EDITED: 9/2/2013
Sorry for the long wait, guys. I have posted the 10k prologue of the fanfiction I will be writing after this one, Perseus: Legend of Olympus. Either throw an author alert on me or go check that story out, since that's the fanfic I will work on after I'm done with this one. If you want to be awesome, follow that story and leave a review.
Without further ado, we return to Master of the Elements!
Perseus: Master of the Elements
TIDINGS OF WAR
"No longer is this blade Riptide," Pontus murmured, barely loud enough for Percy to hear. "Now, this combination of Celestial bronze and Chaotic Chrystal shall be named Calamity, the blade of light, the one who blinds its enemies and dispels the darkness within, and may its wielder never lack energy. Calamity, the shining pillar of light in the sea of chaos."
Gingerly, as if the weapon was an explosive, Pontus set it down next to Percy. With a grin, the Primordial evaporated, right before Percy could mutter thank you. He picked up the weapon to find it just the same size and weight as Riptide, but this new version of Calamity seemed to pulsate raw energy.
However, even with the energy boost, the son of Poseidon's eyelids slowly drooped, and he fell into a deep sleep.
- Ω -
PERCY opened his eyes.
He was in a clearing of some sort. Lush vegetation bloomed around him; the abundant sound of wildlife gave the area a sense of purity and peacefulness. Bright rays of sunlight shone through the leaves of the trees in a never-ending stream of brightness, illuminating the serene scene. The first thing that Percy thought was, wow, this place is really beautiful.
Then he thought, how in Hades did I end up here?
Percy's heartbeat accelerated and adrenaline coursed through his veins. The peacefulness suddenly disappeared – the light became tainted by darkness, and the chirping of birds was replaced by deafening screams of pain and terror. The vegetation burst into hellfire, demonic black flames perfectly blending into the now dark sky, surrounding the son of Poseidon on all sides. The cackling of flames and screams was interrupted by the clash of metal upon metal, burning Percy's eardrums. Two figures emerged from the hellfire; one wearing a simple cloak and armed with a spear while the other was clothed in full battle attire. It could barely be considered a battle. The armored person was losing to the hooded figure by the second.
"You traitor," the armored person hissed. The hooded figure swung his spear forward, hitting the person with the blunt end, knocking off the person's helmet. A curtain of blonde hair fell down, and suddenly Percy recognized whom the person was.
Annabeth. Panic overcame his logic, and he attempted to lunge towards the cloaked figure only to find himself unable to move. Percy tried to scream, to yell, to at least do something, but he couldn't move his mouth. Annabeth swung her knife wildly at the cloaked figure's head in an attempt to decapitate him, but the hooded man easily ducked under the strike and kicked Annabeth square in the chest. She flew backwards and landed on the ground right in front of Percy's immobile form. Desperately, Percy tried to crawl towards her, but he wasn't able to do anything. With all the might in the world, Percy prayed that this was merely a demigod dream. But the pain in his chest, the tight constriction of his throat… it was too real to be just a dream.
Without flinching, the hooded figure drove his spear into Annabeth's stomach. Her cry of pain shook Percy to the bone, and in anguish he attempted to close his eyes to look away. But he couldn't. Percy was being forced to watch as this hooded figure executed possibly one of the most important people to him – it was probably only topped by watching Gaea murder his mother and stepfather in cold blood or Piper dying.
The hooded figure ripped the spear out of her chest, sending a fountain of blood gushing out of the wound. Percy felt as though he was sucker punched in the stomach when he heard the splatter of blood and gore hitting the ashy-black ground, and it was only then when he could move. But all Percy could do was to fall on his knees.
Annabeth's mouth, now with blood dripping out the corner, moved a fraction of an inch. But the words that came out would haunt Percy forever.
"Percy… I can't believe I loved you."
With a snarl, the hooded figure brutally slit her throat, the gurgle of blood making Percy nauseous. The figure threw back his cloak, and to Percy's utter terror, he saw black hair and sea green eyes tainted with hatred and malice stare straight at him. Shadows seeped in from seemingly nowhere, and soon the hooded figure (Percy refused to refer to that thing as himself) sank into the gloom.
Percy screamed. He woke up.
He was back on the apartment building – bruised, battered, and hurt – but feeling infinitely better now knowing that what he had witnessed was only a dream. His black and red armor clung to him tightly, and Percy's hair was matted down with perspiration. A large crater appeared before him, probably where he landed earlier. It was a wonder how he could survive such things.
Sighing slightly, Percy closed his eyes. It had been days since he had last gotten a good rest, and now he was prepared to do so –
WAAAAAAAH!
"You have got to be kidding me!" Percy roared, instantly jumping up. His instincts instantly reached into his armor pocket for Riptide, but his trusty blade wasn't there. Wow dumbass, Percy cursed himself, don't even remember what happened earlier?
Mentally concentrating, Percy attempted to summon Calamity. A blinding light dazzled the hero, and he shut his eyes. Instantly, Percy felt his hands grip around something sword-like in weight. He squinted through the brightness, his eyes slowly adjusting to the bright light. In his hand lay Calamity, the new version, a pure white blade. It hummed with power, shooting energy throughout Percy's body.
Warily, the son of Poseidon glanced around. A clink sound echoed throughout the otherwise silent air, as if something was stabbing the apartment building. As if something like that was possible, Percy thought with a smirk.
Wait. Percy mentally deadpanned. This is Greek mythology. Anything is possible. Something was climbing the building – of that, Percy was sure. He just didn't know what was climbing the building.
WAAAAAAAH!
This time, the sound was much closer. Percy turned around, but the loud noise echoed, messing with his sense of direction. A small, almost inaudible clink came from the right of him; only his enhanced hearing could ever pick that up. Suddenly, Percy dove forward, something only years of monster-slaying and muscle memory could achieve. There was a large, swooshing sound over him, and instantly Percy was back on his feet, face to face with his new enemy.
"By Olympus," Percy breathed, lowering Calamity slightly. "It's a crab."
