Pilot Chapter One: Percy Meets the Strongest
Percy Jackson knew he wasn't a normal kid. He got kicked out of schools a lot, started fights like no one's business, had Dyslexia and ADHD…
Oh! And he sliced his math teacher, Mrs. Dodds, in half after she turned into some crazy bat monster with a pen that transformed into a sword that his Latin teacher tossed him. So… homicide might also be on that list if the whole school didn't make him believe that he Tyler Durden the entire thing up.
Things went from nuts to down right nutter butter after that. Mr. Burner and his best friend, Grover, talking about him benign in some kind of danger Grover talking like he was on death row on the bus back home, the odd three old ladies knitting a giant sock.
No idea about that last one, that was just weird.
They were driving as fast as they could from Montauk, which he and his mother, Sally Jackson (best mom ever), go to for vacation almost yearly. The odd weather since Christmas hadn't let up and had arguably gotten worse, and now it'd turned into a straight up hurricane. Lightning had struck their car, and while no one was seriously injured, Grover was left unconscious and mumbling about food.
Oh yeah, Grover was there… and he had goat legs… why did Grover have goat legs!?
So now here they were, dragging an unconscious Grover while some crazy seven foot tall bull-man in tighty whiteys tried to run them down. Even as Percy struggled his hardest to move through the trees with his mother and unconscious friend, he had to question what his life had become. They were racing to some kind of summer camp. He wasn't sure what good a summer camp would do against a psychotic bull-man, but he'd rather take something than nothing.
Thing was… the hill to get into the camp was sleek with mud and getting steeper the farther they got, but finally they reached the crest of the hill. A farmhouse with the lights on could be seen through all the rain. But that was half a mile away, Percy knew they wouldn't make it with this bull-man on their tail.
And then his mother split off trying to get the attention of the bull-man. "Percy, run! I can't go any farther. Run!"
The monster charged her as she distracted it, she tried to side step it as it closed in… but it had learned from their previous efforts. Its hand shot out and grabbed Sally by her neck. It lifted it up in the air as she struggled, kicking and pummeling its hand to no avail.
Percy watched in muted horror as the monster was about to crush his mother's neck when…
Shing!
Everything stopped.
The rain, the wind, the thunder rolling in the skies…
Everything stopped for a few seconds. Then the arm holding his mother began to slide off the bull-man's body as if cut by a blade.
Percy blinked. "What the..."
Everything came back. As a man walked into the scene. Tall, about six feet. Handsome, Asain features, neat black hair and blue eyes. He wore a black two piece suit with a tie. In his left hand was an odd sheath sword that Percy recognized, a katana or something. Only reason he knew what it was was because he sometimes spent his reading classes reading manga and comics… well not really reading, more like just attempting to read then just looking at the cool pictures.
The man helped his mother up. "You alright ma'am?"
"Y-Yes… I think so." Sally said, still very much shaken from being manhandled by that monster. "Who are you?"
"No one special." He said simply. "Now, get back to your son. I'll handle this one."
She nodded and sprinted up the hill, back to Percy and Grover.
The bull-man looked at the man warrily, not even paying its own severed arm any attention.
"Your job was tracking and observation. I did not give you permission to attack. I did not give you permission to chase them down. I did not give you permission to kill an innocent group of people." Lightning flashed as the man circled around the bull-man, almost like a tiger or shark. "So, you're going to tell me just what the hell you're doing, or I'm going to make this very painful for you."
The bull-man gave a series of growls and grunts.
The man blinked. "Zeus?"
The thunder seemed to get worse after he said that name.
Could this guy… understand the bull-man?
The man scowled. "You and the rest of those idiots in that hole were given direct fucking orders to keep out of his and Posesiden's spat, unless specifically ordered to. Alecto already fucked up big time and you want to join her?"
The bull-man - Minotaur as the man called it - made another series of growls and grunts before it was cut off suddenly.
WHAM!
