daylight | percy jackson

kid(napping)

˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

BOOK THREE

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.

❝ It's in the past. You're here now. ❞

COMPARED TO Mount Olympus, Manhattan was quiet. Friday before Christmas, but it was early in the morning, and hardly anyone was on Fifth Avenue. Argus, the many-eyed security chief, picked up Annabeth, Grover, Aria, Sam, and a still fuming Percy at the Empire State Building and ferried them back to camp through a light snowstorm. The Long Island Expressway was almost deserted.

As the group trudged back up Half-Blood Hill to the pine tree where the Golden Fleece glittered, Aria half expected to see Thalia there, waiting for them. But she wasn't. She was long gone with Artemis and the rest of the Hunters, off on their next adventure.

Chiron greeted them at the Big House with hot chocolate and toasted cheese sandwiches. Grover went off with his satyr friends to spread the word about our strange encounter with the magic of Pan. Within an hour, the satyrs were all running around agitated, asking where the nearest espresso bar was.

Annabeth, Percy and Aria sat with Chiron and some of the other senior campers – Beckendorf, Silena Beauregard and the Stoll brothers. Even Clarisse from the Ares cabin was there, back from her secretive scouting mission. Aria knew she must've had a difficult quest, because she didn't even try to pulverise Percy. She had a new scar on her chin, and her curly brown hair had been cut short and ragged, like someone had attacked it with a pair of safety scissors.

"I got news," she mumbled uneasily. "Bad news."

"I'll fill you in later," Chiron said with forced cheerfulness. "The important thing is you have prevailed. And you saved Annabeth!"

Annabeth smiled at Aria and Percy gratefully. Aria returned the action, but Percy grimaced.

"Luke is alive," he said. "Annabeth was right."

Annabeth sat up. "How do you know?"

Percy told them what his dad had said. 

"Well." Annabeth shifted uncomfortably in her chair. "If the final battle does come when Percy is seventeen, at least we have two more years to figure something out."

Aria had a feeling that when she said 'figure something out', she meant 'get Luke to change his ways'. The thought irked her. 

Chiron's expression was gloomy. Sitting by the fire in his wheelchair, he looked really old. Not that Aria thought he was particularly young, but he looked more...aged. Like the impending weight of the war had caused him an excessive amount of wrinkles. 

"Two years may seem like a long time," he said. "But it is the blink of an eye. I still hope you are not the child of the prophecy, Percy. But, if you are, then the second Titan war is almost upon us. Kronos's first strike will be here."

"How do you know?" Percy asked. "Why would he care about camp?"

"Because the gods use heroes as their tools," Chiron said simply. "Destroy the tools, and the gods will be crippled. Luke's forces will come here. Mortal, demigod, monstrous... We must be prepared. Clarisse's news may give us a clue as to how they will attack, but –"

There was a knock on the door, and Nico di Angelo came huffing into the parlour, his cheeks bright red from the cold.

He was smiling, but he looked around anxiously. "Hey! Where's... where's my sister?"

Dead silence. Aria stared at Chiron. Why had he not been told? And then she realised why. They'd been waiting for them to appear, to tell Nico in person.

"Hey, Nico." Percy got up from his chair. "Let's take a walk, okay? We need to talk."

As Aria watched Percy talk to Nico from the trees, she felt the shadow of a person beside her.

"Hey." 

It was Sam.

She smiled warmly, turning her back to the arguing duo, Nico's screams becoming unbearable to watch. 

"Hey," she replied, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "What's up?"

"I wanted to talk to you," the boy said, leading her further into the trees, the sky now barely visible.

Aria nodded. "Yeah. You start, I'll add in my sarcastic comments later."

The son of Hermes chuckled, but the sound was hollow, like he wasn't truly happy.

They ended up near a rock and Sam beckoned to it, ushering her to take a seat. She happily complied, sitting down on the mossy surface with ease. 

"I'm really sorry," Sam said. His eyes were murky, and his mouth was twisted. 

"It's okay," Aria assured, giving him a hopeful smile. "It's in the past. You're here now."

Sam shook his head. "No. I'm sorry for what I'm about to do now."

Before she could react, a sudden impact rocked Aria's world, a blinding pain exploding behind her eyes as darkness enveloped her. As she crumpled to the ground, betrayed by the very person she once trusted, the final blow fell, and the world faded into oblivion.

camp notes!!

clap IF you're suprised 

ik there's crickets rn

yay dark percy!!!

but booo sam 

fuck dat hoe 

- gracie