That was an understatement. What stood in front of Percy Jackson was quite possibly the King of Crustaceans. One of the crab's eight legs was easily twice Percy's size, but the pincers were even longer. The crab's eyes were about as big as Percy's head, and they seemed to give off a fiery sense of death by pinching.
And, just as if its sheer colossal size wasn't enough, it can spit fire. Yippee.
A plume of fire flew towards Percy faster than he could react, enveloping him in flames. Just when it was about to get unbearably hot, the flames disappeared and the crab looked surprised that Percy didn't turn into a fried demigod. Taking advantage of the crab's temporary lapse of concentration, Percy ran forward, obviously faster than the crab expected. The monster's pincer flew forward, easily parried by the experienced hero. With a quick flick of the wrist, Percy cut Calamity deep into the appendage, but the pincer was too thick to be sliced off in one strike.
Sadly, Percy didn't know how fat the crab's arm was, and when the monster roared in pain and flicked its pincer away from Percy, it took the sword with it as well. The other claw snatched forward and nearly sliced Percy in half if he didn't roll away in time. It would be awhile until Percy could re-summon Calamity, but that could be the difference between life and death.
Percy put some space between him and the crab, sidestepping a plume of fire. The crab's legs clinked against the ground, and upon closer observation Percy noticed that the tips of the legs were as sharp as a spear. Honestly, how do these type of creatures even come into being?
When the next spray of fire came, Percy quickly solidified the water in the air, creating a temporary shield. The fire hit the water with a hiss, and steam quickly rose from the interaction. Without missing a beat, Percy summoned lightning and his hands crackled with electricity. With a sharp crack of thunder, the electricity sprang through the air and stunned the crab.
Calamity reappeared in his hand and Percy sprinted forward. At the last moment, right when the crab was least expecting it, his wings sprang out from behind his back and Percy leapt high into the air, using his wings to propel himself above the beast. With Calamity aimed right at the monster's eye, Percy dove downward. There was a sickening crunch as metal punched through the flesh and bone, and when the hero pulled out the blade a fountain of monster goo exploded upon him, covering Percy in golden blood.
The crab gave what sounded like a death cry, and right before Percy could finish it off, he felt something blunt hit him in the back of the head. The unexpected blow sent him flying off the crab's head and roughly colliding with the concrete roof. Percy felt blood trickle past his ear and splatter the ground underneath him, and his head felt woozy, as if he had suffered a concussion – which he probably did.
Percy flipped himself over and nearly pissed his pants. The crab was right above him, screaming WAAAAAAAH! with bloody fury, its pincers almost about to tear Percy to shreds. The crab's mouth was hovering right over his stomach, as if it were about to eat him. Before he could react, there was a loud crack of thunder and the monster crab was instantly stunned, its muscles slacking. A spear lodged itself inches above Percy's head, deep into the cranium of the monster. With a final grunt, Percy lifted up his sword arm and stabbed the monster straight through its skull.
It roared once, spitting monster blood and saliva all over Percy's face, and then it dissipated into golden dust, which, conveniently, got itself all over Percy's body.
"Karkinos," someone muttered in an awed voice. "The giant crab Heracles killed alongside the Hydra."
"Yeah, that's cool, Annabeth," another voice muttered. At the sound of snapping fingers, fire consumed all the monster dust, leaving no trace of the substance left behind.
The sound of a snort came afterwards. "Watch it, you pyromaniac, you're going to burn down the whole building."
Percy sat up, finally able to see his attackers/saviors. A smile broke out on his face, but his head still throbbed painfully so he let the grin fade. Annabeth was walking towards him, with a rather concerned look on her face, Clarisse was pulling her spear out of a pile of dust, and Leo was cackling like a maniac, setting random things on fire and then putting them out, forcing Percy to ponder the son of Hephaestus's sanity. Jason had a little bit of hair frizzled up from the lightning strike, making him look like an adorable anime character, Reyna was holding a blunt-tipped throwing javelin quite guiltily, and Piper was just entering the rooftop through the apartment building's stairs.
"I could've handled that by myself," Percy joked, flashing a grin at everyone. He got the expected eye-rolls from the group except the pyromaniac, who actually looked offended.
"Last time I checked, you were a second away from becoming demigod chow," Leo retorted. A couple demigods chuckled at his response – Leo had obviously missed the sarcasm.
"Well," Percy replied, casting a glance at the female Praetor, "I was doing fine until someone beaned me in the back of the head with a blunt-tipped javelin."
"Just doing my job," Reyna responded coolly, twirling the javelin in between her fingers.
Clarisse slammed the butt of her spear at the ground, drawing attention from the group. "Hey, Connor and Travis aren't gonna be happy waiting so long for us."
"The Stolls?" Percy asked, confused. Without a glance, he made Calamity disappear into the air.
"They're the drivers," Annabeth explained. "Sons of Hermes typically know their way around town. We should probably get going."
The group started climbing down the fire escape, chattering mindlessly. After hitting the pavement, Percy slowed down and went to the back of the group where Piper was, feeling an urge to explain to her where he had been for the past few days. He had a feeling that she had a lot to talk to him about, since she seemed to be deep in thought. The second Percy got into whisper range with Piper, she grabbed his face with her hands and pressed her lips against his, regardless of the monster dust all over his face. Before he could even guess what her lipstick tasted like, Piper pulled away.
"I was worried," she murmured, a lovely shade of red tainting her cheeks, "that you'd disappeared again."
Percy shook his head. "I will never disappear on you, I promise," he whispered, sticking up his pinky finger. "Pinkie promise?" And as terribly cliché as that sounded, it was a promise that Percy intended to keep.
She smiled brightly, nodding in silent agreement. "And if you break that promise," she added, grinning slyly up at him, "I swear, I don't know how, but I will find a way to kill you."
"Great," Percy smirked, "challenge accepted." He hoped that he didn't come off as cocky or arrogant, but Piper smiled and chuckled, so it was all worth it anyways.
HONK!
"Hey lovebirds!" Travis called, pulling up next to the two, "Where have you two been?"
"Come on!" Percy heard the other Stoll yell, honking his white van from behind Travis's car. "Dionysus is gonna be absolutely pissed if we don't make it back by lunch!"