It happened faster than Percy could comprehend. One instant, the Minotaur's head was on its shoulders. The next, the head had crashed through several trees before the headless body fell to the ground, turning into golden dust. Percy finally took notice of the man's outstretched leg and he could swear that, for a split second, electricity arced across his leg.
He looked dispassionately at the 'corpse'. "You don't tell me who I can or can't defy."
The man turned his head. Green met blue as the man locked eyes with Percy. He felt fear grip his heart far more than the Minotaur ever did. This random guy that came out of nowhere just made the thing that was able to toss away cars like cheap Hot Wheels toys. What the heck could he do to that!?
The man walked up the hill towards them.
Percy stood in front of his mother and Grover protectively. He had no clue what he was going to do to stop this guy if he wanted to harm them… but he'd do something at least.
Just as he reached them he stopped, and gave an apologetic bow. "I am so sorry for the literal bullshit you just had to go through. I'll pay for the car."
Percy lowered his guard down a bit as he stared at the man. "Eh? M-Mom, do you know this guy?"
Sally shook her head. "Never seen him in my life."
"That's well and good, young man," A familiar voice said behind Percy, followed by the sound of… hooves. "But do you mind explaining who you are?"
Percy turned around to see… Mr. Brunner!?
He carried a bow and arrow in his tensed hands. He looked lower… Mr. Brunner had the body of a horse from the waist down. He was a centaur.
Why was Mr. Brunner a centaur!?
"Jack Sakai," the now-named Jack answered. "And you must be the famous trainer of heroes, Chiron."
Mr. Brunner gave a tight smile. "It's wonderful to see my reputation precedes me."
The two stared each other down. Mr. Brunner tensed further while Jack stood seemingly relaxed, but Percy noticed that his thumb was on his sword's guard, ready to draw it at any moment. It was like something out of an old western, except it wasn't high noon.
"So, we gonna stand out here all night?" Jack asked condescendingly. "I got one injured and unconscious and two badly shaken and scared. We can have a civil conversation with a roof over our heads, can't we?"
Mr. Brunner's tension did not ease. "Reasonable enough. You walk in front. Head to the Big House."
"Sure, sure, no problem, but..." He motioned towards Sally. "You gonna let her through the barrier first?"
Chiron paused for only a second. "I, Chiron. Allow Sally Jackson into Camp Half-Blood."
Jack nodded, taking the lead as he walked towards the farmhouse in the distance. With a wave of his hand, his katana disappeared. It was just like a magic trick. The ten minute walk was just as tense as the stand-off. Mr. Brunner… or Chiron now, had an arrow knocked into his bow at all times. His eyes kept squarely on Jack's back waiting for one wrong move.
Percy sighed in relief as the warmth of the house hit them. The cold rain really did a number on all of them. Hurried footsteps echoed throughout the house as a pretty girl with blonde hair and gray eyes, wearing an orange shirt with Camp Half-Blood on it, rushed into the room.
"Chiron, you're back-" The girl's words died in her mouth as her eyes landed on Jack. "He… He looks like..."
"Annabeth!" Chiron exclaimed, obviously a bit harsher than he meant to. "Please get some dry clothes for our guests. I'll bring them to the infirmary."
The girl blinked in confusion. "The infirmary, why would..." She spotted the unconscious Grover, a trail of blood flowing down the side of his head. "Grover!" She rushed past everyone to the goat boy being held up by Percy and his mother. "Oh gods, what happened!?"
"Zeus happened… again." Jack stated in a bland tone.
Thunder boomed outside the house.
"D-Don't just say his name like that!" Annabeth yelled. "Names have-"
"Yeah, yeah, names have power, whatever." He rolled his eyes. "I've heard it a thousand times, and say a thousand more times that I don't care."
"Umm, uh..." Percy tried to form words, not at all following the conversation. "Why is everyone dropping the names of Greek Gods every three seconds?"
Jack stared at Percy. Like really stared at him. Almost as if he was looking into his soul.
His eyes widened. "Jesus Christ, you have absolutely no idea what's going on, do you?"
