𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

chapter eight. ☄︎. *. ⋆

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FOR A DAUGHTER of the sun, you would be surprised of my love for the nighttime. I've always admired the stars and the moon, the pitch black of the sky. I never understood the bickering between Apollo and Artemis. After all, there is no light without dark, right?

     But anyway, as much as I can usually find the beauty in the night's simplicity, it didn't take me long to be disgusted by my surroundings on this regretful evening.

     After we escaped from Aunty Em's and Percy mailed the gods Medusa's head in a postage box, we figured it was time for a break. Grover found a marshy clearing about a hundred yards from the main road that some local kids had clearly been using for parties. Crumpled beer cans and fast-food wrappers littered the ground. At the sight of it, Grover's spirits seemed as crushed as the empty cans.

     We had taken some food and blankets from Aunty Em's, and though our clothes were wet and we were shivering harder than excited Chihuahuas, we didn't dare light a fire. Annabeth argued that the Furies and Medusa had provided enough excitement for the day, and we didn't want to attract any more monsters. (I added onto her claim, declaring that I didn't want to see Percy's face illuminated by firelight.)

     Sleeping in shifts became the consensus between the four of us. Percy, being his heroic self—gag—offered to take the first watch. Annabeth curled up on a pad of blankets and was out before her head even hit the ground. Grover used his shoes from Luke to flutter up to a low-hanging branch, put his back to the trunk, and fell asleep almost just as quickly.

     I tossed and turned on the makeshift sleeping pad. I had copied Annabeth's design, with a blanket folded up beneath me and another on top for warmth, but it wasn't doing me much good. Shivering, grumpy, and tired, I sat up, rubbing my eyes.

     "Go to sleep," Percy said flatly, and without even looking over his shoulder to know it was me. "I don't even wanna know how much of a pain in the ass you are when you're tired."

     "About as much of a pain that you are on a daily basis," I said, pulling my knees to my chest. "Can't sleep. You go."

     "Doubt I'll get much, either," he admitted, his silhouette in the moonlight shrugging.

     "Nightmares," I mused, nodding. "Happens to the best of us, Aquaman. You're not special."

"Never said I was," he shot back irritatedly. A silence fell over us, the only sound being the faint chirp of a cricket or an occasional hoot of an owl. After a moment, Percy's figure turned to face me. "Question."

"No."

"C'mon. It's an easy one."

I rolled my eyes. Nothing better to do, right? "What is it?"

"How long have you been at camp?"

     "Since I was eleven." I stiffened, skeptical. This was the longest and most sophisticated conversation he had ever been able to uphold with me. I was afraid the use of a big word might scare him off. "Why?"

     "Just wondering, y'know," he said, and shrugged again. "Your turn."

     I raised my eyebrows. "Is this a game?"

     "If you want it to be."

     "Why are you so determined to piss me off?"

     "Because it's funny. My turn; why are you so mean?"

      I mimicked the little sound Pacman makes when he dies, then turned away from Percy. "Game over. Stupid question."

As much as I wish I had made it up, I was pretty sure something like a small laugh came from Percy's direction. "Actually, that's a rule of the game," he told me. "There are no stupid questions."

"Only stupid askers?" I deadpanned. Percy scoffed; I simpered. "Okay, fine. I'm not mean. My turn. Why are you such an idiot?"

"I'm not an idiot. Can you, like, control the sun?"

"First of all, touché. Second of all... what?"

"Like, I dunno." Percy made some weird lightsaber-esque noise, waving his hands around like he was controlling the sun, I guess. I don't know. He looked ridiculous enough that I wished Annabeth was awake so we could laugh at him together. Percy dropped his hands at my snicker. "I was just wondering, because, like, Apollo is all.. sunny. I thought maybe it was a genetic thing, that you guys can all bend light at your will."

"I mean, yeah," I said, shrugging, "Apollo's sunny. That's definitely one way to describe him. But it's like, a super rare chance for a demigod to have that power. Only Apollo, Helios, and Hyperion have the ability of photokinesis. I guess if Helios and Apollo, like, had a kid, then sure, the chances of that baby being able to manipulate sunlight would be higher. But y'know, I'm just a demigod; and as far as I know, my mom was not the Titan of the sun. Surprise, surprise."

      "I wouldn't be surprised if you were half Titan," Percy told me. "You're mean enough."

