Yo. Sorry for the incredibly late update. I've been tossing around this story in my head for a long time, but could never quite get it to work right until recently. This chapter is going to rely heavily on the book "The Fall of Reach" by Eric Nylund during the SPARTAN's training section. If you love Halo, it's an incredible read, and very informative about SPARTANs and MJOLNIR. I'm also planning on reposting my original chapters with updates to the grammar and spelling, along with putting ArchAngel's original chapter at the beginning to make it a little easier to read. Please let me know if you think this is a good idea, and I hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. I'm a student, not the genius that is Rick Riordan or Bungie/Microsoft/all the writers for Halo like Eric Nylund, nor am I ArchAngel's Wrath, the person who first came up with the idea for this amazing story.
Last Time: "You seem to have left out the fact that you were Percy." Sam said, grinning at me.
Sam P.O.V. (A/N I know, I know, finally. A P.O.V. that's not Percy's!)
Time Skip: Earlier that Night
Sam lifted his head from where he was sitting slumped on a bench. There was the lead figure of the strange group, walking over to him. As the man sat down, Sean studied him closely. Being a child of Athena, he noticed several interesting things faster than most others might. First, the man was a lot bigger than any grown mortal Sean had ever seen. Second, the man appeared to be sad, yet also excited at the same time. Third, the man seemed to be in charge of his every movement, as if he had thousands of years of training. He looked as if he had more control and power than the Gods themselves, and they'd been around for a very, very long time.
As the man spoke, Sean was reminded of his father. A very caring and brilliant man, but unrelenting if he needed to be. The man eventually convinced him to try to take the sword out of the stone, and much to Sean's surprise, the sword came out of the stone as easily for him as it had for the SPARTANs. He glanced at the man, and asked if the man had known that would happen. In the next moment, the world seemed to be sucked towards a point next to the man, and a beautiful woman dressed in the armor of the SPARTANs appeared. The man referred to her as Lady Chaos. Sean was eventually taken along with her back to her palace. Once he arrived, she spoke to him directly.
"Hello Sean. It's been a long time since I saw you last. You were just heading out on a mission, and we lost contact with you within the first hour. You had survived, but you were deep in enemy territory. Percy didn't want to leave you stranded there, but I demanded that he go out on his mission and stated that you would be fine. As it turns out, you were, and that you will be joining him in a minute. But first, we need to send you back in time, 2283 years to be exact, to be trained so that you'll be ready to join Percy on the battlefield."
Sean stared at her, slightly confused by her statement, but excited at the prospect of joining his hero Percy in battle. "Whatever you need, ma'am. I'm ready to train."
"This will be harder than you can imagine, and at times you may want to quit. From here on out, your life will never be easy again. You will be in constant peril, and there is no certainty that you will survive. Are you sure you want to continue?" She queried.
"With all due respect Lady Chaos, that is the most clichéd thing I have ever heard. You already stated that I was a SPARTAN, and that I'd be needed, so how can I back down. I'd destroy the timeline. No, I need to do this. And someday, I'll save my dad." Sean replied cautiously.
Lady Chaos grinned. "He said you'd say that. Now, if you'd like to join the other trainees, I'll send you there."
A brilliant flash of light appeared in front of Sean, and a tingling feeling spread across his body. Once the light dissipated, and he was able to open his eyes again, he saw a group of kids around his age staring at him.
"Who do you think he is?" one of the girls asked.
"How should I know Zoe? He's definitely a demigod, and definitely sent by Lady Chaos, but aside from that, there's no knowing who he is." Replied a boy who looked very much like the man who'd talked to him back at camp. The boy turned and held his hand out to Sean. "Sorry for the staring. We're all quite bored, since we've been stuck in here for the past hour. The name's Nexus. If you don't mind my asking, who are you?"
Sean grasped Nexus's hand. "My name's Sean, and I'm originally from Camp Half-Blood, but a group of soldiers came and recruited me for Lady Chaos." Sean could see the others stiffen visibly at the name "Camp Half-Blood", but couldn't tell why. As he was about to ask them, a woman wearing a white lab coat walked in.
