Chapter 11
Greetings readers! I hope that all of you enjoyed the
previous chapter!
In response to Megalodon's reviews, first of all, I am thrilled that you enjoyed the right between Percy and Mnemosyne. It was my way of trying to incorporate a more relatable and more jam packed style of action. It is also somewhat bittersweet to hear that you could relate to the PTSD I portrayed Percy going through with the one your uncle is going through. While as a writer, I am glad that my characters are portrayed in a realistic way, as a person, I feel really bad that your uncle had to go through such traumatizing experiences and I hope that he manages to eventually recover from his trauma. Thank you for your continued support!
Responding to the guest reviewer, well, I am very happy to hear that you liked binging my stories :) I am even happier to hear that you considered my stories to be the best you have read. I am so glad to hear this from you and it just gives me motivation to write even better chapters! Thank you for your support!
In response to J's review, yes, that is exactly what I was going for. I wanted to showcase the raw, vulnerable side of Percy with simmering emotions. Yes, I am planning to have thirty chapters in this story, like the other two stories. But it's not set in stone. I could write more or less depending on how I feel I want to pace the story. Thank you for your continued support!
I would like to thank Harp for your continued support!
In response to ThatGUy's review, yes, I chose the title of the name as a burned-out killer to describe exactly what Percy has become. He has done this for too long and he just doesn't have the energy or interest left to care about diplomatic and political intricacies. He is much more of a blunt character. Thank you for your continued support!
In response to John's review, I am very happy to hear that you are enjoying the emotional depth in my stories. Logically speaking, supernatural beings shouldn't be very human but if you want to be transported by the characters of a story into their fantasy world, the characters have to be relatable and need to be vulnerable by showing human flaws. Thank you for your continued support!
I would like to thank Nice for your continued support!
I would like to thank the emoticon using guest reviewer for your continued support!
In response to Ben's review, that's exactly what I was hoping to portray in the previous chapter. Percy is not some Gary Sue character that not only the readers but also the characters of this Alternate Universe think he is. He is a flawed, broken and in a way a selfish man who does not actually fight for the greater good, at least not anymore. Most stories show that being a hero is wonderful thing. I want to show the emotional and physical toll it takes on a person for being a hero. It's not some privilege. It's almost a curse. So now he fights only for the sake of his family and that's more of a compulsion rather than a choice. Thank you for your continued support!
Responding to Walter Ha's review, yes this is a way of making an immortal seem like a mortal, if that makes sense. Also, as of now, I am planning to have thirty chapters in this story, like the other two stories. But it's not set in stone. I could write more or less depending on how I feel I want to pace the story. Thank you for your continued support!
In response to the guest reviewer (the one who reviews frequently), in all honesty, all Mnemosyne did was unleash the already bubbling internal turmoil in Percy. He's just more tired and unhinged in this story. He isn't even in complete control of his own emotions anymore and Mnemosyne just made that even worse. I am excited to bring the Caligula and Nero arcs to all of you! It will be full of espionage and action! The Tower of Nero isn't a part of this story because it was not enough and I wanted something a bit grander. But parts of it will certainly be incorporated in the other bases.
However, you are right to assume that the rest of Triumvirate Holdings' bases won't be easy to break into. And yeah, Percy won't stop trying to help his family even if he is in a bad place himself. Glad you liked Amphitrite, Athena and Aphrodite's involvement in making sure Percy is sane. Thank you for your continued support!
In response to Omega Siothan Void's review, first of all, welcome back! It's great to see you after so much time! I am really happy to know that you enjoyed the previous story and that you feel this story is progressively getting better. As a writer, that's all I want. The journey since I first started writing has simply been fantastic! I hope to see you again! Thank you for your continued support!
In response to Zoe Hunter of Artemis' review, I am glad to know that you liked Percy being portrayed as a soldier who has gone through a lot of pain! I know, now that I read it again, I agree that the interrogation with Commodus was too easy but when I wrote that chapter, it didn't flash to me because I felt that since Commodus' spirit and body had been broken, he would not put up too much of a fight. However, thank you for the feedback and I will be sure to incorporate this element in any future interrogations! Thank you for your continued support!
In response to NiHaR OP's review, I know about the Tower of Nero and I initially wanted to incorporate the actual tower but now, rather than having the actual tower, I have used the ideas of the tower for the other bases as you'll see soon. Thank you for the input and thank you for your continued support!
