(Beginnings)
"Talking"
'thoughts'
The Other
"Mental Communication"
Chapter One
Our Rescue Goes Very, Very Wrong
It was the Friday before winter break, Sally had packed me a bag and my wickedly sharp sword, and took me to the drop spot for our mission. On the way, we ended up grabbing Percy's friends Thalia and Annabeth.
It was an eight-hour drive from New York to Bar Harbor, Maine. Sleet and snow pounded the highway. Annabeth, Thalia, and Percy hadn't seen each other in months, but between the blizzard and the thought of what we were about to do, we were too nervous to talk much.
Except for Sally. She talks more when she's nervous. By the time we finally got to Westover Hall, it was getting dark, and she'd told Annabeth and Thalia any, and all embarrassing stories she could about Percy, but not me.
That itself wasn't surprising, I was a private person, and I'm glad she respected my privacy. The same couldn't be said for Percy.
The girl named Thalia had wiped the fog off the car window and peered outside, snorting. "Oh, yeah. That'll be fun."
Westover Hall looked like an evil knight's castle. It was all black stone, with towers and slit windows and a big set of wooden double doors. It stood on a snowy cliff overlooking this big frosty forest on one side and the gray churning ocean on the other.
"Are you sure you don't want me to wait?" Sally asked.
"No, thanks, Mom," Percy spoke before I could. "I don't know how long it will take. We'll be okay."
"But how will you get back? I'm worried, Percy."
I hoped I could keep in my laugh, it was always fun watching them interact.
"It's okay, Sally," I spoke over whatever Annabeth was about to say, tying my hair up into a ponytail to keep it out of my eyes. "We'll keep him out of trouble."
She seemed to relax a little. She knew I could always keep Percy in check when I needed to, Annabeth and Thalia on the other hand didn't look like they felt the same way, the latter just looked pissed off.
"All right, dears," Sally said. "Do you have everything you need?"
"Yes, Ms. Jackson," Thalia said. "Thanks for the ride."
"You sure you have everything you need?"
"Mom—"
"Your ambrosia and nectar, Percy? And a golden drachma in case you need to contact camp?"
"Mom, we'll be fine! I have Armani with me after all, how could I get hurt?"
She chuckled at the thought, a comment that made me groan to myself.
"Yes Percy, get the strangers even more riled up at my presence and my unknowns, for my brother you really are an idiot."
To their credit, they kept very straight facing even when peering at me, but unlike them, I could actually sense emotions. Not that I cared what they thought of me but they should really learn to hide that better.
I hopped out of the car first, Annabeth, Thalia, and Percy followed suit. The wind blew straight through my haori cloak like ice daggers.
Once my mother's car was out of sight, Thalia looked at me and said, "How are you not freezing in that getup?."
"I'm paying homage to a friend," I admitted. "And unlike you guys, the cold never really affected me like it does for others."
That was a bit of a lie.
As soon as I said it, I wished I hadn't. Thalia was great at giving evil looks, she wore a ripped-up army jacket, black leather pants and chain jewelry, black eyeliner, and those intense blue eyes. I assumed she already hated me, so I really didn't want to antagonize her any more than she currently was.
"You know, If you were around this entire time-"
"We'd better get inside," Annabeth interrupted. "Grover will be waiting."
Thalia looked at the castle and shivered before sighing, sending me a heated glare. "You're right. I wonder what he found here that made him send the distress call."
I stared up at the dark towers of Westover Hall. "Well whatever it is, we can't help standing here," I said.
The oak doors groaned open, and the four of us stepped into the entry hall in a swirl of snow.
All I could hear was Percy from behind me, "Whoa."
The place was huge. The walls were lined with battle flags and weapon displays: antique rifles, battle axes, and a bunch of other stuff. I mean, I knew Westover was a military school and all, but the decorations seemed like overkill. Literally.
My hand went to my wrist, where a small silver wristwatch with a crescent inlay became my sword, Fenrir. I could already sense something wrong in this place. Something dangerous. Thalia was rubbing her gold bracelet, her favorite magic item. I knew we were thinking the same thing. A fight was coming.
Annabeth started to say, "I wonder where—"
The doors slammed shut behind us.
"Hmph," I clicked my tongue. "Guess we'll be attending after all."
I could hear music echoing from the other end of the hall. It sounded like dance music. We stashed our bags behind a pillar and started down the hall. We hadn't gone very far when I heard footsteps on the stone floor, and a man and woman marched out of the shadows to intercept us.
