Hi reader peoples, I'm really sorry about the longer interval between updates, I had a hectic week of exams and the like, along with a couple of performances. So again I am really sorry about that, however I tried to make up fro it by giving you an extra long chapter. I mean seriously, this is almost 2000 words longer, which may not seem like much, but it is about 5 cups of tea longer. Yeah I drink way to much tea. Anyway, I will leave you to your reading and I hope you enjoy, (If this chapter shows up in an alert for the second time, I sorry about that, I just had to make some minor corrections.)
Signed, Person who doesn't own Percy Jackson.
Annabeth didn't know how long she sat there, staring at the flames, not registering the looks of concern Perseus gave her as he moved around the fire making dinner. Occasionally Perseus gave her his flask and forced her to drink. Perseus knew the shock would wear off, in its own time. Annabeth had been thrust into this world of violence, while he had been trained for it for most of his life, and even then, he had struggled to cope. As he had gathered the firewood, Perseus managed to find a couple of birds flitting around the forest, and after several appalling attempts at using his bow, he cheated, using his powers to condense a cage of water around them before killing them. Used to making camp food, Perseus quickly plucked and gutted the animals, before roasting them over the fire. He always kept some herbs in his pack, and as such was able to season the birds lightly, preventing the meal from being entirely bland.
Still unregistering her surroundings, Annabeth sat silent, working her way through the meal. Eventually, Perseus realized that he would need to intervene, to get her to interact with him, if they were to be able to travel. Grabbing two shorter sticks from the flames, ones that had been only lightly touched by the fire, he stood, kicking Annabeths ankle to let her know she should as well. She didn't move, so Perseus kicked her leg again. Again there was no response. Tired of her apathy, Perseus rapped her sharply over her knuckles with one of the sticks. At that Annabeth hissed sharply, glaring up at Perseus. Perseus simply looked back. "Come on, you need to train." Annabeth simply shrugged,
"I'll train when I reach the Hunters." Perseus frowned at her angrily,
"We have several leagues before we reach Signy-le-Petit, and we have much further to go to reach Cambrai, we could be ambushed again at any point along our journey, and I don't want to be looking over my shoulder in the middle of every fight to make sure you haven't gotten yourself killed. So you are learning to fight now." Annabeth jumped to her feet in anger.
"Oh so you have to take care of me do you? Well I'm sorry, I seemed to handle my opponent pretty well." Perseus scoffed,
"Yeah and while you were busy doing what you call 'handling' your one opponent, I got the back of my hand sliced open," he gestured, shoving the bandaged hand in her face, "When I threw a knife at a bandit sneaking up on you."
"Perhaps you should be more careful!" Annabeth bit back,
"Or perhaps you should learn to fight so that you can watch your own surroundings."
Annabeth looked like she was about to retort, but, literally, bit her lip. "Fine, I'll learn how to fight." Smiled at her, tossing her one of the short sticks.
"Good, we'll start off with daggers. Attack me."
With that they had begun, Annabeth swing her dagger, desperately trying to get through Perseus' guard, but to no avail. Occasionally, Perseus would strike back at her, slowing his blows so that she could see them coming, but keeping them fast enough that unless she reacted instantly they would hit her. As they fought, Perseus was constantly giving Annabeth tips, "loosen your grip", "Hold your knife closer into your body", "Make your swings tighter", and "Keep your stance wider". As he kept up this barrage of advice, Perseus made sure to give her no time to think, no time to figure out how she should respond or act, only time enough for her instincts to drive her movements. He knew she was a demigod, and a child of Athena, to them, more than anyone, battle came easily. Annabeth was turning out to be living proof of this, Picking up knife fighting as if she had been born to it.
That was not to say she was an expert, she still had many flaws in her technique, and her muscle memory had not developed, simply because it had not had time. No, all that could be said about her skill with a knife was that it would keep her alive. In a real fight, she would be able to survive and win her battles. But Perseus knew that given enough time, she could become a very dangerous warrior.
