AU REVOIR!² percy jackson

002

❛002❜

THE NEXT MORNING there was a lot of excitement at breakfast.

apparently around three in the morning an aethiopian drakon had been spotted at the borders of camp. ivy had been so exhausted she slept right through the noise. the magical boundaries had kept the monster out, but it prowled the hills, looking for weak spots in our defenses, and it didn't seem anxious to go away until lee fletcher from apollo's cabin led a couple of his siblings in pursuit. after a few dozen arrows lodged in the chinks of the drakon's armour, it got the message and withdrew.

"it's still out there," lee warned them during announcements. "twenty arrows in its hide, and we just made it mad. the thing was ten meters long and bright green. Its eyes –" he shuddered.

"you did well, lee." chiron patted him on the shoulder. "everyone stay alert, but stay calm. this has happened before."

"aye," quintus said from the head table. "and it will happen again. more and more frequently."

the campers murmured among themselves.

everyone knew the rumors: luke and his army of monsters were planning an invasion of the camp. most of them expected it to happen this summer, but no one knew how or when. it didn't help that our attendance was down. they only had about eighty campers. three years ago, there had been more than a hundred. some had died. some had joined luke. some had just disappeared.

"this is a good reason for new war games," quintus continued, a glint in his eyes. "we'll see how you all do with that tonight."

"yes..." chiron said. "well, enough announcements. let us bless this meal and eat." he raised his goblet. "to the gods!"

they all raised their glasses and repeated the blessing.

ivy grabbed her plate along with her siblings to the bronze brazier and scraped a portion of their food into the flames. she got extra pretty chocolate covered strawberries.

"aphrodite," ivy said. then she whispered, "help me with nico, and luke, and grover's problem..."

there was so much to worry about ivy could have stood there all morning, but she headed back to her table.

once everyone was eating, ivy noticed chiron and grover walking over percy's table. grover was bleary-eyed. his shirt was inside out. he slid his plate onto the table and slumped next to percy.

tyson shifted uncomfortably. he lumbered off, leaving his breakfast half eaten.

ivy looked towards annabeth at the athena table, raising an eyebrow. the blonde's eyes flickered between her and the poseidon table. she nodded.

standing up from her table and abandoning her food, ivy went over the percy's table. annabeth mirrored her actions.

"i brought grover over," the brunette heard chiron say as she neared them. "because i thought you two might want to, ah, discuss matters. now, if you'll excuse me, i have some Iris-messages to send. i'll see you later in the day." he gave grover a meaningful look, then trotted out of the pavilion.

"what's he talking about?" percy asked grover.

grover chewed his eggs. "he wants you to convince me," he mumbled.

ivy slid next to percy, annabeth sitting in front of them.

"i can tell you what it's about," the daughter of aphrodite said. "the labyrinth."