Chapter Text
——-<PERCY>——-
Jason, Piper and Annabeth came back from their infiltration mission. Only Jason came back with a smoking stab wound in the middle of his chest. Percy wanted to help, but he wasn’t an Apollo kid, he barely knew how to treat a wound. Along with the fact he couldn’t quite trust himself at the moment. So he stayed quietly at the table as he ate.
Piper tried to stay positive around them. But he could sense her fear and worry as she replaced his bandages. Jason had been stabbed with Imperial Gold. Annabeth had said “Imperial Gold could dissolve a Demigod’s essence from the inside out.” And Ambrosia and Nectar could only help so much when how much Demigods could have of it was limited.
Leo appeared from the hall, and sat down at the table along with the others. Once Jason saw that everyone was present. He started citing what they had to do next.
“So ...” Jason wincing as he spoke. “We’ll stay in the air, and then drop anchor as close as we can to Olympia. It’s further inland than I’d like—about five miles—but we don’t have much choice, its the best we can do. Juno told us we’d have to find the Goddess of Victory, and…subdue her…”
Uncomfortable silence filled the Argo.
“Isn’t Nike one of the good ones?…And as she’s Victory, she should be supporting the right side towards victory, right…? So she should be with us.” Percy commented.
Annabeth’s slight flinch at his voice did not go unnoticed by him. She pretended nothing happened.
”…Percy’s right, it is odd. She was worshipped for hundreds of years by both the Greeks and the Romans. Why would we have to subdue her? Why wouldn’t she be with us?”
Frank nodded. “Hundreds of years to almost the end of the Roman empire. Everyone loved her—shes victory, who wouldn’t?”
Jason frowned. ”I know it seems odd, but all I was told was Victory runs rampant in Olympia. And then Juno warned us we couldn’t bring the Greeks and the Romans together unless we defeated Victory.”
“How do we defeat Victory? That’s an oxymoron, it’s like impossible.” Piper said
“Yeah, victory seems great and all. But you’ve seen her kids at camp right?” Leo shuddered.
”He’s right. Her kids are super competitive, they never turn down a challenge. They always have to win and be number 1. If that’s anything to go by…” Annabeth said.
“And aren’t the gods having issues? Split between their Roman and Greek aspects. If it’s happening to Nike too, and she’s the goddess of Victory…” Piper trailed off.
”She’dbe conflicted. Wanting to declare a winner between her aspects. She’d be fighting herself.” Annabeth finished.
“But we don’t want any side to win, we want both of the sides to work together. We want the Greeks and Romans on the same team.” Hazel said.
“Maybe that’s the problem.” Jason said. “If the goddess of victory is torn between Greek and Roman, she might make it impossible to bring the two camps together. Both the sides would want to achieve victory like she is.”
“How?” Leo asked.
“Gods relate to their domain. Ares, God of war, has an aura that makes you want to fight. If Nike’s also like that, she could have a competitive aura, urging people to fight, wanting to win. Which could contribute to the Greeks and Romans rivalry.” Percy added.
Frank pointed at Percy. “You remember Phorcys? He said that Gaia’s plans always have lots of layers. This could be part of the giants’ strategy, keeping to two camps divided, as well as the Gods incapacitated and unable to aid us. If that’s the case, we can’t let Nike play us against each other. We should send a landing party of four—two Greeks, two Romans. The balance might help keep her balanced.”
Annabeth looked at him. “Frank makes a good point. But we have to be careful with who we choose. It has to be a group of people with no parental rivalries that could make her more unstable.”
Piper spoke up. “I’ll go, I can try and charmspeak her.”
”Nike is about competition. Aphrodite…she is too in her own way. Nike might see you as a threat, and we cant risk that.”
Piper wasn’t upset at Annabeth’s words. “Who should go then?”
“Jason and Percy shouldn’t go together. Jupiter snd Poseidon…they don't have a good relationship. Nike could have them fighting easily.”
“Yeah, cant have another incident like we had in Kansas. I might kill my bro Percy.” Jason joked. But there was a tone to his words, fear, hesitance, doubt? Percy gave him a small smile. And tried not to think too much of it.
Annabeth nodded. “We also shouldn’t send me and Frank. Mars and Athena, also bad combo.”
“Okay,” Leo broke in. “So Percy and me for the Greeks. Frank and Hazel for the Romans. Is that the ultimate non-competitive dream team or what?”
Annabeth and Frank exchanged looks. “It could work. I dont see much rivalry between our parents.”
Hazel traced her finger along the map of Greece, her expression full of worry. She sighed. “I still wish we could’ve gone through the Gulf of Corinth. I was hoping we could visit Delphi, maybe get some advice. Plus it’s such a long way around the Peloponnese.”
Leo’s face fell. “Yeah…its July 22nd already, if we count today, theres only 10 days left until…”
“I know,” Jason said. “But Juno had been clear. The shorter way around would have been suicide.”
”And as for Delphi…” Piper leaned towards the map. “What’s going on there? If Apollo doesn’t have his Oracle any more…”
Jason sighed. “Hopefully we can find Apollo andArtemis. Juno said the twins might be willing to help us.”
“So many unanswered questions,” Frank muttered. “So many miles to cover before we get to Athens…”
“First things first,” Annabeth said. “You guys have to find Nike and figure out how to subdue her…whatever Juno meant by that. I still don’t understand how you defeat a goddess who controls victory. Seems impossible.”
As soon as she said that. Leo grinned like a madman. “We’ll see about that.” He jumped to his feet. “Let me get my collection of grenades and I’ll meet you guys on deck!” He winked.
