Chapter two!
Still not mine.
I really wish I could stop myself from banging my head on the edge of the road.
After Argus dropped us off yesterday, me and my quest partners got on a bus. Then it blew up, with our stuff inside it. Oh, and the three Furies. That was a few hours ago.
Apparently, my being alive pisses Hades off enough to give his minions a day off.
But that's another thing. I know what the life to death ratio is. I checked it out once, and it was like, three people died for every one person being born. And that happened every second!
Why would Hades want MORE dead people by stealing the Master Bolt? That's like saying 'I WANT MORE WORK!'.
Overall, Grover and Chase were being irrational about this.
Grover was playing a song in his reed pipes. I almost pitied Chase. She's not brought earplugs, and I'd brought my iPod.
...
I think that plant just mutated. No, it really did. It had thorns now!
...
Grover's reed pipes were snapped by a nettle plant that was slicing at us with it's roots and spikes.
I sighed, and pulled two fingers in towards my body.. The plant dried up, and died as the water inside it was pulled out.
"Grover. No more evil plants," I said. Then Chase started acting weird.
"I smell food," she said, and ran off.
I looked at Grover, and we chased her.
We caught her near a giant building. It had a sign that said 'Aunty Em's Garden Decor'.
"Guys? I smell monsters," Grover said.
I smelled food then.
"Your nose is clogged up from the Furies," Chase said. I almost agreed with her, when I caught myself.
"Grover! Hit me," I said. He whacked the back of my head with one of his cans, and instantly, I felt better.
The weird impulses were gone.
As I underwent this, Chase had walked inside. Grover and I followed, but my hand was on my pen, ready to become a sword.
"Ah! Visitors," a voice said behind us. I whipped around, and saw a woman in tight black clothes, a matching hoodie, and shades.
"We're lost. Our truck broke down a ways down the road, and we don't have any cell phones. Our Uncle Grover here said we should try to find somebody. We've been walking for a LONG time.. Can we sit down and use your phone," I said.
Grover looked at me. I shook my head almost imperceptibly, and he relaxed.
"Of course, dearies. Let me go and get it. I'm Aunty Em, by the way. I'll bring you some food. The girl looks positively starved," she said. At that moment, Chase did.
She was dirty, and thinner than normal. Our stomachs growled simultaneously, and I smiled wryly.
When the woman left, Grover turned to me.
"UNCLE Grover, Perce," he said. I nodded.
"Yeah. You're like 28, and have a leg and height problem. I'm your nephew, and she's my cousin," I said, giving Chase a smack on the head.
She blinked, the glazed look in her eyes fading.
"Huh? Where are we," she asked.
"Somewhere with a monster nearby. About to be fed. Be careful, Chase. We can't afford to lose you. 'Uncle Grover' and I aren't the sharpest knives in the Ginsu set," I told her.
"Uncle Grover?" She had an eyebrow quirked at me.
"Hello fifth cousin, thrice removed," I said, smirking.
The woman came back, with two cheeseburgers on a plate, alongside some enchiladas.
"I know it isn't much, but it's all I have, dearies." Against our better judgement, we ate the food.
And then she slipped up.
"-I had two sisters with me once. You see, Annabeth, a bad woman was jealous of me and my ex-boyfriend. She made me hideous in his eyes, because we met up at a place she liked very much. My sisters shared my fate, but passed a long time ago. Now it's just me and my statues." Annabeth frowned, and a hint of pity entered her eyes.
I instantly uncapped my sword, and chopped her head off. Her face was locked as one of surprise, as she became golden dust.
"Em. M. Two sisters. Sacred place. Pay attention, Brains," I said, as I grabbed a box.
I put the head in the box, and stamped Olympus' address on it, before writing a letter.
'Lord and Uncle Zeus, I'm trying to find your bolt. Could you not kill me until AFTER the quest? I'm just trying to help solve a problem in the family. -Percy Jackson'
I found a golden drachma, and threw it into the air, and the box vanished.
"The gods won't like that, Jackson," Chase said. I shrugged.
"So? It should buy us a bit of breathing room," I said.
(At Olympus)
Zeus was sitting at his throne when Hermes gave him a box. He picked up the note on top, and read it aloud.
