ꜱᴘɪᴅᴇʀ ʙɪᴛᴇꜱ: ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴇʀᴄᴀʙᴇᴛʜ/ꜱᴏʟᴀɴɢᴇʟᴏ ᴘʀᴏᴊᴇᴄᴛ

xxɪᴠ ᴘᴇʀᴄʏ | ʜᴀᴢᴇʟ ᴅʀᴏᴡɴꜱ ʜᴇʀ ꜱᴏʀʀᴏᴡꜱ ɪɴ ʟᴇᴍᴏɴᴀᴅᴇ

Percy's day has been rough from the start. The flight to New Rome was all but uneventful, he's had an awkward run-in with his ex, an awkward run-in with Nico's ex, he was given the first prophecy he's seen since he was seventeen, and also some bad room service food.

Now he's in a club, the last place on earth he thought he'd ever end up. He should be back at the hotel working through the prophecy, or at least rewriting it onto a real piece of paper. For the time being, it's scribbled onto a Dunkin' Donuts napkin with a highlighter he found in a random desk drawer.

Why would Percy let Leo talk him into driving them to the bachelorette party? Why does Leo want to go to Hazel's bachelorette party? Percy asked the same questions when he got Leo's text, but all he got in reply was a mirror selfie of Leo in a sparkly green fedora and a dress shirt with only about three buttons fastened. Leo Valdez has a wife and a kid and still, he can't grow chest hair.

"Alright! Percy and Leo! Bad boys supreme! In da club!" Leo tugs on his suspenders like he's the mayor of 'da club' and makes a beeline towards the bar.

Percy follows, trying his best not to bump into anyone in the dim yet overwhelming lighting of the club. Why would anyone willingly come to a place like this?

There are so many cons: Percy is surrounded by sweaty drunk people, he can barely see in the strobe lights, and he's already lost Leo in the sea of bodies.

The one and only pro? He did get to drive Leo's massive RAM truck, and he'll get to drive it again on the way back to the hotel when Leo's had too much to drink. Gods, it's a beautiful truck. It has seat coolers and a wireless phone charger, both modifications courtesy of the son of Hephaestus.

"Sorry," Percy says to a woman he accidentally bumps into. She doesn't even notice him. He probably doesn't need to apologize; everyone's bumping into each other. It smells like alcohol and B.O. Percy's head hurts, and although he hasn't been in the club for collectively five minutes, it feels like an eternity.

He thinks about bolting right back out the door, but he can't ditch Leo. Finally, he makes it to the front of the bar line.

"Hey, guy, what can I get for ya?" the bartender asks.

"Oh, um, I'll have a Coke please," Percy says. Maybe some soda will calm his nerves. His shoulders are tensing up.

"You want any rum in that? Vodka?"

"No thanks. I'm driving tonight," says Percy. And he cannot wait to drive that monster of a truck again.

Then, he notices a young woman in a yellow sundress sitting at the corner of the bar. She has a spatha attached to her belt; it reaches the entire way down to her ankles. Percy recognizes Hazel right away and pushes through the crowd to greet her.

"How's the party going?" He has to yell to be heard.

"Well," Hazel says, "I lost my drinking buddy." She gestures towards the dance floor with her head.

Two women are practically grinding on each other. Percy feels his face heating up at the sight of Annabeth and Reyna. They must be super drunk because he never could have even imagined something like this happening ten years ago, and holy Hera, it's a sight for sore eyes.

Annabeth's resting her head on Reyna's shoulder, and they're bobbing up and down to the rhythm of some cheesy pop remix. It's no different than what everyone else is doing, but it makes Percy uncomfortable. Maybe it's because he knows them.

And maybe he's a tiny bit jealous of Reyna. He stuffs that thought back into the caverns of his mind. C'mon, man, he thinks. Keep it in check.