The day before Ethan's mother had unceremoniously barged into his work place, the Cherry Blossom Café was enduring a severe business decline. The prior week has only sported less than five costumers daily, an amount so small that Ethan almost thought that the citizens were having No Sushi Week or similar ridiculous occasions that time.
So the realisation hit him hard as he watched his mother eating two servings of sushi and drinking caramelised milk tea, all the while maintaining the posture of a noble woman; legs crossed, hands twirling spoon and fork as she chewed morsels of food into her mouth. Though it was actually a weird way of eating sushi, though.
The presence of the goddess of balance has caused the rise of visitors coming to the café.
Balance.
She balanced the situation out; making up the loss of the costumers before, Ethan thought as he turned his head around, watching the crowd's animated behaviours all around him.
'So I see that you are living well enough,' commented Nemesis, studying her sixteen years old son. Ethan could not have agreed more; he attended school, he has a part-time job, a small apartment to stay with a reasonable renting price, and he has companions that did not question nor pry into his past. It was rather a pleasant outgoing life, given that he has no particular bright childhood. Either way, he learnt to appreciate his life now, even if the sky's not always blue. There's always a problem here and there. He has the usual ups and downs; which he appreciated.
He has a normal life, through and through. Oh, unless for the fact that he is a demigod and the monsters' attacks every few times. The Celestial bronze dagger has proven to be useful by then.
'While I eat, perhaps you can tell me your story after leaving camp,' his mother was saying, dabbing the corner of her smudged lips with a napkin. 'I would like to know.' Ethan fumbled on his chibi bunny and cherry blossom-patterned apron, clearing his throat. 'Apart from the weekly attacks from monsters, it's nothing much, really,' he said, straightening his cap.
Well, as soon as he left Camp Half-Blood, he walked back into Manhattan, roaming around the busy city for two days, sleeping in the streets. He bought food with the few amount of mortal money that he found included in the grey sweater, and apart from that, he tried to survive and adapt to the new life he was having.
He was having a particularly nasty fight against an empousa, a vampire that feeds on men's flesh, one day when another demigod came to his aid. Together, after much stabbing, spell casting and wailing, the empousa was brought down to its knees, pleading, 'have mercy on the Dark Lady's servants! Have mercy!'
It had turned out that the demigod was a daughter of Hecate, and she did not even flinch when she cast a destructive spell that obliterated the head of her mother's servant, reducing it to dust.
Ethan was quite delightful and awed to meet another demigod living a solitary life, especially for an adult. For all he knew, life was tough outside camp, and many demigods did not make it past their adolescence when they left the safe borders and tranquillity of the camp. He began to tell the woman his story; being a son of Nemesis and leaving camp to search and discover the meaning of life, regaining his lost childhood et cetera.
The woman stared at him with a suspicious look, before shoving her wand to his throat threateningly, demanding him to explain himself instead of rambling nonsense and lies. He was terrified and stunned when this supposedly demigod claimed herself to be a witch, and questioned him as to why he did not make use of his wand, then asking whether he was a normal wizard or a 'Squib' (or squids. For all he knew, it was the woman who was rambling nonsense, in a British accent).
Ethan knew that the day was bound to be interesting, already with the monster's attack and all. A witch, huh?
He attempted to look intimidating by aiming his dagger at the woman and keeping up his guard all the time, refraining himself from trembling under the wand's mercy. He explained his situation slowly and surely, finally reaching the conclusion that this woman was rather a follower of Hecate and not the goddess' own daughter, for she claimed not to have heard of the name.
Wait, does not that mean that the woman was also not her follower? Ethan decided that his brain could not take it much longer and assumed that this woman was a common practitioner of magic, or perhaps a woman who could see through the Mist, albeit wondering how the woman obtained her powers.
The woman, who introduced herself as Ginevra, or Ginny for short, decided to take on his story, although eyeing him suspiciously like he was mentally severed. She offered to walk him to rather a fancy and delightful café where they serve excellent Japanese delicacy downtown, adding that the 'Muggies' (he was confirmed that the woman was having a few screws loose in her head) service was very efficient and professional, maybe have a little chit-chat there. Ethan saw no reason to decline the kind offer, hoping that he may stumble upon useful along the way, like a job.
He might even be a little bit afraid of the woman's incredible abilities, which definitely indicated her vast power.
'What's Muggies?' Ethan asked curiously, already imagining magical creatures with human-like intelligence, like elves or goblins, given that the name was kind of funny and fairytail-ish.
