A/N: Back with a new chapter! I hope you enjoy it! Apologies for the delay in uploading however writing has come very slow for me over the past few months. I appreciate everyone's patience in this story and I hope you all continue to enjoy it. I still very much enjoy writing it! The author's note at the end might be slightly long... though that will just be to respond to a couple reviews that I found to be not in good taste. Anyways, as always, let me know what you think about this chapter, I always love to read your thoughts!

And, on some more important news, the PJO teaser trailer came out! Super excited for it and it looks amazing! Loving my childhood world being brought to life! Can't wait to see more, only problem is the release date isn't for over a year!

Word Count: 2616

22. The Wave (War and Tides, An Ares Story)

Percy wandered by Katara, pulling water into her water skins, and Toph, putting on her own battle armour. He saw the Water Tribesmen putting on their helmets around the boats.

'Dumbass! Look at me!'

He turned his head to be almost steamrolled by a gold and brown covered Siosi. The bird came to a skidding stop right in front of him. She was decked out in armour to match Appa and she preened at herself. It was a similar style of armour used by the Earth Kingdom soldiers for their ostrich horses.

"You look good Sio." He replied.

She snorted, as if to say 'of course'.

"We're gonna have to do something about that colour though. Definitely needs to be blue."

'For once, your dumbass is right.'

She seemed to be picturing his idea of blue armour as she strutted up and down in front of him.

"Alright, you wait for me on the boat, I've got to thank Sokka for the armour. I'm assuming you didn't say anything."

'Well, they couldn't have understood me even if I did.'

She poked her beak up into the air, pridefully. Percy raised his eyebrow at her.

'Plus, I deserve to look this good and be protected going into battle. It's only fair. I'm our most valuable soldier.'

"There it is." He chuckled to himself. "Get on the dam boat."

He gave her a little scratch before he turned away to look for Sokka. He saw him standing on the edge of a cliff, overlooking the ocean and the boats. Percy began to make his way up.

As he was about to reach the top, he saw a flash of orange and yellow. Aang landed right next to him.

"We've been looking everywhere for you." Aang started talk to the boy looked at his helmet. "The boats are ready to leave."

"I don't know if I can fight Aang."

"What?"

"I don't know if I can kill again. Not like before. I needed to be able to say that speech, and I couldn't."

Percy put his hand on the airbender's shoulder.

"Aang, I've got this. Go back down and tell the rest that we will be ready to leave soon."

Sokka turned around as the Avatar gave him one last anxious look before leaping off the edge and flying down to the boats.

"I can't do it, Percy. I'm not as strong as you, I'm not as strong as my dad."

"This isn't about strength, Sokka. Look, if you'd asked me five or six summers ago what my life would've turned into, I guarantee you I wouldn't have said anything like this. But I fought, every single time, for those around me. I've had to come to terms with a lot of things in that time, and one of them was doing things during a war that I'd never do outside of it."

He pulled Sokka into him and turned to the ships.

"I'd never tell you what to do. But we're all fighting. We're fighting for each other. We'll be in this fight to the end, one way or another."

Percy looked at the boy and saw his eyes following Katara and Hakoda along one of the piers Toph and Aang created.

"I fight for them." Sokka mumbled, with some semblance of conviction.

"I know you do. And we're going to need you. So let's go."

The demigod and Water Tribe boy came down from the cliff and boarded the boats. As soon as they did, Hakoda turned to everyone.

"To the Fire Nation capital!"

Everyone cheered and they set sail.

Azula strode through the labyrinth of tunnels underneath the palace. Her shoulder causing her unseen pain as she was followed by the Dai Li.

She signalled sharply with her good arm for the bulk of her force to travel down further to her father's bunker. The two that stayed with her leapt up into the little enclaves of space in the earth.

The princess knew she couldn't appear weak in front of them. Especially as she could feel the agents with her watching her position, as they'd been instructed to do. With what she knew about the traitorous agent's motives changing due to a short conversation with Percy, it was essential to portray the picture of power that her father needed.