I felt an instinctive pull in my gut as light refracted around me, I reached out and grabbed the closest person to me, hoping for Percy. The Fates weren't that kind as I realized I'd grabbed Thalia.
They both had short gray hair and black military-style uniforms with red trim. The woman had a wispy mustache, and the guy was clean-shaven, which seemed kind of backward to me. They both walked stiffly like they had broomsticks taped to their spines.
"Well?" the woman demanded. "What are you two doing here?"
It was then I realized what I was doing, I had apparently made us invisible. Or something close to it.
"That's new."
Percy p.o.v.
"Um..." I realized I hadn't planned for this. I'd been so focused on getting to Grover and finding out what was wrong, I hadn't considered that someone might question four kids sneaking into the school at night. Actually two now that I realized Armani and Thalia had disappeared into thin air.
"Ma'am, we're just—"
"Ha!" the man snapped, which made me jump. "Visitors are not allowed at the dance! You shall be eee-jected!"
He had an accent—French, maybe. He pronounced his J like in Jacques, He was tall, with a hawkish face. His nostrils flared when he spoke, which made it really hard not to stare up his nose, and his eyes were two different colors—one brown, one blue—like an alley cat.
I figured he was about to toss us into the snow, but then Annabeth stepped forward and did something very weird.
She snapped her fingers. The sound was sharp and loud. Maybe it was just my imagination, but I felt a gust of wind ripple out from her hand, across the room. It washed over all of us, making the banners rustle on the walls.
"Oh, but we're not visitors, sir," Annabeth said. "We go to school here. You remember: I'm Annabeth. And this is Percy. We're in the eighth grade."
The male teacher narrowed his two-colored eyes. I didn't know what she was thinking. Now we'd probably get punished for lying and thrown into the snow. But the man seemed to be hesitating.
He looked at his colleague. "Ms. Gottschalk, do you know these students?"
Despite the danger we were in, I had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing. A teacher named Got Chalk? He had to be kidding, who had a last name like that, and why?!
The woman blinked, like someone who had just woken her up from a trance. "I... yes. I believe I do, sir." She frowned at us. "Annabeth. Percy. What are you doing away from the gymnasium?"
Before we could answer, I heard more footsteps, and Grover ran up, breathless, about to say something until he saw the two teachers. Rethinking his decisions, and he spoke again. "I was looking everywhere for you guys, where did you wander off to?"
"What is it, Mr. Underwood?" said the man. His tone made it clear that he detested Grover. "We're having a conversation here."
Grover swallowed. "Yes, sir. Of course, Dr. Thorn. I just meant, I hadn't seen them in a while and I was wondering where they went-"
Dr. Thorn glared at us. I decided one of his eyes had to be fake. The brown one? The blue one? He looked like he wanted to pitch us off the castle's highest tower, but then Mrs. Gottschalk spoke, "Yes, yes, you should all be getting back now! Don't let me catch you out here again, shoo shoo!"
We didn't wait to be told twice. We left with a lot of "Yes, ma'ams" and "Yes, sirs" and a couple of salutes, just because it seemed like the thing to do.
Grover hustled us down the hall in the direction of the music.
I could feel the teachers' eyes on my back, but I walked closely to Annabeth and asked in a low voice, "How did you do that finger-snap thing?"
"You mean the Mist? Hasn't Chiron shown you how to do that yet?"
An uncomfortable lump formed in my throat. Chiron was our head trainer at camp, but he'd never shown me anything like that. Why had he shown Annabeth and not me?
I was beginning to get a bit pissed with his training methods involving me.
Grover hurried us to a door that had GYM written on the glass. Even with my dyslexia, I could read that much.
"That was close!" Grover said. "Thank the gods you got here!"
Annabeth hugged Grover. I gave him a big high five.
It was good to see him after so many months. He'd gotten a little taller and had sprouted a few more whiskers, but otherwise, he looked like he always did when he passed for human—a red cap on his curly brown hair to hide his goat horns, baggy jeans, and sneakers with fake feet to hide his furry legs and hooves. He was wearing a black T-shirt that took me a few seconds to read. It said WESTOVER HALL: GRUNT.
I wasn't sure whether that was, like, Grover's rank or maybe just the school motto.
I was beginning to worry where Thalia and Armani had gone off to, on the one hand, I knew sis could handle herself, on the other hand, however, I wasn't sure what happened to them.
I shook my head, focusing on the problem at hand.
"So what's the emergency?" I asked.
