A/N: Hope you liked the last chapter! This one will be a lot more serious. Also, you'll get the real action you've been waiting for! As each chapter flows into the next, the story gets much less tongue-in-cheek and starts becoming deeper. Enjoy!
Third Person POV
"Just like me," a man said over a panting body, which was kneeling down in a pool of blood. "You asked for this. I trusted you. Thought you could handle it. And like a tissue, you allowed me to use you and throw you away. I pity you."
The boy kneeling before Ares had been forced into that state, obviously. His clothes were tattered and his face was covered in beads of sweat. He was practically begging for salvation, hoping someone would swoop in and slay the monster in front of him. But it wasn't always a monster. It used to be a man he trusted.
When the boy failed to answer, the hooded man would kick him and throw him around, causing the pools of blood to grow more and more.
"I WAS A FOOL TO TRUST YOU!" the man yelled, his voice breaking. "I WANTED TO HELP YOU! I ONLY WANTED TO HELP! BUT INSTEAD, YOU CHOSE HER! THAT SPAWN OF ATHENA! SHE MAKES YOU WEAK! LESS OF A MAN! PRAY I DON'T KILL YOU NOW!"
The boy lay silent on the floor. He was on the verge of death now, and had no more energy to fight. He looked over his shoulder, gazing at his surroundings. Though no words came out, he wanted to scream to the heavens when he saw her: an almost lifeless body lying opposite him on the other end of the room, her blonde hair messy and her gray eyes barely open. Around her laid a shorter boy, with black messy hair and olive-tinted skin that grew paler with each passing second, and a tanned boy that he didn't recognize. The boy had blond hair and tattoos on his arm, and was crawling towards the other two, desperate to save them from death before him.
The boy that was being beaten turned his head back to the other end of his body, and tried to get up.
"I-I am n-nothing l-like you," he croaked, gripping the silver pen that lay beside him. "I-I trusted you t-too. YOU failed m-me."
"You are EXACTLY like me. I TAUGHT you that way. And now you know NOTHING else. I made you…the perfect warrior."
"BY KILLING THE PEOPLE I LOVE! YOU ARE NO MENTOR OF MINE!"
"You stole my girl. Remember THAT?"
"SHE kissed ME. I wouldn't do that to y-you. I love HER." The boy pointed to the unconscious blonde girl on the floor.
"Well, an eye for an eye. You take mine, I take yours…literally."
The man raised a blade and grabbed the girl, earning an outburst from the boy. "NOOO!" he yelled, activating the silver pen, which transformed into a silver trident. Intercepting the man's swing, the boy managed to release the man's grip on his lover, and the two held their weapons in place, locked and in each other's faces.
"LAY A FINGER ON HER, AND I RIP YOU APART WITH MY BARE HANDS."
"Go ahead. I dare you."
Without warning, the man kneed the boy in his gut, causing him to fall to the floor again. Defeated, the boy dropped his trident and lay there, caressing his love firmly in his arms as he awaited punishment.
"She'll wake up in HELL," the man spat, raising his blade. "Goodbye, Perseus Jackson."
The boy looked down at the girl, tears streaming down his cheeks now. "I'm sorry, Annabeth. I promised you, and…I failed. Forgive me, please…
"Forgive me…"
The last thing the boy felt was a pain in the small of his back, and then everything went dark.
Percy woke with a start, panting and gasping for breath. He had slept shirtless that night, and was covered in beads of sweat. He cupped his face in his hands, regulating his heartbeat. Running fingers through his now rough and sticky black hair, he got up and walked outside the cabin. It was the weekend, and tonight the Big House lounge was open for campers, new and old, who had trouble sleeping.
Percy grudgingly dragged himself into the lounge, searching high and low for something to drink. Walking over to the snack area, he found a brown-haired boy standing near the kitchen island, drinking a soda. He had to have been a new camper, as he did not look a day over 14.
Percy walked over into the kitchen, scratching his head, and then yawned. While stretching, he involuntarily flexed his muscles and cracked his elbows, causing the boy to turn and notice him.
"Can't sleep?"
"How'd you tell?"
"Because you're not sleeping. It's five o' clock in the morning."
"Oh. Well, we all kinda partied hard-y last night."
"MOST of us."
"Couldn't come?"
"I came, I had fun…until the Ares cabin decided to 'initiate' the first-year campers."
