Guy: OH YEAH! FINALLY I FINISHED CHAPTER 10
Girl: After how many weeks?
Guy: Oh shut up, at least the school year is almost over.
Girl: Um, I have a week left until summer starts for me, how many more do you have hmm?
Guy:…. Girl: I thought so! =P Disclaimer: I DO NOT own any of the PJO characters or even the name Percy Jackson and the Olympians…heck I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians period…all credit goes to rick riordan and Disney Hyperion. Oh and I don't own Halo, Gears of War, Fable, Ip man, The Protector, Gladiator and 300. A/N: the character Analya is
Enjoy chapter 10 =DDDD!
Ψ
Percy Jackson and the Olympians
Spartans of Fate and Chaos: Revolution
Chapter 10
In ancient stones do emotions lay?
Ψ
(Percy's pov)
Ω Debriefing room on the Spartan Moon Base Ω
Minutes after the incident, the debriefing room was once again filled with the Generals and the other representatives for the Campers and Hunters. After Jaime (A/N the oracle), Annabeth, and I told everyone about the voice that possessed the oracle and the prophecy that came along with it. When it was all said and done, the entire room was silent. Not a single word was spoken as the new prophecy was told. But instead of fear in their eyes, there was confusion, as if the prophecy was unclear to them of what so ever.
Finally Chiron spoke up, "For once, I am clueless to this, not a hunch of what the prophecy means…except for some parts, like the part where Rome is mentioned. You must travel to see the Coliseum. But the part that describes a "lost goddess" that slumbers in ancient stones trifles my memories."
Just then the Gods arrived, different colors of bright light shimmering into the room. Thorakis was the last to arrive, his SPI MARK VI encasing his entire body as he stood next to Chaos and the Generals, "Okay what's the situation here?"
Nico cleared his voice and spoke out loud, "We have been given a new point of destination…actually make that two destinations." The entire room dimmed as a holographic picture of the earth appeared in front of everyone, "Now our first point of destination would be here." Nico pointed an armored finger to a cluster of islands in the Pacific Ocean, "Hawaii, more importantly, the island of Oahu."
Thalia blinked, "Hawaii? Why Hawaii?"
Nico winked at her and smirked, "Creon will you zoom out of the globe please?"
A holographic Spartan in green light instantly appeared on Nico's shoulder, "Zooming out of the desired location."
"Good, now highlight the 'flaming ring' described in the first prophecy."
"As you wish sir, showing flaming ring, now," all of us averted our eyes back to the holographic image of the earth while Creon worked his magic. In a matter of seconds, the image of the earth showed a red circle at certain location on the planet, only it wasn't on any landmass, it was around an ocean...the Pacific Ocean.
Nico turned towards all the bodies present in the room and grinned, "Ladies and gents, I give you the Ring of Fire."
All of us except for the Spartans stood there with our jaws falling to the ground in surprise. The Pacific Ocean was the ring of fire? That was new. Even the Gods, including Thorakis, were shocked at the info...except for Chaos. The entity stood there with his arms crossed as he stared at the holo-map, "So the earth cannon has been called upon to be unleashed, its counterpart has been unleashed as well."
Clarisse instantly fixed her gaze on Chaos, "Hold up. What did you mean by the earth cannon and its counterpart?"
Now all eyes were on Chaos, even the Spartans were looking at him with curiosity. He slowly breathed in then out slowly before speaking softly, "Eons ago, when I created the universe, this galaxy was the first of my creations. One by one I created the planets, but they were not perfect. As I created the third planet, earth, I started it off by creating a heated core. Now mortals believe it to be extremely hot magma but in fact, it's my energy. My pure energy. While creating a planet more unique than the others, I knew that if my creations were to cause destruction, I would need a weapon that wouldn't hesitate to do destroy them. From the core of the darkest corner of my heart; a monster was born. It has no shape or form but it comes and goes like night and day." The silence in the room deepened as Chaos continued his story, the tone of his voice becoming more ominous than before, "One by one, the abomination destroyed the planets that I had deemed a threat to all of my other creations in the universe. For a time, the entity was stable…until it formed a mind of its own."
Athena narrowed her eyes at Chaos, "What do you mean it formed a mind of its own? Surely you had complete control over it since you created it right?"
Chaos shook his head and chuckled, his entire body swirling and glowing with known and unknown cosmos and stars, "Ah my dear young niece, if I had control over my creations then the Titans, Olympians, Giants, or even mortals would not exist. Did I create them? Yes, yes I did. But their minds can changed and adapt from their hearts…and that is something that I cannot control."
A deep thought formed in Athena's brain, her stormy grey eyes absorbing every piece of information, "Okay so the monster managed to create a mind of its own. Then what?"
"When I found out about his new desires of pure annihilation of all my creations, I was creating Earth at the time," Chaos involuntarily smiled at the memory of creating our planet. "I knew that this planet would be, out of all my other planets, the most special one of them all. But the monster somehow found out Earth and his intentions were clear: the destruction of planet Earth."
From my left spoke Annabeth, "How did you stop it?"
A grave expression molded itself on Chaos' face, his eyes were pure black with galactic mist swirling inside his pupils, "When the fiend arrived at the planets doorstep, my children, the Primal Gods, along with the earliest gods from Norse and Egypt united against the threat. For eons the battle waged on against the Primal's and Chaotic monster, but neither side gained or lost ground. It was a stalemate…until I found a solution to end the war."
Annabeth blinked, "And the solution was?"
"A chaotic beam, a beam that fired a pure essence of my energy into the heart of the monster. During this time, the Earth had no land masses on the surface, only water…which was a bad thing since the cannon was unstable."
"What do you mean unstable?"
