Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians
Story: Guardians of Light and Justice
Chapter 4: Back to Camp
Nico's POV
What in Hades is going on? Yeah I know I shouldn't be swearing using my dad's name. I also shouldn't be talking to myself either. I walked out of the elevator and toward the council chambers where I was ordered to meet Percy, I mean the commander. I opened the door and walked into the bright room, I saw the commander and Athena sitting at the table discussing something. They stopped talking as I entered.
"Lieutenant, please have a seat." Athena said. I sat down across from Athena and next to Percy.
"Lieutenant you and I have a mission." Percy said.
"What kind of mission?" I asked. I thought I was already on a mission. "I already have a mission."
"You have been reassigned to this new mission." Percy said.
"OK, what is the mission?" I asked again. Percy looked at Athena and she gave him a slight nod.
"Nico, we're going back to camp." Percy said. Camp Half Blood, why?
"What, why are we going to camp?" I said in disbelief. "Won't that blow our cover?"
"Nico, we have reason to believe that the Hand will attack camp, Lord Zeus wants the guardians there to protect camp, he wants both you and Percy there." Athena said. So the king of the gods wants our help.
"You both realize that we can't protect camp without them finding out about the guardians?" I asked. They both gave me a knowing smile. I looked at Athena in disbelief she promised that I would never have to go back there. "Lady Athena, you promised that I would never have to go back there." Percy looked at me in disbelief, he stared at Athena and for a second I thought she would shrink beneath his glare.
"What do you mean that Athena promised that you would never have to go back there?" Percy said with an edge to his voice.
"Perseus it's not big deal, Nico left and joined us because he wanted to get away from camp." Athena said.
"Nico you never told me that was the reason you joined." Percy said. He gave me an angry look like I had betrayed him.
"I thought you knew and it was too painful to talk about." I said. I hoped he wouldn't push me on this.
"What was too painful?" Percy asked. I was about to speak, but Athena raised her hand to stop me.
"Don't you see it's too painful for him to discuss?" Athena stated.
"Alright since you know all of this you can tell me?" Percy said as he glared at Athena. For a minute I thought they might stare at each other forever. Athena sighed loudly and looked at me with an apologetic look on her face.
"Nico fell in love with a hunter and she rebuffed him." Athena said. I guess that was blunt and to the point.
"Who?" Percy asked.
"I don't believe that is any of your business." Athena said.
Percy sighed and just glared at me and then I saw the turmoil in his eyes intensify and I swear I saw fire and destruction in his eyes. "I think Nico is right why are we so willing now to reveal our secret?" Percy said. Athena just stared at him in disbelief.
"I told you that the Hand knows about the guardians, therefore there is no need to keep the secret." Athena said.
"What happened to our concern for the well being of those that cared for us? I thought that was the main reason we kept our existence a secret?" Percy asked and I knew now that he was on to something.
"That's still a concern, but if the enemy knows of the guardian's existence they can still hurt those that care for you, whether you're around them or not." Athena said. Percy just smiled victoriously as if he just won a great battle, but there was something else in his eyes, rage.
"I don't believe you. The guardians must stay away from loved ones and those they care about in order to keep them safe. Don't you remember those words that you told me when I first joined the guardians?" Percy asked. Athena's eyes grew wide with shock and I could tell that Percy had just trapped her in a lie.
"What would you have me say Perseus?" Athena asked incredulously. The fire in Percy's eyes grew and I almost couldn't see the green in his eyes anymore, Athena for her part remained calm, but I could feel her tension.
"I would have you tell me the real reason for our secret existence. I know Nico wanted to run away from his hurt feelings. I can understand that, but you used my feelings over the loss of my mortal family to keep me away from my friends; from Grover, Tyson, Thalia, and Annabeth. Did you hate my friendship with your daughter so much that you would use my grief to keep me from her and my other friends? You may be on good terms with my father right now, but he was right about you. You are a manipulative bitch." Percy said and as he finished his last sentence he slammed his fist onto the granite table and at the same time an earthquake shook the room. As his fist hit the table a large crack split the table in two. Athena's eyes grew wide and at first I thought she might try something because of what Percy had called her, but she didn't. She actually looked saddened and something else. I saw fear in her eyes, something I had never seen before.
"Nico, we're going to camp, get over it. This is an order. Go pack a bag and meet me in my office in three hours." Percy said with finality. I couldn't say anything I just nodded in acknowledgment. Percy turned and walked out of the room. The air in the room immediately felt less tense.
