Lost on Jupiter
Families
By midmorning, they had climbed over a rise in the road and saw a small bay ringed with mountains. The town was a thin crescent on the right-hand shore, with wharves extending into the water and a cruise ship in the harbor.
"Love me?"
Percy shuddered. He could feel the fear spreading through his spine. Cruise ships, he never wanted to step foot on one again.
"Seward," Hazel whispered, pulling Poseidon's son from his horrible thoughts. He glanced over at her, noticing the frown, and couldn't help but wonder what bad memories this place brought back to her mind.
The road in front of them curved around the hillside, but it looked like they could get to town faster going straight across the meadows. With how fast Apollo was waking up—it was summer, the sea prince almost chuckled at the memory—Percy knew the quickest path needed to be taken.
"Let's head this way, it looks faster," Percy stepped off the road. The ground was squishy beneath his feet, but he didn't think much about it. Until he heard Hazel scream "Percy, no!"
His next step went straight through the ground. He sank like a stone until the earth closed over his head—and the earth swallowed him.
The first think Percy registered as he sank deeper into the dirt was the blackness. No light penetrated through the ground, leaving him in complete darkness. It brought back painful memories and feelings of abandonment. His brain started to react.
He kicked out and reached, trying to grab for anything to pull himself out of the darkness. Darkness was where monsters lie, not even the Greek monsters. No, the real monsters were the cowards that hide in the darkness, the ones that ruined lives and drive people into insanity.
The next thing that the demigod registered was that he was drowning. He thought of what Ella had said, about the son of Neptune drowning. It had seemed like an impossibility at the time, but now seemed to be more real than anything. He reached up and—finally—grabbed onto something solid.
A bright light flash in front of his eyes and all of a sudden he was standing on a busy street, people brushing passed him. Percy spun around, trying to find something—anything—familiar.
"Washington, D.C.," he muttered. Poseidon's son had only been to the city once, on his quest to save Artemis and Annabeth, but he knew enough about the capital to know some of its features.
Percy felt his legs pulled from underneath him, making him fall backwards. He threw his arms back just in time to stop his head from slamming into the concrete.
"Sorry," a weak, sad voice whispered.
Bright green eyes met dark brown. Blinking, Percy tried to take in the full sight. Standing in front of him was what looked like a six year old boy with beautiful olive skin, curly black hair, and the deepest brown eyes he had ever seen—actually, Percy knew where they had come from.
"Nico?"
The little boy looked up, tears sparkling in the corner of his eyes. "Do I know you?" He asked, tears falling down his cheeks.
"I—" A foot kicked the demigod in the back, followed by a string of curses from some businessman. Percy glared after him, before turning back to Nico with softened eyes. "No, but my name is Percy, what's wrong?" He sat up to kneel in front of the young boy.
More tears fell down Nico's olive cheeks. "I lost my mommy!" He sobbed. "And," he sniffled, "my big sister was right next to me but then she was gone too!" Now, the little boy was sobbing. "I don't know what to do!"
The sea prince didn't waste time in pulling the little Nico into a hug. "It will be alright, I'll help you find your mommy."
"You—you will?"
"Yeah." Percy kissed his nose before standing up, "Come on, let's go look."
After a few hours of walking, the two boys made their way into a park. Percy was actually enjoying himself, spending time with little Nico. The kid, he was just so adorable.
"Mommy!" Nico released Percy's hand and took off to an Italian women in an older styled dress.
"Nico!" The women looked relieved as she pulled her son into a hug. A little Italian girl, not much older than Nico, stood beside them, playful scold on her face. Bianca was just as cute as her brother.
"You could stay here." Percy looked up. Standing next to him was his mother? No, this was not Sally Jackson. The voice, the cold glow in her eyes, the demigod knew this was Gaea. "You could stay here until you were needed, Perseus Jackson. You could grow up with those two, in a life if Zeus had not interfered and their father had not sent them to the Lotus Hotel."
Percy irritated, irritated that Gaea even think of using his mother a a medium to speak with him. "I can't stay here. Why are you offering this to me?"
The goddess shrug. "I offered that annoying daughter of Pluto something similar, why not offer my other pawn something peaceful before his death."
"Of course, you offer me an illusion and expect it to be enough," Percy growled, glaring at Gaea. "That is not Nico, nor is it Bianca! This is nothing more than an illusion!"
