The Son of Steel: The Blades History
Chapter 2
Author's Notes: Yo Paladin here, with the next chapter of Son of Steel. No Beta so all the mistakes when it comes to grammar and such is my own fault.
Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or any elements of the Fate series they belong to their respectable owner.
"character speech"
"Character thought"
'flashback'
"God/TITAN speech"
'Charmspeech'
Timeskip
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Marcus could barely keep himself from bursting out in laughter upon seeing the look on the young demigoddess face. Annabeth had her jaw dropped and her eyes wide in surprise that Marcus was sure that if this was a cartoon her jaw would have literally hit the ground and her eyes would have been the size of dinner plates. Marcus chuckled slightly as he walked up to Annabeth before using his right hand to close her mouth before saying "There don't want you catching flies now do we" which intern made Annabeth blush bright red before ducking her head down to try and hide her blush from the older demigod 'Handsome Older demigod' Annabeth mentally said before she shook her head to get ride of those thoughts before she followed Marcus who started to walk out of the throne room to allow Percy and Poseidon time to talk.
As Percy and Poseidon were talking Marcus took Annabeth and Grover to the market place and gave them each a bag filled with drachma allowing them to buy what ever they wanted from any of the stalls which caused Annabeth to almost teleport over to some of the stalls that were selling replica of famous Greek buildings, while Grover was drawn to a pair of reeds that were made to look just like Pan's.
Annabeth couldn't believe her luck because even though she has been to Olympus before she never had the time nor the Drachma to buy anything from the stalls but here she was a bag filled with Drachma 'Thanks again by Marcus' when she thought of the elder demigod she looked back towards were Marcus was standing and Annabeth couldn't help but be surprised to see Marcus be surrounded by a group of miner gods and goddesses chatting and laughing with them in a conversation that she couldn't hear from the stall she was at, so she shook her head and looked back towards the merchandise on the stall but made a mental note to try and learn more about the mysterious Demigod.
After a few minute Marcus, Annabeth and Grover stood in-front of the elevator to take them back down to the mortal worlds, Annabeth was looking at the Replica of the throne room in Olympus and Grover had his brand new pipes around his neck which were the same as the ones that Pan had. The only thing they had to wait for was Percy to finish up his talk with his father.
After 5 more minutes Marcus could see Percy running down from the throne room towards them, almost running into a few of the minor-gods on the way. Percy finally reach them but had to grab his knees as he tried to catch his breath, after Percy finally got his breath back all of them got into the elevator and took it down.
When they got down to the bottom floor of the Empire State building, Marcus said good by to the security guard before they went outside and got into Marcus's Rolls Royce Phantom with the two Demi-gods and the satyr got into, as Marcus drove off to heading towards Camp Half-Blood.
For the first leg of the drive everything was quite no-one talked but a slow soft flute music was being played from the radio giving a soothing atmosphere to the car. Finally Annabeth spoke up wanting to find out more about the older Demi-God driving the car.
"I want to know something, " Marcus looked in the rear-view to look at her with his right eyebrow raised in question. Seeing that she got Marcus's attention she continued with her questioning.
"When you introduced yourself, you claimed to be the teacher of Achilles, Theseus and Perseus but from everything I have read and of course the living proof at Camp it was Chiron that trained them and not you, so can you explain yourself?" Annabeth finished with her arms crossed and a small glare at Marcus as if she didn't like him saying that Chiron was no who he said he was.
Marcus didn't reply to her question right away but he did sigh while he stopped at a set of lights. "You know, that you are very much like you're mother that I would think you are the closes of her children to match her" Marcus spoke up as he looked into the rear-view mirror again to see Annabeth's eyes widen in surprise at Marcus's statement but before she could comment on what he said Marcus continued speaking.
"But to learn about why I am saying I am their teacher, it would be best I start from the beginning." Marcus to a breath in before sighing as he stretched his out to get rid of the stiffness that had built up from the drive.
"When my father was born, as you know it was from the efforts of my grandmother alone and you probable heard about how she threw him off Olympus right?" Marcus spoke with Annabeth and Grover nodding their heads in answer to his question but Percy only had a look of confusion which made Marcus to mentally create a note to make sure to correct Percy's ignorance of the world he is now apart of.
"Well while everyone including the gods thinks that my grandmother threw my father off of Olympus because she didn't think he was up to her standers of the perfect child, it was actually my grandmother losing herself to anger and doing something that she has regretted for centuries" Marcus continued but he gained a sad look on his face as he remembered his grandmother confiding in him with this. Even now over a thousand years later Marcus can still remember when Hera cried on his shoulder as she told him her regret and sadness of doing such an action that had caused her to lose the love of one of her sons.
