Percy Jackson, the embodiment of hope.

Chapter 11: A new weapon (and Octavian)

Excerpt from Percy's journal:

I'm writing this in somewhat of a hurry. Yesterday was my birthday, and Chaos decided to give me a mission. Yay.

To be fair to him, it was supposed to be a simple mission and a present at the same time.

I've long since wondered about new weapons. I love my rings, but sometimes, a man wants to experiment with other weapons.

For a while now, I've been trying to get my hands on a magic trident. Not many exist, as they aren't common weapons, and most are simply enchanted for better fishing.

So, back to the point, Chaos sent me on a solo mission to 'pick up' a new item, which would be my birthday present from him.

He teleported me to Rynag, a planet largely made of water, about 83% of it was saltwater, while another, maybe 6% was of freshwater. Most structures were just large, magic boats or species made islands.

I was teleported to a dock that was connected to a small island, with instructions at my feet. It was simple, really.

Explore the island, find the cave marked with 12 rubies, explore it, find the water, and swim to the bottom. Easy, right?

Apparently not, because it took me 4 hours to find the cave. 4 HOURS. I wandered, thought, and hit rocks for 4 hours.

When I eventually found the cave, I went inside. I continued down for about 10 minutes when I heard voices. Unfortunately, I recognized one of them.

One of my siblings, Erebus. The Primordial of Darkness and the Ex of Nyx, my sister, the Primordial of Night.

I hid behind a rock and listened to their conversation.

Erebus was chewing someone out for failing their mission and being unable to find his old weapon.

The boy he was chewing out started to blubber, and then I realized that I knew him, too.

I peeked over the rock, and sure enough, groveling and Erebus's feet was Octavian.

I felt my blood boil at the sight of him. Erebus picked him up and asked why he had failed in the one thing he had been asked of.

Octavian stammered in fear but eventually told Erebus that his old weapon didn't want him anymore.

When Erebus asked why, Octavian grew silent. After much squeezing and shaking, Octavian conceded.

He told Erebus that his old weapon had changed forms and that it wanted to be with someone who was good, like Erebus used to be.

Erebus grew enraged and threw Octavian around the room, a small slip of paper slipping out of his pocket as he did so.

He grumbled and disappeared. I quickly left from my hiding place and pocketed the piece of paper, only to hear Octavian say my name.

I whipped around, conscious that my mask was not with me, and looked Octavian in the eye.

He stared at me in fear and worry, and I asked him where a water source was.

He brightened up and led me through the caves, and we eventually reached a clear pool of water.

Sitting at the bottom was a black and purple trident, patterns of clouds and moons swirling in it.

I asked Octavian what it was, and he told me that it was once Erebus's weapon, but it turned it's back on him when he became corrupt.

I dived into the water and swam down, grabbing it. It disappeared, and I felt a burning on my back.

Instinctively, I knew that I had gotten a tattoo. One of a large, black trident, perfectly aligned on my back.

I swam out of the pool and dried myself. I asked Octavian how to get out of the cave, and he happily led me out. I mind messaged Chaos that I was done, and he said to be patient and wait a bit.

So I was stuck, alone, on an island, with Octavian. I asked him how he was alive again, and he said that Erebus had found his soul in punishment, plucked him out of it, and sent him on fetch quests.

He stopped talking and hesitantly asked if I still hated him. I answered no. I don't hate many people, although the overall amount had drastically shot up in the last couple of years.

He went silent and asked if there was a way for him to be free of Erebus and free of pain.

I was surprised and asked why. He told me some things that Erebus did, and uh...

I may really not like Octavian, but I felt pity for him. I told him that if I killed him, he would go straight to punishment again.

He nodded and thought for a while before asking me if I could make him Fade.

I was shocked. Yes, I can do that, and I suspected it would be easy with my new trident, but to actually do it?

I mulled on it for a while and had him explain. He regretted his actions, his paranoia, his death, his 'sacrifice,' and above all, he regretted being misled.

I eventually made my decision. I offered him a choice. He could Fade, or he could come with me and be gifted actual future sight by Chaos, so he could make reparations for his past.

I thought I knew what he would pick. But I forgot one thing. Octavian is a coward.

He chose to Fade. The one time in his life he was brave was when I stuck my trident through his chest. His cowardly self somehow managed to make him brave in the face of his death.

He was stoic, somehow. His last words to me before fading from existence were,

"I'm sorry I was a coward."

I didn't cry, I bottled it up. One day, when I go back to earth, I'll finally open up. But only to Her.

About an hour later, Chaos teleported me to the throne room. It was dark, and my eyes had to adjust.

Suddenly, the lights flashed on, and my team yelled, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" As they jumped from behind couches and chairs.

We celebrated for hours. The 'sun' on the planet was just going down as we all settled down, and I stuck my hands into my pockets.

I felt the paper Erebus dripped earlier and pulled it out, reading it.

I got to the bottom of the page and reread it a few times, my eyes widening as I reread it.

I rushed to Chaos and told him that we needed to get some of the team ready for a new mission.

He asked why, and I gave him the paper. He read it and quickly gave it back before moving to his desk and getting his stuff out to make plans.

I couldn't sleep that night. Not even Carl could get me to sleep, the little knockout gas breathing monster.

The paper was important. It contained a name I never thought I would hear again.

See, it looks like a normal bad guy list of stuff. The classics, like a spaceship full of power and transmittable energy, a robotic army, many, many, many weapons, healing drones, and supplies.

But two things caught my eye when I read it. The first is that all this stuff was headed to Earth, more specifically, to Tartarus. Why he would want all that stuff is beyond me.

The second, however, is more important to me. Because the paper said that there was one singular real person of importance on the ship.

One person of importance, named Estelle Jackson.