Chapter One: Unofficial Mission
"Mira. another beer please." A tall, slim, young woman with an ample bust and tan skin called out as she set her tankard on the table with the drunken grace that matched the god of wine himself. She had long, mid-back length brown hair, and two shoulder length strands framing her face. The woman went by the name of Cana Alberona and she was watching the ongoing brawl between, well, everybody. To be frank it was quite annoying as all the young mage wanted to do was enjoy her alcohol in peace.
The shorter bartender that went by the name of Mirajane wordlessly replaced the empty glass with a full one. A deep frown on Mira's face as she thought about how to break the news to the girl in front of her. She had just finished cleaning out the tankard in her hands when a clink sounded on the counter in front of her. "Mira another beer please."
Unlike last time the cups were not exchanged however and took the same empty cup from before and started to drink from it only to find it empty.
"Mira." Cana called, vying for her attention.
"May I please have another beer." The wizardess asked again.
"You can't." Makarov, an imposing man that stood at only three feet high chimed in, saving Mira from direct fire as he literally hopped up onto a bar stool, his small stature prohibiting him from sitting like a normal being. His height was just proof that looks really don't matter. Despite his dwarfism and elderly age, the midget beside Cana was the fifth most powerful man in the world and leader of the Fairy Tail guild, one of the more prominent guilds ever established. Yet even he was the slightest bit tense on Cana's reaction.
"What do you mean I can't?" She asked angrily, someone was messing with her and her booze and she was not liking it one bit.
"Young girl, do you know just how much you owe the Fairy Tail guild?" Makarov questioned.
"Just put it on my tab, I'll pay it back later." Cana responded rather hotly.
The guildmaster pulled out a manilla folder from seemingly out of nowhere and flipped through it. "Ahh yes you're tab, that is what seems to be the problem, right now you owe 15,000,000 in jewels to the Fairy Tail guild, and I am sorry but you just don't have enough to cover it so I am cutting you off until you can pay me and the guild back
"I do not drink that much!" The wizardess said, trying to defend herself.
"It says here you are responsible for over a third of all alcoholic beverages served at the bar." He deadpanned.
"Well. Everyone else are just lightweights." She grumbled, heat rising in her cheeks.
The elderly man chuckled. "Either way, until your debt is paid off you are cut of from all merchandise Fairy Tail related besides your dorm. I on the other hand can drink all I want so Mira, a beer please!" Makarov shouted only to find her missing from behind the bar. The two scanned the guild hall, one in need and one in curiosity as they looked for the resident bartender.
They located her at the same time in the center of the room stamping two of the new recruits Natsu had dragged in today. One, a girl with brown eyes and shoulder length blonde hair tied in a blue ribbon and pushed off to the side of her head. Makarov and Cana watched as the stamper was removed and the pink Fairy Tail logo appeared on the back of her hand. Mira then turned to the other, a male. There was a slight pause between Mira and the newbie and Cana assumed that the boy was just asked where he wanted the stamp to be. Finally the young boy rolled up his arm sleeve to show a tattoo of a trident and three score marks under it, the boy pointed right next to the trident, above the score marks yet under the big black letters SPQR. When the stamper was removed it showed the mark to be a jet black matching his hair. Subconsciously Cana looked down to her stomach at her Fairy Tail mark, the same color as his. Although not covered by her clothing, which was really just a blue bikini top and a pair of capris.
She looked back up to see the boy being dragged over by the girl in the direction of Natsu and the request board. As Mirajane, no longer worthy of the nickname Mira since she cut her off, made her way around the bar she gave Cana a nervous smile, to which she returned with a growl. As the white-haired girl served Makarov his booze Cana began to steel her nerves at thought of addressing such a large crowd. She could already feel the buzz wearing off from her previous drinks before her rather recent prohibition.
