A Crown of Golden Leaves: A Percy Jackson Fanfiction

Capvt XXVII: The Infinity Symbol

Capvt XXVII: The Infinity Symbol

THEY left Tarentum after the sun broke over the cliffs and traveled west until the sun was halfway to high noon. The more Malcolm talked, the more he reminded Percy of Annabeth—though there were obvious differences. Like how he didn't point out the obvious or picked an argument with Percy.

He actually kind of missed arguing with her... Okay, so he missed arguing with her a lot more than he expected he would. She was one of the few people who could actually make a sound argument. Not that he would tell her that, since she would get a big head.

"How much further?" Jason asked again.

"I don't know," Malcolm replied. "I know we're close."

Percy rolled his eyes. "You're worst than a woman," he muttered under his breath. He pulled his sword off and tossed it to Jason, who caught it deftly. His friend stared at it for a moment, and Percy turned in a full circle, looking for a suitable tree with enough handholds and footholds to climb.

There. Satisfaction wormed its way from his stomach to his chest, like a warm, bubbly liquid. A huge tree—easily over a hundred years old—loomed above him, towering over the palms and trees that dropped needles and cones. Its trunk was red and its leaves were turning brown and yellow and a muted red, unlike the other trees back in Roma, which usually stayed green all the time. He walked over to it briskly, his strides sure and confident. The branches hung low and thick, so he jumped and hauled himself up.

"Zeus! Are you a monkey or what?!" Malcolm sounded surprised. Percy wondered what a monkey was. He had heard the name from somewhere... weren't they from that exotic place with the spices? India?

"Actually, I think he's a lizard."

Percy rolled his eyes as he reached up for a higher branch and hauled himself up. He hadn't done this in a few years, but his sense of balance had always been good and he didn't mind heights. Maybe he would have joined the circus if he hadn't been Heir Apparent.

"Is that even safe?"

"Not really. But if anyone can climb a tree and not get hurt, it's him. He's been climbing trees longer than I have known him—actually, I think he's been climbing them since he was seven or eight, according to Reyna."

"Three!" He corrected, unable to help himself. It annoyed him to no end when people got their facts wrong; it was like they didn't bother with properly researching the matter in question. He grunted as he slipped a little, but luckily, he had already caught the other branch. They were beginning to grow thinner, and they dipped with his weight which caused his heart to jump in his throat every time that happened. Tartarus, why did he never think things through half of the time when it came to his personal safety? It was his one, major flaw!

"Reyna?" Malcolm's voice drifted up to him, and he wondered how he was still able to hear them. He was probably at least half way in the air, though he didn't dare look down. He remembered how he and Reyna would rescue cats that climbed into trees. Those were the days, before Jason had entered their lives and his feelings for Rachel had been simple back then. Well, simpler. Things had never been simple with Rachel. It was one drama after the other with her, though she always had been there when it counted.

"...fiancé..."

"...praetor..."

Percy stopped trying to listen in on their conversation after that. Their voices were too faint and he had to concentrate fully on not slipping or breaking a branch so that he could get to the top of the tree. As soon as he got up, he would be able to see. Malcolm had said that there were black pillars, so he doubted he would miss the location they had to go. Surely, they were close to the spot by now.