Disclaimer - All recognizable characters are Rick Riordan's.

Chapter Fifteen - Rising

When Percy landed on the oobleck, the hardened surface felt like Percy was landing on a hard brick floor, and thanks to landing in a weird way, he yelped in pain as he blacked out for a moment. A dreadful mistake. He had gone under.

The more he thrashed, the more resistance he could feel, stopping his movements. Oobleck was like that - when you hit it it felt solid, but when you ease into it, do nothing to pressure against it, it was like water, albeit thicker. But Percy was starting to refer to the substance as Stupid-annoying-stop-sinking-f*cking-oob*tch, AKA SASSFOB, FOB for short.

Percy hated FOB.

The pool of FOB that Apollo had thrown Percy into was not as shallow as he would have hoped; Percy had expected to hit the bottom, but instead he sunk in, slow and strained as he tried to flail through the substance and it felt like there was no bottom. And by the time Percy's panicked, oxygen lacking mind was starting to give out, he heard Riptide's voice, and oh boy, he had never been so glad to hear her.

Master! If you try to fight it, it will only harden! You will be stuck!

Percy's vision was black. He didn't dare open his eyes when all around him was oobleck that'd probably kill his eyes. He realized something: he didn't know where up was, what left or right was. For all he knew, he was fighting his way lower and lower into the gloop.

Percy started to hyperventilate, and that's never a good sign when you're stuck underFOB.

Apollo that crazy-

Master, Riptide said, and somehow her voice was able to be loud and clear even if his mind was in such turmoil and panic. Where your right arm is facing - that is up. You must go that way. Percy couldn't think. He couldn't breathe, gods he was going to die, in oobleck of all things. It wouldn't be the Timeless that killed him, it would be f*cking oobleck. He could barely feel anything at that point.

His mind was in full fledged panic mode. He could barely move the way he wanted, he couldn't breathe, he couldn't see, he couldn't think, he didn't understand. Was Apollo working for the Timeless? Sent to kill me? Somehow, something in Percy knew that that was irrational to think, but to Percy who was drowning, struggling to even stay conscious, it was rational.

MASTER

Percy stopped struggling, stopped trying to flail his arms. He felt gravity pull him. He was going down. Deeper. Should he care?

His chest constricting, mouth moving soundlessly as he choked, he wondered how long he was under for. How long it took for someone to suffocate and die.

In oobleck. Percy could not get over the fact that his greatest enemy is oobleck.

His back hit something. Oh, the bottom, he thought idly as he felt consciousness fading. He thought he heard something, no he did, but he didn't want to listen. Why should he? He had other things to worry about. Breathing. But he wouldn't be able to fix that problem anytime soon. Seeing. He couldn't do that either. Calling out for help? No sound would penetrate and his airways, esopho-something was blocked, and his vocal chords were useless.

His body spasmed on its own as his back lay on the cold bottom, the weight of the goop pressing down on him.

He would rather die now then stay like that.

MASTER, SUMMON ME!

Percy, unfeeling, yet in so much pain, jerked, the voice so overwhelming, so loud, and his body, his hand, it moved. His mind no longer there, no longer commanded his hand that moved through the oobleck, thumb to the tip of his index, and flicking, and he knew that it was his Spirit commanding it all. The brain was dead. That thing was no longer functioning, out of oxygen, and blacked out. But the Spirit, all the emotions (sadness, pain, betrayal, happiness, love), intellect (the plan, the Timeless, the training), and the Will.

To fight. For himself. For his friends. For his mom. To live.

Light bled through from behind Percy's closed eyelids, blue light, overcoming the red that surrounded like blood, a will to die, but the blue overtook it as a comfortable weight settled into Percy's right hand, and as his own Will commanded, his Spirit commanded, he swung, and suddenly, there was light, and Percy's mind woke up, and instinct pushed him toward that light, sword glinting in his hand as his body rejected the red substance and it spewed from his mouth, clearing everything - his throat, his nose, his ears, his lungs and he could breathe.

He stood, wobbling, and the only thing that kept him from going back under was Riptide as he leaned on her with his weight.

