A/N: Last chapter felt a bit rushed, so I went back and looked at it. I ended up instead polishing all four of the chapters before this one to bring them up to what I wanted them to be. I didn't add any extra plot lines or anything, but just fixed some verbiage and added a few paragraphs to flesh out some characters more. No need to reread or anything, just thought I'd let it be known. Anyways, hope you enjoy this chapter and please review!
Chapter 5: The Blood of Olympus
"Hylla!" Reyna hissed, "Let him sleep!"
The Queen of the Amazons rolled her eyes at Nico's unconscious form. The son of Hades lay strewn across rice bags in the corner of a dimly lit storage room. Hylla twirled her dagger restlessly in her hand.
"It has been two days; the Athena Parthenos cannot stay hidden here forever. Get him up."
Since escaping from the Argo II together, Reyna had quickly grown protective of her traveling companion. She'd lent him strength, one of her powers as the daughter of Bellona, and received a glimpse of the suffering he'd gone through. That insight of his burden had only made her respect his courage more. Her respect manifested into an agitated defense against her sister.
"We have been running from Orion for the better part of a week! It is only because of how hard Nico has been exerting himself that Gaea doesn't have her hands on that statue. He's shadow-traveled across most of mainland Europe to keep us away from the giant, and this jump sent us over the Atlantic in one shot! Only two days of rest is a joke; it's a miracle that he's even breathing."
Reyna looked over somberly at the demigod's limp body. Nico's form shifted between solid and translucent, apparently a bodily side effect of being pushed to the brink, and the Roman Praetor wanted to make sure he could get as much rest as possible. She'd argued with her sister enough when they were younger, and Reyna wasn't interested in doing it any longer. Hylla seemed inclined to agree.
"Agh, anyways," the Queen of the Amazons rescinded, "It has been so long since we left San Juan, and here we meet again. Have you thought about visiting our old house? It is only five minutes from here."
"No," Reyna answered curtly, her tone enough to ensure the line of conversation was over.
The Roman Praetor couldn't believe their jump across the ocean had landed them in the one place she never wanted to return to. Puerto Rico had stopped feeling safe a long time ago for Reyna; the memories of her father had ensured that. Still, the guilt of her past couldn't gnaw at her for long before Hylla asked her a question she didn't know the answer to.
"Alright, I have been meaning to ask you. How did you yourself appear in my dream?"
"What are you talking about?"
Hylla stared at Reyna intently, waiting for her sister to give in and admit to pulling her leg for whatever reason. When she only returned her gaze with a glare, the Queen of the Amazons was taken aback.
"The night before you arrived?" Hylla prodded, "I was in Brazil with the rest of my Amazons here when I had a dream. It was incredibly vivid. I know that is true of most demigods' dreams, but this one felt different. You and I were on–"
"Coronado Beach," Reyna breathed, "in California where the Blackbeard Pirates left us."
"So you were toying with me," Hylla smiled.
Reyna shook her head.
"No, because that was my dream. That was the night Lyacon attacked Nico and I in Portugal. I was lucky to dream of fonder memories to remind myself of–"
"Home?" Hylla finished for her.
Before Reyna could ask how she knew, the Queen of the Amazons continued with a thoughtful expression.
"That dream is what brought me here. It is no coincidence that we are less than a mile run from where we grew up. In my dream, where we must somehow have both truly been there, we did not speak about San Juan or your troubles with the giant,"
"No, we talked about our time on Circe's Island, mine in New Rome, and yours with the Amazons," Reyna reminisced.
"Yes," Hylla said, "but I could feel your terror. The vivid nature of the dream was not how real you or the beach seemed, that is common in demigod dreams. It was how you felt. It gripped me that my sister was in grave danger, and I was overcome with a nostalgic longing for home that I thought was your signal. Waking up overwhelmed, I all but dragged my Amazons to San Juan looking for you. I had believed it was you deliberately sending me a message."
The Roman Praetor lunged forward to hug her sister tightly, who tensed for a moment before she leaned into it. She couldn't see Reyna shed a few tears onto her armor. Reyna realized that in sharing her strength for their jump from Portugal, she must have pulled in her haunted home's direction. It had united her and her sister there once again, and maybe it didn't have to be a place that warded Reyna off like an evil spirit.
