Disable the Hand
This is DelayedInspiration, signing back on for now. It's been almost two months, and I don't care. We're back, and the plan is to roll through some exposition and jump into the Third Life arc.
Without further ado, Percy's teaching skills!
Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or AC
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Inspired by historical events and an over-active imagination, this work of fiction was designed, developed, and produced by a single-cultural tea of one religious faith and belief, sexual orientation, and gender identity.
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Late September to early June was a long time. Roughly as long as it takes for a human baby to develop inside the womb. More importantly, it was more than enough time for Percy to whip everyone's collective ass into shape.
It was a rough start though.
"Good afternoon, everyone," Percy smiled. "My name is Percy Jackson, and form this point forward until I dee otherwise, I will be teaching you about how to be Assassins."
Muffled laughter rippled through the thirty-nine assembled men and women.
"You?" one bold individual stepped forward. He was a lithe man, a swimmer, medium in height, with a generous amount of facial hair and shortly cut hair on the top of his head.
Lou was off to the side, holding her Husky puppy, Kira, in her arms. Kira growled at the man, though her growls were not loud.
"What are you? Eleven? Twelve?"
"Thirteen."
"Ooooh, my bad," he said with exaggerated hand motions. "You hear that? Our teacher is thirteen."
"Stand down!" William barked.
Percy raised a hand. "Peace. What is your name, son?"
"Blake Rodgers."
"Come forward, then, Mr. Rodgers, and demonstrate your superiority."
"What?" Blake blinked, now confused.
Percy smiled. "Come and fight me."
Blake hesitated, and now the whole congregation was uneasy. Sure, children were known for their overestimation of themselves, but the vibe all of them were getting from this boy was not one of arrogance. One Assassin overcame her anxiety and said, "Come on, Blake. Rough the kid up a little and let's get on with this."
Blake had six inches on Percy's 5'3, and probably thirty pounds, but he was unbalanced now. Then he hocked up a loogie and dirtied the ground. He raised both his fists and took three hard steps forward into Percy's guard…and he wasn't sure after that.
There was a blur of motion, a feeling like a baseball colliding with his lower jaw at sixty-five miles an hour, and then the unforgiving solid earth.
Percy lowered his arm back to his side, his smile never wavering at the stunned crowd before him. "Now, can anyone tell me what Mr. Rodger's mistake was?"
Silence reigned until Percy pointed directly at someone. "You there. Name?"
"A-Ah, um…"
"Ms. Um it is then. Now, Ms. Um what was Mr. Rodger's mistake?"
"…he underestimated his opponent…?"
"Very good. That leads us into Lesson 1: never underestimate your opponent. I don't care if it's an autistic monkey or a vegetable in a wheelchair. Overconfidence kills. Now, I need to get a gauge on everyone's physical capabilities…let's go for a run!"
That's how Percy learned that everyone's cardio needed work, along with their hand-to-hand, knife-throwing, climbing, assassinating techniques, and stealth.
No one had a problem with learning how to kick ass, free-climb anything, be like a ninja, or kill quietly, but there was frustration with the knives.
Targets had been set up, and generous amounts of knives were provided for everyone. The exercise was being met with limited success, as where Percy had shown the proper technique and demonstrated, there was still trouble with getting the wrist right, never mind the accuracy part. Knives were slamming into the targets at random places, bouncing off, getting stuck, or missing completely.
One Assassin, an older teen named Brian Court, threw his final knife and watched it ricochet off to the side…just like every other knife he had thrown. His howl of frustration was heard by all.
By this point, Percy had earned respect, and Brian showed it.
"Sir, why are we throwing knives? We live in a world of guns and buttons. All the Templars have to do is press a button and we're dead."
Percy nodded. "A fair question. Does anyone have a preliminary answer?"
"Throwing knives are an Assassin tradition?"
"Easy to conceal?"
That was all Percy got, and he just nodded. "Both are practical answers, but not the one I'm looking for. Brian, go down range and put your hand on the target."
Brian paled. "…sir?"
