HEY GUYS I'M SO SORRY! For the absolute LATENESS of this chapter (it was in 25 hours, not 24 like I promised, so you guys have full rights to get mad at me boohoo) also: I came across the story of the birth of Apollo and Artemis, and I realized, that their mom is in fact not Hera, but Leto, and I am so sorry for my mistake with that, but at this point, I'm going to keep it as it is because it works for the story and plot. For those that are bothered by this, my apologies, but yes, and:
for those who are worried that this story might suddenly be discontinued for whatever reason, not to worry because 1) I know how that feels and 2) I'm planning to finish this story. If for some reason I haven't updated in a while, PM me, because I might have gotten caught up in life stuff and forgotten, but if not I would leave an author's note.
BUUUUT if I don't answer then I might have either lost access to any form of technology, is in a coma, or is dead. Hopefully the last two don't happen; I'm not planning to go to the Spirit World just yet, lol. With that Apollo worthy bright note, please enjoy!
Disclaimer - All recognizable character's are Rick Riordan's
Chapter Fourteen - Push Your Limits, Deny Them, and You'll Fly
"You're doing great Perce / You're almost at a hundred / I'm the best trainer-"
"I'm tired / You suck / Please shut up," grumbled Percy, arms trembling as he pushed up, barely moving his chest away from the ground. He could see the sweat pooling and dripping off from the tip of his nose.
Apollo harrumphed from on top of him, yes, that's right, Apollo was sitting on Percy who was tasked with one hundred push-ups. Why? Percy couldn't wrap his head around it. When he had been chased by Sunflower, Percy could understand why that could help him; he might find himself in a very similar situation coming Sunday, running from a firebreathing dragon Intent, so yeah, Percy could see the use in that exercise. But not this.
"That haiku wasn't formatted right, Percy," Apollo said, shaking his head as Percy's arms shook from the weight. "I told you already: five, seven five, not two, two, three." Apollo waved his hands dramatically, causing Percy to grunt in exertion (more exertion, that is). "You've totally ignored my poetic lesso-"
"Just-" 82, 83 pushups "-shut-" 84, 85, 86 pushups "UP!" and as he tried to push from the floor one more time, he collapsed, elbows buckling as he attempted to heave on the floor, but couldn't properly catch his breath because of the man that sat on top of him. Apollo frowned in disappointment.
"That was not a hundred, mister."
Percy tried to swat at the man, but his arms were goners, and they stayed where they were as he glared at the man, mustering up a grunt to show his displeasure.
Honestly, it was an absolute miracle that Percy was able to get up to the number he could with a heavy man on top of him. He expected himself to not even make it past maybe fifty, but to his surprise, he was able to get up to 86 and maybe a half before collapsing. Percy attributed it to the irk toward a certain cousin to have been fueling him.
"n' don' care," Percy grumbled out as Apollo finally stood up. He glanced down at Percy with mock disappointment, but his eyes shined with something Percy decided might have been pride.
"You know," Apollo said, crouching as he poked Percy's arms. The arms' owner glared at the man. "I wasn't expecting these twigs to hold you up for as long as it did. It wasn't a hundred, but I'll give you a point for that." He slapped Percy's back despite much of Percy's protests (consisting of angry glares and grumbles). "Well, you've got a thirty minute break for now, and then breakfast. Then we're back at it."
At the sound of breakfast, Percy knew he should've been excited, because food, but at the moment, all he wanted was to book it and sleep in his own bed at home.
As Apollo walked away, whistling to a random tone, Blackjack spoke up. You wouldn't make a very good pegasus if you can't even do a hundred push-ups with that guy on your back, he remarked.
Shut up, Blackjack, Percy said as he turned so that he was on his back, facing up at the clear blue sky. Again, the training had taken place on the grassy field, though it was more a field of dirt and small patches of grass. During the night, it seemed that the ashes had been blown away for the most part. But none the less, Percy was getting his clothes dirty and sweaty, or rather, Apollo's son's clothes.
He felt sort of bad for that, but hopefully Percy could pin the blame on Apollo.
He stared at the sky, lazy clouds drifting slowly across the expanse of blue. It was really...blue.
Well, how astute of you, boss, Blackjack snickered. If Percy could glare at something in his head, he would, but because that wasn't really physically possible, he stuck to glaring at the sky instead.
I might die, Percy thought solemnly as he grunted, pushing himself with difficulty into a sitting position. He rubbed his arms, massaging it, wincing slightly.
What do you mean?
Percy looked at the hills to his left. The greenness of them and the way the breeze blew across them made it look like it was shimmering under the sunlight. Above that was the sky that spanned forever, and flying in the skies were birds that chirped without a worry. The sun shone ever so brightly that day. He remembered what Apollo said that early morning, about the beauty of nature and how it was a performance for humans and such.
It was then that the weight of his situation fell full force on him, like a sudden burden dumped onto his mind. It killed his mood.
Peace was what he found in the sky, the sun, the birds and the hills. But after recognizing that peace, it just accentuated the turmoil in his own life that much more. Why me? Why can't I be a cloud, or a bird, or even a rock? Percy wondered, truly distressed at the curse that being a human is. Turmoil.
A murderer. That's what the General was. What the General is. Not only that, but the whole lot of the Timeless were probably similarly minded as well. Murderers, then, or criminals, or people who were willing to kill - that's what Percy's gotten himself involved in.
His life was never perfect, far from it. Trouble seemed to follow him like the flu - once he was done with it one year, it came again next time around. But it was more frequent than the flu. From when he was a child, his father had some how gotten himself killed. Then Gabe came into the picture, and Percy thought he and his goonies were bad. And they were, there's no denying that. But they weren't murderers. People that were okay with killing a poor bystander for accidentally bumping into them.
Gabe might have been a monster, but Percy's found himself dealing with the demons from the Pit themselves.
He couldn't run from it because his family was on the line, his mom was on the line, but because he's staying, he has to choose to join those from the Pit, or fight them. He would never let himself join them, because that was against everything he knew was right, knew was moral and kind, things that his mother teaches him, but the prospect of fighting someone like the General-
Cold, stone, gray eyes. Cold, cold, cold-
Percy shivered, before groaning and standing up. He shook his head from the thoughts that plagued his mind. There wasn't any use in thinking about the possibilities of dying, because he had to fight. He wasn't planning to roll over and die. Maybe Kronos thought there were only two choices for Percy: join or die, but Percy chose option c: none of the above.
