Hi…if you haven't already, read the AN before this chapter..it'll explain a lot of things so I think you should read it…
Keep reviewing I like it
Also just a note about the whole Bryan name thing…IK it's not a very greek name at all, the reason I named him that, I did that because, in my previous story, Bryan was a demigod and Percy's half-brother, and I liked the character I made so I wanted to bring him into this story…don't like don't read.
Chapter 9: Percy's POV
Oh, I've missed hunting. Running with Midnight and Artemis is just so...refreshing. Honestly, sometimes I wonder why demigods hate quests so much.
...Ok yeah, you're right, stupid question. Anyway, the pack of hellhounds we were chasing started getting closer and closer, and I could feel Midnight's eyes on me.
"Go, Midnight!" I said
Midnight howled and jumped forward. The hellhounds finally became aware of our presence and split up, running faster than they were before.
"Let's split up!" Artemis yelled, and we moved away from each other. I pulled out a couple of my knives and flung them forward. They hit one of the 3 hellhounds I was chasing, and it fell. I kept running, trying to get to the other two.
I sighed, this was taking too long. I grabbed a few more knives and quickly finished off the last of them. I turned around, trying to find Midnight and Artemis. I realized they were nowhere to be found, probably turned, and ended up pretty far from me. I walked back, thinking about how crazy the last 2 years have been for all of us...especially me and Bryan. We fought a war against a should've been dead titan, and then me and Bryan were in Tartarus for a year. Okay but at least now we are chilling...right? Nope, gotta fight another war against 3 primordials that is probably gonna start soon. Yeah…pretty crazy to say the least. Oh well. Nothing else we can do but hope for the best.
As I walked along, I saw a bunch of trampled grass and blood down the trail where Midnight split up with us. Dread filled me to my stomach, as I realized I had left Midnight to go fight bad odds by himself. 4 hellhounds at the same time is no laughing matter. I ran down that lane as fast as I could. I found Midnight laying in a pool of monster dust, scratches covering his whole body.
"Midnight why would you go alone like that?" I asked angrily while picking him up softly
"You guys said to split up boss," he said, "besides, I'm fine, I almost got all of them"
"You'd better be," I groaned then teleported both of us to my mom on Olympus
Hestia lit up when she saw me, "Perseus!" She smiled, then she saw the bloody wolf in my arms, "oh dear…bring him here," she said
I laid Midnight down on the ground near her, letting the warmth of the hearth suck into his body. My mother rubbed her hands over his fur, murmuring under her breath. Her hands glowed and started heading the wound in Midnight's stomach. The longer I watched the blood seep through his black fur, the more my stomach hurt. Midnight has been my best friend since I first saw him as a pup 5 years ago. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I needed him to be immortal.
"Mother I want to make him immortal," I said
Midnight and Hestia both looked at me with that. Hestia just smiled, but Midnight looked surprised…or at least…whatever counts as surprised for a wolf.
"You will need to ask your uncle but I think it is a good idea. You could make him your sacred animal. At least partially immortal…I'm not sure if you could make him fully immortal, but you could try" she said
I nodded, softly stroking my wolf's fur. "Why, boss?" Midnight asked softly.
"Because, Midnight, you are one of my best friends. I don't want you to die, and this just made it all too real for me," I said
Midnight rubbed my hand with his head. I sighed because I was content. Life was good.
(Bryan POV)
Of all the things I was expecting from my first time back with Athena after a year, sitting with her and relaxing was so much better than I could've ever imagined. Holding her close to me and closing my eyes, she's the only thing I can think about. Yeah, it's corny but it's true. Honestly, she was the only thing on my mind. After being in Tartarus for so long, just sitting and relaxing feels like heaven…honestly maybe it is heaven, I wouldn't complain if this is what Elysium is like…not that I'll ever know, if we gods die we go to the realm of the faded.
"Athena?" I whispered and got no response. I looked down and saw that she was asleep. A small smile graced my face, as I felt truly happy and calm. My eyes closed again, as I felt myself slip into Hypnos' realm.
When I woke, the first thing I noticed was that Athena was not with me anymore. I got out of my bed, rubbing my eyes as I walked downstairs. I was going to go to Athena's palace, but a thunderbolt signaling a council meeting stopped me.
'Damn,' I thought, as I quickly changed into my regular clothes and teleported into the throne room. When I got there, Zeus was on his throne, and so were Hera and Ares, slowly, the rest of them teleported in, Dionysus being the last one.
"I have called you all here so that we can plan some sort of strategy for the upcoming war. Since Bryan and Perseus were not here for the last 9 months, they have not heard the prophecy, and they still have yet to be informed of the plans we have in place for the demigods." Zeus started, "Apollo if you would please recite the prophecy?"
