PJO Hunger Games au

Pink Skies pt. 2

Percy woke to Grover shaking his shoulder.

"Dude wake up, you gotta see this."

Percy groaned and rolled over, he would killed for a mattress these days.

"What is it?"

Grover blinked. "The, uh, sky is pink."

"Excuse me?"

Percy joined Rachel at the window and sure enough, the sky was pink. A soft, baby pink that cast a sheen over everything the light touched.

"That's really... interesting," Percy managed, "is the sun also pink?"

Rachel squinted at Percy. "You wanna look directly at the sun? Go right ahead. But I'm assuming the sky is pink because the sun is pink."

"Any ideas about what that means?" Percy asked.

Rachel and Grover shook their heads.

"Could mean anything," Grover said.

"Maybe the guy in charge was in a mood, maybe it means the arena is going to implode," said Rachel, "but regardless, what's the plan for today?"

Percy rustled around their food stash before emerging with a pack of cookies. "No idea," he said. "Grover?"

"I think we should leave this building," Grover said. "Jason and Thalia know we're around here somewhere and that we rescued their prey," he gave Rachel a sideways glance, "sorry Rachel, so we can be sure they're out for blood."

Percy nodded. "Sounds good to me, I for one want to get out of this area. To many bad memories."

"I'm with you," Rachel said. "But then you guys could say you were going to kill me and I'd go along with it. I owe you."

They packed up their stuff and prepared to leave. Percy stood in the doorway for a moment, staring out at the pink-tinged street.

"You guys think it's safe?" he asked.

"Only one way to find out," Rachel said as she pushed past him into the full force of the sun. The lighting made her hair seem extra fiery as she took a few steps and spun around. "See? It's fine!"

Percy watched her carefully, and when she was unaffected, followed her out. He immediately knew something was wrong. It was the smell, hot and bitter, like superheated chemicals, and the way the sun seemed to suck the moisture out of him.

"Get back inside," he gasped, staggering back towards Grover.

It the seconds it took for him to reach cover he was already starting to blister. Rachel was the last one inside and slammed the door shut. Percy expected her to be covered with blisters but oddly enough she seemed fine.

"How are you not burned?" he asked.

Rachel frowned. "You know, In district 5 we work under UV light in the factories. It's not enough to cause serious harm but it might have built up an immunity to whatever that was."

"Or gave you skin cancer," Grover muttered.

He was the least burned, but blisters were appearing on his face, neck, and hands.

"Please. Most of us die before we have the chance to get skin cancer."

"Well, the good news is no one will be hunting us in this. The bad news is we can't leave," Percy said. The pain from his burns was starting to make him woozy. "Let's just chill here until dark."

Grover sighed and leaned against the wall. "Sounds good to me."

As soon as darkness fell, Percy, Grover, and Rachel packed up their stuff and got ready to move. He and Grover had bandaged their hands and neck, but weirdly the blisters were already starting to fade. They set their sights on a tall building two blocks away, close enough that their exposure would be quick, but far enough it would hard to track them. The night air felt nice on Percy's face, especially after the events of the day. It felt good to be on the move too, he never liked staying still.

"Wait stop," whispered Percy as they neared an intersection, "I think I hear something."

Faint footsteps rattled down the street, fading in and out with the breeze. They pressed themselves against the building, holding their breath as the footsteps neared. And went right past them. Two small shapes in the night, holding hands and running. Percy recognized the hair on one of them. Hazel Levesque. And he realized the other one was Nico. Percy was just about to call out to them when he saw what they were running from.

A much larger person, a spear in hand, sprinted after them. Percy only got a glance, but he could have sworn the spear crackled with electricity. Percy wasn't sure what came over him, maybe he wanted to protect Nico, or maybe he was just tired of hiding. He sprinted after the spear-wielder, matching his footsteps to theirs. Actually hers, he realized as he got closer. It was a district 4 tribute, Clarisse. He drew his knife and tackled her from behind, hoping he could stab her and run. But Clarisse twisted and threw him off, she was a lot stronger then he anticipated. He landed hard on the sidewalk, but rolled and came up standing, knife still in hand.

"Hey punk," Clarisse sneered, "you chose a lovely day to die."

Her spear crackled to life and she advanced. Percy realized that with his much shorter weapon and Clarisse's strength he was hopelessly outmatched. Which left one option- run. He turned and sprinted back the way he came, but he could feel Clarisse gaining on him. If she threw her spear he would probably die right there.

"Percy duck!" screamed Rachel as she stepped out from behind a building.

She threw something blue that sailed over Percy's shoulder and smacked Clarisse in the face. She stumbled, holding her eye, and Percy poured on speed. The three of them ran through the streets, ducking in and out of allies. Finally they leaned against a brick building, catching their breath.

"Thanks for saving my life," Percy said, resting his head on the wall. "What was that?"

Rachel blushed. "A hairbrush. It was from my district."

"You got a career in the eye with a blue plastic hairbrush," Percy said. A ghost of a smile touched his lips. "That's awesome."