Nic's POV
I laughed as Chloe ran down the hill, without her bag. Meg smiled too and began walking down. I was about to follow, when I heard a yell.
"Ollie! Ollie! Wait!" I smiled at the nickname, knowing exactly who was running towards me. I turned around to see my little sister Sofey trying as hard as she could to get my attention. She finally made it up the hill and ran into my arms. I hugged her tightly.
"I'll miss you a lot, Ollie", she told me, sounding like she was going to cry, but holding it back.
"I'll be fine, Sofey-girl. Just practice your archery and keep your ears clean", I smiled as she started laughing, then let some tears go.
"I'll be back before you know it, I promise", I told her, in an attempt to stop her crying. She wiped her tears but it was no use, they were coming down now.
"I'll miss you", she whispered. I wiped some of the tears away with my thumb. I enveloped her in another hug.
"I'll miss you more. Bye Sof", I gave her a weak smile, and made my decent down the hill. My mind was far away, thinking how happy Sofey would be when I got back.
"A little sister, I presume", I heard someone say. I looked up and saw Meg looking up the hill at the fading silhouette of my favorite sister.
"Yup", I sighed.
"And she calls you... Ollie?" Meg said trying to hold in her laughter. Honestly, I was, too. The nickname was always a little crack-up.
"Yeah", I said, trying to hide my blush," My middle name is Olliver. So, Sofey just started calling me..."
"Ollie", Meg finished, smiling. Wow, she had an amazing smile. I stared at her for a while, just looking at all her features. Her light brown hair fell around her shoulders perfectly, but there were those few strands that fell in her face. I was tempted to push them aside. Her sky blue eyes were... Dazzling. She smiled back at me, before we heard shouts from the top of the hill. We looked up.
Standing at the top of the hill stood a rather large group of girls. They were all yelling and waving. I couldn't hear what they were saying, too many of them were shouting.
"What are they saying?" I asked Meg, but when I looked at her she looked uncomfortable.
"They are saying 'We'll miss you, Nicky'", she replied, her face looking beat red, "I guess you have a bit of a fan club."
She awkwardly stood there, knowing some of the girls were glaring at her. When I looked at them they would wave sweetly and continue shouting stuff like, "Iris-Message me if you feel lonely!" and "Come back safe, baby". I was getting a little scared.
I knew I was popular with the girls. I had practically been a heartthrob since second grade, when four girls got in an argument over who's boyfriend I was. When I got in to fifth grade, it was the coolest thing to be the popular boy and date pretty girls. Then in seventh grade, it got old. Of course I had dated girls and stuff, but it was always just flings. I did a little wave, to which the girls went crazy, and got in the car.
I sat in the passenger seat. I turned around to only see Chloe, laughing at the girls. Chloe was just something else. I was about to ask Argus where Meg was, when I noticed Meg was in the drivers seat, not Argus.
"You can drive?" I asked, a little shocked. Meg laughed.
"Nic, I am way older than you could ever imagine", she smirked, but I could see in her eyes she had a big secret that went along with that sentence. But I didn't dwell on it. We set off.
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I knocked my head against the dashboard, again. It was 7:30 am in New York City. And we were caught in traffic. Traffic! And in addition to this, my ADHD wasn't helping my boredom.
"Stop that!" Meg said/yelled at me, looking extremely frustrated.
"I have ADHD!" I said in defense, before realizing how absolutely weak my defense was.
"And I don't?", Meghan nearly screeched," you are NOT the only demigod in this car, look we are all on edge here..."
I kinda drowned her out then as she ranted on about how ADHD was no excuse to act like a child. I looked back at Chloe, realizing she hadn't talked. She was holding an I-pod touch in her hand, earbuds in, and had her head leaning against the window, fast asleep. Go figure. I looked forward and groaned.
"I can see the Empire State Building! This is ridiculous!" I exclaimed, earning a death glare from Meg. I shut up.
After twenty minutes, we finally made it. But we had to park 5 blocks away. Yay.
Once Meg parked, I carefully opened the back door, trying not to make Chloe fall out. Shocked at the movement, Chloe opened her eyes. She saw Meg and I standing there, and blushed.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to fall asleep", she said sheepishly, unbuckling her seatbelt and getting out of the car. I shut the door behind her. We starts walking in silence. About three blocks from the Empire State Building, Chloe started talking.
