I always thought Kara should b s bit more messed up with what she went through so don't be surprised ehn that shows in this chapter.
Third Person POV
Percy woke when he felt something wet slathering his face. H slowly opened his eyes to find a certain hellhound licking his face excitedly. He quickly pushed her aside, "Ugh… I'm awake girl you can stop now." It was then that he felt the softness on the back of his head. he quickly realized he was reclining his head on the lap of the goddess of the hearth.
He looked up at her for a few moments, unsure of what to do, before asking, "What happened?" though the memories were already coming back
Hestia smiled sadly, "You got caught up in your past."
Percy closed his eyes as he sighed, before sitting up. "Crap… how bad was it? Did anyone get hurt?
The goddess smiled, "Fortunately not. It's surprising, though, from what your friends told me, you're getting much better at restraining yourself, despite this being your worst… incident."
He looked at her in surprise, "My friends? Where are they? Where am I?" he sat up off of her lap, "And why was I…"
"I was simply helping to calm you down. it was quite a task too, those nightmares of yours were quite tenacious." She chuckled at the look he gave her, "Relax, I didn't go any farther, your cloaked friend monitored me to make sure. Their elsewhere at the moment. We are in one of the rooms underneath the stands of the amphitheater.
Percy let out a sigh of relief, noticing that he did feel well rested, before looking at her "Wait… Raven was here?"
She nodded, "Yes, her, the Martian and your… brother. All of them are quite something but I have to say the Cyclops is quite intriguing. The Cyclopes of our world were never as intelligent, or as small. Most are even larger than Tyson's giant form. But aside from all that what really set s him apart is his ability with magic."
Percy raised an eyebrow, "Magic? Tyson doesn't use magic… I think. I mean maybe with his creations, but that would be it."
Hestia frowned AT THIS, "Really? That's odd. He has the knack for it. All good magic users can absorb the magic energy around them for their own use, and he appears to have a stockpile the size of, well, a god. Of course, that Raven girl wasn't too bad herself but that's too be expected."
Percy wanted to ask what she meant by that but set it for later, more worried about Tyson, "Wait, so if he has all that magic stored in him… could that be dangerous?"
Hestia looked up in thought for a moment, "It could, but seeing as he hasn't exploded I'd assay he has some form of regular output. Perhaps his size changing?"
Percy nodded in agreement, before something hit him, "Cyclopes, are inherently good with machines and incredibly strong. Tyson always stood out form the rest, but since we came here, it's like he's been supercharged in both aspects…"
Hestia raised an eyebrow, "If he fuels his strength and intelligence with magic, it could be that the magic flowing through this world is stronger than the magic flowing through yours."
Percy frowned at that, "But that doesn't make sense, there's a literal layer of magic called the Mist that's always working to separate the mortal and mythic worlds. This world doesn't have that so—"
"Such a thing couldn't possibly occur naturally," Hestia stated, "It must be the result of some form of spell, likely cast by one of your gods. This is just a blind guess, but it's possible that if the spell works constantly, it could be absorbing the magic energy around it. So if our world had the same level of magic energy, that spell would make it impossible for a magic user to access the same level of power in your world."
Percy blinked, "Okaaay… I guess that makes sense," He didn't get it at all, "So wait, do I absorb magic too?"
Hestia simply shook her head, "No."
Percy raised an eyebrow, "Uh… isn't' that bad? I use water magic on a regular basis. What if I like, run out or something."
Hestia chuckled "Well I doubt that will happen. You obviously draw power from your "ichor", and if it functions like blood then your body restores it on its own."
He eyed her, "You didn't…"
She scoffed, "I said I didn't do anything unwanted and I meant it. The reason for your inability to access all that power is beyond me. I'd be offended if I didn't know your history with gods." She suddenly had a strange look in her eye, "If they can be called that."
Percy again had more questions, but he decided he had sat around talking enough, "So… where are my friends exactly?"
Hestia looked back from staring off at nothing, "Hm? Oh yes, they are currently dealing with some girl who attacked one of them."
Percy stood up in alarm, "What? why didn't you tell me sooner?" He then ran out of the room, to look for his friends, Mrs. O'Leary running happily after him.
Hestia merely watched him go in confusion, "Its's not like they're in danger…"
Percy had a little trouble gaining his bearing s at first, but he quickly found his way back to the center of the Amphitheater. He exited from under the stands with Mrs. O'Leary in tow, to see something he wasn't expecting.
For one thing, no one was attacking anyone. The "girl" I question, or who he assumed was the girl in question, was standing with her arms crossed and a very p9issed off look on her face. From her Amazonian armor, Percy would have assumed she was one of them, but she was much too young. She had long blonde hair, and crystal blue eyes that radiated irritation.
Superboy was a few feet behind her, mirroring her demeaner. Between them stood a very nervous Tyson. Surrounding Superboy was the Team, who looked to be split between calming Superboy and protecting him form the girl. Only Raven noticed Percy approaching and gave him a nod. With the newcomer was Hippolyta, Diana, and a new red-haired Amazon scolding the girl, though she looked not to be listening.
Percy approached the team while keeping a cautious eye on the girl. For a minute he thought Hestia's description of a "Fight" was exaggerated, until he saw the twenty-foot crater in the ground behind them. There was definitely more to her than meets the eye.
It was only when he was a few feet away that he others noticed his approach. M'gann was the first to react, flying over to him worriedly, "Percy! Are you alright? I'm sorry we weren't there when you woke up but— "
"It's alright! I'm fine!" He assured her with a smile, before frowning and looking at the situation around them, "What happened?"
Superboy answered angrily, "That brat over there tried to kill me for no reason! If not for Tyson I might be— "
"There was a reason!" they turned to see the girl staring back at them angrily, as she apparently had excellent hearing. "He looks like my cousin, and I wanted to know why."
Percy only raised an eyebrow, "Okay, I'm gonna go over there and see what her problem is."
"I just told you!"
"Uh Perce," Robin spoke up, "I would be careful if I were you, she claims she's Superman's cousin."
"You think I'm lying you little— "
Percy ignored her as he stared at Robin, before smirking, "Great, if she's anything like him she should be really easy to deal with."
"WHAT?! why don't you come over here and say that?"
Percy groaned before turning to her, "I will just give me a MINUTE!", Mrs. O'Leary barked at her as well for good measure. something told him that he wasn't going to be as easy to deal with.
"Dude what I mean is you should not get her angry," Robin sighed, "She has all his powers, unlike… uh…"
"Me." Superboy stated grumpily.
Percy patted Robin on the shoulder, "I'll be okay, and if not, I'm used to girls kicking my ass."
He then turned and walked over to the amazons and the newfound Kryptonian, Mrs. O'Leary trotting next to him, ignoring the girl's glare, and the amazon's worried looks. He stopped when he was standing right in front of the girl, who was eye level with him. She gave the dog a weary look, before she looked him up and down, trying hard not to be impressed with what she saw, before looking him in the eye, "well?"
