Hello guys.
First of all, thank you all so much for the follows and favorites and reviews. That really brightens my day, and I desperately need that between all this studying.
Well, here is the second chapter. It is fairly long, and I explained a lot of stuff in it, but briefly. I hope it is all clear. Off course I will elaborate on things in the future, but let me know if it is too unclear now.
Also, I was asked who Percy's parents were. At first I figured Poseidon, but I changed it. See if you can figure it out. You probably won't :)
Also, somebody told me not to make him too powerful, and I wasn't planning on doing so. His divine parent isn't more powerful then the Olympians, and he obtained some extra abilities, but most of them are useless in everyday life - like summoning black marble?
And for the pairing. I have one option, but it is really unusual. I need to know if you guys are up for it, or if you want a more common pairing. Either way, the pairing won't be very important for the plot.
I hope you enjoy it.
IMPORTANT: I chanced some things in this chapter. I wrote them in bold letters. It's not much, but is was fairly important for his back story.
P.s. I know, I know, but I promise another update will follow soon.
The conference room, if you had to call it that, was strange, to say the least. There was a ping pong table in the middle of the room, with the balls and paddles still lying on it. Mismatched chairs stood around it, and above the mantelpiece hung a stuffed leopard head that was snoring softly.
Various pictures decorated the walls and pink polka dot curtains hung next to the open windows.
Chiron stood at the head of the table and was busy lowering himself into some sort of chair Percy couldn't recall the name from. His white horse half slowly disappeared into it until he was at eye-level with the girl, Rachel, who was sitting on one of the chairs.
"Perseus," Chiron addressed him once he was sat. "Sit down."
Percy looked at the chairs around the table. He wanted to take the black one, since it reminded him of the underworld, but he decided against it. He took the chair opposite of the girl and right of Chiron. Percy looked at Rachel. She looked fierce, but not in the 'I can totally kick you butt' kind of way. More like the 'you don't scare me, I have seen worse' way.
"Hello." He held his hand out to her. She shot a glance at Chiron, but took his hand.
"Good evening," she responded. Her voice as warm as honey.
Percy smiled. He knew he would like her. Now, if she would like him was a different question, but he hoped she would.
"I am Perseus," he released her hand. He wanted to say she could call him Percy, but he decided against it. He needed to know if he could trust her before he told her his nickname.
"Pleasure to meet you," the redhead said. "I'm Rachel, the Oracle of Delphi."
Ah, so that is why she was here. Percy had thought it strange that Chiron asked a random camper to come with them.
"Yes," Chiron said. Percy and Rachel looked at him. "She is here because she had a strange feeling for the last couple of days, and she things you are the reason."
Percy looked at the Oracle. So she had dreams about him. Seriously, if they showed hi in a good light, the Fates were truly way to obvious with their planes for him.
"Yeah," Rachel leaned forward and rested her elbow on the ping pong table. "I had some dreams about you. How you were going to help us win this war. You do know of the war, right?"
Percy nodded. "Yes, but I know nothing of 'helping you win this war'."
"Yes, you are one of the seven, and you will play a big part in the final fight between the gods and the giants."
Percy frowned. He was one of the seven. He didn't want to be one of the seven. The seven were just useless and replaceable paws that the gods would discards once the war was won. Percy knew he needed to help, but he hoped it could be from the sidelines, not the front line that acted as bait.
"Who are the others?" he asked.
"Jason, the son of Jupiter you already met, I believe," Chiron said.
Percy nodded.
"Piper, a daughter of Aphrodite and Leo, a son of Hephaestus. You already met them too."
They must be the other children he met on the hill. Well, there was one other person.
"And they boy?" He asked.
"No, I don't think he is. That was James, the son of Poseidon. He was the prophecy child of the First Great Prophecy and he didn't want to participate in this one. No, the other one that we know of is Annabeth, a daughter of Athena. We believe that she was sent to the Roman camp, as an exchange, like Jason was send to ours."
Percy nodded. An exchange needed to go both ways, so that made sense.
"And me, too." Percy said. "Which makes five. Who are the other two?"
"We think the other two are Roman demigods and we don't know who yet."
Percy sighed and sat back in his chair.
"And how do we proceed from here, then?"
"Leo is building a flying warship," Rachel started. "It will be finished in, I believe two weeks?" She looked at Chiron, who nodded.
"Yes," he said. "The demigods from the prophecy will take that ship and fly to the Roman camp to pick up the others. Then they will fly to Greece to stop Gaia from wakening."
"Okay," Percy drawled. "And what do I do in those two weeks?"
Rachel looked at her hands. "Ehm, you stay here, I presume." She glanced at Chiron.
Chiron frowned. "I don't think that-"
"Oh, come on," Rachel cut him off. "How else are we supposed to know if we can trust him."
