Rage of a Demigod
AN: Hey there, my dear readers! Man, I'm on a roll with these chapters. I don't know why, but I'm in a Percy Jackson mood these days so that's probably why. Anyway, enjoy!
Also, due to some criticism I got over the summary, I ended up changing it.
Now to reviews.
Gamelover41592: Thanks, but I don't think I did anything deep.
Henry James Locker: Thanks. And the summary is changed.
Bolis67: Yes, a man who is emotionally scarred because he killed his sister by accident and turned into someone who has no problem killing not just monsters but people as well. Yeah, typical teenage highschool drama. Mature rating is because of the violence and the sexual references in it. And if you have a problem OCs being a part of the canon plot, then too bad, this isn't a story for you.
RedHood001: Well, the villains don't usually last long in the Percy Jackson books considering multiple are introduced in each book so I was going for that theme.
I'm thankful you think I pulled this off. And I see that the part where Triton was scheming something didn't really interest you. Well, I suppose it was a less interesting part.
16 Closer And Not At The Same Time
They waited until morning before they began sailing in Queen Anne's Revenge, once again taken by Percy Jackson and with some company. Everyone was tired from the events of last night so they decided to rest, but not before making sure to lock up the surviving pirates, and to also take care of the bodies.
The bodies of the pirates were thrown overboard, an act that was more than satisfying for the former slaves, while the bodies of the deceased slaves were wrapped in spare blankets that they found below. And with the plunder the pirates had, they had enough coins for the eyes, and soon after they were put into two boats. The boats were then set on fire as they were put in the sea to be taken by the waves. It was the best funeral they could have provided.
The next day came, and the new crew woke up. They once again took the oars, but this time they went at their own pace. Percy would have offered to drive the ship as he did two years ago, but his powers were still limited. Luckily his regeneration via water contact still worked.
Right now, Percy was helping clean up the leftover blood from the mutiny. He scrubbed the quarterdeck, the place where he fought Blackbeard. The blood was really annoying to clean as his scrubbing barely seemed to have any effect on it.
He once wished that his powers were working. They would definitely make things easier.
However, as he continued scrubbing, his mind was assaulted by flashbacks from the previous night, especially his duel with Blackbeard. When he gazed at the dried blood he remembered the blood on his own sword, right after he stabbed Blackbeard in the back. Literally.
His hands began shaking as the memory resurfaced. Now that he wasn't under adrenaline like he was last night he began actually thinking about what happened. He actually killed someone. True, the fall may have been what actually did it, but it was Percy's own actions that caused it. Not to mention how long would he have gone on with such a wound.
Bile began piling up in Percy's throat as he quickly stood up, ran to the edge of the boat, and threw up overboard. The others who cleaned the deck looked up to see what's going on, and one of them even went over to Percy.
"Hey, kid, are you alright?" the man asked.
Percy pulled his head back and looked at the man. He was tall, with short blond hair and brown eyes, and like most of the former prisoners, dressed in rags which for men only consisted of pants.
"I'm… I'm fine… now…" Percy said as he cleared his throat. He got a sense of déjà vu, having a similar reaction to when he dreamed about Marcus killing those demigods from his first year at camp.
"Are you sure about that?" the man asked.
"Look, I…"
The man put a hand on Percy's shoulder. "It's alright, I understand, more than you realize," he said with a smile. "The names' Phillip by the way. Or Phil, if you prefer."
Percy gave Phillip a nod as he wiped his lips. "Nice to meet you, Phil," he said. "I'm Percy Jackson."
Phil chuckled. "Nice to meet you as well," he said. "Listen, you look like you need to speak your mind, so why don't the two of us talk?"
"Um… thanks, but…" Percy stammered.
"Let me guess, it's about what happened with cap- I mean Blackbeard," Phil said. Percy sighed and nodded. "Yes, I saw how you finished him off. Taking another human's life… it's not something a kid should be forced to do."
"Maybe, but he killed someone and he almost killed my girlfriend," Percy retorted. "It felt like there was nothing else I could have done."
"Kid, I'm not blaming for killing him. As you said, you had to do it. It was unfair, but sometimes you just have to do things that aren't fair."
"I suppose," Percy said as his hand reached into his pocket and wrapping around his trusted pen. "But… you seem like you speak from experience."
Phil gave a small laugh at that. "Oh, boy, do I. I probably have more experience than I should when it comes to this," he said, confusing Percy a bit. "Well, in case you didn't notice my slip up from earlier, I'll have to confess. I was once a part of Blackbeard's crew."