Now it was my turn to speak, "Chaotic energy needs to be synthesized in order for it to be fully stable. If the substance isn't stable…then the energy becomes…oh chaos, you mean to say that the Earth was-"
"Destroyed? Yes, yes it was destroyed the first time."
"But how?"
"When the chaos monster attacked, the cannon was fired. The result was a beam lock between the two chaotic powers. Finally, when the battle ended its climax, the monster was destroyed…and so was the first Earth," Chaos sighed and rubbed his temples before continuing. "Immediately, I created a new Earth with the help of Gaea, Ymir, and Atum…this time, we all ensured that if need of the earth cannon was suggested again, the Earth would be able to withstand another round of the cannon's power."
"Okay, but that doesn't explain why the Pacific rim is a fucking cannon," Clarisse pounded the table while shoving a finger towards the holographic Earth, her eyes glaring into Chaos, "If this Earth cannon destroyed the first Earth then what makes you think that another round from this weapon will NOT blow the earth up again?"
Chaos laughed and smirked, "Because unlike the previous Earth, the cannon is stabilized by the land masses surrounding it."
Annabeth's eyes scrunched up together upon hearing this, "So the North, South, Asian, and Australian continents along with the Pacific Islands act as natural stabilizers for the cannon?"
Chaos nodded, "Correct."
"But how does it control the cannon?"
A wink was all that Chaos could give out while speaking again, "Let's just say that earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and tsunami's aren't always caused by Poseidon or nature."
Upon hearing that, the room became silent again. All eyes were transfixed upon the glowing red ring that outlined the Pacific Ocean, a chill going through our bones at the thought of another colossal battle between the Earth and the Chaos monster. It was silent for five minutes until Leonidas broke the ice, "Hold up, you said that there were two spots that our forces would be sent to. Hawaii is the first one, what's the second one?"
We all turned to Nico who was rotating and zooming in on the projected form of Earth. All of us squinted our eyes as the location marker focused in on another island: Britain. Nico waved his hands and clapped them together making the entire hologram disappear into the palms of his armored hands but only to reappear when he spreaded his arms wide in a vertical motion. Only this time, we were staring at a cluster of stones that looked out to the ocean: the Stonehenge.
"Our sources have encountered a strong presence or aura surrounding these stones throughout the centuries," continued Nico. "More importantly, these stones were believed to have been placed here at the time of the Primal Gods hence making these boulders our ancient stones."
Thalia blinked at the image then at Nico, "Since when did you get so smart?"
Nico huffed, "Hey I've always been smart."
From the left of Thalia, Mason grumbled, "Then explain why you said the wrong fire mission coordinates at Plataea?"
"Not my fault that you got your left ass cheek nearly seared off."
"Like I said, why in Tartarus did you give out the wrong coordinates!"
I raised my hands to stop them before a full scale argument on ass cheeks being seered off ignited, "Enough you two, everybody makes mistakes, and besides your left ass cheek is still attached so stop bitching about it."
Mason rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, "Whatever lover boy."
My right eye began to twitch in anger as he said that, "I'll pretend that I didn't hear that."
"Okay let's get back to business shall we?" Thankfully Annabeth butted in at the right time to prevent another argument from sparking, "So the ancient stones are the Stonehenge, but why do we need to go to Rome?"
"Rome did conquer much of Europe and Britain, maybe we will find out any information about the Stonehenge at Rome including this lost goddess that the prophecy said," My peripheral vision caught a slight movement to my far right as Thorakis and Chaos shared a knowing look. I couldn't put a finger on what I saw in them. Was it fear? Or maybe it was guilt for some unknown reason? Either way, we have two spots to deploy at and not enough time to ponder out thoughts. Thankfully Chris was the first to volunteer, "I'll go on the Rome/Britain campaign."
Clarisse followed Chris' lead, "I'll go too."
A small smile formed on my lips as two of my oldest friends volunteered, but I shook my head at their request, there were needed elsewhere, "No, you two and the others are needed in Hawaii while. The bulk of our forces will go to Hawaii while a small team of Campers, Hunters, and Spartans will drop into Rome," I tapped the holo-image as it rotated to the island of Britain, "I will lead this team with Nico, Thalia, Annabeth, Theo, and Catherine. The six of us will drop into the Coliseum, gather any info that we can on the lost goddess and then gather up with you guys in Hawaii. Any questions before we mobilize?"
Not a single objection came from the three parties inside the room. The goal was set, the pieces were moving, we had our orders and it was time to perform them. Thorakis took it all in and nodded, "It's settled then, but while the Spartans, Hunters, and Campers deploy…the gods will act as well."
The Big Three nodded unison but it was Zeus who spoke, "I will awaken the Amazons while my brothers, sisters, and children will awaken our private armies as we all will mobilize towards the Hawaiian islan- Chaos are you alright?"
We all looked at Chaos who was glowing rapidly in a cyan color light as he concentrated on something that his mind had come across. Moments later he opened his eyes, pure shock delved in them, "Ymir and Atum have awakened themselves and their armies. The Egyptian gods are being released from the Duat while the Vikings are being resurrected in Hel. The other mythologies from the around the globe are stirring…as well as the Hybrids."
The news took us by surprise. If the L.M.N was back in action then told us one thing and one thing only: a third mythological world war has begun.
(Annabeth's pov)
Ω Hanger bay Ω
Moments after the council ended, Thalia and I found ourselves standing in front of three drop pods with attachable laser drills at the bottom. Both of us just stood there nervous while Theo and Catherine held each other close, their lips clasped against each other as they frenched like no tomorrow. It was a little over five minutes when Thalia and I heard a voice speak up from behind us, "You guys ready?"
Thalia and I both turned to see Percy and Nico hauling in several large boxes to us. They were long wooden boxes that you would see in them military movies that have to do with Area 51, boxes that always contained something delicate and powerful inside them. As they were set down, I managed to get a good look at their labeling: SJ MARK IX BATTLE ARMOR.
