craving |PERCY JACKSON| [book 1] UNDER EDITING

XL

"PERCY..." GROVER BLINKED IN amazement as Percy walked back over to his friends, "That was so incredibly..."

"Terrifying," Annabeth finished

"Cool!" Grover corrected.

"It was stupid. That's what it was." Selena smiled before wrapping her arms around Percy, "I can't believe you're alive, Seaweed Brain."

"Did you guys feel that... Whatever it was?" Percy asked when Selena pulled away and they all nodded uneasily.

"Must've been the Furies overhead," Grover said.

But Percy wasn't so sure. Something had stopped Ares from killing him, and whatever could do that was a lot stronger than the Furies. He looked at Annabeth and Selena, and an understanding passed between them. He knew now what was in that pit, what had spoken from the entrance of Tartarus.

Percy reclaimed him backpack from Grover and looked inside. The master bolt was still there. Such a small thing to almost cause World War III, "We have to get back to New York," He claimed, "By tonight."

"That's impossible," Annabeth said, "unless we-"

"Fly," Selena gulped,

Annabeth stared at Percy, "Fly, like, in an airplane, which you were warned never to do lest Zeus strike you out of the sky, and carrying a weapon that has more destructive power than a nuclear bomb?"

"Yeah," Percy agreed, "Pretty much exactly like that. Come on."

It's funny how humans can wrap their mind around things and fit them into their version of reality. 

According to the L. A. News, the explosion at the Santa Monica beach had been caused when a crazy kidnapper fired a shotgun at a police car. He accidentally hit a gas main that had ruptured during the earthquake.

This crazy kidnapper (aka Ares) was the same man who had abducted Percy and three other adolescents in New York and brought them across the country on a ten-day odyssey of terror.

Poor little Percy Jackson wasn't an international criminal after all. He'd caused a commotion on that Greyhound bus in New Jersey trying to get away from his captor (and afterward, witnesses would even swear they had seen the leather-clad man on the bus-"Why didn't I remember him before?"). The crazy man had caused the explosion in the St. Louis Arch. After all, no kid could've done that. A concerned waitress in Denver had seen the man threatening his abductees outside her diner, gotten a friend to take a photo, and notified the police. Finally, brave Percy Jackson had stolen a gun from his captor in Los Angeles and battled him shotgun-to-rifle on the beach. Police had arrived just in time. But in the spectacular explosion, five police cars had been destroyed and the captor had fled. No fatalities had occurred. Percy Jackson and his friends were safely in police custody.

The reporters fed them this whole story. They just nodded and acted tearful and exhausted, and played victimized kids for the cameras.

"All I want," Percy said, choking back tears," is to see my loving stepfather again. Every time I saw him on TV, calling me a delinquent punk, I knew ... Somehow ... We would be okay. And I know he'll want to reward each and every person in this beautiful city of Los Angeles with a free major appliance from his store. Here's the phone number." The police and reporters were so moved that they passed around the hat and raised money for four tickets on the next plane to New York.

They knew there was no choice but to fly. Percy hoped Zeus would cut him some slack, considering the circumstances. But it was still hard to force himself on board the flight.

Takeoff was a nightmare. Every spot of turbulence was scarier than a Greek monster. Percy didn't unclench his hand from Selena's until they touched down safely at La Guardia. The local press was waiting for them outside security, but they managed to evade them thanks to Selena, who lured them away with her illusions, shouting, "They're over by the frozen yogurt! Come on!" then rejoined them at the baggage claim.

They split up at the taxi stand. Percy told Annabeth, Selena, and Grover to get back to Half-Blood Hill and let Chiron know what had happened. 

"But what if something happens?" Selena whispered, her arms wrapped around Percy, "What if you don't make it back?"

"That's why you guys need to get back. It's my fight to finish. I was accused as the lightning thief. I need to clear my name." Percy began to take off Selena's necklace but she stopped him,

"Keep it on. For good luck." She smiled before getting into the taxi with the others.

Once they reached Camp Half-Blood, the three went straight to Chiron after breaking through a crowd of campers cheering them on.

They told their story and how Ares had the bolt but a camper had stolen it. Once they had finished, they greeted the camp.

They were the first heroes to return alive to Half-Blood Hill since Luke, so of course, everybody treated them as if they'd won some reality-TV contest. 

Once Percy had returned, and according to camp tradition, they wore laurel wreaths to a big feast prepared in their honor, then led a procession down to the bonfire, where they got to burn the burial shrouds that their cabins had made for them in their absence.

Annabeth's shroud was so beautiful-gray silk with embroidered owls. Percy told her it seemed a shame not to bury her in it. She punched him and told him to shut up.

Although Selena was undecided, she still got a shroud made by the Hermes cabin. The silk was purple and there was a caduceus planted on it. Selena cried and hugged her friends in Cabin Eleven.

Being the son of Poseidon, Percy didn't have any cabin mates, so the Ares cabin had volunteered to make his shroud. They'd taken an old bedsheet and painted smiley faces with X'ed-out eyes around the border, and the word LOSER painted really big in the middle.

Percy enjoyed burning it.

As Apollo's cabin led the sing-along and passed out s'mores, Percy was surrounded by his old Hermes cabinmates, Annabeth's friends from Athena, and Grover's satyr buddies, who were admiring the brand-new searcher's license he'd received from the Council of Cloven Elders. The council had called Grover's performance on the quest 'Brave to the point of indigestion. Horns-and-whiskers above anything we have seen in the past.'

The only ones not in a party mood were Clarisse and her cabinmates, whose poisonous looks told Percy they'd never forgive him for disgracing their dad. But Percy was okay with that.

Even Dionysus's welcome-home speech wasn't enough to dampen their spirits. "Yes, yes, so the little brat didn't get himself killed and now he'll have an even bigger head. Well, huzzah for that. In other announcements, there will be no canoe races this Saturday..."

Selena smiled and looked around at her friends. For once, she finally felt at home.