Percy looked Jack dead in the eyes. "In the past few hours, our car has been struck by lightning," he pointed to Grover. "He has goat legs,"
"Food..." Groover mumbled.
He pointed to Chiron. "He's half horse."
"I'm a centaur, Percy." Chiron pointed out.
Percy turned to Jack. "And I saw youkick the head off of the bull-man Miniatur-thing!"
"He did what!?" Annabeth yelled.
"I have been finding God throughout this whole experience." Percy finished.
"Hold that thought." Jack fished a phone out of his pocket, and called someone, they answered almost immediately. He put the phone on speaker. "Yo, Hades, boss man."
Percy noticed the change in mood just as the name left Jack's mouth. The room almost seemed to drop in temperature as everyone, including his mother, looked at Jack in shock.
[What is it?] A voice came out of the speaker that made Chiron gulp audibly. [Do you have any news? Have you captured Percy Jackson?]
"Capture!?" Percy explained.
The voice, Hades, gave an approving grunt. [Wonderful, you already have him.]
Jack sighed. "Yeah, uh, problem with that, boss. This kid has absolutely no god damn clue what's going on. This is no doubt his first real encounter with the supernatural side of the world."
[So, that means...]
"No, he didn't steal your Helm of Darkness-"
"Steal the what!?" Annabeth exclaimed in shock.
"Or the Master Bolt."
"The Master Bolt!?" She shouted again.
"God's sake Hades, I told you jumping on your brother's hate bandwagon was a bad idea." Jack scolded. "Honestly, trying to put a hit out on some kid that looks like he grew up in a quiet part of Queens is a bit out of pocket, even on your worst days."
[The symbol of my power has been stolen, Jack.]
"And I lost my Yu-Gi-Oh cards once but you don't see me getting my subordinates to assassinate children."
Percy felt his mother grab his hand. Pulling him to her protectively.
[Those are two different things!]
Jack rolled his eyes. "Witness the field where I grow my fucks, and see that it is barren, Hades."
[Do not test me, Jack...] Hades said ominously.
"Hades, I will get you your goddamn helmet back," Jack said irritably. "Fuck, I'll fix Zeus's and Poseiden's hissyfit while I'm at it, but I need you to buckle down and be patient. I'm not going to take your shit cause you're a little pissy. Acting like your brothers isn't going to help matters. Speaking of your brothers, Zeus ordered the Miniatur to kill the kid and his mother."
A deep, frustrated breath could be heard on the other side of the phone. [I see… So we're back at square one.]
"Focus Hades, this is bigger than just your helm." Jack said sternly. "Some crazy nutjob was able to steal both your helm and the Master Bolt. They're needs to be two things involved for that to work. One: Someone on the inside. So someone in Olympus is either planning a coup or just wants war. So either Ares, or Athena went full Sōsuke Aizen"
Percy noticed the way Annabeth narrowed her eyes at Jack.
"Don't worry kid, it's a complement." Jack waved her off. "Two: This all went down last Christmas, so..." he turned to Chiron. "Doesn't this place go on field trips to Olympus on the winter solstice?"
"Yes..."
"Does everyone go or a select few?"
"Only the year-rounders..." Annabeth mumbled before her eyes widened. "You can't possibly think that…!"
Jack smiled. "Ah, good, possible, and probable suspects." He turned to his phone. "See what logical deduction and common sense gets you Hades?"
There was a long sigh coming from the phone. [You have, at most, ten days before full-on war breaks out on Olympus, Jack.]
"More than enough time, boss man." He said in a cocky tone. "I'll keep you posted with my progress."
[Hmph.]
And with that, Jack hung up.
"You work for Hades?" Annabeth asked disbelievingly.
Jack nodded. "Have been since I was thirteen. Funny story about that, but..." He turned to Sally, Percy, and the unconscious Grover. "Get yourselves warmed up and dry before you all get sick."
"What about you?" Percy pointed out.
