The heat of August was beginning to gain momentum, and Percy awoke to a stifling hot cabin that might as well have been hovering over a pit of lava. His shirt was sticking to him uncomfortably, the sweat spots clear on the neckline and under his arms, and along with it came the feeling of being boiled alive in the stuffy air. Groaning softly, he kicked off the sheets (the comforter was already pooled at the foot of his bunk), and rolled out of bed. He stretched, sighing contentedly his back popped, and touched his toes before trudging off to start his morning routine, though he vaguely felt like he was forgetting something very important.
The first thing that he did was throw open the windows and let some (slightly) cooler air circulate through the room, and for a moment he just watched the ocean gently lap at the shore, the waves undulating and in no hurry to erode all the sand, despite the fact that the magics placed there would keep the water from advancing. There was little itch at the back of Percy's skull, a small voice that was nagging him and telling him that he seriously needed to remember something, and that was a feeling that he'd come to despise after his little run in with Hera. He was too lazy to actually walk over to his dresser and get clothes out of it, so he made a grab for the ones that were closest to him, which just so happened to be a pair of shorts and a Camp Half-Blood T-shirt that passed the sniff test but only by a small fraction, and exchanged his ratty pair of boxers for them.
He brushed his teeth, shaved, and by the time he was done with all of that he had lost the will to brush his hair. Knowing that Annabeth would just fix it for him, he plodded out of the Poseidon cabin while still half-asleep. He always hated the scalding heat of August; July was fine, the water a little cold and the days a little hot but still bearable, but August was like Satan had risen from the depths of Hell itself and was now licking Percy's back seductively. It was not a pleasant feeling. Knowing it would only get worse as the day progressed, he decided that he needed to get through all his activities quickly so he could retreat to the coolness of his cabin, which hopefully would become air conditioned towards the afternoon (courtesy of some volunteer wind spirits that had come from Camp Jupiter).
It took him approximately five minutes to realize that there was absolutely nobody around, on top of the fact that no, it was not morning; by the position of the sun it looked closer to midday, and Percy started to panic. Usually, the camp would be all hustle and bustle at this hour, and someone would've undoubtedly woken him up if he'd slept in, but an eerie hush had blanketed the camp. Silence reigned, broken only by rocks crunching under Percy's shoes, the rustle of leaves in the trees as well as the chirping of the birds that lived in them, and the small pitter-patter of the fountains. There were no voices. No other footsteps besides his own. There wasn't even any form of racket coming from Cabin Nine or the Forge, and the children of Hephaestus were always making a racket. That was what officially made alarm bells go off in his head, and he quickly uncapped Riptide, allowing the sword to spring to its full length as he suspected an attack on the camp. If that was so, however, then why hadn't he been woken up to the sounds of battle? There weren't even any scuff marks on the ground, and everything seemed to be perfectly intact. In fact, the bonfire wasn't even reflecting menacing colors, and it blazed a happy orange from within its pit.
He made his way throughout the camp, jumping at the slightest sounds and all of his senses on high alert. The mess hall was just as empty the amphitheater had been, and the rock climbing wall lay dormant, not even spewing lava like it usually did. The canoe lake was devoid of all boats, its surface undisturbed and glittering like scales in the noon sunlight, and the volleyball courts didn't hold any demigods fighting to best their opponents. The training arena was silent, all the blunt weapons (for the younger campers who still couldn't wield actual swords yet) neatly stacked and all the dummies where they should be, and the armory didn't have a single dagger out of place. Unease began to bloom in his stomach, and his searching became slightly more frantic.
"Do you know where they went?" Percy demanded Blackjack as he patrolled the stables, searching for at least one person who may have been tending to the pegasi and Arion, who was visiting from Camp Jupiter along with Hazel and Frank. The horse was currently cussing at him and threatening that he'd rally all of the other pegasi and revolt if Percy didn't give him some gold nuggets, but the other pegasi just seemed content to ask Percy for donuts. Even Tempest had joined them, and he was asking Percy if he could have sprinkles on his Krispy Kreme.
