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

Chapter 14 || Percy

"...and how are you supposed to figure out a way to cover this?!" Grover was ranting on and on about the injuries Percy had gotten.

"Look at that bloody mess!" Grover pointed to the bloody bandages across Percy's torso. "And that gaping hole in his leg!" Grover, again, pointed to Percy's thigh, which was covered in white bandages. "You expect no one's gonna notice when Percy comes limping into school tomorrow? Why didn't all of you go attack her? Then, she'd surrender!"

"She had a partner, Grover... Plus, her combat structure was too caved in. If we all attacked, we'd have a higher chance of attacking each other by accident. She was fast." Percy sighed. They'd tried to explain this to him multiple times and Grover wasn't listening to one bit of it.

"Partner?! Speed?! I don't care about a partner or her speed, Percy! No one cares if there's a partner or not! No one cares if she's fast or not! The facts are that she managed to cut you up and you're gonna walk into school like that! People are going to ask how you got it!"

"Grover, people barely know us. I doubt they'll ask," Leo tried to reassure Grover, who was busy biting his way through edible cans made out of fondant.

"But why didn't you all go?!" Grover exclaimed.

"Because it'd draw too much attention, Grover! She'd most likely call for help, her partner could come rushing to try to get us off or call the whole gang, and a whole war would be raging outside a gas station!"  Jason exclaimed, "There's a reason for all of it!"

Grover sighed, leaning back on the couch.

"You're right," he said, "Sorry. I just get so stressed out sometimes because I'm so afraid that Kronos or Gaea will find a way to take down Olympus and it's not... right. You know their power rivalry is capable of creating the next world war, right?"

"Yeah..." Percy sighed.

"I just think... it's unfair," Piper said. "And I know Luke's reason for betrayal was this... but I really don't think what the Olympians are doing isn't fair. At all. They don't care about us."

Percy knew Piper was right. That Luke was right. But the Olympians were family. And Percy learned long ago that family was something no one could get back once they lost it.

"But we can't just let go," he said quietly. "The Olympians, even if they're pretty flawed, they're still our family. And... you've gotta fight for your family because..." They love you. But Percy knew that was a lie.

"Because?" Clarisse raised an eyebrow.

"The point isn't about if they love you or not." Percy decided to steer clear of that topic. "It's about what's best for the world. And if Kronos and Gaea plan to corrupt the world... I think it's better if the Olympians keep their jobs and places in power. I mean... what other plans have we got?"

Grover sighed, checking his watch. "Dinner's ready."

The eight of them all filed into the cafeteria, where Travis, Katie, Connor, and Reyna were all waiting for them.

"Hey," Percy said, slightly limping.

"We heard about the fight," Katie said, sipping her juice.

"Gods, you don't need to remind me of it," Percy rolled his eyes, a smirk playing on his lips.

"Hey, it's just what we do," Reyna laughed, cutting up a piece of chicken and throwing it in the fire. "We fight, we spy, we kill, we live. It's not that big of a deal."

"Yeah," Percy agreed with her.

"Ugh," Clarisse groaned when she looked at her stack of homework.

"What?" Percy asked, looking over.

"This. This stupid regular people stuff. I don't wanna be a high schooler! I wanna do nothing but fight!"

"Of course, you do," Piper sighed, taking a swig of her cherry coke.

Percy silently scraped a portion of his food into the fire, watching as it caught the flames, crumbling piece by piece until the smoke rose, a hue of gray. He felt like the food. The fire was Goode High. Seeing his three ex-best friends who he still cared about so much but couldn't be friends with. Not if that meant them finding out about his crazy job and causing them danger. Just like Poseidon couldn't be with Percy, Percy couldn't be with Annabeth, Thalia, or Nico.

But it hurt. Worse than anything Percy ever encountered on a spy mission, an assassin mission, or even the cruel business meetings held at the water facility. The worst part? It never went away. It had been living in Percy like a tumor for the last four years and finally, it was killing him inside. Eating him up. Making him wish that he hadn't joined the Olympians and just tried to live a normal life. Though, Percy knew if he had done that, he wouldn't be alive to see today.

As he finished his food in silence, his other friends talking amongst each other, he kept thinking about the way Thalia's eyes had blazed. Normally, he was used to them being angry, annoyed, and slightly excited. Nico normally just avoided Percy. Annabeth? Oh, Annabeth was Percy's lifeline. Now he knew what Nico was talking about when he had lost Bianca. Percy had lost Annabeth and it wasn't any less painful. His Wise Girl. She wasn't his. They weren't even friends.

Electric blue, onyx black, and gray eyes never seemed to leave his vision, even when he closed his eyes. The electric blue crackling with anger mixed with sadness, the onyx black eyes swirling with emotions, begging Percy to say something and hug them... and the gray eyes full of dread, guilt, and misery. Those gray eyes that deserved to be happy. Not dampened by Percy's leaving. What Percy wanted was for them to move on. So he could move on.

But that wasn't the case and Percy knew it. He knew that even if they had moved on... there was no moving on from them in his mind. He'd still love them no matter how hard he tried to stop. As Percy raised his head and took his plate to the dishwashing room, he sighed, knowing there was no way to turn back time.

He was an Olympian. And being an Olympian came with a price.

Eternal suffrage and pain.