The Male Hunter | Olympus' Traitor #1

Chapter 14: Surprise!

The rainbow shimmered and showed Reyna. It must have been dinner time at Camp Jupiter, because she was currently eating. As she saw Percy, Reyna's eyes widened and the fork that was headed towards her mouth froze.

"Hey Reyna," Percy said, grinning his signature lopsided grin.

Her mouth dropped open as the fork slipped out of her hand and clattered to her plate. "I need to sleep more," she muttered, closing her eyes and rubbing them. Opening her eyes, Percy was still there staring at her from the Iris Message.

"You know, it's rude to stare," Percy teased.

"What kind of sick joke is this? Who are you!" Reyna demanded angrily.

Percy seemed taken aback. "Reyna, it's really me, it's Percy!"

"No," Reyna said coldly. "Percy Jackson is dead."

"Prove it."

Percy thought for a moment. "When me, Hazel, and Frank went up to Alaska we stopped by the Amazons. In order to negotiate with them, you gave me your ring."

Reyna's face softened. "How are you alive?" she asked softly.

"Well, funny story, I just didn't die," Percy joked. Reyna raised an eyebrow in response, unamused.

"Percy!" Reyna heard a familiar voice scold from close to Percy. "Now is not the time!"

"Sorry Thals," Percy said sheepishly.

Reyna's mind raced about who could possibly be with Percy, and came up with a conclusion. There was only one person she knew of that Percy could possibly call 'Thals'. "Lieutenant Thalia, I see the hunt has been busy."

Thalia walked into the message and sat on the bed next to Percy. "Yes, well, Periplanómenos here proved elusive," she said as she slapped Percy in the back of the head.

"Percy Jackson is Periplanómenos," Reyna said thoughtfully. "I should be surprised, but it makes sense once you think about it."

At this point Frank walked into the image, Hazel right beside him. "Hey Reyna, who are you talking to. . ." he said, trailing off once he saw Percy.

"Hey guys!" Percy said cheerfully. "Guess what, I'm not dead."

Hazel glared at him. "Perseus Jackson!" Hazel yelled, and the background conversation provided by the Legion went silent. "You have some nerve, it's been nearly three years!" Letting go of Frank she started pacing back and forth, ranting and scolding Percy in a mixture of English and Latin.

"I missed you too, Hazel," Percy said once she had finished.

By this point Dakota and a couple other legionnaires had made their way over to see what all the commotion was about. "Oh. My. Gods," he breathed. "It's Percy, he's alive!" he yelled with a big whoop. A mad scramble could be heard before dozens of demigods appeared in the image behind Hazel, Frank, and Reyna.

"Um, hi," Percy said with a small wave.

Thalia punched his arm. "Seriously?" she admonished. He just shrugged his shoulders in response.

"You still haven't told us how you faked your death," Reyna interrupted. "And I think I speak for everyone here, when I say that we want to know." A chorus of affirmatives could be heard from the group behind her.

"Well, it's kinda a long story, but if you really want to," Percy said before launching into his story. He told of the gradual loss of his friends at camp besides Jacob and Hannah, coming back from the canoe ride to find his cabin in ruins and We Know What You Did painted on his wall, the dream where his fate was decided, the frantic escape aided by Jacob and Hanaah, and finally how he decided to do want good he could while the Hunters were hunting him. "If I remember right, Jacob told me that he shot a me made of the Mist in front of a bunch of Ares campers, and that was how they convinced everyone I was dead. So, ya, I didn't die because of my friends. I'm sorry for not telling you all, but we thought it was for the best," he finished.