𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐒 ! [percy jackson]¹

C H A P T E R ⟶ N I N E

S T A R   W A R S

C H A P T E R   N I N E

( golden gorgon )

⟶⭑🌣⭑⟵

          PERCY WAS NOT feeling the love.

Bad enough he'd been run out of Atlanta by evil sea gods. Then he had failed to stop a giant shrimp attack on the Argo II. Then the ichythyocentaurs, Chiron's brothers, hadn't even wanted to meet him.

After all that, they had arrived at the Pillars of Hercules and Percy had to stay aboard ship while Jason the Big Shot visited his half brother. Hercules, the most famous demigod of all time, and Percy didn't get to meet him either.

Okay, sure, from what Piper said afterward and from Aurora's own stories, Hercules was a jerk, but still . . . Percy was getting kind of tired of staying aboard ship and pacing the deck.

The open sea was supposed to be his territory. Percy was supposed to step up, take charge, and keep everybody safe. Instead, all the way across the Atlantic, he'd done pretty much nothing except make small talk with sharks and listen to Coach Hedge sing TV theme songs.

To make matters worse, Aurora had been a bit distant ever since they'd left Charleston for the open ocean. She would spend time with him, but it was like her head was somewhere else. Anytime he tried to have a conversation with her, especially during a time when her head was full to the brim, it would go a little something like this:

Percy: "Hey, are you okay?"

Aurora: "Wow, sounds cool."

Percy: "Okay . . . how have you been sleeping? Any nightmares recently?"

Aurora: "I completely agree with you."

Percy: "So, my hair is on fire."

Aurora: "Maybe later . . . WAIT, WHAT?"

At least she was easier to snap out of this state than Annabeth was. Poor Sarah was having a harder time trying to get Annabeth to eat or even leave her cabin these days. Annabeth spent more time in her cabin, looking over that map, than she spent in her cabin sleeping. But Sarah told him that she had it handled, so Percy allowed himself to pass his worries onto her and focus on his girlfriend.

He knew the reason why Aurora was being so distant and short with him sometimes. It didn't take a genius to figure it out. They were so close to Rome—her birthplace, the place her sister had died—and she was going through so much. But that was one of the challenges that came with dating a Roman legionnaire. Percy had learned from Lupa herself that emotions, if shown too much, could be dangerous. And Aurora was really taking that lesson to heart.