A/N: Repost! Sorta, so sorry guys FF is having some problems with me because sometimes my text gets reverted to code. But anyway here you go...
Percy walked through town, dazed, thinking of Zoë's' decision. "How could she do this to me?" He questioned internally over and over as he stumbled through the town in circles. He drowned himself in his self-pity until suddenly the night was upon him. He glanced out to the calm lake that the children played in and stared into its depths. Making his decision he jogged over to the surface and walked straight in. He embraced the water feeling it swirl around him and big fish lazily swam around him curiously.
He breathed normally as he slowly sunk to the sandy bottom, sitting cross-legged on the bottom he watched the water around him and its inhabitants, occasionally looking up and seeing the bright stars twinkle happily as they shone against the water. Before he knew it, sunlight peeked over the mountains and lit up the lake making it glow a soft orange. Deciding that it was time to eat he willed the water to shoot him back out. It complied and he blew out of the water 15 feet in the air. Pinwheeling his arms crazily through the air as he sailed toward the bank. Locking his legs he slammed into the sand absorbing the fall and rolled it off. Panting heavily he turned around to find a small group of kids watching him in awe.
He gave them a small smile and strolled off towards the trees. A mental slideshow started clicking through his mind as he wandered through the forest aimlessly. He mentally watched as it replayed their best moments over again. He was so absorbed he didn't notice the rustling and dancing shadows going on around him. Finding a nice stump he sat down and started searching through his bag for the bread and fruit. When he sat up, he jumped back to find a grinning, evil, demon staring back at him. His heart started racing as the beast began to talk in a deep, raspy, voice, straight from hell, he said,
"Perseus Jackson, you will mess with fate no more."
Unsheathing his sword Percy looked at him with narrowed eyes, "Is that so?"
The demon's grin stretched further across his bony face, showing more pointed yellow teeth and rustling invaded his ears from all around as a variety of monsters surrounded him, from hellhounds to the kindly ones themselves. They easily numbered in the fifties. Percy gulped slightly and a little fear must have shown because the demon let out a bone-chilling chuckle. Before speaking in an ancient language and suddenly the monsters converged, and he disappeared in black smoke.
Percy ran out to meet the first dracaena and easily sliced her clean in half while turning to meet her sisters, he pounced on them. Jumping from each one dodging their venomous fangs and slicing them until they turn to gold dust. Soon the dracaena was no more, and Percy didn't have to find the next monsters. The furies came upon him as he killed the last dracaena with a swift beheading. In a raspy voice, Alecto spoke, "He is our kill." She declared to the other monsters as Percy turned to face them.
"You shall die!" She yelled as she snapped at him with her whip.
Percy quickly swatted away her molten whip with his sword and ran closer to them. Inside their guard, he battled Alecto and the other's as they dropped their whips and fought him with their claws. Percy dropped to the ground as a claw swung at his head. Slicing with his sword Percy managed to cut off one of her legs as it fell through the air turning into dust. He smiled as he stood up and continued to fight the other two as the third screamed in agony of the missing limb while she slowly dissolved into the wind in a gold shimmer.
Percy lunged at one with his sword as she batted it away by the flat side with her hard claws. They circled each other in a deadly dance, scrutinizing each other. This time Percy feinted a lunge and fell to his knees and swung his sword in a wide arc. One jumped over the speeding blade although the other one was not so lucky as she had her torso spilled onto the forest ground before disappearing in the wind. The final one screeched in rage at her sister's death and charged the young hero, slashing wildly. Percy continued to bat away her fruitless attempt at revenge before blocking an overhead strike and kicking her in the stomach. She grunted and flew several feet across the dirt. He calmly walked over to her and pinned her arms to the ground underneath his boots. He leaned closer to her with a sick grin,
"You monsters die too quickly, and that's too bad for me. Because I want to make it hurt." He leaned even closer and whispered to her,
"I'll see you in Tartarus," Before taking his blade across her neck ending her life to the disapproval of her army. He straightened up to face the horde of monsters, he settled into a fighting stance as the army roared and charged at the hero. He sliced a hellhound's leg off as it charged at him before he spun to impale his sword on a harpy. He pulled his sword out of the harpy and turned to face the (newly) three-legged hellhound who whimpered as Percy stalked toward it. The hellhound tried to escape but failed to do so as Percy reached him and stuck his sword through its lungs. Yanking it out with vigor he swung at a young cyclops coming from behind. The brute escaped with his life due to its thick skin but a nasty cut. He howled in pain and clutched the wound. Percy almost felt bad… but he didn't and in a big leap, ran his blade through the cyclops' eye. The cyclops fell silent as it crashed to the ground before turning to dust.
