Seek and destroy (1)

"... And that's how Itachi killed all the members of his clan, but was unable to kill the person he cared about the most. The person he loved the most. He was unable to kill his younger brother; Sasuke."

Thalia finished telling the story with an excited and jovial air. She even made hand gestures at the most exciting moments.

She was sitting cross-legged on a mattress that was lying on the floor. Across from her, sitting in the same position, Percy was looking at her with a blank expression.

"Thalia... I just asked you if you had a couple of extra blankets..."

They both looked at each other for several seconds without looking away from each other, without saying a word. The only sound came from the faint snoring emitting from Sammy, who was sleeping peacefully a few feet to their right.

Finally, it was Thalia who broke the silence with a nervous laugh, while scratching the back of her head.

"Hehe...sorry. I guess I got a little excited."

' A little? ' thought Percy 'She's been telling the story for over ten minutes straight.'

He sighed and looked at Thalia, slightly amused.

"Never mind. Besides, your story was kind of cool."

"Wasn't it!" she exclaimed excitedly, causing Percy to cover her mouth as he put a finger over his own lips for silence.

Sammy and Annabeth, who were sleeping peacefully, stirred uncomfortably at the noise. Sammy shifted so much that her foot ended up hitting Annabeth's cheek, causing her to frown slightly. Percy sighed in amusement at that. Sammy struck very strange poses in his sleep, he knew from his own experience.

He was glad that he could watch the two girls sleep peacefully without worry. It had been a week since the accident at the church. When they had escaped from the burning place, Luke had... borrowed a car that was parked. Percy was amazed at how quickly he had unlocked the doors and started the engine. In less than fifteen minutes, the small group was on the other side of town as they made their way down the road.

Half an hour into the drive, Luke drove them to a ramshackle old cabin that sat in the woods. He had told Percy that was where they had originally been living for the past few days, but were forced to leave it to get help for Annabeth.

A strange sensation brought Percy out of his thoughts. It was strange, it was something hard and wet that was constantly moving in the palm of his hand causing him to levecosquille. His eyes widened as he realized it was Thalia, who was licking his palm that was pressed against his mouth.

Percy quickly withdrew his hand and wiped it off with the bed sheets, while looking at Thalia in annoyance. She only returned his gaze mockingly.

"How do you know that whole story?" asked Percy, as he finished wiping his hand on the sheets.

He still couldn't get used to Thalia's practical jokes.

She looked at the floor for a few seconds as she frowned again. She scrunched her face into a grimace of annoyance, but it quickly disappeared.

"I watched a lot of TV" she replied simply with a shrug. "There were always great shows on certain channels. Mostly during the wee hours of the night."

"What kind of shows?" asked Percy, curious.

He hadn't watched much television when he lived under a roof. He couldn't because of that man who, under the pretext that ¨it wasn't good for his education¨ denied him much needed distraction from the crappy world around him.

"Well, all kinds" Thalia answered, adopting a thoughtful pose "From movies and series, to documentaries and cartoons. But my favorites, hands down, were the anime."

"Anime? What is that, some kind of music genre?"

Thalia shook her head, amused by his assumption.

"No. Anime is short for computer animation."

"So... They're kind of like cartoons?"

"Well... yes and no. Anime is for people of all ages. There are many genres within anime. From comedy, romance, action, mystery, mystery, drama, fantasy... there arethousands of them."

Percy arched his eyebrow in confusion.

"I see... it's kind of complicated."

"Yeah, I know" Thalia shrugged "It's a pretty vast subject. Even I still don't know a lot of things, but trust me when I tell you that anime has the best stories."

"You must have spent a lot of time in front of the TV to know all that."

"Yeah, well, there wasn't much to do at home," Thalia said, somberly. "I had to find my own way to..... get away from it all. And the movies, the series, the music, the anime... all those stories... they helped me do that. Before I knew it, I had already become a story fanatic."

From the way she talked about it, as if it was a much sadder memory than it appeared, it was obvious that she didn't like to talk about it. Percy understood that, and decided not to say anything. After all, he was also very secretive about his past.

"How's your shoulder?" asked Thalia, in an attempt to change the conversation that had stalled.

Percy brought a hand to his shoulder and massaged it lightly.

"It's... Impressive. It's totally healed now. That weird drink they gave me completely cured it in a few days. Now all that's left is a scar."

"It's one of the perks of being a demigod... one of the few," she said that last in a whisper, though Percy caught up to hear her. "And how do you feel?"