But she was quickly reminded that that was a redemption she could only worry about after the war; the cement ceiling shook. The sisters pulled apart as dust spilled onto them and Nico. Both pairs of eyes went up before back to each other.
"This is a quiet town of only mortals now. I do not believe that lurch was anything human," Hylla warned forebodingly, eyeing Nico again.
Before Reyna could protest, the sound of rapid footsteps descending stairs grew louder. Thalia shouldered into the storage room, her face locked in the grim expression it'd been in since Reyna and Nico had arrived.
"That giant is here. Even combined, the Hunters and Amazons won't be able to hold him back for long," Thalia said, her voice hard as she knelt next to Nico.
The Hunters of Artemis had been the only coincidental variable in San Juan. Hylla had called them on a whim, hoping they were in the area, because she'd worried the small batch of Amazons would not have been enough for whatever had her sister terrified. She'd been right, and Thalia had arrived in Puerto Rico soon after them.
"I'm sorry, Nico," Thalia whispered before she jolted him with a thin spark.
The son of Hades keeled awake with a hiss through lightly chattered teeth, but Thalia kept him steady. His vision came into focus as he sat up, and seeing Thalia broke the silent, vengeful demeanor he'd held for the nearly full week they'd been running. His eyes welled with tears as he choked on his words.
"Per-Percy a-and Ann-nn-Annab–"
Thalia buried the son of Hades' sobbing head into the crook of her neck. She shut her own eyes, shushing him as he shook. Nico held her tightly.
"I know, Nico. Reyna told me what happened when I got here. I can't imagine being lied to by your crew like that. You two have gone through so much to get the statue away. And it being because of my brother…" Thalia's soothing words became a harsh spit at the last word.
The daughter of Zeus straightened up, glancing back at the sisters behind her.
"It doesn't look good up there. We have to go now," she said before she turned back to Nico, "I know you're tired but–"
"No, I'm good," Nico said roughly.
The son of Hades stood up shakily, but he steeled himself. He wouldn't sit around as people died because he was too tired or upset to do the job he'd chosen. Wiping his eyes quickly, he nodded at Reyna. She smirked back, throwing his arm around her shoulder for support. The group of four left the storage room behind as they barreled up the stairs towards the amplifying sounds of battle.
Exiting the compound, the building barely a shed aboveground, they stepped into a ravaged battlefield several streets long. Blazing overturned cars and felled lampposts littered the roads alongside bodies of Amazons and Hunters, some breathing and some not. Both Hylla and Thalia bound forward, kneeling next to the closest of each of their fallen sisters.
"Freja!"
The Queen of the Amazons cradled the warrior's head as she leaned her against the sidewalk. The girl's breathing was shallow, a black arrow protruding from her sternum. She grunted sharply before she spoke.
"My queen, the giant is two streets down and headed towards the statue. You must let me go and stop him."
As Hylla looked in the direction her limp hand pointed, Thalia did the same while closing her huntress' eyes. Another crash of shattering windows rang out from where Orion presumably was, and the group thundered across the road. They only had to cut through two alleyways before confronting the center of the raging battle.
A dozen hunters and a handful of Amazons clashed with the ten-foot giant. Orion's body was a pincushion of arrows, but the son of Gaea showed no sign of slowing down. His mechanical red eyes spun and clicked as they read the movements of the warrior women surging around him. The Amazons fought close quarters, slashing spears and swords against the giant's compound bow. Orion swung his ranged weapon in a wide arc, catching one of the Amazons in the chest and sending her careening, before he somersaulted backwards.
Mid-jump, the giant nocked an arrow and pierced one of the hunters sniping at him from a rooftop. The archer, dead on impact, dropped from her perch onto the hood of a car. Thalia shouted and a lightning bolt ripped down onto the monster's head, flattening him against the road and forcing the closest Amazons to shield their eyes.
Side by side, Thalia and Hylla rushed the giant while wielding a spear and dagger respectively. Orion stumbled up, shaking off the sparks dancing across his body, and raised his bow to block a jab from Thalia's spear. Hunters' arrows continued to pour in against the hulking humanoid, and he could only avoid so many. Hylla's inhuman strength allowed her to tear devastating chunks out of Orion, who groaned and grunted with every dagger slash.