"Lady Athena, I'm sorry I didn't mean for this to happen." I said. Athena raised her hand again.
"You have your orders now go." Athena spat. I just walked out the door and to my quarters to pack. I was going to camp, what if she's there?
Apollo's POV
I materialized into the council chambers. Athena was the only one in there and she was crying. Athena was crying?
"Sis, what happened?" I asked. She looked up at me and I could see that her eyes were red and puffy. Her cheeks glistened with tears. "What in Hades happened?"
"Percy found out my true reasons for keeping the guardians a secret." Athena said softly.
"What true reasons, I thought it was so that the enemy wouldn't find out and that the guardians loved ones could remain safe?" I asked. These were the reasons Athena gave us when the council setup the secrecy agreement.
"They are, but I had another reason and Percy discovered it." Athena said.
"What other reason?" I asked.
"I wanted him to stay away from Annabeth. I thought him too dangerous and not worthy of her." Athena said. My gods, he's going to kill her.
"What you just pissed off Percy Jackson? I know we're gods, but his powers are incredible and besides I thought the two of you were friends." I said.
"We were, but he hates me now. I tried to get him to go to Annabeth earlier today. She misses him greatly and I want her to be happy. He's proven himself worthy many times over." Athena said.
"Where is Percy now?" I asked.
"He's probably packing for his mission to Camp Half Blood." Athena said.
"I should go and talk to him. He doesn't need to hate the rest of the council for what you did." I spat. Athena just looked up at me with a face like a small child. I was mad at her because of her deceit, but I couldn't stay angry with her when she gave me that look. "Sis, I hope you know what you did was wrong. You betrayed his trust and you know what Percy's fatal flaw is. Betrayal is the most terrible thing for someone who is as loyal and trusting as him."
"I know, I want to be his friend Apollo, but now he hates me. I wanted to let him know that I'm truly sorry for what I did." Athena said.
"Sis, you need to give him time then you can apologize. I take it he was the one who cracked the table?" I asked.
"I don't know how he did it this table is made from the bedrock of Olympus. It's incredibly strong." Athena said.
"He has incredible anger within him. If channeled correctly it can be a great asset, if not controlled it can be incredibly dangerous." I said. I placed a hand on my sister's shoulder and she looked up into my eyes. I never saw her gray eyes so sad before. "I will go and talk to him." I walked to the door and was about to leave.
"Apollo" Athena said.
"Yes?" I said.
"Be careful, he may still be angry." Athena said.
"I will, don't worry." I said as I walked out the door. I made my way through the corridors to the main office of the guardian's headquarters. Everyone stood up and bowed as I entered. I walked to Percy's office and knocked on the door. For once the door wasn't closed when I knocked the door slid open to reveal Percy with his legs crossed and his arms crossed in front of his chest and his eyes were closed in concentration. Percy was floating in the middle of the room, how is he doing that? "Perce" Percy opened his eyes, his eyes glowed with fire, so intense that I thought they were two small suns and I would know. His eyes cleared and then I saw the normal sea green eyes, those that matched his fathers.
"Apollo, I'm not in the mood for any haikus." Percy said. I had to smile at that, although I should be hurt that he didn't want to hear one. Percy remained floating in the air, but he looked at me with his intense stare that always made me feel uneasy.
"I heard about your argument with Athena." I said. Percy's glare intensified.
"If you're here to yell at me for what I said, I think you better leave." Percy said.
"No, she deserved to be yelled at, I'm mad too. I know the rest of the council will be. I wanted to let you know that I and the rest of the council never knew of her true reasons for keeping the guardians a secret. The only thing I can say is that I believe keeping the guardians a secret was the right thing to do, because I believed it saved lives. Now that the enemy knows, I agree its time that everyone else knows too." I said.
Percy lowered himself to the ground and then stood up and walked over to where I stood. "Apollo, I believe you and thanks for coming to talk with me." Percy said.
"Perce, Athena feels terrible about what she did and that she kept it a secret for so long. She really does want your friendship." I said. Percy just shook his head in disgust.
"I don't want her friendship. I know she is on the council and that I have to work with her, but I don't have to be her friend." Percy said angrily.
"I understand I guess, but remember I'm your friend, right?" I asked hopefully.
