All throughout Merlin's immortal life, he's seen what the gods can and will do to those who don't listen to them. They let Arthur die, because Merlin kept his secret for to long. They made him immortal as a punishment for the same reason.
He moved with the gods. He didn't have a choice in the matter. They like keeping him close. He was allowed to wander whatever country they were in as long he came back to where Olympus was located every few decades
Right now Olympus was right above the Empire State building in New York City.
Merlin enjoyed New York. It was full of interesting people and creatures. It had an entrance to the Underworld, so he could go see his friends even if they didn't reconize him. He enjoyed watching Uther having to stand in pit lava and listen to the same song over and over again. Every fifty years or so he and Hades would pick out the worst song to be recorded in that span and put it on repeat. Right now Uther was suffering from Justin Bieber's 'Boyfriend'.
There was also Camp Half-Blood. He would visit whenever he had the chance. He and Chiron would talk about hereos that they knew lifetimes ago. He would disguise himself, so that none of the campers knew who he was. Some probably thought him to be a god, other's a mortal parent concerned about their child. Most never really bothered.
But right now, at this moment, he was standing across the street from the Empire State Building. He was about to go up to the 600th floor to find out what the help exactly happened had happened since they shut up for several months.
Not that Merlin was complaining. He rather enjoyed the few times when they were silent. But having Gaea arise in the middle of the damn camp last week was reason enough to go without having to be ordered.
Merlin was about to cross the busy road when he felt an huge presence of power exit the building. He quickly located the power source. It was coming from a teenage boy with black, messy hair.
Merlin abandoned his original plan and followed the teenager. Perhaps he wouldn't be as cryptic as the gods in answering his questions.
He followed him for half a block, studying his aura. Definitely a child of the Big Three. Poseidon, maybe? The boy radiated power of the sea.
He had to think of a way to make conversation with the young man. He looked at the pockets of boy's jeans, in them was his wallet and a pen. The pen cane off as magical. Should he try to remove it, it would most likely reappear back in his pocket before Merlin had a chance to grab it.
Merlin focused on the wallet and swiftly, but carefully plucked it from the demigod's back pocket with his magic and let it land on the sidewalk.
The warlock swiped it up and clised the space between the two of them. Be fore he could get a word in, he found himself pinned up against a wall.
"What are you?" the demigod seethed.
Merlin played dumb. "I was just giving you back your wallet, man. It fell out of your pocket."
The boy's grip tightened. "You're lying. I can sense your power. I won't ask again. What are you?"
Merlin didn't really know how to answer that, he wasn't a monster, but he wasn't human either. He tried his best. "The most powerful being to ever walk the earth, aside from the gods."
The teenager spun him around to face him. Merlin looked into his sea green eyes. Fury and longing swam in sync through them. The kid was furious, most likely with the gods. Who wasn't? The longing was bit harder to place. Maybe he longed to be loved? Understood? Or to be in the arms of someone he missed?
"Why were you following me?" he asked calmly, but keeping his grip tight.
"I sensed the power you radiated. I figured you could tell me more than the gods could about Gaea," Merlin replied. "They probably would have answered my questions with more questions."
The demigod lessened his grip. "The me who you are and I might just believe you."
"Let go of my wrist and I will," the warlock bargained.
The teenager weighed his options for a split second before releasing his hostage.
Merlin rubbed the bruise off his wrist, before holding out his hand. "I'm Merlin. The most powerful warlock to ever walk the earth.
The teenager threw his head back in laughter and said. "Yeah and I'm Hercules."
Merlin rolled his eyes and simply poked the boy's head. The latter instantly found himself unable to make any noise come from his mouth.
"If you don't believe me, you're welcome to go back to camp and ask Chiron about me. We've been friends since the beginning of the 6th century. He can tell you all about me and how the gods make me move with them. How they make me live forever as a punishment for never telling Arthur about my magic before the Battle of Camlann," Merlin said. "If you still don't believe after that, you can find me in Central Park, and I'd be more than welcome to give you every single one of my memories. You will live through all of them in a minute, but there's a chance it might just kill you. Those who survive my memories, spend the rest of their lives in padded room."
Merlin poked his head again.
"I believe you," the boy said without any hesitation.
"Good," Merlin nodded. "Now, tell me your name. It seems only right."
"Percy Jackson," Percy replied.
Merlin nodded. Chiron had spoken of him when he visited sometime after the Titan War. The centaur spoke of how he defeated Kronos, killed the Minotaur twice and saved the world no less.
"Chiron speaks highly of you. Good job with Kronos," Merlin complimented. "Let me guess, the gods took all of the credit after you did all the dirty work."
Percy shrugged. "Not really. They offered to make me a god and be my father's right hand man, but I declined."
"Good thinking. Being immortal sucks pegasus dung. Even if you are a god. Take at Pan for example," Merlin stated.
Percy let out an airy chuckle. "You wanted to know about Gaea?"
"Yeah. Why was she rising at the camp?" Merlin asked.
Percy looked at his watch. "As much as I would love to tell you. I've got some where to be. The gods have only given a small window of opportunity to do it in, before I have to back at camp for the summer. How about you meet me at the camp and I'll tell you all about it. Four hours from now?
"Sounds great," Merlin agreed.
He watched as Percy broke into a run and out of sight.