Percy POV
Well, I did it. I put my name in the Goblet. So did everyone else from The 7 besides Nico. We went outside after separating from Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Annabeth and I sat down under a tree. The rest went to bed.
Chiron came up to us shortly after. "Percy, what were you thinking standing up and correcting Dumbledore like that? It was highly disrespectful, and indicated that you thought you were above him. I hope never to see that behavior from you again, are you listening young man?"
"Yes, Chiron."
"Good. Never again, you hear me? Never again. Time to come in now children, curfew has started," we followed him into the Argo II. We got to our cabin, we shared one, and said goodnight to Chiron. We changed and got into bed. Yes, we shared one, don't say anything, it won't change. The thing was, Annabeth couldn't stand to be without me now. It was a source of comfort as well, when we woke from nightmares, there was the relief of finding the other next to you. We settled in and I gave Annabeth a hug.
"Why is the Tournament such a big deal? It hardly seems harder than something we've already faced," I asked.
"Yeah, for us, but for her they haven't faced anything like us before. Good night Percy," she replied.
"Night Annabeth," I replied.
The next morning, we woke and got down to the Great Hall. We sat where we had before, and I waited eagerly for the champions to be called. Dumbledore walked to the Goblet and waited for the Goblet to choose.
It spat out a piece of paper.
"The champion for Durmstrang, is Viktor Krum," the Durmstrang crew cheered greatly. Viktor slouched up to the door and entered.
The Goblet spat out another piece of paper.
"The champion for Beauxbatons, is Fleur Delacour," Fleur stood gracefully amid cheering.
Another piece of paper.
Dumbledore grabbed it, smiled and announced, "The Hogwarts champion is Cedric Diggory."
"No!" Said Ron loudly, but the uproar was too great and he was not heard. I crossed my fingers.
The last piece of paper was spat out.
"The Camps champion is," Dumbledore paused. "Percy Jackson!"
"Yes!" I pumped my fist. I stood up confidently. The room was filled with cheering from every demigod in the room. I'd have to see it beat all of the others. I walked up with no hesitation. Dumbledore smiled, and nodded at me. Chiron was standing, clapping hard, and smiling broadly.
"Well done Percy. Well done, I can't think of a better champion," he said. I smiled and entered the door. I stepped into the room where Viktor, Fleur, and Cedric were waiting.
"Percy is it? Nice job man!" Cedric called, slapping me on the shoulder. Then the door opened again.
There stood Harry.
"What is it?" Fleur asked. "Do zey want us back in ze hall?"
Harry gulped. "No. I was chosen," he said. I walked up to him.
"Sorry, man. Hey, it won't be that bad," I said comfortingly.
The door burst open again.
"Dumbledore, this is unacceptable! We bent the rules already allowing the Camps in, now another Hogwarts champion?" The leader of Durmstrang, Karkaroff said.
Dumbledore brushed it all off and walked up to Harry. "Harry, did you put your name in the Goblet of Fire?"
"No! Professor, you know I didn't!" Dumbledore sighed.
"Yes, Harry, I know. Now there's the other schools we have to worry about,"
"Dumbledore, if I may, I would gladly step out of the way for Harry," I said.
"Thank you Percy, my dear boy, but there is a binding contract. As soon as the Goblet accepts someone, it is final."
"Then there shouldn't be any complaints. It's final, nobody can stop. Shouldn't we just move forward?"
"Wise words Percy, wise words," a man named Ludo Bagman said.
"The first task, is one to test your daring, so we won't tell you what it is. It is on November 24th, so good luck champions!" Barty Crouch said. I smiled and we all walked out of the room. I was assaulted by my friends.
"What is it Percy?! What is the first challenge?" I shrugged and kept walking, only letting Annabeth hold my hand. We walked out and I took out Riptide.
"Train?" I asked Annabeth.
"Do I ever."
We started training. We moved around the grass, fighting. A crowd assembled around us, with students from every school. I answered questions in between jabs.
"Percy what is the task?"
"I dunno, they didn't tell us. Just something like, 'this will test your daring'... yada yada," I replied.
"What are you going to do?"
"Wait it out. What else am I supposed to do?" I asked. They had no reply, so I continued dueling. When Annabeth was tired, I asked if anyone wanted to try.
"Alright Percy. You and me. Bet I can beat you this time," Jason said. I rolled my eyes.
"Suuure," I replied. We started dueling and I won. Again.
"Yes! Consecutive win number 400! I'm done. Time to go to sleep," I said, heading for the ship.
November 24th
First task.
I sit in the tent while other's pace. Harry sits next to me, contemplating. Then Crouch, Bagman, Dumbledore, Karkaroff, Maxime, and Chiron come in. Bagman has a silk pouch in his hands. I turn to face them and pull on my bronze breastplate nervously. Harry had warned me about the dragons, so I wasn't worried, it was just the type of dragon. I know I can heal myself, but…
"Alright! You will select a model from this bag, your task is to collect the golden egg!" Bagman cried. Fleur selected her's first. She got something called a Welsh Green. It had a number two around its neck. Krum got a Chinese Fireball, with a number three. Cedric got a Swedish Short Snout, number one.
