Before I begin:
As much as I would've liked to, I do not own Percy Jackson Characters. They're owned by the amazing Rick Riordan. This is my first fanfic…so give me some constructive criticism! (Not too harsh, please) I already made eleven chapters…but give me some ideas anyway!
Thank you!
Chapter 2: Two Prophecies, A Traitor, Some Monsters In Disguise, and Some Tricks That End In Death.
Jasmine nearly killed me trying to get to Chiron first. But after Travis walked by, in a tank top and shorts, she stopped and trailed behind him. I heard her say, "Hey," and Travis, "Well, aren't you up early." "Um…" "Hey, my cabin is empty. Wanna¾" And I blocked it out after that.
When I came into the Big House, Chiron was immediately awake. He blinked the sleep out of his eyes, and, after I told him about my dream and Annabeth's absence, told me, "You must see the Oracle immediately."
So I walked up. The mummy was, surprisingly, up and said, I have been expecting you.
C…r…e…e…p…y…
Ask, young hero.
"I'd like to receive a quest."
The mummy wavered and spoke:
The maze was once explored at depth
It's contents hidden safely from theft
It must be explored again at length
With the power of three your lives at strength
You seek the girl concealed in shadow
To get her back there will be battle
Along with this the matter of life
Shall be tossed aside; ending in strife.
The mummy fell. She didn't wake.
I walked outside, shaking. The last two lines? Along with this, the matter of life, shall be tossed aside, ending in strife? Very optimistic. Your life will be tossed away because tragedy will strike and you won't want to live anymore. Basically. Lovely.
Chiron glanced at me. "Percy," he said, blankly.
"Um…I'm…ready…"
Chiron nodded. "I'd like to hear the prophecy."
I cleared my throat and repeated it.
Chiron's tail twitched. "I see." He gestured at the cabins. "I'd like you to gather your supplies, choose your companions, and leave immediately. I don't want the campers to feel alarmed."
I nodded. I began to leave when¾
"Percy?"
I stopped.
"The power or three part? It means…well, you take three people, plus yourself."
Oh.
"And…someone has volunteered. All three, actually."
I almost opened my mouth and said, "Annabeth, Grover, and Tyson right?" But then I remembered what the quest was for.
Grover was there. Tyson was there. And¾
WHAT!
Rachel Elizabeth Dare was there.
"I know you'll need me, Seaweed Brain," she said, and it just didn't sound right. "I'm your string."
I grabbed my bag off the table. "Let's go."
I kept walking, into the tunnel by Zeus's fist, and we all fell, straight down, landing in a cup that tilted and slid us down a slide so we plowed into some sand.
Perfect.
"YEE-OUCH!" Grover leapt up, swatting something that clonked Tyson in the head. He picked it up, and popped it in his mouth. "Yummy scorpion," Tyson said.
I stared.
Rachel seemed to be somehow pressed up against me. She breathed in my ear. "How romantic," she whispered.
I scooted away.
I glanced wearily around. There was many passages, but which one?
Rachel chose one with an orange glow. "She's here…I feel it." She drifted down the corridor.
Tyson began to walk, then stiffened. "No," he began, and Grover finished: "Something evil lurks!"
Rachel glared at them. "No! It's fine!"
Tyson whimpered. "No," he whispered. "It's¾"
A earthshaking roar echoed through the orange tunnel. Rocks fell from the ceiling. Rachel glared at Tyson and shouted, "Now look at what you've done!"
"It wasn't his fault!" I said, confused at why Rachel was acting so strangely. Rachel's eyes flared; almost seeming to turn a different color…but I must have imagined it, because suddenly she had my hand and was actually pulling me toward the orange tunnel¾the very one that was crumbling. "C'mon!" Rachel shouted, and Tyson screamed in unison with Grover, "Wait! No! Percy¾"
Walls crashed down. Rocks piled up at the entrance. Grover managed to shout, "Percy! She's not who you think! She smells¾" And the final rock fell.
Rachel glanced at me, her eyes definitely a different color now. They seemed to glow in the orangey light of the tunnel. "Purr-see," she slurred, her hands suddenly shooting out and gripping my arms so hard I yelped. "You know you wan-a!"
