HOLY CRAP I SUCK AT UPDATING I AM SO SORRY

I really am sorry. Especially to CJM86, who has been waiting for me to write this idea for a really long time. I apologize. I suck at doing things these days.

IN MY DEFENSE I have high school to deal with.

Bad excuse, I know.

*dodges many complaints. like a list of complaints. angry complaints. because i suck.*

Yes, I know, darlings. I'm a moron.

BUT I AM DOING THIS NOW SO CAN IT AND ENJOY THE FREAKING STORY

...

BUT FIRST!

*dodges sword*

Disclaimer: Hi! I'm Lulu. Just in case you were wondering, I am NOT Rick Riordan! This world is just a sandbox I get to play in, and these characters are little dolls I can dress up, BUT THEY HAVE ALL BEEN BORROWED FROM THE KING OF TROLLS! NOT MINE! I REPEAT, NOT MINE!

Now that that's out of the way...

NOW YOU CAN IT AND ENJOY THE FREAKING STORY

Alabaster C. Torrington

It's been years since the war. The world is calm and serene, and everything is peaceful.

Except for me.

The Titan War was supposed to be the moment my mother was given the glory she deserved. Her and all other so-called "minor" gods had joined forced with the Titan army on the chance (and it was a good chance) that they would finally be given their dues and bring the treacherous Olympians to justice. I myself led the demigod forces of Kronos against the (wretched pawns) demigods of Camp Half-blood. We were set for victory.

It didn't work out like that.

And the reason for that was a couple of upstarts by the names of Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase.

I'd heard of them before. Perseus Jackson, the boy who kept ruining our lord and master's plans with the help of his motley crew of mythical beings, most notably the clever and annoying Athena-spawn, Annabeth. They were nothing to sneeze at, but no one- NO ONE- expected them to win.

Unfortunately, they decided to defeat all expectations and win anyway.

My mother decided that fighting wasn't worth it and rejoined the side of the enemy, her decision aided by promises of honor and respect for her and the other long-ignored deities. I pleaded with her not to trust them, but it was too late. She was gone.

I hate them. I hate them all. The gods and their arrogance that caused the war, the Titans and their empty promises, my mother for betraying me, those brats that ruined everything- they are all to blame.

Taking revenge against the gods is foolish at best and suicidal no matter what, and the Titans are already being punished for their crimes (and they're also rather dangerous to take up arms against). Good thing that neither of these are on my agenda. At least, not directly. The gods still have to pay... and what better way than to destroy their beloved saviors?

If you want to take down the rider, aim at his horse.

Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase are as good as dead.

I have a plan. There is an ancient beast, one that is never to be summoned. A monster from the deepest depths of Tartarus, where the ocean of Chaos swirls and churns like the seas far above, only much, much worse. The monster came out of this murky soup eons ago and immediately began to raze the world above.

The Leviathan.

No hero has ever bested it. No hero ever will. It fears nothing, not even the Fates, who have foretold that the creature shall never die. Only the most powerful of the gods can hope to battle it, and even then it can only be trapped. If it is summoned and given a specific mission, it will complete it while carving a swath of destruction across civilization. None can stop it when it is on a mission. Only when the mission is complete can it be forced back into captivity.

If I can find the right spells to summon the Leviathan... I can destroy those demigods.

The only trouble is finding where the incantations are hidden. That could take some time.

Good thing I have plenty of that.

Still... Might as well gather some intelligence on my enemies while I still have the chance. Just to see what they're like... to find out what I'm up against.

Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase get around. It's not hard to find people who know them, met them once, or have at least heard of them.

My first source of information: a school queen bee by the (horrible) name of Candy Waverly.

I don't know what I expect to hear from her, but this is what I get:

"Percy Jackson is a total babe," she gushes, flipping her ebony hair over her shoulder and fluttering unnaturally green eyes dreamily. "Swimmer's body... Hot voice... Sex hair... And eyes that you could just fall into..." She suddenly crosses her arms and pouts, now looking more like a disgruntled six-year-old than a love struck teenage girl. "I don't know what he sees in her, though."

I perk up out of my bored trance. "Sees in who?" I ask, prepared to find out something about my enemy's personal life. It appears he has a significant other!

"Annabitch fucking Chase!" she practically shrieks. "That dumb blonde who thinks she can steal my man and get away with it! She doesn't even match him!" Candy gestures wildly at her sandals and sundress. "Do you see this outfit? Percy matches me! Not that ditzy bimbo! ME!"