Grover took a deep breath. "I found two."
"Two half-bloods?" Annabeth asked, amazed. "Here?"
Grover nodded.
Finding one half-blood was rare enough. This year, Chiron had put the satyrs on emergency alert and sent them all over the country, scouring schools from fourth grade through high school for possible recruits. There wasn't any more time to wait.
We were losing campers. We needed all the new fighters we could find. The problem was, we just couldn't find them fast enough.
"A brother and a sister," he said. "They're ten and twelve. I don't know their parentage, but they're strong. We're running out of time, though. I need help."
"Monsters?"
"One." Grover looked nervous. "He suspects. I don't think he's positive yet, but this is the last day of term. I'm sure he won't let them leave campus without finding out. It may be our last chance! Every time I try to get close to them, he's always there, blocking me. I don't know what to do!"
Grover looked at me desperately. If Thalia was here he would surely turn to her, she had more experience, even if it hurt to admit it. Thalia had more experience than any of us with fending off monsters in the real world.
"Right," I said. "These half-bloods are at the dance?"
Grover nodded.
"Then let's dance," Annabeth said. "Who's the monster?"
"Oh," Grover said and looked around nervously. "You just met him. The vice-principal, Dr. Thorn."
Armani p.o.v.
(Before Percy left)
I dropped to the floor moments after they had all left, feeling like I had just carried a two-ton weight up three flights of stairs.
I'd had to keep Thalia from jumping out the entire time, reminding her that leaving now would just give us all away, along with our identities.
She had somewhat calmed down after that, but not with sending me another piercing glare. I'd just shown another ability that'd I'd kept hidden, in her eyes at least. This wasn't one I actively knew I could do, I hadn't seen this one in my dreams either so why-?
"Get up, we have to go after them," Thalia spoke, adjusting her jacket.
I positioned myself, getting back up, "I don't think that's smart Thalia, we should keep ourselves on the outside-"
I wasn't even able to finish before a punch landed on my face, sending me stumbling back into the lockers, it didn't hurt but it sure as hell stung.
Before I knew it, Thalia had her arm on my throat, staring me down, and an almost calm expression on her face. One that was only betrayed by the look in her eyes.
"If you think you know so much, then why are you just showing up now?! You and Percy sure seem well acquainted, you're telling me all this time you were around and didn't know about demigods?"
She was pissed, and normally It wouldn't bother me, but today...
"I did know," I spoke plainly.
Thalia looked dumbstruck, not expecting those particular words out of my mouth.
"I knew, but I'm tired, tired of fighting other people's fights. All the fighting, making child soldiers."
I knew I was being loud, but I didn't care at this point. My voice came out as a harsh croak instead of its usual tempo, like it was forcing itself past my lips.
"You wanted me to join up? I'm only here to save these kids, not to get them to join your death march!"
I wrenched Thalia's arm off my neck, probably with more force needed, but I was beyond caring now. I just walked to the door, uncaring if she would follow.
"I fought in my war, I ended it. You can join me when you feel like helping."
Without another wasted moment, I walked outside, preparing for the inevitable fight ahead of me.
(Back with Percy)
Weird thing about military schools: the kids go absolutely nuts when there's a special event and they get to be out of uniform. I guess it's because everything's so strict the rest of the time, they feel like they've got to overcompensate or something.
There were black and red balloons all over the gym floor, and guys were kicking them in each other's faces or trying to strangle each other with the crepe-paper streamers taped to the walls.
Girls moved around in football huddles, the way they always do, wearing lots of makeup and spaghetti-strap tops and brightly colored pants and shoes that looked like torture devices. Every once in a while they'd surround some poor guy like a pack of piranhas, shrieking and giggling, and when they finally moved on, the guy would have ribbons in his hair and a bunch of lipstick graffiti all over his face.
Some of the older guys looked more like me—uncomfortable, hanging out at the edges of the gym and trying to hide, like any minute they might have to fight for their lives. Of course, in my case, it was true...
"There they are." Grover nodded toward a couple of younger kids arguing in the bleachers. "Bianca and Nico di Angela"
The girl wore a floppy green cap, like she was trying to hide her face. The boy was obviously her little brother. They both had dark silky hair and olive skin, and they used their hands a lot as they talked. The boy was shuffling some kind of trading cards.
His sister seemed to be scolding him about something. She kept looking around like she sensed something was wrong.
Annabeth said, "Do they... I mean, have you told them?"