I was very disturbed and alarmed and confused. "What?"
"Oh please! That Annabeth act? I know it's all been a lie! And even if it wasn't, well, it will be, soon, oh yes, very soon…" She seemed to be leaning forward…?
Suddenly, Rachel pushed me up against the wall, her breathing hard and heavy. I immediately realized what was happening and tried ton scramble away, but she laughed and said, "Oh, Perseus Jackson, when will you ever learn! Ah ha-ha-ha-ha!"
She placed her lips on mine and I jerked my knee up. It slammed into her stomach and she stumbled backwards, spitting, and I began to run. She screamed in rage. She leapt forward and crashed into me, and I flew into the rocks, face first. I yelled in outrage. I flipped her off me and shouted, "Tyson! Tyson! Help me¾"
Rachel lunged.
I rolled out of the way, and she slammed into the rocks. I expected her to be out cold, but she got back up and said, "I'll get you, one way or another! Why don't you just stop now!" She suddenly rose up into the air and spoke:
"Stop, Percy Jackson!"
I froze against my will. Rachel howled and came onto me, ripping my shirt and my skin with…her claws!
She pushed me down, her eyes definitely a different color now¾gold. She smiled as she tore my shirt off, and began to¾Poseidon help me¾began to…kiss my chest.
She smiled and got on top of me, and I tried to struggle, I really did, I did not want to be here! She smiled and ran a line from the top of my jaw to the tip of my ear, and it finally dawned on me: I was being…well, raped.
I heard Tyson's distant voice: "Almost there, my brother!"Not fast enough.
Rachel smiled evilly and said, "See, you're not protesting¾are you?"
I heard myself say, "No, this is fun."
"Exactly!" Rachel gushed, and kissed me full on the lips.
Grover spoke in my mind: Snap out of it!
What do you think I'm trying to do!
Here: I'll give you a temporary break: One, two, three¾
The spell broke. I leapt up and swatted Rachel aside. She turned around in mid-air and transformed¾HOW!¾into a python that came at me a million miles an hour. She sank her fangs in my neck.
I fell backwards at the force, writhing in pain. Rachel held on, her fangs sinking deeper, and with a twist of horror, I realized something: I was being poisoned and maimed.
Suddenly, the rocks burst, and Tyson was there, his huge brown red with rage. "Get off of Percy!" he snarled, and ripped Rachel from my throat, a tad painfully. He bit¾yes, bit¾down in the middle of Rachel, so she broke in two. She went limp.
Tyson ate her.
Grover said, "WHA!"
Tyson glanced at him. "Bad Red-Head will come later," he assured us. "I didn't really eat her."
Grover didn't look completely convinced.
My vision began to darken. I was at the brink of death when Grover said, "Oh! Ambrosia!" And…mm, cookies…blue chocolate chip…
"Percy!" Tyson stood me up and said, "Are you dead?"
"Uhn…no."
"YAY!"
I groaned, and my vision swirled. Tyson caught me and suddenly I heard a shout. I glanced around and saw two figures rushing toward us in a black smoke. We jumped to the left¾me, more fell¾and the smoke crashed into the wall. It dissipated and Nico and Thalia were upside down against the wall. "Next time," Thalia groaned, "We fly here."
"Thalia! Nico!" Tyson screamed, dropping me to the floor. Thalia's eyes widened and Nico said, "Ah¾CHOO!" and the force blew Tyson backwards. He got right back up and said, "Wow! Big sneeze!"
Thalia stared at Nico. "No kidding," she said.
Nico blushed. "Sorry," he mumbled.
Thalia smiled. "It's okay," she said. "I kind of like it."
Nico blushed harder.
Grover said, "Whoa, satyr in the house! Get a room¾"
Thalia silenced him with a glare. "Shut up, satyr."
Grover looked genuinely hurt. Thalia usually didn't talk so harshly to Grover. He'd never exactly gotten over the whole "Thalia's Tree" thing. Then again, Grover had never teased Thalia so harshly, either.
