Percy Jackson and the Cosmos:
My Journey There
A.N: Hey guys, I'm a newbie here and this is my first story. Please read and review. However, I would appreciate that there are no flames or vulgarities. Thanks!
(P.S: I will need a beta-read to help me look through and edit my other chapters before I post them. Any volunteers? )
childofrighteousness
Set after the Giant War. The seven heroes have all survived. Piper and Jason have broken up.
Chapter 1: A lonely night
Nervousness crept into Percy as he clutched the small little precious box in his hands. Inside the box contained the precious thing that he was going to give to Annabeth, his girlfriend of four years. It determined their future together, and if she said yes, she would be forever his, till death did them apart. Anyway, the box contained his engagement ring, which was made from the rare corals of the sea, which both his dad, Poseidon, and Hephaestus, had helped him to make. Annabeth was a daughter of Athena and he was a son of Poseidon. Yeah, I know you would be wondering, why a son of Poseidon and a daughter of Athena would get together, much less him having the guts to propose to her, since both Athena and Poseidon are arch rivals?
Well, it started off that way: with both Annabeth and Percy hating each other when they first met. But as time passed, they grew closer together and their rivalry slowly faded away. [Long story….] Percy would never admit it, but he had had a crush on Annabeth ever since their first quest together. Four years ago, after the battle of Manhattan, he had fallen for her, and they had been a couple since then. Percy's friend, Piper Mclean had once described him as a person who could only be tamed by Annabeth, and that of course made his heart flutter, knowing that he was hers and hers alone. And their relationship had lasted for four years, before Percy had finally decided to propose to Annabeth. Percy had seen many years ahead of them. He had planned to have kids, to get a stable job and buy a new home together with her and live in the peaceful lands of New Rome.
"I will get my lines right…. I have to", Percy paced around in his room in his apartment in Manhattan. They were going to meet at the top of the Empire State building, where the binoculars were. He wanted to let Annabeth look through them, to see the sprawling city in the night and get amazed by the beautiful architecture New York possessed, before flashing the ring in front of the lens and saying, "Look through these, and see our future together. " And he had planned next that he would get down on his knee and ask her the question that many guys had done before, which was to ask her to marry him. Camp was the next day, and if she said yes, they would go there together, hand in hand, happily announcing their engagement to everyone.
Her answer. That was what made Percy really nervous about. Somehow, there was a sudden bad vibe in him that everything would not turn out according to what he wanted it to be. Percy tried to shake that feeling off him but it had managed to be like a leech, lodging onto him, and sucking out the calmness in him, replacing it with anxiety and nervousness. Was Aphrodite fooling with him again? The goddess of love once told him that his romance with Annabeth would be a tragic love story and that she would make it as interesting as it could ever be, even being able to rival that of Helen and Paris.
"Right… no time to waste…" Percy muttered to himself, and silently cursed under his breath for losing so much time anticipating what would happen. They were both supposed to meet at eight and it was now seven fifty. Percy hurriedly dawned on his shirt and grabbed his car keys before rushing down to the car park. Fortunately, Percy's home was just a few streets away from the Empire State Building so he managed to get there just in time. However, when Percy reached the top of the Empire State Building, Annabeth was nowhere to be seen. Something was definitely wrong, considering the fact that she was always early and always remembered their dates, having a great memory.
Percy dialed Annabeth's number but was greeted with an engage tone. Finally, after the third try, Annabeth answered his call.
"Annabeth, where are you? Why aren't you at the Empire State Building? Did you get lost? Do you want me to come find you?" Percy anxiously asked. There was a moment of silence between them before Annabeth answered, "Percy, I'm… sick… I…I…caught a cold. I'm sorry I forgot to tell you… I'll see you tomorrow at camp…"
"Annabeth, wh…" Percy wanted to ask, but Annabeth had already ended the call. Disappointment and uncertainty filled Percy's heart. Annabeth had cancelled on their date- not just an ordinary one but one that was meant to be part of the stepping stones of their future together. And Annabeth had sounded so hesitant and uncertain over the phone. Was there something that she was hiding which she didn't want him to know? Could it be that she was…? No! No! Annabeth would never do that to him.
With nothing left to do, Percy sighed and went home, his features fallen.
Chapter 2: The hell in camp
Percy was hastily running away from Camp Half Blood. He didn't know why, but he just knew that something bad happened in camp, which had caused him to leave. He's legs were soon turning to jelly but he kept running. His lungs burned for air, but he seemed to ignore it.
"Stop!" Percy screamed at himself, but it was to no avail.
"Percy, wake up! You're having a bad dream. Wake up from it!" The sound of his mom's, Sally's voice, caused him to jerk into consciousness. Percy's whole body was laced in sweat and he was panting desperately for air.
"Percy, are you alright?" Sally asked him worriedly.
