Hey folks, I am here once again with another update. Been trying my fullest to drop an update every Sunday lately and keep writing regularly. But, my class tests start from this week, so I might not have an update next Sunday.
While it's sad, I have college and my little jobs to tend to. So, I am not as able to write as much as I would care for.
Though, you have all been wonderful readers, and I appreciate every single one of you. (Not the weirdo that asked me to write Luke/Annabeth fic.) Fuck you bro.
But the rest are all lovely.
discord. gg / vjtaaaygvq (remove the spaces.) Anyways, here is my discord channel, join the server and feel free to ask me questions regarding the stories. Or you know, if you just want a friend to talk to.
That's about it.
d the two demigoddesses about their trip to Maine. At first the girls had thought that it was going to be another adventure or vacation to get away from camp. However, when Perseus told them that it was in fact a rescue mission, it was safe to say that they were both disappointed.
It had been almost two hours since Perseus had informed them of their trip, and given them time to sort out their duties. His foot impatiently tapped against the ground, as he waited for Thalia and Annabeth to arrive at their usual spot. Thalia's pine tree. Yes, they were calling the tree that from now, instead of the huge ass pine tree.
Anyways, getting off-topic there for a second.
Perseus' foot continued to impatiently tap against the ground, creating a small thumping sound that seemed to increase with every passing second. His normal tapping was strong enough that a small hole had started forming beneath his foot without protest. His hands fidgeting around in his pocket, playing with a small hair clip and ring he had picked out from his armory.
For an elder god, Perseus sure showed the full signs of a demigod with Adhd.
His thumbing came to a halt, when he saw the girls heading his way. "Took you a long while," he muttered blithely. Instead of the usual smile he always wore when talking to them, he looked troubled and unfocused.
Annabeth and Thalia looked at each other, their faces marred with confusion. Of all the times they had met him, he never had once been this way. Something was bothering him and they needed to know what it was.
"What is it?" Annabeth asked as she walked to his side and took his hand in hers. Her answer came delayed as his fist closed in on hers, gripping her significantly smaller hand possessively. Almost to the point of hurting her, but Perseus hadn't realized that for some reason, she figured. He was acting strangely, like something bad was going to happen.
He should've been smiling at seeing them, like he was doing a few hours ago. But something had changed in the short span of time they had left him for, something significant to make the God of Time lose focus.
Perseus looked up at the clear blue skies. Birds flying at the distant horizon, sunlight falling on their faces, winds slowly breezing past them, making them almost sigh in content. The white clouds casting a shadow over the horizon; the meadow around them swaying with the cold breeze. Crickets, frogs, and other animals singing in harmony. It felt like the most beautiful day possible.
Eyes still trained at the skies, he answered, "A terrible storm is coming."
Confusion got the best of Annabeth, and she turned to look at Thalia, her face equally addled. The weather around them was so soothing and beautiful that they could not have believed that a storm was anywhere in sight at the upcoming days. However, they knew better than to ignore Perseus' warning.
"Close your eyes," he commanded.
The demigoddesses complied and immediately felt a warmth surround their body and saw a bright flash of light through their lidded eyes. Their stomach immediately felt sick as a strange sensation washed over them, flashing usually does that to a mortal.
As soon as the warmth dissipated from their bodies, the cold icy wind of Maine hit their cheek. Immediately causing a shiver to run down the girls' bodies. Thankfully, they had predicted the cold nature of this state and dressed according to it.
They turned to Perseus, and he was unaffected, standing so still that they couldn't have discerned him from a statue. The only thing moving about him was his eyelids as he looked at something ahead of him.
Glancing towards the place he was looking at they found a huge building in front of them. The almost hundred year old structure of the building looked like one of those Victorian castles. Even from the outside they could see the vast corridors inside the building through the gates.
WESTOVER HALL a military academy in Bar Harbor.
Annabeth had started immediately fawning over the architecture and mumbling about the beams and columns that went over Thalia's head.
"Pay attention," Perseus' voice broke Annabeth out of her musings, and for Thalia and her to look at him. "We are here, those two over there." His eyes were trained to the two chaperones standing at the entry to the school, "The woman is a mortal, but the other one is being cloaked from my sight. Powerful magic is at bay here, be aware. He is probably a monster, but not one you can scoff at."
In instinct, Thalia's hand went to her mace canister that expanded into an unbreakable celestial bronze spear, a gift from her father. Annabeth's hand drifted down to her pocket, her fingers idly wrapping around the small pen she had started carrying with her always. It was a gift from her boyfriend, and not just any gift. The pen could turn into a three-foot Greek xyphos sword. The sword was sentient and had chosen Annabeth as its wielder after Perseus.
