164Now, chapter 4 is here! Okay, and before you all start roasting my ass, remember that this is the CAMPERS' perspective on what happened, not necessarily the truth.
Note: I do NOT own PJO or HOO. Otherwise, I wouldn't be uploading this here.
Chapter 4:
Silence reigned throughout the hall following the daughter of Ares' startling proclamation. Most of the audience were frozen in shock, reeling from what they just heard. The immortal counsellors, however, had their jaws set, anger smouldering within their eyes.
Tanya was taken aback. But... that doesn't seem to fit the character of who we just heard about. She was clueless as to how such a selfless, loyal demigod could become a traitor.
Monaxiá seemed to have tensed when Clarisse began to speak. His fingers were tapping his thighs, giving off the air that he was in deep contemplation. Zeus seemed affronted that someone had disobeyed his order of silence. Poseidon, on the other hand, looked absolutely furious. His sea-green eyes, usually so kind, were glowing with white-hot rage. His knuckles were white against his trident.
Poseidon raised his trident, about to smite the daughter of war for her transgression, when Monaxiá held up his hand. It was a small gesture, but Poseidon seemed to understand the underlying message. Ever so slowly, he lowered his symbol of power.
Monaxiá returned his gaze to the slightly stricken Clarisse. "I think it's better if the demigods cover this part of the tale," he said.
Clarisse's face slowly returned to its normal colour, and she gave a curt nod towards the counsellors of the Hermes cabin. Travis and Connor Stoll came forward, their usual impish grins conspicuously absent.
"We had agreed never to broach this topic again," began Travis, "but it seems that the Fates have forced our hand. It is with a heavy heart that we retell the aftermath of the Second Giant War."
Connor picked up where his brother left off, "The first couple months were very calm. Too calm, if you were an experienced demigod. Monsters seemed to have completely vanished from the continent. More campers were also trickling in at a steady pace. Peace was present throughout. We should have known it was too good to last."
Travis continued, "One morning, the campers were just beginning their daily routines. Suddenly, a cry rent the air from the direction of Thalia's pine. Percy," both demigods grimaced at the mention of his name, "shot up and ran towards the origin of the sound. Within five minutes, a few of us ran into the forest after him. What we saw was something none of us expected.
"Percy was lying on the floor, bare-handed, while a young boy of about fifteen stood over him, Riptide grasped in his palm. His whole body, along with the entire clearing, was covered with a fine layer of monster dust. Percy, however, was completely fine, without a speck of dust on his person."
Connor followed, "The sandy-haired youth raised his head to look at us, his chest heaving with great gasps, sweat dripping from his brow. He pointed a shaky finger at Percy, and said, 'He saw me running from those huge beasts and just chucked his sword at me, telling me to take care of it myself.' At first, we were inclined to disregard his statement, since Percy wouldn't do something like that, but the sincerity in his eyes led us to doubt whether we were mistaken in our initial assumption."
Travis picked it up, "We looked at the new guy pityingly, and one of us asked him his name." He paused, unable to continue.
Connor filled the gap. "His name was Brandon Paine. A son of Apollo."
Among the gods, Apollo's eyes hardened marginally, but the demigods were too engrossed within the story to notice.
Travis, pulling himself out of his memories, continued, "It seemed as if his arrival sparked a change in Percy. The rest of us had no problem with Brandon, but it seemed as though Percy couldn't bear to be in his vicinity. He would always shoot dirty glares towards Brandon, and never responded to his questions."
Connor followed, "We thought the phase would pass, but we were sorely mistaken. Over time, it seemed as if he spiralled deeper into his irrational hatred. Any time any one of us acted friendly towards him, he would take out his frustration on us."
Travis continued, "It started small, him saying that we shouldn't trust Brandon. Gradually, he became more violent in his approach."
