Chapter 8: The Sea, The Lightning and The Hunt

"So what's the emergency?" Percy Jackson asked his friend Grover Underwood.

The satyr took a deep breath,

"I found two half-bloods."

Thalia Grace was shocked,

"Two? Here?"

"Yeah. A pair of siblings and they smell powerful." Grover said seriously.

Finding a demigod was hard enough, but finding two in the same school was really rare.

"And they are at the dance, right?" asked Thalia

"Yeah"

"Then let's go. And who's the monster?"

"You just met him. It's Dr. Thorn. He already has his eyes set on them so I need your help."

"Don't worry Grover. That's why we're here." Annabeth reassured him.

Grover nodded. Soon, they reached the doors of the gym when he stopped.

"What's wrong, Grover?" asked Percy.

"I forgot to tell you, but a few hours ago, something powerful arrived in school."

Thalia frowned,

"Is it another monster?" she asked.

"No, I'm sure it's not a monster. This one smells different," Grover shook his head.

"Then, is it a demigod?"

"That's the thing. Usually, I can find out if they are a demigod, but I couldn't identify what this was. I tried finding out what it was, but it always escape. Even now, I can smell it, but I can't pinpoint it." he explained.

"Did it do anything?" the punk girl asked.

"No, it's just there."

"Alright, let's just get the siblings out of here and take care of the monster. Then, we'll cross that bridge when we get there," she said and opened the door.

Isaiah was still sitting on his bench when he saw the four teenagers enter the gym. He immediately sensed their power. The boy felt like the crashing waves of the sea that he had seen just outside of the school. The girl in all black felt like the crackling of electricity or lightning. He could also sense power from the blonde girl, but it was dwarfed by the other two. He saw them not so subtly look towards the siblings and frowned.

'So they did come for them. But for what?' he thought.

He saw Perseus about to go to the siblings when he was stopped by the blue-eyed girl and the latter pointed towards the vice-principal who also had his eyes on the siblings.

'So the manticore was also there for the siblings. What did I get myself into?'

He then saw the group blend into the crowd and start dancing all the while keeping an eye on the siblings who were by a wall with Bianca talking to her brother as the latter was looking through his cards.

Suddenly, fifteen minutes later, he saw the manticore quickly snatch the siblings up before fleeing towards a door on the opposite end of the gym. Isaiah will never know how such an obvious kidnapping was not spotted by the others in the gym. He looked like the group of teenagers noticed the siblings disappear. The black-haired girl went to find Grover while the blonde girl and Perseus were separated. Seeing no other choice, the latter started running towards where the monster went. seeing that, Isaiah started following him. But before that, he telekinetically retrieved the cards and the green cap from the floor without anyone noticing them. Usually, telekinesis, hypnosis, astral form and many mental spells use life force as the source. However, because his life force is converted into mana, he learned to substitute life force for mana.

'Thank Root for recharging life force and mana,'

When he exited the gym, he found himself in a dark hallway and Perseus was running in front of him. He saw as the boy took out a pen from his pocket and removed a cap. The pen then transformed into what the sorcerer recognized as a xiphos. Perseus ran towards the other end of the hallway and opened another door before finding himself back in the main entry hall. The son of Poseidon quickly spotted the siblings tied up and gagged. He went to reassure them when both of them widened their eyes in fear. Isaiah, suddenly, saw Thorn behind Percy as he flicked his tail studded with spikes towards the teen. A spike was launched and embedded into the boy's clothes and slammed into the wall pinning him. Seeing that Isaiah frowned,

'Why did he not check around before going to the di Angelos?' he thought hidden behind a column.

"Yes, Perseus Jackson," Dr. Thorn says with a weird accent. " I know who you are."

Isaiah could see Percy's breathing accelerate as his face started to pale and he started to sweat profusely. He turned his gaze towards the spike in his clothes.

'Were they laced with poison?" Isaiah thought seeing the signs of poison.

