The following several days followed in a similar pattern as the first. The students awoke early, dragged themselves out of bed and towards the training grounds, where they would spend the next twelve hours strengthening their quirks.
Even for Percy, it was grueling training. He hadn't been forced to the brink in his training since his earliest days at Camp Half-Blood, but he could already see the fruits of his hard labors. The stress on his body caused by his flight was nowhere near as lasting as it had once been. He could fly for prolonged periods without too much of a substantial drain on his energy or stamina.
He still hadn't quite worked out landing however.
Additionally, he'd managed to get in a lot of excellent time training his father's gift. He managed to not only increase the amount of time that he could use the gift, but his control over the ability had only grown in leaps and bounds.
As comforting as his own personal growth was, however, Percy remained on edge. Others might have felt relieved, after all, his continual power plays to get the attention of Amaterasu had seemingly failed. But Percy had not lived as long as he had without a healthy dose of paranoia.
Especially after the circumstances that led him to the future in the first place.
The longer the week went on, the more restless he became.
Percy considered himself as something of an expert on divine beings. He'd spent most of his young life dealing with them, and felt he had a pretty good handle on how they thought and acted. While it was true that the Shinto gods were not his gods, he didn't think that most divine beings could be removed from humanity and mortality for as long as they had been, and not become slightly detached as a result. Meaning he was pretty sure that behavior amongst immortals could be considered fairly consistent.
He just couldn't understand why they were biding their time. Unless this was exactly what they wanted. Maybe they were hoping that Percy would either exhaust himself in his training and his paranoia, or would let his guard down in a moment of weakness.
But there was one thing that none of the gods seemed to understand about Percy.
Percy was stubborn.
On the fourth day of the training camp, the Cats and the teachers had a surprise for the rest of the students. For all of the hard work that they had been putting in, the teachers decided that the students deserved a break, and a chance to enjoy themselves. What they came up with was an after-dinner game. The students, paired up at random, would make their way through the forest in pairs, trying to scare other students. They'd each been given a set of radios, courtesy of Momo, and were to report in when they were out. The radios would also be used to call the students back when the game was over.
Percy had been paired up with Tokoyami, something he was thankful for. The avian-headed boy was arguably one of Percy's closest friends in the class, and it genuinely felt like it had been ages since they had been able to spend any time together.
Not that Tokoyami was one for conversation. Still, Percy could enjoy simple companionship every now and again.
The silence, however, did not last forever.
"What is bothering you?" Asked Tokoyami as they made their way through the forest,
"What do you mean?" Asked Percy,
"You are not nearly as good of a liar as you think," said Tokoyami, as they stepped over a fallen log in the middle of the path, "The other night, in the hot springs, you were not telling us the full truth. There is more bothering you than your visit to New York."
"It's nothing man," said Percy defiantly, "I promise I'm fine,"
"One would think," said Tokoyami, "That you would have learned by now that you can speak freely with your friends."
The bastard was more rat than he was bird, Percy decided. He knew far too well how to push Percy's buttons to make him feel guilty. But it was hardly like Percy could be entirely truthful to his friend. What was he supposed to say? That he was anxious because some Shinto goddess was pissed off because Percy's god for a father had killed over one thousand Japanese civilians over a thousand years ago and had threatened Percy's aunt who was also a goddess that she would smite Percy if he came back to Japan?
He went for a half-truth.
"I guess I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop," said Percy,
"How do you mean?" Asked Tokoyami,
"I mean," said Percy, "That it's been too quiet lately, this moment of peace can't last forever."
"I would hardly call two large-scale villain attacks in as many months, quiet," said Tokoyami,
"That's my point though," said Percy, "That kind of action is uncommon. If there is that much action going on, then it tells me that something else is waiting. Biding its time."
"I believe," said Tokoyami slowly, "That perhaps you have been straining yourself too much."
"What do you mean?" Asked Percy,
"I mean," said Tokoyami, "That you have been working yourself far harder than anyone else, which given that we have Midoriya and Bakugo in our class is saying something."
Percy snorted, but didn't dispute the point,
"Not only have you been in the middle of several of these villain attacks, but you have been previously injured in a number of the confrontations. Not to mention, that you must not have had a moment to even breathe since waking up here. This is, perhaps, the longest period of undisturbed peace that you have had since arriving in this time. You simply do not know how to process it."
If Percy hadn't literally been waiting to be jumped by a Shinto god, he might have considered that Tokoyami had a point.
