(Just a note: in this story, Leo's back in camp with Calypso, but she's away right now)
Percy (Genesis) POV
'Visitors' turned out to be a familiar face. Not necessarily a welcome face, though. When I got to Half-Blood Hill, Hyperion was waiting, flanked by a dozen monsters, just outside the boundary. He must be feeling confident. I snort. He's in for a nasty surprise.
I land right in front of him, and a dracaena starts to spring at me, but she's stopped by Hyperion.
"Behave. That's not our mission." Then he turns to me. "Why, I don't believe we have met. Let me introduce."
"I know exactly who you are, thank you. And I seem to remember we have met. But maybe it was too long ago for your non-existent brain to remember." He growls, I continue. "So I'll refresh your memory. How was life as a maple tree?"
His eyes glow (literally) in realization and fury. He hisses.
"Jackson?" I smirk under my hood, lifting it just enough so that he can see my face and hair, but the people behind me can't see anything. He glares at me, a hint of curiosity in his eyes.
"What happened to your eyes, Jackson? And wings?"
"Let's just say… While you were busy being a tree, I was… shown… my abilities. Now, why are you here?" After scowling at me for a good ten seconds, his sneering mouth opens.
"I have come with a warning. My masters have a message for you… demigod." He spits the last word as if it's the worst insult he could come up with. "Our armies are far greater in number and in skill than your campers and gods. Surrender now, give up the fight, let us have the gods… and your civilization will not crumble."
I glance over my shoulder. As expected, everyone (meaning every single soul that was in the amphitheater 5 minutes ago) is watching the exchange intently, and Zeus is making his way here, having forgotten that he's a god and can pop up wherever. I flick my hand, and Shadow, Xavier, and Sheyla move to stop him. With my head still turned towards the camp, I address the waiting goofball.
"Maybe your armies are greater than the campers, or even the gods. But what of my armies?"
"Huh?" I roll my eyes, even though he can't see it.
"I seem to remember I've told you this before, but…you titans are as bright as my gym socks." Ignoring his growl, I continue. "Surely you've noticed that we've got a few more people here at camp?" I gesture to where my soldiers are standing.
"You think a few mortals will make a difference? Well, I tried. You have a year. We'll be going now."
"Oh, you're not going anywhere."
"What do you mean, Jackson?" I tilt my head forwards a little, as if I'm about to tell him a secret.
"You know my identity. I can't let you go back." He snarls.
"Now, look here, Jackson-" He's cut off by Riptide going right through his heart- or do titans have hearts? Whatever. I quickly put my sword back in its scabbard before anyone can recognize it, although it's died black. A look of shock crosses Hyperion's face, before being replaced by nothing. His body crumbles, like when Kronos was defeated, and his once- body parts float away.
The monsters lunge at me at once, and I make quick work of them. One especially hungry laistrygonian giant (who reminded me painfully of Joe Bob and Babycakes) manages to give me a small cut on my cheek.
"Styx!" I mutter, and send it back to Tartarus with my double knives. I wipe my blood off with the back of my hand and walk back to where the crowd is gathered. I notice they're looking at me… again.
"What now? Is my hood on fire?" They stare. It feels very familiar. Here we go.
"You-you just killed a titan…? And your blood…it's…yellow?" The camper ends the sentences like they're questions, and I roll my eyes, even though he can't see it.
"Weren't you just here? Is that why you're so shocked? It wasn't much; I just took him by surprise… Oh, and this color is called bronze, bud. You've got tons of that here." At everyone's confused look, I develop a little. "When I joined Chaos, I became immortal. But I can still die in battle. It's similar to the Hunters. Except my blood color changed. Satisfied?" The camper nods slowly, unsure of what to do. I decide to play with them a little. See if they still remember me. "Why do you seem so surprised by what just happened? Was this your first time seeing a titan dissolve into nothingness?" There's an uncomfortable silence for a few moments, the veteran campers exchanging glances and the new campers looking at each other excitedly. I assume most of them have heard about the two wars.
Pretending to be genuinely curious, I ask them a (seemingly) innocent question.
"Is that so hard to answer? Sorry if I hit any sore spots or anything." They continue glancing at each other, but Hermes seems to pity me and 'saves' me. (I've always liked that god.)