Orion kicked low, a failing attempt to sweep the pair's feet out, and dove backwards to create some distance between them. Ichor gushed from the immortal monster's body, but the allied warriors knew they couldn't kill him without help from a god. Orion knew as well, and it emboldened his attack. Thalia unfurled her Aegis from her wrist, circling the giant with Hylla while the injured Amazons backed out of reach. Orion bared his teeth, still backpedaling, before the expression shifted to a grin. He leapt forward, high above the duelists before him, and landed on a rooftop. A trio of unfortunate hunters had no opportunity to dive away before he felled them one after another.
"Go help them. I'll be fine," Nico urged, trying to shoulder Reyna away.
The pair had only been able to watch because the praetor was supporting the son of Hades to remain upright. Reyna grimaced as she lowered Nico against a wall. But before she could release him, Thalia was already behind her.
"Get up. Keeping this going will only get more people killed."
The daughter of Zeus got underneath Nico's other shoulder and single-arm lifted him back against Reyna. The trio turned to find Hylla already vaulted to the rooftop and locked in an intense duel with the giant. The pair fought bare fisted, Orion's bow broken and Hylla's dagger stories out of reach. As the giant lunged for her with a massive hand, the Amazonian Queen locked her own arms around his elbow and twisted him into the ground. She mounted his back as she attempted to force him into a headlock.
"Hylla said she'd hold him off while I get you two away. How she's strong enough to do that, I have no idea," Thalia admired before her eyes shifted back to steel.
"It's her belt," Reyna explained as they sprinted through the next alleyway, "Every queen of the amazons wears Hippolyta's Belt, a godly creation that grants its user impossible strength."
Thalia nodded, her gaze locking on an apartment building.
"Right around here," she affirmed, leading them around the set of condos.
Squirreled into the corner between it and another building was a massive tarp in a cylindrical shape. With one rough pull, Thalia ripped the covering off to reveal the Athena Parthenos in its dull-glown glory. The statue's cloak that Thalia had pulled off shrank itself down the moment she let it fall. In just seconds, it became a handkerchief that Thalia slipped into her pocket.
"It also blocked a lot of the statue's magical aura," Thalia said, taking note of the pair's abject awe, "But now, Orion won't have any trouble knowing exactly where it is."
On queue, the giant shouted before a massive thud marked him landing atop the apartment building. Thalia's eyes snapped up towards Orion before she quickly turned back to the pair.
"You two need to leave right now. Get the statue back to camp, and make sure everyone, everyone, learns exactly what happened to Percy and Annabeth. Good luck; there's going to be more after we win this war."
Thalia steeled her nerves, her simple mention of her friends forcing adrenaline through her body. Nico nodded as Reyna's hand began to glow.
"Don't die," Nico said as Thalia ran up the vertical face.
The daughter of Zeus scaled the building in an instant, bow ready, while Reyna pressed her palm against the side of Nico's chest. He closed his eyes and shivered, relishing the strength that flooded through his failing body. After strapping into the statue's harness and grabbing onto Reyna's shoulder, the last thing he saw was another bolt of lightning lash down from the heavens while the duo and statue disappeared into shadow.
(Line Break)
Piper lolled awake in the choking gloom of the cavern. She coughed the dust out of her face as her eyes adjusted to her barely visible surroundings. Realizing her hands were tied to a pole behind her, she stopped struggling and instead focused on gathering any information she could work with.
She unfortunately couldn't make out anything beyond five feet away, but that was enough of a radius to find the last face she wanted to see next to her. Jason, shifting himself upright against the same pole she was bound to, whispered in her direction.
"Oh good, you're awake. Are you alright?"
She rolled her eyes as she averted her gaze from the son of Jupiter, who was still fruitlessly pulling at his restraints.
"I'm fine. How long have we been here?"
"Not sure, I only came to a few minutes ago."
Their hushed conversation grew louder as Piper voiced her irritation towards him.
"Well, since you've been awake, have you thought of a way out of the mess you created?"
While Jason seethed, Piper thought her attitude was justified. The daughter of Aphrodite couldn't believe how badly they'd screwed up following the Argo II's convenient descent into Athens. Snakemen had boarded their ship, led by some king named Kekrops, and Piper had learned she could use her voice to control their species. Quickly, she'd sung and forced the king to admit that he was Gaea's servant assigned to lead them into a trap. Not willing to lose the element of surprise, she'd disembarked with a self-volunteered Jason to follow Kekrops to the Acropolis where their trap lay.
