Revenge.

20. Hope

Zoe

I wandered over to the training area where I saw Percy throwing knives at targets several hundred feet away. All the knives hit the bullseye. Percy threw one more knife, and just as he reached for another one strapped to his waist, I grabbed his wrist, stopping him. 

He turned, raising one eyebrow, and I blushed as I released my grip on him. "Percy. When are you planning on attacking Olympus? The sooner we do it, the less time they have to prepare. It's obvious they know you're coming." 

Percy waved his hand at the targets and all the knives that he had thrown fell over and collapsed at his feet. "Yes, you're right. But what if I want to give the Olympians more time to prepare?"

I stared at him in bewilderment as he smiled coldly. "Why would you intentionally give them more time?" 

"Because I want more of a challenge." Percy answered as he flicked his wrist, all the knives disappearing into thin air. "I don't want an easy fight after all the time I spent training the army and you."

I sighed in defeat. I was honestly wondering if Percy was going to be able to defeat all the Olympians. Sure, he beat Artemis twice, and she's the strongest fighter, but if all the Olympians came at him....... I met Percy's steely gaze as he continued to speak. "You don't think i can defeat all the Olympians, Zoe? I'm hurt, my second in command has so little faith in me." 

I opened my mouth to protest, but Percy cut me off. "I'm not aiming to kill them. I want some of them to be my slaves. The ones that had caused me the most pain and suffering. Like your old mistress and my ex-father. Oh, and you can't forget the King of the Gods himself, Mr. Thunder Pants." 

I couldn't help but laugh at Percy's nickname for Zeus. "So you're going to kill most of the Gods?" "Yes. Centuries in Tartarus is honestly better than enslavement." Percy answered with a glint in his eyes. "The Olympians that I don't loathe as much as the others will be lucky that they got off so easily." 

"I honestly don't see how spending centuries in Tartarus is better than enslavement." I said. Percy turned away from me to look at the tents that his army was setting up once more. After Artemis had found them, Percy had used massive amounts of energy to transport all the soldiers  and myself to another clearing so that the Olympians wouldn't find them. 

"You'll see." He said finally. "When we attack Olympus, many of the Gods will be pleading for death." 

Annabeth

I sat on the sidelines of the rather large training room as I watched Clarisse demolish dummy after dummy, electricity sparking around her spear. Other demigods were sparring in the back corner of the room, the sounds of swords clashing echoing around the circular walls. 

Reyna and Jason were fighting fist-to-fist, their weapons discarded on the floor behind them. Reyna threw a punch at Jason, but he dodged it and grabbed her wrist, arching his back and flipping her over his shoulder, slamming her to the ground. I remembered when I had done that exact move to Percy when I saw him for the first time in about nine months after Hera had exchanged him with Jason. 

I gritted my teeth and walked over to Reyna and Jason, where Jason was helping the Roman to her feet. "I don't see how being cooped up in here with just one training arena is going to do anything to help us prepare for fighting Percy." 

Jason gave me a look as Reyna went to retrieve their weapons. "Tell that to my father. I don't want one of my only friends left to face my father's wrath." "At least he can't threaten us with his lightning bolt anymore. Percy destroyed it." I retorted. I looked down at a book clutched in my hand that I had been reading before. 

"I'm going to go out. Want to come?" I asked as Reyna walked back over, handing Jason his gladius. They exchanged anxious looks and I rolled my eyes. "The Gods never said that we can't go and explore Olympus. They just don't want us to leave Olympus entirely." 

"Feeling rebellious today, aren't you?" Reyna said jokingly. "Alright, we'll come." She slid her gladius into a sheath at her waist while Jason transformed his into his gold coin. I put the book that I was reading onto my bunk bed before walking out of the room Poseidon had created for us. 

We emerged into the empty Olympian throne room and headed out of the giant double doors. As we were walking down the streets, Jason spoke up. "Are we actually ready to face.... Percy? And... kill him? Sure, I think that I would be able to, but when I meet him face to face, I'll remember all the times we had together, and the quest to defeat the Giants. I'll probably won't be able to kill a former friend." 

"He killed countless people that you-we-care about!" Reyna protested. "He killed Piper, your girlfriend, the person you love!" Jason's eyes turned glassy as he stared into the distance. A lone tear dripped down his face. "Yes, but I used to consider Percy my brother. A person that I knew I could trust because of his fatal flaw." 

Reyna slung an arm over Jason's shoulder, her expression full of sympathy. "We all used to trust him. But now, he is an enemy. An enemy that will not think about ending your life in a second. You can't pause and think about whether or not to kill him, Jason. Because he won't." 

Jason took a shuddering breath and his shoulder's shook. "I know. It's just... Really hard. And it's going to be even more tough for Annabeth." 

Reyna glanced at me before reaching over and pulling me in, squashing me against Jason. "We're all in this together." The Daughter of Bellona said firmly. "We have to watch each other's backs. I can't have any of you dying on me." 

I chuckled weakly at Jason's surprised expression. "Same here. I just don't think I'll be able to kill Percy if I had the chance." Reyna made an amused noise. "You don't have to be the one to kill him. Anyone else can do it. I'm not going to force you to have to kill the man you loved." 

"We talk as if we can actually kill the guy." Jason muttered. Reyna narrowed her eyes at him. "What do you mean? I think we can." 

"You're forgetting that he's been blessed by half of the Primordial council. His fighting skills had increased drastically since the last time we had seen him, and he had been training to use his new powers from the Primordials for about five years. He went and defeated Artemis in combat, and he snapped my father's lightning bolt in half like a toothpick." Jason said bitterly. 

Before Reyna could say something, I interrupted. "We have to at least try. If we don't stop Percy, then it would be the downfall of Olympus. God knows what Percy plans to do with us after he destroys the Gods. And I also don't want to find out." 

Jason shook his head, his blonde hair flopping into his eyes. He gritted his teeth before pulling Reyna and I into a hug. "Well, we can only hope for the best. Knowing that both of you are fighting at my side, that's enough for me." 

Reyna and I smiled broadly at him and Reyna said "Come on. Let's go get something to drink and eat. Then we go back to our dreaded room and train for a bit." 

Jason and I nodded, and I walked down the streets of Olympus with hope blossoming in my chest.

Word count: 1324

okay so, i just finished day two of track and field today and whoa, i did better than i expected. for 400m, i fell during the race, but got back up and managed to get 1st ;-; but now my hands and knees hurt like Hades. 

and all the field events, i got second for all of them. yay me XD