A/N: Hey y'all, sorry for the long delay life has been really stressful for me recently so I haven't fully been able to sit down and write a lot. School is ending in a couple weeks though so hopefully my update schedule will be better. But thanks to everyone who favorited, followed, and reviewed. I honestly did not expect to get over 50 follows in a few days, that's pretty amazing. Thank you for all of the feedback and support, it really means a lot. These past few weeks have been pretty rough, but all your support really helped me to keep going.
I wanted to address some of the reviews that I got so you can just skip over this if you don't care about all that. Also, I made a mistake last chapter, in the beginning I put that it has been a year, but I meant to put it's been five years. So, I'm going to go back and change that, sorry for any confusion.
PerseusPeverell092: Yea, I get what you're saying. At the time I figured it was a pretty good way to leave it off. I'll keep that in mind for future chapters though.
Rohan Rodrigues: I picked Leo because he was a character that everyone kind of liked, he was that type of person that people can't help but smile at. So, I figured that his death would affect almost everybody, especially Percy. And I also might have some plans for some of the seven that will play a part in the story.
Yoshi1911: Of course, I'd love to. I think I've heard of it, I never knew how to join though.
Daughterofchaos4: Yea, I'm definitely considering that.
Rage Sage: Yea I get what you're saying. I'll definitely keep that in mind for future chapters. I think it's a little late to re-upload it though, so I'll just break down what happened last chapter if there was any confusion.
If any of you were a little confused because the last chapter was all over the place, basically what happened was:
1. The final battle happens
2. Gaea captures everybody then kills Leo to get revenge on Percy
3. Percy grows to a god height, defeats her, and then passes out
4. He wakes up and goes to the throne room to find out by the Fates that Chaos and Ananke chose him to become a god so he can save the world.
5. He becomes a god
6. The seven receive partial immortality and if they can prove that they won't let it corrupt them, they will become gods.
7. The seven get wishes, Percy gets his but also wishes to be alone so he can train.
Once again, thank you for all of the support. It really means a lot.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. All rights go to Rick Riordan.
Percy Jackson: The Chosen
By Drewson
Chapter 2: Returning Home
Percy shook his head and chuckled at the memory. Today marked the 5th anniversary of his departure. He's changed so much since then, not only physically but mentally as well. He's the strongest he's ever been. No monsters even were a challenge to him anymore. In a way, it scared him, but at the same time, he loved it.
Ever since he was a kid, he hated being weak. He was the kid people always picked on and beat up at school. Even at home, he had to deal with the daily beatings Gabe would rain down on him. Those years were the worst of his life. He was just so defenseless, and he hated every minute of it. He wanted to stand up to his bullies and up to Gabe, but it never ended well for him every time he did.
For so long, he wanted to learn how to defend himself and fight back and help those like him, and when he found out he was the son of Poseidon, that dream became a much stronger possibility. One that he wanted desperately to achieve. That's what drove him at camp, why he never gave up. He wanted to make a difference in the world and do his absolute best to help those who were too weak to defend themselves.
But then Leo died, and all of his past mistakes came crashing down on him. All the pent-up emotions from the times he failed to save someone finally kicked in. He had failed them. He failed at what he wanted most in life, to help those in need. At first, all he wanted to do was to give up. He was too weak to save them, so why should he try to save others? In his mind, it would only lead to the same outcome.
And then he became a god.
It was like he was given another opportunity, another chance. A chance to redeem his past mistakes, a chance to make sure that no one ever died under his watch again. And he wasn't going to waste it. He wasn't going to disappoint Chaos and Ananke. They had given him this responsibility for a reason, and he was going to do his best to fulfill his purpose.
That was the main reason he left to train. He knew he had to become much more powerful if he wanted to make sure that never happened again.
It's been a long five years for him. He's been almost all over the world, training with countless different mentors and instructors. He's been to the Sahara, Antarctica, Australia, the Amazon Rainforest, and even Mt. Everest. Every day has been a challenge for him. Every day he pushed his body to its limits, almost to the verge of death at some points. But he knew he had to keep going. His desire to right his wrongs heavily outweighed the pain he was putting himself through.
And it definitely paid off.
His control over his domains was near-perfect. He could control each one with relative ease. The only one he still struggled with at some points was time. Of course, most mortals think that time is just a concept, but that is farther from the truth than they could ever be.