While the rest of their crew traveled to the Acropolis aboveground, setting explosive traps everywhere they found monsters, the emotionally complicated couple had descended into caves with the king. Everything had gone perfectly to plan as Piper ensured Kekrops was completely under her spell. But her singing had entranced Jason, who had been pining for the chance to reignite their estranged relationship. Naturally, the son of Jupiter had settled on a compliment.
And when his deeper voice had hit the snake king's ear, it'd broken the spell for a moment. That second was more than enough time for Kekrops to shout for guards, and two giants had descended onto the trio. Kekrops had hissed as he'd slithered away covering his ears, and Piper hadn't had time to process their capture before the pair had been overwhelmed by the overbearing Thoon and Periboia.
"I was only trying to tell you your voice is nice," Jason sulked, itching against his bonds.
"You chose to stand closer to Kekrops, and you didn't even lean away from him when you said it. You raised your voice to make sure I could hear it over my own, and you screwed it all up!" she spat accusingly.
Jason could only hang his head. He adjusted against the pole, shifting his weight as best he could when his thigh rang sharply against the metal. His eyes shot open.
"Piper!" he shout-whispered.
"What?" she hissed in reply.
"My aureus. It's still in my right pocket. If you turn towards me, I think we can get it out."
Piper felt a glimmer of hope at the chance that they'd be able to accomplish their portion of the plan. Frank, Hazel, and Leo were likely already set up and observing the Acropolis. They knew some sort of ceremony was going to be carried out, and the group's task had been to sabotage the onagers they'd scouted from the air. Piper figured they'd be done by now, but she couldn't know for sure since she didn't know for certain how long they'd been unconscious. But for the time being, she and Jason needed to get free.
The daughter of Aphrodite shifted as far to the left as she could against her binds, wriggling her fingers closer to Jason's jeans. He turned to the right to the same degree, straining himself as he bent his hip towards her. Sweat broke out on their foreheads from their exertion, only made more uncomfortable by the cavern's mucky atmosphere. Piper grunted as her hand bent at an unnatural angle, but it felt denim.
"Just a little more," Jason said, feeling a pull on his jeans.
Piper felt the hem, curled her fingers around it, and reached just a little further. Just as the demigod reached her limit, she felt the cold metal of his golden coin.
"Got it," she whispered, though it came out as a whimper, as her contortion gave out.
Finger barely wrapped around the Roman currency, she pried it free as she shot back to her original position. Jason leaned his head back against the pole as the pair of them breathed heavily. Piper grinned, her spark of hope growing brighter, as she twirled the coin in her hands still tied behind her.
"We're gonna get out of here, Pipes," Jason whispered, relieved.
His reassuring tone bit at Piper. Not because of hidden feelings she still had for him, there were none, but from his incessant behavior as if he hadn't conspired to kill their friends. Day in, day out, his pining for her as if he'd done something forgivable made her sick. But she had to put it to the side; they needed to get out of here together. The daughter of Aphrodite shrugged off her burden before she lightly flipped the coin.
With a quiet tink, the handle of a golden gladius appeared in her hands. She twisted it carefully, shimmying it against Jason's bonds, and the rope ripped. The son of Jupiter shoved himself upright and slashed through Piper's. As she stood up, that excited feeling built; they were going to make it out.
"Alright, this way," Jason guessed, holding up his gladius as their primary light source.
They plunged in the direction he'd decided on before the sound of heavy metal cleaving through earth froze them. Piper dared to turn towards it, and she made out the dull glow of a massive bronze mace.
"Forgetting something?" a shrill feminine voice asked.
Piper heard something get tossed, and Katoptris landed at her feet. She scooped her blade, readying it fearfully. She hadn't even considered that they could have been being watched the entire time. With a snap of hidden fingers, torches lit around the circumference of the cavern and revealed their captor.
Periboia, the bane of Aphrodite, lounged next to her mace with her disgusting grin plastered across her equally grotesque face. Jason's hands crackled as he primed to charge towards her. Lazily, she only pointed upwards.
"Are you lovebirds ready for the show?"
