Hi people! Nice to meet you! I don't enjoy a long author's note myself, so I'll keep it short.
This is my first story and it might not be that good, so reviews would be VERY much appreciated. I changed it up a little so there might be a bit more deaths and war-like theme going on. Who knows. I might change it. It might fail or succeed. Constructive criticism is welcome as long as there's no hate or profanity. With further due please enjoy. :3
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Percy Jackson and stuff... yeah. Good job Rick Riordan.. good job. ;-;
Prologue
(Chapter 0)
Annabeth Chase
She thought it was all over… for awhile. She never thought that THIS would follow. It was right after the Giant War. The time where they would return, honor the dead, and feast a great banquet together. A time finally spent in peace with her boyfriend and her family, that she longed so much for. But no one ever expected such an outcome.
"ANNABETH WAKE UP!" shouted Malcolm with a mixture of dirt, sweat, and blood on his face.
She came to her senses, and like a little child that lost their parents in a horde of people, she felt like bawling until it was all over. Fear, panic, and adrenaline overtook her. Yet still, she grasped the rough, scratchy hilt of her celestial dagger, the one weapon she carried with much memories and nostalgia. She remembered how she taped a picture of her and Percy from the photo booth from when they went to the mall. This would not happen today, no matter what.
"Malcolm, gather all the little children! Use the secret path and lead them down the hill. I'll rendezvous with Chiron and search for survivors."
Malcolm nodded. He knew what the secret path was, but never expected to use it. It was a path only to be used in dire emergency. As he ran off, she stealthily headed towards the Big House, making her way through the thick smoke. She heards explosions and screams of agony around her. What made this all happen? It was a retaliation from Gaea, her back-up plan. When the gods and the demigods brought the desolation at the final battle of the war, her actual troops marched from the pits of Tartarus.
Annabeth cursed as she was knocked to the ground from a burst of explosion. However, she was up and soon, entered the damaged house.
"Chiron! Chiron!" yelled a desperate Annabeth.
Chiron trotted down the stairs to meet her, as he fumbled with something shiny.
"Annabeth! Thank the gods! We must escape, and we must do so quickly! Find the six, and flee. There is no time to waste! Now hurry!"
"But what about you?" she replied. "You're not actually planning to stay, are you?
Chiron looked at her for a short moment with such sorrow in his eyes that she had never seen before. But his expression changed with such speed that it seemed as if she had been imagining it in the first place.
"Only for a short time…. Annabeth, listen my dear. Although there is no happy ending, you can make it. You will not be alone. Make sure to tell the others, especially Percy. Now go along, I will be right behind you," said Chiron with a smile.
"N-NO! I - I mean…" said Annabeth, shaking, only to grasp a table to do so.
"Don't worry. You haven't seen even HALF of the tricks I have up my sleeves. I may be old, but I definitely feel younger. Besides, Haephaestus, that old doof buried hundreds of secret automatons beneath these sacred soils. I'm sure they will keep me company."
He then gave her a blue marble, the shiny object Chiron had been carrying.
"Carry this with you, and in a desperate emergency, throw this on the ground. It will teleport a group of people in a big enough area to a location you think of. Don't fail me."
With this reassurance, Annabeth stood up with pride displayed on her face. She hugged Chiron and whispered to his ear, "Don't you dare die. I'll see you soon." With that final message, she kissed Chiron on the cheek and ran out. She looked back at Chiron with a smile. He smiled back, and turned around to sheathe his weapons.
"I need refill on ammo!"
"They're two hundred meters away!"
"WHERE THE FUCK IS EVERYONE ELSE? WE'RE DYING OUT HERE!"
Campers were sprawled over. It was a mess and Chiron seemed to have a hard time keeping command. Fortunately, they started to fall back, carrying bodies upon them.
Annabeth jumped over wooden obstacles and sidestepped the fallen on the ground. She spotted a 12 year old girl with a spear protruding out of her abdomen. Blue eyes, white hair, and Timerlands and was a daughter of Aphrodite. One of the only Aphrodite campers willing to train hard and fight. She had joined 2 weeks ago. The sight nearly moved her to tears.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. And then she ran on.
