A Man Without a Hearth
Ch. 5
Home of the Soldier
The relations inside the house were strange, just hearing the conversations would make you think that the two people living there had gone insane and started talking to an imaginary friend. But it was because there was a third person there, only that person hadn't made a sound since arriving in the house. This was the Brodi residence in Northwest Portland, Oregon and Percy Jackson had been staying there for the last 2 and a half weeks. He has been eating even better than probably ever before because of the healthy diet that Su Brodi has him on and had regained his mobility enough to be able to walk on his own without using the extra cane he had been borrowing from Clark.
Percy had even gotten his haircut, well more like Su sheared him while bribing him with some steak. He looked near presentable with out the beard and hair of Sasquatch although his hair was still salt and pepper and his beard was the same although now it was trimmed down so he no longer looked like a man who lived on the streets for the last 7 years, although he had.
In all the years after the war Percy had never felt better physically, he could walk and breathe and sleep without the usual pain. But the mental pain was still there. Guilt was a top problem of his current mental state. It was eating at him because Su and Clark had taken him in like one of their own and encouraged him to talk and tell them what was wrong but Percy couldn't and yet on a few occasions felt the need to say something to them. It was killing him on the inside but that wasn't his only problem.
There were the voices coming back, they even recited a prophecy that the kept reciting to him about some hero that needs to save Hestia and Percy hoped that someone did because he wasn't the hero of the prophecy. No the prophecy called for a hero not a monster so obviously they are mistaken and there is a true hero that will make Hestia happy, which is a good thing she deserved a hero to love her.
The sisters told him to go outside so that the quest could find him, and he was going to but Su stopped him because she thought he would just end up on the street again so she had him under house arrest. Which was why he was stuck in the house now with his warden while her husband was out at the farmer's market getting dinner.
"Son, are you sure that you don't want to tell us anything?" He heard the nicest voice since his mother when he was 12. And again the guilt hit him; Clark and Su had begun to call him son because they didn't know a name and Percy was staying with them no matter what he wouldn't say.
Percy shook his head because he was trying to keep separate himself from them no matter how much they pried or tried to make him feel like family. But everyone close to Percy died painful deaths or lived even worse lives.
Su sighed, "You shouldn't keep it bottled up son, it's not good for you." She sat down heavily down on her reclining chair next to the couch that Percy was sitting on and she placed a glass of water in front of him, which he no longer flinched to but he wouldn't reach for it which is what Su had been working on with him since she learned that he wouldn't go towards it. She had started with some very small things like a damp rag and sponges before moving to small cups left around him to show him that it wasn't going to hurt him. It was tedious for Su but she cared for the young man.
"Clark should be home and then I can get dinner going but now is there anything that you would like to eat? You didn't have any lunch earlier."
Percy shook his head, he couldn't fight the kindness much longer it was killing him, and the pounding in his head was killing him.
"You know it was in the 40's that I met Clark, when he came to my town in China. He had swum from an imperial ship that had been sent to the mainland to get more resources and Clark stopped it when it was full of ammunition and fuel headed towards Japan. He did it all by himself too but he was a terrible swimmer and ended up in my town instead of his extraction zone some 100 miles up shore, and to top it all off he didn't speak a lick of Chinese, we laughed all day when he tried to play charades with us."
The darkness is still holding you hero; let it go. Free yourself of the pain and anguish. Now your destined love is fading it is your duty to save her.
Percy liked Su's stories and had been listening to her since he got here. She loved having someone to talk to and he had nothing better to do. But when the sisters spoke at the same time as her it only caused his head to hurt even more.
You know Thalia is on the quest and she is looking forward to seeing you, she is in Portland now, and Blackjack's son is here as well. These are your friends and they miss you. Lacy, the young girl from Aphrodite's cabin she is coming too. And a young man who looks up to you. You are missed hero.
