Wow. Just Wow. When I thought about making this story, I never thought that I would get so many views, or follows, or comments in such a sort amount of time. You guys are truly amazing.
I am so appreciative that I decided to post a new chapter immediately.
I'd like to thank to the following for their comments:
Obsessivebookdiva
blue287
VirtualViola03
and that un-named guest (you know who you are!)
I'd like to give a very special thanks to bookwormultimate for being my first follower. You gave me the courage to continue the story.
And to everyone else who followed me, I love all of you!
(Sorry, I'm acting like I won an Oscar. "I would like to thank the academy!" :P)
Anyway, the long awaited introduction of Perry to Leo, vice versa, is happening in this chapter! And you learn a little more about Perry's secret! Woo-hoo!
Disclaimer: I do not own any characters mentioned in this story excluding Perry. All non-original characters belong to Rick Riordan.
(he also owns my soul)
Now, LET US CONTINUE OUR JOURNEY!
Perry's POV
"So let me get this straight," I say as I try to process all the information handed to me. "You all have Greek gods and goddesses for parents?"
We've gone below deck and all seven of us are sitting at the dining table. Everyone just explained to me who they are and, more importantly, who their parents are. It all seems so overwhelming. There have been gods all this time. I had always thought that they were fake, you know, something to explain why it gets cold for six months a year or where people go when they die. Never, not even for a second, had I thought that they existed.
Everyone at the table nods in agreement like this seems normal to them. How can they be so calm about this? I point my finger to each individual as I repeat the fact I just learned about them.
"You can control precious metals and have lived, died, and lived again; you can summon the dead and have literally been to Hell and back more than once; you can control people just by talking to them; you can fly and control lightning; you can turn into any animal you want at anytime you want; there is a kid upstairs who can catch on fire without burning himself; and... you're a goat?"
The old man sniffs indignantly. "Half goat, cupcake. I'm a satyr."
"But you pretty much got everything else right," Piper says to me.
I stare a everyone for a moment, unsure of what to say. How can this be real? There is no way this is real. How the hell can this be real?!
"Am I on one of those hidden camera shows?" I ask looking around the room for a lens. I earn a few laughs from everyone. Once I realize that no one is going to pop out of one of the doors and say that I've been "punk'd," my mind creates a few questions that need an answer.
"Just a few things I need to ask," I say. I look at Hazel and Nico. "If you two are brother and sister, how come Nico is so... how do I say this nicely? Down in the dumps, and Hazel is so peppy?"
They look at each other for a minute. Hazel turns to me first. "I guess I just have something to smile about," she states. Nico, however, stares at the table and never answers.
Next I turn to Piper. "If you're a daughter of Aphrodite, how come you aren't wearing a pound of makeup and a dress?"
Piper frowns, like she has been asked this question before. "I hate being girly," she declares simply. Fair enough.
"One final question," I say warily. "If I can see monsters and see through the mist and all that demigod jazz, who's my parent?"
An awkward silence fills the room. It seems like everyone knows the answers but at the same time, they don't. No one wants to speak but in that single moment, they do. Jason's is the first voice to fill the room. "Well, sometimes you don't have to have a god or goddess for a parent to see through the mist. All of our parents did, but they aren't demigods."
"Maybe she just hasn't been claimed yet," Nico suggests. They all seem to ponder that option for a second. "That could be true... Perry, is there anything abnormal about you? Anything special?" Frank questions. I let the last word hang in the air for a while. Something special? Like different? If only they knew. If only they knew the trouble I have to face everyday. If only they knew that I always had to go out of my way to avoid touching water in public. If only they knew my one, ugly, horrible secret.
"No," I almost whisper. I stare at the table, unable to meet their eyes. Sure, I've lied hundreds of times. When you're living on the streets, you have to learn that it's survival of the fittest. But for some reason, the way they treated me made me feel guilty for not telling the truth. They viewed me as a person instead of a problem. A friend instead of a waste of space.
"Are you sure? It doesn't even need to be as extreme as flying or shape-shifting. I could be a green thumb or a love for books," Jason says. "Oh, it's much more extreme than flying, superboy," I think. But I repeat the same answer as before. "No."
I don't dare look up, but I can tell that all eyes are on me. "Please stop looking at me," the voice in my head pleads. "Don't make this harder than it already is."
"Well, that settles it I guess," I hear Coach Hedge say, clapping his hands together in the process. "Unless she's a monster or a nymph, she's just a mortal who can see through the mist. She'd be dead by now if she were a nymph, being separated from her life source and all, and if she were a monster she would have tried to kill us by now."
