Quick Author Note: Just wanted to establish (since they are appearing in this chapter) I will be using the established book appearance of Grover and Annabeth. No shade to the characters in the show, but I grew up on the books and Graphic novels, and that's just how I see them. Plus the show isn't even out yet. I will also be using the book appearance of Percy, and all other characters. I will say, if Lance Reddick (Rest in Peace) was alive, I would use his appearance of Zeus, but I will not out of respect for him, and also because his memory shouldn't be used for a fanfiction of all things.
And before anyone calls me racist, I am a first generation immigrant from Bangladesh, though I've lived in the UK since I was 2.
Anyway, On with the Fic!
"As far as I can remember, I've had a nightmare every night…" A toneless voice says, "It would always begin with my dad shouting at me, but sometimes his face would change… " The darkness of the night seemed to dance around Yurei's pale skin. "Even though I had never seen her before, Gello's face would constantly haunt my dreams."
I looked at the boy with the troubled past. I've met a few people like him in my previous life. When they are older, they become people who hate the world or people who shun the world. And Yurei had the potential to become both. I can't let that happen to him.
"When you forced me to run away from her… I felt an anger I never felt before." Yurei admitted, trying not to meet my eyes, "I was so mad that you didn't let me fight Gello. It was as if my blood itself wanted me to fight her. When I saw you come back on Chiron's back, I knew that she had been killed, but I was furious that I wasn't the one that killed her. It was like you had taken my reason for existing."
I think I understood what he was talking about. If I remember Gello's description, it said that she had been killed by a child of Melinoe, and in return she had used her dying breaths to kill the demigod. Melinoe cursed her to become some sort of ghost demon hybrid, which drove Gello insane. Perhaps because of that, Gello hates all children of Melinoe, and in turn all children of Melinoe have an inherent hate for Gello, perhaps even a natural desire to kill her. A lot like Arachne and the children of Athena.
In essence, I had robbed Yurei of his birthright.
"Is this why you've been avoiding me?" I ask him. When I look at Yurei, I sort of see him as a little brother. I don't know why. I've barely known him for that long, yet I know that I'd be willing to risk my life for him, though I suppose I've already done that by fighting Gello. Maybe it's his natural charm. I swear, I barely understand my own emotions half the time.
Yurei shook his head, "No, not really. I stopped being angry at you after a couple hours. I…" He paused for a few moments before resuming, "I've been avoiding you because I'm afraid. I'm scared that one day I'll lash out. That I will become a monster like my sibling."
I looked at him in confusion, "Your sibling?" I don't think there are any children of Melinoe at Camp other than Yurei. Not even in the books. Did Yurei have a secret sibling?
Yurei lets out a shaky breath. It is strange, seeing him so… vulnerable. He always keeps such a guarded wall around him. "I sometimes get visions. On the night Gello died. I saw what happened to her, what my half-sibling did. He was in the wrong. He… is scum." He said the last part of the sentence with such visceral hate that I nearly flinched. "And Gello was cursed by my mother because she got revenge, just like anyone would do."
Listening to Yurei's words, it did make sense to me. Gello's Profile did suggest that she was a victim, and so did the gods' track record, but I couldn't be sure. Yurei's visions, however, confirmed my suspicions. Just like Arachne, Gello was screwed over. Unlike Arachne, time had turned Gello insane. I doubt anything could ever recover her sanity, even if I got a 1,000,000 charisma (Well maybe, I'm not sure). Not only that, Gello was unnaturally powerful for such an unknown figure. I've never even heard of her before, in this life or the previous one. I mean, she had fucking Death Magic. I'm surprised I survived her!
"And you're scared that you'll be a jerk like him" I state, to which Yurei nods. I let out a quiet sigh, and grab Yurei's face. With a shocked look on his face, I turned his head towards me and met his eyes, "Look Yurei, I'm sure this kind of speech has been used in half the books in the world, but honestly, you need to hear it. You are not your family's sins. You are your own person, with your own hopes, dreams, likes, and dislikes. Your mistakes are your own, and so are theirs. What happened with Gello happened ages before you were even born. I know you feel guilty, but the Gello we saw a couple days ago is not the same Gello that was cursed by Melinoe. She… is a monster. But you're not, and you never will be. You may screw up, but that's because you're human. And as long as you're human, you'll never be like that half-sibling of yours. Understand?"
