[Percy Jackson/Dresden Files] Deep as the Sea
- Thread starter Ryuugi
- Start date
You're...not wrong, technically, but you're also not right. Yes a random Angel is Planet-busting tier and could pimpslap the Entire Greek Pantheon by himself along with everything on earth.
So what? He's also not allowed to do it--or anything else. The Angel's hands are tide into fucking knots. They aren't allowed to interfere, period, even when millions of lives are on the line. Even when their Knights are dying.
Yes, if Percy or Zeus or whoever picked a fight with Joe-schmoe Angel, they'd be german-suplexed onto a bed of hot coals, but they could rape a nun right in front of one and not be touched. As long as they don't throw a punch or anything, they can literally ignore the Heavenly Host, they are that restricted.
YHWH is apparently really God in the DF, but he also doesn't interfere (or is subtle about it, I guess).
Outsiders run the gamut, for who cares to blow up the Universe--and the strong ones can't get inside. So, again, who cares.
Um...not really. They fought one Servant and got their asses kicked. Then they fought retired Gods and got their asses kicked.
You're flat out wrong about everything here.
Gods are a big deal. Go back to every time they're mentioned--they're called a big deal. Who could lay siege to Arctis Tor? A God. Who could bust down Micky's Threshold and curse him like that? A God. Etc. Go reread those parts.
God never smacked them down. It was the rise of monotheistic religions that did.
Using a bunch of sacrifices is a proven method of gaining power. Why doesn't everyone do it when it worked for Mab, Erlking, Hecate, etc? Because they're be smacked down if they try. The Necromancers had to stage a major attack, break down the walls of existence, kill tens of thousands, run their enemies across the earth, and more, and the WC still sent people to stop them.
Could Odin do the same thing the Greeks did? Sure. Given the Norse's ties to modern civilization, it'd probably succeed if all went well. But it wouldn't. A thunderbolt would smite him or a hurricane would hit or the ground would open up beneath him and a group of angry gods would run around murdering his Pantheon.
The Greek Gods are a bunch of sadistic, heartless, philandering, asshole rapists. What, you think they'd react with understanding or restrain?
Again, Angels cannot do anything. The Carpenter house has a dozen. Some asshole with a gun can run right by them--and while they stop supernatural threats, they can't do anything but prevent an attack on the Carpenters.
I did, actually, and discussed it extensively:
<a href='https://forums.darklordpotter.net/showthread.php?t=20839' target='_blank' rel='nofollow'>https://forums.darklordpotter.net/showthread.php?t=20839</a>
I did a lot more talking on spacebattles, but it's down right now. Nonetheless, I've answered pretty much every complaint you've had, in great detail, on one, the other, or both.
Again, wrong.
Percy lives in NYC. Dresden lives in Chicago. They live 800 miles away.
No shit they haven't met yet.
Currently, Percy and co are preventing a major RED victory days before the Council meeting in Summer Knight. Where do you think this is going, Raine?
Yes, I thought about how everyone reacted. Generally, they considered them people to either use or dispose of. I didn't suddenly cut to the villains lair or anything, but not how everyone's been trying to kill them. Those are the blunt guys; the smart guys are waiting in the wings learning more; but that doesn't mean they aren't there.
Did I explain the secrecy thing here? I thought I did, but I'll copy paste it from SB later.
Percy is not Dresden. This is not a bad thing, because Percy is not meant to be Dresden. He is a fighter to Dresden's Squishy Wizard and he is in his element on the battlefield. Situations that can be solved with blunt applications of force are his forte and he can solve them quickly--but it should go without saying that not all situations can be solved by hitting them with a sword. When those come up, he's not in his element, which is why Percy's realm of difficulty lies in the Political Arena and his is a very political story.
In a similar way, Harry is in his element when he has hours or days to prepare and get ready and knows exactly what he's getting into. It is stated repeatedly that he could probably rush in and take down a house full of Reds like that if he had the proper prep...which is why he rarely gets that prep.
Yes, they are different characters and act differently and have different strengths. I don't understand why you seem to think they should be, but they aren't and this is not a flaw.
Um...Yeah? Harry could probably kill pretty much everything he has to fight given proper prep.
Also, the gods literally have never even appeared in this story, so I don't get all your complaints about them. Hell, I don't understand anything you said in this particular paragraph. So far Percy's beaten up for nameless Red Court mooks and two names faeries. That's it. You make it sound like he's bent over the White Council or fought some high level guy and won effortlessly.
As dangerous as Kincaid is really broad to the point of uselessness. Kincaid doesn't have much in the way of powers, that we've seen. He has very mild Superstrength and improbable aiming skills and that's all. If that's what you mean by level, he is absolutely weaker then most demigods. And most wizards, vampires, fae, etc. His powers or lack there of is not why he's dangerous.
So pretty much everything you've said so far has been either wrong or inaccurate, Raine. Thank you for reviewing, however.
*Ryuugiáshrugs
It was said they were Archangel level in SK, but now that we have more details on the Archangels, I think it's safe to say that's wrong.
So what? He's also not allowed to do it--or anything else. The Angel's hands are tide into fucking knots. They aren't allowed to interfere, period, even when millions of lives are on the line. Even when their Knights are dying.
Yes, if Percy or Zeus or whoever picked a fight with Joe-schmoe Angel, they'd be german-suplexed onto a bed of hot coals, but they could rape a nun right in front of one and not be touched. As long as they don't throw a punch or anything, they can literally ignore the Heavenly Host, they are that restricted.
YHWH is apparently really God in the DF, but he also doesn't interfere (or is subtle about it, I guess).
Outsiders run the gamut, for who cares to blow up the Universe--and the strong ones can't get inside. So, again, who cares.
Um...not really. They fought one Servant and got their asses kicked. Then they fought retired Gods and got their asses kicked.
You're flat out wrong about everything here.
Gods are a big deal. Go back to every time they're mentioned--they're called a big deal. Who could lay siege to Arctis Tor? A God. Who could bust down Micky's Threshold and curse him like that? A God. Etc. Go reread those parts.
God never smacked them down. It was the rise of monotheistic religions that did.
Using a bunch of sacrifices is a proven method of gaining power. Why doesn't everyone do it when it worked for Mab, Erlking, Hecate, etc? Because they're be smacked down if they try. The Necromancers had to stage a major attack, break down the walls of existence, kill tens of thousands, run their enemies across the earth, and more, and the WC still sent people to stop them.
Could Odin do the same thing the Greeks did? Sure. Given the Norse's ties to modern civilization, it'd probably succeed if all went well. But it wouldn't. A thunderbolt would smite him or a hurricane would hit or the ground would open up beneath him and a group of angry gods would run around murdering his Pantheon.
The Greek Gods are a bunch of sadistic, heartless, philandering, asshole rapists. What, you think they'd react with understanding or restrain?
Again, Angels cannot do anything. The Carpenter house has a dozen. Some asshole with a gun can run right by them--and while they stop supernatural threats, they can't do anything but prevent an attack on the Carpenters.
I did, actually, and discussed it extensively:
<a href='https://forums.darklordpotter.net/showthread.php?t=20839' target='_blank' rel='nofollow'>https://forums.darklordpotter.net/showthread.php?t=20839</a>
I did a lot more talking on spacebattles, but it's down right now. Nonetheless, I've answered pretty much every complaint you've had, in great detail, on one, the other, or both.
Again, wrong.
Percy lives in NYC. Dresden lives in Chicago. They live 800 miles away.
No shit they haven't met yet.
Currently, Percy and co are preventing a major RED victory days before the Council meeting in Summer Knight. Where do you think this is going, Raine?
Yes, I thought about how everyone reacted. Generally, they considered them people to either use or dispose of. I didn't suddenly cut to the villains lair or anything, but not how everyone's been trying to kill them. Those are the blunt guys; the smart guys are waiting in the wings learning more; but that doesn't mean they aren't there.
Did I explain the secrecy thing here? I thought I did, but I'll copy paste it from SB later.
Percy is not Dresden. This is not a bad thing, because Percy is not meant to be Dresden. He is a fighter to Dresden's Squishy Wizard and he is in his element on the battlefield. Situations that can be solved with blunt applications of force are his forte and he can solve them quickly--but it should go without saying that not all situations can be solved by hitting them with a sword. When those come up, he's not in his element, which is why Percy's realm of difficulty lies in the Political Arena and his is a very political story.
In a similar way, Harry is in his element when he has hours or days to prepare and get ready and knows exactly what he's getting into. It is stated repeatedly that he could probably rush in and take down a house full of Reds like that if he had the proper prep...which is why he rarely gets that prep.
Yes, they are different characters and act differently and have different strengths. I don't understand why you seem to think they should be, but they aren't and this is not a flaw.
Um...Yeah? Harry could probably kill pretty much everything he has to fight given proper prep.
Also, the gods literally have never even appeared in this story, so I don't get all your complaints about them. Hell, I don't understand anything you said in this particular paragraph. So far Percy's beaten up for nameless Red Court mooks and two names faeries. That's it. You make it sound like he's bent over the White Council or fought some high level guy and won effortlessly.
As dangerous as Kincaid is really broad to the point of uselessness. Kincaid doesn't have much in the way of powers, that we've seen. He has very mild Superstrength and improbable aiming skills and that's all. If that's what you mean by level, he is absolutely weaker then most demigods. And most wizards, vampires, fae, etc. His powers or lack there of is not why he's dangerous.
So pretty much everything you've said so far has been either wrong or inaccurate, Raine. Thank you for reviewing, however.
*Ryuugiáshrugs
It was said they were Archangel level in SK, but now that we have more details on the Archangels, I think it's safe to say that's wrong.
Your fic, not mine. I'm just telling you you're fucking it up. If you don't want to listen, that's fine. Have fun with your joyride, then. I won't argue. But this is not, and will not be, as good as it could have been if you were willing to compromise both ways, instead of just having the Jackson side dickfuck all the Dresden stuff.
Making the demigods at or around Kincaid's level would have been interesting, and would explain why they might need Dresden's help, thereby justifying the crossover. Making them straight demigods is simply boring, and is the reason why the Jackson series in general got boring. When everyone is a god and can do whatever they like, more or less, nothing is surprising or suspenseful. You just wonder what god will be a dick this week, and what godhax McGuffin weapon or object will be necessary to stop their nefarious plans.
If by "asses kicked" you mean "they won with zero civilian casualties in spite of being in crowded public areas at the time," then yes, they 'got their asses kicked.'
You're flat out not remembering the books about everything here. Gods got left behind the power curve about five books ago, when Uriel showed up and Harry realized that his own understanding of the power scale was completely, hilariously wrong. 'A' god might be able to take over the planet, if left to their own devices, if the supernatural community didn't interfere and they got a head-start on the mundane mortals.
Uriel could destroy the entire universe and everything in it with a gesture.
That was the book when Harry realized exactly why it is that God and the angels don't actively interfere more than they do. It's because an actual battle between the forces of Good and Evil would by definition be so incredibly violent that all of reality would be annihilated in the opening shots. God doesn't want that to happen, and neither do the forces of Darkness, though for different reasons (God can't save the world if it's destroyed, and the forces of Darkness can't exploit a universe that doesn't exist anymore), hence the uneasy truce.
Every god in the Dresden universe is either dead or in some kind of quasi-sleep that they were induced into against their will. Odin is the only current exception we've seen to that.
Think about who, or what, would have the power to do that to the gods.
Seeing how just Michael alone could probably have kicked all of their asses without even really trying, it's pretty obvious at this point who is most likely responsible for the decline of the gods. God is blatantly the most likely culprit. This is only further supported by the fact that Odin is still operational, since Odin was traditionally a messianic god-figure of humanity as well, who sacrificed most of his time, parts of his body, and significant portions of his power to protecting humanity and staving off the apocalypse for as long as possible. Odin, and other gods like him, would be natural allies of YHWH, whereas more violent and amoral gods, like Zeus and Posidon and Asura, would be natural enemies to be fought and defeated, as they threaten mortals and would bring about the end of the world faster if left to their own devices.
