Percy Jackson, the Son of Olympus: The Sea of Monsters

| Chapter XXII || Unusual Development |

*August 31 XXXX*

***

Dinner was much louder than usual, as if the extra enthusiasm from the past few days of solemn silence had decided to all come out at once. It was nearly impossible to hear yourself above the noise, much less speak to a friend. That in turn made everyone yell louder in hopes of being heard, and the boisterousness rose steadily.

Percy didn't mind. He had Artemis on one side of him and Grover on the other. Annabeth was across from him, and of course, Tyson and Chiron were at the table as well. Chiron was on the end of the table – the head table was higher for his standing comfort.

Percy smiled at the two girls. On the outside, he was obliviously happy, but within, Percy was sweating. Ever since meeting Annabeth, confusion had reigned over his mind. Artemis and he had always had that special connection – for years, in fact – but she had sworn off all men. He was already an exemption for just being her friend. And now, with Annabeth tossed into the mix, he had no idea what to think. He did, of course, favour one over the other, but the courage to tell them whom he chose was lost to him. What if he hurt their feelings? What if they didn't agree? He – unlike popular opinion – did notice things that were going on around him and had indeed noticed that the two girls already didn't like each other. He felt torn between the two of them, and with them physically and emotionally fighting over him didn't help matters.

He didn't let out a groan, nor did he make any indication about what had him lost in thought, but Percy had a feeling that Artemis knew. She always was great at reading him; all she had to do was take his hand in hers beneath the table and give it a comforting squeeze.

He didn't have the chance to enjoy it, however, as just at that moment, a camper ran into the dining pavilion, practically jumping up the four steps and landing feet first on the marble floor with a thud. The landing didn't even stop him as he ran straight up to Chiron, yelling at the top of his lungs. It was barely noticed over the noise, but thankfully, his running had caught some attention, and soon, silence fell upon the campers.

"Chiron! Chiron! Come quick! It's the tree!" he cried. As soon as his message was delivered, he spun on his heel and darted back the way he came without another word.

All at once, the dining pavilion came to life again. Benches scraped at the floor with ear-ripping screeches as campers stood, panic arising on their faces. They jumped over their seats, tripping and shoving as they pushed their way out of the pavilion and toward Half-Blood Hill.

Percy and his friends were not far behind. A small part of him – a very small part – was annoyed that he hadn't been able to finish his food or find out what Artemis was going to say to him – she was about to speak when the camper had interrupted. That part was drowned out by his overwhelming worry. What had happened to the tree? They'd just brought the Fleece back, how could it have all gone so wrong so fast? Or...had something gone wrong? Had it just been a strange development? Not right or wrong? Percy didn't know, and he wouldn't find out anything if he didn't get there, so he shook himself out of his thoughts and focused on not getting trampled.

Artemis' hand was still in his, and naturally, she was the one dragging him along. Her arm disappeared between bodies of campers, and though he couldn't see her, he fell the steady pull of her hand in his and just decided it would be best to follow, despite the difficultly of keeping their hands connected in the suffocating crowd around them.

Then again, it'd only been minutes since the surge began, and he'd already lost Tyson, Grover and Annabeth. Chiron was only visible because the campers parted for him like the Red Sea, seeing as he towered over them all with his superior height. Goes to show you that having the bottom half of a horse has its advantages.

Finally, the ground began to incline, and Percy made it to the Hill. Artemis continued pulling him until they were in the front, causing many campers to protest, but their words caught in their throats as soon as they realized who they'd been about to badger.

When he saw what was going on, Percy froze. The crowd had parted, revealing the tree, and at first, he had no idea what was wrong., With his neck stretched all the way back to stare at it on the way there, he'd puzzled over what could possibly be wrong with the tall, strong, once again needle-clad tree, but now, it was clear.

The rest of the tree, from the tip to eye level, was fine. It was the base – the roots – that had the questionable development.

It was a girl.

Laying in the roots, half covered in dirt and wood, was a girl. How had she gotten there? Percy didn't know. He had a few guesses as to who she was, but they all seemed far too bizarre, despite him having been raised by the gods on Olympus itself. Yeah, it seemed crazy, that something could be weird even for him, but as far as he knew, nothing like this had ever happened before.

Never before had a dying girl been turned into a tree by her father, then poisoned by her best friend, then healed by a magical fleece and in turn, restored to live as a separate entity from the tree.

Percy had to do a double-take on his own thoughts. It seemed so complicated – impossible even – yet here it was, right before his very eyes. He pushed forward and knelt beside her, quickly pulling at the roots as they came loose. He brushed dirt off her stomach and pulled her out with Artemis' help, then sat her up, supporting her head as she groaned, eyes rolling under their lids.

"Hey," he said softly, "Hey. You in there?"

Her eyes fluttered but didn't open.

"It's okay," he kept his voice soft; there was no need to shout at her. "You gotta wake up, alright? We need to know you're okay."

This time, her eyes opened. They were hazy, almost like a window, or a pair of glasses covered in raindrops. Percy saw past that, however, and awe filled his chest at the deep, pure blue that they were. Electric blue, almost. He recognized those eyes anywhere. She was a daughter of Zeus to be sure.

"Thalia?" he asked.

He could remember Zeus speaking highly of her when he was a child. His uncle had only ever told him, and he had to keep quiet because Thalia, like Percy himself, shouldn't have been born. When Percy found out, he knew that was why Zeus had been easier on Poseidon about his own birth. Even from a young age, Percy knew that he shouldn't have been born, but after finding out about his cousin, he knew he didn't have to worry. Thalia was his saving grace as a child.

(Part of him still wondered why she hadn't been taken to Olympus as well.)

"Yeah?" Thalia asked, breaking Percy out of his inner musings of childhood.

"Thalia, are you alright?"

"I...I think so. Who are you?"

Percy smiled. He'd only met her once, so obviously she wouldn't remember him.

"I'm Percy. You may not recognize me because I'm older; we only met once. You were asleep for a long time, and now you're back. We found the Golden Fleece and it brought you back."

Thalia still looked confused, but she smiled. "Being a tree is tough," she said, before her eyes rolled back in her head once more.

Percy couldn't help it: he let out a laugh. A shrill, breathy laugh that at any other time – he'd have been extremely embarrassed, but right now it didn't matter. Thalia was alive again. The tree was healed, still standing, and Thalia was alive.

Everything would be alright from now on.

Unless...

Percy stopped, thoughts catching up to him. Unless that had been their plan all along...

***

Published: Tuesday, October 2, 2018

~CSP2708~