"Lord and Uncle Zeus, I'm trying to find your bolt. Could you not kill me until AFTER the quest? I'm just trying to help solve a problem in the family. -Percy Jackson..."
Hermes spoke up.
"He does have a point," he said. Zeus grumbled, and opened the box.
"Come on! I didn't send her," he said. He threw Medusa's at Hermes, who caught it, and began laughing.
"Athena will like this gift," he said, before flashing out.
(With Percy)
Medusa owned a truck, fortunately for us. An old truck that ran, had a full tank of gas, and two five gallon canisters full of gas in the back.
Chase was driving, and I was riding in the bed, letting the wind whip through my hair.
That's how we drove.
And then I realised how bad a driver Chase was.
Because we ended up in Saint Louis, at the Arch.
...
Yeah.
"Chase, we don't have time," I growled. She ignored me, and kept dragging Grover and I up the elevator.
"I may never get this chance again, Jackson. I want to take it while I have it," was her reasoning.
I sighed, and grudgingly followed, unable to blame her.
Why?
Well, if I came across Metallica signing CD's, I'd go there and have my forehead and wrists signed by them. So I couldn't fault her.
"So you're into architecture," I asked.
"Not that it's any of your business, but yes. I am. I want to build something that will last for eons to come. I want people to remember me as Annabeth Chase, The Best Architect since the Greeks." I snorted.
"You want to be immortal." She glared at me.
"In a sense." We had made it a ways up, and were ready to leave after a while.
She and Grover were the last two in the elevator down, leaving me and an old lady with a mean looking Chihuahua alone up here.
"Cute dog," I said. Little bastard was growling at me, looking as mean as only that breed of dog could. The old lady smiled.
"Yes. But, I'm afraid, Sonny here still has to kill you. Simply orders, godling," she said. Then she morphed into an ugly monster, and the dog became the Chimera.
"Ah. Who the fuck wants me dead now?" Chimera inhaled, and fired fire at me.
I rolled left, and coated my skin in a thin layer of ice, before stabbing at the monsters.
"Our Lord Kronos, godling. Your death will give him the body he needs to revive himself."
I love battle talk. People ramble.
A lot.
"The Titans are rising?" She nodded, and I smirked, before throwing my sword at her son, and pelting her with icicles, ignoring the migraine coming up.
As the Chimera became powder, his tail bit me in the hand. Echidna joined him, a few degrees below freezing.
My nose and eyes were bleeding again, and my head pounded like nothing else. And then a bolt of lightning plowed right in front of me, sending me to the river below.
This was where I was often these days: unconscious, and with Thalia.
"Done already, Kelpy," she asked. I snorted.
"I just fell into a river. From the Arch. Cut me some slack, Ozone."
She snorted.
"Wow, your luck is horrible. You gotta go, Snowball. There's somewhere else you have to be," she said. I wondered what she meant, and suddenly the room faded into a black cave, with dim firelight, and a giant pit in the center.
"The plan is in motion? He suspects nothing," a loud, ancient voice asked from the pit.
"Echidna revealed you, but I believe he will still come. You did kidnap his mother." I paused. I know that voice.
They said something else, but I didn't pay attention.
"Quiet! Jackson is here," the pit voice said.
"You wish to dream of your quest? Fine. Dream on," it said.
A force grabbed me, and pulled, but my feet held fast. It felt like the world was tugging on my feet.
Then I realized it wasn't pulling me in.
It was using ME to pull ITSELF out!
I woke with a start, as Grover prodded me with a crutch.
"Come on, Percy. We're getting some food," he said. I groaned and rubbed my eyes.
"Where are we," I asked groggily.
"One stop away from L.A. Come one, Jackson. I'm hungry," Chase said.
I waited till she turned around, and flicked an ice ball the size of my thumbnail at her skull.
"Jackson! Stop, dammit!" I smiled.
"You swear, Chase? That's def' a first."
We'd just sat down, when I felt somebody strong approach our table.
I looked up from my menu, and saw a man in a biker's outfit and a red shirt sliding into our booth. He wore shades, and his hair was buzzed, like a soldier's hair normally was. He wore black shades that hid his eyes, though I could see a bit of a flicker behind them.
"Lord Ares," Grover said.
Chase was glaring at him, and I felt my own anger bubble inside of me.
I smirked, realizing why I was suddenly angry.
