Hi guys! Here is the first real chapter of this story and the first of Percy's memories. I know it's pretty close to cannon but I wanted to keep their first meeting the way it was. But next chapter will be different, I promise.

Thank you all for the great response. It's extremely inspiring!

ptl4ever419– Thank you :)

SeaofWarandWisdom – I imagine it would be weird :)

TweetyBaby– I'm glad you like it

MidnightWolf191 – I'm so sorry for the mistake. I haven't read the Last Olympian in a while and I didn't think about checking before posting the chapter. But I'm glad you like it.

Lady Cooper– Well, in the story we will see (through Percy's memories) how they became best friends, how their relationship progressed up to the war and after that. So, wait and see, I guess :)

of chaos and discord– Thanks!

Legacy01 – Oh Wow! I'm so glad that this made you so happy! I never guessed that my stories would have such an impact. I'm glad you liked it and I hope I'll live up to your expectations and won't disappoint.

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.710667 – Glad you think so

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Guest– Thank you!

Guest2 – Just did

PersephoneJackson123 – I'm happy you like it! :)


Iris
Chapter One
Airplanes

Can we pretend that airplanes
In the night sky are like shooting stars?
I could really use a wish right now

B.O.B. - Airplanes

They had met when Percy had been just sixteen, more than three years ago. And she still remembered it like it was yesterday.

Percy was lounging, no, brooding, on the beach at Camp, her heart heavy and mind way too busy to allow her the rest she needed. Her friend, her best friend Grover was gone and she was not allowed to save him, just because that new jerk of camp director had said so. Oh, how much she missed Chiron now. Somehow Camp didn't seem complete without the old centaur there.

But no, Chiron had been fired just because Zeus was too much of a coward to admit that Kronos was stirring.

Percy took a sip of soda, hoping the cold, fuzzy drink would calm her nerves a little. She felt so useless. She, the one who had risked everything last summer to save Zeus' lightning bolt and prevent a World War 3, the one who had defeated Medusa and Chimera, the one who had beaten the War god in a battle, was denied the chance to save her best friend. She had not been good enough for this quest, Tantalus had said. The daughter of Ares was better. Of course, because it seemed logical not to allow a child of the Sea god to go on a quest that mainly included sailing the Sea of Monsters.

"Screw them all!" Percy growled out and the sea level rose slightly, in answer to her turbulent emotions. Unconsciously she had been squeezing the can in her hand so tightly that it literally exploded, spewing soda all around.

"What has the poor can done to you to evoke such anger?" A voice sounded and Percy barely resisted throwing the can in his direction. Slowly, she twisted her head to face the man who had spoken . He looked like what you imagined when you thought of a jogger, slim and fit, dressed in a flannel T-shirt and shorts. Absently, she wondered where did he seem familiar from, but brushed the thought away. She was pretty sure she had never seen the guy before and it kind of baffled her what was he doing inside the Camp borders. It must have been something connected to the weakening of the borders, because, usually, mortals weren't able to come in.

"Do you mind if I sit?" The man asked with a sly smile and Percy shrugged in answer, motioning towards the empty spot on the blanket. The still rational part of her brain screamed at her to leave, to run away or yell for help, because let's be honest, a strange man at night on an abandoned beach miles away from civilization? Not suspicions at all.

But he seemed so calm about the whole deal, that the girl just couldn't bring herself to be nervous.

So instead she just passed him a can of soda and continued with her stargazing, as if she hadn't just invited a complete stranger to join her for a drink under the stars. Next to her, the guy cracked the drink open and took a sip.

"Ah," He sighed in pleasure. "Peace and quiet at-" His phone rang, interrupting his speech about peace and quiet. Percy watched wide eyed as he drew a cell phone out of his pocket with two miniature snakes writhing around the extended antenna. He glanced at the screen and cursed in Ancient Greek, which made the girl do a double take as she realized that the man was certainly not a mortal.

"Sorry." He glanced at her before answering the call, not even noticing that the snakes were now right next to his ear. Percy was in too much shock to actually grasp anything from the conversation, except the words vultures and delivery, which seemed too bizarre to understand. Finally, the jogger seemed to have finished his conversation, because he shoved the phone back in his shorts' pocket and relaxed on the sand once again.