Standing up on her barstool Cana looked down at Makarov with a glare, he responded by staring her in the eyes and taking a lingering sip of his beer. Taking a deep breath to restrain herself from attacking the guildmaster she closed her eyes and reopened them, only to find most people already gathered around her, Natsu and the two newbies in front of everybody, all ready to listen in on whatever announcement she was going to make.
"I am going to be starting missions again." Cana began. "I need companions to join me and I am willing to split the pay equal ways, anyone who wishes to join me step forward."
She watched in minor disappointment and a little hurt at everyone in the guild hall took a step back. The only ones that didn't move were the two most recent Fairy Tail members who clearly had no idea what was happening.
This quickly changed when Natsu reached forward and yanked the girl back by the collar eliciting a 'eep' from her and leaving the boy alone as the only candidate. She looked into his unyielding green hurricanes he called eyes and tried to get a read on him to see if he was any good, only to fail.
The boy looked back at the crowd, as if to finally realize what had happened, then at Cana who was up on the barstool, then back at the crowd, then back at Cana.
"Uhh, hi?" He said.
Cana took her seat and slammed her head on the counter. A loud groan exiting her mouth, she was never going to drink again.
-X- Current Debt: -15,000,000
Percy unfortunately understood the situation he was in quite well. If this was school dodgeball the black haired demigod was the runt that nobody wanted on their team and the brunette bombshell beside him was the bully that nobody wanted to be with because they were all too scared. Percy wasn't really too concerned though, if he could survive Tartarus, Gaia, Kronos, transported to alternate dimensions etc, etc… Then he was pretty sure that he could handle a female with a slight drinking problem, as the others so kindly put it.
"So Percy, you got any money?" Cana asked after the two had introduced themselves, Makarov sitting behind her as he and the female mage watched the demigod fiddle with a leather necklace and stare into the oak countertop like it held the answers to the world.
"Hm? Oh I only have a couple of jewels sorry." Percy said, pulling a very crumpled ten dollar bank note out of his pocket and placing it on the counter, which Cana immediately snatched up.
The old man, Makarov spoke up from behind his new 'partner'. "No need to leech off your guildmates Cana, I'll let you have this one on the house." He said as he gently took the money out of Cana's hands and gave it back to Percy and motioned the barmaid over. "Would you like anything to drink Percy, was it?"
"No, I don't drink." Percy responded a little dejectedly, his first friends Natsu and Lucy had already left him. Leaving for the Everlue Mansion and stranding him alone with his new 'partner' who apparently everyone feared.
"Pansy." He heard the girl mutter under her breath.
"Hey!" Percy replied indignantly. "Just because I am not old enough to drink doesn't mean I am a pansy!" Assuming that the drinking law here was 21 just like it was back home.
This caused both the guildmaster, barmaid (whose name he already forgot) and Cana to all look at him in confusion and the slightest bit of shock.
"Just how old are you?" His 'partner' asked, narrowing her normally large brown eyes.
"17."
Everyone seemed to look a little relieved at that information. "Well I don't know where you come from, but here drinking age is 15, so drink up." Cana countered as Mira, that's her name, poured him a drink without it being requested.
Percy looked down at the brown frothing liquid with poorly disguised disgust, this stuff had literally destroyed Gabe, made him lose his job, become uncontrollable of his own actions, and why he was in no way defending the fat oaf, he knew that alcohol played a big part of it. This was part of the reason his life was miserable, why his mother had been hit before, and he'd be damned if he'd follow in his footsteps. "You're right, I am a pansy, take it." He relented, pushing the beer her way.
Makarov chuckled lightly into his drink and Cana, who had already finished her first was inhaling Percy's like it a fish would water.
"How come my dad hasn't come back yet?" A voice called out from behind Percy, causing him and the two he was facing to look back at the speaker. He couldn't have been more than eleven years old, his eyes filled with worry and fear as he looked up to the still smaller guildmaster who was seated on his chair.
"You're starting to work my nerves Romeo!" Makarov snapped. "Your a wizard son so wait patiently and he will return.
