This chapter was edited by Gladiusx.
Ogygia.
Percy frowned as something wet touched his cheek. He tried to push it away as he rolled on his side, but it remained persistent. He was having a nice dream, where he was celebrating his birthday with his mother. Sally Jackson had one of her patented blue feasts spread on the table. Blue cakes, blue cookies, blue cola… blue everything!
Yet something was different now; his mother's smile had a sad undertone. It didn't reach her blue eyes, which were no longer as bright as the skies. Her normally youthful face had a few age lines, and her brown hair had far more streaks of gray than he remembered.
He tried asking her what was wrong, but Sally shook her head sadly, her lips moving, yet no sound came.
Another insistent nudge on his cheek, followed by a gust of hot air that smelled suspiciously of horse breath, had Percy open his eyes and groan as he found himself inches from Blackjack's nose.
"What the Hades, Blackjack?"
The horse snorted before silently trotting to the rest of his sleeping friends. Suddenly, Percy was wide awake as he remembered what happened. In a heartbeat, he was on his feet, looking around to find Tyson holding his head while blinking slowly, looking confused as he tried to stand.
"Tyson! Are you alright?"
"I think so… Something is weird, though. I feel like…like something is missing in me." Percy raised an eyebrow as he helped his brother to his feet. "Don't worry about me, brother. Let's check the others."
Nodding, Percy hurried to check on the girls. Reyna was up with Jack while her sister was busy checking over Rachel and Calypso, who were collapsed on top of each other. He rushed to them, covering the short distance in a heartbeat.
"Hylla. What's wrong with them?"
"Their muscles are tense, and their breathing is heavy. Their jaws are clenched, and they are not responding."
"So?" Percy grabbed the older girl's shoulder and shook her, "How are they?"
Hylla stared at him and then at his offending hand, causing him to let go.
"Sorry. I'm just worried." He stared at his lover's face; there was a slight puffiness around her eyes. Beads of sweat were glistening atop her and Rachel's skin.
"'s fine," the Latina girl grumbled. "They're just sleeping away their exhaustion. I think they must have moved after we fell unconscious."
Percy checked the magic circle they were in; it no longer glowed and Reyna had already walked out of it as she seemed to be talking to Jack, yet he could not hear anything from them. He was the last to collapse, but he recalled Calypso and Rachel were in different positions back then.
"Let's move them to the house so they can rest properly. Then, we need to figure out what the heck happened here."
Hylla nodded and went to grab Rachel, while Percy gently picked Calypso in his arms.
Yet before he could move, he gawked. To the side, Reyna, red-faced with exertion, had her mouth open in a silent scream at them.
"Is… your sister pulling our legs?"
"What's the matter, Reyna?" Hylla handed Rachel to Tyson and approached her sister in worry. "I can't hear any–"
Percy's jaw dropped as the girl suddenly went silent, yet her mouth still moved. She and Reyna's eyes widened as they turned to him and tried to tell him something, but again, no sound came.
Blackjack seemed to stomp the ground behind them and flap his wings, yet Percy heard nothing.
"What the Hades…"
He turned to Tyson, who looked even more confused than him. Hylla seemed to understand something was wrong as she walked away from her sister; all the while, her mouth moved.
"–hear me?"
"Yes! I can hear you now. What the hell was that, Hylla?"
The older girl frowned as she turned to her sister, who looked suspiciously at Blackjack, who refused to meet her eyes.
"Blackjack? Is there something you would like to say?"
Percy narrowed his eyes at the pegasus, yet the winged horse did not reply to him. Feeling annoyed, he walked over to Hylla and handed her Calypso's sleeping form, the tall woman easily holding the Titaness in her arms.
The silence continued until he moved right beside Blackjack.
"Finally! You can hear me now, right?"
"Yep, and you Blackjack?"
"Yeah, Boss. What's happening, bossman? Are we cursed?"
"I don't know, boy." Percy rubbed his chin before grabbing Reyna's hand, "We will find out. Stay here."
Walking back to Hylla with her sister in hand, Percy turned to the rest of his friends. "Everyone can hear me, right?"
"Yes/Yeah/Yep." Tyson, Hylla, and Reyna echoed one after another.
Percy turned to his pegasus, "Can you hear me, Blackjack? Nod your head." The stallion nodded. "Are you trying to tell me something?" Another nod and Percy was feeling even more confused. "I can't hear you at all, Jack."
"Does that mean Blackjack really is cursed?" Reyna tilted her head in confusion. "Strangely, he can hear us, but not the other way around. I mean, I can't even hear him flapping his wings or stomping his hooves."
That was true, and Percy felt uneasy as he looked at the increasingly anxious pegasus. Walking back to him, he patted his head to calm him down, but a gasp from Reyna had him turn back to her.
"I can hear him now!" Percy let go of Jack's head, the pegasus still stomping the ground. "Now I can't. Touch him again, Percy."
Holding the pegasus' head, Reyna nodded and turned to her sister and Tyson. "Yes, I can hear him now."
"Boss, what is happening to me?"
"I don't know, Jack. But the best person who can tell us needs rest." The demigod of the sea glanced at Calypso in Hylla's arms, her slowly rising chest as she breathed, assuring him that she was fine. "Let's head on to the house, and maybe we will figure something out later."
.
.
.