Jack blinked as he finally looked himself over, he was just as soaked as everyone else. "Yeah, I guess that goes for me too. Bianca will never let me hear the end of it if I get sick on the job."
[-]
After an hour or two, everyone had gotten themselves a warm bath and dried off. The new clothes given to them were one of the orange camp shirts and some black sweatpants. Grover was tended to by Chiron in the infirmary as Percy, Sally, Annabeth, and Jack sat in the living room. Though Percy and Sally both had to be patched up a bit since the car crash did do some damage to the two.
"Alright, Percy, I'm going to give it to you straight." Jack started, sipping from his cup of hot chocolate. "You're a demigod of Greek Pantheon, Greek mythology is real, and a lot of people want you dead for unfair reasons outside of your control."
"Hold on," Percy looked at Jack disbelievingly. "there's such a thing as God?"
Jack opened his mouth to speak, but Annabeth cut in. "No, God with a capital G doesn't exist-"
"Yes, he does." Jack cut in.
Annabeth paused then slowly turned to Jack. "What?"
"The Judeo-Christian God, Yahweh, exists. As does Heaven, Purgatory, and Hell." He gave her a confused look. "They did inform you that the other mythologies exist… right?"
"We… were not informed, no." Annabeth admitted in a quiet voice.
"S-So, let me get this straight," Percy said. "Your boss wants me dead?"
Jack shook his head. "No, not anymore. Hades is just incredibly stressed after losing an item of great importance to him and was giving into his more negative qualities. But you don't have to worry about him since I just prove your innocence."
"And if I did have this Master Bolt and Helm of Darkness?"
"Well, I'd smack you upside the head, confiscate the items, and offer you a job, because holy shit you just stole both the Helm of Darkness and the Master Bolt in a day without anyone noticing before it was too late, and those are skills I could use on my team."
"Then what the heck was with the Minatur thing!?" Percy raised his voice.
"Partially my fault." Jack admitted. "I brought him out to track you down. And once he did, I would have questioned you under the guise of an FBI agent. Zeus is the one who changed its orders to go full attack-mode."
Percy felt a migraine coming on. "This all sounds insane."
Sally rubbed his shoulder comfortingly.
"Believe me Percy, I know it does." He took a big gulp of his hot chocolate. "You get used to it, for better or worse. But you and your mother have been through a lot tonight. Get some rest, it's only going to get more confusing tomorrow."
Jack got up from his seat.
"Where are you going?" Annabeth asked.
"Back to the Underworld, where else?"
"But how would you get there from here-"
In an instant, Jack turned into black mist and sunk into the ground. They all stared at the spot where he once was.
"That's one way to make an exit..." Percy said dumbly.
Percy didn't really know what to make of this Jack guy. He was kind of rude - not that he had any ground to stand on when it came to that - had a foul mouth, and all around had a really cocky air around him. But he saved his mom's life, and that was good enough for him.
...Hopefully this was all just some kind of bad lucid nightmare.
[-]
It was not a nightmare…
Grover was a satyr or something, his Latin teacher was still a centaur, and he and his mother were at some kind of magic summer camp. Sally had opted to stay in bed for now, the car crash had bruised her ribs pretty badly. On the bright side, Grover had practically healed up overnight.
They were in some place on the north shore of Long Island. Buildings that were styled with ancient Greek architecture littered the place, a volleyball court where he saw a dozen kids and satyrs playing. Canoes glided across a small lake. Kids in bright orange T-shirts like the ones they were given last night were chasing each other around a cluster of cabins nestled in the woods. Some shot targets at an archery range. Others rode horses down a wooded trail and…
Did some of those horses have wings!?
As Percy and Grover walked to the end of the porch, he saw two men sitting across from each other. One was Chiron who was sitting in his wheelchair, and the other man was new.
The mystery man was small, but porky. Had a red nose, big watery eyes, and curly hair so black it was almost purple. Looked like a cherub who'd turned middle-aged in a trailer park. He wore a tiger-pattern Hawaiian shirt. Would've fit right in at one of his step-father's poker parties.