Percy gave him a hard look. When in teaching mode, and not asking for questions, being questioned was unappreciated. "Put your hand on that target, son."
Brian gulped and ran to do as instructed. Hesitantly, he put his hand over the bullseye. Everyone watched with apprehension, recognizing this scene from elsewhere. Percy took a knife and hurled it.
"YOW!"
Brian cradled his hand against him. "Ack-! Augh-!"
"You alright, son?"
"I think you might have broken a bone, sir," Brian gasped.
Percy had hit the palm of the teen's hand with the blunt end of the knife. On purpose.
"Indeed, I did. Now then, everyone, do you think Mr. Brian can press a button with a disabled hand?"
There were muttered No's and head shakes, and Percy forged on.
"Your enemy cannot hit the button, if you disable his hand. Beyond that, can anyone tell me why the enemy hitting the button in the first place is very, very bad?"
This time, there were no answers, until Desmond spoke up. "Never compromise the Brotherhood. If we're being shot at, that means we've been compromised, and if we've been compromised, that means we either screwed up, or we're up against someone better than we are."
"Couldn't have said it better myself. Do we see why knife throwing is crucial now?"
"We can use it to neutralize people shooting at us," Blake answered.
"Very good. As you were, ladies and gentlemen."
Of course, some Assassins had better learning curves than their peers, and one of them let it go to her head. Lily Jaures was that individual, and she had learned not to underestimate her opponents, which lead to many victories, victories that went to her head. The humility she possessed extended to the fact that she couldn't beat Percy (no one could beat Percy), and that was it.
She couldn't beat Lou Ellen, either, but Lou Ellen didn't participate in fights. She was the weird girl off to the side that was always holding a puppy.
Anyway, Percy needed to find a way to curb the woman, as her attitude was vexing to the other Assassins, and Percy knew for a fact that students like Lily were prone to dying very quickly, something he wanted to avoid as both a teacher, Mentor, and what basically amounted to a general.
And so he set up a week-long exercise of air-assassination tag where the ones he chose had to tag their peers by way of falling on them. Once tagged, you got to join the others above and finish tagging the rest. Last one untagged got a prize. Lily was chosen as one to have to be looking up.
She did a good job of dodging and avoiding places that would put her in danger, but she was tagged out…but not by any of the Assassins.
"Excellent technique, Kira," Percy praised the puppy.
Lou Ellen's pet yapped excitedly, wagging her tail with her tongue hanging out of her mouth. She was sitting on the downed Lily's face.
"Off you go, girl. Back to your mommy."
Kira yapped again and scampered away to wear she smelled Lou Ellen's scent.
Percy leaned down to be eye-to-eye with the stunned Lily. "Congratulations. You were just air-assassinated by a puppy."
The nearby Assassins snickered at Lily's misfortune.
After that incident, Ms. Jaures was much humbler about her abilities.
As Percy taught, he also learned. The Modern-day Templar escaped him. Abstergo Industries escaped him. However, William knew the enemy well.
"They're into everything. Medicine, weapons, machines, teaching, trains, cars, planes, boats, politics, drugs, crime, government, commodities, food, video games, books, movies, media, the Internet, CCTV. Put it this way: the list of things Abstergo hasn't dipped their hands in is way shorter than the list of things they have."
William was grave and serious, while Percy was just staring at him flatly. "So they're your stereotypical evil conglomerate."
William frowned at how the enemy was being so underplayed. "Yes, I suppose, but-"
"But nothing, William. The Templars have always been better equipped, with their armies and their technology, and yet we have never been eradicated. We've endured for centuries, and we will continue to do so today, and tomorrow, and for centuries after. The task before us is no different than the task previous. We will bring them down with superior tactics, superior ability, and superior minds."
William was awe-struck by the speech, and the determination and certainty in Percy's eyes and voice and posture and demeanor. It was yet another reminder to the older man that he wasn't dealing with an idealistic child. He was dealing with a highly experienced Master Assassin that had spent most of his life fighting against the Templar, and he knew damn well what he was talking about.
Now emboldened by the words of a thirteen-year-old boy, William nodded strongly.
