AN: Okay, I honestly didn't expect to get this done this quickly, see, I've been using my original version of this story and changing it, so I have a lot of it done, I've made lots of changes but just having the skeleton structure of this just sort of helps. But this chapter is longer than the others, so I thought it would take much longer to do, but it didn't so, yeah, you lot get this earlier than expected, just don't expect me to have everything done so quickly, the lightning thief is only getting done like this since I have the skeleton, once I get back to sea of monsters I'll be a good bit slower. Anyway, I hope you enjoy.
The next morning, Chiron moved Percy to cabin three.
The poor boy looked completely lost, there was no one to tell him what to do, no one to keep an eye on him, it seemed a bit irresponsible, then again, they were teaching kids to fight monsters. He had his own table for meals, so he sat alone trying not to look to depressed, he failed. On the plus side, he had plenty of room for his minotaur horn and toiletries.
Nobody mentioned the hellhound, at least not to his face, people talked behind his back in hushed whispers. The attack had left everybody in shock, sending a message to the whole camp, monsters would stop at nothing to kill him because of his father, no matter who was in the way. They could even invade a camp that had always been considered safe.
The other campers steered clear of him as much as possible after that, like they feared he would bring them to their deaths.
Cabin eleven was too nervous to have sword class with him after what he'd done to the Ares folks in the woods, so the lessons with Luke became one-on-one. He pushed Percy harder than ever, and wasn't afraid to bruise him up in the process.
"You're going to need all the training you can get," he promised, as they were working with swords and flaming torches. "Now let's try that viper-beheading strike again. Fifty more repetitions."
Even Clarisse kept her distance, though her venomous looks made it clear she wanted to kill Percy for breaking her magic spear. Bandit snarled at him every time he saw him but still made sure to stay away, but that was rarer now as he stayed by Clarisse most of the time.
The only person, fox, who could stand to be around him was Whiskers, much to Annabeth's ire. After he had been moved to the Poseidon cabin the fox had followed him, keeping an eye on him, almost like his own guard do-fox, he's a fox gods damnit.
Annabeth was not happy with this.
To her it was a betrayal, her best friend who had been with her from her time on the run, the one who looked after her in the wild had betrayed her for her mother's rival. She was giving him the silent treatment.
Annabeth still taught Greek in the mornings to him, but she seemed distracted, and refused to look at Whiskers. Every time Percy said something, she scowled at him, as if he'd just poked her between the eyes.
After lessons, she would walk away muttering to herself: "Quest... Poseidon?... Dirty rotten... Got to make a plan…"
Somebody at camp seemed to resent Percy more than the others, because one night he came to his cabin and found a mortal newspaper dropped inside the doorway, a copy of the New York Daily News, opened to the Metro page. The article took almost an hour to read, because the angrier he got, the more the words floated around on the page.
'BOY AND MOTHER STILL MISSING AFTER FREAK CAR ACCIDENT'
BY EILEEN SMYTHE
'Sally Jackson and son Percy are still missing one week after their mysterious disappearance. The family's badly burned '78 Camaro was discovered last Saturday on a north Long Island road with the roof ripped off and the front axle broken.
The car had flipped and skidded for several hundred feet before exploding.
Mother and son had gone for a weekend vacation to Montauk, but left hastily, under mysterious circumstances. Small traces of blood were found in the car and near the scene of the wreck, but there were no other signs of the missing Jacksons. Residents in the rural area reported seeing nothing unusual around the time of the accident.
Ms. Jackson's husband, Gabe Ugliano, claims that his stepson, Percy Jackson, is a troubled child who has been kicked out of numerous boarding schools and has expressed violent tendencies in the past.
Police would not say whether son Percy is a suspect in his mother's disappearance, but they have not ruled out foul play. Below are recent pictures of Sally Jackson and Percy. Police urge anyone with information to call the following toll-free crime-stoppers hotline.'
The phone number was circled in black marker.
"Don't read that crap." Whiskers said, appearing in the doorway, he then looked back to his den, "actually could I use it, there's a… mess in my den that I need to clean up, unless you want to keep it."
"You… made a mess of your den?" Percy said gagging slightly, "don't you sleep there?"
"Yeah…" Then he then seemed to understand what Percy was getting at, "no, I don't shit in my den, what kind of animal do you take me for?" He looked slightly green at the thought.
"A fox. So, what's the mess?" Percy asked.
"Well… err… none of your business. I didn't shit my den though. It's more of an issue with the ecosystem around my den than what happened in my den. Look, can I just have the paper?"
"Fine." He rolled up the paper and handed it to the fox who sauntered off to his den paper in tow, Percy could have sworn he heard the fox mutter something about needing to house train her, but he wasn't sure.
"Lights out," He said to himself, already missing the fox's mere presence.
That night, he had the worst dream yet.
He ran along the beach in a storm. This time, there was a city behind him. Not New York. The sprawl was different: buildings spread farther apart, palm trees and low hills in the distance.
About a hundred yards down the surf, two men were fighting. They looked like TV wrestlers, muscular, with beards and long hair. Both wore flowing Greek tunics, one trimmed in blue, the other in green.
They grappled with each other, wrestled, kicked and head-butted, and every time they connected, lightning flashed, the sky grew darker, and the wind rose.
Percy ran at them, trying to stop them, he didn't know why, but the harder he ran, the more the wind blew him back, until he was running in place, heels digging uselessly into the sand. It would have looked comical, if not for the urgency of the situation.
Over the roar of the storm, he could hear the blue-robed one yelling at the green-robed one, Give it back! Give it back! Like a kindergartner fighting over a toy.
The waves got bigger, crashing into the beach, spraying the surroundings with salt.
Percy yelled, "Stop it! Stop fighting!"