Thalia tilted her head as she too observed the crates, "Percy what's this for?"
Percy shrugged his shoulders as he pried the lid open. Once open, we got a look at the boxes contents; it was a pair of battle armor that was unique in its own design. The breastplate was a cross of Greek Hoplite armor and the design from the Spartans own chest piece. Both gauntlets and Grieves had a polished camouflaged silver while the helmets differed entirely. One helmet looked like an eagle while the other one looked like an owl; both had polarized visors to conceal the user's entire face from any probing eyes. All in all they were beautiful and frightening to look at…though I didn't expect Percy to hand me the owl shaped helmet, "For you."
I felt my eyes widen as I gently took the helmet from his hand, "This is for me?"
"Chaos ordered a two new battle suits for the Campers and Hunters, it's kind of like a thank you gift for becoming our allies," Percy gently picked up the chest piece and slowly raised my arms up as he handed me a folded up package, "The armor only protects your chest, back, forearms, lower legs, feet, midsection, and head. This cloth has built in ballistic padding armor for your upper arms, neck, and thighs. It goes under your armor and it will always keep you cool inside so you can wear your armor for days when lost in battle or in enemy territory."
Even through my polarized visor, I still managed to blush from his gaze as he looked at me up and down as he observed my new armor, "Everything okay in there?"
I nodded my head in response, "Yeah, pretty light though. It's like I'm only wearing a second layer of clothing...heck I'm not even hot inside."
"The armor has a built in cooling system so you can wear it for long periods of time. The metal used for the armor plating is a new metal we created called Allumimantium bronze. Just like its predecessor, Protodermis bronze, it's virtually unbreakable and impenetrable thanks to the Nemean Lion DNA mixed in with the metal. Also it's very light to wear or carry. The only difference is that Allumimantium can be bent easily while retaining its impenetrable qualities," said Percy as he slowly bent down to retrieve another object from the box, "More importantly, like the Spartans SPI MARK II battle armor, the inter-woven components in your ballistic gel layer underneath your armor plating increases your speed and strength by a fivefold. Also, your armor can go into active camo by activating your camouflage feature on your HUD display."
"How about energy shields?"
"What about them?"
"Does my armor have energy shields like yours?"
"Well yes and no"
"Yes and no?"
"Okay how do you explain this to a daughter of Athena," Percy lowered his head just a fraction so that his chin was resting on his right hand, his messy black hair sticking out in every direction while his sea green eyes pondered his own mind for a way to explain something. The more he kept thinking, the more I kept noticing more changes on him. Where years ago there wasn't a scar on his left cheek, there was a scar now etched onto his skin. His face was more angular which his made his jaw line almost perfect, an artist's dream as Rachel would say. I kept staring at seaweed brain for Artemis knows how long until he finally spoke, "Where the metal doesn't cover your body, that's where the energy shields are located at except for your helmet, the energy shield is very strong there to protect your head."
"So the rest of my body is safe due to the Allumimantium?"
"Basically yes, it's mostly the metal protecting you."
"I guess that will have to do then," I held my tongue for the fear of sounding like a brat in front of Percy. I wasn't entirely too happy with the whole energy shield thing but that all went out of my mind when he handed me the long rectangular box into my hands, "What's this?"
"Open it," he smirked, "Open it and be amazed."
I rolled my eyes as I opened the box to reveal a three and half foot long bow with scopes attached to it for sniping arrows at a VERY long range, "Whoa!"
Percy slowly formed a grin on his face as he watched my reaction unfold before him, "I had a feeling that you'd like it."
"Like it?" I turned to him and threw my arms around him tight, "I love it!"
Gently he wrapped his arms around me as well, "Thanks, I'm glad you love it."
Slowly I slipped on the ballistic padding armor on my thighs, neck, and upper arms while Percy began to attach the plate armor onto the more crucial areas on my body. From my right, I saw Nico doing the same thing to Thalia; her face was red as a cherry when Nico accidently brushed the tip of his fingers across the exposed skin on her stomach. Fifteen minutes later, all four of us were dressed in similar battle armor except for the helmets, turns out that the helmets were designed to reflect your Olympian parent so we had one Athena, one Zeus, one Hades, and one Poseidon.
All four of us stood still as Percy clipped his battle rifle onto his back and donned his helmet, "Let's move."
Ω in the drop pod with…with Percy Ω
Minutes later we were in our pods after being paired off for the drop. In pod one would be Theo and Catherin while following behind them inside pod two would be Thalia and Nico leaving Percy and I dropping together in pod three.
But the pod seemed more like a casket to me as I stepped inside and fastened the harness around my head and shoulders, more like I was being sent to burn up in the atmosphere rather than on a mission. I looked to Percy who entered in after me as the drop pod door began to close with a hiss; my heart beat slightly increasing as Percy talked to Creon about our trajectory towards Rome.
"Percy," I gulped as the pod began to move into launching position, "You sure this pod can withstand the force upon entering Earth's atmosphere right?"
He nodded his head as two distant thumps echoed through the hull outside of the pod signaling that the other two pods holding Thalia and the others were already fired into space, "Of course it's safe, this is how the Spartans came into Camp the first time."
"Yeah but I'm not a Spartan," my fingers gripped the harness surrounding my neck as the countdown began, "I'm not augmented like you."
"Good point."
"Good point?" before I could even question him any further, the pod suddenly shot forward with a loud bang as where launched into space.
How to describe the feeling was indescribable to begin with as we plummeted towards the atmosphere at the speed of sound, the entire pod vibrating violently as we entered the atmosphere. Warning sounds began to flair as the pod passed through the first layer of the atmosphere while beginning to break through the second barrier. Another violent jerk and we drove through the third barrier, the entire pod moaning and creaking as a sonic boom rippled across the sky.
