To confess or not to confess - that is the question. Or, at least it was. Pierce thought he would have more time to debate with himself on the matter of revealing himself to his former family. But it seemed that fate (or rather, Nico) had forced the decision upon him prematurely. Or maybe that was just his opinion. Maybe it was indeed time to come to terms with his past. He opened his mouth to speak...
"Nico, he said Pierce. Not...Perce," Annabeth replied softly, her voice cracking as her soft pink lips formed his previous name.
"Ah...I'm sorry. Your name...it just sounded so much like...his..." Nico mumbled. He wasted no time in burying his head in Will Solace's chest, allowing his back to be patted and his ears to be filled with soft words of reassurance.
Why was everyone so upset? Did they...regret pushing him out?
"If you don't mind me asking...who is this Percy Jackson?" Pierce asked, trying to adopt a casual air. He hid his trembling hands in the front pocket of his hoodie.
Will sent a glare his way (a 'this-is-a-sensitive-subject-do-not-make-my-boyfriend-upset' glare), but Jason was the one to answer.
"Percy Jackson the son of Poseidon, was a great man, a hero. Around 200 years ago, the camp underwent a period of time where everyone was put under a sort of dreamlike state. We're not entirely sure what exactly happened - but when we woke up, he was gone. Maybe he went to look for an antidote, or was captured. Everyone searched, both camps, the Hunters of Artemis, the Amazons, and even the gods, but he seems to have disappeared off the face of the Earth. We've been searching for him ever since."
WHAT? What did they mean they didn't know? What did they mean they'd been searching? Surely they were lying...weren't they?
"Jason," Piper whispered. "You're assuming they know about the gods!"
"We do," Fiorella interjected. "I'm a demidryad." (Pierce was glad his girlfriend was able to think up an excuse as to why they knew about mythology without revealing him.)
"A demidryad?" Calypso frowned. "Is that even possible?"
"Grover would know!" Leo exclaimed, before Fiorella could get so much as a word in.
Pierce bristled. Grover. He hadn't seen him in so long, even before he was betrayed. He was glad to know that his best friend was still alive and well...maybe if they met again, Grover would be the first to know about the water Elemental's true identity.
"You guys are missing the point. We still don't know why these people are here," Annabeth argued, her steely gray eyes pinned on the Elementals.
"Indeed, my daughter."
Pierce's gaze fell upon the 12 immortal beings striding out from the camp, their heads held high, and a golden aura surrounding their figures. The grey-eyed dark-haired one had just spoken, yet her critical eyes were already analyzing the quartet.
"Hello, Athena," Pierce sighed, trying to keep the bitterness out of his tone. He remembered the days when he had fought against her for Annabeth's hand...
"And who are you?" Athena returned, her eyes narrowing to cold slits that looked scarily similar to Annabeth's.
"We are The Elementals," Fiorella replied firmly. "And we bring foul news."
"What is this foul news you speak of?" Zeus boomed, his voice a thunderclap booming across the beach.
Pierce caught a glimpse of Poseidon peering nervously at him. He sent a silent wish up to Chaos that the god was merely intrigued by the aura of the sea rolling off him in waves (A/N PUN!), and did not recognize the demigod as his former identity.
"We have received word that you are the target for an upcoming attack, and we, as guardians of the galaxy, were sent by our general to assist you in any was possible to ensure your safety."
"Who is this 'general'?" Hermes questioned.
"Are you saying there's going to be a war?" Ares asked, a fire igniting inside his boiling red eyes.
"Our general is Chaos. Surely you know of him," Amy replied.
"And how are we to believe you?" Athena demanded, obviously still wary of the newcomers.
Axel lifted his palms skyward. "You will have to trust our word."
Zeus lifted his master bolt with the evident intention of striking them down. As he did, a pitch-black lightning bolt flew down from the sky and struck the ground between the groups. A shudder rippled across the land from the impact. When the smoke had cleared, an emblem of the galaxy with the symbols of the four elements surrounding its four corners was emblazoned on the ground.
Zorro's blazing Z came to mind.
"Fair enough," Zeus rumbled, hiding his shock and slight fear under a pretense of disappointment at being denied the chance to smite someone. "Hermes. Send for all allies. It appears we have a battle to prepare for."
"Yes, father. I assume you mean Hades, the Roman campers, Hunters, Amazons, minor gods, Bob, and Damasen?" Hermes replied, busying himself with his caduceus. Zeus gave a stiff nod.
"We heard Bob and Damasen were imprisoned in Tartarus after closing the doors of death?" Pierce said, lifting an eyebrow. He considered this an impressive attempt at concealing his thunderstruck emotions, and allowed himself a mental pat on the back.
"Seeing as they were innocent, not to mention a colossal help in the war against Gaea, a rescue mission was dispatched to retrieve them from the depths of Tartarus, with some technical difficulties," Annabeth replied. She casted a sideways glance at the Elementals, her suspicion obvious. It truly was unnerving to Pierce how similar the mother and daughter were.
"Oh? He was a 'technical difficulty'?" Travis Stoll glared daggers at her.
At first, Pierce was confused at Travis' obvious anger. Then realization came crashing down on him like a pile of bricks. He had not yet seen Connor Stoll.
Me: YES I REALIZE I HAVE NOT UPDATED. BUT BEFORE YOU FLAME ME, CAN I JUST SAY I WILL NOT APOLOGIZE FOR BEING SICK? SITTING IN AN EXTREMELY MISERABLE HEAP ALL DAY DOES NOT EXACTLY ALLOW FOR WRITING.
MeL Other than that, yeah, I know this was short, and I'm sorry. I'll be updating in another 5 days again.
Me: Another thing. I noticed I haven't been getting as many reviews, because people just use the poll to cast in their votes. I won't lie to you guys, it makes me a bit sad, but hey, life is full of ups and downs. 'CAUSE LIFE'S LIKE A JUMP ROPE ;D
Me: So, just to clear up any misconceptions, I'm going to make a few things clear...
1. The demigods are immortal because they gained immortality, unless they die in battle, so they can search for Percy Jackson
2. They themselves are unaware of everything that took place with Nera (they describe it as being in a sort of 'dreamlike state for many days and then he was gone'). THE PLOT THICKENS!
Connor: Wait, I'm dead? I died in battle? Then why am I here?
Me: CONNOR, NO! GO! HUSH! YOU'RE SPOILING THE NEXT CHAPTER. *drop-kicks Connor Stoll off a building*
Me: Have a nice day! See you in 5 days!
