Hiya peeps! I know that President's Day was yesterday, trust me. -_- My apologies for lateness.
ANYWAY, my friend and I rode our bikes to the library yesterday and had a good laugh at the people showing up, thinking the library was open on a national holiday. Idiots. (no offense if an American reader did something like that...it's just funny. I honestly almost did the same thing.) We were truly laughing our asses off.
This is based off of the instagram post, on Percy finding a Vespa while he and Annabeth are fighting monsters. It says "What-since when can you ride a motorcycle?" and Percy responding, "Since I thought you were dying last year. Hop on." I obviously changed the 'last year' part to fit the story.
DISCLAIMER: Me no own. :(
It was a blustery day for our date, and Annabeth and I were walking in Central Park over fall break. So far our day had been great. Not a single monster attacked us the whole time. We had met up for breakfast at the local Starbucks, then just sat and talked until lunch. We met up with Thalia at Le Parker Meridien, the hotel on West 75th, and ate cheeseburgers and fries, keeping our promise from during the Second Titan War two summers ago. Currently it was after lunch, and I should have known my luck wouldn't last.
Thalia had left us and went back to New Jersey to meet up with the rest of the Hunters, and Annabeth and I decided to sit down on one of the park benches. A huge gust of wind made me lose my balance and fall on the bench instead. Annabeth started laughing at me, until the same thing happened to her. We exchanged worried glances, both contemplating how we could have been knocked down by wind. After all, we're no feathers. Years of battling monsters and training have left us with a lot of muscle, if I do say so myself, (We're not fat, obese, or even close to being a tad overweight, just to set the record straight) so that makes us heavier than the average, fit teen our age.
Suddenly, I felt a light, cool breeze across my neck beneath my blue hoodie. I shivered, and so did Annabeth. My shoulders tensed, and my instincts told me to run. I shook it off as an aftereffect of Tartarus from last year. Although, looking back, people have told me my instincts are nearly always spot-on. Huge gusts of wind began swirling around us, and the sky darkened tremendously. I looked around and noticed we were the only ones in the park as far as I could see. Great, I thought. Just great.
"Percy, watch out!" Annabeth warned.
I pulled Riptide out of my pocket and uncapped it. Riptide sprang to full form, and I took a swipe at a dark gray cloud zooming past my face. It stopped ten feet away, and then "turned" to face me.
Annabeth gasped. "Anemoi thuellai!"
"What?"
"Think of them as evil espresso wind spirits that want to kill you."
"Got it," I said, as the evil espressos took another swoop past us. They solidified several feet away from Annabeth and I, and I clearly saw they were two horses. "Leo came up with that definition, right?"
"You got it," Annabeth confirmed.
I studied the winds, and tried to communicate with them. Hey. I'm the son of Poseidon. Why are you trying to kill us? No beating around the bush here. Obviously these guys meant business.
Mrrrrmmmmppphh ansdfaipewc nafn aofnavis urg abodvano 1c rhqaeuogra.
Fantastic, I thought. They don't speak my dialect of horse. Of course.
Meanwhile, Annabeth drew her own weapon, which was an exact replica of her old knife from Luke. It was her latest birthday present from her mother. The pair of espressos turned tail and flew off, maybe because of all the celestial bronze? I looked at Annabeth questioningly.
"They must be getting reinforcements. We should, too."
I nodded and looked around the park for possible reinforcement options. Obviously we didn't have enough time to return to camp and just stay safe, so that meant a different approach. My eyes rested on a red Vespa not twenty feet away. A smile grew on my face. Annabeth's expression turned into a wary one.
"Oh no. You have an idea, don't you?"
"Hey! You shouldn't use that tone of voice when talking about my ideas!" I exclaimed defensively.
Annabeth raised an eyebrow.
"Okay, fine. I admit you're right." Annabeth smirked. I took off running to the Vespa I spotted earlier, and hopped on confidently.
"Come on," I told Annabeth.
"What—since when can you ride a motorcycle?"
