Rambo
Ch. 3 Olympus
I do not own Percy Jackson or Rambo
Rick Riordan, the family of David Morell, and Sylvester Stallone do.
Positive reviews are welcome.
Ch. 3 Olympus
The next day, John Rambo stood on his families front porch and looked at the car that Aries/Colonel Troutman had left behind in his yard, wondering what to do with it since he was supposed to be leaving to meet with Zeus and the others later in the day. It was already the middle of the day as he tried to think of what to do. He had dressed casual in a fresh set of similar clothes he wore the day before. Both Pens in his left pocket and the ring on his left hands middle finger. He sighed to himself until a voice brought him out of his reverie.
"Hello John, I'm Hermes. I'll be your driver for this evening.", John slightly turned to the person the voice belonged to and looked him over. This 'Hermes' was about 6'1 with short, styled, light brown hair, with a casual wear of dark blue jeans, a white T-shirt, and a brown leather jacket.
The messenger God held out his right hand to which Rambo grasped with his left and nodded without speaking. John having studied the legend of the Greek Gods and Goddesses last night from a book his father Richard had shown him, was able to profile Hermes within his mind as a playboy, but all around good guy, one of the few Gods who had a slightly respectable history so to speak.
Hermes noticed John scanning him with his eyes to evaluate him and estimated that John was trying to decide whether he was friend or foe. Richard came out of his home and met up with the Messenger God as well and wanted to see John off. After Hermes promised to see John taken well care of, Richard stepped back after he shook his son's hand and embraced him one last time. As most often the case, nothing much was said from John who merely smiled slightly at his father and nodded. A moment later, after John and then Richard took the offered hand and shook it, Hermes watched father and son say goodbye to one another, as he then ushered John into the passenger side of the vehicle while he got in to the drivers seat.
It was then Hermes used his Godly powers to turn the car into a Helicopter that Hermes started and within moments, they were off. John set about strapping in and placing the microphone headset on yet remained silent almost the entire trip while Hermes tried to make small talk.
No matter what Hermes tried, John Rambo did not respond, merely smiled a bit here and there as well as gave a few nods in acknowledgment to some questions asked of him while they flew the entire way. Being a God and all had its perks as Hermes was able to get to New York pretty much faster than any ordinary helicopter was capable of. Hours later found them at the JFK International Airport where Hermes utilized the Mist hide his ability to revert the chopper into a car.
Once outside the gates of the airport, they were on their way to the Empire State Building where Olympus resided over yet hidden by the Mist. Hermes explained the way the mist worked to John as a means of keeping normal mortals from noticing things and becoming victims of Monsters and such, though monsters nowadays were more attracted to Demi-Gods than ordinary Mortals.
Rambo took it all in silent stride as Hermes looked at him as they pulled up to their target. Before they exited the car, Hermes turned and asked him, "You don't talk much, do you?"
John just gave him a 'What do you think?' look, before he exited the car. Hermes then walked him into the main lobby where the main receptionist looked at both Hermes and John, nodded, then went back to his job as Hermes led John to an elevator. Once inside, the doors closed, and Hermes pulled out a key card, placed it within the key slot. John watched as it disappeared on the console, and a red button appeared that said 600. Hermes pressed it. A few minutes later after listening to elevator music capable of making even the greatest soldiers like John Rambo sigh in boredom, and the sound of a 'Ding' was heard minutes later followed by the opening of the doors.
John followed out after Hermes did as he gazed at Olympus in wide-eyed shock, as he almost silently said, "Holy Shit!"
John found himself standing on a narrow stone walkway in the middle of the air. He looked over and down and saw Manhattan as if from the height of an airplane. In front of him was white marble steps wound up the spine of a cloud, in the sky.
He pinched the bridge of his nose and and squeezed his eyes shut then opened them to see if he was dreaming and found he was not.
"Pretty cool, huh?" Hermes asked, smiling at John after turning and seeing his shocked look.
From the top of the clouds rose the decapitated peak of a mountain, its summit covered in snow. Clinging to the mountainside were dozens of multileveled palaces, or a city of mansions, all with white-columned porticos, gilded terraces, and bronze braziers glowing with a thousand fires. Roads wound up to the peak, where the largest palace gleamed against the snow. Precariously perched gardens blossomed with olive trees and rosebushes. John saw an open-air market filled with colorful tents, a stone amphitheater built on one side of the mountainside, a hippodrome and a coliseum on the other. It was an Ancient Greek city, except it wasn't in ruins. It was new, clean, and colorful. John guessed that it was how Athens must have looked all those centuries ago.
