A Son From Lands Unknown (PJO x Male Reader)

Attempting Distraction

"So now you're seeing terrifying things whenever you close your eyes?" Thala asked. A slightly stupid question, in (Y/N)'s mind, considering what he had just explained to her, but one that she was within her rights to ask.

"Not every time," (Y/N) explained. "Only after really bad days. The times I need to watch out for are when I am criticizing myself while awake. That's when its voice shows up and makes it worse. Significantly so if there's one nearby. Its power to do so seems to be directly tied to distance."

"So you nearly shot another kid because you were mad at yourself?" Thalia asked, an incredulous smirk on her face and sarcasm lacing her tone. "Yep, totally justified use of force."

"No, I shot at him because I swear to my grandfather, I saw mist coming off of him," (Y/N) continued. "Kill the Eidolon, stop the voices. Stop them before they can hurt anyone else."

"And what if the person you're 'stopping' is an actual person and not an Eidolon? What'll you do then?" (Y/N) had no response to the question. He had no plans for that particular instance. He was certain that he wouldn't shoot an innocent person, and especially certain he'd never mistake them for an Eidolon.

"I simply won't make that mistake," (Y/N) argued. "I can see the smoke coming off of them, Thalia. I think I can tell who's human."

"Is that why you nearly shot Josh?" Thalia shot back.

"Josh is probably dead," (Y/N) explained. "I saw the smoke, Thalia."

"Did you?" Thalia questioned. "Or have you convinced yourself of that out of your own desire to be right, to believe that you could never pull the trigger on someone out of anything besides rationality and self-interest?"

"Are you saying I can't trust my senses? My own eyes?"

"Considering how you were acting, when you get like that, yes," Thalia argued. "I know that face, those pinpoint eyes. The panic... Annabeth was just like that a good chunk of the time when we were crossing America. Especially when Cyclopes were involved."

"What do you mean?" (Y/N) asked, a little surprised at what Thalia was saying.

"Not my story to tell," Thalia admitted, "but I'll just say that those symptoms you're showing aren't anything new to me. So just... talk to her. See if she can give you any advice."

"I... I might just do that," (Y/N) conceded. "Though I do want to let the record show that I'm still 99% sure I saw the smoke coming off of Josh."

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(Y/N) had no intention of talking to Annabeth about that. It wasn't that he didn't believe Thalia, but rather such things would only act to distract him from what really mattered right now: stopping the Eidolons. He had constantly heard a saying from other people in his life before he found out the truth of his lineage. 'Ignorance is bliss,' they'd always say, and there was definitely some truth to it in this instance.

So, he went on about his day, trying his hardest to focus on the activities he normally performed. But even as he was taking potshots down the archery range with Tentazione in its semi-automatic configuration, it still just didn't feel right. Something was eating at him, but he just couldn't place what.

"Hey, want to shoot a couple rounds?" someone asked from next to him. It was an Apollo camper, based on his blond hair and bright golden eyes, holding a bow in his left hand with a quiver of arrows on his hip. "Winner takes drachma."

"Make a bet with an Apollo kid. At the archery range," (Y/N) pointed out. "The hell kind of fool do you take me for?"

"Alright man, sorry, jeez," the Apollo camper said, holding his hand up in mock surrender and backing off. "'Scuse me for thinking you'd be up for a friendly wager, you coward."

"Whatever," (Y/N) sighed before turning his attention back downrange. He aligned the center of the bullseye in his scope, took a deep breath in before slowly letting it out, ensuring that the target remained steady, and slowly began to pull the trigger...

"Hey, I'm talking to you!" the Apollo camper shouted. If he had less experience, (Y/N) might've jumped and accidentally fully pulled the trigger, but thankfully didn't. (Y/N) sighed and placed Tentazione on the table next to him and slowly walked up to the Apollo camper.

And punched him squarely in the face.

"Ow! Dude, what the Hades!" the Apollo camper shouted, holding his jaw.

"'Scuse me for thinking idiotic behavior needs correcting," (Y/N) replied. "You're damn lucky that they constructed that hill behind the targets and that I'm a better shooter than you. Otherwise, I would've accidentally pulled the trigger with no idea where the shot was going. What then, smart guy? Huh?"

The Apollo camper had no response, just spitting out some blood that had spilled in his mouth after he was forced to bite his tongue. He turned around, seemingly not wanting to fight anymore.

(Y/N) just sighed before turning back to Tentazione, taking an Allen wrench out of his pocket to detach the sight. However, before he could even put the wrench into one of the bolts holding the sight in place, he heard the sound of a bow tightening behind him. (Y/N) quickly grabbed Tentazione and spun around, leveling the barrel at the Apollo camper just as an arrow whizzed above his head. (Y/N) pulled the trigger, placing a bullet square in the boy's kneecap.

Crimson splattered across the ground, as blood flew from the freshly-made wound. The Apollo camper took a moment and looked down, not yet feeling the pain. However, as soon as he looked down, he screamed in pain as he threw his bow across the range and held his knee in pain as more blood dripped down his leg, crumbling to the floor in pain.

Or at least, that's what it looked like.

"Y'know, clever trick mate, nearly fooled me," he said, continuing to unscrew the pieces holding the scope to Tentazione while walking over to the 'Apollo camper.' "No, really, you guys are getting a lot better at this. I mean, you certainly got the color down. But you just had one slight problem." (Y/N) planted a foot on the Apollo camper's chest, as if he was holding him down.

"You shot me! Help me you sick fuck!"

(Y/N) placed the scope into his pocket and changed Tentazione into its pistol shape. He leveled the barrel at the other kid's head, a sinister smile crossing his face.

"Blood stays on the ground longer than three seconds."

POP