Chapter 17: The God of Madness Thinks I'm Crazy
(Peter)
After the Mary Sue left my cabin, it took me forever to get to bed. My anger settled into grief about what happened today and it was a blessing when I finally fell asleep around dawn.
I didn't dream of the Mary Sue, Percy, the other Sarah Johnson's tears, the odd looks I had gotten in the Big House, or any of the other unpleasant things I'd experienced since entering this fanfic. Instead, my dreams were about Annabeth and her mysterious captor.
I was one with the shadows this night. Hidden and safe like a bear in its cave, but I was not asleep. How could I be when my Starlight was alone again? I watched with horror and pain as she struggled to hold up the heavens.
The small respite I had given her seemed like eons ago. The creature that held up the sky, did not look like my Starlight anymore. Its face was a mask of pain and suffering. Its eyes were hard as steel and its mouth was twisted into a sneer of self-loathing. As if it was its fault that its whole body shook and convulsed in giant tremors of pain. Or that its clothes and hair were dull and sticky with dank sudor from days of exertion.
My Starlight was a black hole.
It was ironic that something as beauteous as the heavens, that rainbow with its myriad of colors so divinely lovely it might smite the eyes of those who dared to behold it for too long, made ugly whoever dared to support its illustrious weight. This was the Titan's Curse.
It ravaged my dearest Starlight, but her suffering would soon be at an end. I could hear the sound of her salvation, the metallic chorus of chain links rattling against the floor and each other.
She was close now and so was he.
Clink.
Clink.
Clink.
Clink.
Clink.
Clink.
Clink.
Clink.
The sound stopped and I turned, praying Annabeth would forgive me for looking away. My eyes beheld Paedotrophus and the Shepard.[1] They were framed by darkness and were illuminated by the sky's light.
The Shepard was a man in the worse sense: Big, bulky, and brutal. The face rough-featured with tanned brown skin, the slick dark hair on his head, and the impossibly large muscles, hands, and feet, his whole body was made to endure.
That was it.
He had none of the elegance, cleverness, or beauty that one would associate with the great hunters of the world. There was no subtlety to him at all and he was proud of it. He wore his ridiculous suit to show off his muscles as if they could be ignored and that was only the beginning of his hubris. This man actually thought his physical strength made him powerful and that power was the only thing that was of consequence.
He used his impressive muscles and giant javelin to herd his own grandniece around like a farm animal. Because in his cruel stone-grey eyes, he saw nothing, but a weak female.
He disgusted me.
It was insulting to see the goddess so small next to him. Though I knew how it would be. She was bound in celestial bronze chains. Her silvery dress was torn and tattered. Her child-like face and arms were covered in scratches and nicks that were bleeding golden ichor.
It was pathetic. Even the anger in her yellow-silver eyes was underwhelming. Phosphorus was a fallen angel, a shadow of the goddess I once knew.[2]
Still, she was Soteira.[3] She glared at the Shepard like a petulant child and said in a feeble exclamation, "How dare you torture a maiden like this!"
There it was as I knew it would be. She was Philomeirax.[4] Some things did not change. I knew my Starlight was thankful for the goddess's meager outburst. For, Annabeth said her first words in days. The syllables fell from her lips in a breathy rasp, "Help me."
My heart felt like it was being twisted into a knot. I wanted to help her. I wanted to run to her and take us away from this evil place of failure and despair, but I could not go to her.
Not yet.
"Free my hands," Dictynnaea whispered.[5]
After the Shepard bellowed with laughter and waved his javelin around like it was something to be displayed for all to see, he broke the goddess's chains with a mighty swing of his pointy stick.
Hemerasia ran to Annabeth and to my relief, the goddess lifted the sky off of her shoulders.[6] My Starlight was free and yet still I held back.
I had to watch as Annabeth collapsed on the ground, a quivering mass of exhaustion and pain. I had to wait as the foolish Titan chuckled.
"You are as predictable as you were easy to beat, Artemis," he said in the deep masculine voice I had grown to despise.
I cared not for his words, or the goddess's reply, "You surprised me. It will not happen again."
