Hopefully you did not forget what happened last chapter. However, just in case you did Jason and Frank found out about Percy while Reyna left for CHB. Also Percy killed the monsters and was returning to his duties as a monster slayer when Nemesis called him. Apparently she is cashing in her favor. Ooooo.
No POV
A lone girl exited the walls of Camp Jupiter and now walked on a newly built road for a few hours. It was not fancy, it was only stone paved but it made the journey from the Wolf House to Camp Jupiter easier and a lot safer. Jason had even set up a small checkpoint with a few legionnaires that handed out provisions and gave first aid to any injured demigod. Reyna passed them a few hours ago, they happily greeted her and wished her good luck on her trip. She understood that it was to ensure the safety of demigods and to increase the numbers of the Twelfth Legion. Still, Reyna could not help but to think that Jason practically encouraged the new demigods to do the bare minimum to survive with his improvements and that was just not the Roman way.
"What is someone like me supposed to do mother? Look at this road, Roman demigods don't even have to try anymore, any idiot can get to New Rome now." Reyna said out loud, hoping that her mother would respond and give her the advice she most desperately needed.
Like she expected, nobody answered and Reyna continued to walk down the silent road. Bellona was not the most affectionate of mothers, Reyna knew so she continued as if nothing, like always. It was not in her nature to show her feelings, she was a praetor of Camp Jupiter, they had to be as emotional as rocks if they hoped to be good leaders. Crying and other signs of sadness showed weakness and that was the one thing she could not show.
"Good afternoon Praetor." Reyna immediate recognized the voice and bowed to the wolf goddess. Unbeknownst to her she had already walked near the Wolf House.
"Lady Lupa," she said as she stood upwards. For Reyna it was important to show respect to a deity by bowing down but you must also respect yourself by standing upright as soon as you pay your respects.
"Reyna, always so regal yet respectful, like a true queen." Reyna gave Lupa another short bow to demonstrate her appreciation at the deity's compliment.
"I noticed that you don't like the new road. Why is that praetor?" Reyna tried to answer as truthfully as possible.
"I don't think it's a bad idea since it has increased our numbers and pleases the minor gods."
"I sense a 'but' here." Lupa added. Reyna nodded and continued.
"I think it will make it too easy for the new recruits. Jason is too Greek now, he will make Camp Jupiter soft, not that I hate the Greeks or anything." Lupa smiled showing her canine teeth and did the closest thing a wolf could do that resembled human giggling. Reyna was slightly confused but remained silent, careful not to disrespect the giant wolf.
"Trust me praetor, the new recruits are not weak."
"What new recruits? We haven't received any new recruits in weeks." Reyna stated.
"That's because they aren't ready yet. By the time my wolves and I are done with them, they will all be fit to join the first cohort. No more baby steps, I am teaching them a lot more than just survival."
"Lupa, I should have known you would find a way to preserve the Roman way." Reyna bowed again to the wolf goddess. There was nothing to fear about New Rome now, with Lupa training the new recruits they will be Romans before they even entered New Rome.
"Now run along pup, don't let me keep you here." Lupa turned around and walked towards the Wolf House. Reyna was inclined to walk behind her and see the demigods training but thought against it. The sooner she got to Camp Half Blood the better.
She kept on walking for a few hours until she reached a small town. She 'borrowed' some non perishable food from a supermarket and thought about hotwiring a car from an unsuspecting mortal shopper when she remembered she had a friend she could call.
A few blocks later she came across a small donut shop and purchased a dozen with the little mortal money she had. The small store needs the money, the supermarket not so much she figured.
Reyna stood still in a seemingly deserted area and concentrated on her friend. A few minutes later a white pegasus appeared in the horizon and landed next to the dark haired girl.
It was an elegant creature and stood proud before the girl that had called him. His name was Guido, he had adopted Reyna as his rider a few months ago after Pegasus had named her a friend of horses.
Reyna offered the white pegasus some donuts and tried not to look at the white horse as he eagerly ate the sweet goods. As much as she appreciated his help she could not help but to think of her previous companion, the one that she had to put out of his misery. The pegasus noticed her reaction and tried to comfort her by placing its head next to her's.
"Thank you Guido, I needed that." The pegasus nickered quietly and nodded his head back and forth. Reyna wished that he had the power of Neptune in that instance, she could have a real conversation with her new horse friend.
