Sweat rolled down Percy's cheek. Blood poured from his nose freely, and his lips were cracked and bruised. Every day since he had arrived at camp had been like this. He would wake up, eat breakfast, train, eat lunch, train, eat dinner, train, and then go to bed. Percy wasn't complaining, though. He loved the training. He loved feeling stronger, faster, and more durable each day. He still did not know who his godly parent was, though everyone knew he must be the son of a powerful god. He wasn't a child of the big three that much was obvious. He could not control lightning, breathe underwater, or communicate with lost souls. However, he was the most agile fighter. He was humble to a fault and seemed to know what was going to happen before it really did.
Percy shook his head to clear his mind. He was in the middle of the second game of capture the flag of the week. Training this week had been brutal. Clarisse and the rest of the Ares cabin had challenged him to duel after duel to test his strength. Luke trained him every day after breakfast with a new type of weapon. First came the spear, then the dagger, then the bow and arrow, and finally the sword and shield. Percy, however, came to realize that he could not find the right balance with any of those. Instead he found the perfect weapon in a great sword that was tucked away behind the rest of the weapons.
Percy crouched down behind a broken tree. The other team's flag was only a couple of yards ahead of him. He looked around and saw no obvious defenses, but considering the Athena cabin was leading the other team there could be a ton of other nasty surprises awaiting anyone that dared come close.
Deciding there was no other option, Percy walked out from behind his tree and calmly reached the flag. So far so good, he thought. That's when he noticed something wasn't right. To the right, came the voice in his head. Percy unsheathed his great sword from his back and twirled to his right. Just as he did so a figure dropped to the ground.
"Well, well, well. What do we have here? The new blood. The unclaimed." Percy stared at the girl. He recognized her but couldn't think of her name. She was a child of Athena, with blonde hair and grey eyes.
"And who are you, exactly?" asked Percy. His great sword never moved. It stayed trained right at the girl's heart.
Annabeth, Annabeth Chase," she said. She pulled out a dagger from her side and twirled it around. She wore leather armor, unlike Percy's steel. "We're alone now. Let's see just how good you really are." With that she lunged quickly, thrusting her dagger at Percy's chest.
Percy parried the thrust to the side before swinging his great sword. Annabeth ducked underneath before kicking Percy's left knee from the side. She was shocked and a little nervous when Percy simply flinched but never fell. He grinned a maniacal smile at her.
"I have perfect balance. You're going to need to do better than that." Annabeth growled and unleashed a furry of blows. Thrust, lunge, slice, stab, nothing worked. Percy was simply too agile and too strong. In fact, it seemed as though he was toying with her.
Annabeth made one last desperate thrust straight at Percy's midsection. Percy was expecting it, however, and parried it with his sword before spinning to his left and driving a powerful elbow to Annabeth's temple. It wasn't a full blow as that would have killed her. Percy knew better and had pulled his strike enough so that it would not cause lasting harm.
With the last line of defense taken care of, Percy walked over to the flag and picked it up. Shouts came from behind the line of trees. Shit, thought Percy. The other team must have realized something was up and they were all charging towards his position. Percy looked around hoping for a way out. Looking up, he sheathed his great sword and climbed up a tree, the flag clenched in his teeth. The other team finally made it to the clearing but could not find any sign of Percy or the flag. One of the Apollo campers must of noticed something because all of a sudden a barrage of arrows started flying into the trees. One flew past Percy's ear, nearly severing it from his head. Percy gulped and began climbing through the tree tops. Somehow, he never tripped. Each step he took was perfectly balanced and in no time he had made it back to his side. He dropped to the ground and he heard a horn blowing in the distance signaling the end of the game.
His team cheered and all rushed to lift him up. Chiron came galloping into the clearing, a broad smile gracing his face. Percy looked up from his place to smile back. Chiron had always seemed a close friend to Percy, though he did not really know why. It was as if he knew something Percy didn't. Like who my father is, he thought.
