First of all I apologize for the long pauses between chapters. I am currently in my first year of college and I have tons to do, but I will never abandon my stories. I am also hoping to be able to go through the process of getting one of my books published soon. I hope you enjoy the game. This story is fun to write, but I do agree that it is tragic that Sally is dead,(moment of silence). But she raised Percy well, I know our favorite son of Poseidon will be alright. Eventually. I also have the monster list beneath for reference in this chapter, so you will know the abilities and what to watch out for, but remember, only four monster types per game.
Gorgons- They are the only dead on sight monster, if a camper is unfortunate to look one in the eye, she will emit a light ray that will temporarily paralyze the camper until the games are over
Minataur- he is a beastly monster and carries a club, most of the time it will take many campers to take it down, or will it?
Draken- Second largest monster, it spews fire and as part of some morbid humor it can even 'eat' a cetin number of campers, holding them hostage in a belly like sack until the game is over
Cyclopes- The largest monster that Hephaestus was aloud to make, if given a chance it will also 'eat' unlucky campers and hold them until the game is over. It also has a large club. No group of campers have brought the beast down
Hellhounds- Not big enough to eat the campers, but it's harmless, yet sharp, teeth and claws can cause a camper injury. Mainly run in packs, tend to drag the 'good' campers back to 'Kronos's' base in the game
Emposa- They capture and take campers back to 'Krono's' base, using a hypnosis, if they aren't slain first. It is possible to save the camper if one is within the first few minutes of their capture
Giant spiders- Now the forge god couldn't resist teasing Athena and Aphrodite's children, so he created giant mechanical spiders whom create webs through out the field. If a camper gets caught by the spider he/she is wrapped up in artificial spider silk and is stuck until the end of the game or if some brave hero decides to free them
And one more reminder about the games, there is never a full 'cabin' or arsenal of demigods from specific parenting on one team. An example would be there being sons and daughters of Hermes on both the good team as well as the bad team and also in the stands with the teams awaiting a chance to play the games.
Disclaimer, I don't own Percy Jackson, all rights belong to Rick Riordan
He had said 'yes' to Annabeth that day. She was the only camper he had talked to enough that he trusted her. Actually he talked to her more than anyone he'd met since his mom... So he agreed to work with her at the game. When the day finally came he was nervous, Percy hadn't had any real training except for when he had humiliated Clarisse. He was pretty sure the lack of training would bite him in the butt, but the daughter of Athena insisted that she'd stick by his side.
Annabeth had been telling the truth when she said that the groups were mixed up. They had some children of Athena, Mars, Aphrodite, Hermes, and him (the son of Poseidon) on their team. Percy began to think they had a fairly well rounded group on their side, though he was surprised to see that none of Mars's children resented him for what he did to Clarisse. When Serena had seen him walk into the room she gave a delighted squeak and dragged him over to her siblings as if he were a brand new pair of shoes she wanted to show off. Many of the Aphrodite girls looked him up and down and then praised how he was dressed.
"I Know right?" Selena smiled and pointed to the dark blue shirt she had thrown in his face that morning when he had slept in. "The blue brings out his eyes, I've never seen anything like it. He has such pretty green eyes."
Annabeth yanked Percy from Selena's tight grasp and scowled slightly at the other girl, "Are you trying to introduce him or sell him?"
A hurt frown came onto Selena's face, her lower lip popped out and her multicolored eyes looked a little watery. For a moment Percy wondered if they were as good of friends as they seemed. He felt bad for the daughter of Aphrodite, she was very friendly and only trying to help. Annabeth, however, was unfazed by Selena's sad face as she continued to stare the other girl down. Percy was about to comfort the disheartened girl when slowly, an all knowing smile curled onto her features.
"Maybe a little of both." Selena rested her hands on her hips, "Unless that makes you uncomfortable Annie. Do you not like the idea of other girls ogling your man?"
"What?" both Percy and Annabeth yelped.
"I'm not."
"He's not.
"We just.."
"Met, we're just.."
"Friends."
