Protecting Home: Forgotten Power, Part Two!

Chapter 25: The circle of friendship- Dex

A/n: Hey there! I'm back for a short bit (hotspot is glorious) so I'll give you a chapter! (This one is mostly for comic relief, so enjoy!)

Pov: Dex

Surprisingly, Percy could be a good help when it came to getting alicorns back home. Sophie had tried to tell Luna and Wynn to go back home, but it hadn't worked. I had seen how the two young alicorn children acted around Percy, and sure enough, they went back home as soon as he told them to. Neither Sophie or I could figure out why, but we were grateful to not have to watch the two.

As we walked back in the base, I saw Tempest and Hazel talking about something. I didn't want to intrude, but whatever it was they were discussing seemed concerning. Hazel's normally darker skin was fairly pale, and Tempest almost looked like she was crying. Almost.

Gently, I elbowed Sophie to get her attention before gesturing with my head to the two girls. Sophie looked towards them for a few seconds before looking back and shrugging, continuing forward. I followed closely behind, but I couldn't quite shake the feeling of dread hanging over me.

When we arrived at the makeshift cafeteria, I found pretty much everyone sitting on the floor in a circle, demigods on one side and elves on the other. Slowly I sat down with Keefe on my right and Biana on my left. Percy and Hazel came in later, along with Fitz. We all sat there silently until Keefe cleared his throat, "Um, why are we sitting in a circle?"

"I thought you knew, " Sophie said with a smile, "You were here before we were."

"I joined since Biana made me," he countered.

" And by that he means I threatened to mess up his hair if he didn't join us, " Biana said with a grin, causing me to start snickering.

"Nobody touches the hair!" Keefe exclaimed, causing me to laugh harder and for many of the elves, along with Annabeth and Leo to burst into fits of laughter of their own. The two demigods had been around Keefe long enough to know how much he cares about his looks.

"Um, did we miss something?" Hazel asked.

" It's nothing, " Sophie told her, unable to wipe the smile off her face.

"But I'm all seriousness," Annabeth started, "There is good reason for us sitting in a circle-"

" Yep! " Leo interrupted, "We're going to teach the elves hot potato! I'm sure I have one in my belt somewhere!"

Keefe laughed, "If it means I get to throw food at Foster, I'm in!"

" Why do you always throw things at me? " Sophie whined, but she was still grinning.

"Well, I could throw food at Fitzy, but I don't think that'd be fun."

"I agree," Fitz added.

"Seriously guys!" Annabeth said loudly, "This is important!"

" Yes, we must sit in the circle of friendship! " Keefe exclaimed, "Everyone hold hands and tell everyone your problems!"

Sophie slightly blushed as Keefe held out his hand to her, but she didn't take it, "Keefe, this is serious."

"I know. But acting serious isn't my thing."

Sophie and Annabeth rolled their eyes before Annabeth spoke again, "Sitting in a circle isn't the important part. It just reminds me of sitting around the ping pong table at Camp Half Blood."

"So it's that important?" Jason asked.

" Better question: what's a ping pong table? " Keefe interrupted.

I spoke up, "it's a human game where you hit a ball back and forth over a net with a paddle."

Keefe gave a disappointed frown, "That seems boring."

" It's harder than you think, " Percy countered.

Keefe shrugged, "Clearly you've never been part of a splotching match."

"What's splot-" Piper started but Sophie interrupted.

"Think paintball but one on one and with telekinesis." She explained.

"Can I please talk?!" Annabeth exclaimed

"Sure." Keefe said casually.

Annabeth sighed, "Thank you. Listen, we're all here, right?"

"I didn't notice," I heard Tam mutter

Either Annabeth didn't hear him or was sick of the random comments because she kept talking, "But there's still people at Camp Half Blood that need to be rescued."

" And I'm assuming you have a plan? " Frank asked.

Annabeth nodded, "But you have to hear it all out. Every part is important."

" And that's why we've created the circle of friendship and joy! " Keefe exclaimed happily, receiving a slap from Sophie.

"I guess so," Annabeth replied, "But you might think I'm crazy."

"The only person remotely crazy here is Tempest," Fitz countered, and for a second I swore I saw Hazel flinch.

" Yeah, that's why I need you to hear it all out... "

"You're seriously going to rely an entire plan on Tempest?" Jason asked.

" Tempest works with the Neverseen. They trust her more than us. If we tried to lure them in a trap, it wouldn't work. "

"Um, pretty sure there are two other people in this room who've worked with the Neverseen for a time." Keefe pointed out, gesturing to himself and Tam, "Why couldn't you use one of us?"

"She's currently with the Neverseen," Annabeth countered, "And she can actually act like she's working with them."

Tam crossed his arms over his chest, "I still don't trust her ."

Linh rolled her eyes, "You don't trust anyone. "

"And that distrust is actually important to my plan," Annabeth added, "Please, keep it up."

"You don't need to tell Bangs Boy twice, " Keefe said, causing Tam to let out a frustrated growl.

"Um, how does not trusting someone help us win? " I asked, "I can see many ways that goes wrong."

" Well, if you need to act like you don't trust someone when you really don't trust them, it makes it look way more real. "

"I guess, but they have a telepath. They could just learn our plan." Biana added.

Annabeth smiled. "You remember the devices that they put on you?" She asked the demigods, most of who shuddered at some memory, "I'm thinking maybe Dex, Leo, and I can figure out how to change them slightly and keep outside abilities from affecting us."

" Like thinking caps. " Sophie clarified.

"... What are thinking caps?" Annabeth asked.

Keefe grinned, "Well we just tell each other everything, don't we?"

There you go! Sorry that it was mostly filler, but there were so many book references I hadn't mentioned in a while, and I realized that there were so many things that each group would have to explain about what they do (ping pong, splotching, ect), so this chapter was mostly here for laughs. See you all later!