Ch. 2
Percy Jackson sat in the Humvee, the bumps in the road sending him up and down as they drove at an accelerated pace down the old cattle trail towards the city. His mind had been focused on the mission at hand when he was distracted by thoughts of the past and how much his life had and had not changed in the past two years.
Two years ago, he was standing side by side the love of his life, his best friend, his Wise Girl in a battle at the foothills of the original Mount Olympus. That was in his life as a demigod, a son of Poseidon who had led his fellow demigods in wars not just as the Earth Goddess Gaea but also against the Titan Lord a couple years earlier. A war that had begun the moment he learned he was a demigod and was forced on a quest to find Zeus' stolen master bolt and hadn't ended until he was nineteen. The day he watched Annabeth lying lifeless and bloody, an Empousa's spear impaled through her spine.
Other than the end though, it wasn't necessarily a bad life. His old life was just different. It was the kind of life that you read about in fictional books, the kind mortal children wish they had, not knowing what it really meant. They have no idea what it is like to watch your cousin sacrifice herself to save you against a giant metal automaton that should be on your side given the god who created it. Or to watch a girl who hated you with every fiber of her being at the onset of the journey grow to become a close friend only to die at the hands of her own immortal father in order to save a goddess who looked at you like an insect; one who barely recognized your existence because you were born with a dick instead of a vagina until you take the literal weight of the world for her.
The kind of life where you are thrown into an ancient maze, struggling against impossible odds to find an object that is sought after by powerful immortal beings born millennia before your mother was even a thought in your grandparents mind. Or where you were forced to throw yourself into a deadly river in hopes of giving yourself just a slightest of chances to survive a battle against a foe so powerful the gods dared not speak of his name until he was knocking at their doorstep with an army of thousands.
That was his old life though, a life he left behind before finding a new purpose.
The aftermath of the second Giant War had been far worse than the Titan one a couple years earlier. Many demigods had fallen in the final battles at the feet of the original Mount Olympus. Though Annabeth had been the most popular, she was only one of the many who lost their lives on those ancient grounds, the roots of the Olympians.
Returning to Camp Half-Blood, Percy had hoped to put her death behind him, to move to on, perhaps help train the next generation of heroes in hopes they could have had better lives than the ones he and his friends had.
But it seemed every part of his home held some memory, a painful reminder of a moment he and Annabeth shared together.
He wasn't the only one. Frank Zhang, the chubby cheeked and slightly awkward Asian Canadian who had been a part of the seven who sent the earth goddess into her millennia long slumber felt the same discomfort and pain when returning to Camp Jupiter. He was forced to relinquish him Praetor position, a job given to him when Jason decided his new place was with the Greeks and his girlfriend, now wife, Piper. Hoping for a fresh start, he traveled to Camp Half-Blood, the relations between Greeks and Romans significantly improve after the execution of Octavian who, as Athena had stated, "was a direct and significant contributor to Gaea's war effort, even if his motives were driven by only a greed and lust for power".
Needless to say, not many tears were shed for the auger who had few allies by the end of the war.
Unfortunately for Frank, he found little comfort in his new surroundings. Rather than places with memories of his time with his deceased love, Camp Half-Blood was full of people whom he and Hazel had spent a significant amount of their short time together with.
Neither he nor Percy found much comfort in their lives at Camp Half-Blood. Unsure of what else to do, both contemplated leaving until they found another option in the most unlikely of sources.
It happened in the arena. Percy was trying to help Frank with his swordsmanship which was anything but good. They both shared the bond of losing loved ones and seemed to be drawn to each other due to that and the fact that they had become good friends while on their journey to Greece in the Giant War.
Percy has batted aside a feeble attack from Frank when out of the corner of his eye, he saw Clarisse bidding goodbye to a few of her siblings. Curiosity getting the better of him, he disarmed Frank with a flick of his wrist and approached the often surly daughter of Ares.
"You're leaving?"
Clarisse let go of her siblings hand and turned to face her sometimes adversary and sometimes friend.
"I need a break. My father gave me some advice and I've decided to take it. I'm leaving for a while. I'll come back in a couple years but I can't be here at the moment."
