Welcome to the Titan's Curse arc!
DylanTheDemon: Reyna's a daughter of war. It makes sense that she could match Percy with a blade, but she will never have the power that he does and utilizes in his fighting style, which will always give him the edge for victory. Plus, Reyna was given more power by Hades/Pluto so...
Black Percy Berry: Your review made me laugh, so thank you for that! And if you disliked last chapter's ending, you'll hate me for this one.
Yesse2362: The base premise will be similar, but I do have plenty of changes for the quest to make it more unique.
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I do NOT own Percy Jackson or its universe. Those rights belong to Rick Riordan and his publisher.
ENJOY!
Chapter 12
Frosty Encounters
In the rapidly darkening evening, two pegasi flew towards the coast – one black, the other brown. A great flap of wings propelled the blurs closer to their target: the large castle made entirely of black stones that stood on the snowy cliff in front of them, overlooking a big, frosted forest on one side and the churning grey sea on the other.
"Land there!" Percy called from atop Blackjack, pointing to a clearing in the forest.
Reyna nodded back and they began their descent. The two pegasi touched down silently with only a slight crunch from the snow beneath their hooves. Reyna and Percy dismounted and their winged-steeds took to the skies once more, spiralling out of sight.
"Thalia and Annabeth said they would wait for us in the entrance hall," Percy said as he began to walk in the direction of the castle. "Let's not keep them waiting, huh?"
Reyna rolled her eyes, but a smirk tugged at her lips.
They emerged from the forest and Reyna spotted the other half of their rescue group waiting for them just inside a pair of large wooden doors befitting of a massive castle.
Annabeth's hair was tucked into a ski cap and little silver earrings shaped like owls glinted in the moonlight. Thalia stood beside her in a ripped-up army jacket and black leather pants with chain jewelry and black eyeliner that made her electric-blue eyes seem more vivid than usual.
Thalia glared at Percy as they approached — apparently, four months hadn't done anything for her wounded pride.
Meanwhile, Annabeth was glaring at Reyna. Not enough to be obvious – she was too much Athena's daughter for something that obvious – but Reyna had been training under the undoubtedly most powerful demigod alive for about half a year now, and he was insistent on ensuring she could spot the smallest of details, no matter how seemingly insignificant it could be.
"Hey, Percy," Annabeth smiled at the sole male of their group.
"Hello, Annabeth," Percy replied. "Thalia."
"Jackson."
Thalia's cold greeting had been expected, yet Annabeth still gave her best friend a disapproving look. Reyna wondered why the daughter of Athena even bothered. There was no way a child of Zeus would hold any favor with a champion of Hades who also happened to be a son of Poseidon. There was too much bad blood there – literally.
Reyna briefly wondered how the other two girls would react if they knew that Percy's patron was the same god who had tried to kill Thalia.
"Let's get this over with," Percy said.
The entrance hall to Westover was huge. The walls were lined with battle flags and all kinds of weapons, varying from rifles to battleaxes. Reyna's every instinct was shouting that danger was coming. A glance at Percy showed his hands casually placed in his pockets, but she knew from experience that he could withdraw Anaklusmos in the blink of an eye if it was needed.
Annabeth started, "I wonder where —"
She was cut off when the doors slammed shut behind them.
"Such a warm welcome," Percy remarked.
Reyna couldn't stop herself from snorting.
The sound of dance music echoed from the other end of the hall. The two girls from Camp Half-Blood stashed their overnight bags, but Percy and Reyna kept their backpacks on them. They both knew it was a stupid idea to put distance between themselves and their supplies, and they would have said so if it were any two demigods other than Thalia and Annabeth. They were easily two of the most stubborn people alive – it just wasn't worth it to even attempt giving advice.
They were both too proud to listen, anyway.
They hadn't gone very far before they heard footsteps clacking on the stone floor, and a man and woman marched out of the shadows.
Both of them had short gray hair and black military uniforms that were trimmed red. The woman had a wispy mustache, but the man was clean-shaven. Their gait was stiff – more like marching than walking.
"Well?" the woman demanded. "What are you doing here?"
