AN: I've never seen anyone do a Percy Jackson story like this and thought it might be a good idea. This begins in the third book right after Thalia did used the mist in the beginning.
The Strength of a Leader (Working Title)
Chapter One
-Percy-
He could feel the teachers' eyes on their backs but walked closely to Thalia and asked in a low voice, "How did you do that finger-snap thing?".
"You mean the Mist? Hasn't Chiron shown you how to do that yet?" the daughter of Zeus asked surprised.
An uncomfortable lump formed in his throat at the question, Chiron was our head trainer at camp but he'd never shown me anything like that. Why had he shown Thalia and not me? Faintly he noticed Thalia wince at his expression but before she could open her mouth to say anything else Grover hurried us over to a door that had the word 'GYM' written on the glass which he could read easily even with dyslexia, "That was close!" Grover said. "Thank the gods you got here!".
Annabeth and Thalia both hugged Grover while he gave him a big high five. It was good to see him after so many months, he'd gotten a little taller and had sprouted a few more whiskers, but otherwise he looked like he always did when he passed for human including the red cap on his curly brown hair to hide his goat horns, baggy jeans and sneakers with fake feet to hide his furry legs and hooves. He was wearing a black T-shirt that took me a few seconds to read. It said WESTOVER HALL: GRUNT. I wasn't sure whether that was Grover's rank or maybe just the school motto.
"So what's the emergency?" he asked after a moment.
Grover took a deep breath before responding seriously "I found two.".
"Two half-bloods?" Thalia asked, amazed, "Here?".
Grover nodded and he knew why this was so serious, finding one half-blood was rare enough. This year, Chiron had put the satyrs on emergency overtime and sent them all over the country, scouring schools from fourth grade through high school for possible recruits. These were desperate times. We were losing campers. We needed all the new fighters we could find. The problem was, there just weren't that many demigods out there.
"A brother and a sister," Grover told them, "they're ten and twelve. I don't know their parentage, but they're strong. We're running out of time, though and I need help.".
"Monsters?" he asked, fingering his pen/sword Riptide.
One," Grover looked nervous "and he suspects. I don't think he's positive yet, but this is the last day of term. I'm sure he won't let them leave campus without finding out. It may be our last chance! Every time I try to get close to them, he's always there, blocking me. I don't know what to do!".
Grover looked at Thalia desperately, he tried to not feel upset by that, he was used to Grover turning to him for the answers in these kind of situations but he knew that Thalia had been given authority. It wasn't just because her dad was Zeus either, even though that was the biggest reason. Thalia had been given more training in more areas by Chiron, as she had shown only minutes before, and had more experience than the rest of them fending off monsters in the real world.
"Right," Thalia said taking over, "these half-bloods are at the dance?" and when Grover nodded she continued "Then let's dance. Who's the monster?".
"Oh," Grover said, and looked around nervously, "you just met him. The vice principal, Dr. Thorn.".
Weird thing about military schools: the kids go absolutely nuts when there's a special event and they get to be out of uniform. I guess it's because everything's so strict the rest of the time, they feel like they've got to overcompensate or something. There were black and red balloons all over the gym floor, and guys were kicking them in each other's faces, or trying to strangle each other with the crepe-paper streamers taped to the walls. Girls moved around in football huddles, the way they always do, wearing lots of makeup and spaghetti-strap tops and brightly colored pants and shoes that looked like torture devices. Every once in a while they'd surround some poor guy like a pack of piranhas, shrieking and giggling, and when they finally moved on, the guy would have ribbons in his hair and a bunch of lipstick graffiti all over his face. Some of the older guys looked more like me, uncomfortable, hanging out at the edges of the gym and trying to hide, like any minute they might have to fight for their lives. Of course, in his case, it was true.
"There they are." Grover nodded toward a couple of younger kids arguing in the bleachers, "Bianca and Nico DiAngelo.". The girl wore a floppy green cap, like she was trying to hide her face and the boy was obviously her little brother. They both had dark silky hair and olive skin, and they used their hands a lot as they talked. The boy was shuffling some kind of trading cards. His sister seemed to be scolding him about something. She kept looking around like she sensed something was wrong.
Annabeth turned to Grover and asked, "Do they… I mean, have you told them?".
Grover shook his head in the negative and responded "You know how it is. That could put them in more danger. Once they realize who they are, their scent becomes stronger.".
"So let's grab them and get out of here." He suggested.
He started forward, but Thalia put her hand on his shoulder. The vice principal, Dr. Thorn, had slipped out of a doorway near the bleachers and was standing near the di Angelo siblings. He nodded coldly in our direction. His blue eye seemed to glow.
