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To say Percy's life has been hectic of late would be an understatement. Between trying to finish high school after missing half his junior year, having to do a bunch of stupid quests for the gods for recommendation letters because Zeus has nothing better to do than mess with his life, and helping out his mom and Paul with his new baby sister, Percy's been under a lot of pressure.
Add in Annabeth's stress over her Norse cousin, because apparently the Norse gods, like the Egyptians, are also still around, and it would be fair to say all Percy wants right now is a peaceful week. And okay, maybe deciding to spend the week at camp wasn't the best idea when he just wanted some down time, but Camp Half Blood is as much his home as his mom's apartment in New York and it'd been weeks since he'd gotten a chance to visit.
Annabeth had convinced him to get ahead on his school work the past few weekends, and as much as he had hated it, Percy had to admit the work had paid off, because now they were on Spring break and he could afford to take a few days off from studying. This free time, along with the fact that there were no pesky gods knocking on his door, seemed like the perfect opportunity for him and Annabeth to take a break and spend the week at camp.
It seemed Percy wasn't the only one who was feeling homesick, camp was pretty busy when they arrived, which Percy soon learned was because a lot of the demigods in high school and college had the same time off and, like him, had decided to use the opportunity to come back to camp for the week. He saw Clarisse and Chris talking by the Ares cabin, Katie was tending to the Demeter cabins garden, and Travis and Connor looked so enthusiastic to be united again that Percy had a feeling camp was about to see some crazy pranks. Maybe that should've been his first sign that his wish for peace wasn't going to be granted.
In fairness, he made it halfway down the hill into camp before he was ambushed, which was kind of an achievement given most of the campers probably suspected he was carrying some serious valuables.
Connor and Travis reached him first, pretending they were just coming to greet their friend.
“Percy,” Connor said enthusiastically, clapping him on the back, “welcome back to camp.”
“Great to see you, man,” Travis said, shaking his hand enthusiastically.
Percy would have been offended at the fact it was a ploy and he saw their hands rummaging around in his bag out of the corner of his eye, but he knew them well enough by now. Also, he didn’t exactly blame them.
“Percy,” Katie greeted, more genuine than the boys, giving him a tight hug. “How’ve you been?”
“I’m good,” he said, “life’s been crazy busy though.”
“I bet,” she said, and he didn’t miss her eyes darting around in search. Even Katie, as nice as she was, wasn’t immune to this temptation.
Clarisse reached them next, and true to form she didn’t even bother with pleasantries, real or fake. Her spear was already in hand when she levelled him with a glare. “Where are they?” she demanded.
Percy snorted. “Good to see you too.”
The minimal narrowing of her eyes was the only indication she actually was happy to see him, but it was enough for Percy. They’d come a long way since he was twelve years old.
“Hey Perce,” Chris said, nudging Clarisse to put her spear away and mumbling something like ‘be polite’. If anyone else had tried that they probably would’ve been skewered, but Clarisse just rolled her eyes and sheathed her weapon, though her gaze was still fixed on Percy like a predator.
A flash of movement caught their attention as Nico appeared beside the group, arms crossed in all his usual goth-underworld attire, Will staggering next to him and looking queasy after the sudden shadow-travel.
“Nico!” Will admonished, “how many times do I have to tell you to stop abusing your powers?”
“This wasn’t abuse of powers,” Nico replied, “it’s practically life or death, and besides I brought you with me.”
“We were only in the infirmary, we could have walked. Actually, I'd have rathered if we walked.”
Nico rolled his eyes and focused his attention on Percy. “Hand them over,” was all he said.
Percy grinned. “Hello to you, too.”
“Hey Percy,” Drew greeted, appearing beside them,
“Hey Drew, how’s it going?”
“Good. It’d be better if you had a little gift for me.” A hint of charmspeak slipped into her voice, but it had no effect on Percy, who just rolled his eyes.
“You know,” he told the group, “I thought I actually had friends at Camp. Not people who just use me as a delivery boy.”
