From Extinction to Glory

Disclaimer: Characters belong to their rightful owners. Not taking ownership of nothing.

Chapter 9:

From the commencement of the melee, Percy could already sense the stress of being watched by the crowd. The crowd for the melee seemed to be more numerous than the jousting from the previous day. Warriors fighting for glory attracted numerous spectators. Only for the reason, that many would never or have ever witnessed skilled combatants fight amongst each other.

The spring winds were milder this go around, providing sufficient cooling capabilities. The spectators would have a taste of refreshing cool air. The yells and screams from the crowd further enveloped Percy in the reality that he was in front of many eyes.

Percy stretched in his cumbersome steel plated armor as he waited in the sun along with forty other competitors within the arena. He could feel the harsh stares from his opponents while he stretched his dominant arm.

Whilst Percy scanned his surroundings many other men began to form cliques and strategies in order to win the melee. The lordling could see groups pointing at one another and forming alliances. Until the very end. In which they would have to fight each other for the victory.

Internally, Percy could only laugh at the absurdity of such drastic measures. These were the men that would be eliminated first. The ones that he would break apart. However, those were the least of his worries as he noticed that many of the combatants in the arena pointed towards a rather tall, yet fat man. The man was enveloped in unusual red robes. His hair recently trimmed haphazardly. Albeit old, Percy could see that the man held an unappealing silkiness to his skin.

"That is Thoros of Myr. I am very surprised you haven't heard of him considering he is from the Free Cities of Essos like you." Percy looked from the corner of his eye as a middle-aged man approached him. His nose not totally correct. Looking a little disfigured. His grey hair a bundled mess, as if he never attempted to brush his wild hair. His strong jaw rounding his features into a rather average looking man.

"Ignorant like the rest of Westeros. The Free cities are the exact opposite of Westeros. If anything, people barely know each other from their own cities." Percy scoffed at his ignorance.

"Lothor Brune, pleasure to meet you. You know if you were not as sarcastic, perhaps you could be someone to become acquaintances with." Lothor responded as he began to mirror Percy in stretching.

"To tell you the truth I am rather disappointed with what Westeros has to offer in terms of people." Percy gave a wry smile as he gave Lothor a once over emphasizing his point.

"You would be surprised by how much a valuable asset I could be." The mercenary responded as he merely smiled in response.

Percy ignored the response as the host began to bark orders to the surrounding arena. The once flat and undisturbed sands were now full of footsteps. The particles in the surrounding air starting to make Percy's eyes water a bit.

"Competitors you are very aware of the prize at stake." The announcer dramatized to entertain the already drunk king of Westeros. Prince Joffrey alongside his father, even the timid Myrcella had decided to partake in the viewing of the melee.

"Twenty thousand gold dragons. A fortune for some." The host waved his arms around as Baratheon continued to sip wine from his gold goblet while he laughed in excitement.

"Begin" As soon as the words left the host's mouth mayhem pursued.

Perseus was nearly eliminated when a large knight with a heavy Warhammer nearly smashed his head as he barely dodged the strike. He wasn't graceful as he was when he was composed. Percy falling on his ass proved it. He scrambled back onto his feet knowing he was done if he managed to hit him with such strength.

The knight's armor was fairly decorated, but he didn't recognize the pattern. He had no idea why the knight was so intent on eliminating him. Especially in such a violent matter. From behind, he witnessed Lothor tackle the larger knight to the ground as he pressed the tip of his sword to the base of his neck.

"I yield." The unknown knight yelled begrudgingly. Lifting his arms in surrender.

Lothor mocked Percy as he pointed his finger to the side of his head. "Brains are needed. Talent alone won't defeat your opponents."

It had been a long time since Percy had laughed. A genuine laugh, one that actually caused vibrations in his chest. For someone so average, Lothor Brune proved to be the opposite of average.

Thoros of Myr was avoided like the plague. The man himself wasn't very threatening, at least physically. The sword engulfed in flames however seemed to scare any enemies from his midst. That didn't stop Thoros from knocking knight's unconscious. Either with the flat end of his blade or the pommel of his sword.

