Latest update: June 12, 2017
Summary:AU. Eons ago, the Primorial Gods fought a war against an ancient race. Barely winning, they exterminated this race. At least they thought so. But when Michael Varus's Alaskan expedition goes awry, it awakens someone who's been asleep for a long time. His name? Perseus. With a grudge against the Gods for killing everyone he knew, will Percy be able to tell whose good and whose evil?
Link:https://m.fanfiction.net/s/11439527/1/Precursor
Word count:49k
Chapters:8
Prologue
"A deep slumber"
Michael Varus had dreamed of this day. The day when the fifth cohort completed the prophecy of seven. The day that New Rome would rejoice in his glory.
But that day would never come. The ice under his feet shifted as more monsters came pouring out. A giant, a completely horrifying monster, had decimated his cohort. The proud legionaries of the fifth, reduced to about a dozen terrified kids.
The dozen romans left were running away. Their cohort was ambushed, as they marched towards what some sources called a giants lair. They intended to kill the giant, and therefore wound Gaea and prevent her awakening.
They never made it.
With all of their supplies gone, the eagle standard taken, and troops all dead, the remaining few tried to escape. It was cowardly to leave those in combat behind, but their sacrifices would be remembered.
"I can't see anything! Which way?" A legionary cried out from the front. Varus was at the end of the pack of Romans, the little honor he had left forcing him to protect the rear.
"Straight! Towards those caves! We can escape through the other side!" Michael yelled in response. He added the escape part to give his soldiers some hope of escape. But he knew that it was all too likely that the cave was one way in and one way out. They'd be cornered, trapped, and killed. But it was their only chance.
The Alaskan terrain was brutal, and in the winter storm visibility was gone. Shelter was what they needed, to recover their bearings and try to think of an escape plan.
A loud roar from behind made the Romans move faster. The giant himself was chasing after them, and with him a horde of angry monsters. He knew they were coming, the minute they stepped foot in Alaska he knew. It was all too easy for him to just sit and wait, letting the powerful monsters roaming Alaska to follow the scent and attack in force.
"Twenty meters!" The lead legionary shouted to Michael was the storm picked up. It felt like a combination of snow and hail, the balls of ice plunking off his armor. Michael had a heavy cut in his side from a hellhound, and barely kept his head after getting hit by a nasty cyclops. He was pretty sure he had a concussion, from the pounding headache.
"I'm in!" The Romans all ran inside, trying to escape the harsh storm. The wind howled, taking away their voices as they panicked.
"What do we do? We're gonna die aren't we?" A young girl said as she clutched her head. The others argued, trying to come up with a plan.
"We can stand and fight! That opening is only wide enough for two, maybe three at a time!" A centurion said. Immediately he was shot down.
"Then we'll grow too tired. If we had maybe another ten people we could because then we could rotate people in and out, but with only a dozen we'll last an hour at most." The legionary who led the group to the caves said.
"Michael? What do you think?" An older man said. He was the oldest of the group, having served in the legion for over ten years and participating in quests. He probably could've run for praetor or retired, but hadn't.
Michael looked around. Now that he fully examined the cave, he realized just how weird it was. The ice glowed. It was vibrant and illuminant, lighting the cave. Looking back, he saw that the cave continued as there was another opening.
"I say we go deeper into the cave. Find out what's in here." The others looked at him, some with nervousness, some with trepidation, and some with fear. They were all worried, whether they showed it or not.
"Come on. Let's go." The cave shook slightly, sending the Romans on a faster pace. The ice crystals glowed with a blue hue, making the cave seem supernatural. Michael had never seen anything like it. As they got to the end, the pathway became a single shoulder-width apart. Moving in a single file, Michael led them deeper into the unknown.
The path was dark. The walls around them seemed to close in even more, squeezing them together. Michael was afraid stalactites would drop down and kill them. But they didn't.
After some period of time, the cave finally opened up again. They entered an open cavern, with the ceiling easily twenty feet high. Their surroundings seemed to sparkle, as if happy that someone entered.
"Whoa…..this is cool." The lead legionary said as he looked around. The others said nothing, as they were entranced by the beauty of the cave. Until a loud crash and roar sounded from the entrance.
The Centurion looked worriedly at Michael as he took a few steps towards the path. Turning his head, her listened before turning back to Michael.
"They're in the cave. I say we have two minutes before they discover where we went. Then they'll follow." Michael nodded before trying to look for any kind of exit. Seeing a hole on the right side, he gestured towards the girl from earlier.
"Sarah, see if you can fit in there. I want to know what's on the other side." Sarah nodded, dropping her shield and sword before walking towards the hole. Grabbing the top, she dropped down and slid herself through.
"Are you good?" Michael asked after a few moments.
