Genre: Romance/Adventure

Rated: T

Summary: Percy left Camp Half-Blood because the new camper whom he had helped made his life at camp miserable. Unsure of where to go, he finally accepts The Powerful Guy In Black's offer to go to this place called 'The City of Protogenoi', without knowing that his whole new life has already begun the day he says "Yes." to the guy!

Setting: 3 months after The Last Olympian. Heroes of Olympus never happens.

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the belongs to Rick Riordan.

Chapter9: The First Mission

9

The First Mission

"Wha-What the hell was that for, Nevada?" Percy shouted at the fluffy white cat on his chest as they were falling. The sound of wind blowing was sharp in his ears.

"Quit the talking, unless you want to die. Just show me all you've got!"

"You didn't have to tell me that, really!"

Percy pursed his lips. He didn't want to admit it, but falling off a cliff actually felt great. That statement didn't include death, though. He had to move fast. On earth, he usually heard that white Persian cats were popular and expensive. If he let her die here, it would be such a loss….Wait, why was he worrying for a cat rather than himself?

"All right. Here goes nothing," Percy breathed. He closed his eyes and wandered deep within himself. At the center of his body, his stomach, resided such tremendous power. But it was sealed by many layers of doors. By opening the outer doors, he was able to use some of that power, even just a little.

But, now that he needed more than that, he had to destroy more doors. How could he do that? Maybe it required great amount of concentration. He must ease his mind, clearing it of all worries and fears, or any other feelings. Then, he would use that concentrated power of mind to strike at the doors concealing Chaos' power.

Percy wanted to ask Nevada if his recently-developed theory was right, but there was no time to waste. At least, if he really was going to die, he wanted his corpse to be in good condition, not Percy stew or demigod chop. He tried to forget that he was falling, that everything was gone, except himself. That was the way Nevada told him about his meditation yesterday.

Percy felt the flow of Chaos' power leaking out from its center as he slowly approached it. He withdrew from it, and then struck at it at full power.

"Ugh!" Percy clutched his stomach. The sudden burst of power made him feel like he just had his organs destroyed. It was so painful that he nearly fainted. He jerked, raising his head.

"Oi…You alright, Perce?" Nevada asked worriedly. She saw his eyes and went quiet. Black flames were dancing in Percy's eyes. White lights were appearing in them from time to time, like comets in the black sky.

Percy put up his hand and said in a quiet voice, "Hold."

The air beneath them churned and cradled them gently. He then raised his hand and they were lifted up mildly.

"You did it, Percy. Yay," the cat on his chest smiled at him.

Percy didn't reply. In fact, he didn't hear her voice. The roaring in his ears was banging at his consciousness, trying to disturb his concentration. On the other hand, his eyesight was really something now. He could see every little detail of anything, even from very far away.

After a fair amount of time, they landed softly on the ground. Percy let his concentration slip away, closing the doors. The banging sound stopped, his eyesight also went back to normal. He blinked, confused.

"You don't look so well. Is the after effect causing you uneasiness?" The cat asked, sitting on his lap.

"Well, I guess I brought out too much power. My body could hardly endure the pain. And…I'm still a bit angry at you, you know," Percy said, glaring at Nevada.

"Oops. Sowwy, I didn't wanna do dat, ya know!"

"Talk properly. Geez. Whatever. I'm exhausted. I want to go back and lie down on bed all day."

"Well, you have time to rest until Vivian comes, at least."

"What! Why is she-"

"Don't you remember? She's also your advisor. You must know that from now on, you're going to be instructed by the two of us on every single day. Not to worry, though. Hers is paperwork. You can relax while sitting in a soft armchair."

"Oh, heck. If it's that always-so-serious Vivian, I don't think I'll be able to relax at all." Percy sighed.

"You can still drive, right?"

"I guess. If I couldn't, how could we go back anyway?" Percy knit his eyebrows. He saw her grin just now. Was it his imagination? (Of course, when you can talk to a cat, you can tell when it's smiling or pouting, as well.)

