*clears throat* Is this thing on? Hello? Can you all hear me?
AH! AH, OKAY! I get it, you can stop yelling at me now! Jeez! I'm sorry I woke your cat! :p *lowers volume*
ANYWAY. We're here! Welcome to the start of The Kidnapped Hero Trilogy: Fragmentation! 8D We've got a long road ahead of us. I can't wait. :D I love my new headquarters. It's amazing, and so much more roomy. You should have seen the one I got for the last volume. It was practically a broom closet. :P But now it's niiiice and spacious. :D Oh, and by the way, this chapter required quite a bit of research. Interesting how although its existence was alluded to in The Last Olympian, the monster in this chapter was never actually seen or mentioned by name in the series. So that gives me room to improvise. xD
DISCLAIMER: If I owned the rights to PJO, would Scholastic let me do this? I kind of doubt it. I doubt they would let me let some monster from book one come back and slice our hero to pieces, then drive one hero insane and make another become depressed, and then use the slight gore reference in this chapter. No, Scholastic would look at me like I was nuts. Which I am. So no, guess I don't own rights. D:
So, without further ado, let us begin!
WARNING: YOU MUST READ THE FIRST AND SECOND INSTALLMENTS OF THIS TRILOGY BEFORE PROCEEDING. OTHERWISE, YOU WILL BE COMPLETELY LOST. Just thought I'd let you know if you're a newcomer. xD
~THE KIDNAPPED HERO TRILOGY 3: FRAGMENTATION~
I: Obligation
{DAY FOUR}
GPOV:
Grover! Grover, can you hear me?
"Ummgh … what?"
Grover! Grover, say something!
"Percy?"
Yes! Oh, thank the gods. Tell me you've found Annabeth!
Where was I?
Trees to my left. Street to my right.
Oh, gods … my head … what the Hades happened to it?
Annabeth … where was Annabeth?
Annabeth … my head …
Things slowly started to come back to me. She'd – she'd knocked me out!
Grover?
"Uh, yeah … Annabeth, she … she's gone."
What? What do you mean? Oh, no –
"Oh, no, not that – but … she left. I had her … I was talking to her. But there's something wrong with her, Perc. She's losing it without you. She's kind of going crazy."
Crazy? Like, worried?
"No, like … crazy. Going insane."
Annabeth? Going insane? You're not serious, are you? No, wait – that can wait. I have to tell her something NOW.
"But she's not here, Percy. She knocked me out and drove off."
She's not still coming to find me, is she? Wait, she knocked you out?
"Uh … yeah. We kind of had an argument. But yeah, she is. I'm sorry, Percy. But you should have seen her. Nothing could have stopped her. It was nuts."
Oh, gods, no. This can't be happening. No!
"Percy, what's wrong?"
Echidna, she … she's going to make me kill Annabeth.
"What? How?"
She's going to leave, and when Annabeth comes, I have to kill her. If she comes back and I'm gone or Annabeth is alive, she'll go to camp again and kill everyone she can get to. You have to stop Annabeth, Grover!
"But … how do I find her?"
I don't care! Just do it! Drive a hundred miles per hour if you have to! Follow the road she probably would have taken. Catch up to her, and stop her. Whatever it takes! And whatever you do, don't go back to camp. It's not safe there anymore. Iris message Chiron. Maybe he'll know what to do.
"Okay. That, I can do."
Thanks. If Annabeth never comes, Echidna's plan is ruined.
"Why does she want Annabeth dead?"
To get to me. And it's working. She's been torturing me, Grover. Physically and mentally.
"Torturing? What do you mean?"
Like, she's been cutting me up. Hurting me. But –
"WHAT?"
But that's not important. Annabeth cannot get here, Grover. Please.
Not important? "Dude –"
Please, Grover! Stop her!
I grunted. Percy always was persistent. "You got it."
APOV:
Percy. Percy. I had to get to Percy.
My hands were shaking on the wheel. I had to think about Percy. Otherwise –
How could you DO that? You knocked out your friend and left him on the side of the road! You're horrible!
The thought was killing me. I wasn't that crazy, was I?
Crazy.
Crazy.
"I'm beginning to get a little worried about you."
"Seeing the state you're in, I don't know if it'd be wise for you to rush into a battle. I think you're getting a bit too desperate. You're starting to lose it."
Grover thought I was insane.
You are insane! my mind shouted. I cringed. And you heard what Grover said!
"Annabeth, Echidna's plan requires you to make it there. She wants you. She needs you. He doesn't know exactly what her plan is yet, but he knows that you're a key piece. If I go and you don't, she doesn't get you. She'll fail, and you can see him safely once we get back to camp."
He wants you to stay back! Percy doesn't want you to come!
"I have to come," I said aloud. "I will rescue him."
No! You know they're right. You know it!
"NO!" I screamed. "I'm saving Percy! That's final!"
What are you becoming?
Tears spilled and began falling. The question swirled around in my head. I gripped the wheel more tightly.
You're a monster, it told me. You're nothing.
Grover didn't want you – he wanted to go alone. Percy doesn't want you – he wants you to stay at camp.
You're a failure, it said. You're nothing to them.
Nothing ...
A sound began to press at me like a dagger, the tip pushing against my skull, getting progressively more forceful, as the sharp pain it summoned grew. What was that? It was loud.
I tried to concentrate on it. My focus was scattered, my patience shot. Eventually I was able to tell ... it was a siren. Getting louder.
I glanced in the mirror. Cops! What did they want?
They stayed on me. Was it me they were chasing?
I checked the speedometer. 112 miles per hour.
What, these police can't handle a little speed?