“Ah, you know we care about you, Perce,” Pollux said, “But c’mon, if you were in our place…”
Percy couldn’t really argue with that.
“Well?” Jake prompted. “Can we have them?”
“Seriously,” Malcolm agreed, “we’ve been dying for them since we heard you were coming to camp.”
“You know my mom had a baby like a month ago, right? Do you guys honestly think she had time to make all of you cookies?”
They stared at him, expressions first full of disbelief before slowly turning to despair and misery, as if he’d truly just broken their hearts.
“He’s lying,” Clarisse stated after a moment, picking up on his tell in a way only someone who’d fought both with and against him for years could.
“You’re right,” Nico agreed, “Aunt Sally always sends cookies.”
Percy sighed in defeat, causing his friends to let out cheers of excitement. Even Nico cracked a smile.
“It won’t work, Wise Girl,” he said, “we might as well give them to them, otherwise we’ll never have any peace.”
Annabeth appeared with a sigh, invisibility cap in hand, and a massive box under her arm.
“It would have worked if you stuck to your guns. Sometimes I wonder how you trick immortals all the time, yet you can’t lie to your friends.”
“You guys were trying to keep them for yourselves!” Malcolm's accusation was full of outrage as he stared at his sister like he didn’t recognise her.
“We would have shared them eventually,” Annabeth said defensively, “I wanted to use them as bargaining chips for capture the flag.”
That got a few snorts of laughter. It was nice to know that in some ways, Annabeth would never change.
“Alright,” Percy said, gesturing to the box in Annabeth’s arms, “I’ll give them out.”
Their friends started to press in like a horde of zombies surrounding the last surviving human, but Annabeth handed the box to Percy and fixed them with a glare.
“Wait,” she ordered them, “or you won’t get any.”
“Right,” Percy said, opening the box and picking out the first packet. “Honeycomb and white chocolate for Will,” he said, reading the label and handing them to the boy in question who literally glowed with delight, bright enough those close to him had to shield their eyes.
The others eyed the stack of cookies in his hands like they were the key to happiness. Will took a step back warily, cookies clutched protectively to his chest. “I, uh, I’m needed in the infirmary. Big emergency,” he said, before taking off and sprinting down the hill, cookies held tightly to his chest all the while.
“M&Ms and milk chocolate for Clarisse,” Percy said, tossing the stack to her. She grabbed in with a grin and made her own escape.
“Uh, tin can and grease paper, oh these are for Grover.”
“He’s not here yet,” Connor said, “He’s still travelling back.”
“He IM’d us, said he should arrive by Tuesday,” Annabeth told them.
“Ok, uh, coconut and cinnamon for Katie,” Percy said, getting back on track and handing the cookies to her and smiling as she beamed in delight. “Rainbow sprinkles and dark chocolate for Drew.”
He continued handing out the stacks of cookies to each of his friends, until there were only a handful left.
“Who are they for?” Travis asked, eyeing the remainder in the box as the group continued the walk to the cabins once everyone in the group had received theirs.
Annabeth shot Travis a suspicious look, knowing exactly what he was thinking.
“One stack is for Thalia,” she said, “and I’ll tell her if you take them.”
Travis gulped and nodded. He definitely didn’t want an angry Thalia after him.
“Peanut butter cup cookies for Tyson, he should get here tomorrow,” Percy continued, “a stack for Chiron,” he said, pointing at the ginger and oat cookies, “Blackjack,” the apple and sugar cane cookies shaped like donuts, “and some for the others who didn’t ambush us. Plus,” he said, gesturing to a large tupperware container at the bottom of the box with a pile of standard chocolate chip cookies, “some for the other campers who mom doesn’t know well enough to make custom ones for. I’ll hand the box around at the campfire, there should be plenty for everyone.”
“Your mom really is awesome,” Pollux said, a little wistfully but without resentment. The others voiced their agreement before heading their separate ways, likely finding some nooks and crannies to hide in so they could enjoy their cookies in peace without worrying about someone trying to take them.
