Disclaimer: Percy Jackson belongs to Rick Riordan, and Avatar: The Last Airbender belongs to Nickelodeon.
"Thoughts"
"Speaking"
This fanfic is an Alternate Universe (AU)
Explanations will appear as the chapters progress.
Third Person's Point of View
Advancing determinedly through the uneven, rocky, and gloomy corridors of the dungeon, Percy wielded in his right hand the same sword with which he slew the beast in the tunnels beneath the city, while his left hand held a torch that illuminated the path he walked and with only a couple of essential provisions for the quest.
With each step, his gaze scans the dark corners for hidden dangers, holding his sword firmly in his hand, ready for any confrontation that may arise.
"But what the hell was that?" Although the mind of the adoptive son of the fire lord was also focused on other things since Percy wondered in whispers, very confused, suspicious and somewhat paranoid about what had happened before entering the dungeon." If something like that is happening, it's because the damn dungeon is a death trap and things will go horribly wrong"
The echo of his footsteps echoes off the stone walls, creating a sense of unsettling loneliness in the air. But even though Percy's mind was elsewhere, he remained alert and aware that all sorts of dangers and challenges lurked in the depths of the dungeon.
"Did I do anything to Zuko?" Percy wondered aloud, "I got the impression that he hated me in that moment, we've fought before, but he never suggested that my death would be of any benefit to others, least of all to that pair of imbeciles. I don't get it!" The green-eyed black-haired man raised his voice more, frustrated at not knowing what happened.
In his search on the other hand, with every curve of the dungeon, Percy moves cautiously, his senses sharpened at any hint of danger. While the metal of his sword reflects the faint light coming from the torch.
"Soon the ten-minute advantage will end and the next competitor will enter the dungeon, and I bet if the twins find out I'm still breathing they'll try to kill me."
As it goes, the air becomes thicker, permeated with a musty, decaying smell. However, Percy is undeterred... and he didn't stop talking either.
"But if he managed to get out of here unscathed, I'll be accused of cheating again," Perseus growled at the end, before pausing for a few moments and wondering annoyed. ""What the fuck am I doing here? I didn't want to participate. Damn! This day has been fucking crazy!"
"Wow! It seems that trouble follows you Percy," said an unknown voice from Percy's shoulders
Almost instantly, Percy turned gracefully giving a ferocious thrust at the unknown being, followed by putting distance between the two with a leap but dropping the torch and seeing his silhouette in the darkness Percy attacked again.
"I've got you!" Percy said, but a strange feeling washed over Percy after the attack, as he only touched air.
"You're very fast, who are you?" Percy asked the stranger, "I know I didn't touch you, the twins sent you to kill me, right?" Well, bad news, my friend, many have tried and couldn't"
"You should thank me!" Did the gods teach you to attack girls when they greet you?
"Gods?" What the fuck am I talking about... Wait... girl?" Percy replied before registering the words in his mind, as well as acknowledging that the voice was not male
"By all heavens, all men are equal!" the girl replied as she picked up the torch on the floor of the dungeon
A female figure emerged from the gloom. Dressed in an exquisite red and white silk gown that fluttered softly with every movement, she looked like a heavenly vision amidst the oppressive darkness. On top of the dress she wore a black jacket and a pair of black boots. The girl's skin was white as snow, and she had a couple of freckles on her face, which stood out a lot.
The light of the torch flashed in her red hair, making her locks glow like the rising sun. The light revealed her delicate features and serene expression as if she was completely at peace and fearless before Percy's sword. With grace and determination, the young woman approached Percy, her gaze fixed on him with an intriguing intensity.
"Beautiful" Percy said at the woman's features, before focusing again, "What's a girl like you doing in a place like this?!"
"Looking for the same thing as you, Percy," the girl said as she approached him
"Stop!" Percy exclaimed, "if you take another step I'll attack you again, I don't recognize you, I didn't see your face in the knockout stage so I'll ask you again, who the fuck are you?" Percy said in addition to recognizing that no one in the fire nation has features like hers, nor do they match those of other nations.
A trait he shares and which was another reason why several individuals acted like jerks towards him. Then he realized that the only people he had ever seen with traits like that were the people in the dreams he had.
The girl, on the other hand, gave him a gentle smile, lighting up her face radiantly. From a distance, the girl covered her lips with her hand and then made a loving gesture towards Percy, sending a kiss through the air as if its destination was Percy's lips.
"What..."
"Very well half-breed!" The girl said as she approached Percy with great confidence, as well as interrupting him, but he did nothing to attack her, "now tell me everything you know about the Queen.
"I don't..."
"Hurry up, half-blood!" The girl exclaimed with an impatience that came out of nowhere
"I don't know anything about a damned queen!"
