Percy talking

Percy thoughts

Adamos talking

Adamos thoughts

Characters are owned by Rick

(Except Adamos he's mine)

Chapter 26

The 5 D's

It's now the end of the school year at Meriwether prep. Winter break was spent with my mom insisting that Lou at least stay with us until after Christmas. The girl was quite ecstatic at the idea of a place to stay and she jumped at the offer.

I did end up having to purchase another Christmas present for Lou. A Harry Potter book as a sort of joke since Adamos revealed to me that she was a daughter of Hecate.

Apparently, the children of Athena aren't the only ones that inherit fears and such from their parents because as soon as I gave her the book (written in Greek of course) she gave me a mostly fake smile. It wasn't until later when we were going to bed that I overheard her rummaging through our cabinets looking for matches or a lighter to burn the book as soon as she could.

Maybe there's a genetic component involved.

Anyways, we dropped Lou off at camp and gave our goodbye hugs and the like. My mom said that she was welcome back whenever she need a place to stay. I promised to help her with magic when I came back to camp in the summer.

After that, not much happened. I had a few run ins with monsters around New York but it wasn't anything that I couldn't handle. I did get in trouble for breaking a chair while practicing with a javelin. I now practice on the roof of our building at my mom's suggestion. Also, I didn't want to see what would happen if I broke something else.

As of right now though, I was standing in the school's gymnasium trying to look unassuming as we went through the warmup exercises. I was keeping a look out for this bully named Sloan that seems to have it out for Tyson. He doesn't know it but the six new 'friends' that he surrounded himself with are actually monsters. Some kind of cannibal giants that I can't remember the name of.

They've been relatively tame all day, but I had a feeling that they were going to try something soon. Especially since Sloan had openly decided to target Tyson and me in PE.

"They're not even being subtle." Adamos huffed as we could both see the looks the monsters were giving me out of the corner of my eye. "They are being completely conspicuous."

"Aren't they supposed to be, like immortal or something like the gods? They die and reform and all that. It kinda makes you wonder why they aren't smarter." I wonder as I stretch my legs.

"My theory is that the left-over golden dust is infused with bits and pieces of their essence. They die and lose a part of themselves and thus forever remain stupid."

"Just a theory? Something you actually don't know?!" I think in sarcastic shock. "Oh no, the end times are coming!"

"Laugh it up brat," Adamos gave an annoyed huff. "Do you know how hard it is to study the death of monsters? And don't even get me started on the waiting times for the subjects to reform." He rants and I'm a bit nervous as to if he actually attempted to study this. I mean seriously. I'm pretty sure that breaks some kind of law, somewhere.

I continue to watch the monsters out of the corner of my eyes. They flexed their tattooed arms like a bunch of gym nuts. Their beefy bodies and hairy features making them look like adults rather than students.

Oh Mist. You wonderful yet horrible thing.

"Monsters aside, can we at least talk about—"

"No."

"But—"

"No."

I sigh at how childish he's being. Recently I had a dream about Grover. I saw my friend fleeing for his life from something. Something big. He kept trying to tell me something, but his words kept cutting off like a call going through a tunnel.

I try to talk to Adamos about it but at the first mention of Grover being in trouble he just brushed it off as not his concern. I told him he was being unreasonable, but he put his foot down that if I wanted to 'waste my time on the mongrel' than I was free to do it without his help.

"All right everyone line up. Its time for dodgeball. Line up." Coach Nunley called out from his chair. The guy was like a million years old and never seemed to move from the chair that he sits in. From the beginning of P.E to the end he doesn't move, and his eyes barely ever leave the Sports Illustrated in his hands.

"Coach can I be captain?" Matt Sloan asked as he sent a dirty look in mine in Tysons direction. Coach Nunley just gave a noncommitted sure before Matt announced that I would be the other Captain.

I didn't even begin to pick anyone as the more popular students and the monsters all took Matts side of the court leaving me hilariously outnumbered as my team now only had seven people other than me as compared to their sixteen members.

"Percy…" Tyson tugged my gym shirt worriedly.

"It'll be okay." I gave him a smile to ease his worries. "We got this."

"Kick their asses Percy!" A female voice seemingly whispered in my ear. I turned and looked around but found nothing. Nothing visible but I could tell that something was off. It was like the air just felt…wrong and out of place. That and the fact that there were no girls on my team.

