Heroes of Olympus: The Blood of Olympus

Ch. 1: Percy

Percy never realized how soft his bed was. Or how hard the floor of Tartarus was in comparison. It was only his second day back from that place, and he was already noticing all the things he took for granted. Food.... Food was heaven. Seeing his friends alive was paradise. Not having to run from monsters, giants, rivers, and curses was the best thing of all, after being with Annabeth, of course.

He was leaning on the rail of the Argo II. The cold wind ripped through his unruly black hair, and the sea salt stung his lips, but this was just another luxury to add to his list.

Suddenly he felt a cool hand on his back. He turned around, almost reluctantly, not wanting the moment to end. Percy found himself staring into the stormy gray eyes of Annabeth. "Hey. " was all she said, as if she could understand his thoughts.

They stood together like that for awhile, enjoying the peace and each others company. Percy took to examining Annabeth, not wanting to ever lose his picture of her. It was finally Percy who broke the silence, voicing the worry that had been on his mind ever since Tartarus.

"I've been worried about you" he admitted. Annabeh raised an eyebrow. "Oh really?" He continued. "Are you okay? You never smile much anymore, and you're too skinny and too tired, and too full of worry. "

Annabeth laughed. "Oh Percy, is that all? It's just the after effects of Tartarus. It will go away with time. I just need time. Besides, you're not Mr. Sunshine yourself. "

Percy thought on that, and had to agree. Ever since his expirences the last few weeks, his demigod dreams had been worse than ever. Though he was hungry, he couldn't seem to choke down more than a few bites. And he was constantly in fear of an unexpected monster attack.

Percy turned back to Annabeth. "You're amazing, you know? You get abandoned by your family and friends, stuck with a loser like me and thrown into a place even the gods won't go. Then you come back and live a.... Semi normal life, still sane. How do you do it?"

Annabeth turned and looked Percy on the eyes. "Perseus Jackson, you are the sweetest guy I have ever met. " and they kissed. Percy smiled. "So--"

He cut of abruptly, a look of alarm on his face. "Do you feel that?"'Annabeth shook her head, confused. Percy could feel something, he just didn't know what it was. All he knew was that it was bad. Like, really bad.

Without even waiting to see what it was, he ran to the control room and pushed the big red button marked 'Alarm', then ran back out on deck. Two things happened at once. One, a huge wave aoaked the deck and a humanoid figure emerged. Two, a recording of Leo's voice rang over the speakers. "For some reason the alarm is being sounded. Since I didn't get to install a real alarm, I made my own. Ready?" And an ear-piercing ' wee woo wee woo wee woo' broke the serenity below.

Percy wasn't sure at first what the thing was. It was over seven feet tall, and had long, greasy dreadlocks. The thing smelled like Percy's old school's PE locker room, which was saying something. The thing he hated most about the monster, though was his glowing red eyes, locked with Percy's.

Percy suddenly felt dizzy and feverish. He was slowly working on a guess as to what this thing was, and if he was right.... Well, he just hoped he was wrong.

The monster pulled out a black sword and began to strike at Percy. Fortunately, Percy already had Riptide out and was desperately trying to block his enemies strokes through his now cloudy vision. He knew it would do no good; the monster was merely playing with him.

As his last resort, he summoned a wave. It hit the thing, but instead of doing damage, the clear ocean water turned a shocking green. Poison. Percy's fears were confirmed. This was Polybotes's son. But who was the unlucky wife?

Percy was also coming to a second conclusion. The son was much stronger than the father. He had never felt this weak when batting the bane of his father. Vaguely. He could hear someone shouting at him to move left. AnnBeth? He stumbled that way just in time to avoid to wave of water-turned-poison directed at him. His legs refused to work. He sank to his knees. He felt dehydrated, and his sight was no longer useful. He couldn't sort out all the sounds coming at him, and his ears were ringing m All he wanted was for this pain to end.

So when his worst enemies son fired another wave at him, and he was too drained to move, it hit him full in the face.

Percy couldn't say he was disappointed to see his world spiral into darkness.

Please comment and no colorful language. Thanks for reading!

- Enjoy Life

Question:

What are the seven's nicknames?