AN-And here it is, Chapter number 5! Got an excellent review from Vraelan, and in answer-yes I will be including more battles with powers, but they'll be coming in the next chapter after this. Also, if it heads that way i might do some Percy/Calypso, because there is a way it coud fit the plot! Thankyou xx
Hope you enjoy the chapter xx
All That's Left
Waking up at Camp Half-Blood was a weird experience for Percy. There had been a time when it had been his home, the only safe place for him. It was where he first felt like he belonged, like he wasn't all that different. But now… There was no other way to put it: being back hurt. Camp had been the place he'd first met Annabeth, become friends with Annabeth, trained with Annabeth, got together with Annabeth; and now he was back here. Alone. Heaving a sigh he threw the covers off himself and stood up. He couldn't afford to think like that. He had a job to do, and moping around wasn't going to bring her back.
A groan came from the bed next to him. He looked over to find an angry Luke crawling out from under both his own, and Percy's bed sheets. "You may be alive with the joys of morning mate but I'm not in the mood for having things thrown at me. If you want to run round singing 'Oh what a beautiful morning' go fine Sol-leks."
Percy snorted. Ignoring the son of Hermes he wandered over to his cloak and pulled out his handheld computer. It was about a quarter inch thick with a screen the size of a paperback book. He selected the storage function and smiled as it opened a hologram of a wardrobe door. The computer itself actually opened a portal to his real wardrobe, with a lot less effort than he could have done. Plus, no risk of accidentally stepping into Aether's bathroom while he was busy. Not something you want to see in the morning.
He pulled on a black t-shirt and sleeveless hoodie, fastening his red cape over one shoulder. He grabbed his weapons and was about to go and find the rest of his squad when he noticed his SPQR tattoo. Shit. He'd forgotten about that. He dug into the deepest depths of his wardrobe and found an old star-silver wrist guard that he hadn't worn for about 10 years. It just covered the tattoo. He decided to risk it.
When they arrived at breakfast a staggering 30 mins later-it had taken 6 litres of water, a slap and a threat to set fire to the bed to extract the commander from it-they instantly found a problem. No tables. Deciding to show-off a little he pulled out the computer again, and selected the 'buy furniture' option. Sadly, it seemed as though The Primordial of Light had selected the catalogue, so The Alpha Squad ended up eating at a gothic mahogany dining table with chairs that looked like they were classed as torture weapons. As though they didn't look strange enough to the campers already.
The assassin hadn't missed the subtly mysterious entrance last night-although seeing the Primordial of Time dressed as a 1930's gangster had made it worth it-the campers seemed genuinely terrified of The Alpha. If they were going to save this planet they needed the demigods to trust them completely, and his covered face, added to Luke's entrance and the fact most of them weren't human had made that seem like quite difficult goal to reach. Hopefully training would help.
When he arrived at the arena he was shocked to find that the Olympians had decided to make themselves present. Ares and Hermes he'd assumed, probably Apollo and Artemis too, but Zeus was a big surprise. He bounced ideas round his head as to why the lord of the sky had bothered to watch them. When it hit him it was so obvious it was a surprise he hadn't thought of it earlier. Zeus was obviously threatened by the Primordial's-he'd always been an arrogant man who regarded himself as the most powerful; so he had to find fault with The Alpha and The Army to feel better about himself. Well if that's how your playing… Percy wasn't about to look weak.
Be careful Omega, he's a significant threat and we need him on our side, don't start a fight with him. Umbra spoke in his mind. He must had been quite vehement in his thoughts for the shade to pick it up-he was usually good at guarding his mind.
You were practically shouting. What's your plan? Percy could feel the curiosity in the shades thoughts.
You'll see he thought, before cutting the link and correcting his mental barriers. Once everyone had arrived he stepped forward and addressed the assembled demigods.
"Well were going to be running your training sessions under Lord Chronus' orders. This is important because no matter how good you are, there's plenty to know about the opponents from the rest of the universe. Your fighting styles will probably be quite specialised to your usual enemies.