—————
They’d arrived in Olympia. He and Leo checked the Museum. Looking for Nike, as Frank and Hazel left to scout the ruins. They’d finished checking early, so they sat on a bridge while waiting for the other two to come back. Leo skipped a stone throw the river. Leo looked lost in thought. Leo stared at him. He was starting to worry if he had something on his face, and then his face shifted into one of anger. Which confused Percy.
“Are…you good?” He asked.
”What, huh?” Leo said, shaking his head.
“You were staring at me…angrily…”
“Was I?…Sorry about that.”
No, as he focused. Percy could sense something. A mix of emotions—of fear, anger, and…lovesickness…which could only mean on thing…No, he didn’t have enough proof, he couldn’t assume,
Percy wanted to apologize if he’d done anything else to make Leo mad. But the moment he opened his mouth. He noticed Frank standing far away.
“Guys!” He yelled. He waved at them to come over.” Percy glanced at Leo, who looked relieved. Percy felt hurt, was he that bad to be around?
“This place is huge,” Frank reported. “The ruins stretch from the river to the base of that mountain over there, about half a kilometer.”
“How far is that in regular measurements?” Leo asked.
Frank rolled his eyes. “That is a regular measurement in Canada and the rest of the world. Only you Americans—“
“About five or six football fields,” Hazel interceded, feeding Arion a big chunk of gold. “That’s all you needed to say.” Leo said.
“Anyway,. Frank continued, “from overhead, I didn’t find anything suspicious.”
“Neither did I,” Hazel said. “Arion took me on a complete loop around the perimeter. A lot oftourists, but no crazy goddess.”
Arion nickered and tossed his head. And Percy decided not to think about what he said.
Percy sighed. “I guess we just walk around? Hope she finds us?” The others nodded with no enthusiasm.
They walked around for a while. Frank found a Tourist Pamphlet. And since he wasn’t Dyslexic, he gave them a commentary on where they were, and what was what. They walked deeper and deeper into the ruins. Leo didn’t seem impressed by any of the structures. And Percy just felt uneasy the further in they got. Hazel rode on Arion. But still, they couldn’t seem to find any traces of Nike. However after Frank’s commentary the Temple of Zeus. Leo seemed to have made a discovery.
“Hey, Percy,” he said, “remember the statue of Nike in the museum? The one that was in pieces?”
“Hm?”
“Didn’t it used to stand here, at the Temple of Zeus? Feel free to tell me I’m wrong. I’d love to be wrong.” Percy wished he was wrong too. But after he mentioned it, he remembered.
Percy’s hand went to his pocket. “No, you’re right. If Nike was anywhere…this would be a good spot.”
Frank scanned their surroundings warily. “I don’t see anything.” Maybe not. But he sensed something else. A presence of someone. He took Riptide out.
“What if we promoted, like, Adidas shoes?” Leo joked. “Would that make Nike mad enough to show up? Like I bet that would totally be against her sponsorship deal. THOSE ARE NOT THE OFFICIAL SHOES OF THE OLYMPICS! YOU WILL DIE NOW!”
Hazel rolled her eyes, but she smiled. “You’re impossible.” Percy uncapped Riptide.
And behind Leo, a thunderous voice shook the ruins: “YOU WILL DIE NOW!”
Leo almost jumped out of his tool belt. He turned…eyes wide in shock and terror.
Towering over him in a golden chariot, with a spear aimed at his heart, was the goddess Nike.
They stood frozen in shock. Hazel’s eyes were bulging, no doubt horribly confused that Leo’s statement had actually worked. Leo looked ill, before he coughed awkwardly. “Lady,” he said, “could you fold your flappers, please? You’re giving me a sunburn.”
Nike glared at Leo, who shrunk under her gaze. But she did fold her golden wings. Nike scanned the 4 of them quickly. Then her eyes met Percy’s. He held his breath as she examined him. Eyes boring through him. After several seconds that felt like an eternity. She smiled crazily.
“Ah, Perseus was it?” She smiled. Although the smile was devoid of any kindness. Percy flinched at the use of his real name, but he stayed silent, Nike knew him. That couldn’t be good.
Nike’s smile dimmed. “Not much of a talker, are we? From what I’ve seen, I’d thought you’d be a little…” She trailed off.
Frank and Hazel looked at him worriedly. They held hands, and then Percy longed for Annabeth at that moment. Leo stood to the side, also with worry in his eyes.
“But I’ve taken a small interest in you.” She smiled again, back to a crazy smile. “Its not everyday a demigod uses a goddess’ own domain against them to achieve victory.”
Percy froze. How did she know that?! Annabeth told him the gods couldn’t see what was happening down in Tartarus since it was outside their reach. The only godly thing down there was Hermes’ abandoned shrine. But she still said he couldn’t access it due to it being in Tartarus far away from the gods reach.
He was panicking, but he’d tried so hard to make sure what happened wouldn’t get out. He didn’t know what would happen to him if it did. If the gods knew what he’d done.
Frank looked confused. Hazel looked at him with an emotion he couldn’t tell. And Leo raised his eyebrow at him, eyes full of suspicion.
Nike looked at them after moments of silence. “It seems your friends don't know. But I’d be happy to enlighten them! Your victory was quite the interesting one—“ NononononoNO! He felt bad for lying to them, but he didn’t want to be alone. He couldn’t. Annabeth was already avoiding him to an extent. And if they heard about just what he’d done they’d surely abandon him too.
”No!STOP!” He screamed.