They laid Calypso and Rachel on the cots inside the marble mansion's living room. They noticed the changed sky and the distant rocky wall on their way there.
Percy was eager to explore the surroundings, for he was certain they were no longer in Kansas. Hylla most likely suspected the same and eyed him several times while subtly gesturing to Blackjack, but he shook his head.
He had to be certain the girls would be alright first.
"Lady Hylla was correct; they are just tired and should wake up after a good night's rest."
The shy and low voice came from the adorable girl who appeared once they brought the unconscious Calypso into the mansion. She introduced herself as Roxy and led them into the living room. The feeling she gave off was from one of Calypso's invisible servants. But she was not invisible like the rest of the Solarians, and her appearance surprised him greatly.
She was short, barely reaching his midriff, with a lithe and slender figure hidden behind a thick and heavy brown cloak. Her most striking feature, however, was the blue hair that reached to her knees and bright blue eyes.
It was the most awesome thing he had ever seen on a human.
Percy had seen many people dye their hair a garish neon blue, but this was different. It had a rich, deep hue that seemed to change shades depending on the angle and lighting. The girl's eyes were perpetually narrowed, as if she were constantly sleepy, yet would not meet either his or Hylla's eyes as she spoke.
Reyna and Tyson were asked to wait outside with Blackjack to avoid crowding the room, or stressing the girl.
"Thank you, Roxy. You're a lifesaver."
"… I would do anything for the mistress. Lady Rachel was also kind to us, despite our inability to hide from her."
The shy girl had an annoyed pout as she glanced at Rachel, causing him to grin.
Hylla's face, however, was filled with suspicion.
"Will you be capable of looking after them while we are gone?"
"Of course I will!" Roxy glared, but it turned into a flinch as Hylla placed a hand on her shoulder.
"I meant no offense, for Calypso is also my mistress now. Percy and I must explore our surroundings, and I simply worry over their health."
Roxy still shied away, but her defiance was replaced with another pout.
"Very well. My clan and I shall look after our lady and her friend… you can leave now." The girl added as she hid her face in her cloak's hood.
Percy chuckled and boldly patted the girl's soft, silky hair, "Thanks again, Roxy."
The girl's face turned an atomic red as she stuttered a reply, but he had already stood up. He hesitated momentarily before withdrawing the inert crystal that Calypso used to power her spell and placing it around her neck.
Percy winked at the blue-haired girl before turning away. From what he learned, Roxy was the youngest Solarian and, ironically, the bravest. Considering how twitchy and jumpy she was, he wondered how shy the older generation was.
As he left the manor, Hylla quickly joined him. Outside, Reyna and Tyson were trying to measure where Blackjack's Silence Field ended.
"Any luck?"
"Nope, how far he can spread the silent field is completely random." Reyna shrugged, "I think it's connected with Blackjack's emotions."
Percy could tell the pegasus was getting very frustrated with his so-called curse. He approached and scratched his chin, causing him to flap his wings in delight.
"Ah, we can hear him again."
He glanced at Reyna standing with her sister and Tyson about ten feet away, then back to his hands stroking Jack's head.
"Let me test something. Tell me if you can hear me." Letting go of the pegasus, he turned to his friends. "Can you hear me?" They shook their heads, and Percy touched the pegasus again, "What about now?"
"Yeah, we can hear you." Hylla smiled as she approached, "Perhaps your divine touch can cure curses?"
"Heh, who knows," he shrugged.
But Percy wondered if she was right.
Once he woke up, he had not noticed due to how hectic things had been, but the son of the sea god could tell that something was inherently different in him.
Focusing inwards on the source of his powers that stemmed from his gut, he was shocked to find it was not there; instead, it was all over his body.
It was like his original power was locked behind a vault and only slightly opened whenever he focused heavily on it, yet now, it was readily available with a thought and eager to be used. Percy could tell that it was in every cell of his body, from his hair to his skin, and if he squinted his eyes enough, he could see some form of green mist oozing out of his skin. Yet, the more he looked at it, the quicker it disappeared, like a mirage on a hot summer's day.
Even as he recalled the sensation of it, he could tell how different it felt.
Aside from the sea and horses, his powers had many other aspects: one that felt shocking, another that shook him, and another that reminded him of rams and trees.
The most powerful aspect, however, made him feel rage. His entire soul was clamoring to be let loose and strike at the heavens!
Percy shook his head and focused on his connection to water, his oldest and most reliable power. It was even more powerful and felt far smoother. With a thought, he raised his hand and could easily feel a wave from the distant shore ready to be summoned without feeling his gut clenching.
"Are you alright, brother? You've been silent for a few minutes."
"Don't worry, Tyson. Just thinking about something." Percy turned to his friends, his eyes narrowing as he could almost sense something in them - something liquid. He shook his head, refusing even to entertain the idea of reaching out to it. "Have any of you felt…different since we woke up?"
"… I can't feel Dad anymore." Tyson's single eye got wet as his face fell, and Percy felt his insides twist. He had tried not to think about it, but that small feeling of reassurance that he always had, like someone watching over him in pride and warmth, was also gone. "And something else… look."
The Cyclops pulled a dagger and ran it over his finger, causing Reyna to gasp in worry. Percy also gasped, but not for the same reason.