"Well, you see… about six years ago, there was a second titan war. The demigods of this camp— the ones that were at camp then—fought for Olympus in Manhattan. One of them defeated Hyperion, like you just did, and defeated Kronos." I raise an unseen eyebrow. This is fun, although I do feel bad for doing this to them. My friends are in this crowd, and the ones who were in the war (like Nico, Thalia or Clarisse) look depressed. I feel a sudden urge to rip my hood off and go embrace them. Of course, I can't, and I don't. Instead I open my big, fat mouth again.
"Where is this guy? I'd love to meet him." I mentally hit myself. Why in the name of Chaos did I just say that? Oh well, too late to take it back now. Let's just go with the flow and see where I end up. The best I can hope for is that this doesn't carry me to a fall.
"You…can't. He disappeared a little over a year later, after helping win yet another war. We… don't know where he is." I feign shock at Nico's words, although inside I'm in agony, restraining myself from telling him I'm right here, in front of him.
"Oh, really? What happened?" Nico's eyes glaze over, but he turns his head before I can identify it. His feet shuffle on the ground, and we stay that way until Will Solace saves him.
"He was betrayed by the one he loved the most. So he left." His voice is full of pain, and he looks pointedly at a certain son of Zeus when he says it, but Eric only sneers and looks straight at me. Stupid comment coming in five…four…three…
"Ha! He left because he was weak and was scared of me! Even his girlfriend preferred me; he was too fragile to handle it!" Everyone looks at Eric in either disgust or adoration (in the case of his goons and a few new campers). But before anyone can say anything, Eric is dragged down to the ground by… none other than Leo. My old friend dusts himself off, glaring at Eric, and setting his hand on fire. He bows mockingly at my nemesis and brings the fire close to his face.
"Leo McShizzle, at your service." Then he stalks back towards Jason and Piper, grinning like the madman he is. I look at him for a moment, but Eric is saying something.
"Hey, are you listening to me?"
"Hmm? No. Why should I?" His face goes red. He's starting to look like a mutant tomato.
"Because I'm the best hero ever, and I'm also a leader of this camp!"
"Oh, really? Who gave you that title? I'm assuming it's yourself, or somebody equally stupid." He advances towards me, waving his arm (the one I didn't break) in what he thinks is a threatening manner. Shaking my head at him, I flick my hand, making the air around him throw him back. He flies a few feet, crashing into his dad.
"I've got better things to do than deal with an egotistical demigod." I glance around, searching for a particular face I haven't seen in a while. "Uh, Zeus?" The king of the gods, having helped his son get off him, looks at me with thinly veiled hostility. Wonder what that's about. Maybe it has something to do with his son.
"Yes, Genesis?" I look around again to make sure. Then I look at him in the eyes and ask my question.
"Where's Poseidon?" The moment I ask that question, all the gods suddenly look at their sandals. Finally, Nico's dad answers.
"After Perseus disappeared off the face of the world, my brother started to drift away from us, only attending meetings when absolutely necessary. And the last time we did see him, he was disheveled and exhausted. The only meetings he always attends… they're the ones about Perseus. He truly loved his son." My heart is screaming, trying desperately to make my body teleport to my dad's underground place at once. I try to keep the cry of frustration in. It's unbelievingly hard, keeping your friends and family at arm's length, without them knowing it. I take my frustration out on a nearby training dummy, evaporating it into ashes. Mark looks at the remnants for a few seconds and grins up at me.
"I thought burning stuff was my thing." I smile and punch him lightly on the arm.
"Shut up." He opens his mouth to reply when a finger taps my shoulder. I turn around to see Athena looking down at me. She frowns slightly, and I recognize the look immediately. It's the one… Annabeth… used to have on when she didn't know something and wanted to know it. Before she can demand to know my identity again or pull my hood down, I speak up, annoyance creeping into my voice.
"Will you please stop nagging me? Gosh, you're just as bad as I remember." As soon as I say that, I slap my hand over my mouth and shut my eyes. Athena's eyes widen.
"You were a demigod?" The remaining campers and gods turn when she says that, intent on the conversation. I try to look nonchalant.
"You haven't figured that out already?" Athena's eyes sparkle. I gave her a lead. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
"Who was your godly parent? When did you live here? Did you even go to this camp? What's your real name?" I think she would have rambled on if I hadn't put my hand up.
"I am not at all obliged to answer your questions. The day I decide I want to undergo an interrogation; you'll be the first to know. Good day." She sputters in outrage and surprise, and she doesn't look like she's going to be able to form real words any time soon, so I leave her standing there and join Mark and Alex. Well, I would have. She is barring my way, along with her boyfriend and his zombies. I try not to disintegrate them. Finally, after a few moments of heavy breathing, I manage to growl a word.
