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Silent Running

Chapter 6

Percy's POV
Clarisse looked away from me, but I caught her voice muttering, "So the rumors are true."

Dragging Clarisse behind me, I strode into the Apollo cabin just to find Will kissing a certain son
of Hades. Stopping immediately in my tracks and shielding my eyes, I exclaimed, "Guys! Gross! Get a room." This caused the two to break apart startled, Nico shooting a glare my way.

"This was our room until you interrupted us!" He fired at me, pouting in a way that was supposed to look menacing.

I was about to retort when Will laid a hand on Nico's shoulder, saying, "It's fine. I'll catch up with you later, Nico." The son of Hades grumbled something about stupid sons of Poseidon (enhanced hearing, remember?) before disappearing into a shadow. Will then turned to me.

"Percy! It's always nice to have a visitor, but I doubt this is a social visit, right?"

I nodded, pulling Clarisse forwards so she was standing right next to me. "I have been told that there are rumors going around about me." I phrased it like it was a question, accusing Will. He looked surprised and a bit offended.

"Rumors? I haven't heard anything about that!" He exclaimed.

Clarisse chose that moment to add her big-mouth comment. "How'd you even hear me anyways, Jackson? I didn't say it to you!"

Will sighed, apparently realizing something I didn't. "You used your hearing, didn't you?"

"I'm sorry, but I can't turn my ears off!" I defended, anger rising up in me. "What am I supposed to do? Hear her saying that I'm a freak, and then not do anything about it?"

"Woah, hey! I never said-"

Will interrupted Clarisse's statement. "I'm sure you didn't. Go back to your cabin now; it's almost time for lunch."

Clarisse ripped her wrist from my clenched hand and was about to stomp away when Will called after her. "Don't tell anyone what you learned here." She hesitated before nodding and disappearing from my sight.

Once she was gone, Will tried to direct me to a bed to sit on. I refused his guiding hand, still feeling irrationally angry. "How'd she hear about rumors?" I demanded to know, glaring at him.

"Percy, I don't know. Maybe-"

"Don't give me any of that bull shit!" I shouted, nostrils flaring as I clenched my hands into tight fists to stop myself from breaking something, either in the room or part of Will. "She heard about rumors, and you and Annabeth are the only ones that know!"

Will looked paler than normal, but his voice still remained calm. "Rumors, Percy. They are only rumors. Just things that people like to gossip about. They aren't necessarily true. Someone probably just heard about your near miss with death from the other night, and they started to say that perhaps you're a werewolf. Right? It's not any one person's fault."

My anger started to fade, and I let my fingers uncurl themselves. "I... I guess that makes sense..." Then I sighed, finally dropping onto the bed that Will was trying so hard to get me to sit on. "She didn't even say what the rumors are! They could just be... I don't know, something stupid!"

Will nodded. "Exactly. You just need to calm down." He sat down next to me on the mattress. "You'll have to remain as calm as you can for the next few days. This werewolf thing will need some getting used to. If you thought you had a short temper before, just wait." He tried for a laugh, an attempt to lighten the mood that failed.

I nodded my head, taking his words and storing them somewhere in my brain where they would be remembered. "I understand." I let out a deep breath as I stood. The conch horn sounded, signaling the beginning of lunch. "I better get over there, or else we'll have even more problems with rumors."

The son of Apollo agreed. "Don't forget, you should tell Annabeth. She's the smartest daughter of Athena I know. If anyone can help you, it's her." He smirked, and I knew his next words were probably going to embarrass me immensely. "Plus, if anyone can keep you calm, it's her."

Red-faced, I hurried from the cabin and to the pavilion. Time to pretend that everything was completely normal while inside, I was practically falling apart.

Lunch was a bit more relaxed than breakfast. People were still staring at me, but there was also some more background noise. People were having conversations while they would periodically glance over at me, sitting alone at the Poseidon table. I didn't mind that as much as I minded the empty silence from this morning. After that, anything was a welcome substitute.

Annabeth had rushed up to me as soon as I had entered, but after a warning glance from Chiron and Will, who had warned me extensively not to do anything out of the norm as we had walked to lunch together. Instead of telling my beautiful girlfriend everything then, I promised her that I would tell her after lunch, in the privacy of my own cabin.