"Damn. Sorry, bud. If they try anything with you, come find me. They won't mess with a kid whose friends with me."
The boy chuckled and sighed. "And who exactly is you?"
"Percy Jackson."
At that, the boy choked and spit out his orange soda, causing Percy to drop the cup he had picked up.
"Y-you're Percy Jackson? The Percy Jackson?"
"You seem to be a fan. Couldn't tell it was me?"
"I thought you were…younger."
Percy took a glass from the cupboard and used it as a mirror. The boy had a point. Percy had looked exhausted, and hadn't shaved in weeks, giving him a light shadow across his face. With all that against him, he was also about 6'1 now, making him look as though he were in his twenties.
"I just turned sixteen in August. But being me takes away from my natural, young-looking face I guess. I've been under a lot of stress."
"Heh…thirsty? There's some soda in the fridge," the boy said, smiling in admiration. The boy had looked up to Percy ever since he came to camp. He was undeniably his favorite demigod hero.
"So what's your name?" Percy asked while pouring some soda into the cup in his hands.
"Timothy, son of Hecate."
"Hecate, eh? Can you do magic?"
Timothy responded with levitating Percy's cup from out of his hands, then lifting the soda from out of it, suspending the liquid high above his head. While suspending the liquid, he caused the soda to glow with vibrant, almost neon rainbow colors in a way that would be suicidal for an epileptic person. Percy grinned.
"We would be perfect in a duo act on stage."
"How so?"
Immediately, Percy closed his eyes and attempted to tap into the water within the soda. Using all of his focus, he opened his eyes and began to guide the still glowing soda through the air above their heads. Then, taking his other hand, he waved each end of the soda and made it spin in a vortex above them, earning a laugh from Timothy.
"How did you do that?"
"Well, my dad taught me some tricks a little while ago, and—"
Before Percy could finish the thought, the boys jumped at the sound of a large explosion and blood-curdling screams…from within the camp.
Running outside, Percy's jaw dropped at what he saw. The entire camp was engulfed in flames, and the cabins were also being burned, one by one. There were even a few campers that were set on fire themselves, and had no water o fire extinguisher to run to.
Then, from out of the fire, walked a murderous-looking figure. He was dressed in a black leather jacket, skinny jeans, and Vans. His black hair was doused with hair gel and slightly spiked, and he had blood on his hands and running down his chin form the corner of his mouth.
"Hey, kids!" he cackled. "Where's the party? You all look…terrified."
Deimos.
Ares, the God of War, gave Percy every tip and piece of advice he chose to offer. And yet he had no decency to inform the boy that he'd be attacked on his home front without warning? Awesome. Just awesome.
"DEIMOS! What the hell do you think you are doing? Leave at once!"
Deimos just smirked. "Nice try Jackson. I warned you that I'd see you on the battlefield about five chapters ago." (A/N: Deimos will break the fourth wall a lot. And keep in mind that no one knows what the hell he's talking about.)
"What? What does that even mean?"
"Never mind what I said. I'm here to get your ass out of the way before Gaea gets really irritated with you poking in her business."
"Gaea? You're kidding."
"GODS, you're dense. Yes, Gaea. She's slept for so long. And you and your friends are gonna try to put her back to sleep. But they can't do that. Not without YOU."
"You can't beat Percy Jackson, Deimos! He kicks all kinds of ass!" Timothy yelled in support.
"Is that so, spawn of Hecate?"
"Yes! Gods, Demigods, monsters, Titans, acne…sometimes pains in his pelvis! And there was one time he was in his bedroom and a spider was on the wall, so he had to—"
"Tim?"
"Yeah, Percy?"
"You don't have to give him a rundown of my weekly schedule."
"…Oh. Sorry."
Without warning, Deimos lunged at Percy and Timothy, but not without being fended off by Percy, who quickly enough activated Riptide from his pocket. Timothy ducked, screaming for Percy to "beat up the dude from Grease," while the two men's swords clashed and clanged. Percy was, for the most part, on the defensive side, while Deimos attacked him.
It was particularly easy for Deimos, as he was fueled by anger and the terror around him. After all, when you're the God of Terror, mass panic is like your drug. He was in a frenzy of fighting, and never missed a step. Percy was one of the best sword fighters in demigod history, and even he had trouble keeping up. Maybe because he was exhausted due to the fact that it was past 5:00 AM.
