A/N: Heyo! In case you can't properly read, this is a Percy Jackson/Maximum Ride crossover. It takes places after Blood of Olympus, so there will be spoilers (obviously). As for the Maximum Ride universe, I haven't decided yet when this is going to happen, but I'm leaning towards right after Max (I don't really like Dylan, so yeah). Story title is based off of the song "Given to Fly" by Pearl Jam. I highly recommend listening to it; it's awesome and utterly perfect for this fanfic. Well, that's all I have to say. Enjoy the story! Oh, and don't be shy; I'd love to hear all your thoughts and opinions. :3
DISCLAIMER: If I owned the rights to Percy Jackson and/or Maximum Ride, what the heck would I be doing on this site?
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BOOK 1 : THE FLIGHT
Flight: (noun) the ability to fly; also
the act of running away
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Annabeth
We were on a date when it happened. I remembered the day perfectly; it was seared into my mind, taunting me endlessly with everything that I could have done differently-how I could have saved him. Everything we went through and then this happens. Sometimes, I felt as if the Fates had some sort of personal vendetta against us, or maybe we were just the old hags' best source of entertainment. Whatever the reason, I've been getting really pissed off at whatever force was keeping us from our happily ever after (because the gods knew we deserved it, a hundred times over).
It was Winter Break, the year anniversary of Percy's kidnapping (in hindsight, maybe there was some irony in this particular date), so to celebrate being together and surviving yet another war, Percy and I had decided to go out for some pizza and then to the movies like normal kids our age did. Of course, maybe after so many years of being a demigod, I should have known better than to expect normal, that would always end up jinxing it.
We made it through dinner (one large pepperoni pizza with extra olives) before a monster decided to interrupt our date. My boyfriend and I had been walking through downtown San Francisco (we'd decided to visit Camp Jupiter and my family before the holidays) and had gotten through an alleyway - Percy insisted that it was a shortcut - when we heard a familiar growl. Beside me, Percy had already uncapped Riptide and turned around. I grasped for the drakon-bone sword on my belt, then remembered that I had left it at my dad's because my step-mom had convinced me that bringing a sword on a date was not "the proper etiquette" and would be "very noticeable" even with the Mist. Now I cursed my stupidity as I was left with only a small bronze dagger that I had stowed away in my boot.
Just as I pulled the blade out of my shoe, my stormy gray eyes caught sight of the monster. It was a hulking hellhound - easily one of the biggest I've ever seen, dwarfing a one-story building - running towards us alarmingly fast. Taking a deep breath, my mind went into high gear coming up with a plan to take down the beast. I quickly took in our surroundings. We were at one end of a long, fairly vacant alley about a block away from the small pizza place we had just left and four blocks from the theatre. Percy was standing two feet in front of me, putting himself between me and the approaching black hound (being the Seaweed Brain that he was). My eyes then zeroed in on something over Percy's shoulder, and an idea formed in my head.
"Keep it occupied, I have a plan," I rushed out before reaching into my back pocket, slipping on my trusty Yankees cap, and high-tailing it to the fire escape. The ladder was eight feet above the ground, but I managed to jump and grab ahold of the last rung, pulling myself the rest of the way up (and thanking the gods for all those lava wall climbing lessons at camp). After climbing to the top of the two-story fire escape, I finally allowed myself to look down at my boyfriend.
Percy had ran forward to meet the hellhound and was now brandishing his glowing celestial bronze sword, dodging all of the oversized dog's wild attempts at biting him, and yelling childish insults at it. This only seemed to make the monster angrier, however, as the hellhound decided to swipe one of its giant paws at him. Percy saw the limb coming and moved just in time, bringing up his three-foot blade to deflect the razor-sharp claws.
The son of Poseidon then went on the offensive and slashed Riptide across its now exposed foreleg, eliciting a pained howl from the monster. Come on, Percy, stop playing with it and get your butt over here! Seeming to hear my thoughts, Percy wizened up and made to stab at its side before dashing down the alley with the hellhound hot on his tail.
"Anytime now, Annabeth!" Percy huffed out. His breaths were now coming out more ragged then usual, a harsh reminder that we were, even months afterwards, still battling with the aftereffects of our trip... down there. Along with the intense nightmares, unexplainable new phobias, and occasional flashbacks, we had also developed asthma from inhaling the poisonous air for so long. Though it was one of the least of our problems, it was definitely one of the most annoying, especially at times like these.
Percy was almost directly below me now. I held my breath for three, two, one... and jumped. With a painful thud, my body connected with the shaggy beast and I quickly grasped handfuls of its corse fur so as to not slide off. I then swung one of my legs around so that I was straddling the monster like a horse and started to carefully shimmy my way towards its head.
By now, the hellhound had realized that it had an unwanted passenger on its back and halted its mad chase after the tasty smelling demigod. The black beast, in an attempt to dislodge me off its back, threw itself against the wall of the alleyway. An involuntary scream cut through my throat as my shoulder connected with the unforgiving brick wall, but I swallowed the pain and tightened my loosening grip on the monster's scruff.
From the corner of my eye, I could see Percy trying to distract the hellhound, running behind it and slashing at its heels. He succeeded in gaining its attention for only a second, yet that was all the opening I needed. Just as the hellhound turned to snap at the half-blood scratching up its legs, I lunged forward with my dagger and imbedded the blade into its exposed throat, effectively slicing straight through its esophagus. The monster let out a surprised yelp before exploding into yellow dust.
I had a split second to register that there was nothing supporting me anymore before falling to the ground in a graceless heap. That probably wasn't the - ow -smartest plan I've come up with, I thought as I struggled to my feet while clutching my shoulder, maybe I've been spending too much time with Seaweed Brain. My body was still tingling in pain from the fall when I heard it.