"But he said it was a three day job, and he's been gone for a week!"
"Listen here little boy, your father took a mission on Mt. Hakobe and he is fully capable of taking care of himself. So why don't you go home, have some milk and cookies and wait like the rest of us."
"I hate you!" Little Romeo exclaimed, socking the guild leader in the face before running out the door.
The guild was awfully quiet at that point as everyone took a moment of silence to pity the poor boy. Cana, whose liver was made of iron had felt the buzz already fade away from her two drinks and was sober for the first time in a very long time. She couldn't help but feel the same way that the boy felt, having her father leave before birth just so he could keep adventuring. In a surprisingly mature and unaltered state she made the executive decision that she could take out two birds with one stone, go to Mt. Hakobe and see just what skills the rookie had as well as find Romeo's father and bring him back.
"Hey Prissy, follow me." She demanded as she began to head for the door.
Prissy, sorry Percy, merely shrugged his shoulders and stood up, jogging to catch Cana's retreating figure, when Percy got to her side he asked her a question that made her snap at him.
"Do you have a sister named Clarisse?"
"Clarisse? That sounds like a fat old lady's name." She deadpanned.
The first unofficial recruit of Team Cana laughed out loud, as if she had just told the funniest inside joke of the century, his laughter eventually got Cana's snarl to fade and even she cracked a smile, just finding it funny that he found it so funny. The two continued down the streets of Magnolia in the direction of Mt. Hakobe, this sun shining off their backs causing them to chase after their shadows. Team leader Cana kept pestering him to find out what was so funny but Percy refused to crack.
Maybe this kid wasn't so bad after all.
"Do you think Cana's leaving has something to do with Gildarts master?" One of the lesser known Fairy Tail guild members asked Makarov, referring to Cana and her dad who left her.
"No doubt my dear boy." Makarov responded, taking a sip of his beer. "I feel she sees herself in little Romeo and doesn't want him to feel the way she does."
"Going after Macao isn't going to do anything except hurt his pride." Another guild member shouted out, drawing cheers of agreement from others who were listening in.
The efforts were soon quieted by the dwarf guild master and his wise sounding words. "Remember men, we cannot chose another's path, just let them be."
A man with buck teeth snorted into his glass. "I just feel bad for the new kid, poor boy's probably getting his ass chewed out right now!"
That caused tensions to drop and a round of laughs exploded throughout the hall, even the guildmaster sporting a smile.
-X- Current Debt: -15,000,000
The trip up wasn't too bad, the duo had rented a carriage to take them to the summit, having no specific idea as to where Romeo's father, Macao was. Percy kept himself occupied by playing a drum solo in his head, using the ever faithful Riptide in one hand and his index finger on the other side. Cana was complaining about having a headache, probably her first time being hung-over ever, every little bump they hit on the road eliciting a groan from the brown haired girl. It wasn't long until she snapped.
"Would you stop that drumming, its killing me!" Cana yelled, her over sensitive ears picking up every little tap Percy made.
With the roll of his eyes, Percy gave the writing utensil a final twirl between his fingers before stuffing it in his pocket. "Whatever you say 'daddy issues'." He retorted.
In less than an instant all senses of vertigo had left the female mage's body and she had closed the distance of the two benches immediately, grabbing the collar of Percy's shirt and pulling him level with her eyes before slamming him to the side of the carriage, causing it to shake. "What did you just call me?" She asked threateningly.
"Uhhh, nothing?" Percy asked, trying to remedy the situation he had put himself in, wondering why she was so offset at a joke. When Mira was introducing him to some of the more prominent members she had glance over briefly that Cana's father had left her before she was born, and Percy suspected that it was the reason they were even taking this job in the first place. But so many demigods could go their entire lives without meeting one of their parents and still didn't have this type of reaction. This clearly was an issue that needed to be handled with care in the future.
