Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! I'm ecstatic to say that over the weekend I passed the 1000 review mark for all of my stories! A huge thank you goes out to anyone who has reviewed any of my stories. I couldn't thank you enough. Now onto 2000 and beyond.
As thanks, I will be uploading at least four chapters of various stories this week, including this one. I'm thinking of doing Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, but that's subject to change.
Speaking of reviews, we are doing really well with them on this story. Let's see, can we get to 110 by Friday?
Last chapter I asked you guys if you'd rather fight Percy or Luke. The results are in and most of you said Percy (12 to 7). A lot of you mentioned his kindness and willingness to let you live if you would lose. Can't disagree with you there.
Now we move onto the chapter itself. This chapter is dedicated to Marionette of Ancient Relics and of course the story is still dedicated to JazzApples.
Enjoy Chapter Three of The Ten.
Disclaimer: I do not live in Boston. I don't think I've ever been to Boston, now that I think about it.
III: THE LONDON ARCHERY CHAMPIONSHIPS GET INTERESTING
Two days passed and Percy still had nothing. He had done vigorous research on the Internet about Princess Thalia, but he hadn't come up with anything.
Percy decided he needed a break, so he went out for a walk on the streets of London. He grabbed his jacket as it was pretty windy outside. Also, it was London weather, so even in the summer it was still somewhat chilly compared to back home.
He stopped by a Starbucks to pick up something to drink. As he walked out Percy heard chanting coming from his left. As he turned to look, he found a bunch of people dressed up in blue jerseys, soccer jerseys to be exact. They looked like they were heading off towards a game. Percy knew that over here in Europe most countries had their soccer seasons over the winter, rather than over the summer like in America, so their season was probably just starting.
He turned away from the supporters and immediately ran into someone. Percy managed to save his drink, but the man sprawled out on the ground.
"Oh my gods," Percy said, extending his arm to the man to help him up. "I'm so sorry. Are you ok?"
"I'm fine, thank you," the guy replied, dusting himself off. Percy thought he looked to be around his age, maybe a little older. He had sandy blonde hair and blue eyes. He was well built, just like Percy was, and he looked pretty tan, which was weird to see in a city like this.
"I'm so sorry," Percy said, trying to apologize again.
"It's fine," the man replied, looking up at Percy for the first time. His eyes narrowed for a second, but then they quickly returned to normal which made Percy wonder if it actually happened. "What's your name, young man?"
"Percy. Percy Jackson," he replied, but he was still confused. Why did he call him 'young man?' The guy was barely older than he was. "And yourself?"
"Call me Fred," the man replied, extending his hand, which Percy shook. "It was nice talking with you, Percy. I'll see you around. Beware the time. It will run out eventually." And with that Fred disappeared, walking past Percy and blending in with the London crowd.
What just happened, Percy thought? He had run into this guy, presumably by coincidence, and then he walks away like it's nothing. And what did he say? Beware the time? What did that mean? He couldn't have possibly known who he was, could he?
Percy decided to let it go for the time being. He had other problems to worry about at the moment, which mainly included a certain princess.
Percy turned away from the direction Fred went and he immediately focused on a flyer stapled onto a telephone pole. It read, London Archery Championships. And underneath, Friday and Saturday only! Come out and watch your local archers battle for a local championship! It listed a bunch of names of participants underneath, including the princess's name. Percy ripped the flyer off the pole and checked his phone. The finals were happening this afternoon. He walked back to his hotel and got ready to head out for the archery championships.
Three hours later he was sitting in the stands of the finals of the London Archery Championships. The stands were packed, so Percy was lucky that he even got a seat. The four finalists were announced and luckily for him Thalia had made it to the finals. Percy studied her as she walked in.
She looked just like her picture in the palace, except for a few things. She looked a little older, around his age, but Percy expected that. Her picture in the palace wouldn't be exactly up to date, so naturally she would be a little older than she was in her painting. Her black hair was cropped shorter than in the painting and it was pulled up into a ponytail, surely because of the event she was about to take place in. She was wearing archery clothing instead of a dress and a protective shield like armor was covering her left wrist and forearm, surely to protect against the slap of the bowstring when it was released.
