Chapter Text
SANTIAGO POV:
As I rest on my bed, I let out a sigh. This past week has been wild, truly. First, we learn that both me and Perce are both Demi-Gods, and then we find out there's a whole camp for demi-gods by a car-wreck-slash-sally-dying... Yeah, it's a bit insane. I'm still trying to figure out if this whole thing is a nightmare/dream or not.
Suddenly, there's a knock at the door, causing me to fly out of my bed and towards the door. My brothers are out doing something, I don't know what, so I'm the only one in the Cabin currently. When I open it, I falter slightly at seeing Percy there, with a packed bag. What's happening? Was Percy leaving? Where to? Before my brain could spiral for more answers, Percy grins slightly as he answers the question in my brain.
"Heya, We got a quest! Well, I did, but the prophecy said a child of madness, so I chose you." Percy says.
I stand there, processing that. "A quest-? Wait the prophecy specifically said who to bring? Who else?" I ask, after a moment.
"Child of the Sea, me, Nature, Grover, obviously, Wisdom, Annabeth, and Madness, you." He responds.
I hesitantly nod at that, stepping to the side incase he wants to come in, which he does. I walk over to my bed and hesitate for a moment, where do I even pack in? That question is immediately answers by Percy setting a bag on my bed. I immediately pack clothes, some snacks, and a few water-bottles. By the time I'm done, Percy's waiting by the door. I walk up to him with a grin and are led to the pine tree.
Aside from the things I packed, the camp store loaned us one hundred dollars in mortal money and twenty golden drachmas each, and we, which means Me, Percy, and Annabeth, also got canteens of nectar and ziploc bags full of ambrosia squares. Should be good enough for the trip, if I do say so myself.
I don't know what Percy packed, but Annabeth was bringing her magic Yankees cap, which she told Percy, I had just happened to be near by, had been a twelfth-birthday present from her mom. She carried a book on famous classical architecture, written in Ancient Greek, to read when she got bored, and a long bronze knife, hidden in her shirt sleeve. I was sure the knife would get us busted the first time we went through a metal detector.
Grover wore his fake feet (which I thought were cool) and his pants to pass as human. He wore a green rasta-style cap, because when it rained his curly hair flattened and you could just see the tips of his horns. His bright orange backpack was full of scrap metal and apples to snack on. In his pocket was a set of reed pipes his daddy goat had carved for him, even though he only knew two songs: Mozart’s Piano Concerto no. 12 and Hilary Duff ’s "So Yesterday," both of which sounded pretty bad on reed pipes. At least, that's what Percy told me.
I rubbed the bangle that turned into Manic and let that calm me as we waved good-bye to the other campers, took one last look at the strawberry fields, the ocean, and the Big House, then hiked up Half-Blood Hill to the tall pine tree that used to be Thalia, daughter of Zeus. At the top of the hill, Chiron was waiting for us in his wheelchair, alongside a surfer dude who looked pretty cool.
According to Grover, the guy was the camp’s head of security. He supposedly had eyes all over his body (also cool) so he could never be surprised. Today, though, he was wearing a chauffeur’s uniform, so I could only see extra peepers on his hands, face and neck. It was a little unnerving and I had a hard time focusing on one pair of eyes, but I supposed I could get used to it the more I saw the dude.
"This is Argus," Chiron told us. "He will drive you lot into the city, and, er, well, keep an 'eye' on things." I couldn't help it, I chuckled at the pun that was made there.
My ears perked up when I heard footsteps approaching behind us. I spun around, Percy soon after did too, and spotted Luke approaching us, carrying a pair of basketball shoes, his wings fluttering a bit to help with his speed. "Hey!" he panted. "Glad I caught you."
Out of the corner of my eye, I swear I could see Annabeth blushing, like she did the last time Luke was around. Not going to question that, nada.
"Just wanted to say good luck," Luke told Percy. "And I thought... um, maybe you could use these." He handed Percy the sneakers, which looked pretty normal. They even smelled kind of normal. I wondered what they could, and it seemed like Luke read my mind, as he said, "Maia!" Which caused white bird wings to sprout out of the heels, startling Percy and I so much, Percy dropped them and I jumped, along with the others, aside from Luke and Chiron. The shoe flapped around on the ground until the wings folded up and disappeared.
"Awesome!" Grover said, which I was inclined to agree with. Winged shoes sounded and looked so cool.
Luke smiled. "Those served me well when I was on my quest. Gift from Dad. Of course, I don’t use them much these days...." His expression turned sad. Hm. I caught a bit of blush on Percy's face, causing me to feel a bit of jealousy- okay. Nevermind, not cool anymore. Thankfully, the blush went away fast enough that I thought it was just because of getting a pair of magic shoes for a gift. "Hey, man," Percy said. "Thanks."
"Listen, Percy..." Luke looked a little uncomfortable. "A lot of hopes are riding on you. So just... kill some monsters for me, okay?" They shook hands. Luke patted my shoulder and Grover’s head between his horns, then gave a good-bye hug to Annabeth, who looked like she might pass out.
After Luke was gone, Percy learned over to her, "You’re hyperventilating."
"Am not."
"You let him capture the flag instead of you, didn’t you?"
"Oh... why do I want to go anywhere with you, Percy?"
I giggled a bit at the interaction, earning a glare from Annabeth and a grin from Percy, which caused me to turn it into a cough, looking away with a blush spreading on my face. She stomped down the other side of the hill, where a white SUV waited on the shoulder of the road. Argus followed, jingling his car keys. I picked up the flying shoes and had a sudden bad thought. If Percy's the son of Poseidon, and him and Zeus are fighting, is going into the sky a good idea?
I looked at Chiron. "Will Percy even be able to use these?"
He shook his head in response, and Percy had a little disappointed look on his face for a moment until it clicked. "Luke meant well, Santiago. But taking to the air... that would not be wise for Percy." Percy nodded, obviously disappointed, but then he seemed to get an idea, from the way he perked up. "Hey, Grover. You want a magic item?"
His eyes lit up. "Me?" Pretty soon we’d laced the sneakers over his fake feet, and the world’s first flying goat boy was ready for launch.
"Maia!" he shouted.
He got off the ground okay, but then fell over sideways so his backpack dragged through the grass. The winged shoes kept bucking up and down like tiny broncos.
"Practice," Chiron called after him. "You just need practice!"
"Aaaaa!" Grover went flying sideways down the hill like a possessed lawn mower, heading toward the van. I chuckled at the display, soon after chasing down the hill towards the van, making sure Grover made it there without injuring himself. Once that was done, I slid into the Van, sitting beside Grover, with Annabeth sitting in the front. That left a spot open for Percy to fill beside me, and my tail curled around me to not take up too much space.
When Percy finally made it down the hill and into the van, I rested my head against the seat as the van started up and drove off. The Quest is off to a start, I guess.
* END *