Excursion into Rapture [for Percy]

[lightningthief]

Rapture is dying. I am sure of that as I explore this place. This is no civilization. It's even more corrupt and twisted as Western Civilization back home. I'm glad I came, though. This gives me something to do besides mope around. I haven't really recovered from the shock of Annabeth's disappearance, so this is a great distraction. I've taken out a few Splicers here and there. There were even a couple that were walking on the walls. I finally have a use for Backbiter other than practice. So far, every one of my challengers has been left dead in the streets.

The names of the Olympian gods are all over this place. It's mostly the Roman forms, but they are more or less the same old gods. That's the biggest reason I'm not surprised at all that this place is falling apart. Even in other worlds, the gods I was born to are having their influence. Seifer told me he heard about a place called Mercury Suites. It's supposed to be a high class place where the rich and powerful gather. It's also named after my own unbeloved father. So, I've taken it upon myself to go check it out. Plus, there's the chance that there's some nice stuff out there that's in need of a new owner.

But for a while now, I've had the feeling of being watched. I backtracked a few times, but didn't find anyone. But now I've decided I won't go any further without figuring out what's going on. I have the feeling the area ahead could be even more dangerous, and I'd rather deal with who or whatever may be following me. I make a sharp turn around a corner, then take a step and crouch down in the shadows. Then I wait quietly.

Comments

[percy_jackson]

Annabeth would have said that I was being stupid. But I was used to that. What I wasn't used to was just standing around and waiting for things to happen. And after Annabeth disappeared, I was a powderkeg of nervous energy. I'd have walked around the Island again, except that I'd already done this before. I'll say it again: being a prisoner on an island sucks. I can't believe I actually thought about settling down on one with Calypso.

But then I heard the stories about a new world underground, and I was intrigued. And then I saw Luke heading to the entrance with purpose -- watched him talk his way down -- and suddenly I had a new purpose. He was up to something, and I was going to find out.

I figured that the ITF guards wouldn't just let me down there, even I was well over sixteen. Certainly, they wouldn't let me down with Riptide. So I took the smaller sword instead, and volunteered to carry some supplies down. Which I did. But after I'd dropped the boxes, I quietly slipped away.

Luke had gone off to do his own thing by then, and I thought I was in for some searching. However, I lucked out when I saw him board one of those transport devices. I followed, and boarded the next one.

The transport let me out at an abandoned corridor that looked like it had belonged to the gods in the past. The amount of decay drove home to me that bad things had happened to this place, not long ago. Annabeth's voice spoke up in my head again. "Don't be stupid, Seaweed Brain. You're going in without a plan. You're going to get yourself killed."

"I know, Wise Girl," I muttered. I drew my sword. "But, right now, I have to say I don't particularly care."

I marched forward, keeping my eyes open. There weren't many places Luke could have gone.

[luke-castellan.livejournal.com]

I should've known. I stand up as he turns the corner.

"Percy Jackson."

I have Backbiter at the ready, but I'm not raising it.

"You always have to show up when you're not wanted, don't you?"

[percy_jackson]

I'm not particularly surprised to see him stepping out from behind a corner, but that means nothing. Surprise or not, if it came to a fight, it was going to be a fight, and not an ambush.

"Oh, yeah?" I said, surly. "I could ask you the same question. You wanted down here? Or do you want something? And what could you possibly want in a godsforsaken place like this?"

[luke-castellan.livejournal.com]

"Do you know where we are Percy?"

Probably not. Percy's all about diving in headfirst without thinking. I make a sweeping gesture with my hand as if I'm revealing a game-show prize.

"This is Apollo Square, and I'm on my way to a place called Mercury Suites. It isn't some evil plan for you to bust up."

I'm annoyed that after all this time, he still proclaims himself defender from all things related to me. Sure, I plan to loot and pillage a bit, but this place is full of insane freaks. I'd be doing this place a favor by keeping good stuff away from lunatics. My main reason for being here, however, is that there's a place named after my dad. Granted, my dad is Hermes, not Mercury, but he's pretty much the same jerk with a different name.

[percy_jackson]

"Yeah, I saw the names," I said. I rolled my eyes. "Did you bring some spraypaint with you? Because why else would you be heading to a place that's named after the Roman version of your father?"

It was also a silly reason. Was every apartment complex named Mercury doomed to be tagged by this man? I couldn't help but wonder if there was something more.

[luke-castellan.livejournal.com]

Percy's suggestion makes me smirk.

