Author's Note: This is the first time I've written Fanfiction for a long time. I'm excited to take another whirl at it. Please review, and let me know what you think! Even if you hated it, tell me why, so I can adjust my story or my writing style and become a better writer. Thanks! - Ash
Chapter 1: Percy
Glowing far off in the distance stood a solemn peacock; its feathers sparkling thousands of different colors in the moonlight. The moon glowed fiercely overhead, and its light seemed to dance off of peacock. It felt so serene, yet, there was a hint that something was terribly, terribly wrong. The peacock neared, and soon, where the peacock once stood there was a beautiful brown haired goddess with a simple gold diadem. Her cloak, which looked to be made of goatskin, flowed freely in the breeze behind her and she had a simple gold dagger sheathed in her belt.
"Percy Jackson," said the goddess, her voice seemed as if it could carry on forever, a melody of a song long forgotten. Yet at the same time, there was sadness in the goddess's voice. The light seemed to dance off of her skin, in ways one would never seem possible. "You have proven yourself, as a defender of Olympus. I ask of your service once more and you must take no heed. Soon, our world and yours will fall in grave danger. Old powers are rising, Kronos was nothing compared to what is to soon come. For our survival, I must make a hasty decision. Two demigod leaders must be exchanged – one Greek and one Roman. For this to be achieved I have no choice but to wipe your memory clean, otherwise you simply being of Greek descent will lead to your untimely end. You will no longer remember who you are, where you come from; although, there will be clues along the way. The key to your memories lies within your heart. For now, Percy Jackson, you must rest. You will face many trials tomorrow. Until we meet again," the goddess bowed and then disappeared.
The scene changed, he was sitting on a beach and the water was playfully tugging at his toes. He felt oddly calm when he was near the water. The sea seemed to go on forever into eternity. Behind him, he heard footsteps quickly approaching, but was too immersed on the sea to pay them any attention. He felt someone, he had assumed it was the person who was sneaking up behind him, gently sit next to him and laid her head on his shoulder. He didn't feel uncomfortable to the very least, but if he wasn't so hypnotized by the sea, he would have probably kissed her.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" The voice was female and he recognized it, but he couldn't remember the name. He pondered until his head began to ache. What was this girl's name?
*** Time Lapse ***
My brain seemed scrambled, that's the only way to explain it. Lots of information seemed to be spinning around with no place to go. To say my head ached, would be the understatement of a century. It felt like someone had taken a boulder to my head, multiple times. My arms and legs seemed to weigh a ton. I couldn't remember a thing about my life, who I was, or even where I was. I tried as hard as I could to remember something, anything, but the only memory of my past was of a beautiful girl with blonde hair and stormy gray eyes.
It was then, as my senses came more to focus, that I noticed what sounded like whispering. Although, I couldn't exactly make out the voices exactly, but I could have sworn that I made something along the lines of, "son of Neptune." Then, all went black.
I awoke in what seemed like hours later to find a large white wolf towering over me. Her dark black eyes seemed to burn into my soul, and penetrate my mind. I knew that she was reading my thoughts. Either the fear receptor in my brain had been damaged, or there was something seriously wrong with me, because I didn't fear the wolf.
'Percy Jackson,' the voice seemed to echo through my mind. 'Welcome to the Legion, a Roman training academy for demigods. I am Lupa. To fully become a member of our ranks, you must prove yourself in three tests. Your strength, courage and loyalty will be tested. Only then can you begin your journey of discovering who you truly are and unleash your destiny.'
She backed away, allowing me to sit up and take in my surroundings. I was sitting on a hard and cold stone floor; the building around me looked as if it had seen numerous battles. The ceiling was falling in some places, weeds grew through the walls and it smelt of decay. Bright streams of sunlight fluttered through the cracks.
'Come, young demigod, come and prove your worth.' The wolf then stood and crossed the room and walked casually through an archway leading into another room. I struggled to stand, my limbs felt weak and heavy, but I pushed through it. I hoped that I would have enough strength to complete the trials.
