Champions: Book 1

Summery
When the gods learn of a war that is starting, each of the big three choose a champion. They send Percy, Jason, and Nico to find these champions and bring them to Olympus before the war starts.

Disclaimer
I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

Chapter 1
It started out as a normal day for them, well normal for a demigod. Percy, Jason, and Nico were all at Camp Jupiter. Percy was walking around New Rome with Annabeth, Jason was training, and Nico was somewhere talking to Hazel. Normal day for children of the gods. That was until Reyna came out of the Senate House.

She walked straight up to Percy and Annabeth. “We’ve got a problem, well the gods have a problem.”

Percy sighed. “What is it?”

Reyna pulled a letter out her pocket. “It says Jason, Nico, and you have to go to Olympus to talk to your fathers. Don’t ask me why, but I won’t keep them waiting.”

Percy nodded. “You’re right.” He looked at Annabeth. “You ok if I go?”

Annabeth smirked. “Of course I am Seaweed Brain.”

Percy smiled, then took the letter from Reyna and ran to get his cousins.

 

Percy found Jason swinging his sword at a training dummy. When Jason saw Percy coming he stopped.

“Hey Percy, what’s up?” He asked.

Percy showed him the letter. “We have to go to Olympus. Apparently, our fathers have a problem. We have to bring Nico too.”

Jason nodded and the both of them went to find Nico.

Percy looked over at Jason, who had a depressed look on his face.

“Are you ok?” Percy asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just… I haven’t heard from Thalia in a month. I’m starting to get worried.” Jason answered.

Percy put on a look of sympathy. “Maybe you should ask one of the gods when we get to Olympus.”

Jason didn’t reply, which made Percy feel nervous.

 

When they finally found Nico, he was sitting on the roof of the crypt with Hazel. They were having a conversation when Percy and Jason interrupted them.

“Hey, what’s up?” Hazel asked, smiling.

Percy held up the letter. “Nico, we have to go to Olympus.”

“For what?” Nico questioned.

“Our fathers need our help.” Jason replied.

Hazel looked at her brother. “You should go, find out what’s going on. We’ll talk about this later.”

Nico was about to protest, but the look on his sisters face changed his mind. They both slid of the roof of the crypt and Hazel ran down the hill.

Jason looked at Nico. “What were you two talking about?”

“Just something that’s been going on.” He said.

Percy put the letter in his pocket. “Maybe it has somthing to do with what our fathers want.”

Nico shrugged. “One way to find out. Should I shadow travel all of us?”

“No need,” I voice behind them said. They all turned around to find Hermes with his flying shoes facing facing towards them. “I’ve been sent to bring you to Olympus. You all ready to go?”

All of them nodded, and with the flick of his wrist Hermes teleported Percy, Jason, and Nico to Olympus.

Chapter 2
They all ended up in the middle of the throne room. Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades all sat on their thrones. The three boys looked up at their fathers, it was pretty intimidating.

“Welcome to Olympus,” Zeus’ voice boomed through the room. “Lets get down to business-”

“That’s all you have to say?” Jason interrupted. “You just welcomed us.”

Zeus glared at his son. “Sorry, how have you all been?” He said sarcastically.

None of them answered. Percy stared nervously at his father. Nico was looking down at his feet.

“Percy, how are things with Annabeth?” Poseidon asked his son.

Percy looked surprised. “Um, it’s fine.” He muttered nervously.

Hades looked at Nico. “Nico, you were talking to Hazel about something.”

Nico looked up at his father. He sighed. “Shes been having really bad nightmares.”

“Which is what we wanted to talk to you about.” Zeus said. Everyone looked at him. “There’s a war coming. A war that we can’t handle alone.”

“What kind of war?” Jason spoke up.

“It’s something that involves us gods. Before you we can get into details we need help.” Poseidon said.

“We can help,” Percy insisted.

Hades shook his head. “It’s not like that. Instead of going after the demigods, this enemy is attacking Olympus first. But this is a powerful enemy, one we never thought we’d have to deal with.”

“Who is it?” Nico asked.

“We’re not going to tell you until we are ready.” Zeus said. “Be patient.”