"I'm fine," Percy replied as he gasped for air. So… It had only been a horrible dream and was nothing more than that, but why did it give him that sudden feeling that whatever happened in his dream was going to be real?
" Mom, what did I say in my dream?"
" Percy, you were tossing and turning around and you kept muttering 'stop'. I had to wake you up or else I bet you would've gone insane from the dream…"
"Its okay Mom, I'm alright now. I'll just go get dressed for camp." Percy lied. That feeling of anxiety had returned again, but this time, it was stronger than ever. It felt like a psychotic snowman, breathing out cold air at him. And Percy knew without a doubt that something bad was going to happen at camp that day. Percy's mind immediately went back to the unfortunate turn of events that happened the night before. Annabeth, he thought. Was the premonition he just had going to be related to her? Percy definitely hoped not.
The sight of Camp Half Blood had once again never ceased to fill Percy with nostalgic memories. The dragon Peleus was crouching aside at once corner of Half Blood Hill. He was now incredibly huge and his large yellow eyes stared at Percy with a friendly gaze. Percy went and patted him on his stomach.
"Peleus, you're too tall for me now," Percy told him as he fondly patted him. Peleus moaned in content before slowly closing his eyes and falling asleep at the touch of Percy. Percy smiled. He remembered Peleus when he was still a baby dragon; He remembered the Golden Fleece he had to retrieve, which had sent him to the Sea of Monsters in which the mortals called the Bermuda Triangle; He remembered what the end result of it was - Thalia Grace, Daughter of Zeus, the sky god, being brought back to life. Oh Thalia… Percy thought. Until now, he still couldn't get over the irony that she was afraid of heights even though her daddy was king of the skies. And aside from all the major battles he fought in, [Long story… I shan't explain. Go check them out! They're epic!] Percy remembered the canoe lake, where him and Annabeth had been thrown into when they were caught sharing their first real kiss. Speak of the devil, Annabeth! Percy thought, and he immediately ran to find her.
"Grover, did you see Annabeth?" Percy asked as he spotted the satyr, who was at the moment chewing on a tin can. Percy had gone to find Annabeth at her cabin since she could usually be found there but it turned out she was nowhere to be found. He went to the archery field but received the same negative results.
Grover's eyes started darting back and forth and Percy noticed that he had started chewing on his tin can at a faster speed. Grover was nervous, Percy could see.
"Grover," Percy asked again, "where is Annabeth?" And at that spur of the moments, Grover's eyes flicked to that in the direction of the beach.
"I…I don't know Perc…" He managed to cough up the words painfully.
"G-man, you seem really nervous… Something wrong?" Percy asked.
"No… Perc… J-Just don't go there… It's… something you don't… really wanna see…" Grover tried to warn him, but it was to no avail as Percy had already run off to the beach.
As he neared the beach, he could see the outline of two people laying on the sand- a guy and a girl. They seemed to be enjoying the scenery around them as the waves lapping against the shore and at the same time gazed up at the clouds of different shapes and sizes. However, what he saw next gave him the shock of his life- there was a flash of blonde hair as the girl got up to kiss the guy.
"Jason…" the girl muttered.
That voice… Percy thought. It was so familiar to him. That flash of blonde hair; that voice. Holy shit! That girl was none other than the stormy grey-eyed daughter of Athena, who was none other than his girlfriend, Annabeth Chase! And she was kissing the guy, who was none other than Jason Grace. What?! Annabeth and Jason?!
At that moment, emotions flowed through Percy like that of a person looking through a kaleidoscope. First was a feeling of unbelieving, next came betrayal then anger and then a whole lot of other emotions entered Percy till it overcame him.
"WHAT THE HECK?!" Percy shouted out, causing the two people to immediately turn to him.
"ANNABETH… H-how could you?" Percy asked, his voice cracking as tears threatened to fall. His heart felt like it was being squeezed as hard as the cold bare hands of the one he loved or once loved could squeeze.
"Percy… I…I…" Annabeth tried to explain, but her words failed her.
"Annabeth… why…" Percy asked as his breath hitched. However, the blonde had seemed get a sudden interest in her shoes.
"And Jason, WHAT THE HADES ARE YOU DOING WITH HER?!" Percy exploded. Campers had started to gather round the trio, having gotten an interest in the commotion. Without waiting for an answer, Percy proceeded to kick and punch Jason in his solar plexus, sending him sprawling onto the ground.
"Percy! Stop it! You're hurting him!" Annabeth shouted.