Judging from his expression, he guessed Thorn hadn't been fooled by Thalia's trick with the Mist after all. He suspected who we were and he was just waiting to see why we were here.
"Don't look at the kids," Thalia ordered firmly "we have to wait for a chance to get them. We need to pretend we're not interested in them. Throw him off the scent.".
"How?" Grover asked confused.
"We're three powerful half-bloods. Our presence should confuse him. Mingle. Act natural. Do some dancing. But keep an eye on those kids." Thalia explained to the Satyr.
"Dancing?" Annabeth asked sounding a little surprised.
Thalia nodded. Before cocking her ear to the music and made a face, "Ugh. Who chose the Jesse McCartney?".
Grover looked hurt at that statement "I did.".
"Oh my gods, Grover. That is so lame. Can't you play, like, Green Day or something?" Thalia asked annoyed.
"Green who?" Grover asked confused.
"Never mind. Let's dance." Thalia said rolling her eyes.
"But I can't dance!" Grover bleated out.
"You can if I'm leading," Thalia said firmly, "Come on, goat boy.". Grover yelped as Thalia grabbed his hand and led him onto the dance floor against all protests.
Annabeth smiled faintly at the scene and when he cocked an eyebrow she blushed and explained "It's cool to have Thalia back.".
Annabeth had grown taller than him since last summer, which he found kind of disturbing. She used to wear no jewelry except for her Camp Half-Blood bead necklace, but now she wore little silver earrings shaped like owls ,the symbol of her mother Athena. She pulled off her ski cap, and her long blond hair tumbled down her shoulders. It made her look older, for some reason.
"So…" he tried to think of something to say. Act natural, Thalia had told us. When you're a half-blood on a dangerous mission, what the heck is natural? "Um, design any good buildings lately?"
Annabeth's eyes lit up, the way they always did when she talked about architecture, "Oh my gods, Percy. At my new school, I get to take 3-D design as an elective, and there's this cool computer program…".
She went on to explain how she'd designed this huge monument that she wanted to build at Ground Zero in Manhattan. She talked about structural supports and facades and stuff, and he tried to listen. He knew she wanted to be a super architect when she grew up, she loves math and historical buildings and all that, but he hardly understood a word she was saying.
The truth was he was kind of disappointed to hear that she liked her new school so much. It was the first time she'd gone to school in New York and he'd been hoping to see her more often. It was a boarding school in Brooklyn, and she and Thalia were both attending, close enough to Camp Half-Blood that Chiron could help if they got in any trouble. Because it was an all-girls school, and I was going to MS-54 in Manhattan. He had only seen them twice since they left Camp.
Yeah, uh, cool," he said, "So you're staying there the rest of the year, huh?".
Her face got dark. "Well, maybe, if I don't…".
"Hey!" Thalia called to us. She was slow dancing with Grover, who was tripping all over himself, kicking Thalia in the shins, and looking like he wanted to die. At least Grover's feet were fake. He on the other hand lacked an excuse for being clumsy. "Dance, you guys!" Thalia ordered. "You look stupid just standing there.".
He looked nervously at Annabeth, then at the groups of girls who were roaming the gym, "Well?" Annabeth asked.
"Um, who should I ask?" he asked nervously.
She punched him in the gut but he could tell she was amused "Me, Seaweed Brain." She growled playfully.
"Alright, alright." He muttered chuckling "No need to hit me Sis.".
So we went onto the dance floor, and he looked over to see how Thalia and Grover were doing things. Hesitantly he put one hand on Annabeth's hip while she clasped his other hand like she was about to judo throw him.
"I'm not going to bite," she told him with a smirk "honestly Percy. Don't you guys have dances at your school? And what was with the 'Sis' comment?".
"There are dances," he admitted "but I've never actually danced at one for two reasons. And as for the 'sis' thing, well I feel that we have a pretty good sibling like bond. I've always wanted a sister and I've found that in you. We look out for each other and we always have each other's backs.".
"Well bro," Annabeth put a great deal of teasing inflection on the word 'bro' "most of the Camp seems to think we're meant to be a couple. And what reasons would prevent you from dancing?".
Blushing in embarrassment he looked down at his feet, "Well for one I can't dance." He admitted "And the other is that no girl at my school would be caught dead near me.".
"Then I'll just have to teach you to dance later." She stated firmly before giving him a smirk that sent chills down his spine "And maybe get you a girlfriend from the Aphrodite Cabin.".
"Oh please don't!" he pleaded "I'll never hear the end of gossip and fashion!" which just made Annabeth giggle. They danced around for a few minutes before he asked "What were you saying earlier? Are you having trouble at school or something?".
She pursed her lips at the question before answering "It's not that. It's my dad.".
"Uh-oh." He knew Annabeth had a rocky relationship with her father, "I thought it was getting better with you two. Is it your stepmom again?".