Percy raised an eyebrow, "Well what?"
"Do you have something to say?" She crossed her arms and popped her hip out to the side, her entire being exuding a challenge.
Diana spoke up first, "Percy, please, let me apologize, she wasn't supposed— "
"Wasn't supposed to know Superboy was here?" Percy guessed, "Superman hasn't told her about him?"
the girl snarled while Diana sighed, "It's… complicated."
Percy chuckled humorlessly, "Not really, he still hasn't got his head out of his ass enough to stop treating him badly."
The girl huffed, "Don't talk about him like that, who do you think you are?"
Percy turned to her, his face blank. "I take it you weren't there for the speech… What's your name?"
"What?"
He rolled his eyes, "Your name, what Is it?"
She shitted her feet a bit before proudly answering, "Kara. "
"Well Kara, to answer your question, I think I'm the leader of this team. Anyone who attacks a member of my team gets to answer to me. Did you even consider just asking him why he looks like your cousin?"
She looked about o answer but realized that her answer wasn't very good, so Percy kept going, "How about I tell you why: he's a clone, made by some crazy scientist who wanted to brainwash him into a super powered slave. He almost was one, but he managed to overcome his programming and side with us, people he barely knew. So, tell me Kara, what exactly is your fucking problem with him?"
The Kryptonian could only stutter and stammer at this, while Diana gasped, "Percy!"
"It's fine," Hippolyta assured her daughter, before looking at Kara angrily, "In this situation I believe use of such langu1age may be warranted. You are a guest on this island, you cannot attack anyone you please! Artemis! What happened to keeping her occupied?"
The red haired Amazon who was apparently named Artemis bowed apologetically, "I'm sorry my queen, I tried to keep her attention away from the trial, but after the… clouds, she used her super vision to see what was going on, I tried to stop her but— "
"It's alright," Diana sighed, "We know how hard she can be to handle, we shouldn't have forced you to deal with her alone."
Artemis simply bowed again before the attention was once again on the blonde, "Do you have anything to say then?" Diana asked.
Kara snorted, "Yeah: Guest? Last I checked I was kidnapped and forced to come here!"
"What?" Percy looked at Diana in alarm, but she quickly sighed and said, "It was for her own good. She's only been on earth for a few months. She isn't used to the powers that comes with it, here she is less likely to hurt anyone who can't take it. Superman and Batman both know of the situation."
"No one asked me if I was okay with it!" Kara exclaimed.
The only reaction she got from Percy was a look of almost appraisal. She met it with another hostile glare, "What are you looking at?"
He didn't respond, instead turning back to the Amazons, "So when are we going to get started on those trials?"
Hippolyta and Diana both looked relieved at the change of subject, while Kara looked pissed at being ignored. "If you are still willing, we can start with the agility trials."
Percy raised an eyebrow, "Sounds fun, lead the way." He turned back to his friends, "Come on guys!"
As the team made to follow them, and the Amazons began to lead them towards heaven knows what, Kara, not knowing what else to do, made to follow them, but froze as she felt a surprisingly firm grip on her arm. She turned to see Percy with a dangerous look in his eye as he whispered, "If you try anything else, remember that my friend," he gestured to Tyson, "Will be there to stop you, and so will I."
She glanced back at the cyclops with a snort, "I'm not afraid of you, or some freak, no matter how strong he sis."
When she looked back, she expected to see the same deadly look, but was met with a much worse look of irritation. He pointed at her meaningfully, "That's strike two."
With that he left to join the others, Mrs. O'Leary growling at her before following him. leaving the Kryptonian to wonder what the first strike was, as well as why she felt so unsettled by the strange new hero. M She soon shook the thoughts off however and jogged to catch up with the group.
A spinning trident flies across the screen for a transition, da na-na da na-na na!
The heroes stared at the sight before them in awe.
"This can't be legal," Wally muttered.
"This is like a dream!" Robin exclaimed
"I suppose it is quite impressive," Diana spoke up, trying and failing not to sound smug.
Before them was what could only be described as an obstacle course, though that didn't do it justice. It consisted of a seemingly endless amount of climbing equipment, monkey bars, rope swings, strange mixes of the two, as well as several ramps and blocky structures made for training parkour skills. However, all of that seemed to be a warm up for the main attraction. At the back of the course was the face of a mountain, that looked unnaturally like someone had taken a knife and cut it off here, so it was a straight vertical climb to the peak. There were also several areas where waterfalls cascaded down the wall and disappeared into what Percy sensed to be underground tunnels to an aqueduct. Much of the equipment was being used by Amazons, a few even tackling the climb to the peak.
Hippolyta cleared her throat "The equipment before us is all designed specifically to test one to their physical limits, taking them on is no… laughing…" she trailed off as Robin suddenly shot forward and leapt onto some of the equipment, expertly swinging and meandering his way through the course, at the same speed that many of the older amazons were going if not faster. Meanwhile, Mrs. O'Leary raced after him, following him along the course from below and barking at him the whole time. Percy chuckled at the display, as did the others, t wasn't often they were reminded how young Robin was. "Well… he is quite spry."
"He is Batman's apprentice," Diana informed her mother, who simply hummed in understanding. Diana then looked at me, "The Trial is getting to the top of the mountain. As you can see, some areas have waterfalls, to make it the handholds slicker and more difficult, as well as give one the resistance of all that water pouring down on them, however in your case I assume it would be more of a boon than anything else, correct?
Percy smirked, "Afraid so. That's why we had lava on our rock wall at camp, though it wasn't as tall."
The Amazons stared at him for a moment before moving on, deciding to pretend he didn't say that, "The condition to pass the trial is to finish in under ten minutes."
Percy stared up at the wall thinking carefully. It was definitely taller than the cliffs of Polyphemus' island, which were his highest climb to date, but he was much stronger now than back them, and he had kept in practice with the camp wall. "That seems fair. What's the record?"
"Two seconds." Kara stated snarkily, before getting smacked in the back of the head by Diana, causing her to glare back at her.
"Flying doesn't count. I hold the record at two minutes." Diana stated proudly
Percy looked thoughtful before grinning at the others, "Alright then, looks like we're beating that record."
Dian simply scoffed but said nothing as the others looked at him skeptically. Superboy however was the first to step forwards, "I'm in."
Percy smirked, "good, but you're not allowed to dig your hands or feet into the mountainside for support. The same goes for you Tyson." Superboy cursed under his breath while Tyson smiled nervously.
Percy glanced at Raven but she quickly shook her head, "I'll just… Wait at the top. Come on girl. "she started flying to the top, picking the hellhound UPW ITH HER MAGIC.
Percy turned to Wally and Artemis. The speedster instantly backed away with his hands up, "Oh no, I'm a runner not a climber."
"Oh, come on!" Artemis exclaimed , grabbing him by the shoulder and pulling him forward, "I'll make sure you don't fall."
M'gann looked nervous, "So there aren't any safety measures?"