"You have snakes on your phone." Percy murmured, still in shock. The man looked at her strangely.

"Oh, don't worry, they are harmless." He took the phone out again. "Say hello, George and Martha."

Hello George and Martha. A male voice sounded in Percy's head and her eyes widened even more when another voice, female answered.

Oh, don't be rude, George. The female snake chastened. Sorry, Percy, George is just jealous of me.

The other snake seemed ready to answer but the jogger shushed him and put the phone away. A sudden realization dawned on Percy as she finally put the pieces together. Snakes. Deliveries.

"You are Hermes." She whispered in slight awe, now realizing where she had seen the same elfish features and the mischievous twinkle in his eyes. Unconsciously, she checked her pockets, relieved to find all her possessions where they should be.

"I am." Hermes answered. "And did you just check your pockets?" Percy was relieved that he sounded more amused than really offended and braved a grin.

"You can't blame me – I spent my first days at Camp at your cabin, with your children. I've learned my lessons." She frowned slightly, remembering the time her favorite bracelet, a gift from her mom, had disappeared. Percy had been panicked when she couldn't find it, but Luke had been kind enough to make his siblings give it back, probably seeing what value it had to her. Luke… She forced her mind away from the guy she had thought to be her friend only to end up betraying her, though it was kind of hard, considering how much he looked like the god seated next to her.

Hermes' chuckle brought her thoughts and she couldn't help but smile slightly. He looked up to the night sky where her gaze had been fixed a few minutes ago. "They are beautiful."

Percy looked up again and hummed in agreement, not really seeing a point to comment. They were both silent for a long moment. "Do you have a favorite constellation, Percy?" The girl, frowned in thought, her eyes searching the heavens, recalling the names of all the constellations Annabeth had taught her and the stories behind them.

"Hercules, I think." Hermes raised a questioning eyebrow, silently prodding her to elaborate. She shrugged. "It's nice to know that there were heroes with worse luck than mine."

Percy resisted the urge to blush when the Olympian settled his intense gaze on her face, in a way that made her thing he was trying to read her mind. It made her feel self-conscious and flustered, but she forced herself not to look away. Thankfully, he was the one to break the eye contact first.

"You are an interesting young woman, Percy." Hermes muttered, averting his eyes from her face. "So, what do you plan to do now?"

Immediately, Percy knew what he was talking about. The Golden Fleece, Grover, the quest Clarisse had made more than clear she was not invited to. But she wanted to go. Correction, she needed to go. Something, some forgotten instinct perhaps, told her that this was her quest, that she was the one who had to do it. "I'm not allowed to go." She murmured miserably, though she knew that it hadn't stopped her before.

"Indeed." Hermes agreed. "Will you allow that to stop you?"

"I have to go. I'm sure of it."

"You know, I once knew a boy -"

Oh, not again The snake George groaned. He's always talking about himself

Be quiet, George! Martha snapped, and Percy was strongly reminded of an old married couple.

Hermes ignored them. "He was much, much younger than you, a babe really, but one night while his mother was sleeping, he sneaked out of their cave and-"

"Look, I know the story," Percy interrupted impatiently, not really caring at the moment how rude it came out and about the fact that she was speaking to a Greek God who could vaporize her with a wave of his hand. "But why are you telling me this? What does it have to do with the quest?"

The Olympian pursed his lips but didn't call her out on her rudeness, nor did he turn her into anything unnatural, so she was pretty glad he was not one to anger quickly. If it had been any other of the gods she had met, except her dad, she would have probably already been just a pile of ashes.

"What I'm trying to say is that sometimes good things come out of breaking the rules, Percy. Do you understand now?"

"So you want me to go on a quest?" Percy said slowly, a frown twisting her features. "Why?"

Hermes looked away for a moment, like he was having a hard time getting out the next sentence. If Percy's reading people skills were right, he was struggling with one hell of an emotion right now. "I'm hoping that you might save more than one person on this quest, Percy."

Realization dawned over her and she looked at him sympathetically. "So this is about Luke." His silence was enough answer. "Look, Lord Hermes -"

"Just Hermes"

"Look, Hermes, I want to help you. I really do. But I'm not sure Luke can be helped. He doesn't want it and let's be honest; he's already almost succeeded in killing me. I don't doubt he will try again the moment he sees me."