"Red." Hylla looked in shock at the crimson liquid flowing from Tyson's scratch that was already healing. "Aren't Cyclops monsters? Shouldn't their blood be–"
"Ichor. Gold, like the rest of the gods. Remember what Calypso said?"
"Monsters and gods share the same physiology or something."
"Yep," Percy smiled at Reyna's quick reply. "What about you two? Anything different?"
The sisters looked at each other, seemingly conversing silently, before shaking their heads.
"Nothing. I mean, we never truly explored our powers." Hylla sat on a bench where she had placed her golden shield and held it thoughtfully. "Perhaps I could feel… Nevermind. It could just be my imagination."
"Anyway, have you figured out how to turn off Blackjack's curse?" Reyna skipped to the pegasus and stroked his wings. "You managed to do it earlier."
"I think I do." Percy once more touched the horse and turned to Tyson. "You can hear me now, right?" At the cyclops' nod, he retracted his hand. "What about now?"
Tyson tried to say something, but Percy couldn't hear him. Before he touched Blackjack again, he focused on bringing his powers to heel, forcing them to return inwards instead of projecting them out of his skin. Then, he touched the pegasus, yet still could not hear Tyson. With a thought, he allowed a smidgen of his power, which felt so much like the sea, to flow to his skin, and suddenly, sound returned.
"Well, Jack, looks like we found a solution of sorts." Percy rubbed his brow in dismay at the prospect of having the pegasus always silent when out of reach. "This has to be some kind of power-up you unlocked. Maybe in time, you will learn to control it. Have you noticed anything strange since you woke up?"
"I don't know, boss. While I think the air is much fresher here, I don't feel any different. Well, I did eat a repugnant fruit from that golden tree…"
"You ate one of Calypso's fruits?" Percy deadpanned at the horse, who looked away in shame. He shook his head in disappointment. He wasn't even sure if those were the same fruits as the apple tree of immortality and even then, what would be the effects if a pegasus ate it?
"So, did you manage to cure him?"
Percy turned to the worried Reyna. "Not exactly. For some reason, whatever power or curse he got doesn't work when I'm actively using my powers. We will have to wait until Calypso wakes up and explain what that fruit Jack ate was all about. Anyway, while we wait, we must explore where we are."
"Alright, I'll take Blackjack–"
"Nope, Jack is staying here until we can figure out how to turn off that power." Percy immediately shot Reyna down, stifling a chuckle at her disappointed pout. "If I can do it, there must be a method for it. So better get working, buddy."
"But how, boss? You can't just expect me to know!"
"Just like I did with my powers, I expect you to do the same. Grit, determination, visualization… you will have to figure it out, Jack."
The pegasus neighed silently before trotting to Reyna and laying down before the manor. Hylla smiled fondly before grabbing her shield and jogging to Percy's side.
"And what shall we be doing, Captain?"
The mention of his title had Percy remember something important. "We check on the ship. Let's go, Tyson, Hylla."
P*o*D
Now that he was on the ship and water, Percy could confidently say that he had absolutely no idea where the fuck they were!
It took everything in his power to stay calm as he stroked Cobalt's blue scales while Hylla and Tyson ensured the ship was alright. Percy had suspected earlier when he was on land, but his navigation powers worked only when he was out at sea… at least that was the case back home.
Seems that power had also gotten an upgrade, yet he could not bring himself to feel joy. Any doubt in his mind was gone.
They were most definitely not in Kansas anymore. He had never felt lost at sea, for all the seas were connected to Poseidon's domain somehow… at least on Earth, but what about on another planet? Another world? Did people worship the Greek gods here? Did they even exist?
Hylla's familiar footsteps made him turn around as she cautiously approached him with her ever-present shield slung over her back.
"The ship is fine. Tyson found no problems at all, not even an untied rope." Her eyes were set on his hand. Or perhaps the hippocampus that was preening under his fingers? "The mistress' spell held up splendidly. Did you find anything?"
"I don't think we're on Earth anymore." He said bluntly, finding it easier just to let it all out rather than beat around the bush.
"… I suspected as much." Hylla's voice was dripping with resignation.
"You did?" Percy turned to her in surprise. "How come?"
"Just a hunch." The older girl shrugged. "I could tell some sort of connection I had is now gone. Considering what the mistress warned before I fell unconscious…"
Percy nodded in sympathy. That connection she spoke about could have been her mother's. Then again, it could have been something entirely different, considering her mother never contacted her.
"Why do you keep calling Calypso, mistress?"
"Because she is my mistress. I owe her my loyalty and gratitude for taking me in as a disciple of magic."
"Fair enough." It sounded quite archaic, but Percy was used to archaic things, it came with the Greek heritage. And if Hylla was content with such an arrangement, who was he to say anything?
She rubbed her eyes and warily looked at their surroundings as if expecting some monster to jump out from behind the corner.
"Have you discovered anything else?"
"Only that we are about fifteen thousand feet above sea level." Hylla gaped like a fish, and Percy couldn't help but chuckle. "Doesn't feel like it, huh?"
"Yeah, you would think it would be freezing! Fifteen thousand… that's over four and a half kilometers."
For a moment, Percy was confused until he remembered she was from Puerto Rico. Thankfully, his built-in navigation included a conversion system from metric to imperial.
"Sounds about right - nearly three miles as well. Any idea why we're not feeling the cold?"