I give the kid a light pat on the head. He's about a year younger than me, but sometimes, it feels like he's smaller than he usually is. Perhaps it is simply an effect of his powers. I look at Yurei's face, and see tears welling up around his eyes, and before they could even drop down, the seven-year-old wraps me in a hug, squishing his face against my shirt, in a not-so-obvious attempt to hide his tears. I smile, and pat his head, and hear a quiet, "Thank you".
1 Week Later…
Camp Halfblood Forest at Night
"You've got to be kidding me!" I complained to the ethereal spirit, "I can't do that! Have you seen my arms? They're like spaghetti!" I motion my left hand to my right arm to emphasise the point. It was just after midnight and I decided that today would be the day I begin my training under the legendary Sasaki Kojiro.
I was slightly regretting the decision.
The ghostly Japanese swordsman laughs, which he does surprisingly often for a dead man, "You're lucky I'm not making you do 10,000! Come on Gilgamesh, I only want you to do 3600 downward sword swings in an hour. A single swing every second isn't that bad!" I swear, if this dude weren't a ghost, I'd smack him.
"Yeah, but you're also saying that if I can't, you'll make me do 500 pushups" I probably sound like a whiny brat, but that's because I am a whiny. brat. My wrist is going to hurt like hell after this.
"Then you'd better get swinging." By the way Sasaki was looking at me, he wouldn't take no for an answer.
I sigh, and take out Athanatos. Rising it above my head, I bring the blade down. And after bringing it back up, I repeat my earlier actions. Despite trying to do a sword swing every second, with my current skill level and stats, It was once every 5 or even 10 seconds. I could feel Sasaki's eyes on me as I swung my sword, analysing me.
"Too slow, Gilgamesh. The only monster you're going to hit is a slug" My teacher insults my sword swinging, "Straighten your back and make sure it doesn't bend again." I changed my stance to make sure I was standing properly, and began slashing again.
"So how long will I be doing this kind of training?" Call me impatient, but I really want to use some of those techniques Sasaki was talking about. The swordplay in the Percy Jackson books was never really anything to write home about. They mostly focused on utilising pure strength with some fancy moves here and there.
"Hmm…" Sasaki hummed, thinking for a bit, "Two years maybe?"
I nearly trip over in shock, but catch myself, passing it off as a swing of my sword, "Two years! Seriously! Of just swinging a sword?" My god does that sound boring. It'll still increase my Sword-Fighting skill substantially.
"Maybe even longer." Sasaki smiled almost maliciously, seeing how much the thought annoyed me, "After all, you're a growing boy. Your body will be constantly changing, and thus you'll need to adapt to your height increase. Though I guess you could just be a little runt for the rest of your life"
"I'm not a runt!" I angrily retorted, which was kind of unlike me. I don't think I've been genuinely angry since starting this new life. Disgusted, fearful, disappointed, but no real anger. I think I'm a little sensitive about being a child.
"Say that when you've got whiskers on your chin!" Sasaki chuckled. My arms were already getting sore from repeatedly swinging this sword,
I sigh, quashing my annoyance, "So, teach, mind telling me how exactly your sword techniques work? Does it use some sort of energy source?" I had some guesses as to how they worked, but frankly, I was relying on my knowledge of fiction as a whole. It could be something akin to the sword-styles in One Piece, or it could be more like the breathing techniques in Demon Slayer. Hell, it could just be pure power and strength.
"Teach? Ha, I like that!" Sasaki laughed, his grin still stuck on his face, "Well I guess I might as well tell you whilst you swing your sword. Oh, and you might want to fix your footing. Keep a bigger gap between your feet so you can retain a better balance."