The ground shook. Laughter came from somewhere under the earth, and a voice so deep and evil it turned his blood to ice.
"Come down, little hero," the voice crooned. "Come down!"
The sand split beneath him, opening a crevice straight down to the centre of the earth. His feet slipped, and darkness swallowed him.
Percy woke up.
He was still in bed in cabin three. It was morning, but it was dark outside, and thunder rolled across the hills. A storm was brewing. That hadn't been part of the dream.
There was a clopping sound at the door, a hoof knocking on the threshold.
"Come in?"
Grover trotted inside, looking worried. "Mr. D wants to see you."
"Why?"
"He wants to kill... I mean, I'd better let him tell you."
Nervously, Percy got dressed and followed, mentally preparing himself for the trouble that was going to happen the trouble that he was in for simply existing.
The other gods had probably been debating the best way to punish his existence, and now Mr. D was ready to deliver their verdict.
Over Long Island Sound, the sky looked like ink soup coming to a boil. A hazy curtain of rain was coming in the direction of the camp. Percy asked Grover if an umbrella would be necessary.
"No," he said. "It never rains here unless we want it to."
"Or the lord of the sky wants it to." Whiskers said as he appeared on Percy's right padding along right next to him.
Percy realised Grover was right. In the week, he'd been there, it had never even been overcast. The few rain clouds he'd seen had skirted right around the edges of the valley. But this storm...this one was huge. Like Whiskers said, the big boss of the sky was in charge, and right now he was likely in the mood to kill his nephew.
At the volleyball pit, the kids from Apollo's cabin were playing a morning game against the satyrs. Dionysus's twins were walking around in the strawberry fields, making the plants grow. Everybody was going about their normal business, but they looked tense. They kept their eyes on the storm. As Percy turned his backs their eyes all found their way to him, but a short growl from Whiskers sent them scattering.
Grover and Percy walked up to the front porch of the Big House. Dionysus sat at the pinochle table in his tiger-striped Hawaiian shirt with his Diet Coke, just as he had on the first day of camp. Chiron sat across the table in his fake wheel chair. They were playing against invisible opponents-two sets of cards hovering in the air.
"Well, well," Mr. D said without looking up. "Our little celebrity."
Percy waited, nervously.
"Come closer," Mr. D said. "And don't expect me to bow to you, mortal, just because old Barnacle-Beard is your father."
A net of lightning flashed across the clouds. Thunder shook the windows of the house.
"Blah, blah, blah," Dionysus said.
Chiron feigned interest in his pinochle cards. Grover cowered by the railing, his hooves clopping back and forth, Whiskers sat on the steps of the porch and it looked like he dozed off.
"If I had my way," Dionysus said, "I would cause your molecules to erupt in flames. We'd sweep up the ashes and be done with a lot of trouble, but…Chiron seems to feel this would be against my mission at this cursed camp: to keep you little brats safe from harm."
"Spontaneous combustion is a form of harm, Mr. D," Chiron put in.
"Nonsense," Dionysus said. "Boy wouldn't feel a thing. Nevertheless, I've agreed to restrain myself. I'm thinking of turning you into a dolphin instead, sending you back to your father."
"Mr. D-" Chiron warned.
"Oh, all right," Dionysus relented. "There's one more option. But it's deadly foolishness." Dionysus rose, and the invisible players' cards dropped to the table. "I'm off to Olympus for the emergency meeting. If the boy is still here when I get back, I'll turn him into an Atlantic bottlenose. Do you understand? And Perseus Jackson, if you're at all smart, you'll see that's a much more sensible choice than what Chiron feels you must do."
Dionysus picked up a playing card, twisted it, and it became a plastic rectangle. A security pass. He snapped his fingers. The air seemed to fold and bend around him. He became a hologram, then wind, then he was gone, leaving only the smell of fresh-pressed grapes lingering behind.
Chiron smiled, but he looked tired and strained. "Sit, Percy, please. And Grover."
They did, Chiron laid his cards on the table, a winning hand he hadn't gotten to use.
"Tell me, Percy," he said. "What did you make of the hellhound?"
Just hearing the name made Percy shudder, the boy glanced over to the fox, who's ears perked up, but otherwise looked asleep.
Chiron probably wanted Percy to say something brave, say how it was easy, and how controlling water had been a piece of cake. Percy didn't feel like lying to the immortal trainer though.
"It scared me," he said. "If it hadn't been for Whiskers, I'd be dead."
"You'll meet worse, Percy. Far worse, before you're done."
"Done... with what?"
"Your quest, of course. Will you accept it?"
He glanced at Grover, who was crossing his fingers, it looked like he was trying to do it subtly, but that wasn't the satyr's strong point.
"Um, sir," Percy said, "you haven't told me what it is yet."
Chiron grimaced. "Well, that's the hard part, the details."
Thunder rumbled across the valley. The storm clouds had now reached the edge of the beach. As far as anyone could see, the sky and the sea were boiling together.
"Poseidon and Zeus," Percy said. "They're fighting over something valuable... something that was stolen, aren't they?"
Chiron and Grover exchanged looks. Chiron sat forward in his wheelchair. "How did you know that?"
Percy blushed, looking like he had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "The weather since Christmas has been weird, like the sea and the sky are fighting. Then I talked to Annabeth, and she'd overheard something about a theft. And... I've also been having these dreams."
"I knew it," Grover said.
"Hush, satyr," Chiron ordered.
"But it is his quest!" Grover's eyes were bright with excitement. "It must be!"
"Only the Oracle can determine."
Chiron stroked his bristly beard. "Nevertheless, Percy, you are correct. Your father and Zeus are having their worst quarrel in centuries. They are fighting over something valuable that was stolen. To be precise: a lightning bolt."