Thalia didn't say sorry; she might've, she even looked like she was about to say it, when Grover remarked, "I suppose it isn't my fault that some people are just dying to have sex after they've lost so many important years!"
Thalia's face lost color and her eyes widened and her mouth fell slightly open. Thunder rumbled high above. "Why, you little¾!" She lunged forward and Nico caught her by the arms. "Thalia, it's not worth it," he soothed.
"You're right, that not it¾tell me, how'd you do it¾where'd you get the condemns? Or did you just go all natural¾and you're carrying the little di Angelo!"
Nico's eyes blazed with fury. "Okay, now it's personal, you low-life-living goat boy¾"
"Nico!" Thalia's eyes were alive with blue lightning, but she said with a determined voice, "It's not worth it…and we're here to save Annabeth." Her eyes blazed a hole into Grover's forehead. "You'll get yours later," she growled. She brushed her side against Grover and he yelped; he began to smoke.
Nico snickered and followed Thalia. I got up, steadied myself, and went over to Grover. I smacked him so hard he flew into the wall.
"What the Hades is wrong with you?" I ask sharply. He glared coldly at me and said, "She had it coming. I mean, she was just asking for it, flirting with Nico that way¾"
"She wasn't flirting! Did you forget that she's a Hunter!"
Grover paused. "Like that would stop her," he finally mumbled.
"Grover! What is wrong with you?" I snapped. This wasn't like him.
"What do you mean," said a female voice, and I whirled around. Rachel stood there, and she snarled, "That was rude; throwing me to the Cyclopes."
"Yes, so rude," said another female, and I whirled around. AAH! Another Rachel!
"You need to be taught a lesson," Rachel One said.
"Right now," agreed Rachel Two.
"Brace yourself, Percy Jackson!" they said in unison.
"Grover!" I shouted.
"Yeah?" I heard him say, and I whirled to Rachel Two. She flickered to Grover, and back again. "Confused yet, sweetie?"
"No!" I screamed, backing up against the cave wall. "Stay away from me!"
The Rachels came closer, smiling evilly. "Oh Percy…" Rachel One slurred.
"Kiss me, baby!" screeched Rachel Two. She puckered her lips…revealing her fangs.
Uh oh…
Suddenly, a black hole opened in the floor, and the Rachels screamed. Then they smiled evilly and they twisted into a cruel one. Shadowy, black bat wings sprouted from their backs and they rose above the jagged crack in the earth. "You really think it could be so easy?" screech Rachel One at Nico, who he and Thalia had suddenly appeared by my side. "I find that highly insulting!" She glanced darkly at Rachel Two. "My dear?"
"Yes, Elaine?"
"What?" Thalia said, confused as me.
"Eat them!" Rachel One screamed, and they both dive-bombed us.
"Run!" Thalia screamed, and we all went separate ways. Nico dove into a crevice in the wall, Thalia shot up into a perch, and me? I ran toward a puddle.
Rachel One¾Elaine¾dove toward Nico and desperately thrust her hands into the small dent, screaming in fury and lengthening her arms. "Come to me, rotten son of the Underworld!"
Nico scooted farther into the hole, but he didn't have much room left.
Just as Elaine's poisoned dipped claws scratched Nico, something fell from the ceiling and crashed into her. She was whipped away, rolling down into a pit…one that led straight to Tartarus.
"NO!" Nico screamed, jumping up and racing over to the pit where Thalia had sacrificed herself.
Elaine's sister, Rachel Two, screamed in unison, screaming what I assumed was her sister's name: "Elaine, come back to me, Belladonna! Belladonna! Bella! Donna!"
I didn't say anything. I halfheartedly threw Riptide through Belladonna. I didn't know what to expect; she was possibly a monster, half-blood, or some twisted freak of a mortal. It went through her and, with a sob, she dissipated into golden dust.
Monster.
Nico sunk to his knees, and began to cry. "Thalia," he murmured.
"Nico," I said, kneeling next to him, "does she feel dead?"
I expected him to explode I fury, but he paused and said, "Hey…no."
