The Last Boeotian (Percy Jackson)

Chapter 19: I Have 99 Problems And My Anxiety Is All Of Them

I told Percy and Grover and Annabeth what Chiron had told me, making sure my voice was as low as possible and leaving out the part about Adrianne. The three listened intently, paying attention to every words I said as I told them that Chiron wanted them to go with me to complete this so-called 'quest.'

"That's a pretty big job," Grover declared quietly. "And Hermes might not be so willing to help if he's suspicious."

"Yeah, but don't you think he'd trust us," Percy replied, gesturing with his fork, "He's met us, he should know we wouldn't do anything to start a war."

"Nobody knows who you can trust anymore," Annabeth reminded him, "He probably won't know. For all we know, he could be blaming us."

"Why would he blame us?" I asked.

"A few years ago, we met Hermes to talk to him about his son. He asked that we find his son, Luke, and tell him that Hermes was sorry for what he'd done because Luke was trying to start another war so the demigods could take over, and the Titans. He could blame us either because we didn't kill Luke and he might have come back, or think that we decided to agree with Luke and start up a war."

"Oh," I breathed out. "I guess we can only hope he doesn't."

"Yeah," Percy agreed.

"So when are we supposed to leave for this thing," Grover asked with a mouthful of food.

They all seemed so casual about it. Oh, just another quest so the world doesn't blow up, just another chance at being killed by a god, what's for lunch? I was shaking in my seat when Chiron talked to me about what he wanted me to do.

"Uhm," I gazed down at my untouched food hesitantly as I realized I must be the only one who was scared out of their skin of what might happen. "I dunno exactly. Chiron said he would summon us in a few days once we've recovered."

"So I guess that gives us enough time to prepare ourselves," Annabeth stated as she stabbed another piece of pasta with her fork. The tinking of the metal on the plate made me tense up more with anxiety.

"Yeah," I said quietly. "I'm just... Gonna head back to the cabin for now."

I stood up with my plate of food in my hands, wincing as my head pounded more with each movement. "You okay?"

"Yeah," I replied to Percy. "I think I'm probably just gonna try to get some sleep."

I left the group, walking past the rest of the tables to make my way over to Poseidon's cabin. My chest was still burning and pushing down on me, and my head was raging with anxiety.

Am I the only one who's scared for this?

I pushed past the curtains slowly, sitting on my bed. The mattress sunk under my weight, and I gave an almost strained sigh as I shut my eyes and pressed my face into my hands. They're all ready for this, and I'm not.

I hit my back on the mattress with a small thump, and I stared at the wood ceiling above me with burning eyes. The others weren't even the slightest bit scared, but I was terrified. We might not fix this, everything might all end up in a war, anyway. The Half-Blood Camp could be destroyed, too, just like Euboea. It would all be my fault, I wouldn't have done everything I should have to fix everything, even though I don't even know what I was supposed to do.

There were two soft knocks outside. "Hey," a quiet voice said. "Everything all right?"

I looked up at Percy, who was just barely leaning through the doorway, "Yeah," I mumbled, "Just tired."

I heard Percy's nearly-silent steps come towards me. His weight sank down on the foot of the mattress as he sat down near me, crossing his legs. "It's okay to be scared for your first quest."

"I'm not scared," I lied as I sat up slowly.

"We were all scared for our first quest," Percy shrugged, "Heck, I'm still scared. Man, I'm terrified. We've just gotten used to hiding it. It's okay to be scared about what's gonna happen."

I looked down at my lap, nodding slightly. "I just... Don't wanna screw up."

"You won't," Percy assured me, "We'll be there to help you. You can only do your best and hope it works out, y'know?"

"Yeah."