The children of love cooed at the two of them. Percy's face flushed when he realized that they had both taken turns speaking the same lines. Annabeth also looked red like a tomato as she grabbed his arm and pulled him away from the Aphrodite children who were murmuring amongst themselves. He caught the word 'Percabeth' and then his ears filled with screaming. How is it that they came up with a couple name when he and Annabeth weren't a couple yet? Percy suddenly caught what he had just thought, 'yet'. He was sure his face turned a whole new shade of red.
"I'm sorry, I should have warned you that they like to sit around an think of who would make a great couple." The blonde teen couldn't look at him as she spoke. "They can be kind of crazy."
Percy's cheeks continued to burn, "Yeah, crazy. So how long until the game starts."
"About twenty minutes, we can let the others in on our strategy soon." Annabeth told him. Her cheeks were still rosy, but her eyes no longer held any sign of bashfulness like they had moments ago.
More demigods continued to file into the room. Percy noticed that everything was set up like an extra large locker room, there were cubbies for each camper, many water fountains, showers in a separate room, and a super sized first aid kit. Despite all of the modern comforts the room was covered with stone and looked like it belonged in ancient Rome or Greece. Annabeth gushed about how she'd improve the room, what she liked about it and what she would change. Percy noticed that she could get into long tangents about buildings and designing them herself. She seemed to be so excited about it that Percy couldn't bring himself to tell her that he didn't understand half of what she was talking about when it came to the subject.
"I guess we better tell the others the plan before the game starts." Annabeth finally finished talking about the room and walked to one of the many benches that were in front of the cubbies. "Okay every one listen up!"
The whole room instantly quieted down, all turned their attention to the blond teen. Percy listened as she relayed the plan that she had told him the day prior. It was a pretty good plan, he wondered how often the good teams won the battle against the evil. He could not see any of their teammates arguing with Annabeth's plan. Though that sly smirk came back to Selena's face when the daughter of Athena asked if there were any objections.
"Are you sure that you don't just want to have Percy all to yourself?" She asked.
Annabeth denied the accusation loudly just as a conch horn sounded. Percy watched their whole team holler loudly, grab their weapons, and charge out of the locker room. The daughter of Athena smacked her face and sighed in exasperation before she grabbed the both of them weapons. He let her lead him out along with their group of screaming demigods. The two of them marched out onto the brightly lit indoor forest arena.
"Hello campers!" Chiron's voice boomed, he appeared in a futuristic seeming holographic screen. Percy felt almost like a football player going onto a stadium field. "You all should know the rules, but for those of you who may have forgot... There is absolutely no maiming, no slashing at the head, but a good hit with your hilt is permitted, sometimes the robots may catch fire so be sure to find one of the many creeks immediately to douse the flames. The game is over when either the godly team captures the titan teams flag or the titan team takes out most of the godly players. That being said, let the battle begin!"
The lights suddenly went out. Percy was shocked by the abrupt darkness that surrounded them, but Annabeth grabbed his hand and began to drag him through the forest. She had broken most of the kids up into a larger group to distract the masses of foes, but the two of them were relatively alone, except for the few demigods that trailed behind them. Maybe she figured it would be best to avoid letting him fight until he got better or something. He wasn't sure.
Percy grunted each time his ankle was caught by an unseen root of a tree. The daughter of Athena had no problem maneuvering in the dark, but she didn't seem ready to let his hand go. The dark haired demigod felt his face heat up, he didn't know why holding hands with her made him feel nervous. Every so often she'd only address him to hiss out an order.
"Keep up Percy."
"I'm trying, but my eyes haven't adjusted yet." He complained. "Where are we going anyway?"
"Whenever we battle this particular team, I notice that they leave their left flank completely unguarded." She explained. "At least they don't have monsters here, last time I checked."
Percy's face scrunched up, "Didn't you say everything was randomized or something?"
"The monsters change," Annabeth sighed. "but the people are predictable."
"Like us Percy!" Travis and Connor shouted behind them. The two of them were ordered to keep a ten foot distance from Annabeth at all times during the game. Percy thought for a moment as he tried to stare at the outline of his hand in hers. Maybe that was why she didn't want him to fall behind her. "Please, Annie, stop holding our adoptive brother captive. We haven't seen him in days!"
