Chapter nine: Amica Ignis
Disclaimer: Rick Riordan does not have a 300-mark mock test tomorrow thank you very much, though if he does, I feel sorry for him.
Author's Note – Hi all! I need some really good fanfics to read since I can't find anything new and I'm still waiting for a new chapter from some of the stories I am reading. So, if you could PM me or name a few good fics in your review, that would be great. Thanks a lot. Also, please read and review my chapters. I know it may not seem like much but a few kind words or even a criticism or suggestion can motivate a person to keep writing.
"Friendship that insists upon agreement on all matters is not worth the name. Friendship to be real must ever sustain the weight of honest differences, however sharp they be."
- M.K. Gandhi
Percy's POV:
The wheat parted, and an apparition, no, a god stepped into view. He wore a wide-brimmed hat wreathed in grapevines, a purple short-sleeved shirt, khaki shorts, and Birkenstocks with white socks. He looked maybe thirty, with a slight potbelly, like a frat boy who hadn't yet realized college was over.
"Did someone just call me the wine dude?" he asked in a lazy drawl. "It's Bacchus, please. Or Mr. Bacchus. Or Lord Bacchus. Or, sometimes, Oh-My-Gods-Please-Don't-Kill-Me, Lord Bacchus."
Now I'm not usually the sort of guy who would advocate doing something suicidal, I'm the guy who's all about prolonging his life as long as possible. Which is why when I stepped forward and my mouth started moving of its own volition, no one was as surprised as me.
"Well Mr Oh-My-Gods-Please-Don't-Kill-Me, Lord Bacchus, you certainly look different." I said, to my horror.
"What?" he asked, too shocked for a second to consider being angry.
"You look skinnier, as if you decided to take a hint from the other gods, your hair is longer, and your shirt isn't so loud. I mean, before it used to cause nausea, dizziness and migraine, but now it's only the migraine!" I said.
Apparently, Mr. B. still didn't understand why I wasn't shutting the hell up and bowing and asking for his divine forgiveness.
So, he decided to give me another chance, "What in the blazes are you talking about boy and where is Ceres?"
Now it was my turn to be confused since I wasn't aware of any Series on the Olympian Council. I suddenly had the image of a Goddess of Math and Algebra trying to teach me with Dionysus, no, Bacchus and I gave an involuntary shudder.
"I think he means Ceres" Annabeth said, taking pity on me, "the Roman equivalent of Demeter, Goddess of Harvest."
"Yes, boy. Apparently, someone in your group still has a brain. She called me here to discuss a united front in the Plant War. What with Gaia waking up, plants are demanding longer holidays, better fertilizer and the surrender of some Anniebell Casserole and some girl whose name is also a nut." Bacchus said.
"I think he means Annabeth and Hazel." Jason said.
"Thank you Captain Obvious." I said wryly. I don't know why, but I felt extremely jittery and snappish, as if I had drunk ten gallons of coffee and had been forced to sit still for hours. Which for an ADHD demigod was…..not fun to say the least.
"So you finally decided to pitch into the war rather than laze around and drink Diet Coke huh." I said.
His eyes glowed with purple fire and he seemed to glow a little. The can of Pepsi he had summoned transformed into a huge stick topped by a….pinecone.
"I wonder how you managed to survive without being turned into a dolphin by my counterpart." He said, voice laced with quiet, and barely contained rage.
"Oh it was discussed. I just think you were too lazy to do it." I said simply.
His grip on the weapon tightened.
Meanwhile, Piper and Annabeth had been watching with horrified fascination, the way they might watch a train wreck in progress. Jason couldn't believe how rude Percy was being towards an Olympian God, his instincts telling him to shut Percy up and remind him of where he stood in the pecking order.
Piper glanced at Annabeth and saw that she wouldn't know how to stop Percy, to rein him in. She was watching slack jawed as the idiot tried to get himself turned into an aquatic mammal. Since it was up to her, she infused her voice with as much charmspeak as possible and said sweetly "Lord Bacchus, I was wondering if you could help us with our quest." She told him all about her vision and poured respect into her voice like honey.
The purple glow around him dimmed as he listened, and she heaved an internal sigh of relief. She was going to KILL Percy later for this.
"Well, I'm not going to help you with your quest, I'm no longer a demigod after all, but I will give you some free advice. Seek out Gaia's son Phorcys. He and his mother have never been on the best of terms. You'll find them in Atalanta." He said, before flashing off and leaving us.
Jason's POV:
"What the hell was that there Jackson? You could've doomed us all before the quest even began by pissing off an important God." I said.
To his credit, he looked a little shamefaced as he said "Sorry, it's just me and him don't exactly have the best history, and he was annoying me."
