Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or HoO or anything else I may inadvertently reference.
Hello! Sorry it's been a while since I last updated but I've been really busy as of late. Anyhow, enjoy this new chapter. Some Heroes of Olympus characters in it. I'm not sure if Reyna is actually Praetor but try and ignore that little part if I got it wrong. What can I say? I'm not a demigod.
Enjoy, R&R!
- The Earthshaker -
Percy opened his eyes to find himself surrounded by monsters. They were inside a castle made of black marble. Percy instantly knew where he was and thought for a moment about what to do. He decided the best course of action would be to see where they were taking him, probably to their leader.
He wondered which titan it would be. He knew it would be a titan, the recent signs indicated that the titans were on the rise and only a titan would be able to have so many monsters working together.
As Percy was being carried through the castle he memorized the route they were taking, it could be very useful to know later on. They past a few statues on the way, one of Kronos, one of Krios and one of Atlas. Without his troop of monsters finding out he had also unlocked the cuffs around his wrist and ankles using the moisture in the air to push the lock in the right way. He was ready for any opportunity to escape that may arise ready to leave without knowing who was leading the monsters. In his current condition he might not be powerful enough to defeat the titan. He might be able to but if possible than he wouldn't risk it.
Percy was shocked when he was led out of the castle but still was ready to act when the giant carrying him tripped. The cuffs came off in an instant and Riptide grew from a pen into a sword in his hand. He ran to the top the the giant's head and after stabbing him he jump off letting him turn into dust as he moved to the next monster. He used Riptide to disarm a Dracanae's spear and then stab it using it's spear to stab another Dracanae nearby him while throwing Riptide into a giant's forehead and fighting only with the stolen spear.
A monster had slipped through Percy's guard and had cut a gash into his leg. Percy spun around a kick the monster before stabbing it with his spear. Another Dracanae slashed at Percy with a sword, breaking his spear. He used the spear tip to kill the Dracanae and then drew Riptide from his pocket once again plodding forwards killing every monster who got too close to Riptide.
Percy was fighting with skill and grace but he had still managed to get numerous cuts and scrapes, some of which were quite severe. Percy yelled and charged at a drakon that was making it's way towards him. The beast spat acid at Percy who leapt over it and vaulted onto the beast head stabbing it in the eye and then in the mouth when it roared in agony.
Percy was seriously mad, adrenaline rushing through him and as he fought the winds started to pick up around him leaving him at the center of his own personal hurricane.
"You're going to regret choosing to fight an Earthshaker!" He yelled, his voice carrying through the wind. With every step Percy took the ground started vibrating, unbalancing his opponents until Percy hit the ground with Riptide and a huge shockwave threw everything around him in the air. The entire mountain shook and even at Camp Half-blood, on the other side of the country they felt the tremors shaking the ground.
"What has Poseidon so angry?" Chiron said to himself assuming the only person capable of such a powerful act would be the god himself not knowing about Percy who was now on his own at the top of Mt. Othrys the remaining monster fleeing.
Percy now stood atop Mt. Othrys alone, or at least, he thought he was alone until he heard someone yelling. "Help! Somebody help me! Please!" Percy heard this and dreaded in his heart what had happened. Dark thoughts aside though, Percy knew he had to find the source of the voice and quick.
After some searching he found the person who had called out, it was a young girl looked to be struggling to hold up an invisible weight. She looked to be about Percy's age, probably around 13 or 14 years old. Her hair was streaked with grey though from the effort and she looked hungry and tired. Percy ran up to her and asked her.
"What happened? How did you come to be under the sky?"
"T-They left m-me here, they t-threatened to kill my brother unless I took it f-from A-Atlas." She answered. As he stood there, she fell onto her hands and knees and yelled out in shock as the rocky floor scraped across her skin, staining the rocks red with blood.
"Here, let me help you." Percy said a bent down to her level. He raised his hands to feel for the sky and then lifted it off the girl's shoulders, taking the burden for himself.
"Uggh!" Percy grunted as he felt the weight of the sky pressing down on him. He struggled to hold it for a few minutes but after he found a comfortable way to support it with one hand and his back he shook the shoulders of the girl who had been holding the sky before who had slumped over and was lying on the cliff taking deep breaths.
Percy shook the girl again, hoping to elicit a response of some kind but failing. He sighed and settled in to wait until the girl came to. The sky wasn't as heavy as everyone said it was, Percy found himself able to ignore the crushing weight and think about other things like how he would get the girl down from Mt. Othrys, who was the child's godly parent. The girl must have been a demigod for being able to hold up the sky for who knows how long.