Bruised, battered, and exhausted, Annabeth was eventually allowed to collapse back onto her seat. While she still stared at the fire, Perseus knew that this time she was alert to it, watching the dancing, flickering lights. The training had done its part, allowing her to get rid of some of her emotions through action. Giving her subconscious time to think without the burden of the conscious. Her voice gently broke the crackling silence.
"I've always wondered why fire does that. It's one of the many mysteries I hope to solve." Annabeth said, still looking into the flames. Perseus looked at her, slightly confused.
"Why fire does what?" Annabeth looked like she was trying to shrug her shoulders, but the fatigue didn't allow it.
"Dance." Perseus nodded, understanding what she was getting at,
"Lady Hestia once told me that the dancing flames were there for the fun and enjoyment of those who sat near them. She said that they were important to the very essence of the hearth, for where there is life there is hope, and what life is better than one that is enjoyed." Annabeth looked up at him as he spoke,
"Perhaps a life in which you make something, a life to be remembered throughout the ages." Perseus glanced at her, "Sorry," she said. Blushing slightly, "Its is one of my dreams, to build something permanent, a monument to last a thousand years." She looked back up and Perseus and saw he was still looking at her, his eyes deep and thoughtful, and for a second she felt like he was staring into her very soul, all her triumphs and failures bared to his sea-green eyes. He blinked and the spell was broken. He glanced to the side, thinking,
"I've spent so long fighting for survival, that I've never had a chance to dream about the future. All my hopes have been in relation to my next battle, my strategies and the lives of my men. I have no wishes beyond that as many of my family and friends as is possible survive the turmoil's of our land." Annabeth could see the effect the wars had taken on him, written in the lines on his face, a face far too young to be lined. He blamed himself for every death, every loss. Tentatively putting a hand on his shoulder, Annabeth couldn't think of anything to say that fitted the situation, so instead she simply walked over to the tent Perseus had set up for her, and ducked inside, troubled by what she had seen.
Perseus remained sitting where he was, trying to dream up what he wanted his future to be, but no matter how hard he thought, his mind returned to one thing. His future held war, it held battle, and at the end? Well, at the end it held a city of glittering, soaring towers. At the end… it held answers.
When the sun broke over the tops of the trees, Perseus and Annabeth had already begun their journey towards Signy-le-Petit. The pair was running once more, enjoying the freedoms granted by the road. They ran, not in silence, but in a quite, morning noise, neither fully conscious from the early start. Perseus was happy to move at a pace comfortable for Annabeth, while she pushed herself, striving, trying to train her body to move with lithe precision and grace of Perseus'. Occasionally as they went, Perseus would point out different features of the land, plants that could be used for healing, eating and poison, also insects that could kill a man with a single bite. As they ran, Annabeth often saw creatures running along beside them. When she pointed them out to Perseus, he simply looked at them and smiled, telling her not to worry, that they were simply escorting the pair out of their territory, "Lupa ever was a nervous one." He said. When Annabeth tried to ask him what he meant, he simply shook his head, telling her it was something best left to lady Artemis to explain.
As they ran, Annabeth began to notice more and more, seeing how the forest interacted with itself, the plants and wildlife forming their own communities. She saw how trees moved in response to the wind, and how beautiful they appeared under a stark grey sky. As she looked around, she suddenly noticed the foliage ahead of them shaking, red eyes peering out of the leaves. Apparently Perseus had noticed it as well, as he tensed. Turning to her as the kept moving, he murmured, "Spear." She almost froze on the spot. If she needed her spear, the threat was some beast from Tartarus, and would not be easy to kill. She reached over her back, pulling her spear out and shuffling her shield onto her forearm, she still hadn't managed the sheer fluidity with which Perseus swung his shield. Glancing round, she noticed he had stopped running, but motioned for her to go on when she looked behind. Obviously, she thought, this is some sort of test. Well, lets make sure I pass then. Slowing down further, she dropped into a slight crouch as she moved. Sure enough, from the treeline leapt a fearsome black hound. Larger than a horse and thrice as wide, the beast looked at her hungrily, as if imagining what she would be like for dinner. Her mind traitorously decided to point out that without seasoning, she would definitely taste very bland.