Connor returned, "He went after Katie first. At midnight, he crept into Katie's personal garden and destroyed every plant present. To add insult to injury, he salted the entire field. Even with their powers over earth, it took the Demeter cabin over two months to rectify the damage. Further, he was careless enough to leave muddy tracks back to his cabin, and still acted innocent when Katie confronted him."
Katie buried her face in her hands, having flashbacks to that terrible betrayal.
Travis picked up where his brother left off. "His next targets.. were us. When we weren't paying attention, he snuck in and destroyed all of our tools, not even sparing the more expensive ones. Later on, Chiron summoned us to the Big House, saying that he had caught wind of one of our pranks.
"We were appalled, not only because we knew who had ratted us out, but also because the prank was much more dangerous than anything we would ever attempt. That was enough for us to sever our ties with him."
Connor forged on, "He did this to virtually all his close friends. He went ahead and trashed the Athena cabin's blueprints, snapped Clarisse's spear, messed up Will's medical equipment, vandalized Bunker 9 during Leo's absence and then started spouting derogatory comments left and right about Aphrodite's children. Needless to say, he was losing his friendships at a quick rate."
Travis took a deep breath before he continued, "It seemed, however, that he was going to be even more sadistic with those closest to him. Nico was first. One day, we heard rumours that Percy was mocking Bianca's death, claiming that, 'I could have saved her, but the stupid bitch needed to be taught a lesson.' It took the combined forces of all the immortal campers in order to prevent Nico from tearing him apart. Percy was still confined to the infirmary with a fractured arm, but no one was too keen on treating him."
Said Connor, "He then went after Grover in the most heinous fashion possible. Around dusk, he snuck up on Juniper's tree and doused it in petrol. Straying a safe distance away, he flicked a matchstick towards it. Juniper was lucky to escape alive, even after the Demeter and Apollo cabins spent over a week healing her.
"Grover had to be physically dragged away from Percy, but not before he got a few good kicks in. Right then and there, he snapped the empathy link he had with Percy, unwilling to be bound to such a 'cold-hearted asshole', as he said."
Thalia stood up, and the two children of Hermes respectfully fell silent. "I'll cover this part next," she growled, a raging inferno of fury ablaze within her eyes. "The hunters of Artemis had returned to camp for a short stay, and we were caught up on recent events. Frankly, I didn't want to believe that Perseus could do anything like that, since Brandon was quite nice for a boy, but the proof was present all around me.
"He went after me next. The hunters usually keep one or two sentries, but we felt we were safe at camp. We were sadly mistaken. When we woke up, we found that the entire cabin had been spray-painted with messages such as 'The Hunters Suck' or 'The Virgin Bitches'. It took over a month to remove the signs.
"I noticed that my hair was dyed a neon pink. Along with that, my spear's collapsed form was thrown against the opposite wall, denting it slightly. Thank Zeus it was made of more durable materials. However, the worst part was a small package below my bed. Within it lay a bottle of whiskey and a note saying, 'Here, follow in your mother's footsteps'.
"At that moment, all I saw was red. I stormed over to Perseus' cabin, banging on the door. He came up to the entrance, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. I sped that up by slapping him hard across his face. He had the audacity to act as if he didn't know what I was talking about, even though the spray cans were right outside his doorstep. I told him to never contact me again in any shape or form."
Connor nodded towards Thalia, who resumed her seat. He looked back towards the audience and went on, "During all of this, Annabeth was still in Olympus, coordinating with the gods on how to set up the planned temples. Even though it had been Percy who suggested it, it was still a good idea and we weren't going to oppose it. Finally, the day came when she took a break and returned from Olympus. When she arrived, she looked... different. She had adopted an older form, and seemed more at ease with herself than before.
"She strode into the counsellors' meeting room, enquiring as to what she missed. We were hesitant to reveal everything that had occurred while she was indisposed, but we didn't have any other choice. At first, she seemed furious at our accusations, but then Clarisse offered to let her read our memories. A few minutes later, she seemed ever more enraged, but this time at the person she called her boyfriend."
