Son of Tartarus-Chapter 3
Disclaimer: NOTHING belongs to me. PJ belongs to Rick Riordan.
A/N: I'm going to try get a new chapter out every day.
Thanks to Just a fan of fics and eliasgjoel for reviewing Chapter 2.
Special thanks to SupremeLeaderArchos, because they sent me a whole list of ideas for powers for children of Tartarus so THANK YOU!
This chapter is going to be the beginning of the quest.
I tweaked the prophecy a tiny bit. Not sure how much of a change that'll make.
'This is me thinking'
"This is me talking"
Previously
"You shall go west, and face the god who has turned,
You shall find what was stolen, and see it safely returned,
You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend,
And you shall break your promise, in the end."
Now
After he had received the prophecy from the oracle, Chiron had told him to pick two companions for the quest. He had picked Luke because he was the best swordsman at camp. Annabeth had volunteered so he picked her as well.
Before leaving Chiron had pulled him aside and give him a pen. Percy had been confused at first but Chiron told him that when he pulled of the cap, it would turn into a celestial bronze sword, named Anaklusmos or Riptide. Percy had asked why Chiron had given it to him and Chiron had said he just had a feeling so Percy accepted the gift without complaint.
Percy was stuck in the back of a car and was incredibly annoyed. Mostly because the blonde, Annabeth, kept wittering on about architecture and spouting random facts. Luke didn't do anything to help either. He just sat there, hanging on to her every word and nodding his head every so often. It annoyed Percy to no end. He saw the way Luke looked at Annabeth, it was clear he liked her. Percy tried to tune out Annabeth multiple times and eventually managed to fall asleep.
After about an hour he woke up. They were officially in New York City. They continued to travel West so Percy, Annabeth and Luke got on a bus. Annabeth sat on her own and Luke pulled Percy into a seat be beside him.
"Percy, can I ask you something" Luke seemed nervous.
"Sure, what do you want?"
"Well, quests are dangerous and can you promise that if anything happens to me, protect Annabeth, okay?"
"Because you like her?" Percy said, arching his eyebrows.
"Well, yes okay! But, please Percy, protect her" Luke was blushing, clearly embarrassed from admitting his crush.
"Of course I'll protect her, Luke" Percy smiled as Luke let out a breath, "I promise to protect her but you have to do something for me in return"
"Sure! What do you need?"
"Nothing, not yet anyway. But you owe me one, okay?"
"I swear on the Styx I'll do what you ask to repay my debt" A distant rumble of thunder was heard when Luke said this.
"And I swear on the Styx to protect Annabeth to the best of my ability should anything happen to you"
"Thank you, Percy"
Luke grinned at Percy.
"If we get back to Camp alive I promise—" Luke was cut of when Annabeth grabbed his hand.
"Monsters! On the bus!"
"What, where?" Percy looked around wildly, trying to spot anything that looked like it belonged in Tartarus, "I don't see any"
"Those old ladies, there" Annabeth hissed, pointing towards three old women, looking perfectly harmless, "I'm pretty sure they're the furies"
"Holy Hera!" Luke face morphed into one of worry, "What could Hades possibly want from us?"
"I don't know, but right now all we need to be concerned with is getting out of here alive"
"Any plans, Wise Girl?" Percy said, "We need one, like, now"
"Don't call me that!"
"Why not? Your mum's Athena, right?"
"Guys, now's not the time to fight" Luke said, separating them, "Annabeth, do you have a plan?"
"We need a distraction" Annabeth looked thoughtful as she considered her options, "I have my invisibility cap with me. We need to stop the bus and get of, you two distract them, I'll stop the bus"
Annabeth pulled out a Yankees cap and put it on her head. Percy and Luke watched as she promptly disappeared from sight.
"What are you to waiting for?" Annabeth's disembodied voice came from in front of them.
Percy looked at Luke and pulled out the pen Chiron had given him, "I think we should say hi to these furies"
"I agree with you, they look kind of lonely, don't you think?"
Percy smirked in reply and walked up to the nearest fury, "Excuse me?"
The fury turned round and bared her teeth, "Hello dear, what can I doo for you?"
"Well me and my friend were wondering if you and your sisters would like to become nice piles of dust" Percy uncapped Riptide as he said this and a beautiful, bronze sword replaced the pen in his hand, "we can give you the triple serving"
The look on the monster's face was priceless, she clearly didn't expect Percy to recognise her for what she was and to be fair, he hadn't, Annabeth was the one who had figured it out. The furies hissed and stood up. They lunged towards Percy and Luke who sidestepped and swung their blades. Luke swung his blade at the nearest fury, who jumped out of the way just in time. The furies prepared to strike again but were thrown against the floor. Annabeth had managed to stop the bus.