The tip of the mountain was hanging over New York City like a billion-ton asteroid. He wondered how something like that be anchored above the Empire State Building. Of course he remembered that Hermes explained how it was hidden from the normal Mortals through what was known as Mist. Otherwise the normal people would be undergoing mass panic at seeing such a sight above the Empire State Building.
Johns trip as he followed Hermes, allowed him to look around as he passed what Hermes called Wood Nymphs as he acted as curator and speaker. The nymphs must have heard of him as they avoided him with looks of fear and some with awe. John just ignored them as while walking ahead, he listened while he continued to visualize what his eyes saw and his military training kicked in as he took in his surroundings and began to make plans, he looked for possible escape routes and such in case he needed to run. His years living as he did left him extremely alert, focused, and extremely vigilant. Hawkers took one look at John and moved back in fear and awe, as if sensing the threat that John posed, as word must have passed around about him and how dangerous he really was.
A set of nine women that Hermes called the Muses were tuning their instruments for a concert in the park until they stopped and openly stared at John in shock as he passed them by. The small crowd that had gathered looked towards whom the Muses looked at and began to whisper and gossip amongst each other in shock and awe.
Hermes and John then climbed the main road, toward a big palace at the peak. It glittered white and silver. Steps led up to a central courtyard. Past that, the throne room.
Upon entry, John saw thirteen thrones, built for beings the size of giants, arranged in an inverted 'U' formation. An enormous fire crackled in the central hearth pit. The thrones were all occupied except one as Hermes patted John on his arm and grew to the size of his fellow Olympians and sat in his throne.
The one John guessed was Zeus was wearing an expensive dark blue pinstriped, name brand suit. He sat on a simple throne of solid platinum. He had a well-trimmed beard, marbled gray and black like a storm cloud. His face proud yet grim, with a handsome tone that would fool most women. His eyes rainy gray. As John got near him, the air crackled and smelled of Ozone.
The God sitting next to him was apparently his father, Poseidon. He wore leather sandals, khaki Bermuda shorts, and a Tommy Bahama shirt with coconuts and parrots all over it. Like John, his skin was deeply tanned, his hands scarred like an old-time fisherman's. His hair was black like Johns. His face had the same brooding look as John was known for having, but for John, he made it into an look that said he was dangerous and not to be fucked with. His eyes sea-green like Johns, also like John, surrounded by sun crinkles. Whereas Poseidon may have smiled a lot, John did not. Poseidon's throne was a deep-sea fisherman's chair. It was a simple swiveling kind, with a black leather seat and a built-in holster for a fishing pole. Instead of fishing pole, the holster held a bronze trident, flickering with green light around the tips.
John looked around and noticed that the other thrones represented the other Gods personalities. Ares nodded at John in a respectful greeting as he then stood from his own personal throne and shrank down to Johns size and changed into his Colonel Troutman persona, in his full military regalia. After shaking Johns hand, Ares stood beside John on his right as he always did in the past. One of the Goddesses John noticed had a hard time looking at him without getting teary-eyed, as for some reason John's very presence made her somewhat emotional.
Ares revealed her to be Athena. Before John had a chance to continue to look upon her, a voice cleared itself as Zeus had needed to acquire his attention.
When Zeus had looked into the eyes of John Rambo, he saw a worn and tired look, but he also saw the look of someone who needed just a push and would not hesitate to bring harm upon the one doing the pushing, maybe even go so far as to kill said pusher. The years had not been kind to John, but his body had gone beyond the peak of human perfection, and was now only worn and weathered. 'Yes, John would do well for my daughter,' he thought to himself.
Athena could barely look away from the only true mortal she ever loved. She didn't care that he was a Demi-God son of her long time nemesis and uncle. She never left John's side really, though she wanted more than anything to take him into her arms and into her home for all eternity, just so he didn't have to suffer as a mortal anymore. And now here he was finally getting his chance to be recognized and knew John knew why he was here. She noticed past the weathered and worn look of John Rambo, how he kept turning his eyes on her as if trying to figure out the connection between them.
None of this surprised Ares when he saw how John and Athena kept shooting one another looks as John's mind sought to unravel or solve the puzzle and mystery of the woman's familiarity to him. Though Athena knew everything, John did not and was the one trying to solve the riddle as he had been trained to do.
