First off: Thanks to HowtheHoursGoBy. Your reviews are awesome and the most helpful I've ever gotten. It'd be awesome if you could create an account so that I can respond. Also to that one generic guest, seriously appreciate how you've stuck by the story. And to Bruce77. Together, you guys have left more than half of my reviews.
Second: To all new or old readers, leave your thoughts and criticisms! They are what keep me going!
Now, onto Chapter 6:
Thousands of miles away, Nico's eyes flew open and he shot up.
"Nightmares?" Reyna asked.
"Something like that."
He was still hyperventilating, and struggled to calm himself down.
"It was about the Argo II."
Immediately, Reyna put down the knife she had been sharpening. "What did you see?"
"Things are going pretty smoothly, and they're nearing Olympus by the second, but," he choked. "but something's wrong with Percy."
"What's wrong?"
"Him and Jason were sparring, but there was some sort of energy coming from Percy - like, a really dark one."
Reyna nodded, eyes dark and understanding.
"He's fighting it, and the thing doesn't seem to be able to control his body, but it whispers to him, it tells him to do things that Percy swore off in Tartarus."
He grew silent, and twisted the ring on his finger.
"Like what?" Reyna prompted.
"You know how a human's body is made of 60% water?"
Her eyes grew wide, understanding what Nico implied. "He can't do that, no demigod should be able to do that."
"Percy has always had that ability, he just never knew about it. But Tartarus unlocked it for him, and now, if he loses this fight with himself, the Argo II's biggest enemy will be Percy himself."
Reyna swore, "Can we do anything about this?"
"No," Nico's voice was barely a whisper, and she had to lean in to hear what he said next.
"It's completely up to him now."
Frank sat alone in his room, eyes shut as he recited both of the Great Prophecies to himself. Normally, Annabeth would've been helping him, but Frank doubted that she would be too happy about what he was doing. The power and the way Percy had displayed today triggered something in his memory that Frank knew had to be connected to the Great Prophecy in some way.
A half-blood of the eldest gods, Shall reach sixteen against all odds, and see the world in endless sleep,
Those three lines had to be about Percy. Frank knew that, but the next two, something about the way they had passed didn't seem right.
The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap, A single choice shall end his days.
Supposedly, Luke had been the hero when he had sacrificed himself to destroy Kronos, Annabeth had told him.
Olympus shall preserve or raze.
Ultimately, it was Percy's choice that had mattered the most when he gave away his only weapon to Luke, who had used it to kill himself and Kronos, which 'preserved' Olympus.
The Second Great Prophecy was much shorter and jumped around even more.
Seven half-bloods shall answer the call,
To storm or fire the world must fall,
An oath to keep within a final breath,
And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death.
Two of those lines had already been fulfilled, which meant that the world will have to fall and some guy will make an oath and die. No matter how much he twisted the words, he couldn't seem to make out the meaning of them.
"Dang it!" Frank swore.
"You alright?" Hazel called from outside. "Can I come in?"
"Yeah."
She opened the door quietly, and stepped in. Her hair fell in curls down to her shoulders and her eyes were tired. To Frank, she was absolutely beautiful.
"So, whats up?" she asked.
"Something I saw today, it just doesn't seem to add up."
"You mean with Percy?"
"Yes."
"I agree, something's seriously wrong with him, the way he looked at that moment, and this... this aura that seemed to surround him," Hazel sighed.
"What aura?"
"You didn't see it?"
Frank shook his head, "No, I didn't see anything."
"There's this weird dark energy that I keep on feeling come from him. Its subdued, almost as if its preoccupied with... with fighting something, like Percy."
"Was that why he was moving so fast?"
"I think so, indirectly at least," she rubbed the bridge of her nose. "That's what's confusing me right now. You'd expect this thing would want to weaken our best fighter, but it only seems to be urging him to become stronger."
"What if its doing that so that if it takes over Percy's body, there'll be no chance that we could stop it?"
"I hope not, from what we saw, Percy might already be too strong."
"What about Annabeth?"
"There's nothing weird about her, which is weird. I'm going to ask her about that later, if she ever split up with Percy at any point or something."
"Huh. Okay."
"Gods, this sucks," she muttered.
"Yeah, we'll pull through though," Frank said and pulled her into his side.
She kissed him on the cheek and pressed herself into his side, "Hopefully."
Percy sat at the crow's nest with this head buried in his hands. Before, high places were one of the things on his list that he tried to avoid, but that had disappeared somehow. Maybe because he was losing respect for Zeus, maybe because he was growing more and more comfortable with his abilities.
At this moment, he didn't want to deal with anyone, not Annabeth, who he loved more than anything, but would only make it harder for him to execute his plan. Not Leo or Piper or Frank and Hazel, and definitely not Jason. And once again, Percy found himself taking in the stars and the colors in the sky. If he were ever to die, this view would be what he wanted to see last.
Slowly, his mind dulled and the lull of the ship pulled him into sleep.
He found himself back in Tartarus, chained on a small island surrounded by the rivers of the Underworld.
Percy Jackson, you have become of special interest to me. Be honored, for even the gods have not earned that privilege, but you, I see potential, I see power. Defeating the son of Jupiter so easily, defeating three Titans and two gods, those are impressive feats. I will be watching you, son of Poseidon.
The world faded to black once more and he found himself standing at the peak of Mount Olympus, the ground littered with bodies. But he refused to pay attention to them, fearing the worst.
Gaea's voice rang out, a sleepy whisper. This is what you face, all these people, who's lives rest in your hands. She smiled. Do you think you can save them all?
She crumbled to dust and disappeared, and the battlefield faded, replaced with Camp Half Blood.
"The Romans are preparing for battle."
Percy recognized that voice, it pulled at his memories and an overwhelming burst of nostalgia surged through him.
Clarisse.
"Their temporary defenses are better than our permanent ones, if they catch us like this, we're screwed."
She yelled in frusteration, "Agh! Where's Tyson when we need him."
"I am here, and my brethren as well," a voice rang out from behind him.
Standing in the doorway was Tyson, and behind him, an entire legion of cyclops. This should have made him happy, but the sight of this army only served in raising his anxiety. He couldn't see how Nico and Reyna would be able to stop this war.
Clarisse laughed out loud, "They're so screwed now!"
He tried to shout, he tried to warn her that this would never work, but she couldn't hear him.
And once again, he faded into darkness.
That was Chapter 6, sorry for all the line breaks
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