Chapter 32 - The Golden Sword
Part of Percy wanted to say forget the world, forget Gaea. Forget everything that had happened, and race after his omega to take him and disappear forever, plant his head underground and pretend the world wasn't falling down around them.
Why do you continue on in this madness?
Honestly, Percy didn't know. It seemed like the gods and Fate played with his life, trying to figure out the best way to hurt him or break him down into little pieces. He felt like screaming at the sky, at Zeus, felting like stomping his feet into the deck of the Argo II and demanding what he wanted from him.
As if that weren't enough, as he stared out at the sea around them after explaining his dream about the giant twins that he'd had to Annabeth, he could feel the dark depths stirring beneath them. The vibes from the bottom waters sent shivers down his spine – eerily reminiscent of the ancient, cold and heavy feeling that he often felt when around Kronos. This sea was ancient, and just like the Titan Percy guessed that it would be slow to stir, but furious once woken.
Even so, Percy couldn't believe that he missed the other ship until it collided with their hull.
He reached out to grab hold of Annabeth as he braced himself against the railings, stopping her from toppling overboard.
Percy took a brief moment to scan the enemy over as they were boarded, rather surprised to see they were dolphin men, before uncapping Riptide as him and Annabeth were surrounded by a dozen chattering men.
The alpha's eyes narrowed at them. "What are you?"
The men chattered nonsense back at Percy, until they parted and allowed someone else into the ring. Their standard ancient Greek armour was golden from gorgon face-mask to sandals. In their hand they held a golden sword, a spear crossed over their back.
"Hello, brother," gorgon-face greeted, disarming Percy too quickly for him to follow.
Percy stared in disbelief after Riptide as the blade sank beneath the waves. "Brother?" He demanded, gritting his teeth slightly. From Polyphemus to Antaeus and even Triton, Percy didn't have much luck with his half-brothers.
The golden boy cocked his head to the side. "Chrysaor," he said by ways of an introduction. "And you must be Perseus Jackson."
"Percy," Percy corrected. His eyes narrowed. "What do you want?" He demanded.
His half-brother sighed. "Usually, I'd say everything. Unfortunately, I've been paid a decent sum to deliver you and another to my patron."
"Gaea," Percy guessed flatly.
Annabeth's eyes furrowed. "How did you know where we are?"
"A little bird told me," Chrysoar said, his tone heavy with amusement as if he'd just said a brilliant joke. "Fortunately, Mother Earth has said I can keep anything she doesn't need." A few dolphin warriors dragged several of the other demigods up from below decks. "I'm sure your friends will sell for a nice price. I've heard Krios is looking to get his hands on our poor cousin over there," he nodded his head to Jason, who was unconscious and bound with bronze rope, new bruises blooming over his face. Chrysaor watched them closely.
Percy's jaw tightened. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," Percy warned. "Someone I know gets very angry."
Chrysaor laughed in his face. "Who, Kronos?" He chuckled. "Oh, I'm sure. Maybe once Gaea is done with you she'll let Kronos have you back. Or maybe he would rather she just kills you and is done with it. Or," Chrysaor mused, "she'll let me have her wayward son. I'm sure I could put him to good use."
The demigod's anger rose, swelling and building like a volcano ready to erupt. Coach Hedge was dragged onto the deck, lashing out with his hooves and throwing insults. As Chrysaor was preoccupied with the satyr, Percy felt Riptide return to his pocket.
Percy didn't hesitate in uncapping the sword, lashing out at his half-brother in an instant.
Chrysaor was too intent on watching his crew of dolphin men truss up the satyr to react in time. Riptide slashed through the air, aimed straight at his half-brother's neck, and Percy allowed himself a moment of triumph, at least until the blade bounced off the wooden shaft of the spear on Chrysaor's back.
Percy yelped, vibrations running up Riptide and into his shoulder even as Chrysaor struck out at him, cutting him from shoulder to hipbone. Percy cried out and dropped Riptide as he dropped to his knees, the other son of Poseidon kicking the blade aside.
