Author's Note: So sorry for going MIA for over a month. Been so busy with my parents and my new job at Arby's that I haven't had time to update. So, here's Chapter 10. I've had many different answers given from last chapter's questions. So all I can really say is that if you put that Nico was angry because he wanted to see Luna and or because of Jason, Piper, Hazel, Leo, and Annabeth's arrogance/stupidity, then you were right. As for the other two questions, question 2 will be answered in this chapter, and you'll have to wait until chapter 11 to see why Percabeth fans will hate it. Anyway, R&R. Enjoy.
Disclaimer: I own nothing
Chapter 10
Nico's P.o.V
Everyone gathered around the ping-pong table, awaiting to see what this meeting is about. Apparently no one knows. The room was filled with mild chatter about what we're here for, what we did today, and how we think Capture the Flag will turn out Friday. I look around the room and give a 'don't say a single word to anyone' look to Jason, Piper, Hazel, Leo, and Annabeth, in hopes that they don't say anything about the wizards, like we promised.
Chiron rolls into the room, uneasiness apparent on his face. I pale just a bit at the look on his face, knowing that whatever reason Chiron called us all to the meeting, it can't be good. I wonder just how bad the news is. I hope it has nothing to do with me telling the others about the wizards. If someone over heard me talking to the others, not only would I be kicked out of camp, and possibly killed, but the campers might just go to London and try to kill Percy. I know Brad would do that. But by the look on Brad's face, he's as clueless as to why we are here as the rest of us.
Once Chiron is situated, he takes a deep breath and asks the remaining demigods, who are still talking, to quiet down and listen to what he has to say.
"The worst possible thing imaginable is happening." Said Chiron.
"Since we have had recent problems with Titans rising and trying to destroy our world, the Gods and Minor Gods have been searching the realms of other Titans, to see if any of them may be trying to rise again." Chiron explained.
"As of recent, Hades was exploring his realm when he stumbled upon some chilling news… Tartarus is starting to rise." He said.
The room erupted into loud chatter, no one knowing just what to think about the news presented. Jason gave me a panicked look from across the table that seemed to say, 'how are we going to handle this?' I mouthed, 'Calm Down' to him to try and get him to think clearly. He took some deep breaths and tried to listen in on what everyone else was saying.
I have to say, out of everyone in the room, Annabeth looked the worst. She, honestly, looked like she had seen a ghost and that someone had stepped on her puppy at the same time. I honestly can't blame her. This was horrible. But what really got to me was that I'm not hearing this from my father, I mean why didn't he tell me about this? Why am I just now finding out? I ignored my anger for now and wait for Chiron to continue because I'm sure that he has more to say than just that.
After hushing the campers down again, Chiron continued his little spiel.
"Now, it is unknown when Tartarus will rise, but we know it won't be any time this year. He is still very weak. Though the Olympians are predicting that he will rise in, possibly, three years, or more. Even so, I want all of the campers on high alert. There's no telling what he can do while only partially awake. I would like everyone to train extra hard, so that we are prepared for anything."
"The Olympians are also predicting that Tartarus will try to raise the other Titans as well. Which is why I stress my training harder point." Said Chiron.
Brad, being the idiotic prick that he is, talked back with the stupidest response I have ever heard in all my life.
"What's the big deal with this Tartar sauce dude? We'll just kick his butt, then send him back where he came from, like we have with every other threat. Easy-peasy."
Annabeth, who, by the look on her face, was getting pissed at Brad's arrogance. FINNALLY. I thought. She's finally starting to shake from Brad's hold on her. She glared miniature daggers at him and said,
"Tartarus, deserves more credit than that. He may be evil, but he's definitely more powerful than you're giving him credit for."
Brad glared back at her, almost like he was accepting a challenge, which in this case he was.
"And, how do you know this Annabeth? Please tell the councilors how you know how strong Tartarus is. It's not like we are graced with his presence on a daily basis."
Annabeth seemed to pale just a tiny bit before taking a deep breath and continuing in a forced yet steady voice.
