Apparently, I'm Dead

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Sorry for my crazy updating schedule. It's going to be here for a few more weeks, though, so... 

On a brighter note, I GOT MY VACCINE! :):):):):):):):):)

Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize. 

MAGNUS

Percy eyes widen as what I'm trying to say sinks in.

If the idea is not clear yet, here is the overview. Percy feels like he cannot cry because he is the leader of Camp Half-Blood. He was just told that he is not the leader here. Therefore, he can cry.

What? I was in school long enough that I learned about formal writing.

Plus, I really liked libraries when I was alive. They were air-conditioned in the summer and heated in the winter, and they wouldn't kick you out unless you made too big a racket.

Anyways, back on topic.

Percy's eyes become shiny as he begins to laugh. I reach out to him, worried for his mental health. I take my hand back when he begins to speak.

"I've never cried while laughing before," he says in awe. He reaches up to wipe a tear away, but he doesn't fling it away in disgust like he did before. He smears the rest of the tears onto his hands from his eyes, then lets the tears drip of his finger. They don't fall onto the bark of the World Tree. Instead, they drift into the air, glittering like diamonds. They refract the dappled light coming through the scattered leaves, making little rainbows bounce through the air.

Percy twirls a finger. The tears whirl together, then form a raindrop-or a teardrop, more likely- shape. The crystalline figure rotates slowly in the air.

I take the opportunity to kneel down next to him. "See," I whisper, so as not to disturb his introspection, "crying can be beautiful."

Percy snorts. "That was really cheesy." But as he sits there for a moment more, he nods. "Anyways, you're right. It can be."

He turns to me. "Um," he pauses, a bit embarrassed, "Thanks, man. For that."

"Hey," I smile, "no problem." Percy makes an aborted movement towards me, then sits back down, his face a bright crimson.

I feel the corners of my mouth turn up. "C'mere, Perce." I open my arms wide, inviting a hug.

Percy ducks his head, but I can see his small smile. He jerks towards me hesitantly, before falling into my arms. Sam and Alex exchange looks that seem to say that's pretty adorable.

Then they join in. They leap on top of us, making a messy pile of limbs and laughter. When we settle down, we're in a dog pile, all of us sprawled around the giant limbs of Yggdrasil, trying really hard not to fall off.

Percy points up at the sky, which is slowly darkening to a black. "Look!" he calls quietly, "It's me!"

I can feel Alex wriggling so that his head is in the right position to see the stars. "Wait, really? Where?"

"Ooh! I see him!" Sam cries, sounding like a little kid, excited to show something to a parent. "Look, Alex. He's right there." She points out a cluster of stars that doesn't look anything like a person.

"I don't see it," Alex mutters, disgruntled.

Percy laughs. The vibrations move through the pile, making the rest of us laugh from the tickly feeling. "It doesn't look anything like an actual person. It's kind of just a shape that an Ancient Greek thought looked like a person."

He sits up, and since he was at the bottom of the pile, the rest of us all slide off of him, grumbling. He pats the piece of tree next to him, and Alex sits there. Percy raises a long finger and points at the sky, tracing a shape in the stars. "There's Perseus."

Alex squints a bit, then flips his head backwards. "Oh! I see it now!" He flings his hand into the air and traces the shape. "It's next to the one that looks like a W."

"That's Cassiopeia," Percy says. "She claimed to be prettier than the Nereids, who are like sea-goddesses, and then my dad sent a sea serpent after her village. Then she tried to sacrifice her daughter, Andromeda, to the sea monster- that's her, see, right there- but Perseus saved her." He has a contemplative look on his face. "Cassiopeia was a terrible mother."

"No, really," Alex drawls. "Tell me the truth."

"Gah," Percy grumbles, and elbows Alex in the stomach. He elbows him back. I step in to break up the fight and end up getting elbowed on both sides. I drag them both up to their feet and point at the starry sky.

"Guys, it's getting late. We should head back to the Big Banana so we can sleep."

"Alright," Percy says, dragging himself to his feet. "Let's go." He starts to climb down the tree, then stops. "Where did we leave the boat, again?"

I squint, trying to remember. "I'm pretty sure it's in Boston."

"Yeah, that's what I thought, too," Sam confirms.

"So, Earth, then."

"Midgard, yeah," Alex replies.

Percy rolls his eyes. "Same difference." He slithers down the tree, not really climbing. He's kind of just falling gracefully from branch to branch. "Ooh! Here it is," he calls up to us. "I found it."

We scramble down to the branch he's on. "Let's go," he says, already jumping off the branch. I let him disappear into the fog before I follow him.

We end up near where I remember the boat being. Percy breaks into a run, a brilliant smile on his face. "Hurry up, slowpokes," he cries, turning around to look at us. "We're almost done! We're so, so close!"

I think the Fates love irony.

A roar echoes through the streets. Percy stops dead, and a full body shiver runs through his body. He whirls around, and I see something I've never seen before in his eyes.

Fear.

"The Nemean lion," he gasps. "That's the Nemean lion."

THANKS,

ATOTALMUSICALNERD