That she needed.

But do you want it?

Yes. It is your destiny.

She turned around and sat on the throne. The back of the seat pressed against her pauldrons as though it were the Fire Lord's hand on her shoulder. Out of sight of the guards, she clenched her right fist.

Thankfully, none of the Dai Li had been in the room for her interrogation of Fong. Though with how her Head of the Dai Li had brought her the reports, it wouldn't take too much work or thought to put two and two together that someone outside of the Fire Nation was behind the agent's change of heart.

She hadn't had time to do much else after the meeting than come straight down to get ready for the incoming attack. Azula had wanted to though. Her talk with Iroh in the prison seemed oh so close a distance to walk, yet well too far.

One of the other Dai Li agents entered her chambers, the man she'd tasked with running messages up and down.

"Princess."

He came in and bowed at her feet. He held aloft the report from Harbour City.

The scouts tell that the mist has begun to roll in.

"Go back to the top, bring me the next report when it comes in."

"Yes, your highness."

He ran out of the room as Azula shifted on the throne, preparing for the oncoming battle.

"The Great Gates of Azulon." Percy mumbled, echoing Hakoda.

Their fog was thick but the demigod felt the disturbance just below the surface of the water surrounding then statue.

"Keep it up, we're almost through!" The Water Tribe Chief called out to the waterbenders creating the fog.

Percy was helping, though for him, it was too simple to have to really think about it.

Moments after he connected the disturbance below the surface to the 'Gates' in his head, he heard the bell ringing. The demigod felt the huge chain-link fence rise out of the water. As it broke the surface, fire began to move along each rung of the net.

He was impressed they'd managed such a feat with the technology they had, but it didn't change the plan they all knew. What did surprise Percy was the speed at which a few patrol boats raced towards them.

That's a quick response time…

Even back home, when people had visions of things that were to happen, they usually weren't as prepared as that.

Hakoda interrupted his thoughts before he could continue them.

"Everyone below deck!" He began from right in between Percy and Sokka. "Let's hope your invention works."

All their troops hurried down to the lower levels of the boats to board their waterbending-powered submarines, but Percy's eyes stayed on the suspicious jet ski-like vehicles that came for them.

"Percy." The Chief said. "Are you coming down?"

"Uhhh, no. I'll stay on the ship. I want to see how this plays out."

He got a nod quickly from the soldier but a lingering worried look from all the kids. He tried to give them a look that told them he knew what he was doing and they seemed to get it. Moments later, the demigod felt the subs drop out and away from their Water Tribe boats but his mind raced with his suspicions.

Why did Azula return to the Fire Nation right before I was picked up?

The patrol boats got closer and closer until he could make out the two riders on each one.

'What's up, boss?' Siosi asked him, as she stood proudly in the mist.

Percy looked at her with a nostalgic smile, remembering everything all too clearly.

'What?'

"Nothing."

'I'm not always gonna be mean to your dumbass, I've gotta throw you off a bit.'

The demigod's eyes widened.

"That's it! It's a diversion. Like me at the drill."

'Huh, drill? What do you mean?' Siosi asked, very seriously.

"Azula left to go back to the Fire Nation right before we prepared for the invasion, right? And with what Fong was saying back in Ba Sing Se, about Azula's control over the Dai Li, there wouldn't be any information that she wasn't able to get. Plus, she was around the Earth King for gods knows how long."

'Are you saying my saviour knows we're coming?'

Percy ignored her with his realisation. He felt a slight bit of pride in himself for figuring out a battle plan of his enemy, but he definitely needed to focus. He felt the subs getting further underneath and past the gates.

The son of Poseidon stood on the bow of his ship, in clear view of the oncoming Fire Nation soldiers. He saw them prepare to firebend at him, but his arm came up. Sea water curled around the men and women on the boats, and they couldn't do anything but look shocked. Before they could react, he held them still and froze the water around them.

