Pt. 1
And we’re back! The war begins in earnest now, with Shin’en doling out the first assignments. Admittedly, these next few chapters may be considered boring as they will all be fights, with the Team whittling down Tartarus’s army, taking full advantage of Chaos’s new perma-death rule, though there will be some humor as Shin’en plays 20 Questions with all the demigods, particularly Annabeth.
Also, I have read the Hecate book, and my personal review is at the bottom of the chapter for anyone interested.
Disclaimer: I don’t own PJO or any other media herein
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Annabeth stared at Shin’en. “Um…okay? That…kind of…clears it up. You’re the desperate measures, this is a very desperate situation—so, er, what now?”
“Now we get to work,” Shin’en said. “Wheels, what’ve we got?”
“The easier-to-answer question is what do we not have?” Wheels smirked. With the press of a button on his wheelchair, a number of holographic displays came to life, showing live images of places across the planet, vitals of Shin’en and the rest of his present team, all of their hearts beating at different rates but still calm, spinning radar graphs corresponding to the locations, showing innumerable red blips with accurate counts of how many monsters were present in the given area. It was like the Batcomputer mixed with Tony Stark’s stuff. “We’ve got millions of monsters, the return of all the bad guys, mass genocide of the human race, magic, and more. The only thing we’re missing is a space army comprised of all the dead good guys.”
Shin’en exhaled some smoke. “Used to be a good storyline until it became overdone and cliché. How are we looking about Olympus?”
Wheels hit a button and a screen took the centerstage. “Monsters are pouring out from these locations. Palaces of various minor gods. Bet if I cross-reference the list here with a list of minor gods who supported the Titans because the Olympians were assholes, I’d find a lot of matches. Almost like making the Olympians swear an oath on the Styx to be more respectful was never going to work out, and now they’re once again taking their revenge.”
Wheels craned his neck and looked directly at Percy, his welding goggles catching the light, becoming big circles of white.
Percy’s mouth set into a thin line as his objective failure at the end of the Titan War was brought to bare before him. Yes, he had been naïve and foolish to think that making the Olympians swear a Styxian oath was going to change anything, given how he and Thalia (and also Jason, but they didn’t know about him at the time) existed despite a Styxian oath in the first place. Given the current situation, though, he really didn’t want to be reminded of his past failures.
“Focus,” Shin’en said.
“Right. On top of Olympus being flooded with monsters, we’ve also got activity in the seas below. Oceanus is bringing almost the entire human Navy to the Lower Bay. I’m tracking American vessels, British, German, French, Chinese, Russian, and a bunch of others. Say what you will about Tartarus, but he successfully unified humanity.”
“Indeed,” Shin’en intoned.
“Oh, and I’m also tracking Typhon to the West. At his current pace, he should be here in about an hour.”
Shin’en took another drag from his cigarette, exhaling another cloud of smoke from his nose. “Looks like it’s going to be a busy night.”
Annabeth stepped forward. “How can we help?”
Without even missing a beat, Shin’en turned to her and said with a straight face and a dead serious tone, “I’ll have a 20-piece McNugget with a large fry, buffalo sauce, and a large Dr. Pepper.”
Annabeth glowered at him.
Tobi raised his hand. “Can I get two Big Macs with everything on them, and a medium fry? And a Diet Coke?”
Wheel said without turning around from his holograms, “Five bacon double cheeseburgers, plain and dry, with Sprite-”
“Okay, that’s enough of this nonsense,” Leviathan cut in, visibly, genuinely irritated and angered by Annabeth basically being bullied.
Asteria didn’t look too pleased, either, really begging the question of just what Annabeth meant to them.
“Do try to disassociate,” Shin’en smirked.
“You try to disassociate,” Leviathan returned, jutting his chin at Piper.
Piper shifted, making Tristan hold her a little tighter. “Leave my daughter out of...whatever this is.”
“Of course,” Shin’en continued to smirk, before he schooled himself. “Let’s get started. Wheels, have you finished interfacing with the mountain?”
“95% of the way there. It’s a big mountain.”
