Author's Note:
Hello readers, if this story looks vaguely familiar, that's because it is. This is Const3llations on his burner. I've begun re-uploading my previously deleted stories onto this account. I've changed nothing, and left the writing as it was; I will not continue them either. I promise you I write better stories now. Maybe.
Valiance
Chapter I: Prologue
Percy knew this was his endgame as he desperately guarded the Doors of Death from the hordes of monsters. He valiantly swept his sword in a deadly arch, decapitating some, but they were relentlessly replaced by more. Swarm after swarm collapsed on top of him, yet somehow he still managed to stand up straight. The golden dust in the air was absolutely suffocating.
"Twelve minutes." Percy stepped back defensively, a couple more inches and he might've lost his footing. "Come on."
He needed to last for just twelve minutes, so that Annabeth, Bob and Damasen could make it back to the overworld, where they would hopefully defeat Gaea's forces and finally Gaea herself. Then, he could die, and everything wouldn't have been in vain. At least, that was the plan.
Bob and Damasen were too injured to fight, and Percy knew in his gut that they wouldn't have been able to last long enough to allow him and Annabeth to get back. Annabeth of course opposed the idea outright, and it broke every cell in his body when he watched the Titan and Giant forcefully drag her away from him. She had to make it back, the rest of the Seven needed her. Not him. And with the help of a healthy Bob and Damasen, they would surely win. It was the only way.
"Promise you'll come back to me!" Annabeth had screamed, with tears streaking down her eyes, leaving burning trails in her ash-caked face. "Promise me!"
Percy remembered gingerly placing his forehead on hers, and etching the memory of her into his soul forever. "I love you."
His sea-green eyes bled with pure anger and rage as he took out another five Laistrygonians with only his right arm. His clothes were in tatters, and blood oozed from every part of his pulsating body.
He reached out into the darkness as a last resort, hoping to find a source of water to aid him. He locked on to something strange and he clenched his fist to draw it close. The fluid felt... unnaturally thick and heavy.
A horde of incoming hellhounds instantly dropped to the warped surface, twitching sporadically before going still. A wave of confusion hit him first, before a massive headache formed in the back of his skull. He didn't have time to stop to think about what he had just done.
Taking a leap of faith, he reached out again, and when he closed his hand three cyclopes fell to their knees. Right away the headache got worse, clouding his vision with a distorted red haze.
"Their blood!" Percy screamed crazily, realizing his newfound power. "I can control their blood!"
Never before had he even considered it to be a possibility. But the third time didn't go as smoothly, causing him to blackout for a split second, and almost cost him his life when a Dracaena came millimeters from impaling his heart.
Enough! A Earth-shattering voice boomed, rattling the entire cavern floor. Tartarus. Your time has come, Son of Poseidon.
The god of the Pit loomed in front of him, and in his ginormous hands materialized a dark spear the size of the Empire State Building. It felt as if the primordial had just created a black hole, sucking in anything with a soul or a pulse towards him. A gust of frigid air began to swirl around his massive figure, creating an impenetrable vortex.
As if they were a hive mind, the monsters stopped their attacks simultaneously, retreating and leaving Percy alone on an island. They knew, that he knew that it was over.
Percy could already hear the soft cackling of the three Fates, who were undoubtedly anticipating his inevitable death. Their scissors were probably beginning to cut his piece of yarn. Old pieces of shit.
He held his ground, with his finger still mashed on the button. He wasn't sure if he was hallucinating the bluish glow that hovered around Riptide's blood-stained blade. It had served him well, becoming a true extension of his power and will. The best weapon a hero could've ever asked for.
It would be ok. They had done it. She had made it.
The final words of the girl he loved rang deafeningly inside his head, as Tartarus brought the spear crashing down.
-Ω-
In the end, he chose the path of rebirth.
The part of him seeking a fresh start convinced his other half that he had gotten enough closure at the Doors of Death, and that Annabeth would one day come to terms with his choice.
He knew he wasn't running away from his past, what was there to run from? He didn't regret the things he had done. The fact that he was able to decide his future proved that their plan had succeeded, and the Doors of Death were back under Thanatos's control. The thought of all of his friends and family, alive and well, made it worth it.
Percy Jackson knew deep in his heart that he longed for a battle to fight, an adventure to live, and a beauty to rescue. He would find none of that in the Underworld.
He opened his eyes, and the Lieutenant of Hades, the Reaper of Souls, motioned for him to come forward, giving him a knowing smile as he unlocked the Doors. "May we meet again."
A faint scent of dusty mahogany and lavender seeped in through the opening, in the form of a white billowing smoke.
As soon as Percy stepped past the barrier, he was engulfed in an array of celestial light. His body became weightless, and he could hear the faint whispers of the Fates, forging his new destiny across the stars.
But their familiar voices were soon replaced by new ones, echoing inside the chambers of his head.
Don't make me kill you…
The Jedi are evil…
I hate you…
Nooooo...
And then came the visions, accompanied by their poignant feelings and emotions.
A little boy, in the cockpit of a janky speeder, zoomed across an open plain.
A red-faced assassin bared his teeth, before being sliced in half by a young man, and tumbled over an edge.