The demigod pushed them off to the side back towards where they came from and out of the line of the slipway. He felt the sea rocking his boats, the tides beating against the shore.

The initial plan almost never lasts first contact. Time to do what I do best.

Improvise.

Straining the tug in his gut, he pulled back the waves from where they broke on land. He sensed the subs and Appa moving further away from him so he stopped them, keeping the water around them immobile. He could feel the waterbenders and Aang fighting him for control, trying to move forward, but he didn't let them. He couldn't have them too close to the shore.

Percy began sweating as, slowly but surely, the Water Tribe ships began to rise on a bow wave. He could faintly hear some bells ringing in the distance, but he focused on his control of the tides.

The sea water extinguished the flames along the lower parts of the Gates of Azulon as it rose higher, but Percy wasn't even close to done. He risked a look at the shoreline to see the small dots of people scrambling out of the port town. The water receded further down the slipway and far away from the regular sea level.

And the water under Percy kept rising. Much higher than his twelve-year-old self could've ever dreamed.

The princess sat on her throne, portraying her image of calmness to perfection. She was just starting to get used to the pain of the metal being pressed into her shoulder when the Dai Li agent stumbled into the room.

That was fast. Azula thought worriedly.

"What has happened?" She asked, sitting up and feeling like she was lighting her shoulder on fire all over again.

"The warnings… the bells… Harbour City."

"Spit it out." She said, as it became increasingly harder to hide the anxiety running through her veins.

"There is a tsunami warning."

"A. What?" Azula asked, her voice short and clipped.

"The bells are ringing in Harbour City; a tsunami is going to hit the island."

What are the chances?

The princess really thought about it.

Slim….

Percy's coming.

He's coming to fight against you.

"Return to your post and inform me of anymore important information." Azula said to the agent.

He looked at her with slightly wide eyes, before averting them and bowing. He scurried out of the room leaving a nervous princess to sit there under the eyes of two more.

He's coming for you? The traitorous voice spoke quietly into her ear.

Her fingers rapped on the arms of the throne in a way she hoped didn't show exactly how worried she'd become.

Whatever had happened and was about to happen, all that mattered to her was just that.

He's coming.

Sokka felt Hakoda place a hand on his shoulder. Even though he wasn't looking forward to the battle, he did swell with pride at his father's praise.

"You've really outdone yourself this time, son."

He smiled back, only to hear Toph talk.

"Yeah, congratulations, Sokka. You managed to invent a worse way of travel than flying."

She looked like she was about to throw up before the whole sub shuddered to a halt.

Sokka looked to Katara and the waterbenders but they hadn't stopped and looked to be trying to bend.

"What happened?" He asked them.

There was an eerie quiet apart from the grunts of effort from those trying to move the ship.

"What's happening?" Toph asked, increasingly concerned.

"My bending! It's not working!" Katara called out.

"What do you mean not working?" Sokka asked, starting to freak out.

"It's not working, Sokka. That's what I mean!" She yelled, exasperatedly.

"What does it feel like?" Hakoda asked, much more calmly.

"Like I'm pushing against something solid." Katara replied, confused. "Nothing like in the Northern Water Tribe."

Everyone began to panic and move around. The noise in the confined space began to build and Sokka started to feel overwhelmed. His hands gripped the hilt of his sword, turning his hands white.

Did my invention lead these people to their end?

This was his invention failing.

"Quiet!" The Water Tribe Chief's voice carried throughout the sub.

Slowly, the talking died down.

"I bet it's Percy." Toph piped up from the floor, still very much not over her sea-sickness.

"That would make sense, and we have to hope it's for a good reason, but keep trying your bending."

"That's all well and good." The Mechanist said. "But I couldn't fix the problem of air supply. We'll have to resurface soon, well before we land on the beaches."

