𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟏: 𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐒 𝐋𝐄𝐖𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐒 𝐔𝐍𝐆𝐎𝐃𝐋𝐘
"With Love, Eris Lewis..."
PERCY JACKSON SPENT A MAJORITY OF THE NEXT YEAR WORRIED ABOUT ERIS LEWIS.
The friend he had left behind. And though he knew Eris was the one who agreed to stay in the Underworld to save her sister he couldn't help but think everyday he could've tried harder to save both of them.
His life had been going okay since he returned home with his mother after returning Zeus' bolt. His mom had turned Smelly Gabe into a statue and sold him, finally getting rid of him out their lives. He started a new school and though he still got into trouble (he was Percy Jackson, what did you expect?) he did at least make a new friend: Tyson.
Annabeth had decided to move back with her dad after Percy told everyone about Luke's betrayal. Luke was behind everything, the one person in camp Percy looked up too had betrayed them all. Percy had a feeling that the main reason Annabeth left to be with her dad was because she couldn't bare to look at the Hermès cabin where Eris had stayed, she probably felt guilty too. He had seen the tear that ran down her face when they left the Underworld.
They told Chiron about everything. They told him about Eris being the daughter of Hades and her being about see her dead sister the entire time. To their surprise Chiron had admitted he had been slightly worried Eris was the daughter of Hades but hoped it would be Thanatos.
As he sat bored in his social studies class he couldn't help but hope Eris was okay. He opened his notebook and found a old photo of Eris on the front page.
The photo was really old and the only time Eris ever sent him something since she had been in the Underworld probably to let Percy know that she was alive. But the photo was sent only a month after she left. Eleven months had passed there was a possibility that she—
He shook his head he didn't want to think about it.
In the photo Eris was outside of Hades' palace. The photo had only been taken a month after her stay in the Underworld so not much had changed about her appearance. In the photo she was seen to be wrapping her arms around Cerberus' neck as the three-headed dog looked playfully at the camera. Eris' locs looked the same with them hanging down her shoulders with a black headband holding them away from her face, he wondered if they had grew, her brown skin had gotten a bit paler probably from the lack of sun, and she was dressed in a fancy looking black summer dress with black flats worn on her feet. But...Eris didn't look happy.
There were bags under her eyes like she had never gotten a decent night of rest and her eyes looked tired and old. Eris didn't smile much, Percy knew that so he wasn't expecting her to smile in the photo but when Eris did smile it was rare and always genuine. In the photo, Eris had the smallest quirk of a smile but it looked terribly forced.
On the back of the photo was a short pair of sentences that read:
Hope you're doing well. I miss you guys everyday!
-With love,
Eris Lewis.
8/ 1/ 06
Eris didn't send anymore photos or even a letter after that.
He didn't know how she got his address but chose not to think about it
Annabeth had sent Percy multiple letters and photos over the summer but Eris had only sent this one photo.
It had been a year already so he could only hope Eris was just at camp already.
Briefly he wondered what she had been up to all year in the Underworld maybe she—
No, he didn't want to think about it.
Though he's only been on one quest and hopefully his only quest ever, the Underworld was by far the most frightening place he had ever experienced. Who would want to think about literal hell?
Percy was about to close his notebook when Matt Sloan reached over and ripped the photo out of the rings.
"Hey!" Percy snapped.
Percy hated Matt Sloan with a burning passion. Matt was rich white guys who thought that just because they were big and rich that they could walk over everyone.
For a brief moment he was worried Matt would see Cerberus and notice he was a three-head dog-monster hybrid but then he remembered the mist would probably make Matt only see Cerberus as a over large one-headed dog.
Sloan looked over the photo with wide eyes, "Whose this? She's pretty for a black girl at least. There's no way in hell she's your—"
Percy's urge to punch him only felt stronger, "Give it back!"
Sloan passed it to his new friends who muttered in agreement as they eyed Eris' photo like she was some sort of object, his friends were kids who were there visiting their school for a tour. He almost felt like ripping out his hair when they tore up Eris' photo and let it flutter to the ground.
The one piece of evidence that Eris was alive was gone.
"These guys are moving here next year," Sloan bragged, "I bet they can pay the tuition, too, unlike your dumb friend."
"He's not dumb." Percy growled.
"You're such a loser, Jackson. Good thing I'm gonna put you out of your misery next period."
His fist clenched as he watched Matt's followers step all over the ripped up photo of Eris as they walked away but he had promised Chiron he wouldn't hurt mortals.
But still that racist comment Matt had made made Percy very tempted to break his promise.
The bell rang.
As Tyson and Percy were leaving class, a girl's voice whispered, "Percy!"
He looked around the locker area, but nobody was paying him any attention.
Before He could investigate where the voice had came for a crowd of kids rushed for the gym, carrying Tyson and Percy along with them. It was time for PE. Their coach had promised us a free-for-all dodgeball game, and Matt Sloan had promised to kill Percy Jackson.