His curiosity peaked, the son of Poseidon had pressed on, asking more about her escape plan. It took a while but after talking for a bit, Clarisse and Percy had finally found something that brought them together.
The pain of loss and the desire for something else had given them a common ground, one which led the often stubborn son of Poseidon to swallow his pride as ask for a favor from one of the gods least likely to grant his wish.
To his utter disbelief, the war god had understood his wish and even more shockingly, offered a solution to not only him but his Roman son as well. One which freed them from the constant reminders of their fallen loved ones and gave them a new life, a new purpose, one which both were already quite accustomed to.
That was what brought the son of Poseidon to his current location; a seat inside a Humvee, in the middle of Afghanistan. He glanced down at his uniform, the Canadian flag emblazoned on his sleeve. Perhaps not his first choice, but in honor of the war god's fallen love and the mother of one of his best friends, he joined the Canadian military. Ares had created documents for both him and Clarisse showing their Canadian citizenship and the duo, along with Frank enlisted in the armed forces.
The trio, two siblings and a second cousin on their godly sides, grew to be closer than thought possible. It didn't take long for their talents to be recognized either. Right out of training, they were selected for Special Forces, something that surprised only Frank who found compared to mortals, he was actually quite skilled in most types of combat, his firearm accuracy surpassing even that of both Percy and Clarisse.
Soon enough, the Humvee came to halt, the team exiting and moving towards a nearby building to prepare for their mission.
Their target building was still a few blocks up the street. They team filed out of the two Humvees and quickly moved from the street to a nearby ally where they had more cover from the watchful eyes of the less than troop-friendly citizens. Percy took the lead, keeping close to the walls of one of buildings as they hurried through the alleyway, coming to a halt twenty feet from where the alley and road met.
Without a word, Percy held up his hand. He pointed at his eyes and then to the left where six of the soldiers took off to, going through another alley to find a location to provide support. He pointed to the right as another six of the soldiers took off to find good places to provide support and cover for their approach.
Without another word, Percy took off towards the street. The remaining eleven soldiers following close behind. They crossed the mostly empty street before splitting off one block in front of their target building, six heading to the left while Percy led Frank, Clarisse and three others to the right.
It took only a moment more before they reached their destination. They moved like a well-oiled machine, their training and skills on full display as their footsteps were silent. Percy and the others stopped and stood with backs against the side the building. They waited for the signal to continue.
Hearing the sound of the silenced sniper rifle followed shortly by the "all-go" signal in his helmet, Percy stood just to the side of the window. He pulled a grenade from his waist and held up three fingers. On one, he threw the flashbang through the window.
Within seconds, Percy was at front of the door. Frank came forward with a battering ram and smashed it open. First through the door was Percy with Clarisse right on his heels. The others followed closely behind.
A door across the room flew open as two men with Ak-47s wildly opened fired. The mortal to his left cried out in pain before the gunfire was met with return fire. Clarisee fired two shots into the foreheads of each man with the speed and precision of a skilled marksman.
Percy turned to his fallen soldier, "Zhang, La Rue, Bergeron. Clear the building. The three soldiers took off, securing the building as Percy knelt with the other soldier to get a look at the injury.
"It's a flesh wound." The soldier grunted. "I'm fine Cap."
Percy took his eyes off the wound and looked up at his soldier, a slight look of amusement on his face, "You sure about that Côté? You're looking a little white. I'm sure Tremblay here would have no problem looking after that pretty little thing you've got on speed dial while you recover."
The soldier looked over at the other who was tying a tourniquet around his wound with a mischievous smirk on his face. Even through his visor, Percy could see Côté's eyes narrow dangerously, "I'd sooner cut the leg off, sir."
Percy bit back a laugh and smiled, "I thought as much. Rub some dirt on it, we're not quite done yet." He stood back up as Clarisse, Frank and Bergeron all returned to the room after clearing the building.
"Intelligence said he was here. Maybe it was a bad tip." Clarisse said looking at Percy. The son of Poseidon closed his eyes for a second, sending out his senses and getting a feel for all the water in the room. He identified the forms of his soldiers and where they were before extending his senses further until his eyes snapped back open.