“Then why are we here?” Jason protested.

“Jason, you are Hera’s champion. Well, we have champions too.” Zeus paused, letting what he said sink into the boys brains. “All the gods get to choose champions, that can’t be our own children. They don’t even have to be demigods. Champions are the people that are blessed by the gods. Each gods can have a champion. We need the three of you to collect our champions.”

“Who are they?” Nico asked.

“My champion is a 13 year old orphan in Seattle, Washington. Her name is Lightning.” Zeus answered.

“Mine is a 14 year old boy in Phoenix, Arizona. His name is Erin.” Hades said.

“And mine is a 16 year old boy in Augusta, Maine.” Poseidon said.

All three boys processed the information in their head.

“When you have all three, bring them to Olympus. Then we will discuss this war that’s starting.” Zeus said. “You are all dismissed.”

“Wait,” Jason interrupted again. “Where is Thalia? I haven’t seen her in month.”

Zeus took a deep breath. “Your sister is with Artemis. She knows about what’s going on. You’ll see her when you come back from this quest. Go back to Camp Jupiter to prepare, then start the quest. I suggest you find my champion in Seattle first. Now you are dismissed.”

With the flick of Zeus’ wrist the boys got transported back to Camp Jupiter.

Chapter 3
Jason and Nico were getting things ready for the quest while Percy informed Reyna what they learn.

“A war?” Reyna thought hard about it. “Champions? What are you talking about?”

Percy shrugged. “Reyna, even I’m confused right now. But if there’s anything you can do to help, that would be good. First we’re going to Seattle, then Phoenix, and then Augusta.”

Reyna thought for a moment. “Well, I could spare some money for a train ride. Other than that I don’t think we can spare anything else. I mean, it feels like just a week ago the Giant War ended. I’ve been having a lot of trouble getting the camp back on its feet.”

“Isn’t Frank helping?” Percy asked.

Reyna smiled. “Yes, a lot. But… it’s still pretty hard.”

The both of them stood in silence for a minute. Until Percy finally said, “I should go pack.”

“Uh, yeah. Here,” Reyna handed him a wallet full of money. “Use it to buy a train ticket to Seattle.”

Percy nodded and ran to the armory.

Percy found Jason and Nico packing up anything the would need; food, water, clothes, weapons, nectar and ambrosia, extra cash.

“Hey, Reyna gave us some money to buy train tickets to Seattle.” Percy told them.

Jason nodded. “Good, it should be a two day trip.”

“Where do we go after that.” Nico asked.

Percy shrugged. “We’ll find out when we get there. This girl we’re looking, she’s the Champion of Zeus.”

“Her name is Lighting.” Jason said. “She’s an orphan.”

Nico pulled a bag over his shoulder. “We should put everything at the entrance to Camp Jupiter now and leave in the morning. That’ll give us some time to spread the word around camp.”

“I’ll Iris message Camp Half-Blood about it.” Percy said.

“Ok, meet you you all in the morning.” Jason left the room.

Nico and Hazel sat again on the roof of the crypt. Nico was telling her about the quest. “Hazel, I think this war has something to do with the nightmares you’ve been having.”

Hazel sat with her knees to her chest. “They keep getting worse. People keep dying, it… it scares me.”

Nico looked sympathetically at his sister. “It’ll get better. I think these champions have something to do with it.”

Hazel shrugged. “Maybe, but what is a champion?”

Nico shook his head. “I have no idea. But apparently we need them.”

From the crypt, they watched the sun go down over the hills.

Chapter 4
Percy, Jason, and Nico all met with Reyna at the entrance to the camp.

“I’ll try to learn more about this war. Just go get these champions, bring them to Olympus.” Reyna said.

Percy nodded. “We will. You and Frank take care of camp. If this war is so bad that the gods need more help than we do…” He didn’t finish. They all that would mean things would be bad. Sure, they were used to coming close to death before. But the gods explained it like it was their fight, not their childrens.

They took one more moment to say goodbye to Reyna, then left the camp.

“I can shadow travel us to the closest train station.” Nico said.