Another spike was launched and stabbed into the wall right beside Bianca's head eliciting a yelp from her. Isaiah didn't intervene because of what his teacher once said about his visions.

"If you ever see the future, you must first let the events flow until you deem yourself capable of changing it and accepting the consequences." she had said.

"All three of you will come with me. And if you make a single noise, I will show you how accurately I can throw my spikes" as the tail behind him flicked from side to side.

The three didn't say anything before nodding and Thorn threw spikes at their legs to unbind them so that they could walk. He then led them outside of the school and into the forest on a snowy path. Isaiah quietly followed them and hid among the trees.

"A ride will be summoned for us at the clearing ahead of us." the monster said.

Bianca tried to question him, but Thorn silenced her when they reached the clearing. It was a cliff overlooking the ocean. The sorcerer noticed Perseus looking at the water below when Thorn laughed,

"By all means, Son of Poseidon. Jump! The sea is there. You can save yourself."

'Poseidon? Isn't that the Greek god of the sea? Do demigods still exist then? Is that why Perseus felt like the sea? That answers a lot of questions. And since Bianca and Nico felt like death, are they the children of Hades.'

Isaiah was starting to piece together the confusions he had after witnessing his vision.

Isaiah looked back at the exchanges when Perseus suddenly said like he had an epiphany.

"You work for Luke," he stated.

After hearing that sentence, Thorn had an expression of distaste and replied that the child knew nothing and the General was going to enlighten him on the Great Stirring. Isaiah didn't understand a lot of things said, but he got the basics of it.

'Something is happening in the Greek world that will affect the world.' he thought.

Suddenly, Isaiah sensed someone approaching the bounded trio however he couldn't see them.

'A concealment spell?' he thought.

The presence then plowed into the di Angelos and Perseus moving them away from the cliff and away from Thorn's aiming field. Taken by surprise, the monster missed his shots, and the satyr and the punk girl appeared behind him. The girl was now donning a spear and a shield with Medusa's face on it. Isaiah could feel the enhancement on the weapons, but he couldn't identify them.

"For Zeus!" she shouted and started trading blows with Thorn.

'A daughter of Zeus, I see, judging from the lightning I feel from her.'

Suddenly, a beating sound was heard coming from the sky. He looked up and saw a helicopter approaching the clearing.

'Is the mundane world involved with the Greeks or is this just an exception?' he thought.

Thorn then decided to show his true form when he was being pushed back. The clothes disappeared as his form changed into that of a huge lion with a long spiky tail that he could launch as projectiles.

"A manticore!" shouted the blonde.

"Won't, a manticore! He's got three thousand attack power plus five saving throws! That's so cool!" Nico shouted in awe.

"No. No. No. Not cool. This is so not cool." Bianca retorted.

Isaiah couldn't help but chuckle at Nico's comparison to a real-life menace to his cards. At that moment, a horn sound was heard from the forest. Isaiah didn't recognize what it was, but from the frightful expression of the manicure, he knew.

Silence filled the clearing at the sound of a hunting horn. Percy was confused at the sound, but he saw that Annabeth and Thalia had recognized it.

"No. It cannot be" Thorn started to say when a whistling sound was heard and something shot past him and embedded itself into the manticore's shoulder. Percy saw that it was a silver arrow.

The monster roared in pain and cursed out loud about how they weren't allowed to interfere due to the Ancient laws. Honestly, Percy didn't know what he was talking about and he didn't care. More and more silver arrows zoomed in the air and sunk into the monster's flesh. Suddenly, young girls walked out of the forest behind a twelve-year-old-looking girl with silver eyes and auburn hair. She had a silver bow and a quiver full of silver arrows that glinted in the light of the moon.

"Not so, hunting wild beast is within my sphere of influence." the girl said before pointing to him, "And you are a wild beast. Zoe, permission granted and mortals are not allowed to witness my hunt," she said before waving her hand towards the helicopter who exploded into a conspiracy of ravens who flew away into the night sky.

The taller girl behind her nodded,

"Thank you, my lady."