He was going to live, and live right. He was human alright, and humans were nothing but problems, but being a human also meant he had something that a cloud, a tree, a rock never could.
Percy stretched his aching arms, the movement straining, but it felt refreshing none the less. He walked toward the large house as his determination stood firm. It would waver at times, but it wouldn't fall. Percy's friends made sure of it, Intents and all, his mom made sure of it, and by the gods he was going to make sure of it. Because he had emotion, he had intellect, and he had a will.
Come at me, Timeless, Percy thought as he opened the door with still-trembling hands. He opened it, and he stepped through. I'll be ready.
o)0(o - Linebreak
Jason cracked an eye open and glanced at the clock on the wall of his bedroom. Three hours of sleep, he thought. Not bad. Considering everything he's learned, he took that as a good sign that he was not in fact going to die from sleep deprivation. However, even as his alarm started going off, he didn't stand up to shut it off. He didn't make a move to get out of bed. And for once, he actually considered not going to school.
There was a knock on his door, and to his shock, his father's voice sounded from behind it. "Jason, your alarm." His father's voice was as usual, stern and low, but there was something new in it today, something suspiciously like concern.
Jason shook himself awake and sat up, yawning as he walked over to turn his alarm off. He heard Zeus shuffle away from the door and heard the creak of the stairs as he went downstairs, leaving Jason in the silence. I better go wake Thalia up, he thought absentmindedly as he changed his clothes, stretching in the process.
'What do you mean, cousin?' Zeus asked with scrunched eyebrows and clear confusion. He hesitated before asking, 'Are you certain he's your cousin?' Jason and Thalia glanced at each other, and Jason saw confusion etched into Thalia's face that he was sure his own mirrored.
'Percy Jackson,' Jason said slowly, unsure anymore, why his father wouldn't know of having a nephew. 'Son of Poseidon, supposedly your brother?'
Zeus looked like he had been struck by lightning, stunned into complete silence. 'But my brother...he died before he could ever have a child...' The man trailed off before grunting in realization as Jason looked at his father in confusion again. 'Ah,' Zeus muttered. Then, clearing his throat, he said, 'This boy...Percy Jackson. May I meet him? My brother has never told me he had a child, most probably, though, for the sake of keeping him out of this war, though, since you have met, I'm assuming he's no longer uninvolved.' At the look in the man's eyes, Jason widened his eyes, before nodding, though, hesitantly.
'I, I don't think you can meet him throughout this week, because...' Jason shared another look with his sister before looking back at his father. 'The Timeless has eyes on him.'
Jason knocked on Thalia's door. "Thalia, time to go." He heard loud snoring in response and he shook his head before swinging open the door in an attempt to imitate Zeus's own dramatic entrances, letting the door bang into the wall (Jason winced for the wall and hoped that it didn't crack then and there). "Come on, Thalia." Thalia was sprawled across her bed, as she snorted loudly before her eyes fluttered open.
"Eff off," she grumbled.
"Maybe I will," Jason grumbled himself, before saying loud enough for her to hear, "We'll be late if you stay sprawled out for so long." He hardened his voice like his own father did whenever he was talking to businessmen that came to visit the house. It was a voice that demanded you listened or there would be consequences. "Get up."
Thalia threw a pillow at Jason which he expertly dodged, as she sat up, stretching. She yawned. "Gods I hate that voice." Jason smirked a bit, but it was half hearted.
Zeus's eyes bulged, and it would've made Jason laugh had the situation not been pertaining to his friend. 'What do you mean "has eyes on him?" How did this happen?'
'Idiot got their attention,' Thalia explained darkly. 'He's like one of those Mediums, except, not bad.' She attempted to demonstrate by moving her hands in awkward angles, to which Jason's mouth twitched up at. 'Poof, glowing blue sword,' she finished. She shrugged, and Jason half expected his father to stare at her like she was crazy, but instead the man had started nodding, eyes glowing with recognition.
'He...knows how to Summon upon Intent,' Zeus said with understanding flashing through his eyes, along with some sort of dread. 'I...see. And how is he? Percy?'
'Well,' Thalia started before Jason could say anything. Her face exuded a sense of irritation. 'Apollo went and kidnapped him, claiming that he was going to train Percy to fight back.'
'We had come up with a plan,' Jason explained next. He hesitated a bit, but he explained the whole situation to his dad, though he didn't know what moved him to trust everything with his father, but thankfully, yet strangely, Thalia hadn't interjected; she had even contributed to the explanation at times.
Jason walked down to the kitchen, glancing at his phone's time. They actually had a good fifteen minutes until they had to leave; he had to wake Thalia up early for the sake of making some leeway for times when she resisted wakefulness for longer than usual. He grabbed an apple and ran it under the sink, peeling the sticker off before taking a bite. A few minutes later Thalia sauntered in and went to the fridge, taking out a popsicle.
"That's not very healthy," Jason remarked. Thalia scoffed before she opened it and bit a piece off the top.
"Jason, Thalia," Hera acknowledged as she stepped into the kitchen ever so gracefully, movements careful and beautiful as if she were royalty. She went to the fridge and took out some leftover from the day before. "Do you children want me to cook something up for you quick?" Hera was like that. She was kind, caring, and over all, a pretty good wife as well as mother. Faithful to Zeus, by his side all the time, and she took care of Jason and Thalia as a mother would, but Jason knew that she wasn't as soft inside as she seemed.
There were times when she was ticked off enough that she'd turn cold. Still a good wife and mother in actions, but her demeanor would become hostile like flames or cold like a wall made of ice.
Thalia grabbed a cookie from the counter. "Nah," she said. Then, bluntly, she added, "We know you don't actually want to."
Hera hummed before saying, "Yes, it seems you need to work on your manners as usual, dear." She nodded at them again before walking out with food in her hand, and into the dining room.
Jason shook his head at the straight forwardness of his sister. He glanced at the time again. Five more minutes. Might as well get a head start.
"Come on," Jason said as Thalia nodded. He trashed the apple core before going into the living room and picking up his bag, as did Thalia, though her's seemed suspiciously empty as usual. They walked out the door.
