Chapter 2: Angels Are Falling
Thalia had seen some weird things in her time, but this had to take the cake. "An achidi…" Percy murmured, his hand sliding to where his sword hung from his belt, "I'll distract it."
The beast Percy was talking about stood in the middle of the clearing, feasting on a young boy's flesh. Its hands looked like a single blade off of a pair of scissors, one on each. It was slime-green, and it had large wings expanding from its back. Its body had an armored exoskeleton, which Thalia expected would be hell to break through.
Percy snuck into the clearing, purposefully stepping on a twig and snapping it. The creature turned around, revealing its face. Its mouth was foamy, and it made a hissing sound. Blood red eyes shone in the mid-afternoon light, completely and totally blood-thirsty.
"Aw shit." Percy cursed, sliding his blade out. The creature attacked with an unexpected speed, which made it hard for Thalia's eyes to follow. Her hand slid to her boot, where she hid a knife.
Percy parried two blows from the monster, then kicking it in the chest, which only served to anger it. It knocked his sword away, stabbing him in the abdomen and the shoulder.
Blood flooded down Percy's chin, and he grinned, bemusing the monster. He opened his hand, showing a rune he'd traced on it, which now glowed a pale blue light. "Sayonara, dirtbag." He pressed it to the creature's torso, and the creature exploded, spraying the clearing in a nasty green blood.
"Ew." Thalia spoke, stepping in the clearing. "Um, next time you kill something, can it not explode?"
"Nah," Percy replied, brushing down the wrinkles in his leather jacket, "it's kind of my signature. Like, whenever I kill something, it has to spray shit everywhere."
"Wait," Thalia spoke, cupping her ear, "what's that buzzing?"
Percy could hear it too. "Aw crap. This is a nest. And we just killed part of the pack. Run!" Percy jerked her by the arm, racing out of the clearing. "We gotta find a monster to kill!"
"Why?" Thalia questioned.
"So we can bathe in its blood! An achidi keeps your scent for life!" If they have ours, we either have to die, been there, done that, not very fun, or change our scent!"
"There!" Thalia pointed to a large animal, covered in brown fur.
"Good enough for me!" Percy made a sharp turn, veering in the direction of the beast.
He leapt onto its back, gripping it around its tree-trunk neck, as to avoid falling off. Thalia took a throwing knife from her belt, loosing it at the monster, but that only served to madden it.
Thalia knew from then on that throwing knives would be too dainty to fell this mammoth. Looking up, she spotted a bow and quiver muttering, "Oh thank gods."
She took an arrow, quickly notching it on the string and firing. It merely bounced off of the beast's thick coat, dropping to the forest floor. She stuck her hand back in her quiver, searching for arrows that would be more useful at the time.
Her hand struck something metallic, and she grabbed at it. Nocking the arrow, she aimed for the monster's eye. Letting it fly, she watched in satisfaction as it struck the monster, breaking through the eye with no problem.
A few seconds later, the monster's head exploded, and Thalia looked perplexedly on. Slinging the quiver off of her shoulder, she searched for another one of the arrows.
"Thermite," Percy called out, "it's an explosive with a delayed reaction."
~Falling~
Hestia watched as Lucas was driven insane. She knew who was at work here, but she dare not utter his name, for fear that his wrath be driven upon Olympus.
"ORDER!" Zeus slammed his bolt down, speaking to the various gods gathered in the throne room of Olympus. "We have respectable evidence that father is rising again, and we must choose a champion to lead the demigods in the defense of Olympus!"
Various cries of names were heard throughout the crowd, but the eight year-old sitting in the hearth muttered a word, heard above all others, "Perseus."
Bemused, Poseidon asked, "What good would Zeus' deceased son do us now?"
"I'm not talking about the son of Zeus." Hestia replied.
"Then who, sister, could lead our armies?" Hera inquired.
"Have you ever heard of the Prometheans?" Hestia asked. "They're a race of immortals, older than even the Titans. When you were all too young to remember, he aided us in capturing some of the remaining Titans after the first Titanomachy.
"He taught Artemis and Apollo how to use a bow, and he crafted each with his own hands." Hestia stated.
Zeus, tired of being left out of the conversation, asked, "So how can we find this Perseus?"
"I might have an idea…" Hestia murmured, "but it'll take time."