She slapped the black-haired man for this, only for a hard blow to hit his face, knocking her straight to the ground. For a few moments the girl lost consciousness and when she woke up her arms and legs were held together with a rope.
"Hey, hey! What the heck does this mean?!" The girl asked, surprised at her current state, "How did we get here?!"
"You're awake at last," Percy said, "if you'd taken a couple more minutes I'd have left
"You... Let me go!" Right now! Let go of me!" she imperiously demanded
"Calm down, the more movements you make the rope tightens," he said, since the knot was not a normal one
"This is gender-based violence!"
Again, Percy punched the girl in the face with enough force to cause pain, but not enough to cause another loss of consciousness.
"Listen, silly girl, I'm a staunch advocate of equality like my father! A beautiful girl like you doesn't intimidate me at all. What the hell did you think would happen when you hit me? You started this, so bear it!" Percy exclaimed.
The girl's face was filled with astonishment and disbelief.
"Why doesn't it work with you?"
"What?" Percy asked, not understanding what she was talking about
"I mean the enchantment, you were supposed to end up surrendering at my feet after I cast the spell on you!" The girl exclaimed in astonishment while all she could think about at that moment was "Why doesn't it work?"
"What?" he didn't understand what she was talking about
"It has to work! It's supposed to work with mestizos as well
"It's not the first time I've heard that: What is a mestizo?" Percy asked, putting aside the supposed 'spell', "and you better tell me the truth or you and I will have problems"
"What?" Don't you know what a mestizo is? The girl asked, incredulous, "Do you think I'm stupid?"
"Yes, I think so," he said dryly
"But how rude you are," replied the girl, blushing with anger.
"But how annoying you are."
Percy, with a look full of curiosity looked furtively at the girl, it was not the first time he heard the term, but it was the first time outside of his dreams and that there was a person he could ask about its meaning, however, he understood that the conversation was going nowhere and perhaps it was time for a change of strategy.
Politely, Percy sheathed his sword and addressed the girl respectfully, while in his mind he went over the certain tactical class that his father, brother, and friends had taught and advised him. His eyes, shining with a flash of intrigue in search of answers, said:
"Excuse my boldness, but I'd like to know how I can refer to you, beautiful miss."
Percy recalled his friend Haru's teachings, 'the methods of conquest, volume one', which his friend explained to him in detail, this being the first time he had put them into practice. Her tone is kind and respectful, showing a genuine curiosity about the identity of the girl who has emerged from the shadows. Unbeknownst to him, though, his eyes were beginning to sparkle with something else.
"You say that, but if you really wanted to know that I wouldn't be tied to your disposal, or maybe tell me, who the hell attacks a girl with his sword the first time they meet?" The girl replied in a tone of annoyance and fury directed at Percy
"You may be right, miss, and I really apologize," as he uttered these words, Percy bowed respectfully, imploring forgiveness, while remembering the various teachings of the people close to him, "but I think it is only right for you to understand my motives, fair lady."
The girl's heart or her ego, skipped a slight leap of excitement as she heard the last two words, as she looked into his eyes.
"Your reasons, half-breed?" The girl said, "explain yourself"
"Tell me, what would have happened if you were in my shoes?" Percy asked, "given the situation, we are in a dungeon full of dangerous monsters where there is no one to help us, the entrance to this dungeon is every ten minutes and it is not as if the other participants love me."
"What the hell does it have to do with it?!" she complained, not understanding the turn the whole situation had taken and the conversation
"It has everything to do with it," replied Percy, "I am sure that if we had met before I would remember the perfect face you wear, excuse my boldness, but a face as beautiful as yours does not go unnoticed. So it was logical for me to think that you are here to murder me"
"Not that..." she tried to explain herself, while her ego began to play against her at the way he described her, while Perseus' slightly bright eyes caught her attention.
"I'll ask you again, miss," Percy replied quickly, maintaining eye contact, "do you think my actions were wrong? Kind and beatiful Miss" In the end, Perseus took a little longer to utter his last words.
By this point the girl's face flushed as she heard the compliments coming from Percy's mouth, the color of her face resembled that of the Fire Nation flag, and the color stood out from the dark dungeon they were both in. "Alright, I've got you" Percy thought, not realizing that she was paying much attention to his slightly glowing eyes.
The girl, with a warm, mysterious smile on her lips, stared at Percy for a moment before answering. She yielded to Percy's soft voice and eyes, like the whisper of a sweet breeze.
"My name is Eli," the girl replied without thinking
Percy nodding his head in thanks "Piece of cake" almost congratulating himself internally
"Eli" said Percy, "is a beautiful name that I will engrave in my memory. It's nice to meet you, Eli"
Percy smiled sincerely, or so it seemed to Eli's eyes, and she was still focused on his.
"Eli... Can you tell me something?" Percy said, "I want to be sure I can trust you.
