CRASH
A bright flash of light illuminated the sky, striking the water with undeniable power.
In retaliation, the ocean began to rock violently, putting enough force into its currents that a whirlpool formed, spitting out great torrents of water towards the sky, going so high that even the clouds were affected by it.
That didn't deter the lightning though, as it ran its course throughout the clouds in a thunderous rumble, about to strike again, but before it could, my vision turned to darkness, a voice replacing the images in my head.
It's time.
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
BEEP BEEP BEEP B-
My alarm shut up with a quick slam on the off button, and I groaned groggily. I rubbed my eyes and looked at the clock, sighing as I did so.
5 AM. Great.
I yawned as I got up out of my bed, heading to the shower after stretching my tired muscles. Before I got in though, I looked at the large mirror in my bathroom, staring at my disheveled self, unimpressed.
Today was the day. The day of the quest.
The day I would start the journey to retrieve my mom.
And the Bolt. But mainly my mom.
___________________________________________
I got out of the cabin at 5:17AM, and with a quick bite to eat from the minifridge in my cabin (I wasn't sure who kept restocking it but I wasn't complaining), I left to the large oak tree that sat on top of the hill.
The camp looked different in the dim lighting, it looked hollow and lifeless, if it wasn't for the burning torches that lined each pathway, there would be no way of knowing anything was anywhere.
I looked to the central hearth between all the cabins, fully expecting to see the same girl I always had, but it was vacant, and there was no fire in the center. That was odd.
I didn't let it stop me though, shifting my backpack on my shoulders as I trudged forwards to the tree.
SQUELCH SQUELCH
The sound of footsteps rushing behind me suddenly filled my ears, and I felt Riptide appear in my hand as I snapped my head around, ready to strike, but my body language softened when I saw who it was.
Luke flashed a grin at me, raising his eyebrows. "Hey Percy. I thought you already left for your quest, thank goodness I caught you."
I tilted my head in confusion. "How do you know about the quest? I haven't told anyone about it."
"Grover told me. He said that Chiron told him that you chose him for the quest, whatever it is. Doesn't matter. I just wanted to give you one last gift before you left." Luke smiled, looking down at a shoebox in his arms, stretching his hands out to give it to me.
I opened it tentatively, and I had to say, I was confused when I saw a pair of black and white Converses just resting there. I wasn't sure what I was expecting out of a shoebox, but it wasn't shoes.
"Thanks?" I tried to not seem ungrateful but it didn't come out right.
Luke chuckled at my expression and shook his head. "Don't worry, they aren't just shoes. Look."
He picked them up from the box and whispered. "Maia."
Suddenly, the laces began to twist and contort into themselves, sprouting out a large white wing at the side of the shoe, fluttering and flapping.
I blinked in surprise, and Luke laughed heartily. "Don't look like that man, you'll make me feel bad about my gift! It was a present from my dad, and now I'm giving it to you for your quest, so smile a little!"
I grinned, laughing as well. "Sorry dude, I was just confused. What do they do?"
"They help you fly. When you put 'em on and say the magic word, make sure to get a good run up and you'll start to run on air. It might take some practice but it should be useful." He explained, crossing his arms while I looked them over again.
"Well, thanks a lot man!" I thanked him sincerely, this was a pretty cool gift. But then something occurred to me.
"Wait. Are you not the other half-blood Chiron chose then? You're not going on the quest?" I asked, a little upset. Luke was a strong swordsman, and the only friendly face, other than Grover, I had around camp.
He snorted. "Percy, I'm too old. I missed my chance to do all that stuff a long time ago. But I do happen to know who's going instead."
"Oh?"
"I'm gonna leave it as a surprise."
___________________________________________
I trudged up the hill, backpack in tow, and noticed a familiar, friendly face looking at the tree, almost like he was reminiscing something.
"Hey, Grover!" I shouted, waving and getting his attention. He noticed me and grinned, waving back.