A hellhound bounded over the cyclops' dust pile to engage the demi-god. Percy met the hellhound in a flurry of attacks and the rest of the army crept forward to fight as well. Soon Percy was overwhelmed, barely blocking, and dodging most attacks. As the horde surrounded him Percy gritted his teeth and growled under his breath. They all pounced from different angles eliminating escape. Percy watched as the army pounced in slow motion, he closed his eyes and waited for his inevitable fate of death by claws and fangs.
Abruptly a blinding white light shone even through his closed eyes forcing him to turn in the opposite direction. As quick as it came, the light subsided, and Percy peeked an eye open cautiously. A man stood in the middle of the sea of golden dust with his hands on his hips, he had white-blond hair, Teeth so white it made the paper look yellow, And deeply tanned skin. He let out a sigh before seemingly noticing Percy for the first time. A blinding smile made its way onto his face, he studied Percy's battered body. He had cut up and down his arms and legs, he had a particularly bad gash across his chest that was bleeding profusely, purple and yellow bruises lined the cuts, and his hair was a rat's nest of raven locks and golden monster dust. The man strolled over to him and Percy raised his sword with difficulty, looking pale. Out of nowhere, the demigod collapsed, crumbling to the ground in a heap. The man quickened his pace to catch him, muttering things like
"Always the worst timing," Under his breath. Once he secured Percy in his arms, he flashed himself in a ray of sunshine to Olympus.
The god winced as he landed on the marble making an audible thud that echoed through the golden temple. Biting his bottom lip nervously he glanced at the prone figure resting in his arms, lifelessly. Scanning him with his godly power he realized that his life aura was fading rapidly. The gods' eyes widened, and he broke into a sprint dodging the furniture and junk that was littered on the ground.
He exited the entrance room and passed through the kitchen into the hallway of doors before backtracking into the kitchen again. Opening the fridge with one arm he grabbed a small bag of ice from the cooler, turning around he shut the cooler with a backward kick from his retreating frame. He stumbled into the hallway of doors and counted them down to the sixth one marked Medical HR. Turning his back to it he slammed it open, it collided with the opposite wall with a resonating
Thud
The room was a glowing white with linen sheet covered beds, that were held up by metal bed frames, a golden light streamed in through the window. A counter sat in a corner hosting a spinney chair, a marble sink complete with soap, disinfectant wipes lined the edge. A white cabinet floated above it is holding surgical masks and gloves as well as surgical tools, extra scrubs, needles for the shots, more disinfectant wipes, and a colorful variety of vitamins and medicine.
Apollo made his way over to the nearest bed hastily, he placed the prone figure on the linen-covered mattress gently, glancing at his quickly palling face he left him for a slight moment to grab his medical supplies from the cabinet. He returned to the bedside with a metal tin full of stitching, scalpels, bandages, and tweezers. He lifted off the young demigod's shirt to reveal the fatal gash across his chiseled chest, dried blood outlined the wound and streaked down his sweat glistened abs, blood slowly oozed out of the cut, sickly. He quickly set to work removing tooth and claw fragments from his wounds and stitching up the more serious ones.
Soon the sea-eyed teen was the very first mummy, just a body shaped, bloody bandage. Underneath all the binds he was stitched up in multiple cuts that were sure to stay scars forever. The Savior sat on a chair in the kitchen drinking fine Nectar and eating crumbling Ambrosia. His white toga was held at the shoulder with a golden drachma pin and was slowly getting Nectar dripped on it by the gods' clumsiness. He was hastily eating the Ambrosia when a groan stopped his movements.
Alert, he turned to see a heavily bandaged young boy with raven hair leaning against the wall with shaky knees. The god quickly stood up holding his half-finished glass of Nectar and a new square of Ambrosia to give to the future hero.