He gasped for the breath, nearly blacking out again as he took in the air. He could feel everything start to work again, and he creaked his eyes open. He felt oobleck sliding down his face and neck, cool and liquidy. He stared, and on the "shore," sat Apollo who was giving a sigh of relief before looking at Percy with a grin.

This crazy - He tried to voice his cussing, but he coughed.

Master, are you alright?

Once the coughing subsided, some flecks of red coming out, hopefully not blood and just red oobleck, Percy said threateningly, "Apollo, you crazy ass! I nearly died!"

Apollo gave a breathy laugh before leaning on his palms. "Nah, cuz, I would've gotten you but I was a bit worried I pushed you too much this time, Perce." He grinned, gesturing to Percy as if to prove a point. "But voila, you are more impressive than I took you for." He looked proud, to much of Percy's aggravation. "Very well done, kiddo." He raised an eyebrow. "You learned something valuable just now, didn't you?"

Percy's irritation took a pause as he hesitated, before nodding. He was still breathing pretty heavily, not too surprised, but it was easing into less erratic breaths.

"I did," he agreed as he felt Riptide hum in response in his hands underneath the goop. Though it was shallow enough for Percy to stand, it was still deep enough for it to reach up to Percy's neck.

"And?"

Percy hesitated again before he replied. He felt it. When he had been down there, his brain, it physically shut down. But for some reason, Percy had been aware. Maybe not conscious, because that was a physical term, but he was aware of his brain's failure. He felt his body, and his nervous system subsequently fall apart, no longer working, all body parts stopping, but he had been aware.

"My Spirit," Percy said. "It...took over. It forced my physical body to move, even if my brain was stopped." At the thought, Percy shivered slightly. He really could've died. He wasn't quite sure how he was still alive then and there, not a brain dead vegetable. He was pretty sure a long time without air had some severe side effects, but he wasn't feeling any of it. He remembered the sudden surge of Spirit Energy that he felt. "The three facets of the Spirit," he realized. "Will, especially, it was strong enough to counteract the physical laws that bounded my body!"

There Percy was, blowing his own mind. Oh, how far he has come.

"Wait, but how?"

Apollo smiled before shrugging. "I'm not entirely sure, Perce, but one thing I am sure about is that physics doesn't quite apply to the Spirit. I've once heard, though, someone say that when your Will is strong enough, nothing can stop it."

"Damn," Percy breathed out.

Percy was going to voice out some more 'wowzas', but before he could Apollo shouted, "Now go! Your training isn't over yet!"

"What?" Percy spluttered. "I literally became brain dead for a bit and you're telling me there's more?!"

Apollo laughed before pointing. Percy followed with his gaze and his eyes settled on the mouth of the opening of the volcano. He stared at it blankly, before realization dawned on him.

"No."

"Yes," Apollo replied with a grin.

"No."

"Yes."

"I am not climbing against a flow of oobleck to the top," Percy said, as his arm popped up and out from the oobleck. He waved it around to prove his distress, flecks of the red goop jumping off his arm. "I'll never make it!"

Apollo raised an eyebrow at that. "You won't?" When Percy didn't answer, he shrugged, face disappointed. "I suppose your Will isn't as strong as I thought it was." Percy narrowed his eyes. Apollo was probably trying to get at his pride, but at this point Percy's pride was pretty attacked already from all the workouts.

...

It sort of worked.

Percy groaned before grumbling, "Fine. Fine." He just had to make sure his head didn't go under this time, and now he had Riptide in hand. Her hilt was warm and buzzing in his hand and he felt a surge of strength and confidence as she stayed there. With some difficulty, Percy brought Riptide out of the oobleck, and despite having just come out of goop, she was clean and shining blue.

Let's do this, he thought determinedly, setting his jaw. With some more difficulty (well, this was gonna take a long time), he turned so that he was facing the course he would soon go through: up. Just like the trees, he thought absentmindedly as he trudged forward, meeting hecka resistance.

Master, I'm at your disposal, Riptide said as if reminding him to do his homework. Use that to your advantage. Strong Will will get you there, but you should be smart about it too.