After she had said that to him Marcus had made it his mission to try and get his father to accept Hera's error and try and mend the damaged bridge between them. It took Marcus nearly 50 years but he was able to get his father to stop being stubborn and finally he sat down with Hera and talked out their problems, which meant after that his father and grandmother finished they had finally connected and started to act like mother and son which brought the brightest smile to his grandmothers face when she came to thank him for the help in getting his father to give her a chance.
Mentally shacking his head Marcus returned his attention to drive making sure that he didn't lose concentration on the road. "Because of my father being so badly deformed most of the goddesses didn't go near him in a romantic sense, so you can gather the sheer joy he had when he got married to Aphrodite. The smile my father had when he got married made the forges he used look like small torches in caparison."
Marcus took a breath as he took a left taking them out of New York City and heading towards Camp Half-Blood with the three in the back entranced by Marcus's story. "But during the early years of their marriage my father had finished up at the forges, had headed towards Aphrodite's temple only to hear her moans of pleasure coming from her bed room."
Annabeth spoke up in a quite voice "That is when he found Lady Aphrodite and Lord Ares in bed together, isn't it?" Marcus nodded slowly before he gave a sad sigh, closing his eyes and running a hand through his hair.
"Yes and my father had his heart destroyed by that event and my uncle and step-mother didn't make it any easier with my uncle taunting him claiming it was because he was crippled that Aphrodite wanted a real man and Aphrodite agreed with this statement. But don't let them still having a thing even now was them getting away with their stunt." Marcus gained a small smirk of amusement which made the two Demi-God/ess and the satyr to look at each other in confusion.
"Do you think my grandmother would let them get away with what they did?" Marcus asked looking back at them using the rear-view mirror with a look of mirth shining in his eyes. Annabeth's eyes widen in realization at what Marcus was saying but Percy could only tilt his head while scratching it in confusion.
Marcus seeing Percy's confusion decided to in-lighten him about what he was saying. "What I am meaning young Percy is that my grandmother or as you should know her as Hera the Goddess of Marriage and the Queen of the gods, didn't just let my uncle and step-mother get away without any repercussions." Marcus gave a small chuckle when he remembers what his grandmother did as punishment.
" The first thing my grandmother did was she went to Lady Hecate and had her magically make it that my uncle couldn't 'Get is up' for about 3 centuries and of course she then personally made it that my step-mother couldn't do anything involving her domain because at the time my step-mother wasn't apart of the Olympians so in-terms of power my grandmother trumped Aphrodite's allowing her to be punished." Marcus stated and Percy gained a small look of understanding but was still a look of confusion was still mixed in to his face.
" But even though my grandmother did all this it still didn't fix my fathers broken heart so he left Olympus and went to one of his back up forges that he had set up in the mortal world, something like a forward base for when he didn't want to work on Olympus if you will" Marcus continued but he then opened the glove box and grabbed a small bottle of water, he opened the bottle and took a sip from it and then put it back in to the glove box.
Nether of the young heroes or the satyr spoke up when Marcus took a break in his story because of how much Marcus's story grabbed them and they didn't wish to interrupt, even the young daughter of Athena that even though she wanted ask so many questions that only because of how informative the story has been so far is holding her back.
When he closed the glove box Marcus sat straight again and began to continued his story while making sure he was on the right road to continue their drive to the Camp. "So were was I?.. Ah that's right I was at the part were my father went to his forge he had made on the mortal world to try and take some time from Olympus" Marcus gave a soft hum as he leaned back against his seat.
"You see when my father went down to his forge what he didn't know was that someone had already moved into it" this statement caused the three young teens in the back to wonder what he meant but that didn't lasted long because Annabeth then spoke up "that is when Lord Hephaestus met your mother right?"
Marcus gave a small chuckle while he nodded his head "Golden star for the daughter of Athena, yes you are right my father did meet my mother when he went down to the mortal world" Annabeth gained a small blush on her face as she puffed out her chest with pride at the praise she had been given not seeing Percy's glare of jealousy directed towards Marcus.
Marcus finished his small chuckle before he started to talk again "My mother's name was Liandra Bloodmoon, she was very tall almost Amazonian with her being 5ft 9inch tall so she toward over even some of the tallest men in the army she served in but and I quote from her 'While I am a warrior I will always be a smith first' was her words to me when she told me about her time in the army."
Marcus reached back over and opened the glove box and brought out a picture, or more like a small painting which he then showed the three in the back. The two child's of the gods and the satyr looked at the picture and the two young teens boys couldn't stop the blush from appearing when they saw the woman in the picture/painting.
The woman in the picture (Who they could tell was Marcus's mom) was tall easily towering over the other two people in the picture, she had dirty blond hair that reach just past her neck. Her fringe was kept out of her eyes with a blood red bandanna, her face had soft features with high cheek bones and defined jaw line, her nose was small but looked right on her face, her lips were full and plump but what really gave her face an ethereal look was the sharp ruby red eyes but her pupils were slit.
her chest was covered by a simple brown tunic but seemed to be straining slightly because of her large DD-bust, her arms were shown but while they were feminine in looks anyone could see the defined muscles with her hands being covered by a pair of black blacksmith gloves. Her tunic was covered by a Grey blacksmith apron but there were smudges of black markings on it showing that it was well used, she wore a pair of plain trousers which stretched over her wide hips given signs of her having given birth and on her feet she wore a pair of armored boots. She had a deep bronze tan from her work in the forge.