"… and he pulled him out of the well by himself. I mean it may have inevitably been his fault because he was a big mess running around with half his body bandaged and all the girls were chasing him around. I was the one that nursed him and wrapped him up but all the girls just chased after him like he was some rock star. It was funny at times but really he was the cutest guy that I had seen and I may have gotten a little jealous, but don't tell Clark that. It always goes straight to his head."
They're coming.
Four teenagers piled out of an old fashion black jeep with a snowboard and surfboard sticking out of it. Another distinguishing identifier on the car was the layer of dirt on the bottom from driving on wet dirt roads. The teens that were climbing out included a girl with long blonde hair and bright blue eyes, and was stunningly beautiful despite her hair being in a crude ponytail and the baggy rain jacket she was wearing. And following her was a handsome boy with blond close cropped hair and gold-flecked hazel eyes along with him was a beautiful Japanese-American girl with long straight black hair and a deep ebony eyes. Finally the driver climbed out of the car, she looked 16 despite her true age but the raven-haired teen was supposed to be much older, and she donned her black jeans and a silver parka on her back.
All the teens were attractive but currently they seemed down hearted, or at least three of them did, Ellen still had no idea what was so important about looking for a guy who seemed to like to stay in seedy places if they continued on their current course.
Ellen had been letting the three random mountain teens borrow her car for the day in return for a bet she lost to an obviously cheating boy who could not fool her; no matter how cute his smile was. And they had been talking to a lot of homeless people who had seen a real sasquatch with no shoes or something like that. And then Thalia and Jed kept snapping their fingers in front of their faces and talking quietly to them real quick before they moved on. They tried some of the cheapest or dirtiest motels as well, where cash was accepted but no one had to give a name. Lacy even did some questioning with some voice that was really alluring to Ellen, now she wasn't interested in Lacy that way but with the voice she was using Ellen really wanted to answer Lacy.
"So Cheater, your friend was here but he just disappeared?" Ellen asked Jedidiah, it had been like that since they got down the mountain, Ellen didn't know how but he cheated and he continued to deny it.
"It would appear so, and again I didn't cheat I just get really luck." Jed replied while reaching down for a dime he spotted on the ground unaware that Ellen was checking out his jean-clad bum.
"Then we can check again somewhere later, you all should try some of this market food. Organic and delicious." Ellen had been begging for a break all day and seeing as it was Saturday she had basically dragged the quest to the farmer's market.
Along with her three new friends Ellen maneuvered through the crowds introducing the overloaded Jedidiah and the two chuckling girls to almost everyone as if they all were great friends. There were merchants, farmers and customers that Ellen knew, even half of the street musicians.
And as they walked through Ellen just picked up random things and gave them to the questmates, plates of foods, drinks, fruit, vegetables; she even gave Lacy a new knit hat that looked good on her. These things were either given to Ellen or she traded for them with other things that had been given to her. This confused the three but when they brought it up to Ellen she just laughed a little.
"Everyone loves me here, I mean who wouldn't." Ellen said with a smirk to Jedidiah who had been watching her a little more than what is considered socially acceptable. "Oh, I see someone you guys have to meet, he is possibly the coolest old guy you will ever meet."
Grabbing Jedidiah's jacket sleeve and pulling with a strength that betrays her size Ellen ran through the crowds towards the butcher she had introduced as Mister Z. And while she was running she started to call out to a man in a plaid flannel shirt, "Hey, Mister B.! Wait up!"
The old man turned showing that he was leaning heavily on a cane that his body had hidden. The man was of good height and still strong and healthy at the apparent age of 80.
He smiled at the girl's exuberance, "Miss Wynn are you terrorizing all these kind people again?"
Ellen looked offended, "Mister B. I would never dream of it." She smiled mischievously at that before she realized she had dragged someone with her, "Oh I wanted to introduce some adventurers that I met on the mountain yesterday. We have mister Cheater right here, then Lacy and Thalia in the silver" pointing to each of them in turn. "And guys this is Mister Brodi, old man extraordinaire."
"Pleasure to meet you sir." Lacy returned while Jed scowled a little at Ellen, but what caught Clark's eye was the silver jacket on the raven haired girl, Thalia, a jacket he had only ever seen on one group.