The first and most important question you need to answer when dealing with a crossover with the Dresdenverse in which the nonDresdenverse setting has living, active gods is why YHWH hasn't kicked their asses and put them to bed yet, which, by the way, is exactly what he did to the Olympians in Dresden canon, if the Bacchant priestess is anything to go by.
You could have produced a lot of drama, and provided a lot of interesting plot points and motivation for the characters, by simply answering the question of why the Olympians are still around, and why their children are tolerated. Did they cut a deal with God for freedom in exchange for good behavior and working to stop the apocalypse? Are the gods and their children proxies and catspaws in the game of cosmic chess played between the forces of Heaven and the forces of Darkness, tolerated because of their usefulness, and potentially prone to be working for one side or the other as their individual natures suit them? Does Dresden get involved with the demigods through his connections with the Council, his work with the Knights, or even directly pointed to them by Uriel or Mab? Why do they need his help, and why does he need theirs? What larger plot is going on behind the scenes? How do the various supernatural factions, like the vampires and the Archive and the Knights and the Denarians, feel about and deal with the gods and demigods? What's the protocol, the modus operandi, the etiquette for these things?
But instead, it's just FUCK YEAH GODS GODS GODS GODS DEMIGODS ARE BETTER THAN VAMPIRES, and I just don't have any motivation to read any further. This could have been some amazing dark-noir cult supernatural conspiracy shit with plots within plots and powerful beings being manipulated by even more powerful beings for inscrutable and questionable purposes, with Dresden and the demigods getting caught up in the middle of it.
But there's none of that here. Just people with Olympian-flavored godweapons fucking up the shit of a bunch of monsters. And not even monsters that are at or above their power level, like a pack of Loup-Garou or a family of Grendelkin. These are monsters that Dresden can go through like tissue paper in a stand up fight, aka monsters that are hilariously beneath their power level, aka not a challenge and not dramatic, aka boring.
If I wanted that, I'd go play God of War. On Easy.
Making the demigods at or around Kincaid's level would have been interesting, and would explain why they might need Dresden's help, thereby justifying the crossover. Making them straight demigods is simply boring, and is the reason why the Jackson series in general got boring. When everyone is a god and can do whatever they like, more or less, nothing is surprising or suspenseful. You just wonder what god will be a dick this week, and what godhax McGuffin weapon or object will be necessary to stop their nefarious plans.
If by "asses kicked" you mean "they won with zero civilian casualties in spite of being in crowded public areas at the time," then yes, they 'got their asses kicked.'
You're flat out not remembering the books about everything here. Gods got left behind the power curve about five books ago, when Uriel showed up and Harry realized that his own understanding of the power scale was completely, hilariously wrong. 'A' god might be able to take over the planet, if left to their own devices, if the supernatural community didn't interfere and they got a head-start on the mundane mortals.
Uriel could destroy the entire universe and everything in it with a gesture.
That was the book when Harry realized exactly why it is that God and the angels don't actively interfere more than they do. It's because an actual battle between the forces of Good and Evil would by definition be so incredibly violent that all of reality would be annihilated in the opening shots. God doesn't want that to happen, and neither do the forces of Darkness, though for different reasons (God can't save the world if it's destroyed, and the forces of Darkness can't exploit a universe that doesn't exist anymore), hence the uneasy truce.
Every god in the Dresden universe is either dead or in some kind of quasi-sleep that they were induced into against their will. Odin is the only current exception we've seen to that.
Think about who, or what, would have the power to do that to the gods.
Seeing how just Michael alone could probably have kicked all of their asses without even really trying, it's pretty obvious at this point who is most likely responsible for the decline of the gods. God is blatantly the most likely culprit. This is only further supported by the fact that Odin is still operational, since Odin was traditionally a messianic god-figure of humanity as well, who sacrificed most of his time, parts of his body, and significant portions of his power to protecting humanity and staving off the apocalypse for as long as possible. Odin, and other gods like him, would be natural allies of YHWH, whereas more violent and amoral gods, like Zeus and Posidon and Asura, would be natural enemies to be fought and defeated, as they threaten mortals and would bring about the end of the world faster if left to their own devices.
The first and most important question you need to answer when dealing with a crossover with the Dresdenverse in which the nonDresdenverse setting has living, active gods is why YHWH hasn't kicked their asses and put them to bed yet, which, by the way, is exactly what he did to the Olympians in Dresden canon, if the Bacchant priestess is anything to go by.
You could have produced a lot of drama, and provided a lot of interesting plot points and motivation for the characters, by simply answering the question of why the Olympians are still around, and why their children are tolerated. Did they cut a deal with God for freedom in exchange for good behavior and working to stop the apocalypse? Are the gods and their children proxies and catspaws in the game of cosmic chess played between the forces of Heaven and the forces of Darkness, tolerated because of their usefulness, and potentially prone to be working for one side or the other as their individual natures suit them? Does Dresden get involved with the demigods through his connections with the Council, his work with the Knights, or even directly pointed to them by Uriel or Mab? Why do they need his help, and why does he need theirs? What larger plot is going on behind the scenes? How do the various supernatural factions, like the vampires and the Archive and the Knights and the Denarians, feel about and deal with the gods and demigods? What's the protocol, the modus operandi, the etiquette for these things?
But instead, it's just FUCK YEAH GODS GODS GODS GODS DEMIGODS ARE BETTER THAN VAMPIRES, and I just don't have any motivation to read any further. This could have been some amazing dark-noir cult supernatural conspiracy shit with plots within plots and powerful beings being manipulated by even more powerful beings for inscrutable and questionable purposes, with Dresden and the demigods getting caught up in the middle of it.
But there's none of that here. Just people with Olympian-flavored godweapons fucking up the shit of a bunch of monsters. And not even monsters that are at or above their power level, like a pack of Loup-Garou or a family of Grendelkin. These are monsters that Dresden can go through like tissue paper in a stand up fight, aka monsters that are hilariously beneath their power level, aka not a challenge and not dramatic, aka boring.
If I wanted that, I'd go play God of War. On Easy.
Counterpoint to your argument is that a large majority of spirits and deity-like beings would exist as long as they exist in human consciousness, even to the smallest degree. This is why the Grimm brothers are pretty much hated by the Venatori, since they pretty much made the elimination of the Fey impossible with the publication of their stories. By this, you can infer that Greek and Roman deities are pretty well and kicking, much like Odin, only they're operating on a different scale and in different manners. As long as Western Civilization exists, the Greek and Roman deities will as well. Sure, they might not have the same amount of power as they did back in their heydays, but in relative powers unless the Red King and his court himself came out to fight, a deity of any flavor would curbstomp your standard vamp. A demigod in this case can be argued to have half the full potential of a god, so I would think that a demigod's power would be at least the equivalent of a Knight of the Seelie and Unseelie courts. I would say this would allow them to at least be able to wipe the floor with standard vamps, have some trouble with older vamps (like Count Ortega), struggle against super weapon abominations like the Ick, and have a really tough time against true heavy hitters like the very upper echelons of the Red Court unless they prepare and cheat to stack odds in their favor.
What do you mean, not listening? I replied to every complaint you had, one by one? And am about to do so again. I'm not plugging my ears and going 'nananana' or anything here, Raine.
But let's see.
What you just suggested was that I deliberately weaken the PJ side so more members of the Dresden side can walk all over them--which, besides being a horrible idea for crossovers in general, is also ironic, because you also said:
Seriously, Raine, I don't understand. I'm not power creeping or seeping anyone here; I haven't even made up anything but three characters and a location. These are all canonical powers.
As for the complaint towards the Percy Jackson series...I don't agree at all. Things like godhood and power do not, in and of themselves, make things boring. As long as limits exist and are defined, stories can always be told; this was true of the original Greek myths, this is true of comic books, this is true of everything. If someone has demigod powers then they need to face demigod level threats, and they do. Percy was always described as a powerful demigod but he had to fight Titans and full Gods as well as hordes of monsters so conflict was still present and stories were still interesting.
By saying that having power makes things boring, you're basically saying that every shonen manga or anime, superhero comic, and ancient myth all suck. And I know you don't think that, because that's retarded.
Well, the wine snob went away in the end, if that's what you mean. But it wasn't a crowded area: it was a locked room with three people in it. And Harry ended up knocked out.
The girl Thomas fought smacked him around. Again and again. And got him thrown through walls, turned his brother against him, and all around whipped him. He managed to use his mojo on her in the end though, yeah...but again, there was no crowd.
And as for the Red Court retired god were annihilating them. It took divine intervention to not die immediately, but even that wasn't enough. If the cavalry hadn't shown up, they'd all have died. Full stop. They won that day, but not because of anything Thomas did.
Harry did have something to do with it, but even then, remember that outfit Lea put Susan in? It was the outfit they dressed sacrificial offerings in. And Lea was also the only reason they made it to that tower.
Funny how that happened.
Uriel is beyond the power curve of everything seen in the series, as are angels in general. I said this already. Again, so what; he can't act, so his power is meaningless.
Seriously, did you read my post?
You see, I did say that.
Also, Harry never realized anything like that in the books. That stuff was stated outside the books, in WoJ, and only part of it--most of that last paragraph has never been stated anywhere and the rest was only implied. Gods actions, in particular, have never come up anywhere, ever.
This was explained:
This is a quote from the RPG Jim was involved in and declared canonical. It was also where I drew the Western Civilization idea.
So yes, you're wrong. See the quote above.
Only no, because you are misremembering what she said. The rise of mono-theistic religion is what kicked their asses, not God.
I mean, this was pretty obvious even before it was out right stated. Why are the guys who survive off worship dying without their religions? Because they aren't being worshiped. Why? Because everyone's worshiping God now. Or the Hindu pantheon, I guess.
And that could be a very interesting story. It is not, however, this story, and involves a lot of stuff you flat out made up, besides.
Who said it's not? We're only at the begining; I've barely got things rolling. Give me some time, dude.
And why are you hung up on the vampires? leagues of the nameless mooks get butchered in canon, even by Harry. Every time the mooks show up, except in an ambush or surprise attack, they get smacked down pretty much instantly.
No shit. It's early in the story. Seriously, the majority of your complaints can be summarized as you being upset because I haven't revealed all the stuff that's coming in the first few chapters. No, the world isn't falling down in chapter one--and? Nobody thinks of the demigods as a threat yet, because what have they done? Picked off a few members of a species that numbers in the thousands or millions? Interrupt one minor battle in a major war that spans epochs?
That stuff you said hasn't happened yet, because nobody cares yet. Be patient, Raine; if everything happened by chapter five, I wouldn't have anything for chapters 6 to whatever.
But let's see.
What you just suggested was that I deliberately weaken the PJ side so more members of the Dresden side can walk all over them--which, besides being a horrible idea for crossovers in general, is also ironic, because you also said:
Seriously, Raine, I don't understand. I'm not power creeping or seeping anyone here; I haven't even made up anything but three characters and a location. These are all canonical powers.
As for the complaint towards the Percy Jackson series...I don't agree at all. Things like godhood and power do not, in and of themselves, make things boring. As long as limits exist and are defined, stories can always be told; this was true of the original Greek myths, this is true of comic books, this is true of everything. If someone has demigod powers then they need to face demigod level threats, and they do. Percy was always described as a powerful demigod but he had to fight Titans and full Gods as well as hordes of monsters so conflict was still present and stories were still interesting.
By saying that having power makes things boring, you're basically saying that every shonen manga or anime, superhero comic, and ancient myth all suck. And I know you don't think that, because that's retarded.
Well, the wine snob went away in the end, if that's what you mean. But it wasn't a crowded area: it was a locked room with three people in it. And Harry ended up knocked out.