"Let's go," Percy held open the car door for Piper to get in before he did. He shut the door to Travis's car – a camp-loan car that read Olympian Muscle across the space right above the license plate. Connor drove a traditional camp van, an unmarked white van that would scare anybody if encountered on a dark night.
Travis revved the engine before taking off, surely breaking the speed limit by only twenty miles-per-hour. "The others decided to go in the van to give you two lil' birdies some space to suck face," he snickered. Percy was pretty sure that his face was equally as red as Piper's was.
"Hey Travis?"
"Yeah, Perce?" The son of Hermes took his eyes off the road in order to stare at the son of Poseidon. How he still managed to rush all the red lights and still not get caught by the police astounded Percy.
Percy offered Travis a cheeky smile. "Shut up." In a darker tone, as dangerously as he could muster, Percy added, "Or else I will sever your soul from your body with one swipe of my blade and make sure that you taste my hatred in Tartarus." To emphasize his point, he made his eyes burst into hellfire.
He didn't get any more abrasive comments for the rest of the car ride.
"I can vouch for Perseus's loyalty."
This was surprising coming from the cold goddess of the moon. Before, when Apollo vouched for Percy's loyalty, it didn't carry any weight amongst the council – for Zeus's sake, Apollo could vouch for a hobo's ability to become a billionaire – but when Zeus's baby girl and certified man-hater said that Percy, a man, could be trusted, the council immediately burst into discussion.
The twelve Olympians, with the addition of Hades and Hestia (at Artemis's request), had been conversing for nearly an hour, partially due to Apollo's long and not-to-the-point story of why the sun and moon chariots plus Percy Jackson were missing. The mighty thunder god nearly threw a hissy fit when he heard that Percy could fly – in his domain, no less – and Hades merely raised an eyebrow when he heard that the son of Poseidon learned how to shadow travel.
Of course, Hades was pissed beyond belief, but Poseidon looked incredibly dangerous in the glow of his trident. The Lord of the Underworld decided to let it slide.
"But he has the power to destroy a Primordial," Hera commented. She was always the more cautious and conservative member of the council, if one would overlook the fact that she did come up with the plan to swap the two leaders of the demigod camps. "That fact simply can't be overlooked."
"Yes," Artemis countered, "but wouldn't it be better if we harnessed the destructive power for Olympus's gain instead of attempting to destroy the man? After all, if Perseus is able to destroy a Primordial, what makes you think that we'll be able to kill him?"
"Throw a thunderbolt, I don't know," Ares muttered, a dangerous gleam flashing in his eyes. "It matters little – he's just a mortal demigod. How powerful can he be?"
Apollo snorted. "If you'd ever seen him in action… Ares, he beat your ass when he was twelve. Imagine what he'd do to you now."
"I was holding back," the war god sneered. "I can take him anytime, anywhere."
"Like Hades you can."
Before Ares could whip out his spear, Zeus slammed his thunderbolt against the ground, causing a loud CRACK to echo across the throne room. "Stop it, you two! And Apollo, please refrain from using Hades's name as a curse word while he is in the same room."
"Sorry," Apollo murmured, not daring to meet his uncle's eyes. Hades merely snorted.
Athena, after sitting on her throne in silence for a while, spoke. "I'd say that we pay him a visit. Test his loyalty."
"Why do we need Percy to prove his loyalty," Poseidon began, his voice rising dangerously, "when he's saved Olympus twice in a row?"
Athena glared at the sea god murderously, her gray eyes flashing with age-old hatred. "He may be unstable."
"What type of person would destroy what they tried so hard to protect?"
"You'd be surprised," she retorted, crossing her arms. Athena's gray eyes glowed dangerously.
Poseidon opened his mouth, probably to make some snappy or sarcastic comeback, but Zeus, already housing a massive migraine that usually came with the council bickering, was completely ready to end the meeting. With one swipe of his master bolt, lightning flashed and clouds darkened the sky – probably scaring the living daylights out of the New Yorkers below.
"I will go to the boy," the King of Olympus announced. "I am the god of justice after all. I will judge his character as fairly as possible, then I shall decide if he lives."
To most of the gods, the statement seemed like a good idea. But to a certain sea god, it spelled out death in big, bold letters.
PIPER was a tad bit angry at Percy, but he was alive, so she couldn't really care less. He did appear to be fine – even managing to look endearingly cute covered in monster dust – but still, who knows what could've happened to him. After a long history of people leaving her (her father, Jason), Piper didn't want Percy to be included on that list.
Zeus was angry. It was thundering and raining on the streets in New York, but despite the slippery streets, the Stoll brothers still didn't slow down. After crashing through countless red lights and shaking off a few cops, the caravan of demigods started approaching a familiar sight – the Empire State Building. She was a little bit worried about monsters being attracted by the multiple demigod scents, but with Percy sleeping calmly on her lap, Piper felt as though she could take on anything.
He looked really cute when he slept – like a five year old child. There was a little bit of drool at the corner of his mouth which Piper wiped away with her arm sleeve, but other than that, he looked like an angel. Even though Percy probably needed this precious sleep, Piper couldn't resist poking his nose. His eyes fluttered open, brilliant green eyes staring sleepily up at her, and her breath caught in her throat. It was one of those moments that she never wanted to end.
"I like waking you up," she told him, smiling. "You look at me like I'm everything to you."
"That's because you are," Percy whispered sleepily, closing his eyes again. Her chest constricted painfully and she looked away, her eyes rapidly watering. The moment was so perfect – with the rain pit-pattering against the windshield, Percy's soft, warm breath puffing against her stomach – that it just had to end. After all, one can't have too much good luck.
Suddenly, something hit the side of their car, making the tires screech to a stop. An all too familiar roar echoed down the street:
"DEMIGOD FLESH!"
The harsh war cry echoed across the city and Percy instantly jolted awake. Alarmed, Piper looked out the window only to find no other cars on the street. Travis got out without a single word, a large broadsword appearing in his hands. Piper and Percy followed suit, her trusty dagger shimmering into existence. They found the other demigods back to back, with their weapons raised and listening intently for enemy movement.