"Percy!" He yelled, walking up to me as I dumped my bag. I noticed he had a red duffel bag of his own slung over his shoulder.
"Ready?"
"Ready as I'll ever be." He hesitated, before looking me straight in my eyes. "I can't thank you enough for this opportunity Percy, I mean it. This means way more than you know."
I shook it off, still grinning. "No problem dude. You're the only satyr I would ever choose, you know that."
I paused, before sighing. "I dunno about this other half-blood though. I just hope they're useful. Maybe an Apollo kid, for some healing and archery. It's not Luke, so that means I barely know them as well. Great."
Grover blinked staring at me in surprise. "You really don't know who the other quest member is?"
I shook my head, but I was still puzzled. "First Luke, now you. Am I the only one who wasn't told?"
Grover laughed, bleating before answering.
"Fine, I'll tell you. Chiron chose-"
"Me."
I zipped my head around at the voice that appeared behind me, and crestfallen wouldn't begin to describe my face when I saw who it was.
I was staring at the annoyingly smug face of Annabeth Chase, and she was staring right back at me.
She had her arms crossed, leaning back with a backpack a similar size to mine across her shoulders and her invisibility cap hanging off of it.
"Surprised to see me?" She raised her eyebrows, and only then I realised how stupid I probably looked.
"Actually yes. Chiron said he'd give me somebody capable, not some blonde backstabber." I fired back, maybe a little harshly since her nostrils instantly flared up and her irises got smaller while she glared at me.
"Look, Sea-Boy, you've been at camp for three days. I've been here for eight years. I'm not the one you should be worrying about." She spat out, and I blinked, not sure what to say.
"But I'm still the one who got a quest. I wonder why that is, Wise-Girl?" I felt sassy when I said that, giving myself a mental pat on the back for that comeback, especially when I could see her teeth grit and her fists clench.
"Hey, maybe we should all chill out, right guys? We're all on the same team after all." Grover tried to keep it civil, and I reluctantly nodded, but I noticed Annabeth never did concede.
"Fine. But I swear, if you pull one more of your bullshit plans, like Capture the Flag, I'm gon-"
"Trust a child of Poseidon to be this stupid. My strategy won us that game! That's why Chiron chose me! Because I'm smarter than you, Foam-Brain!"
"And I got beat the shit out of by Clarisse! I could've died! " I yelled back.
"You're fine, aren't you?!"
"That's not the point! For Athena's kid, you're pretty dumb, y'know!"
"That's not even correct grammar!"
"Are you serious?!"
Grover sighed, covering his face in his hands, already massaging the incoming headache. He mumbled under his breath.
"This is going to be a long week."
___________________________________________
We'd been walking for about an hour, trudging through plain grass fields in silence, just trying to get to a bus stop.
Chiron had the good sense to pre-book us all a seat on a coach, which would take us west, near Chicago I think.
I was making a desperate effort to not interact with Annabeth, not even looking in her direction, and I know she was doing the same. If she was anything like her mother, I could understand why my dad didn't like her.
In my attempt to completely ignore Annabeth, my eyes were looking on anything even remotely interesting to lock on to, especially since the world around us was bleak and drab, the weather being particularly awful.
They eventually landed on Grover's red duffel bag he had on his back, and I decided to strike up conversation.
"So whatchu bring Grover?" I asked, and ignored Annabeth's eye roll, just wanting to make something of the moment.
He shrugged, taking it off his back. "I don't actually know. It's not mine, Chiron gave it to me. He said whatever was in it would be helpful on the quest."
Annabeth's eyes narrowed. "Well, why didn't you tell us this earlier?"
I glanced at her and shook my head. "He's telling us now, it's no biggie."
Grover ducked his eyes from both of our gazes and looked down at the bag, stopping in his path to open it. Both Annabeth and I stopped as well, equally curious.
