Disclaimer: I still don't own the PJO series or characters, or any myths from Greek Mythology (obviously...)
A/N People have been wondering how Percy is injured despite having the Curse of Achilles. I expect Hera would have meddled slightly; hopefully my ideas will be explained in the chapter.
Another A/N Cassandra is not, and never will be, Percy's girlfriend! She actually happens to have a lot to do with the plot in the story. *wink wink* Of course, she'd prefer if you called her Alexandra...
Percy gulped. As soon as the group emerged from the shadows, face after face turned towards him. Some were kinder, softer, like that of Hazel and Gwen, but most were hard and fierce like Reyna and Dakota. Nobody stepped forward, though.
"Right, Percy, I think you'll be training with Dakota, Reyna and me, today," Hazel told him, her voice slightly apologetic.
The for-mentioned narrowed their eyes and groaned at Hazel, who shrugged absentmindedly. "I'm only coming with you guys to make sure you don't kill Percy," the girl told them sternly, before turning back to the Greek.
"I'll protect you, Percy. I want to see what other tricks you have up your sleeves." She grinned at him, before turning and talking to Bobby.
"Will you be at archery? Percy's trying it out today."
"Sure. Percy, we'll have a whale of a time." The blonde haired boy winked in the direction of the green eyed demigod, who nodded absentmindedly. He had a feeling in the pit of his stomach, like he was dreading handling a bow.
"I have a feeling that I'm terrible at archery..." Percy muttered, and so Bobby motioned to the Archery Grounds and told him to have a go.
Three arrows and one injured demigod later, Percy decided that his instinct was right.
"I thought you were joking, but, I've never seen anyone that bad at archery. I didn't even know it was possible for the arrow to fly backwards," Bobby said, obviously shocked.
Percy blushed deep red, and muttered something about being late for his training session with the rest of the group.
Hazel had already gone on ahead, but Dakota, Reyna and Cassandra were waiting anxiously to go and get a weapon and fight.
"Come on, cub. If Lupa finds out that we were late for a session, she'll have our heads," Reyna said, and with that she dragged the daughter of Aphrodite with her and away from the targets. With a motion for Percy to follow, the two Romans disappeared over the hill.
A hand gripped his arm, and Percy jumped. He then saw Cassandra looking up at him, her wide hazel eyes trained on his sea green ones.
The group still walked on ahead, but Cassandra's grip kept him rooted to the spot. She fiddled with her curly red hair, and suddenly another face came to mind.
There was no name to match the image, just a girl, about his age, gracefully unfurling herself from a sleek limo on the sidewalk. She had deep red curly hair too, and dark sunglasses covered her eyes. She had paint splattered up her arms and the sleeves of her casual orange top.
He gasped, and the vision was gone. The girl was nothing but a faint memory at the back of his mind.
"Perseus..." He turned back to the other red-haired girl. "I see it, Perseus. It bathes you; covers you; engulfs you. It shimmers and moves as you move, following you."
Her eyes had become slightly glassy and she watched his whole body.
"What are you talking about, Cassandra?" He asked her, his voice soft and comforting. For some reason, he didn't believe her. He knew he should, but all he thought as words poured from her mouth was Lies.
"The shadows of Styx," she whispered, and then she stepped backwards. She tripped over a stone lying on the ground, and slipped.
Percy ran forwards and caught her falling body as though everything was happening in slow motion and she was made of just air. The girl stared up at him, and her eyes widened yet again. It seemed as though all her emotions were shown through her irises.
Unexpectedly, she jerked away and out of his grasp. She shook her head and the red waves curled around her head. "What are you, Perseus? Are you a god? Or are you a demon sent from Tartarus himself?"
"I'm neither. I'm a demigod, or so people are telling me. You don't need to be scared."
"Then why do I feel compelled to run when I see you, and yet trust every word that forms in your mouth?" Percy had no answer for that, and so stayed silent. Cassandra watched him more. "Do not make me regret my decision to let you into this camp, Perseus Jackson." And with those words, she stalked off ahead of him and into what Reyna had called 'The House.'
~o~
"Ready, Percy?" He felt as though the armour should've been weighing him down. He should've been at their feet, not standing upright and fiddling with the golden pen in his pocket.
"No," he admitted, looking at Blake. It was just his luck that this son of Ares-Mars has been put into the same training group as him. They were both standing amidst other campers on a hard, even plain that was called, simply, "The Battle Grounds." Percy gulped and was thankful was they weren't in the Coliseum behind him.