In response to Ryan Fowler's review, well, I actually did base Percy's reaction in the previous chapter about an article about a PTSD victim from World War II. I don't remember where I read it but it was very heart-breaking to read. I am only happy to listen to your ideas and hope to incorporate as many of them as possible? Thank you for your continued support!
In response to thann3's review, I am glad to know that you loved the chapter. After reading that part of the chapter again, I agree that the interrogation with Commodus was too easy but when I wrote that chapter, it didn't flash to me because I felt that since Commodus' spirit and body had been broken, he would not put up too much of a fight. However, thank you for the feedback and I will be sure to incorporate this element in any future interrogations!
I have tried to trim the uses of 'stated' and 'questioned' in this chapter and as per your feedback, I have tried to make the conversations more descriptive with more adjectives. I always try to trim the amount of stated, questioned and asked I use but in chapters with long conversations, I lose some brain power at the end in coming up with new adjectives. But nevertheless, your feedback is much appreciated! Thank you for your continued support!
In response to IceFire99's review, I am thrilled to know that you still enjoy my chapters! I know that it must be hard to be in every week and read it one chapter at a time and I just want to thank you for all the motivation and for your continued support!
Responding to Arden2709's review, I don't think that Percy will ever manage to get rid of his trauma. Because trauma doesn't go away. But he will learn to live with it depending on how this story and character progress. Thank you for your continued support!
In response to HellRaiderS' review, I am glad to know that you liked the way Percy showed his frustration. It just felt very realistic and human. Thank you for your continued support!
In response to Jubby1905's review, Percy will definitely be interacting with Chiron and Damasen again, in future chapters. And your idea of Hestia sharing hope with Percy is actually great! Because while Aphrodite acts as his therapist and Selene uses her millennia of wisdom to guide him, Hestia could be the person to show him that all hope isn't lost when he is feeling despondent. That would tie in really well with what I am planning! Thank you for your great input and for your continued support!
In response to pranavjrao's reviews, I am glad to still keep the fiction press running on this series. It's been a huge investment in terms of time and effort and there have been times over the past year where I have felt like giving up but every time I felt like that, I had an amazing audience who motivated me. So I can safely promise that I will see this to the end!
After this story is over, I have a Percy X Wonder Woman crossover lined up which will take place in between Man of Steel and BvS and it will feature a very different Percy as compared to the one in this universe. It will also have shorter chapters and won't have a lot of world-building. Once the crossover is done, I am thinking of a Percy X Calypso story but nothing is confirmed yet. It will depend on the ideas I have. This trilogy has been very exhaustive of all my ideas and I don't think I will ever be able to write a story as good as this one but I will certainly try to come out with an enjoyable story! Thank you for your continued support!
Finally, coming to Mahasena28062021's review, I am very happy to hear that you liked the way Percy losing himself was portrayed! I hope that you enjoy this chapter as well! you for your continued support!
All credit for the characters goes exclusively to Rick Riordan.
Annabeth had to say, their first debriefing after Commodus' interrogation was tense. There were no wise cracks from Percy. There weren't any wry smiles or playful jabs from her mother. Instead both of them wore stony and a tad bit exhausted expressions on their faces.
It had been nearly a week since their first mission and they had only been training for the past week. They had not seen Percy or her mother a lot in the past week because those two seemed to be very busy in attending Olympian and Divine Council meetings after Commodus' interrogation. So she could wager that's where there stress had come from.
However, after a week of high profile discussions with the other gods, Percy and Athena had called for a briefing and all six of them had gathered in the war room. And Percy had then proceeded to share all the information that Commodus had given them.
"New Orleans huh? Sounds like it will be a fun mission." Nico stated with a small smile.
"Not really kid. We will be dealing with another nasty Roman emperor and will have another Titaness to deal with. But this time, we won't have the element of surprise on our side. They will be expecting us. So, we cannot afford to wait for this meeting to happen. We will have to sink Caligula's fleet before the meeting. And simultaneously, we will have to intercept Phoebe in New Orleans." Percy explained with his lips pressed into a thin line.
"So we will have to split up." Reyna deduced.
"Yes. We held many Council meetings to discuss our next course of action. And suffice to say, there were many differing opinions." Athena stated with a twinge of frustration.
"I get that the Divine Secret Service is not supposed to be a shadow organization anymore and that the Divine Council has oversight over it but this amount of bureaucratic interference is ridiculous." Percy silently seethed as his eye twitched, prompting all the demigods to look at him with confusion written all over their faces.