The monster growled,

"If I cannot them alive, then I'll kill them!" it roared and jumped towards Percy and Thalia who were too injured and tired to move.

"NOOO!" shouted Annabeth and lunged towards the monster.

"Move back, half-blood!" shouted Zoe.

Suddenly, before Annabeth could reach the monster, something blitzed out from the forest and zoomed past in front of them leaving a trail of blue and stopped behind the monster. Percy saw a boy looking younger than him though it was hard to tell from the back. He had a suit similar to those he saw during the dance. He also had a dagger in his hand that disappeared in blue motes. Thorn however was shocked frozen and before he could utter a single sound, he started to disintegrate like monsters usually do. Silence reigned as everyone processed what they witnessed.

'What in Hades happened?' thought Percy in shock

The monster that almost killed them was effortlessly killed by a kid younger than them. And he wore a suit like a junior James Bond!

The boy turned around and Percy saw glowing blue eyes that seem to pierce his very existence. He felt chills and dread from looking at the boy's eyes. He then looked at everyone however Percy saw that he held his gaze at the auburn-haired girl a little longer. He lifted his right hand and a pair of glasses appeared and he put it on. The son of Poseidon saw the glow in his eyes diminish leaving normal-looking blue eyes. He then gave out a smile,

"Hi there, I'm no one suspicious," he said while waving his hand and Percy couldn't help but deadpan at the introduction.

When Isaiah was observing the fight, he had a sudden thought.

'What would happen if I watched using my mystic eyes?' he thought before shrugging, 'Why not try it.'

He closed his eyes and took his glasses off. When he opened them, the world was filled with red pulsing. He then looked at the lines and saw the lines of Death on everyone, including the monster. Except, when he looked at Thorn, he suddenly started having urges to kill it off. The urge to kill off the manticore was like an itch that Isaiah wouldn't scratch. Over time, it continued to build up. Finally, when he saw Thorn about to jump on the two injured teens, he couldn't resist the urge anymore.

"Root, Shine"

He opened his circuits and cast (Reinforcement) on his body and projected a dagger he had seen in Kamar-Taj before zooming towards the monster and cutting a line of Death. As soon as the dagger traced the line, it was dead. To his surprise, it disintegrated into nothing.

'I guess Greek monsters turn into dust.'

He then turned around and looked at everyone's varying expressions ranging from shock to suspicion. However, with his eyes, he could now properly see the lines on everyone. Most of their lines were on their bodies. Some had their lines just outside of their body indicating their connection to something. It may be a godly parent or a blessing. When he looked at the auburn-haired girl, he wasn't surprised to see that she had the least amount of lines on her. He could only count four. He had sensed her enormous power long before she came into view and her energy was unlike the demigods. It was like her whole was divine instead of just one part

'I can only assume that she is a goddess. And the only goddess who has hunting as her sphere of influence is Artemis."

Seeing everyone stare at him, he could only do one thing,

"Hi there. I'm no one suspicious," he blurted out before his brain could process what he wanted to say.

'What the hell, Brain!'

The girls in silver readied their bows and aimed while the demigods also shifted in combat stance, but they didn't raise their weapons.

"Who are you, boy?" she demanded.

Isaiah looked confused,

"I thought what you were supposed to say was thank you for the save or something like that."

She scoffed,

"We didn't need saving. Much less from a boy."

Isaiah raised an eyebrow,

"I'm pretty sure you were about to kill her," Isaiah said while pointing at Annabeth who froze.

"She would've leapt on the monster then that archers would've shot their arrow pushing the manticore over the edge with the girl."

the demigods stiffened at his statement.

Zoe narrowed her eyes,

"You lie, boy! We would never hurt a maiden. You were the one who stole our hunt."

The boy tilted his head to the side,

"I know I'm a boy, why do you keep on repeating it. Besides, if anything, it was their hunt first and you stole it." he retorted while pointing back at the demigods.

