We Olympians (A Percy Jackson AU) || BOOK 1

Chapter 8 || Percy

The moment Percy got back to the house, a little sullen that he didn't find his friends, he was surprised to see Grover already waiting for him.

"Uh--"

"Percy, what were you thinking, running out there like that?!" he exclaimed, closing the door and locking it securely.

"I just... wanted to say goodbye to my friends," Percy mumbled, remembering that they weren't his friends anymore. After all, a friend couldn't abandon his friends without indirectly telling them he didn't want to be their friend.

"The charts showed that both Gaea's and Kronos's Army were out there at the time, looking for you! You could've been held captive, or even shot on the spot!"

Percy stared in horror at Grover. He knew he was being targeted, but he didn't know it was that bad.

"You need to stay here and train. Learn how to use weapons. Own weapons. Learn how to fight so you can survive."

He could only nod as Grover smiled.

"It's okay, it's your first time... but don't you ever do that again. You might not be so lucky the next time."

Percy shivered as he heard those words, but nodded nonetheless.

"Anyways," Grover said, "It's around dinnertime, so... follow me. Do you think you know your way around?"

"Not completely..." Percy frowned. "But I think I'll get it."

"Great! Here's the dining room."

The double doors opened and Percy was met with the sight of a very long table with a lot of chairs surrounding it. It was... very fancy to Percy, as he'd never been in a luxury-style of life. He secretly wondered if it wasn't fancy at all, and he just saw it as fancy. But by the smug look on Grover's face, he knew it wasn't just him.

"We normally sit by godly parents, but it's layered differently than the halls. You sit at the top of the table with the children of Zeus and Hades, or you could call them Jupiter and Pluto. No one really cares... They don't exactly switch forms like in the myths."

Percy nodded.

"It's mainly important for the Big Three to have--"

"Wait, what do you mean by Big Three?"

"Well, Poseidon, Hades, and Zeus are all the most powerful Olympians. You see, without Hades' metal and jewels, Hephaestus and other gods wouldn't be able to run their own companies. Without water, the whole world would probably die, as well as every Olympian company, because water is essential. Zeus controls power. Without power, you can't really run the whole world. And, they're the three most powerful former assassins and spies. Also the richest Olympians."

"Explains it," Percy cleared his throat.

"So, it's mainly important for the Big Three children to sit at the top. The rest of the them just sit wherever they want."

"Okay," he nodded slowly and took a seat next to Jason, who was sitting at the very top of the table.

Next to Jason was Hazel, his other cousin. And after the three of them were sat down, Percy could see a swarm of different demigods. The ones closest to him? Leo, Piper, and Frank. He felt relieved that he was near demigods he knew. But he also felt anxious looking at Clarisse, who looked pretty tough next to poor Frank.

Then, he watched as the other Olympians got up, putting portions of their food into a huge bonfire.

"What the--"

"It's to check if the food is poisoned or not," Hazel explained, "The fire is special. If it's poisoned, it'll create green smoke. If it's not, it'll do nothing. You can never be too careful as an Olympian."

"Oh..." Percy nodded, placing a portion of his food in the fire.

The flames stayed still, meaning Percy could eat.

"So... how'd they find you?" Jason asked, startling Percy.

"What?"

"Oh, you can't expect to come in here and not talk to anyone did you?" Piper asked, a gleam of amusement in her eyes.

"Oh... I guess I thought no one would talk to me. I'm kind of a loser back at school," Percy said, rubbing his neck sheepishly.

"Trust me," Frank said, "We all were."

"Really?" Percy asked.

Idiot, his brain chided.

"Yeah," Jason nodded.

Percy nodded, grinning slightly.

"Well, I was literally walking home when some burly dude named Mark and his gang grabbed me. Then, Chiron came in his wheelchair and I thought the guy was nuts, but he called Grover over, and they told me weird stuff. Then, we saw stupid Mark with more guys, but they were holding knives so obviously, I was freaked out. So I leaped in the car and they kidnapped me. The End."

"We were just kidnapped out of our sleep..." Piper looked around, "Uh... that seems terrifying."

"Girl, I'd rather do that than get kidnapped in my sleep. That's just creepy," Percy shivered, making them laugh.

"You're not like we thought you'd be," Hazel said.

"Why is that?" Percy frowned.

"We kinda thought you'd be... stuck up? You know, being the son of Poseidon. I mean, he's a powerful god."

"Don't tell my dad," Jason whispered, "But I think he's even more powerful than Zeus. I mean, people can't live without water but they can live without electricity."

"Eh," Percy shrugged, feeling his cheeks turn hot. "It's not really a big deal."

"Well," Piper said, "We're all gathering in the Zeus lounge later. You wanna come?"

Percy looked at her, surprised by the invitation.

"Uh... sure," he nodded, "Yeah, that sounds fun."

They all smiled.

"Good. I don't wanna be stuck with my sister all day," Piper rolled her eyes.

Percy stopped when he saw Drew Tanaka sitting there, laughing.

"Uh... your sister's Drew Tanaka?"

"She's my older sister. And... how'd you know her name?"

"I think she goes to my school," Percy frowned, "Why does she still go?"

"They let her go. She doesn't have kaleidoscope eyes, and she's done enough training so that she could be protected. Drew just spies there. Actually, she's one of the reasons we got to pick up on you so fast. That doesn't stop me from not liking her, though."

Percy nodded slowly before getting up, his food finished.

"I'll see you at Jason's?" he asked.

The five of them nodded, confirming his question. Percy smiled.

"Good," he said before walking out of the dining room.

The double doors closed behind him and he turned down the halls until he found Poseidon's, walking into his room. Ignoring the huge size it had, he flopped down on the bed. He cried. Yes, Percy cried. He finally did. Because the three people who normally would comfort him couldn't.

They'd be in danger because of him.