Time flows all around us. It is a central aspect of the universe. And trying to control a central aspect of the universe was extremely draining on the body.
His domain over time was fascinating, though, that's for sure. Percy could literally see the flows of time if he so wished. And he could manipulate which way it flows. He could slow it, rewind it, fast forward it, and even stop it entirely. That was incredibly draining, though. It took mass amounts of concentration and effort to stop it entirely. Think of time as a sentient thing. It always wants to keep moving no matter what. And if something tries to interrupt its flow, it's going to fight back.
The most he could hold it for was only a couple of minutes. He didn't know if that's why Kronos never used it or if it was because he simply wasn't able to. The only thing Percy saw him do was slow it down.
But he had a decent grasp over the rest of his control over time. He could rewind time at least a couple of hours back, maybe a few days. He could also do the same fast-forwarding it. It was more helpful than some might think. If Percy ever got a severe injury, he could rewind time around it, and it would heal.
The first time he discovered this was when he fought the Kraken, and that was not easy. That one had taken him almost an hour to defeat.
Another of his domains that have proven to be useful over the years was his domains over loyalty and betrayal, which kind of went hand-in-hand. With these, he could easily sense where people's loyalty was and if they were going to betray people or be betrayed. When he first tried this on a big group of people, his brain was overloaded, and he was forced to his knees in agony. It was as if thousands of emotions and thoughts were shoved into his head, making it feel as if it was going to explode. It took him a couple of years to get that under control to where he could sense people's loyalties without getting a massive migraine.
But by far, besides his domain over time, his domain over energy was his most powerful. Energy came in so many different forms that he was finding a new way to utilize it almost every day. Whether that be electrical, gravitational, sonic, kinetic, electromagnetic, or even nuclear energy, he had control over it. It proved to be extremely useful over the years but very destructive. He almost destroyed a whole town once, and from then on, he vowed to learn to control it and not let it control him.
He had also found that when he touched his tattoo to summon his weapon, a customized set of armor appeared on his body. It was forged in Atlantis by the Hecatoncheires themselves at the request of the Fates. The armor itself was made out of a metal only found buried deep underneath the seafloor. As far as he knew, it was the rarest metal on Earth. His father called it Atlantean steel for obvious reasons. The metal itself was resistant to almost everything, fire, cold, blunt force; you name it. And if someone from the sea wore it, it gave them the ability to store water within it. Thus, giving them the ability to regulate the suit's temperature, so basically, he could go into Antarctica without freezing to death. It also served as an emergency water supply or healing station.
The armor itself was a metallic royal blue color that was almost black. It shined in the sunlight and had gold and silver highlights running throughout the armor that highlighted his abs, chest, obliques, and the rest of his muscles. It also had a white spartan-style plume coming from the top of his helmet that added to the intimidation factor and a white cape sprouting from his back. (A/N: Once again, I'm bad at describing things. So, you can look up the Atlantis project Atlantis rising. It should be the first result. Or you can look up 14 The Atlantis Project ideas. It's based on that. If you guys can't find it, let me know. I'll just upload it as the cover photo or paste a link.)
Percy trained himself so hard his physique was almost unrecognizable, minus his face. He had grown to a height of 6'5, his hair was slightly longer than he had it been, and it seemed to glisten in the sunlight sometimes. His muscles were also much bigger and toned but still not overly big like Ares' was; they were a perfect balance.
After years of training them, he could now move freely in the Marian Trench without much difficulty. He's been in the Mariana Trench for the past year. Before that, he was on the peak of Mt. Everest. He had thought climbing that mountain was challenging, but man sinking to the bottom of the trench and trying to move was much harder.
When he first started his trek downwards, the water pressure was so high it felt like he was being crushed by a skyscraper. It took him weeks to even be able to move around properly. But even then, it felt like he was trying to walk through glue. It was extremely taxing on his body, and he ended up going into a trance similar to Nico's death trance to adjust to the water pressure. Basically, he would shut off one portion of his brain so he could sleep, while the other one remained alert in case anything tried to attack him.