"Now THAT is a nice trick, Ares. Shame I've been forced through anger management and can somewhat control my 'unbridled fury'," I told him. He smirked, and looked at me directly.
"You must be Seaweed's kid, Sawblade. I remember you. You kept getting into fights in front of my statues."
A waitress came to our table, and asked us what we wanted. I got a medium sweet tea, and a cheeseburger.
Grover ordered a salad, and Chase got a large Coke and a cheeseburger.
Ares got two cheeseburgers.
"Your toes have quite the... 'Kick' when one smashes another's face into them," I said. He smirked again, and we ate our food.
"You wouldn't buy us food if you weren't buttering us up. What did you need," I said. It always worked, but I'd learned that nothing was free.
"Smart kid. I have a 'side-quest' for you. I recently took my girl out on a date, and we got interrupted. I left my shield there. Need you to fetch it. Do this, and you get a free ride from here to L.A., and a backpack of goodies." I thought it over. Then I looked out the window, and saw where Chase had parked.
"Well, fuck. We got no choice. Where's it at," I asked.
Chase fucking parked in a fucking handicap spot, and our fucking truck just got fucking towed.
Fuck. Tyche was definitely having fun with us.
"Two blocks south from here." He snapped, and forty dollars was on the table, before he left. I grabbed it, and we finished eating. I paid for the meal, and we left.
Ares took his girl here..?
As I looked at the amusement park, I was shocked.
"The gate's locked. Jackson, get us in," Chase said. I looked at the rusty lock, and grabbed hold of it.
I yanked the weakest part of it, freezing and super-heating water inbetween my hand and it rapidly as I did so. The lock shattered, and I bit my lip as a sizable shard pierced my hand.
"Shit!" I grabbed a stick from the ground, and held tightly to the shard, and slowly pulled it out.
"Gah! Fuck!" I looked at it, and considered the possibilities of being stabbed by a half-inch-long piece of rusted metal when breaking a lock.
"We need some water. And fast. I'm the stronger fighter, and I'm pretty gods damned sure this place is hiding something," I said. Logically, I was right. I was slower than Chase, but I was our only medium and close range heavy hitter at the moment.
We looked, and eventually found a ride that had water.
"Thrill Ride of Love," I read. My vision was getting hazy. Chase shoved me into the water, and I growled.
I would have attacked her, had a glint of bronze not caught my eye.
"Chase! Bronze to my two," I said. She blinked, and then caught on.
So much for being the braniac...
She grabbed the shield as I got up, and I heard a faint click.
I heard gears grind, and Chase screamed. I spotted her down the river, trapped under a bronze net with bronze spiders coming closer and closer to her.
"Grover! Turn it off!" He ran to the control booth, but it was useless.
"It shouldn't be working," he yelled to me.
Double fuck.
I would have to rescue Chase.
"Try to stop it," I said, before willing the newly formed current to shoot me forward.
I leapt out of the water a ways from the boat thing Chase was in. She screamed again, and I saw a cargo ship's worth of bronze spiders shoot from the walls, and crawl over Chase, who was still trapped under the golden net. The Cupid statues that lined the walls suddenly had cameras, and I realized what this was as I passed a 'Σ' οn the wall.
I willed the water to freeze the net and as many spiders as I could, and hefted an ice trident over my shoulder. Then I began fighting the spiders, which became a BIG FUCKING SPIDER.
Chase screamed in terror, and I knew she was useless now.
"I HOPE YOU'RE WATCHING HEPHAESTUS! CUZ I FOUND A DESIGN FLAW," I yelled, and threw the trident into three eyes, before sliding forward with my sword drawn, and cutting off four of it's legs, and freezing the other four, before I made the ice grab the spider's head, and stabbed it when it smashed into the cold floor.
I ripped the net from Chase, but what happened next caught me off guard entirely.
She kissed me.
She fucking KISSED ME.
WHAT THE-
My brain went blank, and she pulled away, remembering the cameras.
"Er.. Ares, you're an asshole," I said, before I made the ice around me rise into a large blade, and broke all the cameras.
(On Olympus, immediately after)
Athena was gobsmacked. Ares and Hephaestus were laughing. Apollo, Artemis, Zeus, and Dionysus were silent.
Athena spoke, "How dare that boy kiss my daughter!"
