Disclaimer. Sadly, I own nothing but my character, all rights go to Rick Riordan.

The Return of The Asgardians Chapter 9

Problems Solved, and Journey's Begin

How people watch T.V. all the time is truly a mystery to me, it was hypnotic, a menace to society as a whole, yet I somehow find myself enjoying it, brings me back to the good old days as a baby when my life consisted of ooh pretty colors.

"I was not aware that you were such a movie fan father" I said leaning back into the black leather couch.

Nico was absorbed in the movie "Rush Hour" as was father due to the lack of any intelligent response. I chuckled to myself and looked out the window of the cabin, it was night but Nico and I couldn't grasp sleep, it's been a while since I've felt anxious about anything but we leave at first light.

We begin an adventure that may lead to my death at first light, there was something sobering about that, not that I'll actually let myself die oh no, I will lie, cheat, and murder to stay alive, otherwise I'm sure the Greek pantheon will face a fate that I don't actually wish on anyone well, maybe The Hunters but I can't blame them for the actions of their Goddess.

It was during my contemplation that I noticed something out and about, two figures could be seen making their way across the cabins, my night vision isn't the greatest but I was quite sure they were feminine, interesting.

"Father, Nico I'm going out for a bit" I said only to receive grunts in response.

Wow, a god captivated by television, I wonder what else is in store for me, maybe pigs will fly in the morning singing tales of powerful hog warriors who will rise against the bacon loving hordes known as mankind. But if that is what shall happen, the pigs will die, because that means more bacon, and I will not pass up the chance of more bacon.

Stepping out into the crisp night air I scanned around making sure to shut the door quietly to kill the light that spilled out of its depths. There, definitely feminine, and definitely do not wish to be seen, sadly for them I'm a curious soul that just can't pass up the chance to spy on people. Not to mention it may be about something I need to know, and in that case, I definitely cannot pass up the chance to spy on people.

I followed slowly, barely able to keep them within my line of sight, because while I may be invisible sound is still a factor, so the further I am from them the less of a chance they have to locate me based on my sound. When I finally got to their location I noticed where we were, the dining hall… at this hour? Midnight snack? No too simple not interesting enough, time to get closer.

I came upon a column and leaned into it. I was still too far, only able to hear snippets of the conversation though I did recognize the voices, Zoe and Bianca very interesting, I moved around the column slowly before spotting an odd sight, it was Zoe and Bianca, Zoe had Bianca held down on the table tucked firmly between her legs, lips locked, tongues tied, without any care in the world... That would have been shocking, right? No, while they were quietly whispering about something, the interesting sight was Percy.

He was standing behind one of the columns near them listening intently, guess I wasn't the only one curious. Walking up calmly behind him I finally began piecing the conversation together.

"It cannot be cured," Zoe was saying. "Not quickly, at any rate". Uh oh, that can't be good.

"But, how did it happen?" Bianca asked, which immediately set Zoe into a growling fest.

Wow that girl can be scary, apparently, the Stoll brothers gave one of the hunters a shirt coated in Centaur blood, which is acid basically, man that's sick Hunter or not that is just wrong. Bianca shared my sentiments exactly, I still didn't know who they were talking about though.

"She will live, but she will be bedridden for weeks with horrible hives. There is no way she can go, it's up to me and thee" she finished with a sigh.

No way she can? No, fuck they took out the damn tracker? Memo, find and destroy the Stoll brothers, but there has to be someone else who can take her place.

"But the prophecy" Bianca started, "if Phoebe can't go, we only have four, we need someone else" she said but Zoe cut her off.

There was no time, she was right, no one right now would like to be awoken and forced to go on this quest, at least… not a demi god. I left Percy immediately, I had a Satyr to find, he stayed in Hermes cabin from what I can remember Nico telling me, dashing through the cabin area after making sure I was far enough to not be heard I quickly found the brown building.

I burst through loudly, bunks aligned the walls, empty for the most part, some poked their heads up from under the covers, and looky looky, the Stoll brothers they began to protest but I held up a hand while turning on the light.

