IMPORTANT!
For those people who skip author's notes, if you didn't know I am holding a cover competition for this book. Make your own cover and send me your entry at nutmeg223344wattpad@outlook.com and the winner will get their cover published. Contest closes on the 1ST OCTOBER 2015.
Nico's POV
Everyone around the camp was in a state of confused worry. No-one except Percy and Leo had really known Calypso very well, and so it was only them that grieved.
Percy was getting over the shock of such a sudden and horrible death with the help of Lexi, who was his comfort through his pain. She was always there to lend a helping hand by doing the simple things that really mattered, like making him his favourite blue pancakes to cheer him up or just to be the shoulder that he cried on. Ever since they had become a couple Percy had become completely open with her, sharing all his inner thoughts and feelings with her and her alone. I knew she would take his secrets to the grave.
Leo, however, was a mess. He hardly came out of bunker nine and when he did he looked pale and thin, with dark shadows under his eyes. I thought he looked just like Percy in the morning when Kronos had visited his dreams, back when Percy was still at camp.
Leo never talked to anybody. It was as though all the cheerful, playful fire in him had been extinguished.
At dinner on the third night after Calypso's death, I figured it was time to reveal myself at last. I had been thinking over the past few days and had decided that it was the right thing to do. No matter what Percy said, I thought the sight of a familiar face might raise the camper's hopes a little.
Once the plates had been cleared and the campers sat in contented, full-bellied silence, Percy stood up at the signal - a small nod and a nudge - from me. As he stood, all the faces turned towards us in what looked like a wave, eyes focusing and sharpening on the notorious hooded warrior that was their only hope.
"We have an announcement." said Percy loudly across the dining pavilion. "My second in command, Alpha, wishes to reveal his identity."
A murmur of interest echoed across the tables as campers put their heads together to wonder who the mysterious fighter really was. Many were wondering why on earth Alpha wanted to reveal his identity, for he was surely just another alien like Lexi, or another strange face they'd never seen. And yet, the curiosity was growing ever larger.
I stood up, and the faces flicked across from Percy to me. I couldn't help feeling a little nervous, and the glare of many eyes felt like a hundred spotlights freezing me into place.
"My name is..." I spoke softly from under the hood and grasped the sides of it, preparing to flick it down.
Wait a second, what if Percy was right? What if the campers lost faith? What if Kronos or some other villain used my identity against me?
This is for Will. I said over and over in my head as I tried again.
"My name is... Nico di Angelo."
I pulled down my hood.
There were several screams from the campers, yells of shock that were only heard when a dead person walked again. I saw several familiar faces turn white with surprise and fright. I wasn't surprised. After all, if one of my friends had died and then came back to life I'd be pretty freaked, let alone the friend turning out to be a super-strong warrior of Chaos. (Not to show off)
A familiar, brown-haired, opal-eyed someone came rushing at me from the Aphrodite table and I was enveloped in a huge hug from Piper. Tears sparkled in her eyes as she looked at me, laughing and crying at the same time.
As though Piper's hug was a cue, everyone in the camp that I'd even known was upon me and I nearly toppled over from the weight of everyone pressing against me.
"Alright, Alright, give the boy some space!" Luke yelled out playfully and people started to back away.
"Well, if that's everything, we should probably go." said Percy aloud to the campers. "Nico will be around to sign autographs later. Won't you, Neeks?"
I was gone faster than Grover chasing enchiladas.
***
Percy's POV
I got down wearily from the table, walking away quickly. I didn't want to look back into the eyes that had been staring at me, wondering if I, too, was someone they knew.
Walking back over the camp, I couldn't help noticing the Poseidon cabin.
It wouldn't hurt to have a quick look, right?
I changed course, heading instead for my old home. It looked exactly the same as it had looked before I vacated it all those years ago.
As I got nearer, however, I noticed something on the front wall of the building that did not belong there.
