In this chapter, we'll get introduced to Atlas's lackey, Dr. Thorn. Who's also a manticore.
I'll also make a Percy Jackson OC.
That's the fun of making fanfics after all. And besides, Rick Riordan is putting his original characters into the world of Greek mythology. I might as well do the same.
She's a half-blood...but you'll have to read the fanfic to find out who's her Olympian parent.
Chapter 3: A Thorn in One's Side
Thalia examined the quest board. She had done some training and was feeling good about herself.
There was a quest to deliver halfbloods to the camp.
She decided to accept it.
Chiron approached her.
It seemed he was the quest giver. Which wasn't a big surprise.
"Seeing as you've grown strong lately, can you do your fellow halfbloods a favor? We're trying to add new campers to Camp Halfblood. We don't want them to be corrupted by Kronos. Otherwise they could become a threat to the camp itself." spoke Chiron.
"Mission: Send half-bloods to Camp Halfblood. Success: 10000 exp. Failure: Kronos has new recruits for his army.
"I accept." spoke Thalia.
"I'm pleased to hear that. I have reason to believe that there are three halfbloods at a school known as West Hall." explained Chiron.
"Should I go alone?" asked Thalia.
"I wouldn't recommend that. We suspect that Kronos' army is searching for them as well. You may run into someone who's working with them." warned the centaur.
"Duly noted." answered the teenage girl.
She decided to recruit Annabeth, Grover, and Percy for the quest.
"It would be interesting to meet more halfbloods." noted Annabeth.
Hopefully they would be friendlier than Clarisse was.
Percy nodded. He hoped that they didn't turn traitor like Luke did. Of course, their mission was in no small part to persuade them not to join the forces of darkness.
"So, this is the place." spoke Thalia.
Now all they needed to do was find the three half-bloods.
The four of them began to look around.
Thalia ran into a man wearing a black coat.
"Hello?" asked the teenage girl.
"I'm busy right now." spoke the man.
He too appeared to be searching for something.
Thalia managed to find the three halfbloods first.
The three halfbloods were known as Nico, Bianca, and Danielle.
Danielle happened to be a redhead...because there didn't seem to be a lot of redheads in Percy Jackson. There were brunettes and blondes to be found, however.
She was dressed in a blue T-Shirt and white shorts.
"There you are! We've been looking for you." spoke Thalia.
"How come? Is it because of my good looks?" asked Bianca.
"Well, you are attractive. But I have another reason for that." explained the teenage girl.
"What is it?" questioned Dani.
"Would you believe me if I told you that one of your parents are gods?" asked Thalia.
"Really? That's awesome!" exclaimed Nico.
"Well, I suppose part of it is awesome. But it also puts you in danger. Half-bloods have a habit of attracting monsters to them." noted the teenage girl.
"That's scary." noted Bianca.
"I look forward to fighting them!" exclaimed Dani.
"Aren't you the enthusiastic one. Before you do that, we should get you to Camp Halfblood. Chiron designed it as a safe haven for halfbloods. Somewhere where you don't have to worry about monsters having you for your supper." spoke Thalia.
"That sounds nice." remarked Bianca.
"My name is Thalia. I'd ask what your names are...but I already know them." noted the girl.
"Are you psychic?" asked Nico.
"Sort of. Are you ready to go to camp?" questioned Thalia.
"Yes!" exclaimed Dani.
"Let's go then!" exclaimed Nico.
Suddenly, a barb was shot in Thalia's shoulder.
"Ow!" exclaimed the teenage girl.
To make matters worse, it seemed the barb was poisonous.
Her arm began to feel numb.
She was then approached by the man that she had encountered earlier.
"Would you look at that...I've managed to find the daughter of Zeus himself! I don't know why she's alive after being transformed into a tree...but I won't look a gift pegasus in the mouth." noted Dr. Thorn.
Thalia realized that Dr. Thorn was a manticore.
And to make matters worse, he was Level 25.
That was a tad outside her level range. She was currently Level 15.
She couldn't take him on alone.
"I'm sure Kronos will be happy to have new recruits in his army." spoke Dr. Thorn.
"What if we refuse?" asked Nico.
"Then you get tossed off a mountain by Atlas." answered the manticore.
Bianca gulped.
It looked as if they had no choice but to go with him.
Thalia didn't plan on joining Kronos' army after what her father did for her. They didn't always get along, to be sure, but he was still her father.
But for the time being, she was going to Mount Othyrs.
On the way there, Thalia suddenly collapsed in the snow.
It seemed that the venom was making her woozy.
She knew that manticore poison wasn't lethal...but it did make one feel weak.
