Antheia ch. 10
Author's Note:
Hey. I hope that you are enjoying this story. Please review and feel free to tell me anything that could make this story better. Thanks:)
Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson nor any of its characters, I just own my own character Antheia/Alyssa.
Percy stood at the edge of the giant forest, looking into the dark domain of the place where his sister fled just yesterday. His eyes were red and puffy from crying, his whole body felt weighted down.
Chiron moved him into cabin three that morning. Percy didn't have anyone to share with; he had plenty of space, got to sit at his own dinner table, pick all of his own activities, and call lights out whenever he wanted to.
He had never felt so miserable or alone.
Just when he started to feel accepted, feel like he had a home in cabin eleven where he could be a normal kid with his sister, that stupid capture the flag game happened, ruining everything.
He felt anger surge through him as he thought of the previous night. Bending down, his fingers reached out, looking for something hard. Finding a fist sized stone, his fingers closed around it, holding it so hard that his knuckles turned white. He stood up again, still looking into the forest.
His heart beat fast, his anger peaking. Rage filled his every thought.
"Mine fault," he whispered to himself. "It's all my fault."
Screaming in rage, he flung the stone as hard as he could, sending it deep into the sinister and gloomy silence.
He heard it crash into a random bush, but he also heard another sound, like a tiny whimper.
Fearing that he hit something, he raced into the woods coming to a small log.
On it sat a small, red fox. It was holding its paw out which had an angry red welt on it. Percy leaned down, bringing his hand out slowly to let the fox know that he was trying to help. The fox gave a warning growl before calming and letting Percy examine its paw.
After checking it, Percy found out that it was just bruised. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small piece of jerky that he was chewing on earlier and offered it to the small animal who ate in hungrily.
Licking Percy's hand one more time, the fox jumped down and ran into the forest, soon disappearing from Percy's sight.
He sighed, putting his hands into his pocket and turning around back to his cabin.
The other campers stayed clear of him as much as possible, other than Annabeth, who still taught him Ancient Greek, and Luke, who pushed him harder than ever in sword training.
Even Clarisse kept her distance, though her venomous looks made it clear she still wanted to kill him for breaking her spear. He wished she would just yell or punch him or something. He'd rather get into fights everyday than be ignored, especially when he needed comfort more than ever.
As he walked back, he saw something laying on the ground in front of the door to his cabin. Picking it up, he saw that it was a copy of New York Daily News, opened to the Metro page. The article read: Boy, Girl, and Mom Still Missing After Freak Car Accident. The piece was mentioning that he and Alyssa had some cause of his mother's disappearance. There was a phone number at the bottom circled in black marker.
He wadded it up and threw it away, then flopped down in his bunk miserably in the middle of his empty cabin.
"Lights out," he told himself, then quieter, he said, "Please come back Alyssa, I miss you..."
He closed his eyes and the nightmares began.
Far on the other side of Long Island in a small little cave at the bottom of a cliff, Alyssa sat deep in the back of it, circled in the fetal position, rocking slowly back and forth. She had been running for hours, not taking a break once, afraid that someone was coming after her.
She felt the now familiar weight of the golden necklace rest upon her collarbone and she reached up to her neck and slowly undid it, wanting to examine it again.
Even though she couldn't remember, this necklace felt somewhat familiar. She could see a soft, comforting hand give it to her, she could remember her enjoyment upon receiving it, but other than that, nothing.
The sound of water dripping down from the ceiling filled the echoing cave, a cold wind blew in, making her shiver. She imagined a warm blanket and she felt the soft moss grow and spread around her, sheltering her from the cold. She was getting more and more use to the strange things happening between her and nature.
She heard a soft pitter-patter of something coming towards her and she looked up to see the fox from earlier enter the cave. It seemed to be limping on three laws, leaving one raised in the air.
It padded over to her before laying down at her side, rubbing its head against her leg begging to be stroked.
She started rubbing her hand against its soft fur.
"Thank you." She heard in her mind. She looked at the fox, who was staring at her.
"Please don't be afraid. My name is Aidan."
She thought about how she was going crazy before answering, "How can I talk to you?"
The fox, Aidan, cocked his head to the side.
"You mean you don't know, Antheia?" Her mind whispered.
She froze when she heard that name.
"I... I don't know what you're talking about..."
Aidan gave a little coughing sound, kind of like a chuckle for a fox.
"Forgive me. I had forgotten."
"Forgotten what?" She inquired.
The fox gave a sly smirk. "Forgotten who you are. But don't worry, your time is coming."
Alyssa froze, thinking the worst.
"My time to die?"
Aidan widened his eyes.
"Oh no, Antheia- I mean Alyssa. Your time to remember."
Hope filled her heart, she would finally remember who she was.
Aidan looked to the ground, "you know, your brother really misses you, I just came from the camp and I heard him screaming your name, saying it was all his fault."