"Cutting a long story short, once we revealed the scale of Triumvirate Holdings' operation to the Divine Council, most of the members panicked and started to lobby for an outrageous battle plan that involved attacking Phoebe's detachment in New Orleans, Caligula's fleet and Triumvirate Holdings' bases in Miami, Boston, Seattle and Los Angeles at the same time." Athena calmly answered.
"How did they plan to do that? Have an army of demigods attack the bases while we took care of Caligula and Mnemosyne?" Annabeth sarcastically questioned but her eyes widened when Percy and Athena nodded at her.
"I don't need to tell any of you how bad that idea is. This is what happens when you let stuck up noobs to get involved in making tactical decisions. If making such decisions was up to those nosy gods, all of us would be dead by now." Percy voiced his strong opinions as he huffed in annoyance.
"You said that to their faces, didn't you?" Leo stated with a knowing smile.
"You're damn right I did. I am not going to throw demigods at our enemies. I want us to win this war with the minimum amount of casualties. And for that to happen, we need to deal with these problems in a methodical way and think strategically. That may mean that sometimes you give up the advantage of a sudden and immediate counterattack but if you ask me, that is overrated. There are many other tactical advantages that can help turn the tide of war." Percy shared his tactical philosophy.
"As you may have imagined, the minor gods were very displeased when Percy called them stuck up noobs. So they doubled down on their demand for a flash offensive. And Percy made it worse by telling them to stuff their stupid strategy." Athena revealed as she glared at Percy who gave her a sheepish smiled. On hindsight, he probably should have been a bit more careful with his words.
"I thought that you were the diplomatic guy. The one who always got his wishes by smooth talking." Jason stated as he raised an eyebrow at Percy.
"I usually do not get very worked up. But lately, I have been a bit edgy due to some rather disturbing flashbacks. And they made it worse by trying to turn the six of you and other demigods into cannon fodder. There is nothing I dislike more than needless death." Percy firmly stated with a pained, distant look in his eyes.
"Some of the minor gods then, made some rather untasteful comments by saying that Percy could not make hard decisions. Then Uncle Poseidon, Ares, Aphrodite, Artemis, Hermes, Apollo and I got angry and a major argument broke out between us and the minor gods. At one point, things got so heated that Aunt Hestia had to stop Ares from punching Morpheus. So father forcefully disbanded the meeting and after a slew of Olympian Council meetings, we met again a few days later." Athena paused to let Percy continue.
"That meeting took place today morning and they finally caved in after I threatened to resign and walk away if they started acting like the Titans and started seeing demigods as expendable resources. That was enough to shock them into their senses and after some more pressure from me and the Olympians, a decree was passed that Ares, Athena and I would have complete freedom in all tactical decisions pertaining to this war. Of course, we had to swear an oath on the River Styx that we would never use that to benefit our own interests and stuff like that. But that doesn't matter. All that matters now is that the steering wheel is back in our hands." Percy concluded with a triumphant smile.
While he was an ardent supporter of democracy, he also firmly believed that specific tasks should be left to experts in that field.
Even though he knew that transparency and a feedback mechanism were very important to bring in new and fresh inputs from others, he felt that the ultimate decision had to be made by the domain experts themselves. Not everyone could do everything. And that was exactly why they needed each other. They needed to complement each other, not compete with each other.
"With that out of the way, we are still going to have to split up into two groups. We can deal with Nero's weapons factories later. First, we need to sink Caligula's fleet. And for that, I have enlisted one battalion of the Royal Atlantean Army." Percy informed them of his plans.
"What does one battalion of the Royal Atlantean Army constitute?" Reyna questioned.
"One battalion of the Royal Atlantean Army contains ten warships that can also turn into submarines, using the same enchanted torches that stealthily propel Percy's flying warship. They carry about two dozen missiles and two sets of twin ballistae that are mounted to rotatable gunnery Coppola. And each of these ships can carry up to a hundred soldiers." Leo excitedly explained, surprising the others. He had learnt all about the Royal Atlantean Army during his stay in Atlantis.
"Brother, I am very impressed that you know all this information. I have no doubt that soon, you will be leading battalions yourself. However, this time, I shall take command of this battalion and spearhead this naval battle. You and Annabeth will be coming with me." Percy proudly proclaimed before announcing.
"What about the rest of us?" Nico questioned.
"The four of you will be going to New Orleans, with me. We will go there in a few days and will wait for Phoebe's entourage to arrive. Once she is in town, we will plan and attack her before the meeting." Athena answered their question.
"I assume that we are attacking her before the meeting because word of us gate crashing Commodus' meeting with Mnemosyne must have reached them. So they will surely be expecting us when they meet and will probably have additional security." Jason deduced and Athena nodded at him, confirming his justification.
