The Grains of Time (Slipping Through Our Fingers) by P_a_n_i_c

Chapter 8

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A Blood Red Moon, An Uncle Suppressed by Runes, Demigod Children who were Taken too soon

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Connor and Travis' tunnel also had an exit, but they had wandered around a little, heard a rat, decided to chase after the animal, and somehow managed to catch it. Percy wasn't going to question it, at least not too much.

Castor and Pollux had made it back, much cleaner, with no issues.

Percy looked up to the sky while everyone chatted next to him, the sun was starting to set which meant it was probably time for Percy to ask who was on look out.

He turned towards Clarisse, "La Rue, who's on watch tonight?"

Clarisse looked at him, turning her attention off of the long stick she had been sharpening into a spear.

"Valdez, McLean, The Vinthers then You." She dragged the sword she was using to sharpen the stick along the wood, "Though you can rearrange the order for whatever would work better."

Percy hummed, tapping his fingers against his leg, "Did anything happen while I was asleep or was it quiet all night?"

Clarisse paused to think for a second, "I know Gardner got startled by a deer that came into view but other than that no."

"That's good, just a boring night then." Percy looked back to the sky, it was quickly getting dimmer outside. He could see the stars starting to shine through the clouds.

"Yep." Clarisse glanced at where he was looking, "If you want to stargaze you have time before the shifts start."

Percy pulled himself up and walked towards the entrance, "Not stargazing, I just want to check something real fast, I'll be right back." Clarisse gave him a thumbs up, focussing most of her attention back to the spear she was making.

Percy pushed through the willow branches, staring up at the sky, it was dark enough that he could see a majority of the constellations. He carefully spun around, staring at all the different star clusters until his eyes landed on a noticeably empty section. A grin spread across his face.

Zoe's constellation wasn't there, the place where her soul resided since the year he had turned fourteen was now barren. Percy felt immense relief as he stared at the empty spot through the clouds, he was glad she was still alive. Percy looked away from the sky and walked back to the cave with a soft smile on his face.

Percy sat down on the dirt mound in front of the entrance, looking down at the others "I'll keep watch first, you guys can sleep."

Will's head shot up and he narrowed his eyes at Percy, "You're not saying that so that you can keep watch all night, right?" Percy shifted so that he was sitting criss-cross and smiled innocently, "Of course not. I'll follow the system we set up."

Will continued to stare at him with narrowed eyes, while Katie laughed, "Percy, we know how you are. If you could, you would totally keep watch all night."

Percy opened his mouth, and then slowly closed it "Okay well, you got me there but I'm not going to!" The innocent smile on his face didn't help, Katie and Will still looked at him with doubt. "Promise, I will totally wake someone up at some point before sunrise. Besides, we don't exactly have a way to tell time."