Ares was next, "That. Was. Fucking awesome!"
Hephaestus said, "He was right. That was a serious design flaw."
Zeus fumed.
Apollo turned to Poseidon, "Can you do all that?"
Poseidon blinked, and shook his head.
"Not with ice. I never considered it, to be honest.."
"THE BOY IS TOO STRONG," Zeus thundered, slamming his fist into the arm of his throne. Sparks flew from the chair.
"So? He can't beat us. The boy knows his limits. He's only that strong near a water source. Anywhere else causes him to either get a headache, or pass out. His body can't handle his potential. I'm willing to bet he passed out right after that last stunt," Artemis said. The council looked at her.
"What? He sleeps on the roof of his cabin. He's one of the few demigods who appreciate the night, and keeps me entertained when I'm flying the moon."
"That boy will destroy all we think we know," Apollo said, shaking his head.
After we got into the ride Ares had for us, Grover began ranting about the condition of the animals.
A Zebra, a lion, a deer, and a snake were all in cages almost too small for them.
I stood up, still a little dizzy, and walked to the Zebra.
"I'm going to try to clean you, okay? I can't do too much about the smell, but you'll all be cleaned," I told it. My head was already pounding, and pounded harder when the zebra spoke to me.
'Thank you, Prince Perseus!' I groaned.
Percy, Prince of Zebras. Lovely...
I pulled the water from the zebra's water dish, and used it to wipe the grime and mud from his hair and mane and tail.
Then I cleaned his cage, and fed him, and gave him clean water from the 25 gallon bucket in the trailer with us. I did the same to the other animals, and Grover muttered something, before touching each animal on the head.
Then, the truck stopped.
The lion roared, and a loud banging was heard from the doors.
"Come on you filthy animal! We're at your stop," a man shouted, getting in the back, and approaching the zebra.
I rubbed my temples, and found a very big stick beside me.
It was ten inches long, and an inch and a half thick.
I grabbed it, and banged my fist against the wall beside me. Twice, then three times.
"Who's there," the man said, before coming closer.
I waited. He turned towards me, and I brained him with the stick. He fell, unconscious.
Chase looked at me.
"Up. We've got to find another ride," I said, letting the animals free as I left.
We walked for a few hours, and I kept trying to ignore myself and the world.
In some strange way, I may have found myself mildly attracted to Chase. Top five material.
But there was one glaring issue. She was of Athenian descent. I was of Poseidon's blood.
Two rivals. And the hatred had become genetic.
But it was odd. Because even our parents had a strange fondness for one another.
It showed in how they competed for Athens. Poseidon could have given Athens the gift of horses. But he didn't. He gave them a saltwater spring, and let her gift be better than his.
I shook my head, and flipped on a Silent Masquerade cover of Nothing Else Matters, by Metallica.
The lead singer was a girl with blonde hair and brown eyes, named Ash. The bassist, Kirstin, and the lead guitarist, Ivy, did the metal vocals. The drummer, Hana, was just a drummer. Kirstin and Ivy were almost twins. Kirstin had black hair and brown eyes, but Ivy's eyes were like mint green. But Ivy was from Inch, a place in Scotland, while Kirstin was from a small town in Arkansas, Blytheville, same as Hana. Hana had brown hair and eyes. All four girls had slightly paler skin, and were petite.
After a while, Chase tapped my shoulder.
I removed my headphones, and looked at her. She pointed at a giant casino.
I didn't even notice we'd entered L.A.
Lovely.
Turns out, the casino was our worst idea to date. I was running, with a little boy on my back. Beside me was Chase, and beside her was Grover, and beside HIM was an Italian girl in all black and a green beanie. She was Bianca di Angelo. She had black hair and black eyes, like her brother(who was on my back), and wore all black clothes. His name was Nico di Angelo.
They were with us, because Hades stopped me from being stuck with the Lotus Eaters forever. He'd asked if I could bring his children with me when we came down. He'd return my mother for the safe delivery of his kids to him.
So we were running to the DOA Recording Studios office, with a horde of monsters behind us. As I ran, the pack from Ares that I was carrying began getting heavier.
As we entered the building, I set Nico down, and tried to catch my breath.
"Living do not belong here, Perseus Jackson," a voice said behind me. I turned.