"Must be the island's enchantments. The mistress mentioned several times that Ogygia was quasi-sentient."
Before they could chat more, Tyson came out of the galley. "Brother, the ship is ready to sail at any time."
"Good to hear, but I don't think we'll get to sail anywhere any time soon." Percy shook his head as he looked back to Cobalt, "The hippocampi report that the Mist surrounding the lake is nearly gone, but we are trapped in some kind of mountain."
"If only we knew what exactly happened when we were asleep."
"We will know once Calypso and Rachel awaken tomorrow." He assured Hylla before turning to the sky at the sound of flapping wings.
"Heeeyyyy!"
It was Reyna astride Blackjack. She circled above them before landing on the deck.
"Blackjack managed to control his ability! You were right, Percy. It took some practice, but he managed to do it!"
"Great job, Reyna. How did you do it?"
"Easy. I threatened him with no donuts until he fixed his problem. Sheer indignity and willpower saved the day!"
They laughed as the young girl puffed out her chest with her hands on her hips. Blackjack, however, was grumbling to himself.
"Well, Jack?" Percy ran a hand through his silky mane. "What have you discovered?"
"Yeah, boss. I can make myself silent like a ninja, and create some kind of soundproof forcefield around me. This is gonna be super awesome when I'm chasing pigeons."
The pegasus flapped his wings excitedly, yet Percy could not hear the winds buffeting them.
"That's cool. Alright, crew," he clapped his hands to grab attention. "We are not in any danger, I think, yet that can change at any moment. Blackjack and I shall fly out of this rocky prison Ogygia found itself in to explore our surroundings. The more we know about the outside world, the better."
"Oh, can I come too?" Reyna looked so excited that he hated having to break her heart. "Please?!"
Percy grimaced at how the normally reserved girl widened her dark eyes and looked up at him. He turned to Hylla for help only to find her giggling before gazing at her sister seriously.
"I don't think that would be wise, Reyna. We have no idea what could be waiting outside this mountain. What if there were monsters like dragons or worse? How would Percy protect you when he is busy fighting them?"
Reyna shuffled her feet awkwardly before nodding, "You're right. I didn't think of that." Yet her eyes were determined as she raised her chin, "That means you can't go unprepared, Captain. Tyson! Do we have any form of radio or communication devices?"
The Cyclops smiled at the shorter yet older girl, "Yes, let me grab them."
"Don't forget the saddle as well!" Reyna called after the Cyclops as he hurried down the galley.
"Wow, girl. You're quite the taskmaster when you want to, huh?"
The younger Latina girl's olive skin turned a rosy red, "I just don't like feeling useless. I'm the weakest one in the group, good for nothing but riding horses."
"Don't sell yourself short, Reyna." Hylla hugged her sister from behind as she ruffled her hair, "You are quite smart as well. I'm sure Percy would have flown off with no regards to his safety if it weren't for you."
The son of Poseidon rubbed his brow in embarrassment. He really was about ready to do just that.
Tyson's lumbering footsteps had them turn to the galley's entrance, where they found him coming on deck with Blackjack's saddle in one arm and a large leather briefcase. Reyna and Hylla quickly started saddling Blackjack while Tyson placed the case on a table.
"Dad didn't have any comms on board, but it was simple for me to set things up myself."
"I didn't know you were into communications. I mean, anyone could simply use Iris Messages, and the gods have the prayer system."
"True, but the first page in Hephaestus' booklet was about wireless signals." His brother opened the case, showing several pole-like structures, headsets, another box of sorts that made no sense to Percy, and small chip-like devices. "I'm glad I spent the last few days tinkering with them instead of skimming to the good stuff."
"Good stuff?" Percy laughed as the Cyclops screwed two poles together, one end having a blunt circular orb while the other, a sharp stake that looked more like a spearhead.
"Guns and bombs… things that go boom. Maybe an automaton or two. I still have much to learn."
He watched silently as Tyson attached several more poles. As usual, his brother's hands were very deft despite their size, and while Percy couldn't say what exactly he was doing, it seemed like he was doing it well.
"Okay, these are relay rods. I will need you to attach them to the mountain walls at four spots in the distance. Then, you will need to place four more on top of the mountain. This will allow us to talk through the comms for miles."
The cyclops showed him how the rods worked and what to do to secure and activate them.
"Sounds good, but I'm surprised Hephaestus would deem a gimmick that has been around in the mortal world for decades to be worthy enough to be included in his booklet."
"It's not that simple, brother." Tyson handed him a belt with all eight rods attached that Percy tied around his back. "Mortals would need to worry about the weather, interfering signals, huge towers to send and receive the signal, terrain, geography, and most importantly, they don't have to worry about monsters picking up the signal."
"You mean that Hephaestus created…" Percy's eyes were wide as Tyson nodded.
"Monster-proof comms. I don't know how monsters work here, but just in case, no one can listen in on us when we talk."
"That's awesome. If only we had this back home…" Percy shook his head before remembering something. "How will I talk, though?"
"Give me your watch."
Confused but taking off his shield/watch anyway, Tyson did something he could not comprehend as the watch disassembled itself on the table. Then, he grabbed one of the microchip-like devices, installed it in the watch, and assembled it back. The entire process didn't take more than a minute before the Cyclops handed him back the watch.