Ginny stifled a laugh before answering, 'It's Muggles, dummy. Seriously, you have to see a healer right away. I could take you to one if you want to.' Ethan shook his head no. Ginny shrugged and said, 'They're non-magical people, and they're truly oblivious of our world. It's common knowledge.'
Oh, so she was referring to mortals.
Ethan nodded incoherently when she stared at him.
'Our world' and 'common knowledge' was not something that Ethan has the idea of. Perhaps she believed that I'm a wandless wizard with no memories or something, concluded Ethan (thinking LOL along the way), noting that his prowess in battling monsters, his knowledge and his powers of inflicting vengeance in battle definitely impressed Ginny.
He remembered how he stabbed the empousa mercilessly, balancing out after each blow he received, albeit his usual defensive battle stance; finally realising and using his abilities at its fullest potential.
They talked no further along the way. Ethan studied Ginny who was wearing a beige skirt, a green jumper and has her red hair braided French style. Her lips were pursed while she walked, occasionally stealing glances at him when she thought he was not looking. The son of revenge tried very hard to fixate his stare on the curb as he strolled aside the said witch. She was making him nervous.
After a walk of five minutes, they arrived.
THE CHERRY BLOSSOM CAFÉ
Japanese delicacy and bakery
They came upon a beautiful café at the ground floor of the block, with soft pink umbrellas providing shade for the outdoor tables. It seemed that the café adapted oriental designs as the main theme. The floor was hard wooded and the colour of oak. Round tables with chairs occupied most of the main dining space, whilst for those yearning to experience the Japanese way of eating, a space was reserved for the purpose, decorated with beautiful mats and low tables with pillows as seats.
Branches of cherry blossom decorated the ceiling, hence the name, whilst on the walls, colourful yukata and kimono were hanging onto the decorative nails, complete with fans and wooden sandals; adding up to the oriental atmosphere. Papers with Japanese inscriptions hung by the windows. Ethan noticed a maneki neko, the fortune-bringing cat, with its automated left hand waving on the main counter.
A teenage girl wearing a black uniform shirt with pink lines, black slacks and a cap adorned with bunny ears greeted them. A floral-patterned apron was tied to her slender neck and waist. She has the appearance of a shoujo from an anime Ethan vaguely remembered, with braided brown hair and a charming smile. 'Ohaiyou guzaimasu! Welcome to the Cherry Blossom Café, allow me to bring you to your tables,' the waitress courteously said, beckoning them towards a table for two.
By the judge of her accent, she must be at the very least Japanese American by standard. As soon as the waitress was back, serving their ordered menu on the table, Ethan tried his luck. 'Ano…' he cleared his throat. The waitress looked at him; her eyebrows raised yet her mouth curled up still smiling kindly.
In Japanese, which is a language that he rarely speaks, he asked the waitress of any available job vacancy in the cafe. Ginny gazed at him with mild interest, slurping her udon, while the waitress answered him in Japanese, her voice laced with surprise and excitement, 'Oh, you're Japanese? Me too!' she giggled at her own statement before introducing herself. 'Watashiwa Mirai desu.' She paused to think. 'Ano, I'm not sure about any vacancy here but I can ask my boss about that.' And so she left them, disappearing behind the swinging doors behind the counter.
Ginny was a lady with little to say. She watched him intently chewing on his onigiri, all the while briefly telling her story; a holiday-cum-tour here in New York and the rest of the United States with her family. Before marriage, she studied in a wizarding school back at Scotland, which prompted her into asking, 'so, apart from Salem Witch Institute and a Brazilian school that I've heard of, where else did you Americans study magic?' She jerked her head towards the Celestial bronze dagger in its shaft attached to Ethan's waist. 'I mean, your dagger must have some kind of magical properties. With every strike, it did commendable serious damage on that nasty vampire, for a wandless bloke like you.'
Well, apart from her reference to the empousa as a vampire, Ethan decided that being a possible wizard in her eyes was just too much. He knew nothing of manipulating the Mist and magic, for he was never claimed to be a child of Hecate.
'Again, Ginny, I'll try to make myself clear. I'm not a wizard!' he whispered, lest the mortals heard him. Ginny raised her eyebrows before rolling her eyes. 'I'm a demigod. Demigod,' he pressed on, poking his onigiri a little bit too hard to make emphasis. It has a hole now. 'I'm a child of a goddess and a mortal, which makes me one. Does that ring a bell to you?'
