Commander Alpha

Chapter 21

Percy's POV

As we trekked to the Big House, nervousness swelled inside of me.  Of course, Chiron was more a father figure to me than anyone, maybe even more than Paul.
As we approached the Big House in our orderly military formation, I could see Chiron pacing on the front porch.
"Chiron." I greeted respectfully, trying to disguise my voice a bit.  Chiron noticed this and his eyes narrowed slightly in distrust.
"Yes, Commander Alpha?"
"We have a few things to speak about with you.  May we come in?" I asked.
"Yes, of course.  Follow me, if you please."  Chiron led us into the meeting room. 
"First, we have deciphered most of the prophecy and know to which warrior each part speaks.  The first and last lines are the only ones you need to worry about.  The first line is obviously saying that the seven, minus Perseus Jackson, must fight Gaea." Chiron nodded.  I'd figured he'd realized as much.  "The last line is the one that concerns us the most."
"I agree." Chiron said.  "It gives no clue as to who the person is referring to is, what the unfair terran is, and what they must refrain from doing."
"Exactly.  Now onto the second order of business, Beta, Star, Suzuki, and I wish to reveal our identities to you.  We can also tell you about who the prophecy is talking about in each part." I said.  Some of the distrust, which had remained for the first part of our conversation, left his face.  Zoë stepped forward. 
"I only knew you slightly during my life." She said before pulling down her hood.  Chiron looked as though he'd suspected this.
"Ah, dear Zoë, it's been too long," he hugged her.  "I'm guessing that the hunters and Artemis-"
"-already know." Zoë finished. She walked to where the already revealed Warriors stood.  Chiron turned to the next figure in line.  Emma.
"I only knew you for a little bit," Emma started.  "But I still trusted you, and that's a hard thing to earn." I laughed, recognizing the truth in the statement.  Emma hadn't fully trusted any of us, besides maybe Bianca or Zoë, until about a hundred Chaos years ago.  Emma pushed her hood down.
"Emma!" He cried, and pulled her into an embrace.  "Your time here was truly too short."
"Tell me about it." Emma joined Zoë and the other Warriors off to the side.  Luke stepped forward.  He wrung his hands worriedly.  He put his hand to his hood, and hesitated.
"Before I do this, I just have to say," Luke's voice cracked.  "I'm sorry." He pulled down his hood.  Chiron froze.
"Luke!  M'boy!" He said gleefully. He pulled Luke into a hug, tighter than the one he'd given Zoë or Emma.  "We forgave you long ago."  Silent tears of relief rolled down Luke's cheeks. 
"Thank you." I could tell by his voice how much he truly meant it.  After a solid minute of hugging, Luke went to stand next to Zoë, making Silena snicker.  I would've laughed too if I wasn't about to pee myself from nervousness.  Luke and Zoë were so clueless about each other's feelings.  I sometimes wondered if Annabeth and I were like that too.  I hoped not, as they were horribly frustrating to be around.  I noticed that I had been zoning off, and that Chiron was staring at me with a mixture of hope and impatience.  He wiped the leftover tears from his eyes from his hug with Luke.
"Before I do this, I just want to say that you were more of a father for me than anyone else ever was, and I'll always respect and love you for it." Chiron's eyes welled up with tears before I even took down my hood.
"Percy," He grasped me so tightly that it felt like a hug Tyson would've given me after five years of steroids and working out 24/7.  Tyson, that was another person I had to catch up with.  "P-Percy," Chiron stuttered.  "I am so s-sorry about what I-I did.  If you'll o-only for-forgive me-"
"There's no need for me to forgive you.  It was not your fault, you were under the influence of the Mist." I comforted my old mentor. 
"B-but, I shouldn't hae be-believed-" I stopped Chiron with a glare.
"It was not your fault." I insisted, putting weight behind every word.  Chiron smiled at me and wiped away his tears for the second time.
"Now," He said, composing himself.  "You guys must catch me up on what you've been up to these past five years."