Hello again,
We are finally done with the prologue, time to get into the good stuff!
I told my best friend about my story and he's helping me proofread some things. It was super embarrassing at telling him at first but I learned he has similar tastes. I let him in on a few of my bigger plans and he gave me some suggestions and tips on how to be a better writer. Thanks J for being a great friend!
Thanks to The Wind Warrior, Firestorm337, and Yesse2362 for the kind reviews and shoutout to Abdur Rauf Aymaan whom I believe was my first follower and favorite.
W4rfaceWarrior's question: "Btw are you always gonna give us a date of release for new chapters?"
Answer: I'm going to try to provide release dates as often as I can. By setting a release date I'm committing myself to continue the story and if I don't finish a chapter on time then I'll owe everyone an explanation. I'll always post on weekends but I may switch to biweekly or monthly updates when school starts to hit me.
Lastly, I don't own PJO, HOO, or AOT and I'm not profiting off anything.
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Author's note
Narration
Thoughts and Internal Conversations
"Speaking, duh"
Last time
Percy's tragic death broke an oath he made on the River of Styx to never leave Annabeth. As punishment, it's determined that Percy's punishment should be to never see Annabeth Chase again. To ensure they never meet in the afterlife or in different lives, the goddess Styx attempts to destroy his soul by dumping the demigod into her waters. But Percy survives this 'murder' attempt at his soul, popping out of the river and once again bearing the Curse of Achilles. Styx, searching for a new way to dish out his punishment, requests help from multiple divine beings including the Fates, Hades, and Kronos in the flesh. After a brief visit with Poseidon, Styx and the Fates send Percy away, his destiny unknown.
Chapter 3: A Cruel New World
Year 850: Concurrent with the events of Trost
Percy's Pov:
A bright light shining in my face disturbs my rest, waking me from my slumber. Opening my eyes, I see… ducks? That's right, directly above me high in the blue sky and gliding past in a v-formation are a flock of these brown and white-colored geese. I sit up, watching their silhouettes shrink into the distant sky, soft masses of white fluffy clouds slowly drifting after them in the gentle westward breeze. It's a perfect picturistic day. The sun is out and shining, there's a perfect mix of cloud coverage and deep blue skies, and the breeze feels cool and refreshing as it waves over my skin. How did I get to such a beautiful place?
That's right, I died… After all the world-saving quests I've survived, after battling titans, gods, and giants, and after crawling out of the pits of Tarturas, I died to what? A single measly hellhound?! Even if I hadn't seen the Fates in the flesh send me to this… 'place,' I would have already known the cause of all this.
So where did the Fates and Styx send me? I push myself off the ground and take a look around at my surroundings. I had been dropped off out in the open on the side of this vibrant green grassy hill overlooking this small grassland valley decorated in an array of wildflowers and inhabited by small native fauna. Based on the positioning of the Sun, it seems like it may be noon and with how vibrant and fresh everything looks… is it the Spring? I look at my body, noticing I'm in the same outfit I was wearing when I was attacked. My orange camp shirt even has the tears and the bloodstains to prove it. So this isn't some sick dream…
My jeans have been ripped and are stained in blood as well. The only thing that hasn't been stained are my Nike sneakers. A flash of purple next to my shoe catches my eye. Gently bobbing in the wind is this unique violet-blue flower. Now that I look around, I am actually smack-center in a large patch of them. I don't know what type of flower they are but they feel familiar… I turn my head back to the skies searching for where the ducks went. They are mere specks in the distance now, traveling to whatever places ducks like to go.
*Thud* *Thud* *Thud*
My demigod senses freak out, releasing a dose of adrenaline into my bloodstream, making my hairs stand on the back of my neck, and screaming danger. Something is coming! Behind me! I flip around, preparing myself for a fight. What monster wants a piece of me now?
Rising over the peak from the other side of the hill is an absolutely massive humanoid head. The monster's head is a few strands of greasy black hair shy of being bald and it stares at me with the creepiest of smiles and a lustful hunger in its eyes. A wave of nostalgia rises within me as I compare the monster's face to my late stepfather Gabe Ugilano salivating at my mother's layered bean dip.
I backpedal a few steps down the hill as the creature makes its way to the peak. The monster stands a towering 10 meters tall, has a fat, bloated stomach like it ate nothing but grease and fat its entire life, and it's NAKED!?
"Mother Rhea! Put some clothes on you freak!" I shout, shielding my eyes and turning away before my brain gets the time to process the unholy sight. Just in time too. Somehow I was spared from seeing its—wait… I don't recall seeing any 'dangly bits' between its crotch… It didn't have boobs so the monster couldn't be a girl, right?
Gods, I can't exactly defend myself from this thing if I can't look at it. Mentally bracing myself for the worse, I inch my hands off my face and take another peak, fully prepared to slap my palms back over my eyes or throw up in disgust.
Phew! It doesn't have any private parts. Or any orifice downs there at all. What the fuck? How does it pee?
Back on track, so what the hell is this thing?! It can't be a Laistrygonian Giant, it's way too large for it to be one of those, and it is obviously not a cyclops since it has two eyes. Is it a Gigantes? I can't recall Gaia having another child with a description like this. Is it some reject-of-a-son Gaia dumped and whose story was lost to time? It's about the same height as Polybotes, the bane of my father, so perhaps they're relat—Crap! Here it comes!
