ALL ABLE PERSONNEL
Percy's eyes flutter open. The rickety groans of the Argos seem to fade with familiarity. The stiff cot provided a comfort that he would've never imagined from the cushy beds he was aquatinted with. It was the first time in a long time that a peaceful rest went undisturbed. He rose to a sit, a groggy hand scraped over his face.
"Percy." He turned mutely. His eyes stung from sleep. Luke rose from his seat at the table, arms unfolding and strode over to the bunk beds.
Percy swung his legs over the bed, arms resting on either side, and heaved himself up. Luke laid his hand on Percy's shoulder and shoved him back down.
"Don't get up."
Percy made to complain, but words didn't come. A wave a nausea rocked his body, a sharp jolt rammed into his head. He pressed his hands to his forehead and winced.
"You've exhausted your Dusk, don't expect yourself to be jumping around for awhile." There was no comfort in his tone. Luke's frown thinned, then sighed. He plopped himself down on the other end of the bed. "But, what would my advice mean to you, anyway?"
"Luke, I—" Percy was interrupted by a wave. His shoulders slumped, his head tilted away.
The two sat, facing away from one another. Percy opened his mouth once more, then closed it. He couldn't force him myself to face the blond.
"I wish you would've told me, at least." Luke finally spoke, his voice was heavy. Percy gripped the bedsheets, his eyes roaming the empty room floor.
"I... I didn't want you to be dragged into..." Percy turned around and found Luke's piercing blue eyes.
"I followed you anyways." Luke said with absolution. "So, why didn't you tell me? Don't say that you didn't know I would follow you."
"I'm... Sorry."
Luke made to speak, but decided against it. He gave out a sigh, his hand reached onto Percy's head and ruffled his hair. "Jeez, what am I suppose to do with you?"
"You can start by making me some food." Percy eyed the man from under his hand.
"I'll bring you something from the dining hall." Luke got on his feet and began to make for the door before Percy stopped him, grabbing him by the rim of his shirt.
"But, I want you to make it!" Percy whined.
Luke pulled away. "Don't push it." He took hold of the crank and stop, his head turned to the side and lo
oked at Percy from the edge of his vision. Percy was holding his pillow before falling back into his bed. Luke left the room.
Two knocks on the door, followed by a muffled voice from behind the metal partition.
"It's me."
"Come on in!" Percy called out.
The metal door slid sidelong into the wall. Luke stepped through, a generous pile of food lay atop a green tray held on one hand.
"They didn't really have anything blue, so I decided to get you plenty of gre—" Luke stopped short in the presents of two too many people in the room. "Uh, did I miss the invitation?"
"Food!" Percy waved for Luke to come closer. Like complied absentmindedly.
"By all means, make yourself at home. How are you liking my humble abode?" Nero stood, straight-backed against the wall opposite of the bunk bed.
"Could use for a little less metal and more flowers," Luke said after setting down Percy's food. "Brightens the place up."
"I would, but alas, flowers can't apprehend malfeasant intruders."
"Luke, why so much vegetables?" Percy exclaimed from his bed.
"If you don't eat your vegetables Lord Poseidon would be the least of my problems when we return to Athens." Luke sighed, resting his back against the back of the wall.
"Vegetables are a great second to metal, though." Nero smirked, a thin, almost unnoticeable change.
"Beat it, how am I suppose to face a tag team like this?" Luke sighed.
"A tactical retreat seems most favorable in your situation." Luke jumped into the air and nearly fell. He skidded on the floor and spun around. Annabeth poked her head over the bunk railing, resting on her arm, he had completely forgotten about her.
"Whoa," Luke straightened. "Y-Yeah, I'll do that then." He returned to his spot on the bed frame, Annabeth shrunk back into the bed. "I suppose I haven't properly introduced myself." He glanced back at Annabeth, lying on her side, her arms wrapped around a pillow. "The name's Luke Castilian, a servant of Lord Poseidon."
Nero shifted into motion, taking 3 smooth strides to reach the other side of the room. He extended his right hand, his left tucked behind his back.
Luke accepted the hand shake.
"Nero de Deva, colonel of the Radiant Corona Special Force." Nero gave a mocking half bow and his signature evil grin. Luke already hated the man. "Now that the pleasantries have been exchanged, shall we move on to the matter at hand?"
"All work and no fun, eh?" Luke sighed.
"I'm afraid so."
