The Onset of the Crazy Quest
"Yo! My cupcakes! Yo you little sugar cakes! U gotcha, u gotcha do the killing! KILLING! The Monsters! MONSTERS! MONSTERS!...
"uh- Coach Hedge the song is amazing now it's Drew's chance to sing", said Percy nodding towards an Aphrodite cabin girl. He interrupter the old Satyr (coach Hedge) because half the camp was sniggering at him and his friends. Everyone knew that the seven (Percy, Leo, Jason, Frank, Annabeth,Piper and Hazel) were called "cupcakes" by Coach. (Well no one would like being called a cupcake in public when they fought and killed ugly monsters and defeated the very earth).
...The Kill- huh?, ok cupcake, let's hear her. But by the way how was my song?", asked Coach Hedge who had been singing his "My Honey Cupcakes" new Album song; with a shine in his eyes like he had just won Oscar for his song.
"It was dam cool, I feel so blown away right now", replied Percy with a big grin on his face. Then he turned to Leo who was sitting beside him (tinkering with some piece of metal, showing Calypso how to make some complicated gadget) and they both winked at each other.
Okay let's have some backup on this whole Crazy-Singing-Scene. What was happening was it was night and camp fire time in Camp Half-Blood. All the campers were sitting in groups and singing songs, laughing, talking and cracking jokes. It had been nearly six months now after the Gaia War. After defeating the earth goddess the group of seven had started moving between both the camps, as the Romans and Greeks were at peace, at present.
Out of the seven right now Jason, Piper, Frank and Hazel were at Camp Jupiter, while Percy and Annabeth were at Camp Half-Blood (they had come for a visit while Jason and Piper had gone to the other camp for visit) with Leo. Even Nico was there sitting among them, smiling on some joke Will Solace had cracked.
Ok so, now back to present: Percy was still smiling about the joke on Coach Hedge, and now he rose to check out on Annabeth, who was correcting something in a paper work of one of the Athenian kid. Percy was about to move when a sudden commotion was created. Somewhere from the north side of the camp a group of scouts who were on duty came rushing and went straight to Chiron, and started saying something. Percy moved towards Chiron and saw Annabeth,Leo with Calypso and Nico moving towards Chiron too.
The Scout was a dude from the Hermes Cabin; he was in a mid sentence when two other scouts same along with a satyr who looked half dead. All the campers now stood up and started pooling towards the Half-Dead Satyr scene; murmuring and looking with concern towards the satyr. Chiron stood up and raised his hand for silence, but it took some time before everyone was quite. Then the centaur turned towards the scout who was still looking pale and terrified, and said,
"Now tell me what exactly is the problem? and what is wrong with this satyr? Tell me the details".
The scout still shaking but started speaking slowly,
"I and the other members on duty were on our stroll then suddenly we heard someone groaning so we ran towards the direction. As we were moving towards the direction of the sound and it grew nearer, we saw this satyr; around him was a red light and he was howling in agony; but as we went near him I sliced d red light with my sword and it disappeared. We have been questioning him but all he ever said was-
The scout swallowed hard as if he was trying not to puke and faint at the same time. He kept swallowing, "what did he say? Stop looking like a dying duck and be quick", said Chiron who was also a bit nervous about this red light look.
-he said th -that Kronos is back!"
This news hung in the air like a bomb that was not exploding. Then Annabeth broke the silence, "but that's impossible! I mean how? How can it happen? I saw him turn to nothing when-when Luke sacrificed himself."
Chiron stood there frozen, with a far and distant look in his eyes. Then he turned towards the scout and asked "are you sure you heard it right?"
Not only did the scout who was speaking nod but all the others who had come with him also did.
Now Percy could take it no longer. "But this is insane and impossible! How can that be possible, huh?"
"Firstly, no one can say that it is impossible, secondly don't ask me how this happened because even I'm out of logics", said Chiron.
Suddenly, the satyr twisted out of the scout's hand and landed on the ground near Annabeth. She lounged forward, kneeling down and reached for the satyr.