"Remember the 5 D's of dodge ball Percy. Dodge, Duck, Dip, Dive, and Dodge."

"You said dodge twi—"

"DODGE!" Adamos shouted in my head and before I knew what hit me a dodge ball slammed into my gut, knocking me flat on my ass.

"You didn't dodge." He said disappointingly.

"You randomly…shouting…dodge is more…distracting than helpful." I mentally groan as I try to force air back into my lungs.

"Percy duck!" Tyson shouts and I instinctively roll to the side as another dodge ball whizzes past my head like a cannon shot. The force seemingly denting the wall and making the rest of my team scatter in fear of their lives.

Not that I can blame them as I now got a good look at the hidden monster's true forms. Their gym uniforms barely containing their bulging muscles and threating to tear apart at any moment. Their teeth became crooked and yellowed like they had never heard of a dentist. Each of them stood eight feet tall, towering over everyone in the room.

"Percy." Tyson whimpered by my side as I stood up.

Matt Sloan and the other kids dropped the balls they were holding and screamed as they ran to the exit door. Not that it did any good as one of the giants, who was named Joe Bob, snapped his fingers and the doors snapped shut. At the center line appeared a row of bronze colored balls. Each one had holes in them that like a wiffle ball that spewed flames. I just knew taking one of those was going to hurt a lot.

"Laistrygonaian giants. Cannibal giants with one hell of a throwing it is odd seeing them this far south.
They normally stay in Canada?"

"Well this is just great." I say sarcastically. "A game of flaming dodge ball is exactly how I want to end the school year."

"Were playing street rules kiddies." The giant named Joe Bob shouted with sickening glee. "No one leaves until you're out. And if you get out…" His smile widened, showing far too many of his pointy teeth. "We eat you."

I looked back at my whimpering classmates as they pressed themselves into the wall to get as far as they could from the monsters. Joe Bob then threw the flaming cannon ball in his hand.

I stepped forward and flicked my hand and my shield, which I've named Echo, expands out of the watch on my wrist. The flaming sphere hits the reflective metal and I feel a slight push against my arm. I grin as I peek over the edge of my shield. The stupefied looks on the giant's faces were priceless. There jaws were wide open, and their eyes seemed to be out of there sockets.

Joe Bob was the first to snap out of his funk. "Kill the others first!" He shouted to his associates who snapped out of their funk. Their attention now on Tyson as two of them reared back their throwing arms.

"No!" I shouted and I threw my shield from my arm, with enough force and accuracy to impress Captain America, at the giants. Both unaware of the projectile that was flying towards them. But that was the problem. There was only one shield and two targets.

The shield hit one of the giants in the neck, the contained kinetic energy exploding with enough added force that it was able to snap the giant's neck and kill it almost instantly. It didn't however stop the other from throwing the flaming cannonball straight at Tyson.

"Tyson!" I shouted as the cannon ball struck him square in the chest…but I had nothing to worry about.

Why?

Because Tyson was currently holding the flaming cannon ball in his bare hands.

"Ah. Monster lesson #33: Cyclops are heavily resistant to fire."

The giant didn't even have time to react before Tyson threw the ball back with a large amount of force as he screamed 'BAD!' at the top of his lungs. The end result was a large pillar of flames before dying down into ashes.

"Brothers!" Joe Bob wailed. His shirt began to rip as his muscles rippled from anger. "I will feast on your bones!" He threw another sphere at us, but I wasn't completely worried.

I called my magic and a small Sha'an spell activated in my palm. Then out of the ashy remains of the giants Echo flies back to my hand just in time to intercept the projectile. I am super glad that I decided to imprint the Sha'an spell onto the inside of the shield. It makes retrieval so much easier after throwing practice.

What makes things even easier is the small holder in the middle of my shield that holds Riptide. With a simple flourish the bronze blade gleamed in the light.

Racing forward, I swung Riptide in a wide arc and catching one of Joe Bob's friends and turning him into a pile of dust. The hairs on the back of my neck rose and I raised Echo to cover my side from the incoming fist from a giant. That turned out to be his mistake.

As soon as his fist struck Echo, I let loose the stored energy from the cannon shot. A snapping sound echoed before the giant stumbled back, clutching his now broken arm. But he didn't have to suffer long before I stabbed him in the gut.

