"Forgotten"
This couldn't be happening. Where did they come from? Who is leading them? How'd they get passed the barrier? Percy rolled to evade a swipe from one of the hundreds of Cyclops's invading Camp Half Blood.
It was a cold and the camp was awoken a little after sunrise on the January morning. How could this be happening? He thought to himself again. The titans were defeated. There shouldn't be anyone to attack camp…Yet here they were, getting invaded. He found Chiron and Annabeth holding back a few drakes. He ran up to them and parried a strike that could have gotten Chiron from the side. However, there was no time for thank you's. The invaders were gaining ground and there weren't enough campers left at camp to fend them off. Could this be the end of the camp?
Suddenly the monsters froze. As if something was talking to them and only they could hear it. And they began retreating to the woods that surrounded the camp.
Chiron looked puzzled. Had they kept going they could have easily overrun the camp. Yet here they were retreating. Something must have made them retreat, yet there was nothing that was obvious. Percy watched as Chiron looked around and the camp. Many of the buildings had been destroyed. Many of the campers had been injured but surprisingly, it didn't look like there were any casualties at all. Percy thanked the gods.
"Percy! You're okay!" cried Annabeth as she body slammed him in a gigantic bear hug.
"Yeah" He smiled, more so glad that she was safe rather than him.
They both looked to Chiron. He just stared at the ground, lost in thought.
"It doesn't make sense…There was no prophecy, no anything." Chiron mumbled to himself.
"Well, Rachel isn't here. So maybe there was and we just don't know about it yet." Answered Percy hoping that secretly it wasn't true that there was a prophecy and that this would be some random freak accident.
"That doesn't make sense though" replied Annabeth. "The prophecies usually come before it happens, not after. And usually we have time, even if it's just a little, before the event occurs."
Percy looked at both of them. He then looked up to the sky and prayed to the gods that this wasn't really happening. Maybe this was just a dream. Anything. But it wasn't and he knew he was just giving himself a false hope.
What hope did he even have left? There were maybe forty campers total, and what seemed like hundreds upon hundreds of monsters of all shapes and forms attacking. They were not prepared for this.
"Well aren't these kids in a bunch-o-trouble" a voice behind the three of them said.
Percy, Annabeth and Chiron whirled around to find three men standing behind them with amused looks on their faces.
They all looked around twenty seven to thirty years old. They wore khaki pants and striped sweaters of the same style just different colors. The man of the left had black stripes, the one in the middle had yellow stripes and the one of the right had navy blue stripes. They wore beanies matching the color of the stripes on their hoodies and they wore skater shoes that matched that color too. Overall it made them look like bums who never truly grew up and that were color coded. Yet when Percy looked in their eyes it told a whole different story.
The man on the left had long black hair that was obviously straightened. He stood with his shoulders slumped and with an unsure expression on his face. He looked kind of like those 'emo' rockers on TV. Yet his eyes were dark, they almost seemed black...and when he looked into that ones eyes it seemed like his soul was going to be drained right from his body. His skin was pale in comparison to the other two and there was something unnatural about him yet…familiar.
The man in the middle looked like he was the leader stood boldly in the front with a wild grin on his face. Confidence radiated out of every pore of his body and judging by his position he was probably the leader of the trio. Percy couldn't see the mans hair but judging from his eyebrows he had blond hair. The man stood grinning at Chiron and Percy wondered if they had met before. No, he was sure they had met before.
Percy finally gazed at the one on the right who he found out was looking directly back at him. When their eyes met Percy immediately looked towards the ground and he could swear he heard the man chuckle. Percy hoped he wasn't turning read. He noticed the man had blue eyes. Just like Poseidon. They looked just like the sea did that day. His hair was a bit longer and was slightly showing out of the beanie. It was a rich brown color. He seemed so familiar. He must have seen this person before. Yet there was nothing in his memory.
Don't worry. You don't know me. Ha ha, said a calm rich voice in Percies head.
Percy gasped.
"Is everything okay Percy?" Annabeth had noticed Percy's look of confusion. She grabbed his hand.
"He just…" Percy tried to reply but he was interrupted by the man in front who interjected and spoke directly to Chiron.
"It's been a while, old teach. Ha!" He laughed. His voice was proud and it boomed over anything that you would expect to be general conversation between two people. The entire camp could probably hear him.
"How…did you…are you…" Chiron's voice trailed. Percy had never seen Chiron this confused.
The man in the middle laughed with his booming voice.
Annabeth clenched Percy's hand.
"Who are you?" She asked, her voice showing a false confidence.
"Friends…Kind of…I guess…" replied the one on the left.
Everyone looked confused.
The man on the right smiled and stepped forward.
"We're more of…allies. That is, only if you need our help."