"Get up!" demanded Dr. Thorn.
"If you wanted me to go faster, maybe you shouldn't have tossed one of your thorns at me." remarked Thalia.
"Don't make me have you for my supper!" exclaimed the manticore.
"You leave her alone!" demanded Dani.
"Do you really think you're in a position to make demands?" asked Dr. Thorn. He was twice her size.
Suddenly, Dani felt the urge to change into something.
She decided to change into a skunk.
Dani ended up doing just that.
She then sprayed Dr. Thorn in the face.
"Aarghhh!" exclaimed Dr. Thorn.
He shot one of his barbs at her...but this did surprisingly little.
"How are you still standing?" asked the manticore.
"I heard that skunks are resistant to snake venom...by that logic, half-blood skunks are resistant to manticore venom." noted Beth.
It appeared that Dr. Thorn was in trouble.
It looked like he had underestimated this particular half-blood.
And to make matters worse, he heard footsteps.
"What is that smell?" asked Percy. It wasn't pleasant, that was for sure.
He noticed Thalia.
"Thalia! You found the three half-bloods!" exclaimed the teenage boy.
"Yeah...but I also found trouble." noted Thalia.
"Welcome to my world." remarked Percy.
Grover and Annabeth also arrived on the scene.
The former was covering his nose. Having an enhanced sense of smell wasn't all good.
Now that he had been sprayed by a skunk, Dr. Thorn was a heck of a lot easier to track.
Dr. Thorn launched a barb at Percy...but the water in his body washed the venom away.
It was becoming apparent to Dr. Thorn that he was fighting an uphill battle.
Annabeth leapt onto his back and stabbed him.
Dr. Thorn roared like...well, a lion.
He attempted to launch more thorns at Thalia and Percy, but Grover used his plant powers to bind his tail.
It looked like he wouldn't be able to shoot any more projectiles for a while.
The hunters of Artemis then showed up.
It seemed they too were looking for recruits.
"You've got to be kidding me..." spoke the manticore. He had been hoping that he would get the chance to fight halfbloods. But it looked as if he should have been more careful what he wished for.
It appeared that he had no good choice but to retreat without what he had come for.
Which was a shame, since he was hoping people would fear him.
But he didn't want to get sent back to Tartarus.
He leapt off a cliff...
...and took Annabeth with him.
"Oh no! Annabeth!" exclaimed Percy.
They had recruited three half-bloods...but they had lost one.
At least she had left something behind.
Perhaps they could use it to track her.
It was her invisiblity cap.
But on the other hand, there was a possibility that she was no longer alive.
Was she in Elysium now?
Grover and Thalia were shocked to see that Annabeth had fallen off the cliff.
Now Thalia knew how Annabeth had felt when she made a heroic sacrifice.
Thank goodness she had been brought back.
Still, they decided to continue the mission.
Thalia was rewarded handsomely for it, and so was Percy.
Hopefully she would stand a better chance against the manticore if he showed up again.
She would make sure to use her shield to protect herself from his thorns.
It had a drawing of Medusa on it. So it was good at intimidating her foes.
Chiron was grateful, but noticed Annabeth was missing.
"Where is Annabeth?" asked Chiron.
"She...fell off a cliff." noted Percy.
They weren't sure whether she was still alive or not.
Chiron sighed.
"Tragedies happen." noted the centaur.
"Yeah...like mine." answered Thalia, looking at the tree that was protecting the camp.
Grover showed the three around the camp.
"This is the Athena cabin." spoke Grover.
There was a picture of an owl on the front of the door.
The cabins sure had a way of distinguishing themselves.
"I know what to do with it then." answered Dani.
She transformed into a spider and went inside.
Athena campers ran out afterwards, most of which were screaming.
"Really, Dani? You're not making good impressions." noted Grover.
"But it was so funny!" exclaimed Dani.
"Please don't tell me you're going to transform into a rabbit next." requested the satyr.
"You're...afraid of rabbits?" asked the teenage girl.
She let out a laugh.
But she stopped laughing soon enough.
"Well, they do have sharp teeth. I'll give you that one." spoke Dani.
"We have a deal?" asked Grover.
"OK, I won't turn into a rabbit in front of you. You are my tour guide, after all." noted the teenage girl.
It was good to know that Dani could be reasoned with. Though she was certainly mischievous.
After the tour, she decided to talk to Percy.
"I wonder who's my godly parent." questioned Dani.
"It's a mystery for everyone." answered Percy.
Hopefully she would find out soon enough.
"I noticed that she had the ability to shapeshift into animals." noted Thalia.