Before either of them could question or attack her, a hulking form took shape immediately ahead of them. Jason and Piper stumbled back, leering from the earth rippling underneath their feet as a towering creature erupted from it. The earthen mound rose forty feet before it coalesced to reveal the giant king.
As the ground settled, Porphyrion tilted his head down at the pair with a disgruntled expression. He turned to Periboia.
"This is not the pair of demigods Mother is looking for. She wanted the son of Poseidon and daughter of Athena."
Piper's gaze met the floor. Jason stiffened. But Periboia rolled her eyes.
"Blood is blood, Porphyrion. These were the ones that Kekrops brought. It must mean your preferred pair are dead or were not present. Mother will not split hairs as long as she is risen."
The King of the Giants thought for a moment before he grunted, accepting her contention. He loomed over the pair knowing they were powerless to attack him. With one scooping motion, he palmed them into a tight fist. Piper flicked her blade, burying it in the giant's hand, but he did little more than wince. Jason slashed his sword and met the same result.
"Blood is blood," he affirmed, "You will have to do."
Porphyrion speared the cavern ceiling, ripping a gaping hole and bathing them in sunlight. Piper's eyes widened and Jason's mouth dropped as they realized they were in the center of the Parthenon atop the Acropolis. The giant king climbed out of the hole, and the demigods' fears only grew as a dozen giants came into full view. All twelve of them jeered at their terrified faces, celebrating the imminent waking of their Earth Mother. Piper's eyes darted around wildly as the realization set in that the ceremony they'd been trying to stop would now involve her and Jason's blood.
Jason's panic rose at a rate higher than hers. The son of Jupiter flailed wildly in Porphyrion's grip, shouting for the giant to let him go. The fist grew tighter, and it was only through stars in her vision that Piper noticed the Argo II high above the Parthenon walls. Thankfully, she realized all of the giants were oblivious to the speck that was a floating demigod warship. She watched as a spark went off from the side of it, but she could hear nothing from the vast distance. Seconds later, the deafening boom reached everyone's ears, and Piper realized the spark was a greek fire projectile headed right at them.
(Line Break)
The red haze of Tartarus' realm parted for the armored monster stepping through it. Though fully human, "monster" seemed a more apt description for his appearance. Head to toe, his body was concealed in black armor shaped of metal unknown to the mortal world. Its intricate engravings and raised relief patterns gave the gothic armor an even more striking appearance. His face covering was of wolfish design, also black, with slits as its eyes. But even the eyepieces glowed blood-red, ensuring that no one could ever see into the suit and find the darkened green irises of Percy Jackson.
The demigod stalked forward silently with the rigid posture of a deadly soldier. He split through the haze and entered a palace that sat atop the highest position of Tartarus. From Percy's understanding, the palace sat at the center of Tartarus' head if the massive expanse of the realm truly was the primordial's body laid out. He entered the throne room to find the primordial himself, in his uncomfortably human form, holding a sickening smirk as he sat in his seat. Percy knelt before it.
"Good, you have finally learned," Tartarus mused, gesturing for the demigod to rise.
"I am pleased with your design," he continued as his crazed eyes traced the armor Percy had forged.
Tartarus continued his monologue with no special fervor, praising the demigod's torturous "training" over the past days. Of course, he made sure not to skip over Dionysus' fate. Percy grimaced underneath his mask, angered every time the primordial referenced it. The wine god was dead. A god. Dead. Percy had learned that the weapon bestowed upon him forcibly faded deities. And it did so by painfully shredding their souls; Kronos' scythe was a paltry excuse of a replica.
The demigod felt no guilt for killing the wine god. After all, that was what his intent had been, regardless of whether or not he'd realized it was possible. Still, Percy hated how often Tartarus spoke on it. It was incessant, almost amusing to the primordial that a lo-and-powerful Olympian could be so brutally slain by a demigod.
But Percy remained silent. He was always silent. Tartarus spoke and mused and uttered and spat, but the demigod no longer returned a word. The primordial would try to rile him up sometimes, but Percy never gave him the relish of letting him break. It was only when the monster, Tartarus not Percy, said Annabeth's name that he'd stare daggers of hatred. But still, he never spoke, and the primordial grew bored of his little game. Still speaking, Tartarus finally said something that brought Percy back into focus.