He stood up. He stared down into the pit without fear and called, "Thalia!"
At first there was silence. Then, deep down, a voice: "Nico…"
"Thalia!" Nico screamed, and my jaw dropped at what happened next: He hurled himself into the pit.
"Nico!" I screamed.
"He is not gone, brother," a voice assured me, and I jumped. I hadn't even noticed Tyson had disappeared, or reappeared, but suddenly he was there. Wary of more Rachels, I said, "What's your hippocampus's name?"
"Rainbow," Tyson said, confused. "Why?"
I shook my head. "Just making sure," I mumbled, and we both stared down at the pit. Seconds later, Nico rose on black foam, holding a limp Thalia.
He placed her on the ground and said, "I was given a prophecy too." Then he recited it.
The deadly maze
Is vital to
The path that soon
Will know is you
But in this maze
You will soon find
The thing that's vital
Is not your kind
It's a vicious monster
A dastardly beast
It'll rip your heart out
Piece by piece
But in a way
That won't be you;
It'll take a person…
Your one love true.
Nico looked away sadly.
"Nico…"
"I should've seen it," he said sorrowfully.
"It's not your fault."
"But it is," he said, a tear cascading down his face. "It could've been me. Or you."
"I feel so loved."
"Yeah, well, I don't. My one love true is gone."
Tyson was staring at Thalia. "Nico¾"
"Not now, Tyson my friend," Nico interrupted. "Thalia…well, I think we were beginning to become…more than friends. But now, that'll never happen, because I couldn't screw up the courage to say 'I love you,' and now she'll never know that I did."
As Nico was talking, I saw Thalia stir and her eyelids fluttered. She listened intently to Nico's speech, her eyes shining when he said I love you. As he finished, he sighed and turned to her, and she reached up and kissed him.
I felt like I was invading their privacy.
When they finally pulled away, Thalia stood up herself and smiled. "I love you too, for the record."
"But…you're a…a…"
"Hunter? Screw it," she said, leaning forward to kiss him again.
About five minutes into their second kiss, I couldn't take it, and I cleared my throat loudly. They broke apart and Thalia blushed a ferocious red, matching perfectly with Nico.
"As much as you guys are perfect for each other, would you be so kind as to prove it some other time when Annabeth isn't in danger?"
Thalia smiled. "Aw, Percy's jealous!"
"What! No, I just meant¾"
"Cute!" she smiled darkly.
"Oh, shut up," I grumbled, looking around, choosing a dark shadowed tunnel. "C'mon."
Tyson walked next to me, and I glanced behind me. Thalia and Nico were holding hands, teasing each other. Thalia would quickly kiss his cheek and retreat, causing Nico to whirl to face her, getting a full kiss. Then he would do the same. And her. And him. And her. And him. And her¾
"Oh would you put a sock in it!" I screamed. They innocently pulled away from a Thalia-Attack. They both blushed.
We walked in silence, and I was aware that some time after five minutes, they started their game up again. I ignored it, because Tyson was telling me about how they had made another Backbiter, only one for Poseidon's double-sided trident. I tried to listen, I really did, but my mind kept bouncing back to Annabeth, being tortured in some room of the Labyrinth. Supposedly, it had been destroyed when "Quintus," or rather, Daedalus, "died," or "separated form his machine-body." No. It had stayed, just became more dangerous without a controller.
When I finally hit rock bottom and got distracted and teetered off to the side, crashing into a wall, Nico suggested we rest. We wondered into a room that had four exits: the one we just entered, one going down, one going on in a brick wall structure, and one that led to a room with an orange glow.
I crashed as soon as I slumped over onto the mossy ground.
I had another dream. Annabeth.
She was still strapped to the pole. Her face was black and blue with bruises. Her arms were scratched, and the one where the snake had sank its teeth into it had a long scratch; two parallel lines going down with green and blue poison leaking out, along with red, lots and lots of blood. Her shirt was torn, as were her jeans, and her legs had burns and bruises and scratches. She was hanging unconscious, and the fire still burned. Pythons slithered around, flicking their tongues into the air. One slept on a pot of Greek fire.