"Mother, won't they sense your presence?" Reyna worriedly questioned.
"Don't worry, daughter. A week ago, I had approached Hecate to craft a special spell that awards me with stealth. And she has it ready. It will dampen my energy signature to the level of a demigod's as long as I don't use any of my metaphysical abilities. Once my energy signature is dampened, some effective Mist shrouding is the only thing that is required to completely mask my signature." Athena reassured.
"You will get more details once we are in position. Freshen up and rejuvenate yourselves to the fullest extent tonight. We will be departing for our respective missions tomorrow." Percy dismissed the meeting, prompting all the demigods to leave the meeting and go to their respective rooms.
"So, seems like, we won't be seeing each other for a few weeks." Athena stated, once the demigods were out of earshot, with disappointment showing in her voice.
However, rather than replying, Percy swooped her up in bridal style and instinctively, Athena wrapped her arms around the closest support, which happened to be Percy's torso.
"I guess we are going to have to make sure that we are fully satisfied before that happens." Percy whispered with a debonair smile playing on his lips.
"Of course, that's the only logical conclusion." Athena seductively purred in his ear and the two of them immediately disappeared in a blue mist to make the most of their night.
Reyna sighed happily as she sat down next to Jason on the plush sofa. After an hour of non stop travel in their supersonic Aston Martin, she and Jason, along with her mother, Nico and Thalia who had travelled in the BMW, had finally made it to New Orleans and had checked into a five star hotel that was the epitome of luxury.
Her mother had taken a suite and the four of them were put into two separate suites based on their strike teams. And obviously, that meant that Reyna was sharing a room with Jason.
"Say what you want about this job, it at least allows us to live like royalty whenever we are not training or on a mission." Reyna stated as she ate an apple.
"That's there. But to be honest, I am surprised that I even managed to get out of that lobby with my head intact. Your mom was glaring daggers at me the entire time." Jason remembered with a small shudder. It was an open secret that Athena was a bit protective when it came to her children.
"Relax Jason. Mother has always been very protective of me. For that matter, she is very protective of all her children. But you are my best friend and I unhesitatingly trust you. And that's all that matters." Reyna firmly stated with a small smile.
"That's some trust you have in me. I hope I can keep it." Jason replied with a small, grateful smile and a comfortable silence overtook them.
"Jason, if you don't mind me asking, you seemed a little distracted the entire week. You zoned out so many times during training and didn't seem to be in the mood for anything fun. Are you alright? Is something wrong?" Reyna asked with concern written all over her face.
"I didn't know it was that evident." Jason confirmed her suspicions with a sigh before continuing.
"Reyna, I have been wracked with guilt for the past few days because I did the one thing that Percy asked us not to do on our first mission. I shot down every mortal I came across without thinking twice and I didn't even realise that I was doing something wrong until I was brought back to my senses by Leo. Sure, they would have died even if I had spared them because the building itself collapsed when Percy and Mnemosyne battled. But that cannot justify my mistakes. I didn't look at even one of them in the eye." Jason confessed as he held his head in between his hands.
"I can understand what you are feeling, Jason. If I were to be honest with you, I am also guilty of doing that. Of killing indiscriminately. I never even thought that I was doing something wrong. I was just following phantom orders and using it as a justification for my actions. I told myself that I was being the perfect Roman. And I realised that I had made a mistake only after the mission." Reyna revealed with a guilty expression on her face.
"There are a lot of great things about Roman culture but ingraining unquestioning obedience in legionnaires is not one of them. Percy was right. It's much more difficult to be a good person rather than to be the perfect soldier." Reyna accepted in a small voice.
"Well you at least did it out a sense of duty. I did it because I felt powerful. I wasn't even trying to be a perfect soldier. No, I was being a megalomaniac. I killed those men because I knew I could and that fed my ego. I am so disappointed in myself. Not only for letting my fatal flaw control me but for also failing Percy. He put his faith in me, Reyna. He believed that I would make the right decision. But I didn't." Jason brooded in a hollow voice.
"Jason, I will not lie to you and tell you that you did not make any mistake. Because you did a make a mistake and you acted a bit like the sociopath Percy interrogated." Reyna sternly stated.
"That's a bit harsh." Jason mumbled.
"I did not finish. While you did make a mistake, the fact that you are willing to accept that you were blinded by your fatal flaw already proves that you are a better man now than you were a week ago. You cannot reverse your decisions, Jason. I know you wish you could and I do too. We could have been better. But the past has passed. We cannot change our decision. All we can do is learn from our mistakes and ensure that we don't repeat them." Reyna wisely concluded.