Percy and Annabeth found Chiron before they reached the cabins, where they exchanged greetings and handed over his cookies. The centaur thanked them and attempted to keep his composure, but as soon as their backs were turned they heard him galloping towards the big house, likely to go hide in his office.
Annabeth was grinning by the time they reached the cabin area.
“What?” Percy asked, fighting back his own smile
“It’s just good to be home,” Annabeth said, “even if our friends act like they care more about cookies than us.”
Percy laughed. “Act being the key word. And can you blame them?”
“Definitely not,” she said, thinking of her own stack hidden in her backpack. “I’ll see you at dinner?”
Percy nodded, watching her as she headed off towards the Athena cabin to greet her siblings, before he turned towards the Posioden cabin.
As he set his bag down and took in the familiarity of the place, the scent of the sea and the pleasant breeze, Tyson’s decorations and the pictures he’d stuck up of his friends, the sounds of weapons clashing and campers shouting outside, he thought Annabeth was right; it was good to be home.
Also, he thought as he collapsed on his bed, it was good to have a chance to relax and catch up on sleep.
Unfortunately, he’d barely begun to close his eyes when the conch horn sounded for dinner. If he had known then how little sleep he’d get over the next week, he might have turned tail and ran for the hills. Instead, he got up and headed for the pavilion, the smell of good food wafting to meet him along with the voices of campers calling out greetings.
Percy got about halfway through his dinner before things started to get chaotic, and for Camp Half Blood, that was kind of an achievement. Everyone at dinner was pretty hyper which was to be expected and even though Percy was sitting alone at the Poseidon table plenty of other campers stopped by and chatted with him throughout the meal so he wasn't feeling lonely. Things started to go to Hades when the actual son of Hades plopped himself down opposite him, a shit-eating grin on his face and accompanied by Connor and Travis. That alone was a warning, and things only got worse from there.
"Hey guys," Percy greeted them, politely but a little warily, as the three boys sat down opposite him, all grinning in a way that put him a little bit on edge.
"Percy, our friend," Connor began.
"Our dearest, dearest friend," Travis continued, "we have a proposition for you."
Yup, he'd definitely been right to be wary. He sighed. Truth be told he often enjoyed taking part in their pranks and he didn't want to be a killjoy, but he was also exhausted and really didn’t want to get caught up in something.
"What proposition?" he asked them, looking at Nico and wondering how the son of Hades had gotten involved in this.
Connor grinned. "You have to say yes first," he said.
Okay, Percy may not be the sharpest sword in the shed but he knew that was a bad sign.
"Not a chance," he told them, "I learned my lesson about doing that my first summer at camp. Tell me what you guys are up to first."
Travis pouted, and since Percy wasn't Katie, he didn't find it at all cute.
Nico huffed. "Okay, but you at least have to promise not to tell anyone."
Percy shrugged. "Sure, I can do that."
"Not even Annabeth," Connor said.
"Oh, come on," Percy argued, "I can't keep stuff from her."
Nico levelled him with an unimpressed look.
"She can always tell. And she's scary. Like you don't tell Katie everything," he said, aiming the last part at Travis.
Travis shrugged. "Of course I tell her, but I wait until after the deed is done."
Percy sighed. "I won't volunteer the information, but if she figures whatever it is out and asks me, I'm not going to lie to her."
The other boys exchanged looks, considering his words, before seeming to come to a conclusion and nodding.
“So?” Percy prompted.
"We’re going on a heist!" Connor declared, then, noticing Chiron's narrowed gaze and the attention of the other campers, he cleared his throat and said, "uh, I mean... a heist to get more food, when we're done."
"Right," Travis jumped in, "we're starving!"
"Shut up," Nico hissed at them, "this won't work if they all catch on."
Chiron and the others were still watching them strangely but they seemed to decide whatever they were talking about wasn't worth investigating right now, and went back to their meals, causing Percy's three companions to let out sighs of relief.
"Look guys," Percy said, "I don't want to leave you hanging but I'm exhausted right now, and I was kind of hoping I'd get time at camp to just, you know... relax. So whatever you're planning, I think I'll sit this one out."