"So, did anything happen while I was asleep?" she asked. It was a weak conversation starter, but I could tell she just didn't like the silence.
"Well, Nic here apparently can't take a 45 minute car ride without acting like a little kid", Meg said, smirking at me.
"Interesting, very interesting", Chloe sighed as she also yawned, "I'm really tired."
"I guessed", I told her. She rolled her eyes. We continued, once again in silence. Chloe kept yawning, and at one point we stopped because her foot fell asleep. Then we finally made it. We walked up to the front desk. I had only heard stories about how difficult the guards there could be, so I imagined this would be interesting.
"We request an audience with Zeus on the 600th floor, please", Meg told the desk guard. The guard sighed.
"No such thing as Zeus, kid, or a 600th floor. Get lost before I call security", the guard told us in a less-then-happy voice. Chloe let out an exasperated sigh and stomped up to the desk. I take it she has heard stories, too. She crossed her arms on the front of the desk and spotted a small potted plant sitting near the phone. She smiled evilly at the guard.
"Listen up, 'cause I'm only saying this once", Chloe said to the guard, then starting twirling her finger in midair. As she did this, the little stem in the pot began to grow, the more she twirled her finger, the further it grew.
"You may not be aware of this, but Zeus' daughter is missing. We were sent to save her. Now how do you think Zeus would feel if he was told his child could not be saved because a mortal wouldn't let us up?"
The plant was growing dangerously long, it was so long that it started wrapping around the guard's arm. He was staring at it in fright. Chloe was just smiling, continuing to twirl her finger.
"Y-y-y-yes, m-ma'am", the guard replied shakily. He very slowly moved the arm that didn't have the plant on it, and picked up a key card. He, once again very slowly, handed Chloe the key card, who grabbed it out of his hand.
"Thank you very much, sir. Have a great day!" Chloe said cheerfully, and twirling her finger in the opposite direction it was twirling before. The plant started to wind back to the pot until it looked exactly like it did. We walked to the elevator. The guard still looked shaken. We all got in and slid in the key card.
"Well that was rather impressive", I told Chloe. She smiled.
"Yeah", she replied,"I'm kinda impressed, too. I had no idea I could do that. But I am just really not in the mood for people playing dumb right now."
From there we rode up in silence, listening to some 80s' music. I smiled. My grandparents loved 80s' music. When I lived with them, they would listen to it during meal times. And even though I had acted like I hated it, I secretly liked it. Just a guilty pleasure.
We finally made it to the 600th floor. Once the doors opened, we all gasped.
Olympus was beautiful. It had been just last summer it had been completely destroyed because of the Titan War. Now, thanks to the missing Annabeth, Olympus was completely rebuilt. And it looked great. Everything was shining new. We made our way to the throne room, not knowing where else to go. When we got to the throne room, no one was there. We looked at each other.
"What do we do?" I asked, talking without thinking. Meg sighed.
"We call for them", she said easily.
"How?" Chloe asked, looking at Meg, biting her lower lip nervously. Meg's eyes turned grey, but just as quickly turned blue again, she smiled.
"Sit on thier thrones", she said simply. Chloe and I gawked at her. Sit on thier thrones? That is practically forbidden.
"Ok, which god to we call first?" Meg said, looking at us expectedly.
"I say Poseidon", Chloe said", from what I heard he's a lot nicer than Zeus."
"Okay, go call him", Meg told her.
"What?" Chloe shouted, taking a step back.
"Well, he is your uncle", I said," Demeter is Zeus, Hades, Hera, and Poseidon's sister, isn't she?" Meg rolled her eyes.
"Yes, Nic", she sighed. I looked at Chloe in satisfaction.
"Fine", Chloe said, jerking her chin up in the air with dignity.
She went to Poseidon's throne. She looked at us, Meg smiled at her and I gave her a thumbs up. She chuckled then slowly climbed onto the throne. She waited a moment before I saw her flinch badly.
"I'm sorry for sitting in your throne, uncle, but I need you help. It's about Percy", I heard her say, with a scared look on her face. Since I couldn't hear a voice, I assumed Poseidon had yelled at her in her head. That's how they were communicating. Her face slowly untwisted and she smiled.