It was something he was taught in Japan by a sensei named Enkai. Apparently, it was something he learned how to do from studying whales and dolphins, which could do the same thing. Percy was the only person out of his thousands of students that ever was able to learn it. Which Percy supposed was because he was the son of Poseidon and the god of the tides.
When his body was finally adjusted to the water pressure and could move around better, he started working on his strength. As a son of Poseidon, he was able to turn water into ice and make it denser than steel.
Don't ask him how that worked. He had no clue.
So, he made a bench press, dumbbells, and other basic weights that weren't too complex and made them each over 700 pounds to start with. With his godly strength and years of training (which increased his godly strength even more), he was pretty strong, as one could imagine. He usually could lift more, but he knew it would be much harder in the trench. So, he started building his strength over time, and eventually, after about seven months, he was able to lift way more than he was able to before on the surface. Which he was quite happy about.
Percy was brought out of his musings and went on alert when he sensed a megalodon approaching his campsite. After a year in the trench, they knew to stay out of his way, but he couldn't be too careful. He was about to investigate further, but it spoke in his mind.
"Godling, I have come to warn you. Your camp is under attack."
Percy's eyes bulged at that.
"How do you know?" He asked suspiciously.
"Monsters from all around the world have been rallying in hopes of destroying it. I have come to warn you because I have not forgotten what you have done for me and my family."
Percy's eyes widened in realization as he remembered.
5 MONTHS AGO
Percy was doing his usual workout routine at his campsite when he heard something being slammed into the side of the trench. Immediately, he went to go investigate. He propelled himself through the water at incredible speeds and reached the wall in record time.
To say Percy was shocked was an understatement. In front of him was the most enormous megalodon he'd ever seen. Sure, he knew they were still alive since he first entered the trench, but this one was massive. It was easily at least half the size of the Eiffel tower.
He quickly shook out of his stupor when he noticed it was corning a family of megalodons that were much smaller than it. Deciding it was wise to wait and see what was going on, he crouched behind a rock and looked on at the spectacle.
After only a few seconds, Percy quickly noticed that the big one was just a bully using his size to take advantage of those weaker than it.
And if Percy hated one thing, it was bullies.
Deciding he's seen enough, he emerged from his hiding position and grew to his godly height of 17 feet. He wasn't sure why he was taller than other gods. Maybe Chaos played a part in it. But he was grateful for it nonetheless. He might need it in this situation.
"Hey, ugly!" He yelled.
As soon as the words left his mouth, said megalodon whipped his head around towards him, hitting the family with his tail in the process.
"This is not your business, sea spawn. I suggest that you leave." It said threateningly.
Percy merely chuckled, "Oh, but I think it is. You're a bully, and I don't like bullies."
It only growled in response, or a shark's equivalent to a growl, whatever that was. Then as quick as lightning, it struck, and Percy barely managed to dodge out of the way. He was not expecting something that big to be that fast. But he also grinned. Finally, he had a challenge.
He quickly flashed to the other side of the behemoth, making it swirl around in confusion. He wasted no time in propelling himself forward with his trident in hand. For some reason, it was much easier to fight underwater with a trident. His trident was made out of the same material as his armor. It had gold highlights running throughout it, making it appear extremely elegant.
As soon as he reached it, he jammed it into the shark's fin in hopes of immobilizing it somewhat. Surprisingly he managed to break through the tough skin and make a gash that went in a couple of feet, making it roar in pain. In retaliation, it spun around and hit him with its tail, making Percy fly back into the dirt, making a sizable crater.
Percy groaned as he got up. Being thrown into the ground by a five-thousand-ton shark was not fun. He couldn't dwell on that for long, though, because he could see the megalodon charging after him. On instinct, he shot out his hand towards the shark and slowed it down with his domain over time, long enough for him to recover.
Percy quickly launched at it and climbed on top of its head, and drove his trident into its skull while it tried desperately to get him off. Unsurprisingly, that didn't do much. Given its size, its skull was probably thicker than any other monster he's fought.
He racked his brain, trying to figure out another solution as he ripped his trident free. Immediately after, the shark launched him off. But this time, he was prepared and landed on his feet, skidding to a halt.
His skin is too thick. Any attack I throw at it won't do all that much, Percy thought.
He used the few spare seconds he had to scan the surroundings in the hope of finding something that he could use. He grinned and got an idea when he noticed a large spike protruding from the ground, easily taller than the behemoth attacking him.
