Ball of power in the heart of places,
Sphere of Sorcery where magic races,
Sphere of Poseidon dwells in the Olympian shores,
Sphere of Breeze in East American floors,
Sphere of Geb in the kingdom of sand
Sphere of Loki in the viking lands
Lines of map cross at spot
Disc of fate on roots of naught
"So you think you can prevent me from getting the Catalyst?" A voice made up of a thousand scraping knives danced down my spine, the low vibrations filling my ears. I turned my head up defiantly, eyes flashing as I stared at the murky darkness. I'd heard this voice before. Numerous times, in fact. Sometimes, a faint human outline would emerge weakly from the darkness, a little like somebody had rubbed the edges of the outline a little too much.
So what was the problem?
The outline looked a hell lot like Luke Castellan's build.
"You can't thwart us. We're on our way, and we're going to get to the Catalyst first." My voice carried down into the hazy air, echoes bouncing lazily off the molecules of dust that swirled slowly around me.
"But what if you die?"
"What?"
"Beware, Perseus Jackson. You might have defeated me once, but I am stronger than I ever was. Thanks to the reuniting of the heroes." Cue another concert of scratching knives, only more agitated this time. If evil dying mountain goats could laugh, this was it. A small bead of sweat snaked down my neck, staining my shirt as I cautiously unsheathed my sword.
"Die? I've evaded death before."
"And so have I, young mortal."
I bristled. "First off, I am not a mortal. Second, if you've evaded death, then I can too." Something flew at me from the obsidian mist, swallowing me and dodging my futile attempts to scatter it with Riptide. It consumed me, and a pain I had never felt before slashed at my skin. My insides boiled, body smoking as I released a scream.
"ARUGHHHH!" I flew up, hands grappling the sides of Blackjack. For a moment, I released the sides of the pegasus, flailing my arms, but someone caught me swiftly, correcting me back onto the saddle.
"Whoa there Perce. Don't want you to go around trying to kill yourself. It's not worth dying." Jack's usual cheerful grin slipped and merged with a somewhat grim set of mouth. Through my panic and haze, I could barely remember the story he'd told us about how he became immortal. He'd died, trying to save his sister. At least he'd died heroically. If I had died falling off a flying horse at inhumane speeds, I doubted that counted as a heroic death.
"Thanks." I mumbled, scratching the back of my neck sheepishly. The wind whistled through my hair, raking it backwards and messing it up even more than it already was. Annabeth wouldn't have approved of me being so careless, whether my appearance or waking up dangerously.
Annabeth. My chest panged painfully as I remembered the look she'd always give me if I messed up. The stormy gray of her eyes, the bristling blonde of her curls… I blinked. I couldn't fail this quest. One way or another, it was even more dangerous than the quest against Gaea. In the scenario that I did, Annabeth, my mom, and everyone I loved would be demolished.
"Hey Perce?" My head snapped up, glancing at Carter. He was pointing towards the horizon, yelling, yet his voice was a weak echo when it reached my range of hearing. "Is that Greece?!" My eyes drifted, and I found myself looking at the approaching streak of land. Italy.
"Not really, but close enough." Great. Second time in Greece. I'd always thought that after my disappointing first visit, I'd have a peaceful revisit.
Nope, the Fates just simply couldn't allow something not crappy in my life.
We touched down on the foot of the original Mount Olympus. There were barely anybody there, and the few that lingered didn't seem to notice us. Thank the Gods for the Mist. Olympian shores… Olympian shores… Mount Olympus was nearly at the edge of Greece.
"So what now?" Hiccup asked, eyes raking the mountain warily, hands twisting nervously. I slung my legs over BlackJack's back. Hey Boss? Is this the last flight for today? Because as awesome as this horse is, I don't think I can fly so fast anymore unless I get good rest. I patted Blackjack's neck reassuringly.
"It's okay bud, just a short trip into the heart of Olympus and back." I paused. "And don't call me boss." With that, I kick started Blackjack, and we took off, soaring into the air. The heart of Mount Olympus was probably where the marble of water was. Olympus in its physical form was shaped like a giant crater, so that made finding the center pretty darn easy.
Almost too easy. My uneasiness wouldn't leave me as we neared the dip in the crater. The place literally seemed to scream DANGER, but what was a quest without good old danger? We landed near the very middle of the mountain, behind a large stone slab. I waited until everyone quietly descended, unsure of what was checking us out. I peered around the edge, and my heart almost stopped. A faint, yet powerful glow emitted from the middle of a clustered group of minotaurs, obviously the minor ones, considering I'd killed the original Minotaur twice. Then again, Kronos had arisen. Anything was possible. Here comes my optimism, and there it goes. I straightened up, motioning my friends to come in closer. I gestured exaggeratively at the half bull men, pretending to strangle myself. We need to fight them. I mouthed, allowing a small smirk when Harry raised his eyebrows in mock shock. Ya think?! The Minotaurs kept trying to touch whatever they had dug up, but kept stumbling backwards, hissing as their cloven hands (were they hands?!) smoked. Good job world-destroying marble. Keep it up!
"We attack together. There are only three, we should take them out no problem. If they explode into dust, kick it around so they can't reform as quickly. Got it? On three, one, two... THREE!" My low, furtive whispers changed into a battle roar as we left our animals, brooms and staffs behind, weapons raised as we charged the oblivious bull men. I stabbed and whirled crazily, dodging blows and furious snorts as I tumbled through the malicious cows. I could see the glowing marble. Desperate, I indicated at Hiccup to keep the minotaur, which was so obviously intent on killing me, busy. As I touched the marble, blue light exploded and blew us all backwards.
Everyone except me. Gods, did I have to be so dramatic every time we go looking for marbles? The thought flitted irritably around my head as green-blue swallowed me.
Yeah, because Percy is a total drama queen... Make that king.
I'm SO sorry for not updating, and I'm a horrible author. I whip up things in a few days and post them without proper editing.
AND I procrastinate.
How do real life authors DO this in a year?!
A whole book, edited and in its glory at that.
Love me/Hate me/Follow me/Favorite me/review me/PM me and SO MUCH MORE! (This is like my ending catchphrase now. Catchy...)