'I see,' Zeus said after the siblings finished the long winded explanation. He looked solemn as well as troubled. He nodded to himself before saying, 'I agree with Apollo on this; the war comes later. Percy's immediate situation takes priority at the moment.' He took a glance at the clock on the living room wall before he gazed at his children, face serious. 'I shall explain the rest to you both some time this week; it's getting late, and I assume you still have assignments due and school to go to tomorrow.'
'For now, rest.' He stood, leaving the Grace siblings to their musings. Jason sat there for a moment. A war, his thoughts echoed. My family is a in the middle of some kind of war. He shook his head at that, not the least amused. A war that no one has ever heard about or known about. And it's still going on.
And somehow Jason, Thalia, and Percy were a part of it without even knowing until now.
"So," Thalia said as they walked onto the bus. Jason turned to her, eyebrow raised in curiosity. "A war, huh?" Jason nodded mutely. Thalia's face was unreadable. It was blank but her eyes were stormy. "Usually, I'd be all in for a fight, but I'd never think our whole family was in on a war."
"Yeah," Jason replied smartly. He gulped, but he felt something start stirring in him. "A war means fighting, doesn't it?"
"Hell yeah," Thalia said. Jason glanced at his sister. She was grinning, but her eyes held no mirth, but rather a thrill and dreaded anticipation in them, so instead of a grin, it looked like a beast baring its teeth. Storm clouds swirled in her eyes as she gave him a look of unfounded confidence. "Think we can fight against beasts like those?"
Determination. That was what had started swirling inside him. He didn't grin like Thalia did, from thrill or anticipation of battle, but instead he nodded, mouth in a firm line, eyes hardened, showing that he was ready. Maybe he wasn't, and honestly, he probably wouldn't stand a chance against people like the Timeless. They were on a whole other level compared to him who knew how to use a few weapons and some hand to hand combat.
But he could learn. He would learn to Summon upon Intent, and he was going to join the war.
"A battle between good and evil, Thals?" Jason said, voice filled with dread yet strong will. "Sign me the hell up."
o)0(o - Linebreak
"Summon your Companion Intent," Apollo said. He made a glance over of Percy, as if inspecting him. "I'll grade how well you Summon. If you do well enough, I might make a haiku just for you."
Percy rolled his eyes. "Tempting," he said, lacing his voice with sarcasm, but Apollo nodded, not taking the hint that Percy did not, indeed, want a haiku made just for him.
"Begin," the man proclaimed as if he was overseeing a grand game.
Percy had the urge to roll his eyes again, but he resisted, instead putting his hands out, breathing in and out. Ready, Blackjack?
You bet, boss, I've been itching to get out since forever.
And he began to go through the motions, instinct and slight knowledge guiding him, his palms glowing, but before he could complete the Summoning, Apollo exclaimed, seemingly horrified, "2 out of 10! No, no, Perce! You cannot expect to go into battle with that!"
Percy cursed as the glow from his palms faded when his concentration did. He looked at Apollo, shocked. Surely, he wasn't perfect, but he couldn't be that bad. "2 out of 10? Why?!"
Oh, come on, Blackjack whined.
Apollo shook his head, massaging his temples, as if Percy's question gave him a migraine. Percy scrunched his face at that. "Look," Apollo said, raising his hand. "Let me demonstrate. Melody, fine in tune to make em swoon," he chanted under his breath before snapping his fingers. There was a bright shine and in hand was the flute, a dizi, Apollo had mentioned during breakfast, glowing gold.
Percy gaped, pointing. "How - how did you do that?"
Apollo looked a bit too smug for Percy's liking, but he was too shocked to snark about it. "This, cousin, I must teach you." He shook his head distressed. "I didn't know how uneducated you were in Summoning; who taught you, because they did a sucky job."
Percy raised an eyebrow at that, grumbling out, "I taught myself." At that, Apollo blinked a bit.
"Oh," he said, before saying, "What?"
"I taught myself," Percy repeated, though now he was a bit confused at Apollo's reaction. Apollo looked at Percy with shock before the look morphed into something like respect. The man laughed.
"Well, I suppose that's pretty amazing," Apollo said grinning brightly suddenly. "I'm impressed. BUT-" Percy jumped a bit at that "-that does not mean you're not behind. You still are. I thought you'd at least know about the Call." Percy cocked his head at that in confusion. Call? Apollo explained, "But now that I know you taught yourself, probably without any Medium books as a resource, you wouldn't know what that is." He gestured to his flute.
"A Call is like a unique saying, or sound, or action that prompts a clear quick path for your Intent to come out from," he said. "For example, Melody here, my Entertainment / Healer Intent, her unique Call is that phrase I said before snapping my fingers: 'Melody, fine in tune to make em swoon.'" Percy stared blankly because that was a really Apollo-like phrase, but he nodded slowly, understanding. He thought back to when he was in the Spirit World.
"Would a whistle count as a Call?" Percy asked, thinking about Blackjack appearing in the Spirit World after the taxi-hailing sound.
Apollo nodded. "So," Percy continued. "I just have to do this Call thing, and poof, my Intent comes out?"
"Not quite," he said. "That's only half of it. You still need to be able to concentrate on your Spirit Energy, specifically your Summoning Points." He pointed at the center of one of his palms. "Always have one of them open and free; know that that's where you want all your energy pooled, know it, intend it, and make it happen. It'll take time at first, and some movement might help a bit at first, but eventually, I want you to be Summoning in a split second so you won't go dying because you couldn't Summon fast enough. That's a stupid way to die."
Percy 'oh'-ed before looking at his palms. He turned his attention to his left palm, leaving it face up. He concentrated and immediately felt the energy pooling there, but it was a slow trickle, not nearly fast enough to be as quick as Apollo. When Summoning, there was a threshold for the amount of energy needed to be pooled in the Summoning point, and once it hit that threshold, well, it was pretty obvious when it did.
After five to ten seconds of concentration, Percy felt the tell-tale flood of energy into his veins, thundering like a roaring wave, and he brought his other hand up to his mouth and let out a loud and sharp high pitched whistle. There was a sudden glow from his palm, but it flickered and Percy flinched at the amount of energy crackling in the palm of his hand. The light flickered out.
Apollo nodded in satisfaction. "That was a good first attempt. It's a bit overwhelming at first, but this time, go all out. Don't hesitate. Remember, know it, intend it, and make it happen." Apollo nodded, signalling Percy to try again.