Percy's eyes adjusted enough that he could finally tell who was who and where they were. They were following a narrow pathway through the trees and they were surrounded by thick weeds and bushes. He could faintly hear rustling around them, but the other teens seemed too into their argument to notice at all. Each time he opened his mouth to warn them someone would shout over him. Travis and Connor pleading with her to let him go and Annabeth flat out refusing and shouting about how they'd get Percy eaten. Then suddenly the rustling stopped, Percy wasn't too sure it was a good thing.
"He's mine so long as we're in this game boys." Annabeth called back. "So get used to it!"
"Possessive owl pellet." Connor muttered quietly.
The daughter of Athena heard him however. In one swift movement she released Percy's hand and marched over to the offending boy with her hand hovering over her knife. She spat out harshly in ancient Greek as she slowly pulled her blade from its sheath. As she took her next step, there was a rather wet squish sound followed by a scream of terror. Percy rushed to help, but it was no use, Annabeth had been dragged off into the woods. For a long moment all of them stared like idiots.
"Well she's gone." Travis deadpanned and pat Percy on the back. "Congrats, you've been promoted."
Percy shook his head, "We've got to save her!"
"Good luck with that." A demigod farther back shouted. "We need to stick with the plan."
Percy scowled and unsheathed the unbalanced sword from his belt. The bonze seemed to give off its own light, enough that he should be able to follow the tracks of whatever had taken Annabeth. He wasn't sure if it was fear or anticipation that burned through his whole body. Or was it something else? He didn't know anything other than he had to save Annabeth, the game could wait.
"You guys go ahead." He told them as he shined the bronze light onto the flattened grass. "I'm going to save Annabeth."
"Your funeral."
Most of the other demigods left and continued through the path Annabeth had planned out. The only two who remained were the reluctant Stoll twins. They both brought out their own bronze weapons and the light was greater. Percy could see large strings and clumps of white goo leading farther into the trees. She must have been taken by one of the giant spiders. The twins murmured to each other before snatching Percy up in their arms.
"What are you doing?" He demanded as he struggled against their grips.
"She'll be fine Percy, the thing won't kill her."
Percy motioned to the spider webbing, "She hates spiders, I could see that the other day. Come on guys it'd be torture to leave her to that thing."
The son of Poseidon finally managed to yank himself away from the other boys and he began to follow the path which the spider had made pulling Annabeth through the grass. Percy could hear the twins clamoring nervously behind him. Despite their insistence that they leave, the two boys decided to take his lead and help Percy. The three of them were silent, trying to listen for any sign of Annabeth.
Percy felt his foot bump against a small object, he turned the light of his sword to the grass. Annabeth's blade lay abandon in the middle of their path, she had probably dropped it when trying to reach for the webbing that had caught her or something. He picked it up and tucked it between the belt loops on his pants. It seemed as if the spider had dragged the poor girl on forever, Percy wondered how far they had gotten from the path. He thought he could faintly heard a growl, but it had been so soft he figured that the mechanical monster was farther off.
"AHHHHHHHH!" Her screams overpowered everything else. Percy felt his skin crawl, Annabeth was terrified. He didn't like the idea of her or anyone being so scared and so alone.
"Come on guys, we need to hurry!" Percy told the Stoll brothers.
"Why does our adoptive brother have to be the type of hero that runs towards the screams of horror?" Connor asked.
"Maybe he thinks saving her will get him a date."
Percy turned on his heel and glared at them, "Shut up! I'm not trying to get a date with Annabeth. What is with everyone thinking she and I like each other so much?"
The two teen shrugged and smirked boldly in the dim light. Percy huffed irritably and returned on his quest to find and save Annabeth. Just as it seemed like the darkness would never end he spotted a clearing lit with soft blue light, almost as if the moon was peeking in. In the center of the clearing was the worlds largest spider web. A single cocoon was nestled in the center. That had to be the daughter of Athena.
"We need a plan." he told Travis and Connor. Both frowned at him,
"If you haven't learned this yet,"
"We're kind of idiots."