"You two, I will deal with in a second, please do get a few more minutes of sleep before I kill you" I growled before turning and spotting the one I needed.

He was staring at me blearily from across the cabin, I quickly made my way over and clapped him on the shoulder.

"How quickly can you be ready to go on the quest in the morning?" I asked him seriously.

"Wha-what?" he asked confused so I shook him a few times.

"Grover, listen carefully, dumb and dumber over there took out The Hunters tracker, and they are too stupid to find another, now how quickly can you be ready to help us find Artemis?" I asked slowly.

This time he registered, a determined glint entered his eye, "very quickly" he said and I nodded with a smirk.

"Good, get ready then get some more sleep, be up at first light" I told him and he nodded before I turned back to the dumbasses.

They actually took my advice and fell back to sleep, lovely.

"Father" I called out and with a pop he was next to me looking dazed.

probably the after effects of staring at a T.V. for wow three hours now. He grunted, then stared, then his eyes came to life faster than I've ever seen before.

"This will be fun" he said with a growing grin staring at the two boys fast asleep.

"What are you thinking? Because I was thinking about tying them up to a tree by their ankles for the rest of the night" I said idly.

I could feel Grover shiver from behind us, "no, no don't worry about it son, I will personally handle this, they will be apologizing profusely by the morning, now you need to sleep, big day tomorrow" he said and I nodded, he had a point.

With a wave I exited the cabin, feeling tired now that all the adrenaline had left my system, I threw on my invisibility before heading back to my cabin, mansion, thing. It was a good thing too because I spotted Zoe and Bianca making their way back as well. Percy was nowhere to be seen however.

Stepping back into the warm confines of the cabin I instantly spotted Nico passed out on the couch, the credits for Rush Hour were rolling and I chuckled at the sight. Turning the T.V. off I plucked Nico from the couch and headed down to his room, it didn't take long for me to shirk his jacket and shoes before tucking him into the bed.

He didn't even stir, today must have been very taxing on him, getting shot at by The Hunters, hearing a prophecy, running like a madman and all the other things we did today. It was when I went to leave that he actually woke up slightly, grabbing my wrist, I turned to look at his half-asleep expression.

He looked directly into my eyes and frowned, "don't die Al" he mumbled, I stared at him before smiling.

"I'll be back bud" I said patting his hand, he smiled lightly before promptly passing back out.

Making my way back up the stairs then to my room, I tossed my coat onto the chair and kicked my loafers off, father told me not to worry about packing so I didn't, placing my knives on the nightstand I laid in bed, staring up at the ceiling. The quest hadn't even started and things were already going wrong, this did not sit well with me at all, why did I even come here? Oh, right Thalia, well at least things are going well on that front otherwise I would have been one grumpy demi-god.

Rolling over to stare at the wall, I could only ponder the prophecy, over and over it ran through my head, but there was another thing on my mind a purely rebellious idea really… that I would allow no one to die on this quest, purely out of spite.

Who starts an extremely important mission at the crack of dawn? Don't they want their heroes to be well rested before going on a quest that may kill them? Doesn't make a lick of sense. I was making my may over to the top of the hill, apparently, there would be someone there to transport us to the city, although I'm sure we were on our own from there.

Didn't mind that, as whatever help they could give would pale in comparison to the help that father would have been able to give, this was going to be weird not having him around, and what can I say? I'm a daddy's boy. I grabbed Grover who was rearing to go when I got there, I told him to stay out of sight until I called him because I could go for some surprises this morning, well surprises for them not me, it would be enjoyable to see the look on Zoe's face when I brought him out.

I wonder what father did with the Stoll boys? Questions for later.

"You're late" Zoe growled out as I crested the hill to see a van parked and waiting, Thalia, Bianca, and Zoe stood there.

Bianca looked rather tired but the other two seemed fine.

"Sorry I was combing my hair, it takes a lot to look this good you know?" I said lightly as she glared, Thalia rolled her eyes and I made a show of looking around.

"It would seem that I'm not the only one that's late, there's only four people here" I said looking at Zoe.

