Chapter 2
Percy groaned as Grover pressed an ice pack to his face, he took it leaning back
"Ouch huh?" the satyr said "Want me to grab some ambrosia?"
Percy just shook his head, he stretched out a hand, Grover to it helping him to his feet
"Just need to get to the water" he grumbled clicking his shoulder, pain crossing his face "Annabeth still on her victory lap?" he asked as he made his way to the fountain in the middle of his cabin
Grover nodded "Yer, she is already at the feast, drinking with the Sons of Apollo, I told her we'd meet her there"
Percy felt a small pang of jealousy at the thought of Annabeth getting drunk with other guys, he pushed it to the back of his mind, she was daughter of the goddess of wisdom she wouldn't do anything stupid.
By the time Percy had sorted himself out the celebration feast was well under way, a huge bonfire was set in the middle of the clearing. Long wooden tables filled with roasted food and endless drinks surrounded the fire, the two boys made their way through the crowd of chattering Demi-Gods, a few greeting Percy, a few of the daughters of Aphrodite offering him goblets, he declined
They quickly found Annabeth, Percy took in her rosy cheeks from the excitement, she leapt up when she saw them wrapping her arms around both.
"Hey" she beamed, leaving her arms around their shoulders
"Congrats" Grover called over the noise of the celebration
"Thanks, come on, have a drink with me" she signalled for someone to get two new flagons of mead, they toasted and drank.
"I almost had you" Percy teased, watching the fire light dance in her grey eyes
"Weren't even close Seaweed Brain" she slurred back at him, lightly punching his arm
The celebration went long into the night, the Harpies were not too happy about it and attempted to eat a couple of the Demi-gods but Chiron shooed them away and allowed the campers a few more hours, before sending them back to the cabins, but Annabeth and Grover managed to sneak into Cabin 2.
A loud, constant knocking at the door had three semi-conscious half-bloods groaning at the horrible noise.
"Percy it's your door, you get it" mumbled Annabeth groggily, the son of Poseidon muttered something under his breath as he rolled out from under a table. The knocking continued, Percy rubbed his eyes, the sun hadn't even risen fully yet, he splashed some water in his face as he walked past the fountain, refreshing himself slightly. Percy swung open the door squinting slightly to see the figure in front of him, what caught his attention was the four horse legs.
"Chiron?" he asked still not fully awake
"Mr Jackson" the aged centaur seemed out of breath "is Mr Underwood and Miss Chase with you?" Percy nodded, starting to grasp the urgency in his voice
"What's going on Chiron?" he asked
"I need the three of you to follow me, it is a matter of the up most importance"
Percy nodded and turned, seeing that the other two had gone back to sleep, he held is hand out in front of him and using his power, moved the water from the fountain to splash their faces, making them both jump awake.
"WHAT IN HADES?" Annabeth gasped, spinning around, her blade in hand, her eyes landing on Percy in the doorway with Chiron
"We have a problem" Percy comfirmed
So there they were crossing the campus in the early sunrise light, the three knew there was something wrong, Chiron said nothing as they crossed to the big house, they were rushed into Mr D's office where they were met by a young brunette with dark skin and even darker eyes, the Satyr gulped.
"Lady Persephone?" Grover's voice came out a little higher than usual, the Queen of the Underworld leaned suggestively against Mr D's desk her eyes lingering on the sweaty palmed Satyr.
"Hello Grover" she winked, Dionysus coughed awkwardly and took a step forward, to address the three Demi-Gods.
"Yes well, Lady Persephone has travelled here on important business" he said solemnly, he gestured for the Queen of the Underworld to share her knowledge, she dragged her eyes from Grover to address them all.
"Son of Poseidon, three years ago you defeated my husband, Hades, he was furious and started plotting his revenge on you and the Gods of Olympus, it wasn't until recently I overheard his plans" her smile faded slightly "He plans to release Tityus from where he is locked away in Tartarus"
"Why come to us?" asked Percy confused "Why not go to Zeus and my father surly they could handle their brother, especially if he is going to release someone from Tartarus" the rest of the room went quiet.
"Percy…" Annabeth began "The Gods cannot interfere in each other's affairs, they made a treaty long ago"
This confused Percy even more "Yes I know that But Hades is threatening to attack the mortal world possibly even Camp Half Blood, as much as they won't admit it but they need us"
Annabeth placed a hand on his upper arm "It doesn't work that way Percy, mortals are expendable to most of the Gods, they will not intervene unless it affects Olympus, it is the way it has always been under Zeus's reign, he will not change his mind"
Percy exhaled running a hand through his hair trying to wrap his head around everything, his home was being threatened and the Gods, his father would not do anything, Poseidon would not go against his brother rule.
"What do we do?" he asked, looking towards the group, Mr D seemed uninterested again and had reclined with a Diet Coke
"We have to stop him Mr Jackson" answered Chiron who stood there arms crossed against his chest.
"I have done all I can, good luck to you" and with that Persephone was gone returning to the Underworld, her prison.
Percy watched her disappear before saying "How do we even stop Hades from releasing this Tityus?"
He began to pacing back and forth in front of Mr D's desk "How do you even release someone from Tartarus, I can't imagine it's very easy" he turned to the others for an answer.
"Well Tityus was placed there by Zeus, other than getting the Olympians to release him themselves, there are two options, give Tityus the power to break himself free of the chains or cut the chains"
The centaur moved to the vast book shelves, his fingers skimming the spines, Percy sat on the large couch with Grover and Annabeth. This was not what he wanted to be doing with a hangover, Annabeth squeezed his hand sympathetically her fingers laced with his, he gave her a weak smile, supressing the urge to tuck a strand of unruly blonde hair behind her ear.
"Ah here" Chiron blew the dust off a very old red leather book "The Baetylus, it is the stone that Cronus was tricked into swallowing instead of the infant Zeus, it is said to have some of Cronus's strength within it, the other is the Harpe of Perseus, the sword Perseus used to defeat the Kraken when it too was released from the depths of Tartarus"
"And where are these items now?" asked Grover who still seemed to be getting over the surprise appearance of Persephone, still having a slight flush in his cheeks,
Chiron removed his glasses and rubbed his forehead "Well the Baetylus is on Mount Olympus protected by Hephaestus, the Harpe however was… commandeered shall we say by Enyo Goddess of Destruction and is in her possession"
"Great" Annabeth sighed, after seeing the confusion on Percy's face "Enyo stays alone mostly, but her greatest ally is Ares, she uses him to rally soldiers into a frenzy which causes more destruction, other than the Gods she only sees those that she can use for her own gain, we need a child of Ares, that would be our best chance to even find her, let alone speak to her"
"Then what's the problem? Clarrise is a daughter of Ares, she will help us" Grover started to stand.
"Yer but she's half way round the world Grover, there isn't time to get her back here" Percy turned to Chiron and Annabeth "Is there another on campus?" Both of them shared a look
"Only one left on Campus" Annabeth said, not sounding very happy about it.