Sasaki takes a seat on the ground, or at the very least he tries as he instead floats above the grass in a cross-legged position, "Hmm… Where to start?" He asks himself, before looking at me, "Ok, so these techniques are called Shinseina Kenjutsu. If you know Japanese, you'd know it's a pretty boring name. Shinseina Kenjutsu is the only martial art made by a god. There've been some sword-martial arts made by demigods, but none can even remotely compare to Shinseina Kenjustsu, especially since it's… supernatural? I think that's the word. I mean, normal sword-styles can't cause explosions like I did last week. Now, the way Shinseina Kenjutsu works is by faith, as silly as it sounds."
Though I was sweating, weary, and tired from swinging my sword, I was listening to every word Sasaki was saying. A little bit out of a desire to get stronger, but mostly because I was fascinated by a fighting style made by a god. And the fact that the Percy Jackson world, or at the very least this version of it, was so much bigger than I originally thought. But I paused in surprise at the reveal. "Did you say faith? So the sword techniques rely upon the gods?" It made sense since it was made by a god, but that's such a clear weakness and flaw in the techniques.
However, Sasaki waved away my doubts, "No, no! That'd be a clear weakness and flaw!" I stifled a chuckle as he said the same thoughts I had. "No, I'm talking about faith in oneself. Although they don't like to advertise it, the gods exist on mortals believing in their existence. Faith is one of the strongest elements in this universe, because even though few believe in Greek, Norse, or Egyptian gods, they are still strong enough to level cities with a blink only because of the mass faith they received millenia ago."
"I'm not sure I understand." I stated, confusion clear on my face, "Are telling me to believe in myself?" I was met with a ghostly sword, though still in scabbard, phasing through my head, a clear attempt to knock some sense into me, or at least I think that's what Sasaki was going for.
"Aho!" Sasaki berated. I'm not sure, but I think that was Japanese? Was it an expletive? Was my question that dumb? "Listen, to be able to use Shinseina Kenjutsu, you must recognise your own existence and affirm it upon the world."
"That makes no sense!" I argue, swinging the sword more aggressively, "How am I meant to recognise my own existence? I know I exist! And what the fuck do you mean for me to affirm my existence? I'm 8! If I'm meant to leave my mark on the world, I've got to be older, and stronger!"
"Well you've got a foul mouth for an 8-year-old." Sasaki jokes, before turning serious, and sighing, "This is why I'm telling you now. It took me ages to truly understand, and even then I'm one of the fastest to ever understand how to do Shinseina Kenjutsu. For some it took half a decade, and even then, those swordsmen were talented. It'll take you a long time as well, but who knows, you're a smart kid."
Fuck. I really hope this is worth it. I didn't sign up for some philosophy class.
Sasaki floated in front of me, as my sword swings passed through him. It was a little therapeutic. "Look Gill…" Something fascinating about Sasaki was that he used the shortened version of my name when he was being serious, which was the direct contrast to Chiron who used when he was casual, "I'll tell you what my own sensei told me. Think about yourself. Who are you? Do you exist for yourself or for another? Do you fear death, or wish to wield it? What is your purpose? Does your purpose hold any significance? Who are you?"
My mind instantly answered the last question. I am S-
No. No. No. That's not my name. My name is Gilgamesh Ashford. That's who I am now. The other person died in the fiery heat of a nuclear missile. His skin melted off his bones, his eyes popped into nothing, his bones were eviscerated to dust, and his soul went to an endless void.
Damn it. That was meant to be the easiest question out of all of those. Shit, maybe it actually will take me 5 years.
"Oh and Gilgamesh…" I turned to Sasaki Kojiro, who had a pitying look on his face, "Your stance is messed up" Gods dammit.
1 Month Later…
Halfblood Hill
I lie down upon the grass of Halfblood Hill, chewing some gum in my mouth. I had my right hand raised, and hovering above it was a blazing ball of flames. No, it wasn't a Fireball, no, it was far more powerful. Through the use of Photomancy, I added the aspect of the Sun to a Fireball, and had essentially turned it into a tiny sun, thus creating the Heliosphere spell. Though it couldn't burn through the Earth (yet), it was far stronger than a Fireball though it sacrificed a bit of directional control.