"Wow, I've just been lectured by my sword," Percy muttered before nodding and swinging downward, effectively cutting through the oobleck in front of him. He supposed that the blade's thin-ness allowed it to go through the goop without much resistance, but he didn't know science, so he couldn't be sure. Not that he was going to complain. With the thin path, he pushed through, and though it was still hard to get through, it was substantially easier.

He kept it up, hacking at the goop (he realized how stupid he looked; a kid with a glowing sword attacking slime. How far he has come indeed) until he found himself at the base of the volcano. It wasn't as tall as a real one, that's for sure, but it would probably still be hard to climb, even without the oobleck seeping out everywhere.

Speaking of which, he was having a hard time figuring out how he was going to climb through a downward flow of oobleck. Isn't that just a recipe for disaster?

"Damn," he said to Riptide. "Think Summoning Blackjack is cheating?"

From behind him, he heard Apollo yell, "It is!"

"Dammit."

o)0(o - Linebreak

Annabeth walked off the bus and started toward her house. It was a rare occasion, but she kept her mind clear of all the plans, all the research, even schoolwork. Instead she allowed her mind wander to random topics, things that she's never really gave thought to.

How's mom? she wondered idly. Is she watching over me? She didn't bother to answer her own question as she walked through the suburban neighborhood, thinking about a woman with dark black hair and striking gray eyes, her calculating gaze that turned softer when she looked at Annabeth.

Annabeth sighed. It wasn't like she had many memories of the woman in the first place, just a vague image of her. She's seen pictures, and she assumed that that had fed into her imagination.

Eventually she reached her own house. She looked at her phone and saw that she had taken her sweet time walking home. She moved to open the door, light seeping from the crack underneath, but a thought stopped her. She pondered before deciding "Why not?" and left the door closed, instead continuing on her way. She would check to see whether or not Percy Jackson was back yet, though she doubted that he was, so she went to his house.

It wasn't far at all and took a good five to seven minutes to walk. She arrived at the door which was locked since she had found Percy's spare key and locked it. She had hid the key under the welcome mat, which was pretty cliche, but there was no other place other than the bushes where she could have put it, and the bushes would have been a bad spot if there were any crows looking for shining objects to collect.

She frowned. She never really questioned that, but now she wondered whether or not it was a myth, and that was something Annabeth rarely did. She decided she would search a bit on that later.

She flipped the mat up a bit and grabbed the key, sticking it into the hole and turning. At the click, she opened the door, and flicked the lights on. She walked into the living room and saw Percy's phone left where it was when they had left. So he wasn't back yet, she thought, though she could have told as much when the door was still locked and the spare still under the mat.

Annabeth took another look around, affirming once more that Percy didn't come back, and walked out of the house, locking it and putting the key back under the mat.

Well that was a useful endeavor, she thought sarcastically, but she knew that she only did it to sate her boredom and also to postpone thinking about what she'd learned that day. It was something Annabeth didn't usually do - she loved to speculate, loved to wonder, and loved to think about knowledge, but for some reason, the thought of war deterred her.

She wondered why recently she'd been doing things she's never done before, though she realized the answer was Percy, the troublemaker she bumped into that one morning and ended up finding out what was probably his deepest darkest secret the same day.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she fished it out, expecting a text from her dad wondering about her whereabouts, but instead found a text from Jason Grace. She scrunched her eyebrows at that. That's strange. The two were friends, that's for sure, but rarely have they texted one on one and not in a group chat. Her mind immediately flashed to lunch and Jason's probable suspicions for there being a spy in their group of friends.

Annabeth realized that that was probably why she hadn't wanted to think about the plan. Was she worried that there was a spy? There was a possibility, but Annabeth was a good reader when it came to people. She was confident in her ability, and she wasn't sure she was readily going to accept the fact that she was wrong about the people she trusted at the moment. So, no, she didn't doubt her friends, her ability, because she, well, it wouldn't be logical to do that.

She shook her head of those thoughts before opening the text. I shouldn't assume, she said. Jumping to conclusions is never a good thing; perhaps Jason is texting about something totally different.

She read the text, her jaw tightening.