In her hand was a blacksmiths hammer which she held in her right hand as her arms were crossed under her chest, next to her was a much smaller man (Which Annabeth and Grover could tell could tell was Hephaestus but he didn't have the welts on his face and was also missing the miss shapes of his shoulder) the man only reached just above the woman's hip. The man didn't have any hair on his head but he had a wild brown beard that almost had a fire like quality to it, he wore a similar clothing to the woman but he had a pair of simple boots on and a metal leg brace on his right leg, his frame is very muscular but on his smaller form gave him a burly look but it also showed just how hard he worked in the forge which also gave him a tan similar to the woman's.
And between the two adults was a young boy only about 4 years of age hugging a sheathed blade to his small body, a huge grin his face as the man had a hand on the young boys shoulder. The young boy's face was rounded with the fat that most children have at that age, he wore a matching set of a brown tunic and shorts with him wearing a pair of sandals on his feet.
The three young teens finished looking over the picture before Marcus took it back while looking at it with soft but sad smile on his face. Marcus put the picture away back into the glove box, "You see my mother was a clear sighted mortal so the mist while used very little back then didn't effect her so it was very easy for her to find my fathers forge that was just outside the town she lived in."
"You saw the blade my younger self was holding?" Marcus asked them which the three young teens nodded in turn, so Marcus saw their nod continued on from were he had stopped " Well that blade is my mother greatest creation, a snake blade using a blend of Stygian Iron and mortal bronze which allowed it to lengthen itself up to 30ft, my mother was so skilled at using it she could switch between its sword form and whip form in seconds."
Marcus stopped to take a breath before continuing " It is also the weapon she used during her time in the army were she gained the title 'Blood Ross' and the weapon gained the name 'Blood Thorn'. My mother was in the army for about 15 years and in that time she killed over 300 men herself with just her blade and skill" when the three young teens heard just how many people Liandra had killed on her own they couldn't keep the looks of shock from their faces.
Marcus snapped them out of their shock by talking again " When my mother retired from the army she went back to my father's forge and just continued with making weapons but she never stopped trying to improve her martial skill with every weapon she made, so as to allow her to know how to improve the weapons design and how to use the weapon itself. But anyway my mother had retired close to about 5 years before my father came down from Olympus to get some time to himself."
"So you can imagine his surprise to find a mortal working at his forge but just as he was about to use his power to make her forget about ever being in the forge, but he couldn't stop himself from admire how dedicated my mother was to her work in the forge. So instead of making her forget about the forge, my father introduced himself as a wandering blacksmith wanting a place to work and wondered if she needed help."
" My mother was didn't completely trusted my father at the time but she hired him anyway." Marcus started to gain a loving smile as he remembered the time he spent with his mother and father at the forge, but with Marcus going down memory lane he didn't noticed the small dust of red that appeared on Annabeth's cheeks when she saw his smile.
"Then time passed and my father started to fall deeply in love with my mother and she him, he loved her spite fire personality along with her skill in the forge and she loved him for his knowledge of metals and weapons but also his rough but kind attitude." Marcus gave a sigh but then took a breath as he went over the mental map in his head to figure they were about another hour away from the camp.
"My father spent most of his time with my mother but he made sure that he went back to Olympus enough for meetings and such to not draw any suspicion, he even started to try and embarrass my uncle and step-mother to make it look like he was still angry at them and everyone didn't question him about why he was doing it."
"My mother was married to my father in all but name and he told me he wouldn't have had it any other way, then she became pregnant with me and from what my mother had told me, my father had been literally jumping with joy over this fact because finally he had a family a wife and a child and so for four more years my father enjoyed his life on the mortal realm working at the forge with my mother and raising me but like everything in life nothing lasts forever."
When Marcus said this the three teens tensed as they waited with baited breaths to hear what Marcus was about to say but they couldn't stop the feeling of dread they felt. Marcus let out a deep breath through his nose as he started to remember and told the three teen about the horrible night, the night he lost his mother.
'Flashback'
The sky was darkened with some black clouds but nothing to make anyone fell like a storm was coming.
At the back of the forge a much younger Marcus was practicing with his mothers sword trying to get the hang of the switching between its sword and whip modes, his mother was watching him from the forge leaning against one of the support beams.
His father was next to him giving him tips on how to make the change faster with subtle flicks and twists of the wrist and also how to control the direction of the blade when in its whip form with similar techniques.