Wordlessly, the three joined the other demigods in the circle formation. The tension was palpable; the air was thick with apprehension. But nobody was scared – everybody there was veteran monster-slayers, battle-tested warriors that feared no monsters. However, that doesn't mean that they couldn't be surprised.
With an ear-piercing scream, several giants charged out of the alleyway. Upon closer inspection, Piper realized that they were Laistrygonians, cannibalistic giants that ate everything that came upon them. There were two squads of ten each; twenty giants in total and nine demigods maximum, so the campers were pretty outnumbered.
"Stay in a circle!" Reyna commanded, her Roman praetorship skills taking over. "They're coming from all directions, so if we break formation, someone's going to end up getting trampled from behind."
In response, there was a bright, white flash. Piper was immediately blinded, and the sound of screams pierced her ears. When her vision returned to normal, what she saw nearly shocked her pants off.
There were three Laistrygonian bodies almost dissolving, and two others immediately followed. A bright, blinding light weaved in and out between the monsters, moving quicker than Piper's eye could follow. After the two monsters were decapitated, Piper finally managed to catch a glimpse of the person: Percy. In his right hand he wielded a radiant, pure white sword that radiated godly energy.
Piper heard a slight whistle of appreciation – probably from Leo; he always liked expertly-made weapons – and a sigh of defeat from Reyna. Percy was like the ocean, never able to command, always free and wild. Piper had figured that out the moment she met him.
Percy ducked under the swipe of a giant's club, stabbing up into its armpit, grabbing its arm and ripping it off. The monster roared in pain, trying to swipe at Percy, but all it got was a sword to the face. Another Laistrygonian, trying to avenge its fallen comrades, charged at Percy. Completely calm, Percy sidestepped and thrust his blade into the giant's unprotected side, then slicing upward through its head, causing a spurt of monster goo to fly in the air. In less than a minute, Percy had destroyed two giants.
She couldn't find the strength to join the fight. Piper was entranced by Percy's fighting style – brutal and efficient, something that normally doesn't go hand in hand. The other demigods probably had a similar mindset to her.
"Aw, I'm not gonna let Prissy have all the fun," Clarisse grinned, cracking her knuckles. In an instant, her electric spear, Maimer, flew straight at a Laistrygonian's face, spearing it and dissolving the monster. A crack of thunder and wail of pain indicated another monster's death, and a harsh ball of fire burnt yet another one. Ten down, another ten to go.
With nonchalant shrugs, the two Stoll brothers leapt into action, their broadswords moving faster than the eye could see. Their style of fighting relied upon each other to watch the other's backs, utilizing their speed as sons of Hermes to dodge and roll under attacks. Annabeth pulled out her knife and threw on a hat, instantly disappearing from view.
Piper caught a side-glance at Reyna, who just looked annoyed about the fact that the demigods charged into battle without any strategy. However, that didn't stop the Praetor from throwing a blunt-tipped javelin with expert accuracy, stunning a giant long enough for Leo to smash its face in with a mighty war hammer.
Eh, screw it, Piper thought, charging straight at a Laistrygonian that was about to decapitate Travis. She ducked under its strike and stabbed its side, but Piper didn't have the raw strength nor driving power to kill it in one strike, so she withdrew the blade and danced around the Laistrygonian's club. Without missing a beat, Piper sliced the monster's kneecap, making it wail in pain and fall onto its knees. Before she could do anything, the monster disappeared into golden dust.
The soft outline of an invisible Annabeth could roughly be seen, only due to the golden dust resting on her figure. Piper smiled in appreciation, wiping some monster dust from her eyes, before leaping back into battle only to find that the rest of the giants were already destroyed.
"Victory for the half-bloods!" Travis cheered, offering a smirk to everyone. He wiped the dust off of his broadsword, and Piper followed suit.
Clarisse grinned, slamming her spear into the ground. She patted Reyna on the back rather roughly, saying, "Nice job, for a Roman, at least."
"Not bad for a Greek," Reyna replied, a small smile gracing her features. "Not bad at all."
Piper felt someone throw his arm around her shoulder, and the deep voice of Percy rumbled right next to her ear. "I'd say I did pretty well. First day back on the job, you know."
"Where'd you get that weapon?" Leo asked, almost mystified by the glowing blade. The weapon dimmed, becoming a white, translucent crystal. "I thought you had that big black halberd."
"It broke," Percy said simply. His thumb absentmindedly twirled a little bit of Piper's hair, making the girl smile gently. "So I fused Riptide and Calamity, resulting in this." He gestured vaguely towards his sword, now dim enough to look at.
Jason laughed, getting on his knees to look at the blade more closely. "Where can I get me one of those? Maybe, you know, in a spear shape, but the same material nevertheless."
Percy was about to answer when he suddenly tensed. The demigods noticed this, and immediately they were all in a defensive position, glancing around at every alley, window, or doorway a monster could be busting through. Piper slipped out of Percy's grasp, sending him an apologetic look before raising Katoptris, the mirror knife shining in her grip.
"Gee, Perce, overdramatic much–"
"Connor, duck!"
It was amazing how much the Stoll trusted Percy, because immediately the son of Hermes went prone. Without flinching, Percy threw Calamity over the camper's head, impaling a Laistrygonian sneaking up on him. Then, pointing his palm towards the sword, it flew back into his hand.
"Percy, you look like Thor."
"Shut up, Connor," Annabeth chided, about to put on her Yankees cap again, "There's more Laistrygonads–"
"Wait what?" Travis interrupted, almost toppling over from laughter. "Laistrygonads!?"
"Annabeth Chase," Clarisse started slowly, as if she couldn't wrap her mind around it, "the one and only Annabeth Chase, possibly the smartest daughter of Athena, just called a Laistrygonian giant a Laistrygonad!"
Piper couldn't help but start laughing at that. There was the big, hooting laughter of the Stolls, Clarisse, and Leo, the polite, reserved chuckles of the Roman praetors, and a big, lopsided grin that broke out on Percy's face. Annabeth blushed furiously, throwing on her invisibility cap and disappearing from view.