Maybe he did regardless though.
The truth was, his friend was right. Percy really hadn't had much down time since his arrival in the future. From the get go he'd essentially been on the run, and even since starting U.A., between his classes and training, he barely had time to sleep, let alone enjoy himself or have any free time.
Still though, it wasn't the peace that had Percy on edge, a fact that was made painfully apparent a moment later.
He felt it long before he heard it. The strange reverberation through the air, as something cut through the wind in their direction.
His body reacted on instinct, and he shoved Tokoyami to the ground, who grunted in surprise. Whirling around, Percy's hand streaked through the air, and snagged the incoming arrow moments before it pierced into his eye. The air hummed as three more arrows streaked towards him. Diving out of the way, Percy shot his arms outward, expelling a concussive blast of compressed air in all directions around him.
The trees bent and groaned, bushes and shrubs were ripped from their roots, and dirt and dust were thrown high into the air.
"Tokoyami!" Barked Percy, "Get back to the lodge!"
"But-" Tokoyami tried to say,
"Now!" Ordered Percy in a tone that brokered no argument. It was a testament to their friendship and Tokoyami's trust in Percy that he obeyed without further debate.
"Aizawa!" Snapped Percy, pulling the radio up to his lips, "It's happening! Call back the students now!"
"Understood," came the calm reply on the other end of the line, and Percy was momentarily grateful for the man. They may have been at odds with each other more often than not, but Aizawa could be trusted to keep his head in a crisis.
As soon as Percy felt Tokoyami make it far enough, he reached into himself and summoned his power, leveling a dense fog over the immediate area of the forest. Looking around him, he tried to focus in on any potential enemies. He couldn't feel the blood of a mortal nearby, which told Percy that he was dealing with a divine entity. Shifting his focus to the earth beneath his feet, Percy concentrated on feeling out any potential vibrations through the surface. Based on what he felt, Percy deduced that he was facing only one opponent.
He didn't know whether to feel relieved or insulted.
Cloaking himself in the mist, Percy disappeared into his self-made camouflage, and darted off through the foliage in the direction of the assailant. As he raced through the foliage, he came across the man he presumed shot the arrow.
He was divine all right.
Divine beings…they gave off an aura. A residual power that seemed to almost effortlessly flow off of them. To mortals, it would seem as little more than natural charisma, but for a fellow divine being like Percy, it was clear as day.
The man was short, maybe only few inches above five foot and was draped in an assortment of fine silks and leathers, fashioned together into a form-fitting and sleek set of colorful blue armor. He was dressed for agility, which came as no surprise given the large bow in his hands and quiver of glowing arrows on his back. Percy could not make out the face of the man, as it was covered by a large straw hat. Strapped to the man's side, was a katana, wrapped in an ornate, onyx-black scabbard.
The man did not seem to notice Percy, as he scanned the tree line ahead. Not wishing to waste his element of surprise, Percy reached into his pocket and withdrew Anaklusmos, thankful that he had taken to carrying the weapon around with him at all times. With a flick of his thumb, he uncapped Anaklusmos and the bronze-blade appeared in his hand. Diving through the air, he cocked the blade back and made to bring its edge down on the neck of the man.
But Percy's surprise attack was for naught, as the man suddenly dove out of the way and Percy's blade embedded into the trunk of the tree.
Abandoning the blade in the tree trunk, Percy had to dive off of the branch and onto the ground, narrowly avoiding being embedded by three arrows which slammed into where he had been standing a moment before. Not bothering to look for the enemy, Percy clapped his hands together and a blast of wind exploded forward into the trees where the arrows were shot. A yelp of surprise told Percy that his attack had done as intended, and Percy watched as the man was thrown violently from a nearby tree.
Jumping through the air, Percy reached an arm out and Anaklusmos raced through the air, and its hilt fell comfortably into his palm. Bringing the weapon down, Percy tried to impale the fallen man in the chest. The man rolled out of the way though, and the blade of the sword buried itself into the loamy earth.
The man, still on the ground, kicked Percy in the leg. There was far more force behind the blow than Percy had been anticipating, and he crumpled to the ground in pain. The man rolled off of the ground and onto Percy's chest. He reached behind him and withdrew a knife from the sheathe on his back. Cocking the weapon back, he tried to bring the tip of the bald down into Percy's chest, but Percy's arms shot up and grabbed the knife just before it could pierce through his sweat-stained tank-top.