AFTER CHANGING QUICKLY IN THE LOCKEROOM AND BEING PUT ON HIS DODGEBALL TEAM PERCY JACKSON FOUND HIMSELF ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE GYM COURT FACING OFF AGAINST MATT SLOAN AND HIS LACKEYS.
"Scared," Tyson muttered, "Smell funny."
"What smells funny?"
Percy would be lying if he said part of the reason he became friends with Tyson wasn't because Tyson reminded him a bit of Eris. He knew that if Eris were here she'd probably love Tyson. Every time Tyson showed someone an ounce of kindness or cried at the sight of seeing someone hurt reminded him of Eris who would do anything to help someone in need and could cry at the drop of a hat.
"Them," Tyson pointed to Matt's new friends, "Smell funny."
Matt's friends were cracking their knuckles and eyeing Percy like he was their latest meal.
Sloan blew the coach's whistle and the battle began.
"Tyson," Percy started to say, "let's go—"
A ball smashed into Percy's stomach fixing him to sit down hard in the middle of the gym floor. The other team exploded in laughter.
His vision blurted as his stomach felt like he had just taken a full force punch to the gut by Clarisse.
Tyson yelled, "Percy, duck!"
He rolled just in time as another dodgeball whistled past my ear at the speed of sound.
"Hey!" Percy yelled at Sloan's team. "You could kill somebody!"
The visitor named Joe Bob grinned at him evilly. Somehow, he looked a lot bigger now... even taller than Tyson. His biceps bulged beneath his T-shirt. "I hope so, Perseus Jackson! I hope so!"
The way he said Percy's name sent an odd chill down his spine...he said it like he had a promise to kill.
What had Tyson said? They smell funny.
Monsters.
All around Matt Sloan, the visitors were growing in size. They were no longer kids. They were eight-foot-tall giants with wild eyes, pointy teeth, and hairy arms tattooed with snakes and hula women and Valentine hearts.
Matt Sloan dropped his ball. "Whoa! You're not from Detroit! Who..."
The other kids on his team started screaming and backing toward the exit, but the giant named Marrow Sucker threw a ball with deadly accuracy. It streaked past one of Percy's teammates just as he was about to leave and hit the door, slamming it shut like magic. Some of the other kids banged on it desperately but it wouldn't budge.
"Let them go!" Percy yelled at the giants.
The one called Joe Bob growled at him. He had a tattoo on his biceps that said: JB luvs Babycakes. "And lose our tasty morsels? No, Son of the Sea God. We Laistrygonians aren't just playing for your death. We want lunch!"
He waved his hand and a new batch of dodgeballs appeared on the center line—but these balls weren't made of red rubber. They were bronze, the size of cannon balls, perforated like wiffle balls with fire bubbling out the holes. They must've been searing hot, but the giants picked them up with their bare hands.
Shit.
"Coach!" Percy yelled.
Coach Nunley looked up sleepily, but if he saw anything abnormal about the dodgeball game, he didn't let on. Percy silent cursed of course coach couldn't see the fact the students were monsters, the most prevented it. The coach probably just saw a few eighth graders pounding the younger kids like usual. Maybe the other kids saw Matt Sloan's thugs getting ready to toss Molotov cocktails around.
"Yeah. Mm-hmm," Coach muttered. "Play nice." And he went back to his magazine.
The giant named Skull Eater threw his ball. Percy dove aside as the fiery bronze comet sailed past his shoulder.
"Corey!" He screamed.
Tyson pulled him out from behind the exercise mat just as the ball exploded against it, blasting the mat to smoking shreds.
"Run!" Percy told his teammates. "The other exit!"
They ran for the locker room, but with another wave of Joe Bob's hand, that door also slammed shut.
"No one leaves unless you're out!" Joe Bob roared. "And you're not out until we eat you!"
He launched his own fireball. Percy's teammates scattered as it blasted a crater in the gym floor.
Percy reached for Riptide that he always kept in his pocket only to remember that his gym shorts didn't have pockets. Riptide was tucked in his jeans inside his gym locker. And the locker room door was sealed.
Percy was screwed.
Another fireball came streaking toward him. Tyson pushed Percy out of the way, but the explosion still blew him head over heels. He found himself sprawled on the gym floor, dazed from smoke with his gym clothes slightly burnt. Just across the center line, two hungry giants were glaring down at him.
"Flesh!" they bellowed. "Hero flesh for lunch!" They both took aim.
"Percy needs help!" Tyson yelled, and he jumped in front of him just as they threw their balls.
Percy's eyes widened, he couldn't lose another friend. "Tyson!" He screamed, but it was too late.
Both balls slammed into him but to Percy's surprise he'd caught them. Somehow clumsy Tyson had caught two fiery metal balls speeding toward him at a zillion miles an hour. He sent them hurtling back toward their surprised owners, who screamed, "BAAAAAD!" as the bronze spheres exploded against their chests.
The giants disintegrated in twin columns of flame.
