Percy Jackson: CHB Again?

Chapter 14: I Refuse to Continue.

It turns out, they have a map (*cue Dora song) that leads them to the stars. If it was this easy to track them down, I wondered why Artemis couldn't just a) look for them herself, or b) get her hunters to do it. But you know gods, they've got to make it hard, even if it means this much to them.

Argus had been sent back to camp with the van, but it still didn't make sense as to why when I looked through the windows, he wasn't there, because he also wasn't on the battlefield.

I thought about how the first monster with the star - Echidna - had wanted me to kill Argus, and I got an unsettling feeling in the pit of my stomach. He'd be alright, I thought, because I'd killed Echidna. But I still wasn't sure.

I was on Blackjack's back, though Percy looked a bit upset about it. I would've let him ride his pegasus, but I still didn't trust those other horses. Even if they'd come when I'd been knocked out, I was only dead for three minutes. Unless Percy called them before that - which wasn't likely. On top of that, Annabeth still wasn't talking to me, which...sucked, in the best terms.

The wind was blowing too rapidly around us to speak, not even Jason could calm the storm. So I had a lot of time to think. Which, dare I say it, was unfortunate.

I thought about how many more stars I'd need to collect, and if I'd survive that long. I thought about Apollo almost slipping up, because he knew about the other reality. I also thought about the Echidna, Dionysus, and Clarisse who seemed to also be aware of my situation. I thought about Narilla's words: how he would give me an answer. I wasn't yet sure who he was, but I knew it had something to do with finding these stars.

As far as I understood, Artemis was a female. So was the constellation. Where a man came into this? Maybe it was Zeus, as he ruled the sky. Maybe it was Apollo, being the twin of Artemis. Maybe it was even another constellation. Whatever the case, it made me flustered and frustrated.

The more I continued to think on things, the harder I furrowed my brows and the harder the frustration hit, slowly turning to anger.

So many things didn't make sense: why was I always hearing Schrödinger's Cat everywhere? Why did some people know about my other lives, while others didn't? Why was Annabeth jealous? Who decided it would be funny to make a demigod confused and living too many lives, having it much worse than Hannah Montana? But most importantly, the loudest question screaming in my mind, the one I'd rather just have shouted in every god's face until I got the answer, was Why Me?

"Not to get angry or frustrated" Hades had said, and I almost snorted. How could I not be angry or frustrated? I could just change course and fly right up to Olympus to give the gods a piece of my mind. I may as well just let the world die. I didn't have to be here doing what Artemis could be doing herself! They were HER stars, HER possessions, and there was a MAP that lead to every single one of them.

"Tera," Percy shouted over the wailing of the wind. I turned to face him with a nasty look on my face. I wasn't mad at him, but I couldn't help making an angry face just thinking about the gods! The nerve!

"You're smoking!"

At first, I'd assumed he was trying to calm me down before telling me why he actually called. Maybe he was even flirting with me at a grim time like this. But then I looked over my shoulder, and saw a line of smoke floating behind me like a trail. My head was smoking.

"Sorry," I called back to Percy, trying not to get angrier. "I'll try not to do that."

But Percy directed the horses to land on the nearest building rooftop.

Alright, I refuse to tell you anymore. Yup, the story's over. The gods want me to work? Then you can come up with your own ending.

~