"Think you can take me to Camp Half Blood? I want to see that Ares girl Clarisse and maybe even Perseus." To her surprise Guido let out a long squeal and moved back a bit, as if saying that he did not want to or that he was scared.
"It's okay, I'll be there with you. Besides we are all friends remember?" The horse relaxed a bit and lowered his head to let Reyna mount him. As soon as she got on top, the pegasus soared into the air, trying to get to Camp Half Blood as fast as he could.
No POV
Percy immediate mist traveled to Nemesis and became confused when he found himself in a deserted soccer stadium.
"Where are we?" He looked around to see the hundreds of empty seats and the goddess of revenge looking straight at him.
"This is a stadium, what mortals call modern day arenas. Only instead of actually fighting here, athletes use it to show their proficiency on other physical activities. Truly a shame, in a place like this there could be so many great battles."
"I mean, I know what it is. What I meant is why are we here? What is the favor you want?" In the face of the goddess a smile formed and she spat at the ground. The grass instantly died where she spat and Nemesis grinned.
"No questions, remember Percy?" The goddess then manifested her whip and darkness created her a powerful looking Greek style armor. Her hair was magically tied up in a little bun and her eyes glowed black as the pit of Tartarus in anticipation.
Percy knew where this was going and gripped his escrimas tightly. He was not sure why Nemesis was trying to fight him but he knew one thing. He could not lose. Something told him that Nemesis was not going to hold back and that he shouldn't either.
"You will fight me Perseus, my father decreed that you and I will battle till death." Percy did not remember who Nemesis' father was but if Nemesis was fighting him because of him then he must be very powerful. There was also part of fighting till death that he did not like. That meant either he or Nemesis would die and he did not want any of those.
"Um, Nemesis. I would really love to fight you but you think you can take out the part about… I don't know... death? You're kinda my friend and I don't want to kill you." Nemesis grinned and got into a battle stance.
"Surrender or be killed demigod, because as far as I am concerned you aren't my friend. You are my pawn and I am your king. If you have any self respect you will make your land stand and fall before me." She answered with a nasty smile.
"Um, how about no?" Percy rushed the goddess immediately. Percy remembered that he honored the death of her son and that she was grateful. He also knew that she was a free spirit that liked to do as she pleased, that's what made her so powerful before and feared even now. Nobody had her loyalty, she was a wild card and now she was talking about doing what her father ordered? At that moment Percy realized that something was wrong with the goddess.
The goddess was quick on her feet but lacked the power of an Olympian. Percy realized that she was very weak, in her current state he could easily defeat her. As fast as she was, Percy was even faster and her whip was no good in close range combat. For Nemesis it was a hopeless battle, Percy could dodge all of her blows and still have energy to spare. Her so called father had essentially given her a death sentence and Percy knew it.
"Nemesis, I don't want to hurt you. You are my friend and I know you care for me. You even… you know…" Percy glanced downward to signal his pants and blushed at the memory but for some reason it angered Nemesis.
"I would do no such thing, specially to a lesser being. You lie demigod and as punishment you shall feel the full extent of my wrath!" A cloud of darkness covered the entire stadium, erasing all traces of light.
"You don't stand a chance demigod, forfeit your life. I am Lord Nemesis and you are nothing!" A thunderous voice spoke from the darkness. Percy wanted to be intimidated by the display of power and Nemesis' threats but couldn't. Not after hearing Nemesis call herself a lord.
"Show yourself! I know that you are not Nemesis, who are you and how are you controlling her!" Percy demanded to the stadium of darkness.
"You are in no position to order anything!" At that moment Percy felt a sharp cut on his left leg that brought him to his knee. He couldn't see anything but he knew what it was, it was a whip cut.
"Leave Nemesis, fight me in your real body. I don't want to fight her but I will if it's the only way I can help her get rid of you."
There was no way that Percy will be able to fight an opponent that strong in the dark. Before he could have easily beaten Nemesis but not anymore, he could not see but from the looks of it whoever was controlling Nemesis could see him.
You have the power of Hellhounds, use it to save Nemesis and maybe I'll forgive you for killing my children Perseus Jackson.
Percy only remembered hearing that voice a few times in his life. The voice was of none other than Nyx, the primordial goddess of the night. Last time he encountered her she was pretty evil and wanted to kill him, this time it was a bit different.