"My brothers!" Joe Bob the Cannibal wailed. He flexed his muscles and his Babycakes tattoo rippled. "You will pay for their destruction!"
"Tyson!" Percy said. "Look out!"
Another comet hurtled toward them. Tyson just had time to swat it aside. It flew straight over Coach Nunley's head and landed in the bleachers with a huge KA-BOOM!
Kids were running around screaming, trying to avoid the sizzling craters in the floor. Others were banging on the door, calling for help. Sloan himself stood petrified in the middle of the court, watching in disbelief as balls of death flew around him.
Coach Nunley still wasn't seeing anything. He tapped his hearing aid like the explosions were giving him interference, but he kept his eyes on his magazine.
Percy could only pray that someone in their school heard the fight and called the police.
"Victory will be ours!" roared Joe Bob the Cannibal. "We will feast on your bones!"
Before Percy could say anything he hefted another ball. The other three giants followed his lead.
An idea arrived in his mind.
Percy ran toward the locker room.
"Move!" Percy told his teammates. "Away from the door."
Explosions behind him. Tyson had batted two of the balls back toward their owners and blasted them to ashes.
That left two giants still standing.
A third ball hurtled straight at Percy. He forced myself to wait then dove aside as the fiery sphere demolished the locker room door.
The wall blew apart. Locker doors, socks, athletic supporters, and other various nasty personal belongings rained all over the gym.
He turned just in time to see Tyson punch Skull Eater in the face. The giant crumpled. But the last giant, Joe Bob, had wisely held on to his own ball, waiting for an opportunity. He threw just as Tyson was turning to face him.
"No!" Percy yelled.
The ball caught Tyson square in the chest. He slid the length of the court and slammed into the back wall, which cracked and partially crumbled on top of him, making a hole right onto Church Street. Tyson only looked dazed. The bronze ball was smoking at his feet. Tyson tried to pick it up, but he fell back, stunned, into a pile of cinder blocks.
"Well!" Joe Bob gloated. "I'm the last one standing! I'll have enough meat to bring Babycakes a doggie bag!"
He picked up another ball and aimed it at Tyson.
"Stop!" Percy yelled. "It's me you want!"
The giant grinned. "You wish to die first, young hero?"
He spotted his jeans in a smoking heap of clothes right by the giant's feet. He knew it was hopeless, but he charged.
The giant laughed. "My lunch approaches." He raised his arm to throw.
Percy braced himself with death, maybe he'd finally see Eris for the first time in a year in the Underworld.
Suddenly the giant's body went rigid. His expression changed from gloating to surprise. Right where his belly button should've been, his T-shirt ripped open and he grew something like a the glowing tip of a blade.
The ball dropped out of his hand. The monster stared down at the knife that had just run him through from behind.
He muttered, "Ow," and burst into a cloud of green flame.
Standing in the smoke was his friend Annabeth. Her face was grimy and scratched. She had a ragged backpack slung over her shoulder, her baseball cap tucked in her pocket, a bronze knife in her hand, and a wild look in her storm-gray eyes.
Matt Sloan, who'd been standing there dumbfounded the whole time, finally came to his senses. He blinked at Annabeth,"A girl? Wha—"
Annabeth punched him in the nose and knocked him flat. "And you," she told him, "lay off my friend."
The gym was in flames. Kids were still running around screaming. Percy could hear sirens wailing and a garbled voice over the intercom. Through the glass windows of the exit doors, hecould see the headmaster, Mr. Bonsai, wrestling with the lock, a crowd of teachers piling up behind him.
"Annabeth..." Percy stammered. "How did you...how long have you..."
"Pretty much all morning." She sheathed her bronze knife. "I've been trying to find a good time to talk to you, but you were never alone."
"The shadow I saw this morning—that was—" Percy's face felt hot. "Oh my gods, you were looking in my bedroom window?"
"There's no time to explain!" she snapped, though she looked a little red-faced herself. "I just didn't want to—"
"Wait! Have you..." Percy started to say, "Eris...is she back at camp yet? Is she here with you?"
It's been a year, she was supposed to be back by now. Maybe she had been back already and just forgot to write him
Annabeth's eyes became pained, "Percy..." she said slowly and she sounded like someone had stabbed her in the gut, "Eris is...she's not back...she never came back..."
Percy shook his head, "No, no...she...it's been a year she's supposed to—her and Hades had an agreement she—"
"Percy,...Chiron hadn't announced it yet but...he thinks...he thinks Eris may have...died."
WILLOW APPEARED IN FRONT OF ERIS IN A BRIGHT, "Are you sure about this?" She asked for what felt like the hundredth time. Hades had allowed her to visit the palace at least an hour a day but Eris was sure the only reason he allowed Willow any where near the palace was because he didn't want to upset Eris again.
"Yeah," Eris muttered, opening her bedroom dresser drawer and pulling out all of her clothes. She didn't have many since the Underworld didn't offer many clothing options and Hades didn't believe one person needed more than 3 outfits: one for sleep, one for the daytime, and one for dinner.