The three boys stared at him aghast.
Travis sighed dramatically. "Oh Percy, how you hurt us."
Connor wiped away an invisible tear with a sniffle. "We were so sure we could depend on you."
Percy rolled his eyes and looked to Nico for help but he seemed to be as invested in the skit as the Stoll brothers. "After everything we've been through, Perce," he said sadly, looking down at the table with a shake of his head.
Percy snorted at their antics. "Surely you can manage this without me?"
They all shook their heads.
"No," Nico sighed, "you were the integral piece. I was so looking forward to this too..." he let out another dramatic sigh and Percy thought he must know he was laying it on a bit thick.
Don't get Percy wrong, he was delighted to see Nico acting like a kid his age again. The last couple of years, Nico had become so gloomy, Percy sometimes wondered if he'd imagined the hyper kid he'd first met who was obsessed with mythomagic and had annoyed Percy to near insanity. After everything the kid had been through, after losing Bianca and then suffering through Tartarus, it was great to see mirth in his eyes. Percy knew it had a lot to do with a certain son of Apollo, which he was immensely grateful to Will for, but it was also the fact that Nico had finally let himself accept he was one of the campers. He'd realised how much they all cared about him and liked having him around, and he'd started to open up to them all.
Percy liked to think the conversation they'd had after Nico had confessed his past feelings for him had helped. At first, Percy had been too surprised to really respond when Nico had told him of his former crush, especially since Percy had always seen Nico as more of a little brother than anything, someone he'd felt responsible for, and had assumed Nico had hated him. But during Nico's time in the infirmary they'd talked about it. It had been a little awkward, but Percy knew they'd both been glad to clear the air, and their relationship had improved a huge amount since then.
This, along with the fact that he knew the three boys wouldn't give him any peace unless he agreed to help them with whatever they were planning, was what led him to dropping his head into his hands and groaning out a muffled, "Fine, tell me what it is it you want me to help with, and I'll consider it."
The boys all grinned.
"We want to escape camp for a while and go get McDonalds," Nico said, already looking like he was about to start drooling at the thought of his favourite artery-blocking meal. You’d swear he hadn’t just eaten half a dozen cookies in the span of twenty minutes.
Percy stared at them. "Seriously?" was all he could think to say, looking from their excited gazes to the heaps of food on the plates in front of them. "You're literally eating right now."
Travis rolled his eyes. "We don't mean right now, we meant later tonight, after curfew. And it's only Nico that really wants McD's, Connor and I want to do a supply raid."
Percy groaned. "So really, it's not so much that you need me to help you, it's more that you need the car?"
“Yeah,” Nico said, “that’s the part about escaping camp. I haven’t been outside the border in weeks.”
Percy absently wondered if Nico was a little claustrophobic like him. He’d always put the fact he didn’t like being confined down to the whole ‘the sea does not like to be restrained’ thing. Then again, there were enough examples in Nico’s life, from the Lotus Hotel to being held prisoner in Tartarus, that would give him an aversion to feeling stuck.
Realising his thoughts were drifting down a path too dark for the current mood of the evening, Percy shoved them away and focused on the boys sitting opposite him.
His mom and Paul had let him take the Prius when he and Annabeth had come to camp, but he should've expected this to happen.
“I dunno, guys,” he said, “can’t someone else take you?”
“Now, now,” Connor said, “don't sell yourself short. You are our most preferred and reliable option. And of course your company is a plus.”
Yeah, of course, Percy thought, shaking his head exasperatedly. "Why didn't you just do your supply run on the way back to camp?" he asked Travis, "or do what you guys usually do and hotwire one of the camp vehicles?"
He didn't ask why they didn't take the pegasi because he knew the winged horses had been warned years ago that they were not to help the boys leave camp, not even if bribed with sugary treats, and if they did, they wouldn't get any apples for a month. The pegasi were smart enough to know it just wasn't worth it, no matter how much Connor and Travis begged them. He also didn't ask why Nico didn't try to shadow travel, because he knew Will had put a ban on it and he didn't want to inadvertently encourage Nico to do something that had a negative impact on his health. Travelling from the infirmary to the hill was one thing, but going miles from camp was another.