The giant takes off in a mad dash, sprinting down the hill and charging straight for me. It leans forward with its giant hands, hands which are longer than my body is tall, and reaches out to grab me. I leap out of its path, tucking and rolling as the palms of the monster slam the dirt I was standing on milliseconds before. Unable to control its momentum, the monster barrels past me and loses its balance, tumbling to the ground with a mighty crash.
I gotta distance myself! I pick myself and push off with legs, sprinting up the hill and away from the monster to give myself some much-needed space.
"Hey ugly! You missed me!" I mockingly stick my tongue and make a loud fart noise with my mouth to annoy the beast. Dueling 101: an angry and frustrated opponent is far easier to read and fight than a calm and collected one. As I wait for the monster to respond, I reach into my pocket and grasp my trusty ballpoint pen in my right hand. I'm not gonna reveal it just yet; it's better to mislead the enemy to believe I'm unarmed.
The titan collects itself, finally rising off the ground and returning to its feet. It turns my way, with the look in its eyes and its facial expression remaining unchanged. Did it not hear me?
"What are you deaf? I'm talking to you, you idiot!"
The beast opens its hand releasing clumps of soil and grass staining the once pristine and beautiful landscape. The purple flowers I woke up besides had been trampled under the monster's feet, turned into piles of petals and mush. Hey, hold up! I remembered what the flowers are! They are Japanese Irises. I only know this because I had just recently talked to Katie. She had been growing a batch of them outside her cabin because they're supposed to be a sign of good news or something.
Man, seeing them in their trampled and crushed state sure does bring me hope.
The giant takes off, gunning for my body again with those meaty hands. But instead of dodging this time, I respond by pulling my ballpoint pen out of my jeans pocket, uncapping the writing utensil with the flick of my fingers and wrist, and swinging it towards the monster's hand. Out from the pen emerges a 3 feet double-edged blade with the ancient greek word ανακλυσμός (Anaklusmos) engraved into its side. Titanic fingers fly off in all directions as the divine Celestial Bronze blade slices through the monster's flesh like a hot knife through butter. I spin around, dodging the rest of the giant's body like a Spanish bullfighter, then jump further back to dodge the splurts of scolding hot blood ejecting out of the beast's freshly inflicted wounds. I come to a halt and lower myself into a stance, with Riptide emitting a dim orangey glow in my hands and softly and mysteriously humming as if daring the monster to try again.
I had first thought that maybe this thing was deaf since it didn't respond to my taunting earlier but now I'm pretty sure it just has the intelligence as a bag of bricks. For real, this thing must have a hollow head going for the same move like that. It underestimated me and paid the price. Taking down this monster will be a slice of cake! It's unintelligent, down a hand, and doesn't have a way to defend itself from my—
Jets of steam begin bursting out from the giant's wounds, cutting off my thoughts. Huh? Does this monster have hot blood or something? No, that's not it. The steam, its… its wounds are healing! It's almost as if its hot blood is cauterizing itself! No, it's not just that. Its hand, its fingers, they're regrowing! Watching in sick fascination, the giant's skin slowly and grotesquely morphs reforming its fingers like a gecko's tail but with a regeneration factor overclocked a thousand times the lizard's normal rate. How is this possible?
Before the beast's hand can finish healing, the monster rushes forward catching me off guard. It reaches with its still reforming hand and I hastily swing my sword, slicing off its healing fingers before they can grab me. But my swing was unbalanced and I stumble forward narrowly tripping over my own feet. That was all the monster needed. Before I knew what was happening, the monster's other hand careens into my body. Riptide clatters to the ground, immediately slipping from my hold by the impact.
"Shit!"
The monster's oversized fingers wrap around my body, pinning my arms down to my sides. Great, now I'm weaponless and 'armless.' Pun intended.
"Dude! What the fuck is your deal!?" I curse at the monster as it raises me up to its face. Its hungry gray eyes remain hungry yet impassive, trained on my body like a crack addict with their narcotics. The giant responds to my cussing by opening its mouth and exhaling in my face. I shut my eyes and shrivel my nose in disgust as its nasty hot breath rolls over me, reeking of the worst of rotten egg smells.
"Yuck! You even have Ugly Gabe's breath!" I gag.
Damn it, what do I do now?! I wiggle my body, testing to see how much wiggle room I have and trying to get my arms free but to no avail. I can't break out of its grip and even if I could, Riptide hasn't returned to my body yet! The giant lifts me higher, tilts its head back, and lowers my dangling legs into its mouth.
"NO! I don't want to die again! Damn it! Not like this!"
I shut my eyes and brace myself for Thanatos with a racing heart and shuddering amount of dread. The giant's teeth clamp down on my waist and I feel… nothing? Hold up, why don't I feel pain? Am I in shock? Was I killed instantly this time?
I crack open my eyes, fully expecting to see Charon's Ferry or the bloody scene of my chopped-off legs sliding down the monster's throat. But instead, I open my eyes simply finding myself face to face with the giant's ugly eyes. Its eyes continue creepily staring at me and I swear I haven't seen them blink once so far. The giant definitely bit me. In fact, its teeth are still pressed against my lower naval region with my legs completely inside its mouth. But the giant's jaws didn't break my skin? Instead, its teeth are… cracking?!
"Styx! I forgot! Styx pushed me in the Styx!"
The giant's mouth clamps down harder, its teeth splintering, sending shards of bone ejecting out of its mouth as they grind against my impenetrable skin. That's right, impenetrable. Bathing in the Styx has given me the Curse of Achilles, a curse/blessing that protects the user from all physical bodily harm. Some call it a blessing for the fact that it gives the afflicted the means to become an unstoppable warrior, granting the user with increased battle prowess that makes fighting for them almost automatic, improving their physical strength, as well as 'hardening' their skin to where a diamond can't even scratch them.
