WORLDS BEYOND ( pjo )

𝐢𝐢: war inside my head

It was odd, the feeling he had. It wasn't envy or desperation, things he was familiar with. It was like a tug in his gut telling him he was meant to go with them. Of course, he had his personal interests in mind, but he could feel that something bigger was giving him incentive to leave with them on the quest.

He just knew that he was meant to go. Despite all his efforts, they were all for naught and it was decided he wouldn't be going.

Chiron sighed. "The quest is for Artemis. The Hunters should be allowed to approve their companions."

Percy took his seat, his ears ringing. He could feel the sympathetic looks others were giving him but in that moment, all he could detect was pity. He hated it.

Chiron swept over the group with an unreadable glance before settling back onto Zoë. "You do realise what the lines of the prophecy intend, do you not?"

Zoë turned a shade paler, but nodded sternly anyway. Percy looked between the two, decipher what the hell they were talking about.

"The daughter of Morpheus," she said.

Mor-what?

Percy wasn't dumb, contrary to popular belief. He was actually quite smart and he could figure things out, having been given practice questions on it since he was twelve and everyone refused to tell him anything in favour of just brushing it aside as him being an idiot.

With the tone they used, he could tell it meant something very serious, even if he had no idea what that very serious something was.

Percy nudged Grover with his foot. "Who's Morpheus?"

Grover's beard seemed to tremble and his eyes looked like they were about to turn into slits any second now. "Morpheus, minor god, God of Dreams. Definitely not a god you wanna mess with."

Then it clicked. The terrifying, nightmarish look that reflected in the eyes of the girl from the Big House. The way she seemed to be having a bad dream, the way she was asleep, the coldness he could feel, the girl of visions. It clicked.

Percy could feel his face contort into realisation. He put his hands on the table, standing up again. "She can't go!"

Chiron looked stupefied for a moment, not expecting the sudden intrusion of the conversation. Zoë looked as murderous as ever.

He could tell the others were glancing at him in shock while Percy, himself, was also surprised by his actions. He didn't know why he felt so strongly about this, a girl he didn't even know.

Regardless, he forged on, "She just woke up! You can't just toss her out into a quest as soon as she gets up!"

"Now, Percy," Chiron said, raising his hands in a placating gesture. "It was in the prophecy, we cannot avoid it."

He hated it because it was true. He knew she was supposed to go, too. That was the worst thing about it all.

Thalia stood up, her face authoritative and fully business. "Grover and I can help. We'll show her the ropes and half-blood life."

Even though she was looking directly at Chiron, Percy could tell she was saying it so it would calm his nerves. It was a sweet gesture, but it did not, in fact, calm his nerves.

"Or she can choose to be a hunter," said Zoë with a snide glance at Thalia, her tone laced with the tiniest bit of challenge.

Thalia rolled her eyes, muttering profanities under her breath. Settling back down on her chair, her eyes flittered around the room, stopping for a moment on Percy's.

Percy couldn't detect anything from the unreadable glint in her eye, but the tone of voice from before was enough to convince him she would take care of her. She looked away before he could read into it any further.