My Life in Your World

Chapter 10:

AN/ I am soooooo sorry about the lack of updates. School life has been hell, and I kinda lost my inspiration there for a while. If you could continue to send in ideas about how to further this story, that'd be great. Again, thanks for sticking to this story even though it looked like I wouldn't update for a while there.

Percy POV:

It had been almost a month since I joined the Flock. We had moved around from place to place as owners vacated their apartments. We didn't eat or use anything out of the buildings, since we didn't want the residents getting suspicious. So far it had worked, as we hadn't been caught yet. We had been stealing anything we needed from local supermarkets. Well, I say we, but I was normally put on break-in duty since I had discovered a talent for breaking and entering. I could pick a lock in a few seconds and could move as silently as a ghost. I used the Mist to shield myself from the gaze of security cameras, but relied only on my own skills for getting through deadbolts and alarms.

I had changed in other ways, besides being a practiced criminal. My hair had grown quickly and now ended right above my shoulder blades. I was a little bit leaner now, but that was only the product of living on the streets. I was just a fit as ever, maybe more so. I was quick and could evade pretty much anything that came my way. I was now almost an expert and hand to hand combat. Max had started teaching me after I admitted I really didn't have experience with anything but a sword. I caught on pretty fast and my powers only enhanced my fighting skills.

I could feel myself tipping off the deep end. Where before I was always honest and trusting to a fault, living like I had was starting to break down my fatal flaw. I felt darker, and I could sense the attributes of a son of Hades rising up in me, taking a place equal to that of a son of Poseidon. The proud, egotistical personality of a son of Zeus had stayed deep inside my soul, but it still surfaced now and again. The rest of the Flock could tell I had changed, and according to Fang they liked the new me better. The new me that was as dangerous as a Hydra and wasn't afraid to lie, cheat, or steal.

We were currently resting in the apartment we'd crashed in the night before. The owners weren't supposed to be back for some time, so we had taken the liberty of keeping the place warm for them. We were all sprawled out across the living room. I was on the couch, my head resting on one of its arms and my legs stretched out to the other. I was lost in thought. Today was the last day I would be able to travel with the Flock. Tomorrow I would have to head out to Camp Jupiter and face my friends.

I had changed so much the Romans would barely know me, much less the Greeks. And what would they say about my new powers? Would they call me an abomination, chase me off? Would I be forced into imprisonment so I couldn't be a threat to the Gods? I left that train of thought quickly. It wasn't good to dwell on such negative emotions. I now knew why Nico was always so depressed. It seemed to be a son of Hades thing.

I realized that I hadn't said anything to the rest of the Flock. Would they be sad I was leaving? Would they be glad to be rid of the burden? I knew I would miss them. I cleared my throat at the noisy bird kids, and they all looked up at me, confusion flitting across their faces. I bit my lip nervously before starting to talk. "Well, tomorrow's the day." The confusion was replaced by sadness. I sat up on the couch. "I have never been more grateful to anyone in my life. You took me in when I didn't have another option, and without you I think things would have ended a lot more badly for me."

Max smiled at me. "You've done more for us. I don't think we've ever had it as good as we do now." I laughed lightly as the rest of the Flock nodded vigorously. My smile turned sad. "I've enjoyed it more than you will ever know, but I have to go. The demigods need me." The atmosphere in the room instantly turned depressed again. We sat in silence for a while, until Iggy cocked his head to the side. "You said we were your Pack, right?" He asked softly, as if thinking.

I nodded. "I officially claimed you, so now you are recognized by all ancient creatures as mine." Iggy nodded slowly, before turning his blind eyes on me. "So, these demigods really couldn't object if we came with you, could they?" My eyes widened as the rest of the Flock nodded quickly, their faces showing relief at the thought that they could stay with me. I couldn't believe it. "You guys really want to come on a quest with me?" I asked in incredulity.

Fang smiled lightly. "Of course." Nudge took that opportunity to speak up. "We wouldn't want you to go out by yourself. What if you got hurt, or captured, then we wouldn't know what had happened and we'd be so worried…" She was cut off by Fang's hand to her mouth. Gazzy grinned. "Yeah bro, we gotta keep you out of trouble." Angel looked at me with her sweet eyes and crawled into my lap. She hugged herself close to my chest and wound her fingers into my shirt. "Of course we want to go with you. You're like our big brother."

My breath hitched in the back of my throat. I realized that I really viewed the Flock as my family now. The campers and Camp Half Blood and Camp Jupiter had been my friends, but they had all either viewed me as a tool to be used in the war or a hero to be looked up to. I added my new family members to the list of people who would never be harmed unless I was dead.

"Thanks guys." I said warmly. Max laughed. "Like we would let you go on your own. If those kids make any cracks at your wings or new powers, we can just beat them all up." We all dissolved into laughter at that image. As we calmed down, Gazzy got a mischievous look on his face. I was about to run for the door in terror when he shouted out, "Group hug!" and launched himself on top of Fang. He let out a strangled squeal that was very unmanly, especially for him. We laughed and joined the dog pile.

It took us a while to get untangled, and when we did we just collapsed on the floor, deciding it was simpler just to sleep there for the night. My last thought as darkness closed in around me was at least I don't have to face anything on my own now.