"You are as stupid as the girl to not accept my offer. I will give you one last chance, Perseus Jackson. Accept my offer and give up." Those eyes, so much like his own mother's, seemed to burn through Percy's body and into his soul. It was painful, seeing this.
Gulping back whatever fear he held, the sea prince glared back. "LET US GO!"
Percy felt as if he was drowning again, then he was out. Air filling his lungs too quickly and he tried to cough up the specks of mud that doted his throat. Once he could breathe again, Poseidon's son looked over to see Frank trying to pat some of the dirt from Hazel.
"You saved me, Hazel," Percy muttered, rubbing his arms in attempts to get the oxygen circulating through his body again.
"Of course I did," Pluto's daughter offered her friend a smile. "You are my friend, I couldn't just let you die. Besides, you would have done the same for me."
The eldest demigod smile. "Yeah, I would have."
Lost on Jupiter
"Hazel," Percy whispered, hesitant. Frank had left five minutes before to find supplies in town that could be used to clean off his friends and the two children of the big three had made make-shift beds from boxes of greeting cards.
"Yes, Percy?" Hazel's gold eyes looked up at the older male with such kindness that Poseidon's son almost lost his courage.
"Uh," he gulped back the doubt in his throat. "I need to talk to you about something." The sea prince moved to a sitting position. "It's, well, serious."
Pluto's daughter nodded, sitting up as well. "What is it Percy? You know you can tell me anything?"
"I know," Percy swallowed the lump in his throat. "It's about your brother."
The girl's mood instantly darkened. "We'll find him," she whispered, not only to convince Percy, but herself as well. Putting on a smile, Hazel found those deep sea green eyes. "I know you are close to him, that much I can tell, so we will find him."
The knot in his stomach tightened, only furthering Percy's guilt. How could he look into Hazel's kind eyes and tell her that he had kept secrets from her? That Nico had kept secrets from her? "I'm not just close to him, I knew Nico before I lost my memory," he explained.
"Nico told me that," Hazel chuckled. She could help feel her stomach tightening at the thought of Nico. Gaea had taken him, and it was wrong. Now, they had to find him, Nico was the only family she had left. "He did not tell me how, but he said you two knew each other."
"He was my," Percy's mouth stopped working.
Hazel raised her eyebrows. "What was he Percy?"
Taking a deep breath, the sea prince managed to get out, "He was my boyfriend," in a tone just loud enough for the girl to hear.
Pluto's daughter didn't answer, she didn't know how. The fact that neither Nico or Percy found this little small bit of information important enough to tell her worried the girl to no end. Hazel began to wonder what else they were keeping from her. Were there more secrets that were obviously unimportant? Did Nico even know that Percy was remembering this?
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you," Percy said, feeling his mouth move again. "I knew I should have told you and I don't know why I didn't. I just, I don't know. I figured I might be able to tell you when things cooled down, when the camp wasn't completely against me. Then the quest came along and I didn't get the time. Nico said just to hold off and tell you later. He said that we would both tell you later." Shut up! Percy's brain continued to yell at his mouth as it continued to say things that he hadn't agreed on.
"Woh!" Hazel held her hand up, stopping the male's verbal diarrhea before it got too bad. "Nico knew about this? Nico knew you remembered this?" Slowly, Percy nodded. "So, this little bit of information wasn't important enough to tell me? He is my only family Percy."
"I'm sorry! I just, I didn't want you to hate me, okay? I mean, wouldn't you be mad? Like you said, Nico is your only family. Finding all of this out, I just didn't know what you would think. What if you hadn't been my friend after I told you? What if you got mad at Nico for never telling you about me. What if—"
"Calm down!" Hazel said, having to stop him once again. "Just calm down Percy. It's alright, I understand, I don't hate you. I still wish you would have informed me about this before, but it is fine."
Those large, sea green eyes stared at the daughter of Pluto. "You aren't mad at me Hazel?"
The girl couldn't help but smile. The boy, this sixteen year old boy, was just too adorable. "Of course not Percy. It's fine."
"Good," the sea prince nodded, moving to lay back down. "Let's relax before Frank gets back and we need to move again."
Now that, Hazel could agree on.
Lost on Jupiter
Four hours.
That was how long it took the world's fastest horse to get from Alaska to San Francisco Bay, while tugging a golden chariot with golden weapons in it.