"Hurt him?! What about you hurting me Annabeth?! Was I not enough for you?! Were you even sick yesterday Annabeth? I wanted to propose… I wanted to ma…" his voiced cracked again and this time, tears rapidly flowed down his cheeks, "I saw a future for us Annabeth… I wanted us to live together in New Rome and maybe have a kid… And now… this-this happened. You had to cheat on me! Was I too dumb and irritating for you?! Was I…" Percy stopped to wipe away his tears, before stomping away, ignoring the blonde's cries of plea and leaving the campers gaping and gawking at him. He had been known to have a kind and loyal heart to the people and his friends around him. But heartbreak was definitely what made him not want to have a heart anymore. He had been so unfortunate to experience the intense sensation of pain that I believe none of us would ever want to feel.
The day passed in a blur for Percy. He had immediately thrown himself into work to forget about the pain of his break up by going to practice sword fighting. Without Annabeth, everything became mechanical and monotonous for him. Screw that bitch for causing me this pain! He thought as he hacked and slashed at the straw dummies. Campers had started to avoid him as he had that evil look in his eyes that said 'I could kill you anytime'. Soon after, night fell and it was time for the game of Capture the Flag.
"Heroes!" Chiron hollered.
"For tonight's game of Capture the Flag, Athena's cabin would hold the laurel wreaths and the Ares cabin would attack. Zeus', Hades', Demeter's, Hermes's, Nemesis' and Nike's cabins would be siding with the Athena cabin. They will defend their flag as well as the laurel wreaths. Poseidon's, Dionysius', Apollo's, Hephaestus', Iris', Hypnos', Hebe's Tyche's and Hecate's cabins would be siding with the Ares Cabin. Whoever manages to capture the laurel wreaths and the opponent's flag would be the proud winner of tonight's game of Capture the Flag. And one last reminder: No killing of campers are allowed or else you would be severely punished!"
"Let's pulverize them!" A camper from the Ares Cabin said. Cheers rose in agreement and everyone started readying their positions for Capture the Flag.
The conch horn sounded, signifying the start of the game.
"Percy! The side's clear. Go straight to the canoe lake! We can start our attack from there. Our archers will cover you!" Austin, from the Apollo Cabin shouted. The advancing archers launched volley after volley of fart arrows, which served as a distraction for the defending campers who wanted to attack Percy. Great. Percy thought. Once I get to the canoe lake, I can use my powers and then we will win.
The distraction was a success and before long, Percy had gotten to the canoe lake. However before Percy could summon his powers, a flash of electric blue light hit him in the left arm, causing him to fall to the ground and clutching his arm in pain. The person responsible for this could only be Jason Grace, the son of Jupiter.
"Jason… Where are you" Percy called out as he gritted his teeth in pain. He quickly moved towards the water to get his injury healed. The water-his father's element, had never ceased to refresh Percy and heal his wounds when he was in need.
"Jason, come out here this instant." The newly refreshed son of Poseidon had to make sure that the son of Jupiter was gotten rid off before he could make his move. The thought of taking his revenge on Jason also seemed entertaining to him.
"Percy… I didn't know you could be such a dumb weakling… No wonder Annabeth calls you a Seaweed Brain." Jason taunted as he descended from his hiding place.
"Shut up you idiot! And don't talk about Annabeth! After all, you broke us up!" Percy said, seething with rage. The water around him started to stir.
"Broke you guys up…? Ha! What rubbish? That girl came running to me. And you know what, Percy? We had many firsts when you weren't around and I must say that she is great and has lots of… potential," Jason licked his lips hungrily.
"You bas…!" Percy shouted as a wave tackled Jason. However, the son of Jupiter immediately summoned lightning down, which made the water recede.
"I see Captain Salt Water isn't that powerful against me…" Jason mocked. This further fueled Percy's anger and Riptide immediately sprung in his hands before he started to attack Jason. Jason definitely did not expect the surprise attack and had just enough time to dodge. The two boys proceeded to fight. Jason tried to summon lightning to strike Percy down but the son of Poseidon was just too powerful in his swordsmanship. He hacked and slashed at Jason until finally he got the better of him and was pointing his sword at him.
From the corner of his eye, Percy spotted Clarisse La Rue, the daughter of Ares, holding the opponent's flag and at the same time wearing the laurel wreaths. The whole camp, having heard the commotion, had immediately flocked to where Percy and Jason were. Percy smiled. He was finally able to show the camp the truth. However, what the other campers saw instead was an evil smirk on Percy's face before he stabbed Jason in the heart.
Percy didn't see what was coming until he saw Jason inching towards his blade, with the blade aimed directly at his heart. Percy tried to pull his sword away, but it was already too late.
"Percy, no!" Annabeth shouted a cry of warning, but the blade had already sunk into Jason's heart.
No! Percy thought. He had intended to take his revenge but it was definitely not in that manner.
A.N: Gasp! What do you think is going to happen to Percy? How is his dream going to be related to this incident?
Please do read and review. I'll try to post the third chapter as soon as I can and please do not post any flames or any vulgarities though. Thanks!
(P.S: I will need a beta read to help me read through and edit my story before I post the next few chapters. Any volunteers? )
childofrighteousness
