DISCLAIMER: RICK RIORDAN, LIKE, OWNS PERCY JACKSON AND , LIKE, ITS CHARACTERS AND STUFF. SO ALWAYS REMEMBER TO, LIKE, PUT A DISCLAIMER 'CUZ YOU DON'T, LIKE, OWN PERCY JACKSON AND, LIKE, THE OLYMPIANS MMKAY?
"What's the Costume Competition?" Juniper asked Grover during the brief commercial break. The rest of the audience members laughed at a humorous Hermes Express commercial. On the screen recently built by the Hephaestus TV automatons, a godling fell off his pegasus.
"It's when the contestants are dressed up like their godly parent," Grover explained, "For example, you can expect Clarisse to be decked out in armour 'cause she's Ares's daughter. Or Nyssa, Hephaestus's daughter, will probably look like she just got out of a forge."
Juniper frowned. "That sounds like a rip-off of that scene in The Hunger Games when the tributes parade around-"
Her sentence was caught off when Will and Travis appeared back onstage to present the first competition.
"He's tall, dark and one-eyed. You may know him as the general in Olympus's Cyclops army. Representing Cabin Three, here is Tyson, son of Poseidon!"
In Olympus, the gods mumbled confusedly amongst themselves. What happened to that upstart Percy Jackson? Shouldn't he be competing?
Just then, a massive white clam shell hovered onstage. It carried Tyson who posed confidently, a magnificent trident held in front of him. The Cyclops wore a deep-blue tunic, with a gleaming belt made of mother of pearl. The iridescent fish-scale cape he wore floated in the air as the clam shell levitated across the stage. His pearl studded helmet had a silver frame around his large brown eye. Thick mist drifted close to the floor, creating the illusion that the shell was gliding over ocean spray.
It was impressive. Tyson was impressive.
The viewers were quickly over their initial confusion and stared at the floating son of Poseidon, awestruck. When the clam shell and Tyson exited the stage, the crowd exploded into cheers. In places all over the world, Cyclops on vacation hurrahed.
Backstage, Percy beamed. Although he was a bit tired from controlling the seawater-filled clam shell, he was ecstatic when he saw his brother crooked grin grow as the enthusiastic crowd chanted "Tyson! Tyson!...".
Nico was nervous. Judging by the other contestants' wondrous costumes, he clearly did not understand the terms of the Costume Competition. Nico did not know that by "a costume that reflects upon their parent god or goddess," it was expected that they were to be decked out as miniature versions of their godly parents!
Take Katie Gardner, for example. Nico assumed she was going to dress up as a farmer because Katie's mother was indeed the goddess of agriculture. Also, last summer, he heard Demeter say enough about how Nico should farm more because it "builds character". But no. Katie strolled onstage in a fancy gown, with leafy vines wrapped around her calves. In her arms was a trendy bouquet of wheat and corn. Plus, there were flowers protruding from her long, intricate, braid. Even the hosts had to comment on that.
"Nice work Katie, you look awesome. But really, your mom's the goddess of farming. Who farms with pansies in their hair?"
"Travis, how do you know that they're pansies?"
Clarisse, who was after Katie, was even worse. She was dressed up like a biker chick, riding a motorcycle with a fiery paint job. Guns, knives and other wicked weapons were strapped on her back. Her dirty blonde hair was slicked back and she wore badass sunglasses. Nico recalled when he caught a glimpse of Ares in Olympus. He had to say that Clarisse's costume was pretty accurate.
Then Annabeth. Freaking Annabeth wheeled onstage on a bronze chariot pulled by white stallions. She wore a white Greek chiton with a copper girdle and cloak. Her loose blonde curls spilled out of an elaborate, feather-plumed bronze war helmet with an owl face mask. One hand held a golden spear and the other held an olive branch. When she lifted up her shimmering cloak, grey owls flew out and exploded. Into sparkles.
"Simply amazing," praised Will Solace, "But we would like to inform the viewers that no real owls were harmed in this competition."
Travis nodded. "Yep. We don't want any complaints from any god affiliated with PETA."
A satyr in the audience hollered, "THAT WOULD BE PAN. BUT HE'S DEAD."
Will smiled awkwardly. "Moving right along, we've got another chariot coming. This time it's reined by Calliope Rae Samson, daughter of Apollo!"
Nico's jitters increased as each contestant advanced across the stage. Thalia looked radiant in a glimmering silver dress as she rode on a majestic doe. A shining diadem rested on her sleek black hair. Slung over her posh grizzly bear pelt was a quiver containing seven arrows that exploded into fireworks in the form of letters. The audience oohed and aahed when she shot the last arrow, completing the name ARTEMIS.
Soon, Nico's nerves were really starting to get to him. In full costume, he sneaked around backstage, peeking behind curtains. Finally, he found the person he was searching for in a deep conversation with Jake Mason, son of Hephaestus.
"Percy!" hissed Nico.
The son of Poseidon jolted. He gazed upward, as if he was looking for a camera in the ceiling. Jake Mason continued blabbing about the flame retardant on his half-sister Nyssa's costume.
"Percy! Over here!"
Percy whipped around and saw Nico. He quickly said something to Jake, who nodded and left. Percy took off his bluetooth headset as he approached Nico.
"Hey Nico, what's up? Whoa, are you wearing makeup?"
Nico ignored the question. "Percy, I need your opinion. About my costume."
"Sure, let me see it." Percy began pulling away the curtain.
"No!" Nico yelped a bit too loudly, "J-just come here."
Percy slipped behind the curtains. His eyes widened as he stared at Nico.
After a long moment of awkward silence, Percy commented. "Um, wow Nico. Your costume is, ahem, different."