"Spraycan, huh? That's actually.."

But something I spot from the corner of my eye makes me stop mid-sentence, step back and whirl Backbiter into the body that was hurtling towards me. I've got good reflexes. Otherwise it'd be me lying dead instead of this Splicer that dove at me from somewhere above.

As the thing twitches and bleeds on the ground, I assume a battle posture and scan the area. There are more of them. Time to fight.

[percy_jackson]

Luke's whirl makes me grab for my sword, but my hand is only just on the hilt when he strikes the monster behind him out of the air. I stare at it, momentarily stunned. "What in Tartarus?!"

Then I drew my sword, wishing it was Riptide. Now that I thought of it, there was some mention of strange creatures in this place. It was my own fault to have gone here, ignoring the warnings. But, really, they could have perhaps emphasized this particular warning a little bit harder.

I hear a pitter patter of feet behind and above me, and I swing around, bringing my sword up in a slice. The blade cuts through the monster's neck and I jump back as it lands on the ground with a thud, shuddering.

"Ye, gods," I breathed. Then I tensed. I was hearing more pitter-patters. "These aren't your guys."

[luke-castellan.livejournal.com]

"No kidding," I say as I start battling a Splicer wielding a massive wrench.

"Less talking, more fighting."

I put more of my focus towards this Splicer. I slice, he blocks. I thrust, and he counterattacks! I dodge, but I'm surprised! This guy's fighting much better than the others. Could it be...plasmids? Or tonics? Seifer told me a bit...

My thoughts are interrupted by the Splicer jumping over my head to the other side of me. I have to duck and roll as it swings its wrench in midair at where my head just was. After a few more exchanges, it leaps again, but this time at Percy. I look, and there's another one too. Two Splicers are high in the air coming down towards Percy, and he's already fighting yet another one.

I have a split second to make a critical choice.

If I attack Percy now, there's no way he can survive. Plus, nobody from the island could ever prove I did it. Kronos would demand I take this hand-wrapped gift and be rid of our number one enemy once and for all. It'd be so easy.

I run forward and swing Backbiter with all my strength. I've deflected one attack and wounded it. The second one is coming in too fast, so I raise my arm.

Crack!

"Ahhh!"

I deflected the wrench blow, but my arm suffered greatly for it. I already know it's been broken, but it's not my sword arm.

[percy_jackson]

Hearing Luke's cry behind me hammers home the realization that I've turned my back on him. Well, what choice did I have? There was a monster almost upon me, and more on the way, I had to fight what was nearest. Still, the small voice in the back of my head said, in all that melee, said that turning my back was possibly the stupidest thing I could have done.

Except that... he's in pain. He's fighting off monsters that are behind me, and he's taken a blow on my behalf.

He... what?! He did what?!

"Luke!" I shouted. I needed to see if he was all right. Monsters were coming fast, and I needed someone to watch my back.

Gods, that someone was Luke!

[luke-castellan.livejournal.com]

I... don't answer him. I'm pissed. I took a hit for Percy Jackson! I broke my flipping arm for him? That hurt!

With a yell I press forward against the Spider Slicers. Having my left arm neutralized is not such a big deal. I compensate. In fact, my pain and anger gives me enough of a boost to finish one off. But then I see more coming.

"Hold them off," I tell Percy as I step back.

I kneel and set Backbiter on the ground for a short moment. I have to decide, and healing can wait. I have a syringe, and I jab it into my shoulder. I'm using one of these plasmid things. A ghost appears and starts luring the new Spider Splicers away. Nice decoy. I see things scuttling along the sides of buildings towards it, and I send the ghost away from us.

I grab my sword and rejoin the combat.

[percy_jackson]

Even though I'm fighting for my life... and Luke's (!)... I can't help but glance back to see how he's doing, and then what he's doing. What on Earth was he doing with that needle? And what was that...

Oh, ho. So there was magic down here after all.

I jerked back as a monster demanded my attention. I rewarded his interest with a swipe of my sword.

"Neat trick," I muttered, as Luke came up beside me.

[luke-castellan.livejournal.com]

"It's handy," I reply. In between swings I see it's lead three of them far away from us. That's really useful. Now that it's two-on-two, I think we have this battle under control.

One of the freaks nearly whacks my left arm a second time, but I turn and step alongside him. He can't lift his wrench quick enough to stop me from stabbing right into his back. I use my foot to push the body off my sword before I go help Percy finish the last one off.