They three of them turned when they heard a slight grunt of satisfaction, they saw a silver fox sitting near them, "sorry, he said, don't mind me," he then continued to sit where he sat.
"Whiskers, what are you doing here?" Chiron asked as if he had only just noticed him, the centaur seemed jumpy though.
"Nothing," the fox replied, "just giving the kid some moral support." He then looked at Percy, "so continue, Zeus has lost his lightning bolt." He urged Chiron to continue.
Percy looked nervous. "His… lightning bolt?"
"Do not take this lightly," Chiron warned, he looked at Whiskers, angrily. "I'm not talking about some tinfoil-covered zigzag you'd see in a second-grade play. I'm talking about a two-foot-long cylinder of high-grade celestial bronze, capped on both ends with god-level explosives."
"Oh." Percy seemed to get the gravity of the situation if his pale face was anything to go by.
"Zeus's master bolt," Chiron said, getting worked up now. "The symbol of his power, from which all other lightning bolts are patterned. The first weapon made by the Cyclopes for the war against the Titans, the bolt that sheered the top off Mount Etna and hurled Kronos from his throne; the master bolt, which packs enough power to make mortal hydrogen bombs look like firecrackers."
"And it's missing?"
"Stolen," Chiron said.
"By who?"
"By whom," Chiron corrected, once a teacher, always a teacher. "By you."
Percy's mouth fell open like he was about to laugh, then he swallowed that and made a strange face like a mix between a grimace and abject terror.
"At least," Chiron held up a hand, "that's what Zeus thinks. During the winter solstice, at the last council of the gods, Zeus and Poseidon had an argument. The usual nonsense: 'Mother Rhea always liked you best,' 'Air disasters are more spectacular than sea disasters,' etcetera. Afterward, Zeus realized his master bolt was missing, taken from the throne room under his very nose. He immediately blamed Poseidon. Now, a god cannot usurp another god's symbol of power directly—that is forbidden by the most ancient of divine laws. But Zeus believes your father convinced a human hero to take it."
"But I didn't-"
"Patience and listen, child," Chiron said. "Zeus has good reason to be suspicious. The forges of the Cyclopes are under the ocean, which gives Poseidon some influence over the makers of his brother's lightning. Zeus believes Poseidon has taken the master bolt, and is now secretly having the Cyclopes build an arsenal of illegal copies, which might be used to topple Zeus from his throne. The only thing Zeus wasn't sure about was which hero Poseidon used to steal the bolt. Now Poseidon has openly claimed you as his son. You were in New York over the winter holidays. You could easily have snuck into Olympus. Zeus believes he has found his thief."
"But I've never even been to Olympus! Zeus is crazy!"
Chiron and Grover glanced nervously at the sky. The clouds didn't seem to be parting around the camp, as Grover had promised. They were rolling straight over our valley, sealing the entire camp in it like a coffin lid.
"Err, Percy ...?" Grover said. "We don't use the c-word to describe the Lord of the Sky."
"Perhaps paranoid," Chiron suggested.
"Then again, Poseidon has tried to unseat Zeus before. I believe that was question thirty-eight on your final exam..." He looked at Percy as if the poor boy could remember it, poor kid wouldn't remember his own name if it hadn't heard it yelled over and over again by angry authority figures. How could anyone accuse this kid of stealing a god's weapon? He'd more likely think it was a fancy lava lamp, and blow himself up by plugging it into the wall.
Chiron didn't seem to realise this and looked at him expectantly.
"Something about a golden net?" Percy guessed. "Poseidon and Hera and a few other gods...they, like, trapped Zeus and wouldn't let him out until he promised to be a better ruler, right?"
"Correct," Chiron said. "And Zeus has never trusted Poseidon since. Of course, Poseidon denies stealing the master bolt. He took great offense at the accusation. The two have been arguing back and forth for months, threatening war. And now, you've come along—the proverbial last straw."
"But I'm just a kid!"
"Percy," Grover cut in, "if you were Zeus, and you already thought your brother was plotting to overthrow you, then your brother suddenly admitted he had broken the sacred oath he took after World War II, that he's fathered a new mortal hero who might be used as a weapon against you... Wouldn't that put a twist in your toga?"
"But I didn't do anything. Poseidon—my dad—he didn't really have this master bolt stolen, did he?"
Chiron sighed. "Most thinking observers would agree that thievery is not Poseidon's style. But the Sea God is too proud to try convincing Zeus of that. Zeus has demanded that Poseidon return the bolt by the summer solstice. That's June twenty-first, ten days from now. Poseidon wants an apology for being called a thief by the same date. I hoped that diplomacy might prevail, that Hera or Demeter or Hestia would make the two brothers see sense. But your arrival has inflamed Zeus's temper. Now neither god will back down. Unless someone intervenes, unless the master bolt is found and returned to Zeus before the solstice, there will be war. And do you know what a full-fledged war would look like, Percy?"
"Bad?" Percy guessed.
"Imagine the world in chaos. Nature at war with itself. Olympians forced to choose sides between Zeus and Poseidon. Destruction. Carnage. Millions of dead. Western civilization turned into a battleground so big it will make the Trojan War look like a water-balloon fight."
"Bad," Percy guessed.
"And you, Percy Jackson, would be the first to feel Zeus's wrath."
It started to rain. Volleyball players stopped their game and stared in stunned silence at the sky. Percy had brought this storm to Half-Blood Hill. Zeus was punishing the whole camp because of him. He was furious.
"So, I have to find the stupid bolt," Percy said bitterly. "And return it to Zeus."
"What better peace offering," Chiron said, "than to have the son of Poseidon return Zeus's property?"
"If Poseidon doesn't have it, where is the thing?"
