Percy Jackson AU: Hell Born

Chapter 5:

Percy picks his way across the ashen wasteland as red lightning flashes overhead in the poisonous clouds. Just another lovely day in the dungeon of creation. Percy can't see far in the hazy air, but the longer he walks, the more certain he becomes that the entire landscape is a downward curve.

He stabs into a few monster blisters that appear in his path, warm liquid with a slight gold glitter burst with it, the monster within returning to dust.

He pauses at the top of yet another ridge. Below him in a sheltered depression like a moon crater, stood a ring of broken black marble columns surrounding a dark stone altar.

As he approaches it he notices carvings in the altar, Hermes staff. What is a shrine to Hermes doing in Tartarus?, Percy wonders. But he doesn't deny the relief. His instincts tell him it is a safe place to rest.

He sits on a stone slab surveying the area around him. The inky storm front is less than a hundred feet away now, obscuring everything ahead of him. The crater's rim blocks his view of the wasteland behind. He'll be well hidden here, but if monsters did stumble across him, he will have no warning. But what catches his eye the most, is Luke's cursed shoes. Sitting innocently at the foot of the altar.

He approaches it slowly, before speaking, "Maia." Nothing happens. The flying blessing had disappeared. He looks down at his torn up shoes. He knows he won't finish his trip down here with them, a mile more on the sharp ground and he will be walking on glass pretty much barefoot. He prays to all the gods he knows as he puts on the shoes. He tests them out. They adjusted to fit his feet.

Fatigue is slowly catching up on Percy, he gives the area one more look. He trusts his instincts. This is the safest spot for while. He drifts off to sleep.

When Frank, Hazel, and Nico return there was quite a shock from the rest of the crew. Frank has changed. Drastically. He looks like a son of Ares, well Mars, Annabeth corrects herself. He grew several inches in height and lost the softer edges. He looks more sure of himself. And when she heard what he had done, she is impressed, and she told him so. He still has a small blush afterwards. Different yes, but he is still Frank.

That night when she sleeps she has a dream. First, she was a little girl again, struggling to climb Half-Blood Hill. Luke Castellan held her hand, pulling her along. Their satyr guide Grover Underwood pranced nervously at the summit, yelling, "Hurry! Hurry!"

Thalia Grace stood behind them, holding back an army of hellhounds with her terror-invoking shield, Aegis.

From the top of the hill, Annabeth could see the camp in the valley below— the warm lights of the cabins, the possibility of sanctuary. She stumbled, twisting her ankle, and Luke scooped her up to carry her. When they looked back, the monsters were only a few yards away—dozens of them surrounding Thalia.

"Go!" Thalia yelled. "I'll hold them off."

She brandished her spear, and forked lightning slashed through the monsters' ranks; but as the hellhounds fell, more took their place.

"We have to run!" Grover cried.

He led the way into camp. Luke followed, with Annabeth crying, beating at his chest, and screaming that they couldn't leave Thalia alone. But it was too late.

The scene shifts.

Annabeth is older, climbing to the summit of Half-Blood Hill. Where Thalia had made her last stand, a tall pine tree now rose. Overhead a storm was raging.

Thunder shook the valley. A blast of lightning split the tree down to its roots, opening a smoking crevice. In the darkness below stands Reyna, the praetor of New Rome. Her cloak is the color of blood fresh from a vein. Her gold armor glints. She stars up, her face regal and distant, and speaks directly into Annabeth's mind.

"You have done well", Reyna says, but the voice was Athena's. "The rest of my journey must be on the wings of Rome."

The praetor's dark eyes turn as gray as storm clouds. "I must stand here," Reyna tells her. "The Roman must bring me."

The hill shakes. The ground ripples as the grass becomes folds of silk—the dress of a massive goddess. Gaea rises over Camp Half-Blood—her sleeping face as large as a mountain.

Hellhounds pour over the hills. Giants, six-armed Earthborn, and wild Cyclopes charge from the beach, tearing down the dining pavilion, setting fire to the cabins and the Big House.

"Hurry", says the voice of Athena. "The message must be sent."

The ground splits at Annabeth's feet and she falls into darkness.

She wakes with a start. Running into the dining room she searches for a suncatcher to put in one of the windows to create a window. The others stare at her like she is insane. They had been gathered eating breakfast in silence. Leo stumbles into the room a few moments later.

Once the rainbow forms she searches her pockets for a drachma. Unable to find one she curses. Nico appears at her side startling her, holding his hand out with a drachma.

"Thanks" Annabeth says. He nods in return sitting down to nibble on a pomegranate muffin. Remembering what Percy had told her about Fleecy she speaks.

"Oh fleecy do me a solid, contact Reyna of Camp Jupiter" she tosses the drachma into the rainbow.

Behind her Jason chokes on his water.

"What are you—" he is interrupted by Reyna's grim face appearing in the air.

"Reyna," Annabeth starts, "I wouldn't be contacting you if it weren't important. You need to meet us. You have a role to play, healing the rift between us. A Roman must return the Athena Parthenos, return what is stolen as a peace offering."

"And why should I do that?" Reyna asks.

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