No idea, boss, Blackjack replied, tossing his head. Haven't seen anyone since this morning. Hey, do you mind mucking out my stall? Percy grimaced but complied, ignoring all of the other requests he was getting from the other occupants of the stables. He bid Blackjack farewell and trudged through the empty strawberry fields, not a satyr in sight, and finally made his way back to his cabin wondering what the hell was happening, though that lingering feeling of him forgetting something still lurked in the back of his mind. That's when something caught his eye, and when he bent down to investigate he found a trail of blue glitter going off in a seemingly random direction. Knowing that he could do nothing else but follow it, the son of Poseidon took off down the path. Was he going to face a monster who, when they died, blew up into blue glitter rather than golden dust? Had the Hecate cabin accidentally enchanted the glitter at the arts and crafts cabin to come alive and eat everyone? Percy shuddered at the thought and kept Riptide raised as he wove through the mess hall and followed the trail of glitter down to the beach. Why the beach?
Percy was so consumed in his thoughts that he scared half to death when suddenly a chorus of voices shouted, "SURPRISE!" He stumbled back, waving Riptide frantically, and fell back on his butt. Much to his delight and disgust, he was engulfed by a tidal wave of blue glitter; it was pretty, but he'd probably be washing it out of his hair for days now. He looked up to see every demigod he'd ever had the privilege of knowing standing in front of him, and they all war similar expressions of amusement. Percy looked past the assembled group to see streamers, balloons, and other party favors decorating the beach, and a pile of presents was pushed off to the side.
"Wha-?" Percy asked, bewildered, and Annabeth broke away from the group to help haul him to his feet.
"Please don't tell me you forgot your own birthday," she groaned, casting her eyes heavenwards as if she was asking the gods why she was stuck with a total moron for a boyfriend. Oh. That's what he'd been forgetting. "Otherwise I'll take off my shoe and beat you with it."
"Then I won't tell you," Percy replied, a bit startled. He most certainly didn't want to be beaten by Annabeth's shoe. Leo muttered something frightened-sounding, and from the Spanish that Percy had picked up from working with him and Reyna, he seemed terrified about "la chanclas".
"Come on, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth chided and began dusting him off, making a disgusted sound when she realized that he hadn't brushed his hair. She fixed it up with a few quick swipes of her hands. "By the way, we found a message written in the sand from your dad saying happy birthday. He couldn't be here, though 'cause he said he had a problem to deal with. And Reyna had to stay behind to run Camp Jupiter and make sure that the civilians were okay so she says happy birthday, too."
"I'll iris message her later. In the meantime, let's swim!" A chorus of cheers went up from the crowd and the sounds of hundreds of demigods stampeding towards the waves couldn't've possibly been more exciting. Just as Percy was about to join them, he felt a hand on his arm and was surprised to see Jason worrying his lip in between his teeth.
"Hey…um…is your dad going to kill me for getting on his home turf?" he asked, his brow furrowing with his worry. "I kinda don't want to die."
"Of course not. Don't worry," Percy assured, "Unlike your dad, my dad isn't like that." Jason seemed completely fine with the jab at his father, and gave him a lopsided grin. Before they could dive in and join the others, Annabeth bustled through them and fretted over the fact that Percy didn't have a bathing suit, but the son of Poseidon assured her that he wouldn't get wet and could swim just as easily in his regular clothes, and with that he tackled Jason by the waist right as a wave broke over them.
"Jackson, you little shit-" the son of Zeus began, but he was clobbered by another wave that may or may not have been engineered by Percy so that it was ten times bigger than normal. The day went on like that. People played chicken and Marco Polo, gifts were opened, and the best gift by far had to be the one that Frank, Hazel, Jason, Piper, and Leo had all chipped in to get him. It was a huge, clear surfboard that looked like water was floating inside, and it had a huge trident emblazoned where the logo of the manufacturers would usually be.
"Whoa!" Percy breathed as Piper handed the surfboard over to him. It was smooth to the touch, and he couldn't help running his hands all over it because he just couldn't manage to get enough of the feeling. Despite that, he felt little ridges that would make sure that he wasn't going to slip and slide once he got on it. "You didn't have to!"
