Life of A Young Demigod: Book 2 (Percy Jackson Reader-Insert)

War Comes Ever Swifter

As I left the council room, Chiron drew my attention to a garden nearby.

"I believe your mother may wish to speak with you. She asked me to send you over there when we finished with the council."

I nodded and rushed over, excited to see her again. Sure enough, there she was.

"Y/N! How are you, my son?"

I smiled and sat down on a bench beside her. "Pretty good, all things considered, at least. A bit overwhelmed, though, if I'm being honest."

She nodded understandingly. "I can hardly blame you. It was... brave. What you did back there. Not many would attempt to negotiate with Zeus."

I shrugged. "It was either that or refuse outright. And I imaging the latter would be downright foolish."

"I would be inclined to agree. I cannot keep you long. Things are yet still in motion. But I must give you some words of encouragement. I've seen many generations of demigods come and go. Many moments of crisis. And yet, this is the greatest yet. In both ways. Fate is funny that way. It tends to balance itself out. For every great crisis, there are heroes yet greater who emerge to confront it. I know you must be having doubts as to whether or not you are prepared to deal with the coming war. You are. You and your friends are the greatest generation of demigods I have seen in all my years. You will be able to do what must be done. At the same time, I must also tell you. The time has come where you must lead. An army is useless without leaders. And you must be one of them, if we are to have hope. As I told you, things are in motion that will decide the fate of our war effort. If we are to prevail, you will need to take charge where you can."

I frowned. "Mom, I'm not the child of the prophecy, though. That's Percy. Surely he will need to lead?"

She put her arms on my shoulders, pulling me closer. "Yes, Y/N. He will. But he will not be the only one. Percy is important, yes, but so are you. You simply have a different, equally important role. And you must be prepared to seize that role when it makes itself known. Now. You must be going. Good luck, my son. You have made me ever so proud."

I gave her a quick hug, and rushed off. As much as I was a bit confused (why can't gods ever be clear about what they're saying), I could feel within myself that she was right. Something was coming. Something big.

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Me and Chiron got back to camp rather late that night. As we approached the hill into camp, we heard a scream from the top, on the opposite side of Thalia's tree.

My eyes went wide. "Annabeth."

Me and Chiron rushed towards her. She was kneeling down over someone I didn't recognize. she had dark black hair with purple highlights, and wore a black leather jacket with a bunch of pins on it. Not long after we arrived, the rest of camp followed suit, having heard the scream. Percy rushed forward, probably terrified something had happened to Annabeth. When he saw what was happening, he turned to Chiron, confused.

"Who..."

Chiron closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh. "Well played, Luke. Well played."

I frowned. "What do you..."

"Kronos has given himself a second chance to control the prophecy. Even in defeat, he has emerged victorious."

My eyes went wide with realization. The Fleece had worked. But it had worked more than we thought possible. The girl on the ground was Thalia Grace. Daughter of Zeus.

Chaos erupted among the campers as they too realized what was happening, only to fade into silence as Thalia began to stir. She got to her feet slowly, Annabeth had to hold herself back from rushing towards her. She looked around slowly, blinking very fast as she did so, before snapping towards me.

"You. I've seen you."

I stood still, a bit confused.

"Me? But..."

"In my dreams. How long..."

Chiron approached her slowly. "Miss Grace. There is... a lot you have missed. Perhaps you should come with me. Y/N, come with us please."

I nodded and followed Thalia and Chiron back to the Big House. Chiron made us some tea and we sat down.

Thalia took a deep breath. "So. Y/N, was it?"

I nodded.

"Why have you been in my dreams for the past seven years?"

I frowned. "I have no clue. What were the dreams about?"

She sat there, deep in thought for a moment. "I... I can't remember. All I remember is that I can trust you."

That didn't exactly help. "I... thanks? I'm sorry, but I don't know why I'd be in your dreams. My godly parent is Hecate, not Hypnos. Are you sure it was me?"

She nodded. "One hundred percent sure."

I sat there for a moment. "My... my mom told me earlier. That things were in motion that would shape the fate of..." I paused for a second. She didn't know about the war yet. Should I break it to her like this?

I didn't get a chance to decide, as Chiron returned with the tea.

"Miss Grace, I know you have a lot of questions, but I think I perhaps ought to get you up to speed first. There is much you have missed. It is..."

"Where's Luke? I didn't see him on the hill."

The words seemed to echo throughout the entire camp. I glanced to Chiron, silently asking him how we should handle this.

Chiron explained the past couple years. Thalia simply sat there, nodding every so often, and growing visibly distant when we talked about Luke's betrayal.

Once he was finished, we sat in silence for a couple minutes, before Thalia finally spoke.

"I... I can't believe he did that. I mean, I can tell you're not lying, it's just..."

I softly placed a hand on her shoulder. If I needed to lead, now was the time to start. "I know. I didn't know Luke for long, but I can tell how important he was to you and Annabeth. To the whole camp, really. It was a bit of shock to everyone, to put it lightly. I'm sorry you had to find out like this."

She glanced up at me, breathing heavily. "Th... thank you."

I nodded in acknowledgement. "If you'd like, I can lead you to your cabin. I'm sure the others have set things up for you by now. So long as Chiron has nothing more to say."

Chiron simply nodded in approval.

"I... I think I'd like that, yes. Thank you, Y/N."

I helped her up and led her out. As we crossed the valley to the cabins, my brain was spinning. Things were changing. Fast. Too fast. As much as I hated to admit it, I couldn't deny it. Luke was pulling ahead of us.

Kronos was starting to win.