Chapter 7
Nico's POV:
"Meeting adjourned!" Zeus bellowed loudly after announcing the new threat to Olympus and the betrayal of the Goddess of Moon.
I got up from the marble made ground and frowned. I had many questions at the top of my head. I could swear on my life that Percy wouldn't do such a thing to his friends. Even if he did betray them, there must be a valid reason behind his action. No one would make an irrational decision without a reason to motivate him or her after all.
With my head slightly down, clearly distracted by my thoughts, I walked out of the throne room alone. I thought I heard my name shot across the room, but the ruffling sound from the other demi-gods quickly covered it up. I decided to ignore it and advanced back to the elevator that brought me to Olympus.
Just when I was about to enter the elevator and end this miserable day, a loud voice shot in my ears that truly jumped me. I whirled around with a scowl on my face, ready to blow up. I had enough frustrating events for one day already, and I would blow my anger toward whoever dares to scare me.
My jaw dropped to the ground because of the mist before me. It was Percy! The new Olympus threat just contacted me. Should I gather the Gods? Should I turn him in? Percy did have the guts to Iris-Message me while I was still on Olympus.
"Nico!" Percy yelled through the mist again. "Can you hear me?"
"Very clear." I replied, still pretty shocked by his bravery. "What do you need?"
"Listen up, meet me at Central Park alone in one hour. I will explain everything to you once we meet. Come alone and unarmed." Percy said quickly, as if afraid to show his presence to other people.
I thought about it for a second before I replied. Is this a trap? Will he hold me as a hostage to threaten Olympus? Percy would never do that to anyone. Plus, I needed to know the full story. I knew Zeus held some essential information back judging from his uneasiness when he talked to us earlier. I nodded at him through the message before I swiped my hand through it, hanging up the call.
During my small talk with Percy, I was unaware of the group of people that approached me silently. Once I waved my hand through the mist, the hair behind my neck tingled a bit, signaling that I was being watched secretly.
I whirled around with my Stygian Iron sword in my right hand, ready to strike down the person who dare invaded my privacy. My eyes landed on six figures who stood in front of me with their arms crossed. They eyed me in a way as if wondering who I was talking to.
I shrugged, hoping my innocent look would persuade them. But judging from the continuous glares from the group of demi-gods, I knew I had to tell them the truth.
I sighed loudly. I hope this could go well.
"Erm.." I began. "I was talking to Percy through Iris Message."
The moment I mentioned Percy's name, the demi-gods in front of me eyed each other before looking straight back at me. The tension in the air gave me panic, as if I couldn't breathe in air anymore. A moment ago, I declared that I would stay neutral, but what about now? I just talked to the traitor!
I began to shift uncomfortably when the son of Jupiter walked out of the group and talked.
"What did he tell you?" Jason said coldly.
The coldness in his tone was able to freeze anyone's heart. I gulped hard and shivered.
"He wanted to meet me in one hour, alone," I replied back to Jason.
Jason, who looked at me skeptically decided to take my answer for now.
"You do know that we promised my father to stay out of this civil war, right?" Jason asked.
I nodded. "Yes. But what made you think Percy did it? Did you forget his fatal flaw! It is loyalty. There is no way that he will make such a rash decision." I retorted. "I have to admit that he have some seaweed brain moments, but he always make rational decisions when he is needed the most, when he is leading the group."
Deep in my heart, I still believed that there was something that motivated Percy to do such thing. I knew him since I was a teen, and I remembered how he saved my sister and I from the Nemea Lion.
During the second Titan war, Prometheus tried to persuade Percy to join Kronos' forces, however, Percy's loyalty lied elsewhere.
"So what are you trying to tell us?" Leo, who stood next to his buddy, Jason, asked.
"Don't you think the Gods are hiding some value information from us? There must be a reason for Percy to rebel," I said, hoping they would be able to understand my logic.
There was a moment of silence among the group of demi-gods as they tried to take in the shocking new information. I smiled slightly, believed that I managed to convince most or all of them to understand my logic and reasoning behind it.
Sure enough, all the prophecy seven trusted my words without any doubts, since we been through a lot of chaotic events in the past.
After a moment of awkward silence between us, Jason finally took a step forward to me.
