AN: Hey guys, I brought chapter 9. But first I would like to say that even though I was having some problems viewing the reviews, it's fixed now, so no worries. Now the reviews, OMG, I loved the reviews. I think this is the most responsive you guys have been towards a chapter (maybe I should include more kissing scenes hehe). To acknowledge a few of them, Kyuzo3567, everything will come to play soon enough, I just hope I can write it out properly so you guys like it. Unspeakable-Hastur, I know, it is a shame, thank you for your kind words though. But we just started out in our journey that is this story, hopefully, some time in the future it will get it's recognition, and if it doesn't then the blame can only fall me for not being able to write out the story properly :). And for the rest of you, thank you so much for your support. Keep lending me your energy and I will keep dishing out chapters. Anyways, enough rambling, enjoy the chapter, Favorite, Follow and review, but I know I don't have to remind you guys anymore (I hope). Reviews are my fuel so keep sending em my way.
All editing credit goes to my awesome beta WanderingRanger1. He's the secret behind why this story is presentable lol. Thanks dude/ or dudat (I still didn't figure it out, should get on that.)
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Chapter 9
Percy Jackson laid on his couch, his head resting on its armrest. His eyes were closed and his mind was in deep thought. It has been a week since he had kissed his best friend, Aphrodite, and a week since she disappeared.
After she flashed out, he had assumed that she would return shortly after clearing her head, rather he was hoping that she would return after clearing her head.
Seeing her reaction, he right away regretted what he did. He regretted acting upon feelings he didn't understand on impulse. He kept telling himself that if he knew she was going to react in such manner, he wouldn't have done it. Ruining their friendship wasn't worth these unidentified feelings.
But deep down, unknown to him, a side of him felt hurt at her reaction. He didn't know what he felt towards her, but he knew that their kiss made him happy; happiness that he hadn't felt in a couple years. He thought she felt the same way too, considering how she returned his kiss, but after her departure he was forced to think otherwise.
Then his loyalty driven mind made him think other thoughts, he started to blame himself. He thought himself stupid for doing what he did, especially knowing the situation she was in. She had let her guard down around him, and he had acted upon it, something he hated himself for.
But after a week had passed, he came to the conclusion that she didn't want to see him any longer. That was the only explanation he could come up with as to why she hasn't returned yet.
"That's it," he muttered sitting up, his eyes slowly opening to reveal his unease and worry, "I have to make sure she is okay." He turned around and pulled up the blinds, letting the sunlight rush in. He took the water bottle in front of him and spilt the water, promptly turning it into mist before it could hit the floor. The mist and the sunlight converged to create a rainbow.
"I just hope she doesn't hate me, much." He grabbed the cloth pouch that was resting on the table and fished out a Drachma, the golden coin of the gods. "Iris, please show me Aphrodite." He tossed the coin and it sank into the rainbow.
He waited silently, his unease and nervousness increasing with each passing second. A moment later a voice spoke. "Unable to connect right now, please try again later."
He frowned at that, his tension increasing. He let out a sigh as the voice spoke again. "Would like to connect to a different person?"
"Please show me Poseidon." He said. He silently waited to see his father in his underwater palace. But what greeted him was Poseidon, sitting on what looked like his throne on Olympus.
"Dad." Percy called out, his brows furrowed in concern. He was wondering what was going on that his dad was on Olympus.
Poseidon, hearing the sound of his son's voice turned around and looked at Percy in mild surprise, along with his surprise, his expression held a sense of nervousness.
"Percy, my son. How are you doing?" He asked giving Percy a hesitant smile. He wasn't sure how much Aphrodite succeeded in her little agenda.
"I am fine dad, thanks to Lady Aphrodite." Percy smiled noticing his father's unease.
Poseidon let out a sigh of relief, his smile becoming more confident. "That's good to hear. I am glad she was able to help you, I have to thank her when she gets back."
"That's what I am calling about actually; she disappeared on me last week after…" His voice trailed off as his face heated up at the thought of the kiss. "After a little misunderstanding. I need you to tell her to come back so I can explain some things."
Poseidon's expression returned to that of a hesitant smile, his eyes left the IM and looked around the throne room.
Percy's momentary blush was replaced with a frown. "What happened dad? Where's Aphrodite? Why can't she receive my IM's? Did something happen to her dad?"
Poseidon slowly looked back at Percy, his unease only increasing.
"We have news that Aphrodite might have been kidnapped?"
