Disclaimer: "It's not a joke. I really am not Percy Jackson." "Well, I can't have the real one, so you'll have to suffice." "Can I at least say that I am not Rick Riordan, and don't any rights to Percy Jackson?" "You may." "Well folks, you heard it...enjoy".

Chapter 9: Killing In Style

The entry wasn't as smooth as they would have liked. Other than the fact that they landed in a right royal mess, they landed right in the middle of a razing battle. The four immediately took sight of their surroundings and were wary, ready to fight. Even as they split up, Percy's eyes were drawn towards her by an inexplicable force. Was it just a coincidence that Artemis (or rather, Diana, he absently noted) was the first person he set his eyes on?

In this form, she looked sterner and stately, with an aura revealing more of her power. She had the look of intense concentration on her face as she was making short work of the monsters. Percy was confused for a second: Why was she and the Hunters here? Was the battle really that bad? Suddenly, a fatal instinct, honed by years of practice and being on the front lines alerted Percy of the incoming danger, as he rolled away from under the crushing foot of a Laistrygonian. He was back to his feet in an instant as he dodged the larger opponent's swipes and twirling casually, kicked him hard in the chest; as the cannibal stumbled back from the shot, he sprung up and decapitated him in another motion, grinding him to dust. Finally, he had a chance to look around himself; and he didn't like what he saw.

It was clear why Diana was present. Polybotes, the giant born to oppose his father, was in the forefront (or rather, centre) of the battle and was leading the army on. No one dared reach too close to him as with every shake of his head, basilisks, the monstrous snakes, emerged from his hair. They were wrecking more havoc than any of the other monsters, and Percy sensed that the battle would be over if that wasn't rectified. He charged, slashing wildly across the ranks of opponents as they fell prey to him. Just as he reached a comfortable area, Polybotes turned to look at him. Percy was annoyed; he was planning on making an entrance.

"Ah, look who we have here. A son of Neptune, eager to fall prey to his betters." He probably hadn't recognised him, Percy mused, as he clenched as fists and the aqueduct behind Polybotes erupted to blast him with water. To his dismay, it suddenly stalled in space before splashing to the ground and flowed lazily towards the giant, and assumed a green haze as soon as it came in contact with his skin. Polybotes grinned madly and boomed, "Go on, then, son of Neptune! Let me see your power! Does water do your bidding? Does it heal you? But I am born to oppose Neptune. My touch turns water to poison. We shall see what it does to your blood!"." Polybotes looked down at the demigod who was quite out of breath. He was quite enraged to see him observe him with disdain, and not cowering at his display.

"Yeah, yeah, I have heard it all. Can we start the fighting?" Percy said, as if really bored. He had been struck by an insane idea and was playing a dangerous game, trying to enrage the giant. Insanity worked best for him, anyway. As Polybotes swung his trident at Percy, he seemed to shimmer away and yawned, "Was that the best you can do?"

His eyes widened in recognition, "Percy Jackson." He observed.

"Glad to see that...now you see me!" Percy crackled like a lunatic at his poor pun and jumped clear away of his range. Two-three more swipes were deftly avoided by Percy, which finally caused the giant to bellow as a myriad of basilisks emerged from his matted hair. All of them hissed at their new enemy, and Polybotes expected to see an end of Percy Jackson; but he smirked and looked right at the snakes and Polybotes was really unnerved at what he did next.

A soul-stirring tune played out of Percy's vocal cords, as the air seemed to tense up in anticipation. All the basilisks turned their cold, heartless gazes at the demigod, swaying in an ethereal motion to the lilt of an unheard tune, as their heads began to swerve in a similar stance. Percy was getting into it when the clamour of voices assaulted him: "Who are you? What do you want? How do you speak our tongue?" And, this arrogant query was the most frequent: "You presume to control us?"

"Yes. I am the defeater of Pratihasta, Arshesa, and the carrier of the serpent mark. You shall obey me, or..."Percy let his mind connect with them as the devastating images of the Garudastra's effects became apparent in their minds. For every being, the rule was different. While some were docile, yet others were furious; some were capable of reasoning, while it escaped the others. Percy, during his seclusion, had managed to visit the Atri-Tapoban (the safe haven of sages) and had found the teachings of Manasha, the Indian demigod-turned goddess of serpents. For snakes, the rule was always the same. Never waver, never let any weakness be visible, or they shall destroy you. They respected only power and Percy was showing that he had it in spades. As they were still shocked from viewing the effects of that weapon, Percy completed his binding tune, as they were subjugated to his mind and were forced to carry out his orders. Percy instructed them to spread out and turn on the monsters and to finish off as many as they can. He knew it wouldn't hold long, and he was dreadfully exhausted after this performance, but watched in satisfaction as the tide of the battle turned. The enemy was now being torn up from within.

