The campfire crackled, and the stars blinked overhead like watchful eyes.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw9U2mJjNjK
Percy stood in the center of the amphitheater, still damp from his time at the lake. The hushed murmur of campers echoed all around him, everyone waiting for the sign—Poseidon’s trident—to glow above his head. Annabeth leaned forward, eyes narrowed with a strange mix of suspicion and awe.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlxerLyHXgN
Then, it happened.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPJDSlem1jf
A green-blue light shimmered above Percy’s head. The symbol of Poseidon, a trident, formed in the air and glowed brighter than the full moon. Gasps rippled across the campers.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH3JexUN2gC
“Poseidon…” Chiron whispered, breath catching in his throat.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt1ft5mbYEv
One of the Big Three had broken the pact.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3CjdX5KnO9
Percy stood frozen, uncertain whether he should feel proud, scared, or just very, very tired.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0FQrPCa4V1
But then—something else happened.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLGvdUkg8Ae
The trident flickered. The light above Percy didn’t fade—it split.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmUeAP69H5C
A second symbol emerged behind it, this one a deep, smoky violet, almost the color of storm clouds at dusk. From the darkness bloomed a symbol no one expected:
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj3qQy2ZfjM
A black crescent moon cradled a silver eye, surrounded by shifting stars.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsKeN60laqL
The crowd fell into stunned silence. Even the campfire dimmed for a moment.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy723nO8DKt
Chiron stumbled backward. “No. That’s not possible.”
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyymFEslgpE
“What… is it?” Percy asked, trying to look up.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSjQFDr1Q9M
Annabeth’s voice was barely a whisper. “That… that’s Nyx. Primordial goddess of the night.”
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBSB8nJoEIi
There was a long pause.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCwCypocwVd
“Did I just get… double claimed?” Percy muttered.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu9lOsUy4sU
It sounded stupid when he said it out loud.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU1cZwBFSbg
But no one laughed.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuL1ULQM72F
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa78VVihEv4
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZDGGXnisxu
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtrRdGIl9Ah
Aftermath
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7uKq2pYsix
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEN2jlBsfCb
Cabin Eleven was empty when Percy was escorted there, no longer just a child of Poseidon, but something else—something ancient. Chiron had pulled him aside immediately after the ceremony, frowning so deeply his beard practically trembled.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiWf4j3mIEL
“Two claims,” he said. “In all my years at Camp Half-Blood, I have never seen it. Not from two Olympians. And never from a primordial.”
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFmd5d5naFS
“What does it mean?”
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgoS7tXT1lN
“It means the rules no longer apply to you.”
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjreaKcppXR
Chiron explained that Nyx, as a primordial deity, rarely interfered with the affairs of gods or mortals. Her children were feared even among gods—personifications of things like sleep, madness, death, and fate. If she had laid claim to Percy, it was not by accident.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJFkwTp5LIq
And certainly not to be nice.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCE5OrLFy2f
“She sees something in you,” Chiron said, lowering his voice. “Something that terrifies even the gods.”
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyjErA3YHqZ
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUottGdBcEe
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcS2kxn0by9
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRRtTNMIHhh
The New Quest
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwlJnohaHkL
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQyDi0SZxPJ
The next morning, the camp awoke to news that changed everything.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUM94lA5aRM
The stolen master bolt was still missing. Zeus still blamed Poseidon. But now whispers of Percy’s second parentage were spreading like wildfire. The children of Hermes avoided him. The Ares cabin looked at him like he was a ticking bomb.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuESX4wl8pB
And Luke?
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT9eUgom9IS
Luke stopped smiling entirely.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Evd59EfCj
Chiron called an emergency council. The Oracle had already spoken again, unprompted:
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTJUW5eSuc9
“Born of sea, and cloaked in night,
Shall shake the world with wrong and right.
A choice of darkness, a choice of flame,
To erase the gods or cleanse their name.”
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYSGA6ufYP9
No one knew what it meant.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKfGKyCiVHc
But Chiron did the unthinkable—he gave Percy a different quest.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6F5dNouCCK
Not just to retrieve the lightning bolt, but to descend into Erebus, the deepest part of the Underworld, to meet Nyx herself.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrC5nagprxn
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl9UwpM87xQ
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvMMtPwZxjo
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSazu7tvR9T
Final Scene of the Chapter
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfyxeP3fYBq
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrNE0Ez9T0f
As Percy packed for his journey, Annabeth stopped him outside the Big House.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpcW01CGoCZ
“Why would Nyx claim you?” she asked. “She’s… she’s older than the gods. Older than the Titans. She doesn’t even like most of her own children.”
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPMIvcQw1T8
Percy shrugged, looping Riptide to his belt. “Maybe she made a mistake.”
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3GRtYtoaBo
“No,” Annabeth said firmly. “She doesn’t make mistakes.”
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ94BJTF0vhS
Her grey eyes met his. “Just… promise me you won’t listen to her.”
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhSLHYas8f1
“Who?” Percy asked.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3clr3KZrxx
“Nyx. She’ll offer you something. They always do.”
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbA4WnLcJB2
He wanted to ask what she meant. But then, the shadows on the ground stirred unnaturally, creeping like ink under his feet. A voice curled around his ear like smoke.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcNSQIoC0cZ
“Come, my son. The night is listening.”
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYZjQH49cMr
And Percy Jackson, no longer just a boy from New York, no longer just the son of Poseidon, stepped into a quest that would decide not only the fate of Olympus…
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4z7oxcZ8BW
But the balance between light and darkness itself.
and then Add to home screen.