"Seven half-bloods shall answer the call,
to storm or fire the world must fall,
An Oath to Keep with a final breath
And Foes bear arms to the doors of death" Apollo finished
I sat quietly, seven half-bloods, storm or fire…doors of death…it all felt ominous.
"The 7 demigods of the prophecy are Leo Valdez, son of Hephaestus, Jason Grace, son of Jupiter, Piper Mclean, daughter of Aphrodite, Hazel Levesque, daughter of Pluto, Frank Zhang, son of Mars, Nico D'angelo, son of hades, and Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena," Zeus said, during his speech, I felt some of us briefly change into our roman forms, which means this prophecy includes Romans as well.
"The demigods have built a ship, and are traveling to Epirus to seal the doors of death. Meanwhile, Gaia, Erebus, and Ouranus are rebuilding their giant army, so we will need to fight with the demigods when the time comes. One problem, however, is that there is a relatively large army building near camp Half-Blood, which we assume is an attempt to kill our progress so that when the giants reform completely, they can easily destroy us. This is where Perseus, Bryan, and Artemis come in. This army is growing larger by the day. What that means is that you will need to help so that our numbers do not decline too much. Since we want to keep Bryan and Perseus' freedom secret, we will send only Artemis at first, then if it is REALLY necessary, Perseus and Bryan can go help." Zeus finally finished
The council settled into silence, as we processed the information given to us…Percy looked deep in thought as if he were trying to figure out some sort of issue with the strategy.
"Is there any other way that Artemis wouldn't have to go fight alone?" he finally asked, "If the army is large enough that we have to interfere anyway, then wouldn't it be better to send more than one of us?"
"I won't be alone," Artemis said, "I'll have my hunters with me. It'll be fine. Besides, if I need help, you and Bryan can show up."
Percy didn't say anything, he only sighed and nodded. I felt a small smile come on my face. It'll be so fun to tease him about this later.
"Ok, Artemis, you will go to Camp Half-Blood tomorrow, until then, council dismissed," Zeus said, and we all teleported out of the council room.
(Percy POV)
There were a lot of things going through my head, mostly worrying about Artemis, the same Artemis who I had gone hunting with earlier…and completely left alone in the forest after leaving with Midnight…shit. I ran to her palace and knocked on the door like a madman. A Naiad opened the door for me and bowed when she saw me.
"Lord Perseus, it is great to see you live and in person again. Shall I ask lady Artemis for permission to let you in?" she asked
I nodded and she ran off into the palace. I sighed, leaning against the walls of the palace and tapping my foot waiting for a response. When the naiad opened the door again, I turned, and she moved out of the way, letting me walk in.
"She is upstairs," the naiad said shyly
"Thank you," I smiled, then walked upstairs. Since I've been here before, I knew which room she used, so I walked up to the open door and knocked a couple of times.
"Come in," she said, and I walked into her room. We were alone, and I spent a second looking around even though it wasn't my first time here. Her walls were silver, and she had an illusion of the night sky on her ceiling. Other than that, everything was silver, her bed, bedsheets, and blanket, were all silver. EVEN HER PILLOW. All silver. It's an obsession.
"Hello, Olympus to Perseus, are you there Perseus?" Artemis laughed
I sat down in a rolly chair on the other side of the room. "Yeah yeah, I am"
She smirked, "Why are you looking around like you haven't been here before?"
"I don't know Arty, since when do you care?" I snarked, but she just laughed…again.
"Anyway, where'd you and Midnight go? I thought we were hunting together but you two just disappeared. I couldn't even sense you, meaning you were far," she frowned
"Midnight got injured, had to take him to my mother to get healed. My very smart wolf decided to fight 4 of those hellhounds by himself." I chuckled
"He reminds me of someone I know," Artemis said quietly
"Huh?" I asked
"Oh don't act dumb, you know exactly what I'm talking about" she pouted
"Nope…" I said
"You, dumbass, you keep getting yourself hurt or doing something stupid, it's annoying. I feel like I have to worry about you all the time," she said
My incredulous look slowly softened, as I realized this wasn't just banter. She's telling me something that bothers her…and that thing would be me.
"You don't need to worry about me Artemis," I said quietly, "You aren't responsible for me,"
"Yes but if you are gonna go get yourself injured by Typhon again to the point where you might die and then get thrown into Tartarus then I will have an issue," she said loudly.
"That was 9 months ago Arty, and one of those things wasn't even my fault, please don't worry about it, I don't want you worrying about me, especially not tomorrow," I said, standing up and walking over to her bed, and slowly spreading my arms apart, kneeling a foot away from where she was sitting. She slowly leaned forward and hugged me, starting to shake in my arms. I held her for a minute or so, then stood up slowly.
"Just wanted to stop by and say hi since I left without telling you earlier. You should rest Arty, you got some serious stuff going on tomorrow," I said,
"Ok, bye Perseus, I'll see you tomorrow," she said, and I left the room with a smile.