"There is now a switch opposite the crown. It can be turned off and on and has two settings: loudspeaker or attachment." Tyson handed him a small rubber bud the size of a bean. "Wear it in your ear. It doubles as a speaker and mic."
"Sweet." He put it on, the thing easily sticking to his ear comfortably, and then turned the comm on when he saw Tyson holding a speaker-like device in his hand. "Testing, Testing."
"Testing, Testing." His voice came from the device, loud and crisp. Tyson repeated the test, and Percy could hear his voice in his ear. Switching to speaker mode, the voice coming from his watch was a bit low, but the switch had a dial on it where he could adjust the volume.
Turning the watch into shield form, the speaker still worked as intended, though he could not access the controls.
"It doesn't need any towers or relays to work short-range, and unlike mortal radio, you don't have to wait for the other side to finish their transmission." His brother explained patiently before showing him more options on the watch once he turned it back. The bezel doubled as a tuning device to connect to the right frequency, allowing him and others to have a channel to themselves if they wanted privacy.
"Not as versatile as a phone, but at least I won't have to worry about monsters or payment plans. That was remarkable, Tyson. I'm so proud of you, brother."
His brother chuckled shyly as he grabbed one last pole, bigger than the ones he gave him, and looked at the crow's nest. "It's no problem. This will be the main transmission tower. We need to attach this on top of the mast, but–"
"Blackjack is ready!" The two sisters walked over, leading the pegasus. "I packed the saddlebags with essentials as well. It has your binoculars, water, snacks, first aid, nectar, and ambrosia."
Percy nodded his thanks, grabbing the binoculars and wearing them around his neck. "Reyna, could you attach that rod to the top of the mast?"
The young girl nodded eagerly and grabbed the transmission rod before climbing the mast like a monkey. Within a minute, the rod was secured, and Tyson pressed a button on a device in his hand.
He could hear Reyna's shriek of surprise before an indignant, "Hey, watch it!" sounded from above as the rod expanded into an antenna of sorts, pushing her to the edge of the crow's nest.
"You could have warned my sister, Tyson." Hylla clicked her tongue in disapproval as Reyna climbed down the ropes, folded her arms, and glared at the Cyclops.
"Sorry."
"Don't worry about it," Reyna patted his arm genially before turning to him. "Ready to go, Captain?"
"Yep." He mounted up, making sure to keep his powers withdrawn and the comms on earbud. "Before I forget, Tyson. I can sense the lake water leaking into some kind of underground spring. Try to see where it goes."
"Sure, brother. I'll have Rainbow help."
The hippocampus in question jumped out of the water at the mention of his name. Cobalt dove down after him, allowing Percy to send the bed of water splashing down into the lake.
"I'll handle communication." Reyna declared, "Tyson can teach me how to operate it."
"Alright, I'll talk to you later."
Within a minute, he was climbing to the skies. The temptation to fly to the top was strong, but he needed to attach the rods first. As he flew away from the ship, he kept in contact with Reyna to test the limits of the short-range feature of the comms. Surprisingly, it still worked brilliantly, even when he reached the mountain wall many miles away. Percy wondered why bother with the relay rods, but he shrugged; Tyson thought they were necessary, so he might as well.
Once they arrived at the rocky wall, Percy stabbed a small hole with Riptide into the solid rock before piercing the rod deeper into it. Pressing a button that Tyson showed him, the rod's pointy end spun like a drill and pierced deeper into the rock before clicking sounds told him its prongs took root, and it was now secured. Another button and the antenna opened like a blooming flower. He warned Reyna to switch to the new frequency, before calling in.
"Reyna, can you hear me?"
"Yes, Captain! Loud and clear." Came the serious and diligent reply.
Percy turned Blackjack around to install the other three rods. "Where's Tyson?"
"He dove with Rainbow to map the seabed. Or, the lake bed. The bottom of the lake!" He chuckled as the girl lost her cool for a moment before coughing, "Hylla is taking one of the comlinks to the manor so Roxy can tell us when Calypso wakes up."
"Sounds good." He was approaching the second spot where he needed to attach the rod. The first relay rod was doing an impressive job keeping the comms working with little loss of quality. "Comlinks?"
"Well, we gotta call them something." He almost envisioned the girl shrugging as he installed the second rod and flew to the third spot. "Anti-Monster-comms sounds dumb. Radio is too generic. Comlinks sound cool."
"I dunno, Reyna. I feel like we're ripping off Star Wars or something." Arriving at the third spot and patting Blackjack's mane for his incredible speed, Percy quickly installed it before moving on to the last spot.
"What's Star Wars?"
He nearly dropped the rod in his hand, "You don't know Star Wars?!"
"Uhh, Percy? Don't forget that I've been stuck on a magical island all my life."
"Ah, true." He coughed awkwardly as he installed the last rod before flying higher to the mouth of what he realized must have been a dormant volcano; at least, he hoped it was dormant. "We will have to get you up to speed on it then."
Once he broke out of the summit, Percy turned around in search of a good spot to place the relay rods. The mountain, or volcano, was broad indeed, even if its peak was tighter than where Ogygia was. The peak alone was about six miles across, and he wondered how the island even fit with all of its water.
Then again, he recalled Calypso mentioning that Ogygia never ran out of fresh water.
