-do you feel like a young god? you know the two of us are just young gods [halsey]
[ Phoenix wakes up one day in Camp Half-Blood. After siding with his mother, Hecate, against the gods he went missing while Gaea rose. Now, he must save a goddess and...
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xx
"SO YOU THINK Pirithous has her?" I asked, sitting in Poseidon's cabin with Nico and Percy.
Pirithous sent Theseus into the Underworld to steal way Persephone back in the day. According to Nico, anyway.
Nico shrugged. "It would make sense. I mean...I think a certain some one could tell us for sure—"
"No. I don't want to get her involved," Percy said sharply.
"Annabeth is smart Percy, she knows these things—"
"I said no!" he yelled.The Earth rumbled beneath us. Tension filled the air. I looked between the pair.
"Hecate said to leave before sunrise," I said simply. "We should go."
The Earth stilled beneath us, but Percy still looked tense.
"Go where?" Nico asked.
"The Underworld? See if this Pirithous is missing?" I suggested, standing up.
Percy stood up too, grabbing his sword-pen and grabbed a backpack off the wall. He slung it over her shoulders.
"Hades will kill you, your mom said so. Maybe just Nico should go. Snoop around," he suggested.
Nico nodded, hand on his sword.
"Honestly, I'm not even sure where we should start," I told Percy.
As if on cue, a image shimmered behind Percy. A message from the goddess Iris, possibly. Percy turned around.
All we saw was...well it was a random shop. The sold statues but the place looked like it'd been through Hades and back.
"Aunty Em's," Percy said.
"I've been there," I admitted. With Kronos' army.
"We should get going. Nico you'll meet us there after you visit the Underworld?" Percy asked.
Nico nodded.
"Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium, New Jersey," he told him. With that, Nico faded into the shadows.
xx
Here's the thing about me, I hated car rides. Now I'd never been in a car, or a bus for that matter, but the trip to Aunty Em's was miserable.
Percy called it car sickness. Damn right I'm sick of cars.
I'm not sure why Percy agreed to help me, honestly. He'd just survived two big prophecies. You'd think he'd want to stop with the life risking adventures. I certainly would.
But he almost seemed relieved to be away from camp. I hadn't noticed it until now. He'd been angry this whole time.
Emotions are energy, like magic. I can read them pretty well, like a satyr could. I don't know how I didn't noticed. I must have mistaken his anger for his neutrality.
He was angry...hurt back at camp.
"What?" he asked as we rode along.
I hesitated. Most people didn't like to have their emotions read, especially when they hid them well like Percy seemed to.
"You're relieved to leave camp," I commented.
He stared at me, a bit confused. "I suppose. It's nice to get away sometimes," he said simply.
"Someone hurt you. Who was it?" I asked, looking down at my shoes.
The ride wasn't long, by any means. But it was making us both antsy and a bit frustrated. Demigods were bad at sitting still.
"Excuse me?"
"Someone hurt you. You were angry at camp," I said, looking up at him now.
He looked away from me. "Ex-girlfriend. She...it wasn't bad. I just...You know it's not your business, Nix."
"No, it isn't, but if your anger is going to affect the quest then it is," I said. I paused, then added. "It's Annabeth, isn't it?"
Percy considered that for a moment. He sat up straighter, nodding.
"Annabeth and I...We went through Tartarus together. I've almost died for her so many times. And I told her I was...curious...and she wanted to give me space to explore even when I insisted I loved her," he said quietly.
"Curious," I inquired.
"About guys. If I liked them," he said very quietly now. Like he was ashamed. "A few months ago, Nico came out to me. He used to like me. It sort of sent me spiraling. Wondering about myself."
I nodded. "So you're bi?"
"I don't know."
I shrugged, leaning back in my seat. He stared at me as if he expected me to be angry or upset. He looked down at his hands, the faintest smile on his lips.
Percy Jackson. Hero. Also possibly interested in guys. I stored that information for later use.
"You're mad at your Annabeth...for?"
He shook his head. "I'm mad at me."
I looked over at him again. He looked so hurt, I could feel it.
"I just...wanted...Not this."
"So...internalized homophobia," I said.
"I'm not—I don't know, okay? Can we drop it," he said, hands balling into fists. Now he was mad at me, that much I knew.
