Rise of the Forgotten || A Percy Jackson Chaos AU Fanfiction

[Book II] Chapter 8

Veni Vidi Vici

I Came, I Saw, I Conquered- Julius Caesar

Summary: Before it was revealed that Annabeth had not betrayed him, Percy had lived in Vanguard, the realm of Chaos, but what had he done during those long years? Yes, he became a warrior and somehow the Apprentice to Chaos and a primordial to many things, but how did that happen? How did Bianca and the others come back? How did Nico become known as Shadow? It is all revealed here...

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Chapter I

Percy Jackson, the once Son of Poseidon, watched almost longingly as Alpha, the Apprentice of Chaos, spared with Nico, usually disarming him easily after five minutes. Percy had been bedridden for the last two weeks, having caught the flu right before he had left Earth, and so therefore leaving him sick. He had only just been allowed to be let out of his bed, mostly because the nurse had been paranoid about him getting sick again.

Which made him very, very bored, but unfortunately he was on strict orders to not strain himself. So, he was left to watching his friend and his sort-of-but-not-really friend spar. Which only made him want to spar even more. But he couldn't and it just was not fair.

But then, life wasn't fair either.

Alpha seemed to have sense his restlessness because he called a break, to which Nico accepted gratefully. (In other words, he fell to the ground with his arms spread out.) Percy watched as Alpha smiled in amusement and he felt his lips twitched, the first ghost of a smile that he had had since Annabeth had betrayed him. Alpha noticed might have noticed it, but he didn't say anything.

"Elisa keeping you hostage?" he asked sympathetically, although he sounded a tad amused as well. Percy rolled his eyes.

"Yeah," he grumbled. "She is." Both men fell silent, and then Alpha straightened up, digging into one of the many pockets in his cloak. Percy looked at him, watching in mild bewilderment as the Apprentice to Chaos began muttering to himself in a language he had never heard of.

"Ah-ha!" he suddenly cried out and brandished a pen. "Here it is!" His tone was happy, while Percy's eyes had widened in surprise then a small smile rested on his lips. Alpha gave the pen to Percy, who uncapped it and a deadly three foot long stick grew in his hand. "You'll want that," he said more calmly, and Percy looked up in slight confusion. "You'll want a sword that you can trust, one that you've had for a long time." Alpha cleared and Percy looked down back at the sword.

"I thought I had lost it when I left Camp." He admitted softly and then he looked up in confusion, tilting his head. "How did you find Riptide?" His tone wasn't accusing, only curious, Alpha shifted and he wasn't sure if it was because he was nervous, or because he was embarrassed. Perhaps it was a little of both.

"I didn't find it," he admitted. "Nico did." Percy was surprised and he looked over at the possibly unconscious Son of Hades, who was drooling a little. Definitely unconscious. "He said that it was your sword, but he wasn't sure what to do it with. I think he was afraid that if you saw it, you would... slip again." Percy sighed, and looked back down at the sword. He had gotten better at fighting the flashbacks, but there were days when it felt like he was taking two steps back and only one forward. There were days when he would slip into the past and nothing could get him out of it.

Elisa (who was the nurse) had called it post traumatic stress, or PTSD for short.

He smiled slightly and shook his head. "It's alright, they're getting much better." He admitted softly and Alpha tilted his head, his eyes becoming confused. Percy shifted slightly. He could keep it, he could, but should he? It would just be a reminder of what he once had. "I think..." he hesitated, and then his resolve hardened. "I'm going to keep it." Alpha looked surprised, and then a strange expression (was that pride? Percy wondered) settled on his face. "My past is what has made me who I am, even though I may not like it, or may not acknowledge it after this." Percy breathed, not taking his eyes off the sword and he tilted his head. "But I can't run from it. Just like I can't run from time."

Alpha smiled his eyes proud and Percy returned it, recapping the sword.

~...~

Percy glared at the dummy, wondering if it was possible for it to be magically blown to bits. It would not stop moving.

Okay, so maybe he needed to rephrase that. Alpha had enchanted the dummy to move, that way he would not hack it up in five minutes or less, so that he would have a challenge. What he didn't mention was that the dummy would be practically invincible. And that there were no weak spots. Well, there was, he just couldn't find them.

So, of course he only became even more determined to find them and to destroy the thing. The reason that the Apprentice to Chaos had enchanted the dummy was that he would train with Nico more, and Percy needed something to train with. So that was how he ended up getting the invincible dummy.

Percy sighed and stepped back, watching as the dummy seemed to go into hibernation mode, but he knew better. It was just waiting for him to attack. He had learned that the hard way. He shifted, watching the dummy thoughtfully. There had to be a weak point, there just had to be. But where was it...? He rolled his eyes.

"Having fun?" A familiar voice questioned, sounding just a tad too gleeful to be appropriate. Percy turned to glare at the ever hooded apprentice, who was obviously smirking at him. Then he had an evil thought, but kept his face carefully blank.

"Yeah," he stated airily. "I actually am. How about you try it for a while?" Alpha looked cornered, and then he looked slightly impressed because he had been corned and Percy grinned innocently.

"Sure," he said cheerfully. "Why not?" he hefted his sword, Ventus, and attacked the dummy. Percy watched in slight awe as the man fought with it easily, blocking the dummy's fierce blows and even finding time to counter them with his own.  After about five minutes, the dummy had been destroyed.

Alpha turned around and looked at Percy, smirking slightly in amusement. Percy shook his head, trying to clear it. "How did you do that?" He asked in confusion and surprise, and a little bit of awe.

"Practice," Alpha sassed. "Lots of practice, Percy." he reached up and ruffled his hair. Percy scowled and batted his hand away. "Lots of practice." he sighed, his eyes far away. Percy tilted his head in confusion, and Alpha smiled brightly at him, the temporary sorrow gone. "Now, go do one hundred pushups and one hundred and fifty sit ups."

Percy threw a look at him, but got down on the floor and started them anyways.