Percy's POV
That day went past pretty fast. It was a mixture of talking to Adalind about my past and walking through camp, seeing the difference.
I got a huge shock when I walked through to the clearing in the forest. It was where I had been betrayed by Annabeth, and found Nico's dead body. It hadn't changed one bit, and I could still see faint bloodstains on the hard ground. When I saw it I was immediately enveloped by a huge rush of terrible memories, and I swayed, tears brimming in my eyes from under my hood. What was I doing?
I was standing in the middle of the clearing where so much had happened, with tears pouring down my face as though it was yesterday. Why had I come here? Had I thought I was over it? Heck, no one could even see my face! They all thought of me as a nameless, faceless warrior, tough as steel, emotionless?
They had no idea.
I swayed again, and Adalind placed her wing my my side, pushing me upright, while her eyes turned to her own body. She was a very dark blue, almost black.
"Something is distressing you, Percy." She said in my mind.
"It's nothing." I replied quickly. "And please, call me Ash."
"But why? Percy Jackson is your birth name, is it not?"
I smiled sadly. "Yes, Adalind. But that name holds too many memories."
She gave me a piercing look for a second, before she nodded her head to the side in a questioning way.
She might as well know. We were companions now, after all.
I summoned those poisoned memories in my mind, as well as all the explainations that Aether had told me, and sent them to Adalind.
She shivered for a moment, before a look of absolute detestation crossed her face, and she took off. It took me a second to realise she was heading straight for the Athena cabin.
"Adalind! No!" I yelled out loud, before doing the same in my head. But she didn't pay the slightest attention, instead soaring towards the centre of camp, a huge ball of pure rage.
I sighed and spread my wings to their fullest extent before taking off, and my huge wingspan soon allowed my to catch up as the wind carried me to her side.
"Please, Adalind! Hurting someone will only make it worse! Don't you think it might blow our cover if you randomly start attacking people because of what they did? They don't know who I am!"
"Fine, but only for you. Otherwise I would've ripped her throat out."
I had no trouble at all in guessing who 'her' was.
However, it looked like Adalind had spotted something. She dived suddenly, and landed in a small area just off the main part of camp.
"Who is that?" she asked me.
I followed her gaze, and gasped. In front of me was a beautifully carved marble statue at least five metres high, standing on a pedestal. And the face was undeniable.
Me.
I stood in what had been my usual laid back position, riptide held loosely at my side, a foolish grin on my face. I didn't have my wings, but I did have a light in my eyes that I had lost all those years ago. It was a humourous, glinting light that I wished with all my heart was still there.
At the base of the pedestal were the words;
In memory of Percy Jackson, the greatest hero this camp has ever known. It was our foolishness and stupidity that drove him away, and we still pay the unending price. He died for the wrong cause.
Beneath these words was a smaller inscription, which read;
This statue was forged my Hephaustus.
To the left of the pedestal were four graves. The inscriptions were too much for me and I fell to my knees, sobbing silently into my hands.
Sally Jackson. A loving mother and a caring wife. She died for the wrong cause.
Paul Blofis. A kind father and a friend. He died for the wrong cause.
Micheal Blowfis. His life was ended too soon. He died for the wrong cause.
Nico di Angelo. He was a beloved friend and an innocent victim. He died for the wrong cause.
I didn't know what to think. I thought they hated me...
But just then, I heard a cough from behind me. A familiar cough.
I looked around and was just fast enough to pull a still dark blue Adalind away from the person, who looked thouroughly shocked.
Annabeth.
Annabeth's POV
I was sitting in my usual spot behind Percy's statue, thinking of him, when I heard the sound of huge wings from above me.
I looked up to see a dark blue dragon flying over the trees. A second later, another, bigger creature flew to her side. His wings were huge. It was that Chaos king guy and his dragon. Alianne?
It was odd. His cloak was flapping around him, but his hood wasn't even stirring in the wind.
