Broken Image

Percy's POV

"Chaos, I have to go.", I told my new friend and teacher. She nodded at me.

"Percy, I know. I am the one who told Atlas to call to you. You see, I'm not going to truly 'train' you, per se. I am going to unlock infinite potential inside of you. After that, I will send on missions that will force you to learn new powers and skills.", Chaos informed me.

I nodded my head like I understood , but I was kind of confused. Oh well, whatever. I only really paid attention to the infinite potential part.

"Okay. That sounds a bit...cruel?", I told Chaos. She only gave me a falsely innocent smile. "Oh Percy, who ever said that this would be easy for you? You have to earn your powers. You don't just get them. That would be way too easy. And I hate easy.", she told me with a wink. I couldn't help but blush.

"Oh. Okay.", I lamely responded. She only gave me another smile.

"Percy, off you go. Mount Tam awaits you!", she told me, ushering me off. I nodded and gave her a thumbs up before water-teleporting towards the newer home of Atlas.

Still weak from carrying Annabeth so far earlier, I could only make it half way there before having to sit down and recuperate. I set up a silver tent, similar to the one that Artemis gave me to use when I was in her camp. It had an insignia in the shape of a silver eye with black irises, which Chaos placed. I had no idea why she put her insignia on my tent, but I didn't care too much.

I set up a small pit made of stone and wood in order to set up my fire. I looked in my bag for my lighter, but I couldn't find it. Where was it? I made sure to place it in my pack. Sigh. Oh well. Now was a time that I really wish Hestia was my patron so I could light the damn wood with powers.

I heard a rustling.

I quickly stood up and pulled out Riptide. I closed my eyes, heightening my hearing skills in order to find the direction that the noise came from. There it is! I turned and stabbed into the bushes. I only felt leaves and nothing else. Growling, I turned and ran in the direction that I had just stabbed.

When I reached a small clearing, I crept up and hid behind a tree, making sure not to be detected. I took a look into the grassy clearing. The grass around the center of the clearing was charred black. The smell of smoke permeated the air. The smell of burning flesh and feathers made its way to my nose, which in turn wrinkled in disgust. Taking a closer look, I could see some sort of monstrous creature devouring what was remaining of some large bird.

As I recognized the lion-like head and goat-like legs, I knew that the Chimera was standing in front of me. However, this one was different. This new Chimera was a lot larger and its eyes had chaotic swirls inside of them that resembled black holes. I grumbled, "Damn it Chaos." I received a mental flick in the head back for my insult.

Pulling out Riptide and drawing my arm back, I prepared myself to throw the sword at the Chimera. I felt a familiar tug in my gut and I threw the sword, propelling it with my air/wind skills, courtesy of Ouranos. The trusty sword was aimed at the Chimera's face, but it turned quickly and raised its front leg to block. Blood spurted out of its leg, causing it to roar in pain and breath a spout of fire in my direction. I attempted to create a wall of water to protect myself, but it fizzled and turned into steam the second that I tried. Cursing once more, I dove to the left and narrowly escaped the pillar of flames.

I heard a voice in my head, 'Oh Percy, Percy, Percy. Water would be too easy against something that breathes fire, right?' I hated how she could sound so cute and innocent while trying to kill me; it reminded me of Artemis so much. I was about to leap into a pool of memories and thoughts about Artemis, but a roar stopped me from delving into that abyss of both good and bad. I felt an intense heat next to me once more and I quickly pushed myself into the air. I prayed that my air powers weren't disabled and lifted myself up high into the air, suspending myself against the wind current.

I analyzed the situation, much like how a certain goddess would also do. I could try and use my wind powers to hurt the Chimera, but it would be no use against its flame powers. Similarly, my water powers were disabled and the time powers from Chronos were probably not allowed either. I received a mental nod from Chaos when I mentioned the time powers. Sighing, I did things in a way that I knew best. "Wing it!", I yelled as my battle cry while I charged towards the Chimera in an attempt to take down the beast's other front leg.

I ran towards the tower of power in front of me, watching it carefully. As I saw the Chimera swing its leg at me, I slid on the charred dirt and dived under the leg, pulling out Riptide from my pocket and jabbed the sword right above me, cleaving the Chimera's leg clean in half.

I quickly ran forward, making sure to stay clear of the Chimera's mouth as it roared in pain and fell down onto its single injured leg. The beast now laid on the floor upright in a defensive position, making sure I could not sneak behind it. It glared its eyes at me and I could see smoke billowing out of it nostrils.

Preparing myself for an attack, I tried to watch the head of my opponent, but I felt an invisible force push me right towards the mouth of the Chimera. I heard a mental giggling from Chaos, but paid little attention to it as a torrent of flames flew right towards me.

Still sitting on the floor, I screamed and placed my hands in front of me as I could almost feel Thanatos waiting for me. I awaited for a burning feeling, but it never came. Instead, I saw a white pillar of flames shooting from my own hands. At first I was shocked, but then I realized that this was Chaos' way of trying to force me into learning fire powers.

I suddenly felt a rush of adrenaline and grinned as I realized how much more fun my fights were going to be. After both towers of fire ended, the Chimera watched me closely. I decided to end the fight right then and there as I saw the Chimera lose the Chaotic swirls in its eyes. Combining my water, lightning, and fire powers, I shot all three at the beast, making it turn into a pile of dust.

Doing that took a lot out of me, but it looked cool so I didn't care too much. I panted heavily and walked back in the direction of my tent and fire pit. As I approached, I smelled something in the air. I crouched down and hid in the bushes. Being in Tartarus for so long had allowed me to really develop my sense of smell. Let's just that Nyx had me participate in a lot of sick games, the crazy bitch.