But her voice could still be heard. "That was a private joke that I used to have with Thalia. Now let's shut up, because we could die any moment now."
"Hyperboreans!" Leo cried, pointing over Piper's shoulder.
Travis couldn't help himself. "More Laistrygonads!" he yelled, pointing at an alleyway through which giants were pouring out of.
Piper tried to suppress the giggle coming from her throat but failed disastrously. She found Clarisse snorting at that as well, so Piper didn't feel too bad about laughing at that. Connor was about to fall over from laughing when he froze in place, ice forming on his body. Alarmed, Percy fired a quick plume of flame to thaw the Stoll from the ice. There seemed to be something falling onto the group of demigods, and upon closer inspection, Piper found that it was snowing. She looked up and found Hyperborean giants sitting on the rooftops, breathing an icy cold breath that froze anything it came in contact with. Piper could feel the chill already.
"Leo, make a big fire, keep everyone cozy. If the Hyperboreans fight us in their own territory, snow, then we're screwed." Percy commanded, looking up at what Piper was staring at. "I'll take care of the monsters on the roof."
Before Jason could object and Piper ponder how Percy would get there, a pair of wings stretched into view, as if the limbs were hiding on Percy's back. Not heeding the other demigods' flabbergasted looks, Percy soared onto the rooftops, barreling into a group of Hyperboreans.
"What in Pluto's name was that?" Jason muttered incredulously. "Did… did Percy just fly?"
The sound of swords piercing through monster flesh jolted everybody out of their stupor. Piper was nearly impaled by an icy spear, the tip of the weapon cutting a hole through her shirt. Slightly annoyed, Piper thrust her dagger into the Hyperborean's wrist, causing it to drop the weapon with a cry of pain. She withdrew the blade and lopped off the monster's arm in one swipe, giving it three seconds to wail in pain before jumping and stabbing Katoptris through the monster's head.
It disintegrated into cold, icy flakes. There was an odd chill that the monster left behind.
"Piper, duck!"
Piper flattened herself to the ground, the black asphalt scraping her knees. Something flew over her, probably a monster about to tackle her, and apparently got smashed in the face with a war hammer. She looked up and saw Leo grinning evilly. "Home run, baby!"
Another Laistrygonian barreled towards her, barely giving Piper enough time to roll towards her right. The monster landed right next to her, the hands flailing like a baby, and Piper backhanded the giant with her knife. It created a large, angry red cut that bled monster goo, but the Laistrygonian barely had any time to register the pain before the energy-high son of Hephaestus destroyed it with his hammer.
The daughter of Aphrodite stood up, watching the battle for a quick second. Travis seemed to be protecting his brother, who seemed as if his brain was still frozen. Jason and Reyna worked together, stabbing anything that came close to the unconscious son of Hermes with a pointy spear. Annabeth was nowhere to be seen, but due to the randomly dying monsters, Piper would guess that she was protecting Clarisse's flank; the daughter of Ares was in blood lust, a blood-red glow emanating from her body. Leo stood to her side, covering Piper's blind spot, and a few beads of sweat was appearing at his temple since he was working on keeping the cold away.
There was a dying shriek of a monster from above, and Piper instinctively looked up. She was about to get smashed by a big blue butt when she dove to the side, landing on her elbow and badly scraping it. The abrasion was nothing compared to the possible suffocation by a Hyperborean's ass. The monster had left a damn crater, a weird icy blue substance filling the cracks.
So Percy was doing his job of keeping the monsters on the roof distracted. The thought of him shirtless with wings slowly entered her mind, and with a creeping blush Piper pushed the thought deep into her mind where no one would ever find it, because gods that would be embarrassing if anyone had known about that. Plus, they were in a battle right now, and that was so inappropriate that it was absolutely shameful for Piper to even think about.
Stupid daughter of Aphrodite genes.
She heard a loud cuss word followed by a whap! Quickly, Piper turned around and saw Travis, flat on the ground. There was a Hyperborean standing over him, holding large club stained red with blood. A large flash of lightning ripped through the sky, instantly making the monster disintegrate. Jason rushed over to the fallen body of Travis, and the rest of the demigods slowly made their way towards their fellow camper.
"What happened?" Leo called over the din, smashing a Laistrygonian's face with a hammer, making it roar in pain and slowly crumble away.
Jason quickly put two fingers to Travis's neck. "He's out cold, knocked out while protecting his brother. Real tough, too, he took a direct blow to the head. Hopefully, he'll be okay."
"How's Connor?" Piper asked, turning around to check the demigod son of Hermes.
"He's doing fine." Clarisse's eyes bugged out. "Piper, behind you!"
The daughter of Aphrodite whipped around, watching in mortification as a humungous axe swung towards her chest. Suddenly, the weapon stopped in its tracks, clattering to the ground uselessly. Piper looked up, slightly relieved to find a brilliant, white blade sticking out of the monster's forehead. With a sickening snap, the weapon was twisted sideways, snapping the Hyperborean's neck in two. Percy hopped down from the disintegrating monster's shoulders, landing with a grace that Piper didn't know that the demigod possessed.
"The Hyperboreans are gone – let's get the Hades out of here before more come," he commanded, quickly walking towards the two cars. "Everybody get in. Does anybody know how to drive?"
There was a silence as the demigods stared at each other, waiting for a hand to pop up. Percy stared at them all with shock. "You guys don't know how to drive?" he asked incredulously, grinning slightly.
"Never thought it was practical," Reyna muttered under her breath. Clarisse nodded her agreement.
"Why do you think the Stoll brothers came?" Annabeth asked, raising an eyebrow. "They were our chauffeurs, if you will; they were the only ones who knew how to drive. How 'bout you, Seaweed Brain, do you know how to drive?"
Piper felt a little bit of annoyance bubble up when Annabeth used her nickname for Percy, but she pushed it down. It wasn't like the daughter of Aphrodite to get possessive like that. Sure, she had acted like that before in the past, but now she changed. Or, at least Piper hoped she changed. In the back of her mind, Piper reminded herself to come up with a cute nickname for Percy.
Percy scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "Well, it can't be that hard, can't it?"
The demigods almost died on the way back to Camp Half-blood.