"Never lose faith, my friend. We will win, just as good always triumphs over evil."
"Yes, Mentor."
While Percy was excelling at teaching his students, exponentially increasing their stamina, martial arts, technique, and ability, he was also furthering his personal relationships with those around him, particularly Desmond and Lou Ellen.
Percy was enjoying some down time up in his room, reading his Bible on the bed, when there was a soft knock at his door.
"Come in."
Desmond came through and shook his head. "After all these years, you're still reading that storybook."
Percy's lips quirked up slightly. "God, forgive my brother for his blasphemous comments. He is ignorant and a fool."
"If he truly cared so much, then may he strike me down where I stand."
Desmond stood there, arms wide, and Percy watched him vigilantly. After a few seconds, Desmond shrugged. "Guess he doesn't care so much."
"He does. That's why you're still alive."
"Whatever, Faris."
"Good to see you too, Altaїr."
Desmond grinned and then a light appeared in his eye, a light Percy knew all too well.
"Desmond, don't you dare-"
The descendent of the Ibn-La'Ahad family launched himself at the reincarnation of the youngest Ibn-La'Ahad brother, only for the latter to roll away. Desmond flopped unceremoniously onto the bed, and the chase was on. Percy darted about the room, Desmond's larger size and longer reach giving him just a slight advantage in the small room against Percy's reflexes and speed.
They both had grins on their faces as they played, and the younger let himself be caught. Desmond dug his fingers into Percy sides, mercilessly triggering the nerves there. Just like old times, when they were boys in another life.
Minutes later, both of them breathing heavily after their fun and resting on the bed, Percy smiled slightly.
"Hello again, alakh alakber."
"Alakh alsagheer. Those were some strange dreams, but I know what they mean now. I'll try not to embarrass you too much."
"Don't forget who's the Mentor here, brother dearest."
"And don't forget who's older, dearest brother."
"Uh, me, because I'm Faris and Vergil, and I have all of their memories and experiences, combined with my own, and all of those years together technically make me eighty six, which makes me way older than you, you nineteen-year-old mess."
"Technically doesn't count. I am still older than you."
"And dumber. By a lot."
"The extent of your education is elementary school."
"You dropped out of high school to work in a bar."
"You…" Desmond was grasping at straws now. "You didn't even get through junior high."
"That's because I'm training forty men and women how to be professional killers in accordance with a centuries' old Creed, while also having education in arithmetic, science, anatomy, and philosophy from scholars and teachers of the Third Crusade and the Renaissance eras, as well as decades of being a Master Assassin. I have everything I need for this life."
"…I never could beat you in arguments."
"I keep telling you that if you read the Bible, you'll get the wisdom to keep up."
"I have no interest in a book of fairytales."
"Then I get to keep beating you~," Percy singsonged.
Desmond made a sound between a frustrated growl and a defeated moan.
On Lou Ellen's end of things, Percy had been up in his room, arms crossed. The past two weeks had been difficult. For a reason he couldn't put his thumb on, attitudes were sour, tensions were high, fights broke out between the Assassins, and Percy had to routinely raise his voice, something he rarely had to do as Vergil.
A knock at his door prompted verbal permission, and the witch girl entered, her puppy absent.
"Hey," Lou Ellen said.
Percy just hummed.
"You okay?"
"No. We've hit a rough patch and I don't know why, and since I don't know why, I don't know how to get past it."
Lou's mouth became set in a line, as she didn't have an answer either. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Percy's Bible on his nightstand. A layer of dust on it.
"Percy…when was the last time you read your Bible?"
The boy went still, but not in some kind of epiphany. He turned, "You cannot be serious? What's happening right now has nothing to do with me not reading the Bible."
"…you're right, my mistake."
Lou stood next to Percy and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. She pulled him softly, and when he turned to look at her questioningly, she bitch slapped him with enough force to send him to the floor.
"Are you out of your mind!?" Lou screamed. "It literally has everything to do with you not reading the Bible! You of all people should know that, Percy! Goodness, how any times has someone had God's favor, only to lose it because of something stupid, like beating the rock, or getting a freaking haircut. Man, how stupid would it be for you, who passed the Trial of Job and received God's blessing for it, to lose that blessing because you let dust collect on the Bible!?"
