The lost hero returns

5. First stop

After chaos explained what we had to do he dismissed everyone. I was about to leave as wel and pack my stuff when he called me.

"Percy. A word." He says.

I turn around and walk towards him and sit down.

"I know that I am asking you to do something that is very hard to do. And I just want you to know that you don't have to tell them who you are. If you want you can keep on your hood. That is up to you." Chaos says gently.

He knows how much I resent camp.
"And please know that it will be hard on your team as well. They know people there too. So please keep an eye on them."

I nod and stand up. But before I leave I look at Chaos.
"Does it ever get easier?" I ask.

He gives me a little smile.
"Depends. Over time you learn to accept it."

"Great.. I'll take that as a no." I say. And head to my room.

I was getting my stuff as my door opened.
And my friends storm my room.

"Percy!" Bianca says full of enthusiasm.
"I can't belief he is sending us back!" She says happily.
Yeah.. real hard on the team chaos..

"I know! You are going to see Nico again! Actually be able to hug him." Selina says.

They laugh and talk amongst themselves.
It is quite common to hang out in my room.
They often do it when I am not there. Or when I am here but sleeping or something. They just don't seem to care about my personal space.
So over the years I gave up sending them away and let them hang out here.

I sit down next to Luke on the couch in the loungeroom. Bianca and Selina are talking on the ground close to the fire.

Beckendorf and Zoë are discussing the enemies we are going to face.

Luke is very quiet.
At least someone seems to hate going back as much as I do.
"You know they forgave you a long time ago right ?" I tell him.

We have had this discussion a lot. Especially the first few years. When he told me I was crazy to let him join the army after everything he had done.

He stares at the fire place in front of us.
The fire making his eyes look like when Kronos used him. The scar on his face has disappeared almost entirely.

He sighs. "So you told me. But what if they see me and decide to hate me again?" Luke asks.

"They won't."  I say putting my hand on his shoulder trying to reassure him.

"What about you Perce? Are you going to show your face?" Zoë asks me.

They all look at me.

I have told them why I left camp a couple times. They know everything and always tried to come up with a "logical" explanation. But I always told them to let it go.
I never liked to talk about the reason I left camp. And I always changed the subject.

"I don't know." I admit "I doubt they will be happy to see me. Last time they accused me for the deaths and destruction. So I dont know if they will trust me or listen to me if they knew it was me under the hood." I say.

"I still can't believe it." Beckendorf says.

"Well seeing is believing, my big friend." I say.

"Chaos said we should leave now." Bianca says. "But what about we stay here for 2 more hours and watch a movie. Then we will make a big entrance when everyone is awake." She says grinning.

They all look at me. Waiting for the decicion.

"I'll get the popcorn" I smiled.

>>>>>>>>>

After the movie Nemo we grabbed our bags and put it in the void.

Since we are in the army of Chaos. We have access to the void. Which is a place of nothingness. We can put things in and get it whenever and wherever we need them.

Chaos told me not to worry about the army.

About 800 soldiers give or take. And I've led them for the past 250 years.

At first they were doubtful. As was I. But over time they've come to respect me more. And I gained more confidence that I could do it.

They are on standby. So if we need an army. They would arive within a couple minutes.

Chaos also had linked the minds of the Elite team. So we dont need to talk or in battle we can communicate if needed without being close.

I looked at everyone. We pulled our hoods on and put on our masks.

The hood was part of this black jacket. Think assassins creed style. It covers half our face.

The masks were simple and only covered our face from the nose down. They were black and with our hoods on we were unrecognizable.
Only we could put off our own or each others masks.

We can also see perfectly fine.
The hood was see through for us.

I look at my friends and take a deep breath.
We are ready.

First stop, Olympus.