Chapter 4: War Meeting
A Matter of Introductions
Percy nodded in approval as he saw his assembled men, demigods and mortals alike. Annabeth had helped him picking out the right men that would accompany him in Washington DC, including the mortals that were on their side.
When the demigods had started living in New York, many mortals had moved for their own reasons. Most of them wanted safety, others just hated the demigods and the monsters they brought with them - according to them. There were still mortals, though, that still wanted to live in their homes. Some of those mortals even sided with the demigods after hearing their stories.
Annabeth had reasoned that those mortals would act as some sort of sign that they were able to work together. Luckily, those who wanted to fight, had been trained in Camp Half-Blood by either Chiron or Clarisse. Percy already pitied those who were trained by the war god's daughter.
Unlike Camp Jupiter, Camp Half-Blood still existed, even if almost no new demigods arrived at the camp. It still kept its purpose to train demigods and now also mortals, but Percy had heard from Chiron that the Golden Fleece was slowly losing its power. If the camp would somehow lose its boundaries, the camp would also be lost. That would be a great loss to them all and since no one was able to think of a solution, it was most likely to happen.
"What about us?", Percy turned and saw Malcolm looking at him questioningly.
"I want you to take charge here", he said. Malcolm seemed to protest, but Percy cut him off. "You know just as much as I do that you are the best man for the job. Just be careful for any unexpected attacks."
Malcolm frowned, but nodded at that. "You never know if they'll keep their word", he reasoned. "Are you still certain that you'll be able to pull it off? I mean, you leave most of your men here."
Percy looked at the small army again and sighed. "It's all we have, but the mortals will just have to deal with it. If they want our protection, they'll get it, but our home is far more important."
The son of Athena nodded. "I'll be going then, my lord", he bowed with a smirk on his face and entered the tower again. Percy rolled his eyes at his actions, but had given up on questioning them. He knew that Malcolm just called him that to irritate him, while most others just didn't know better than to call him like that.
It had started a while back, when they were deciding which role everyone would get. The praetors, Frank and Reyna, were to defend the Western Stronghold: Camp Jupiter, that still existed back then, and San Francisco. Percy was to defend the Eastern Stronghold, but after all the fighting, he had gained far more influence in both strongholds. And soon, they had started to call him names and decided he was more than just the leader of the Eastern Stronghold.
Percy had rejected that role at first, since he knew that others were fitter for the job. Jason, for instance, was more of a leader than him, but Jason had lost his touch after Leo died. Percy knew that Jason blamed himself and his leadership for Leo's death, even if that absolutely made no sense. The son of Jupiter didn't want to be a leader anymore and Percy respected that decision.
Nico also didn't want to be a leader, even if Percy knew that Nico was more powerful than him, in one way or another. And not to think about Annabeth... She, though, had insisted that Percy would become the leader of the demigods. Even if that title wasn't an official one, people had started to call him that way. Eventually, it had escalated to him being a 'lord', much to his displease.
Percy sighed and ran his hand through his hair. He saw that everyone was looking at him expectantly, as if hoping that he would give a speech of some sort. Knowing that he couldn't back out now, Percy called for everyone's attention.
"I know that some of you don't want to fight with the Mortal Forces and I know that some of them don't want to fight with us", some nodded at that, "but what I do know is that we need each other to survive. So let's kick some monster's asses in the process." It was a short speech, but that didn't keep them from roaring in approval. Percy smirked at that and did his best taxicab whistle.
"Everyone, take your vehicles and head toward DC. I'll be there short after." When everyone was gone, Percy could hear his black pegasus landing behind him. "Hey, Blackjack", he said while turning toward the winged stallion.
"Hey, boss", Blackjack whinnied, "got any donuts for me?"
Percy rolled his eyes and took a few sugar cubes out of his pockets. "I don't have donuts, but I'm sure you can manage with some sugar cubes."
Blackjack nodded - which looked really weird - and ate the sugar cubes out of Percy's hands. Percy smiled and stroked the pegasus' forehead. "So, what do you need me for, boss?"
"I need you to take me to Washington DC."
Tyson opened his eye and found himself tied up in what seemed like a prison. He could feel the water around him, so he guessed he was still under water, but when he tried to use his powers, nothing happened. All what he could think about is how he was still alive.
He remembered charging Scylla and Charybdis, while the others were heading toward the city. He remembered almost being sucked in the whirlpool that Charybdis had created and escaping his death by using the sea's currents (something he'd learned from his brother). Fighting those two monsters had been exhaustion, but it wasn't the reason why he lost.
He knew that he had been attacked from behind while fighting Scylla and Charybdis, but he couldn't remember who it was or what happened after that. And now, he was locked in a cage under water that he couldn't control.
He tried it again, but still no movement. "Well, well... If it isn't general Tyson... You have no powers over these waters, you know."
Tyson looked up and his eye widened when he saw who the voice belonged to. How could he forget the titan that had attacked Atlantis three years ago? "Oceanus."
The Father of the Waters smirked at the cyclops. "So you haven't forgot about me. I was almost afraid you did."
Tyson frowned. "Where am I? What are you doing here? What happened?"