He sighed and glanced at her. "I'm not asking you to sacrifice your life to get some sense in his head. I just ask you to tell him, if you ever get the chance, that sometimes parents make mistakes and not to be angry at the whole world because of it."

"Even godly parents?"

"Especially them. But if I've learned something in the passing eons is that you can't give up on family, Percy. No matter what they do."

Strangely, she thought that this sentence somehow related to her own relationship with her dad, but said nothing about it, even though it would give her many sleepless nights on the quest pondering over it.

Suddenly, Hermes exclaimed in Greek and straightened at once. "I almost forgot the gifts!" He pulled out his phone once again. It glowed blue in his hand and extended, growing into a three-foot long wooden staff with a pair of dove wings perched on the top. The snakes were still intertwined around it, though much bigger now and finally looking more like snakes instead of earth-worms.

"Martha, please?"

Percy watched with wide eyes as the snake's mouth opened, stretching wider and wider, until finally she coughed out what looked like a thermos, covered with black and red Greek pictures of a guy fighting a three headed dog. "Is that Hercules?" She asked curiously, immediately recognizing her favorite childhood hero.

"This is a collector's item from Hercules Busts Heads. The first season." Hermes sound proud when he said it, but the girl was skeptical.

"Hercules Busts Heads?" She asked incredulously.

"Great show." The Olympian sighed longingly. "And like all good shows – cancelled!" He spat out, which made Percy think he had been really fond of the show. Of course, she was aware that Olympus had their own television network, Hephaestus TV, especially when she and Annabeth had made their debut last summer while trying to return Ares' shield.

"Hey, were Annabeth and I really on TV last year?" She asked curiously.

"Oh, yes," Hermes grinned. "Even got ground-breaking ratings, if I'm not wrong. You have no idea how many requests were made about a new show with you starring as the main character."

The girl wasn't really sure if she should be angry or pleased by the information so she settled on blushing and looking away. She felt Hermes' eyes on her face and her brush intensified, until finally the tension was broken by his throat-clearing.

"Anyway, this thermos here, except being a collective item, a very rare one, mind you, also contains winds from the four corners of the world." Percy took the thermos, almost dropping it in surprise when she realized that while one side was freezing, the other one was burning hot. It wasn't hard to guess which one was north and which- south.

"Thanks Hermes."

"Wait, wait, there is more!" This time it was George that spit out the next gift – a box sealer. Hermes picked it up and passed it in her hands. She twirled it around curiously, but noticed nothing unusual at first glance. He must have noticed her confusion, because he hurried to explain.

"You border anything with this and it will immediately disappear. Vanish into thin air. Very useful for getting out of sticky situations."

Percy couldn't help but agree and help the magical tape closer to herself. "Hermes, thank you so much."

"Don't thank me yet." He smiled at her, but it quickly vanished when he glanced at his wristwatch. "Look at the time!" He exclaimed. "But I'm not the only one on tight schedule this time, Percy." He threw her a meaningful glance. "Your friends should arrive soon. I'm sure that if you ask nicely, your father would have no problem getting you to the ship."

"The ship?"

Hermes pointed into the distance, where a big cruise ship was standing in a stark contrast against the dark water. "I hoped I've packed everything you need. I have a bit of an experience with travelling after all." The Olympian snapped his hands and three yellow backpacks came into existence in front of Percy's shocked eyes. "Water-proof, of course."

The girl stared at the bags for a long moment, before looking up towards the now standing god. In a reckless moment of gratefulness, she reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Thank you Hermes, for everything. I promise that if I see Luke, I'll try to get him see the truth."

The Olympian looked at her in shock, surprised but touched by the unexpected gesture of compassion. He shot her a smile. "Thank you, Percy and be safe. I'll come to see you after the quest and then we can talk more."

The demigod watched him jog away, until his form shimmered in the distance, dissolving with the breeze. She could hear footsteps approached and with a deep breath, she squared her shoulders, filled with determination.

She had a friend to save and a promise to keep.


Stay tuned for the next chapter guys!