(The Next Day)
Artemis was getting ready to leave for camp half-blood, where the battle would soon take place. She walked up to me, gave me a quick hug, and said, "See you when I get back,"
I laughed, and nodded, she then went to say goodbye to the other gods on the council. I watched warily as the monster army start to conjugate around camp half-blood. I could also see the campers and the hunters starting to hold their position in battle. I could tell from the number of monsters that this fight would be terrible. Even though the army had no Gigantes, the amount of empousai and hellhounds and laestrygonian giants was easily enough to cause severe demigod casualties. Artemis is going to need help. Speaking of Artemis, she teleported out, and she joined the demigod army as well, ready to fight the army.
"Uncle, I have a feeling me and Bryan will have to join this fight soon after it begins so we can protect the demigods because the primordials' whole goal is to kill as many demigods as possible to weaken us for their final push," I said
"You're right. You and Bryan get ready, it is very likely you will be going to help them very quickly." Zeus said.
I nodded. I summoned my armor and my weapons, making sure everything was in good shape. I started jogging in place and doing some practice swings with my sword to make sure I was warmed up and ready. Bryan was also getting ready, doing some fancy spin moves with his double-bladed spear, covering both of the blades in fire, and making a ring of fire around him with the spear. I would've challenged him to a practice spar, but honestly, we both need to be 100% and a spar would tire both of us, so probably not a great idea. Once I was warmed up, I sat on my throne and looked down at Camp half-blood. Monsters were pouring into the army, and soon the giants in the front started banging on the magical barrier of camp. They kept on hitting the barrier until finally, it cracked.
The monsters started running into camp. I could see the tension run through the campers, as they got ready to fight. Artemis's archers started launching volleys of arrows, but the monsters just kept on coming. The demigods started running toward the monsters, and I knew this battle wouldn't go well. I had no doubt the campers would win…but the casualties would be high, and that is what we wanted to avoid. I looked and Zeus, who sighed and nodded. Me and Bryan got up, I pulled my hood over my head, and then breathed deep and teleported to the battlefield…time for a dramatic entrance.
(Artemis POV)
As the monsters and campers ran at each other, I realized that campers are going to die because of this, and a lot of them too. I have a feeling Bryan and Perseus are going to have to hurry up. I decided I couldn't fight passive, I needed to protect the campers.
"Stay here, all of you," I said to my hunters, and then I ran forward. I jumped forward using my bow and shot any monsters that were trying to double up on campers. I tried my hardest, but I couldn't be everywhere at once, and I saw a few campers fall, overwhelmed by the number of monsters around them…shit. I knew there were going to be casualties but this is bad. I need help, I can't protect all of them at the same time.
As if on cue, a figure appeared on my left. His armor covered his face, and it was completely black, as dark as the darkest night. I was confused for a second until the monsters in a 10-yard radius around him froze. He looked up and I could see the golden glow of his eyes, Perseus, this must be the Nyx armor he told Hestia about.
I grinned, as another teleport on my right showed none other than Bryan, with a dark double-sided spear that was spewing black smoke. Perseus and Bryan ran forward, cutting through monsters like it was nothing. I ran forward as well, and the three of us went to battle again. Perseus ran toward a giant, leaving the smaller monsters to the demigods. I ran with him, as he froze time around the giant and jumped over him. I pulled my bow back and launched an energy-filled arrow at the giant, and at the same time, Perseus threw 2 knives at the giant's head. Perseus unfroze the giant, as my arrow pierced the giant's chest, went all the way through, and landed on the ground behind him, causing an explosion and killing countless monsters behind the giant. Meanwhile, Perseus' two knives hit the giant's face, exploding in hellfire, as the giant fell dead. I turned right, as Bryan was using gravity to toy with a giant. The giant jumped at Bryan with his club, and Bryan lowered the gravity around the giant, causing the giant to fly much higher than anticipated, like 50 feet in the air, then Bryan HEAVILY increased the gravity around the giant again, causing the giant to slam into the ground, killing it. He looked at us after and grinned, we all laughed a little, then kept going.
I could see the difference in their fighting styles, they were fighting incredibly violently. Percy slid under a giant, cut its heart out using his sword, then threw the heart into another giant's mouth and froze time around the giant, causing the giant to choke and die. Meanwhile, Bryan had stabbed a giant with his spear through his gut and was using him as a battering ram, swinging him around and killing other monsters. It was pretty brutal, and it made me a little uneasy, but I can't say anything. These two trained in Tartarus for almost a year.
Soon the monsters seemed to realize they can't do anything against us, and they ran away, I shot as many of them as I could before they disappeared over the hill. I turned to Perseus and Bryan, a grin on my face. We won, and we barely broke a sweat. I felt great, Gaia, Erebus, and Ouranos, they don't stand a chance against us.