"Hmm...I seem to recall Hera having the ability to communicate with animals and transform into them...but why would she cheat on her husband?" asked Grover.
There was also Artemis, but she was a virgin goddess.
"I think I know why. Zeus has cheated on Hera many, many times...even after he took that oath not to have any more children." spoke Chiron. He should consider himself lucky he wasn't married to him.
That would make sense.
It seems that Hera had decided to cheat on Zeus in return.
"Isn't she usually...faithful?" questioned Dani. She was surprised to learn Hera was her mother.
"Perhaps she was hoping for a mortal hero to do her bidding." suggested Thalia. The other demigods all seemed to have one.
She also heard that Hera envied the other gods for their demigod children. Though to her knowledge, her husband hadn't had any more children past World War II aside from her. Perhaps she decided to be unfaithful...just this once.
"I hope I'm not going to be shocked by lightning." noted Dani.
She knew that Hera decided to have Zeus's children and wives taste her wrath throughout history.
Though she had stopped doing that recently, just as Poseidon had become a much more peaceful god over the years. Perhaps she had realized that the wives themselves weren't to blame, seeing as Zeus had a habit of forcing himself on them.
Thalia decided to speak with her father.
"Hey, dad! Could you not kill Dani? Please?" asked Thalia.
"Everything has been forgiven." spoke Zeus. Perhaps he should be a more faithful husband. Though in his defense, a lot of his children did grow up to be heroes. Hercules, for example. Though he had met a very tragic end.
"I hope Zeus isn't going to make me kill my father. I heard my mom once tricked Hercules into killing his own wife and children. Totally wicked." remarked Dani.
"Don't worry, I think you're safe." answered Thalia.
She decided to tell Chiron this information.
He too was surprised to learn that Dani was the daughter of Hera.
"It looks like we'll finally have a use for the Hera cabin." noted Chiron.
Dani had the cabin all to herself.
Fortunately, they had spare furniture that they could use.
She decided to relax in her new bed.
Nearby, Percy decided to rest in his bed as well.
It had been a long day.
As it turned out, Dr. Thorn's boss was not happy with him.
That boss turned out to be none other than the titan general.
"We sent you to retrieve the children of the elder gods, yet all you gave us was the daughter of Athena!" exclaimed Atlas.
That was pathetic in my book. Though the children of Athena weren't exactly slouches in combat.
"The hunters of Artemis came after me! The circumstances were overwhelming!" bellowed Dr. Thorn.
"Silence! Get out of my sight!" bellowed Atlas.
Percy had to admit, part of him felt bad for Dr. Thorn.
He had a terrible employer.
But at the same time, he couldn't help but feel worried about Annabeth.
As it turned out, she was also in his dream.
"Where am I?" asked Annabeth.
Surely Dr. Thorn had to have taken her here for a reason.
She then noticed Luke, who was holding up the sky.
"Annabeth! Help me!" exclaimed Luke.
He had the protection of Achilles shielding him from the sky's weight...but he wasn't going to tell Annabeth that.
"Luke?" asked Annabeth.
"Help me! It's crushing me!" bellowed Luke.
"Oh no..." thought Annabeth.
She decided to take the sky from Luke...
...which turned out to be a mistake.
"Thank you, Annabeth. Now for the next stage of our plan." spoke Luke.
"What? Don't leave me like this!" exclaimed Annabeth.
He could at least show a little gratitude.
If she kept this up, she was going to be flattened like a pancake.
"Trust me, I won't. Your replacement will be here shortly." noted the traitorous half-blood.
"I hope." answered Annabeth. She would rather have her head dunked in the toilet and swirlied by Clarisse rather than being forced to endure the weight of the sky for the rest of her life...which wouldn't be long if Luke wasn't telling the truth.
Percy woke up shortly afterwards.
"Annabeth is in danger...how am I going to rescue her?" thought Percy.
He didn't want to lose Annabeth. He would miss her calling him "Seaweed Brain." Even if their parents didn't get along.
When there was a will, there was a way.
But he had to find that way.
He then had an idea.
Since he had the power to accept quests, maybe he could make one to rescue Annabeth.
Perhaps it would come with a pointer that would tell him the way to her.
But for now he needed to rest.
He couldn't fight Kronos' army without sleep.
Though he did have to admit, it was hard to sleep knowing that Annabeth was in danger of being crushed like a bug.
Even if Luke was planning to provide her with a replacement.
Hopefully he could rescue her soon.
Oh no! It looks like Annabeth is in danger!
Is she going to end up as flat as hotcakes?
We can certainly hope not.