Thalia stepped forward and snapped her fingers. It was a sharp, loud sound, and a gust of wind rippled out from her hand, spreading throughout the room. It rustled the banners on the walls and washed over everyone.
"We're going to the dance," she said. "You remember us — I'm Thalia, and this is Annabeth, Percy, and Reyna. We're in the eighth grade."
Reyna could tell immediately that the man didn't fall for Thalia's Mist trick – which wasn't nearly as good as Percy's, considering he didn't need to snap his fingers or speak what he wanted his target to do. The man's heterochromatic eyes narrowed suspiciously, and Percy's own widened in what looked like recognition.
Reyna recalled Grover mentioning a 'Dr. Thorn' in the Iris-message. Perhaps this man was him?
The man looked at the woman. "Ms. Gottschalk, do you know these students?"
A flicker of amusement crossed Percy's face, but it was gone in an instant. Reyna bit back a smirk of her own.
The woman blinked, as if coming out of a trance. "I… yes. I believe I do, sir." She frowned at them. "What are you children doing away from the gymnasium?"
"We were just on our way," Percy said quickly with a charming smile. "The girls were taking a bit too long to prepare – it caused a bit of a wait."
"Yes, yes, of course," Gottschalk dismissed, waving a hand. "Get a move on, then."
Thalia and Annabeth glared at Percy as they started walking again. Reyna just rolled her eyes. It was a good excuse – everyone knew that girls took a lot more time to get ready than boys, it was just the way things were, most of the time, unless the guy really cared about his appearance or the girl didn't or knew some magical way to apply makeup at faster-than-usual speeds.
Really, it could be annoying how long it took to apply makeup, sometimes, but Reyna very much enjoyed seeing Percy's expression whenever she did. Normally, she would never care what a guy thought of her, whether in makeup or not, but Reyna knew that Percy wasn't nearly so shallow at to make a problem of it, so it was fun to cause his waterlogged mind to freeze every now and then.
It helped that it made her feel a bit more confident in herself, too, hiding behind a mask.
"What the Hades, Jackson?" Thalia growled the moment they were distant enough to not be overheard. "'The girls were taking a bit too long,'" she mimicked. "What was that supposed to mean?"
"In case you didn't notice," Percy replied calmly, "your Mist trick didn't affect the monster in the room."
"Monster?" Annabeth cut in before Thalia could respond. "What monster?"
Percy raised an eyebrow at her. "Dr. Thorn, of course. Grover didn't tell you?"
Annabeth's eyes flashed with hurt. "No… he didn't."
If Reyna hadn't been looking, she would have missed the unreadable look that flashed across Percy's face at her answer. She didn't know what he was thinking, but it wasn't important right now so she would just have to ask him later.
Grover was waiting for them at the door to the gym. He sagged with relief when he spotted them. "Thank the gods you're here!"
Annabeth and Thalia hugged Grover. Percy high-fived him. Reyna just nodded. She hadn't spent much time around the satyr before now like the others had.
"Where are they?" Percy asked.
Grover gestured behind him. "Inside. A brother and a sister," he added to the confused Thalia and Annabeth. He apparently hadn't told them more than the most basic information – either that, or whoever answered the call at Camp Half-Blood hadn't seen fit to tell their recruiters everything.
That second option seemed more likely, in Reyna's opinion.
"They're ten and twelve," Grover continued, speaking to the other two girls more than Percy and Reyna. "They're powerful, too, but I don't know their parentage. We're running out of time, though. I need help."
"Is Dr. Thorn the only monster?" Percy asked.
"Yes, and he suspects." Grover looked nervous. "I don't think he's certain yet, but today's the last day of term and I'm sure he won't leave campus without finding out. Every time I try to get close to them, he's always there, blocking me. I don't know what to do."
He looked at Percy desperately. A flicker of annoyance shadowed Thalia's face, but it was gone in an instant.
"They're at the dance?"
Grover nodded.
Percy grinned. "Then let's dance."
He led the way into the gymnasium. There were black and red balloons all over the floor, and guys were kicking them in each other's faces or attempting to strangle each other with the streamers taped to the walls. Girls moved around in groups, surrounding a victim like piranhas, shrieking and giggling, then moving on, leaving the boy with ribbons in his hair and lipstick graffiti on his face. There were a few older guys hanging around the edges uncomfortably, trying to hide.