The hound growled, the only warning she was given before it ran at her. Rolling quickly, Annabeth jabbed at the creature's side, missing her mark when it twisted to face her. Once more, she jabbed at its face, but the beast smacked her spear to the side with a massive paw, snapping at her as she stumbled. Trying to trick the beast, Annabeth fell backwards, tilting her shield and spear away from her, leaving her 'open'. The dog took the bait, jumping in towards her. Slamming her shield into the beasts face, she rolled to her feet, jabbing it in the shoulder, allowing rivulets of golden ichor spill towards the ground. Temporarily shocked she had managed to hit the beast; Annabeth gave the hound time to swat her with a paw, sending her flying through the air, her hand losing its grip on the spear. As soon as the weapon left her hand, Annabeth knew she was in trouble.
She hit the ground hard, her head thumping against the ground. She glanced dazedly around, spotting the spear lying on the ground just a few meters away. Another growl drew her eyes to the prowling hound. Keeping her eyes on the beast, she began to edge towards the spear slowly, ever so slowly. Her hand slipped on the ground, sending bits of rock spinning along the ground. Instantly, she froze. The growling stopped. Turning her head, she looked back at the dog. It was still, tensed for combat. Its ears were pressed back and its teeth bared. It was ready to pounce. It took a matter of seconds for actions that seemed to take a lifetime. In those seconds, the hounds' muscles unwound, pushing it upwards and forwards. Pushing it towards Annabeth. At the same time, Annabeth flung herself to the side, rolling away from the monster. Her hand lashed out and gripped the spear shaft and the hound dug its claws into the ground to bring itself out of its forward leap. Both spun, but the hound was quicker. It turned and leapt at Annabeth once more, its claws flashing. She barely had time to glimpse the flying fur before she was knocked to the ground, the but of the spear digging hard into the ground. As Annabeth went down, the spearhead went up. Up, straight into the stomach of the beast. She fell, still clutching the spear in her hand, and falling with her was a shower of golden dust. Slowly she stood, turning round to yell at Perseus for the stupidity of having her fight a hellhound on her own, to see him in a rather rough state himself.
-Back in time- Back in time - Back in time
Perseus was impressed that Annabeth noticed the hellhound ahead of them, as it was well hidden, albeit moving enough to be noticed. He was also unnerved. The idea that a single Hellhound would attempt an ambush had a prickling feeling run along his neck. No, there were others. He stopped quite a way from the rustling of the waiting hellhound, signalling Annabeth to go on ahead of him, telling her to take care of the monster in front of them. After that he slowly swung his shield onto his arm. His shield had a lining of celestial bronze through its centre, which was the only thing that allowed it to work against monsters. Grabbing Anaklusmos from its hiding place, he started swinging it in circles by his side, stretching his muscles in preparation.
Relaxing his mind, he tried to concentrate on his senses, and the signals of the forest. The whisper of a leaf, the faint snap of a branch, even the briefest break in the wind was enough to tell him they were close. Too close. He glanced up and saw that the Hellhound in the bushes had leapt in front of Annabeth, both preparing to initiate the fight. In the moment of distraction, he almost missed the blurs of black that dashed out of the forest to surround him. Moving constantly, the demon dogs slowly circled him. A larger hound suddenly walked out of the forest towards the circle of animals. Barking slightly, it forced the smaller animals to move apart, allowing it through. The dog was huge, it towered at least a metre above Perseus, with its head being almost as large as his torso. It walked up to him, sniffing his head before barking loudly in his face, baring a set of large, vicious teeth. "Well then," Perseus shrugged settling into a defensive stance, shield raised to shoulder height and his sword tip pointing upwards over its edge, "Come and have a go Fido." As if the beast could understand him, it barked again, jumping back slightly to give itself space.