Alyssa's heart broke at the thought. Her little brother, no matter who their parents were, needed her and all she did was ran off like a little girl.
"Aidan.. I need to go back."
"I know, he needs you, but everyone knows your secret so be prepared to be asked a lot of questions."
Alyssa stood up, shaking moss off of her back.
"I don't care, my brother needs me."
Percy woke up with a gasp. His eyes still wide with fear. The nightmare still fresh on his mind. It was about two men fighting to the death, and no matter what Percy yelled, they wouldn't stop killing each other. When he tried to help, the ground swallowed him up, a sinister voice crooned from below, telling him to let go.
As he looked around the bleak cabin, his body told him it was morning, but it remained dark outside with thunder rolling across the hills.
A storm was brewing.
He heard a sharp clopping sound at the door, a hoof knocking at the threshold.
"Come in?"
Grover trotted inside, looking worried. "Mr. D wants to see you."
Why?"
"He wants to kill... I mean, I'd better let him tell you."
Nervously, Percy got dressed and followed, sure that he was in huge trouble.
He had been wondering what would happen, being a child of the Big Three who weren't even suppose to have children.
Over Long Island, the sky looked like ink soup coming to a boil. A hazy curtain of rain was coming in their direction. Percy pointed at the storm.
"What the heck is that?"
Grover glanced uneasily at the sky. "It'll pass around us. Bad weather always done."
Percy suddenly remembered the rain that came down last night, the rain that passed through the magical borders, all because of Alyssa...
Grover and him walked up to the front porch of the Big House. Mr. D sat at the pinochle table in his tiger-stripped Hawaiian shirt with a Diet Coke. Chiron sat across the table in his fake wheelchair. They were playing against invisible players- two sets of cards hovering in the air.
"Well, well," Mr. D said without looking up. "If if isn't our little celebrity."
Percy waited, not quite sure what to do.
"Come closer," Mr. D said. "Don't expect me to kill you just because old Barnacle-Beard is your father.
A net of lightening flashed across the clouds. Thunder shook the windows of the house.
"Blah, blah, blah..." Mr. D sneered. "If I had it my way, I would cause your molecules to erupt in flames. We'd sweep up the ashes and be done with a lot of trouble. But of course Chiron believes it wouldn't fulfill the mission of this camp."
"Spontaneous combustion is a form of harm, Mr. D." Chiron put in.
"Nonsense. Nevertheless, I've agreed to restrain myself. But..."
"Mr. D-"
"Oh all right," Dionysus relented. "There's one more option, but its dangerous."
He rose, and the invisible players cards dropped to the table. "I'm off to Olympus for a special emergency meeting. If the boys still here when I get back, I'll turn him into a dolphin."
Dionysus picked up a playing card, twisted it, and it became something like a security card. He snapped his fingers and the air seemed to fold and bend around him. He became a hologram, then a wind, them he was gone.
Chiron smiled.
"Sit, Percy, please. And Grover."
They sat down at the now abandoned card table.
"Tell me, Percy." Chiron started. "What did you think of that hellhound?"
"I was scared." Percy said. "If Alyssa hadn't done...what she did, them I would have been dead."
Chiron looked troubled at this. "I'm very curious about Alyssa. Obviously, she is something magical, but what? I have a faint idea, but its too big of a risk to mention, especially in front of Dionysus. The gods have never been the same since."
"Since what?"
Chiron sighed. "About tens years ago, there was rumors about another goddess that was born. Everyone loved her, Mr. D would talk about her all the time, looking forward for weeks for his visits to Olympus. But then apparently she went missing and the gods changed. No longer did Zeus have a playful hint in his eyes. Hera grew more and more cross, throwing her sorrows into making her family perfect. Apollo wouldn't talk for months, spending all of his time up in the sky, riding his car in isolation."
"Oh... I'm sorry."
Chiron gave a sorrowful chuckle.
"Don't apologize to me, dear lad. I didn't know her. Just don't mention her around any gods, for they have almost given up hope of her ever returning. Anyway, about the hellhound Percy, you'll meet far worse before you're done."
"Done...with what?"
"Your quest of course."
"Ummm, sir. You haven't told me what it is yet."
Thunder grumbled across the valley. The storm clouds had now reached the edge of the beach. As far as he could see, the sky and the sea were boiling together.
"Poseidon and Zeus..." Percy said. "There fighting over something valuable."
"Correct. Zeus's master bolt, the symbol of his power, from which all other lightening bolts are patterned."
"And its missing?" Percy inquired.
"Stolen."
"By whom?"
"By you."
Percy's mouth fell open.
Chiron held up a hand. "At least that's what Zeus thinks. Every since that horrible event the two brothers have been quarreling, always trying to get in fights. So when Zeus found out his lightening bolt from Olympus and you turn up out of the blue, he puts the two and two together and blamed Poseidon."