"Yes! It's fine. I got through with room to spare, so you all could probably fit. As for what's here…I think you should see for yourself." As he was about to respond, the sound of ice exploding drew his attention. The path they came from shook as something very large entered. Ice cracked on the ceiling as it was broken.
"Liam." Michael said to the older legionary. Liam was already on it though, moving towards the path.
"Got it. James, I need you with me. Alisha, Greg, Hans, come with us." Liam called to the Centurion and other legionaries. The said people all broke of back towards the pathway.
"What about me?" The lead legionary asked as he moved to join his friends. Liam stopped him though.
"Adam, stay with Michael. I need an experienced fighter with him, and you're one of them best." Adam nodded, before going back to rejoin Michael. That left Michael with Sarah, Adam, and four other legionaries.
"Alright, get in there. One at a time. Make it quick." Michael ordered as the legionaries started going through the hole. Picking up Sarah's stuff, he glanced back at Liam one last time.
"May Mars and Jupiter give you strength."
"You as well." Liam responded before the sound of another angry roar bellowed, much closer than before.
Michael entered the hole, pushing Sarah's stuff forward as he did so. Rising up, he realized that they were in a smaller version of the cavern they were just in. Except this one was different.
The ice was glowing again, except it flashed. Its timing was rhythmic and consistent, similar to a heartbeat.
Sarah and the others were staring at something a little ways up in the ice. Michael squinted as he walked closer, trying to see what it was. The dark silhouette was hard to identify.
Suddenly, as Michael realized what it was, Sarah gasped.
"Is that a person?" She asked as she ran up right in front of the ice. Michael had just seen the arms and legs, and realized that a guy was stuck in the ice. The random ice flashing was suddenly not so random at all.
"We gotta get him out of there!" Sarah continued as she looked at the others desperately. The daughter of Apollo was upset when no one moved.
"Brandon! You're a son of Vulcan, aren't you? Can't you tell how long this ice has been here?" She asked the boy. The son of Vulcan snapped out of his daze and approached the ice, before hitting his with his sword hilt.
"Well?" Michael asked, now intrigued. The sounds of yelling could now be heard as the other legionaries battled monsters in the cavern.
"I…I…I can't say. He could've been in there for centuries, hell even millennia! I'm no ice-ologist or whatever but this density and thickness it….well…"
"Yes?" Michael asked impatiently.
"He could predate ice age! I can't even tell. Usually the size of ice crystals and strength can tell you how long it's been frozen but everything here looked purposely shaped so I have no way of knowing." The son of Vulcan continued, ranting.
"It's fine. Is there any way to free him?"
"No. This ice is way too thick. We'd need-"He was cut off as a loud SMASH! Got their attention. Suddenly the ceiling started to crack as something forced its way through the ice. The crack shot across the ceiling and went right towards the frozen man, who was a good ten-feet high. The ice split and cracked before Michael heard a voice he dreaded.
"Oh demi-gods, come out come out wherever you are!" Alcyoneus crooned. Turned back around, Michael saw that the ice around the man looked ready to shatter, the force Alcyoneus used to enter cavern breaking apart the cave.
"Look out!" He shouted as the ceiling finally collapsed and the ice around the man broke with it. The romans dived out of the way as chunks of ice fell. A few seconds later, an armored figure dropped from the wall and smashed into the ground.
"Shit! He's dead, there's no way he survived that fall." Sarah said as she ran towards the man. Adam snorted as he eyed the wall behind them warily, waiting for when the giant smashed through the wall and found them.
"Yea, as if being stuck in ice for thousands of years didn't kill him. He must have one heck of an appetite." Sarah reached towards the neck, trying to pry it off to feel a pulse when the man suddenly grabbed her hand and pushed her back. She slid across the ice and towards the wall he dropped from, hitting it hard.
"Hey, calm down!" The others immediately surrounded the man. He was covered from head-to-toe in silver armor, it giving off a godly light. His helmet was something Michael had never seen before, the design of the face looking like a phoenix. With the head forming around the nose and the wings rising up. There were two eye slits the each side of the head.
Suddenly, the man started to speak. Except it was in a language Michael didn't recognize.
"Uh, English?" Adam asked as he raised an eyebrow. The man raised an armored hand to his head and gripped it like he had a headache, continuing to speak. Michael eyed Adam before looking at the man, whose head was turned.
"Do you speak Latin?" He asked. The man whipped around, as if in confusion, before he answered.
"Latin? What is Latin?"
"The language you're speaking."
"Wait, how do I know this language? Ugh my head hurts…." The man sounded terribly confused and Michael felt bad for him. Being frozen for a super long time probably did that.
"Switch to Latin." Michael ordered as he went back to the man.
"Look, I know you're confused, but we are all about to die. So unless you wanna die again, or get re-frozen, then I suggest you help us." Michael said. The guy looked at him confused, and was about to retort when the wall behind them exploded.