Liandra smiled at the scene before her so she pushed off and started to walk towards them as she spoke up "All right you two time for dinner" Marcus flicked his wrist to make 'Blood Thorn' to change back to its sword form before he turned to run towards his mother but just as fast as he was about to run was he quickly pulled back by father who hugged him close.
When that happened a bolt of lightning came down from the sky and struck Liandra when she was half way towards them killing her instantly with only a small gasp of shock being heard from her before her form was covered by the bolt.
Marcus dropped his mothers blade in shock at what happened before he pushed against his fathers arm as he shouted out "MOTHER!" Marcus struggled to try and get free from his fathers grip to try and go to his mother but Hephaestus kept his grip strong.
After the first lightning bolt another one came down but this one was much smaller, as it stuck the ground the form of a man appeared. The man was tall about 5ft 11inch in height, his hair was a sleek black that flood past his neck and ended just as his shoulder, his face was clean shaven given everyone a clear look at his strong jaw line, the man had bright electric-blue eyes.
The man's form was imposing as he wore a toga that showed his very muscular body as he held what looked to be a javelin sized lightning bolt in his right hand.
The man glared at Hephaestus before he shouted "Hephaestus, I have allowed you to play this little game of yours for to long now" the man's voice booming like the thunder above them.
"I left you be at the beginning thinking that you would calm down and would return on your own but no you decided that being with a Mortal was more important than your family and responsibility's but no more it is time for you to return and I made sure that the Mortal that you were so fascinated with is no longer here to keep you distracted "
The whole time the man before them was speaking and glaring at his father, the only thing Marcus could focus on was at the spot his mother was stuck down and now here was the man who did it so causally insult her caused a burning anger to flow through Marcus's body as his blood heated up like his family forge.
The flames of Marcus's anger came to a boil suddenly the sound of chains breaking echoed through Marcus's head and strength and power that he never felt before swelled up from inside him turning that fiery rage into a cold burn.
With the new strength flowing through his body, Marcus broke free from his fathers grip as he shot forward picking up his mothers blade as he did, he covered the ground between were he was and the man was faster than the eye could see, meaning the man didn't have time to dodge as Marcus appeared in front of him, his mothers blade pulled across his body as he went for a back swing that cut through the mans toga also causing a mild cut that went from the mans left hip to his right shoulder.
The man staggered back as he put his left hand to his chest but Marcus didn't let the man have any time to retaliate by flowing through sword moves that he never did but came naturally to him.
Hephaestus couldn't keep the look of shock off of his face as he watches as his son actually push his father using only Liandra's sword with such skill that he couldn't stop but see his lovers image join together their sons and the only thing Hephaestus could think was 'You two are so much alike'
The man now covered multiple cuts along with the large one on his chest staining the rest of his toga a deep gold from the liquid that flowed from his wounds. "ENOUGH!" the man shouted out causing a large blast of wind to appear between the man and Marcus, the wind then pushed Marcus back but Marcus was able to right himself with a back flip and skidded for a bit.
When Marcus stopped skidding he heard the crackling of lightning which caused him to snap his head up towards the sound and found the man aiming the lightning bolt directly at him, the man had a look that was as dark as thunderclouds. "You have annoyed me greatly, you have harmed me greatly and with that insult to my pride you shall suffer" the man said with hate dripping from his voice as the lightning bolt started to finish powering up.
Marcus acted fast with a quick flick of his wrist the blade changed to its whip for before he swung at frightening speeds, the blade cutting through the air as it curved and quickly found its target of cutting into the man's chest but this time cutting from his right hip to his left shoulder making a cross on the man's chest.
The man winked at the strike causing him to lose his concentration, seeing his opponent lose his focus Marcus twitched his wrist slightly causing the wipe blade to curl around the man's arm that is holding onto the lightning bolt before Marcus pulled causing the whip to tighten cutting deep into the man's arm forcing a loud shout of pain from the man but to Marcus the most important thing was that the man dropped the lightning bolt.
When the bolt clattered against the ground Marcus pulled again forcing not only for the blades to dig deeper into the man's arm but also causing the man to stagger forward with another shout of pain. Marcus moved forward as the man staggered before jumping up and slamming into the man forcing him to fall down.
When they landed Marcus made his blade change back into its blade form spinning it so that it was facing down towards the man and aimed for the man's heart.
'Flashback End'
"Wait you tried to fade Lord Zeus but how are you still alive" Annabeth couldn't stop herself from interrupting but when Marcus said that he almost faded the King of the Gods she had to know how he wasn't punished for it.
Marcus gave a heavy sigh at the question before he looked at her using the rear-view mirror a equally heavy look in his eyes "Yes but at the time I didn't know who he was and also I didn't care because all I saw at the time was someone who not only killed my mother but also insulted her too but I digress, I was just about to tell you why the events you said didn't happen"
Marcus finished with a pointed look at Annabeth that had some amusement in causing her to gain a small blush and a look of embarrassment as she looked away so that Marcus wouldn't see her blush.
