Arthur Pendragon
The silence remained heavy between both groups, while neither Harry nor Percy lowered their guard.
Even Grover seemed completely tense from the implication behind Arthur's words. Annabeth, on the other hand, had a frown on her face. After all, the person standing in front of her had once been her mother's favorite son.
The one who earned the gods' favor. A legend among his brothers and sisters. Born only for greatness, creating a kingdom with his own hands, intelligence, and strength.
But Arthur didn't seem to notice the tense expressions of the young group. He simply remained standing there with that calm smile.
"So… what?" Percy finally asked, gripping Riptide tighter, preparing himself to attack or defend depending on what Arthur said next. "Are you going to rob us?"
Arthur barely blinked… before letting out a faint laugh that for a moment sounded genuinely amused.
"Rob?" he repeated, as if the word itself sounded strange to him. "No. If I wanted to take the helmet from you… I would simply do it," Arthur said as he uncrossed his arms, causing all four teenagers to tense immediately.
But Arthur didn't move forward. He didn't even seem to be preparing to fight. He simply remained standing there calmly.
"I have no intention of hurting you," he continued quietly, his words almost sounding like he was trying to calm them after seeing how they reacted to his movements. "I only need the helmet."
"And why should we give it to you?" Percy asked immediately.
Meanwhile, Harry slowly began moving to the side, searching for the perfect position in case a battle started, something he had already grown used to doing whenever Percy momentarily distracted their enemies.
Arthur stayed silent for a few seconds.
Then he slightly shifted his gaze toward Harry, who was moving to the side, with a hint of interest.
Harry's eyes widened the moment Arthur looked at him, freezing instantly with a surprised expression.
Grover and Annabeth followed Arthur's gaze and suddenly saw Harry appear… while the Harry standing beside Percy vanished, revealing that it had been an illusion, something they both understood immediately.
Percy, on the other hand, already knew, because this was simply an understanding between brothers.
Harry had a frown on his face and was even more on guard against Arthur now, not expecting him to detect his illusion so quickly.
But it was strange, because judging by Arthur's calm expression, it didn't seem like that was exactly what happened… it felt more like he simply followed Harry's gaze because he saw him move.
Arthur calmly looked back at Percy.
"To answer your question…" he continued as if nothing had happened. "Because it took me centuries to obtain an opportunity like this," he finally replied.
Percy frowned.
"What does that mean?"
But before Arthur could answer, Annabeth seemed to connect a few things almost instantly.
"You were supposed to guard the helmet," she said immediately, looking at Arthur while waiting for confirmation. "You said you were the head of security. Then protecting Hades's helmet should've been one of your priorities," she said.
Arthur smiled with faint pride, like someone watching children finally understand something basic.
Harry immediately narrowed his eyes and spoke.
"Wait… you… let them take it?" he asked right away.
Arthur remained silent for a few seconds… before giving a slight nod.
"I was there during the solstice… and I noticed the theft of the helmet almost immediately," he explained calmly. "But I didn't stop it."
"Why…?" Grover asked with slight disbelief.
Arthur slightly shifted his gaze toward the backpack behind Percy.
"Because it was an opportunity," he answered calmly. "An object like that would never disappear forever. Sooner or later the gods would send someone to recover it."
Then his golden eyes slowly moved toward Percy and Harry.
"I only had to wait for your arrival. This is nothing personal against you. It was simply fate that the chosen ones ended up being you. Just hand it over. You can explain it to Hades and you won't be punished for it. No one will get hurt," Arthur added calmly.
"Except innocent witches and wizards," Percy couldn't help adding sarcastically.
"But if we tell Hades… then you…" Annabeth added.
"I'm fully convinced punishment will fall upon me. But as long as I have the helmet, I'll have enough time to hide and finish my work. Once it's done, I won't care about whatever punishment comes for all eternity. At the very least, I'll be able to hold my head high knowing I completed what I was entrusted with. Something I swore upon my honor as a knight to accomplish," Arthur finished as he took a step forward for the first time, as if he had already finished talking and now simply intended to reclaim the helmet.
"It's impossible for a dead man to leave the Underworld," Grover said quickly, growing nervous as he tried to stop him with his words.
"It isn't," Arthur replied calmly. "Sisyphus did it."
"But Hermes caught him," Annabeth answered immediately. "But that wouldn't happen with Hades's helmet." Annabeth seemed to tense up even more.