"I have been avoiding Percy for this very reason, Reyna. Apart from you, he is the only other person in my life who has never had any unrealistic expectations from me. In Camp Jupiter, everyone held me in such high regard and I had to be perfect because I was the son of Jupiter, the one who would eventually be the Praetor. But Percy, he never expected me to be perfect. He never got judgemental whenever I made a mistake. He just laughed it off and corrected them. This was the only thing he expected from me and I let him down." Jason shared his concerns and his voice cracked a little towards the end.
"Jason, you are being way too hard on yourself. All of us did something in that mission we are not proud of and have regrets over. At least all of us barring Nico. But that's because he was the only one who actually listened to Percy's advise. The rest of us panicked and ended up doing things we shouldn't have. Or at least that's what we think." Reyna placated Jason as she placed an arm on his shoulder.
"What do you mean?" Jason asked with a confused expression on his face.
"What I mean is that we don't know whether sparing them would have been the right thing? Percy also spoke about the subjectivity of morality. Right or wrong is only a matter of perspective and he implored us to make the decision that ensured we stayed sane. Because both choices are almost equally bad, at least from our perspective. And at that moment, we only did what we felt was right. Isn't that what Percy wanted to do? He asked us to do what we felt was right." Reyna explained in detail.
She had unintentionally overheard Percy's frightening outburst the other night but as a matter of principle, she couldn't reveal that to Jason.
"You know, I never thought about it that way. And while it felt right then, it certainly doesn't feel right now." Jason acknowledged as his face gained a very thoughtful expression. Reyna was right. Now that he thought about it, that had been the essence of Percy's advise.
"I am not saying that there isn't any scope for improvement. In our next mission, we can certainly make a fairer decision. But the thing is, we will never know whether we wouldn't have regretted sparing them. Hindsight is not always a good thing. So it's better if you don't read too much into your character based on just one decision." Reyna expressed her opinion.
"Tell me, how did I of all people become best friends with you?" Jason asked with a dazzling smile that caused Reyna's cheeks to turn a slight shade of pink.
"I don't know. You tell me." Reyna replied as she fumbled a bit on her words.
"You look cute when you are flustered." Jason stated with a laugh before freezing up at his slip-up as Reyna stared at him with wide eyes.
"What I meant is….Good night." Jason blurted out before hastily retreating to his room, leaving behind a profusely blushing Reyna who had a huge smile on her face.
Percy relaxed and sipped on a glass of Nectar on the small deck of his warship wearing beach shorts, a Hawaiian shirt and his signature aviators which had green lenses and golden frames. He was enjoying the calm seas, the salty breeze and the soft sunshine, the latter for which he owed Helios a drink.
It had been two weeks since their mission to find and sink Caligula's armada had begun and rather frustratingly, they hadn't even caught a whiff of the former Roman emperor's fleet. So, entrusting the command of his warship to Leo and Annabeth, Percy had decided to kick back and relax a bit.
"This looks more like a vacation than a mission." Delphin, the god of dolphins and Poseidon s lieutenant, opined as he jumped out from the sea before taking a seat on the pool chair next to Percy.
"Caligula's a smart weasel. He's no rookie. He has been hiding from the gods for Chaos knows how many centuries. So naturally, he is very good at covering his tracks. But most of our ships have been strategically placed in a reverse crescent formation around New Orleans. And my warship has been patrolling the seas around here, scouting for possible secret routes. We will eventually catch him. But it will take time. A pretty good amount of time if you ask me. Until then, no reason why we can't relax a bit." Percy casually replied with an easy-going smile as he snapped his fingers and another glass of Nectar materialised in his free hand.
"After all, if you spend all your energy tracking the enemy, you won't have any energy left to defeat them." Percy concluded as he offered the glass of Nectar to Delphin who accepted it very graciously.
"It seems like three thousand years of coma has not blunted your tracking skills at all. You still are the best tracker in this world, General Perseus." Delphin declared with a proud smile.
"I have you to thank for that since I learnt most of the basics from you. And finally, you called me General rather than Prince Perseus. I would still prefer Percy but I guess we roll with what we get." Percy answered with an amused smile.
"Those snobby politicians back in Atlantis could never understand why you preferred the title conferred to you by the Olympians rather than your birth right. To some of them, it was a sign that you saw yourself more as an Olympian than an Atlantean." Delphin revealed as he drunk the Nectar in his glass.