She shifted slightly, "Phoebe was the recipient of a cruel prank, people from the Hermes cabin" she said lowly.

"Oh that's not okay, we can't go with just four people, I don't know about you but I'm not taking any chances with prophecies" I said with a shrug.

Zoe sighed, "none of my Hunters would be ready in time to leave, so we must make due" she said but I shook my head.

"See and this is why we prepare for everything, Grover!" I called out and he crested the hill at a brisk pace.

"How?" Zoe started but I held a hand up.

"The next time, you want to withhold information, crucial information like maybe the groups tracker being put out of commission, how about you make a bigger deal out of it instead of trying to go on a quest half-cocked?" I growled staring her down.

"As if I could foresee such an event" she snapped back but I chuckled.

"How could you not? It's not the like The Hunters are loved around here, but no you are not the one at fault I will admit, but I don't take chances" I said finally.

We had a good old fashioned stare down, Grover shifted around very uncomfortable with the situation, Thalia looked like she wanted to see what I would do, Bianca was in the same boat as Grover when father popped up next to me startling them.

"Hello father, how are the Stoll boys doing?" I asked glancing at him, he chuckled.

"They should be here any second" he said before looking at Zoe who had the sense to look cautious.

"What did I say to you about your recklessness regarding this quest?" he asked coldly, she paled.

"Don't worry I'll let this one slide since it was not your fault, however, you will fix the problem if anything like this happens again, you already know what will happen if you mess this up girl" he said lowly. Damn she was not doing so hot with people right now, maybe I could try and be a bit nicer to her, dammit being a good guy is difficult.

His grin returned as two others crested the hill, the Stoll brothers looked far from well rested, actually they looked positively horrible, and they kept shooting fearful glances at father when they came to the group. Dirty clothes, exhaustion, palpable fear, yep he put them on a snake hunt, those aren't fun at all, I thought with a chuckle that had them flinch.

Oops, I forget how much our laughs sound similar.

They came up to the group and knelt in front of Zoe, looking at all of us.

"We're sorry for sabotaging the quest, we beg your forgiveness but expect no mercy" they said in unison, ah father and his rehearsals.

Zoe took in their forms with a cold calculation before nodding.

"Excellent job boys, now you may return to your cabin and rest, you look like you need it" father said jovially, they bowed before rushing down the hill like the devil was hot on their heels, and who knows? Maybe he was.

Father appraised the van that the group was climbing into with a look of disdain.

"Well that just won't do at all" he muttered, reaching into his coat and pulled out a coin, oh boy, I recognize that coin.

He popped next to the driver side door and the driver rolled down the window, I couldn't hear what was said but father snapped his fingers soon after then walked around to the front of the van. I joined him as he placed the coin on the hood, it sank into the metal like liquid and the van shimmered, ripples across the van slowly morphing it, the white color was washed with green and the van became sleeker.

The change was so familiar, the Protean Coin father calls it, it has the ability to morph objects into whatever the holder desires, he told me how he attained it once, though I think my memory is blocking that particular story, for it was far from the most moral thing my father has ever done.

Soon I was staring at a 1965 four door mustang, dark green, with a black decal of the helmet he never wears on the hood, the name Loki Odinson was decaled across the sides and it roared to life with the sweet sound of 700 horse power, I love my dad.

"I love you too son" he chuckled before leaning into the driver side window that was unoccupied at the moment, hmm so that's why he snapped his fingers, I wonder where the driver went? More questions for later.

"Put your things in the trunk" he said, they looked like they had tons of room in the back, bigger on the inside, god hood is very convenient on most occasions.

Once everyone's things were in the trunk, including a black suitcase that belonged to no one. I will assume that it belonged to me, we piled in as the car revved up once again.

"I would definitely hold on to something, or someone" I said from the front seat as father threw the car in first.

They looked at me oddly, but when Dragula by Rob Zombie began to play I looked back completely serious, "you really need to hold on to something" I warned.