He was still grinning like an idiot when suddenly the wind was knocked out of him from a giant punch. Polybotes had finally decided to use his hands, and had nailed Percy. He groaned from his prone form in the ground as he didn't feel like that he could get up. The giant rampaged towards him and was going for another blow when he was suddenly hit by a flurry of arrows and knocked back. Diana glared at the giant and spoke up, "Leave him alone."

Polybotes slowly got to his feet and smirked lecherously, "Aww, what happened, Diana? Did I hurt your feelings? Is the maiden goddess having a blossoming romance?" He continued, pointing towards Percy, "Look at the child...and he was supposed to be a danger to our cause. Neptune was always weak, and his sons are too. No one shall stand between our victories. I always knew that what you were on the inside, Diana...and my brother Gration would enjoy you once our ascension is complete." Diana trembled in rage at hearing these words, but before she could do anything, a human missile barraged into Polybotes.

Percy could take many things, but this insult against his father and Diana was too much. Without even noticing, he had managed to spring up, the water from the wrecked aqueduct replenishing his energy, and had railed on the giant. Bheema was the son of Pavandev-the god of winds, and was as unstoppable as a hurricane. Percy knew that time had come for him to put it to good use. As the giant tried to punch him again, Percy met the fist with his own and the ensuing shockwave spread through the field. Polybotes couldn't believe this-a demigod could match his own strength? No one but Hercules had ever done that. He didn't have much time to think, though, as Percy twisted his arms and lifting Polybotes over his shoulder, slammed him on the ground. A blow to Polybotes' knee produced a sound crunching sound as it almost fractured from the blow; Polybotes grabbed hold of Percy before the next attack and tried to throw him away, but he landed perfectly on his feet, never wavering from his stance. He and Diana nodded at each other, and each of them summoned their bows and started firing on the giant who tried to protect himself from the pelting onslaught. Percy crouched on the ground as Diana ran towards him, used his shoulder as a lift and kicked Polybotes, now in her godly height. She again shrunk back to normal size as Polybotes' wild slam met with free air and Percy, leaping, kicked him in the groin area. Both of them scattered in opposite direction, making his head swivel before a watery hand manifested and threw a giant piece of rubble at his head, meeting it's mark. A blast of godly energy opened up a deep gash on the giant's chest as he grew murderous. A ball of pure venom raced towards the duo, but this time it was Polybotes' turn to be shocked; the ball stopped in midair, spiralling wildly, but not moving. Percy kept his eyes fixed on the sphere, trying to exert all his influence on it. Even though the giant's control over water was greater, seeing as he was born to oppose Neptune, Percy was playing a new trick. As the sphere hovered, it's slimy green colour was disappearing, only to be replaced by ocean blue. Percy was purifying the water, drawing out the energy straight from Polybotes, as the giant started losing control over the pure element. He couldn't break the connection as he really couldn't figure out what Percy was trying (no surprises there!), but he sure felt the pain when it solidified into a dense mass of ice and slammed into him. With one more gesture, Percy transformed the water vapour around the giant into minute ice shards, quite resembling crumbled glass shards. They found their way into Polybotes' respiratory tract and eyes, as he screamed in pain and clawed violently at the invisible assailant. Although the ice on reaching him melted, the pain was just as great. Slowly, Polybotes slumped down.

Percy nodded to Diana, who was going to deliver the killing blow, when Polybotes re-opened his eyes and with a snarl, violently slammed his fist on the ground. The shockwave sent both Percy and Diana tumbling down, and before they could stand, Polybotes clutched his fist, making a glowing ball of energy manifest around it-the same kind which was supposed to deliver killing blow to the gods-and hurled it straight at Percy, making the battlefield alight with an eerie glow, as every combatant looked at it. Percy wore a surprised look on his face before he was blasted with the energy.