But just as she touched his wrist she was thrown back as if someone had just switch on the human-blower fan; she landed about 10 feet away from the satyr, screaming. Percy rushed towards Annabeth with the speed of lightning.
"What happened? Annabeth can you hear me?", cried out Percy in total surprise. Everything was happening so fast that nothing made sense.
"His wrist...don-don't touch it" and like that she just went out of focus and closed her eyes.
Percy was trying not to let his emotions show on his face but anyone giving one glance could say that he was trying not to crack up. The girls from the Apollo cabin rushed towards Annabeth, Will Solace accompanied them, who was also from the Apollo cabin and was great at healing. Everyone's face showed concern because all of them were worried. Annabeth was one of the best people known for her quick and logical thinking along with her best warrior skills. Also she was like the brain and the energy-booster during wars.
"What is wrong with her?", asked Percy now, with complete 50% fear mixed with 40% of concern and 10% of other emotions. He looked ready to do anything to get her back to normal state. He repeated in a more agitated voice again,
"I m asking you guys, what's wrong with her?".
All of them looked miffed. They were all looking puzzled and then finally Will spoke in a very low voice,
"Percy we don't know exactly; this thing" he said pointing at Annabeth, "is something none of us have experienced before. Neither have we seen it. I dunno it's just something weird. But I m sure we will work it out and she will be fine. Now let us take her to the cabin so that we can heal her, the best we can."
If Percy had looked any troubled before, well now he looked like he had seen a ghost and couldn't get the image of it out of his head. He went along with the Apollo cabin.
"So by when can you get all this figured out and heal her back? I mean will she be okay?", asked Percy still confused and concern making his face look like he himself was in pain.
"Look Percy, I know you are worried and concerned, but until we figure out what really has happened we can't do anything", answered Will gently.
"Do you have any single hint of what it is?", Percy pushed farther for information.
Will hesitated before answering, then finally he answer with doubt in his voice, "I don't know what exactly it is...yes yes I know" Will added quickly before Percy could interrupt, "but all I can imagine the cause of this whole thing is that there is some ...uh-magic involved".
"But you surely are good at healing with magic too..." Percy paused and then said "we could ask the Hecate cabin to help us".
Now there was a flash of guilt on Will's face. In a very meek voice he said,
"Percy you don't understand it's not the type of magic we have ever seen, it's like...like a mash up of Titan power and some strange power...power we don't know of."
Now all the emotions turned into anger and irritation, "what the heck do u mean by you don't know what power is behind?" snapped Percy.
"Now Percy u need to keep your calm and let them do their best...
Percy turned to see Leo standing by his side, placing a hand on his shoulder.
...and I'm sure Calypso is great at it too so I bet she is helping with it", Leo was saying this looking at Calypso giving her a meaningful look. Calypso understood, "he is right about it." Turning towards Leo she said "Leo take him towards the creek, it might calm him down."
Leo nodded and led Percy outside towards the creek; Percy was reluctant at first but then he moved on. He looked at Leo and started asking about Annabeth when Nico also joined them.
"ummmm...Percy I know you are upset, but if you don't keep calm and understand the situation then it is not going to help. And I m sure Will and Calypso are going to do their best along with the others."
Percy looked at him with a frown on his face, and after some moments in which he seemed to battle himself he let out a long sigh, "I know but it's just that you know it's Annabeth...and the worst part is no one actually knows what has happened...come to think of it she told me not to touch his wrist because that's where she touched him and was blown away from him." After thinking a little more he said, "let's go check on him."
The trio moved together, heading towards the cabin where the satyr was. They soon reached it and all three hesitated for a few seconds and then entered it together.
The satyr lay there on a cot still looking dead. They went near him, careful not to touch him. Nico moved forward and concentrated on the satyr.
"His aura of live is fading; I don't know how long he is going to live."
Nico regretted his words because he saw Percy tense up and looked grimmer. Now Percy moved forward and went near the satyr and kneeled down, his face so close to the satyr that Nico and Leo caught their breath.
Then in gentle tones he asked,
"Can you hear me?"
There was no response at first but a very slight nod from the satyr confirmed that he was listening.
"Then tell me what happened? Who did this to you?", went on Percy.
