"Wrench, please."
Silena pulled a wrench out of her cloak and handed it to her husband, who had stopped wearing his cloak. Something about flaps getting tangled in machinery. Beckendorf grabbed the wrench and started tweaking his drones. He hit it a couple times, turned a screw, and then...
He smiled and threw it up. Wings extended from its back as the thrusters on the bottom hummed into action, leaving the turret floating in the sky. He smiled and twisted the ring on his hand. It melted and spread over his hand like syrup, eventually covering it and hardening. He lifted the gauntlet up and started moving it around. The drone obeyed his orders, flying where he wanted it to fly.
He smiled. "Calibrations are done. Bot 34 has been completed."
"Nice," Silena said, leaning on his shoulder. "Is that enough?"
Beckendorf nodded. "Yeah."
They sat there for a while, enjoying the quiet humming of the drone. At least until someone stalked up to them and interrupted their moment.
"I have a migraine," Johnathan accused.
Bellerophon sighed, snapping back into the moment. Him and Silena were sitting on the grass outside the Pegasus stables. Two days had passed since the facility had exploded, and since then, Percy had been spending a lot of time in his room, sleeping.
"Aren't you supposed to be at a cabin meeting?" Silena asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I- shouldn't you two be doing more than just sitting together? We're preparing for war against one of the strongest primordials!" Johnathan said angrily.
"You got kicked out, didn't you," Beckendorf said.
Johnathan's face got red with anger. "I- that- it doesn't matter! You two are just sitting around when Erebus himself is coming to fight us!"
"I'm making improvements to my weapons," Beckendorf said, annoyed.
Johnathan looked at the flying drone. "You think that's gonna beat Erebus?"
"What? No," Beckendorf said. "Our team may be strong, but we're gonna need Percy to fight Erebus. Us other strike force members will be dealing with his reinforcements, trying to keep people alive, and trying to make sure structures stay up."
Johnathan stared at him. "But... it's Erebus. Do you really think -"
"Hold on," Silena said. "Why are you so adamant about Erebus beating us?"
"W-what?" Johnathan asked. "I- I'm not -"
She narrowed her eyes. "Why are you vouching for Erebus?" She asked with charmspeak.
His eyes crossed, and he opened his mouth to answer, but then Luke zipped in front of Silena.
"Sorry, code Pipes," he said quickly, grabbing her and zipping away.
Beckendorf watched as the gold blur disappeared. He sighed and stood up, facing the now confused looking Johnathan. He stepped forward until he was looking down directly at the now whimpering boy.
He cracked his knuckles. "I'm no good at interrogations alone. But let me warn you..."
He eyes narrowed. "If you get someone, ANYONE, killed or hurt... I'll break you over my anvil."
Johnathan nodded and scampered away, almost shedding tears. Beckendorf watched him run before looking back at his drone. His tapped his gauntlet, and it transformed back into his ring.
"Follow," he said to the drone as he began walking back to his cabin.
Along the way, he passes Hyacinthus, who was on a date with Apollo. The sun God in question was smiling as wide as he could.
-Five minutes earlier-
The cabin leaders and some of the Chaos team sat (or stood) in the Big House, discussing war plans. Luke sat with his feet on the table, tipping the chair. Hazel looked off into space, as was her new norm. Everyone else was attentive and at the table.
"And you said we won't need to watch the shore at all?" Annabeth asked, pointing at the map of the camp in the middle of the table..
Percy shook his head. "Nope. Erebus won't use water troops."
"Why?" Jason asked.
"Hope would obliterate them," Luke said. "He's got really powerful control over a good mix of elements. Water is one of them."
Percy looked at Luke crossly but nodded. "Hero is right. Erebus will be attacking on land completely."
"So..." Annabeth said. "The Ares cabin should go in the front."
"No fair!" Johnathan said. "I'm the best fighter at camp! I should be in the -"
"Do you really want to go against a horde of monsters the size of your mother?" Luke asked.
Johnathan's face grew red. "You- I can take those monsters, no sweat!"
"Johnathan," Jason said. "Be quiet for this meeting. Please. You're giving us all a bad name. You shouldn't even be here. I'm the head camper for the Zeus cabin."
Johnathan shook his head. "No, you're the priest thing. The one that travels between- oh, well, I guess traveled between camps, hah!"
Reyna slammed a knife into the table and glared at Johnathan with murderous intent. "Leave. Before I sink this knife through your forehead."
"What did I -" Johnathan began to say before Butch stood up.
His eyes widened as Butch approached him. "Woah, now," he said nervously, putting his arms out, trying to calm Butch down. "You don't have to -"
Butch grabbed his arm and walked to the doorway, throwing Johnathan out of the Big House. He slammed the door.
He walked back to his seat and calmly sat down. "Continue."