Percy noticed his voice was softer than the others. The one on the far left spoke in a very shy tone and the man in the middle basically shouted boastfully. This one seemed to be at easy with the situation and just go with the flow.
The man on the right looked at Chiron, "Need some help, ole teach?"
Thalia and Nico appeared out of nowhere with their weapons drawn and got between the two groups pointing their weapons at the three mystery men.
The man in the middle burst out laughing.
"Ooo scary." He grinned after his laughter died down.
Thalia and Nico backed down immediately. Percy couldn't tell if it was forced or if they were just scared.
There was a short pause where nobody spoke.
"Well, teach?" the man on the far right asked again.
Chiron was still staring at them in disbelief.
"Chiron!" shouted Annabeth and Chiron broke from his daze.
He looked at the three of them for a moment and replied with, "Why did you come out? How did you get out? You shouldn't be here or concerned with what's going on here anymore."
The man in the middle's grin spread even wider.
"Aww you know us, man. We can do whatever. We saw this was happening and we knew you couldn't win alone and decided to come help. You know how we do."
"I don't know if you all are allowed to help…" Chiron's voice sounded unsure.
"Ehhh, we weren't really supposed to leave either." Whispered the man on the left.
"But we did and we can." Replied the one on the right to the other two.
There was a loud boom and the sound of thousands of feet hitting the ground and the group turned to see the monsters charging out of the forest.
"Let's go!" Yelled the man in the middle and they sprinted past the group.
"Wait, we can't let them just run and get killed!" Yelled Annabeth over the noise. "It's just wrong!"
Chiron stared for a moment at the trio running towards the army.
He sighed and sat down.
"What are you doing!" Yelled Thalia in disbelief at Chiron's actions.
"Just wait and watch." Replied Chiron. "You'll see." Chiron went back to staring at them with that blank incredulous look.
Percy, Thalia, Annabeth and Nico just stood in disbelief and watched as the trio stopped in front of the charging army. They looked so calm. The one in black had both hands in his pockets. The one in yellow got into a stance that looked like he was rearing to go. And the one in blue just stretched his arms out a little bit and looked towards the sky.
The men in black and yellow looked towards the man in blue. He turned his palms upward and raised his hands as if trying to hug the sky. Immediately Percy felt it. The ground had begun to shake all around them. The man in blue was creating an earthquake. Yet as he could see the monsters were getting the worst of it. They could barely even stand with all the shaking. Storm clouds were forming above and Percy felt uneasy. Something was wrong. Who was the man in blue? How could one person do all this? He didn't seem like a god…But that wasn't it. The ground was shaking. Storm clouds were forming. Yet neither of those things were what was making Percy's stomach feel uneasy. Then Percy realized it. He turned around so suddenly that everyone in the group followed his gaze and saw that right at the beach there was a wave.
This was no little wave. That thing was at least forty to fifty meters tall and its width along the coastline must have been the same length as the entire camp. And it was moving for them.
"We have to RUN!" Yelled Percy trying to get Chiron's attention but Chiron simply remained where he was.
"Don't move." Replied Chiron. "You do NOT want to make it difficult for him to move the sea around you."
Percy noticed his mouth was agape. The tidal wave was on its way and Chiron didn't even want them to move? How could something like this…?
This time it was Nico that gasped. And everyone turned to Nico.
"Look at the monsters…their feet. All of them…" Nico was at a loss of words and when the group strained their eyes they could see it too.
The man in the black stripes was holding his hand out to his side with the palm facing towards the sky as if he was holding a wine glass in that hand. But that wasn't what scared the group. Out of the cracks formed in the ground by the man in blues earthquake had come a group of soldiers. About twenty. All with machine guns mowing down the smaller monsters into oblivion.
Percy noticed none of the monsters were moving. Then he realized they couldn't. Skeleton hands were holding the monsters' feet firmly in place. The monsters couldn't move and the look on their faces was of utter panic. They were getting shot at by skeleton soldiers' machine guns and a tidal wave was on its way. And they couldn't even move.
The tidal wave passed right through the group while they were noticing the skeletons. The water had cracked open right where each of them was so they wouldn't get hit by the water. And slammed full force into the invading army washing away all but the very large dragons and giants who had somehow managed to stand their ground. Even the trees had been completely flattened by the wave. In the back stood a huge black dragon with his teeth bared.
"You think a little water could destroy ME!" He growled. "I'll annihilate all of you!"
The dragon waited until the giants started throwing huge boulders at the trio. As the rocks flew through the air he shot fire at them turning the boulders into huge molten projectiles. Flying directly at the trio.
