I don't own Percy Jackson blah, blah, blah.
Chapter Seven: Pulled from the Stars
After a couple of minutes of rest, Grover was refreshed enough to stand. Seeing this, Annabeth handed him his reed pipes with a worried look. "You sure you're okay? It's only been a few minutes..."
"I'm fine now," Grover assured his friend, straightening his back to get his point across. "That thing was just a lot to keep under control." Grover then sighed heavily, his body going back to its usual hunched position. "What was that thing anyway? You were pretty freaked out about it."
Annabeth nodded gravely. "That dog, Laelaps, is really dangerous, especially since that hooded guy apparently followed us here."
"I think I would've heard of something like that if it was really as dangerous as you're putting it," Grover said uncertainly.
"I'm not surprised you've never heard of it," Annabeth told the satyr, who cocked his head in curiosity. "The story of Laelaps isn't one of the most well known Greek myths out there. Basically, it's a dog that is destined to always find its prey."
Grover gulped. "Uh, when you mean always..."
"Always," Annabeth said seriously, making her half-goat friend pale. "It's destined to. Even if we killed it, Laelaps would just reform and hunt us again until it caught us."
Grover fidgeted. "Well m-m-maybe that guy wasn't looking for us. Maybe he was j-just having a bad day and d-decided he wanted to take it out on us, or he was g-g-going somewhere and we j-just happened to be in his way, or..."
Annabeth shook her head, stopping Grover's stuttering hopes. "Chased by hunters with zealous glee, burdened with no chance to flee, remember? It couldn't possibly mean anything else."
Grover's head slumped forward. "I was afraid you'd say something like that..."
Suddenly, the ground beneath their feet rumbled. There was also the distinct sound of someone frantically screaming for their life.
"Crapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrap!"
The blonde and the satyr looked over to the sight of Percy Jackson running away from a giant, ten-foot crab that was chasing said demigod surprisingly fast for something of such size.
Grover sighed. "I guess there's no way I'm just imagining that is there?"
The giant rammed its pincer into Percy's side, sending him flying into the trees. With no other target in sight, the creature made a beeline for Annabeth and Grover, its enormous, prickly legs leaving gouges in the lake shore.
The daughter of Athena took out her dagger. "Guess not. Sorry Grover." She sent him a stern look. "Rest up some more, okay? Go make sure Percy's fine, I'll lead it away." She took off without waiting for a response, running up to the crustacean monster and dashing away when she got its attention.
Grover watched her go, and after a few moments made his way to where Percy got clubbed. He walked around the forest area with narrowed eyes, cursing the dark clouds that covered the sky. It would've been a lot easier to see if the sun were shining its light down on the trees, but nevertheless, he continued his search.
Finally, just when he was starting to believe Percy got turned into dust, the satyr heard a low groan to his left. He delicately pushed away some bushes to find Percy lying on his back, rubbing his shield arm.
"Percy, you alright?" Grover asked, trying not to sound as surprised as he really was. The young demigod looked tired, but otherwise fine for someone who just got hit by a giant pincer like a golf ball.
Percy nodded, sitting up slowly. "Yeah, I'm fine," he said. "I used my shield to break my fall, not that it really helped much. I guess you could say my arm feels a bit... crabby."
Grover palmed his face. "Now is really not the time."
The psychokinetic chuckled, standing up and looking around. There was something missing. "Hey, where's Annabeth? She was with you wasn't she?"
"Oh, she went to fight that giant crab thing."
Percy's eyes widened. "Wait, what!? You just let her go!?"
"Well it's not like I wanted her to," the satyr said, trying to defend himself. "I could barely walk, much less run after her." There was a rumble in the distance. "Uh, we should probably go help her out though."
Percy ran back out to the shore, intent on making sure Annabeth didn't get hurt. His promise was still fresh in his mind. 'Don't worry Luke,' he thought. 'I'll keep them safe!'
