Percy Jackson : Assassinator and Commander

Everything done..for what cost?

Percy pov
It's been about a month since Irvin arrived at camp,he seems like an ok guy. He does training like all the others but everytime he passes me,he sends me a glare,though I have no idea why. I thought to myself as I arrived at the Empire state building and asked the guy at the front desk for the key to Olympus. "No such thing kid," he said,not taking his nose out of his book. I took out riptide and twirled it around in my hand,the guy looked up,paled and gave me the key. I got into the elevator and went up. It finally dinged open and I was met with the beautiful scenery. The palaces surrounded by lush vegetation and statues of the Gods,here and there. I smiled,my wisegirl had designed everything so beautifully. I headed to Athena's palace,which was a gray stone palace,lined with white marble and intricate designs,the columned portico curved into an arch,which had the emblem of an owl. I knocked on her door and waited outside.

The door opened and I was met with her calculating gaze,"Perseus,why are you here?" "Lady Athena, I came here to ask your permission to propose to your daughter," I said,bowing. Her lips went into a thin line as she said, " Come in" though it felt more like an order. I went in and sat down in one of the couches. "So you wish to propose to my daughter." I nodded. "In order for you to do that,you have to prove your loyalty and your worth by completing the trials I give you,when you have completed all the trials,pray to me and I will teleport you here,where you will receive the ring to propose to her. However,you must swear on the river Styx to tell nobody about this until after you have completed,understand?" she explained to me as I nodded," I swear on the river Styx to tell no one about the trials I am given by lady Athena unless she allows it." I told out as the sky rumbled,sealing the deal. Athena nodded,saying,"You have to defeat Ladon and obtain a golden apple from the garden of Hespirides, defeat the Lernean hydra,slay the Nemean lion,capture the Ceryneian hind,subdue Cerberus and acquire the belt of Hippolyta from the Amazon queen,I will tell you the locations of the animals so you can find them but this won't be an easy task,"she looked at me questionably. I kept a straight face and nodded."I am doing this for Annabeth,lady Athena." She nodded,"You will start tomorrow morning," she told me before flashing me to the camp border. I was thinking this is gonna be a hell of a quest when Annabeth came running to me,"Hey,what took you so long?" she asked,giving me a kiss. "Oh it's nothing,my dad had apparently came over to see mom when I was there,so we kinda lost track as we talked. " I said,half lying coz I did go to see my mom before going to Olympus. She looked at me,frowning but just shrugged."so how was your day?" She chuckled,"It was great,Piper and I pranked Drew and Nike twins,you should have seen their faces." I shuddered,these two were a deadly pair when they set their minds on something. "Wanna have a spar?" I asked her. She smirked evilly,"Oh you are on,seaweed brain" as she took off. "Hey,no fair!!" I shouted,grinning as I ran after her.
That night,as I was drifting off to sleep,I felt a bit uneasy as the darkness consumed me.

The next morning,I woke up and got ready. There was a backpack on my bed with a note attached.

Perseus
This backpack has ambrosia,nectar,drachmas,some mortal money and a tent. Good hunting.
- Athena

I slung the backpack over my shoulder and headed out of my cabin,with riptide in my pocket. Nobody seemed to be up yet. I strode over the hill out of the border as I threw my bead on the ground,transforming into my car. I already left a note for Annabeth saying I went on an errand for one of Gods.I looked back at the valley and took a deep breath,getting into the car,"Well,here goes," and drove off to San Francisco.

Irvin pov
I saw Percy heading out and going away. I chuckled to myself, "Time to put my plan into action." I jogged away to the library in the big house.

Percy pov
After 2 days,I arrived at the base of Mount Tam. As I jogged up the path,I could hear the shouts of Atlas as he held up the sky. I thought about my 3rd quest with the hunters to rescue Artemis and Annabeth and Zoe's sacrifice, I felt sad that I wasn't able to save her. I came into the garden,which looked just like I remembered,the grass saying softly in the cool breeze,the tree towering in the middle with ladon curled around it,the soft voices of the hespirides as they saw me and approached. "Why are you here,demigod ?" the eldest asked me. "I came here to get a golden apple," I said,uncapping riptide. "You cannot get it without fighting him...Ladon awake!" The dragon let out a roar that made me want to drop my sword and cower but I held strong. Ladon faced me, all 100 heads towering over me. I remember what Zoe had said 'to get an apple,you have to confuse him,try to get his heads tangled up,then you might have a chance.' I took a deep breath and readied my stance. I charged as he did at the same time,some of his heads stayed back as I slashed and dodged the ones that attacked. I was moving like a whirlwind,dodging and sidestepping.Slowly,I managed to get some of them tangled in each other,as another set attacked me. This went on as I finally had few more heads to beat,I was covered in scratches and my left arm had a gash in it. One head snapped at me as I rolled and slashed. I jumped on his back and leaped up as one head swiped at my legs,I kicked at its face as it reared up in pain,I used the momentum and flew up near a branch as I grappled an apple and fell down. I slashed at his belly and rolled as he toppled over and accepted defeat,waiting for me to finish him off. But I just walked back,riptide in one hand and the apple in another. The hespirides were impressed, "why did you not kill him? " I looked at them,breathing hard,"He was just protecting the tree,why should I kill him just because he is doing his job?" They looked at me in surprise as I sheathed my blade. "Perseus Jackson, you will always have our respect," they bowed to me before disappearing into the fog. I breathed a sigh of relief as I set up my tent and had a square of ambrosia and nectar,which tasted like my mom's cookies,as they slowly did their work,repairing my wounds,I poured some nectar on my gash,washing away the poison. I put it in my backpack and fell onto the bed,as I fell asleep from exhaustion.