So, you can tell by the title that we have not figured out a name yet. There seems to be a problem with the whole "I'm going to publish to FF.net today" idea I had. You probably already know this, and I was an idiot to forget, but you have to wait two days before you can publish a story. That's such a stupid rule. Anyways, you guys are the first to see the chapter.
I know most of you are SK fans, but I'm pretty sure you all know about Percy Jackson, right? Well, I hope so, cause the Percy Jackson world is the first chapter! Here are some things you need to know about the setting:
-If you have never read Percy Jackson, it's okay to read this (as long as you don't mind spoilers). I've tried to explain everything within the text (as much as I could).
-In the PJO world, this takes place the summer of BotL, about 2 weeks after the Battle at Camp Half-Bood
Also, love-serenades betaed this. If you read PJO fanfic, check her out!
So, I hope you enjoy!!!
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Percy Jackson World
Percy's POV
The thing about being a demigod is that you're always being attacked, tested, watched or, in extreme cases, killed. And let me tell you, it's not fun. So, you can completely understand why I was pretty nervous and ticked off when Chiron told me the news.
It was late afternoon, a few weeks after Annabeth and I returned from our quest in the Labyrinth, and Thalia, Annabeth, Grover and I were chilling by the canoe lake, talking about Thalia's recent ventures and how the Hunters were going to pulverize the campers in the next Capture the Flag game (which was a complete lie). The conversation was going smoothly, and would continue doing so as long as we avoided anything related to Luke.
Luke.
That was a touchy subject, especially for Annabeth. Luke's a son of Hermes and the former head counselor of Cabin Eleven. He, Annabeth, and Thalia were all friends before they came to Camp Half-blood, along with Grover, a satyr who was their escort at the time. After a few messy complications, Thalia turned into a tree for awhile (that's a back-story that I won't get into right now), and Luke and Annabeth stayed as year-round campers. But two summers ago, Luke sided with Kronos, the evil Titan Lord who was planning to overthrow the Greek gods, and pretty much tried to kill me and my friends about a hundred times since then.
Annabeth still believes in him, even after he lied, manipulated, and tried to kill her. The idea still irritated me beyond comprehension, and when the topic of Luke surfaced in a conversation between me and Annabeth, it always ended up in a huge fight with ugly words being exchanged.
So, as I was dodging mines in the field that was our conversation, I didn't hear the gentle clops coming toward us.
I turned with a start as my hand reached for my magic pen-sword, Riptide, but retreated when I saw the face of the person who was approaching.
Chiron is a centaur and our teacher here at Camp Half-blood. From the waist down, he's a white stallion; from the waist up he's a middle aged guy with a scruffy brown beard and thinning hair. He wears a frayed tweed jacket that always seems to smell like coffee. He's pretty much the best teacher anyone could ask for- he's been training young heroes for millennia.
By the time Chiron was 10 yards away, Thalia and Annabeth had noticed him too, so we waited for him to approach and tell us what he came over here for. But that plan eventually failed because when Chiron did approach, he just stood there, staring at all four of us intently.
So finally I spoke up. "Uh, hey, Chiron, what's up?" He shifted his weight on his other leg, or legs, I guess. After hesitating for a moment, he finally said what he came here for.
"Zeus has summoned you four to Olympus."
Now, this shouldn't really have been a shock. I mean, with the war approaching in about a year, and the battle that was just fought on the camp's grounds, I should have guessed there would be some god/demigod interaction. But being sentenced up to Olympus, by Zeus himself? That was weird on its own, and Chiron's tone wasn't reassuring me.
"Why would my dad summon us?" Thalia questioned, her arms crossed over her chest, as if closing herself off from the conversation. Like most demigods, she had some issues with her godly parent. I mean, it's a given, since all they really do is ask us for favors and not talk to us. Of course it's not really their fault, but that's beside the point.
"You'll have to talk to Zeus yourselves for the answer to that question," Chiron responded grimly. His countenance easily told me that he knew what Zeus wanted, and that he wasn't going to tell us. I wondered whether it was because he swore on the River Styx not to, didn't want to tell us in such an open and public place, or he knew that if he told us, we wouldn't dare go to Olympus. I really hoped it wasn't the last option. "I recommend that you leave this evening; it's an urgent matter that needs to be addressed immediately. Good-bye and good luck." And with that, he trotted away, heading towards the Big House.