That was also how long it took for Percy to get his memory back completely. It had—truly—started coming back in Portland when he had drunk the gorgon's blood. The sea prince could remember everything: the second Titan War, his mom, his sixteenth birthday at Camp Half-Blood, Chiron, his best friend Grover, his cyclops brother Tyson, even his failed relationship with Annabeth. Now, as they made their way back through Olympian territory, he could even remember how Hades had kidnapped him and stored him away in the Underworld for future use.
Even though that angered the demigod, he was glad it happened. Percy missed his mom and his life, sure, but those few months in the Underworld had finally made him realized what he felt for Nico. It was worth it, it just had to be.
It wasn't until Arion had stopped and the three demigods had gotten off the chariot did they realize the true trouble Camp Jupiter was in.
"We're too late," Hazel said, hopelessly.
"No, they are still fighting," Percy insisted, "we can do this!"
"Where's Lupa?" Frank asked, glancing around. "She and the wolves...they should be here."
"She did what see could," Percy sighed. He had been with the wolf long enough to know her ways. "She slowed down the army on its way south. Now it's up to us. We've got to get the gold eagle and these weapons to the legion."
"But Arion is out of steam!" Hazel said. "We can't haul this stuff ourselves."
"Maybe we won't have to." Percy scanned the hilltops hoping, praying, Tyson had gotten his dream message in Vancouver. If he did, they we not completely hopeless.
Poseidon's son whistled as long and loud as he could.
Shadows rippled in the tress. A huge black shape bounded out of nowhere—a mastiff the size of an SUV, with a Cyclops and harpy on her back.
"Hellhound!" Frank squeaked, falling backwards.
"It's fine!" Percy grinned. "These are friends."
"Brother!" Tyson looked like a child on Christmas morning as he ran towards Percy, smothering him in a hug. "You are not dead! I like it when you are not dead!"
Ella fluttered to the ground and began preening her feathers. "Ella found a dog," she announced. "A large dog. And a Cyclops."
Was Ella blushing? Before the demigod had a chance to decided, his black mastiff pounced on him and barked so loud even Arion backed off.
"Hey Mrs. O'Leary," Percy laughed. "Yeah, I love you too, girl. Good dog."
"You have a hellhound named Mrs. O'Leary?" Hazel asked.
"Long story, ask your brother later..." Immediately, at the mention of Nico, he shut up. Not only did it hurt Hazel to think of the captive, but it hurt Percy as well. "Uh, anyway," he quickly change the topic, "this is my dog, Mrs. O'Leary. Tyson, these are my friends, Hazel and Frank."
"Alright, alright," Frank said, trying to get everyone's attention. "There is a battle happening, I think we need a plan."
"Right," Percy nodded. "Tyson, any word from Annabeth? Are they coming?"
"The big ship is not ready," Tyson said, big brown eye misty. "Leo says tomorrow, maybe two days. Then they will come."
"We don't have two minutes," Percy groaned. " Okay, here is the plan." He quickly went into explaining who the good and bad guys were to Tyson, answering any question his brother had.
"Percy," Frank said once Tyson understood that the 'pony-men' are the bad guys, "I just...don't want our friend here getting hurt. Is Tyson a fighter?"
The male couldn't help it, he laughed. "Is he a fighter? Frank, you are looking at General Tyson of the Cyclops army! By the way, Tyson, Frank is a descendant of Poseidon."
"Brother!" Tyson grinned, crushing the son of Mars in a hug.
"Well," Percy held back a laugh, "more like a great-great-... Oh, never mind. Yeah, Frank's your brother."
"Thanks," Frank mumbled, trying to pull away for breath. "But if the legion mistakes Tyson for an enemy—"
"I have an idea!" Hazel ran to the chariot and grabbed the largest Roman helmet she could find, along with an old Roman banner. "Put those on, big guy. Then our friends will know you're on our team."
"Yay!" Tyson cheered. "I'm on your team!"
The helmet was far too small and he had put the cape on backward, so now it looked like a bib.
Percy waved it off. "It will work. Ella, please stay here. Stay safe."
"Safe," Ella smiled. "Ella likes being safe. Safety in numbers. Safety deposit boxes. Ella will go with Tyson."
"What? No," Percy started, only to realize it was useless. "Whatever, fine. Just don't get hurt. Now, Mrs. O'Leary."
"ROOOF!"
"How do you feel about pulling out chariot?"