Groaning and grumbling, I pulled the truck over to the side of the road and hit the brake. I rolled down the window as an officer approached the car. He didn't look happy. "Do you know how fast you were going?" he exclaimed before he had even reached the door.
I sighed. Oh, gods.
I cleared my throat. "Listen, officer ... I'm really sorry for speeding, but –"
"Speeding? Going seventy miles an hour above the limit is not speeding, madam – it's just insane! You're in loads of trouble now."
Great. This guy wasn't in a very good mood. He seemed rather furious.
I can't afford this delay! I have to get out of here.
"Listen, sir, I'm sorry, but you –"
BADOOM.
The cop's attention was suddenly diverted to the back of the truck; so was mine. From what we could see, no one was there. He looked baffled. "What the?"
Turning his head to me, he gave me a stern "You'd better stay put while I check this out, now;" when I nodded, he started slowly walking to the back of the truck. I heard him holler, "Hello?"
As soon as he couldn't see me anymore, I reached for the rear-view mirror and tried to get a good look at whatever had hit me. I couldn't see anything, so I just sat and tried to think of what to do. I could drive off now, but he must have gotten my licence plate number, right?
Who cares? my mind asked. Just drive. DRIVE. This'll be fun...
Just when I was about to start moving –
"Aaagh! What is –?"
ROAA–
"AH!"
Screams came flying toward me, as well as the sound of – something. Something not human. The truck jolted once, twice. The screams became muffled, and then died out. Soon the other sounds ceased as well, and then silence reigned.
What just happened?
A monster, I knew.
Probably another child of Echidna.
Echidna.
Echidna.
She took him ... She's the one that stole him ...
My breathing began to quicken. My hands started shaking on the steering wheel, where at some point they had begun gripping it tightly, so much so that I was starting to feel pain now that I had noticed them.
She took him from you ...
She's the one that started this.
She's to blame.
And her child is right outside this truck.
I subconsciously reached for my dagger. I undid the seat belt. My eyes grew wild.
Kill the child ... Kill it ... Make her hurt.
Take her loved one away from her, just as she did to you!
I threw open the door and leaped from the truck.
The cop was gone.
Knife ready, keeping flat against the truck, I slowly made my way to the back. When I whirled around the corner, I saw a quick flash of black feathers going around to the other side. I also saw a pair of feet. "Officer...?"
As I made my way around, I saw that the feet led to legs, which led to a body ... the body of the policeman. There was evidence that something was missing from inside him. I tried not to cringe at the sight.
I heard rustling. My head snapped to attention. Nothing.
"Show yourself!" I called.
A black wing stretched out from the other end of the car. It was huge.
Suddenly the thing stood at full height, and I saw how massive it truly was. It towered above me from the other side of the truck, four stories high at least, and its wingspan could have encompassed seven of my trucks lined in a row. Its feathers were jet black.
The Caucasian Eagle, I recognized. Aetos Kaukasios.
Its beak was bloody. Had it eaten something from inside the cop?
...Never mind. I didn't want to know.
Kill it. Kill it. You killed Orthus, but that was not enough. KILL THE EAGLE!
I brandished my dagger, but instantly I knew I had a problem. Stabbing the thing might be difficult.
Its huge head came whizzing down. I barely had time to jump backwards out of the way before it slammed into the back of my truck. When it pulled away, there was a huge indent in the metal. I was glad it hadn't broken it.
It ducked its head down again, and its huge beak nearly caught me; I ran to the left, but I tripped before I could get very far.
The eagle lifted its head partly, then dove it down again. I rolled toward the truck, and it slammed its beak into the ground.
I stood quickly. Running to it, I managed to swing my knife forward into it successfully as it pulled away; as the monster pulled its head up, I held my dagger in place, enlarging the damage. I grinned maniacally as it cawed.
It snapped its head away from me, causing some ichor to fly through the air, and let loose a shrill cry.
Uh oh.
...Kill the eagle?
A giant talon cut through the air directly in front of my face. The thing had nearly stepped on me.
Okay. Scratch that. GET IN THE CAR. GET IN THE CAR. GET IN THE CAR!
This time, I willingly obeyed the voice in my head. I threw the passenger's side door open and hopped in, sliding through to the driver's seat.
Let's ride.
I slammed my foot down on the gas. The car lurched into motion, speeding away from the monster.
The eagle started running after me.
Drive. Drive. Drive. Drive.
Get out of there!
But just when I thought it might catch up with me –
– it stopped.
The Caucasian Eagle stopped chasing me.
And then it flew away.
I watched in awe through my window. Where was it going?
It's running away! IT'S SCARED! KILL THE EAGLE!
But the eagle was flying in the opposite direction. I had to stay as focused as possible. I had to overcome this craziness.
I had to reach Percy.
Whatever the cost.
First chapter done! 8D
...And it's a day late. Shoot. Sorry, guys. :/
But, hey, it's 2:30 in the morning here. You'd better be glad I'm staying up this late to type it. ^^
Now, I think I'll get me some sleep and revise and post this in the morning. Knowing me, this late at night, half of what I've written will make no sense tomorrow. xD (And I was right, too. Here's an example: "The car lurched into motion, speeding away from the car." Hmm. Something tells me you might have a problem with that. AAAAHHH! WHY DOES THE STUPID THING KEEP FOLLOWING ME? GEET AWAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY! ...Hmm. Actually, I can just see Annabeth screaming her head off at the back of her truck, telling it to stop following her from the front of the truck. xDDD But I don't think she's quite that crazy yet. xD)
So, what else is there to say? Enjoy Fragmentation, read my new FictionPress poem ... yeah. That's it. xD
Well, byby. :D
