5. Chapter 4 (1/2)

disclaimer: i do not own percy jackson or the characters, rick riordan does.

lucius tsk'ed when saw percy's decision. "useless mutt! he couldn't even

eak one little pup's spirit. and that damned human! poisoning his mind with useless lessons about kindness and humility. bah." he sighed. "no matter, i will unleash his inner beast, it's his nature, his birthright! then again..."

he saw percy walk away smirking viciously, ignoring gabe's pleas, not looking back once.

lucius smirked at the lack of mercy, the utter lack of compassion in his eyes. he could practically feel the malevolent thoughts running through the pup's head. he looked like one of them. "oh ho ho, there may be hope for you yet young perseus."

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june 28, 1914: heir to austrian throne, archduke franz ferdinand, assassinated in sarajevo.

july 23, 1914: austria-hungary prepares to invade serbia, sends ultimatum demanding reparations for archduke's assassination.

july 25, 1914:

- serbia rejects serbian ultimatum; diplomatic relations

oken.

- russia declares it will act to protect serbian sovereignty.

july 28, 1914: austria-hungary declares war on serbia.

july 30, 1914: russia officially mobilizes 1,200,000 troops.

august 1, 1914:

- germany mobilizes and declares war on russia; first shots fired.

- france mobilizes its armed forces in support of russia.

august 2, 1914: germany declares war on belgium, and subsequently invades.

august 3, 1914:

- germany declares war on france, invades russia.

- italy declares neutrality.

august 4, 1914:

itain declares war on germany.

august 5, 1914: u.s. declares neutrality, offers mediation in europe.

august 6, 1914:

- austria-hungary declares war on russia.

- serbia declares war on germany.

august 12, 1914: france,

itain declare war on austria-hungary.

late august, 1914: battle of tannenberg.

september 6-9, 1914: first battle of the marne.

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"boy, they sure are going at it over there in europe, huh?" charlie commented, setting down the newspaper. they were currently enjoying their

eakfast, reveling in the small moment of peace before their day really started.

charles 'charlie' arber was percy's first friend, well... ever. he had this boyish charm about him, and he was disarmingly handsome. his electric blue eyes filled with mischief and pride, and blonde hair cut into a buzzcut just like everyone else's in the army. he was as american as baseball and apple pie.

fred snorted. "does that surprise you though? i mean, who didn't see it coming at this point?"

frederick 'fred' clarke was charlie's childhood best friend, and percy's second friend ever. he shared percy's black hair, but unlike percy, his eyes were just as black as his hair. he was ruggedly handsome, with sharp features, a stark contrast to charlie. he was the more pragmatic of the two, but he balanced charlie out perfectly. kept his crazy in check, in a way none of the commanding officers could, while charlie seemed to relax fred better than any bottle of rum could, and because of that they were practically inseparable.

percy met the both of them in the bus going to bootcamp, and was pleasantly delighted when they were all assigned to the same infantry regiment, the 106th.

"when do you reckon we'll be joining the fight?" charlie asked percy.

percy shrugged. "i have no idea. not any time soon, that's for sure. president wilson seems to be determined to stay neutral."

fred sniffed. "it won't matter. they reckon this war will be over quickly, by christmas day they say, and i'm inclined to believe them."

charlie scoffed. "you kidding me? i can feel it in my gut fred... this war, it's the war to end all wars! there's no way this'll be over as quickly as everyone seems to be predicting. especially if president wilson insists on us staying out of it."

fred raised one of his eye

ows. "you're doubting his decision?"

charlie shrugged. "i mean... look, i love this country and everything it stands for, you guys know that but... if it were up to me, we'd all be in the frontlines, shooting down the bad guys, making a real difference over there, you know. making this a real world war. hell, if we joined in, this war would be over in a snap." he snapped his fingers to illustrate his point.

percy grinned. "if the fate of this country was up to you charlie, we'd all be dead in a snap." he mimicked charlie's finger-snap.

all three of them laughed at that.

"i'll have to wholeheartedly agree with you there perce. may god have mercy on our souls if charlie ever rises through the ranks, all the way up to president." fred said with a shudder.

charlie snorted. "as if you'd make a better president frederick."

"why, i think i would make an excellent president charles."

"besides," percy spoke up, doing his best to avoid a pointless argument between the two best friends, "if this war does last longer than we expect, there's no way president wilson can stay out of it. they are calling this a world war, and last i checked, america was part of the world."

fred sighed. "let's keep our fingers crossed that it doesn't get to that point."

charlie looked at fred, aghast. "what are you saying fred? you want us to stay out of it?"

fred sighed once more. "look, charlie, i love our country as much as the next guy, i really do, but... yeah, i kind of agree with him. this war over in europe... it resulted from the corrupt nature of european power politics, and i'd rather leave that alone thank you very much. and, the less we have to deal with the

itish, the better if you ask me."

that started the usual bickering between the two soldiers.

percy grinned. this was the life. true, the world seemed to be descending into utter chaos, but it could be worse he supposed. he could've stayed in london, all alone or most probably in the trenches.