Thoughts of this manner idly floated around Percy's head as he waited patiently, the sun was almost set beneath the horizon and the girl still hadn't woken. Being as impatient as he was, Percy shook the girl again, a little harder than the first two times with improved results. The girl muttered something unintelligible and then rolled over. Her eyes shot open and she slowly picked herself up from the ground. She sat up and looked at Percy, somewhat in awe of his ability to hold up the sky with so little effort.
"Thank you." She said. Percy looked into her eyes, they were the same colour, sea green.
"You're welcome." Percy said. "You must be exhausted, it takes a strong will to be able to hold up the sky."
The girl said nothing but nodded in acknowledgement of his statement.
"What's your name?" Percy asked as if they were just two people, sitting at a coffee shop instead of atop the most evil mountain on the planet.
"My name is Jasmine, daughter of Ceres."
Percy nearly dropped the sky in shock, falling onto his knees and taking several minutes to pick himself up again. When he had, he looked at her worried expression.
"Crap." He said.
"What is the matter, was it something I said?" She asked worriedly. She didn't really want to anger the person who took the sky from her, she quite liked him and wanted to repay him in whatever way she could.
"No, it's not something you said." Percy replied. "It's just something you are."
Jasmine look at him, waiting for him to elaborate on what he had said. Percy thought quite a long time about how he was going to explain as little as he could to her and hopefully not start a war.
"Jasmine, what do you know about the gods?" He asked.
"There's Jupiter, king of the gods and Juno, his wife. There's also Neptune, Minerva, Mars, Venus, Apollo, Diana, Vulcan, Vesta, Mercury and Ceres, my mother." She said.
Percy mulled this over for a moment, then he told her.
"Look into my pocket and see if you can find a drachma." He told her.
"Drachma? Those are Greek." She answered.
"Just do it."
Jasmine reached into his pockets and found two drachma. Percy concentrated and in front of the two of them, water vapour appeared and the fading light created a faint rainbow.
"Now, throw a drachma into the rainbow and say, 'O, Iris, Goddess of the rainbow, accept my offering. Show me Reyna at Camp Jupiter.'" Percy instructed her. Jasmine threw the drachma into the rainbow and gaped as it disappear before Percy nudged her telling her to say what he told her to, which she did and a picture of Reyna, in front of a desk with papers stacked up around it appeared.
"HEY!" Percy yelled at the picture and the two demigods watched Reyna jump up in shock, drawing her sword and pointing it at the Iris message. "Praetor Reyna, there is a demigod who will be at the base of Mt. Tam in a few hours, send some of your troops to escort her back to camp."
"Who are you? How do you know my name and how did you find out about camp?" Reyna asked. "And why are you contacting me through Arcus?" Jasmine was frozen with shock that there was a person in the rainbow so Percy was the one who replied, the question were after all, directed at him.
"Praetor Reyna, I've been to your camp many times before and while we have never spoken, your reputation precedes you. As for who I am, that is a trivial concern but who the girl you are going to be picking up is, well, she's a daughter of Ceres and is quite exhausted from holding the sky so she cannot walk to your camp, nor can I escort her there."
"The sky? That is the burden of Atlas, why was she holding it? And why can't you escort her?"
"She was threatened to take it from him, as for why I can't escort her. We're the only two people up here, she isn't carrying the sky and you're still alive so I'll leave you to figure out why I can't escort her." Percy grimaced under the weight but kept talking. "You'd better have people at the bottom of this mountain when she gets there, or you'll have incurred my anger."
"I do not fear you." Reyna said with confidence, after all, it was just one man. A boy really, why should she be afraid of him? She had a whole legion.
"You should." The confidence behind Percy's words was certainly unnerving but Reyna remain calm. Then, Percy slipped again, the weight of the sky forcing him violently onto one knee. A massive shockwave resonated through the mountain and in the IM, the demigods could see Reyna's desk shake.
"I will send some soldiers to escort her to camp." Reyna said, her facade of calm slightly fractured. She sensed that the demigod in the image before her was not one to be trifled with.
"Thank you, and good day, Praetor."
Reyna nodded and then swiped through the image. Percy turned his head to face Samantha, and told her. "You need to go down the mountain, the Roman at the base will take you someplace safe, back to their camp." Percy took one hand and will visible effort, placed it on her shoulder. She felt a chill run down her spine. "Go now, with the blessing of the sea."
Percy watched the girl walk down the cliff and then yelled after her. "Oh, and take one of the swords from the field over than ridge, you may need it." She turn and waved her acknowledgement and walked out of Percy's sight, leaving him at the place where earth and sky meet.
- Close -
Thanks for reading! Please review, it really makes my day when I read your review, positive or no. I can't promise an update soon but hopefully the next chapter won't take quite as long as this one did.