Author's Note: Alright, this came out a lot later than I thought it would. I just couldn't seem to sit down and write for a while. But here is chapter 3; I hope I can type it quickly for you guys. O ya, I need a beta reader. Any who want to, please message me.
Chapter 3
Lacy
Lacy watched Mark lead the new kid into the armory. She knew he was supposed to have awesome powers or whatever, but it wasn't fair that he got to spend so much time with Mark. Now she had to compete with Him, and that Vulcan girl, Janice, for Mark's time.
The young daughter of Apollo sat with her back against the fountain. She was waiting for Mark to emerge from the armory. After being at camp for 10 years, she was a senior member in her cabin. Camp was so harsh, not everyone made it past the first year. Most kids came to camp at the age of two or three, she was a little late. She didn't get here until she was four. Her mom had run from place to place, trying to hide her. She wasn't much younger than Mark, but he treated her like a kid. It infuriated her beyond belief.
Still, she had always had a crush on him, and always wanted to spend time with him. Before Jason disappeared he and Mark had been almost inseparable. That translated to her also spending a lot of time with Jason. Jason had always acted so strong and confident in front of everyone because he had to, he couldn't show weakness. But Mark and Lacy knew how hard it was on him, especially when campers were killed. That was probably a contributing factor to the relationship between the Son of Mars and Son of Jupiter. In ancient Rome, worship to Mars was only second to Jupiter himself. So it was here, Mark and Jason became fast friends and leaders.
Last summer, when Jason was fighting Krios and toppling the throne of Kronos, Mark was right beside him battling for all he was worth. They had always worked so hard to keep people alive, and to make the right decisions. So now, Lacy thought, when Jason had disappeared, Mark had to be devastated. But he could show no one. Especially now, when the entire camp looked to him to be a leader. So Lacy waited, hoping to catch Mark and talk to him. Send the new kid on some errand and try to help Mark.
Lupa had made Mark the tour guide for the Stranger, and Lacy was left out once again. Well that is going to change, Lacy thought to her-self. She wonders how she is going to get Mark away from the Stranger. If she can't get him away, then she could at least tag along, wait for an opportunity to talk to him about it. Ugh, why am I so emotional over this? It's not like I miss Jason, I just want to help Mark. That's it.
She sees the door to the armory open. She jumps up and runs over to meet Mark as he comes out. In her hurry she trips, and basically tackles an unsuspecting Percy to the ground. Lacy is horrified when Mark turns around after saying bye to Janice and to see her lying on top of Percy. Percy is lying there with a strange girl on his chest thinking that life is full of awkward moments. Lacy is crimson as she stands up, she was so embarrassed she couldn't look at Mark who was standing there with a stunned expression on his face. After a moment, Mark starts to laugh, and Lacy looks at him, then down to Percy, who hadn't moved or replaced his shocked expression.
"Um, sorry, that was an accident. I tripped." Lacy stutters. She tries to run away, eyes closed to fight back her anger at being so clumsy, but she trips, this time over Percy. She finds herself once again lying on the ground. Mark is roaring with laughter after seeing this.
"Back where we started huh, Lace, I didn't know you liked Percy so much. You probably could have just asked him for a hug. The poor kid hasn't even been here a week." Mark manages to gasp out. Lacy stands up and runs, this time successfully, leaving a laughing Mark, and completely stunned Percy behind.
So stupid, she thinks. Why am I always making a fool of myself in front of him? He won't ever take me seriously until I stop doing things like that. She runs toward her cabin, fighting back tears. When she reaches it, she pushes past two of her brothers to her room, where she throws herself on the bed and cries. Her brothers just look at each other and shrug, the corners of their mouths twitching. It was common knowledge in the Apollo cabin that Lacy was smitten with Mark. She had run back here to cry when she was embarrassed often enough. Lacy spent the rest of the day in her room, not even coming out for dinner.
Mark
Mark had been stunned when he had turned around to talk to Percy and Percy wasn't there. Especially when he looked down and saw Percy lying under a girl. Then he recognized her, Lacy. And he laughed, a lot. And then when she tried to run away and fell again, he laughed some more. He knew he wasn't being nice to her, but it was really funny. And when she ran off leaving him laughing and Percy just lying there, not quite over the shock of the moment, he felt a twinge of guilt. Then he reached down and gave Percy a hand.