"I - I was on my way to a nature meeting which we hold weekly, and then all of a sudden out no where a swirling wind was coming my way..."
The satyr stopped speaking taking a short pause and went on in his low and feeble voice,
... I knew it was something evil...so-so I tried to run and hide somewhere, but it was there in front of me in a flash..."
There was a far, distant and pained look of helplessness looked on the satyr's face, every word he spoke, it took every effort it could. Now, he went quite for a long time. The three of them looked bothered and just as Percy was about to speak again, the satyr went on,
...when he came near me, I felt the time slow down, but at the same time the mist of swirling cloud started shifting and clearing, and then..."
The satyr shivered remembering what had happened next; then went on,
...the most horrible face I have ever seen came into view, the man was bald headed, chalky-white and -and he had no ... nose..."
After this the satyr was quite for nearly 2 whole minutes which the trio didn't mind because the shock on their faces said even they needed time to fathom these facts, they looked like they had gone in a deep trance, which was broken when the satyr spoke again,
...he had the voice of a howling wind, and when he spoke the very me shook, and fear flooded me..."
The satyr looked ashamed but there was a look on his face which defined true fear, then again he continued,
...he said:
"A human goat?", with a confused look (this was Voldemort who had said this, which they still didn't know).
And then a smile appeared on his face, and I felt time slowing down more than before. I felt like a whole mountain was on me. Then he spoke...
"How amusing! A satyr, I see." Then his laughter filled the air, echoing like thousands of dead people cackling together.
"Tell me how would you like to die? By being pressed under your own weight or dying a s lower death by helping your friends , by giving them some information before you die?", the evil guy went on, and once again his horrible laughter filled the air.
"Then a flash of red light hit me, and I felt pure pain being poured into me", said the satyr, going on with his story.
"who are u?" "I asked the man" the satyr went on, visibly shivering now.
"Who am I ?" boomed the evil man's voice filled with mockery. "I am Kronos, go tell your friends that Kronos is back! Much more powerful , go tell them that Kronos is back more powerful than before. Now I have risen as KROVO! I am immortal! And soon I will be invincible." More laughter tore the air around.
Now the satyr went quite, and closed his eyes. The three of them listening were totally shocked and stayed frozen waiting for the satyr to go on. But he didn't, so they knew he had no more to say. Nico once again stepped forward and examined him. He looked grim which showed how soon death would engulf the satyr.
"Let's go call the others, I don't know how much longer he will hold on" Leo said.
The trio went out of the cabin walking in silence, and then Percy spoke in a tight grim voice,
"What if the same thing happens with Annabeth?"
"No, nothing like this is happening to her; we will do something before anything happens to her" broke out Leo on seeing Percy, who looked like he was trying not to lose his mind.
"But how?" asked Nico.
There was silence and then Percy spoke in a dead whisper,
"I m going to hunt down this Krovo guy...I m sure if anyone can give a cure to it, the he is the one. And anyway we need him back in Tartarus."
Leo's reaction to this was:
"Are u crazy, u r not doing this...
Percy interrupted Leo,
"What do you mean by "you are not doing this"? You know it's for Annabeth and...
Now Leo cut him off,
"Percy, Percy! Listen to the whole thing I was telling that you said that "I m going to hunt" which is crazy of, because u r not doing this alone, because I m coming with u."
Percy looked at Leo and then smiled, "ok, but it's going to be dangerous". Even in such sad and tight moments Leo always found a way to calm down and bring a smile on his friends face.
"Is that something you need to tell me?", said Leo rolling his eyes.
"Ok then count me in too, after all someone's gotta make sure that Kronos or Krovo whatever, ends back in the deepest pit of Tartarus", said Nico.
They smiled, giving fist pumps to each other, looking like they already had busted this noseless-psycho Krovo. Then once again Percy looked a bit grim and a little nervous,
"Here comes the hardest part: getting Chiron's permission to set off for this quest. I saw him when the news of Kronos coming back was dropped like a bomb; he look totally pulled out and nervous. I am not sure totally, but I guess I saw fear on his face too" he said.
