11 June 2007
Chiron's words were met with the grim faces of some of the most powerful children in the country. Percy took a second to look around at his fellow cabin leaders. His friends. Just two summers ago, this meeting would've been about capture the flag or putting on some kind of contest or concert. Now these meetings were about helping children, sometimes no older than 10 years old, survive for just another day. Living to see 18 years of age was a rarity when you were the child of a Greek god. Percy hated to see such old looks on young faces.
"Things are escalating," Percy began. "The monsters aren't simply preying on mortals as the mist weakens anymore. Now, They're moving the same way we are. In hunting parties. Also, As of my last rotation, it's confirmed that they have access to high grade weapons and armor which tells us one thing."
"They're mobilizing," Annabeth said. Percy nodded.
"Zeus' beard!" Lee Fletcher exclaimed. Thunder rumbled overhead.
"Damnit Lee. I told you to stop that!" Jason said throwing a ping-pong paddle at Lee's head.
"Sorry." Lee muttered.
"Focus guys," Percy said. "We can't go on like this."
"Percy is right," Chiron said. "We're very close to start of another war between the gods." Everyone looked at Chiron with questioning expressions on their faces.
"Do you have any idea how close?" Charles Beckendorf asked. Percy was glad to see him in a leadership role. The previous head counselor for the Hephaestus cabin had been torn apart by a pack of hellhounds three weeks ago. It was probably one of the more gruesome deaths the camp had seen in over twenty years, but Beckendorf had stepped into the role and had been a steady, calming presence ever since. In fact, he had single-handedly designed the camps new defense system. Percy knew camp would be much worse off without him.
"My sources on Olympus inform me that we have until the summer solstice before Zeus declares war on Poseidon's faction of gods." All eyes flashed to the empty seat normally occupied by Mr. D, the camp director.
"But that's only ten days away!" Katie yelled.
"Holy shit, Katie. I'm standing right here. Take it down a notch." Pollux said, ringing out his ears.
"Sorry!" Katie said loudly.
"Damnit Katie." Pollux said. Katie slapped a hand over her mouth with a remorseful expression. Lee and Jason laughed.
"Hey!" Mark yelled. "Stop fucking around. This isn't some fucking sing-a-long meeting. We're about to start seeing monsters attacking on a whole new scale and you guys are acting like fucking morons."
"Mark's right," Percy said. "We need to focus. If nothing else, the lives of every demigod and mortal is going to be on us if we don't find a way to stop this."
"Chiron," Annabeth asked. "What happens if the gods go to war?"
"Imagine the world in chaos," Chiron began. "Nature at war with itself. Olympians forced to choose sides between Zeus and Poseidon. Destruction. Carnage. Millions of people, dead. Western civilization turned into a battleground so big it will make the trojan War look like a water-balloon fight." Chiron said. Someone sitting in the back scoffed.
"Typical." All heads turned to see Luke Castellan idly twirling a knife between his fingers. His lips curled into a grin that was halfway into a snarl.
"Luke? Something you want to share?" Percy asked. He knew Luke had never really had a high opinion of the Olympians, but things had changed in the last couple weeks. Luke had become more withdrawn, more likely to lash out, and more vicious in sword training sessions. It had gotten to the point that the only people that would spar with him were Percy and Jason.
"Oh, nothing," Luke said with a false note of casualness. He stood up and stretched.
"I'm just sick, and tired of watching demigods die because of the gods' petty fucking temper tantrums" Luke growled. The shock quieted the rest of the room.
"Luke?" Annabeth asked. She made to move towards him but he held up a hand.
"Save it, Annie. We're out there being slaughtered by monsters day by day and for what? Because the king of the fucking gods lost his favorite toy?"
"To be fair. That toy could probably level the entire eastern seaboard." Lee said.
"Also, my father didn't lose the master bolt," Jason said narrowing his eyes. "It was stolen. Or did you forget?"
"Whatever," Luke said. He slammed his knife into the table. "I'm going on rotation." Something felt wrong to Percy. So, he quickly chased Luke out of the Big House and caught up to him as he was making his way toward the entrance gate of camp.
"Luke! Wait!" Percy called. Luke stopped and turned. His face had lost the simmering signs of rage Percy had seen just a few moments ago, only to be replaced by a cool mask of indifference. Percy wasn't buying it.