"P-Percy and I fell into Tartarus. As in the pit that holds all the defeated monsters. While we were down there, we met Tartarus. It was just before we left that we met him. P-Percy and I had to get through him in order to close the Doors of Death." She said, her voice cracking a bit, every time she said Percy.
"Well if you encountered him in his realm, then why didn't you guys do anything to stop him? Why didn't you kill him then and there, then escape through the Doors. You might have prolonged his rising if you had." Brad stated matter-of-factly.
Annabeth looked even more pissed off than she did before. If anything I'd say that Brad was trying to egg her on, so that she would do something irrational, but, knowing Annabeth, I knew that would never happen because she is too smart for that. Then again, she did get drugged. Who knows how well in the mind she is after that experience. Oh well. I'm sure she's fine.
"We were more concerned about closing the Doors of Death." She said. Her voice laced with malice.
"But you should have stopped and fought him. Then you could have prevented this from happening. And why couldn't you fight him then leave. Why were you in such a rush?" Brad asked
"You are a complete IDIOT! It took all of our strength to keep those Doors closed. If we had stayed to fight, we either would have been killed by Tartarus, or been killed by the Doors. Even with a Titan and a Giant helping us, we still made it out with our lives. We also, apparently, lost those two friends." She yelled, exasperated.
That took a lot of energy out of Annabeth. You remember when I said her facial expression was a mix of she saw a ghost and someone stepped on her puppy? Well now it's a combination of I just ran a marathon and got last place, and someone tried to suffocate my puppy. She looked so depressed, it actually hurt to look at her.
Brad just got more annoyed and kept running his mouth the way I'm pretty sure only he knows how to do.
"So my brother isn't as great as he's cracked up to be, we all know that. But I'm different. I'll go find and destroy Tartarus. He doesn't stand a chance against me."
"That is quite noble of you Brad. I believe that there is no one as suited for this task, than you. You will lead this quest. You can also bring two allies along with you and go to the Oracle to receive a prophecy." Chiron stated with pride.
On the outside I was calm, collected, and slightly unfocused. So it would seem I was bored with what was going on. But on the inside, I was so nervous and scared. I mean I remember what Percy told me about Tartarus. It seems like this new war will be even harder than the ones past. But I was also extremely irritated. I mean, Brad thinks he's so skilled that he could take down Tartarus. No way in Hades is that ever going to happen. No offence father.
Once Chiron is done with his whole admiration for Brad thing, I look over to the corner of the room where Rachel is standing, kind of listening, kind of glaring daggers at Brad if he even comes anywhere near her. I'm glad that at least someone other than me actually thinks that Brad's a pile of crap. Obviously Percy knows and expresses it, but pretty much everyone else is either wrapped around Brad's little finger, or they were and see him for what he is. Either way, I'm just glad Rachel didn't get sucked into Brad's façade. Maybe Percy will lighten up and see that the whole camp isn't really a swamp full of quicksand.
Anyway, I could hear Rachel mumbling something about arrogant, obnoxious boys and rolling her eyes before my attention was returned to the table. Because at that moment, Sparky decided to ask the one question that was on everyone's mind.
"How is Tartarus even able to rise?"
"Well, seeming as how the previously arisen Titan's had help rising, I'd say that Tartarus is getting help from someone. I mean, Luke helped raise Kronos, The Giants helped raise Gaia, so someone must be helping Tartarus." Chiron answered
"It's so Percy." Stated Brad looking as confident and arrogant as ever.
"Why do you think that this is Percy's doing? Could it be someone else you think?" asked Jason
"Are you kidding me? It's the perfect alibi. Percy feels betrayed by father for telling him he's worthless and for choosing me as his favorite son. So, to get back at father, and anyone else who he thinks has wronged him, he decides to help raise Tartarus to destroy Olympus and get revenge on father." States Brad.
"Although your statement makes sense logically, you've forgotten one tiny little thing." Says Annabeth.
