Rosycat-Thanks for being my first reviewer!
EmG2000- I'm glad that you like the story, sorry that I took so long to update.
Penny Lu- Yeah, you're right about the whole Tyson thing, thanks for mentioning it. My story will probably start a bit like the original Hunger Games, and then develop into its own plot. Thanks for reminding me to update, I've been doing a pretty bad job at it.
2 The Storm Before the Games
Percy's mind froze for a few seconds after the name had been called out. Icy cold panic was clawing its way up his spine, and he felt like he had just been dipped in the River Styx; when he finally broke out his fear-induced daze, he could see his little brother trembling as Peacemakers flanked his sides and he forcefully marched him up the path towards the stadium. Percy could see Tyson's lower lip trembling and his wide brown eyes darting around desperately.
That was enough to shock him awake, and impulsiveness took hold of Percy before he even realised it. His body moved faster than his mind as he forced his way through of the crowd and pushed Tyson behind him, away from the hungry smiles of the people sitting behind their televisions.
Taking a deep breath, he realised what he was about to do, and he almost smiled at his own unluckiness and the way that he had always known that this would happen someday. So much for being named Perseus. Maybe this would warn parents that unusual names didn't really bring luck, they just made it really hard for kids to find personalised mugs with their names on it.
The Peacekeepers looked visibly surprised by his sudden appearance. They probably remembered him from what Percy liked to call the statue incident of 3015 which marked the sorrowful death of one of President Snow's statues. It had been an accident. Mostly.
But the Peacekeepers had questioned Percy anyway, probably under President Snow's orders. They couldn't prove that he had done it one purpose, since young demigods, which were just starting to learn how to use their powers, lost control all the time. Especially if it was a child of the Big Three like Percy, the only child of Poseidon.
The bulbous head had been placed so elegantly and obnoxiously on a fountain, and all Percy did was conveniently lose control of his powers while standing next to it. Not that it hadn't been satisfying to see President Snow's head plonk off, but there had a lot of extra effort put into the burning of forbidden Poseidon statues in the days following immediately afterwards, courtesy of Snow, which in Percy's opinion was just a little childish for the President of Panem. Honestly, President Snow was not what you called statue-genic, so Percy had thought that he would be him doing a favour, but sadly, it seemed his efforts were not appreciated.
Percy still remembered praying to his father after that to make sure he didn't end up as a smoking lump of seaweed for the sudden drop of the popularity of sea god statues.
Percy had made plenty of trouble for Peacekeepers over the years, and he was proud to say that he could name the vast majority of them by now from meeting them so often. Annabeth had always helped him devise plans, albeit a bit disapproving, but thanks to her, his excuses had let him get away with all the anti-Capitol stuff he had done over the years with practically no punishment. It allowed him to make himself, probably the most irritating citizen of District 4 to the Peacekeepers. Not one of his best achievements, but one he was proud of nonetheless.
It didn't look like it was going to be very helpful in this case.
"You!" a Peacekeeper with glaring brown eyes barked at Percy, a hostile expression clear on his face. That was the one who accidentally got some water shot up his nose. The word accident being loosely applied. The other Peacekeepers were composing themselves, faces hardening as they reached behind Percy to yank Tyson back, but Percy stopped them by stepping forwards into the intimidating space that Tyson had filled just moments ago. Some of the brighter Peacekeepers understood and straightened back up, smiling with their teeth bared, glinting sharply in the sunlight. Percy swallowed hard and looked away from their predatory stares before lifting his head up at Effie.
"I volunteer. I volunteer as tribute." Percy did his best to keep his voice from shaking and his legs from trembling. Silence rang throughout the air. Looking back to glance at Tyson, he saw his milky brown eyes brimming with tears, and his mouth opened in a shocked 'o'.
And then, a sight that made his mouth drop open in shock, he saw Nancy Bobfit, his deadly arch nemesis in school, scurry like a frightened mouse to Tyson before pulling him into the crowd, his face and body melting into a crowd of shifting colours. He couldn't believe his eyes, he had thought that Nancy would rather eat Hades's gym shorts before she would help him, but a lump rose in his throat, and he sent a smile to her that told her how incredibly grateful he was that she got Tyson out of danger. He only hoped that it didn't look like the sorrowful sort of smile someone would give as they were being marched to their execution.
