Second Chances

Chapter 13 - The Golden Palace

(Percy's P.O.V.)

I arrived the foaming shores of the Kootenai River with Thalia and Tyson. The sun hadn't yet broke the horizon, but it would be an hour at most before it settled over the plains before descending into darkness. Thalia and Tyson both waited on the sandy shore of the might river, while I waded out a couple of feet into the sloshing waves.

"Hello, Perseus. You seem to have your gotten into quite a mess with this whole war thing, eh?"

The merman prince of the sea emerged from the rushing river and glided closer towards me, only exposing himself from around the chest up out of the water.

"Triton, is it okay for you to be this far away from the ocean?" It was all I can honestly think to ask but he just nodded.

"No worries, little brother. I can make this journey easily but it does limit some of my powers." There was still a bit of resentment lingering in his voice but I was just glad he lent so much help to notice it.

"Thanks a lot for the help with Tyson and all our reinforcements."

He just nodded, glancing past me towards Thalia as he skeptically looked her over for minute before voiced his thoughts.

"I can't say that I was disappointed about you taking up the hero trainer thing, but it would have been amusing to have you around the sea palace." I wasn't completely caught off-guard by his somewhat hospitality, we had been having slightly friendly conversations since I had became an immortal.

Triton leaned in closely so as not to be heard by the pair behind us on the shore.

"I still think you would be been better off chosing a Nereid or Dryad from around that camp." Triton paused a moment to properly form his thoughts.

"I will admit though, that daughter of Zeus is quite a catch for a human girl."

I blushed and looked back over my shoulder at Thalia, who was talking with Tyson lightly. Her attention snapped in my direction when she noticed both of us looking at her.

"She's really quite amazing, despite your preferences for women," I objectively stated in Thalia's defense, not that I believed she needed it. This turned my attention to the real matter at hand.

"Triton, how come you helped out so much?"

While we might not have hated each other anymore, we certainly hadn't gotten along that well yet either.

"Simple. Father asked me to bring Tyson and the cyclopes, and to just make sure everything was okay here. I might not have a love for humans, but I'm stuck with you for eternity. Least I could do was try to lend a little help, but now I've got to be getting back."

I nodded and muttered a light thanks as he sunk back into the water and shot off through the river like a torpedo.

I turned around to Thalia and Tyson and smiled sheepishly.

"Well, let's head back before dinner starts."

All the way back, Tyson talked about getting to travel with all of the big ponies and how the little goats kept spooking the Cyclopes forces. It was all quite amusing and just good to be near my brother again, but we eventually had to part ways so Thalia and I could head into our tent to rest.

"So, you think I'm quite amazing, do you?"

I stopped dead in my tracks and just blushed as she threw a pillow that thumped me in the face.

"Were you using Tyson to listen in on our conversation?" I asked her suspiciously, but there wasn't any malice behind my voice.

She tried to pout at my question but her expression gave way to a smile quickly.

"Who, me? I would never listen in on what you two oh-so-best-friends had to talk about. It's not like I knew that he feels relieved that your not trying to challenge him for power under the sea."

I laughed and tackled her onto the bed, planting a soft kiss atop her lips, which caused a small makeout session before we both lay down.

"I do mean it you know, about you being amazing and all."

I could almost feel her roll her eyes beside me.

"You're such a girl sometimes, I swear Percy."

With that, she hit me in face with her pillow and we went to sleep.

(Chang's P.O.V.)

We had travelled for an endless array of hours further west, and I was well aware of when we crossed into northern California. I would be lying if I said that my experience was pleasant really.

The apparent leader, the lovely fire-sparking redhead, who had only been referred to as 'the Duchess' in my few times around her, had left me in the oh-so-charming company of Brian. From I what I was able to properly discern, Brian was no more than a Great Dane on a short leash, which unfortunately happened to be directed at me.