"Good evening, SPARTANs. You have volunteered yourselves for this experimental project. You will be trained … and you will become the best we can make of you. You will be the protectors of Chaos and the Universe. This place will become your home. Your fellow trainees will be your family now. The training will be difficult. There will be a great deal of hardship on the road ahead, but I know you will all make it. Rest now. We will begin tomorrow." She turned to a buff man in fatigues who had entered behind her and spoke softly to him.
The man said something back to her, then turned and shouted to the children, "Fall out!"
Sean followed the other children's example of saluting then marched out behind them. As he passed through the door, he gasped. They were in a military compound of some kind, but it appeared to be empty. The others seemed to know where to go, so he stuck with them as they walked to a long building. Once inside, he could smell lots of different aromas rising from a long table. As they got closer, he saw that it was a buffet of some sort. Each child grabbed a tray then scanned their palm on the table. They then proceeded to pile food onto their plate before scanning the plate and their palm on the other side. The computer beeped at each of them before they turned to sit down at one of the tables. Nexus glanced over at Sean before setting his tray down and jogging back to help Sean.
"We're only allowed a certain amount of food so that we can get all the nutrients and energy we need without over eating. Start with scanning your palm on the screen there and it will show you what you're allowed to get." Nexus explained.
Sean stepped over to the scanner and placed his palm against it. A green band of light flicked across his palm before the screen beeped and showed him what he could get. Sean proceeded along and took what the screen had specified, before copying what the others had done on the far side. He walked over to the table and sat down. It wasn't long before all the others started bombarding him with questions.
"How's Camp Half-Blood?"
"What's Earth like?"
"How did you get here?"
"Who's your godly parent?"
Nexus quickly stepped in. "Guys, he just got here. We should probably introduce ourselves first." He winked at Sean, as if the two shared a joke.
Sean grinned, knowing he'd found a great group.
"Wake up, trainee!" Sean heard a man shout. It sounded a lot like the man from last night. Sean quickly jumped out of bed, and saw the uniformed man from last night staring at him with a sparking silver baton. The man nodded. "Good. You know which way up is." He stated. He turned to the others, who were standing beside their bunks, each one accompanied by another man with a silver baton. "I am Chief Petty Officer Mendez," the man shouted. "The rest of these men are your instructors. You will do exactly as we tell you at all times.
Mendez pointed to the far end of the cinderblock barracks. 'Showers are aft. You will all wash and then return here to dress." He opened a trunk at the end of Sean's cot and pulled out a pair of matching gray sweats.
Sean glanced at them quickly before he headed to the showers. He noticed that they had some writing on them, but he wasn't able to get a proper look. Once he reached the showers, he stripped off the nightshirt he had been wearing, surrounded by the rest of the kids. The others stepped onto a conveyor belt on the floor, and Sean followed suit. He washed himself with a lukewarm soapy water before he rinsed off with an icy cold spray.
Sean sprinted back to his bunk, and quickly pulled on the clothes that had been left out for him. As he pulled on the clothes, he noticed that they had his name and a three digit number next to it stenciled onto the chest of his shirt. It read "SEAN-115". His mind flashed back to camp for a moment and the SPARTANS that had introduced themselves by calling themselves "sierra" followed by a number. All of a sudden, Sean felt as if he'd been struck with lightning, a feeling he was altogether too familiar with after upsetting too many children of Zeus.
"No slacking! On the double!" Mendez shouted from right behind Sean, holding his baton. Sean quickly pulled on the rest of the supplied clothes before he followed the example that the other children were showing, standing at attention at the end of the bunk. As soon as the last of the children had gotten dressed, Mendez grinned and announced, "There'll be no waiting for late trainees tomorrow. Now, outside! Triple time … march!"
Sean tried to fall in line with the others, but he just couldn't get the rhythm down. The others didn't seem to be struggling nearly as much as he was, and before Sean could nail down the right rhythm the group stopped in the middle of a strip of grass. And thus began the most grueling workout session that Sean had ever gone through. Hundreds of pushups, sit-ups, sprints, jumping jacks, all sorts of exercises to push his body to the limit. As he glanced around, he could see the determination on the faces of the other children, and he swore to himself to never give up, to not be the weak link, to never back down as long as he could do something to help.