Shin’en nodded. “Gunslinger, Virgil, you’re on Olympus. Get through the monsters and destroy the temples. Wheels will be able to provide backup shortly. Tobi, handle Typhon. Asteria, Leviathan, you’re in the ocean. According to that scan, Oceanus, Phorcys, Keto, and Polybotes are amongst the fleet. Don’t count on any help. I’ll reinforce each of you when resources are made available.”
“Can I have a bigger gun?” Gunslinger asked.
Shin’en nodded. “Wheels?”
The crippled young man hit a button, and from the back of his wheelchair popped out a rather big gun. An M249 LMG to be precise, with a red dot site and an underbarrel grenade launcher. Shin’en caught it and handed the weapon to the grinning boy.
“5.56mm Celestial bronze/lead alloy, capable of killing mortals and monsters. The gun is enchanted to prevent jamming and overheating, and the magazine is similarly enchanted, but also with infinite ammunition. Likewise, the grenade launcher has infinite shells. Don’t hurt yourself.”
“Fuckin’ A,” Gunslinger grinned.
Shin’en looked at Virgil.
“I’m fine,” said the Assassin.
Shin’en nodded at the throne room doors, and the partners made their way out into the field, jogging past the congregation of demigods and their families.
“Are we worried about collateral damage?” Tobi asked.
“No,” was Shin’en’s short answer.
“Yay!”
Tobi went running out into the field as well, presumably to go fight Typhon by himself.
Many people were appalled, and Annabeth was the first to voice it.
“You’re sending a kid to fight Typhon!?”
Shin’en looked at her, slightly miffed, slightly amused, while Wheels was cackling like a loon at her question.
“Tobi is not a kid, Ms. Chase, and he is more than capable of handling Typhon on his own. Look what he did to Loki.”
Annabeth and others looked down at the ravaged, mutilated mess that was the Norse god of mischief. They all shuddered at the sight of him.
“And he can do far worse,” Shin’en promised. “He will deal with Typhon.” Shin’en looked at Asteria and Leviathan, giving them the nod.
They nodded back, and then both dissolved into water.
“Woah, what was that?” Percy asked.
“Water-travel,” Shin’en answered. “The child-of-Poseidon equivalent of the Hades child’s shadow-travel.”
Percy looked perturbed. “We…I…can do that? I can’t do that.”
“Have you ever tried?”
“Well, no…”
“Did you ever try to make a hurricane?”
“No…but—hey, how do you know about that?”
“I know about everything,” Shin’en said simply, but there was a hidden weight in his words.
Percy swallowed.
“So, you never tried to make a hurricane, but you did, and you’ve never tried to travel through interconnected bodies of water like Nico with shadows, but you’re confident that you can’t do that? Percy Jackson, do you even know what your full potential is?”
“I…um…”
“I know you don’t. Ever since your life as a demigod started, you’ve let your ‘I never wanted to be a demigod’ mentality control you, and you have made great strides in not being a demigod. You have not ever tested your powers, nor have you ever pushed yourself to your limits. Percy, you have no idea what you can and cannot do.”
Percy glared at Shin’en. “And you do? You know what my full potential is?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, yeah? How? You don’t even know me.”
Shin’en laughed. “I know you far more intimately than you can possibly imagine.”
“How?” Percy demanded.
Shin’en once again adopted that sideways smirk.
Unsurprisingly, it was Annabeth who made the connection first. “There’s no way…”
Shin’en sideways smirk got a little bigger. “Oh, yes there is.”
“Wise Girl? What’s up? Who is this?”
Annabeth was staring slack-jawed at Shin’en. “You…all of you…you’re…you’re…”
“You’re Percy Jackson,” Piper finally answered, her eyes wide with realization. “From a different dimension. An alternate timeline. Multiverse theory.”
“Quite the bitch, multiverse theory,” Shin’en confirmed. “Yes, I am Percy Jackson from a world in which things were vastly different. The same is true for all of us.”
All who heard this revelation were floored.
The implications were running wild in all their minds.
Percy was pale as a sheet. “I-I’m…y-you’re…”
“And Asteria and Leviathan,” Annabeth started, struggling to get her brain on a track, “the reason they don’t like me—or at least, the reason they don’t like me…wearing this is because…because I’m still someone special to them in their own timelines?”
