Sea Princess

Chapter 19

I sighed as I stared up at the stars and I heard footsteps behind me. I turned to see Thalia. I turned back around and resumed looking back at the stars. I sighed and she stopped there beside me. We stared out at the water for a little while not saying anything. I heard her take a deep sigh. I glanced up at her. 

"So did Zoe chew you out again?" She asked. I shrugged. She knew about me being a hunter, the only person really to know in our group now besides Percy. Even Blake didn't know about it because I didn't want him knowing that I had given up immortality for my ex-boyfriend. I didn't want him to know anything about this. It wasn't exactly the highlight of my life. I looked back down towards my feet glaring down into the darkness beneath us. 

"Yeah, in front of Percy too, so I'm going to have a lot of explaining to do." I said. I sighed closed my eyes. My pulse quickened and I let out a long breath as my fingers curled into fists. I shook my head. 

"She brought up Luke." I muttered angrily. 

"Figured she did by the way you stormed out of there. What she say?" She said. I could imagine how Thalia was standing right now. She probably had this look on her face with her arms crossed against her chest leaning some more weight onto her left foot than her right.

"She brought up how I forswore my oath to Artemis because of Luke, only in the end to have him beat the shit out of me towards the end of our relationship. She said that I should have listened to her." I said. She was silent for a moment. All I could hear were the waves crashing down below the cliff and our steady breathing. Then she asked the question I didn't want to give an answer to.

"Did he really beat you?" She asked as I heard her sit down next to me on the grass. I let out another sigh and dipped my head down holding back the tears that were threatening to run down my face, yet again. No matter how much I tried not to cry I always ended up doing just that. I opened my eyes to star down at the sea that was glistening beneath us.

"Yeah, when Percy, Annabeth, and Tyson were on the quest for the fleece he started to beat me because I was smart mouthing him. I didn't expect him to start hitting me or I would have never said anything. I never wanted Percy to see any of it." I muttered. She stared at me and then looked out at the ocean.

"If you don't believe me, ask Cody from Apollo's cabin when we get back to camp if you don't take my word. He took to the infirmary so they could patch me up." I murmured. She just stared at me. She got up after a few moments of silence as the sun started to come up. I looked back to see that the Hunters had taken down camp and I got up to find Percy and Blake standing together. They were talking in hushed tones.

"What are we doing?" I asked coming up behind them. They both turned to face me.

"We're taking the Hunters back to camp with us and we're going to get a ride by Apollo." He said. I nodded and that's when I felt the heat on the back of my neck. Percy was looking away and then the flash of light was gone. I turned around to see a guy stepping out of a red convertible. My heart lurched when I thought it was Luke, but it wasn't. It was Apollo, God of the sun.

"Wow, Apollo is hot." Thalia muttered. I flinched and looked away from him. I felt a hand on the small of my back comforting me slightly. I stepped closer to Blake staring down at my feet.

"He's the sun god," Percy said.

"That's not what she meant." I muttered as I wrapped my arms around my waist. I was digging my nails into my hips. He kept looking down at me and I just stared down at the ground sinking my nails deeper and deeper. The panic attack that was slowly overtaking me was starting to become unbearable.

"Little sister!" Apollo called to Artemis. I didn't want to witness the family reunion, so I looked away.

"Are you okay?" Percy asked. I nodded and Blake wrapped his arms around me tightly holding me to him. I felt him press his lips to the top of my head lightly. I just wanted to stay wrapped in his arms forever and feel safe, as I did right now.

"I know you're not fine, but if you don't want to talk about it, I won't force you to, just know that I'm here if you do." He murmured into my ear. I looked back up at him and smiled weakly. This is one of the reasons why I would never go back to being a hunter. I would miss every second of having someone saying these kinds of things in my ear.

"Thanks," I smiled. Then that's when I saw Apollo staring at me and Blake. I swallowed nervously as he stared at us.

"You two," He said. I stared at him with a neutral look as he studied me and Blake. Percy was staring at us as Apollo narrowed his eyes at me. My eyes narrowed to, and I raised an eyebrow at him. I was daring him to say something about me and the hunters. If he did, he would not be having a sweet girl on his trip back to New York. To my luck he just dismissed it and then looked over at the other kids.

"Well! We better load up; Ride only goes one way. If you miss it, you miss it." Apollo said. Nico was eyeing the car Apollo had appeared in. 

"Cool car." Nico said.

"Thanks kid." Apollo said.

"How are we all going to fit in there though?" I asked. He sighed.

"I hate to change it out of sports-car mode, but..." He said as he clicked the lock button. It chirped twice before it glowed and changed into a bus. I just shook my head.