The three furies stood from where they were and spoke in unison, "Child of the eldest, return what you took," the furies disappeared in an instant, before Percy or Luke could stop them.
"Hey!" A shout made Percy and Luke look around only to find an angry, red-faced bus driver storming towards them, "Get of my bus, you two! You've caused enough trouble"
"Come on, guys, let's go" a fully visible Annabeth walked up towards them, cap in hand.
Percy and Luke followed her of the bus when she stopped and turned around, "So? Did you find out anything useful?"
"What do you mean?" Luke asked.
"The furies were here for a reason, Hades must have sent them, but what for?" Annabeth explained, "Percy did they say anything?"
"Um, before they disappeared, they said 'Child of the eldest, return what you took" but I'm not sure what they meant"
"Child of the eldest… Let's suppose they mean one of the eldest gods is you godly parent"
"Like Hestia, or Demeter?"
"Potentially, yes, but the eldest gods is normally associated with the Big Three, Hades, Poseidon and Zeus"
"So your saying Percy's godly parent is one of the Big Three? Does that mean Percy is…" Luke trailed of and looked nervously at Percy.
"The child of the prophecy? I don't know Luke, but we can figure that out later" Annabeth paused and glanced at Percy, "They told you 'return what you took' right?"
"Yeah, but I don't know what they were talking about"
"I believe you. So we assume that Hades has also had something of value stolen and he thinks that you took it for some reason," Annabeth said, "Do we have any idea of what valuable item Hades has had stolen?"
"I don't know for sure but the only thing I can think of is his Helm of Darkness," Luke said thoughtfully.
"Well, why don't we go ask him?" Percy suggested.
"What! Percy, that's crazy!" Annabeth exclaimed.
"Why, if he's had something stolen to he might know something"
"Percy's got a point, Annabeth. Hades might have some valuable information" Luke said.
Annabeth just huffed and started walking.
"Where are we, anyway?" Percy asked.
"St. Louis," Annabeth replied, not even looking back.
"Where are we going?"
"To see the Gateway Arch"
"What! Why, that's wasting time"
"Please, let's just take a quick detour" Annabeth looked at him with puppy-dog eyes, "this is an amazing opportunity!"
"No! I—" Percy was interrupted by Luke.
"I think it's a great idea"
_(This is a Line Break)_
Percy stood on the top of the Gateway Arch. He couldn't believe he'd let Luke and Annabeth talk him into taking a detour. He had to admit that the view was beautiful though.
"Percy! The elevator's here!" Annabeth voice jerked him out of his thoughts, "You coming?"
Glancing up he saw that there was a family waiting for the elevator, "Nah, it's fine, you guys go ahead, I'll catch up"
Annabeth and Luke left in the elevator and left Percy alone with an old lady and her chihuahua. Percy stood there impatiently, ignoring the woman until she spoke to him.
"Hello dearie" She said
"Oh, hello"
The dog barked at him and the woman silenced it, "Shh sonny" turning back to Percy she spoke again, "You know dearie, you have a remarkably strong aura"
"Really? Thank you," Percy didn't realise what the women had said at first but as soon as the meaning of her words hit him, he uncapped Riptide, "Who, or rather what, are you?"
The woman just chuckled and spoke to her dog, "Okay sonny, you can eat him up now!"
The dog suddenly began to change until there was a ferocious Chimera in its place. The Chimera pounced towards Percy and swiped at him with a massive paw. The snake head lunged out and Percy just managed to avoid it. The goat head bleated as the Chimera prepared to attack once was ready this time and used Riptide to whack the beast in its stomach. The Chimera fell back, winded, and scrambled to regain its breath. Before it could Percy stabbed the beast though the heart, killing it in an explosion of Dust. The woman, who Percy guessed was Echidna, screeched and lunged at Percy. She clawed at him before he pushed her of. She stumbled back and rushed forwards again. Before she could reach Percy, she was stopped in her tracks. Percy was confused and looked at her. It was then he saw the shadows holding her in place.
The shadows pushed Echidna forward, driving her towards Riptide but just before she was impaled, Echidna made a wild grab at Percy. It was by pure luck that her swing made contact and by chance that the force of it threw Percy of the Gateway Arch, just as Echidna exploded into dust.
A/N: And I'm done with chapter 3! Yay! Will try get chapter 4 out by tomorrow, I might not be able to though. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!