“In his timeline, you are Leviathan’s beloved wife, empress to his empire, and mother of his three children.”
Annabeth did not turn bright red at the mention of having birthed Percy’s children in another life, but was actually green with envy. She wanted to have kids with her own Percy, after all.
“For Asteria,” Shin’en continued, “you are her eldest daughter through adoption and genetic mutation.”
Annabeth’s feelings of baby fever evaporated. “Huh?”
“It’s an involved story,” Shin’en dismissed.
Percy shook his head. “Okay, back on track. We can talk about this…multiverse stuff…later. We have a war to win. What do you want us to do?”
“I need someone to clean up this corpse, and get that wrecked car out of here.”
The mess Gunslinger had made upon his entrance had yet to be removed.
And Loki’s mangled body was still present, as was the incapacitated Khione with the thing on her face.
Percy, Annabeth, and the closer demigods all stared at Shin’en.
“That’s…it?” Annabeth asked.
“Yes. They’ll start to stink before too much longer.”
“What about battle plans!?” Annabeth shouted. “Where do you want us? Who do we need to go fight? You said Tartarus had deployed a millions-strong army across the planet and is wiping out the human race and you’re here to stop him, so how can we help?”
“By staying out of the way,” Shin’en said, looking her dead in the eye. From his tone, he was not kidding. “You do not understand the full scope of this unfolding nightmare. If I were to deploy any of you as you currently are, you would be killed and eaten. Save only for one of you.” He looked directly at Piper. “Are you ready?”
Piper disengaged from her father. “I am.” Tristan grabbed her arm and tried to protest, but she looked at him and said one word. “Sleep.”
The charmspeak instantly took hold, and Tristan crumpled. Piper caught him and gently set him down. She stood back up and looked at Shin’en.
“He will be taken care of,” he confirmed.
Piper nodded. “What do you need me to do?”
“The Triumvirate Holdings HQ is beneath us. Scans show that one of the new emperors is present. Bring him to me. Alive. We need to find out where Hecate is being kept.”
“Yes, sir. I also have an army, if that helps.”
Shin’en nodded. “Will they only listen to you, or can command of them be given to someone else?”
“They’ll do what I tell them to do, even if that means taking orders from a different person.”
“Tell them to go into hiding. I will have need of them later.”
Piper’s brow slightly furrowed. “You don’t want to deploy them now? They could help us secure Olympus, and also take the fight to Tartarus.”
“Gunslinger and Virgil can secure Olympus by themselves, Asteria and Leviathan can secure the ocean, and Tobi can take down Typhon. Olympus will be secure in due time. No need to waste any of the spirits now.”
“But what about the rest of the world?” Piper asked, trying to keep her rising emotions in check. “They’re being slaughtered by Tartarus’s army—hundreds of millions have died, and they’re still dying.”
“Of that I am aware,” Shin’en continued in his calm and level voice. “I am also aware that Tartarus’s army far outnumbers your own by a very staggering ratio, and sending the spirits out there now would be suicide for all of them. The unfortunate fact of this matter is that mankind is, for the most part, lost to us. The only thing we can do for the species now is repel the enemy, regroup, and draw up our own plan of attack. Do not be mistaken about this situation, Ms. McLean—we are no longer fighting to save mankind. We are fighting for the future of those that yet remain. Now go. Bring me the emperor.”
Angry, sad, bitter, and with an aching, vengeful heart, Piper steeled herself and resolved to direct her fury at everything happening at this unknown emperor. She turned to leave, mounting her warpath, and her old friends moved to join her.
“No,” Piper said firmly.
“What do you mean ‘no’?” Annabeth demanded.
“No, you can’t come with me-”
“Oh, don’t even start with us,” Percy glowered. “We are not getting into this You’re too weak, I don’t want to keep having to go out of my way to keep you safe shtick.”
“It’s been a while, Beauty Queen,” Leo said, “but I think we can all still keep up with each other.”
“Doubtful,” Piper said dully.
“Hey, are you okay?” Frank asked. “I get the idea of not wanting us to be in warzone, but this doesn’t feel like you just want to keep us safe. This feels like you’re actively blowing us off and want nothing to do with us.”
