Arthur:
It finally happened.
My memory of the series had failed me and with it came a terrible mistake.
Percy didn't have another week or so after the chariot race until Hermes would offer him a quest to go get the Fleece himself.
It was supposed to happen that night. The bonfire would have happened that night, Clarrise would have been given the quest, and then Hermes would find Percy sulking on the beach.
Instead, Percy had been slaying Vampires with me up near the Canadian border for the past day.
Whoops.
How did I know of my mistakes now?
Because as we were driving back after trudging our way back to our car, an Iris message popped up in front of Percy.
Came close to crashing and having a heart attack from that.
When it appeared both of us had been expecting a pissed-off Tantalus or Annabeth asking us where we were.
Instead, it was a blonde-haired young man with a scar running across his eye.
"Well if it isn't my two favorite cousins, Percy and Arthur! Golly look how big both of you have gotten and are you guys driving? Ah, they grow up so fast!" Luke exclaimed mockingly.
This bitch.
"I see the Olympians weren't fast enough to lock your ass in jail." I snorted.
Luke's eyes narrowed, "I don't know how you knew of my plans, but you'll live to regret that little stunt, Arthur. I promise you that."
"I'm sure." I said dryly, "Is there a reason for this little chat? Shouldn't you be busy bending over for Kronos? I hear you're his new favorite cock sleeve."
Luke's face gained an ugly look to it, "Your childish insults do you no favors kid. Let's see you keep up that smarm once you know who I have."
My smirk faltered a bit. I didn't like where this was going.
"What are you talking about Luke?" Percy asked.
Luke simply moved out of the way of the Iris call and revealed 3 people tied up.
Annabeth, Silena, and Micheal all sat there completely bound up.
How did he even…
"I found these three stowaways on my ship last night. Apparently, my father sent them right into my clutches as a quest. I should thank the idiot."
It was that moment when I knew I fucked up.
The quest had started and neither Percy nor I was on it.
Though I'll be honest those three as a quest group was the weirdest fucking lineup of Demigods I had ever seen. How and why did Hermes decide to task those three together?
"You know Luke, tying up some cute young girls and a young boy on your private cruise ship just isn't a good look for a 20-year-old." I shot back.
The Son of Hermes gritted his teeth, "If you want them back, I'll be waiting for you on the Princess Andromeda. Better hurry up as well, who knows what will happen if Lord Kronos gets impatient. Might order me to throw them both overboard."
Something hot jolted inside of my mind and rage started flooding me ever so slowly.
Goddamn Protector of Maidens perk. He just had to threaten them, didn't he?
The misty portal vanished leaving Percy and me alone.
We shared a look.
"We're going to go rescue them right?" Percy asked, but we both knew it wasn't really a question.
"Of course we are." I said.
I would have anyway, but now I had a constant push in the back of my mind urging me to do so.
"You also realize that this is totally a trap right?" Percy pointed out.
"Oh yeah, most definitely it is." I agreed, "That's why we're going to go and spring it."
If I remember right, last night the ship was near New York when the quest started. Considering the average speed of cruise ships, it was probably being magically enhanced by the Titans, and I knew they were going to Florida…
It seems we were going on a road trip once again.
"Just promise me one thing Sparky." Percy asked.
"That being?"
"That when we see Luke we'll beat the crap out of him."
Someone was still salty over almost being killed by a scorpion.
I smirked, "Gladly."
In all honesty? I was probably going to do something far worse than just beat Luke up. I quite liked Earth and I had taken a liking to my mother in particular. So there was no way in all hell I was going to let Kronos and his cavalcade of fuckups destroy all that now.
My foot slammed down on the accelerator causing the tires to screech and the engine to roar.
Whipping the wheel around my speedometer hit triple digits as I pulled onto the interstate.
Well over a day later we pulled into a small dinner on the coast.
We were right outside of Miami and it was decided that Luke's ship couldn't be stormed on an empty stomach.
Walking inside we were sat at a booth and ordered soon after. I ordered the All American while Percy seemed to be content with some pancakes.
"So what's the plan once we get to Miami?" Percy asked as he sipped his coffee.
"We park the car, go to the beach, and you pray to your old man for help." I explained, "Posideon should both know where the boat is and be able to get us there easily."
Percy hummed in thought, "You really think my father will help us?"
"Of course he will. You're his son and I did him a pretty big solid last year. Plus this is about rescuing some Demigods and taking down someone who betrayed Olympus. I'm sure Uncle Poseidon will be happy to help."
I was rather confident that I was right. Besides the points I made, Poseidon was a pretty chill god all things considered. Shouldn't be too hard to convince him to help.
"Yeah wel- arrgh!"
Whatever Percy was going to say was cut off as he let out a scream and began clutching his head.
