Demigods at Hogwarts | the rescue mission ✔

35| The Power Of The Ocean

Percy's POV

I gathered my books and started walking as fast as I could to my next class. I had managed to finally get some 'alone time' away from my fellow demigods, who seemed intent on discussing what had happened with Ariadne yesterday morning. I cursed silently--no matter how hard I tried, I still felt a massive pang of guilt for being so casually cruel with the redheaded Ravenclaw who had been nothing but nice to me ever since we met. I had let my anger get the better of me, which had been happening more and more often these days. I would occasionally lash out on one of my friends for no reason, or not talk to anybody for a whole day. Even Leo had stopped joking around me--in fact, it felt like all my friends were scared of me.

I stifled a cold laugh, thinking back to the battle with Kronos and the Titans when I was just a sixteen-year-old kid. Everything had seemed so messed up back then, but it was a lot better than what I was facing right now.

Back then, Annabeth had always been by my side.

My soulmate, my best friend, my constant companion. We had been inseparable since our first quest together, and she was a piece of me. Now I realized that I couldn't function properly without her around. Sometimes you don't know what you've got until it's gone.

Keeping my head down, I pushed through a bunch of sixth years. Kids were staring--my 'conversation' with Ariadne had been retold and twisted at least a hundred times. But there was one thing that remained the same in every version of the story.

I was portrayed as a monster. The stone-cold, heartless teenage boy who took advantage of a naive Ravenclaw just because he could. And it wasn't Ariadne's fault at all. I had been so stupid.

I had betrayed Annabeth in a way that she would never betray me. All those years, she had never even considered being with another boy. Me? Calypso, Rachel, Reyna, and now, Ariadne. I had been toying with the feelings of other girls while Annabeth had been patiently waiting for me all along.

But the one thing that kept me up at night was that I actually wanted Ariadne. And it made me sick to the stomach.

Was it possible that I had stopped loving Annabeth?

I quickly banished that thought from my mind. No, no, it wasn't possible. I loved my Wise Girl more than anything in the world. But was it possible to be deeply in love with someone while falling for someone else at the same time?

That very thought made my head hurt.

"Jackson!"

Not again. Aware that everyone's eyes were on me, I turned around, my jaw clenched.

Surprisingly, it wasn't Ariadne at all. Instead, a tall guy with dark blond hair and a muscular frame was scowling at me. I frowned--I was pretty sure that I didn't know him.

So what did he want with me?

"What did you say to Ariadne?" he demanded, his brow furrowed. He didn't look happy with me. Unfortunately for him, I wasn't the least bit intimidated. Having come face to face with thousands of monsters, Titans, and even Death himself, I wasn't about to be scared off an overgrown teenager.

"It's none of your business," I hissed in return, narrowing my eyes. "If you care about Ariadne so much, why don't you go ask her?" I regretted the words as soon as they came out of my mouth--I had always been a target for kids bigger and stronger than me, and one thing I hated was bullying. And yet here I was, trying to hurt someone on purpose.

But I couldn't control myself anymore.

"What did you do to her?" the boy asked again, this time more forcefully. He reached forward, grabbing my arm as I tried to walk away. "What were you thinking, breaking her heart like that?" He glared at me, his voice seething with resentment.

"Let me go," I muttered. "I don't want to hurt you, I really don't." To everyone listening, it would have seemed like a threat, but I was being honest. When powerful demigods got emotional, bad things happened.

"I'm not scared of you!" the boy growled. "I'm going to make you pay for what you did to her, I-"

I hadn't chosen to fall in love with Ariadne. I didn't even want to be here.

I couldn't even think straight. What did I want?

Before I could warn the boy to leave me alone, I felt a familiar churning feeling in my gut as a sense of calm washed over me. An unnatural calm.

The power of the ocean.

I didn't even have time to scream before the world around me exploded.

+++

What do you think? I literally spent so long trying to write the perfect cliffhanger and I absolutely love the last sentence.

Tomorrow's Saturday so I'll probably be able to post the next chapter of the Crown of Power...I can't make any promises though XD

Love you guys xxx