Connor sighed. "Chiron told us that if he catches us taking the car one more time, we'll be on stable duty the entire summer," he explained.
"And Katie was with me," Travis said, "she wouldn't let me get the kind of supplies we need."
Percy smirked. "You mean contraband?"
“Yeah,” Travis said, looking at him blankly, "that's what I said."
"So," Nico asked, bouncing in his seat like a puppy (a goth, underworld puppy, but an excited one nonetheless).
"Fine," Percy sighed, "I'll drive you. But," he added when the boys seemed like they were about to start cheering, "you have to pay for whatever you're getting, no stealing."
Connor and Travis both looked at him in horror, then groaned simultaneously like he'd asked them to do something terrible.
"I mean it," Percy told them, because Sally Jackson had raised him right.
“It's not like you've never stolen anything,” Travis argued, “you literally stole a Police car once.”
Percy grimaced at the reminder. “It's different when you're on a quest and it's life or death. And being chased by Gorgons that keep reforming.”
"No need to brag," Connor said, “but fine, in that case, this is a very important quest.”
“In that case,” Percy replied in the same tone, crossing his arms, “I’m out. I've sworn off quests. I'm retired.”
The other boys exchanged a look, and though he couldn't be sure, he thought their expressions were something like Yeah right, good luck with that. Which didn't exactly improve his mood.
“Alright,” Travis finally sighed, expression suddenly too innocent to be entirely convincing, "we'll pay for whatever we get.”
He made the promise in a tone that Percy knew was a lie, and Percy could have pushed the issue more but he figured he'd have plenty of time to try and convince them in the car later so he decided not to bother.
The conversation drifted to other topics, but Percy stopped paying it attention when he began to get the sensation of being watched. He looked around the pavilion before noticing the attention of some of the younger campers.
“What’s up with those campers?” he asked, gesturing to them. There were two at the Hermes table, one at Apollo, one at Demeter and one at Aphrodite, and they were all staring at him.
The boys followed his gaze to see the younger campers looking at them.
"You've only just noticed that?" Nico asked incredulously.
Percy's brow furrowed. "I've been a little distracted," he defended, looking at them pointedly. “Why are they staring at us?”
"They aren't staring at us," Connor told him, looking amused.
"They're staring at the Hero of Olympus, the two time prophecy child, the bane of Titans and Giants, the slayer of the fiercest monsters, the-" Travis was cut off from his enthusiastic rant by a red-faced Percy throwing a dinner roll at him.
"Shut up," he grumbled, "seriously, what's up with them?"
This time the boys looked less amused and more genuinely incredulous.
"They are actually looking at you, Perce," Nico told him.
Percy frowned. "Why?"
"Dude," said Travis, "come on."
"What?" Percy asked, starting to get a little annoyed now.
"You're literally a walking legend around here, Perce," Connor told him.
"Most of them think you're practically a god," Nico added.
That made Percy frown. If there was one decision he'd made that he would never regret, it was turning down immortality. He never wanted to become a god.
"Why?" he asked, not at all liking the idea of the newer campers thinking of him like that.
Travis shrugged. "Campers tell stories, you know that. These days, most of the ones the younger campers tell are about you. They got here and you were probably the first thing they heard about."
Percy shook his head, feeling warmth in his cheeks at the thought of them thinking of him like that. "But, why me?" he said, unable to comprehend it. Why would they bother telling stories about him of all people?
"You know you've done some pretty crazy stuff, Percy," Connor said, "it makes for good story telling."
"Most of it isn't even exaggerated," Nico told him, "it doesn't need to be."
Percy didn't think he liked the idea of the younger campers talking about him. He looked over at them, but as soon as they saw him watching them, they quickly looked away.
Percy knew he'd done a lot of stuff since twelve, he'd been on a lot of quests and involved in two great prophecies, but he also knew a lot of it was circumstantial. He wasn't anything special.