The girl Thomas fought smacked him around. Again and again. And got him thrown through walls, turned his brother against him, and all around whipped him. He managed to use his mojo on her in the end though, yeah...but again, there was no crowd.
And as for the Red Court retired god were annihilating them. It took divine intervention to not die immediately, but even that wasn't enough. If the cavalry hadn't shown up, they'd all have died. Full stop. They won that day, but not because of anything Thomas did.
Harry did have something to do with it, but even then, remember that outfit Lea put Susan in? It was the outfit they dressed sacrificial offerings in. And Lea was also the only reason they made it to that tower.
Funny how that happened.
Uriel is beyond the power curve of everything seen in the series, as are angels in general. I said this already. Again, so what; he can't act, so his power is meaningless.
Seriously, did you read my post?
You see, I did say that.
Also, Harry never realized anything like that in the books. That stuff was stated outside the books, in WoJ, and only part of it--most of that last paragraph has never been stated anywhere and the rest was only implied. Gods actions, in particular, have never come up anywhere, ever.
This was explained:
This is a quote from the RPG Jim was involved in and declared canonical. It was also where I drew the Western Civilization idea.
So yes, you're wrong. See the quote above.
Only no, because you are misremembering what she said. The rise of mono-theistic religion is what kicked their asses, not God.
I mean, this was pretty obvious even before it was out right stated. Why are the guys who survive off worship dying without their religions? Because they aren't being worshiped. Why? Because everyone's worshiping God now. Or the Hindu pantheon, I guess.
And that could be a very interesting story. It is not, however, this story, and involves a lot of stuff you flat out made up, besides.
Who said it's not? We're only at the begining; I've barely got things rolling. Give me some time, dude.
And why are you hung up on the vampires? leagues of the nameless mooks get butchered in canon, even by Harry. Every time the mooks show up, except in an ambush or surprise attack, they get smacked down pretty much instantly.
No shit. It's early in the story. Seriously, the majority of your complaints can be summarized as you being upset because I haven't revealed all the stuff that's coming in the first few chapters. No, the world isn't falling down in chapter one--and? Nobody thinks of the demigods as a threat yet, because what have they done? Picked off a few members of a species that numbers in the thousands or millions? Interrupt one minor battle in a major war that spans epochs?
That stuff you said hasn't happened yet, because nobody cares yet. Be patient, Raine; if everything happened by chapter five, I wouldn't have anything for chapters 6 to whatever.
A part of him wondered if Annabeth had heard thatùand what her reaction might have been, if she hadùbut the storm erupted moments later and he couldnÆt hear anything but the rushing of wind and water. The first time heÆd done this, in the battle against Hyperion, he hadnÆt even known he was doing anything until halfway through the battle. It had been every bit as instinctive as that day heÆd first summoned water after Clarisse dragged him into the bathroom to æwelcomeÆ him to Camp Halfblood.
This was not like that. This time, heÆd called on the storm completely of his own will and knew exactly what was happening as the miniature Hurricane tore through what little order existed in the Red Courts ranks and replaced it with the chaos of a storm. It didnÆt have anything close to the raw elemental might of an actual Hurricane that could throw blades of grass throw glass and tear buildings apart like paperùbut then, if it had, then he would never have been able to risk using it near any populated area.
But even if it was just a shadow of the real thing, it more then served its purpose. Most of the vampires had been caught off guard by the sudden occurrence of the storm and had been thrown from their feet and sent splashing among the muddy water where they had started to scream about somethingùor he thought so, at least; it was hard to hear anything over the wind blowing around him. Even those that had managed to remain standing were in a bad position, between the wind, water, and shifting mud.
Percy held onto that tightness in his gut and let the storm rage for another few seconds before letting to fall away as abruptly as it had been born. In the wake of the storm, everything was silent, which put an almost nervous tension in the small of his back. On the battlefield, silence was something that seemed almost unnaturalùas well as something that seemed to exist only to be broken. A multitude of stunned eyes had turned to focus on him completely as he stood atop the calming waters.
And then the moment passed. Limbs smacked loudly against the puddles and moistened earth as vampires slide upright from the dirt with the spindly grace of spider. Amassment and awe passed out of their eyes, replaced quickly with wounded pride and anger and he knew for sure that the vampires were out for blood, pun intended.
Given all that, he probably should keep his smart-assed remarks to himself, at least until his backup arrived.
ôSup, guys. Enjoying the weather?ö His mouth blathered on without consulting his brain. ôStick around; I bet you itÆll get warm enough to tan once the sun rises.ö
Maybe they were responding politely to his suggestion in vampire language; more likely, they were describing how they would enjoy violating his corpse. Either way, they hissed at him in unison. Literally perfect unison; full-on eerie hivemind level.
Someone behind him sighed.
ôDonÆt taut the supernatural predators, Percy,ö Annabeth chided.
It probably said a lot about their history that he managed to identify here based completely off of the sound of her sighs.
She took him by the arm and started dragging him towards the entrance to the tower.
ôCome one; youÆve shown off enough. We have work to do.ö She said.
ôBut what aboutàö Percy let himself trail off as the sound reached his ears. ôAh. Okay, then.ö
There was the sound of something splashing quickly through waterùor rather, many, many somethingÆs. Together, they were so loud as to seem to echo, drawing the attention of the Red Court immediately. Their tightly wound anger faltered into simple, staring confusion at the sight of the legion now rushing towards them.
To be fair, Percy thought, if heÆd been assaulting a wizardÆs tower in Northern Russia, only to be interrupted by a freak with a Hurricane, followed by a stampeding army of Greeks that came out of nowhere, heÆd probably be pretty surprised, too.
To their credit, they recovered quickly, quickly moving to counter the on rushing army. War cries went up on both sides as they were about to collide and even through the deafening cacophony, Percy could hear his brotherÆs booming voice as he led the charge.
A part of Percy wanted to stay and throw himself into the thick of things alongside his brother and friends.
But they werenÆt here to kill some grunts. Any of the vampires they killed out here, the Red Court would replace in a few weeks at most.
They were after something bigger. Now that the rest of the Camp was in position, they could focus on what was really important.
ôDid you see anything from the sky?ö He asked.
Annabeth nodded, never taking her eyes off the stairs.
ôSomethingÆs definitely happening up there.ö
ôWhat kind of something?ö
High above them, a part of the towerÆs side exploded outward, hurling a broken, misshapen vampire out of the build and hurling it to the earth like a comet. It impacted with enough force that he actually felt the ground shake a little as it did.
ôNevermind,ö He said, smiling. ôCool stuff. Got it.ö
This was not like that. This time, heÆd called on the storm completely of his own will and knew exactly what was happening as the miniature Hurricane tore through what little order existed in the Red Courts ranks and replaced it with the chaos of a storm. It didnÆt have anything close to the raw elemental might of an actual Hurricane that could throw blades of grass throw glass and tear buildings apart like paperùbut then, if it had, then he would never have been able to risk using it near any populated area.
But even if it was just a shadow of the real thing, it more then served its purpose. Most of the vampires had been caught off guard by the sudden occurrence of the storm and had been thrown from their feet and sent splashing among the muddy water where they had started to scream about somethingùor he thought so, at least; it was hard to hear anything over the wind blowing around him. Even those that had managed to remain standing were in a bad position, between the wind, water, and shifting mud.
Percy held onto that tightness in his gut and let the storm rage for another few seconds before letting to fall away as abruptly as it had been born. In the wake of the storm, everything was silent, which put an almost nervous tension in the small of his back. On the battlefield, silence was something that seemed almost unnaturalùas well as something that seemed to exist only to be broken. A multitude of stunned eyes had turned to focus on him completely as he stood atop the calming waters.
And then the moment passed. Limbs smacked loudly against the puddles and moistened earth as vampires slide upright from the dirt with the spindly grace of spider. Amassment and awe passed out of their eyes, replaced quickly with wounded pride and anger and he knew for sure that the vampires were out for blood, pun intended.
Given all that, he probably should keep his smart-assed remarks to himself, at least until his backup arrived.
ôSup, guys. Enjoying the weather?ö His mouth blathered on without consulting his brain. ôStick around; I bet you itÆll get warm enough to tan once the sun rises.ö
Maybe they were responding politely to his suggestion in vampire language; more likely, they were describing how they would enjoy violating his corpse. Either way, they hissed at him in unison. Literally perfect unison; full-on eerie hivemind level.
Someone behind him sighed.
ôDonÆt taut the supernatural predators, Percy,ö Annabeth chided.
It probably said a lot about their history that he managed to identify here based completely off of the sound of her sighs.
She took him by the arm and started dragging him towards the entrance to the tower.
ôCome one; youÆve shown off enough. We have work to do.ö She said.
ôBut what aboutàö Percy let himself trail off as the sound reached his ears. ôAh. Okay, then.ö
There was the sound of something splashing quickly through waterùor rather, many, many somethingÆs. Together, they were so loud as to seem to echo, drawing the attention of the Red Court immediately. Their tightly wound anger faltered into simple, staring confusion at the sight of the legion now rushing towards them.
To be fair, Percy thought, if heÆd been assaulting a wizardÆs tower in Northern Russia, only to be interrupted by a freak with a Hurricane, followed by a stampeding army of Greeks that came out of nowhere, heÆd probably be pretty surprised, too.
To their credit, they recovered quickly, quickly moving to counter the on rushing army. War cries went up on both sides as they were about to collide and even through the deafening cacophony, Percy could hear his brotherÆs booming voice as he led the charge.
A part of Percy wanted to stay and throw himself into the thick of things alongside his brother and friends.
But they werenÆt here to kill some grunts. Any of the vampires they killed out here, the Red Court would replace in a few weeks at most.
They were after something bigger. Now that the rest of the Camp was in position, they could focus on what was really important.
ôDid you see anything from the sky?ö He asked.
Annabeth nodded, never taking her eyes off the stairs.
ôSomethingÆs definitely happening up there.ö
ôWhat kind of something?ö
High above them, a part of the towerÆs side exploded outward, hurling a broken, misshapen vampire out of the build and hurling it to the earth like a comet. It impacted with enough force that he actually felt the ground shake a little as it did.
ôNevermind,ö He said, smiling. ôCool stuff. Got it.ö
Deep as the Sea
A RiverÆs Shifting Course
Percy went up first, marching up the stairs at a brisk but careful place. Besides any vampires they might come across, this place had been originally designed as a fortress to withstand assaultsùin all likelihood, there were more than a few traps set about the place to deal with unwanted intruders. If so, it was only logical to let to mostly invulnerable guy blunder into them first, which Percy proceeded to do.
Blasts of fire, concussive force, shrapnel, bullets, alarms, something like mines, and much, much moreùit ran into them head first, taking them so Annabeth could pass behind him. Once heÆd identified the locations of the traps, he summoned some water from outside the tower and set it to scrubbing and washing fiercely on every surface, before continuing, sometimes literally lifting Annabeth over places that looked risky.
He felt pretty smart about going first within several steps up the tower. Most of the wards and defenses Conner and Travis had mentioned seemed to be down, but they hadnÆt been kidding when theyÆd called the place a fortressùthe damn place was full of traps. There were more of them than heÆd expected, to be honest, especially if the Red Court had already sent a bunch of warriors inside already. They were luck that theyÆd been able to find out the basics of how magic worked, such as the way it was affected by water and fireùfire would have been better for removing traps, really, but that would also require them to light the building on fire. Still, he did his best with what he had.
When he reached the top of the towerùand feeling like heÆd just walked through a damn minefield after the experienceùhe had to pause. HeÆd never really seen much actual magicùnot of the spell casting variety, at least. Circe had turned him into an animal, sure, but not much beyond that, and while there were a number of Hecate cabin members at the Camp, now, they were still a fairly new addition, as a group. Having no real teachers but each other, they were also inexperienced, which was one of the reasons many of them had expressed interest in the White Council.
The point being, heÆd never really seen real magic users fight beforeùuntil today.
