HELLO EVERYONE!
So yeas, I am well alive indeed. Although slowly being strangled by school... so anyway, the CHAPTER HAS BEEN RE-WRITTEN and so if you've read it already, you can proceed to the bottom and check out the extensions. Thanks!
READ ON!
"You two ready?" Nico had a worried look on his face as he watched his two cousins slip the last of their armour on. Their expressions were grim in the dim light of the oil lamp. The sun was an hour away from rising, and all the soldiers in the kingdom were getting ready. For the first time ever, Nico saw the seriousness in his cousins' expressions. They weren't joking around and were silent for the whole time. The sound of clinging metal was heard as Jason and Percy put on their metal boots.
"Aunt Sally and Uncle Poseidon are up." Nico stated. " They fixed you breakfast."
Jason gave him a small smile. "Thanks." The two soldiers, along with their cousin, walked out the door of their shared bedroom.
Out in the main room, two plates, each with steaming eggs and bread placed upon them, were layed out on the table. The room was illuminated with only two oil lamps that flickered with orange fire. Poseidon and Sally both stood beside the table, Thalia was seated cross-legged on one of the stools.
Sally stepped forward and embraced her son in a hug. The lines under her eyes crinkled as she smiled. "Good luck, Percy." She said. "I love you sweety." Percy smiled at that. "I love you too, mom. " he said as his mother proceeded to hug Jason and left to her room.
Poseidon huged the two and followed his wife into the room without a word, though his eyes started to water.
As it was Thalia's turn to wish her cousins luck, a loud knock from the outside door was heard. Percy groaned. "Reyna already?" He muttered.
"I'll get it." Thalia said as she rushed to the creaking wooden door. Surprisingly, it wasn't Reyna who walked inside, but a hooded figure of a girl. She stepped inside and removed her cloak, revealing sparkling green eyes and long red hair.
"Rachel? The witch?" Nico exclaimed. The newcomer only smiled.
"I prefer the term seer." She said.
"Rachel, why are you here? I haven't heard from you since the thieving incident." Percy asked her as he seated himself on one of the wooden stools beside Jason. The 'thieving incident' Percy spoke about was this time when he was just passing by the hill to get some wool from Rachel's cave for his mom. She would sometimes lend him some of her woolen blankets for a low price. So, as he was climbing, he heard a racket from her small cave farther uphill. It turns out, a bunch of thugs were trying to steal a delicate golden seal from Rachel. Percy drove them away and wounded them so badly they'll never return. Since then, Rachel has felt in debt to him because that seal was an important family heritage, given to her by her great grandfather. She said a strong magic was placed on it, but she wouldn't tell him what kind.
Back at Percy's small house, Rachel had seated herself on one of the wooden stools.
"I have important news for you." She stated in a grim voice "You will reach the Battle Field before noon as it is a long trip. King Kronos is tricky, you will encounter a sneek attack somewhere along the way. General Ares will never believe me, so I tell you two. Beware of an ambush from the enemy. Kronos wouldn't dare attack the kingdm, but he will get out of his way to kill the army."
"Ha thith you know tha'?" Percy asked, his mouth full of bread and eggs. Rachel tried not to laugh. "I'm a seer of the future, remember?" She said. "Oh, also, Annabeth is waiting for you at some highly elevated place. I have a feeling you know where it is."
Percy suddenly stopped chewing his food, staring at her. He suddenly drained his cup of water and grabbed his sword.
"Gotta go Jase! I'll meet you at the arena!" He said before running out the door. This was his last chance to meet Annabeth before marching off to war.
Annabeth didn't really know what to expect. She waited. She hoped. She sat alone up in that tree. The ice cold wind blew through her clothes and would've knocked her out of the tree if she wasn't clinging to the branch. Her hair flowed behind her as she stared up into the horizon.
Soon, the sun's rays would peek up there, touching the darkness and sending it retreating from the sky, the exact time when the soldiers would march off to war. From here, she'd get a perfect view of the army as they exit the walls surrounding the kingdom.