Percy breathed a bit, readying himself, but he was determined and he knew what was going to happen this time. He repeated the process, but this time, when the flow of energy exploded in his palm, he pushed through, and the glow flashed bright before settling, and in front of him, he saw Blackjack, glowing blue hide sleek and mane tossed to the side as he snorted I have been freed!
"Woah," Percy breathed out at his own feat. A sudden pain flared up his arms and he winced before trying to massage them.
Apollo looked thoughtful. "Good job, but it looks like you hadn't done enough push ups. I did say to do a hundred."
Percy looked at his cousin incredulously as Blackjack cocked his head to the side in interest. "What do the push ups have anything to do with Summoning?" Apollo waved a hand as if swatting away Percy's question. Instead, he pointed to a tree on the outskirts of the field.
"Look at that tree; what do you see?" Percy opened his mouth to question what that had to do with anything, but Apollo shushed him with a glance. "Well?" Doubtful, but compliant, Percy looked at the tree in question. It was a relatively normal tree, if not a bit bigger than the ones that managed to grow in the city.
"Uhh, it's got green leaves and..." Percy squinted as if to make an attempt to see something that maybe he wasn't seeing. "Er, it has a brown trunk."
Apollo nodded, but he didn't look satisfied. After a moment, he said, "Ah, let me clarify; what is that tree doing?"
Bewildered, Percy looked at the tree, half expecting it to be doing a little jig or something. Fortunately, it did no such thing and simply stood tall and proud in the light of the sun above them. "Well, it's standing there, or, er, not standing I guess." After a pause, Percy added, "I guess it's growing too."
Apollo looked delighted at the response, so Percy assumed he answered correctly. "That's right! Now look at that tree and tell me what it's doing." This time, Apollo turned Percy's attention to a tree on a hill further away. The tree grew on the slight incline of the hill, and Percy saw nothing different from the one he just observed before.
Slowly, as if unsure, he answered, "It's standing, and, er, growing. Like the other tree."
"And which direction are both trees growing?" Apollo asked as a follow up much to Percy's frustration. He had no clue where Apollo was going with this, but determined to get to the end of the riddles, Percy answered, slight irritation in his voice.
"It's going up," Percy said. "Like they all do. I don't get why-"
"Correct!" Apollo proclaimed with a smirk. He then asked, "Anything strange or interesting about this fact?" Percy scrunched his face, but at the insistent look on his cousin's face, he sighed in defeat and looked at the two trees. It was a good minute when Percy almost wanted to give up that Blackjack spoke:
Woahhh, that is weird! Percy stared at his Intent who had apparently been participating in the questionnaire. Percy looked again at the two trees in confusion, and Blackjack seemingly sensing that told him Look at the ground that the trees are growing out of!
Percy, confused, did as Blackjack said. Percy didn't see anything suspicious or abnormal, the only difference between the two grounds of the trees being that one was flat and the other was slanted. Maybe Blackjack was playing a prank -
"Oh shoot," Percy exclaimed when he looked at the ground again. "That is weird." The tree on flat land grew perpendicular to the ground, which meant of course, up. But the tree on the slanted and uneven incline also grew up, not perpendicular, as if the tree was determined to be parallel to all other trees around it, no matter what kind of ground it grew out of. It was normal, and something he saw everyday, but he never gave any thought to it.
Apollo looked pleased at Percy's exclamation. "Strange, huh? A past girlfriend of mine - she was super into trees - pointed it out to me one day. About how all the trees grow in one direction, no matter what uneven foundation the ground provided them."
Percy didn't question the girlfriend thing, but... "Okay, that's cool. But what does it have to do with Summoning and push ups?"
"Patience is a virtue, little cuz," Apollo said with a hand up. "Now, think about that: trees always go one direction, totally in sync with each other, seemingly, and that direction is always up. What can we learn from this as people?" Percy scrunched his nose in confusion, but thought about it. What could he learn from trees? How to grow tall? Percy was pretty sure that wasn't how growing worked. Something about genetics or other was definitely what school taught about height.
So it wasn't that, clearly, or at least Percy figured. So then what?
After another moment of thinking, Percy said, "No matter what happens, we should always be optimistic and look up?"
"Mm, I suppose that's one way to put it, but not quite what I wanted you to take out of it," Apollo replied with a quirk of his eyebrow.
Percy shrugged. "At least I tried."
Ignoring that comment, Apollo explained, "Like you said, Percy, no matter what happens, no matter what kind of problem we might come from, whatever slant or incline, we should always go in one direction: the right one.
"Now, of course, there are many speculations as to what 'right' is from 'wrong' and that varies going from person to person. But disregarding that, no matter what, you should always do your best to go that right direction anyway. That right direction usually means doing moral things, doing good things, and though that does differ for every person, it still goes to show that every person is still inclined, to an extent, to figure that good from evil.
"People might do bad things anyway, but every person still has a conscience, something that tells them what up is from down. Some might have that voice be stronger, and some might have it barely audible to them, but in either case, it's still there.
"And like the trees, people should be in sync with one another, all going the same direction, or at least try. No matter the circumstance. You don't have an excuse not to go the right direction, because the trees don't either, even if where they come from is slanted. The ones that do end up growing slanted collapse at some point uprooting itself to its own self destruction." Apollo looked at Percy who was wide eyed at the things Apollo said. All from two trees.
It was pretty fascinating.
Woahhh, Blackjack agreed.
"So, what does this tell you, Percy?" Apollo asked again.
In an intelligent attempt to answer, Percy said, "Uhhhhh, that trees are better at being good than humans?" Apollo looked like he wanted to smack his forehead but maybe thought better of it and settled for a sigh of exasperation.
"Well, you're not entirely wrong there, Perce," Apollo relented, "though, what I wanted you to say was that humans should learn from nature."
Percy paused at that. "Oh."
"I think nature is what the ideal human society is supposed to look like," Apollo said as he turned his eyes to gaze at the green hills. "Everything in harmony, everything about it, in a sense, united. Taking only what's necessary when it's necessary, never hurting others from malice or hate or for no reason at all." Apollo raised an eyebrow at Percy. "Imagine what kind of world we'd be in if humans were like that."
Percy thought about it, trying to imagine that. A world where there was no conflict, and a world where maybe Gabe wouldn't have been bad. Where the General was caring. Where the Spirit War didn't happen and the Mediums lived in peace without fear of arrest with the normal people of society.
