Here is chapter two! hope you like it!
As always, leave your reviews! They motivate me to continue writing and I love hearing your feedback, constructive criticism, and overall impressions.
Now, on with the story!
Disclaimer: I do not own PJO or HoO, I only own my OC's and plot ideas.
The wind whipped through the trees, whistling like an owner calling its dog back to the home before the night of a storm. It breathed through the vines, leaves, grass, and shrubbery, as if the foliage was sentient, moving as humans do. The fragrance drifting out of the flowers left a soothing aroma in the air, letting anyone around know that everything was going to be alright. There was nothing to fear. An easy fallacy to buy into, but a fallacy nonetheless.
"Stay on guard," Annabeth said. Percy and Orion nodded, the three of them trekking through the woods of Montana, heading south towards Yellowstone. Percy was asked by his masters to assess his son's readiness for the field, and Percy recommended restarting the search for the Primordials that had been on hiatus since Zade and Thalia's disappearance would be the perfect test for Orion. Not only that, but these types of quests were better with three people, and with Adrastos having his hands full at Camp, Orion was the natural choice to accompany his mother and father.
There were few Primordial Gods still around, as over the eons the vast majority had faded. However, four major Primordials remained dormant, their presences hidden in the world. Tartarus and Erebus thought it worthwhile to search for four in order to stir them from their slumbers and awake them to reclaim the world. With no luck finding Pontus, and without better means to search throughout the oceans for him, the natural second Primordial to find was Phusis, Primordial Goddess of nature, with Yellowstone being a natural place to find such a deity.
The three trudged along, stepping over fallen trunks, avoiding the puddles from the last patches of snow-melt from Winter. Percy peered at his son, noticing a change in his pace.
"How are you on water, Orion?" he inquired. Orion rolled his eyes at his father.
"Dad, I'm fine. I've had plenty," he responded in an annoyed tone. Percy pulled the water out of a nearby patch of snow, contorting it with his mind into his son's empty canteen. Percy gave Orion a stern look before urging them all to keep moving. Orion rolled his eyes again, as Percy motioned that he was going to scout ahead a little bit.
When he had left, Annabeth approached her son. She saw so much of Percy in him it reminded her of times before the war. Before everything went to hell. But she too saw herself in Orion, headstrong and stubborn as a pack-mule on a trail, refusing to let up when the conditions became too perilous. She placed a hand on Orion's shoulder.
"Percy is just looking out for you, Orion. He's always been that way for all of his friends. His loyalty doesn't just go away, especially on a mission. You know this, don't you?" she asked. Orion looked around, clearly irritated, knees bouncing with anticipation. He has the ADHD of his father, too, Annabeth thought to herself.
"I get that mom, but I'm not a little kid anymore. I'm eighteen years old for Gods' sake. I knew he wasn't babysat like this when you two were saving the world at this age," he replied. He did have a point, Annabeth noted.
"Yes, but Percy and I pretty much provided for ourselves for the fair amount of our childhood. I ran away from home and lived at Camp for years and Percy had his mom, true, but had to put up with his abusive step-father and had no father figure to look up to. He's just trying to be present for you, Orion. He didn't get to grow up with his dad. None of did," Annabeth said, referring to her Godly parent as well. She seemed to miss her mother, but remember Athena's betrayal at the end of the war. She could never forgive her mother for that.
Orion nodded, his position swayed a little by his mom. He had never been exposed to what had been normal demigod life, especially having parents as monumental in the shaping of the world as his.
"I never really thought of it like that, mom." Annabeth smiled, glad her son's perspective had changed even just a little. Percy returned a few minutes later, with a grim look on his face. He put a finger to his lips, letting them know that silence was of the essence.
"You will not believe this, Annabeth, but in a clearing at the bottom of this hill are two Soldiers of Light talking with the Naiads of the hot springs!" he exclaimed quietly. Annabeth's eyes widened.
"That's impossible! Aether's forces were wiped out by your army after you defeated him," Annabeth said. Percy shook his head, thinking the same thing. Orion looked between the two, clear confusion on his face.
"Is this the same Aether's whose giant greatsword is built into your throne on Olympus?" he asked. His parents nodded, Percy reminding Orion to keep his voice down.
"Yes, but the fact that some of his warriors escaped is dire news. Who knows what they have been up to for the past sixty some odd years. This could be bad, Perce," Annabeth said. The grim look returned to Percy's face, who asked his family to crouch down behand a nearby trunk.