Grover was once again left on his own to catch up with his companions. He looked towards the grey sky, sighing in frustration. "Can't these two understand that I'm too tired to walk? Some help would be nice." With no one to hear him, the satyr was forced to go after his friends, his feet dragging on the ground all the way.
When Percy found Annabeth, he spat out a curse. The daughter of Athena was deftly dodging the beast's monstrous appendages, but it didn't look like she could keep it up for much longer. She was panting hard, and her movements were getting slower and slower. The young demigod sped up, intending to help her deal with the monster. "Annabeth!"
Said girl turned at the sound of her name, and Percy cursed once more when he saw that the crab swung at her again, only this time she was too distracted to get out of the way. With a panicked spasm, the psychokinetic shifted the ground under her, making Annabeth trip and miss the giant pincer by a hair's breath.
When Percy finally reached Annabeth, he picked her up off the ground princess style and sped away to a safe distance behind the giant crab. The huge creature was too slow to turn, and lost sight of both demigods. Percy hid behind a low rock formation in the shore of the Great Lake, sighing in relief when he saw that the monster hadn't seen his escape.
"C-Can you let me down now?" an annoyed voice said, unnervingly nearby.
Percy looked down to see a glaring Annabeth still being held in his arms, an embarrassed red hue plastered on her face. Surprised at the blonde's proximity, Percy dropped her unceremoniously on the ground, causing a faint gasp.
"Be more careful!"
"Sorry, alright!?" Percy told her, looking over their hiding place. The giant crab was still looking for its missing prey, and Percy thanked the gods for its terrible eyesight. "We've got bigger things to worry about right now," he said, not bothering to acknowledge the unintended pun. "So what's the plan, Cap'n?
Annabeth thought their options over, then sighed. "The only major weakness a crab has is that it can only move sideways, but besides that, I'm out of ideas. Its shell is too thick for any of our weapons, and even then it would be too big to feel them anyway."
Percy frowned. "Haven't there been any Greek myths about a giant crab? Maybe we could get something out of it."
To Percy's disappointment, his blonde partner shook her head. "It won't do any good. The only thing I can think of is Karkinos, the humongous crab. It was beaten by Hercules on one of his tasks."
The psychokinetic was confused now. Wasn't that what he had asked for? "Uh... So how'd Hercules beat it then?"
"He stomped it to death," Annabeth bluntly stated. "Some people say he threw it into space. Whichever it is, it doesn't matter since we can't really do any of that."
Percy sagged his shoulders. Why couldn't things ever be easy for him? "So what now?"
Annabeth but her lip, and appeared to have some kind of argument with herself. Finally, the blonde sighed. "We can't beat it, and we still have a quest to do, so we'll just leave."
Her black-haired friend looked appalled. "You mean run away!? But-"
"I know," Annabeth interrupted, not wanting to get into an argument with her quest-mate, "but what other choice do we have? 'We've got bigger things to worry about', remember? If we die just because of our pride then the whole world pays the price."
Percy glared at the ground. He knew she was right, but it was a tough pill to swallow. After all, what kind of hero ran away from fights? This wasn't about his reputation though, it was about the whole world and everyone who lived in it. With a grunt, he nodded in agreement. "Fine, but we'll call it a tactical retreat when the story comes up."
Annabeth couldn't stop a smile from forming. "Deal."
"SOMEONE HELP ME!"
Blinking in confusion, both demigods peeked over the large rock they were hiding behind, only to find Grover being held in one of Karkinos' pincers. The mythical crustacean started flailing him around, causing the satyr's screams to become even more desperate.
'Crap!' Percy thought. 'How the hell did I forget about Grover!? Damn it!' The young demigod turned to Annabeth, who seemed to be thinking along the same lines as him. "I guess that throws the whole 'tactical retreat' plan out the window." Annabeth's numb nod was his only answer. The psychokinetic sighed for what felt like the hundredth time. "That plan didn't even last five seconds. We need to start making better plans."