We became a glowing hot ball of fire as we dropped straight towards our destination at lightning speed. Suddenly the metal began to groan louder as the metal casing began to break apart from the entry. My eyes began to grow wider as open sky began to fill in my view due to bits of metal break off from the pod, "Percy! The pod is breaking!"
Percy just stood there silent, his reflective visor staring straight into my own my visor as the pod crashed into trees and huge trunks of wood. Finally the pod slammed into solid ground as a hill stopped our momentum completely.
It was silent for a few seconds with birds chirping outside while Percy gently shook his head to clear any dizziness clouding his mind, "Creon status report."
"Trajectory made, just outside of Rome."
"How about the other drop pods?"
"Both have shown records of entering the atmosphere but one pod isn't located in Rome."
Percy tensed, "What do you mean they aren't in Rome?"
Creon spoke up louder as a holo-map appeared in front of Percy and I, "Trajectory shows that pod two was blown off course towards England while pods three and one landed in Rome. Furthermore, communication with Spartan 067 and Hunter Thalia is non-operable. For now we must list them as M.I.A. and considered that they have gone radio silent."
My heart sank at that news, the mission just began a few minutes ago and already we lost track of two friends, who else will be lost in this quest? Instinctively, I looked to Percy who just stood there at akimbo, his emotions hidden from the thick armor plating of his armor, "Keep trying to contact them while us and the others go on with the mission…all we can do right now is pray that they are okay."
"Very well sir," Creon flickered to life on top of Percy's right shoulder, his body resembling the armor of the Spartans except for the light blue glow surrounding his image, "Our location shows us that we are located in an outside forest of Rome. The Coliseum is probably located at the center of the capital so we best make our way there now."
Percy nodded, "Very well Creon, locate Pod 1 for me and we'll be on our way."
Creon pounded his chest and disappeared in a blue flickering light. It was silent for a few seconds until a voice spoke in my mind. Worried that you might lose him again?
I blinked slowly at first until the voice spoke again. No Annabeth, you aren't imagining a voice talking to you.
I was so caught up on the voice in my head that I didn't register the fact that I suddenly voiced in my answer, "Who are you?"
Percy instantly cocked his head to me and stared at me through his reflective polarized visor, "Wisegirl you okay?"
Truth to be told, I was okay. Minus the fact that my head began to suddenly conjure a voice in my head, I was fine…or so I thought. Tell him Annabeth! Tell him you love him!
Slowly my anger rose as the voice kept talking in my brain, "Percy excuse me one second." Without waiting for his reply, I shut off my external speakers in my helmet and yelled, "OKAY WHO THE HADES ARE YOU?"
The voice giggled and answered. Let's just say that Aphrodite and I are really good friends in the field of love.
Suddenly Aphrodite's voice entered the conversation. Hey! Don't forget good shopping partners also! Aphrodite giggled then spoke again in her sultry voice. Hi Annabeth, how was your drop with your Romeo Montague aka Percy Jackson?
The other voice spoke in my defense. Shhh! Aphy let the girl think about her feelings about this.
Aphrodite giggled again. Girl trust me, if you knew these two lovebirds romantic love story then you would always be butting in to make sure something happens between them.
Oh trust me; I know about their love story, it's so cute that it always makes me want to cry. No other love story can compare to Percabeth, not even Jasiper.
My eyes blinked, "Jasiper?"
Both Aphrodite and the unknown voice sighed. Never liked what happened to them…she died like a hero but at what cost? The loss of a hot son of Jupiter!"
I immediately tensed at the mention of Jupiter, Zeus' Roman name. "Hold up, son of Jupiter? Are you two talking about Jason and Piper?"
The other voice sighed. Ah yes, Jason and Piper, one of the three favorite love couples in the 21st century at the time. It's a shame that it had to end tragically for them.
"Yes it was a tragic event but you still haven't answered my previous question."
And that is?
"Um, who are you?"
Another sigh emanated from the voice inside my head. Aphy, can you tell her please?
Aphrodite giggled. Uh uh girl, you have to tell her your name.
Humph! Fine be like that. The voice let out another sigh then spoke. My name is Freya, Viking goddess of love, lust, and beauty.
My eyes blinked slowly at the shocking revelation, "You're Freya?"
Yes why?
"I get why Aphrodite has an interest in me but why you too?"
Because my dear young Annabeth. You need to remember what you and Percy used to have before-
Freya no! Don't tell her!
My eyes blinked, "Don't tell me what?"
Oh it's nothing dear, just don't mind Freya. She is known to lie at times.
Freya snarled. So? Not like you don't lie either!
If I could see Aphrodite right in front of me, I knew she would be rolling her eyes at the comment. At least I look sexier when I lie.
Oh whatever! Freya huffed her anger as she turned her mental attention back to me for counseling. Well since Ms. Legally Blonde won't let me tell you about the incoming future, I'll just have to give you advice which totally sucks dragon ass.
"Um okay?"
Freya sighed and mumbled something in what sounded like Norse at first but then suddenly switched to English. Guard him well Annabeth for you have lost him more than once. Now you have found him again, don't let him go. This impending threat since the beginning of time is going to unite all of us to fight it but at a great cost. When the time comes, you will know what to do…but pray that you know what to do before it's too late.
And with that happy note, I was left to ponder my thoughts as Aphrodite and Freya disappeared from my mind completely. I was half glad to get rid of them, but then again, now I was filled with fear—the same fear that I felt when I lost Percy forever.
(Percy's pov)
Ω in and out of the pod Ω
Ever since the drop and landing, Annabeth has been acting weird. I mean she has had her moments of weird but just a few minutes ago, her outburst took the cake. At first I thought it was just the usual—my mind is going crazy because we just crash landed side effect—but I could tell something was bothering her. Thankfully I got diverted from asking Annabeth any further when Creon interrupted my thoughts, "Sir, I've managed to locate Pod 1."
