Disclaimer: I do not own anything that's from Percy Jackson, nor do I own the hat.
Chapter 3: Everything Comes Together
As Ethan Nakamura waited for Luke Castellan at their designated meeting area, he thought about their plan. They had asked Hecate to fake an illusion of Luke hosting Kronos. Why? Because while it may not have happened yet, due to the mortals they were now affiliated with, Luke could not afford to creep anyone out. Besides that, he now got the chance to avoid getting hammered in the eye with a blue plastic hair-brush. That was definitely a benefit. Another question would be: Why not use Ethan? Excellent question. The simple answer? They didn't think of it. No one had really expected the whole host situation before all this started anyways.
The next part of their plan was already finished. Normally, they would just mist mortals they wanted on their side. Sadly, that only worked on the weak-minded, so it was out of the question. Thus, the video camera Ethan held in his hands at the moment. This would be their proof. Hecate already charmed the footage so that the mist wouldn't cover anything.
The final part had just been finished. Luke would need to make the mortals believe their story. This was the hard part in their elaborate scheme. How does one get an entire room of war veterans to believe mythology was real? They had to think a lot for it to finally come together. What's the best way to get someone to believe? Show them. How? While the video might help their case somewhat, it's too easy to tamper with things now. That's why they needed more proof.
It is true that they had considered other demigods. That was risky, though. The mortals would jump to conclusions and get violent. It was also hard to try and get people to believe in helping someone who could be considered one of the enemies. Luke had to make them believe he was an innocent bystander caught in the crossfire. He was planning on pulling off a clear-sighted mortal. It wouldn't be too hard, especially since he already denounced the gods.
The solution was a magical item in the room that one of their demigods happened to find. Luke had acted like he was choking when he saw the item while they were searching through the magical items acquired while sailing aboard the Princess Andromeda. It was a baseball cap for some random team in New York, when Ethan had checked for the hats magical properties, he was surprised to see his whole body disappear. Ethan didn't have a clue as to why Luke felt so strongly about the hat, but he did and Ethan decided not to question Luke, he obviously felt strongly about it.
Ethan was interrupted from his musings by Luke finally arriving. They briefly talked about the success of the battle before Luke took the camera from Ethan and disappeared after a bright flash.
-Line Break-
Back to the War Council
"You know exactly what I'm talking about, Brian. How's camp doing by the way?"
Brian Rogers glared at Luke defiantly. There was no way he was going to let Luke drag him into this. Besides that, there was still the rest of the people in the council room.
As if on cue, General Davis cleared his throat, directing the attention back to himself.
"Now that that's over," He started with a pointed look directed at the two demigods in the room, "I have had a long day, and my wife's making her world class cherry pie, so if we could just hurry along and get to the point, I don't think anyone would mind."
"Of course, general," Luke said in an almost mocking way.
Luke then proceeded to point to a giant screen set in the front of the room. A video started to play, and Brian's breath caught in his throat. On the screen was a view of a clearing in a forest. The clearing was full of demigods running around and spearing monsters left and right, while more emerged from a pile of rocks in the center. The camera turned towards a burning tree. There was a figure beside the tree, crying out in alarm as it watched the tree burn.
Soon enough, another figure entered the camera's view. Most people in the room's eyes bugged out as they stared at the figure. He was wearing a bright orange t-shirt like most of the people in the clearing, with reed pipes proudly displayed on a side belt wrapped around the figures waist. And that was where everything somewhat human about the figure ended.
The figure wasn't wearing any pants. This would be embarrassing for most, if it wasn't for the fact that while the figure wasn't wearing pants, it didn't really need them. In replacement the thing had goat legs, that still isn't where the crazy ended. The thing also seemed to have horns and everyone would've been able to say, with the upmost certainty that they heard the thing bleat. The figure turned and seemed to search for someone. Once they found them, the figure started yelling said person's name.
The camera turned again, this time focusing on a teenager in the middle of the fray. The camera zoomed in, and the council could now make out the teens features. The teen was male, with messy black hair and sea green eyes. He had on greek-style armor with a glowing bronze sword by his side. The boy looked at the burning tree with a deeply concentrated look on his face, as if he was trying to decide what he should do.
Suddenly, geysers of water shot out of the ground, and the water kept rising until there was enough for a mini-lake. The water was then redirected towards the tree, dousing the flames and washing away random creatures along with the other trees' flames.
The people in the council room could see a single teenager in the middle of the destruction with the same look of concentration present on his face while the water followed his eyes line of sight. The water circled the teen once before it dropped down on the forest floor, leaving no sign that it had even come. The teen looked around before running off somewhere on the field, swinging his sword in a precise manner.
The video ended, leaving all the mortals to contemplate what they had just seen. While they were doing that, Brian Rogers was stuck trying to see where this left him. Luke had obviously spent quite some time trying to foolproof his plan. It was clearly shown with every move he made to oppose the demigods. Now Brian was left to wonder what else Luke had to his advantage.
The room was silent for a while until someone had finally had enough. This happened to be Colonel McCannas, a part of the special operations division.
"So, you expect us to believe that was real?" The colonel asked.
When Luke nodded, the colonel then proceeded to say, "Well, kid, I'll give it to you that you have a pretty good imagination, along with a lot of resources, apparently. But you have to be a fool to think we'll believe you with just your word and some video. Unless you can prove to me what we saw is real, I'm not going to do anything about this."
Luke smirked. "So you just want some proof?"
"Yes, anything tangible that you can provide will be fine."
Luke's smirk grew wider as he reached behind himself and pulled out a baseball hat. Everyone watched him curiously as he straightened the hat and motioned for Colonel McCannas to step forward. The colonel eyed him, but still walked up until he was in front of Luke. Luke handed the hat to the colonel, motioning for him to put it on.
The colonel did and most jumped up, alarmed as the colonel seemed to slowly dissolve in front of them. Colonel McCannas wasn't aware of what was happening, though, so he stared at everyone confusedly until he decided to look down. Everyone heard a small yelp come from the general area the colonel used to stand on as he slowly materialized in front of them again, having landed quite painfully on his butt.
"WHAT JUST HAPPENED!" One of the men in the room yelled. Everyone nodded in agreement, wanting to know the exact same thing.
Luke stepped forward, yet again, as he started to explain the magical hat's abilities. Mortals went bug-eyed almost comically, as Luke's information started to sink into their brains. The Secretary of Defense stepped forward, drawing the attention back to himself.
"Now that you know the details, the question is: What do we do next?" He asked.
Brian had never before felt so nervous about mortals.
A/N: Hey guys, it's been a while. I'm really sorry about that. This chapter was supposed to be posted yesterday, but it was late, and I thought I wanted to add more than I originally had to make it up to you guys. It turns out, I was too lazy. Anyways, I tried to explain some stuff in here, but I think I may have failed with the transitions. Also, special thanks to my friend 8BlackLightning8 who willingly suffered through multiple conversations with me to find more proof for the mortals. Sorry Percy didn't go all Hulk on everyone or that Zeus didn't smite Luke. Next chapter will probably take a while. Until then, BYE!
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Before I forget, how much of the mortals do you guys want to see? I noticed a slight decrease in attention when I put a chapter focusing on the mortals in the war, although I did promise this in the summary. Also, thanks to the four people who reviewed and the others who started following. Actual bye now.