Thalia and Annabeth both were ready to pull out their weapons and charge at a moment's notice. They turned to look at Perseus to see that he had already started moving.
Perseus walked in the front and the girls behind him. Each of their steps counted and calculated as they kept their eyes open for any immediate danger. Stepping inside the school gate and navigating towards the gym, the stench of teenage boys sweating invaded their scent. Making Thalia gag as she scrunched her nose.
Amid the group of children, the trio found themselves perched in a corner of the gym, keeping a keen eye on everyone present. Though, Perseus' eyes had found the kids he was looking for. His nephew and niece, the pair of them, were sitting on a bench at the other side of the room.
Bianca and Nico D'Angelo. That was the name of the kids Hades had told him about. Perseus tapped his foot against the floor to gain the attention of Thalia and Annabeth. "Those two are the kids we are here for. I am going to go and talk to them, try to keep an eye out for anything out of ordinary."
Seeing Annabeth and Thalia's nod, he moved forward. Going over to the kids, he saw that the sister was yelling at the brother over something, while the boy was busy shuffling a cluster of cards he recognized at sight.
"Mytho-magic," Perseus spoke, his eyes shining in mirth as his nephew whipped his head around to look at him.
The boy's eyes wide that someone recognized his favorite game. Not many kids his age played the game anymore. Which was weird to him, because he definitely remembered everyone being silly about this game a few weeks ago. Though, he didn't understand the disorder, a lot had changed in the past few weeks that he didn't know about.
Even as the boy was staring at him in awe, the sister wasn't as friendly. Bianca was looking at him in alarm. Perseus distinctively noted her arms shifting closer to her brother to protect him in case of any danger. Knowing that she was distrustful of him, he spread an aura of familiarity around the kids. Similar to his sister Hestia, but not quite like her level.
"May I?" He asked, seeing her finally relax and respecting her authority as her brother's caretaker. Upon Bianca's nod of approval, he turned to Nico and stretched his hand out to see the cards.
Taking the cards out of Nico's hands, Perseus couldn't help but chuckle slightly. Hades, Demeter, Hera, Zeus, Poseidon, Hestia; their faces printed on the cards. With different power points and ranking systems distributed to them. It was a silly thought; his family's powers were immeasureable; to value them in numbers was a childish mortal concept. Each of his family members had their own strengths and weaknesses.
Still, deciding to humor the boy's childishness, he asked, "Who do you think is the strongest out of all of them?"
Nico's eyes lit up like the child he was. A look of pure joy crossed his face as he almost jumped out of his seat, "Hades." The boy spoke enthusiastically, "The god of dead. He has 3000 attack powers and can raise zombies out of the ground."
Seeing his smile had both Bianca and Perseus' hearts filled with warmth.
"Good choice," The Lord of fate mused in an equally excited voice, "But I would suggest otherwise." A smirk that could've melted any woman's heart lingered on his face, and Bianca could feel the heat behind it. Her cheeks lit up in crimson and her eyes tinged pink.
"Who do you think is the strongest?" Nico questioned him back, frowning, like he couldn't understand how someone could choose anyone other than Hades.
"Perseus, the god of fate, tides and time," he answered; and with a twist of his fingers, a brand-new card had appeared between his fingers. Which Nico leapt at like a wolf leaping at its prey.
"NICO," Bianca yelled and pulled at his arm, "You should ask first before touching other person's belonging."
Ears red in embarrassment, Nico turned to Perseus, a puppy dog expression on his face, "Can I see it, please?"
Upon Perseus' nod, the boy turned the card over and started examining every inch of it. Going over the name, the domains of the gods, and the infinity sign where the power rank should have been. Confused he turned back to Percy and asked, "Who is this?"
"Why haven't I seen it before?"
"Who are you?"
"How did you made the card appear out of nowhere like that?"
"Are you a magician?"
"Can you do any other magic tricks?"
"Can you teach me?"
Surprise colored Perseus' face as Nico barraged him with endless questions. He turned to look at Bianca, who was busy giggling, probably laughing at his shocked face. Seeing that she wasn't any help, he turned to Nico and slapped his palm over the boy's mouth, "OKAY… One question at a time, alright?"
Seeing Nico nod, he explained, "That is Perseus, the eldest son of Kronos and Rhea, not many have heard of him. You haven't seen that before because that is a limited-edition card. You can call me Percy, and I made the card appear through magic. Yes, I am a magician and yes, I can do other magic tricks. I will teach you when you are a little older, okay?"
