Chapter 11

Hi guys, I'm back. And I'm very much alive if any of you had thought I was dead. Sorry for the supreme late update. I've been trying to come up with ideas and cope with A-level study at school. Understanding is almost easy (key word: almost). But to achieve at least 90% (equal an A*) to ensure a place in university, and scholarship… It's another story for another time.

And,… Well, no offense but I think my story isn't good enough so I'm trying to improve it. Any ideas, flames, etc. please leave in reviews or PM me. You'll get a shout out, and a big big bowl of 'Phở' (or Pho as I mentioned once in the story). Or any kind of food you want (as long as I can cook it and pronounce it)

(Damn, my computer sucks, I can't find any symbol of a bowl so, yeah, sorry)

So, back to the story, where was I? Alright, guys, please review my story. This is what I keep dreaming for. So, please, read and review

Disclaimer: Percy Jackson series belong to Rick Riordan, I just own my character (including Sophia, Mike, Bob, John, Tom, Mimi and unknown man, only known as Rikimaru (don't worry, I'll reveal his name this chapter)). And to author, Rick Riodan, peace out.

Note: This story (may) get crazier and crazier, so if you guys want this story to be 'normal' (as normal as Percy can be), just send me some notice. OK (never ever ask a Vietnamese to be normal, the blood of rebellious and (slight) craziness is in our vain)

Quote of the day:

They don't fight for Country, they don't fight of Stalin, they fight for you, lady. If you fall, they will fall too

Captain Gromov, Stalingrad (2013)

(Sorry guys, I'm not 100% red, but this movie was just great. You guys should watch it)

Honor the death, fight like hell for the living

(Unknown)

Now, let the story begin

Chapter 11

Third person's POV

Mimi had been standing in the tunnel for 10 minutes. And the sound of gunfire stopped 3 minutes ago. She was in horror.

Right before the gunfire ended, she heard a loud cry. A cry of pain. From him. Sh**. How could that moron let himself get hurt? He was ordered to escort her to the Camp, and she was instructed to bring him along to the Camp. Those two orders come from one goddess in the Capitoline Triad and the second-most-important god of Rome. How could they disobey that anyway?

They must travel together

Se had to go with him.

Because she chose him to be her bodyguard.

Because Rikimaru looked just like… HIM. Her old boyfriend, a descendant of Apollo. He was just…

When she was lost in thought, the trapdoor was opened. Some nasty drop of green blood fell on the floor, causing her to fall back a few step. A backpack was thrown down. It was a military backpack and from the sound of impact, Mimi knew for sure that it must be at least 5 kilograms in weight.

And she was delighted. No monster bothered throwing a backpack down to a tunnel. A backpack that she knew was full of supplies for her, and him. With flying butterfly in stomach, she approached the trapdoor, hoping to see Riki coming in

Rikimaru jumped in the trap door, startled her, as always. He was in a bad mood, she thought. Well, that was acceptable. Who wasn't pissed after being ambushed by a bunch of monster? Yeah. Well, demigods only, human normally can't see monsters. Yep. You got that. When she back on Earth, she realized that he was staring at her. She felt a little uneasy when she stared back in his eyes. Pain. Love. Impatient. And something very unpleasant.

'I told you to run away. It's not safe here. You're goddamned lucky that I've killed them all'

'Lady Minerva ordered me to go to Camp with you. In other word, I won't leave without you, no matter you like it or not, Lieutenant'

He mumbled something about not improvising and not going up for help. Typical soldiers. No wonder why Mars picked him as Champion. But why he was just like HIM? She had no idea. Sometimes, gods are that annoyed. No offense, my lady

Rikimaru pulled out a flashlight from the backpack and pointed it forward. Until now, she hadn't had much chance to observed the tunnel. It was just like other tunnels she had been to. Dark, long, and very creepy. But this one seem… different? She didn't know why.

May be because there was a small stack of weapon located just 20 meters from the trap door. There were just a few swords and daggers, along with that was a small shield. She spotted him walking to thee stack and take out a katana, a wicked-looking knife and a daggers. Just a few seconds later, he was seen moving toward her and then, stood right in front of her. Now, she had a better chance to looking at his appearance. He was quite short, just over 1.65m but seeing his muscular body, she knew that he was a pack of punch. Not muscular like any bulk you see at any gym but teenager bulk, kind of, it looked cute, some how.

May be if he was with her…

SH*T

And, for sure, she spotted blinking red dots on the ceiling. They were too dim to be light, and they were just as bright as timer's light. Explosive. He planned to die here? This man really had problem with suicide attempts. He must fight, not preparing to die like that

Rikimaru stacked something in her hands. A dagger on the left hand and a Five-seven on the right. She scowled:

'I'm already armed, one short swords, remember? I don't need these'

'It's on the house. Besides, once we surface again, who knows how many monsters we'll encounter. We must prepare ourselves first. Plus, it only harms our enemy when we get extra weapon. Am I correct, Miss Know-it-all?'