"Percy?" I said in worry.
Whatever happened to him tried to hit me as well, because a notification flashed in front of me not a second later.
!
Mental intrusion blocked.
Ah fuck.
Looking around I noticed everyone in the dinner had passed out. Waitresses were on the floor, customers were face-first in their food, and children were peacefully sleeping in their stools.
Hopped none of the cooks passed out on top of the stoves or over the fryers.
Looking over I saw Percy was losing against whatever influence was attacking his mind as he slowly started to get more sluggish and tired. For all his power the poor kid was still susceptible to mental magic with how young he was.
My hand went into my inventory and came out with a Smith and Wesson 500. The long-barreled version of course.
And you already knew what special rounds it was loaded with.
Getting up I began scanning the building as my left hand went to my waist to grab my knife. My eyes were already blazing a glowing silver with my magical sight in case whatever I was up against wasn't exactly corporeal.
Passing a nearby table I carefully rolled a man's head to the side so he wouldn't drown in his oatmeal.
Though I supposed death by oats wouldn't be the worst way to go.
My mind raced through all the possible monsters I could be dealing with here. Especially ones that had psychic powers. Ghosts, Spirits, Mindflayers, a particularly strong Vampire, Succubuses.
It could've been a lot of things really.
My mind was taken off the subject though as a pair of arms wrapped around me without warning and I was pulled into something rather large and soft.
My revolver almost put a round through their skull until I saw a cascade of beautiful blonde hair and a name floating above their head.
It was a good thing I didn't.
Leto, Lvl: (?)
Title: ?
"Oh… hey grandma?"
Artemis and Apollo had slaughtered entire families for simply insulting this woman. I didn't want to know what would happen to me if I had fired and turned her head into a fine gold mist.
Artemis loved me a lot, but I wasn't going to try my chances either. Especially since I had yet to meet Apollo.
Also, Leto lived in Florida? Huh. This is what I get for never reading beyond the first two Camp Half-Blood series.
A giddy smile erupted onto the Titanesses face as she spun me around and yanked my sunglasses off my face.
"Oh, you even have Arty's eyes!" She cooed as she grabbed me by the armpits and lifted me up.
Did I ever mention how much I hate being in a child's body?
"Oh with your hair, your eyes, and your face you look just like a little clone of her. Aren't you just my cutest little grandson!" She squealed as she brought me face-first into her chest with a bone-breaking hug.
One day soon I would be tall and well-muscled. And on that day never again would Arthur Winchester be called cute.
As the last of the oxygen escaped my lungs as a sigh, I recognized this is what I got for choosing that damned random role. This shit wouldn't be happening if it just let me be a child of Hades!
When she finally released me, I gulped in air to get oxygen into my lungs from the smothering.
"It's so good to finally see you, sweetheart! When I heard that your mother was spending a whole year with you to train, I thought for sure she would bring you down here for a visit." Leto pouted as she continued to hold me, "But no! Not a single word from that daughter of mine! I'm the Titan of Motherhood for Chao's sake, did she not think of how excited I was when I heard she finally gave me a grandchild!"
So she was. Hell, isn't she technically the world's first babysitter?
"Maybe she forgot?" I offered lamely.
This wasn't exactly how I thought my first encounter with a Titan would go, but I was going to roll with it. I'd take a bone-crushing hug from a beautiful blonde over someone like Atlas just straight up trying to crush me into paste any day of the week.
"Oh, she can remember to take her Hunter's to Disney World but not to visit her poor mother huh?" Leto continued to whine, "Next time I see her your mother she's going to get bent over my knee and a spanking."
I was going to ignore that last part. Though it was also now stored for blackmail material.
Unfortunately, I didn't have time for this.
"Grandma, as nice as it is to meet you. Percy and I are kinda in a hurry."
She pouted, "In so much of a hurry that you can't spend some time with your grandma?"
I nodded, "Your jackass of an uncle had one of his lackeys kidnap some other Demigods. Percy and I are on our way to rescue them."
"Oh, I suppose that is important." She sighed, "Very well. Just promise me that next time you see your mother, you'll remind her to come to visit me every once and a while."
"Can do," I said.
With a smile, she snapped her fingers. Suddenly Leto was gone and everyone in the diner began to awake.
Percy sluggishly picked his head up from a table and looked around groggily, "What just happened?"
Standing on Miami Beach fully clothed wasn't exactly how I figured I'd ever visit it. But we all did strange things while trying to save our friends from evil Titan Lords.
I will admit, the eye candy was nice as well.
"After you Percy." I gestured towards the water.
"I really hope this works Arthur." Percy sighed as he went forward until his entire body was submerged.
"I do as well."