And then Piper dropped a bombshell on them all. “That’s absolutely correct, Frank. I do want nothing to do with any of you.” She glared at them all, her multicolored eyes seeping into a faint red as her anger spiked. “I don’t have time to get into it right now because I have more important things to do, but I’ve got a lot to say later. Assuming we survive this night, anyway.”
Her piece said, she wasted no more time. She went running out the throne room doors, her body becoming covered in her Tlanuwa armor, throwing most that saw her for a huge loop—since when was Piper able to do that?—and she was gone. Soaring over Olympus, she dove off the edge of the mountain and descended to the skyscrapers below, her beak pointed right for the Triumvirate Holdings building.
Back in the throne room, it was just Wheels and Shin’en left of the multitude of alternate Percy’s.
It was Reyna that marched up to Shin’en, who had turned his back to everyone so he could focus on the holographic monitors. “What was that?” she demanded.
“Correct your tone and then I will speak with you,” Shin’en said without looking at her. He stood with his back straight, his shoulders square, and his hands clasped behind his back. He exuded all the energy of a general conducting battle: intent, focused, pointed, and in command.
Not at all unlike Reyna herself back when she was praetor during the Giant and Imperial Wars.
Appreciating the fact that Asteria, the one that had effortlessly slaughtered Lycaon and his werewolves, and then neutralized Khione and made Orion flee, was clearly subservient to Shin’en, Reyna did, in fact, correct her tone as she realized that there was probably a very good reason as to why Asteria obeyed Shin’en, and it most like was not mutual respect. Reyna cleared her throat and tried again. “The way Piper spoke, the way she looked at us, it’s like she hated us for something.”
“I will not go into details about Piper’s emotions,” Shin’en said. “Her personal thoughts regarding you are hers divulge when she wants to.”
Reyna frowned. “But…you know why was like that?”
“Of course I do. I will not tell you what’s going through her head, but I will point this out to you: she has spent the last two years fighting the forces of darkness. You were gallivanting through the woods with the Hunters.”
And just like that, with the insight that she had, Reyna understood exactly where Piper was coming from. “She’s jealous,” the ex-praetor said. “She was putting herself through hell, exposing herself to all of that evil, while we were sitting out and enjoying life.”
Shin’en didn’t say anything one way or another. There was no micro-reaction on his face. Nothing to indicate that Reyna’s inference was correct or not.
“But…” Reyna protested more against the universe than anyone specific, “she chose that life. No one forced her into it. She didn’t have to do that. That’s all on her.”
“You can bring this topic of conversation up with her at her convenience,” Shin’en said. His tone was dismissive, and Reyna got the hint.
This conversation was now over.
Reyna’s was, anyway, but Annabeth came back up. “You said that we didn’t understand the full scope of what was happening. So, what is happening?”
“I already told you: Tartarus has unleashed a massive army of monsters and other significant beings, including, but not limited to, many of the Giants and a number of Titans. They are also boosted in power by the current Triumvirate using Hecate in the same way the previous used Harpocrates. By harnessing human belief through the Mist, they have what remains of mankind believing that the Olympians are weak beings, and that Tartarus and his allies are nigh-unbeatable. Additionally, as it is night on this hemisphere, the enemy is currently enjoying yet another boost in power from Nyx. Also, Tartarus does not act alone. Joining forces with his are Setne, who has overtaken the Duat by using the Crown of Ptolemy and has imbued himself with the power of Apophis, and formerly Loki, who is here with us now. Finally, and most importantly, Ms. Chase…you are despairingly out of practice. Most of you are, and the ones that are yet in-shape, as it were, lack the power necessary to stand on even footing with the enemy.”
Annabeth swallowed hard. Percy, Leo, and a number of other demigods looked uncomfortable, while demigods like Hazel, Frank, Thalia, and Reyna looked miffed.
It hurt because it was true.
It had been a while since Annabeth had trained for combat, what with college life, the job hunt, and working at McDonald’s taking up her time, combined with the false feeling of freedom from the life of a demigod creating a sense of laziness in her—the idea of “I’m an adult now, which means monsters won’t be attacking me as much, which means I don’t have to keep up with my training anymore.” It showed, too, since Annabeth’s tummy was just a little bigger than it used to be, her arms and legs a little less muscular than before.