Annabeth was leaning on the porch rail next to them.
"That's Mr. D," Grover murmured to Percy. "He's the camp director. Be polite. The girl, that's Annabeth Chase."
"I know, we met while you were knocked out." Percy said as they walked.
"Oh. Uh, guess that saves time."
Percy walked up to his former Latin teacher. "Um, hey… Chiron."
The man turned and smiled at Percy, his eyes having a mischievous glint to them. "Ah, good, Percy. Now we have four for pinochle."
Chiron offered him a chair to the right of Mr. D, who looked at Percy with bloodshot eyes and heaved a great sigh. "Oh, I suppose I must say it. Welcome to Camp Half- Blood. There. Now, don't expect me to be glad to see you."
"Uh, thanks." Percy scooted a little farther away from Mr. D.
Everyone was startled as the ground started to shake. The grass and dirt a few meters away from the porch opened up revealing a purple, glowing, ominous hole that seemed to radiate dark energies. Other campers who took notice stopped and stared, some pointing at it.
Jack emerged from the hole as if he was just walking up a flight of stairs. Clad once again in his black suit and katana in hand. He adjusted his tie as his dress shoes hit grass, the hole closing behind him.
"With a sales pitch like that, no wonder this place has such a high mortality rate." He mocked as he stepped onto the porch, his ips curling into a smile as he saw Percy. "Aye, Percy! Good to see you're doing well enough to start gambling first thing in the morning."
Percy blinked in confusion before looking at the chips. "We aren't betting money, are we?"
Chiron gave a small laugh despite the obvious tension gripping him just as it did the night before. "No, Percy. We're not playing with money on the line."
Percy sighed in relief, he didn't have any cash on him.
"Hmph." Mr. D gave Jack the once over before quickly losing interest. "You must be that Jake person I've heard so much about."
"And you must be Dionysus, god of getting wasted and parties," Jack noted. "Looks like the party got sucked out of you though. Could suck the rainbow out of a damn pride parade."
Oh, so the D does stand for something.
Wait… god of what?
Mr. D's eyes turned sharp. "Young man, names are powerful things. You don't go around using them for no reason."
Jack scoffed. "Get my name right and I'll put some effort into it."
Grover began shaking in his chair out of fear. "Oh gods, he has a death wish..."
Jack sat on the stairs of the porch as Mr. D gave him the stink eye.
Percy had to admit, he'd never seen anyone give that little of a damn before.
Chiron turned to Annabeth. "Annabeth, my dear, why don't you go check on Percy's bunk? We'll be putting him in cabin eleven for now."
She nodded. "Sure, Chiron."
She glanced at Jack for a few seconds before she sprinted off down the lawn.
As they started playing cards. Chiron explained how he and Grover were there at Yancy Academy to subtly prepare Percy for the coming revelations.
"What about Mrs. Dodds?" Percy asked.
"That was the fury, Alecto." Jack explained, the name making Mr. D scowl and Chiron wince. "Nice job on your first kill. Heard you straight up one-shot her. I'm never going to let her live this down."
Live this down? He cut her clean in half. "But… But she's dead, right?"
Jack shook his head. "Nope. Monsters reform in Tartarus after a few days, most just come back pissed off."
Percy gulped at the thought of Mrs. Dodds coming back far meaner and angrier than before.
"Speaking of the wretched place..." Mr. D stared at the back of Jack's head. "You smell a lot like Tartarus yourself."
Jack shrugged. "Makes sense. I usually go there for training regularly."
The porch grew quiet enough to hear a pin drop.
Mr. D looked at him like he was insane, as did Chiron. "You what!?" they shouted.
"Tartarus is the most deadly, horrifying, and secure prison imaginable!" Mr. D exclaimed. "Hardly anything alive can survive down there. You can't just go in and out as you please!"
"Sure I can!" Jack said in a jovial tone. "I just walk out the doors like everyone else."