Now it was just me and Joe Bob as the other giants had disappeared, leaving nothing but gold dust and bowling balls. I could only assume that Tyson had dealt with them going by the flaming balls rolling around the dust.

"You bastard sea spawn!" Joe Bob roared as he lifted the flaming ball in his hands.

His body then stiffens as his eyes go wide. Dribbles of blood flow from his mouth as a silver horn pushes through his chest. No. Not a horn. It was a blade.

As Joe Bob disintegrated into gold dust, a wide grinning Lou Ellen was there with her blade in hand. "Hey Percy." She gave me a chipper greeting.

"Lou?"

"It's not Lou!"

"It's not that I'm not glad to see you." I asked as I turned my weapons back into normal. "But what are you doing here?" I take a sniff as a familiar scent fills my nose. "Do you smell cookies?"

"Oh!" She gasps and then takes off the backpack that she's wearing to pull out a Tupperware container full of blue cookies. "I stopped by your moms first. She gave this huge thing of cookies."

"To share, right?"

"…Maybe?"

"Lou." I gave the short demigoddess my best scolding look before she caved.

"Fine. I'll share. But later." She slapped my hand when I reached for one before turning around and stuffing it in her backpack. I did notice however that she had a few crumbs around her mouth that weren't there before but chose not to comment on it.

BAM! BAM!

The two of us looked at the gym doors at the opposite side of the gym as something kept hitting it from the opposite side. It was then that I started to listen to my surroundings, and I could hear the sound of sirens loud and clear.

"I'm probably going to get blamed for this aren't I?" I gave a sigh of acceptance as the voices of the schoolteachers echoed from beyond the room.

"Percy." Tyson pulled on my sleeve, and I nearly jumped as I forgot that he was here. The poor kid was terrified of what was going on if the way that his eye was darting around was any indication.

"We can talk outside. Meet me on Church Street." Lou spoke as she seemingly disappeared. Almost like she was dramatically stepping back into a fog.

"Wait—" I called after her, but she was already gone. I just sighed before turning back to all the frightened children. "All right Mist. Don't fail me now." I then got my fingers into prime snapping position.

I managed to find Lou without drawing attention to myself as I slipped from Meriwether Prep. I did my best with the mist application and if all went well than the students were now telling the teachers that a bunch of gang members snuck onto campus. However, my control over the mist isn't that good due to only studying the theory and having nothing to practice on until now.

"Hey Perce, who's your friend?" Lou asked as she looked at Tyson. When Lou was claimed at camp Chiron explained that Children of Hecate were heavily sensitive to the Mist. She was probably sensing the heavy amount of Mist over Tysons face.

"Lou. This is Tyson. He's a cyclops." I explained.

She blinked. "He's not gonna eat us right." She leveled a narrowed gaze at the young cyclops, inadvertently causing him to cower.

"No." I adamantly stated. "The only threat he is, is if you have a stash of peanut butter somewhere." Lou just eyed Tyson as she rubbed Moonlight in its concealed form. The air was tense for a few brief moments before she just nodded in acceptance. Apparently, my word was pretty good for her. "So, what has you all the way out here…besides my mom's cookies."

"Camp has been…different." She says with a grimace. I gave her a confused look. "The barriers are failing Percy."

"What/What?" Adamos and I said at the same time. Apparently, he didn't know about it either, although I did remember my mom telling me that I might have to stay away from camp this summer but managed to talk her out of the idea.

"Something happened to the tree that protects camp. I don't know what it is but its dying and things have gone straight to hellandpeopleareworriedandChironsgoneandtheinjured—"

"Wait, wait, wait." I cut Lou off as she begins to ramble. "What happened to Chiron?"

Lou's frown deepened at the question. "When the gods found out about the tree, they weren't very happy. Someone needed to be help responsible and the blame went to Chiron. As of now he's no longer employed at the camp."

My mind came to a screeching halt. The sounds around me dulled.

"Chiron's no longer at camp." I repeated this in my mind. It had to be wrong. The campers all loved Chiron and he loved them in return. The idea that he would harm them in any way was ridiculous. The fact that the gods blamed him was even more ridiculous.

"Sadly, it is a possible truth." Adamos said solemnly.

