Who We Used to Be

Chapter 8

Percy collapsed as soon as he had rematerialized in the infirmary back at camp. He almost hadn't had enough energy to do even that. Controlling the blood of two people at one time was draining enough, but when the man decided to try and fight against his control, it felt as if a hot spike was being drilled into his brain. It was all he could do not to break character and get himself away right then and there.

"Percy!". He faintly heard the voice of Will Solace, but the darkness of unconsciousness was calling to him.

"Hey, doc", he slurred once the face of the son of Apollo appeared in his line of sight. "I think I may have... overextended... just a bit". His voice became almost unintelligible by the end of his sentence as his mind shut itself down in order to avoid undergoing another bout of mania that happened whenever he no longer had the energy to hold it off.

Will scoffed as his regular patient went limp.

"You think?". But he was already out cold, and Will called over a few of his siblings to help him move the unconscious son of Poseidon onto a bed.

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When Percy woke up a couple of hours later, Thalia and Nico were waiting by his bedside, the former glaring at him disapprovingly.

"Hey, guys", he offered weakly.

"You're a dumbass", Thalia snapped, shoving a glass of nectar into his hands, "Drink".

"Nice to see you, too", Percy grumbled. But he complied and downed the nectar and instantly feeling 100 times better.

Nico gave him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder as Thalia began to pace in front of them.

"Honestly, I don't know how I deal with the two of you seeing as you insist on attempting to dissolve into your domains every five seconds!", she said, her voice growing in volume as she spoke.

"It's not my fault! You told me to scare them, so I did!", Percy replies, sitting up in bed and returning her glare with one of his own.

Nico rolled his eyes as his two cousins continued bickering. He honestly couldn't understand how the three of them got so close in the first place considering they spent most of the time they spent with one another fighting.

After about five minutes, the fight had deescalated into petty name calling, and he decided to break it up.

"Alright! We get it! You're both pretty. Now can we move on please? Kelp Head here seems to be perfectly fine, now. And if I remember, there was a point to this whole plan".

Both Thalia and Percy turned to glare at him but thankfully said nothing beyond that.

"Fine. Come on, Fish Face. You can fill us in on the way there. We left our stuff at the Big House, and I've got a new recruit to check in on".

Angela had decided that she wanted to become a Hunter of Artemis after Thalia had talked with her upon reaching camp with Nico.

The mention of her newest recruit helped to quell her anger. They had rescued quite a few half-bloods over the two years they had been travelling the country, and a surprisingly few amount of them joined the hunters, especially once they heard they had siblings. Still, the hunt had grown substantially in size, and no longer resided at camp full-time. Thalia had appointed a new lieutenant and let them travel around just like they used to. Occasionally, she would leave her two cousins to their own devices and go and join them, but most of the time they were on their own.

As the black-haired trio walked across the center of camp towards Cabin 8, the half-bloods parted to let them pass. The three of them along with the Seven and Reyna had become legends among the younger generations. And to many, they were their saviours.

"So what's the story?", Nico asked as they walked. He tried to ignore all the stares they were getting, but it was still hard for him. He wasn't used to all of the attention, and his demigod instincts unfortunately prevented him from not noticing them.

"The agent who was stalking us was from SHIELD. And the reason I was so exhausted when I arrived was because she had called in for back up since we had last checked on her. She had a friend. A friend who was... superhumanly strong. He wasn't a demigod, but he almost broke out of my hold. Thankfully, I was almost done by that point and was able to get out of there before he actually did".

Thalia growled under her breath at the mention of SHIELD.

"Great. Just great", she muttered to herself sarcastically.

"What?".

"If there's ever a government agency you don't want to have take an interest in you, it's SHIELD. They've got information on everyone and everything that's ever happened, anywhere. The fact that one of their agents even found us is proof enough of that".

Percy frowned. "That's not that big of a deal. We'll just have to be quicker and stealthier. We haven't exactly been trying to hide or anything".

Thalia shook her head. "No. Now that they know about us. They won't stop until they've caught us. And the longer that takes, the less lenient they're going to be when they do".

"Okay, time out. Two questions: One, how do you know all of this? Two, if this agency's so big and bad, how are we supposed to get around them?", Nico asked.

A smirk grew on Thalia's face. "Their headquarters are a helicarrier that's constantly flying over the United States. It's in my father's domain, so he knows everything about it, and if my father knows everything about it, than so do I. And as for your second question... that's just it, I don't know how we can get around them".

She shrugged her shoulders and they both turned to look at Percy. Whenever they needed an insane plan or idea, they always turned to him. The plans he came up with didn't always work out the way they were supposed to (in fact, they almost never worked out the way they were supposed to), but they still worked. And right now, the group was desperate.

A carnal grin spread its way across Percy's face as a plan began to form in his mind. It was completely insane, and didn't make any sense at all, but if they could get it to work, they wouldn't have to worry about the government ever again.

"Alright, listen up. I've got a plan. But you'll need to keep a couple squares of ambrosia with you. It will involve more of our scare tactics".

A/N:

Okay... I have finally finished with my constant updating. Just like the last chapter, this is actually the first part of what was supposed to be one large chapter, but I'm not finished with the second half yet, so stay tuned for that. 

Now then, down to business. Just like with my other two stories, I am in dire need of somebody to draw me a cover. I stole this one off the internet, and I won't feel right leaving it up there for long without permission. So... any of you up for the challenge? Let me know if you're interested and we'll work something out.

See you later, my lovelies! :3