He was now twenty thousand feet above sea level and could tell it was freezing cold. Percy did not really need to worry about the heat or cold, but he wasn't sure if Reyna or Hylla would have survived this temperature, for he still felt it and wished he wore heavier clothing.
Surprisingly, he could breathe easily with no trouble at all. He could have sworn that the higher you go, the less oxygen there was. In fact, he thought his breathing was even easier than at lower altitudes, and even Blackjack agreed with him.
"How's the weather up there, Captain?"
"Sunshine with no clouds, and surprisingly not as windy as I expected." It was still windy enough that he had to shout to hear himself, yet definitely not as windy as it should be so high up. "How do you read me?"
"Loud and clear. No need to shout, Captain. I think the mic filters out the noise."
Percy had no idea how that worked but shrugged nonetheless. He urged Blackjack to fly to a spot that aligned well with the rest of the relay rods.
The plan was to form an octagonal shape, where the quadrant of rods already installed would not be directly below the new ones he would install on the summit. Both quadrants would form an octant complementing each other, whereas the top quadrant would use the high altitude to send the signal hundreds, if not thousands, of miles away.
At least, that's how Tyson explained it, but Percy barely understood the gist of it.
It hadn't been an hour since he left the ship when he installed the final relay rod. The ones in the top quadrant had much larger antennas than the bottom one.
"Alright, I'm done."
"Good. I just set up the comlink at the manor." Hylla's voice sounded in his ear, "Roxy says that Calypso and Rachel are recovering well."
"Excellent. Any news from Tyson?"
"Nothing yet, brother. The leak you mentioned is a small tunnel that I'm digging through right now. I just need to return to the ship and gather my tools."
"Wait, you can hear me? I didn't know this was waterproof!" In hindsight, that made sense. Although, only he and Tyson would probably be able to use it underwater.
"Percy, what do you see? What's outside this mountain?" Reyna interrupted whatever Tyson was going to say, and judging by the other two's radio silence, they were also curious.
Urging Blackjack to fly even higher to get the best view possible, Percy found himself gazing at a large island and a vast expanse of sea. There was a little Mist near the peak, and he could tell it was Mist, not mist, but it appeared to be slowly dissipating. Strangely, he could see the sea for possibly hundreds, if not thousands of miles, as if there was no smog or fog in this world.
His vision wasn't the best anyway, so he couldn't tell if the dark spots in the distance were other islands or ships or whatever, even with the binoculars. Instead, he focused on his immediate surroundings. The island they were on was large. Massive even. His navigation powers worked in overdrive as they calculated everything his eyes saw.
It was over seven times larger than Long Island, at nearly ten thousand square miles… and from what he could tell, it was uninhabited. There were no cities, towns, or villages unless they were hidden underneath the trees.
And the island's topography; there were forests and woodlands full of birds and animals that he could not recognize from this distance. Most of the island was dry hills and flatlands, though. The mountain they were on was the only one on the entire island, and it was definitely a volcano, for mountains don't normally have calderas.
Looking over the edge of the island, he found a few smaller islands scattered around the main one, but they were mostly piles of rocks, though there was the occasional greenery on a few of them.
Focusing on the beaches, he found bays, lagoons, and a dry valley connected to a rather large basin with several strange hills that shot up into the sky. The basin was several hundred feet deep and ended abruptly a few dozen feet from the shore, where a solid wall of rock stopped the sea from pouring in.
It was an extremely strange phenomenon, and he had no explanation for it. The first storm should have sent the waves over those rocks and turned the basin into a ria, a natural harbor, or a lagoon.
Shaking his head, he followed the dry valley, finding it connected to the mountain, and wondered if it was some sort of river in the past that dried up. Even as he watched, he found a small trickle of water falling from the mountain's slope, and he instinctively knew it stemmed from Ogygia.
"Looks like the island will have a major river in time," Hylla commented once he relayed all he discovered to the crew. "With Ogygia's endless supply of freshwater, that canyon will turn into a river and fill the empty basin to form a lake. Those hills? They're going to be islands in time."
"I can build a water elevator of sorts so we can bring the ship down, but it would take me some time." Tyson continued his digging efforts, the rocks and the mountain easily melting to his hands like clay, another benefit to being a Cyclops. His tools definitely helped when it came to the hardier rocks and random metals he would find.
"Like the Panama Canal?"
"Better, but I need time."
Percy chuckled at his brother's simple answer. Time… they had plenty of it.
He continued scanning the island with his binoculars and froze as he found a strange sight in one of the lagoons. It was a dangerous one to sail in, especially with the many rocks and reefs he could see, but that wasn't what caught his attention.
"I see a ship!"
P*o*D
The Naked Knight.
Gwendolyn dashed through the foliage, holding her prince in both arms. She dared not stop as she could hear her pursuers chasing after her as they stumbled through the woods and fought off the wildlife. She had hoped they would be delayed by the reefs in that lagoon, but she was forced to delay when the prince's wound reopened.
He had taken a bullet for her when they were caught unawares and had lost a lot of blood from it. Gwen was not a medic by any means, but extracting that bullet out of his back with her bare hands might have been a mistake. She had torn half her shirt to use as bandages, and now she was almost naked if not for her skirt.
If it was anyone other than her prince, they would have died hours ago. While not as much as her, he had still trained his body enough to survive such a wound.