Nico nodded in full understanding. His eyes were still filled with thousands of questions that he wanted to ask, but Bianca beat him to it, "What do you want with us?" Her face had morphed into a serious one instantly. Even though she could tell that he didn't mean them harm, that still didn't mean that she trusted him."
"I have been sent by your father to retrieve you," He answered, and the apprehension had now spread to both the brother's and sister's eyes.
"We don't know our father," Bianca answered harshly.
"There is a reason for that my dear, the lawyer that had gotten both of you admissioned in this school was sent by him. He might not have been present in your life, but he has been looking after you since your birth," Perseus answered in all honesty. Even though gods were forbidden from interacting with their mortal children, that didn't stop both Poseidon and Hades from looking after their children.
"How can we trust you?" Bianca asked, again in a distrustful tone. If she wasn't worried about her brother's safety, she might have started running away from him by now.
Perseus said nothing and stood back. His hands reaching for his pocket and he pulled out a small hairpin. Handing it to Bianca, he said, "I believe you recognize this?"
Taking the hairpin from his hand, Bianca examined the pin with tearful eyes. Thousands of emotions passed through her, but the one that stuck was stunned, "How?" Was the only thing she asked, too emotional to form any other words.
"Your father had kept it with him, as a reminder of her. He gave it to me to pass to you, so you know that I was sent by him." Perseus replied, and unexpectedly felt the girl rush forward and hug his waist, her slender arms wrapping around his torso, her figure considerably smaller than his. Her head only came up to his chest, as he patted her back as she cried at his chest.
"Thank you," Bianca whispered in ragged breaths. All the while, Nico kept looking at them in confusion. Bianca waved his concern away and kissed him in the cheek.
"Let's go," Perseus said, and motioned for the kids to follow him.
Going over to where he had left the girls to watch over, he could see the kids dancing in the middle. Bunch of girls giggling and pointing at boys. The boys ruffling each other playfully at another corner, like a couple of doo-fuses.
"Where's Annabeth?" He asked when he reached Thalia; his eyes were trained, watching over every corner of the room for anything, and he couldn't spot his girlfriend.
"She was feeling a headache with all the music, so she stepped out to take a breather," Thalia informed him, looking over at the two children curiously. She could feel it in her blood that those two were her cousins; the power churning in her own vein, sniffing out the child of an elder god. Before she could question Percy about it, she heard him whisper a raggedy "No," as his body went in full attention.
Without saying a word, Perseus was sprinting out of the gym, out the door to where Annabeth might have gone. The three half-bloods following him behind.
"What's happening?" Bianca asked Perseus.
"I will explain everything later, just follow me right now." The god replied.
As soon as they were out the door, they could feel dread run up their spines. The weather had changed completely; the sky was covered in massive thunderclouds; the winds as cold as the arctic. Frost covering the tea leaves as a distant fog disturbed their sight.
While the demigods were having trouble seeing through the uncharacteristically thick fog, the elder god with them had no such trouble. He could see it, in the distant Annabeth facing against the same figure they had seen while entering the school. Narrowing his eyes, he could see the scorpion tail and immediately recognized the monster as the Manticore.
Though Annabeth was training with Perseus continuously for the past month or so, just a glance at them, and he knew that it was a losing battle.
His golden eyes blazed with fury, and the sky overhead thundered and the ground beneath them shook. The mist dissipated, making the three half-bloods realize what was happening. Perseus tried to slow down the time, to give Annabeth the chance to come victorious. However, time refused to bend to his will, indicating that his father's influence loomed over them.
He was about to rush forward, help in whatever way he could, but a distant thudding of footsteps made him stop. A smile slowly formed on his lips as he heard the cavalry he had created incoming. Thalia made a move to run after Annabeth, but Perseus stopped her. Seeing her look of question, he held a finger up in a motion that said 'wait.'
Confused Thalia turned to look towards Annabeth and saw her fighting tooth and nail with the manticore. The struggle it took for her to comply to his orders had her agitated; but she knew better than to go against the Lord of fates.
Her answer came as a loud horn rang through the woods, marking the arrival of the hunters. "Hunters," a voice Perseus recognized all too well shouted as a group of silver-clad maidens sprung out of the woods. "At once," the same voice called out again, and a volley of arrows shot through their direction, lodging precisely, without a mistake at the manticore's back.