"Your friends are in the clutches of my sister, who is on the cusp of victory."
The demigod looked up.
"And I need Gaea to lose this war if I am to begin mine."
The grating voice sounded equally entertained as agitated, and its next words explained to Percy why.
"Therefore, you are first going to save your friends, particularly that son of Jupiter, before you may exact vengeance."
On instinct, Percy reached behind him and unsheathed his blade. It was Riptide, but blackened with those same pulsating orange cracks in the glaive he'd been given. He'd fused the two, allowing the weapon to shift between the options at will like some of the other special crafts he'd seen before. But now, he held it in its sword form, his armored fingers melded tightly against the hilt. Tartarus eyed him gleefully, and Percy realized his anger was exactly what the primordial was goading.
Unwillingly, he sheathed his blade at his back and nodded. Tartarus rolled his eyes but he beckoned Percy forward. The demigod obeyed, walking up to his throne. When the primordial looked at him expectantly, malevolent energy pouring off of him, Percy knelt again as he gritted his teeth underneath his mask. Tartarus put his hand on the demigod's shoulder.
"I assert my primordial blessing over my champion," he started forcefully, and Percy realized that not even Tartarus was exempt from the formality of such things, "May the Glaive of Tartarus serve me for eternity."
Percy lurched backwards, his head spinning as energy flooded his mind. He gripped his helmet as raw adrenaline coursed through his veins. His heart beat faster and faster, throbbing in his chest, as his body shook violently. And suddenly he stood still. He exhaled softly as the excruciating pain retreated from his body, replaced by a burgeoning surge of power. On their own, every muscle in his form flexed, tensing as immeasurable strength seeped into every crevice of them.
The feeling was exhilarating. Percy closed his eyes as he unlocked potential unheard of for any demigod. The surge ran laps around the overwhelming power he felt flow through him atop Poseidon's throne. And that thought of the Olympian left him with one, final realization. He knew for certain that it was possible. With this power, he could become exactly what he needed to be in order to do what he had to. Every shred of doubt in his mind vanished. He'd eliminate everyone responsible for Annabeth's death and somehow, in some way, Tartarus would not be exempt from that list.
A/N: My inspiration for Percy's armor is Guts from Berserk. Haven't read or watched it, just think it looks super dope and I just know some things about it. Hope you guys are liking the setup so far, we're going to see the "canon" story play out next chapter and then the real insane stuff begins.
levisorus: nice one man, it's a good chapter. i'm enjoying the switch up with the rest of the seven, reyna and nico as well as getting some annabeth action. it's almost curious to see how annabeth and percy will turn out. i know it's probably pretty far off but are annabeth and percy going to keep their identities a secret and be put against each other? are they going to fight head to head? not to mention nico and reyna got away, they're probably most definitely going to tell camp. i feel like camp will side with reyna and nico because of the fact that the seven and the gods killed percy and annabeth but hey, who knows. see you next friday dude, take care.
As always, love to see you review. I don't want to spoil anything at all, but both of them have been assigned by their primordials to show up at the battle. I wonder how that's going to play out. As for Nico and Reyna, I really hope nothing bad happens to them on this next jump. The Romans are about to go to war with Camp Half-Blood, and no chance Orion loses in San Juan. Won't be getting any more specific, but I hope you enjoyed this chapter too haha.
Anonymously96:Why did Piper/Hazel try to stop Frank? Charmspeak would've been very effective here. And Jason is getting power crazed I'm guessing? I think while Annabeth will help with Gaea, probably, so will Percy because he won't let the entire humanity be wiped out, Annabeth will turn on the Olympians after that.
Your review is part of why I went back and reread chapter 4. I wanted to make some implications about how torn all of them felt about their friends and their decisions. Piper's charmspeak was neglected by my and that was my fault. I added a dedicated paragraph that specifically ties into that to make it flow more naturally, so thank you! As for the rest, I won't reveal too much else. Hope you continue to read and review :)
Guest: Nicely done with revealing the turmoil between the crew and exposing the truth to the others. You nailed the emotional highs and lows.
Thank you so much. I hope I can keep up the quality as more players get involved and the truth (hopefully) comes out to the people that need to heart it.
Tjhunt99612: Good chapter. Can't wait for more of annabeths POV.
I can't wait either!