AN: I've settled on three possible designs for Lou Ellen. One is Lulu from Final Fantasy. The second is Lust from FullMetal Alchemist (or FullMetal Alchemist Brotherhood depending on which you've seen). The last is Morrigan from Dragon Age (LOVE these games! All I got left of inquisition is the Jaws of Hakkon, the final main story quest, and then the Trespasser DLC. No spoilers or you will be declared an enemy of the Silver Legion)
AN2: I'm kinda surprised the conversation between Percy and Dionysus didn't get more review comments, or people theorizing what was in the bag.
AN3: this Percy is going to get a LOT of armor and weapons from quests, drops, and other situations. I have several planned but I'm always open to suggestions and I'm curious as to what people will request.
Legend of the Destroyer
Chapter 3
-Percy-
"I'm pretty sure this isn't training." Percy said nervously, hands itching to remove the blindfold that Claire had talked him into wearing for the latest training method before the capture the flag game the next day.
"It is." Claire's friend Lou said with a grin as he held back a whimper. Claire, Lou, and several of their allies for the game the next day were about to help him with his 'situational awareness' and 'battle instinct', or so they claimed. Instead of easing into it they decided, largely thanks to his healing ability, to throw him off the deep end and hope he could swim.
"Ow!" he yelled when one of them began before telling him it was time to start, a paintball splattering against his ass cheek, the seat of his sweatpants now brightly colored.
"It jiggled!" One of the people Claire had recruited laughed.
"What the hell?!" he yelled angrily, rubbing the abused spot before wincing in pain at the contact.
"It's not fully awareness training if you're told what we're about to do." Claire sang in a sing song voice.
"I'm dating a sadist." He sighed before yelping when a paintball hit the cup he wore, the one piece of protection he had been allowed, but even with the 'armor' it still hurt.
"Oh you know you love me." He could hear the proud smirk in his girlfriend's voice before the sound of several paintball guns getting ready at once chilled his soul. "FIRE AT WILL!" eyes widening behind his blindfold he looked turned his body left and right out of reflex, as if trying to look around before remembering his current visual situation. That was when the paintballs started hitting.
One to the shoulder, staggering him back.
One to the knee making him hop on one foot.
One to the other ass cheek making him jump with a loud yelp.
Again and again the paintballs started nailing him. Every few minutes they'd dump some water on him to let his bruises heal and give him more energy so they could continue his 'training'. This continued for what felt like countless hours before, even to his own surprise, he felt an instinct in his gut and a faint whistle in his ear as he ducked, dropping into a crouch with his legs spread as the paintball rushed over his head, hitting one of his shooters as he heard a dismayed shriek "My hair!" huh, he hadn't realized any Aphrodite girls were in this group.
"About time!" Claire grinned, only took you three hours "Let's see if you can keep it up!" And so they continued, the pellets coming one by one from random directions. Percy couldn't dodge them all, not at first, but he was getting better by the minute. After dodging twenty in a row Claire called out "Hold!"
"HAHAHA!" he laughed, both triumphant and mocking at his girlfriend who was torturing him before he felt water being dumped on him again.
"Alright everyone!" Claire called out and he could hear the smirk in her voice as he got a bad feeling in his gut "He showed he can dodge them one by one…no more holding back! Fire as you will and when you want!" hearing that his spirits dropped and his balls decided to retreat right back where they came from.
"Oh no." and so it was on, paint balls coming from random directions and at random times, his confidence flying away to safety as he was kicked back to the beginning. Many hours later the dinner horn sounded as his torture was finally called to a halt. "Oh thank Olympus!" he wheezed, collapsing to the ground in exhaustion, his energy, even being replenished as frequently as it was, being exhausted.
"Yo…you alive?" Claire asked playfully, nudging his rib with her foot as he just let out a pitiful groan.
"If he's dead you could try dating Luke." He heard Lou tease as a surge of anger, even at the idea of it, gave him the strength to lift his head up, the worn blindfold slipping off his right eye.
"He tries it and I will neuter him." was the blunt and honest answer he gave as Claire and a Hephaestus guy, Beckendorf, helped him up.
"You got a bit of a ways to go before you can pull that one off Perce." Claire told him with a grin before kissing his cheek. The simple contact made him flush, no matter how many times she had kissed him, his aches and pains vanishing in the euphoria of her presence.
"Come on lovebirds," Lou called from the mouth of the arena, everyone else having already left now that their 'fun' was over "take too long and the Stoll's might eat all the barbeque!"
"They know better!" Claire laughed, her joy sounding like music to his ears as he tiredly put an arm around her waist, the two slowly walking out of the arena. At this point he honestly didn't care how long it took to get there or if all the barbeque was gone. He was alone with his Claire and that was all that mattered to Percy.