Grover nodded towards a couple of kids arguing in the bleachers. "There they are – Bianca and Nico di Angelo."
Reyna could see the familial resemblance immediately. It was a wonder no one had put two and two together.
Bianca had the same black eyes as Hades, but hers were softer – more motherly – as she scolded her brother for something. Her dark hair was covered by a floppy green cap, like she was trying to hide her face. Nico had dark brown eyes and his father's silky black hair, though Nico's was cut much shorter than Hades's had probably ever been. His fingers moved skillfully as he fluidly shuffled a deck of cards as if he'd done it a thousand times before. They both had olive skin and used their hands a lot as they talked.
"Do they… I mean, have you told them?" Annabeth asked.
Grover shook his head. "You know how it is. That could put them in more danger. Once they realize who they are, their scent becomes stronger."
He looked at Percy, who nodded. Even without a satyr's sensitive nose it was easy to smell the ocean breeze that emanated from Percy. He had taken off his necklace only once around Reyna, which had added an earthy aroma to the scent.
There was just a single occasion where Reyna had ever seen Percy truly mad, and she never wanted to be the target of his ire – the power that had pulsed off his body was nearly tangible.
The poor empousa that had tried flirting with him, however… well, she was probably happy to be back in Tartarus for the next indeterminate amount of time.
Percy swore under his breath. Dr. Thorn had slipped out of a doorway near the bleachers and now stood near the di Angelos. He nodded coldly in their direction. His blue eye seemed to glow.
"Don't look at the kids," Thalia ordered. "We have to wait for a chance to get them. We need to pretend we're not interested in them. Throw him off the scent."
Percy looked at her like she was stupid, which, once Reyna thought about it, wasn't exactly false. It was obvious that Dr. Thorn knew they were half-bloods, after Thalia's Mist trick failed earlier. From there, it was simple to guess why they were there – made more obvious by Grover's presence.
Regardless, Percy went along with the plan, for some reason.
"Care to dance?" he asked Reyna with a lopsided smile.
Reyna smiled back as she took his hand, letting him guide her out onto the dance floor. She tossed a smirk over her shoulder at Annabeth, knowing it would piss off the jealous girl. Reyna wanted Annabeth know that her choice of Thalia over Percy would have consequences – ones that would cost her.
"You shouldn't do that," Percy said as they started to sway to the music.
"Do what?"
"Antagonize her." Percy gave her a look that told Reyna he knew exactly why she had done that. "She hasn't had the easiest life, either. Annabeth doesn't trust easily, and she's extremely territorial."
"Yet you're dancing with me, and not her," Reyna pointed out.
Percy grinned. "What can I say, I like you more."
Reyna felt her cheeks heat up, but that didn't make her any less pleased to hear that straight from his mouth rather than just suspecting it. She had seen him sneak glances at her when he thought she wasn't looking, but that could easily have been teenage boy hormones causing him to pay attention to the sole female for miles around the cabin.
It felt good to know there was more to those looks than it appeared.
"I hope you know I'll be expecting more dances after this," Reyna commented airily.
"I look forward to it," he said softly.
They danced silently for a couple of minutes before Percy started looking uncomfortable.
"So…" he started nervously, licking his lips, "I've been thinking —"
"Did it hurt?" Reyna quipped innocently.
He glared at her without heat. "Hah-hah, very funny." He looked nervous again, his eyes focused anywhere but her. "Anyway, I was thinking and —"
Suddenly he froze. "They're gone."
"What?"
Reyna followed his gaze — the di Angelos were missing. The door next to the bleachers was wide open, and Dr. Thorn was nowhere in sight.
"Go find the others," Percy told her hurriedly. "I'm going to follow them and try to buy you guys some time to catch up."
"Be careful," Reyna warned sternly
Percy just nodded before taking off into the crowd.
Reyna pushed her way through the students and found Thalia, Annabeth, and Grover near the punch. Thalia was resting gingerly on one foot while Grover looked sheepish – it wasn't hard to figure out what had happened.
"The kids are gone," she said without wasting time. "Percy went to hold off the monster, but we have to hurry."