The curse does, however, have its drawbacks. Handicaps so severe that they are the reason why others rightfully refer to it as a 'Curse' rather than a blessing. Every bearer has a single weak point and if that tiny spot receives so much as the tiniest of paper cuts, the person will die. For Achilles, it was his heel. For Luke and now me, it's the inside of our left armpits.
The curse also enhances certain emotions or behaviors to dangerous degrees. I always had a hot temper and acted recklessly but I remember the curse making those things so much worse the first time I had it. This will be a problem.
The last negative effect is that in giving the bearer invulnerability and enhancing their senses and abilities, the curse will sap more energy from the user in exchange. An enormous amount of stress is constantly put on the body, whether the inflicted is fighting or doing their daily routine, and rest is the only medicine to regain your energy. I may be physically invincible, but missed nap times will take down the greatest of warriors.
This means I can't beat this monster in a prolonged battle. My body is just not used to this new rate of energy consumption. I need to go for a killing blow. The head.
Against the grip of the giant's hand around my torso, I inch and stretch my hand down into my right pocket. Riptide hasn't returned yet but it's only a matter of time… Any second now… Come on…
Seeing as it still hasn't bitten me in half, the monster bites down harder, unaware and or uncaring of the state of its teeth. Its waning and cracking teeth finally cave in, completely shattering the rows pressing down on my body. The pressure on my navel is momentarily relieved before coming back full force, this time replaced by the giant's gooey gums. Gross. As its teeth slowly regrow against my navel, the monster continues chewing on my body with its gums like a teething baby does to its toys.
A familiar weight reappears in my right pocket.
Now!
I yank Riptide out of my pocket and uncap it, shredding the hand squeezing my body. With my upper body longer being supported and with my legs still trapped between the monster's gums, my world turns upside down as I flop downwards, my back colliding with the front of the giant's chin. Mustering a great crunch, I heave myself upwards, swinging the front half of my body up then past my legs then using the momentum of this swing, I embed Riptide straight into the giant's right eye.
The giant doesn't immediately react, which is good for me. Using Riptide as leverage, I push against the monster's face and teeth to pull my legs free. Without teeth, the lower half of my body easily slips out of the giant's slimy gums. Now free, I fall backwards. Doing a little backwards flip for bonus points as I fall, I land with my right knee and right fist on the ground in what can only be described as a 'superhero landing.'
But unlike a fearless Avenger, the moment after I hit the ground I stand up and high tail it in the other direction trying to give myself much-needed space from the beast. The monster screams after me but I have a feeling it's less of a "I'm in pain" howl and more of a "where did my food go" shout of frustration. The giant's non-damaged eye scans the landscape and the moment it relocates me, it takes off, giving me zero time to think or catch my breath.
The giant lunges, swinging at me with its right arm whilst tripping over its own two feet like a football player reaching out to perform a touchdown-saving shoelace tackle. The Curse of Achilles activates before my mind processes the attack and I subconsciously jump. The attacking hand slams into the dirt and while the rest of its body tumbles forward and as the monster's face faceplants into the ground with a mighty crash, somehow I end up landing on the giant's wrist.
Taking this opportunity, I use its own wrist as a backboard, leaping off its arm and jumping up onto the back of its enormous head. I raise Riptide and go to work, savagely impaling, slicing, and stabbing the back of the giant's head to destroy its brain. The giant's skull and flesh tears like wrapping paper as the Curse of Achilles and my natural demigod prowess add more fuel to Riptide's swings. I lose count of how many times I've swung but by the time I run out of steam, my last few swings had cut through nothing but a fleshy mush.
"No one who tries to eat Percy Jackson gets away with it!" I laugh, standing victorious over the limp beast. I take a step back, admiring the massive steaming bloody hole that is all that's left of the back of the beast's head.
"That's what you get! Try getting back up from— huh? HOW?!"
The giant trembles, forcing me to jump off its head. It doesn't make sense. It should be dead! How is it still moving? Steam jets out from the gaping wound in its head and slowly but surely the hole begins healing. Seriously? It's still able to heal? After all of that? Is this thing even killable?!
The giant raises its head with both of its emotionless yet hungry eyes staring out at me. That's right, both eyes. The eye I stabbed and the fingers on its right hand I had sliced off earlier has already regenerated. Great… The giant stands to its feet, takes a step, and immediately stumbles and falls on its ass. It looks… disoriented and not all there. I don't think the monster had much cognition to begin with but I guess this proves its brain does serve some purpose.
If I can't kill this thing, I'll need to hurt it enough to give myself time to escape. I close my eyes and call upon my hydrokinetic senses, searching the area for any source of water that could aid me. A small prickle in the front of my mind informs me of a small stagnant pond in the valley below but I don't think it has enough water. Plus it's directly between me and the monster. Wait, there! Behind me and on the other side of the hill is a raging river, maybe 20 feet wide! It's not strong enough to sweep a person away but it's certainly no 'lazy river.' While it may be farther away than the pond, I need that supply.
I'm not going to wait for the monster to attack. This time, I'll strike first. I recklessly rush the humanoid beast and it takes notice, responding by stretching out both its arms as if it's expecting me to bear hug it. Its arms encapsulate inwards but somehow I'm able to leap forward and squeeze between them before they're able to close. I make my way underneath the giant and through the titan's legs and as I pass its ankles, I swing Riptide destroying the monster's left Achilles tendon. I dash out of the way before the monster's fat body has the chance to squash me. I don't know how long it will take the monster to heal but this is the head start I needed.