"Alright," Annabeth started, having found her voice, "here's the new plan: we go and get Grover out of there, then distract Karkinos long enough for us to get away."
"Okay. How exactly are we supposed to do that?"
"Haven't really thought that part through yet," the daughter of Athena admitted.
Percy just shrugged. "Meh, better than nothing I guess. On three?" Getting a nod in response, the young demigod began counting. "One, two, three!"
The two pre-teens dashed out from behind their cover, with Percy taking the lead. Not wanting to waste any time, the young demigod beamed his shield at the giant pincer constraining his satyr friend. The bronze disc blasted into the armored appendage hard enough to produce a loud bang, but the beast only turned its body around to face its new prey.
Biting back a curse, Percy summoned his shield and unsheathed Riptide. Twirling the blade in his hand, the young demigod decided to take the fight up close, and charged the giant crab. Annabeth was occupied by the other pincer, her tired body barely being able to keep up with the beast's relatively slow but precise attacks.
Percy avoided the monster's prickly legs, not wanting to get kicked off his feet. He tried looking for a way to fight back, but any idea he came up with was immediately shot down. The limbs were too well protected, and, as Annabeth had said, its shell was too thick for his sword to even begin cutting through.
The monster was intent on stomping him into the ground, and Percy barely dodged out of the way of a leg that instead stabbed into the earth. The beast tried to stomp on him with the same leg again, and Percy's eyes narrowed when he saw how much trouble it had pulling it out of the soil. A crazy idea popped into his mind, one so completely insane that he almost disregarded it before Annabeth suddenly shouted something at him.
"Percy!" she called out. "Its eyes! Try aiming for the eyes!"
'This might actually work...' With that thought in mind, Percy ran to Annabeth's side, avoiding all of Karkinos' sharp legs in the process. "I've got an idea," he told her when he'd gotten close enough.
Annabeth ducked, avoiding the pincer that would've taken her head off. "You can have those?"
The disbelief in her tone put an annoyed frown on Percy's face. "Why do people think I'm stupid? I haven't done anything stupid enough for you guys to treat me like that!"
"Not yet."
"Just hear me out, will you?"
The crab monster was getting frustrated. No matter what it did, its two demigod opponents would never get hit, and it didn't help that its offense was limited to only one pincer, since its other one was occupied with the satyr. All of a sudden, Percy and Annabeth stopped moving and watched the great monster expectantly. Karkinos wasn't smart enough to see through the obvious trap, and prepared to stab them both with its available pincer. Just as the sharp appendage was about to slam down on them, the two demigods jumped out of the way. The pincer struck the ground point first, digging deep into the earth.
Percy then initiated his part of the plan. He held his arms out, hands positioned like he was holding something between them, and started to 'crush' the imaginary object between his palms. Immediately, the earth around Karkinos' pincer strengthened as it gravitated towards the giant claws, leaving the appendage trapped. The giant crab tried pulling it out, but it was too deeply ingrained and constricted into the ground.
"Now!" Percy shouted, and Annabeth gave him a firm nod before jumping up on the pincer and running up the crab's arm. The psychokinetic was sweating bullets, having to fight against the massive pressure Karkinos was using to take its pincer off the ground. Despite that, he held on long enough for his blonde partner to reach the main body. He gasped in exertion, releasing his hold on the giant pincer, and sighed in relief, glad that Annabeth had made it up the crab's arm as safely as she did.
His relief turned into panic when the crustacean monster turned its beady eyes on him. It raised its pincer and hammered it down on him. He barely had enough time to raise his shield before getting hit, and even so, he was slammed against the ground. The monster continued to smash its pincer against his shield, and Percy could feel himself starting to make an indentation on the lake shore. His arm was beginning to hurt, and the young demigod thanked the gods it had been Beckendorf who made his shield for him, for it would've probably broken otherwise. 'C'mon Annabeth, any day now!'
