Fun storytime, this book series is actually what got me into fanfiction. My English teacher had us read the first few chapters up until 'I Play Pinochle with a Horse' and then had us write little shorts of what we thought the rest of the chapter titles could apply to. I enjoyed doing it so much I went searching online to see if anyone else had ever done anything like this, stumbled across fanfiction, and voila.
For the record, I was entirely off the mark on all accounts.
Yes, they will be reading the chapter titles in this one, because how can I resist?
Important info now, promise, the following chapters will not contain any actual book dialogue, as that has been edited out due to the site's rules. You can read the individual chapters with book context if you request a link to a google doc, or once the fic is complete I can email you the whole thing, it's up to you.
The winds and waves crash together as if the Earth itself is trying to split apart, rain lashing against the surface of churning waters with pure force, the salty spray that covered more than anything, except the sky itself.
Yet underneath the ocean, falling far below into the blackness was a placid, calm kingdom. It was clearly old, with no visible walkways amongst the crumbling buildings. Of course, the eight teenagers who woke up inside the palace had no knowledge of any of this.
Not that Percy would have noticed the difference regardless, if he'd had a mind to. This was hardly the strangest place he'd found himself waking up in, between the wolf den and the Bargain Mart parking lot. The major difference was the people surrounding him. Not all of them, but he felt he should know two of them certainly. They both had dark black hair, but the girl with electric blue eyes held his attention as she came running right towards him with a look of intensity on her face. It was barely enough time to register before she tackled him in a crushing hug.
"Percy! You're alive! Annabeth's been having a cow, where have you been?!"
He had not returned the embrace, but remained tense for a moment. He felt no danger from her like those snake-haired ladies instinctively gave him, but now when he heard Annabeth's name, he grabbed her arms and dislodged her to look in her eyes as he demanded, "Annabeth? You know who she is?"
It was the one and only name he'd woken up knowing, and it was not this girl, did not match the one clear memory he had of her blonde hair and gray eyes kissing him. Nor was it the girl with green-tinged hair staring them all down with something in her hands. It was too dark to make out what she was holding the handles of, but she held it ready like a weapon.
Not Annabeth dropped her arms and fell into an easy fighting stance, a bow with a full stock of arrows appearing out of quite literally nowhere, the silver circlet on her head seemed to glow with power as she sized up the others for the first time. She didn't stand quite in front of Percy, but instead gave him a look of almost concern he didn't draw his own sword, as if she could even know about his ballpoint pen?
Magnus had Hearthstone in a corner with him, not signing, not even moving to try and stay as far away from this as possible. It was all for the concern of his deaf friend though, as he and Percy now watched each other. Annabeth was a common enough name, Magnus thought, surely these random people couldn't be talking about his cousin. He'd sneak back to the streets with his dumpster diving buddy in moments just as soon as that girl with the bow stopped threatening to kill them.
Nico had been trying to go forward if Will hadn't caught his wrist and gave him a pleading look to do the same and stay back, distracting him, while Jason stood frozen with his own blank mind. Unlike the guy she was clinging to, he watched the girl with indecision. Even having no memory or clue what was going on either, he'd swear she felt familiar to him-
The ocean began to move around them, swirling bubbles without disturbing the nonexistent light source. Percy wasn't concerned, he'd felt least unsure of everyone despite having zero knowledge for how secure he felt in the salty embrace of the sea, but the others seemed to realize for the first time they shouldn't even be able to breathe.
A figure began to appear in their midst, not quite solidifying into shape, though nobody dared test that theory as they sensed the presence of the Titan amongst them. More powerful than even the gods they knew, his aura sizzled the very oxygen in the air he gave them from the water. Faintly, like searching through a murky swill they could just make out a long green beard and hair, along with the horns of a bull.
"Children of the gods," his voice echoed from everywhere and nothing in his domain. "Your life has been interfered with one too many times for Poseidon to stand idly by in this newest scheme of Hera's. My debt to him for trying to destroy his kingdom in the war will be repaid as I harbor you and your coming decision." A sailfish came into the room from a high window with a Gucci bag dangling from its nose.
Nobody made to grab them.
The fish was lucky it wasn't made into poke' for what it thought at Percy as it dropped its load and swam back out of sight.
That was all the explanation they were going to be given apparently. Attention diverted for the briefest moment to watch the brown satchel float to the ground, by the time they looked back, they were alone again.
"So we're underwater, right?" Will spoke up with an uneasy look at the strangers but smiled at Percy and Thalia. "Hey Perce, wasn't expecting to get dragged into one of your crazy messes."
"Neither was I," he promised. "Who are you?"
"You don't remember Will?" Nico asked, he'd thought Percy knew everybody. He was plenty nervous himself about all of this, the last time the children of the Big Three had all been together had not been a fun adventure.