A damsel in distress, dressed in white and tied to a pole high up in the air, called for help.
A loyal son, who held the severed head of his father, vowed to avenge him.
Thousands of men, sharing the same face, marched in unison towards an invisible enemy, led by cloaked figures of varying creed that wielded glowing swords.
Cities leveled, civilizations destroyed, planets vaporized. And all of it, in the name of peace and posterity.
The same-faced men then turned on their cloaked leaders without hesitation, and opened fire.
He saw the lifeless bodies of women and children, scattered carelessly on marble floors as the building began to collapse.
Lastly, he watched two brothers fight to the death as the stars above collided. And a new, darker power rose from the ashes.
-Ω-
With a sudden burst, his life restarted. Coarse air and a strong metallic smell overwhelmed his senses. Percy's eyes fluttered open to embrace his new surroundings, only to be temporarily blinded by the white lights on the ceiling.
A ghost image of a girl with sparkling grey eyes briefly appeared before him, and disappeared without a trace.
He instantly jolted into an upright position, and realized quickly that his limbs were being restrained by tight metal cuffs. His instincts gave him the notion that his frame was smaller than it should've been, his once muscular chest and forearms were now sunken and malleable, and his heart rate was sky high.
His brain felt like it had been microwaved and then frozen at subzero temperatures. It took a moment for his piercing migraine to recede, his heart was still beating hard against his fragile ribcage.
The only solid thing he could remember was his name. Percy. The rest of his memories were a mixed bowl of unreadable word soup, spiraling down an open drain.
"Where...where am I?" He croaked involuntarily once he adjusted to the light. His voice came out way too high, which didn't sound right either. He was younger, for sure.
Right on cue, the doors in front of him opened up, and revealed a man wearing a dark military uniform with black boots. He sported short greying hair, the sides of his cheeks were unnaturally sunken in, and his face was covered with deep wrinkles.
"Set course for Mustafar." The man said in a stern tone to another behind him. "Inform Lord Vader that we have acquired the asset."
Percy realized that he was situated in what seemed like the command center of some sort of ship. Other men, dressed in similar military fashion, sat in front of complicated looking computers all around him. Soldiers presumably, wearing white metallic armor, strutted around holding large rifles and grenades.
There was a bizarre empty feeling in his right pocket, like something should've been there. It was strange, like a piece of him was missing.
His stomach twisted when he looked out the nearby windows, and saw what he figured was space. Millions of stars twinkled in front of him, dotting the vast expanse. Looking at the glass at a different angle revealed his reflection, which confirmed his suspicions that he had somehow de-aged a couple years.
"Yes, Admiral." One of the senior officers said in reply, and turned to the rest of the flight deck to announce the new order. "Prepare to make the jump in two minutes."
"Where am I?" Percy asked again, this time a little stronger, still not understanding why he was being held down. Did he do something wrong?
The Admiral took a couple steps forward until he was right next to his seat, and looked down at him like he was a misplaced turd in a urinal. "You are currently on a star destroyer."
Percy waited for him to add to his explanation, but the Admiral turned his gaze to something else, and he was forced to accept the confusing answer for the time being.
A star destroyer? He had never heard of one before. He tugged at his binds again to no avail. There seemed to be no chance at fight or flight.
"What the hell is this?"
That got the Admiral's undivided attention, which Percy regretted instantly.
The Admiral approached him again, and kneeled down so that they were at equal eye level. His cold and calculating grey eyes told Percy that he didn't give too many second chances. "The man I am taking you to will not be as...forgiving."
The last word came out in almost a snarl, making Percy shiver. What in the world was going on?
"Making the jump to hyperspace." A feminine robotic voice called out from below. "In three...two...one…"
On the last count, his world became a mesmerizing mixture of blue and black trails.
-Ω-
He got a good first look at the star destroyer as the white shuttle left the hanger bay. Despite his fuzzy memory, he knew it was bigger than anything he had ever seen before. It looked like it stretched on for over a mile, with towers and armaments that dwarfed the small spacecraft completely.
Circulating around the star destroyer was even more spacecraft, differing greatly in size and capability.
The planet in front of him was nothing short of terrifying. It could only be described as a volcanic hell. A rotating, bubbling inferno that surely couldn't support any life.
Percy decided that it was probably in his best interest to remain silent, and not try to make small talk with the pilot.
An obsidian black monolith appeared in the field in front of them once the shuttle descended past the thick atmosphere. It dug itself into the precipice of a steep cliff, from which a violent river of magma and fire poured over into the abyss below.
The shuttle landed on a platform situated near the top of the structure, and the Admiral took off his binds. Percy graciously rubbed his wrists, feeling the blood begin to circulate freely through his veins. His first few steps on the metal surface were sluggish and awkward, due to the increased gravity.
Multiple fissures in the area erupted, spewing searing hot sulfuric gas that stung his eyes and assaulted his nostrils. It was a pain that felt weirdly familiar.
At the entrance stood a darkly-clad figure, and in his hands was a glowing red saber that emanated certain doom.
"Lord Vader, may I present to you your new apprentice."