Okay, I'm just gonna start this out by throwing you guys a big, fat, SORRY. I know it's been awhile and I know I kinda lied about the whole 'updates are gonna be quicker' thing, but I have my reasons.
One, I forgot school was starting. I can tell you, I'm swamped with homework and projects and really, I'm just busy.
Two, I have everything in the story planned out, but absolutely no motivation whatsoever. This document's been open on my laptop for days and I add to it whenever the motivation hits me.
Three, HOLY SHIT HAVE YOU GUYS READ THE HOUSE OF HADES YET? I FINISHED IT IN A DAY AND I NEED THE FIFTH BOOK NOOOOOW. I won't spoil anything, though.
Don't worry too much; I promise you that I will never give up on this story. Not until it's finished.
Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson, Pokemon, or any of these characters. (Well, except for one.)
Chapter 3: Justin's POV
He opened his eyes slowly, squinting at first. Then they snapped open, flitting left and right, trying to recognize anything familiar, anything at all. Justin twisted his head around, taking in the surroundings. Tall pillars rose from the ground and stretched to the ceiling high above. They were pure white; he guessed that they were made from a very fine marble.
Before Justin could admire anymore of the architecture, a shadow passed over his head. Glancing up, the teen made out a fast-traveling, purple blur. A pokemon. A crobat, to be exact. He chased after it, paws padding on the polished floor in silent pursuit.
Wait. Paws? Justin looked down for a second and, yup, those were definitely paws. They were familiar, but then again, why wouldn't they be? They were his, after all. Nonetheless, it was rather strange. He didn't remember transforming at all! Oh well. Justin pushed the thought to the back of his head and fixed his eyes once again on the purple bat in front of him.
Through corridors and down hallways, Justin chased the pokemon, both neither evading nor catching the other. It was a soundless run, as we all know that luxrays are silent hunters and crobats are silent fliers. The bat pokemon led him into a giant room, and Justin could feel the evening breeze flowing into it from the balcony on the other side. The crobat circled once, then landed upside-down on a bar that seemed to serve as its roost. It was placed right next to a bronze throne, and on that throne, sat a red-haired woman.
He jerked to a halt. It was her! She was the one who took Charlotte and him away from their home! Narrowing his eyes, Justin snarled and lunged, claws unsheathed and fangs bared. Or, at least, that's what he would've done, had he been able to move. Alas, his paws stayed firmly rooted to the ground and no matter how hard the teen tried to un-stick them, they simply wouldn't budge. Resigning himself to his fate, Justin looked up from his paws and back at the woman; who, surprisingly, hadn't noticed him at all.
In fact, there were two other girls in the room who didn't seem to notice him either. Justin blinked. When did they show up? And where did that crobat go? He saw that it wasn't in the room anymore. Maybe it went outside? It didn't matter, Justin had already focused on back what those three were doing, or rather, saying.
"So, now that we gave them the rules, what's next?" asked the black-haired one.
The goddess chuckled softly. "Now? We wait."
"We have to wait? Aw, but that's so boring!" groaned the girl with . . . was that purple hair? Justin looked closer. Yes. That was indeed purple hair. Funny. It reminded him of the purple of that crobat. He tilted his head. The two tufts of hair that stuck up on her head looked like crobat ears, now that he thought about it. His train of thought derailed, however, as they started talking again.
"Yeah, I know. I hate waiting too. But if we aren't patient, the whole plan could get seriously corkscrewed." stated Eris. She sighed and stretched. "Well, I think I'll be going to bed. This afternoon's little show really wiped me out."
Black-Hair shot her a look. "I thought you said immortals like you didn't need to sleep."
"We don't." the goddess confirmed. "But we do it sometimes, just because it makes us feel better. So what're you two gonna do?"
"Actually, we should probably check on those kidnapped campers."
Justin's ears pricked up. Kidnapped campers? He remembered that Chiron had explained the situation to him, how demigods had been disappearing. If he could just follow those two girls, or at least listen in on their conversation, then he could – his thoughts were cut short as he felt like he was being violently shaken. Darkness licked at the edges of his vision before he finally gave in and blacked out.
"-ke up, Justin! Justin? C'mon, get up, you lazy slakoth!"
Charlotte's voice pounded in his ears and Justin groaned in dismay. He was so close to getting more information, but she just had to wake him up. Not that it was her fault; Charlotte didn't know he was having an important dream-vision thingy. Justin jerked into full consciousness, rubbing at his bleary eyes and mumbling incoherently. It took him a couple seconds to get his bearings, but when he did, he turned to face his long-time best friend.