"I know." Hakoda said. "But there isn't much we can do about that. If we start to feel like we're losing our air supply, we'll solve that problem then. For now, we just have to hope it's Percy, and he has a plan that involves us getting up to the surface sooner rather than later."

The chief turned away from Katara and the waterbenders continuing to try and move the water and looked out to where the other ships stayed still beside them. Sokka's eyes followed him.

"And that the other ships stay as calm as we're managing to." Hakoda continued, perhaps too optimistically.

The ships had begun to crest over the top of the Gates of Azulon. The strain in Percy's gut was becoming more and more painful as Siosi stood next to him in case he needed support.

He knew the waterbenders pushing against his powers wasn't helping him too much, but he didn't really blame them for that. They didn't know what he was trying to do.

"Siosi, hold on."

'How am I gonna-'

He interrupted her by freezing her to feet to the deck.

'Oh, thank you.'

He paid her little mind as his eyes locked onto the head of Fire Lord Azulon off to his right. The gold filigree laid into the statue's royal hair pin and robes becoming overwhelmed by his tidal wave by the second.

Percy's eyes turned on the capital in front of him. He pulled Riptide out of his pocket and held it in front of him in all its glory.

Making an effort to pull the subs and only his boat along with him, the son of Poseidon released his tsunami.

A/N: So... we begin the invasion :) A little bit of a cliffhanger however we're just beginning a long arc of this invasion, so I hope you enjoy it all! I really do enjoy all your reviews, especially the critiques that makes sense and are constructive. We're setting up more moments between characters and of course, I left you all hanging on the edge of a wave. I hope I can get the next chapter out to you all soon :)

Some review replies:

Crazzytony: Well, as you can tell from this chapter... there might be some changes. I hope you enjoy this and all future chapters

Jctherebel/Deeznuggets2121/HellRaiderS/Death Fury/I await a guardian/UQJTAk8cx9dpbvEL/Guest: Thank you all! I'm glad you're all still enjoying this story and it will continue to be updated! It's absolutely not abandoned, just having a tough time getting through the writing process.

PenandPaperless: Well, we've begun with a little badass Percy, or I hope it's seen that way. I can't make any promises but I do believe you'll enjoy it! I am, thank you, just writing is difficult :) hope you're doing well too!

Icefire99: I'm glad you're enjoying the character development. It's my favourite and main aspect of this story. A confrontation with the Fire Lord, now I won't spoil anything on that front, but I have plans for this story that go very deep.

CRUDEN: That he is, indeed

Tarantulaochos: That's an extremely interesting question on the group's reaction... I hope you enjoy how it may be resolved :) You're gonna get some hints throughout this arc too. I think, on the subject of Zuko, the scar doesn't change too much about his character arc. Even though the scar is predominantly healed, his inner scarring hasn't changed at all. He's still undergone all the same things he has in the canon story as shown by his talk with Azula before going into the Fire Lord's war meeting. It just means Katara has more anger at him for using it on him then almost losing Aang because of him, making that betrayal all the more visceral.

fallyear1: That's awesome! I myself have had a couple long trips and have been doing a lot of reading myself so I hope you had a nice time on your trip! I'm glad you're enjoying the small glimpses at growth, they'll keep on coming. If you reread it, I also hope it was as enjoyable as the first time through!

Iiesuu: That's awesome! I'm so glad you are! Azula's inner dialogue is one of my favourite elements too! Thank you!

Uzu: Thank you for that. I appreciate it. Farhadi's comment was nonsensical and just felt like someone who has a personal hatred of Annabeth (which I don't understand at all). They also haven't bothered to keep up with comments that are similar to theirs and my responses to them, because I have remained consistent in my responses to them. But I truly appreciate you standing up for me, its very nice of you!

: That's a very interesting question. I responded in message too but Annabeth's ghost is left intentionally vague. It's equally as likely for it to just be Percy's memory or fabrication of Annabeth that it is her actual ghost. Both options present really interesting aspects to Percy's character and mental state and I'm not going to say which one I had intended/believe is the case as I feel that's a detriment to the story.