Everyone mumbles in agreement. I almost sigh in relief. Good, they don't suspect anything. I'm safe. For now.
I stand up so quickly I almost hit my knee on the table. "If you guys don't mind, I'm going to go clean off."
"Alright. When you're done, you can have something to eat and then one of us can give you a tour of the Argo II," Hazel smiles at me.
I don't wait for anyone else to speak as I hastily walk, almost run to my room, and shut the door.
~SS~
Thank the gods; huh, gotta get used to saying that; that there was a bath tub in my bathroom. If there were a shower, I would be doomed.
The second I got into the room, I started to run the water and added the sweet smelling soap to the tub so it would form bubbles that would pop into clouds of perfume. By the time I had stripped my clothes and put the bag over my injured arm, the tub was nearly full. Without even testing the water, I got in as quickly as I could.
The warm water felt like heaven on my skin and the bubbles only added to the pleasure. But I had few seconds to enjoy that before my transformation began.
My dirty white skin turns into thick black feathers, a few of them with white ends. My fingers nails, already long, turn into grotesque talons that are ready to literally claw someone's eyes out. My neck elongates and turns pink and wrinkly. My head stays the same, but my eyes turn completely black, including the once white part. The transformation is quick and painless but a small part of me dies every time it happens. I know for a fact that if anyone out there saw me like this, they would kill me without hesitation.
No one can ever see me like this.
No one can know the monster I truly am.
Leo's POV
Normally, after the incident, I would never leave my control room. What if something were to happen and I wasn't there? But I just had a gut feeling that something was going on that I needed to know. What if Nico wasn't lying last night and there really is a new person on the ship?
Well, there's only one way to find out.
I get out of the spinning office chair that I'd been playing with for the past few hours, almost falling from the dizziness, thank you very much, and head over to the door of the control room. I waited for the room to stop spinning before opening the door. The sunlight burned my eyes but I dismissed it because I would soon be under deck. As I walked down the stairs I heard the end of a conversation.
"...feeling she's different. My gut told me so last night," Hazel says, placing a hand on her stomach.
"I feel it too," her brother agrees. "She definitely isn't just a mortal who can see through the mist."
I jump over the last two steps and land with a stomp that gets everyone's attention. "Well, look who decided to come out of his cave," Coach says smugly. "Had enough solitude for one life time?"
"Actually, I felt a disturbance in the force and felt that it's my job as admiral to come check it out," I reply. I take a look around the room. Everything looks the same since the last time I was down here. "So, what's new?"
Before anyone can answer, the door to Annabeth's bedroom a few feet away opens. A girl steps out and silently closes the door behind her and then turns around to face me. She is pale and unnaturally thin, like she hadn't had a decent meal in years and she was slightly shorter than I was if not the same height. Of course with that type of body her clothes looked huge. Her hair was charcoal black but her roots and tips were white. The strangest thing about her though was her eyes. She had a white outer part and black pupils like everyone else, but her irises were almost as black as her hair. They weren't dark enough so that I couldn't see her pupils but they still reminded me of the night.
"You definitely weren't here yesterday," I point to her.
"Leo, this is Perry," Jason says. "Perry this is-"
"The Supreme Commander of the Argo II," I interrupt. I do an over dramatic bow and rise to see that her hand is out for me to shake.
"Perry," she says as I take her hand. I feel a shock run up my arm when my hand touches hers. She must feel the same thing because she quickly lets go.
"We found Perry fighting a monster last night. She got hurt pretty bad so we thought we should take her here to heal a little," Frank explains. I look over to the table to see everyone staring at me.
"What?" I ask. "Is there something in my teeth?"
"Um, Leo, why don't you give Perry a tour. You built this ship so no one knows it better than you," Piper suggests.
"You built this ship?" Perry asks. Her voice is so melodious that I think that if she and Piper go into a Charmspeak war, Perry would win.
I look back to her and see she hasn't taken her eyes off of me. "Yes sir," I say with a proud grin on my face. "Had the plans since I was a little kid. Allow me to give you the grand tour."
I start toward the stairs and hear Perry following me. We almost make it to the first step before I hear someone call from behind me.
"Hey, Valdez!" I spin on my heal and see Nico with a smug look on his face. "I told you she was real."
"Go to Hades, di Angelo," I spit. Stomping up the stairs, I hear him chuckle behind me.
A/N: Whew! Over 2,000 words. (pats self on back) That was fun.
I Hope you guys liked it. Please review a lot and I might post a new chapter soon.
Could someone tell me if I'm getting Nico and Leo right? I fell like Nico's not Nico-y enough and Leo isn't funny enough.
Anyway, thanks again for everything.
Toodles!
