Chapter 79
Percy
Annabeth, Chiron and I had discussed ways to assist Ares in getting ready and it was time to begin to put pressure on him. He had been training mainly with his own children at Half Blood and they were naturally in awe of him and as a result not willing to give him the criticism in technique or in his thinking that he needed to improve. If they had, he would have no doubt ignored it anyway.
We summoned the three perspective quest members the next day to the training grounds. It was Ares and Julia's first trip to New Ionia, and we all hoped it would be Ares last. None of us really liked the jerk. Me least of all. Frank had gotten decently close to him, but only because he was the child of his Roman aspect. Ares seemed to have no respect for anyone, including Chiron who had done his best to train him. He appeared to have gained little muscle mass in his time at Half Blood, except in his triceps, pecs and lats, those groups directly associated with hacking with a sword. The other two, Julia and Bobby, looked much more promising.
"So the gods have called for a quest. In particular, the gods have called for Basil here to go on a quest. That is why Basil has been summoned today. Since the beginning of the cooperation between the three schools every quest includes at least one member from each. Julia, Bobby, you are here at the recommendations of your instructors as being the best students and most able at Camp Jupiter and Hogwarts respectively. I am here to determine if you are ready. I have no preconceived notions one way or the other. Here is what I know of you."
"Basil, at one time you were one of the twelve and had all the power thereof. On my first quest, I fought you, and without the assistance of the oceans I would not have lived. You were not of your mind at that time, I don't hold that against you. Now you are not of your body and power and from all I have heard have ignored most attempts to assist you in getting ready. When Apollo was in the same condition, he worked hard, and his power slowly returned. You must do likewise. My respect for the pantheon and your former greatness will do you no good today."
"Let us fight then!" He shouted.
"Shut up. You're not in charge. I can say no right now if you like."
"Bobby, I remember when you were in training four years ago and take great pride in your position now. You have worked hard and risen to the top of the Hogwarts program. From all reports you are the finest fighter with both spell and weapon since DA1 and DA2 came through. I look forward to the challenge of sparring with you."
"Finally Julia, my how you have grown. I will never forget after the battle at New Rome you giving me perhaps the greatest praise I have ever received, that you wanted to grow up to be like me. I keep that memory in my heart forever and no less than Praeters RamÃrez-Arellano, LeVesque, Zhang and Professor Longbottom, warriors I admire as the very best, sing your praises."
"The prophecy of the quest will now be repeated by Oracle Dare."
Rachel cleared her throat and began.
"Ares is fallen as Apollo once did.
Retrieve him from the place where Tyson once lived.
You better go now before he finds himself dead
Lest Zeus put a price upon Percy's head.
No. Really, you better go now and take him to Chiron,
His immortality he must re-earn
Let the Acropolis of Megara be his first beacon."
"So what does that mean?" I continued. "Well most of it you can ignore. We already went to the place Tyson once lived and retrieved the Basil formerly know as the god of war. The Acropolis of Megara is logically in Megara Greece, a town near Athens. It was home to the Temple of Nyx, and Nyx is the mother of Eris, the goddess of strife, who some dumb ass let out of Tartarus where she already caused enough problems for the world and released her back into this realm. I'm not telling you this to anger you at Basil, he has accepted his punishment and it is his job to find and retrieve Eris. She is a minor diety and this may well be the most challenging quest since the Second Giant War. And we had seven heros for that."
"There may be more prophecy to follow, but for now that is what we know. I know this is the first quest for both of you and in the current environment, it may be your only one. If neither of you wish to go, just let one of us know and we will get someone else. But as of now, you are the best warriors eligible and we all believe you can do it. You will be accompanied by a guardian, and the whole company will be following and assisting as necessary. We will do all we can to see that Julia and Bobby return."
"And Basil?" Bobby asked.
"That's his problem. He was the one that caused this quest and we are under no special orders to protect him anymore than we would anyone else. I think you understand this don't you Basil?"
"Yes. I ask for nothing special."
"Good. Because you have yet to earn it." Annabeth said.
"Now, I've been gone for a bit. I am told that now before a quest is began you are to be tested to see if you are worthy. Are you ready?"
All nodded and I drew a practice sword.
"Who do you want to go first?" Bobby asked.
"All of you, of course" I replied as I swung hard and fast into Basil's side, taking him completely by surprise and doubling him over, while in the same motion slammed my foot into Bobby's mid section knocking him to his knees breathless. By the time I rotated and was on Julia she had her sword drawn but it was out of position and it was nothing to disarm her. While they attempted to regroup I began shooting sparks into them.