All pain was forgotten as Thalia's demeanor changed, preparing for a fight.
"That idiot went off alone?" she growled.
Reyna was starting to see why Percy was so reluctant to be a part of this rescue team.
"We wouldn't have time to catch up if he didn't," she snapped. She wasn't about to let this arrogant daughter of Zeus insult her best friend when he was trying to save the lives of two innocent children by himself. "Now let's go already, we're wasting what little time he's bought us!"
As they followed the path Percy and Dr. Thorn had taken from the gym, Reyna felt the charm on her necklace heat up against her chest. Then a voice spoke in her head: 'There is a clearing ahead.'
It was Dr. Thorn.
'We will summon your ride.'
'What ride?' demanded a girl's voice. 'Where are you taking us?'
Reyna caught a brief vision of trees and snow in the moonlight.
She stumbled as the image disappeared, replaced by the dark halls of the school, but she quickly figured out what had happened: Percy had used some magic from the necklaces to temporarily link their minds so she would know where to go.
He was definitely teaching her how to do that when this was over.
"Come on!" she said to the others. "This way!"
Reyna led them outside and towards the woods. It was easy to see the deep shoe imprints in the snow because of the old-fashioned lamps that dimly lit the path. The wind was freezing, but Reyna brushed it off with ease – her focus was entirely on catching up to Percy and the di Angelos.
She slowed down when a clearing came into sight ahead. Through the dark of the night, Reyna could see three figures on the ground with a fourth standing above them. She could hear the waves churning and smell the salty sea, which told her there was a nearby cliff.
"You will change your mind about joining us, my boy," Dr. Thorn was saying. "And if you do not, well… there are other uses for half-bloods. We have many monstrous mouths to feed. The Great Stirring is underway."
"The Great what?" Percy asked. Reyna saw him glance in their direction – he had sensed them in the shadows, but Dr. Thorn was too distracted to do the same.
"The stirring of monsters," Dr. Thorn said. "The worst of them, the most powerful, are now waking. Monsters that have not been seen in thousands of years. They will cause destruction the likes of which mortals have never known."
Annabeth slipped on a baseball cap and turned invisible. Less than ten seconds later, the three demigods on the ground were knocked over as an unseen force slammed into them.
Dr. Thorn was too surprised to aim properly. His first volley of missiles, projected from a large, spiky tail, shot harmlessly over their heads. That gave the last three an opening to charge into the clearing from behind. Thalia summoned her spear and shield.
Dr. Thorn winced and growled when he saw her Aegis.
"For Zeus!" Thalia moved in with her spear.
She jabbed at Dr. Thorn's head, but he snarled and swatted the spear aside, his hand changing into a large, orange paw with dagger-sized claws that sparked against Thalia's shield as he slashed. She rolled backwards to avoid getting hit.
Reyna cursed the need for secrecy. This fight would be so much easier if she could just summon a half dozen skeletons to combat the monster with her and Percy, but that would give away their alliance with the Lord of the Dead – something that wasn't an option.
A sound like a helicopter's rotors grew louder, and Reyna spotted a searchlight approaching them from the direction of the sea.
They were running out of time.
Thalia was forced to shield herself from another volley of spikes, but that gave Reyna a chance to charge in with her Celestial Bronze sword while Grover began to play a frantic jig on his reed pipes. Rope-thick grass broke through the snow and began to wrap around Dr. Thorn's legs.
Reyna deflected one of the monster's paws with the flat of her blade and swiped, barely managing to scrape Dr. Thorn's stomach, but not enough to do any real damage. She saw Percy ushering the di Angelos away and kept Dr. Thorn's attention on her to buy him some more time.
Now thoroughly annoyed, Dr. Thorn roared and began to change. He grew larger until he was in his true form — his face was human, but his body was a huge lion's. His scorpion-like tail whipped deadly thorns in every direction.
"A manticore!" Annabeth cried, now visible – her cap had come off.
"A manticore?" Nico di Angelo repeated, gasping. "He's got three thousand attack power and plus five to saving throws!"
Reyna was so caught off guard by his statement – utterly bewildered as to what he was talking about – that Dr. Thorn was able to bat her aside with a large paw, ripping open her back. Reyna yelped as she was thrown across the clearing, landing painfully in the snow.