"There are only two of them, but they are incredible soldiers, as you saw at our final battle during the war. I'm also not at my full power, so we can't just steamroll over them. Annabeth, you and Orion will take the larger of the two, and I will try to use the hot spring's water to blind the other one. We'll hide in the shadows as much as we can, but I'm unsure how hidden we will be in their presence. Remember, there are about ten Naiads in this hot spring. Let's make quick work of Aether's warriors so we can try to find out about Phusis from them while avoiding conflict. All clear?" Percy asked. His wife and son both nodded, Orion flashing his pearly whites with excitement. This was his first mission with his storied parents, and he was ready for anything. At least he thought.
Percy, Annabeth, and Orion slowly sneaked their way down the hill, shifting from tree to tree, behind rocks and bushes, moving with the grace and ease of wolves stalking their prey. Light on their feet, they continued to creep down the decline, careful not to snap any branches, displace any large rocks, or attract any attention to their location. They were a dagger heading towards their enemy as the late afternoon sun began to dim, initiating the region's vivid sunset.
The boredom crept in as fifteen minutes passed, and Orion's mind began to wander as they slowly crept down the hill, which could have taken them only a few minutes to get to the bottom of had they no fight to worry about. What would these soldiers fight like? What were the Primordial Gods like? And more importantly, what did his parents fight like in battle? The questions raced through his head, his fingers growing twitchy with anticipation. All these questions and no answers; torture for the hyperactive mind of a demigod and their offspring.
When they finally reached the bottom, Annabeth gestured for the three of them to take cover behind a large rock that had a view of the hot spring. Percy followed behind her and crouched down, gesturing for Orion to do the same. Orion crept over and took his place beside his parents. Annabeth peered around the rock, but to her surprise, no one was there. She turned back and gave Percy a worried look.
"The spring is empty, Percy. Are you sure you saw Aether's soldiers here?" she inquired, skeptical of the entire situation. Percy shook his head in disbelief.
"Honey, there were two of them standing right there twenty minutes ago. They can't be far, so we should stay on guard." Annabeth and Orion nodded, and the three of them started to get up, but Orion suddenly stopped, tapping his parents to do the same. They halted, curiously looking at their son.
"What do you sense?" Annabeth inquired. Orion put a finger to his lips and then pointed to his ears. In the silence, their family could pick up on a buzzing noise, sounding almost like a massive salt shaker as it increased in volume. The air around the hotspring began to get brighter, the illumination became brighter and brighter and—
BANG!
Three flashes exploded by the hot springs, revealing the white and gold tunic and armor outfits of not two, but three Soldiers of Light. The third one, seeming to be the newcomer, was a female brandishing a long spear with Greek writing on the side spelling out The Light in the Darkness For All Mankind. Percy rolled his eyes, before turning to Annabeth and Orion. He patted his son on the back, and gestured for the three of them to listen for a minute to see if they could learn anything from Aether's former soldiers. Percy cloaked the three in the growing shadows as the sunset became dimmer and dimmer, a trick he picked up in the last half century of training. They were unseen to the naked eye, but Percy knew it was unwise to creep any closer to agents of Light itself, as his cover could be made obsolete.
The woman looked around the clearing, seeming to stare into the soul of everything around her, before turning to her fellow soldiers.
"Where are the Naiads you speak of? We have no time to waste!" she urged. The two men exchanged nervous glances and walked over to the hot springs.
"Kyra, Lyndis, are you still here? We've brought our Lieutenant like we said to speak to you and your sisters," one of the men said. The hot spring bubbled, the water growing restless, as a beautiful, naked Naiad emerged from the waters. Another burst up from the springs next to her sister. Orion's eyes widened at their beautiful figures, and he could have sworn he saw another dozen faces on the surface of the water. Annabeth lightly smacked her son on the arm, scowling during the process. Percy bit his lip, stifling a laugh. His boy was all grown up.
"Ah yes, Aether's men have returned to grill us with even more questions. What a lovely way to end this lovely day, isn't it, Lyndis?" the one named Kyra asked. Her sister rolled her eyes.
"Look, lady, we'd love to chat for longer and all, but it's still spring and it's nighttime and we get cold easily. Could you hurry it up with whatever it is you want to talk to us about?" her sister Lyndis said. The Lieutenant of Aether stepped forward, blazing gold eyes darting between the two.