At times like these, I wished I remembered to curb my pride. I wished I remembered to not be too confident in my abilities, because the earth groaned and shifted, as Gaia herself appeared in front of us, her eyes glowing green, filled with disgust.
(Percy POV)
Gaia stared at us for a little bit…as if she was trying to memorize every detail of our face. When she spoke, it sounded like a swarm of bees was somehow speaking, it sounded like buzzing almost.
"Perseus and Bryan…you are back from Tartarus," she said, "I hope you enjoyed your trip," She sneered at us
"Nah, not really dirt face, I didn't appreciate it," I snarked
"Yeah, wasn't really a quality vacation," Bryan called out, "I would love to get payback right now, so why don't you fight us right here right now?"
Gaia growled, "You have no idea what strength I possess, I could kill all three of you if I wanted to,"
"Yeah yeah, I'm sure you could, quit talking and come fight us if you're so strong," I called, pulling my sword back out. Next to me, Bryan and Artemis also pulled out their weapons.
"Very well, I will enjoy this very much," Gaia whispered, then glowed in ethereal power. The energy surge I felt…was unlike any I've seen before. It made Kronos look like a toddler with a knife.
Gaia opened her eyes again, glowing bright green and the earth around us shook. I felt myself fall as the ground beneath us turned into mud, then hardened when we were down to our necks. I quickly broke myself out, but as I stood, Gaia hit me square across the chest with a tree. I felt myself fly back, only to get violently jerked back as countless vines wrapped around me and pulled me straight towards Gaia, who slammed her club, made of wood and stone across my face. I immediately felt my nose break, as ichor splattered across my face, and stained her club.
Her strength was unmatched. We had overestimated our ability. Compared to an ancient goddess like her, we were insignificant, I thought, as I watched Gaia easily beat Artemis and Bryan as well, who were doing anything to just get away from her. I felt the vines around me start to wrap tighter around my neck and chest, as I realized I couldn't breathe.
"...Bryan, Artemis," I rasped out, calling to them
They turned to me, then ran to my side, trying to no avail to get the vines off of me. Gaia turned her attention back to us.
"Not so powerful now, are you, Perseus?" she taunted
"Guys…when I freeze her, hit her with everything you got." I groaned, and Bryan and Artemis nodded.
I poured all my focus into everything I had left and tried to freeze time around Gaia. The barrier formed, and immediately I was hit with searing pain. Gaia's body glowed in her frozen state, as I could feel her fighting against me, a battle of wills. Bryan immediately shot a wave of fire at her like he was a flamethrower. The endless stream of fire froze at the time barrier, as the pain in my body increased. Artemis fired energy arrow after energy arrow, as the three of us put everything we had into this final push.
"HOLD ON PERSEUS!" Bryan yelled as the glow from Gaia's body reached blinding levels.
I fought as hard as I could, but my strength was fleeting. I was losing oxygen as the vines were still choking me. I could feel my mind slipping, and just as I lost focus for a second, Gaia broke the time barrier. Immediately all the fire and arrows Bryan and Artemis shot hit Gaia at full speed. The explosion knocked all three of us back 100 feet into the midst of the campers. I felt the vines get burned off of me with the pure strength and heat of the explosion.
When the dust cleared, Gaia stood, cuts all over her face, and silver ichor bleeding through her dress. At the same time, Bryan and Artemis weren't in much better shape.
"You are lucky I…" Gaia paused, "I would kill you now, but alas, I am hurt and I must heal. You will see me again you three, and next time I will kill you for good," she snarled, then disappeared in green light.
I felt my body shake, as my head hurt like hell, and I fell to the ground, the last thing I saw, was Artemis running toward me as fast as she possibly could.
When I woke, all I could feel was the soreness. I was in Apollo's palace, in the hospital section. This is only reserved for major injuries, near fading level. I turned and winced as a sharp pain shot through my entire body, and my vision darkened. When I could see again, I saw Artemis sitting on a bed next to me, and Bryan on the other side. They didn't look great, with bandages all over their face and arms. I looked down at myself and realized I was not in any better shape. My neck was being held by pillows on both sides, and my head was completely wrapped with a cast. My left arm was covered in a cast and my right had multiple bandages too.
The situation finally sank in. We were overconfident. We fought some lesser monsters and thought we were unstoppable. We were arrogant and we had just been brought back to earth. We were weak. We were weak. We were weak.
AND THAT'S IT FOR NOW! I FINALLY GOT TO CONTINUE THIS STORY, AND I CAN'T APOLOGIZE ENOUGH FOR TAKING THIS LONG! I promise I will finish this story eventually, and hopefully, the next update won't take this long.
Keep reviewing to keep me motivated
Love you guys, WE BACK
CYA LATER