It swung one massive paw, batting at Perseus, but he simply slipped under him, slicing the back of the paw as he came up, before backing away. The dog charged, and Perseus jumped up, slamming his shield into the dogs' face, before slicing with his sword, slicing down the leg of the beast. As he landed, a sharp pain lanced through his leg, and he saw that one of the dogs in the circle had bitten at his hamstring, only chance had prevented him from being hamstrung as the teeth had clearly sunk through the leather of trousers, though the cloak had prevented it from getting a grip. He turned slightly, but the dog had already retreated. He could feel the would sapping at his balance. Almost as if it sensed this weakness, the hound pawed at him again, seeming to know he could not easily dodge in his current state. Perseus reacted instinctively, dropping his centre of mass and leaning into his shield to take the blow. Despite setting himself, Perseus was forced back, his feet grinding against the ground. Grunting slightly, Perseus pivoted on the heel of one leg, spinning out from under the heavy force of the mutts paw. He swung the long blade up, cutting a vicious wound along the beasts jaw. Perseus then smashed the edge of his sword into the left front leg of the dog, slicing through the tendons and destroying the usefulness of the limb. The dog howled in pain, reflexively jumping away from the former prey. As it jumped Perseus moved with it, not noticing the creeping hounds around him. He swung into the beasts' side, before crippling its left back leg in the same way as the first. As it toppled sideways, Perseus drove his sword through the chest of the hound, sending it to Tartarus.
Just then, another of the hounds leapt at him from behind, scratching its claws down the back of his jacket, tearing rents in his clothes, but only leaving small scratches in his skin. Flipping his grip on the sword, Perseus drove it backwards into the unsuspecting skull of the creature. He spun around quickly, jamming his sword into the leg of another hound, leaving it there as he speedily threw a knife into the head of another beast. He then took his sword back and finished the pitiful whining creature. Two more sliced at him with heavy paws. Perseus caught one of the blows on his shield, and stabbed his sword through the paw of the other animal. He wrenched his sword back violently, driving it into the first hound, before decapitating the other. Both joined the mounting layer of golden dust. Another Hellhound pounced at him, its jaws spread wide. Perseus jammed his shield into the beasts' mouth, forcing it to gag before he pierced it through the chest. The last Hound of Hades looked at him, somehow managing to look 'Terierfied'. Perseus chuckled darkly at the joke. It backed away slowly, but Perseus knew he could not allow it to survive, in case it found others to hunt them. Moving slowly towards it, Perseus lowered his sword before dropping it on the ground, this was then followed by his shield. As he knelt to put his shield down, the hound clearly disregarded him as a threat beginning to growl once more, pacing forward. Before it even had time to register that it had made a mistake, Perseus had drawn and thrown two knifes, both driving home, straight into the head of the beast.
-End of Annabeths fight-End of Annabeths fight-
Perseus was standing in the middle of a wide, golden circle. His jacket and clothes torn in places and his normally messily spiked hair splayed flat against his head, soaked with sweat that was slowly disappearing. Blood dripped from his back and legs, his sword and shield scattered at his feet. Slowly, he stumbled forward, staggering to the edge of the road, leaning heavily on one of the trees. He quickly opened his pouch, grabbing out his ambrosia. He crunched down on a few blocks, the lines of pain fading from his face as the godly food healed his wounds. Soon he was able to stand on his own, the only sign of the fight was the weariness with which he moved.
He moved over to Annabeth, passing her the pack as they both slumped to the floor. "Good fight there- you did well." Annabeth smiled wryly at him,
"You know, I was going to yell at you for making me fight that Hellhound on my own. Now, I think I'm going to call us even." Perseus snorted at that.
