Hello hello hello, welcome back to my story, today Percy becomes a depressed turtle and gains 300 pounds. Yeah maybe that won't be what happens, maybe you can read the chapter to find out, what a magical idea that is. Also, on a more serious note, I'm going to try to make Mondays or Tuesdays my chapter posting day so that you can all look forwards to starting your week with something other than the soul-sucking things that are school and work. Anyways here Is the chapter.
Disclaimer: Sadly I own nothing, Percy Jackson is owned by Rick Riordan
Time skip 1 month
Percy POV
This
Training
Sucks
Was a very polite way of putting how I was feeling about the physical training portion of the training. Israfil and I's schedule changed slightly so we had a bit more free time compared to the mental training, but having free time after a workout just means you have time to not move so that your body won't hurt. Our day pretty much started at 9 where we would meet with our agility/speed trainer. obviously, he would make us do speed and agility exercises so we were both now inhumanly fast; kind of a perk of a demigod body, we could surpass human limitations.
Our speed training went on until 12 where we would stop and go get lunch. When we were first starting we missed lunch a few times because we couldn't walk from the gym to the cafeteria without our legs giving out, actually that's being nice we could barely walk 2 meters before our legs gave out. that's beside the point though. Our lunch, like before, went from 12-1.
After lunch, we had an hour of downtime so we could digest properly and not projectile vomit during the next part of our training. The aforementioned next part of our training was strength training. it started at 2 and went to 4. normally by this point in the days every part of our bodies felt like it was made of jelly and we had basically no motor function, so that meant it was the perfect time for an hour and a half of endurance training. I wish I was kidding but I'm not our endurance training was only an hour going from 4:15 to 5:15 meaning it was the shortest workout, but after working out incredibly intensely for 5 hours doing an hour of endurance was hell. from 5:15 to 5:30 we stretched to make sure we stayed flexible and then had free time until dinner.
I normally used that time to train Pistos more, and if I say so myself it was going very well. Dinner, like before, was from 7-8 and after that, we had time for ourselves but it was mentioned that we should spend a bit of time making sure we don't forget things from our mental training. All in all that was the gist of our schedule for the day.
The training with Pistos was an interesting learning curve. In the start, he didn't want to listen to me so I had to bait him with food a lot. The biggest problem was while he was smart enough to understand that I was the one who would feed him there was no trust between us in any other way. Pistos's training consisted of him running through an obstacle course for the first little while until he was trained enough to listen to commands that I could take him hunting. One day while running on the obstacle course Pistos fell and landed on a rock the rock got stuck in his side and pierced into his flesh lightly but enough that it would need to be stitched. I remember exactly how that day went.
Flashback
"Awoooooooo," howled Pistos
"Damn what the hell happened," I said to myself sprinting over to kneel next to him. I rolled him over gently to see what had happened and saw blood leaking through his fur. I knew he would need stitches so I picked up the massive wolf suddenly very thankful that we had been given a workout to do during our mental training so that I was strong enough to lift him.
I ran as fast as I could to the medical ward and saw that the doctor had taken a short break and wasn't there. "fucking hell why," I asked myself. I turned around and did a back kick to the door and heard it break open. I Ran into the room and placed him down on a bed. "Ok ok ok ok I can do this," I said keeping myself calm I grabbed some bandages and towels and got ready to pull the rock out. I touched the rock and heard Pistos whine. My brain immediately went overprotective dad mode and decided my pain doesn't matter if he's hurt so I put my arm in his mouth "Bite down as hard as you need" Pistos eyes seemed to understand what I was doing. I put my hand back on the rock and pulled slowly making sure not to sever anything on the way out. Pistos bit down HARD, but I don't blame him, after all, that was what I told him to do.
Once the rock was out I pushed the bandages and towels against his side to make sure he didn't lose too much blood. I then stitched him up and made sure he was alright. got him a bowl of water and then walked over to the mirror next to the sink to see how my arm was doing. I looked at the deep gashes on both sides of my arm. I turned on the sink and watched my injuries start to heal and laughed at myself, how did I not know I was a child of Poseidon when water fucking heals me. Before my wound could fully heal the doctor walked in and I explained everything that happened he facepalmed at me using my arm as something for Pistos to bite on, but checked to make sure I had done everything correctly.