"I guess you are right. So, can you lead the way? I think I saw some intersections there and I've no idea which way to go'

Rikimaru just shrugged and took the lead, causing Mimi to follow him. They walked in silence, a silence that every one can smell death in it. But it was understandable, both of them are champion, which meant they had slayed a lot of monster. Not to mention that one of two was actually former militia. Death are always their friends following them everywhere

A dim Delta mark suddenly appeared on the wall. Mimi stared at it with a surprise look on her face. She just stood there, watching. Rikimaru, as soon as he heard no footstep behind, turned around, seemed scared at first but he was able to get his 'normal' face quickly. He talked slowly:

'That's the Labyrinth. Labyrinth 2.0. It was, umh, how can I say? Rebuilt? Yeah. It was rebuilt in the Gigatomachi something, the Second Giant War in term 21st century's language. A terrible female magician, forget her name, rebuilt that, hoping to gain Gaea some advantages. She was killed before she had any chance to complete it. Luckily enough, it returned to its primary state, just like Daedalus (A/N: Please correct my spelling) built it thousands of years ago'

'Yeah, I got that. Have you ever been there?'

'Impossible. To open a door like that, you need a touch of a Half-blood. Obviously, I'm not. However, if you can find the primal door, you can walk in like any demigod, and probably die in there like them. In short, don't go in there, unless it is extremely urgent. It is said to drive you mad, insane. The more powerful you are, the easier you get tricked down there. And, um, have I mentioned that there are still bunches of Gaea's henchmen stationed there? Bad place for camping, if you ask me'

'Got it. No entering unless it's life or death. Let's continue'

They continued their journey in the tunnel. And they talked to each other, to keep them away from suffering slight ADHD – a drawback when excepting to be a Champion. It may be not as bad as demigods' or legacies', but it was bad enough because they had to do different things on their way. bizarre things, in normal speaking, but in the world of mythology? Perfectly... normal

Mimi pulled out her dagger, slashed a few times into the air in front of her and then retreated it as if nothing had happened. A few times, she even tossed the daggers up high, nearly made it touch the ceiling and caught it with perfect accuracy. Then, a stab was made, in assasin's style with deadly sound of moving blade in the air.

Meanwhile, Riki swung his arm forward, pretending to punch an invisible man. Probably he wanted to sharpen his reflexion. His eyes seemed dull, just stared at one unknown point in front of him. But most, if not all, people are tricked by this. Since the incident, even the faintest wind can trigger his fight-or-flight mode. And he turned to that mode a few times when both of them were in the tunnel

Apart from ADHD's sysmtomps, the trip was quite… normal. As normal as it can be for living in a world of myth. After half an hour of walking, Mimi's legs started to feel numb. She rubbed her knees and thighs continuously while Riki just walked as normal. He was a former officer who had to march miles every day so, yeah, she had no choice but curse herself restlessly. She'd had better join the running club in secondary school.

She glanced around the tunnel again and started feel strange. The tunnel, instead of having old, smelly brick and light bulb, started to convert into a new type of tunnel. A more modern one. At first, the ceiling was cement, then concrete reinforced with steel frame. The floor, instead of old-looking granite piece, turning into stainless steel. She looked at the guy who called himself Riki with face full of question.

It had been 15 minutes since she started noticing strange feature when he stopped. In front of a wall. A clean smooth wall with the color of wood. She asked, with a annoyed voice:

'Is this the end of the tunnel where we climb up to the ground? I ask that because I don't see any trapdoor here'

'This is not the tunnel as it mean to. It was just a corridor but as it is underground so tunnel should be a nice way to call it. And we get in this tunnel to get our vehicle. Normally I'd take a few turns on the way we went but heck, this way is faster'

'Hang on, there are turns on the way? How couldn't I see them?'

'Because I'm the one who hid it. By the same way I hid this room. Oh, there it is'

With that line, Riki touch his hand on the wall. A bright blue square appeared as he touched the wall. It looked like… a scanner. Weird. How could anyone install a scanner in an undeground system. But this was Rikimaru, former officer of UN's Special Task Force. Yeah, go and figure it out.

A voice rang up Scan confirmed. Request ID. Artifactial voice, a female one, as in many video games and movies. But where the hell does that come from?

Riki, seemed to getting bored by this, said out loud:

'Tran Minh Vuong (A/N: If you guys can read Chinese names, it sound like Chan Min Vuong, or if you can's, copy this to Google translate, set mode Vietnamese to Vietnamese and press the sound button to ppronounce Trần Minh Vương), Lieutenant, UN Special Force, Rikimaru, tag number 080497CN, clearance WS105/67, password Alamo.'

