Chapter One: I Anger The King Of The Gods

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Percy

You'd think that after winning the war against Gaea and her evil minions, we'd finally get a break. You know, have some time to clean up Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter. Care for the wounded, grieve for the dead. But apparently, the gods had something else in mind. They had summoned me and Annabeth to Olympus the day after the war had ended.

"Hello, demigods," Zeus booms. "I hate to say this, but I must send you on your next...ah...mission very soon." I look at him, resisting the urge to scream at the king of the gods right then and there.

Annabeth and I are drowning in grief, we are bone-tired, and overall not in the best mood. And now Zeus wants to mess with our lives once again?

"It seems that a group of mortals called 'the Avengers' are snooping around godly territory. Obviously, we don't want this happening. So we need you two to stop them and find out why they are doing this," Poseidon says carefully.

"No," I say suddenly. "I'm tired of doing your dirty work for you. I'm done with all of this." I think about all of the friends I've lost in the past few days. Grover, Jason, Leo, Piper, Frank, Hazel...I'm even beginning to miss Clarisse and Coach Hedge. And I'm tired of it. I'm tired of the grief, the pain, everything about being a child of the gods.

Zeus stares at me, shocked. "I'm afraid you don't have a choice, Perseus," he says slowly. I glare at him.

"I'm afraid I don't care," I reply, a hint of mockery in my voice. All of the Olympians are looking at me now, some with amused looks on their faces, others looking dumbstruck that I, a mere mortal, had just talked back to the king of the gods.

"Percy-" my dad begins to say.

"NO!" I'm screaming now, my voice filled with anger. I don't wait to see their reactions. I stalk out of the throne room of Olympus, stomping into the elevator. Annabeth is close behind, walking in next to me. I punch the button for the first floor, and the elevator jerks downward, dropping us straight from the 600th floor of the Empire State Building to ground level. As usual, the elevator music is terrible.

"That wasn't the smartest thing to do, Percy," Annabeth says, breaking the tense silence.

"I know," I sigh, fiddling with the hem of my shirt. "But I kind of lost it. I was thinking about Jason and Leo and Grover..." Tears begin to well up in my eyes. I quickly brush them away.

Annabeth wraps her arms around me, burying her head in my shoulder. "I know, Percy. I know." Her voice cracks. I can tell she's about to cry, too. I hug her tightly, breathing in the sweet scent of her hair.

Once we get outside the building, I stick two fingers into my mouth and let out a long whistle (not for a taxi cab). A dark figure appears in the sky, swooping down and picking me and Annabeth up.

"Hey, boss!" Blackjack whinnies.

"Hey, Blackjack," I reply, cracking a smile. "Can you bring us back to Camp Half-Blood?"

When we arrive at camp, I see Chiron and what's left of my fellow campers attempting to clean up. Bodies are lying around, and my heart twists as I recognize each and every one of them. Annabeth and I walk by Jason's body, two knives and an arrow stuck in his chest. I swallow a sob as I gently remove both knives and the arrow, then pick the lifeless body up. I look over to see Annabeth scooping up Piper, who has her neck snapped at a funny angle. We carry both our friends into the Big House. Their shrouds will be burned tonight. We lay them down next to each other on the floor, staring at their peaceful faces for a while before going back outside to pick up more of our dead friends. Frank, whose firewood burned out. Hazel, who gotten impaled through the chest. Leo, who had been thrown fifty feet and died on impact. Grover, who had sacrificed himself to save Juniper and her tree. Nico, killed by Gaea herself...and the list just went on. And I felt responsible for far too many of those deaths. If only I had been faster, stronger...I could've saved them. And I didn't. Now my friends are dead, and I can't do anything about it.

At least I have Annabeth. We were fighting back to back. If I had lost her, I don't think I could live with all the guilt and the grief. Annabeth completes me. I would be broken without her. Like Leo's broken machines, which were supposed to be repaired after the war with Gaea. Leo never got the chance.

When night comes, we all sit around the campfire. Even Dionysus is solemn as our friends' shrouds are burned. The few Apollo campers that are left attempt to lift our spirits by singing the classic, funny campfire songs. We all try to laugh and sing along, but fail miserably. The fire burns a dark purple, reflecting the mood of the people around it. Before an hour has passed, most of the campers have walked away from the depressing scene and into their cabins-that is, if their cabins are still intact. Annabeth follows me into the Poseidon cabin, because Cabin 6 was burned to the ground in the same fire that burned Frank's lifeline.

"I'm going to visit my mom tomorrow. You coming?" I ask Annabeth as I close the cabin door behind me.

"Yeah," Annabeth replies, sitting on the bed. She kicks off her shoes and takes off her jacket. I peel my shirt off as I lie down next to her. I slip under the blankets with Annabeth pressed against my bare chest, my arms like a protective cage around her. I hope hopelessly that I won't have any dreams tonight.

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A/N: I know it was a short chapter, I just wanted to get my idea started. Do you guys think I should continue it?

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