"Charlotte, why do you have to be so meeeaaan?" he whined childishly. Justin stuck out his lower lip in an exaggerated pout, hoping to get some reaction out of his friend. It worked.
Charlotte rolled her eyes, but smiled at his antics. "I let you sleep in. It's actually 5:30 right now, so you better get up."
Justin grinned cheekily at her. Chiron had given them one of the rooms in the Big House to use and now that it was just the two of them, Charlotte had dropped her stony facade. Honestly, Justin loved it when she smiled. He loved how her face softened and the way the corners of her eyes crinkled just the tiniest bit and he would have gladly went on with that particular train of thought had Charlotte not whacked him on the shoulder.
"Didn't you hear me? Get your butt off the floor and get ready! Bathroom's down the hall, last door on the left. Now go! I'll stay in here and pack." Her tone of voice left no room for argument. Justin opened his mouth to ask her about their stuff, but then he noticed two black backpacks on the floor that hadn't been there before.
As if reading his mind, Charlotte answered for him. "Chiron gave these to me earlier this morning, along with some extra changes of clothes. We get to keep them. Oh, and when you're in the bathroom, the blue toothbrush is yours."
Justin's mouth audibly clicked shut and he just shuffled out of the room. He could hear her quiet laughter even from behind the closed door. The teen walked down the hallway, dream-vision long forgotten.
After he had showered and brushed his teeth, Justin went back to their room; only to find it empty. He just shrugged.
Guess she's downstairs. he thought to himself. Justin ambled down the creaky wooden steps of the worn-down stairs, looking just a bit lost. At the bottom, one of those satyrs (Chiron had told him what they were called) stood, as if he was waiting for Justin.
"Hey there." the satyr called. "I'm just here to point you in the right direction. Just go straight down the hall, take a right, and you'll be in the dining room. Your friend's waiting for you in there."
Justin mumbled a quick thank-you and walked briskly down the hall, taking a right like the satyr told him to. He peeked through the doorway and saw Charlotte sitting alone, with two plates of food in front of her.
"What're we havin'?" he asked, pulling a chair up next to her. She looked up, flashed him a tiny smile, and pushed one of the plates toward him.
"Just regular breakfast things. Y'know, pancakes and all that."
"Ooh, pancakes!" Justin started to eat, but then realized that he didn't have any utensils to eat with. So he did the most logical thing. He stole Charlotte's.
"Hey! Give me back my fork!"
"But I need it!"
"I was using it!"
"So?"
"You don't just take things people are using! Just eat with your hands or something!"
"But the pancakes'll get my hands sticky!"
"There isn't even any syrup on them!"
"Still!"
"That's the worst excuse ever! Y'know what? Keep the fork."
"Yes!" he pumped his fist in victory. Charlotte shook her head lightly, turning back to her food. Justin grinned, about to dig in until-
"Where'd my food go?" he looked around and his eyes landed on Charlotte's plate. Her pancake stack seemed to have doubled in size. "You took my pancakes?"
"You weren't eating them." she justified.
Justin furrowed his brow, and reached out to take his food back. Turns out, he didn't need to. The pancakes were already back in his possession, but instead of on his plate, they were on his face. Not expecting that, Justin flailed and fell off his chair, groaning. He could hear Charlotte giggling above him; and feel her fork being pulled out of his grasp.
"That'll teach you not to take my stuff." she said smugly as she stabbed at her pancakes.
Justin got up slowly, peeling his own off his face. "You cheated." he whined.
"Oh, please. You know that was a completely legal move. You just can't admit defeat."
He grumbled at her under his breath and sat back down in the chair to properly eat his pancakes (but without a fork).
When the two of them finally finished breakfast, it was 5:55. They headed back up to their room to grab their packs and then made their way down to that one room with the – what had they called it? Oh, right – ping-pong table. Once the two shuffled into the room, they realized they weren't the only ones in it. Caden was here too, sitting in one of the chairs, staring out the window.
By his flushed cheeks and the small sheen of sweat on his forehead, Justin supposed that he had been in the arena, (he'd overheard some campers talking about it) warming up or something. Justin now wished that he had woken up earlier, if only to get a chance to train in the arena himself.
He shook his head, dismissing the thought. He'd have time for that later. Now, he had to focus on their quest. Justin heard the door open and close and he looked up. All of the demigods from yesterday were filing in, right on time. Some of them were still rubbing at their eyes, or yawning sleepily, or both. One of the boys (Carlos?) let loose a huge yawn, arching his back and stretching his arms over his head; he almost smacked the girl behind him.
"Ugh," he moaned. "Why'd we have to leave so early?"
"Oh c'mon Carlos, it isn't that bad!" said the boy with the high-pitched voice.