"My, my, is it so strange that I attack Atlantis? It was my old home after all, before Poseidon claimed the sea as his realm and took over the city", the titan said with a frown on his face. "Anyway, where you are doesn't matter."
"What happened?", Tyson asked again.
"I took what's mine. Atlantis is in my control now", Oceanus shrugged. Tyson's eye widened at that and he gritted his teeth. He couldn't believe that everything was lost in such little time.
Then, something occurred to him. "So that's why those monsters could breathe underwater", he reasoned. He looked at Oceanus for confirmation, who just smiled.
"You're smarter than people think", the titan noticed, "yes, I wanted everything done as soon as possible, so I gathered as many of monsters as I could. Including land monsters. But don't worry about your friends. Most of the citizens are still held captive, except for your fellow warriors though."
Tyson let out a breath of relief at the thought that Ella was still alive, but soon frowned again. If the other cyclopes were killed... "Why am I still alive?"
Oceanus smiled as if Tyson just asked the question that he wanted him to ask. "Why, isn't that obvious? I need you, of course."
"For what?"
"Leverage."
Walter Harthfield rubbed the side of his head and frowned as he continued to listen to his colleagues. "I will not allow this to escalate any further", minister Peterson of Defence continued, "we need every help we can get against those monsters. We can't risk to lose this city. Thousands, no, millions of people will die if that happens."
"But to ask those so called demigods is absurd", minister Wright of Justice argued, "we cannot let those children roam through our city. We all know that they are equally, if not more, dangerous than those monsters. They'll pose a great threat if they are allowed to enter the city."
"The fact that they are more dangerous than those monsters is exactly why we need them!", Peterson exclaimed, "without them, we're guaranteed to fail. Only the Special Forces are able to kill a considerable amount of monsters, but most of them are already in San Francisco. Many soldiers will die defending the city and I don't want to be responsible for all those women and children that will mourn over their deaths."
"Those women and children will be dead before their husband or father are, if those demigods take over DC", minister Barnes of Information pointed out. He sighed. "Can you at least give us some information about what happened during that meeting, minister Harthfield? All you've told us is that they've agreed to our proposition. We need details about this."
Harthfield nodded and walked toward the mic in the middle of the room. "Alright. So, as you all know, we had sent 3 diplomats to New York and they had all arrived in the Empire State Building without a fuss. Inside, they were confronted with their leader, Perseus Jackson", a few gasps were heard throughout the room, "but that didn't go all smoothly as we planned."
The minister of Home Affairs stopped talking, thinking if he should tell the others of what had happened there or not. It could negatively affect how they'd react, after all. He decided to do it anyway, though, since holding back information could get him in serious trouble.
"After one of our diplomats had insulted him and wanted to leave the room, Jackson used his powers and stopped the man from moving. The angered demigod made an attempt to kill him, but the other diplomats stopped him. After that, his anger went away as snow for the sun", many frowned at the new information. This was proof of how dangerous those demigods could truly be.
"When everyone had calmed down, the meeting continued without any complications. Jackson agreed to the proposition after hearing of our situation, but only if he would lead the armies." As soon as Harthfield stopped talking, Hell broke lose throughout the room.
"How could you hold back that information?", Peterson demanded, "I will not have them lead our army. It's true that I want them to help us, but I didn't agree to this."
Harthfield narrowed his eyes at the minister of Defence. "It's because of this that I didn't tell you this. We need them to help us with the monsters and we couldn't refuse to this. Him demanding this was only logical, seeing his situation. I will not let this city fall because of arrogance. The agreement has already been made, a cease-fire is already in action and they're already on our way - if my information is correct."
The minister of Home Affairs turned and walked toward the exit. "This meeting is over", he said before slamming the door shut behind his back, leaving a lot of angry ministers behind.
[A/N]: Here's chapter 4! So, before you send be flames, please let me explain this: the entire US government system is one big mystery to me. I've studied every page in Wikipedia about this, plus I recalled some history lessons of 2 years ago, but I still don't understand a thing. So, I used the Dutch government system (which is much easier to understand for me) as a basic here... Sorry about this, but I tried ;)
Oceanus is the bad guy! D: I just can't picture him as a truly evil titan, though... Just like in TLO, he seems to have his own reasons to attack Atlantis - so not (only) for Kronos. I mean, I see him as the most powerful titan, but not the evillest.
Anyway... A lot of explanations in this chapter ;) I'm dying to know what you think about all this ;)
To Di Blythe: Let me give you a digital hug, haha ;P. And yes, this can get awesomer (I hope) ;) Love uuu xxx
To Olympus97: Well, they couldn't fight like that, because they would be an easy target if the mortals used guns... It would be far more effective if they'd spread out and be fast in eliminating them. If you'd read HoH, you know that Jason gave up his life as a Roman, when he gave up his position as a praetor to Frank... ;) And the other question is answered in this chapter ;P Hope you liked the answers xD And I hope Leo doesn't die in BoO too...
To Chayton: Hahaha, yeah totally! He's like an angel of darkness ;3
To kisa kuchiky: English, please? I don't understand Spanish and Google Translate isn't much of a help ;).
'Till next time ^^
Xx Anny