"Good luck, Greek. Say hello to Tartarus for me," the brute growled, and the smaller boy felt a shiver run down his heavily armoured spin. He tried to remember what Cassandra had been scared of, what she saw in him, but it was only shadows. She was a daughter of Hecate; they always had emotional issues, it seemed.
"May the best halfblood win," Percy muttered back, readying his sword. It was not what he was used to; although, he couldn't remember if he'd ever held a sword in his life.
A cannon roared in the distance, and the fight began. Percy swung at the armoured body in front of him, but Blake dodged the blow easily.
He needed to get into the fight. He needed to tap into the warrior that people believed was there. He had just avoided Blake's next shot at running the fierce blade through his body when something seemed to move in his pocket. Riptide.
The word haunted his mind again, but he still removed the small, golden pen from his gym shorts. On instinct he dropped his Roman sword and clicked the end of the object.
Gasps were heard across the battlefield as Percy lifted the weapon. It fitted perfectly in his steady hand, and he swung it in a circle. He knew he was showing off, but he had found out what the writing tool, Riptide, was for.
"That's illegal! You brought an extra weapon into a sparring match!" Blake growled, shocked. The other campers just seemed to shrug and muttered something about it not being the rules, per se.
"It seems your camp disagree with you," Percy murmured to his opponent. He glared at the Greek demigod, his hard blue eyes almost piercing his armour. If looks could kill, I'd be dead ten times over.
"I'll kill you, pup!" Blake leapt at Percy, who curled into a ball on instinct to protect himself. He couldn't help, at that moment, but think of Cassandra's words. I was bathed in the shadows of Styx. What was Styx? Percy remembered it, and remembered it well. For some reason, he associated the word with the image of the blonde haired girl.
He waited for the blow to come, he waited for some sign that the Roman's attack had worked. Nothing came. He felt nothing against his bare arm. He uncurled himself and looked at the sword hovering in front of his eyes. He was bent in the middle, as though it had tried to strike some unimaginable force... and hard.
"What?" Blake mumbled, staring at Percy and his own weapon in awe.
The red haired daughter of Hecate pushed her way through the crowd and towards us, a brilliant but wary smile on her easy face. She looked down at the sword, and then winked at me. There was an I told you so look in her hazel eyes.
"That's cheating! He should be gutted!" The brutal Roman cried, but everybody ignored him. Cassandra looked down at Percy, and offered her hand to pull him up. She tugged him upwards, before letting him go again.
"Hey!" Percy shouted at the girl, after landing on the hard ground below.
"Sorry, sorry," she muttered helping him up again. "You're heavier than I thought!"
~o~
"What was that?" Reyna asked as soon as Percy and Cassandra emerged from the throng of people.
Cassandra still had that stupid grin on her face, but Percy couldn't help the slight tug at the corners of his lips as they approached the two girls waiting for them at the edge of the battlefield.
"That was one hell of a trick, cub," Dakota offered also, glaring at the raven haired boy with an evil glint in her green grey eyes.
"I was right, Perseus. I was right!" Cassandra chortled, hugging Percy's arm affectionately. Dakota raised her fair eyebrows as Reyna simply scowled.
"Yeah. But what were you right about, Cassandra?" Percy replied darkly, looking at his bare arm where the sword should've struck. He could see no shadows there, but there was no wound. Something was definitely wrong.
But Reyna was one step ahead of all three of them. "The River Styx." Percy looked at the girl blankly. "The curse of Achilles?" Now all three members of their gathering looked at Reyna with confused looks in their different coloured eyes.
Percy remembered that name, though. "Achilles was the Greek hero who became invincible."
"Exactly! Not completely invincible though. He was dipped into the River with his ankle, and therefore his left ankle was not fully invincible."
"And somebody missed his shot with an arrow, and hit his ankle, unknowingly killing him," Percy finished in wonder. "But what are you saying? That I have a particularly weak ankle?"
Cassandra hit her palm against her forehead with an exasperated sigh. "Perseus... Reyna's saying that you bathed in Styx. You went for an afternoon dip in the River of Pluto. You're invincible." Percy gaped at the daughter of Hecate.
He then looked at himself, seeing if he felt any different to... to what he should feel, he supposed. To Percy's knowledge, nothing had changed. Then again, you didn't just bathe in the River of Hades in your sleep, did you?
"Maybe your power only surfaced when you subconscious knew it was there," Cassandra offered, looking pointedly at the Greek demigod. "Remember? I thought something was around you; the shadows of Styx." The girl smiled smugly at Percy, giving him another wink before turning her gaze onto Reyna and Dakota. She looked confused for a second, and then looked around the group again. "Where's Hazel?"