"as productive as this argument is, and trust me it is, i'll have to leave you boys. i gotta take a leak, and start patrolling with reynolds." percy announced. "don't miss me too much while i'm away."

fred grinned. "why would we?"

"maybe now we'll finally be able to

eathe again." charlie finished, mirroring fred's grin. this has become their standard way of finishing their conversations, after smelling each others farts for the first time on their first night here and percy cherished it deeply.

he'd never admit it out loud, but he thought it was disgustingly sweet.

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"do you hear that?" reynolds whispered worriedly, holding up his rifle shakily. "i could've sworn i heard growling coming from those shadows over there, by the canteen..."

percy's eyes widened. it couldn't be...

he cleared his throat. "i don't really hear anything, but uh, i'll go check it out. how about you continue the rest of the patrol without me?"

reynolds hesitated. it was obvious that he was relieved, but at the same time, he didn't want to leave percy all alone. "you sure jackson?"

percy smiled confidently. "yeah, i'm sure reynolds. will you get out of here already? the faster you do this, the faster we can join the others. you know sarge won't be giving us extra time to finish this week's drill."

reynolds chuckled. "yeah, all right. don't die on me now, you hear? i don't want to fill out all of that paper work."

percy rolled his eyes fondly. "gee, thanks.. i can feel the love."

"holler if you need me."

"will do." percy said with a wink. he kept his eyes on reynolds while he was slowly nearing the shadows. he looked around, making sure that no one was around before he faced the shadows with a scowl.

"what are you doing here?" percy asked harshly.

lucius tsk'ed, walking out of the shadows slowly. "that's no way to greet an old friend, now is it perseus?"

percy kept on scowling, and held up his rifle. "i won't ask again."

lucius smirked and started cleaning out his nails. "do you really think a simple rifle could hurt me?"

percy sighed, before lowering the weapon. "what do you want lucius? i already told you once at the docks, i don't want to join your army. i'm not one of you guys."

lucius scoffed. "right, but you have trouble joining the american army."

percy squirmed. "that's different."

"is it though? after all, you still have to follow someone else's orders. a human's at that! at least, if you joined our army, you wouldn't have to deal with these annoying pests called humans."

percy scowled. "they're not annoying, and they're not pests. besides, i'm one of them."

lucius arched his left eye

ow. "don't be naive perseus. you aren't one of them. and you never will be. you're better than them. you must have noticed that by now. how, even though you're younger than everyone else, you surpass their physical prowess without

eaking a sweat. how your sense of smell seems to be better than everyone else's. how your aim is far more superior to their's."

percy squirmed once more, he wasn't wrong. but if what lucius suggested is true... "so? it could just be... genetics?"

lucius chuckled mirthlessly. "ohh, you're not wrong. it most definitely is genetics all right. come on perseus, you're not dumb. you know what you are, even if you refuse to admit it."

percy clenched his jaw and looked down. "i.. i just want to be normal!"

lucius scowled, his eyes glowing yellow. he grabbed percy by his shirt and pushed him against the wall. "normal? normal?! you want to be one of.. them? you've got unimaginable power, rivaled by the gods themselves hell, feared by the gods, and you want to be normal? you should be honored! proud! you don't belong here, with these... these cretins! i can teach you how to control your power perseus! not only that, i can teach you how to wield it."

he dropped percy, and dusted himself off. "you just have to let me."

percy looked down. "i just... i can't, all right? i can't accept, because, because then i'd have to.. i'd have to leave my friends behind. you said it yourself! if i joined you guys... i wouldn't be allowed to contact any humans ever again!"

lucius rolled his eyes. "right, i did say that, and i stand by it! it's the only non-negotiable rule we have perseus. everything else can be justified. only one simple little rule. but think of what you could gain, if you joined our pack. fame, riches, power, damn near immortality, all in the palm of your hand! you'd be willing to throw all of that away for... what? a couple of friends who'll be dead soon enough?"

percy glared at him. "yes."

lucius glared back, before sighing. "stubborn little pup, now aren't you? no matter, you will join us perseus, of that i'm certain. it's inevitable. after all, it is your birthright. i suppose i just have to be patient for a little while longer. very well, if you insist on learning how horrible humanity can be the hard way, i won't stop you. but know this, you can't ignore who you are forever perseus. sooner or later the beast inside of you will come out, and when it does, i pray you know how to control it by then. you can run, but you can't hide. after all, there's always a shadow."

and with that lucius vanished once more into the shadows, and percy was left all alone with his thoughts, a worried frown on his face

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september 5, 1914: h.m.s. pathfinder sunk by submarine launched torpedoes sent by german u-boats.

january, 1915: battle of dogger bank.

may 7, 1915: german u-20 sub torpedoes cunard liner lusitania; 1,198 dead, 124 americans.

may 13, 1915: u.s sec. of state

yan demands german reparations in lusitania incident.

may 29, 1915: germany replies to u.s. lusitania note, makes no promise to curb subs.