Effie broke the deadly hush that had fallen across District 4 with a delighted sigh. "Come on up dear, how lovely that we have a volunteer this year!" Percy turned his head to see a Peacekeeper give him a savage grin and a hard push before his legs moved of their own accord and walked slowly up to the stage.
"You don't know how long I've waited for this day kid, Happy Ancient Games punk. And may the odds be ever against you're favour." The Peacekeeper spat in his ear. Percy swallowed before throwing his ultimate I'll-kill-you-later-if-I-don't-die glare at him. Mounting the steps, he stood beside Effie and her gloriously lopsided wig.
"What a wonderful surprise! Do we have a name for the courageous boy?" Effie's voice sounded bright enough to be Apollo's teeth, and Percy winced before answering.
"Percy Jackson."
Effie looked way to happy about this. "Oh, I'll bet that was your brother you just volunteered for! How heart-warming! We haven't had a volunteer in simply eons. Well, everyone, give a round of applause to our boy tribute, Percy Jackson." A deafening wave of clapping cascaded through the air, and Percy blinked in surprise. He had never thought that he was popular, but maybe volunteering for your brother boosted you up a few levels in the pecking order. He wouldn't really suggest it as a feasible way to gain popularity though, the consequences seemed a smidge too steep. 'Instant popularity, only at the price of death! Half-price sale, instant popularity at the price of mental scarring for the rest of your life!'
"And now, the young ladies!" Percy tried zone out the cameras that were so rudely interrupting his personal space and, focused on the way Effie's blue eyelashes were getting magnificently tangled on her face. He fiercely hoped that the girl tribute would be some one that he didn't know, even if it would be a complete stranger that he would be training with. Percy couldn't even imagine what he would do if the girl tribute was someone that he knew, someone, who would eventually end up dead. Connections just made everything worse in the Ancient Games.
Effie fished out an elegant cream coloured slip of paper, which Percy swore, could have been enough money for Percy to buy lunch. The Capitol was ridiculously luxurious in its supplies.
"And the female demigod tribute for the 74th annual Hunger Games is… Annabeth Chase!"
Percy's heart stopped. He could feel his the familiar tug in his gut which happened when his emotions got out of control. Percy tried to swallow it down and suppress the churning in his stomach.
"Wait," Percy hoped he didn't sound as desperate as he felt. "Annabeth's not a demigod." Searching through the crowd, he tried to find Annabeth while his veins felt like they had been injected with ice.
When he finally spotted her, he took in her shocked expression and immediately guarded face. Her eyes were stone, glaring at the Peacekeepers who were now crowding around her, tugging her roughly out of the crowd. But Percy could see the forced line of her jaw the clenched fists at her side, and he knew that Annabeth was doing her best to hold herself together, for him, for Tyson, for everyone else. Seeing her expression just increased the urgency of the sirens that were already blaring at a head-splitting volume in his mind.
"Annabeth's not a demigod, she wasn't entered in the Games!" He could hear the desperation bleeding through his tone now, but he didn't care. He could see Annabeth being forced to walk towards the stage by a Peacekeeper, who was guiding her harshly with a large hand resting on her shoulder, pushing her forward every few moments.
Percy watched helplessly as they reached the stage, and the Peacekeeper decided that he would give Annabeth a final shove, since she had stopped moving. Annabeth's feet looked frozen to the ground, and Percy knew the barely concealed terror that lay under the surface of the calm face she was maintaining. She was barely keeping it together, the shock of being reaped, visible on her face.
In a flash, he was beside her, and as the Peacekeeper's meaty arm rushed forwards to push Annabeth, Percy stopped it halfway, gripping the large arm tightly. His fingers couldn't wrap all the way around, but nonetheless, Percy squeezed as hard as he could before flinging it away from Annabeth. His mind raced furiously as it tried to comprehend what to do.
"Annabeth's a mortal, she's not entered in the reaping!" Percy shouted at Effie. He tried to calm down the panicked emotions with logical reasoning- Annabeth's forte. It was just a mistake in the system, Annabeth was definitely mortal, she hadn't developed any powers at all, and she was already almost 15. Normal demigod powers turned up at about age 10, and there was no way Annabeth had been keeping it a secret. Percy would have definitely known if she had powers, he had seen her go completely mental before, and if that didn't trigger some demigod powers, he didn't know what would. If it had been him with a fear of spiders, District 4 might had been flooded.