It was hard to get an exact estimate of the overall group, but I was fairly sure that it was just the six of them traveling. My gut told me that they were far too organized and thoughtful to be just a group of five wander teens and a man-mountain. From the basic structure of how they adressed each other, besides the spark-plug leader, the pair Brock and Hana seemed to roost atop the nest.

Brock had a small flair of insanity behind his eyes and mannerisms, but he was built like a tree trunk or maybe a bulldozer.

This means that both the males must be overfed steroids on a regular basis. I mentally cursed to myself, trying to take notice of the rest of the group. The only person that had yet to really catch my attention any was the girl Hana, but that was mainly due to the fact she had yet to even stand within shouting distance of me really. The only two times I had caught sight of her, she was talking with either Brock or Brian, but in terms of importance she seemed second only to the first.

Wherever our destination, we were going there fast and in a sort of rush. We had been traveling the majority of the night and were stopping to pause for a short rest and I thanked anyone listening for the fact I wasn't being guarded this time. It was at this moment when I had my first encounter with Hana. Compared to the others so far, she seemed the most ordinary, except for her eyes, that is. The most unnerving brown eyes that seemed to spark with an unusual energy all their own, you just couldn't help but stare into them. It reminded me of watching a meteor shower, or gazing up to wish on a falling star on a moonless night.

"Are you going to eat, or would you rather starve yourself?" she snapped me back to reality, the bark and command in her voice struck me as alarming.

"You stupid boys are all the same, getting lost in one ridiculous daydream or another." She left the plate of food, but before completely turning to walk away she hesitated and smirked a dangerously evil grin.

"Just something to think on, but we're well aware of who you are."

I felt dumbstruck and my face surely showed it, as I heard faint snickering from outside of the doorway.

I ate without really paying attention where we had stopped exactly. It was rather hard to know the exact location as I hadn't been allowed to do much sight seeing as of yet, but I was aware that we were near a rather impressive mountain.

"Mount Shasta," a voice bellowed beside me.

"Quite a nice view isn't it? Make sure to eat up, we'll be climbing her before you know it." I dared to take a glance at who was next to me talking, but only caught the sight of them as they walked away, it was Brock.

"Kyrene!" The shrill, piercing shriek broke through the cool morning air. I heard approaching, heavy footsteps and saw the redheaded girl stop and glare at me. "Lance! Have you see that stupid girl around?"

I shook my head no, which was obviously the wrong response.

"You're so useless! Ugh! Can't you do anything right?" I nearly expected her to throw a fit right there, but instead she stomped off in a huff still shouting.

"Kyrene!"

I suspect that the misfit crew was trying to take a rest, and the blond girl who had originally greeted me was expected to take a shift as guard like when I met her just hours ago.

My thoughts were once again interrupted violently as Brian sat down next to me. I was patted rather forcefully on the back as he cracked a smile and tossled his hair for a moment with his free hand.

"Well friend, you should try and get a little rest yourself. Gonna be a big day in the evening, and it would be horribly worse for you if you didn't heed a little advice."

I gulped hard and nodded, not fully aware of how I tired I was in my sleep deprived state.

It didn't take me long for rest to wash over me, but it seemed just as quickly that I was being stirred awake once again.

"C'mon pup, time to get a move on."

I was staring into bright hazel eyes and a cute asian face. As a slowly spreading smile started to form, I was visciously slapped into consciousness.

The trudge up Mount Shasta wasn't nearly take as long as I thought it would, but it was still painfully slow. Especially considering the fact the group of girls had been whispering the whole way up the trail.

"Home at last," came the relieved cry from the Duchess.

"Brian, go and secure the entrance."

I suspiciously watched as Brian slipped on a pair of black, fingerless gloves and proceeded up the path further. Everyone stood in silence for a couple of minutes, before Hana spoke up first.

"Theia, do you think it's safe? I mean, we haven't been back home in quite some time, maybe he shouldn't have gone up alone."

Some of the others voiced a similar agreement but it was put down just as quickly by the leader.

"So you think my judgment is faulty now, Hana? Perhaps you would like to go and make sure that he's safe, personally?"