"Luke, don't fight him." Percy warned. "He's too strong."
"That's because you're as good of a talker as you are a listener." Luke said, pulling back his lips in a tight gesture. Percy growled.
"He has a point." Annabeth added absently.
"What's on your mind then?" Luke turned back to Nero who stood patiently every time something frivolous starts.
"The most important issue," Nero pressed his glasses up by the bridge, "would be the occurrence in the Archeway Deep. I have already organized the report from Annabeth." Nero picked up a small stack of papers on the square table and handed it to Luke, who began to sniff through pages quickly. "The creature described in particular is quite intriguing."
"'Sudoriferous?'" Luke murmured. "What, is sweating too simple for you?"
"I couldn't find the right word for fleshy, clammy, pale limbs." Annabeth poised herself on one elbow.
"How about 'disgusting.'" Luke turned another page.
"That partition in the forest have been registered as one of ten red zones, discovered over the last six months."
"'Red zones?'" Percy put down his empty plate, have decimated the content.
"Very dangerous, quarantined areas. Typically used to bar off some catastrophe of nature or another." Nero answered. "They usually don't last too long, a month or two, before reverting back to normal or converting into an orange zone. Red zones are the hight of danger in any specific area."
"And are the other nine zones similar to this one?" This time it was Annabeth who spoke up.
"The other nine areas have very similar readings of Dusk." Nero stopped Luke on the last page, where a graph of intercepting lines zigzagged across the page. "Dusk grows more agitated within these areas. They vibrate exceedingly fast, creating a thick friction that clocks in at 1500 rails." At Percy's blank stare Nero continued. "The Dusk that ventilate through our bodies would promote nausea and head pains to the physical body. If exposed to the agitated Dusk for more than 13 hours at a time the body would begin to mimic the Dusk's vibration, starting with the liquids in the body. The symptoms are lost of hearing, anxiety, nausea, coldness, hard of breath. Your body would begin to expand and contract, and the brain would implode shortly after. That is if you survive long enough."
"That's a hypothesis, right?" Percy suddenly feel like his stomach ached.
Nero returned with a devious grin. "Testing that hypothesis isn't necessarily a hard process."
"Seeing as Dusk acts very much like sound waves, the head imploding/exploding thing is accurate." Annabeth hung her head over the bunk and smiled at Percy.
"Actually, Dusk acts identical to sound waves. It is merely a pitch humans cannot perceive, however we can manipulate." Nero corrected.
"The question is," Luke interrupted their teasing. "if that monster is the epicenter of the phenomenon."
Nero straightened up. "Perhaps, this is the very first of these creatures we have encountered in these red zones. Normal monsters avoid these areas."
"We should've stayed for further examination." Annabeth grumbled.
"That would be quite a troublesome endeavor." Nero said. "The Seven Skies have declared marshal law ever the forest partition."
"We barely made it out, it seems." Luke added. "I wonder what the Seven wants with that particular area?"
"Eight areas were found in Valhalla, five of which are secured by the Seven Skies army."
"It sounds like an arms race." Luke folded his arms. "Why would Zeus' personal elites be competing with the rest of the military for control over the areas?"
"Wait, I don't understand." Annabeth furled her eyebrows. "Isn't the whole military under Zeus' rule?"
"The military forces are made up of armies of the vassals of Valhalla. Lord Zeus, as High King, have the authority to rally his subjects into any declaration." Nero explained. "His Majesty's personal army consist of the Knights of Silver, his personal guards, the Knight's of Gold, and his personal elites the armies of the Seven Skies. The Seven Skies' loyalty resides in the Generals of the Seven Skies, in turn, their loyalty lies with his Majesty. They differ from other vassals in that they are not kings or dukes, they are generals and therefore far more loyal and obedient."
"And that lieutenant we met in the forest, Nakamura, is apart of the Seven Skies?" Luke asked.
"Yes, the lieutenant of general Thea the First of the Seven."
"Thea the Ruthless." Luke's tone turn low. "The Leviathan of Valhalla, it's said that he single handedly conquered all of western Valhalla from feudal lords and pushed Hades back across the Barron Plains, and yet no one besides Lord Zeus and the Seven has ever seen his face."
"Pulling out of Archway Deep sounds far more appealing now." Percy said dejectedly. He's heard of the Seven many times in his lessons, always along with some great desolation of a civilization or a smaller country. Never has he read an article of the Seven Skies participating in a charity foundation.
