Golden Green

Ch. 13

Percy Jackson and the Olympians belong to Rick Riordan. All credit to him.

I dropped my bag, shoes, and jacket to join Grover in searching for Percy in the water with flashlights or by jumping in, but as soon as I placed my tree down and Annabeth saw the scratches and dents in it and slight burns and massive gouges in me she made me sit down. Annabeth forced me to use some of the nectar and ambrosia we brought. I told her to use Fanos then and help Grover look but when I handed the sword to her, the weight brought her falling forward and cleaving the bench I was sitting on in two.

"How do you use this?" Annabeth asked, squatting down and trying to lift it again.

"I know you're strong and all but I don't think it is that heavy. I know my tree is heavy because you have seen it normally and it magically makes itself easy for me to use but retains a lot of its weight. I guess the sword feels natural to me. It was a gift from Demeter and Hera specifically for me so I guess they could have made it with some heft behind it."

"Alright, alright, stop bragging about your literal god-given gifts and heal up." I opened my mouth to talk back but she cut me off, "I know you say you heal fast, and you're tough, and you're from a tough and tumble generation but those wounds are nasty and everyone deserves a rest. I'll go help Grover." Annabeth started to walk away but she saw me sitting on the destroyed bench staring at Percy's sweater and said, "I'm sure Percy is fine. He's a destiny child and he landed in his home turf."

I did hope Percy was alright because I made him stay up there with me and fight. If I had picked Annabeth we could have bargained or even formed some strategy rather than jumping into fighting. I felt so stupid. Annabeth even wanted to stay, but Percy just went along with me for her and Grover's sake. Grove didn't say much and he's Percy's best friend and even had an empathy link with him. What if Grover didn't say much because he already knew Percy didn't survive and was waiting to tell us, maybe he is even telling Annabeth the news right now. Fidi licked at my face and whined a little.

"You did an amazing job up there, Fidi," I praised the dog. "Thank you for being a teamplayer and letting that boy pet you and then guarding his family. Heck, I might even be toast if you didn't melt the ram's head. Maybe I'd be a brown and red stain on the ground or fertilizer for river life if you didn't pull me up."

Fidi pushed my face with a paw and whined about me being a pessimistic drag. "Oh, hush. I could have let you fight the mother of almost all monsters and her ugly son all alone. Man, did Echidna fall apart from her Titan war days. I remember stories about her and Typhon being a crazy wedlock for war times." I shivered, shirtless, in the wind and checked my wounds after I finished a small bag of ambrosia to see that the bleeding had stopped in my side and thigh, but sadly my favorite Carhartt jacket was torn and bloody and the nice pair of blue jeans I was wearing were ruined. I got up, careful to not reopen any cuts, and joined the others by the river side with Fanos shining.

"How you feeling?" Annabeth asked, nodding in thanks to Fanos's golden light.

"Cold, sore, and anxious about what we're gonna find in this water," I answered her. Grover swore offensively in Greek while kicking at the water.

"I can't find anything beside garbage in this thick, trashed up river!" Grover yelled with his goat legs exposed, jeans and fake feet on shore. A boat was up the river paddling along in the lashing winds and the sight of it made me feel offended that a boat could move aloud to calmly and nonchalantly when a friend out ours was missing or worse.

"Here then, Grover." I pulled my tree from its self wrap on my belt loops and thrusted the spear forward as it elongated and sprouted branches near the spear head, filtering the water. I had roots grow out the back, closer to me, and let them burrow into the water closer to the shore and had a branch wrap around both Grover and Annabeth to keep them steady standing rather than rocking like they had been when fighting the current. Another branch took the sword from me and held it in the middle of us three and illuminated a little more than I could.