A/N: Hello again.
J/N: Don't be so formal Jane. Anyways, this story is made by Jane and I, and it is entirely random. We will be making Percy Champion, obviously, and it won't be like the usual though, so please stick around and you'll find the plot interesting. Kind of on the verge of Divergent and Hunger Games, but oh well. Enjoy!
Miner District 5
Percy wakes up early in the morning, strangeness filling the air. He starts his usual routine, cold shower before dressing in jeans and a T-shirt, and then reaches out to his small dresser to grasp his dagger, Short Wave. He tucks it into a side pocket before leaving, a sharp whistle leaving his lips to be answered by a howl and a short bark, announcing the arrival of his wolf, Silver. She falls into stride at his side as they leave the small hut of a home near the edge of town. Spotting his target, Percy takes a sharp left turn before walking straight, his eyes never leaving his prey.
A second set of footsteps follow the one of his own and his partner, Silver saying nothing to greet or insult the trespasser. "No greeting before your hunt?" The familiar voice of Jason Grace flows through his ears, while again Silver does nothing to rid them of the son of the Graces. Why does he always intrude in my plans?
Percy growls before he speaks low and quick, making sure his target does not hear them. "Leave me be, as I have warned you a dozen times now. Your last chance has been given. Next time will be your last before I slit your Grace full throat." Jason pauses in his steps with the threat, knowing the boy before him would not go back on a promise he makes.
"Fine, I shall take my leave. I might take the dog with me if it misbehaves." Silver growls low, her own threat hanging over the rich teen's head and life. With that, he stops walking entirely, watching as the man and his partner vanish from sight from making a right turn, no sound emanating to reveal the wolf's location.
Jason steps back before lowering his head and tapping his wrist, a small screen popping up as he raises it to his mouth. "The orphan has a trail. Be wary of his mutt. Follow him and do give him a slow disposal."
Percy keeps his eyes on the tricky target. He gives a low whistle and Silver raises her head, quickly nodding and darting out of sight. He lowers his head to slip through the three wires set as a fence to keep the weak miners from leaving their village or town.
He crouches low after hitting the forest line, his sword hardly touching his back. His ears find the sound of a howl, greeted by two others, and the shallow breathing of the intruder. The animals scurry away quickly, letting Percy pass through, carefully stepping over any habitats and homes. A lake appears, and the figure he tracks stumbles, his feet making much noise as he steps in the water. He is then surrounded by the wolves, a silver one across from the hidden predator, a black one to the right of the leader, and a brown one to the left of the hidden man. The unknown prey stumbles back the way he came before the sound of a sword stops him, the blade sliding out of its sheath. "Who a-are you?" The man asks, fear in his voice.
Sea green eyes meet the fearful brown ones, a scar over his right eyebrow. In a low voice the teen speaks, shivers flowing over the man's spine. "Your worst nightmare." He raised his sword and let it fall, a shallow cut appearing across the man's left cheek. The teen steps back, and the wolves dig in.
Percy slides onto the bench, his bowl of stew being set onto the table. Anthony Sin sits beside him, grey eyes and a dark scar across his mouth. He grunts in greeting and Percy nods to the boy, casually eating his spinach chunks before sipping the liquid. It isn't hot, in fact it's freezing cold, leftovers from yesterday morning, but they take it as it's the only food across the entire district.
He drinks only half of the stew before lowering himself to the floor, placing the bowl down on the ground for Silver to eat, and she lowly whines in appreciation.
Anthony raps his knuckles on the wood of the table, eyes clouded in thought. "What did you hunt this morning?" Of course the boy has an incredible sense of smell, allowing him to smell the blood on his skin even when it has been washed off.
"The one from up the street, abusive towards the women. Silver didn't like the taste of him." Silver growls lightly in agreement.
"You shouldn't do that, Percy. The Grace household already has suspicions of your disappearances almost every morning, and they almost surely have connected you to the disappearances." Anthony keeps his voice low, not letting the other teens hear their conversation. A guard passes by the table, his eyes train on Percy before he walks back to make another round. "They may have reported you to the Palan. Now you might only have a few hours before they arrest you, maybe even before the Choosing." At the mention of the event makes Percy stiffen, Silver sensing his change in demeanor.
"Don't ever mention that massacre event to me ever again." His hatred for the event is clear in his eyes, but Anthony already knows that, knowing his dark history as well and the reason he hates the Choosing. "The Palan will remember not to touch me if it's for their own good. I would not be attending if it weren't mandatory."
"Yes, but you must. May the gods be ever in our favor." With his quote he stands and leaves, leaving Percy with his partner as the other teens also stand and leave. He waits a few minutes before picking up the empty bowl from the ground and making his way to the Meal building. He places his plate down with the rest of them and walks away, Silver at his side.
Now he has to enjoy his last hours before the Choosing.
