Percy Jackson, the embodiment of hope.

Chapter 56: Everyone is here! (R.I.P, Pizza.)

Luke instantly woke up when he felt the bed shift, narrowing his eyes. Bianca stood over him, grinning nervously, a sticky note in her hand.

"Good morning?" She asked.

Luke's eyes drifted to the door, which was partly open, and then back to Bianca.

"What's today?" He asked.

"Uhhh..."

As fast as she could, she slapped the sticky note on his head and rushed out of the room. Annoyed, he plucked it off his heed and read it.

Number 2 leader and Number 1 fast guy.

He ripped it in half and stumbled out of bed, getting his legs tangled in the sheets and tripping on his face. The door shut, and multiple people burst into laughter before the sounds of them all crashing down the stairs were heard. Luke pushed himself up and zipped around the room, dressing himself in an instant. He opened the door, prepared to chew out his team, only to see a turret pointing at his face.

"I swear to Cha -"

The turret fired, and he was sent slamming into the back wall of his room, a massive plunger stuck to his face. He pulled it off and gasped for breath, throwing it to the side. He stood up and walked to his door. He tore the turret off the hallway roof and threw it down the stairs. The sound of multiple traps being triggered reached his ears, and he smiled at the disappointed groans of his team.

He walked down the stairs, which were dotted with who knows how many items and traps, and smiled at his team when he reached the kitchen. They all looked at him with disappointment, and he laughed. "C'mon. I know today is when Percy comes back, but you can't just prank me like that."

With huffs, everyone put on their cloaks and/or masks and walked out of the cabin, heading to the dining pavilion. As they walked, some campers looked at them in awe or stared. They looked like an actual team, at least until Hyacinthus tripped and fell on his face. Bellerophon burst into laughter, Icarus facepalmed, and Orpheus helped Hyacinthus up.

They continued their walk and eventually reached the dining pavilion. Breakfast was uneventful, but all the campers groaned when they had to head to the arena for training. Achilles and Luke oversaw their weapon training, while Bianca and Orpheus helped train their abilities.

All in all, it was a successful day of training. When they left the arena for lunch, everyone was in a good mood, but then the temperature dropped a couple of degrees. Percy popped into existence beside Luke and silently ate his food. Once he was done, he left and entered the Chaos cabin, slamming the door.

Leo looked at the cabin for a few moments and then turned back to the table. "What was that about?"

Luke's worried gaze followed Percy. "I don't know. He's been visiting his godly family, like the fates told him to, so... maybe he learned something?"

"What would he have learned to put him in a fowl mood?" Bianca asked.

Bellerophon shrugged and popped a grape in his mouth. "Who knows. But he'll get through it. He always does."

"Yeah..." Luke said uncertainly. "He'll be okay."
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Percy was not okay.

While at his father's kingdom, he had been fine, probably because of his father's influence, but now...

He wanted to burst into hysterical laughter, and sob uncontrollably, and kill something, and bring something to life, and so many other things all at once, to the point where he felt like he was going to explode.

He ripped off his mask and threw it into the wall. It bounced off and landed on the floor, completely unharmed. Wrapping the cloak around himself, he sank to the floor in a ball and stared at the ceiling, looking past it and into space.