My dudes, my guys my buds! All hail the new laptop gods!
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Undeath9087: Thalia is actually younger than Jason at this stage. She is twelve turning thirteen like, in a days time. Jason is thirteen and is roughly six months older than her. And I will say that Percy will be causing trouble on Olympus- after trying very hard not to. Heheheh.
Krypton Writes: Heh and you think these are WTF chapters.
Guest: Thalia doesn't know about Hera's involvement in the Jason situation.
Guest: Who says that Percy will actually get the chance to ask? Heheheh. You must wait and see what is to come.
Once the three girls got back to the Chase house they joined Zoe and Grover- who ironically enough seemed to actually almost enjoy discussing past wars and battles with Fredrick Chase, for a quick meal. Once they'd eaten Fredrick handed over the car keys, a worried frown on his lips as he'd tried to convince them to let him drive them.
Helen had intervened on their behalf, grabbing his hand and whispering something in his ear before turning to the group with a sad smile on her lips and the words 'Bring her home' as her parting request.
The two adults didn't see the group out to the car, they stayed in Fredrick's office, Helen stood behind her husband, arms draped over his shoulders, chin resting on the top of his head as she whispered soothingly to him and he fought back tears at his own helplessness.
Percy slipped into the drivers seat, taking a deep breath, turning her head slightly to focus on Zoe- in the passenger seat, and also so that she could see Thalia, Bianca and Grover, who were piled into the back of the car.
"Are we all ready?"
"I feel like ready probably isn't the right word." Bianca snorted, "But yeah, yeah I am."
"Let's go kick some Titan ass." Thalia's grin was dangerous, even if Percy could still see the shadow of grief in her eyes.
"I'd rather go to Maine-" Grover bleated, "But if we gotta go to save the others then that's what we gotta do,"
"It's time I faced my father." Zoe gave a firm nod. "And you Percy? What of thy magic-"
"That is a good question." Percy took a deep breath, focusing before whispering, "Maw-" and sure enough a small ball of water formed above her hand, and it vanished a moment later before Percy focused again and spoke- the car door shooting open on her command.
"Well all seems to be working." Thalia snorted, "Honestly that is kind of badass."
"I'll be able to reach into the Duat." Percy spoke firmly, "That's the really important thing. As for the rest of the magic-" She gave a little shrug, "I should be fit to fight. And I have my demigod abilities and the fact that even without powers I am a trained fighter."
"Yeah-" Thalia snorted, "You proved that by kicking my ass."
"You'll get used to it." Bianca bumped her shoulder against Thalia's. "Seriously. Percy's the one who's taken on training
me and I'm always bruised up after the training sessions-"
"It's the only way to really learn." Percy shrugged, "Running drills only helps so much. You want to learn to fight then a time comes when you actually have to fight."
"She is right there." Zoe nodded. "Thou cannot learn how to respond under pressure unless they are under pressure."
"Yeah well-" Grover snickered, "All I know is I don't wanna get on your bad side Percy. I remember the state of that beach-"
"Polyphemus shouldn't have pissed me off then." Percy let out a little huff. "He nearly crushed Piper. I had to make him suffer." As she spoke Percy turned the key, the car starting.
"Definitely glad you're on our side not the enemies." Thalia shook her head.
"What can I say, I don't want to help our gramps anymore than you did."
"Did you just call Kronos Gramps?"
"Yep."
"Oh gods." Thalia's lips twitched, though she was very clearly trying not to let it show as she shook her head, "Please tell me you don't plan on calling him that in person if he does manage to rise or whatever-"
"Hey I mean- he is our gramps. And I find being disrespectful lessens the whole awe factor in facing off with deities. Hard to be scared of a dude when you call him your crazy old gramps."
"It does feel weird being reminded that he's our grandfather." Bianca's nose wrinkled and her face scrunched up. "I don't like it. We're related to a baby eater."
"Hey, at least your dad didn't turn into a bull to have sex." Thalia shuddered. "When you look into our parents pasts it's just full of disgusting stuff that it's better to try and forget-"
"Yeah. I still find it weird to think that the original Pegasus is technically my half-brother."
"Ah yes-" Zoe nodded, "He's a brave steed. One of thy fathers most reasonable children I must admit. Though I must admit I find this subject… less than pleasant to discuss. The gods would be displeased if they knew how you speak of them-"
"Zoe I have every intention of calling Zeus Sky daddy to his face. I really do not give a shit what he thinks of my disrespect."
Thalia snorted, "Now I wish I had a camera or something to record that on."
"Don't worry. I'll tell my mom all about it and she can write it all up in the next saga of the Blake Adventures." Percy gave a cheeky grin. "And then I'll get the chance to re-enact it in the in movie."
"Oh gods." Bianca laughed, "The fans will go wild for it."
"We'll force Chiron to arrange trips to go see it when it comes out." Thalia grinned, "It would be hilarious."
"I mean, I could even invite some of you guys to the premiers." Percy shrugged, "I'm one of the stars and they're based on moms books. Let's face it I can pretty much do what I want… though I'm not sure I want the world to witness the epic fail that is the fact that I saved the bolt and helm from Luke only to forget them under my bed for like, six months."