It was impressive, to say the least. He saw an old man, bald but for wisps of grey hair, gesture with one hand and what Percy could only assume were invisible blades started carving a vampire apart. A moment later, a gesture with his other hand seemed to erect a wall of unseen force that a vampire simply bounced off of in mid-leap. Beside him, a dark-skinned wizard snapped his fingers and the vampire simply erupted into flames.
Elsewhere, a tall, muscular wizard was holding a staff with both hands and using it like a flame thrower, spewing steady streams of fire at any vampire that came near. By his side, an Asian-looking woman, who probably could have been a grandmother from how she looked, was using her finger instead, tracing with a narrow, painfully bright line of flame that cut through the vampires as much as it burned them. An Englishman was tossing flash of lightning that sent spots of color racing across his vision, burning and hurling vampires unfortunate enough to be in his path. A woman who looked like she might have been from the Middle-east was fighting with water, in a wayùthough when she touched something with the faintly glowing orb she was sending through the air, they proceeded to melt.
All told, more than a dozen wizards were gathered, throwing around power in amazing displays of magic.
They were also losing, though, and it was plain to see. The vampires had come prepared and while many of the minor ones were dying, they were only there to aid in exhausting the wizards. There were others, wearing strange suits of armor designed for their bat-like true forms and decorated with amulets and sashes and other things with runes carved or sown into themùleaders, nobles, and such. When spells were set against them, the runes on their armor flared brightly and the forces set against them seemed to dwindle, forcing the wizards to fight them indirectly, hurling objects at them, casting distracting illusions, and similar things, which was easier then it sounded, given how fast they could move and how strong they were.
To make matters worse, the wizards werenÆt the only ones that could cast magic, it seemed. Several of the gathered noblesùmore than half, reallyùwere using it to some degree or another, hurling spheres of shadow and cold force and blood red energy.
And, perhaps worst of all, Percy realized, theyÆd caught the wizards by surprise. HeÆd been right when heÆd thought there were too many traps remaining down below and now that he thought about it, there were no signs of destruction nor any corpses. The wizards had been prepared for a fight where the vampires had to try and take their obscenely well defended fortress assisted by their wards and protective spellsùthe ones Percy had noted the absence of on the way up. Instead, the vampires had, somehow, walked right past everything in their way and taken the fight right to the wizards. Something had gone wrong with this fortressÆ defenses.
It seemed, then, that theyÆd showed up just in time. Percy waited a beat until he felt Annabeth lay a hand on the middle of his back, signaling that she was ready and in position, and then he moved. He took the last few stairs in a single step, Riptide gleaming in one hand, and chose his target a moment before he struck, burying his blade deep into the back of one of the Nobles, piercing through bones and heart before emerging on the other side. The wizardÆs magic had no trouble effecting the unarmored and, as heÆd suspected, the nobleÆs defenses were designed to deal with that magic, rather than Celestial Bronze.
The vampire managed a shrill cry that quickly faded into silence Percy removed his blade with a sharp jerk. All the eyes in the room turned towards him and he knew without looking that Annabeth must have been sneaking into position so he kept talking.
ôDonÆt mind me, guys,ö He nodded towards the other vampires. ôIÆm just here to save the day, be a big goddamn hero, kill the monsters, etc. You know how it is.ö
A RiverÆs Shifting Course
Percy went up first, marching up the stairs at a brisk but careful place. Besides any vampires they might come across, this place had been originally designed as a fortress to withstand assaultsùin all likelihood, there were more than a few traps set about the place to deal with unwanted intruders. If so, it was only logical to let to mostly invulnerable guy blunder into them first, which Percy proceeded to do.
Blasts of fire, concussive force, shrapnel, bullets, alarms, something like mines, and much, much moreùit ran into them head first, taking them so Annabeth could pass behind him. Once heÆd identified the locations of the traps, he summoned some water from outside the tower and set it to scrubbing and washing fiercely on every surface, before continuing, sometimes literally lifting Annabeth over places that looked risky.
He felt pretty smart about going first within several steps up the tower. Most of the wards and defenses Conner and Travis had mentioned seemed to be down, but they hadnÆt been kidding when theyÆd called the place a fortressùthe damn place was full of traps. There were more of them than heÆd expected, to be honest, especially if the Red Court had already sent a bunch of warriors inside already. They were luck that theyÆd been able to find out the basics of how magic worked, such as the way it was affected by water and fireùfire would have been better for removing traps, really, but that would also require them to light the building on fire. Still, he did his best with what he had.
When he reached the top of the towerùand feeling like heÆd just walked through a damn minefield after the experienceùhe had to pause. HeÆd never really seen much actual magicùnot of the spell casting variety, at least. Circe had turned him into an animal, sure, but not much beyond that, and while there were a number of Hecate cabin members at the Camp, now, they were still a fairly new addition, as a group. Having no real teachers but each other, they were also inexperienced, which was one of the reasons many of them had expressed interest in the White Council.
The point being, heÆd never really seen real magic users fight beforeùuntil today.
It was impressive, to say the least. He saw an old man, bald but for wisps of grey hair, gesture with one hand and what Percy could only assume were invisible blades started carving a vampire apart. A moment later, a gesture with his other hand seemed to erect a wall of unseen force that a vampire simply bounced off of in mid-leap. Beside him, a dark-skinned wizard snapped his fingers and the vampire simply erupted into flames.
Elsewhere, a tall, muscular wizard was holding a staff with both hands and using it like a flame thrower, spewing steady streams of fire at any vampire that came near. By his side, an Asian-looking woman, who probably could have been a grandmother from how she looked, was using her finger instead, tracing with a narrow, painfully bright line of flame that cut through the vampires as much as it burned them. An Englishman was tossing flash of lightning that sent spots of color racing across his vision, burning and hurling vampires unfortunate enough to be in his path. A woman who looked like she might have been from the Middle-east was fighting with water, in a wayùthough when she touched something with the faintly glowing orb she was sending through the air, they proceeded to melt.
All told, more than a dozen wizards were gathered, throwing around power in amazing displays of magic.
They were also losing, though, and it was plain to see. The vampires had come prepared and while many of the minor ones were dying, they were only there to aid in exhausting the wizards. There were others, wearing strange suits of armor designed for their bat-like true forms and decorated with amulets and sashes and other things with runes carved or sown into themùleaders, nobles, and such. When spells were set against them, the runes on their armor flared brightly and the forces set against them seemed to dwindle, forcing the wizards to fight them indirectly, hurling objects at them, casting distracting illusions, and similar things, which was easier then it sounded, given how fast they could move and how strong they were.
To make matters worse, the wizards werenÆt the only ones that could cast magic, it seemed. Several of the gathered noblesùmore than half, reallyùwere using it to some degree or another, hurling spheres of shadow and cold force and blood red energy.
And, perhaps worst of all, Percy realized, theyÆd caught the wizards by surprise. HeÆd been right when heÆd thought there were too many traps remaining down below and now that he thought about it, there were no signs of destruction nor any corpses. The wizards had been prepared for a fight where the vampires had to try and take their obscenely well defended fortress assisted by their wards and protective spellsùthe ones Percy had noted the absence of on the way up. Instead, the vampires had, somehow, walked right past everything in their way and taken the fight right to the wizards. Something had gone wrong with this fortressÆ defenses.
It seemed, then, that theyÆd showed up just in time. Percy waited a beat until he felt Annabeth lay a hand on the middle of his back, signaling that she was ready and in position, and then he moved. He took the last few stairs in a single step, Riptide gleaming in one hand, and chose his target a moment before he struck, burying his blade deep into the back of one of the Nobles, piercing through bones and heart before emerging on the other side. The wizardÆs magic had no trouble effecting the unarmored and, as heÆd suspected, the nobleÆs defenses were designed to deal with that magic, rather than Celestial Bronze.
The vampire managed a shrill cry that quickly faded into silence Percy removed his blade with a sharp jerk. All the eyes in the room turned towards him and he knew without looking that Annabeth must have been sneaking into position so he kept talking.
ôDonÆt mind me, guys,ö He nodded towards the other vampires. ôIÆm just here to save the day, be a big goddamn hero, kill the monsters, etc. You know how it is.ö
Credit where credit was do, the vampires didnÆt ask questions or waste time. They simply leapt to action, moving as if of the same mind, and a blur of motion later he was about to be surrounded. One had jumped high enough to reach the ceiling and was running along it, whilst two had rushed towards him on the ground, coming at him from both sides.
Percy prioritized, trusting Annabeth to cover his back, if needed. Taking a series of quick steps forward, he met the vampire coming from his left with a swing from Riptideùbut unlike the mooks heÆd faced outside, this one apparently had experience with fighting people with swords. He went down of his own will, his speed putting him into a baseball slide right past me, where suddenly he was back on his feet. Percy turned with his swing, keeping his opponent in his sights, before he had to plant his feet as the second vampire suddenly leapt towards him and hit him like a truck. Percy feet never left the ground, but it didnÆt matter, the vampireÆs momentum carried them both back into the fall. He hit it back first, before the impact caused his head to slam back against it with a loud crack, slamming into it with enough force to kill a normal human.
Not stopping, the vampireÆs hands went to PercyÆs face, one grabbing his chin and the other snaking its way behind his head as it rebounded from the wall, before twisting his head at a sudden angleùand suddenly sagging off of him.
Percy shook his head, grabbing the vampireÆs face with one hand and jerking Riptide out of it as he tried to push himself from the wallù
Not even hesitating at the sight of his deceased comrade, the first vampire grabbed the edge of his armor with his left hand and held the other open before his eyes. Light flooded his vision, burning in a dozen shades of bright, bright red. He felt the armor on his chest literally dissolve, followed swiftly by the shirt beneath, and suddenly the floor beneath his feet was a lot less stable.
Off balance, he stumbled back into the wallù
Percy swore to the Gods there had been a wall there a second ago. But now, it was just open air and he was hanging halfway out of the top of the tower. He caught a glimpse of the moon and stars above, as well as his fellow demigods fighting below, before reaching out on simple, human ædonÆt let me fallÆ instinct and curled his fingers around the edge of the hole in the wall. Its surface had a consistency more similar to that of sand than solid stone, but he managed to hold onto something more solid beneath it for long enough to pull himself forward and snatch blindly at the vampire.
He caught its collar somehow and the vampire made a startled yelping sound that Percy would have found pretty amusing if the floor hadnÆt chosen that moment to give way completely and he was suddenly falling. His sudden weight pulled the vampire off balance as he fell, the red light abruptly fading. Blinking rapidly, Percy managed to see a dark, blurred shape where he assumed the vampire to be and pulled himself up with one hand, stabbing Riptide up into heart before he had time to think things through.
The vampire quivered for a moment, just long enough for Percy to put two and two together and realize the vampire was the only thing keeping him up.
ôDamn,ö He sighed as the last vestige of strength went out of the vampireÆs body and they began to fall into the battle below.
The trip down wasnÆt so bad, but it never was. The part where he hit the ground was less so, even if it was more uncomfortable then painful. Worse, a moment later people began stepping on him, apparently just thinking him another corpse from the tower, and within seconds someone was stepping on his face, someone else was on his stomach, and a third person was on his right leg in such a way that it was being held at an uncomfortable angle.
It got old more or less instantaneously.
ôGet off me!ö Percy snarledùor tried to, anyway. About halfway through the sentence, the foot on his face left and another landed on his mouth. He glared up at the offender, noting that he didnÆt look like anyone from the camp.
Good.
Reaching out towards the water that had spread across the battlefield until it was less than ankle deep, he drew it towards him and could feel it in a thousand tiny streams as it rushed towards him and built up around him. Less than a second later, it erupted skywards, higher than a grown man was tall, and threw the vampires cleanly away from him.
Lifting himself to his feet, he glanced around him, realizing he was in the middle of the vampireÆs ranks and had just drawn their attention. Hearing snarls, he reached back into the gathered water and set it into quickly shifting waves, sowing havoc through the ranks and giving himself a moment to think. Glancing up at the hole in the tower, he nodded once.