"Percy!" Annabeth exclaimed. She tried to move towards him, but the dolphin warriors chattered and cut her off.
Chrysaor chuckled at Percy, taking the spear off his back. "You like it?" He asked, turning the shaft in his hands. "I'm not usually a spear person, but I couldn't help myself with this beautiful little weapon." The pain crackling up and down Percy's front made it difficult to concentrate, but he knew that Chrysaor had purposefully only slightly cut him. With reactions like those, his half-brother could have cut him in half if he'd wanted. "Had to re-kill Achilles for it, of course. But I think it was more than worth it."
"Achilles?" Annabeth demanded.
The gorgon mask cocked to the side. "Of course. When I heard that the Trojan War had kicked off again I couldn't not take a look at what was happening over there. And, well, a few thousand years of being dead tends to leave one rather confused. Achilles was ridiculously easy to kill again."
Percy stared up at the spear of Achilles in Chrysoar's hands. It looked like any normal spear, aside from the faint glow to the wood of the shaft. Gingerly, Percy reached down at his chest where blood was staining his shirt. He blinked. So maybe Chrysaor had done a little more damage to him than Percy had first thought.
Still, he remembered something he'd been threatened once by Mr. D – something about dolphins.
An idea slowly started forming in the back of his mind.
"Your dolphins," Percy said, "how did that happen?"
Chrysaor sighed from behind his mask. "They had an unfortunate encounter with someone back in the days. Only these men weren't completely turned into dolphins." He turned to watch as the dolphins started loading supplies onto their own ship. "Make sure that's the last of them," he said.
Percy's lips twitched. "Let me guess," he said, "Dionysus?" The dolphin men chattered in clear worry. "That's a shame. He'll probably come back to finish the job then."
If anything got their attention it was that.
But Percy had to be quick. Chrysaor was patiently waiting for his men to move everything, but Percy wasn't sure how long he'd stay awake for with the gash down his chest.
"He's our Captain," Percy proclaimed. "He won't like our journey being delayed." He smiled as he saw Frank sneaking around behind the dolphin warriors. "If you're all lucky," Percy said. "You might all get away without being turned into an insane dolphin."
Fortunately, Annabeth caught on. "Absolutely," she agreed, and Percy allowed himself to relax now that she was taking over and his vision was turning blurry. Even after mating with Kronos and disappointing her, he knew she'd always have his back.
It seemed like it was only a few minutes later that Percy was waking up in the infirmary again.
He groaned, raising his head and spotting Annabeth sitting next to him. "Hey," he greeted.
She frowned at him. "That was smart," she said.
"I can be smart sometimes," Percy defended. He looked hopefully around the room. "Has Kronos –"
"No."
Percy sighed. "Great."
"We sacrificed Chrysoar's ship to Dionysus," Annabeth supplied.
"Right," Percy muttered. He groaned as he sat up, running a hand through his hair. "This all sucks right now."
Annabeth shrugged. "I've never thought that mating with Kronos was a good idea."
"Not that," Percy snapped. "Everything. I just… I can see why Luke was so willing to help the Titans." He grimaced and stood up. Someone must have dropped him overboard into the sea, because his cut had all healed.
"Uh, hey," Jason said, poking his head into the infirmary. "Good to see you up, bro. You two should see this – we're descending over Rome."
Up on the top deck, all of the others were staring down at the city in amazement. Percy could make out the Colosseum, the old Roman Forum and many other points in the area as Rome sprawled out into the distance.
"Wow," he breathed.
"It's incredible," Annabeth agreed.
"Annabeth," Percy said, "do you know where you need to go?"
Annabeth swallowed. "Yes," she said.
Percy frowned as he spotted a familiar face strolling towards the Argo II from across the park. "Hold that thought," he said.
Annabeth's eyes furrowed. "Is that… Luke?" She asked in bewilderment. Beneath them, Luke's scarred face broke out into a crooked grin. He raised a hand and waved to them, making a gesture that Percy guessed was supposed to be a request to be let up.
Leo hesitated. "Should I?"
"Yeah," Percy said. "Let's see how he got here."
