HEY GUYS! ITS BEEN WHAT...SEVEN DAYS SINCE I LAST UPDATED? I THINK SO, DEPENDING ON HOW OUT THERE OUR TIME ZONES ARE. I FELT LIKE THIS WAS A MORE "EH" CHAPTER, SO I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU GUYS WILL THINK OF IT. LETS HOPE THAT THIS WILL BE AN ENJOYABLE READ!
DISCLAIMER: I. AM. NOT. RICK. RIORDAN. NEED I SAY ANY MORE?
"Probably some of the best things that have ever happened to you in life,
happened because you said yes to something.
Otherwise things just sort of stay the same."
-Danny Wallace, Yes Man
PERCY'S POV-
"Have a great day at school Percy!"
"Thanks mom!" I waved at my mom, smiling like an idiot at the thought of meeting Annabeth at the bus stop. Annabeth. Even her name makes me feel one hundred times happier than I already am.
Today it is my twelfth birthday and ironically also the first day of school. Ironic why, you may ask? Because I hate school. Just the thought of all those math problems and floating letters should be enough to make me want to ditch it all together, but my excitement for what Annabeth has in store for me definitely outweighs any insecurities I may have for what lay ahead.
See, whenever it's my birthday Annabeth tends to go all out with the surprises, doing her best to make feel like the happiest person in the world. Last year, when my birthday fell on a weekend, Annabeth took me to the amusement park that opened up near her house. I remember every detail of the day, from the exploding hamburger prank I pulled on a biker with anger issues (long story) to the embarrassing trip we took on the Thrill Ride O' Love (even longer story) and even the small talk we had about Greek mythology afterwards. It was all in all one of the most amazing days in my life, thanks to Annabeth, and now I was looking forward to what was coming next.
I got to the bus stop, expecting to see her waiting, but stopped in my tracks when I saw that she wasn't there. In fact, no one was. I checked the time and saw that it was 7:34, which only confused me more because the bus was supposed to be here four minutes ago. I scoped the area for some sign of life, but saw nothing, not even a bird in the sky.
A black dog appeared where only a few seconds ago there had been nothing. It barked and wagged its tail.
"Hey doggie!" I have a soft spot for dogs. "Where's your owner?"
The dog barked again and shook its head in the direction of a man wearing what looked like a trench coat in the distance. I couldn't really see his face due to the start of fog blocking my view.
"Excuse me sir!" I yelled. "I think your dog wants something!"
The man made as if he didn't hear me.
"Sir!" I walked toward the dog and saw that it was a purebred Rottweiler probably only a year old. "Come on, I'm going to take you to your owner."
Woof!
I beckoned the dog to follow, but it didn't move. "Here boy!"
I received the same reaction from the dog as I had from its owner.
I checked my watch again and saw that it was still 7:34. "What the…?"
The dog's tail starts to thump up and down, up and down in a hypnotic manner.
Woof!
My reverie breaks when the dog barks. I check its collar and see that his name is Cerberus; like the three-headed monster that guards the underworld.
"Cerberus!" I take a few steps towards the man in the distance and the dog follows, responding to his name. "Finally." I sigh.
When I am at last close enough to see the mysterious man's face, he lifts his head and looks me straight in the eye, only….he has no eyes. In the place of the brown orbs I was expecting are empty sockets that hold nothing, literally seeming to contain only darkness.
He must be expecting me to scream, because he holds I finger to his lips, giving me a silent command to be quiet. I obey and hold in the shriek that was making its way to my throat. The man draws Cerberus to him with a lazy wave of his fingers, and points at something behind me. I turn to look and see that the fog has blocked my view and that the man was only trying to distract me so that he would be able to disappear. I gulp.
Soon enough, the fog becomes so dense that I am no longer able to see my own hand in front of my face. The simple task of breathing becomes a chore due to the water vapor taking over the air.
"Help!"
My head snaps up when I recognize the voice. "Annabeth?"
"Percy!"
"Annabeth!" It is no longer a question that the cry belongs to my best friend. "Where are you?!"
"Over here!" Annabeth's voice sounds strained. "Help me!"
"Wait!" I follow the sound of Annabeth's cries. "I'll find you!"
"Hurry!" Annabeth sounds close to passing out.
"If I was you, I'd go home quick!" I jump at how close the new voice is to me. "Don't want to be caught in the middle of this, do yah?"
"Thanks, I guess I'll take your advice and go home now. Before something worse happens."
Suddenly, the fog cleared out and I was now standing in the middle of a drug store with a boy and two men talking a few feet in front of me. I could only see the back of the boy's head, but I still knew who he was, even before he spoke.