"The helmet can hide you even from the gods…" Harry murmured.
Arthur didn't answer. He simply gave them a smile.
"But why do you want to kill wizards? What did they ever do to you?" Percy couldn't help asking. After all, a lot of the people he cared about were witches and wizards. His mother, his brother, Aunt Mor, his friends Neville, Hermione, Ron… the idiot Mark.
Harry felt his expression harden immediately.
Arthur didn't answer as he looked back toward the backpack behind Percy.
"I only need the helmet."
By now, he was already standing fairly close to Percy.
"Then… I guess this is the part where I say: over my dead body," Percy said, slightly raising his sword while staring directly into Arthur's eyes.
Arthur only let out a faint sigh while lightly shaking his head.
Suddenly, his body moved fast.
Percy reacted too, moving to defend himself… but Arthur caught Percy's sword with one hand without touching the blade. His other hand moved quickly toward Percy's wrist and twisted it, forcing him to open his hand and drop the sword, which Arthur immediately caught in one of his hands… while his free hand quickly moved toward Percy's neck.
"Lumus Flash!" Harry shouted instantly, pointing his wand straight at Arthur's face.
But Arthur didn't even react to the powerful flash of light… instead, he grabbed Percy by the neck and lifted him up while the smile completely vanished from his face, replaced by absolute coldness.
"I need you to sleep," Arthur said as he prepared to strike Percy in the face with the hilt.
But Percy reacted quickly and grabbed Arthur's wrist, then lifted his legs using Arthur's stomach to push himself upward, instantly wrapping his legs around Arthur's arm… a perfect lock meant to snap it.
But Arthur quickly shifted Riptide between his fingers, spinning it instantly before Percy could break his arm… and stabbed downward.
"Expelliarmus!" Harry shouted immediately as his spell hit Riptide directly, sending it flying out of Arthur's hand.
At the same time, Percy pulled hard with both arms and heard a crack. He immediately let go, rolled across the gray sand, caught Riptide, and took several steps backward, creating distance from Arthur while staying on guard.
Meanwhile, Harry kept a serious expression with his wand raised. Even Annabeth and Grover moved into defensive positions. Annabeth with her dagger… and Grover quickly dug through his things and pulled out a small green bag and his flute.
As for Arthur, his arm hung uselessly at his side, completely broken… yet he simply stared toward Percy and the group with a truly cold look.
He merely lifted the broken arm, which cracked loudly as the bone forced itself back into place on its own.
"Ok… that was disgusting," Percy said, making a disgusted face, even though he was the one who had broken the arm in the first place.
"He's a soul," Annabeth answered as she watched his arm seemingly return to normal without any damage at all. "As long as he's in the Underworld, he can't be killed, because he's already dead," she finished.
Meanwhile, Harry was frowning over something else.
"You… can't see magic?" Harry asked while staring directly into those unnatural golden eyes.
Arthur slowly raised his hand near his eyes, his face still cold… while his gaze lingered for a moment on Annabeth's gray eyes.
"In the past, my eyes were grayish blue. Eyes our mother loved, because they mixed her own eyes filled with wisdom with those of her father Zeus. But this is my curse. The punishment Hecate placed upon me for attacking her creations. She not only stole the eyes my mother was proud of… she also made me unable to see any kind of magic. So I could never find her people again," Arthur explained calmly.
"If you can't see magic, then how are you planning to find every wizard and witch in the entire world?" Percy asked in confusion.
"Of course, it's not a task I can do alone. That's why, in the past, a great deal of help was needed," Arthur replied calmly.
But only one answer instantly came to Harry's mind; how did people in the past find supposed witches without even being able to truly see their magic? And the answer was simple. They didn't.
"You want to start a witch hunt… like the Inquisition," Harry said in an extremely serious tone, almost angry.
"I'm sorry, but I don't have time to waste. Even though I said I wouldn't hurt you, you are making things complicated… so I'll have to act accordingly," Arthur said while slowly raising his guard.
It was a combat stance that looked very familiar to Percy and Harry. Especially… Grover and Annabeth seemed to recognize it too, because they had seen that exact stance not long ago… when Vincent fought Ares hand to hand.
"It's nothing personal."
"Yeah… everybody says that. But I take it pretty personally," Percy replied while lightly rubbing his neck for a moment.