"Since I thought you were dying two summers ago. Hop on."
Annabeth got on behind me, and wrapper her arms around my waist. "Ready?" I asked. She nodded. I punched the gas, and we were off. I swerved on and off the sidewalk, and made it to the main road next to the edge of the park.
"We should go to Olympus, it's the closest demigod-safe and friendly place," Annabeth said from behind me over the wind in our ears. I turned onto the next road that would lead us there. Soon we were in front of the Empire State Building, which was a welcome sight. What was not a welcome sight was the huge black swarm of evil wind espressos coming right at us.
Annabeth slapped a hand to her forehead and looked furious.
"Schist! It's President's day! We won't be able to even enter the building!"
"The fates must hate us," I cursed. "And schist is my curse word!"
"Well too bad, because I just used it!" Annabeth retorted. "Now, can we get back to the current problem on our hands?"
"I have an idea!" I shouted.
"Noooooo. Have I mentioned I hate your ideas?"
"Yes. Countless times. But I seem to recall you riding the Vespa with me, no?" Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Fine. Go ahead."
I whistled a crisp, clear taxi cab whistle that could probably have been heard from all over the city. I got results sooner than I expected.
Good thing I was in the area, Boss. Was hoping you'd need a sexy pegasus to help you out. You got any sugar cubes?
I rolled my eyes. I smiled a little as I gave him one, then got on, and held out a hand to Annabeth.
"I'll admit, I'm pleasantly surprised," she said as she took my hand. She gave me a chaste kiss on the cheek, almost distracting me from my plan. Blackjack shook his head, stomped a hoof, and asked Where to, Boss?
"Olympus. And don't call me boss!" You got it, Boss, Blackjack said, snickering, as he quickly leapt off the ground and began flying upwards. Meanwhile, the black swarm was getting closer and more visible by the second. I leaned into Blackjack's neck, hoping to become more streamlined. I assumed Annabeth followed my lead, because I felt her head against my back. I risked a glimpse of our approaching opponents, and realized they were only about a football field's length away. Thank the gods we passed through the protection bubble surrounding Olympus barely a split-second before what looked like hundreds, if not thousands of, espressos overwhelmed us. Clear of the impeding threat, I raised my head and looked around the new, breathtaking Mount Olympus. The gorgeous buildings, breathtaking landscaping, and winding roads looked like paradise from above. Shaking out of my awe, I asked Blackjack to set us down near a small pond with accompanying miniature waterfall so we could contact Chiron and let him know of our situation. Blackjack complied, and smoothly glided downwards and landed gently.
"Thanks, Blackjack," I told him, patting his neck.
Sure, Boss. Anytime you ring for a handsome horse, I'll be there.
I promised him I would bring him extra sugar cubes and apples back at camp, and told him to meet us there, since he wouldn't be able to fly both of us fast enough to camp without getting run over by the winds. With a mighty swoop of his wings, Blackjack took off and soon rounded a corner out of sight, no doubt looking for a poor unsuspecting vendor selling donuts.
Facing back to the water, I willed a fine mist to appear. I dug into my pockets and pulled out a golden drachma, with Hermes' likeness stamped on one side.
"O Fleecy, do me a solid. Show me Chiron at Camp Half-Blood," I chanted. I could tell Annabeth didn't understand why I said that, I must not have mentioned it to her, about Fleecy's direct number.
Chiron's face materialized in the mist. He was in his office, gathering up pictures of his past students and rearranging them.
"Chiron!" I called, startling him. He jumped and turned around, then broke into a smile.
"Percy! Annabeth! How are you both? No problems or monsters, I hope?"
"Uh…" I said, rubbing the back of my neck. Yeah, real intelligent. "About that…"
Annabeth cut me off and explained to Chiron our problem.
"And so now we're stranded here up on Olympus," she finished. Chiron stroked his beard, contemplating.