Nothing is eternal, even the gods will fade over time as their memory is lost to time, so I truly doubt this monster is unkillable. But if it turns out this beast truly is a child of Gaia, then I'll need a god's help to defeat it. I could sit here like a hopeless fool, praying for divine assistance, but I doubt they would come to my aid. Something about this place just feels... wrong. It's like I'm in Alaska. Not that Alaska is a bad place or anything! It's just, there's something in the back of my mind telling me I'm outside the Olympian's sphere of influence. But it's alright if there aren't any gods around, I've fought against enemies I couldn't kill before.
Last Summer when my memory had been wiped and I was forced to cluelessly carry the goddess Juno through the Little Tiber River and into New Rome, I was being pursued by these two unkillable monsters. Their names were Euryale and Stheno and they are gorgons, terrifying monster women turned into snakes by Annabeth's mom, Athena. Under normal circumstances, they are as killable as any other monster but in this encounter, the primordial goddess of the Earth, Gaia, had let them her power granting them unkillable bodies.
Every time I would cut them down, the Earth's mud would climb up their bodies and cake their wounds, completely healing them. I could really only deal with them once I had reached the Little Tiber. I used the river's waters to grab and pin down the sisters of Medusa then summoning a whirlpool, I was able to keep their regenerative abilities at bay as I sliced them to pieces. When all that was left of their bodies were particles, dust, and minuscule chunks of flesh, I made the river surge, further scattering their essence and sending the sisters downstream.
I may not be able to kill this 'giant monster thing' but I can defeat it. So with this lesson of Euryale and Stheno in my mind, I race up the hill beelining towards the river all the while being pursued by a nude, fat, 10-meter Gabe Ugliano look-alike hungry for my sweet demigod body.
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No One's Pov:
Meanwhile at some unknown location...
The gentle tranquility of a shady forest's dirt path is abruptly disturbed by the thundering noise and shaking of hundreds of horses galloping on by. A small army charges through this wooded trail riding atop a fine breed of horse; lean, strong, and with beautiful coats. It's clear that the soldiers take care of their animals, evident through their mounts groomed manes and healthy physiques. The horses are well tamed, naturally following their rider's orders without hesitation, and the seemingly effortless strides they take as they charge through the forest shows that they have been trained to run long distances without break. These thoroughbreds are perfect mounts for humans traversing titan territory.
The humans saddled on the horses' backs are fitted with a strange set of equipment. A sophisticated harness is strapped around their legs, waist, and shoulders, and attached to this harness on the soldiers' outer thighs are a pair of these strange metallic rectangular containers. Anchored to the top of both 'boxes' are cylindrical gas containers, likely supplying the strange harpoon-like mechanism equipped on both sides of their waists. The people are also armed with two peculiarly empty handles that are attached via a string to the soldier's bodies. The tops of the handles have an open slot that only specially tailored ultrahard steel blades can fit into.
The soldier's uniforms consist of white pants with a brown belt, a yellowish-white undershirt, a brown coat, tall brown boots, and a dark green cloak. A patch is sewn into the left breast pocket of their brown coats looking similar to a medieval coat of arms with a blue and a white wing crossing over each other. A larger image of these wings is also sewn into the back of the cloaks which some soldiers have opted to cover their heads and faces with.
These soldiers are currently trekking through titan country in the region between Wall Maria and Wall Rose. This land didn't always belong to the titans, 5 years prior this region was inhabited and controlled by mankind. When the outer gate of the outlier city of Shiganshina and its gates to the inside of Wall Maria was breached by two new species of titans, humanity was forced to retreat within Wall Rose. The fall of Wall Maria to the titans resulted in humanity losing a third of their land and the immediate loss of 10,000 lives. But the fallout wasn't over yet; with the loss of land came an ensuing food shortage and the government was forced to make the difficult decision to send the 250,000 refugees of Maria to reclaim the outer wall. It was a slaughter. No one said it but humanity knew this was the government's attempt at population control. Of the 250,000, less than 200 would return. It may have been a pointless endeavor but their sacrifices did manage to alleviate the food crisis, saving humanity from a cramped starving existence.
Humanity's military is divided into three separate branches. The military police, who only top-ranking recruits and people with connections can join, maintain law and order within the interior. The garrison, which is responsible for guarding and patrolling the walls and who are tasked to protect citizens at all costs should the walls be breached. And finally, the Survey Corps, who venture outside the walls bringing the fight to the titans and learning everything they can about them. Each branch has its own insignia; a unicorn for the MPs, a rose for the garrison, and the wings of freedom for the scouts.
The soldiers we see riding through the forest are of the Scout Regiment and are currently returning to Wall Rose after completing their 56th scouting expedition outside the walls. Their goal: to establish a route from Trost to Shiganshina. The mission went relatively well, they had fewer casualties than normal and were successful in establishing various emergency bases with staches of equipment along the route they've been making. However, an alarming movement of titans caught the eyes of the higher-ups. Every titan they encountered had been heading north, some even completely ignoring scouts continuing to travel northwards. The brighter minds of the Scouting Regiment recognized that this was exactly what happened with Shiganshina half-decade ago. Fearing that the city of Trost was under siege and Wall Rose was in danger of being breached, the Scouts ended their expedition early and are currently rushing back, hoping to halt the impending titan attack.
"How do the titans know that the wall is about to be breached? Is it some sort of primal instinct telling them that the Armored and Colossal titans are about to appear? Or maybe they have a way to communicate with one another?" A girl with dark maroon hair and glasses energetically questions despite the dire circumstance.