Pressure built in my lungs as I willed an air bubble to form around me and followed him in.
It was kind of surreal being underneath the water but still being in my own cocoon of air. Even more so just watching Percy be in it with nothing protecting him.
It went on like that for another couple of minutes as I watched him pray to his father for help.
Movement out of the corner of my eye had me turn my head just in time to see two colorful horse-like creatures coming near us.
Hippocampus's if I remember right.
They came closer until they were floating right in front of us. Both were eyeing Percy, so I assumed they were having some sort of conversation with him.
Finally, Percy motioned for me to get on one of them.
I happily complied and got onto my new horse friend and with a burst of speed, we were off.
The Hippocampus's were pretty damn fast. So much so that I had to strengthen my air bubble significantly to withstand the sudden water pressure that was being forced against me as we sped through the ocean.
My watch told me that hours went by as I held on to the water horse for dear life. So much so that I assumed we were going into the Sea of Monsters considering the time and speed.
Which didn't sit well with me exactly. I didn't have any water-based abilities, so if we got attacked I'd be more than a little fucked.
Eventually, I felt my ride slow down and the giant metal underbelly of a cruise ship came into my view.
The Princess Andromeda if I wasn't mistaken. Just like the book mentioned it was absolutely massive as well.
Our steads took a sharp turn upward and headed towards to back of the vessel where they breached the water. Slowing down they gently swam towards a ramp for us to get onto the ship.
"Thanks, buddy." I said and gave the horse a pat on the head.
It gave a huff of appreciation as I climbed up onto the ramp with Percy right behind me.
Climbing up onto the deck I took stock of my surroundings. A deserted deck of a cruise ship was all that greeted me. No humans, monsters, or demigods were currently in sight.
"It's a ghost ship." Percy muttered.
There was a distinct lack of monsters. But it was still early in Kronos's rise, Luke hadn't recruited heavily yet.
Which reminded me of something. Kronos grew more powerful as more Half-Bloods swore to him, which made the gods weaker as well. The whole reason the sacrophagus was able to pull all of his pieces back together was because Luke got a huge amount of demigods to change their allegiance.
Which meant if I convinced those rouge demigods to renounce their allegiance to Kronos. It could delay his rise.
Or failing that, there was a more permanent way to stop Kronos from having their loyalty…
Well, I could tell I wasn't about to be very popular with some of the Gods if it came to that.
"Percy, go check the luxury suite on this ship. That's probably where Luke's staying and keeping an eye on Annabeth and the others."
The Son of Posideon threw me a speculative glance, "And where are you going?"
Pulling my rifle and the revolver I had drawn in the dinner earlier out of my inventory I began walking towards the stairway that led inside of the ship. The rifle was slung back over my shoulder while I adjusted the gun holder on my hip to fit the large revolver.
"I'm going to take the heat and attention while you make sure everyone's alright."
And also try to drastically slow Kronos's rise and power. I doubted I could totally avert the prophecy, but just maybe I could slow it down a bit. After all, it stated that Percy simply had to reach 16 against all odds. Not that the final battle had to take place just as he turns 16 or even be 16 when he makes that final decision.
With any luck, I could possibly delay it for months or even years. With our growth rate, Percy and I at 17 or 18 would be far stronger than we will be at 16. Together we could stop the Battle of Manhattan from becoming a blood bath for the Demigods.
Which in turn would delay the Prophecy of 7 as well.
"Time to get to work."
This cruise ship definitely was a large one. The inside was sprawling with floors of restaurants, shops, and hallways full of cabins.
It was also where the monsters and other recruits for the Titans were.
Snake women, Cyclops, Hellhounds, Empousa, Harpies, Half-Bloods, and dozens of other monster species prowled around every corner. They were all carrying out various tasks or training in one form or another.
It wasn't the size of the Army described in The Last Olympian, but it was the start of it. That much I was sure off.
I snuck around corners and activated my invisibility power via my photokinesis every once and a while to avoid being caught until I found my perfect targets. And boy did they present themselves nice and easily.
A group of monsters inside a cleared-out souvenir shop cheering around a young demigod as he attacks a training dummy wearing an Orange Camp Halfblood shirt.
My invisibility dropped and a dozen light arrows were summoned and sent towards their targets.
The shop fell silent as the arrows found their marks in the heads of the monsters. Leaving the demigod and me alone.
He jerked around in surprise and drew up his weapons, "Who are you?"
I eyed the sword and shield combo he was wielding.
Basic Celestial Bronze, nothing I can't handle.
"Just a concerned stranger." I said and drew my revolver out of my holster, "Just want to know what a Demigod is doing on a ship filled with monsters while attacking a mock of one of your fellow Demigods."
The kid eyed my revolver, "Because I've sworn myself to Lord Kronos and his crusade against the gods."