Diana was horrified at this turn of events and whispered, "No." It was not possible; Percy Jackson couldn't die like this. She suddenly felt an intense guilt build up within her, for how she had treated him for the last few days. He had never deserved anything like it; it was only her fear about falling for him that had made her act likewise. Now she was never going to get a chance to remedy it...wait a moment!

Both the giant's and goddess' eyes bulged outwards as the energy instead of dying down, seemed to pulse with much more intensity. The greenish glow was replaced by a golden light, as suddenly the sun above their head seemed to brighten hundredfold. Even as Diana armoured her eyes, she knew this was not Apollo's doing. She was then surprised to realise that she had inadvertently started glowing; a silvery strand of light connected her to halo of energy midfield, as if drawing blessings from her. All of a sudden, the energy bubble erupted like a thunderclap as an irate Percy Jackson came into view. His hair was blowing softly, as if by an unseen wind, and he was looking more powerful than ever. In his chest, he wore a golden armour with a sunflower pattern and interconnecting lines of eight, i.e. to say, an infinity pattern.

Percy didn't even realize what had happened when Polybotes launched the energy at him. He couldn't duck or dodge, but suddenly he had heard a soft whisper...like memories of a forgotten time, which confided that he had the power to survive this. With a bit of concentration (imminent death makes it really easy), a golden armour had manifested around him, and for a moment he had felt connected both to the sun and the moon; not Artemis and Apollo, not Luna and Helios, but some beings far more ancient. As he felt the energy feebly chip at the armour, he had blasted it back with all his power and had felt a cold rage enshroud him. The kid gloves were off; it was time to teach the giant a lesson. He jumped in a complete circle, all time blasting the stunned giant with arrows and on landing, raced towards him with Riptide. Nothing could impede him now; it was the same rush he had felt after his bath in the River Styx. He slashed, gouged and kicked the helpless giant and decided to use a power he had previously dreaded; the Brahmastra, the equivalent of a modern nuclear bomb, which had also created the Thar Desert in India and contained the power of Brahma, the creator. The arrow impaled Polybotes and in a spilt second, he was blown to a fine mist; it didn't stop there, but sent a circular disc of energy ploughing through the field. All monsters, all enemies were annihilated and as the excess energy returned to Percy Jackson, Diana's numb mind realised something; Percy had just destroyed a giant without any godly help! Of course, she didn't really have a clue about the real nature of the power Percy had used.

Percy was now swaying a little unsteadily on his feet. As the adrenaline surge wore off, he found himself giggling. Everything was so full of colours! Everyone was looking like they were made of jelly! Convex lenses, concave lenses... Hehe. He kept on giggling, looking more like a drunkard than ever.

"Percy, are you all right?" Asked an obviously concerned Diana as she approached Percy cautiously.

"No. I have a left side as well." Percy chuckled, "Isn't it funny? Everything is so pretty. You're so pretty."

She shook her head, "Okay, you obviously are not all right."

"I told you that! Are you daft? How can I be all right? I just killed a giant, I am hurting in places I didn't know existed, you have been ignoring me for days now, and look how stupid I am; I thought you knew what friendship is. It really is my fault; how can I ever hope for a peaceful life, with you immortals stepping in at every point? And you know what the biggest problem is?" Percy screamed.

Diana trembled in rage at hearing him speak so disrespectfully, but as his speech progressed, she flinched; she realised that even though he might not be entirely sober, he was certainly right in his own regard. Was friendship really an alien concept to her? Yes, till he came in her life. It really was priceless, and she had been throwing it away due to her own insecurities. However, she realised that it was of no use; she couldn't hide forever behind walls. She made up her mind; she would rectify her actions, because she, too, carved his company...more than Percy could imagine. Probably, she really was daft. Then, she remembered his early words and wondered aloud, "What is the biggest problem?"

"I HAVEN'T GOTTEN ANY RELEASE SINCE JOINING THE HUNTERS." Percy yelled aloud, "And you'd think that it would happen as soon as a male caught sight of someone as beautiful as you."

Diana turned deep red at Percy's impromptu announcement that even though he might be a battle hardened warrior and more mature than anyone she had seen, he still was a teenage boy; at least in the physical aspect. She decided to forget that this conversation ever happened and touched Percy's shoulder, "Okay, stay still while I call Apollo to look at you." This, however had an unexpected consequence; as soon as her hand touched Percy's armour, it glowed more vibrantly than ever, and he whispered, "Awesome!" before falling to the ground and fainting.