Outside, the audience caught their breath as Drew, gorgeous as ever, rolled onstage in a golden sleigh pulled by ivory pegasi. They squealed as doves, the symbolic bird of Aphrodite, dropped chocolates on their laps. Nico heard Will Solace whistle and say, "Ferrero Rocher wasn't kidding when they claimed they were the chocolate of the gods."
Meanwhile, Nico was groaning and pacing in a circle. "It's over the top, isn't it? I knew I shouldn't have listened to my father's suggestions..."
The older boy gulped. It was painfully obvious that Percy was trying hard to be nice. "It's fine, Nico. Your costume fits the rules. It 'reflects your parent god or goddess'."
"Yeah, but everyone's gonna laugh at me!" moaned Nico, "I didn't know the other guys were going to impersonate their parents for their costume!"
Percy smiled reassuringly. "No one's going to laugh at you. Try - how do I put this - conveying your dad's, uh, aura. Wait a minute, is your helmet bedazzled?" He reached to touch the helmet but Nico swatted his hand away.
Percy paused, thinking hard for more compliments. "I like how your uniform's all torn. People pay a lot of money for their clothes to be stylishly ripped."
Nico scowled. "You know, my costume's not supposed to be tattered. The Kindly Ones just don't know how to sew, though I'm way worse than them."
The two boys suddenly jumped when they heard shrieks from the crowd. There was a loud THUMP. "Whoa bro! I told you you should've had more practice with those winged sandals!"
"Sounds like Pollux is up next," said Percy, "You should probably line up now Nico. I have to get back to work." Before he left, Percy patted Nico's shoulder. "Don't worry. They're going to love it 'cause yours is something... unique."
Nico took a few moments to breathe. He exhaled as he withdrew from the curtains. As he prepared for his turn, Nico ignored the gawks from everyone backstage.
"I didn't know it was possible for anyone to look good in leopard print, but you just did Pollux!" Will praised. "Next up is Camp Half-Blood's youngest contestant, who, at the same time, is technically the oldest. Here is Cabin Thirteen's Nico di Angelo, son of Hades!"
Nico muttered an order to the hellhounds that heaved his black, wooden boat. The audience fell silent as Nico 'rowed' across the stage. Dark smoke swirled like the waves of the River Styx.
Nico was dressed as a high ranking skeletal guard of his Father's court, albeit with a few touches. The Furies personally made Nico a copy of their batlike wings as an addition to his costume. There were special holes in his heavy black cloak to accommodate the wings. His obsidian helmet was encrusted with rubies, a reference to the mounds of riches in Hades's realm. Nico's face was painted greyish white with heavy dark makeup that accentuated the hollows of his face. Stark white flowers, lent by Persephone, hung off the back edge of the boat. Unlike many other contestants, Nico had no weapons; just an oar made out of bones.
On other people, the costume would look like a corny Halloween outfit because of the poor quality of the stitching. On the son of Hades, the sight was ghostly, especially with Nico deathly presence.
The audience broke into applause.
"For a moment there, Travis, I was scared to death. No pun intended."
In the Underworld, the gods, ghouls and ghosts watching in Hades' palace whooped and clapped. They abruptly stopped when they noticed Hades' cool demeanor.
Hades pursed his lips. "Go on. For once you can celebrate. It is my son up there anyway."
The members of Hades' court continued their cheers. Loudest of them all was Alecto, formerly Mrs. Dodds, who bragged, "I was the one who made the trousers!"
The costumes of the rest of their contestants were nothing short of spectacular.
The son of Iris was a huge contrast to the previous contestant, Nico. The stage immediately brightened when Roy slid on a glittering rainbow, strewing irises (the flower kind) around.
However, people did fall asleep when it was Bree Rose's turn. It was not because they were bored, but because whenever somebody caught one of the poppies the daughter of Hypnos threw, the catcher and the spectators around them immediately felt drowsy.
"Excuse us," yawned Will Solace, "We will be taking a short commercial break as we attempt to rouse one of our judges, who unfortunately fell into a deep slumber due to Briar's poppies."
The cameras took an extreme close up on Adonis's snoring face. Female watchers swooned. Adonis looked so cute when he was sleeping!
Following an overly long commercial about Medea's department store, Vicky from Cabin Seventeen zoomed around the amphitheater, using a pair of enchanted metal wings. She was painted entirely in gold, holding a laurel wreath up high.
The daughter of Tyche, goddess of luck and chance, ambled onstage, dressed up as a casino worker. Lottie flipped a drachma repeatedly until she tossed it in the air. The drachma burst into a flurry of cards. As the cards floated down, they briefly turned into twenty-dollar bills before they vanished.
"What a sensational trick Lottie!" acclaimed Travis, "Though if I were you, I would've made the money real." He winked at the audience.
As the daughter of Hecate crossed the stage, she morphed from her regular, beautiful teenaged self with flowing red hair, to a motherly-looking woman in her thirties, then lastly to a grey-haired crone.
"That's some tricky transformation magic. Excellent job, Jenny," acclaimed Will.
"My name's not Jenny," croaked the contestant, now a hag.
As the daughter of Hecate shambled offstage, Travis announced, "That wraps up the Costume Competition. Congratulations to all the contestants for all the wonderfully done costumes. Even to those who fell on their face because they didn't listen when their brother said to practice more."
"We will take some time off to allow our judges to tally up the scores," Will stated, "Here are some words from our sponsors before we commence to the Battle Attire Competition."
Thanks for reading!
I wonder if people get my references...
Don't be surprised if topics mentioned in previous chapters show up again... ;]