After lunch, I hurried to my cabin to get there before Annabeth. While the atmosphere at lunch was a lot better than the one at breakfast, it was still near impossible to handle those unrelenting stares. I had to calm myself back down. I couldn't lose control, I couldn't lose control.

Where I would usually get annoyed with them, I was getting furious. Where I would usually let things slide, I was becoming enraged. I couldn't go on like this!

My breath was still coming out in short gasps when Annabeth slipped through my cabin door. Immediately, she was at my side, guiding me to my bunk as I struggled to slow the beating of my heart to a normal level. "It's okay, Percy. It's okay, calm down."

After a minute, the soothing repetition of her melodic voice eased me into a normal heart beat and blood pressure. "Thank you," I breathed when I was positive that I wouldn't go postal. She smiled softly at me. "You'd do it for me." Gently, I kissed her before relaying to her what had happened earlier, including Will's directions. However, I left out his last comment he had given me in the Apollo cabin.

Once I was done, Annabeth said, "Maybe this is for the best." When I looked at her incredulously, she added, "You need a break from everything. And don't even deny it! I've seen you, trying to help train the new campers while also making sure the rest of the camp is running smoothly. You can't do anything, and you need a break from this hectic mess of camp."

"I don't know, Annabeth..." I started, feeling uncomfortable with the thought of not doing what I've always done. "I can't just stop helping the camp. I can't stop training the campers; who else would?"

"Clarisse."

She had a good point, but I couldn't let her see that she had gotten me. "Who will watch the pegasi?"

"Chiron."

She had another good point, but again, I couldn't withdraw. "Who will take care of Blackjack? You know he needs to be brushed pretty much daily."

"Katie," Annabeth said, crossing her arms as she raised an eyebrow at me. "Isn't that what you've been training her for? You know she loves the pegasi as much as you do, and I thought the whole point of showing her how to deal with them was so that you wouldn't have to in the long run."

She had me beat, and we both knew it. "Fine," I conceded. "Maybe everyone around here doesn't even need me at all! What am I still doing here?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes and wrapped an arm around me as she sat down next to me on my bed. "Don't be more of an idiot than you usually are, Percy," she instructed, ignoring my indignant snort. "Everyone here loves you! And you love camp. This is your second home, isn't it?"

I grudgingly nodded. "Yeah, you're right."

"I always am," she said, smiling. "You'd do right to remember that."

I chuckled. "You're never going to make things easy for me, are you?"

"Seaweed Brain, I live for making things harder for you."

We laughed together, made out a bit, then walked from the cabin, hand in hand. I wouldn't make it through anything if I didn't have Annabeth there rooting for me all the way.

Walking by the cabins, a few campers were whispering behind their hands and pointing at Annabeth and I. I think she noticed my discomfort, because my girlfriend squeezed my hand tightly. "Don't look at them," she said, glancing up at me. "Only look at me."

I lost myself in her gray eyes, so beautiful and powerful, just like her. That's why, at first, I didn't notice the boy standing in front of us. Until he called out my name, that is.

"Percy, dude!" He called, shaking his red hair out as he jumped up and down, excited to see me.

Blinking, I tore my gaze away from Annabeth and looked at him. "Oh, hey, Owen," I greeted un-enthusiastically. "Look, I'm really not in the mood right now, but-"

"Come on, Percy!" The thirteen year old son of Hermes said, frowning. "You promised you'd spar with me."

I sighed. I did, didn't I? I truly hate myself sometimes. "Fine, Owen. Just one round."

Owen Miller, a relatively new camper, arrived in camp about three months ago. At first, no one knew who his godly parent would be, seeing as his red hair was pretty uncommon for an Olympian's child. He was chased to camp by a hellhound, so it was safe to say that he was powerful. Ever since he was claimed as Hermes' son on his first night in camp, Owen has just been a bundle of energy. Especially after I made the mistake of telling him that I thought he had real potential in sword fighting.

The son of Hermes and I grabbed our weapons and stood in the arena. His face was split into a huge grin; he looked to be barely containing his enthusiasm. I, on the other hand, was hoping that this round wouldn't be one of the ones that takes forever.

