The Demigod Files (A Percy Jackson Fan-Fic)

The Quest Begins

No sooner had they walked ten feet into the thick foliage did the roaring of the crowd behind them become silence. They looked back to see the woods seeming to swallow them whole.

"Whelp... No turning back now I guess..." Courtney said nervously. 

"Yeah..." Jake breathed in agreement, watching entranced as the twisted vines and branches became thicker as they weaved together behind the small group. They started their trek into the dark, ominous forest and the golden thread let off a soft glow that caused the shadows to dance wildly around the group as it lifted to wrap around Jake's wrist. The light sifting through the trees lessened the deeper they traveled and eventually stopped completely, plunging them into almost complete darkness only lit by the glow of the thread. The thick canopy suddenly started to thin and a wide clearing opened up in front of them. A large cave opening dominated the area and a few small plants leaned in towards the sunlight but none grew in the great clearing. The glowing thread led straight into the cave. When the group stepped into the clearing, the woods behind them once again closed up, the writhing vines and branches creaking as they weaved together.

They approached the mouth of the cave and Jake started to climb down before Courtney exclaimed, "Nope! We are not going down that cave!"

"Why not? It's just a cave," Jake called up.

"I've seen what happens to people when they go down mysterious caves in horror movies," she answered, "It never ends well!"

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and jumped down into the cave past Jake. "There's nothing down here!" she yelled up to the rest of the group.

They jumped down and looked around. The area they had landed in looked almost cut out of the earth. The thin mist that covered everything put a chill in the air that used to be hot and changed the soft light of the thread almost blue.

"Welcome," the same booming voice reverberated around the room, "We were hoping you would arrive soon." The once gold thread had slowly faded to a soft blue glow and the entire room had an icy feel to it. The mist swirled and condensed into a human-like figure. As he solidified, they could tell he was wearing a biker's jacket and sunglasses, though it was already dark in the cavern. The mist behind him swirl and more people emerged. A fisherman, a beautiful woman, a serious-looking woman standing that let off a commanding air, and a disabled mechanic all came out of the fog.

Jake dropped suddenly to one knee in front of the biker. "Father," he muttered softly.

Courtney looked the biker over a few times before saying, "Really? You're Ares? I never would have guessed..."

Jake looked up at her in horror, "Are you crazy?!"

"What?" Courtney asked innocently, "I was just expecting more."

Ares looked over at her, "What more were you expecting?"

"I thought you'd be taller," she said shrugging.

The god grew from his average 6ft to 12ft in seconds, "This tall enough?"

"Is that really all you've got?" Courtney taunted as she looked him up and down.

As he started to grow to where his head was rubbing the ceiling, someone laughed behind him, "Ares, come on. You know she's just messing with you," the fisherman said between fits of laughter.

"Control your daughter Poseidon," Ares said, outraged to be ruffled up by a mere demigod girl.

"She's not a dog," Poseidon replied.

"She could be," Ares said simply.

Elizabeth cleared her throat and the bickering gods turned to see who had dared interrupt them. "No she couldn't actually," she stated matter-of-factly, "You need all of us. You wouldn't have called us specifically if we were that expendable."