With his suspicion Clark knew he had to make sure if they were or weren't from the legion. It was strange but not unheard of for a Hunter of Diana to be with those on a quest but only because they were told to by the gods. And so as inconspicuously as he could Clark undid his sleeve and pushed it up over his tattoo to see if he could get a reaction out of the children. It would be on them to see it because none of them had their arms showing.
Thalia and Lacy were smiling at the old man and began to speak pleasantries and while they talked Jedidiah turned away from his scowling at Ellen to see the exposed arm of the man revealing a helmet and crossed swords, a staggering tally and SPQR in blatant black. Eye's widening slightly Jed decided to use this as a possible way to find Percy quickly.
"So Mr. Brodi, would you like to have a cup of coffee with us, legionnaire?" Clark smirked at this, the kid had balls but was smart enough to notice his tattoo while both Lacy's and Thalia's eyes shot quickly to his exposed arm.
But with this Ellen just got confused, "Wait, legionnaire? I thought you were a lieutenant Mister B."
Clark smiled at the girl, "This was before that miss Wynn, a long time ago."
The three questmates were sitting in a booth at a quite coffee shop in Portland Oregon with a retired legionnaire and a local girl who had tagged along. But when asked if she should come along Clark had agreed to bring her for an unknown reason. But Jedidiah wasn't going to feed around the bush in the mythological standings; he always hated being discrete with it.
"Son of Mars, legionnaire Brodi?" Jedidiah wasn't being rude in with his tone but rather showing his standing, as a centurion or praetor from former Camp Jupiter would refer to all legionnaire in such a way if not on friendly terms.
"Yes, retired 60 years now. How is New Rome?" Clark asked, there weren't many retirees in Portland and those that were there were all the type that hadn't been back since retiring decades ago.
Lacy and Jedidiah shot each other wary glances, as they didn't know how to tell someone that their old home had been destroyed. "Demolished by Terra during the second Giant war. The legion had left it undefended not believing that it was a target in the war. Now a new camp is opened in Virginia, Camp Olympus. A Greco-Roman camp." Thalia was very blunt and her words appeared to hit Clark hard.
"Destroyed…Giant war… Greco-Roman…" Clark muttered. It was a lot to take in for one that had never thought of New Rome falling to anything after it was built. "So you three, a hunter, a legionnaire and a centurion?"
"Hunter yes, other two no." Thalia remarked tugging on her silver parka.
"The best translation would be a centurion and a praetor really, it is a very different leadership in the camp now. A mixture of Greek and Roman." Lacy replied, indicating to herself for 'centurion' and Jedidiah for 'praetor'.
Jed nodded, "Yeah, with the amount of combined roman and greek demigods and legacies it is easy to fill ranks full so what there is are bunks for each of the gods, major and minor for all their offspring but when a camper reaches 12 then they are offered a place in one of the barracks, similar to the cohorts but there are only four ran by the 'elects', all of us work together for the whole camp but the barracks are the military leaders and the head campers are the elders of each cabin and act as a congress. Lupa and Chiron, trainer from the greek camp, both help with the running of the camp along with the immortalized leaders of the war but they are only there to train us who are the next generation, so to speak. In times of need the 'immortals' as we call them, can call for a draft which will have almost all of the eligible campers in the barracks and training for war but with the last two wars that just happened it would be hard to believe another will come anytime soon."
Clark nodded, processing all of this while Ellen looked a little, if not more, confused. "Wait what wars, no one told me about any war."
"Ellen, we are all children of Greek gods, you know the ones you learn about in mythology classes, the Greek and Roman pantheons exist today and have been living in the united states for hundreds of years now." Lacy tried to explain.
Ellen nodded before she started to shake her head, "I know all that but none of you are making any sense about the wars, no one said there were any wars going on."
"Wait you knew? You already know about the Greeks gods?" Jedidiah was bewildered by this girl who he thought to be a mortal knowing about the gods.