"Got you!" Alcyoneus shouted as his massive frame burst though. Chunks of ice went flying everywhere, and a large boulder went right towards Sarah who was struggling to stand up.
"Sarah! Look out!" Adam dove towards her and tackled her away, saving her from the boulder. The man, who sidestepped the ice, watched the scene with interest.
"He risked his life for hers. How interesting."
Turning back to the giant, the man stood defiantly as the monster walked in, breaking off more ice as he did so.
"The earth goddess will have your heads, Roman demi-gods!" He roared as monsters came pouring out from the cavern. Michael yelled some orders to the other Romans and they made a defensive circle, while the man looked up at the giant.
"Earth goddess?" He questioned, a dangerous edge to his tone. The man stiffened when the giant bought up demigods and earth goddess. Alcyoneus looked at the man in amusement.
"Yes, my mother Terra will have your souls. Eternal hell awaits you!" The man's posture showed confusion as he shifted. The monsters were for some odd reason ignoring him, whether it was because Alcyoneus had told them not to or from fear of the power he radiated, Michael didn't know. All he knew was that there were way too many monsters to kill.
"Who's Terra?" Alcyoneus laughed at the man as he brought forth a massive club.
A giant club for a giant man. How original.
"A Greek! Well, it's surprising to see Greeks and Romans working together, especially after that civil war." The Romans eyed the man warily, their hatred for Greeks rising as they remembered all the stories.
Was he really Greek?
The man snorted as he pulled a metal cylinder off his back.
"I hope you realize I have no idea what you said. I'm not Greek. Or Roman. Whatever those terms mean." The man pressed down on his three feet long cylinder, which suddenly expanded an extra foot on each end. Two very sharp spear heads shout out, leaving the man with a dangerous looking double-edged spear.
The man started speaking in that language Michael didn't understand again, but the giant appeared to understand as his facial features changed.
"I only know one Earth goddess. And I hope she burns in this hell you speak of." He spoke in the old tongue. Alcyoneus's eyes widened, before he responded with a growl.
"I don't know who you are, or how you know this language, but I will have your head in honor of Gaea, my mother!" The man cocked his head to the side as he brought up his spear. Speaking in Latin, he said,
"Now that you've answered my question, I'm going to kill you." He threw his spear so fast that the Romans couldn't even see it travel. It slammed into Alcyoneus's shoulder, continuing on its path out the other said. As it was about to leave his body, the back spear-head exploded, sending metal spikes in all directions. The spear lodged itself to Alcyoneus, but the momentum carried him into the icy wall behind him. The spear pinned him to the wall.
Roaring in anger, the giant ripped the spear out and tossed it into the ground.
"Fool! I cannot be killed in my homeland!" The man drew a sword, as he snorted.
"Buddy, I don't know who taught you that, but I'm telling you that their lying." Alcyoneus just grinned as his wound closed right in front of the man's face, causing him to be momentarily confused. With a mighty roar the giant charged the annoying man, intent on crushing him.
The man slid between his legs and picked up his spear, which had regrown is second spearhead.
"This is my home, monster. Not yours." He grabbed his spear and charged back towards Alcyoneus. The giant grinned in anticipation before the man suddenly thrust his spear into the ground and launched himself upwards. His sword gleaming dangerously, he stabbed forward into the chest of the giant. Alcyoneus tried to swat him down as he groaned in pain, but the man dodged his large hands.
Then he started to pull the sword downward. Alcyoneus started to tumble as the sword ripped through his chest and stomach, opening a large gash. Oil started pouring out, as the giant as made up of precious metals.
The man dropped to the ground as the giant fell, but saw the wound already closing up. Grabbing his spear, the man saw the Romans close to death. Two were already dead, leaving gaps in the group's defense. Michael was wounded heavily, his thrust already slow. Adam, looking the least beat up, was still viciously hacking away at the monsters who came across him. Sarah was looking extremely tired and bruised up.
Twirling his spear, the man threw it like a boomerang. It spun, the twin spearheads glowing, as it arced towards the monsters rushing in. It promptly began decapitating the monsters, as the spear carved through their heads and necks. It turned around and began to take off the heads of the new wave, making all the monsters behind wary.
Taking the new breather, the Romans tried to fall back to the man, but the giant started to rise.
"Here." The man said as he raised a hand. A slab of ice opened up and some light flooded in from the doorway.
"Here's your exit, I suggest you take it." The Romans swiftly did as told and ran out, except for Michael.
"You've saved us. I will not leave you behind." The man looked at Michael harshly as he spoke.
"If you stay, you will die."
"Then I will die a Roman." Michael declared, beating his sword against his shield. The man simply 'hmphed' before turning to the rising giant.