"Of course we did," Hazel retorted, crossing her arms, but despite her stern tone, her eyes were sparkling. "Everyone's birthday had to be extra-special this year because it's the anniversary of Gaea's defeat."
"Are you going to try it out?" Frank asked, giving a childish little bounce. "The waves seem good today, but then again you could just conjure the good waves yourself." Percy smiled sheepishly at his friends, rubbing back of his neck.
"I've never actually went surfing," he confessed, and everyone exchanged disbelieving looks.
"You've got to be kidding me," Leo scoffed, "The son of Poseidon not being able to surf? Who would've thought?"
"Hey, I just never seemed to have the time," Percy defended. That was a bit of a lie, considering his and his mom's beach house that they constantly visited when he was younger, but he didn't want to go off and tell his friends that he'd never had the money to afford a surfboard, much less an apartment big enough to stash it somewhere. Annabeth's knowing look told him that she was well aware of this fact, but he didn't really mind.
"Don't worry, you'll probably be a natural at it," Piper assured. "My dad and I always went surfing together, and I can teach you." That day had to be one of the best birthday ever. Most of the time was spent learning how to surf, and it was no surprise that he easily got the hang of it, though if he said that wasn't cheating he'd be a complete and total liar; while most had issues with balance, Percy manipulated the water to make sure that he got the smoothest ride possible.
"Great job!" Will called out, in the process of dunking a very disgruntled-looking Nico, who Percy was surprised had even come into the water at all. It must've taken some severe heckling on Will's part to make him even go near the water. Percy gave them both a thumbs up as he rode a wave in and deposited the surfboard off to the side with the other presents so he could have some fun with his friends. He and Jason wrestled like no tomorrow, and Jason still didn't give up despite the fact that Percy was in his element and beat him every time. He jumped the waves with Hazel and Frank, chatted with Piper and Leo, and in general hung out with Annabeth, occasionally picking her up and tossing her into the water for no reason except to her indignant shout as she hit the water.
Yup, it was a pretty damn good day.
Until suddenly it wasn't.
The water suddenly became ten degrees colder, the calm aqua of it turning into a stormy grey as the sky clouded over. Percy was just in the middle of joining Will in the fun of dunking Nico when he felt the eerie presence in the water, and he felt shivers racing up and down his spine as the powerful feeling of wrongness washed over him. The waves suddenly became wild, frothing and churning, and the startled cries of campers were echoing all around as they too caught on that something wasn't quite right. One would've thought that it was Poseidon's doing, that the god was somehow mad and was taking it out on the demigods, but Percy knew without a doubt that this wasn't caused by his father.
"Percy, what's happening?" Hazel squeaked, already wading out of the water with Frank not far behind her. Many others got the hint and decided to get out as well, but Percy lingered, his eyes scanning the horizon critically as the clouds blotted out the sun, swathing the beach in shadow. Jason opened his mouth to undoubtedly repeat Hazel's question, but Percy held a finger to his lips, his eyes scanning the water. I could feel the worry radiating from everyone, and despite the fact that most of the campers had retreated to the safety of the shore, many of them stayed, somewhat curious, but still frightened all the same. Annabeth waded up next to him and put her hand on his arm, her expression a mixing bowl of puzzlement, concern, fear, and mild interest all rolled into one, but that's when Percy saw it; several spines peeking out from the water that dipped below the surface mere seconds after he spotted them. He got a glimpse of a huge, scaly body and his heart began to roar in his chest.
"EVERYONE OUT OF THE WATER!" Percy bellowed just as a spine-tingling roar ripped through the air. A chorus of shrieks rose from the demigods as people desperately scrambled to get out of the water, and despite her shouted oppositions Percy shoved Annabeth towards Piper, who grabbed her arm and hauled her from the water. Another roar shook the earth to its very foundations, and never in his life had Percy felt so utterly terrified; this was a sneak attack, an attack on his home base, and all of his friends were here and unarmed. His breath sawed in and out of his chest as he dove towards the shore, and he reached out his arms as he called to his power, which surged up to meet him as the water heaved and pushed the stragglers onto the sand, where they scrambled for purchase and watched Percy with wide eyes. Belatedly, Percy realized that he was really far out, much farther out than what he'd first thought, and he began his mad swim towards the land as his friends screamed out to him. Using the water to propel him forwards, he was about ten yards away from the beach when everyone on the shore screamed in terror.