"That was….. unexpected." Mark said to Percy.
"What the hell was that?" Percy said to Mark, causing Mark to start laughing again.
"That my new friend, was Lacy, the queen of clumsiness. She means well, and she's nice, but she is really, really clumsy. Normally anyway, she is a demon in battle, perfect movements. She is a weird Apollo child, she can use a bow excellently, like all of the Apollo bunch, but she prefers swords. That is probably because she always hung out with me and Jason, who always practiced with swords. Never really was fond of a bow, neither was Jason." Mark droned on.
"You mentioned Jason before, what happened to him?" Percy asks. Mark sobers up, and looks at Percy.
"He was the leader of the camp. He disappeared a few days ago. Lupa said he was fine, and not to look for him, but we are all worried. He was also my best friend. He defeated the Titan Krios in the war last summer all by himself. He should be okay, he's strong." Mark says. His expression is hard, as he thinks about that battle. He had been separated from Jason by a wall of monsters, he could barely watch, he was so busy fighting. But Jason had won, and toppled the Titan's throne.
"The Titans? I know I've heard of them." Percy says, images flashing through his mind. A flaming giant surrounded by a hurricane. A blonde haired boy surround by giant thrones. A beautiful blonde haired girl with piercing grey eyes. Then the images were gone, leaving Percy with an intense longing. That last one, who was she?
"Hello? Percy, you in there?" Mark asks, waving his hands in front of Percy's face. Percy blinks and looks at Mark.
"What just happened?" Percy asks him.
"What do you mean? You and I were talking and then you suddenly stopped and stared off into space for almost a minute. I guess you didn't hear a word I said. What was that about anyway?"
"Something about the Titans, there were images, flashing through my mind. But I don't remember what they were of, or anything about them." Percy tells Mark as he stares into the distance, his mind still on that girl with the amazing eyes.
"Well, the Titans ruled the world before the Gods; they are led by Kronos, and of course, immortal. Last year they tried to take over the world again, and we had to stop them. Jason led the attack on Mount Tam, where Kronos had built his palace." Mark explained. "By destroying his throne and toppling his palace, we weakened him so the Gods could defeat him."
"No, Kronos wasn't defeated by the Gods." Percy says. "Not really, it was a demigod who defeated him."
"What? That's impossible, none of us defeated him, and there is no way other demigods could have survived without coming here." Mark said. Mark was now staring at a confused Percy. Percy had opened his mouth to respond when an alarm sounded.
"We will continue this discussion later." Mark says. Percy nods and the both run towards the cafeteria building. The rest of the campers are assembling there as well. Lupa walks out the doors and looks around.
"There are monsters prowling the borders, and to the north, there is the smell of something ancient and powerful. The winter solstice in in 4 days, we must remain alert. Even more so than last summer." Lupa addresses the camp. Mark looks around, Lacy isn't there. He must have really upset her. He sighs inwardly to himself; he will have to go apologize to her tonight. Well, he might as well go now, dinner was in an hour, and she might not come if she was really upset.
Mark told Percy he was going to be busy, and to go hang out with Greg for a while. He then turned and headed towards the Apollo cabin. He was almost there, when the Earth opened up beneath him and swallowed him. Mark screams as he slides down an earthen slope. He shoots out the bottom into a dark cavern. There is a torch in front of him, it was held by a young boy, with black hair, and a black sword. Mark could feel the chill emanating from the sword. Mark lays there, both boys staring at each other. It was a full ten minutes before either spoke a word.
"Who are you?" Mark asks. The boy blinks at him, and looks away, toward a black mass to his right. Mark's eyes dart to the right, to see one of the biggest Hellhounds he has ever seen. And it was wagging its tail. After a few minutes the boy spoke.
"I am Nico, son of Hades. I'm looking for Percy Jackson. You will tell me where he is, and who you are. Where did all these demigods come from? Why did you abduct Percy?" The boy, Nico, demands. His voice is cold, his gaze is hard.