This wasnÆt something he had a whole lot of experience with and he wouldnÆt have tried it if he had to take any one else with him, but if he was aloneà
The water gathered beneath him before exploding upwards again, this time in a massive pillar that drew more and more water from the battle beneath. At the top, half inside the water, he soared over the battle as friend and foe shouted in surprise below, hoping heÆd aimed this properly.
Percy prioritized, trusting Annabeth to cover his back, if needed. Taking a series of quick steps forward, he met the vampire coming from his left with a swing from Riptideùbut unlike the mooks heÆd faced outside, this one apparently had experience with fighting people with swords. He went down of his own will, his speed putting him into a baseball slide right past me, where suddenly he was back on his feet. Percy turned with his swing, keeping his opponent in his sights, before he had to plant his feet as the second vampire suddenly leapt towards him and hit him like a truck. Percy feet never left the ground, but it didnÆt matter, the vampireÆs momentum carried them both back into the fall. He hit it back first, before the impact caused his head to slam back against it with a loud crack, slamming into it with enough force to kill a normal human.
Not stopping, the vampireÆs hands went to PercyÆs face, one grabbing his chin and the other snaking its way behind his head as it rebounded from the wall, before twisting his head at a sudden angleùand suddenly sagging off of him.
Percy shook his head, grabbing the vampireÆs face with one hand and jerking Riptide out of it as he tried to push himself from the wallù
Not even hesitating at the sight of his deceased comrade, the first vampire grabbed the edge of his armor with his left hand and held the other open before his eyes. Light flooded his vision, burning in a dozen shades of bright, bright red. He felt the armor on his chest literally dissolve, followed swiftly by the shirt beneath, and suddenly the floor beneath his feet was a lot less stable.
Off balance, he stumbled back into the wallù
Percy swore to the Gods there had been a wall there a second ago. But now, it was just open air and he was hanging halfway out of the top of the tower. He caught a glimpse of the moon and stars above, as well as his fellow demigods fighting below, before reaching out on simple, human ædonÆt let me fallÆ instinct and curled his fingers around the edge of the hole in the wall. Its surface had a consistency more similar to that of sand than solid stone, but he managed to hold onto something more solid beneath it for long enough to pull himself forward and snatch blindly at the vampire.
He caught its collar somehow and the vampire made a startled yelping sound that Percy would have found pretty amusing if the floor hadnÆt chosen that moment to give way completely and he was suddenly falling. His sudden weight pulled the vampire off balance as he fell, the red light abruptly fading. Blinking rapidly, Percy managed to see a dark, blurred shape where he assumed the vampire to be and pulled himself up with one hand, stabbing Riptide up into heart before he had time to think things through.
The vampire quivered for a moment, just long enough for Percy to put two and two together and realize the vampire was the only thing keeping him up.
ôDamn,ö He sighed as the last vestige of strength went out of the vampireÆs body and they began to fall into the battle below.
The trip down wasnÆt so bad, but it never was. The part where he hit the ground was less so, even if it was more uncomfortable then painful. Worse, a moment later people began stepping on him, apparently just thinking him another corpse from the tower, and within seconds someone was stepping on his face, someone else was on his stomach, and a third person was on his right leg in such a way that it was being held at an uncomfortable angle.
It got old more or less instantaneously.
ôGet off me!ö Percy snarledùor tried to, anyway. About halfway through the sentence, the foot on his face left and another landed on his mouth. He glared up at the offender, noting that he didnÆt look like anyone from the camp.
Good.
Reaching out towards the water that had spread across the battlefield until it was less than ankle deep, he drew it towards him and could feel it in a thousand tiny streams as it rushed towards him and built up around him. Less than a second later, it erupted skywards, higher than a grown man was tall, and threw the vampires cleanly away from him.
Lifting himself to his feet, he glanced around him, realizing he was in the middle of the vampireÆs ranks and had just drawn their attention. Hearing snarls, he reached back into the gathered water and set it into quickly shifting waves, sowing havoc through the ranks and giving himself a moment to think. Glancing up at the hole in the tower, he nodded once.
This wasnÆt something he had a whole lot of experience with and he wouldnÆt have tried it if he had to take any one else with him, but if he was aloneà
The water gathered beneath him before exploding upwards again, this time in a massive pillar that drew more and more water from the battle beneath. At the top, half inside the water, he soared over the battle as friend and foe shouted in surprise below, hoping heÆd aimed this properly.
A little bit off, he noted, when his head slammed hard against the edge of the hole he was using as an entrance. HeÆd have to find the time to practice this more at some point, but close enough if he was alone. Adjusting the stream, he twisted himself into the tower, landing at the edge of the hole with as much dignity as possible given the circumstances. As his foot touched the floor, things seemed toàslow wasnÆt the right word, but it was hard to describe. Things became clearer, coming into focus and clarity as his proximity to water boosting his already superhuman senses to even greater heights while he took in how the battle had changed.
The third vampire was dead, or at least dying. He recognized the slit in his stomach as AnnabethÆs work, but that didnÆt tell him where she was. Regardless, he trusted her and knew that due to his entrance she certainly knew where he was and would be ready to back him up if he needed it. Shifting his attention to the other vampires and the wizards, he noticed that his return had drawn their attention again. Things had changed greatly in the short time heÆd been distracted with the vampiresùbut in the middle of fights, things tended to do that.
With four of the nobles that had been giving the wizards so much trouble dead, their fighting spirit had apparently been renewed. The vampires had apparently expected their fellows to deal with the intruders swiftly and quickly hurry back to the battle, rather than die without even taking them down. Now the wizards were focusing their power more intelligently, rather than in what Percy now realized had been a desperate attempt to take down as many of their enemies as possible in the wake of impossible odds, attempting to drive a wedge through the vampires and meet up with their cavalry. While still having a great deal of trouble with the magic resistant nobles, they were making significant headway no that they were all focused on a single goal, with a pair of them having drawn swords that the NobleÆs seemed wary of letting touch them. It seemed to Percy that he had a plan and just needed a chance to implement it.
Then what he needed to do was clear.
As his other foot touched the floor, he raised his hands, fingers trailing in the water up to the second knuckle. Sliding his feet across the floor with a turn of his hips, he pivoted, guiding the stream up, drawing it neatly away from his body in a gently turning arc less than two feet away from his bare chest.
And then he swung it toward the gathered vampires with all his strength. Not his physical strength, which meant nothing in this regard, but with the power that was his birthright as the son of Poseidon, the ichor in his blood that wasnÆt physical, wasnÆt visible, but was as much a part of him as his flesh, blood, and bones.
The Prince of the Sea called and the Russian waters obeyed.
It hit them faster than you can drive a car in most of Americaùfast enough that it would have felt like being hit by something solid, even without PercyÆs will hardening it. It collided with the sound of groaning metal, drowned cries, and the occasional sound of snapping bone as the vampires were thrown off their feet, sliding off their feet into the water, tumbling and rolling like they had been thrown into the washer until they hit the wall. Some tried to resist, attempting the stand fast in the way of that stream, planting their feet or even digging their claws into the stoneùbut it was pointless. They were insects before a water hose.
Percy kept on with the stream until he couldnÆt afford to flood the chamber any more without getting in the way of Annabeth or the wizards. Letting the stream die away, he stayed focused on the fallen vampires as he took brisk steps towards the gathered wizards even as he tried to regulate his breathing. HeÆd put a lot of power into the attack, knowing how strong the vampires wereùand knowing theyÆd make fighting them difficult if they werenÆt taken out as quickly as possible. But heÆd had a long day and it was probably going to get longer yet.
ôNot sure who you are, but I canÆt say IÆm not happy to see you right now,ö Spoke on of the men in a heavy Russian accent. He was the oldest looking member of the wizards by a quite a bit, hair and beard a solid, aged white, laugh lines and wrinkles set deep into his face and around dark brown eyes. He looked tired and now that he had a moment to look around, Percy saw more than a few corpses, not all of them vampires. He wondered how long theyÆd been fighting a losing battle before he and Annabeth had shown up. Several of the wizards were approaching the fallen vampires as they tried to rise, those with the swords going first. Blades scratched small furrows in armor, but the ruins and symbols written on them erupted into bright light at the blades touch, burning awayùand then the nobles started to die, as the wizards took their revenge.
ôNameÆs Percy. I sent you a message about an attack, but when we realized the scale of it, I thought it best to come and help, too.ö
ôEveryone who saves my life from a horde of ravenous vampire nobles calls me Simon,ö The man said, trying to smile warmly, but it came out a little grim. He cast a worried glance at the vampires, where several of the Nobles were putting up a fight. Lifting a glowing hand, bands of sun-colored light appeared around the nobles, holding them still for a trembling moment, flickering next to the armor as the enchantments struggled against it. The vampire thrashed for a moment, before one of the men with swords slid a blade through his neck. Even that seemed to be an effort for Simon, however.
ôTake it easy; you must be tired. My people and I can take it from here,ö Percy said, lifting a hand, pulling at the water on the floor to wield it against the few surviving vampires.
ôWe received your warning,ö Simon said, apparently ignoring his words. ôBut we didnÆt thinkàthey were much better prepared than I could have suspected. With this tower, we should have been able to hold off an attack by ten times their number, but they passed through our defenses like they were even there. And that armoràit wasnÆt made by vampires. I could have dealt with them if that were the case. ThatÆs mortal magic.ö
Simon closed his eyes, but Percy could see what he was thinking, spelt out as if in bold in the pain on his face. Armored in mortal magic, the vampires knew exactly how to circumvent all their defenses. It didnÆt take a genius to figure out what had probably happened.
Treachery.
ôItÆs was fortunate that you were skilled in water magic, Percy,ö Simon said, opening his eyes. ôControlled physical matter proved to work best on themùwater and earth magic. Sadly, neither was in great supply, here in the tower.ö
He glanced at the stone floor in concern. It didnÆt seem like it was about to collapse, but fairly large chunks had been ripped out of it, so Percy wouldnÆt have wanted to be the guy to test it, either.
ôDo you have any place you can go on short notice?ö Percy asked, figuring they wouldnÆt want to stay in a partially destroyed tower that the vampires had already proven themselves able to invade.
ôTheyÆre blocking the Ways so that we canÆt escape,ö The wizard snorted, glaring at the air like it was its fault. ôTheyÆll clear out soon enough, once the rest of the Council receives word of what happened, but for now, we cannot risk travelling back to our headquarters.ö
Percy nodded in understanding.
ôIf you have a need, my people and I would be happy to offer you our hospitality.ö
He saw thoughts flow through SimonÆs eyes, suspicion, exhaustion, and a dozen other things that slid past too quickly to be recognized, and it was easy enough to guess his thoughts. What if this was another trick? What if we were luring them into a trap?
ThereÆs nothing like falling into a trap and nearly dying to get paranoia up and running.
But reason won out in the end. If it was a trap, why would they have warned them before hand and come to their rescue in their time of need? Why risk their lives fight against the vampires to aid them? Why go too such lengths to keep them all alive and unharmed? If they wanted the wizards alive, the vampires could have knocked them out instead of kill them.
Simon was waryùsmart, really, given the circumstancesùbut not ruled by his emotions. He was half-expecting something to go wrong, but needed the help and knew it.
ôI thank you again, for your assistance and accept your gracious offer.ö Simon said.
The third vampire was dead, or at least dying. He recognized the slit in his stomach as AnnabethÆs work, but that didnÆt tell him where she was. Regardless, he trusted her and knew that due to his entrance she certainly knew where he was and would be ready to back him up if he needed it. Shifting his attention to the other vampires and the wizards, he noticed that his return had drawn their attention again. Things had changed greatly in the short time heÆd been distracted with the vampiresùbut in the middle of fights, things tended to do that.