We took off sending everyone in the back into a screaming fit, this was going to be a long drive I thought with a sigh as father's laughter carried us down the dirt road at dangerously high speeds.

Now this, was awesome, we just made it to the outskirts of Manhattan I believe it was, father had calmed down his driving just a tad so the screaming stopped, well in Grover's case he fainted but I'm sure he was fine. There were cops chasing us a while back, though they aren't anymore, I wonder what happened to them?

Father chuckled from beside me so I guess I had the answer to that particular question, we had just pulled into the bus station that Zoe pointed out when father made a face of disgust.

"They expect you guys, to go on a quest via bus?" he asked stepping out of the car, Thalia shrugged walking over to the trunk but when father didn't open it she looked at him.

"Um Loki, sir, we need our bags" she said obviously confused on how she should address him, this made me laugh as he looked at her oddly.

"Call me dad, Odin knows you'll have to eventually" he said with a grin that had her sputtering.

"No one will grab anything, Alfred" he said and I looked at him.

"I'm allowing you to borrow the Protean Coin, seeing as that's the only thing I can do, but I expect you to return it, oh and no giant robots, we don't need you appearing on the news" he said with a grin.

I shook my head, it was a fleeting thought but entirely possible I believe, "thank you father, it will be of great help" I said and he shrugged.

"Can't possibly be of more help than my presence but at least you won't be wanting for transport" he said with a sigh.

"Give them hell son, I'll be starting Nico's training while you're gone" he said with a nod that I returned before popping off once again.

I felt a bit bad for Nico but, well fathers training can only make you stronger, if not more paranoid.

"Well alright, west we go" I said hopping into the driver seat.

"Can you even drive?" Thalia asked leaning into the driver side window.

"Helped you, didn't I?" I said with a grin.

She rolled her eyes, "I call shotgun!" Grover called.

"You wish goat-boy" Thalia replied hopping into the passenger side.

"No fair!" Grover called getting into the back seat followed by Zoe and Bianca who were strangely silent.

"Well, normally I would abide by the rules of shotgun, however she has the advantage of breasts" I said with a grin.

"Disgusting" Zoe growled from the back-seat, Grover was laughing at least.

I jumped as electricity raced through my arm.

"Ouch woman! You are so lucky I wasn't driving already" I said rubbing the offended appendage.

"Well you're lucky we need five people on this quest" she snapped with a victorious grin.

I put the car in first and left the bus station, "well it's not my fault that they are very nice breasts" I said.

She growled but I held up a hand "the driver is protected!" I shouted leaning towards the door.

She scowled and gave me look that said just you wait, but I was still happy over the current victory I held, because it's the little things that count.

"How long have we been driving?"

"Can we listen to something else?"

"Are we there yet?"

"Do you even know where you're going?"

"Guys maybe we should leave him alone."

"Trying to burn the road with your eyes?"

"Does anyone else smell burnt plastic?"

I pulled into a McDonald's and slowly let go of the wheel.

The melted plastic soon righted itself as the magic of the Protean Coin activated.

"If you think I won't crash the car, you are mistaken" I said lowly looking over at the grinning face of Thalia, the sheepish face (hehehe) of Grover, the scowl of Zoe and the apologetic face of Bianca.

Electricity lanced through my arm once again and I jumped.

"Dammit woman!" I yelled as Thalia laughed.

"You weren't driving, where's your protection now?" she mocked.

"In the palm of my hand once I get you over my knee" I growled at her, a spark shot off from her right ear as the insinuation caught up with her.

I left her sputtering choosing to turn to the people in the backseat.

I pointed at Grover, "I refuse to listen to Justin Timberlake or whatever boy toy of the week that makes your heart flutter" I said he made a noise of protest at the assumption but I ignored him in favor of pointing at the scowling hunter.

"I really don't like you, like at all, you are bitching about nothing, the prophecy said west so we are going west" I growled, which she returned with equal fervor.

The now familiar feeling of my arm going numb snapped me from my grilling of the backseat drivers, I turned to Thalia who was currently scowling at me, now I don't know if it was my anger, or the fact that her scowl looked more like a pout which was adorable.