"Sure," Eli replied, totally enraptured by Percy's piercing gaze
"Can you explain to me how you got into this place? Didn't the guards see you? It's time for truth, I need to know the truth no matter what." Percy said, 'hiding' his true intentions "Why did you try to kiss me?"
"I... this... That kiss was-" She tried to answer, but the words wouldn't come out
"Shit, did I go overboard with the questions? Was I too bold?" Percy wondered, "I can't lose after so much progress"
But thinking that he had made a mistake in how to get information, he broke eye contact for a moment, and his eyes, which shone faintly in his ignorance, stopped shining.
"Don't worry," said Percy, "take your time to answer, as I told you before, I really want to be able to trust a girl as beautiful as you
Eli's face continued to blush, but understanding the circumstances, she took a deep breath to relax a little, so that he was able to express and pronounce the words correctly.
"I'm sorry, Percy," Eli said, "I managed to get into the dungeon through an underground entrance and on top of that... well..."
A moment of silence stretched between Percy and Eli, like a pause in the melody of the dungeon. Percy, with an expression of curiosity mixed with concern, broke the silence with a question that hung in the air.
"Why are you here, Eli? What led you to enter this dangerous dungeon?
At that moment the expression on Eli's face changed, as if he was another person completely different, his thoughts were clear and his mind focused on the current events, Eli, with an intense and determined gaze answered.
"I'm looking for something of the utmost importance, just like you, Percy," Eli replied, in a tone of voice with determination that admits of no doubt. "The 'queen' has been on the move within the Fire Nation lately and wants to find something she lost, I have to get it back first before it's too late."
Eli's words left Percy momentarily stunned, his mind buzzing with questions and possibilities. At this point things couldn't be clearer and Eli is the key to answering and clarifying his doubts about his dreams.
"What could be so important as for someone to enter a dungeon like this when it's guarded by army members on the outside and dangerous monsters on the inside?" Percy asked
"I don't know exactly, but I do know it's a powerful thing."
Before Percy could ask any more questions, they both stopped abruptly upon realizing that they had been in the same area of the dungeon for a long time without encountering any other participants or monsters, which was not normal. The silence that surrounds them is now more unsettling than comforting and the absence of any sign of life (friend or foe) only adds to the sense of unease.
Percy and Eli exchanged uncertain glances, sharing the same concern about what this might mean. Are they alone in the dungeon? Or... Is there something darker and more sinister lurking in the shadows, waiting for its moment to appear on the scene?
"Eli... Do you know how long it's been since you came in?" Percy asked
"I came in right after you," replied the girl. "The moment I saw you come in I rushed in, it must have taken me about fifteen minutes and since I found you it's only been a couple of hours I'm sure"
"Yes... I think the same, but there's something weird. "I have a strange feeling," said Percy, "whatever it is, we must move, it's not normal that the twins didn't try to kill me"
"Yes! You're- Wait!, what?"
From his waist Percy drew a dagger sharp enough to cut the rope holding Eli and small enough to go unnoticed.
"Listen to me Eli, I'm going to let you go, but you have to promise me you won't attack me.
"You should tell that to yourself!" Eli replied
"Right, I'm sorry... We have to get out of here..."
"Definitely!"
With each step they take, Percy and Eli move cautiously through the dungeon's intricate corridors, their footsteps echoing through the darkness with a cadence of uncertainty and caution.
"Can you please walk slower, or at least don't make so much noise?!" Percy said a little worried
"Don't worry, there are no monsters around, I'd be the first to notice."
"What are you talking about? If the damn monsters or twins realize we're here, they'll definitely attack us.
Eri moved forward, paying no attention to Percy
"Are you listening to me or are you ignoring me?" Percy asked
"A little bit of both, I suppose," Eli said with a mocking smile. "Until a few moments ago you were a cute boy, but now you don't look like one"
"Damn, I would have left you tied with those ropes" Percy complained in his thoughts "Well?... Why did you wait for me to enter the dungeon so that you could too?"
"I thought you had information about the 'queen,'" Eli said, "but seeing that you're a lost brat made me a little disappointed. I mean, how come you didn't know you're a half-blood?! It seems that more than helping us, you're going to hinder us"
As they delve deeper into the dungeon, the air becomes charged with a heavy sense of palpable unease, as if they are walking into the unknown with every breath. The smell of dampness and decomposition permeates the air, mixed with the tension that builds up in the air.
"What do you mean by 'us'?" Percy asked as he heard Eli's words. "Are there more people with you?"
Suddenly, Percy and Eli stopped dead in their tracks upon a macabre scene, along the corridor lie the dismembered remains of monsters, their bodies mutilated and devoured by something unknown. Dried blood and remnants of flesh are strewn across the ground like macabre trophies of a battle that has taken place in the dark.