"Right you should! Good luck!"
The future-I mean, past- version of myself turned and walked straight through me as if I was only made of air.
"What a jittery fellow," said Bill, leaning on the counter.
"He was probably just nervous." George looked straight at the now four years older version of me. "Weren't you Percy?"
I opened and closed my mouth like a fish.
"Eh…look at him." Bill smirked. "He can't even bring himself to face the consequences."
"I didn't kill you." I managed to choke out the words I was desperate to believe. "It wasn't my fault that Kronos's army blew this place up. I only ran away because I wanted to stop them."
"You were afraid of getting yourself killed." Bill and George spoke in unison, having the effect of hissing snakes. Their faces started to corrode and show their skeletons, like an orange being peeled of its skin. "You ran away because you wanted to hide!"
"No." I shook my head and tried to deny what the ghosts of Bill and George were saying, but that only made them burst into laughter.
"You killed us!" Bill howled with glee.
"The Army was led here by you!" George started to turn into dust.
I felt my chest grow heavy with the terrible scene unfolding in front of me. I tried to flee the store, but was pushed back when the door shut, blocking my path.
"Oh no!" Bill's skeletal form wagged his finger from side to side. "You'll stay and burn with us! Bianca is dead and you've shunned Annabeth! What else do you have left? Everyone thinks you've abandoned them! What's the use of having you live anymore?"
I clutched at my throat when I realized that I was choking with the sudden spur of smoke and ashes appearing all around me. Random items in the room burst into flames and I could feel myself burning….burning….gasping for a single breath. George and Bill turned to black dust, leaving me alone to wallow in my own pity and physical pain.
"It was your fault Percy!"
"No." I didn't know where the voices were coming from; all I knew was that I was being swallowed by flames and self-loathing.
"You killed Bianca!"
"I couldn't have!" I fell to my knees and saw that my hands were covered in red welts and blisters. When will the pain end!?
"And most importantly…..you can never have any contact with those you love."
My vision was starting to be invaded by the colors red and orange, intertwining like the chains on a golden bracelet.
"Because then you'll end up murdering them too."
The last thing I heard as I was being swallowed by the deadly blazes of my fiery grave was the sadistic cackling of a voice I did not recognize, nor think I ever will.
The voice of someone gone insane with grief.
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After dunking my head in the sink water for the fifth time, I looked at myself in the mirror and saw that my eyes still held the fear I was trying my best to get rid of. Water dripped down my face and made tapping noises every time it hit the tiled floors. My chest rose up with the effort of my every breath, showing just how much strain I had put my lungs through.
No matter how strange it may sound, the worst part of my nightmare wasn't the dream itself, but waking up from it. Shooting up from my bed in cold sweat, and trying to put out the flames on my body that weren't really there until I at last got myself together isn't the way I want to start my morning. Especially not today; August eighteenth.
Today is the day of all days when I'm supposed to be at my best, and here I am freaking out about some recurring nightmare! It always starts out with a happy memory, but ends up with me relieving an even crueler version of the drug store exploding from four years ago. Why couldn't the past just leave me alone?
I had absolutely no desire to remember Annabeth because then I would miss her even more than I already do. I would smile at the inside jokes we used to share and the things she would entrust me with, but then end up feeling like a complete jerk when the memory of those last few words I left her with would catch up to me.
My eyebrows furrowed when I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. Did I really spend my last day at home hurting those I love?
Someone pounded on the bathroom door.
"Percy we all know you're a good looking dude, but we've got a line here and admiring yourself in the mirror isn't going to make it any shorter!" Travis sounded annoyed. "Stop hogging up the bathroom and get out of there already!"
"I'm almost done!" I splashed water onto my face for the last time and put my plain orange shirt back on.
"Time to face what's ahead." I whispered.
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"Perseus Jackson?"
I glared at the blonde haired messenger. "I go by Percy. You know that more than anybody."
Luke grinned. "Sorry, I forgot you were so touchy about your name. Chiron's calling you."
I jumped up from the breakfast table and ditched my toast. "What does he want me for?"
"I'm not sure, but it looks pretty urgent." Luke pointed towards the hall leading to the meeting room. "I'd advice you to cover your ears, Reyna and Chiron were having a bit of a disagreement when I was there."
"Thanks for the warning." I mock saluted Luke and turned to leave.
"Wait." Luke grabbed my shoulder.
I raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?"
"Happy birthday." A mischievous look flickered across Luke's face. "You'll find that I left you a little something in your room."