"Reyna!" Percy shouted.
She looked up to see that he looked truly furious in a way that not even the foolish empousa had made him. His eyes were a dark, stormy grey – like a building hurricane about to unleash its wrath. The wind picked up speed, tossing around snow like a blizzard. The demigods and Grover were all forced to raise their arms to protect their faces. Dr. Thorn took a couple steps back, eyeing Percy warily.
Percy yelled and the snow exploded around him.
Dr. Thorn was assaulted by weapons made of frozen water, some hardening into solid ice, but his thorns cut them all down before they could get close. Both combatants threw projectiles at such speeds that even a demigod's superhuman reflexes struggled to keep up.
Reyna had never seen anything like it – it was a beautiful spectacle to watch.
The projectiles stopped firing after several minutes of back-and-forth attacking and defending. Percy and Dr. Thorn were both breathing heavily, glaring at each other with unbridled hatred.
"The General will take great joy in killing you, Perseus Jackson," Dr. Thorn growled, saying the 'j' sound like 'Jacques.' "You are nothing but a —"
"Thorn in your side?" Percy supplied.
Dr. Thorn roared furiously and shot more projectiles at Percy, but he dodged them.
"Yield now, little hero," he snarled as the helicopter drew closer. "You will receive a much more merciful end than you deserve, if you do."
Percy grinned. "No thanks, I'm not a big fan of dying."
Before their conversation could continue, a sound pierced the night air, as clear as if it were right next to them: the call of a hunting horn.
The manticore froze.
"No," he said breathlessly. "It cannot be —"
His sentence was cut short when something shot over Reyna's shoulder like a streak of moonlight. A glowing silver arrow sprouted from Dr. Thorn's shoulder.
He staggered backwards, wailing in agony.
"Curse you!" he bellowed, unleashing his spikes into the woods where the arrow had come from, but arrows shot back in reply, just as fast, intercepting the thorns in midair and slicing them in two.
Dr. Thorn pulled the arrow out of his shoulder with a pained howl. He was breathing heavier than ever, whereas Percy looked as if he was recovering. It took a moment for Reyna to realize he was using the water in the snow to strengthen himself – it was an endless source of liquid.
The archers emerged from the woods. There were about a dozen of them, and they appeared to be between the ages of maybe ten and sixteen, each one wearing silvery ski parkas and jeans and armed with bows. They advanced on the monster with determined expressions.
"The Hunters!" Annabeth said excitedly.
"Oh, wonderful," Thalia muttered, her voice carrying in the wind.
One of the older archers stepped forward with her bow drawn. She was tall and graceful with coppery-colored skin. A silver circlet was braided into the top of her long black hair, her obsidian eyes focused on the manticore. "Permission to kill, my lady?"
Dr. Thorn wailed, "Direct interference is against the ancient laws!"
"And that," said another girl, "is where you are wrong, foul creature." This one was about twelve years old with auburn hair pulled back in a ponytail. She had strange, silvery yellow eyes the same color as the moon and a breathtakingly beautiful face. Her expression was stern and dangerous. "The hunting of all wild beasts is within my domain." She looked at the first girl. "Zoë, permission granted."
Lady Artemis, Reyna realized.
The manticore growled. "If I cannot have these alive, I shall have them dead!"
He lunged at Reyna, knowing she was still weak and dazed.
"NO!" Percy roared.
With impossible speed, he launched across the clearing, snow exploding into the air behind him, and slammed into the manticore with superhuman strength. Dr. Thorn was lifted off the ground from the impact, and they both fell over the edge of the cliff, tumbling into the darkness.
AN: So... That happened. I just have one question for y'all: Did Percy really get captured? Or did he fall into the ocean? Or maybe a previously unknown third option? The possibilities...
But hey, there was some Preyna fluff tossed in and some more display of how Percy's power is growing, so it can't be that bad, right?
Percy spent every afternoon for four months training his powers, versus one afternoon a week for ten months, so it's not unreasonable to think that he would discover some abilities sooner than he should have – especially with the darkness of Hades's blessing influencing him a bit.
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter.
THANKS FOR READING!