Chapter 53

A small smirk tugged upon my face. "You lot think you can actually take me down?"

"You better believe it." Luke replied with a smile, though lacking any actual conviction. If I looked deeply enough, I could even see the hidden embers of bitterness.

'How low the mighty have fallen.' I snorted, taking my time to check their levels and hoping for at least a challenge.

Luke Castellan

Age: 19

Race: Demigod

Tier: 4

Level: 362 (Max)

Alabaster Torrington

Age: 12

Race: Demigod

Tier: 4

Level: 250

Lee Fletcher

Age: 14

Race: Demigod

Tier: 4

Level: 270

Pollux

Age: 15

Race: Demigod

Tier: 4

Level: 290

Katie Gardner

Age: 14

Race: Demigod

Tier: 4

Level: 260

Honestly, they were absolutely no match for me even though they outnumbered me 5 to 1. But their main advantage against me wasn't their numbers. It was their unique skills.

Who knows, maybe they would prove a challenge to me...

'...Yeah alright, Nah. They won't.'

"C'mon then." I waved them on lazily with a sigh, creating two simple holy swords.

Thankfully, they didn't waste my time.

A torrent of flames came gushing out of Alabaster's hands, raging towards me like an inferno. Lee started raining his arrows, each armed and ready to burst on contact, while Katie and Pollux combined their strengths to manipulate the plant life around me.

Luke, on the other hand, came at me running, engaging me in melee as the rest attacked me like mages.

A multitude of attacks, all incredibly well-timed and teamed up together...and I actually had enough time to wonder if I should make this quick and painful, or have some fun of my own...

Still uncertain, I absently released a gust of wind to buy some time. To my slight surprise, that 'small' gust blew away the fire and arrows as if they were made of smoke.

'Yep. My raw power is ridiculous now.'

A bunch of vines tried to entangle me next but an idle swing of my sword cut through them like razor through paper.

By the time Luke finally came into my range, all the other attacks that were meant to support him were already dealt with, leaving him to face me alone.

With a laugh, I launched a simple jab with my Holy swords. Luke managed to deflect it but the force sent him skidding away, leaving trails of dust as he dug his feet into the ground for support.

'Fun way, it is.'

Not moving from my position, I formed a golden array above my head, launching Holy spears on the ground beside my distant opponents. While they weren't aimed at them (I didn't actually want to kill them, of course) the spears still made them scramble around to dodge them, keeping them busy.

Then, a single step forward and I was in front of a panting Luke. I used my sword like a stick, swinging it around with no technique or skill.

The boy managed to dodge one strike, then slip away from another, but the third strike he was forced to block, and the force behind it shook his hands like a bell, his sword almost bending 90 degrees, while the boy was blasted back into the air as if he was kicked by a bull.

He groaned, pushing himself up on one knee.

"That's...that's so unfair." The boy panted out, rubbing his hands to return some feeling in them. "You're using your full strength! Not cool man."

I laughed, my legs closing the gap between us again. "Believe me, Luke, I'm not."

My sword once again smacked down at him, making him jump away with a curse. "If I did you'd be a wet spot on the ground, red and very much dead."

The boy scrambled back, retreating as fast as he can. And I let him, focusing instead on the rapidly closing sonic arrows. A simple wall of air stopped them in their tracks, and once they popped, I guided the sonic booms away back to Lee.

Waves of ultrasonic sound assaulted the boy, forcing him down on his knees with a curse, his arms tightly clutching his ears.

I sensed movement below me and my Holy sword cut off another round of vines the moment they were born.

A force bound me down to the ground, courtesy of Alabaster.

I'd sensed the magic coming towards me long ago, but I was feeling particularly lazy...and curious.

It was the same force that had bound me and Thalia on the hill. Even a simple spark of electricity could've made me escape but I waited, coping a feel of his magic. One thing was instantly clear; Alabaster was no lamia. And my level 6 Mystiokinesis resistance completely negated the spell's effects.

He didn't know that.

"I've bound him! Quickly get the flag!" The boy screamed.

The air shifted and I sensed an invisible figure running past me, making way directly for the flag. I was slightly surprised to note that it was almost as good as my concealment magic.

That surprise did not stop me from creating a mini-tornado under their feet...or should I say...her feet.

'Ah, Annabeth. What do you have here I wonder?'

The girl went spinning through the air, while the tiny tornado brought the cap in my awaiting hands.

"Aww...you liar..." Annabeth groaned, now visible.

"A good try, Anna lite!" I exclaimed, absently studying the cap before tutting sadly. "But ultimately a failure."

They all stopped suddenly, everyone groaning at Annabeth as they all gave up. They've faced me too many times to have any delusions of success. Their desperate plan had failed and now they were at my mercy. And they knew it.

I laughed out loud, making sure it was a full-bellied evil laugh that'll make any cartoon villain jealous. "Tremble beneath my might, weaklings! You have just been defeated by the mighty Mikael...for the umpteenth time!"