Hippolyta raised an eyebrow, "one does not get safety measures in the real world."
Aqualad put a hand on her shoulder, "It will be alright M'gann, we are all more than capable of this."
The Martian rubbed her arm, "Yeah… but even so, I think I'll fly behind you and keep an eye on everyone, just in case you know? I'm not feeling very competitive, sorry Percy."
The team leader smirked at her, "Hey, don't apologize for wanting to look out for us." He turned to where Robin was doing flip after midair spin, on the equipment , attracting a small group of Amazons who were impressed by the young man's skills, "Hey Boy Wonder!"
Robin fell down to the pole he was flipping on and glared at his leader, as he usually did when someone called him by that nickname, "What?"
Percy pointed at the wall, "Wanna climb that mountain?"
The thirteen-year-old looked up at the rock face for a moment before turning back, "I'm good."
Artemis snorted, "Oh what? the ninja boy is scared for once?"
Robin rolled his eyes, which was hard to convey with sunglasses on, but he somehow managed, "I can do a lot of amazing stuff, but I'm not certain I'm physically developed enough to make it up that thing. Ask me again in two or three years."
Percy almost protested, but stopped himself, remembering that while he might have been able to do this at thirteen, it was because of his godly side. Robin was just human, which, considering all the other stuff he's capable of, was pretty amazing.
"Forgoing pride for wisdom, he truly is the Batman's protégé." Everyone jumped at the sudden appearance of the goddess of the Hearth, as none of them had noticed her approaching.
Percy stepped back, "Geeze, DON'T sneak up on us like that!"
Hestia frowned, 'I didn't, I simply teleported here."
That caused Percy to frown, "But there wasn't any…"
Hestia cocked her head curiously, "Any what?"
He shook his head, "Never mind, so are we doing this?"
Several chairs were brought for the goddess and the amazon leaders to sit and watch on, but only Hestia chose to sit. As the preparations were made, more and more Amazons started to gather to watch the affair.
At the center of attention was Percy, Superboy, Aqualad, Tyson, a reluctant Wally, and Artemis. They had all been changed out into more athletic attire. The guys were all in loose pants provided by the amazons, as well as padded gloves so they didn't cut their fingers. Artemis wore similar pants and gloves as well as what looked like a thicker version of a sports bra to cover her chest.
The revealing outfits were probably meant to increase mobility, but now all it did was draw stares. Wally, though the slimmest, was still very toned due to his connection with the Speed force, as well as his own workout regime. Kaldur was bulkier and had his tattooed dark skin to make him stand out. Superboy on the other hand was pure muscle and power, Tyson wasn't exactly toned like the others, but anyone could tell that while he was a bit soft, his muscles were what made up most of his bulk.
The one that had the most attention however, was of course Percy. He wasn't as bulky as Tyson, or as powerful as Superboy, but he was larger than Wally, and much more toned than anyone else there. The thing that drew the eyes however was the horrific collection of scars he bore. As with regular women, the Amazons like a few scars, it was like a badge of honor for warriors, but the most prominent scars were obviously not from battle, but from Tartarus.
This didn't stop them from fantasizing however. Percy noticed the looks he was getting, and it surprised and slightly scared him. He had a quick flashback to the men in jumpsuits the other Amazons kept, but quickly dismissed it. He had gotten the impression that these amazons were similar to Artemis' group, but that was obviously not the case.
He received several whistles and compliments, as did the other guys. Even Artemis got some attention, they were Greek after all. Of course, they never went too far, they had pride after all.
When a few whistled at Wally, Artemis glanced at him, expecting an enthusiastic response, but was disappointed to find him looking straight ahead. She frowned at him, "Dude what are you doing?"
He looked at her in confusion, "What?"
"They're literally hitting on you! aren't you going to do anything?"
He frowned at her, "What is your problem? I thought you didn't like my flirting, like everyone else. Well guess what I've stopped, shouldn't you be happy?"
She glared at him, "We just wanted you to focus on the mission Wally, not throw away your entire personality."
At that they were both glaring at each other, and they might have fought some more, if not for a loud conch horn sounding.
Percy couldn't help but smile at the nostalgia of it, before turning to see the source was a guard next to Hippolyta. She quickly stepped back as the Queen stepped forward, "Sisters! It is time to test Perseus in our Trials. While we have not proven the validity of his claim to be correct, he has gained favor with Hestia herself. As you can see, some of his companions have chosen to take the trial with him. We only thought fair to allow this, as from Diana has just told me, we have stolen them away from celebrating his "birthday", which is a tradition the outside world practices to celebrate the day of one's birth. While we may not find such a practice necessary, we will respect our guests' practices. Now, heroes, get ready." The climbers approached the mountainside, "Climb!"
Superboy was the first one off, getting a bit of a head start with an enhanced jump before grabbing the side of the mountain. The others followed soon after.
Superboy headed straight to the waterfall, apparently wanting the extra challenge, as did Artemis and wally, who seemed to be forced to follow Artemis. Percy, Tyson, and Kaldur, all decided to avoid the water, as it would do nothing but help them along. As they climbed up, M'gann hovered worriedly in the air behind them, ready to catch anyone who needed it.
What was at first a fairly easy climb, soon turned much more difficult. The hand holds became fewer and far between, occasionally forcing them to leap to the next spot. Other places had rocks jutting out, forces them to crawl over them, using tiny hand holds that they had to use to hold their whole-body weight until they could find a place to rest their feet. It was made worse for those with water pouring down on them and making their grips more slippery.
Superboy had been in the lead at first, but that was soon not the case. As he made his way up the mountain, his impatience had cost him several times, as he had not checked his next hand hold before reaching for it, when he realized it was not good enough, he would already be falling down the mountain a bit, before he caught another hand hold and angrily went back up again.
Tyson was doing no better. It would have been easy for him to simply tunnel his own way up the mountain with brute strength, but he was determined to play by the rules. However his poor depth perception made judging how much force he needed to get to the next point very difficult, and while he could usually use other senses to make up the difference, the roaring of the waterfalls near him as well as the roaring of the enthusiastic amazons beneath them made it hard to do so, so he often found himself falling just short of going way to far above his target.
Kaldur was far more coordinated than them and was doing quite well ahead of both of them, but he was still leagues behind Percy.
The team leader had been excited for the little competition, it reminded him a lot of his races on the lava wall back at camp. As soon as he started his brain went into overdrive. His ADHD usually made it easy to make quick decisions, but nowadays it was on another level. This made it easy for him to decide what the best route was quickly. He remembered when he was younger, how he had to struggle to support his body weight when climbing. That struggle was now gone, as his current strength was capable of far heavier things than his own weight. He was far nimbler because of this, and that paired with his quick thinking made the climb fairly easy.
Artemis and Wally on the other hand, were not doing as well.
"Why did you choose the waterfall path?" Wally yelled over the rush of water pouring over them. He and Artemis were in last place, with Artemis a few feet over him. They were several yards below any of the others, and had several near deaths already, much to M'gann's concern.