"But it's so stupid. He couldn't have done it. He's been watching their kids for them for centuries. Doesn't that count for something!" I mentally scream at him. My anger rising, only to be forcefully suppressed to avoid lashing out. Though judging by the white on my knuckles I was barely succeeding.

"It does. That reputation has prevented the gods from outright exiling him if not executing him for failing his duties. Failing to protect the camp is a serious offence for an immortal guardian. The fact that someone was able to breach the boundary and compromise the camps defenses, which is housing the essence of Zeus's daughter, is not something that can be easily forgiven."

"I have to fix this." I mutter with determination.

"What?" Lou looks at me confused, as well as Tyson because I doubt, he has seen me this serious before.

"We need to get to camp quickly so we can fix this. There has to be a way to help. However, we can." This wasn't right. Even if what Adamos said was true, Chiron has never been anything but a true parent figure to those at camp. Without him it just wasn't the same.

"Percy? Where are we going?" Tyson asked. Je looked at Lou and I with his large eye.

"Were going to camp Half Blood." I spoke and walked out into the street. A rune appearing in my hand, summoning my backpack to me.

X

The three of us were walking through the streets of New York. The pedestrians splitting like the red sea for us. "You have a way to get to camp?" I asked Adamos. I could feel his shifting in my mind, as if he wasn't completely sure about answering.

"…Yes." He responded after a moment of contemplation. "But I don't know if it's the best decision."

"The camps in trouble. Any decision is a better one than none." Adamos sighs beforemuttering a quiet fine. Then with his directions we made it to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in just a short amount of time. It also helped that we jogged all the way there.

"Percy where are you taking us?" Lou asked as she eyed the exhibits in the museum.

"To camp." I answered vaguely. I actually had no idea what Adamos had in mind for getting to camp. Was he going to pull some magic out of nowhere and transport us inside a painting and come out of a duplicate that Chiron probably had at camp. Or maybe we were going to find some kind of artifact. I don't think that there's a place to set up a portal like the last time. Maybe we'll…

"We're here." Adamos informed me and I realized that I was going on auto pilot while thinking. We were currently in the basement of the museum, surrounded by boxed up exhibits and other supplies that the museum needed.

"Is there something in these boxes that will help us?" I asked as I looked into one of the shipping boxes, only to find some masks, most likely from somewhere in Africa.

"No. Its what's behind them that will help you." I raised a brow at the statement before gripping the side of the box. I felt my muscles strained as I moved the crate, which was easily hundreds of pounds. A bit of sweat went down my brow as I gave one more shove and moved the crate.

Just behind the crate, engraved into the wall was a small glowing blue delta.

"Ok. What am I looking at?" I asked at I looked at the glow in the dark graffiti. I knew it was something demigod related as I could feel the magic pouring out from it.

"The entrance…to the Labyrinth." Adamos explained warily. "Much like the gods it moved west and began to grow beyond its original parameters. I didn't want to come here because its difficult to navigate, even for me. Its magic is chaotic, and the pathways are constantly shifting."

"Can it get us to camp?"

"I know there are a few nearby entrances so I can get you close. It isn't a precise route, but it will get you close enough. I'm not the god of exploration for nothing."

"Good enough for me." I thought as I pressed the glowing Delta. Immediately the sound of grinding stones echoed in the room as the wall descended into the floor, creating a doorway into inky blackness.

"Percy, what is that?" Lou asked as she peered into the darkness. Tyson gave a little whimper as he looked into it. The chaotic magic within was probably hitting their senses.

"The fastest way to camp." I explained before taking a pair of worn out shirts from my magical backpack. I gave an end for each of them to hold as I figured that it would help reduce the likelihood of separation. "You guys ready." I asked but before they had a chance to object, I pulled them into the doorway.

X

Even with my night vision letting me see I could certifiably say that this place was creepy. The walls seemed to have no consistency as we walked. Switching from concrete to dirt to wood and so on. We passed by what I assumed was a mural made by the Romans (No idea how it got to the U.S) and it seemed to piss Adamos off completely.

Multiple times we found ourselves walking in what seemed to be circles. Sometimes backtracking yet the passage changed completely and even just waiting. I don't know how long we've been down here and I'm starting to think that we might never make it to camp in time.

"Percy. Are we there yet?" Lou asked me again, much like a child on a road trip.

