Toxic Secrets

Chapter .04 - Reunited With CHB

Chapter .04 - Reunited With CHB

The air had a slight breeze, rendering Stiles colder than he wished to be. He let it go because he's just too excited and full of anticipation to let it get to him.

All he's thinking is that in less than an hour he'll be able to see his family again. He realized he'd have to Iris Message the Sheriff later because he didn't get the chance to tell him what was happening or even ask if he'd be allowed to go. Stiles knows the answer would be yes regardless, but he still wants to be sure.

Blackjack made sure to do some swooping just to add some excitement. He often got distracted by the birds which reminded Stiles of how alike the pegasus and Percy really are. Both get distracted way too easily but then again, Stiles doesn't really have room to talk.

It takes 4 and a half hours to get from California to New York by plane but Stiles could already see the beginnings of New York on the horizon. With each passing minute, the shore was getting closer and closer which meant it was only a matter of minutes before he was reunited with his family again.

It was all he could do to just try and clear his mind—forget the past and the damage Kronos left behind, both physically and emotionally. The amount of casualties left behind was scarring, their parents may be gods but demigods aren't invincible.

Stiles could finally make out Long Island from Blackjack's back. He had never been so happy to see those orange shorts than he did at this moment. It helped to remind him that not everyone had been killed in their wars. Some people made it, lots of his friends pulled through.

Whether it be Giants, Titans, Monsters, Gods or even Kronos, they pulled through. His camp stayed together and fought their hardest. They're a team—unbreakable. Kronos may be back but Stiles knows that with every demigod trying to help they'll make it, just like they always do.

Blackjack flew over the training grounds, the cabins, and the Big House. The pegasus landed on the other side of the border at the top of Half-Blood Hill.

Stiles swiftly jumped off the back of the black stallion. He looked up towards the border where he noticed six demigods. Thalia was right about border control. Four of them—two Ares kids, one Hephaestus kid, and one Athena kid—were pacing back and forth, weapons in hand.

Two of them—Annabeth and Percy—were standing at the very entrance, Percy with riptide and Annabeth with her new and improved dagger which was a gift from her mother when she was asked to redesign Olympus.

"Stiles!?" Percy yelled, leaving his spot of border control to run up and embrace his cousin.

"Hey Perce," Stiles laughed, throwing an arm around the raven-haired son of Poseidon. "Thalia Iris Messaged me. Something about border issues and resident Drakons?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes and joined her boyfriend by Stiles. "They seem to be tougher than before. It's not that we can't kill them, it's just really hard to get close to them without almost getting spat at with venom or paralyzed by their eyes," she added and then looked down. "We need Nico to come back with information otherwise, we're going to be 100 steps behind Kronos—again," she added, looking back up, into Stiles' eyes with a hard stare.

"So we wait for Nico then?"

"It's the only idea we've got so far and at this point, we just need to protect the camp from the Drakons. There's only two and Clarisse has been training some of the year-round campers except for when she's on border control, like right now," Percy explained.