Channeling his power into his hands, he tried freezing the blood in the man's hands, but when that didn't work—which convinced Percy that the man was divine or a monster of some sort—he focused on the air around the knife. Freezing the knife, the tip became encased in ice before exploding into shards. The man was startled by the sudden turnaround, and Percy reared back and punched the man in the jaw. His head snapped back and he stumbled off of Percy.
Scrambling to his feet, Percy pressed his advantage. Forming a knife made of water in his hand, Percy thrust the weapon forward, intent on impaling the man. Just before it connected, the man's hand shot up and tried to deflect the attack away. However, he wasn't fast enough and only prevented Percy from stabbing him in the chest. Golden ichor spurt into the air as the knife was embedded into the man's shoulder.
But the man was not to be deterred, and withdrew another knife from his boot and stabbed at Percy. Ducking out of the way, the blade slashed through across the skin of his forearm, and blood flew from the wound.
With a wave of his hand, the blood morphed into another knife and Percy snagged the newly formed weapon out of the air, and brought it down into the neck of the man, impaling the man with the knife of Percy's own blood.
Grunting in pain, as more ichor flowed from the man, Percy gripped behind the man's leg and pulled him off of his feet. The man fell to the ground, his head slamming harshly into the ground, and Percy tightened his grip on the man's leg with both of his hands. With a grunt of exertion, Percy whirled around and threw the man with all of his strength. Screaming in surprise, the man slammed into a tree, breaking through in an explosion of splinters.
Tumbling through the air, he slammed through tree after tree, before finally landing in a small clearing. Percy considered trying to finish the fight then and there, but decided that he wanted to try and get some answers while he could. Jumping through the air, Percy landed on the chest of the man, his shoes slamming into his chest as several ribs snapped under the force of the impact. Reaching out with one hand, Percy summoned his sword back into his hand and held the tip of the blade against the neck of his adversary.
"Who are you?" Snarled Percy,
"I am Amewakahiko, son of Amatsukunitama, and you are not welcome here," said Amewakahiko. Percy grunted as something stabbed into his side, looking down he saw the glowing tip of an arrow jutting out of his side. Percy tumbled off of the god, who flipped to his feet. Snatching a beautifully-crafted bow that had been discarded on the ground, the god turned and fired. A glowing yellow arrow streaked through the air. Hefting his sword into the air, Percy deflected the arrow away from himself as he crawled backwards in an effort to gain some distance.
Getting unsteadily to one foot, he slammed his shoe into the ground. A crack in the earth streaked towards Amewakahiko. The crack disrupted his footing and his next arrow missed wide. He stumbled, off balance, and Percy swung his sword. Channeling wind into the attack, he swung the weapon like a baseball bat and an explosive mass of air shot towards Amewakahiko. He was swept into the air, yelling in surprise and frustration, before he flew off through a handful of trees.
Grunting, Percy yanked the arrow out of his side, and stopped the blood from flowing out of the wound. Not a moment later, Amewakahiko came soaring back over the tree tops, firing arrow after arrow at Percy. Darting up, Percy gained some distance, deflecting and dodging arrows where he could.
It was not an ideal scenario, when he had his sword, his fighting style was a poor matchup for a long-range combatant. Which meant that Percy needed to keep the fighting close, and keep Amewakahiko from utilizing that obnoxious bow of his.
Percy was abruptly thrown from his feet as an arrow embedded into the ground beside him, and abruptly exploded.
"This is getting out of hand," Percy growled, as he got back to his feet.
"Come and get me you rat bastard!"
BREAK
Aizawa did another headcount, so far all of the students but Tokoyami had managed to return. Not a surprise, according to Ragdoll, he and Percy had been the furthest ones out. Another explosion rocked the tree line, and the kids all began muttering to themselves again.
"What's happening?" Mandalay asked for the umpteenth time since Percy had made the call,
"Jackson's handling it," said Aizawa, just as he had the last five times she had asked.
They were sequestered inside the classroom that was being used for the remedial students, and the students were all perched on the desks, talking to themselves in hushed tones.
The door to the classroom opened and Vlad clambered through the small frame, his considerable size taking up nearly the entirety of the door.
"Has it happened, then?" He asked in a hushed whisper. Aizawa didn't say anything, but nodded,
"Damn," growled Vlad, "And the students?" He asked, as he glanced up and began a quick headcount,
"All but Tokoyami," said Aizawa softly, and just then the young boy burst into the room. Sweat was dripping down his temples and his shirt and pants were stained, likely as a result from several falls made during his scamper back from the battle. The kid looked as though he had sprinted the distance back to the cabin.