"So what are you going to do about it?" He asked me.
To be honest, I had no idea how to react to this situation. Surely, I trusted Percy with my life, but there was still a tiny chance that he was no longer the Percy we knew.
"How about," I said. "I go meet him in one hour, and YOU guys come along with me. Stay hidden until I motion you guys."
Everyone nodded in unison, approving my plan. However, a feeling of guilt climbed up to my heart slowly. Percy did tell me to come alone. He was brave enough to contact me, knowing that I might side with the Gods, but I couldn't trust him enough to go by myself.
"By the way," I added before they began to leave. "Bring weapons, just in case."
They all nodded and went off to prepare for themselves. I, alone, stood before the elevator that brought me up to Olympus. I decided to return to the camp, so I could prepare myself.
Once I took a step out of the Empire State Building, I waved a taxi and asked the driver to take me to my destination.
The feeling of the camp was nostalgic. I remembered the first time I came here. Percy promised to find a home for my sister and I. Although my sister died during the quest on saving Lady Artemis and Annabeth, Bianca died as a hero. She sacrificed herself for Percy, and it was the Fate who killed her after all.
I shouldn't blame Percy for my sister's death now that I thought of. The year after my sister died, I was mad at Percy. Mad at him for not keeping the promise between us.
Percy indeed felt guilty as well. His fatal flaw made him to blame himself when a comrade died in front of his eyes. He would beat himself up, argue that he could've and should've done something to stop the incident to occur. Most of the time or all of the time, however, it wasn't his fault.
Bringing my thoughts back, I walked down Half-Blood Hill, aiming for the Hades cabin. I wasn't all excited to return to my home, the place where I got truly accepted because of Percy. As I skipped past the dinner pavilion, numerous campers turned around and waved at me. Some of them even hugged me, well, manly way.
My return this time symbolizes my distrust toward Percy. I had to gather my weapons and belongings because this might be the last time I would be able to see this wonderful place. If a fight broke out between Percy and us, chances of surviving would be close to zero.
I snapped my wrist and look at the watch that was placed on my wrist. I had exactly ten minutes. With that said, I slung my backpack over my shoulder and sheathed my Stygian iron sword on my waist. I was ready to take off.
I didn't want Chiron to see me. He would be very disappointed at my decisions. I felt really ashamed of myself, and I didn't really know how to face Percy once he found out my distrust towards him.
Pushing my thoughts aside, I sneaked out of the camp by walking into a shadow, shadow traveling to the rendezvous spot.
"You're late," a voice said behind me. Jason.
I lifted my arm and looked at my watch. "Jason, I'm only late for three minutes. Besides, it is hard to leave the camp without Chiron and Mr. D noticing," I protested.
"I'm just joking bro," Jason smiles and said. "So where do you want us to be?" He said, while pointing at the rest of the demi-gods, fully armed.
I scratched my chin and pointed at the bush sitting few yards away from us. "There. Hid there until I signal you guys to come."
Jason nodded and led the demi-gods to hide while I stood in the park nervously, waiting for Percy to show up.
About ten minutes after I arranged everything in order, Percy showed up.
"Hey man," Percy said cheerfully while trying to give me a hug.
I saw my chance. I stepped a bit closer to him, pretending to embrace him as well, but secretly, I pulled out a dagger, ready to impale him if he chose to do anything to me.
Like I expected, this small trick didn't work on the great hero of Olympus himself as he thrust his hand forward, pinch me by my wrist and swiftly jacked the dagger out of my palm. He then grabbed me by the collar, looking betrayed. I couldn't look him in the eyes. I wasn't brave enough to face him.
"EVERYONE OUT!" I closed my eyes and yelled desperately, hoping to get out of this situation.
When I opened my eyes again, I was no longer in the air. Instead, I saw numerous weapons pointed at Percy's throat. His eyes didn't show any fury or any sign of emotion. It was empty, hollow. It showed disbelief and terror.
"Nico..." Percy said in a flat tone. "How could you? I trusted you!"
Avoiding his gaze, I answered him. "I'm sorry Percy. I had to do this. I need to make sure something."
"Yea? What is it?" Percy said.