He put up a hand as the others froze, not moving a muscle. He walked across the room, honing in on the spot before he stopped. He looked back and smirked at his team before he raised his C7 Assault Rifle and opened fire on the floor of the building. He shot a wide arcing circle into the floor before he stopped.
The horrified whimpering of a man could be heard from the underneath the floorboards. Percy nodded with his head as Privates Bergeron and Tremblay stepped up, grabbing the floorboards where the bullets had broken them and ripped them up revealing a small-framed Middle Eastern man curled up in the fetal position in a crawl space that barely fit him.
The two privates pulled the man from his hiding spot and searched him, removing a gun found tucked in his waistband before shoving him in front of Percy who looked at him with an impassive face.
"Is it him?"
Clarisse pulled out an electronic device, pulling up a picture of their target, before she grinned evilly.
"Positive identification."
Percy sighed, reaching up and pulling off his helmet. The heat in this country would take a lifetime to get used to.
He looked at the man with cold green eyes. They held none of the mirth he had shone when talking to his injured comrade moments earlier. No, his eyes were filled with a controlled anger, one of a battle hardened war veteran who knew exactly the type of human being was in front of him.
Frank cleared his throat garnering Percy's attention. He turned, realizing what Frank was asking. He nodded his agreement as Frank and the others also removed their helmets, a short reprieve from the blistering heat of the day.
"Surrender," the man said in heavily accented English.
The captured man looked at Percy fearfully. Though his expression was stoic, his eyes were harsh and unforgiving and forced the man to look down where he saw his uniform. The man seemed genuinely surprised, if not pleased, when he saw the Canadian flag emblazoned on his sleeve.
"Canada, you are forgiving nation," he said nodding. "I surrender to Canada."
To the man's relief, Percy gave him a big smile making him look at the son of Poseidon gratefully... Before Percy pulled out a Browning 9mm handgun and put a bullet right between his eyes.
"Not an option, actually." Percy muttered looking down at his lifeless body with disgust. Long gone were the days when he was a teenage demigod who feared taking a human life. Through two godly wars and now a mortal one, he had learned the difference between killing and killing with purpose. He knew the difference between a person who made bad choices and those who were truly evil. His conscience was quite clear and would remain the same after his latest kill.
He felt a hand on his back as Clarisse gave him her nod of approval. Frank slipped his pack off and pulled out a six-pack that had become a tradition for their team. He tossed Percy a beer who smiled at his friend.
He cracked it open and held it up, "To the world having one less child-murdering piece of trash in it!"
The others raised their beverages in agreement before they all downed their beers in seconds. Percy crumpled the empty can in his hand still smiling.
"Let's get the fuck out of the sandbox, I think Côté needs to ice his vagina."
The others let out raucous laughs at their comrade's expense before it was halted by a blinding light appearing in the room. They were all forced to shield their eyes before Percy felt the sensation of being grabbed and pulled hard. When he felt his feet under him again, he didn't even hesitate, pulling out his handgun and putting a bullet through the head of his captor.
The bullet passed through harmlessly and Percy's eyes went a little wide when he laid eyes on his captor.
"Sorry Perce, that won't work on me." The messenger god said sounding genuinely apologetic.
Before Percy could object, Frank put a gun to the side of the messenger god's head.
"True but this one certainly will." He said as he pulled back the hammer on the gun packed with celestial bronze bullets.
Hermes felt a rare moment of fear as Frank Zhang held a gun to his head. He could sense the celestial bronze bullets inside the gun, one sitting in the chamber ready to be unloaded into his head. Sure, he was immortal and he couldn't be killed, well not truly killed, but a bullet straight to the brain would undoubtedly send him to Tartarus for at least a decade to reform. He knew he was quick but after what he saw in the image and how quickly Frank had the gun to his head, he wasn't sure he was fast enough to get away before Frank pulled the trigger.
Percy looked around the room, realizing where he was and who it was he just tried to shoot and who Frank was holding a gun to. He cursed mentally; this was not where he wanted to be.
"Balls," he muttered under his breath. "Stand down Frank."
Frank slowly pushed the hammer of the gun back and let his eyes finally take in his surroundings. "Oh, shit."