"Congratulations, Percy, on the win! That's the first time in a decade that the Athena cabin has lost in capture the flag!" Percy and his team cheered again, while the Athena cabin scowled and grumbled. Percy noticed Annabeth wasn't there. He felt a little guilty about the hard hit, but didn't think too much about it. There is a time to go easy and that wasn't the time. "Now it's time for dinner, before we have the great bonfire." This time all the campers smiled and as a collective group, all walked towards their cabins to wash up for dinner.
Percy made his way to the Hermes cabin. As an unclaimed demigod he was placed in there. Not that he minded, though. He loved the humor and antics that living in the cabin provided. However, Percy was not a very outgoing person. He kept to himself mostly rarely engaging in pranks or bets.
The Hermes cabin was already full of campers by the time he made it there, and Percy had to literally push some people out of the way to be able to get to his bunk. Finding the chest to keep his stuff, Percy stripped off his armor and placed his sword by his bed. Putting on a comfortable shirt and jeans, he left the cabin and made his way to the dining area.
The dining area was already full seeing as how he was the last camper to arrive. He went to get his food, a chicken sandwich and some water, before going over to the fire. He scraped some of the chicken into the fire for the gods. Father, whoever you are. Show yourself to me, please. As the food burned, Percy felt oddly much more at peace. His bruises and cuts from the big game seemed to heal, but Percy didn't really notice. His stomach was growling. Playing capture the flag can do that to you.
The rest of the night passed by uneventful. Percy never went to the bonfire, he preferred to go to his bunk and get to bed early so that he could get to training before anybody else woke up. As he was walking up to the Hermes cabin, he heard trotting behind him. He turned and found Chiron making his up to him.
"Chiron, is there anything I can do for you?" asked Percy. Chiron inwardly smiled at the respectful young man.
"Yes my boy. I have something to give to you."
"What is it?" Percy was genuinely confused. Chiron pulled out a golden watch and handed it to him.
"Someone I knew quite well told me to give this to you when you proved yourself worthy to the rest of the camp. I would say that defeating the Athena cabin in capture the flag would warrant calling you worthy." Percy did not reach out for the watch.
"Who gave it to you?"
"I'm afraid I cannot say. I was sworn not to say anything until that person told me to. I swore it on the Styx. I am sorry but there is nothing I can say or do." Percy nodded sadly before taking the watch. It was beautiful, finely crafted, with an intricate face. Percy clasped it onto his wrist and immediately felt as though someone had smashed a brick into his head. He thought he heard Chiron yell his name, but all he saw was darkness. Soon he lost consciousness completely.
Percy's eyes slowly flickered open. He tried to look around but he was not in control of his body. Must be a dream, he thought. Percy looked around his surroundings and saw a beautiful room. It looked to have been made entirely out of marble and gold. It was breathtaking.
"Gabriel!" he heard someone shout. How do they know my first name? Percy wondered. He never told anybody about it. He turned and he could feel himself smiling. A little girl around nine years old with firey red hair came bounding up to him. He felt the girl cling to his leg and he reached down to ruffle her hair.
"Hestia, how are you?" The girl smiled warmly up at him.
"I'm good, Gabe. How are you?" Percy smiled and knelt down to be at Hestia's level.
"I am wonderful, now that you are here." Hestia smiled and kissed his cheek. A sound from the other side of the room got his attention. Percy turned and saw another figure standing there smiling. "Zeus, what brings you here?" Percy felt himself smile, but inside he was overcome with confusion. What the hell is Zeus doing in my dream, screamed Percy, though no sound came out.
"We have trouble down in Greece. Gaea has awoken and her children are terrorizing Greece." Percy frowned. He couldn't quite remember who Gaea was exactly.
