Peruto: Cosmic Waves

Chapter 1: The Journey (Percy's POV)

It was noon. Annabeth and I were in the training arena sparring, as usual. Also as usual, she was giving me a run for my money. We'd been there for about an hour already and things were not looking bright for me in this match. And what was worse, money was on the line.

Fifty drachma was what we bet. Yeah, I know. Stupid Percy! You shouldn't bet when you know you can't win! But that's not the point here. The point is... I lost... Badly. And I had to pay up. But I didn't have enough money.

"You lost, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth gloated. "Don't make me beat the money out of you." I chuckled and reached into my not-so-deep pockets. Five drachma. Oh gods, I thought to myself. I handed her what little money I had and looked up at her with pleading eyes. "You wouldn't happen to take an I.O.U. would you?"

She chuckled and helped me up. "Any other time, I'd say yes," she said. "But I really need the money to get something special." I raised an eyebrow. "Something special? For who?" I asked critically. "It's for someone special," she said sighing happily. This sent my jealous-boyfriend meter blazing. Who was this "someone special"?

I looked at her, observing her body language. She seemed distant. Her eyes were always had stars in them whenever I mentioned Hermes. Which meant only one thing.

"Are you cheating on me with Hermes?" I asked. She scoffed and turned away. "As if I would ever cheat on you," she said, shrugging it off. "Anyway, we need to go find the rest of the money. I need it before next week."

What's happening next week, I wondered. It's probably somebody's birthday. Probably Hermes'. Stupid Hermes... My expression had gone from critical to if-I-find-out-you're-cheating-there-will-be-war. Annabeth noticed and reached a hand out, trying to get my attention. "Is everything alright, Seaweed Brain?" I looked over at her. "Everything's peachy," I said a little too sharply. I didn't feel her hand on my shoulder after that. She must've pulled it away. I wanted to turn around and apologize but just the thought of her and Hermes...

"I'm going for a walk," I grunted as I walked out of the arena. "Where?" I heard Annabeth ask. "In the woods? It's dangerous there."

"I know," I replied. And with that, I left the arena.

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I'd been walking for about a good hour but I didn't feel any better. In fact, I wanted to punch something (or someone) in the face.

It was while I was thinking about giving Hermes the good ol' one-two combo that I heard movement. It was faint but it was there. Someone was watching me. I looked around, but I didn't see anybody. I only heard leaves rustling, which was weird since there wasn't any wind.

"Whoever you are, come out," I called out. "I don't wanna hurt you." Out of nowhere, I saw tiny balls falling toward the ground and next smoke. Smoke bombs? I reached for my pocket, but as you would assume with my luck today, no Riptide. It hadn't reappeared yet. I felt a hand on my shoulder and a blade at my throat. I was surrounded. Well this day can't get any fucking better, I thought to myself. I couldn't have been more wrong.

"If you come quietly, I promise we won't harm you," my captor said. I tried to turn around and get a look at his face. Unfortunately, the smoke hadn't cleared yet, so it would've been pointless to try to sneak a peek at his face. I had no choice but to do what they said. They tied my hands behind my back, put a bag over my head, and started leading me to Olympus knows where. 

I needed to survey my surroundings and I needed to do it fast, but the bag over my head made it extremely difficult. But from what I could gather, there were four assailants. I tried my best to keep calm, but apparently, my anger was causing my blood pressure to spike. My blood was boiling. How could Annabeth cheat on me? ME! And of all people to cheat with, it had to be the god of messengers. I didn't know whether this was absolutely true, but someone was gonna pay for this betrayal. And Riptide had just reappeared in my back pocket. Perfect timing.

I  reached in my back pocket and uncapped the 3-foot-long celestial bronze sword, using it to free my restrained hands in one swift motion (don't ask how because I don't know). I took the bag off my head and looked around. 

My captors all wore masks. They looked Japanese. They also wore grey body armor. They looked like ninjas. And strange ninjas at that. They all had strangely colored hair. One had silver hair, one had teal hair, another had bright red hair, and yet another had pink hair.

"Please stand down," the ninja with the pink hair said, his weapon drawn. "Why should I?" I asked indignantly. "You tried to kidnap me!" They looked at each other before the one with silver hair stepped forward and said, "Then no further force will be used if you come quietly. Everything will be explained when we arrive at our destination."

I thought for a minute. I needed answers as to why they felt they had to kidnap me. Plus, I needed to get away from Annabeth. I might even find some money there. So I went with them. And what I saw when I got there was beyond what words could describe.

Thanks for reading this. This is the first chapter of many more to come. I've been working on this for a while now. It feels good to finally get over my writer's block. If you want more of this story, leave a comment. LET THE MADNESS REIGN!!!