"Give me a visual Creon."
Suddenly my Heads Up Display (HUD) showed me a murky image with bubbles flying upward rapidly followed by muffled thumping. Immediately I zoomed in the pictures surroundings as the thumps grew louder, "Creon, rotate the image seventy degrees to the left."
"Yes sir." Creon rotated the image to show a waterlogged pod sinking to the bottom of a river.
"Creon get me the inside cameras available now!"
Creon blurred the image for a few seconds until the image refocused again only this time it showed two figures inside the sinking pod: Theo and Catherine. At first I thought that they were both unconscious until one of the unmoving figures lifted its head up. The helmet resembled a helm of darkness of Hades: Catherine. I watched her struggle to get free of the harness that secured their atmosphere entry in their drop pod. She squirmed and squirmed but the harness wouldn't budge, not even a tiny bit to let her escape.
"Creon, get that pod open now!" I looked to Annabeth who still stood there with her head focused in on one spot inside the pod. She was so distracted on something that she failed to notice a glowing symbol on her head: two masks that showed a smile and a frown. I shook my head clear of any distractions; there simply wasn't enough time to worry about a glowing symbol.
Using my armors and augmented strength, I willed the harness holding me onto my seat apart from his bolted frame. A loud screeching sound of metal being ripped apart was heard as the harness was finally free. Now it was time to get the doors opened.
Suddenly, Annabeth's voice crackled into my com link, "Percy what's wrong?"
"No time to explain, we have to move now," I tensed my legs muscles and kicked through five inches of steel and bronze, sunlight flooding into the dimly lit pod.
After freeing myself, I looked to Annabeth who still had her harness on. With a quick yank, the harness was torn off of its place making Annabeth able to move freely, "Thank."
I nodded, "No problem." Quickly, I scanned the landscape to see our surroundings. We had landed directly into a field of grapes on a south side of a hill farm; to make things worse, the humble family that lived and tended to the grapes stood there in shock as they watched a fully armored Spartan emerge from the pod. It was a family of four: a husband and wife with two little boys hiding behind their mother and father. The wife also hiding behind her husband while cradling her stomach for protection, she was pregnant. At least the situation didn't become hostile until Annabeth stood next to me, her helmet off while her golden blonde hair whipped back in forth in the wind.
The family stepped back in fear, their eyes looking at us as if we were some enemy targets on enemy ground. Annabeth looked to me with a worried look, "Why are they backing away from us? We won't harm them."
I zoomed in on the facial expression of the family, fear and hate resonated in their eyes as they disappeared into their house, their door slamming shut in front of us. Annabeth looked at me with a quizzed look but I just shook my head, "It's best if we just go. Theo and Catherine need our help."
She looked like she wanted to say something else but decided it was better to keep it to herself for now. Suddenly the same symbol began to glow again above her head, the two masks that had a smile and a frown on it. Again I shook it off, just another distraction with time against us. We quickly ran to the Tiber River which was just a mile away from our current position.
"How do you know that Theo and Catherine are near the river?" Annabeth banked to left as the river began to make its curvy whined through the Seven Hills of Rome.
"Creon showed me a visual of their pod while we were stuck inside ours, and besides," I looked over to Annabeth who had stopped to pick up a small metal fragment from a drop pod, "They landed inside the river."
Her eyes grew wide, "They're in the river?"
"Yep."
"Isn't Theo a son of Poseidon also?"
"Yeah but one slight problem on whatever you are thinking about."
"What's that?"
"Theo is unconscious."
"Ain't that peachy," Annabeth scanned the water for any signs of metal debris, "They could be anywhere in the river."
Annabeth did have a point; the Tiber was large and wide. Without proper recon data and an exact prediction of where they could be, it would take weeks until we finally located them…unfortunately both Theo and Catherine didn't have weeks to be stuck down at the bottom of the a river trapped inside a pod that would either drown them or suffocate due lack of air in their locked suits…wait…locked suits.
Quickly I looked at Annabeth, "Annabeth lock your suit now!"
She looked at me like I was crazy, "Lock my suit? Percy remember I just got this suit today. It's not like I carry a freaking manual around for my armor."
I rolled my eyes as I shoved her helmet onto her head then grabbing her by the arm and looked her dead in the eyes through her visor, "Never too late to learn."
She growled and tightened her grip on my arm, "Percy you better not throw me into the river."
I shook my head and laughed, my arms suddenly pulling her close to me so both of my arms were wrapped around her waist, "Relax, you won't drown with me nearby." And together we plunged into the Tiber River.
(Catherine's pov)
Ω inside the sinking pod Ω
As soon as we entered the atmosphere was the second when things first went wrong. Twin sonic booms were clearly heard as both Pods 1 and 2 plunged deeper towards Earth at lightning speed. It was fine at first until something or some force began to make time stop for us...or maybe it was just me, I don't know but I knew that my mind was deviating from the mission when I suddenly found myself standing on some mountain with Thalia by my side.
She looked at me blinking slowly as if to see that she was dreaming. Good, I wasn't the only one that was experiencing this.
"Where are we?" she said as white clouds began to swirl around us, "Weren't we falling down towards Rome in our drop pods?"
I shook my head confused just like Thalia, "I don't know...only a God or a Goddess has the power to put us into this mess."
"Well you're right about a Goddess being able to put you two into this," both Thalia and I stood back to back instantly with our weapons drawn as the voice spoke, "Relax children of Hades and Zeus, I bare you no harm."
Thalia rolled her eyes and tapped her bracelet making her famous shield, Aegis, to appear on her left wrist while holding one of her long hunting knives in her other hand, "If you mean us no harm then show yourself."
