Daughter Of Lightning - Book 3 (A Percy Jackson x OC Fanfic)

CHAPTER 5 (Part-2)

(Percy's POV)

The Hunters set up their camping site in a matter of minutes. Seven large tents, all of silver silk, curved in a crescent around one side of a bonfire.

One of the girls blew a silver dog whistle, & a dozen white wolves appeared out of the woods & began circling the camp like guard dogs.

The Hunters walked among them & fed them treats, completely unafraid. Falcons watched us from the trees, their eyes flashing in the firelight, & I knew they were on guard duty, too.

Even the weather seemed to bend to the goddess's will. The air was still cold, but the wind died & the snow stopped, so it was almost pleasant sitting by the fire.

Almost....except for the pain in my shoulder & the guilt weighing me down. I couldn't believe Annabeth was gone.

And as hurt as I was by Thalia, I had a sinking feeling that she was right. It was my fault.

I watched Thalia pacing in the snow at the edge of camp, walking among the wolves without fear. She stopped & looked back at Westover Hall, which was now completely dark, looming on the hillside beyond the woods. I wondered what she was thinking.

Seven years ago, Thalia was turned into a pine tree by Zeus, to keep her from dying. She'd stood her ground against an army of monsters on top of Half Blood Hill giving Luke & Annabeth time to escape.

She was back as a human for a few months now, & once in a while she stood so motionless you'd think she was still a tree.

Finally, one of the Hunters brought Nora & me our backpacks. Grover & Nico came back from their walk, & Grover helped fix up my wounded arm & Nora's side too which was a lot worse than she'd let on.

"It's green!" Nico said with delight.

"Hold still," Grover told me. "Here, eat some ambrosia while I clean that out."

I winced as he dressed the wound, but the ambrosia helped. It tasted like brownies, which sent a warm feeling through my whole body. Between that & the magic salve Grover used, my shoulder felt better in a couple minutes.

Nico rummaged through his bag, which the Hunters had packed for him, though how they'd snuck into Westover Hall unseen, I didn't know.

Nico laid out a pile of figurines in the snow-little battle replicas. I recognized Zeus with a lightning bolt, Ares with a spear, Apollo with his sun chariot.

"Damn...that's a big collection," Nora said.

Nico grinned. "I've got almost all of them, plus their holographic cards! Well, except for a few really rare ones."

"You've been playing this game a long time?" I asked.

"Just this year. Before that..." He knit his eyebrows.

"What's wrong?" Nora asked.

"I forget. That's weird."

He looked unsettled, but it didn't last long. "Hey, can I see that sword you were using?"

I showed him Riptide, explaining how it turned into a sword by uncapping it, while Nora just watched us with an amused look.

"Cool! Does it ever run out of ink?"

"Um, well, I don't actually write with it."

"Are you really the son of Poseidon?"

"Well, yeah."

"Can you surf really well, then?"

I looked at Nora & Grover, who tried hard not to laugh & I had to keep reminding myself not to stare at Nora for too long...