Chiron looked at her for a moment.
"I suppose." He glanced at Percy. "If you could leave us now, Rachel. I need to discuss some things with Perseus if he is to stay here."
Rachel nodded. She pushed her chair back and stood up.
"Well," she said to Percy, "come find me if you need more information." She stalked out of the room, letting the door fall shut behind her.
Percy was not ready to have this conversation with his old mentor. He had just wanted to grab his sword from its hiding place and be on his way, but now he was back at camp and talking to Chiron. He felt like he was 17 again. He felt small and insignificant and nothing like the reputation he gained for himself when he was in Tartarus. He didn't even dare look Chiron in the eye, because he knew he would only find more hatred and disappointment in them, so he stared at his hands. He twirled the ring on his right middle finger over and back again. This would be the second time since his banishment that he talked to his old mentor. During the first time, when the Greek empire fell to the Roman, Chiron had been livid. Percy was actually scared of him then. But after anger would come disappointment, and that is where they were now.
"Perseus?" Chiron asked. Not entirely soft, but less harsh then he had talked to him before.
Percy glanced up, but quickly looked back at his fingers again.
"You know why I treat you like this, Perseus," the centaur started explaining. "You know I worry about the safety of everybody in my camp, and you are a threat to them."
He wasn't wrong. Percy was a threat, he knew that. He was unpredictable and powerful. He could kill people by merely touching them. He could have a mere thought, and his enemies would die violently. He could lift a finger and someone would get an incurable disease. And those powers had only grown in Tartarus. Now he was certain that he could kill a god dead by giving them some obscure infection. Thereby was he a Warrior of the Arena. They were unbeatable. Only two other beings held the same title, one of which was Perses, the owner of the Arena, the other was Atlas, who was in Percy's knowledge still undefeated.
"I need to know if I can trust you," the centaur continued. Percy looked at him again. "I need to know you won't start randomly killing people-"
"It was a mistake!" Well, only the second time was a mistake, the first time was intentional, but Chiron was obviously talking about the second one. That was the time Percy had first unsheathed his sword outside of Tartarus. He hadn't known yet how the sword would react to sunlight, since there was no sunlight in Tartarus. Unfortunately, the sword had killed all the witnesses, so no one could vouch for his inscience about the sword's temper. That incident was also the reason he was banished from camp and sentenced to an eternity in Tartarus.
"We can't know that!" Chiron slammed his hands on the table. The one ping pong ball that laid on the table started to roll towards the edge. "You are a mass murderer, Perseus, and I can't have that in camp."
Percy stared at Chiron. The term mass murderer was something Percy had many times heard before, but he still felt uncomfortable with it.
"You can't harm anyone in any way while you are here or on that quest, Perseus. Am I understood?"
Loud and clear. Under silent protest, but loud and clear. Percy wasn't planning on another massacre, but what is a fight without maiming or killing your opponent.
"I swear on the river Styx I won't kill anyone while I am here, and I won't kill any of the other members of this quest."
Thunder rumbled in the distance, sealing the deal.
"Good," Chiron said in a warning tone.
Percy looked at him again.
"And that sword?" Chiron said. Percy nodded. "You can't use it."
Percy wasn't going to. He wasn't that stupid. He learned from his mistakes. The sword hadn't been used in a long time, and it would release a lot of energy and magic when first unsheathed. Percy would eventually be able to stop it, but have of camp would already be destroyed by then. So Percy nodded once more.
Chiron looked thoughtful at Percy.
"And you can't enter the arena, Perseus," he said after a moment. "You can practice everywhere else, but you can't enter the arena."
Percy stared at the centaur. He understood why he wasn't allowed to enter the arena, but he wasn't happy about it. He was a Warrior of the Arena and was thus bound to the Arena. Whenever he entered another arena, he, and anybody else present in that arena, would be transported straight to the Arena in Tartarus. Worse yet, people outside the arena could actually hear and see into the Arena, which would probably cause major panic here in camp. Also, monsters in the Arena could get out and into the other arena, and thus into camp.
Percy was certain they wouldn't do that, but he decided not to tell Chiron that. The centaur didn't know his status in the Arena, and he didn't have to know it either. Chiron only knew that he was a fighter in the Arena, and Percy could live with that for now.
"Now, where do you want to stay?" Chiron asked him in a lighter voice, as if a weight had lifted of his shoulders. "In the Big House, or in of the cabins, or do you have your own place?"
Percy frowned. He didn't know. Well, he knew he didn't want to stay in the Big House. He didn't have any place of his own. He had just walked straight here since he got out of Tartarus, he hadn't even slept in the past two and a half day. He was just lucky that he had came across multiple rivers on his journey, so he could at least take a bath.
So he could probably sleep in one of the cabins.