"No I know about the Romans. My mom used to talk about them a lot after her shifts at the museum and then there was Ella who taught me about it all on the roof of the library, well before the kids in the purple shirts took her with them." Ellen seemed to think it was obvious, she had known for years that there were gods out there but had no idea what really happened in that world having never left Oregon before. "What are these wars you keep talking about?"
"There were two wars in the last decade really that could have destroyed life as we know it on this planet, both were really centered around the Greek pantheon." Thalia started to explain about how Kronos and Gaia had both risen despite having been beaten by the gods millennia ago. "It is actually the guy we are looking for that ended both the wars, Percy fought both Kronos and Gaia by himself and won both times to end the wars, and he killed a significant amount of monsters, titans and giants on the way. But he is my cousin, a son of Poseidon who is missing and we have to find him because a goddess needs him now."
Son of Poseidon… not Neptune, Clark began to think, that could be it but I am not sure. The wars would describe some of the scarring but not all of it.
"What happened to this Percy? Why is he missing?" Clark asked. If the boy had beaten both Saturn and Terra… well that was more than Clark could imagine.
Thalia looked sad when she thought of what happened to Percy, "Well during the second giant war there was a fight in Rome, the original Rome. And when they were in a cave the floor had collapsed and took both Percy and his girlfriend Annabeth, two of my best friends, down to Tartarus and there was no way to stop it because the rest of the quest were busy with saving Athena Parthenos and they were gone. But the quest fought their way to Greece and found the doors of Death that had been opened and when they made it there Percy had made it out of Tartarus by himself, having carried an unconscious Annabeth the entire way. No one really knows what happened in the pit but it wasn't good for Percy, he wasn't the same when he got out." Thalia had a tear running down her eyes as everyone listened to her, she was one of the experts on the wars having lived in the center of the first and being close in the second leaving her as the best witness besides a few of the immortals.
"But to close the doors of Death one has to die for in as a sacrifice and Percy had to watch as a son of Hades, a boy both Percy and I saw as a little brother sacrifice himself and shut the doors on the armies of Gaia. Then as the war continued more people died, some of Percy's closest friends, his little brother Tyson and then Gaia rose when his mother and stepfather were killed at the base of Mount Olympus." Thalia had many tears running down her face now, thinking of the deaths that had happened in the war and how hard it all was, "Percy went into a rage at that killing Porphyrion by himself and made Gaia fade, both things that aren't possible for demigods. But then again Percy has always been special." Thalia gave a sad chuckle.
Tartarus, the pits below hell… now that could have given him those scars. Clark nodded to himself.
"I may know where this Percy is. Su and I have had a man living with us who I had guessed to be a legacy of Neptune because he had caused an earthquake in our house when he had a nightmare. This might be your Percy but the man hasn't spoken a word since he got here and has shown only fear and sadness. I believe he also has some fear of liquids because he always steers away from it and doesn't drink any water we offer him." As Clark said this all the questmates began to get excited, this could be the soldier of old that they had needed after all.
"Take us there now." Thalia nearly yelled, drawing the attention of everyone in the coffee house for a few seconds before they got back to what they were doing not the yelling teenager.
"Now slow down, he is still very easily frightened running over there quickly is not what he needs, I can go and tell him we will have company and you all can come in Ellen's jeep, she knows my address and when you come over then you can see if it is him." Clark tried to negotiate, he didn't want to scare the boy, and "This would be for the best, to take it slowly."
Thalia was about to argue this when Lacy put a hand on her arm silencing her with a look of concern.
"Well I am going to take the groceries home for dinner tonight and tell Su that we will be having guests, and you all can come over in a little bit. We can talk then more about this new camp," and as he stood Clark smiled at the children and walked out, it was then that Jedidiah turned to Ellen rather quickly making her back away from him a little.
"Just how much do you know about the Roman gods? Are you one of us?" he asked.
"Well I know a good amount about them but I have no idea what 'us' you are talking about."
