The Music Begins - Song Masters

by SongMasterDesmond

Desmond is a son of apollo, but he has a special secret; he's the Song Master. With Olympus after him, he decides to hide away at camp until this whole "Kill the most powerful half blood on earth!" event blows over. However, he ends up caught in the Titan war. He fights for Olympus, but there's often an annoying question floating over his head: Why defend those after him?

1. The Beginning Of It All

Disclaimer: I do not own PJO. Rick Riordan does.

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This story is dedicated to my friends. If you are reading this you'll know who you are.

The idea for this story was swirling around in my head before I finally sat down and wrote it out. It's my first story so I hope you'll be lenient. Constructive criticisms are welcome, but please no flames

The Music begins (Book 1)

~Desmond POV~

Left incoming!

I ducked under a branch and dove right. A silver blur shot past, nicking my ear. Dammit, move!

Running straight ahead, I rolled as a volley tore overhead, before scrambling to my feet. I could feel them, an energy signature in the clearing. This is NOT my territory.

YOU DON'T FREAKING SAY!

There were about 30 of them, last I saw. They were chasing me through the woods, leaping over the roots while I was forced to crash through whatever was in my way. These maniacs have been chasing me since 2 days ago. I was sitting at my campfire thinking about something that happened years ago...

Flashback

I was in the mall, listening to my IPod. Sadly its craze is over but IPods are still useful. I had over 200 songs downloaded and there's still Gods knows how much memory left. I was listening to one of my favourite songs: The Fighter by Gym Class Heroes when RARR!

Wut?

The huge thing stood in the entrance, and its eyes bored straight into my skull. I could feel the waves of anger pouring off him. The weirdest thing was the huge pair of horns on your head. Either today was "Be your favourite monster day!" or this guy was the spitting image of the Minotaur. Minotaur.

No freaking way!

But the beast was standing right in front of me, oblivious shoppers not even casting a second glance at the meat-eating, flesh-rending, bloodthirsty beast that stood right next to them. That was when I first heard the voice.

Stay calm and let me handle this ok?

Next thing I knew was the song seeming to take over my body. I could feel energy flowing through my body, a soft glow shining through the skin. WHAT?! I panicked and tried to move but nothing happened. Something had taken over my body, and I could not move a muscle. It was like my entire system went on autopilot. The Minotaur charged, 30 feet away.

Dimly, I could hear the chorus of the song:

Until the referee rings the bell,

Until both your eyes start to swell,

20 feet left

Until the crowd goes home, what we wanna do ya'll?

Give em hell, turn their heads,

Gonna live life 'til we're dead.

15 feet. I'm so dead

Give me scars, give me pain,

Then they'll say to me, say to me, say to me,

There goes a fighter, there goes a fighter,

10 feet. I wanna run!

Here comes a fighter.

That's what they'll say to me, say to me,

Say to me, this one's a fighter

From 5 feet, my body charged. In one leap, I dodged the axe, and shoulder slammed the Minotaur before jumping onto his back. I yanked off a horn in one pull and rammed it into his ribcage through his back. He dissolved before he could even moo.

End of flashback

I was shaken out of my reverie by a goddess and her Hunt, saying I was wanted on Olympus, and that was my situation 2 hours ago. now they were chasing me through the forest

I'd taken the Minotaur's axe, which conveniently shortened from 8 feet to 3 feet long. It then turned into a cylinder the size and shape of a small flashlight. I took it out now and twirled it; it instantly extended into a shiny gold axe. I spun as I reached a clearing, swung the axe and sliced the volley of arrows out of the air.

Watch your six!

I barely had enough time to block the hunting knives that were seconds away from giving me another set of scars, which goes way past the bone. Swinging the axe again, I smashed the knives away before returning with a horizontal slash, causing her to jump back. Her aura was weak, not the leader of the bunch, but she was just as dangerous. Her aura shone as an electric blue with equal streaks of sliver. I have a suspicion of who she was. I could smell ozone in the air. My eyes widened as a streak of lightning shot down from the sky, deflected off her spear - Where did THAT come from? – and shot towards me. C'mon, Instinct any time now would be good.

You rang?