"Ah. The time has come then. Prepare the armies, Zeus. The time for the great war with the Giants has come." Percy saw Zeus nod and walk out of the room. He was completely shocked. He thought Zeus was the King of the Gods and yet here he was taking orders from him of all people. This is some really weird dream. Percy looked back down at Hestia who had now turned from a nine year old to an adult. "Hestia, you have your duties to perform. We will need the hope that the hearth can provide if we are to win this war." Hestia nodded, kissed Percy's cheek, and left the room. Percy walked over to the wall and noticed a mirror. He looked at the mirror and was stunned. It really was him. Or at least it was what he would look like if he were much older. The eyes were different, he noticed. Where his eyes were deep green, this Gabriel guy had golden eyes.
The world turned black and Percy felt his mind pull away from the dream. Actually, he wasn't even sure if was a dream anymore. It felt more like a memory.
Percy finally came to and looked around the room he was in. Finally, his body responded to his mind. I must finally be awake, he thought. A cough from beside him drew his attention. Chiron was sitting in his wheelchair staring fearfully at him.
"Percy! You're awake! You had us all worried." Percy frowned at the full out relief he heard in Chiron's voice.
"What happened?" Percy finally seemed to recognize where he was. He was in the special room in the back of the infirmary reserved solely for special cases.
"You put the watch and all of a sudden you collapsed to the ground. I brought you back as fast as I could. The Apollo cabin has been working all night at keeping you healthy and alive. You nearly left us, Percy. Your life force was fading away." Percy laid his head back down on the pillow and sighed. After a moment he forced himself to sit up. His eyes felt goopy. He rubbed his eyes out, and when they felt good and normal he turned to look back at Chiron.
Chiron gasped, his eyes widening. Percy looked at him confused.
"Your eyes. Your eyes, Percy!" Percy just stared at him, it wasn't as though he could see his own eyes. "They have a ring of gold around them now!" Percy's eyes widened.
"It wasn't just a dream," he muttered under his breath. Unfortunately, Chiron's other half heard it.
"What wasn't just a dream, Percy?" Percy looked at him and sighed. He slung his legs over the side of the bed so he could face his mentor.
"I woke up, after I collapsed, in a golden room. I couldn't control myself. My thoughts were my own, but my body wasn't." Chiron nodded, not making any comments. "Suddenly a little girl called me Gabriel and ran up to me. My dream self called her Hestia. Isn't Hestia a goddess?" asked Percy. Chiron's eyes widened once more but he managed to nod. "Well then Zeus came in and told me that Gaea, whoever that is, was attacking Greece. Then I told him to get the armies together because it was time for the war with the Giants." Chiron's eyes were transfixed on Percy's. "Wasn't that war thousands of years ago?" Chiron nodded. "Ok then. Well then Hestia and Zeus left and I looked into the mirror and it was my face, but much older, and I had golden eyes. I guess it wasn't just a dream. It was a memory wasn't it?" Chiron nodded slightly.
"You really are Gabriel. I thought I recognized you, but its been so long." Percy still was confused.
"Who is this Gabriel? Er-I guess I should ask, who am I?"
"If you really are Gabriel then you are the oldest of the children of Kronos. Hestia wasn't the oldest. You were. Then came Hestia, then Hades, Posiedon, Zeus, Demeter, and then Hera. Gabriel is the god of balance. He kept the gods in line and made sure everything served its purpose." Chiron thought for a moment. "You know, everything makes sense now. Your incredible sense of balance, the fact that you are incredibly agile and a great fighter. Those were all qualities of Gabriel. He was a wonderful god."
"Why haven't I ever heard of him?" Chiron frowned.
"After the Giant War, Gabriel realized that in order to keep the world in balance he needed to remove himself from Olympus. He stepped down as an Olympian. He was always close with Zeus and Hestia, Artemis too if I remember correctly. Last time anyone saw him was years ago. He trained me actually. Gave me my immortality to train heros." Percy was shocked. The more Chiron talked the more he felt as if he was talking about himself.
"So whose watch is this? I collapsed after I put this on." Chiron shook his head.