"I don't think you understand the seriousness of the matter. Lady Hemera has been missing for decades since Aether's demise, and we know that Mother Nature can find her for us!" she exclaimed. Annabeth shot a concerned look at Percy, who appeared to be deep in thought.
Lyndis had a confused look on her face. "Are you saying that Gaea can find her for you? I thought she was gone as well?" she asked, innocently. Her sister Kyra masked a smirk, but it was quickly wiped off her face with a serious expression when Aether's Lieutenant banged the butt of her spear on the ground, causing a bright flash of light to pulse through the clearing. Kyra gulped.
"I don't have time for your games! You know I refer to Phusis! Tell us what you know, and we'll be on our way. Hurry, though! They could be here soon!" she ordered out. Percy twisted his head. Who was they? Was it Percy, Annabeth, and Orion? Or someone else? He made a mental note to find out.
"Okay, fine, but don't be disappointed. None of us have even communed with Phusis in millennia. She's probably asleep somewhere like the rest of your Primordial lot. Now, can you leave us be?" Kyra responded, the two sisters beginning to shiver. The Lieutenant looked annoyed, but sighed, nodding at the Naiads. She gestured to her fellow soldiers that she had no further questions for the Naiads. The sisters sank beneath the water, giggling at the male Soldiers of Light on the way down, the contrast with their previously annoyed affect confusing the soldiers. The Lieutenant snapped at them, and they quickly hustled back over to her.
"Damn! We need to find Lady Hemera if we're to kill that bastard and restore the world to balance. Those damn Primordials knew they had to stay out of mortal affairs... Now the reckoning's coming, all thanks to that Percy Jackson," she spat, the air filling with the scent of salt water before Percy's last name even rolled off her tongue. Her eyes widened, as if she knew what that meant. Percy uncapped riptide, gesturing to his wife and son to prepare for battle.
"Here?! He can't be! Hold them off wherever he is! He must not know how to find us!" she barked, as the light around her grew brighter. With a flash, she vanished, as the last traces of sunset slipped behind the Rocky Mountains to the east. The two Soldiers of Aether drew their weapons, looking right at Percy, Annabeth and Orion, the flash from their Lieutenant revealing the three servants of the Dark Primordials.
"Prepare to die, Jackson! You'll pay for what you did to our commander!" one night yelled. Percy laughed, contorting the hot spring's water into a jet that sprayed the other soldier in the face. The hot water burned his skin, his screams echoing throughout the ensuing dusk.
"The only people dying tonight are you two. Annabeth! Orion! Let's show them why messing with the Jackson family is bad news," he said, his wife and son rushing to his side. Aether's soldier who received the burning spring water to the face growled, drawing his white and gold sword and shield, charging at the three. Annabeth and Orion ran up to engage him, Orion parrying a strike aimed at his mother while Annabeth sidestepped, her Celestial Bronze knife, now reinforced with Primordial Obsidian, drawn and ready for action.
Percy charged at the other soldiers with great speed, their blades meeting with a loud CLANG! Percy pushed him back, then feigned a strike at the soldier's head, before redirecting it towards his torso. The Soldier of Light blocked both strikes, counterattacking with ferocity Percy had not faced in a while. He checked himself mentally. Focus, Percy. You're much better than him, you're just out of practice he thought.
The soldier lunged at Percy again, slashing three times at Percy head, sword-arm, and then legs, all of which Percy blocked, although he had to jump over the low strike. He returned with a powerful two-handed strike from above, slashing down at the Soldier of Light with the tremendous force of a colossus. The Aetherian soldier's knees buckled slightly, and Percy knew he had him.
Meanwhile, Annabeth and Orion were double teaming the other soldier, trying to work her way around his more defensive technique. Unfortunately, Annabeth's weapon choice limited her options for head-on combat. She had to rely on Orion to deliver the bulk of their joint attacks, while she tried to slip under the soldier's guard, but with his large shield, that was very difficult to do.
"Orion! Remember your training!" she yelled to her son. Orion nodded, hitting the edges of the man's shield with the flat of his sword, the bulwark reverberating with each strike. He could hear the Aetherian soldier grunting, his arm shaking with fatigue. Orion smiled. Adrastos taught him that move.
After a few more strikes, he rolled to the side of the soldier, prepared to slash at his exposed flank. Turning to defend himself, the Soldier of Light forget about Annabeth, her knife penetrating his back. He coughed up blood, gasping for air, and dropped his weapons. At the same time, Percy had dispatched of his combatant, and made his way over to the fallen, yet still alive servant of Aether. He strolled up in front of him, and took a knee, getting in close to the warrior's face.