"Thank you, Lord Poseidon. I will see you soon", she says, then steps down, light smoke rolling of her arms.
"What did he say?" I asked her as she reached us.
"Well first he yelled at me", she sighed, then smiled, "But when I said something about Percy, he said he was on his way."
"Well done, Chloe", Meg complemented her. Chloe blushed.
"Thanks."
Before we could say anything else, a strong breeze blew open the throne room's doors. The breeze passed by us, and I could practically smell the ocean. As we watched, the breeze flew above a sea green throne that was decorated with seashells, seaweed, and other sea stuff. Then the breeze became solid and took the shape of a 20 foot human. Poseidon was sitting right in front if us. Meg immediatley bows. Chloe and I follow suit.
"Lord Poseidon, it is an honor to be in your presence", Meg says, and I nod my head.
"Yes, thank you", Poseidon replies, but has a frown on his face, "I was told by my niece that this meeting has to do with Percy. Have you found him?" Chloe steps forward.
"No, uncle, I'm sorry. But this is about finding him. But we need to talk to Zeus, too. Is there anyway you could..." she didn't finish, trying to think of the right word.
"Call him?" I said simply.
"Aw, that I can do", Poseidon smiled, but still looked sad. He looked up to the sky. "ZEUS!" he yelled. Being that he was 20 feet, it sounded a lot worse. We covered our ears. "ZEUS, COME HERE! IT IS ABOUT THALIA'S DISAPPEARANCE!"
Almost immediately the smell of ozone entered the room, and a giant clash of lightening came in. We all closed our eyes and used our hands to shield them. When we opened them, Zeus was sitting in his throne. I saw Poseidon roll his eyes at his brother.
"Have you found Thalia?" Zeus asked in an angry voice. He didn't look happy.
"No, sir", I told him, since neither of the girls talked," but we would like to ask both of you a question that will help us to find Thalia and Percy."
"Anything to help", Poseidon said with another strained smile.
"Yes, agreed", Zeus said after him, leaning forward in his seat to look closer at us.
"Well", started Chloe, but she looked a little uncertain. We really didn't think this through. "The prophecy says..."
"We are aware of what the prophecy says", Poseidon snaps, but immediately smiles at us apologetically," Please, just get to the point and we will ask questions."
Chloe nods and continues.
"Because of the prophecy, we believe that the three demigods missing are hidden in 'each others' domain'", Chloe quoted, making air quote marks with her fingers. The two gods nodded, seeming eager for her to continue. I was really impressed with how well she was holding herself. Must have to do with her confident mother. "We were thinking about it, and since Zeus' domain, and therefore Thalia's too, is the sky. But whoever took them isn't really dumb enough to hide them on Olympus."
"Yes", Zeus says, rubbing his chin, "I believe I would have sensed her presence if she was here."
Chloe smiled with pride, since she had thought of it. She was just standing there, sulking in her pride, nit goin on about the rest of it. I nudged her, and twirled my hand, symbolizing to go on. Her face lit up in realization and she took another breath to continue.
"Oh ya, and... Uh... Ya. Also, Poseidon", she said, getting the sea god's attention, "In addition to Zeus' thing, we have no idea where we would look in the sea. I mean, it does cover 2/3 of the earth."
I saw Poseidon's chest puff out in pride of this fact.
"So, in conclusion", Chloe sighed, like she had just read a 10 page paper out loud, "We were thinking maybe the two of you would have, uhm, secret places somewhere, where two of the missing demigods might be hidden."
Chloe looked down, like she expected them to get mad at this light accusation. Poseidon sighed, sitting back in his throne. He looked at Zeus.
"Well brother, as i've heard humans say, 'The gig is up'. Shall I tell first or you?"
"Wait, wait, wait", Chloe said, looking at them and putting her hands up in a 'hold on' motion. Her nose scrunched up in confusion. "So, I was right? I mean, I AM right?"
Zeus looked at his brother angrily.
"We can't tell them! They are mortals! They can't know! My wife doesn't even know!"
"Nor does mine", Poseidon replied back, looking intently at his brother, "But this is for our children, brother. We must help them or we may never see our children again. And brother, I honestly would like my son back."
"As I would with my daughter, but this is a big secret to trust with demigods. Especially a child of Apollo. If Apollo himself can't keep secrets, what hope do his children have?"