I am shocked. Annabeth Chase and Percy Jackson are... together? How had I never heard about this? I almost want to laugh. Perfect! Two life-ruiners who are dating are easy to take out. Just wait until their alone and start the spell! It's perfect!

I stand up and walk away, ignoring Candy's indignant shouts. It's obvious she wants to whine some more, and I honestly couldn't care less. Her stupid problems are none of my business.

I have bigger fish to fry.

Katherine Snow is clever and funny, and it's immediately obvious that she is not a demigod.

And yet, I see her hanging out with Annabeth Chase and company at Goode High when I'm investigating. I can't help but wonder why. Why is a powerful someone like Annabeth Chase letting a mortal like Katherine Snow into the inner circle?

When she's alone, I ask Katherine about Annabeth, playing the curious bystander angle. It's almost too easy. Normal people aren't a challenge at all. They never were.

"Annabeth is great," Katherine says with a smile. "She helped me come out of my shell, y'know? I used to be really shy. A follower type." She laughs in self-deprecation. "Still am, actually. But it's better now. I may follow Annabeth's lead, but I'm my own person. I can be timid once in a while, but Annabeth keeps encouraging me to say whatever I want to say and none of her camp friends judge me. Especially Percy. He just makes a dumb joke and laughs at himself along with everyone else. They're good people."

I nod along. I know that, from most people's perspective, Percy and Annabeth are "good" (don't kick puppies, don't steal candy from babies, fight monsters from the pits of hell, etc. I've heard it all before). For me, it's a different story.

They ruined my life. I'm prepared to end theirs.

Brandon Warren is the last person I'd expect to have anything good to say about Percy Jackson. He's the typical arrogant rich-boy jock (or at least he looks it).

Everyone knows the type. They're the ones who pay off their lackeys and bully the kids that won't take the bribes; the ones that think their the gods' gift to womenkind and feel free to "love 'em and leave 'em"; the ones who think that money means power and that no one can undermine them.

But Brandon Warren defies my suspicions. He's nice and funny and friendly and I really don't like it when people aren't who I think they are. It's unnerving. I'm always right... but then I'm not, and it doesn't make sense because logically I should be correct.

Brandon answers my questions readily.

"Percy's a cool dude," he says, waving at a passing member of the football team. "Funny guy. Acts pretty clueless sometimes, and he can be crazy idiotic, but when he gets focused- damn. I would not want to get in his way. He's smarter than he looks, too." He laughs. "I guess Annabeth rubbed off on him. That girl is wicked smart." He sighs. "I used to be a real dick, you know. When I met Percy, I was an arrogant sonofabitch. I kept trying to trip him up. Perce just took it, man. Stood up to me no matter how low I hit. I hated him, but he earned my respect. Then Annabeth arrived and I decided, 'Hey! How 'bout I try and steal Jackson's girlfriend?'" He whistled lowly. "Dumb idea. She sussed out my 'ingenious plan' in a second, then somehow logicked me into realized how much of a jerk I was. The two of them helped me realize that the universe doesn't revolve around me, and I'm glad they did."

When Brandon jogs away with a shouted farewell, I have to pause and sort out my thoughts. The two people who destroyed everything I worked for helped a once-jerk become a nice guy. They taught him humility. He even surprised me by not being who I thought he was.

How the heck do they do it?

Right before I spoke to Katherine, I discovered the first part of the spell at the Museum of Modern Art. The symbols had been arranged in an artful pattern on the steps. I used a transcribe spell to write the incantations on my parchment scroll.

Right after I spoke to Brandon, I found the second third of the spell in the Botanical Gardens. A collection of cherry blossom petals had strange lettering etched into their soft skins. It was virtually impossible to decipher with the human eye, but another quick spell had the symbols spiraling into my scroll.

One more part to go.

I know where it is. The last piece, I know where to find it.

Greenwood Cemetery, in Brooklyn.

Unfortunately, there are specific conditions that must be there in order to gain the last lines of the chant. First, it has to be foggy and damp, with a slight chill in the air. Second, I must carry a single, unlit torch through the cemetery. Third, I need to have bay incense burning around me for at least eight hours before I even attempt to find the words (to facilitate psychic abilities and induce the sort of dream state that lends itself to prophetic visions).

I am ready for this.

Overall, it seems as though this was intended to be the most difficult part of my quest, and it is. When mist descends on the city, I immediately begin burning my incense. However, more often than not, the clouds have retreated to the skies again before my eight hours are up!

Finally, my luck is changing. Heavy fog has carpeted the town. My eight hours are up and mist stays. I lift my torch and make my way to the cemetery. I slip through the wrought iron gates.