"Indeed, it will not," the Shepard said. "Now you are out of the way for good! I knew you could not resist helping a young maiden."
Indeed, he and everyone else knew this. He was hardly anything special in that regard.
"That is, after all, your specialty, my dear," he continued.
"You know nothing of mercy, you swine," Elaphaea whimpered.[7]
"On that, we can agree," the man said for he could not resist talking and talking. All the while my Starlight lay there unattended.
"I will enjoy watching you and your ilk suffer," he said. Then he finally turned to me, "Take the mortal away. I have no use for her."
At last, I came forward, out of the shadows. I kept my gait unhurried despite my urgency to be by my Starlight's side.
As I knelt before Annabeth, the goddess spoke. Her voice was already becoming weaker, barely a whisper. The light of the moon was nothing compared to a star. Basileis was not a true princess.[8] "You again," Coccoca rasped, "Who are you? Why do you hide under that robe? Show yourself." [9]
After everything, those were her words to me? I felt irritation rise up in me. How dare she speak thus!
There was a time when she would have recognized me without needing to ask. A time when I thought of Ariste as my guardian and my idol, but things had changed.[10] This goddess was not the Artemis I once knew. For, she was as good as dead and Heleia was no replacement.[11] This goddess was a mere pawn, so I bid myself to ignore her like the insignificant chess piece she was.
Annabeth, my princess, no, my queen, was far more important than a fallen angel. I carefully gathered up my Starlight's listless body. It was so light, too light. I moved away from the goddess's gaze and allowed the Shepard to speak for me, as all men will do if given the chance. "She is of no consequence to you goddess, not when you have me to contest with."
Let him think that. Let them both think that. Let Apanchomena listen to the Shepard's useless prattle.[12]
I focused on Annabeth and carried her away. As we crossed the dark desert of stone and lost dreams, I let the Titan's voice echo around us unheeded like the meaningless noise it was. The Shepard thought himself a general. He spoke of Kronos and wars between gods and Titans like he knew all.
He knew nothing. For, he too was just a pawn, a minor character in the great story.
As such, none of this was about him. It was about Annabeth and about that fallen goddess. Together they would be enough to lure him in, the one who would change everything.
I could feel him watching me now. His mind was melded with mine, looking through my eyes.
I would send him a sign, a signal. I would let him know that I saw him.
I stopped wading through the shadowy abyss. I placed my Starlight down. My very soul was filled with regret, but she knew what this would cost.
He would get this message. He would save her, save us all.
I reached into my robes and took out an ornate-looking glass. It was a thing of beauty. Golden and delicate as a rose petal after a winter storm. Patterns of star-crossed lovers, the evening sky, roses, and love decorated its edge.
The reflection shone bright despite the lack of illumination. Yet even the mirror could not pierce through the dark mystery of my hood. The golden glass only revealed my nickel-grey eyes. It was enough, for now.
I smiled. I felt my lip curl and my eyes became crescent moons. "Come hero," I muttered to the glass. My eyes flashed with a golden light. "Come. Annabeth awaits you."
When I woke up, I stayed under the covers and stared up at the ceiling. I really wanted to forget about last night, my dream, everything I knew about isekais, PJO, and heroism, and not go after Sunshine and the Hunters. The last 48 hours had been fucking traumatizing and no one could force me to risk my life.
Probably.
Unless the owner of that face showed up.
I shivered in my warm bed. I was lucky I had had a prophetic dream instead of nightmares about that moment in the Big House. If you could call it luck.
The dream raised its own questions.
Why was New Moon trying to get me to go to the Mountain of Despair? If they cared so much about Annabeth, then why had they joined in on tricking Artemis? What was Annabeth's role?[13]
It didn't make sense.
Why was I so important? It had sounded like chosen one bullshit and I didn't appreciate it. Prophecies were only cool when they weren't about me.
But I couldn't just ignore the call to action. Annabeth was in trouble. I had already failed Percy. I couldn't fail my Waifu too.
