The Ambassador of Athena

The rest of the day was spent with preparations; taking care of all the bruises, scratches and other injuries and best of all, hot showers for all. When the sun finally disappeared behind the horizon we all gathered in the dining hall. It was beautiful, the windows showed scenes from camp, still sun-lit since it was just late afternoon there. Jessy was on his feet again, but pretty unstable. He looked really pale and his eyes were half closed the whole time, even after as much nectar and ambrosia as he could possibly handle. His other injuries were already gone, the same with Johannas. She slept the whole afternoon and after she woke up she looked totally fine.
Our backup team thought about everything, they even brought clothes for us all that weren’t torn or dirty, so after a show, a brand new pair of jeans and an orange camp shirt I felt reborn and most of all, hungry. I was the last one to enter the room, the rest of the crew were already eating and talking about the events.
“… so yeah, that’s when we ran over your dad, Percy.” Johanna said at the moment when I opened the door.
“What? How, and why?” Percy asked his mouth full of Pizza. I didn’t listen to Johannas answer; I was stunned by her look. She wore almost exactly the same outfit like me, skinny jeans, orange camp shirt, and sneakers. What really caught me was her smile. She smiled like she always did her happy, joyful smile she smiled whenever she felt comfortable around people, when she enjoyed herself and was happy. I haven’t seen her smiling like that in forever, not since half way through our relationship. Knowing that Athena played her game also half way through our relationship explains why I haven’t seen her smile since then.
“What did Poseidon told us again we should say to Percy?”
Johanna’s voice brought me back to reality.
“Oh, ehh, we should just greet him, I think.” I said when I sat down. I got myself Pizza too, together with a glass of coke.
Percy looked a little bit disappointed.
“Ok, that’s nice of him… really nice.” He took a bite of his Pizza.
“So, what happened after you killed the bull, Flo?”
I started eating my Pizza too before I answered.
“Well, I got his car so we could reach Keystone in time, and he made me his ambassador too.”
Obviously that was not something Percy expected, since his hand with the slice of pizza stopped half way to his mouth.
“He did what?”
“He made me his ambassador too, here, I even got proof.”
I pulled my T-Shirt up to show him my shoulder with the trident, which was a bad idea. My whole back was sore, the scratches and bruises hurt with every movement.
“I guess that counts” Percy stated after he inspected the tattoo. “You can put on your shirt again.”
“So, now you are the ambassador of Athena AND Poseidon?” Rachel asked.
“Jep, basically that’s it.”
“Interesting. I am curious what will happen in the future.”
Everyone focused on their food and it was silent for a little while.
Leo finally broke the silence. “So, why didn’t you take some ambrosia against all these scratches?” he asked me.
“It would probably burn me up if the old stories and what Chiron told me is true.”
Leo looked confused. “But you are a demigod, aren’t you?”
Everyone looked at him.
“Leo, that’s what makes him so special: the fact that he isn’t a demigod, just a regular mortal.” Johanna said with a smile. “I know him for a while now, but I am sure, he is a mortal.” She gave me a quick look.
I felt like my stomach got filled with helium, warm and fuzzy.
“I didn’t know that!” Leo said agitated. “It’s a miracle that he survived that trip, and he even killed that bull!”
“I guess I just used every little amount of luck I owned.” I said. “I guess I have to watch my back for the rest of my life.”
Everyone chuckled which made me smile too.
Leo waved his taco like a sword while talking.
“You sure are a reckless man, Florian.” He said with his best Sylvester Stallone voice, spraying taco parts all over the table.
“I’ve got nothing to lose.” I answered casually.
Percy twisted his eyes.
“Come on, we should all go to sleep, we will have a tough day tomorrow, we better rest.”

I woke up in the middle of the night. I couldn’t fall asleep again, so I walked around the ship for a little. Jessy was snoring loudly in the sickbay, definitely on the way to regain full control over his body functions. Percy, Rachel, Leo and Jason were asleep too, but in the stables at the end of the lowest deck I found Johanna sitting at the edge of the glass bottom. Below it the sea shimmered in the light of the almost full moon. I stopped at the door, anxious to come closer.
“You know I can hear you?” Johanna whispered after a few minutes. “You are breathing really loud when you are nervous.”
She turned around and looked directly in my eyes, the first time since I met her here.
“Why are you nervous, Flo?” she asked. A million thoughts raced through my brain, a million answers to that easy answer. I remembered a promise I gave years ago, on a nice summer day on a bench under a tree on top of a hill. A promise I gave to her, to never lie to her.
“You really have to ask?” I answered.
She looked down.
“Still, after all those years?”
“Today I realised that the answer is yes, after all those years.”
I couldn’t stand any second longer in front of her; I turned around and ran off.

It’s not like I could go anywhere, so I just sat down next to the figurehead on the bow of the ship. The more I thought about what just happened the worse I felt. I felt sicker and sicker, my thoughts got darker and darker till it was too much. I threw up over the railing.
I felt horrible, and I first looked up when I felt a warm touch on my shoulder. It was the figurehead, the bronze dragon everyone called Festus. Obviously it was true that it was alive, and it was really nice too. It must have seen that I was only wearing a shirt and boxer shorts, because a warm stream of air came of his nostrils.
“Thank you” I whispered.
Festus creaked and returned to his watch over the Pacific. I remained where I was for a few minutes before I returned to my bed, sleeping for the rest of the night.

Notes

It took me a while, but here you go, a brand new chapter ;)