[percy_jackson]

I got the last monster with a good swipe, and stood a moment, surveying the damage. "Nasty things," I muttered. Could they really have been people, once? That was probably something that I shouldn't think too hard about. I had enough on my plate with Luke.

Speaking of... I looked over at him. "You okay?"

[luke-castellan.livejournal.com]

Immediately after Percy slays the last of them, I'm already searching the bodies. I need some items. Luckily, I find a first aid kit on one of them. Percy asks me if I'm alright, and I stand up with a wince. This is painful.

"I'm fine. Let's get out of here."

I point the way with my sword, and we're off. Except I'm not leading us back. I will see this cursed hotel my dad has on another world. I focus, and the decoy comes back without the Splicers. I send it out in front of us so we can jog forward without springing any traps.

[percy_jackson]

I followed him. I'm still not sure why I did. Maybe I was still in a state of shock over how he'd taken a blow for me. Maybe I was... worried. I could see that Luke was driven. This wasn't about whatever it was he'd taken from these monsters. This was something more.

And, strangely enough, I was following Luke now to make sure he didn't hurt himself over whatever it was this was.

[luke-castellan.livejournal.com]

After getting some distance between us and the place where the Splicers ambushed us, I stop and lean up against a building. I rest Backbiter in a corner next to me, and I get out the first aid kit I swiped.

It's a pain fumbling around with it one-handed, but I'm not about to ask for or accept help from Percy. Like Seifer told me, these kits weren't normal medical supplies. This stuff goes right into me and fixes me up in no time. I close my eyes and my mouth opens as my bone is pulled back together. That hurt more, but I've got enough sense not to cry out.

Grabbing Backbiter again, I turn and see Percy looking at me funny.

"What?"

[percy_jackson]

I winced to see Luke's arm straighten. I can see the bones mending themselves in his arm. But for all that, it's impressive. "Wow," I said, nodding at his arm. "Better than ambrosia."

[luke-castellan.livejournal.com]

"Quicker, but not as nice. Plus, Hades only knows what kind of side effects this junk has."

I motion for the decoy to get a move on as I start walking myself.

"Come on, Percy. Since you're determined to see what I'm up to, you're my new armed escort."

[percy_jackson]

I snorted. This was just ludicrous. I mean, me? Escorting him?! It was crazy.

So why was I following him, and keeping a lookout for more monsters?

"So, what are you up to?" I asked, mostly to kill the silence. "Did you forget the spray paint?"

[luke-castellan.livejournal.com]

Percy's snort triggers a smirk from me. Sure, armed escort, Percy. You'll make great cannon fodder in case there's trouble.

"Did it ever occur to you that I might not be up to something, Percy? Have I done anything in the past however many months?"

For a moment, I stop scanning the area for trouble and turn to look at him. Then I go back to looking around.

"The island is boring for half-bloods. I'm tired of just sitting around doing nothing. How could I not explore this place when our parents' names are all over it?"

Suddenly, I motion with my hand for Percy to stop. A small group of Splicers suddenly charges my decoy. I have it flee away from them. Looking ahead, I see a couple Little Sisters standing around. Next to a Big Daddy. A plan is formed.

I tell Percy softly, "Just stay there and stay quiet. I'll take care of this."

This is when the decoy starts veering off straight at the Little Sisters.

[percy_jackson]

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, sure, you just came here for the nightlife."

When Luke spotted trouble up ahead, I tensed. I could tell he was up to something. He was leading those monsters over to that creepy girl (creepy, yes, but still: a girl!) and the very large, very intimidating looking man in the diver suit. My hand went to my sword. "Luke, what are you doing--"

That was all I got to say before all hell broke loose.

[luke-castellan.livejournal.com]

I let out a small laugh as Percy's hand goes to his sword. I've lead the Splicers running full-bore right at the pair of Little Sisters. Unlike Percy, I have an idea of where I am and what's going on around me. The Big Daddies protect the Little Sisters. It's obvious what they were going to do.

And, apparently, they do it very well.

"It's called letting others do your work for you, Percy. You never really caught on to that one over the years, did you?"

Percy may be the son of Poseidon, but I've led him around just like this plenty of times. People are so easily tricked into doing what you want them to do.

"Let's go. I think I just ran out of Decoy power."

[percy_jackson]

I grimaced. It shouldn't have been a surprise to see Luke revert to his old strategies, but... "You are made of decoy power," I muttered. Still, it had worked. The creepy little girl was still standing and the monsters... weren't.

There was no way out but forward, now. And I followed him.