After they had finished the workout, Chief Mendez sent the children to a classroom to be taught strategy. Here, Sean was at home. After all, his mother was Athena, goddess of wisdom, war, and strategy among other things. The A.I., Déjà, began to instruct them as they ate a small snack of a couple of dry crackers, talking about the bravery of the Spartans at the battle of Thermopylae. Sean watched in fascination at the hologram projection of the battle. He had heard of the battle before, but never had he been able to get so close to it as if it were real and he had the vantage point of a god. All too soon the lesson was over, with Déjà promising to teach them about wolves the next day.
"But first," Déjà spoke over the grumbling of the children, "It's time for you to go to the playground."
"Playground?" Sean asked quizzically, noting the cringing of his friends.
Déjà merely smiled. "Best not be late!" She claimed cheerily.
Sean frowned as he ran out of the room with the other trainees. Something was up with this so-called "playground". He liked the sound of it even less when Chief Mendez claimed it was only a "short-run" away.
After a grueling two-mile jog through a forest, Sean and the other children finally arrived at the playground, which to Sean looked more like a rope's course he'd seen once than a "playground". Instead of trees, the natural forest had been cleared to allow a forest of twenty-meter tall wooden poles to be erected all over the place. Rope cargo nets and bridges stretched between the poles, covering most of the visible sky. Scattered among the bridges were ropes leading up to the platforms, some with knots a couple of meters apart and others with none.
"Trainees, form two lines!" Chief Mendez barked at us. The children quickly stepped into line, and Sean somehow ended up next to Nexus. Sean hadn't really spoken to the others all day, being either too out of breath or engrossed in the class to say much of anything, but when opened he mouth to give greet Nexus, Mendez began speaking again. "As there are eight of you, you will all be split into teams of two. 118 will be with 119, 120 and 121, 122 and 123, and 115 and 117 will be the teams. SPARTANs 116 and 124 will, regrettably, be unable to join us for now, so until further notice those will be your teams." Sean grinned to himself as he recognized the numbers from two nights earlier, when he had met the SPARTANs in the future. Sean then turned to Nexus and grinned, just as Nexus turned to Sean and smirked before offering a fist. Sean glanced at it then back at Nexus before Nexus rolled his eyes and bumped Sean's fist with his. Sean's grin widened as he felt welcomed into the group even more than he had the night before, but was abruptly interrupted by Chief Mendez's voice once again.
"Alright trainees. Today's game is called 'Ring the Bell.'" Mendez pointed to a cowbell hanging ten meters above all the other poles. "I leave it up to each team to find their own wat. When both members of your team have rung the bell, you are to get groundside double time and run back here across this finish line. Last team across the line goes without dinner. Any questions?"
Sean raised his hand as Mendez stared at the children. "Yes trainee?" Mendez asked Sean.
"Is there a record for the fastest completion time on this obstacle course?" Sean asked, stalling for time to try to come up with a strategy on how to tackle the course in front of him.
"No, but there will be after today. Anyone else? No? Good. On my mark …"
Sean glanced at Nexus, who was beaming at Sean.
"Mark!" Mendez shouted, and the children sprang forward. Nexus grabbed Sean's arm and dragged him to one of the ropes, all the other children rushing to the other unclaimed ones.
"Hurry up the rope. I'll make sure no one tries to mess with it while you're climbing," Nexus quickly spoke to Sean before gesturing up to the platform. "Get climbing!"
Sean grabbed the rope with two hands before pulling himself up, muscles screaming in protest to the activity. He was still sore from the earlier workout, but he pushed through the pain as much as he could. "Do it for Nexus" Sean yelled in his head. After what seemed like forever, Sean reached the top of the platform and glanced around. A few of the others had made it up, their partners rushing after them. All of a sudden, Nexus's head popped into view next to Sean.
