The Bronze Bracelets

Chapter 9: The First Encounter

Time Skip(1 month and 3 weeks)

Percy POV

During the time of my training, I learned a lot about my father's side of the family. For instance, they get really mad if your birthday has already passed and you didn't say anything about it. To say they were furious was an understatement, and I am not even getting to Artemis and C who both almost killed me for not saying a word. But eventually, after they got a hold of themselves I had a great time celebrating my belated birthday. To be completely honest, just two months prior I would not have imagined spending my birthday with any one of them with the exception of my father. 

My first month of training at the Mariana trench was hell. I could barely move my hands to block a strike from my father before getting to my knees breathing heavily for how much energy I just used. If it weren't for the fact that the water heals and energizes me I would have passed out from using too much energy. But eventually, after a few days of adaptation, I was able to move like on land but my stamina was still really bad. Two weeks into my training and I keep up with my father sparing for an hour before collapsing from the exhaust. Now on my final two days, I was a beast fighting my dad. I wasn't able to defeat him because he has way more experience and strength than me by a lot, but I still gave him a run for his money. 

Now the past three weeks I have been training with my father and hunting sea creatures with C and Artemis. When I initially came back I was glad to see Artemis and C, but mostly Artemis, since I can't have anything happening to her or else good old thunder pants, will have my head. I was greeted with hugs from Amphitrite and Triton(We solved our differences and started to act like family), C gave me a hug by slithering around me causing me to almost pass out from the lack of oxygen. However, the one who surprised me the most was Artemis, she completely tackled me and felt some of my ribs crack a bit but the water healed me almost instantly. I was too shocked by her reaction that I didn't hear what she said while hugging me. The only thing that I noticed was that she was blushing as red as a tomato and couldn't stop smiling at me. My heart at that moment felt happy but I push aside the feeling because I could never have a life with a goddess, even less one that is a maiden. 

Today was the day that we left Atlantis and head back to the mainland to try and figure out where the Leviathan will be attacking. We came up to the shore just outside of Atlantic City, New Jersey, and made our way North to try and find someplace to stay. We didn't know where to start looking for the Leviathan, even less what I was going to do to defeat it. Much to my displeasure, I had to study the most I could about it prior to our encounter. The only things I knew about it were: godly speed, strength, intelligence, agility, and stamina. In Hebrew mythology, it says that it is capable of killing angels(which would almost count as primordials in Greek). When I learned that piece of information I was scared nonetheless. 

However, not all things go to plan, even less when you are me. When we started to make our way through the beach when I noticed the uncommon silence that fell upon it. No insects or animals made noise, the only sound was the wind and the tides crashing against the shore leaving the smell of sea breeze behind. Just when I was about to say something about it, my vision became cloudy and my hearing became distant. My breathing became shallow and my eyelids started to rapidly close leaving behind just darkness. In the next second, I could feel my body hit the soft and wet sand underneath me slowly losing consciousness and entering the darkness that I was so hopelessly fighting. 

Artemis POV(Same time as Percy losses consciousness) 

We were walking through the beach trying to find someplace to rest for the night. C was in front of us and Percy was in the back with me in the middle. The beach was peaceful and quiet, too quiet. I was about to ask Perseus if he didn't have an uneasy feeling about this place when I heard a 'thud' behind me. I turned around and see Perseus' body on the floor with his eyes close. I immediately called for C and knelt right next to him. I noticed that his breathing was shallow like he was drug or enchanted.