[luke-castellan.livejournal.com]

I hear Percy's muttering, and I turn and grin at him. My grin is real, since I take that as a compliment. Even though Chiron told me I'm the best swordman in 300 years, things can happen while fighting. Sometimes the better weapon is your head, not your sword arm. We all can't be kids of the Big Three with a disgusting avalanche of luck on their side.

I'm progressing much more carefully now as I lead Percy along. It's odd counting him being around as a good thing. It's also a strange feeling that he's just coming along with me after all that's happened between us. I can easily imagine him just changing his mind and striking out with his sword, but I know Percy won't do that. It's just his personality. Maybe Percy's constant good luck is helping, because as we go along, we don't encounter any more danger.

We turn a corner, and I see it. Mercury Suites. It's grand, luxurious, an opulent display of power and indifference.

"There it is, Percy. Mercury Suites. It's just like I imagined it."

All the grinning from before is long gone. That old, familiar deep rage of mine is seething upwards through me. There was a time before I betrayed Percy at Camp Half-Blood that I kept those feelings quiet and under control, but that was long ago. I just stand there glaring at this place, and I'm getting angrier, and angrier.

"Look at it, Percy. This is a place, just like Olympus, where the rich and powerful can kick back, sip cocktails, and have a good laugh while everything around them is crumbling. Let's shove worms into our children. It'll give us lots of power. It's... this world is even worse than back home, and it's got our parents' names plastered all over it."

The Olympian gods aren't just at home and in Rapture. They're in Gabrielle's world. They're in Cassie's comic book world, and didn't claim her, just like they never do. They're in Falco's world. My voice rises to a near shout.

"How many worlds are they controlling?!"

[percy_jackson]

Mercury Suites is eerie. I've never really trusted the rich suburbs, and since realizing I was a half blood, that's only increased. I've seen too many monsters in the shadows to take anything at face value.

Mercury Suites is worse than that, however. It's abandoned and decrepit. Water is seeping in and I can see rust stains on the walls and floors. Slowly but surely, the mask is slipping off, and the rot is coming to the surface. There are no gods here.

"Well," I said, quietly to Luke's shout, "Given that Aphrodite is here. Given that Cupid came and went. Given that we're here, and given that Annabeth is gone... not enough."

[luke-castellan.livejournal.com]

After his reply, I give Percy a very furious glare. How can he even think the Olympian gods are good for anything? How dare he even mention Annabeth to me?! It's once again apparent how much we're distant enemies.

"You always have to defend the gods, don't you, Percy?"

It's an accusation. I glare at him for a few moments in the quiet of the streets. Let him say whatever he wants. He's at least right about Kronos not being any better. Percy's not really the focus of my anger. I'm still not going to fight him. Breaking my gaze, I fish out a few things from my pocket. I hold out a plasmid and a tonic. Both are fire-related. I speak again, but my voice has gotten strangely quieter.

"I swiped more stuff than you knew from those Splicer bodies. This is an Incenerate plasmid, and this is a Natural Camoflage tonic. People say if you take both at the same time, they're stronger than each taken alone."

I wonder what would happen if I took them both? I'm becoming mesmerized by a new plan. A plan on a much greater scale than spray paint. I don't care about the risk, the destruction, or even who or whatever may be inside there. I don't care.

"You keep thinking I'm up to something. Maybe I should be. Bet if I took these, I could burn that whole thing down to the ground."

Percy should encourage me.

I might not make it out. It wouldn't be his fault.

[percy_jackson]

I looked at Luke. I knew he was up to something. But as I listened to him, I began to wonder if what he was up to was a suicide mission. All I knew about drugs, I learned in health class, but I knew enough that Luke was risking an overdose.

And in that moment, I realized that I didn't want to see that happen. It was more than just not wanting to be around for my own safety. I didn't want Luke to end it like this.

"Have you given any thought to what the side-effect of those things are?" I asked. I nodded at the drugs in Luke's hands, and then I nodded over my shoulder, down the corridor, at the monsters we'd fought.

[luke-castellan.livejournal.com]

Side-effects?! I let out a derisive huff.

"Side-effects, Percy?"

A tense laugh comes out of me. Then I let the sacrasm out.

"Oh, no. The horror. It may take years and years off of my life. What would I do then?"

