Changing the Future

Chapter 22

After enduring Tantalus' horrible story about how he was punished for feeding his children to the gods and a reminder about curfew, I snuck out to the beach. Sue me for wanting to get away from the psycho, but I really wanted to clear my head before the mess I was about to get myself into.

I sat down on the cooled sand, the waves only spraying me with their mist as a gentle breeze blew. Gods, I wished I lived by a beach in my old home. I would've spent my whole day there with a bunch of books and be perfectly content.

There was a full moon shining in the sky, casting its silver glow across the water, creating the surface of the ocean to shimmer as waves rolled onto the shore. In the distance, I could hear the dryads laughing as they chased owls through the forest, something I didn't think Athena would be too keen on.

I fiddled with my bracelet, which helped calm me down. I'd been dreading this moment for a while now, especially after my last encounter with the messenger god. We were still friends, as far as I knew, but we were currently in the stage where we needed to stay away from each other, or we wouldn't be friends anymore.

To my surprise, even after the harsher curfew restrictions, none of the harpies had found me yet. I wasn't complaining, mindlessly drawing doodles in the sand with my finger before the waves would wash them away.

Eventually, after what felt like an hour, I saw Percy walk onto the beach with a red and white checkered blanket and a six-pack of Cokes. He noticed me and splayed out his blanket, patting the spot next to him.

I took a seat next to Percy, declining the Coke he offered me. Percy shrugged and popped the tab on his can, sipping at the soda in the same way someone would drink their coffee. For a demigod, it was basically the same thing because of the caffeine. For some reason, caffeine helped many demigods with their ADHD, but others, like the Stoll brothers, shouldn't be allowed within a hundred mile radius of the stuff.

I'd only ever seen the Stoll brothers hopped up on caffeine once, and it's something I hope I never experience ever again. I still remember the ugly shade of green they'd dyed my hair after throwing a water balloon full of magic hair dye at the back of my head.

Percy began pointing out different constellations – Ursa Major, Hercules, Orion – when somebody said, "Beautiful, aren't they?"

Percy choked on his soda.

I recognized Hermes' voice instantly but stayed silent, wanting to see how this would play out. Hermes was dressed in red nylon running shorts and a New York City Marathon t-shirt, the same clothes he'd wear when we trained up on Olympus. His hair had more gray than I last remembered, giving the impression of salt-and-pepper hair instead of his dark brown locks.

To my right, Percy eyed Hermes up and down, probably trying to figure out how the heck a mortal had managed to jog right into camp. Honestly, it wouldn't surprise me if a mortal could pass through the weakening barrier, but we were secluded enough from the rest of the world that I wasn't really concerned.

Unless the Stoll brothers took advantage of the weak borders and called the pizza man again (long story).

"May I join you?" Hermes asked Percy, sparing me a brief glance before returning his attention to the son of Poseidon. "I haven't sat down in ages."

That I could believe. Whenever Hermes wasn't training me, he was running around the world, delivering millions of packages and mail with his Hermes Express company that was founded, owned, and run by Hermes himself. Sometimes, he'd send me on my own mail runs to give him some time to answer business emails and texts.

"Uh, sure," Percy said.

Hermes smiled. "Your hospitality does you credit. Oh, and Coca-Cola! May I?"