Percy Jackson - The Record of The Journey of a Mortal Who Become a God

It was Friday night. After dinner, there was much more excitement than usual.

It was no wonder; it was time for the capture the flag game. A long-standing tradition that always happens on Fridays; the campers usually play against each other, but there are a few exceptions... something that does not apply here.

When the plates were taken away, the conch shell sounded. All the campers stood by their tables.

The campers shouted and applauded as Annabeth and two of her brothers ran into the pavilion, carrying a silk flag that was about three meters long, gleaming gray, with a painting of an owl atop an olive tree.

On the opposite side of the pavilion, Clarisse and her friends rushed in with another banner, of identical size but bright red, featuring a painting of a spear dripping with blood and a boar's head.

Ikki was standing in the corner next to the Hermes cabin campers. Next to him was Percy, looking confused by everything, and on the other side stood Luke with his arms crossed.

"Are those the flags you mentioned?"

Percy's words pulled Ikki from his thoughts; that question had been directed at Luke on his other side since his friend was looking in his direction.

"Yes..." Luke nodded.

"Ares and Athena always lead the teams?" Ikki asked, joining the conversation.

"Not always." Luke glanced at the boy next to him, relieved in his heart to be accustomed to his perfect appearance, and said, "But they do often."

Percy, still curious about the flags, asked, "So, if another cabin captures one of them, what do you do, paint the flag again?"

Luke smiled ironically in response.

"You'll see. First, we need to get one."

"Which side are we on?" Ikki asked calmly.

The older boy gave him a sly look, as if he knew something he didn't. The scar on his face made him look almost sinister in the torchlight.

"We've made a temporary alliance with Athena. Tonight, we're taking Ares' flag. And you're going to help."

Ikki found this amusing internally.

The demigods were obviously much stronger than ordinary humans in terms of physical attributes. If they reached their full potential, it would be easy for them to destroy entire buildings, possess incredible reflexes, and have speeds close to that of sound itself, not to mention their supernatural talents inherited from their parents. That was the good part about being the offspring of a deity.

If an average demigod was so strong, imagine a child of the Big Three? With physical attributes far superior to a regular half-blood, and powers capable of sinking islands or causing storms and hurricanes to sweep a city off the map.

Despite that, none of them could come close to facing him.

Perhaps only the gods would be a good challenge, and that wasn't arrogance. He knew his strength very well...

The discussion about team division began.

The teams were announced. Athena had formed an alliance with Apollo and Hermes, the two largest cabins. Apparently, they had swapped privileges—shower times, duty schedules, the best spots for activities—to gain support.

Ares had allied with all the others: Dionysus, Demeter, Aphrodite, and Hephaestus.

Analyzing the opposing team and what he had learned about them in recent days, Ikki felt they were not a concern for his team, even without him in the lineup.

The campers of Dionysus were actually good athletes, but there were only two of them. The Demeter campers had a slight edge in nature skills and outdoor activities, but they weren't very aggressive.

As for the children of Aphrodite, they were the least of the concerns. They mostly sat around waiting for all the activities to end, checking their reflections in the lake, combing their hair, and gossiping. Silena was the only one dressed like someone who was about to fight; their eyes met briefly during his analysis, and he waved at her, receiving a wink in return.

The Hephaestus children weren't pretty, and there were only four of them, but they were big and stocky from working in the metal shop all day long. They could pose a problem for the campers on his team.

With that, of course, remained the Ares cabin: a dozen of the biggest, ugliest, and most vicious boys and girls from Long Island, or any other place on the planet.

Chiron stomped his hoof on the marble before shouting in announcement.

"Heroes!.. You know the rules. The creek is the boundary. The whole forest is fair game."

"All magic items are allowed. The flag must be prominently displayed and may not have more than two guards. Prisoners can be disarmed, but may not be tied up or gagged. Killing or maiming is not allowed. I will serve as judge and field medic. Arm yourselves!"

He extended his hands, and the tables suddenly filled with equipment: helmets, bronze swords, spears, leather shields covered in metal.

The campers approached the tables and began to arm themselves for battle.

"Wow..." Percy marveled and asked Luke, "Do we really have to use this?"

Luke, and even Ikki briefly, looked at him as if he were crazy. The older boy said strangely.

"Unless you want to be skewered by your cabin mates."

After saying this, he grabbed a set of gear and handed it to Percy.

"Here... Chiron thought these should serve you. You'll be on border patrol."