But even as Percy's mind tried to reason to itself, he felt a sinking in his gut and desperation clawing at his logic. He already saw pieces falling into place, the parts that he never understood until now. Annabeth's incredible intelligence that Percy had thought was just a District 3 trait. Her lack of powers, while still being a demigod. Her unknown ancestry, and strange stormy grey eye colour reinforced his suspicions. He hoped that he was so terribly wrong, that it would be a misunderstanding, but he severely doubted it. He stared up at Effie, begging her with his eyes to agree that this was a mistake, that Annabeth should never have been entered in the reaping. But her next words shattered his hopes completely, confirming his thoughts and fears.
"I'm sorry, but we have traces of godly blood from blood tests. There is no mistake Percy Jackson, you two are the tributes from District 4 this year. Perseus Jackson, son of Poseidon, and Annabeth Chase daughter, of Athena."
Athena. Percy closed his eyes in defeat, of course, it made sense. But when he turned to look at Annabeth, he saw raw confusion, shock, and terror in her eyes. So she hadn't known either.
He could see it all now, President Snow's fool proof plan. His absolutely flawless plot made by his cunning vicious mind. Percy had always been a nuisance to Snow, the only son of Poseidon, a signature troublemaker who has potential to become extremely powerful.
Strong enough to start becoming a pain in the Capitol's podex if he was allowed to roam free any longer. It would be easy to eliminate him in the Ancient Games, no one would challenge the fairness of the reaping. And of course, just for extra insurance that Percy wouldn't accidentally win, he purposely reaped Annabeth too.
Percy's fatal flaw of loyalty had become too well known, too quickly. Snow didn't hold back at all, and he knew that Percy could never kill Annabeth. Percy felt locked in an airtight box with his oxygen supply dwindling. There was no way out of this situation.
Percy felt pure hatred cloud his thoughts, combined with fear of the arena, Annabeth's safety, and the looming prospect of his own death. He could see Annabeth's wide eyes when they both felt the first few drops of rain brush their faces. She gripped his arm tightly and felt the way that Percy was trembling.
"Percy, calm down." Annabeth whispered in his ear. Percy did his best to follow her advice, but his powers were still immature and growing. His control over them was weak, and they still responded to his emotions easily. Rain painted the ground darker and darker until it was pounding down, drenching the whole of District 4. If he had gained popularity by volunteering for Tyson, Percy had probably effectively lost that now, by soaking every citizen in the district. Percy's clothes were perfectly dry, and he tried his best to concentrate on drying Annabeth too, while attempting to suppress the violent tugging in his gut. Annabeth's clothes became like Percy's, and she sent his a grateful smile full of concern when she saw his struggle to control his rampant powers.
Slowly, a slight tremor in the ground started, growing until small cracks appeared on the floor. Percy sent a wild terror filled expression at Annabeth, which broke her heart. She clung to him, and looped her arms around his neck in a hug, frantically trying to think of something to stop the hurricane that was bound to start any moment. Percy collapsed onto his hands and his knees, shaking violently in his struggle to stop the torrential storm. Annabeth needed to think of something to help Percy stop- and fast.
"Seaweed Brain, remember Nico." Her hair whipped in all directions, and for a second, she thought that it wouldn't work, but the rain lessened, the earth stopped shaking, and the wind stopped immediately. Percy stared at Annabeth, his eyes wide with shock and sadness, so deep that Annabeth felt like she was drowning in them, until she realised that she was still clinging on to him. Blushing furiously, she let go.
Percy rested his head on Annabeth's shoulder for a while, and she could feel the shudders that jolted his shoulders. He slowly stood up, and held his hand out to Annabeth. Together, they made it up the stage, to Effie who looked shell-shocked, her wig completely lost in the wind. Maybe Aphrodite would appreciate the silver wig as a generous offering from Percy, but he seriously doubted that she would ever wear something as horrendous as that. Percy picked up the microphone rolling gently on the floor of the stage.
"Believe me when I say that the gods are definitely in our favour."