At first, the demigod was guarded and tried to stand up straight to defend himself, when he was hit with a wave of nausea he quickly steadied himself against the wall again and looked up to face the approaching god. Noticing the demigods' tenseness he decided to speak out, "I am not here to harm you," He announced with his hands raised slightly. "I healed you," A look of realization flashed across the demigod's face as he took in his surroundings, Golden temple, Ambrosia, Nectar, A whole wing dedicated to a hospital. All the signs pointed in neon glowing letters to the god, Apollo.
"Apollo," He realized out loud. The newly recognized god gave him a blinding smile, obviously pleased at being recognized. Perseus still tensed up when he came near, to which Apollo just laughed at.
"Kid, If I wanted to bring you harm, I would have done so in the 36 hours you were asleep." He said in an obvious tone, with a slightly raised eyebrow and a full smirk. Perseus still didn't lower out of his semi-defensive stance, the god gave a half-frustrated huff of air and started to try and argue his case,
"C'mon I haven't even done anything to you, I have done nothing but care for you actually" He pointed out, trying to get him to relax. At the words, the demigod untensed slightly, either from exhaustion or he realized the god wasn't here to harm him. The god, getting bored with their little game, decided to just approach him. He slowly stepped from the outskirts of his protective bubble into arm's length, the boy unable to move, was caught with the sun god inside his guard.
The god looked pleased with the boy's reluctance to try and get away, he gave him a small genuine smile and held out his hands which were occupied by Nectar and Ambrosia. Perseus slowly moved to grab the healing consumables and once he did the sun gods' smile grew. Apollo led the boy over to the table where he quickly consumed the god could start to see his sluggish movements fade away and the wince of pain when he moved was almost imperceptible, as he chowed down on the Ambrosia and slurped up the Nectar. By the time he ate enough as he could without burning up in flames, he was healed everywhere but covered in gruesome scars that made some sick form of art if you looked at them the right way.
Perseus quickly noticed his recovery and stood to start peeling off his bandages when Apollo stopped him, "Whoa, you aren't wearing anything underneath." The god revealed. The boy nodded in understanding before his eyes narrowed,
"How did I get in these wraps?" He asked. The god smirked slightly and raised his hand,
"Like this." He answered smoothly before snapping his finger and the bandages disappeared and a leather battle chiton appeared in its place. Perseus looked over his battle toned body, he looked at his right ankle-high sandals, the wicked sharp bronze sword at his hip, the metal studs in the belt, the thick leather chest plate that seemed fused to his skin, the pair of ten-inch hunting knives that were strapped onto his tanned thighs, the leather battle skirt with metal duds at the end of each flap, and a golden gleaming ring rested on his finger. As he looked over his new get-up the golden gleam caught his eye, he moved his hand closer to his face to inspect it further before Apollo broke him out of his inspection.
"Ah yes, my favorite gift. And the best if you ask me." Perseus turned to look at his savior,
"What does it do?" He questioned confusedly. The god crossed his arms and with a jerk of his head simply said,
"Twist it," Percy did as he was asked and all of a sudden a golden bow shimmered into his hand, Percy nearly dropped the new weapon in surprise. Apollos' eyes glittered with mirth, "This is your training bow," He announced proudly. Percy looked over the bow and seemingly for the first time noticed the quiver of golden arrows on his back. Percy gave his first smile at the sun god before realizing something,
"My dear cousin, while I thank you for your kindness," He assured him, "I am a born son of Poseidon." He said bitterly. Apollo seemed to remember that for the first time while contemplating what to say next, after much consideration he spoke,
"Do you wonder why I saved you?" He questioned. Percy looked deep in thought before hesitantly replying.
"Yes," He answered tentatively. Apollo nodded,
"It is because I sense something in you," He deadpanned. Percy looked at him with confusion written across his face.
"Me?" He questioned,
"Why me? I cannot even fight well or..." He trailed off carefully, aware of his prone to cracking voice. Apollo seemed to notice this and shot him a sympathetic look,
"You may not fight the best, but it is no matter, you have me." Percy looked up with hope in his eyes,
"You?" He asked suspiciously. Apollo smiled once more and nodded. Perseus looked at him still slightly suspicious but a hint of a smile creeping onto his face,
"As I was saying it does not matter if your size or of your ability. What matters is your heart." Apollo said, getting real for one of the only times in his life. Then as soon as it came, it was gone and the playboy, funny man, and prankster were back. "I will train you until you lie dead on the floor." He said with an evil grin. Percy gulped nervously and retrieved his twin hunting knives as Apollo snapped his fingers and they disappeared and reappeared in a marble dome.