There was the familiar tug in the gut and Instinct took over. Time seemed to slow as I deflected the lightning at where the Hunters were and charged the girl in the clearing. She showed shock, then anger as she saw where the bolt was sent. I chose this moment of distraction to swing the axe. She ducked and tried to sweep my legs out from underneath. Key word: Tried

I simply used the momentum to vault myself over her, twisted around and threw myself towards her. As we sprawled in the dirt, I flipped myself up and stood over her with the axe in an execution pose. "ARTEMIS! SHOW YOURSELF!" I roared as I scanned the forest. A certain Hunter had a really strong aura, and I guessed that was Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt. True enough, she strode out and declared herself. "Get away from my hunter, boy" she spat. I smirked as I double squeezed the handle and the axe retracted, in to its canister form. I slid it into my pocket and stepped back as the girl got up. She trudged over to Artemis. I could see her apologizing, before returning to the other hunters. Artemis growled, and a bolt of sliver shot at me. I sidestepped, and narrowed my eyes. What do you want from me? "What do you want?"

"I was sent to bring you to Olympus, preferably in peace."

"No freaking way I'm going there. Over my dead body".

She growled. Instinct returned and growled back. Snarls were exchanged, before Artemis charged

A volley of arrows came my way, which I deflected. A certain song by Matchbox 20 (Whoo!) played in my head.

How far we've come

Chorus

But I believe the world is burning to the ground

Oh well, I guess we're gonna find out

Let's see how far we've come

Let's see how far we'll go

Well I believe it all is coming to an end

Oh well, I guess, we're gonna pretend

Let's see how far we've come

Let's see how far we'll go

I figured that different songs have different boosts to my systems, and this song is no different. However, it is special. It invokes all powers that have been activated through different songs, which is possibly why Artemis's face paled. I probably had over 10 streaks of different powers coursing through my aura. I saw it once, in battle and I scared myself to hell. I looked like I was in a rainbow coloured hurricane.

I summoned fire and lightning, the two forces intertwined around the axe, before swinging at her. She dodged, only to be met with a foot in the face. Hunting knives out, she slashed at me, a blade maelstrom in the air in front of me. I blocked, dodged, then swung at a break on the right in her attack, she made to block, but I flipped the axe and smashed her on the left. She went flying, a huge gash in her abdomen, stomach cleaved in two.

Golden inchor splattered everywhere, but I ran towards her when I saw what damage I had caused. The blood drained from my face as I saw her state. I pulled out the nectar and ambrosia, pouring nectar over the wound while concentrating on my healing ability. Energy ebbed, but I could see the wound slowly closing. The hunters surrounded me, but it's not like I have anywhere to run to. Their voices were muted, nothing seemed to matter except the horrible act I had done, and my effort to clear the war-crazed personality that always threatened to take over if there is blood.

~Thalia POV~

I watched as lady Artemis was sent flying, her blood everywhere. The boy seemed to hesitate for a split second, before running after her. I was worried that he went to finish her off, and the others obviously had the same thoughts. We ran towards them, and whipped out our bows, arrows notched, ready to fly. That's when I saw what he was doing, pouring nectar onto the wound, hand over it glowing with energy. I saw their fight, and his aura seemed to be on par with a minor god!

Right now, his body was glowing with a yellow and orange aura, and I could see he was trying to heal her. Lady Artemis was on the ground out cold. I ordered the Hunters to stand down, and we surrounded them. Phoebe strode forward and sneered at him, "Leave her alone boy, you've done enough damage already". When he didn't move, Phoebe made to smack him, but I stopped her.

"He's in the healer's trance, snapping him out of it will end the healing energy between the patient and healer, there's a chance of killing either of them if the flow is disrupted." I explained to Phoebe who was looking at me skeptically.

She accepted the explanation, and stepped back to watch. The wound closed, leaving behind a scar, which slowly faded. When the last trace of any injury disappeared, his yellow-orange aura faded, before he promptly collapsed. Phoebe smirked, nudging him with her boot, "weakling, can't even stay awake".