"You need something, Perce?" Luke asked.
"Yeah. What the hell was that back there?" Luke's expression darkened.
"Nothing you need to worry about."
"Bullshit. Something is bothering you and I want to know what it is." Luke looked down at Percy's declaration.
"I just… it never seems to end. You know? We go out there we kill monsters. Or they kill us. And then whoever is left just spends their time grieving until new demigods take their place. Until new fucking children take their place." Luke was breathing heavy as the rage from earlier came back to the surface.
"Whoa… Luke—"
"And do the gods even care?" Luke cut off loudly. "Do they even care that their children often end up in broken homes? On the fucking streets? Starving? DYING? Huh? DO THEY? ANSWER ME PERCY?" Percy felt like Luke's words were crushing his throat, because his words weren't wrong. Luke took a deep breath.
"And what do the rest of us get?" Luke said, his voice barely above a whisper but no less harsh in its intensity.
"The rest of us get to pick up the pieces. We get horrific nightmares where we get to watch our best friend be torn to pieces by hellhounds. Every. Fucking. Night." A cold fist gripped Percy's heart as Luke's icy blue eyes bored into his own. He had forgotten that Luke had been there.
"I-I'm sorry. Luke."
"Sorry doesn't cut it, Percy," Luke said, putting on the helm hanging from his waist. "Not anymore." He then tightened a shield on his arm and began to walk away but Percy grabbed his arm.
"You'll be careful right? Camp needs you. As weird as this may sound, no crazy heroics out there. Do what you can do. Save who you can and then get out of there." Percy said.
"Oh. Don't worry." Despite the helm, Percy could see Luke's mouth pull into a smirk that didn't reach his eyes. "I promise from here on out. No more heroics." Luke then turned and walked toward his team waiting at the base of the hill. There was an odd amount of Hermes cabin members in the group. Although, Percy recognized that at least half were some of the unclaimed. Something about that entire conversation was deeply unsettling. Percy took a deep breath and then made his way back to the Big House. When he got inside, the room was in chaos as people argued and shouted at each other.
"HEY!" Percy yelled. Everyone stopped what they were saying and turned to him. "Someone want to explain what the fuck is happening? I was gone for like ten minutes."
"We were discussing the camps defenses moving forward." Mark said.
"Yeah! But this complete buzzkill wants to cancel all the fun camp activities and turn this place into fucking boot camp." Lee said.
"Are you seriously concerned with having fun when I am trying to keep people alive?" Mark shot back.
"This is the one place where we can let go and just be ourselves," Katie chimed in. "Camp is supposed to be fun. It's supposed to be an escape from the mortal world."
"And what happens when you return to the mortal world unable to defend yourself because you were too busy making flower crowns for people." Annabeth said.
"Exactly." Mark said. "And what about people who don't have a home to go to. What about the demigods you would be leaving behind if you decide that you want to go home. For some of us, camp is our home."
"That's enough!" Percy said. The room grew quiet once more. "Look. I get it. You're scared. I'm scared too. This is like nothing any of us have ever seen before. Most of you know Jason and I's story. You know that camp is the only home that we've ever had. I love canoeing on the lake, playing capture the flag, roasting marshmallows and singing songs." Everyone's eyes grew wistful as Percy described their place. Percy looked at Chiron whose eyes were shining with pride. He gestured for Percy to go on.
"Unfortunately, those very things are now under attack by monsters taking advantage of the gods being distracted by in-fighting."
"That doesn't make any sense." Beckendorf said. "Why would the gods attention prevent monsters from running rampant?"
"It is partly because of their nature," Chiron responded. "You see, the divine energy that flows through the gods' veins, ichor, is the same energy that powers the mist. The mist functions as a kind of buffer between the mortal world and ours. Because the gods have this energy flowing through them, they are granted with an intrinsic knowledge of how the mist works and they can then manipulate it to great effect. Now, the ancient laws prevent direct intervention by the gods and so the gods must work through two ways to affect the mortal world. One is through concentrating on maintaining the mist so that monsters cannot run rampant. The other is through you." The room grew quiet at the new information.
"I'm sorry. You wanna run that by me again?" Jason said.
"Oh!" Annabeth gasped. Percy rolled his eyes. Of course, she had it put together.
"I see you've put it together then dear girl." Chiron said. His mouth pulled into a wry grin.