That seemed impossible though, Percy thought with a slight bitterness to the idea. Apollo just gave him another unattainable dream, leaving him with a maybe empty hope that would never come to fruition.
But your dad was one of those unattainable dreams, but you've met him anyway, was a thought that poked at the back of his mind.
"Well, I guess it'd be a peaceful one." Percy thought before adding, "And beautiful, like the sunset. An experience you can only have by being there." Apollo slapped Percy in the shoulder, causing him to wince slightly since his arms were still sore.
"Exactly, young man," Apollo said delightedly. "Anyway, point is, is that learn from things that are not humans. Because they've got everything figured out, and now we just gotta figure out how they figured it out, so that we can figure it out."
"Say what now?"
Apollo ignored him before continuing, "And so, regarding those weak stick arms of your's," Percy harrumphed at that slightly "they hurt, don't they?" Percy blinked, but nodded as Apollo said, "What did you feel before Blackjack here came out in all his glory?"
Percy answered right away, rubbing his arms, "There was a strain, like my palm would explode from all the energy behind it." Still in the mindset about comparing everything with nature, Percy added, "Like a dam trying to hold back an ocean." Apollo raised an eyebrow at that, but he didn't look displeased at the analogy.
"Now, what say you about the Souls and their Corporeal forms?" Apollo asked. At Percy's lost expression, he clarified, "An example being: what did you see, when in the Spirit World, when it came to objects, like a rock, and their Soul?"
Percy became thoughtful, remembering what he saw in the Spirit World when he had been there. He tried to remember any rock he'd seen in the Spirit World. For one, Percy hadn't really payed much attention to rocks, but there had been a particular boulder that he saw. He thought hard. It had looked like a regular boulder, albeit more vibrant and seemingly buzzing with firm energy than a regular one from the Corporeal World.
Nature is better at being good than humans are...
Percy thought to the Spirit Energies that his own human friends exuded. They were visible, having been like an aura or halo around them of color. They themselves had looked vibrant, Annabeth's golden curls having been brighter and sheening like the actual metal, her gray eyes more striking than in the Corporeal world...
Percy compared that to the boulder. Both were more vibrant in the Spirit World, and Percy assumed that was because he could see their Souls and Spirits. But the difference was...
"The physical form of the boulder was totally in sync with its Soul," Percy deduced. "My friends, their Spirit looked like it didn't really fit well in their bodies, so I could see an aura around them, but the boulder - there was no aura."
Looking at Apollo, Percy saw a satisfied grin splitting his face as the man nodded. "That is exactly right. So what can you learn from that particular piece of nature?"
Percy thought for a moment before answering, "I guess, to make my Spirit fit my body? Sync them?" He scratched the side of his head. "How do I do that?"
Apollo beamed. Almost literally as his teeth were blinding. "You're learning! But anyway, yes, that is why I made you do the push ups: to sync your physical self with your spirit self. You see, that 'ocean' of power you felt behind the so called 'dam' is your Spirit energy and it's big, your's especially, I think. And for it to have a well provided channel to come out of as quickly as you're training to make it, it has to come out all at once, meaning, those channels have to physically be as powerful as the energy spiritually is. Or else that channel would break under the pressure. Get it?"
Percy rubbed the back of his neck at the prospect of his channel breaking from the pressure of his Spirit Energy. Did that mean if his arms were physically weaker, then his arms would have exploded or something? He shivered at the thought. "Uh, sorta. So you're basically trying to buff me up so that my big energy can be channeled out properly? And that my arms hurt after Summoning because they weren't buffed enough?"
"You're exactly right, Percy," Apollo said with a glint in his eye. He gestured to Blackjack. "Release him; I thought you were ready, but it looks like your energy might be bigger than I thought. You'll have to be pushed to your limits before I let you Summon again." Before Percy could say anything, he added, "Oh, and it doesn't just have to be about your physical prowess. Again, it's about unity, or syncing the two; if your body is healthy, your Spirit will be. If your body is healthy but your spirit is unhealthy, then that would look like our cuddly friend, the General. Not a very nice Spirit I'd think if you see it from the Spirit World.
"But, since you're relatively healthy, Percy, we're just going to work on you power," he finished. He gestured to Blackjack again. "We'll work on Summoning again later."
Aw man, Blackjack whined as he tossed his head to the side in irritation. I just got out, boss! Can't you convince him?
Nah, Percy replied with a shake of his head. As he closed his hands in fists, Releasing as Blackjack flashed out of existence and back into Percy.
Dam it, Blackjack said before snickering. Get it? Because you were talking about dams?
Percy smiled a bit but suppressed his laughter. That was a great pun, Blackjack.
I know, the pegasus replied with an air of confidence. Apollo clapped his hands and rubbed them together excitedly. Percy gulped. 'Pushed to your limit' Apollo had said. Great, Percy thought. More torturous workouts.
"Let's get started then, shall we?"
o)0(o - Linebreak
Annabeth sat in third period History, thinking about what she found the night before, barely giving an ear to the teacher. It would seem she was doing that a lot, and though it troubled her, she couldn't help but be drawn to the more intriguing knowledge she's found, and even more so, the mystery behind the article by Korn. If anything, Annabeth was a sucker for knowing everything. Things she didn't know or understand...that bugged her.
It bugged her and it bugged her pride. Schoolwork be damned because things they learned at school was easy. She could look at the textbooks and search things up and just like that, she could know. But not with the Library of Eternal Chaos. Not with Korn.
So she pondered on it.
The rest of the article had been corrupted, words barely visible under the random lines. The article itself, she found out, that had been on the website she used, was actually a scan of a hard copy of it, meaning that those lines had been on the print itself. Whether the person who ran the website had added the lines themselves, or it had already been there when they got the print in possession, Annabeth couldn't figure out why.
Of course, it was to hide something, but hide what, and why would it be hidden? What was something that people weren't allowed to find out? What was it that Korn saw in that Library that no one could be exposed to?
Not wanting to waste energy on trying to figure out the words of the article or anything of the matter, Annabeth instead turned to searching for Korn's most recent activity. If Korn knew something that was obviously confidential and unattainable knowledge for civilians, then Korn must have had been approached by the government or whoever to keep quiet about the whole situation.