"Apollo!" Diana's worried call found the sun god arriving instantaneously at the scene, as he held up her hands, "Geesh, sis, what happened?"

"That." She pointed to Percy on the ground, "Do something for him...and, TURN OFF THE SUN." The light was really bothersome.

Apollo chucked, "Sorry, sis, no can do. It's all of Perce's doing."

"What?"

"You know why he is unconscious?"

"I am not the doctor."

"Right. Well, at this moment, he has far too much power in his body to be contained safely...briefly put, he is suffering from a power overload. I don't know what this armour is made of, but it has a connection to me, and is draining a bit of power from me. That is why the sun is so bright."

Diana nodded, "I can feel it too." She paused, "How do we drain the extra power?"

"It isn't worth worrying about...it will return to normal in due time. You can even move him. I got to say, this could only happen to Percy Jackson". He chuckled a bit, but then suddenly turned serious, "How exactly did he end up like this? This can be dangerous if it happens too often."

"Oh, not too long ago. It happened just after he killed Polybotes...single-handedly." Diana spoke in a droll voice.

"WHAT?" After Apollo received the short version, he walked away, muttering about how awesome Percy was. He, however, was worried that his father wouldn't take too kindly to these revelations.

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"This doesn't look good", thought Percy to himself. Presently, he was dreaming (he at least hoped so; you never can tell) that he was a tall, lean man of about 18 years and standing in a battle arena with a bow in his hand. However, it wasn't the one he was used to, and the clincher was that he was facing the same guy who gave him his new abilities: Arjuna.

The battle started. In a distinctly non-attached state, Percy noted that whoever he was in his dream, that guy was also insanely skilled. Arrows darkened the landscape, only to feel it later in a maze of sparks. A formation of icy arrows came towards Percy, but a giant flame which took on the form of a dragon absorbed it. He returned fire with a blast of wind arrows, which Arjuna blocked by manifesting a wall of force around him. He fired again, which took on the form of a dark, cloudy demon and swallowed the opponent archer, but Arjuna appeared unscathed and his Aishik astra took the cloud to sky and changed to a rain of poisonous shards. Another force-field of fire made this ineffective. However, while this attack was subsiding, Arjuna fired yet another arrow at him; he realised that he would get impaled, but was amazed when the same shield that had materialized around him earlier covered this man as well, and deflected the arrow with ease. Arjuna was shocked, and so was Percy, but this explained why he was dreaming of this scene. The battle turned out to be a stalemate, and ended only when the sun went down. With that, the scene faded from before Percy's eyes.

"Enjoying yourself?" came a calm and composed voice, startling him. Percy knew who he would see; with that damn annoying smirk, it was Arjuna.

"Quite. But can you explain all this?"

"Yes." He looked sombre, and then started, "It happened like this..."

Percy then was treated with another tale of secrets, deceits and betrayal. It was of their sixth brother, Karna, who had been conceived by their mother Kunti before her marriage. He was the son of the sun god, Surya, and his godmother was the moon. To help his child become invulnerable, Surya had poured the true strength of the Sun within his body, which transformed into an unbreakable armour. However, his life was far from perfect. They were all royalty, and the general people of their monarchy didn't expect such happenings. Karna was abandoned and raised by a charioteer. He never received any proper training, and finally tricked one of the most powerful sages to teach him. It was he who had cursed him, stating that all the knowledge imparted by him would be forgotten by Karna when he needed it the most. Percy couldn't help but compare Karna's curse to the one which Ares had laid on him years ago. Truly, Karna was the epitome of how shitty a demigod's life can be.

"So, why didn't you tell me about this earlier?"

"We were estranged from our brother so long that he carried the grudge even after death. He refused to ever help someone again, and I didn't realize that he would transfer his powers to you. He must like you for some reason. I will of course ask why, once I return, but it isn't surprising: you can even get the friendship of Lady Artemis, so what is this compared to that?"

Percy coloured a little, "How did you know about that?"

"I have been keeping an eye on you, dear brother. Really, you are naive."

"Oh? And you are the world's greatest Casanova?"

"Of course. As you know, I went to heaven even before death, and the most beautiful Apsara there-Urbashi-was smitten with me." Arjuna looked smug.