"Today were going to start with basic sword fighting to see what kind of level you're all at, but first I was wondering if Luke could help me give you a demonstration of a tactical swordfight?"
The commander gave a nod, but frowned at Percy, wondering what game he was playing.
"Most battles are against monsters that aren't trained to well and its more about getting a death-blow in quickly to move onto the next; but when you're fighting another demigod, or the types you might come across in Tartarus' Army its more about finding the flaw in your opponents guard and keeping your own moves versatile and unpredictable."
What are you up to Perce? Luke sounded concerned, fights between the two easily got out of hand.
We need to show Zeus we aren't weaklings he can threaten. You up for giving them a show?
The felt the excitement pouring off the commander. I always am. I'm guessing I'm not allowed to strike at your hood?
I'd kill you mate, so I wouldn't The assassin replied.
"Same rules? Only stop at the deathblow?" The son of Hermes asked as he pulled out his sword. Raptor glinted in the sunlight as he walked to the other end of the arena.
Percy removed 'The Reaper's' sheath from his belt and passed it to Aruval, who stepped up between the two swordsmen.
"Ready?" he asked. They nodded, focusing only on the others face-or what they could see of it. "En Garde…Play!"
If the crowd were expecting an instantaneous clashing of swords they were disappointed. Percy stared at Luke, watching where his muscles tensed. He held his sword casually, but to the trained eye you could see it was tilted slightly across his chest though it was a little high. Just before he was about to strike the commander lunged forwards. As fast as thought Percy blocked and they exchange a series of heavy blows, before stepping away, swinging round and striking again.
They rarely had fights like this. The men had always had some tension between them. They hid it well, and got along extremely well most of the time, but there was something about two enemies-come-friends. There would always be that instinct that they were supposed to be wounding the other. Usually they used there battles as a sort of therapy, when Percy was down or Luke was angry they'd fight it out till almost death-anything goes.
Luke was the first to land a hit ; a glancing blow on Percy's forearm but was rewarded with a slash across his calf. Within minutes they were both drenched in sweat, but fit as they were they continued to pound each other with renewed vigour, trying to find a gap in the others defences. They were dancing around each other, mere blurs to the onlookers as they rapidly countered each others attacks.
Adrenaline was coursing through Percy's veins and he weaved Riptide through a complex pattern and catching Raptor in his cross guard, struck Luke on the side of the ribcage. It was a deep cut and the commander yelped, Percy took advantage of his split-second distraction and lunged forwards. But Luke had anticipated this and threw all his weight into blocking the oncoming blur of bronze, connecting his fist with the bottom of the assassin's sternum. Percy faulted, coughing blood onto the ground and barely dodged the heavy strikes Luke threw at him. He swung round and smashed his elbow into the others face, hearing a crack of his nose breaking.
"Fuck" was all he said in reply as they circled each other, looking for an opening.
This would have continued for longer, had Percy not tripped. Luke took the advantage and disarmed him with the very move he'd taught Percy all those years ago, but it wasn't over yet. Drawing the dagger from his boot the assassin lunged ferociously, using the shorted blade to open up another slash on Luke's leg only to be paid back with a deep cut on his shoulder that burned. Without the strength to block another attack he threw the dagger at the commanders hand, knocking Raptor to the ground before kicking the inside of his leg and throwing him to the ground. The exchanged punches and kicks that would have made Ares proud; Luke got a choke hold on Percy, but the assassin slammed his fist into his ribcage.
"ENOUGH!" The voice echoed around the silent arena, Umbra's melodious tone reverberating around their skulls. They faltered, panting hard. Noticing the rather compromising position they were in, Luke rolled onto his back.
"Good game" The assassin said between breaths, "Nice move cutting me with my own blade, that's a new one"
"I don't tell you everything mate."
Percy shakily stood, and offered his hand to the commander. He looked up, and seemed to remember the arena full of pale, wide-eyed, speechless demigods, many equally shocked gods, a war god who looked like all his Christmases had come at once, and the remaining Alpha Squad at the sidelines eating popcorn.
