Chapter 15
The team rescuing Lucy entered Hell Palace and was wandering rather aimlessly through the catacombs looking for a way out. Well, the others perceived it as aimlessly, but Percy knew exactly where they were headed. He had sensed bodies stationed down there with them and imagined they were some sort of enforcers, but he was simply excited for a fight. A fight on his own so the others could escape, but a fight nonetheless.
Natsu was sniffing around, but only smelt the rotting decay of the many skeletons and bones from probably centuries of decomposition. Percy was musing to himself about the series of events that led them to where they were.
'It was on the Minister of Defence's orders that Lucy was imprisoned and the Princess's that we were sent down here. So I guess that they weren't tricking us just to gain access to Lucy's magic and open the portal anyways. Could they really believe we're rebels? Sure, the guild marches to the beat of its own drum and then some, but something about this still doesn't sit right.'
Percy snapped out of his thoughts when he tuned back into the conversation of the others and heard Wendy say, "If we split up, I'm sure we'll find a clue to an exit." It wasn't that it was a terrible idea in any way; Fairy Tail wizards in general were strong, and the four that were down there with him were exceptionally so.
But still, he wanted to get Lucy, and by extension Yukino, out of the kingdom's hands as fast as possible with the threat of Eclipse still around.
"Wendy-chan," Percy chided softly, calling the attention of the others to him. "While I know that all of you are strong enough to handle just about anything that's down here, I don't think splitting up is a good idea. We need to get Lucy and Yukino out of here as soon as possible and away from the Eclipse Portal," Percy finished, but Yukino frowned.
Before she could say anything however, Mira spoke up and said, "I think Percy-senpai is right. We don't need to waste anymore time than necessary in this rescue operation and if we split up, it'll be harder to get everyone out together later."
Percy beamed at his student (even if he was annoyed with the honorific) and made her pale cheeks redden slightly [AN: This isn't a ship. I still gotta figure that out, but the way it's going right now, Kagura is as slow as slow-burns get.]. The group continued walking for a few moments before Percy spoke up again. "Yes Yukino? I can sense you squirming and glancing at me as if you have a question."
The girl stiffened and Percy felt the blood rush to her cheeks in embarrassment, but she gathered herself a moment later and spoke. "You said your father was a god and that you're not from this world, right?" Percy nodded in response. "How did you get here then?" she asked and Percy sighed heavily.
It was the kind of sigh that truly showed the wisdom and exhaustion in his surprisingly expressive eyes from his years on Earthland. "In my home world," Percy began as they continued to trudge along the catacombs. "Demigods like me are hunted by the worst monsters from myths. We give off this scent that makes us delectable for them," he continued and Natsu piped up.
"Is that why even now you smell like the ocean?" he asked and Percy turned his head and gave him a small smile. "Yup. My father, Poseidon, is the God of the Seas and a few other things. As his son, I exhibit a few powers that correspond with his domains," Percy answered and turned his attention back forward.
"I found out what I was when I was 12 and nearly got my mother killed because of it, but I made it to a camp; a safe haven for demigods. I was one of the lucky ones; some of us either never discover what we are and get eaten before we can learn to defend ourselves, others die trying to make it to camp, and some go on quests or errands - like missions for the guild - and perish," Percy told them, bringing the mood down.
"That's so sad," Lucy said softly and Percy only offered a sad hum of acknowledgement.
"When I came into that world, war was brewing, and from then until I reached 16, I was fighting for my life regularly. The final battle came on my 16th birthday, where I had to fight my first mentor at the camp who was being possessed by my grandfather, Kronos, the Titan Lord of Time."
"It was undeniably the hardest fight I've had to date and I almost lost. I was blinded, but started to see through the moisture in the air and the vibrations in the ground and eventually killed both my Grandfather and the host he was in."
"However, with the last of his energy, he banished me to Tartarus; a dimension that sits below the Underworld in my world where the worst of the worst reside. Monsters, while they can be killed, don't die. Instead, their essence is sent back to the Pit where they reform until they can make it to the surface again," Percy finished his explanation and tried his best to ignore the wide eyed and awed faces that he sensed on his company.
"So… all the monsters you killed before you were sent there…" Wendy trailed off in realization and Percy nodded grimly before putting on a cheeky smile and patting her on the head. "Yeah, I had to fight a lot of them again. I made friends with one of them though! She had the power to turn people to stone with a single look, but since I was blinded, I could look her in the eyes. We helped each other survive as we looked for the way out, but she was killed along the way and I was alone for most of the 24 years I was down there," Percy told them.