Though she did think it was a bit unfair because Persephone never wore the same outfit she was constantly changing clothes but Eris never complained.
Her bedroom wasn't anything special. It was pitch black just like everything in Hades' palace. Her bed was a twin size with black silk sheets covering it and a gray headboard. There were one closet and two dresser drawers white two nightstands with one on each side of her bed. On her drawer was an old photo of Willow and Eris from when they first came to Camp Half-Blood when Willow was 13 and Eris was 6.
In the corner of her room was an painting aisle with a large canvas that was already painted. In the painting it was a man with an unidentified face with a large mess of curly hair and dressed in white wedding dress standing at a wedding aisle, standing next to the man was an other man who was enormous and stood at least 30 feet tall dressed in a tuxedo as he looked hungrily at the man dressed in the wedding dressed like he couldn't decide if he wanted to to eat or kill the man in the dress.
Willow told her it was an odd choice for a painting when Eris had finally finished it but Eris never painted with a concept in mind she just painted whatever image first appeared in her mind. Painting was probably the only reason Eris managed to stay alive.
She had more paintings but they were hanging up in the hallways of the palace. Originally she had threw them all away after finishing them since she always hated her art work but mysteriously they always ended up back in the palace and hanging on a hallway wall much to Persephone's dismay.
Eris hadn't seen Persephone much, her step mother made it a point to avoid Eris at all cost and when she wasn't avoiding Eris she was complaining about Eris. 'Why is she always upset' her stepmother would say, 'why can't she talk like a normal person, is she stupid?'
Eris couldn't blame Persephone for not liking her; Eris didn't even like herself. But she didn't think she should be treated badly because of something Hades had done, she never asked to be born.
Hades never commented on her paintings but Eris had a feeling he may have liked them just because they were all dark and resembled her nightmares. And he didn't seem bothered by her painting hobby, he was the one who bought her the aisle for her 13th birthday last year on November 27th. She didn't even know he knew she liked paint or her birthday.
Now, almost all of her painting were themed after her nightmares.
She hadn't drawn a happy painting since she was at Camp Half-Blood.
But then again it was rare when Eris was happy,
"It's only been a couple months since—" Willow started to say.
"Willow," Eris said tiredly, rubbing her eyes, "I really don't want to talk about it," she said softly, shoving the rest of her clothes in her bag. "I...I don't feel like crying right now."
Though Eris was naturally someone who cried a lot she had never cried more than her time spent in the Underworld.
Willow wanted Eris to stay since in the Underworld Willow wasn't invisible to others and her and Eris could actually touch and hug each other like normal sisters and Eris understood that but she couldn't—
"But—"
"I-I can't stay here any longer," Eris said, zipping up her backpack roughly, "I was supposed to be back a camp a month ago. Every moment I stay here with him I-" she sighed deeply, "it's so...dark here. Everything here is so black, so dark...just like—" She sniffed and shook her head, "I-I need to leave."
"It's okay," Willow said softly, squeezing her shoulder, "I just...I thought you were getting better."
"I am," Eris lied frantically. She didn't want Willow upset, "I just...I need some space. From here at least...I need to be away from him. I still..."
"You still hate him," Willow finished for her.
"I hate him," Eris said quietly, putting on her backpack, "I hate him so much. He knew what was happening to me at camp, he knew what happened to us in foster care and he knew you were dying and he did nothing. He can't even say he loves me...I've never had a parent before so I don't know what it's like to have a mom or dad but from what Percy told me about his mom back at camp...how kind and loving she is...what kind of parent does what Hades did?"
"Maybe...maybe your just angry and maybe you...you don't hate him," Willow said hesitantly, "None of the gods help their kids, it's the way it is...maybe you just resent him or something? That's normal but hating him—"
"No," Eris said shortly, "I know how I feel and what I feel is hate. I hate him," she said honestly. "He took you a away from me, y-you're all I have...h-he used you against me...I can't forgive him," she clenched her fist.
Eris wasn't confused about her feelings for Hades. She was naturally an emotional person so when she felt an emotion she knew what it was and what she felt was hate. She tried so hard to see the good in people but she couldn't find an inch of good in Hades.
His lack of kindness, his cold demeanor everything about him only fueled her with rage. He never did anything for her.
If Gods couldn't take care of their children then they shouldn't be having them.
It wasn't okay to normalize the Gods never being apart of their children's lives, it wasn't right.
Tears of frustration blurred her vision.
"Eris," Willow said quietly, "the ground...you're gonna cause another earthquake."
Just then she noticed that the entire palace was rattling and shaking, little cracks started to open on the walls and she could hear things fall from outside of the room.
She wasn't the best at her powers especially since her powers almost always went haywire whenever she got emotional. It made for a lot of damaged rooms and broken floors during her stay in the palace.