PERCY and Jason had been elected as official drivers, and they both angrily protested the decision. It didn't matter, since Clarisse threatened them both at spear-point, and Piper threw in a little bit of charmspeach on the side. It proved to be a stupid decision, since they managed to break almost every traffic law in mankind's history, gathering the attention of angry tourists and vengeful state police.
Luckily, Annabeth had manipulated the policemen using the Mist, forcing them to believe that they were all training to be cops. The obvious confusion on the policeman's face made Percy laugh like a little schoolgirl, and he nearly got arrested for it.
So when Percy walked up the Half-blood hill, he almost cried in relief at the sight of the camp, with all the Romans and Greeks managing to peacefully coexist. He helped Piper carry the unconscious brothers to the infirmary, informing Chiron that they weren't seriously wounded. The centaur nearly smacked the demigod upside the head for that comment; it turned out that Travis had a serious concussion and Connor was suffering from sever hyperthermia. They were going to be out for two weeks at best.
Guilt briefly made a home in Percy's conscience, but it was squashed down without much resistance. He had learned that, being a leader, people were going to get injured, maybe even killed. But still, Percy's heart wasn't as cold as those of Julius Caesar or Napoleon. He cared for his soldiers, since his soldiers were actually his family, his friends. Piper had noticed this, and she reassuringly squeezed his hand.
Now that Percy wasn't in a life or death situation, he had more time to think his thoughts through. The situation with Piper was confusing at best, so he decided to give them some space for a few days. He wasn't sure whether or not she was mad at him for disappearing again, but he tried not to dwell on depressing thoughts.
In the mess hall, Percy was welcomed back as a hero. The moment he stepped on the pavilion, all the Greeks and Romans cheered, clapping him on the back and praising his bravery. When Percy finally got over his confusion, he learned that word of his Primordial-destroying behavior had spread through camp like a wildfire. Percy wasn't quite sure who spread the news, but the demigods were parting in front of him like Moses and the Red Sea, showing him a completely new level of respect and admiration.
The little demigods, the ones six through ten years old, begged to see his new sword. Leo had been running his mouth off, loudly proclaiming how "badass" the son of Poseidon's new weapon was, so Percy reluctantly showed them Calamity. They oohed and awed, pleading to try and pick it up. After several attempts by demigods of all shapes and sizes, Percy realized that nobody else but him could pick up the sword.
Percy had to admit that it was pretty cool. He silently thanked Pontus for re-forging his blade.
No problem, a foreign presence said in his mind. Use it wisely.
Dodging Jason's questions of how Percy grew wings, the son of Poseidon managed to make it into the Poseidon cabin without getting overwhelmed by legionnaires asking to see his wings. It seemed as though Jason and Leo just couldn't keep their mouth shut.
He knew that he would eventually have to go back outside again, but right now, Percy enjoyed the peace and serenity of his cabin. The comfy mattress looked awfully inviting, and Percy plopped down upon it, relishing the impossible softness of the memory foam. Relaxing, he shut his eyes, about to take a long nap in Morpheus's realm when –
BOOM!
"You have got to be shitting me!" Percy swore, sitting upright in his bed. He banged his head painfully against the bottom of the top bunk, making the annoyed demigod curse even more. He rubbed his eyes, his vision slowly clearing. "There better not be a gods damned crab crawling out of my fountain." Percy's eyes opened, and he blinked twice. Then his mouth fell open, instantly getting on a knee out of respect.
Zeus, king of the gods, stood in front of him, wearing a pinstriped suit perfectly tailored. The air around the god cackled with power and electricity, emitting an aura of power parallel to that of Ourea's. Inwardly, Percy wondered how the Olympian had a power-signature equivalent to that of a Primordial.
"Lord Zeus," he murmured, not glancing up. "I apologize for… ah–"
"Please, stand up Perseus," the thunder god spoke, a deep, rumbling sound. In the small confines of his cabin, Percy felt as though he was smothered by the god's sheer power. He stood up, surprised that, even at his height, Zeus easily stood a foot over him. For some reason, the god seemed more powerful right now than any other time Percy had seen him. "There is no need for an apology. I would smite whoever came into my private chambers."
Percy nodded, swallowing thickly. The son of Poseidon was pleasantly surprised to find that, after a while, Zeus's aura seemed to diminish when Percy's aura fully awoke.
"You must be wondering why I am here, in your cabin," Zeus observed, his electric eyes passing over all of Percy's belongings.
"I'll admit, I was curious as to why you were here," Percy responded as politely as possible. Even though Percy managed to destroy a Primordial, having the most powerful Olympian as an enemy would probably be a stupid thing to do.
The god smiled. "I am here to either execute you or to preserve your life," he informed in a flat tone. Percy's eyes instantly widened, his muscles tensing slightly. After all he had done for Olympus, this is what they would do?
"I am the god of justice," Zeus continued, indifferent to the demigod's discomfort, "and because of this, I am able to sense whether somebody's intentions are pure or not. I have been curious as to, with the vast amount of power that you've acquired, what would you do with all of that power? Would you seek more strength, slowly becoming corrupted by the undeniable lust for power, or would you use the powers you already have for good?"
Percy opened his mouth to answer, but the god silenced him with a pointed look. "I believe that you, your type of man, are the latter. Although I am wary of a son of Poseidon gaining more power than most of my brethren, I believe that you have nothing but good intentions. So far, you've done nothing but combat Olympus's enemies."
This sudden change in events shocked the demigod. Percy was almost one hundred percent sure that Zeus was here to smite him, but now, was the god giving him his approval? "T-Thank you, Lord Zeus," Percy stuttered, his words not properly forming in his mouth.
"I am not here to praise your deeds," the god continued, "I am here to let you live and to warn you. I have decided to allow you passage in my domain. You are the first son of Poseidon to ever have that privilege."
Percy murmured his thanks, still shocked at the turn of events.
"But," Zeus held up a warning finger, "if you do anything, and I do mean anything, no matter how big and small, against Olympus – if you even imply that you are intending to do anything ill to my kingdom," he paused for dramatic effect, "I will find you, and I will kill you."