But the best thing about it was that it unlocked the Heliokinesis skill, though due to its power, it would take me a while to level it up before I could make new spells with it. And that's why I had a Heliosphere above my hands. Simply casting the spell increased the exp in the Heliokinesis skill, albeit slightly. So far I've managed to level both skills by 3.
Things at Camp were pretty great. Free food, and every night was pretty fun. I've levelled up my Musician skill a couple times from the late night sing-alongs at the Amphitheatre. Apparently, everyone singing wasn't a one time thing. Should a musically-inclined child of Apollo lead the session, then the audience would subconsciously sing the lyrics with perfect tune and pitch, even if they didn't know the lyrics.
Although, whilst my camp experience was pretty great so far, much of the camp was tense. After all, a month had passed since some of the camp's best fighters had left to fetch Thalia, Luke, and presumably Annabeth and Halcyon. The councillors that remained at camp kept saying that everything would be alright, but I think some were beginning to doubt it, though people didn't really voice that concern.
As always, I'd been training my Sword-Fighting and Archery skills. I've been sparring with an Ares kid (who wasn't in the books) and despite getting my ass kicked, I still got EXP towards my Sword-Fighting skill, and Sasaki Kojiro's training helped level it up, even if it was mind-numbingly boring. Speaking of Sasaki's training, I still haven't understood how exactly I'm supposed to recognise my existence and affirm it upon the world. It still doesn't make any sense. Perhaps I need to increase my Intelligence stat. Or meditation. Hmm… That's a decent idea.
I've managed to level up to 27 over the month, which was annoyingly slow, but it seems I don't level up much in spar. Only in a fight with stakes, do I get large amounts of EXP. Ah well, levels don't matter too much. All they really do is increase my HP and MP. It's stats and skills that matter most.
I was snapped from my thoughts as a drop of water splashes upon my face. Rain? I don't think that was scheduled for today. I looked up to the sky, and immediately jumped up to the sight of a blanket of black storm clouds covering the sky. This is impossible! There's no way Chiron okayed a storm! Unless… Shit. Today's the day.
I looked back to the camp, and saw all the campers looking to the sky, and some were running to the Big House. Good. That means Chiron knows, and should be able to guess what would happen soon. I re-equip all my armour from my inventory, setting them all to invisible, and take out my bow. I look away from Camp Halfblood, and keep a watchful eye atop Halfblood Hill. It was lucky I happened to be here today. Very lucky.
They would be coming soon, and I would be ready.
5 Minutes Later…
Near the Base of Halfblood Hill…
Thalia's POV
Damn it! Even though those older guys had stayed behind to stop some of those hellhounds, more crawled out from the earth. And on top of that, there were those three creepy ass demon ladies that were chasing us from the sky. I could feel Annabeth trembling in fear as I carried her on my back. Poor kid. Luke offered to carry her, but we both knew I was way stronger.
A month ago, after we… lost Gill, we met Annabeth at a factory or something, hiding under a sheet of metal. The kid looked like she was starving. Starving and scared, not a good combination. Hal was weirdly good with kids. Not in the creepy way, but it was weird he had decent social skills after decades of feeding kids to dog monsters. Anyway, the guy gave Annabeth his dagger, and for some reason the kid began to follow the geezer like a puppy. And Halcyon was fine with that. Luke told me that the guy saw her like a granddaughter. Weird.
A week after that, we stopped by Luke's house. After seeing his mom, I felt so fucking guilt. At least once a week I would complain about my shitty mom, but Luke had it just as bad. At least I knew why my mom was batshit crazy. And to top it all off, his dad showed up. It was pretty funny seeing Halcyon grovelling.
I was suspicious about Hermes, especially when he asked Luke for a private conversation. I wanted to follow him, but Luke asked me to say. I wondered why the fuck he was so willing to go with his asshole dad, but then I remembered Gill.
"Hey Luke… Do me a favour." Gill says, as the seconds begin to tick past, "Give Hermes a chance."