And then there was still the isekai stuff. I was almost positive that if I wanted to go home, I would have to go on this stupid adventure. That was how these things worked. I knew that, but I still didn't want to get up.
As a last-ditch effort, my brain reminded me of an idea I'd been playing with for the last few days. Thalia had been practically written out of the plot after Titan's Curse so there was a chance, a small chance, that I might be able to go home after this single quest.
Maybe.
It was a big enough possibility to finally convince me to get out of bed and go to the Pegasi stables. But when I looked at all the stalls, I realized that I had a problem. Because this was a shitty fanfic series filled with inconsistencies, things that should have happened in earlier books and would have giant repercussions for later books didn't happen.
For example, the fact Andromeda Sunshine never boarded Luke's ship, Princess Andromeda, which was a critical plot point because now she had no idea how powerful Kronos had become, or that there even was a ship. She also never caused a commotion on said ship so she never freed…you guessed it, Blackjack.
This was no "Book 3 fountain conveniently appears" or "Percy Jackson is a background character" situation either. I spent all morning asking around and getting weird looks. Blackjack did not exist in this camp and now it was almost noon and everyone was training, meaning the stalls were empty.
I sighed.
Now what?
"Kid, it doesn't matter how long you keep looking about. He's not showing up," a voice said.
I turned and was greeted by the creepy sight of Mr. D. smiling at me.
"Good Morning, Mr. D," I said hesitantly.
"Sir Perry," Mr. D. said. "While you've been chasing shadows, I made sure you had a Pegasus to ride." He gestured at a stall that I could have sworn was empty before. "Rocinante is yours." [14]
"I told you—" the horse said poking out its white head. The thing's mane was pink.
Gag.
"My name is Princess Rosabell Skylar Ruby Blush Sunbow Pinkerton, or Princess for short."
God, tell me I heard that wrong. That name was Mary Sue levels of awful. It made Miss Sunshine look like a normal person. I have literally heard of my little ponies with less shitty names than Princess whatever the fuck.[15]
Mr. D. waved his hand dismissively at the Pony Sue's protests and my look of utter revulsion. "Hardly the onyx cover-worthy beast you're looking for, Perry, but beggars can't be choosers."
All my thoughts on Pony Sue's unfortunate name vanished because this time Mr. D.'s words clicked. "You know," I said with sudden excitement. Mr. D. was a god. Was it possible that he knew about more than Blackjack? What if he knew…everything?
Mr. D. smirked and said, "Of course, I know. I'm not just the god of wine."
Well shit.
I blinked hard as my brief hope died. Of course. The god of madness just thought I was insane. "I'm not crazy," I growled.
"Whatever you say, kid." Mr. D's smirk widened back into that eerie smile. "I'm not here to argue with you. I'm here to offer you a noble steed. She is just as anxious about getting to Miss Shoeshine as you are. And you know you're running late as it is."
He was right about that at least.
I glanced at Princess Pony Sue again. In her stable, I saw a golden saddle hanging on the far wall.
Fucking perfect.
I looked back at Mr. D. He was suddenly right in front of me. I took a step back.
What the fuck? Why was he being so pushy and creepy? If he didn't know about me and this fic then, "Why are you even helping me?" I asked.
If he just thought I was crazy, then that was no reason to lift a finger. Hell, in the book, Mr. D. had tried to stop Percy because he hated heroes and didn't like the idea of Percy leaving camp without permission.
"Because I like you, kid."
I shivered.
"Or rather, I hate Annie. She needs to be taken down a peg and I believe you're crazy enough to try." He looked into my eyes. "I'm counting on you to try, Percy Jackson."
I wasn't sure if it was the fact, he had called me Percy Jackson or because he was giving me a crazy intense death glare that put Nico to shame, but I felt sick and unsteady like I was looking down from a great height. My stomach squeezed and danced unpleasantly and I just knew the only solution was to answer him.
I opened my mouth. Luckily, words came out, instead of vomit and I managed to say, "I will."
"Good," he said, slapping me on the back.
I jerked forward and then suddenly I was sitting on Pony Sue. We were outside of the stables.