Percy turned around, slowly, and was faced with the sight of a huge head rising from the surface, waterfalls streaming from its face as it regarded Percy with three sets of eyes, all of them glowing blue. The very head itself must've been as large as a luxury yacht, wreathed with a halo of twisted horns, and its snow-white scales were blinding even with the sun covered up. So much so that Percy had to shield his eyes. Using a little estimation, Percy concluded that the thing must've been longer than a city block, and he swallowed hard as the sea serpent regarded him with a sort of detached interest, like the interest one might take in a delectable-looking meal. Percy swallowed hard when he realized that he was the meal. He drew Riptide from his pocket, suddenly very much glad that he'd been wearing his clothes and not his bathing suit, and the beast seemed to balk a little at that, and the son of Poseidon didn't dare make a move as it watched him. And then, with a snarl, it spread the fans on its neck like some sort of frilled lizard and let out a piercing shriek that wasn't at all friendly-sounding.
"Get out of there, Percy!" Jason bellowed, his hand sparking, but Percy knew that his friend couldn't attack unless he wanted to electrocute Percy as well. As much as he loved water, Percy hated the fact that it was a near-perfect conductor of electricity. Percy would've "gotten out of there", but that's when the serpent lunged, and Percy ducked under the water just in time as a huge mouth, lined with glinting razor sharp teeth, chomped down on the spot where Percy had just been. The sea was swept into a raging turmoil as the serpent abandoned its stealth in favor of brute strength, and Percy realized, to his horror, the fact that it was intelligent enough to have used its mass to send the currents sweeping Percy into the deeper parts of the ocean, where it wouldn't have to worry about getting stuck in the shallows.
His friends were near specks as they panicked and ran to get their weapons, and with a jolt Percy realized that, unless they managed to hitch up some pegasi to a chariot in record time, there was no way that they could help him. Besides, the stables were incredibly far away from the beach, and nobody, not even Chiron with his horse limbs, could get there in time. He had to face this thing alone. The sea serpent was circling him, surrounding him in the coils of its long, thick body, and Perseus felt his heart jackhammer in his chest when he realized he'd have to get under the armor-like scales to wound it. He manipulated the water so that he had something solid to stand on and wasn't floating around helplessly, and raised his sword.
"You want some? Come and get some!" Percy yelled, and the sea serpent replied by surging towards him, the waves roiling and leaping with its every movement. Percy thought that he was fast in the water, but this serpent was impossibly faster, to the point where it might as well be coasting through air. The water seemed to part for it before it even reached the spot, and that was something that made Percy realize that this monster had just as much control over the ocean as he did. Percy called to his power, and it responded in kind, however the water wasn't doing anything. Whenever Percy tried to level a tsunami in the serpent's direction, it transferred as nothing more than a ripple, and the son of Poseidon tossed into the air like a ragdoll by the monster's huge head. He was vaguely aware of the sensation of falling, and he hit the water with dizzying force, struggling to remain on his feet as he charged towards the writhing creature.
As the sea serpent came around for another attack, he swung his sword in what would've been a lethal arc for any normal brute, but the Celestial Bronze glanced off of the scaly armor with a metallic clang. The serpent charged towards him, its body undulating as it propelled itself forwards at impossible speeds, and once again tossed Percy into the air. The demigod wondered why it hadn't eaten him yet. It'd had plenty of good opportunities, but yet it continued to just throw Percy into the air over and over again. Percy realized with a jolt that it was playing with him. No, not in the cutesy way; he was playing with Percy like a cat would do before it had the little mouse for its dinner. Whenever Percy tried to get away, tried to get back to shore where his friends were frantically loading fiery crossbows and catapults, there was the sea serpent, herding him out to sea. Any wave that he could've summoned had abandoned him, and he felt his powers working, but the water just wouldn't respond. There was a bigger presence there. A stronger alpha.