Percy rolled his eyes and watched as the giant spider nudged Annabeth's prison and added more webbing. He thought back to the terror he felt when Gabe had trapped him in a small, dark room when he was five and terrified of being in the dark. Annabeth must have felt just as terrified being trapped by the arachnid. The son of Poseidon wasn't about to leave her there all by herself.
"You guys distract the spider." Percy told them. They looked as if he asked them to defy gravity and do a handstand on the trees. "Hermes is the runner and messenger god, the fastest of all gods, right? So shouldn't you be able to be fast like him."
"Oh," Travis frowned. "You must be a son of Athena, unusual considering you're not blonde."
"Please guys, Annabeth is probably having a panic attack or something."
"Fine." Connor conceded, "But you owe us, we are going to have a guys night and you will help us sneek outside food onto Olympus."
Percy agreed, "Fine whatever, just get that thing away from Annabeth and I'll cut her free."
Finally the sons of Hermes rushed out into the field calling and hollering for the spider's attention. It was successful, the spider turned its large body and skittered after the identical boys. Percy sheathed his sword and waited a moment before he finally rushed off towards the gently lit webbing. Annabeth's cocoon was a lot higher up than he anticipated. He tapped the webbing and found that it was sticky. He wouldn't be able to get too far up without possibly getting stuck himself.
But there was no other way to get to her. With a sigh he loosely gripped the gooey surface and began to scale upward towards Annabeth. The cocoon writhed when his movement caused the webbing to tremor. He wanted to tell Annabeth that he was there to save her, but he didn't want to risk drawing the spider's attention to himself. Percy sometimes got stuck but he gently worked his hand or foot free of the web and continued his way to Annabeth.
When he reached her he could hear the whimpers and sniffles coming from inside the thick webbing that surrounded the daughter of Athena. For some reason it really broke his heart to see her so afraid. Percy carefully cut the side of the cocoon open with the knife Annabeth had dropped. She let out a soft yelp that sounded like it had come from a wounded puppy.
He had just gotten the cocoon open and he could see Annabeth frozen in fear on the inside, her usually strong grey eyes looked vulnerable like a child's. Percy reached his hand into it and as he whispered his name to her. She took it and, with his help, shimmied out of the cocoon. Tears glistened on her face, she had been so scared, he could see it. It wasn't just a mild disgust of the arachnid creature, she was absolutely afraid of the things.
"Here get on my back," He told her, "I should be able to carry the both of us down."
She slowly took him up on his offer and wrapped her arms around his shoulders and her legs around his waist. For a moment Percy found himself flushed, but he quickly decide it was more important to get Annabeth away from the spider and its web. Annabeth pressed her face into his shoulder blade and breathed heavily with relief. Percy didn't mind being so close to her, he didn't mind the feeling of her curly hair caressing his cheek and tickling his neck. It almost felt right, but that was silly, he had just met her and yet he felt as if they had known each other for years.
Maybe...just maybe...
"PERCY!" Travis called out. "Big, leggy, and hairy is coming your way!"
Annabeth squeaked and wrapped her arms tighter around him, almost cutting off his air supply. Percy turned his head slightly and sure enough the thing was charging at them. The son of Poseidon looked down, they were probably ten feet from the ground, but he didn't have time to try and get down safely. The spider would have caught the two of them and Percy would officially be the worst hero ever.
"Annabeth do you trust me?" He asked. She waited a beat before nodding into his shoulder. "Hold on tight."
Percy let go of the webbing and hoped that he didn't stick to it. Luck was on his side and the both of them fell, Percy made sure to land on his feet, but the impact had caused his knees to smart in protest. Annabeth reluctantly let her feet slide onto the grass with his, but she still held onto him. She almost seemed unable to move her legs. The son of Poseidon hoped he wouldn't fall over as he picked her up bridal style and rushed towards the woods.
When they reached the bushes he set her down and pried her arms from his neck, "Stay here."
He handed her the blade she dropped and pulled out his own sword as he turned to meet the spider. Percy waved the bronze object in its face and began to lead it away from Annabeth. The son of Poseidon called out taunts and slashed at the monster every so often. He probably would have won the award for the most idiotic demigod in the world, but he was glad that he had chosen to save Annabeth. The look of absolute terror on her face, and the relief she had when he came for her told him he had made the right choice.
