A/N: Sorry for the very late update. I got caught up in school work. I was always tired when I got back and it drained me so much that I almost slept through the entire of last weekend. Now I'm feeling better and I'm going to write again. Hooray!
Alex Focker: Maybe. ;)
32: Almost.
Oserix: Soon :D
Quihi: Holy shit what a lot of review. Thanks for the thoughts on the chapter. It helps a lot!
Guest: I suck at creating original ideas. Fanfiction was the next best thing.
Onwards!
Chapter 17
Theseus brought Percy to their headquarters, which was very secluded in a seemingly empty alleyway. At the end of the narrow alley was a metal door with graffiti and stickers on it with the words 'DO NOT ENTER' posted on the wall above it. Theseus put his hand on the door surface for a second before something clicked and the door swung open.
"Come on in," Theseus said as he entered the building.
The door led to a stairway that went down for at least three stories down. At the bottom, double metal doors stood in their way.
Again, Theseus put his hand on the surface of the door for a second before something clicked and the doors swung open, revealing the Argonauts' HQ.
It was what Percy would consider a 'man-cave'. Or a playroom for grownups. The place was very large and spacious, which made Percy wonder how people hadn't discover this in the first place. It was slightly bigger than a tennis court. The ceiling is painted white with circular recessed lights scattered around, providing enough lighting in the room.
At the opposite end from where Percy stood, there was a wooden staircase leading up to who knows where. On the wooden floor of the room, there was a yellow line that seems to divide the whole room into sections.
"I'll give you a brief tour." Theseus said. "To the right, the dining area," To their right was a kitchen built alongside the corner of the wall along with a bar counter and drinks arranged in a glass shelf. There was also an oval table for people to dine, maybe.
"Fancy," Percy muttered.
"To our left is the relax area." Theseus explained. The walls were lined up with flat screen TVs that could pass as a home theatre and gaming consoles along with bean bag chairs. There were also massage chairs, treadmills, and a few of those all-in-one workout equipments. Facing the TV was a couch/bed that could fit at least five people. "Crash by whenever you feel like it."
The next two sections were fairly simple. One was sectioned off with a glass wall, creating a meeting room, with the standard oval desk surrounded with black leather office chairs. The other one was just a simple wooden stall, and no one was behind the counter.
"If you're wondering about that," Theseus gestured at the empty stall as if he was reading Percy's mind. "That's the Argonauts' shop."
"You have your own shop?"
Theseus just shrugged with a cheeky grin. "We have our privileges." Then, Percy heard footsteps coming from the stairs. A tanned woman came down from the stairs, wearing a cheetah-patterned top that only covered her chest area and matching shorts. She looked like a warrior from ancient times. Her blonde hair was tied into a braid.
"Hey Theseus," The woman said. Then, her gaze dropped onto Percy. "Fresh meat?"
Theseus grinned. "Percy, meet Atalanta." Theseus said.
"Atlanta? Like the city?" Percy asked.
Atalanta laughed. "I get that a lot. Yes, like the city but with an extra vowel." She went towards Percy and offered her hand. "Nice meeting you."
Percy shook her hand. She had a very rough skin, like a rock climber's. "Same here," Percy said.
"Are you bringing him to meet Jason?" Atalanta asked.
The name caught Percy's ear. "Jason's here?"
"You know Jason?" Theseus asked.
"If you're talking about Jason Grace, then yeah. He's a friend of mine." Percy said.
Atalanta and Theseus seemed to breathe out a sigh of relief. "Nope. Wrong Jason." Theseus said. "Come, I'll bring you to him." Then he waved at Atalanta. "I'll see you soon. You still owe me a drink."
"Yeah, yeah," Atalanta grumbled as she exited the building from where Percy and Theseus had come from. Theseus led Percy up the stairs that led to a hallway. The end of the hallway was a floor-to-ceiling window that showed the view of the town, which wasn't possible because they hadn't gone that high up. To the left and right of the walls of the corridor were a series of doors which Percy assumed to be rooms.
"If you decide to stick with us," Theseus explained. "This is where you'll be staying. Guys on the right side and girls on the left. Same with the bathrooms. But the rule doesn't really work with these people. Let's go up one more time."
They climbed the stairs to another floor, which was like the CEO floor for this place. The place was built like a planetarium. The roof was the shape of a dome and the ceiling showed the clearest night sky Percy has ever seen. The stars lit up so brightly that they look like they're there. There was nothing in the room except for a desk and one person sitting behind it, engulfed in his AR Glasses.