"What are you yelling at me for?" she called back "You didn't have to follow me!"
"You practically dragged me with you!" He exclaimed, before sputtering as some water got in his mouth.
"Oh, come on, we both know if you wanted to go your own way you could have. That's what the old you would have done!"
"This again?" The speedster huffed, "What do you want from me? To start flirting with anyone I find attractive? Like you?"
The Archer glared down at him, "Excuse me? I do not do that!"
He scoffed, "Oh please, you didn't even try to hide it with Percy, I bet you'll go after Superboy next right?"
She stared down at him, and for a moment, it seemed that she was going to say something more, but decided against it, choosing instead to keep climbing upward, as if the water wasn't even there. The speedster stared up at her for a few moments more, before grumbling and following after.
Meanwhile, Percy was nearing the top, and he was barely tired. A few large leaps later, and he was crawling up from the wall, onto the flattened ground of the peak. There he saw Raven sitting cross legged reading a book. And Petting Mrs. O'Leary, who rushed to greet him when he pulled himself up. She glanced up at him, "That was fast."
He took a moment to catch his breath before asking, "What was my time?"
Raven closed her book, "Like…. 2:15, something like that?"
"Indeed," The goth girl jumped before standing up to find Hestia sitting behind her, tending to a fire that wasn't there before, and in her younger form. "The look on Diana's face was quite amusing."
Percy again had a look of confusion on his face, which Hestia recognized, "You seem concerned about the nature of my transportation.'
He frowned before saying, "Yeah well… in my world, whenever gods teleported, we would call it "flashing", because there was always a flash of light when they did it."
Hestia looked at him with interest , "Really? And why is that?"
He looked reluctant to say his next words, but he eventually did so, "Apparently they enter their Divine Forms to do it. It's their most powerful form, strong enough to kill demigods and mortals just from seeing them."
Hestia's eyes widened at his, "I see… it's alright to ask Percy."
"…You don't have one, do you?"
She smiled sadly, "No. my form, whatever I chose it to be, is purely physical, in a sense. It seems that while we have similarities, we are an entirely different type of being from your gods."
Percy took a seat, as did Raven, who watched the interaction with interest, "Yeah I was afraid of that."
"Tell me Percy, this Divine Form you speak of, do you have one?"
The idea made Percy Wince, "I… don't know. I haven't gone into it for sure. With the way my powers are, I wouldn't be surprised if I didn't have one."
Hestia's lips quirked, "Well I very much would." She waited for him to look at her questioning before continuing, "The amount of power your ichor contains, I wouldn't be surprised if it could be released in such a… fashion, or form if you will. The fact that you can't access all that power is puzzling, and concerning, so I've been examining you from every angle, trying to figure out what it is. I think I have an idea, but I'll let you say at dear," she smiled at Raven."
The girl looked at the goddess in surprise, "What? I mean—sorry…"
"Relax dear. I can tell you are very talented at the mystic arts. You've been around him longer than I have, you must have a theory."
Raven slowly nodded, "I do… but I'm nowhere near sure enough— "
"Oh hush. You can never be sure of a theory. Come on now, he deserves to know don't you think?"
"Raven?" Percy asked, "What is she talking about? Are you keeping something from me?"
"No!" Raven said quickly, "I mean… yes—but not in that way. I'm still not sure if I'm right— "
"Just say it." Percy said, trying hard not to sound forceful, though he was very curious.
Raven nodded, "I wasn't sure if it was just a part of you or not, since you are from another universe, I didn't know what to expect, but the ore I examine it, the more I think it's… a seal."
Percy blinked, "A seal?"
"Yes, one that restrains your power into a mortal form." Hestia commented.
He raised an eybre0ow at this, "That seems a bit on the nose don't you think? I figured it would be something a bit more complicated."
"It's not as on the nose as you'd think." Raven EXPLLAINED, "The potential of your ichor is astounding. Whatever spell was used to hold that power back required an unreal amount of energy itself. No normal magician is capable of it. It would have to be a god or— "
"No." Hestia interrupted, "No god of this world could do this on their own, or at least I couldn't. maybe if some worked together. Perhaps… three…."
Percy sighed, "Right… tell me Hestia are the Fates just as annoying here?"
The goddess shrugged, "I wouldn't know, I've never met them."
Percy groaned as he stood up, pacing back and forth on the mountain peak, "So the fates sent me here, but they also sealed my power? Why? What was the point? Unless… no never mind."
"What is it Percy?" Raven asked.
He stopped pacing before turning to the two, "You say this seal would have taken the power of three gods. What if there was something more powerful, like a primordial?"
"Like Gaea?" Hestia asked, realized where he was going,
"Right. She was who I was fighting before I came here. Maybe when… whatever happened to make me a god happened, she put the seal on me to make sure I couldn't use my power."
Raven frowned at this, "I don't know… sealing spells are tricky. They're usually tied to the caster's life force somehow. There needs to be a connection. One between dimensions is possible, but between different universes…"
Percy blinked, "Oh, well then it definitely wasn't her."
"Don't be so sure Percy," Hestia spoke up, "We must simply keep an open— "
"No I'm sure. You said it had to have a connection to her life force. She's dead, I killed her."
As soon as the words left his mouth, Hestia's face went extremely pale, while Raven's eyes widened. Meanwhile, a dark hand reached up from the drop-off, before pulling up the tired body of Kaldur. He looked up and blinked at the scene before him, "Am I intruding on something?"
Meanwhile, farther down the wall
"It's not the flirting I want back." Artemis spoke up, interrupting the silence that had befallen her and Wally.
The speedster looked up at hereafter his tenth near slip. "What?"
She looked back down with a determined face, her anger gone, "It wasn't the flirting I liked about the old you, it was the fact that no matter what anybody said about it, you didn't care. You kept your spirits up, no matter the situation, you lightened the mood. God knows we need it from time to time… or is it gods? Never mind, the point is you haven't just changed your personality, you've suppressed it, even the good parts."
He looked away, "I thought canary was the psychologist… I do care what people say about it by the way. That's why I stopped remember?"
"That was different, Percy didn't just say something, he humiliated you in front of the team so you knew he was serious. Whether he went too far I'm not sure, but you sure as hell took it too far."
Wally looked down, "So what? you tell me all this and I'm just supposed to go back to how it I used to be at the drop of a hat? I don't know if I can do that."
Artemis snapped her head back, "That's not what I—"the sudden movement however, threw off her balance, that combined with the constant down pour and slippery hand holds, caused her to fall backwards with a shocked expression.
As Wally watched, he found himself moving without a word. She was too far back to catch from the wall, so he leapt backwards off the wall as she was falling past him, tackling her midair and holding her tight.
As they fell through the air, he desperately tried holding her in one arm and pointing the other down, furiously spinning it to make a tornado beneath them to slow their descent, but such a feat wouldn't be easy for the Flash himself, and he was barely slowing at all.
