Percy Jackson: Genderbent

Chapter 18

Perci's POV:

That morning I woke up exhausted. I really needed to stop having these late nights! Though, I can't say I regretted it. It was really fun hanging out with Nico, and it was totally worth my exhaustion to make the kid laughed. He deserved it. The smell of pancakes made its way into my tent. Suddenly, I felt wide awake. I burst out of the tent and ran to the campfire, taking the boys by surprise.

"Someone's hungry." Leo chuckled as I shoveled my face with pancakes. "I love pancakes!" I mumbled around the food in my mouth. I don't know if the boys got the message or not, but they burst out laughing anyway. Jason and Leo gave Nico a strange look when he started laughing. He abruptly stopped, and scowled. "What?" He huffed moodily, turning away. I hid a grin.

Today, I walked with Jason. It was kind of funny listening to Leo's lame attempts at conversation with Nico, I could tell the guy really creeped him out. Jason and I talked, though I noticed that he kept looking at me weirdly. I would be talking, and then Jason would get this faraway look in his eyes while staring at me. One time, I saw Nico scowl at him when he was doing that. Wonder what that was about?

After a long time of walking, I began to think about our deadline. I'd been four days now, including this one, and we only had three left. How are we going to get to Paris in three days? I kept trying to think of a solution, when I heard footsteps and twigs crack. I froze, and the boys did too. We stayed still, and took our weapons out. The person was light-footed in the forest, they didn't seem to be making much noise.

Then, the someone was joined by a group of someone's. They were all light-footed in the forest, and didn't make much noise. But they made enough for us to know someone's there. We raised our weapons as the foliage to my front right shook. Riptide was in my hand, ready for use. But even so, it felt nice to have the familiar leather in my hands, to know that even though I was a girl now, some things don't change.

Anyway, the girl that stepped out was wearing a silver parka, a light silver tiara looking out of place on her short, spiky hair. She had electric blue eyes, currently widened in surprise at what she saw. The rest of the hunters came out after her, and they stopped too. I was relieved that it was Thalia, and not some monster. This forest was full of them.

Suddenly, Thalia broke into a huge grin. "Thalia!" I exclaimed, running towards her and making her stumble with my gigantic bear hug. Suddenly, the forest went silent. I realized what I was doing, and then broke apart, my face red with embarrassment. Why was I hugging Thalia? I've never done that before! I reprimanded myself while everyone stared. Thalia was looking at me quizzically. "Do I know you?" She said at last, looking me up and down. I gulped when I realized my slip up, and my already red face became even more red.

Jason broke out of his trance and walked to his sister. "No, but it seems like it. She's a lot like her brother." He said, smiling at me. I gave a relieved smile back, my face still red with embarrassment. "Jason!" She said, smiling, and brother and sister embraced. I moved back with Leo and Nico, who were standing awkwardly where they were before. The Hunters were also standing awkwardly where they were before, looking amongst themselves and muttering. "Smooth move, Sleeping Beauty." Leo said softly to me, trying and failing to hide a grin. I scowled at him. "Don't call me that." Was all that I snapped back.

Thalia broke the hug, and turned Jason to the Hunters. "This is my lost brother I was talking about." She said, introducing Jason to the Hunters. They nodded, a little bit coldly in my opinion. Then Thalia looked at the rest of us. "Nico!" She said happily, and the cousins awkwardly embraced. Nico was as stiff as a stick, so the hug soon broke apart. "You." Thalia nodded when she saw Leo. "What? Jason and Death Breath get a hug, but I don't? How unfair is that!" He said. I grinned at him, and he scowled at me. "You." Thalia said, pointing my direction. I froze. "Yeah?" I said timidly, looking in Thalia's electric blue eyes. "Come with me to my tent." She said, taking off. I gave the boys an encouraging smile when I noticed their looks to one another, and took off that direction.