Theseus gestured Percy to follow him to the desk. He knocked on it twice as the guy behind the chair snapped back into reality. "You have a visitor, egghead.'
The guy sat up straight and smiled. He had bronze skin cropped but messy hair. His eyes showed intensity, like the need to prove something. He wore what looked like a golden sheepskin rug.
"Hi," He offered his hand. "I'm Jason."
"Um, hi," Percy shook Jason's hand. "I'm Percy Jackson."
"Oh, we know who you are," Jason said. "Have a seat."
Theseus sat next to Percy in front of Jason. Percy did the same. "So, I take it you have some questions."
"Some, might be an understatement," Percy looked around the room. It was surprising how dark the ceiling was and yet how clear Percy could see everything else. "Who are you guys?"
Jason grinned. "Well, we're some of the best players of Olympia," He said it so simply as if it was a well known fact.
"Uh huh," Percy said, clearly not buying it. "I beat him." Percy gestured at Theseus.
"What class did you use?" Jason asked him.
"Brawler," Theseus replied with a grin.
"Bah," Jason spat. "A toddler with a walking stick could've beaten you if you use that class."
Theseus shrugged. "In my defence, I was just testing him."
Jason turned towards Percy. "Like I said. We're the best players of Olympia."
"How come I've never heard of you before?" Percy asked. "I thought Annabeth was the top player right now."
"She's good." Jason acknowledged. "But she still has a lot to learn. And the reason why you haven't heard of us before is because technically, we don't exist." Percy waited for Jason to continue. "We exist for the sole purpose of one thing, protecting Olympia."
Percy frowned. "You know they already have people for that job."
Jason sighed. "The Rebellion is like Olympia's first line of defence. We, on the other hand, are the ones responsible for the ones that they didn't catch." Jason stood up. "You see, the Rebellion has its weakness. And that weakness is exploitable. Enemies sometimes get through. When they do, it's our job to stop them."
"How did you know about the Rebellion?"
"Your dad put us together," Theseus said. "He handpicked almost everyone in here."
Percy never seem to get away from hearing his father's name. "And he ordered you to recruit me?"
"Nope," Jason said with a grin. "I decided that myself."
"And why is that?"
"You have potential, kid." Jason said. "Something that I don't see in other players of Olympia."
"Jason has a knack for sniffing out talents." Theseus said. "And bullshit."
Jason ignored the last comment. "So, I'm offering you a spot in our team. It's a dangerous line of work and you can't tell anyone about this." Jason leaned forward. "Deal?"
Line Break
"So, tell me." Percy sat down in the bar with Atalanta and one of her friends, Orpheus, who looked like someone who could shred a guitar effortlessly. "Why does all your classes sounds different from what Olympia offers?"
Atalanta chuckled. "I'm sure you know the answer to this, Percy." She said as she took a sip of her drink. "We all have access to the Cut Content of Olympia."
"Yeah," Orpheus added. "For example, I'm a Musician. A support class that can buff allies and cripple enemies."
"And I'm a Beast." Atalanta offered. Percy hoped that it wasn't what he thought she meant. "As the name suggest, I can use the attributes of an animal and use it as my own. Like the speed of a cheetah, or the strength of a gorilla."
"How would that even work?" Percy asked. "Can the Glasses even make you do things like that?"
"You'd be surprised," Orpheus said with a smirk. "And you haven't seen Hercules in action."
"Hercules?" Percy was getting tired of hearing weird names. "Who's that?"
"Arguably the best Olympia player to have ever walked this Earth." Atalanta said.
"I thought that title belongs to Jason."
Both of them shook their heads. "Jason's good at leading. But you're looking for sheer power, Hercules beats everyone." Atalanta said.
"What's his class?" Percy asked.
"Demigod." Orpheus said. "It's one of the most complicated classes to use, but Hercules can pull it off. It's also one of the most overpowered piece of shit I've ever seen in my life."
"Remind me not to get on his bad side then," Percy muttered.
Line Break
Percy was back in his apartment, his mind was still in shambles after what just happened. He almost wished he'd never touched this stupid game in the first place.
Almost.
If he hadn't, he would've never met new friends. He would've missed the chance to get back with Artemis. He would've missed the chance to meet his father.
Percy put on his AR Glasses. He have some unread emails, but he put that aside first. He went to his personal files and opened up the Cut Content folder that his father had given him.
Inside the folder was a list of another three folders. They were labelled Class, Spells, and Items. Percy went through the Classes first, which had a total of ten new classes in addition to the ones Olympia already has. The classes in Cut Content seemed way too overpowered to be in Olympia, which is probably why they were in the Cut Content of Olympia.