Percy looked back to the trio. They weren't even moving. Suddenly the men in blue and black rushed towards the one in yellow. The man in blue held his arms out, spun around once and while spinning lifted his hands to the sky. A water spout reaching to the heavens surrounded them and the molten boulders sizzled but didn't go through the pillar of spinning water.
The dragon snarled.
Suddenly that booming voice began laughing his loud laugh. The water spout faded and the men in blue and black walked away from the man in yellow.
"It takes me a while. But if you think they're the ones who can do damage, you're sorely mistaken." Laughed the man in yellow. The man in yellow held his fist up to the sky for a short moment and then slammed his fist into the ground.
No one had ever seen anything like it before. Well, not saying that the previous two men did do something they had seen before but this was just a lot flashier. Pillars of lightning shot from the sky enveloping all those who had not been shot or washed away. Enveloping them completely. Even the huge dragon and the giants. It wasn't just bolts of lightning; they were full pillars reaching from the sky to the ground. Some of them had to be at least twenty meters in diameter.
When they faded there was nothing left. The giants and the dragon had been completely vaporized. This didn't really surprise Percy. But how was this possible. How could they have so much power? Who were they?
The group watched in silence as the trio walked back laughing and recalling random events from the all too one sided battle.
"And then they were wondering why they couldn't move! Ha ha ha."
"Yeah and their faces when they saw the tidal wave! Priceless."
"Yeah, and they thought YOU TWO were the ones who were the attacking ones, HAHA!"
They were giving each other compliments and fist bumps and pats on the back and laughing as if they had just one some videogame and got the high score. Nothing more. This was just a game to them.
"Well, how did you like the show?" Grinned the man in yellow when the trio had returned to the group.
"How…Who…" Now Annabeth was the one wide eyed and staring at them. Percy guessed logic could not explain how they had just done that.
"Hah, we're demigods, just like you!" Laughed the one in yellow.
He made it seem like that would answer all their questions. He did notice after a moment of silence that it in fact, did not.
Right as he was going to begin to speak the trio froze suddenly, eyes widening.
They kept the look for a few good seconds until the man in yellow bursted out laughing, again.
"Uh oh, I think dad's pissed." He joked to the group as he turned to his two buddies, "Ya'll get that too?"
Both of the others grinned and nodded in reply.
"Well, I guess we should head back. Bah. I like it here in this camp."
He stood silent for a second, and then looked up towards the sky.
"Naw, man we're going! Sheesh. We don't want to stay. Just visit. Cut us some slack. Freakin' pain in the ass."
Thunder rumbled overhead and a bolt hit the ground awfully close to where the man in yellow was standing. Percy watched the expression on the man in yellows face turn from jovial to anger.
"Not only did you decide to completely ERASE US FROM HISTORY. You can't even come and see us when we decide to escape and visit! Gah!" Electricity started to bounce around the man in yellows body and it looked like he was about the throw a bolt back to the sky when the man in blue put his hand on the man in yellows shoulder. Immediately the man in yellow calmed down.
"Ugh, sorry about that." He managed a smile. "I got a little carried away." He looked like he was apologizing to everyone down on the ground. Yet Percy couldn't feel that he was apologizing to the gods at all.
"Well, we should…be off…" the man in black stepped back when everyone's gaze turned to him. "I mean, we wouldn't want them too angry at us, right? Let's just go back."
"Wait." The man in yellow commanded. "Just lemme get one good look. At our current heroes." Even though he said it he was looking directly at Thalia. He gave her a weak smile which she could not return and then grinned, "You don't take that old geezer up there too seriously, aight? He's just had his head up in the clouds for too long."
There was a crack and lightning came crashing down into the man in yellow. Yet nothing happened. He just grinned and jumped into the shadow the man in black had created and disappeared.
There was a little pause of silence and then finally the man in blue stepped forward.
"Percy." How he knew Percy's name, Percy didn't know. But he felt compelled to listen.
"Poseidon is the god of the sea, earthquakes and storms. That leaves his children with quite a variety of stuff to choose from. "He paused. "And don't think we're limited and that we can't soar in the sky too."
Thunder rumbled and the man in blue looked up and smiled.
"Although I have said much, I don't have much meaning to a lot of my words in comparison…So I'll show you something cool instead. Something that I think the gods did not think through very well."
A little blue glowing mist appeared in front of the man in blues eyes. Percy suddenly realized that whenever any of them were doing any of their stuff. They had the same misty stuff in front of their eyes. The man in yellows was yellow and the man in blacks was black.
A little storm cloud appeared overhead and the man in blue motioned for everyone to look up. He then snapped his fingers and a bolt of lightning hit the ground between him and Percy.
"Funny how a son of the sea god...can summon lightning, don't you think?" He smiled. He then proceeded to jump into the shadow and disappear a split second faster than the lightning bolt that charred the ground where he had stood.