Percy was staring at Lou in wide-eyed shock at her admonition, an angry red handprint on his cheek. Usually with a speech like that, the one being talked down to would become heated and rush to defend themselves, returning fire. But with Percy, a speech like that hit home and resonated deeply.
"I feel dumb…I'm also reminded of Claudia. She used to scold me for things like that."
"Well, I am your girlfriend," Lou said with a grin, hands on her hips.
That same night, the witch crawled in Percy's bed, leaving her own room. Percy didn't mind; he even changed positions to where they could cuddle, which was made him frown.
"Lou, I thought you didn't wear diapers anymore."
"Not during long trips…still at night, though…" she mumbled, still half asleep.
"I thought you said Kira wakes you up before you have an accident?"
"She does."
There was the feeling of the sheets and blankets being pulled, and the Husky puppy settled down at the end of a bed and let out a little high-pitched yawn before curling into a little ball of floof.
"But Satan is a thing, and he could make Kira really, really sleepy to where she doesn't wake me up…you know, test of faith and all that. Besides, do you want to take the chance that I'll pee all over you?"
"Fair enough…why are you here?"
"Because you are my boyfriend, and I am cold."
Percy was sleepy enough to where he didn't really want to question any further, and so he just accepted the situation as it was. Come morning, he needed a cold shower, and Lou didn't need a change.
There were more stories of course, lots of fluffy little things between the brothers and the lovers, and lots of stories between the teacher and the students, but only three such stories were truly worthy of note.
The first story was when Percy had finally worked up the nerve to ask William about what happened to the Cavaliere line after the Sack of Rome.
"I don't have descendants somewhere in the world, do I?" Percy asked with half a smile, clearly uncertain and apprehensive of the answer.
The look on William's face did not inspire confidence, nor did the man's response to the question. "Let's go upstairs."
Once upstairs, Percy asked, very serious, and without a hint of nonsense about him, "What happened to my family, William."
It was not phrased as a question, but as a command, one that the father of Desmond followed promptly. He told Percy of how Claudia fell sick with grief for the loss of her husband and son, and died twenty four days after the Sack of Rome, and of how the sisters Christina and Maria became members of the Assassins, and of how Maria failed in her mission to prevent the death of Mayan emperor Atahualpa at the hands of Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizzaro Gonzalez, dying a day after her return to Rome due to disease, and of how Christina tried to preserve the bloodline, only for her lover to abandon her. To end his recounting of history, William told Percy of Christina's death during a failed assassination of Ivan the Terrible.
"I…I-I s-see…" Percy choked. "I need to be alone for a little bit."
William nodded and left, shutting the door behind him. Then he practically jumped down the stairs and found Lou Ellen. She blinked in surprise, but no one could get a word out before very heavy rain began pounding the surrounding eighty miles.
Lou became grim and sad, piecing together what had happened. "You told him about his wife and daughters."
"He needs you right now. I know that sounds strange because you're both thirteen, but he-"
"I know. I sleep with him."
"You what?"
"Oh, relax. He's a devout Christian, and I'm a follower. We're not going to do that until we get married. Besides, we can't do it anyway. I haven't had my first period yet."
After that landslide of information that several had heard as this conversation had taken place in the living room where many were gathered to escape the cold and stinging rain, Lou Ellen bounded up the stairs to find her boyfriend sobbing into his hand with his other fingers dug in deep in the wall.
After a straight hour of crying, Percy exhausted himself and crashed in Lou's arms. After three days of being holed up to mourn, he kicked his own ass back in gear, adhering to the words of Shin'en, and bolstering himself with this knowledge: Claudia, Giovanni, Christina, and Maria were all in a better place, all of them free of the earthly torments, and all of them patiently waiting on him. It was also a good thing that he didn't have any living descendants, as there were too many possibilities of just what they would be like.