I took another whiff of air, inhaling every particle possible. I smelled such a familiar scent that it angered me that I couldn't recognize it. I pulled my bloody Riptide and carefully walked forwards to my tent. I could see a figure standing right inside my tent. I readied my sword arm and used the other arm to pull down the entire cloth door.

As I placed the sharp edge of my sword at the neck of the intruder, I was met with an arrow pointing to my heart. I took a quick look at my adversary. Wearing a silver top along with a hunting parka, her sleek black hair billowed as she breathed, trying to focus on me. I widened my eyes in recognition.

"Zoe?", I gasped in surprise. She followed suit as she shouted my name out loud, dropping her bow as I dropped my swords. I took her into a great bear hug, clearly surprising her but she didn't object.

After a few seconds, I let go of her and took in her appearance. Her hair was tied up in a bun, clipped with a golden pin that looked like her old one. Her face looked exactly the same as I remembered, although there was a hint of tiredness in her eyes.

"How are you here?", I inquired, wanting to know how the former lieutenant of Artemis was alive once more.

"Lord Ouranos set me free. He said some one requested that I be returned to life in order to help an old friend. I was teleported right here, near your tent. I heard fighting and walked over here, but I had no idea that it was you!", she explained, surprise embedded into her tone.

Realization struck me right in the head. I was with Ouranos for years training my ass off and he never told me anything! "Ouranos you are an asshole...", I muttered, receiving a small crack of white lightning in response.

Zoe smacked me on the head. "Don't insult him! He was very nice to me!", she scolded.

I grumbled, "That's only because Ouranos can't resist pretty women."

Zoe gasped in surprise, "What did you call me?"

I shrugged, "Pretty. What about it?" I looked at her straight in the eye, only waiting for her to respond. She blushed and looked away. I raised an eyebrow and internally sighed. Women were making my head spin and my mind melt. I walked into the tent, grabbing a bottle of water and drinking it, both healing and refreshing myself.

Zoe walked in, setting herself on the bed and laying down after placing her bow on the table. She huffed air out. "Being revived from the dead is really tiring.", she complained. In noticed that had lost her accent. "I assume that Ouranos taught you to speak modernly?", I asked. She nodded.

"Yeah, he taught me a lot. He even showed me a lot of what you were doing. Good and bad.", she mentioned that last line with a grimace. I nodded in recognition of what she was talking about.

"Yeah well it's great that you're back. But do you know the details of my current mission?", I asked. She shook her head no. "Zoe, I'm going to Mount Tam. I was sent by Chaos to do this."

She visibly shuddered, but held firm. She was ready this time. And he wouldn't get a second chance. A second later, Zoe raised an eyebrow, "Wait. Chaos? As in...the creator?"

I nodded. "Well, part of her. Apparently, Chaos is currently in a split form. Her good side is helping me earn new powers while her badder side has been influencing Artemis. Bad Chaos is taking advantage of Artemis' title as the Goddess of Maidens against her by telling her that I am a bad influence on her."

Zoe nodded knowingly, but of course her experiences in the past years had to question me. "So why would Chaos do that?", she questioned, eyes narrowing. Her volcanic orbs stared into my soul, sending a shiver down my spine.

I scratched the back of my neck and nervously stared at the ground. "Well, I mean. Artemis and I are just really good friends. You know. We play around with each other. Sometimes we hug. Sometimes we hold hands. Sometimes we almost kiss. And we feel sad sometimes when the other is in danger.", I burst out. I covered my mouth right after. That was too much information.

Zoe's eyes narrowed once more, checking for the truth. She nodded. I could sense...disappointment? I continued, "But that was a while ago. Lately we've been kind of distant. Artemis was always kind of cold. She didn't even really care until I was in danger. Otherwise she ignored me." I frowned.

I felt arms wrap around me and a head lay on my shoulder. I returned the gesture, liking the reassurance that I was receiving."Thanks Zoe", I whispered into her ear. I rubbed her back a little before coming out of the hug. Now let's go to sleep. We have to go to him tomorrow.

She nodded. She laid on the bed and pulled the covers up. I simply made a blanket of water before laying on the floor. I was too weak to make a bed right now, so this would have to do. Zoe tried to protest, but I forced myself to sleep, entering the realm of Morpheus.

When I woke up, I expected a blanket of water to be on me. Instead I was currently laying on a normal pillow and covered with a silver sweater. I sat up and saw Zoe sitting at the table, humming a little tune as she ate a sandwich. I smiled at the scene and got up. "You didn't have to do that.", I told her. She looked at me, "But I did."

I had no response. So I stood up and grabbed the other sandwich. I quickly wolfed it down. After finishing the both of us got out of the tent, and I returned it back into its compact form. I grabbed Zoe's hand. "This is going to be weird." She didn't even have a chance to speak before I teleported us right to the summit of Mount Tam.

We stood in the middle, looking for the small mound that Atlas was standing on.

I saw a figure holding the sky, shaking under its immeasurable amount of weight. I placed my hand on Zoe's shoulder reassuringly, and we walked forward towards the figure. I saw Atlas standing there, grunting as he held the sky.

I heard feet behind me and turned around. I figure clad in armor and holding a shield and spear walked up, his eyes glowing.

"I mean no harm. It is good to see you again, Perseus."

I glared at him, still not forgiving for our last 'meeting'.

"Good to see you to, old man.", Zoe spat in disgust.

Atlas' stare faltered and he rushed over to his daughter. I pulled out Riptide and Zoe drew back an arrow. We were about to attack but...

Atlas kneeled before us, placing his head on the floor as he bowed to his daughter.

Done! I hope you like it. Zoe's back! And new powers! And we first glimpse at Atlas! Yay! I'm going to work on a chapter of Pokemon now. I'm tired. A lot of summer work to still do. Please review! :)