AN: Hello Girls and Guys! I am back with chapter 8!
I hope you have been enjoying my story so far! Once again, a massive thank you to ReaperOfOaths for continued support to this story! Anyway, I hope you enjoy!
Chapter 8- Zarcrix's Magic
Percy POV
"WHAT?!" I yell, disbelief on my mind. "CRAIG IS IMMORTAL! CURSE YOU ZEUS!" I yell. I dash outside and summon water from the pond, flooding the training area, wrecking the robots, I draw riptide and slash the surrounding sicks used for practicing technique. The wooden posts get slashed and diced, most of them falling to the ground in my fit of rage and disbelief.
Finally, my rage disperses, and I calm down. "Sorry I ruined most of the training area" I say, embarrassed that I had let my emotions get away from me.
"No problem" Zarcrix says, and with a wave of his hand everything was back to normal.
I sigh, this was not what I had expected, I didn't believe Zeus was THAT dumb.
"It gets worse" Zarcrix says sadly. My mind was churning, how could it get any worse?
"Craig pretended to have a quest, and that quest was to capture you" Zarcrix says.
I nearly fall out of the chair. "Craig did what!?" I say, disbelief in my eyes. I couldn't believe Craig would go and do something like that.
"I think it is time for me to teach you something very powerful" Zarcrix says, in all seriousness. "I am going to teach you something called force magic, a type of magic that allows you to do anything with what you want. You can force an unbendable object, into bending. It is very powerful" Zarcrix says.
"Wow, I would be honoured to learn such a thing" I say.
"Well, come to the training area" Zarcrix says.
We rush out there, as Zarcrix seemed quite eager to teach me this. "All right, I want you to start running laps, because to control force magic, you must have a massive amount of stamina. Even larger than what you have." He says.
"GO!" he yells, starting a simple stopwatch. I immediately start jogging, hoping it wouldn't be too long, I really want to learn this magic.
2 hours later, I was jogging very slowly, and I was sweating like crazy. Finally, Zarcrix calls stop. I immediately collapse and put my hand behind my head. I just lay there, trying to get some energy back.
"You're going to need to have more stamina than that to control force magic properly." Zarcrix says. "Now, you have 15 minutes' rest, and then we will start doing the basics of force magic" he says.
15 minutes later
I get up off the ground at Zarcrix's call. Now I could learn how to use force magic. I walk over to him, and he starts talking, explaining the things I need to do. "Force magic is a magic that requires someone you can control something, like how you control water, sons of Zeus control lightning and so on. For instance, a child of Hermes could not use force magic, as that child cannot control something. Today, we will start with forcing a pebble to bend slightly, as done with beginners." He says.
"Ok, how do I do this?" I ask, determination filling me, determination to get this right.
"You need to feel your control over water, but not use it. You must use this control to force the pebble. Feel the magic of your water powers, now think very clearly on how you want to bend the pebble. You must concentrate like never before." He says.
I grab the pebble and balance it on my palm, and close my eyes. I think of the pebble bent at a 90 -degree angle, and call on my water control, I feel the pond rumble at my concentration, but I don't summon the water. With the image of the bent pebble in my mind, I release the control. I open my eyes and look in surprise to see the pebble bent, not 90 degrees, but close to.
"Very good! That is a great start!" says Zarcrix. "Now try with your eyes open" he says.
Once again, I picture the pebble, this time folded over like a book. I concentrate on the pebble, and call on my water control again. I release. I watch in disbelief as the pebble bends to fold like a book, but it did not break.
My eyes suddenly blur and I become dizzy, and soon I was asleep. I woke up to find myself in the chair in Zarcrix's hut again. I look across the room and see Zarcrix sitting across the room, his feet up on the coffee table, smoking a pipe, and watching amused as the smoke rings flew around the room.
"What happened?" I ask blearily.
"You expended to much energy and fell asleep" he says in a bored voice. "You really need to work on your stamina. Tomorrow we will practice again, running." He says. I sigh and lean back, wondering how long it would be before I had full control over the magic.
XxXxX
Third person POV
Craig and his cronies, Thodos, Modos and Codos, began their search. They travelled to New York City, Craig almost trembling in anticipation of catching his nemesis, Percy Jackson. They made their way through New York, stopping at plenty of hot dog stores to "beef up."
They spent money Zeus had given Craig on buying a limousine. They were driving around New York, lazily looking for Percy. All of them were chilling, laughing and completely unfazed by having to battle Jackson. After all, there was 4 of them, and only 1 of him, easy right?
XxXxX
Third person POV
Annabeth rushed out of New York, and into the countryside. Her brain was completely dead. Percy wasn't anywhere. Well, that could be wrong, as New York was huge. Her brain refused to admit defeat though, she had to find Percy or die trying.
Then she had an idea. She could do an Iris Message. She dashed to the nearest pond and sprayed it using her hands, creating a brief rainbow in which she threw a golden drachma.
"Oh, Iris Goddess of the rainbow please accept my offering" she said.
"Accepted" came the voice of Iris.
"Show me Percy Jackson, somewhere in the world" she said.
An image through the rainbow shows Percy sitting on a chair, with a forest backdrop.
"Chase" he says, eyes narrowing.
"Percy, where are you?" Annabeth asks.
"You do not need to know" he says.
"Percy, I need to know, please, I have something I need to tell you, and it is in person." She says.
"If you can find me, I am in the Forest of Death" he says.
"But, Percy, no one has entered that forest for years, because anyone who goes in never comes back out" she says in disbelief.
"All well" he says and swipes through the message.
Annabeth stares and cries, why there of all places? She thought.
XxXxX
Percy POV
Damn you Annabeth, haven't you ruined my life enough already? You just have to see me in person.
Zarcrix suddenly comes into the house. "Come on, it's time to keep training" he says. I get up and walk outside, following Zarcrix. "GO!" Zarcrix yells suddenly, and I set off running. 2 and a half hours later and I was lying on the ground, breathing heavily, but I could feel my stamina increasing.
20 minutes later and it was time to use more force magic.
"Now, I am going to shoot a small bolt of lightning at you, don't worry, it will only cause a small sting. I want you to use your instincts and the things we did yesterday to force the lightning away." He says. Then suddenly the lightning bolt flies at me, and I react on pure instinct and manage to use my water control to deflect it. "Good, that is what you must do against Craig, because now that he is immortal, he will be able to summon lightning far more effectively." Zarcrix says.
Suddenly another bolt comes at me, and I try to deflect it, but fail and the lightning hits me, creating a bad sting. "Ouch!" I yelp. Zarcrix laughs and fires off another small bolt, and I become annoyed, I deflect it instinctively back at him, which he lazily flicks away. "Yes! That is perfect! You must deflect them at Craig, but try to splash him with water first, so the lighting hurts. It will not do serious damage, but it will be enough for you to gain the upper-hand in a battle." Zarcrix says.
I smile, and we continue practicing the rest of the afternoon.
XxXxX
Third person POV
Craig and his cronies entered the plains, and could see the forest, and it was their pure idiocy alone that lead them to believe that Percy may be living in the dark, dangerous forest. Their limousine travelled down the path towards the forest, not a single bit of nervousness with them, they were supremely confident they could beat the wimp Jackson.
AN: Hey guys and girls! Sorry for a chapter without much action, but I have saved the action for the next chapter, which should be up by Monday. I hope you enjoyed, and don't forget to leave your thoughts on the story so far! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and thanks for reading chapter 8!