Perseus Jackson-The Phantom World

III

Reality.  Now that...that is the thing, right?  Reality?  Whether or not something is or is not real?  Whether it exists?  Whether or not anything exists?  Do I?  Sometimes I don't think I do.  Do you, do we...us?  Are we real?  Or are we just figments of someone's imagination?  I can't be certain.  You shouldn't, either.  Because I know, you should know, that reality can be manipulated.  That's how I made the Phantom World, after all.  I manipulated reality.  So, who is to say that we are just a manipulation of reality...

...

As I stepped through the borders, I felt an icy chill, a feeling of uncertainty.  A sense of foreshadowing.  This was my last time crossing these borders.  I would never again enter this place again.

I didn't know if that was a good thing or not.

As soon as I crossed the border, I felt a body slam into my leg.  I looked down, and smiled at the pleasant surprise.

"James!" I laughed.  "How are you holding up, little buddy?"

James, or Jamey Callaway was a young son of Hermes that I had rescued a year back.  He was a really nice kid, and I came to adore him.  He was the kind of person that could melt even the coldest of hearts.  He never got mad or blamed the world for bad things that happened to him.  He just smiled at everyone, smiled at life, smiled at me, smiled at strangers.  And it wasn't even a fake smile.  It was an innocent smile that no one could ignore.  With his messy brown hair, warm blue eyes, and dimples, adoring personality, and innocent smile, I didn't see how anyone could ever hate him.

"Phantom!  I missed you!" Jamey grinned.  "You haven't come around in a while."

"I know, and I'm sorry, buddy.  But I had pretty important stuff to deal with."

Jamey smiled widely at me.  "Okay.  Am I supposed to bring you to Chiron?  He is the horse man who is in charge."

I thought about it for a moment, and then decided to pass on it.  I missed James, and I would rather spend more time with him.  There would be plenty of time for introductions later.

"Nah.  How about you show me around?"

Jamey's smile, if possible, got wider.  We walked around camp, talking and laughing.  I know I have been here before.  A lot of times before.  But, I haven't been here in over a hundred years.  Places are bound to change in over a century.  He showed me the important stuff, like the Arena, and the volleyball and basketball courts, and the not important stuff, like the temples for the gods.

"And this is the Big House, where the Horse Man lives!" James said cheerfully. 

"Who are you, and what are you doing here?" A calculated voice said.  I turned around, and saw a blonde girl who looked vaguely familiar to me.  Her face...I knew that face...I couldn't place it exactly, but I had a hunch that this was Annabeth, the daughter of Athena who broke my heart oh so long ago.

"My name is Phantom." I said smoothly.  Obviously my looks had changed in a hundred years.  I now had stubble along my jaw, my face had gotten older, my angular, tanner.  My body had gotten leaner and more muscular.  I also had wrinkles where my eyes crinkled when I laughed.  But I also wore a helmet and a protective suit at all times unless I was in the Phantom World.  It wasn't stiff, or heavy like army.  It was rather like a Tron suit, actually.  The fabric it was made of...actually, I don't know. I never really bothered to find out.  But Nyx made it for me, and she said that to anyone besides me, the outside of the suit was harder than a person's skin after bathing in the Styx.  And it had no weak spot.  "I am here to defend you all, since apparently you cannot take care of yourselves here.  May I ask you you are?"