Lucky for him, he had forgotten about the Martian lifeguard watching their ascent. The two suddenly found themselves floating in midair, suspended by the green girl's telekinesis. \
"Are you guys okay?" M'gann called out as she shot through the air towards them.
They both nodded and assured them that they were, before realizing that Wally was currently holding Artemis in his arms, bridal style. They looked at each other for a moment, but instead of letting go, Wally gave a goofy grin? "Just dropping in?"
Artemis stared at him, before shoving a hand in his face to push herself away from him, allowing herself to float away from him. "Really? That's the best thing you could come up with?"
He shrugged, "give me a break, I'm rusty."
"I'm glad to see you two are…. Alright." M'gann commented as she drew closer, giving them a strange look.
Before they could respond however, "…wooooOOOOOOOAAAAAAHHhhhhhhhhh…!" a surprised cyclops fell behind M'gann, too fast for her to react. A moment later a loud boom was heard, and the Martian's eyes widened in horror.
She flew down to the large dust cloud, "Tyson! Can you hear me? please tell me you're alright?!"
Right before she was about to dive into the cloud, Tyson's voice called out , "I'm okay !"
The dust slowly cleared to reveal Tyson on his bac kin a small crater, but apparently without a scratch on him as he gave a M'gann a thumbs up and his trademarked grin."
The worried girl sighed in relief as she lowered her teammates to the ground and the amazons gathered around the crash site, led by Robin. "You alright big guy?"
Tyson nodded quickly, "Yeah, I've survived worse."
"Oh don't tell me that…" M'gann muttered to herself while The Amazons were congratulating the cyclops on how he did with various pats on the back and handshakes, before moving on to Artemis and Wally. They cleared away as Diana and Hippolyta approached. "You all did well to make it as far as you did on the first try, but sadly you have failed the trial.
Artemis shrugged, "Yeah well, we were mostly doing it for fun anyways."
The queen chuckled at this, "I see, and did you all… have fun?"
Tyson was the first to exclaim, "Yes ma'am!" And was soon followed by the others.
Hippolyta nodded, "Well, that is good I suppose. It seems the others have finished. Apparently Superboy got a time of 6 minutes, the Atlantean 4, and Percy 2:13. That is most impressive, wouldn't you agree Diana?"
The princess' eye twitched slightly, "Indeed, he almost broke my record on his first climb."
"When will they be coming down?" Robin asked.
"How will they be coming down?" M'gann asked, looking at the dangerous wall with disdain.
The answer came when Hestia, Percy, Raven, Superboy, and a happy Mrs. O'Leary appearing out of thin air. Only, Percy had his eyes closed shut, until Hestia chuckle, "Percy, I told you don't need to close your eyes."
His eyes opened, blinking a few times before he blushed slightly, "Right, sorry, old habits I guess."
Diana walked forward first, "Percy, that was… quite impressive. You have passed our first trial."
The hero nodded enthusiastically, "Great. That was actually pretty fun. What's next?"
The princess bit her tongue as he referred to one of the most grueling parts of her childhood as "fun" "Come, I will show you."
The next few trials were pretty basic in comparison to the first. One was to see how competent Percy was with various weapons. He explained that he was about a century out of practice with anything other than a sword, as he had practiced the movements whenever he got chance in his prison, despite Riptide being confiscated. Nevertheless, his masterful demonstration of sword skills, his natural talent with wielding tridents, and his basic understanding of knifework, after years of watching a master with it, was enough to pass him. He also impressed even himself when he went to the archery range. He and Artemis ended up having a bit of a contest, one that ended with a very upset Artemis. While he seemed to be equally skilled with her after the Cheshire incident, his superior strength and inhuman reflexes gave him an edge over his teammate. He ended up having to promise he wouldn't take up archery during team missions, to make her feel better, it wasn't like he was planning on it.
After that was a wrestling match. He was set up against a few Amazon who, unknown to the heroes, had one a previous competition the amazons had been having since they heard some of them would get to wrestle Perseus. He managed to win each match, not for lack of the amazons trying, but he left each one feeling slightly uncomfortable. He also noticed a blatantly envious stare form Wally, which might have normally annoyed him, but with all that had happened, he found it to be a pleasant surprise. He figured he was going to have to talk to him about his recent attitude, but it looks like he had figured it out without his help.
After the wrestling was a swimming trial. Needless to say, he aced that, even putting on a bit of a show for the Amazons, one he thinks they enjoyed.
The final trial was probably the one everyone was most excited about: Combat.
He was put in a large arena, akin to the Coliseum. Again, the stands were filled with Amazons, eager to see the Hero of Olympus in action.
Percy was behind his gate, waiting to be called out with his friends. He was given a set of armor that surprised him by fitting him perfectly. When he asked the Amazon who gave it to how they knew his size, they told him that they have armor in every size just in case. I guess that's what you do when you have too much time on your hands
"You know you don't have to do this right?" M'gann said for the tenth time, "The queen said you can back out whenever— "
"M'gann relax!" Percy exclaimed, putting his hands on her shoulders, "What has you so riled up? I don't think you've calmed down since you came here."
She sighed, "Well, how could I? this entire island is filled with women eager to take a sword to you, either in good sport or…"
Percy blinked, "Or what?"
She sighed, "I've been scanning some thoughts at random."
Superboy grunted, "I thought you'd stopped doing that."
"I had!" She assured them, "But… after our initial arrival I was worried, so started again. I wasn't sure whether they were going to be good guys or not. Most of them turned friendly after your explanation, but some took it a different way…"
"What do you mean?" Robin asked.
"I think I have an idea," Kaldur spoke up, "With all the feats Percy have accomplished, some may see him as a goal to overcome."
"Overcome?" Tyson asked nervously, "You mean…"
"Kill." M'gann confirmed.
"So, doing all those things made them want to kill him?" Artemis asked in confusion.
Percy snorted, "More like "if I can kill him, then it's like I did all those great deeds" or something along those lines. They think taking me down will be glorious or something." He turned to the surprised Martian, "It's okay M'gann, I've dealt with people like them before. Heck the whole Ares cabin was basically like that. I can handle it."
The Martian still frowned but nodded in acceptance. Just then the conch horn signaled again, signaling it was time for the fighters to come out.
Percy put the finishing touches on his armor straps, and put on the classic plume helmet, with the fro dyed blue, go figure.
He made his towards the door, before pulling Riptide out of his pocket, palming it for a moment before opening the doors.
he had a small flashback of my gladiator match with Antaeus. Before chuckling at how that as one of is more pleasant memories nowadays.
Standing across the arena was a rather Tall amazon WITH LONG brown hair tied into a ponytail behind her. she wielded a standard sword and shield.
Before anyone could say anything, Percy started making is way across the arena.
The warrior's eyes widened, and she readied her spear, "Halt! We are to wait until the Queen signals us to start!"
He held up his hand in surrender, "I know, relax. I just want to check something." He then uncapped Riptide, causing the amazon to flinch back and murmurs to spread through the crowd above them.