When they arrived at Chaos' House, Vivian was already waiting for Percy in his room. She was sipping tea on a sofa.

"You're late. Where have you been?" She asked.

"Um, the Death section. I was out training." Percy replied as the cat jumped onto her little bed and fell asleep peacefully. Alright, now he was jealous of a cat.

Vivian went quiet. She looked at him intently. Then, the girl disappeared from where she was sitting, and reappeared again right in front of Percy. Like last time, they were close.

"Erm…Vivian? I'm sorry I was late," Percy said. He wanted to back away, but her midnight-blue eyes seemed to stop all his efforts. There it was again, the gravitation in those eyes.

"Are you alright? You look kind of feverish," she stated, touching his forehead.

"…I'm well, really. Thanks."

Vivian stepped back and said, "Very well. It's time to start your work. I'll help you until you're accustomed to it. I brought the documents to your office just a while ago. Follow me."

Percy followed her into his office next to his bedroom. Yesterday, if he remembered correctly, there had been nothing on the table. But now, there was a mountain of paper and files.

"This is all your work for today. As you're new to this, I only brought half of it here. Don't worry. I've done the rest of it. So you won't be overworked."

Percy stuttered, "That's just half of it? A-And you've done the rest by yourself? Oh, gods. I can't believe it. It's too much for me to handle…"

"You'll be fine. All the Generals are like this on their first day of work. But I have to admit yours is a little tough. It's like this because some documents require the monarch's approval. So even if one of the General has already signed it, you'll still have to read it and sign, too."

"You mean, the other sixteen Generals, including you, send some of their signed documents to me each day, and I still have my own paperwork to do, as well?"

"Exactly."

"Great. Really, I'm getting all fired up. Just look at me. I'm ready, yay." Percy said weakly. Then, his tone changed, "Wait! I'm a demigod. I'm dyslexic, I can't read very well. I guess that can hinder the work, so…"

"That doesn't matter. Here," Vivian said, holding something in her hand. It was glasses, the normal ones.

"Hey, you can't heal dyslexia by wearing glasses."

"They're specially made for demigods by the Thesis Successors. Put them on."

Percy did as told. Surprisingly, when he looked at the paper Vivian gave him, the alphabets didn't seem to be moving like before. He could read the text easily. That was nice, but it came in a package with a pile of paper, and that, was bad.

"Yeah, I can read normally now."

"Well, then, let's get to business. I'll tell you all the details about the city first. There, look at the map on the wall. That is the geography of the city of Protogenoi. Whether it will rise or fall depends on you."

"No pressure, of course."

"No. A good monarch has to know every little thing about his land. It will take much time for you to understand all of this, but at least, you have to get it as much as to be able to finish today's work. You have a mission tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah."

"Try to have a good rest after we're finished, then. Tomorrow is Thursday. You have to complete your mission before Sunday."

"Why? I know I have to hurry if we want to prevent the war, but that is too difficult, don't you think?" Percy scratched his head.

"Indeed it is. However, first impression is important, as well. Remember, you have to hear petitions from the townspeople on Sunday."

"Oh, right. I totally forgot about it. Man, I'm one busy guy," Percy sighed.

"That aside, let's begin," Vivian said, gesturing for Percy to take a seat.

"Hooray. Studying sure is fun," Percy muttered weakly.

"Percy. Percy. Hey, if you're not going to wake up, I'll jump at you," Nevada said, crouching beside Percy, who was sleeping soundly. His eyes opening slowly, he groaned.

"Please, Nevada. I just got to sleep, like, two hours ago?"

"Can't be helped, poor guy. If you had put more efforts into your lesson with Vivian, you would have finished your work around two a.m., not four."

"Give me one more hour. It's just…six, now. I have plenty of time before Lucilius comes…"

Nevada looked at the glass doors to the balcony and said with a small smile, "Seems like Lucilius isn't going to come. Get up, Perce. Your partner in this mission has come."