"Getting a little rusty, eh, Jackson?" Deimos taunted as he hopped around and parried.
Percy made no mistake, however, and started getting fancy with his moves. At one time, he twisted and blocked Deimos from behind, in an attempt to catch the God off guard. The blades moved with such speed that Timothy, who was now hiding by a bush, could barely see the swords fly by as they cut through the air.
Deimos was no fighter, but still had an advantage of being the War God's son. There was a natural talent for swordsmanship that both men had acquired, with the exception of Percy, who had actually improved on his natural skill. This was most likely the only thing keeping Percy alive in battle: experience and ADHD.
The two men eventually had to slow down, because the heat emanating from the fire had dehydrated the God. Luckily, Percy had a resistance to heat and fire, due to the "water within him", something a naiad had told him about two years back. With the Son of Poseidon having the upper hand, Timothy began to cheer Percy on, giving him motivation.
Finally, with a burst of energy and a Ryu-yell, "AAIIIII-YO-KEN", Percy pushed his blade off of Deimos' sword and then flipped his sword upside down and cut Deimos' leg, causing him to stumble. When the God spit blood from his mouth and charged back at him, Percy flipped his sword right-side up and blocked his swing, finally grabbing a hold of Deimos' arm and kicking his in the chest, sending him flying into the dirt. Percy smirked at the pained God before him.
"K.O."
Timothy cheered. "YEAH! THAT'S MY BOI RIGHT THERE!"
Percy walked over to Deimos and grabbed the collar of his shirt and propped him up near his face. "Did Gaea send you?"
"No…I told you…my father told you I'd come. I have his chariot. It's parked outside the borders of the camp."
"You're OK with telling me this?" Percy said, eyeing the God skeptically just as Hephaestus had done to him at the party.
"I knew you'd beat me. I'm not stupid. But this little skirmish was all just part of the plan."
"What plan?"
Before Percy could knock the answers out of him, Deimos suddenly teleported out of his grip, leaving Camp Half-Blood to burn and collapse.
"Tim, you're gonna need to tell everyone to hold their breath."
Without giving time for a response, Percy closed his eyes and centered himself, tapping into the water from the Long Island Sound. To move an entire body of water was very advanced for Percy, but it wasn't too long ago that he blew up Mt. St. Helens. So he figured this would be the next best thing.
Using all his might, and just for luck, another "Ryu-yell", Percy grabbed hold of the water from the Sound, raising it high above the camp. The crowd watched in awe as the Son of Poseidon performed his greatest feat yet: lifting a portion of the Atlantic Ocean.
Timothy's jaw dropped at what he now saw: A massive wave, almost as tall as a 10-story building, hovering over the entire camp. And Percy was controlling it.
"THIS IS GONNA GET WET!" Percy yelled to the crowd. With one last cry of pain and an outburst of energy, Percy dropped the wave and allowed it to freely drop on top of the camp, flooding the place and taking out every single last fire. The water receded with inhuman speed, either falling down Half-Blood Hill or being absorbed by the ground. The campers, though shocked and soaked, cheered in victory as Percy dropped to his knees in relief.
When Percy lifted slightly, attempting to get back on his feet, a flash of light blinded his partially opened eyes. When he re-opened them, before him sat Ares' famed War Chariot, which was tied to two majestic, albeit enormous, horses snorting fire from their snouts.
When Percy got to his feet, he peered inside, and Timothy soon ran up to him. Percy started to gasp and clutched Tim on his shoulder.
"What's wrong, Percy?" Timothy said, before looking in the seat himself. In laid a large, silver compound bow with Greek lettering on the side. It glowed and hummed as it sat dormant in the Chariot.
"T-that's Artemis' Bow…" Timothy choked.
Percy stared down in awe. Not long after, he looked up to the now sunny sky to hear loud, violent thunder. He stumbled and grabbed the edge of the Chariot for support, covering his mouth and turning to his new friend.
"I am so screwed."
A/N: HOLY SANTA CLAUS SH*T. That was awesome, I know. You may be asking yourself, "Why is Artemis' Bow in Ares' Chariot?" Well, I know exactly why, but it wouldn't be a very good story if I told you. So I guess you'll just have to stay tuned for the next chapter, which will be up VERY soon. Read and Review!
- Chris