Chapter 11: To Olympus
Heeeeey. Please don't hate me for getting rid of Nico! Anyway please read and review! ^_^
Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson franchise.
Percy
No. No. NOOOOOOO. He screamed. "NICO!" But his voice cracked. He vaguely felt Frank's hand on his shoulder as he tried but failed to get to his feet. "Nico..." By now it was barely a weak whimper. Jason picked him up and wiped his face mostly.
"Percy we're going to find him. And bring him back."
"But he went in the Fie—"
"Doesn't matter. We're not abandoning him. Never." Jason grinned, and Percy was still in awe at his words.
"So... Jason... you'll help me? To look for him?"
The blonde slapped him hard on the back. " 'Course. We all will."
Percy tried hard not to cry. He wouldn't. Not until they found Nico. "I guess we should speak to his father first."
Leo agreed. "Olympus? Wish we could shadow travel. C'mon." They maneuvered their way out of the gates and toward the banks of a small river—not the Styx.
Jason stared at the Styx which flowed silently in the distance. "I... remember I had to get the Achilles mark during the Titan War."
Percy nodded, his jaw tight so he wouldn't cry. "Same."
Once they had reached the near bank, Frank turned into a giant eagle and offered to carry Percy—which the son of Poseidon was more than happy to accept. Jason flew Leo and they all reached the other bank safely. Frank seemed exhausted from the flight and complained about Percy's weight, earning him whining from the demigod in question.
Jason was the first to continue on. "We should ask the Moirai how to get back. I doubt there's an outbound ferry from here." Leo nodded.
"Yeah you find them, and I'll give them some Leo charm."
"They're... so much older than—you know what never mind. Let's go." They met the three famous old ladies who created the future. Or predicted it. Same thing right? Percy scoffed. I wish.
When they reached, Percy fell to his knees and lowered his head, as did the other three. Jason spoke, since Sparky was the best at these kinds of things. "Lady Clotho. Lady Lechesis. Lady Atropos. We need—we beg—for your aid in... escaping the Underworld and returning to our homes so that we may..." He mumbled something, as if deciding whether to speak of Nico or not. He decided against it. "... return to our hero camp."
The three Fates turned as one, and spoke as one. "You can escape here, but only if you go in twos. One carrying the other on his shoulders." Frank raised an eyebrow. "Don't ask us. We didn't create this law. You had better start now."
The four heroes got to their feet and slowly staggered away from the Fates who continued with their Fately tasks. Frank broke the silence. "I'm the strongest. I'll carry the second heaviest. Percy or Jason?"
The son of Poseidon glanced over at the slightly taller son of Jupiter. "Jason's taller and buffer than me. You should take him. I'll take Leo."
At first, Jason seemed to want to interject that he should carry Leo since he was stronger than Percy, but he silently agreed with a nod of his head. Frank bent down and allowed Jason to climb up on his muscular shoulders. When the blonde was mounted on his friend, he nodded. "I'm ready. Just... try not to go so fast that I fall off and die." The son of Mars nodded quickly.
Just as they had gotten ready to run, a bridge appeared in the middle of the Styx, signalling them to start. Frank dashed forward onto the bridge, and Jason hung on for dear life. If one could see his face—which Percy and Leo could—they would see a look of pure terror. Well who blames the guy. When they had reached the other side, Frank effortlessly picked Jason up off his shoulders and set him down on the ground. Sparky, who was evidently still recovering from the ride threw his arms around Frank and stood there for almost a minute, before coming to his senses and backing away. "Sorry. I'm sorry. Thanks for not killing me!" The son of war nodded in acknowledgement.
"Well Percy... you ready?"
"Yeah man. Let's do this." Leo climbed up to his companion's shoulders and put his arms around the stronger hero's neck. "Ready Leo?"
"Yeah. Run." And he did. Percy bolted forward, and Leo held on, used to high speeds such as this. In the middle however, he tripped and fell to his knees. When he was able to sit up, he thanked Poseidon that he was alive and well. Then it hit him.