She looked up in the stands and Percy swore she looked straight at him, but then she waved and a girl two rows in front of him waved back.
Thalia turned back as the announcer opened the warm-up. People started to cheer as the four archers each stepped up to a target and began their warm-up routine.
Percy looked up at the top of the arena towards the flag and noticed it was flapping pretty steadily in the breeze. He looked back down at the various archers and noticed they were struggling with the heavy wind. Most of their shots were heading left of the bulls-eye. Not by much, but he knew as they moved further away it would just get more difficult.
He focused on Thalia for the most part and he noticed that she was struggling just as much as the other three archers were. But Percy also noticed that she was the only one who had taken a couple steps backwards to try to acclimate herself to the wind back at a farther distance.
Ten minutes later the actual competition started. The archers seemed to be struggling just as much as they had in warm-up, but Thalia seemed like she was gaining a slight advantage. That all changed however when the wind died suddenly and she missed the target completely.
The wind continued to be sporadic as the competition went on. One second it would be a solid breeze and the next it would disappear completely. Percy could tell the archers were trying to come up with a way to consistently get points without having to worry about missing the target if the wind died. They all seemed to be struggling, but at least no one was gaining an advantage from it.
Going into the last round Thalia was leading by one point over second place. Third and fourth were three and five points back, respectively.
They went in reverse order for the last round, so Thalia would be shooting last. The fourth place person only got a five, so as long as Thalia hit the target she would place and receive a medal. The third place archer hit a seven, a little more worrying, but still Thalia only needed four to tie and that wasn't that difficult.
The current second-place guy stepped up and just about pured his last shot, a nearly perfect arrow. Judges had to be brought in, it was so close to being a bulls-eye, a ten pointer.
"Nine points!" The judge announced. Cheering arose from the crowd and Percy took a look over at Thalia, who was concentrating fiercely. She now needed a nine or ten in order to be crowned champion. An eight would tie her and anything lower would give her second place. The pressure was on the princess now.
Thalia stepped up, drawing an arrow from her quiver and placing it on the bowstring. She drew the bow, drawing back the bowstring as she did so. Thalia made some little adjustments based off the wind and then she let her shot go.
Twang, thump. The arrow wasn't sticking out of the direct center, but it looked close. Percy wasn't aware of it at the time, but he found himself praying that it was a nine-pointer. The tension in the arena rose as the judges were brought in once more.
"Eight points!" They announced. Thalia's head dropped in frustration, but then quickly rose once more.
"It looks like we are to have an arch-off in this year's tournament!"
Thalia shook hands with the two eliminated competitors and then stood next to the announcer in the center of the arena.
"Very well! Three shots to determine our winner, but first," the announcer said. Thalia and the other finalist nodded and stepped up to a target. They each let go a single shot in order to determine who went first and who went second. Thalia had the higher single shot, so she would go last.
"As I was saying, each contestant will have three shots. The competitor with the higher total at the end of the three shots will be our winner! If we're still tied after three shots we will go on a shot-by-shot basis until we have determined our champion. Lance, you're up first."
The Lance guy stepped up to the target and after a few adjustments let his first shot go.
"Nine points!"
Thalia followed him, but the wind seemed to pick up as she drew her bow. Her shot flew through the air.
"Seven points!"
Percy found himself biting his fingernails, something he normally didn't do. After one round the princess was already two points behind.
The Lance guy stepped up once more.
"Eight points!"
Lance looked down in frustration. If he had gotten a nine or ten he would have been assured a lead heading into the final round. Now that was in jeopardy.
Thalia stepped up, her face beaded in sweat and concentration. Everyone in the stands could see the tip of her tongue sticking out of her mouth as she concentrated.
Thalia drew back her bow and her one eye closed. She measured the wind coming from her right and waiting for the right time as it died down. There, she thought, and released. Thalia knew it was good as soon as it left her bow.
"Bulls-eye! Ten points!"
Thalia grinned in response. They were tied going into the last round. There was no way she was going to let this guy beat her.
"Ten points!"
