The Animal Within

Chapter 58 - Whispers

Grover had refused to tell Percy anything more as Paul drove them both to Camp Half-Blood for this critical emergency which meant that Percy was getting dragged into something else, only just a month after telling Chiron he didn't want to be involved.

Clearly, the Greek world didn't get his message.

It was only a small group in the former war room at Camp Half-Blood when Percy arrived. The more senior Camp Counsellors were waiting impatiently for them to arrive, many of them sombre and tired.

Percy sighed when he sat down in his seat as the Poseidon Cabin Counsellor. "What's up then?"

Travis scowled. "Apparently not Olympus," he muttered.

Percy blinked at him, surprised to hear that bitterness from the son of Hermes. But none of the Counsellors seemed happy. In fact, they all just looked tired.

Katie Gardener sighed. "I'd just like one normal year here."

Percy scratched at the back of his head, pressing his lips together. "What happened?" He finally tiredly asked Chiron.

Chiron looked as tired and worn as the demigods, if not more so. "According to Dionysus, Apollo has gone missing."

Will Solace, the Apollo Cabin Counsellor, frowned. "That Titan of yours was involved," he accused Percy.

Percy just raised an eyebrow. "Kronos isn't mine. He does what he wants, when he wants, and as he wants. He's a pain in the ass and I haven't seen him for weeks. If Olympus is closed, how do they even know he was involved in this?"

Chiron just frowned slightly at Percy. "The wind gods are still active, and they reportedly informed Lord Zeus that the Titan Lord had been seen in the area. When Apollo didn't surface, it became clear that-"

"Why would Apollo need to surface?" Percy asked, baffled. "He's the sun god."

"Zeus punished him," Will said. "Turned him mortal and kicked him off Olympus. That was apparently early to the middle of January."

"So Apollo has been gone for nearly a month and the gods have only just noticed," Percy summed up, trying and completely failing to hide his amusement.

"He has been gone for nearly a month," Chiron agreed. "Incidentally, it's been the same amount of time since the Titan Lord was last sighted in New York. The wind gods claim you two flew onto the Empire State Building and through Manhattan-"

"Idiot nearly killed me," Percy muttered under his breath.

Chiron ignored him. "- before conversing on your fire escape. But the Titan was apparently blocking them from overhearing. You had also been disappearing for weekends before the Winter Solstice."

Percy flushed slightly. "The gods know about that?"

"Yes. But not where you went, they couldn't See that." Chiron sighed. "Percy, you are the last one we know of who saw the Titan before Apollo disappeared. Did he say anything to you?"

"Not about Apollo," Percy said. He could feel the pouch still nestled in his pocket against his thigh. "But..." Percy's eyes furrowed slightly. "He told me, or asked me, to try to not get involved in the next crisis to hit Olympus, if that means anything."

Chiron paled slightly. "It certainly suggests his involvement."

Percy shrugged. "I mean, he's always causing problems. Just let the immortals get on with it. The less we're involved in their matters the better," he said sullenly.

Chiron frowned at Percy. "Your mate has taken a god," he pointed out to Percy.

"He's not my mate. And it's not the first time the Titans have done that," Percy commented, reminding everyone about the Artemis situation a few years before. Percy sighed, rubbing at his forehead with a groan. He recalled how quickly Kronos had been and gone the last time he saw Percy, how he'd seemed particularly focused on what was happening around Manhattan, his distraction towards the end of their conversation when he'd clearly been listening to something that Percy couldn't hear. "I can try to Iris message him?" He offered.