"Listen bud, let me set some ground rules for ya. You have no idea what me or my mom went through okay, so shut up. And I don't want you ever talking about how great Gildarts is either, you got that.?"
On the inside Percy was holding in a snort, 'You have no idea what me or my mom went through?' hah, he lived it, he knew it better than most. Hell, Percy only met his father when he was twelve because his father needed something from him to prevent a civil war, not exactly fatherly love if Percy said so himself. As he said before, the life of a demigod was living with only one parent, no exceptions, laws older than the gods themselves made sure of that. Regardless of these facts, Percy wasn't the kind of guy to tell someone he just met to fuck off so he just nodded his head. "I understand, I'm sorry."
Whatever response Cana had waiting for him was cut off by the elderly looking man who served as their driver. "I'm sorry but I cannot go any further." He said.
This caused the two to break up and look at the old man. Cana, still angry at Percy had a heated glare and Percy himself was just busy fixing himself from Cana's roughing. With a nod Cana turned and stormed out into the storm clad only in a bikini and capris. The black haired demigod ran a hand through his unruly hair as he wondered how he got into this mess.
"Relationship problems?" The driver asked, referring to the earlier incident.
Percy's eyes went open as he waved his hands side to side. "Oh gods no!" He exclaimed causing the driver to laugh. "I barely even know her. Anyways thanks for the ride." He finished with a wave as he slung his bag over his shoulder and stepped out into the harsh slopes of Mt. Hakobe, the temperature causing him to flip his hood up on his sweatshirt to keep out the biting cold.
"So now what?" Percy asked as he watched their only mode of transportation disappear through a veil of snow, Riptide once again finding its way out of his pant pocket and into his hand as he danced it around his fingers.
Cana snorted, her hostile mood gone for now, and replaced with her usual 'I am greater than you' attitude. "We look for Macao." She said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. With those words she began to trudge through the snow and towards the summit of the mountain. Once again Percy resorted to shrugging his shoulders and following his leader, having no better idea at the moment.
One hour later…
The fearless Team Cana had taken a break from venturing cluelessly through the white. Percy sighed as he watched Cana essentially freeze herself to death in the knee high snow, he had offered her his sweatshirt at least ten times already but the stubborn girl always refused. I mean seriously, who the Hades wears a bikini top to a snowy mountain. Having enough he took the pitch black sweatshirt off himself and literally shoved it into Cana's chest, revealing his skin tight black t-shirt, matching black jeans and boots to complete the set, even black tattoos in SPQR and his Fairy Tail one on the same arm. All this black and people that knew him back on Earth would have thought he was turning into Nico.
"Wear it, you need it." Percy all but commanded as she tried to hand it back to him.
Cana, while she didn't want to admit it was very grateful for the protection against the cold. It was foolish of her to go in such skimpy clothing but her pride rejected any help from the newbie until it was literally forced into her hands.
If Cana said Percy didn't have a surprisingly remarkable figure underneath those baggy pants and sweatshirt, she would have been lying through her chattering teeth. His body was chalked full of muscles, so much it looked as if it was cut from solid marble. All lean muscle, the biceps were big but not to the point she found it disgusting like a body builder's, the exposed flesh she could see, which was just his arms, were riddled with scars, some big, some small but it made her question just what he had been through. The rookie even had freaking eight pack, something Elfman and all his manliness couldn't claim to have. No, the rookie was definitely hotter than Loke, who was often considered the most eligible bachelor of all of Fairy Tail.
Percy caught Cana staring at him after a while, making him feel a little self-conscious. "Is there something on my shirt?" He asked looking down, causing Cana's blush to fade and for her to roll her eyes as she began to put his sweat shirt on.
The black haired demigod chuckled as he watched his fearless team leader struggle to put on the clothing article he had given her, he figured that the exposure had just numbed her body to the point she had trouble moving and that was why it was stuck around her head and she was muttering enough profanities to put some of the most hardcore of sailors to shame.
