!Disclaimer!: This is only a fanfic, I will NOT need making money off of this, this fanfic series will have more characters from the actual Pjo/HoO series. Demi, Atticus, Ashely, and Lilah are my PJO oc not actual characters in any (I think) Riordanverse. Also if you see Ashly instead of Ashely don't worry, they are the same person just spell check or smth
Chapter 2: I battled a deranged lion
May 21st 2010; 41 days before the incident.
Have you ever felt like you’ve been cheated by the people whom you thought would never keep a secret from you? Well, probably not because you're a book, but I have from my 3 “best friends” and my supposed boyfriend. Ugh, after that day, I could never look at them in the face.
Let me take it from the beginning. After yesterday, I was taken back to Mr. Ever's office, but this time it was strange because instead of it just being the 30-year-old man, P.J, and Clovis. There were also Atticus, Lilah, and Ashley Hogland.
I looked around at the 7 people waiting for at least one of them to explain, soon hearing the 30-year-old man speak, saying, “There’s a prophecy about you: it contains 4 demigods, you included.” P.J, someone I wanted to talk to or hear less:
“Four shall rise beneath a shifting sky.
Where ancient truths and modern shadows lie.
The mind of wisdom, cloaked in rainbow light,
Shall weave the craft of magic through the night,
To speak with a silver tongue and paint the stage,
And turn the numbers of a fated age.”
Finally, the boy I’ve been dying to hear, Clovis: “That part is about you.”
I could tell by how I looked that they knew I needed some time to think. But unlike most others in this school or around Westthaven District, I knew that a few seconds were all that I needed to understand what was happening, something that Clovis knows. The silence was deafening just before a knock on the wooden glass door. When Mr. Ever opened the door, I tried to make a plan to get out, though, always ahead of me, Clovis grabbed my arm and pulled me down in a sluggish way. I turned my head around to see 3 people standing there as if they were guilty, because they were, as always. Ashly, Atticus, and Lilah walked in as if they were criminals walking to a mugshot. “Oh, great, are you three seriously just gonna stand there and not tell me what you're doing here?” I could see how they were exchanging glances with one another, waiting for the ground to swallow them whole. I knew the yelling wouldn’t work, but it’s better than using that sweet, polite talk my stepmother uses.
I could notice someone’s hand trying to pull me back, but I stepped forward. “You guys are keeping a secret, aren’t you? Well, any day now, answer me, you idiots.” Gosh, what else do I need to fix? Finally, after what felt like years, Lilah looked up and spoke in that piercing voice that had suddenly toned down a bit. “The thing is, um, Mr. Ever is, like, totally telling the truth. We really need you to, um, get out of this community and, uh, go to a safe place, I guess. It's called Camp Half-Blood, and it keeps demigods, um, safe. That's what you are...a demi-god.” Lilah had this thing where she couldn't control her ums and uhs when trying to say a secret.
I felt a ping in my chest even when nobody did anything, when I looked at Clovis, who was already sleeping. “No, you're lying.” “This cruel joke is stupid, utterly stupid.” “No one is a demi-god; no one is leaving; nothing is wrong.” Ashley brought his head up. “Demi...”- “No!” Nothing is wrong; everything’s perfectly fine, like how it was. Right?... “Clovis! Wake up.” Clovis grudgingly got up, but when I asked him the question if everything they're saying is true. He didn’t answer, which hurt more than his not answering at all. I didn’t want to go; I wanted to stay here with my actual friends and find another boyfriend who wouldn't lie to me. Up until I pushed off the chair, something hit me-, water? No, water isn't strong enough to knock someone out like that. “Percy! You noticed her out!” Lilah's voice got back to the piercing tone again, but louder, just like I taught her.
“It doesn't matter.” Something about Percy's voice got me annoyed quicker than Atticus's idiocy could have gotten me. “We already got the stuff she needs; the person who owns the car is probably already looking for it; we need to go.” “Clovis, you can try to drag her back in the car.” The 30-year-old man stopped looking through the blinds; maybe that was what he was looking out for? “What? Why me?” You're her boyfriend, plus we know you're just pretending with your strength.” I felt a knotty arm tossing me over the person whom I knew was Clovis's shoulder, and felt like the room was like those trippy smiley faces. Melting away and landing on new ground. A heavy thump pushed me inside a car as I felt someone wrap their arms around my waist, and the car started moving. “Eww... gross couple.” Ashly's high, hyper, chipper voice was always annoying people. “Shut it, brat... (snores).” Great, is it Clovis that's holding me? The car's engine caught with a throaty, guttural snarl that rattled the car's glass.