"You hurt me Perseus." Nero pressed his hand over his chest in a dramatic show of pain. "Does your faith in me run only skin deep?" His sharp gray eyes twinkled.
"I don't doubt you!" Percy waved his hands. "But, the Seven Skies are really something!"
"Come on." Annabeth droned out. "Victory hinges on strategy and real time tactics. Unless the Seven whatever has a military that can rival the rest of Valhalla, I hardly see the legitimacy of your fear."
"I'm not afraid!" Percy shouted.
"It is true that the Seven generals are exceptionally tactful, but they are also unparalleled in power individually." Luke said, his voice still serious. "It's rumored that Heracles toppled the feudal city of some bygone country by himself, literally. Completely singlehandedly."
"That's a joke, right?" Annabeth's voice lacked her usual snarky demeanor. She turned to Nero who pushed up his glasses again.
"It was quite some time ago, but, yes. It was reported, Heracles, fashioned with an enchanted hammer, toppled the city of Warwick, some sixty years ago."
"You've got to be kidding me." Annabeth blanched. "And are you saying they'll be a problem to our mission?"
"I think it's more like we are the problem in their mission." Luke said.
The white halls of Olympia fell into the common silence it has long since associate with. The foggy grey lights of the the even light cast in rays like beacons. A metal clad clapping ran down the marble floors of the palace.
The servants and maids scrambled aside, pressing their backs the the walls of the hallway, making due with quick, flimsy bows as the young captain marched with heavy leather boots.
The door at the end of the hallway stood high into the ceiling. Large gold handles graced the red wooden gates. The Captain didn't bother with a knock, she doesn't even use her room anyway.
"Thalia!" Clarisse barked into the open door. "What the hell's going on!"
Thalia had froze midway stuffing her bag with an assortment of unladylike clothing.
"Sorry, have we met?" She turned back to packing.
"Did I hear right?" Clarisse stomped across the room. "Tell me you're joking."
"Come on..." Thalia laughed humorlessly. She waved to her bag and cloths splayed before them. "You think I would take the effort to pack for a practical joke?"
"Yeah, you're right." Clarisse nodded, her lower lip pursed in an impressed expression. "That just leaves you with being insane!" She whacked Thalia's cloth out of her hand, her voice returned to its original volume.
Thalia reached to catch the shirt and stuffed it into her duffle bag. "If you're quite done..."
"You're leaving?" Clarisse stretched out the word.
"Yeah." Thalia said as if she was talking to a child.
"For Athens?"
"That's what I said."
"Why?"
This time Thalia didn't answer with a quip. She continued to messily fold her cloths before cramming them into her bag and messing them up all over again.
"Why else?" She said at last. "I have to solve this case."
"Have you forgotten that, um- you hate every single person in Avalon with a passion?" Clarisse crossed her arms.
Thalia turned to her friend, her eyes drained of her previous mirth.
"I remember just fine."
"Then why are you going there?" Clarisse repeated. "This case can't possibly mean so much to you that you're willing to go to Athens."
Thalia turned away. She glared into the black jacket in her hands.
"Are you going for some other reason?" Clarisse stepped closer. "Are you going to seek out your brother?"
Thalia snapped to Clarisse. Jolts of electricity crackled to life, dancing through her fingers and up her arms.
"What do you know!" Thalia screamed. Blue sparks snapped at her voice, crawling on the marble floor.
Clarisse stepped back, her hands raised in defense.
Thalia turned away, drawing back the electricity as she did her anger. Her scowl bore into the now ruined jacket with tendrils of smoke swirling from where her fingers had touched the fabric.
"What do would you know." Clarisse approached her once more, more hesitant. She reached out and touched Thalia' shoulder.
"I'm sorry. I didn't-"
"Yeah, I get it." Thalia shrugged her hand off. They fell into silence. Clarisse didn't know what to say and she didn't feel right staying. "I just wanted you to know that I was leaving. I should get back to packing." Clarisse took the hint and retreated out the door with a quiet goodbye.
Right as the door closed, Thalia flung her jacket onto the floor with a brute grunt. She kicked the leg of the bed and cried out in pain.
Hopping on her good leg, she made her way to the end of the large bed, heaving all the while. She glared savagely at the sheets, wanting to tear the cushion off and wrestle the pillow with murderous contempt.