"Stop laughing and help me Prissy!" Cana exclaimed over the howling winds.
"Alright, alright." He relented as he made his way over to her, only to pause midway.
"Well, I'm waiting." Cana said, her voice muffled through the blue fabric.
She went ignored as Percy stood there, doing a full 360 of his surroundings, there was something in his gut telling him that they were not the only ones on this mountain and whoever or whatever else was was close nearby. His sword hand had the pen form of Riptide in it and it hovered over his left wrist wear his shield watched laid.
"So am I." He muttered, too low for Cana to hear.
"Hello? Earthland to Percy, are you there?" She yelled, getting frustrated as she had no idea as to what was going on. "Fine. If you won't help I'll do it myself." Cana finally concluded as she began to struggle again.
Maybe he was just paranoid, Percy concluded as he pocketed his pen. The second he did so however his instincts flared up as he snapped his left hand over his head and pushed on the timepiece. The sound of shifting metal could be heard and where the watch once sat upon his wrist was replaced with a bronze shield the size of Percy's abdomen. On it were depictions of the demigod's quests and adventures with his friends Annabeth and Grover the satyr. He grunted as he felt a massive weight put upon it that forced him to a knee. It only lasted a second however as the unknown offender used his shield as a springboard and catapulted itself in the direction of Cana where it picked her up before running off into the snowstorm shouting.
"Woman! Woman! Woman!"
All of this happened in less than a second and Percy could only watch in awe as Cana was carried off by some sort of yeti-ape hybrid. His sword and shield that were once out and primed for battle now hung loosely at his sides.
After a moment of silence the only thought that came to mind was. "What is Apollo doing on Mt. Hakobe?" The demigod joked to himself with a dry chuckle before running after the ape and his teammate.
-X- Current Debt: -15,000,000
"Hold still you stupid ape!" Cana shouted as she stood in the middle of an icy cave at the summit of Hakobe, throwing her near limitless supply of shuriken cards. She, ironically enough had an easier time slipping on the black sweatshirt while being carried by a vulcan rather than on solid ground and now Cana was much warmer and had no movement restrictions like said sweatshirt being tangled around her head.
Regardless of these bonuses the ape was just too fast jumping around the icy confines of the cave with a grace no beast that size should have. Cana had a suspicion that it was really Macao stuck under a possession spell due to its pervy nature. Well that and if it wasn't than he was most likely dead already and that wasn't something she wanted to think about, so the vulcan HAD to be him deep down inside, for Romeo's sake.
The Fairy Tail mage needed to change tactics and quick or else she would have no shot at defeating the Vulcan.
"You like women." Cana grumbled. "Well. Here. You. Go." With every word she had thrown down a 'sexy lady card' from her deck, having four cards in total laying on the icy ground portraying a curvaceous woman in a skimpy bikini. The four women that were drawn on the cards came to life from them, and began to surround the vulcan who was now standing still, entranced not by the sight of one mage, but rather four bombshells in bikinis.
They surrounded the ape and began to rub him, the vulcan was steaming so bad he actually melted the ice around him as the girls slid their bodies up and down him. Meanwhile Cana prepared her 'Card Dimension' card, one that could trap others in a dimension inside the cards themselves, all she needed was a stationary target. The plan was to trap the vulcan, bring him to Fairy Tail, then find out a way to reverse the possession spell, piece of cake.
Of course something would go wrong though.
"Hey Beefcake!" A familiar voice shouted from the entrance of the cave, drawing the attention of both Cana and the vulcan. What they saw was a charging Percy with a bronze shield raised out in front of him, on it were depictions of what looked like a younger him, some girl and some sort of half-goat boy with shaggy legs and horns on his head. The three were all over the shield, fighting monsters she had never even seen before in all her years on Earthland.