Umbra drifted over. "You forget I'm the one that usually ends up healing you because your to lazy to do it properly and end up with limbs that don't work properly. Have you heard of saving it for the enemy?" He said, his usually calm voice sounding annoyed.
"Sorry Mum." the men chorused.
Chiron spoke up, "Is that always how they fight?"
"Sometimes, when they feel like giving a show…there was one time they nearly did kill each other… they're better these days" Sol-leks replied cheerily, walking over to the duo.
"Well then I'm pleased you're on our side" replied the centaur.
"Oh don't mind their macho display of unused testosterone, its mainly because they don't get any-the have to make themselves feel masculine. I could down them in 2 minutes." said Gina cheekily. Nobody laughed. They appeared to be trying to remember how to talk.
"Well who wants to learn how to swordfight kids!" shouted Aruval. He decided to take the lesson from there as the first and second in command were still getting they're injuries healed.
"Now if you could split into 8 groups…"
Surprisingly, the lesson went excellently from there. The demigods were actually quite good at all types of combat, though they severely lacked in fighting multiple enemies. The more complex battles were too much for most of them, but a daughter of Poseidon-Melissa, and a son of Ares-Danny, could both hold their own against Sol-leks and Umbra. Archery was a little more disappointing, but when the Delta arrived they'd have more than enough marksmen.
None of the camp had trained that fighting Pegasus-back, either on ground or in air which seemed like a major flaw in the training programme from Aruval's point of view. How are you meant to survive against an aerial attack? The axeman was no rider himself but he knew the basics, and could get by in most fights.
As they sat around the campfire that evening Aruval couldn't help noticing how close The Alpha had grown over the past 6 decades. He was always close to Gina; they'd lived together for a while when she sought refuge on Trove after the latherid clan-war that had wiped out her family, and basically saw her as his sister. Him and Sol-leks always seemed to get grouped together, and he couldn't deny that the Lupet was a real comic.
As for Omega, the guy acted all mysterious but behind the hood he was a real softie. He rarely spoke about his past, but the axeman knew he'd been an important guy who'd lost a lot fighting for people that almost expected it of him. You could tell how that would break a man. As for LC; Aruval knew a little more. Luke had briefly explained his and the assassins history in as few words as possible, and it did beg the question how the hell do they get on so well now?
Zoë Nightshade was another enigma. Her man issues were larger than his battleaxe but Omega seemed to be the only one she respected. Until recently that was. People thought the big lumberjack was oblivious but he could feel the sexual tension pouring off the hunter and Luke. Whether it would go anywhere…that was another story.
Umbra was the outsider of the group. He had the power to manipulate almost all of them but he would never use it. The guy was very passive for a shade, and his loyalty to Omega was incredible-Aruval genuinely believed he'd take a blade for the assassin without a second thought.
Finally there was Viper. He was the closest thing they had to a parent left (save for Chronus, but really he wasn't exactly the fatherly type) and yet he wasn't patronising. He advised them, he was their 'devils advocate' as the Earth-people would say. They're group dynamic was strange to say the least, but there was no denying that as a whole they were formidable on a battlefield, and that's what they were here for.
That evening, Percy pulled up the image of the scroll he'd been reading in Chronus' study. Many of the words were too faded on the image to read and his dyslexia didn't help, but he started at the top. The writing here was clearer, as though it had been added more recently than the rest.
To my dearest Nyx,
I leave this in the hope that if you ever need it, the terror I have borne onto The Immortals of Eden may have some use. I regret what I did, what I made, but all I can do is hide it from those who would abuse it as he did, in the hope it is never found. You know what I first forged, but here are my notes on the creation of its brothers and my tale. You are the only one I trust with this, but I warn you not to let yourself fall prey to temptation. Forever Yours, Avanasius, The Last Elder.
Apparently this man-Avanasius-had been someone to Lady Nyx. Huh. He carried on, the next writing here was very faint, it looked like the oldest section on the page.