Annabeth, I know you don't like the idea, and neither do I, but I think there is a spy in our group. I didn't want to outright say it though because it'd just make everyone suspicious of each other, and we wouldn't be able to work anything out if that happened.

Annabeth bit her lip. So it was about the spy. She typed. You think it's Luke?

Jason didn't do anything for a bit before the typing icon popped up. His text read: Yes.

And why do you think it's Luke? Annabeth asked, sitting down on the stairs in front of Percy's house. She saw Jason typing, but before he could finish whatever, he paused for a few moments before sending:

Can we call?

Annabeth typed yes, and her phone started ringing to which she immediately hit the green button, bringing the phone up to her ear. "Annabeth?" she heard from the other side.

"That's me," she replied dryly. She put her leg over the other, elbow on thigh as she repeated, "So why do you suspect Luke?"

The other line was quiet a bit before Jason started. "Look, I know you and Luke go way back, so of course it would be hard to think like that, but-"

"Get to the point, Grace," Annabeth snapped a bit, irritation clear in her voice. She felt a twinge of guilt, but she couldn't help herself.

"Right, sorry," Jason said on the line. She heard him take a breath before he continued. "Just, let me talk until I'm finished." Annabeth muttered an 'Alright' before he said, "At first, it was probably my paranoia. It was Monday when Percy hadn't come to school and we were all worried, so I assumed the worst, which led me to wonder if there was a spy, like we all thought. Except, I thought of the worst, and that's a spy within our own friend group.

"It was just a feeling at first, a gut feeling, but Luke caught my attention. I don't know, I, I guess I felt like he was acting a bit different ever since Percy came into the group." He hesitated before continuing, "And I really tried not to think that way, but I couldn't help but keep noticing Luke acting weird.

"And then there was the whole thing with Luke asking Apollo a lot of questions; it seemed harmless, and maybe even was, but Apollo - he looked at Luke with suspicion at some point and stopped asking questions. That's when he grabbed Percy and ran out of there with him. And Percy was looking at Luke weird too, and it wasn't the first time he did. He looked at Luke similarly the first time we went into the forest together." Jason came to a stop and Annabeth thought on what he said.

"I know I don't have any solid evidence other than gut feelings, and weird looks, and the people who gave the weird looks aren't even here right now-"

"I noticed it too," Annabeth said quietly. "But," she continued, louder, "even if he was acting strange, and Percy and Apollo gave him strange looks, we can't say that he's a spy just because of that. It would be nice if we could ask Percy and Apollo about why they looked at Luke that way, but we don't have any means to contact them right now." Annabeth grit her teeth. It was true. It was so dang unfortunately true. Luke was suspicious, but Annabeth couldn't, wouldn't accept the fact that he was a spy.

Anybody could act weird any time. It didn't mean he was a spy. Anybody would have weird reactions to finding out about all the things they have found out recently. It was natural. Luke's new actions may have been a coping mechanism to all that they've learned.

But he had started having those scary glints in his eyes before they had found out about Percy's Summoning and the timing of when Percy met Ethan was right after he met Luke too. That could be proof, but it wasn't solid, so Annabeth ignored the dread growing inside her.

"How about we ask Luke directly?" Jason suggested. "He probably wouldn't admit it, but his reaction could give us a clue."

"But it wouldn't be solid evidence," Annabeth said back. "And what do you suggest we do with that information once we have solid evidence?" She stressed the word. She wouldn't accept it until she saw such kind of proof.

Jason didn't answer for a while, and the two blondes stayed silent for a few moments. "Make a plan between the two of us," Jason finally said.

"And if you're the spy?" Annabeth snapped. She noticed how illogically she was thinking now, and Jason's answer made it clearer.

"And what evidence do you have of that?" he snapped back before saying, "Look, I'm sorry, I know you don't want to think like that, and neither do I, but if the Timeless do have a spy in our group, then they'll know the plan and that could be dangerous, vital for whether or not Percy makes it coming Sunday." Percy Jackson, Annabeth thought with surprising bitterness. Why did they trust him more than Luke? He was a Medium, and for all they knew, he was tricking them and was part of the Timeless himself.