"I could fist fight the Minotaur again. With one hand tied behind my back, and blindfolded. Just put on Rocky's music and watch me mop the floor with his hairy ass."

Thalia covered her mouth with her hands to keep from laughing out loud and Percy couldn't keep a small smile from stretching across his lips.

"It's good to know you have a sense of humor," Thalia said, when he calmed down enough. "By the way, how are you holding up?"

"About what?"

"You know...everything. About the gods and finding out about being a demigod."

Percy thought about it for a few seconds, but in the end just shrugged and answered:

"Well it doesn't really matter much."

"What do you mean?" asked Thalia, curious about his answer.

Percy's eyes glazed over as he was lost in thought. Images began to flow into his mind like a movie. Shadows moving and taking on strange shapes. The sound of guttural growls and claws being dragged across the floor. Evil laughter, cries of pain and eyes that glowed in the darkness of the moonless night.

"For years, I have wondered why I saw things that others could not," Percy began, his voice no further than a whisper. "Why I could see these... monsters. But in the end... the reason doesn't matter."

"What doesn't matter?" said Thalia, incredulous. "You discovered that you are, quite literally, the son of a god!"

"And that's the reason the monsters are after me, isn't it?"

"Well, yes, but..."

"Then it makes no difference whether I know the reason or not. It won't make the monsters stop chasing me. If anything, it only makes me feel guiltier."

"Guilty? About what?"

Percy looked for a few seconds at Sammy, who had grabbed Annabeth like a teddy bear and had her firmly captured in a bear hug.

"Because I'm a demigod, monsters have been chasing me all my life. That means that people who have been close to me in some way were always in danger and..."

"You feel guilty because Sammy has been in danger all this time because of you," Thalia finished, her tone sympathetic.

Percy didn't say anything. He just clenched his fists and nodded.

That was something that had settled in his mind over the past few days since Thalia and Luke revealed the truth about who he was. Percy always knew he wasn't a normal person. He could see monsters that other people couldn't see and he could do...things that someone else could only dream of doing. And now, that he knew the reason behind it all, the reason why the monsters were always after him, he could only blame himself for putting Sammy in danger.

The monsters were after him because he was a demigod, not Sammy. She was only a mortal who could see them, but the monsters weren't specifically after her.

So wouldn't it be safer for Sammy not to be with them? Thalia, Luke and Annabeth were different. They were demigods and the monsters would always chase them, but Sammy was different. She had a chance to be able to escape them and they wouldn't be looking for her.

"I know what you think," Thalia said, snapping Percy out of his thoughts. "I know you think Sammy would be safer if she wasn't with someone like us."

"Am I that obvious?" asked Percy, with a sad little smile.

"It's obvious that you care about Sammy, and wish the best for her.

"The best thing for her right now would be not to be around someone like me. That way, her life wouldn't be in danger."

"Maybe you're right," Thalia acknowledged. "But do you think it would be easy for her? You guys have been living on the streets for a long time. Running from monsters. It wouldn't be easy for her to start a new life when she knows the truth about the things out there. She will most likely develop trauma for the rest of her life and she will have no one to support her.

Percy was silent. Thinking about Thalia's words. He was in conflict with himself because he felt they were both right. There were no right decisions this time, only decisions. And they had to be made in the near future. Until now, he had only been procrastinating, like an indecisive.

Like a coward.

"For only thirteen years old, you're very wise.... Thalia" Percy acknowledged, with a small smile.

"I can also break your fingers very easily, for only thirteen years old" Thalia said, cracking her knuckles menacingly.

"I'd rather avoid that, but there is something I would like you to do."

"What would that be?"

Percy got up from where he was sitting and went to find something in his backpack, which was on the other side of the room. He rummaged in it for a few seconds and pulled something out. He came back and sat back down where he was sitting, facing Thalia, who watched his movements carefully.

"I'd like to hear another one of your stories," Percy said, opening a bag of potato chips and offering it to Thalia with a warm smile on his face, making his eyes stand out even more.

Thalia was dumbfounded for a few seconds. She couldn't understand how such simple words and such a small gesture could make a pleasant warmth settle in her stomach and run through her body all the way down to the tips of her toes.

But... it wasn't a bad feeling. It was nice to have someone listen to you so intently about the things you were passionate about.

A fleeting image of a blond boy with a small scar on his lips flashed in her mind for a few seconds, but she quickly pushed it aside. She didn't want to sadden this cute moment she shared with Percy.

Thalia reached out her hand and grabbed a couple of potatoes, as she started a new story.