Part I: The First Class Fugitives
To answer the question of how three ragged kids and a satyr got a flight from LA to New York: The Lotus Platinum Card.
I still had it in my pocket. Infinite credit. Untraceable (magically).
We had walked into LAX like we owned the place. I slapped the card on the counter at the American Airlines desk.
"Four tickets to JFK," I told the lady. "First Class. And I want access to the lounge. I need a shower."
The lady had looked at our bloody clothes and the war hammer case, looked at the card, and simply said, "Right away, sir." Money really is the strongest superpower.
Now, back at Camp Half-Blood, that luxury felt like a fever dream.
Part II: The Shroud Burning
The camp held a ceremony to burn our burial shrouds. They had assumed we were dead.
Percy's shroud was sea-green with a trident. Mine was electric blue with a thunderbolt.
"It's tradition," Luke said, standing next to me as we watched the silk burn in the campfire. "You burn the shroud to signal you're alive. Lucky you."
"Yeah," I muttered, rubbing my left arm. "Lucky."
My arm was wrapped in bandages, but I could feel the cold pulsing underneath. The Styx infection was dormant, but it was there. A constant reminder of the Underworld.
The campers treated us like celebrities. Even the Ares cabin backed off (mostly because I had broken their dad's ankle).
But I didn't feel like a hero. I felt restless.
Part III: The Last Day of Summer
July passed. August arrived. The last day of camp.
I was packing my bag in the Zeus cabin. I had decided to stay year-round. I had nowhere else to go. My mom was safe in Queens, but I couldn't drag monsters to her doorstep.
I saw Percy walking toward the woods. He looked like he was looking for peace and quiet.
A few minutes later, I saw Luke follow him.
Luke had been acting weird all week. Twitchy. Intense. He kept looking at me with this hungry expression, like I was a steak he wanted to eat.
Suspicion, my brain whispered. Or maybe just curiosity.
I grabbed my battered hammer—I'd fixed the handle with duct tape—and followed them. I kept to the shadows, moving silently through the underbrush.
Part IV: The Pitch in the Woods
I found them in a clearing near the creek. They were drinking Cokes, sitting on a rock. It looked friendly.
Then, Luke threw his empty can into the stream.
"I've been waiting a long time for a quest, Percy," Luke was saying. His voice was tight. "And you... you ruin everything."
I stepped out from behind a massive oak tree.
"He has a habit of doing that," I said, leaning on my hammer.
Percy jumped. "Val! You scared me."
Luke didn't jump. He turned slowly, a smile spreading across his scarred face.
"Valerius," Luke said smoothly. "I was hoping you'd join us."
"What's going on, Luke?" I asked. I didn't like the vibe. The birds had stopped singing. The air felt heavy.
Luke stood up. He looked from Percy to me.
"I'm done," Luke said. "I'm done being a pawn. I'm done burning food for gods who don't care if we live or die."
He looked directly at me.
"I heard what Zeus said to you, Val. I have spies in the throne room. He called you 'Adequate.' After everything you did? After you bled for him?"
The words stung. Luke knew exactly where to hit.
"He used you," Luke pressed, stepping closer. "He sees you as a battery. A tool. But he..." Luke pointed to the ground, referencing Kronos in the pit. "...he sees your potential. He wants to tear Olympus down stone by stone. Think about it, Val. A new Golden Age. No more gods. No more 'Adequate.'"
He held out his hand to me.
"Join me, Valerius. Leave Jackson. He's weak. He's loyal to a system that hates him. But you? You're chaos. You belong with us."
I looked at Luke's hand.
It was a good pitch. I hated Zeus. I hated the rules. I hated being bored. Tearing down Olympus sounded... exciting.
I looked at Percy.
He was standing there, looking confused and hurt. He wasn't the strongest. He wasn't the smartest. But he had dragged me out of the river. He had stood by me against Ares.
I thought about the "Rivalry." Yeah, we bickered. Yeah, I made fun of him.
But he was my cousin.
"You make a good point, Luke," I said slowly.
Luke's smile widened. Percy's face fell. "Val?"
"But," I continued, hefting my hammer. "There's one problem."
"What's that?" Luke asked.
"You're boring," I said. "Serving a Titan? Being a minion for Kronos? That's just trading one boss for another. And frankly... I'm starting to like this idiot."