That statement made Percy's eyes go wide. Of all the things he expected to hear that was not one of them.
"Yeah, I'd be shocked too if I was in your place," Phil said. "You have to understand, from where, and when I was from living was hard. I was an orphan since a young age and couldn't find a proper job, nobody would have me. I was forced to resort to stealing, and I ran from the authorities for a while. I stowed away on a ship to get out of my town and hope to find a better life there.
"The ship I was on was then attacked by pirates, and I was discovered in a box I was hiding in. Blackbeard, who was a captain at this point, himself noticed me and asked who I was, and after I told him my story I guess he saw potential in me and told me I could join his crew. That or I would be taken with other prisoners."
Percy listened to the story intently, interested in Phil's story.
"As you can guess, I wanted to avoid that fate so I joined. During the year I was there, I was forced to kill many people. It wasn't for an altruistic reason like yours, but for pure survival, kill or be killed that sort of thing."
While Percy didn't really like the reason why Phil killed people, he understood and couldn't really blame him. He could only imagine how hard Phil's life was and his desire to make it better.
"So, how did you end up as a slave if you were a part of the crew?" Percy asked.
"Yeah, well, that only happened recently," Phil said. "You see, after we were freed from being guinea pigs and you taking Queen Anne's Revenge, we fought off Circe before taking one of the other ships, however, we didn't have enough people to move them. Our captain then ordered us to kidnap some of the women and girls from the island so they could move our oars. I didn't like that idea since those women obviously weren't physically fit enough for doing it for too long."
"Regardless, we took many of them and chained them up on the oars. I thought that once we get more men we would make them stop, but even when we started stealing from other ships, even after we got back Queen Anne's Revenge, Blackbeard continued having the women row, saying it was vengeance for what happened to us. Then the women started dying, and they begged us to have them stop. Some of us talked to our captain but he ignored us. Regardless of what happened to us, these women weren't responsible. I tolerated having to fight and steal for our survival but this was just unnecessary torture.
"So some of us decided that was enough. I and some of my friends tried to free the women during the cover of night after it was our time to guard them. We were discovered and a fight broke out, much like the one before expect we were outnumbered. There were two young women who I saw try to take on Blackbeard, Hylla and Reyna I believe their names were. Those two were impressive, naturally gifted in fighting, I honestly think those two were demigods. But Blackbeard was also a natural fighter, being a son of Ares and he had far more training and experience, they stood no chance, Hylla was almost decapitated. I was able to tackle Blackbeard and distract him, and the two girls escaped along with some other women, but most of my friends were killed, leaving only me and the other two. Instead of killing us, they put us at the oars. The rest you know."
When he finished his story, Percy noticed something else. Despite Phil's calm demeanor, his right fist was clenched and trembling.
'Damn, now I feel bad that he had to tell me this. Of course, he would still be upset about what happened,' Percy thought.
Phil shook his head. "Sorry, I got into rambling. The point is, hard choices will have to be made and they are unavoidable. But don't let the bad wash away the good. Look at them." Phil gestured down. "Not only did you save your girlfriend, but you also saved them from slavery and death. Hell, you saved me from that fate."
There was a silence between the two.
"So, I suppose this little pep talk is a way for me to thank you," Phil said. "But still, thank you anyway. I hope the Fates favor your quest."
Percy chuckled. "Knowing my luck, they don't, but that never stopped me before."
The two of them then laughed together.
"Well, we better go back to cleaning," Phil said.
"Right, right."
After a little while, the blood on the quarterdeck was cleaned and Percy wiped some sweat off his forehead. He put away the washing cloth back into the now-empty bucket, and walked down, giving a wave to some crewmembers passing by.
When he put the bucket away, his mind went back to Marcus. Just how long do they have to save him? And while Percy knew it was bad, he didn't know just what danger was it exactly. When he had to save Grover, he knew that Polyphemus had him, but with Marcus, he didn't have a clue. That clawed hand he saw in his dreams attacking Marcus wasn't much of a clue.
Then he remembered that Ares knew about what they were doing, which made their timetable most likely even shorter.
So, good news as usual.
"Hey, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said from behind Percy. She was holding Percy's pack with an extended arm. "We're about to reach land soon. You better prepare."
Percy grabbed the pack with a smile and hoisted it on his back. "Never a break for us, is there?" he asked rhetorically. "Hey, Annabeth, how's your back?"
Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Percy, I told you a million times already, I'm fine. The ambrosia and nectar healed me. Why are you so persistent about this?"