"I don't think those two know not to do anything." He spoke up as Claire looked up at him, a single eyebrow arching in question "Well that or they just choose to ignore their survival instincts." He elaborated with a shrug "I found them trying to break into my bag to find out what I had for capture the flag tomorrow."
"Did they succeed?" Clarisse asked with wide eyed seriousness, paired with a scowl that promised pain for the twin sons of Hermes.
"No. Turns out the bag has some security spells so they got a pretty good shock…literally. It took all night for the static to leave them and let their hair stop standing straight up.
"Good." Claire smirked, her eyes gleaming confidently "They can find out what you got tomorrow when you use it to kick their ass."
"So where am I going to be during the game anyway?" he asked, relishing the cool breeze that danced across his skin from the nearby ocean. As he spoke he shrugged out of his sweatshirt, thankfully enchanted to keep him cool during his 'training' and slipped on a tank top that Claire handed him from a bag, completely unabashed at her seeing him shirtless given that they'd gone swimming together several times.
"You'll be on the front line with me." She told him, smacking him on the rear as he yelped slightly and blushed at the action "Gotta keep that ass in sight so no other girl starts getting ideas."
"Don't worry Claire," he promised, pushing away his blush as he spoke sincerely, taking her hand in his own "you're the only woman in my eyes."
"Oh come here you big lug." Clarisse grinned and, before he could even see her expression at his statement, pulled him down into a kiss.
He decided it was best not to argue or really care about much else at that point.
Twenty minutes they walked into the dining pavilion 'fashionably late', thankfully Lou had saved them some Barbeque, and had to ignore the stares, giggles, and smirks they get from the various people. Although Luke's mock tearful nod of respect was rather amusing. After a hearty dinner, in which he ate two or three times what he normally would, the camp headed down to the fire pit for camp songs and marshmallows. "How'd you eat so much dude?" Luke asked as they walked, confused at the fact that he had eaten more than anyone else in the camp.
"I don't know." He frowned, Claire and Michael walking along with them as they all tried to figure out the reason he had eaten like he was a starving man before a banquet.
"Wait a minute, your healing power!" Claire snapped her fingers, "We kept using it today. What if it causes you to burn a lot of energy to compensate for all the healing?"
"That…would actually make sense." Will frowned "Which means you need to be careful using that power outside of camp where there isn't a massive amount of food readily available."
"Damn it." Percy groaned "I wanted to just carry around a bunch of water bottles and be able to get up from anything anywhere!"
"I'm not saying don't use it outside of camp." Michael snorted, the son of Apollo rolling his eyes in amusement "I'm saying don't use it to the same extent you used today without a break if you can avoid it…unless you get lazy and suddenly need to burn off a few pounds."
"So it's a training tool, health insurance, and a weight loss plan in one." Claire grinned "Good to know that this lug has some uses."
"Hey!" he pouted playfully as the guys laughed "I have several uses!"
"Oh?" Claire asked playfully as she leaned up on her toes to get in her face, a dangerous smirk that sent excited shivers down his spine adorning her face "Why don't you…prove it." She almost whispered out the last part as his face got bright red and he quickly walked ahead to escape and return his cheeks to their natural color instead of his current situation in which they were doing a remarkable impression of a stop light. After a fun hour of smores and campfire songs, tonight's being dirty limericks given that it was Travis Stoll's turn to choose, everyone turned in to bed, eager for the upcoming games the next day.
"Heroes!" Chiron called out during breakfast, slamming a hoof onto the stone floor, gaining everyone's attention as all eyes turned to the centaur who stood before a table with a map of the camp territory. "Tonight we have our weekly inter cabin games!" pausing to let the cheers and roars die down Chiron continued "The territory will be divided like so," the ancient being drew a line with a finger on the map as a glowing perimeter appeared, dividing the area outside of the camp proper into two, roughly, equal areas.
"You'll be given until dinner to set up your areas to find the way to best kill each other." Dionysus said in a bored tone, gesturing out with one arm, the ancient Greek wine dish spilling diet coke out onto the map as Chiron sent an irritated look at the Olympian.
"Ready your breakfast men and eat hearty!" Clarisse called out to their alliance "For tonight! We dine in Hell!" eager roars met this statement, demigods stamping their feet against the ground, banging their fists on the table, or slamming weapons against shields in eagerness to prove their mettle in battle. While he didn't smirk Percy did grin into his goblet, a dangerous, eager, and above all excited gleam in his eyes. The thought of battle, something he never thought he would enjoy, was making his heart pump faster. A good fight? Putting his training to good use? Seeing Clarisse in confident command and adorned in armor? Oh yeah, tonight was going to be fun.