"I believe I know." Chiron's expression was grim. "Part of a prophecy I had years ago...well, some of the lines make sense to me, now. But before I can say more, you must officially take up the quest. You must seek the counsel of the Oracle."
"Why can't you tell me where the bolt is beforehand?"
"Because if I did, you would be too afraid to accept the challenge."
Percy swallowed. "Good reason."
"You agree then?"
He looked at Grover, who nodded encouragingly. Easy for him. He didn't have an angry god watching his every move ready to kill him.
"All right," he said. "It's better than being turned into a dolphin."
"Then it's time you consulted the Oracle," Chiron said. "Go upstairs, Percy Jackson, to the attic. When you come back down, assuming you're still sane, we will talk more."
As Percy left Chiron glanced over at Whiskers, or rather where Whiskers had been, the fox was gone, "probably off to find Annabeth." The centaur said to himself.
The horse was wrong. Whiskers hadn't gone to find Annabeth, rather he had followed Percy, his curiosity peeking when he heard he was going to see the oracle. He stalked the eleven-year-old silently, the boy didn't know he was being followed, why would he think anyone would follow him to see the person who can drive you insane? Come to think of it, why was he following the son of Poseidon.
That line of thought disappeared when the fox who was previously following the demi-god, suddenly was not following the demi-god, in fact he appeared to be floating in mid-air. The fox was stunned for a moment, allowing himself to be brought into an empty room in the big house.
After a moment he figured out what happened he sighed before flicking his nose up and knocking off the baseball cap from Annabeth's head.
"What's up Annie?" The fox asked.
"What's up? What do you think you were doing?" Annabeth whisper yelled.
"Calm down, I was just checking out the attic, maybe see the prophecy by given, you know, normal stuff." Whiskers replied.
"Normal? There's nothing normal about going and possibly driving yourself insane."
"Calm down, Percy's at just as much risk of insanity as me, if anything I will be better to have a second person to help the other down if they do go insane."
"Is this some game to you?"
"No, I'm just curious."
"Don't, curiosity killed the cat, I don't want to see what it does to foxes."
"Annie, calm down, if Percy was-"
"Oh, shut up about Percy, that's all that's important to you these days, Percy Jackson." Annabeth snapped.
"What? What do you mean?"
"You know what I mean. You been with him all week."
"Are… are you jealous?" Whiskers asked in confusion.
"No, I'm not jealous. Why would I have to be jealous of that Seaweed Brain, I'm smarter and better and-"
"Annie, calm down, okay, now just listen to me." Whiskers sighed, "I'm sorry I haven't been hanging out with you for a while, but that is not all my fault. You've been avoiding me, and giving me the silent treatment ever since that game."
"I have not." Annabeth said, before giving in to his pointed look, "okay, fine. I may have been avoiding you, but only because you've been hanging around that Seaweed Brained idiot."
"Why don't you like him?" The fox asked the daughter of Athena.
"He's a son of Poseidon, my mom and his dad hate each other because of their rivalry-"
"That can't be your reason, he's not his father and, as smart as you are, you aren't your mother. You can't blame him for his father. It wouldn't be the wise thing to do." Whiskers said.
"But-"
"Annie, you can't just hate him because you think you have to because of your mother. Now tell me why you hate him."
"He's… he acts like an idiot. I'm smarter. He has no experience, I've been here for years. You hardly know him but you got so chummy with him all of a sudden. He's such a Seaweed Brain but you…"
"Are you jealous?"
"No! Why would I be jealous of him? I'm smarter, I've fought monsters for years, I'm stronger, I've been with you for years."
"Annie, you're jealous." Annabeth glared at him.
"No. I. Am. Not." She growled out.
"So, you won't mind if I move den?" She froze, "there's a nice spot by the Poseidon cabin, and since you're so bothered by me during dinner I think I'll go to another table. Percy has plenty-"
"Stop, okay I'm jealous." Annabeth said, turning away from the fox, "happy?"
"Not unless you are." Whiskers said softly.
"You have Percy now, just make him happy." Annabeth said quietly.
"Annabeth Chase." Whiskers said firmly, "you are not being replaced. You are the best friend I have ever had, and will ever have. Percy has nothing on you."
"Then why?" Annabeth asked, still refusing to look at him.
"Because he's alone." Whiskers said quietly, "he has no one." His eyes gained a misty look to them, "alone." A headache was growing in the fox, but he ignored it, "he's hated and feared. People are afraid of him, why? He's just a boy." Whiskers eyes darkened, the white fading to black. "I did nothing to them." The blue of his irises bled into red, "they betrayed me, made me a-"
"Whiskers!" Annabeth said, startling the fox.
"What?"
"You were muttering to yourself, you looked out of it." Worried grey looked into bright blue, "I was worried."
"Sorry, Annie." He then seemed to remember his point, "Percy's alone, he needs friends, he needs people to be there for him, especially now. He's just lost his mother and found out that he's being hunted by his uncles. How would you feel if that happened to you? I don't need an answer, it would be horrible, which is why I've been sticking by him. Besides, he saved my life."
Annabeth winced at that before looking the fox in the eyes, "I'm… I'm sorry for ignoring you. I shouldn't have, and I'm sorry for being jealous. I just… he looks like he remembers you. I was scared that you… that he was your…"
"Owner?" Whiskers tried, and Annabeth winced, "it's fine, but no, I have never met the boy before he came to camp. Besides, you're my owner Annie."
"I'm not you're owner, you're my friend." Annabeth then lifted the fox up and hugged him, "now, let's go see how the prophecy went."
"Yeah." Whiskers agreed, "but put your hat on." Before she did, the fox hoped underneath it, "I think we are long overdue a quest."
