Rejoice, my most loved readers, for alone on the water is back with a vengeance!
For the few of you who have been closely following my story since the beginning, thank you so much for your continued support. There isn't a word in the entire English language that can adequately express how sorry I am about this super long hiatus, and it's about time I do something about it. To answer your potential fears and doubts, I am most certainly notgoing to ditch this soon-to-be-epic multi-fandom crossover, it's just that I have acquired a new fanfiction account for myself due to my old one continuously malfunctioning and refusing to let me post new stories.
For those of you out there who are just finding me for the first time, you are also greatly welcomed, and I applaud your bravery for deciding toclick on that link and give this story a shot. I do weekly updates or bi-weekly updates on Fridays (depending on how fast I write), but expect some delays during the university exam weeks in April.
Unfortunately, as some of you might have noticed, the two "prequels" leading up to this story are both in desperate need of revamping, so it has been decided that from now on, all three stories will be updated concurrently to speed things up.It's completely up to you whether you wish to start from the very beginning or read each one as a stand-alone, but I promise you that it will be a fantastic experience no matter which option you choose.
Feel free to drop a review at the bottom of the page, my friends, even if it's just to say hi.
Disclaimer: Still don't own anything after all this time.
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Such a long time had passed since I last had a dream that it was almost unbelievable when it started again. However, as the events unfolded before my eyes, I felt like cursing Morpheus to the depths of Tartarus for messing around with my sanity and deliberately showing me images of my worst nightmares, for there was no way that this could ever happen within the foreseeable future. And yet, I clearly remembered seeing a live IM coverage of the god of dreams getting annihilated by Apollo in an arm-wrestling competition just the other day, and as punishment the former was made to swear on the Styx to tell nothing but the absolute truth for the next three centuries to come… No, no, no! Things are so much worse than I thought. This was real, all of it was real, and it was going to happen whether I like it or not.
An Iris message was set up in the middle of a brightly-lit room, with Annabeth and Thalia on one side, and fourteen fully-armored Olympian gods on the other. It was, undeniably, a milestone of epic proportions that the gods were finally taking things seriously enough to pause in their eternal bickering, but nothing was as jaw-dropping as seeing Annabeth actually scream at the top of her lungs, face red with anger and resentment. "Do you really care about us?" her shrill voice was two whole octaves higher than the girl I used to know, "Well, news flash, spending so much of your insufferably long lives on having children with mortals and then devising ways to get rid of those too powerful to be controlled, THAT IS NOT 'CARING'!" She turned her stormy grey eyes at Athena and spat out bitterly: "Yes, I'm talking about you, mother, don't act so innocent."
For the first time since the beginning of documented civilization, the goddess of wisdom was at a loss of words. "Take your time, Athena," Thalia seized this chance to join the conversation, a satisfied smirk on her face, "but your wits won't help you out this time. We were present on the day you sent her away. We heard what you said about Katniss being 'dangerous', so don't bother lying to us. Now, the same thing could have happened to me if I wasn't an immortal Huntress, am I wrong?"
Artemis glowered, "You will stop speaking as such, Lieutenant! There are things that you-"
"Oh, cut that 'you are too young to understand' crap, cause we understand plenty." Annabeth interrupted, "We are merely the little pawns that you move around on the chessboard. You send us on dangerous quests just to retrieve all the godly items that you carelessly misplaced, whether it be the darkest corners of the Underworld or the fiery pits of an active volcano; you make us clean up your mess and stop your civil wars because you are too damn proud to make nice amongst yourselves; and you turn a blind eye whenever the world needed saving and leave us to our own devices, too lazy to even lift a finger." Annabeth listed, pointing at each of the gods for emphasis, "I've had enough of seeing so many demigods lose their lives before even reaching adulthood, so many friends, roommates, and family. You have just as much blood on your hands as those monsters that killed them."
Zeus raised his master bolt threateningly. "Now wait just a minute, godling!"