"But which one?" he asked.
"Do any of the gods owe you a favour?"
Percy nodded.
"Choose one of them."
So Percy thought of Hades. The god of the Underworld and he had a long history. Hades would help him get out of Tartarus through the entrance, or exit, in the Underworld, and Percy would do an errand for him in return. Percy supposed this could be like that. He needed a place to stay, and Hades could collect his favour later. Percy thought of the god and prayed to him. Hades didn't respond.
"I don't know," Percy said. "I asked Hades, but he didn't respond."
"Ah," Chiron gave a fleeting smile. "Yes, the gods are out of commission. They don't respond to anything at the moment."
"The gods are out of commission?"
"Yes, Lord Zeus closed Olympus. Nobody gets in or out."
Percy thought for a moment. He could probably still use Hades' cabin. He would owe Hades big time, but it would be worth it, hopefully.
Percy nodded. "Yeah, I'll use the Hades cabin. That alright?"
Chiron nodded.
"You can then eat either at the Hades table, my table, or the table where the three sit. And you can participate in whatever events you want, except capture the flag."
"Seriously?" Capture the flag had been one of his favorite games when he still went to camp. He was surprised they still did that.
"Yes. The rules have changed too much for you to not break every one of them, so you can't participate."
"Damnit."
"I know. Now, do you need anything? Food, clothes, shower?"
"Clothes would be nice. And food." Percy couldn't remember the last time he had some nice, human food. The only thing he had eaten yet since he was out of Tartarus were rabbits and fish that he caught while walking to camp. A nice, prepared meal would be welcome. With potatoes and chicken and beef and peas and beans and carrots and tomatoes. Heck he would eat brussels sprouts and like them.
"I will bring some clothes to the Hades cabin. For now, follow me back to the pavilion for dinner." Chiron smiled softly at him. So maybe the centaur didn't totally hate him. Percy stood up and followed his old mentor.
"What the fuck just happened?" Clarisse asked once the boy was out of sight. "You all saw that right?"
Jason had no fucking clue. He had no idea what that was about. Some random dude comes to camp and he can't enter. Then he goes and proceeds to destroy camp property and create a hole in the ground by just moving his hands slightly, only to jump in it and return with some weapon, that was apparently too dangerous to keep on him all the time, otherwise why would he bury it. Now, Jason still hadn't regained all of his memories, but he knew that he had never seen or heard of something like this before in his life.
A girl from the Hephaestus table stood up and walked over to the hole. The dirt underneath it was closed, but the marble was irreparably damaged. Only dust and small pieces of marble were still there. She put her hand on the dirt and pushed down.
"Okay, so it really is closed again. And he really did destroy the marble. What the fudge?"
She poked around the marble some more. "We can't fix that. We will need some more marble."
Two other kids from the Hephaestus table came over and examined the hole. Two daughters of Demeter came forward too.
"Can you sense anything down there?" the daughter of Hephaestus asked. Damn, Jason really needed to start learning their names.
"No," A daughter of Demeter replied. "Everything feels normal."
"Who even was that?" an Apollo camper asked. Jason did know his name, Will.
"Chiron called him Perseus, earlier." Piper said from his right.
Everybody turned and looked at their table.
"How do you know that?" Clarisse snarled.
"We met him on the hill. He asked us to get Chiron for him, so we did. And Chiron called him Perseus."
"Perseus?" Will asked. "Like the son of Zeus? Was he a demigod? Was he new? He didn't look new."
"I know, but I don't think he is that Perseus." Jason said. "But he is a demigod."
"Okay," a girl from the Hermes table said. "But what about the sword? Why was it even there?"
Jason hadn't the foggiest idea.
"Yeah," a boy from the Apollo table said. "And why is Rachel talking with him right now?"
Jason didn't know that either. Seriously, it felt like Hera took his memory all over again, so much did he not know.
Just when they were about to ask more question that wouldn't be answered, Rachel walked back in. Everybody stared at her.
"Hey," she said.
She walked to the Apollo table, where she often ate, and sat down. Everybody was still staring.
"Okay," she looked around, not reluctant, yet not eager either, and sighed. "Fire away."
Clarisse did.
"Who was that?"
"Perseus."
"Do we know him?"
"No. He's isn't that Perseus. I don't know who he is either." She raised her hands defensively.
Clarisse understood. "And why is he here?"
"To collect his weapon." But that wasn't all. She didn't tell the most important reason yet.
"And?" Clarisse asked, also having picked up on that.
Rachel shrank in on herself. "I believe he's one of the seven."
Silence. He was part of the seven. The seven greatest heroes alive at the moment. That was unexpected. But that meant that Jason would have to work close together with the boy. He didn't know if he wanted to. Jason remembered Chiron's reaction to the boy, and it wasn't one that you would have to someone that is trustworthy, more the opposite. Jason didn't know he would want to get to know somebody untrustworthy.