Regardless Percy did not have to be told twice to save Nemesis. He changed into his hellhound form and adjusted to the darkness only to find himself before the true form of Nemesis. His body started shaking up, trying to turn into dust as he marveled at the true form of a deity through his monster eyes. It caused pain through his entire body but his immortality protected him from such fate. His skin felt like it was on fire, like he was bathing in the River of Styx all over again, severe but manageable.
To make things worse Nemesis' true form was by no means pleasant. She stood at her godly height and glared at him with pit black eyes worthy of Nyx herself. This was it, this was the true form of revenge and it was not pretty. It was the sinister combination of justice and bloodlust and it sent shivers down his hellhound spine.
"A hellhound? You have got to be joking." Nemesis said as she lounged forwards. She swung her whip with incredible speed and finesse, the whip arching in a beautiful way as it made its way to Percy.
The whip returned to Nemesis leaving Percy with a clean cut across his body and true agony. The whip cut through his tough hellhound skin with ease, sharper than any blade Percy ever got injured by with the only exception ever being Backbiter. Percy glanced over to his right shoulder just to notice the vomit inducing cut on his shoulder that extended all the way to his left thigh.
Percy let put an involuntary whine and readied himself. He had no experience fighting as a hellhound but to his surprise he did not need any. His body moved expertly at his will, like if he had been practicing with it for millennia. After some quick thinking he realized that was probably it, the hellhounds he killed had been alive for millennia and now all their qualities were his.
Nemesis resumed her assault and managed to whip Percy a few more times even as he tried his best to dodge her strikes. To Percy, it was not easy to dodge her whip with her increase of power, the long whip had an amazing reach and the speed that Nemesis swung it made it difficult to avoid. Even with his incredible speed and great vision in the dark, he barely stood a chance. After a few more seconds Nemesis landed a clean cut across his right cheek creating a visible flesh wound. Percy summoned a thin sheet of his trusty ethereal material across his body to prevent any further injuries. The water like properties of the material healing Percy on the spot leaving him with distinctive scar on his hellhound face that gave him a rugged look.
"You have interesting powers demigod, but they won't be enough to save you." Percy did not want to show it but he was starting to believe Nemesis or at least whatever was controlling her. Even with all his powers he was no match for Nemesis now. He had no idea a god's true form was this powerful not to mention he was completely in the dark without turning into a hellhound. He thought back to the time he defeated Ares when he was twelve and came to the realization that if Ares had released his true form to fight him he would have been killed instantly. Even if he did managed to survive, Ares would have killed him like an insect with the power of his true form. His only questions now were why didn't gods use their true form more often and who was Nemesis' father.
"Is that all the power you have Nemesis? I knew you were weak but this is too easy. I know your mother Nyx is strong so you must have gotten your lame powers from your father." Percy managed to say in his hellhound form. His words barely audible but Nemesis understood.
Nemesis roared in anger and lashed at Percy once more. Her movements were getting sloppy and her technique was deteriorating. It was clear that Percy hit a nerve so he decided to make the most of it. Percy returned to his human form except this time a bit older than eight years old and the darkness partly vanished.
"Who's your dad Nemesis? I bet he's a weakling if he's having you fight his battles. Probably a coward too, fighting me through you instead of showing himself. I bet he is also insignificant as I don't even know his name." Nemesis growled but holstered her whip. The goddess made its way to Percy and stopped three feet in front of him. Percy was surprised this was actually working, he never expected himself to be a trash talker but Ares' training was actually paying off. As he remembered Ares' training Percy had an idea to end this as fast as possible.
"Your taunts will not work on me demigod and I am no coward. I am Erebus, the primordial lord of darkness. I am the terr-" Erebus did not get to finish his introduction when the head of the revenge goddess was struck with a two feet solid escrima stick. The limp body of the goddess fell only to be held by the young demigod before it reached the ground.
The goddess true form started to revert back to her humanoid body and her greek battle armor dropped to the floor as it was suddenly too big. Her face was no longer sinister and her natural beauty returned much to Percy's relief.
As soon as Percy heard Nemesis introduce herself as Erebus he knew that something serious had to be done. Maybe it was because a primordial god was controlling his patron or the fact he considered her a dear friend but Percy threw honor out of the window and decided it was more important to save her than to defeat her in a fair way.
Ares had demonstrated that not everyone had honor as their priority but that did not necessarily make those people bad. He had been sucker punched by the war deity a few times and learned underhanded strikes could be critical in a fight, especially when fighting a stronger opponent.
