Chapter XXIII Bitch You Wanna Go? Ooo, Wait, Shiny Stuff!

Yup. Ruined.

Damnit.

Percy huffed, blowing a lock of hair out of his face. It could have been worse, yes. Really, it was just like some really authentic Halloween decorations had been placed around his cabin. A deep gash was cut along the top and front of the cabin, a clean cut that almost went all the way through the wood, and sliced through completely in some places.

Percy walked up to the gash, running his fingers across it. His hand came back wet. Water. That was...nice? Shaking his head, Percy walked away from it. It was an annoyance. He'd like a place to sleep, after all.

Where was he supposed to go now? He had to come up with a story, as well. And he wanted to get out of the open air soon. Bust-Boy might be around, though usually he wasn't near enough the cabins to see much.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Percy let out a slow breath. A moment later, he almost smacked himself. He'd just bunk with Jason for the night. They'd let everyone know in the morning. They couldn't do much about it now, anyways.

Well, that wasn't true. They could get an IM going, and contact the gods, or let Bust-Boy to go let them know, but Percy was hoping Jason's sleep-riddled mind would overlook that.

Percy made it over to Cabin One, which wasn't very far from Percy's own cabin. Much bigger though, much to Percy's amusement. And then there was Hera's right next to it, just as big, which was empty.

It was humorous.

Percy knocked quietly on the cabin door. Then again, louder, realizing belatedly that Jason was probably asleep. They were slightly far from the other cabins anyway. The noise wouldn't travel too far. Percy knocked again after there was no answer.

Eventually, he heard some shuffling. Then he realized, oh yeah, he needed to look disappointed and panicked because his cabin was ruined, meaning his father was dead.

He almost didn't get himself set in time. But then the door swung open, and he was able to face Jason with the appropriate emotions adorning his face. Such a handsome face, if he did say so himself.
 
"Percy? Why in all of Pluto are you here in the middle of the night?" Jason spoke, voice raspy and scratchy from sleep. Percy shuddered. Damn hormones. That wasn't appropriate for a world-ruler.

"My cabin is ruined."

Since his head was ducked, because Percy was an amazing actor and knew this was how to act, he did not see Jason's reaction, but could hear the intake of breath.

"Oh, Percy...c'mon, we'll deal with it tomorrow." Jason beckoned him inside the cabin, speechless. What was he supposed to say? Jason shuddered as Percy passed him. If this...thing, that was killing everyone else, got to one of the big boys...no one was safe. Poseidon was dead. That meant anyone could be next. Hades. Zeus. Who knew anymore?

"There isn't another bed." Percy murmured, pulling Jason out of his fuzzy thoughts. Jason blushed. He hadn't realized, he was still in shock.

"Oh, uhm-"

"I'll sleep on the floor, it's fine. I'd rather sleep here on the floor than in my cabin on a bed..." Percy gave a small, watery chuckle.

"No, wait-"

"It's fine, Jason." Percy sat against one wall, knees pulled close to him. He stared at the ceiling. "Funny. I realized that Aphrodite, Ares, Athena, all them were killed...but I didn't think my dad would go, you know? Being one of the big three...it's almost like I thought he was invincible." Percy sighed, putting his head in his hands.

Jason sat next to Percy, shoulders touching. For an awkward moment, Jason floundered like a fish, before he put his arm around Percy's shoulders in comfort. Sighing in exhaustion, Percy leaned against Jason tiredly. Again, Jason was at a loss, but eventually awkwardly laid his head on top of Percy's, which was on his shoulder.