It was silent for a few seconds until bright light winked into view right in front of us. The light was so bright that we had to shield our eyes as the light shinned brighter and brighter. Finally the light began to dim until it was completely gone...except this time a woman stood in its place. She was probably in her twenties, really beautiful that she even made Aphrodite look normally beautiful. Her skin had a slight tan and her hair was a more golden blonde than Annabeth's hair. She was also wearing a dress—a Greek dress called a chiton—that hugged her curvy frame pretty well but was also loose at the same time allowing it to flow freely in the blowing wind. But what really stood out were her eyes, they were a bright magenta, a color that you wouldn't see normally on mortal eyes or an immortals eyes.
I racked my brain through the list of all the known goddesses in Greek or Roman mythology but it was no use, this was a goddess that was completely unknown to us.
The goddess or whatever her name was turned her gaze towards me and smiled in amusement as I failed to recognize her, just like most immortals, she could read thoughts. "At peace young daughter of Hades. Like I said I do not mean you both harm."
I nodded while Thalia pointed her spear towards the goddess, "Who are you?"
The goddess smiled and raised her hands up as if to say "I come in peace", "I was long ago a child of Bacchus in Ancient Rome but after proving my worth as a great hero, the gods granted me the gift of immortality which allowed me to become a minor goddess."
I narrowed my eyes, "Goddess of what? Time?"
She giggled and shook her head, "I am no Kronos that's for sure."
"Then what goddess are you?"
"I am Analya, Goddess of Emotions."
Thalia and I blinked, a Goddess of Emotions? That was new. Slowly, Thalia and I both looked at each other before turning our gaze back to Analya, Thalia speaking our thoughts for us both, "How come we just heard about you right now?"
"My existence was kept hidden for a purpose due to Chaos' war project also known as the Spartans. Long ago was put into a deep sleep when Rome was on the verge of falling," she paused as she remembered some terrible memory that may have caused her something in the past, "Now I've been put back to sleep until I was needed to reawaken again...and the time has come for me to rejoin Thorakis in battle."
My eyes blinked, "Thorakis? You mean the Thorakis that trained the Spartans?"
Analya nodded, "Yes, that Thorakis. I was with him when we recruited the first three hundred Spartans from Earth and other demigod refugee worlds created by Chaos. I was there with him when we found Percy...and I was there when the Spartans fought their first war with the Persians."
"The Persians?"
"Oh right I forgot that the Spartans are still unknown to you," Analya chuckled and sighed, "The second Persian war if that helps."
"Okay...that still doesn't answer the question to why YOU brought us here," Thalia looked around and sighed, "Where are we?"
Analya's smile soon disappeared as Thalia asked our location, "In my prison."
"This is a prison?" I looked around dumbfounded at the mountain and the calm white swirling clouds, "It doesn't feel cold and very solitude to me."
A sigh escaped the Goddess' lips, "Try being trapped here for two centuries recovering from battle wounds that were inflicted upon you by time's scythe and the sky's sickle."
Thalia paled, "You were attacked by both Kronos and Ouranos?"
Analya nodded, "Ouranos was the one that began the second Persian war. Somehow he managed to get out of Tartarus when the doors of death opened during the second Giant war. Seeing that the Earth had changed, he fled to space and other worlds. I don't know how he found the Persian descendants but he did and managed to unite them under one banner: The Sickle. We didn't even know about the growing Persian threat until the planet Damascus suddenly lost contact with us. We sent out an investigation fleet to see what happened, none of them ever came back. Weeks later we sent out another investigation group—a larger group—to find out what happened. What they found was a planet burned and dead. The rivers and oceans fully evaporated while smoke spilled freely into space due to no atmosphere holding it in. Earthquakes and raging fires with endless volcanic eruptions shook the once living planet...three million lives lost...three million innocent lives."
Despite the fact that we were on a mission, the story had that effect on Thalia and I—we had to know more. "What happened after that?"
Analya shrugged, "I was spending time with Thorakis when Chaos summoned us to Chaosa: his power made planet."
Talia's jaw dropped, "He has a planet?"
"Yes he does, and it's bigger than the largest sun in the universe, VY Canis Majoris (A/N 2100 of our sun can fit into VY Canis Majoris. If Chaosa is bigger than YV Canis Majoris then HOLY CRAP!). Once there at Chaosa, Chaos informed all of the leaders that gathered together of the new threat. It was turmoil in council chambers but at that same time, another planet fell to the Persians: Eretia. This time we got a glimpse on how they killed a planet. There ships began to bombard the planet with cannon fire killing all of the inhabitants that were unable to flee, then Ouranos himself willed the sky and atmosphere to erode all the living landscape and water away leaving the planet burned and barren." Analya shook her head, saddness etched on her face, "We just stood there watching in shock. Helpless to help anybody. Then the unthinkable happened, Ouranos fired his own energy into the planets core making the entire planet implode on itself then exploding out chunks of rock and magma. The nearby stars and planets that were orbiting the solar system went into the same effect also. In less than a minute, seven stars and fifty-one uninhabited and four inhabitable planets fell victim to the largest supernova or supernovas ever recorded. That's when we began to truly mobilize. All Greek planets and colonies began to muster its forces to combat the new threat, and for a while we managed to hold them off until Ouranos made a pact and resurrected Kronos and the other Titans. We were outmatched in every possible way...until we found out that Percy had made contact with Chaos. It was because of Percy and then Nico that the Spartans were created."
"Thanks for the history lesson but you still haven't told us why you chose...whoa hold up you chose us? Why us?" Thalia blinked furiously as Analya looked down, "Why do you want us to be Spartans?"
If I said my jaw didn't drop then that would've been a lie. Thankfully Analya spoke up, "Only you Thalia, I only want you to be a Spartan."
"Why just me? Why not Catherine also?"