Hippolyta watched this with interest from her spot beside Diana and Hestia. "That's quite a sword. Did he mention where he got it?"
Diana shook her head, "No, but he said it was made out of "celestial bronze", a material mined from Mount Olympus itself. It apparently only hurts monsters and gods, while passing through mortal humans harmlessly."
"Really?" Hestia spoke up, "That's quite convenient…"
The Amazon eyed Percy warily as he urged her to touch the flat of his blade, "This isn't some kind of trick is it?"
Percy rolled his eyes, "What would be the point? I'm just trying to test something, you won't get hurt either way, I swear on the Styx."
Thunder boom overhead, solidifying his promise. After a few moments of uncertainty, the amazon went to touch Riptide.
Her hand went right through.
The Amazon waved her hand through the blade a few times, while Percy watched in confusion, "Huh… weird."
"How will you fight with such a blade?" the amazon asked, "If it can't touch me—"
CLANG
She stumbled back in surprise ads Riptide was whipped around to strike her own sword, not knocking it out of her hand, but sending the message nonetheless, "It can still block and parry. How about… if my sword goes through your neck or torso, or if I disarm you, the match will be mine. Deal?"
The Amazon narrowed her eyes, "Just those areas? Why not if you go through my limbs or such?"
"You could still survive e that, I've seen guys lose arms keep on fighting. Plus, I like a challenge. So, is it a deal?"
The Amazon nodded, and Percy walked back to his spot. Once he was ready, he clicked his watch and readied his own shield, before waiting for the queen to signal their start.
Hippolyta stood up and spoke to the crowd, "Sisters! Our guest, Perseus Jackson, has proved himself in every trial so far, as well as his retelling of his prior feats. Personally, I find this unnecessary, but due to his willingness, and all of your eagerness to face him, we will continue with our last trial. Ten of our best Warriors have been chosen to fight him. Regardless of whether he wins each one, let it be known, that Percy has already proven himself a mighty ally of the Amazons. Without further ado, let us begin.
At this, the Amazon let out a battle cry and charged towards Percy. As she approached, Percy simply stood still and analyzed his opponent.
In the old days, he would have charged as well. He was really quite reckless back then. He was lucky enough to have talent to back him up, but that didn't make it that much better. With all the time he had in Tartary, he had kept his mind busy with thoughts of his fighting style, battle tactics, or anything else that he could think of to keep the madness at bay.
Perses made sure he didn't have enough free time to do exercises. The little time he had he spent keeping his swordsmanship movements up to par. He wasn't able to get much stronger down there, but he would have been damned(er) if he wouldn't become wiser.
So as the Amazon charged, he watched. He noticed her obvious strength, as well as her subtle weaknesses. She was favoring her left leg, though she was trying hard not to show it. She was holding her sword in her right hand and looked to be preparing a swing. He knew what to do.
As soon as she was on him and swinging her sword, he began moving. He simultaneously, ducked down to dodge the sword, while also moving his left leg forward. Once the sword had passed overhead, h leaned on his left leg and began pivoting on it, twisting his body to the right, around the amazon. She saw this, and tried to move her shield to block, but she couldn't turn to her left fast enough with her leg injury, so she could do nothing as he finished his twist by slicing Riptide through her torso, finishing the match in a single, calculated movement.
The Amazon was frozen in shock, as was the rest of the crowd, but for a different reason. To them, having not been alerted to the nature of Riptide, that looked like a fatal blow. They were about to storm down and take revenge for her sister, when the Amazon in the arena started moving again, completely fine.
She turned to Percy, who was falling back into a relaxed stance, giving her an apologetic look. Fortunately, she didn't need to as she broke out in a huge grin, "What was that? That was glorious! How did you notice my leg so fast?"
Percy was surprised at first, expecting her to be mad like the Ares cabin often was, but he smiled in relief when he realize he was wrong, "The way you rolled your foot as your ran, I could tell you were trying not to put too much pressure on it. I got to say though, to be selected as one of the best fighters, come out here, and run that fast with a leg injury is pretty impressive."
She smiled proudly as she sheathed her sword, "Thank you friend, you are actually the first to notice. Truth be told, if the others had known I likely wouldn't be here, for good reason I suppose…"
Percy simply smirked, "Hey I get it. Sometimes in battle you have to fight with a limp, or a stump."
"Ahem!" they both looked up to see their audience staring at them in confusion, the one who had gotten their attention, Hippolyta looked at them in confusion, "Perhaps I missed something, is the match over?"
Percy's opponent blushed a bit at how arrived away she had gotten. She immediately bowed apologetically, "Please excuse me my queen. I yield, the victor is Perseus.
That caused various reactions. Some amazons cheered him on, while others cried out in disappointment at the quick victory.
The defeated Amazon turned to leave, but Not before Percy called out, "Hey! What's your name?"
She turned back in surprise, apparently not expecting the question, but she quickly smiled and answered, "Zosime!"
Percy bid her farewell, before preparing himself for the next fight.
The next few fights went pretty similar. Some of them lasted a little longer than Zosime, but none of them could match up to the demigod.
This continued to perplex the Amazons. They had millennia to hone their skills, while he claimed to have a few decades. Logistically it made no sense. The fact of the matter was, they had spent millennia practicing the same sword style, isolated from most other forms in the world and therefore unable to advance with him. Percy on the other hand, came from a world where the Greek style had been evolved through the years of demigods that came before him, and tested against gods and titans who wielded the same style. And of course, he had the blood of a god, making him naturally better at fighting in general.
As he continued through his opponents, his teammates watched from the front of the stands, wanting to be as close as possible just in case, while Mrs., O'Leary roamed around the stands, greeting an licking anyone she could.
Eventually however their attention was drawn away from the fight, as a certain blonde Kryptonian suddenly dropped down to the seat next to Superboy, instantly crossing her arms and avoiding eye contact, not flinching when the entire team stood up I defensive stances. "Relax, I'm not here to fight."
"Yeah well that doesn't make you welcome here!" Wally exclaimed, trying his hardest not to flinch as the powerhouse shot him an angry look.
She did nothing about it however, instead turning to Superboy who had his arms up in defense next to her, "Is it true what he said?"
The clone looked at her in irritated confusion, "What?"
She glared at him, "What Percy said, about you being a clone, almost brainwashed, is it true?"
He snarled, "What's it to you?"
She sighed in aggravation, "An hour ago I thought there were only two people like me left in the universe, now I find out I was wrong, of course I'm going to want to know more!"
"Have you considered maybe approaching him about it calmly, instead of scaring the hell out of everyone around you?" Robin spoke up.
Kara leaned past Superboy to narrow her eyes at Robin. She studied him closely before concluding, "You're just a human…"
Robin only raised an eyebrow while Artemis stepped forward with that, "Yeah, so am I, got a problem with that?"