Percy walked in a daze from the attic, is gaze was elsewhere as he made it back to the porch, after the fox and girl duo had already made themselves comfortable on the porch. Whiskers had escaped the hat and was now reclining on the floor at an invisible Annabeth's feet, this served two purposes, the fox had a comfy seat, and he made sure no one bumped into the invisible girl, his husky size ensured that.
"Well?" Chiron asked as he took notice of Percy's appearance.
He slumped into a chair at the pinochle table. "She said I would retrieve what was stolen."
Grover sat forward, chewing excitedly on the remains of a Diet Coke can. "That's great!"
"What did the Oracle say exactly?" Chiron pressed. "This is important."
Percy shivered as he sat there, obviously the experience wasn't very pleasant. "She... she said I would go west and face a god who had turned. I would retrieve what was stolen and see it safely returned."
"I knew it," Grover said.
Chiron didn't look satisfied. "Anything else?"
Percy took a short glance to the dozing fox for a second, an indescribable look of weariness on his face.
"No," he said finally. "That's about it."
Chiron and, unknown to the demi-god, Annabeth studied his face, looking for any signs to show more of the prophecy he was obviously lying about. "Very well, Percy. But know this: The Oracle's words often have double meanings. Don't dwell on them too much. The truth is not always clear until events come to pass."
"Okay," Percy said, anxiously attempting to change topics. "So where do I go? Who's this god in the west?"
"Ah, think, Percy," Chiron said. "If Zeus and Poseidon weaken each other in a war, who stands to gain?"
"Somebody else who wants to take over?" Percy guessed.
"Yes, quite. Someone who harbours a grudge, who has been unhappy with his lot since the world was divided eons ago, whose kingdom would grow powerful with the deaths of millions. Someone who hates his brothers for forcing him into an oath to have no more children, an oath that both of them have now broken."
Percy looked deep in thought for a moment before he shivered slightly
"Hades."
Chiron nodded. "The Lord of the Dead is the only possibility."
A scrap of aluminium dribbled out of Grover's mouth, if only he hadn't already eaten all the napkins. "Whoa, wait. Wh-what?"
"A Fury came after Percy," Chiron reminded everyone. "She watched the young man until she was sure of his identity, then tried to kill him. Furies obey only one lord: Hades."
"Yes, but—but Hades hates all heroes," Grover protested. "Especially if he has found out Percy is a son of Poseidon..."
"A hellhound got into the forest," Chiron continued. "Those can only be summoned from the Fields of Punishment, and it had to be summoned by someone within the camp. Hades must have a spy here. He must suspect Poseidon will try to use Percy to clear his name. Hades would very much like to kill this young half-blood before he can take on the quest."
"It seems a bit hasty," voiced the fox who was suddenly looking up, fully awake, "you are blaming one god, but he is not the only one who stands to gain if a war is fought. Maybe it was a minor god, or, gods forbid, not that they've done so well at that," thunder boomed overhead, "maybe it was a god that has already turned, maybe one going by another title. It could even have been one of the gods of war, or gods who thrive off the chaos war brings. There are many other options, true not as many that could, but there is still a large list of potential culprits." The fox said, making Percy think back to anyone else who could gain from war.
"That is not so important," Chiron said, though he seemed to be contemplating who else it could be, "though you speak with wisdom the most solid lead points to Hades."
"Great," Percy muttered. "That's two major gods who want to kill me."
"But a quest to..." Grover swallowed. "I mean, couldn't the master bolt be in some place like Maine? Maine's very nice this time of year."
"Hades sent a minion to steal the master bolt," Chiron insisted. "He hid it in the Underworld, knowing full well that Zeus would blame Poseidon. I don't pretend to understand the Lord of the Dead's motives perfectly, or why he chose this time to start a war, but one thing is certain. Percy must go to the Underworld, find the master bolt, and reveal the truth."
Percy's eyes glowed with determination, all the fear from his visit with the oracle was now gone. The boy was determined to get the bolt back, but that wasn't all, to all the other porch dwellers it was obvious he was planning on saving someone. It wasn't that hard to guess who.
Grover was trembling. He'd started eating pinochle cards like potato chips.
The poor guy needed to complete a quest with the son of Poseidon, so he could get his searcher's license, but he didn't look like he wanted to do that.
They heard a mumbling coming from Whiskers, he said something about them, "complete disregard…so mean…" Some of his fur moved in a strange pattern, like the wind was petting it.
"Look, if we know it's Hades," Percy told Chiron, Whiskers just glared at him "why can't we just tell the other gods? Zeus or Poseidon could go down to the Underworld and bust some heads."
"Suspecting and knowing are not the same, as Whiskers pointed out," Chiron said. Whiskers tail waged slightly, and he looked a bit happier, "Besides, even if the other gods suspect Hades, and I imagine Poseidon does, they couldn't retrieve the bolt themselves. Gods cannot cross each other's territories except by invitation. That is another ancient rule. Heroes, on the other hand, have certain privileges. They can go anywhere, challenge anyone, as long as they're bold enough and strong enough to do it. No god can be held responsible for a hero's actions. Why do you think the gods always operate through humans?"
"You're saying I'm being used."
"I'm saying it's no accident Poseidon has claimed you now. It's a very risky gamble, but he's in a desperate situation. He needs you."
'My dad needs me.' Came a voice in Percy's head.
Percy's previous look of determination was replaced with a strange mix between happiness, anger and nervousness. Sure, the kid was ready to face the god of the dead and accuse him of stealing to incite war among the gods, but bring up his daddy issues and he was nervous.
Percy looked at Chiron meaningfully. "You've known I was Poseidon's son all along, haven't you?"
"I had my suspicions. As I said...I've spoken to the Oracle, too."
There was a pause as all of the occupants of the porch seemed to think over everything individually.
"So, let me get this straight," Percy said. "I'm supposed go to the Underworld and confront the Lord of the Dead."