A silence settled over me and my friends for a few seconds, until Thalia finally said, "What the Hades was that about?" Which pretty much summed up what we were all thinking.
"I have no clue," I said as I started to rise to my feet. When it came to the gods, they were about as predictable as the tides, and it was better not to second guess them, because when you did, they tended to blow stuff up, and the "stuff" in question just might be you.
"Well, I'm going to head over to the Artemis cabin and get packing. I want to leave before it gets too dark," Thalia commented, sounding slightly annoyed, and with that she started jogging towards her designated cabin.
"I'm going to tell Juniper about the meeting, so she doesn't flip out," Grover told me, then gave me a knowing smile. "You know how she gets." He clopped off towards the woods. So it was just me and Annabeth walking towards the cabins area together.
The air seemed still as the silence between us engulfed me. For some weird reason, the mood between us seemed to be changing, like I had to watch what I said, or didn't say. Annabeth and I have been best friends since we were twelve, when we went on a quest together along with Grover to prevent the next world war, and we always told each other everything. But lately, I've started to notice things changing between us. Like how the topics Luke and Rachel, who's a mortal friend of mine that I met last winter, were avoided in conversations, and if they were brought up, it always ended in a fight. Or how, for some strange reason, I kept wanting to be around her, to talk to her, and whenever I did, my heart would do some pretty advanced gymnastic moves. I thought about the kiss on Mount St. Helens, when I was about to die. Was it possible that-
"You okay, Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth said, and I knew, without even looking, that she was smirking. I turned towards her, blinking as my ramblings were cut short. "You looked spacey. Though why I'm alarmed is slightly strange, since it's a usual look on you," she joked. Her smile was cheerful, but her gray eyes were looking analytical, as if trying to figure out why I was acting dazed.
"Umm.." was all I said, still staring at her. I looked away towards the mess hall, trying to figure out what I should say.
"Come on," she pried as she bumped into me with her shoulder. "We always tell each other everything." Which was a complete lie, as of recently. Thankfully, we finally reached the cabins area, and it was time for us to go separate ways, saving me the trouble of either lying to her or embarrassing myself.
"It was nothing," I said in what I hoped was an assuring voice as we stopped in front of each other. Because I wanted to leave as soon as possible so she couldn't pry an answer out of me, I said, "I'll see you in a little while." She nodded, her countenance skeptical, but she turned around and walked to her cabin anyways while I did the same.
The Poseidon cabin is super cool. It's long and narrow, with rough gray stone walls studded with coral on the outside- it looks as if the sea floor was ripped up and used to build the cabin. The inside was simple enough with walls that glowed like abalone, six bunks with cream-colored, silk sheets, a waterfall fountain with real salt water from the ocean, and- my favorite part- the ocean mist and the scent of the salty sea wafting through the open windows of the cabin.
Of course, it would have been even more beautiful if my clothes and trash weren't strewn all over the floor.
I started picking up some of my things so I could actually walk across the room to my bed. I took out my pen, Riptide, and set it on the dresser by my bed. What on earth did Zeus want to talk to us about?
The only time I've talked to the king of the gods personally was when I was 12, when I was returning his lightning bolt that was stolen, and he didn't seem like a pleasant person. Was he asking for us to do something as a personal favor, or did it involve Kronos's rising? I mean, Grover, Tyson ( my Cyclops half brother), Annabeth, and I had just gotten back from our quest in the Labyrinth and witnessed Kronos taking over Luke's body. Not to mention that Luke's- I mean Kronos' attack on camp had happened two weeks ago. Couldn't we get a break?
I sighed. The life of a demigod was never an easy or safe one.
I sat on my bed, thinking about things. About the war, about Kronos, about this clandestine meeting. About Annabeth. About my sixteenth birthday coming up in a little over a year, when I will decide the fate of the world. I was starting to feel foggy, so I sat up and headed over to the spring water fountain. I dipped my hands into the cooling water, scooping some up and pouring it on my face. Instantly, the water energized me, the water clearing my mind of its worries. I glanced at my watch- which was actually a magic shield that Tyson had made for me- and realized an hour had passed. I hurried over to my small mirror and started to rake a comb through my messy black hair, trying to make it look like I didn't just spend an hour laying in bed daydreaming when I really should have been getting ready.