The sea serpent continued to toy with Percy for what felt like hours, and the son of Poseidon's heart sank whenever the fiery arrows and hunks of coal set alight pinged off of the monster's scales and fell uselessly into the water with dejected plops. The sea serpent ignored them almost dutifully, too concentrated on trying to see how high it could whip Percy into the air, and the current record was about fifty yards, much to Percy's horror. The demigod was getting dizzy with all of the manhandling he was being subjected to, and then with a jolt it suddenly came to him; this was the "problem" that Poseidon had been handling, the problem that had prevented him from giving Percy a birthday salutation in person. His stomach dropped like a leaden ball, but it wasn't because he was careening back to the ocean surface after a particularly hard toss on the serpent's part; it was because it meant that Poseidon had been overcome by the serpent. It was really the only explanation as to why his dad wasn't here kicking the serpent's butt.
He felt like he was going to go unconscious with the realization. This thing was powerful enough to defeat gods and he was going up against it alone. Nobody was going to rescue him. He was just raising his sword in a weak attempt to defend himself when suddenly a horrifyingly familiar voice rang out loud and clear, "Down, Oceanus!" The sea serpent halted almost immediately, curling its body around Percy almost lazily as its head turned towards the source of the sound. And there, standing on a small raft that had appeared out of nowhere, was Polybotes. Percy blinked and suddenly the giant was lounging in the pace in between Oceanus' eyes, and the sea serpent seemed totally cool with that as it lowered its head so Polybotes could come face to face with the son of his biggest rival.
The rivulets of water that were still streaming from Oceanus' head immediately turned to poison as Polybotes touched it, and despite the fact that the beast seemed to be unaffected, its six eyes watched the poison warily as it dribbled into the water and began to cloud it like a terrible stain. Percy swallowed hard as the giant regarded him, his eyes glinting with something that was so much more terrible than malice, something so pure and dark that Percy couldn't even find the words to describe it.
"What do you want, Polybotes?" Percy demanded, assuming a defensive position. It at least gave him the illusion of security, what with the giant serpentine body circling around him and the powerful giant that should be dead working in tandem with it.
"I have a bone to pick with you, sea brat," Polybotes snarled, twirling a huge serrated dagger in his fingers.
"No shit, Sherlock," Percy retorted, his tone trying for 'brave hero' but instead getting 'I'm-about-to-pee-my-pants-please-help'. "Get to the point." Polybotes let out a low growl, which was magnified by tenfold as Oceanus echoed it, the deep bass rumble of the sound making the water around Percy vibrate and ripple wildly.
"Someone resurrected me specifically, but only because I may be the one who hates you the most," Polybotes replied smoothly, his voice like honey-coated poison. "This certain someone despises you more than anything, and therefore, using their all-encompassing power, teleported me back to the mortal world. I'm here to fulfill my promise from all those years ago."
"I've followed your progress, son of Neptune," said Alcyoneus. "Your fight with Kronos? Well done. Gaea hates you above all others…except perhaps for that upstart Jason Grace. I'm sorry I can't kill you right away, but my brother wishes to keep you as a pet. He thinks it will be amusing when he destroys Neptune to have the god's favorite son on a leash…"
"I will take you prisoner, Percy Jackson," Polybotes snarled. "I will torture you under the sea. Every day the water will heal you, and every day I will bring you closer to death."
"What promise?" Percy scoffed, despite the fact that blood was roaring in his ears and his heart was slamming against his ribcage. That promise had plagued him in his dreams for months after the battle with him at Camp Jupiter had ended, and there was no way in hell that he could've ever forgotten it.
"I don't think I have to spell it out for you," Polybotes replied softly, his voice sharp like a blade. He snapped his fingers and everything went black.
-Ω-
(A/N) Hello, everyone. I'm Iwovepizza and I've adopted this story 'Save Me' from Christmascookie26. It may not be the same as what you've read, since I went back and added stuff to make it a bit longer and more detailed. Just a note that this will take a very, very dark turn in the future. Hope you liked it! Don't forget to follow/favorite and review, please.