Seeing that it was, however, leaked online anyway, Annabeth assumed that Korn had probably posted it online either in defiance, or before he was approached by authorities. If it was out of defiance, then Korn would have probably been apprehended, either that or something would have happened and his online activity would probably have come to a pause. If it was because he hadn't been approached by authorities yet, then it was taken down right away because he had been after posting it.
So Annabeth had searched for anything related to Korn within five years after the discovery of the Library. Whether it was any article he posted himself, or whether it was a news article that mentioned him at all.
What she found didn't seem quite helpful in hindsight, but it did give her a bit more of a grasp of what could have been.
After that particular article that had been titled "Mystery that is the Library," which had been written in October of 2014, Annabeth found a solid three other articles written by Korn, two in the February of 2016, and one in July the same year. After that, there was nothing but a notice that he had decidedly put a hiatus on his writing, and another a few months after saying that he had settled down with a family so he would stop his line of work all together.
Annabeth did some searching to see whether or not this family was a real and valid excuse, and she found that, yes, Korn did now have a family consisting of a wife and three adopted children.
From what Annabeth could tell, Korn, before the October of 2014, wrote articles pretty spontaneously, but he would write at least ten within a year, so to say that it was strange that he went the whole year of 2015 without a single article online was in and of itself an understatement. Especially because 2015 was around the time when another Medium spotting had happened, and that would have been something that Korn would have jumped at an opportunity to write about. The posting in defiance theory was starting to seem more plausible.
Annabeth looked into that: why had Korn stopped writing for a whole year, and only written three the following?
With some vigorous digging, she found that most of his social media activity had also been put on pause for that whole year, no activity whatsoever. However January of 2016, he had posted on Instagrom an image of him and his wife, whom he was seeing at the time and not yet married, and had explained in the caption that this was in fact the reason why he had put writing on pause.
It made sense, but not totally, and Annabeth couldn't help but feel overly suspicious about it. Not even one article? All for a girl? Either Korn was really dedicated to the lady and spending all his time with her, or something was in fact off. Annabeth couldn't help but feel that it was the latter.
Regarding any news article about Korn himself, though, Annabeth was unable to find anything other than the announcment of his marriage with the lady, who Annabeth found out was named Hebe Watson-Korn, a woman who Annabeth found looked very youthful for her age of thirty five. However, Annabeth didn't find anything other than that useless information, though she did bookmark the site to look at later again just in case she missed something.
By then, it had been 2 AM, and Annabeth had gone to sleep after that, satisfied thusfar, but by no means in the long run.
She had found some things that were suspicious, some things that seem out of place or seem to be missing certain pieces, and though it didn't tell her why Korn's article about the Library was restricted, it did solidify more that something was fishy.
The next two periods passed like a breeze, and soon she found herself sitting at the lunch table with her friends again.
Grover was the first to speak. "I didn't see Percy again!" He looked worried. "I don't think he came home either, or took his phone! Apollo just took him away yesterday!"
Annabeth shook her head, saying, "It should be fine. If Apollo is who he and Percy says he is, and he really did come to take Percy to train, then he should be fine. Though it wasn't very smart to leave his phone; regarding our plan, it might need some revisions with account to the General being a possible opponent, and we need all the time we can to discuss and work it all out." She frowned at the prospect of Percy leaving his phone behind. Of course, he was probably in too much of a rush to reach for his phone but it was still irresponsible.
So she found it a bit annoying when his green eyes flashed in her mind's eye, glinting mischievously. Annabeth internally shook her head. Thus far, she's been right about one constant thing about Percy; he was trouble.
But Annabeth was slightly grateful for all the new knowledge that she was gaining day by day ever since first meeting him.
"Well, when I asked the teacher," Jason said, "She said that Percy's uncle called in busy for family business, and I'm guessing that the uncle was Apollo." There were annoyed mutters about the so called uncle but nods in understanding.
"Makes sense," Piper speculated, sticking a piece of lettuce in her mouth. "But I agree with Annabeth; hopefully Apollo doesn't steal Percy for the whole week."
This time Luke piped in. "Well, Apollo did say that Percy would be trained by both twins, one of which is dead and in the Spirit World, right? And the Gate is in Greens Forest, so Percy's bound to be back in town at some point in the week if they want to evenly distribute his training."
Annabeth nodded at that, mind slightly wandering to Luke. He was an amazing person, an older brother to her, and she didn't want that to stop but she also began to realize slight feelings for him, things that consisted of flutters in her heart, and slight redness crawling up her cheeks at the thought of him. But she kept it to herself. A brother, that's what he was and she didn't quite want to break that.
But despite the subjectivity of her feelings toward Luke, she still managed to keep a semblance of a level head, this meaning she did notice that he had started showing strange signs of...something not Luke-like at all since Percy came into the picture. At first it was small flashes of hunger - and not the food kind - in his eyes, but they were so brief she assumed it was her imagination.
But then she noticed Jason's side glances at Luke, noticed Apollo stop answering questions when Luke started asking more, and noticed Percy look at Luke with a strange look like confusion and doubt. Annabeth hadn't thought much of it until now though.
Luke did seem like he wanted to know more, but not in the way Annabeth did - in a more...malicious way. But she shook her head at the thought.
Luke. The older brother she could trust her life with. She wasn't going to stop loving him, so she won't stop trusting him.
"Luke's right," Annabeth agreed. "Percy will probably be back in my neighborhood by the middle of the week, possibly Wednesday or Thursday. I'll check in once in a while."
"Today's Tuesday," Thalia said tapping her chin thoughtfully. "So that's either tomorrow or the next day."
"So we just have to catch him when he's back and check on him what the plan is," Piper summarized. Annabeth nodded.
"Yeah, pretty much."
"And..." Jason trailed off, looking hesitant. Annabeth looked at the other blonde. Since Monday, he'd been more withdrawn than usual, a bit more strained and it was only natural, but she could see something was plaguing his mind that had to do with something other than Intents. Perhaps it was the Timeless. Annabeth herself found it a topic she tried to avoid thinking about emotionally.
"Well, what is it?" Thalia nudged her brother's shoulder with her elbow. Jason rubbed it, and seemed to contemplate saying what he was going to.
"And...well, I think we should change the plan, rather than maybe," he said. From some questioning glances at the finality of his suggestion, he quickly explained, slightly flustered, "I, well, I think that it's safer; regardless if Apollo wasn't part of the Timeless or not, there's still a possibility that there is a spy. We could go somewhere safer and discuss...you guys aren't very convinced, are you?"