After leading the spider a good yard away from Annabeth, Percy began to wonder how he'd stop the thing from catching him. His thoughts were interrupted when something gooey and warm latched onto his leg. Percy was just able to see the webbing that wrapped around his foot before he was yanked from his feet. He grunted as he landed on his chest and the air was knocked from his lungs. Percy turned onto his back as he was tugged back to the monster.
It loomed over him and hissed at him. Hephaestus had gone all out with the thing, it even had drool coming out of its mouth. Percy tried to move from under it, but the spider had him trapped beneath it with its cage like legs. He looked up into its large beady eyes. For a moment Percy knew exactally how Annabeth felt being trapped by the thing. The demigod tried to bring the bronze sword up to burry it into the monster's stomach, but he couldn't seem to be able to thrust it well. It was too unbalanced for him to give the monster a good hit.
The spider used Percy's inability to strike it to its advantage as it began to cover his legs in more of the webbing. Percy shouted out in frustration and punched the spider in the face. Not smart considering the aracnid was made of metal, but the thing staggered back in surprise. Obviously had never had one of the demigods punch it before. Percy scooted farther from it, but the web on his legs weighed almost as much as smelly Gabe.
He started to cut through the webbing, but the spider had quickly regained its focus and turned back to him. If it was possible, Percy had managed to make the animatronic angry. With a hiss it started to attack him again, it quickly webbed both of his arms down and crawled over him again. Its pincers snapped at him each time he tried to move. Just as it was going to try and make him into a human burrito the machine stopped and began to stagger away from him before it finally collapsed to the ground.
"What the-?" Percy looked at the smoking robot and then watched as a figure climbed off of it.
Whoever had saved him stumbled to where he was stuck to the ground. He was surprised to see Annabeth, her face was almost unreadable as she began to cut his arms and legs free of webbing. Percy was amazed that she had faced what terrified her the most and saved him. She helped him sit up and checked him over for injuries. Now that he could just look at her, he could see she was covered in dirt and scrapes, probably from the monster dragging her through the forest like a child with a blanket.
"Annabeth?" He asked.
"That was reckless of you." She finally spoke. "Choosing to save me over completing the mission as planned. You could have very well been trapped like I was."
Percy frowned, "Are you mad at me for saving you?"
Annabeth said nothing as she quickly wrapped her arms around him and hugged him. And this wasn't a hug out of desperation or fear, it was a genuine hug of gratitude. He gently wrapped her in his arms, mindful of his sore knuckles. After a long time she let him go and her steely resolve returned. Though her face was as white as a sheet.
She stood first then reached down to help him up. When she saw his already bruising knuckle she almost laughed, "Did you actually punch that thing?"
"The sword wasn't right for me, it didn't feel right." He told her. "I couldn't stab it well enough, I had to do something."
"You're crazy. Lets get the twins and see if there is a chance we can still win the-." Annabeth was cut off by the sound of a conch horn going off. Chiron's voice echoed around the room. The Titan team had won. "I guess they caught a lot of people."
"We can get them next time." Percy assured her with a smile. "After all we only lost because we didn't have our leader at the head of the group."
"Remind me to make sure that the Stolls are as far as possible from me during the next game."
The son of Poseidon laughed, "It's a promise."
"And-..." Annabeth began, but then gave him a kiss on the cheek instead of speaking. "Thanks for saving me."
She ran off before he could say anything else. Though if he had managed to say anything it probably would have been something stupid or silly. He held his cheek as he followed behind her and the twins back to the locker room. Percy wondered if he was blushing like a dork or if he managed to stay composed. If every game ended like this, Percy was sure he could get used to it. He was so preoccupied he hadn't noticed that he was being watched from the bushes...
I am so sorry its taken me so long to update. I focused on Percy competing one task because he is new to the demigod world and Annabeth is probably one of the few friends he has on Olympus right now. I will try to write more chapters of the game with Percy and Annabeth both helping to defeat the 'Titan' army later on. I hope you liked this chapter. It's very fluffy and Percy is Annabeth's hero! Again I am sorry its been a while since I last updated. I really hope this chapter was good enough to make up for it.