That effectively ended the topic, and it was only moments after that in which Brian limped back into view.

Kat rushed over as he got near the group.

"Are you alright?"

I could see the cracked smile that he gave everyone, as he leaned down and whispered the short asian girl something inaudible.

His shirt was nearly ripped to pieces and there looked to be many deep scratches across his chest and arms.

"Maybe we stayed away too long," were his only comments regarding what took place at our destination.

I noticed an influx of other teens, presumably having come from the camp, but attention was quickly brought back to Brian and Kat. As he turned to lead the way back up the trail, the sizeable gash running up his entire left leg became evident. It surely explained the limp and made me question what had been waiting atop at the base. A flood of thoughts rushed to mind but those were just as swiftly snuffed out as we arrived.

The gates were supported by two large golden pillars and the more I studied the surroundings, the more I noticed the similarities between the large enclosure and many greek temples. The striking contrast was that the entire mountain-temple was completely golden. I was a little surprised at how big the golden palace floor stretched out into the moutainside.

All of the teens took up varying spots and corners, dividing into pairs and groups that varied rather wildly around the temple. I was led to a smaller corner near the back of the base, noticing how the mountain formed a deeper path of small corridors for what I could only guess were living quarters. I was growing more amazed at the mountain-temple by the moment. Resting on some makeshift blankets and pillows, I slightly dozed off again for a short while.

(Kyrene's P.O.V.)

Everyone was gathering in the throne room at the back of the mountain palace.

From the entrance and gates at the mouth of the hidden path along the mountain, you would find yourself in a large central chamber. Following a snake-like corridor, you encounter multiple octopi-like paths that each lead to private chambers. Ignoring those would take you two a fork; the left path leading towards the throne room, while the right path leads to the garden.

I know it seems odd to have a garden inside of a mountain, but it has its own hot springs and small pool as well. It was a nice relaxing or thinking spot to get away from everything else.

I was arriving at the throne room when I had to stop and catch my breath at the room's entrance. To say the thrones were impressive might be cliche, but might not have done proper justice either.

The twelve thrones were situated like sections of a clock, but the majority of the thrones each had an animal design that represented who belonged there. At the head, where the twelve hour would be, was the largest throne out of the whole group. It had a backing that reached all the way up to ceiling, acting like giant pillar of support. This was the throne that belonged to the young Duchess, Theia.

The first throne clockwise, in the one o'clock position, belonged to Cassie. It's backing was far less ornate and was one of the smaller sized thrones. A shining dragon head crested over the top of the throne, with burning emerald eyes.

The next was in the two position, and belonged to Kat. The top of her throne was the head of a serval cat, being of a medium overall size but maintaining a uniquely feline shape.

The third throne from the top was for Sam. It was a simple, plain throne that had nothing outstanding about it at all, which made it stand out like the others.

The fourth throne belonged to Artyom, and was beautifully entwined with a Phoenix.

The fifth throne belonged to Brian, and sprouted a black Griffin from the top and sides, making the only throne with a significant color besides gold, as it had wings that wrapped around the sides like arm rests and the Griffin head peaking over the top.

The bottom throne, in the sixth position, was home to Brock. His throne was part of a unique pair along with Hana, who was seated in to the immediate right of Theia at the eleventh position. Both thrones were designed with ordinary house cats, with soft cushioned seats and arm rests.

The seventh seat belonged to Jace, who had a mouse type of theme to his throne. Throne eight was for Trevor, and was wrapped around it by a snakelike body that started from the base and rose all the way to the very tips.

The ninth throne belonged to Amara and it seemed to eminate an air current like a gentle breeze by itself, other than that it was a rather simple design.

The last throne, the tenth was belonged by Stella. It was carved with ocean-like waves and had a early morning smell like the sea.

Each of the twelve stood before their thrones, awaiting an event that I wasn't fully aware of yet.

I stood back with the other females, who were like me, as Theia smiled devilishly and grabbed a handful of something golden and the ceremony began.