Thalia tore her glare away and stomped to the wall next to the open balcony. She gripped the wall with one hand and pulled back her other fist. She swung, then froze inches from the wall, her breath was short and labored. She pulled back her arm again with resolve and swung. This time, she hit the wall, not even leaving a dint in the marble. She groaned a defeated sob as she cradled her punching hand in her chest.
She dragged her dejected body to her bed and flopped down, her face buried in the thick blankets. She whined into the sheets, coming out as muffled moans.
"Um, Thalia?" The princess jumped up from the bed and whirled around to face the newcomer.
"K-Katie, how long were you over there?" Thalia's voice squeaked.
"A while..." Katie smiled awkwardly.
"Can I help you with anything?" Thalia stuttered quickly, still poised on the bed.
"I heard raised voiced." She explained, patting out the nonexistent wrinkled in her dress. She spotted the burnt jacket. "Oh, are you serious?" She knelt down and picked up the clothing. Thalia winced. "I let you borrow it once! Once!" She waved the jacket in front of Thalia. "Are you going to ruin someone's favorite jacket every time you get in a fight with Clarisse? This isn't even yours!"
"Sorry, sorry!" Thalia laced her hands together in a preying manor. "Please forgive me!"
"I've only wore it once!" She waved the jacket again. "Were you even going to give it back?"
"Yes! I promise!" Thalia twisted into a sitting position on the bed. "Right after I get back from Athens!"
"Was." Katie corrected. She crossed her arms and tapped her feet, looking in every sense a scolding mother.
"I'm super sorry." Thalia pleaded.
"Well, that's too bad." Katie sighed. "I suppose I just have to go with you to Athens, then." Thalia blinked a few times. "What?" "You heard me." Katie said with finality. "I'm going to Athens with you."
"Wait. But- but, it's dangerous. This is official business for the Knigh-"
"I'm going. It's the least you can do for this." Katie waved the jacket again. She folded the clothing and set it aside, picking up other cloths scattered on the bed and folding them as well. "I heard that they have great tailors in Athens, the city of tomorrow." She said dreamily.
"It's dangerous!" Thalia repeated.
"Then you better escort me." Katie said carelessly. She stuffed the cloths in Thalia's duffle before clapping her hands together. "I've always wanted to go to Athens! I got to go pack!" She ran to the door and turned around, glaring at Thalia. "Wait here until I'm done." She ordered, pointing at Thalia. Thalia nodded lamely.
"I'm not really sure if this is a good idea." Annabeth said in a quiet tone. She stared at the metal ceiling that only rose a few feet above her. Her voice stirred the sheets below her.
"What do you mean?" Percy rolled over in his bed to face to room.
"Going to Athens." She whispered.
"Why would that be?" Percy rose to his elbow. "Athens is a beautiful city. It sits on the coast to the Aegean Sea."
A cold knot formed in Annabeth's stomach. She wrapped her arms around her pillow and turned on her blanket.
"I hate the sea."
Percy found himself strangely defensive.
"The water's are very blue." Percy plopped back into his bed. "I grew up looking onto the sea. We didn't travel much. Mother was always very protective and Luke agreed with her." Percy sounded betrayed, if only barely. "This is the first time I've left home, all thanks to Father. But, I suppose he didn't bring me for a vacation."
Annabeth pulled the pillow to her chin and buried her lower face into in cushion. Her eyes narrowed in distaste.
"Olympia's so grand and polish." Percy rambled on. "But, if I told the truth, I can't wait to go home."
Annabeth's head popped up.
"Percy, you said that you were raise in Athens?" Her voice took on that tone of voice she usually used when ruthlessly approaching a would-be sensitive subject; nice and innocent.
"Yeah; born and raised."
"So you're not a Valhalla noble?" She asked. "I mean, that's what I heard during the... interrogation."
"Nope, I'm full Avalon."
"So, what are you exactly?" Annabeth was far more carious than she let on. "Some son of a duke or knight?"
A shrill alarm wailed from the overhead com. The light over the metal door glared red in synced with the siren.
"All able personnel report to defense stations! All able personnel report to defense stations!" A male voice shouted over the intercom, one that sounded a bit familiar.
The door slid open a second after the message passed. Luke breath was heavy, his arm rested on the door frame.
"The Seven Skies are attacking!"
Sigh, leading up to another fight it seems. But, it is kinda exciting that Thalia will finally be apart of the story shortly!
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