The Moon's Shine (PJO)

Chapter 18

Percy slunk into his seat at the dining pavilion. His ears were deafened by the chattering of the other demigods present, but he could still clearly hear his plate clatter onto the table.

The excitement of finding a plan had died out minutes past. Sure, he had a concept, but how would he execute it? He didn't need regular people; he needed people Artemis would cherish for the rest of her life.

"Why the long face?" Nico Di Angelo asked Percy as he slid in beside Percy.

Nico was a powerful son of Hades. Despite their rough start, Percy and Nico had gone through the dangerous quest of saving Olympus from Gaea which had pulled them together like brothers.

The dining pavilion tables were set up with known immortal hostilities in mind. Naturally, the Poseidon and Hades tables were on opposite sides to keep the peace. Still, Percy wasn't surprised that Nico had broken the rules.

Everywhere he looked, demigods born from different immortals were dining together. There were simply too many rule-breakers to contain.

"You're one to talk," Percy said broodingly, stabbing at his pasta with a fork. "Mr. Longest-long-face-in-the-universe-that-it-reaches-the-Underworld."

"Maybe so," Nico pushed back,"but you haven't been helping that, have you?"

The mood immediately became tense.

Percy winced. He felt terrible. "Look, Nico. I'm sorry—"

Nico held up a hand. "Save it. It's way too late." He took a bite of his sandwich—which was overflowing with so much lettuce that Percy doubted he tasted the bread. "Let's just move on to the present now."

"I won't forget to say goodbye this time," Percy promised. "But I won't forget about last time. I will find a way to make it up to you."

Now I've got TWO impossible promises to take care of. Wonderful, Percy thought sarcastically. May Zeus strike me down right now.

"How about you start by telling me what's troubling you?" Nico asked. He pointed at Percy's pasta, which now looked like it'd been repeatedly shot at by a machine gun.

Still, Percy didn't stop stabbing the food with his knife. "Nothing's wrong."

Nico gave him a pointed stare. "Are you seriously lying to me right now? Your concerned brother?"

"No," Percy lied.

"I won't judge!" Nico sighed when Percy stubbornly remained quiet. "Fine. You gave me no choice. It's time to start guessing."

"No!" Percy exclaimed, pushing his plate away and jumping up. "Anything but that!"

His sudden shout startled everyone in the pavilion. All side conversations went quiet, and a hundred heads swiveled towards the Poseidon table.

"Nice job," Nico said sarcastically as Percy dropped into his seat with flaming cheeks. "Now everyone's going to hear your secrets."

"They're not secrets," Percy muttered, his head looking down at the table. All around, the dining pavilion was swallowed into conversation again—but Percy caught a few demigods sneaking glances at their table. "They're just preposterous lies your dirty mind came up with to make my ears bleed."

"Ah, but they don't know that. There's simply no evidence to prove that, when you last swung by Atlantis, you didn't see your two-hundred-thousand-year-old long-lost cousin and immediately profess your love to her—when she was in her sixty-year-old form."

Snap!

Percy opened his fist and the two parts of his broken fork clattered onto the table. 

"Oh," Nico said quietly. "Something happened in your romantic life. Is . . . is that why you came back?"

Percy didn't respond. Instead, he swung his gaze to the right—towards the horizon. 

The moon was out. The upper half of the planet shone with vengeance, lighting up the land below it. Meanwhile, the lower portion was hidden by the silhouette of the forest—a jagged, dark green landscape that looked beautiful and dangerous.

Percy blinked. A tear escaped his eye and traced a path down his cheek. It followed the curve of his mouth to the tip of his chin. The demigod didn't react as the water droplet dove toward the ground. It didn't want him, just like the others.

He didn't expect an outstretched hand to catch it. 

"You don't have to bear this yourself." Nico examined the water on his hand. "When I was caught in the love triangle with you and Annabeth . . . keeping all my emotions to myself made me bitter. It made me almost lose you two entirely . . ." The lieutenant of death turned away, disturbed by the memories.

Percy blinked one more time and then pasted a forced smile on his face. He slung an arm around Nico. "I doubt that; it's me we're talking about. I thought you liked Annabeth!"

Nico let out a saddened chuckle. "Your denseness saved all of us. But I'm not sure it's going to do it again."

"Look, Nico. I-I'm fine." He winced at the stutter in his voice. "There are some . . . things happening in my life. I appreciate your offer, but I don't want to drag anyone into my business . . ."

"You got framed, didn't you?" Nico asked in a knowing tone.

How the heck—

Percy wheeled on his best friend. "How do you know that?! Who told you?"

"You gave me the pieces, I just put them together." Nice gestured for him to eat his food. "Point is, you can't un-frame yourself without people on your side. Lucky for you, I'm on your side. So let me help."

Percy hesitated—and then his shoulders slumped. "Fine. Here's the deal: something big happened, and I lost someone I loved. . ."

"That's all the backstory you're going to give?!" Nico asked incredulously. "You think I'm Sherlock? Come on! At least give me a name!"

". . . I have a plan to get them back," Percy continued, ignoring the interruption, "but it involves recruiting several people. Several warriors."

Nico thought quietly for a moment. "How soon do you need them?"

"As soon as you can procure them. Ideally, the end of next week."

"And what are your requirements for a warrior? Bow or sword wielding?"

"I'll do the vetting myself. Just shooing interested candidates my way is more than enough." Percy shot Nico a thankful look.

"When did I say I would do this alone?" Nico had a smile on his face when he gestured towards the forest to their right. "What do you say? Hang out like old times while looking for suitable warriors?"

A laugh slipped out of Percy's mouth. He hasn't changed at all.