PART I
RUINS (AVSHESH)
Chapter 1-city out of the ocean
"What name did you tell?" the man at the counter asked, eyeing suspiciously.
"Yami Tempest", she looked weird with jet black waist length hair and aviator sunglasses of yellow shade.
"oh…I am Noyu As You Like It" the taunt just couldn't be missed( let's see who gets the essence of the joke). "No jokes please" he added.
"I am not joking. Ok? Couldn't just think any other name in haste" she blurted out by mistake.
"What!"
"A..a…my parents…they couldn't think of any other name in haste..hehehe" she tried to ease the atmosphere, but didn't succeed much due to the beads of perspiration which appeared on her forehead.
"Hmm….ok, you can go" he stamped the book.
-X-
She sat beside the window. The aeroplane was about to take off for Goa( I don't know much about America in the aspect of geography so I used the name of an Indian place 'coz I was too lethargic to refer to atlas) .A guy covered in long purple cloak and hat of the same colour came sat beside her. She felt a bit uneasy because this guy looked somewhat like a terrorist, that doesn't mean he had long beard or something but was just covered even his face was not visible, she just doubted it. In time of five minutes the flight took off and was in kissing high altitudes and the silky cirrus clouds in no time. The "weird" guy( which annabeth preferred to call him) was as still as one could be, like a statue cut in alabaster.
The girl was enjoying her drink when the guy in cloak spoke for the first time in a deep and heavy voice-"I believe you are on a quest young demigod. Am I right?"
Of course she was startled, she just couldn't gulp down the sip. Not to make a scene she calmed down and breathed out. The very first thought she got was-"Monster". But it had been the case he would have attacked. The thought which followed was-"God" ,and she considered it. How much can it be rare that a god has come to pay you a visit to send you to another fatal fucking quest? (now that is an alliteration which I like)
"Reveal your identity" she said firmly.
"I think you should be the first one to follow your own order" he said raising his head a bit. A jet black tattoo was covering his right temple, a wavy flame which even surrounded his ear. It almost engulfed his half cheek. But the strange thing was that his eyes ,his nose and the cuts looked vaguely familiar. His eyes were shining bright sea-green which reminded her of someone.
"I am not hiding it" she tried to maintain a straight and sober face.
"Why don't you kids listen" he sighed like he was really sympathetic.
She didn't know why there was a need to show him she was a mortal even after he called her a demigod but she gave it another try. She was hoping him to be somewhat psycho sort of guy who has gone hyper and was trying to imitate his favorite fictional character. But the chances were slim, as slim as equivalent to finding a polar bear amidst California. She took out her cell phone and threatened him-
"You are messing with the wrong person" she gave her best death glare, but she had forgotten about her glasses. Not to mention it was developed by Leo which can catch signals even in exosphere and didn't attract monsters. She just hoped he was idiot enough not to think about signals.
He sighed and then produced a device from his cloak pocket-
"Signal Jammer, developed by Leo Valdez. It will prevent your signals from exiting out from the plane even. And yes, it will work in Exosphere even." He smiled at the last line, his smile resembled her beloved's but there was something odd in it.
"Wait ! I got it….PERCY!" the girl screamed on top of her lungs.
Everyone turned their heads towards them.
"Madam please you are not allowed to make noise" the air hostess from the corner spoke.
"Um…m.. sorry" and then turned towards the guy. She had screamed so loud that she considered that even the pilot will come from the cockpit.
"I think at least now you can remove that wig and glasses" he turned his head towards her finally removing his hat.
The girl took out the wig and the glasses to let flow her beautiful blonde hair flow and boast about those pretty grey stormy eyes which she had inherited from her mother, the greek goddess of wisdom, Athena.
"Ok…so first please tell me how come you are here. I sent 'nobody' on my ticket and arranged this fake visa and all just to surprise you and you just messed it." Annabeth was insanely inquisitive.
"And it is me who surprised you" he said smiling.
It was a hard task for her to refrain herself from kissing him right there.
"I asked Leo to hack and dig out all the details about your ticket details" he further added enlightening her from the details.
"And what's with that tattoo" she was itching to ask it. It was not that it was not suiting him, rather it just intensified his hotness ten-folds.
"Which tattoo? This one?" he raised up his right hand to show her a tattoo of a trident.
"No you dumbo, the one on your face"
"Why are you asking it? You are very well acquainted to the fact that it is the tattoo of praetor of Rome" he said a bit confused about why was she asking this.
"And what's that necklace?" he queried genuinely
"This?" she asked puzzled showing the beads necklace in which the number of beads marked the number of years spent by the wearer in Camp Half Blood.
"yes"
"Oh…Arachane gifted it to me" her comment and sarcasm could not be missed but somehow Percy couldn't catch it.
"What? How come? When?"