The vulcan shrugged off the bikini wearing women off of him and slid them behind his broad ape-like chest. "Stay 'way from my woman!" He roared in a primal rage, both the demigod and vulcan were screaming their own battle cries before collision, Cana could only watch in shock and fear as her entire plan went down the drain.
The vulcan, with his superior height and arm length struck first, Percy however did not break stride and ducked under a swing that would have knocked his head off his shoulders like a baseball on a tee. Closing the gap with a final step he pushed off with all his might and grit his teeth as the demigod's shield smashed into the vulcan's chest knocking him on his ass with enough force to send him sliding into the inner walls of the cave. Where upon impact a large rock fell lose and landed on his head, knocking the vulcan out cold.
"See you in Hades, biatch." Percy taunted as he performed a mini victory dance on the exact spot where the vulcan's arousal had melted the ice.
His parade was rained on when the 'sexy lady' cards had made the conclusion on their own that Percy was now the enemy and began to hold him down and rub him sensually.
"Hey stop it! Let go of me!" Percy shouted followed by a serious scold at one of the giggling girls who got too friendly. "Do not touch me there!"
His cries of discomfort were what brought Cana out of her stupor. She quickly withdrew her 'Card dimension' card before she accidentally sucked up Percy into the card's pocket dimension, although that would have been quite the sight to see. Cana made to return her 'sexy lady' cards but ultimately decided to wait a little longer, the demigod's wails of agony rang through the cave like music to her ears.
"Cana! Help me!"
"No! This is what you deserve after you claimed I had 'daddy issues'!
"But-" Whatever Percy was going to say next was interrupted when he saw a harsh white glow emanating from the spot where the vulcan crashed into the wall. Riptide, who must have been tired from going from pocket to hand and back again so many times was in his hand once more, cap flicked off and three feet of lethal celestial bronze levelled in the vulcan's direction.
The light however kept growing, so bad to the point that Percy could no longer bear to even keep his eyes open. After what felt like agonizing hours of torture the light had finally dimmed. The black haired demigod had opened his eyes yet remained planted where he was as he shook his head and blinked rapidly to get rid of the spots dancing through his eyes.
Cana fared much better, the second the white light had retreated to the man under the rocks, she had took of running in his direction, hoping and praying that it was Macao who was just released from the vulcan's possession spell and not some stranger. The brunette slid to her knees and began clearing out the rocks, in the back of her mind she wondered just how strong Percy was to knock a vulcan of that size on its ass and have it slide into the wall at such a force that these many rocks would fall. Though she would never admit it, Cana was glad that he was the one who 'volunteered' instead of someone weaker.
Even if he was a blundering idiot.
"Percy get over here and help me!" She snapped in desperation, for Cana knew there was only so much a unconscious man could take while trapped under boulders this size.
"I thought the ape-thingy was a bad guy?" Percy asked, still disoriented by the blinding light as he stumbled his way over to the crash site, the 'sexy lady' cards being surprisingly helpful in this instance as they guided him to his destination. With a final shake of the head the demigod cleared his vision and dropped to his knees, pushing his current questions aside and trusting Cana's much more experienced judgement in this world's matters as he began to clear the boulders away.
Finally the duo had manage to completely clear the body from the wreckage to reveal a man laying where the vulcan previously was, he had slicked back dark blue hair, a firm, rectangular face, and a strange resemblance to that little boy that had come in earlier complaining about his missing dad.
"Wait, is this that kid's dad?" Percy asked in surprise, coming to the realization on his own.
"That kid's name was Romeo and yes, this is his father Macao, now stop gawking and help me pull him out."
The two moved the single father out with surprising co-operation, both trying their best not to jerk around Macao too much lest he become more injured, then the weight was then given solely to Percy, as she reached for the bedroll on his back, and pulled out a blanket which she laid on the icy floor.
Gently Percy laid the man down, and began to go over his wounds, years of demigod survival had proved that either Percy and his friends were a lot tougher than most, or he knew how to wrap a mean bandage and care for the injured with what little he had.
