Tartarus Rises (Percy Jackson Chaos Theory Fanfiction- Book 2)

Fluffy Blue Unicorns

Percy POV

Turns out we didn't meet at all when Castor woke up. Chiron had to see to a new camper, whom he'd promised to let us meet later.

For now, several of the campers were hanging around the Rec Room. Me, of course, along with Annabeth, Thalia, Nico, Will, Connor and Travis, Luke, Bianca, Ethan Nakamura, and Jason Grace.

Though it'd been five years since we'd all been together as family, we were still comfortable around each other. Annabeth and I sat together, with Nico squashed between Jason and Will, Thalia beside Jason and Luke, Bianca across from Nico, Ethan beside Annabeth and Bianca, and Travis and Connor situated several feet from the rest of the group. Did you figure it out?

At the moment, none of us were saying anything. We just wanted to enjoy each other's company, especially since I'd disappeared for five years and this was the first chance they all had to be together with me.

Finally, Luke spoke up. "I haven't had the chance to properly thank you all for forgiving me and accepting me after what I've done."

"After what you've done?" Thalia scoffed. "The only thing you did was become a hero by destroying Kronos of your own free will. You never betrayed us. Neither did Silena."

"Percy wouldn't have brought you back if he didn't believe that," Annabeth said with a squeeze of my hand. She and Luke smiled at each other, then at me.

"Nah, I totally just wanted him to destroy camp again," I teased, leaning backwards in my chair. It was a bad habit of mine. "Just like with Bryson- er, Justice, sorry- I've forgiven you completely. To me, what you did in the end matters more than what you did before."

"Thanks, Perce," Luke murmured gratefully. "You're the best."

"I know."

"Shut up, Jackson."

"Shut up, Castellan."

Jason snorted. "You sound like the Seven. Don't know how many times we say shut up to each other. Just teasing, of course." He glared over at Nico. "Some people, though, don't know when to stop teasing."

"Shut up, Grace," Nico snapped. No, he wasn't angry one bit. He enjoyed annoying Jason.

"Shut up, di Angelo."

"Shut up, everybody," Bianca shouted, and we all stared at her in shock. She smiled sweetly at us. "What? I got everybody to shut up."

That was Bianca for you. Even she'd changed in the past four years, which was saying a lot. She was still quieter than most of us, but she laughed a lot. She and Nico were quite a pair, now that they had a good chance to show people what their relationship was like. Nico always complained of Bianca being bossy. Bianca always complained of Nico never listening to her. Typical sibling stuff. I couldn't wait to do that with my new sibling when she was born. Mom was going to give birth any day now. The only con there was that I'd be like forty by the time I got to boss my sibling around.

Not fair.

That was when Silena decided to burst in. Her cheeks were flushed with excitement, her eyes bright with some happy emotion. "I found it!"

And all of a sudden, I was in the dark. Not literally. By "in the dark" I meant I didn't know what "it" was. It appeared, however, that Luke and Bianca and pretty much every single person in Camp knew. Before, Silena would have told me what she we looking for. She and I had begun a brotherly-sisterly relationship once I'd brought her back to life. Before, she would have asked me to help her search for whatever it was she'd just found.

"Found what?" Curiosity could not have been contained inside me at that moment. It was a good thing I wasn't a cat. Oh, wait... I would be been successful since I knew Silena would tell me everything. Looks like it wouldn't have mattered.

Her big blue eyes focused on me. "Ah, man, I never told you, did I? I'm sorry!" All my remorse blew away. She'd probably just been busy with Beckendorf and catching up with old friends. She hadn't meant to leave me out of this. "Ever since we came back, I've been searching for a unicorn. Clarisse told me about it since she knows how much I love the Pegasi."

"Unicorn?" I inquired skeptically. I'd met a lot of Pegasi in my time, but the only unicorns I'd ever seen had been the ones at Camp Jupiter. "Just one unicorn?"

"Yeah. The rarest unicorn ever heard of, even more rare than the original Pegasus. Why is it different, you might ask? It's fluffy. And it's blue."

That caught me off guard. "A fluffy blue unicorn? I can see why it's the rarest unicorn ever heard of. You found it?" If she truly had, I'd be impressed.

"Yeah." Another glance at me, in which I could see a hint of regret in her eyes. "It was flying overhead, so I couldn't touch it or anything. It's gone now, but... I saw it!"

I took a moment to contemplate that. "Do you know how crazy that sounds? Who's ever heard of a fluffy blue unicorn?"

"Me, duh," she teased, giving me her famous eye-roll. "And Annabeth, and Clarisse, and-"

"Okay, okay!" I laughed, cutting her off, "I get that point. Congratulations on spotting the unicorn! Wish I could have seen it!" Seeing her expression, I offered her a genuine smile. "I'm serious. Anything that makes you happy I want to see."

Her cheeks tinging pink, she glanced away at the compliment. It wasn't like that, trust me. We didn't have anything more than just friendship, since Annabeth and I were still together and Silena and Beckendorf were officially boyfriend and girlfriend. We'd just grown very close in the five years we'd been with Chaos. She told me part of her kindness was the debt she owed me because I brought her back to life.

"Clarisse wanted to see me soon, so I guess I'll be going," she murmured, then hurriedly ran out.

Annabeth eyed me with some strange expression. "Sometime soon you and I are going to sit down and discuss everything that happened to you when Chaos saved you."

Unable to ignore that look, and because she was Wise Girl, I submitted. "Yes, ma'am. Info locked away in the safety files of my mind."

She rolled her eyes, then reached out and placed her fingers through mine. "All right. Good to know." And now, she knew I'd always keep my promise, no matter what.