They were awed, sad, angry; a whole spectrum of emotions for one of their founders and older brother figure as he recounted his tale. They hadn't ever heard him talk so openly about it, and Percy himself wasn't exactly sure why he was either, but it was nice. Fairy Tail never judged and that was one of the constants that had remained in all the years the guild had been around.
"Eventually, I found the exit and wound up here!" he finished with a small cheer. It wasn't entirely fake, but it wasn't 100% genuine either.
"H-How bad was it?" Wendy asked quietly, making Percy pause in his step; the others doing so along with him. "It was really bad, Wendy-chan. So bad that you're too young to hear it," Percy finished softly and then continued walking.
"I have an idea!" Happy interrupted everyone. The blue cat began to explain that with them under surveillance, there were likely to be guards watching. He then explained that they could lure them here and use them to escape and Percy had to admit (even though he knew there were already people down there) it was a good plan.
That was, until, Happy and Natsu picked up an old Sorcerer Weekly magazine where Mira and Lucy posed in bikinis (Pantherlilly had to explain that one for the blind man) and told them to strip for "Appeal to Men's Instincts! Operation: Cheesecake Escape". Needless to say, as soon as Mira miraculously ended up in less clothing, Percy began to scold her about public decency.
Unfortunately, he was overruled and Lucy soon followed.
Soon, they gave up and started walking again, but a new source of water and magic appeared behind them. It didn't move to engage them, so Percy didn't do anything other than smirk viciously.
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"I feel air flowing," Wendy muttered and the group hurried up and squeaked by through a crevice that revealed another section of the catacombs where the unconscious body of Arcadios was laying. He grunted once before turning to look at the team (missing Percy) and croaked out, "Run."
Before any of them could react, a rather fat man made his presence known to the others and tried to throw a punch with some sort of Poison Magic around it. The others all dodged and scattered, but it was ultimately futile as the fist was caught before it could impact the ground.
A small dust ring flew out from the contact, averting everyone's eyes, but when it cleared, Percy was revealed to be holding the fist lazily with one hand while the other found purchase in his pants pocket. "Hoo. You're a fat one aren't you. Y'know if you didn't drink so heavily you wouldn't be so fat," Percy said with a smirk. The same smirk that had been the bane of many monsters', demigods', and immortals' existences.
Percy didn't give the fat man a chance to reply however, because he was too busy grabbing the rest of the man's arm and judo throwing him (much like Annabeth had done) into another person that was trying to sneak up on Wendy.
"Duck Wendy-chan," Percy called casually. She did so with a yelp, but it was silenced immediately by the satisfying sound of the collision of two bodies. "It's not nice to sneak up on little girls," Percy chided as he walked up to join the rest of the group and inspect the newcomers. 'So these must have been the guys I sensed.'
"Who the hell are these guys?!" Natsu yelled as plants started to creep up behind him. A huge purple bulbous one sprouted and opened to reveal a woman with hair a shade paler than Natsu's own at the same time that purple confetti began to swirl and gather into another woman with long black hair.
Now that the others got a good look at the two Percy quickly countered, the fat one had a beer bottle hanging out of the side of his mouth like a cigarette and close cropped dirty blonde hair and the other guy had a sort of bald mullet going on. The magic power off of them was nothing to take lightly, however, and the group (minus Percy) was sure to have a prolonged fight.
That was, if Percy planned on letting them fight. Which he didn't.
"Old man, do you know these guys?" Natsu asked as Arcadios struggled to look up at them from his place on the ground. "They're an independent unit that supports the kingdom of Fiore from the shadows. They're the kingdom's strongest executioners. And their name is-," Arcadios said, but was cut off by the last member, who wore a hood and a devilish metal mask over his mouth with two scythes on his back.
"The Garou Knights. Mission 1500, begin," the masked man finished and Percy just stared at them blankly. While Natsu and the others were questioning them and figuring out what to do, Percy crouched by Arcadios and willed some water into his hands to heal him. The man gasped in surprise, but Percy just made a shushing motion and healed him enough so he could move on his own. "I'll handle them, don't worry."
"I'm fired up!" Natsu yelled just after Percy finished healing Arcadios. Percy strolled his way to the front of the group without a care in the world. "I know you are, Salamander. But let me handle these guys while you all get on out of here. I'm sure the exit is somewhere around here," Percy said and sensed the fat one bristle with rage.
