VICTORIA SECRET GETS A VISIT
Leo's POV
My hammer repeatedly hit the nail into the wooden board as I struggled to keep myself upright.
Or upside down would be more appropriate.
A thick rope was currently squeezing my guts into my throat as I wrestled with the extremely stubborn nail. I had been keeping this a secret.
No one knew of this, or both things really. But I said it was for a noble cause because it had started wars apparently, so I plundered on.
"Is it in yet?"
A gruff voice came from above me, or underneath me, I can't remember.
"Almost. It-doesn't-quite-want-to-fit!" I punctuated every word with a loud 'thunk' as my hammer finally hit the wood.
My tired arms flew past my head as I hung limply, slowly being lowered to the ground. I crumpled gradually to the ground with a sigh, as the blood slowly retreated to my numb feet. I opened my eyes to be greeted with a rather admittedly ugly face.
It spoke.
"You good?"
I lifted my hand in an affirmative gesture and flopped back to the ground.
See, the first part of the secret was that my Dad had been visiting quite often, to Bunker 9. Now it wasn't strange that he had been paying visits to his child as lists of the gods now did this, but it became a secret nonetheless. He had been helping with my second secret.
Secret no. two was much bigger than the first, believe it or not. Specifically, three hundred and eighty-nine point five feet bigger actually.
I was rebuilding the Argo II.
Or remodelling.
We were building it with a vast number of upgrades. Festus could now detach himself from the hull, as I couldn't bear to remove his head from his body, the oars on the second floor were powered by pure blacksmith magic and only appeared when needed, taking up no space whatsoever. This meant that there was more space for the mess hall, which now contained a fully-fledged games section.
The absolute bottom was now split in between my engine room/bedroom and a training area, equipped with weapons, dummies and mattresses. The cabins were on the third floor, with new rooming arrangements made (Percy was furthest from the toilets and boiler room). The first floor was the home of the infirmary, showers, toilets and the dining hall.
The deck was no longer magical, save for Festus and the Wii Remote control which still controlled the entire ship. The mast was fully manual now, allowing Percy complete control of the ship in case of emergencies, and Jason's viewpoint on the main mast was higher. If they weren't here, then it would be manually set up and climbed to.
Hephaestus had been helping me with the engine specifically, and had been giving me tips on how to get it all efficient and top-notch, passing on secret ingredients to get the entire ship practically self-sustainable, and obtaining extremely rare materials from his personal forge.
"I think this is really starting to take shape, you know." I stated, sitting up and admiring the view from my place on the floor.
My Dad stood proud a few feet behind me with his hands on his hips and looking intently at the war vessel.
"She is a beauty, isn't she?" his voice echoed roughly through the bunker.
Our silence continued on for a while we slowly took in our handiwork. It had taken us almost 2 months to complete it.
I had just sensed a strong urge to rebuild her, in the memory of the Argo II; it felt like my duty almost. I guess my hunch was right, as we would probably be using it for our new quest.
But then that's where it all went wrong.
Laughter floated through the stone entrance, followed by footsteps. My siblings knew of what I was doing, but they knew to announce their presence in Morse before entering.
These people, however, did not.
We locked eyes for a second before leaping into action.
I gathered all the thick rope that had collected on the floor, waddling to the small office to the right and dumping it on the floor. Hephaestus picked up the larger-than-life-size tool kit and vanished it all before turning towards the ship and clicking his fingers. I saw the mist tangibly and slowly settle itself over the ship, altering it to what the Bunker had previously looked like, before dissipating. Festus sat expectantly in the middle of the 'smaller' Bunker, wagging his tail.
My Dad gave me a wink before glowing. I turned away just in time for him to flash away, and for the newcomers to walk around the corner.
"What the Hades was that?"
Pipers voice rang loudly through the cave, and I turned towards her.
She and Jason were stood in the entrance with dubious expressions, as if they were contemplating whether or not they should have come.
"Oh, yeahhh... I was, uh, testing..." I glanced back to see Festus still wagging his tail. He squeaked out,
"ki-ra."
Kira? Kyra?
Ohhhh, fire.
"I was testing Festus's fire abilities. They got a bit roasted in Ogygia."
Despite the circumstances I cracked a joke, clicking my tongue and pointing my fingers at them with a wide grin, but was ultimately disappointed when the two seemed largely disinterested.
"Yeah, ummm... Leo... we were wondering... if you, uh wanted to come to, uh, Camp Ju-Jupiter with us...?"
I stared at them, as they seemed largely interested in my back wall, which I knew just contained jagged rock and a 4 year old finger painting.
"Leo?"
"Yes, Piper?"
"Why is there a, uh, mah- is that a mast?"
"Why is there a mast hovering in the middle of the room?"
The two spoke over each other in their bewildered states.
I turned to where their extremely confused gaze was directed, and much to my chagrin, a 7-foot-wide mast sat floating in the middle of the room.
"Shit."
They turned to me with expectant faces.
"Why, Dad? Why?!"
