Percy Jackson, the Son of Olympus: The Lightning Thief

| Chapter V || Pranking |

*December 21 XXXX*

***

The gods were shocked. They had never seen Percy bleed before the moment when Artemis shot him. Seeing as he got along with everyone who knew about him, he didn't have any conflicts. Even Ares and Dionysus got along with him.

Percy quickly healed himself with saltwater before disappearing in a cloud of black mist.

That left the Olympians confused. They all turned to Athena, hoping that she would know what just happened. She whimpered and said, "But...that's impossible... The only beings in existence known to have black blood with white specks are..." She trailed off as if she couldn't believe what she was about to say.

"Are...?" Poseidon prompted.

"Chaos...and his chosen heir," Athena whispered.

That sent the throne room into an uproar.

"Chaos chose Perseus as his heir? Why didn't he tell us?" Zeus demanded.

No one paid any attention to him, though, as the gods and demigods were all yelling as well.

A fiery outburst from the hearth got everyone to quiet down. They all turned to Hestia. "I'm sure that Perseus had a very good reason for keeping it a secret. Now why don't we all calm down and actually try to find him?" she asked.

All of the gods could see her sense, and Zeus spoke. "Okay, everyone split up. I'm sure he is still on Olympus and is just hiding to avoid questions," he said.

"How do you know that he is still on Olympus?" Chiron asked.

"Because he hasn't been in the mortal world since he was four years old, and I'm pretty sure he wouldn't leave his friends behind for anything," Zeus explained.

Chiron nodded and told his campers to help with the search. Once everyone had set out, only Artemis was left behind.

She looked up and said, "Perseus, I know you're there."

Near the ceiling, a small alcove was carved into the wall. Perseus' head popped out of the hole. "Aww! How did you know?" he asked, floating down.

Artemis just smiled, "Because when you used to play hide and seek with Apollo and Hermes, that was your favorite hiding place. They could never find you up there," she explained. Then she laughed, "Do you remember that time you hid up there and pretended to be a deep scary voice to freak out my father during one of the solstice meetings?"

Percy laughed along with her as he landed. Artemis was in her twelve-year-old form, as usual, the same age as Percy. He didn't know why, but he had always felt a strange pull towards Artemis. And he secretly had a crush on her since he was eight, which was only a few months before she had fallen on top of him that time.

Percy loved making her laugh, it sounded like Christmas bells. Of course, it would, since the legend of Santa Claus had come from a mortal seeing her flying across the sky in her chariot. The mortal must have heard her laugh and thought they were jingle bells.

Artemis slowly stopped laughing and said, "Hey, would you like to prank the others again?"

A wide grin spread across Percy's face. He wasn't actually as innocent as he told Zeus during the meeting. The thing was—unlike Hermes and Apollo—he never got caught. He nodded and asked, "What do you have in mind?"

Artemis tapped her chin. "I say we stay up in our hidden room and when they come back, you pretend to be Chaos. Then you can say whatever you want, as long as it's convincing. That would scare them into next week!" she suggested, chuckling.

Percy's grin widened, and he grabbed her hand. He started floating back up to the alcove at a fast pace, not looking back at Artemis because his face was bright red at the physical contact. An enchantment kept him from blushing purple.

If he had looked back, though, he would've seen that Artemis was also blushing.

Once they reached the ledge, he let Artemis get in first, and they were hidden from view.

The space was about big enough for them to kneel, as well as lay down straight out, with only their heads hanging over the edge. There was a bunch of equipment for all of their pranks pushed to the far wall, as extra security that they didn't get caught.

Percy picked up a megaphone that disguised his voice. He set it on 'deep and ominous'.

Yes, you heard right, that was a setting. Percy designed it himself, with a little help from Hephaestus' lessons. Of course, he wouldn't ever tell Hephaestus what he did with his knowledge, so he was safe.

Then, once everything was set up, Percy and Artemis waited in silence for the rest of the Olympians, Chiron, and the campers to show up...

***

Published: Saturday, October 22, 2016

~CSP2708~