"Um, Wise Girl, I still can't see you. Are you oka-" Percy's voice came to an abrupt stop when the muffled sound of a gun being fired filled the alleyway, along with the thud of a body hitting the ground. I turned around as quick as my throbbing body would allow to see two black-suited men dragging a body around the corner of the alley. I only caught a flash of the black hair and bright orange shirt of the slumped figure - Percy! - before all three vanished from view.
No, no, NO! This couldn't be happening, not again! I could barely hold back the frustrated scream building in my throat as I ripped the cap off my head. Why did everyone want to kidnap my boyfriend?! Shoving the baseball hat into my back pocket and tightening my grip on the small bronze knife, I started sprinting after Percy - my best friend, my lover, my everything - and his captors, but before I could take more than a few steps in their direction, something heavy knocked into me. The next second, my head hit the asphalt and everything went black.
The first thing that I became aware of was the pain. It encompassed me like a fleece blanket in the desert - that is, stifling, uncomfortable, and really not wanted. Trying to think through the thick soup that my mind had been reduced to, I took stock of my injuries. Left shoulder seemed to be dislocated, bad ankle slightly sprained (again), head possibly - okay, most definitely - concussed, and innumerable small cuts and bruises. Now on to step two: what happened? The concussion was a physical entity, scrambling my thoughts like eggs. I couldn't remember where I was or why. Speaking of... I lifted my eyelids, my gray orbs glancing over my surroundings as they tried to focus.
"Annabeth? You okay?" My eyes trailed to the dark humanoid blob beside me.
"P'rcy?" His name was the first to come to mind.
"Uh, no. It's Nico." The voice that now introduced itself as the son of Hades responded, pounding on the growing pain in my skull. I groaned, my hand coming up to rub the bulbous lump on my forehead.
"Wha' happen'd?" I forced out; Nico frowned.
"I was at camp when Rachel IM'd me. She started raving about some dream she had, gave me some coordinates, and told me to shadow travel there. I didn't have time to ask questions." He rubbed his ring as he spoke, his dark eyes focused solely on his converse-clad feet as if they held the secret to the universe. "I got here just in time to see, um, those guys taking Percy."
My memories suddenly pieced back together: our date, the fight, Percy's capture. I gasped and sat up, which turned out to be a bad idea as my stomach rolled dangerously and my vision tunneled. "Where is he? What happened afterward?"
Nico's face became even more grim. He took a deep breath as if to brace himself. "Two hellhounds came out of nowhere; one of them knocked you out. I managed to kill them both but by then, Percy was long gone."
Gone. The word brought back all those feelings that had consumed me in those bleak months without my boyfriend. Why did this have to happen to us? Just as Percy and I were finally starting to settle into a nice routine, the world just had to throw in another curveball. Last time, he was stolen from me while I was sleeping, but this time, he was stolen from right under my nose! Maybe if I had been paying more attention to my surroundings, or maybe if I had asked to take the long way to the theatre instead, or maybe if I'd-
"Blaming yourself doesn't help, you know." Nico's voice sounded strangely muffled as my thoughts continued in their downward spiral. My fists clenched as a wave of anger rushed over me. Anger at myself for not saving the person I loved most when he needed it, anger at the two suit-clad man for taking him gods knew where, anger at the whole gods-damn world for allowing this to happen - again! Hadn't Percy been through enough? Wasn't winning two wars enough? Wasn't falling into freaking Tartarus enough?!
At the mention of Tartarus, images started flashing through my mind. Percy, covered in blisters and burns, as I force-fed him fire from the Phlegethon. Percy, rotting and decaying from the Death Mist, as we trudged through hoards of monsters. Percy, sweaty and bloody, as he cut through the endless swarm of Arai. Then suddenly, Percy was gone, absent, disappeared. One moment he was there, fighting by my side, and the next he wasn't, leaving only blackness, blackness, blackness...
"Annabeth!" Nico's voice zapped me out of my trance. My entire body was quaking and tears streaked down my cheeks. I took a shaky breath before meeting his somber eyes.
The son of Hades slipped his hand into the pocket of his Aviators jacket, pulling out a square of ambrosia and silently handing it to me. Putting the small pastry in my mouth, a wave of relief crashed through my body. The taste of Sally Jackson's pecan pie danced across my taste buds, reminding me of Thanksgiving last month with her, Percy, and Paul. The happy memories worked to heal my heart as efficiently as the ambrosia was healing my body.
After the godly pastry worked its magic on me, my head became a whirlwind of thoughts. Who were the people who had kidnapped Percy? They looked humanoid, but that hardly meant much in my world, as a large amount of monsters disguised themselves as such. Also, how had they succeeded in capturing Percy? He was a son of the Big Three! Not many beings could take him on. Of course, Seaweed Brain hadn't been paying much attention, but that was beside the point. I had heard a gun shot going off right before the two had grabbed him, and since there was no blood on the ground, I could only assume that it was a tranquilizer gun. Which would mean that they were mortals, because monsters would never resort to such a thing. This, however, brought up another important question: why? What would a couple of humans want with the son of Poseidon?
"So, what are we going to do?" Nico asked, shifting his weight from one foot to another and looking rather awkward. His question brought my head grinding to a halt. Yes, what were we going to do? I pushed my emotions down deep inside of me. Now was not the time to break down; now was the time for action. And we had to act fast, before it was too late.
Athena always had a plan, and I, being her daughter, would be no different. Wiping the wetness off of my cheeks and straightening my shoulders, I said, "First, we should go to my house and to Camp Jupiter to inform everyone about what has happened. Then we should go back to camp." The plan must have sounded good to Nico, because he nodded in agreement before holding out his arm.
"What's your address?" After I told him where my family lived, I grabbed his proffered arm, and the shadows consumed us.