"Check," Chiron said.
"Find the most powerful weapon in the universe."
"Check."
"And get it back to Olympus before the summer solstice, in ten days."
"That's about right."
He looked at Grover, who gulped down the ace of hearts.
"Did I mention that Maine is very nice this time of year?" he asked weakly.
"You don't have to go," the demi-god told him. "I can't ask that of you."
"Oh..." He shifted his hooves. "No... it's just that satyrs and underground places... well..."
He took a deep breath, then stood, brushing the shredded cards and aluminium bits off his T-shirt. "You saved my life, Percy. If... if you're serious about wanting me along, I won't let you down."
Whiskers looked about ready to say something, but an invisible nudge made him think better of it, he just settled back into his position.
"All the way, G-man." Percy turned to Chiron. "So where do we go? The Oracle just said to go west."
"The entrance to the Underworld is always in the west. It moves from age to age, just like Olympus. Right now, of course, it's in America."
"Where?"
Chiron looked surprised. "I thought that would be obvious enough. The entrance to the Underworld is in Los Angeles."
"Oh," Percy said. "Naturally. So, we just get on a plane-"
"No!" Grover shrieked. "Percy, what are you thinking? Have you ever been on a plane in your life?"
He shook his head, embarrassment blooming on his face, not realising his mistake he just looked confused, hoping someone would fill him in.
"Percy, think," Chiron said. "You are the son of the Sea God. Your father's bitterest rival is Zeus, Lord of the Sky. Your mother knew better than to trust you in an airplane. You would be in Zeus's domain. You would never come down again alive."
Overhead, lightning crackled, and thunder boomed, as if telling Chiron off for ruining the gods chance to kill his nephew.
"Okay," Percy said, looking anywhere but the storm, as if not looking at it would make it go away. "So, I'll travel overland."
"That's right," Chiron said. "Two companions may accompany you. Grover is one. The other has already volunteered, if you will accept her help."
"Gee," he said, feigning surprise. "Who else would be stupid enough to volunteer for a quest like this? Whiskers?"
The air shimmered behind Chiron. Annabeth became visible, stuffing her Yankees cap into her back pocket, she glared at Whiskers slightly before turning back to Percy.
"I've been waiting a long time for a quest, Seaweed Brain," she said. "Athena is no fan of Poseidon," Whiskers swatted her with his tail and she glared lightly at him, "but if you're going to save the world, I'm the best person to keep you from messing up."
"If you do say so yourself," Percy said. "I suppose you have a plan, Wise Girl?"
Her cheeks coloured, Whiskers giggled slightly, or so it sounded, strange but he could talk so it made most of the strangeness around him seem much less strange.
"Do you want my help or not?"
"A trio," he said. "That'll work."
"Oh yeah, sure." The fox spoke again, "my sidekick doesn't get to go without me, so you're going to have to bring me now."
"Err," Percy said, unaware of how to take care of the problem of the fox, he desperately looked around for support, but the others looked like they were enjoying this, except Annabeth.
"Sidekick?" She said, "if anything, you're the sidekick, you're only here for comic relief."
"Oh yeah? Well I can stick to walls, I'm spider fox. What does that make you?"
"Your boss, now go get ready, we'll be leaving soon." She then turned to Percy, "unless you have a problem with me bringing Whiskers."
"No, nope, no. No problems, none whatsoever." Percy was terrified of the Athena glare; poor kid would be seeing a lot of that.
"Excellent," Chiron said. "This afternoon, we can take you as far as the bus terminal in Manhattan. After that, you are on your own."
Lightning flashed. Rain poured down on the meadows that were never supposed to have violent weather.
"No time to waste," Chiron said. "I think you should all get packing."
(With the jinchuuriki)
After Yugito had her talk with her mother, she woke up the others. Well except Fu, but she was already up, she was an early riser, something they attributed to her father.
After they were all up and ready Yagura decided it was time to go, unfortunately the timer for their next jump was in another half hour.
So Yagura decided to just sail down the river for a bit, the eight of them relaxing until then. So that was how they all found themselves simply drifting downstream, most of them relaxing, except for the obvious exceptions of B and Utakata.
"You lived in water country most of your life, how can you not like it?" Fu asked.
"Probably has something to do with my uncle." He said in one of his rare not throwing up or heaving experiences on the boat, "probably why B's also throwing up overboard."
They looked over and found the bull jinchuuriki was indeed heaving over the side of the ship. Yagura had come up with the rule of 'you make it you clean it' after the two of them had painted the deck a disgusting beige colour. So, they were no trying to make sure all of their waste went off the boat and into the river.
This seemed to have angered the current residents of the river as soon several mermaids and mermen started lodging complaints with the captain. Yagura was currently hoping the time would pass faster, and had also come to the decision to stop feeding the two seasick jinchuuriki.
Just then Utakata joined his brother throwing up over the side of the ship, a few seconds later a nymph came to the surface and slapped him.
"Well, I'll go talk to Hana then." Fu said, abandoning her brother as he was yelled at by the nymph.
The daughter of Hephaestus was currently at the back of the boat, looking at the back of the boat.
"Sis, what'cha doing?" Fu said as she started hovering about a metre off the boat, just above the fully covered daughter of Hephaestus.
"Not much." Hana answered, "why?"
"No reason, just wanted to talk to you."
"Okay." There was a pause, "so how was your dad?"
"He was great." Fu beamed and in the sky the sun seemed to brighten ever so slightly, "he taught me to play the ukulele, do you want to see?" Fu asked.
"Yeah, sure." Hana replied.
"Okay, two minutes." Fu went to her bunk and grabbed her instrument before rushing back, "okay here goes." She then started to strum the strings, playing a slow melody, after a few minutes she stopped and smiled up to her sister in all but blood, "what do you think?"