"But that's impossible! I've never ever been to Olympus."
"Zeus has to take his anger out on someone, and since it can't be Poseidon without a cause, it has to be you."
"But I'm just a kid!"
"Percy," Grover cut in. "If you were Zeus and you thought that your brother was trying to overthrow you and suddenly admitted that he broke the sacred oath he took after World War II... Wouldn't that put a twist in your toga?"
"But I didn't do anything! Poseidon couldn't have stolen it, could he?"
"Most agree that your father isn't the stealing type, but the Sea God is too proud to try and convince Zeus that. Zeus demands that Poseidon returns the bolt on the summer solstice; Poseidon demanding an apology by the same day. If things don't go well, nature would fall out of balance."
"Bad," Percy stated.
It started to rain. Volleyball players stopped their game and stared in stunned silence at the sky.
Percy knew that he had brought the rain, Zeus was punishing the whole camp because of him.
"So I have to find the stupid bolt and return it to Zeus."
"What better peace offering than have the son of Poseidon return Zeus's property."
"If Poseidon doesn't have it, then where is it?"
"I believe I know." Chiron's expression was grin. "Part of a prophecy I had years ago.."
"Why can't you tell me?"
"Because them you would be too afraid to accept the challenge."
Percy swallowed. "Good reason."
"So you agree then?"
Percy looked at Grover, who nodded encouragingly.
"All right," he said. "It's better than being turned into a dolphin."
"Then go consult the Oracle."
Four flights up, an old, green door stood between Percy and this mysterious Oracle.
He took a deep breath before opening it and stepping inside.
The air smelled of mildew and rotten wood. The attic was filled with Greek hero junk: old armor and tokens from heroes previous quests. By the window, sitting on a wooden stool, was the most gruesome mummy ever. Her skin was thin and leathery. She wore a tie dye sundress, lots of necklaces, and had long black hair.
Percy felt his mouth grow dry as the mummy sat up on her stool and opened her mouth, spewing green mist all over the floor in thick tendrils.
He heard a voice inside of his head: "I am the spirit of Delphi, speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo. Approach, seeker, and ask."
Percy wanted to run, his whole body tense.
The mummy wasn't alive. She was some kind of gruesome receptacle for something else, the power that was now swirling around him in green mist.
He got up the courage and asked, "What is my destiny?"
The thick raspy voice filled his head again:
"You shall go west, and face the god who has turned.
You shall find what was stolen, and see it safely returned.
You shall be betrayed by the one who you call friend.
And you shall fail to save what matters most, in the end."
The mist started to retreat, coiling into a huge serpent and slithering back into the mouth of the mummy.
"Wait! What do you mean? What friend? What will I fail to save?"
The tail of mist disappeared into her mouth as she reclined back against the wall.
Percy, frustrated, turned around and stormed downstairs.
"Well?" Chiron asked him.
Percy slumped into a lawn chair.
"I shall retrieve what has been stolen."
"What did the Oracle say exactly? Chiron pressed.
"She said that I will go west and faced the god who has turned."
Grover and Chiron exchanged worried faces.
"Oh course," a voice from behind them said.
They turned around to find Annabeth leaning against the railing.
She walked towards them.
"Who would be the one person who would benefit from Zeus and Poseidon weaken each other, someone who holds a grudge, who has been unhappy with his lot since the world divided eons ago. Someone whose brothers force him into a oath to not have any more kids, an oath both of them broke."
"Hades." Percy whispered hatefully.
"Makes sense," Grover said. "Mrs. Dodds, the hellhound, the Minotaur...Hades must really hate you, Percy."
"He took my mother..."
"Your dad needs you..." Annabeth cut in.
"So let me get this straight," Percy said. "I'm suppose to go the the Underworld and confront The Lord of the Dead."
"Check." Chiron said.
"Find the most powerful weapon in the universe."
"Check."
And get it back to Olympus before the summer solstice, in ten day."
"That's about right."
"Ok, well lets get on a plane then."
"No!" Grover shrieked. "Percy think, your father's biggest rival in The Lord of the Sky. You would be in Zeus's domain. You would never come down alive."
Overhead, lightning crackled. Thunder boomed.
"Okay, we'll just go overland."
"And you will have two companions, Grover and Annabeth..."
"No!" A familiar voice from behind them started. They all turned around to see...
"Alyssa!" Percy cried, running to his sister who somehow managed to stay dry due to the pouring rain outside, and threw his arms around her.
"You'll have three companions. Count me in." She whispered into his ear.
"Excellent," Chiron said. "This afternoon, we can take you as far as the bus terminal in Manhattan. After that, you are on your own."
Lightning flashed. Rain poured down on the meadows that were never suppose to have violent weather.
"No time to waste," Chiron said. "I think you should all get packing."