Annabeth sighed. "Look, I get the paranoia, I'm sure we've all felt it, but I think it's probably safe to assume that there isn't someone from the Timeless following us around. We've already discussed its possibility and it's pretty low. That is, unless, of course, someone in our own group is part of the Timeless without us knowing, then it's a possibility, but I doubt that." Unless that's what you're getting at, was left unsaid and Jason seemed to be the only one catching on.
Annabeth barely noticed the uncomfortable shift that Luke made, but brushed it off as being uncomfortable with the idea of an inside spy, because it was as uncomfortable as a notion could get. It made Annabeth get a bit offended that Jason might've thought one of them was betraying them, and from the looks Jason gave Luke, well, it was pretty obvious who he suspected.
Jason sighed in defeat, and Annabeth added, "Well, either way, the highest possibility is is that we will be changing the plan, whether someone's watching us or not. And if your paranoia prefers it, then we can go to a more secluded place, though one that's more secluded than the lore-filled forest, I'm thinking might be a bit hard to find." She gazed at Jason, challenging him to push the topic, but he relented by nodding.
"Yeah, that sounds good," he muttered. Sheepishly, he added, "Sorry, I might be a bit paranoid." Thalia nodded, seeming to be in understanding as she spoke.
"Yeah, guys, this might actually be a bigger deal than we're thinking it is," she said. She crossed her arms over her chest, eyes crackling with something unlike a thrill. "We're talking about a war." And so Thalia and Jason explained to the rest what they found out from their dad so far. Annabeth's mind was spinning. A war that had probably been going on for generations right under the government's noses without anyone knowing.
This was getting pretty complicated.
"Our father says he'll tell us more later," Jason explained. "We'll let you guys know once we find out, but for now, I think what Zeus and Apollo said is probably right. We need to focus on the immediate problem at hand, and that's Percy's possible enlistment or murder by the Timeless."
"So there's a war going on, and your family," Piper said pointing at her boyfriend, "is at the center of it?" She sighed exasperatedly, though Annabeth could tell it was a bit jokingly to lighten the mood. "My future in laws are crazy!" At that a bright blush blossomed on Jason's face and the group laughed.
"I'd be glad to let you marry this dork," Thalia joined in, efforts obvious to stray the topic from serious things anymore. They were teenagers, Annabeth mused. Teenagers are usually partying and having fun or complaining about school, not a war that they might end up becoming involved in if not already. But that gave Annabeth a sense of thrill and exhilaration.
Life was no longer the normal, drab one that was filled with routine and easy knowledge - now it was full of zest and movement (she supposed that was another thing that she could thank Percy for, but she wouldn't dare inflate the guy's ego).
Jason was blushing profusely, but he easily went along with it and took Piper's hand and kissed her knuckles. "Would you allow me your hand in marriage, fair lady?"
Annabeth snorted at that. "Fair lady? More so a fairly lady-like, I would say."
Piper glared at her playfully before putting a hand on her heart. "Ah, I've never quite matched the standards of such drab fashion sense, since that is what you would call lady-like," and with that she turned to Jason, and said, "Of course dear prince! I am your's!" She fell forward, shocking Jason, but he caught her nonetheless and they all laughed happily as the two squeezed each other.
A war, Annabeth thought idly as the group laughed and smiled.
What to do?
o)0(o - Linebreak
Soon, the end of the day neared, and the sun was no longer high in the sky, but lower. At this point, Percy had exhausted himself from his head to his toes. Apollo had made him do full body workouts for hours with very little rest, and he was sore to the core. Huh, that rhymed, he thought as he sat in the field, massaging his arms. He was dripping in sweat, and the clothes he wore were moist nearly everywhere. Maybe if the sun hadn't been so persistent then perhaps he wouldn't have been as sweaty and drained as he was now.
Well, maybe not the drained part. He would've been drained either way. And...
"Would one day of straight up working out even buff me up that much?" Percy asked as Apollo plopped down next to him handing him a bottle of water. Percy inhaled the liquid as Apollo took a sip from his own. Apollo hummed before saying:
"Yes, but there's more risk that you'll get injured from over-working."
Percy spit out some of his water before quickly swallowing and saying, "Then what use is this?"
Apollo gave him a pointed look. "Hey, it helps when you don't overwork it, and I'm making sure you don't. The next exercise is the last one and after that you're on break."
"It's like, 6 already!"
"Actually, it's 4."
"Not the point!" Percy protested as he groaned.
Apollo looked at Percy with a strangely serious look, and it caused Percy to straighten his back a bit at the gaze. "Look, there's a risk, but you might be going up against the General, one of the top fighters I know of the Timeless. There's a reason why he's called the General. And him revealing himself in public wasn't just because he's stupid hot-head. It was his strategy."
"Strategy for what?" Percy asked but Apollo waved the question away with a hand.
"Not relevant right now." He continued, "But what is relevant is getting you to the best shape as quick as possible. And with my Healing Intent, that should be easier than normal. We're taking risks, yes, but we have to if you're going to survive." Then the man mumbled, and Percy had a feeling he wasn't supposed to hear it but he did, "Poseidon didn't want you involved in the war in the first place, so the least I can do is keep you alive." Percy wanted to ask What war? because he signed up for no war, but from the averted gaze of Apollo he decided maybe he'd keep the question for another time.
"Fine I'll exercise, I'm too tired to argue now; when's the next thing start?" Percy asked, but was surprised when Apollo was staring at him with wide eyes and a wide grin. Percy blinked before asking, "What? Is there something on my face? Do I look buffer?" He looked down at his bare arms, and though they weren't buff, they were strangely, possibly, less twiggy.
"That was a haiku! Five - Seven - Five!" He clapped Percy's shoulder in congratulations and an exclaim of excitement. "Very well done! 7 out of 10! It was good, but not as good as me!" Percy opened his mouth to protest that he did no such poetry, and that Apollo wasn't as great as he thought he was with poetry, but he decided that he wouldn't bother at this point.
"Wait," Percy said looking up abruptly. "There's a Healer Intent?!"
Apollo hummed before saying, "Yes, there is, but ah!" He slapped his forehead, shaking his head. "Oh dear, I've forgotten one vital piece of information!" He paused dramatically, or at least Percy thought so, but when Apollo didn't continue, Percy asked:
"Uhm, are you going to tell me that important piece of information or...?"