"Let me go back out there then. I'll come back dead. No, Charon. I have Lord Hades' children here. He asked for me to deliver them entirely safe, and that's what I'll be doing: walking them straight to Hades himself." I reached into the backpack, and pulled out a bag of drachmae, keeping one in case I needed to make an Iris message.
"Should be about 300 in that bag. Is it enough to get me across the Styx?" The Ferryman nodded, and got me, Nico, and Bianca in the boat.
"Grover, Chase. IM Olympus. Tell Zeus we're close," I said, flipping them a drachma, and creating a slight mist by pulling a nearby well of water just under the surface of the ground.
Charon ferried us fairly quickly across the Styx. As a thanks, I tossed him another bag of drachmae.
And then, Nico, Bianca, and I began walking to Hades' palace.
As we walked, I noticed how big everything was.
"Hades can't want war.. By the gods... This must cost a fortune to run," I muttered. The Fields of Asphodel spread further than I could see, and the Fields of Punishment were just as huge. Elysium was the smallest place I could see. I frowned. The state of the underworld reflected the state of the world. There were too many villains and not enough heroes.
We walked, until we reached a giant pit. Tartaros.
We didn't WANT to stop, but my pack was grabbed, and yanked. I fell down the hole, until I felt cold hands grab me. I looked up, and saw Bianca, with her hands raised. Shadows and bones gripped my arms tightly.
"Nico! Go get your dad! Hurry! Just go to the door and yell for him," I yelled. Nico vanished as he ran, and he and Hades reappeared seconds later.
A bigger shadow grabbed me, and I was let go of by the pit.
But momentum is a motherfucker...
I shot forward like a bullet...
And slammed skull first into an obsidian wall.
CLANG.
I groaned, as a bronze cylinder and a black helmet rolled out of the pack.
"Lord Hades, your helm," I said, holding it out, after grabbing it, hiding the bronze tube in the bag, and standing up. The wall fell, and a shadow grabbed the helm.
"Two for one. Excellent service, Perseus. As promised, your mother will be safe at home when you return. Since you returned my helm without being asked, I will free you of that mortal your mother wed," Hades said. I bowed my head.
"Thank you, Lord and Uncle." And then I fell into a shadow, and vanished.
"Grover, Chase, to the ocean. Come on, I have an idea that MIGHT work," I said as I reappeared beside them, all three of us on the beach. It startled them, and I mentally grinned as they jumped.
We ran to the ocean, and I gripped both of their hands, before envisioning myself at Montauk, a place where I knew the waters best.
The water chilled, and I felt the ocean rush past me.
The three of us stepped out of the ocean.
"Pardon the cold," I said, drying my companions off with a wave of my hands.
"Montauk, Perce? Really," Grover said. I shrugged, and felt Ares flash into the beach.
"You weren't supposed to make it, kid," he said.
"I tend to break rules. You set us up." Ares shrugged, and I stood in the shallow water.
"Oh? You feeling lucky, punk? Alright. Bring it on!"
I shrugged, and Ares set down the backpack he gave me on the beach. I formed a layer of water over my skin, and an ice trident, and charged Ares. I also drew my sword, and noticed, for the first time, an engraving on the guard.
Anaklusmos.
Ares pulled his K-BAR Combat Knife out, and it became a weapon out of an anime. It was a five foot long, one foot wide, and two inch thick, two-handed sword, single-edged, and as heavy as it looked.
We met, and his sword smashed into my trident, only leaving a medium sized crack.
I swung Anaklusmos, and cut his bicep and forearm. He grunted in pain, and I shoved my trident into his chest, and forced his blood to turn to ice. He only slowed...
Looks like ichor isn't as watery as mortal blood. That's fun.
Another grunt, and Ares knocked me back with a Leonidas style kick, and swung his hand behind him. I heard a crunch, a cry, and a crack all at once, when I saw Chase fly off behind him, her Yankees hat falling off.
Something inside me snapped, as I stood up on shaky legs. Ares kicked me, and I flew into the edge of the water. He started to glow a burnt orange color, and I adverted my eyes.
Keeping my eyes closed, I yelled out, "Grover! Stay down!"
Standing up, I formed a giant blade of ice, and willed it to not melt, in spite of the god in front of me.