I guess I looked pretty frantic, because when Annabeth came in, the first thing she said was, "Are you sure you're alright?" I looked over at her, surprised that I didn't even hear her come in. I studied her for a moment, noticing that she had her invisibility cap, in her pocket, her bronze dagger strapped to her belt, and a backpack slung over her shoulder. She looked ready to travel, and I wondered if Thalia and Grover were waiting on me.
"I'm fine," I assured her again as I went over to my dresser to get Riptide. Annabeth looked disbelieving as she raised an eyebrow. "Honest."
She sighed. "Okay." She walked over to me and grabbed the backpack that was lying on the floor. "Why is your backpack empty?"
"I don't need anything. It's just a meeting. And if I did need anything, I could just go to my apartment, it's right near the Empire State Building. I mean, all I really need is this," I said, as I twitched Riptide.
"Well, okay," she acquiesced, then walked over to my door, "Thalia and Grover said they would meet us at the crest of the hill, so we better hurry." I nodded, and followed her to the camps' borders, not knowing that what was about to unfold in the next hours were going to change our lives completely.
***
Olympus is one of the coolest places I've ever been to, though I don't think that's really saying much, since I'm not really a world-class traveler. It has this huge mountain that has these collections of multi-leveled buildings. Palaces and shrines clung to the sides of it, and at the peak for the mountain is the largest palace I've ever seen, complete with gardens, a market, braziers, and anything else you could imagine. I've been here two times before, but I am still speechless every time I lay my eyes on it. So, as my friends and I walked up to the main palace, I couldn't help admiring Olympus's great views, which helped the long walk up the mountain seem shorter.
As we neared the gigantic double doors that led to the throne room, I couldn't help but wonder what the Hades I was going to be doing. And when I walked through the already opened doors and into the throne room, boy, did I get an answer.
Zeus was standing in his mortal size, which was unusual. His blue pinstriped suit was immaculate and his stormy eyes told me that he wasn't in a good mood. Which, honestly, wasn't really that surprising.
The surprising part was the old guy standing next to him. He had a scruffy white beard that connected to his equally scruffy white mustache, a couple of wrinkles, shoulder-length wavy, white hair, and a golden metal eye patch. He had on golden armor and a flowing cape. Despite his age, he had an aura of power that immediately told me that this guy was a god.
"Welcome, young demigods." Zeus's voice boomed in the large, but empty, throne room. The old guy and Zeus waited for us to approach them, our strides echoing against the walls. We bowed respectfully towards the two gods, although I didn't really like Zeus in the first place, and I didn't know who the crap the other guy was.
"What's the reason you've called for us, Father?" Thalia asked, her voice strong and powerful- just like her dad's.
"There's a predicament approaching, one that could destroy the ages of the gods." The king of the skies said steadily. "But before I explain the problem, I must explain the situation. As you know, the Greek gods aren't the only immortals that exist."
"Hold up," I interrupted. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "Are you telling me that you guys aren't the only gods?" Annabeth flashed me an irritated look that clearly said Can't you shut up for one in your life?!
"It's not really that surprising," Annabeth cut in, still glaring at me, "I mean, Grover, Percy, you remember Janus in the Labyrinth. Janus is strictly Roman."
"Now that you've mentioned it, it does kind of-sort-of make sense," Thalia said hesitantly. "I mean, think about it, what are the odds that the Greek gods are the only gods. What if other mythologies are real?"
"I really, really hope not," Grover mumbled, chewing his shirt.
"And why hasn't anyone ever, I don't know,
mentioned this?" I demanded. "I mean if it's so obvious and not that important, why didn't anyone just tell us that there are other mythologies out there?"
"Because they didn't want demigods, or whoever believes the myths, to cross paths," Annabeth answered quietly, her stormy eyes looked like she was thinking a hundred miles a minute, deciphering the situation. She narrowed her eyes slightly at the old guy.
"But it's too late now. Two worlds have clashed," Zeus gestured to the old guy, who had been standing there evaluating us silently the whole time. "This is my cousin, Odin."
"He's from Norse mythology," Annabeth clarified for our benefit, "The king of Asgard, which is kind of like the equivalent to Olympus."
"You are very right, daughter of Athena," Odin said, his voice sounding slightly rusty, yet strong and commanding.
"Yes," Zeus spoke, his voice all but serious. "And we have an important task for the four of you."
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I hoped you liked it!
And, again, Happy Birthday, Percy! This was dedicated to you!