"Ten points!" Here we go with sudden death, Percy thought.
"Nine points!"
"Nine points!"
"Ten points!"
"Bulls-eye! Ten points!"
"Eight points! No, wait. Nine points!"
Thalia stepped up, wanting to end this now and forever. The wind had surprisingly died down for the sudden death, so the two of them had been hitting perfect or nearly perfect shots, but now for her shot the wind had picked up once more and it didn't look like it was stopping.
Thalia lined up her arrow, adjusting to the right to compensate for the wind. Thalia was about to let it go when she stopped herself and adjusted a little more to the right. The arena was completely silent as she let her arrow go. The twang could be heard clearly around the arena.
Thalia wasn't sure as the arrow imbedded itself in the target. It was definitely at least a nine-pointer, but it was awfully close to a bulls-eye. As the judges crowded around the target, Thalia hoped it was touching the line. She knew touching the line constituted a bulls-eye and she knew by the judges' reactions that it was close.
"Ten points! We have a new winner!"
Thalia fell to her knees, her bow falling out of her hand as the crowd erupted in cheers. She had just won the London Archery Championships, her life-long dream.
Percy stood with the crowd, acknowledging the new champion. Thalia eventually made it to her feet and she waved her thanks at the crowd before walking over to accept her new trophy and the gold medal. She brandished the trophy above her head before she walked to the side to hand off her trophy. After the trophy was safely in the hands of a palace official, Thalia walked over to the stands to sign some autographs. Percy quickly stood up and made his way to the edge of the stands to get in line, his sharpie and notepad in hand. He didn't really need the princess's autograph, but it gave him a chance to talk with her.
Thalia signed autographs for ten minutes or so, slowly making her way towards Percy, but eventually she knew she had to cut herself off and she did that now.
Percy was panicking as the princess started to walk away. He had to think of something quickly.
"Thalia!" He yelled, hoping to get her attention.
Thalia turned, surprised, and found a guy of around her age staring at her. He had jet black hair that was quite messy and sea green eyes like the ocean. He was tanned and well built. Overall, she thought he was quite the attractive guy, so she walked back to his outstretched arms when she noticed the bracelet on his left wrist. It couldn't be, could it?
Thalia had to think quickly, but she was normally good at that. She jumped up and wrapped her arms around the guy's neck. The wind died suddenly, but picked right back up.
Percy jumped in surprise. This was not what he expected at all.
"Quick, what's your name?" The princess whispered in his ear.
"Percy," he replied in the same hushed tone. "But why-"
"No time to explain. Follow my lead." Thalia jumped back down, but still held his hand. "Percy!" She said out loud. "Where have you been? I haven't seen you since preschool!"
Luckily Percy was a quick thinker as well.
"I know!" He replied. "I've missed you so much! After I moved, I never thought I'd see you again."
"What are you doing here?" The princess asked.
"We're on vacation. When I saw the notice about you participating in this tournament, I knew I had to come."
"Well, come on down!" Thalia said. Percy gave her a look, but the princess nodded. She turned towards the security guards as Percy swung his right leg over the railing. This was turning out much better than he expected. "Let him though," Thalia told the guards. "He's with me."
The security guards did as she asked and Percy jumped down to the arena floor. Thalia wrapped her right arm around his waist and after a jump Percy wrapped his left arm around her shoulder.
"Keep up the act," Thalia whispered. "Until we're inside."
Percy smiled at her, but Thalia was too busy looking at the bracelet on Percy's left wrist.
The second they got into the changing room, Thalia broke away from Percy. Her expression turned serious.
"Where did you get that bracelet?" She interrogated.
"Uh, on a beach, in New York," Percy stuttered, surprised by the sudden change of personalities.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. Absolutely positive."
Thalia snorted, unconvinced.
"You're coming with me, Percy."
"Where are we going?" He asked.
"To the museum. I need to make sure that you haven't stolen the bracelet that's there."
Percy wanted to ask questions right away, but Thalia cut him off, saying she had to change, and pushed him out of the room. Fifteen minutes later Thalia opened the door. She was back in a dress. Thalia walked past Percy, who was sitting on the floor, and ordered him to follow her.