Before Tokoyami's classmates had a chance to swarm him, Aizawa descended on him,
"Tokoyami, report," ordered Aizawa curtly, and Tokoyami straightened his posture,
"We were walking through the forest, Percy then abruptly shoved me to the ground and caught an arrow that was shot from the surrounding trees. That's all I saw before Percy ordered me back here."
"Was there anything else?" Asked Aizawa, and for a moment Tokoyami hesitated, but relented once Aizawa's glare intensified,
"Percy appeared…tense. He has all week. We even approached him about it, but he said it was residual anxiety from his trip to New York,"
"But you don't think so?" Asked Aizawa,
"No…" said Tokoyami reluctantly, "He is…not the best liar. He's never been good about hiding his emotions, and it wasn't the usual sense of anxious that you can see in him. He appeared…it was almost as though he was waiting for this to happen."
Aizawa nodded, before dismissing the boy back to his classmates. He was immediately swarmed and was bombarded by whispered inquiries.
"The kids are catching on," hissed Vlad,
"Probably," said Aizawa, "But that's not our concern at the moment."
Another explosion rocked the building, and Kirishima, who was nearest to the window, let out a shout.
"Hey! It's Percy!"
All of the students rushed over to the window, and the Cats, Vlad and Aizawa had to push through the throngs to watch it as the scene unfolded.
"Holy shit!"
"I didn't know he had a sword, did you know he had a sword?"
"Why aren't the teachers helping him?"
"The teachers? Why aren't we helping him?"
"He's hurt!"
The last statement was certainly true. Percy had been tossed into the clearing, and he certainly looked a mess. His clothes were ripped and torn, his hair was tousled and matted in a mixture of sweat, blood, and mud. Then there was the gaping wound in his side. Normally Percy was able to stem the flow of blood to a given wound, but it required concentration, something that was significantly more difficult when in the middle of a fight.
"Why aren't we out there Aizawa!" Hissed Mandalay, as Vlad had to physically restrain Tiger who looked ready to break through the window.
"I'll explain later!" Snarled Aizawa, "But for now, you just need to trust me that interfering would only serve to put Jackson in more danger!"
"Like hell!" Snapped Pixie-Bob, looking uncharacteristically serious, "He's our student every bit as he's yours and we won't just sit back and-"
"He's not even fighting seriously yet," said Aizawa, calmly, "Look at him."
Sure enough, Percy was grinning widely. A manic gleam in his eye, laughing as he slashed through an incoming arrow and closing the distance between them.
"Don't you think if he thought this was serious, he would be using that impossibly strong ability of his?"
"Why isn't he using it?" Vlad asked in an undertone, "Surely such power would end this in moments,"
"It's the strain on his body," said, surprisingly, Midoriya. He was watching the pitched battle carefully,
"Explain," said Aizawa,
"The drain on his body, it's too much to handle right now. It's too much power flooding his system at once, and it tears him apart from the inside out. He doesn't want to use it because he's worried that this isn't the only person he might have to fight. He can't risk putting himself out of commission this early in the fight, not when he's worried about this turning into something else."
Midoriya was annoyingly observant.
He was more annoyingly, probably right.
While Ragdoll had used her quirk earlier to detect any combatants, this mysterious assailant had not appeared on her quirk. The probability that there were more of these freaks hiding in the shadows, waiting to intercede was high.
"Just trust me," said Aizawa again, "Percy can handle this, trust me, and more importantly you need to trust him."
"Percy knows what he's doing."
BREAK
He had no fucking clue what he was doing.
He was more or less making things up on the fly, trying to adapt to the ever-changing scenario as the situation developed. Granted, one of his greatest strengths was battlefield adaptability, but he needed to end this and soon. He had no idea if there were more of the bastards hiding in the forest for him.
That and getting shot by divine arrows hurt.
A lot.
Summoning on his power, he shot his hands forward as he let out a bestial roar. A large sphere of water materialized around the airborne form of Amewakahiko. Percy wasn't expecting the man to drown, but this would work out well enough. Clapping his hands together, the water froze. Bringing his hands down in a swooping motion, the ball of ice slammed into the earth and shattered in a heap. Amewakahiko bounded off the ground, golden ichor spilling from his many wounds as a result of the attack.