Clearing his throat, Zeus got down to business. "It is good to finally meet you John. I and the other Gods have heard much about you. Do you know why you are here?"
John nodded without a word. That was John for you, a man that didn't talk much. Just a man of few words, who if given an assignment, studied the mission and the enemy, the enemies stronghold, look for in's and out's, and go do what he was trained to do. To adapt to whatever changes needed to be made during the mission. And if someone needed killing, no hesitation. It was a lesson drilled into him by the military and his CO Colonel Troutman/Ares, and it was something that stuck throughout his life. It's what made him the man he was today.
"Poseidon, who I believe you know to be on my right, has decided to unbind your powers and connection to the sea as he is your father," John didn't even bother looking at the Sea God which kind of hurt Poseidon's feelings, yet he knew he could not blame John for this, as he was never much a father if at all since John was first born. "But first, we need to de-age you, and we also need to know, will you help us? Help your cousins, the other Demi-God children?"
All through the day before after speaking with Ares, and having a long talk with his father and studying the Gods through his fathers library, he realized he he couldn't let the world end. Once again, old men started something and the young was being sent in to do the fighting. Ares had revealed to him the accomplishments of his deceased half-brother as he had thoroughly studied the file the War God left behind. John broke from his reverie and nodded yet again without a word.
Zeus leaned back in his throne with a relieved sigh and called out to his son Apollo. John looked to the man Zeus called Apollo who was now shrinking to a human size. The man radiated a playboy/prankster attitude. But for the moment transfigured his clothes into a set of light blue medical clothing along with a white medical robe. He held out his left hand, "Hey big guy, names Apollo. I'll be the one healing you and reversing the signs of aging on you."
John took the hand and shook it as he said only one word, "John!" Apollo nodded as he realized that John Rambo truly was a man of few words from the stories Athena and Ares told everybody, and proceeded to touch Johns right shoulder. John felt a warm sensation run through him as Apollo's powers went to work reversing Johns age. When he removed his hand, Apollo brought out a mirror and held it out to John who gazed upon what he once looked like when he first returned to the States from Vietnam.
He still had the long messy mane of hair and hardened build that he originally had back in and after Vietnam.
"Oh my...," A new voice choked out as John lowered the mirror to face a woman who when he looked upon her was the ideal kind of woman he liked as he envisioned her as the only woman he ever loved, "Co?", he whispered in wide-eyed shock. What he envisioned was the last set of clothes Co wore when she died in his arms. The same red dress, black pants, same hair, the same look, the same everything.
Ares looked between Aphrodite and John and realized John saw Co Bau due to the effects Aphrodites powers or aura have on almost all men and then looked to Athena who realized what was happening as she shrank and shifted to the form John thought he saw. She walked up to him and gently turned his cheek to gaze upon her, and spoke in the voice only he would recognize, "John Rambo."
That snapped John back to reality as he looked upon Co Bau for the first time in over thirty years. John stepped back a bit, wanting to deny what he was seeing, but for some reason he could not. "But you died. I buried you."
Athena looked down and then to her family in asking silently for a recess so she could talk to John alone. Zeus and the others understood the look as they all got up quietly and left the throne room. Athena in her Co Bau persona took John by the hand and walked him over to Hestia's furnace where she sat down and gazed at the fire. John remained standing and silent to allow her time to come up with a suitable explanation.
When the Throne Room was empty, Athena who was looking around a bit to ensure they had their privacy, looked back to John, "John, I know I have a lot to explain, I...'Omph'" was as far as she got as John's lips attacked her own with a fiery passion as his arms snaked around her midsection and brought her to stand and be held against his own body.
Normally, any man who tried such a thing to her would wind up dead or cursed, yet this was the man she loved as her moment of surprise changed to lust and love as her arms snaked around his neck and her hands found his hair as he lifted her up. She squealed with a smile as he smiled as well, her legs kicking up in happiness. They both continued to show their love for one another until both needed air. He leaned his head to hers and gasped out, "I've missed you, more than you'll ever know."
"As I have missed you, John." She then had him lower her and asked him to sit with her as she explained how she was always with him in spirit yet continued her duties as the Goddess of wisdom and other such titles. She spoke fondly of her children and as such convinced John that once the war was over, that if he was willing, that they could grant him a long life to be with her for all eternity. But the danger of Kronos was still a problem that needed to be dealt with lest he succeed in his plans and destroys the world. Remaining silent, John took it all in stride and gave his answer through a kiss that she only happily obliged him in return.