He told me I should have shaved his fur in the section to make stitching easier but other than that he was good and need to not move very much for a week and a bit. After that Pistos started giving me licks on the arm all the time to show he was sorry and that became a huge comfort for me.
Flashback end
The days of training slowly became less brutal and more possible to get through as time went on the days would blend and israfil and I found a comfortable rhythm within our training. For our agility training, we were always racing to try to beat each other, or really, I was just trying to beat him; after all, he was a decade older than me. It was a little bit different in the strength training seeing as it was more beneficial to build each other up while we were trying to lift than to make it a competition. For endurance... well it was endurance, we would probably be dead if we didn't have each other to lean on during those workouts.
time skip 5 and a half months(currently late august)
Still Percy POV
Our physical training was finally over. We were now heading off to our first day of weapons training. "hey Isra" I said
"what's up prince," he said teasing me with the nickname my mom used to call me.
"I'm gonna ignore that aaaaaaaand... RaceYouToTheFacility" I said before running off as fast as I could. I made it to the weapons room with Israfil trailing a little ways behind me. "heh looks like I beat you" I said smiling. he nonchalantly dismissed my jab by waving his hand at me dismissingly when I noticed a small splotch of blood on his hand "what's with the blood on your hand" he looked at me confused for a second then looked at his hand "oh, that must be from when I tried to push off the wall to get a boost after you took off" he said. I nodded approval to his answer but wasn't convinced. We walked into the room to see a somewhat older man probably in his early 40's with a strong build, blonde hair and blue eyes he smiled when he saw us and spoke to us softly.
"come in lads, you're here for the weapons training right," he asked?
"Yeah, we are. What do you need us to do" asked Israfil
"simple, you probably don't remember Cole's explanation about how this training worked so ill re-explain. You are going to be trained to use a long-range, a mid-range, and a close-range weapon. You'll spend the most time on the weapon class your worst with and vice versa. Now to start I'm going to ask who your guys' godly parents are because they may have an affinity to a weapon" he explained.
"My dad is Apollo, Percy's is Poseidon, oh and my name is Israfil," said Israfil.
"Oh the son of Poseidon I'll be interested to watch you train little one," he said smiling at me kindly. "Alright we'll start with long-range weaponry but first, do you lads have weapons picked from the armoury already," he asked? We both nodded our heads and pulled out our weapons. Mine was my shield which got a confused look unit is split into its whip form. He lifted an eyebrow and gave a smirk almost saying 'that looks awesome'. Israel's weapons were much simpler a celestial bronze scimitar and a recurve bow also made partially of celestial bronze seemingly to give it a harder drawback and therefore more power. "all right well we can go to the long-range section now, Israfil I think you know you like a recurve bow the most but try some other weapons, Percy I have heard legends about the sons of Poseidon let's see if they're true.
We walked to a firing range with a rack of weapons along the wall. Israfil walked up and used his bow to shoot a few just to get comfortable. I waited and watched his form to see if I could copy it. I Grabbed a smaller bow from the wall and walked up the shooting spot. I copied Israfils stance and drew the bow back. "you said children of Poseidon were legendary with a bow, right" asked israfil?
"That I did boy, just sit and watch, or take cover," The trainer said. *thunk* the sound of a bowstring being released emanated from my position, the sound of an arrow hitting something emanated from 10 feet behind me. Israfil gave the trainer an acquisitional look. "what, I said legendary, that doesn't mean good or bad it just means it's in legends. These legends happen to be ones that Poseidon's kids can't shoot the broad side of a barn" he said giggling to himself.
'Well, apparently I have no hope with a bow' I thought to myself. I walked back to the wall to try another weapon by the end it had become a tutorial on how not to use every ranged weapon you could think of.
