5Percy P.O.V.
If I didn't know any better, I'd have thought that the gods were trying to get rid of me. I mean I get sending your strongest and most trusted servant to take care of a group of monsters for you, but I mean really? They could've at least told me that there would be a giant, one of the most powerful beings in existence; beings literally created to oppose the Gods. Yesterday, Hermes flashed in waking me up from my 'hard-earned' nap. He told me that there was a group of monsters that had appeared and Zeus wanted me to deal with it. No problemo. I've done it literally over a thousand times. But, in the very least I would've liked to have been told about the giant. Anyways, I'm currently in a lovely old' place called the Mountain of Despair, which, if you didn't already know, is located in San Francisco, California. It's a dangerous place which is probably why they sent me.
I am currently crouched down behind an outcropping of rocks, listening to the group of monsters squabble amongst themselves. I'm pretty sure that if they didn't all want to see the downfall of Olympus, they would just end up killing each other. It's very unfortunate, because that would make my job a lot easier. Don't get me wrong, it's not that hard and in reality it gives me something to do, it just gets a little tedious sometimes. Deciding that I was done listening to the continuous stream of bickering between them, I stood up. Probably not the smartest considering that I'm giving up the element of surprise, but first off I'm bored, and second off, I am tired of listening to them growl and scream at each other. There is only so much one can handle you know; no matter how many thousands of years old you are.
Rising to my full six-foot-two-inches, I shouted, "Are you gonna bicker all day, or are we gonna get over with this now so I can get back to my nap?"
For a moment there was silence as the group of monsters and even the giant, who I recognized as Antaeus, turned to me in a stunned silence. As I unfurled my onyx-colored wings, I pulled out my twin spathas( a long, straight, double-edged type of sword) Iméra and Nýchta, or Day and Night, from their scabbards on my back. They were made from Olympian Silver, a very rare metal created by Haphestasus himself, as a gift when I got my position. The difference between Olympian Silver and other metals like Celestial Bronze or Imperial Gold, is that it can harm everything, gods, monsters, immortals, demigods, and even mortals. The hilts are made of a rare black marble that was made by accident when cooling the swords, some of the Olympian Silver melted the molds and fused with the rock to create it. Covering the hilts and forming the grips are a bunch of thin straps of brown leather.
The hiss of my twin blades as they were released from their prisons seemed to shock all of the monsters back into reality and they let out a collection of growls and hisses. Flapping my wings and flying up in the air a few feet, gesturing with my ethereal blades, I shouted "Well? I didn't come out here for nothing, and unless you're gonna kill each other, I'm gonna have to be the one to do it."
Growling, Antaeus shouted at the assembled monsters as they turned to him, "Well? You heard the Guardian. Attack." In my opinion that was pretty hypocritical considering he's just sitting there, although I guess since he can't be killed while touching the ground, not so much. Grinning, I shot toward the ground at ridiculous speeds and stretched my arms out to my sides. As I did so, I rotated my wrists, turning my blades so that the edges were facing the group. As my blades sliced through the first troupe of monsters, a small group of Telkhines started to fire arrows at me. Normally arrows wouldn't be much more than a nuisance but these ones exploded. Yep, exploding arrows because, of course, flaming arrows just aren't enough. Deciding that I quite liked my wings and didn't want to be grounded, I dove towards the ground. Right as I hit the ground, I tucked into a ball and rolled, slicing through a few cyclops that were nearest to me. I quickly weaved through the group of monsters, chopping off limbs, and turning monsters into golden dust before they could even say 'Charge'.
As I spun, slicing off the arms of the nearest cyclops, I felt a sharp pain in my right side, just below the ribcage. Grunting in pain, I instinctively dropped Nýchta. I looked down to see the long handle of a spear protruding from my side. Bracing myself, I gripped the handle, and pulled. As the leaf-shaped tip exited my body, I fell to my knee, grunting in pain as hot, sticky, red blood poured out of the new wound in my side. After I pulled it out, I turned, and threw it, making a monster shishkabob, though I wouldn't recommend eating it. Sighing, I pulled out my shield, putting my forearm through the straps. It's made of Damascus steel and inlaid with silver which created intricate patterns along the outer edge of the shield. What was most interesting was the shape of the shield itself; it's like you took an apple, and then ate around the core. Kinda like someone pinched it and the two sides folded in on itself.