Would they be average people, or Templars, or Assassins, or business people, or politicians, or military, or criminals, or school teachers, university teachers, retail managers, terrorists, etc. and knowing that he did not have any descendants through the Cavaliere line was a relief, because all of those possibilities were moot.
It would've also been a very awkward meeting.
The second great instance of note was when one Assassin, a spunky girl in her early twenties by the name of Marissa, acted on what she had heard Lou Ellen say: "He's a devout Christian."
It was during the downtime of the day that Marissa had knocked on Percy's door, and went in when given permission.
"So, it's true," she said upon seeing the Bible her Mentor set down. "You are a Christian. You believe in God and all that."
The corner of Percy's mouth slightly went up, for he recognized the coming conversation. "Yes," he said simply at Marissa's observation.
"You know it's not true, right? Jesus was a good man, teaching about forgiveness and all that, but he didn't have any special powers. He had a Shroud of Eden."
That term was new.
"Shroud of Eden?"
"It's one of the First Civilization Artifacts, like the Apple of Eden. It heals people. Jesus used its powers to bring back Lazarus, heal the blind, fix the lame, and the disciples used the Shroud to bring Jesus back to life after the Templars had him killed. So, the stuff behind Jesus' miracles wasn't the power of some magic sky man, but a First Civilization Artifact. Therefore: God's not real."
To her credit, Marissa had no smug look, nor did she have a superior tone of voice. She maintained a level of calm and spoke academically, like reciting a research paper. Unfortunately for her, Percy already had such a debate with Ezio…and literally dozens of other Assassins.
"To counter your information on Jesus, let me ask you: from where did you glean this information?"
Marissa met his eye. "From the Templar archives. We were able to hack them, and we took dozens of megabytes of data. In some of the stuff we got out with, the truth of Jesus was there."
"The Templar archives," Percy echoed with a grin. "We are talking about the same Templars who seek world dominion by destroying religion, capitalism, and governments, yes? The same Templars who seek to remove all division and free will from mankind, right?"
"…right."
"So, if the Templars' goal is to destroy free will and end religion, does it not make sense that a tactic they would use would be to discredit religious leaders like Jesus?"
"Yes…but that doesn't mean the Templars are wrong about Jesus. There are Shrouds of Eden. The Frye twins Jacob and Evie, their little brother Peter, along with Henry Green, fought the Templar Grand Master of the British Rite in London, Crawford Starrick, over a Shroud, and they killed him."
Percy felt that response was way over-detailed, especially that title, but he moved. "So because there are Shrouds of Eden, and because the Templars said so, Jesus used a Shroud?"
"…we only got dozens of megabytes. There's more information on the servers. Besides, you can't disprove Jesus didn't use a Shroud."
"Really? In all the historical documentation for Jesus, is there ever a mention of Jesus using a cloth to heal people?"
Marissa was silent.
Percy continued. "Even if Jesus was using a Shroud, that doesn't explain how he turned water into wine, or fed five thousand people with five loaves of bread and two fish. And consider this, my student: what if the Shroud was but one of many of God's gifts to Jesus?"
"…then that would mean Jesus' healing came from the Shroud…"
"And how did Jesus get the Shroud?"
"From God…"
"Therefore, by proxy…"
"…the healing powers came from God…"
"Precisely," Percy smiled.
Marissa's brow creased. "But the Pieces of Eden disprove God, because the Pieces were made by the Isu, the precursor race that made man."
"Ah~, and now we get to Those Who Came Before, and my own limited knowledge. I do not know how the Isu came to be, or how they fit into the equation, but I do know this is fact: God made everything we know, and everything we do not know. Our failure as human beings to grasp the full extent of the universe is not a measure of the existence of God, but a measure of our limitations as earthly creatures."
Marissa spent a long time trying to come up with something to say to that one, and when she couldn't get anything off the ground, she huffed. "Dammit. You are thirteen. Why is it so hard to get a rise out of you?"
Percy snorted. "Little girl, I was married for thirty years and raised three children while leading a continental-wide operation of underground killers while also managing a multi-country network of spies and informants on top of managing the economy of a city while practicing the Christian faith in the Catholic capital of the world while simultaneously teaching teenagers and adults the arts of assassination and espionage at the same time I was organizing operations between thieves, mercenaries, and courtesans while also being a therapist and religious consulate to anyone who needed me."
