Zeus' Choice (A Percy Jackson Fan fiction)

Chapter 18 - Cunning, Smart, Stupid

A shivering breeze crawls on my skin, waking me up for a new day. I stretch my body and yawn like I've never yawned before. I stay there for what seems a few minutes, taking my time to fully be awake. Something tells me I won't be sleeping on a bed this comfortable for a very long time to come. When I finally manage to shake off the last bit of sleep out of my system, I jump off the bed.

It seems as though Athena has been more helpful than she let on. My previous clothes - jeans and a leather jacket - have been washed and kept neatly on a chair beside my bed. It also turns out Athena has been shopping because next to my clothes lay the most warm-looking winter coat I have ever seen, with army boots and a pair of thick socks. I make a mental note to thank her later.

I change out of the rich clothing she dressed me in and immediately have to wear my other clothes because I can't stand the cold air. Not only do the new clothes fit me perfectly, but they are also astonishingly light, as if I was going for a hike in knee-deep snow and didn't need anything to weigh me down. Well, who knows what this quest has in store for me?

I walk out of the room while brushing my fingers through my disheveled hair. The suite seems so awfully quiet. I grab an apple from a nearby table and take a big bite. I sigh at the sight of Nico - who is unfortunately still in owl form - sleeping peacefully under the blanket. I'll have to Iris message Annabeth the first chance I get for help on how to change him back to the human he was.

I check on Jenia, only to find an empty room with her sky-blue gown strewn across the floor. I pull the curtains to the side and immediately bright golden sunlight pours into the room, the rays refracted by the balcony windows. As I open the balcony doors to get a wider glimpse of the outdoors I am greeted with a snowball to the face.

"Ow!" I yelp in pain and surprise, quickly rubbing all the melting snow from my skin. Some of it gets into my nose when I take a breath, giving me a brain freeze.

"Aw, yeah! Right in the face," I hear Jenia say enthusiastically.

In the snow-covered mountains outside, hundreds of ant-sized tourists roam the ski slope, clad in the required uniform for snow-boarding and skate-boarding. Some, being more fortunate and skilled than others, perform tricks by jumping and twirling in the air, while others happily enjoy a snowball fight. By the joyous noises they are making I assume they are having a good time - relaxed and carefree, which is the total opposite of what I am feeling right now.

I scowl at Jenia, who looks as though she has been rolling down the snowy mountains. I want to yell at her for being so irresponsible by going outside alone. She could have been attacked by monsters! Not that she can't eliminate any threat alone, but that's beside the point.

But when I focus on her face, all I see is a playful child hidden under a tired face. A face that has seen terrible, terrible things and is just looking for an opportunity to get a break from the horror that is reality. She almost looks...homesick. And not for Camp Half-Blood, I guess, but rather for her birthplace, Russia.

It is not pity that allows a laugh out of me, but I decide it is understanding instead. I can understand being homesick. Its seems so long since I've eaten in the dining pavilion, but I know in truth it's only been a few days.

"How long have you been up?" I ask. My hands automatically reach out for the rails as I look down at Jenia, who isn't that far below from the balcony. I could probably jump down without any major injuries.

"A few minutes, I don't know," Jenia says, "maybe half an hour, two hours perhaps. I can't tell." She shrugs with a grin.

I laugh again and roll my eyes.

"Okay, well, come on up. We need to pack our bags, grab Nico, and find Thalia." As I say it, I find myself wishing it were that simple. At the mention of Thalia, a crease forms between Jenia's eyebrows and her body becomes alert. I try to relax my own hands that are clenching together.