Letting my anger take control, and deciding to get it out of my system now, I went into my 'battle mode', as Apollo likes to call it. I went into a frenzied attack, slicing, slashing, and stabbing at everything around me. As fun as it is to kill monsters, sometimes I just want to get it done with and go eat a sandwich. A group of empousa attempted to run away, and as they were running, I pulled out my throwing knives, and in quick succession, threw the small weapons at the empousa turning them to golden dust, which quickly blew away in the breeze. Turning to Antaeus, I shouted "Is that it, or are you gonna do something?"
Roaring in rage, he ran forward ducking his head, and barreled into me. As I flew backward, he continued forward and grabbed me by the leg. When he had a good grip he pulled me back and flipped me over my head like a ragdoll, and smashed me into the ground. I stood up and arched my back, making a series of cracks and pops, and groaning as I did so. Dropping my shield, I pulled Nýchta from the dirt.
I grinned at Antaeus and said "Well, come on then. I haven't got all day and I'd like to send you're ugly face back to Tartarus, so that I don't have to see it anymore. It really is quite disturbing, you know."
Roaring he rushed towards me, giving me a very vivid description of how exactly he was going to kill me. Smirking, I waited for him to reach me and crouched down slightly, putting my shoulder down, and sliding my left foot forward about six inches. Just as he reached me, I lowered my shoulder further, and stood up, sending him flying. Spinning around as quickly as I could, I raised my swords and placed them in front of me, the tips facing the heavens, and thrust them into the front of his body, creating long gashes down his body that started to pour out sand at an alarming rate. As the sand stopped and he started to dissolve into golden dust, he let out a frustrated scream "One day Guardian… one day I will finally defeat you, you puny demigod."
I snorted and responded "Yeah, sure. That's what you told me the last time I sent you to Tartarus. And how many times do I have to tell you, I'm not a demigod." I finished in a disgruntled tone. No matter who it is, I absolutely do not like it when I'm called a demigod. I'm a clear-sighted mortal just like I have been for the paste two-and-a-half millennia.
Once I was sure he was gone, I weaved between the discarded weapons and armor, kicking them out of my way as I went along. Upon reaching a small pile of golden dust, a glint caught my eye. Bending down, I found what I was looking for and wiped the golden dust off of my Olympian Silver throwing knives. As I sheathed them in their spot on my chest, a sharp spike of pain brought my attention back to the wound in my side. I sighed and called out for Apollo, quickly shutting my eyes, which in my opinion didn't do much. The sun god just did not get the meaning of subtle. After a moment I opened my eyes to see the sun-god himself in all his 'glory'. He grinned when he saw me and I couldn't help but grin back. What can I say, he's contagious. "Hey, Perce. How you doin'? Do anything fun lately?" He said. I gestured to the bleeding wound in my side and he sighed and waved his hand. As he did so, I felt a tingling sensation, kinda like when your limb falls asleep and you get the whole 'pins and needles' thing. Once it stopped tingling, I walked over and picked up my shield, strapping it to my back.
Walking back over to him, I snorted "Oh yeah, killed some monsters, defeated a giant, took a spear in the side. Real fun."
His grin, if possible, grew wider, and he said "Oh, by the way Hades wants to talk to you."
"Apollo the messenger, however, will you get girls now?" I smirked, laughing at the thought.
He held a hand to his heart and plastered an exaggerated look of pain on his face "Ow, Perce, I thought we were friends. " he said in a pained voice.
Snickering, I asked "Anyways, can you take me to my house? I would fly, but I'm tired, and it's like a six-hour flight."
Nodding, he placed his hand on my shoulder, and after checking to make sure that my eyes were closed, enveloped us in a flash of light. No matter how many times I do this, it still makes my stomach queasy. Thanking him I quickly took off in the direction of Hades' temple.
LINE BREAK
Along the way, I stopped at my house on Olympus, a miniature temple if I were being honest with myself, and changed my robe and undershirt, opting for one without a hole in it and the accompanying bloodstains. After I did this, I got Hermes to take me to DOA Recording Studios, Los Angeles, California which is where the entrance to the Underworld currently lies. As I walked past the guards and into the familiar cavern decorated with the standard, dusty human skulls everywhere, I wrinkled my nose at the smell. No matter how many times I've been down here, the smell of sulfur and rotting flesh just isn't that appealing. I walked up to Charon, to see that he had bought a new pair of stylish, Italian shades that surprisingly, fit rather well with the traditional black, cape robes of his. As I approached his frown turned upside down in a more menacing way, kinda like he's trying to figure out how to cook me.