With four of the nobles that had been giving the wizards so much trouble dead, their fighting spirit had apparently been renewed. The vampires had apparently expected their fellows to deal with the intruders swiftly and quickly hurry back to the battle, rather than die without even taking them down. Now the wizards were focusing their power more intelligently, rather than in what Percy now realized had been a desperate attempt to take down as many of their enemies as possible in the wake of impossible odds, attempting to drive a wedge through the vampires and meet up with their cavalry. While still having a great deal of trouble with the magic resistant nobles, they were making significant headway no that they were all focused on a single goal, with a pair of them having drawn swords that the NobleÆs seemed wary of letting touch them. It seemed to Percy that he had a plan and just needed a chance to implement it.
Then what he needed to do was clear.
As his other foot touched the floor, he raised his hands, fingers trailing in the water up to the second knuckle. Sliding his feet across the floor with a turn of his hips, he pivoted, guiding the stream up, drawing it neatly away from his body in a gently turning arc less than two feet away from his bare chest.
And then he swung it toward the gathered vampires with all his strength. Not his physical strength, which meant nothing in this regard, but with the power that was his birthright as the son of Poseidon, the ichor in his blood that wasnÆt physical, wasnÆt visible, but was as much a part of him as his flesh, blood, and bones.
The Prince of the Sea called and the Russian waters obeyed.
It hit them faster than you can drive a car in most of Americaùfast enough that it would have felt like being hit by something solid, even without PercyÆs will hardening it. It collided with the sound of groaning metal, drowned cries, and the occasional sound of snapping bone as the vampires were thrown off their feet, sliding off their feet into the water, tumbling and rolling like they had been thrown into the washer until they hit the wall. Some tried to resist, attempting the stand fast in the way of that stream, planting their feet or even digging their claws into the stoneùbut it was pointless. They were insects before a water hose.
Percy kept on with the stream until he couldnÆt afford to flood the chamber any more without getting in the way of Annabeth or the wizards. Letting the stream die away, he stayed focused on the fallen vampires as he took brisk steps towards the gathered wizards even as he tried to regulate his breathing. HeÆd put a lot of power into the attack, knowing how strong the vampires wereùand knowing theyÆd make fighting them difficult if they werenÆt taken out as quickly as possible. But heÆd had a long day and it was probably going to get longer yet.
ôNot sure who you are, but I canÆt say IÆm not happy to see you right now,ö Spoke on of the men in a heavy Russian accent. He was the oldest looking member of the wizards by a quite a bit, hair and beard a solid, aged white, laugh lines and wrinkles set deep into his face and around dark brown eyes. He looked tired and now that he had a moment to look around, Percy saw more than a few corpses, not all of them vampires. He wondered how long theyÆd been fighting a losing battle before he and Annabeth had shown up. Several of the wizards were approaching the fallen vampires as they tried to rise, those with the swords going first. Blades scratched small furrows in armor, but the ruins and symbols written on them erupted into bright light at the blades touch, burning awayùand then the nobles started to die, as the wizards took their revenge.
ôNameÆs Percy. I sent you a message about an attack, but when we realized the scale of it, I thought it best to come and help, too.ö
ôEveryone who saves my life from a horde of ravenous vampire nobles calls me Simon,ö The man said, trying to smile warmly, but it came out a little grim. He cast a worried glance at the vampires, where several of the Nobles were putting up a fight. Lifting a glowing hand, bands of sun-colored light appeared around the nobles, holding them still for a trembling moment, flickering next to the armor as the enchantments struggled against it. The vampire thrashed for a moment, before one of the men with swords slid a blade through his neck. Even that seemed to be an effort for Simon, however.
ôTake it easy; you must be tired. My people and I can take it from here,ö Percy said, lifting a hand, pulling at the water on the floor to wield it against the few surviving vampires.
ôWe received your warning,ö Simon said, apparently ignoring his words. ôBut we didnÆt thinkàthey were much better prepared than I could have suspected. With this tower, we should have been able to hold off an attack by ten times their number, but they passed through our defenses like they were even there. And that armoràit wasnÆt made by vampires. I could have dealt with them if that were the case. ThatÆs mortal magic.ö
Simon closed his eyes, but Percy could see what he was thinking, spelt out as if in bold in the pain on his face. Armored in mortal magic, the vampires knew exactly how to circumvent all their defenses. It didnÆt take a genius to figure out what had probably happened.
Treachery.
ôItÆs was fortunate that you were skilled in water magic, Percy,ö Simon said, opening his eyes. ôControlled physical matter proved to work best on themùwater and earth magic. Sadly, neither was in great supply, here in the tower.ö
He glanced at the stone floor in concern. It didnÆt seem like it was about to collapse, but fairly large chunks had been ripped out of it, so Percy wouldnÆt have wanted to be the guy to test it, either.
ôDo you have any place you can go on short notice?ö Percy asked, figuring they wouldnÆt want to stay in a partially destroyed tower that the vampires had already proven themselves able to invade.
ôTheyÆre blocking the Ways so that we canÆt escape,ö The wizard snorted, glaring at the air like it was its fault. ôTheyÆll clear out soon enough, once the rest of the Council receives word of what happened, but for now, we cannot risk travelling back to our headquarters.ö
Percy nodded in understanding.
ôIf you have a need, my people and I would be happy to offer you our hospitality.ö
He saw thoughts flow through SimonÆs eyes, suspicion, exhaustion, and a dozen other things that slid past too quickly to be recognized, and it was easy enough to guess his thoughts. What if this was another trick? What if we were luring them into a trap?
ThereÆs nothing like falling into a trap and nearly dying to get paranoia up and running.
But reason won out in the end. If it was a trap, why would they have warned them before hand and come to their rescue in their time of need? Why risk their lives fight against the vampires to aid them? Why go too such lengths to keep them all alive and unharmed? If they wanted the wizards alive, the vampires could have knocked them out instead of kill them.
Simon was waryùsmart, really, given the circumstancesùbut not ruled by his emotions. He was half-expecting something to go wrong, but needed the help and knew it.
ôI thank you again, for your assistance and accept your gracious offer.ö Simon said.
You know considering how the demi-gods have their own places in the never never I wonder how the white council will react to owning them a major favor or will they consider the favor repaid with the supporting the addition of them the the Accords. Though it will be amusing when the Wizards find out that their new buddies aren't entirely human and that the Greek Gods are still alive and kicking and even having kids.
Pretty sure that the White Council is entirely aware that the pagan gods are still alive and kicking, especially those that are popular in mythology classes. It's pretty much implied that they're aware of Odin at the end of Changes, and where there's one pagan god still around, there's bound to be more.
I was more talking about how Major members of the White Council now owe life debts to them and how unnerving that will be to them. Remember Percy just saved the life of a member of the Senior Council and seeing how much of a connection the demigods have with the never never it can be a highly binding debt.
Ah but your forgetting owing anything that isn't completely human will make things interesting. And you have to remember that curses and debts and things like that are also in the Percy verse like the curse that Ares put on Percy that nearly got him killed during the fight with Atlas. Even if the Campers don't have any ill will that doesn't mean that something big like this might not give some background effects by going through the mist or some other way. Remember one of the best pieces of advice in the Dresden verse is that if it's from the never never best not have any dealings with it if you can help it.
XxXXxX
Annabeth appeared out of thin air the moment everything was decided, looking for all the world the ditzy, blonde California girl who hadnÆt just been standing invisibly behind you ready to stab you in the back if something went wrong, donÆt be silly. When they got down the stairs, the battle outside was mostly over, though Greek Fire was still burning on the corpses of a number of vampires. But the vampires outside had been meant to keep a few dozen unprepared wizards from escaping, not fight a few hundred over prepared demigods.
Even so, discretion is the better part of not waiting around for a bunch of monsters to come along and eat your face, so they left quickly. Percy could see the looks on the wizards faces as they looked the demigods over and was well aware of how strange a sight they must have made. His brother had grown to be thirty feet again and was wiping stains off of his stickùvampire stains, most likely. All around him, the other demigods were bustling about quickly, going through the motions that had been trained into them and dealing with the chaotic aftermath of battle; accounting for injuries, damaged equipment, and such. Above them, the Pegasi flew in wide, looping circles, largely untouched by the battle, but down below, the Party Ponies were beingàthemselves. When they saw him exit the Tower with the wizards in tow, a cheer went up throughout the strange ranksùand between the various cabins, the Party Ponies, and his brother, the cheers were as odd as the people they came from.
Even by wizard and demigod standards, it had to have been pretty weird.
Still, if there was one thing that Percy had learned from having been kicked out of just about every school his mother could find, it was that when things looked this bad, it was best to just stay silent and not bother trying to explain your way out of it, so he nodded to his brother, Thalia, and several of the Counselors that he could see, lifted RiptideÆs glowing blade in acknowledgement of their victory, and then dropped his arm back to his side without a word.
ôFollow me,ö He said, glancing at Simon. ôThereÆs enough room for you to ride with my brother and I in our chariot and weÆll get your people sorted out as quickly as we can.ö
Simon nodded once, eyeing his brother and the centaurs a bit strangely but otherwise taking things in stride. Percy appreciated people who could do that, because it was an unspoken rule of demigod-hood that things sound even weirder then they look and explaining things was always an exercise in embarrassment. HeÆd make someone else do it, if it was at all possible. Since becoming the leader of the camp, delegation was quickly becoming his new favorite word.
ôWhere are we heading, exactly?ö Simon asked a moment after matching his pace with PercyÆs.
ôBack home,ö He replied. ôThe Big Apple.ö
He turned his head to Annabeth, a sudden question occurring to him.
ôWhy is it called that?ö He asked.
Annabeth rolled her eyes and nudged him once as a silent reminder to reign in his ADHD before speaking.
ôIÆll tell you later,ö She murmured before looking at the wizards. ôLong Island, New York. IÆd give you our address, but I doubt itÆd mean much too you unless you lived there.ö
ôNew York,ö One of the wizards beside Simon repeated distractedly before nodding to himself. ôI doubt that will be the first place our enemies will look for us, so it should be safe until we can find a way back to Edinburgh. I take it you have a Way there? How sure are you of its safety? Do you know how quickly does time pass there relative to time here or how far it is relatively? ö
Percy shrugged once, scrunching up his face at the questions.
ôTo be honest, the whole path through the Nevernever thing isnÆt really my expertise. YouÆll have to ask Connor or Travis about any details. I can say I trust their judgment, thoughùit didnÆt seem to take very long, though and we didnÆt encounter any particular difficulties. After we get to New York, IÆll ask them to find a Way toàö
He glanced at his girlfriend with a raised brow.
ôScotland,ö Annabeth replied without missing a beat.
ôTo Scotland,ö He finished, nodding in thanks. ôI canÆt say for sure how long it will take the two of them to find you a safe Way there, thoughùfinding paths through the Nevernever can beàwell, you probably know better than I do.ö
ôFinding paths can be a challenge at the best of times,ö Simon nodded in acknowledgement. ôAnd finding safe paths can be close to impossible.ö
Percy heard the unspoken question nodded reassuringly.
ôDonÆt worry about that. The Twins are good at what they do and if you need, we can arrange an escort there for you as well. Once we get home, I can arrange some way for you to contact your people as well, if you need.ö
Simon hummed, still looking around, aged eyes sharp and steady. After a few seconds, he slowed his pace to a stop and Percy stopped as well once he realized he wasnÆt being followed.
ôGiven everything, it is most likely somewhat rude of me to ask you this, but I must admit, IÆm quite a cynic these daysàand IÆve never quite been able to stop being curious. What exactly is the motivation behind your generosity? You have my gratitude, donÆt get me wrongùyou saved my people and I from what would have, at best, been an unpleasant and untimely demise. But you fought an army to aid us, are providing us safe travel, lending us your home, and promising use both communication with and travel back to our allies. I do not this this is a trap, because if it was I fail to see why you wouldnÆt have sprung it upon us, but I canÆt help but think that if someone is going this far out of their way to help me, they probably have a reason for doing so.ö
Percy blinked once, before smiling slightly and nodding.