Meanwhile, Annabeth scaled her way up to the monster's eyes, intent on stabbing them through with her knife. Karkinos must've been ready for such an attack though, for it dropped Grover on the ground and used its newly freed pincer to pick the blonde demigod off its face. She screamed in surprise, and then in agony, the sharp claws starting to press against her.
"Annabeth!" Percy and Grover shouted simultaneously. Percy tried to get up and rescue her, but his body felt like it had been folded into itself, the crab's repetitive slamming having taken its toll. 'Damn, my bones feel like they got crushed. Why'd we agree to let Annabeth carry all the ambrosia?'
Grover looked on in despair. The satyr tried to jump onto the giant monster, attempting to rescue his friend, but even with his goat legs Grover couldn't reach even half the distance.
Annabeth was in pain. The monster's claws dug into her skin, constraining her more every second. In a fit of desperation, the blonde took out her knife and mumbled a prayer. After a suffering sigh, Annabeth reopened her grey eyes and fixed them on Karkinos' own, her knife held delicately in her right hand before she cocked her arm back and threw it.
The gleaming bronze knife sailed through the air and right into one of the monster's black eyes. It screeched in pain and dropped the daughter of Athena, who landed in an unmoving lump. The giant beast went mad, flailing its pincers and stumbling its way into the forest.
Both Percy and Grover sighed in relief, the former now being held up by the latter. The two companions slowly made their way to the third, who was still lying motionless on the lake shore.
"Annabeth!" Percy called out. When no answer came, both quest-mates hurried over to the blonde, kneeling beside her. Grover bent down and checked her heartbeat.
The psychokinetic fidgeted nervously, horror creeping up on him. He couldn't have failed, not so early on in the quest. What would Luke say? Chiron? He couldn't live with himself if he killed Annabeth with his dumb plan.
Finally, after several tense moments, Grover lifted his head with a smile. "She's okay," the satyr said, and Percy could feel relief flood into his body, relaxing his muscles and bringing out a smile of his own. "A few broken bones and torn muscles, but it missed her organs. Nothing some nectar and ambrosia can't fix."
The satyr got some of the godly food from Annabeth's bag and forced it down her throat. She instantly looked better, several wounds started closing up and color returned to her face. Grover sat down and blew out a big breath. "I'm glad that's over with. What was that thing anyway?"
Percy sat down too, finally being able to calm down after such an intense fight for his life. "Annabeth said something about it being a big crab that Hercules killed. I think its name was Karikos or something." He laid down on his back, hands behind his head. "Whatever it was, its gone now. We won't have to worry about it ever again."
Just when he said that, an explosion blasted out from the direction of where Karkinos disappeared. Percy and Grover looked at each other, stunned.
"Uh, Percy?" Grover asked.
"Yeah?"
"Didn't that just come from the city?"
"... Crap."
Grover seemed to think the same. "What did we just do!? We just let a crazy giant crab loose on Erie city! What do we do, Percy!?"
Percy wanted to say that it wasn't their problem, that they had already faced the monster, but he knew it would've just been an excuse. They had been the ones to let the crustacean monster march into the city.
"We should go take care of that," he told Grover, and the satyr groaned in complaint. "I know G-man, but its our fault there's a giant crab tearing up the city. Mortal weapons don't hurt monsters remember? They don't stand a chance without us."
Grover already knew it, but it still had to be said. With a shaky sigh, the satyr stood up on his hooves. "Okay... Okay, we'll go. So how do you want to do this? Do we take Annabeth with us or-"
"I've got a better idea," Percy said. "I'll go fight the big guy, er, crab, and you stay here to watch over Annabeth." Seeing Grover about to argue, Percy continued. "Look man, out of the both of us, I'm the strongest. If I can't beat the thing then you can't either, and someone needs to stay here with her, because I am not leaving her alone."
Grover frowned in concern, and cursed in Ancient Greek. They stood there for a few seconds, Percy waiting for Grover to say something, and finally the satyr nodded. "I don't like it, but you're right," he said. "How will you beat it though?"