She didn't have many powers, she had only discovered them six months ago in January but Hades had said that if everything went according to his plan she'd be getting stronger and discover more powers as she got older.
She didn't like to think about how she discovered her powers.
She didn't know what plan he was talking about but she didn't ask. She tried to speak to him as little as possible,
"Oh," Eris covered her mouth, "I'm so sorry."
"It's alright," Willow said warily, "Just...just relax."
Eris sucked in a deep breath and unclenched her fist. Willow wiped away Eris' tears from her cheeks with the pads of her thumbs and hugged her close.
Her anxiety had only gotten worst. Every where she went she never felt safe, her eyes would always scan a room before entering looking for any and all exits. She hadn't gotten a decent night of rest since—
"My times almost up," Willow said, "I've gotta get going. Aubree's waiting for me."
Eris hadn't met Aubree so she didn't have an opinion of her but she only hoped she was treating her sister right. Aubree was a Willow's girlfriend who died when she taught in the Trojan war with Helen of Troy. She hadn't met her but Willow said she was the second nicest person she had ever met with the first being Eris which caused Eris to sputter and reject the complement.
She hated when people complimented her mainly because she never believed them.
Willow had been spending more and more time with Aubree but Eris never brought up that fact she was starting to feel a bit neglected by her sister. Willow had spent her entire life looking after Eris, it was time she had happiness.
She let out a sigh of relief when the ground stopped shaking.
"I love you," Willow told her with a small smirk then she was gone in a flash of light.
"...I love you too," Eris muttered. Willow always left before she could say it back.
There was a knock on her door and before she could invited them in the door was already opened and in her doorway was Hades.
"Essence," Hades greeted shortly. His posture was straight, nearly perfect as he stared her down. His face was blank like usual.
Her father only had 3 facial expressions: Rage, bored and annoyed. He never smiled, never laughed and never joked. And he rarely said more then 5 words in a sentence when speaking to her.
He also refused to call her 'Eris' much to her annoyance.
"Hades," she said back flatly. She never called him 'father'.
The air in the room was thick and heavy as they stared at each other. This happened every time they spoke. Hades would greet her flatly and Eris would greet him back in the same tone and they would stare each other in the eye for what felt like eternity. They didn't look much alike but Willow said that when they were in a room together due to their similar facial expressions when seeing each other it was like seeing the world's most identical pair of twins.
"I see you have decided to depart today," Hades said, eyeing her backpack, "You should have notified me."
"...I apologize," Eris said quietly, looking away.
She wasn't sorry. But she better than to anger him more than once a week and she had already pissed him off on Monday when she tripped and fell in Persephone's garden.
But though Eris hated her father, she had to respect him unless she wanted to be killed. She didn't know if Hades would actually kill her but he had never treated her like a daughter before so there was no saying he wouldn't kill her.
"...Cerberus will miss your presence."
"He'll live," she said shortly. She would miss Cerberus, though she still didn't like animals Cerberus was an exception. When Willow wasn't there to comfort her Cerberus was always there.
Hades was silent for a moment, "Jules—Albert will drive you to...that camp."
Jules-Albert was a skeleton butler at the palace. He was a nice guy, Eris supposed.
She stared at her feet, "I-I already asked Charon to drive me."
"And I am telling you Jules—Albert will be the one taking you there," Hades told her in a tone that didn't leave any room for an argument.
She didn't reply.
Hades' expression didn't change, "I have retrieved this for you," he opened the palm of his hand and dark mist surrounded it before a small piece of paper appeared his hand. He hand it out to her and Eris carefully took it.
She read it quickly.
The card read:
Alicia Lewis
(410) 931-1432
794 McAllister St.
San Francisco, CA
Eris blinked, "S-She's alive?"
Eris didn't know anything about her mother. According to Willow they both entered the foster care system on the day Eris was born, when Willow was six. Willow didn't like to talk about her so Eris never pushed her too.
She had always just believed her mother was dead. Mainly because she would much rather think her mother had died than abandoned her.
But she had never asked Hades about her mother and he had never mentioned her before. So she didn't understand why he was giving Eris her contact information.
Before she had met her father she probably thought she would have been happy to know who her mother was. She always wanted a family all her life but after meeting Hades and coming to the realization that she didn't love him she realized she would probably feel the same thing about her mother.
Eris didn't want to met her. She was sure she'd just end up hating her like she hated Hades.
She still wanted a family some day but she wanted nothing to do with her biological parents. But as far as she knew unlike Annabeth who had a ton of half-siblings from her mother's side she was the only child of Hades she knew of.
The only way she would have a family is if one day she decided she wanted children. But she didn't even know if she would live that long to have any.
"Yes," Hades replied, "and she's apparently very successful."
"Oh," Eris muttered, tucking the card in her backpack. "T-Thanks."
Hades paused, "....I don't suppose you will be returning to visit Cerberus anytime soon?" He asked.
"I don't plan to return at all," Eris replied, rubbing her arm.