They went into a sudden dive and landed in the clearing in front of the statue, as I peered around it.
What were they doing here?
The hooded figure walked towards the pedestal, looking up, apparently staring into Percy's carved face, as I couldn't see anythng but his mouth. He then read the inscription on the pedestal, and turned to Percy's parents' graves.
To my great surprise, he dropped suddenly to his knees, and what I could see of his mouth was clamped in a grimace of grief before he covered his face with his hands, his body shaking with what appeared to be sobs. I had to find out who he really was.
I walked up behind his kneeling figure, enveloped in his sea-green wings, but before I could touch him, his dragon turned her head sharply, staring at me with a cold, challenging glare. To my suprise, a glimmer of recognition passed through her huge, deep purple eyes, and she sprung at me, claws extended, as though to rip me to shreds.
But before she could get to me, the figure jumped up and seized her, stopping her from reaching me. I hadn't even pulled out my knife. I felt like a coward.
"Who are you, and why are you at Percy's clearing?" I said suddenly, brushing off my moment of embarrassment.
"Percy's clearing?" he asked from under his hood, in apparent shock.
"You didn't answer my question. Who are you?"
"I've told you, my name is Aeschus, but everyone calls me Ash." he answered, and I felt his gaze even though I couldn't see his eyes.
"Why are you at Percy's clearing? Why were you so upset about his parents?"
He seemed to think for a second, before sighing and saying, "Too many innocent lives lost. And... I knew him."
"You knew Percy?"
"Yes."
He didn't say anything else and turned away. He was walking off, followed by his dragon, but I had to know who he was.
"Take off your hood." I shouted after him.
He didn't even look round, but I caught one word before he spread his wings.
"No."
With that, he gave his wings a huge flap and took off, the draft from his wings fluttering the leaves of the trees around me. Then he yelled at me,
"Watch out for Adalind, I don't think she likes you."
Percy's POV
"Watch out for Adalind, I don't think she likes you."
I flew up with my new companion over the trees of the camp, and gazed down at the cabins spread out below me in that familiar omega formation. I saw the campfire, the infirmary, the poseidon cabin and so many other places where I had spent so much time. No, where Percy had spent so much time. I was not Percy Jackson any more.
I was looking around, and saw Nico and Luke walking along beneath me. I went into a corkscrew dive and landed next to them with Adalind.
"Hi guys, I don't think you've been thoroughly introduced to Adalind. Basically, she reflects my emotions just like the perfect fire."
"Then why is she such a depressing blue?" Nico asked, looking at me with concern dancing in his dark eyes. "Are you ok, Ash?"
"Yeah, yeah..." I said, waving away his worries with a preoccupied sweep of the hand. My mind wandered back to my parent's graves, and I felt a single tear trickle down my cheek.
"Ash, why are you crying? You never cry!" Luke said in alarm, flinging an arm around me. Our hoods were enchanted so that the we could see through each other's hoods but no-one else could.
Right now, I was glad of it.
I told Nico and Luke what Adalind had found and my encounter with Annabeth, Adalind growling softly next to me as I talked.
We were all walking around when we were approached by Chiron, who was being tailed by a few other curious campers.
"Hello, I don't mean to be intrusive, but I must inquire about your sleeping arrangements. Where do you plan on lodging?"
I smiled and said "Just a small patch of ground is fine. We can make ourselves a cabin."
Chiron bowed hurredly and showed us to a secluded clearing just off the main omega of the cabins.
I raised my hand, and brought it down in a shower of sea green sparks.
There was a rumbling sound, and then a huge black cabin emerged from the ground, rocks and dust flying everywhere as it escaped the earth. It looked small, but I had enchanted it to be larger on the inside, like a TARDIS cabin. Once the ground had finished rumbling, I stared proudly at my work.
Me Luke and Nico entered, shutting the door behind us and pulling off our hoods. (The windows were enchanted so no-one could see in).
"Thank the gods, it was getting hot in there." said Luke, fanning his face. "But I'd rather have a microwave on my head than reveal my identity."