He poured out it's contents, and all I could think was that there was no way all of that fit into that bag, but weirder things had happened so I didn't question it.
There was a wad of cash, maybe three thousand dollars, along with a bag of strange looking coins with pictures of the Empire State Building and various Olympians on, which I assumed were the golden drachmas Chiron told me about on my tour.
A few small, transparent, spray bottles of what looked like water littered the ground, with rainbow labels and gold rendering. I would have to ask Annabeth what they were later.
There were also two flasks, one labeled "NECTAR" and the other "AMBROSIA", but I was more interested in the three other items on display.
The first one was a large, golden shield which wasn't particularly interesting, except for the horrifying and disgustingly ugly face of a woman with snakes for hair firmly imprinted in its front. Grover and I both physically recoiled from it, turning our gaze, but Annabeth had no issue approaching it.
She picked it up wonderingly, putting it on her arm firmly with a hint of a smile, before clicking something on its back, making it retreat into a device on her wrist that looked eerily similar to Spider-Man's webshooters.
"It's like my mom's Aegis..." She whispered, grinning, and even I had to admit, it was nice seeing her so happy.
The second was a silver harp, small enough to be held and played at the same time. It was finely tuned and had inscribings of plants and trees throughout its body.
This time, Grover took a liking, picking it up and playing it a little, and I could've sworn I saw the trees begin to sway a little and the plants regain a little colour, despite the stormy sky.
"The Harp of Orpheus! I can't believe it!" He yelled, laughing as he played.
That left me with the last gift, but I had to say, I wasn't complaining.
A pair of Jordan IVs sat on the ground before me, basically begging to be worn. I quickly took off my dusty, creased boots I got from the camp lost and found, since I lost my shoes when the Minotaur attacked, and stuck them on, and the change was immediate.
I felt myself become a lot lighter, and for whatever reason, I felt compelled to sprint, so that's what I did. And it did not disappoint.
I was zipping around so fast that I could've sworn I felt a mini sonic boom, dodging and weaving through the trees and plants around us with ease, even doing several, mid-air somersaults.
I laughed like crazy, the feeling of that physical freedom was amazing and addicting, and I was getting drunk on it.
For some reason, I could feel the shoebox Luke gave me start to shake a little, almost disapproving of my new ones, but I ignored it, having too much fun.
My weird, newfound speed and agility got the attention of a certain arrogant, blonde daughter of Athena, who was packing up the rest of the gifts into the duffel bag.
"Hey, Seaweed Brain! Stop messing around with those, we've gotta go!" She yelled, and I reluctantly conceded, taking the sneakers off but still high off the feeling.
"D'you know what they're called by the way?" I asked, putting them into the bag and she nodded, staring at them as well.
"Yeah. The Boots of Hermod, a son of Zeus. He was a messenger of the gods but his job got taken by Hermes, who has similar shoes, Talaria." She spoke, and I nodded. I think that was the first civil interaction we'd had yet, but I didn't mention it, too buzzed to enter another argument.
Grover didn't put his new harp away, instead choosing to attach it to his belt, along with his pan flutes, leading with a new confidence that I hadn't ever seen in him before.
"Let's keep going!"
___________________________________________
Soon enough, we got to the bus stop, showed our tickets to the driver and sat down, electing to sit as a group at the back of the coach, so nobody could attack us from behind, according to Annabeth's logic anyway.
It was all going well, until the bus stopped at another station, I think somewhere in Pennsylvania, and a few more passengers came on, sitting down normally.
Most of them were ordinary strangers, nothing special or interesting about them, but the last one to sit down made my heart run cold.
Miss Dodds was on this bus.
My old teacher got on, and gave me a menacing glance as she sat down, making her knowledge of our peescence known.
I snapped my head to a dozing Grover, and elbowed him sharply in his side, making him jump and hiss in pain in his seat.
"Percy! What the h-"
"Miss Dodds is here!" I whisper-shouted, trying not to garner any unwanted extra attention, and his eyes widened in terror.
