And So It Begins

**And So It Begins** is the seventy-third chapter of The Gift of a Best Friend. It was first published on September 12th, 2018.

## Chapter

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**Annabeth's POV**
It was the last night of the summer session.
The campers had one last meal together. We burned part of our dinner for the gods. At the bonfire, the senior counselors awarded the end-of-summer bead. The design was pitch black, with a sea-green trident shimmering in the center.
I glanced at Percy. The firelight was covering his face, but I could still tell he was blushing. He looked kind of cute when he blushed.
“The choice was unanimous,” Luke announced. “This bead commemorates the first Son of the Sea God at this camp, and the quest he undertook into the darkest part of the Underworld to stop a war!”
The entire camp got to their feet and cheered. Even Ares’s cabin felt obliged to stand. My siblings steered me and Jasmine to the front so we could share in the applause.
I was still not comfortable with all this attention.

The next morning, I found a form letter on my bedside table from Mr. D that I get at the end of the summer session every year, telling me to inform the Big House if I’m staying at Camp Half-Blood year-round.
Jasmine and I went there together to let them know that we’re not. Then we, along with Toothless, strolled through camp one last time for a while together.
“My family is coming to take me home,” I said.
“I know,” Jasmine said. “Are you excited?”
“No. I’m terrified.”
“I know. But I’ll always be just across the river if you ever need me.”
“I know, and I’m grateful for that.”
“Hey, what are best friends for?”
I smiled.
We gave each other a hug, then continued on.
“So,” I said. “What is Will going to do?”
“He lives in Portland, Maine with his mom,” Jasmine said. “He’s going to go back to school there.”
“How are you two going to handle a long distance relationship?”
“The same way my parents did. It technically won’t be long distance since I can teleport, and I will go visit him a couple times a week. But I have to get him a phone that won’t attract monsters to him.”
“I bet he’ll like that.”
“I bet he will, too.”
Toothless made an unusual noise in his throat.
“What is it, Toothless?” Jasmine asked.
He ran forward toward the woods and we saw what he was running to.
Two nymphs came into the clearing, dragging an unconscious boy behind them.
“Oh my God,” Jasmine gasped. “Percy?”
We ran to him. He looked in terrible shape. He was green and turning gray.
“What happened to him?” I asked.
“We don’t know,” one of the nymphs said. “We just found him that way.”
Jasmine examined him. “He’s been poisoned.”
I called for help.
Chiron noticed from a distance and blew his conch horn.
Jasmine and I loaded Percy onto Toothless’s back and took him to the Big House. There, Chiron treated him.
He wrapped Percy’s right hand in bandages where there was a big red welt. Jasmine gave him nectar through a straw while I dabbed a washcloth on his forehead. He opened his eyes a few minutes later.
“Here we go again,” he said when he saw us.
“You idiot,” I said, but I was relieved to see him awake. “You were green and turning gray when we found you. If it weren’t for Chiron’s healing . . .”
“Now, now,” Chiron’s voice said. “Percy’s constitution deserves some credit. How are you feeling?”
“Like my insides have been frozen,” Percy said, “then microwaved.”
“Apt, considering that was pit scorpion venom. Now you must tell me, if you can, exactly what happened.”
“Or how about you show us instead?” Jasmine suggested.
Percy took a sip of nectar and nodded in agreement.
Jasmine summoned a holographic image in front of us and replayed Percy’s memory. And I couldn’t believe what I saw.
Percy was watching Luke wailing on battle dummies with a sword I’d never seen before. When he noticed Percy, he stopped mid-swing.
He noticed Percy looking at his sword and explained it to him. He called it Backbiter. One side was Celestial bronze. The other was tempered steel. It works on mortals and immortals, like Jasmine’s dual blades, only as one blade.
Luke pulled out a six-pack of Coke from his gym bag and suggested that he and Percy should go into the woods one last time and look for something to fight. Percy hesitated at first, then agreed. They walked down to the woods and kicked around for some kind of monster to fight, but it was too hot.
They found a shady spot by the creek, sat on a big rock, drank their Cokes, and watched the sunlight in the woods.
After a while, Luke said to Percy. “You miss being on a quest?”
“With monsters attacking me every three feet?” Percy said. “Are you kidding?”
Luke raised an eyebrow at him.
“Yeah, I miss it,” Percy admitted. “You?”
A shadow passed over Luke’s face. That is one of the few times I don’t find him handsome at all.
He looked weary, and angry. His blond hair was gray in the sunlight. The scar on his face looked deeper than usual.