Luke strolled in, glancing wearily at Annabeth. His eyes flickered to their regular blue, and he reached out. Then they hardened back to gold and his smile twisted. "Oh Anna," he purred.
She glanced up wearily. "Do…not….call…me…that."
"Are you hurting?" he said, smirking.
Annabeth didn't answer.
"Your friend, is right outside," he said, and suddenly he flipped a coin into the wall. A golden drachma! It cracked a water pipe and a rainbow ensued, and the coin fell into the rainbow; disappeared. It showed me and Thalia and Nico and Tyson. Tyson was sitting happily against the wall, I was sleeping in a puddle, and Thalia and Nico were curled up together, smiling blissfully.
"I'll make him suffer," Kronos said cruelly.
"NO!" Annabeth screamed. "Kill me. Leave him alone. I don't care! Just leave¾Percy ¾alone!"
Kronos laughed. "Okay," he said. "I'm sure it will tear your boyfriend apart."
A tear slid down her cheek. "Go ahead," she snarled. "Just leave him alone."
Kronos smiled and snapped his fingers. A giant basilisk crept out of a door to the left. It flicked its tongue. "I am ready, master," it hissed.
"Good!" Kronos smiled. He pointed at Annabeth. "Kill her."
Annabeth hissed herself and said, "You low life living coward! Release me and fight me! If you're so powerful, why don't you! If you beat me, tie me back up, whatever. Order the snake to kill me. I don't care! If I win, let me go, and don't touch my friends!"
Kronos rolled his eyes. "Oh please. I am not so gullible as lord Ares. I shall not be baited into a fight, even if I know I will win, what with your condition. I'd prefer if you die a long, painful death! It'd torture your friend more than his own death."
Annabeth's eyes widened as she realized what this meant, and as the snake came closer. "There's no right way," she murmured. "I…I have to¾"
The basilisk slapped her across the face with its tongue. Poison caked her face, and she screamed. "No!" she screamed. "NO!"
"Do you care if you die?" Kronos asked, genuinely curious.
"Not for myself," she snarled, clawing at her face in pain. "I care that Percy will be hurt!"
"Well, we mustn't be hasty, then!" Kronos snapped at the snake and shouted, "Calypso!"
Through her pain, Annabeth managed to breathe, "You named your monster after a beautiful goddess?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact, I did! Now, Calypso, make her death slow and painful."
Calypso smiled darkly with its snake-like mouth. "Yes, my lord."
It sank its teeth into her chest. Annabeth screamed.
I woke up, and I swore I could still hear her scream. Then, I realized: I could.
I shot up, backpack slung over my shoulder, and Riptide out. Tyson woke up and glanced around, and said, "Who's screaming?"
Thalia and Nico shot up too, subconsciously gripping each other. They pulled apart, not even blushing, and said, "What?" in unison. That time they blushed.
"Annabeth!" I hissed, and raced in the direction of the orange room. I suddenly knew that was where Annabeth was. I heard a hiss and she screamed again, and I burst into the room, and shouted, "Let her go!"
It might've been better to be discreet.
Through her poison, Annabeth managed to look up. She stared at me and said, "Percy?"
Kronos whirled around and his gold eyes glowed in rage. "Percy Jackson!"
Kronos snapped his fingers and shouted, "Calypso, Arachnid Bombard!
Calypso hissed and said, "With pleasure, my lord."
Calypso shimmered and changed into a spider. Through Annabeth's green poison-caked face, she screamed as the tarantula fell onto her chest. It spat out a green web that gagged Annabeth's mouth, and it walked haughtily down her arm. She wiggled, trying to shake it off, when suddenly it sank its teeth into her arm and dragged it from just below her shoulder down to her palm. She let out a muffled shout of pain. It leapt back up and suddenly jumped into the back of her shirt and disappeared. I don't know what was happening, but she squeezed her eyes shut and pushed herself up against the wall. There was a loud crunch! and the spider fell out of her shirt, landing between two pots of Greek fire on its back. It twitched and stayed still.