"Well then, you don't fight as a group and are easy to surprise. Lets try it one on one and see if you can do better. Basil, get up."
He stood, stretched away from where the dull edge of the practice blade had already left a bruise and gave his sword a few practice swings.
I didn't wait. I hit him with a stupify that doubled him over, then kicked him in the face.
"You were to learn blade and magic, why didn't you have a protecto totaleum up?" I asked calmly as I slapped my blade across his back, adding "You're dead."
"I thought I was to be tested on my blade."
"You think Eris is going to let you near her with a blade? You're not ready. Practice your magical defenses and attacks, and sacrifice to you sister Athena that she might give you a sense of strategy and tactics. Come back in a month and we will test your progress. Who is next?"
Bobby said nothing but just attacked, first by throwing up a protection spell, then following it with sparks that bounced off the one I cast in anticipation. For the next minute or two we dueled with sword and wand and he was pretty good. I don't think he was in Harry's league, despite the praise given him, but he was solid and far beyond the skill level I had for my first quest. That he was still short of breath from the kick I put on him probably made him a little weaker than he normally would have been though. He was as good as we could make him and it took a couple minutes for me to stab into a weak spot and declare him dead at the dull point of the practice sword.
"Excellent. You are good to go. You should be proud, as should your instructors. Have a seat and we will talk more. You over extended your reach and that allowed me in, but the distraction you used casting sparks past me was brilliant, you almost had me there. Good work. Now, Julia, lets see what you got." I said as the rest of the company applauded Bobby.
"Come on Julia! Kick his ass!" Neville shouted to everyone's laughter.
Julia smiled and placed her helmet on her head. In true wizard duel fashion she held first her sword, then her wand to her face and bowed slightly. The move was so exaggerated I should have known it was a trap but I couldn't resist. As she bowed I drew back and kicked up at her face, only to have her drop back at the last possible instance and zap the back of my ankle with the slightest of stunning spell, throwing my foot and leg over me and knocking me on my smug ass.
I wasn't mad, even as my friends laughed at me. It was a clever and well executed move and I was sort of proud of her.
I jumped back to my feet and then we began to fight in earnest.
Julia was amazing. For every move I made she had the correct counter at the ready and executed without forethought. Every jinx met its counter, every thrust its parry, and she was fast, just insanely fast. I had my hands full just countering her attacks and my new found speed wasn't that much faster than hers. Hazel and Frank had compared her to Neville, but honestly it became apparent early on that she was probably a little better. It was like I was fighting Chiron, or even Annabeth. Though we both shot only sparks and dull stuns, we were both soon covered with sweat and bruises from the glancing blows. Her foot work was distracting as she would telegraph one move and do something completely different. We fought back and forth for a good ten minutes before I was able to exploit the briefest of openings and disarm her of her sword. It flew off yards away and as she attempted to use her wand to retrieve it I cast the strongest expelliamous I could and her wand flew off as well. This surprised her just enough for me to drop my sword, grab the arm that had held hers ,and twist it behind her back. I held my wand to her throat and at last the battle was over. You could have heard a pin drop.
"That was amazing." I whispered in her ear. "You've done it you know, you have become me"
"I still can't do the hurricane thing. Will you teach me?"
"I... that just comes naturally when you are a child of Poseidon I'm afraid, but... You are as good as Annabeth or Chiron. And fast, do you get that from Mercury? I never expected that. You should be proud Julia, if I have inspired you in any way, I'm proud of that. Come on, you have a tough task ahead of you, think you're up for it?"
She smiled and nodded her head.
"Me too."
I held her's and Bobby's arms up in triumph and announced "Ladies and gentlemen, the best fighters I have faced in many years. I can think of no higher praise. Instructors, you should be proud of these students."
The company finally broke its silence and began cheering for Julia and Bobby.
We all gathered around the table in the gazebo with all the company praising the two, and offering suggestions to Ares as to how he could improve faster.
"Okay guys, I don't see anyway to make either of you any more ready than you are skill wise, but I would suggest you hit every library you can and read up on Eris and her charming family, and load up on every magical protection you can. Also lets hit the armories and find the strongest weapons suited to them. Basil, you have some work and although you have shown great improvement over the last few weeks, you definitely are not A team yet, I think you realize that. You've been training with your kids at Half Blood, I want to change that if it is okay with you Lord Chiron. While I know the Ares cabin is really great, I don't think they are ever going to push you Basil the way they would another of your children. So I want Julia and Bobby to become your sole training partners for the next month. All of you will train under Professor Longbottom, Chiron, Professor Snape and, uh, Frank, you want to teach team drills?"