Feeling bolder than usual, Percy responded in a different manner. His hand went behind Annabeth's neck, and he closed the distance between them by kissing her straight on the lips.
Annabeth's eyes widened as her breath got stuck in her lungs. Cogs moved inside her brain at a thousand times the pace they normally did.
Percy quickly ended the kiss and smirked at Annabeth's still-shocked face. "Does that answer your question?"
"Wuh… well it… wow I…" whatever Annabeth was trying to say just couldn't come out. Annabeth shook her head and gained a blush on her tanned cheeks. "I think that answer is… um… acceptable."
"Nice to see you so flustered for a change," Percy said before giving her a small tap on the nose with his index finger.
"Oh, stop it, Seaweed Brain!"
"Not a chance, Wise Girl!"
A cough interrupted the two and they saw Zoe standing next to them.
"I'm sorry if I'm interrupting thee, but we are close to the next island. You should be prepared," the Huntress said.
A little flustered, those two gave her a nod and the three went back on deck where their boat was prepared by the crew. The people said their farewells, with one woman being a bit bold and giving Percy a kiss on the cheek much to his surprise and Annabeth's annoyance.
"Good luck to you three," Phil said as he patted Percy on the shoulder. "And, I forgot to tell you this before but, I'm sorry about what happened to your friend. He was a brave kid."
"Thanks, and yeah he was," Percy said. "But I'm not sure if he was our friend. We… didn't really know him well."
"Kid, he was willing to die for you. If that's not a friend, I don't know what is," Phil said with a grin.
"Well, I can't argue with that," Percy said before boarding the ship alongside Annabeth and Zoe. He remembered one of the other demigods that defected, Ethan Nakamura, and how he pledged his loyalty to Kronos. After seeing Jake, Percy was even more determined to help the demigods that felt unaccepted in the Camp.
"And I hope that you find those two that you freed," Percy told the former pirate.
"Yes," Phil said before gaining a distant look in his eyes. "I hope so too."
Their boat was slowly put down on the water's surface. Annabeth and Zoe undid the knots tying their boat to the ship while Percy, once again having access to his powers due to being outside the ship, focused on the water under them.
The boat then began floating away from the ship, with the crew waving and saying their goodbyes and the three of them responding in kind.
The boat got closer to the island, with Queen Anne's Revenge also sailing away and becoming smaller the further both vessels floated. The wind picked up, carrying the smell of seawater with it, which was a huge step-up from the smell inside the ship which was full of sweat and lantern smoke.
"I wish we could have used the ship more," Percy said as he looked back slightly. "It would at least get us faster."
"That wouldn't have been wise," Zoe said as she crossed her arms. "That ship is in Ares' domain, and we don't need his attention any more than now."
Percy then perked up as he thought of something. "Wait, if that's true then won't they be in danger while they're on it?"
"It may be possible."
"Then why would we leave them there?!" Percy asked. "They just got free, and we let them sail on Ares' ship, and knowing him he might end up destroying it considering what they did!"
"Perseus Jackson!" Zoe said in a stern tone that caught Percy off guard. "Think before thou speak! How exactly else could they have gone there?! They are numerous so a large ship is needed! And the ship itself is protected from monsters by an enchantment! There was no better way for them to get away!"
"Yes, but… Annabeth!"
The daughter of Athena sighed. "I'm sorry, Percy, but Zoe is right. Queen Anne's Revenge is a risk, but a risk they have to take. They have supplies and the means to get out of the Sea of Monsters. And the three of us can't waste any more time or risk Ares discovering us."
"But… do they even know they are at risk?" Percy asked.
Annabeth looked unsure while Zoe only gazed at the direction where they last saw the ship.
"Whether they do or don't is not our concern right now. We should focus on finding the Cottus of the Hecatonchires and saving Marcus," Zoe said.
"So essentially, you tricked them," Percy said disapprovingly. "That… that's not right."
"Maybe not, but it is logical. Thou need to see it. And thou worry too much, as I said, Ares can't immediately act and he doesn't know what happened. Unless they contact him, which they can't and definitely won't, they will abandon the ship when they get out of the Sea of Monsters."
Those words put Percy's mind at ease, but he can't help but have a nagging feeling that something could go wrong.
Nobody spoke anything as they traveled in their boat, and they soon landed on the shore of the island. The island wasn't too big, with a single forest and a large mountain.
The evening sun soon began to set as they got out of the boat. Percy then got curious and took off his backpack before rummaging through it.
