Tempest (Percy Jackson)

seven

chapter seven: wanted

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The group spent a miserable night camped out in the woods after their escape from Medusa's Emporium. None of them were too keen on staying there with all the stone statues. They had stolen plenty of food and blankets to keep them satisfied though.

Percy took the first shift of watch that night. Annabeth passed out as soon as her head hit the ground, and Grover was snoring loudly within minutes. But, though River was not a night owl in the slightest, she couldn't seem to sleep.

River sighed and slumped down next to Percy against the tree. She offered one half of her blanket to him and he took it gratefully, happy to have some warmth in the cold night. Percy noticed she seemed a lot more mellow under the light of the moon. Still happy, but not nearly as vivacious.

"Thought you'd be the first to pass out, being a daughter of the sun God and all that," Percy commented.

"Yeah, me too. I guess my body isn't ready to rest yet after all that excitement," River picked up a stick and began to draw in the damp dirt.

Percy looked around at the clearing, "Never expected it to go wrong this quickly."

River shook her head with a dramatic sigh as she took on a deeper tone of voice to sound like a man, "That was your first mistake, young Percy Jackson. You must always expect the unexpected. Or whatever."

Percy chuckled quietly, "What was that?"

"I was trying to do Chiron."

"That was a horrible impression," Percy had to put his fist over his mouth as his body was wracked with laughter.

River grinned brightly and shrugged, "What can I say? I'm a musician, not an actor."

"I thought you were an artist. What with all the paintings and crafts you do at camp."

"I'm both, but painting is more my mom's thing. I play the violin," River mimicked the hold of the instrument in her hands.

"Violin? That's pretty cool."

"Yeah. Well, being an ADHD kid was hard enough, but try mixing that with autism and dyslexia too. My mom needed some way to occupy me so she could do literally anything else. Took me to a music store and the violin just...spoke to me. Then she could never get me to stop playing it," River's smile was full of memories as she hugged her knees to her chest, "My entire life revolved around the arts and mythology. I just...didn't realize how much until I learned about my dad."

Percy watched her curiously, "You said in the van that your dad only started talking to you after something happened. What was it?"

River's eyes darted around and she hugged her knees tighter, "Um...it's not really something I like talking about. Besides, I'm fine now! So, there's no point dwelling on the past."