For once, Kara's eyes widened as she was caught off guard, "What? No! I was just surprised is all! The only human I know that's been here is Bat…man…" She trailed off as she looked back at Robin, before sniffing and narrowing her eyes, "Oh, you're one of his."
Robin could sense the obvious distaste e in her voice, and wanted to ask where it was coming from, but Superboy spoke first, "What did you want to know?"
Kara looked at him in surprise, before sighing, "Can you all just sit down and relax first? You're giving me anxiety," She then muttered under her breath, "it's not like it will do you any good."
Superboy was the only one who heard, but nevertheless sat back down, followed soon by t the rest of the team. Even Mrs. O'Leary stopped Growling and settled down at Raven's fee, not taking her eyes off Kara.
Finally, Kara asked, "how about your name? you already know mine, and I'm assuming, Kal's."
"Who is Kal?" Superboy asked, causing Kara to look at him in shock.
"Wow… okay guess I was wrong, but seriously what's your name?"
Superboy was quiet for a moment, not reacting until he felt Tyson pat on the back reassuringly from his seat next to him. He sighed, "Superboy. I don't have another one yet."
Kara winced, "Oh… I guess the people who… made you… didn't give you one."
"They did not." Superboy agreed angrily, which led to another awkward silence.
Eventually she Asked, "So… why aren't you the leader of this team?"
That made everyone look at her in confusion, "What?"
She didn't flinch, "I mean, Percy said you literally overcame brainwashing to help the team. You may not have all of K—superman's Powers but it looks like you have enough. Wouldn't you be the ideal choice?"
The team was silent for a moment before Robin, Artemis, and Wally burst out laughing, causing Superboy to sneer.
"Who wants to explain why she's wrong?" Artemis asked
"Should we explain it chronologically or alphabetically?" Robin asked back.
"She gets it!" Superboy barked, bringing the laughter to an abrupt stop, before turning back to Kara, "I'm not leader material"
Kara snorted, "Aren't you literally made from Superman's DNA? He leads the Justice league!"
"Debatable," Robin commented.
"Look I'm not trying to sound insulting or anything, but Kryptonians have faster brain functions, superior anatomy, and we were leagues ahead of earths technology before… How are you not the best choice?"
Superboy snarled at her, "A: I'm never wanted the position, B: I'm not some Kryptonian Supremacist like you are."
"I am not—"
"You sure sound like it," Wally muttered.
"And C: Percy is leagues ahead of you and I! he may not look it but he's a better hero than all of us combined!"
The other team members were a little surprised to hear such high words from the resident hot head, as he usually didn't speak to highly of anyone, but all of them agreed.
Kara looked down at where Percy was battling against his sixth Amazon, "Him? So, what he's part god. Or something I've heard Superman has defeated gods' multiple times. What's he ever done?"
M'gann was the first to break the stunned silence with, "You really should have been at the trial."
Superboy actual seemed angrier at her words, "What's so special? How about you fight him yourself then come back and tell me!"
The group flinched before wally asked "Uh… SB? Are you sure—"
"It's okay!" Tyson assured them, "Percy always wins his spars with me!"
"Yes, Tyson but even if you are as strong as superman, he has much more precise control over it." The cyclops pouted before Kaldur added, "However, I do believe Superboy is right. You should see for yourself why he is our team leader."
"Kaldur!" M'gann exclaimed, but apparentl6y it was too late, as Kara had already floated away towards Diana and Hippolyta. "WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?"
The Atlantean only gave her a reassuring smile, "Have faith M'gann, he will be alright, it is only a spar after all." He looked back at Percy's match, he was working on his seventh Amazon now, and was quickly nearing victory, "If anything, I believe this might be the best thing for her."
"How do you mean? Robin asked.
"I think the best thing for her might be a step down off her Kryptonian high horse." Wally spat.
Aqualad SIGHED, "It is true that she has a less than ideal attitude, especially compared to Superman, but we must remember that Superman's planet was destroyed, making them the only two of their, kind left. She might not have come to terms with that as her cousin has."
That caused many hearts to sink, especially with how much sense it made. "So you think he will somehow resolve her issues?" Raven asked, not meaning to sound incredulous, but managing it anyway.
"you cannot deny that he has a certain way of getting through to people." Kaldur RESPONDED.
"And if it doesn't work?" Raven asked.
Kaldur shrugged "I will be quite the interesting fight don't you think?"
Percy sliced through his opponents' neck, passing through harmlessly and ending another match. The amazon, realizing what happened growled in irritation, before turning and stalking out of the field.
Percy frowned and called after her, "Good fight!"
She didn't respond, choosing the sore loser route instead.
Percy sighed disappointed that she couldn't have been as good a sport as the ones that came before here, only to be further disappointed by who came next.
She was a slightly towering women, with hair cut short and a multitude of scars adorning her, showing that she was what Percy thought of as a "battle enthusiast" . she held a spear and shield with a. cheap depiction of medusa on it. Apparently, she was a cheap imitation of Thalia, only older and less attractive.
She entered the ring boisterously, shouting to the stands in ancient Greek, "I think our guest has gone on long enough, who wants to see me kick hiss pompous ass?"
Percy was happy to see a majority of the Amazons did not join in on the applause that followed, but still, there were some who were quite enthusiastic.
The warrior then turned to Percy and gave him a laughably fake smile, "Just getting the crowd excited. I hope to have a good fight Perseus!"
The son of Poseidon could only smirk at her. he considered telling er now that he understood what she said but decided to have a little fun first. "As do I!"
The fight started with the two circling each other, which surprised Percy, as he took her for the charge right away type. In the end he decided to make the first move, which caused her to smile wickedly. She set herself in an admittedly skilled stance, looking to have him impale himself on her spear with his approach. it was easy enough to pull off, if you were fast enough at positioning the spear at the last minute, but Percy was counting on her doing that.
As he drew close, she quickly set her spear at the ready, only for him to lunge forward at the last minute, twisting his body in a corkscrew midair and slicing her spear in half, before turning right side up and skidding to a stop next to her with his sword up, bringing it straight through her neck with ease.
She was frozen, much like his first opponent but less in shock, more in shame. Before she could gather herself, he whispered in ancient Greek, "I don't know where you got pompous from, but how is kicking my ass going?"
The look on his face was priceless to say the least . she practically ran out of the arena.
The last two were much more sportsmanlike, and actually lasted longer than a minute, so all in all it was quite enjoyable for Percy.
After he had finished talking with his last opponent, he turned to Hippolyta, who was standing to give an announcement. "Perseus! You have successfully defeated all ten of your opponents." She then developed a slightly mischievous look, "I suppose now is as good as any time to tell you that you only had to defeat five to pass"
Percy shrugged, "That's fine, it's been a while since I've had a good swordfight,"
Hippolyta nodded, and looked to be about to say something else, when a very nervous Diana whispers something in her ear. Hippolyta looked at her daughter as if she were insane for a moment, before sighing in exasperation and turning back to Percy, "it seems… there is one more who wishes to challenge you. Please know that no one will judge you if you retire now, most amazons would be close to exhausted n your position." Percy hadn't yet broken a sweat, "But we would all be very thankful, if you could manage to teach our Kara some humility."