Percy smirked, "And refusing her advances, you were turned into a eunuch for a whole year."

Arjuna sputtered and looked a bit sheepish, "Well, there's that. But, seriously, make up your friendship with Lady Artemis or get over her. You can't keep brooding forever in your mind, and think of ifs-and-buts. It is detrimental to your mission."

"All right, I will try something."

"Good." Arjuna grinned, "Well, it seems you are waking up. This might be our last meeting for awhile, so I am going to give you a parting gift."

"What is it?"

"You'll see." From his smirk, Percy was certain it can't be good. Really, Arjuna resembled Apollo in every aspect.

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"He is coming around." Came the faint voice of Thalia, as Percy shook his head to clear the cobwebs...it only intensified his dizziness. After laying quietly, Percy realised that he had a weight sitting on his chest. He cautiously opened his eyes; with his luck, it can be anything from a cat to the Nemean Lion, but it was just Chirsty, who chirped brightly on seeing that he was awake, "Percy! You're up."

"Yes, my buttercup", Percy replied instantly, and immediately covered his mouth. Where did that come from?

"He is not fully up yet, Christy...me thinks we need to shock him." Thalia mocked.

Percy glared at her, "You can't, your spear is too slim."

"Since when did you become a poet?" Came the amused voice of Artemis as she leaned against the doorway.

"Since I was cursed by an irritating person who calls himself great." Percy said morosely. So, this was it? Was every word that came out of his mouth going to be rhymed?

"Well, we will leave you two alone then." Christy chirped, and left the tent with Thalia, although Percy had a poetic piece of advice to offer: "Don't go out, weather reports say it'll rain." Then, he turned to look at Artemis, waiting for her to speak.

Artemis suddenly felt awkward, standing there in front of Percy all alone. She could have said many things, but she felt lost in those sea-green eyes and decided to speak her heart out. She took a deep breath to steady herself, and started, "Percy, I want you to listen very carefully and reserve judgement till I finish speaking." She paused, "I am sorry for treating you badly for the past few days. You must understand that this is all new for me. I did have my reasons for acting like how I did, but that's in the past. I have understood that I was being 'daft', as someone eloquently put it. I can't explain my reasons at this moment, so please don't ask. However, I don't want to lose our friendship over something so stupid. So, I am saying again: I am sorry."

"Please don't worry." Percy spoke softly, and then scowled. He couldn't keep on speaking in rhymes! Ah, there's a notepad there. He quickly picked it up and scribbled, "I don't want to lose our friendship over something stupid either. But please, can you add a bit of warmth while dealing with me?"

Artemis chuckled a little at his display, and spoke, "It's a deal." After a pause, she spoke again, "So, we are all right?"

"Yes, but I don't want you out of my sight." At this statement, Percy leapt up and strongly bashed his head against the wall, trying to hide all the embarrassment he felt.

"Aw, don't be so ashamed Percy. It's a very nice talent. Well, maybe not as much expressive as you were just after the battle, but still nice."

Percy scribbled furiously, "After the battle? What happened?"

"You don't remember?"

"It's a bit fuzzy, really."

Artemis sighed in relief. She was dreading that confrontation...it easily could have been the most awkward moment of her immortal life. As she watched Percy scrunch his eyebrows, trying to remember it, she couldn't help but observe how handsome and cute he looked. Then, on an unavoidable impulse, she leaned forward and softly kissed him on his cheeks before scampering out with a full on blush.

Percy fell down to his bed, stunned. Did that really happen? The butterflies in his stomach, however, gave ample evidence that it indeed had happened. As he kept on feeling his cheek where she had kissed him, he felt a stupid grin adorning his mouth. Well, wasn't the day superb? Killing a giant, gaining new powers, obtaining an apology from one of the most prideful beings and above all, being kissed by her, although he kept on speaking in rhymes! The day couldn't get any better.

And he did remember everything that had happened after the battle; and, if he was being honest with himself, he knew that those were the truest words he had ever spoken.

A/N: So sorry about the lack of updates. Been crazy busy with school lately. It should settle down towards the end of March.

So...did you guys like it? Tried to put a bit of humour, but it became so crude that I had to delete most of it. Still, this explains quite a lot of things...and the confrontation with Annabeth coming up next. I was surprised that none of you asked about her...geesh, is she really so unloved or all of you thought that she had died?