I pointed my thumb at Percy.
Luke's smile vanished. His face twisted into a snarl.
"A shame," Luke sighed. "I really thought you were smarter than that."
Part V: The Scorpion
Luke snapped his fingers. A small ripple appeared in the ground near Percy's feet.
Out crawled a Pit Scorpion.
It wasn't huge like the Chimera. It was small, maybe the size of a hand, but it was pale, translucent, and radiated pure malice. Its tail dripped with venom that could kill a demigod in sixty seconds.
"Percy, don't move," I warned.
"If you move, it strikes," Luke said calmly. "If you attack, it strikes. Goodbye, Percy."
Luke turned to walk away. He pulled out his sword, Backbiter. It was half steel, half celestial bronze. A weapon made to kill mortals and monsters.
"You're just going to leave?" Percy shouted.
"I'm leaving you with a friend," Luke called back.
The scorpion tensed. It was about to jump on Percy's leg.
Reaction time check.
I didn't try to hit the scorpion. It was too small, and I might hit Percy.
I threw my hammer at Luke.
"Hey, Traitor!"
The hammer spun through the air. Luke sensed it. He spun around and deflected it with his sword, but the impact knocked him backward.
The noise startled the scorpion. It lunged at Percy.
"Stomp it!" I screamed.
Percy panicked. He didn't stomp. He slashed with Riptide, but he missed the tiny target.
The scorpion landed on Percy's sneaker. Its tail reared back.
I dove.
I didn't care about strategy. I tackled Percy, shoving him sideways into the mud.
My hand—my left hand, the Styx hand—brushed against the scorpion.
STING.
I felt a sharp prick on my palm.
"Gah!" I rolled away, smashing the scorpion with my fist. Crunch. It dissolved into yellow goo.
"Val!" Percy scrambled over to me.
I looked at my hand. A red welt was forming right in the middle of the black veins.
"It got you," Percy whispered, horrified. "Luke said... he said sixty seconds."
"I have a high tolerance," I gritted out. My arm was on fire. The Styx water in my veins was reacting to the poison. It felt like my blood was turning into acid.
Part VI: The Escape
Luke recovered. He stood at the edge of the clearing, looking at me. He looked... disappointed.
"You chose the losing side, Valerius," Luke said.
He raised his sword and slashed the air. The fabric of reality tore open. A shimmering portal appeared.
"Don't follow me," Luke warned. "Next time we meet, I won't be so polite."
He stepped through the portal and vanished.
Part VII: The Aftermath
My vision blurred. The world was spinning.
"Help!" Percy was screaming. "Someone help!"
I grabbed Percy's shirt with my good hand.
"Percy," I slurred. "Don't... let me... die... bored."
"You're not dying!" Percy yelled. He poured nectar onto my hand.
It smoked. The poison fought the nectar. But the Styx water... the Styx water was doing something weird. It was eatingthe poison.
The black veins in my arm pulsed violently. They sucked the green venom in. My heart hammered—thump-thump, thump-thump—slow and heavy.
I didn't die in sixty seconds.
I just passed out.
Part VIII: The Infirmary (Epilogue to Book 1)
I woke up three days later.
Chiron was standing over me. Annabeth was there too, looking red-eyed.
"He's awake," Annabeth said.
"How?" I croaked.
"We don't know," Chiron admitted. "Pit scorpion venom is fatal. Instantly. But your arm..."
I looked at my left arm.
The black veins had changed. They weren't just spidery lines anymore. They had formed a pattern. It looked almost like a tattoo of a serpent wrapped around my forearm.
"The Styx water neutralized the venom," Chiron theorized. "It seems your... condition... has some defensive properties. Though I would not recommend testing it again."
Percy walked in. He looked relieved.
"You idiot," Percy said, grinning. "You took the hit again."
"Force of habit," I muttered. "Did Luke get away?"
"Yeah," Percy's face darkened. "He's gone. To Kronos."
I sat up. My body ached, but I felt stronger. Different.
The first book was over. The quest was done. The traitor was revealed.
"Well," I said, swinging my legs off the bed. "Now we know who the bad guy is. No more guessing games."
I looked out the window at the strawberry fields.
"Next summer," I promised. "We hunt him down."