Grover shook his head. "You know how it is. That could put them in more danger. Once they realize who they are, their aura comes into existence.
He looked at me, and I nodded. I'd never really understood what half-bloods "smell" like to monsters and satyrs, but I knew that your scent could get you killed. And the more powerful a demigod you became, the more you smelled like a monster's lunch.
"So let's grab them and get out of here," I said. I started forward, but Annabeth put her hand on my shoulder.
The vice-principal, Dr. Thorn had slipped out of a doorway near the bleachers and was standing near the di Angelo siblings. He nodded coldly in our direction. His blue eyes seemed to glow.
Judging from his expression, I guessed Thorn hadn't been fooled by Annabeth's trick with the Mist after all. He suspected who we were. He was just waiting to see why we were here.
"Don't look at the kids," Thalia ordered. "We have to wait for a chance to get them. We need to pretend we're not interested in them. Throw him off the scent."
"How?"
"There are three powerful half-bloods here, even if Armani and Thalia aren't with us. Our presence should confuse him. Mingle. Act natural. Do some dancing. But keep an eye on those kids."
"Dancing?" I asked.
Annabeth nodded. "Let's dance."
"But I can't dance!"
"You can if I'm leading," Annabeth said. "Come on, goat boy."
Grover yelped as Annabeth grabbed his hand and led him onto the dance floor.
With them gone I was left to think to myself, specifically how I had pulled Armani into this mess.
I grimaced outwardly at the memories.
I knew Armani had to be a demigod for at least a few years, I could feel her presence, it permeated everything, it was impossible to describe. It felt like she was nature itself.
I had approached her about it over a year ago now, she hadn't been too fussed over it, saying she had expected it and such. Although she warned me if I even mentioned her at camp, I was dead meat.
Something about child soldiers and fighting battles that weren't for her.
This time I hadn't had the choice of leaving her out, so I asked. One thing led to another and-
I heard a loud bang, startling me out of my thoughts, I scanned the gym quickly looking for the source of the noise.
My gaze landed on the gymnasium doors, close to where thorn and the di Angelos had been. The bleachers. The two half-blood kids, Bianca and Nico, were no longer there. The door next to the bleachers was swinging. Dr. Thorn was nowhere in sight.
Instead of waiting for the others, I took off through the door, uncapping Riptide as I did so, it's weight uneven in my hand.
As I ran through the halls, I saw something that chilled my blood.
About fifty feet away, lying on the floor, was the floppy green cap Bianca di Angelo had been wearing. Near it were a few scattered trading cards. Then I caught a glimpse of Dr. Thorn.
He was hurrying out a door at the opposite end of the gym, steering the di Angelo kids by the scruffs of their necks, like kittens.
I still couldn't see Annabeth or Grover, but I knew I couldn't wait any longer.
I could handle this myself, I gripped Riptide harder and ran after Dr. Thorn.
The door led into a dark hallway. I heard sounds of scuffling up ahead, then a painful grunt. I readied Riptide.
I jogged down the corridor, but when I got to the other end, no one was there. I opened the door and found myself back in the main entry hall. I was completely turned around. I didn't see Dr. Thorn anywhere, but there on the opposite side of the room were the di Angelo kids.
They stood frozen in horror, staring right at me.
I advanced slowly, lowering the tip of my sword. "It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you."
They didn't answer. Their eyes were full of fear. This wasn't right.
Where was Dr. Thorn? Maybe he'd sensed the presence of Riptide and retreated. Monsters hated celestial bronze weapons.
"My name's Percy," I said, trying to keep my voice level. "I'm going to take you out of here, get you somewhere safe."
Bianca's eyes widened. Her fists clenched. Only too late did I realize what her look meant. She wasn't afraid of me. She was trying to warn me.
I whirled around and only to come face-to-face with a fast black object, pain exploded in my shoulder. A force along the lines of a huge hand yanked me backward and threw me into a wall.
I jabbed with my sword, striking something, and a small grunt of pain was heard, but other than that, nothing.
A cold laugh echoed through the hall.
"Yes, Perseus Jackson," Dr. Thorn said. His accent mangled the J in my last name. "I know who you are."
I tried to free my shoulder. My coat and shirt were pinned to the wall by some kind of spike—a black dagger-like projectile about a foot long. It had grazed the skin of my shoulder as it passed through my clothes, and the cut burned. I'd felt something like this before.
Poison.
I forced myself to concentrate. I would not pass out.