Percy was surprised at first, before smiling wickedly, "A swordfight? Hippolyta nodded, "With a Kryptonian?" Hippolyta nodded, a bit more slowly, "Sounds like fun. Bring her out."
He was rewarded for that statement by the Kryptonian shooting down from the sky and landing across from him in a matter of seconds, slightly cratering the ground underneath her and sending up dust.
Once the dust had cleared enough for him to see her, he saw that she was wearing the usual Amazonian armor, and holding a single Greek style sword, similar to Riptide.
After taking her in or a moment he had only one thing to say: "Is this like a thing with you? whatever happened to just walking places like a normal godsdamn person?"
She sneered at him, "Are you ready to fight or not?"
He chuckled, "Well someone's eager. Give me a moment." He began unfastening his armor.
Kara looked at him as if he were crazy, "What are you doing? You do realize I'm gonna be your hardest opponent, today right?"
He snorted but didn't deny it, "Maybe, that's why I'm takin it off. I fight best without being weighed down or constricted. You can take yours off too if you want, it won't do you any good either, not that you need it."
She straightened up at that, "True. I am wondering what your plan is though. I wouldn't really judge you if you called of the fight, I'm invulnerable after all."
Percy looked up at her in disbelief, "Wow! You are really latching on to that hubris huh? What happened?"
She raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"
"In my past experience, pride like that only shows in people who are dealing with something big or are just plain assholes. You don't seem like a real asshole to me." He undid this last bracer and let it fall to the ground, "But hey I could be wrong." He looked up and nodded at Hippolyta while the Kryptonians glare intensified.
"Let the match…"
"And by the way," Percy began
"BEGIN!"
He got in a fighting stance, "I was invulnerable too, once. It's not all it's cracked up to be."
While Kara took a moment to figure out what that could be mean, she suddenly found herself having to block as Percy was in front of her already.
She was on the defensive for a few more seconds before her brain finally broke out of its stunned state. If not for her reflexes she wouldn't have lasted even that long. She soon turned the tide to her advantage by using her superior speed to go on the offensive. However, even then she couldn't manage to land a hit, finding her attempts blocked with either his sword or shield every time, and it infuriated her to no end, "How are you keeping up with me!?"
Her rage. Burned hotter when he laughed, "I'm not. What have they been teaching you here? You're telegraphing your moves like crazy. Seriously it's like reading a Dr. Seuss book."
Kara tired her best to not let her anger get the best of her. honestly, she's been trying for months, but now she felt her control slipping farther and farther away
"Maybe it has something to do with whatever happened keeping you distracted from training? I' sure someone's already told you that the best way to make someone understand is to actually talk about—"
"SHUT UP!" she shouted as she struck his shield with such force, that her own sword shattered against it.
There was a moment of silence as Percy looked at the broken blade before he said, "You seem mad."
"You couldn't possibly understand! No one can! Not even my own Cousin! I lost my entire planet! My parents, my friends, EVERYONE IS GONE!"
She stared at him after that, waiting for his apology or something along those lines, instead what she got was: "That sucks."
She stared at him in disbelief, her brain taking a good minute to process that casual response. When it did, her vision turned red.
With a vicious scream, she shot forward, fist raised. Now, the fight was technically over when she broke her sword, Percy knew that, but he also knew that he needed to confirm something, so he kept pushing. Now that he had, he was expecting some sort of outburst or attack.
Even knowing all that, he couldn't have anticipated the speed, force, and power the girl possesses as she shot her fist right through his torso faster than he could blink.
The stands were silent at the scene before them, most unable to comprehend what had happened, all that is, for the Team.
"BROTHER!" Tyson bellowed, before vaulting over the stands and falling to the arena floor, cratering it beneath him, before charging towards the Kryptonian. He was followed soon after by the others \, who were silently wishing this was aa bad dream.
They froze once more however, when Percy suddenly looked down showing no signs of pain. "well that's neat."
They then noticed, that instead of Kara's fist being covered in golden blood like it should be, it was instead slightly dripping with water.
Percy sighed, "Well that shirt's ruined. "He effortless ripped off his t shirt, revealing his toned and scarred body underneath, as well as revealing the giant portion of his chest that now consisted of crystal-clear water.
As he looked at the area with interest, it started to grow, which caused his smile to grow a mile "I think I could get used to this." He looked up at Kara, "Could you maybe get out of me for a moment?"
At the question the Kryptonian stumbled back with a small shriek, as her opponents body turned completely into water, while still retaining form. She could barely breath as he shot forward towards her and then through her, solidifying again behind her with his sword to her throat. "
As she was frozen in shock he whispered to her, "I may not know your pain, but I can pretty damn well imagine. You lost a planet? I lost a universe. Your friends and were gone in an instant, I had to watch mine die one at time in front of me." He felt her back shaking against his chest. "but you know what? I can't judge you. I do understand a little bit, more than most people at least. Now, do you want to stop fighting, and actually talk about it?"
He waited for her to say something, anything but she remained silent and shaking. He was curious for a moment before he noticed something that confused and irritated to him to know end.
The area where he pressed Riptide against her neck was bleeding.
He let her go abruptly, letting her fall onto her knees trembling still while he looked at his sword perplexed, "What the hades is going on with you?"
He was joined a second later by his team asking if he was okay, Nd Diana, Hippolyta and Hestia transported by the goddess. Diana checked on Kara BEFORE concluding, "She's in shock, but she will be fine."
"Percy," Hippolyta spoke up, "I must extend my deepest apologies. Kara was our responsibility, yet she still attacked you in such a dishonorable way, during a spar of all things. I promise you she will be dealt with swiftly and accor—"
"Don't you think her Punishment should be up to Perseus?" Hestia spoke up with a twinkle in her eye, "He is the guest and victim after all."
Diana frowned, "I don't think—"
"Diana!" Hippolyta snapped at her daughter, sending a clear message of don't defy the goddess. "Of course, my lady, thank you for the suggestion. "She turned to Percy once more, "Well? What do you believe she deserves?"
All eyes were on Percy, the Amazons interested to see how cruel a punishment their newfound ally would come up with, the team worrying what their leader would do, and Kara, who was staring at him with a mixture of fear, awe, and excitement of all things.
He took a deep breath before saying, "Go tend to her neck wound first. Then I suppose her punishment will be…" he looked up at Hestia, "Returning to the cave with us."
There were a lot of different reactions, but only Hestia smiled knowingly, "Splendid choice."
Chapter 12!
This is pretty much the "end" of the Themyscira arc. Next chapter will deal with some ramifications, but they will definitely not be on the island anymore. After that, we will start getting into some more of the episodes form the series. That will be the baseline for the plot.
I've had my first job for like a month now an I'm already having to take a second one alongside it, so…. That's why updates are slower. Plus, I'm lazy lol.