Bow: failed
crossbow: failed
slingshot: failed
blowgun: failed
javelin: failed
Boomerang: failed
It was painful to watch me so eventually, we gave up and moved onto mid-range. Mid-range was more successful but still not great, I was pretty good with standard throwing knives and decent with hatchets but most other weapons just didn't come quite as naturally, but all in all a hell of a lot better than the long-range weaponry. when we finally got to close range I was praying that this would be my best one and I could have my moment to shine with a trident it felt natural but it felt strange to use with my shield. I tried using some other weapons like axes and spears and while they also felt alright they weren't the right weapon for me. I finally tried a xiphos otherwise known as a greek shortsword. It felt good, the swings felt natural and the weapon was obviously designed to be wielded with a shield and worked well with my strange shield. My only problem was every sword felt unbalanced or awkwardly heavy in my hands. Nonetheless, once I found a properly balanced sword for me this would be my weapon.
Things had gone differently for Israfil. During the long-range section, he seemed to be deep in thought, and that was fine since he was already very confident at what long-range weapon he would learn to use. At mid-range he was bad. Every weapon just seemed to feel wrong in his hands and he struggled to even hit the target, that being said he was happy to point out he wasn't as bad at mid-range as I was at long range. *Sigh* he had me beat there. when we got to close range he was proficient with his scimitar but he was a better archer than melee combatant for sure. With all that done the trainer sent us back to our room to relax for a day before we got into serious training.
As we were walking back israfil suddenly told me he needed to go talk with Cole, and that I could go on ahead to lunch. I was very happy about that(insert sarcasm here). While many things had changed the aphrodite girl smothering me with their tits had not stopped as they all still found me adorable; especially since after my training, I was basically a mini Adonis. While eating lunch I was confused about where Israfil was. He had said he needed to go talk to cole which was weird but I didn't think it would take that long.
The rest of the day was pretty boring. I trained Pistos for a while then went and sang with some of the other members of the foundation who were just relaxing in the lounge area. One day I would figure out the proper layout of this place, and how they built everything. As the day was reaching its end still no sight of Israfil. I got worried and went to talk to cole who told me Israfil had gone out for an errand and he would probably be back soon. I went back to the room and started to drift off when I heard the door creak open and Israfil walk in.
I rolled over and fell asleep happy knowing he was safe.
The next morning,
When I woke up I saw Israfil was already awake. "yo, night stalker, where'd you go yesterday," I asked?
"Oh, you're up. I actually went to get you a present/test a theory," he explained
"Oh, ok. why did you get me a present," I asked
"well you never told me when your birthday was but I figured at least 1 had to have passed since we met each other." He said.
"oh, well yeah my birthday was actually a couple of days ago," I said
"And I was not informed of this why"?
"3 reasons," I said "1 you didn't ask, 2 I didn't care to make a big deal out of it, 3 needs only three words to explain, The Aphrodite Girls" I finished
"1 that's a bs reason, 2 at least tell me, 3 yeah that's a very valid reason," he said as we laughed with each other. "well here's your gift aphrodite magnet," he said tossing me a heavy box.
I shook my head at him and laughed lightly before pulling the box open. Inside the box was something you would not normally give to a 7 year old. Upon opening the cardboard box I saw a revolver... yes a revolver, but oh not just 1, 2 revolvers, and now I'm going to ask why. "what in the name of..." I started
"Before you finish hear me out. These can be returned, BUT, just take them with you tomorrow to the facility and try them out as a long-range option. Sound good" He asked?
"Ok that makes sense but why did you buy 2 and how am I supposed to use these against monsters," I asked in return?
"oh, I bought 2 for a simple reason, you're still young and somewhat small so I decided I'd buy a smaller one, the Ruger lcr, for now, and a bigger one, the Smith and Wesson 500, for later once you've grown up. As for how your gonna kill monsters with it, you solved that" he said tossing something at me. I caught a bullet, but upon closer inspection, it was my bullet from the Hephaestus test. I gave him a smile despite the ridiculousness of the situation.
We went to the training facility and tested out if I could use the revolver. I only had three bullets to use from my test but I was able to put them to use and show that I at least wasn't shooting behind me anymore and I actually hit the target with 2 of my shots.
