Percy Jackson and the Forgotten Heroes

9 - Campfires, S'mores, and Battles to the Death!

Peter's P.O.V

I paced the ground impatiently, at the foot of the hill that Percy had told me to meet him at. There was nothing around, just one road. At the top of the hill was a single pine tree, and strawberry fields as far as the eye could see. Then, out of nowhere, he appeared at the top of the hill, like he'd just materialised there.
I ran up the hill to meet him.

"You came then?"

I nodded "Now will you explain what's going on?"

"I need you to forget everything you think you know about the world. Everything's about to change."

I frowned "What?"

He tilted his head sideways, beckoning me "Come with me." He began walking and I followed him.

As I passed the line where the pine tree was, the weirdest thing happened. One second, there was just fields covering the entire area, the next it was dotted with buildings all around, and people everywhere. The closest building to us was a big, blue house, and beyond that there were different clusters of buildings, including some traditional-looking buildings like an amphitheatre, and some Ancient Greek temples. Beside me, I saw a glittering golden rug hanging in the branches of the pine tree, and curled around its base... Was that a dragon?!?

Percy just kept on walking like he hadn't seen the huge, scaly, fire breathing, death machine right next to us.

I jogged after him, keeping my eyes trained on the deadly lizard. When I caught up to him, I pointed at the dragon and stammered "Th-that's a dragon."

He stopped and just looked at me, feigning suprise "Is it? I hadn't noticed." You could hear the sarcasm dripping from his voice.

"That's a dragon."

"Yeah, it's Peleus." He said nonchalantly, like 'Yeah, what's the problem?'

"Peleus," I repeated "The dragon." I couldn't get my head around what was happening. Was I dreaming? Was this some sort of delusion?

Percy just chuckled "You think that's weird, you should wait until you meet my friends." Without waiting for my reply, he started running down the hill, a childish grin on his face, like a kid coming home for the holidays. He called back to me "You're friends with Z, and the other 3 - Lucas, Pippa and Anya - right?"

"Yeah."

"C'mon, let's go see them." He walked leisurely to the rings of cabins in the centre of the valley, leaving me with no choice but to follow him.

"Are you going to explain what's going on now? Is this a dream? Am I dead?"

He snorted at that "No, trust me, the Underworld looks completely different."

"The - what?"

He stopped walking, allowing me to catch up with him, and looked me in the eyes "Do you believe in the gods?"

"What, God? Why - "

"No, gods, lowercase 'g'. Specifically, the Greek gods. The Olympians. From Greek mythology."

"No, of course I don't. They're just stories, made up to explain lightning and the seasons and stuff."

"Y'know, I said the exact same thing when I found out! I like you, Peter."

"Uh, thanks. But - what does Greek mythology that have to do with anything?"

"Everything. The Greek gods are still alive and kicking. And boy, are they a pain sometimes." Thunder rumbled above, which was strange because there were no clouds in the sky. Percy rolled his eyes "Typical Zeus. Such a drama queen."