"Annabeth, about goddamn time! Where the fuck is everyone else!" asked Mark, an Ares boy.
He was standing in a bloody trench behind a tree. She looked around. Children laid on the muddy floor, usually with a pile of blood. At the front, she encountered the enemy. Debris and dirt flew over their heads as they talked.
"I'm it. We're ordered to fall back now."
Mark was taken back.
"Bu-Bu-But, we can take him!" replied Mark, pointing at 3 other Ares kids.
"NOW, Mark."
Mark grunted, knowing that she was the most strategic demigod. As he picked up his sword and turned towards his cabinmates, he spotted the nasty, horned Giant with a fireball looking at them with a smirk. Mark then realized.
"ANNABETH, MO –!"
Mark wasn't able to finish the sentence. Right when he pushed her away, he was blown by an explosion. When the smoke cleared, he camouflaged with the dirt, due to being covered in ashes. Blood spurted out of his mouth.
"Oh fuck, oh fuck , oh fuck," whimpered an Ares kid in panic. He had his hand cupped around his bleeding ears.
Annabeth picked Mark up and headed towards the secret path. It was the most gruesome sight she had ever seen. Many campers laid around wounded or dying. A few Apollo campers were rushing from body to body with actual blood on their hands. When she arrived, she smiled with relief. The other six were already there with few others.
"PERCY!"
"Annabeth!"
The two stared at each others eyes, before she snapped back.
"Mark is injured, BADLY. Clarisse, you take him. Malcolm, you take point and lead the children first. We got your six."
Malcolm nodded and headed off with children crying while Percy reassured the others. In all honesty, he looked just as worried as the others did.
"Don't worry! We'll be fine…" said Conner.
"Yes, and moving on is important," added Katie.
"Alright…" sighed Annabeth as she examined the group.
It was Jason and Piper clinging to each other, Katie with a scythe (or a hoe?), the Stoll brothers looking extremely serious for the first time, Clarisse carrying Mark on his back with a furious expression, Hazel and Frank holding hands, Malcolm with five children, and Percy. Percy seemed furious.
They traveled for several miles before stopping in complete shock. Up ahead was a…. a monster..
'When the hell was he there?! It's like he was traveling with us the hole time. Teleportation? No, there would've been a flash. Were we just too tired to notice him?'
"Well, well, well…" snarled the horned Giant. "What do we have here?"
"Battle formations!" yelled out Clarisse. She dropped Mark and adjusted her spear.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk… not very good manners. Isn't it courtly to introduce yourselves? Oh well, doesn't matter since all of you are going to DIE."
At the last word, he stomped on the ground and earth-beings rose out. Except they looked and felt POWERFUL. Annabeth scanned her surroundings, looking for anything as an advantage when she spotted a blue marble. Not her own, but one in Percy's hands.
'So he has one too…' thought Annabeth.
Percy met eyes with her, and they both nodded. They knew what they had to do. Percy lifted up three fingers.
"Jason, I can use a little bit of your lightning powers right now!" shouted Malcolm.
"I can't! I don't know why!" cried Jason.
The Giant kicked Jason back 10 feet and backfisted Malcolm in the jaw. They both crumpled to the ground. Hazel desperately engaged the monster while shooting hard jewels at it while Frank, in bear form, tried to claw its back.
"Haze, Frank! Take the children and go!" shouted Clarisse.
"You too Piper!" agreed Jason.
"NO!"
"You fools. You think you have a chance against me?! You are worthless. Worthless, toxic pieces of shit that deserves to rot off at the dumps. Even your loving fathers abandoned you! But Tartarus, my father, gave us a gift. You will all die painfully,but first, you will watch your loved ones die. This world will crumble, and a new one will rise. This era is OURS. Now, die with that knowledge!"