Percy laid Nemesis on the ground and gathered the fallen pieces of armor. It looked very valuable so Percy knew what he had to do. He stood up and held the armor in his hands offering it to Ares.
I know that I probably disappointed you and my dad but accept my offering Ares. I would have not saved Nemesis had you not bothered to train me.
Nothing happened at first but after a few seconds the armor disappeared and a small container of nectar appeared in its place. Percy grinned and walked towards Nemesis. He rested her head on his lap and brought the nectar to Nemesis' lips. Slowly, the goddess drank down the liquid and recovered some of her strength.
She opened her eyes to find a boy of about eleven years old and eyes that changed color looking at her worriedly. Percy feared that Nemesis would still be under Erebus control but realized that was not the case when she gave him a small smile.
"Thanks for coming Percy, I didn't know who else to call." Percy realized what Nemesis meant. She did not have friends that he knew about and the Olympians would probably not be rushing to her rescue.
"Don't worry about it Nemesis. Like I said, you're my friend and I'm your champion. If you need me I'll be there." Nemesis saddened upon hearing Percy and sighed.
"I'm sorry about everything Erebus said. I don't think of you as my pawn and I'm sorry for fighting you in my true form. I was just so weak that Erebus was forced to use it." Again, Percy was intrigued about true forms.
"Why don't gods use their true form more often? When you unleashed your true form, your power was incredible, I don't know if I could have beaten you." Nemesis, realizing that she still laid on Percy's lap stood up and summoned her symbol of power.
"It is not something we can just do without repercussions. We use our true form when we flash but fighting in it is a completely different story. There is no such thing as free power Percy, in our true forms we don't just use our energy but we also use our life force. After all, a god's life-force, soul and energy are fused together. Use your true form a bit more than necessary and you die."
"So Erebus could have killed you? If I had not knocked you out…"
"I'm fine Percy. He got me by surprise but he is gone now. Besides even if I had died, I would have reformed after some time. It was you that I was worried about." Percy smiled and blushed a bit at Nemesis. It was no small feat to have the goddess of revenge say she was worried about your safety.
"This whip is my symbol of power, I just hope it didn't hurt you too much. It's my Karmic Whip, it only brings forth the pain you feel you deserve." Percy remembered the immense pain it gave him. It cut clean through his hellhound skin and left a burning aftereffect.
"It's fine. It barely hurt." He lied.
"Good, your dark water is very good at healing but I doubt it could have healed you if my whip had sliced you in half. Anyway, thank you my champion." Nemesis flashed away and left Percy in the middle of the stadium still on his knees.
Dark water, I like that. Has a good ring to it.
Percy turned to look at the sky and figured it would start to get dark soon, he had to go find a place to sleep. The night was not the friendliest part of the day.
Do you fear the night Perseus? I can assure you there is nothing for you to fear… for now.
The primordial goddess hissed inside Percy's head. Percy shivered but composed himself. Showing the goddess of the night weakness when so close to her domain was never a good idea.
"I don't fear the night but I am aware of it's power Lady Nyx. I have nothing but uttermost respect for the night and her daughter." Percy was careful to be as respectful as possible towards the primordial goddess of the night. The last time they met he ended up on bad terms with her and she was most definitely evil. He had saved Nemesis from Erebus control like she asked but he was not sure it was enough for Nyx to make a heel face turn.
You ARE kind of cute, and powerful for a mortal. I can definitely see what my daughter sees in you.
Percy was shocked that Nemesis saw something in him that she liked. Maybe they could be together, especially after what just happened, also being called cute by a primordial goddess was a nice bonus.
However you are not very honorable, that's for sure. I have seen you in action twice and both of those times you have failed to live up to my expectations.
Then again, I can't blame you. Asking a mere mortal to defeat a powerful goddess such as myself or even my daughter in her true form is preposterous.
Percy felt a little insulted but she had said nothing but the truth. Gods weren't just gods by name, they were truly powerful beings once they revealed their true form. They could end the lives of mortals instantly should they choose to and mortals would be powerless to stop them. But to be fair, he wasn't going to kill Nemesis for the sake of his honor.
Now run along demigod, you have earned my favor by saving my daughter but beware, Erebus will be back.
"Thank yo-" Percy started to say but realized the deity of the night left as soon as she finished speaking, letting Percy know that primordials always had the last word.