They fell asleep like that, Percy will an evil smile on his face, and Jason feeling awkward but helpful.

~~~

Percy woke up with a creek in his neck and some Zeus-drool in his hair, but it was worth it. He stretched, waking up Jason in the process. He watched Jason's face out of the corner of his eye, watching it transition from confusion to grim realization.

Jason rubbed his face. "We need to have a camp meeting."

Percy nodded, looking down at his hands. "Hey, I'm sorry man. We'll figure it out."

"Yeah...hey, what did the other kids do? Ares, Athena, Aphrodite? Aren't they still in their cabins?" Percy asked, realizing that he honestly had no idea. He hadn't been paying attention.

Jason raised an eyebrow. "Athena is still in their cabin, but Aphrodite is in the Artemis cabin, and Ares went to Hera. Those were the only ones that didn't have anyone in them."

"I'm sure the gods and campers were happy about that."

"Yeah. Don't get me started."

"Well...let's get that town meeting set up, I guess."

"Let's." Face grim, Jason rose.

"Half an hour later, the camp was gathered in the arena. Jason, Percy, Nico, and Leo stood on the bleachers, with Bust-Boy off to the side, campers spread out in front of them. Percy did his best to look solemn, and he thought he nailed it, but he wasn't sure.

"I'm sure you're all aware of what happened last night." Jason started. "Last night, the Neptune- I mean, Poseidon cabin was ruined. You all know what this means." Jason took a breath. "We've done what we can so far. Which isn't much. So, we need to do something else. Obviously, we can't do much. But, I was thinking...we should send Terminus, to see if he can get Artemis to send her hunters to camp. If nothing else, we might be able to help them find something to kill whatever is killing the God-"

"It's Jackson! There's no question! We already know it is!" Drew shouted from the back, rage filling her eyes. "He goes batshit crazy, vanishes for over a year, and then he comes back, and all the Gods are dying! It's obvious! Everyone thinks so! If we just kill him, none of this would be happening!" She screamed. She fought her way to the front of the crowd, but several campers held her back. "Just do it! We all know it's him!" Tears started to stream down her face. Everyone stared at her in shock, or uneasiness, shifting unsteadily.

Percy decided that killing her was not the best thing to do at the moment, and instead stared at her in watery shock.

"Drew! You know that isn't true!" Jason shouted back at her, recovering from his shock. "Why would Percy kill his own father? You've known him longer than I have, and even I know from interacting with him that Percy would never betray the camp! After all the times he's saved everyone, saved the world, you think he's going to ruin it all?"

"He's insane! He'll kill us all!"

"Come along darling, I think you need to calm down." Terminus broke in, restraining Drew. He lead her away. "Some siblings, please follow me. I'll be leaving once I can to contact the hunters." He called over his shoulder, marching a struggling and screaming Drew away.

"How..." Percy murmured, hardly loud enough to be heard.

"Percy, don't listen to her, okay? She's upset because of Aphrodite." Nico said quietly. Percy looked at him, offering him a shaky smile.

"Thanks, Neeks."

Nico didn't bother to correct him.

The meeting ended, and half an hour later, Terminus left. Campers took shifts watching the boundary, conscious that it was vulnerable now. Percy did his duties about camp, but he could feel the shift. He could sense the lingering uneasiness in the air. The fear of the campers was tangible. It made Percy restless. He so did not need this.

Damnit, Drew! Yes, the seed had already been planted, but Drew had watered it and given it steroids. Now he ha to deal with the consequences. He didn't much care what happened to her now. He knew he couldn't kill her, that would be too suspicious.

Stupid Aphrodite children. Percy walked into the big house. No one ever went in there anymore. Half of it was ruined, caved in on itself. The other half was fine, but still, no one wanted to venture within anymore.

He climbed the steps into the attic. There had to be something in there, wouldn't there?

The trap door creaked on its hinges as he flung it open. Dust swirled like a wind devil, causing Percy to practically hack up a lung. Nothing had changed. The only difference from his last visit was that the corpse of a statue was no longer up here.

Determination shaky, Percy resolved to ruffle through the many boxes until he found something worth saving.

Almost immediately, he found something that made him freeze. It was sitting neatly on top of one of the boxes, with only a little dust on it.

Annabeth's hat.

Cheering quietly, Percy grabbed it, shoving it on his head. Instantly, he vanished. Percy cackled. This was amazing. It was disorienting to not be able to see his own body parts, but so worth it.

Still cackling over his find, he continued to look through boxes, motivated by his early luck.

An hour passed. Two. Eventually, he got tired after not finding thing of significance. He was pretty sure he was scarred for life, with some of the weird shit he had found. He was yawning when his hand knocked something over.

A small glass vial rolled across the floor, almost falling out of the attic, but Percy lunged and managed to stop it mid-roll. He examined it carefully. There was a very worn label, hardly legible.

Persuasion dust.

Percy stop breathing for a second. The bottle was about as big as his pointer finger, filled with a silver dust that seemingly moved on it own. Staring at it in shock, Percy sat back.

The possibilities.

Laying down, Percy laughed to himself.
~~~

There is very much Jercy in this chapter and that makes me happy.

I'm calling it now. I think This thing may get up to fifty thousand words. Looking at the plot...*Sigh* I just hope it doesn't go to shit in that time, you know?

Oh, and that would be Drew. You guys remember her, right?