Percy Jackson, the embodiment of hope.

Chapter 22: Morning. (chaos without Chaos)

Percy POV:

I wake up to screaming. My eyes shoot open, and I jump out of bed, Artemis quickly following suit, a somber expression on her face.

I rush downstairs and see the Hunters huddled around a girl.

"What's happening?" I quickly ask.

Thalia turns to me. "It... finally hit us what Gration was going to do..."

Oh. Artemis nods slowly and walks up to the Hunt.

I'm about to try to help as well when someone knocks on the door. I ignore them, and they ring the doorbell.

Sh1t.

The doorbell is... a disaster, to say the least. Before 10, if the doorbell is rung, and people are still sleeping, it's about 20 times louder than normal.

But the sound of it is a dragon roar. Thanks, Beckendorf.

The roar echoes throughout the cabin, and thumps and yells could be heard from upstairs.

Leo jerks awake on the couch, waking Calypso up, who he was holding onto.

I put on my mask and hear another knock.

My eye twitches, and I open the door to see Annabeth.

"What?" I ask.

She crosses her arms. "You're needed in the Big House."

"Why?"

She huffs. "We're going over plans, and- is that Leo?" She asks, looking behind me.

I nod. "Yes. Why."

She looks at my mask and them back into the house.

"Leo, c'mon, we have cabin meetings, and -"

Calypso sits up on Leo's lap from the couch, effectively shutting Annabeth up.

She looks directly at Annabeth and flips her off before laying back down on top of Leo.

Annabeth stares at both of them, shocked, before turning back at me.

"Alright, why do they get special treatment?"

I'm about to answer when Luke stumbles down the stairs and falls on his face.

"F*CK!" He yells, trapped in his mask and cloak.

Zoe and Bianca quickly rush down the stairs and help him up, sitting him at the counter and giving him a glass of water.

Annabeth stares. I clear my throat.

*Ahem* "Anyway, THEY are my friends."

Annabeth looks at me like I'm crazy.

"The Hunters are your friends?"

I nod. "They quite like me, actually. Big Brother Hope."

"Alright, fine! What about Nico and Will! They're campers, and they -"

"Are good people," I finish. "They didn't go out of their way to cause harm, and they sure as hell didn't torture someone. Especially someone who's name starts with a P."

Annabeth stands on her tip toes to try and look my mask in the eyes.

"What about Leo and Calypso, huh?"

I smile and stand on my tip toes just to tower over her.

"They were charmspoken."

Annabeth pales and steps back.

"How did you -"

She's stopped by a small jet of fire blasting past her hair.

Leo's looking at her with one eye open from the couch, still laying under Calypso, one arm pointing out towards Annabeth.

"How do you think, Annabeth? I told him." He says angrily.

Annabeth gasps. "But you promised-"

Bellerophon stumbles down the stairs, wearing just short shorts decorated with seashells.

Icarus stumbles after him with a cloak on.

"Seashell..." he says, somewhat seductively, before growing serious. "You need to wear your cloak!"

Bellerophon waves him off. "I don't-"

He stops in front of a hunter who's sitting on the ground. He stares at her small face that slowly starts to shift from confusion to anger, for about five seconds. He immediately turns around and walks back up the stairs.

"I'll get my cloak on."

I turn to look back at Annabeth, but Artemis walks up behind me, putting her mouth next to my ear.

"For the past many nights, I have held out. Tonight, we are going to roast smores, kiss, and read something together," She says in a breathy voice.

I shiver, and she grins at Annabeth before taking one of my arms and pushing it out of my cloak, showing the muscles.

"I can sense some intentions of yours, Annabeth." She says.

Annabeth's breath hitches, and Artemis smiles at her with threatening undertones.

"But Hope is MINE. I haven't seen him in years. If you attempt to -"

She's interrupted by a window crashing sound. All three of us look up and see Orpheus flying out a second story window.

"MOTHERFU-" He manages to say before he lands on the ground face first, cloak on.

We stare, and he manages to stand up before shaking his head and marching past us, muttering about stupid doorbell delays and monster roars.

Artemis gives one last smile to Annabeth and turns, opening the cabin connecting door and walking through it with her hunters.

Annabeth looks at me.

"Are your mornings always this chaotic?"

I laugh. "Only like half the team is here. Usually, drones buzz about, Ghost pops out of walls to screw with us, Icarus tries to blind us, Red breaks silverware over his head while Heart fawns over him, Dove tries to get people to eat food, and Pirate tries to destroy anything moving."

Zoe laughs at the counter and raises her hand.

"Don't forget the arrows." She says.

"Right," I say. "As well as Huntress shooting arrows at all the dudes other than me and her boyfriend."

Annabeth shakes her head in disbelief. "I'm not even gonna try to understand what you just said."

I nod. "You wouldn't be able to."

She huffs. "Cabin meeting in 10 minutes."

I nod. "Got it. Bye."

I slam the door and breathe a sigh of relief. I don't know how much longer I could interact with her.

I turn around and sit at the counter, eating an orange.

Loud, dramatic thumps are heard from the staircase as Apollo walks down, bridal carrying Hyacinthus, who is laughing hysterically.

I smile under my mask, thinking about all the good things I've done with my team and what we would continue to do.

I was happy.

I frown and reach into my cloak, pulling out the exploding star.

How would it help?

I examine it for a bit, then put it back into my cloak, standing up from the counter. I write a small note and place it onto the shadow puddle in the side of the cabin, so Nyx will get it if she comes into the cabin soon.

I nod at Luke, who unsteadily waves goodbye back at me. I exit the door and see Leo and Calypso already asleep again.