Annabeth noticed Percy looking into his backpack and raised an eyebrow. "Is something wrong, Percy? Did you forget anything?"
"Oh, no, I don't think so," Percy said as he looked back into the pack, specifically his supply of nectar and ambrosia. He could have sworn he had more of it. He just chugged it up to him not counting properly before putting his backpack on his shoulders. "It's nothing, let's just go."
"Yeah, well, there is a problem," Annabeth said. "We still aren't sure. Nobody on the boat knew where to find Cottus so we need to begin from scratch."
Percy sighed. "Of course, nothing is ever easy. What do you think, Zoe?" Percy asked but got no response. "Zoe?"
The two of them turned to see Zoe staring at something. Curious, the two approached her and saw she was staring at. About a quarter of a kilometer away from them was another boat, this one of an older design, made of wood with a white sail in the middle.
"We aren't alone on this island," Zoe said with narrowed eyes before taking her bow. "Be on thy guard."
Percy then quickly took out his pen and uncapped it, turning it into Riptide, and Annabeth took out her dagger. The three of them were on alert for anything suspicious.
They decided to move to the other side of the island so they could be closer to the mountain, which would provide them with more cover and some altitude. They walked along the shore as they thought walking through the woods would be a bad idea. Especially since night will fall soon.
"So, does anyone have any idea who might be with us here?" Percy asked. "I mean, how many people would actually go to an island in the middle of a sea that is infested with some of the worst monsters imaginable?"
"Someone dangerous," Zoe simply answered. She honestly wished she knew who it might be
They walked in silence for a while, and they found themselves near the base of the mountain.
Then they heard a rustling sound next to them and saw something appearing from the forest. The creature looked similar to a dracaena, but instead of two tails it only had one, and this one had the upper body of a man though green and scaled.
"Sssso, we have ssssome demigodssss trespassing on the island," he said.
The trio aimed their weapons at him.
"What is that?" Percy asked.
"A Naga," Zoe said as she pulled her arrow on the string.
The Naga let out a laughing hiss as he smirked with his large mouth and showing his serpent fangs. Three more of his kind appeared from behind him, another male and two females, all of them looking at the trio with their serpentine eyes.
"You aren't leaving this place alive, demigodsssss," the lead Naga said to which the other three seemed to agree. "Come brother and sistersssss. Let usssss feassssst!"
The four monsters then quickly began attacking with the demigods and the Huntress getting into their battle stances.
Zoe was just about to release her arrow, but there was a 'twang' sound coming from somewhere, and the lead Naga suddenly had an arrow piercing his head. The three other Nagas were shocked to see that but then all of them ended up with the same fate, all of them hit with arrows through the head.
The four Nagas fell on the ground and quickly turned into golden dust that flew through the wind.
"A disappointing kill, but not unexpectedly so," a voice said from a short distance next to them. "And who do we have here?"
The moment their heads turned to see who it was, and their reactions differed. Percy and Annabeth gained a look of shock as they saw a tall and muscular man, clean-shaven with short black hair, dressed in a dark-blue toga and sandals, his hands holding a bow and quiver of arrows on his back.
However, there was one feature of him that stood out the most. The man's eyes. They weren't normal and seemed artificial, with the sclera looking like it was made of segmented bronze and the pupil looked like a red ruby that glowed. Despite that, the man could easily be classified as pretty handsome.
Zoe's reaction, however, completely different as she glared daggers into the man, her teeth clenched and her face forming into a snarl.
In a growly tone, she said "Orion."
AN: And so we put another chapter to a close. And looks like Orion also appears early. As you probably noticed, I changed his design a bit from goggles to eye implants. And that's not the only thing I'm changing so look forward to that.
And as you probably heard from Phil's backstory, I also changed the part of how Hylla and Reyna escaped from Blackbeard. In the books, it was said that the pirates were impressed with the two's fighting ability and that apparently Hylla was so good that Blackbeard was afraid of her. That part, in particular, didn't make any sense to me because A) While Hylla is a daughter of Bellona, Blackbeard is a son of Ares, a war god superior to Bellona which means his natural talent should have been greater, B) Hylla and Reyna are untrained in the art of combat at this point, and while their father was military that didn't include something like swords and 17th-century combat, and C) Blackbeard definitely has honed his talent through training and actual combat, giving him far more experience, unlike Hylla and Reyna. So in the end, I ended changing that so they escaped from the ship instead of joining the crew. I hope that makes sense to you.
Anyway, I implore you to check out my other stories. They are worth your time. And leave a review, they are great motivators.
See you next time!