Percy's shield was the size of an NBA basketball backboard, with a large caduceus in the center. It seemed to weigh a million pounds, and he felt he could even use it as a snowboard, it was so awful to carry and impossible to run with such a thing in hand. He wasn't his friend who had superhuman strength.

Speaking of his friend, he saw Ikki only grabbing a spear? Which confused him a lot; after all, he was an excellent swordsman. But he didn't bring it up.

He put on his helmet, which was the same as all the others on Athena's side, with a plume of blue mane on top.

Ares and his allies had red plumes.

After everyone armed themselves, it was time for the game. Annabeth, who was leading the team, shouted, "Blue team, forward!"

Everyone cheered and waved their swords, spears, and bows in the air before following the path to the southern woods.

Their rival team shouted and taunted them as they headed north.

Ikki stood at the back of the group next to Luke, who was explaining his task in this battle.

Meanwhile, Percy managed to catch up with Annabeth without tripping over his own gear.

"Hey!.."

She kept marching.

"So, what's the plan?..." He asked curiously before adding, "Do you have any magic items to lend me?"

Her hand shifted to her pocket, as if afraid he might steal something.

"I'll just say to be careful with Clarisse's spear. You don't want that thing touching you. Other than that, don't worry. We're going to take Ares' flag. Did Luke assign you your task?..." Annabeth asked without looking at him.

"Border patrol, whatever that is."

"It's easy. Stay by the creek, keep the reds away. Leave the rest to me. Athena always has a plan." Finishing her sentence, she moved ahead, leaving him in her dust.

"Alright..." Percy murmured, "I'm glad you want me on your team."

Ikki, who watched the exchange between the two next to Luke, found it amusing. They really had an antagonistic chemistry with each other.

Probably just like their parents...?

He shook his head negatively and went into the woods where his team's campers had hidden the flag.

When he arrived, he stood ready. He skillfully twirled his spear before placing it on his shoulders.

After finishing off his enemies on solid ground, Ikki looked up at the trees where the other campers were in shock at how easily his peers had been defeated.

They recovered from their shock upon seeing him leaping through the branches of the trees with unmatched agility. In a single breath, he landed on the branch where one of the three Demigods was. As soon as he arrived, he had to duck to avoid a dagger that almost hit him.

Still crouched down, he delivered a sweeping kick to the side of the camper's knee, a crack of something breaking echoed in the area, and the camper let out a scream of pain as he was flipped over by the force of the kick. After some spins, he fell from the tree, hitting the ground headfirst and becoming unconscious.

Ikki sensed two projectiles coming his way and quickly jumped to another branch of the tree. Two arrows pierced the air and struck the spot he had just vacated. Looking in that direction, he saw the last two campers had jumped to another tree and had their bows ready again. Seeing this, he leaped onto the trunk of the nearby tree and used it as a springboard for his next jump.

Thus, Ikki used the tree trunk as if it were the ground, gaining momentum and leaping toward the tree where the last two campers were. Arrows struck the trunk he had used for support. He had to dodge a flying dagger as soon as he landed on the branch where the last two campers were.

Seeing that he had evaded their attack, the camper drew another dagger and attacked him in close combat while the other jumped to another branch, taking the opportunity to descend from the trees.

The brave camper swung his dagger downwards diagonally, aiming to pierce the left side of Ikki's chest, but Ikki skillfully lifted his left leg and used it to parry the attack.

The camper whose arm was caught was pulled towards Ikki. Then, in succession, Ikki brought his right leg around for a reverse kick; his knee struck the camper's chin while his shin and the rest of his leg hit the camper's face. The helmet shattered, and the camper's eyes rolled back. He lost consciousness.

After the blow, Ikki jumped back, performing a backflip and landing on another lower branch. He looked at the last camper and saw that he was on the hill where Ikki had defeated the first two archers. He had a sword and shield in hand, and his bow was on his back along with a quiver full of arrows.

He was in a fighting stance, waiting for Ikki to attack. The camper knew he couldn't escape with the speed of his enemy, so he chose to face him.

In a leap, Ikki stopped a few meters in front of the camper. Subsequently, he moved toward the enemy demigod, who swung his sword in an attempt to cut Ikki diagonally.

Ikki gracefully and skillfully dodged to the side, taking this opportunity to deliver a spinning kick to the opponent's abdomen. The camper felt all his internal organs shift, and he spat blood. In succession, Ikki executed a reverse kick, arcing his foot to strike the enemy demigod's head.

The demigod fell hard to the ground, just like his companions, losing consciousness.

Ikki let out a sigh after defeating all his enemies. He felt the adrenaline of fighting again, and it was the most incredible feeling of his life.