Percy took a breath, and then fixed Marissa with a very amused look. "You've got a long way to go before you'll be able to get a rise out of me."
Drowning in questions yet completely defeated and demoralized for a reason she couldn't explain, Marissa trudged away.
The third and final instance of note was Lou Ellen William's kickstart into puberty….Well, not really, as that would be just be plain weird, but it was the grand catalyst for the third event, and that event was the ending of the secrets.
That fateful morning, Lou Ellen and Percy woke up, and Lou immediately sighed.
"What's wrong?" the Mentor asked.
"Had an accident," the witch replied.
"I see. Do you need any help?"
Lou rolled over enough to where Percy could see her raised eyebrow. "You want to change my diaper?"
"I've changed the diapers of three children in an era where disposable diapers were several centuries away. Yours would hardly be any different, but that's not what I meant by 'help' and you know it."
"Eh, just teasing. In all seriousness though, no. This is the first time in literal months that I wet. It's hardly enough to get me to start cursing and questioning and blaming God for this, especially after I've already got it in my head that the Devil will eventually test me anyway."
"Good to here."
"Yep. Positive attitudes are the best. Now excuse, I'm going to take a bath."
The farm house was rather large, with many bedrooms and bathrooms and spare rooms for whatever purpose was required. As such, Lou and Percy had their own bathroom they could use without concern of having to wait on anyone to get finished. Perks of being the Mentor and the Mentor's girlfriend.
But, just because the two had a room and bathroom all to themselves, did not mean that extremely loud sounds were not heard for a certain distance. I.e. Lou Ellen's very high shriek.
Percy flew from the bed to the hallway, literally breaking the bathroom door as he shattered the hinges, there were several thumps as others came racing from below and down the hall, but as Percy got there first and saw what the problem was, he slammed the door shut and held it place. Then he turned and addressed the Assassins that had gathered with guns and Hidden Blades ready for use.
In a dead serious tone with a dead serious face, Percy said, "All of you leave. Go down and inform the house that everything is under control and the problem has been handled. William, go get Rachel."
While no one was satisfied with that, the abosulte zero tolerance for disobedience in Percy's voice made everyone comply in an instant. Moments later, the woman known as Rachel ascended the stairs, followed by William. Rachel was the oldest woman present, being thirty-eight.
"Thank you, William. Leave us."
The man nodded and left, and Rachel asked, "What's going on?"
And Percy straight up told her. "Lou Ellen has started her period. Her mother isn't around, and her father is attending to his job, so I need you to be the parental guide she needs right now, chiefly the maternal guide."
Rachel looked at him. "You are not a normal thirteen-year-old boy."
"Was your first clue my ability to defeat multiple full-grown adults in physical combat, my outstanding knowledge of the Creed, or my teaching skills? Now get in there and me a mom real fast. Please and thank you."
Rachel nodded and did as instructed.
What followed was a typical thing, with the woman staving off questions concerning the red-stained absorbent undergarment that was sitting in the sink, embracing her full maternal instincts. Percy was probably an even bigger help that Rachel though, as there wasn't a hint of mirth about him.
He was completely serious, completely calm, and completely without judgement. He handled the whole situation with textbook skill and ability, answering all questions asked of him and performing all tasks requested of him immediately and without complaint.
Rachel was deeply impressed, and Lou Ellen was grateful.
Knowing it was going to happen was one thing. Waking up to cold blood that was crusted all over your nether regions was another. That happening and your boyfriend taking it all very seriously and very calmly was something out of this world.
Percy did, after all, have a girlfriend, a wife, and not one, but two daughters in a past life, so he was quite experienced with menstruation.
Come the Fourth Life, he was going to be able to give a detailed rendition about the subject, but that was chapters for a later time.