This was met by silence, as they reached outside the cabin where Chiron was, then Leo smiled and said,
"Well...i guess if he doesn't give us his "holy permission" we could always rule it out and go for "unholy expedition." Then he winked at them.
"I'm really liking this idea every minute", said Percy chuckling, he saw Nico shaking his head at their craziness. "Okay let's go get out "holy permission."
With this little joke they entered the Cabin and found Chiron sitting on his wheel chair (uh-well in his wheel chair form), he had one of the cards he and Mr. D used to play and was flipping it in his hand lost in a deep thought.
"So you three have come to ask for my permission to go on a quest?", asked Chiron, surprising the three, even before they spoke a word.
Now Nico and Leo felt a bit troubled since they know what was coming next. But Percy spoke before the punch line came.
"Ok. OK. We get it that you have guessed us. But please listen before you say "no", because this is very important because Annabeth could die and also we need to deal with this Krovo guy fast before he becomes strong...
"Wait. Hold on! Did u just say Krobo? Who is he? And where did u get all this from?" asked Chiron, as he clearly didn't know any of this because the satyr had fainted without giving any answers.
"It's not Krobo...it's Krovo...well...what happened is..." and so Percy filled him in along with Nico and Leo filling in some left out gaps.
Chiron sat in silence for a long while. Then he looked at Nico and asked, "You are sure Patrix (guess that was the satyr's name) is not going to survive and heal through?"
Nico shook his head, " I checked him twice and the second time his aura of life had faded more, and we think that it happened because of the red lightning with which Patrix was shot with and-and Annabeth also got some of it when she caught his wrist."
Once again reminded of Annabeth, Percy got all agitated and absolute recklessness took over him, he looked at Chiron and spoke in a controlled but a little dangerous voice,
"Chiron, I know you care about us but you have to let us go, this is about Annabeth and I'm not going to be sitting around seeing her fight death."
Leo placed a hand on his shoulder, "whoa! Calm down buddy let him give his answer, don't take it too hard on yourself."
They stood in silence waiting for Chiron to answer. Chiron sat like a statue, and his face showed the battle he was going through, then after a few minutes he let out a deep sigh, turned towards them and said,
" I know me restraining you is not going to work, because I'm you will find your own method of going on this crazy and suicidal mission, so go and pack up tomorrow morning you leave."
The "restraining you" and "not working part" actually made them smile. Then they were out in a flash after saying a big thanks to Chiron; running towards their cabins to pack up. Percy ran to his cabin and took his bag pack and dumped a pair of jeans and shirt and grabbed his sword Riptide along with his wrist watch which he had kept on his table, then hurriedly took a bottle of water and then thought for a moment and ran towards the Athena cabin, to get Annabeth invisibility cap, which he thought she wouldn't mind.
Nico ran to his cabin and grabbed his bag pack and stuffed similar stuff then took some kind of powder (which looked deadly) and stuffed it too.
Whereas, Leo ran to his, stuffing similar stuff but kept some tricks along too, also tied his great belt o himself, thinking that he would forget it (honestly any one could tell the exact number of times they had seen him without his belt, because he wore it all the time like a part of his body, so forgetting it was out of question!).
The three of them barely slept that night, the excitement of the next days starting adventure along with the dread of not coming back kept them awake for hours. The next morning they woke up to find the camp in chaos. Probably the news had leaked about their quest.
But to their astonishment they found a big crowd near the Apollo cabin, Percy rushed towards it, knowing something was wrong with Annabeth. Nico and Leo were right on his heels.
"wha-what is wrong?" asked Percy pushing through the crowd.
"She is repeating something again and again." It was Calypso who had replied.
"What is it..." Began Percy and then became quite when he heard Annabeth speaking in a deep raspy voice; straining with every word, his broke and again the helpless look took over his face. He went and sat beside her holding her hand and slowly whispered,
"Annabeth, ..." and his voice cracked.
She gripped his hand and started speaking slow and feverishly,
"Percy go, you have to-to defeat him. He is more powerful than-before. You have to defeat him...have to- "
And then she closed her eyes looking very exhausted. He tried speaking but seeing her condition not a single word came out, then he kissed her forehead and squeezed her hands and managed to say,
"I will come back, and when I do I will make sure the Krovo dude is back, sleeping in which ever hell hole he belongs..." there was fire in his eyes which was proof that he meant everything he was saying.