"Tell me! Tell me everything! Tell me the whole story! Why did you betrayed the Gods? What made you do this? I want to make sure before I make any decisions." I pleaded.
At the mention of the Gods, Percy instantly narrowed his eyes, clearly refused to answer my question.
"If you want to know ask Zeus," he said.
"He did, but all he said was that you broke the allegiance with Olympus and even waged war on them!" I replied to him. "But I don't think you would do such a thing. There must be a reason behind it."
Percy rose an eyebrow and said, "You really do think so?"
"Positive. We all do." I said. "Zeus even tried to recruit us to the Olympus army, but we all refused. Well, except for..." Before I could finish my sentence, Piper nudged me hard on the back. Oh yea, I shouldn't mention Annabeth's name in front of Percy.
"Except for who?" Percy asked skeptically.
"Uh nothing." I said, hoping to cover this up.
Thankfully, Percy decided to drop this subject.
"You really do want to know what happened right?" Percy sighed and asked.
Everyone besides me all nodded.
Line Break
"WHAT! How could that pompous brat do such a thing!" Leo said furiously while giving Jason an apologetically look.
Even Jason, being the son of Jupiter, couldn't stand what his father did to his friend.
Jason shook his head miserably. "How dare he kill your sister from behind! He even tried to kill you, Percy!"
Percy nodded. "So there are my reasons. Zeus is just being a pompous jerk. Someone has to show him his place. He can't rule Olympus like that. He is slowly corrupting the era of Gods."
"But how are we going to do this," asked Frank.
Percy shrugged. "Well, it's all up to you guys now. It is either we fight together or we meet on the different sides of the battlefield. Your choice."
A moment of silence spread across the group of demi-gods as we debated if joining the rebellious side was a worthy thing to do. True, the Gods had been so proud and manipulated us to fulfill their goals for the past centuries. They never truly cared about our lives. Instead, they valued us like pawns, and they were the king and queen. We were needed to sacrifice ourselves for them to accomplish the ultimate goal, just like a stepping-stone.
All these thoughts went through my mind swiftly, and I finally made my decision. I sheathed my Stygian Iron sword and dropped it right next to me. A confused look shot across Percy's face but was soon erased with a crooked smile when I stepped closer to him and hugged me tightly.
"Percy. No matter what happens, I will always support you. You earned yourself an ally!" I said.
"Thanks bro, I knew I could trust you." Percy replied with a smile.
I then turned around and shouted. "So what are your decisions? Are we going to fight together till the end or cross blades on the battlefield!"
Simultaneously, loud chatters muffled through the air. Everyone was voicing their thoughts out loud, and all I could hear was "Fight with Percy!" or "Stomp Olympus!"
After a while, Percy waved his arm, silencing everyone effectively.
"Now, as you can see, we are going against all odds to fight the Gods. If we manage to win, then we will bring just to our future generations, but if we lose…" Percy trailed off. "You know the consequence. We will be sent to Field of Punishment and suffer for eternity. There is no going back once you join me. So if you want, you can leave now." Percy paused, expecting someone to leave.
"Percy please!" Travis shouted from the group. "You know us pretty well. We are going through this together. No one is leaving."
I thought I saw Percy's eyes tear up a bit when he realized how much we valued him as a friend.
"Thank you Travis. So now, we got to -"
Before Percy could finish, a loud boom was heard as everyone ducked to avoid the direct impact from the explosion. After a moment or so, everyone got back up to their feet, wondering what could possibly happen.
Oh.. was all I could come up with. An angry Zeus stomped his way out of the smoke with his symbol of power in his hand. He grasped it so tight to the point where his fingers were turning white.
Sky was churning with force along with plentiful thunders, rumbling in the background. If this is a movie, then the special effects are pretty darn good. Sadly, it's not. It's the God of Theater. I knew I shouldn't be thinking like this when a furious King of Gods was right in front of me, as if ready to blast anyone to Tartarus, but the fact that his face was crimson red and his beard was flying all over the place made it hard not to.
"So what brought you here Zeus." Percy said in a mocking attitude.
Zeus, who tried his best contain his anger replied. "I will deal with you, traitor. But for now, I will need to have a word with your allies here." Zeus said with amusements.