"No more, Zeus. No more of your lies. We've seen how you treat your demigod children. Katniss retrieved your lightning bolt, saved me, saved Artemis, and what did you do? You erased her very existence from the face of the Earth! 'She has been sent away to a safe-house', ha, what a great cover story." Thalia snorted, straightening her posture and continued through gritted teeth, "We get killed for having your blood in our veins, and in return you either cram us into the Hermes cabin or leave us constantly on the run in the big bad world, never claiming us until our services are required. I have had enough of that too, father. I'm done with serving you, all of you. You're just an immortal pain in the ass, a failure in the history of parenting. So save it Zeus, we both know you've came to us because you need our help in taking down Kronos, when he has been right under your nose all this time, unchecked, unbalanced, and steadily growing stronger with each passing day."
"Why do you think we called this meeting then? We noticed." Hera said, putting on her best motherly tone and raising her hands in a placating gesture.
"A bit too late for that, don't you think?" Thalia snapped, narrowing her eyes, "How many paid the price before you did?"
"SILENCE!" Zeus thundered, thumping his master bolt against the ground.
Thalia promptly ignored him, and turned to address Artemis. "I, Thalia Grace, hereby renounce you as my mistress. I will no longer be a huntress at your command. My sixteenth birthday is to take place this Friday, and I will make the right choice." The silver glow that marked her as a member of the Hunt slowly dissipated, and Artemis reeled back as if she had received a physical punch to the gut.
Annabeth nodded in approval at her friend's actions, "I would curse you, but there isn't a curse in Tartarus strong enough to describe the lot of you." She said coldly, swiping her hand through the image to cut off the connection.
With that, the ground beneath me slowly melted away, and I was left screaming and free-falling into the smoke-like darkness below, with no way to even remotely slow myself down. After what felt like an eternity, I finally got to the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel, but that was soon followed by a crash landing onto concrete pavement that miraculously resulted in me walking away in one piece…still, it hurts like hell. Groaning, I pulled myself upright and looked around out of curiosity, but what I saw immediately made me wish that I hadn't.
Torrential rain cascaded into the world below as lines of demigods charged against legions of monsters. It was relieving to see Thalia in the lead and being her usual Zeus-like self, but this time she was standing on the wrong side of the battlefield. She went head to head with a Hephaestus camper and directed a massive bolt of lightning at his chest, sending the two-hundred-pound boy flying straight into a concrete wall like a broken rag doll. Not far off to the side, Annabeth was making a presentation to a room full of monsters, tapping on the wall-sized map behind her and calling out orders for the higher-ranked officers to amass their troops against the spots where she knew our defenses would be the weakest.
The Mist was fading, the worst has already begun. Even the mortals have enough sense to run for their lives. The Clazmonian Sow soared over the city, screeching in perfect harmony with the deafening thunder and diving down every now and then to unleash clouds of noxious gases that had everyone doubling over from the incessant coughing. The park statues/automatons have been activated as well, for I counted at least a dozen bronze historical figures waving their respective hand-held accessories and marching in perfect formations towards the fleeing demigods, whacking and stomping on everything within a two mile radius. Kronos himself was taking a leisure stroll around the city, flicking his fingers and disemboweling anything that stood in his way, whether it be flesh or concrete alike. Just then, another Titan with big ram horns lumbered into view, his own group of monsters in tow. Their blades were crooked and very poorly-made, but all of them were completely saturated with blood, the golden blood of demigods.
Kronos laughed heartily, stepping over to pat the newcomer on the back. "Krios my old friend, I thought you were going to miss the party! Did the Romans give you much trouble on your way here?"
Krios grimaced. "Nearly half of our forces were destroyed. I fought two of them myself in hand to hand combat. One of them Neptune kids was an excellent sword fighter, and he left me with this." He gestured to the prominent scar slashed across his face, "But no matter, the problem has already been taken care of." His chest puffed up in pride.
Kronos guffawed, "Well, what remains of them now?"