Percy turned to Hermes who still looked a bit frightened, "Lord Hermes, I'm really sorry. We didn't know it was you. You kind of snuck up on us and that is usually not something anyone other than people trying to kill us try to do."
The god of messengers relaxed a little, "Yeah, sorry Perce." He said before turning to Frank with a harsh glare. Ares coughed loudly making Hermes give up on scaring Frank and made his way back to his throne. The war god nodded to his Roman son, undoubtedly proud of the way he handled himself.
Zeus had watched the situation unfold in a shocked silence. These were not the same two demigods who had helped stop Gaea a couple years earlier. They were very different, even without witnessing the scene in the image, the way they carried themselves had changed very much since the war with the earth goddess.
Percy looked around the room noticing all the Olympians were in attendance and even some of his old friends as he got a feeling he was not going to like the reason he was here. He found his father looking at him worriedly. He gave him a small smile that the sea god returned but it looked almost forced.
"Did we do something wrong?" Clarisse finally asked, annoyed at being kidnapped from their lives by the gods who only called when they wanted something.
"Well, you did just kill some poor guy in cold blood," Aphrodite said giving Clarisse a slightly distasteful look, "but that is not why you are here."
"What? You were watching us?" Percy asked incredulously. The Olympians just looked at him strangely. He acted so very different than the boy who had returned Zeus' bolt all those years ago. "And for your information, you're quite wrong Lady Aphrodite. I suggest you not pass judgment unless you know what it is your speaking about." He said a little bitterly.
The love goddess looked taken aback but before she could speak, Ares snapped his fingers as an image again appeared in the middle of the throne room.
In the image, a man, the same man they had seen Percy shoot in the head just moments earlier, drove a rusty jeep down the dusty streets of a city. The gods watched curiously as they watched the jeep pull up to a busy marketplace.
The man stepped out and opened the back door where two small children filed out, a young boy and girl, neither older than five or six. The man grabbed two backpacks from the vehicle and helped the children put them on. After exchanging a few words, he kissed both children on the heads before shooing them off into the market. The man got back in the jeep, started the vehicle up and put it in gear. As he pulled away from the market, he reached over to the passenger seat and grabbed something.
In his hand was a small remote which he fiddled with before the sounds of an explosion could be heard plain as day. In the rear view mirror, a billowing column of smoke, fire and debris could be seen clear erupting into the sky.
Ares snapped his fingers again as the image disappeared, most of the room looking shocked at what they just witnessed.
"So, with all due respect, my lady," Percy said in a cold tone. "Please do not attempt to pass judgment on something you know nothing about, especially without looking at the skeletons in your own closet first."
Aphrodite's mouth hung open, unsure of how to even respond to his harsh but accurate words.
"Um," Frank said a little awkwardly. "No disrespect or anything my lords and ladies but can we leave? We were sort of in the middle of something when you grabbed us."
"Or could you at least let us know why we're here?" Percy added having no wish to get on the bad side of the gods, especially Zeus, at the moment.
"They wouldn't let it go." Ares grunted. "They were going to send the hunters after you so I just showed them you were busy."
"For what?" Percy asked looking at the gods in disbelief.
"Not to kill you, son." Poseidon explained. "We just needed to find you."
"And what? The telephone has gone out of style? I'm really not that hard to get ahold of. All you had to do was ask Mom how to get into contact with me. I wasn't hiding. I just have a life, one you've ripped me out of for a reason no one seems to want to tell me."
"Camp Half-Blood." Zeus snapped, his irritation with Percy's apparent lack of fear getting on his nerves. "There have been attacks on both camps over the past months. The campers have suffered losses and they could use experienced demigods in their midst."
The effect was immediate as both Percy's and Clarisse's expressions darkened. They exchanged a look along with Frank before Percy shook his head.
"We can't do that." Most of the room looked at him in disbelief. "Camp isn't our life anymore. We have our own responsibilities and duties to attend to. I truly am sorry but we left that part of our lives and, while the world of monsters and whatnot may never leave us completely, we won't go back."
The throne room was eerily silent. No one thought he would be so quick to reject the prospect of helping the camp.
"But Percy," Poseidon argued.