"I have gotten used to hearing such rumours, Delphin. After all, Atlantean politics stinks more than hippocampi dung. And that's saying something." Percy joked and both of them shared a laugh. The two of them had always bonded over their shared dislike for Atlantean politics.
"Actually, for a very long time, even I didn't understand your insistence on being called a general, but for an entirely different reason. I never called you General Perseus because you weren't just some minor sea god who had risen through the ranks, you were and still are royalty. You are the son of Lord Poseidon and Lady Amphitrite, the Prince of Atlantis and the second in line to its throne. And I felt like I was giving you more respect by calling you Prince rather than General Perseus. But you didn't want respect just because of you were royalty. You wanted respect for your own actions." Delphin shared his epiphany with Percy as the Champion of Atlantis refilled his glass.
"Glad you finally understood that, Delphin. My family and the Atlanteans may have forgotten or may choose to ignore that this isn't my birth right but I certainly haven't. I may be a member of the Atlantean Royal Family but I wasn't born into it. And I don't want respect for something which in all honesty, doesn't even belong to me in the first place. I earned the title of the General of the Divine Forces only after putting my life on the line multiple times. It wasn't handed to me. No, I had to fight for it. And even though I have grown disillusioned with my job, it was this job that gave me my own identity, which is why I am so proud of it." Percy loudly declared as he drunk all the Nectar in his glass.
However, before Delphin could reply, Leo popped out of the hatch connecting the deck to the control room.
"Percy, the RADAR has picked up the tiniest of energy signatures a dozen leagues from here. It could be one of Caligula's yachts that has been sent out for reconnaissance." Leo informed with a sense of urgency seeping through his voice and Percy's face immediately turned serious.
"Delphin, go back to your ship and direct all the others to follow my ship. Leo, tell Annabeth to share the location of this energy signature with all the other RADARs of our battalion. And Leo, I want you to go full throttle. I will keep the seas calm and give us a boost." Percy strictly ordered, seamlessly switching from casual beach goer to seasoned general as he was enveloped by his armour.
The two others with him did as they were ordered when Delphin turned back into a dolphin and jumped back into the sea while Leo quickly went back down the hatch. A moment later, the sea around them stilled and the warship lurched forward as a stern, determined expression made its way onto Percy's face. They had an armada to sink.
So far, Nico di Angelo was liking his mission in New Orleans. The fifteen year old son of Hades had been staying in a luxurious suite in a five star hotel in New Orleans for the past two weeks and the best thing was that he had been conducting his mission along a certain sixteen year old daughter of Zeus on whom he had a slight crush on.
The two of them had taken the night shift while Jason and Reyna had taken the day shift to scout the city and find any leads on Phoebe's army. They had not made any progress for two weeks but finally, they had found a pair of hyperborean cyclopes at a shady bar.
A little manipulation of the Mist was all it had taken to get into the bar and once they were in, he and Thalia had taken seats on either side of the cyclopes. And using a special hearing aid that amplified their already enhanced hearing, they were eavesdropping on the cyclopes' conversation.
"Sump, when did Ma say she was coming? We have been here for three weeks and I am getting scared." A cyclopes asked his brother who was munching away at a steak.
"Quit whining Torque. Ma is with some of the other Northern cyclopes in Lady Phoebe's army. They will be here any day. They had to take a longer route to avoid that freak Perseus Diaboles." Sump revealed in a muffled voice as he stuffed his face with food.
"I heard that he almost killed Lady Mnemosyne and that the General had to come to bail her out. That guy is a real freak of nature. He killed Larry's grandfather Harry three thousand years ago and Harry has never reformed because apparently, his essence was ripped apart and absorbed by that guy's swords. I am scared of that guy, Sump." Torque shared as he shivered with fear, causing Nico and Thalia to raise their eyebrows at this interesting bit of information. It looked like Percy's reputation preceded him.
"Torque don't be a baby. Lady Phoebe's army is huge. My friend Tory was telling me that they even have a son of Theia and a daughter of Themis with them. And that they are traveling in a bunker that makes them invisible to the gods." Sump reassured his brother.
"Ooh, then I can't wait for him. He could bring a few demigods with him and Ma promised us that we would get to have a buffet of demigods with extra spicy Salsa." Torque hungrily stated as he zoned out thinking about his fantasy
It seemed like the two cyclopes had given Nico and Thalia all the information that they needed and that was when they decided that the cyclopes had outlived their usefulness. With a simultaneous quick draw, Nico and Thalia shot the cyclopes' in the head, causing the monsters to explode into golden mounds of dust.