"What?" Percy furrowed his eyebrows. He sat up and looked in the same direction she was looking at.

He gaped. "Vi-Vivian!"

The girl was standing on the balcony, in front of the glass doors. When she saw Percy noticing her, she slid it open and stepped in. She still looked neat as usual, and gorgeous. The wind outside was blowing her silky black hair. It was surprising, though. How could she, who stayed up until four like him, still looked so pretty despite having so little rest? She didn't look sleepy, either.

"You're still in bed? Get up now, Percy. We have three days for the mission, that's really short."

"Wait. We? Um, isn't it Lucilius who's going on this mission?"

"He didn't tell you? He asked me to switch places with him yesterday. He's staying here."

"What? Oh…That means I'll go on this mission with you, only you and me."

"Uh-huh. You can ask me later. Now go take a bath and prepare yourself. I'll give you ten minutes. If after ten minutes have passed, and you still aren't done yet, I'll help you myself."

"Eh? T-Ten minutes?"

"You're not going? Do you want me to help you bathe?" Vivian raised an eyebrow, taking a step. Percy hurriedly got up and ran to the bathroom, trying not to glance at Nevada, who was smirking at him from her bed.

Percy managed himself fast, because Vivian kept telling him the time from the other side of the door. When she started to count down from ten to one, he came out. Percy panted, drops of water falling from his hair.

"…Your clothes are indecent, but we can do something about it later. Just put on your cloak. We're going," Vivian said, checking his appearance. She then walked to the balcony.

"Wait. Can't we get out normally, like, walking through the door? Now that I think about it, you always enter my room from the balcony. Do you have something against doors?"

"It's faster this way. The car is parked just behind your House. When you're a Successor, doors aren't that necessary. We often walk on roofs, so the townspeople don't notice us. It'll become your habit after living here for a while. Hurry," Vivian said, jumping off the baluster.

"Good luck on your first mission, Perce," Nevada said to him from her bed, her tail wriggling as if to wave at him.

"Well, I don't know if this was intended or not, but I'll go get Lucilius later."

"Knowing him, it was certainly planned," she stated, then continued without stopping, "Just don't forget to use Chaos' power. Don't use Olympian power, okay?"

"Alright." Percy then left. He jumped down from the balcony.

His eyes widened when he realized it was higher than he had expected. He considered using Chaos' power to control gravity under his body, but he canceled the idea: Better having a broken arm or leg than going through that pain from the blast of power inside of his body again.

Percy was surprised, as he landed very softly, and with no sound. Like Lucilius and Rayner. So this quiet movement thing was the Successors' specialty, after all.

The blue sea before him was beautiful. He wanted to sit down and look at it for hours, like he had usually done on Earth. But the sight of Vivian leaning on a sports car like Chaos' warned him of his duty. The sand underneath his feet was so soft and clean, though. It was great that his room was at the furthest left side of the House, which was faced by the sea.

"…Do you want to drive?" The Erebus' General asked, holding up the car key.

"Well, if it's driving on the road, I'd love to. But I can't drive in the air, much less from planet to planet."

"It's not hard. Get on. I'll teach you," Vivian said, gesturing for him to take the driver's seat.

"Just pray we don't get any merry accidents before we actually begin the mission," Percy muttered.

To be continued

KimJoysu's Notes: Greetings, guys. Sorry, I was late again. To the guys who rushed me: This was the best I could do, I hurried the chapter after you PMed and/or reviewed about my delay. Life at new school is tough, it's pressing on me. It's depressing, but I'll have less time to write the story. *sigh* How troublesome my high school life is. It was a mistake, enrolling into this elite and famous school, after all. Everything you do is competition between students, it's annoying. Well, I'll try to update faster. But you see, Updating fast means the chapter being short. Can't be helped. Anyway, lilke it? Hate it? Please R&R! And thanks to the guys who paid attention and rushed me, too. You're very lovely. :D Bye, guys.