"He means are you a demigod like us? With your eyes I might say Pluto but I can't be sure." Lacy interrupted,
"Oh, so you are all children of gods, that is so cool." Ellen exclaimed, "But I don't really know about all of that. My mom always said I had a powerful father but never who he was so I might be one of you guys. How could I find out?"
"Well we were all claimed at younger ages, I was claimed by my mom at 8 and Jed was claimed when he arrived at 9 and there is a rule that all gods have to claim their children at the age of 13 to make everyone feel appreciated so you should have been claimed." Lacy explained.
"Have you ever seen anything floating over your head or had something appear that wasn't their before, like a gift?" Thalia asked, she had learned who her father was when he told her at a young age when he was visiting her mother again but this seems to be a different case.
"Well… no." Ellen said dejectedly, "I never got anything before and I feel like I would notice if their was something floating above my head right?"
"Generally yes, but right now all the signs are pointing to the facts that you are one of us so if you want it would be best for you to come with us to finish the quest And then we will take you to camp, maybe when you get there you will be claimed, or Chiron will know something." Jed inputted.
"Su, where are you honey?" Clark called into the house, arriving back with an arm loaded with groceries.
"We're in the kitchen dear." Su replied before turning to Percy, "Why don't you go get the rest of the food, he probably bought more than he can carry." Percy nodded and walked past Clark and out to his car to grab the bags of groceries.
But when Clark got into the house he was quick to tell Su that they would be having guests for dinner and that they might know the man. He couldn't share anything else before Percy had closed the front door and they stopped talking about him and started discussing dinner with his wife who was shocked to hear that there might be friends out there for the young man in their home.
"So son, ready to tell me your name or should I start guessing?" Clark asked jokingly.
Percy only shook his head; he was only around to help them out a little as payment for taking him in. Or at least that is what he told himself.
"Well then why don't I try, you look a little like a Peter," Percy shook his head, "Wallace?" No, "Jordan?" No, "Harry?" No, "Andrew?" No.
This went on for a little while, Clark coming up with names and Percy shaking his head, even when Clark started some more 'creative' names, "Ghee Buttersnaps?" "Donut Holstein?" "Tangus?" All receiving shakes in the negative from Percy and remarks of not letting Clark watch television from Su.
But after about 15 minutes it came, "Percy." This one wasn't stated like a question like the other ones; more of a statement and it caused the entire kitchen to freeze. No sounds were made as both Su and Clark held their breaths.
Percy didn't know what to do because he didn't exactly want them to know his name and he was sure it wasn't going to be named but it had and now he couldn't bring himself to lie no matter how easy. He just froze in his spot not prepared for it.
"I will take it from the lack of head shaking that I either finally got it or very close so, Percy it is." Clark smiled at him and Su went back to her cooking, trying to release the tension that had just built around her.
Percy nodded his head almost imperceptibly.
Clark's grin grew, "Now we are getting somewhere." Clark's face became more serious before her continued, "You know Percy I wish you would at least talk to me. It may help you get past what ever you are stuck with now." Clark shot a look over his shoulder at Su cutting vegetables, "A very smart woman once told me that."
"Oh shush you!" Came from the kitchen where Su had heard him, "You are an incorrigible flirt. But he is right Percy, you should talk to us it would help you."
Percy shook his head, letting it out wouldn't help it would only hurt others to know what happened. No one else has to feel the pains that he has felt.
"You don't have to be a hero Percy, it isn't what you need to do. There are people that want to help you. We are just two of them." Clark tried to explain. But there was something that confused Clark greatly; when he said the word hero Percy began to shake. It looked like he was in pain and he was clutching his head making it seem like it was trying to explode.
But that is what it felt like to Percy, he couldn't explain it but he started to feel something when Clark said that they cared but it was quickly replaced by an excruciating pain in his head. And it was because of this pain that he didn't hear a young girl holler into the house as if it were home.
"Mrs. B. I smell your cooking and now I'm hungry!"
