The Queen's Son

The Queen's Son Part 1

    I had never quite been the same since Jordan, and after Luke's death. According to Annabeth and Thalia I was more closed off, quiet. I knew I trained harder than ever, and my feline qualities had only grown more pronounced. The campers had accepted me, (especially in Capture the Flag) and I loved Camp Half-Blood, but I still felt responsible. If I had just been a little faster, worked a little harder, Luke would still be alive. The thought ran through my head every day. I was knocked out of his thoughts by Annabeth, who tackled me from behind with a hug, and we both tumbled into the snow.

"Annabeth!" I complained, trying to push her off of me. I succeeded, and she fell next to me, in a laughing heap.

"Lighten up, Seaweed Brain." She said, smile on her face. I tried to be mad, but couldn't, and a grin spread across my face.

"You're a pain." I told her, sitting up. She only laughed. I grabbed a handful of snow and threw it at her, hitting her in the face. Her steel grey eyes took on a mischievous glint, and suddenly it was a war. Snow flew, until we were both out of breath. She smiled.

"See. It's more fun when you're not so serious." I gave a mock scowl.

"I miss the lions." I told her. She swatted my arm.

"It'd mess up the monsters radar and you know it." I crossed my arms.

"I hate when you're right." I grumbled. She scooted over to me.

"We go through this daily, Lion Boy. No lions, no Rhea, no Hestia." I frowned.

"I still miss them. Melinoe is cranky too, you know." She shook her finger at me.

"I thought Hades promised not to let you talk. You know visiting the Underworld makes your scent to monsters stronger." I shrugged.

"It was just for a bit?" I tried. Annabeth cuffed the side of my head.

"We only have a few days left here. Thalia is coming tomorrow to help us bring them back." I sighed.

"I know. Hades will be happy to know his children are safe. Of course, we can't really tell anybody, but I suppose it's still good." I smiled.

"Melinoe's excited to meet her half siblings."

"You weren't supposed to talk with her until our quest was over, Percy." She said, giving me a disapproving stare. I scratched the back of my neck sheepishly.

"It was just for an hour or so, I swear!" I said. It was the truth. I hadn't stayed very long. Just enough to get out of English. Annabeth shook her head, but turned, staring up at the grey building Dr. Thorne called a school.

"We'd better get back in the building." She glanced at her watch for a moment. "It's almost curfew." I nodded.

"Good plan. I don't want another detention." Another cuff to the other side of my head.

"Percy!" I grinned mischievously at her.

"Oops?" Annabeth shook her head, and we went back inside, blissfully unaware of what was about to happen.

---

The next day was the dance. The whole school had been buzzing about it for weeks. We hardly ever got to do anything fun, so this was new. I glanced at the pack tucked under my bed, itching to grab it, get the di Angelos, and run now. Still, I knew we needed to wait for Thalia. She was fifteen now, and was on everybody's radar. The prophecy child. She was only a few days from turning sixteen. We all did our best to ignore that. I was happy to see her, anyways. Annabeth, Grover, and I had all come to the school three months ago, to look for demigods. The obvious candidates were the di Angelos, and we set to work on befriending them. Annabeth and Bianca were friends, as were Nico and I. We all hung out, trying to do homework that none of us could read or focus on. Nico managed the best grades out of the four of us, mostly because we could help him with the things at his grade level- four below ours. We didn't mind. It took our minds off of our own work. Walking down the hallway, we talked about the matter.