"That does not mean you have to drag us into the crossfire." I said, a little coldly, the voice of a commander, a leader, not a friend.
His expression hardened at my implication and he allowed his voice to raise a little as he said "I wouldn't have put any of you in danger. Besides, if its team value we are talking about, why don't we talk about how you were basically conked out for a week while Piper here had to take care of you?"
The voice Jupiter whispered in my head, "Yes, kill that insolent demigod, he is nothing but trouble, and a Greek at that. You barely know him; you owe him nothing. The quest can continue, after all, who would miss a son of Poseidon when my own son can fill the gap."
At the added goading and Percy's taunt, I snapped and released a giant gust of wind in his direction. He was swept off his feet and landed a good three metres away.
I immediately regretted my outburst and ran towards him, "I, I am really sorry Percy, I did not mean that."
Percy's POV:
Rage. Pure, unadulterated rage coursed through me as Poseidon shouted in my head, "Look Percy. The Romans have destroyed my domain, sacrificing the bare minimum to Neptune, they have taken Annabeth, it is because of them that she has lost her memories of you and now this insolent fool dares to attack you. Kill the Roman, and you can protect Annabeth from them, kill him."
There was a dull ringing in my ears, similar to when I had attacked Thalia. I swiftly uncapped Riptide and slashed upwards in a long arc that forced Jason to use his Gladius.
I jumped upwards, shield ready and started attacking. Riptide's longer edge gave me an advantage and I forced Jason to stay on the defensive.
I still remembered to rein in Poseidon's instincts that told me to kill him, as I was about to strike a blow to his side when instead of slashing, I turned my blade, thwacking him on the side.
He released a burst of air as he flew backwards, out of range of my sword. I huffed in frustration, the only way I could use my powers to my advantage in a place like Kansas was with my personal hurricane as there was no large water source nearby, though I knew I didn't need it to beat him.
We ran towards each other, exchanging a flurry of blades as my Celestial Bronze clashed against his Imperial Gold, producing an oddly musical ringing. He was good, I had to admit. The only one who had challenged me like this as a demigod had been Luke, and he had had years of experience wielding a sword.
I slipped and slid against his blade, narrowly avoiding each strike while trying to strike him with simple slashes and thrusts.
We lost ourselves to the rhythm of the thrust and parry of our blades as both of us started fighting in earnest. His foot slipped a little and I smiled, seizing my opening, but before I could lunge, he summoned a bolt of lightning, forcing me to retreat.
Though the effort took a lot out of him, he managed to stagger back and get back into a standard defensive position. I hardened some water gathered from the field and the soil below us before lobbing it at him, hoping to distract him for a moment.
He simply cut the orb of water with his blade and rolled to the side before standing up again.
Both of us understood it was futile to win this with our powers as we were pretty evenly matched and neither wanted to kill the other…yet.
We advanced carefully, and locked blades, me trying to slide my blade along his so as to reach his currently unprotected body, and him trying to block me and execute a classic roman stab.
"See Jason that's your problem, you always want to play the good soldier, only stabbing your enemies rather than fighting like we do. Sure, a stab has great penetrating power, but it leaves the body open to an attack, especially if you do not have a shield."
So saying, I used one of the first manoeuvres I had ever learnt and rolled my wrist while locking his sword's hilt with my own. Then, I simply flicked my blade and his gladius flew out of his hand.
Both of us were panting hard from the exercise but grinning like idiots.
Once we had finished our fight, both of us were a lot calmer, the voices of the schizophrenic gods quiet for a change.
I walked up to him and offered him my hand, "Well met Jason Grace." allowing the respect in my voice at his skill to show.
He grabbed my hand in a strong grip, eyes regarding me with newfound respect and….something I couldn't place before he spoke "Well met Percy Jackson. Nice match."
And in that moment, we were finally friends. I had once heard that if you truly want to get to know someone, fight them, for while words can be deceptive, while actions can hold double meanings, a simple, honest fight between two people will show you things about them they never even thought to hide.
I knew, as did he, that we were on the same side, that we would both lay down our lives to protect those we cared about, and that while our ways were different, we both cared about our friends very much.
I knew this wasn't the last time we would butt heads, but it was the last time we would do so distrustful of each other.
Author's Note: YASSSSS, SUCCESS! I honestly struggled with the fight coz I wanted to give you people something worthy of the children of the Big Three. I quickly decided against too much power usage since in a battle between friends, it could quickly turn fatal. The next chapter will open with Piper and Annabeth's reaction to them fighting, which is honestly going to VERRRYYYY fun to write since they're both basically gonna be mentally fangirling. I hope you people liked the chapter after I tried to make it somewhat okay. Please read, enjoy and above all REVIEW!
Also, take care and stay safe.