Percy followed the princess to a limo and he jumped in after her as the driver opened the door.
The second the door shut, Thalia turned on him.
"Explain yourself. Why do you have a bracelet just like the one in the museum?"
Percy took a breath. This was it. The chance he wanted.
"You're the princess of lightning, right?"
The question seemed to throw Thalia off.
"Yes, I've been called that." Thalia paused. "Why?"
"I needed to make sure. You were the person I was looking for."
"What do you mean?"
Percy took another breath. How was he supposed to explain this?
"I'm supposed to save the world," he started. "Along with nine other teenagers. You were first in line."
"Whoa, whoa, back up," the princess replied. "What are you talking about?"
Percy sighed once more and then told her the story of how he found the bracelet and then the puzzle and the meeting with Chiron.
"There's ten bracelets," he said. "Each one is supposed to go with one of the ten people. I've got mine and I need to find the other nine."
"But why me?" Thalia asked. "I'm a princess. You're just a lonely schoolboy, aren't you?"
"Yeah," Percy replied, trying not to be offended. "But Chiron said that each of the ten came from a different background, so it would be expected that each of the ten this time would be from a different background as well."
"I guess that makes sense." The princess paused. "So you're saying this bracelet in the museum is mine?"
"I don't see why it shouldn't be. You said your ancestor found it?"
"Yeah, my great-great-great-great-great grandmother. Queen Victoria."
"Queen Victoria found it?" Thalia nodded. "Ok, we're going to check it out now, right?"
"Yeah, we're almost at the museum." Percy nodded and the silence drew out for several seconds before Percy spoke again.
"So, Thalia," Percy said. The princess looked up at him. "Do you believe me? Do you understand how critical my situation is?"
"I'm not sure yet, Percy," she replied timidly. "I want to see the one at the museum before making a decision."
"Ok, I can agree with that. How about we exchange phone numbers? I'm sure you'll need some time to think this over and pack if necessary."
Thalia agreed and the two of them exchanged phone numbers, being sure to put in the international codes.
They made it to the museum and Thalia immediately took off towards the entrance, Percy following close behind. The two of them made it through security without a hitch and Thalia made her way through the crowded sections, not bothering to stop until she reached the bracelet.
"There it is," Thalia said, as if she couldn't believe it was actually there.
"Look," Percy pointed. "A lightning bolt."
Sure enough, etched on the bracelet was a lightning bolt, in the exact same spot as Percy's trident.
"You're right." Thalia seemed to be thinking. She eventually came to a decision. "Come on, let's go. I need to think about this."
The two of them exited the museum and they headed back to the limo. Thalia dropped Percy off at his hotel before driving off.
The next night, Percy got a call on his phone. He answered right away.
"Percy, it's me. I'm at the corner of Brook and Davies. Hurry up."
A/N:
So, what did you think? Percy and Thalia have now met and it looks like she needs his help. Read on to find out more.
Chapter 4 will be out on Friday. That's right, this Friday, so be sure to check it out.
Next chapter of The Prince, The Girl and The World will be out tomorrow and a new chapter of Scars and Recognition will be out on Wednesday or Thursday. Not exactly sure yet when. Stay tuned for updates.
In other news, I have added one more point to PSON's Guide to a Great Story. Check it out if you have the time.
Onto the Question of the Chapter: Would you rather attend Camp Half-Blood or Camp Jupiter and why?
Let's see, I'd rather attend both but if I had to pick one, I'd have to say CHB. I'd love to attend CJ, but I think it would be too disciplined. I'm too lazy of a person to attend a disciplined institution like that. I would also love to attend Camp Half-Blood because I think it has more to offer than Camp Jupiter, although many of you may disagree with me. I love Capture the Flag as well as the chariot races and the climbing wall. My memory may be failing me, but all I remember of Camp Jupiter is the war games that are held every week or so. They seem to be the same thing over and over again, so I'd like to have a little bit of variety in my life. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't decline an offer to attend Camp Jupiter, but I would choose CHB over it if I had a choice.
Make sure you review!
Thanks!
-PSON