Once again just like the last 2 training types a routine was set. We started our training at 9 with our respective worst combat distances(Percy long, Israfil mid) and trained in them until 12, from there we had lunch until 1 then an hour break to digest. Next, we went on to our respective middle of the road combat distance(Percy mid, Israfil close) and trained until 4 in the afternoon. After that was our best combat range (Percy close, Israfil long) where we would practice until 5:30. After that, I went to train Pistos until 7. From 7-8 was dinner, then afterwards was free time which I used to go to the forge and make bullets and learn more about my guns. A rhythm was established as we worked our way through the lessons from our trainer and more months went by.
I learned that Israfil's birthday was a little bit later than mine, his being on the 19th of September and for his birthday I got him something less violent. It was a guitar that I had gotten some help from the Hephaestus kids in building so that it had a built-in amp and with some bribery from Layla some magic that switched it between an acoustic and an electric guitar. Israfil kept trying to deny the gift saying it was a waste on him when I was the one with the gifted voice. I kept trying to tell him I didn't know how to play guitar so I needed him to be there to perform with me, but for some reason, he was overly adamant that I should be the one who kept it. In the end, I told him it would just stay in our room and either of us could use it which he was pleased with.
time skip 10 months - 6 weeks until the final test
Percy POV still
We had finished up our weapons training and were now both incredibly proficient in our weapons of choice as well as hand-to-hand combat while unarmed. we had been trained to use all of our weapons effectively in all situations and certain dos and don'ts with our weapons. we had fought each other many times and fought against our trainer who on the last day told us his name was Balbus.
Our second last test was, as we had been told, really just a relaxation period. We spent days learning to cook with a daughter of Demeter and a son of Hermes. The two of them felt a lot like a mother and father during this time and it was quite funny watching them interact. We learned to pitch tents, to do laundry, proper dining etiquette and lots of other little things. during this time my birthday passed and that was particularly fun.
Flashback
Israfil and I had woken up at about the same time and had slowly made our way to breakfast and to our lessons teasing each other the whole way. When we got there we talked to Samantha who was the daughter of Demeter who we normally called sam. She told us we would be spending the morning working on some simple survival skills. once we reached into the late afternoon however we started switching over to cooking. We would be making a fire to cook over and then reverse searing some beautiful steaks. we would also cook some potatoes to make a garlic mash and some grilled asparagus then top it off with a nice caesar salad with some maple balsamic dressing. (if you can't tell I was hungry while writing this) as we worked away at keeping the fire nice and hot and the food cooking just the way we wanted to. Darren(son of Hermes) showed up and started teasing Sam while we were cooking some of the vegetables and I finally realized I hadn't seen Darren since lunch even though it had been about 5 hours so I asked him about it "oh I was just taking a nap from like 1 to 4 then I just didn't wanna move for a while until I finally got up to come here and make sure she(throws his thumb at sam) didn't bore you to death" he explains and to me, knowing Darren's personality, that was an entirely believable answer. We kept working on dinner and Darren went off to go talk with someone about something I don't know, half of what that man says is just gibberish. we finished cooking all the food and had a feast chowing down on everything we cooked.
While we were eating Darren and Sam kept bickering like an old married couple and I laughed to myself before saying "they remind me of Katie and Travis"
Israfil looked at me confused "who is Katie and Travis" he asked?
"Actually now that you ask, I'm not sure. Weird" I said Confused and weirded out. As we polished off the last bits of leftovers from the main course Darren walked off to go get something, when he came back he was carrying a fresh double-layer chocolate fudge cake fresh out of the over. To say that the cake was annihilated would be the understatement of the century. After we finished dinner we sat around the low burning fire we had used to cook and Israfil and I decided to sing a song. He ran back to the room to grab the guitar and we sang Remembering Sunday by All Time Low
He woke up from dreaming and put on his shoes
Started making his way past two in the morning
He hasn't been sober for days
Leaning now into the breeze
Remembering Sunday, he falls to his knees
They had breakfast together
But two eggs don't last
Like the feeling of what he needs
Now this place seems familiar to him
She pulled on his hand with a devilish grin
She led him upstairs, she led him upstairs
Left him dying to get in
Forgive me, I'm trying to find
My calling, I'm calling at night
I don't mean to be a bother
But have you seen this girl?