"Her destiny was never to be a Spartan...only a Hunter of Artemis."
My eyes nearly shot out of my sockets as she said that, "SAY WHAT! I DO NOT WANT TO BE A HUNTER! I HAVE A BOYFRIEND FOR ZEUS' SAKES!"
Again Analya just bowed her head, "I know it won't make sense now to you both but you will when the time comes. Now I'll take you two back to your current state of being, but Thalia and Nico won't be going to Rome. That is all I can tell you two."
Both Thalia and I were too stun to even stutter a sound as Analya placed her hands on our forheads, "I know I chose well...good luck you two."
A sudden burst of light and I was back inside the pod only this time water was pouring inside from a breached part of the metal side. I looked around and then at Theo to see him sitting in harnessed seat with his head tilted to the side: unconscious. Instantly I began to panic as the harness refused to budge, the water slowly filling up the drop pod. To make things even worse, the water was seeping into my armor making my movements slower and slower. I began to panic even more as more water broke into the pod making it fill up more. Frantically I tried to kick Theo awake but it was no use, he was out cold. More water kept spilling into the pod, the water level just passing over my eyes.
This is it I thought to myself as the water completely filled the pod and my now water logged armor. This is how I die.
Suddenly a series of muffled thumps echoed outside of the pod doors. I didn't know if I was hallucinating or not, maybe it was that life-flashes-before-your-eyes crap but I knew I heard it. More and more the thumps grew louder and louder until a single fist punched through the metal then another followed by a gold sword point. The last thing I remember seeing was a pair of armored figures breaking into the pod. At first I thought it was either Percy and Annabeth or Thalia and Nico. That was until I got a good glimpse of their armor. It was sleek and polished so well that it showed every detail of its surroundings, the chest and lower body armor showed a combination of Roman and samurai armor but more modern like the Spartans SPI MARK II armor. Their helmets were the only thing different from the Spartans. Instead of a full reflective polarized visor, the unknown warrior's helmet represented a face. Its eyes gleamed green from the glass polarized material while its mouth and nose were covered (A/N imagine the helmet of Carmine in Gears of War 2 combined with Archon's war helmet from Fables: The Lost Chapters.). The two mysterious figures looked at me before ripping off the harness off my body and Theo's. They then began to pull us out of the pod, my vision becoming murkier and finally blackness.
(Annabeth's pov)
Ω revelations Ω
As soon as Percy threw us both into the water, an air bubble formed around us. Instantly I remembered when Percy made an air bubble around us when he saved me from the sirens on our second quest. Quickly I pushed him away gently as our bubble touched the bottom of the river, my head scanning our surroundings for any signs of the missing drop pod, "Like I said Percy, they could be anywhere."
Percy knelt down and touched the muddy bottom, his entire body still while a sudden cyan colored aura began to glow around him. A few seconds later his head jolted while his muscles tensed, his free hand slowly forming into a fist. Before I could even ask what was wrong, another presence made itself known. At first it was only a shadow but then it closed in on us at an inhuman speed. It became a gray blur until it materialized in front of our air bubble. The figure stood at least six feet tall. Its armor was a cross of Roman legionnaire and Japanese samurai with a hint of modern armor. It clear wasn't a Hybrid warrior nor a Spartan ally or warrior but it didn't mean that it was a friend.
The figure looked at us for about a split second until a red glow began to glow around it. What happened next was too fast to even take in. The figure said something in a different tongue while snapping its fingers making a sword come out. The person's voice sounded male but what got me off guard was his weapon: it was gold, Imperial Gold.
In a flash, Percy's own sword—Riptide—sprang into view, the bright glow of the magical Celestial Bronze blade already conflicting against the noble gleam of the opposing Imperial Gold weapon.
The warrior glanced at Percy's weapon then snarled his grip on his sword tightening, "Greco."
My eyes widened. Latin. I thought He spoke Latin.
Slowly my eyes looked again to see Percy pointing his sword towards the warrior, he too was speaking Latin, "You're supposed to be dead."
Apparently that made the warrior mad. He raised his sword and lunged at Percy with a sword thrust to the chest. Thankfully Percy was in his own element during the fight. He quickly rolled away then jumped back up with a sword swipe to the enemy's legs making the opponent fall flat on his back, or so I thought. With accurate timing, the Latin warrior back flipped during mid-fall and launched himself again at Percy with his sword raised. Percy side stepped and slammed the butt of his sword hard on the guy's back making him fall onto the watery floor painfully. Again I was mistaken as he simply rolled forward and came up in a crouching stance while facing Percy.
Suddenly Percy stomped on the ground hard sending a huge wave of mud towards the figure that was unfortunate to move away before the mud wave slammed into him. I watched in wonder as the warrior was sent flying back into a side wall of the river, his body immobile from the force of the attack. It was silent for a few seconds until another gray coated figure slammed into Percy at lightning speed. Both of them tumbled and rolled on the ground before pushing each other away from one another before attacking again. This new warrior had a girl figure with a pink aura glowing around her entire armored body. Her weapons were two mini swords/spears that glowed a dark red with a lightning crackling around the tips. She stared at Percy for a few minutes until another gray matted figure appeared alongside her. It was another female warrior but her weapons showed a bow and quiver full of arrows along with a short gladius strapped to her side.
They both looked at Percy then at me then aimed their weapons straight at us in unison while speaking the same thing that the male figure said a while ago, "Greco."
These Roman warriors really hated Greeks.
Percy crouched down and lunged at the twin female Roman warriors, the water propelling him forward in a blur. He swung with his sword while making his Minotaur knife transform into its sword mode. Both blades struck at the pink aura girl while Percy kicked the other girl in her armored chest sending her flying into another part of the river wall, brown dust spraying the water as the body impacted on the wall. It became a full on fight between the Roman warrior and Percy as they danced around in the water, blade against blade in a deadly dance to kill one another.