"We're close." I repeated what Adamos told me earlier. I mean she wasn't the only one that was wondering. I was beginning to think that this was a bad idea on my part.

"Wait." Lou pulled on the sleeve causing our little group to stop our tracks. With my night vision I could easily see her head darting to different parts of the corridor. It wasn't anything special. It seemed to be the remnants of some building by the looks of the $1.99 for large fries' sign that was sticking out of the wall.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Percy," Tyson shifted from foot to foot as he kept looking around. His stance reminding me of a skittish animal right before a disaster hit. "They are coming." He whimpered.

"What's coming?" I asked as the two of them began to drag me in the direction we were going. "Guys. Seriously, what…" I asked until a noise hit my ears. A low clicking sound, barely audible but it seemed to grow louder with each passing moment. But the part that was most worrying was that it wasn't just once clicking sound. It was numerous ones. Turning my head slightly I saw something moving out of the corner of my eye. Even with my perfect vision in the darkened area, whatever this was sat beyond my field of view. But, just for one brief moment. I saw the shadows move. "We need to run." I barely whispered before I took off, dragging the other two with me.

We took off like the wind but no matter how fast we ran we never seemed to escape the clicking sound. No that would be wrong. It was more that the clicking only seemed to grow louder. A soft buzz filled my head, making Tyson's and Lou's voices distorted as the called to me. All I could do was follow Adamo's worried directions.

Left.

Right.

The second door on the left.

Right.

Right.

Down.

Left.

My legs were beginning to burn, and my lungs hurt from the stale air. I looked back briefly at Tyson and Lou, who seemed even worse off. They hadn't gone through my rigorous training, and the only thing that was saving them was their demigod and monster physiologies.

"Percy!" Lou gasped. "Look!" My head turning forward as the room began to glow. A soft blue light shining like a beacon in the darkness.

In front of me, like a gift from the gods above was a small blue delta engraved into the wall. I probably would have cried at the potential exit, but I held back my tears.

Not even bothering to slow down I slammed into the wall, my arms the only thing to cushion the collision. I pump as much magic into the delta and keep hitting it with the palm of my hand, like a man pressing the useless close door button on an elevator. "Come on! Come on!" I said as I desperately hit the delta. The sound of countless skittering somethings got closer and closer.

"Open the damn door Percy!" Lou shouted as she kept shaking my shoulder. I resisted the urge to snap at her since it wouldn't help in the slightest. Then by some miracle the wall in front of us opened to a blinding light. The three of us didn't even question it as we made a break for wherever we were dumped out, which happened to be an up hill slope out of the base of some tree.

I didn't even hesitate in whipping out Riptide and setting my fire spell, Ignis Aard, up to be used at any moment. Lou seemed to have the same idea as she was holding her own blade like a batter, its curved edge glowing as it prepared to unleash one of her 'flying sword slashes'. Tyson just found a big rock to throw.

However, that didn't seem to be necessary as whatever was following us screeched as it came into contact with the light. The skittering receding further back into the safety the darkness as the entrance to the Labyrinth.

"Next time. Flashlights." I mumbled numbly. I didn't even see if the other heard me as I looked around. Familiar trees surrounded us and off in the distance was a highway. I walked over to get a better look as highways were a sign of civilization, but I wouldn't need it to find people as I knew where we were.

The scorched mark on the pavement and remaining glass shards were all I needed to see.

We were where the Minotaur fist attacked me, my mom and Grover.

Turning down the street, just a ways away was a familiar pine tree sitting on top of a hill, but just one glance was enough to show me how wrong things really were. The normal green pine tinsel was yellowed and dead in some clumps. It just looked so…sick.

Then as I was looking at the tree a large ball of flame erupted from the other side of the hill. "Shit!" I hear Lou curse as she takes off running. "Come on they need us!" Not even needing another reason I took off with Tyson behind me. I didn't know why, but I had a feeling thing were going to get worse.

A/N: Hey everyone. Not dead. Just lazy. Yeah…

Anyways here's the chapter. Don't really have much, actually to the reader black9. The reason is that Adamas is already a word in the Greek language. Adamos is just changing a singular letter to make a name. And TheDragon2000. Atreus is just Loki. So maybe?

Anyways I do take suggestions in order to better improve this fic so just PM me if there is something that you think is good or just want to help.

Stay sexy you beasts.

Momentei over and out