"There are doors down there - wait! Everyone else!?"
"Yeah, a few cyclops, and dozens upon dozens of monsters." Jack shrugged. "I mean, sure. I kill them all the moment we step back onto Earth, but I thought you already knew this since monsters escape there all the time by the truck load."
Chiron and Mr. D stared at Jack for a few seconds, then at the table in an almost despondent fashion, as if their brains had just shut down.
Seeing that his friend had gone near catatonic, and the Mr. D and Chiron were going through some kind of existential crisis, Percy turned to Jack.
"So, uh, don't take this the wrong way, but… why are you back?" Percy asked.
"Your life is still in danger." Jack said simply.
"Because… Zeus wants me dead?" Thunder rolled in the distance at the mention of the name even though it was a cloudless sky.
"Yeah." He nodded. "You're just a kid, you shouldn't have to deal with this mess. I'm going to be your bodyguard until this whole mess blows over."
Percy wasn't expecting an answer like that. "I… I still can't wrap my head around the fact that gods… exist. Like shouldn't it just be a myth? Weren't they just made up to explain things like lightning and the seasons and stuff?"
"Yes and no." Jack waved his hand. "It's complicated. Deals with the collective human unconscious and a good deal of metaphysics. But the gist of it is that, yes, the gods exist. Their myths did happen, and they're just as much dicks in their stories as they are now."
Percy blinked. "O...kay?"
He only really knew bits and pieces about Greek mythology, but surely he was just exaggerating how bad they were. But then again… the king of the gods wants his head on a stick and had no problem catching his mother in the crossfire. So, as far as Percy was concerned, they could get bent for all he cared.
"So, you work for Hades, right?" Percy asked.
"Mhmm."
"What's that like?"
"Eh, it's difficult at times, but it's simple for the most part. I'm basically a supernatural handyman. Me and my partners offer our services to other pantheons to help bail them out of whatever problems they have in return for money, blessings, or favors." Jack explained.
"Sounds like an interesting job."
"Can be, especially on holidays since a lot of my contacts invite me to parties." Jack smiled. "Last Christmas I got drunk off my ass with Thor, Susanoo, and Sun Wukong."
Percy paused. "I understood one of those names."
Jack snorted. "I like you, kid. You're funny." He stroked his chin, furrowing his brows. "First thing on our list is figuring out who your godly parent is."
"My father's dead." Percy said matter of factly.
"Deadass sitting on Olympus, sure. But not dead." His blue eyes seemed to glow, he had the expression of someone remembering something unpleasant. "Let me guess, ADHD, dyslexia, moved around from school to school."
Percy felt a lump in his throat at the accuracy.
"Tell tale signs that you're a demigod, same as every kid here at this camp. If you weren't one of us, you wouldn't have been targeted in the first place. Much less be able to perceive any of it."
Percy sighed, he wasn't normal, nor was he even fully human. "Then my mom lied to me all these years?"
"To protect you," he pulled out his sword from his sheath halfway to check on the blade before nodding and resheathing it; the blade was a dark red. "Simply knowing your origin will attract monsters to you like moths to a flame. A pretty quick ticket to a closed casket funeral."
Percy felt a shiver down his spine at his words. All that weird stuff he saw around him growing up… it was real. And all of them wanted him dead.
Jack stood up with a grunt and walked towards him. "Alright, let me get a good look at you, Percy." He leaned in close, not too close to make things uncomfortable. "Hmm, green eyes. You like swimming?"
"Uh, yeah."
"Do you feel invigorated when in water? Energized?"
"Yeah... a lot actually."
"Has water acted oddly around you," Jack inquired. "Has it moved in odd ways and done things water really shouldn't be able to do?"
"Well," Percy mused. "There was that one time when I got really angry, and the water in this fountain reached out and pulled in this bully harassing Grover and I."
"Your father's Poseidon." Jack said without a hint of doubt in his voice.
It seemed a bit too fast to declare a verdict. "Really? It can't be that easy to figure out, can it?"