He waved his hand, disappearing in a blinding flash of lightning. The distinct smell of ozone lingered in the air, reminding Percy of Thalia, the lieutenant of the hunters. Still in a daze, he flopped ungracefully onto his bed.
Percy reveled at his good luck, a strange feeling of pride swelling within him. It wasn't everyday that the King of Olympus voiced his approval of someone.
It was with a smile that he entered Morpheus's realm.
ANNABETH fidgeted nervously, tapping her leg with her fingers.
There was an emergency council meeting called in the dead of night, around one o'clock in the morning. The murderous stares of Clarisse and Percy due to being interrupted from their sleep almost made the daughter of Athena blanch, but she composed her face into one of an emotionless observer when Jason explained the new prophecy situation to Percy.
He looked pissed, but the fire in his eyes dissipated when Piper grabbed his hand.
There was a new addition to the centurions, counselors, and senators. A new son of Hermes, Michael (or at least that's what Annabeth hoped his name was), sat in the Hermes counselor's spot instead of Travis and Connor, who were still recovering from their wounds. He had a permanent scowl plastered on his pale face, crossing his arms and looking as if he'd rather be anywhere but here.
It was odd. He didn't look like a typical, energetic son of Hermes at all.
"So," Clarisse snarled, looking menacing in the dim light, "why the fu – er," she gave an apologetic glance at the young daughter of Nike, "why the fudge was I interrupted from my glorious sleep? I mean, sure Prissy got to learn about the prophecy that he's a part of, but why us?" She gestured to the other equally tired looking counselors and centurions.
"There's more," answered the son of Jupiter tersely. Jason seemed to be lacking sleep as well, and he was constantly rubbing at his eyes. "Let's get this over with."
Percy glared at the table, not lifting his eyes. His thick, dark bangs hung in front of his eyes, the sea green barely poking from underneath his hair. He looked gorgeous, even with dark bags under his eyes and his messy bed hair. Jealousy throbbed at Annabeth's chest when she looked at Piper nonchalantly playing with his hand.
The daughter of Athena grabbed the jealousy by its throat and stabbed a metaphorical knife through it. It did no good to regret an event that happened months ago, even if a meddling goddess caused their break up. Annabeth cursed the unfairness of it all – she had a connection with Percy, but it was all ripped away because of some jealous goddess. She knew that Percy deserved to know the truth, but watching him sigh contentedly when Piper rested her head on his shoulder, Annabeth saw that they were happy together. Even though there were rumors around camp of Percy and Piper fighting, they seemed to be perfectly compatible. What right did Annabeth have to break that up?
"Look guys," Piper started, unsheathing Katoptris, "I… I saw something when I looked into this blade."
Six out of the Seven, Leo, Percy, Hazel, Frank, Jason, and Annabeth stiffened when they heard this. Annabeth knew that the blade gave prophetic images of the future, but it was also crafty, often leading people to draw the wrong conclusion from the images.
"Oh great," the son of Hermes muttered darkly, "you saw something when you looked into a knife. Here's a golden star."
Some centurions snickered, but they were all silenced with a murderous glare from Percy. "It's a prophetic mirror," he explained, impatience edging into his voice, "and it often shows of events to come."
Piper nodded, squeezing his hand as silent thanks. There was a time when Annabeth could do that and the innocence of it clawed at her crumbling, jealous heart, but the demigod stoically brushed it off. They are happy, so I am happy, Annabeth tried convincing herself. It didn't sound that convincing, though.
"I saw an army of monsters." The daughter of Aphrodite seemed to be flustered under the scrutinizing look of everybody in the room, but there was a steely resolve in her eyes that Annabeth admired. The girl used to be embarrassed by attention, Annabeth recalled, but now Piper didn't seem to mind it as much. "They were making camp in the abandoned Roman citadel."
The Romans in the room stiffened. "How do you know that they're at the fort?"
"There was a ruined tower in the background," Piper answered. "From what I've heard from Percy, he burned down the tower that held Reyna prisoner." She glanced at the daughter of Bellona, who was seemingly in deep thought.
"Was it a cobblestone tower?" The Praetor asked, urgency obvious in her tone.
Piper nodded, and Reyna groaned. "That means they are barely two miles from here. They could attack us any moment now, assuming that it's an actual army."
"It is," Piper affirmed, her voice faltering. "I saw their commander."
"Who was it?" Annabeth spoke, finally breaking her silence. Piper's kaleidoscopic eyes bored into her own gray eyes, and the daughter of Athena held her gaze.
"They called him Iapetus."
Percy burst into laughter, earning the confused looks of all the demigods. Annabeth had to give kudos to the son of Poseidon for finding something humorous in a very real threat to the camp. Annabeth dimly recalled Percy telling her about an adventure with Thalia and Nico into the underworld to retrieve some sword of Hades, and she remembered Percy pushing a Titan into the River Lethe and renaming him "Bob."
"It's Bob!" Percy cried, all semblances of sleepiness gone. "I can't believe it! He got his memory back."
Polite chuckling came from the corner of the room, where a dark son of Hades emerged from the shadows. Nico took his seat at the Hades position, an uncharacteristic grin morphing the demigod's face. His face quickly turned somber, however, and everybody seemed to focus on him.
"It's true. I checked," his voice was grave, and Annabeth marveled at how much the kid seemed like his dad. "There's a large army at the fort. And the worst part? They're heading towards us, right now."
Silence enveloped the meeting, all eyes focused on the son of Hades. Then Clarisse cursed loudly. "For Olympus's sake, when will these bastards learn when to quit?"
"I don't know," Nico admitted, "but there's a lot of them. I couldn't count them in the darkness, but it's easily three times our combined forces. Chiron is sending for reinforcements right now."
"What type of reinforcements?" Reyna asked, a hopeful glint in her eyes.
Annabeth could already guess who the reinforcements were. "The Amazons and the hunters," she answered, then adding as an afterthought, "maybe some Party Ponies if we're lucky. They got pretty bad casualties in the Titan War."
"Well isn't this a great big reunion," Percy muttered sardonically, earning a few dry chuckles.