Therefore, he somewhat got carried away during the fight and used more force than necessary.

At that moment, he furrowed his brow and sensed that Percy was in danger a few hundred meters away.

He quickly disappeared from where he was and appeared where his best friend was, by a small stream bubbling over some rocks. Campers from the Ares cabin surrounded him, and soon a battle erupted among them.

Although he wanted to help his best friend, he felt he shouldn't; Percy needed to grow stronger, and this type of experience was what he needed most at that moment.

So, he hid behind a tree and observed his friend's fight.

After much difficulty, Percy managed to take down the Demigods. He had just slammed the hilt of his sword into the middle of Clarisse's forehead when exultant shouts filled the area. Luke ran toward the boundary line with the team's red banner held high.

The son of Hermes was flanked by some of his brothers, covering his retreat, with a few sons of Apollo behind them, fighting the Hephaestus kids.

The Ares kids that Percy had knocked down were struggling to get up, and Clarisse muttered like a stunned curse.

Ikki stepped out from behind his tree, and in a burst of speed, appeared among the four sons of Hephaestus. With a quick and skillful move, he delivered an upward kick, striking the chin of one of the sons of Hephaestus, using the sole of his foot as the striking surface.

The son of Hephaestus flew upward in a perfect arc before falling to the ground unconscious. In rapid succession, Ikki delivered a spinning kick to the right side of another camper's face, knocking him straight down into the realm of unconsciousness.

Then, Ikki crouched down and swept the leg of one of the last two sons of Hephaestus. Before the camper hit the ground face-first, he spun and used his other leg to kick the camper's face.

The camper fell backward unconscious.

With incredible flexibility, Ikki performed a backflip using his hands for support, landing on his feet. In succession, he delivered a high kick to the neck of the last camper before the son of the God of Forge could use his sword to cut him.

All this happened in just a few breaths...

The sons of Apollo who had been fighting the sons of Hephaestus earlier had their hearts racing and a slight flush on their cheeks.

...This scene of Ikki facing the Sons of Hephaestus would be hard to forget.

While this small fight was happening, everyone converged toward the stream as Luke crossed into friendly territory. The blue team erupted in cheers.

The red banner fluttered and turned silver. The boar and the spear were replaced by a huge caduceus, the symbol of cabin number eleven. Everyone on the blue team lifted Luke onto their shoulders and began to carry him. Chiron emerged at a gallop from the woods and blew the conch shell. The game was over. The blue team had won.

Ikki's blue eyes, like agates surrounded by electricity, shone with satisfaction. While everyone was celebrating with laughter and shouts of victory, he noticed Annabeth appear like a ghost beside Percy, who was about to come in his direction.

"Where the hell did you learn to fight like that?…" asked the Daughter of Athena to the son of Poseidon. She was holding a Yankees baseball cap as if she had just taken it off her head.

Percy was upset; "angry" was a better term to describe his current feelings, he accused through clenched teeth: "You set this up for me…"

"You put me here because you knew Clarisse would come after me while you sent Luke around the flanks. You had it all planned out…"

"I told you. Athena always, always has a plan…" Annabeth shrugged as if what she had done was nothing much.

Seeing the animosity between the two, Ikki let out a sigh and stepped closer, getting both of their attention.

"Annabeth, Percy has every right to be angry. After all, you used him like a mere pawn; if you had told him your plan, he would have been better prepared," Ikki said, looking at the daughter of Athena, more specifically at her gray pupils.

Percy gazed more intensely at the daughter of Athena, feeling somewhat satisfied that Ikki was on his side in this matter.

Annabeth blushed when she saw him staring directly at her, and her heart raced. But... hearing his words, she felt her heart sour.

"I don't—" Annabeth was about to defend herself, but she stopped mid-sentence, looking directly at Percy's arm and asked, "How did you do that?"

Percy's arm had a small white scar that was healing quickly.

Ikki looked a little curious; that was the power of a son of Poseidon, right? Able to regenerate faster through contact with water, and that was just one of his lesser talents; it was understandable why the children of the Big Three were so strong.

"Sword cut…" Percy said sarcastically. "What do you think?"

"No. That was a sword cut. Look…" Annabeth pointed out. The "wound" had completely vanished...

"And—I don't understand," Percy said, shocked. The blood had disappeared. Where there had been a huge cut, there was now a small white scar, and even that was fading, eventually disappearing.