"Sure Percy, it would be my pleasure."
"I want you to go to New Rome or here, instructor's choice, as I want to take you away from your kids for the moment. As well meaning as they are I suspect they are holding you back. Start tomorrow, Chiron will give you the schedule. Hazel can you find bunks for Bobby and Basil there?"
"We're cramped but we will squeeze them in somewhere." She smiled.
"Bobby can use the doors from here until you can. Basil, you need to move now. I want this quest started and over with fast. Have you figured out how you're getting there yet?"
"No."
"Better start thinking about it. How about a way to capture Eris?"
"No."
"You have your work cut out for you. Better meet with Julia and Bobby and start figuring it out. Finally guys, you're going up against the goddess of strife. She will do all she can to attack your team and cause division within it. You are going to have to be really close as a team to over come that. Be thinking about how you will. I think this meeting is over now."
Everyone got up to leave the table, none faster than Basil who practically jumped through the door to Half Blood to lick his wounds. Everyone else mostly hung around as Leo was grilling out as usual. Leo grilling became a tradition after our meetings anymore and no one complained. He was as good with a smoker and grill as he was with a forge. Plus he had no trouble getting charcoal to light without the use of harsh chemicals.
"You were both spectacular today" Chiron announced as we sat again at the round table, now adorned with Leo's burgers and Jennifer's potato salad and a variety of covered dishes. "A toast to our champions, Bobby and Julia."
Everyone raised their glasses and cheered.
"Seriously Julia the last time I saw anyone fight Percy that way was during DA 1 training with Neville, uh.. Professor Longbottom." Reyna smiled.
"That's true, of course we didn't see most of Percy's more recent fights." Neville said. "And if anything, he's faster now."
"And you were dry, you weren't in water or wet" Julia said.
"How do you know about that?" I asked.
"Oh, all the fights of all the 11 are studied in recent military history class at all three schools Percy. Plus the Battle of Hogwarts and the Ministry. They don't learn anything about the Company but the kids probably know more about us that we do." Piper answered.
"Well, truthfully at one point I did think about jumping in the pond, you nearly had me several times, but I'm pretty good dry too. If you can get by me without powers, you should be fine. Have you met Annabeth Julia? She and Chiron taught me."
"Just when she had that ship that blew up New Rome when I was a child. It's very nice to meet you Mrs Jackson, I've read all about you of course." Julia said.
"You too Julia. So you always wanted to be Percy?" Annabeth smiled.
"Well, to fight like him. They wouldn't let me fight in the Battle for New Rome, Terminous said I was too valuable as an assistant, but I got to watch. I had watched the Roman Army drill all my life but never saw anyone fight like your husband, Praetor Zhang or Praetor LaVesque. I wanted to be that good."
"You're probably better than I was then, or now when it comes to swords, and please, we're informal here, just call me Hazel. Or I will start calling you Centurian. I would get tired of that." Hazel grinned.
"So you two guys have your work cut out for you. I've been working with Basil for a few weeks and he will respectfully listen to my advice, then ignore it and go back to straight hacking and slashing. He fights like he still has godly powers, and he doesn't. Percy's right though, its his absolute rejection of magic that worries me. I know he and Hecate apparently don't respect each other, but until he gets some sort of power back, he's apt to get his butt kicked. You two are definitely going to be the firepower at this point, and the glue that holds your quest together. " Frank said.
"I, and Chiron and I have talked about this, are hoping that Julia and Bobby beating the crap out of him with integrated magic will get him with the program."
"Well let's hope. I've grown quite fond of Bobby, as I'm sure Frank and Hazel have of Julia." Hermione said.
"We'll be there, you know, safety netting."
"Its their quest Percy. Its the hardest thing we do really, letting students run their own quest, You will be pretty much on your own guys." Annabeth said.
"Oh uh, yeah I know. Sorry, I'm new at this side of it."
"No worries. Julia and I won't let Ares do anything too stupid." Bobby smiled.
"We need to talk about scheduling. Some of us start school again before this quest will begin." Hermione said.
"We should be able to work around that. A lot of us aren't going, we just have our regular company work so we should be able to staff the guardians okay." Jason explained.
"That's right! Hazel, Frank and Percy are starting New Rome this fall, are you excited?" Piper asked.
"Overwhelmed. I haven't been to a regular school since Canada, I've been doing prep school at Jupiter for three years." Frank said.
"And the last school I was in other than Hogwarts exploded as I recall."
"Please don't blow up New Rome before I get my degree Percy." Hazel giggled.