One class caught Percy's attention:
Class: Weaver
Description: Capable of weaving the fabric of reality. Very good in controlling battles, buffing allies and damaging enemies. Excellent in team fights and one-on-one situation.(USE WITH CAUTION)
How could a class from a game of Olympia change reality? That's bullshit.
Then again, Percy almost died from this game. The fact that it could change reality seems to be stretching it, but it really wasn't. At least if they're talking about the reality of the game, then it's totally plausible.
He continued to look through the classes. Arch Angel . . . Fundamental . . . Demigod . . . And that's not all of them. There were several other classes that Percy didn't go through.
Suddenly, his AR Glasses rang from Artemis calling him. He jumped in surprised. He sighed as he answered the call. "Hey there."
"Hey," Artemis said. "How've you been?"
"I've been better," Percy admitted.
"Sorry I don't get to meet you that much. I've got my hands full with –"
"I know, I know," Percy said with a chuckle. "Everyone's busy except for me."
"Well if you joined a team, you wouldn't have so much free time," Artemis said.
"I told you guys already. I haven't decided on a team to join yet."
"How about the Rebellion?"
"Nico's there."
"The Minerva?"
"Annabeth's there."
"What about Frank's team?"
"That Leo kid was annoying."
"The Roman Legion?"
"Reyna's there and Jason is almost there."
"How about my team?"
"Meh. All females."
Percy could imagine Artemis throwing her hands up in exasperation. "You don't like being teammates with us?"
Percy let out a genuine laugh. "It's not like that." Percy explained. "I just want a chance to go at you guys. I need to know how good I am exactly in Olympia, and so I need to face off against all of you."
Artemis was silent for a while. "You do know you're just gonna lose, right?"
Percy winced. "That sounds like a challenge, my dear Artemis."
"Yeah, it is. You can't beat all of us."
Percy grinned to himself. He liked challenges. "Ah, but you can't be sure of that."
"I can, and I am sure of it." Artemis said. "And just to make it official," Artemis invited all of their friends into their little voice call.
"Hello?" Annabeth said.
"Um, why did you call us?" Nico asked.
"Do you know what time it is?" Reyna huffed. "Jason! You've got twenty more laps to go!"
"I know!" Jason shouted as he panted. "What's up guys?"
"Dunno," Frank said. "Artemis called us. What's wrong?"
"Did you really have to do this?" Percy asked.
He could almost see Artemis's grin. "Percy has something to offer us." Artemis announced.
"We're listening." Thalia said.
"He said he could beat us." Artemis said. "All of us, in Olympia."
There was a moment of silence in the voice call after that before Leo broke the silence. "Okay, where's the punchline?"
"I think he's serious." Piper said. "Is he serious?"
"I think so," Hazel said.
"Percy, I mean," Annabeth said. "I know you're good, but you're not that good."
There were a few oohh's coming from everyone. "I'm going to make you eat your words, Chase."
"Remember our first match?" Annabeth reminded him. "Where I make you eat the floor?"
"Oh shit," Jason said. "This just got personal."
"I've gotten better." Percy said. "Want to go at it?"
"Interesting." Annabeth said. "How about this? A month from now, there's a pre-season tournament for Olympia called Breaking Point. We're gonna have out rematch there."
"Count me in on it." Reyna said.
"Me too." Frank said.
"Don't forget me," Thalia said.
"Alright, alright." Percy said. "Give me time to build my own team to against all of you. Then, we're gonna have out match. Deal?"
"What do we get out of this?" Annabeth asked.
"If any of us win," Artemis said. "We can get him to do whatever we want without any complains."
"So basically a servant," Thalia said. "Awesome."
"Do I get a say in this?" Percy asked.
"No you don't." Artemis said gleefully.
"Okay then," Percy said. "If I win, all of you are going to make a public announcement that I'm the best Olympia player there is."
Annabeth laughed. "You got yourself a deal."
"That's fine with me." Reyna said. "You'd better get ready, Percy. We won't be an easy enemy." She said before ending her call.
"Well, time to practice I guess." Frank said. "Hazel, Leo, let's go." The three of them ended their calls.
The rest of them said basically the same thing and ended their calls, except for Artemis.
"Did you really have to make it into a big deal?" Percy asked.
Artemis laughed. "You asked for it." Artemis said. "Well, I look forward into facing you, oh mighty Perseus."
"And I can't wait to hand you your own rear end, oh graceful Artemis." Percy said mockingly.
Again, Artemis laughed. "Well, see you soon Percy."
"Yeah, you too." Percy said before ending the call.
