Disclaimer: I don't own PJO. Rick Riordan does.


Chapter 9: Not My Quest

Percy stared out over the water. He knew that he shouldn't be sitting here, since it was past curfew, but he needed to clear his mind. Clarisse had been chosen by Tantalus to lead a quest to retrieve the Golden Fleece from the Sea of Monsters after an eventful chariot race.

"Isn't it beautiful out here?" somebody said next to Percy, and the young demigod turned to look at his companion. Percy stood up quickly and bowed.

"Lord Hermes, it is an honor to meet you," the son of Poseidon said respectfully, straightening his back to stare up into the face of the god of messengers.

"No need to be so formal, Percy. You can just call me Hermes, though I can see that the Sethia family has been a good influence on you," the god said, causing the demigod to stare at him.

"How do you know about my adoption? I thought that my father and patron tried as hard as they could to keep that fact a secret," Percy said. Hermes smiled slightly at that.

"I am the god of messengers, travelers, and thieves. It is hard to hide things from me, though your father and your patron already know that I know of your adoption." Percy let out a quiet sigh of relief. Percy's face twisted as if he was making a hard decision before he spoke again.

"There must be some reason why you're here, and it's obvious not the topic of my adoption." Hermes laughed at that and patted Percy on the shoulder.

"I like your humor," he said with a smile on his face before he turned serious. "I know that you want to go rescue the Fleece. You're worried about the camp and Thalia, even though you haven't met the lovely lady." The comment about Thalia earned an expression from Percy that said 'Really?' which Hermes laughed at.

"I'm worried that Clarisse won't be back in time, and that the barrier will fall before we have the chance to fix it." Hermes nodded his head before he pulled out his phone from his pocket, which had two snakes wrapped around the antenna.

"Almost forgot I put you on vibrate." Which Hermes promptly turned off, and the two snakes began speaking into Percy's mind.

Hermes, you have Demeter on line two, a feminine voice said.

"Tell her I'm in the middle of a meeting or something," Hermes replied. "George, Martha, say hello."

Hello, George, Martha, a raspy male voice.

Really, George, really? Martha responded. Percy raised an eyebrow.

"I like the snakes. They must add a bit of personality to what must be a fairly boring job," Percy commented, causing the god and his two snakes to burst out laughing. Percy smiled at them.

"I really like your humor," Hermes finally manages to get out after laughing for a bit. The snakes are still snickering quietly as Hermes composes himself.

Do you have any rats? I'm hungry after laughing, George commented, getting a glare from Martha, if that was possible.

"Anyways," Hermes said, completely ignoring George's comment, "I have something for you, Percy. Martha, can you give me the first package please?" Percy watched as Martha opened her mouth until it was as wide as his arm and belched out a stainless steel thermos. Percy caught it.

"Is this from that Hercules Busts Heads show my dad keeps saying you're obsessed with?" Hermes smiled really wide.

"Yes. First season collector's item. Sadly, I don't have the lunch box that goes along with it," Hermes said, trailing off at the end before shaking his head and getting back on track.

"It seems like a compass," Percy commented under his breath.

"Never thought of it like that. It holds winds from the four corners of the earth. Only open it a little bit, or they'll all come out at once."

"Thank you."

"That's only part one of the gift. The second part, if you would, George."

Give me a second. She's touching me! George complained as Martha hissed at him and started chasing around the antenna. Hermes sighed.

"You two are always touching. And stop that! You'll get tangled again." It was George's turn to open up his mouth really wide, but he belched out a small plastic bottle with vitamins, which Percy caught.

"Are these special vitamins or do you just want me to eat more vitamins?" Percy asked the god, who laughed again.

"Special. They're really potent, and don't take one unless you really need it."

"Again, thank you, Lord Hermes."

"I told you that you can drop the 'Lord' part."

"I'll try to remember that," Percy replied sheepishly. "Is there anything else?" Hermes sighed and stared out at the water, like Percy had been doing before the god had made an appearance.

"If you run into my wayward son…" Hermes began but then trailed off. He sighed then started again. "If you see him, can you try to save him?" Percy nodded his head.

"I will try my best, but I may be unable to do so." Hermes smiled at him again.

"Thank you. Even though he has hurt you, you're still going to try your hardest." At that, Percy smiled back at Hermes.

"He's family, and I won't give up on family. Family is everything." Hermes hummed in agreement.

"Thank you for understanding." Hermes waved his arm, and three obnoxiously yellow, waterproof duffel bags appeared by Percy's side. "For you and your traveling companions. Take the cruise ship out there," the god said, pointing to the ship out on the water. "It should get you where you need to go." With that last comment, he was gone, off to do his godly duties. Percy stared at the gifts in his hands, a small frown etched on his face.

"I'm guessing this means we're going on a quest," he muttered under his breath as Annabeth and another person ran towards Percy. He smiled sheepishly at them. "Sorry, Annabeth, but we're not getting a break this time 'round."

"I never asked for a break, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth replied. The person next to her smiled at the two of them.

"So, when are we leaving?" Lou Ellen, daughter of Hecate and Percy and Alice's classmate, asked, a smirk on her face.


I bet you guys weren't expecting Lou Ellen to show up so early in the story. Well, I like Lou, and I thought it would be funny if she ended up going to Alice and Percy's school. (There's going to be a really funny comment later on about Alice and Lou along the lines of "But she's [Lou] your [Alice's] aunt!" which causes half of the people in the room to laugh.)

This one has a lot of humor in it. Sorry in advance about any errors. I began this chapter a bit ago, and I just finished it today. Don't forget: Reviews Make the World Go 'Round!

~xXDarkDiaXx