𝑻𝑶𝑮𝑬𝑻𝑯𝑬𝑹 ⁽ᵖᵉʳᶜʸ ʲᵃᶜᵏˢᵒⁿ ˣ ᵒᶜ⁾

𝙉𝙤𝙩 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙙𝙮𝙨𝙡𝙚𝙭𝙞𝙘 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪, 𝙎𝙚𝙖𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝘽𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣

PERCY

THE THREEE OF THEM CAMPED OUT IN the woods. They had taken some food and blankets from Aunty Em's, but didn't dare light a fire. The Furies and Medusa had provided enough excitement for one day. They didn't want to attract anything else.

Lana was starving and was very excited to try everything they had grabbed. Percy was amazed by how fast she demolished everything, going inside to grab more food for her to eat. She had eaten more than him and he was happy to know that she wasn't hungry anymore.

They decided to sleep in shifts, Percy volunteering to take the first watch. Lana had fallen asleep as soon as her head hit the ground due to a bad case of food coma. Grover, on the other hand, had a plethora of thoughts that were keeping him wide awake.

The two boys, one human and the other a satyr, were trying to think of a plan to get into the Underworld, Percy believing that getting past a god would be their biggest challenge yet.

"I don't know," Grover admitted. "Back at Medusa's, when you were searching her office, Lana was telling me -"

"I'm sure she's already thought of a plan of some sort. All we have to do is do things her way and do whatever she says."

"Don't be so hard on her, Percy. She's had a really tough life. It amazes me that she still is an amazing person after all she's been through. That she's still my friend. After all, she forgave me..." Grover's voice faltered.

"Wait a minute," Percy said. "Your first keeper job was seven years ago. Lana has been at camp for seven years. She wasn't...I mean, your first assignment that went wrong -"

"I can't talk about it," Grover said, his lower lip quivering. "But as I was saying back at Medusa's, Lana and I agreed there's something strange going on with this quest. Something isn't what it seems."

Their conversation continued on, thinking of different theories and ideas that could guide them on their quest. Eventually, Percy became tired of their conversation and the assumptions Grover was making about him. The empathy link between them was strong and he didn't like how Grover understood his emotions better than he seemed to.

Grover offered to take the first watch instead and Percy couldn't find it within himself to argue, closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep.

—

Percy was shaken out of his haunting dream, blinking up to see Lana leaning over him with her hair curtaining his view. "Awe, you didn't die in your sleep. I guess my prayer didn't reach the gods yet."

He was still trembling from his dream, his chest feeling incredibly tight. "How long was I asleep?"

"Long enough for me to think you were dead." She sat back on her feet. "And long enough for Grover to find a friend."