Perseus is now twelve years old, and is traveling outside of his house. Sigrún had told him that there is a band of Greek cyclops and some draugr teamed up and have caught three kids around his age. He is currently camping about a day from them, and looks in the stream as he washes his face. He would hardly recognize the face that looks back at him if it wasn't for the fact that he sees the same face in the mirror all day.
His face is leaner, having lost the baby fat of his childhood. His eyes glow with a hidden power, and they are a vibrant, electric blue. He has raven black hair that is just the right length. He drags a hand down his face and sighs. He decides to get an early start to cover more distance. He checks his belongings: pendant? Check. Bracer? Check. Necklace? Check.
He stands up straight with a warriors lethal grace, and takes off using his enhanced speed to go faster. He slows down as he nears his targets. He creeps through the grass using the stealth techniques his good friend Eivor from the halls of Valhalla taught him. Sigrún was a good teacher and mentor, but she couldn't teach him everything.
His breath catches in his throat as he catches sight of the girl in black. She looks like a spitting image of himself. If he didn't know better, he'd take her for a daughter of his father. She has locks of hair that is almost as dark as his own. She has eyes as electric as his own, and he finds them somewhat attractive.
Perseus blushes and curses himself as he realizes that he is staring. He observes the rest of his surroundings. He notices the boy and the other, younger girl, both bound and unconscious. He creeps forward closer to the three captives, but suddenly he hears the groaning of the draugr, and the loud belches of the Greek monstrosities.
He narrows his eyes, and pulls on his runestone pendant, and Worldslayer forms in his hands. He bursts from the brush with a mighty war cry, "FOR THOR AND VALHALLA!"
Perseus leaps into the air, bolts of lightning streaking off of his body. He brings Worldslayer down with godlike strength. Lightning arcs from his weapon, going in a forth like a wave. The strength of his attack cracks the ground. The lightning fries the Greek cyclops and they turn into a strange golden dust. The draugr were more resistant and went to fight back against him.
"Back to Hel, you foul creatures!" Perseus calls before engaging them in brutal, Norse combat. The first charges headfirst, clearly not thinking, and falls swiftly to Perseus's blade. The remaining five surround him and burst into action. Perseus summons his shield and gets into a Norse swordsman stance.
The first four attack him in unison while the leader observes, slowly circling Perseus. Perseus strikes back, viciously holding them off, slaughtering them one by one. These four were canon fodder, which is why Perseus is able to defeat them. The leader on the other hand, is stronger and faster than them. Perseus narrows his eyes and grips his blade harder.
The two warriors stare each other down intensely. One is an undead viking that has a sickly green glow in it's eye sockets, and the other has powerful and vibrant electric blue eyes glowing with power. As if on a silent agreement, they charge each other and exchange violent, brutal blows. Perseus wears his opponent down, and eventually gets the draugr stunned enough to disarm it and defeat it. He runs his blade through the draugr.
Before it died it's final death it grunts a few words in Old Norse, "ᛃᛟᚢ᛫ᚺᚨᚹᛖ᛫ᛗᚨᛞᛖ᛫ᚨ᛫ᚷᚱᚨᚹᛖ᛫ᛗᛁᛊᛏᚨᚲᛖ,᛫ᛊᛟᚾ᛫ᛟᚠ᛫ᚦᛟᚱ." Which Perseus internally translates to 'You... Have made... A grave mistake... Son of Thor...' Perseus ponders those words for these words before putting them in the back of his mind, and standing up and pulling Worldslayer out of the newly dead corpse. He turns to the bound and gagged kids his age and observes them. They are wide-eyed in awe and surprise. Perseus walks over to them and puts his sword and shield back into their disguised forms. He pulls out his Sèax knife, and cuts their bindings and removes their gags.
"Are you guys alright?" He asks in concern. They stand up and look at him in shock.
"What was that?" His female look alike asked incredulously.
"I'm pretty sure it was called something like saving your life." Perseus replied sarcastically. The blonde guy stepped in between them.
"Hey, let's all take a deep breath, and introduce ourselves, alright? You guys are making Annabeth upset." He says in a calming tone.
Perseus breathes in and exhales. "My name is Perseus Jackson, son of Thor. My mother lives about a day or so away. I was sent to help you by my trainer and mentor." He explains.
The youngest of the trio got an excited gleam in her eye. She started asking rapid fire questions, "The Norse gods exist as well? Is your father really Thor, the most noble among them? What were those zombie warriors? Have you ever met your father? What metal is your sword and shield made of? Where did you learn to fight like that?" She asked all in one breath.
"Whoa, there Annie. Speak slower, and you shouldn't ask such personal questions," his female look-alike said, "though I would like to know what those things were. They're obviously not servants of Hades." She stated irritated at the fact.
Perseus put his hands up in a peaceful manner. "Peace. I'll answer the questions. Yes little one, the Norse gods exist as well. Did you truly think that the Greek and Roman pantheons existed? My father is indeed Thor himself, those undead warriors are called draugr. They are viking and Norse warriors who didn't die a glorious, honourable, warrior death, and were denied entry into Valhalla. They serve Hela, the Norse goddess of the dead." He looks down a bit upset now. "No, I never met my father... But that is not important. My sword and shield are made of Uru, also known as Asgardian Steel. It is much like your Celestial Bronze. As to where I learned to fight... Well, let's just say that my father sent the best qualified valkyrie to train me, and she pulled some of the best warriors to teach me in all manner of combat. Eivor and Sigurd... They're my best friends, even if they are much older than myself. You can introduce yourselves and tell your story as we go." Perseus answered the little girl's questions and motioned for them to follow him.
They follow him, still trying to digest what they were told. The older two were at least. The little girl was chattering excitedly. His female look-alike spoke. "I guess I'll go first... My name is Thalia. Thalia Grace. I'm the daughter of Zeus, the King of the Gods and Lord of the Sky. I personally think he'd be much better as the god of dramatic theatre." Her last few words dripped with so much sarcasm that Perseus struggled to keep a straight face. As Thalia speaks, thunder rumbles and lightning flashes. Perseus is only marginally impressed.
The blonde boy with blue eyes twinkling with mischief spoke next. "I suppose it's my turn... I'm Luke Castellan, son of Hermes." Luke says sounding a little irritated. Perseus gets the feeling that Luke will be a very bad foe in the future.
The little girl spoke next, still sounding excited, "My name's Annabeth! My mommy is Athena, the goddess of wisdom!" Annabeth sounds very proud of herself, as if she had been rehearsing the lines, and she finally got them right.
Perseus nods. "It has been a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Thalia, Luke, and little Annabeth. You guys seem like you could use the rest, so when we reach my home, you may stay the night, sleep in a real bed, eat a home cooked meal, shower and freshen up, as well as wash your clothes." He tells them in a friendly tone. He looks up at the sky. "It's getting late, let's camp here for the night, and you can tell your tale tommorow. Is that agreeable?" He asks to be polite. They all agree and settle down for the night.
AN: Whew! My longest chapter yet! I'm real proud of this one. If you couldn't tell, I'm setting things into motion to truly kick this story off. Any and all constructive criticism is welcome. However, I must get across that I'm doing this for fun in my free time, so there will be no consistent update schedule. Thank you for your understanding.