Percy chuckled nervously, scratching his cheek. "Yeah, well I'm not really sure yet. I'll think of something on the way."
With that, Percy ran to the city, taking Annabeth's bag with him. Grover was about to say something, but shook his head, knowing that the young demigod wouldn't listen to him anyway. The satyr glanced down to his injured friend, hoping things would turn out okay.
It hadn't been hard to find Karkinos. After all, it left a trail the size of a city block, and how hard could it be to find a giant, ten-foot crab destroying the city anyway? When Percy caught sight of the monster, there were several mortals with guns attacking it, though he knew their efforts were in vain. All of their bullets passed right through the crab's body like if it wasn't even there, though by the mess it was causing, no one could deny that it most definitely was.
The young demigod was hesitant to go and face the beast with so many mortals in the way, as getting caught in the crossfire didn't sound like a very appealing situation. He hid behind a pile of rubble and briefly wondered what the Mist made Karkinos out to be in mortal eyes, but disregarded the though.
Luckily for him, and unluckily for the mortals, Karkinos sent them all flying with a swipe of its pincer. Taking his chance, Percy called out to the great monster.
"HEEEEEY! COME OVER HERE YOU OVERGROWN SHRIMP!"
The monster heard him, and it turned around to see the boy who gave it so much trouble a few minutes before. With an un-crab-like growl, it quickly sidestepped its way to him, and Percy decided to put his half-assed plan to work.
With a yell, Percy threw his shield at the crustacean, and the bronze disc crashed into its only good eye. Karkinos, now fully blinded, started swinging its pincers around madly, bringing down buildings and tearing trees off their roots.
Seeing the change from bad to worse, Percy scratched the back of his head. "Wow," he said sheepishly, "that really didn't go like I thought it would."
All of the mortals that had been left ran away when they saw how insane Karkinos became, leaving the two opponents alone. Percy jumped out of the way when one of the crab's claws slammed into the street, leaving a sizable hole in the pavement. 'Alright Percy, you've got this! Just think of something...'
Dodging a car that got batted by one of the crab's armored legs, the psychokinetic tried to think of anything that might kill the monster permanently. 'It's impossible! That armor is like the perfect shield! I can't cut through it no matter what I do, and I don't have any attacks strong enough to crack it open.' Jumping over a light post that slid down the street, Percy tried calming himself down, remembering when Luke told him that panicking in a fight wouldn't do him any favors. Thinking about Luke, a memory surfaced in his mind. 'I remember now! I was using my shield too much during a spar, and Luke just flanked me. What was it that he said? No shield is impenetrable? Something like that...'
Now he just had to find a way around the 'shield,' except that it covered Karkinos' entire body. That only left an attack from the inside. 'But the only way in would be its eyes, and I'm not small enough to fit through there...' He looked down at his sword with a contemplative frown, 'but maybe I've got something that is.'
Nodding to himself, Percy capped his sword, turning it back into a pen, and held it lightly in his hand. He walked over to a flipped car, not minding the rampaging monster wrecking the building across the street. With as much strength as his body could muster, the young demigod slammed the front of his shield against the side of the car, producing a loud bang that the giant crustacean could hear past the sound of its own tantrum.
"OVER HERE YOU IDIOT! GET OVER IT, IT'S NOT LIKE YOU COULD SEE ANYTHING WITH SUCH SMALL EYES ANYWAY!"
With a roar of anger, Karkinos thundered to where it had heard the annoying shout. Percy smirked, and when the beast was only a few meters away, threw his pen right into its empty eye socket. Raising his arm, the psychokinetic took control of his pen and uncapped it, turning it into a sword somewhere inside the monster's head.
The reaction was instant. Wallowing in pain, Karkinos' rampage only increased in intensity, but Percy could only sigh in relief. Its anger was a good thing, that meant it was just a matter of time before the whole ordeal was over.