Percy's entire person went rigid. His worries and unease increased tenfold as a sense of dread crept into him. "Wh-what did you say?" He stuttered his mind and emotions in turmoil. But just as fast they came, the worry and concern ebbed away to anger and hatred, anger and hatred towards whoever dared to touch his friend.
"We don't know everything, but Artemis has called this meeting to discuss the events that took place." Poseidon replied not noticing his son's state of being. He turned his head again, this time the IM following his gaze.
The IM moved to show the goddess of the hunt, her silver eyes studying the boy in front of her. Her expression was stiff, her brows sunken in a frown, it seemed as if she wasn't in the best of moods.
"Lady Artemis. Please tell me what happened." Percy said slightly bowing his head.
She continued to stare at him for a moment longer before nodding. "I'm sure Thalia informed you of the current hunt we are partaking in." She said her voice reserved and calm.
"The monster that you guys have been chasing? The one that's been killing demigods, that thing kidnapped her, but how?" Percy glared in confusion.
"We have been tracking this monster for months now," Artemis started to explain, her annoyance evident in her voice, "always a step behind it. It always manages to escape before we arrive, leaving behind a dead or near death body."
Percy silently listened, waiting for the part where how this related back to Aphrodite's capture.
"That day when Thalia called you, we were in Vermont, on its trail." Artemis continued. "We followed its tracks, but it didn't follow its usual pattern, it didn't kill anyone. It just kept moving, and fast, arriving straight to New York."
Everyone was now listening intently.
"We thought it was going to make an attack on camp, but it headed to Manhattan instead of heading to Long Island." Artemis' brows sank at this point, "It came by your residence, and that's when we lost its track."
Percy's eyes widened in surprise. Did it come to New York to kill me?
"What happened after?" Poseidon asked warily, the thought of his son being in danger made him anxious.
"Thalia brought me to Perseus' place," Artemis said, glancing at Poseidon hesitantly, "we were hoping that if it came to New York because of his smell, he'd play bait for us and lead it out."
Poseidon grabbed his trident and slammed it down into the floor, shaking the throne room. "How dare you think to treat my son like this?" He bellowed angrily.
"Peace uncle," Artemis replied, her expression on guard but her voice calm "as you can see that young Perseus is fine. We didn't go through with our plan because…"
She was cut off by Percy. "Because I wasn't home." He breathed out.
Artemis nodded as Poseidon slowly calmed down, placing his trident back in its holster.
"Aphrodite and I were at Montauk celebrating my birthday." He said forcing Poseidon's expression to bear the hint of a smile, his son being able to make a trip to that place proved that he was getting better.
"We decided to wait, hoping that the monster would show itself once you returned." Artemis continued her story.
"I felt Aphrodite return with you in the evening, but before I could confront you, you two disappeared once again." She frowned at this.
She looked at Percy; waiting for him to tell her where they disappeared to, but all she got was a nod in return.
When she realized that he wasn't going to explain, she went on. "We set up camp, and I put watch on your apartment. Three hours later I felt you two return, but by the time I had gotten to your residence, my hunters on watch informed me that they saw Aphrodite appear outside of your building. But as soon as she appeared, something crawled out of the ground behind her, knocking her unconscious before sinking back into the earth, taking her along."
Percy's eyes widened in shock once again, because of their kiss she had left the apartment and gotten kidnapped.
"Did your Hunters get a look at what it was?" Percy asked his voice and expression now blank. He held a tight rein on his emotions. He realized that he had to find Aphrodite before something happened to her, and he couldn't do that while in a state of panic.
Artemis shook her head and released a sigh. "Unfortunately not, they said it was too dark, plus the creature appeared and disappeared too fast for them to get a good look."
"Why did you wait a whole week to report this? She could be in danger." Percy almost shouted.
"We gave chase to the creature. We followed it all the way to Oklahoma before it disappeared again. I am guessing it caught onto us and hid." Artemis hissed, getting angry, but it was more so at her inability to capture the beast rather than his tone of voice.
"So what now? We have to find her." He said sternly.
"We will Percy. We are about to send a message to camp to issue a quest." The IM turned back to Poseidon. "The camp will send out campers and we will find her."
"No," Percy shook his head, many of the gods looking at him in interest. "You can't send out a quest. Not with this thing running around. You don't know what might happen."
"Then what do you suggest we do?" Percy heard, a voice he recognized as Zeus say.
There was a moment of silence as everyone pondered the situation.
"I'll search for her. We don't have to risk any of the campers." He stated.