Pressing the attack, Percy darted forward. Amewakahiko brought his bow up in a vein attempt to ward off the flurry of Percy's sword strikes. Anaklusmos slashed into the metal bow, which had been frozen solid by the last attack, and shattered. In a flurry of motion, Amewakahiko managed to draw on his side-blade and staved off the next attack.
As talented as the god had been with a bow, a proficient swordsman he was not. Almost from the get-go, Percy had him on the back foot. Strike after strike glanced off the god's sword as he staggered from side to side, desperately trying to maintain his balance and not lose his footing.
In a moment of inexperience, Amewakahiko darted forward, his arms far too forward, and Percy saw his opening. Sidestepping the attack, Percy slipped into the man's guard and brought his own weapon up.
Divine metal met divine flesh, and a horrendous ripping sound tore through the quiet forest.
Followed by an unearthly scream of rage and agony.
Amewakahiko's weapon fell uselessly to the ground.
Along with his hands.
Two more quick blows cut the ligaments in the god's knees, and he collapsed to the ground, incapable of moving.
With a wave of his hand, the earth rose and surrounded the dismembered and broken god in a tomb of rock and soil, leaving only his head exposed.
"Where. Is. She." Panted Percy, once more hoisting his sword to the neck of the beaten god, "Where is Amaterasu,"
"Nowhere you can reach, Westerner," spat Amewakahiko,
"I don't have time for this," snarled Percy,
"How predictably Greek," sneered Amewakahiko, "Always in such a rush, never taking the time to see the dangers right in front of you, so arrogant in your own power that you can't even realize that you've already lost."
"Says the man missing his hands and unable to walk," said Percy, "I've lost what little patience I had, talk or I cut you down,"
"You don't want to do that," said Amewakahiko carefully, "You'll be starting something you don't have the hopes of finishing."
"That's where you're wrong," said Percy. Lowering his blade, Percy looked high up towards the heavens,
"AMATERASU!" Percy bellowed, "AMATERASU, COME OUT! COME OUT AND I LET THE MAN LIVE!"
There was no response, and Percy's anger grew.
The arrogance and the cowardice of it all. To attack him, after all he'd done to try and help her country. To try and be a good man. To be left alone get on with his life. To grieve in peace, and comfort. All of that thrown away by the pride of ancient grudges.
The weather began to reflect his change in temperament. A cascading rain began to fall from the heavens, as lightning forked overhead, followed by the distant echo of thunder.
"Last warning, Amaterasu," said Percy, his voice soberly calm. "This is your last chance. Your last chance to let this end here and now, because if we don't talk this out, then you need to know that you'll be responsible for what's about to happen. For what I'll be forced to do. I didn't want it to come to this. Didn't want to have fight you or your people, but if you're going to put the lives of the people that I care about in jeopardy…then I'll sink this entire fucking country into the ocean to get you."
There was no response, and the storm overhead grew in ferocity.
"Very well," said Percy somberly, "Then just know…you might have started this war, but I'm damn well going to finish it."
He drew his blade and advanced on the trapped god.
"You don't-" Amewakahiko began to say, but he never got the chance to finish the warning.
The blade of Anaklusmos came down.
Bronze met flesh.
For a brief, agonizing moment, nothing happened. The only noise in the clearing was the sound of the storm raging above them.
Until the dismembered head of Amewakahiko splattered into the mud at Percy's feet.
There was a flash of gold, followed by a strange rushing sound as the wind picked up in intensity. Light shot from the dismembered god's eyes, and from the hole in his neck where his head used to lay. There was a tremendous explosion and then…
Nothing.
Nothing more than the sound of the rain dribbling off of the leaves of the trees, the crash of thunder overhead, and gentle whisper of the wind.
The war…had begun.
AN: And so it begins. This will lead into what will probably be the last arc, maybe last two arcs of the first book. I don't know when I'll get back to this, but I plan on finishing it relatively soon. Thank you again everyone for reading and enjoying this story, I had a lot of fun putting this arc together and I have a lot of fun ideas for what's going to be happening next! As always shoutout to Double0Sxvxn for being an awesome Beta and dealing with my bullshit and as always if you enjoyed this but haven't checked out my other work, give them a try you never know you might find something else you like. I'm also on discord now, where I and a bunch of other writers hang out, chat and brainstorm ideas, you just have to copy the link that's in my profile bio if you want to come and hang out with us. Stay safe, stay healthy and have an awesome week.
All My Love and see you soon,
LilDB