Ginny looked at him. 'Okay, mister, I'm going to bring you to a healer. No matter what you say.' She took out her phone, looking very much flustered and red in the face, a mixture of worry and annoyance engulfing her.
'Ginny, please stop,' Ethan was almost begging now, keeping his voice low. She subconsciously hit her forehead with the heel of her palm softly to get rid of the headache from dealing this weird guy. 'But you must at least be a Squib to know all this!' Sighing, she thumbed out the numbers on the screen to call someone.
Man, this woman is seriously imbalanced, thought Ethan.
He took the witch's other hand and closed his eye. He never attempted this before, but there was nothing to lose, either way. Her annoyance was starting to get on him. Ginny frowned. She stared inquisitively at the boy in front of him, bracing herself to see what happens.
In all of a sudden, a sense of calmness rippled through her, likened to the soft breeze brushing the surface of a stream. Her flushed cheeks paled to normal and her eyes drooped, a little smile gracing her lips. She hummed contentedly, mildly surprise on how magical the demigod's touch was to her. Meanwhile, Ethan slowly opened his eye, his concentration unwavering.
'You okay now?'
'Better.'
He had summoned a surge of Nemesis' power of balance and concentrated it on Ginny, who seemed to be much calmed now, rather than her worried and slightly-panicking self a few minutes ago. She took a deep breath. 'So, now I guess I'm,' she paused. 'Balanced?'
Ethan nodded.
Ginny took two more subsequent breath of air before letting her gaze bore through his hazel brown eye. 'Again, I want to know your story, I mean, like, I really want to know' she pursed her lips after muttering those words, starting to believe that the boy was being honest and truthful. She twirled the udon with her chopsticks before slurping it, her gaze unwavering still. Ethan took a sip of his fruit punch.
'My mother is Nemesis, the goddess of balance, revenge and retribution. My dad's a mortal, or what you magical folks called as a Muggle. Therefore, a child born from the unification of a deity and a mortal is a demigod.'
Ginny nodded before asking abruptly out of the blue, 'Who's Hecate? The one you've been rambling about, me being a child of her and all.' Ethan smiled at her impatience to gather information all at once. 'Whoa, okay, okay.' He cleared his throat before continuing, his eye settling to watch the curved petals of the cherry blossoms above.
'Hecate is the goddess of magic, crossroads and the Mist. Her children are born with magical abilities; spells, potions and whatnots. She's also the creator of the empousai, the vampire we killed this morning. That's why I thought you're her daughter or something, doing spells and those killing hocus-pocus.'
Ginny nodded, her eyes now brightened with interest. 'Well, I must tell my sister-in-law about this. She's kind of the brains here. Our trip was just an excuse to visit your government, after all.' Ethan spluttered out his juice. He reached a pink napkin on the table and dabbed his wet chin. 'Why? You wanna meet our President?'
'Well, not the Muggle one and not exactly him but rather the one of our kind,' Ginny said with a shrug. 'Well, apart from the kids, most of our trip group members are made up of Aurors and the Ministry lot. Yeah, you know…' her voice trailed off, searching for the precise word for explanation. '… kind of a group of Dark wizard catchers, like the Muggles' police. Yup, that's it,' she managed with a smile. 'Something like that.'
Just then, before Ethan had the chance to ask her about the ongoing events of the wizarding world, the waitress who served them earlier approached with a friendly smile, almost looking excited when she said, 'The boss gave his green lights! You can meet him later,' before walking off to tend to another demanding costumer, setting her bunny ears upright.
Ethan sat upright on his chair and asked if Ginny has a compact mirror or something just as helpful. He believed he was in state of completely wrecked. She laughed at his awkward attempts to make himself more presentable and decent.
'Here, let me help you.' The witch flicked her wrist, her wand sparking a little. Instead of an explosion (thank the gods, thought Ethan), his short and tousled hair magically redo themselves to look neater. Another wave and his crumpled and creasy clothes smoothened, and after the last incantation (this one produced a puff of lilac smoke which surprised Ethan, if only a little bit) and he caught a waft of lavender. He was already imagining its pleasant scent swirling like mist around him. Raising his right arm, he sniffed in disbelief, much to Ginny's amusement.
'Wow, thanks,' was all Ethan could say, an earnest smile gracing his lips. Much thanks to Ginny's spells and the meal he just had, he felt a lot fresher and energised. 'Well, I could spare a Galleon or two,' she said before laughing as the demigod stared blankly at her. 'Forget that, it's our currency, and I'm sure you don't use them,' she giggled. Ethan heaved out a sigh of relief.