I gave Luke a surprised expression because I thought that everyone forgot about what only I was expected to know.
He gave me one last pat, before walking away.
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Saying that Chiron and Reyna were having a disagreement was a massive understatement. A more appropriate term would've been catfight.
Reyna's voice only got louder when I opened the door, meaning I think she might've popped one of my eardrums. She wasn't really yelling, just talking really really loud, like she was trying to hold back the bellows she so yearned to let rain down on poor Chiron. I could see my blonde-haired buddy, Jason, trying to restore peace between the two of them. When I walked into the room, only he seemed to notice me and mouthed the word help in what seemed like desperation.
"I can do it on my own." The vein on Reyna's forehead seemed close to popping. "I don't need anyone else's help when it comes to doing my job."
Chiron narrowed his eyes. "I'm sorry Reyna, but it is necessary for you and Jason to remain inconspicuous and going on this quest makes that very difficult."
"This is a serious situation." Reyna growled. "Percy may be capable on a novice level, but what you want him to do is beyond his abilities."
"I take offense to that," Reyna gave me a startled look at my sudden appearance, "and anyway, what was the last time you've seen me on an actual mission?"
"There's a difference between missions and quests, Percy." Great. Reyna was now angry at me too. "Quests are only available for fully fledged members of The Olympians, which you happen not to be."
"I turned sixteen today." I shot back. "I completed all the tasks a member has to achieve to get initiated and I'm now old enough to be determined. If Chiron wants to give me a quest, then you can't stop him. Right Chiron?"
I expected Chiron to agree with me, but he avoided my gaze.
"Right Chiron?" I repeated.
"About that…" Chiron drifted off.
"What's wrong?" I was getting worried. Today was supposed to be the day I became an official member of The Olympians, and the day my father finally revealed to me who he was. Surely nothing could interfere with that?
"Your father took back his er-promise." Chiron started to inspect his fingernails.
"Stop being such a procrastinator and tell him what happened already." Reyna snarled. "Or I will."
"The thing is, your father doesn't believe that you proved yourself enough to become determined." Chiron shook his head. "I told him that his decision isn't a very wise one, but of course he's above me in status and I can't do anything to change his mind. He wants you to go on a major mission, because until then he declines to accept you as his son."
My worry faded as quick as it had come, now replaced with anger at my father. "Then that fine right? I don't see the big deal. I can finish one more mission and we're done here."
"The problem is," Reyna didn't let Chiron answer, "the mission Chiron wants to send you on is one that I would prefer to handle myself."
"Well, what is it?" I asked.
"Chiron wants you to go back to your normal life and pretend that you quit The Olympians." Jason explained. "A member of Kronos's Army is posing as a student in one of the high schools and he wants you to somehow find out who he is and gain his trust. That way, you may be asked to join their army and find out where they keep headquarters once and for all."
"Oh…." I tried to put on my best confident face. "I can do that."
"No you can't." Reyna glared daggers at me.
"Why not?" I crossed my arms
"Because this has more to do with me than you." A distant look entered Reyna's eyes. "I have a personal grudge against Kronos's Army that I plan to settle using this mission."
"We all do, what makes you any different than any of us?" My question was aimed at Reyna, but Jason went on defensive.
"Don't ask a question that won't get answered." This was on of the first times that Jason's ever gotten mad at me. "What happened to Reyna isn't the business of anyone who wasn't involved in it."
"And you are?" My intended come back backfired on me.
"Yes, as a matter of fact I am." Jason leaned back on his chair. "But I still agree with Chiron that you should be the one to go on this mission. Its too much of a risk that they'll recognize Reyna as praetor."
"I'll be careful! Every step I take will be done with caution!" Reyna was trying her best to convince Chiron that she should be the one chosen for this mission.
"Alright then." Chiron clasped his hands. "Reyna can go on this mission."
"Yes!" Reyna's composure broke and she fist pumped the air.
"If-" Reyna's eyes widened "-Percy decides to let you take it instead of him."
I smirked, knowing that Reyna's chances got lowered down to zero percent.
"I agree." Jason nodded his head. "Except that I think we've better be a bit more fair and tell Percy the ummm….risks."
"What risks?" I tilted my head in curiosity.
"Oh there's only one and it isn't too bad." Jason became suddenly very interested in his purple Legion T-shirt. "Its just the usual chance of death times a hundred. No biggie."
"I'd appreciate a bit more detail." I pinched my thumb and pointer finger together as the sign for a little. " Particularly on the death thing?"