I glared at her, "No, he is powerful, it would have taken 10, 20 Apollo healers to just close up the wound. What he did was set and fix the broken bones, repaired the damaged organs, seal the wound and remove all traces of injury. I'm not sure even Apollo could accomplish such a feat. Who ever he is, he is truly powerful. No wonder Olympus wants him. Now we have more pressing concerns, such as Lady Artemis".

Lya, our newest recruit, poked the ambrosia box that was sticking out of his pack. "How about this?", she asked.

~Line Break~

~Artemis POV~

I opened my eyes and felt no pain in my stomach. Earlier I hurt like Hades but now the pain was all gone. I looked around and recognized the interior of my tent. Where was that boy, how he knew me, and how do we catch him? Father had sent me to capture an extremely powerful power source, and bring it to Olympus for questioning. I guessed that that boy was the power source, and was it just me or did Apollo look worried? After examining the wound – which was gone – I made myself presentable and left to get some answers.

As I walked out of the tent, my Hunters jumped up from around the campfire. "My Lady, how do you feel?" my lieutenant asked. I smiled at her.

"Thalia, you need not worry, I am fine. However, I must ask. Who did the healing?"

Aren piped up, "My Lady, it was that boy who did it. He managed to fully heal you before he passed out. We however, do not know of his current whereabouts."

Great, I have to track him down again. I'll have to ask Apollo for help. Oh he is so going to gloat about this the next meeting.

"Hunters, listen up! I need you to pack up camp, I'll ask Apollo to send you to Camp Half-blood; I must track this boy alone. He is able to sense us and more than one; he would get suspicious. I'd have a better chance of catching him when he's not on guard. No one is to try to follow me, understood?" they all groaned but nodded. "Very wel-

There was a scraping sound and I saw the boy take off into the forest. I sighed as the Hunters prepared to give chase. "No, I will follow him alone. You girls have a ride to catch."

I can't believe that I actually did NOT notice him, he knows how to hide his aura well. I have to give him credit for that. Perhaps Apollo will be able to help in chasing him. Daytime is his forte.

~Line Break~

~Desmond POV~

Whoa, I managed to survive that. It's not surprising that Artemis and Apollo are after me, but I was kinda hoping that Apollo would side with me. After all, he is my dad. Right now, I have to focus on surviving. I'd have maybe at least 2 gods after my ass, and then Olympus will be on full alert. Where to go? Artemis mentioned a Camp. Where better to hide than in plain sight? Concentrating, I started another song:

Because We Can

Chorus

I don't want to be another wave in the ocean

I am a rock not just another grain of sand

I want to be the one you run to when you need a shoulder

I ain't a soldier but I'm here to take a stand because we can

Concentrating on the energy within, I then cast a shield that fully masks me from all detecting systems, including those of Hephaestus's. I then focused on searching for the Hunter's energy signatures. I tracked their possible destination, then teleported myself there.

~Apollo POV~

This is not good. Artemis forced me to help her track Desmond, and if he does not use that cloaking ability I hoped he has (all song masters has it, given that it is used to escape those who want to capture them, gods inclusive.) Just then, the energy signal tracker from Hephaestus lost the signal. I hid an internal smirk and turned to Artemis, with a look of disbelief. "He's managed to evade the signal, should we try other frequencies or do something else?"

She stared at me.

"OK, ok, I'll set another frequency sea-"

"What are you hiding from me? I know it, so wipe that look off your face." Artemis deadpanned.

I sighed, "Look, I swore on the Styx to never disclose anything about him by any means, whether intentional or unintentional. I however can tell you his parent. It's me."

Her expression was priceless. "So were you sabotaging me? That's why the device failed?! Hephaestus said it was fool proof!"

"Look, the kid must have found a new way to mask his identity, or we would have found him. I may love my kids but I would not do anything to let you down. I'll try to convince him to let Olympus interrogate him, that's the only way he would come."

"Very well, brother, I pray that you will be able to do this."

~Line Break~

The figure stumbled up the hill, muttering the song "She's so mean" to himself. As the sentries ran to help him, he croaked out his name to them before passing out. "Damien".

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I'd like to say that this story was all my idea but it's not. The idea for the Talking Instinct came from Xed Alpha and his series Broken Bow. Go ahead and check it out if you haven't.