They all took each others hands and in seconds they were standing in the middle of a not so busy train station.

Jason walked up to the desk. He put the wallet Reyna had given them down. “Three tickets to Seattle, Washington.”

The woman at the desk counted the money in the wallet, then set down three tickets. Jason took them and gave one to Percy and Nico.

A few minutes later the train came into the station. The three boys got on and sat in one of the cars.

“So, I wanted to talk about who these champions are.” Percy said. “Who are they, and why do the gods need them?”

Jason was looking out the window, watching people waving to friends and family as the train departed. “I’m not sure. Nothing like this has ever happened before. This is the gods fight, not ours.”

“It’s always the gods fight. We just end up doing it for them.” Nico complained.

None of them said anything else.

 

After long hours of the train passing through California, it stopped suddenly.

“Um, what’s going on?” Percy asked. Jason looked out the window, and couldn’t believe what he saw. Karpoi, or grain spirits, were literally trying to rob the train.

“Great,” Percy moaned.

“We need to get out there.” Jason said. All of them agreed. They got out of the train car, and opened the closed door the could find.

They walked up to the grain spirits, ready to fight. But the karpoi ignored them.

“Wheat!” One screamed. “Bring out wheat!”

“Ahh, barley! Bring out barley!” Another demanded.

The three boys looked confused at the creatures.

“Um, excuse me.” Percy tried to get their attention. They all turned to face him. “What are you doing?”

“Ahh, train have wheat. We want wheat!” Wheat shouted.

Barley punch Wheat. “Train also have barley. We want barley.”

Percy had almost laughed. Some of the monsters he’d run into in his life were hilarious, others… not so much.

Next to the train was a huge amber field of grain. More karpoi tumbled out of the field.

“Wheat!” Half of the karpoi yelled.

“Barley!” The other half yelled.

“Neither!” One small grain spirit yelled. He got booed and he ran back to the safety of the field.

Jason looked at his cousins. “So… all you want is the wheat on the train?”

“And barley!!!” Half the karpoi screamed.

“Uh, what should we do?” Nico asked.

Percy shrugged. “Maybe if we bring them what they want, they’ll leave the train alone.”

“We’re just going to steal from a train?” Jason questioned.

“Do you have a better idea?” Percy asked.

Jason looked at all the karpoi. He didn’t really feel like fighting them all.

He sighed. “Fine, which car is the grain in?”

The grain spirits looked at him. Half of them pointed at one train car, the other half pointed the one next to it.

“Nico and I will get on car, you get the other.” Percy said.

Jason nodded and they opened the car downs. They loaded out each box labeled wheat and barley. The karpoi just sat and watched them. When they unloaded most of the boxes (not all of them, they didn’t want to get the people who the train was bringing it to too angry).

“Yes! Now we will leave the train alone! Thank you, dumb heros.” Wheat announced in glory.

“Wait, we’re suppose to kill them.” Barley stomped on Wheat’s foot.

“Oh, yeah.” All the karpoi prepared to attack. Percy, Jason, and Nico pulled out their weapons, which made the spirits hesitate.

Suddenly, the train started moving again.

“Ok, we need to go, now.” Nico erged.

“You’re right, but we can’t just let these things attack us.” Percy pointed out.

Jason was starting to summon lightning, to scare the karpoi off. “They said they wouldn’t attack the train. Maybe if we get on, they’ll leave us alone.”

No one tried to argue. The three of them ran up to the side of a moving car and followed it as best as they could. Nico first jumped up onto the car, then Jason, then Percy. As the train rolled faster and faster away from the angry grain spirits, the three boys sighed in relief.

“Ok, I think we’ll be safe until we get Seattle from here.” Percy said, trying to catch his breath.

“I really hope so.” Jason collapsed on a crate of wheat.

The train kept moving towards Washington.

Chapter 5
It was morning when the train arrived in Seattle. Percy was so glad to be near the ocean. When the three boys got off the train the first place they went to a breakfast place.

“So, where’s the first place we should look for this girl?” Nico asked, taking small bits of his food.

Percy thought for a moment. “Well, I can start looking around the edges of the city. You should look around the center. Maybe Jason can look anywhere else.”

