(a one-shot from the perspective of Percy Jackson)
Batman. Superman. Wonder Woman.
When I think of a hero, what comes to mind but spandex and a cape? Without our comic book heroes, the current ideology of the hero itself would be lost. Heroes are strong, clever, famous; they are everything that Westerners aspire to be. Somewhere in New York right now, I live this reality.
New York is loud, overwhelming, but stimulating when viewed from a certain perspective. A vendor leans over the counter of his street corner stall, belly pressed against the slick white counter. He waves a copy of US Today in the air, his grin leering and crude as the scantily clad woman on the cover. Behind the trash though, the Playboy and Enquirer magazines, are the heroes.
Often lately the classics—the Joker and Flash—have been pushed further and further into the recesses of the magazine racks, their archaic lettering fading among the rows of glossy celebrity magazines.
Like Olympus, the comic books and their heroes are slowly filtering from the public's memory, growing fainter and more forgotten each day, only to be replaced with new, more accepted things: the West, science—or, in the case of superheroes, People magazine. Yet still the heroes of Olympus, not unlike Spiderman or Wolverine, live on in their forgotten state.
Britney Spears will never be my hero. I could care less what Lindsay Lohan wore today, or whether or not Brangelina are having twins or quadruplets. I'd rather flip open that dusty comic book, learn some moves and see action, adventure, and heroes.
The pads of my fingers press against the reassuring ballpoint pen in my pocket as without hesitation I place a hand upon the handle of the tallest building in the city.
I can't turn invisible. I can't fly, and I've never levitated anything in my short fifteen years. But I don't need superpowers and I definitely don't need spandex.
The elevator inside will lead me straight to the six hundredth floor. When I step for the first time onto the ground of Olympus, I will walk straight to the throne room. And my quest won't require tights or a cape.
Just my ballpoint pen and these jeans.