Percy Jackson, the embodiment of hope.

Chapter 33: The Son of Mars. (A Cube and a Flower)

Percy POV:

I fly high into the sky and float for a few moments, flapping my wings. I search through the camp with my eyes closed, looking for his aura.

There's Piper on Zeus's fist, swinging her legs and looking to the sky, glowing with the power of Aphrodite.

There's Hazel at the Chaos cabin door, knocking on it.

There's Bianca at the arena, talking with Nico.

There's - wait, what? I open my eyes and look up, squinting my eyes and bringing my hand up to shield my them from the sun.

"What in Chaos's name..." I whisper.

I can vaguely make out the shape of... a cube? At least, that's what it looks like. It's so far up that only an immortal eye could see it, and even then, only faintly.

Suddenly, my cloak vibrates. I frown and look away from the cube, taking a device out of my cloak.

It's- well, it's not quite a phone. It's just a small device that my team can send messages to. It's usually used when one of us is too far away to speak mentally with.

I glance at the screen, reading it quickly.

Hey, Leo told me you were looking for Frank. He's in the stables. -Lyre

I put the device back into my cloak and look back up into the sky, frowning.

The cube seems to have disappeared. I shake my head and fly down to camp, saying hello to Icarus on the way down.

I quietly land in front of the stables, smiling as Blackjack recounts all the things he doesn't like about this place.

I walk in and stand in the doorway, just watching. Frank is petting one of the horses, speaking to it.

"I know, I know," he says. "He's not here anymore. But Hero told us that Hope took him out."

The house whinnies. And? Who is Hope to take my favorite pegasus?

Frank laughs. "Sometimes I wish I could understand you. It would be nice to talk to someone unbiased about... him."

The horse spots me and whinnies again, moving its head towards me. Frank turns and jumps in surprise.

"Oh, Hope! I didn't realize you were there!" He says before clearing his throat uncomfortably. "Why, uh, why are you here?" He asks.

"You and I should talk," I say.

He nods quickly. "Of course. What do you need to -"

I raise my hand. "Not here. Let's... go for a walk."

He nods and follows me as I start to walk away. I take a quiet, deep breath, preparing myself.

We start walking into the woods. As we walk deeper and deeper, Frank starts to get increasingly nervous until we reach a clearing.

A single, pale, blood red and ocean blue flower grows in the middle of the clearing.

I pull a fold up stool out of my cloak and hand it to Frank, who sets it up, his eyes almost bugging out of his sockets because of how nervous he is.

I start to float before sitting down on the air, my legs crossed. Frank twiddles his fingers and stares at my floating form. "Why, uh, why aren't you..."

"I'd very much prefer not to touch this ground. Would you like to guess why?" I ask.

His eyes move to the flower, and shame is apparent on his face.

"Because..." he whispers.

I tilt my head. "Speak up, please. I can't hear you."

"B-because th-this is where w-we tortured P-Percy," he stammers out.

I nod. "Exactly. Would you like to guess why I brought you out here?"

He turns back to look at me and shakes his head. "I don't know."

"Hm," I say. "Well, regardless of your guess, you're probably wrong. I brought you out here because I recently learned some very important information."

He swallows nervously, and his eyes again shift away. This time, they go to blood stains and claw marks on a tree.

"And w-what information is that?" He asks breathlessly.

I take a deep breath. "Leo and Calypso were charmspoken into torturing Percy."

His head snaps to my mask, trying to look into my eyes through it. Good luck. The mask comes equipped with magic eye blockers.

"What?" He asks.

I nod. "That's why they left to join my team. They couldn't handle this place anymore."

He tears up and looks at the ground. "Well," he says hesitantly. "That... as much as it sucks, I..."

He suddenly laughs. "I kind of feel happy for them. I mean, they were forced into it. It's not good, but at least they didn't willingly torture an innocent friend. Not like..."

He takes a deep breath and brings his knees to his chest, making himself small. "Not like me."

I set down on the ground, no longer flying.

"But that's the thing," I say. "Leo thinks that you were charmspoken as well."

Frank looks back up at me, his eyes beginning to shine. "Do you really- wait."

He stands up from the stool. "What about the others? What about... what about Hazel?"

I shake my head. "She knows. You've seen how she's been acting recently."

He shakes his head and starts to back away. "No. No, no, no. She- they- she would never lie to me!" He says angrily.

I step forward. "Look, I know you don't want to believe me, but -"

He backs away more. "You're wrong! I did it -" his voice cracks. "I did it of my own free will!" He yells again before turning around and rushing into the forest, turning into a cheetah.

I stand in the clearing for about 20 seconds before moving. I calmly walk forward and disassemble the folding stool.

As I near the exit of the clearing, I turn around and stare at the flower in the middle.

"One of its own species," Chaos said to me ages ago. "Completely unique in every way."

I walk towards it and kneel down in front of it, wincing as the memories come back to me.

I hesitantly reach out and manage to grab the stem of the flower. Without a second thought, I snap it off the stem.

I pull a tweezer and small case out of my cloak and pluck a single seed off the flower before putting the single seed in the glass case. [A/N imagine a tiny, glass, Lego sized suitcase.]

I pull out a couple of seeds and throw them up, scattering them in the wind.

I stand up and stare at the rest of the flower in my hand. I grimace and bite off the top of it, leaving only part of the stem, of which I drop on the ground in disgust.

I chew the flower and swallow before turning and promptly leaving the clearing.

I never plan to return.