The Choosing came faster than expected, but he arrives as he was told to, standing beside Anthony near the back of where the boys were told to sit, the parents all in the back to watch the fate of their children. A man dressed in the armor of the Palan without the helmet and wears a badge above his heart stands and walks to the microphone. "Greetings and welcome to the anual Choosing. Half of the Chosen will be going to the games, while the others will be going to the Capital. I will hand the spotlight over to Madam Hostling to begin with the Choosing."
Madam Hostling walks up to the microphone and waves to the crowd, excited for the fate of those who are present. "Hello! I am honored to be holding the Choosing here in Miner District 5, instead of boring Miner District 2 or 4, and hope you all enjoy this more than I do. Now, I shall choose the First Male Chosen from this bowl!" She cheerfully reaches into the right bowl and picks a piece of paper, opening it and calling out the name. "Samuel Packer." The one with that name stiffens and jumps from his seat, trying to escape from the hands of the Palan at the ends of each aisle. Sadly, he's too slow, and the two guards at the ends of his aisle drag him up onto the platform, pulling him through the two doors at the back.
"Next male candidate." She calls over the saddened boys and parents of the one dragged through the doors. Pulling another name she calls out. "Anthony Sin!"
Anthony stiffens at his name but says nothing as he stands and walks onto the platform, standing on Madam Hostling's right, next to the bowl in which his name had been chosen.
"Third candidate in the males is," She again pulls out a name and calls it out, resulting in Odin Green running and attacking a pair of Palan and then also gets dragged through the double doors. "And our last Male Chosen for this year is," She pulls a name from the bowl and opens it slowly, the tension in the air hurting Percy's lungs. "Perseus Jackson."
Everyone goes silent. They all have heard and seen him going on his hunts or helping people who needed it, but they say nothing as he stays seated. A Palan pulls him from his chair and leads him up the steps, everyone silent and unable to speak.
"Now, to move to the four girls." Madam Hostling reaches into the left bowl, reaching for a name as Percy stands beside his old friend.
"May the gods be ever in your favor, Perseus." Anthony whispers softly, ignoring the first girl name to be called.
"As for you." Is all Percy says as he stares ahead, finding the smiling face of Jason Grace. He doesn't hear the second name because he watches as Jason, looks away from him, staring at the leader of the Palan.
Then comes the third name of the girls to go. "Thalia Grace." The Grace family turns to uproar, even Jason's smug smile fading from existence.
"She's not one of the people of this district!" Jason protests as three Palan pull her up the stairs to stand beside the girls' name bowl.
"She lives in the district, which makes her be one of the people to be able to be chosen. Now sit before we take measures!" The lead Palan silences the family, Jason now glaring while a smirk goes to Percy's face. No one but the Capital can change that now. Thalia stands beside one of the other girls, the first having been pulled through the doors.
"The last girl to join us is," Madam Hostling opens the paper and reads it aloud. "Olive Centros." The girl bursts into tears as she is led up the platform to stand beside Thalia, who keeps her hands in tight fists with her knuckles turning white. "Thank you for participating and we hope you may be chosen next year. May the Capital look kindly upon you."
Station at Miner District 5
Before Percy can step onto the train, a howl startles him. Silver struggles against two Palan who hit her and tie her up, her muzzle covered like a stray animal's. "Silver!" He shouts to the wolf, fear for her life propelling him towards the Palan soldiers. "Get your Palan hands off of her!" He steps on one of their feet, causing that soldier to grunt in pain, male voice. The other has a posture of a female, which Percy takes in quickly. He slams his elbow into the male's gut and holds the female's fist in his palm, twisting it slightly and embracing her while his other hand keeps her arm pinned to her side. The three Palan soldiers accompanying the Chosens raise their electric sticks, electricity rolling off of them in waves as Percy holds the female closely and tightly.
Some people might take his movement as an intimate gesture, but he is always disgusted by how they always think that way when it comes to a male and female. Instead, he again tightens his grip on her arm and her fist, holding her electric stick to her throat. Thalia and the other three girls stiffen, Thalia's electric blue eyes flashing. "Never lay another finger on Silver again, or I will not let you live another second. Do you both understand?" His voice is deadly calm, superiority falling in his voice.
Who does this boy think he is? The thought runs through Thalia's mind as he threatens the two Palan soldiers who had handled the wolf like a mutt. They both nod and he lets the female go, the stick snapping under his knee before he tosses it to the side. Glaring at the two soldiers, he kneels to the wolf, unclasping the guard on its muzzle and the restraints on her legs. The wolf whines in an apologetic tone before Perseus shushes it, "It wasn't your fault, sis. They aren't accustomed to letting other than Chosens onto the trains. They will make an exception for you though, don't worry." Sis? Why does he call it-her Sis? The only thing she can come up with is that he is close to the female wolf, and she lets her thoughts flee from the top of her mind.