Truth be told, Ginny did not mind at all. Besides, she began to adore him, being rather a messy teenager yet still maintaining the cute look. And terribly good-natured for a child of whom people hailed her as the revenge goddess.
Ethan was about to take out a few drachma when he remembered the few mortal money he have to pay for the food at the counter. Ginny waved him off and tell him the meal was on her. Grinning, he walked her outside, having to stay there afterwards. Before she left him for her residency her family was staying, the witch said, 'Hold your palm up.' The demigod obliged and Ginny waved her wand. A phone number surfaced on his palm, written in black.
'Hey, can this thing even come off?' Ethan tried wiping it against his sweater but to no avail. 'Oh, it will when you commit it to memory,' Ginny smiled, tapping her wand onto the right side of her temples. Ethan just shrugged. 'Well, thanks for the meal, Ginny, and thanks for helping me out with the empousa,' he held out his hand and the witch shook it with a smile. 'Me too.'
And so, Ginny Weasley departed, waving earnestly as she walked down the street. 'May fate smiles upon you, child of revenge,' was her parting words, flashing Ethan a fond smile. He almost thought that she uttered those words with a capital 'F'.
'May the Fates smile upon you too,' he whispered with a faint smile, already longing the amusingly kind-hearted and cheerful witch's company, watching her silhouette disappear as she turned around a block, before he entered the café once again.
'Ethan-kun, this costumer personally asked you to decorate his Choc 'n Crème cupcake blue. And fix him the usual coffee that goes with the set. Think you can manage that?' a waitress poked her head into the kitchen. He nodded, albeit wondering at the peculiar request.
'Coming right up, Mirai-chan.' He flattened a ball of blue icing onto the board with a roller, all the while reaching up for a warmly baked cupcake to proceed on the decoration. His hand expertly shuffled to finish the cupcake, humming a tune he was listening with Mirai's iPod.
Blue? Classy choice. He applied the finishing touch by scattering blueberry bits on top of the swivelling cream. His mastery of the art was commendable now that he has worked there for roughly a year.
He settled the cupcake on a white porcelain platter along with a cup of caramel coffee and set it on the counter. 'Mirai-chan, here's the order,' Ethan said, and the waitress placed it on her tray, nodding gratefully as she swerved around a table to the costumers waiting. He stood there, enjoying the song, tapping his fingers on the counter, relishing the short break he was having. The amount of visitors was not that many, so tonight's shift was quite relaxing.
'Mr Pirate, Mr Pirate,' a squeaky voice snapped him out of his temporal daze. He looked down and saw a blonde boy wearing light blue pyjamas waving at him. 'Can I touch you?' the kid said, not trying to contain his excitement. Ethan smiled slightly, and leaned down to pat the boy on his head. 'Hey, kid.' The boy touched his hand with his stubby finger. 'Arr,' Ethan said for effect.
The boy squealed in delight, running off to find his mother, who was having an evening sushi meal with their family. 'I touched a pirate, mummy!' Ethan saw the mother frowned, and his tendrils of thoughts snaked their way to Nemesis. He wondered how his own mother was doing right now. Perhaps she was busying herself spreading vengeance around the world, officially as an Olympian goddess. The demigod sighed.
The little boy's mother took noticed of him and waved, smiling apologetically at his son's behaviour, who was still bubbling off about the pirate with a panda eye. He waved back earnestly.
Panda eye, huh? His fingers absentmindedly traced the outline of his new eye-patch, his lips curled up into a smile, his cheeks flushing slightly.
There was a moment,
Ethan distinctively remembered when Mirai asked him out for a cycle around the park one day. They were enjoying the warm afternoon, when she saw a panda mascot selling fresh dumplings at a food stand. Ethan was not paying attention, of course. He was gazing at the dusky sky; the shades of blood red, pink and hues of orange clashing each other to form a beautiful vista.
'Ethan-kun, look!'
He ignored her.
'Ethan-kun.' She was still being ignored.
Fuming, the girl pulled the elastic string of Ethan's eye-patch forcefully to catch his almost non-existent attention and thus turning his head to see the panda man. It was a little bit too forceful. The string snapped off, thus the eye-patch fell off too, revealing an empty eye-socket, a deep scar running diagonally over it.
Mirai had to look away. Her hands suddenly trembled as she remembered the sight of what was hidden behind the smooth black fabric covering Ethan's eye. Or what was left of it.