Annabeth let out a shaky breath. She was waiting for Percy, but she didn't now why. It's not as if he knew she was here. Nevertheless, she spoke. "Seaweed Brain... where are you?" Her voice was soft, drowned out by the wind. She didn't expect to get an answer.
"Here." A familiar voice panted behind her.
Annabeth whirled around to face none other than Percy Jackson in full battle armour, tired and panting. But she felt so happy she grinned ear-to-ear and wrapped him in a hug. Percy hugged her back, no matter how tired he was from running all the way to the tree.
He looked the princess in the eye, a lip's distance away.
"How did you know I was here?" Annabeth asked, but her beautiful grey eyes were sparkling with relief.
"Well, a friend had a hunch." Percy grinned, right before leaning in and stealing another kiss from the girl he loved more than anything in the world.
"You'are starting to get used to those kisses, aren't you?" Annabeth laughed after they broke the kiss.
"That's not such a bad thing." Percy said in reply, making Annabeth laugh again. "I love it when you laugh." He blurted out randomly. Honestly, he had no idea what made him say that. Annabeth blushed lightly, but it was hard to tell in this time of day.
"But honestly though," Annabeth asked, turning serious. "You're going to war in about thirty minutes. How are you not nervous?"
"Oh, I'm nervous." Percy replied. "But I don't show it. I mean seriously, might end up dead."
"Do NOT say that!" The princess shreiked. "You are coming back to me alive, you hear me?"
Percy only smiled. A soft, wistful smile that made Annabeth feel all the more nervous. "Even when I'm not here... please remember to keep your promise."
"Percy, don't-"
"Annabeth. Please."
Her expression softened as a single tear slid down her cheek. "Okay." She said. "I'll smile as best I can. But you're coming back to me, no excuses."
Percy smiled at her and stole one more kiss before reluctantly leaving off to the arena.
King Frederick was there, watching from the stands. Seeing hundreds of soldiers lined up in battle formation consisting his army. General Ares, with his daughter by his side and commander on the other, were all mounted on horses in front of the army. The finest steeds of the kingdom. The two front rows had the honor of being the Calvary, all mounted on horses. The third and fourth rows of soldiers were armed with bows, the archers. And the remaining rows consisted of the soldiers who will fight on foot, weilding their swords, sheilds, and spears. Jason and Percy were part of the Calvary. Percy's steed was a great mare with a flawless black coat, not a single spot. It's name was Blackjack. Jason's was a beautiful greyish-white stallion named Arion. Both of their horses were swift and strong and were some of the finest in the land.
The sun's first rays had peaked over the horizon, tinging the sky with an orange-grey light. They had their helmets pulled over their eyes and swords by their side. A war horn had sounded and off they went, marching as one to the Battle Field.
It was a long trip across the plains. There were barren and desert-like places. Some were lush and green with grass. One path, close by, was a valley between tall and green grass on either side. A tree or two was to be seen dotting in and out of view from time to time, but deserted all the same.
Percy and Jason kept their eyes open for any ambushes. They decided against telling Ares, Reyna or Clarisse. They wouldn't even listen to a word they say. Unless the ambush was happening at the very instant, their voices were useless.
It seemed late morning when they came upon a barren stretch of land, the grass was golden in the sun and there wasn't a single tree in sight. Not a single could in the sky as the sun shined bright. There were two or three vultures spotted up ahead, encircling the Field, waiting for spoils of war to feast upon.
As Percy watched, he felt like the vultures were staring down at him, waiting for his corpse to be their lunch. "Not gonna happen," he growled silently. "I'm coming back."
As if on cue, an ear-peircing war-horn sounded in the distance in front of them. Clinking boots against the ground shook the earth where they stood. From the horizon emerged the army of Tartarus. Black and red polished armour decorated the soldiers' body. Leading them, mounted on a lean, grey horse, was a tall man fitted in golden armour, he had dark raven-colored hair and eyes gleaming murderously at his enemy. From this distance, one would think his eyes were of solid gold.
