Life of A Young Demigod: Book 2 (Percy Jackson Reader-Insert)

Dreams and Destruction

The ship was weird. And I don't just mean the hundred and fifty year old ghosts. There were weird creaking noises every couple minutes, a faint smog that covered everything, and the whole thing smelled like old leather. It was honestly rather gross, but I was able to at least deal with the smell with some of that air freshener magic I'd figured out back at Percy's house over the winter, so things weren't too bad. Clarisse stuck us in the lower deck, in an empty coal storage room that she threw some ratty sleeping bags into. It was only slightly less horrible than the underworld had been. At least it didn't have the constant dread and sense of impending doom that Hades' realm had. Regardless, we eventually managed to get to sleep, all a bit tired from the excitement of the day. As I drifted off to sleep, I had another of my weird dream visitations. I was back in that strange hallway that I had seen my mom in the previous summer, and, sure enough, she was once again behind the door at the end.

"Y/N, my dear! Have a seat, would you like any tea?"

"Can... can I drink tea in a dream?"

"Not really, but it will feel like you are. Demeter gave me this nice cinnamon tea recently, would that be good?"

I nodded happily. "Thanks mom. So, what's this about?"

She smiled softly as she handed me the cup. "I just wanted to check in. See how things are going. And give a slight warning. I'll leave that until the end, though."

"It's... going. We're on a ghost ship right now, and kind of sort of hostages, so I'm doing as well as I can with that all in mind."

"Oh, don't you worry about Clarisse. She's just trying to look tough in front of her father. I can't say I blame her. He's... rather demanding. More importantly, though, what did you think of what you saw on the other ship?"

I gulped. "With Luke and... him?"

She nodded.

"Honestly? A bit scary. I was hoping I'd slowed them down a bit more than that, but it looked like they had half his body back already."

"They do. More or less. But it becomes harder the further along they get. We've got at least two years at the current rate."

I took a sip of the tea. It was quite good. "How are they doing it? I thought they needed really powerful magic to find the pieces?"

"They do. But there are many, many types of magic. Some older than even I."

"So what are they..."

"Oaths. Loyalty. Words have power, Y/N. And oaths to serve are some of the most powerful. Every time a new demigod joins their cause, a piece of his body is returned to the sarcophagus."

"So if we just stop them from..."

"You can't, Y/N. Not entirely, at least. The more I look at this, the more I realize this is all fated to happen. The most we can do is delay it, and even that is incredibly difficult. The best thing, really, is for us to delay this as long as we can, and prepare. Apollo said he told you something like that. You said the very same thing to young Annabeth earlier. You cannot stop fate. You can only adapt to it. Some things are simply out of our control."

"So the war is inevitable?"

"Unfortunately, yes. It is. We can't stop it altogether. All we can do is ensure we have the most favorable possible position when it begins. And the way I see it, that position is coming rather soon."

"What do I do then?"

She smiled softly once more. "What you already are. Fight back. Prepare. Delay it when you can, within reason. But do not attempt to control fate. All that ever does is make things worse."

"So there's no saving Luke?"

She frowned slightly. "When did I say that? He has his role to play, to be sure, and that role is most certainly against you, but that role need not be solely against you. Do not give up hope."

"But..."

"My child, I cannot say more. I am sorry. But my word of warning. Tell Percy to beware the island. You will not be harmed there, but he..."

Her voice began to fade, and I only caught the last few words.

"Good luck, my son."

I awoke with a start. The whole boat was violently shaking, and Andromeda was pouring water on my face to bring me to awareness.

"Something's happening up top. Come on."

We rushed up to the top deck, where the others were already waiting for us.

"What's happening?"

Clarisse turned to me. "Houdini here finally got up, eh? We're here. The sea of monsters."

I squinted my eyes, staring forward into the misty sea. Sure enough, I could see two distinct shapes a couple hundred meters away. A rocky island, and a massive whirlpool.

"Wait. You aren't seriously considering..."

"I am. It's our best option. I already explained it to Prissy, I'm not doing it for you too."

She turned to the captain. "FULL POWER! WE'RE HEADING STRAIGHT TO CHARYBDIS!"

I groaned. "Clarisse, this is insane. It won't work. Please, just let us think of a plan."

Before she could respond, presumably angrily, we got pulled into the whirlpool.

"REVERSE ENGINES! READY CANNONS!"

The engines began to noticeable whine as they struggled to fight against the current.

"Uh, Aquaman? Can you do anything about the water?"

Percy focused for a moment and shook his head. "Nope. Too chaotic."

Smoke began to rise from below deck as the first volley of cannons were fired.

"Engines are going bad." Mumbled Tyson.

Clarisse's eyes went wide at that. "Captain! Get someone to fix the engines!"

"We can't, mi'lady! It's too hot! We're disintegrating from the heat!"

"I can go." Said Tyson, setting down the bag he was carrying. Percy grabbed his shoulder.

"No! It's too dangerous!"

Annabeth pulled his arm back. "He'll be fine! He's immune to fire, remember!"

Tyson rushed off before Percy could respond. A moment later, the engines began to spin up again. Before we could respond, though, the water quickly calmed as Charybdis closed her jaws.

"Ha!" Exclaimed Clarisse, "see? I told you it..."

Suddenly, a massive wave of water and debris spewed out as Charybdis sent everything we had thrown at her flying back out. Cannonballs tore up the ship, and the wave sent us careening towards Scylla's rock. Flashes of grey began to shoot down, plucking ghost sailors up and into the fog above. The engines began to groan again as the ship shook.

I quickly came to a realization. "We have to go. The ship is gonna blow."

Percy began to tear up. "But Tyson..."

"We have to go. Now."

Percy reluctantly made his way to the edge of the ship with the rest of us. I quickly said a prayer to Poseidon and Hermes, and leaped off. Midway down, the ship exploded behind us, sending us flying off into the distance. My vision faded to black.