"I still cannot tell you until I hear the person itself tell me I can." Percy nodded but shrugged.
"So am I still a demigod or am I a full god?"
"You're a demigod. I don't know how but Gabriel managed to make himself into a demigod; into you. I guess as time goes on you'll keep finding more memories as to who you are. Percy nodded. He looked at the small bedside table beside him. His watch and his clothes were neatly placed on top. Chiron began wheeling himself out of the room.
"I'll let you get to it. Busy day today. You've got a lot of training with Luke today." Percy waved goodbye. He took off the gown that he was placed in and put on his clothes. Thankfully, the shirt and jeans were not messed up or dirtied when he collapsed last night. He looked down at the watch, staring for a couple minutes watching the second hand tick. He put the watch on and half expected to collapse again. Instead he felt a rush go through his body up his arm and then into his head. Suddenly another wave of memories rushed into his mind. Not many but a few.
"I am Gabriel," he said to no one in particular. He looked at the watch turned the little dial on the side, not pulling it out, just turning it. He didn't expect anything to happen. He was shocked and shrieked slightly. He looked around to make sure no one was watching. In his hand was now a beautiful molten gold sword. It was the exact same color as Gabriel's eyes, and the ring of gold around his eyes. It wasn't the same style as the typical Grecian swords. It didn't even look like the swords that he had seen in books on the Romans. He never actually read the books, his ADHD was too bad. He just liked the pictures.
Percy made his way out of the infirmary and looked down at his watch. 12:30. It was lunch time. After lunch he made his way to his cabin to change into more comfortable combat clothes. He put on his armor and walked to the arena. Luke was waiting for him.
"Percy! Heard you had a little fall yesterday, you ok man? Woah! Your eyes! I like the gold!" Luke was always hyperactive, the curse of being a son of Hermes. Percy just smiled.
"I'm fine. Just hit my head. I don't know why my eyes changed. Must be because of the incident." He didn't know why but it just didn't seem like a good idea to reveal the information he had just learned that morning. "You ready to train?" Luke smiled, but his smile faded quickly.
"Where's your sword, Perce?" Percy smirked and turned the dial on his watch. The sword sprang to life in his right hand. Luke eyed the sword in awe.
"I thought you hated swords like that." Percy shook his head.
"This is a long sword. I can use one or two hands. But it's the most perfectly balanced weapon I have ever used. It's perfect." Luke nodded before unsheathing his own sword.
Hours later both demigods made their way back to the cabin to shower. Neither said a word. They were too exhausted to talk. The training had been incredibly intensive. While they were walking though, they heard a shout before a loud horn was sounded. Chiron came bounding out of the Great House and galloped past them.
"Chiron, what's going on?" shouted Percy after him. Chiron didn't respond. Percy and Luke shrugged at each other and took off after the centaur. They made it to the hill where they saw the great tree that grew at the top. Many of the campers were staring at each other whispering loudly. Chiron was talking to Argus. Percy finally noticed what everyone was talking about. The tree was dying. Black ooze was dripping out of a notch in the side of the tree.
"Campers!" Chiron shouted, getting everyone's attention. "The tree is dying. Someone has poisoned the tree. If anyone knows anything come see me immediately. We are having a meeting at the Big House in ten minutes. Camp counselors be sure to be there." Chiron galloped away towards the Big House. Percy turned back to Luke.
"You better go and see what's going on." Luke nodded and turned and ran after Chiron. A couple other campers, the other counselors, ran after Luke. The remaining campers just looked at each other, some at the tree, and others just walked back to their cabins. Percy, still smelling like Pegasus manure, decided it definitely was time to go back and wash up.
Quite a while passed before a tired looking Luke returned to the Hermes cabin. Percy was the only one there.
"What's going on Luke? What happened?"
"Chiron wants you immediately in the Big House. Something big is going on. Clarisse is in the attic talking with the Oracle." Percy's eyes widened but he got up and went to the Big House while Luke stayed to clean up for dinner.