Silver, as he called the wolf, pads in stride with him, both walking side by side as they enter the train. Next enters the last boy, Anthony, before Susan and the second girl enter behind him and Thalia follows. She isn't really wary of the wolf, but it does seem almost human as she speaks in barks and short howls to Perseus and he answers immediately, as if understanding her.
Entering the train car, she finds the familiar beauty and superiority in it, couches and tables filled with buffets and glasses of different drinks. She sits down at an end one, watching everyone as she bites into a ripe peach.
The others are fascinated by the beauty and richness before they spot the food. They dig into it while Thalia smiles to herself. They don't know that they'll be having stomach problems from eating too much of the different food from their usual dining. The only two others that don't eat much is Perseus and Anthony, Perseus biting a red apple while he hands a plate of grapes to Anthony who in turn sets it in between them on the ground as he peels a banana. Silver sniffs the grapes before eating a few, expertly picking them off of the vines.
Thalia finds those three odd, not caring of the situation or just accepting it, she doesn't know. She intends to find out.
Standing from her lone chair she walks over to the two boys, everyone else's eyes following her as she sat in a chair beside Perseus. Anthony raises an eyebrow and halts his conversation, nudging the boy across from him to acknowledge the girl beside his companion.
Perseus raises an eyebrow after turning away from Silver to look at Anthony, who flicks his gaze towards Thalia and then back to Perseus. Perseus sighs before running a hand through his jet black hair, tousling it more than before. "What do I owe the pleasure of being in your presence, Miss Grace?" She in turn raises an eyebrow at his antics but says nothing on it.
"The pleasure is mine. I hear everyone talks about you in the entire District." He raises his eyebrow again before rubbing Silver's back, causing the wolf to growl lightly in pleasure.(J/N: That was not intended to be dirty, only noticed when Jane pointed it out)
"Who'd you hear that from?"
She shrugs. "Around. Jason sometimes scoffs about you being the talk more than he is."
He smirks. "Seems like Grace doesn't like being less than anyone else."
"He just wants to be the gossip of everyone. Loves the attention and gets pride and greed from our parents."
"Sounds like you don't agree with him."
She shakes her head. "Not much of a prideful person."
"How about greedy?" He mumbles under his breath, but she doesn't comment on it. "So you're not bothered to be one of the Chosens? Your brother was having a fit out there."
Thalia sighs. "Not really. It was bound to happen to one of us. Plus a life of luxury isn't much when you life in a hellhole district." His fists clench tightly and she notices, the set of his jaw tight as he looks back down at his wolf companion. "You don't seem to worried about maybe being chosen for the games instead of the Capital. No one vouched for you either."
His turn to shrug. "I don't have anyone to vouch for me. And I don't really care what happens, as long as Anthony makes it to the Capital."
Anthony's eyes widen. "Percy-"
Perseus raises his palm rigidly. "You have family. I want them to be proud and be able to see you again. You might be able to take Silver with you, if you can get her away from me." The wolf snarls before again calming under his touch.
His actions and words surprise Thalia. No one ever takes more care of others than themselves. It was just one of those unspoken rules everyone followed, or maybe they just didn't actually care. This boy only cares about every person he knows, instead of fighting and trying to bribe the Palan to send others to their deaths, Perseus has already accepted the chance, and has come to terms with it. Thalia figures that if he is given the chance of the Capital he might turn them down immediately, choosing to gamble his life in the games rather than let someone else suffer it.
Minutes later a voice goes on the speakers. "We have arrived to Talen, also known as the City of Choice. Please exit the train in an orderly fashion. Resigning herself and accepting that the conversation is over, Thalia stands and walks to the doors, lining up behind Susan while Perseus stands behind her, Anthony at the rear.
The doors open to the simple city of Talen, where people in mildly fine clothes walk by after seeing the Chosens. Buildings with simple colors line the streets, and no one greets them or try to stop to get a better view of them. Following behind Madam Hostling the eight Chosens walk in single file towards one of the closer buildings. They enter and sit down, wondering what comes next.
A man with chocolate eyes and dark skin walks out from behind a curtain, his hand running over his shaved head. "Greetings. I am Sidna, one of the stylists here. I will be the one designing the clothes for the girls mainly while my assistant Lola can help the boys." He looks over Thalia. "A Grace who's been Chosen? Seems the impossible is happening steadily. I'll take her to the back first. If you would." At his beckoning, Thalia falls out of line and stands, following the stylist behind the curtain, but not before her eyes lock with sea green ones, watching her leave.
J/N: Okay, as I said it's random. Might not last long, but we hope you enjoy it while it lasts. I'm not going to spoil what shipping are here, but we'll let you enjoy guessing. Review and enjoy!