The furnace let out an extremely hot gale that swept through the bunker and left glistening sweat on Jason and Pipers foreheads.
"Jeez, I'm sorry."
"Leo."
Pipers both voice cut through and prompted me to explain.
"See, this is the Argo III!" I exclaimed loudly, sweeping my arms open wide.
Their heads swivelled to the mast. And back.
"Give it a second."
They swivelled back.
And then the mist began to fade away, revealing the inside first before cladding the sides with wood.
They jaws were agape.
"Did-did you build this?" Piper asked incredulously.
"Well, Hephaestus helped a lot with getting the materials and upgrading it, but yeah."
"This is amazing, dude." stated Jason, his eyes wide.
I held a hand to my heart, "I only thought you called Percy 'Dude'?! I'm touched."
"No, I'm not kidding, Leo. This is huge!"
I turned and admired it.
"Do you think it's too big?"
"What? It looks amazing, Leo."
I smiled at Piper. "Thanks, Pipes."
.o.O.0.O.o.
Percy's POV
It was excruciating.
Even more so than last time.
I gripped Annabeth's hand tightly as we fell into the acid-like liquid. Tartarus flashed past my eyes, followed by Smelly Gabe. I had to say 'hi' to him in the Fields of Punishment.
My skin felt like it was melting, and I had to fight with every ounce of will power to not scream. I writhed as I desperately tried to remember my mortal point. I had changed it from last time because it would be far too obvious.
I jerked, seeing Annabeth again, and then my mother, Grover and Thalia. I slowly rose, and pulled Annabeth with me. My features felt like they had melted and rearranged as the current ripped at my skin, and I launched from the river.
I landed with a heap on the shore and Annabeth landed with a heap on top of me. We coughed and spluttered and shook, trying to escape the burning feeling. Just the after-affects felt like drinking the Phlegethon, but a hundred times worse.
Slowly the pain faded and we just lay there. The river washed up against my legs, but just felt cool against my calf. We must be impervious to its effects now.
Annabeth stopped shaking and started to move on top of me, and I rolled my head to see her face as she flopped onto the sand beside me.
I gasped.
Annabeth's POV
I felt like a thousand bolts of electricity had forced its way into me, and a vat of hydrochloric acid had been poured over my head.
Not nice.
My grip on Percy's hand tightened as I jerked and struggled against the current. I felt myself sink, before I remembered my mortal point. My haziness subsided a bit and my head cleared slightly from the pain. Percy jerked next to me, his hand shaking in mine, and I felt him start to rise, pulling me with him. The river seemed to tug at my face as he lifted me, tearing at my skin. I broke the surface of the water and landed squarely in his chest, heaving lungful's of air, shaking profusely while my pain-receptors caught up.
The pain gradually faded and I rolled off Percy and lay in the sand. I opened my eyes to find him already looking at me, and I sucked in a breath of shock.
.o.O.0.O.o.
Hazels POV
I stepped through the new portal that connected the two camps, and felt decidedly jelly-like when I stepped out the other side. I turned and waited for Frank, Leo and Piper to emerge from the purple and gold marble-like wall. Leo, Jason and Piper had come through the portal earlier and explained the new prophecy to the senate, and it had been agreed upon that we would set out from camp half blood, as it was closer, and we would be shadow traveling.
Finally, Jason brought up the rear, and didn't look the slightest bit wobbly, which I envied to no end. Curse motion-sickness.
"Where's Chiron? You said we had to meet him." asked Frank, as he walked beside me.
"I think he's in the big house, but if he isn't there he told us to wait by the lake. I think he's got some stuff that we'll need for the quest." replied Jason, jogging slightly to fall into step with us.
I could hear Piper arguing with Leo about something behind us, and I turned to glance at them, only to find a mini-Buford nestled on her head, as she stared angrily up at her forehead. Leo was trying to hold back a smirk as he watched, wincing in pain as Piper gripped is wrist tightly. I stared for a few more seconds before turning back and holding Franks hand.
"I'm so glad you're normal." I mumbled.
He looked at me in confusion and asked, "What?"
"Never mind."
We sat, lounging on the edge of the lake, chatting. The big house was situated about twenty feet behind us, so we couldn't miss Chiron. Will Solace had informed us he was helping a new camper with their first climbing wall injury.
"Wait, if this is for our quest, why aren't Annabeth and Percy here?"
The Greek trio went silent and exchanged nervous glances before turning back.
Piper spoke, an apprehensive look on her face.
"Well, the end of the prophecy spoke of the "invincible curse" and we think that it was meant for those two." She paused while this sunk in.
"They're there right now, and Nico is gonna go back in..." she checked Jason's watch. "Fifteen minutes."
I felt so worried for the two. They had been through so much and they least deserved to undergo that.
The lake began to bubble next to me, and I nervously began to shuffle away. We all stared at the lake as I thought of what I had done to offend Neptune. The bubbling increased, and a small whirlpool emerged in the centre.
And then two figures seemingly stood up from the foam. They stumbled slightly, before I heard a beautiful voice say, "Did we get here this time? Long Island, not Texas?"