When Percy got to the Big House he found all the camp counselors were still sitting around the meeting table. Well it was actually a ping pong table. Percy laughed when he saw Grover sitting in the corner eating ping pong balls and soda cans.
"Percy, I'm glad Luke found you. Clarisse just told us of a prophecy she received. Clarisse?" Clarisse stood up from her spot and nodded.
"You will not travel the sea alone.
Together the thief, the spear, and the forgotten,
Shall travel to make what they seek their own.
But one will be lost, to a heart most rotten."
The campers and Chiron sat still and pondered the prophecy.
"Well it is obvious," said Clarisse. "There will be three of us going on this quest. The spear obviously refers to me." Everyone nodded. "Luke must be the thief. It makes sense, since he is a son of Hermes."
"I agree," said Chiron. "Annabeth, could you go to the Hermes cabin and get Luke?" Percy noticed Annabeth sitting in the Athena chair for the first time. She scowled.
"Why can't Golden Boy over there go and get him? Its his cabin." Chiron gave her a disapproving look. She rolled her eyes and sighed, but she got up anyways and walked out to find Luke. Chiron looked back at Percy and winked, a smile on his face. Percy had to contain his smile. Annabeth had no clue just how close to the truth she was.
"Well we have the thief, the spear, but who is the forgotten?" asked Clarisse. The other counselors looked confused as well. Chiron smiled and looked at Percy.
"I believe I know who the third hero is." Clarisse and the others, even Percy looked at him confused. "Percy is the forgotten." Percy glared at him. He didn't want anyone to know about him being the manifestation of an ancient god. He didn't even know what or who he was, and he sure as hell didn't want anybody else to know.
"How is he the forgotten?" asked Clarisse. She didn't actually have a problem with Percy. He was a skilled fighter and his humility kept him from having any enemies. Except for the child of Athena, but hubris was her fatal flaw.
"Well he is the most skilled warrior here apart from you and Luke, and he hasn't been claimed by his godly parent." The counselors all seemed to accept that. Even Percy would have believed him if he didn't know the full truth.
"Then its settled," said Clarisse. "Luke, Prissy," Percy scowled playfully at her. "And I will leave tomorrow at dawn. We obviously have to go out to sea." Chiron clapped his hands together to get everyones attention again.
"Well everyone go to dinner and get to bed. You all have a big day tomorrow." Just as they all were walking out, Annabeth returned with Luke.
"What's going on, what did I miss?" asked Luke. Percy waved him towards him.
"I'll tell you. We've got a lot to do." Luke and Percy walked back to the cabin, Percy telling Luke about the prophecy. They finally made it to the cabin and both wished each other good night.
Percy laid in bed staring at the ceiling. What a day it had been. First, he had uncovered some lost memories. Instead of being the lonely demigod that some god had forgotten about, he was actually an ancient god older than Zeus himself. He didn't know how it was possible but decided that he would just have to figure things out as he went. Then came the tree. The tree that kept Camp Half-Blood safe and secure was dying. If they didn't find someway to save the tree monsters would come pouring into camp and there wouldn't be any safe place for the demigods to live and train. The last thing to happen was that Percy was named one of the heroes of the quest. He hoped he didn't fail or let his friends down. This was finally his chance to prove himself outside of capture the flag.
Yes, his life had taken a sudden and drastic turn, but he finally felt at peace. The world felt right and for the first time since he had come to camp, Percy had a good nights rest.
A/N: Sorry this chapter came out a little later. It is much longer than the previous chapters, so I hope you all enjoy! I posted the chapter earlier but something went wrong. Thanks for the reviews and the follows and favorites, it means a lot to me! I might actually post another chapter today as well. Thanks for reading!
Also, sorry about the poll. I did not realize there was a separate option to put it on my profile page. Well it's up now so I hope all of you reading this will go there and vote. And keep coming with the reviews! All of them are appreciated!