Prophesied Powder, PJO

5.2

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Chapter 47
Pat and Percy

Volume 5: The Last Olympian

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Pat had struggled to remain far from Silena since the had news broken. With his sister practically comatose with grief, he was attempting to balance leading the cabin as interim head counselor and just being there for Silena. She had been silent all of breakfast, and she hadn't even attempted to organize the cabin for inspection.

He kept wanting to find a moment of privacy and talk to her. There wasn't really quite an outline of what he'd say: I know, and I forgive you, maybe. The weight of Beckendorf's death was clinging to the cabin air like a stormy cloud - everyone knew Silena was crushed, but none of them knew the way that Pat did, how she was destroyed. He wished he could ask her why, yet knew it would be a killing blow to her fragile heart.

Annabeth and Percy arrived after breakfast for cabin inspection, and though they gave him and his siblings a five out of five, it didn't have much effect on the morale. Along with Percy's snippy comment about too much perfume in the room, which just made them mad.

"Great job, as usual, Silena," Annabeth said.

Silena nodded listlessly. She sat on her bunk with a box of chocolates on her lap - her dad was a chocolate maker, and quite a sweet man. "You want a bonbon?" She asked. "My dad sent them. He thought—he thought they might cheer me up."

"Are they any good?" Percy asked.

She shook her head and said miserably, "They taste like cardboard."

Percy still tried one, though Annabeth wouldn't. Pat nodded to them as they left, promising to see him and Silena later.

When they eventually did see each other again, Pallas limped over to them and grunted. Pat didn't look up from the table as he fidgeted with beads and string, "Yes, sunshine?"

Percy and Annabeth were right behind him, and the latter sat across from Pat with a loud sigh, "Ares and Apollo got into it again."

Percy sat next to her, "What are you even fighting about?" He asked Pallas.

It didn't matter, because Annabeth answered, "That flying chariot. They captured it in a raid in Philadelphia last week. Some of Luke's demigods were there with that flying chariot. The Apollo cabin seized it during the battle, but the Ares cabin led the raid. So they've been fighting about who gets it ever since."

"It is ours," Pallas muttered. Pat dropped his beads and turned, reaching out his hand. Without explanation, Pallas dragged his hand to his arm, where there was a large cut - he winced as Pat touched it.

"We're fighting for our lives, and you're bickering over a stupid chariot?" Percy asked accusatorially.

"It is about honor, Percy! Something you would not understand a thing about!" Pallas argued. He sighed, trying to reason with Percy, "Michael is very persistent, ami, if I could stop it, I would."

"They'll get over it," Annabeth said. "Clarisse will come to her senses."

Percy and Pallas didn't seem convinced, and Pat certainly wasn't. He had a terrible feeling about that chariot, and his terrible feelings didn't tend to lie. Then again, Clarisse normally gave people bad feelings when she was mad. Either way, they all let Annabeth's remark be the closing one, and instead caught up on Grover -- missing in action -- and Beckendorf, who's funeral was coming up shortly. They walked together to the campfire, where Ares and Apollo's children had called a temporary true to attend.