He moved his arm around, trying to mess up as much of the monster's brain as possible. One of Karkinos' pincers headed toward him with frightening speed, and not having anywhere to run, he jumped and landed right on it. Percy held onto the claw with an iron grip, not wanting to get shaken off his impromptu ride, least he break his neck on the fall. The pincer swung upwards, and Percy found himself slipping off. Fortunately for him, he landed right on the monster's wide head, taking a fall ten feet less than what he'd expected.
Without another thought, Percy continued his attack on Karkinos' brain, his arm movements becoming hasty and uncontrolled. Finally, the great monster started slowing down, and with victory so close, Percy tried pulling back his sword. He heard a thumping sound underneath his feet, and it only gave him more motivation, so he pulled even harder. With a great crack, a small hole broke out from Karkinos' shell, and Riptide flew out of it and right into Percy's hands. The great beast groaned one final time, and with a poof, exploded into a big pile of golden dust that the demigod softly landed on.
Percy stood up, capped his sword, and brushed himself off, looking around the ruined remains of Erie city. Fortunately, the destruction had been contained to about four blocks, but it was easy to see how much money would take to fix everything. The young demigod sighed in relief when he saw that no one was around, all the mortals having run away. As far as he knew, his powers weren't inherited from his godly parent, but created innately, so the Mist would've done nothing to hide them. All thoughts were erased from his mind when he felt another presence in the area.
The young demigod twisted around, sword and shield raised for battle, but instead of a bloodthirsty monster, he found himself looking at a beautiful woman. She was wearing golden robes that appeared far too silky to be made out of silk, and had her chocolate-brown hair done up in a braid with equally gold ribbons. Even stranger than the woman's fashion sense was Percy's reaction to her sudden appearance. Instead of threatening her, the psychokinetic slowly put his weapons down without even realizing it. Percy felt like they had a kind of... connection. He couldn't place what the feeling was, as he'd never felt it before, but for some reason the thought of hurting the strange lady made him feel sick, so he questioned her instead.
"Uh... Who're you, lady?"
The woman smiled kindly at him. "I am sorry if I scared you with my appearance. My name is Hera, goddess of family, marriage, motherhood, and women."
Percy nodded, mostly to himself. 'Well that explains how she sneaked up on me like that,' he thought, 'and it also explains why I feel this way. She is the goddess of family and all that. Maybe... is this what it feels like to have a mother?'
Hera looked slightly perplexed. "You do not seem very surprised at who I am," she stated, though Percy could tell it was directed more as a question.
The young demigod shrugged, pointing at the mountain of golden dust being dispersed by the stormy winds. "I just killed a giant crab-monster-thing, and it's still not the weirdest thing that's ever happened to me."
Hera's smile returned. "Ah yes, Karkinos. That is actually the reason I am here. You see, she belonged to me."
Percy's eyes widened. "Wh-What? That thing was a girl!?"
Hera gave him a deadpanned expression, and the young demigod attempted to correct his mistake, least he incur the wrath of an Olympian. "I, uh, I mean... Oh no! That thi- She was yours!? I'm sorry I killed it- her! Really, it's just that, y'know, it was destroying a city, and it kind of attacked me and my friends, and-"
Hera raised her hand, and Percy immediately stopped his babbling. With silent relief, he saw that the goddess of motherhood didn't look angry, or even annoyed, but amused. "I understand your actions, my dear," she spoke softly, "In fact, I approve of them. Karkinos, bless her soul, was wrestled from my control and sent here to attack you and your two companions. Now that she has been eliminated, I can again place her amongst the stars where she belongs. So I thank you, Perseus Jackson."
Said boy resisted a grimace when she uttered his full name. He'd never liked his full name, even if it was the name of a legendary hero. 'Woah, stop!' he thought to himself. 'No getting distracted now, there's a freaking goddess thanking you! Say something!'
"Uh, you're welcome. I guess."