Annabeth noticed our horror and tilted her head and knitted her eyebrows in confusion. "Who's that?"
I turned around to her, my voice shaking as I answered.
"Alecto the Fury."
Annabeth didn't seem to be fazed, no outward expression of shock or surprise evident on her face. "Right. Of course she is. Well, this is where we get off."
She calmly spoke, getting out of her seat and grabbing her bag, gesturing for Grover and I to do the same, and we gladly did.
I did my best not to look at Miss Dodds as I walked past, but I could feel her harsh glare centred at me easily. As soon as we got off the bus, I heard her shuffle out of her seat, but I didn't dare turn back around, instead pushing Grover and Annabeth along and they seemed to get the message.
Once we were clear of the bus stop, we rushed into the woods, sprinting as fast as we could. Behind us was the horrible screech and flapping wings of Alecto, and she was practically salivating at the thought of killing us.
"Son of Poseidon! I won't be caught off guard again! Give me the Bolt, and I may just spare your friends!" She yelled, darting through the trees, looking for us.
The three of us were firmly hidden behind a large rock, unmoving and paralysed in fear. We heard Alecto begin to sniff the air maybe ten feet away, chuckling to herself.
"You can't hide, little half-bloods. The stench of the sea is too strong to hide!" She started to get closer to our direction, and I could feel my heart pound as if it was to burst, but Annabeth seemingly had a plan.
She nudged Grover and I to get our attentions, before gesturing to split up, and pointing at the harp on Grover's belt. She looked at me pointedly and made a running motion, and I got that message loud and clear.
"I've found you, little half-bloods." Alecto hissed, smashing the rock behind us and spitting her flame breath.
"NOW!" Annabeth yelled, and I started to run like hell, and sure enough, Miss Dodds was chasing me like vermin, darting at me through the air.
I dodged her first swing at me with a quick duck under her talons, and Grover began to play a song from his harp nervously, blowing his pan flutes in tandem to create a general sort of tune.
I could see the grass below us begin to creep upwards, and insects began to populate the area, but Alecto was so hellbent on attacking me, she ignored it.
Annabeth had her new shield ready, and quickly used it to bash Alecto away from me, allowing me to get up and fight properly.
"Thanks." I muttered and she looked back at me amused.
"No problem Seaweed Brain."
Miss Dodds easily got up again, and glared back at Annabeth but had to quickly avert her gaze as she faced the shield. She hissed, covering her face wing, before suddenly spinning around and knocking the shield clean out of Annabeth's hands with her scaly, reptilian tail.
Alecto looked back and began to laugh at Annabeth's shock, but she didn't waste too much time, shooting out at the distracted daughter of Athena with rapid speed, and Annabeth didn't have any time to react.
"You're dea-"
Miss Dodds was stopped mid-sentence by... me?
I was currently the only thing standing in the way of the Fury and Annabeth, Riptide in its trident form prevented any claws from touching her and I had no idea how. One second I was just as shocked as Annabeth, and the next, I was here.
Alecto snapped out of her surprise faster than me, shaking her head at me and grinning insanely. "Not today, Perseus. I have clear orders now. I must retrieve the Bolt, no matter the collateral damage done. And you, boy, are collateral damage."
She opened her mouth, about to release her flame breath, but a tendril of a plant began to wind down her face, suddenly shutting her jaw shut as it covered the rest of it.
I looked down and the rest of her body was bound too, flowers and grass keeping her arms, wings, legs and tail all firmly in place, no matter how much she squirmed, even when she dropped to the ground. Ants and wasps viciously attacked any of her exposed skin, biting and stinging her endlessly, and she screamed in pain.
I shot a quick grin at Grover, who continued to play his harp, and he gave me one back.
I returned Riptide to it's pen form, fitting it in my pocket as I nudged the completely broken Annabeth out of her shock.