After a bit, they rested their foreheads on one another again and closed their eyes, as their hands clasped each other, not noticing that both hands fit together as if it was meant to be. After some time passed, the council returned as Ares once more took his place beside John on his right while Athena remained standing beside John on his left, with her hands fingers still interlaced with his own. Zeus smiled at this as Poseidon then assumed an appropriate human size and placed a hand on John's left chest muscle and began to glow Sea Green.
John gasped as the power rushed through him as after Poseidon finished, he looked upon his father who explained that he would need training in the use of his powers. Poseidon revealed that after speaking with Zeus how he would be allowed to take him to his underwater Kingdom, Atlantis. There he would meet his brothers Tyson and Triton.
Athena would remain on Olympus until Johns return from his training with Poseidon in order to master his gifts over the Sea and his connection to it, and upon his return, Athena alongside Ares would introduce John to the other Demi-Gods of Camp-Halfblood, as well as the director Chiron.
Several months later
The Goddess Athena was attending to some of her responsibilities on Olympus while she was still mentally aiding her daughter Annabeth in consoling her as she was still in mourning of Charles death. She had just wished Annabeth a good night and to get some rest when a pair of strong arms wrapped around her midsection. Not expecting anyone anytime soon, she quickly spun around to punch the assaulting party that dared to touch her until her fist met a flat palm that then gently folded over her own as she gasped, and gazed upon the very image of the man she loved as John Rambo, looking as he did the very moment she and he first met when she was in her mortal form as the Undercover female Agent. He was even wearing the same clothes, same headband, knife strapped to his right side. His skin tone, though once again young, was still the same dark hue he always had due to the radiance of the Sun and the effects it had upon his skin.
"John!" She whispered as he nodded with a small hint of a smile as he leaned down and brought his lips to her own. Her arms unconsciously snaked around his neck as she returned the kiss with equal passion until a throat clearing itself brought them back to Olympus. Both stopped and turned to an amused Poseidon whom wore a small smirk, pushed himself from against a marble pillar, and began to walk over to both individuals, stopping several feet from them and gazed upon them both with approval in his eyes.
"Well, what do you think, niece? Did I and Triton do a good job?" The Sea God asked, placing his hands behind his back and clasping them together.
Athena laid her head upon Johns chest and nodded into it as she smelt the familiar smell that he always exhumed when he toiled under the sun. She realized when she found out Johns true heritage what the smell he gave off was, it was of the Sea, the Earth, and Metal. Leaning back to gaze at his eyes, the look he had though tired, showed strength not even Hercules possessed. And though the bastard half-brother of hers was infinitely stronger than John, she knew that John had skills not even Hercules knew or had that John would undoubtedly use to beat her half-brother stood, as she knew he had no chance against John's deadly skills.
A few hours after meeting with the rest of the Olympians again, John alongside his father, Athena, and Ares, transported themselves to the boundary line in front of Camp Halfbloods portal. From there, John was introduced to Chiron though John only remained quiet while Poseidon and Ares did most of the talking. Athena knew John didn't like to talk much at all, his smiles of reassurance to her showed he understood as he would take over where his fallen brother left off.
Poseidon of course kept thinking back how though John didn't barely say a word to him while being trained in the uses of his now unbound powers, they did have their arguments that Amphitrite was forced to get into the middle of as Mediator. Even then, she and John Rambo did not get along, but they had learned to get along and work together for the same cause as she had to play peace keeper as John didn't right off trust or forgive Poseidon right away. But it did take time for both father and sons to come together and complete the task in ensuring John was ready for his return to the surface. John had mastered his abilities quickly due to his military training and his belief that his mind was a greater weapon than anything as he adapted well into his role as a Demi-God.
Triton and John came to blows of course as Poseidon was wanted to step in to stop it, until his wife thought it best to let the brothers solve it themselves, and what came out of that fight was a set of brothers who understood one another and came to not only respect one another, but both had earned each others trust after talking it out once both realized that they were an equal match against each other physically.
Athena at this time took John by the arm and proceeded to show John around the Camp, whereas whatever Demi-God had gazed upon the Goddess and Rambo, they'd bow to the Goddess while trying to keep from wetting themselves in John's presence.
So, give me a sitrep whether you liked this Chapter or not, and will see if I can do better on the next one. Until next time.