"Everybody in." He said. Zoe started to shout order and I saw Apollo make his way towards Zoe. That was going to be a bad call and I saw Percy follow me onto the bus. I sat in the front next to Blake and I knew Percy wanted me to say something about the Hunters and being one, but I couldn't bring myself to say it in front of Blake. I listened as Apollo was telling Thalia that she was turning 16 next week and wanted her to drive the car. Oh my god. She was going to drive the freaking sun. I looked at Percy and he was staring at me with weary eyes. Oh god, we were all going to die. She took off slowly before she slammed us back into the seats.

"Slower!" Apollo said.

"Sorry! I got it." Thalia said. I shook my head and leaned into Blake. I pressed my face against his shoulder as his arms wrapped around my waist tightly. 

"We're going to die, aren't we?" I asked. He laughed at me and then shrugged.

"The force is strong with this one." Blake murmured in my ear. I laughed and smiled up at him. After a moment or two Blake and I were thrown against the side of the bus. We groaned and I looked up at Thalia. Come on Apollo have a little common sense here and don't let Zeus's daughter drive when she hasn't even driven a car yet! 

"Thalia!" I whined. Then we were thrown backwards, and I screamed as I hit my head.

"You alright?" Blake asked. I nodded as he rubbed the back of my head lightly. I ran my fingers through my hair waiting to find the bump I knew was forming. I winced as I ran my fingers over it and sighed. I would get an icepack on it back when we got to camp. Then after another moment or two we slammed into the lake in the center of Camp half-blood.

"Let me off this thing!" I screamed. Apollo was saying something, but I ran off the bus I smiled and glanced back at everyone once I was safely on the sand. I glanced around camp and noticed that they had let the snow fall this year and people had decorated! I smiled and stuck my hands into my back pockets leaning back on my heels as I whistled.

"I love camp in the wintertime!" I smiled. I felt hands on my waist and glanced back to see Blake smiling down at me. He kissed the side of my head lightly. I watched as Nico stuck with Percy and how the hunters followed Zoe. Thalia came over to me and I saw the anger in her eyes. I guess Zoe had said something to her already. I raised an eyebrow up. 

"Can I knock her head off yet?" She asked. I smiled and shrugged.

"I'm all for it. I'll sell bets on you." I muttered. I saw her crack a smile and I smirked at him. 

"Cassi, Percy! Watch out for the prophecies! I'll see you all soon." Apollo said. I looked at him confused and swallowed nervously. I didn't like the sound of that at all. It made me quiver slightly at the thought.

"What do you mean?" Percy and I asked. I glanced over at Percy who had looked up at Apollo.

"Later Thalia and be good!" He said before he closed the door to the bus and left. I shook my head and I thought I felt my eye twitch in anger. He was the god of fucking prophecies, and he couldn't give us a tiny measly hint? God, what a twit.

"Cassi, I'm going to take Nico to meet Chiron, so I'll see you later at dinner, alright?" Percy asked. I nodded.

"Later Percy." I smiled. Then I looked down at Nico. I noticed that his green eyes reminded me of Blake's, and I had a feeling. No freaking way. It couldn't be. Nico was staring at me with wide eyes. I gave him an easy comforting smile trying to make it seem alright. I glanced between him and Blake and there were a few resemblances between them. I started to chew on the inside of my cheek. 

"Don't worry Nico! We'll take care of you here!" I smiled. He nodded and gave me a weak smile and then headed to find Chiron with Percy. I walked with Blake back to my cabin and then I smiled once we got there.

"Do you still have the decorations?" Blake asked. I nodded and pulled out a big bag from underneath my bed. I opened them up to see the Christmas lights and other sorts of things I usually hung up around my bed in the Aphrodite cabin around this time. He shook his head, but the smile was pulling up around his lips. 

"Of course, want to help me?" I asked. He nodded. We headed outside and started to string lights up on the rafters of the cabin. I smiled and once we got them all up, I plugged them in. I smiled once they lit up and put my hands on my hips. Blake and I had done a hell of a good job.

"Good job." I said. He chuckled and wrapped his arms around my waist again. He rested his head against my shoulder and kissed my neck lightly.

"So, um I have a thought." I said as I glanced over at him. He looked over at me.

"What?" He asked as he straightened up. He looked down at me as I bit my lip. He chuckled and pulled my lip out from between my teeth lightly. I chuckled at him uneasily. 

"You and Nico have similar eyes and other things I noticed." I said. He shrugged as he slid his hands down to rest on my hips. I turned to face him. 

"I'm not following." He said as his arms dropped so that his fingers were wrapped up in my belt loops tugging them back towards him.