"That was great." Hana smiled, "do you have the words of it?"
"Yeah, dad gave me the music sheets, they have the words with them." She thought to herself for a moment before grinning, "why don't you sing."
"No, I'm okay, you can do it." Hana declined.
"No, I can't, I've got to concentrate on playing the song, but you can sing."
"No, I can't."
"Come on, it'll be fun."
"I won't be any good."
"I don't care, I want to hear you sing."
"…fine."
"Okay, here's the words, umm, you see the notes, that's me, just try and time the words to the music. I'll try and keep to your pace."
"Okay, give me a minute." Hana read through the music, trying to time it with the music she heard a few minutes ago. "Okay, I'm ready."
"Okay, here we go." Fu then strummed the instrument quietly, a short introduction before she repeated herself and Hana joined in.
"Wise men say
Only fools rush in
But I can't help falling in love with you
Shall I stay?
Would it be a sin
If I can't help falling in love with you?
Like a river flows
Surely to the sea
Darling, so it goes
Some things are meant to be
Take my hand,
Take my whole life, too
For I can't help falling in love with you
Like a river flows
Surely to the sea
Darling, so it goes
Some things are meant to be
Take my hand,
Take my whole life, too
For I can't help falling in love with you
For I can't help falling in love with you."
With that Fu struck the last chord and smiled at her sister, "that was great, you have a nice voice, ya' know."
"Thanks," Hana blushed as red as her armour, "I've never sung before."
"Well, you should do it more," she laughed to herself, "at least we know where we could get a job, the two of us could busk all the way around America."
Hana joined her sister in her singing, "that'd be nice."
"Yeah, after we find Naruto. Maybe he would like to join us." Fu sighed happily.
"Yeah." Hana looked back off the ship, "I miss him."
"We all do." Fu said then she smiled, "remember when we used to play frisbee with your hat?"
Hana laughed, "yeah. I remember. It was the first game he ever played with us, the first time I remember seeing him smile. He was so happy. I wish we could do that again."
"Yeah." Fu said, before brightening up, "well, until he gets back," she nabbed the hat off her sister's head, releasing her hair, one second it was a normal black hat, the next it was Hana's original conical hat, "you're going to be stuck just playing with me." She then fired the hat back to her sister who caught it.
"Yeah." Hana said as she threw it back, "just like old times."
Eventually Roshi and Yugito decided to join in, then Garra decided to join, flying off the ship like Fu and catching the hat with his sand. Even B and Utakata tried to join in, but the game quickly came to a close when B threw up in the hat, everyone except him and Hana burst out laughing.
"That's disgusting." Hana complained as she looked at her once red hat, now covered in the remains of their breakfast from this morning, "go clean it." She said to the eight tailed jinchuuriki.
"I would, but I can't even rap right now." B said as he leaned over the side of the ship.
"I don't care, I want this to be spotless!" The five tailed jinchuuriki yelled.
"Fine, fine, as soon as we stop," he threw up again, "I'll be sure to clean it up."
"Good." Hana then looked to Yagura, "ETA on the next jump."
Yagura took a quick glance into the cabin, "about ten minutes."
"Great, plenty of time for you to clean that up." Hana said as she grabbed B and jumped off the boat, she then walked to the shore and set him down roughly, "clean!" She said as he regained some colour.
The ship stopped at Yagura's command and they all decided to hop out and stretch their legs for a bit before their next jump.
Utakata looked happy with this and sat in the shade of a tree and just sat there calmly, Fu was flying about the treetops startling some birds who looked very annoyed at the sight of the mint haired jinchuuriki. Yagura staid on the ship, shipping at the front and looking into the water, she started to make random shapes with water, a look of concentration on her face. Yugito lounged in the same tree as Utakata, only a few feet above the son of Hades while Garra decided to make a small beach by grinding some of the rocks into sand with his own sand. Roshi pulled out a map of the state's some places were crossed out with orange and purple pen with dates beside them.
This was the map the two groups had made of the areas they had searched, the purple crosses were the 'Roman' jinchuuriki's and the orange, the 'Greek'. He had made the map by filling in any of the gaps the other group had left from their travels, and between the two of them they had covered most of the US. Only the northern states were left to search which neither group had gotten around to searching. He had been looking on the map to try to find anywhere Naruto could be, somewhere to search after they reached the camps.
Suddenly there was a howl from the forest and all of them stopped. They looked into the forest before turning to each other and moving closer to the ship. Fu was the closest to the forest, hovering just above the edge, as she slowly drifted back to the ship her senses screamed at her to move out of the way. She darted away just in time to avoid a pair of snapping jaws.
Fu was too quick to be caught in the next pair as another was soon to dart at her teeth first. She made it way from the forest, but the teeth followed. The teeth belonged to wolves, but not the normal type, nor were they the wolves of Lupa like the 'Roman' demi-gods remembered. The wolves were each the same size as Hana, the tallest of the jinchuuriki at the moment, and that was only on all fours.
They had dark brown fur that was matted and caked in mud, blood was fresh on their muzzles and their teeth were yellow and dripping saliva. They looked almost identical if not for the scar on the wolf on the right, going from its right eye straight down to its collar bone, the fur surrounding it being non-existent seeming to highlight it.
Suddenly more howls came from the undergrowth and four more wolves appeared, each of them being much smaller than the other two, only reaching half the height of the twin wolves, but just as vicious looking. These ones were slobbering, and their eyes gleamed with hunger.
They heard movement on the other bank and turned to find five more wolves, the wolves had surrounded them and were closing in.