Carlos snorted. "Like you have anything to complain about. You actually like waking up at this ungodly hour."
"Gods, Carlos, just shut up!" hissed the girl with the pixie cut. She rubbed her eyes tiredly."It's too early in the morning to be fighting."
"Right you are, Kari." said Chiron as he wheeled himself into the room. He held a rolled-up newspaper in his hand. "I hope you all had a pleasant night's sleep."
"Most of us did." said one of the more awake demigods, glancing at Carlos. Or, at least Justin thought she glanced at him. He couldn't tell with those shades covering her eyes. What was her name again? Justin wracked his brain, trying to remember. Wasn't it, like, Nikki or something? All he knew was that it started with 'N'.
"Sorry to wake you so early, but we only have nine days." Chiron said. "So everybody's here, right? Have you figured out how you're going to get to your destinations?"
Every teen in the room all glanced at one another. They hadn't really thought about that.
"Well, no matter. For Team Cascade Goats, you need to go west. Zephyros still owes me a favor, so I asked him to provide you with air transportation. He should be showing up soon." explained Chiron. "And Team Disaster Trackers, you might want to start with this." he said while handing the newspaper in his hand to Kari.
"And, uh, what about us?" asked a demigod, gesturing to Justin and another demigod; she was the one who had mentioned something about 6th grade reports. Justin thought hard about her. If he remembered correctly, her name was . . . Luna?
"Ah yes, Luna, I was just getting to you."
Oh. So he did remember correctly.
"Since your team needs to go to South America, Argus will drive you to the airport. We'll supply you with enough money for tickets." said Chiron. "Now if there aren't anymore questions, you should all go say farewell to your friends and cabin-mates. I'm sure they'll miss you."
"Wait!" shouted a demigod. Everybody turned to him and Justin tilted his head. Wasn't he the one who introduced himself first yesterday?
"Not to be an inconvenience, but I don't have a passport and I'm guessing he doesn't either." he said, pointing to Justin. "How are we gonna get past airport security?"
"Not to worry Chris, the Mist is a wonderful thing. Here." At that, Chiron tossed Chris a . . . perfume bottle? "Just use that when you get to security."
Justin had absolutely no idea how a bottle of perfume was going to get them past airport security, but he rolled with it. Must be a demigod thing.
All of the demigods left the room after that, presumably to go do what Chiron just said. He turned to the remaining teens. "I need to know if you three have anything to defend yourselves with, in case a monster attacks. If you don't, I can provide with weaponry."
The three looked at each other. Justin knew for sure that he and Charlotte didn't need weapons, and he was pretty confident that Caden didn't either. Justin had sensed something off about the helmeted teen ever since they had met. Something that he felt with Charlotte daily, as it skirted the edge of his senses. If his predictions were correct, then that would mean Caden was a Poke-Human, just like them.
"Thank you for the offer, but I know that Charlotte and I don't need weapons." answered Justin. "What about you, Caden?" He had to make sure.
Caden silently shook his head. Chiron's eyebrows raised slightly. "Well, I won't doubt your judgment, Justin. I sensed something about you three the moment we met."
Justin narrowed his eyes just the tiniest bit. So he was a Poke-Human! Poke-Humans had this innate ability to sense if another one of their kind was close; that must've been what he feeling around Charlotte and Caden. I wonder, Justin thought. What kind of pokemon is he?
Before he could think any further, the demigods had now returned, every single one of them shouldering either a backpack or satchel.
"So are you all ready? Kari, have you found anything out yet?" asked Chiron. The girl looked up and nodded.
"Apparently there was a really big chain car crash on the highway that connects Long Island to the rest of New York and witnesses says that they caught glimpses of a white, wolf-like creature. I'm guessing we should start there." she drawled.
"Alright then, we'll drop you off there on the way to the airport. Now, children, it's time to start your quests."
Chiron led all of them out onto the Big House's porch, where he told the Goats to go to the lake. Then he turned to the rest and told them to follow the big, multi-eyed dude up the hill; he would be their driver.
The group of seven walked towards the hill, the demigods chatting amiably. Justin sensed Charlotte starting to fall behind and slowed down until he matched her pace. "Anything wrong?" he asked, concerned.
She shook her head and wrapped her arms around herself. "Nothing. It's just, this is all so strange! Just yesterday, we were thrown into this new world and now, honestly, I don't know what to make of it." Charlotte admitted. Justin bumped her shoulder with his own, and when she glanced over at him, he smiled.
"There's nothing to worry about!" he assured. "All we have to do is find some missing kids, bring 'em back, and done! We'll be back home in no time!" Justin knew that he was oversimplifying things and he was sure Charlotte could sense it as well. Still, she turned her head and mumbled a small 'I suppose so.'