Percy's eyes narrowed and said with a threatening tone. "What are you going to do with them?"
"Oh, it's none of your business. But since you are here, you will see it soon. I hope you find it as entertaining as I will in just a bit." Zeus then turned his attention away from me and focused on the demi-gods in front of him, specifically his son, Jason.
Shifting into this Roman counterpart, Jupiter, he demanded Jason to step out of the crowd to speak to him. Jason did what he was told to do, since it wasn't smart to defy a God. Well, Percy was an exception.
"Jason, I thought we had a deal," Jupiter said in an awfully sweet tone that disgusted me. "I thought you promised to stay neutral. What happened to that?"
Jason, who showed no fear to his father and replied sternly "I am old enough to do whatever I want. You, King of God, made a grave mistake. Just wait till the end we rip Olympus apart. Just you wait."
Jupiter laughed loudly, a sarcastic laugh. "You really do think so, son? Ok. To prevent that to happen, I must do this then." Jupiter said before he summoned his masterbolt and pointed directly at Jason.
"No, this couldn't be happening. Jupiter won't dare to kill his own son. It is sinful." I could hear Piper murmur to herself.
Jason seemed to realize Jupiter's intention. Without fear, he spoke right back to Zeus. "Kill me if you wish, but mark my words, Olympus WILL perish."
"As you wish, my son." Jupiter said and blasted Jason in the chest, instantly evaporating him. Nothing was left behind, not even his ash.
Jupiter then changed back into his Greek counterpart and grinned at me. "You like how I killed your ally? Anyone who stands up against me will die! And you, Perseus Jackson, will be next." Zeus said before he flashed away in a blink of an eye.
No one said a word after this. Leo was next to Piper, who tear up instantly at the death of his boyfriend. Everyone was mourning over Jason's death as a hero. Percy knelt down next to Piper, trying to comfort the broken girl.
"Hey Pipes, it will be alright, ok? We will seek revenge on Zeus, but promise me to stay strong."
Piper nodded and Percy got back up from the ground.
"Everyone! You saw how Zeus treated our friends. He will pay for what he had done today. We will roll into Olympus and destroy their seat of power! For Jason!"
Everyone cheered loudly as soon as Percy finished his speech. Everyone was willing to fight the impossible, although knowing the result of losing the oncoming war.
But something then tickled in the back of my head. I buckled to my knees, which earned some curious looks from my friends.
"Nico what happened?" Percy asked me kindly.
I shook my head several times and ignored his question.
This shouldn't be happening. No one could survive that. How was this happening?
Percy's POV
"Piper," I shouted across the field as I maneuvered my way toward her. "May I have a word with you?"
"Yea sure," she replied. "So what do you need?"
"Well, I have a mission, assigned by someone. Anyway, that's not the point. The clues that he gave me are all in French. So since you are the daughter of Aphrodite, I'm guessing you can understand French?"
"Yea, absolutely."
"Can you follow me back to my safe house? I will show you the clues once we reach there."
Piper nodded in response as I gestured her to follow me.
On the way, Piper began to sob quietly for Jason's death. She truly did loved him dearly, and I could fully understand what she was going through at this very moment. Every war, I would witness my friends' death, including Beckendorf.
"Hey Piper, we are here." I said softly.
She nodded again and led her into the house.
A black figure immediately dashed forward, attempting to stop me from entering. A familiar spear was drawn and pointed straight at my throat. Beside the black figure stood a person in silvery clothings, pointing an arrow at my torso.
"Thalia, Artemis, calm down. It's me. Percy," I said to the two figures.
The moment I announced my presence, I received a gigantic hug from Thalia while Artemis stood at the side, looking at us amusingly.
"Artemis, aren't you going to hug Percy?" Thalia asked cheekily.
Artemis' face turned red right away and shook her head hard.
"So why is Piper here?" Thalia finally asked.
"Thought you never ask? Remember those French words we saw earlier?" I asked Thalia.
"Yea? What about it?" Thalia asked, still failed to understand the logic behind it.
I rolled my eyes at her. "Well, Piper is a daughter of Aphrodite, correct? So she will be able to translate it for us." I said it as-a-matter-of-factly.
"Oh..I see now!" Thalia exclaimed. "Glad you could think, fish boy."