"I'm going to regret this," I muttered, as I raised several more blades, and spun them in circles. I approached Ares, feeling my blood fall onto my skin the second I stepped out of the water.
I kept walking. My brain felt like it would explode, but I had to do this.
Ares grunted in surprise, when all my blades caught him. I stopped them, and swung them wildly. Ichor splashed my face and mouth, and I was sure that I was covered in it. He vanished, and I opened my eyes, and stumbled. I fell to my knees, and crawled towards Chase.
"G-Grover... G-Get the b-bolt to Z-Zeus... H-hurr-ry," I said, grabbing Chase, and dragging her to the edge of the water.
My pain became a background thing as Grover left with the pack on my back and I touched water.
"D-dad... H-hel-lp us," I said, and fell face first into the water, my brain almost fried and my blood pooling in the water.
I woke up with Chase half on my chest, half off, and asleep. The room was pure gold, and I saw a goddess staring at me from the foot of the bed.
"Can we turn the sun down," I groaned. The goddess smiled wryly, and shook her head.
"Not quite, Jackson." I looked at her. She had a deeper voice, but sounded almost EXACTLY like Chase. Her hair was a silvery blonde, and her eyes were more grey.
"Lady Athena?" She nodded, and I looked at Chase.
"Can you help me with your daughter? I'd like to leave as soon as I can," I said.
"I think that's a fitting punishment for kissing her. You can deal with it." I groaned, and felt four more divine beings come into the room. A gold haired god with blue eyes, an auburn haired goddess with silver eyes, a lightning blue eyed god with black hair, and an older me.
"Hello, Perseus," the goddess said. I nodded at them.
"Lady Artemis, Lord Zeus, Lord Apollo. Lord and Father Poseidon," I greeted. Zeus grumbled.
"Why did you address your father last," Zeus asked.
"Lady Artemis allows me to sleep outside at night, without making me the deer bunny from Tartaros. You stopped trying to kill me when I asked. Lord Apollo healed me and Chase from near death. Lord and Father Poseidon has sixteen years of not being there to make up for. I don't forgive easily. I do apologize, but if he had been there in my life I wouldn't have this scar." I pointed at my memoir from the asshole that was my step-father.
"I see. Well, I will allow you to live, if you would tell us the extent of your power," Zeus told me.
I shifted uncomfortably.
"I can control both ice and water. With water, the only thing I can do is heal or, if it's salt water, I can cause some pain. It only makes me tired. With ice, I can do actually damage. But it takes a toll on my mind, and sometimes my body. I use ice because it has more uses in a fight, but you just saw what happens when I use it too much outside of a water source.
"I shorten my lifespan when I have to heal myself, which is what I've been doing since I was ten. That's when my powers awoke. I can pull ice from water vapor, and mainly use it as a projectile, because I don't like passing out. To use ice, a hydrokinetic just has to compress the water, and will the temperature to drop to at least 0 degrees Fahrenheit.
"I cannot kill a god, not alone or with my powers only. I cannot return somebody to life. I'm only mortal, in the end." I sighed after my explanation ended. Chase had woken up, but hadn't moved, much to my annoyance. Poseidon rubbed his beard, and waved a hand, and a block of ice formed.
"Simple," he said, smiling at his achievement. Athena rolled her eyes.
"Can I go now," I asked. Poseidon saved me from Chase, and we walked out of Apollo's temple. I knew because it matched his cabin.
"Thanks... For saving us, I mean... I, uh... I appreciate it," I said rather awkwardly.
Poseidon looked at me.
"You're welcome. I'm sorry I was never there, Perseus... I do love your mother. If it weren't for the laws Erebus wrote in the Third Age, I and the other gods would have raised each of our children personally.. But if you ever need me, just remember: the sea will always return to the sea." I nodded, and awkwardly hugged him with one arm, and snapped a photo on my somehow still working iPod. He blinked, but didn't move.
"There. Proof I met my dad," I said, putting it away, before Chase came out of the temple.
"Ready to go, popcicle," she asked. I flicked a small ice cube into her face.
"Piss off, brains." I smirked, and we were flashed out of Olympus by Poseidon.
When we materialized, I felt Chase lean over and kiss my cheek, before running off.
"Dammit, Chase," I yelled, but as I left to go to my cabin, a smile graced my face.
"I'm home!"
And CUT!
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