"I know you are and thanks for being such a good friend cousin." Percy said as he shook my hand. I said my goodbyes and walked out of his office. I knew my father needed to know this and I was sure Athena wouldn't tell him. I hated to out her secret to dad, but this could impact the guardians and I needed to let him know.
Camp Half Blood
Annabeth's POV
I finally relented I guess I do need a little break. I walked through the entrance to Camp Half Blood the camp looked the same to me. Campers were running around and training on the obstacle course and sword fighting in the outdoor arena. I stopped for a moment and watched a few campers practice archery. This place brought back so many memories I just wish they were all good ones. Suddenly an arrow flew right passed me and embedded in the bark of the tree just behind me. A tree nymph is not going to be happy about that I thought.
"Hey owl head aren't you going to greet your old friend?" A young women's voice rang out. I turned to see a girl around fifteen with black spiky hair and electric blue eyes. She wore the silver garb of a huntress of Artemis.
"Thalia" I yelled as I ran toward my old friend and we hugged tightly.
"I missed you too, Annie." Thalia said as we parted. "It appears that immortality agrees with you too." I smiled at my old, I mean young looking friend.
"You haven't changed either, I see." I said happily.
"I've only been immortal for five years Thals not five hundred." I said. Thalia gave me her classic smirk.
"I know, so why has the great architect of Olympus honored us with her presence?" Thalia asked sarcastically.
"I finally listened to my mom and took some time to relax. She says I work too hard." I said.
"You do, I almost didn't recognize Olympus the last time I was there. You've done an incredible job." Thalia said.
"Why are the hunters here, isn't this a little early in the year for your annual visit?" I asked curiously.
"Artemis said that we earned some time off, so we're here." Thalia said. Artemis must be getting soft if she's giving them time off this early in the year.
"Are you staying in the Athena cabin?" Thalia asked.
"Yes, I was on my way there now." I said.
"Good, I'll walk with you." Thalia said. We walked to my cabin and entered. Since it was early in the year only a few campers were around, but I noticed the head counselor's door was open and the light was on. I motioned towards the door and Thalia smiled. I walked to the door and peaked inside. Sitting at his desk with his short blond hair visible over the back of his leather desk chair was my half-brother Malcolm. He actually looked older than me now, but I still considered him my little brother.
"Hey brainiac." I said with a smile. Malcolm turned around with a scowl, but when he saw me his eyes lit up.
"Annie" He yelled as he stood up and gave me a hug. He had grown up he was now twenty years old and he towered over me with his six foot two inch height.
"I guess I can't call you little brother now can I?" I asked. Malcolm looked down at me and smiled.
"You'll always be my big sister Annie." Malcolm said happily.
"I hate to break this touching scene, but Malcolm do you remember Chiron's meeting that he called for two this afternoon?" Thalia asked.
"That's right he's called all of the counselors. Annie, I'm sure he wouldn't mind if you attended as well." Malcolm said. The three of us left the Athena cabin and walked to the big house. The three of us joked and reminisced about the old days and the fun times we had. As I turned to say something to Thalia my eyes wandered to the lonely cabin near the lake, cabin number three. I guess Thalia saw me staring she put a hand on my shoulder.
"Annie, lets go to the big house you know how Chiron hates it when someone is late?" Thalia said. I nodded and followed her and Malcolm to the big house. We entered the house and it looked the same as always. We walked into the meeting room and I saw the same large round table that we had always sat at during the war. Chiron was sitting at the table already with Mr. D sitting next to him.
"Look Chiron, Anniebelle is here with Theresa and Montgomery." Mr. D said as we entered getting our names wrong as usual. All three of us just rolled our eyes and sat down at the table.
"Annabeth, it's so good to see you. You look well my child." Chiron said.
"Thank you sir." I said. Everyone finally arrived and I saw a few people I remembered. Katie Gardner was there, Clarisse LaRue was still there even though she was in her early twenties and Chris Rodriguez from the Hermes cabin was there too. I had heard that the two of them were engaged.
"Now that everyone is here, we have a serious situation to discuss. Lord Zeus has informed us that the remnant forces of Kronos are planning an attack on the camp. We must remain vigilant." Chiron said.
"Is that why the hunters are here?" Thalia asked.
"Yes, I know Artemis told you it was for rest, but she was under orders not to tell the real reason, but Zeus has given me permission to tell all of you now." Chiron said.