"Yes, because killing one Hellhound makes up for me killing the rest of the pack." Annabeth shrugged lightly, not bothered in the slightest,
"You never know, that could have been the straw that broke the camel's back." Perseus frowned at her,
"That was a Hellhound, not a straw, and I am not a camel," Annabeth smirked at that,
"Of course not, that is why you carry all the bags." Perseus growled, his brain coming up short with arguments. In the absence of a witty remark, Perseus stood up quickly, collecting his weaponry and setting himself to move off.
"Come on, we haven't got all year to waste, this camel has places to be." Annabeth looked up and groaned, seeing he was completely serious. Slowly hauling herself to her feet, she tightened the straps of her gear and set off at a slow jog, knowing Perseus would catch up. Chuckling at the success of his revenge Perseus set off after her. Suddenly Perseus stopped chuckling, pain setting into his legs. He groaned internally, realising that his so called 'Revenge", was also punishment for himself.
Eventually Signy-le-Petit came into view as the pair staggered to the crest of a large hill. Beyond the trees hills flowed and farms encircled the small township with a single road leading up to the town. The township itself had a small population, and took up very little space, carriageways running from one side of the magnetic compass to the other. Five smaller streets branched off on either side, and at the centre of the town was the town square. This was outlined by loud and boisterous market stalls, and frequented by a bustling crowd. At the end of the main road was a large manor, which rose up above all the other buildings, being two stories tall, three including the small tower in left wing. From this distance however, even the comparatively large house looked small and insignificant. Having sighted their destination, the pair moved off with renewed vigor, increasing their pace to what it had been when they set off. Loping steps ate up the distance as aching feet pounded the hard ground. After nigh on an hour of running, the pair broke out of the dense forest, the sky above them suddenly opening into a vast expanse of blue. They must have looked a strange sight, a tall, strangely garbed soldier running next to a smaller, armed girl. Farmers glanced over at them as they jogged, and many a horse whinnied, bowing their heads in recognition to the son of Poseidon.
Perseus glanced up at the clouds overhead. No rain had fallen yet, but the sky was grey and shadowed with blackness meaning it was only a matter of time. When the clouds broke, a storm would fall to earth. Glancing at Annabeth and at his own garb, Perseus added a few more items to his list of requirements. Along with horses, food and bandages, he now knew they would need thread, and a spare cloak, plus he was out of coffee. At the point where the road met the town, a small gate and guard tower had been set up, and though Perseus knew he could easily avoid it, he decided to pass through the gate legitimately. Well, he amended, Semi-legitimately. As they approached the gate, one of the guards hailed them. "Halt, identify yourself! Are you friend of foe?" Perseus almost laughed at the question, muttering under his breath.
"Honestly, who's going to walk up, and answer, 'Alright fair enough, you got me, I'm actually a foe.'" He shook his head, before pushing back his cowl.
"My name is Logan of Berwickshire, and this is my sister Alexandra. I assure you we mean your village no harm, and that we only travel armed due to the dangers so commonly present on the roads." The guard seemed to sniff in disgust, realizing the pair was 'English'.
"And why would two of England's folk be coming to this town." Perseus was glad they believed his origins, although the placing was wrong, Berwickshire was more Scottish than English, but he decided not to make a fuss about it.
"We simply wish to replenish our supplies and purchase horses for our journey. We will be gone before tomorrow is done." Satisfied, the soldier nodded to his fellow guardsman before speaking.
"Very well, make sure you are indeed gone before tomorrows end." Perseus simply nodded in return as he and Annabeth moved through the gateway.
From inside the village, Annabeth could see some of the appeal. The buildings were all kindly spaced to allow easy movement through the village; the sky was open, not cramped by the tall visages of larger cities. The streets were wide, though not paved. The faint odor of a farm wafted into her nose, pungent and reminiscent of her home. This was more familiar, more similar to her life. She enjoyed the forest, with all the variety and color, the prancing animals, and the uniqueness of life there, however she knew that she would forever hold a greater affinity to the peaceful bustle of a town, the background chatter and ability to interact with others. Annabeth supposed that Perseus would not feel the same. After having traveled as much as he clearly had, every town must seem the same. In this she was wrong, in spite of, or perhaps because of the traveling Perseus had done, he was able to see the uniqueness of each town. He could see the differences in how the worked, how the felt, how they sounded, he could pick one town from another simply from the smell of the air. His travels did, however, teach him that all towns had a very similar layout. "Lets keep moving," he called to Annabeth, "the Inn's will be closer in to the market."