Jack looked above his head. "Definitely Poseidon."
Percy followed his gaze, and above him was the glowing emblem of a trident, quickly fading away. "What…?"
Jack smirked. "Looks like your old man was eavesdropping."
This seemed to knock Grover, Chiron, and Mr. D out of their existential crisis. "Huh!?"
"Percy, you're…!" Grover stared at the emblem above him.
"It is determined. Poseidon really did break the oath as well..." Mr. D gave a sigh of irritation.
"Earthshaker, Strombringer, Father of Horses," Chiron listed title after title. "Hail, Percy Jackson, Son of the Sea God."
Percy noticed everyone (sans Jack) bowing to him. "Okay… this is making me very uncomfortable."
Jack went back to sit on the stairs and Percy joined him, no longer in the mood to play cards.
"So," Percy really wanted the attention away from him. "Who's your parent?"
Jack shrugged. "Don't know, don't care. Hades basically adopted me, tried to kill me for two years until I broke into the Underworld to confront him when I was thirteen."
"He tried to kill you!?"
"And somehow that was still more than anything my deadbeat father did for me." Jack's heated tone wasn't missed by Mr. D.
Mr. D frowned. "You'd do well to watch your tone, Jacob- "
"Jack." The man in question corrected.
"Because it's obvious who your father is-"
Jack spun around quickly in anger, his eyes glowing blue. "I am not that bastard's son!"
Thunder rolled loudly in the cloudless sky, much to Percy's confusion.
Percy recoiled in surprise. Sure, he currently didn't like his father cause he was never there for him and his mother, but the sheer and utter loathing in Jack's voice was… concerning to say the least.
Chiron tensed, eyeing the sky. "Jack, you should be more careful and mindful of who you're speaking of."
"I know exactly who I'm speaking about, Chiron, and he does not intimidate me." Jack scowled. "I'm not like the indoctrinated kids that romanticize this washed up mess of a pantheon. I know what these gods have done, and I know that it's anything but flattering."
Mr. D looked at the cloudless sky. "He's letting the brat mouthoff more than I expected."
"I didn't need him my whole life, and I don't need him now." Jack said with contempt. "So, as far as I'm concerned, may Zeus strike me down where I stand!"
BOOM!
The moment the words left his mouth, a bolt of lightning struck him.
Percy jumped in fright, Chiron looked away, Mr. D shook his head, and all the campers present and running to them looked on in horror… then it was revealed that Jack didn't even have a scratch on him. Electricity arced his body for a few seconds while he dusted off his shoulder with a smug look on his face.
Jack looked up in the direction the bolt came from. "Ha! Nice try jackass! Next time give it your A-game!"
First everyone looked at Jack dumbfounded… then they looked above his head dumbfounded.
Above Jack's head as the blue sparking emblem just Percy's moments prior. Only instead of a trident, it was a blue lightning bolt. Jack looked up, and his face… It looked like he just ate a dozen raw lemons and hated every second of it. Percy had never seen such concentrated loathing from one person before.
Mr. D gave a long frustrated sigh. "Dammit it all, father."
Chiron looked nervous. "I see… another determined..." He cleared his throat. "Lord of the Sky, Thunder, Lightning, Honor and Justice. Hail, Jack Sakai, son of the King of Olympus."
Jack opened his mouth..
Birds flew out of the trees, horses were startled, the campers winced, and Percy was pretty sure that they could probably hear him all the way in Olympus.
"FFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCKKKKK!"
Chapter End This has been an idea worming around in my head for a few years. SI as a son of Zeus that really hates being a son of Zeus. But has absolutely no problem going full anime with his powers. Also, yeah, I'm taking a few cues from DxD with having all of the world's mythologies exist at one time. Rick Riordan was low-key doing that by connecting his different mythology series together and the crossover books, but I'm going all out right at the start of Lightning Thief. Also Nico and Bianca have been freed waaaaay earlier than canon thanks to Jack. Thoughts on this nonsense pilot?