'Gomen, Ethan-kun! I'm so sorry!' she stammered, as the boy glared at her dangerously, his teeth gritting. He covered his blinded left eye with his hand, as the view will be too grotesque for people to watch. Mirai gulped, and her throat felt hoarse. She knew how vengeful her friend can be, even for a kind and good-natured fellow. Her ex-boyfriend spent three days in the general hospital because Ethan took the matter too seriously to his heart when he saw her crying at the alley behind the café because of that shithead of a boyfriend.
Yeah, he had beaten the guy into a less-than-recognisable orange pulp.
'I'll replace it, seriously!' she stuttered, shoving inside the pocket of her jeans and retrieved a pair of sunglasses. He snatched it angrily and shoved it to his face. Mirai was bowing repeatedly, promising him a treat of dumplings. He just nodded. To at the very least tip the scales to balance, he pinched his friend's side for good measure. 'Take that!' he grunted and Mirai squealed at the ticklish sensation. 'I'm so sorry!'
After a meal of dumplings and fluffy red bean buns, they went back to the café for their night shift. Ethan was still deathly quite with a frown decorating his face as they worked in the kitchen. Feeling extremely guilty, Mirai decided to stay up for the night so that she can see his adorable smile once again tomorrow.
The next day, busying himself slicing the carrots up, Ethan was alarmed when a sneaky hand pulled the sunglasses away. 'What the –,' he yelled when another hand clamped his mouth shut. He puffed up his cheeks in annoyance when he realised that it was Mirai. She fitted something on his head over his left eye and his hand instinctively shot upwards to touch it.
Mirai spent the night stitching and sewing up a new eye-patch. The bumpy surface told him that it was not just the regular boring black one. Mirai shoved him a compact mirror. 'You looked handsomely kawaii!' she giggled in excitement.
A chibi panda head with red circles for blushies and big cute eyes was sewn on the black-eye-patch.
He screamed in embarrassment as his colleague fell on the floor rolling with laughter.
Reflecting her craze for chibis, Mirai had made him three more eye-patches; one with a chibi bunny on it, another looked like a button and the last one has a big round puppy eye you always see on chibis.
He smiled at the memory, and no, he did not wear the panda eye-patch on a daily basis because people said he looked cute.
Well, actually he did.
'Ethan, someone choked on wasabi in their sushi, could you bring a glass of cool water for table seven,' a voice interrupted through his thoughts. A waiter was patting his hand on his shoulder. 'On it, bro,' he said to the waiter, fetching a large glass. Wasabi are no small matter.
He was bringing the glass of water and a napkin (in case the costumer made a mess in his choking fit) to the specific table when he saw a familiar girl with golden hair.
It was Annabeth Chase, Athena's favourite brat.
She was sitting with another three teenagers around table seven. One guy, with dark hair, was still coughing, recovering slowly from the spicy treat of the wasabi while the other two ate their meals and laughing; a girl with choppy brown hair decorated with feathers and a bespectacled guy with short-cropped blonde hair, who was saying between laughter, 'Told you to slow down on the sushi.' Ethan quickly turned around the opposite way, his lips trembling when he heard a familiar voice. 'Hey, you!' Annabeth called.
He tensed up and coughed a bit, his heart felt with dread. Well, he was supposed to be dead. He knew it was simply not the time for them to face the revelation of his survival.
'Can we have that glass of water, please? We ordered it,' the daughter of Athena was saying. Ethan then realised that they have not recognised him yet. His free left hand fumbled inside the pocket of his apron to retrieve a pair of sunglasses that he had always kept in case 'the panda man with dumplings' incident happens again. Noticing his still trembling hand, he shoved the sunglasses over his eye and eye-patch to conceal his appearance. There was no time to worry about how ridiculous he looked.
He faced the direction of table seven and walked as casually as he can manage. He saw the blue cupcake that he prepared earlier on the table. They were staring at him intently as he set the glass of water on the table. He suddenly felt very self-conscious.
The choking guy began to cough in a terrible pace, and in a state of panic, Ethan saw him grabbing the cupcake instead of the glass.
Well, the boy was none other than the great hero Percy Jackson.
Everything went into slow motion as he shoved the intricately decorated cupcake against his face, mistaking it for water. The girls were gasping in shock while the blonde guy said in an equally surprised tone, 'Whoa, bro!' Percy's voice was muffled under the splattered mess of the delicious encrust of delights. He doubled over, coughing, and Ethan took his chance.