"Percy," Natsu and the other started to say, but with a wave of his hand, the Garou Knights were encased in a sphere of water about a meter thick and three meters above the ground. "Salamander, don't argue. Take everyone and get out of here. That's an order," Percy told him sternly. They hesitated for a moment before continuing on.
Just as they were out of sight, the fat one and the woman that used confetti combined their magic to break out of the sphere. "Huh. I was wondering how long you brats would take," Percy said with a blink and sensed most of them bristle, while one of them narrowed his eyes. "Who are you?" the one with the scythes and mask asked.
"Perseus Jackson, but you might know me better as the Fairy's God-Slayer," Percy told them with a hint of amusement in his voice that only amplified when he felt the lot of them tense in what he perceived to be unease.
"So what do you say, brats? Think you got what it takes to kill little ole me?"
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"Should we have really left him all alone?" Lucy asked as they continued to make their way toward the exit. She, along with Wendy, Happy, Charla, and Yukino were sharing the sentiment that they should have stayed with him. 'If they were as bad as Arcadios had said…' they all trailed off in worry.
"He'll be fine," Natsu spoke with absolute conviction. "Natsu's right. Percy's stronger than he lets on. He'll be okay," Mira mirrored it and they laid those thoughts to rest.
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"Not bad," Percy commented as he dodged another hasty punch from the fat man with toxic fists, while dancing around the various pieces of confetti that the other lady was firing at him and slashing any plants that tried to tie him up.
He leapt back as the bald one with a flag (at least that's what Percy sensed it as) came crashing in with a gravity enhanced kick and proceeded to exchange slashes with the double scythe user. "How long have you brats been executioners?" Percy asked off-handedly, but unfortunately none of them answered. He imagined it was their frustrations with not being able to hit him.
Their fight had been going on for almost 20 minutes at that point, but Percy could tell that they weren't that serious since they hadn't used any combo attacks. It vaguely reminded him of his old life where he used to have to face hordes and hordes of monsters on his own, but then again, that had been exclusively close-quarters combat.
Even in the old days when he was fighting alongside Yuri, he had to deal with ranged attacks. Most magic, he had come to discover, utilized range, so it was a major adjustment to make at first. He could and did use his powers from a ranged position - and he certainly had gotten good at it after so many years on Earthland - but nothing to him beat the rush of close combat, either hand to hand, or bladed.
Unfortunately, it was during his nostalgia that he was distracted enough for them to hand a hit. Flag-guy used his Topography Magic (Percy only knew what that was because of Mavis) to increase the gravity tenfold as soon as he landed, forcing him to a knee. Fat-man immediately followed up with a direct acid punch that put Percy to the ground, and he was followed by the plant and paper ladies who encased him in a carnivorous plant that was then trapped in ice mirrors.
"Really? That guy was the Fairy's God Slayer?" Fat-man said.
"Talk about unimpressive-tai," Bald-guy echoed.
"I thought he was beautiful, but I guess I was wrong," Plant-lady added.
"We should probably go after the others," Paper-lady concluded.
"Yes. We must go after the sinn-," Scythe-guy said finally.
They turned as one to walk away, but were interrupted by a crack in the ice mirrors. The crack multiplied and the spread across the entire dome before it exploded into millions of tiny fragments that hovered in the air.
A sword stabbed out of the plant and made a cut from where Percy stepped out of. "This stuff is gross," Percy muttered as he willed the slime from the plant to flick off his person and onto the catacomb floor. Some of the ice turned to water and floated down to coat Percy's body, cleaning him and giving him energy.
"Not too shabby brats," Percy said as he sheathed Riptide back onto his back. "You really are strong when you work together especially."
"How are you standing-tai?" Bald-guy asked in what Percy assumed was disbelief. "Well, it's heavy don't get me wrong, but not as bad as the pressure at the bottom of the ocean, so," Percy finished lamely while he rubbed the back of his neck.
"Well brats, mind if I take my turn?"
Percy didn't wait for an answer as he vapor traveled to behind the Topography user and threw a hard earthquake-laced right hook to his temple, knocking him out entirely. He was going to be the biggest problem. Fat-man didn't stay idle, and started to exchange acid covered fists with Percy.
"Why aren't your hands melting?!" he demanded and Percy smiled at him cheekily. "Easy, I altered the pH of the water on my hands to counteract your acid, making every exchange neutral again, Fat-man."