Jedidiah had never seen anything like this before, the girl was very brash at times and her behavior changed faster than the time of day. When they were driving over she had been so quiet only asking a few of the standard 'new demigod' questions before going deep in thought, but put her within 5 feet of the door and before Thalia can knock Ellen just burst through the door as if she owned the place.
When the quest mates followed Ellen in they were enthralled with a delicious smell that wafted in from another room where Ellen was heading. When Thalia walked into what she noticed was the kitchen she was met by a small elderly Chinese woman who was stuck between trying to stir something on the stove and hugging the girl wrapped around her. It brought a smile to her face as it would any other person but that smile fell when she saw a form on the couch in the adjoining sitting room across next to Clark who sat on a recliner next to the couch. The salt and pepper hair was reminiscent to Paul, the teacher that Thalia had met on a few occasions but this hair didn't belong to the dead high school english teacher but rather his stepson, and Thalia's cousin.
"Percy?" There was no response but a concerned Clark looked from the man toward the voice to see the girl, Thalia, from earlier on the brink of tears. It was emotional for her to finally to see him but he didn't respond to her. It was Lacy that came in next beaming that they had found him but then saw what he was doing and she got worried. Lacy could tell he was in pain and that he needed help. Jedidiah followed in too and saw the same thing as Lacy.
Ellen and Su followed their sight and saw Percy shaking like that and Su started to move towards the couch. It was then that Thalia broke out of her freeze and she ran towards her cousin in breakneck speed, sliding to her knees right in front of the shaking hero.
But the problem was that no one knew why he was suffering but to him it was like the Styx and sky put together crushing a burning him and even though it was in his head it was as bad as being back in the pit, all the pain. And it only got worse once Thalia tried to touch him and calm him.
Percy's head reeled back and his mouth opened up emitting a sound that could be compared to a gust on the Sahara or Tundra, no moisture. This was all he could do when his body tried to scream and it burned worse and worse.
Su saw and heard this and rushed to get a glass of water, hopefully this time he would accept and not be afraid because he needs something to drink. When Su got in front of him and offered him the glass of water it had already been 2 minutes since he had begun screaming and he didn't stop for another minute when Lacy slapped away Thalia's hand.
"No one touch him, it makes it worse." Lacy demanded in her best voice of persuasion, Lacy didn't actually have charm speech but by pushing her power into her voice she was able to persuade decently with it.
"Percy, I have some water you need to drink." Su tried to offer it to him again but he still held his head in agony.
"Perseus! Drink!" Lacy demanded using as much power as she could, and Percy did respond to that. Now it wasn't that he did what Lacy wanted which everyone in the room would have if she had said it to them but he showed recognition to hearing something and seeing the glass in front of him he did reach out with a shaky hand that when it did have the glass in hand lost a good third of the water to the floor. Percy drank as much as he could choking on the water as it went down his throat and suffering from the pain still.
But now Percy was aware of what was around him, 6 pairs of worried eyes were all staring at him and four of them were from demigods that must have come for him.
"Percy, can you hear us?" Thalia said as clearly as she could trying to break through whatever was happening to him. "Do you know what is happening to you?"
Percy shook his head which still throbbed worse than when Zeus had Athena in his cranium.
"Percy we are going to take you back to Olympus, maybe we can get you some help." Thalia explained before laying her hands on Percy again, causing a more definite scream this time. "Guys help me he is too heavy, Apollo should be able to get rid of his pain if we can get him to Olympus. If we get him outside Artemis will be able to come for us or my dad can transport us."
But as each of the questmates grabbed ahold of the in pain hero he only got louder before his body exploded in power, throwing the 4 teens away from him and into the furniture. The pain was still there but lessening but still there as Percy was able to reel in his head and look around, he had just attacked more people, just like a monster would and the pain only got worse with them around him. But when he saw Clark and Su both close to him and not affected by the show of power they only looked at him with concern.
"Thank you." It was quiet and the voice sounded more like a dying wheeze but those were the only words Percy said to the Brodi's before he jumped out the window from his seat and ran as fast as he could away from people so that maybe he wouldn't hurt them anymore.