A dark silhouette now moved toward us. Dr. Thorn stepped into the dim light. He still looked human, but his face was ghoulish. He had perfect white teeth and his brown/blue eyes reflected the light of my sword.
"Well you certainly have the tall, dark, ugly look down don't you?" I quipped, trying to buy a little bit of time.
I was an idiot.
Thorn either didn't hear my words or just ignored them. "Thank you for coming out of the gym," he said. "I hate middle school dances."
I tried to swing my sword again, but he was just out of reach.
A whistling sound pierced the air as a second projectile shot from somewhere behind Dr. Thorn. He didn't appear to move. It was as if someone invisible were standing behind him, throwing knives. Next to me, Bianca yelped. The second thorn impaled itself in the stone wall, a quarter of an inch from her face.
"All three of you will come with me," Dr. Thorn said. "Quietly. Obediently. If you make a single noise, if you call out for help or try to fight, I will show you just how accurately I can throw."
I didn't know what kind of monster Dr. Thorn was, but he was fast.
Maybe I could defend myself if I could get my shield activated. All that it would take was a touch of my wristwatch.
But defending the di Angelo kids was another matter. I needed help, and there was only one way I could think to get it. I closed my eyes.
"Armani, where are you?"
"What are you doing, Jackson?" hissed Dr. Thorn. "Keep moving!"
I opened my eyes and kept shuffling forward. "It's my shoulder," I lied, trying to sound miserable, which wasn't hard. "It burns."
"Bah! My poison causes pain. It will not kill you. Walk!"
Thorn herded us outside, and I tried to concentrate. I pictured Armani's face. I focused on my feelings of fear and danger.
Last summer, Armani had established a mental link between us. She'd claimed it was only for emergencies, even if she used it to check on me while I wasn't around. We should still be linked, but I'd never tried to initiate contact before. I didn't even know if it would work.
After a second with no response, I stopped trying as hard, but not stopping completely.
'Is there too much Natural Energy around here?'
A lot of Armani's powers relied on Nature Energy and how much there was, I wasn't sure what it was or how it worked. Armani just told me too much or too little could affect a wide range of her abilities.
Thorn continued shoving us into the woods. We took a snowy path dimly lit by old-fashioned lamplights. My shoulder ached. The wind blowing through my ripped clothes was so cold that I felt like I was on that beach all over again-
"There is a clearing ahead," Thorn said. "We will summon your ride."
"What ride?" Bianca demanded. "Where are you taking us?"
"Silence, you insufferable girl!" Thorn snarled, slapping her across the face, sending her spiraling into the snow.
"Hey!'" Nico shouted. His voice quivered, but I was impressed that he had the guts to say anything at all.
'Impressive, but very stupid.
Dr. Thorn made a growling sound that definitely wasn't human. It made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck, but I forced myself to keep walking and pretend I was being a good little captive. Meanwhile, I kept reaching out with my thoughts, calmly as I could, just like I was told to do.
"One day these exercises could save your arse, perce, don't let all your sister's teaching go to waste yeah?"
"Alright, Armani, I could really use some backup right now."
"Halt," Thorn said.
The woods had opened up. We'd reached a cliff overlooking the sea. At least, I sensed the sea was down there, hundreds of feet below. I could hear the waves churning and I could smell the cold salty froth. But all I could see was mist and darkness.
Dr. Thorn pushed us toward the edge. I stumbled, and Bianca caught me.
"Thanks," I murmured.
"What is he?" she whispered. "How do we fight him?"
"I... I'm working on it."
"I'm scared," Nico mumbled. He was fiddling with something—a little metal toy soldier of some kind.
"Stop talking!" Dr. Thorn said. "Face me!"
We turned.
Thorn's two-tone eyes glittered hungrily. He pulled something from under his coat. At first I thought it was a switchblade, but it was only a phone. He pressed the side button and said, "The package—it is ready to deliver."
There was a garbled reply, and I realized Thorn was in walkie-talkie mode. This seemed way too modern and creepy—a monster using a mobile phone.
I glanced behind me, wondering how far the drop was.
Dr. Thorn laughed. "By all means, Son of Poseidon. Jump! There is the sea. Save yourself."
"What did he call you?" Bianca muttered.
"I'll explain later," I said.
"You do have a plan, right?"
I ignored her, "I may be dumb, but I'm not stupid you overgrown scorpion!"
"Armani I swear to god-"
I would never survive the fall, even if I avoided the rocks that were surely at the bottom. The impact would render me useless for a long time, not something I could afford now.