A low growl from the bush ahead of her was her only warning, and Gwen jumped high in the air, barely dodging a massive tiger pouncing at her previous position. Not letting the beast take a second to recover, she twisted her body for momentum, focused on her feet, and drop-kicked it on its back. Gwen could not even rejoice at the satisfying sound of the tiger's spine breaking before she pushed her bare feet off it to sprint as fast as she could.
The sound of yelling, gunfire, and a beastly roar followed her, and she gritted her teeth in frustration. She quite regretted letting her guard down nearly two days ago.
So confident they were in the secrecy of their mission and after a month of smooth sailing, they let their guard down once they entered the Calm Belt. They never thought anyone would be foolish enough to chase them.
How wrong they were.
"G-Gwen…"
"My Prince!" The weak voice of her prince nearly made her stumble. "Please, don't speak. Save your strength."
"L-Leave me and l-live."
Her heart clenched painfully. She could not fail here, not now.
"I refuse," she muttered.
Her prince tried to smile, but it turned into a pained grimace on his pallid face. "Even… if it's an order?"
"Even then." Especially then. What good was a royal guard that lived when their charge perished?
Prince Lionel did not respond; only his shallow breathing told her he still lived, but for how long she did not know. Gwen bit her lips as she jumped over a log and nearly stumbled over a creek before recovering and continuing to dash. Finding an empty stretch ahead of her, she risked using Shave to cut the distance quickly but grimaced in pain as her bare feet felt even more sore and bruised.
Nevertheless, Gwen gritted her teeth and soldiered on. She did not know where she could run, only that she had to run.
The knight did not remember when she last ate or rested, probably two days now. Rowing that boat nonstop and then running away from those knaves and manhunters had taken a toll even on her specially trained body.
While the prince's breathing was shallow, hers was rough. Her muscles ached, and her bare feet were bleeding from stepping on too many rocks, occasionally using Shave, and kicking too many beasts.
Yet she did not falter. Her duty would not let her; her prince's safety was paramount to her own.
Suddenly, she could see light in the distance between the foliage, and an unbidden smile bloomed on her face.
"See, my prince? We are nearly out of the woods!"
Lionel did not reply, but she hurried nonetheless. Soon, she broke out of the foliage, only for her smile to melt away and her eyes to widen in shock.
"Wha–"
They were on a cliff's edge with a sheer drop to a ravine below. The other side was two hundred meters away - not a distance she could cross without Moonwalk, which she wasn't proficient in. Especially not now when she was wounded and carrying her prince.
It was the worst possible scenario, and she froze in place; the sound of her pursuers came closer and closer.
"Leave me, Gwen." Prince Lionel's voice was stronger, yet his amethyst eyes were unseeing. "Leave me and run. There's no other choice."
She laid her prince on the ground and turned to the forest to face her foes.
"A royal guard fights to the death."
If only… if only she had her arms and armor. Her trusty sword was left behind, and she did not even have a kitchen knife. Yet that did not mean Gwendolyn would go down without a fight.
She picked a sturdy-looking branch and a handful of pebbles.
As soon as the first figure burst out of the foliage, the pebble in her hand was thrown with pinpoint accuracy, shattering the man's head like a melon. Her foes looked accustomed to fighting, and in decent physical shape. Only a killing blow to the head would be sufficient to kill them in the fastest way possible.
She barely threw two more pebbles, slaying two more knaves, before the bastards rushed her.
Despite their physical abilities, the assassins were no better than pirates in both their dress and skill.
As she dodged a wild swing from a cutlass, she brained the offending fool with her branch and quickly grabbed his sword to replace the shattered wood.
She scarcely managed to deflect the rain of bullets from their flintlocks.
The sword barely held on due to its low quality, and Gwen gritted her teeth.
None of these mooks were a danger to her. It was the two leaders she recognized on the ship that worried her. Once the pirates ran out of flintlocks and started reloading, she tried to rush them, only to dodge out of the way of a massive figure that jumped out of the trees and crushed the ground.
"Well, lookie here. The bitch still has some claws on her."
It was an enormous humanoid giraffe holding a familiar longsword in its hooves, the blade looking more like a dagger due to the size difference - it still incensed her causing her to growl. "Roscoe the Yellow. That's my sword you're holding!"
"Oh? You recognize me? I'm honored. As for this thing?" The bastard waved her precious Lightbreaker like it was some toy. "I'm sure a collector would pay handsomely for one of the named blades of Ilisia."
"You damned bastard. You will pay for this!"
"Don't be so feisty. At least wait until I have you squealing on my dick!"
"As vulgar as warned on your bounty poster." Gwen scoffed as the giraffe man fondled his groin. She was more concerned with why he wasn't attacking her, but it didn't matter. She took the chance to recover while searching for his partner. "Where's your partner, Bryant the Red?"
"Slithering somewhere, but you won't have to worry about him. Let'er rip, boys."
The user of the Ox-Ox Fruit, Model: Giraffe, jumped aside just as a dozen pirates aimed their flintlocks at her. Her eyes widened as she realized she could not dodge. The prince was right behind her.
The cacophony of gunfire had her gritting her teeth as she blocked and deflected as many of the bullets as possible. It was in vain, as her sword broke on the eighth bullet. She tensed all her muscles as she used one of the Six Skills, Ironbody, and covered her head with her hands.