Annabeth sighed before elaborating, "He decided to move. Just when I was getting settled in New York, he took this stupid new job researching for a World War One book. In San Francisco!" She said this the same way she might say 'Fields of Punishment' or 'Hades' gym shorts'.
"So he wants you to move out there with him?" he asked.
"To the other side of the country," she said miserably, "And half-bloods can't live in San Francisco. He should know that.".
"What? Why not?" he asked confused having not heard that before.
Annabeth rolled her eyes at the question, probably thinking that he was kidding, "You know. It's right there!".
"Oh," he said, he had no idea what she was talking about, but didn't want to sound stupid, "So… you'll go back to living at camp or what?".
"It's more serious than that, Percy. I… I probably should tell you something." She took in a shaky breath before suddenly freezing, "They're gone.".
"What?" he asked before having a sinking feeling and followed her gaze, the bleachers. The two half-blood kids, Bianca and Nico, were no longer there. The door next to the bleachers was wide open. Dr. Thorn was nowhere in sight.
"We have to get Thalia and Grover!" Annabeth looked around frantically. "Oh, where'd they dance off to? Come on!"
She ran through the crowd and he was about to follow when a mob of girls got in his way. He spent a good bit of time to maneuver around them and not get dragged off and by the time he was free Annabeth had disappeared. He turned a full circle, looking for her or Thalia and Grover. Instead, he saw something that chilled his blood.
About fifty feet away, lying on the gym floor, was a floppy green cap just like the one Bianca di Angelo had been wearing. Near it were a few scattered trading cards. Then I caught a glimpse of Dr. Thorn. He was hurrying out a door at the opposite end of the gym, steering the di Angelo kids by the scruffs of their necks, like kittens.
He still couldn't see Annabeth and was about to run off and look for her when he stopped, he remembered what Thalia had said to him in the entry hall, looking at me all puzzled when I asked about the finger-snap trick 'Hasn't Chiron shown you how to do that yet?', he thought about the way Grover had turned to her, expecting her to save the day.
He didn't really resent Thalia, even though she could be annoying at times, but he also knew that he didn't need her help to slay a monster and there wasn't time to find them anyway. Taking Riptide out of his pocket he ran after Dr. Thorn.
He followed their trail into the woods where he took a snowy path dimly lit by old-fashioned lamplights. "There is a clearing ahead," he heard Thorn say, "We will summon your ride.".
"What ride?" a voice he assumed was Bianca demanded. "Where are you taking us?".
"Silence, you insufferable girl!" Thorn snapped angrily.
"Don't talk to my sister that way.'" Nico yelled furious, the kid's voice might have quivered but he was impressed with the guts the boy showed.
"Halt." Thorn snarled after a moment and, crouching down, he saw that the woods had opened up. We'd reached a cliff overlooking the sea. At least, he sensed the sea was down there, hundreds of feet below. He could hear the waves churning and he could smell the cold salty froth. But all he could see was mist and darkness. Thorn shoved the two children towards the edge of the cliff where they landed in the snow before pulling something from under his coat. At first he thought it was a switchblade, but it was only a phone. He pressed the side button and said, "The package, it is ready to deliver.".
"Where are you taking us?" Bianca demanded scared.
Dr. Thorn's mouth twisted with distaste at the girl, "You have no idea what is happening you silly little girl. I will let the General enlighten you. You are going to do him a great service tonight. He is looking forward to meeting you.".
"The General?" Nico asked confused "Who's the General?".
Thorn looked toward the horizon. "Ah, here we are. Your transportation."
He turned and saw a light in the distance, a searchlight over the sea followed by the chopping sound of helicopter blades getting louder and closer. Knowing that he didn't have much time he uncapped riptide before running out of the area he was hiding in to attack Thorn. Thorn was surprisingly fast though and was able to doge his strike before shooting some sort of spike into his shoulder making him fall to his knees in pain.
Gritting his teeth he shot up and struck again, managing to lop off whatever threw the spike, a tail he realized, at the tip so that it couldn't shoot anymore. Roaring in pain the creature struck him across the face, knocking him back into the snow and Riptide off the cliff.
"Ah," Thorn sneered "I was hoping that one of you would show up. Now behave yourself Perseus Jackson but if you do not, well… there are other uses for half-bloods. We have many monstrous mouths to feed. The Great Stirring is underway."
"The Great what?" he asked, anything to keep him talking while trying to figure out a plan.
"The stirring of monsters." Dr. Thorn smiled evilly, "The worst of them, the most powerful, are now waking. Monsters that have not been seen in thousands of years. They will cause death and destruction the likes of which mortals have never known. And soon we shall have the most important monster of all—the one that shall bring about the downfall of Olympus!".