However, I could not resist the urge to kiss her, roughly, in front of everyone, she made a sound of protest but that died quickly, that tingling sensation in my lips returned and I had to force myself away from her or risk showing her what tongue can do in the aspect of kissing.

Zoe's disapproving words, and by disapproving, I mean downright vehement denial of the show I just put on were ignored as I watched Thalia's hooded eyes, I definitely liked the effect I had on her. Now that all the problems were solved in my opinion, we could return to driving, no wait, forgetting something.

"Grover, do your tracking thing or whatever" I said as I put the car back in gear. I waited a moment as he shuffled around.

"It'll take some time" he said and I sighed, I might as well keep driving then, so I got back on the road without annoying questions, concerns, and opinions, lovely.

"Acorns, you used acorns... okay I'll bite where are we going?" I asked leaning against a vending machine, we were currently at a rest stop, by some gift of god, possibly my father we were already heading the right way when he told me D.C.

"Grover are you sure?" Thalia asked when he relayed this.

He nodded "pretty sure, ninety-nine percent" he said turning to her, she rose an eyebrow and waited.

"Okay maybe eighty-five percent sure" he said finally breaking under her scrutiny.

I chuckled, "and you did this with acorns?" Bianca asked in pure disbelief, and Grover looked downright offended as he defended his age-old craft, Bianca pointed out that she and Nico used to live in D.C. though she found it strange that she forgot but I could honestly care less, she was here now so what was the issue.

"I dislike this" Zoe said, dammit again, she is really making it hard to be nice.

"You dislike everything from what I've seen" I groaned.

"We should go straight west. The prophecy said west" she growled at me.

I was going to point out that I said the exact same thing to her not even an hour ago but Thalia beat me too it.

"Like your tracking skills are better?" she snapped at her, Zoe took this as a challenge as she stepped up.

"You challenge my skills, you scullion? You know nothing of being a Hunter!" she yelled.

Whoa okay, "how about you take that back before I challenge your skills, eh cumberground? Yeah, I can get old too" I chuckled, Zoe fumed and reached for her knife, but she stopped suddenly.

I could see an indent across her throat, possibly from the invisible clone behind her.

"Whatever skills you may have, just understand that I'm better" I said lightly as she glared at me, the clone pulled the knife away from her throat and promptly disappeared but not before enlightening me on a certain someone following us.

Let me explain something to you, innate invisibility magic is great because of two things, one, because it makes you invisible obviously, and two, it shows you other things that are invisible, now I don't know if it counts as a different plane of existence or something but that's how it it.

So the little demi-god in the corner of the room wearing a ball cap did not escape my notice, but it's okay, I'll deal with that later.

"Are we clear?" I asked her, her scowl was fierce but she didn't reach again so I took that as a yes.

"What does scullion even mean?" Thalia asked glaring at Zoe.

"It means a person of menial task, usually referring to someone who can only work in a kitchen, which is weird seeing as she's part of the Greek feminist movement, yet she's making sexist remarks" I said with a shrug.

I grabbed Thalia before she could reach for any weapon on her person.

"C'mon I'll take you anytime" she snarled at Zoe who looked just as ready to fight.

"Whoa, you two, come on let's not do this again" Grover said nervously, Bianca agreed, and they were right D.C. was our best shot, I hugged Thalia from behind, honestly just enjoying the contact, while ignoring the random electrical surges going through my arms as she tried to get me off her.

"You should get used to this" I sighed guiding her out the door with the rest of the crew.

"You are so annoying" she huffed giving up as we made it to the car.

An invisible clone stayed behind to follow Percy, I had some plans for him already, I wonder if my clones work at long range? Meh, guess I'll find out, I chuckled before getting into the driver seat once again. Hopefully without anymore arguments, because seriously? We only just started.

Chapter End

Sorry for the late update, i'm trying to get it for every Friday but random shit keeps coming up, ah well i'll keep working at it I guess.

Read, Review, Flame, same as usual it's all good to me.

Vonstein signing out.