Searching: Book 3 (PJO/HoO FanFic)

4. Rough Start

L U K E

"Why you...." I swiftly moved in front of Percy trying to block him from the hunters arrows,"Luke get out of the way." Artemis said through gritted teeth, her eyes burning with rage.

"My lady, you don't really believe he did this, do you?" I asked.

"But I did..." Percy muttered with his head held down in shame.

"See! He admitted it! Now move before I shoot you, too." Artemis said, nearly yelling.

I put a hand on the hilt of my sword,"Honestly Artemis, must I remind you I'm a warrior of Chaos? Look, I know you're mad and upset, but killing him won't do much good."

She glared at me, arrow pointed straight at Percy. Then she slowly lowered her bow. Just as I thought she let it go, her bow quickly rose and she shot at Percy. My sword was out in a split second, and I cut the arrow in half, allowing both ends to fly off in different directions. She growled and stormed off, her hunters following leaving only Jackie staring at Percy intently.

She walked towards us slowly as the other campers began to leave, not without glaring at Percy first. I put my sword up in defense, but she simply put her hands up,"Look, I don't believe Percy did this." My eyebrows furrowed in confusion,"Why would Percy kill his own cousin? Thalia of all people. It doesn't make sense. Now look, I can't do much, but I will try to reason with Artemis. That's the most I can do, but I can't promise anything."

I smiled,"Thanks." She only nodded and ran to catch up with the others. Once everyone was gone, I turned to Percy. I sighed and bit my lip. His eyes screamed that he was as scared and horrified as me, which made me so confused.

"Percy...-" I choked in a whisper, unable to understand what's happening.

He looked away from me and to the left. I followed his gaze and saw smoke. In the tree where Thalia was, there was a hole where the bark was black and burned. I looked at Percy in confusion,"I did that..." He muttered.

My eyes widened slightly,"W-wait. You did that? Percy how? What do you remember?"

His bottom lip trembled and his voice was shaky as he said,"Everything." He met my eyes,"It was like I was trapped. I couldn't stop myself or-or say anything. It was terrible. Being stuck in my body while someone else controlled me." He pressing his palms to his eyes to try and stop the tears. I put my hand gently on his shoulder, but he flinched away from my touch,"Why are you here?" He said, angrily,"Why aren't you mad at me? Huh? You should be yelling at me and-and you should hurt me and not go on the quest with me, and-"

"Percy, stop being stupid." I said softly, crouching down to his level,"Of course I'm upset. Thalia's my best friend, practically my sister, but I'm not going to take it out on you. I don't believe you did this; at least, not intentionally. I know others would agree with me as well, plus, this won't stop me from going on the quest with you. I know somethings off here, and I'm going to get to the bottom of it." I took a deep breathe,"I promise, Percy, that I'm going to help you through this. I'll find out what really happened and make sure you don't get hurt for it. I'm going to protect you with my life, Perce. I swear on the River Styx." The thundering boom sealed my promise.

I stood up and held out my hand,"Come on. Let's get you cleaned up and in bed for tomorrow."

Slowly, he grabbed my hand with his clean hand and pulled himself up. I bent down to grab the sword, yet I frowned once it started to dissolve. Within a couple seconds, only the hilt was left. All the blood and the blade was gone. Not even a drop on the grass. I sighed, throwing the hilt down and walked out the woods.