Line Break
Percy was on his way to Jason's (the Argonaut Jason) office to deliver his final verdict. When he stepped in, the room was just as impressive as ever. And Jason was again, engulfed in his AR Glasses.
Percy knocked on his desk twice, making him snap back into reality. Jason saw Percy and grinned.
"So, you're ready?"
"I'm in," Percy said. "But under one condition."
"What might that be?"
"A public team." Percy said. "Create a team that goes on as the face of this organization. A team that will be known to the public."
"Why would we do that?"
"To throw everyone off your scent." Percy said. "It's as a distraction to make sure no one picks up on what you're really doing."
"That was the Rebellion's plan." Jason said. "Look what happened to them."
"Yeah, but this time it will work."
"How would you know?"
"Because I'll be the captain." Percy said. "Everyone still has their eyes on me. It'll be impossible for them to focus on anything else. Plus, no one knows you exist. As far as they're concerned, you'd be rookies."
Jason had a thoughtful look on his face for a while. "Even if I do agree to your plan, it's impossible not to draw attention. Everyone in the Argonaut uses things from the Cut Content of Olympia. That's going to draw attention."
Percy grinned. "Leave that part to me."
Line Break
A few days later, Percy's plan went without a hitch. He posted on social media that he was going into the professional scene of Olympia with some 'fresh faces'. Just like that, the media blew up. News website were talking about him and his 'new team'. Speculations started popping up that the other pro players were joining his team, like Luke, Nico, Artemis, and a few others.
Luckily for him, all of them let out a statement that they had nothing to do with Percy's new team. So at least the media heat was easing off of him.
"Nice work," Jason said as both of them sat on the beanbag chairs and played Mario Kart in the relax area. "With this much attention on you, no one would bother us."
"Just make sure you don't link me to any of your database." Percy said as he leaned along with the go-kart in the game. "These hackers might get a scent on me."
Jason snorted. "They could try. Daedalus is one of the best programmers I've ever seen. He's invented a system called the Labyrinth that makes it hard for hackers to get in into our system. Once, a hacker tried hacking in and the Labyrinth – oh fuck off!" Jason shouted as he was hit by a blue shell.
"I guess I have one less thing to worry about," Percy said. Jason gave a look that wondered whether he was talking about the Mario Kart game or the Labyrinth's impenetrable security.
"What's the next step?" Jason asked.
"You'll see." Percy said with a grin as he finished first. "Booyah!"
Jason groaned in frustration. "Can you at least tell me?"
"It's a surprise." Percy said with a wink. "Wait until midnight."
Line Break
Midnight was just a few minutes away. Percy was in the bar of the Argonauts' HQ. Atalanta, Orpheus, Theseus and Jason were all waiting for Percy's next plan. They all had their Glasses on.
"It's almost midnight." Theseus said. "I'm not seeing anything."
"Just be patient." Percy said with a smirk. He knew what was going to happen.
The clock was ticking. Five seconds left to midnight.
Four . . .
Three . . .
Two . . .
One . . .
Midnight.
As soon as the clock struck midnight, everybody who plays Olympia received a notification. Percy made sure that everyone would receive that notification.
His friends read the notification.
"Holy shit . . ." Theseus said. "You really are crazy."
"Well, this'll work." Orpheus muttered.
The notification was:
Olympia Update 6.5.7:
Hidden Classes are added.
Hidden Items are added.
How to access: From completing special requirements or obtain from raid drops with only 0.5% chance of dropping.
*Note: Classes or Items obtained illegally (e.g. hacking, tampering with the game's codes) will result in immediate permanent ban and possible arrest.
Within a span of an hour, as Percy expected the Olympia community exploded into chaos. Millions of players started their search for the hidden classes and items, which were all from the Cut Content of Olympia. Discussion forums were made just to find out how to obtain these hidden classes and items.
You'd thought with millions of players working together they would find them just like that. So far, no one has gotten close.
Then, Annabeth emailed Percy.
To: Percy
From: Annabeth
You did something didn't you?
To: Annabeth
From: Percy
*wink
Now, all Percy had to do was train and wait for the Breaking Point tournament a month from now.
Even then, something made him uncomfortable. It was like someone was breathing down cold breath down his neck, giving him the chills.
He decided to ignore it for the night and decided that it was a problem for another day.
Or was it?
A/N: Gotta end it there. So, this is the last chapter of this story. I'm going to make a sequel soon, but not before I do like a full on guide and walkthrough on what Olympia actually is. This is so that you guys aren't confused and I don't have to retcon myself in every chapter I post.
So, see you guys in the next one!