It was a good thing that Annabeth had taken quick work of her surroundings. Thankfully, she had backed out of the range of arrows, or she might have joined the pincushion support group that the Manticore was in right now. His body thrashed and high-pitched screams bore through his lungs as his hide got riddled with arrows. Yet, the damage was done; his scorpion tail swinging uncontrollably had stuck Annabeth's thighs, and she could immediately feel the poison at work.
Thanks to Chiron's boringly and freakishly long lectures over healing qualities of different herbs, and the extent of different poisons. (Which no one other than the Apollo cabin and Athena cabin were interested in.) Annabeth immediately knew that the poison wasn't deadly, but acted more like a paralyzing agent. So, bye bye limbs for some hours.
Feeling the effect of poison take root fast, she sat down against a tree. Immediately a girl dressed in silver clad armor rushed towards her carrying a big sachet of herbs.
Perseus, Thalia and the D'Angelo kids all started walking towards Annabeth.
Watching as the entire area surrounding Annabeth gets surrounded by a group of pre-pubescent girls. All dressed in different silver clothes carrying silver bows and weapons. The hunters of Artemis were very hard to not recognize.
Perseus felt proud to see that the hunters had not lost their edge in his absence. They were still as ferocious as the last time he had seen them. He couldn't recognize much of them, though, only a few faces were known to him. Those who he had enlisted in the hunt himself back when he had created the hunt for Artemis as a wedding present. As soon as the thought of his marriage to Artemis crossed his mind, his face contorted into a scowl.
Pushing that thought to the back of his mind, he looked at the present company for their reaction. Bianca felt awed and surprised at the glamor of the silver weapons and the ferociousness of the hunters. Nico looked like a child on a sugar rush, his big eyes absorbing everything at once, and his eyes mindlessly shuffling the cards he was holding.
The most noticeable thing was the frown at Thalia's face. She wasn't liking the hunters at all. If Perseus had to assume anything, he was going to bet huge drachmas that Thalia had encountered Artemis' maidens before. And that encounter hadn't gone smoothly.
As they crept closer, the hunters took notice of them. Their forms were rigid as they saw two males approaching them with two girls; their minds immediately formed the worst thoughts about the males. Their eyes grew cold, and determined as they raised their bows and let the arrows fly. Their aim perfectly sat at the two males, carefully avoiding the two girls.
Before the hunters could even blink, Perseus had summoned a bow of his own, and had shot several arrows. At a speed that would put their mistress to shame. Every single of his arrows hit theirs and glided their path towards a different area. The hunters were about to shoot again, when the loud, anger-filled voice of Artemis and Zoe rang through the arena, "HUNTERS, STAND DOWN."
No accustomed to hearing their mistress and lieutenant yell at them, the hunters immediately put their bows behind their back.
Wading through the crowds of hunters, Artemis stepped forward and bowed her head in apology to the god, making her hunters gasp. However, what followed through was even more shocking.
Zoe, Phoebe, Atlanta, and two to three more hunters stepped ahead of the group and walked until they were just in front of the lost god. Each of their eyes held tears, as in tandem they all knelt in front of him. Their heads bowed in respect to the god. "My lord," they all breathed at once, their voices coming off as the most sacred of prayers.
Seeing their mistress bow her head to a male, and their most senior hunters kneel in front of him. The hunters were apprehensive of Perseus. "Who are you?" A brave maiden of Artemis voiced, "How did you deflected our arrows like that in that speed? Even our mistress, the goddess of archery wouldn't have been able to be that precise."
The other hunters looked at the girl in surprise as she would speak the truth against their mistress so openly. Wanting to see Artemis' reaction, they turned to look at her to find her silver eyes shining, and a small smile gracing her features.
The male in front of them smirked, the devious assortment of freakish nature subsiding as he did so. Like his smile brought the warmth of Apollo to the ground. "Well, I was the one who had taught your mistress and her twin brother how to shoot and hunt, so I guess I am a slightly bit better." The lord of fate replied, smiling smugly, even as Annabeth, Artemis, and Thalia rolled their eyes at him.
Realization filled the hunter's eyes that it was a god in front of them, though they didn't know which. Yet, their shock had not dismantled; they couldn't believe that a male had taught their mistress what she knew. However, the smile that lingered on Artemis' face was all the proof they needed.
"As for me," the god continued, "I am Perseus, the firstborn of Rhea, God of Fate, Time and Destruction."
"Your mistress' ex-husband."
Two things happened at once; the hunters all exploded, "YOU'RE MARRIED?" And at the same time, Bianca yelled, "YOU'RE A GOD?"