It was a Minotaur horn. The same horn that I had won when I was twelve years old. It was mounted on a wooden plaque engraved with golden letters;
'To commemorate Percy Jackson and the sacrifices he made for us. '
I turned away and strode back towards the chaos cabin. That was in the past. The war was now.
The chaos cabin was on the other side of the ring of cabins. As I neared it, I saw a squirrel dart across my path and look at me, it's nose twitching. Once it had given me a once-over, it turned to scurry back the way it came -
and froze.
Literally. The squirrel had become completely stationary, and turned the colour of stone.
I yelled out loud to the campers still at the dining pavilion. "GORGONS! Cover your eyes!"
Though I knew only Medusa could turn people to stone, I was sure she wouldn't be stupid enough to come alone. A camp full of demigods would easily have defeated her if she was alone.
I shut my eyes tight, squeezing them together as I heard a cackle off to my left.
Instead of seeing with my eyes, I reached out with my senses. A figure was standing behind a tree twenty paces away, staring at me with curiosity. Even as I felt her presence, a hundred snakes slithered around her head, her shoulders and her neck, hissing audibly.
"Medusa!" I cried out, turning to face her with my eyes tightly shut. "Come and get some if you think you're hard enough!"
The figure snarled, turning towards me. I could almost see her piercing red eyes in my mind.
I drew soulcleaver, holding it in a strong, reassuring grip. I knew I couldn't risk riptide as I had a feeling that Medusa wouldn't take kindly to seeing the weapon I'd decapitated her with.
"Aaahh, chaos silver." Medusa hissed, eyeing my blade. "What a curious choice of weapon. I have not seen chaos silver for many years, boy. What makes you worthy of it?"
"This." I said and ran forward, jabbing in a swift motion with my sword.
She dodged faster than I thought possible, smiling as she looked at me.
"Tut, tut. Not so good with your eyes shut, are you boy?"
Although I had a feeling she didn't know I could sense her, she had a point. I was at a disadvantage and it took a lot of my energy to keep my senses alert while fighting to the best of my ability. As we fought, she continued to hiss threats at me under her breath, trying to aggravate me. It was working.
"I will take your life, boy. I will sap the power from your bones and -"
Wait, the power?
My life force was a power. She couldn't take it away.
I opened my eyes.
She gasped, staring at me in shock. "How... how... "
I began to swing at her, and now her fear was evident on her face.
"Just think -"
swish
"That if I'd known -"
swoosh
"All those years ago -"
clatter
"I could have beat you -"
Flash
"With my eyes open!"
Her shocked look froze on her face as my sword met it's target. As she scattered to the wind, I saw her widened eyes slowly blow away until there was nothing but a yellow dusting over the surrounding trees like icing sugar.
Turning, I saw Luke and Nico leaning up against a tree nearby, each holding a head of a Gorgon.
"Well, that was easy." Luke said, sounding happy, but worried.
"And no casualties" I said, smiling.
Just then, there was a yell from behind me.
"Percy! Percy!"
It was Will, and he looked utterly frantic.
"You know when you let slip that you were the fated son of the sea?"
"Yeah..." I answered, confused.
"Chiron and half the camp have just gone to Rachel to ask her about it!"
"Shit."
Me, Nico and Luke set off at full sprint with Will tagging behind. Within a minute, we were within eyeshot of the big house. There was a large crowd around the front porch and Rachel was sitting on one of the chairs around the pinochle table.
We stopped, not wanting to get too close to the other campers. If they found out about my identity they would swarm me and I was not looking forward to that.
Chiron held his hand up to the chattering crowd and as he did so he bent down to ask Rachel a question.
"Who is the fated son of the sea?"
A green light flared and smoke began billowing from Rachel's mouth. The smoke drifted over the camper's heads as the harsh, grating voice of the Oracle split the silence.
"A boy will come with the ocean in his eyes,
Born to Poseidon, the God's true prize.
The strength of this child will remain unmatched,
And through pain and betrayal, his life will be snatched.
But all is not lost, for though he is gone,
In a faraway place, his life carries on.
