Chapter 160: Father of the Father

[Third Person's PoV] 

Like Lucian said, he stayed up the entire night, and during that time, he messed around with curses while Thalia slept on his shoulder.

The next morning, Thalia was the first to wake up. She and Lucian then rejoined the others in their seats.

Thalia nudged Lucian and pointed slightly with her lips. Lucian turned towards where she was pointing and saw Clarisse leaning on Percy's shoulder, while Percy leaned over Clarisse's head, with Grover grabbing and using Percy's other arm.

Seeing this, Lucian did the only thing imaginable—he pulled out his phone and took a picture. Thalia also took one just for safekeeping.

"So, did you guys have a good make-out session?"

They turned towards Annabeth, who was leaning by the window, wrapped in a small blanket, looking at them with a straight expression.

Lucian, as shameless as ever, made an "okay" symbol while sticking his tongue out to the side. "The best," he said.

Thalia nudged Lucian harder and glared with a small blush, while Annabeth rolled her eyes, wondering why she even bothered asking, knowing how Lucian was.

The next person to wake up was Clarisse. As she opened her eyes, she froze, realizing the position she found herself in. When she looked ahead, she saw Lucian giving her a teasing look, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

She turned bright red and quickly pushed herself away from Percy, waking both Percy and Grover in the process.

"Get off me!" she shouted in a huff, her cheeks turning a deeper shade of red with embarrassment.

"Huh!? What!? Are we being attacked!?" Percy asked, rapidly turning his head, looking around for danger.

"Baaah!" Grover belched, startled from being woken up so abruptly.

"You were drooling your disgusting fishy spit all over me!" Clarisse glared venomously.

"Huh!? That's why you woke us up like that? You—violent musclebound gorilla!" Percy retorted angrily.

"I'll show you a gorilla, you fish-gills!" Clarisse exclaimed, rolling up her sleeve.

"Guys, guys, chill…" Lucian said, motioning for them to calm down as he pulled out his phone and showed them the pictures. "Look how peaceful the two of you were… This proves you can be friends if you tried," he teased.

Both Percy and Clarisse blushed heavily. Clarisse glared at Lucian with hatred. "Delete it," she said through gritted teeth.

"Lucian… delete it," Percy added in a threatening tone.

"Pfft, yeah, no. This is going straight into our scrapbook of adventures together."

Clarisse jumped over the table, trying to snatch Lucian's phone, but Lucian was quicker and stuck his tongue out while flashing a peace sign.

"I will literally kill you if you don't delete it," Clarisse continued to glare.

Percy then turned to Clarisse. "And just because there's a picture, I can say... you leaned on me first, so it's not my fault."

"I didn't lean on you first! I refuse to believe that!" Clarisse denied.

"Well, actually…" Annabeth began, "due to you being on his shoulders and him being the one leaning over, it shows that, to get into such a position, you would have had to lean on his shoulder first, and then he leaned on your head."

"Aha!" Percy pointed at Annabeth. "What she said!"

"Sure, I'll admit she's smart when it comes to building things, but when it comes to common sense, she's a damn idiot."

"Hey!"

"Obviously, you leaned on my head first, and that made my head drop onto your shoulders," Clarisse defended herself.

"That's... actually not a bad counter-argument," Annabeth muttered, placing a hand on her chin.

"Then I guess we'll never know…" Thalia said sadly.

"By the gods, I hate every single one of you," Clarisse huffed, standing up.

"And where are you going?" Annabeth asked curiously.

"Where else? To take a damn piss," Clarisse grumbled, walking away.

"A real classy woman right there," Lucian said sarcastically, causing the others to chuckle. Clarisse, hearing him, raised her middle finger high for him to see.

After everyone had calmed down and eaten breakfast together, they watched the scenery through the windows. They spotted a wild group of centaurs galloping, though everyone else saw a herd of horses.

"Oh right, Percy, who were you saying you weren't going to help?" Thalia asked, wondering if they had misheard.

"What?" Percy tilted his head in confusion.

"I heard it too," Annabeth added. "Last night, while you were asleep, you muttered that you weren't going to help them. What was that about?"

Percy, genuinely bothered by his dream, didn't mind sharing it with the group, hoping they could help him figure it out. "Well… I was standing by a dark pit, looking down. It didn't seem to have an end. From the pit, a voice started laughing, asking me to help it rise from the Underworld. In return, it promised to give me back my mother…"

"Ugh…" Thalia, Lucian, and Annabeth groaned in annoyance upon hearing his dream.

Meanwhile, Clarisse and Grover looked confused and lost. Percy stared at them in confusion too. "It seems you all know who it is based on your reactions. Who is it? Because whoever that voice was didn't sound friendly."

Lucian and Thalia sighed. They looked at each other, then at Percy. "That's our grandfather," they said in unison.

Clarisse and Grover's eyes widened in horror, immediately realizing who they were talking about—there could only be one person.

Percy, however, was a bit slower on the uptake. "Your grandfather? Who's your grandfather? And why are both of your grandparents involved? Are they working together? Why are they contacting me?"

They all facepalmed and sighed in exasperation.

"What?"

"Percy… Thalia and I share the same paternal grandfather. He's your paternal grandfather as well."

"My grandfather too… the father of my father… My father is… so his father is… Ohhhh!" Percy exclaimed, finally getting it.

"You're talking about—"

Before Percy could finish, Lucian turned into a wisp of black smoke, while Thalia transformed into a streak of lightning. They both jumped over the table and covered Percy's mouth with their hands, glaring at him.

"Do you just not learn from your mistakes!?" Lucian asked through gritted teeth.

Thalia spoke slowly, "Do… not… say… his… name."

It was Percy's turn to look angry. He grabbed their hands and moved them away from his mouth. "I wasn't going to say his name! I was just going to say that you were talking about 'That Grandfather,' the one who almost destroyed Olympus."

"Oh…" they both mumbled, retreating to their seats. "Sorry about that…"

"You just don't have the best track record when it comes to keeping god's name quiet. We didn't want to risk it," Lucian explained, sounding a bit apologetic.

"Do you guys honestly think I'm that stupid!?"

"Ehhh…"

"Kinda…"

"Most of the time…"

"No, of course not."

"Absolutely, without a doubt."

"You guys are horrible friends," Percy said, looking at them with a straight expression, "Except for Grover of course" 

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