"We should probably go and wake up everybody," Annabeth offered. Her daughter of Athena genes were kicking in, allowing her to assume control over the situation. "We need everybody up and ready in fifteen minutes. If we're lucky, we'll be ready when the monsters arrive."
Everybody nodded his or her agreement, and the meeting was dismissed. Annabeth quickly woke up her siblings, informing them that there was a large group of monsters heading towards camp and that they should probably get into full battle armor. After helping her drowsy siblings strap on their armor, Annabeth made her way to the Half-blood hill, where Thalia's old pine tree stood.
Annabeth was relieved to find the Golden Fleece still in its old spot and its faithful guardian under the tree. They had the terrain advantage, just like they did against the Romans. She found Jason, Reyna, and Percy already there, trying to stare through the darkness to find something. The three were deep in discussion, probably talking about what the course of action should be. With a quick nod, Jason led Reyna down the hill and into the camp, hopefully rallying the Roman troops.
"Where'd they go?" Annabeth asked, glancing at Percy in his full battle armor. His red hood was down, letting the cold wind blow through his hair. The black and red armor fitted his body perfectly, making him look muscular and heroic, and she mentally guessed at what lay underneath… okay, hold it right there, stop, Annabeth, she told herself. Those thoughts weren't healthy.
"I sensed a large group of monsters coming through the forest," he answered, "The Romans will defend the forest and we'll defend the hill."
Annabeth nodded, letting an awkward silence develop between them. They used to be best friends, but now they were just friends. Percy was kind enough to try and redevelop their broken friendship after their break up, but some things prevented them from getting closer. She was struck with a sudden nostalgia of old times, when Percy was hers, and not Piper's. If only the damned Goddess of Love hadn't meddled with their relationship–
"What did you just say?" Percy hissed, suddenly gripping Annabeth's arms. There was an almost feral look to his eyes, and Annabeth suddenly realized that she had spoken her thoughts out loud.
"I… what did I say?" She responded meekly, not used to the anger rolling off of Percy in waves. His eyes darkened drastically.
His breath was warm, and it fanned her face in lovely puffs. "You said that you missed the old times. When I was yours, and not Piper's." His voice cracked, and Annabeth suddenly found herself blushing with total embarrassment. She was sure she resembled a ripe tomato. "Then you said if only the Goddess of Love hadn't meddled with our relationship. What did that mean?"
Annabeth's mouth opened and closed, words unable to form on her tongue. When Percy's grip on her tightened, she managed to let the words pour out of her mouth. "Aphrodite sent me a message – I swear, I just woke up one day and saw this envelope. And in the envelope there was this vial of weird golden liquid, and a note told me to drink it, and I don't know what happened, but after I drank it I… I saw the truth."
"The truth of what?" Percy demanded.
Annabeth wasn't sure why, but she felt hot tears pool in the back of her eyes. Maybe it was the look of desperation for answers in Percy's eyes. "I saw the truth of our break up, of why we didn't work out. It was Aphrodite… she messed with my memories, convinced me that I liked Davis instead of you."
The look in Percy's eyes was unfathomable. "Then that means..." His voice died in his throat, and Annabeth was surprised to find Percy's eyes start watering up. "It was a lie all along then, wasn't it?" His voice was small, and the words came out in a whisper raw with emotion. He stared back at her with an unmatchable intensity, forcing Annabeth to drop her gaze.
There was a tense silence, hanging in the air like an invisible fog, stifling the two demigods. When Annabeth finally gathered the courage to look back up at Percy, she felt her breath hitch in her throat.
Too many emotions raced through his watery orbs, and Annabeth could only guess a fraction of what he was feeling right now. "Look," she said tearfully, feeling raw emotion make her throat constrict painfully, "I don't expect you to believe any of this. I-I didn't plan on telling you this, because… I don't know, you look so happy with Piper and I don't want to ruin what you two had, but I… I feel as though you deserve to know the truth."
"I believe you," Percy released his grip on her arms, and she rubbed the spot where he held her. Annabeth wiped at her eyes, brushing away the annoying tears that started falling without her permission. "Aphrodite said that I didn't know the truth of our breakup." He chuckled humorlessly. "I guess I do now."
Annabeth looked up and was shocked to find remorse in Percy's eyes. She had seen that look before on him, many times, like when he admitted to leaving Calypso on Ogygia. Hope swelled within her – maybe he regretted everything that happened. "What happens now?" she asked, unable to keep away the hope seeping into her voice. "What happens between us?"
"I don't know," Percy answered honestly. Armored demigods started walking up the hill, and the indecipherable look in his eyes said that the conversation was over. "But now, we have a war to win." Annabeth nodded in agreement, blinking away the last of her tears.
His brilliant sword appeared out of nowhere, illuminating the area for miles around. Annabeth looked down the hill and was shocked to find a whole army of monsters seemingly blinded by the sudden light. She saw Percy's grim look of determination, the campers getting into formation and the archers dabbing Formula X on their arrows. She turned to the other side and saw the gleam of Piper's Katoptris and the brilliant fire of Leo's war hammer far to the left where their siblings were. Her brothers and sisters gathered behind her, staring at Percy expectantly, and Annabeth found herself look at the son of Poseidon, waiting for his order.
With a mighty shout, Percy charged the monsters straight on.
I apologize for the hurried ending. The Annabeth and Percy interaction at the end was rushed, and I promise I'll go back and edit it to make it read better. Also, do you guys think Zeus was a little bit OOC? I think that since he's the god of justice, he should be able to see the good in Percy. How 'bout you guys?
I know some of you have wanted this to be a Percabeth, but I'm sorry, it's strictly Percy/Piper. There may be some Percabeth moments, but in the end, it'll be Percy and Piper riding off into the sunset on a unicorn.
I apologize for the long wait, but I hope I've written a long enough chapter. Feel free to point out any grammatical or plot-critical errors that you guys find. So, I want to know what you guys thought of it. It'd help me improve and stuff. That's always good, right?
It would mean the world to me if you checked out my other fanfic, Perseus: Legend of Olympus. Leave a review or follow it, just let me know that you've read it. That would make my day.