With the wings of the world he will soar through the skies,
The true son of the sea, once again will arise."
Luke's POV
As the Oracle's mouth closed and Rachel's eyes fluttered open again, I felt a gust of wind beside me. Percy had taken off and was soaring away back towards the chaos cabin without a backward glance. Eyes followed him as he flew, people pointing and whispering.
"What? Was it something I said?" said Rachel.
***
Later on when we were all seated in the dining pavilion again, I noticed that Percy was not there. His empty chair was drawing glances from everyone in the vicinity and I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, trying to keep my eyes on my pizza.
Now that Nico had revealed himself and Percy's identity was being investigated, I was the only real mystery left, and I was determined to stay that way.
Just then, I saw an awful sight.
Percy landed in the dining pavilion. He had something in his arms and I noticed what it was as he rested it gently on the floor. It was a statue made of cold, grey stone, in the shape of a person.
The face of the person was Malcolm from the Athena cabin.
Annabeth screamed out loud from the Athena table. Her hands were covering her mouth and tears were already running down her face.
Medusa had struck after all. Struck when our backs were turned. And it was poor Malcolm who had been her victim.
***
On the way back to the cabin, the warriors were gloomy. We'd thought, just this once, that we'd cheated these attacks and their hadn't been any casualties, but we'd been wrong.
"Why was it Athena, anyway?" Nico asked glumly from my left.
"Medusa's on her shield, I guess." I answered. "I mean her sacred animal is an owl, and you can't really attack people with owls, can you?"
Just then, there was a rustle of bushes behind us and we turned around sharply, hands clenched around the handles of our weapons.
Out of the bushes burst a sobbing Annabeth, hands covering her face, tears pouring down the little of her cheek that I could see. She looked up at the sight of us, and her eyes were red and swollen from crying.
"You!" she screamed at Percy, pointing her finger savagely in his direction. "This is all your fault! You could've stopped this! It's your job! But you did nothing, and now - and now my brother is dead!"
Percy, taken aback, took several paces away from Annabeth looking shocked. "Annabeth, we tried, we - "
"Well, you didn't try HARD enough! You can go to hell for all I care!"
Percy visibly winced, and I could see his eyes widen in shock and hurt. I knew this comment hit particularly close to home, as Percy had been to hell himself, with Annabeth. She knew exactly what fate she was condemning him to.
Annabeth seemed to realize what she'd said and instantly softened. "Percy, I'm sorry, I - "
"No, you're right. This is all my fault."
Percy looked so morose, so vunerable, that even now it was hard to imagine him with all the power that he had.
"Everything that's happened is my fault."
And without another word, Percy had taken off, his wings beating wavering shadows against the sky.
"You really need to stop doing that." I said to Annabeth, before Nico transported us to the chaos cabin away from the scene. The tension had been so thick I could've choked on it.
Once inside the airy kitchen, I looked at Nico.
"Crap, Percy's more goth than you now, Neeks."
The only reply I got was a slap on the back of my head before Nico went to bed.
I meanwhile, was starting to think that Percy had been right all those months ago back on Chaos' planet. It seemed that this whole 'earth' thing was more trouble than it was worth.
HI PEOPLES!
Ok ok, I know. This chapter was really short and I haven't updated in AGES.
Here's why;
I have been super busy lately and just before my busy time started I wanted to post something so I decided to open the competition that I'd been thinking of for a while. Thank you for the entries I've recieved, but remember the contest closes on OCTOBER 1ST 2015 so there's still lots of time to enter. I would love to see your entries, even though a few people have said they prefer my current one, which is very kind of you. <3
Also, I have had a few people asking me to read their stories and give them advice. I would love to help anyone who is interested, if you would like me to read your ongoing stories and give you feedback/tips/reviews, please write me a message on my account or email me directly at the same email mentioned above. I'd love to help you guys, even though I don't know much about writing... *grins awkwardly*
Cheers,
Catgirl xxx