I looked around wildly.
"Oh, and Perry," Mr. D. said. He was leaning against Princess's side as calm as anything. "Do yourself a favor and hold off on sharing your precious delusions with others."
"They're not—" I began to protest.
"It doesn't matter what they are," Mr. D. said seriously. "Believe what you like, but don't expect others to understand. No one else will. In the end, they'll end up calling you crazy and it's hard to make a living as a crazy person. I can assure you of that."
"But I'm not—"
"See you later, Sir Perry!" He slapped Pony Sue's rump.[16] She reared and I hung on. I don't know when I closed my eyes, but when I opened them, we had teleported again.
Now I was alone with the Pegasus and we were hovering above Manhattan.[17]
What the actual fuck?
"How rude!" Pony Sue huffed angrily before flapping her wings and setting off. "As if I need help getting somewhere. Gods, I swear."
"Yeah…" I responded weakly.
Luckily, or unluckily that was the last word I got to say to her for the whole trip. It turned out that without the quelling presence of Mr. D, Pony Sue was a chatterbox. She loved gushing about her favorite human as we got out of the city and caught up with the camp van.
"As a child of Zeus," Pony Sue explained to me, "Andi doesn't need a flying horse which is what makes it such an honor to be her noble steed. Plus, she always gives me the best treats and she can control the wind to make me fly extra fast and…"
I didn't pay the horse much attention after that. I was still unsettled by my conversation with Mr. D.
Mr. D. said he liked me. He'd understood I was looking for Blackjack, even called him "cover-worthy", but the god thought I was crazy. It's not every day the god of madness calls you insane, but…
Mr. D. was wrong! I wasn't crazy. It was this whole world that was crazy.[18]
When we reached the Washington monument, I told Pony Sue to set me down on the street a few blocks away from the camp van. Then I watched as Sue and company filed out.
At the sight of Miss Sunshine, my stomach twisted, but I refused to feel guilty for calling her a bitch last night. She was a Mary Sue. And she had almost brainwashed me! If that didn't count as being a bitch, what did?
I turned away from her and focused my attention on the black sedan between me and the van. The door of the sedan opened and someone stepped out.
I frowned. The person who exited the vehicle wasn't a man with gray hair, dark shades, and a black overcoat. It was a hooded figure.
No joke they were wearing the type of brown robes you associate with Jedi and elves. I stared at them. That definitely wasn't Thorne. They were too small with that robe, but I had a good idea of who they must be: the person from my dreams.
New Moon.
I followed them from a distance as they followed Sue and company. When the group went inside the National Air and Space Museum, the figure hesitated. Like Thorne, they didn't go in.
I waited from a safe distance as I saw them turn and begin to head across the mall. Were they going to the natural history museum to meet with Atlas? Maybe if I tailed them, I'd figure out who they were.
I began to go after them again, but before I got two steps, I felt a pull at the back of my shirt.
I turned.
Pony Sue was biting my shirt collar.
"Stop that," I hissed.
Pony Sue spit out my shirt and replied, "I'm not the one wandering off. I was patient before, but I am officially done. It's like super cold out here and my girl is inside, so hurry up and tell her I'm waiting for her before I freeze to death."
"In a minute," I promised. "Just let me—"
"Oh! No!" Pony Sue said far too loudly.
The figure who was across the street turned and saw me.
Shit.
That's when I remember that unlike Percy in Titan's Curse, I didn't have Annabeth's invisibility cap, so the figure could see me clear as day. And now they were coming towards me.
Shit!
I backed away. I didn't want any trouble. I bumped into the Pegasus.
"Hey," Pony Sue said. "You're still going the wrong way."
I tried to run, but the horse grabbed my collar again.
"Let go of me!" I cried.
"Stop being such a pansy. It's just a girl," the horse said between gritted teeth.
The figure was feet away from me. Their face was still cloaked in an impenetrable darkness. All I could see were those nickel-grey eyes, but that was enough. This person had to be New Moon.
New Moon narrowed their eyes, before reaching into their robes and pulling out…
A blue Yankee's hat?