'Flashback'
Just as the blades tip was about to pierce the mans skin the momentum was stopped as the blade shook with the strain Marcus was putting onto it to try and break the genital but strong grip holding his hands back from striking the finishing blow.
A soft and genital voice whispered into his ear from the person behind him, "Shh its fine, Marcus I know that you are upset but you need to calm down" Marcus struggled for a bit more before he stopped trying to stab the man below him and dropped the blade from his hand.
Marcus sniffed as the tears of sadness and anger poured from his eyes, the woman behind him picked him up as she backed off from the man and Marcus spun around and hugged the woman as the tears increased in volume as he cried out his sadness.
The woman that hugging the young boy had long licorice-black hair, a face of regal and unapproachable beauty like that of a supermodel on a fashion runway, and large, soft brown eyes that one could get lost in,the woman also was wearing a toga but this one was a deep royal purple with ruby red lining around the edges.
The man seeing that Marcus was no longer on him slowly got himself back to his feet. The man kept one of his hands against the wound on his chest as he looked up and saw the woman the rubbing the still crying Marcus's back with a sad look in her eyes.
Man shouted over to the woman "Hera I order you to kill that brat right now" at first the woman now known as Hera didn't react to the mans shout keeping her attention on Marcus for a few more moments before she responded to the man who called her.
"Zeus my dear Husband I think that you should head back home because I am very Very upset with you right now" Hera spoke in a sickly sweet tone with a cold glare in her eyes as she spoke to the man, now known as Zeus, who gained a look of shock at Hera's statement but before he could retort another sharp, stern feminine voice spoke up "I agree dear brother it would be best that you leave and head home"
Hera and Zeus turned left and saw another woman wearing a warm red toga, the woman had a sweet and beautiful look to her with a honest smile that had a cold edge to it along with brown eyes that usually would be warm had a coldness to them that felt unnatural, she also had black hair that framed her face in ringlets.
Seeing the woman's cold glare Zeus had the colour drained from his face and he was only able to stutter when he spoke up "H-hestia what are you doing here sister?" Hestia just closed her eyes while her smile grew colder at his question.
Zeus seeing that his eldest sister was not happy with him decided that a quick retreat was in order so Zeus quickly grabbed his master bolt and flashed back to Olympus. Seeing there brother/husband return to Olympus the two goddesses turned their attention to the now sleeping Marcus that Hera was holding.
'Flashback End'
The looks of from the two teens that know more about the the Greek history were stunned unfortunately for Percy he could only shake his head in confusion because he hasn't been able to follow the story (A really good story that he can't help but be drawn into).
Marcus gave a small soft laugh at the looks the two teens that where knowledge in the history of the Greek Gods only to hear a completely new one.
Marcus shook his head but decided to continue on with his story "After that my father wasn't aloud back down to the mortal realm for some time but I was aloud to stay in the forge and also Lady Hestia came down and checked on me week or so."
"So as I grew I trained and smithed making weapons and armours for the army but I also joined the army myself and stayed in it for close to about 20 years after I reach the proper age to join, making a name for myself gaining the nick-name 'BattleSmith' because of the fact most knew me for my blacksmithing skills so seeing me being just as skilled on the field as I was in the forge my fellow soldiers decided to give me that name and it stuck."
Marcus stretched slightly to get rid of the stiffness in his body from the long drive, going over the map in his head and determined they were about 30 minutes from the Camp so he figured that he better start hurrying up and finish up the story.
"After I returned and retired from the army I went back to the forge and took my mothers blade and hunted monsters and that is all I did for the next 5 years, most of the trophies I just gave to the gods but I kept some of them mostly the fangs and teeth of the beasts which I used to make most f my weapons for ether my students or some requests like the one my grandmother asked me to do."
When Marcus said that he looked at Percy before speaking up "You young Percy have my first ever blade" Percy gained a look of confusion before a look of shock and realization at this before he pulled out the disguised Riptide from his pocket.
"My grandmother had asked me to make a weapon to help defend her garden so that is what I did taking some Celestial Bronze and mixed in a set of melted down teeth from the Kraken giving it the connection to the sea, the handle is covered with some left over leather from the hide of the Nemean Lion giving it a comfortable grip but will not wear or tear, as you can probably tell from using it that the leather doesn't feel rough against your skin."
"Any way as time went by my Father, Grandmother and Aunt were able to get me a form of immortality similar to what Lady Artemis gave to her hunters meaning that while I could still die from battle, age and illness would never take me."
Annabeth gained a look of understanding after Marcus finally told them how he was still alive even after all this time and hasn't looked to age even a bit. "Then close to about 2 centuries past before I met my first student, well it was more like his mother came to me and asked to train him, this request came just after she had dipped him into the river Styx, little guy was no were near old enough to start training so I took him in and watched out for him with Thetis visiting to check up on Achilles whenever she could get away from the atlantian court."