Hades nodded, "Of course...Jules-Albert is outside waiting for your attendance whenever you are ready, do be sure to keep up with your training while your gone." without another word he turned on his heel and left.
He didn't even say goodbye by to be fair Eris wasn't planning to say goodbye to him either.
Eris took one last look at her room before leaving. She kissed Cerberus on the head goodbye and briefly shared a small hug with Charon before leaving the Underworld and getting in the car with Jules-Albert.
She was gone and shivered at the thought of ever having to return.
AFTER BEING IN THE WORLD'S WILDEST TAXI RIDE WITH THE GRAY SISTER'S THE LAST THING PERCY JACKSON EXPECTED WAS AN ATTACK ON CAMP HALF-BLOOD.
Percy hated bulls, all they did was remind him off last summer when his mother was nearly killed by one so you can imagine his displeasure when he saw not one but THREE bronze mechanical bulls the size of elephants attacking camp Half-Blood.
As soon as they exited the taxi, the Gray Sisters peeled out, heading back to New York, where life was safer. They didn't even wait for their extra three-drachma payment. They just left them on the side of the road, Annabeth with nothing but her backpack and knife, Tyson and Percy still in their burned-up tie-dyed gym clothes.
"Oh, man," said Annabeth, looking at the battle raging on the hill.
What worried Percy most weren't the bulls themselves. Or the ten heroes in full battle armor who were getting their bronze-plated asses kicked. What worried him was that the bulls were ranging all over the hill, even around the back side of the pine tree. That shouldn't have been possible. The camp's magic boundaries didn't allow monsters to cross past Thalia's tree. But the metal bulls were doing it anyway.
One of the heroes shouted, "Border patrol, to me!" A girl's voice—gruff and familiar. Border patrol? Percy thought. The camp didn't have a border patrol.
"It's Clarisse," Annabeth said. "Come on, we have to help her."
Personally, Percy wasn't Clarisse's biggest fan. She was a bully and Percy hated bullies. Not to mention she was a child of Ares who hated Percy's guts.
Still, she was in trouble. Her fellow warriors were scattering, running in panic as the bulls charged. The grass was burning in huge swathes around the pine tree. One hero screamed and waved his arms as he ran in circles, the horsehair plume on his helmet blazing like a fiery Mohawk. Clarisse's own armor was charred. She was fighting with a broken spear shaft, the other end embedded uselessly in the metal joint of one bull's shoulder.
Percy uncapped his ballpoint pen. It shimmered, growing longer and heavier until He held the bronze sword Anaklusmos in his hands. "Tyson, stay here. I don't want you taking any more chances."
"No!" Annabeth said. "We need him."
Percy looked at her like she was crazy. "He's mortal. He got lucky with the dodge balls but he can't—"
"Percy, do you know what those are up there? The Colchis bulls, made by Hephaestus himself. We can't fight them without Medea's Sunscreen SPF 50,000. We'll get burned to a crisp."
"Medea's what?"
Annabeth rummaged through her backpack and cursed. "I had a jar of tropical coconut scent sitting on my night-stand at home. Why didn't I bring it?"
Percy frowned,"Look, I don't know what you're talking about, but I'm not going to let Tyson get fried."
"Percy—"
"Tyson, stay back." He raised his sword. "I'm going in."
Tyson tried to protest, but Percy was already running up the hill toward Clarisse, who was yelling at her patrol, trying to get them into phalanx formation. It was a good idea. The few who were listening lined up shoulder-to-shoulder, locking their shields to form an ox-hide–and-bronze wall, their spears bristling over the top like porcupine quills.
Unfortunately, Clarisse could only muster six campers. The other four were still running around with their helmets on fire. Annabeth ran toward them, trying to help. She taunted one of the bulls into chasing her, then turned invisible, completely confusing the monster. The other bull charged Clarisse's line.
Percy was halfway up the hill—not close enough to help. Clarisse hadn't even seen him yet.
The bull moved deadly fast for something so big. Its metal hide gleamed in the sun. It had fist-sized rubies for eyes, and horns of polished silver. When it opened its hinged mouth, a column of white-hot flame blasted out.
"Hold the line!" Clarisse ordered her warriors.
Even if Percy didn't like Clarisse he could still admit she was brave. Clarisse was a big girl with dark greasy brown hair with dark pig eyes like her father. . She looked like she was born to wear Greek battle armor, but Percy didn't see how even she could stand against that bull's charge.
Unfortunately, at that moment, the other bull lost interest in finding Annabeth. It turned, wheeling around behind Clarisse on her unprotected side.
"Behind you!" Percy yelled. "Look out!"
He regretted saying anything because all it did was distract her. Bull Number One crashed into her shield, and the phalanx broke. Clarisse went flying backward and landed in a smoldering patch of grass. The bull charged past her, but not before blasting the other heroes with its fiery breath. Their shields melted right off their arms. They dropped their weapons and ran as Bull Number Two closed in on Clarisse for the kill.