The other boys, obviously sensing that they weren't going to be able to convince him otherwise, exchanged shrugs.
"Anyway," Travis said, rising to his feet, "we'll see you later for the supply run." He clapped Percy on the shoulder as Connor rose too and followed his brother back over to the Hermes table.
Nico grinned, also rising to his feet. "See you later Percy," he said, heading over to the Apollo table, leaving Percy sitting on his own again.
He sighed, staring down at his dinner, wondering just how much Tyche hated him that he couldn't have even made it through one meal peacefully. And given the others were planning on making him leave camp and drive who knows where later to source some McDonald's and gods know what else, he had a feeling the rest of his day wasn't going to go much better.
If he had made it until after curfew when he was meant to leave camp with the guys, he might've been okay, but, of course, he didn't.
He was on his way to his cabin, fully intending to sleep through the campfire, when he found his path blocked by a number of younger campers, the five he’d noticed staring at him at dinner, plus some others who’d been at camp the last time he was here. Most of them barely reached his chest height.
“There he is,” a little curly haired boy said, looking at him in amazement.
“How did you kill the minotaur?” one asked.
“Have you really blown up a volcano and made hurricanes and tsunamis?” another demanded.
He didn't know where they got the sudden bravery to come talk to him, given they'd barely met his eye during dinner, but he figured the Stoll's probably had something to do with this sudden onslaught.
“Have you really fought gods and Titans and Giants, and even faced primordials?” a short, dark haired girl asked.
“How come you've blown up so many schools? Do you just not like learning?”
“Were you really wanted by the FBI?”
“Can you teach me to fight like you, Mr. Percy,” one of them said.
“Woah,” he said, “guys slow down. And you don’t need to call me mister, just Percy is fine.”
They quieted down for a moment, which meant the next question stood out clearly, no chance of him missing it.
“Are you really a god?”
“What?” Percy practically yelped. “No, I'm definitely not a god!” At this point in his life, he was more sure than ever that he absolutely did not want immortality.
The younger kids stared at him like he was speaking another language.
“But, but, you've done all that stuff in the stories and, and-”
“Some of the older kids told us so.”
That made Percy frown. He knew none of the oldest campers, the ones who’d been around since the Battle of Manhattan, would say that, even as a joke. They knew how Percy felt about immortality, and none of them had much respect left for the gods, they wouldn’t say Percy was one. The campers who’d arrived since then, however, the ones who didn’t know him as well, might have thought it was a funny prank or something.
Either way, he wasn’t happy about it. Aside from the fact Zeus would try to smite him if he heard the younger campers were burning offerings for him or something, he didn’t trust the fates not to get ideas and throw him on another world-ending quest or issue another prophecy or actually make him a god against his will just for their amusement. He’d have to set this straight.
“Look,” Percy said, “I'm not a god, I don't know why some other campers said that, but it's not true.”
“But Zeus gave you immortality,” one of the girls objected.
“He offered it,” Percy admitted, “but I turned it down. I don't want to be a god.”
The kids were looking at him like they didn't believe him, and Percy decided to change the subject, hoping they’d just let it go eventually.
“Aren't you guys supposed to be at the campfire?” he asked, and when a chorus of “oh yeah” rose up, he was grateful, probably for the only time in his life, that ADHD was for once on his side, distracting the kids instead of causing them to hyperfocus on the topic.
“Let's go,” one of them said, but as they started in that direction, they quickly noticed he wasn't with them.
“Hey, where are you going? The camp fire is this way,” one said.
“Yeah,” another added, “you can teach us the songs we haven't learned yet.”
Percy glanced longingly to his cabin, then back to the hopeful looks on the kids faces. He sighed for what felt like the tenth time that day, and followed them to the amphitheatre. His cabin, and more importantly his bed, would unfortunately have to wait.
Percy did get a chance to go back to his cabin after the campfire, but his head had barely hit his pillow before Nico and the Stoll's were barging into his cabin, ready for their late night supply run. Honestly, if Percy had been completely mortal and didn't have the endurance of a demigod, he doubted it would've been safe for him to drive. As it was, he wasn't particularly chuffed to be sitting behind a wheel, but he knew he wasn't going to fall asleep.