"Well, it seems your only option is to ask for transportation back to camp from one of the gods currently on Olympus and—" he was interrupted when loud voices entered the room, and must have walked right through the Iris-message, disrupting and thus ending the connection. We sighed. Now we were on our own getting back to camp, and had to decide which god to ask that wouldn't be either too insulted or angry or not take us seriously. I watched the sky for a couple minutes, which was beginning to show signs of twilight, and tried to see if any evil espresso winds were still out there. Our area was silent, except for a few crickets, and faint music could be heard from the other side of the mountain where parties must be happening currently. Then a new, muffled sound was added to the others. Two different pitches, sounding like two people, or someones, given that we were on Olympus with gods and satyrs and other beings, were…giggling?
I was about to ask Annabeth if she heard it to, but she clamped her hand over my mouth, and made the shushing gesture. I nodded to show I understood, then she removed her hand and pointed to the overgrown shrub next to us. Annabeth mouthed, One, I readied my sword. I knew the plan. Two, we adjusted ourselves. Three. We jumped up at the same time, screaming bloody murder, and ran at the bush with our weapons raised high. I chopped the bush, and revealed two people behind it, unmistakably drunk.
My eyes widened as I realized who one of the people was.
"Hermes? Boreas?" Annabeth asked, disbelievingly. I nudged Annabeth in the shoulder and muttered, "Who's Bore-eye-ass? Is he boring or something with his wife?" Annabeth gave me the disbelieving look, and muttered back "No, he's the god of the North Wind." Turning back to the two wasted gods, Annabeth asked,
"You two set this all up, didn't you?"
"That's a pretty big accusation, Annabeth," I warned her. She ignored me.
"Boreas, you set the anemoi thuellai on us, didn't you? And Hermes, I'm guessing you planned to close the Empire State Building ahead of time, and planned it to just so happen on President's Day, when at least half of the buildings are closed today. You probably sent out an email to all employees at the Empire State Building and informed them they all would not be working today. Am I right?"
Boreas and Hermes, definitely too drunk to act themselves, turned bright red, then positively fled under the glare Annabeth was giving them.
I started laughing, and then Annabeth turned to glare at me this time…again giving me the same look she gave the two immature gods. But for me, she had a smile in her eyes. I grabbed her hand and was about to kiss her when she turned and ran, laughing and mocking me all the way to the throne room. Thank the gods my dad was there, and apparently he already knew exactly what I was going to say before I spoke. He was the only one in there currently, and Annabeth's and my footsteps echoed throughout the great room.
"I, um, know everything that happened because it was broadcast on LIVE (Live In 'Ve' Everywhere) Hephaestus TV.
"Great," I mumbled. My dad gave us a sympathetic smile.
"You'll have to excuse Boreas, Hermes, the rest of the Olympians and other gods. It's been getting quite boring without any apocalyptic, catastrophic events to worry about or fight lately. In addition I'm afraid they've had Dionysus's wine. He brewed special wine and gave it to them as a prank, claiming it was to celebrate this country's presidents. I didn't think the two would be so thickheaded as to actually drink it and accept it. They should know by now Dionysus would never tell them the time of day if they asked," my father chuckled.
"Well, it's time I got you two back to camp. The day is slipping away. Rest assured that Boreas will recapture those wind spirits. Be grateful the rest of the gods had the decency to leave before you two showed up." And with that, my dad snapped his fingers and my vision swam. In a blur of colors, Camp Half-Blood came into view. We were standing on the hill next to Thalia's pine tree.
"If that wasn't a waste of our evening I don't know what was," I stated. Annabeth nodded in agreement, and we both started laughing, even though we had been frightened earlier that day. We grasped hands and made our way down the hill.
It seems a little choppy, and has a rough ending. I suck at writing romance. You should never expect highly from me in that genre xD
I hoped you enjoyed it, and PLEASE, if you find any errors LET ME KNOW! I did not proofread this before I published it, besides spell/grammar check on Word.
Thanks. Peace out. I promise to work on Demigods Meet Magicians as soon as I can. I just need ideas! PLEASE HELP ME.
~ClearBear