The man in the black sighed. "Of course I would be the last one to leave. I'm the one the gods hate the most, naturally. And I'm the one who stays longest out of my domain. Oh dear…" He paused for a second collecting his thoughts.
The man in black turned to Nico. "We might not be as flashy…And we might not be as strong…But we're the ones who do all the little stuff that make the other two buffoons run smoothly." He smiled. "I lucked out with having a son of the sea god who actually is a brilliant thinker. So my job is light. But they will always clash occasionally, and we have plenty of tools to keep them from killing each other. We're needed here more than you think. And even if we're not as flashy…We by far have the most fun toys…" He snapped his fingers and everyone gasped as a skeleton hand popped out of the ground. "Ehh. I've said too much and I've stayed too long…Ugh. Now they're gonna dislike me even more…" He looked sullen for a moment and then grinned. "But what fun would it be if it were easy, right?"
He jumped into the shadow and the shadow disappeared right as a bolt of lightning hit the ground where he stood.
There was a silence.
Annabeth turned to Chiron and found him grinning.
"Enough with the secrets! Who are they? Where did they come from? Why couldn't they have helped in the Titan war? We NEEDED people like them! How are they demigods that we have never heard about!" Percy grabbed her hand and she stopped yelling and started to breathe again. Collecting her thoughts.
Chiron's grin faded and was replaced by a solemn look.
"They were the best. It's as simple as that. No hero in the past did as much as they did for the world and for the gods as they did."
"And they were your students?" Annabeth asked.
"Yes. Yes, they were. But I think…I learned more from them than I could ever teach them." Replied Chiron. His voice was sad. As if they were just some memory…
"Wait." Interjected Percy. "What do you mean were? I'm pretty sure they're still the best. I mean…I thought they were lesser gods when I saw them fighting!"
Chiron looked pained. "They were talented. Gifted. Prodigies. Geniuses. Call them what you want. But it was not a gift from the gods that made them that way. They just simply were. Yet none of their quests were to save the world…"
Thunder rumbled loud enough to shake the ground.
"Ah sorry." Chiron apologized to the sky. "I can't tell you much more…"
"PLEASE tell us the story of who they are! Just a hint so I can research. ANYTHING!" Annabeth cried. Percy could tell she was dying to know who those people were. Maybe they could teach us.
"No-no…I can't say much. The gods have forbidden it…And they no longer 'are'. They 'were'." Replied Chiron softly.
"But…They were just in front of us!" This time it was Nico. He looked bewildered. As if he just had to find the one in the black stripped sweater.
Chiron looked pained again. "They passed on...a while ago."
"Then how were they here?" asked Thalia
"I don't know…" Chiron stared into the distance. "I don't have a clue…"
"So they're supposed to be in Elysium, right? Did they die a hero's death?" asked Thalia.
Chiron smiled. "Oh no. They're in the Isles of the Blessed."
Everyone was stunned. They had just seen three people who somehow managed to escape the Isles of the Blessed? Why would they try to escape? Why would you ever leave..?
"Who knows? They were always good at finding paths. Well. Sa..The man in black was." Replied Chiron.
"What were their names?" asked Nico.
Chiron smiled back, "They are not to be uttered. Another oath those who know all have sweared."
"Why can't we know their story!" Annabeth looked pained. "Knowledge is supposed to be shared and learned. Their stories might help us!"
Thunder roared.
Chiron stood still for a moment.
At last he smiled. "I am allowed to tell you very little but it would be a start."
"Their names, I cannot tell you, and first you must swear on the river Styx that you will not allow anyone else to find out about this."
Everyone sweared on the river Styx.
"Well...Hmm…" Chiron was lost in thought. Percy guessed he was thinking of how to tell them the most possible without revealing too much. "As a collective unit...they were known as…"
Thunder roared.
Suddenly the smell of grape filled the air and light bent and Dionysus appeared.
"I'll do the explaining…Ugh, why do they even want to know just a little? They can't know the full story anyways… But whatever." Dionysus sighed.
"Do you know your history, girl?" he asked Annabeth
"Yes sir" she replied.
"So you know the Spanish were the ones who conquered the Aztecs and the Incas and all the other people in the south and central Americas right?"
"Yes sir"
"And you know that the French and British and a little bit of the Russians conquered north America from the Native American tribes, right?
"Yes sir"
"Well who do you think conquered all of those peoples' ancient gods allowing the Europeans to dominate the Americas so easily?"
"Umm…I thought that you…" Annabeth gasped. "You don't mean to say that it was them..."
"Food for thought!" Dionysus interrupted her. He looked at the group, smiled, turned around, and disappeared.