I stopped struggling.
The invisibility cap!
New Moon placed the hat on my head and then gestured for me to follow them.
I hesitated. That had been my half-baked plan before, but now I wasn't so sure I should go. And after my dreams, I really wasn't sure whose side New Moon was on either. Were they a double agent or just a crazy type of evil?
"I can't," I said lamely. "Po-Princess won't let me."
"That's right," Pony Sue said. "I'm not letting him go no matter— Is that a pink lady?!" the Pegasus exclaimed, letting me go.
New Moon had pulled out a yellow and pink apple from her robes. She tossed up the apple and Pony Sue caught it.
As the horse munched on her ill-gotten treat, I started to ask, "How did—"
New Moon put a finger to my lips. Now I could see their hand and their laughing eyes. The grey eyes I knew already, but the hand, it was slender and feminine. The Pegasus was right. New Moon was a girl.
That was a surprise. It meant that she wasn't some grey-eyed fanfic version of Luke because I was positive Andi's Luke was a boy.
But if she wasn't Luke, then who was she? Thalia? But I had met this fic's Thalia and she didn't have grey eyes.[19]
"Quiet," New Moon whispered, "I know you have questions, but I cannot explain now, Peter Johnson."
She knew my name? And her voice, wasn't it familiar? Not just from my dreams, but I swear I'd heard it before.[20]
"Later we will talk. For now, you must follow me." She removed her finger and started walking away without looking back.
Against my better judgment, I followed her to the Museum of Natural History. After all, only a double agent or a mentor character would be this fucking mysterious.
At least, none of the guards or clerks noticed me. That meant the hat was working.
Good.
We went inside the private event room and then I wished I hadn't. Reading about a titan was one thing. Seeing one was another.
Atlas was a 10 feet tall wall of muscle covered in a suit that barely contained him. And I don't mean that as a compliment.
At least, the snake women were nowhere to be found. No Thorne or Luke either. Instead, New Moon went up to stand beside the titan and informed him about Miss Sunshine and her group.
All was going like normal until the second guard came supplied with not a dozen dragon teeth, but hundreds in a bucket.
Fuck. That wasn't good.
"We'll plant them in batches," Atlas said. "You three there, plant the first 50."
The men each grabbed handfuls of teeth and then went about planting. While they were doing that, New Moon caught my eye. I wasn't sure whether she could actually see me somehow, but her eyes darted between the unattended bucket of teeth and me.
I shook my head, not caring if she could see me or not.
Please. Please. Tell me she wasn't asking me to steal the bucket.
New Moon bend her head slightly in a nod and looked at the bucket again.
God damn it. She was!
I glared at her and then the bucket.
She was right though. I could not let them plant all those teeth. Even Miss Sunshine might have a bit of trouble if a thousand or so skeletons showed up to play.
Fucking fine.
While everyone else focused on the guards planting and watering the dragon teeth with blood, I crept over to the bucket and gingerly picked the thing up. I could hear the skeletons growing in the center of the room as I carefully hid the bucket behind my back and quietly shuffled towards the door.
I was a few steps away when Atlas finally noticed something was up, "Where's the bucket?" he bellowed. "Where are the other teeth!"
The skeleton shook their heads and looked around. The human guards looked even more confused.
Just a couple more steps.
"There it is," New Moon said, pointing right at me.
Oh! Come on!
"An intruder!" Atlas growled. "One cloaked in invisibility. Seal the doors!"
I burst through the exit doors before the skeletons could lurch after me.
"I'll get them!" New Moon cried, pushing the skeleton hoard aside and crashing through the exit after me.
We ran out of the museum and across the mall. I was sprinting towards Miss Sunshine and the air and space museum.
As I passed the sculpture garden fountain, New Moon rammed into me. The Yankee's cap fell off my head and the bucket flew out of my hands. Both landed in the water.
"Dispose of the teeth, Peter Johnson," she said, breathing heavily.
"Why are you—"
"Down the drains," she said cutting me off. "Hurry. The skeletons are not far behind us."