I've completed it! At last I will have the power to overthrow my pathetic brother Agar. I care for him not. This weapon will send him to The Void and I can rule Eden as I should. I call it 'The Reaper', as it reaps the life of any immortal, taking their power, their life-force, their strength.
The metal itself is a blend of the strongest: Celestial Bronze and Imperial Gold from Earth, Star-Silver from Eden, Platinum stolen from Chaos' own armour, Stygian Iron from the underworlds of each of the 4 planets, and the essence of The Void itself.
I imbued the metal with the blessing of Chaos himself and stole his blood to cool it in. It is a weapon of immense power-I tested it on my mother, and she is no more. A pity, but it was necessary for my rise.
He killed his own mother just to test a blade? Revulsion poured from the assassin. His sword. He kept reading.
I am a fool. My lust for power blinded my sight and now I have unleashed terror onto the world. Agar stole the blade while I slept. He plans to kill the most powerful of us and overthrow our creator with the power. And I have made it possible. Ultimate sadness. What can I do to right my wrong?
It was much clearer here:
My time in The Void has taught me something. That all the answers are already there, and we must but clear our minds to allow them to flow forth. Only I can stop my brother, he grows stronger by the day. And stop him I will.
In The Void I found the true firstborn and he told me his story. The first of Chaos was no Chronus, but Order. The brother of our mighty creator. He resides alone in The Void, watching and bringing Order to the lives of those he values.
I told him of my failings, and he gave me a gift. He blessing, and his blood…
The words were too faded to read here. Percy assumed they were probably clearer on the scroll. He needed to talk to Chronus. He found the next visible section, which was a lot further down.
…In hopes that no other falls to temptation and fails as I have, I will hide them-and myself. Chaos' anger was unmatched. He vowed never to make another Immortal, and so I am The Last Elder. I am all that is left, in The End. Eden will never be inhabited again. The 4 planets have been banished to the 4 corners of the known universe, and only Earth will live on. I will use this to my advantage. I will hide 'The Reaper' and 'The Keeper' on Eden, and 'The Chain' on Evereth. On Elias, I shall live out my last days, until I fade to The Void. I have not the strength to end my life with what ruined it: I always was a coward…
Percy stopped reading. He didn't know what these things were, but they sounded powerful. If Chronus thought they were relevant they probably were. …I am all that is left in The End…
Omega, The End.
When he woke up the next morning, there was nothing to tell Percy that his life would either be a lot more complex or a lot simpler by that night. There was nothing to tell him that really, with how this day would go, he was better just to stay in bed. So, he headed out to breakfast with The Alpha and got some very bad news.
"Head Councillors, Immortals, Alpha Squad we need you at a council meeting now!" cried Chiron in obvious distress.
When he entered the rec room Percy was not surprised to see that it hadn't changed. The old ping-pong table still sat in the centre of the room with chairs assembled randomly around it. The Alpha took up the left side, and he looked round, trying to remember some names. Nico, Thalia and Grover were all there, along with Melissa-his sister, and Steven, the Ares councillor. He identified the son of Dionysus by his slightly flushed face. The Iris councillor had spoken up at the solstice he remembered, and the Hermes councillor had the same slanted eyebrows and look of mischief that reminded him of the Stoll twins.
"A satyr reported an army of 400 monsters marching here to attack. They'll be here in 4 hours at the longest" Chiron never was one to beat around the bush.
"Normal monsters, or the other ones?" Thalia asked.
"A mix" he replied "but the sight was enough to scare him. Do you have reinforcements?" he added looking at Percy.
The assassin frowned. "They won't be here for another 6 days at least…"
"Which," Sol-leks interrupted, "leaves us with a very serious problem." The usual comic looked very concerned.
"Why?" asked Steven, "If you're all so superior, a measly 400 monsters should be nothing" he sneered.
"It would be, for us, but we can't fight." said Luke.
"WHAT! So you're backing out now? You really are cowards aren't you?" snapped the son of Apollo.
"No" said Percy, "Not won't fight, not don't want to fight, we cant fight."