After another subtle manipulation of the Mist that made it seem like the cyclopes who were seen as burly mortals, had just gone out of the bar, Nico and Thalia made their way out of the bar. However, just as Nico stepped out of the bar, he found a fist shaped pillar of fire approaching his side at point blank range.
Thankfully, he managed to activate his armour in the nick of time and covered his face but the force of the attack sent him flying into a nearby building. That was when Thalia came face to face with the two demititans that the cyclopes had just mentioned. Their mission had just gotten a lot more complicated.
In just under ten minutes, Percy's warship had travelled a distance of about a dozen leagues and had caught up to the super yacht that they had spotted on the RADAR. Percy had gotten inside his warship and had taken a seat behind Leo and Annabeth.
Leo was in charge of steering the ship while Annabeth was in control of launching the missiles and communicating with the other warships. Percy was sitting in the gunnery cupola and was barking orders.
"Leo, activate submarine mode. Let's shadow them underwater. Annabeth, inform all the other ships to go underwater as well. And give them orders to keep the ballistae on standby until I give them the green light. We will need to tail it so that we can find the main fleet." Percy ordered as he then he set his sights on the super yacht that had entered his field of vision.
Just before his warship turned into a submarine and went underwater, Percy understood how massive the super yacht really was. The yacht was gleaming white with tinted black windows and five decks. Purple and gold running lights glowed just below the ocean's surface so the vessel seemed to float on an ethereal cloud of Imperial Roman power.
Painted along the prow in huge black letters were the words JULIA DRUSILLA XI. If Percy remembered right, that was the name of Caligula's favourite sister. He deduced that each yacht was assigned a specific Roman numeral been one and fifty. He could also sense that the yacht held two helicopters and a submarine along with also having what seemed like small patrol boats in it.
Once their warship was underwater, they reduced their pace and slowly caught up to the ship ahead of them until they were just behind the yacht. And that was when Percy decided to go ahead with the next step of his plan.
"I will be boarding and taking control of this ship. Leo, Annabeth, once we reach the main armada, leave sinking it to me. In the off-case scenario that I don't manage to sink the entire fleet and I get preoccupied with another enemy, I want the two of you and the rest of our fleet to only take care of any yachts that try to escape." Percy commanded as he got up, got out of the hatch and found himself on the deck of his warship that was now covered by a very sturdy, retractable, hemispherical Celestial Bronze shield.
"Percy, are you sure about this?" Annabeth shouted from underneath the deck with concern evident in her voice.
"Relax Annie. This is nothing after tangling with that Titaness. Besides, I am in my element. They couldn't have chosen a worse place to fight me." Percy reassured her with a confident smirk.
He then asked Leo to slightly open the dome, leaving just enough space for Percy to shoot out in a small geyser while making sure that the water did not enter the deck of his warship. And as soon as Percy came in contact with the sea, he was filled with energy and felt completely rejuvenated.
In fact, he felt so powerful that he had to take a step back and properly concentrate so that he completely suppressed his energy signature. It would not be good on his reputation as a tracker if he was detected due to the excited waves of energy rolling off him.
Once that was sorted, he propelled himself until he was directly under the yacht and he then shot out of the sea and into the floor of one of the opened internal bays of the yacht, where the submarine was in position.
His big handgun materialised in his hand as he made quick work of the Pandai guarding the bay before making his way up the stairs. He pressed his back to the wall when he heard a few noises and once a group of six dracaenae passed him, he shot them from behind at point blank range, turning them into mounds of golden mounds of dirt.
He stealthily and masterfully repeated this tactic and finally made his way to the control room of the yacht which was where he was faced with some resistance. But that was not a problem for him.
Now that he was free to use more of his elemental and metaphysical powers, in a fraction of a second, he gathered some water from the sea and coalesced them into javelins before impaling all the monsters in the room. That left him with a legacy of Mars and five mortals who were bound by ropes of solidified water.
After making his decision based on what he thought was right by judging them individually, Percy shot three of them before sparing the other two and held them up by the necks.
"I have spared both of you because you are new recruits and have not killed anyone, yet. Go home and find yourselves a respectable job. Be warned, you won't see a shred of mercy from me if I find that both of you are still working as mercenaries." Percy growled with his usually mellow sea green eyes glowing with energy.
Once the two of them choked out their terrified acquiescence, Percy went outside of the control and flung them into the horizon, towards land, with all his strength. He had covered them in a small air bubble that would dampen their fall just enough to not kill them. But it would harm them enough to teach them an important lesson.