Before he could react he heard running and grinned, knowing that the others had found him, Thorn's yelling had probably helped. Thalia burst out of the tree line with her shield and spear out yelling "For Zeus!" making him roll his eyes.
"Yield!" the monster roared at seeing them.
"Never!" Thalia yelled from across the field. She charged the monster, and for a second, he thought she would run him through. But then there was a thunderous noise and a blaze of light from behind us. The helicopter appeared out of the mist, hovering just beyond the cliffs. It was a sleek black military-style gunship, with attachments on the sides that looked like laser-guided rockets. The helicopter had to be manned by mortals, but what was it doing here? How could mortals be working with a monster? The searchlights blinded Thalia, and the manticore swatted her away with its tail. Her shield flew off into the snow. Her spear flew in the other direction.
"No!" he ran out to help her and tried to attack the monster with his fists until Riptide returned but the creature just jabbed at the spike, the tail still regrowing, that was still imbedded in his shoulder making him fall to his knees in pain.
Dr. Thorn laughed. "Now do you see how hopeless it is? Yield, little heroes.". We were trapped between a monster and a fully armed helicopter. We had no chance.
Then he heard a clear, piercing sound: the call of a hunting horn blowing in the woods. The manticore froze. For a moment, no one moved. There was only the swirl of snow and wind and the chopping of the helicopter blades. "No," Dr. Thorn said. "It cannot be…".
His sentence was cut short when something shot past him like a streak of moonlight. A glowing silver arrow sprouted from Dr. Thorn's shoulder causing the monster to stagger back, wailing in agony.
"Curse you!" Thorn cried. He unleashed spikes from a regrown tail, dozens of them at once, into the woods where the arrow had come from, but just as fast, silvery arrows shot back in reply. It almost looked like the arrows had intercepted the spikes in midair and sliced them in two, but his eyes must've been playing tricks on him. No one, not even Apollo's kids at camp, could shoot with that much accuracy.
The manticore pulled the arrow out of his shoulder with a howl of pain. His breathing was heavy. Then the archers came from the woods. They were girls, about a dozen of them. The youngest was maybe ten. The oldest, was about eighteen. They wore silvery ski parkas and jeans, and they were all armed with bows. They advanced on the manticore with determined expressions.
"The Hunters!" Annabeth cried in shock.
Next to me, Thalia muttered, "Oh, wonderful.", the distaste clear in the voice of the daughter of Zeus but he didn't take the time to ask what she meant by it.
One of the older archers stepped forward with her bow drawn. She was tall and graceful with coppery colored skin. Unlike the other girls, she had a silver circlet braided into the top of her long dark hair, so she looked like some kind of Persian princess, "Permission to kill, my lady?" the girl asked. He couldn't tell who she was talking to though because she kept her eyes on the manticore.
The monster wailed in outrage "This is not fair! Direct interference! It is against the Ancient Laws.".
"Not so," another girl said, this one was a little younger than he was, maybe twelve or thirteen. She had auburn hair gathered back in a ponytail and strange eyes, silvery yellow like the moon. Her face was so beautiful it made him catch his breath, but her expression was stern and dangerous. "The hunting of all wild beasts is within my sphere. And you, foul creature, are a wild beast." She looked at the older girl with the circlet, "Zoe, permission granted.".
The manticore growled. "If I cannot have these alive, I shall have them dead!" before he lunged at him and Thalia, knowing we were dazed.
"No.'" Annabeth yelled, and she charged at the monster.
"Get back, half-blood!" the girl with the circlet said, "Get out of the line of fire!"
But Annabeth leaped onto the monster's back and drove her knife into his mane. The manticore howled, turning in circles with his tail flailing as Annabeth hung on for dear life.
"Fire!" Zoe ordered loudly.
"No!" he screamed shooting to his feet but the Hunters let their arrows fly. The first caught the manticore in the neck. Another hit his chest. The manticore staggered backward, wailing, "This is not the end, Huntress! You shall pay!".
Thorn grabbed Thalia and Bianca, who had tried rushing the beast, in each hand and was about to jump off the cliff with them when he charged forward yelling angrily, "NO!" he screamed and punched the beast in the jaw, causing the surprised monster to lose its grip on Thalia and Bianca before he reached up and threw Annabeth off the monster. He was about to get out of the line of fire and let the Hunters kill it before the beast grabbed him and pulled him close, "You'll have to do!" the beast snarled before running to the cliff. When he noticed that Thorn was going to take another parting shot at one of the hunters, the eighteen year old one, he shot his elbow back with all his might into the creature's gut causing Thorn to stumble and the shot to go wide before he was pulled over the cliff and into the darkness.