"Calypso!" Kronos yelped, and turned on Annabeth with a roar. "I guess I will have to kill you myself!"
He lunged at Annabeth with Backbiter.
I intercepted him in midair, crashing him down to the floor. He rolled over and tried to stab me on the floor, but I leapt up and used to leverage of Riptide to flip myself onto Kronos' back. He roared and swung his blade in back of him, running around, yelling at Calypso to get off his lazy * * * and help him. I was so busy trying to hold on I didn't notice he was getting a lucky shot until it knocked me in the back and I flew off his back, spinning and tumbling across the floor.
Kronos took his sweet time walking toward me, bending time and spinning his sword off his fingers. He strolled over to me and said, "This is the most fun I've had in over a thousand years!" He brought his blade down.
Somehow I managed to scoot over, but the blade still stabbed me. Kronos had been aiming for my chest, but it pierced straight through my side. I let out a howl but pulled myself up, world spinning and black dots dancing across my vision. "You just crossed the line," I growled, or at least I meant to, but it came out more like, "Boo lust bossed la fine."
Kronos chuckled and I glanced at Annabeth. Her eyes were closing, and her breathing was getting shallow. But somehow she locked eyes with me and pleaded: please just save yourself.
I gave my head a slight shake. Never. I'll fight 'til the end.
Annabeth said, please.
I answered her by turning to Kronos, giving him a level (if slightly shaky) glare.
I charged.
Kronos rolled his eyes and brought his blade to the side, planning to slam me to the left. I jumped over the blade, and it came back around, slamming into his own head. He stumbled backward, blinking, and I took the distraction to slam the butt of my sword into his chest. He stumbled more, falling, and I jumped up and put the blade under his chin.
He stared, maybe unseeing, at me with gold eyes.
Kill him. Now. It'll be easy. Just run him through. Your troubles will be over.
I glanced around. A female voice had just spoken. But I couldn't see anyone.
I am Gaea, child. I'm on your side.
Gaea? Sounds familiar…
Mother Earth, child. If you kill him, everything will be alright.
I grit my teeth. The spots were getting bigger.
Now, young hero, before you fall.
I brought the blade up, and I saw Kronos reach for Backbiter, which had spun out of his hands as he'd fell. I flipped my sword and brought it down on his head with a loud BOOM-CRACK!
Kronos was unconscious.
As the dots got larger, Gaea's voice rang in my head: You have lost a chance, young hero. Strike one. You've made an enemy. And she was gone.
Someone moaned. I looked up, vision still dancing, and saw Annabeth hanging limply from the pole. I rushed over and leapt over the fire, and the pythons¾oh!
One lunged over a fire and hissed, fangs bared, heading toward my throat.
I swatted it aside; felt a slight twinge in my neck, and stabbed every other one that opposed me as I waded my way to Annabeth. I saw the tarantula get up…
I jumped over the fire, tripped¾yeah yeah, very heroic¾and got to Annabeth's pole. I reached up and untied her, and she fell into my arms. To my horror, she was so light, she almost slipped through my arms, and I could feel her ribs. I could see her burns, feel her bruises, and feel the warm, flowing blood on her many scratches. I kneeled down and out my backpack under her head. She was barely breathing.
"Annabeth?" I said. She didn't answer. I made the spots go away, and reached into my bag, careful to cradle her head, and looked around for ambrosia, nectar, anything. But I couldn't find anything. I stared at Annabeth in alarm.
"Annabeth," I whispered, and she didn't stir. I put my head on her bleeding chest. She was still breathing…just barely.
I took my head up, feeling it dripping with blood, and leaned forward, kissing Annabeth gently. I finally leaned away.
I picked Annabeth up and began to walk out the door, stepping over Kronos, and walking over to Thalia and Nico and Tyson. Thalia and Nico were doing a butterfly kiss and Tyson was strangely licking his hand and then chewing on it, and then…growling to himself.
Thalia and Nico looked up when I came. Thalia's face fell, turning red, and Nico's face darkened.
It was like when Nico came with Thalia. But from the look on his face, this time, the girl wouldn't wake up.