"Gods! Percy if want a tight slap on your face, just tell me .There is no need to irritate me, I will deliver it hard" she rhetorted back exasperated.
"What! Why are you acting like this? I just asked about it…it looks strange" he made a face while trying to analyse it.
"Do not act stupid…it is Camp's gift you know it, to mark the number of years" now it was frustrating!
"But Camp Half Blood gives a bracelet and NOT a silly necklace" Percy emphasized on the word 'NOT'.
"After all this conversation, I derive two conclusions-
No. 1- You have lost your mind and had got insane.
OR
No. 2- It's the dumbest prank ever, which you are playing"
She tried to play it cool.
"Neither" even Percy was losing his temper, why the hell Annabeth was acting weird was out of his mind. Each and every word he said was truth.
"Ok…another question…how are you still sane in air, I mean its Zeus' territory. Aren't you afraid that he will fry you off?" Now that was a good question, because usually when ever Percy boarded a plane he loses his sanity and no sooner the plane lands, then he starts kissing the ground which embarrasses her.
"And will you take the sincere pain Annabeth in telling me that why will he do so? Come on I am his favorite demigod of of the era" he almost rose up from his seat shouting.
"But he usually tries to do that" she argued back.
"Damn No Annabeth! Rather he keeps the weather clear for me" he shouted on top of his lungs.
By now, they had attracted everyone's attention. It will be no wonder if the pilot showed up leaving the plane unguided just to see what happened.
A strong turbulence interrupted their "Not –so- lovely- reunion". Percy lunged forward into the front seat , Annabeth wisely took hold of the arm rest and the same happened to almost everyone.
SHIT! Annabeth thought ….maybe Zeus had lost his temper.
Now Percy will go insane( in behavior, as he is now for sense) Annabeth thought it and it was not a prejudice for sure.
Contrary to her thought Percy was rather more alert.
"It's the dracanaes I guess" his abhorrence for them was crystal clear.
"Percy…now for god's sake please don't say Dracanaes fly even" she was half expecting it.
"But they do! We have fought hundreds of them together Annabeth! They have those gigantic scaly and bony wings!" Percy hadn't lost his mind, it was all true. If someone offered him to swear that on Styx , he was ready to do that even. He was dead sure about it.
Percy put his hands in his cloak pocket and produced riptide.
"Its not time to eat pasta you moron! Can't you see something unusual is happening? Its not just a normal turbulence" Annabeth was correct on her par, for instead of taking out his pen, he had produced a fork out of his pocket. It was royal and lavish to look at. Its handle was made of pure celestial bronze and precious gems were embedded in it. It was three-headed. The plane started to lose altitude, which created panic among the passengers.
"Its emergency and you are cracking jokes, Annabeth?" he was quite surprised, for she was the one who was serious and most alert during junctures of this sort.
Hubub ,commotion and tension in air was quite visible near the cockpit. They moved to the cockpit. An air hostess tried to block their path, but the 'wise girl' pushed her way through.
"What has happened?" Annabeth demanded, " I am an engineer and specialist in air transport" she added to avoid any explanation.
"Ok, there is a major earthquake and a big concrete slab bounced up and hit the fuel tank while we were just going to land and ruptured it, now the fuel is leaking and not in more than a minute and a half we will shoot down straight" the pilot didn't even look back for he was trying to contact the control station.
Now that was disturbing! But they have faced far more dangerous scenarios.
"Mujhe ek clear runway chahiye jahan pe mai land kar saku plane ko" the pilot replied in his native language, Hindi. On not getting the reply he turned his back to find an American with a raised eyebrow as a result of confusion.
"I mean I want a clear runway where I can land this plane" he translated what he said after understanding the situation.
Annabeth looked out to analyse the situation. Everything was in havoc, buildings had collapsed and the debris could be seen everywhere. She was keeping the track of time, just one minute to crash and they were constantly losing altitude.
"Does the water of Arabian Sea always acts that strange Mr. Pilot?" Percy asked pointing outside with his index finger. Everyone looked outside and saw the most bizarre thing they have ever seen. Yes! The water was acting strange. It was all calm and composed just for except a hurricane it was making , at a particular area.
"It's not good" Percy muttered.
He twisted a dial on his fork. And it started to change….growing big and developing.
"Just one slash of my riptide will turn those monsters into dust" he was literally growling.
It grew into a massive trident, which had its blades made of celestial bronze but just half in longitudinal section. The other part was made of some light blue coloured metal which Annabeth couldn't identify. The moment it sprang to life it started flowing with blue energy.
"WHAT THE…!" the pilot shrieked.
Everyone turned towards him and then followed his gaze.
What Annabeth saw was one of the most bizarre things she has ever seen. A whole city was emerging out of the sea, the size of Washington D.C.
A/N: I hope you guys liked it. This is really gonna be mysterious and thrilling, and that is my promise. Please review and tell me if you liked it.