Right when he punched Clarisse back and tried to throw a spear, Percy threw the pearl at them.
'Mount Olympus,' thought Annabeth.
Percy resumed attacking the monster while the group disappeared. It was just them two. It was scary how both of them knew each other's minds. They charged, or tried to. For some reason, they couldn't move.
"Wha-What's…" said Annabeth, shaking.
Percy only snarled with Riptide in his hand.
"Oh, so I guess it will be ladies first, eh?" said the monster.
He dragged his 5 feet blade and lifted it up.
"NO! NO NO NO." shouted Percy in agony. "YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE PIECE OF SHIT. DON'T YOU TOUCH HER! OR I SWEAR TO THE STYX I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!"
"Oh?" said the monster, smirking.
"ANNABETH!"
"Percy, it's…. it's alright. This is my punishment from the fates, I guess."
She was trying hard not to cry, but she couldn't hold it in. They both started bawling while the monster stood there in enjoyment.
"Ahhh, you demigods are intriguing. Haven't seen such a superb play in a long time! Bravo, bravo indeed!"
They both met each other's eyes.
"Percy, you might not love me for the horrible mistake I've made, but it's alright now. I'll love you no matter what!"
"NO, ANNABETH. NO!"
"Oh, isn't that sweet? A lovely goodbye before dying. The same is probably happening with Chiron and my brother," mocked the Giant.
She had no idea what was happening, but it all happened so fast. She saw Percy break through the paralysis and rush towards her. The Giant merely stood behind her and stared.
'Percy, I'm so sorry…'
All of a sudden, she experienced a pain she never felt before. A piece of metal stuck through her, dripping her red blood. She couldn't think or breathe. And then, darkness filled.
Chiron
"Assemble formation!"
The automatons dug themselves out of the Earth. Hundreds of them charged towards the Giant with horns, only to be swept aside by a wall of fire.
"You, will die a painful death," the one-horned Giant snarled, pointing his spiky spear at Chiron's direction.
"I would like to see you try!" replied Chiron, sheathing his two special swords from his back.
The Giant charged forward at a speed of a racecar. Chiron galloped and their metals met with sparks weeping out. They exchanged blows, and then the Giant kicked Chiron and sent him sprawling to a cabin.
"Everyone left you. You were punished to be here forever, with no spouse, no family, and no master. Only to die from me."
When Chiron told Annabeth that he had a trick up his sleeve, he wasn't lying. Unfortunately, a big price had to be paid. Chiron looked down and sighed in despair.
I'm sorry it had to be this way, though there is no other choice. My foe is just too powerful.
The two opponents stared at each other twenty meters away through the rain.
Zeus must be upset today.
He ran through the muddy road, the rain torrential on his body. The Giant quickly followed in pursuit. After a mile, Chiron turned around on a clear, open field full of flowers and strawberries.
"YOU FOOL! Why don't you give up! Do you value the ants' lives more than yours!? (by ants, he means the campers) My brother is on the loose, killing your lovely campers here and there. I sense that he killed someone close, to you. A blonde slut. You worthless scum. You could've at least saved your own hide. Now, I have no choice to kill you… my own precious teacher."
Yes, the Giant was his own student. A student who chose to go on the dark path.
Chiron felt enraged by the news. But if she truly died, she would go to Elysium.
"Then we shall die together, as a teacher and a student!"
He reached into his pocket and pulled out his last salvation. A bottle full of greek fire, except multiple times stronger. He remembered his master telling him that he would die this way, and that he would know when to use it. Now was the time. Not when the monsters appeared from the labyrinth, not during the Titan War, not the battle with Gaea at Camp Half-Blood, but right now. He could feel it. Now was the time.
He thought he would feel fear, or maybe even courage and determination. But instead, he strangely felt happiness. And a bit of peace. His student then charged.
FlashBack
"Excellent. You have mastered more than five glossa(greek word for tongue). You're now a polyglot!" said Chiron happily.
"But teacher, I want to learn more! May I please learn Persian?" asked the yearning student.