"Uh, first, I'm Mark, son of Mars. Second, we didn't abduct Percy, he just appeared. And last, where else would demigods be then at camp? Besides, where did a son of Pluto come from? There shouldn't be any more kids of the Powerful Three. Oh, and Percy is probably walking around the camp." Mark says. Another strange demigod, Mark thinks, and he is powerful. The wall opens up, and a pathway appears to the surface.
"Take me to him." Nico says. "And don't try anything, or my friend," He motions towards the hound, "will respond accordingly." Mark turns and walks through the tunnel. When he reaches the surface, he is almost blinded by the sun. He turns to see the other boy, who is equally disturbed by the sun. He is also incredibly pale. He blinks and looks around to see where he is.
The tunnel had come up at the Western end, towards the sea, he found himself on the beach. The sun was close to setting. Under different circumstances, he might have enjoyed the view, as it was, his nerves were on end.
"Mark!" A voice yelled from the direction of the camp. Mark turned to see Percy running towards him, too focused to notice the other boy. Mark grew even more nervous when he saw Percy was wearing armor, and looking incredibly stressed.
"Percy, what's going on?" Mark yells back. Percy doesn't answer until he reaches them.
"Someone saw you disappear, and then the camp was attacked almost immediately, what happened?" Percy gasps, trying to regain his breath. Before Mark could answer, the other boy stepped forward and spoke up.
"Hello Percy. How are you?" Nico says. Percy stares at him, mouth wide open in surprise. He should know this person, he does know this person. But he doesn't, or at least he doesn't remember.
"Who are you?" Percy asks.
"Ah, my dad told me this would be the case. Still, I had hoped you would remember. I am Nico, Son of Hades. Last summer, when Mount Olympus was being attacked by a horde of monsters and their Titan commanders, I convinced my dad to aid you. We destroyed the monsters while you chased Kronos to Olympus, and defeated him. You still probably won't remember." Nico answered. To Mark it seemed a little long-winded. But then again, if he saw Jason, and Jason didn't know who he was, he would give a long explanation too.
"Wait a minute," Mark says, struck suddenly by something Nico had said, "Did you just say Percy defeated Kronos? How?" Mark asks Nico. It was Percy who answered however, surprising both of them.
"It wasn't me who defeated him, it was Luke. In the end, Luke was the Hero." Percy says as he looked at the ground, trying to remember more, to figure out just who he was.
"True, technically, it was Luke who struck the final blow, but it was you who made that possible Percy, and it was you who made sure that the Gods would be victorious." Nico told Percy. Mark was still standing there looking extremely surprised. He really needed to find out who these two demigods were. Nico whistled, and the giant hellhound came bounding out of the tunnel, and seeing Percy, barked happily and jumped on him, licking his face.
"Get it off!" Percy screams at Nico. Nico whistles again and the dog backs off, to sit a few feet away, its tail thumping against the ground.
"What the hell was that for!" Percy yells at Nico, who smiles and shakes his head.
"Mrs. O'Leary was only saying 'hi'. She missed you." Nico said.
"What? Seriously, what the hell is going on? I don't get any of this." Percy sighs, exasperated. He looks at Mark, and then passes out. The strain on his mind being too much. Mark and Nico hurry to his side. They look at each other, glaring. Each blaming the other. Then Nico shrugs.
"We need to get him back to your camp. I'll help carry him. Just tell your people to leave Mrs. O'Leary alone."
"Fine," Mark says, he needed answers, and this kid seemed to be the only source. "Let's take him to Neptune's cabin." Nico smirked at that.
"So it's true. You guys really are Romans. When my father showed me his Pluto aspect, I wasn't sure. But it seems he told me the truth." Nico mused aloud as they carried Percy to his cabin.
"What are you talking about?" Mark asks. He had heard what Nico said. What the hell did he mean?
"I'll tell you when Percy wakes up." Nico told Mark. Several hours later, Percy awoke. Mark and Nico were sitting nearby.
"So, what's up guys?" Percy says, sitting up on his bed. Nico and Mark jump, and then Mark looks at Nico.
"Time for that explanation right?" Mark says to Nico.
"Yes, so this is how it is….."
End Chapter 3
I was typing, and halfway through I was suffering from some writer's block. Then without even intending it, the story wound up in a situation that I hadn't expected it to reach until around chapter 5 or 6. But, so it is. Alright, no idea how to start four yet, so Ill get it out when I do.