"I am not willing to risk you either." Poseidon said quickly with a frown.
"It's okay dad. I'll be fine. Plus I'm at fault here, she left because of me and now she's captured." He self-berated.
"How do you expect to find the monster? Even we couldn't catch it." He heard Artemis say, her tone of voice indicating her glare.
Percy was silent for a moment, thinking how he was going to go about this before a thought flashed into his head.
"Dad, can you get me one of Hecate's Know It All potions. If I use that then maybe I can find a clue." He exclaimed as many of the gods raised their brows in surprise, knowing exactly what the potion was.
Poseidon looked at Percy, his gaze asking how his son had come to know about the potion.
Percy chuckled, "I used one couple years ago when I didn't know what to get Annabeth for her birthday," he said sheepishly, "turns out she wanted this bracelet with a diamond owl on it."
Athena's eyes softened at the mention of her deceased daughter, a light smile coming to life on her lips.
"You used a godly potion to search for a present?" Poseidon asked, a little disbelievingly.
"You don't understand dad, if I had gotten her something stupid, again, she would've made me sleep on the couch."
He could hear the laughter in the background, clearly knowing it was Apollo and Hermes. Even Poseidon had an amused smile on his face.
But Percy's expression turned serious again remembering situation. "Anyway, can you get me one dad? If I use it, I might find a clue as to where she is being held."
"Alright Percy," Poseidon sighed, knowing that he would be wasting his time if he tried to talk Percy out of doing this. "Hermes, if you don't mind."
"Gotcha." Percy heard Hermes say.
"Be careful Percy. If it gets too dangerous, call for help." Poseidon warned as Percy waited for Hermes to deliver the potion.
"I will dad. Don't worry." Percy replied as a light shimmered into existence on his couch. The brightness slowly faded away to reveal a small bottle filled with red liquid. Percy picked up the clear bottle and pulled out the cork. He held his breath and downed the whole content.
He placed the bottle on his table as his mouth lingered with the slight taste of red Kool-Aid.
"Well, how do you feel?" Percy heard a voice ask, it sounded like Hephaestus to him.
"I'm going to head to Pollux's bar." Percy said.
Poseidon arched his brow in interest, as Hephaestus grunted a "What?"
"Percy, are you sure?" Poseidon asked.
"Yea dad. I feel like Elysium, the bar not the Underworld one, is the place to be tonight." Percy exclaimed. But even he too was confused as to what could be at the bar that might help him.
"Alright Percy," Poseidon sighed, "But be on guard. I don't want anything happening to you."
"I will dad, thanks." Percy said then waved his hand through the rainbow, disconnecting the call.
Percy made his to the dining table to grab his keys when another bright light came to existence in the room. He heard something drop to his carpeted floor with a thud, slowly turning his head to see a clump of bronze chains.
He looked at the shackles in curiosity, slowly walking towards them. When he reached them, yet another bright light, much smaller in size, appeared above the chains. They died down to reveal a small note, written in Greek.
These chains might come in handy in your journey. Use them wisely; you'll only get one chance. They'll disappear 3 hours after activation. And Percy, make sure you rescue my wife.
Hephaestus
Percy stared at the chains again. "The chains of Hephaestus." He breathed out. He placed the note in his pocket and reached out to grab the chains.
But soon as his hand came in contact with the bronze alloy, the chains blurred and retreated within themselves. Percy pulled his hand back and watched as the chains slowly turned into a metal sphere the size of a ping pong ball. "Thank the gods they are magical, it would've been so troublesome carrying these around." He muttered as he picked up the small ball and placed it into his pocket. "Now what the Hades is going on at Pollux's place."
He left his building and drove to Elysium, the entire ride his mind focused on how he could find Aphrodite and rescue her as soon as possible. "What kind of monster is powerful enough to evade the goddess of the hunt, and then kidnap another goddess right from under her nose?" He kept asking himself that question over and over again.
But his surprise only increased when he arrived at Elysium to fine yellow caution tape wrapped around the front of the club. Seeing the doors open, he ignored the tape and made his way inside.
Percy walked in only to find the entire place void of its previous materials, the tables were no longer there, the counter was gone, and the shelves that held the plethora of drinks were missing as well. He noticed that the walls were broken, riddled with holes, before his eyes landed on two people that were slowly cleaning up the broken pieces of wood that littered the floor. He could tell that they had been at this for a while because there wasn't much left on the floor.