The goddess didn't seem to mind his lack of articulation. "I am in your debt now," she told him, and he had to force himself not to let his jaw drop to the floor. An Olympian owed him a favor. The things he could do with-"so if there is anything I can do to help you along your quest, please feel free."
Percy, after getting himself back in order, realized how great of an opportunity he'd just been presented with. "We need a way West," he muttered to himself, though Hera clearly heard him. With a few more seconds of thought, Percy looked up and met the goddess in the eyes. "Can you give us a ride? We only have about five days left, so something fast would be nice. Also," Percy scratched his cheek, slightly embarrassed, "please make it something that we won't have to drive, because we're not really old enough yet."
Hera placed her hand on her chin. "Something fast, you say?" she rubbed her chin in thought, and then her eyes lightened up. "I know the perfect thing!" With a wave of her hand, Hera turned the golden dust scattered throughout the battle field back into Karkinos, and the giant crab could only glance around in confusion. With a yelp, Percy raised his sword, dreading having to fight the crustacean monster once more, but Hera just laughed. "Do not worry Perseus, I've made sure to keep Karkinos in check. She won't attack you." Willing to trust the goddess, but still perturbed at the sight of the giant beast, Percy lowered his weapon again, his body still tense in case anything happened.
Hera just smiled at the demigod. "I am sure you have seen how fast she can go, correct? She will take you to California with plenty of time to spare." All of a sudden, the sound of thunder filled the sky. The goddess of marriage glanced up in annoyance, and looked back to Percy apologetically. "I suppose it is time for me to go, you know how those ancient laws can be."
Just as she was about to leave, Percy called out to her. The goddess turned around in confusion, and Percy looked down at his feet, an uncomfortable lump forming in his throat. For years he had told himself that he was over it. It had been a long time since he even thought about his birth parents, so in a sense he was, but Hera was the goddess of motherhood. She had to know something. Even if it was unlikely to make any difference, he couldn't just miss an opportunity like this.
"I just need to know something," he said. "Do you know... Can you tell me who my mother is? Is she still alive somewhere?"
Hera stared at him with sorrow. "I am sorry, but your mother has long passed."
Percy looked away, tears building up in his eyes. 'Why... Why am I crying?' He rubbed them away with his arm, not wanting to show such weakness in the presence of the goddess. 'Even if she was alive, it wouldn't of changed anything. I live at Camp Half-Blood now.'
"It's alright..." he said, "not like it mattered anyway. I never knew her before, so what if I can't ever do it at all?" From the way he spoke, it sounded more like he was trying to convince himself than the goddess in front of him. "Listen... Thanks a lot," he said, trying to change the subject. "I don't get it though, I mean, you're being pretty nice. I thought you hated demigods."
Hera didn't try to go back to his mother, and instead smiled knowingly. "Yes, I suppose I carry a great dislike for most. But you and I both know how different you are from the rest. Good luck on your quest Perseus, and please take care of Karkinos. You might want to close your eyes for this next part."
Percy did so, and felt a strong light touch his face. When he reopened his eyes a moment later, Hera was gone.
Annabeth woke up with a headache. She grabbed her head and sat up, groaning at the pain of her healed wounds. The slight bumping in the ground wasn't helping matters either.
Eyes still closed, the daughter of Athena thought back to everything that had happened before she awoke. There had been the giant crab, then Percy's stupid plan, and then she'd been crushed by a pair of claws.
Wait...
Annabeth opened her grey eyes and was met by the faces of Percy and Grover, both looking over her in concern. When she appeared fine enough, Percy smirked. "You know, you make this really easy for me, Snow White. Just don't expect a kiss, 'cause Luke is a few hundred miles away."
With a blush, Annabeth pushed him out of the way and attempted to stand up, noting that the sky was still covered in dark clouds before immediately stumbling back down. "Wha..." That's when she saw it. "Are we..."
Grover arrived at her side. "Annabeth? Don't freak out, okay? We're... Uh... kind of riding the giant crab."