"Annabeth? Wanna do the honors?" I asked, smiling down at the horrified Fury.
She laughed a little under her breath, more like happy wheezes, before nodding.
"Gladly."
She whipped out two bronze knives, probably throwing knives to be specific, and they were curved down then upwards again, radiating the same bronze glow all the other mythological weapons do.
Without mercy, Annabeth threw them both down, piercing Alecto's neck and abdomen, forcing a horrific screech out of the Fury as she crumbled into golden dust.
We all stood still, panting and staring down at where Miss Dodds was, before erupting into cheers and rushing to each other, slinging our arms around each other's shoulders to make a circle, jumping up and down in joy.
"Wooh!" I yelled, the adrenaline overflowing, and Annabeth laughed as I cheered. Grover was giggling and buzzed as well, till he suddenly stopped in his tracks, making Annabeth and I do the same.
I raised my eyebrow at him and asked. "Grover, you OK dude?"
He didn't answer me directly, not even looking at me really, instead starting to walk down the path briskly, leaving Annabeth and I by ourselves.
"Follow me." Was all he said.
"Why?" Annabeth asked.
"I smell hamburgers."
___________________________________________
We followed Grover for a good few minutes, curious but confused as to where he was leading us, until he eventually stopped.
We were in front of a building, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, off a road that no cars went by. There was a sign that read, to the best of my ability, "ANTSY EM'S GDARN MPRUIM", and when I muttered it out loud, Annabeth quickly corrected me.
"Aunty Em's Garden Emporium."
"My bad, I've got dyslexia."
"Yeah, we all do. Welcome to the club."
She briskly walked closer to the building, leaving me without any more words.
I turned to Grover, irritated. "Is she always gonna be like that?"
He shrugged. "Get used to it."
We both began to walk towards where Annabeth was, admiring the extremely detailed stone statues dotted throughout the front of the building. Grover even spotted a familiar one.
"Hey, that looks like my uncle Ferdi-"
He was interrupted by the noise of the front door opening, and a woman stepped out, dressed in dull, pink, satin dress that hung tightly to her form, with an equally coloured hat that covered her eyes and hair. Her lips were a deep red, and her skin was olive. By all accounts, she was incredibly beautiful.
"Hello there. How can I help you, son of Poseidon?" Her voice was smooth and she maintained composure, but I couldn't say we did the same.
"How do you know that?!" I yelled, slightly scared, and I could see in my peripheral that Annabeth began to reach for her knives on her waist, and Grover had his hand on his new harp.
She giggled and shook her head. "I'm not sure how you fared so well all these years, but the scent of the ocean is potent. I have to imagine that every monster within fifty miles of here is now aware of your prescence."
Annabeth stepped forward, unwavered like with Alecto. She had her finger on the trigger to activate her shield, and she went into a combat stance.
"Who are you?"
"Be at rest, daughter of Athena. If I wished to kill you, I would've done so already." She smiled, before continuing.
"My name is Medusa, pleased to meet you."
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AN:
Word Count: 4,004
Overall Word Count: 18,019
The quest has begun!
Tell me your thoughts so far. Not much happened this chapter, and it may be loosely following canon as of now, but after Medusa everything will change.
By the way, Percy's "gift" from Chiron isn't technically from Greek mythology. The Boots of Hermod actually belong to Norse mythology, and Hermod was the messenger of the gods of Asgard, similar to what Hermes is to Olympus. But for the sake of story, please just go along with it, there weren't many other cool magical items to give him that made much sense in my plan for this story.
I'll reiterate again the ages of all the characters. Percy and Annabeth are 15, Grover is 30, Luke is pretty much 19, Clarisse is 17, and anybody else relevant I will tell you their ages in the future, in any chapter they appear in.
Also, give me what you liked and disliked on the fights and gifts and such, as long as its constructive I'll be happy to hear it. Any suggestions for future gifts are welcome too.
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed and see you next chapter!