"Yes, but Chiron. It can't be true, can it? Are we really worth so little to them?" Annabeth asked, tears forming in her eyes.
"Hey. We're not all mega geniuses here. Share with the class." Mark grumbled.
"To put it simply, demigods are physical manifestations of the gods' will. The ancient laws prevent the gods from directly affecting events in the mortal realm because in a way they exist outside of them. Beyond them. Zeus is not merely a powerful being who can control lightning and thunder and wind. He is the representation of ideological concepts of lightning, thunder, air, order, justice, and rule of law. It's why the gods move with the West. They would've died long ago had they been simple beings with control over these things."
Percy began to see the connections. The gods themselves couldn't affect the mortal world because they existed on some kind of different plane.
"That doesn't explain what you said about our existence though." Lee said.
"I'm getting to that. It has to do with the eternal struggle between the concepts of good and evil. In nature, there must be a balance between the two. As things progress over time, events happen that tip the scales in one direction or the other. These events are only known in advance by the fates." Everyone nodded. This they had all learned in their years at camp.
"Fast forward to mankind's development, the titan of crafty counsel gave Pandora curiosity. Zeus was angry not simply because Prometheus went against his wishes but also because he changed the way the gods' power worked with that small simple act. Before, the gods were much more powerful, but their power was unfocused. Lightning wasn't simply a part of Zeus' realm. Zeus himself was lightning. However, as humans developed, the gods discovered that somehow human worship and belief connected them to the mortal realm in increasing capacity. As the humans continued to develop and worship the gods, the gods then began to be able to send avatars of themselves down to this plane of existence. However, they could only do so in an observational capacity at first, and the effect that they did have was only in their own domain. There were stories of sailors seeing a man standing on the ocean, and if they had given an appropriate sacrifice, they would catch many fish or would have smooth currents and fair winds on their way home."
"So, if the gods represent the good or at least positive aspects of nature," Annabeth said. "Then monsters represent the negative?"
"Not quite. Human development increased the gods' power beyond what they initially believed possible. Of course, the titans, their predecessors, grew jealous and sought to destroy humanity. Doing so would then weaken the gods considerably. However, the titans and primordials were now bound by the same ancient laws. So, they created creatures to prey on mankind." Percy could see the moment the lightbulbs went off in everyone's head.
"So, the gods started having children with mortals to combat the monsters?" Percy questioned.
"Precisely." The room was silent as everyone processed this.
"Wait. Is that why Annabeth said we mean so little to them? Because we apparently exist to fight monsters?" Mark asked. Chiron sagged in his wheelchair and Percy was struck by the realization that Chiron had probably seen so many of them die.
"You have to understand that immortality can be a curse as much as it is a blessing. Imagine for a second that you'll never die. Now imagine that you have a child that has to go off to war in your place because you have a special sickness which prevents you from fighting directly yourself. The loss of your first child to that war would devastate you. And then you have another. And another. And another. They all die in that war that you can never directly participate in. The gods have existed for thousands of years. How long would you last before madness took you?" Chiron said with a tone of finality.
"And now something evil is tipping the scales again. So, the gods are having more and more children to brace for whatever happens." Annabeth said.
"So that means we have to be ready to stop it when it comes." Katie said nodding at Annabeth. Lee nodded as well.
"Alright. Beckendorf. Where are we on that defense system?" Percy asked.
"The schematics have been tripled checked so we know they're solid, but none of that matters if we don't get a power source. None of us are skilled enough with magic to pull off a design as complex as what we intend to build." Percy nodded at Beckendorf's explanation and turned to Chiron.
"You said that if the master bolt isn't returned by the solstice, we're going to get World War three?" Chiron nodded in response to the question.
"Okay. Then I'm officially requesting permission to consult the Oracle."
"We need to relax with all the bombshells we're dropping today. My heart is starting to feel fragile." Lee said. Percy grinned.
"Sorry Lee. We can't afford to go into this blind." Percy said.
"Then I'm going to consult the Oracle too." Jason said, shocking everyone.
"What? No, you're not. You're staying at camp." Percy shot back.
"Perce, this job is too big for one quest. Which means we're going to need two heavy hitters."
"Jace, I won't be able to protect you. This is more dangerous than anything we've done before."