"ADHD poster child of the year." Bianca deadpanned, "Girl can memorise her lines for entire movies within a week but she forgets the nuclear bomb level weapons tucked under her bed-"
"In my defence it was right before we were leaving for Christmas." Percy pouted, "And I didn't bother checking what was in the bag at the time. I had more important things to focus on-" at the looks she got she added, "Well, they seemed more important to me at the time. Like not being late to join the others to go to Egypt to see uncle Amos and D-" Percy snapped her mouth shut, grip on the wheel tightening.
Desjardins.
It was going to take a while for that to stop hurting she was sure. She had to force herself to stare forward, her grip on the wheel tightening.
None of the others spoke for a long moment. None of them were stupid. She had no doubt that they could pick up on how she was feeling.
Instead of speaking Percy let her gaze flick up for a moment- the sun was starting to go down the sky. They could make it to Mount Tam in time- though the traffic was a pain. But still, she didn't like it. They were heading into an ambush and they all knew it. Still there were things they could do to lessen the risks.
"We should have time when we arrive for me to cast a spell." Percy spoke slowly, "It won't be much but it should help us."
"What spell?" Zoe was frowning, "Remember before we can even get to our enemies we shall have to pass through my sisters garden. They will not be friendly. And there is Ladon."
"The dragon." Thalia nodded to herself, "How do we deal with him?"
"Well the spell I plan on casting is one of invisibility." Percy told them, glancing back over her shoulder, doing some quick mental maths, "I should have enough shabati's to cast it on all of us."
"Oh the times I could have used an invisibility spell." Thalia snorted, "I gotta say you magicians are pretty lucky."
"Oh I know we are." Percy pressed her lips together tightly. "I want to plan our strategy but we don't know enough."
"We need to know how the enemy are laid out." Bianca agreed, "You told me that. You can't plan when you don't know what to expect."
"We know that Alina will be there. And Atlas. But we don't know where the others will be or how many monsters they'll have there."
"If it is an ambush then they shall have the others out on display." Zoe spoke up, "Thy enemies will hope that seeing them will make you reckless-"
"Hah." Percy gripped the wheel tighter, a dangerous smile crossing her lips, "Jokes on them, I'm already about as reckless as it's possible to get. Comes with being the current manifestation of chaos."
"You're going to make them regret everything aren't you?" Grover looked almost amused, "You know you're a little scary-"
"Scary is good." Thalia nodded sagely. "Scary is what we should all aspire to be."
"I dunno." Bianca gave a wry grin, "I don't want to be scary. I feel like I'd be feeding into stupid stereotypes if I did that."
"That's because you're a sweetheart." Percy declared sagely, "And I will point out that I only aspire to be scary to those who have earned scariness from me. Which is most definitely Alina, Atlas and Kronos. I want them to be terrified." Even if a part of her was a little nervous. Alina was powerful… and she had Setne around. Though he'd probably be watching in the background waiting to stir more trouble. Still she was sure she could handle them. Hopefully anyway. And Kronos would be unable to do much without a form.
The biggest threat was Atlas at this stage.
Percy absentmindedly rubbed at her shoulder, where Atlas' sword had pierced through flesh and muscle. Had come close to killing her.
No. This time things would be different. She was prepared, her magic wasn't as drained as it had been when she'd faced him last. She'd gotten some sleep and food. She was as prepared as she could be for the battle to come.
If she needed to she would use Chaos magic again but she wasn't facing him on her own this time. She'd make things work. She always had before after all. No matter how difficult they always came out on top. Because she was too damn stubborn to let any of them take her down.
The silence that settled over them wasn't uncomfortable, but still Percy didn't want silence at this stage, so she reached out, flicking on the radio and skipping through the channels, pausing when she heard something that caught her attention.
"-vestigations are still ongoing into what caused the strange fire at the Brooklyn Academy of the Gifted. As of yet there has been no sign of it being an attack, despite the difficulty in stopping the flames that burned the school down. It has been speculated that the attack may be connected to famous actress Percy Kane, who was supposed to be at the dance that evening but was not spotted in the aftermath. When we contacted her mother she informed us that her daughter was perfectly safe at home, though she hasn't been seen since the fire. Whatever caused this truly terrible incident it could have been much worse. According to our sources no one was harmed due to a student pulling the fire alarms during the dance."
Percy turned it down. Taking a deep breath. Someone must have interfered there. There would have been a lot of questions about a strange man being there. About him dying. It was logical that they'd cover it up.
Still, it hurt. If Desjardins hadn't come to warn Percy… if she hadn't been able to warn Bianca…
Without him most of the school could have been wiped out.
"It was Greek Fire right?" Thalia's voice was soft. "That was the attack you mentioned. Right Bianca."
"Yeah." Bianca shook her head, "I was the kid who pulled the fire alarms. Percy sent a text." She shook her head, "I was still in the building when it blew-"
"What?" Grover half bleated the words, "You were in the building?"
"Yeah. I saw Percy being carried away. And then- I knew it was coming and I just- I summoned a shield of darkness. I was out cold for days from the force of the explosion."
"Your actions were that of a brave hero." Zoe gave her an approving nod. "Thy should be proud."
"I am." Bianca nodded, a small smile on her lips. "I am."
And this time Percy didn't try to fill the silence as they finally slipped off the main roads, out of the traffic, onto narrow roads that wound through forests, up the sides of hills and around the edges of steep ravines.
Soon. They would be there soon.