He wiped the sea prince's mouth gently with the napkin before setting the cup to his lips. Percy gulped the cool water, his sea green eyes brightened, humming appreciatively. Ethan's heart was hammering madly in his chest. The blonde boy rubbed soothing circles on Percy's back, saying, 'There, there.' Annabeth silently sipped on her mocha coffee and the girl whom she addressed as Piper sipped her raspberry smoothie with great interest, her charming face glowing. A feather wiggled slightly on her braid. 'This moment should be recorded with a camera. Too bad I can't use phones.'
So they are all half-bloods, then, thought the son of Nemesis.
'Stop it, Jason, you're tickling me,' Percy said in a strained voice. The blonde guy called Jason stopped rubbing his back, chuckling slightly. There was a trail of saliva on his chin, unnoticed by him and the others. Ethan hesitated, but he wiped it anyway with the heel of his right palm. His cheeks burned a little as his face hovered over Percy's a little too close. Sunglasses-covered hazel eye met with the green shade of the sea ones, staring curiously at him. He gulped.
The son of Poseidon looked intrigued, before muttering, 'Thanks, man.' The blush on the sea prince cheeks burned deliciously. Afraid that his voice might give him away, Ethan settled for a ghost of a nod. He wiped the mess on the table with the used napkin, feeling everyone's eyes on him. Annabeth narrowed her stormy grey eyes a little and he had to look away before recognition took over the girl.
He straightened up, bowing his head and leaving as the small group of demigods chorused words of gratitude to him, although involuntarily swayed his hips as he walked away. He wondered if any of them checked out his bottom.
Whoa, no time for stupid fantasies, idiot, he chided himself.
His lips trembled guiltily as he walked, bringing the heel of his right palm up to his nose and sniffed up the lingering smell of the ocean and blueberry bits. They were still trembling as he carefully licked at the heel of his palm, the salty taste of the ocean and the sweet one of pastry dominating his tongue. Oh, and a dim taste of spicy wasabi. Disregarding that, it tasted delicious. He felt his cheeks burnt as he took another taste of his beloved's drool, stepping behind the counter once more.
'What happen? You looked flustered. Got a cute guy's number?' Mirai piped up behind him, causing him to withdraw his hand away in an alarming speed. He jumped, yelping in surprise and cannot help but poking his friend's side hard, causing her to jump as well, giggling. Pulling away the sunglasses, he grunted, 'Not that, dummy.'
Ethan glanced towards a gilded mirror decorating one side of a pillar. A wooden sign was nailed above it, engraved with the words 'Appearance matters. Nothing succeeds like the appearance of success', spreading the message for all staff to always dress smartly during shifts.
Behind the mirror, his cheeks were flushed, tinged slightly pinkish cherry, and saw the reflection of Mirai tapping the right one, claiming his cheeks were softer than fluffy white baozis. He swatted her finger away. Looking down, he sighed, knowing he has to wash his hand eventually, a hint of disappointment tying a knot in his stomach.
'Yo, man. What're you doing?' his friend gushed up as she watched him search for something frantically. He has to preserve the scent, somehow. Grabbing a random clean napkin from inside a drawer, he carefully wiped the heel of his palm, pressing the fabric a little bit more forceful than it requires. Mirai watched his behaviour with mild interest, staring deeply through the cute weirdo.
'Hey, miss. We're paying up,' said a terribly familiar voice, reverberating through his skull. Oh my gods, panicking, he fumbled for his sunglasses.
And so that was the time his sunglasses decided to betray him and disappeared out of sight. He cursed under his breath.
Head hung low, his averted his eye to the tiled floor as the guy called Jason retrieved cash from his wallet for Mirai who was behind the cash register. Percy was beside him, whistling a tuneless song, his eyes gazing at the gleaming clay figurines decorating the counter and the ever waving maneki neko. Ethan took a glimpse and saw the sea prince's slender neck, and imagined himself kissing the crook of it.
'Are you okay?' Percy suddenly asked him as he glanced away abruptly, his face blushing so profusely he knew any people would notice his body's betrayal. Especially when he was dealing with such a situation. Ignore the eye-patch, ignore the eye-patch, Ethan was almost pleading in his thoughts. Looking down once again, he nodded as his throat constricted.
That was when the son of Poseidon decided to ask the question he feared the most. 'Hey, do I know you?'
He shook his head vigorously, looking awkwardly suspicious with his lowered head. Percy shook his head, dazed. Well, it was impossible, whatever inside his head was. The revenge's child heaved out a sigh of relief quietly, muttering a silent prayer of gratitude to the gods as Percy shrugged off the question. 'Sorry about that,' Percy said, and he can almost hear the apologetic grin of his beloved.