Voice confirmed. ID confirmed. Request eye scanning

The 'Vuong' guy was really mysterious. He had installed a high-tech underground system right under his house. And he was claimed as a champion of Mars – a figure from mythology. What a wonderful match (note the sarcasm)

A hole on the wall appeared. No, it wasn't a hole, it was a door. Its color was blended so well that she thought it was a part of the wall. Now, things got really freaky

The room itself was amazing. At least 30 meters wide and 20 in length. The room itself was also as high as a five-storey building. And it wasn't a room in a temple, it was a hanger. A modern hangar with racks of tools, equipments,… And weapons. She spotted a racks full of swords and shield. Not to mentioned javelin, bow, crossbow,… Basically, it was every weapon you could find in Acient Greece.

But the freaky part was that the room was also filled with modern assault rifles, SMGs (submachine guns), machine guns, RPGs (grenade launchers) and a dozen things more. It was enough to arm at least 50 men, to the very extent. A chill ran down her back. Who else needed this much weapon? He was a retired officer, he should had stayed away from weapons, not living near them.

Seemed not to pay any attention to Mimi, 'Vuong' just continued walking. He was moving toward something which was hidden under a large piece of white cloth. He jerked it off, and Mimi had to make sure that her jaw didn't opened widely. It was a great car. Ferari GT100, one of the fastest, yet the most stable, cars on the world. It can hit 160kph in less than 3 seconds if the user uses maximum thrust. However, it can withstand the weight of 3 elephants, or the hit of a Humvee with minimum damage

With that power, GT100 had a total opposite apperance. Nothing flashy, it looked just like a normal convertible car with the black cover. Only eyes of experts can spot the chromium rims with golden color and the symbol of a horse on the back. With that appearance, Mimi knew for sure that Riki, or Vuong, could blend in the crowd and hit the pedal to run if necessary.

Vuong threw his backpack into the boot. After a big 'thump', he turned around and asked in a very-fake-gentle voice:

'Lady, would you like to ride with me on this sweet ride?'

'Why the hell not? I'm tired. I'd like a ride on a beast. I need something to reach Camp Jupiter now. But by the way, where the hell are we now?'

'Roughly 250km from 24 Road. Expect to at Camp in 2 hours if we get start now'

-_-Time skip-_-

They had been travelling for 1 hour so far. Nothing much had happened. The roads were clear as it as it was Saturday, every one was either in bed or stay in some malls to buy stuff for their family. They hit the speed of 100 kilometers per hour and there was no sign for them to slow down. Why did they have to slow down anyway? The scene they had was just too good.

It was a sunny afternoon in Western US. The weather was awesome, right temperature, not too hot nor too cold. The sun was shining above but it was easy sun rays. A pair of sunglasses was fine to do the job.

They were one girl and one boy, sitting in a convertible black car. One of the most well-known car in the present time. And they looked cute. What could go wrong? I mean, if someone looked at them, they'd say it was a young couple on their trip to vacation, not on the way to a Camp of Roman mythology. Yeah, who figured

The 24th national road warning sign was now in their sight. Mimi adjusted herself on the seat and changed the song to 'Let it go' (A/N: Sorry pal, but recently, my friends sing it every time they're near me. I wonder why)

'Oh,we've entered the 24th. Forward or retreat, champion of Minerva?'

'Forward. Of course. And I think I should be the one who ask that. You are a warrior, a champion of Mars. Remember that? Vuon?'

'Vuong. Not Vuon, pronounce my name properly or I'll kick you out of my car. Clear?'

'Yes, Riki. Got that, you don't have to tell me twice. Champion of Wisdom, remember?'

Replied her was a grunting expression from the driver. She just tuck her tongue out, making the driver a little madder. Amused with her own childish behavior, she took a look at surrounding view. They were driving in a hilly area. In fact, a hill was right on their right. A sun was bathing the hill with a shiny yellow color. Scattered on the hill was bushes and tress. Green dots on yellow background, just like many photos about the countryside her dad showed her years ago.

The view, as she saw it, was peaceful. There was little, if not none, traffic on the road. Everyone may think that it was a quite area. But both she and 'Vuong' knew that it wasn't. Just a few kilometers from them was a Roman camp which was full of warriors and loads of weapons. The only thing that camp didn't own was heavy modern weapon. But, just with swords and javelins, those campers were able to win glorious battles. And most of them were under 18.

What a world. It would be nice living in such a camp.

ROARRRRRRRR!

'What the hell is that? More monsters? WE haven't seen any in last hours. And Camp is just, like, 15 minutes away'

Vuong said and then let out a string of curse. Mimi covered her ears and made an awesome face of a good girl. If this guy stayed in her house, he'd have to choose his own punishment. For the good of his mental: bar soap or liquid soap. And then he had to clean the entire house, which no one was crazy enough to do as Mimi wasn't the type of… girl of order.