Travis picked up from his brother, "She barged into his room, slamming the door shut behind her. None of know what happened within that cabin, but around fifteen minutes later, Annabeth came out, head held high. Percy, on the other hand, stayed within his cabin for the whole day. When he finally emerged for breakfast the following morning, his face was more haggard and helpless than we had ever seen. We hoped that he had finally understood the errors of his decisions. But it was not to be."
Connor took up the thread, "A few days later, Brandon Paine mysteriously vanished from his bed. There were signs of a struggle, but no one in the cabin had heard any noise. The only clue we had was the wetness of the blankets."
Gasps echoed throughout the crowd.
Connor nodded solemnly. "We realised that Percy had finally gone too far. Chiron had left camp to attend an important meeting on Olympus. During that time, the majority of the camp headed en masse towards Percy's cabin. We knocked on his door, ordering him to come out. He cracked open the door, his croaky voice asking us what we wanted. We told him that the camp had agreed that he was no longer welcome, and he needed to leave by dusk. He was silent for a minute, before complying to our demands, not a single request for mercy leaving his lips."
Travis finished, "That afternoon was the last time Percy was seen in Camp Half-Blood. Before he left, we had sent a message to the Romans informing them of everything that had occurred in camp. The Romans had agreed to not harbour him within their camp either."
Reyna nodded solemnly. "We stripped him of his honorary praetorship too. The Legion did not want to be associated with such an individual."
Connor gave a slow nod in reply. "The next part of the story is best told by the Hunters."
Thalia returned to the fore, her jaw set in grim determination.
"He arrived in the vicinity of the hunt three years after his exile from the camps," she said. "We had been tracking a large horde of monsters, the first to appear since Gaea's defeat. We had underestimated their numbers, and were struggling to push them back. Out of nowhere, he rushed into the battlefield, brandishing his sword.
"I hate to admit it, but he only seemed to have become even more skilled during his absence. He was toying with the monsters, weaving through them like it was a choreographed dance. He also seemed to have honed his powers over water further, freezing the monsters in their tracks using, as we later found out, the water present within their bodies.
"His assistance managed to swing the tide of the battle in our favour. It didn't take long before the rest of the monsters were taken out. Perseus was just about to leave when one of the hunters blocked his path, demanding that he speak to Lady Artemis. He was about to ignore her and just walk away when Artemis herself arrived at the site.
"Perseus might have been impulsive, but even he knew that defying a goddess wouldn't end well. Artemis commanded that Olympus wanted her to bring him in front of them. He grudgingly agreed and allowed her to teleport him.
"We don't know what occurred during that meeting. What we do know is that once it concluded, Artemis returned to our camp in a state of complete fury. Once she calmed down, she explained that the council had decreed that it was currently unsafe for us hunters, even though we're better than the campers at battle-" she ignored the outraged cries from the rest of the audience, "and we need a protector, a guardian if you will. What's worse, they decided that this person should only be Perseus fucking Jackson.
"We made it clear from day one that he was not welcome. Any chore that the hunters usually did, we dumped it on him. We sabotaged him during his work as well. Artemis knew and had no problem. Most days, he would barely finish his workload and reach his mattress completely exhausted. Looking back, we may have been a bit harsh, especially in forcing him to sleep in the open, but we were righteously angry with him.
"However, he slowly got used to the work. As time passed, he became more and more efficient and managed to get some time to relax. We made it clear that we didn't want him to spend that time around us, and he seemed to get the message through his thick skull.
"A week later, we decided to spice up the life around camp. We got together and decided that Perseus would be 'pranked' by the hunters. Following that, we used to vent our boredom or frustration by messing with him. We started small; splashing him with water while he was asleep, digging small ditches in his path and so on. It slowly escalated, but I made sure it didn't become too extreme. No matter what, the boy's father was one of the Big Three.