“Good idea,” Jason said. “If we don’t find her by nightfall, we all meet at the Space

Needle.”

Everyone agreed and finished their food.

 

It was the the afternoon, and Jason had thought he looked everywhere. He searched every road, ally, and building. He found nothing out of the ordinary.

When he was walking down a sidewalk he looked up, he saw something. A monster? Jason saw it land on the roof of a building. He entered the building that the monster landed on, it was an hotel. Most of the people in the hotel ignored Jason walking by. He wasn’t a mess, he looked like a normal.

When he got to the top of the building their was a manticore; head of a man, body of a lion, and a tail that could shoot spikes. The manticore turned to face Jason.

“Ah, Jason Grace; son of Zeus. I have been expecting you.” It said.

Jason pulled out Gladius, but it was too late. The manticore shot spikes out of it’s tail, pinning Jason to the ground. Then, something happened. It was almost like a voice possessing Jason.

Foolish Kronos. Foolish Gaea. They did everything wrong. But I will be victorious, I have already won. Give up, Jason. Give up now. Surrender to me. This isn’t your fight.

The voice boomed through his head. He wasn’t able to tell if it was the voice of a man or a woman. Suddenly, something washed over him, and he wasn’t himself anymore. Something was controlling his body.

The manticore had left the roof, but someone new was standing in front of Jason. It was a girl. She looked around 13, she had curly pink hair pushed over one shoulder, her eyes were a dark, electric blue, exactly like Thalia’s. But this girl wasn’t Thalia. The girl had a huge sword on her back, it looked like it was made of silver, but demigods weren’t allowed to use silver weapons.

The girl wasn’t attacking Jason, but he had the urge to attack her. He tried to resist it, but the force was too strong.

Jason gripped his sword and charged at the girl. Before he could hit her, she reached behind her back for her sword and blocked Jason’s. He was shocked at how fast she was. When they were face to face, Jason pulled his sword away and went for her side. She grabbed Jason’s wrist and flipped him down onto the pavement roof. Before he had a chance to react she put the tip of her down on his face. He quickly rolled out of the way and stood up. Again their weapons clashed together. Both of them didn’t move for a moment. Jason could see the girl breathing heavily.

The part of Jason that didn’t feel possessed was trying to take control of his body. He really didn’t want to hurt the girl, who ever she was.

The girl pulled away from Jason and swiftly stepped behind him. He followed her movements. When he took a swing at her, she did the same. His sword didn’t touch her. But hers cut Jason’s stomach, which seemed to break whatever he was possessed by.

He got back control of his body. Jason put his hand on the cut and fell to the ground. Before the girl had time to react, Percy and Nico ran through the door that lead to the roof. When they saw Jason on the ground, they ran up to him. Percy pulled out Riptide and pointed it at the girl.

“Who are you? Did you do this?” Percy demanded.

Before the girl could respond, Jason said, “It’s ok. I don’t blame her.”

“What happened?” Nico asked.

“I was possessed by something. It was a forced. It spoke to me, telling me to surrender. I attacked this girl first. When she hit me, the possession broke.” Jason answered. His voice was shaky, from being cut. The girls sword was extremely sharp.

“Then who are you?” Percy turned back to the girl.

“My name is Lumina Naomh Devnet. You can call me Lightning, everyone always does. I’m a daughter of Dionysus, and The Champion of Zeus.” The girl answered.

“You’re a daughter of Dionysus?” Nico asked.

Lightning nodded. “Yup. Most people underestimate me when I tell them that. But they change their minds when they see me fight.”

“How do you already know you’re The Champion of Zeus?” Jason asked.

Lightning giggled. “I’ve known for two years now. When I was 11, Zeus came to me and told me that I was his Champion. I’ve trained in the city with this.” She showed them her sword. “It’s called Nexus. It was a gift from Iris. It’s made of silver, and only I can use it.”

“I thought demigods weren’t allowed to use silver weapons, because they can hurt mortals.” Percy said.

“Like I said, only I can use it. Plus Iris said I could never use it to hurt any mortals, so…”

“But, you just hurt Jason.” Nico point out.