"Yea thanks," I murmured under my breathe.
I then headed over to a shelf where Artemis stood. "Hey Artemis, mind passing me the small box that Tartarus gave me?"
"Yea, no problem," she said and turned around to grab the box. "Here you go," she said and handed me the box. I reached my hand out to grab but my clumsiness accidently grabbed Artemis' hand instead of the box.
She yelped and dropped the box on my feet. Ow. A huge red blush formed on her face as I could imagine myself doing the same in this awkward moment.
"Oops, s-sorry about that A-Artemis," I stammered the words out in embarrassment.
"No Percy it's fine. I know it was an accident," Artemis added quickly, equally as embarrassed as I was.
Thalia, on the other hand, was smiling lightly. Who knew what she was up to this time. I could only hope that it had nothing to do with Artemis or I.
"So Percy, what about the box?" Piper asked. "And what so special about it?"
"After Poseidon disowned me, he took Riptide away from me along with my demi-god powers. Please keep it as a secret," I said as I saw Piper's eyes went wide. "Anyway, Tartarus said the box would help me find a powerful weapon. However, the clues are all written in French and only you can help us."
"Sure, why not. I mean, there is nothing worth living for after… after Jason's death," Piper said, trying hard not to break down again.
Before I could continue, Thalia interrupted me, which I saw it coming.
"Excuse me Piper, but can you repeat what you just said? Was that something about my brother?" Thalia said while I could easily tell that her anger was rising.
"Zeus! That bastard. HE KILLED JASON!" Piper literally yelled out the last part and broke into tears again.
Now, it is Thalia's turn to yell. "My father just killed his own son? HOW COULD HE DO SUCH A THING! ZEUS! YOU WILL FALL IN THE BATTLE BY OUR HANDS!"
Thunder rumbled loudly as Zeus responded to the two furious girls. Artemis who was quiet during all this time clearly had a deep scowl planted on her face. She, along with us, did not fancy Zeus' decisions.
Faster than I thought it could happen, Thalia dug her head into Artemis' chest and began to sob loudly. I could feel the pain and grief rolling off of her. I would do the same if I was in her shoe. However, it is not the right time to mourn over Jason's death. If we wanted golden blood to spill all over Olympus, then crying would not help us. Besides, I witnessed many of my friends' death from time to time. It was painful, but the only way to overcome the unfortunate and move on was to let it go.
"Guys, I know how you all feel. But, it is impossible to bring Jason back to life. We will revenge for him, and the only way is to kick Zeus out of his throne and send him to Tartarus. Agree?" I asked the three girls.
"Yea, Percy is right," Artemis said. "We have to quickly find the weapon that Percy is looking for."
"So here is the box, Piper. Open it and you will see," I said to Piper while handing her the ancient looking brown box.
She nodded and took the box. At the contact with Piper, the box glowed in soft pink, as if welcoming her touch. The glow soon died off, and Piper flipped the lid over.
Letters that I didn't recognized popped right into space. Piper, however, had an understanding look on her face.
"It said L'endroit où vous ne voulez jamais revenir, which means the place you never want to return," Piper said.
"What does that mean?" Thalia asked and turned to me.
I shrugged. I honestly had no idea what this means. It could be anywhere or nowhere. While I was thinking, I saw Artemis in the corner of my eyes, looking at me. I felt as if an electric current flow into my body, shocking my brain, as I saw how stunning she was.
Her auburn hair was so silky and soft that it hung below her shoulder naturally. Her silvery eyes stared at me softly, the way that Annabeth used to look at me. Annabeth. Wait!
This was when realization hit my head. I knew the answer to the clue now, and indeed, I didn't wish to return to that blasted place, filled with painful memories.
A/N: Finally, chapter 7 is out lul. This chapter took me a while to write. First, I didn't really enjoy this chapter. Second, well, probably procrastination :P
Can anyone guess what the place is? I think I made it pretty obvious xD. Anyway, drop down a review, and I will see you next time! Take care!
Ghost 1247: I'm sorry. Annabeth is going down in my story! She will get hurt, but I don't know to what extent though :P
Firehelm: Ye, thanks bby. I forgot about my 7th excuse.