Justin sighed and nudged her again. "Besides, we both know that you're perfectly capable of taking care of yourself. If anything, I'm the one you should be worrying about."
Charlotte cracked a small smile at that and opened her mouth to reply. But before she could, someone shouted at them from the top of the hill.
"Hey, you two! Hurry it up, will ya?" called Carlos, getting impatient with their slow pace. "C'mon, we don't have all day!"
"Coming!" Justin shouted in response. He shot Charlotte a look. "We should probably get going."
She nodded. "Right."
Together they jogged up the hill, stopping when they got to the top. There was a massive pine tree towering over them and they both had to crane their necks and squint to just to see highest branches.
"That's Thalia's Pine." explained Luna softly. "It's a magical tree that prevents monsters and regular mortals from getting inside camp. A few years ago, a demigod named Luke poisoned it, causing severe damage. To heal it, we sent some demigods out to get the Golden Fleece. Or, that's how I think it goes. I wasn't here when this was happening."
"Er, thanks for the story." Justin remarked, still marveling at the giant of a tree. He slowly brought his gaze down and – was that a bunch of cables? Justin looked closer and the cables started flickering, as if it was an illusion. Then he found out that yes, it was just an illusion.
"What the-?!" the teen spluttered and took several steps back because holy shit, what is that thing?! Justin glanced over at Charlotte, who had done the same thing he did. Except instead off backing away and yelling, she just widened her eyes in surprise and took one step back. A great beast lay wrapped around the trunk of the pine tree. Justin saw wisps of smoke curling from its nostrils and the weak rays of morning sunlight being reflected off its copper scales. Ivory fangs protruded from its snout and when it shifted slightly in its sleep, Justin caught a glimpse of razor-sharp claws.
"Hm? Oh, no need to worry, that's just Peleus, our dragon. He guards the Golden Fleece and makes sure it stays on the tree. He's still just a baby, though. You can pet him if you like! But, um, watch out for his teeth. He tends to nip." said the demigod while petting the dragon herself. Peleus crooned softly as Luna scratched the scales on his head and he opened his gleaming yellow eyes to stare intently at the two strangers.
Justin and Charlotte looked at each other and they both shook their heads. "Uh, that's a great offer, but we'll pass. No offense or anything." Justin said, half to Luna and half to Peleus. Call him silly, but Justin was taking no chances with this dragon. He was certain that Peleus was intelligent enough to understand him.
Luna smiled at them. "None taken. But we should probably hurry now." she said, pointing down the other side of the hill. Justin looked over and saw a simple white van, with the words 'Delphi Strawberry Service' printed on the side. He turned around to get one more look at Camp Half-Blood before he left, but somehow, all he could see were strawberry fields.
Huh? Justin thought. Where'd the cabins go? The teen blinked, but then just shrugged and supposed it was a part of the Tree's magic or something, protecting the camp and whatnot. The three stragglers hurried down the hillside where Argus stood next to the car's door, waving them in impatiently.
Luna hopped into the van first, taking a seat next to Chris. Justin and Charlotte both hesitated for a moment before jumping in as well, filling up the van. They sat down in the only available spots, which were right next to the door that Argus had just slammed shut. He got in through the driver's side, seat-belting himself before sticking the key in the ignition and starting the car. There weren't any seat-belts in the back, however, so the teens just had to make do.
Soon, the van was rumbling down the road, looking by all means just like an ordinary car. Its passengers, on the other hand, were not so ordinary. And hundreds of miles away, in a temple in South America, stood a fiery-haired, green-eyed goddess. She delicately placed her right index finger onto the top of the huge hourglass next to her and pushed down lightly. The whole thing turned upside-down, and the sand inside began to trickle.
Nine days, she thought. Nine days for the demigods to get the Keystones, which means nine days to stop them from getting the Keystones. Eris smiled to herself. Time to do what she did best.
Time to fuck shit up.
AAAANND DONE! Longest chapter so far, and they'll only get longer! I don't know when I'll update next, but hopefully it's soon!
When I'm finished with the main story, I might write some bloopers and one-shots. They'll be irrelevant to the story, but it'll be kind of a nice little vacation for the characters, don't you think?
I'll let you decide. There should be a poll up on my profile, so check it out if you want (or don't want) the extras. If the poll's not there, don't worry! It might take a while. If it's been an hour or something and it's still not there, PM me and I'll see if I can fix it.
I might be changing the cover art soon. Not sure, but maybe.
So how was the chapter? Did you like it? You can tell me in a review! (Hint hint)
Until next time!
- Sleepy-Crobat