"I would kill you before you ever reached the water," Dr. Thorn said as if reading my thoughts. "You do not realize who I am, do you?"
A flicker of movement behind him, and another missile whistled so close to me that it nicked my ear. Something had sprung up behind Dr. Thorn—like a catapult, but more flexible... almost like a tail.
"Unfortunately," Thorn said, "you are wanted alive, if possible. Otherwise, you would already be dead."
"Who wants us?" Bianca demanded. "Because if you think you'll get a ransom, you're wrong. We don't have any family. Nico and I..." Her voice broke a little.
"We've got no one but each other."
"Aww," Dr. Thorn said. "Do not worry, little brats. You will be meeting my employer soon enough. Then you will have a brand-new family."
"Luke," I said. "Only an Idiot would work for Luke, although that fits you pretty well."
Dr. Thorn's mouth twisted with distaste when I said the name of my old enemy—a former friend who'd tried to kill me several times. "You have no idea what is happening, Perseus Jackson. I will let the General enlighten you. You are going to do him a great service tonight. He is looking forward to meeting you."
"The General?" I asked. Then I realized I'd said it with a French accent. "I mean... who's the General?"
Thorn looked toward the horizon. "Ah, here we are. Your transportation."
I turned and saw a light in the distance, a searchlight over the sea. Then I heard the chopping of helicopter blades getting louder and closer.
"Where are you taking us?" Nico said.
"You should be honored, my boy. You will have the opportunity to join a great army! Just like that silly game you play with cards and dolls."
"They're not dolls! They're figurines! And you can take your great army and—"
"Now, now," Dr. Thorn warned. "You will change your mind about joining us, my boy. And if you do not, well... There are other uses for half-bloods. We have many monstrous mouths to feed. The Great Stirring is underway."
"The Great what?" I asked. Anything to keep him talking while I tried to recover.
Armani had theorized I could draw on the water particles in the air to heal my wounds, and use them for an almost infinite stamina boost.
But it was too cold, it was taking longer to draw from the air than I had and-
"The stirring of monsters." Dr. Thorn smiled evilly. "The worst of them, the most powerful, are now waking. Monsters that have not been seen in thousands of years. They will cause death and destruction the likes of which mortals have never known. And soon we shall have the most important monster of all—the one that shall bring about the downfall of Olympus!"
"Okay," Bianca whispered to me. "He's completely nuts."
"We have to jump off the cliff," I told her quietly. "Into the sea."
"Oh, super idea. You're completely nuts, too."
I never got the chance to argue with her, because just then a bright silver flash and a familiar voice were heard, almost a whisper.
"iptámenos lýkos: Level Zero"
I smiled, knowing we were as good as saved.
I stood up tentatively, peaking to look at Thorn, "Oh, you're screwed now, man.
In front of us was none other than Armani, holding her gilded sword with her silver Haori glowing in the moonlight.
She turned slightly to me, "Sorry I'm late Perce, I saw a black cat in my path and I had to take a long way around."
Authors notes:
(iptámenos lýkos) - Dashing Wolf God: A form of short-range teleportation using nature energy (TBE)
TBE: To be explained.
Thank to whoever actually read through this in its entirety, I've been debating for months on whether to upload these projects or not. My friends finally convinced me to do so, and now here we are! :)
I'm gonna try and post once-twice a week, and I have most of the outline already planned out for this story.
I guarantee no one will see where this story is heading, but I'm trying something that hasn't been done before. With the first of this series(this entire 'book') completely diverging from any canon.
I also intend to further delve into powers and scaling in this universe, no, there won't be any planet busters or anything. That would be really dumb. But I do intend to make the main characters fully tap into their powers. As they don't function the same way in my story, for example, no one will be scared when Percy uses his full powers. (like Annabeth.) Concerned, yes. Scared, no.
As for Armani herself, things surrounding her are gonna be very nutty. One may ask where she even got all this knowledge...? Only time shall tell.
And lastly, This is gonna be super dark in some spots, with many things being left unexplained until later. There will also be fluff later down the line, however, don't expect this to start until much later.
There are four main characters: Percy, Zoe, Thalia, and Armani(OC), The ships are as follows: PercyxZoe and ThaliaxArmani.
If that isn't your thing, you are free to leave this story and never touch it again, this is the vision I set out with, and the one I will finish.
I appreciate constructive criticism, but I understand that I won't always get that. I just ask that people try to keep it civil.
In the future, the author's notes will not be this long, with that being said. I hope you have a nice day! :)