"Aha, not yet my boy. But soon. We shall fight off Persia with the help of the Athenians and the Spartans. When that happens, you can learn as much as you can. Now, go review your arithmetic homework!"
"Yes teacher!"
And with those words, the child ran off, smiling at his classmates.
Few Months Later
"But why Lord Zeus? WHY!" shouted Chiron.
"SILENCE!" yelled Lord Zeus.
He then added, "That boy has a dark prophecy. We all heard it from the fates. He will one day help another evil force in making Olympus fall. He must be banished… forever."
Chiron broke in tears. He looked around the throne room, each god and goddesses face full of anger.
"I… refuse. I'm his teacher, and I must guide him on the path he is destined to!"
Lord Zeus sighed. "Chiron, you will be banished from the throne room forever. I'm sorry it had to be like this… but I've had enough of your insolence. All in favor?"
The hands went up unanimously.
"You…. You can't possibly…"
On his knees, he stared at his own broken reflection from the puddle of tears and sweat. He was then teleported to Thebes.
"Lord Zeus, you have't informed him about the other prophecy. That Chiron is destined to die with his own student," said Apollo.
Zeus raised his hand in a look of disappointment.
"No, Chiron knows. He has not heard of it, but I think he knows it as well. This… cannot be prevented."
"And of the boy?" asked Athena.
"Send Athenian assassins and kill him in the dark while he's asleep. Chiron will not be there. Hades, you know what to do."
The god and goddess looked sadly at each other before teleporting. And Chiron never saw his face again.
End of Flashback
Chiron quickly unleashed the cork and let the essence spill out behind his back. Chiron couldn't manage to stop shaking. He would see his true student's face once again. After all, he wasn't as experienced as his master was. But he did learn a thing or two from his own master. Wordsmithing.
"WHYYYY!" snarled the monster, now face to face with Chiron, on the verge of decapitating him.
"Because… I'm not like you… I still have a soul."
He smiled. And with that, they both erupted in flames and fragmentation.
3 Days Later
Midnight-colored birds circled through the orange sky in swirling paths, the colors of their skin lit up by the specs of distant suns. The horizon ahead was purple-hued and seemed to drift across the edge of the world. Beneath it all was a vast, green forest that once held a great amount of joy and life. And in it all sat two silhoutted figures against the sole dusk.
With a set of binoculars covering his eyes, a girl analyzed the distant lands with a sharp eye. The little girl beside her grappled a handful of green grass and yanked them from the sacred soil, throwing them around to pass the lonely time.
I can feel his aura. I know I can. He has to be alive.
"How long, Thalia?" asked the little girl, with juvenile respect for her elder.
"Not long now," she replied.
She sighed.
"It… looks we we can't go back," she sadly informed her.
"Oh, okay." Was the response.
She then looked up to ask.
"But why?" She knew, but she asked nonetheless to maybe persuade her elder.
"I… can't see anything but black. It's all burnt down to the ground. And I think it has been for days, since there's no smoke."
She offered her a small smile, but it could not fool the experienced child.
"I want to go back! Just to look!"
The purple-hued horizon, supported by the solitude of rays met the knoll peaks and the valley, surfing against the wide fields of plains.
The girl set his green eyes towards the village ahead, empty aside from the newly-bloomed strawberries.
"Please Thalia. He… he might be there."
3,211 words. Not bad, but pretty short. Don't worry though, this is just the prologue.
This is supposed to be centered around three characters: Percy, Artemis, and Chaos. I feel like all the stories are too happy and cliched so I changed it up a little. Yes, there will be Pertemis, so don't worry. But it might get a bit sad with the feels so be prepared. :) Also, make sure to review and tell me how you want things! If it gets too sad, I'll change my style from there. Spread it to your friends if you think they'll be interested.
Phew, okay done talking. See you next chapter! (Probably around next week. Follow the story!) :D
P.S. - Don't know much about PJO or HOO so correct me if I get any character's names wrong!