The Wings, the Wand, and the Wave

Stronger Together

Percy

I need to leave Camp Half-Blood? I thought. Being a demigod, I've become accustomed to having voices in my head. "Yes, Perseus. I will-." It's Percy, if you don't mind, I thought. I could feel the frustration through my subconscious. "I will direct you in what to do when they arrive, but, for now, get some rest. It will be hard for you tomorrow, both physically and emotionally. I really didn't want to leave them, but if the voice in my head was right, I'd be back soon. I've been gone before, I can leave again. Maybe Jason could come, too. He can fly- "No," I said aloud. "Just you." With that, I sank into unconsciousness.

The horn blared, and I groaned. My night had been surprisingly dreamless, but the guilt weighed down on me, a stone in my stomach. I smoothed the blanket down on my bed, and checked to make sure I had Riptide in my pocket,  and my thickest sweatshirt, which I'd thought to cut slits in the back of.I had no clue when Maximum was coming, and needed to be prepared.

I walked quickly to breakfast, trying to keep my head down. I didn't want to be suspected and stopped. I sacrificed a little more food than usual, hoping it would bring good luck. I inhaled the rest, and only slowed when I went to get seconds in the next half minute and got more than a few strange looks.

After breakfast, I milled around, anxious, and jumped about a foot when Annabeth tapped on my shoulder. "Hey, Annabeth," I said, keeping my voice smooth. She raised an eyebrow. "Annabeth? Not Wise Girl, or even Annie?" I smirked, despite myself. "Sorry, Wise Girl. I'll stop calling you by your actual name." "Thank you."

Right then, I heard Clarisse's voice cutting through the air. "Attack!" she screamed. I uncapped Riptide and ran towards her, Annabeth by my side, as she always was. I stopped short when I saw the girl, Maximum, hanging in the air along with Harry, who was on a... broom? What the heck? Her eyes scanned the crowd that had gathered, and I shoved my way to the front, trying not to impale anyone. "Maximum!" I called. She shifted in the air, and I saw one of the Apollo kids tighten their bowstrings. I spun around and threw my hands up. "No! Don't hurt them!" Annabeth drew away from me. "Percy? You know them?" I felt the gust of wind from Maximum's wing beside me, and heard the rustle of the bristles on Harry's broom.

"Perseus Achilles Jackson," she said, her voice hard. "Do not lie to me. Who are these people? What are you hiding?" I swallowed. "I'm sorry, Annie." With that, I turned away and headed to Maximum and Harry. "Perseus?" he said. I nodded. "Call me Percy. Harry? Maximum?" "Call me Max."

I heard the voice inside my head again, and my eyes widened. I could see they'd heard it too, they'd straightened up. "Perseus, cut your palms. Maximum, you need to get at five drops of your blood in their gashes, exactly. Perseus will control the blood flow. Harry, you will heal them. Within two minutes, you will both have wings." We followed the instructions, ignoring the gaping crowd of demigods before us. After Harry used his magic stick, excuse me, his wand to heal us, I pivoted slowly to face the campers. "Percy," Annabeth said, her voice quavering. "What are you doing? What's going on?" By now Grover, Juniper, Jason, Piper, Hazel, Nico, Leo, and Frank had pushed through everyone, and had their mouths hanging open. Chiron stood firm beside Annabeth, stoic as ever. Internally, I groaned this was going to be hard, but I'd been specifically instructed not to say goodbyes.

"Uh..." right then Harry hacked, and collapsed. I fell too, writhing around. My flailing limbs were the only things that kept Annabeth at bay. Within a few seconds, the pain stopped, and I lay, cramped, on the dirt, alongside Harry. We helped each other up, and I hunched over and rolled my shoulders, feeling the new muscles twitch and expand. My wings were a deep black, almost blue. What a coincidence. Harry's were a warm, almond color. When he looked, a them, he choked back a sob. Strange.

Harry

I felt wings stretch, probably the largest of all of us, at about nineteen feet. I studied them, and saw they were the same comforting shade of brown as Hermione's hair. I almost sobbed, but coughed to cover it up. "You ready?" I flinched, having forgotten that Max was still there. I met Percy's eyes, and he nodded to me. We were ready. "Come on."

We took off at a full sprint, rushing into the woods. "Percy!" I heard the blonde girl yell. Her voice choked with emotion, and I tried not to focus on it. She sounded so much like Ginny.

As we tore through the winds, I wondered, where are we going? My pace was faster than normal, probably from adrenaline, but this felt... different. I don't know. Like my body was lighter somehow, and my strides were more fluid. At last, we arrived at a small cliff. Max stopped sharply, but Percy and I skidded forward, trying to brake. Then I felt a hand on the small of my back, roughly, but not harshly, pushing me off the edge.

Without a second thought I snapped my wings open, wincing at the pain. I saw that Percy had done the same, but he kept glancing up at the sky, more nervous than I was. If that was possible. We glided as smoothly as possible across the water, and I tripped on the landing, throwing up dirt and face planting into the grass. Percy hadn't suffered much worse, and was wiping mud off his jeans. Max, of course, had landed gracefully and was standing with her arms crossed, not bothering to mask her impatience. I smothered my jealousy and flexed a few of my muscles, ensuring that I hadn't gotten hurt.

Percy grunted, and I realized that he'd seen me contracting my bicep. I just rolled my eyes, and tried to remind myself that he was a year younger and still immature, despite his life threatening scenarios. "Alright, guys." Max pulled out three backpacks from behind a rock, and I grappled to catch mine. Percy and Max shared identical smirks, and I felt a flush creeping up my neck.

Trying to be casual, I swung the bag over my shoulder and pulled on the straps, silently appreciating how they were accustomed to fit around my wings. "Alright," Max bellowed. "Let's roll."