Again, irrational, illogical, subjective and emotionally driven thoughts. But they came anyway.

Was Annabeth stressed?

F*ck yes she was.

But she grit her teeth and pushed the thoughts away with effort. What Jason was suggesting, it would be tricky, but it was logical and it made sense. As bitter as she may have felt that moment toward a Percy Jackson, she wouldn't want him to die or be kidnapped against his own will. She wouldn't want that for anyone. Jason's idea was the safest. Least possibility of the spy knowing the actual plan if only two people knew it. She trusted herself, and call her hypocritical, but her gut was telling her Jason was trustworthy.

She took a breath. "Right. Let's do that."

Jason replied, "And I know we don't - wait, what?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Let's do that. But only between the two of us. The other's won't be as clear headed as I was able to be, and even for me, thinking objectively on this is extremely difficult. Thalia would never agree, and Grover wouldn't either. Piper might, but the less people know the better."

"Right," Jason said on the other side of the line. "Cool. We'd have to make a plan with the rest of them though, so it's not suspicious, right?"

Annabeth nodded, though she knew he couldn't see it. "Yeah. And when we make the plan with them, it would be fake, just enough to throw off the Timeless, but not enough to make the others who aren't spies confused when the day comes. And this is assuming there even is a spy among us. It has to have as little affect on the overall plan as possible so that its success doesn't depend on there being a spy. If there isn't, the plan still has to work."

"Right. And how would we do that?"

Annabeth answered right away. "We change the parts of the plan that you, Percy, and I are involved in.

"We'll trick the Timeless into thinking that they'd get Percy easily. Drop their guard, make them expect the least from Percy, and keep them from expecting us."

o)0(o - Linebreak

Apollo stared at his cousin with wide eyes and a gaping mouth. When he had first seen the son of Poseidon, his heart had honestly deflated a bit. He was skinny. He looked as if he might have done some sort of sport, but he wasn't nearly strong enough for the training that Apollo had planned for him. He had been worried, he really had been, but as his training continued, Apollo kept getting impressed.

The boy was tenacious, and the boy had will that Apollo's only seen in his uncle. Apollo couldn't help but feel wistful as he got closer to Percy. Despite being cousins, Apollo couldn't help but feel somewhat of a fatherly pride at that moment.

Percy stood, leaning on his Intent, hunched over and heaving breaths, his sword's blue glow clashing with the red around it. The boy stumbled a bit, and Apollo watched with slight worry at the prospect of him falling from such a height, but Percy steadied himself.

The boy straightened, knocking his head back, taking another gulp of air before thrusting his sword up into the air and as the blue light pulsed, shining, Apollo noticed the boy himself glowed a bit. Percy let out a shout, a roar that spoke of sadness, pain, but most of all strength and life. Of victory.

A bit on the ostentatious side, but I suppose it runs in the genes, Apollo thought as he smiled.

"Way to go, cuz," he said quietly. "Way to go."

DONE! WHOOOO! Sorry, it wasn't as long as last chapter, but I hope it was enjoyable. Honestly, writing it, I was like, wow, now I'm scared of oobleck, but the sacrifices you make when writing, am I right?

Anywho, moral of the chapter: When your will is absolute and you know that it is right, you will surely push through. I got this from a quote by Reverend Sun Myung Moon, though I don't remember it word for word and can't find it again, but it was something like "When you know what you want is absolutely right, then Heaven will surely move to help" or something something. But non-religious terms, I guess, just don't give up. Like, ever.

Oh, and another thing is that if you love someone and want to fight for them, don't die for them, instead live for them. I think it was Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson, but I'm not sure, but someone mentioned how living is harder than dying.

So in a way, when Percy was like oooo dying might be easierrrr, he felt his emotion, intellect, and will. Strongest emotion would be love, for his mom especially, and intellect would be the plan to fight back against the Timeless for his mom. His will wasn't to die, but it was to live for his mom, fight through.

I hope that made sense, lol.

But really though, when you believe something is absolutely right, absolutely something you must do, then it will happen. No giving up guys. No matter how cliche that phrase is, it's the truth.

Yep. Well, hope you enjoyed, have a good day and byeee! :)