“I’ve lived at Half-Blood Hill sort of year-round since I was fourteen,” Luke told Percy. “Ever since Thalia . . . well, you know. I trained, and trained, and trained. Raylee allowed me to try and be a normal teenager by adopting me. But I still never truly felt normal. Then they threw me one quest, and when I came back, it was like ‘Okay, ride’s over. Have a nice life.’”
He crumpled his Coke can and threw it into the creek. Jasmine gasped at that, and I understood why.
One of the first things you learn at Camp Half-Blood is: Don’t litter. You’ll hear from the nymphs and the naiads. They’ll get even. You’ll crawl into bed one night and find your sheets filled with centipedes and mud.
“The heck with laurel wreaths,” Luke said. “I’m not going to end up like those dusty trophies in the Big House attic.”
“You make it sound like you’re leaving,” Percy said.
Luke gave him a twisted smile. “Oh, I’m leaving, all right, Percy. I brought you down here to say goodbye.”
He snapped his fingers. A small fire burned a hole in the ground at Percy’s feet. Out crawled something glistening black. A scorpion.
Percy started to go for his pen.
“I wouldn’t,” Luke cautioned. “Pit scorpions can jump up to fifteen feet. Its stinger can pierce right through your clothes. You’ll be dead in sixty seconds.”
“Luke, what—” Percy started, but stopped, seeming to realize something. “You.”
Luke stood calmly and brushed off his jeans.
The scorpion paid him no attention. It kept its beady black eyes on Percy, clamping its pincers as it crawled onto his shoe.
“I saw a lot out there in the world, Percy,” Luke said. “Didn’t you feel it—the darkness gathering, the monsters growing stronger? Didn’t you realize how useless it all is? All the heroics—being pawns of the gods. They should’ve been overthrown thousands of years ago, but they’ve hung on, thanks to us half-bloods.”
I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
“Luke . . . you’re talking about our parents,” Percy said.
Luke laughed. “That’s supposed to make me love them? Their precious ‘Western civilization’ is a disease, Percy. It’s killing the world. The only way to stop it is to burn it to the ground, start over with something more honest.”
“You’re as crazy as Ares.”
Luke’s eyes flared. “Ares is a fool. He never realized the true master he was serving. If I had time, Percy, I could explain. But I’m afraid you won’t live that long.”
The scorpion crawled onto Percy’s pants leg.
“Kronos,” he said. “That’s who you serve.”
The air seemed to get colder.
“You should be careful with names,” Luke warned.
“Kronos got you to steal the master bolt and the helm,” Percy said. “He spoke to you in your dreams.”
Luke’s eye twitched. “He spoke to you, too, Percy. You’ve should’ve listened.”
“He’s brainwashing you, Luke.”
“You’re wrong. He showed me that my talents are being wasted. You know what my quest was two years ago, Percy? My father, Hermes, wanted me to steal a golden apple from the Garden of the Hesperides and return it to Olympus. After all the training I’d done, *that* was the best he could think up.”
“That’s not an easy quest,” Percy said. “Hercules did it.”
“Exactly,” Luke said. “Where’s the glory in repeating what others have done? All the gods know how to do is replay their past. My heart wasn’t in it. The dragon in the garden gave me this”—he pointed angrily at his scar—“and when I came back, all I got was pity. I wanted to pull Olympus down stone by stone right then, but I bided my time. I began to dream of Kronos. He convinced me to steal something worthwhile, something no hero had ever had the courage to take. When we went on that winter-solstice field trip, while the other campers were asleep, I snuck into the throne room and took Zeus’s master bolt right from his chair. Hades’s helm of darkness, too. You wouldn’t believe how easy it was. The Olympians are so arrogant; they never dreamed someone would dare steal from them. Their security is horrible. I was halfway across New Jersey before I heard the storms rumbling, and I knew they’d discovered my theft.”
The scorpion was sitting on Percy’s knee now, staring at him with its glittering eyes.
“So why didn’t you bring the items to Kronos?” Percy asked, trying to keep his voice level.
Luke’s smile wavered. “I . . . I got overconfident. Zeus sent out his sons and daughters to find the stolen bolt—Artemis, Apollo, my father, Hermes. But it was Ares who caught me. I could have beaten him, but I wasn’t careful enough. He disarmed me, took the items of power, threatened to return them to Olympus and burn me alive. Then Kronos’s voice came to me and told me what to say. I put the idea in Ares’s head about a great war between the gods. I said all he had to do was hide the items away for a while and watch the others fight. Ares got a wicked gleam in his eyes. I knew he was hooked. He let me go, and I returned to Olympus before anyone noticed my absence.” Luke drew his new sword. He ran his thumb down the flat of the blade, as if he were hypnotized by its beauty. “Afterward, the Lord of the Titans . . . h-he punished me with nightmares. I swore not to fail again. Back at Camp Half-Blood, in my dreams, I was told that a second hero would arrive, one who could be tricked into taking the bolt and the helm the rest of the way—from Ares down to Tartarus.”