Lightning shrugged. “Well, technically we’re not fully mortal. Besides, you attacked me first.”

“She does have a point.” Percy said.

Jason was drinking some nectar, which was helping he cut go away. “Yeah, sorry about that.”

Lightning pointed to Jason’s cut. “And, sorry about that.”

“Listen, we’ve been sent by the gods to bring the Champions of the Big Three back to Olympus. There’s a war starting. The Gods need your help.” Percy explained.

Lightning sighed. “I already know about this war. More and more monsters have been attacking. I’m willing to go with you to Olympus. Do you know where the other Champions are?”

Nico nodded. “Yes. I suggest we find the one in Arizona next.”

“You’re right.” Percy said. Her turned to Lightning. “What did you say your real name was?”

“Lumina, my real name is Lumina. After Zeus made me his Champion I monsters started calling me Lightning. The name just sort of stuck.” Lightning explained.

Jason’s cut was almost fully gone. “We should find a way to get to Arizona before nightfall.”

Percy nodded. “You’re right, and I think I have an idea.”

Chapter 6
Jason, Nico, and Lightning waited at the Space Needle while off finding a way to get to Arizona.

Lightning turned to Jason. “Can I ask a really random question? Where did you get that scar on your lip?”

Jason put this hand to the scar. “When I was little I tried to eat a stapler.”

Lightning laughed. “Really? That’s adorable.”

Before Jason had a chance to respond, Percy can running up.

“I found a way to Arizona.” He said.

Nico tilted his head. “Let me guess. We’re taking a boat?”

Percy shook his head. “Nope.” He turned around and whistled. Four pegasuses flew out of the clouds; Tempest, Blackjack, and two others. One was black, the other white. They landed on the roof of a building that was next to the Space Needle.

Lightning looked in amazement. “Cool.”

Percy smiled at her. “Never seen a pegasus before?”

Lightning shook her head.

They went up to the roof of the building the pegasuses were on. Right away the white pegasus approached Lighting. She carefully placed her hand on its nose. It flapped its wings slowly.

Lightning smiled. “Does it have a name?”

Percy shook his head. “No.”

“I’m going to name you… Asheth. I’ll call you Ash for short.” The pegasus made a really strange noise. Lightning backed away in surprise.

“He says he’s got a cold.” Percy explained. “He can still fly though.”

Lightning looked at Percy. “You can speak horse.”

“My dad is the gods of horses.”

“Oh,” Lightning looked at him oddly, but continued petting the pegasus.

Every climbed on their horses and flew into the air. As they flew away, Lightning turned back to look at the city. She stared at all the lights, and a tear came out of her eye.

“Goodbye, Seattle.” She whispered, then turned back around.

 

After riding from Seattle to Nevada, their pegasuses were getting tired. They sky was a dark blue (the color of Lightning’s eyes). The night air was cold.

They stopped their pegasuses at a small motel in the Mojave Desert. From the motel was a great view of Las Vegas. Everyone got off their pegasus.

“We should stay here for the rest of the night.” Jason said.

“Ok,” Percy turned to the pegasuses. “You guys can go rest until morning. Hopefully, we can get to Arizona safely.”

While Jason and Percy went to rent a room at the motel, Lightning and Nico sat outside.

Lightning turned to Nico. “So, we didn’t really get to meet each other. Who are you?”

“My name is Nico di Angelo. I’m the Son of Hades.” He answered.

She looked surprised. “Seriously? I didn’t know Hades had any children. Do you have any siblings?”

“I do have a half-sister, who’s a daughter of Pluto. But my real sister died a long time ago.”

Lightning looked down at her feet. “The only family I had was my mom. But, she died.”

“How?” Nico asked cautiously.

There was silence for a moment. “She died giving birth to me.”

Nico looked at her with pity. “How did you survive for so long?”

“My father, Dionysus, took care of me until I was 5. Then, I lived on my own. When I turned 11, Zeus came to me and told me I was his Champion.” Lightning explained quietly. There was another pause until Lightning turned to Nico again. “I learned somewhere that in Sparta in Ancient Greece, the only people that were buried were men who died and battle, and woman who died giving birth. Does that mean my mom was a hero too?”