"Why?" Apollo's son replied scathingly.
"If the enemy finds out we're here, they will launch a big enough attack to wipe you out before our reinforcements arrive. The loss of their demigod children will be enough to weaken the gods link to the mortal world so when they storm Olympus, Olympus will fall" the assassin growled, "Do you understand how serious this is?"
The demigods gulped. Omega could be threatening when he wanted to. Chiron broke the silence, "I assume there is no way you can fight?"
"I'm sorry Chiron, but the risk is too high. Luke and Zoë are supposed to be dead, Gina, Sol-leks, Viper and Umbra aren't human and I'm immortal, so they'll know I'm not from here. We can help prepare, Umbra can try to guard your minds a little but it'll be weak, and I can replenish your energy if I have too, but you're on your own…"
The centaur sighed, "I inferred as much. Any help you can offer is welcomed. All of you, inform you campers, under 10's are to stay back and help with healing. Get everyone ready, we've got a battle to win."
Sitting in the big house trying to see the battle was one of the hardest things Percy had ever done. He stood in his room, pacing enough to wear marks in the wood floor. He'd gone up to the attic earlier, but the view of the battlefield was no better. From interrogating the satyr who'd seen the army, he'd found it was mainly made of hellhounds and dracaenae, but there were enough Fleeth to pose a serious problem, a couple Hippoanguis and Flamecats. The satyr hadn't seen who was leading the army, but as Percy paced he could feel at least 1 immortal of some sort.
From the front room he heard a crash and loud voices, so he rushed in. A camper ran up to him. The kid was about his height, but had seen better days. He had a broken arm that he was holding awkwardly, multiple burns and a cut on his head.
"Mr. Omega, sir. We need your help, they're overrunning us and we can't hold them back!"
Percy glanced at Luke. He looked back at the camper. The complete fear, desolation tugged on his heartstrings.
"Take your clothes off"
Nico really thought it was the end. He'd called 100's of undead warriors to the battlefield but they were smashed to pieces, burned or just stopped dead (figurativly) from the Fleeth's howls. The campers were completely disbanded, the few that were standing were fighting off about 10 monsters each and the injured were grabbing the passed out and dragging them away from the battle to stop the Fleeth's from ripping into them.
Thalia was going toe to toe with the rockman as Nico had decided to call it. It was a 8ft figure made from clumps of volcanic rock. Everywhere it touched melted and burned, and almost everyone had injuries from it as it hefted the boulders at its feet and threw the semi-molten clumps at the campers. The daughter of Zeus was holding it back, but only just. Every cut she made onto it healed over as the molten lava blood solidified.
About 5 yards from that, Melissa, Danny and Steven were trying to fight the titan Hyperion. The best swordfighters of camp could barely keep up, and every strike he landed threw them back 10ft. Nico was cutting through the ranks trying to reach them but the monsters seemed endless. The Flamecats had started to breed. As they set fire to the ground newer ones burst up, leaping at unsuspecting campers.
That's when they came. Aruval charged into the ranks, smashing Fleeths' brains open with his battleaxe and chopping limbs of dracaenae with a single strike of his aruval. Luke wasn't far behind, bursting through the ranks and sprinting towards the rockman just as Thalia was thrown backwards by a rock to the stomach. They were both wearing orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirts but were armour less, though it didn't seem to hinder them.
At first the 3rd man was but a blur. He seemed to flow through the started monsters, cutting them down and pushing campers to the sidelines as Aruval decapitated the rest of the forces. Nico was stunned. That's…Omega. The man was hoodless, but still moving too fast for the son of Hades to take his face in. In a flash of black hair Omega pushed the campers away from Hyperion and engaged in the battle himself.
Nico sprinted closer as the assassin fought with the titan. He was holding his black sword, and it hummed with power; dark energy rippling around the blade. The campers circled round the two fights, watching as Luke smashed through the rockman, so it was barely whole again before he crumbled it to rock. And that was when The Ghost King heard it, one sentence:
"JACKSON, I thought you were dead!" shouted Hyperion, as he swung his blade at Percy Jackson's neck.