It's dark and gloomy in the cemetery. Tombstones loom through the fog, a hard fall waiting to happen. I tread carefully, following my instincts to find the last piece I need. As a child of Hecate, I can sense magic, especially when it's strong. This spell is very strong, and even one small part resonates through the air, waves of power bouncing off me. It calls to me and I walk, deeper and deeper, into the night-

"You shouldn't do this."

I jump, disturbing my magic sense, and spin around to find who interrupted me.

The boy standing there is almost entirely clothed in darkness. Black jeans, black boots, black aviator jacket, and a black T-shirt with a glow-in-the-dark skull that should be cheesy but is actually a bit terrifying. His hair is rumpled and dark, his skin far too pale. He looks young, maybe around fourteen or fifteen, but I've learned not to trust how old someone looks when it concerns mythical beings. Besides, his eyes- so dark as to be almost black and as deep as the pit- are too old for a boy his age. Not old enough to be a god, but certainly older than he seems to be.

"Why not?" I ask warily. "What reason do I have to stop?"

The boy sighs tiredly, as though he's already so done dealing with me. "Because you know what they're like," he explains, sounding almost condescending. "You've heard about them. They've done some real good in the world."

"What good have they done for me?" I demand. "When have they ever done something good for me?"

"Well maybe if you weren't always on the wrong side," he mutters.

"Don't give me that line of crap!" I near shout. "There is no wrong or right side in war! There are winners and there are losers, and we were SUPPOSED TO WIN!" I scream, tired of holding in my anger. "We were more POWERFUL, we had ALL THE ADVANTAGES, and then who comes in but Percy fucking Jackson and Annabeth fucking Chase! And they ruin ALL our PLANS! My mother would have been given EVERYTHING, and instead she just went back to those STUPID ASSHOLES and I am just SICK and TIRED of ALWAYS LOSING!" I am breathing heavily, trying desperately to control my temper. Finally, when I know for certain that I won't yell, I say bitterly, "At least this time I'll get the last laugh."

This whole time, the other boy has said nothing. When he realizes that I'm not continuing, he looks up from his careless examination of his nails and asks, "You done?" He seems bored by my outburst.

I want to sat something snarky, but instead I reply with a simple, "Yeah."

"Good." The boy perches himself on a nearby gravestone (and I could have sworn it wasn't there a moment ago- then again, this fog makes it very hard to see...) and simply looks at me for a moment. Then he says conversationally, as though we're discussing sports, "I used to hate Percy, too."

I stare at him in shock. "What?"

The boy rolls his eyes. "Are you deaf? I. Used. To. Hate. Perseus. Jackson," he says slowly.

I glare at him. "I heard what you said."

"Are you sure?"

"Just continue already."

The boy shrugs. "Whatever. Anyway, when I first met Percy, I thought he was the coolest. He was the first demigod I ever saw, and I really... admired him." Is that a blush on the other boy's cheeks? I can't tell. "Then he went on this quest that my older sister had gone on. I asked him to protect her... but she died." He swallows harshly, his face the picture of sorrow, and I realize that I didn't known the boy could look anything other than annoyed or solemn. "She gave her life to save the others, but I blamed him. I needed to hold someone accountable, because I didn't know how to accept that no one had been at fault for Bianca's death besides Bianca herself. I ran away from him... but he still helped me, no matter how hard I pushed him away. He felt like he owed it to my sister, and to me, to protect me." He snorts. "Not like I needed it, but I guess it's the thought that counts. Anyway, he's a good person. Annabeth, too. She tried so hard to help me, even when everyone else thought I was beyond help. She is so smart and clever and she always knows what to do, and Percy is brave and smarter than he looks and loyal to a fault. They're really wonderful."

"They ruined my life!" I say insistently. "They deserve punishment!"

And that's when the boy explodes.

"SO WHAT?!" he shouts angrily, making me jump back. Dark fire burns in his eyes. "You think you're the only person who matters? Do you know how many lives you and your army destroyed? How much pain you caused to the people who loved those you killed?" He laughs, but the sound is harsh, grating, and filled with anger. "You lost your little war. Who gives a damn? At least you didn't lose the person you loved more than anything else! You're alive, and your mother has what she was fighting that war for, and you're still here, stuck in the past, holding a stupid grudge against two of the kindest people I've ever met! Do you have any idea how much of a CHILD you are?!"

I stare at the boy, who is breathing heavily and glaring as though he could kill me with his gaze.

"Who are you?" I ask quietly.

The boy smirks. "Nico di Angelo. The son of Hades."

And with that, he fades into the shadows.

I found it. The last piece of the puzzle. Everything is ready.

