Daughter Of Lightning - Book 2 (A Percy Jackson x OC fanfic)

CHAPTER 11

(Ella's POV)

I couldn't sleep. No matter how hard I tried to I couldn't. I kept thinking about Grover..

The way our camp was dying, it was all because Thalia's tree had been poisoned.

And the fact that Tantalus wouldn't let us go on a quest was just absurd it almost caused me to have an outburst at the campfire...if it hadn't been for Percy, who stopped me I probably would've electrocuted Clarisse too..

I still couldn't get over the fact that Luke would do something like that. I actually thought he cared about Thalia & me...

About an hour later I gave up on sleep & decided to head to the beach for some air. I couldn't care less about getting caught so I quickly got dressed & put on my charm bracelet before leaving my cabin...

Once I was at the beach I sat down on the soft sand. It was a full moon night & the moonlight cast a pale glow over the water.

I tugged on the music note of my bracelet & my guitar appeared into my hands. I didn't feel like I'd be able to sing so I decided to play the guitar instead.

I gently strummed the guitar & played the first song that came to mind...

(Percy's POV)

The full moon shone through my window. The sound of the surf rumbled in the distance. I could smell the scent of the strawberry fields, & hear the laughter of the dryads as they chased owls through the forest.

I got out of bed & pulled on some clothes. I grabbed a six-pack of Coke from under my bunk. The Cokes were against the rules. No outside snacks or drinks were allowed, but if you talked to the right guy in Hermes’s cabin & paid him a few golden drachma, he could smuggle in almost anything from the nearest convenience store.

Sneaking out after curfew was against the rules. If I got caught I’d either get in big trouble or be eaten by the harpies. But I wanted to see the ocean. I always felt better there. My thoughts were clearer. I left the cabin & headed for the beach.

When I got there I heard someone playing the guitar. I looked around & saw a figure sitting down by the beach. I walked a little closer & the song had ended. I instantly recognized who it was & I said.

"Nora?"

"Styx! Percy? You scared me..."

"Sorry. I couldn't sleep so I thought I'd get some fresh air.."

I sat down beside her & asked, "What are you doing here?"

"I couldn't sleep either...I was thinking about Thalia &...." Nora trailed off.

"You play the guitar really well.."

"Oh, thanks...that was the song Thalia would sing to Jason & me when we were little..."

The sky was clear & starry. I offered her a can of soda too & she took it & joked that she needed the caffeine to stay awake, that made us both laugh. We were checking out the constellations Nora had told me about-Sagittarius, Hercules, Corona Borealis-when somebody said, “Beautiful, aren’t they?”

I almost spewed soda.

Standing right next to us was a guy in nylon running shorts & a New York City Marathon T-shirt. He was slim & fit, with salt-and-pepper hair & a sly smile. He looked kind of familiar, but I couldn’t figure out why.

My first thought was that he must’ve been taking a midnight jog down the beach & strayed inside the camp borders. That wasn’t supposed to happen. Regular mortals couldn’t enter the valley. But maybe with the tree’s magic weakening he’d managed to slip in.