"I know, but I need you to trust me. I can do this." Percy's shoulders sagged as he conceded.
"Fine. We'll both go talk to the Oracle. Yippee." He said.
"Hey." Lee began. "Maybe it won't be as bad as—"
"Shut up." Said Annabeth.
"Right. Sorry." Lee said.
Jason took the lead up the steps as he and Percy trudged up to the attic. Percy was especially nervous given his first introduction to the oracle a few years ago. He hadn't been able to sleep for weeks afterwards. It was also when he had finally decided to take his training more seriously.
"Percy?"
"Yeah, Jason?"
"Do you think…" Jason stopped on the top step with his hand around the cord to the trap door.
"What is it?" Percy asked gently.
"Do you think…they'd be proud? Of us?" Percy climbed the last few steps and hugged Jason tightly.
"Yeah. I do." Jason smiled and nodded. He then pulled the cord to the green trap door and climbed into the room. It couldn't have been more than five minutes before Jason came back out looking like he'd seen a ghost, but it had still felt like an eternity.
"Jason? You okay?"
"Yeah," He said. "I'll… see you down stairs." And then, Percy was alone.
He took a deep breath, pulled the cord, and climbed into the attic. Normally he'd take a little time to look at the keepsakes from the adventures of demigods of the past, but now he had no such urge, not with the fate of the universe on the line. He stopped in front of the mummified corpse that had once been the Oracle of Delphi. Before Percy could do anything, a voice he had only heard once before, slithered into his mind.
Ssssspeak. What is it that you, seek?
"A war between the gods is coming. How do I stop it?" Percy asked.
Green smoke billowed out from the mouth of the oracle into an image of his mother and Mama Berry.
You shall go west, and face the god who has turned, his mother said.
You shall find what was stolen, and see it safely returned, said Mama Berry
You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend, his mother added.
And suffer a curse more horrible than any hero could comprehend.
The green smoke vanished and Percy felt rooted to the spot. What was the curse? Who would betray him? What god had turned? Finally, he was able to climb back down the ladder, and head back down to the council. Everyone's faces were grim.
"Well?" Chiron asked.
"Have you guys heard Jason's yet?" Percy asked the group.
"No." Jason said. "We were waiting for you." Percy nodded.
"Alright. What did the Oracle say, Jace?" Percy said. Jason took a deep breath before speaking.
"You shall sail the iron ship with warriors of bone, you shall find what you seek and make it your own, but despair for your life entombed within stone, and fail without friends, to fly home alone." Chiron looked pensive.
"What did she tell you, Percy?" Mark asked. Percy sighed and recounted the prophecy. Jason looked horrified. Annabeth looked at him with an exceptionally sad look that made something in his chest flip.
"I… don't know what to say. I'm sorry, Percy." Chiron finally spoke.
"It doesn't really matter. We have to stop the war before it starts."
"Still, that doesn't—" Whatever Chiron was going to say was suddenly interrupted by Connor Stoll bursting into the room looking like he'd just run a marathon.
"Dude. Are you okay?" Lee asked
"Come… to… the hill… Something… you need… to see." Connor gasped out.
"What is it Connor?" Katie asked. Connor caught his breath and stood up.
"It's Luke's team. They've been wiped out." He said.
A/N: Hey everyone! Welcome back. Bit of a heavy exposition chapter. Some of Chiron's explanation was taken directly from the Lightning Thief. I don't own any of what I'm writing. Nor do I intend/will profit from it. I felt like this was a really good chance to flesh out why some of the things in this story work out the way they do as Rick seems to just slap "Ancient laws. Sorry can't do it." on to anything for the sake of plot. At least now when I do it, you can refer back to this chapter for a bit of an explanation. If the explanation itself is confusing, let me know and I'll see about clearing it up. If you don't think it's true to canon then my reply will most likely be "no shit." We've got one more chapter to set things up and then we'll be well into the action. As always, I'll post a deadline on my profile for the next chapter, so keep an eye out there or add me on author alert if you want to know when the next update will be. For those of you who contacted me about the HP story. I'm still working the outline as I am a heavy planner. Once it gets fleshed out, then I'll put up a deadline for that story as well. This is going to be standard procedure for any story I do. If you see a date for a deadline, it means I know what's happening, I just need to write it. Anyway. Thanks for reading. Cheers!
Dr. Nomal