Shit. He must've known that Hermes would show up. I was annoyed at the time, but now I was happy, because that meant Gill might still be alive. If he saw Hermes, then maybe he saw a way out. And I would feel way less guilty about leaving him behind. When we told Annabeth about Gill, she said that he probably did escape if he was so willing to stay behind. I don't really see a reason to not believe her. She's one smart kid. It was a little weird though to see her act like an actual kid, a smart kid but also a childish one, after dealing with Gill. He acted more like an adult than even Luke. Shit, I kinda miss that runt.
When Luke came out of the room where he and Hermes talked, he had a weird look on his face though. Like someone had told him that everything he knew was a lie. Oddly enough after that day, Luke didn't really shit on Hermes anymore. If that asshole manipulated or mind-controlled Luke, I'm kicking him in his divine balls.
A few days after we left Luke's house we met Grover the goat (Don't tell him I call him that. His whining really gets on my nerves). It was pretty funny seeing Annabeth's reaction to a satyr, though it got a lot less funny when she started asking him about his biology. And even worse when that goat answered. Those are memories I can never wipe.
With a guide in tow, we manage to walk a good distance. And then the monsters began to attack. We had monster attacks before, but usually it was one or two at a time. Now it was entire packs. It didn't help that Grover was literal fodder, and Halcyon looked like he'd fall over from a gust of wind.
We did manage to fight them off, usually having to run in the end but we still managed to survive. With Annabeth with us, that was all that mattered. Damn adorable brat.
And then, we met even more people. When they came up to us, I had a small heart attack on how the fuck we would be able to get enough rations for everyone. I doubt Luke or could say no to anyone looking for help. But instead of being helpless fools, they were our saving grace (Fuck, I hate saying that phrase. It reminded me of Hal's shitty vision). They had a ton of food for everyone and clean clothes! There were also satyrs that came with the campers. Turns out that Grover was new. I guess that explains why he's such a pussy. Even if he's a nice guy.
And even better news, Gill was alive! Apparently he came to a camp with a kid that was Annabeth's age. According to the campers, he had fought some demon chick before entering camp. No fucking wonder he managed to escape Hal's mansion.
The campers told us that Gill had told the guy in charge of camp that I was a daughter of Zeus. I don't know whether to hug or flip the kid when I see him. But either, I don't think we could've made it without the campers. And watching them fight monster packs that came after us was awesome. They decimated those fuckers. If everyone at that camp is like these guys, then Camp Halfblood must be cool as shit.
But the closer we came to camp, the more dangerous the monsters became. There was even a family of cyclopes that we encountered. And when we reached the forests around camp, it was as if the armies of the Underworld had risen. And those old winged hags came after us as well. From Grover's reaction, they were a pretty big deal.
The campers stayed behind to slow down some of the tougher monsters, and the satyrs were making sure more monsters wouldn't rise from the ground with their weird magic, but we still had a good amount still chasing me, Luke, Annabeth, and Halcyon. Hal managed to not slow us down thankfully. I'm not an asshole. I'd absolutely help him, but I just wish that he listened to me when I told him to come to the camp after us. I knew something would go wrong with my luck.
With Annabeth on my back, and Grover watching my back, we made it to the foot of a large hill. I think this is the place those campers told us to go. Before I could take another step, I heard a loud growl behind me. Turning my head slightly, I see a large goddamn hellhound snarling at me.
Fuck fuck FUCK! I won't be able to take my spear out in time. If I turn around quickly enough, I'll probably be able to take the dog's attack instead of Annabeth. Fuck you Hades. I don't give a shit what my dad did, but you don't come after my fucking friends!
But before I could turn, a… beam of light shoots past me? No that wasn't a beam, I'm pretty sure I saw a freaking arrow inside it. Did that light seriously come from an arrow? I turn around where the arrow had headed towards, and take a step back in shock as I see the arrow plunged into the forehead of the hellhound, still irradiating with golden light. And then quickly enough, another fucking arrow surrounded by light goes into one of the eyes of shitty dog.
Fucking hell, if it wasn't for the fact that my life was on the line, I'd be squealing at how cool that was. Spears are still better though.