Krios returned with a slightly guilty grin, "I squashed that statue of that stupid border god and took extreme pleasure in burning down each and every one of their temples. However, that slimy Neptune-spawn managed to escape from my barricade along with a few of his friends, so I block their tunnel to the outside world with boulders so massive that nobody could even come close to lifting it up. In time, these demigods will suffer and die from starvation, slowly and painfully, with absolutely no chance of fighting back."
Kronos clapped. "Excellent work, my friend, that was excellent work indeed. Your participation couldn't be more well-timed. Tomorrow, we shall topple Olympus once and for all."
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Surprisingly, I got through the remainder of the night with relative ease, acquiring quite a few hours of precious, dreamless sleep in the process. The journey home was undoubtedly very long and arduous, so I quietly made my way down to the stables at first light, and spurred Blackjack to a rather hasty takeoff. I had no idea where I should be going, but I definitely wasn't going to stick around and ask for directions. No seriously, I'm not kidding. As a result of my "coronation" party several months ago, Lady Galadriel had publicly declared that I was her daughter, and these Lorien elves had gone from being completely indifferent to madly protective over the course of a single night, with an entire entourage of guards following me wherever I go in order to protect me from all the dangers. I was given the best dishes on the table, the best garments in the wardrobe, and the best steeds for the weekly hunting trips (Unfortunately Blackjack was unanimously vetoed for hunting purposes because it gave me an unfair advantage…). These people were the first to truly accept me like family since I stepped into this new world, and it hurt to leave them so abruptly as such, but I'd take this over a long, sad goodbye any day.
Remembering the vague instruction of "The traveler shall return from whence it came", I sent a telepathic command for Blackjack to head towards Rivendell. The three-day flight by Pegasus was just as tedious any plane flight, but this time there wasn't an in-flight meal service. By the time we galloped to a stop on the main courtyard, I tumbled out of the saddles and barreled into the kitchens to fix myself a generous serving of lembas. Using the pen end of Riptide, I scribbled an "I O U" note on one of the food boxes, and took out a piece of bread. Tucking a jar of honey safely under my arm, I began to walk back to where I last left Blackjack, only to stop mid-stride when I heard the floor creak noisily behind me.
"You seem to be in haste to depart." A quiet voice asked. I turned around to find Legolas casually leaning on the door frame, a toothpick in his mouth.
"What? No I'm just stopping for food on my way home…" I said with a blank face, eyes widening slightly as I realized my Freudian slip. "Gods damn it Legolas, what are you doing here in Rivendell?"
"I recall that I asked you first. But if you must know, my father and I are here to represent Mirkwood in a secret meeting organized by Lord Elrond. He will not say why, but I have guessed its purpose. It is rumored that the weapon of the enemy has been found." He answered casually, and strode towards me. "But it seems, perhaps, that you also require my assistance." He prodded me in the arm, tone almost teasing.
"I have no choice, Legolas. My home is at stake here, and my friends. I…" I stuttered.
"You also have a home here; Lady Galadriel said you would always be welcomed at Lothlorien." He observed. "This is not your fight. It hasn't been your fight ever since you arrived here in Middle Earth. So why bother?"
"When did we allow evil to become stronger than us?" I found myself saying, "We are a part of this world, aren't we? Maybe you are right, Legolas, maybe my efforts are pointless, but evil is evil after all, wherever it may be. It is my responsibility to do my fair share in this war and fight alongside my friends and family. If it's too late for me to defend my home, the least I could do is to avenge it."
"Well, in that case, I shall come with you." He sighed, and reached for the Celestial bronze dagger clipped to his belt, "I hope you don't mind me using this, you gave me this as a gift after all."
"Legolas… I…you have your duties, you pointy-eared princeling. Your father, your people, they need your too." My voice broke horribly by the end of the sentence.
"Avo drasto (Don't worry)." He assured me, "Everything will be fine. We will go through this together."
I whispered gratefully, "Thank you, Legolas."
Legolas reached up to wipe a stray tear from my cheek, "I promised forever, didn't I? And I do not intend to ever break that promise." He took my hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, and together we stepped through the archway.