"What did your Lieutenant mean when she mentioned a reckoning?" Percy asked, his curiosity flaring up from early. The question had been nagging at him the entire fight. The Soldier of Light's face turned even grimmer than his receding pallor made him appear.
"YOU and your masters made a grave mistake, Jackson. Prepare for the fight of your lives," he gasped out, his heart rate slowing. Percy scowled, and turned to his son Orion.
"Are you prepared to kill this enemy of ours, Orion?" he asked his son, who had not taken another human's life before. Orion gulped and nodded, taking a step forward, sword-hand twitching with excitement. He brought his sword arm up, prepared to swing at the servant of Aether's head. He swung down with great speed, but much to his father's surprise, stopped before he reached the soldier's head.
"I— I don't know if I can do it, dad," he choked out, ashamed. Percy rolled his eyes, quickly bringing Riptide down on the Aetherian soldier's neck, severing it clean off of his soldiers. It bounced off the ground, and rolled towards Orion, his eyelids still twitching like they were alive. Orion looked down at them in horror, turning to Annabeth, his mother, for comfort. She gave him a warm look and hugged him, clearly understanding of his situation. Percy rolled his eyes.
"Orion. You are going to have to take life at some point in the near future. You can't be a warrior and afraid to kill people at the same time," Percy said with strained patience. Annabeth shot him a glare, that said Not now. Percy threw his hands up, frustrated at the both of them.
"It's okay Orion. The time will come when you know you are ready," she said to her son. He nodded to his mom.
"Sorry, dad," Orion said to Percy. Percy threw up his hands again, clearly keeping himself in check by not talking. The only thing he could imagine worse than his masters' wrath was Annabeth. Not even the Wrath-Bringers could scare him like an angry Annabeth.
Percy waltzed over to the hot springs, putting his hand in the warm water, not feeling burned, but rather, refreshed by its properties. The two Naiads quickly popped out of the water, their naked figures gleaming in the moonlight, and looked horrified at the scene.
"Stay away from us, monster! We don't want to talk to you!" the one named Lyndis yelled. Kyra nodded, splashing water on Percy's face. Orion chuckled, and Annabeth held back a giggle. Percy sighed, wiping the water off of his face.
"I just want to talk about Phusis, even though I know that you haven't communed with her in millennia. Just tell me where you think we can find her and I will never bother you, or your sisters, again," Percy said, his patience thinning with each passing second. Lyndis and Kyra sighed in unison.
"Look, we already told them everything we know! She's probably asleep in some ancient grotto like the other Primordials are. We have no idea where! Why should we?" Kyra said, clearly annoyed. Percy, not wanting to kill the Naiads, threw his hands up a third time in defeat.
"Alright, we'll leave. Thank you." The sisters sneered and receded under their waters. Percy turned back to his family.
"Let's head home, shall we? We've been out in these blasted woods and hills for far too long," he said. Annabeth and Orion agreed. As the three prepared to shadow travel to Olympus, Percy couldn't help but think about whatever reckoning was coming for him. There was no way whatever remained of Aether's army could start an insurrection. Could they? And what about Hemera? He hadn't heard that named in years. He had a lot to tell his masters in his debriefing in a few days.
More importantly, the thing the troubled him the most was whoever they was referring to. He shook the feelings aside, and the three of them stepped through the shadows, appearing at Olympus seconds later. After saying their goodnights, Orion went to bed, and Annabeth and Percy stayed up for a few more minutes in the Throne Room, relaxing while staring at the beautiful New York City skyline, lights glimmering in the night.
As if on cue, dread filled their hearts as that warm feeling returned, creeping up their skin like a spider determined to burrow under its victim's skin. They locked eyes in fear, as the heat became blisteringly hot, but, oddly, receded before either one of them felt any strong discomfort. Annabeth and Percy nodded to each other, silently agreeing to hurry to their room before anything else happened. The firepit in the Throne Room crackled in the night, emitting a soothing glow throughout the dark, and now empty, Throne Room.
As they hustled back to their room, Percy couldn't help but feel like he was being watched, and he knew that Annabeth felt the same way.
This was really fun to write! Hope you all enjoyed it.
Liked it? Hated it? Predict something will happen? Let me know in a review! I'd love to read it :)
Next chapter should be up in the next weeek. Stay tuned, everyone!
-PD