~Falling~
"I hate it here!" Thalia complained. "It smells, it's dirty, and you're no good at small talk!"
"Would you can it?" Percy asked, turning his head to look at her, "it's the only place we can stay until you're able to go out."
A rustling was heard outside the door. Creeping up to a window, Percy peered outside. "Dammit," he cursed, "Archangels."
"Who're they?" Thalia asked.
"Fate's version of the minor gods. Kind of. They're the leaders of the Leviathans. Deadly as me, to an extent. They are heartless, and show no remorse, so they're worse."
Percy charged out the door after warning Thalia to stay hidden, chopping at the head of one of the Archangels. "Perseus," the Archangel's cold, monotonous voice rang out, as he thrust his hand, using his powers to magically throw Percy to the ground, "you have no idea how much trouble you're in."
"Well then, Azrael, why don't you enlighten me?" Percy sarcastically muttered, venom in his voice.
Azrael smiled sickeningly, "I'd rather kill you instead."
"Straight to business, huh Az?"
Azrael marched forward, a blindingly white scimitar clutched tightly in his right fist. "Your impudence will be the death of you, Promethean."
Percy forced himself off of the wall, despite Azrael's telekinesis, and kicked the Archangel in the chest. The attempt was futile, only pushing Azrael back a few feet.
Nonetheless, Percy advanced, talking as he did, "Well Az, where're the others? I'd love for you to see Cthulu one more time."
"I'm right here, slime." Cthulu's silky, feminine voice rang out as Percy was shoved to the side by a mound of earth.
"Ugh," Percy groaned, "y' gotta love terrakinesis, huh guys?"
"Get up, runt." The bulkish body of the Archangel Nero came into view, as the angel gripped Percy by the neck, lifting him off of the ground.
"Welcome home, Percy." The ergokinetic Archangel, Moloch, entered the clearing.
"You have no idea how easy it was to find you, Perce. I mean, rising from the dead must've made you sloppy." Amon spoke.
"Well," Percy croaked, "revenge's a bitch." He dropped a circular disc to the ground, and it emitted a high-pitched beeping noise, before releasing an ethereal yellow light.
Percy dropped to the ground, stumbling to the cabin, fumbling with the doorknob. "Percy!" Thalia cried as soon as he was inside. "What happened?"
"Later," Percy spoke, allowing Thalia to help support him, "we gotta go."
~Falling~
Luke liked to believe that he was successfully fooling everyone. That wasn't true. Apollo was the first to find out.
Thankfully, Apollo came to him first. He dragged Luke into the woods, and they began to talk. Thankfully, Luke had learned a few tricks.
"Who do you think you're fooling?" Apollo demanded, shaking Luke by his collar.
"Apollo, why would you ask a rhetorical question?" Luke sarcastically replied.
"Gospodar sudbine, besmrtnost uklanjanje!" Luke chanted, watching eagerly as Apollo dropped to the ground, ichor flooding out of his mouth.
"Luke no!" Thalia cried out, racing to the fallen god. Percy gripped Luke by the neck, effectively choking him.
"What did you do?" He growled.
Luke smirked, "I simply made him no better than us demigods." Percy struck him across the face, knocking the son of Hermes unconscious.
~Falling~
"What's happening?" Zeus demanded, as he entered the infirmary on Olympus. Around him, a group of minor gods were lying in the beds, ichor flowing from every pore on their body.
"The Apocalypse." A voice spoke from behind Zeus.
The god of thunder turned, recognizing his son in the stranger's arms. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY SON!?" Zeus thundered.
"Saved his life." Percy replied, laying Apollo down gently. Thalia walked in after him, dragging Luke by his collar. Zeus gaped at his dead daughter, but she did not deign to acknowledge her birth father.
"Who are you?" Zeus demanded.
"Perseus." Hestia murmured in awe, appearing in the hearth in the center of the room.
"Then you must know what this is." Zeus assumed.
"This," Perseus started, gesturing around the room, "is the Siege of Mučiti."
"Which is?" Thalia asked expectantly.
"A plague. It was once used in a war, by the Promethean of strife, Mučiti. He poisoned a general, and 5 who served under him. It immediately killed them. Here, I think it's supposed to send a message."
"What's that message?" Hestia asked quietly.