“*You* summoned the hellhound, that night in the forest.”
“We had to make Chiron think the camp wasn’t safe for you, so he would start you on your quest. We had to confirm his fears that Hades was after you. And it worked.”
“The flying shoes were cursed,” Percy said. “They were supposed to drag me and the backpack into Tartarus.”
“And they would have, if you’d been wearing them. But you gave them to the satyr, which wasn’t part of the plan. Grover messes up everything he touches. He even confused the curse.”
Luke looked down at the scorpion, which was now sitting on Percy’s thigh. “You should have died in Tartarus, Percy. But don’t worry. I’ll leave you with my little friend to set things right.”
“Thalia gave her life to save you,” Percy said, gritting his teeth. “And this is how you repay her?”
“Don’t speak of Thalia!” Luke shouted. “The gods *let* her die! That’s one of the many things they will pay for.”
“You’re being used, Luke. You and Ares both. Don’t listen to Kronos.”
“*I’ve* been used?” Luke’s voice turned shrill. “Look at yourself. What has your dad ever done for you? Kronos will rise. You’ve only delayed his plans. He will cast the Olympians into Tartarus and drive humanity back to their caves. All except the strongest—the ones who serve him.”
“Call off the bug,” Percy said. “If you’re so strong, fight me yourself.”
Luke smiled. “Nice try, Percy. But I’m not Ares. You can’t bait me. My lord is waiting, and he’s got plenty of quests for me to undertake.”
“Luke—”
“Goodbye, Percy. There is a new Golden Age coming. You won’t be part of it.”
He slashed his sword in an arc and disappeared in a ripple of darkness.
The scorpion lunged.
Percy swatted it away with his hand and uncapped his sword. The scorpion jumped at him and he cut it in half in midair.
He looked down at his palm and saw that it had a huge red welt, oozing and smoking with yellow guck. The scorpion had gotten him after all.
Percy stumbled to the creek and submerged his hand, but nothing seemed to happen. The poison was too strong. Percy was starting to look worse.
I could barely watch.
He stumbled back to camp, and the nymphs stirred from their trees.
“Help,” Percy croaked. “Please . . .”
Two of them took his arms, pulling him along. He made it to the clearing, when we found him.
Then everything went black.
That was the end.
Jasmine waved away the holographic image.
The room was quiet for a long time.
“Oh my God,” Jasmine finally said.
“I can’t believe that Luke . . .” My voice faltered. I became angry and sad. “Yes. Yes, I *can* believe it. May the gods curse him. . . . He was never the same after his quest.”
Jasmine shook her head in agreement. “No, he wasn’t.”
I noticed Toothless from the corner, and he looked guilty for some reason.
Hmm . . . I wonder why.
“This must be reported to Olympus,” Chiron murmured. “I will go at once.”
“Luke is out there right now,” Percy said. “I have to go after him.”
Chiron shook his head. “No, Percy. The gods—”
“Won’t even *talk* about Kronos,” he snapped. “Zeus declared the matter closed!”
“Percy, I know this is hard. But you must not rush out for vengeance. You aren’t ready.”
Percy didn’t like it, but he seemed to know that Chiron was right. “Chiron . . . your prophecy from the Oracle . . . it was about Kronos, wasn’t it? Was I in it? And Annabeth?”
Chiron glanced nervously at the ceiling. “Percy, it isn’t my place—”
“You’ve been ordered not to talk to me about it, haven’t you?”
Chiron’s eyes were sympathetic, but sad. “You will be a great hero, child. I will do my best to prepare you. But if I’m right about the path ahead of you . . .”
Thunder boomed overhead, rattling the windows.
“All right!” Chiron shouted. “Fine!”
He sighed in frustration. “The gods have their reasons, Percy. Knowing too much of your future is never a good thing.”
“We can’t just sit back and do nothing,” Percy said.
“*We* will not sit back,” Chiron promised. “But you must be careful. Kronos wants you to come unraveled. He wants your life disrupted, your thoughts clouded with fear and anger. Do not give him what he wants. Train patiently. Your time will come.”
“Assuming I live that long.”
Chiron put his hand on Percy’s ankle. “You’ll have to trust me, Percy. You will live. But first you must decide your path for the coming year. I cannot tell you the right choice. . . .” I got the feeling that he had a very definite opinion, and it was taking all his willpower not to advise Percy. “But you must decide whether to stay at Camp Half-Blood year-round, or return to the mortal world for seventh grade and be a summer camper. Think on that. When I get back from Olympus, you must tell me your decision.”