The walls had a variety of blade weapons hanging from them, like Blade sticks, daggers, swords, spears, double-sided axes, and hunting knives. Resting on the ground were the blunt weapons including but not limited to; Maces, clubs, masse's, plommee's, Morgenstern's, shields, and massues. Most of the killing devices were Celestial Bronze but a select few were Olympian Silver or Stygian Iron. Apollo walked over to the stream of sunlight that was coming in through the sunroof as Perseus marveled at the new space.
Once he reached the sunlight, he stuck a tan hand into it, a golden spear started to form from the light and into his hand. The spear multiplied the light around them making the room burn brighter than before. He twirled the weapon in his hand a couple of times and thrust at a few invisible foes'. Once he deemed the spear familiar enough, he turned to face the ogling demigod who was inspecting the weapons nostalgically. Apollo walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder, Percy instantly tensed and reached back to grab his hand, twisting it he spun and kicked his leg out from under him in the same direction like a clock. Apollo flew and landed on the wooden floor with a thud and the air leaving his lungs.
He lay on the ground wheezing and clutching his chest while Percy stood over him apologizing profusely while Apollo just put him off and telling him that it's okay. After he caught his breath he stood up and rematerialized his spear. Settling into a fighting stance he motioned for Percy to do the same, Percy unsheathed his sword and raised into his fighting stance, Apollo yelled out a "Begin!" and they were off, sparring until either, one of them yielded or dropped from exhaustion all while Apollo pointed out flaws in his technique. Then they would go home, eat, heal wounds, talk about the history of the Greek world, and then they would train in more fitness. Such as harnessing abilities and upping stamina and strength.
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It had been over a year now and Perseus had taken to his new home quite well. Apollo and he bonded a lot over the year, and they were as close as brothers. Percy was limping toward his disarmed sword that had recently been struck out of his hands and flew across the room. Shooting a playful glare at Apollo who had just disarmed him and was twirling his spear around absentmindedly. When he noticed Percy's glare he only smiled and mockingly waved. Finally, Percy retrieved his celestial bronze sword, bending over, he grabbed his weapon of old. He sheathed it and hobbled over to Apollo who lazily waved a hand and the cut in Percy's leg mended.
"Another one?" Percy challenged, raising his sword into the air. Apollo smirked and set his spear down,
"Sorry Perce. But that signals the end of our session." He apologized. Percy looked put out,
"Not even one more?" He pleaded, lowering the tip of his sword ever so slightly.
Apollo shook his head, "No… but I have a quest for you." The sun god offered.
Percy's eyes lit up "Really?" He asked, hopefully.
The young demigod, while having plenty to distract himself with, was getting tired of just walking, eating, training, and sleeping, in an endless cycle. He yearned for human interaction, not from a god, just a plain mortal. Or even a fellow demigod would be nice. Slightly below that was the need for adventure, the never relenting thirst for life-or-death situations consumed him whole, fighting wild monsters knowing that any wrong move could lead to death was what got him up in the morning, but now he couldn't have that provocation, even summoned monsters don't work because he was well aware of the divine being watching from the corner. That's why Percy was chomping at the bit for a chance to leave on his own, in a real dangerous situation.
Apollo nodded in response. Beginning to pace slowly he informed Perseus of his quest, "You are to travel to the Garden of Hesperides." The sun god started as Percy visibly paled at the prospect, "Then you shalt steal a golden apple." He versed, watching the young heroes' strange reaction. "You are to bring the apple to me." He finished.
Completely unaware of the sun god, Percy's mind was racing all over the place.
His breathing hitched and he stumbled over his unmoving feet, He felt as though he had a hangover, a migraine, and been bashed with a rock a few times for good measure. Finally, he caught up to reality and was met with a worried looking Apollo,
"Do you think you can handle it?" He questioned carefully, not wanting to meet the boy's hubris. Percy looked into his bright eyes and nodded shakily.
"I can handle it." He assured while Apollo searched his eyes for any signs of deceit. When he detected none, he brought his hands together in a loud clap and rubbed them together as if waiting for a show.