Even Percy was just barely on the pudgier side as well, since his construction job provided some physical exercise, but not a lot of true weight resistance compared to his demigod strength.
As for the ones who were on top of their training still, like Thalia and Reyna, seasoned Hunters, and Frank and Hazel, praetors of several years now, being told they weren’t strong enough to keep up in this new conflict was certainly a blow to their pride. That being said, they had seen the enemy. Thalia and Reyna were there when they were easily overrun and subdued by Lycaon, Khione, and Orion. Frank and Hazel were there when those huge, hulking monsters and the army of normal monsters demolished Camp Jupiter, and had no trouble swarming into New Rome.
That thought in particular had Hazel speaking up. “Hey, do you know what those huge monsters are?”
“The cacodemons,” Shin’en answered.
That had Nico and Will’s attention. “Excuse me, what?” the son of Hades demanded. “Those things are not my Cocoa Puffs.”
“They are,” Shin’en confirmed. “You were foolish and naïve to think Nyx was telling the truth when she told you that she created the cacodemons from her power and your memories. In truth, they are a new generation of beings. They are the children of Nyx and Tartarus, who infiltrated and assimilated in your life. In your defense, they were sleeper agents who were only recently activated by their parents.”
Nico looked like his entire worldview was shattered. He had to lean into his boyfriend for support.
Will’s eyes widened as something occurred to him. “What about Bob?”
Shin’en pressed a few buttons on the hologram keyboard. One of the screens grew larger, showing what was apparently an energy signature—well, a cluster of signatures, actually—and amongst these were names like Atlas, Prometheus, Koios, and despairingly enough, Iapetus.
“Another sleeper agent,” Shin’en said. “Nyx and Tartarus both worked on him while he was in the Pit, and they broke him, remade him, sent him off, and have turned him loose.”
Nico and Will and Percy and Annabeth all went pale and rigid.
“We have to save him,” Annabeth said.
“The chances of mounting a rescue operation are slim, but not zero.”
“Then let me handle it!” Annabeth insisted. “We can’t just let him be used as a tool! He’s our friend-!”
“A fact that means nothing to me,” Shin’en turned to stare her down. “Ms. Chase, this situation is not like the Titan War, Giant War, Imperial War, or any quest you’ve been on. This isn’t a children’s story full of sunshine and rainbows with an occasional gloomy cloud. This is serious. The enemy has been training. They are more powerful than they were in previous conflicts, while you have been slacking off. If the resources are made available to me to at least consider trying to rescue Bob, then I will, but as of right now, I have far more pressing matters that require my attention. If you insist on trying to provide me with aid, then please clean up this mess. The bodies are starting to smell.”
Annabeth glared at the man who was Percy from another life, and then she glared at the corpse left by Gunslinger, and then at the overturned car with another body inside it. She looked at Thalia and Reyna. “Either of you have one of those magic tent things?”
Reyna handed her a spare magic collapsable tent. Annabeth used it to pack away the bodies and the wrecked car, and then she tossed the tent into the flickering embers of the hearth. Thus, she cleaned up the mess.
“What about, er, them?” she hesitated in asking, referring to the bloody lump of meat that was Loki, and the incapacitated form the was Khione.
“Leave them,” Shin’en said. “They’re fine where they’re at.”
“Okay…now what?”
Shin’en hit a few buttons on the holo-keyboard, and the entire back half of the throne became a lounge area. Dozens of couches, sofas, and recliners spawned in, along with gaming systems, television setups, a miniature library, several coolers that were filled with ice and various beverages, numerous tables, many of which were stacked with pizza boxes filled with the standard three flavors of cheese, pepperoni, and hamburger, and others that were sporting boardgames galore.
“Make yourself comfortable and keep yourself occupied,” Shin’en instructed.
Annabeth stared at him. “The world is coming to an end…and you want us to have a party like it’s someone’s birthday?”
“Yes,” was Shin’en’s simple, yet pointed, answer. “I have explained at length as to why deploying you and your friends is not necessary and also suicide. There is no need for any of you to die today.”