"What?!" Eric glares at me, and Annabeth looks like she's trying to burn my hood off with her look. This is getting really old. Since they just stay standing there without uttering a single word, I push past them and resume my walk. They don't stop me.
Annabeth POV
After the 'talk' with Hyperion, Genesis stalks back to us. And he has bronze blood on his hand. I add another thing to my mental list of info on this guy. I don't have that much right now, but my mother is probably going to continue right where she left off.
Sure enough, after a camper asks a few dumb questions, where we find out he's kind of immortal, my mother starts asking questions again. And Genesis actually lets slip out that he lived here before! And he was demigod. Hmm... I have to get a better look at him. Followed by Eric and his friends, I step in front of Genesis. He scowls and looks like he's concentrating hard. He breathes deeply, then spits out,
"What?" I narrow my eyes. Ever since he came here, almost everything about him- voice, way of walking, and some fighting styles remind me of Percy. Of course, I'm not even 50% sure it is Percy. More like 35. I haven't seen his facial features, plus this guy's taller, leaner, and more muscular than Percy. And he's got wings. Also, Genesis seems colder, crueler, and more ruthless than Percy was. And finally, he's much, much more powerful than Percy was. Even more powerful than Eric, who's a son of Zeus.
I really wish I could reach up and rip his hood off. I hate this, feeling so close to the answer but not actually being able to reach it. I'm about to step closer to him when he pushes Eric and I away and joins his two friends. Muttering a curse under my breath, I grab my boyfriend's arm and half drag him to the Zeus cabin. My cabin has absolutely no privacy, and these days Malcolm and my other half-siblings haven't been really warm towards me… just like everyone else.
When we step inside his cabin, my heart drops dead. My once best friend is there, lying on her old bunk, staring at a picture. When she notices us, her eyes flash in hatred and she springs up, dropping the picture. She stomps out, intentionally bumping my shoulder with hers. Hard. I yell at her back.
"Come on, Thals, it's been 5 YEARS!" She whips back around so fast I rear back in surprise.
"Don't call me that. You betrayed him, Annabeth. You betrayed him, thus betraying us. As Percy told you all those years ago… Have a nice life with this asshole."
"I happen to be your brother." My boyfriend steps in, taking hold of my hand. Thalia's eyebrows scrunch up, and her fists tighten.
"Percy was more my brother than you ever will be, you prick." With that she stomps to Cabin Eight and slams the door. Feeling slightly nauseous, as I always am when my old friends reject me, I re-enter the cabin and pick up the picture Thalia left. I almost choke. It's from right after the second giant war, when we were still celebrating (we celebrated for a month.) The seven, Nico, Thalia, Calypso, Grover, and Juniper are there, looking like they're having a real good time. At the far left, Frank and Hazel stand arm in arm. Next to them is Nico with a tiny smile on his face, along with Thalia, whose bow is slung over her shoulder and she's giving Leo a noogie. Hephaestus's son is laughing, holding on to Calypso. In the middle, next to Calypso, are Percy and I, Percy giving me a piggy-back ride and me pretending to strangle him. He has an exaggerated tortured look on his face, as if I really am strangling him. Directly next to us are Grover and Calypso, and next to them Jason and Piper. My eyes threaten to water. We all look so happy in this. This was taken exactly two weeks before Percy left. And exactly one week before I started seeing Eric behind Percy's back. I'm so deep in my memories that I don't realize Eric is talking to me.
"Annie? You okay?" I blink and smile at him, giving him a light peck on the cheek.
"Yeah, I'm fine." He glances at the picture I'm holding and frowns.
"Why are you looking at that? You don't…miss him, right?" His eyes flicker. I smile a little and shrug.
"Of course not! But… I do miss my friends." Eric steps closer to me.
"You've got me now. And my friends. We're much better than them, you know?" I nod.
"I know." I stare at his dark eyes for a while, and then I decide to get back on track.
"Let's get back to business, shall we?" At my words, he smirks and nods.
"Let's ruin this guy's life."
How'd you like it? I think I'm going to get them find out about Percy in the next one or two chapters. And who do you think the "real" enemy should be? Please review and tell me your ideas, because I'm starting to run out of ideas. Thank you! ;)