She's been running through my dreams
And it's driving me crazy, it seems
I'm going to ask her to marry me
Even though she doesn't believe in love
He's determined to call her bluff
Who could deny these butterflies?
They're filling his gut
Waking the neighbours, unfamiliar faces
He pleads though he tries
But he's only denied
Now he's dying to get inside
Forgive me, I'm trying to find
My calling, I'm calling at night
I don't mean to be a bother
But have you seen this girl?
She's been running through my dreams
And it's driving me crazy, it seems
I'm going to ask her to marry me
The neighbours said she moved away
Funny how it rained all day
I didn't think much of it then
But it's starting to all make sense
Oh, I can see now that all of these clouds
Are following me in my desperate endeavour
To find my whoever, wherever she may be
I'm not coming back (forgive me)
I've done something so terrible
I'm terrified to speak (I'm not calling, I'm not calling)
But you'd expect that from me
I'm mixed up, I'll be blunt, now the rain is just (You're driving me crazy, I'm)
Washing you out of my hair and out of my mind
Keeping an eye on the world,
From so many thousands of feet off the ground, I'm over you now
I'm at home in the clouds, and towering over your head
Well I guess I'll go home now
I guess I'll go home now
I guess I'll go home now
I guess I'll go home
then after that, we sang
how did you love by Shinedown
You can have a sound of the thousand voices calling your name
You can have the light of the world blind you, bath you in grace
But I don't see so easily what you hold in your hands
'Cause castles crumble, kingdoms fall and turn into sand
You can be an angel of mercy or give in to hate
You can try to buy it just like it every other careless mistake
How do you justify I'm mystified by the ways of your heart
With a million lies the truth will rise to tear you apart
Woah
No one gets out alive, every day is do or die
The one thing you leave behind
Is how did you love, how did you love?
It's not what you believe those prayers will make you bleed
But while you're on your knees
How did you love, how did you love, how did you love?
Nothing ever feels the quite same when you are what you dreamed
And you will never look at anything the same when you see what I see
How we forget ourselves, lose our way from the cradle to the grave
You can't replicate or duplicate, gotta find your own way
No one gets out alive, every day is do or die
The one thing you leave behind
Is how did you love, how did you love?
It's not what you believe those prayers will make you bleed
But while you're on your knees
How did you love, how did you love, how did you love?
This ain't no cross to bury
We are the judge and jury, we are the judge and jury
No one gets out alive, every day is do or die
The one thing you leave behind
Is how did you love, how did you love?
It's not what you believe those prayers will make you bleed
But while you're on your knees
How did you love, how did you love?
This ain't no cross to bury
We are the judge and jury
This ain't no cross to bury
We are the judge and jury
How did you love, how did you love?
How did you love, how did you love?
How did you love, how did you love?
How did you love, how did you love?
and finally, we finished off our singing with
Wavin Flag by K'naan
When I get older I will be stronger
They'll call me freedom just like a wavin' flag
When I get older I will be stronger
They'll call me freedom just like a wavin' flag
And then it goes back, and then it goes back
And then it goes back, oh
Born to a throne, stronger than Rome
But violent prone, poor people zone
But it's my home, all I have known
Where I got grown, streets we would roam
Out of the darkness, I came the farthest
Among the hardest survival
Learn from these streets, it can be bleak
Accept no defeat, surrender, retreat
So we struggling, fighting to eat
And we wondering when we'll be free
So we patiently wait for that fateful day
It's not far away, but for now we say
When I get older I will be stronger
They'll call me freedom just like a wavin' flag
And then it goes back, and then it goes back
And then it goes back, oh
So many wars, settling scores
Bringing us promises, leaving us poor
I heard them say, "love is the way"
"Love is the answer, " that's what they say
But look how they treat us, make us believers
We fight their battles, then they deceive us
Try to control us, they couldn't hold us
'Cause we just move forward like Buffalo Soldiers
But we struggling, fighting to eat
And we wondering, when we'll be free
So we patiently wait for that faithful day
It's not far away but for now we say
When I get older I will be stronger
They'll call me freedom just like a wavin' flag
And then it goes back, and then it goes back
And then it goes back, and then it goes
When I get older I will be stronger
They'll call me freedom just like a wavin' flag
And then it goes back, and then it goes back
And then it goes back, and then it goes
And then it goes
And everybody will be singing it
And you and I will be singing it
And we all will be singing it
Oh, oh, oh
When I get older I will be stronger
They'll call me freedom just like a wavin' flag
And then it goes back, and then it goes back
And then it goes back, and then it goes
When I get older I will be stronger
They'll call me freedom just like a wavin' flag
And then it goes back, and then it goes back
And then it goes back, oh
When I get older
When I get older
I will be stronger
Just like a wavin' flag
Just like a wavin' flag
Just like a wavin' flag
Flag, flag
Just like a wavin' flag
with that, we finished off the night while Israfil apologized for not being able to think of a gift for me. I told him that it was fine and we went to bed.