"However, some hunters," she shot a look towards some of the senior hunters, who didn't look at all apologetic, "decided to test his limits by going further. It culminated in him collapsing in the middle of the camp, right in front of Lady Artemis. She was angry with us, not because she cared for the boy, but because we were dangerously close to offending Poseidon.
"For some time, we laid off the pranks. Artemis spent some time interacting with Perseus, knowing that if any of us were to be in his company, he would wind up hurt or worse. Things seemed to have settled down for nearly two months, but it soon came crashing all around us."
"We were around the hearth, just relaxing after a hectic week of monster hunting. During a lull in the general conversation, Lady Artemis turned towards Perseus, asking him why he was becoming easily distracted recently. He tried to evade the question, acting as if nothing was off, but Artemis saw right through his act. She demanded that he say what's on his mind, and not hold anything back. What he said next is something I will never forget. He said, 'My Lady, if I may, I might harbour feelings for you.'"
A pin-drop could have been heard within the hall. The eyes of every single demigod nearly bulged out of their heads.
Thalia smiled grimly. "Our reaction was much more violent. Within seconds, each and ever one of us had our bows trained on him, but he didn't move an inch, as if resigned to his fate. Before we loosed our arrows, Artemis stopped us, her eyes glowing harshly in the firelight. She stared at Perseus, who seemed to be trying to make himself as small as possible. She snapped out that she would allow him to stay within the hunt, but he should never expect any contact with her again.
"True to her word, she always interacted with Percy indirectly from then on. Anything she had to tell him was conveyed through one of us. After that, we resumed our pranks with a vengeance. None of us held back, only making sure that he never suffered no permanent damage.
"This continued for nearly a year. One day, we were hunting for the manticore, which had been sighted in Florida. We were on its trail when a group of Laistrygonians ambushed us from the rear. While we were engaged, the manticore barrelled towards us from the forest. Perseus attacked the manticore, taking it on while we were occupied. By the time we were done, he had managed to severely wound it, receiving only a few slight scratches in return.
"Before he could strike the final blow, the manticore lunged, sending spikes towards the newest recruit in our hunt, Chloe. We were too slow. One of the spines embedded itself within her throat, killing her instantly.
"Perseus managed to slay the manticore, but it couldn't reverse the damage dealt. We were all furious at him, but Artemis was completely livid. She forcibly snapped his bond with the hunt and banished him from our camp. She warned him that if we ever ran into him again, we won't be so merciful. We watched as he turned around and made his way into the forest. And that was the last we ever saw of Perseus Jackson."
Not a single sound was heard throughout the entire crowd. Each of them had varying emotions on their face, ranging from disgust, sadness to anger. Most, however, displayed confusion. How could he have gone so wrong? That thought echoed throughout the minds of a vast majority of the demigods.
Poseidon was on the verge of saying something, but Monaxiá stopped him with a raised hand. "I hope you all learnt a lesson from this. No matter how much you accomplish, make sure you never let it get to your head," he said. The more perceptive demigods, however, sensed an unsaid message hanging in the air. Don't believe things which don't line up, even if the majority accepts them.
He gave a small nod, the indication that the meeting was over. The assembled audience slowly filtered out, the Greek and Roman campers following him towards the cave. The Romans left first, leaving the Greeks alone in the glade for a couple of minutes. Before they could become overly distracted, Monaxiá returned, engulfing them in the water-cocoon once more.
The bus-ride back to camp was silent. Each demigod was lost in their thoughts, while the counsellors tried to suppress their century-old memories. Each of them had one name reverberating within their minds. Perseus Jackson...
Aaaand done. There's Chapter 4, folks. If any of you still want to come at me with pitchforks, please refer to the opening notice. Thank you.
Anyways, we're seeing Percy' POV(ish) next chapter! Yeah, seems like it's been forever. Last time was... the Prologue. Huh. Anyways, at least he's back!
Please review!