The two straightened up, and we gasped.
Percy and Annabeth.
.o.O.0.O.o.
They were beautiful. Annabeth had been overly pretty beforehand, just as Piper was, looking like a stereotypical California girl, but now she was gorgeous. And I mean model worthy.
Her long blonde hair was no longer one colour, it now seemed to have a warm silvery sheen, and a grey streak ran through her hair. Her skin was smoothed, her contour lines sharper and her tan even, a light smattering of freckles I didn't even knew she had on her nose and inner cheeks. Her eyes were even more piercing, striking, the grey now had different shades, silvery almost, and were even brighter, as if a candle was lit behind it, and they were swirling. Honest to god, hand on heart swirling.
As well as that, Percy had never been lacking in the looks department, but he had somehow managed to get... hotter. Now, I wouldn't usually say this, but I had been slowly adapting to the less modest time and there was no other way to describe it. His toned and eight-pack stomach was clearly visible through his camp half-blood shirt, and his muscles were more defined; his swimmers lean figure prominent. His cheekbones were higher and his hair was ruffled in just the right way, the black deeper. He also had a grey streak in his hair. His skin was smoother as well, all bumps and imperfections gone, as if it was made from a sort of glass. He too had a small amount of freckles, only his were sparse and all over his face, rather than just his nose. His eyes were piercing, just as much as Annabeth's. They too, looked like whirlpools, and they were no longer sea green, but peaks of swirling green and royal blue moving in a spiral.
Once we got over our shock, Leo let out a low whistle.
"What happened to you two?! Visit Victoria Secret while you were gone?" he said in the girliest voice he could muster.
Percy smirked and Annabeth rolled her eyes, and I felt amazed at how their faces seemed to remain perfect when they moved. I felt like I was in the presence of Aphrodite.
"We're not perfect, Hazel."
What?
"I-I didn't speak out loud... did I?"
My confusion was clear on my face as I voiced my uncertainty. The two looked between the other and Annabeth began to speak before Jason interrupted her.
"We think that something has happened to the Roman and Greek pantheons."
Everyone turned to look at him.
"We think that the Roman side has rubbed off on the Greek and vice versa. Romans respect power and a hierarchy, so it's rubbed off on the few demigods in power on the Greek side. The counsellors are getting stronger. As well as this more Romans are developing powers, which is a rarity among Roman demigods."
We all nodded as we listened.
"But demigods aren't the only ones being affected, with minor God's being changed. For example, Lady Styx," he glanced at Percy and Annabeth, "is the 'giver of invulnerability, guardian of the underworld, and binder of oaths.' However, in the Roman pantheon, she is all the above, as well as the incarnation of increasing power."
My mind casted back to when I had been reading about all the Roman gods when I first joined the legion, and had been terrified of Lady Styx. How she was a minor goddess with all those powerful titles, I could not comprehend.
"I seem to have grown, a, uh, telepathic... ability."
"And I... water travel? That's how we got here."
Jaws dropped.
Percy and Annabeth spoke up, and even their voice had changed. They were rich and smooth, Percy's powerful yet kind and Annabeth melodic yet dangerous. I sincerely felt that they could charmspeak.
I tore my gaze from the two, and surveyed the groups reaction. Piper was what really caught my eye. She looked a mixture of awe and fear.
Why is she scared, I thought to myself. Sure, the two looked different and now had cool powers, but they were still the same person.
"Piper?"
She trembled slightly.
"Piper." I stated louder. She turned to look at me, and hastily tried to hide her reaction.
"You okay?"
"It's just…. Well, I've become an… empath, sort of. It's not just emotions, but auras and power. And, well… your power signatures have increased… tenfold. It's kinda unnerving." she finished with a small laugh.
All demigods had an aura, but the majority of us learn to reel it in because it attracts monsters to the camp borders. But if you focused hard enough, you could sense it. I concentrated on the two of them, and instead didn't sense what I usually did from the two of them. It felt like Iris, or Hecate, or Persephone stood in front of us.
They moved uncomfortably, still standing in the lake.
I got up and hugged the two.
I felt them visibly relax, and Percy said, "Thanks, Hazel."
"It's okay."
We broke apart and I dragged them over to the others and sat down again.
"Well, folks." said Leo, bringing his hands together and sitting up straighter. "Since this seems to be the time of spilling the beans, I have a juicy one I think you'll all like. The Argo III is here!"
And that was when we lost our sight.
AN: AND THAT'S ANOTHEER CHAPTER! FINALYY! SORRY FOR THE WAIT, I'M TRYING TO COME UP WITH NEW PLOT IDEAS, SO THIS ISNT YOUR STEREOTYICAL PJO/HP STORY, BUT STILL HAS ALL YOUR FAVOUTITE THINGS. THANKS FOR READING, AND REMEMBER!
PLEASE WRITE WHO YOU THINK SHOULD ALREADY BE A DEMIGOD AT HOGWARTS, AND WHO THEIR GODLY PARENT IS. THANK YOUUU!
BYE ;)