"Good, then I would have had Hephaestus make these for nothing." He said excitedly before a bright light radiated from his palms and when it finally died down a pair of golden hunting knives rested in his hands, "Perseus, meet the twins." He introduced, giddy.
"What are their names?" He asked examining them. Apollo shrugged,
"That's for you to decide." He replied simply, he then continued to explain to Percy that they were forged with a tiny piece of the sun and would temporarily blind any foe, the length of time depending on how powerful the enemy was. Finally, he looked at them one more time before reluctantly handing them over to Percy, when Percy made contact with the dual knives his body became a puzzle of glowing gold, as the sun entered his bloodstream, lighting up his veins bright enough to shine through his skin, the light in the room was getting sucked up by him, and testing his worth, while Apollo held his breath and braced. The demigod began to float off the ground and look up at the heavens, in a deep trance. Finally, the demigod started to descend, and his glow began to fade, then he hit the ground and looked at twin knives in his hands with awe before sheer power overcame him and his vision faded to black.
Apollo watched nervously as his cousin/brother/uncle… what? It's complicated… took the power of the sun. For the first time, he felt like a mortal. He wanted to run his hands through his hair and bite his nails to extinction. He quickly bent over the half-blood and took his vitals, breathing out a dry chuckle and shaking his head he relaxed slightly as the boy was alive. The first non-immortal to ever survive the power of the sun, the one, and only Perseus.
Perseus reached out and grasped each of the blades from Apollo as soon as he touched the weapons his hand started searing off his skin. Perseus felt like screaming in agony, but his mouth no longer seemed to work. He wanted to drop down to the ground and wither away, but he no longer had control of his body. The pain felt unbearable and he felt as though molten lead seeped through his very veins, and then he took a swim in an erupting volcano, then was burned to a crisp by Zeus' master bolt. Suddenly, just as soon as it came, the pain was gone. Completely and utterly gone, vanished without a trace. No after effect, just nothingness.
Hesitantly, Percy opened his eyes, surrounding him was his training facility, 'The Dome' in all its glory. But inside the dome, Percy watched as his body floated into the air, in a possessed way. He observed curiously as his own body floated into the air, shining gold, and sucking the light from the room, he saw a golden flash as the sun reached his heart. He winced involuntarily, he tried to grab where his heart was but was shocked when his arm passed through himself. When he met no solid material, he just stared up ahead in a fake calm, controlling his breathing as thoughts flooded his brain.
Finally, he gathered his courage and slowly looked down with a prolonged flinch. His eyes bugged out, and his stomach fluids rumbled dangerously, as he stared down at his completely transparent body. He could see his pink lungs heaving up and down, he could see his plump heart beating and slightly oozing blood, he watched in horror as blood zipped through his veins, and his tendons and muscles twitched, and his stomach almost made him puke at the nasty sight of it.
Ironic, right.
Purple and blue flesh wires were strung throughout his stomach and a disgusting green liquid bubbled in the very pit of it, and he could hear it sloshing against his stomach's walls. Percy only stared at his working, ghost, body, shaking his head and shutting his eyes. He turned back to the form of his solid body and Apollo's nervous posture. His body out of nowhere stopped pulsing brightly, he cocked his head slightly in confusion before he felt a tug. Like getting sucked out to sea by a riptide. (A/N: See what I did there).
He watched in atrocity as his ghost vessel swirled and spun around while inching him toward his physical form as if a toilet were being flushed and dragging him into the stank sewer depths. His transparent form finally disappeared completely from view and into his body, for a peaceful moment, everything was tranquil. He had no conscience, everything was silent, and there was only darkness. He relished the moment for longer than he had it and before he knew it, his eyes were open.
The familiar sight of his training dome materialized into view as his physical eyes were returned to him. He felt as though he had run a marathon ten times, with exhaustion he stared down at the twin knives resting in his hands, flabbergasted by the power they held. Soon after exhaustion and overwhelming power overcame him and he let his body shut down and the knives dropped to the floor, passing into the unknown realm.