Zoe was about to argue when the leader raised a hand. She looked at the latter,

"But, my lady-"

"That's enough, Zoe. I regret to say this, but he is right. The girl would most likely have fallen with the beast had we released the arrows. But it would have also killed the half-blood since they were injured." she kept her gaze at Isaiah,

'"Now, who are you and how did you kill the monster."

"My name is Isaiah Sharpe and what matters is not how I killed it, but I killed it, right?"

"You insufferable boy! You are in the presence of Artemis, the goddess of the Hunt. When she asks you speak!" Zoe snarled.

Isaiah looked at the girl and then back to Artemis before sighing. He didn't forget that he was in the presence of a goddess. He projected the dagger and showed it.

"I killed it with this dagger."

"May I?"

"It's a simple dagger, but sure. Suit yourself." he handed the dagger to Artemis.

She examined it and nodded,

"I see. It is a simple dagger. However, it was made using mana, am I right?"

"Mana!?" Zoe and Annabeth shouted in shock.

"You know about mana?" Isaiah asked.

"Yes, it is rare energy that is sometimes found in mortals. Even as a goddess, I have not met many who had this form of energy. Here." she then turned her gaze towards the boy,

"Who was your teacher?"

"I don't know if you've heard of her, but she calls herself the Ancient One."

"I see. I could also sense the Eldritch magic from you usually found in the Masters of Mystic Arts."

She turned around and walked away and said without turning around.

"Zoe, prepare the camp. We shall wait for the sunrise."

"Yes, my lady," Zoe replied and walked towards the girls not before giving Isaiah the stink eye. The boy raised an eyebrow at her expression.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps approaching.

"Isaiah!"

Turning around he saw Nico running towards him.

"Oh, Nico. How are you?"

"Is that the only thing you say? What the hell was that. That was so cool! You went like zooom then you slashed that monster to dust! How did you do that! And how did you make your dagger appear? Can you show me?"

"Magic," Isaiah smirked.

He then saw the demigods arrive.

Perseus then spoke,

"Hello Isaiah, my name is Percy Jackson and I'm the son of Poseidon. You saved our butts there, thanks," he said.

"Percy? I thought your name was Perseus."

He looked taken back,

"How did you know?"

"I saw it in a newspaper about your disappearing."

"Oh." Percy gave a dry chuckle, "They're still some left?"

Annabeth then interjected,

"Hello, Isaiah, thank you for saving us. My name is Annabeth Chase and I'm the daughter of Athena."

"No problem, Annabeth."

"I wanted to ask, how do you have mana? I read that it was very rare. So rare, that's it's considered a myth."

"You're being rude, Annabeth," the eldest said and turned towards the sorcerer, "Sorry about her. My name is Thalia and I'm the daughter of Zeus. I loved the way you talk to Zoe. Zeus knows how long she needed to be brought down a peg or two. Are you a half-blood?"

"Half-blood as in demigods?" Isaiah asked.

"Yeah."

"Then no."

"Are you sure?"

"Well, I don't know who my dad is, but I'm pretty sure that I'm not a demi-god otherwise my teacher would've noticed it."

"I wanted to ask, do you go to this school?"

Isaiah shook his head,

"Nope,"

"Then why?"

Isaiah smiled cheekily,

"I just had a feeling something interesting was going to happen."

Thalia's eyebrow rose,

"Something interesting? Like what?"

Isaiah didn't answer and just kept smiling.

"Alright, then keep your secrets."

"It was you!" the satyr suddenly said.

Isaiah turned towards the goat boy.

"What was me?"

"You were the one I was smelling!" the latter said.

Isaiah felt chills crawl up his skin and slowly inched away from the satyr.

"Dude, the way you said it sounded so wrong," interjected Percy.

"What? No? I meant your power. It was your power I was smelling."

"Isaiah sighed in relief.

" Oh."

"Anyway, my name is Grover Underwood and I was assigned here to find these two."

"Wait, what's going on? Why was there a monster after us and who are you, people?" Bianca suddenly said loudly making everyone turn to her.