"OooOO! I just have to know! Erwin! Levi! If we can capture a few Titans, place them near the gates and keep an eye on their behavior, then maybe we can use them as an early warning system!"
"No one wants to capture a titan for your crazy experiments." A short man with straight black hair and a white handkerchief tucked in the front of his shirt replies in a monotone voice. Despite his short stature, he gives off an intimidating aura warning those that this isn't someone you want to mess with.
"Come on Levi, pleeeeeease?!"
"No, you're insane."
"We don't have time to capture titans." A blonde-haired, tall, and stern man speaks out. "Our first priority is to get back to Trost. As far as we know, the outer gate could have already been breached."
"Yeah, I know Erwin," Hange replies, her tone shifting from a bubbly energetic one to a more dreadful one. "It's just… I can't stop thinking about the timing of the attack. It's almost as if the titans decided to strike the moment we left…"
"Yeah, it's… concerning." Levi comments.
"I agree." Erwin solemnly adds.
The three give each other knowingly looks and an unspoken conversation is shared between them. After mentally agreeing this is a fact that shouldn't be overlooked, they turn their gazes forward returning their focus on getting to Trost as quickly as possible.
"Nothing will change the circumstances of why we weren't there or why the titans decided to strike then. All that matters now is that we get back to Trost and stave off the attack." Erwin speaks.
"Right!" Levi and Hange agree.
All three hug their bodies closer to their horses and urge their animal companions to gallop faster. But in a complete turn of events, all three of their horses dig their hooves into the ground and come to a screeching halt, almost throwing off their riders in the process. To make the situation even more abnormal, it wasn't just Erwin, Levi, and Hanges mounts that stopped. The entire formation has come to a standstill.
"Come on buddy! Why'd you stop?" A random scout asks his horse.
"What's going on?!" Another shouts.
"My horse isn't listening to me!"
"Mine either!"
"You stupid animal! WE NEED TO GET BACK TO TROST!"
"What do we do now?"
"Damn it we're wasting time."
Various shouts of confusion and desperation ring out from the soldiers as the entire charge is abruptly brought to a halt. Soldiers pull on their reins and spur their horses to move forward but their mounts resist, some nervously neighing and others almost bucking their riders off going berserk. Confusion, panic, and frustration spread, chaos rapidly breeding throughout the Scout's ranks.
"Come on girl, what's wrong?' Hange gently asks her horse. The horse confusingly neighs in response, turning its head around as if looking for something.
"What's going on?" Levi asks, leaning forward and sticking his hand out to pet his steed's nose. His horse responds to his reassuring pets by turning its neck and licking his hand. But it still refuses to move.
Yet to comment on the situation, Erwin looks around, taking in abnormal behavior of the mounts of his regiment. Every single horse stopped without command and without warning, concurrently. Erwin looks down at his own white stallion and notices his horse pawing at the ground westward, a direction completely off course from Trost. He looks around at his troops and realizes all of their horses seem to be looking in the same direction his horse is urging him to go.
"It seems like our horses know something is going on. Something we can't sense. Something to the West." Hange speaks up, coming to the same conclusion as Erwin. "Erwin, we need to find out what that is."
"Damn it four eyes, we don't have time! We need to get back to Trost!'' Levi shouts.
"Well, it's not like we have a choice!" Hange shouts back. "Look! Some of our horses have already started moving that way on their own accord," she says pointing at a soldier who had fallen off his horse but had gotten his foot stuck in the saddle. With one leg comically raised in the air and spitting dirt out of his mouth, his horse slowly drags him off the forest path. Another nearby Scout grabs his horse's reins and attempts to get the animal to stop while another Scout tries to upright the man back onto his saddle.
"Come on girl! Lead the way!" Letting her curiosity get the best of her and not waiting for the go-ahead from Erwin, Hange whips her horse's reins and lets the animal guide them to whatever has caught its interest.
"Hange!" Levi angrily shouts after Hange as she disappears into the thicket of trees. He growls and attempts to forcibly turn his horse in the direction of Trost but the animal refuses to budge.
"Hange is right, we need to investigate," Erwin tells Levi.
"Don't tell me you have shits for brains as well. You are aware of what could be happening at Trost, right?"
"Yes but as of now, our horses aren't letting us return. This behavior they are demonstrating has never been documented before." Erwin reaches into his waist and pulls out a loaded flare gun. Raising it into the air and shooting it upwards, the green smoke of the fired round informs every soldier that a change in direction has been ordered. Other green flares fly up into the air in response marking that everyone is on the same page.
"Discovering the mysteries of our world is the core element of the Survey Corps. First, we investigate what has caught the horses' attention. Then we hurry to Trost District."
Erwin takes off and Levi and the rest of the battalion follows suit, straying off the regular forest path and letting their horses take them westward straight through the trees.
"Erwin. We don't know how long this is going to take! And what if the horses refuse to head back to Trost once we reach their destination?" Levi asks as he and Erwin dodge between trees and duck under low-hanging branches.
"We can only hope to make it back in time," Erwin replies, discreetly raising a hand to wipe a bead of sweat from his brow formed from the difficult call he had to make. "The horses' behavior is… Well, it's as equally concerning in my mind."