"What if you know Nico is your brother?" I muttered. He shook his head and made a face. I didn't exactly know what the face was for. I scrunched my eyebrows together. 

"Then how would I have not known till now?" He asked. I shrugged. I didn't know that Percy existed for the first 14 years of my life. Then he shows up and Luke screws with us and the next thing I know is that I have a little brother by 2 years. I mean things happen." I said shrugging. Blake just kind of looked up and past me. He was staring over the top of my head. I don't think he knew what to say. 

"I don't know Blake. I'm just saying that it's a little weird. Plus, I didn't know Percy for the first 14 years of my life and then he shows up and shit starts getting bad." I said. He let out a sigh.

"I know but no offense but that's a weird thing to say because I don't see it." He said. I glared at him and pushed his arms off from around me. I crossed my arms over my chest, taking a defensive stance. I saw him swallow and he should. I was getting pissed. I didn't see it either with Percy till Bethany and Sydney both looked at me like I had grown a third head when I had disagreed with them too. Maybe I needed their opinion on the matter.

"Well, you two do look alike now that I think about. You have the same shade of hair, the same eyes, you even have an attitude." I snapped. He just rolled his eyes and shook his head as he slipped his hands into his pockets. 

"I think I would know if we're related or not Cassi. You had a weird vibe, but I don't." He said. I scoffed and rolled my eyes before looking at him.

"And how would you? Yeah, I thought something was off, but I didn't think he was my damn half-brother, Blake. I didn't know until those two tridents appeared above my head." I asked. He shrugged. My anger was spiking ever fucking second that I stood here talking to Blake. He wasn't even thinking about it at all, I could tell. I grinded my teeth together.

"I would feel it." He exclaimed. 

"But yet again like with Percy and I there were similarities like there is between you and Nico. Come off it Blake!" I said. He rolled his eyes.

"Whatever," he said. I rolled my eyes and turned my back away from him. I looked at the lights and that's when I heard footsteps. I saw Percy come up and he glanced between me and Blake. The tension between us was palpable.

"Trouble in paradise?" He asked. I glared at him, and he took a physical step backwards.

"No!" We both snapped at him. We both looked at each other and then I went inside. Percy stayed outside to talk to Blake about something and then he came in and sat on his bunk. I sighed and put my hands on my face and then rubbed my eyes. I guess Blake wasn't going to come inside.

"Does Blake know?" He asked. I dropped my hands away from my eyes and shook my head.

"About what?" I asked as he set Annabeth's hat down on his nightstand. He looked at it and sighed as his shoulders hunched forwards.

"About the Hunters..." He whispered. I glanced back to see Blake walking to his cabin through the window. I shook my head and sighed.

"No one knows except for the people that need to know. I came to camp and a year later or something I joined the hunters. I came back when my age was supposedly 13 because of Luke....the time between then no one really knows about what happened besides Luke and Annabeth because those were my only friends at the camp at the time. I wasn't the social butterfly I am now Percy. I stayed inside the Aphrodite cabin most of my time and stayed out of the way. When I came back to the Hunters, I made sure everyone knew who I was and that I had friends." I said. He nodded as he put on shield that was dented on the hook next to a horn. That's when Percy turned and looked to the back of the cabin. I looked back there and saw that there was a new fountain.

"Hmm wonder who did that." I muttered as Percy walked over. He looked into the water.

"Thanks dad." He said. I nodded in thought saying it probably was Poseidon making up for stuff. I sighed. Well, I guess it was better late than never.

"You should tell Blake." He said. I glanced up at him and he looked back at me with a smile. I rolled my eyes and made a sound that sounded like I exasperated, strangle groan. I shook my head at him. 

"Really Cassi you should." He said. I nodded and thought about what I would say to him while watching Percy take a coin from fountain.

"Iris, O Goddess of the Rainbow, accept my offering." Percy said as I got up and headed to the door. I might as well go now and tell him before I had to witness Percy's conversation to whomever.

"Show me Tyson, at the forges of the Cyclopes." Percy said. The mist in front of him shimmered and I smiled. I should've known he would try to get to Tyson.

"Tell him I say hi!" I said walking over to the door. Percy nodded and I walked out of the cabin and looked into the Hermes cabin. I stood on the porch just kind of watching from outside the screen door. I saw Blake inside sitting on his bed. He had something in his hands. It looked like a photo of something, and I saw a girl walk up to him. It wasn't anyone in Hermes I know that. The girl and he were laughing about something and then she sat down beside him and put her hand on his shoulder. I watched for a moment more and then the girl locked eyes with me over his shoulder. She smirked at me, and my stomach twisted, and Blake turned and looked at me. A confused look crossed his face and I felt as if the room was closing in on me.