They all groaned again, before starting the familiar song and dance of blame-placing.

"We had one chance, Annabeth" Lee complained.

"You should've waited some more," Pollux advised as he sat down with a sigh.

"Hey, don't blame me! Alabaster should've known Mikael was just acting!" She snapped at them.

The boy scowled at her, before turning around with a huff. "You promised us he didn't know about the cap."

"He didn't." She insisted, before glancing at me. "How exactly did you know where I was anyway?"

"The shift in the air," I admitted freely.

Her eyes lit up as she understood instantly, but the others were still confused. "She might be invisible but her body still moved in the air. And I'm the son of Zeus...what does that tell you?"

Finally, the fact seemed to have gotten through their heads– They never had any chance from the start.

"I didn't know your senses were that good." Annabeth muttered.

I laughed again. My air manipulation was maxed out. I might not have a specialized skill like Air sense or something, but I can still very much detect any shift in the air. It was the same with lightning and Wind as well.

"Don't be so sad, there are many things you don't know about me."

"How is that any better?" She asked with a scowl.

"It wasn't meant to be." I airily replied.

She scowled harder.

My senses were suddenly tingling again, pointing to one area in specific. My divine authority detected the smell of sea and salt, of earth-shaking tremors and city drowning floods, of raging cyclones and disastrous storms, and sheer unadulterated power.

I threw the cap back to Annabeth and immediately started sprinting towards the other side of the forest. "Come on!"

Poseidon's presence in the camp could only mean one thing.

I came upon the sight of 5 Ares stooges pathetically spread upon the ground, with their counselor dripping blood from her nose.

Percy stood in the middle of them, the winner of their, no doubt, unfair bout.

I heard the growl coming from behind Percy an instant before Chiron shouted.

"Stand ready! My bow!" The centaur bellowed in ancient Greek.

I saw Percy turning around, his sword at ready, just as the massive hellhound pound.

I didn't interfere, folding my hands to watch the show.

The boy rolled beneath the hellhound, barely dodging under the beast, before coming up in a crouch and quickly taking an attacking stance.

I felt pride seeping down my bones as his sword, unbalanced as it was, slashed the beast's hind, cutting through the whole leg in a single swing.

The hellhound turned into dust just as the rest of the campers came running, swords at ready.

"Di immortals!" Annabeth cursed as they all witnessed the last embers of beast vanishing away.

I walked towards the shocked Percy, patting him on the back. "Well done, Perce."

He nodded, trying to force a smile, but there was frustrated anger hidden inside his eyes as he glanced at Annabeth.

"So you had it all figured out, huh?" He asked. "You set me up, knowing Clarisse will come for me. You used me as bait."

"I told you." She shrugged casually. "Athena always has a plan."

"A plan to get me pulverized." The boy stated neutrally.

She shrugged again. "I wanted to come and help but we weren't doing great either."

She shot me an evil look and I turned away with a laugh, joining Chiron.

The Centaur's eyes were fixed on whence the hellhound came, observing the border with a troubled look. "It was summoned from the inside."

I nodded. That could only be– A sudden yelp from a very familiar voice made me whip my head around.

What I saw shocked me so much that for a stark second I was just rooted on the spot.

Percy had just struck Annabeth. He'd just slammed the pommel of his sword directly between her eyes.

What the fuck?

And then he drove a fist of water into her stomach viciously, making the girl curl up on the spot. I moved faster than I ever have without wings and buried a light palm in his stomach before anyone could even think of blinking their eyes.

The boy went down with a scream, curling up on spot as vomit and liquid spewed from his mouth.

Chiron yelled behind us. The rest of Athena's cabin had taken arms, screaming and hollering for Percy's blood.

I picked the boy up by his scruff, dangling him mid-air with his legs still curled up in his stomach.

"Give me a reason," I hissed, shaking him like a puppy. "To not detach your head right now."

This wasn't the Percy I knew...this wasn't the boy I trained.

The boy was starting to shed angry tears, as he forced his legs down upon the ground.

"I should've known this isn't my home." He whispered furiously as tears dropped down from his face.

"I tried to mix in but no one cares about little old Percy. I mean, of course they don't! But at least they could have left me alone! Because of...of this world, my mom is gone. And now they try to murder me too!? I don't care. I'm leaving. I don't care about this camp. I don't care about these people, and I don't care if that pathetic baby-faced fat-assed retarded wine dude gives me permission or not!"

Everyone gasped. Even Chiron muttered a curse in ancient Greek.

I shouldn't have laughed. I really, really shouldn't have. But a startled laugh escaped me anyway.

I was pretty casual with Dionysus but even I have never disrespected the god this way. And the reason why became clear as all the vines around us started floating and a violet liquid came out from within them.

The liquid contained divinity, that much was clear to me...a lot of divinity.