It took a few seconds to register Grover's words, but when she did Annabeth sighed. "Why are we riding the giant crab?"
Percy and Grover looked at each other. "Kind of a long story, but that's not important right now," the psychokinetic said. "Seriously though, you alright? We could get some more ambrosia for you..."
"No, I'm fine," Annabeth said, choosing to leave the 'riding-on-a-giant-crab-story' for later. "How long will it take for us to get to L.A.?"
Grover smiled. "About three days. Can you believe how fast this thing is? Three days and this'll all be over."
Percy shook his head with a smile of his own. Truthfully, he was kind of enjoying the quest, deadly battles only halfway excluded, but a happy Grover was always better than a scared Grover.
The three sat down on Karkinos' shell, finally being able to relax after a long day of fighting. Percy looked over at Annabeth, and guilt rose up in him.
"Hey Annabeth," he said, and the blonde looked surprised for only a second. It was strange hearing him call her by her actual name outside of a life or death situation. "I'm sorry that you got hurt like that. If I hadn't of made that stupid plan you wouldn't of needed ambrosia in the first place."
Annabeth smiled, pleased that Percy was at least trying to be nice for once, and if he of all people was going to be cordial then she figured she could as well. "It's okay... It wasn't that bad of a plan."
Grover perked up. Maybe the two demigods were finally burying the hatchet?
"Nah, it was the worst plan ever."
"Oh, will you just take the compliment?"
"What!? I'm just telling the truth!"
"It wouldn't of been such a bad plan if you actually had an I.Q. level!"
"At least I don't only have my brains to rely on!"
"Thank the gods for that!"
"I say one nice thing-!"
The satyr sighed. Of course that had been too much to hope for.
AN:
This is the first full action chapter I've ever written, and I honestly think it didn't turn out too bad.
Our heroes only have five days left until the end of the world. Can they make it in time, or will they get sucked into a whole other set of problems? Find out next time!
... And now onto other things. Basically, Percy has a power, and then a whole set of sub-powers that derive from it. I don't think any of you are actually confused by what's going on there, not questioning your intelligence, but I wanted to at least document it somewhere so there aren't any misconceptions.
Percy has psychokinesis (PK), or the power to control atoms with his mind. That means he can pretty much destroy anyone if he ever gets powerful enough. Thing is, he's just starting to discover his abilities, therefore he only has a limited amount of knowledge, experience, and skill to work with. Note that psychokinesis is NOT a demigod power gotten from inheritance, meaning that all the rules relating such powers (like the Mist) have no effect on psychokinesis. Here's what he can do so far:
Telekinesis: It was the first and easiest one to learn. Basically, he's controlling inanimate objects through their atoms. Nothing really fancy about it.
Geokinesis: He controls the earth itself. This is different from telekinesis in that he literally shapes and forms the ground to fit his needs. Obviously, Percy hasn't reached its full potential yet, only being able to do it in small quantities (in comparison to, say, making a pit of quicksand).
Hydrokinesis: The control of water through its atoms. This is harder to do than various other forms of psychokinesis, as the atoms in liquids move around much more than in solids.
Biokinesis: The power over body through mind. Percy can affect his body and its functions with various chemical reactions done through his atoms. So far, he can only do some limited muscle and sense enhancement, but its full potential has yet to be reached. It requires an intimate knowledge of anatomy to master, as he wouldn't want to accidentally blind himself for life when he just wants to increase his sight. It is also the only sub-power directly acknowledged and named by the characters in the story so far.
Gyrokinesis: The only power that relates to the mastery over atoms themselves, instead of using atoms to take control of something else. As of yet, Percy can only make a cluster of atoms that give off a repulsive force strong enough to 'push' his target away, but believe me when I say that this has the most untapped potential out of any of the other powers, even the ones that haven't been revealed yet. It's unfortunate that it is also the most difficult power to master, so you won't see Percy destabilizing the Earth's magnetic field anytime soon. Or ever.
And that's that.