Marcus smiled as he remembered his first student but to Marcus, Achilles was more than just a student he was his son. "So as he grew I tried teaching everything I knew including blacksmithing but the little tike just wouldn't stay still long enough to learn anything, I just think that every child of the sea can't stay still Theseus was like that."
Marcus snorted in amusement when he remembered how much of a pain Achilles was when he was a kid, never staying still to learn the basic theory of battle wanting more to swing the sword but while at the beginning if it wasn't for the fact Achilles had the impenetrable skin thanks to his curse Achilles would have lost some of his fingers Marcus couldn't deny Achilles was born to be a warrior.
"Any way, so Achilles grew and went into the army becoming a legend which me and Thetis could be more proud and before you think something was going on between me and Thetis there wasn't even though I saw Achilles as my son me and Thetis were not romantically involved."
Achilles gave a pointed look to Grover just as he was about to speak causing the Satyr to go quite with a small blush on his face as he turned to face the window. Marcus was amused by the young Satyr's reaction but grew sad inside as he knew that he was getting to his point of his story were his son got killed thanks to the involvement of his least favorite god.
"Then the Trojan started and thanks to me connections in the military I was able to keep tabs on Achilles, hearing of his feats filled me pride that he was doing so well" Marcus closed his eyes and gave a long and sad sigh but just as he was about to continue Annabeth softly spoke up "Then you got word of him being killed, right?"
While the question was soft to Marcus it was like someone twisted a knife into his heart, when he got the news saying that Achilles had been killed his anger burned great, spending the next two day killing monsters to try and cool his anger down.
"Yes" Marcus's voice heavy with emotions, his hands gripping the wheel tightly as the memory was still sore to remember even to this day. "When I got word that Prince Paris killed my student I was surprised seeing how every single one of my contacts said that Paris was an unskilled coward yet was able to make a once in a life time shot that just happen to stick Achilles heel."
The air in the car grew humid and warm as Marcus's anger started to surface "But then from Olympus everyone was talking about Apollo bragging about taking Paris's place and also taking out the 'upstart demi-god'" Marcus's eyes became hardened from there usual warm blood ruby's that had a fire hotter than the sun into a frozen blood red Glacier as he remembered Apollo's direct interference just because he didn't like the way Achilles was acted during the war.
"When I found out that it was Apollo killed my student I was furious but I kept myself from being controlled by it because Thetis had I not stopped her would have stormed up to Olympus to take revenge for Apollo's disregard for the rules just to sate his ego but because she was a minor goddess for her to do that against one of the Olympians even-though my Grandfathers own rules say that Apollo should be punished for what he did would have ended badly for her."
Annabeth was about to ask were he was going with this but stopped when she saw the grim smile on Marcus's face causing a shiver of fear and something else that she couldn't pin-point but that smile also reminded her that the man infront of her was a battle-hardened warrior, one of the eldest Demi-gods, one that had been alive since the gods originally were at Greece and hadn't started to jump with the heart of the west.
Marcus seeing that Annabeth had started to ask a question but stopped decided to answer the question on her lip "But you wondering what I am getting at aren't you?" seeing Annabeth nodding in response Marcus continued with what he was saying.
"Well what I am getting at is that while Thetis couldn't do anything against Apollo nothing was stopping Me from doing something and that is what I did, after calming Thetis down I went up to Olympus found Apollo dragged him to the sparring area of Olympus before spending the next hour beating the ichor out of him with my grandfather unable to punish me because even the fates agreed that Apollo over stepped his boundaries in killing Achilles."
"Because not only had Apollo interfered with the mortal realm he had also cut Achilles fate short annoying the those three greatly because he had messed up their plans for Achilles." Marcus took a breath knowing that once they get to the camp he will need something to drink from all the talking he had been doing this whole drive wanting to keep that water in the glove box for later.
"Then centuries past, time moved forward for the mortals with them having more wars but also times of peace while I trained more students the more famous ones being Perseus and Theseus." Marcus slowly gained a solemn look to his face before giving a deep sigh.
"Then slowly the word of Apollo training a centaur started to spread out and his name slowly replaced my own as the trainer of Achilles, Theseus and Perseus with none of the mortals seeming to notice the change from Marcus the first born of Hephaestus and the Trainer of Heroes to Chiron Trainer of Heroes and student of the Sun God Apollo"
Marcus's hands started to grip the steering wheel a bit harder "And my family except for my father, grandmother and aunt didn't seem to be even the slight bit bothered by this so I slowly became a nameless face to the mortals and my family slowly forgot about me, with only my aunt, father and grandmother visiting when they could"
Marcus gave a soft sigh "When I became just a nameless face, my achievement, my victories against some of the most dangerous monsters meaning nothing in the Godly realm but also my name in the army that inspired recruits to try their best to become better started to mean nothing."