"Just been taking a leave of absense, don't worry, I'll still kill you"
Relief, Fear, Happiness, Concern and Exhilaration spiralled through Nico like a whirlwind. He watched as the lost hero threw bolts of back energy at the titan. Hyperion staggered but with a boom he released a charge of white light.
Shocking brightness filled the campers eyes as the world exploded. When his eyes cleared Nico could see his cousin standing in front of Hyperion, who was on his knees. The titan looked scared. Omega stepped forwards and stabbed the blade into the immortals chest, and he was ripped apart. The two figured glowed in light, and when it dimmed, Percy Jackson was standing there, a bright glow surrounding his body that he didn't seem aware of.
"Percy…" said Chiron, but the assassin turned his back on the campers and threw his sword.
"Catch Luke!" he shouted as it spun towards the son of Hermes.
Luke grabbed it out of the air and twisted, slamming it into the side of the rockman chest. He melted, seeming to disappear into the sword. Luke looked up, panting. "Cool"
Percy looked over at the assembled group and frowned.
"Mate, your glowing" Luke said, smirking at Percy.
Percy closed his eyes, and slowly the light faded into him. "Have you seen yourself?" he asked the commander.
Luke was melting the floor.
"Concentrate on not doing it and you'll be fine" said the son of Poseidon with a smile. The floor solidified once more and the commander handed Percy the sword.
Chiron gave a slight cough; drawing attention to himself. "Thank you for assisting us. I understand the risks it posed to you. I have to ask, why did you not tell us who you were before?"
"Chiron, I'm going to be straight with you." the assassin replied, "I don't want to be here. The only reason I am is because Chronus asked me to. As soon as this war is done I'm going back to Aether's ridiculous city because that's who I am now. I'm an assassin. I kill people. I'm happier being Omega."
"But you're one of us, you're a demigod!" cried a daughter of Aphrodite.
"I'm not a demigod, not anymore. And I'm not happy being here" he replied quietly. Luke stepped up and put a hand on his shoulder, but he shrugged it off.
"What so you don't trust us anymore? What about Nico and me? I thought we were your friends"
"I do trust you Thalia, but you know what happened…" his frown deepened.
"So your girlfriend died! Shouldn't make you such a coward. You're Percy Jackson, you're supposed to save us!" cried Steven indignantly. The campers froze. Nobody said a word. Chiron paled, Luke's eyes widened. Nico was -admittedly- terrified. Percy's face showed no emotion as his gaze glided over the son of Ares. He picked up Thalia's spear, and threw it at the boy.
The campers eyes widened and Steven shrieked, but the spear sailed clean over his shoulder. There was a thud and a yelp, as it landed in the body of the Fleeth that had been about to rip Stevens arm off. Percy pushed through the ring of people, past the boy, and up to the beast. He pulled the spear from it's ribs with a sickening squelch, put a foot on the struggling creature, and rammed the spear forcibly through its skull.
"Percy Jackson died the day she did." he removed the spear. "I'm all that's left, in The End. I'm Omega" he stabbed the spear in the ground and stormed off towards the big house.
He'd gone 50 yards before Thalia and Nico started moving after him. Luke grabbed their arms, "No" he ordered. "I'll go after him".
"Don't tell me what to do Luke! I know him better than you!" Thalia snapped.
"No, you don't I know him now. If you try to talk to him he'll either storm off back to The City of Aether, try to kill you or stop talking-leave him." The commander turned to Aruval, "Call the others and clean this up. Umbra can start with healing but don't let him over do it. Burn the Fleeth's bodies, put out any fires, you know the drill-your in charge."
The son of Hermes walked off towards the big house, and Nico still couldn't work out whether he felt relief, fear, happiness, concern or exhilaration.
End Of Chapter xx
AN-And there's the big reveal! I hope you liked it but I'm still not sure...Please, Please, Please review so I know how you feel!
All the best my lovely chipmunks!
ChrysosArgentum xx 3