Titans exclusively hunt and eat humans, completely ignoring all other lifeforms. The multitude of cases involving riders getting snatched off their mounts with the horses not getting hurt at all has proven this fact. This trait is helpful for the Scouts as it makes it possible for the horses to be trained not to fear titans but why titans only eat humans has never been answered. If this new behavior the horses are demonstrating happens to be titan-related, they need to know. Besides discovering the weak spot in their nape, nothing new has been learned about the mysteries of the titans since the creation of the great walls. With humanity close to being on its last legs, information has more value than the citizens of Trost. The Scouts can only hope the garrison can hold off the attack until they return.
Up ahead, a white light appears through the tangle of trees and shrubs, and before Erwin and Levi know it, they burst out of the tree line and into an opening. They are met with a grassy green river valley dotted in various wildflowers of all sorts of flowers. The terrain forward is a wavy downward slope that leads to a flowing river. As the rest of the Scouts emerge out of the thicket, Erwin and Levi spot Hange ahead. She's already halfway down to the river but seems to have kicked her horse into a full sprint. Hange turns her head around and meeting the eyes of Erwin and Levi, she yells out.
"Look!"
Hange cocks her arm back then thrusts it forward, pointing to the other side of the valley. Falling in the direction of her finger, Erwin and Levi spot that she's pointing to a person running down towards the river from the other side. Pursuing behind the poor soul is a fat 10m tall titan and it's gaining ground on him, quickly. Erwin and Levi kick their horses into high gear trying to reach the young man in time while in the back of their minds they take note of his strange clothes and the fact he doesn't have ODM gear or a horse.
"What's a person doing outside the walls?" Erwin asks out loud.
"I don't know but not even Hange's will make it in time." Levi points out.
They watch as the young adult reaches the bank of the river and opts to swan dive directly into its waters in an attempt to escape the 10-meter bearing down on his neck.
"That was dumb. He would have had a better chance fighting on land." Levi comments disdainfully and pitifully.
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Percy's Pov:
Leaping forward with all my might, I dive into the safety of the raging river. A jolting wave of coldness washes over me as I enter the frigid waters, seeping down to the bone. As fast as I can register that initial painful freezing feeling, my senses are overwhelmed with euphoria as my demigod abilities go to work. Gone are the freezing temperatures, the aches and pains from fighting that monster, and the burning in my thighs and calves from sprinting up that hill. My skin greedily soaks in the freshwater, my cells breaking down water molecules to supply my body with energy in a way science can't explain. I hadn't realized just how tired I was until my demigod abilities started going to work, refilling my empty reserves and relieving an unseen burden on my back. It's this damn curse. I'm just not used to it like I was before.
A large shadow appears over my head, looming over the surface of the water.
"Shit!"
I frantically manipulate the water to push at my feet, propelling myself deeper into the river's depths to get myself out of the way. And not a moment too soon; the monster's giant jaws bite through the water, clamping down at the spot I had been floating at a second before. While I might be impervious to physical harm, if this monster takes me out of my element, I'll be a literal fish out of water. Water and adrenaline can only do so much against the tiring effects of the Curse of Achilles. I have a feeling the moment I step out of the river, I'll collapse. I can't afford to drag out this fight any longer.
The giant's submerged face, which had been obscured by a wall of bubbles, begins to visualize as the bubbles clear, gushing towards the surface. The giant's lifeless yet hungry eyes scan the riverbed, locking on my body as it spots me floating a few meters away. That's when I decide to strike.
I call upon my powers by giving my gut a great tug. The waters resist for a split second, then bend to will. Manipulating the currents to swirl around and push at my feet, I shoot upwards, breaking through the surface, ejecting out of the river, and rising until I 'hover' equal to that of the monster's full height.
Still being completely submerged, the water's swirl counterclockwise at an immense speed with water molecules climbing over each other to rise out of the water and keep me afloat in the air.
Have you ever watched Avatar the Last Airbender? I'm basically copying what the main character does in the second episode. Ever since I watched that scene where Aang emerges from the sea in the avatar state and is encased in a water tornado to fight and escape from a Fire Nation ship, I've been dying to try it myself. The water bending in that show is so epic! Sometimes I like to pretend that—
"My lord!"
"Our savior has returned!"
"He's back! Our god is back!"
"It's the second coming!"
"Please Lord, forgive me for my sins!"
Who is speaking? Were those horses? I glance behind and sure enough, there they are. But they didn't come alone. Charging down the slope on the opposite side of the river is a battalion of soldiers. While the soldiers are left astonished and in awe at whatever scene The Mist is using to hide my battle with the monster, their horses are going nuts, frothing at the mouths screaming obscenities and asking for my blessing. I shake my head at their absurd behavior. I know a son of Poseidon hasn't been born since WWII but they should really be able to tell that I am not my father.
A majority of the green cloaked soldiers recover from the shock of whatever The Mist is making them see and have now doubled their efforts to reach the river. I wonder what they are seeing. Maybe they see a giant whale spurting its blowhole at me and they decided to charge in an attempt to save me?
In case you didn't know, The Mist is this natural magical veil that exists in the world that covers the eyes of mortals. This supernatural force is controlled and maintained by the goddess of magic, Hecate, and its main purpose is to hide the existence of greek and roman 'myths.'
One time while sightseeing at the top of the St. Louis Arc, I was surprise-attacked by the Chimera 'mist' disguised as a chihuahua. How a lion with an extra goat head and a snake for a tail could hide inside the tiny body of that dog, I have no idea. The Mist works in mysterious ways, it's best not to question it.
A shiver runs down my spine and I instinctively swerve my 'water' tornado to the right, dodging the gigantic fist of the giant. I turn back around and face my opponent head-on. The monster had recovered from its tumble and had risen out of the water, standing before me staring at me with that sinister smile of its. I don't even think the water was able to make its eyes blink. This thing is the champion of staring contests.