Before I could look up to where the arrows came from, my eyes were instead drawn to fucking grandfather clock rushing down to me from the hill, with it's legs. And the thing had a face! Actually it looked familiar… but where have I seen it?
"Tick Tock!" The weird clock said. Why did the fucking clock have an English accent? And why the hell could it speak, "I am here to take the Annabeth Chase to the camp" What the fuck? Why did it already know Annabeth's name? Shit, what if it was a monster that likes to eat little blonde girls that ask too many questions? "Ah, just so you are aware, Sir Gilgamesh sent me here."
Fuck… Ok I'll trust it. Not like I have a choice. "Fine, but if you get a single scratch on her, I'm using you for firewood!" I quickly take Annabeth off my back, holding her in my arms. The kid looked like she was on the brink of tears. "Hey Annabeth, the nice clock man will take you to camp, okay?" Fuck, I hate having to talk like that with kids. Especially with a dumb fucking sentence like that. Annabeth nods, too terrified to talk.
The clock man opens up the glass door that leads to a weirdly large space inside him. Despite how weird it seemed, I placed Annabeth inside of him, and shut the glass door. "I shall be going now, Madame Thalia!" Okay, that was also weird that it knew my name. But what weirder was watching the living clock run off back up to the hill.
"Not so fast!" A loud cackled could be heard as one of the creepy demon ladies throws a fucking fireball at the clock. Which was made out of literal wood. SHIT! What was I thinking of letting Annabeth go inside it? Before I could run towards it, the fireball hit the wooden grandfather clock… doing nothing. Not even a scratch. The giant clock keeps running as if nothing happened. Well I guess that's how Gill survived the explosion. It seems the demon lady decided that Annabeth wasn't worth it, as she looked down to me, "Daughter of Zeus! Your very existence is a sin! DIE IN THE NAME OF LORD HADES!"
She then flaps her wings and makes her way to swoop down to me. Fuck! Where'd I put my spear? From the corner of my eye, I see a figure rushing down from the hill, and then jumping on top of the grandfather clock, and jumping off of that. Like the campers, the person had a bright orange shirt, but more importantly, he was very familiar. He had golden hair swept to the side, long enough to show that it hadn't been cut in months, bronze skin that almost looked like it was a tan, and eyes as blue as the summer sky. Oh and he was a midget.
Gill was in the air, a long curved sword in his hand. Ice seemed to surround his blade, and the frost followed its trail. Before the demon hag could slash me with her creepy ass claws, Gill's sword comes down, and as if he had done it tens of thousands of times, he slices the demon lady's hands clean off.
He lands in front of me, his sword ready to swing, and his cool shield extended. Goddamn was I jealous of that shield. "Huh, this feels really familiar." I hope that was a joke, or it'd mean that he had a fucking history of fighting demon ladies. He turns his head towards me, with a grin on his face, "Heh, long time no see Thalia."
Yeah I think I'll punch him when we get to camp.
Author's Notes:
Kaboom! Chapter 14 done. Been a long time since I last uploaded, but at least I warned you guys! I've finished my exam, and have been relaxing. Also finished watching One Piece as well.
Anyway, the next few chapters will be full of timeskips and we will in fact have 1 quest which Gill will go on before the books begin.
On a side note, I added that Gill was bisexual in the Fanfic's summary. I did not expect that it'd be a big problem for the MC to be LGBTQ+, and especially in the Percy Jackson fandom. I hope this is an immersion thing, rather than a bigotry thing.
And let me remind you, Gill's love interest has not yet been decided. It could be a guy or gal, frankly the story has not been fleshed out enough for me to decide .
Also, thank you everyone for the support! We've crossed 800 followers, which is pretty insane, and we're also close to 200 reviews! Thanks guys!
Anyway here is Gil's Player Profile:
Name: Gilgamesh Ashford
Age: 8
Level: 27
Title: Halfblood Resident
HP: 3680/3680
MP: 3990/3990
Stats
Strength: 106
Agility: 72
Endurance: 76
Charisma: 65
Intelligence: 66
Willpower: 53
Luck: 45
Stat Points: 0