Apollo seemed to ponder it before saying, "I will tell you AFTER the last and final workout. They are related, now that I think of it." Percy groaned, but there was no way he would've gotten out of training. But a man could hope. Apollo clapped his hands before grinning excitedly. "Now, let us get to it then! Come right this way!"
o)0(o - Linebreak
So, Apollo had a basement.
Ah, that was phrased wrong.
Apollo had a volcano in his basement.
There. That described it perfectly. Percy gaped, his jaw unhinged. Apollo had led him down a set of stairs that spiraled down into the basement. At first, it looked normal, albeit really fancy, but nothing crazy. Then, there was a door. It was a pretty legitimately normal door. Apollo told Percy to be a gentleman and open it, to which he did with some grumbling, but when he opened the door and red light started emanating from the center of the room, Percy turned, and lo and behold-
A f*cking volcano. Hallelujah, Percy has officially forgotten how to think.
"Ah, I think I broke my cousin," Apollo remarked as he walked in. "Hmm, I suppose Poseidon might not like that, but ah! Percy, come over here." When Percy continued to stand where he was, eyes wide and body frozen in 'wtf'-ness, he went over and started to steer him by the shoulders.
Percy followed numbly, but when Apollo steered him closer and closer to the lava flowing into a crevice in the ground, pulling Percy's hand to touch the stuff, Percy woke from his trance and pulled back in a panic.
"Are you trying to kill me?!" To Percy's annoyance, Apollo laughed.
"No no, come on, it's not hot, look." To prove his point, the man stuck his arm elbow deep in the lava, or Percy assumed it wasn't really lava if it wasn't burning Apollo. Or Apollo was really good at acting like he wasn't in pain. Either one, and Percy would believe it at that point. Percy spluttered, but Apollo gestured for him to join him. "Go on. Put your hand in. It's not actual lava. My poor house wouldn't take the heat if it was. The volcano's man-made, just saying."
Before Percy could protest, Apollo took a scoop of the red gloop and splashed it Percy's way.
"Frick, it's not hot!" Percy said in a confused panic, looking down at his clothes and arms that were now dripping with it. It felt a bit like oobleck from fifth grade science class. He hesitated before poking at it. "Yep. Definitely oobleck."
"Correct you are, cousin!" Apollo said cheerily before grabbing Percy's wrist. Before he could react, he was yanked forward and for a moment, everything was in slow motion as Percy flew, staring wide eyed at his cousin, before plopping right into the pool of the mighty oobleck.
"Now get to the top of the volcano as fast as you can, cuz! This is the final limit you'll push, the final limit you deny, and then you'll be flying in no time!"
If you're curious, this was almost 10K words ish. Not quite, but almost. I've never written a chapter this long I don't think, but yeah.
For those who might not know, oobleck is and I quote from google search "The Oobleck mixture isn't your typical liquid—or solid. The cornstarch-and-water mixture creates a fluid that acts more like quicksand than water: applying force (squeezing or tapping it) causes it to become thicker."
So, quick explanation: three things happened in the previous chapter, those being training, the reveal of a war, and the start of Annabeth's research into the Library. All three are very important, the first two being pretty obvious I'd think and the third if you don't know, well, it'll be revealed eventually.
Also, the part where Apollo was talking about nature again, lol sorry guys I just love nature can't help but let it bleed into my writing, but uh, I hope it wasn't too confusing to understand, but what he was basically saying is this:
Nature is an example of many different things, all things (minus hoomans) living in harmony with one another. This is what an ideal society would or should or could look like, because despite how unnatural we are, we are still a part of nature in a way.
We are different though, in intellect, emotion, and will, compared to all other things, which is why society's pretty oof. But if you ever want to learn how to be better and maybe you don't believe in God or a religion or have a specific moral compass, take a look at nature, because it's a pretty good teacher.
(eg. tree grow up no matter what foundation = be determined to go the right path and you will / river flowing = goes from high to low, being benevolent and good filling the places that lack, when an obstacle is there keep at it and you can break through but if it's small enough and a waste of time flow around it to not expend useless energy [like being riled up because someone called you, idk, short; don'te react negatively, and if you can avoid conflict, then please do], etc.)
Is what I think, but as Wit used to say (from Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson), "A storyteller's job is not to tell you what to think, it's to give you questions to think about" so hopefully y'all were thinking along with Perce when Apollo be asking those questions!
So it's up to y'all if you wanna listen to that, or just ponder on it in your own time.
Hope the chapter was enjoyable! And once again, maybe you're sick of hearing it, but, sorry for the wait! And thanks for reading!
P.S. Also, humans have been learning from nature for millenia, regarding technology and such. For example, a plane's wings' shape is based heavily off the shape of a bird's. But we humans are undeniably made of two aspects: external (that'd be science and technology) and internal (so in this story, it's like the Spirit), which might be like morality or something. So we can learn from nature for tech, but we can also learn from nature for what to do right.
Thing is, like I said, people are as external as we are internal, and both have to be healthy. That's a big part of Percy's training, which is the so called syncing his body to his Spirit energy. In a more real life sense though, we can't just be physically healthy and be psychos and call it a day. We'd be unhappy. But we also can't be majorly sick physically and be totally mentally healthy.
The two things are extremely linked to each other, so when I say take care of your health, I mean both physically and spiritually, or in non-religious terms, internally. It's the healthiest way to go, and can bring you the highest chance of being happier people.
Now I'm not saying y'all gotta buff up like Perce is, I'm saying y'all just take care of your health, so like, don't eat junks till you're diabetic or something, and have self restraint when the desire is there (that's an internal aspect: self control. Your mind knows better than your body's desires for more sugar that it's unhealthy, and if you ignore it, you're disconnecting or disunifying the two in a way. But more on that will be shown in a future chapter).
Now, I know, some people don't have the privilege to have a chance at physical health, and for that, I pray for those of you who might be as such, but remember we all support y'all, love y'all, and cheer you on! Keep your Spirit Energy high, my friends! A big part of that is being happy!
Anywho, sorry, I'm feeling a bit preachy right now, but yeah, again, hope you enjoyed! And if you read this long author's note, I thank you because, dang, it's a pretty long note haha.
Have a greeeaaaaat day! And be a tree, guys!