"Time to go for the bell," Nexus said slyly, before handing Sean a rock from the platform. Sean glanced to Nexus as Nexus pulled back his arm and threw the rock as hard as he could at the bell, arching the rock and making it slam into the bell despite a distance still of about 20 meters. Nexus then turned to Sean and explained, "It's all in the release. I used to suck something fierce at archery, but I've gotten much better with my shot with Lady Chaos's blessing. Quickly now! Try it out."
Sean glanced at Nexus, unsure of his aim. He'd always sucked at archery, thinking back to the days of Camp Halfblood, and how everyone had said he'd been almost as bad as Per-
"Stop daydreaming and throw the dam rock!" Nexus shouted, startling Sean. Sean quickly launched the rock at the bell, and somehow managed to smack the bell dead-on.
"That's not possible," Sean muttered as Nexus grinned at him cheekily.
"It is now," Nexus proclaimed before nudging Sean. "No time to waist, let's go."
Sean glanced down to the ground and his head swam. 20 meters seemed a lot higher now than it had earlier, but Nexus once more grabbed Sean's arm and shoved him back to the rope. "Grab the rope with your legs and lightly with your hands, then pray to the gods to not get rope-burn. I'll heal anything that you get. Now, off you go!" Nexus said, too cheerily in Sean's opinion. Sean grabbed the rope and slid down, burning his hands slightly in the process before dropping the last two meters. Nexus landed right next to him, and the two boys bolted to the finish line, crossing over it just as the first group of other kids reached the bell.
"Good job," Mendez said to the two boys. "Rocks are no longer allowed Nexus. See to it to win without them next time."
Nexus saluted Mendez before sitting down roughly next to where Sean had collapsed, both boys breathing heavily. The two exchanged grins again, and Sean knew he had finally found a best friend.
Time Skip: Present
Nexus POV:
"Just as you seem to have failed to inform us of the new gods." I claimed, glaring at Sean for a couple of seconds before my face split into a grin. We reached forward and grabbed each other's forearms before proceeding to slap each other on the shoulder in a brotherly manner. "And here I was thinking I could have some peace and quiet for once," I replied cheekily.
"Ha. The only peace you'll ever get is when you finally admit to being in love with Zöe," Sean countered quietly. I glared at him before snorting and letting go of his arm.
"Some people never change," I growled to myself before turning back to everyone. I could see that everyone had taken off their helmets and were all grinning as much as I had been moments before. "Spartans!" My voice rose in volume to cover the distance. "Our brother has returned from his absence and has decided to give an unreasonable excuse. How do we judge him?"
Sean's eyes widened in fear as everyone else's grins grew three sizes, and together everyone shouted, "Guilty!"
I turned back to Sean. "Sean, I hereby condemn you to two days of dealing with the members of Camp Half-Blood, as well as a training battle against the entirety of the rest of the Spartans," I said, grinning again before mouthing the words, "Serves you right."
Sean smirked before replying, "Burn in Hades. I'd take you on right now, but it appears as if we have visitors."
I glanced past him to see Annabeth slowly approaching the camp with the rest of the 6 and Blake in tow. I growled to myself again before clearing my face and approaching the gods. "Welcome to our encampment, 6 of the prophecy and Blake. How may we be of assistance?"
"You could start by giving us your actual names, and introducing the new Spartan." Of course Annabeth would be the one to pick up on the similarities of the people and the fact that there was a new one of us.
"Just as soon as you introduce yourselves and your own powers," Sean replied, not really wanting to give up the information of who he was.
Annabeth sighed before opening her mouth to speak, but Blake beat her to it. "Who do you think you are demanding that we give you this information before you give us any yourself?" His voice was high-pitched, showing his fear of who we were.
Sean grinned predatorily. "I'm the guy who'll kick your ass if you don't shut up right now. BUT, if you really want to know who I am, as in really, truly wish to know, then I'll tell you."
The 6 waited for a couple of seconds before realizing that Sean wasn't going to say anything without their asking. "Who are you really?" Blake asked, his voice hushed in fear.