"Let's start this off from the top: with me."

Theia beamed proudly as she pulled out golden dog-tags that kept all of her basic information engraved on them, and slipped them around her neck. She called the first person from the group, going in throne order to maintain simplicity.

"Cassandra Wintra," Theia called with an extra slight squeal to her voice, as the 16 year old girl with short black hair and light brown eyes grabbed her golden dog-tags.

"Remember that when you pull them off your neck, it'll turn into your weapon. All you need to do to turn it back, is to will it back into the dog-tags," Theia said to the whole group as Cassie nodded and smiled.

"Kathryn Rothe."

The 17 year old asian girl locked eyes with Theia and I almost swore I could see sparks of tension and dislike between them. "Splendid."

Kat kept glaring at Theia as she took her tags from her and went back by her throne.

"Sam Vitiello," was the annoncement for the next girl, another 17 year old with red hair and hazel eyes. She was one of the shorter girls, similar to Kat, but just a hair taller, and took her tags with a smile and the politeness she tried to always exhibit.

"Cody Pineiro," Theia said as a 16 year old boy, who was above average in height, and had dark auburn hair with a natural black streak in it with hazel eyes took his tags and smiled excitedly.

"It's Artyom, you know.. and thanks a lot.. this is awesome!" he exclaimed, and kept smiling as he studing the dog-tags closely.

"Brian Barrick,"

Theia almost chirped as she smiled at the largest and oldest in our group. The 19 year old casually smirked as he was handed his dog-tags, but the room nervously watched as he limped back to his spot before.

"Brock Lattimer."

The 18 year old male walked straight up and wasted no time in getting the tags, but slightly yawned as he walked back from Theia. "My bad.. it's been a long day, hopefully we can wrap this up sooner than later too."

He smiled apologetically to the Duchess, who just kept going on without pause.

"Jace Calder."

The tall, pale skinned 17 year old with dark hair and bright blue eyes received his tags and promptly hurried back without saying a word.

"Trevor Safford," Theia said softly, giving a playful wink at the 15 year old boy. He was definitely the shortest out of all five of the males, standing maybe at around 5'10, and he had brown hair that reached down to his neck with teal colored eyes.

"Thanks doll," he said, returning her wink before adding.

"Maybe you should skip ahead some, this is getting a bit dull."

Sighing slightly, Theia went ahead and announced the final three girls together.

"Amara Mortensen, Stella Nordquist, and Hana Corbett."

All three girls rushed her at once, just in a leisurely type of walking pace.

Amara was the youngest of the twelve, being just 14 and curly brown hairs and brown eyes. Her hair was often times kept in cute pigtails.

Stella was around 15 and she had black hair with a very light tinge of green, and brownish-black eyes.

Hana was 16, and the last to grab their dog-tags, and upon doing so was the first to turn them into her weapons: A longbow and an odd looking sword.

"What kind of sword is that?" Artyom asked curiously towards her. "Oh, this is my Flamberge," Hana stated cooly, but I couldn't help snicker along with some others at the next thought from Artyom. "Uh... your flame burger?"

Hana looked taken back for a moment.

"Ugh.. what kind of Knight doesn't know what a Flamberge is?"

Artyom started to laugh as he smiled sheepishly.

"This one?"

Hana scoffed at the remark and shut off the conversation with an effective "whatever."

"Alright, alright. The last thing to mention, I guess.. would be that if you were to die in battle, your tags would revert back to tags instantly. Also, the only person who can activate them is you, or if you share a special bond with anyone it might work, but I'm not too sure about that part."

Everyone took the new information with a grain of salt and all nodded understandingly.

"Very well then, we're all concluded so feel free to relax or rest. Dismissed."

I heard a few grumblings but I knew that because of how late it was now getting that rest would be a precious commodity soon. I wound my way down to the large bedroom type of chamber that I shared with many other girls and laid down tiredly on my bedroll and quickly wasted no time falling asleep.