"If you do manage to get into Kronos's Army, there is a chance that things can go wrong and that they'll realize who you are which will result in a probably very painful death." Jason indicated Reyna, sitting next to him. "That's why Chiron is still skeptical on the idea of sending Reyna on this mission. If she gets caught, then we'll lose a praetor and at the brink of a battle that isn't something we want."
I stood there like a moron for a few minutes until it dawned on me that the real reason Chiron wanted to send me on this mission wasn't because he believed I was capable; it was because if I happened to die, there wouldn't be any significant difference. Life would go on as if nothing had happened, where areas if Reyna died, there would be total chaos. I've got to admit that learning this gave me a big "ouch" moment.
Reyna must've mistaken the crestfallen look on my face for fear because she turned back to Chiron in triumph. "See? He's afraid! Send me instead and this will be over with in a few months tops!"
"Hold on." I challenged Reyna. "Who said that I didn't want to go?"
"But-"
I cut off Reyna's protest. "If this is what it takes to get into The Olympians, then so be it! I am going on this mission!"
Everyone currently in the room was stunned to silence by my sudden determination. Everyone but me.
I couldn't stand the idea of backing down when Chiron and my father seemed to have so little faith in me as it is. This was my chance to prove myself and I wasn't going to let it soar by.
"Its settled then." Chiron wheeled back on his wheelchair. "Starting next month, you will be enrolled into Goode High school. "
"This is an outrage!" Reyna stood up in her seat so fast that her chair got thrown back. "Chiron, you are being completely unfair! Its obvious that I am better suited for this!"
Chiron ignored her and wheeled past me, out the door.
"Chiron!"
"Reyna its okay. Calm down." Jason reached into his pocket and handed Reyna a small square packet. "Here, have some peanuts."
"How are peanuts supposed to make me feel better!?" Reyna was going completely hysterical.
"They aren't." Jason followed after Chiron. "I just don't want them anymore."
Now that Reyna and I were alone, I could see that not getting to go on this mission meant more to her than I thought. Without warning, I started to apologize.
"Reyna I'm really sorry. I only did it because-"
"Go." Reyna refused to look at me. "Get out of here."
"Reyna-"
"GO!"
I shoved my hands in my pocket and decided that I would only make things worse by staying. I left the room without another word, silence following in my wake, although I could swear that I heard a sob when I was halfway down the hall.
Hopefully, accepting this mission will be worth it.
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WHAT DID YOU GUYS THINK? GOOD, BAD, MODERATE?
MESSAGE TO YOU GUYS: REMEMBER HOW IN THE LAST CHAPTER I SAID THAT WHO EVER GUESSED CLOSEST TO WHAT HAPPENNED TO GABE IN A REVIEW GETS A CHAPTER DEDICATION? WELL, I CHANGED IT UP A BIT. NOW ITS: WHO EVER GUESSES CLOSEST TO WHAT HAPPENED TO GABE IN A REVIEW GETS A CHAPTER DEDICATION AND A FIVE HUNDRED WORD CHAPTER SNEAK PEEK :)
GUEST REPLIES-
GUEST: (WHO STARTED OUT THEIR REVIEW WITH ":OHMYGOD THIS IS AWESOME") THANKS! ITS NICE TO KNOW THAT I'M DOING A GOOD JOB! AND PSH! YOU'RE AWESOME!
COOL: THE NEXT CHAPTER IS NOW HERE, BUT YOU PROBABLY JUST READ IT SO AT THIS POINT I'M JUST BEING WEIRD AND POINTING OUT THE OBVIOUS. HUH, YOUR GUESS IS ACTUALLY CLOSER TO WHAT HAPPENED THAN YOU MAY THINK.
guest1234567890- I HOPE I GET TO UPDATE MORE TOO! MY FUTURE ENGLISH TEACHER GAVE ME HOMEWORK DURING THE SUMMER THOUGH SO THAT KIND OF MESSES WITH MY SCHEDULE *SIGH*. IT'S LIKE THE WORLD IS CONSPIRING AGAINST MY UPDATING FASTER! GRRRR..ANYWAY, THANKS FOR LOVING MY STORY :)
JORDAN- I'D RECOMMEND KLEENEX FOR THAT, AND CHOCOLATE. LOTS AND LOTS OF CHOCOLATE. I REALLY DON'T KNOW HOW I CAN BE SO CRUEL. HOW DO I LIVE WITH MYSELF WHEN I HAVE THE HEART TO MESS WITH SUCH NICE FICTIONAL PEOPLE LIKE PERCY, SALLY, AND TYSON?! I FEEL SO ASHAMED :(