“I’m at 99% integration with Olympus,” Wheels said.
Shin’en nodded.
“But we want to help!” Annabeth finally shouted.
Shin’en looked at her, his eyes piercing. “You want to…help?” he asked in a neutral voice.
Annabeth’s mouth set into a thin line. Her feet started moving, carrying her back over to her friends where there was strength and safety in numbers. Shin’en’s eyes followed her the whole time, his whole body eventually having to turn so he could stare at her.
“Now you want to help?” Shin’en said.
And with that statement, combined with his previous regarding his knowing of “everything,” Annabeth now understood what Shin’en was getting at. Her mouth set into an even thinner line, her subconsciously coming up to grab her opposite bicep.
“Ms. Chase, you refused to help four years ago when another war started. Even in your own words to Magnus at your lunch, you revealed there was a crisis going on. You knew the situation per Rachel’s investigation, you knew about Triumvirate Holdings, how Nero was one of the emperors, and it was even speculated that if Nero was here in the East, so close to Camp Half-Blood, then it was highly likely that one of the other emperors was based in the West, close to Camp Jupiter. Now, I will throw you a bone and say that saddling up to travel all the way to the West Coast from Manhattan would have been a tall order, but there were still several other things you could have done here at home. For example, establishing a communication system that bypassed the emperors’ jamming signal—you can’t look me in the eye and tell me that you, of all people, would have been incapable of determining a solution.
“No, ma’am, you simply did not want to. Very concerning, given the nuance behind the crisis. Communications down, no way to contact Reyna, Frank, and Hazel in New Rome, no way to send a warning to them, your friends—family, even, in your own words, Mr. Jackson—no way to make sure that the place you wanted to spend the rest of your life at would be informed of the new threat, and therefore able to prepare. Now, I can understand the jaded, cynical feelings that would arise if this had been a situation like the previous two wars, in that the Olympians were somehow to blame and you were being dragged in to clean up their mess, but the Imperial War was unique. The emperors had no interest in the gods, only the Oracles, and the one specific god that pertained to was actually on the job-”
“Where even is Apollo?” Thalia blurted.
“Most like captured with the rest of them sans Artemis over there.”
The moon goddess had been with her Hunters when they were ambushed, and therefore rescued by Asteria when she arrived. However, Artemis looked like hammered fecal material, given that she was small, thin, frail, pale, and shivering, her eyes glazed and unfocused. The effects of the Mist warp and all of collective human thought being directed to the idea that she was a weak and pathetic being, not a dignified deity.
Annabeth took this opportunity to plead her case. “But-”
And Shin’en wasn’t going to tolerate it. “But nothing, Ms. Chase. I don’t care about such sentiments as what we went through or we were tired and burned out or we earned the right to a normal life or any of that other bullshit. Your friends were in danger. Evil had once again reared its head, a new war had started, lives were on the line, and you came up with excuses to justify your nonparticipation. You didn’t even try. You completely and totally washed your hands of the situation, and to this day you are living with the guilt of your failure.”
Annabeth and Percy both flinched because Shin’en hit them both right between the eyes with that one.
“In truth, Ms. Chase, Mr. Jackson,” Shin’en continued, “I will not deploy the two of you because you aren’t really wanting to help. You are seeking redemption. You are desiring to prove yourselves and atone for what you did four years ago, and I have no need of that. I have no need of knights in shining armor, gallant warriors descending from on high to save the weak. I need soldiers. Killers. People that will follow orders. And I don’t see that in any of you.”
Percy clenched his fists. “I can’t believe that you’re supposed to be from a different world.”
Shin’en chuckled mirthlessly. “Believe me, young man, compared to other versions of you, I am actually a very nice person.”
“So, that’s it,” Annabeth said. “You’re just not going to let us help save our world.”
“Piper tried to get you to help her save your world a long time ago. You refused her then, and I refuse you now. If a situation should ever arise that I need additional help, I may consider you, but as of right now, to me, all of you are civilians to be kept off the battlefield. Now, I have a war to wage, and will no longer tolerate interruptions. Enjoy the amenities and stay out my way.”
Shin’en turned away from them, the conversation now over.