"What's to miss? It's a brilliant idea." Defends Brad
"Well I guess you should make that two mistakes then. The first being that Percy doesn't have the brains to come up with something like this. The second, Percy's fatal flaw, is personal loyalty. Even though we've all hurt and betrayed him, he won't turn his backs on us for it. There's too much good in him to do something like that. Besides, he still considers some people here friends and family." Said Annabeth
"Well if you're so quick to defend him, then tell me this? Why does Percy go to such lengths as to prank the camp on an almost daily basis, huh? Why go through all this, just to make himself look bad?" asked Brad
"It's exactly like Nico said. Percy left camp over a month ago. So how can he be the one to do any of it? Not to mention, the only person who says that they've seen Percy do something, is you. No one else has seen Percy at camp." stated Annabeth
"He's just sneaky, it doesn't matter right now anyway. As for the quest, I'm going alone. And once I send Tartarus back to where he came from, I'll deal with Percy. I'll expose Percy for who he really is." Defended Brad.
There's a loud BANG heard from the end of the table. Everyone looks to see Clarisse, standing with her hands in fists on the table. Now let me tell you, if looks could kill, then Brad would be a pile of dust under Clarisse's stare. She was seething with rage and when she finally spoke, she sounded like she was growling at the same time.
"I've seen you in the arena, fighting the younger, less experienced fighters. How can you possible take on Tartarus, when you haven't even fought and won against one of our skilled fighters?" seethed Clarisse
"I don't need to prove myself to you. Nor anyone else for that matter." Stated Brad.
Clarisse SLAMS her fists down onto the table again, making everyone in the room jump then says to Brad.
"EVERYONE must prove themselves in some way. If you think you can fight Tartarus by yourself, then you're insane. And in regards to Percy, I agree with Annabeth. Besides, Percy is one of the BEST sword fighters we have, and if he DROPS HIS SWORD at the the SIGHT of Tartarus, then what makes you think that you can compete with him?" demanded Clarisse
The room just breaks out into uproar over, well, pretty much everything. Some people were talking about how we either do or do not stand a chance against Tartarus. Some talked about how Percy was the one to raise Tartarus or he's innocent and everyone around them is crazy if they think otherwise. Others were arguing over whether or not Brad would succeed in his quest or fail miserably. Between the arguing, yelling, and craziness that happened this afternoon and during the meeting, I started to get a head ache. Now if I don't hurry up and get the heck out to here, I'm going to end up hurting someone. And I don't want that to happen. So I shadow traveled away from all of the chaos.
I had planned on going back to my cabin and getting some sleep. But that didn't exactly happen. Instead of going to my cabin, I ended up at Hagrid's Garden, with a very annoyed looking Luna staring at me. It surprised me really. Most people cringe when they see me shadow travel, but for some reason, Luna doesn't.
"You know, out of all the people I've met, you have to be the only person, who hasn't jumped in fright at the sight of me shadow traveling." I said. Expressing my confusion
"You're late." She said rather bluntly.
I rolled my eyes and looked at her rather seriously. At least I hope I looked serious. Who knows what she thinks I look like. From the small laugh that escaped her mouth, I'd say she didn't think I was trying to be serious.
"Why are you laughing at me?" I asked
"You're face." She said between laughs.
"It's the funniest thing I've ever seen."
"It's not funny. I'm trying to be serious." I pleaded
"I'm sorry. But the face you made was seriously funny. Now what are you trying to be serious about." Asked Luna
"Something bad is happening." I said. She stopped laughing and, a bit worriedly, asked.
"What's happening?"
"My father. He was exploring his realm and found out that Tartarus is starting to rise. He believes that Tartarus will raise the other Titans as well, and to top it all off, everyone at camp thinks Percy is the one helping to raise Tartarus."
"Are you serious?!" she asked
"We already had this conversation. I am being serious. Tartarus is rising and everyone blames Percy." I stated.
She sighed and sat down on the ground. I could tell that the little gears in her head were turning. Pondering the information I just gave her. I was not, however, prepared to know what she was thinking. But apparently whatever she was thinking she felt she needed to voice.
"Nico I have a really bad feeling about this. I mean what if the reason Tartarus is rising, is because of you and Percy being here?" she asked
"What do you mean?" I asked, quite confused with her analogy.
"What I'm saying is, what if He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named knows about you and Percy helping us, and he enlisted for some help of his own?"