flashback end
Now we were done with that training and we were heading to the final test. No matter what it was Israfil and I were prepared. We walked to Cole's office as that was what Sam told us we had to do. After knocking on the door we walked in. Cole looked at us with a very cold look in his eye. "Follow me" was all he said.
We walked down the twisting hallways that I had become familiar with before stopping suddenly. Cole then turned and pushed part of the wall open revealing a large... well it almost looked like a paintball arena but mixed with a forest and much larger than most paintball arenas. "sir what are we doing here what's the final test" asked Israfil?
Cole turned around to look at us the said"you two are going to fight to the death. If you refuse to kill each other you both die."
To say I screamed bloody murder would be the true understatement of the century, fuck the cake. Israfil carried me onto the battlegrounds and got both of us to our starting points in the forest. I heard a whistle and pulled out my sword on instinct. I wanted to run and hide forever so we never found each other. I had been told I needed to kill someone I saw as a brother, my legs felt weak and my heart was pounding. After seconds or hours, I'm not sure which, I saw Israfil walking towards me with his scimitar out. My knees buckled and I fell to the ground. Israfil got right in front of me and I didn't know how to feel, he should just kill me I wasn't cut out for this. I felt two fingers tap my forehead very aggressively. "you awake in there" Israfil asked with a sad smile. I nodded slowly, "good, Percy I need you to kill me," he said.
"wha... wh... wh... what" I stuttered out.
"Percy, I'm very sick. I wasn't supposed to live very long and I've already lived way past what the doctors said." He explained.
"why... no... why... IT'S NOT FAIR WHY DO YOU JUST GET TO ACT LIKE ITS SO EASY, I STILL HAVE TO KILL, I NEED TO KILL YOU AND MY EMOTIONS. THAT'S THE POINT OF THIS TEST ISNT IT, TO MAKE ME A COLD HEARTED KILLER." I screamed
"Percy, it'll be alright." israfil said smiling "I'll help and we'll do it together alright," Israfil asked
"1...2..."
Cole POV
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" a scream of anguish was heard throughout the room.
everything went quiet for a bit before I saw Percy walking out of the forest dragging Israfils body behind him. He got in front of me and dropped the body. "have you killed your emotions Percy" I asked.
The young boy looked up at me slowly and his eyes told the whole story, they were devoid of emotion. "I have," He said
"then your training is complete," I told him. I started walking away when I felt an incredible amount of heat emanating from behind me. I turned around quickly and saw nothing but the emotionally devoid Percy standing there. If only I had gone a bit closer I would have seen the dark red hue of Percy's eyes, the eyes of someone living off of hate.
Aaaaaaaaaannnnnnnddddddddd done, whew. 5534 words later (4400 not including the song lyrics) I have finished this chapter. I just want to say I normally write the entire chapter over a week. In this chapter, however, I started writing 2 days ago. On Sunday I wrote 230 words, yesterday I wrote the other 5300 words. The best part about it though was that I was enjoying writing the chapter right through to the end. In the next few chapters, things are going to start moving much quicker and there will be much more action so you can all look forward to that.
Anyways I hope you all Have a lovely day, a pleasant evening, and a beautiful night.
See ya next time.