Percy propelled himself towards the spike before the megalodon could see where he went. Unfortunately for him, it noticed him and charged, effectively slamming its body into the son of Poseidon. Percy flew back into the ground yet again and gritted his teeth. This was starting to get on his nerves.
The megalodon turned away from Percy, assuming he was out for the count, and started stalking towards the family once again with killing intent in his eyes.
No! Not again. Percy screamed in his mind. He wasn't going to let an innocent family die because he was too weak to save them. Not like he did with Leo and countless amounts of others.
At that, a rage he hadn't felt in a long time was unleashed from within him. His body erupted into flames, and his vision went red as he let the rage consume him.
Percy let out a guttural yell and punched his fists into the dirt, and flipped them up, picking a massive chunk of rock and launching it at the shark. It turned around only to see a boulder flying at it, which effectively knocked it to the side and temporarily immobilized it.
Fortunately for Percy, the megalodon was flown right above the spike he had seen earlier. Unleashing a war cry, he ran before jumping into the air, using the currents to launch him above the megalodon. Simultaneously, he slowed the megalodon in its place and used the currents to make himself dive into the shark at incredible speeds.
The result was gruesome, to say the least.
Percy got up and winced as the flames disappeared from his body and his vision returned to normal. He could never get used to that, whatever it was. Whenever he got furious, usually in dire situations like that, he went into a rage that increased his strength and durability greatly.
He winced even more as he watched the shark roar from the pain of being impaled in the stomach. Then, just for good measure, he forced it further down onto the spike using the currents. Finally, after a few seconds of it struggling, it went limp, and all the tension in its body ceased.
Cautiously, he approached its body and listened for a heartbeat. It's safe to say he was extremely grateful when he didn't hear one. Then, satisfied, he approached the family, who was wide-eyed in amazement.
"Are any of you hurt?" He asked softly.
Numbly, the biggest shark, supposedly the father, pointed in the direction of the smallest one among them, who had a large gash on her side.
Percy nodded and approached the smallest one, which was only about 15 feet long. It immediately shrank away from him in fear. Percy put his hand up as a sign of peace and spoke to it.
"I'm not here to hurt you. I just want to make sure you're alright. But I'm going to need you to trust me here. I only want to help. What's your name?"
The young shark looked up to its father, who nodded at her reassuringly.
"M-Mia."
Percy sent her a warm smile, "My name's Percy. I'm going to put my hands on your cut, alright? You're going to have to trust me."
Mia only nodded in response, not having the courage to say anything. Gently, Percy put his hands on her cut and grimaced as she winced. Then, he focused on the cut and flowed some of his godly powers into it. Specifically, his time domain. While he could heal it somewhat with his godly abilities, this was much more effective. He envisioned the cut patching itself back up while simultaneously speeding up the flows of time around it.
Time was, in a way, like the ocean. It constantly flowed. But unlike the ocean, it always was a steady stream, always going forward at a regular pace. However, his powers gave him the ability to manipulate that stream and change the speed or direction of it. In a matter of seconds, the wound stitched itself back up like it usually would have if it had healed normally, albeit much faster.
Once that was done, he slowly stepped back and surveyed the rest of them as the father spoke up.
"Thank you so much godling, how can we ever repay you?" He said with tears in his eyes.
Percy chuckled, "There is no need for that. I was simply doing what was right. I must go now, but if you ever need anything while I am here, yell, and I shall be there."
He nodded in gratitude before swimming off with the rest of his family.
PRESENT-DAY
Percy shook himself out of his memory as he remembered the gravity of the current situation.
"Thank you for telling me this. I am in your debt." He said quickly with determination in his voice.
"No, I am in your debt. Without you, my family and I would have long been dead by now. I am merely trying to repay the favor."
"Still, remember, call for me, and I will be there."
In response, the megalodon nodded in thanks with a look of gratitude on his face and spoke once again, "What are you going to do?"
Percy grinned, "I'm going home."
Annabeth's POV
Annabeth awoke to a war horn sounding out around camp half-blood. Immediately, she jumped up from her bunk and rushed outside. She winced as the harsh sunlight blinded her upon her exit of the cabin. The sun had just risen from what she could tell, so it had to be somewhat early in the morning.