"Werewolves." Roshi said, "looks like a wild pack, not normal but not too strange." He eyed the bigger two, "it looks like they are outcasts of Lycaon's pack. It's happened before, but they don't usually get this big. They can only be damaged by silver weapons." He glanced at Yagura, "how long until we're ready to go."
"Two minutes." Yagura replied after a quick glance to their exit strategy.
"So, we only need to hold them off for two minutes." Garra said, making a wall of sand between him and the five on the other bank, the wall rushed the creatures who yelped as they found themselves coated in sand. He then clenched his hand and the sand imploded crushing the animals, as it fell away the wolves just got up and the demi-gods watched as their flesh repaired itself slowly, "the sand isn't enough to kill them apparently." Garra said, before a vicious grin appeared on his face, "but I'm betting it hurts." The fallen sand rose again and once more the wolves yelped in agony as they were crushed. "You take care of the others, that's all the sand I have for now."
The others were already deciding how to fight this new threat, Fu clicked her hair clips and a quiver appeared on her back, followed by a bow appearing in her hands. She smirked and fired an arrow right through the eye of the scarred wolf, it went straight through his eye… and did nothing?
"Gold… not… touch." The big wolf who wasn't scarred said with what must have been a grin.
"Yeah, well I wonder how you feel about water then?" Yagura said as a pillar of water rose up and took out the grunts. The twin big wolves jumped out of the way though, but now they were the only ones, as the rest of the pack were thrown into the river, were they gurgled uselessly as they struggled against the unnatural current. "Okay," the daughter of Poseidon grunted, a look of concentration on her face, "now there are only two, could you take care of them, this isn't very easy."
"Sure, we got them." Yugito said, "let's put these dogs down."
"Yeah, little doggie wants to play, well let's see what ya got to say!" B said as he jumped at the scarred dog, he flashed through hand seals and his hands sparked with electricity, like a pair of boxing mitts, "let's see if these mutts can take much hits, lightning style: lightning fists!"
The wolf seemed surprised by this and got punched on the nose in his shock, it let out a yelp and jumped back, but B kept up, he punched anywhere that was available faster than the untrained eye could see. A few seconds later the wolf was smoking and whining in agony.
Lightning fists was originally called lightning fingers, and it worked much like the Hyuuga gentle fist, in that it attacked internally, unfortunately since the user couldn't see like a Hyuuga, they needed to learn the thousands of pressure points, nerve endings and muscle locations. B found a way to combat this though, you see most users only cover their finger tips and use it the same way the gentle fist is used, only using attacking nerves, pressure points and muscle groups. B didn't do this, instead he adapted it to fit him and covered his whole fists in lightning, it was much less precise, but each punch had enough surface area to hit a pressure point with most hits, and even if it didn't… they were being punched by lightning, it hurt. Of course, this technique took a lot of chakra, so normal people can't use it for more than a few seconds, but B wasn't normal, he could most likely use it indefinably.
B stood over the smoking wolf smirking, "little puppy didn't stand a chance, now, finish the other and let's bounce." Then the wolf stood up and started growling at the son of Zeus.
While B fought that one Hana went after the other, this one was probably the strongest, either that or the one B was fighting, they looked about the same. As Hana ran at the beast, it ran at her. Just as it was going to meet her it pounced, she jumped at it at the same time. This seems like the perfect time to slow down and think through her chances; this thing weighed at least ten thousand pounds and was rushing at her full force. She was a daughter of Hephaestus.
It was an easy win.
The wolf opened its mouth ready to tear through her, but she was quicker, as they met at the apex of the jump she punched it right in the jaw. The wolf went flying out into the forest, knocking down a tree on its way, Hana jumped after it, just in time to watch it stand up woozily. Hana walked towards it menacingly.
It looked up to her as she stood over it and she simply punched it in the face again, cracking the earth beneath them slightly, then she hit it, again, and again, and again. Over and over until it stayed down. She then looked it over once more and scoffed before walking back to the boat.
As she exited the forest she saw her sibling looking at her, "it's out." She simply said as she hoped on board.
B looked at the wolf that was currently whining after the fifth round against him, huh, what do you know wolves don't like lightning. "Yeah, mine doesn't look ready to get up any time soon, if he does, he's a buffoon."
"Mine are out of it I think." Yagura said gesturing to the wolves who finally stopped struggling. "Just in time by the look of it." She said as she gestured to the console.
"Garra, are yours ready to give up?" Fu asked the son of Hera.
"I think so," one of them whined particularly loudly, "yeah, they've stopped trying to attack and are now trying to escape."
"Good, now let's get going." Yagura said as all of them boarded the ship, Hana grabbed her now clean hat from B.
"Where are we going now anyway?" Hana asked Yagura, as the others went into the ships interior, instead of answering Yagura gestured Hana to come over and look at the map. 'Bar lake state park, Denver', it read.
"After that, we'll-" Yagura was cut off when a large object collided with Hana, the object being the werewolf that she thought was unconscious.
"Hana!" Yagura yelled.
In a matter of seconds many things happened, the werewolf bit into Hana's shoulder, Hana fell forward but turned around and kick the wolf off her, onto the deck. Somehow, either Hana or the wolf pressed the button Hana saw this and just before the ship sank beneath the waves, she used a small blast of compressed steam to close the latch for the others. It automatically locked, a feature, Hana had added after their first voyage, the first submergence freaked them out.
Yagura looked at the button dawning realisation turning to horror as she looked up from it to Hana, her unprotected sister who would not survive the pressure of the water.
Time seemed to slow as the ship sank, Hana looked Yagura right in the eye, before the ship sank beneath the water, Yagura started running she was just a few feet away, she reached out her hand and tried desperately to grab her sister.
Water reached their feet.
Hana closed her eyes.
The water reached their waists.
Yagura screamed out, "no!"
Then they were completely submerged.