As I entered the room, I found myself facing a warrior, clad in golden battle armor; his golden sword extended toward my head. The man's face was lightly freckled from the sun; he had deep golden brown hair and brilliant green eyes. Instinctively, I reached into my pocket and pulled out a pen. I just held it stupidly, but my gut told me to uncap it. I did, and a three foot long bronze blade grew from where the tip of the pen once was. Riptide, a voice whispered in my mind. I held the sword in front of me, and lunged toward my foe.
The battle was intense, the man was very skilled. I countered his every strike, barely dodging the golden blade of his sword. I stabbed; ducked and dodged, sweat was dripping from both of our bodies. I felt a dull ache in the back of my skull and I felt my fingers loosen their grips on Riptides hilt. The sword fell out of my fingers, and the man swung his sword straight toward me, intending to finish me off. I just stood there dumbfounded, and my body put itself on autopilot.
Three things happened in a fraction of seconds, that of which I couldn't possibly fathom. One, the sword connected with my shoulder, but bounced off and flew across the room, like I was made of some sort of unbreakable metal. Two, a flash flood of water materialized out of thin air and swallowed the man whole. Three, the water seemed to obey my every command.
Without time to process what had just happened, I picked up Riptide, and started walking across the room. As I walked, I took in my surroundings. The room was about the size of a football field, the sky was visible though the numerous windows, a cold breeze blew in through the window, chilling me. I realized, I was wearing nothing more than a plain orange t-shirt and jeans that looked like they had gone to Hades and back. Shaking my head, I tried to force myself to focus at the task at hand; which was hard, being that my mind was trying to concentrate on thousands of different things at once.
One task down, two more to go, I reminded myself grimly. As I made my way across the football field, I noticed a girl about my age sitting on the ground silently bawling her eyes out. Her long blonde hair flowed down her back and I couldn't take my eyes off of her. I knew I knew her from somewhere, and then I remembered my dream. She was the girl that was sitting next to me, the one I felt extreme compassion for. I dropped my sword and ran over to her, but something beat me to the punch.
There was a blur of black and a high pitched scream. A huge bull, with bulging muscles, and extremely long horns, gored the blond haired girl through the heart and she evaporated. I let out a cry and fell to my knees.
"Annabeth…" I moaned. An image flashed before my eyes of me and the blond haired girl enclosed in a bubble deep under the sea. She was lying next to me, holding my hand and she kissed me and told me how she had loved me. I felt like a little piece of my heart broke, the girl had loved me and knew deep down that I had loved her and I let her get killed by that filthy minotaur.
Rage filled my body. I saw the minotaur charge me, hatred blazing in its eyes, and I swiftly moved to the side. I picked up Riptide from the ground next to me and watched as the stupid, no good, Minotaur charged at me once more, only to find my sword lodged deep within its skull a few seconds later. Gold dust littered the air as a tear rolled down my cheek. I whipped the tear away; I knew I had to stay focused. There was one more challenge for me to meet.
'Percy Jackson, you have shown more bravery than those of my most courageous demigods, more strength than most and of course, more loyalty than could ever be expected of a half-blood. You have passed your entrance exam, and now must stand proud as a member of the Legion. On your oath, over the river Styx, you shall be the newest son of Neptune.'
"Neptune?" I asked, my head ached and then I remembered something someone had once told me about the gods following western civilization. "You mean Poseidon?"
'Yes, Poseidon is Neptune's Greek counterpart. However, we are of Roman descent, therefore, you are a son of Neptune. If you agree to pledge your allegiance to the Legion, all you must do is say the following oath, "I, Percy Jackson, pledge myself upon the river Styx, to the Roman gods, to defend and uphold Olympus, until my last breath, as a member of the Legion."'
I took a deep breath, something didn't feel right, but I was unable to place what it was. "I, Percy Jackson, pledge myself upon the river Styx, to the Roman gods, to defend and uphold Olympus, until my last breath, as a member of the Legion." I gasped as an excruciating pain emitted from my right forearm. It felt as if someone had put a hot branding wire against my skin. I yelled out in the shock of the pain, my eyes watering. As quickly as it came, the pain subsided. I looked at my right forearm, the source of the pain and realized I had been branded. Twelve dark lines that looked like a barcode with a trident going across the lines, the letters sqpr had been burned below.
'Follow me, son of Neptune. We shall go to camp.'
Key to the gods (in order of appearance):
(Roman : Greek)
Neptune : Poseidon