"Leo! LEO!" He saw the scrawny boy's figure under the deadly water of the Styx. He wasn't hurt too badly, but he was in pain. The son of Hephaestus kicked upward and rose to the surface, sputtering and gasping. He screamed in evident pain.
"PERCY HELP ME!" Percy scrambled to his feet and stumbled a few steps forward, reaching his hand down, just above the surface of the Styx. Leo shrieked again in pain. "PLEASE!" He reached up and wrapped his hand around Percy's. The son of the sea god pulled with all his strength, and managed to pull Leo's waist out of the water. The skinny—but not wet—boy put his arms on the bridge and just managed to pull himself up. He lay, gasping for a while, whimpering frequently. "Percy... You saved my life..."
Percy offered the weaker boy a hand, and pulled him up to his feet, still trembling. Percy's eyes were wide with worry and fear. "How badly does it hurt! I-I'm not worthy! Please forgive me!"
"Forgive you?" Leo had the nerve to smirk. "You just saved my damn life! Of course I forgive you! It was an accident anyway. I hope."
"It was." Percy pulled the shorter and thinner boy into his arms tightly, still thanking Poseidon that they were both alive. "You ok to keep going? We're almost there."
"Yeah. Let's go." Percy had to help him up onto his shoulders, but they still reached the other side quickly, where Jason picked Leo off of Percy's shoulders and immediately laid him on the ground—or whatever the Underworld was called—and felt his stomach and body for injuries, obviously worried out of his mind.
When he was satisfied that his best friend was not in pain, he turned on Percy. "What. The. Hell." His glare terrified Percy enough to send him running—which of course he didn't.
"J-Jason... I..." Fear completely replaced shame. The son of Jupiter raised a fist and quick as lightning struck Percy on the jaw, and an instant later landed a punch on his chest.
The son of Poseidon crumpled to his knees, and looked up at his attacker in terror. He had never felt genuine fear for Jason. Only acknowledgement as a tough opponent. That changed now, and he feared for his life. "D-Don't hurt me!"
Jason reached down and grabbed Percy by the front of his shirt, picking him up to his feet, and then off his feet so their eyes were level. Jason's eyes were narrow and sadistic. Percy's were wide with horror. The blonde again struck Percy on the stomach this time, hearing the crunch of a rib breaking. "You could have killed Leo... if he was dead now, you would be too." He dropped the shorter boy to the ground, and Percy immediately sunk down to his knees and clutched his abs, feeling for the broken rib. "I'm letting you go this time."
Percy didn't notice he'd been trembling until he stopped. Damn Jason was scary. He staggered over to Frank's side, where the brawnier boy examined his wound and fed him some ambrosia. A few minutes later, after Percy had woken from a short Underworld nap, he saw Jason towering above him, not with a glare but a frown. The son of Poseidon's expression showed terror again, and he barely kept himself from trembling. "J-Jason I-I'm sorry... i-it was a-an a-accident!"
The son of Jupiter lowered himself to a squat. "I know. And I shouldn't have hurt you. Today I raised my hand on my friend... Can you... Will you forgive me?"
Percy hesitated. Five minutes ago, Jason had been willing to take his life. But Jason was his friend. He couldn't hold a grudge. After all, it was his fault for endangering the son of Hephaestus. "You know I will Sparky. Hey gimme a hand." Jason got to his feet and helped Percy up.
"I... I raised my fist on you... I hurt you... I could have... killed you..." Jason's voice was shaky, and he was already shedding tears as he repeated his apologies to Percy.
"Jason it's alright. Who knows. If it was Nico... I don't know I'm bad at these speeches."
"I just... I... I owe you so much and... it's unthinkable for me to hurt you. I'm sorry." Percy put a hand on the taller boy's shoulder, and the son of Jupiter nodded in acknowledgement. In the background, Leo groaned, and Jason's eyes widened in alarm, realizing he had left his best friend alone. "Leo? You ok?"