TheStrongFriend: Many thanks

Figggle: That's awesome that it got that response from you! I was feeling much the same when writing it!

Guest: As much as hissing and booing made me laugh, apologies. It's just been tough to write. I'm glad you're so invested in this book though, and I hope I can update faster, if just to avoid the hissing hahah.

Poseidon Olympus: Thank you! Yeah, I used to have an update schedule. I sat at weekly for a long while, then went to fortnightly, but now I think, unless my writing speed changes rapidly, monthly will be as good as I can do for now. Apologies.

lord of the east: I'm glad you enjoyed the first book! I hope you do the same for the second!

Farhadi: Your language and exaggeration really doesn't do well for your points. To say that my story is everything wrong with crossovers, a very subjective and opinion based thing, is laughable a best. You may not like it, in which case, just don't read it. You aren't being forced to. This comment reeks of a lack of understanding of storytelling. Half of this just feels like you hate Annabeth, which I don't understand at all. There is every reason for Percy to be with Annabeth... because when Percy begins this book, its at the end of Heroes of Olympus... where he's in a relationship with Annabeth. That might be one of the most nonsense critiques I've heard. The reddit worship of Percabeth? You mean, the canon pairing, people like it because its very well done and what happens in the books. You clearly missed the author's note in which I described that I was hesitant to even involve Annabeth for exactly the first reason you described, but your lack of understanding of the character growth that comes from losing someone is phenomenal. It's not at all pointless and (when done with a purpose) is pretty good writing. I'm not saying that's what I am, but you clearly don't understand the basics of developing stories.
You're point about the story remaining the same has been said multiple times and I've replied the same to them all. There are logical reasons as to why it has, and I've spelt them out numerous times. You could say I haven't made it clear enough, but I could say you're not looking hard enough at what I'm writing to pick it up. Based on the rest of your comments, I'd say it was the latter. Multiple things have changed in Azula's story, you really think she's having those talks with Percy, Ty Lee, Mai and Zuko if she's canon Azula? Do you really think she's seeking out Iroh's advice in canon? The most hilarious thing you have said is that this story is in any way lazy. You could reasonably call this story many things, but lazy is absolutely not one of them.
The Azula/Percy tag is... because they're the two main characters. If they weren't there as a pairing, fanfiction would put the first two names on this story as Mai and Ty Lee or Azula and Mai. Blame fanfiction for that. The "pairing" is still left up in the air, and at no point does this story ever even touch on the romance tag. Like both source materials (PJO and ATLA), the romance and developments happen in the background and service the characters. You're mad at that when in the original PJO stories it took 4 books for a kiss and ATLA about 2 and a half seasons for a proper kiss between the two mains. But Percy not having romantic vibes with Azula... you're either daft or blind because that's just not at all the case. And just a sequel after the war? That seems entirely more boring. Azula is pathologically insane and broken from what she's been put through and the mental toll she was put under, it would literally just be Percy as an actual therapist and every time this story has leant into that even a little, people have pushed back against it. No, that idea is illogical and stupid.
You proved my point for me. This book isn't a romance, so sure, it wouldn't change much, but the motivations behind the characters decisions would be nowhere near as strong. And to your point about Harry Potter, I mean yeah? That's exactly the point. Does Harry get with Ginny in the first 3 Harry Potter books? Does Ron get with Hermoine? No, they don't. If you don't like it, just leave.

Guest: I'd like to see which words I misuse and misspell. Editing it myself can be difficult, as self-editing has its challenges, but I promise, it's not just to sound smart. It's to not reuse the same words over and over again. If I were to do that, it'd be frustrating as a reader.

Thank you for all your comments! Apologies for the long reply to a comment, it's just illogical ramblings of my work often invoke a lot of feelings I feel I need to reply to it with. I hope you all enjoy and I look forward to all your reviews!

-PS