"Why now?" Malcolm asked. Good question little brother.
"The Olympians will be sending us additional assistance to meet this threat." Chiron said.
"What kind of help?" I asked. Chiron smiled and sighed as if he was trying to gather the strength to tell us.
"It appears that this remnant of the army of Kronos is actually a terrorist network called the Hand of Kronos. To counter this force the gods created a council of gods and immortals called the Council of Light and Justice, in turn this group created a secret organization, kind of like the Olympian version of the Secret Service. This organization is called the Guardians of Light and Justice, GLJ for short." Chiron said. I was stunned I lived on Olympus every day and never heard of this organization. "This group was kept secret, but it appears that the enemy knows of its existence so it was deemed unnecessary to keep the secret."
"How many reinforcements are they sending?" Clarisse asked.
"Two" Chiron said.
"Two hundred people?" Clarissed asked in clarification.
"No, two as in two." Chiron said. We all looked at him stunned.
"What kind of help is that?" Clarisse asked.
"Carol, the GLJ is a powerful force and not one to be messed with." Mr. D said as he butchered Clarisse's name. Clarisse gave him the death glare.
"When do they arrive?" I asked.
"In about twenty minutes, they are supposed to arrive from the ocean." Chiron said. Chiron looked around. "We should all go out there and meet them." Everyone stood up and rushed out the door. After everyone left I walked out followed by Thalia. We made our way to the beach. We stood in the sand with the others waiting for the arrival of these guardians.
I heard a low grumbling sound at first and looked toward the horizon and I could barely make out a dark object moving across the water toward the beach. Eventually the object came into view and it was a hover craft. It was completely black in color, but it actually shined in the light, which was pretty odd. The craft came on shore and floated above the sand. It approached our location and the craft settled down into the sand only twenty yards from where we all stood. The engine cut off and the only noise that could be heard was the crashing of waves against the shore and the seagulls that flew overhead. The front of the hover craft slid open and a ramp about fifteen feet long slid out and onto the beach. The inside of the craft was completely dark. At first we didn't see anything. Suddenly I could see movement from inside the craft.
Two figures walked out of the shadows. The one on the left was six feet tall and wore a long black trench coat and a black fedora. He wore dark sunglasses and his face was completely obscured except for his chin. The one on the right was a little taller and wore a navy blue trench coat with a navy blue fedora. He also wore dark sunglasses. The only part of him that was exposed was his strong chin. They both wore black gloves and they had dark pants with black combat boots. They strode down the ramp of the hover craft and stopped about twenty feet in front of us. Chiron galloped toward them and stood to greet them with Mr. D at his side.
"Welcome guardians my name is Chiron and this is Mr. D the camp director." Chiron said. The two guardians bowed slightly.
"I am the commander and this is my lieutenant." The man on the right said. I noticed that Mr. D's eyes lit up in surprise at the ranks of the two guardians.
"It is an honor to have the commander of the guardians and his second in command visit our humble camp." Mr. D said with a bow. He actually was nice to these people.
"Thank you sir, we live to serve the light and justice." The commander said. The voice sounded familiar, but I couldn't figure out how.
"These are our camp counselors, they lead their respective cabins." Chiron said as he pointed to the crowd. I couldn't see the commander's eyes, but I saw his head move and search through the group of campers. His head stopped when he was looking in my direction or he could be looking at Thalia who was standing next to me, I wasn't sure.
"Chiron, I see that the hunters are here. I take it that Lady Artemis knows of the danger." The commander said. He was looking at Thalia
"Yes, she is aware of the threat." Chiron said.
"Good, then I need you to set your defensive plans into action. I take it that you have plans established for this type of contingency?" The commander asked.
"Yes, I will implement those plans right away." Chiron said.
"Good, my lieutenant and I will stay in our vehicle here. It has everything we need within it including surveillance equipment." The commander said. The commander and his lieutenant nodded and walked back into the hovercraft. The ramp retracted and the sliding door closed. They're definitely not the most social people are they?
I saw Chiron and Mr. D hurry off to the big house after dismissing the campers.
"They're friendly." Thalia said sarcastically.
"Why do you think in the middle of spring that they wearing those long coats and hats?" I asked.
"Maybe they're terribly deformed or something." Thalia said. I wasn't sure that was the reason.
"I wonder what they're hiding." I said.
AN: Next chapter includes action and a reveal of the guardian's powers.