The giant jabs with its left hand. I dodge the strike with a tug from my gut, causing the water tornado to surge and lift my body out of the way. The monster's fist punches through the water beneath my feet but I keep the water contained, shifting the twirling currents around the giant's wrist and forearm to maintain my stability.
Pulling more water out of the river, I shoot forward, spinning around the giant's outstretched arm wrapping water around it as I go to immobilize it. Finishing at its bicep, next I shoot towards the giant's face. It whips its head forward, lunging in to swallow me whole, but I swerve upwards. Whipping out Riptide and pointing it out of my bubble, I stab the giant's left eye, deeply embedding my sword dead center into its pupil.
"RWARRRR!"
The monster roars in agony. It tries swiping me with its free right arm but I'm already gone, using the water tornado to maneuver around towards the back of its head. Riptide remains embedded in its skull, tearing through the giant's brain matter as I circle around the top of its head. Leaving a gaping gash in my wake, I circle back to where I started with the giant's left eye completely cleaving off the top of the monster's skull.
The monster staggers forward, what's left of its cognition keeping its body upright, and the top half of its head slides off like a buttered pancake on the top of a tall stack. I urge the river below to catch the half of the giant's head, creating a whirlpool to further break up its steaming matter and keep it separated so as it won't regenerate. I can feel my own blood beginning to heat up from overusing my demigod power but I bite my tongue, trying to focus on the task at hand.
"Hrrrrrrrrrrrr!" Grunting in exertion, I give my gut yet another tug to move my water tornado. Round and round the giant's body I go, running Anaklusmos through the monster's appendages and body. I slice at every pale bit of skin I can see, not with precision but to cut the monster up as much as I can. The waters shield me from the steaming blood spurting out of the giant's wounds as skin, flesh, fat, and other bodily bits fall into the whirlpool below. My gut cramps from the effort of maintaining the whirlpool below but assuming this monster is like Medusa's sisters, I gotta keep the waters spinning to keep it from regenerating.
Swerving back towards the monster's head, I slice everything from the shoulders up to smithereens for good measure. As the monster crumbles to pieces and my vision begins to fade, with the last of my energy I give the whirlpool another good swirl to collect everything up then tug on my gut to make the river surge, carrying the body bits downstream. My gut erupts in pain and my water tornado immediately collapses. As I freefall to the river, the last thing I register before the sweet embrace of unconsciousness takes over is the excited whooping of one of those onlooking soldiers.
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Erwin's Pov:
"What the hell?" Levi murmurs to himself.
"Wooohooo" Hange whoops, totally enraptured by the scene before us and cheering on the fight.
Like something out of a fairy tale, the young man who had fled into the river has now turned the tables on the titan, somehow controlling the water to aid him in combat. Manipulating the water in a way not even the most creative of fiction authors have thought imaginable, he raises himself to the height of the 10-meter titan, maneuvering around the titan's body dodging its attacks while dealing his own blows. The young man swings a single shimmering bronze sword, which if my eyes didn't deceive me, was definitely not on his person as he jumped into the water. He shreds the titan to pieces with a ferocity I haven't seen since Levi's first scouting expedition.
Levi and I continue to charge down the slope to join Section Commander Hange but it's evident the young man doesn't need our help anymore. We ride up to Hange, who has taken off her glasses to wipe them off and check to see if she's seeing things right.
"Holy cow!" she shouts, blushing in overzealous excitement after looking through the cleaned lenses of her spectacles.
In a mighty display of his ability, the young man pushes another step beyond what we thought was capable, swinging his sword and controlling his water spout to surge in new speeds to completely demolish what's left of the titan's head and neck. The river's waters below unnaturally pick up in speed, carrying the titan's falling body part down the gushing currents. As if the young man has run out of energy, the water-like tornado peeters out sending the young man plummeting back into the river's depths.
"That. was. AMAZING!" Hange cries.
"Scouts, surround the area! I want to know where this man came from! And don't let him escape!" With the wave of my hand, my soldiers get to work. Fanning out, some head upstream and others downstream to block the escape of the boy. Meanwhile, other Scouts cross the river on their horses, galloping towards the hill on the other side to get a clue as to where the boy came from.
"Is he a survivor from the Wall Maria reclamation expedition?" Levi asks
"Implausible. No one could have survived outside the walls for 4 years. Even someone with abilities like that." I answer.
On the other side of the river, the squad of Scouts heading for the hill finally reach its peak. They put their hands over their foreheads to block out the sun and look around. It doesn't seem as if they found anything, for if they spotted a settlement or more people, they would have sent a soldier back down immediately.
"So where the hell did he come from and why the hell is he out there?" Levi asks again.
I've heard whispers in the elite of the king forming a sort of Anti-Personnel Control squad, a squad of soldiers working closely with the high government to suppress opposition and keep the secrets of our world hidden. Their existence hasn't been publicly disclosed and evidence of their existence is shaky but I know they exist. I know how far the king is willing to hide the truth.
"Hmmmm…." Hange contemplates. "Well, it's obvious he's well versed in those powers of his. Also, no one could swing a sword like that without some form of formal training. And his clothes… I've never seen that type of design before."
Is it possible that this young man was tasked to tail us by orders of the king? To be the king's eyes and make sure we don't discover anything we're not supposed to? It's the only thing that would explain his existence, his strange clothing, and training. Only the government would be able to pull something like this off.
"Uhhhhh, Erwin?"
