Daughter Of Light- Book 1: PJO

Chapter 46: Fullfiled Prophecies & A Cussed Out Holy Cow!

Mr D stood and watched Nico disappear. He then turned and signed and spoke for mine and Percy's sake.

"Walk with me,"

"Where to?" I asked suspiciously. After my first encounter with Mr D at the Council of Cloven Elders, I hardly saw him. I would nod when I passed him et the Big House, but hadn't really seen him much. I wondered if he was still off trying to secure the minor gods loyalty.

"Just to the campfire, I was beginning to feel better, so I thought I would talk with you two a bit. You always manage to annoy me."

"Uh, thanks." Percy signed.

"I feel so special." I signed with a small smirk.

We walked through the woods in silence. I noticed that Dionysus was treading on air. He had gone back into his wild Hawaiian patterned shirts and cc aci shorts and sandals, which hovered an inch off the ground. I guess he didn’t want to get dirty.

"We have had many betrayals this summer." he signed with a heavy sigh. "Things are not looking good for Olympus. Yet you and Annabell and Waldo, and Roger-"

"Annabeth, Will and Raph?" Percy corrected, signing their names.

Mr D waved a hand dismissively, and continued to sign so I could follow the conversation, "you hooligans saved this camp. I’m not sure I should thank you for that though..."

"It was a group effort." I sighed.

He shrugged. "Regardless, I suppose it was mildly competent, what you two did. I thought you should know- it wasn’t a total loss."

We reached the amphitheater, and Dionysus pointed toward the campfire. Clarisse was sitting shoulder to shoulder with a big Hispanic kid who was telling her a joke. It was Chris Rodriguez, the half-blood who’d gone insane in the Labyrinth.

Percy turned to Dionysus. "You cured him?"

"Madness is my specialty. It was quite simple."

"But…you did something nice. Why?"

He raised an eyebrow. "I am nice! I simply ooze niceness, Perry Johansson. Haven’t you noticed? Ask you step sister. Her boy was also cured. His was a lot easier to cure..."

"Uh-"

"Thank you Mr D." I signed. I was genuinely thankful. And I smiled at him. I'm positive it was the fire that flickered over his face. But I swear he smiled back.

"Perhaps I felt grieved by my son’s death." He signed and looked at Percy, who looked confused and lost. "Perhaps I thought this Chris boy deserved a second chance. At any rate, it seems to have improved Clarisse’s mood. And your sister. So you're welcome." He signed even though he was talking to Percy, he still spoke in fluent signlaunge and I appreciated everything Mr D had done. He may have a bad rap, but I liked him. He was impertinent too and I liked that.

"Why are you telling me this?" Percy asked.

The wine god sighed, I could tell by the exhale and the way his body kind of sagged.

"Oh, Hades if I know. But remember, boy, that kind of act can sometimes be as powerful as a sword. As a mortal, I was never a great fighter or athlete or poet. I only made wine. The people in my village laughed at me. They said I would never amount to anything. Look at me now. Sometimes small things, like friendship, relationship...love...can become very large indeed."

He left Percy and I alone to think about that. And as we watched Clarisse and Chris singing a stupid campfire song together, holding hands in the darkness, where they thought nobody could see them, I had to smile. I squeezed Percy's hand and went to the shadow where Raph was waiting.