I felt really insulted. This may be my grandpa, but he wasn't going to insult menor my dad.
"Excuse me, sir", I said, in a annoyed tone I knew I should not be using with the king of the gods, "But I can keep a secret as well as the next person. And your daughter's, or you brother's son's lives could be at stake here. Should it matter if we can't keep a secret, it matters that we find your daughter and eg her back safe. Now you can tell us about your 'secret place' or we can leave!" I finished, out of breath from my rampage.
Zeus just stared at with an open mouth. Along with everyone else there. I looked at Meg and Chloe, and saw Meg looking at Zeus, hoping he wouldn't zap her for my behavor. She then looked at me, her blue eyes pleading. "Apologize!" they screamed, but I don't plan on doing that. I looked to Zeus again. He was nodding.
"I am sorry Nicholas", he said, but didn't really look sorry, "I will trust you. I do indeed have a 'secret place'", he sighed, looking at Chloe approvingly, making her blush and smile.
"Being that I am the Lord of the Sky, I picked a place relative to my title. My secret place is the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, where most rockets enter the sky", Zeus said, trying to look proud, but still seemed angry that he was telling us. Poseidon smiled.
"Was that so hard?" He mocked his brother. I remembered how I looked forward to my new brother and I fighting, before... well, that is a story that shouldn't be told now.
"Oh brother", Zeus sighed, annoyed. I couldn't tell if he was addressing his brother or saying it in annoyance, "I have gone, Poseidon. I believe they need the address to your secret castle as well."
"Gladly", replied Poseidon, smiling, then remembered the situation and frowned again, "I have a small castle built in the middle of the Key West Islands in Florida. I will make sure to give you a map at the end of this meeting."
We nodded and stared at the gods. Again, we really didn't think this through. I looked at the girls. Chloe was biting her bottom lip and picking lint of her Miami Heat sweatshirt. She must live in Florida. When I looked at Meg, her eyes were grey and they were in tendon staring at her mother's throne. Then she smiled and looked back to the brothers.
"Will we be expecting anyone to stop us at any of these two places?" she asked the gods. Hmm, its good she's smart, 'cause I would have never thought of that.
"No", Poseidon said, "I only send staff a couple days in advance of my arrival." He looked at Zeus.
"No mortals are there, but I have manipulated the mist so that the mortals at the space center don't see the entrance to my place in a disabled rocket. The rocket is 'The Olympus'. To get in you must type in the code..."
Zeus turned red and didn't finish. I never thought I would see the king of the gods blush. He cleared his throat and opened his mouth, closed it, and opened it again.
"Well, you must understand, that when made this place, I was, uhm... Uh... with someone."
"With who, sir?" I would have never said that in fear of death by lightning, but luckily Chloe didn't think about that. Zeus was still blushing. He put his hand on his forehead and closed his eyes, leaning back, like he was trying to relax. He mumbled something that wasn't audible.
"What was that, sir?" I asked, taking a step closer to see if I could hear him. He mumbled something again. Before I could ask again, Poseidon burst.
"BROTHER! THESE DEMIGODS ARE TRYING TO SAVE OUR CHILDREN! TELL THEM THE CODE OR I SHALL TELL HERA OF YOUR SECRET PLACE! TRUST ME I WILL, ZEUS!" Poseidon was now standing over Zeus, who was slightly cringing at his older brother.
Once Poseidon had finished, Zeus sat up and commanded Poseidon back to his throne. He went. Zeus rolled his neck. He looked at me calmly.
"Son of Apollo, what I said was I was with Leto, your grandmother", he said. I never did think about it, but I guess Leto was my gramma. Hmm.
"So the code to enter the spaceship will be Leto?" Meg asked kindly. She launched into a series of other questions for Zeus and Poseidon, stuff about 'is there anything we should expect' and 'is it guarded' and stuff like that. When she was done, she stepped back.
"If that is all children, you must be on your way", Poseidon said kindly, giving us another pained smile. We nodded and started to walk out. Then Zeus stopped us.
"Um, children", he called, causing us to turn around, "Being that you are saving my child, I grant you access to the skies. I will flash you to a nearby airport now. Good luck, children, and thank you."
He opened his hands and a bright light came from them. The last thing I remember was covering my eyes.