Percy lunged forward and grabbed Clarisse by the straps of her armor. He dragged her out of the way just as Bull Number Two freight-trained past. He gave it a good swipe with Riptide and cut a huge gash in its flank, but the monster just creaked and groaned and kept on going.
Though it hadn't touched Percy he could still feel the heat from its metal skin.
"Let me go!" Clarisse pummeled his hand. "Percy, curse you!"
He dropped her in a heap next to the pine tree and turned to face the bulls. They were on the inside slope of the hill now, the valley of Camp Half-Blood directly below us—the cabins, the training facilities, the Big House—all of it at risk if these bulls got past them.
Annabeth shouted orders to the other heroes, telling them to spread out and keep the bulls distracted.
Bull Number One ran a wide arc, making its way back toward Percy. As it passed the middle of the hill, where the invisible boundary line should've kept it out, it slowed down a little, as if it were struggling against a strong wind; but then it broke through and kept coming. Bull Number Two turned to face him, fire sputtering from the gash Percy had cut in its side. He couldn't tell if it felt any pain, but its ruby eyes seemed to glare at Percy like I'd just made things personal.
Percy was overwhelmed, he couldn't take two bulls on at the same time. He'd have to take them down one at a time. His arms already felt tired. He hadn't realized how long it had been since he'd worked out with Riptide, how out of practice he was.
He lunged but Bull Number Two blew flames at him. Percy rolled aside as the air turned to pure heat and suddenly felt like all the air had been take out of his lungs. His foot caught on something—a tree root, maybe—and pain shot up his ankle. But he struggled to to slash with his sword and lop off part of the monster's snout. It galloped away, wild and disoriented. But before Percy could feel too good about that, he tried to stand, and his left leg buckled underneath himself.
Bull Number One charged straight toward me. No way could Percy crawl out of its path. Annabeth shouted: "Tyson, help him!"
Somewhere near, toward the crest of the hill, Tyson wailed, "Can't—get—through!"
"I, Annabeth Chase, give you permission to enter camp!"
Thunder shook the hillside. Suddenly Tyson was there, barreling toward him yelling: "Percy needs help!"
Before Percy could stop him, he dove between him and the bull just as it unleashed a nuclear firestorm.
"Tyson!" Percy yelled.
His heart raced against his chest, he couldn't bare to lose another friend.
The blast swirled around him like a red tornado. Percy could only see the black silhouette of his body.
But when the fire died, Tyson was still standing there, completely unharmed. Not even his grungy clothes were scorched. The bull must've been as surprised as Percy was, because before it could unleash a second blast, Tyson balled his fists and slammed them into the bull's face. "BAD COW!"
His fists made a crater where the bronze bull's snout used to be. Two small columns of flame shot out of its ears. Tyson hit it again, and the bronze crumpled under his hands like aluminum foil. The bull's face now looked like a sock puppet pulled inside out.
"Down!" Tyson yelled.
The bull staggered and fell on its back. Its legs moved feebly in the air, steam coming out of its ruined head in odd places.
Annabeth ran over to check on Percy.
Percy's ankle felt like it was filled with acid, but she gave me some Olympian nectar to drink from her canteen, and Percy immediately started to feel better.
"The other bull?" He asked.
Annabeth pointed down the hill. Clarisse was still taking care of Bad Cow Number Two. She'd impaled it through the back leg with a celestial bronze spear. Now, with its snout half gone and a huge gash in its side, it was trying to run in slow motion, going in circles like some kind of merry-go-round animal.
"What about the third one?" Percy panted.
"It ran off somewhere," Annabeth said, "Clarisse's brothers are looking for it now."
Clarisse pulled off her helmet and marched toward them A strand of her stringy brown hair was smoldering, but she didn't seem to notice. "You—ruin—everything!" she yelled at Percy . "I had it under control!"
Annabeth grumbled, "Good to see you too, Clarisse."
"Argh!" Clarisse screamed. "Don't ever, EVER try saving me again!"
"Clarisse," Annabeth said, "you've got wounded campers."
That sobered her up. Even Clarisse cared about the soldiers under her command.
"I'll be back," she growled, then trudged off to assess the damage.
Percy stared at Tyson. "You didn't die."
Tyson looked down like he was embarrassed. "I am sorry. Came to help. Disobeyed you."
"My fault," Annabeth said. "I had no choice. I had to let Tyson cross the boundary line to save you. Otherwise, you would've died."
"Let him cross the boundary line?'" Percy asked. "But—"
"Percy," she said, "have you ever looked at Tyson closely? I mean...in the face. Ignore the
Mist, and really look at him."
Percy stared hard at Tyson's face. He always had trouble looking directly at him, though he never quite understood why. He forced himself to focus at his big lumpy nose, then a little higher at his eyes.
No, not eyes.
One eye. One large, calf-brown eye, right in the middle of his forehead, with thick lashes and big tears trickling down his cheeks on either side.
"Tyson," Percy sputtered. "You're a..."