ôWow, youÆre pretty blunt. I like that.ö He glanced at Annabeth, who rolled her eyes and sighed, before continuing, his smile growing. ôYeah, thereÆs a reason. Several, actually. We can talk specifics later, but for now, hereÆs the basics. Lately, a lot of creatures have been causing troubleùnot just to us, though they have been doing that, but in generalùand the survey says things are probably going to get worse before they get better, since that what things tend to do, though IÆm kind of still waiting for that æget betterÆ part. So we want several things, if possible. Allies, currently. A place on the Accords eventually, though thatÆs kind of a work in progress. To protect innocent people as a sort of general thing, though itÆs becoming increasingly more difficult to do that, as weÆve recently found out. The way I see it, your Council is closest in line to what we believe in and this is a good chance to make friends with the closest weÆre probably going to get to our fellow man in this whole business.ö
ôAlso, we donÆt like the Red Court,ö Annabeth added. ôWe really, really donÆt. And if you all died, a lot of innocent people would suffer for itùwell, innocent people, rather.ö
ôGaining allies,ö Simon mused, nodding. ôProtecting oneÆs self and oneÆs people. Siding with oneÆs fellow man against monsters. I understand those reasonsùapprove of them even. And yet, despite you all being organized and despite possessing quite a bit of power, I have never seen or heard of any of youùand I make a point of knowing as much as I possibly can. IÆll have to speak to the rest of the Council about you and your reasonsùthough given that weÆve suddenly found ourselves in the middle of a war and you just saved all our lives, I do not foresee much trouble in the ally departmentùbut first I have to ask you another rude question. Who are you?ö
Percy opened his mouth to speak, but Annabeth caught his arm before he could say a word. She tilted her head at Simon, raised an eyebrow, and smiled.
ôWhy ask questions you already know the answer to?ö She asked. ôItÆs not like itÆs particularly subtle.ö
Percy suppressed a sighed, hearing the challenging tone in his girlfriendÆs voice. Really, he should have suspected this; it had been all but inevitable the moment sheÆd heard of a group of people calling themselves the Wise.
Simon snorted a brief laugh.
ôA thirty-foot Cyclops, a flock of Pegasi, a horde of Centaurs, and an army riding in gleaming chariots. No, I suppose itÆs not. YouÆre Greek, of course.ö He stated, before lifting a challenging eyebrow. ôThough since you live in New York, perhaps youÆre only half?ö
This time, he couldnÆt swallow the sigh. It seems the wizards wouldnÆt be much better.
Annabeth nudged him again, but she was smiling.
ôJust so. IÆm Annabeth,ö She reintroduced herself. ôDaughter of Athena. This is my boyfriend Percy, son of Poseidon.ö
ôDemigods,ö SimonÆs smile widened as he cast a casual glance around. ôSomehow we missed an entire army of demigods. Oh, but I canÆt wait to see the look on MarthaÆs face.ö
Annabeth appeared out of thin air the moment everything was decided, looking for all the world the ditzy, blonde California girl who hadnÆt just been standing invisibly behind you ready to stab you in the back if something went wrong, donÆt be silly. When they got down the stairs, the battle outside was mostly over, though Greek Fire was still burning on the corpses of a number of vampires. But the vampires outside had been meant to keep a few dozen unprepared wizards from escaping, not fight a few hundred over prepared demigods.
Even so, discretion is the better part of not waiting around for a bunch of monsters to come along and eat your face, so they left quickly. Percy could see the looks on the wizards faces as they looked the demigods over and was well aware of how strange a sight they must have made. His brother had grown to be thirty feet again and was wiping stains off of his stickùvampire stains, most likely. All around him, the other demigods were bustling about quickly, going through the motions that had been trained into them and dealing with the chaotic aftermath of battle; accounting for injuries, damaged equipment, and such. Above them, the Pegasi flew in wide, looping circles, largely untouched by the battle, but down below, the Party Ponies were beingàthemselves. When they saw him exit the Tower with the wizards in tow, a cheer went up throughout the strange ranksùand between the various cabins, the Party Ponies, and his brother, the cheers were as odd as the people they came from.
Even by wizard and demigod standards, it had to have been pretty weird.
Still, if there was one thing that Percy had learned from having been kicked out of just about every school his mother could find, it was that when things looked this bad, it was best to just stay silent and not bother trying to explain your way out of it, so he nodded to his brother, Thalia, and several of the Counselors that he could see, lifted RiptideÆs glowing blade in acknowledgement of their victory, and then dropped his arm back to his side without a word.
ôFollow me,ö He said, glancing at Simon. ôThereÆs enough room for you to ride with my brother and I in our chariot and weÆll get your people sorted out as quickly as we can.ö
Simon nodded once, eyeing his brother and the centaurs a bit strangely but otherwise taking things in stride. Percy appreciated people who could do that, because it was an unspoken rule of demigod-hood that things sound even weirder then they look and explaining things was always an exercise in embarrassment. HeÆd make someone else do it, if it was at all possible. Since becoming the leader of the camp, delegation was quickly becoming his new favorite word.
ôWhere are we heading, exactly?ö Simon asked a moment after matching his pace with PercyÆs.
ôBack home,ö He replied. ôThe Big Apple.ö
He turned his head to Annabeth, a sudden question occurring to him.
ôWhy is it called that?ö He asked.
Annabeth rolled her eyes and nudged him once as a silent reminder to reign in his ADHD before speaking.
ôIÆll tell you later,ö She murmured before looking at the wizards. ôLong Island, New York. IÆd give you our address, but I doubt itÆd mean much too you unless you lived there.ö
ôNew York,ö One of the wizards beside Simon repeated distractedly before nodding to himself. ôI doubt that will be the first place our enemies will look for us, so it should be safe until we can find a way back to Edinburgh. I take it you have a Way there? How sure are you of its safety? Do you know how quickly does time pass there relative to time here or how far it is relatively? ö
Percy shrugged once, scrunching up his face at the questions.
ôTo be honest, the whole path through the Nevernever thing isnÆt really my expertise. YouÆll have to ask Connor or Travis about any details. I can say I trust their judgment, thoughùit didnÆt seem to take very long, though and we didnÆt encounter any particular difficulties. After we get to New York, IÆll ask them to find a Way toàö
He glanced at his girlfriend with a raised brow.
ôScotland,ö Annabeth replied without missing a beat.
ôTo Scotland,ö He finished, nodding in thanks. ôI canÆt say for sure how long it will take the two of them to find you a safe Way there, thoughùfinding paths through the Nevernever can beàwell, you probably know better than I do.ö
ôFinding paths can be a challenge at the best of times,ö Simon nodded in acknowledgement. ôAnd finding safe paths can be close to impossible.ö
Percy heard the unspoken question nodded reassuringly.
ôDonÆt worry about that. The Twins are good at what they do and if you need, we can arrange an escort there for you as well. Once we get home, I can arrange some way for you to contact your people as well, if you need.ö
Simon hummed, still looking around, aged eyes sharp and steady. After a few seconds, he slowed his pace to a stop and Percy stopped as well once he realized he wasnÆt being followed.
ôGiven everything, it is most likely somewhat rude of me to ask you this, but I must admit, IÆm quite a cynic these daysàand IÆve never quite been able to stop being curious. What exactly is the motivation behind your generosity? You have my gratitude, donÆt get me wrongùyou saved my people and I from what would have, at best, been an unpleasant and untimely demise. But you fought an army to aid us, are providing us safe travel, lending us your home, and promising use both communication with and travel back to our allies. I do not this this is a trap, because if it was I fail to see why you wouldnÆt have sprung it upon us, but I canÆt help but think that if someone is going this far out of their way to help me, they probably have a reason for doing so.ö
Percy blinked once, before smiling slightly and nodding.
ôWow, youÆre pretty blunt. I like that.ö He glanced at Annabeth, who rolled her eyes and sighed, before continuing, his smile growing. ôYeah, thereÆs a reason. Several, actually. We can talk specifics later, but for now, hereÆs the basics. Lately, a lot of creatures have been causing troubleùnot just to us, though they have been doing that, but in generalùand the survey says things are probably going to get worse before they get better, since that what things tend to do, though IÆm kind of still waiting for that æget betterÆ part. So we want several things, if possible. Allies, currently. A place on the Accords eventually, though thatÆs kind of a work in progress. To protect innocent people as a sort of general thing, though itÆs becoming increasingly more difficult to do that, as weÆve recently found out. The way I see it, your Council is closest in line to what we believe in and this is a good chance to make friends with the closest weÆre probably going to get to our fellow man in this whole business.ö
ôAlso, we donÆt like the Red Court,ö Annabeth added. ôWe really, really donÆt. And if you all died, a lot of innocent people would suffer for itùwell, innocent people, rather.ö
ôGaining allies,ö Simon mused, nodding. ôProtecting oneÆs self and oneÆs people. Siding with oneÆs fellow man against monsters. I understand those reasonsùapprove of them even. And yet, despite you all being organized and despite possessing quite a bit of power, I have never seen or heard of any of youùand I make a point of knowing as much as I possibly can. IÆll have to speak to the rest of the Council about you and your reasonsùthough given that weÆve suddenly found ourselves in the middle of a war and you just saved all our lives, I do not foresee much trouble in the ally departmentùbut first I have to ask you another rude question. Who are you?ö
Percy opened his mouth to speak, but Annabeth caught his arm before he could say a word. She tilted her head at Simon, raised an eyebrow, and smiled.
ôWhy ask questions you already know the answer to?ö She asked. ôItÆs not like itÆs particularly subtle.ö
Percy suppressed a sighed, hearing the challenging tone in his girlfriendÆs voice. Really, he should have suspected this; it had been all but inevitable the moment sheÆd heard of a group of people calling themselves the Wise.
Simon snorted a brief laugh.
ôA thirty-foot Cyclops, a flock of Pegasi, a horde of Centaurs, and an army riding in gleaming chariots. No, I suppose itÆs not. YouÆre Greek, of course.ö He stated, before lifting a challenging eyebrow. ôThough since you live in New York, perhaps youÆre only half?ö
This time, he couldnÆt swallow the sigh. It seems the wizards wouldnÆt be much better.
Annabeth nudged him again, but she was smiling.
ôJust so. IÆm Annabeth,ö She reintroduced herself. ôDaughter of Athena. This is my boyfriend Percy, son of Poseidon.ö
ôDemigods,ö SimonÆs smile widened as he cast a casual glance around. ôSomehow we missed an entire army of demigods. Oh, but I canÆt wait to see the look on MarthaÆs face.ö
Deep as the Sea
Magic Streams
ôWelcome to our home,ö Percy said, rising from his seat in the chariot and extending a hand to help Simon up. The trip back home hadnÆt posed and trouble, though whether that was because of Conner and TravisÆs skill at finding safe ways or just because nothing wanted to mess with an army of demigods and a bunch of angry wizards was up for debate.
Simon took his head and rose to his feet, not bothering to try and hide the interest in his eyes. He glanced from PeleusÆ slumbering form to the Golden Fleece in ThaliaÆs old tree, probably recognizing it for what it was. Percy led him quickly past it, over the boundary into the Camp.
ôIf youÆd like to join us, weÆre going to eat in the dining pavilion now. I donÆt know about you, but IÆm starving,ö He continued.
ôAs am I,ö Simon admitted, sighing. ôSadly, duty requires me to work, first. If possible, could you arrange a way for me to contact my allies? ThereÆs no need for any of my friends to wait in hunger, however, and I would appreciate it if you would let them eat.ö
ôSure,ö Percy shrugged, nodding at Annabeth when she glanced at him. She walked away, off to get something to eat, the other wizards trailing behind her after Simon gave a nod of his own. ôWe can use my fountain, I guess. The Cabins are this way.ö
XxXXxX
ôTwenty Cabins,ö Simon mused, drawing him from his thoughts. Until then, the wizard had been quietly taking everything in, attentive eyes taking note of anything that seemed important, so Percy paid attention when he heard his voice and looked around.