"Kronos." Ares growled under his breath, glaring daggers at the enemy. Then, he turned to his army. "Fight bravely, soldiers of Olympia. This might be your first or last battle, but either way, you won't come out of this without a wound. Make it worthwhile. If you fall, you fall with honor. If you conquer, you return a hero! No retreat, no surrender!"
The army echoed his call and their war horn sounded, off to Percy's right. The sun gleamed, flashing across their iron armour. Almost noon.
"Time for bloodshed." Jason grinned beside him. Percy grinned as well. Maybe they were crazy, smiling at the time where they are probably about to die, but they felt like it was their turn to be heroes. Their turn to make history. Their turn to be a legacy.
The two enemy war horns sounded at the same time, and with a great cry, the two armies surged forward and clashed in the very middle of the Field.
"NO!"
A loud cry echoed through the small cave filled will paintings and woolen sheets. A single weaving loom stood in a corner next to a shelf filled with pots and jars, and opposite of that was a rather comfortable bed, where a red headed girl lay, startled from her sleep.
"No." Rachel whispered, trying to convince herself that her dream wasn't real. But she knew better. "I-It's too late now. Ugh." She scolded herself repeatedly, unsure of what to do. She abruptly swung her legs over the side of her little bed and made her way across the room. She took a brown, clay pot from the top shelf and a few jars with nasty-looking things in them and set them upon a small table on the opposite side of the room.
She felt sweat trickling down the side of her face as she prepared the medicine., green eyes flashing with determination. "I hope this will work."
Arrows and javelins sailed through the air as swords and spears clanged against metal armour and sheilds. Already the field was covered in blood, bodies lay here and there. Some wore black, some iron. The living ones were still glad they hadn't joined their comrades on the ground.
Most of the calvary had lost their steeds due to arrows, including Percy and Jason, but they still continued fighting bravely.
Percy had a nasty gash on his forehead, the blood dripping down his right cheek, yet he kept fighting. Jason's left wrist was almost useless when an enemy struck it forcefully, luckily he was right handed.
In the midst of the battle, Percy was in the process of killing an enemy soldier, at least half a foot taller than him. He blocked every swing of the enemy's sword, but it was getting difficult for him. His vision started to blur as he felt the blood and sweat drip down the side of his face. His armour was getting hot and heavy and the constant screams of falling comrades echoing in his ears weren't helping at all.
He found a small crack in the enemey's armour in the middle of the neck any shoulder. He swung their intetwined swords sideward and brought down his sword on the crack, immediately earning a scream and blood on his sword. He pulled it back as his enemy collapsed, examining it warily. Blood of many fallen warriors coated the bronze blade red, masking the tinge of green.
He looked up, only to find a couple of soldiers scramble away from him. Was he that scary?
He peered across the field to find some enemy soldiers retreating, trickling away from the battle and rushing up over the hill. He didn't have enough time to think about it when an arrow came whizzing right next to his ear. He put his head back in the game, cutting down enemies as best he could. He would occasionally hear familiar and agonizing screams from somewhere across the field. It sent a chill down his spine everytime, but he had to keep going. For their sake, for Annabeth...
The shrill tone of his kingdom's war-horn sounded, signaling the final attack. Percy immediately surged toward it, cutting down enemies along his way. Soon he found himself surrounded by soldiers in iron and chainmail- his comrades. He noticed Reyna standing beside him, bloody, beaten, without her horse, yet still grim and determined. She gripped her sword by the hilt tightly, it glimmered red and gold in the sunlight.
"Ready, Jackson?" she panted, nudging his shoulder.
He grinned, despite his aching body and blurring vision. "Hell yeah I am." he laughed. The war horn sounded once again and with a great cry, the army surged forward, bearing their weapons.
So that is the chapter. More to come in a week probably. Also, I'm handling this other story over at Inkkit. (It's called The Shadow Guardian by SunChildXD- that's me! ^-^) If you're interested, go check it out!
Also, there's this new series by Rick, "The Trials of Apollo". IT IS SO AWESOME I WANNA READ IT.
Check it out online! Bye! :)