“Where to?” he asked the guys when they were all buckled up, trying to inject some enthusiasm into his voice. They were obviously looking forward to this and he didn't want to bring their mood down by showing how much he just wanted some down time in his cabin.
Their first stop, after a ridiculously long drive where they passed plenty of other supermarkets, was some run of the mill chain store. It was closed for the night but the Stolls had no problem picking the lock.
“Just make sure to leave money on the counter,” Percy reminded them. They're nods of agreement didn't instill him with confidence.
As the other boys hunted for whatever it was they wanted, Percy wandered around the aisles absently, not really needing to get anything. When he passed a door to a store room that said ‘Staff Only’, he pushed it open and peeked his head inside curiously. That was the point where he really started to wonder if it was Tyche, Nemesis or the Fates who hated him so much.
The voices inside were unmistakably monsters, no humans hissed and growled that much as they spoke, not even when dressed up at those comic exhibitions Rachel talked about sometimes.
“The sssmell is ssstrong,” one hissed, and Percy had enough experience to recognise that voice as a drachnae.
“Yes,” another voice rumbled, closer to human, “lots of godlings for good dinner.”
“So many so far from their little camp, we shall feast on their bones,” another said.
At that point, Percy remembered where he was and decided it would probably be a good idea to warn the others and make a quick exit.
He had a brief second where he debated fighting the monsters and clearing out the nest so they wouldn't hurt anymore demigods, then remembered he was tired and decided he'd tell the other campers about it when he got back. He was sure Clarisse and Thalia would be delighted to handle this, and he really didn't feel like fighting right now.
He let the door shut quietly, then hurried over to where Connor and Travis were loading snacks and sodas into their backpacks.
“Guys,” he hissed, “we gotta go, where's Nico?”
Their heads shot up, expressions turning from playful pranksters to war-hardened warriors in an instant at the tone of his voice.
“Over by the ice cream,” Travis said, “what's going on?”
“Monster nest,” Percy sighed.
Connor grimaced. None of them were really surprised, Percy and Nico together in the mortal world were bound to draw attention.
“Come on, let's get Nico and get out of here.”
They found Nico where Travis said he'd be, sitting on a counter and eating a tub of ‘Authentic Gelato’.
“Hey guys,” he said, “you want a tub? It's not bad for American made. Not as good as real Italian, but what can you do?”
Connor seemed to forget about the monsters for a moment, head tilting quizzically as he looked in the cooler at the different flavours.
“No time,” Percy said, “we gotta go. Monster nest.”
Nico sighed, and with far too little urgency for Percy's liking, put the lid on his ice cream and stood up.
“Fine,” he said, “but we could just handle them and I can go back to my Gelato.”
“No,” Percy insisted, “I'm tired. Clarisse can come and handle it tomorrow.”
“I think it's too late for that, Perce,” Travis said.
Percy turned around, annoyance blooming in his gut as yep, there the monsters were, standing at the end of the isle and looking hungry.
You know what? Forget trying to figure out who was responsible for his bad fortune, he was just going to take it out on the Fates, Tyche and Nemesis.
“Demigodssss” a drachnae hissed. “What a pleassssant treat for ussss.”
There were three drachnae, two laistrygonians and a cyclops. Not a huge force by any means, definitely not too much for the four of them to handle, but an annoyance all the same.
The four guys took out their swords, and readied for the monsters to charge, but they seemed to want to chat first.
“Where are the rest?” one of the laistrygonians asked, “The smell is strong.”
“Oh, no, that's just those two,” Connor said, pointing helpfully at Percy and Nico.
“Big three kids,” Travis said, “we tell them to shower more, but what can you do? The smell always lingers.”
“Wait,” a drachnae said, realisation dawning, “it issss Jackssson.”
The monsters turned hesitant. “The son of Poseidon,” a laistrygonian murmured.
