The campfire crackled, and the stars blinked overhead like watchful eyes.
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9uRPxlGxl8
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.
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzUyvcGnw0o
Then, it happened.
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk5EZvaAqFg
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.
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNDzkwkSsAc
“Poseidon…” Chiron whispered, breath catching in his throat.
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdbz2vdrbxV
One of the Big Three had broken the pact.
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHZmZQcSKb3
Percy stood frozen, uncertain whether he should feel proud, scared, or just very, very tired.
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4rhVWBqRjY
But then—something else happened.
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzjNfzc21c2
The trident flickered. The light above Percy didn’t fade—it split.
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsNrFdR64WM
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:
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyOxDI8XFRK
A black crescent moon cradled a silver eye, surrounded by shifting stars.
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGea9mNn6me
The crowd fell into stunned silence. Even the campfire dimmed for a moment.
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqI7uAs0QrC
Chiron stumbled backward. “No. That’s not possible.”
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4S1nLCMA9i
“What… is it?” Percy asked, trying to look up.
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPzESBVZxrz
Annabeth’s voice was barely a whisper. “That… that’s Nyx. Primordial goddess of the night.”
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn2ndajbOKS
There was a long pause.
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn2xTOPexd0
“Did I just get… double claimed?” Percy muttered.
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0jr23V5Lyh
It sounded stupid when he said it out loud.
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzWWQVFP32P
But no one laughed.
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ0Pdbg1hBD
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQr8nKU1G6y
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh6nzVvZ5NZ
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCj1b8XpurZ
Aftermath
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9YyDIUcfQr
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5V5LAGAKUj
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.
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0YtbphA3OW
“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.”
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKov6KDU7cu
“What does it mean?”
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVaVL6zXxIC
“It means the rules no longer apply to you.”
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1BNHfbDaqA
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.
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwq3FpLkWGj
And certainly not to be nice.
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0rngeZyGIV
“She sees something in you,” Chiron said, lowering his voice. “Something that terrifies even the gods.”
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5aok7AzGtu
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyHxznZEqCK
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS506cStxzb
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡscDMURazC1
The New Quest
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjxawmEfHFb
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIveliWuJvq
The next morning, the camp awoke to news that changed everything.
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtDMJeBHnmI
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.
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLsezomnwPV
And Luke?
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9pwgiG8pSa
Luke stopped smiling entirely.
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVoAJRCfYiI
Chiron called an emergency council. The Oracle had already spoken again, unprompted:
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoMT7Mv1zrT
“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.”
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfvp2r1rF9k
No one knew what it meant.
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPLlZp4I3UC
But Chiron did the unthinkable—he gave Percy a different quest.
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUoKmvKknQG
Not just to retrieve the lightning bolt, but to descend into Erebus, the deepest part of the Underworld, to meet Nyx herself.
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVgCDBJyN9t
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrK8h2tBS8b
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9exzuoo2jL
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6nv3ZTAeGH
Final Scene of the Chapter
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡElxkK6OMtI
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ11CaAgQ1WP
As Percy packed for his journey, Annabeth stopped him outside the Big House.
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRIoZ7YD9bp
“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.”
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQV51yt4a5f
Percy shrugged, looping Riptide to his belt. “Maybe she made a mistake.”
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu8XTac10Wv
“No,” Annabeth said firmly. “She doesn’t make mistakes.”
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQCVaWUB5ad
Her grey eyes met his. “Just… promise me you won’t listen to her.”
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ZQAZNafae
“Who?” Percy asked.
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfoPhLO7kH1
“Nyx. She’ll offer you something. They always do.”
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡutIADma7Yd
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.
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfJ4OQcgJJL
“Come, my son. The night is listening.”
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTOmD2Qr0T8
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…
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqak6ulut0y
But the balance between light and darkness itself.
and then Add to home screen.