"I need you to lock down that entrance. I can't deal with those abominations." Michael nodded and ran towards the hold, fighting his way through the monsters. Now that no flying spear was around, the monsters had confidence again. Michael was a good fighter, experienced in solo and group combat, so he was able to handle himself. His gladius stabbing and hacking.
Alcyoneus's face betrayed his fury as he sized up the man in front of him.
"Who are you?" He asked as he hefted his club defensively, now prepared for any sudden attack. The man simply raised a hand and Alcyoneus watched as his spear flew back into his hand.
"My name is Perseus, but you may call me Percy." Something stirred in Alcyoneus's mind, a warning, but it was hazy. Bringing his club up, he grinned.
"Well Percy, you've shown me flaws in my fighting. For that, I will grant you a slightly less painful death." Slamming is club down, he smashed through the ice below them. Percy dodged the club, bringing his spear to bear as he twirled around Alcyoneus's legs. The giant tried to step on Percy like he was an ant, but Percy weaved in and out, stabbing at his legs. The giant howled as the spearheads punctured his skin. Enraged once more, Alcyoneus started swinging side to side, hoping to send Percy flying.
Percy dove forward, sliding up against an icy wall as Alcyoneus cornered him. The giant grinned victoriously as he cornered the man.
"Time to die, demigod." Percy cocked his head as he stood once more, analyzing the giant.
"Didn't I tell you that I wasn't related to some stupid god?" Alcyoneus snorted indifferently as he brought his club down. Percy somehow dodged it once more, and the club smashed through the wall. The cave seemed to groan as both walls were now weak.
Percy looked to Michael, who was surrounded by monsters at this point and nearing his death. Watching the monsters swarm him, Percy turned back to the giant.
"I hope you realize that I didn't intend to win." The giant stopped, confusion on his face as Percy snapped his fingers. The ice at their feet started cracking and breaking. The walls began to tumble and the ceiling collapse on itself.
"You do not think that I simply resided here, with no way of protection or escape?" Percy said to the giant as he backed towards the exit.
Alcyoneus tried to rush him, but the ice below his feet finally exploded and opened up a massive hole. Alcyoneus slipped, and fell through the ground, screaming in rage. The ceiling finally caved in, chunks of ice crashing into the ground. Michael Varus and the monsters near the cavern were crushed, dying instantly.
Percy dove through the exit, rolling onto a knee and observing the destruction of the cave. He was on the opposite side of a giant hill, the other side being the entrance to the cave network.
Turning around, Percy saw the remaining demi-gods huddled together to protect against the cold. The moon was high in the sky, shining down on them.
Percy walked towards the group, analyzing their expressions and posture.
"Is Michael ok? Where is he?" Adam asked as he stepped forward to Percy. Percy notice how Sarah moved to be behind Adam, leaving Percy with a small amount of sympathy. The girl was scared.
"Michael is dead." Percy said, conveying no emotion. Adam just nodded, sniffing a bit as if he expected it. The others all looked down sadly, as there was now only four of them left.
"I thank you for helping in my escape, even if it was at the cost of your comrades. But I suggest that you return to where ever you come from. That monster won't be stopped for long." Percy continued, before reaching a hand to Adams shoulder.
"I do not know whether we fall upon the same side, but I will remember your honor. You protected your friends at your own risk, no small thing to do. They look up to you now, especially that girl. Get them home safely." He told Adam softly, who looked up with a fire in his eyes.
"What I did was something that any true Roman would've done. There should be no recognition for an act that is supposed to happen."
"Maybe. But that girl trust you now. You've earned her trust and admiration. Don't lose it." Percy turned and walked away from the group, who watched the retreating figure.
"Wait! Where are you going? How do we get home?" Brandon yelled. Percy simply turned and gave a chuckle, his voice carrying.
"Follow the path you took to come here." He soon disappeared from sight, leaving the four Romans alone.
"What do we do? We've lost everything- everything." Sarah asked. Brandon and their fourth comrade, Dayton nodded. Adam looked at his friends before speaking.
"We return to New Rome. We may have lost the honor of our Cohort, but we still have the chance to regain our personal honor." With that, he started trekking back towards the path the came to Alaska from, where a ship would be waiting somewhere.
"And the Greek?" Brandon asked. Adam snorted as raised an eyebrow.
"What about him?"
-00-
Percy kept walking until the sun was high in the sky. Taking a breather to remove his armor, he ran a hand through his black hair.
He did not know much of anything about this new world. And from what he gathered, he's been gone for a long time.
Grinning to himself, Percy picked up his armor and kept walking, as his gut told him he was heading in the right direction. Not even an hour later, and Percy himself passing a sign, which he struggled to read. His brain hurt from trying to learn new languages instantaneously, but the headache was dulling. Reading the sign, Percy said to himself,
"Canada. Huh, what an odd name."
-00-
Link:https://m.fanfiction.net/s/11439527/1/Precursor