"No Dad." Percy cut him off. "I love you. I am proud to be a son of Poseidon but I don't want to be a demigod. I don't want to go back to that life. There are too many memories and we have too much baggage. There is a reason we were half way across the world."
Poseidon slumped back in his throne. He wasn't going to try and force his son to do anything. He had done more than enough and if this was the life he wanted, he had earned that choice.
"You would deny a request from the gods?" Zeus asked with a slight edge to his voice.
Percy's eyes snapped to the King of the Gods. His expression was harsh before a laugh escaped his lips. Most of the room looked at him like he was insane. Before Zeus could snap, Percy spoke.
"Or what, you'll kill us? Do you not see the lives we live? We could die tomorrow and you know what, we're okay with that. What happens if we die? We go to the Underworld where we get to see all the people we lost. But if we do die, it's going to be on our terms, certainly not yours. Not anymore. Not after everything we've done for Olympus. We served our time, I was your errand boy, your little hero for close to a decade. My life is mine now and if you can't deal with that, strike me down here and now. I promise I have no fear of death."
Zeus and the other gods stared at Percy in disbelief. It was clear he no longer feared them and had no intention of doing anything he didn't want to.
Zeus' arm tensed as he thought about going to his bolt but a voice stopped him in his tracks.
"You'd be bloody and dead on the floor before you ever had the chance."
He looked over to find his older brother staring at him with such seriousness that he dared not make a move.
The throne room was suddenly full of tension. No one expected the meeting to go this way but apparently Percy Jackson and his friends had had their fill of being a tool for the gods.
"Will you not do anything? For the ones you left behind, the ones who don't have the experience you have?" The words had come from Athena who had seen the way Percy looked at every other Olympian other than her.
For the first time since arriving in the throne room, Percy looked into the piercing grey eyes of the goddess of wisdom. He knew what he would find in those eyes; pain. The same startlingly beautiful eyes Annabeth had were now looking at him not angrily but almost pleadingly.
Percy broke his gaze from the goddess, looking at the ground as he pushed back the memories of Annabeth's death.
"Why do you need us? We're just demigods. Don't you have immortal campers to deal with this stuff now?" He asked looking at Jason and Piper who grew a sudden interest in the marble floor.
"They are fully immortal and bound by ancient laws from direct interference." Zeus answered.
Percy glanced at his friends, "So you're about as useful as a one-legged guy in an ass-kicking contest these days, eh?" A loud laugh escaped the lips of the messenger god as most eyes turned to him.
"Sorry, he makes a good point."
Jason looked at Percy slightly angered by his words, "We help them in every way we can."
Percy sighed, "Yes, I really regret turning down immortality. It sounds fabulous, living forever as the useless guy in the bar fight."
Jason's face turned red with anger. He moved with unbelievable speed, his immortality enhancing his abilities as he grabbed Percy by the front of his uniform. He was about to punch him when the click of a gun froze him in his tracks.
"You've got three seconds to get your hands off our captain or you'll be enjoying the next decade of immortality in Tartarus."
Jason turned to find the barrels of not one but two guns aimed at his head from both sides. He slowly removed his hands from Percy's uniform and took a step back, his eyes looking at Frank with betrayal.
"Save it Jason. You haven't been by my side the past two years. Roman or not, Percy is like blood to me and I'll always back him."
Percy reached out to both sides and lowered the weapons of his two friends before turning to towards Ares and giving him a look. The war god gave him an almost imperceptible nod before Percy turned back towards Zeus.
"I truly am sorry, but this isn't our problem anymore. We've got our own war to fight and despite what you Olympians believe, the lives of mortals are just as important as everyone else's."
Before Zeus could get another word in, Ares stood up
"As soldiers in a war, these three fall directly into my domain. Removing them from combat could alter the fate of the war. Since War is my domain and my domain alone, they are free to leave. No one, save the Fates themselves, can force me to let you use them for your own purposes." The war god snapped his fingers as Percy, Frank and Clarisse all vanished from the throne room which erupted into chaos as shouts of protest for both sides turned furious.
The trio reappeared inside the building in Afghanistan, their fellow mortal soldiers shaking their heads as their glazed eyes came back into focus.