"Oh, I dunno..." muttered Nico, "It might be fun to reveal myself to Nicolas just before I transport him to Tartarus with my fist."
We all laughed, before I said "Do you know when I'm having that fight with Nicolas anyway? I really wanna punch his lights out."
"Dude, Nicolas can wait, haven't you forgotten something?" said Luke excitedly as a conch horn sounded outside. "It's time for capture the flag"
We all grabbed our armour bracelets and headed outside. The campers were already choosing armour and weapons, but I was surprised to see the Olympian Gods amongst them too. Zeus was weighing two spears in his hands, and Demeter was having an animated talk about cereal to one of her daughters. My father was not present.
As though to answer my question, Chiron came galloping up to me from the weapons racks.
"The Gods have joined us for this battle as they wish to see you fight. As a fair match, shall it be campers and chaos warriors vs the Gods?"
"Oh, no no no." I said, a wicked grin crossing my features as Nico and Luke chuckled and Adalind snarled, her scales turning a glowing lime that reflected my wicked mood. "I would much prefer the chaos warriors, and Adalind of course, vs the campers and the Gods."
"Very well, but prepare to be beaten." Smiled Chiron. He cantered off to supervise with the weapons.
I smiled.
***
"Ok, here's the plan." I leaned over the map of the forest I was staring at, and moved the green pin that represented me a little to the left. "I'll be here, and when the campers come down here," I dragged my finger down the map towards my pin, "I'll flap around and make loads of noise, so that Luke," I moved the yellow pin at the bottom of the map upwards, "Can sneak through the crowds unoticed in invisible mode. Then, Nico and Adalind," I moved the black pin and the silver pin at the bottom of the map, "Will take the campers, while I take the Gods and Luke grabs the flag. Cool?"
No-one objected, instead nodding in approval of my plan, except Adalind who spoke in my head in a curious voice. "You plan to take on all of the olympians single-handedly?"
I laughed, and Nico and Luke looked at me, surprised.
"Adalind just asked me why I was taking on the Gods on my own."
Luke and Nico laughed too.
I think Adalind got the vague idea, and her purple eyes sparkled with humour on my shoulder. (She had got into shrinking herself and sitting on my shoulder when she wasn't fighting or flying).
We walked back towards the campers, who were still preparing. Chiron came trotting over, as well as a few curious campers and asked,
"Are you sure you are ready for the fight?"
He was looking at our scruffy cloaks and hoods.
"Oh, yeah."
The three of us pulled our Armour bracelets from our pockets and put them on.
The way these work is that each piece of armour appears in the air and attaches itself to your body, kinda like the suit in Iron Man? Yeah, kinda like that.
Each set of Armour was very different. Mine was silver with sea green swirls on it. It had a hole in my back for my wings and the base of my wings also had a little bit of plating in Chaotic silver for protection. Also, I noticed that since I'd last seen it, it now had a crown attachment, but it was under my hood so no-one could see it.
Luke's Armour was a rich gold that shined in the light, with a red painted cadeucus on the front. It was enchanted to vanish like Luke himself. I could see Hermes out of the corner of my eye, looking at the Cadeucus on Luke's chest curiously, but he didn't say anything.
Nico's armour was black, and the black seemed to suck the light from around him. He had no markings on his, although he did wear a helmet that was modelled on the helm of darkness under his hood. It amplified his power, so that he could move about twenty people at once. His record when he's not wearing it is five people without fainting. Unfortunately, It takes a lot of energy for Nico to send someone to Tartarus, unless he has another power source or Tartarus himself to help him.
We got into positions in the forest, and a conch horn blew, signalling the game had begun. The campers and Gods rushed out of the trees in front of us as I dived to the left and starting flapping wildly while yelling,
"Hey look at me I'm a target!"