...and I will make sure to get all the cures that his brain has, and I promise I will bring you out of this. And trust me he is going to pay extra for causing you this agony."
With these promising words he planted a kiss on her forehead, then got up and walked out of the cabin heading towards his cabin. He took his bag pack from his cabin and rushed towards Chiron's cabin. He saw Nico and Leo heading towards him, they also had their bag packs in their hands. All three of them moved together; determination and war showing on their faces. They reached Chiron's cabin and went inside. Chiron turned and greeted them.
"So you all are not changing your minds about it?" he asked in a solemn voice.
"When did we ever change our mind about battle?, be it a gigantic monster or this crazy freak of Krovo dude, we never change the idea of a bloody battle!" said Leo in a nonchalant voice.
This earned them a small smile from Chiron, "I can't blame you for that now can I? After all I'm the one trained you for that reason. But still your safety is my concern. I want you all back alive. Have I made myself clear?" he asked.
Now he got a smile and a bit of chuckling from them. They all found it amusing since flirting with death was like a part of their life and yet here was Chiron, fatherly ordering them to come back alive.
"I promise to be back, and I'll make sure that I bring these too back too", said Percy waving a hand towards Nico and Leo, he was then rewarded with a groan from each of them. He smirked and said,
"After all I'm used to saving their pretty asses...but yeah they have saved mine too, which is a total drop back on my record." He pouted a little.
They all laughed, then Chiron got all serious and again that distant look came to his eyes,
"Let's go get this done with; I will announce your departure to the camp so that you can head for your quest." He said.
Then without hesitation he moved out of his cabin and they followed him, he removed his horn and blew a big blast, which echoed through the whole camp, and soon slowly all the campers started swarming around Chiron. He called them to attention by raising his hand; the atmosphere was totally tensed, because anyone seeing three of them would have guessed the reason to Chiron's horn call.
"Now that all of you have gathered I would like to finish the business here because our Heroes here are more than agitated to get on with their quest." This brought a little of gasp and more groans from the campers, as they knew this would be coming sooner or later. Then someone out of the crowd called out,
"I would readily come if you let me join you guys, you don't need to go alone." Now the surprised expression on those three faces of: Percy, Leo and Nico were more than noticeable, because it was Clarisse who had spoken.
Coming out of his wonder, Percy replied,
"Oh, that's extremely cool of you to offer for help but we already have got the three of us," and then he added hurriedly when he saw her mouth open for protest, "and besides someone is required to keep the camp on their heels and toes."
She considered this and then said, "Ok fine but if you need me I m always ready for war." This was natural for her, being the daughter of Aries the god of war didn't help much, when you were given the option between war and a bag of your favorite chocolates.
"So now they will be leaving soon." Turning towards them he said, "May all of Olympus be your strength." Then in a lower voice he added, "it's you who has to fight so don't depend on the rusty power of those, sitting grumpy in their chair." Then he moved aside with a wink and all the other campers wished them luck and told them to come back alive (this was getting pretty annoying for them, and Leo thought that if anyone repeated it once more he would explode).
Then Calypso came forward and hugged Leo and they had quick kiss and she hugged him again telling him to be back or she would kill him, which made both of them chuckle (and Leo tried not to explode for the last time).
Whereas, Nico was having a quick conversation with Will, and Will looked reluctant to let go off Nico, but in the end he handed him a bag filled with weird things and told him he would need it on his journey. Nico took it and they said another goodbye and he was off to meet Percy and Leo awaiting him on the hill side.
"Are we ready?", asked Percy with a small smile, grimness filled his feature but so had a new determination.
Nico and Leo nodded with enthusiasm. Just then Chiron came galloping towards them.
"Go where you are going but keep your promise of coming back, I don't want to lose all the three of you, after all you still have lots to train." He said. And with a wink he waved them off. And the three set off on a journey to find a crazy, psycho on loose from Tartarus.