When the situation calmed down, Rachel asked about the diaper, and Lou admitted to her bedwetting. Rachel took it all in stride, and asked if Lou was going to need more diapers for her bleeding, to which the witch denied and asserted her firm stance on the use of a tampon. Anyway, the true point of all of this was that every girl's period was different, and Lou's period came with extreme overreactions to the tiniest inconveniences.
Which was not good when combined with destructive magical powers.
For example: a younger Assassin was wrestling with Kira and made the puppy yelp when he flicked her little ear. Lou flew off the handle and turned the hapless young man into a dog biscuit that she was going to then feed to the Husky puppy, and Percy very quickly stepped in and told her turn the Assassin back, to which she complied…and she proceeded to break down into a sobbing mess in Percy's arms.
All of this happened in front of the roughly thirty gathered slack-jawed Assassins.
And that to the ending of the secrets.
"I have lied via omission to all of you," Percy said to the whole congregation. "In truth, I am the reincarnation of Faris Ibn-La'Ahad and Vergil Cavaliere, and Lou Ellen is an actual witch."
There was silence, before one Assassin said, "Ha! All of you suckers pay up!"
There were groans and muffled complaints as everyone reached for their wallets and began forking over money to the smug young man by the name of Caleb. When this process was done, Percy raised a brow and uttered one word, "Explain."
"Oh, come on, Mentor," Caleb grinned. "A kid swan-dives from the St. Louis Arch, kicks the butts of half a dozen full-grown Assassins, and starts teaching all of us with more skill and experience than literally any other Assassin today, and Lou has that vibe around her…so we all took bets on who you two really were."
"And you bet specifically that I was the reincarnation of two Masters, and that Lou was a witch?"
"Yes."
"…well done, my student. Now that we have that out of the way, it's time for knife-throwing practice."
And that was show the big reveal went over.
None of the above happened in any particular order, but the holidays were chronological. Halloween came, and Percy asked, "Lou, since it's Halloween, and we're both connected to the supernatural, is there anything that might happen tonight that'll concern us?"
Lou put a hand to her chin in thought. "We might have an evil witch to deal with, like, one of the witches that sold her soul to Satan. Other than that, not really."
"I see."
"Wanna watch Nightmare Before Christmas?"
"Sure."
That night, there were some weird things that happened, like doors opening and closing with a creek, some lights that randomly came on, a few loud sounds, like banging furniture, and all of it took away Lou Ellen's snuggle time. So, with bleary eyes and frizzy hair, the witch girl went stomping out of the bedroom, through the halls, down the stairs, to the basement of the farm house, where she found a haggard old hag on top of a dresser.
To anyone watching the farm house, they would've seen the front door get thrown open, and an old lady go flying out the portal with a scream, a scream that was cut off via a faceplant in the dirt. Then a girl poked her head into the night.
"The power of Christ compels you to stay out!"
Then the door was slammed shut and that was it.
Thanksgiving was much tamer, with the usual feast of pies, cookies, and a turkey, and Percy made sure everyone here made sure that they knew the exact reason why they were taking place in the eating of such a meal. It was the next day, that Percy liked to lose it when the daily news was swamped with reports of Black Friday injuries and madness.
"What…exactly…happened to this country…to where the very next day—hours, even—after people give thanks for the things they already have…they actively injure each other for more things?"
Lou Ellen spread her hands, a rainbow appearing between them. "Corporate America and the death of the meaning of Christmas."
South Dakota rumbled that day.
Christmas was a good day, too.
There eventually came a point where training needed to be turned into experience, and the nearby Rapid City had its fair share of problems. Percy sent his students out to perform missions of his choosing, and return with proof of their accomplishment, while not getting caught or compromising themselves or the Brotherhood.
His training of them showed well, and everything he set before them was accomplished.
Come the beginning of June, Percy had whipped them all into a physical and mental shape the likes of which hadn't been seen in the order for decades, and it was very clear to everyone that training was over, which prompted the big question: what now?
"We expand," Percy said. "The past nine months have been spent shaping your bodies, honing your skills, sharpening your minds, and increasing your knowledge. All of you have demonstrated your ability to me, and I deem all of you to be worthy members of the Assassin Brotherhood. As such, the duty now falls to you to reach out to our brothers and sisters across the globe. We need information before we can act. By the end of the summer, I expect all of you to have detailed reports about our strengths and weaknesses, and those of our enemy."