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Percy felt weightless like he was drifting around the sea aimlessly. His eyes were closed comfortably, and his limbs were spread around him. He felt… small as if he was the only occupant of a large empty jug. Like nothing was real, life and death were mere folklore, and his insecurities and fears had faded. He was relaxed after a stint of meditation, and that scared him. Apollo, it doesn't matter if he was stupid at times, had taught him to never trust the calm.
The calm before the storm was the taker of many lives.
Gathering his wits he tried to force his eyes open, they fluttered a bit and he caught sight of a bright orange surrounding but that was all. Again he tried and this time he was able to move his outer extremities, within a few tries he was able to move his body shakily and flutter his eyes. Finally, he did it, he opened his eyes… and almost immediately regretted it. It was so bright compared to the back of his head that he was forced to shield his eyes and squint. Soon his eyes adjusted somewhat, and he was able to remove the hand that was blocking his vision. A little gasp escaped his throat, he looked to be underwater but all around him was yellow and orange like someone had dyed the water with the sun. He relished the sight in front of him, being a born son of Poseidon, underwater was nothing new but the body of water he was in, he had never seen anything like it. As he continued to relish the water a voice spoke.
"You survived," It announced, Percy, whipped around to find that there was nothing there, spreading air bubbles. His thoughts raced nearly as fast as his heart
"State your name," He shouted, still looking around cautiously.
"It is no matter." It declared ominously, as Percy noted something. It didn't have a gender, the voice wasn't feminine or masculine, it was just a voice. Percy froze and his eyes hardened.
"Answer me!" He snarled.
"Now, now young halfling, pay respect. To. Your. Superiors." The voice boomed. As it said this, flashes of pain shot through Percy's body. Making him scream and squirm and clutch at nothing.
The pain stopped abruptly, leaving Percy breathing deeply, "What was that?" He asked angrily.
"Power." The voice replied simply.
"What power?" Percy mocked, still in a foul mood.
The voice started to say something but suddenly stopped. "I believe you have a quest to attend to." It answered instead. "Godspeed." With those final words, it sent him on his way. Perseus was launched back by a powerful blast of air, leaving tiny bubbles in his wake as he sped through the water at inhumane speed like a torpedo, uncontrollably. He went through a dark and long tunnel of some sort, gaining speed until he hit a barrier fast enough to kill himself, despite the water.
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Percy sat upright lightning fast, he gasped out for air with his eyes wide as he rocked back and forth, trying to catch his breath. Almost immediately, Apollo was at his side working his healing magic, soon the half-blood was sitting up with little help from Apollo who was flashing his megawatt smile.
"You did it!" He exclaimed, Percy, looked at him with a part angry, part sarcastic face.
"Oh? Really", I had no idea." He spat sarcastically, as he rolled his eyes. Apollo's smile dimmed a bit and he looked slightly put out before it came back.
"But you proved yourself to a Primordial." Percy, who was inspecting his new sunburns froze,
"That was Helios?" He asked. Apollo nodded,
"He taught me a few things about the sun." He said casually, slipping his hands into his pockets. "That is why I am so much better at my job than Artemis." He added as an afterthought. Percy started sputtering,
"Primordial beings faded." He argued half-heartedly because some part of him knew that wasn't true. Apollo's head was cocked slightly as if studying the boy in front of him.
Finally, he shook his head, ending the conversation.
Once Percy regained the strength in his legs, he grabbed his new hunting knives from Apollo and took a fighting stance in front of him while Apollo chuckled,
"No more training today,"
Percy looked disappointed but nodded, nonetheless.
Apollo beckoned him over towards him, Perseus waddled over to him slightly disappointed but then Apollo surprised him by wrapping him in a hug. Perseus immediately stiffened and his arms snapped to his side rigidly as Apollo embraced him, brotherly. Eventually, he hesitantly brought his arms around Apollo in a hug back, together they just stood there in a hug before Percy broke the silence,
"What is this for?" He questioned,
Apollo shrugged indifferently, "You're family."
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A/N: 30 Days later.
