Seek and destroy (4)

"Even a small act of bravery can become remembered in history and be immortalized in the stars, so that people for centuries to come can come to appreciate them. Remember, Percy, any act, no matter how small, has significant value¨ Percy remembered the words, and repeated them so that the little girl could hear them.

Annabeth looked up at the sky, trying in vain to see the stars that represented her star sign. A few minutes later, she felt frustrated and gave up her search.

"I can't see it," she complained, with an adorable pout on her little face.

Percy just laughed in amusement and ruffled her blonde hair.

"It's called the weakest constellation for that reason."

Annabeth stood there, trying to look annoyed, but a slight giggle escaped her lips involuntarily. She couldn't deny that the little gesture pleased her. It caused her stomach to flutter, making her feel warm inside. It reminded her of when her father congratulated her on getting good grades in school, before her stepmother appeared in their lives, and before their family was torn asunder.

Watching Percy, she wondered if this was what it felt like to have an older brother.

"Hey, Percy," Annabeth called a little shyly, "Who taught you all that stuff, the constellations and the stories behind them?"

Percy stopped his movement, puzzled by her question. Annabeth arched her eyebrow, confused as to why he stopped his hand movement. She looked up and saw Percy, who seemed lost in thought, a glazed look in his eyes as he peered beyond the trees.

Before Annabeth could get his attention, a thunderous scream echoed through the forest, followed by a deafening silence. Almost immediately, Thalia stood upright and firmly grasped her spray can. She looked around for any sign of a threat, but saw nothing.

"What the hell was that?" she asked, rising cautiously.

"Someone's yelling," Percy replied, scanning the surroundings. His hand tightly clenched around his trusty knife.

"I noticed, Sherlock, did you see anything?"

"No. Nothing."

"Do you think it was some monster?"

Percy shook his head.

"It was definitely human."

"Then what...?"

The question was interrupted by the loud sound of a gunshot, causing Luke and Sammy to awaken abruptly.

"What's...?"

Another gunshot, followed by another scream, this time even louder than the last, but it wasn't remotely close to being human. It was like a cross between a growl and a roar.Then, there was a silence from beyond the grave. Nothing could be heard, not the chirping of crickets, not the hooting of owls. Percy felt a cold sweat run down the back of his neck as he swallowed to undo the lump that had formed in his throat.

He felt someone clinging tightly to his shirt. She didn't need to turn around to know it was Sammy, seeking the reassurance Percy had always given her.

"We have to go," Luke said, breaking the silence, "This place isn't safe anymore."

"We can't leave," said Thalia, firmly.

"What... Are you crazy? You heard that thing! It definitely wasn't human. If we stay here, we'll only attract it."

"There are people around here. If that thing's around, they're in danger."

Luke was stunned, staring at his closest friend, unable to believe what she was saying.

One look into Thalia's determined eyes was all it took for him to know the answer, "I can't believe it. This...this is stupid! Why would we help them?!?"

"Because it's the right thing to do. I couldn't live with myself knowing that innocent people died and I did nothing to stop it."

Without another word, Thalia moved forward and disappeared into the trees.

Luke was left staring at the place where his friend was. He clenched his hands tightly, unable to understand how she wanted to help the people who had made such a mess of things.

"What... What do we do?" Sammy asked, somewhat hesitantly. Still clinging to Percy's shirt.

"Isn't it obvious?" said Annabeth, stepping forward, "We're not leaving Thalia alone! We're going to help her, aren't we, Luke?"

The boy was still silent, staring hopelessly at the fire dancing in the darkness. When he heard his name, he gritted his teeth hard.

"Damn it! That idiot...!" exclaimed Luke, "Come on, Annabeth. She'll probably do something stupid if we're not there to stop her."

They both ran in the same direction Thalia had gone, leaving Percy and Sammy alone.

"Should we go too," asked Sammy.

Percy let out a long sigh of exasperation before grabbing his backpack and slinging it over his shoulder.

"Luke's right. They'll probably do something stupid if we're not there. Come on, Sammy."

Thalia moved quickly through the underbrush of the forest. It was hard to see in the dark of night, but somehow she didn't hit any trees, although she did stumble a couple of times because of the occasional rock. She cursed her luck for not having brought the flashlight she had in her backpack.

She sharpened her hearing, being alert for any sounds around her as she couldn't rely on her eyesight right now due to the scarcity of light. She reasserted her grip on her spray can turned spear as her heart hammered in her chest. Was it fear she was feeling? Yes, she wasn't going to deny it, she would be stupid not to. Thalia was afraid of whatever it was that was capable of letting out a growl like that. A kind of growl she had never heard, despite having lived for over a year on the streets.

It wasn't long before Thalia could see a light guiding her way through the forest; a campfire. In the distance, she could visualize a small camp in a slight clearing in the forest. As Thalia got closer, she could see people moving about uneasily, their shadows cast by the fire.When she was only a few feet from being seen, she stopped abruptly.

She walked slowly through the underbrush, moved bushes and pushed some branches aside, causing a noise audible to those present.

"Who's there?" exclaimed a voice, clearly female.

...............

Hey, author here!

Thank you for your support so far guys, it has been a while since I started writing so I didn't know if this was going to be a great fanfic or not, but to this point I'm enjoying writing it.

As you can see, Percy meet with the trio of demigods who scaped from home and as for now he is joining them. These past chapters were a little bit of bonding between them, I hope I didn't mess up.

I will really appreciate if you guys can give me some reviews for the fanfic, and I'm also going to post extra chapters if we hit some powerstones milestones. As for now, I'm going to post 1 extra chapter every 15 powerstones, although it might change in the future.

Thank you for reading!