His tone had gotten more confident. He probably thought my gun was loaded with mortal rounds and his celestial bronze shield would deflect them easily.
"Why?"
"Because the gods don't care about us! They either use us for their own entertainment or ignore our very existence."
I eyed the name floating above his head.
Ah, so this was Ethan. I vaguely remember him from some of the books. He was the son of some Karma god, right? Nemesis maybe?
Honestly, it wasn't worth observe to find out.
"Listen, Ethan, yes the gods can be callous and cruel, but humanity has flourished under them for the most part. Kronos though? Humans were snacks and slaves to them, he'll destroy the world as we know it if it rises." I argued back.
Sure the gods abused humans as well early in their reign. But they had mostly mellowed out during the millennia.
The Titans would make that look small time in comparison.
"Good! Screw this world to Tartarus anyway. It's taken everything from me, so why would I want to defend it?"
Ah yes, young teen angst.
"You'll condemn 7 billion people to Hell on Earth Ethan?" I pressed, "Christ kid. Join the goth scene and listen to some emo band bullshit to work out your mommy issues. Don't drag down the rest of us because you didn't get enough attention."
Now here's the thing. Did most Demigods have legitimate grievances about the way their parents treat and ignore them? Yeah, they did, but that didn't mean I was going to be giving free passes for those that were swearing to help destroy the world.
Was there a god of therapy? Because these kids and a certain group of eternal maidens I know desperately need their help if so.
His face turned an ugly shade of puce at my words, "You don't understand. My father was killed by monsters trying to protect me, and my mother and the other gods didn't raise a finger to help me. Haven't heard so much as a single word from her since I wa-"
"Oh cry me a river kid." I snorted with a roll of my eyes, "So daddy bites it and mommy doesn't care, so now fuck the world huh?"
"Shut up!" He barked and I could see the tale-tell signs of tears starting to form.
I ignored him, "Well guess what, you ain't special bub. How about all the poor bastards in the Middle East who watched their fathers get dragged out of their homes and shot in the street like animals for defying the terrorists that plague them? Or when those same groups went around and also took their mothers and sisters and forced them to live as sex slaves and war prizes for their troops? You don't see them going around and damming the entire world now do you?"
"SCREW YOU!" He yelled at me with tears of anger running down his face.
God, I hated kids.
"Ethan." I said sternly, "Renounce your support for Kronos. Now."
He glared at me, "Or what?"
"I'll beat it out of you need be. You'll die taking this path kid."
His glare deepened and a sneer made its way to his face, "I swear upon the River Styx-"
A frown made its way to my face, "I'm warning you right now Ethan. This is not a game. Do. Not. Do. It."
"My eternal allegiance to Kronos's forces and his plan to destroy Olympus!"
I distinctly heard lightning crack outside as the oath was sealed.
Fuck.
"You dumb little brat." I snarled, "You've damned yourself. You're mortal, you can't get out of your oaths like a god can. And now when Kronos loses and you die, even if it's 50 years from now, you'll never get Elysium. They'll never allow a traitor in."
A satisfied smile spread across the young man's face, "That's if Kronos loses and if I die beforehand. As one of the first to swear to him, I'll be rewarded handsomely."
A sigh escaped me. Damn this world.
"The last part of that is not an if, Ethan."
The Demigod eyes narrowed, "Says who?"
My world slowed to a crawl as the smell of ozone invaded my nostrils.
The revolver in my hand kicked back with a roar, and the place that Ethan's heart once occupied was now just a gushing hole of blood and bone fragments.
Silence descended upon the room.
Ethan fell forward and feebly tried catching himself, "Y-you shot me."
With a frown I holstered my revolver, "I told you, this isn't a game. You're putting the lives of billions in danger. This Ethan, is war."
Ethan's body began trembling and the hacking started as blood started leaking from his mouth.
Without another word, I sent a light arrow through his skull, if only to give him a fast death instead of bleeding out.
I grimaced at the sight of the kid's body. Before this point, I had only killed monsters. That was easy, because well, they were monsters. They were evil sons of bitches.
But now I had just killed another human, one that was barely a teenager. A kid to any adult.
For the first time, I was glad I always had a dreamless sleep.
I sighed, "This shit feels more real every day. Rest in peace kid. Wherever that may be."
"NOOOOO."
An ungodly and absolutely ancient presence made its ire known, the room and probably the whole boat shaking from a sudden eruption of power.
My eardrums ruptured and my hands went up to protect my ears on instinct.
Falling to my knees I gritted my teeth as an icy presence washed over me.
"FIND THE MOON SPAWN, BRING HIM TO ME!"
Well, it would seem Kronos was sufficiently distracted.
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