"Cyclops," Annabeth offered. "A baby, by the looks of him. Probably why he couldn't get past the boundary line as easily as the bulls. Tyson's one of the homeless orphans."
"One of the what?"
"They're in almost all the big cities," Annabeth said distastefully. "They're...mistakes, Percy. Children of nature spirits and gods...Well, one god in particular, usually...and they don't always come out right. No one wants them. They get tossed aside. They grow up wild on the streets. I don't know how this one found you, but he obviously likes you. We should take him to Chiron, let him decide what to do."
"But the fire. How—"
"He's a Cyclops." Annabeth paused, as if she were remembering something unpleasant. "They work the forges of the gods. They have to be immune to fire. That's what I was trying to tell you."
Percy's jaw fell open, how could have not noticed?
But he didn't have much time to think about it just then. The whole side of the hill was burning. Wounded heroes needed attention. And there were still two banged-up bronze bulls to dispose of. He still didn't know where the third bull went but he only hoped it never came back
Clarisse came back over and wiped the soot off her forehead. "Jackson, if you can stand, get up. We need to carry the wounded back to the Big House, let Tantalus know what's happened."
"Tantalus?" Percy asked.
"The activities director," Clarisse said impatiently.
"Chiron is the activities director. And where's Argus? He's head of security. He should be here. And I need to talk to talk to him about Eris she can't be—"
Clarisse made a sour face. "Argus got fired. You two have been gone too long. Things are changing. And forget about, Medusa, she ain't comin' back."
Percy made it a point to ignore that jab at Eris.
"But Chiron...He's trained kids to fight monsters for over three thousand years. He can't just be gone. What happened?"
"That happened," Clarisse snapped.
She pointed to Thalia's tree.
It's needles were yellow. A huge pile of dead ones littered the base of the tree. In the center of the trunk, three feet from the ground, was a puncture mark the size of a bullet hole, oozing green sap.
His eyes widened. Now he understood why the camp was in danger. The magical borders were failing because Thalia's tree was dying.
Someone had poisoned it.
"Uh, guys!" Annabeth nudged them and pointed off somewhere.
Charging at them in full speed was the third bull. It's red firing eyes glaring at them as the rest of the Ares cabin ran after it. It's nose blew out fiery smoke as it prepared to open its mouth to unleash another flame in revenge.
Percy was too stunned to move, "Wha—"
"Shit!" Clarisse grunted, readying her spear. Tyson moved to stand protectively in front of them all.
The bull opened its mouth and for a moment Percy thought they were all dead meat but the flames were never even able to escape its mouth.
"You shall bring no harm to my Mistress' companions!" A loud voice rang out of no where.
Suddenly almost too fast for Percy to see the bull's head was cut clean off. The rest of its body fell to the ground, dead.
He looked up with wide eyes.
Standing above the bull's body was a stunning woman. She had pale skin and angelic features and dark hair framed her face. Her body was tight and athletic as she was dressed in old Greek armor that looked to be from the 1200s. Her body surrounded in a green aura as her old looking sword was raised above her body. She looked like she had just gotten out of fighting a war.
"Tha-that's...that's Helen of Troy," Annabeth stuttered, "She's supposed to be dead. How—"
Even Clarisse was to shocked to say anything.
Helena of Troy didn't even spare them a glance instead she turned around, "Have I served thee well, Mistress?"
Percy squinted as he saw a body walking towards them but they were unrecognizable because of the cloudy smoke.
"Uh, y-yes, thank you," A voice squeaked out and Percy's jaw dropped as the smoke cleared.
Standing there panting with her arm stretched out looking like she had just ran a marathon was Eris Lewis. Her baby face had matured slightly and her skin was a bit lighter but he was sure the sun would get it back to its normal shade in no time. Her dreadlocks had gotten longer and were styled in two low pigtails. She less skinny and had finally gained some healthy weight. Her eyes looked tired and haunted like she hadn't slept in days.
She was dressed in black shorts with a forest green tank top and—was that his jacket he lended her last summer?
On her neck was crystal black skull necklace.
Eris huffed as she tried to catch her breath and Helena of Troy disappeared in a flash of green light. She wiped sweat off her eyebrow and winced as she shook her aching hand.
Eris looked up at them all and rubbed the back of her neck, "Uh, sorry I'm late."
Thank you so much for reading!
I was inspired by PassiveChaos story 'Relampago' to have one of Eris' power have the ability to use dead Greek heroes to fight. I highly suggest you check out their stories their all very well written.
Thank you so much for the love on this story I honestly was nervous I was going to get backlash for Eris being a daughter of Hades since a lot of ppl hate fanfics when the oc is a child of the big three.
I don't plan for Eris to be an OP character. She's only 13 and is still very new to her powers. The way she discovered her powers will be revealed and what happened during the year with her father will also be revealed.
Do y'all wanna meet Eris' mother one day?
Gal Gadot as Helen Of Troy