"Look," he pointed at a cut on Apollo's wrist, "the blood is red. You're turning into humans. If you're humans, you'll be powerless to fight against whatever is sent upon you. And, the demigods would be eager to join, knowing that they're at your power level now. You'll keep your powers, but you can be killed."
"So how do we stop it?" Thalia asked.
"We kill the spell-caster." Percy supplied.
"That's easy," Zeus spoke retrieving his bolt and marching toward the hogtied son of Hermes.
"That's not him. The real caster is dimensions away."
"Then how do we kill him?" Zeus exasperatedly asked.
Percy turned to Thalia, "It's time."
~Falling~
Nyx stumbled along the dirt trail blindly, the darkness shrouding even her vision. "Nyx!" Hemera hissed, "Where are you?"
"Right here." Nyx tapped her sister on the shoulder, making the younger girl yelp and leap into the air.
"Don't do that!" Hemera shrieked.
"You two are extremely amusing," Thalia said, leaning against a tree, her arms crossed.
"Who are you?" Nyx demanded, brandishing her hunting dagger threateningly.
"I believe I should be asking you that question." Thalia smoothly replied.
"I'm Hemera!" The Promethean of light squealed, "And this is Nyx!"
"Stronzo," Thalia murmured, slapping her forehead with her palm, "I am Luna, and this is my homeland."
"You live in the Forest of Souls?" Hemera gasped, "Only the deadliest of demons live here!"
"You mean the Leviathans?" Luna asked, "I can protect myself."
"Hemera!" Aether clumsily broke through the ring of barren trees around them, falling on all fours, "Who's this broad?"
"This broad has a name, pig. I'm Luna." She fingered a bracelet on her wrist nervously.
"Hey! Who're you callin' a pig, wench?" Aether demanded angrily.
"Forgive my Neanderthal brother. He hit his head as a child. I am Erebus," A cloaked man emerged from the shadows.
Luna signaled for them to be quiet. "Leviathans. Four o'clock." She pointed towards the mass of trees behind Aether.
Slipping a knife from her boot, she crouched down and stalked over to where she assumed the monsters were. She was right. A pale white Leviathan, clad in only a loincloth, crashed through the undergrowth, foaming at the mouth.
Luna was on it in a second, her knife slashing upwards, effectively decapitating the beast. A shroud of black smoke escaped from the gash, and the rest of the monster dissolved into more smoke.
A screech was heard, and suddenly, there were a dozen more creatures surrounding them. Thalia snapped her fingers, making glassy black armor appear on her. "Come on…. Come on…"
Her wish was granted as a lithe female Leviathan charged at her flipping over Luna and kicking her in the kidney. Thalia fell to the ground and the beast mounted her, fully intent on scratching out her lungs.
Luna's knife-hand shot up, stabbing the Leviathan in the ribcage, throwing it off of her, before pouncing, quickly killing it. With the first attack, the other Leviathans struck, outnumbering the Prometheans. As soon as Thalia was standing, she was tackled, but was quick enough to clamp her legs around her attacker's neck. She stabbed upwards blindly, impaling the Leviathan in between his eyes.
She released her grip, rolling over to find the other Prometheans finishing off the last of the monsters. She limped over to Nyx, gripping her outstretched hand and pulling her onto her feet. "We should get going before more come back."
Once they had arrived in Luna's cabin, Nyx asked, "Who are you? I mean, who are you really?"
"I'm the daughter of Perseus," Thalia winced, as if ashamed, "My father hid me and my mother in the forest so you all wouldn't find out."
"And do what?" Aether asked. Nyx elbowed him in the ribs.
"What do you think genius? Dad knew that when forbidden children were born, it was slash first, ask questions later. And if I had died, he would've wanted vengeance. Which would've resulted in the exact opposite of what he stood for."
"Your father was a monster." Aether spoke, clenching his fists.
You don't have the right…" Luna muttered.
"To do what princess?"
"Talk about Dad like you knew him." She replied, her head low.
"I knew him better than you did!" Aether shot back.
"Then why did you believe he was betraying people? Huh? He was called Omega for a reason genius! He was the one to end the war, not to start them! He was undyingly loyal, and if you knew him, you would've said something when they strung him up and put him down like one of those things!" She was screaming now, and she gestured towards the forest during the last sentence.
All of the Prometheans looked away from Luna after her rant. "I'm sorry," Nyx mumbled.