He heard the excited chatter of the girls as the boys lead them towards the exit of the café after the payment for their dinner. Mirai looked at him, lifting his chin gently with her finger. 'Are you okay? You look sick, Ethan-kun,' she asked in a worried tone. Ethan lifted up the Percy-scented napkin and breathed the sweet-and-salty smell deeply.
With his voice muffled, he muttered happily, 'yup, sick with love.'
The girl's rich brown eyes widened, a grin forming on her face. She nudged at him excitedly. He looked longingly at the four silhouettes (well, actually only one of them; the raven-haired one) as Mirai placed her arm around his shoulder, smiling at the view as well.
And that was when Athena's brat decided to turn her golden head back towards them.
Eyes narrowed, she hesitated on her steps, and when she saw Ethan, she stopped dead on her tracks, mouth agape and eyes widened in disbelief. He froze, not knowing what to do. As his brain clicked back to work, he found an excuse to wipe the meticulously spotless counter.
Please, please.
Bracing himself for the worst, he finally glanced up. Annabeth was gone.
Nemesis watched her son shamelessly drowning himself in a baby blue napkin, making lewd-sounding noises through his nose. She took a chopstick and hit his head sharply, producing a loud thwack and jingling noises that were of her bangles'. 'Ow!' he exclaimed, rubbing his bruised head. 'I will not deal with your hormonal frustration, child,' she said, not amused as Ethan grinned cheekily at the memory of the incident two weeks ago, lips brushing slightly against the Percy's drool-stained napkin.
'So that's about it,' he chewed his bottom lip, finishing his story.
Nemesis nodded and stretched her back like a lanky cat, a gesture so unlike her. 'Well, I am a busy goddess, so let's head back to your apartment and pack up,' she said. 'Wait. What about my job, the rent and basically everything else?' he asked urgently. This was not a decision that should be done overnight. He has to think about it first. Nevertheless, the goddess considered the matter as if it was not such a big deal.
'It is about time to fulfil your wish.'
Ethan was suddenly aware of the presence of two orizurus that was folded neatly inside his leather wallet. He never left them out. He carried his wish everywhere. 'Oh.'
A shrill cry sliced through the air. 'You!' someone snapped. Ethan glanced up to find Mirai fuming, her face furiously red. Flipping her brown braid with a beautiful distinguished gesture, she pointed her finger towards the goddess of revenge, who gazed through her with interest.
'We broke up and you came back?' She turned towards Ethan, eyebrows raised in sight of the betrayal. 'Ethan Nakamura, why do you even bother talking with this idiotic son of a…' her voice trailed off in a series of hard core curses and dirty words. She rarely address him by his full name unless she was overcome with emotions. Nemesis just smirked.
So the girl saw the goddess as her ex-boyfriend? Noting her ability to assume the form as someone you wanted to take revenge on, this was quite fascinating for the revenge goddess.
'Mirai-chan, calm your ass down, and wait behind the counter. Let me talk to him…' he hesitated, wondering if he got the pronoun right, '…first. I'll fill you in later.' Still seething with fury, the waitress stomped her feet all the way to her designated place and hugged her figure, a frown in place.
Nemesis twirled a stand of her curly hair lazily, as she observed the sakura blossoms hanging on the whitewashed ceiling. 'Athena has established a school to educate children of the gods. The Gigantes war was over a month ago and the camp was almost destroyed during that war with Gaea. Well, since this is not summer, most campers have already transferred schools to enrol themselves there.' Ethan was silent for a moment.
'Wasn't I supposed to be dead?'
'You succeeded to believe in time with patience and diligence. You have waited long enough. Messed up as it is, the world is now peaceful again; with no possible threats in the near future. This is your reward to accept, depending on your own courage to face them. Well, let's just say it will not be a long-term surprise enough for inflicting damage to them.
'They will be happy for every blissful and delightful turn of event right now.' She paused. 'Like your return.'
Ethan nodded.
Standing up, he breathed in the friendly scent of the café, the delicious smell wafting through the air, the humming of countless noise of the hungry costumers, the gentle whiff of flowers and cream, and the aroma of the variety of scrumptious delicacies.
He was going to miss every of this; Mirai's courteous smile beckoning visitors inside, the welcoming waves of the maneki neko, the delectable leftover treat of chocolate cream and maple syrup and countless bliss of working in a café.
But first things first. Before his departure, he will have to console a sobbing Mirai first as soon as she hears about him. Smiling ever so slightly, he walked slowly and surely towards the still frowning girl.