"What will you be doing, Mentor?" an Assassin asked.
"I have missions of my own to perform."
"…what kind?" was the hesitant question.
"None of you worry about it. What you need to worry about is deciding which Bureau you will be going to, keeping the Assassins there alive, and training them up as I have you. Upon the first of September, I will be finding all of you, and I expect information."
The air in the living room changed, becoming serious. Percy stood a little straighter, and everyone else did as well. Assassins slid off stools and rose from the couches and chairs, and those leaning against the walls became erect.
"We have been dealt a great blow," the Mentor started. "The Templars have risen far above us to attain positions of great power and authority in this world. They have wealth, they have weapons, and they have an army capable of using both. They control the courts and the governments, and they will turn all of society against us, but when other men blindly follow the truth, remember…"
Quoth the Brotherhood, "Nothing is True."
"In the world of today, restrictions bind mankind. It is common knowledge that corporations and their greed run the world governents, and the officials in office bend to these powers for a larger check, and yet no one does anything to put a stop to it. In public, one can be seen assaulting another, while passersby hurry along in the hope to not be involved, for they fear repercussions about themselves. Even the justice systems have become corrupted and tainted, preventing what needs to be done from being done, so when other men are limited by morality or law, remember…"
Quoth the Brotherhood, "Everything is Permitted."
"Remember that our Creed does not command us to be free, but commands us to be wise," said the Mentor. "We work in the dark to serve the light. We are Assassins."
Lou Ellen muttered the word peels, and when the Assassins awoke, they found before them a large table with neatly organized Hidden Blades.
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Percy had not been lying about his own missions. He and Lou had shared a dream, one that involved the satyr Grover fleeing from a massive figure, rambling about powerful nature magic, a poisoned tree, and a failing barrier that protected dozens of children from evil forces.
It was time yet again to become acquainted with the Greeks.
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Oh, that felt splendid to write. Everything was coming smoothly, motivation was there, time was bountiful, and there were no blocks or snags.
Much information in this chapter, with spurts of comedy, seriousness, and lore. I am sorry about the lack of action and fighting and invigorating content, but every once and a while there needs to be a boring exposition chapter that sets up the next chapters.
Now, the great big question about this story that everyone has is just how do the Ones Who Came Before fit into everything? Especially when they are the ones who made mankind, and they existed 80,000 years prior to all of canon, long before the Olympian gods, or even the Egyptian or the Norse, or even the much earlier civilizations of Mesopotamia and Sumer. Not even the Titans go back that far, and PJO canon states that the first humans were all male and born from Gaea (look up Golden Age on the wiki).
So just how does all of it tie together?
Did Gaea make man? Did the OWCB? Did God? What about the Olympians? The Pieces of Eden?
That's kind of the problem, writing about two worlds that have yet to be completed, the lore still piling on. Riordan has yet to fully finish the world of Percy Jackson, as he still has two more books in the Trials of Apollo, and there's not telling what comes next, and never mind Assassin's Creed having no end in sight, with new stuff about the Isu being revealed every game.
In light of that, it makes building a hybrid world with current information difficult, especially when new information comes out that completely undermines everything you have already written.
It's kind of like reading Naruto fics from '03, back when the Akatsuki and Jinchuuriki weren't all fleshed out, and writers took it upon themselves to make them fleshed out, and then you compare those to what we have today and it's just like "That's wrong, dude. The Five-Tails isn't some elemental wolf; it's a dolphin-horse. And the Akatsuki aren't demons; just rogue ninja."
Trust me. Go back through the fandom pages, and you will find fics based on really outdated information and it just makes you feel weird.
Anyway, back to PJO canon next chapter, the Sea of Monsters, with the swashbuckling Third Life arc right in the middle. Since this chapter is out, the poll for Annabeth in Sea Devil is now closed, and most fans have voted in favor of going to Roanapur.
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