𝐋𝐎𝐍𝐆 𝐋𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐄𝐍‚ percy jackson

chapter four

12.15.2007

CHAPTER FOUR: Gods, Percy is Annoying

Does he realise not everybody worships the ground he walks on? Does he realise how privileged  he is? Does he realise how unfair it is that he gets to go on quest after quest while the rest of us are just stuck here?

Probably not. He is an idiot, after all. 

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A LOT OF THE TIME, PERCY JACKSON WAS CONFUSED. Like, most of the time. He remembers when he was twelve he was thrown into a world of gods and monsters, and heaven forbid ─ well, Olympus forbid? ─ someone actually explained anything to him.

Ever since that fateful day when he accidentally vaporised his pre-algebra teacher, Percy had had to navigate this new world and figure many things out on his own. The most recent puzzle in his life, it seemed, was why Diana King hated him so much.

He'd never spoken to her before their mission at Westover Hall. (To be completely honest, he was still unsure why she even came to the mission ─ he guessed Thalia was treating it like a 'bring a friend to work day'). When he'd first arrived at Camp, he'd been curious; he knew the basics of the Greek myths, and he knew Hera had never had any demigod children before. How could Diana exist?

But Annabeth and the other campers had quickly warned him to steer clear of her. "It's better to be on Hera's bad side than on Zeus's," Annabeth had warned him. "Plus, you're Poseidon's kid. And Zeus thinks you stole from him. He already hates you. Don't make it worse."

And so Percy had taken to avoiding the girl. It wasn't a difficult task ─ she mostly kept to herself. He had so much other stuff going on anyways, with the quests and missions and everything.

So he was quite confused when Diana spent the entirety of the mission sending him glares and aggressive comments. He couldn't remember ever wronging her, or saying something that could offend her, or interacting with her in any way, really. The girl was a mystery.

But right now, she was just a girl, who had been blamed, by a god, for something that was not her fault. She might not be the friendliest person, but she didn't deserve humiliation at the hands of Apollo. Percy knew how she felt, what it was like being targeted due to parentage.

As Diana stormed out of the bus, Percy scrambled to chase after her. The other passengers were still catching their breath, clutching their chests or clutching each other. Nico di Angelo was gripping the back of Percy's chair so hard he thought the boy's knuckles might break. Even Apollo was still regaining his composure.

The god stood tall, brushing his hands on his shorts. He opened his mouth, probably to deliver some stupid haiku, but Percy moved past him and through the bus door before he could say anything.

"Diana!" He called. Gods, that girl was fast. She was already miles ahead of him, trudging purposefully through the snow. She didn't look back when he yelled.

Percy broke into a run. It was difficult, running through the snow, and he almost slipped and embarrassingly large number of times, but eventually he caught up to Diana's side.

"Hey. Diana," he panted. Diana stopped in her tracks, and finally turned to face him.

"What do you want?" She crossed her arms over her chest impatiently. It was now that Percy realised he had no idea what he wanted to say.