     "You think I'm mean?" I rolled my eyes. "Wait 'til you meet Annabeth tomorrow morning after sleeping on the solid ground all night."

     "Is she that bad of a morning person?"

     "Once, we were in the infirmary super late after a really nasty game of capture the flag. Annabeth fell asleep with her head on a cot, but the rest of her body was still sitting on the stool next to it. When she woke up... Styx, I would rather face Hades on his home turf than deal with her like that again."

     Percy fell silent. I bit my lip, my eyes lowered as I thought of something else to say, but he beat me to it. His voice was much quieter when he said, "How are we going to get into the Underworld? I mean, what chance do we have against a god?"

     I puffed up my cheeks, shifting so I was closer to him. "Honestly," I said, wincing slightly, "not a good one. Hades is super powerful, and we are... not. But Annabeth and I were talking on the car ride out of camp, and she—"

     "Oh, I forgot," Percy grumbled, turning away from me and picking at the grass. "Annabeth will have a plan all figured out."

     I furrowed my brow, turning completely to face his back. "Hey," I said sharply. "You don't get to bitch and moan about her being prepared. Her mom is basically the goddess of preparation; I wouldn't be surprised if she was planning something in her sleep right now. But that's besides the point. What I'm saying is.. Annabeth's alright. Give her a chance. As for me..."

     "Yeah, I'll pass," he said, snapping a twig. He tossed the bits over his shoulder; I ducked, but one little stick got caught in my hair. Percy scoffed to himself. "If it were up to me—"

     "Why'd you agree to go to the Underworld?"

     Percy stiffened. He didn't reply immediately. I picked the stick from my hair and threw it at him. It hit him in the neck, then landed on the ground. He turned. "I only want to save my mom. I don't care about my father, and I don't care about the master bolt. I just want my mom back."

"Okay, listen," I sighed, and what I said next should be considered a blessing from the gods. "I may not be as good at reading emotions as Grover is, but I know what it's like to be in your shoes. You may be upset at your dad for leaving, but it wasn't like he had a choice. He fell in love with your mom, and obviously, he fell hard, because he broke an oath he made on the Styx for her. You can keep saying you're mad at him, or whatever, but you obviously aren't. You mailed Medusa's head to Olympus so he could see what you'd done. I'm no psychologist, but I'm pretty sure that's something someone who wants their dad's approval would do."

I was speaking from experience. I'd done the same thing when I killed my first monster. The Catoblepas had wandered too close to camp grounds, and I had run into him during archery practice. After Will and I killed it, we sent Apollo one of his horns as a souvenir. We never received a reply.

     Percy sniffed scornfully. "You have no idea what I'm going through. Stop pretending like you do."

     I gaped at him, at a momentary loss for words as his statement sunk in. I stood up. "You—Gods, Percy, you are so self-absorbed. I can't believe you! I was just trying to help!"

     "In case you haven't noticed, I don't need your help," he said angrily, standing as well. "You haven't done one useful thing this entire quest!"

     "In case you haven't noticed, I didn't even want to be here in the first place! It wasn't like it was my choice—!"

     "Then maybe you could do us all a favor by leaving!"

     "Both of you, shut up!" Grover came fluttering down from his tree, landing between me and Percy. He put his hands out like he was stopping us from a physical altercation. I scoffed. Grover looked at me first. "Theo, why aren't you sleeping?"

     "Didn't think Aquaman over here could handle watch duty by himself."

     "Not like you would have been much help if a monster did come along," Percy told me over Grover's head.

     I drew my dagger. "You want to see me fight so bad? Fine, let's fight!"

     Grover bleated over the sound of Percy unsheathing Riptide. "Theo, go to bed. Percy, you too!"

     "Then who's gonna take watch?" Percy asked stupidly.

     "Me!" Grover shouted. "Both of you, to bed. Now!"

     We gave each other one last glare, then split off in different directions. I headed back to my little pad of blankets next to Annabeth, while Percy sat himself against a tree. Annabeth had managed to stay asleep throughout the entire thing.

     After a few minutes, I heard Grover and Percy spark up a conversation, but I guess I fell asleep during it. Thankfully, no night terrors followed, but I did dream suspiciously of snake cheeseburgers and stone french fries. I didn't have much of an appetite when I woke up.