Startled out of her contemplative stupor, Annabeth had to quickly jog after Perseus so as to not lose him. As they moved through the village, Annabeth could see that things became more and more affluent the closer to the market they got. Even the clothes the people were wearing gradually changed from being simplistic and useful, becoming more flamboyant and cumbersome. Why people would wear such clothes was beyond her. Eventually, Perseus moved across the street, entering one of the inn's that lined the side. Annabeth quickly followed in, but had lost sight of where he was.
The noise in the inn was deafening. Men were slumped at tables, tankards in hand, while others laughed and sang bawdily. She caught a glimpse of Perseus as he weaved his way through to the bartender, and saw him strike up a conversation with the man. Annabeth made a move to get to him however was turned from her goal when one of the men grabbed her arm, spinning her to him. "Well aren't you a pretty thing." The man complimented her, clearly not as drunk as his compatriots. Annabeth frowned at him,
"Thank-you, but I'm not interested." She tugged at her wrist but could not break free.
"Oh come on darling, you don't even know me." Then man smiled, showing off an overly perfect smile. He reached out his other hand to pull her down next to him, but someone else's suddenly gripped his forearm. Both Annabeth and the man turned to face the stranger, only to find Perseus glaring harshly.
"She said she is not interested, perhaps you should find a different person to harass."
The mans eyes widened slightly in… recognition? Before he set his jaw pugnaciously.
"And why should I do that." Perseus growled angrily at him,
"Because this one is going to your sister, Apollo, and we wouldn't want another Rebekah incident would we? You remember how that went?" Apollo's face visibly blanched at the memory. Reluctantly, he released Annabeths hand, and Perseus drew her away from the intoxicated men.
Heading up the stairs, he brought her to a room. It was neither large nor small, with a single bed pushed into the corner and a small desk by the window. The desk came with a large and heavy chair, which Annabeth promptly dropped her gear onto, though she held onto her knife. Perseus then spoke quietly, his voice barely above a whisper. "Given that we are brother and sister, our cover demanded a single room." Seeing Annabeths awkward glance at the bed he quickly clarified, "I have a roll that I shall use to sleep by the door, which will allow for greater security, as well as supporting our story." Annabeth nodded slightly, her jaw quivering slightly as she held back a yawn. She knew she ought to be hungry, having not eaten since they stopped for lunch, however all she could think of was sleeping away the aches and pains she had acquired from the constant running.
Perseus smiled gently at the girl. "Sleep, Annabeth. Food and answers will remain until morning, just as the sun will return." At that point the sun was barely illuminating the sky, the golden light contrasting brilliantly with the dark clouds. Annabeth gave a slight mumble before collapsing onto the bed. Perseus chuckled lightly, sometimes he forgot that not all children were brought up as he was, and not all people could run for an entire day, fight hellhounds and still have enough energy to think. Deciding to follow Annabeths example, he unrolled his mat, before laying his head down facing the door. He slowly surrendered himself to a wakeful sleep.
Firstly I want to apologise for the appaling dog joke, the majority of my humor revolves around inherited dad jokes (i.e. bad puns) and sarcasm. Also, I'm not sure if anyone will have noticed, but Perseus' Alias, Logan of Berwickshire, is based off the actor of Percy in the movies, whose family name, Lerman, heralds from Beerwickshire, where they held a 'family seat of power' thing, possibly before 1066. As always, reviews would be greatly appreciated, but I apologise if anyone finds my asking annoying.
Anyway, I will bid you all adieu.