Does this kid know anything? I'm not even looking at him anymore. I'm staring off to Mercury Suites and imagining a roaring inferno. I should do it. And why limit it to my dad's place? I'm bound to find more ADAM as I torch everything. I'll take down as much of Apollo Square as I can, in fact. This whole quadrant needs to go down. Hear that Hermes? I will dish it out to you in as many worlds as I can!!!

[percy_jackson]

"Clamber along the ceiling and break people's arms with wrenches?" I asked. I nodded over my shoulder again. "Those monsters probably didn't care about side-effects either. Weren't you paying attention to the briefing? They were human once."

I stepped forward carefully. Luke looks like he's on the edge of something. And when he's on the edge of something, people get hurt. "That stuff's not a toy. You have no idea what it could do to you."

[luke-castellan.livejournal.com]

Percy interrupts my visions of destruction, and I turn back to him distractedly.

"So what, Percy? I know it's not a toy, and I'm not playing!"

Maybe losing myself to insanity would be a great relief. Mom and I would get along great, then, wouldn't we? I give Percy a really annoyed look to convey how much I want him to just buzz off now.

"Look, I don't even know why I showed this to you instead of just doing it. I'm your enemy, Percy. Enemy. Quit pretending you give a damn what happens to me."

Because if Annabeth gave up on me, there's nobody. I push thoughts of Gabrielle and Coraline away. They don't count. They only know me from the island.

[percy_jackson]

"Maybe I don't," I said, quietly. "But I think Annabeth would. She wouldn't want you to do this."

[luke-castellan.livejournal.com]

Percy and I stand in tense silence for a moment. My fury at him for saying like that is indescribable. But mostly...

..mostly because he's right.

Annabeth wouldn't want me to do this. Now she's gone. She's gone back to fight me.

As I turn away from Percy, I feel the grip of my hand on the plasmid and tonic loosen. I let them drop. They clatter onto the ground.

[percy_jackson]

I let out the breath I hadn't realized I was holding. But now that the crisis was past, I had no idea what to do next.

"Maybe we should go topside," I said.

[luke-castellan.livejournal.com]

"Fine."

I sure as Hades can't just stand here in front of this place now. All my plans of looting the place are long gone. I can't just be here and feel right. My grip on my sword tightens, and I move it into a ready position.

"Let's go."

I lead the way. I don't trust Percy to lead. I'm much more cunning than him, and better at noticing enemies and traps. Plus, maybe if there are any more enemies on our way back, I'll feel better if I get to unload some of my anger.

[percy_jackson]

I followed him. I could tell that he wasn't happy, but at least he wasn't suicidally murderous.

But as I walked behind him, I looked around at the corridors, at the obvious signs of opulence that had rotted to something evil. Or, possibly, rotted so as to show its true face. What kind of madman would build some place like this? What kind of madness would lead people to make themselves into monsters?

I came at this feeling from an opposite direction as Luke, but I could see why he hated this place.

Finally, I came upon a statue -- clearly of the Great Leader, judging by the heroic pose. And obviously heroically fake. What he really needed was a monocle to go with that moustache.

And, looking at the brick-a-brac that surrounded the statue, what did I see but a marker.

I chuckled. "Heh." And I took the marker, stepped up on the pedestal, and started to draw a circle around the statue's eye.

[luke-castellan.livejournal.com]

As I prowl down the streets and around corners, I'm all business. I'm looking to kill things before they kill me. We're being quiet, cunning, and making progress through the city. Then I hear something behind me...

..what in Hades is Percy..?

My initial reaction is that the kid is nuts. This place is a death field. Not too long ago, I was really close to dishing out a complete inferno. And now....a monocle?

As a surprise to myself, I smile and let out a light huff of a laugh. It's funny. It reminds me of the short time we called each other friends when my service to Kronos was still a secret.

[percy_jackson]

I hopped down from the statue and handed over the marker. "I think that's an improvement, don't you?"

[luke-castellan.livejournal.com]

My eyebrows raise as Percy goes and hands the marker to me. Here I am in a battlezone alongside the guy who's been my archenemy for years, and he's wanting me to join in some silly graffiti? What is Percy expecting here? Why am I even holding this marker?

"You've got to be kidding.."

I look up at the statue.

"Clearly, you haven't been hanging out nearly enough with Travis and Conner Stoll."

I get up onto the statue myself now and draw a bit.

"That's not anywhere near good enough. This calls for freckles, a wagging tongue, and bushy Groucho Marx eyebrows."

I hop down, take an appraising look, then nod. This is amazing. Out of the blue, Percy and I are having some kind of fun moment together. This is so wrong, but whatever.