We sparred for a little while, neither of us really gaining the upper hand. He was a new camper, but he was good. Nowhere near as good as I was, but I wasn't in the mood for destroying childhood dreams at that moment. If this kid wanted to just spar with me, the least I could do was actually try before making him throw the towel in.

After a bit, I began to get tired of this. The repetitive slash-block-parry routine we were doing was usually my comfort, but right then it felt more like a punishment. I just wanted to finally get through the day. I didn't want to be a werewolf. I didn't want the camp to know. I didn't want everyone to treat me differently.

I was so caught up in my thoughts that Owen managed to nick me with his sword. Both of us froze, staring with different expressions at the blood that was dripping down my arm. Owen looked horrified that he was able to cut me.

At first, I stared at my arm with detached interest. It was different, seeing blood flow from my arm when I wasn't in a battle against someone trying to kill me. Then, my detached interest turned into pride, pride that Owen had been able to cut me, seeing as he was a new camper. That pride then turned into an uncalled-for anger. How dare that insolent brat cut me! I am his superior and he should know to treat me with respect! He asked me to fight with him; this was probably his plan all along! To humiliate me in front of my girlfriend and all the campers I was dimly aware of that had gathered to watch!

In the back of my mind, I knew that this was the kind of anger Will had warned me against and Annabeth had tried to protect me from. I had no right to be angry, and this was only a shallow cut. Ambrosia and maybe a little nectar would fix that up very quickly. The small part of my brain tried to tell me that I had to think rationally and reasonably.

The majority of my brain, however, screamed for justice. An eye for an eye! I lifted my gaze from the blood cascading from my wound to glare at the horrified son of Hermes.

I blinked, and Annabeth was in front of me. Owen was gone, or maybe I just couldn't see him. All I could see was Annabeth. Her lips were moving, she was saying something, but I couldn't hear her over the ringing in my ears. I wanted to look into her eyes, her beautiful gray eyes that always managed to comfort me, but a voice in my head warned me otherwise.

You'll never get your revenge on that foolish son of Hermes if you look into her eyes,
it told me, snarling. You'll lose your anger and your will to fight him! And he must be dealt with.
Obeying the (probably insane) voice in my mind, I glared at the ground instead of looking at Annabeth, letting my anger continue to bubble and froth just below the surface. Suddenly, it exploded outwards. The pain that accompanied it made me howl.

Wait, howl?

I opened my eyes, not knowing when I shut them. Straight in front of me, I could see a pair of knees. Knees? When did I fall down?

The knees bent and the person lowered themselves down to be at eye level with me. I smelt her lemon shampoo before I saw her golden locks of hair. Annabeth's gray eyes stared into mine.

"Percy," she said, and this time I could clearly hear her. "You need to remain calm."

Calm? Why wouldn't I-

Everything suddenly clicked together. I backed away from Annabeth, trying to put some space between her and I. I couldn't let her get to close. I couldn't hurt her like I almost hurt Owen.

"Percy!" She called after me, standing up as I continued to retreat. She didn't take a step towards me, though. "Don't do this to yourself."

I stopped moving, my four legs trembling from fear beneath me. I had transformed into a wolf.

How did she not think I would hurt her? I'm a deadly animal. She isn't safe as long as I'm around. I just have to stay away from her. Far away. I can't hurt her or anyone else.

Annabeth took my pause in motion as a good sign, and she took a step towards me. Seeing the movement, I realized that she would never give up on me. I loved her, but I couldn't let her get
hurt by me. I couldn't let anyone get hurt.

I had to fix this. But I can't fix it here.
Before Annabeth could take another step, I turned and used my four legs to sprint away from her and camp. I didn't stop running until I was miles away.

Notes

Hey guys! This is the last chapter until about July 6th because I will be on vacation. You can find this story, with fifteen chapters, on fanfiction.net as well! But all those chapters will, eventually, be on here. Thanks! :)

Comments

I'm actually surprised to see that this story hasn't been killed on views and subscribers - you're a really good writer and it's hard to find good fanfiction. I'll have to take some time and read the whole thing, but so far I'm really impressed :)

Please upate! So good!

rucas2003 rucas2003
9/6/17

I love it! Pls upate

rucas2003 rucas2003
7/14/17

so sad
pls upate

rucas2003 rucas2003
6/23/17

upate pls

rucas2003 rucas2003
6/20/17