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The other side of the portal was way too dark to allow for any sort of visibility, so I started a small fire on my palms. Every throne was empty, and not a single life form was in sight, except for the Ophiotaurus swimming dolefully in its water tank by the corner. At the centre of the U-shape, the hearth of Hestia was barely alight with dying cinder blocks carelessly strewn on the floor, as if something had frightened the gods enough to make them abandon their thousand-year-old fort in a hurry. Well, whatever that "something" was, I wasn't overly keen on confronting it with just the two of us, so I motioned for Legolas to mount Blackjack after me, and flew down into the city. Along the way, not a single sound reached my ears, even though it was already noon time.
As we descended lower, it became clear that my dreams visions only showed a tip of the iceberg in terms of the collateral damage of the battle. New York was almost completely unrecognizable. The empire state building was so ridden with holes on its sides that it was a wonder how it was still standing. Hundreds of skyscrapers had been reduced to rubble, and the ruptured pipelines hissed menacingly as they spilled their contents freely onto the surface.
And then, there was the blood. A layer of golden monster dust covered the streets, but it was tainted with a visible shade of red. Broken limbs and other bits of flesh lay scattered on the ground, some still held onto their weapons with a death grip even after being detached from their original torsos, as if the owner still desperately willed his arm to stab one more enemy as his life essence slowly drained out of its shell… the mere thought of that made me sick.
Suddenly, amongst the deathly silence, I heard the unmistakable sound of metal clashing against metal. Someone was still fighting. Blackjack dived forwards as if reading my mind, and I could see a ragtag band of fighters locked in a heated battle with a group of assorted monsters just a few blocks away from the Empire State Building. So far, neither of the two sides showed any signs of noticing my arrival, but judging by the hit-and-run tactic of the demigods, very soon there won't even be "two sides" left.
I handed Legolas my enchanted bow and let go of the saddle, landing on the neck area of a particularly large cyclops. "FOR POSEIDON!" I screamed, plunging my blade deep into the creature's skull and allowing the slowly disintegrating body to cushion my fall. And for that one brief moment, all was still. Everyone froze in their respective positions and turned to stare at me, monsters and demigods alike. Malcolm stepped up and poked me gently with his sword tip. "Katniss, is that you?" He said disbelievingly, cocking his head to one side.
"Were you expecting someone else, Malcolm?" I squeezed out a cheeky grin, "Yes of course it's me, the most fabulous demigod in history. Now let's get the hell out of here."
With a wave of renewed hope, the campers let out an exhausted cheer as they went back to slashing and hacking their way through the encirclement of monsters, until only a Scythian Dracaenae was left. She had obviously decided to drop everything and make a break for it after seeing all of her fallen comrades, but ended up having to crawl forwards due to an arrow sprouting from one of her weight-supporting limbs. Capping Riptide, I easily covered the distance in a few strides. "Listen lady," I said, leaning down, "I will let you go, but you have to do me a small favor."
"What is it that you want?"
"When you go back to your lord Kronos, I want you to tell him how the-" I did a rough headcount, "-six of us, are able to defeat at least fifty of you. I want you to tell him of our potential, and what happens when he leaves us with no other way out. And do make sure to tell him this: IT IS DEFENDED!"
The Scythian Dracaenae nodded in fear at that, so I let go of her collar and walked away, sighing in content. A few steps out, an arrow whizzed past my ear, quickly finding its mark and detonating itself not too far behind me. The force of the explosion threw me forwards onto the ground, but the pained screech of the Scythian Dracaenae could be heard from miles away. Very slowly, my eyes drifted towards the direction where the arrow came from. At the doorway of the Empire State Building, there stood a small girl, bow still in hand, a horrified look plastered on her face.
"I…I killed her, didn't I?" Prim stuttered, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…I didn't mean to kill her." She hurriedly threw her bow on the ground as if it was a hot potato. "I just saw her jump up with a knife when your back was turned…I didn't know it could almost kill you too sister. Oh sweet Valar, I should have stayed behind, I'm such a burden to everyone else…" she sniffled, "but the stone archway collapsed after I…after I stepped through…what do I do now?"
