Glory of Hera [On hold]

Chapter VIII

Chapter VIII: 3rd PoV
If you never leave me I'll never leave you.

I will never ever leave you.

Empty promises between Katie and Percy. Broken oaths with Ellen and Lou.

We'll be friends always.

Promise?

I promise.

Lies are told, words are spoken. But a promise said is often broken.

LineBreak

As he told Thalia the details of his latest walk in the woods, she interrupted him.

"Percy, I love you to death, but you have to stop. You keep pretending you're fine, but I know you. It's been three years. You need to talk to them. They're lost without you."

He shook his head. "They left me, they betrayed me!"

"Also, hearing about you walk the same path daily is getting repetitive."

Thalia spent the next twenty minutes trying to get him to talk to Lou, Katie, and Ellen.

"It's Thursday, you could invite them out to ice cream?"

He grumbled under his breath.

"Oh stop whining!"

A scream pierced through the warm summer air. It seemed out of place on such a perfect day.

Normally nobody would've paid attention, least of all Percy. Screams were heard every day at camp. When someone lost their footing on the climbing wall, if a Hermes kid pranked them, the possibilities were endless.

But Percy knew this scream.

Katie

He raced through camp until he saw her, staring down around twenty hellhounds.

Footsteps clattered over as two more campers ran over.

Naturally, they were Lou and Ellen.

It's odd, you can loose friends and never gain them back, but when you had a friendship as deep as the one the four of them had had, it's never truly gone.

As the four of them shakily drew their weapons it was almost like nothing had changed.

They worked flawlessly as a team. Like old times during the war games. Spinning and hacking, they mercilessly slayed the monsters until only a fine layer of dust remained.

After high fiving and congratulating each other they seemed to remember who they were with and turned away awkwardly.

Without looking back, each walked away.

Line Break

Katie cried herself to sleep that night. The day had reminded her how much she missed her friends. No, not her friends, her family.

A slight tap on her shoulder made her turn with a start. Ellen put a finger to her lips in a shushing motion and grabbed Katie's wrist. Careful not to wake any of her sisters or brothers up, Katie allowed herself to be dragged out of her cabin.

Ellen lead her through the cabins to Thalia's tree at the border of camp. Percy was leaning against the trunk, talking in a hushed tone to Lou.

When he saw the other two, Percy quickly stood up a beckoned the others to follow. He stepped over the camp borders and bounded off.

The others hurried to keep up, unsure where they were headed. He almost seemed to be going to the Empire State Building, but at the last moment he took a sharp right onto a street lined with shops and cafes.

He walked into a 24-Hour ice-cream parlor and took a seat in one of those faux-leather red booth chairs. The others filed in and took seats.

After ordering a chocolate shake, Percy laced his fingers together and put them on the linoleum table, therapist style.

He looked at them seriously before saying, "I bet you're wondering why I gathered you today. That's because, it's Thursday, baby!" He shouted the last words gleefully, drawing a stare from the waitress.

Lou checked his watch with a smirk. "Hate to break it to you Perce, but it's actually early Friday." The son of Hera shoved the dark-haired boy playfully.

"Shut it Lou."

Percy snapped his fingers, convincing the lady they had paid using the mist, and grabbed his shake before he walked out. "Let's take a walk, New York is beautiful in the morning."

He led them on a scenic route, providing them with a prime view of the trash-ridden waters of the Hudson.

After he stole a bite of her sundae, Katie noticed Percy hadn't ordered blue ice cream. "Why not a blue shake Perce?"

He shook his head as if he'd forgotten setting important, "I haven't eaten blue food since we last hung out. Huh, I honestly forgot all about it."

Percy said it kinda sadly, he looked up at the apartment building to their left. He had led them there mindlessly, but he hadn't seen his mother in years.

Forgetting the others were watching, he reached out an arm longingly. "Soon, I'll see you soon."

"You okay Percy?" Katie was looking at him worriedly.

"Yeah, I'm just thinki-" He paused and stared behind them. Their waitress from before stood there, brandishing the check like it was a knife, and in her other hand she held an actual knife. 

Percy knew which he preferred. As he watched her face flicker between a human one and a monster one, he knew what he had to do. "We gotta go guys! Run back to camp, I'll hold them off."

Lou pushed Ellen and Katie in the right direction and pulled out his spear. Without looking back, Katie grabbed Ellen's hand and sprinted to camp.

Once there they waited at the borders for their friends to arrive. Since Katie was taller, she climbed up into the lower branches of the pine tree to get a better view.

When her friends finally appeared, it was not an ideal sight.

One boy was stumbling up the hill, legs buckling under the weight of the other, who he carried on his shoulder.

"I'm so, so sorry." Percy murmured to Ellen as he set down her dead brother's body.