Percy didn’t look anymore happy about it, but he knew that there would be no more discussion; Chiron had said as much as he could.
“I’ll be back as soon as I can,” Chiron promised. “Argus will watch over you.”
He glanced at me. “Oh, and, my dear . . . whenever you’re ready, they’re here.”
“Who’s here?” Percy asked.
Nobody answered.
Chiron rolled himself out of the room. I heard the wheels of his chair clunk carefully down the front steps, two at a time.
I studied my hands. Jasmine watched me with concern. This was it.
“What’s wrong?” Percy asked me.
“Nothing.” I said. “I . . . just took your advice about something. You . . . um . . . need anything?”
“Yeah. Help me up. I want to go outside.”
“Percy, that isn’t a good idea.”
“Umm, yeah,” Jasmine agreed.
But he didn’t listen. He slid his legs out of bed. Jasmine and I caught him before he could crumple to the floor.
“I told you . . .” I said.
“I’m fine,” he insisted.
He managed to step forward. Then another, with Jasmine and I helping him by holding onto both of his arms. Argus followed us outside, but he kept his distance. Toothless followed us too.
By the time we reached the porch, Percy’s face was beaded with sweat, but he had managed to make it all the way to the railing.
It was dusk. The camp looked completely deserted. The cabins were dark and the volleyball pit silent. No canoes cut the surface of the lake. Beyond the woods and the strawberry fields, the Long Island Sound glittered in the last light of the sun.
“What are you going to do?” I asked Percy.
“I don’t know,” he replied. “I get the feeling Chiron wants me to stay year-round, to put in more individual training time, but I’m not sure that’s what I want. I’d feel bad about leaving you two alone, though, with only Clarisse for company. . . .”
“We can handle her, like we always have,” Jasmine assured him. “And we have each other.”
I pursed my lips. “But we’re going to our individual homes for the year, Percy.”
He stared at me. “Individual homes? You mean, you’re going to your dad’s?”
I pointed toward the crest of Half-Blood Hill. Next to Thalia’s pine tree, at the very edge of the camp’s magical boundaries, my family stood silhouetted—my two little step-brothers, Bobby and Matthew, my step-mom, Savanna, and my dad. They were waiting for me. My dad was holding the backpack I had gotten from Waterland in Denver.
“I wrote him a letter when we got back,” I said. “Just like you suggested. I told him . . . I was sorry. I’d come home for the school year if he still wanted me. He wrote back immediately. We decided . . . we’d give it another try.”
“That took guts,” Percy said.
“You have no idea,” Jasmine said.
“You didn’t even know that I sent him one until he sent me a reply back,” I argued.
“Still. I’m sure it took a while for you to get yourself to do it, and you did.”
I pursed my lips.
“You won’t try anything stupid during the school year, will you?” I said to Percy. “At least . . . not without sending me an Iris-message?”
Percy managed a smile. “I won’t go looking for trouble. I usually don’t have to.”
“When I get back next summer, we’ll hunt down Luke. We’ll ask for a quest, but if we don’t get approval, we’ll sneak off and do it anyway. Agreed?”
“Sounds like a plan worthy of Athena.”
I held out my hand. He shook it.
“Take care, Seaweed Brain,” I told him. “Keep your eyes open.”
“You too, Wise Girl,” he said.
“Aww,” Jasmine said. “As much as I’m enjoying watching this cute moment between you two, what am I, chop-liver?”
Percy and I laughed.
“No,” Percy said.
“Thank you.” Jasmine gave him a hug. “Send me an Iris-message too.”
“Will do.”
“You’ll probably hear from me after he sends me one before he sends you one,” I said.
“Who says he’s going to send you one first before me?” Jasmine asked.
“I do.”
“Whatever. Bye, Percy. I hope to see you again soon.”
“Me too,” he said.
Jasmine and I climbed onto Toothless’s back and he flew us up the hill.
“That was a cute moment between you two,” Jasmine said.
I’m glad she couldn’t see me blushing, though she probably could tell that I was because I always am when she opens her mouth about this kind of stuff.
We joined my family.
I gave my dad an awkward hug and looked back at the valley one last time. I touched Thalia’s pine tree, then allowed myself to be lead over the crest and into the mortal world for what I hoped would be the start to a new beginning.

Happy birthday, Jasmine! And I actually just learned that today is also National Encouragement Day! And, as this story goes on, you'll learn just how encouraging Jasmine is, and today is just the perfect day to make her birthday, and I decided on that a long time ago. What do you guys think?
**Please review** here**.**

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## Character Appearances

### Main Characters

* Annabeth Chase
* Jasmine Saturday
* Percy Jackson

### Minor Characters

* Chiron
* Luke Castellan