Percy and Eli's gaze meets again, their eyes reflecting the same mixture of horror and confusion.
"What creature could be powerful enough to defeat so many monsters in the dungeon?" Eli asked, hoping Percy would know what creatures were in the dungeon
"At least we know why we didn't meet any of them sooner," said Percy, "it seems they were all slaughtered."
"But... the blood is dry, this is at least several hours old. Aren't they supposed to oversee the dungeon? How come no one noticed that the dungeon full of monsters, well, stopped having monsters?
However, what disturbs Percy and Eli the most is the absence of any sign of the other tournament participants, who also ventured into the dungeon in search of the scroll. There is no trace of them anywhere, only the shattered remains of the monsters that once stalked these halls.
"We've got to get out of the dungeon," Eli said, "it's become too dangerous.
"I agree with you," Percy replied, "we just have to find the scroll and we'll be ready to go."
"Parchment?"
"Yes! with which I can move on to the next round, we haven't found it yet"
"Doesn't your blood reach your brain?!" Eli exclaimed, incredulous at the black-haired teen boy's priorities
"Again with that damn attitude and that word, I already told you that I don't know what a mestizo is or why you and others say it"
"Understand that the situation is already very dangerous, whatever it is that devoured those damn monsters can devour you too!" Eli said, "And you're still thinking about going for a damn scroll? Just get out of the dungeo and tell your father what you saw here and the tournament will be canceled!"
"If things were that simple, I wouldn't be in this trouble," Percy replied, "if I do that the damn nobles will be upset, this tournament is important in the entire Fire Nation." Things don't just depend on my father"
"GODS! Why mongrels are always so difficult?!, that's why I don't like working with you. My father is wrong and we should leave all of you to your fate!"
"As you like, but I'll keep going until I find the damn scroll. You can go and run away from here." Percy responded to his complaints
"That's so much better than dying a fool, stupid half-breed!" Eli said furiously.
"Good!"
"Good!"
In the middle of the dungeon, Percy and Eli were debating. Their voices echoed in the tension-laden air, each voicing their concerns and arguing their point of view. As they debate the topic, the sound of heavy footsteps and grunts filter in from the nearby corridors of the dungeon, interrupting their discussion with an ominous warning. Percy and Eli's hearts momentarily stopped at her breasts, once again, they exchanged looks of alarm and determination.
"Did you hear that?" Percy asked
""Of course I heard it! That's why I told you that we get out of this place as soon as possible. Whatever it is, it seems to have found us!"
"Of course, with those screams you give it's obvious that any damn monster would come and eat us," Percy replied annoyedly and making her growl with his comment.
His hand instinctively gripped the command of his sword
"There's no time to lose," said Percy. "We've got to get out of here, we'll surely find another way out."
Eli nodded his head seriously, his expression reflecting a mixture of fear and resolve. With the menacing sound of the beasts, Percy and Eli quickly ran down the nearest tunnel, desperately searching for an escape route from the impending threat. With each step forward, the darkness seems to close in around him, becoming a rather narrow tunnel.
"Didn't you say you'd be the first to spot monsters?" Percy said, mocking Eli's attitude
"I would have noticed them if you hadn't been too stubborn in wanting to get your damn scroll!" Eli replied. "I warn you, if I die in this place with you I will torment your soul for the rest of eternity!"
"Wow! You don't just send me kisses, now you want to spend the rest of eternity with me? You're bold"
Eli's face blushed again.
"Idiot! You know perfectly well that I didn't mean that"
They descended even deeper into the bowels of the dungeon, Percy and Eli advancing cautiously, on the lookout for any surprises they might find in the depths of that subterranean labyrinth.
Finally, after a series of twists and turns, the tunnel opens into a vast underground chamber, its rough, damp walls gleaming faintly in the light of the torch Eli held firmly. The chamber is vast and cavernous, with dark shadows dancing in the far corners, stalactites and beautiful crystals filling the underground chamber.
Percy and Eli paused in the doorway of the chamber, their exploratory gazes scanning the vast space for any hint of danger or discovery. As they slowly make their way toward the center of the chamber, their footsteps echoing across the stone floor with a dull echo, a sense of wonder washes over them, marveling at the magnitude and majesty of the place they are in.
When they reached the center, they stopped to rest for a few moments.
"I didn't know something like this was on the lower floors of the dungeon," Eli said, somewhat exhausted
"I'm more worried about how we're going to get out of this place," Percy said, "I just hope those things, whatever they are, don't find us."
Eli lay down on the floor.
"Let's wait a couple of hours for things to calm down and find another way out."
CRASH
"What was that?" Eli said, "Did you hear it, Percy?"
"Yes, it looks like it's coming from the ground"
Suddenly, the area where Eli was lying suddenly opened, dropping her backwards.
"Percyyyyyyyy...!"
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