Chapter 1: A Mutual Enemy
Complications, but with a surprising offer
~ Two years later ~
Percy twirled the pen around his fingers as he thought about every single possibility. He ran his hand through his hair when he couldn't think of a solution. This was truly a better job for Annabeth, but she wasn't there now. He stopped twirling the pen and put it behind his ear.
He looked at the map of New York City on the table again, before he looked at the map of East America on the wall. NYC had become their Eastern Stronghold, ever since the mortals found out the truth about them. That he'd gotten the job to protect the city, was just his luck.
It didn't take long for the mortals to know the truth, after they'd seen it. The unclaimed demi-gods were easily discovered when the mortals found out the usual symptoms - ADHD and Dyslexia. At first, they were just outcasts, but later people started to abuse them - physically and mentally. When they'd started to fight back, they were marked as dangerous by the mortals.
Percy sighed. Their numbers had been growing thin, since the mortals rejected the demi-gods. With that, and the fact that nobody had heard from the Gods since that day - we aren't even able to go to Olympus or to IM them -, they were losing this war.
He was brought out of his thoughts when the door opened. Percy watched as Malcolm bowed his head slightly and entered the room with a nervous look on his face. "What is it, Malcolm?"
"We have guests, my lord."
Percy scowled playfully at him. "How many times have I told you not to call me that?"
He just smirked. "Not enough, my lord."
Percy narrowed his eyes at him and sat up. He took a final glance at the map of NYC, before he walked with Malcolm into the elevator. "So, who are the visitors?", he said as the elevator closed. The music in the background was getting on his nerves - he really wished Apollo would've changed it already - but maybe it was just that it didn't fit the situation they were in.
"A diplomat from the Mortal Forces and his two companions", Malcolm said. Percy looked as the numbers above the doors went from 91 to 90. He really hated living on one of the top floors, but this way he did have a good view on the city in case something went wrong.
"Why would they be here?", Percy mused, "We already know they don't want peace with us." He clenched his fists as he recalled what happened when the mortals found out his identity.
Malcolm looked worried at him. "Maybe something changed?"
Percy gritted his teeth. "Maybe", then he ran his hand through his hair and sighed. "I really wish Annabeth was here."
Malcolm sighed too. "Me too, but we both know she is more needed in San Francisco."
Percy nodded, but that didn't mean he actually liked it. He wanted her to be with him, so he could protect her - even if he knew she was capable of protecting herself just fine. Ever since Tartarus, he had wanted to be with her and build up a future for the both of them, and he knew Annabeth felt the same way, but she unfortunately knew what's more important.
The Western Stronghold had been in trouble for five months now. Ever since the air-force attack, their numbers had decreased immensely. Reyna and Frank were trying their best they could, but they were close to losing the city, so they needed help. And guess who was the best in making - almost - impossible strategies...
I weird feeling came up in his stomach as the elevator stopped at the 4th floor. The doors opened and he was met with Alice, a 16 year old daughter of Mercury, and Tom, a 14 year old son of Apollo. They both bowed, which made Percy frown, and showed him the way toward room 4.19, where his [guests] were probably waiting.
When they were done, he thanked them and told them to go back to their posts, which they happily did. He sighed before opening the door. He was surprised to see two other demi-gods guarding the three mortals, who each sat on a chair around the table. "Leave us", he ordered, which they did.
He forced a smile at the guests, grabbed a chair to sit on and joined them around the table. "Well, hello everyone. Welcome to the Empire State building! The highest and most populated building in America", he said with faked excitement.
He was greeted with two nods and a glare. Percy raised an eyebrow at that. "I was told we would meet the leader of this stronghold, not a child." Percy narrowed his eyes at the talker.
The man had a small, half grey beard and was wearing a business suit, which made Percy think of Zeus. He had a stern look on his face and his brown eyes were glaring at Percy. He looked around his 50's. Percy leaned backward and sighed. This is going to be a long day. "Please state your business here", he said, ignoring the man's statement.
The older man wanted to speak up again, but his companion stopped him. Percy looked at the man. He appeared to be much younger, around 30, with his short blonde hair and a more easy-going outfit. "Before we go into business, let's introduce ourselves first. My name is Brian", Percy nodded at him,"and I'm going to do the talking here", Brian glared at the older man.
"This is Alfred and Claire", the latter smiled at Percy. She had long, curly, black hair and blue eyes. Claire was wearing a white blouse and silver earrings. There were starting to form wrinkles on her forehead, so she look around 45 years old. Percy smiled back at her, before turning to Brian.
"I'll introduce myself too then. My name is Percy."
Alfred laughed. "you are Percy Jackson? HA! Don't let me laugh", Percy felt his anger boiling up. Brian scowled at Alfred, while Claire just shifted uncomfortably. "I bet you're not even strong enough to lift a finger at me! You're just a pathetic little child who wants to play war with us. Let me tell you this, kid, you know nothing of warfare."
Alfred stood up and walked toward the door, but suddenly stood still as Percy raised his hand. "I wouldn't do that if I were you", threatened Percy. He moved the water in Alfred's hand toward his neck. "You might want to strangle yourself." Percy could feel that the old man tried to resist Percy's force, but he couldn't do anything about it. After all, two-third of the human body was made of water.