"Thank you," Percy said. "Back to the map. If we send the Ares cabin out in the front, we'd have to give some protection. They are, statistically, the strongest cabin, right?"
Clarisse cracked her knuckles. "Hell yeah. Most of us are strong as hell and good with at least two weapons. And the training has helped a lot."
Percy nodded. "Good. That means we can't let you immediately die. So... Hero, Screwbolt, and Red will go with you to the front lines."
Annabeth nodded. "Sounds like a plan."
"Sorry," Piper cut in. "But what exactly is the possibility of a... certain bounty hunter coming ba-"
Bianca sighed. She was standing next to Hero, and had not spoken much. "Look," she said. "We told you the answer. Multiple times. Percy is not coming to help."
"Why do you even want him to return?" Luke asked. "If he did, he would probably just try to kill you."
"Oh," Piper said sadly. "I- he always gave us confidence when we fought together."
Bianca raised an eyebrow. "I still can't believe you guys did what you did."
All the campers looked away, ashamed, while Luke just laughed.
"I thought it made sense," he said. "From what he told us, you all could get pretty radical at times."
"Like when?" Piper argued.
"The Nymphaeum," Percy said, his voice rolling like gravel. "You made him feed them, almost all on his own. You and Jason did nothing!"
Piper looked at him in shock. "How did- who are you?"
"I told you," Percy said. "I'm Hope. And Percy told me everything."
"No. No, I don't believe you," Piper said. "I- Percy wouldn't tell anyone something like that."
"Tell me who you are," she said, using charmspeak.
Percy, who had let his guard down in the Big House, thinking it was safe, immediately opened his mouth to answer.
Luke almost fell off his chair in surprise and then zipped out of the room.
"I am P -" Percy began to say before Luke zipped back into the room, holding Silena by the arm.
"STOP!" She yelled immediately.
Everyone froze, and the Chaos team breathed out a sigh of relief. Everyone slowly came back from their state of daze, looking around the room in confusion.
Piper's jaw dropped. "That charmspeak... it was on par with our mother's. Silena, how did you -"
The air in the room suddenly chilled. The light dimmed and the very, very faint sound of... everything, sounded throughout the room. The crying of babies, the screaming of the tortured, the creation of galaxies, the deaths of stars, and everything else in the universe mixed together in one quiet background symphony. It was beautiful, and incredibly terrifying at the same time.
Piper's gaze slowly landed on Percy, who was standing deathly still. His third was staring at her with incredibly intense hatred, and the color was just... black. The eye slits on his mask glowed bright, bloody red.
"You dare," he whispered dangerously, his voice rebounding across the room. He put a hand on the table and leaned forward.
"Hero warned you. I know he did," Percy said again, his voice growing louder as extra arms began to split out of his sides.
"He specifically told you, and yet you tried anyway," he said as he walked onto the table like a spider. His head began to spin in circles, making cracking noises every time it turned a couple degrees.
Piper looked at Percy in horror as he advanced. His neck elongated, growing closer and closer to her face. His mask grew bloody fangs and teeth as he approached her face.
"You tried to force me into revealing my identity," he said. "And now, you will SUFFER!"
He lunged forward, only to be punched back by a gold blur. He slammed into the nearby wall and slumped to the ground. His neck returned to normal. As he began to stand up, Luke zipped over to him.
"Listen, Hope," he said. "She doesn't know. Do you really think they'll trust you if you kill her?"
"I... I don't care!" Percy yelled, switching personalities. His eyes grew wide with hysteria, and he started to scream his words. "I'M GOING TO-"
"Prometheus!" Luke said firmly.
Percy stopped and stared up at Luke. "You can't be -"
"I am."
Percy turned to look back at Piper, who was still staring at him in terror. He sighed and put his extra arms back into his body.
"You're right. Thank you, Hero. I- I'm going to go sleep," he said.
Percy blinked out of existence, and Bianca let out a sigh as the room returned to normal. "Thank goodness."
"Wha- what just happened?" Jason asked.
"Piper did the one thing we said not to do," Luke said. "That's what's going to happen when you attempt to discover his identity."
"W-what was that you called him?" Annabeth asked, still shaken.
"Prometheus," Luke answered. "It's an inside joke between us primordial representatives. That's why Michael called him that, too."
The door opened, and Chiron walked in with Dionysus right behind him. "We're back from our pinochle game. Anything big happen?"
(A/N: Hey I don't do these often but I had some things to say.
One: Thank you so much for reading and commenting!
Two: I've been sick for the past three days, and I think I am nearing the end. (Of the sickness)
And three: Do you guys want me to switch to longer chapters? It would mean slower updates, less ads, and more time I'm allowed to procrastinate. If you would like the switch, please tell me.
Thank you!
Oh and I've got a lot of pain reserved for the part two finale )