Gwen gritted her teeth as the round bullets struck her body, leaving several bruises and fracturing some of her bones. She never had the opportunity to master the Six Skills, but Shave and Ironbody were the easiest to use.
As the gunfire ended, the knight collapsed on one knee and glared at the dozen pirates grinning evilly at her.
"Hehehe, not so tough now, huh?" That wretch Roscoe approached her kneeling form, but she would not surrender. "How persistent. Too bad you didn't keep your eye on your precious prince. That fifty million Berri head is mine!"
Too late, Gwen turned around to find a red-scaled human with long legs scaling the cliff near Lionel. Before she could dash to him, Roscoe sliced at her with her sword, and she was forced to dodge.
"My Prince!"
The man she realized was Bryant the Red scowled, "Roscoe, you fucker. Should have kept your mouth shut until the deed was done."
Gwen tried to get away from the giraffe man, but he was too persistent, and she was exhausted. Another dodge and she lost her footing, and Roscoe had her pinned under his hoof.
"Look closely, dear. I need you nice and broken before we sell you to the slave market. I reckon you would net me a cool ten mil at least, hehehe. It would barely recuperate our losses for this fucking venture." The hateful man stabbed her sword on the ground and grabbed her face, forcing her to watch as the user of some kind of Snake devil fruit pulled a dagger.
"No!" She could barely breathe from the weight of the several-ton animal on her back, yet she tried to reach for her prince nonetheless.
Just as Bryant was about to stab the prince, a dark shadow passed before them.
It was fast.
So fast that she thought it was an illusion. Yet, her eyes did not lie. The red reptilian hybrid had frozen in place before his serpentine head and raised arm separated and fell on the ground.
A fountain of blood burst out as the assassin's body collapsed like a doll with its strings cut.
Silence.
Neither Gwen, the Giraffe-man, nor the rest of the pirates uttered a sound as they tried to process what had happened.
Suddenly, the weight on her back disappeared as a large, dark figure crashed into Roscoe. Gwen struggled to stand and gawked at the winged horse, kicking the giraffe-man without making any sound.
A dark-haired warrior mounted on the horse stabbed at Roscoe's heart, only for the assassin to fully transform into a massive giraffe that roared wildly… only for no sound to come.
Gwen's training took over, and she quickly grabbed Lightbreaker before using Shave to appear right in front of one of the pirates. She cut him down cleanly in half before he could use his flintlock, her longsword proving to be a thousand times better than the Cutlass she used earlier, before moving on to the next assassin.
Her broken bones protested as fragments dug deeper into her muscles, and her whole body had become one giant bruise. Internal bleeding was a given, and Gwen felt incredibly lightheaded. Yet the knight gritted her teeth at the pain and used Shave again despite her buckling knees.
Her back screamed in agony as jolts of pain coursed through her flesh with every moment. She had to kill them as quickly as possible and aid the warrior fighting Roscoe! One head fell, a heart was stabbed, and Lightbreaker sank into the neck of another. By the seventh kill, another bullet dug into her torso, and her knees buckled.
Two more Shaves, to claim three more lives, and Gwendolyn's tendons ripped as she grew limp on the rocky ground. Her knee caps were as good as shattered, and she was losing too much blood both inside and outside. Mustering the final drop of strength, she threw Lightbreaker at the last assassin, impaling him in the heart and nailing him to a tree.
…She no longer had any strength to stand, let alone fight against Roscoe.
With titanic effort, Gwendolyn twisted herself to look at the giraffe man, only to see his decapitated head rolling on the ground, sending sprays of dark blood everywhere.
The warrior had messy dark hair and green eyes that almost glowed with power as he stood victorious, his bronze sword dyed red. He… he did not even look winded!
"Huh. So monsters here don't dissipate when killed. Good to know."
Gwen heard the words, but the meaning completely eluded her. But it didn't matter. Ignoring the pain, she used her bruised arms to drag herself to her dear charge.
"No…" she croaked out, her eyes settling on Prince Lionel. His chest was no longer moving. His eyes were wide open, and he stared at the sky above. His blonde hair was matted with sweat and dirt, and his shirt was soaked red.
Too much blood…
He was not breathing.
A figure knelt opposite her, but Gwen couldn't care as she stared dumbly at her prince's pallid face. All that mattered was the fact he was gone. She had failed.
Her liege, her friend, her–
"His heart still beats, but there is no time. I have a method that could save him, but it could also burn him from the inside out."
Gwendolyn flinched as she stared at the dark-haired boy across from her. He must have been half a decade younger than her, yet his sea-green eyes, similar to her emeralds, looked far older.
None of that mattered aside from his words that reignited the flames of hope in her heart.
"Do it," she choked out a rasp as the world faded into darkness.
Too much… she had pushed herself too hard even before the fight.
Death… she did not mind death, so long as her Lionel lived.
The Island is ten thousand square miles, as large as Sicily.
It's Tyson's time to shine! I hope no one forgot about his presence.
And our first Original Characters of the story. First of many. Lionel the Prince and his loyal Knight, Gwendolyn.
Time to break the stereotype of princesses in distress. Princes also need saving sometimes.
If you would like to support me, or read four chapters ahead, join me on my Pat(eo)n under the same penname.