“Careful,” the cyclops said, “he is strong.”
“He killed my brothers,” the same laistrygonian continued, “I shall slay him and avenge them. I shall be known throughout history as the one who killed Perseus Jackson. I will be honoured.”
“Wait-” another Lastrygonian tried to say, but it was too late, the monster was charging.
Percy's brain momentarily forgot he was tired, adrenaline pumping through him as he went on autopilot, stepping to the side and swinging his sword just as the monster reached him. He recalled that game of dodgeball all those years ago. If this was back then, he would've just added another ball to the game as the creature's head went soaring back towards its friends, its body disintegrating from the neck down.
The remaining monsters stared at him for a moment.
“I do not wisssh to die today,” a drachnae hissed, before turning around and fleeing. Her companions seemed to share the mindset because they followed her quickly, taking off and running through the store.
“Dude,” Travis said, “seriously? Monsters run from you now.”
Nico frowned, still cradling his tub of Gelato under one arm, sword held in the other. “Why didn't they run from me? I'm scary too.”
“Come on,” Percy sighed, ignoring their commentary, “we better take care of them now, otherwise they'll disappear from here and go off to find some other demigods who don't know how to fight.”
Travis patted Percy on the back. “Don't worry man, we'll handle this.”
“Yeah,” Connor said, only a hint of sarcasm in his voice, “you relax here.”
They chased after the monsters, and Percy decided to trail after them, just in case, though they didn't need it. It didn't take them long until all the monsters were dust. Nico held onto his Gelato throughout the fight. Actually, Nico might have been eating his Gelato throughout the fight. There was a strong possibility the Stoll's were the only ones who did any actual monster killing.
During the car ride back to camp, after the boys had finished getting their supplies and made him stop at a Mc Donald's drive through, they teased him more about the monster running away from him. Well, Connor and Travis did, Nico pouted.
“Really,” the younger boy said as he munched on his Happy Meal (seriously, where did he put all that food?), “I'm much scarier than you.”
Percy rolled his eyes. “It's not a competition Neeks.”
Nico huffed in response.
“I'm just glad we thought to bring that counterfeit money,” Connor said, meant for his brother's ears only, but they were in a car and Connor forgot to whisper.
Percy met his gaze in the mirror.
“Uh,” Connor said, “I mean… to use for… um…”
“You're an idiot,” Travis said.
Percy had a brief internal war over his moral code, then decided he was too tired. It was a massive chain corporation anyways, not a family run corner store. It would be fine.
“He's not turning around,” Connor whispered to Travis after a moment when Percy said nothing.
“Shut up,” Travis said, “and don't look a gift horse in the mouth.”
“I always find that phrase ironic given the fact that not looking the gift horse in the mouth is what led to the fall of Troy,” Nico said cheerfully.
Percy sighed. “As much as I love Annabeth,” he said, “one of her is enough. Save those conversations for when I'm asleep.”
“I could drive,” Nico offered.
“Dude,” Travis said, “you're like fourteen. If anyone was taking over the driving, it'd be me.”
“As the only one with a legal licence, I'm the only one who's going to be driving,” Percy said.
“I don't know why you care so much about mortal laws when we have the mist on our side,” Connor said.
“I've been wanted by the police enough times to know it's not worth the hassle.”
Travis shrugged. “Whatever dude, all I'm saying is if you change your mind…”
Percy just sighed.
The car was silent for a little while, aside from the low hum of the music coming from the radio, and Percy was just starting to feel calm when he heard a faint humming from the backseat.
“...running from the riptide…” Connor sang quietly under his breath.
Travis started to snicker.
It was a long drive back to camp.
When they eventually arrived, there was a faint strip of sunlight already peeking over the horizon.
“Please Apollo,” Percy said, “go slowly today, I need sleep.”
Unfortunately, Apollo either didn't hear or didn't care, because less than two hours later Percy was woken by the sunlight shining in his eyes, and someone knocking on his door.
Day one back at camp had been far from restful. Percy was starting to lose hope that the rest of the week would be any different.