My story | PJO x male reader

Chapter 28: The prophecy

I looked over my arms, trying to find a distraction from the pain. My arms had fur on them and ended in splayed paws. As I looked at my arms I could see my snout barely coming into view. Speaking of looking, my vision was amazing! I could see so much more in-depth. I couldn't explain it but it felt more... sharp? After that, I ran out of things to distract me from the pain. Speaking of pain, my ribs were on fire. I felt like I had been hit with a large rock going 100 miles per hour.

'Get up.' I told myself over and over again. Eventually, I got up and took in my surroundings. Everything was so small but I wouldn't worry about that as one of my biggest concerns was if Percy and Grover were alright.

I made my way over to them and saw them starting to gain their bearings. Percy was the first to get up and dust himself off with Grover slowly following. Percy had the golden shield of Ares strapped to his arm.
'So that's what hurt me.'
They both looked around as if they were confused why they didn't hit the fence. Eventually, their eyes finally landed on me and they practically jumped 7 feet in the air.

I looked down at them trying to figure out the best way to communicate. Let's try turning back to a human.

'Turn back' I thought repeatedly. Soon enough I felt a falling sensation and pain radiating from my fingertips to my core. I closed my eyes because of the pain. Eventually, the pain receded and I opened my eyes to see eye to eye with an astonished Percy. I looked behind him and saw the empty pool with the cameras still rolling with the text: LIVE TO OLYMPUS!

'Well, shit.'

"Language."

I wanted to talk to Percy but my main concern was brought to my mind. Annabeth.

I looked around hoping she would come into view. I scanned the area and, sure enough, found blonde hair moving toward us. Her expression was one mixed with multiple emotions but one I picked out was a relief, which then turned into concern as she looked at my side.

I guess I unknowingly was clutching my side.

"Are you alright?"

"Oh, I'm fine," Percy said. "Don't worry about me."
Annabeth seemed to just ignore him.

"Uh, yeah," I told her. but unless you want our entire conversation live-streamed I think we should go back to the diner."

All three of them turned around and Annabeth turned red.

"What?" She quickly turned around saw the screen and immediately began running towards the fence.

"I'll make sure she's alright," Grover told us. He thanked me for saving him before he simply hopped over the fence.

Percy and I looked back at the cameras.
"Show's over!" He yelled. "Thank you! Good night!" The cupids turned back to their original position and the lights went dark. After that, Percy turned to me and thanked me for saving him before making his way over to the fence.

On our way back I looked out over the horizon seeing the top of the sun just about to set. I stood there admiring the view and I soon saw a green flash.

'Wait, that's real?' I saw the green flash slowly get closer and closer. Eventually, as it got closer, I noticed a wooden object holding string.

"My necklace!" I put my hand out and saw the wooden figure, which I now identified as a falcon, breathing heavily before bowing and stiffening in my hand. I then put the string around my neck and looked it over. It didn't have any nicks or scratches. I guess this thing can survive through anything. Unlike the necklace, I had multiple bruises lining the right side of my stomach creating a circle of blue and black.
'The moon should come out any second

The diner slowly came into view along with Ares leaning on his bicycle.

"Well, well." He said. "You didn't get yourselves killed."

I was about to yell at him but Percy replied first.

"You knew it was a trap."

Ares grinned.  "I bet that crippled old blacksmith was surprised when he netted a bunch of stupid kids." He turned to me. "You looked great on TV."

My fists clenched 'Ok, calm down. He wants to get me riled up.'

Percy practically threw the shield at him but Ares grabbed it like it was nothing and spun it on his finger like a basketball. While he did this it transformed into a bulletproof vest and he slung it on his back.

"See that truck over there?" He pointed to an 18-wheeler parked on the other side of the street. "That's your ride. Will take you straight to LA, with one stop in Vegas."

I examined the truck and saw the text written on the back. The text was white on black, which made it pretty easy to read with dyslexia.

KINDNESS INTERNATIONAL. HUMANE ZOO TRANSPORT.
WARNING: LIVE WILD ANIMALS.

I heard Percy mumble under his breath.
"You're kidding."

Ares snapped his fingers and the back door was unlatched.

"Free ride west, punk, and here's a little something for completing the job." He slung a blue nylon bag off of his motorcycle's handlebars and tossed it to Percy.

Percy caught it, quickly unzipped it, and peered into it. His face told me all I needed to know which was that whatever was inside we needed. His face quickly turned defiant.

"We don't need any of-"

"Thank you, Lord Ares." Grover interrupted while shooting a look at Percy. "Thanks a lot."
Percy's jaw clenched as he threw the backpack over his shoulder.

"You owe us one more thing," Percy said. "You owe us information on my mother."

Ares pulled out his knife and started cleaning his nails.
"You sure you can handle the news? Well, she's not dead."

"What do you mean?" Percy asked. In my mind, I was asking the same question. Last I heard Percy told me his mother practically exploded into gold dust.

"I mean she was taken away from the Minotaur before she could die. She turned into a shower of gold, right? That's metamorphosis, not death. She's being kept."

"Kept? Why?" Percy's voice started cracking.

"You need to study war, punk. Hostages. You take somebody to control somebody else."

"Nobody's controlling me."

He laughed. "Oh yeah? Go catch your ride, kid."

Percy seemed to lose his calmness. "You're pretty smug, Lord Ares, for a guy who runs from Cupid statues."

Behind his sunglasses, you could see fire rising.

"Watch your back, Percy Jackson. Next time you are in a fight watch your back." He said as he got on his motorcycle.

I grabbed Percy's shoulder. "Percy, hop into the truck. I'll be there in a second." Percy seemed torn between wanting to go or stay but eventually, he chose to leave along with Grover.

"I believe you owe me a prophecy," I told him.

Ares kickstarted his motorcycle. "Ah, the prophecy." He spoke like it was some giant thing that was weighing on his shoulders. His tone of voice scared me because his smug manner turned into more of a fearful one.

He looked as if he was contemplating telling me or not. Eventually, he landed on a decision.
"The bird shall descend to darkness
With new powers, he must harness
The painful journey he must take
Will be ended by one mistake
At the pyre, the shroud is burned
The same boy will never return." He spoke before speeding off into the distance.