Looking at the violet wine was like looking at my divine lightning bolt, but a dozen times more powerful.

It puzzled me a little. Dionysus and I should be around the same power level...but there was no way my Lightning bolt could've matched that power. Perhaps Celestial Lightning Bolt...? Doubtful.

'It must be due to Divine Authority', I concluded.

It was like a god took a drop of wine and pushed all their divine authority into it. Or a True God took a drop of wine and pushed a sliver of his unique type of authority inside it.

I knew instantly, should the liquid touch Percy even a little, he will go mad. His consciousness will snap, his mind will be crushed, and he will never be the same again. I readied my own divine authority, limited though it was, to fight the power off, but I realized I didn't have to.

A stronger, much superior authority and power, crushed down Dionysus's paltry one. There was not even a contest.

And then it happened. Amidst the might, divinity, and godly power in the air, a bright green hologram spun above Percy's head, with a gleaming trident in the middle. The hologram glowed so brightly that I had to squint my eyes a little.

The shocked demigods slowly started going to their knees. Even the angry Ares' and Athenas, who were nursing Annabeth now.

"Wha...?" Percy muttered confusedly, wiping away the tears.

"It is determined." Chiron intoned. "Your father–Poseidon; Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of horses. All hail, Perseus Jackson, son of the Sea God."

I didn't bow of course. But neither did I smiled or congratulate the boy. The way he behaved today has irritated me.

I will have to set him straight.

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"Now, tell me your problem," I stated as we sat on an empty dining table, amidst the darkness.

I'd found Percy wandering the beach in the middle of the night. Well, not wandering...more like running away from a bunch of turkeys. I had to drive the cleaning harpies away and drag him to the dining hall to calm the boy down.

"I don't know." He muttered. "I don't think I belong here."

I nodded slowly, thinking the issue over. "It isn't that uncommon for people to want to leave. But this is the life of a demigod, Percy. This is your life now. Leaving will do nothing. You will just end up in the stomach of a hellhound and your mother will spend her time crying in hell. Until I rescue her all alone."

"My mother– You really think she is alive?" The boy pushed his head back up to stare at me.

"Didn't I tell you already? Yeah, she is. Now, tell me what drove you to attack Annabeth." I asked with a frown.

The boy sighed pathetically. "I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking. The last few days were...bad for me. Alabaster doesn't let me spend any time with the rest of the group, and always tries to keep me away. Then Annabeth curses me to be better, saying how fortunate I was to face the Minotaur. As if I should be honored to have lost my mother. And then setting me up as bait? To get beaten up by the Ares cabin? And then releasing a monster on me? I just...can't."

I hummed. I'd come here to rough the boy up some more, but seeing how miserable he was, I just didn't have it in me to be angry.

The boy was completely isolated. I hadn't cared enough earlier, thinking that he'll be able to make some friends, but most of the time he spent was alone. The only people who talked to him were me, Chiron, Annabeth, and his counselor Alabaster. But I was too busy to do more than give an occasional greeting, while Chiron had a camp to run. If he was being bullied by the other two, I could understand his frustration and anger.

But what exactly could be done about it?

I sighed. "I don't have any advice for you, Perce. My wisdom is high for my age but it isn't limitless. Tomorrow, Chiron will give you a quest. I shall join you. Together we will save your mother and complete our epic odyssey, and our name shall spread wide across the western civilization. If you really want to leave this all behind then? I won't stop you. No one will."

I stood up, patting him on the shoulder as I moved for my cabin. "Don't wait up too much. You'll need all your wits with you on the quest."

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That night my god-slayer project had a minor success. The device still couldn't summon a fully formed celestial bolt down, but it could summon a divine Lightning bolt.

I stored the divine energy in a space similar to my inventory. I myself didn't understand the thing completely, but my imagination was able to create a rough design, and my Magical creation skill did the rest of the work.

The device needed just a trace of my divine authority and it will activate, summoning a divine bolt on whoever was carrying the thing. It may not kill Persephone, but it could still hurt her. Plus, I could just bluff my way through and scare Hades with it.

Enough to rescue sally.

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AN: Another end to another chapter. Hope you lot enjoyed it.

I lost myself a little when describing his skills and it ended up being a bit of a filler. But, we did have some major things happening in this chap. Let me know your thoughts on them.

Also, anyone who think's it's impossible for Percy to ever strike Annabeth like that, this is my version of him and he was going through a lot more hell than the canon Percy, who had Grover to rely on. Not that Anna was completely blameless of course. Give the first PJO book a read again, and I guarantee you, you'll get annoyed by her. A lot.

Next up we'll have the Lightning thief events, the quest and all. The reason why Percy is still getting a quest, even with Mikael's presence, will be explained in the next chap.

That's all for today, the next chapter is on 24 for SOW. The next MGO chapter will be on 30.

Till then, keep yourself safe. Good day/night to all!