But that theory doesn't add up. I'm almost certain the king has already implanted a spy or two within our ranks to perform these tasks. Why risk sending a valuable asset outside the walls? And a human with the power to control water… can even the king keep a secret like this contained?
"Erwin! Hey!" Hange yells, snapping me out of my thoughts. "I don't think he's coming back up! We gotta pull him out before he drowns!" She yells, pointing to the river.
"You two over there!" I shout, pointing at the nearest pair of soldiers standing guard at the banks of the river, who happen to both be a part of Levi's Special Operations Squad. "Get in there and drag him out, quickly!"
"Do we really have to? Can't you make someone else do it?" the man named Oluo talks back. He is a fine soldier but should learn to keep his mouth shut to avoid disciplinary action from his superiors and from biting his tongue.
"Yes. Get to it." Levi orders in my place.
"Yes, sir!" the other soldier, Gunther, replies. "Come on man."
"Damn it, I don't want to get wet," Oluo mutters.
The two men hastily jump off their horse, take off their boots, clocks, and jackets, unstrap their ODM gear, and jump into the water. Levi, Hange, and I silently wait, watching the pair of Scouts swim over to where we saw the boy fall and dive into the water to find him. Oluo and Gunther emerge from under the water, throwing the unconscious man over their shoulders and swim back to shore. Levi and Hange disembark from their horses and rush to the shore to help the pair drag the man to land.
"The w-water was fre-freezing!" Oluo chatters, climbing out of the water. Petra, another member of Levi's elite squadron, helps Oluo reapply his jacket and cloak while the rest of us get a good look at our mysterious man.
He's young, perhaps 17 or 18, and is about 6'0". His taller stature diminishes the probability of an underground or poorer outer wall upbringing. He has messy black hair and a tan complexion; ruling out the chance that he's a dweller of the underground city. His clothes are unique, a simple orange-dyed t-shirt and a sort of blue shorts with designs I've never seen before. And his shoes are even more bizarre, with a sophisticated design that must have taken a shoemaker a full year to tailor and with a strange checkmark pattern on the shoes' sides. Is it a sort of emblem for his organization or village?
Hange checks his pulse by pressing her fingers on his neck, then puts her ear to his chest. "He's breathing fine. His lungs sound surprisingly clear," she comments, pulling away.
He had to be underwater for at least 2 minutes, I was certain he would need to be resuscitated. Perhaps this has something to do with his water-controlling ability? His clothes are torn, damp, and bloodstained but checking his body, it seems the blood isn't his own. He is completely uninjured.
Levi quickly pats him down. Finding something in the young man's left pocket, Levi reaches in and pulls out a small wooden box.
"What's this?!" Hange snatched the container out of Levi's hands and up to her glasses, turning the box around to look at all its sides.
"It feels... weird." She comments.
"What do you mean?"
Hange shakes the box slightly and inside we hear some hard object get knocked around from the movements.
"It's buzzing…" Hange turns the box over to its proper upright position and attempts to pry its lid open.
"I can't... Ugh! ...open it." The lid refuses to budge, despite appearing to have no locking mechanism whatsoever.
"Let me try," Levi says, snatching the box. But like Hange, he is unable to reveal the contents of the box. Levi's lips curve into a small frown at his unsuccessful attempts.
"Well, smashing it open is always an option." Escalating the situation, Levi pulls out one of his empty handles, inserts it into the rectangular metal container on his hip, and pulls out a single blade. Raising the blade over his head, he prepares to strike the box.
"STOP! You'll break whatever's inside!" Hange yells, grabbing Levi's wrist to immobilize it. "We'll figure this out later. For now, let's just bring it back to base with waterboy over here."
Looking Hange in the eyes, Levi tenses as if he's still going to follow through. His grip on the handle tightens but he ends up pulling away, putting the blade back into the slot from whence it came.
"Fine. Whatever. We have more things to do." Levi tosses the wood box at Hange, who fumbles with it for a second before bringing it in. She gives it one last brief inspection before tucking it away in one of her coat pockets. Meanwhile, Levi pulls out his white cravat, wiping down the spot Hange had grabbed his wrist.
"Commander!" One of my men shouts, riding up to me on a horse. "We were unable to find the man's weapon. We suspect it got caught in the current and drifted downstream."
"We've wasted enough time as it is. Stop the search."
"Yes sir!"
It would have been nice to recover the man's weapon. Before now, it was only thought that Ultrahard steel could pierce a titan's skin. Recovering that sword and unlocking the makeup of its bronze-like alloying could have been a big leap for mankind. However, we simply don't have the time to dig around in the river's mud, Wall Rose could be breached any moment now.
"Survey Corps, let's move out!" I shout to my Scout regiment, calling the others across the river to regroup.
"To Trost!"
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This chapter was 9k words.
Did you notice the horse's speech was italicized? All 'internal' speech that only Percy or another character can hear will be italicized as such.
If you read this chapter before I had rewritten it in March of 2021, I apologize for how messy it was to read. The original version had this weird italicized and normal text combo that was a big eyesore and I didn't switch the POVs properly in my first attempt.
An aged author's note I thought was cool to keep:
I just found out Attack on Titan Season 4 will likely not be released this October. Bummer. I ended up reading the manga after Season 3 which was a big step in my anime career. Season 4 is going to be nuts.
Leave a review for what you think or want Poseidon's gift to be!
Till next time,
-Unbred
Stats for nerds: 231 views, 35 follows, 22 favorites, 10 reviews
Published Originally on 9/19/2020
Rewritten 4/19/2021