But Percy wasn’t satisfied with that. “Hey-!”
Shin’en whipped back around. “Is for livestock, young man. I have entertained all of you long enough, and now I must get to work. Do not test my patience anymore than you already have.”
“Or what?” Percy challenged, displaying clearly that all these years later since his first quest, he still had his moments where his emotions got the better of him. Though he was only 22. Not exactly the pinnacle of maturity and self-control. “You’re going to put us in timeout?”
Shin’en hit a button on the holo-keyboard, and a huge playpen comprised of towering multicolored panels materialized around Percy, Annabeth, Hazel, Frank, Leo, Calypso, Nico, Will, Thalia, and Reyna, effectively putting them all in timeout.
Leo touched one of the panels and recoiled when it shocked him.
Thalia then gave it a shot, only to be shocked as well. “What the Hades!?”
“Hey!” Nico barked.
Thalia blushed. “Sorry—but what the heck is this?”
“Timeout,” Shin’en said, his dark emerald eyes glittering with amusement. “No powers in the playpen. I’ve also got highchairs if you still want to roughhouse.”
“Dude, what the fu-” Percy tried to say, only for a bar of soap to pop into his mouth, his expression going cross-eyed both as he tried to look down at it, and at the sour taste.
“No filthy language, either,” Shin’en smirked.
Percy spat out the soap and wiped his mouth.
Frank’s hand clamped down on his shoulder. “Shut up before you make this worse for us—don’t ask how this could get worse, because I don’t want to find out. It’s bad enough that you got us placed in literal timeout.”
Percy scowled at the ground.
For the rest of the demigods and their families, they did their best to absorb themselves into something else.
“100%,” Wheels said.
Shin’en nodded. He turned around and put the heroes out of his mind. “Proceed.”
Wheels hit a button, and a mechanized female voice sounded off.
“Initiating Olympus reconfiguration.”
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
And the reason why this chapter was pure talking and no action is because it’s been two weeks since the last update, and based on how my work schedule goes, it would possibly be another two weeks before the chapter was out. Climbing multiple several-hundred-foot-tall towers in a day is very taxing on the body.
I promise there shall be carnage and action next chapter, along with the arrival of Kraken.
For those interested in my review of the Hecate book, it now follows:
Yeah, it sucks. The very opening chapter features Percy pooping in his pants—no that is not a joke, because it is written “I felt my gut dissolve into my jeans,” followed by “I needed to change my underpants”—because Hecate was ‘scary’ to him. Really? This takes place after the Giant War, meaning this is the Percy who’s a veteran of two wars, and a survivor of the pit of evil, even personally encountering the dark god himself. Then, Percy only dropped his sword, but when encountered with Hecate, he poops his pants like a preschooler?
And that’s pretty much the energy for the rest of the book.
Percy, Annabeth, and Grover make mistakes they shouldn’t be making, and get themselves into situations they should easily be able to get out of given the amount of power and experience they have at this point in their lives. Essentially, Rick writes them as if they’re still kids, but they’re not.
Given everything they’ve been through, they’re adults. Experienced, mature, capable, competent adults that should be functioning like well-seasoned special forces operatives.
Now, I will say that based on the nature of these books, that they’re just shameless cash-grabs with the backdrop of being Percabeth fluff, that they don’t need to be serious, gripping books, especially because we already know that Percy succeeds in getting into college in the first place. That being said, just because these books have the leeway of being campy, silly, funny, and whimsical, they are being too campy, silly, funny, and whimsical.
No, this trilogy does not need to feature Percy and Annabeth as jaded, cynical soldiers suffering from PTSD, jumping at their own shadows, too scared to sleep with the lights off, and stuck with separation anxiety so severe that if they’re apart from each other for more than ten seconds they start having a panic attack thinking a monster got the other, but I do say that there needs to be respect shown for everything that Percy and Annabeth have gone through up to this post-GW point in the canon.
Anyway. Thanks for reading the chapter! While we’re here, is anyone still interested in revamping Dragon Princess? Like, would anyone want another chapter of Chaos War first, or would anyone like the first chapter of the revamped Dragon Princess?
Please let me know with a Review after you’ve Followed and Fav’d!