Percy Jackson, the embodiment of hope.

Chapter 17: Explaining to Reyna. (Setting up a concert!)

Nico POV:

Reyna turns to me, confusion on her face.

"Explain," She snaps.

I run a hand through my hair. Thanks, Percy, now I have to introduce her to everyone.

"Uh, well, my part is shorter than Annabeth's. Annabeth, could you explain about Percy?"

Annabeth twiddles her fingers, and Jonathan bursts out

"Percy was a traitor! He helped the enemies!"

Reyna nods. "That's true, isn't it? I mean, we all had dreams."

Annabeth clears her throat. "We, uh, recently learned that we were wrong. He wasn't a traitor."

"Oh," Reyna says simply, running her hand through he hair. "OH."

Annabeth nods. "Yeah, so -"

Reyna interrupts her. "Well, if we were wrong, then he'd understand. I mean, this is Percy we're talking about. He would understand, right?"

Jonathan huffs. "Are you serious? He's a TRAITOR."

I glare, and suddenly, he gets pulled into a shadow and deposited in the arena. I send a silent apology to the people there.

"Continue, Reyna," I say.

"Ok. I mean, we didn't let him in the camp, but it's not like we did anything else."

"Yes," I say with a completely sarcastic tone, turning to Annabeth. "It's not like you did anything else, right?"

Annabeth looks down in shame.

"Oh no," Reyna says. "What happened to Percy?"

Annabeth twiddles her thumb.

"We, uh, we might of -"

"Who is we?" I ask, cocking my head.

"Uh... Me, Jason, Piper, Hazel, Frank, Clarisse... Leo and Calypso... some others..."

"Annabeth," Reyna says, anger clear in her tone. "What did you do that was worse than exiling him?"

Annabeth exhales and says,

"We tortured him."

Reyna stares. "How?"

"Do I have to tell you?"

Reyna's eyes widen. "No, you don't. That tells me all I need to know."

She turns to me. "Do you know where Percy is now?"

I deliberate for a moment and say, "Technically, no. Not at this moment. I do know that he won't return unless he has to."

She exhales and rubs her temple. "Great. Our friend, leader, and motivation was falsely accused, tortured, and now won't return. And we're apparently fighting four Primordials. We're f***ed, right?"

I shake my head. "No, that's where my part comes in. Hope, the guy in the cloak you just met is... well, basically, he's our ticket to win. As much as it pains me to describe him that way, it's true. He killed Kronos alone. Easily."

Reyna accepts it. Although, I guess it does seem more likely than Percy being betrayed and tortured by his friends.

"So what is he? Another Primordial?"

"Uh, technically? My guess is he has partial immortality like the hunters because he was a demigod at some point. He is/was technically Elpis, who was a Primordial, so... yes. He is. He's a child of Chaos and has a team of friends who are... interesting."