Percy approached him casually unfazed by the harsh flames. Thoros looked at peace almost as if combat was something peaceful. He swung his sword at Percy who stood in place. It was a scare tactic to see if he had balls of courage to stand in his path.

"Perhaps it is courage or naïve stupidity that is keeping you seeded in place." Thoros spoke as he widened his stance. During battle Thoros' eyes seemed to glaze over, replaced with a barbaric and savage like look.

"Some men are scared of flames and fires. On the contrary, I'm not afraid to get burned." Percy struck first as he thrusted his sword forward.

Thoros barely managed to block his strike surprised by the younger lord's lack of fear. Thoros grasped his pommel with two hands realizing that this particular opponent was serious. As he swung his sword from his chest aiming to hit the young opponent's abdomen. Perseus managed to block it by lowering his stance and blocking the strike with his strength. The harsh flames seemingly unaffecting him as the flames merely made him sweat and nothing more. Perseus counterattacked by lunging forward with his with dominant foot stepping inside Thoros' guard. Although bigger and fatter, Thoros was rather nimble as he quickly backed away barely dodging Percy's attempt in pressing his sword to gain the advantage.

While other combatants fought in their background, they were very much an afterthought. Even the crowd decided to neglect the smaller fights and looking at the duel between one of the King's good friends and the nobleman from Braavos. Even to Myrcella, who watched from her father's side was very much in tune with the battle.

Percy struck his sword grasping a bit of the red priest's robes. With that he knew he had won the duel. Thoros seemed a bit put off by the fact that he was able to be grazed in a melee. Considering none of the kingsguard or more renowned knights had been enlisted in this particular melee. His sword being engulfed in flames should have been enough to scare most of the fighters away for his victory. Unfortunately, it wasn't so.

Thoros analyzed and tried to parry Percy's attack. For every other strike he managed to block, one got within his guard grazing a piece of his skin. Not fatal enough to him and he knew that was on purpose so he would yield. What surprised the red priest more was as the duel wore on the Braavosi nobleman seemed to get quicker and faster with his reflexes and attacks.

With one last strike Percy managed to disarm the red priest and extinguish the sword's flame. Without acknowledging his win against the red priest, he turned around and began to mow down the remaining combatants.

The feast within the Red Keep was rather interesting to say the least. Percy had won the melee but that was due to Lothor Brune deciding to yield before they had the chance to dance with swords. From that moment he had realized that the mercenary was interested in joining his ranks.

It had taken him some time to decipher the reason why. Until Ser Berin Cave revealed that Lothor was a distant relative to the Brune's of Brownhollow. They were vassals of Crackclaw Point and cousins to the Brune's of the Dyre Den. Ser Berin continued his reasoning that perhaps him being from House Cave, also from Crackclaw Point, attracted Lothor's interests. Getting the band back together it seemed.

However, he didn't linger much on those thoughts as the feast was the main attraction at the moment. Ser Berin Cave and Percy being the winners of both the jousting and melee were invited to the feast being held at the current moment. The Red Keep was rather unimpressive in his opinion. He very much liked and preferred the tower structures in Braavos.

The long feast table was full of pastries, herbs, fishes, and hogs recently braised from a hunt. But what grasped Percy's attention more than table and drinks was the kingsguard. Percy noticed how the kingsguard followed the Queen more intently than their actual king which made Percy tilt his head confusingly. His eyes moved to the King who was eating like a true animal with a pastry in one hand and meat on a bone in the other. His mouth full of crumbs and the red traces of wine on his lips.

"You must be Perseus." A blonde girl with the most sparkling emerald eyes broke his daze of confusion and marvel.

Percy looked at the young girl who appeared to be only eight years old. He mused on why she decided to greet him out of random chance. From the specks of red tint on her cheeks he realized it was a more trivial reason. She was too young for that in his opinion.

"Yes, you are a Lannister. The blonde hair and bright green eyes give it away." He joked with the smaller child as he gave a small smile.

"Actually, a Baratheon. I'm Princess Myrcella Baratheon." She corrected meekly. She was very shy and timid. Very different from the pompous Lannister egos.

"Ah yes. Princess." Percy corrected as he felt the conversation become more of an inconvenience. Talking to the royal family seemed too personal in his opinion. In the sense that being so close to the traitors of the Targaryen's never felt comforting. He could tell from each face at the feast they wore various masks to hide their true intent.