I face palmed as Sean's grin widened even further. "I'm the guy who'll kick your ass someday." Our visitors glared at Sean before his smile turned into more of a relaxed smile instead of a predatory one and he continued. "I'm also Sierra-115, 3rd in command of the Void Troopers and Lady Chaos' assassination and espionage expert. Don't let that fool you, I can take on anybody here and win hands down, with the exception of Nexus. I have to actually try to beat him. If you mess with my army, you mess with me as well, and that includes messing with my superiors." I followed the 6 and Blake's example of glaring at Sean before turning back to them.
"Please ignore the idiot, we've let him be hit by too many artillery rounds for his intelligence to be worth anything anymore." I told the 6, desperately trying to ignore Sean's childish actions. Before I could continue, Sean decided to open his mouth again.
"Hey!" He pouted. "Is that any way to treat a child of Athena?"
I grimaced internally as our guest's eyes widened. "And you, sir, have just volunteered for KP duty as well for the next couple of days." Sean cursed while the other Spartans all saluted him valiantly for his service, trying to keep their smirks off of their faces.
"A child … of Athena?" Annabeth asked, still trying to process what had been said.
"Yes. This is Sean, the child of Athena that joined us earlier. He has risen through the ranks of the Void Troopers rather quickly despite his less than Athenian intelligence, and he has already informed you of his current position. If I am not with around to help, go to him. He will be your best chance surviving if you can get past the loss of brain cells." I replied, sighing internally at Sean's slip-up. It could cause problems in the future if not handled carefully, so I took the moment of shock to give them a heart-attack. "In fact, you know all of the Spartans. Each of us was involved with Camp Half-Blood in a past life, and all of us have decided to become Spartans. Ladies and gentlemen, if you'd please?"
"Silena, at your service." Silena began again, restarting the order from earlier.
"Charlie, at your service."
"Luke, at your service."
"Zöe, at your service."
"Ethan, at your service."
"Veronica, at your service."
I could feel everyone's eyes on me before I opened my mouth to introduce myself once more. "Nexus, at your service. Now, if you'd please introduce what you're the gods of, we can start upon a plan and hopefully get some sleep before tomorrow's training." I could feel the looks of disappointment from my soldiers and the confused looks of the 6 and Blake, with the exception of Annabeth. Each name had been like a bullet to her, especially Luke's.
Jason glanced at Annabeth before realizing she was out of commission for the moment, so he stepped forward. "I'm Jason, son of Zeus, god of rituals and holy places."
Piper stepped forward next. "I'm Piper, daughter of Aphrodite, goddess of true love and friendship."
Leo grinned, but it was missing much of the old cheer he'd had. "I'm Leo, son of Hephaestus, god of repair shops and mechanics, as well as all machines to a lesser extent."
Frank smile kindly before his he answered. "I'm Frank, son of Ares, legacy of Poseidon, god of shapeshifting and of the calm during a battle."
Hazel glanced at Frank before realizing it was her turn. "I'm Hazel, daughter of Hades, goddess of jewelry and rare metals."
Annabeth, recovering from her shock, decided to go next. "I'm Annabeth, daughter of Athena, goddess of the perfect strategy and perfect building."
Blake smirked as he finally stepped forward. "I'm Blake, son of Poseidon, god of salt water, and heir to the throne of the ocean. Now, Spartans, do you see why we don't need your help?"
I glanced them over before answering slowly, "Not at all. All I see are a bunch of inexperienced teenagers who aren't used to fighting for their very lives or being stuck without their godly powers. And trust me, our enemy will destroy you without our help. We can give you a fighting chance as we join forces with you and train your soldiers, but we will be the ones in charge in that circumstance. Now, if you'll excuse us, we have a plan to make." I turned quickly before speaking sharply, "Sierra-115! Please escort our beloved guests out of the encampment then join me in my command tent. Everyone else, figure out a watch rotation and get to it. We will start work at 0500 hours tomorrow. Get some rest."
Sorry for taking so long. I started the chapter, got busy, failed to work on it, decided to reread my other chapters, fell out of working on it, read some other fanfics, generally procrastinated, and finally got back to work on this one. I've tried to make it a little bit longer so that you can enjoy it more! It's 4143 words, actually. I don't plan to take nearly as long again, but you never know. Hope you enjoyed!