ôThere used to be twelve of them,ö He said, realizing what he was being asked and explained the admittedly strange looking Cabins. ôBut that changed last August. Now all the Major and Minor Gods have cabins. WeÆre still building some and accounting for everyone, but at the moment there are Twenty, with Zeus being the first and Hecate being the last. I live in Cabin Three.ö
He gestured vaguely towards the long, low grey stone Cabin that he lived in as he led the wizard towards it.
ôOnce everyoneÆs done eating, weÆll get living arrangements sorted out. Usually, travelers stay in the Hermes Cabin, but if youÆd prefer you can stay with my brothers and I. IÆm sure Lou would be quick to offer you a place in HecateÆs Cabin as well, and plenty of the others probably would too. Anyway, in here.ö
He led him inside and to the fountain his father had given him years ago, reaching into the water and fishing out a drachma before flipping it towards Simon. The wizard frowned down at it for a moment.
ôIs thisàö
ôGold? Yeah. The Gods refuse to use anything less valuable than gold as currency, so you need it if youÆre going to ask Iris for help.ö
ôAh,ö Simon nodded, as if this was completely normal. ôHow exactly do I go about doing that, if I might ask?ö
Percy gestured towards the fountain, where a rainbow had formed the moment heÆd drawn a coin.
ôToss the drachma into the rainbow and say æOh Iris, goddess of the rainbow, please accept my offering.Æ Then just say the name of whoever youÆre trying to call and wave your hand through the rainbow when youÆre done.ö
Simon turned the gold piece in his hands, still frowning.
ôAre you certain? I may need to make more than one call, depending on who I am able to contact.ö
ôThere are plenty of drachma in the fountain, if you need them,ö Percy said, turning back to the door and walking out. ôItÆs not a big deal. Anyway, thereÆs probably a lot of stuff you want to say that you probably shouldnÆt talk about in front of he, so IÆll just wait outside until youÆre done. DonÆt take too long, though, or weÆll miss supper.ö
Outside, he sighed. The closing of that door seemed to make it official somehow; theyÆd won, theyÆd succeeded, and theyÆd returned how alive and victorious. He could relax, now, but mainly he just wanted to eat and sleep.
But alone by the cabins as he was, he couldnÆt help but glance sadly to the bonfire in the center, where Hestia was absent. At times like this, he wouldnÆt have minded speaking to herùshe probably could have given him some good advice.
Moving towards it, he took the goddesses place by the fire in her stead, tending to it as best he could with his bare, unburning hands. Gazing into the flames, he couldnÆt help but think that this was it. Things were going to start moving soon and there was no way of stopping them nowùno turning back anymore. TheyÆd publically, officially sided with the White Council and, by interrupting such an important mission, delivered the Red Court a strategic blow that would paint targets all over them. The Red Court had temporarily ignored them as a lesser issue compared to the White Council, but that was sure to change now. The Camp would be targeting, now, and while he wasnÆt that worried about it given its protections, anyone who was outside the camp or left it would be in even more danger then before.
Siding with the White Council was the right move, he felt. But at the same time, things were different now then theyÆd been before; harder. Risking his life didnÆt scare him much anymoreùor rather, it did, but he was just so used to doing it now that he hardly noticed. But being responsible for the lives of others? Having his friends live or die by his decisions? That was different.
A part of him wanted to rush out into battle and crush the monsters that threatened people, but at the same time, another part wanted to draw everyone to the camp and have his brothers turn it into a fortress to keep his friends out of danger.
There was no prophecy this time, as near as he could tell. There was no hand of fate guiding him, seeing to it that all the pieces fell as they were intended, whether that was for or against him. It was just themùhe, his friends, and any choices or mistakes that they made.
This war was the right choice, he was sure about that. But he wasnÆt na´ve enough not to realize that people would die because of his choice. Friends of his would be killed while they tried to perform the orders heÆd given them.
He frowned, shifting a log in the fire.
Being a leader was hard.
He looked up as the doors to his Cabin opened.
ôDid your message get through okay?ö He asked, drawing his hand out of the flames and brushing the ashes off on the torn remnants of his shirt.
ôPerfectly. Thank you again for your aid.ö Simon said, nodding lightly in his direction. ôI had no difficulties contacting Arthur and once I assured him of my identity we discussed what has happened thus far.ö
Simon hesitated for a moment.
ôHeÆs interested in meeting you, as well,ö Simon continued. ôHe wants to meet with you and discuss your proposals.ö
That was good. Probably.
ôIÆll go with you back to Edinburgh, then,ö Percy said.
ôAhàabout that. I do not wish to impose, but if possible I like to stay here foràö Simon pursed his lips, glancing up at the darkened sky. ôA day? The White Council plans to host a meet to discuss the war in the next couple of days and the Merlin wishes to speak to you before the meeting begins and have ou stand amongst our allies during the meeting itself. If possible, it would be best if we travelled together, so that none of the Wardens mistake you for a threat.ö
Percy tilted his head to the side and nodded.
ôThatÆs not a problem. We intended to let you stay until we found a Way to Edinburgh for you, so staying for just a day is less than I expected. WhereÆs this meeting, then?ö
ôIn Chicago.ö
XxXXxX
Magic Streams
ôWelcome to our home,ö Percy said, rising from his seat in the chariot and extending a hand to help Simon up. The trip back home hadnÆt posed and trouble, though whether that was because of Conner and TravisÆs skill at finding safe ways or just because nothing wanted to mess with an army of demigods and a bunch of angry wizards was up for debate.
Simon took his head and rose to his feet, not bothering to try and hide the interest in his eyes. He glanced from PeleusÆ slumbering form to the Golden Fleece in ThaliaÆs old tree, probably recognizing it for what it was. Percy led him quickly past it, over the boundary into the Camp.
ôIf youÆd like to join us, weÆre going to eat in the dining pavilion now. I donÆt know about you, but IÆm starving,ö He continued.
ôAs am I,ö Simon admitted, sighing. ôSadly, duty requires me to work, first. If possible, could you arrange a way for me to contact my allies? ThereÆs no need for any of my friends to wait in hunger, however, and I would appreciate it if you would let them eat.ö
ôSure,ö Percy shrugged, nodding at Annabeth when she glanced at him. She walked away, off to get something to eat, the other wizards trailing behind her after Simon gave a nod of his own. ôWe can use my fountain, I guess. The Cabins are this way.ö
XxXXxX
ôTwenty Cabins,ö Simon mused, drawing him from his thoughts. Until then, the wizard had been quietly taking everything in, attentive eyes taking note of anything that seemed important, so Percy paid attention when he heard his voice and looked around.
ôThere used to be twelve of them,ö He said, realizing what he was being asked and explained the admittedly strange looking Cabins. ôBut that changed last August. Now all the Major and Minor Gods have cabins. WeÆre still building some and accounting for everyone, but at the moment there are Twenty, with Zeus being the first and Hecate being the last. I live in Cabin Three.ö
He gestured vaguely towards the long, low grey stone Cabin that he lived in as he led the wizard towards it.
ôOnce everyoneÆs done eating, weÆll get living arrangements sorted out. Usually, travelers stay in the Hermes Cabin, but if youÆd prefer you can stay with my brothers and I. IÆm sure Lou would be quick to offer you a place in HecateÆs Cabin as well, and plenty of the others probably would too. Anyway, in here.ö
He led him inside and to the fountain his father had given him years ago, reaching into the water and fishing out a drachma before flipping it towards Simon. The wizard frowned down at it for a moment.
ôIs thisàö
ôGold? Yeah. The Gods refuse to use anything less valuable than gold as currency, so you need it if youÆre going to ask Iris for help.ö
ôAh,ö Simon nodded, as if this was completely normal. ôHow exactly do I go about doing that, if I might ask?ö
Percy gestured towards the fountain, where a rainbow had formed the moment heÆd drawn a coin.
ôToss the drachma into the rainbow and say æOh Iris, goddess of the rainbow, please accept my offering.Æ Then just say the name of whoever youÆre trying to call and wave your hand through the rainbow when youÆre done.ö
Simon turned the gold piece in his hands, still frowning.
ôAre you certain? I may need to make more than one call, depending on who I am able to contact.ö
ôThere are plenty of drachma in the fountain, if you need them,ö Percy said, turning back to the door and walking out. ôItÆs not a big deal. Anyway, thereÆs probably a lot of stuff you want to say that you probably shouldnÆt talk about in front of he, so IÆll just wait outside until youÆre done. DonÆt take too long, though, or weÆll miss supper.ö
Outside, he sighed. The closing of that door seemed to make it official somehow; theyÆd won, theyÆd succeeded, and theyÆd returned how alive and victorious. He could relax, now, but mainly he just wanted to eat and sleep.
But alone by the cabins as he was, he couldnÆt help but glance sadly to the bonfire in the center, where Hestia was absent. At times like this, he wouldnÆt have minded speaking to herùshe probably could have given him some good advice.
Moving towards it, he took the goddesses place by the fire in her stead, tending to it as best he could with his bare, unburning hands. Gazing into the flames, he couldnÆt help but think that this was it. Things were going to start moving soon and there was no way of stopping them nowùno turning back anymore. TheyÆd publically, officially sided with the White Council and, by interrupting such an important mission, delivered the Red Court a strategic blow that would paint targets all over them. The Red Court had temporarily ignored them as a lesser issue compared to the White Council, but that was sure to change now. The Camp would be targeting, now, and while he wasnÆt that worried about it given its protections, anyone who was outside the camp or left it would be in even more danger then before.
Siding with the White Council was the right move, he felt. But at the same time, things were different now then theyÆd been before; harder. Risking his life didnÆt scare him much anymoreùor rather, it did, but he was just so used to doing it now that he hardly noticed. But being responsible for the lives of others? Having his friends live or die by his decisions? That was different.
A part of him wanted to rush out into battle and crush the monsters that threatened people, but at the same time, another part wanted to draw everyone to the camp and have his brothers turn it into a fortress to keep his friends out of danger.
There was no prophecy this time, as near as he could tell. There was no hand of fate guiding him, seeing to it that all the pieces fell as they were intended, whether that was for or against him. It was just themùhe, his friends, and any choices or mistakes that they made.
This war was the right choice, he was sure about that. But he wasnÆt na´ve enough not to realize that people would die because of his choice. Friends of his would be killed while they tried to perform the orders heÆd given them.
He frowned, shifting a log in the fire.
Being a leader was hard.
He looked up as the doors to his Cabin opened.
ôDid your message get through okay?ö He asked, drawing his hand out of the flames and brushing the ashes off on the torn remnants of his shirt.
ôPerfectly. Thank you again for your aid.ö Simon said, nodding lightly in his direction. ôI had no difficulties contacting Arthur and once I assured him of my identity we discussed what has happened thus far.ö
Simon hesitated for a moment.
ôHeÆs interested in meeting you, as well,ö Simon continued. ôHe wants to meet with you and discuss your proposals.ö
That was good. Probably.
ôIÆll go with you back to Edinburgh, then,ö Percy said.
ôAhàabout that. I do not wish to impose, but if possible I like to stay here foràö Simon pursed his lips, glancing up at the darkened sky. ôA day? The White Council plans to host a meet to discuss the war in the next couple of days and the Merlin wishes to speak to you before the meeting begins and have ou stand amongst our allies during the meeting itself. If possible, it would be best if we travelled together, so that none of the Wardens mistake you for a threat.ö
Percy tilted his head to the side and nodded.
ôThatÆs not a problem. We intended to let you stay until we found a Way to Edinburgh for you, so staying for just a day is less than I expected. WhereÆs this meeting, then?ö
ôIn Chicago.ö
XxXXxX