"How ya doin' today Charon. Still ferrying boats, I see." I said trying to remain cheerful, which, in this place, deserves a medal all on its own.
"But of course Perseus. Say, do you happen to know of any new Italian suits that have recently come out? I haven't had the opportunity to go and look for myself in quite some time." he responded, cheerfully, or in this case, in a depressed and almost empty, voice. At least he was showing emotion, that's a big improvement from last time.
"No, unfortunately I've been too busy and I don't think that I'd have much use for them. Sorry." I answered.
His wolfish grin faltered a bit, but he caught it and continued "I assume you're off to see Hades?"
I nodded and he gestured for me to get onto his ferry, which in my opinion, needs a new everything. We settled into an almost comfortable silence, if only not for the screams of agony from dead spirits calling out to me, begging for release from the Fields of Punishment. As we grew closer to Hades' lovely lil' palace in the underworld, complete with the black marble columns, and the complementary skeletons of various dead people framed in dull tendrils of gold, I spotted a lone figure, most likely Hades' himself, which in itself is never good, because he almost never moves from his makeshift throne. He's usually too busy trying to figure out how to overthrow Olympus and regain his seat of power. Actually, he tried that a few years ago when he and Ares stole Zeus' master bolt. I hate it when they try things like that because I'm here to protect Olympus itself, even if it means I must oppose the gods themselves. Besides, they're really not that bad once you get past their, 'interesting' personalities, lack of morals, and complete disregard for the souls of the innocent, and in some cases such as Apollo and Hermes, can even be considered friends.
As we got to the edge of Hades' very questionable docks, I noticed he was tapping his foot rather quickly. Well, I'm in trouble, I thought to myself as I got off the ferry, thanked Charon, and approached the pasty man himself.
"Hello…" I said cautiously, fearing his wrath and thinking about all of the things, I had always wanted to do, but will never get the chance.
"Yes, yes, hello. I'm sorry to be rude, but it is important." He said hastily, gesturing wildly with his hands, those knobby fingers of his making weird patterns in the dry, musty, underworld air.
"What is it?" I asked, straightening my robes and hood, and simultaneously brushing my fingers over my weapons checking to make sure I had all of them.
"Two of my children, demigods, are in danger. I don't trust anyone else. I need you to go and escort them to camp." he put his hand on my shoulder.
The worried look he was giving me creeped me out even more than the screams of pure terror coming from the Fields of Punishment. I nodded and said "Don't worry, I'll get them to camp safely. You have my word, on my honor, and on my wings, they will be safe."
At my words he visibly relaxed, although his worried expression remained on his pasty complexion. He nodded and responded quickly "Okay, I trust you. But please hurry."
After he said this I spread my arms, and waited. Nodding again, he waved his hands in my direction, and I felt the shadows around us quickly envelop me in a cocoon of darkness. As I closed my eyes he opened his mouth one last time and said "Oh and Perseus, be careful. There may be some of Chiron's demigods there."
I was about to protest but the familiar queasy feeling in my gut returned, and I was transported onto the roof of some sort of school. Snow covered the roof and what sounded like Jesse McCartney was playing in the background. I flew into the air and quickly scanned the surrounding area. I was about to go back down and enter the school when something caught my eye. In the distance there was a trio of demigods huddled together in the snow, and in front of them was a manticore. They were in a clearing in the middle of the forest and there was a cliff maybe, twenty feet from where they were standing. This was not ideal. I don't like having to interact with demigods. I quickly prayed and thanked Aphrodite for allowing me to change my appearance at will. I closed my eyes and thought hard.
Slowly but surely, my wings retracted into my back and disappeared beneath the newly exposed skin. I snapped my fingers and transported my weapons to my house on Olympus. I made sure to leave Nýchta on my back but I replaced the scabbard with a simple black leather scabbard, with a simple white-gold trim. What can I say? Hades likes to bedazzle my things from time to time. In my opinion, It's too flashy, but who am I to argue with the god of the dead. I also changed my clothes because I'm pretty sure that showing up mid-battle wearing pure white robes that covered my face would raise more suspicion than I wanted. I changed into a white t-shirt with a dark blue cardigan and black jeans.
Running to the edge of the roof I jumped into the air and tucked into a ball, sailing through the air and hitting the snow-covered ground with a soft crunching sound. As I rolled I jumped up and set off running in the direction of the three demigods in one fluid motion.