"What?" Will exploded. He shot to his feet. "How is that fair?"
Rachel looked at him. "I don't know, Will, calm down. I just know that I had some dreams about him were he's part of the seven, and my dreams are always true. I even painted him once, standing on the Argo II."
They all considered this. It was indeed unfair to attack Rachel like that, but the demigods were just too curious.
Rachel took a deep breath. "He will stay at camp until Leo finished the Argo II, then he will leave with you three," she nodded her head in their direction, "to the Roman camp and then to Greece. I suggest you are nice to him, because I have a weird feeling about him."
"A weird feeling about who?" a voice suddenly said from the entrance.
Jason snapped his head towards to voice. There stood the boy from earlier, next to Chiron in his wheelchair form in the entrance. How long had they been standing there. Jason had been so interested in what Rachel was saying that he didn't pay attention to anything else.
Rachel, just like everybody else, was also staring at the boy.
"About you," she said after a moment of consideration. "You are strange."
Perseus shrugged. "I know." He looked around and nodded his head to the Hades table. "That the Hades table?"
Chiron affirmed it was.
Perseus was about to walk towards it, but Chiron stopped him.
"Perseus."
The boy turned towards him. "Yes?"
"Are you going to fix that?" Chiron pointed to the hole in the marble. The demigods from before where still standing about it.
Percy looked at the hole for a moment. "I can fix it, but it won't look pretty. Want me to do it?"
Chiron nodded.
Perseus walked to the hole and knelt down. The other demigods gave him some space, but stayed close to the hole. Perseus put his hands on the dirt inside the hole. He nodded once, and slowly and steadily raised his hands. Black marble seemed to rise out of the ground under his hands. Percy pulled his hands up higher and the marble rose to the height of the white marble around it. Well, at least the hole was filled. And it did not look pretty. A random black patch of marble in a random place in the pavilion. Perseus patted the marble once when it reached the right height and pulled his hands away. He stood up and looked at Chiron.
"I warned you," he shrugged.
Chiron frowned. "It will have to do until we find new marble. Go have dinner, boy."
Perseus looked down and clenched his fists. Then he glared at Chiron. It looked like he wanted to say something, but he stopped himself. The boy turned on his heel and stalked towards the Hades table. Nico was probably in the underworld somewhere, so the table was empty.
"Woah," Clarisse said. "Are you a child of Hades?"
Perseus sat down with his back to the wall, so he could see everything going on in the pavilion.
"No," he said with a small grin. "But he owes me, so I can sit at his table."
"He owes you?" Will asked. "How did you manage that?"
Perseus looked over at him. His small grin grew into a full blown smirk.
"Wouldn't you like to know?"
Will turned bright red. What was that about.
Perseus laughed softly. A nymph brought his food, and Perseus immediately dug in. You would think that he hadn't eaten in days, that is how fast he practically inhaled the food. The nymph brought him another plate.
"Okay," Clarisse said. She looked disoriented. Jason felt the same. "But where were you during the last war?"
Perseus didn't look up from his food for a moment. Finally he glanced up at Chiron, who had rolled himself towards his table and was enjoying a glass of orange juice.
"I was in the underworld," he said. "Working for Hades."
That made sense. If he worked for Hades, the god would owe him. So it all added up.
Clarisse looked convinced too. But they weren't done interrogating him.
"Can I just eat first?" Percy asked her. "Then you can finish you cross-examination."
Clarisse nodded curtly. Everybody returned to their own food.
Jason turned around so he was sitting right in his chair again and looked at Leo and Piper.
"He's one of the Seven?" He whispered to them.
"Seems like it,' Piper responded softly.
"Yeah," Leo said. "He's weird. What are his powers anyways? And if he isn't of Hades, then who's is he?"
Jason didn't know. Which god could move the earth and summon only black marble. It made no sense.
"But we need to work with him," Piper said.
"I don't know if we can trust him, though." Jason moved his peas around with his fork. "You saw how Chiron reacted to him. What if he's a traitor?"
'We first need to get to know him," Leo said. "Maybe he isn't so bad."
Leo had a point. He shouldn't judge people who he didn't even know based on the opinions of others. Jason knew that, didn't mean he liked it. He glanced at Perseus again, and saw that the boy just finished another plate. He snapped his fingers, and the nymph came over again. Percy said something to her, and she materialized. The two started talking.
Jason looked back at his friends with his eyebrows raised. They just shrugged and started eating again.
Okay, I hope the explanation on the Arena was clear? I will elaborate on it more later, but for now? And the rest?
Please let me know if you want the unusual pairing or not.
Well, let me know what you think.