~o~
"That. Was. Awesome!" Bobby and four other Apollo children gasped as soon as Percy, Cassandra, Reyna and Dakota arrived in the Archery Grounds. His smile was wide enough to challenge his father's, and it shone like the sun. He truly was a son of Apollo, even if his giddiness and constant optimism wasn't proof enough of that already.
"It was!" Another boy, Bill, agreed, looking at Percy in awe. "The whole camp's talking about it! I didn't believe them when I heard, but then people sent me recordings... and, well, I saw it with my own eyes!"
For some reason, this lively son of Apollo reminded him of somebody. That somebody was far away... untouchable... and yet, his name was on the tip of Percy's tongue.
"Where's Hazel?" Bobby asked, craning his neck to see if the brown haired girl was hovering behind her friends.
"We were hoping you knew," Percy wondered, mimicking Bobby's actions and peering past the Apollo cabin members to see if a certain child of Demeter.
"I think she went to The House," Blaize, another Apollo spawn, said from the back, leaning against his glowing cabin. Percy, Reyna, Dakota, Cassandra and Bobby all stared at each other for what seemed like hours. Why would she be at The House?
"Well," Dakota said, rubbing her hands together, "I think it's finally time for a bit of snooping, don't you?"
"Dakota, we can't!" Reyna said, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Oh, Reyna. Never trust a Roman." And with that, the warrior daughter of Aphrodite strutted to behind the Apollo cabin, motioning for the group to follow.
"How do you explain us actually getting past the enchantments and Lupa's guards, and not to mention the steel locks?" Bobby asked Dakota, the fear in his voice betraying his cool exterior. A son of the sun, cool. Percy laughed silently to himself at that.
"Like this."
Percy gaped as Dakota broke the locks with her sword and flirted with the guards, persuading them to let her through and give her just enough time to knock them unconscious. She then called Cassandra over, who grudgingly released the enchantments momentarily on The House. Then, we were in.
"How..." Reyna started, but Dakota cut her off.
"Just because I'm a daughter of Venus doesn't mean I can't have some kick-ass skills. Deal with it, bitches." And with that, she sauntered quietly into The House, and motioned for the rest of the group to follow. Percy blinked, but followed a girl who he knew he should never trust.
"I think she's in there..." Bobby muttered, and the son of Apollo opened his palm to reveal a soft light, illuminating the otherwise dark room.
Voices were muffled behind the large wooden door that blocked Percy from knowing the truth, however innocent. He leaned into the wood and listened as the conversation became audible.
"What is your analysis, Hazel?" Lupa's distinctive voice growled through the wall, and Percy flinched slightly, thinking of tomorrow when Lupa would be cheering for his destruction.
"I still can't believe I'm doing this, Lupa! I count Percy as my friend – why should I betray him to be your spy?" Hazel hissed at the wolf, and Percy could just imagine her charcoal irises narrowing ever so slightly at the daughter of Ceres' biting comment.
"Because I am your leader, pup. And you will do what I say for the good of your camp. I would encourage you to keep that in mind next time you try to snap at me." Lupa's voice was cold, possibly even colder than the tone she used when Percy first woke up. She was not a wolf to mess with – but then again, neither Percy nor Hazel were your average sheep.
There was silence from the other side, and Percy strained his ears to listen for any hint of a comeback from Hazel.
"Yes, Lupa," the girl whispered, and Percy leant his head harder against the door. He knew that the sound of Lupa's anger was enough to scare anyone, but he had almost hoped that Hazel might've defended him a bit more.
It was pathetic, right? He seriously needed to stop hanging out alone – it was starting to worry him.
"What is you observation?"
"He's strong; stronger than a lot of demigods his age. He's talented with a sword, and terrible at archery. He makes friends easily and seems to be a loyal and worthy opponent. I do not think he will fail tomorrow's test."
"Do you think he is the one mentioned in the prophecy?"
"He must be," a new voice interrupted. Percy knew that voice from somewhere.
"Gwen..." Cassandra muttered sadly. Of course – it was the daughter of Athena. There was a tap tap tap of a foot slowly hitting the hollow floor to a rhythm Percy could not himself hear. Dakota's knuckles turned white as she gripped the hilt of her sword tighter, and Reyna's breathing became slightly faster.
"And why do you think that, Minerva' child?" Lupa asked, her voice slightly raised as though the girl should not have spoken.
"Five will stand against the wave; there is always one you cannot save; a hunter's bow and a lightning roar; foes shall wait for the ship to soar.