His heart was giddy with excitement on the prospect of the future. Of meeting his dearest.
Percy was dozing off on a bench at the courtyard of the school, a book left untouched on his lap. Besides him, Jason Grace was watching his friend contentedly; book in hand but eyes unmoving at the sight of the sleeping son of Poseidon.
A stray dead leaf landed on his cheek and being such a good companion, Jason blew it away. The sudden gust of cool air woke the sea prince up in a jolt though, and he found himself staring at a pair of startling sky blue eyes behind golden-rimmed glasses. He almost fell off the bench in surprise, and the son of Jupiter chuckled. 'Morning, bro.'
'Morning,' Percy said, rubbing his eyes groggily and stretching his back. Jason glanced at his watch. 'The break's almost over. I think we should head back to class,' Jason said, standing up and smiling as he straightened his necktie. Percy hummed in agreement and stood up, following his friend back inside the main building.
As they strolled past a marble statue of Athena standing proudly at the entrance, Jason caught a sight of a woman wearing blood red rocker-style apparel with black boots standing in front of the gilded main entrance of the administration building, an unfamiliar boy in tow. 'Bro, is that a new student?' he voiced out his speculation at Percy, who was hanging on to him with both his arms around Jason's shoulders, still half-asleep. That guy is impossibly clingy when it comes to sleep.
'Huh, what?' Percy grunted, his voice muffled. Jason fought a blush as the warm air tickled the nape of his neck. 'Dude, stop that.' He removed Percy's arms and turned him around to face the long hallway. 'There.' Annoyed, he glanced up and squinted for a better look.
'Who's that?' he asked, perking up. Jason smiled at his friend's curiosity. 'Wait. Wha –,' Percy spluttered in his speech. 'It can't be,' he said simply, as the son Jupiter stared at him questioningly.
His heart thumped in a faster pace. He took long strides, his eyes stubbornly unblinking, afraid that the silhouette of the boy might disappear as soon as he closed them. His breathing went shallower. Jason followed close behind, taking up speed and probably wondering at Percy's sudden movement.
It cannot be, it simply cannot be. The slim-built frame, the fair skin, lips pursed adorably as the hazel eye studied the atmosphere of the school. The eye-patch. Gods, the eye-patch. Percy cannot stop himself from running at the last few steps before the boy. His eyes burned, and a tear trickled across his left cheek.
'Ethan?'
Author's Notes: This particular chapter, albeit longer than the preceding chapters, are a little bit of a crossover from Harry Potter :D sorry if it gets a little bit wild out of my imagination but I can't help it. Anyhow, it's in my plans to publish a crossover of PJO and HP in the near future.
I am really sorry if anyone noticed my delay, but I am but a little bit busy and also writing another fic that will focus on Nicercy (perhaps), so for anyone; my followers, the kind favourites and basically any readers who stumbled upon this first tale of mine, a very deep thanks for your patience and diligence. You are one of the reasons I continued to write. I love you guys, seriously.
I am also sorry for perhaps the confusing timeline in this particular chapter. Okay, so Ethan worked at the café for a year before he enrol in Athena's school. I hope you guys got the idea.
And yep, Mirai-chan is the OC of this tale. Her name means 'future'. And her surname is most likely Kanbara. (#kyoukainokanata :D)
For those interested in 'do-you-knows' (well, since this chapter is full of foreign terms):
Empousai are the servants of the goddess Hecate, beautiful female vampires that drink men's blood. Their distinguishable features are their mismatched legs, one resembles a goat's and another made of mechanical Celestial bronze.
Onigiri are simply Japanese riceballs usually set with nori; which is seaweed.
Udon is a type of thick wheat flour noodle of Japanese cuisine, often served hot as a noodle soup in its simplest form, as kake udon, in a mildly flavoured broth called kakejiru, which is made of dashi, soy sauce, and mirin.
A baozi is a type of steamed, filled bun or bread-like item in various Chinese cuisines, as there is much variation as to the fillings and the preparations. (They are yummo ;D).
The maneki neko (beckoning cat) is a common Japanese figurine (luck, charm, talisman) designed to bring good luck.
Chibi is a Japanese slang word for 'small person' or 'little child'.
Sakura are cherry blossoms flower.
Kimono and yukata are traditional Japanese garments. Yukata are usually worn during summer.
Reviews are always more than welcomed. I need to improve and I am still in the process of learning, you know?
Sincerely, Hecate.