"Still not following." I said
"What if Voldemort is the one who's raising Tartarus, to help him with the upcoming war. Like how we enlisted for you and Percy to help us?"
"OHH! Now I get it. But that seems highly unlikely. I was thinking that we'd have an edge on Voldemort with him not knowing we're here. I mean it was last minute that Perce and I came here." I stated
"That might be true, but I'm sure He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, has followers at the school and have told him that you and Percy are here. Which leads me to believe that he has risen Tartarus to counteract us asking you for help." Said Luna
"But, who do you think the spy is?" I asked, quite curious as to the answer.
"I'd say anyone from the Slytherin house is a likely option. But if I had to pick someone in particular, I'd pick Draco. He has a personal loathing to Percy and has probably told his father about what you are and what you've done. And before you ask why that's important, Draco's father, used to be a Death Eater. So now that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has risen, I'd say Draco, his father, and other Death Eaters have flocked to him. It could also be professor Snape. He was really close to the Dark Lord. In fact, he was a Death Eater. So it could be him too."
"So we have some logical leads as to how Voldemort knows about us, and a good reason for Tartarus rising. Now what should we do?" I asked
"Well, have you told Percy and Dumbledore what's happened?" asked Luna
"Well, um, not yet. I was just going to tell Dumbledore because this kind of pertains to him, but I don't know it it's such a good idea to tell Percy." I said
"Why not?" asked Luna
"Because he might not want to help. I mean Percy came face-to-face with Tartarus himself, and dropped his sword in fright. The mention of Tartarus will more than likely set him off. Not to mention the whole camp pretty much hates him and will never ask for his help." I stated
"Why don't you give him a chance? Sure the camp betrayed him, and maybe the sight of Tartarus scares him, but that camp was his home. It's one of the two only safe places on this planet that is safe for demigods. He may still care enough to want to help. And if he doesn't want to help, then at least he knows what's going on. You should tell him." Said Luna
"Alright, Alright. I'll tell him. But he won't be happy. And, quite frankly, neither am I." I said grumpily
"Well, since we've run out of time to train, you can go now." She stated
"WHAT!? You want me to go NOW? WHY?" I practically begged.
"Because, like I said, we ran out of time to train and Percy deserves to know this. We shouldn't put this off. Something bad could happen if we don't." she stated, rather annoyed.
"Okay, Okay. I'm going." I said. But upon further thinking, I turned to her and asked.
"On second thought, will you come with me?"
"Why do you want me to go?" Luna asked, rather surprised
"Well, Percy will be pretty mad when I tell him the news, and I was thinking that if a student was near him, then maybe he won't freak out as much as he would if it was just him and I. Plus, I'm a little afraid to face him by myself. I mean there really is no telling what he will do, but I'd feel safer if you were there." I said. Luna looks at him with a calculating look on her face for a few minutes before smiling slightly and saying,
"Sure, I'll go with you. I have nothing better to do actually."
"Great! Thanks! I guess we should get going then?" I asked
"Yes. Yes we should." She replied.
And with that Luna and I left Hagrid's Garden in search of Percy. What with how big the school is, it's amazing that we found him at all. And I was wrong about him being angry at the news. That's right, Percy wasn't angry. He was FURIOUS! I guess having Luna along didn't really help any.
Author's Note 2: Well, I finally got that done. So you guys should be able to answer the second question from last chapter, and the last part of the question will be answered next chapter. I won't be asking anymore questions until the end of next chapter though. Anyway, if you would please, click that little review button at the bottom and tell me what you thought of this chapter. Also, if you haven't already, go to my profile and answer my poll question for what story I should do next. So far the Percy Jackson and Hunger Games Crossover is in the lead. I will be ending that poll sometime next month so get cracking. I regards to the Annabeth or Hermione Poll that will be up until the end of this story. Although something happens next chapter, it will be considered temporary until the end of the poll. Then I will be focusing on either Annabeth or Hermione. Shoot, I just gave away the answer to the third part of the question… Oh well. Anyway, until next time. Also sorry if this chapter was rather short. It doesn't really seem it but I only have about 3000+ words and my minimum is usually between 5000 and 6000 and it's only about six pages. Either way, until next time.