Block, slash, counter attack, back to blocking. It was an endless exchange of blows as the two combatants fought on as if it was their last fight on this earth. At one point, the girl swept Percy off his feet and jammed her elbow into his armored solar plexus making him grunt in pain but luckily he managed palm her armored face hard making her body fly back a few feet landing on her back. They both got up and dashed at each other again, this time their swords locked against one another. Quickly Percy got the upper hand and shoved her away before she could think up any counter attack. He backed flipped suddenly making both of his armored feet hit the Roman warrior hard underneath her chin. She was nearly lifted off the muddy ground for a few seconds which gave Percy enough time to make one final finishing move. Spreading both of his arms wide, Percy literally gathered every single ounce of energy thriving in the water into the palm of his hands.
In a flash, two huge orbs of blue-ish light shinned brightly as he brought them together towards his right side. He seemed to be waiting for a key opportune moment to get all three Roman warriors with one crucial hit; finally he got his chance, "TYPOON CANNON!"
I nearly had time to brace myself as the force of Percy's attack erupted from his hands. It was like I was in the middle of Moses parting the Red sea with his staff as the attacked the three Roman's with a furious onslaught.
KABOOM!
I tumbled to a stop as the water attack ended, water slowly closing the gap at the point where they were separated while dust and rubble rained down from the sky. Slowly my eyes began to come out of its hazy vision as I blinked at the sight before me: the entire left side of the Tiber River was gone! Just a huge inward curve with water rushing forward to fill up the new space created.
"Percy?" my body steadily rose up as the water finally settled, "What in Hades was that?"
Percy shook his head as he put away his weapons, "I don't know, but they are highly dangerous and nearly fast and strong as me."
"But they weren't Spartans though. What were they? Hybrid elites?"
"No, Hybrid warriors usually have their parents symbols burned or etched onto their armor," Percy stood there tensed as his slightly lowered itself into a thinking position, "Unless…"
"Unless what?" I cocked my eye brow at him as he just shook his head to himself, "What are you not telling me Percy?"
He shook his head once more before finally looking at me in a sideward glance, "Nothing. Come on, we have to save Theo and Catherin."
Before I could press the subject any further, Percy sprinted off towards the south of the river leaving a murky dusty trail in his wake. I sprinted after him knowing that for once, he would be faster than me at reaching the destination point. But when we got there, we were in shock to see two more gray matted figures standing in front of the pod with the bodies of our teammates in their arms. At first I thought they were both dead, that we were already too late but the gray matted figures somehow managed to incase them in a thin sheet of air around their bodies to avoid suffocating from the water or the lack of air inside their sealed suits. They looked at one another before setting down the unconscious bodies, their movements fluid and graceful just like the Spartans. Then in a blink of an eye, they dissolved in mist. Not the sea mist like how Poseidon would usually disappear but the air kind of mist that is usually described in scary ghost stories.
I muttered under my breath, "This day keeps getting weirder and weirder."
Percy grunted and looked at me, "Wait until it turns for the worse." He rushed to their side and created an air bubble around them and me as he tried to wake them up, "Theo, Catherine, wake up! It's Percy and Annabeth, come on wake up!"
Slowly they began to wake up, their heads still fuzzy from their near death experience but I noticed something different about Catherin, as if she was trying to pull away from Percy and I as we both helped them up to their feet, "You two okay?"
Stupid I know, but that was all my mind could think of to say. Thankfully they both understood that so they just nodded their answer. After making sure they were okay and healthy enough to move on with the quest, Percy told us to hold on to one another tight as he began to bend the void essence around us. It was like we were getting transported to another location by twisting our stomachs three times before letting our bodies unwillingly compressed and then suddenly decompressed right in front of our desired location: the Roman Coliseum.
"The Coliseum," I said in awe as I stared up at it with observing eyes, "Every line, every arch, perfect with presicion when built thousands of years ago."
Theo rolled his eyes while looking around for any curious travelers, "Seriously? You're thinking about buildings and architect related things on a quest?"
"Oh come on Theo. This is where all famous warriors fought and died at."
"Yeah but they were forced into slavery to fight for their freedom, they weren't warriors, they were Gladiators or warrior slaves without honor."
"Enough," Percy seemed more on edge as he pried open the arena doors, "Let's get this mission over with before something else pops up unexpectedly."
We all nodded in agreement as we slipped inside the Coliseum in complete silence. It was breath taking inside the circular building as Percy led us through the ruined maze. Slowly my mind began to wonder about how this place would look like back in its hay day. The surrounding roar and chanting's of the Roman people as two people fought to the death. I mean it wasn't very moral and it wasn't wise. No man should have to fight for his life or to gain his freedom only to have regrets and nightmares of what you had to do to get the taste of freedom granted by a dictator that just sat back and pointed his thumb up or down to determine your fate. But like always, my thoughts had to always get disrupted by the entire group stopping in front of me. We had arrived at the center of the Coliseum, a pile of rocks piled on top of one another. Slowly, Percy placed his hand on the rock which glowed in a magenta glow as they moved to form a stair case leading down into a hidden chamber down below. Without asking who would go first or stopping to ask what would happen down there, Percy descended the steps with Riptide out in his hand while his left hand unlatched his battle rifle from his back. Soon after walking down the stairs in complete darkness, the four of us came across a door that literally had the "Hippie" movement written all over it.
I opened a private com link channel to Percy who just stood there in the front of the group looking at the door through his reflective polarized visor, "Um, any idea on how to open the hippie door?"
Slowly Percy turned to me, his head tilted upward as if he were looking at something at the top of my head before looking at me in the face, "Why don't you tell me that answer, Analya, Goddess of Emotions."
Anyways plz review =DDD! ~ Thorakis God of Fate and Chaos
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