Leo set down the gangplank, letting the son of Hermes join them. Luke let out a short breath when he was standing on the deck. "Hey," he greeted, "I'm glad I caught you guys. Thought I'd missed you." He flashed a smile at Annabeth. "Hey," he said, a greeting which was obviously just for her.
Percy raised an eyebrow. "How did you get here?"
Luke shrugged. "Oh, I've been in the area for a few weeks now. Been getting worried when you guys didn't show."
"Yeah. But how?"
Luke grinned. "Kronos. He gave me a lift over." He turned to Annabeth. "I know about the Mark of Athena," he said. He hesitated briefly. "I… didn't want to let you go off alone," he explained to her. "You don't mind me tagging along, right?"
Annabeth immediately shook her head. "No. Of course not. That… that would be nice."
Luke's grin widened. "That's good. Very good." He glanced at the other demigods. "You guys don't mind either?"
They shook their heads. "No," Jason said, "that's a good idea."
"You can't follow me all the way," Annabeth warned.
"I know," Luke said, raising his hands in the universal gesture of surrender. "But I… wanted to make sure I saw you again. Before… well, no Athena kid has managed to make it before. I just hope you'll be the first one."
Percy pressed his lips together. Annabeth was a great friend, and maybe could have been more had he not mated with Kronos. He'd miss her if he never saw her again.
"You said Kronos dropped you here?"
"A few weeks back," Luke confirmed. "But I haven't seen him since." He fixed his cerulean eyes on Percy. For a brief moment, Percy saw a flicker that he couldn't quite make out in those blue eyes, but then it was gone. "But he did tell me to make sure you went to the old Roman Forum."
Percy's eyes furrowed. "What?"
Luke shrugged. "The old Temple to Saturn. He just said to tell you to go there. Didn't say why."
The son of Poseidon hesitated. "What about Nico?"
"We still need to find him," Jason pointed out. "Hazel, do you think you could pinpoint his location?"
"I'd have to walk around, but yes. Frank, Leo, I'll need your help," Hazel said.
"So that's it," Piper said. "Jason and I can watch the ship and Luke goes with Annabeth. Hazel, Frank and Leo, and Percy –"
"Is him going alone a good idea?" Annabeth asked worriedly.
"I wouldn't worry about it," Luke said. "There aren't any monsters around right now. It's been weeks for me and I haven't seen any."
Percy frowned. "Shouldn't there be loads here? Rome and all."
Luke shrugged. "Probably."
"So we meet back here at… three?" Jason asked.
"That'll work," Percy agreed.
"Sounds good," Leo said. "You'd better not let my ship get damaged."
"Don't worry, Leo," Piper assured him. "We'll be fine."
Percy watched as Luke and Annabeth were the first off the ship, going off wherever they needed to. Kronos wanted him to go to the Temple of Saturn, so obviously Percy would have to find it first. Faintly, he wondered just why the Titan Lord wanted him to go to an old Temple.
That, however, wasn't important. Whatever Kronos wanted him to go there for, it was weeks ago – according to Luke.
Weeks.
Percy wondered just how much Kronos had planned in advance, and then quickly decided that he didn't want to know. The omega could keep that secret.
"Be careful, Percy," Piper warned.
The son of Poseidon nodded, heading towards the gangplank after Hazel, Frank and Leo. "Yeah." He'd seen the Roman Forum when they'd landed, so at least knew the general direction he was heading. "Don't worry, I won't be long."
Lockdown isn't actually that bad so far. I'm quite enjoying it, though this is only day 2 so I guess it'll become old very quick. So, next chapter - Temple of Saturn, and the giants (I'm trying to fit more into the chapters but still release them faster now that I have the time), and then finally things will really start to shift away from canon.
Thatgremlinbitch: xD
ghostfall: Nope, not dead yet. Currently under lockdown though so... we'll see what happens. Happy birthday!
Moralis: Ha, I think Kronos would encourage him. But trust me, Kronos will definitely have an impact on Percy re that. Expect a darker Percy than in canon in future chapters.