Percy scurried around his room muttering curses under his breath. He had woken up early like he was supposed to but nerves got to him and he ended up falling asleep again, that is why only half an hour before he was supposed to leave dried spittle caked his cheeks, his unruly hair was even messier, and he was stumbling over things in underwear trying to rub the sleep out of his eyes. He scuttled over to a wooden vanity and fumbled with the handle before opening it revealing two shelves at the bottom that held a sword, ankle-high sandals, and his newly acquired Sun spear and Sunburst. Above a pole was stretched across the vanity holding leather battle chitin. He quickly set to work strapping on all the gear and sheathing the weapons, he wiped the drool off his cheek and ran a hand through his hair. He checked over his gear once more making sure he had everything strapped on. Once he was sure he had everything he grabbed a knapsack and exited the room. He strolled down the long hallway towards the kitchen admiring the complex patterns engraved in the walls, even after all his time there he still wasn't bored of the artwork on the wall. It seemed to change every day and flow with the eye, never looking just the same way. Realizing he had been slacking, Percy sped up his pace to a light sprint.
Apollo sat down in a bar chair sipping nectar from a glass, relatedly waiting for Perseus to arrive. As he waited, he studied the frost on the glass and the intricate patterns they made absentmindedly. He was broken out of his stupor when faintly he could hear echoing footsteps and constant swearing coming from the hallway. With a sigh he placed his nectar glass on the counter and stood up, ready to confront Percy. Perseus stumbled into the dazzling kitchen, curses flowing from his mouth at a steady pace, and looking disheveled in his rumpled chitin and messy hair and the knapsack that swung wildly at his side. Apollo's eyebrow raised like a forklift,
"Late start?" He questioned amusedly. Percy rolled his eyes, annoyedly, at him.
"Come, you have a very long day ahead." Percy nodded and started to straighten his weapons and chitin, Apollo began to shake his head,
"No no, you cannot wear that to an open place. you are supposed to be dead." He scolded lightly. With a snap of his fingers, Percy's outfit had changed. A skull now adorned his face with eye sockets as black as the dead, his knapsack was gone and he was wearing padded black leather pants that held many pockets that held supplies with shin-high boots, metal forearm sleeves were wrapped around his lower arm, his top was also leather in the form of a vest that showed off his toned muscles and a dark hood attached to the neckline, and his weapons looked polished and new as they sat on his waist and thighs. Perseus inspected his new attire and sent a thankful nod to Apollo. Apollo smiled back and clapped his hands,
"Now, I will drop you off approximately 10 kilometers off course." He said like a General giving orders while he paced slowly with his hands laced behind his back. Perseus' posture was straight and his expression serious, like a statue, the only give away that he wasn't dead was his eyes darting back and forth reflecting his true emotions. Apollo continued to rant about his mission before Perseus interrupted, riddled with anxiety,
"Apollo. Apollo!" Perseus had to call his name twice until Apollo responded.
"Huh?" grunted Apollo. Percy smiled warmly,
"This is the 7th time in two days I have reviewed the plan, I'll be fine." He assured Apollo with a kind smile that was bursting with cockiness. "Besides, if anything else, you will save me." He quipped sassily. Apollo rolled his eyes but still nodded. The silence enveloped them like a blanket bringing none of the warmth and comfort only fear. Percy took a deep breath and looked to Apollo who appeared to be in a whole other world. His forehead was creased, his eyebrows were scrunched, and his hand was by his neck fiddling with an arrow tip necklace. He looked nervous or anxious as he chewed on his bottom lip, "Apollo," Percy called quietly, breaking him away from the clutches of despair. "I'll be fine." Apollo shook his head trying to rid it of dark thoughts. "Yeah, I hope… Let's get moving." He said grabbing Percy and flashing away in a godlike manner.
The two appeared in a widespread forest full of towering oak trees, giant roots stuck out of the ground from the trees almost long enough to touch nearby trees roots, birds chirped animatedly basking in the sunlight that shone through the thick foliage, the wind tickled the branches and blew fallen leaves across the land, and a grand mountain could be seen in the distance. Perseus looked around, taking in his surroundings slowly.
"Oh, I filled your pouches with a few squares of ambrosia and a small canister of nectar. I figured you could get your food.
"Alright, I guess this is it," Percy said, Apollo grinned.
"That it is." He replied. Percy smiled back and then he turned to face the mountain, he took a moment to admire the sheer size and beauty of the mountain, once he had his fill of admiration he pulled the hood over his head and began to move through the forest at a brisk pace. He got about a hundred feet before Apollo spoke once more,
"Hey Perce…" He yelled to his retreating form. Perseus turned around. "Don't die."