"You don't get to be sorry, Nyx! You remember what you told him to do when he was suspended, high above the crowd? You told him to go to hell!"
Erebus spoke, for the first time since the introductions, "We should return to Irkalla."
~Falling~
Luna faintly recognized the patterns on the walls of the palace. She spoke through gritted teeth as she bowed to Fate and Helix, "Milords, it will be a pleasure to serve you."
She was thrown into a blackened pit, as a test of skill. "You'll be fighting various opponents," Nyx told her as she was preparing for the fight, "some of them are your fears, and others are Prometheans. There are five levels, going from Othala to Uruz."
Thalia clenched her fists as she waited for Fate to summon her first opponent. Aether strutted into the arena, calling to Luna, "Don't worry sweetheart, I'll go easy on you!"
She replied, "Shut up and fight, jackass!" That angered the Promethean.
He charged, raising his broadsword high above his head. "Sloppy," Luna murmured, shaking her head. She kicked him in his unguarded torso, knocking the breath out of him.
She then slammed her knee into his nose; a satisfying crunch could be heard all around the arena.
He roared in anger, this time swinging his sword in wide circular motions around himself, using his extended reach to his advantage. Luna swung inside his circle with precise timing, parrying his blow.
She stepped inside his reach, slamming the hilt of her dagger into his temple, flipping the knife around and holding it against his neck. Fate stood up, proclaiming in a loud voice, "The winner of this bout, LUNA!"
Aether vanished from the arena as Thalia heard a familiar voice, "Why Thalia? Why'd you leave me with them to rot? They hurt me." Thalia spun around, facing a paler, bloody version of Luke Castellan.
"You left me… you promised you would be family. We would always stick with each other."
Tears ran down Luna's cheeks, "You're not real."
"Thalia," Luke reached toward her, but she slashed at his hand with a dagger.
"LEAVE ME ALONE!" She roared, lunging at the apparition.
The illusion faded, and she turned to see a teenage boy, with pale skin and blue eyes. Water levitated near his hands, leading Luna to believe that this was Hydros. He hurled the water at her, striking her in the gut and bending her over.
Luna's dagger clattered to the floor, and she raced toward Hydros, dodging his water attacks as she ran. She ducked under a punch he threw at her, gripping him by his hair and slamming him into her knee. He fell backwards, unconscious.
"The bout goes to Luna…" Fate inanimately announced.
A green-skinned woman in a wavy gown walked into the arena. "I am Gaia," her voice sounded like there were ten more of her, speaking simultaneously.
Suddenly, the earth moved beneath her, and she was in the air. A platform of floating rocks stood between Luna and Gaia.
The daughter of Perseus leapt to the first rock, attempting to steady herself. Then the rock began to quake. "Dammit," she mumbled.
She jumped across to the next platform, launching a knife at Gaia. The geokinetic easily avoided the projectile, but it distracted her long enough for Luna to jump to another rock. When Luna finally made it to the last rock, Gaia had stopped making the rocks turn and shift under her.
Gaia acknowledged Luna's victory with a nod before being swallowed by the earth.
The ground returned to normal, and Luna was greeted by another familiar voice. "I knew you were weak."
"Percy?" Thalia turned around, only to be met by a solid fist. "You're-you're real?"
"You were too weak to hold me. Too puny to accomplish the miniscule task you were given, and now everyone will suffer because of your incompetence."
Thalia was struck again, this time in the ribcage. "Ugh!"
"You'll get us all killed because of your incompetent behavior. I knew I should've picked someone else. You were too weak. I should've picked someone else."
"Stop it!" Thalia cried.
"Just face it Thalia… You're gonna die! You're gonna go to hell because you were too weak! You've always been weak! You're a dime a dozen in every corner or crevice of the world. I could find a million Half-Bloods stronger than you! You're WEAK!"
"Stop calling me WEAK!" Thalia screamed, driving her dagger into Percy's chest. His external body vanished, and in his place laid a robot.
"Well done Luna," Spoke Fate, spreading his hands wide, "Welcome to the A.C.E.S.!"
End of chapter two. I cut this a bit short 'cause I wanted to get done. Yeah, I feel like the story is moving along too fast, I'll try to slow that down next chapter. And A.C.E.S. stands for Alliance of Central Espionage Soldiers, B.T.W.
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