"Fine," I said because she wasn't wrong. I closed my eyes and imagined the teeth in the pool.
"Hurry," she repeated.
"I'm trying," I hissed.
I knew that for Percy in the books, hydrokinesis was something you just prayed and did, but for me, it took a lot more effort and concentration. If I wanted to speed things along, then I had to make hand gestures, kind of like Katara.[21] I opened my arms slowly until it probably looked like I was trying to hold the fountain and then I lowered my arms and wiggled my fingers at the water. I was glad my eyes were closed because I probably looked ridiculous.
After a moment though, the deed was done. "I did it," I said.
New Moon sighed. "Good. Now, go." Then she jumped into the water.
What the fuck. "What are—"
New Moon screamed as she splashed about in the fountain, "Curse you, Son of Poseidon! This water will not hold me for long and my skeleton army will be here soon to aid me."
Oh! She was trying to maintain her cover. Fine. Whatever. I whispered, "Before I go, could I get the cap back? I'd also like to ask—"
"Run! Run all you like!" she shouted, seeming to ignore me. "You will not escape my skeletons! They are already here!"
I glanced back. She was right. The skeleton army had arrived and was stumbling towards us. I had run out of time.
I gave New Moon one last look.
"Mwah ha ha!" she laughed theatrically. Yet despite the nonsense coming from her mouth, her eyes were sincere. They were telling me to go.
I muttered, "See you later, I guess." I'd have to interrogate her another time. For now, it really was time to go before I became skeleton food.
I left New Moon to badly act out her evil monologue and I ran as fast as I could towards the National Air and Space Museum, hoping I hadn't just made a big mistake.
Footnotes
[1] I've been dreading this part. You see, New Moon has a thing for epithets. So, here we go. Shepard is who you think he is. The epithet comes from the Polyidus which is a story where Perseus turns Atlas to stone. Paedotrophus means nurse of children.
[2] Phosphorus means light-bringer.
[3] Soteira means savior.
[4] Philomeirax means friend of young girls.
[5] Dictynnaea means of the hunting nets.
[6] Hemerasia means she who soothes.
[7] Elaphaea means of Cnageus, a hero of Sparta, or of the deer.
[8] Basileis means princess or royal.
[9] Coccoca means white toad or white bird. Probably.
[10] Ariste means best or excellent.
[11] Heleia means of the marshes.
[12] Hurray! This is the last one. Apanchomena means strangled lady.
[13] Despite being at camp for months, apparently no one has really explained what happened in the previous books to Peter. All he knows is that Annabeth disappeared first. He doesn't know why.
[14] This is a reference to Don Quixote's horse.
[15] Remember when MLP was in its "hay" day and Bronies? /) *bro hoof* Those were different times.
[16] I just wanted to say I really like Mr. D. in this. In the previous fics, he and Andi are always at odds, so it's interesting to see this seemingly new side of his character.
[17] Considering his diamond sword and the fact he's riding a white Pegasus with a gold saddle. He is giving off some serious She-Ra vibes.
[18] More on this later.
[19] Thalia's eyes are electric blue.
[20] Any new guesses, people?
[21] Katara is the main water-bender in Avatar: The Last Airbender, a show everyone should watch. And no, the movie does not count.
A/N: Hiya!
I'm back. I hope y'all enjoyed the new (and long) chapter and the epithets didn't get to you like they did me. Still, so excited to start this quest and I would LOVE to hear your thoughts. I am so grateful to everyone who participated while I was gone, the new follows, favs, reviews and, the poll votes (Andi is in the lead, but I'll leave it open for now).
I hope y'all are still trying to sus out New Moon's identity. My delta reader is stumped, so don't feel alone.
Please keep the reviews coming. My life is about to get busy with a new fic and real-life stuff, so I won't be uploading this as regularly. I will still upload though. Like every fic I start, I intend to finish this one...eventually. My first fic took 3 years so you know. So what I'm saying is please review to help me keep motivated in the hectic times to come. Nothing convinces me to open a story back up quite like a thoughtful review.
That's it. See you later!