Percy had learned that in the second Giant War, but Annabeth had begged him not to do it again. He could still see her pleading eyes. But during the last few years, something snapped within Percy, especially after his parents were murdered. He tried to hide it to his friends, but when he was angry...
Claire, who understood what Percy was doing, suddenly stood up. "Please stop", she begged him. He looked at her and she winced at his threatening glare. She bit her lip and mastered all of her courage. "Stop doing this. You're killing him!"
Percy gritted his teeth and loosened the grip of Alfred's hand a bit. He could hear the old man breath painfully. That made Brian come out of his shock. "Stop this at once. We're here on a diplomatic mission, not to insult or kill each other!"
Percy released his grip on Alfred, who immediately fell on his knees, breathing heavily. That made Percy realize what he'd done. He sighed and ran his hand through his hair to calm himself down.
He waited until everyone sat down again, including Alfred, who was sitting as far as he could from Percy. "Why have you come here? Clearly not to have a tea party", he said as he glared at Alfred. The man returned the glare, but soon adverted his eyes.
"My apologies for Alfred's actions, my lord", Brian said. Percy raised an eyebrow on that. There must be a lot of stake if a mortal, even if he was a diplomat, would call him a lord. What Brian didn't know, though, was that Percy hated formalities.
"Apologies from my side as well", Percy said sheepishly, "I shouldn't have let my anger get the best of me. Now, let's get back to the question of why you came here."
Brian nodded. "Let me show you", he took a tablet out of his bag, which Percy hadn't even seen at first. He tabbed his finger a few times on the screen, before he gave it to Percy. On the screen was a map of North East America. Some area's were colored red, but the most were blue. "The red colored area's are in your hold and blue ones in ours."
Then, he tabbed the screen again. The Northern part of the state New York lost its blue color, just like entire New Jersey and half Pennsylvania. Percy gave Brian a questioning look. "These white area's will be destroyed by the monsters if we don't stop them."
Percy nodded thoughtfully, knowing where the mortal was getting at. "So you want us to help you kill them, since you can't." Brian nodded in confirmation. "But what's in it for us?"
As an answer, Brian tabbed another time on the screen. This time, the entire area was white. "If the monsters take over our area's, they have you surrounded. With your numbers, you won't be able to win that fight. You should strike while you can, before it's too late, even if it means helping us with defending our area's."
Percy frowned. It was a good plan for all of them, but he didn't like the idea of working with the mortals after all they did. He could sense that everyone else thought the same way, including the mortals. Even if they would help, the city would vulnerable for any attacks.
Now, he really wanted Annabeth there to help making a decision. He knew he shouldn't try to Iris Message her during this meeting, since that would question his 'leadership'. He sighed. He really wanted that stupid school again. Percy took his pen from his ear and began to twirl it around his fingers again. He had discovered a while go that it helped him concentrate.
He took a piece of paper from out of his pocket. "Do you have a pen?" They gave him weird looks, but eventually Claire gave him her pen. Percy smiled at her and began scratching a few things on the paper. "How many numbers will they use?"
They all frowned. Alfred was the one who spoke up. "If our knowledge about this matter is correct, they use around 5000 monsters in total, but we're not for sure."
Percy wrote the number on the piece of paper. He looked at the tablet-screen again and drew five dots on the paper - which were the places where he thought the monsters would attack - with a number next to it. "How many soldiers will you have available?"
"1500, that is excluding 700 specialized troops, but we don't know that for sure", Brian answered. Percy did wrote new numbers under the others and frowned as he did the calculations. What?! I hate math!
Percy nodded as he looked at the result on his drawing. "We'll do it, but under one condition."
"And what's that?", Brian asked.
"We'll be in charge of the operation."
[A/N]: And here is chapter 1 ;D Oh and I forgot to say this the last chapter: Percy will be somewhat OOC, including some other characters. I hope to keep it to a minimum...
So, let's talk about why I'm so happy... Because you guys are awesome of course! ;D I mean, I almost fainted when I saw that I had so many mails in by inbox :O I love it, I love you and thank you! Keep being awesome and you'll have some cookies: (::) (::) (::)! Haha...hehe..ehh..ehm..well...yeah... xD I love real cookies over digital ones, too...
To TheMockingjay1998: Thank you ^^ I know it's been done before, but I want to write the concept in my way and style, so I hope I'll succeed ;) I'm glad you like it :D
To Di Blythe: Hahah thank youu like always :D I hope you liked this chapter too ;P If you have some idea's for the story, please tell me ;) Like if I should add romantic in this story (like The Hidden Gladiator) or not... I don't know if it will fit the story xD But I know how much you love Jasper hahaha ;D
To BookReader10: Thank you! Hope you liked this chapter ;)
To hiting: Thanks! Here's the update ^^
To PJoHoOFan: There you go ;D Thank you to you too!
Wow, I thanked a lot of people xD Oh well, I love reviews, so yeah... ;) If you have time, please leave one ;) It helps me write :)
'Till next time ^^
Xx Anny