Line Break—

Percy POV:

As soon as I fell asleep I was pulled into a dream. Blue and grey swirled into an image of the Greek and Roman demigods clustered around the war ship, several of them lugging packages up the metallic loading plank. Annabeth, Clarisse, Jason, and Reyna stood in front of the ship. "You must begin your journey." Reyna said, her voice steady. Annabeth shook her head, desperation showing on her face. "Percy isn't here yet….." She trailed off at a look from Jason. "Annabeth," The son of Zeus began. "We've waited a month. If he hasn't got here yet, he probably won't." Clarisse nodded slowly. "Yeah. As much as I hate to say it, we've got to get going. The prophecy isn't just going to fix itself."

Annabeth just looked lost for a second, and then she closed her eyes. "Alright." She whispered. "Let's go." Clarisse put an arm around her shoulders and steered her up the plank as Jason gave Reyna a quick hug. "Be safe. Don't make me have to come after you." Reyna said, a slightly sad smile on her face. Jason chuckled. "Rey, when have you ever known me not to be safe?" Reyna punched Jason on the arm and he made his way onto the ship. After a few moments and hesitant waves from the Romans below, the ship took off into the sky and was soon glittering on the horizon.

I jolted awake with a start. I looked around wildly for a second, before realizing that it was midday and the Flock was still sprawled out on the floor. Crap, that must mean that the dream was in real time. I hurriedly crawled over to Max and started poking her in the side. "Maaaax." I hissed. She growled and rolled over, muttering something about more sleep. A wicked grin slowly formed on my face, and I conjured some water above all of the Flock. With a wave of my hand, I sent it crashing down on the unsuspecting teenagers.

They all jolted awake with various degrees of panic. Fang and Max were both trying to get into some kind of fighting stance, but were too tired and disoriented to do it properly. Nudge was running her mouth off, and I couldn't even understand what she was saying. Angel was squealing in her little girl voice, and Gazzy and Iggy were launching off half-baked bomb threats. Of course all that set me off and I ended up on my ass roaring with laughter. The whole Flock turned to glare at me, and I would have been scared if I wasn't too busy remembering their reactions. "You should have seen your faces." I managed to gasp out between giggles.

Max stomped over and grabbed my collar. "Dry us off, Fish Boy." She growled, her eyes dangerous. I snorted. "Fine." I willed the water off of them, and their glares lessened a bit. Fang looked at me. "And why did you feel the need to wake us up like that?" His voice had a little bit of an edge to it. My face grew serious, and Max let go of my collar. "They left without me." I said, and I was startled to hear a little bit of disappointment in my voice. Nudge looked at me sympathetically. "Well, we'll just have to catch up to them." She said. Gazzy grinned. "Yeah! They can't get that far if we leave now!" I chuckled at his enthusiasm. "That's kind of why I woke you guys up like I did."

Max looked at me, her expression disbelieving. "Yeah, and I'm sure it had nothing to do with the way you just love to prank us." "Yep." I said brightly. Max shook her head and sighed. "Well, I guess if we're going to catch up to them in their, what did you call it?" I looked at her. "Giant flying war boat." Max arched an eyebrow at me. "Riiiight. That. If we're going to catch up to a flying boat, what better way than to fly?" The rest of the Flock broke out into grins, their earlier anger forgotten. "What are we waiting for, then?" Angel yelled, and put her fist out. By this point even I knew what that meant, so I stacked my fist of top of hers, as did the rest of the Flock. After our fists went flying up into the air, we climbed out the window, carful to be discreet. We didn't want pictures of bird kids plastering the news, after all.

As we got going in the direction that the ship had gone in my dream, I began to get more and more nervous. Would the demigods even accept me now? All the worries from the night before settled into my mind, and the sky began to turn grey. Max glided up beside me, an eyebrow arched. "Really? This is going to be hard enough without you stirring up a storm." I cracked a small smile in her direction, but I could tell she was still worried. I sighed. "I'm worried about seeing my old friends again." I said quietly, just loud enough to be heard over the roaring of the wind.

Max smiled at me reassuringly. "Well, if they throw a fit about your wings we can just beat them up, remember?" Remembering that thought made me laugh, and the skies returned to creamy blue. "Yeah!" Iggy yelled from over to my left. "We've got your back, Perce!" I smiled a genuine smile this time as I realized that fact was very, very true.

Max POV:

I flew beside Percy, who had calmed down enough to where I was no longer fearing that I was about to be struck down with lightning. I could understand why he was nervous. He had changed so much in such a little time, even I could see that. He had gone from a meek, slightly sarcastic demigod to a full out, rule-breaking member of the Flock. Like Fang had said, we all liked him better that way, but from the way he described his old friends I wasn't sure they would.

I was being very serious when I told him I would beat up the demigods if they raised hell about his new powers. He may be our Pack leader, but we would all protect him just as fiercely as he protected us. With that thought in mind, I continued the flight towards a new world filled with gods and monsters, and a comfortable silence settled in around the entire Flock.

AN/ So that's the new chapter. I'm a little rusty on my writing skills obviously, so don't hesitate to tell me how I did. Hopefully I'll get another chapter up sometime soon. If not, keep calm and carry on, my loyal fans.