I stare at the scroll, at the words. From the depths of the pit... The Scourge of the Darkness... The Unstoppable Demon... Rise, rise, and join the hunt... Ánodos, afxánontai, kai na entachthoún sto kynígi... From the Ocean of Chaos, where the light dares not go... Ánodos, afxánontai, kai na entachthoún sto kynígi... Deep within its sleep of ages, it will waken... Ánodos, afxánontai, kai na entachthoún sto kynígi... Leviathan... Ánodos, afxánontai, kai na entachthoún sto kynígi.

It would be so easy. So simple. Just a chant. An incantation with no complex motions, no specific potions required.

Just words.

"He loves her. She loves him."

"She brought me out of my shell."

"They taught me humility."

"They protected me, even when I didn't need it."

So many people affected by two ordinary demigods. Are they special? No. Of course not. At least, not any more than other half-bloods. Do they have people skills? Yeah, they do. Maybe that's it.

But why? Why have they helped so many? What's in it for them?

Why do I care? I think to myself. They're the reason everything's gone to shit for me. They deserve it. Of course they do.

So why am I hesitating?

Deep breath in.

"From the depths of the pit, it comes. Ánodos, afxánontai, kai na entachthoún sto kynígi. The Scourge of Darkness shall be brought forth and descend upon the world. Ánodos, afxánontai, kai na entachthoún sto kynígi. It shall become manifest, the Unstoppable Demon, and raze all in its path. Ánodos, afxánontai, kai na entachthoún sto kynígi. From the Ocean of Chaos, where the light dares not go, it will emerge into brightness and be overcome with hatred. Ánodos, afxánontai, kai na entachthoún sto kynígi. Deep within its sleep of ages, it will waken, called for this mission, to destroy the demigods Perseus Jackson and Annabeth Chase. Ánodos, afxánontai, kai na entachthoún sto kynígi."

The last few words left...

"Leviathan..."

The ground shivers, and I can sense a presence. It is dark and powerful and everywhere and I want to run away, but this is my revenge, and I must-

"Love"

I have to-

"Friendship"

Why can't I just-

"Humility"

It's my duty to-

"Protect"

I can't say the words! Why can't I finish the incantation?

"Ánodos..."

My mouth is heavy, filled with lead and cotton and the words burn.

"Afxánontai..."

Why does it hurt to speak? Why do I feel like this is wrong?

"K-kai na... kai na..."

Hesitation. I hesitated.

...entachthoún sto kynígi...

The last words drift through my mind, unspoken.

Instead, I whisper, "Perató." Terminate. The spell is ended. I've... failed.

First time I've failed at a spell. I don't like the feeling.

The scroll crumples in my clenched fists. The sound of delicate parchment close to tearing brings me to my senses, and I frantically smooth it out. The symbols are still there. I could still-

...No. I can't.

Stupid son of Hades, I think to myself bitterly. Making me sympathetic. Bleeding heart.

But it's too late. His words have wormed their way into my brain. There is no room for doubt when performing a spell like the summoning of the Leviathan, and I have far too many doubts now. I will never be able to complete the spell.

But maybe... someday... someone else will.

With that thought in mind, I search through the cemetery, finally discovering a suitable place to bury the scroll, under an old, worn tombstone marking the final resting place of a couple named Amelia and Rory*. It's not very far out of the way, and when I softly chant, "As ólous ekeínous pou anazitoún ekdíkisi enantíon tou Perséa kai Annampeth vreíte aftó kýlisis," I know that any who want what I wanted will find the scroll.

It's the least I can do.

HOW WAS IT?!

This has been on the table for MONTHS, but I kept not getting around to it because I'm a dumbass.

Still! Is finished! You like? RFF and tell me! XD

*PLEASE DON'T HURT ME I'm in a very Whovian state of mind all the time these days, so I'm kind of like, "How can I make a Doctor Who reference right here?" And this is what I came up with! Hope it didn't hurt any Whovian feels... I don't actually know what cemetery they were in, so I was just like, "Screw it. They were in Greenwood Cemetery. I don't know any other cemeteries, anyway..." And there you go! XD

Ánodos, afxánontai, kai na entachthoún sto kynígi: Rise, rise, and join the hunt

As ólous ekeínous pou anazitoún ekdíkisi enantíon tou Perséa kai Annampeth vreíte aftó kýlisis: Let all who seek vengeance against Perseus and Annabeth find this scroll

No word of the day today! (Because it's late and my mom is yelling at me to turn off the computer and go the fuck to sleep [not exactly, but almost].)

Love ya! lulu