'Five will stand against the wave' may refer to either the Romans or Greeks standing against a child of Neptune, hence the wave – or, it could involve Neptune himself. The second line is questionable, but the third may relate to the Hunters of Diana and a child of Jupiter, or Diana and Jupiter themselves. The final line implies that the Greeks may be preparing to attack, or even us," Gwendolyn explained to Lupa, reciting what Percy guessed to be a prophecy.
"Yes, but why do you suspect the Greek cub?" Lupa pressed, and Percy imagined her face twisted into a sneer, much like one of an old Maths teacher hovering at the back of his mind.
"I believe that Percy is a Son of Neptune."
Percy? A child of Poseidon? But he wasn't even sure that he himself was a demigod, let alone the son of one of the Big Three. He couldn't even remember his own name, for the gods' sakes!
"Indeed? And why could that be?"
"He acts like a buffoon more time than I have spent on math questions! I question his temper, and quite frankly, his sanity. He has the typical eyes of Neptune, as well as the trademark cocky grin! Yes, I may have no proof, but I do have my mother's intuition, and I am telling you Lupa that Perseus Jackson is not to be trusted!"
Well, there Percy was, thinking that he had finally met a nice Roman.
"Well, well, well. A daughter of Minerva insulting somebody without proof; I never thought I'd see the day." A ghost of a smile haunted Percy's lips, but he didn't know why. He didn't know any daughters of Athena, apart from Gwen.
"Gwen, just because your mother has rivalry with Neptune doesn't mean you can jump to conclusions. It may just be daughters of Minerva, but I don't know what you've got against Percy," Hazel finally said tiredly, and Percy felt the creak of the door as a body rested against it casually.
"This has nothing to do with my mother!"
Bobby leaned over towards the black haired boy, who was scrunching his eyebrows together in confusion.
"Gwen's mum, Minerva, has never visited her. She's only seen photos, but she's really protective of the goddess. She hates Poseidon and spiders with an unhealthy obsession, personally," the son of Apollo explained in a rushed, whispered voice.
Percy nodded slowly, showing Bobby that he had understood when really he was more confused than ever. Maybe that was just Percy.
"Children, stop it. We will decide Percy's fate tomorrow, after and if he survives his fight in the morning. Perhaps he will be claimed at the bonfire – it is a full-moon, after all. The gods will be particularly watchful tonight, when they can see clearly from the heavens," Lupa said harshly, and Percy heard the patter of her pads hitting the floor as she walked away from the door behind which the group were hiding.
"Gwen..." Hazel muttered to the other girl, who snorted loudly.
"Haze, I can't let a Greek ruin our lives. The other prophecy... Jason missing... it's too much to deal with right now. If we get Percy out of the way, maybe we can concentrate on finding Jason, and the child of the prophecy. If I convince Lupa that he's a threat..."
"If you convince Lupa he's a threat a price of a 1000 drachmas will be posted onto his head," Hazel replied angrily.
"And Jason can come back."
Percy breathed in deeply when the two girls became silent, and one by one, they filed out of the door at the back of the empty meeting room.
"Who's Jason?" Percy whispered after 5 minutes of the same silence dragging on.
"Jason Grace, Son of Jupiter. He was the leader of our camp, but just before you arrived... he disappeared. Nobody's found or heard from him since. Everybody's on edge and nobody knows what to do. Hazel hopes that you'll help us find Jason, and Gwen thinks that if he will kill you, we'll find Jason," Bobby answered as the other girls in the room remained in the chasm of suspense and shock.
"And what do you think?"
"I think we need to keep our heads and stop fussing over things that, right now, we can't control."
Who would have thought that a son of Apollo could be so intuitive?
Sorry that it took me so long to update! I've been working really hard on this chapter, which I happen to be really pleased with. Hopefully, it tied up some loose ends and untied some more. I've written a scene for the next chapter, so hopefully it won't be such a long wait next time. Most of the chapters will be around this length or longer, so I hope that that's okay with you!
Read, review and enjoy!
*~LoveLikeHades~*
HERE IS A PREVIEW OF A LATER CHAPTER, BUT I DON'T KNOW WHICH YET::
""But soon, I was myself again. Of course, I didn't have my mature body, but my mind was the same. I suppose it was enough, don't you think?" She grinned, and performed another twirl. "And I quite like Livia's little body – so lithe, so innocent. Almost ironic, isn't it?"
Percy clenched his jaw, and curled his hands into fists.
"Is she dead?" Percy asked, watching Livia's body twist and turn around him.
"Oh, not yet, little godling. Almost, though. Soon, my soul will take full control – and then I can prophesise again. Won't that be a show to remember? I'll get you back – all of you. I'll show you your worst nightmares and you won't believe a single word, and when your world and your friends burn to the ground you'll wish you were a normal human.""