Stupidly, about half of the campers fell for it, and though I could see campers from the Athena cabin telling them not to run it was too late. Before they could reach me, I spread my wings and shot into the sky, revealing a very nasty-looking Adalind who had been directly behind me, sheilded by my wings.
Up in the sky, I could hear the sounds of campers' screams as Adalind sent them scattering. It looked like she had learned a new move, making herself very small and then diving at people's heads, hitting them in the temple and knocking them out instantly. They were falling like dominoes.
Nico was also tackling the other half of the camp, who had done the smart thing and aimed for the flag, though it wasn't much better. Nico slashed and hacked through their ranks, occasionally sending them backwards a few metres so he had more space, and though he was outnumbered by at least sixty people, he had most of them on the floor pretty quickly.
I looked down at the ground below, scanning it. I couldn't see Luke, but my senses told me that he was in a further part of the forest, hunting in invisible mode for the flag.
I then realized that all of the campers had been defeated. I went into a dive and landed directly in front of all the Gods. Nico and Adalind backed away respectfully, knowing that this was my fight. I wanted revenge, and I wanted it now.
"You dare challenge us all single handedly? Do you have a death wish, little boy? He must be the first of his kind ever to... OOF!"
I shut Zeus up with a telepathically-controlled boulder to the face.
One by one, the Gods approached me.
Ares was first, and I knew that he thought he knew he was going to beat me.
He pulled out his sword, and I pulled out soulcleaver, the blade chaos had given me. I prefered riptide, but I couldn't risk anyone recognising it.
After a few seconds of battle, I managed to disarm Ares and I kicked his sword to the side. Then I brought soulcleaver down onto the exact point in his foot I had stabbed all those years ago.
Once Ares had limped away, the other Gods followed. I burnt Demeter's plants with ever-burning fire so she couldn't put it out, I outran Hermes and slashed his spear in two and I turned Mr. D into a dolphin. (No Joke).
The most interesting battle was with my father, who had turned up at the last moment. He sent a jet of water at me that I immediately took control of, sending it out of his grip and back towards him as I shaped it into a fist and froze it.
WHACK!
Take that, Dad. Next time you shouldn't try to disown your son.
Soon, all the Gods were down. I admit it had been easier than I thought.
I heard cheering and I looked around. Nico was applauding me as well as Luke, who had just come out of the trees.
"Hey!" I said indignantly. "You could have showed the flag and stopped the battle!" Luke was holding the other teams' banner, which was the same orange as the camp's t-shirts and had a picture of the empire state building on it.
"Yeah, well, I didn't want to spoil your fun now did I?"
He was right. I'm glad he didn't because it felt GOOD. I had just beaten all of the olympian gods without even breaking a sweat.
Nico and Adalind also looked competely relaxed, and Luke was whistling as he leaned against a tree, unravelling the opposing team's flag was his nails.
I guess It wasn't a fair fight. We should've brought the Romans.
Just then, I heard a muffled groan from underneath Aphrodite's unconcious body, and there was Zeus, shaking his head as his eyes fluttered open.
"Hi there."
He took one look at me, gave a little squeak of fear like a mouse being trodden on, and collapsed again.
I looked round at Nico, Luke and Adalind, four standing figures in a sea of unconcious bodies.
"We should probably wake them up." I muttered, a little guiltily, as I flew into the air and channeled all my Apollo powers (I have the powers of the gods, remember) as well as a little of my own, dispersing it and sending a small bubble down to each person. It popped over them, and they sat up, some shaking their heads in bemusment, others getting to their feet.
"We won." said Luke from behind me to the weak-kneed crowd, showing them the mass of thread he had just finished fiddling with.
Revenge is sweet.
Hi Peoples!
Sup? I have writer's block and this literally took me a week to write, eurgh!
PS, Aeschus is pronounced AY-SHUS
But you can call him Ash ;)
I have a lot more excitement and shiz coming, plots and sturf...
As always, I would love your comments and advice, and maybe a vote? *Batts Eyelashes*
Cheers,
Catgirlxxx