'Do you have anything useful? Guns, swords, bow?'

'I can summon some of those but I'd need total concentration. As sure as hell, I'm driving. So, can you fight? I got a handgun and a compact bow in the gloves container. Aim well, and may you ever be in odd's favor'

'Hunger game?'

'Favorite movie of my men. Don't ask why'

'Don't tell me that you like Pokemon'

'Nope, I prefer Gao Rangers' (A/N: Kathy, my schoolmate likes this... And she is 16)

'What the..'

ARRRRRRRRRRR!

'Stop talking and shoot that bitch!'

'Minotaur. Just my luck!'

Mimi opened the gloves holder, a wicked-looking bow and a batch of arrows were found. She groaned:

'These craps won't hold that beast down. You need something bigger to kill it, and these to piss it off'

'I know, Romans have such items. Just shoot it. Try to slow it down. I'll slam this car through the Gate and let Minotaur welcomed by the ballistas of Camp Jupiter. If those big bows ain't do any shit, 6 cohorts will give it a decent welcome party'

'Got it'

Then, a dangerous chase on the highway began. On one side, we got a fast moving car travelling at over 160kph. On its back was a monster which is supposed to be non-exist in scientific dictionary. On the car, the girl in passenger seat turn around with a composit bow in her hand. With a flick of hand, an arrow was released, missing the monster by a few inches. The monster roared, which can be amused by terrible aim of the archer or just pissed of being turned into a target for practicing. The monster tried hard to gain more speed. The gap between 2 parties decreased slowly. 30 meters, 28 meters, 26, 25, 24, 21... The arrows continued to fly by. Only a some were able to hit the target and complete their task. If pissing a monster is theirs

'Move faster! We'll die if we can't reach Camp soon'

'I know, but give me an idea. An unit of 20 Dragon lady. How the f&^% can I pronounce their name? They are standing in our way and holding Roman shields. A live barricade, if you ask me. Bash them or going around?'

'Speed up and crash them'

'Copy that. Hang on, it'll be a bumpy ride'

Before she had any chance to turn around, a loud 'BANG' was heard and the last thing she remembered was seeing 'Dragon lads' flying on both sides of the car. When she eyed toward the Minotaur, she spotted a bloody monster lying turning into dust while lying on the road. Traffic accidents.

The seconds party was taken care of, but not the first one. They must reach camp, now, or...

'We're here. I see friendlies. Border guards, armed, 2 of them, at your 6, 50 meters away'

She turned around, just in time for her to reach the border guard who seemed to be suprised by the newcomers. Usually, new demigods arrive on foot, not on a fancy sport car. But with a big monster on their tail, nothing much is needed about questioning. Both of them were led through the tunnel by a guard. The other simply stood there, waiting for the monster to come.

The guard going with them said:

'Don't worry about that guy. No monster can beat him in a closed quarter like in that tunnel. With the kind of blood running in his vain? i'd bet that the monster is dead now'

As soon as he finished, they passed through the tunnel and headed to the Camp. On the wall, many guards were instantly alerted, heavy weapons were aimed toward the tunnel, ready for the worst situation. Mimi eyed the defenders,... Were those .50 cal machine guns? Romans are though to be traditional, not like,... that. Sensing her surprises, the guard said;

'Oh, those guns? They're quite new, just installed a few weeks back. It took us a lot of work to convince the Senate to allow us to do that. A few years to be exact. But we need to take you guys to somewhere safe first, with medical check'

An explosion was heard. It was coming from the tunnel and then, a small figure popped out. The guard accompanying them suddenly looked worried. He mumbled:

'He is one of our best warrior. If he has to blow the tunnel to escape, it can't be good. Sh^%'

As an evident, the tunnel exploded, again, but this time, it revealed more monsters, at least 100 of them. They all roared:

'Death! Death! Death! Death! Death!'

Behind them, in the Camp, the alarm was raised, but the monsters were advancing fast. Vuong knew that Camp got no chance to stand against this. He must break his vow if he want to protect this Camp, and... HER

A/N: Sorry, cliffhangers

Don't worry, next chapter will be in this week or early next week. I hope you enjoy this, a quite long chapter (over 3,500 words) as an apology. Hope you forgive me. And I'll mix a lot of history's fact with my story and world of mythology. So, if possible, can you list me famous figure of 20th century as below:

- Name:

- Nationality:

- Date of birth/die:

- Position if world of mythology (champion/child/descendant of...)

Thank you very much.

And spoiler: next chapter, Vuong will have to face two enemies: One from his past and one from present. You'll see why this dude and Mimi are attracted to each other. And as Mimi is a cute girl, Vuong'll have to have a 'men's talk' with a camper (consisting a lot of bad words, punches, slashes, blocks and explosions)

So, peace out, my friends

And, yes, read and review please