Percy was about to go back and address the legacy of Ares when about six dozen monsters showed up to fight him. Unfortunately for them, they were facing Percy on a boat, in the middle of the vast sea. Percy simply waved his hand and a huge wave of water hit the deck. He ensured that the boat didn't topple or sink and much to the monsters' horror, they found themselves pulled back into the sea where they were given a watery grave.
With the deck of the yacht now sparkling and the ship clear of all monsters, Percy casually strolled back into the control room and rested his fierce and intimidating gaze on the legacy of Mars. Once the legacy met his eyes, Percy tore through the legacy's mind to obtain all the information he needed.
"Lloyd, your grandfather will be very disappointed in you." Percy stated with a deep sigh. Lloyd, the grandson of Mars, seemed surprised Percy knew his name but growled at the Hero of Olympus as soon as he regained some confidence.
"I don't care. He refused to answer any prayer of mine just because I was not as powerful as my brothers. And eventually, I was exiled from New Rome by my own family for that reason. At least now I can look him in the eye and tell him that he was wrong about me." Lloyd rebuked with a defiant expression on his face.
"Your grandfather was trying to protect you, you brainless ape. You were and still are too weak to survive the treacherous life of a hero. Your body as well as your mind would have failed you. Mars made sure you were cast away so that you could have been blissfully ignorant and could have passed your life as a mortal. You would have lived your life peacefully, rather than becoming cannon fodder in the legion." Percy revealed with a twinge of frustration in his voice.
Mortals would always be ignorant, ungrateful apes who never recognized the effort immortals put into saving them. But judging from his memories, it seemed like Lloyd had only been mislead and since he had not killed anyone, the boy deserved a second chance.
So, taking pity on the young adult, Percy picked up the legacy by the scruff of his neck and hurled him into the sea just like he had hurled the mortals, after wiping out all the legacy's memories and implanting it with fake ones. It would allow the legacy to lead a new life.
"Leo, Annabeth, I have taken control of this ugly rip-off of our RADAR in this yacht and the course has already been set for the main fleet, which is only a few leagues away. We should be there in less than half an hour. Till then, I will scout this ship's defences and give you a three dimensional model of its insides. I want you to share that with the other warships after finding its weak spots and judging its firepower." Percy informed them through their mental link before moving on to thoroughly scan the ship using his smartphone.
After nearly half an hour had passed, Percy had managed to scan all the parts of the yacht and had sent that information to Annabeth just in time as the yacht finally caught up with the main fleet.
Percy quickly made his way back to the deck and as soon as he reached the deck he stretched his control over the sea as far as he could and then, he forced his hands down as he tried to sink all forty nine ships in one quick, brutal swoop.
To Percy's surprise he encountered strong resistance from the sea itself and it tried resisting his command. Instantly, he knew that there were other sea deities aboard Caligula's fleet.
Unfortunately for them, he was was undeterred in his attempt and instead roared as he smashed his fist down on the deck, forcing out all his power and splitting the yacht in half, while simultaneously sinking half of Caligula's fleet as waves of power started to emanate from him.
However, the other sea deities had partly succeeded as he could not sink the entire fleet and the other two dozen remaining yachts started to zoom away. And before he could get to the fleet, he was confronted by eight Potamoi who flashed in front of him.
He sighed in frustration as he took up a battle stance on the sinking ship, with his spear and shield materialising in his hands a second later. It would take a good chunk of his strength and endurance to overcome this hurdle.
Hey guys! I was thankfully able to maintain my pace and managed to get this chapter out in exactly a week, like I wanted. I will try to stick to Sunday updates for a while before trying to shorten that cycle.
Coming to the chapter, I have tried to incorporate a prelude to the next chapter which will be action packed while maintaining a fast pace in this chapter. In the first part, I wanted to show that Percy does not care about keeping everyone happy anymore. He has had enough of having to walk fine lines and that has been amplified by his current crankiness due to Mnemosyne messing with his mind.
I have also tried to have two plot lines, one in the sea and one in New Orleans running parallel to each other just to give more depth to the story. Once these two plots are wrapped up, we will move on to Nero.
I have also tried to portray Percy and the other members of the DSS in espionage mode while giving some more development to Jason's and Reyna's characters. And all of you roof have noticed that as of now, I am sort of planning a Nico X Thalia pairing as well.
Read and review, I hope that all of you enjoyed this chapter! Have a fantastic day!