I reached into the bag.
I pulled out a copper colored dragon, with black ridge marks, and short horns. It had a number four.
A Peruvian Vipertooth.
I could tell the way Cedric sucked in a breath that it was dangerous.
"Percy, that's a Peruvian Vipertooth. That's a highly venomous dragon," he said. I shrugged.
"No biggie," I answered calmly. He looked skeptical but didn't say anything.
Harry pulled out a Norwegian Ridgeback. It had a number five.
He gulped and put on a strong face. Bagman pulled him aside, and ran back through when the whistle sounded. Cedric went.
I could hear the roar of the crowd.
Bagman's commentary (atrocious).
The deafening roar that indicated he had gotten the egg.
The same happened with Fleur. Then Krum.
My turn.
I gulped and walked out into the enclosure. The crowd was roaring. I could see Annabeth cheering herself hoarse. That gave me a burst of adrenaline. I examined the dragon. It was gnashing its large teeth and growling low.
I smiled at it.
"So you wanna play boy? Let's play." I muttered.
I drew my sword and started running at it. It is about 15 feet long. Let's see… I'm 6 feet tall, Riptide is another 3 feet… 9 feet tall. Wait. Am I really doing math?
Heck, I'm just gonna fight.
I can't do any damage to the eggs so I'll have to be careful…
"Ah, Percy drew his sword, that won't do him much good he can't hurt the eggs. Maybe he's just going for-"
"SHUT UP BAGMAN!" I yelled. I could hear the other demigods howling with laughter.
"Excuse me?"
"YOU HEARD ME! WE DON'T NEED COMMENTARY! EVERYONE CAN SEE WHAT I'M DOING. OH. AM I GOING TO GET POINTS OFF FOR THIS? THEN NEVER MIND, KEEP COMMENTATING," I yelled back, while still running towards the dragon. I was some few feet away when it blew fire. I summoned a shield of water and stopped the flames. I then jumped up on a wave and rode high up to the judges stand.
I saluted the judges and let the water go. I fell down and landed on the dragon's back. It squirmed and bucked trying to get me off.
"RIDE 'EM COWBOY!" Leo yelled. I smiled. Then, created another wave. I made it look like me, added it to the back of the dragon so it still thought I was on and used another wave to still get under it while it bucked. I grabbed the golden egg and rode out.
"And he's done it!" Bagman yelled. "With not a scratch on him! That was most impressive, I'm sure the judges will agree with me. Oh, what's he doing now?"
I created a wave that blasted me up onto the judges stand. I stood on the gold trim in front of Bagman. I walked down the gold trim, giving a salute or a bow to all the judges and stopped in front of Chiron.
"What'd you think?" I asked.
"I'd have to agree with Mr. Bagman over there, excellent job Percy, just excellent. I'm sure nobody will object if I give you a ten?" Chiron said smugly. He glanced at Bagman, who was nodding like mad. Chiron stood up, took a board and changed the number to a giant ten. He held it up for all to see and there was a roar of approval from all the demigods and most of the other students. Bagman was next, he raised his wand and a gold ten shot out of it. Then came Dumbledore, gave me a eight, then Maxime, eight. Crouch, nine, Karkaroff, six. I scowled at him and then jumped off the trim again. The crowd roared as I got closer and closer to the ground. At the last second, a wave blasted me to where Annabeth was in the front row. I stood on the banister and leaned down and kissed her.
The crowd roared it's approval. When we parted, I smiled at her and grabbed her gloved hand. I pulled her up to the banister and wrapped my arms around her waist. I smiled cheekily.
"Percy… Don't you dare!" I just smiled and stepped off the banister again.
"PERSEUS JACKSON!" She yelled. When we got near the bottom and landed us softly with the help of water. Then we walked out, me waving to the crowd.
"Now that was some exit!" Bagman yelled. "Let's see if Harry freakin' Potter can do better!"
I scowled. "I hate that guy," I said.
"I gathered from when you yelled at him to shut up," Annabeth said.
"Probably shouldn't have done that right?"
"No, but you couldn't help it. Come on! Let's go watch!"
We got to a place where we could see and watched Harry.
"Accio Firebolt!" He cried, raising his wand. A few seconds later a broom sped towards him. It stopped and he mounted, kicking off.
"Oh, goodness, he has a Firebolt? This might be the best one yet!" Bagman yelled. Harry rose higher until he was no more than a speck. Then he came diving down at a speed I could never hope to accomplish. The Horntail blew fire at him and Harry dodged easily.
"Great Scott, he can fly!" Bagman shouted. "Are you watching this, Mr. Krum? Mr. Jackson?" Harry soared higher in a circle then dove again. He missed the flames, but the tail came to meet his shoulder, tearing his robes. Then he began to swerve, and gradually drew the Horntail upwards. She let out a roar of frustration and came off the ground… Harry saw his opportunity, he dove before the dragon knew what he was doing and grabbed the golden egg and flew out. I cheered along with the rest of the crowd.