A few hours probably passed by. Then it abruptly stopped. “We're going to get out for food; stay with her; Deil needs to-” “Demi, just go; she's safe.” I could tell that Clovis surprisingly sat up to wake me. Wait, what am I doing? This is the perfect time to ambush him and ask him questions! The moment Clovis's grip slackened, I tugged against his forearm and pushed him off me to be prompt on my elbows. “Get the hell off me, you creepy BITCH!” I scooted by even when I wanted to kick Clovis in his face; there was barely any room to do so. The only option was demanding questions: “Where am I? What is this? Clovis, look at me when I'm talking to you. What the heck is going on?” Clovis sat frozen against the door; right, this was the only time I actually showed any aggressiveness towards my boyfriend; well, he deserved it.
The physical ache in his shoulder was nothing compared to the sudden, agonizing, knowing tightening in his chest. The heavy, comforting fog that usually protected his mind from the world itself evaporated instantly. He looked at me at the sheer fear in my gaze, the way my chest heaved, and the fact that I looked at him as if he were the danger I needed to run away from.
And the worst part was that he couldn't blame me; he helped capture me, stripped me of my life. “Demi...” his voice cracked, a broken, fragile sound that completely lacked his usual lazy cadence. He reached a hand out, his fingers trembling, but stopped himself a few inches from a strand of my loose black hair, fearing that completely touching my face would make me fear him more than anything my father did to me. “Demi, please. Just...breathe.”- “I'm breathing just fine, thank you.” I turned my head, but he continued, “Don't look at me like that, hey, you said I couldn't turn my head away, so why are you able to?
“Don't look at you like what? Like you're someone who kidnapped me?!” Tears of anger flowed in my eyes, and fright finally spilled over my cheeks, my voice rising, then what I meant to in the cramped car. “You took me away. I remember the hands, Clovis. I remember, so don't even think about trying to gaslight me into thinking everything is fine when you know damn well it's not.” I slapped his hand away. “What do you remember?” Clovis let his other hand hang away from my waist and sat back from me. “I remember getting hit, but whatever was in that water hit the back of my head, seeing that Percy boy, Mr. Ever, and the others in the classroom, and seeing you...” I looked down at the last part, even though, given everything that happened, I couldn't help feeling a bit of happiness seeing my 'boyfriend': “You threw me over your shoulders and forced me into this car! Why? Who were those other people?”
The so-called accusation hit him like a physical blow. Clovis's lower lip trembled, and for the first time in his life, his eyes weren't dropping from exhaustion; they were bright, stinging, and filling rapidly with tears. The absolute guilt of what he had agreed to do was crushing him. He had let the others be convinced the only safe way to get an untrained, hunted demi-god to Camp-Half Blood before the monsters caught her scent. They told him his sleeping powers would make it painless.
But seeing me look at him with complete betrayal broke something inside him.
“I'm sorry,” he whispered, a tear finally escaping and cutting a path down his flushed, pale cheek. He choked on a sob, his chest heaving as he pulled his knees up to his chest, suddenly looking incredibly small and desperate. “I am so, so sorry, Demi. We didn't..I didn't want to hurt you. I swear on the Styx I never wanted to hurt you.” His swearing on the Styx made me half believe whatever is going on is true; swearing on the River Styx was a Greek thing- they meant it by an unbreakable, sacred vow in ancient Greek mythology, if I'm correct, and yes, Clovis did swear on it a few times, but I thought he was being weird.
He pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes, his voice thick with an overwhelming wave of raw emotion, but he pulled himself together halfway. The monster...they were tracking you. If we hadn't taken you right then, you probably wouldn't have made it through the night. The others said we had to move fast, that there was barely any time to explain-” I spaced out, barely listening to what Clovis was saying. To be honest, I really REALLY wanted to punch him in the face, but not when he was crying his eyeballs out like this. Maybe another time (that you'd fight it and get yourself killed). Gosh, can't this lamb pass out again? (They asked me to use my powers to make you sleep so it wouldn't hurt you) Why can't he just shut up! (And I..I was so scared of losing you again, but forever that time if I didn't agree) Gosh, just get over here! Before I knew it, I pulled Clovis into a tight embrace as he pulled his hands down, his face entirely stained with tears that were gonna get stained over, his brown eyes looking completely devastated. He didn't try to push away, hide his face, or retreat to my stomach (heh...knew better). He just nudged his head into my neck. “But, trust me, I hated it,” he sobbed more, but I couldn't trust him after that. “Every second of it. Watching you unconscious, seeing you have that panicked look on your face, feeling you go limp in my arms because of Percy and my magic...it felt like a nightmare. I thought you were going to die in my arms if I did use all of my powers, or at least go into a coma. Please know I was trying to protect you, but I was terrified you would hate me forever if I let you die. I ruined the one thing I cared about. If you hate me, fine; if you never want to see me again, that's fine too. I just want you to get to camp safely; I understand that I don't deserve it. But please just let us get you to safety first. Don't be scared of me anymore. Please”
He slumped back against my shoulder, his arms on my waist, crying silently, looking utterly exhausted, not from his bloodline, but from the sheer, agonizing weight of breaking the trust of the one person he loved the most. Me.
If I weren't this angry, I would push him off and hit him with a bat, but since he is my boyfriend (yes, I'm not breaking up with him), I let him stay in my arms for a while longer until the others came back. Yet, I am angry at my dad. See, he was a bit harsh with the gaslighting, guilt-tripping, and the...never mind.
Then there was a bang. I looked around to see what looked like a lion- no, a goat, a serpent. None of that was correct; well, kinda, I was a chimera. See, a chimera is a fire-breathing, hybrid creature composed of those 3 animals that I named, but wasn't a thing like that supposed to be guarding the entrance of the underworld in Lake Lerna alongside Cerberus?
None of that matters; what really matters is why I am so stupid to go face it head-on without a...oh wait, a bat? I grabbed the bat and sharpened it against the steel pipe. Before I knew it, I was charging head-on into the beast, dodging the lion's front claws and sliding under the stomach to pull the serpent's tail. That's when a blinding light appeared, blinding both me and the goat head. Yet I could see a bit, perfectly compared to the yelling goat. I could see the shadow of the lion's head, but its head was out of the way of the light, s o how is that possible? No matter. I cut the serpent's tail off so I wouldn't worry about any threats from behind.
Which was a stupid idea because it took a while to back it into a corner, so plan B was to make it bite its head by circling it and ducking under so they clash. The lion's throat was glowing orange fire; move, I rolled away. How did I do that? How was I doing ANY of this? The flames were yellowish white, and three pairs of conflicting predatory eyes were tracking my movement: “Ha, it sucks to be eating your head, huh-ugh!” I almost gagged; there was this suffocating stench of sulfur and ozone, burning hair, and other stuff that made anyone sensitive to weird smells (like me).
The air grew thicker; that's when I knew I had to cut the head off, a split second before a wall of fire erupted, revealing the monstrosity: a massive lion's jaw snapping in front while the goat head ripped off its neck. I rolled beneath the sweeping claws of the lion's head, only for a heavy, horned goat head to be thrown at me and slammed against my chest. I pushed it off. As the lion head reared back to breathe another wave of fire, I drove my hand-made spear upward into its glowing throat, choking the flames in a spray of dark blood.
The beast fell apart into dust, and it didn't really make the air smell better; somehow, a rotten scent. After a while, I realized there was cheering and clapping. I turned around to see Percy, Ashley, Davey, and Lilah looking at me, proud as if I had won another reward. “What the hell are ya'll doing?” Ashly ran up to me to hug me; if I ever knew a 3rd grader who gives hugs, this one was 1000x better. His hugs always make me forget the troubles I thought about. “You did amazing; that was SOOOO cool! I've seen other half-bloods but never like you!” Ashley shined a toothy smile at me. “Well, you can't expect anything less from an Athena kid.” Atticus got hit in the back of his head by Lilah. “You can't say that yet, idiot!” “Can't say what, and what does Atticus mean about Athena, like the goddess?
“Especially when one's blessed by a few gods than most,” another wacked, but from Percy, shield? “Dude. Shut. It”
“What are you guys? Are you guys keeping me from now?” Percy looked at me with a proud smile and gave me a high five with my hand I didn't know was rosen. “Welp, since Atticus split out. You saw the light, how you knew exactly what to do, the shadow bending to your will, and how Clovis probably gave a heartfelt speech, huh?" "Yes?" "Well, only a few can do that, your more special than special, Demi— a highrr rate than a child of one of the big 3 being born."
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