"Myrcella dear, come to me." Cersei commanded in a soothing voice as she stared daggers at Percy. A foreigner that held no title in Westeros wasn't someone her daughter should become acquaintances with.

He didn't comprehend why, considering the princess had decided to approach him. Then he remembered that although Myrcella didn't seem pompous or entitled, the Queen genuinely did. Which also further opened his eyes as he noticed the multitude of Lannister retainers surrounding the Red Keep. Lions patrolling the entire castle looking for their next meal.

His luck was worsening as another Lannister decided to entangle him into a rather forced conversation. The white regal cloak and the polished gold armor was enough to suffice to know who he was. The golden hair and the same astonishing green eyes with those regally attractive features.

"Jaime Lannister" Percy said the words as Jaime's smile cut through him like a dagger.

"Yes, and you are Perseus of Braavos?" Jaime replied skeptically.

"Yes, from Braavos. Much better than here." Percy said as he drank some wine from his goblet.

"Why is a nobleman from Braavos hiring the services of an exiled kingsguard? Especially one that failed to protect a crazed king." Jaime's words were full of resentment as his eyes looked at Ser Berin Cave critically as the former knight in white was talking to some old acquaintances.

"I don't see why not. A very capable teacher and a very loyal protector." Percy emphasized the world loyal as Jaime narrowed his eyes as his smiled dissipated.

"Do you have something caught in your tongue. No need to sugar coat an insult." Jaime narrowed his eyes as his hand began to touch the pommel of his sword.

"You know in Braavos, putting even a finger on one's sword means a challenge." Percy responded mirroring the Lannister.

"Perhaps it is a challenge." Jaime smiled believing the young man's win in the melee was due to the lack of renowned and more skilled knights.

"Jaime." Cersei called her brother over, realizing the rising tension between the two. Although, she believed that he didn't need help when it came to a fight, she preferred not to have a commotion. She preferred the feast to move on peacefully without any violence if possible.

"Your Queen is calling." Percy teased the Lannister egging him on.

"Jaime!" Cersei commanded again as Jaime wasn't backing away. Regretfully, he listened to his Queen as he gave Percy a once over before bumping the Jackson heir and walking to Cersei.

Percy deep inside was relieved that the Queen had decided to reel in the lion. Last thing he needed was to be fighting one of the most renowned swordsmen in Westeros. Alongside, his father's retainers who riddled the Keep's grounds and feast.

"The Hand of the King is arriving." A councilman broke the tension as Percy witnessed Eddard Stark make his way to the feast accompanied by his eldest daughter.

Author's Note: Class is officially over for me so. I bring a chapter in celebration. Now to answer some reviews.

But first pardon for any grammatical errors or sentence structure errors.

Now for the Responses to some readers.

917Brat: I do know that since Percy was raised in Braavos technically Robert isn't his king. However, since he aims to reclaim his seat among the lords of Crackclaw Point that would actually mean he responds under a king, whether that be Robert or someone else. Similarly, just because Robert isn't his king doesn't mean Percy can do whatever he wants. It's like a citizen from Westeros going to Braavos and causing mayhem and not expecting any form of punishment just because he isn't from Braavos. Law is law regardless of ruler.

TheLaughingMan1: I had no idea about that considering I'm basing the story on the show with my own plot line. With some theories and events from within the book. But thank you I might edit that out eventually. I'm glad you corrected me for something I should have known.

The Forsaken Martyr: I understand that many readers dislike OP main characters. However, although I won't make Percy all that overpowered, it would be kind of lame if he were to lose to an ordinary mortal wouldn't it? Being half god should grant you power further than those of regular humans. But rest assured Percy will eventually start to realize that genes and talent alone will not win him every battle.

Thunderbird29: I hear you. Right now, Percy is figuring his morals himself. Still 16 he is mature beyond his age. But he still is prone for some immature outbursts. Killing isn't easy. But most of all he despises weak leaders. Perhaps he may not be a great one yet, but at least he knows right from wrong in his opinion. He doesn't jump back and forth between his moral compass. As for personality, he will develop that soon enough.