"What happened in here?" Percy said making his way towards the couple.
Pollux and Courtney shot up straight, pulling out their hidden weapons. But when their eyes landed on Percy, they slowly relaxed.
"Percy, where have you been? We haven't seen you in almost a year." Courtney said frowning at the son of the sea. She didn't like to admit it, but she was worried about him.
"I'm sorry Courtney," Percy replied with a weak smile, "I've been busy trying to fix all the problems I got myself into."
"What do you mean?" Pollux asked.
"I've been in rehab you could say." Percy chuckled, making the couple widen their eyes in mild surprise.
"Well that's good to hear. I was starting to think you were going to stay like that forever." Pollux breathed out.
"Yea, don't worry. I am fine now. Everything is under control. But enough about me, what happened to this place?" He said frowning at the mess around him.
"We don't know." Pollux sighed glancing at his destroyed property. "We went to camp last Friday, and when we came back two days later, we found this."
"You said Friday?" Percy asked, connecting the day with the date of his birthday.
"Yea, why?" Courtney asked her brows arched.
"There was a monster incident around here on Friday; I think it might have come to your place following your smell. Good thing you guys weren't here." Percy explained.
Pollux and Courtney glanced at each other, a silent conversation passing between them.
"What is it? Did you guys notice something?" He asked.
Courtney nodded. "Yea, we found this in one of the holes on the walls." She took out something from her jacket pocket and handed it to Percy.
Percy examined the diamond shape piece of metal that was about the size of a checkers piece. He noticed that the edges of the object felt sharp like blades.
"We think it might be a scale or something. Doesn't it look like the scales of a Dracaena?" Pollux said as Percy glared at the scale like object, nodding his head in agreement.
There was a moment of silence as the three pondered their thoughts.
"Mind if I take this. I am kind of searching for this thing anyway." Percy said after a while.
"You're on a quest?" Courtney asked her eyes lighting up.
"Yea, the gods wanted to send some campers, but I told them to let me handle it. It's too dangerous for campers to be put on this."
"Why?" Pollux asked. "Do you know what did this?"
"Not yet, but Artemis said it has been going around killing demigods, while evading the hunt at the same time. It's pointless for campers to come out and search for it; they might end up getting killed." Percy noticed the light in Courtney's eyes. "You guys should head back to camp for now, just to be safe." He added.
Courtney looked disappointed while Pollux just nodded in understanding.
"Alright, we'll close up and head back."
"Be careful on the way back, I need to head out." Percy said.
"Wait," Courtney exclaimed, "What brought you here if you were on a quest?"
Percy looked at her with a small smile. "We didn't know how to find this thing. So I took one of Hecate's Know It All potions, and I got the feeling that I should come here." He explained, looking at the metal scale in his hands, "And now I know why."
"What's a Know It All potion?" She asked looking confused.
"I don't know how to explain it, but it's basically a potion that you take when you need or want something, but don't know how to get it. It will guide you to places that will lead you to obtain what you want." He said as they listened in awe.
"Something like that exists?" Pollux muttered.
"Anyways, I should head out. Be careful you two." He said making his way towards the door.
"You stay safe as well Percy." Courtney called out as he left the place.
He made his towards his care, looking at the piece of metal in his hands. "How do I find you with this?"
He arrived at his car when a thought flashed into his head. He smiled, walking away from his car and entering the alleyway that was across the street.
He went deeper into the pathway, making sure no one was around as he went. Once he reached a far enough distance away from the street, he checked his surroundings once more before pulling out a whistle. The whistle seemed like it was made out a material that resembled Stygian Iron. "Thank gods Nico got me this whistle." Percy muttered as he blew into the object, which produced no sound.
He placed the whistle back into his pocket and glanced around, as if waiting for something to arrive. A moment later a shadow appeared beside him as a dark figure jumped out onto Percy.
He fell to the ground with a grunt as he felt something wet licking his face, failing to make his face wet as well. "I missed you too girl." Percy smiled, scratching under the chin of his pet hellhound Mrs. O'Leary.
She got off of him as he rose to his feet. "Have you been good?"
She released a loud bark in reply. "That's good."
"Listen, I need your help. Can you help me find who this belongs to?" He pulled out the scale and placed it in front of her face.
She gave another bark. She sniffed the scale, taking multiple whiffs before raising her head and smelling the air. She spun around multiple times, sniffing the air then barked facing the west.
"Good girl." Percy said and climbed onto her back.
She woofed once more then took off into a shadow.
