” I said somewhat gently, “What happened?” He didn’t reply as I expected. I sighed.

I exited the tent and got some nectar. I quickly walked back to his tent and entered. After placing the canteen of nectar on the floor and steeling my nerves, I sat down next to Percy.

I started pouring the nectar on his cuts and asked him again.

“What happened, Percy?” I got a reply this time.

 “My fault…” He mumbled. His tears have seemed to have ceased for the moment. I put my hands on his shoulders and forced him to look me in the eye.

Percy looked horrible. His eyes were blood-shot and his usually sparkling green eyes were now dull.

“What was your fault Percy?” I questioned gently, surprising myself. Percy then uttered one single word that explained everything that was occurring at the moment.

“Zoe.”

“Zoe fulfilled her fate. It wasn’t your fault. You have heard the prophecy. She knew that she was going to die and she was happy. In her last moments of life, she had been happy because she knew that every man in the world wasn’t bad. Fate is fate. We may not like it, but it must take its course.” I finished. Percy didn’t meet my eyes. I sighed.

“Promise you won’t do anything stupid?” I asked Percy. It appeared that Percy wasn’t paying attention but after a few seconds, he nodded.

“Why does he still blame himself for Zoe’s death?” I exclaimed, frustrated as I summoned Thalia. Soon, I saw her walking towards me in a hurried pace.

“What’s wrong, my lady?” She asked me. I explained the situation to her. She immediately went into Percy’s tent. I could hear her speaking to him.

I smiled internally. Percy and Thalia were like brother and sister. They often quarreled but on the battle field, one would give their life to another in a heartbeat.

My lieutenant soon exited and went off into a rant.

 “What happened to make him like this? He used to be happy, my lady, and now he is all sad. He never laughs, he never jokes around anymore, and he has been cutting himself!” Thalia followed that with a string of Greek curses.

“Thalia.” I warned for cursing.

“Sorry my lady but he is so sad now. I don’t see happiness in his eyes anymore, only sadness and pain. What is wrong with him!?” She asked me. I looked at her sadly.

“It isn’t my place to say.” I told her. “Percy can tell you if he wants but that is his choice to make.”