"To have everything that I had fought tooth and nail, with my blood and sweat to mean nothing. I..I couldn't take it, so I went to Lady Hecate and learned how to do magic. Learning Everything I could from her before I left, leaving everything behind wanting nothing to do with anything Greek or the Gods"
"So I left and travelled the world going to different countries, using the ability to change my form to make a name for myself as different figures of legend."
Marcus's form seemed to ripple as his changed, his hair was no longer swept back but instead it was brushed down with its colour changed from its golden colour to a almost sandy blond. His face became more rounded gaining a more boyish look to it but didn't lose any of the king like quality's to his face, his eyes changed from their ruby red to a deep emerald, his form also had shrunk slightly making him not as tall as he was before.
Marcus's skin colour didn't change but his entire outfit changed becoming a midnight black suit with a ruby red tie and black leather loafers with a pair of black leather gloves appearing on his hands "Like King Arthur" 'Arthur's' voice was no longer a deep smooth baritone but now was much lighter but still held the same strength as his normal voice.
Before anyone could react 'Arthur's' form rippled again growing taller and his hair growing out until till it went past his neck but the colour had changed completely instead of just being a different shade of blonde but was now a midnight black colour.
His face changed losing it's kingly features but instead became what one would call the face of a true knight, his skin became a marble white in colour but not in a sickly kind of way, his eyes were a deep onyx that shined like the stone they shared the same colour with.
His outfit changes as well transforming from the formal suit into a more biker style with a black leather jacket over a black shirt, a onyx pendent hanging from his neck in the shape of a sheathed blade, his dress pants being changed into a pair of black jeans with a silver chain acting as a belt. His loafers changed into a pair of black and silver cowboy boots, and the gloves in his hands changed into a pair of black finger-less gloves.
Again the change shocked his passengers before he spoke up this time into a more smooth and controlled tenor voice "Or the knight Lancelot" but again before the three in the back of the car could react to the change 'Lancelot's' form rippled once more shrinking down being just a inch shorter than what Arthur height was.
In place of 'Lancelot' was a elderly man who had pure white hair that was in a gentleman's ponytail and a trimmed beard, the he had a monocle on his left eye. The his face had aged lines showing that the he was about the age of 50 but his appearance didn't seem to completely show his age.
The elderly man was dressed in a royal purple Victorian tailcoat over a deep blue waistcoat and white dress shirt, he also had a wine red cravat which had a gold tie pin in the shape of a pair of angel wings with a sapphire in the middle.
He also had a pair of cream coloured dress pants with a pair of brown loafers on his feet, he had a pair of white gloves on his hands. Next to the elderly man was a deep black walking stick adorned with the shape of a golden Phoenix at the head with what looked to be gold decal in the shape of flames running down the walking stick.
The elderly man spoke up and Percy couldn't help but feel like the now elderly man in the drivers seat sounded a lot like what Chiron sounded like, kind and gentle but had a strength to it that would make people think twice of messing with them. "Or how about the great Merlin"
When 'Merlin' finished saying that his from rippled before Marcus appeared again in his true from again and looked in the rear view mirror to see the young adults reaction and was just able to keep himself from bursting out in laughter at their faces but he was cut from his thoughts when Annabeth spoke up.
"Y-you created those legends of Arthur, Lancelot and Merlin and the knights of the round table right?" Annabeth was able to stutter out with with a look of hope in her eyes which changed into glee when Marcus nodded his head but that glee almost went to orgasmic when Marcus spoke "Yes their legends and feats are my own along with the feats of Cu Chulainn, Diarmuid, of Sun Wukong and of Robin Hood and more they are the legends that I left as someone else but in the end it was still me creating their legends, my sweat and blood in creating their legendary weapons and more in forging and carving out their legends that even until this day they are sung praise, told in stories and changed the history of each place I made a legend for."
Before Annabeth could ask anything more they saw that they were pulling into the front of Camp Half Blood. When Marcus parked his car everyone got out but just as the three young teens started to head for the entrance Marcus spoke up "You two go on ahead to talk with Chiron I need to talk to young Annabeth alone"
Percy and Grover looked at each other Percy with a look of distrust but Grover just grabbed him and dragged him to were Chiron would be waiting because Annabeth told them to go on, Annabeth stood in front of Marcus her arms crossed as she looked at him with one of her eyebrows raised wondering what he wanted.
Marcus mentally laughed at how a like both Annabeth and her mother were when it came to getting answers before he mentally shook those thoughts away, Marcus knelt down so that he was nearer to her height giving her a soft smile Marcus raised his right hand just above it a golden ripple appeared which caused Annabeth to gain a look of surprised but just as she was about to question what it was the ripple lengthened out and from the ripple a beautifully crafted spear appeared.
The spear's shaft itself was just a inch off of being the same size as Marcus was from head to toe with the spear head being 6 inches in length. The blade of the spear was in the shape of a palm leaf, at the bottom of the spear head a silver and blue owl acted as the gap between the spear head and the shaft.
