The Winged Warrior

Chapter 8

Percy's POV

I carried Lexi into the infirmary and set her down on a bed. I knew she'd be alright. She'd been through worse than this.

When the rest of us returned to the big house, we found the meeting room in chaos. (no pun intended) People were shouting and screaming at each other, throwing things across the room.

Grover was playing his reed pipes, causing thick roots to shoot up and wrap themselves around the legs of a furious Clarisse, who was struggling to reach Nyssa, who had apparently set a mechanical spider on her. Butch was throwing skittles at Nicolas, Alex (a new son of Zeus) was shooting sparks at people and Connor Stoll was slipping his hands into people's pockets. His brother Travis was just sitting in the corner, staring at the ceiling.

"Hey!" I shouted across the room, but no one paid the slightest bit of attention.

Will, having spotted my futile attempts, put two fingers to his mouth and blew. A shrill, high, piercing note bounced around the room, rattling everyone's ears and causing many to clamp their arms around their heads to block the terrible noise.

"Thank you." I said calmly, and all eyes turned to me. "What the hell is going on? We left you for, what, fifteen minutes, and when we come back it looks like Tartarus in here. What's this about?"

Will responded immediately before anyone else could say anything.

"We were arguing about why Nicolas could get into a monsters only shop. I personally think the rumours are true. Nicolas is a son of Kronos."

This simple sentence started off another wave of noise, until Luke yelled, "SHUT UP!"

"He is not a son of Kronos!" said Nyssa angrily, looking close to tears. At first I wondered why she was backing him up, but then I remembered the Hephaestus cabin had been subject to many rumours and lies over the years, and I could tell Nyssa didn't want that to happen to anyone else. I respected that, but people had to know.

But how to tell them without revealing my identity?

"I know you don't want any prejudice, Nyssa, and I understand that." She nodded, staring at her laces.

"I know the Hephaestus cabin has been through a lot recently, and I realize you don't want that to happen to anyone else, however I can confirm these rumours to be true. Yes, Nicolas is a son of Kronos, but that doesn't mean he's evil or anything."

I turned to Nicolas, who was looking at me in shock.

"You... don't think I'm evil? After all I did?"

"No. I think you were trying to win some attention from your father. Many of us know how that feels. I spent a long time trying to impress my dad, and so did Alpha and Omega, but the truth is, if they're fighting for the wrong cause, it's not compulsory for you to be on that side too. You have time to turn it around."

Nicolas' face was grateful, but a little confused.

"Why are you trusting me? I heard from Annabeth that you knew... you knew Percy Jackson. Don't you know what I did to him?"

"I know exactly what you did to him. But I am prepared to give you a second chance, and I'd recommend you take it, and turn over a new leaf before it's too late." I said.

I didn't know why I was giving Nicolas my forgiveness. All I knew was that Luke and Nico were right when they said I had to move on from my old pain. Nicolas could become a very talented fighter, after all he didn't have any mortal blood at all, he was half god half titan.

And just because he was the son of Kronos didn't make him automatically horrible. That was prejudice, and I was against prejudice.

I was shaken from my thoughts with a shocking jolt as I realized Nicolas was hugging me. His arms were around my middle and it was then that I realized how frail he was. He had been four years younger than me before we became immortal, and he was quite short.