Difference in Levels
The first one to make a move was Thalia. She raised Aegis, her shield, which just by holding it in front of her could make people tremble in fear if they weren't prepared or didn't have a strong mentality.
But right now Percy, with the Tiara of Intelligence, showed no emotion at all at the sight of the image carved into the shield.
He watched as Thalia raised her spear toward the sky and, out of nowhere, without even a single storm cloud present, a lightning bolt fell toward its tip as if it were a lightning rod, charging it with even more power than the physical electricity coming from Thalia's body itself.
And without hesitation she thrust into the air toward Percy.
Who simply raised one hand even before Thalia launched the attack, completely predicting her movement.
A wave rose like a wall of saltwater. And when the lightning struck it, it was immediately possible to see the entire surface of the saltwater wall light up while part of the water exploded into sudden steam from the heat, as the electricity spread through the surrounding sea, branching out in electric arcs around the area while barely opening the wave apart, causing the electricity to not even reach Percy.
As if the sea itself had effortlessly devoured the lightning.
Percy prepared the next attack and raised both hands. Then pointed toward her.
Two streams of water suddenly shot out from both sides of Percy directly toward Thalia, who raised Aegis to protect herself, while the immense pressure of the water crashing against her pushed her backward, forcing her to brace herself with all her strength to avoid being knocked down.
But in the next moment she felt a shadow over her, so she looked up and saw a massive wave crashing down toward her, completely swallowing her whole.
Inside the water she felt everything spinning at high speed and her body slammed several times against the ground below before the water finally pulled back again, leaving her completely sprawled out and soaked in the exact same spot as before.
Making her breathe rapidly as she regained the breath that had been knocked out of her from the previous hits.
Even so, she raised her gaze only to meet Percy's emotionless face, as he slowly lifted his hand after seeing that she wasn't surrendering easily.
"Percy, stop!" Grover shouted this time, quickly stepping in front of Thalia, shielding her with his body while seriously looking at his friend, even with a frown on his face. "You need to take off the tiara," he added.
Percy, who had one hand raised as if he was about to launch another attack, looked at Grover for a moment and then at Thalia.
"I'm only showing her the difference between us, since she seemed to need it," he said with complete calm as his hand moved toward his head, removing the tiara without any rush.
But even without the tiara on, his face was still fairly calm.
While the gaze of his sea green eyes met her electric blue ones.
Thalia was the first to look away while wearing a genuinely irritated expression. But at the same time her hand clenched tightly, feeling truly weak.
She had just faced Percy with all her strength and he had felt like a natural disaster.
And he had only used the abilities inherited from his father. Not the ones he was so proud of training to exhaustion. He didn't draw any of his swords. He didn't use those strange but powerful shouts. And he didn't even use that magic completely different from mist manipulation.
Percy gave her a brief look before letting out a hidden sigh to himself, knowing he had exaggerated a little.
"I think it's time to make some changes to the plan," he added, breaking the complete silence caused by himself as his gaze passed over every single person present.
…
Percy opened his eyes and instantly realized he wasn't in the place he had last seen before closing them to fall asleep.
He seemed to be on some kind of slope completely covered in mist.
Percy's gaze immediately focused upward for a moment, trying to figure out whether he was outside or inside, because for some reason he felt a strange heaviness over him.
But even after looking up, the only thing he could see was a dense darkness that didn't help much. The feeling was like being inside a dark cave while at the same time somehow feeling out in the open.
A strange sensation that shouldn't have made sense.
Only very ancient Greek columns could be seen.
"Spine, where are you? Why did you bring me here?" a familiar voice was heard, making Percy instantly turn around.
There he saw Annabeth, who was barely climbing the mountainside, searching for someone through the mist, but getting no response as she advanced completely exhausted until finally reaching the top.
Then she stopped and opened her eyes in surprise as she looked at a person lying right at the summit of the mountain, barely gasping while enduring whatever it was they were suffering through.
It was Luke, who was writhing in strange pain while barely managing to stay up with one knee on the ground, while above him a darkness could be seen pressing down on him, making him barely able to breathe as sweat covered his body.
"Annabeth," Luke said the moment he saw her arrive, his face filled with pain. "Help me, please," he told her while looking at her pleadingly, still writhing in pain.
Annabeth stood there for a moment in confusion before approaching with slight hesitation.
"What's happening?" she asked, completely confused, while she herself seemed uncertain seeing Luke like that. She even raised her hand for a moment, but stopped after remembering who Luke was right now.
"They left me here. I can't endure it anymore. Please, help me. Help me," Luke said as tears ran down his face and his chin trembled.
"Why should I trust you?" Annabeth told him while her face completely showed her indecision and the pain of seeing Luke suffer mixed with memories of his past self and what he had become now.
"I know I did bad things, Annabeth. And I know you doubt me. But if you don't help me now, I'll die. I'm sure you know Zeus is using Thalia. You know what will happen if those two are the only ones competing in the trial. They'll kill each other. I know you know that. Only my participation will change that. I don't want to see Thalia die, Annabeth," Luke told her with a pleading expression.
Those words seemed to strike exactly where it hurt Annabeth the most, and she approached without being able to stop herself, because that was the last thing she wanted; for Percy and Thalia to have to kill each other over some stupid trials.
Right at that moment, as if the ceiling had suddenly started collapsing, massive debris came crashing down. And Annabeth, out of reflex, stepped in front of Luke.
And unbelievably, she caught the collapsing ceiling, supporting all its weight.
Something that should have been impossible for her.
Even Percy opened his eyes in surprise. But he couldn't say anything; even if he screamed, his voice seemed completely muted.
Luke, on the other hand, took advantage of this and rolled underneath, getting away from where the ceiling was about to fall. Then he steadied himself, catching his breath, and the painful expression he had before calmed considerably.
"Thank you," Luke told her, still breathing heavily.
"Help me hold it!" Annabeth shouted at him immediately as she began suffering the same pain Luke had earlier, while her face quickly turned pale and her legs trembled under such overwhelming weight.
Luke didn't rush and slowly got back to his feet, still with his face dirty and drenched in sweat before opening his mouth again.
"Thank you. I knew I could count on you," he told her with complete calm.
"Help me!" Annabeth yelled at him urgently.
But Luke didn't take a single step toward her. Instead, he turned around as if nothing had happened, ready to leave just like that without another thought.
But before taking the first step, he stopped and glanced over his shoulder.
"Don't worry. Your help is already on the way, just as the plan dictates. In the meantime, try not to die. You'd cause a lot of problems," he told her before starting to walk away without looking back again.
Leaving Annabeth watching Luke's back as he walked away while she remained alone in that darkness, holding up the ceiling that could kill her at any moment.