Percy Jackson and The Fire Prince

Chapter 4: Infiltrating the Fire Nation

Sorry if this chapter is lazy, I was editing at twelve in the morning on five hours of sleep. I'll probably edit it more before I update on Ao3. (Tomorrow, hopefully)

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On the night after Aang was struck by lightning, Percy had a nightmare. Or what felt like a nightmare anyway. He saw Zuko on a boat, kissing one of the girls they had fought at Ba Sing Se. He could feel someone watching him, could hear unintelligible words, and he could sense the mockery that followed the words. 

It must have been Aphrodite, goddess of love, or Eros, her son. They knew what he had been denying--no, ignoring this whole time. Of course, they would know. It was basically their job to know. He turned away, gritting his teeth. He couldn't watch this. Not Zuko. 

He also knew he didn't have a chance in Tartarus (hell). Especially as he watched Zuko and the girl kiss passionately. When he woke, he found the others scattered around on the beach. They had just met up with Sokka and Katara's father, Hakoda, and the other water tribe warriors, and the Gaang had been giving him the cold shoulder as he struggled. 

When the Earth King decided to go off and travel, Percy went with him. They both disguised themselves as fire nation travelers. He gave the Gaang a few golden drachmas and explained how to contact him if they needed help; he had a good feeling it would work despite the different world. 

After they split up, he went traveling around with the Earth King for a short while. Eventually, the Earth King decided he wanted to experience life on his own and Percy agreed (traveling with a King was a little annoying tbh). Percy didn't know where he was going but he used Sokka's map to make sure he knew that he stayed far away from the Fire Nation as possible while he went. 

When Percy reached the end of the Earth Kingdom, he stood at the edge of a cliff overlooking the ocean and breathed in the salty sea air. He didn't even notice the little smile that crossed his face. Even though this version of the ocean wasn't ruled over by his father, there was always just something soothing about being near the ocean (or any large body of water, really). 

He looked down to where the waves crashed against the shore; the drop wasn't that high. Probably not so great for a normal person, but Percy was far from normal. He could probably do a lot more good helping out the fish in the ocean as he used to at Camp. Too bad Blackjack hadn't made the trip with him, they might have found another cow-fish hybrid that he could name Bessie #2 and save the world with again. He snorted at the thought. 

After another long sigh, he let himself slip from the edge of the cliff, hurtling into the churning waters below. 

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Zuko startled awake, yelling, "Percy!" He looked around and saw that he was just in his room in the Fire Nation. There was no cliff, no ocean, and no Percy to be seen. He ran his hand through his hair and tried to take some deep breaths. Percy wouldn't just jump off a cliff like that. He may be pretty reckless, but he wasn't suicidal. It must have just been a bad dream. Something he conjured up after feeling guilty about what he did in Ba Sing Se. 

That had to be it. 

Right?

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Well, Percy was fine. (Mostly.)

Eventually, he found himself spending long nights on the bottom of the ocean, wondering who even sent him here and for what purpose. He had gotten so caught up helping Zuko and then the Avatar that he didn't really have the time to slow down and ask the important questions.

He was probably on the right track since he had gotten a few dreams about the path he was on while he was traveling with Zuko. Dreams usually meant he was going the right way. When he started getting frustrated and confused, he decided to give up on thinking. People like Annabeth or Will were always better thinkers. Percy was more of a do-er. Like Jason. Brason. (heh)