"I don't know any of you," Percy said with a careful look around to make sure some king crab wasn't going to deliver anything else next. That guy in the corner looked an awful lot like Annabeth...
Thalia was still pointing her arrow tip at the stranger in pink and green as she focused on the other blonde boy with a purple shirt in the dim lighting now holding a coin, but spoke to the ceiling. "You can not just take a Hunter of Artemis!" Then Percy's words finally made her drop her hands as she turned back to face him, her instruments vanishing without a trace once more as she looked more carefully at her friend who did not know he was such.
"Well it looks like everyone could use some introductions," Magnus concluded as he exchanged an uncomfortable look with Hearthstone, "considering we don't even know how we're alive!"
"Weren't you listening?" Alex spoke to him in exasperation. "The gods interfering once more, curse you Loki," she spoke to the shadows and eyed Hearthstone's candy-cane scarf with interest all at once. "Free room and board though," she added as the space around them brightened to a reasonable glow.
The room must be one of his lesser important meeting rooms, it only had gold studded furniture instead of being made of solid precious gems found in the sea. They seemed to be in some kind of circular tower room, the smooth stones were blank white and rose so far above their head they could only just make out a pointed ceiling in the gloom with an opening at the top even Thalia's longest line would have difficulty reaching. The couches were fuzzy and moss green, there were bean bags made of seaweed cheerfully woven together to fit any posture, and the food was mostly kale as far as they could see.
It would have been quaint, if there were a door.
"Who?" Jason demanded of her. "What?" He demanded of the room at large.
"Okay," Thalia waved her hand for silence. She paused for only a moment as she rubbed at her temple in exasperation, but was confident enough her lieutenant wouldn't get the rest of her hunters killed chasing after Lyacon until she got back to focus on this and take charge. "You heard the foam, we've got to deal with the god's whim as usual and get out of here, right? So, let's all agree to not kill each other and get on with that?"
She turned to Percy in concern. "The sooner we get you back to Annabeth and the camp the better." Then she held out her hand. "I'm Thalia."
He only hesitated a moment before grasping her fingers firmly. "Percy, but I take it you knew that." She was no Annabeth, but she was a good presence. She flashed him a grin before turning back to carefully watch the others introduce themselves, noting in particular the one named Jason. He spoke in a calm, even sort of voice as he watched her back. That blonde hair, those blue eyes...but no, her brother was dead.
Alex went next with less than enthusiasm as she tried a bit of the pathetic salad and plopped onto a poof.
Will had to introduce the both of them as Nico was still frowning at Percy like he couldn't believe he really could forget him.
It was Magnus though who was having some rapid silent conversation and not sharing his name at all as he signed with Hearthstone what on Earth could be going on. Thalia was surprised she could follow along, apparently the circlet from Artemis that allowed her to speak all languages while collecting hunters even translated ASL.
He turned back to the others as if his friend's explanation hadn't been all that cracked up. "Wait, how do you say - ? Gods? Are you all nuts?"
"We've got a live one," Will said in exhaustion. "Nico, would you like to give him the speech? I think he hasn't even met his first monster yet." Must be a child of some minor god, he looked old enough that even if he didn't know better he should have some inkling of what was out there as the girl with green hair clearly did while she settled in.
"Lucky him," Nico huffed and finally dislodged his wrist from Apollo's son as he slouched off to the nearest chair, already contemplating shadow traveling out of here at the first available opportunity.
Thalia stepped forward once more, having more than enough practice as she'd had to routinely save half-bloods who hadn't even known they were that yet and even escorted a few boys to camp herself over the summer.
She'd barely begun on the concept of Greek Gods and their move to the western culture when his deaf friend waved his hands and now looked at her like she was just as crazy as Magnus found them.
"What are you on about?" Jason agreed. "Nobody refers to them as their Greek counterparts." The words passed his lips before he even understood why he'd correct her, he had no more clue what he'd call...Jupiter? Zeus? He gazed down at his purple shirt and the tattoo on his forearm with longing.
Silence fell upon them all as if the tons of water around them had suddenly condensed to form an impenetrable barrier even the gods couldn't break apart again.
Alex let out a throaty whistle and popped a kale chip into her mouth. "Looks like someone's got some splaining to do."
Not that I have anything against Trials of Apollo or the Egyptian series, but for now I only have the first ten books and the three Magnus Chase books on my work list, plus the three mini-stories, the Demigod Files. I think fourteen books is enough to be getting on with, don't you think? It's double my HP series and I'm a little nervous already, so let's take this one book at a time. The next chapter will be up tomorrow and updates will proceed every Thursday. I hope you all enjoy!