Storm Rising

Chapter 43

Percy's POV

The next morning I awoke from a peaceful nights sleep. No dreams, no nightmares, and certainly no creepy visions plagued me in my rest. The sunlight drifted through the blinds in lazy stripes. I looked up and found a head of soft black hair. Bianca lay peaceful, still sleeping. I smiled and gently ran my fingers through her silky hair. Gods, I loved her and every little thing about her.

Glancing around the room, I noticed several of my friends had already gotten up and left. Reyna as the head general had every morning duties, but Triton still slept. Sparrow and Pax have both left, they are earlier risers, along with Izabella. Ivory sighs in her sleep, her hand with the ring on it still intertwined with Nico even though he is sleeping on the floor. Frank sits awake beside Hazel, his arm protectively around her. He smiles when he realizes I'm awake too. I can tell he has been up for a while, but he would never leave Hazel's side without telling her.

"How was your sleep?" Frank asked softly as his fingers twirled one of Hazel's golden brown curls.

"Good, no dreams the whole time," I replied. "You?"

"All right. Just after the battle," Frank shuddered a little. "It's hard to sleep.

"I know what you mean," I say, glancing down at a sleeping Bianca.

One of the trees on Sparrow's wall swung forward and Zoe poked her head through the doorway. She was wearing her hunting cloths, a camouflaged green jacket with darker green pants, so she and Oren must have been going on one of their early morning hunts.

"Percy, come here," She whispers, beckoning me with her black and green bow.

I carefully slide Bianca's head off my chest and onto a pillow before making my way through the maze of blankets on the floor. Zoe motions for me to step outside the doorway.

"What is it?" I ask.

Zoe fingers the bowstring, a rare sign of nervousness from the huntress. "Your mom received word that you are needed in the Void by the primordial council. As she is very busy with preparations, she asked me to come tell you."

"What did they need more for?" I questioned her.

The daughter of Atlas shrugs, but I can tell she knows more than she is telling me. "I don't know, but you need to get there as soon as possible.

I nod before sticking my head back into Sparrow's room. "Frank," I call quietly. His dark head snaps up. "Can you tell Bianca when she wakes up that the primordials needed me?"

"Okay, but how soon will you be back?"

"I have no clue. Thanks though."

"No problem," Frank replies before going back to curling Hazel's hair with his finger. I close the door behind me before dissipating into a cool mist. Not only is it power taxing to travel between planets, it also takes a great deal of concentration to do it correctly. Commuting in between solar systems is even harder, unless you are a magical being that can come to certain summons, like my pet Alex. I reappear just out the main training arena in the castle of the Void, just down the hall from the throne room. Glad to be back in home territory, I walk down the hall towards the golden back entrance doors of the throne room.

As I stroll past the main armory, I notice a green light pulsing from under the door. Puzzled, I push the door to the armory. The walls of the room are bathed in the same green light flickering across the walls, the source of the luminosity a glass case in the corner. Confusion flickers across me as I see a case with two green blades, long, ever so slightly curved swords resting on a velvet green pillow. Next to the case lies an empty case with a dark blue lining inside. A memory tugs at me, one from my second day in the Void. I remember Zoe carrying