Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson.
Ch: 8 Chosen Heir
Mark's POV:
After a few weeks of training, Percy took me in as his apprentice. In the year that I've been training with Percy, I've mastered daggers, hunting knives, and a scythe-chain combination. Percy also helped me master my necromancy skills. He also trained me as far as he could with my sorcery. Once we were finished with sorcery, Percy taught me about crossroads.
Crossroads took the longest amount of time to learn. Percy explained to me that I was able to go to any other mythology domain, but I had to learn about the other mythologies first. I spent two months reading about the Norse, Egyptian, and Chinese gods. I wanted to go to the Egyptian gods first so I would be able to master sorcery, but I had no idea how to make a crossroads.
That night, my mom visited me in my dreams to teach me how to use crossroads. She told me that to enter a another mythology that I would need to picture an intersection. It should be clear what each path led to. She told me to remember that there must always be three ways.
It took me a few tries until I finally got it. I walked down the Egyptian gods path. I spent a month there mastering sorcery before I came back. When I returned, I saw Liza kiss some dude on the cheek. That made me really jealous because I have a crush on her. I avoided her because I didn't want to see her kissing someone else.
I was able to avoid Liza for a few weeks until she cornered me after dinner. I could tell that she was angry because her brown eyes were now black. Her eyes also looked a little puffy as if she had just been crying recently.
"Why have you been avoiding me lately?" She asked me. She was holding back her anger but barely.
"I haven't been avoiding you." I said.
"That's a lie, and you know it." She was getting angrier by the minute.
I didn't say anything for a few minutes. The image of her kissing some other guy that wasn't me running through my head. Just remembering it made my angry. Besides if I told her that I loved her, then it would ruin our friendship and I didn't want to lose her.
"At least tell me what's wrong with you." She said.
"There's nothing wrong with me." I told her.
"CAN'T YOU BE HONEST WITH ME FOR ONCE MARK! AT LEAST TELL ME WHY YOU'RE AVOIDING ME!" She screamed at me.
"I can't." I told her.
She launched herself at me. I was caught off guard so we both fell on the ground. She started hitting my chest with her fists.
"Why, why, why, why..." She kept saying as she hit my chest. Tears were running down her face now. Her tears broke my resolve.
"BECAUSE I LOVE YOU!" I yelled. She stopped hitting me with her fists and looked up at me. "Because I love you." I said in a softer tone.
There. I finally said it. It was out in the open. Liza just stared at me in shock. She didn't say anything after a while. I turned my head away from her face. I felt tears in my eyes. This is why I didn't want to tell her. I couldn't handle the rejection; and since she was on top of me, I couldn't run away. We sat in silence for a few minutes.
"I love you too." I heard her say.
I looked up at her shocked. Liza had a watery smile on her face. I felt a smile creeping onto my face. She leaned down and kissed me. It didn't take me long to return the kiss. I felt spark travel through my body. When we broke apart for air, I was pretty sure that we both had dopey grins on our faces.
"But what about the other guy?" I asked her.
"What other guy?" She looked really confused.
"The guy that I saw you kiss on the cheek a few weeks ago." I said.
"Is that why you've been avoiding me these past weeks?" She asked.
I nodded my head, embarrassed. She let out a laugh.
"You idiot. He's my half-brother. I gave him a kiss on the cheek as a thank you for some advice that he gave me."
We laid on the ground for a while, enjoying each other's company.
(A Few Months Later)
Percy's POV:
A sword was coming from overhead, and a spear was coming towards my right. I moved out of the way as late as possible. My move had the desired effect. The spear missed, the sword sliced the spear's tip off. Losing the tip of his spear didn't faze my opponent. He began to use the spear as a staff and brought the broken end up towards my ribs. I was able to block it with my katana. I was so focused on the two opponents in front of me that I forgot about the person behind me until I felt the chain wrap around my feet. Next thing I know, I was on the ground with three different weapons at my head, neck, and torso.
"Do you yield?" Mark asked.
"I yield." I said.
The two skeletons that Mark had summoned sunk back into the ground. The crowd sitting in the stands commander having finally been beaten. They rushed down from the stands and created a circle around him. Liza, his girlfriend of six months, was the first one down from the stands. She ran up to him and gave him a kiss before two Cyclopes raised Mark onto their shoulders. His sister Maria along with Liza lead his victory parade around the arena.
Mark had made great progress as my apprentice in the past year since I found him and his friends. I think that I have finally found an heir for Taratarus. As they went to the pavilion to have the celebratory feast for Mark, I went to father's palace to tell him the good news.
I knocked on the door to farther's throne room.
"Father?" I asked into the near dark room.
"In here Percy." Tartarus responded, "What can I do for you?"
"I think that I have found you an heir," I told him.
"Who is it?" There was a gleam in Tartarus's eyes as he asked this.
"Mark, the son of Hecate that I recruited from last year." I answered.
"Why do you believe that he would make a good heir?" Tartarus questioned.
"Mark has made remarkable progress in his training as my apprentice, and today he was able to beat me in the arena." I told him.
"That is impressive. Bring him here in the morning."
Mark's POV:
Liza, Maria, and I were eating in the pavilion with the rest of the army. We were celebrating my win against Percy. Everyone congratulated me on the victory. We were all having fun and hanging out when the speakers let out some feedback. Everyone stopped celebrating.
"Will Mark Reed report to Tartarus's palace immediately?" The voice said.
Everyone turned and looked at me. They all gave me sad looks. That made me even more worried than I already was. Liza and Maria both gave me fearful looks because people who were called to Tartarus's palace didn't come back.
~Constructive criticism is always helpful. Let me know what you think.