The owl was upside down with it grabbing the spear head with its talon and its wings spread wide as its head touched the shaft of the spear, the shaft of the spear was unlike most spears was made out of the same metal as the spear head a almost moonlight silver with what looked to be silk strands making beautiful patterns along the shaft and at the butt of the spear the face of Aegis sat.
Annabeth looked at the spear in awe and at first she thought it was her mothers spear with how great the craftsmanship was but then Marcus spoke up "No this isn't you're mothers spear nor is it a replica, my father went with a different style for your mothers no this one is more dear to my heart" Marcus gained a look of sadness as he stared at the spear before giving a soft sigh.
Marcus looked back at Annabeth and continued "There one thing the legends about my students didn't speak of were my less known ones, like the former owner of this who thanks to her own efforts gained the title of the 'Battle Scholar' and as you probably have gathered she was a daughter of your mother but I knew her better as Alana and she was my second student after Achilles"
Annabeth couldn't keep the look of shock from her face to find out that the spear in front of her belong to one of her sisters that was around during the time of when the gods only stayed in Greece but not only that her sister was trained by the man in front of her.
She spoke up shakily "W-what, what was she like" Marcus gained a soft but sad look in his eyes but responded "She was actually a lot like you" Annabeth looked surprised at this "Yeah in both looks and attitude that if you lived when she was being trained by me or she here I would think you two were twins that how alike you two are and to be honest when I first saw you at the beach I thought I had seen a ghost"
Marcus laughed a little before he continued with his explanation "You see I always make a weapon for my student for when they complete their training and Alana while wanted to fight like her mother at the same time she wanted to have something to call her own which is were her spear style I helped her create"
Marcus gave Annabeth a strong look "What I wanted to ask you Young Annabeth would you like to learn to fight like your sister learn to use her style and become my student, but by becoming my student you will not get to use your sisters spear until I am sure that you are fit to its welder so what is your answer?"
Annabeth thought about the question before she looked back at the quest she just did and remembered just how often she felt like she couldn't do anything having Percy save her which while nice made her feel weak and she didn't want to be weak so with her mind made up.
Annabeth looked right into Marcus's eyes and spoke in a firm tone "Yes I accept,I will not be a dead wait on any quests that I might go on so you better do as you said and train me to be at the level at my sister because I will not be out done at anything"
Marcus stared at her as Annabeth declared this and couldn't help but feel a sense of nostalgia as Annabeth was replaced by a almost clone of her but instead she was wearing a white toga and her blond hair was in braid. 'You two would have got along very well Alana' Marcus couldn't help but think before he stood straight up while he transported Alana's spear back into his treasury.
"Good then we start tomorrow, just as Apollo goes across the sky we will meet at the sparring ring" Marcus started walking towards the big house with Annnabeth keeping up as he gave her this order and did nothing else but nodded. As they close to the big house Annabeth said that she better head to her cabin with Marcus just nodding his head at this.
Annabeth waved goodbye to Marcus which he replied in kind but as soon as Annabeth was gone Marcus sighed before he walked up to the big house and almost couldn't stop himself from snorting in amusement when he saw just how different his uncle had become in the centuries he had been gone.
Mr.D and Chiron were sitting at one the tables playing a game of cards and just as Marcus's walked up to them Mr.D was taking a sip of his diet coke but as soon as he spotted Marcus his eyes widened in shock before he did a spit take spraying coke all over Chiron as Mr.D started to cough while slamming his fist against his chest to try and clear his air way with Chiron just giving him a dry look as he cleaned of the coke from his face.
"Really Mr.D just because your hand was bad didn't mean you can spit your drink at me" Chiron spoke but stopped when a very familiar voice spoke up that he hadn't heard from in centuries "Yes well Chiron I am not surprised with the reaction even though I thought young Percy and Grover would have told you both that I was here."
Chiron turned to see Marcus's with his hands in his pockets "M-marcus y-your here but I thought you didn't want to have anything to do with the gods" Chiron stuttered out still not able to stop his shock from appearing with Mr.D still trying to stop himself from coughing.
Marcus's just gave Chiron a blank stare before he turned around and started to walk away but spoke up "Lets just say the fates wanted me back and leave it at that but I will be staying for a bit and I will be training a few new students if you need me I will be at my fathers cabin"
Chiron could only watch as Marcus walked away from him and Mr.D who finally stopped coughing, "Well looks like things are about to get more interesting around here" Mr.D said with Chiron only able to nodded his head in agreement.
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Author's Notes: Not dead, still alive and kicking but life just hasn't let me get time to write my stories and it sucks having loads of ideas but no time to write/type them up its so annoying but all I can say is I will update when I can so I hope you all can wait on me but any way hope you liked this chapter.
Paladin Out.