Percy caught another acid covered fist before throwing a high kick that sent the fat man flying before he held his hands out to stop the plants that were rapidly closing onto him. "W-What?!" Plant-lady gasped, making Percy chuckle. "Plants have water in them, dummy!" he said and forced them to wrap up the fat man by his wrists and ankles before knocking him out with an earthquake kick.
Percy had to [AN: In true anime fashion.] do several back handsprings to evade the numerous pieces of paper that were then flying at him. During the evasion, he realized that they were red, which meant fire, so he let them hit. "Ha! Got him!" Paper-lady yelled in triumph, only to be disappointed when Percy was standing there like nothing happened.
"Toasty," Percy winked at her and vapor traveled to her before she could react. He placed a hand on her forehead, cutting off the blood flow to her brain briefly to send her into unconsciousness. "Sleep."
'Alright, that's the baldie, the fat man, and the paper lady,' he mused to himself before he drew Riptide in a blur and cut down the plants she sent after him in a bronze flash as he closed in on her position. Once he was several meters away, he threw his sword like a javelin, forcing her to dodge.
As she dodged, she failed to notice the water condensing around her, and before she could react, she was frozen solid in a block of ice. Percy quickly gathered his sword and made the ice recede to where only her head was showing and knocked her out the same way as the paper lady.
"And then there was one," Percy said and he sheathed his blade and turned to face the scythe wielder. As he said that though, purple hands appeared all over his body, not that he could see them, but he could feel them.
"Executioner Style: Guillotine Justice!" the scythe guy yelled and Percy sensed his scythes merge into a single blade that spun rapidly and honed in on him. Percy spent the next five minutes dodging while he tried to come up with an explanation. 'Either he's controlling them himself, or.'
"These hone in on the marks on my body right?" Percy asked and was glad that the guy didn't just ignore him. "Yes. They will follow you to the end of time, sinner!" he yelled and Percy just gave him a devilish smirk. 'At least no marks are on my mortal point.' With that thought, Percy stood stock still and waited for the blades to come at him again.
The blades closed in closer and closer and as they were about to hit, Percy held out his right hand and caught them by the serrated edge. "Wha-What?! How?!" Scythe-guy gasped in surprise.
"Kinda hard to cut something that can't be cut," Percy replied back and dug his fingers into the metal blade that groaned once before cracking and then shattering.
"You fought well, but you need to work on your combo attacks more. If you ever want to fight again, you know where to find me," Percy replied next to the man before he knocked him out with an elbow to the back of the head.
Percy stretched his arms over his head, earning several satisfying cracks and pops. "Wonder if the others made it out yet."
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"Well? Can you make contact with the rescue team, Warren?" Makarov asked from the observation box back at Domus Flau.
"It's strange… Natsu and the others were heading for the palace which isn't far from here, but I got nothing," Warren replied in equal parts frustration and worry.
"Number One, the clash of magic you sensed came from underground?" Makarov directed his attention to Mavis.
"Yes. I'm sure of it. It was probably just Percy cutting loose though. He hasn't had a serious fight in a long time, so he probably took on the foreign ones I sensed," Mavis replied easily, making Makarov hum in agreement.
"They should be just fine then."
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The large stone doors to exit Hell Palace opened before the gathered group minus Percy, only to reveal a cloaked figure. The tension between them was high; the team thinking that it was an ambush, and the figure in too much shock for words.
"Who the hell are you?!" Natsu said from his position on the ground where he gracelessly landed. "Wait, this scent…"
"Natsu… I'm sorry," the figure said as tears started leaking from their eyes. "I'm sorry! Help me!" they said and kept crying, further confusing the rest of the group.
Lucy stepped forward to say something, but whatever she was going to say died on her tongue when the cloaked figure removed their hood.
"Lucy!"
AN: Chapter 15! Kind of a long one (it felt like it damn) and not super battle heavy, but it's got some moments I think. Percy is clearly OP and to clarify, his "magic" is kind of a gray area. It's his divine abilities, but it functions in a similar manner of super-charged magic. It didn't get absorbed by the Eclipse Portal, because it's a part of his soul. I am writing this under the impression that magic on Earthland, while unique to each individual, is housed in containers (bc Second Origin) that is present in wizards, but is not explicitly their soul.
Point is: it's complicated and seemingly contradictory, but I also don't care enough to go back and change it if that makes sense. It's his abilities passing as magic, but it is not itself magic. Don't think about it too hard and you may just enjoy the story more.
Until next time!