Back to the Way I Was

Chapter 3

Thalia's POV

Thalia knew what Percy did that night. He had covered everyone's eyes with the Mist so they wouldn't see what really happened to the poor demigod who called Camp Half-Blood a dump. Thalia was about to zap him herself before Percy acted first. Thalia didn't remember what she saw, because the Mist had that effect on her. It scared Thalia on how much control Percy had over the Mist. But what Thalia did remember was how horrible the body was. The poor demigod was deathly pale with something that Thalia suspected to be a bite mark on his neck. His pupils were dilated and his expression showed pure horror. What he saw before his death was probably not pretty.

Strangely, after the incident, Percy had a small smirk on his face while Tia was smiling. She had a drop of blood streaming from her mouth, but she just shrugged at it. The other demigods were frankly scared of them instantly and ran off. Thalia was glad that Percy managed to scare them, but she was also a bit scared at Percy. The six years he'd been gone had definitely changed him, but Thalia was still wasn't sure whether it was a good change or a bad one. First, Thalia saw him faster and certainly stronger than before. Then, he had a huge badass sword and some weird flaming breaths. He fights like a beast, which is a completely unorthodox style of fighting. Then, he had major influence over the Mist, which is more than what Thalia could manage or even do.

When the others ran away, Percy just smirked. "All bark and no bite," Percy muttered. "No wonder this place is a mess." Thalia put one hand on his shoulder.

"Percy, what happened to the boy?" Thalia asked.

Percy just shrugged. "He's dead, because he messed with our home." Percy said. "The harpies will take care of the dead bodies and hopefully, the gods won't have any problems with it."

"I doubt it." Tia said.

"Percy," Thalia said in a steely tone. "You're not telling me the truth. Tell me what really happened."

In the night, the shadows seemed to cover part of his body and his face, making him looked . . . evil. Thalia had never thought of Percy as evil or anything like that, but he certainly looked like that now. Thalia figured if he added a crazy grin to his face right now, Thalia would've doubted if he was really sane, or if he was even the Percy she'd known. Percy claimed that Annabeth was still haunting him after death. Thalia wondered if Annabeth was slowly eating his sanity, making him crazy bit by bit. If that really was the case, then Percy needs to overcome that problem fast.

Thalia got her wish.

With the shadows enveloping half of him, he gave Thalia a sick grin, one that shows how crazy he was. Thalia doubted Percy would be this evil or should Thalia said, maniacal. Luckily, he blinked and the shadows seemed to retreat away from him. His grin disappeared and his eyes relaxed a bit. "I'll tell you later." Then, he gave Thalia a sincere smile that he used to give her. Thalia decided not to mention that weird moment, at least not now.

Thalia couldn't believe she was trembling because of him.

"S-sure." Thalia managed. Percy gave her a confusing look.

"What's wrong, Thalia? You seemed, shaken."

"Oh, it's n-nothing." Thalia said, although it was a clear lie. Percy didn't seem to believe it, but he kept quiet afterwards. Thalia sighed in relief that Percy didn't ask any questions.

Percy decided to let Tia sleep in his cabin for the night, but Tia told him that she doesn't sleep at night. She sleeps at the morning, which was weird but Percy seemed to understand. She stayed in his cabin as Percy went to the beach, the place where he could calm himself down. Thalia followed him, just to make sure he didn't do anything stupid like drown the entire Ares cabin. Percy sat on the sand dunes and stared towards the ocean. Lady Artemis must've been in a down mood, because the moon wasn't in its usual bright glow. Thalia sat next to Percy and to be honest, she was a bit nervous. First, because it's been six years since their last conversation together and second, they were up way past curfew.