"Jason... help me up." Leo reached up and wrapped his bony arm around Jason's strong one. In a moment he was on his feet, balancing his almost nonexistent weight. "Thanks man. Feels good to be alive. Thanks Percy!" Percy nodded, still in partial shame. "Hey big guy! You alright?" Frank turned with a grunt.
"I'm fine. You ok to keep going? We should be able to escape now." Again, on cue a long staircase appeared in front of the four heroes. Leo leaned on Jason, still not strong enough to stand for too long, and Jason put his arm around him protectively.
"I'm ready. Let's climb." Leo put his foot on the first step, and Jason pulled him up. They climbed up the stairs talking about random things, all of which were brought up by Leo. For example: "How is Calypso so hot?!" "Ooh nice biceps Frank! Can I touch?" "Damn you tall people!"
He kept the group together, even if they were united against him. He kept everyone's spirits up. Percy admired that most about Leo. When they happened to reach the top, surprisingly none of them were tired. They appeared out of a basement in the empire state building. Percy grinned. "Two way service! Who woulda known! Yo six hundredth floor." The guy behind the counter handed him a pass, and all four packed into the small elevator, all of them squished against at least two others.
Jason
They all gasped in relief as they piled out of the way-too-small elevator. The first deities they came across were Apollo and Hermes, who were chatting under a tree. They both appeared as twenty year old guys, Apollo with jet black hair, and Hermes with blonde hair hinting at brown. Apollo was wearing a brown fur jacket, and Hermes wore a black leather jacket with dark shades. Hermes's arm was around Apollo's shoulders, and they evidently got along well. The two gods were technically half-brothers—but they got along like brothers.
Jason was the first to advance. He dropped to his knees and pressed his forehead against the marble floor. "My lord Hermes. Lord Apollo."
Apollo reached forward and pulled Jason up to his feet with unbelievable strength. "C'mon bro don't do that. It's just Apollo. Hey Percy." He had noticed the son of Poseidon in the background. "What brings you guys to Olympus."
He pounded fists with a surprised Jason, who was rather pleased at this discovery. "Well my lor... Apollo. We're here to meet Lord Hades to discuss the fate of our comrade."
"Hades? He's my favorite uncle! Er... no offense Percy your dad's great too. Anything you need? You can get it from him through me."
"We need something, but it's not something he can give, it's more of something he can do. Our friend Nico... he's in the Fields of Punishment. He at least deserves Elysium, and he shouldn't even be dead. That is why we are here to speak with Lord Hades."
"Hmm. I see. He doesn't bring back the dead very often, but it hasn't happened in a while... yeah man. Try your luck. My little bro might be able to help a little."
Jason looked to the slightly shorter man whose arm was around the god he had been speaking with. "Lord Hermes?"
"Yo." He couldn't tell if Hermes was glaring or not through the shades. "When you talk to Hades, if he's in a bad mood try later. You do not want him mad at you. I made that mistake once. Not a good choice man."
"Th-Thank you... and also..." a memory was triggered in Jason's mind. A Greek legend... "I thought you two didn't get along... Lor—Apollo you almost killed Hermes for stealing your cattle, but then he begged for mercy and played the—flute was it?—and you spared his life."
Apollo frowned slightly, and Hermes pulled him in closer before he spoke. "Apollo and I have fought before, but we're brothers. We gotta look out for each other, protect each other. We fought side by side in both the recent wars. Ooh and he's almost forgiven me for that incident."
"Almost? Of course I've forgiven you bro!" Apollo elbowed Hermes in the stomach. "You four had better go before Hades leaves for the Underworld."
Jason nodded and jogged back to his friends who had heard everything. "Let's go. I think that's him!" Jason pointed to a tall black figure under one of the arches.
The group bolted toward the tall man, and all immediately bowed down low. Jason looked up. "Lord Hades?"
The voice that answered was not Hades—at least not the one that the demigods knew. Correction, it was the same voice, just shaky and weak rather than powerful and deep. "I know about Nico..." He turned his face just enough that Jason could see half of it.
It was streaming with godly tears.
Hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi sorry for another slightly late update. I made it as long and plot-ey as possible. Please review! ^_^