Lost on Jupiter
"Oh, come on!" Octavian shouted. "He is making things up, now. Do you really expect us to believe any of this?"
"Yes," Percy looked dead serious as he looked to the rows of nervous, doubtful spectators. "Just let them land. Hear them out. Jason will back up everything I'm telling you. I swear it on my life." Now all he needed was everyone to believe him. It was a stretch, the idea of a large, flying warship filled with Greek demigods that were not coming to harm them. It was obvious Octavian was using that for his advantage.
"On your life?" The blonde augur looked satisfied with Percy's choice of words. "We will remember that, if this turns out to be a trick."
As if on cue, a messenger rushed into the Senate House, gasping as if he'd run all the way from camp. "Praetors! I'm sorry to interrupt, but our scouts report—"
"Ship!" Tyson clapped, pointing at the gaping hole in the ceiling. "Yay!"
Sure enough, a Greek warship appeared out of the clouds, about half a mile away, descending toward the Senate House. As it got closer, Percy could see bronze shields glinting along the sides, billowing sails, and a familiar-looking figurehead shaped like a metal dragon—Silena and Beckendorf, the sea prince thought with a sigh. On the tallest mast, a big white flag of truce snapped in the wind.
The Argo II. It was the most incredible ship he'd ever seen.
"Praetors! What are your orders?" The messenger cried.
Octavian shot to his feet. "You need to ask?" His face was red with rage. He was strangling his teddy bear. "The omens are horrible! This is a trick, a deception. Beware the Greeks bearing gifts!" He jabbed a finger a Percy. "His friends are attacking in a warship. He had led them here. We must attack!"
"No," Percy said firmly. He refused to let Octavian talk them into something untrue. "You all raised me as praetor for a reason. I will fight to defend this camp with my life. But these aren't enemies. I say we stand ready, but do not attack. Let them land. Let them speak. If it is a trick, then I will fight with you, as I did last night. But it is not a trick."
All eyes turned to Reyna.
She studied the approaching warship. Her expression hardened. If she vetoed Percy's orders...well, he didn't know what would happen. Chaos and confusion, at the very least. Most likely, the Romans would follow her lead. She had been their leader much longer than Percy.
But Poseidon's son didn't worry. He knew Reyna well enough by now to know what she would say.
"Hold your fire," Reyna said. "But have the legion stand ready. Percy Jackson is your duly chosen praetor. We will trust his word—unless we are given clear reason not to. Senators, let us adjourn to the forum and meet out...new friends."
The senators stampeded out of the auditorium—whether from excitement or panic, Percy wasn't sure. Tyson ran after them, yelling, "Yay! Yay!" with Ella fluttering around his head.
Octavian gave Percy a disgusted look, then threw down his teddy bear and followed the crowd.
"Teddy bear murdering," Percy mumbled, again, trying to bring humor into a serious situation.
Reyna stood at Percy's shoulder, not looking so amused.
"I support you, Percy," she said. "I trust your judgment. But for all our sakes, I hope we can keep the peace between our campers and your Greek friends."
"We will," he promised. "You'll see."
She glanced up at the warship. Her expression turned a little wistful. "You say Jason is aboard...I hope that is true, I've missed him."
The sea prince offered her a smile. "I'm not sure why, Reyna, but I have a feeling Jason has missed you as well."
Holding back a smile, the daughter of Bellona marched outside, leaving Percy alone with Hazel and Frank.
"They're coming down right in the forum," Frank said nervously. "Terminus is going to have a heart attack."
"Percy," Hazel said, "you swore on your life. Romans take that seriously. If anything goes wrong, even by accident, Octavian is going to kill you. You know that, right?"
Percy smiled. He knew the stakes were high. He knew this day could go horribly wrong. But his family was on that ship. Annabeth was there, along with Grover, and no doubt Rachel. All his best friends were on that ship, waiting to—no doubt—wring his neck for disappearing like that.
He threw one arm around Hazel and the other around Frank. "Come on," he said, large grin on his face. "Let me introduce you to me other family."
Yay! Finished—my version—of the Son of Neptune and can shelf my book now! Yay! From now on, it's all my original stuff and I'm so freaking excited! Plus, I got the quest done in about three chapters. Compared to Rick with his fifty odd chapters I think I did freaking amazing!
Sorry, I'm just really excited right now :D
Thanks for reading!
~Goddess of the Multiverses