Hopefully the answer was a little of both.
First thing that stood out? A massive gash on his forehead the length and width of Percy's index finger, that was presumably where the boulder had fallen on him. Sighing he got to work, opening his pack and taking out gauze, a hand towel and a small bottle of disinfectant. Unscrewing the cap he poured a little bit of the hydrogen peroxide in the cut before dabbing it out and cleaning the wound with the hand towel. Percy then unraveled a little of the gauze.
"Hold his head up for me?" He asked, as Cana could only nod, dumbfounded by his medical knowledge, a man who didn't even know the drinking age for Pete's sake was out here looking like a professional doctor. And more importantly why did he pack all of this stuff, the trip shouldn't have been more than half a day and she remembered telling that to Percy specifically.
"Why did you bring all of this stuff?" Cana asked. "I told you we would already be back by nightfall."
Percy had finished dressing Macao's head and rubbed the back of his own sheepishly. "It's just, me and adventures have a really bad track record, the short ones seem to be longer than they should and the long ones even longer, on top of that just about nothing will go my way and I wanted to be prepared so Makarov let me borrow a few items before we left."
His response was met by an unnerving silence and a blank stare causing Percy to blush and go over the rest of Macao's body. A few new-ish cuts here and there that he may have gotten fighting the vulcan before possession but nothing to life threatening.
Oh, there was also a bruise on his lower left rib cage.
Like a really big bruise.
About the size of a shield.
Wonder how that got there.
Percy inspected the super totally mysterious mark and prodded it with his finger. The best case scenario was that it was only a minute fracture and the worst case scenario was that he had one maybe two broken ribs and he would be in a lot of pain when he woke up.
he raven haired boy winced as he let the older man's shirt cover the bruise back up. He hadn't meant to hit the man that hard, it was meant for the vulcan who had abducted Cana. But even then it looked a little overkill, Percy was just trying to protect Cana, her being one of the first 'friends' he made in this world, the others being Lucy and Natsu but they were on his bad list for leaving him alone with Cana. Here he had a blank slate and he was trying keep it that way as far as loses went.
He took a look outside the cave entrance, seeing the snow come down even harder along with the already low visibility at night and the fact that the two would have to carry an unconscious man the entire way down Percy called for an executive decision of his own. "We'll camp here for the night, I have some food in my bag if you want some, I'm going to see if I can scrounge up some firewood for us." The demigod didn't wait for the complaint that was no doubt going to come out of Cana's mouth as he was already out the door and into the frigid snow, wearing only a t-shirt and some jeans.
-X- Current Debt: -15,000,000
Small tears rolled down Percy's cheeks as he stared into the fire, allowing himself to break down only in the presence of an unconscious man he's never met and a sleeping girl whose rude attitude would give the Ares cabin a run for their money. The same image appeared in his mind over and over again ever since his first moment of consciousness on this foreign planet.
A marble statue of his likeness stood on Half-Blood Hill, separate from both the Athena Parthenos and Thalia's tree where the glittering Golden Fleece hung in the branches as Peleus the dragon coiled himself around the trunk.
His own memorial had dozen of flowers placed by it, ranging from roses to white carnations. A blonde figure was on her knees, placing a large bouquet of Centaurea cyanus (i.e. Blue flowers) at the foot of his pedestal, every once in a while a heavy sob would rack her body, causing his heart to break just a little more. A little ways behind stood a bespectacled man his age in a purple shirt, blonde hair similar yet much different than his Annabeth's honey blonde curls.
No more words were spoken or noises uttered in the following events. The son of Jupiter closed the distance between himself and the daughter of Athena, sitting his rear down on the wet grass next to her. She leaned her head on his shoulder, and an arm went around her own in comfort, the actions the two had for each other spoke more than any words could have.
Everytime those images played back in his mind, the same three questions followed.
What the hell happened to him?
Where the hell was he?
And what the hell was Jason doing with his Wise Girl?