Once her eyes finally adjusted, she looked around in search of what was going on. She noticed many others doing the same as they stepped out of their cabins on high alert. Annabeth looked up towards Thalia's tree and noticed a lone Hermes camper, who was supposedly taking watch, that stood there with his mouth agape, and his sword clattered on the ground next to him.
Without hesitation, Annabeth ran up the hill and noticed Chiron doing the same. Once she finally got there, she was about to open her mouth when she noticed what the Hermes camper was staring at.
On the horizon in front of them was a massive army of monsters, not as big as the one that Gaea had, but still a considerable force. There was no way they would be able to defeat it without taking massive casualties, even if the camps were now combined. Many of the campers were young and not old enough to fight just yet.
She looked over to Chiron with wide eyes, and he simply stared back, equally shocked.
Why does this always happen when things are starting to look up? Annabeth thought.
"Annabeth, we need to get everyone ready and into formation. Go devise strategies with your cabin and then the counselors to minimize casualties. I'll alert the rest of the camp. We still have about an hour before they arrive." And at that, Chiron galloped away, picking up the stray war horn that the Hermes camper had dropped.
Immediately, Annabeth jumped into action, notifying the campers as she went towards the Athena cabin. She noticed all of them gearing up for battle and checking each other's armor and weapons for any errors. She smiled at that; ever since Percy had left, the camps acted as one. He inspired them to become better and resolve their differences like human beings instead of squabbling over an age-old rivalry.
Annabeth sighed. She really wished Percy were here. He would know what to do. He could probably even defeat the whole army by himself if she was honest. It had been a long five years for everyone. She just wished he'd come home. Whatever they had between each other was over, but that didn't mean she didn't miss him.
Everyone did, even those who never met him. Chiron and the counselors made sure to tell some of his stories over the campfire. He had become a legend not only at camp but on Olympus as well. Everyone knew his name, no matter how old they were. All of the younger campers aspired to be like him, even the older ones too. Even the gods missed him, especially his father and Artemis, for some reason.
Artemis hid it well, but Annabeth prided herself in reading people. So she noticed the far-away look Artemis had whenever she visited the camp or when Annabeth was on Olympus. It was as if a piece of her was missing, which is weird coming from a man-hating goddess.
When she finally reached her cabin, her siblings were already there waiting for her, ready to discuss the planning.
Half an hour later, they had devised a strategy to defeat the approaching army. It wasn't the best, but it would make sure they didn't lose more campers than they needed to.
Annabeth and Malcolm ran out of their cabin to the awaiting campers; all decked out in battle gear. Each of them were already in formation. Thankfully, they had all been trained on what to do in situations like these. Once she got to the front where the rest of the remaining seven were, Annabeth started bellowing orders.
"Everyone younger than 12 is staying behind as a last resort! If any stragglers manage to break our lines, take them out. No exceptions." Said party groaned but stepped back nonetheless.
"Apollo cabin! Take point in the trees surrounding the hill. They should provide you with enough cover to stay hidden and release volleys of arrows. Unfortunately, the hunters aren't here- "
Annabeth was cut off as a bright silver flash blinded everyone for a few seconds, signaling the arrival of Artemis and her hunters. "You were saying?" Artemis said playfully. Annabeth grinned, "I think you know what to do, Lady Artemis."
Artemis nodded and led her hunters to a vantage point where they could shoot the monsters while also protecting themselves from danger.
Jason stepped up, already knowing what else needed to be done. "Hephaestus and Vulcan cabins lay as many traps as you can. We only have a few minutes before they get here. Everyone else, stay in formation and don't break ranks!"
At that, everybody scrambled into their positions with practiced ease and waited with apprehension. Annabeth just hoped everyone had the skill to finish this, the campers already knew what to do, but she knew they couldn't shake the feeling of nervousness they had. No one had been in a battle quite like this for a long time, and some haven't even been in one at all.
As she waited for the army to get closer, she felt her stomach drop. The army was much bigger than she and Chiron thought. They had been planning this for a while, that's for sure. It spanned for almost a mile. There was no way they were getting out of this one without any casualties. She glanced to her side to see Jason with a concerned look on his face, probably having the same thought process she was.
