The boy on the beach – because, compared to the immortal Thor and the elderly Captain America the young adult standing on the shore was a boy – the boy on the beach just watched as Thor knelt before him. The god maintained his guarded, brooding look as he stared at the figure from his subservient position on the sand.
"I, Thor Odinson, speak for the rest of Asgard. We pledge our fealty to you and your kind," Thor spoke into the awkward silence. The kid on the beach raised his eyebrows slightly at the formal greeting, though he didn't invite Thor to stand right away.
The kid simply nodded. He ran his hand through his hair, blinked a couple times, then, indifferently, motioned for Thor to rise. Natasha mentally gave the kid points for acting so casual in front of the fully armored Thor Odinson, god of thunder. Not to mention the Avengers standing behind him.
"I, Perseus Jackson, ambassador of the Earth, acknowledge your pledge of fealty." Perseus looked rather amused at this point, almost smiling (or laughing) outright at the uncomfortable god.
Thor cleared his throat and narrowed his eyes apprehensively. "Should I be insulted?"
The boy's amused expression vanished for the first time as he narrowed his eyes. "And what is so insulting about my presence Thor?"
Thor sighed and raised his hands in surrender. "Nothing, sorry for insinuating anything. I have heard a great deal about you in Asgard and I respect your noble deeds. I just – "
"You just can't take me seriously without also taking a serious blow to your pride? Is that it?" Thor stiffened at the accusation, and the boy's expression softened. "Look, were you really expecting them to come down to meet you?"
Thor ignored the possible insult in his words. "There is a threat of universal importance – "
"Which they are completely aware of. Which is why they sent me. At the crack of dawn. To have a diplomatic meeting. With an alien. And a bunch of costumed vigilantes." His smirk resembled more of a grimace at this point. "I accept your fealty Thor, and so do they." He reached his hand out and, when Thor grasped it with his immortal strength, he didn't so much as flinch.
"I do not wish to take this new threat lightly," Thor announced as he released his hold on the young man's hand.
"And neither do we; I'm willing to meet with you again, as soon as possible, to discuss what your allegiance means and the possibility of a military alliance."
Two teenagers, a boy and a girl, materialized behind Perseus as he was talking.
"Right, and this time, I'd really appreciate it if we didn't have to wake up in the middle of the night?" the girl interrupted casually, twirling an arrow like a baton. Her spiked black hair seemed to crackle in the lightning charged air.
Thor didn't so much as cough at their random appearance. "Of course. And, give your father my regards." Thor shifted his attention to the young boy that stood in Perseus's shadow. The god seemed to suddenly realize who the boy was before he suddenly spluttered, "May I ask for your blessing, Ghost King?"
The boy couldn't have been older than fifteen, yet he gave the god a dark smile. "I will do what I can to protect your immortal life force while you're on Earth." He raised his eyebrows, "Does this satisfy you?"
Thor nodded.
"Right. As lovely as this meeting was, I'm exhausted." Perseus glanced at the Avengers behind Thor. " I'll meet you at the Avengers tower tomorrow evening to discuss this threat." He stared Thor in the eyes, "I hope there are no hard feelings." Then all three of them vanished into thin air.
…
"I'm so confused!" Tony whined.
Thor was surprised his teammates had remained quiet while he talked with the Halflings on the beach. But now, he didn't quite know how to answer their questions.
"I will try to answer your questions as best I can – "
"Should we be preparing a defense against these people Thor?" Steve asked. "Anybody that has you bowing before them must be dangerous."
"I was not bowing!" Bruce sent him a pointed look. "Alright, I was. But it was just a necessary show of allegiance! Whether I like it or not, they hold the power in this realm."
"I'm so confused!" Tony whined. Again.
"Why don't you start by telling us who they are, Thor?" Steve suggested.
"Fine. From the way he acted around you, I do not think they would mind if I told you. Today you met a few of the greatest heroes of this time. I venture to say that they deserve even greater honor than all of the Avengers."
"I beg to differ," Tony muttered under his breath.
"I am a Norse god. We Norsemen had to relocate to another planet a few centuries ago because we were unable to maintain our position on earth. Our magic was not strong enough to conceal our presence." Thor clenched his fist, "And we were ousted from our position by the Greeks, and then the Romans."
"Wait, so you're saying humans were powerful enough to drive you off the planet?" Steve asked, incredulous.
"No. The Greek and Roman gods."
Natasha hid her shock with a sly smile, while, on the inside, she could barely comprehend Thor's announcement. Tony, on the other hand, nearly fell out of his chair; he shouted, "Thor, I'm even more confused! More gods? Bruce, do a psych check on him!"
"Wait. So those were…those were Greek gods?" Clint tried to act casual as he asked the question that everybody was wondering. But as he tried to casually drink his water, he missed his mouth and spilt it all over Natasha.
"No." Thor sighed in exasperation. "Those were demigods. Very powerful ones."
"I'm still confused. Those were kids." Tony put in.
"You would do well not to underestimate them. The gods allow their children to represent them in every way, even in diplomatic meetings…and even in war. Those kids on the beach are three of the most powerful demigods alive."
"So I'm guessing fighting against them would be a bad thing," Steve suggested. "If they're not the problem, what about the threat you talked about? They didn't seem too concerned about it on the beach. They just seemed irritated."
"They would not be concerned. They've fought in two wars already. Dangerous threats are nothing new to them." Thor said this casually but the rest of the Avengers did a double take.
"Wait. So, super powerful, scary kids; more gods; wars that I've never heard about; dangerous threats." Tony counted these off on his fingers. "I'm less confused now. But who was the big kid? Was he the demigod king or something?"
"Big Kid? I am sure he would be amused to hear you call him that. And he's not really their king. But he is the most powerful demigod on earth, at least, that's what most would tell you. But, I'm sure he will tell you more about himself tomorrow night. For now, I must report to the All Father on Asgard."
…
"C'mon. C'mon. Aha! Got it." Tony clapped his hands like a child.
"What is it?" Bruce asked.
"Well, I'm too curious to wait for tomorrow night to figure out more about the beach boy. So, I found some juicy info on him online. And then I was hoping Natasha and Clint could trail him tomorrow…"
"So you're stalking him?" Steve asked as he walked into the lab.
"And you want us to stalk him." Clint guessed.
"Exactly. Look. Apparently he…Whoa. He was involved in a manhunt. What the – and explosions at his school." Tony tried to scroll down the page but his computer froze. And then the information vanished. "It just disappeared! I was just getting to the good stuff…"
"Maybe he's trying to clean up anything about him off the web, now that he knows we know about him. He sounds like he has a sketchy past," Bruce suggested.
"Alright, now I'm a bit curious. Clint and I will trail him tomorrow morning. See what we find out," Natasha said.
…