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Malcolm took us back to the headquarters, a deserted two-story hotel covered in green mold and rampant vines. Cracks ran along the already-tilting walls, and not a single window pane was still intact, but the interior decorations clearly showed the results of a very busy Hephaestus cabin: an extra layer of celestial bronze wallpaper to cover up the scent of the demigods, a huge underground chamber the size of a football field which was probably caused by a massive amount of explosives merging the lobby with the underground parking lot, and a number of stone pillars were set up in the structural weak points to prevent a possible cave-in.
A young woman who was busy directing an incoming patient catches sight of us, and almost did a double-take, before striding over and giving me a sharp slap across the face. Her dark brown eyes are puffy with fatigue, and she smells of blood and sweat. Her arm was wrapped tightly in a make-shift sling made out of branches, but that seemed to not bother her at all as she continued to shoot heated glares at me. A spear was loosely clutched in her unhurt hand, a spear that looked horribly familiar, almost like…
"Clarisse?" I asked, reaching up and covering my reddened cheek to sooth the vibrations of pain that was starting to wash over my nerves.
"Where the hell have you been?" She yelled furiously, but jumped in to envelop me in a bear hug, "You had us so worried for a whole year. Thank the gods you are still alive."
"Yea, I'm still not quite sure if I can do this…" I murmured.
She seemed to have ignored my comment, and proceeded to wave me towards a door. "Come on in, Katniss. And by all means, bring your new friends."
I glanced back at Prim and Legolas, steeled myself, and followed her into what must have been an infirmary. Some sort of plastic, transparent curtain hung along the length of the building, conveniently forming a sizable corridor for the Apollo campers to run back and forth between their patients. Corpses and living bodies lay side by side, with little to no privacy except for the white cloths concealing their faces. So many familiar faces lying on these beds, so many suffering and bleeding out, so many lives we couldn't save…
"We've got a mass grave started a few blocks west of here, but I can't spare the manpower to move them yet." Clarisse shook her head sadly, her hands finding a slit in the curtain and opens it wide with practiced ease, "And yes, I know, any sort of contagious disease would spread through this place faster than a Greek fire bomb, but that's slightly better than leaving them out in the open to die."
My fingers wrapped around Legolas' wrist. "Don't leave me." I said under my breath.
"I'm right here." He answered, equally quiet.
I stepped through the curtain and flinched as my senses were brutally assaulted. My first impulse was to cover my nose to block out the stench of soiled linen, decaying flesh, and vomit, all of them worsening and ripening in the summer heat. They've propped open the skylights that crisscrossed on the roof, but any fresh air fortunate enough to get in couldn't make a dent at all in the fog below. The drone of flies, the moans of the suffering, and the sobs of their attending friends and siblings have combined into a heart-wrenching chorus.
As if on cue, the sounds of pain and grief began to recede, and soon it was completely replaced by joy and anticipation. Voices beckoned me from all sides, so I began to move, clasping all the extended hands sent my way, and touching those who are no longer able to move. Nothing amazing was shared between us, just the good old-fashioned Hello, How are you, Nice to see you again. Words always seem so weak in tough times like this, but now it doesn't matter, because the sight of me still alive and well is all they needed to keep moving on.
"Well? Thalia's gone now. I've been trying to step in, but I'm not made for being a leader, not like you." Clarisse said, "I don't know about you, but each and every one of us here is willing to go down fighting. So are you fighting, Katniss? Are you here to fight with us?"
"I am." I answered, raising my voice so that almost everyone in the room could hear, "I will."
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Hope you enjoyed this chapter, leave a comment if you did, cuz it really helps me out a lot. And as always, stay awesome my friends.
P.S. I've been thinking about starting a YouTube channel in which I talk about the best fanfictions I have read that week (or bi-weekly)…sort of like a Readers' Digest for fanfictions. I still don't know how this is going to work out, but if you like that idea let me know~!