Indomitable - Percy Jackson Fanfiction

Round Two with Rude

The six had woken up and got off as far as Apollo could take them, a small ski town in the mountains of New Mexico: Cloudcroft.

The air was cold, thin, and even with Percy's new Nemean leather duster, he was shivering like crazy.

Percy had told Grover and Ashe about his own talk with Apollo, leading Ashe to do the same and show off his newest key- but not reveal the weapon.

From what the three had discussed their destination was San Francisco, where the remnants of Titan Magic converged into the Mountain of Despair.

Apollo suggested that if they didn't know what monster was capable of bringing down Olympus by the time they arrived, to seek out Nereus, the Old Man of the Sea. Apparently his knowledge sometimes slipped past the Oracle's prophecies.

Apollo had helped them a long way, so the three had very little reason to despair seeing as they were halfway there on the first of their seven day deadline.

However, when Grover began tailing Zoe in a trance, Percy revealed to Ashe that the General only had plans to keep Annabeth alive until the Winter Solstice- Friday, four days from now- before she'd be sacrificed.

The six stopped in the middle of town with seemingly no public transit in sight.

"Great. No bus station, no taxis. No car rental. No way out." Thalia whined.

"There's a coffee shop!" Grover exclaimed, making Thalia groan. Zoe seemed to like the idea. "Yes, coffee is good."

"And pastries- oh, and wax paper...!"

"Fine. You two go get us some food. Percy, Bianca, and I will check the grocery store for directions. Ashe-"

Thalia turned to him, only to see him walking away with a scowl. She clicked her tongue in response and turn back to the others.

"What's his deal?" Bianca asked. She sounded more concerned than impatient like her words portrayed.

"Maybe it's because two people won't stop hating his guts." Percy shrugged, trudging towards the grocery store. Bianca nervously followed as Zoe and Grover left.

Thalia huffed, expelling a breath of mist that made her shudder even more than she already was. She followed after the two and tried to explain that she didn't hate him.

•

Ashe was sitting down on a fountain, eyes closed as he tried to think about his place in the world.

Ever since he was comatose, it'd had been swept under a rug by most of his friends.

He wondered why he could suddenly perceive things thought not to exist. Why he could display immense strength that a teenager shouldn't possess. How the very gods he had never believed in began to favor him and reward him.

Who was he exactly?

He remembered being raised in an orphanage somewhere in North Carolina. He remembered his upbringing was as dull as it got.

A woman with dull grey hair raised him, taught him most of what he knew. She looked surprisingly young for how aged her hair was, but was most confusing was her distant look.

She always seemed to look after him like it was a task. There was no affection behind her actions up until the day he left.

She caught him sneaking out, and seemed to be proud of who he'd become- or rather, who he would become.

The look on her face...

Relief.

Like she was so sure he'd be great.