Nico had never thought about that before. He had heard that in Sparta only the woman who died giving birth were buried. But he’d never met someone whose mother died like that. He Started to think about his own mother, Maria. He remembered seeing the image of her dieing.

It was so silent Nico didn’t notice Lightning looking at him oddly.

He shook his head. “Sorry, I was just-”

“Thinking?” Lightning finished his sentence.

“Yeah.”

Lightning smiled at him. “That’s ok.” She turned away and looked at the lights of Las Vegas.

A few moments later, Percy and Jason came out of the motel.

“We get room number 4. Two of us have to sleep on the floor.” Percy said, swinging the room’s key around his finger.

Chapter 7
The next morning they went ate the breakfast that the motel provided. Then they left the motel to search for their pegasuses.

“I hope we reach Arizona by the afternoon.” Jason said.

“Who’s Champion are we looking for there?” Lightning asked.

“Hades’ Champion. I forget what his name was.”

“Arin, he’s 14.” Nico answered.

“That’s not the only Champion you’re looking for.” A voice said behind them. All four of them turned around.

A really bright light shined for a moment. When the light dimmed, a red convertible Maserati Spyder was parked on the side of the empty road. A man, or maybe a teenager, sat on the hood of the car with the radio on. The man wore a white shirt, faded jeans, and sunglasses. He had blond hair and really tan skin. He turned to them and smiled, making them all squint.

“Apollo?!” Percy said surprised.

Apollo laughed. “Yeah, it’s me.”

“Wow,” Lightning muttered. “Apollo is hot.”

“He’s the sun god,” Percy said.

“That’s not what I meant.”

“So, you’re dad’s Champion, huh?” Apollo took his sunglasses off and looked at Lightning.

She blushed. “Ah, yeah.”

Apollo nodded in satisfaction. “He made a good choice.”

Lightning looked like she had just been punched in the stomach. She slowly tilted her head away, trying not to show her face.

“Anywho,” Apollo continued. “I heard you were looking for Champions. Mine isn’t that far away.”

“You already chose a Champion?” Jason asked.

“Yup. It might surprise you to see who it is. But, while you’re on your way finding the others maybe you could find mine.”

“Where are they?” Percy asked.

“She’s around somewhere. You’ll know who she is when you see her. She’ll probably find you before you find her, so keep your eyes peeled.” Apollo answered.

Nico finally spoke. “What is this war that’s been starting?” He demanded.

Apollo studied the son of Hades. “I can’t tell you everything. But I can tell you this, it’s the gods fight, not yours.”

“Yeah, we know that.” Percy muttered. “But why do you need the Champions?”

“Who do you think will help run Olympus while the gods fight. Even more worse if we lose. Champions need to have at least two years of training before they can go to Olympus. Most of the gods have already chosen Champions. My Champion is  ready, that’s why she needs to get to Olympus.”

“Wait a minute,” Lightning cut in. “So, the gods need the Champions to help run Olympus, and take their place if any of the gods die?”

“Well, not officially take their place.” Apollo explained. He pointed to Percy. “You have a friend. Horns, furry legs.”

“Grover?”

“That’ the one. Grover is Pan’s Champion. He didn’t take over as god, but still helps. That’s what the Champions do. If this war is going to be as bad as Ares wants it to be, Olympus is in danger. We need as many Champion’s as we can get.” Apollo stood up from the hood of his car. He got in and turned the motor on. “You four should get going. I think your rides here.”

There was a clopping sound and the four of them turn. The pegasuses looked fully refreshed.

“Ready when you are, boss.” Blackjack said to Percy.

“Good,” Percy answered back.

Lightning looked at him weirdly. She still didn’t understand the whole son of the sea god could talk horse thing.

“Well, I’ll be off then. See you all on Olympus.” Apollo said. He winked at Lightning, whose face turned bright red, like her heart melted from the car’s sun rays.

They all blocked their eyes while Apollo drove away.

“Well, someone likes Apollo.” Percy teased.

“Shut up.” Lightning smiled.