"Look at that!" Bagman was yelling. "Will you look at that! Our youngest champion is quickest to get his egg! Well, this is going to shorten the odds on Mr. Potter!"
"And here he is folks! All bandaged up and ready to get his scores!" Bagman raised his wand and a silver ten shot out. Maxime, eight. Crouch, nine. Dumbledore, nine. Karkaroff, four.
FOUR? That was so much better than a four!
Chiron, ten.
"And there it is! Mr. Jackson and Mr. Potter are now all tied for first place!" I smiled and we walked back to the tent, hand in hand.
We got back to the tent and Bagman claps me on the back. "Very good Mr. Jackson! All of you! Well done! Now, you have a nice long break. The clue about the next task is in the egg. Decipher it, and you will know what waits for you. Good luck! Your next challenge is February 24th!" He announces curtly. Then he leaves, and we are all dismissed.
"I'm gonna go jump in the lake to clear my head, see you guys," I said.
"Uhh, Percy, that might not be the best idea. There's a giant squid you see," Harry warned me.
"Cool! Where is it?! Can I see it?!" I asked, looking around the lake eagerly. Harry shrugged. I jumped into the lake, without realizing that I was still holding the egg. I swam around for a bit, still holding the egg, and then I decided, what the heck, I'll open the egg and see if I can understand it. I opened it and heard,
Come seek us where our voices sound,
We cannot sing above the ground,
And while you're searching ponder this;
We've taken what you'll sorely miss,
An hour long you'll have to look,
And to recover what we took,
But past an hour, the prospect's black,
Too late, it's gone, it won't come back.
Well, that's interesting. I quickly memorized it and propelled myself out of the water. I landed on the beach, and ran off to find Annabeth.
"Hey! Annabeth! Meet me in our room!" I yelled at her. She closed her book and started running alongside me.
"What is it?"
"I figured out part of the next clue!" I answered when we were in the privacy of our room. I stashed the golden egg in the closet. Then I grabbed paper and wrote down what I had heard. I showed Annabeth the paper.
"You said you heard this underwater?" I nodded. "Where our voices sound, must be underwater then," she said, writing that down next to the words. "I wonder if there are merpeople in the lake…" She muttered and wrote that down as well. "Taken what you'll sorely miss. That one's obvious… An hour long, it's timed then… The rest is obvious as well," she finished. At the end our notes looked like this:
My notes: Annabeth:
Come seek us where our voices sound, Underwater
We cannot sing above the ground, Merpeople?
And while you're searching ponder this; What?
We've taken what you'll sorely miss, Obvious
An hour long you'll have to look, Timed Trial
And to recover what we took, Obvious
But past an hour, the prospect's black, Obvious
Too late, it's gone, it won't come back. The thing is gone forever
"I bet we've figured it out faster than anybody else. Thanks Annabeth," I said.
"You'll rock this one. It's in your home turf!"
"I bet I know what they'll take from me."
"What?"
"You, because you are what matters most to me," I said. Annabeth smiled and gave me a peck on the cheek. I smiled at her and we walked out again for dinner. We got to the Dining Hall and all eyes were on me. The girls stared at me enviously, my hand clasping Annabeth's… If Annabeth died before I got the chance to save her… well… I wouldn't be surprised. I gave Annabeth's hand a little squeeze and she grinned at me. We took our usual seats next to the trio. Harry grinned at me.
"Tough little Trial 'eh?" He asked. I grinned.
"Well… compared to some of the things I've faced before, that dragon was nothing. I was really just killing time," I answered, smirking.
Annabeth slapped me playfully in the arm. "I noticed, you little showoff. Those tricks with the water didn't escape my notice. When you yelled at Bagman to shut up was the best part though. You have no fear of Dumbledore or the other judges do you?"
"Nada. None. That was a piece of cake, it was fun too. A good break from Gaea and Kronos threats as well," I answered.
Dumbledore clapped twice to get everyone's attention. "Now. That was certainly exciting, and I'm sure you will all agree with me. Give it up for Mr. Krum!" There was a smattering of applause, Ron clapping whole heartedly. "Miss. Delacour?!" Again, a volley of clapping. "Mr. Diggory?!" Dumbledore clapped loudly, and this was the loudest yet, because the Hogwarts crowd loved him. Cedric bowed his head modestly, but I could see he enjoyed it. "Mr. Jackson!" Chiron rose to his feet- hooves, sorry- and gave me a big round of applause. The Camps were cheering themselves hoarse, and I stood up for a playful bow. "And Mr. Potter!" I whistled and found Hermione and Ron cheering as loud as they could. Ron's siblings clapped Harry on the back- well, those who could reach him- and then Dumbledore held up his hands.
"I would like to say a few words before we dig into our meal. The Yule Ball will be held on Christmas night during holiday. The next Trial is on February the 24th. That is all, enjoy your meals," and the plates filled with food. I dug in, obviously, and didn't talk for the rest of the time. Honest to goodness, I was famished. All that dragon fighting made me hungry.
Hope you enjoyed this! If the scores don't add up to the same number, I don't really care... I didn't do the math.
Thanks for reading! Don't forget to review,
~Doodledraw