Annabeth narrowed her gray eyes as if she were thinking hard. She looked at his feet in the creek, then at Clarisse's broken spear, and said, "Get out of the water, Percy…"

"What—" Percy looked at the daughter of Athena, who narrowed her eyes even more.

"Just do it," she said.

Sighing, Percy stepped out and appeared completely dry. He also seemed to have lost all his adrenaline. He almost fell, but Ikki caught him, supporting the son of Poseidon on his shoulder.

"Are you okay?…" Ikki asked, and Percy nodded. He was fine, except for the fact that all the adrenaline had drained away, replaced by a feeling of weakness.

"Oh, Styx…" Annabeth cursed. "This isn't good. I didn't want to ... I assumed it was Zeus…"

"Looks like she figured it out. So if she assumed that Percy was a son of Zeus... why all this animosity towards him?" Ikki thought, still supporting the son of Poseidon.

Percy was about to ask what Annabeth meant, but a canine growl filled the place. A howl pierced through the forest.

The campers' celebration came to an immediate halt. Chiron bellowed something in ancient Greek. "Prepare yourselves! My bow!.."

Ikki understood perfectly what Chiron said; he squinted toward the monster's howl. He didn't remember this happening in the book; was it some monster from the woods?

Annabeth drew her sword. Percy looked confused as he looked up in the same direction Ikki was.

In the spot where Percy and Ikki were looking, above the stones, looming over everyone, was a black dog the size of a rhinoceros, with eyes like red lava and fangs that looked like daggers.

It was staring directly at Percy and Ikki. No one moved except Annabeth, who shouted, "You two, run!"

She tried to position herself between the two boys and the dog, but the monster was too quick. It leaped over the daughter of Athena—a huge shadow with teeth—just as it was about to strike any of the boys.

Shoving Percy out of the way safely, Ikki took a deep breath and punched the black dog squarely in the head. That punch felt like a mountain, moving at the speed of lightning.

As soon as the black dog was hit, it exploded into golden powder. Its sheer physical strength left everyone in shock, being able to kill a monster with just one punch...

Was he a son of Hercules or something like that?

Damn, that was incredible!

Chiron trotted over to the two boys with a bow in his hand; his expression was relieved.

"Di immortales!" Annabeth exclaimed, a bit pale, as she looked at the golden powder that was what remained of the black dog. "That's a hellhound from the Fields of Punishment. They shouldn't... they shouldn't…"

"Someone summoned it…" Chiron stated. "Someone from inside the camp…"

Luke approached, the forgotten banner in his hand, the moment of glory over.

Clarisse, who had woken from her nap, yelled.

"It's all Percy's fault! Obviously, he summoned it!"

"Shut up, girl…" Chiron ordered, not believing her words.

Ikki moved closer to Percy and helped him to his feet.

"Seaweed brain. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, thanks. Ikki…" Percy replied with a weak smile. He looked somewhat pale.

"No need to thank me…" Ikki said with a shrug, looking at the campers around him.

They were all looking up at Percy with wide eyes. He looked in the same direction and saw the symbol of a trident glowing in a blue color.

"Your father…" Annabeth murmured, looking at Percy. "This really isn't good…"

"It is determined," Chiron announced without waiting for anyone to recover from the shock of the revelation.

The campers automatically began to kneel, even the Ares cabin, which grumbled about having to kneel to Percy and looked at him with discontented eyes.

"My father?" Percy asked, perplexed.

Ikki said nothing, but found his friend's reaction amusing. Was defeating all five campers from the Ares cabin the proof Poseidon was waiting for to recognize him?...

"Poseidon," Chiron said, looking at the symbol above Percy, speaking with dignity: "God of Earthquakes. Bearer of Storms. Father of Horses. Hail, Perseus Jackson, son of the God of the Sea…"

Everyone bowed in respect to Percy.

At this moment, everyone then turned to look at Ikki—not for anything he had done that called attention or because his appearance was so perfect that it was impossible not to look at him, but because a symbol appeared on his head glowing with blue lightning that illuminated the night.

"Di Immortales…" Chiron looked in shock before speaking: "My boy. Your father is determined as well…"

Ikki noticed the shocked looks from everyone and immediately looked up at his head, genuinely shocked. What...?

"Zeus..." Chiron announced to everyone: "King of the Gods, Lord of Olympus, God of Thunder and Lightning — All hail his son, Ikki Phoenix, son of the God of the Sky…"

A thunderclap crossed the dark sky.

Everyone bowed again.

Ikki stood there, looking at this event completely shocked; his friend, who had also been claimed, looked at him with a strange expression.