Annabeth tried to find the words to inspire the campers but came up blank. She didn't know how to inspire people like Percy did. He always knew what to say, even in the worst of times. If Percy were here, he would be able to get them through this. He was the best sword fighter that the camp had ever seen, she thought glumly.
Annabeth was brought out of her musings as Hazel tapped her on the shoulder and indicated to the army approaching them. They had stopped a short distance away from the camp borders, but thankfully they would still have to deal with actually getting through it.
But to Annabeth's shock, Echidna slowly walked up to it hesitantly and stepped right through, smirking at the shocked look on the camper's faces.
Impossible. There's no way she could have gotten through unless someone manipulated the barrier.
And with that, the army charged the campers, who rushed forward to meet them.
But before the two forces reached each other, the campers lost control of their bodies. Annabeth could feel herself being pushed back into her prior position at the front of camp against her will. She tried to fight back, but it was as if time was rewinding itself, forcing her to obey its command. She and everyone else was stuck. They could barely even move their bodies. It was like trying to run a marathon through molasses.
How is this possible? Kronos is gone. She thought franticly
Then, Annabeth's eyes widened.
Percy.
Before she could even contemplate what was happening, a grin broke across her face. After five long years, he finally came back. Five years of isolating himself had finally come to an end. Her whole body screamed with excitement and happiness. He was going to save them once again.
A screeching sound broke across the sky, and Annabeth noticed a flaming ball hurtling towards the Earth. In her peripheral vision, she could see her fellow campers frozen in a state of shock, staring wide-eyed at the scene in front of them.
In only a few seconds, the flaming mass landed right in front of the invading force, leaving a truck-sized crater. Smoke emanated from within it, effectively masking anyone from peering inside.
Slowly, the smoke dissipated, revealing a figure slowly rising from the crater. He was decked out in a deep blue, almost black, armor with subtle gold highlights that made his muscles seem to bulge even more. On top of that, he also had a white plume on his head and a sword in his hand. Needless to say, he looked intimidating.
Annabeth looked back at the monsters and felt a cruel happiness spread throughout her at the sight of the terror in their eyes. She didn't blame them, though; she would be scared out of her mind if she was in their shoes.
The monsters shifted their eyes nervously at the sight. He looked like an ancient spartan warrior out for revenge. Slowly, he began stalking up towards the still frozen and terrified army, dragging his sword along the ground as he went.
Suddenly, he took off into a run. Once he got close to the army, he took two giant leaps and jumped into the air. Three freaking stories into the air. The figure did a flip midair and then started divebombing into the midst of the monsters. Within seconds, he landed, and a shockwave of golden energy radiated from the crash site, obliterating any monsters in its path while simultaneously breaking them out of the time spell.
He got up from his kneeling positions and whipped out his hands, so he was making a t-pose, and chains that looked to be made out of pure energy erupted from his hand. Each was easily over 40 feet long. Immediately, they become razor-sharp, and the Spartan warrior began spinning in circles, decimating whatever monsters were left while they tried to flee from the inevitable onslaught they were facing.
It was all in vain, though. Only a few were left standing from the merciless beating that was lain upon them. The couple monsters remaining ran away in terror, trying to get away from their attacker. But immediately, white chains shot out towards them at the speed of light and killed all of them but one. Percy dragged the remaining dracaena face-to-fact with him with his chains and stared directly into her soul.
"You ever try anything like this again, and you will face a punishment worse than death." He hissed in an icy tone. And at that, he plunged a dagger straight through her heart, and she dissipated into golden dust.
Slowly, Percy turned around to face his fellow campers, and with a grin, he took off his helmet and spoke, "Did you miss me?"
A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Sorry for the delay once again. Life has been pretty stressful recently, so I've been pretty busy with that. I'll try to update more frequently, though. But I have a question for you guys, would you rather have longer chapters or shorter chapters? With shorter chapters, my updates will probably be more frequent, and they'll still hopefully be at least 3000 words. So it's up to you guys. Leave a review and let me know.
Do you guys have any suggestions for the story? I'm open to any. Leave a review, and I'll choose the ones that I like the most. Also, shout out to you if you know where I got that whole idea with Percy bursting into flames and going into a rage. That'll play a part in the story to come, so look out for that.
Favorite, follow, and leave a review. Let me know what you guys think