"Morning sunshine." Henry said as Jesse sat up, waking from his trance.
Jesse didn't respond at first, re-living his conversation with Mark. "You ok?" He asked, pointing at Henry's neck.
Henry shrugged, "Just a scar, one of many. What happened? You were knocked out for twenty minutes." He tossed Jesse a spare shirt.
"I was about to ask you the same thing." Jesse said, putting the shirt on and buttoning it. As he filled Henry in, Jesse considered telling his friend about Oliver's visit, but decided against it. The hints of the future that his brother gave him would bring up problems among the group. He did, however, tell Henry about Mark.
"What was he like?" Henry asked, curious about his cousin.
"He looked like a punk," Jesse said with a laugh, standing up.
"Who's a punk?" Noah asked. Jesse turned to see the son of Hephaestus arrive with the other heroes.
"Some of the birds got away," Andrew cut in, "Needless to say, we should use today to cover some ground while they recover, 'cause tomorrow it won't be safe to fly."
"That gives us plenty of time to get to D.C." Charlie said.
"No, we have to go back to New York." Jesse said. He quickly told the others about Mark.
"Well that sucks." Derek said, "I hate museums."
"Derek, you've never been anywhere near a museum that wasn't about fishing." Andrew said, making the other heroes, Derek included, laugh.
"I know that!" Derek said, "But for a farm boy from Montana, fishing museums were plenty interesting. These 'art' museums have nothing for me to do!"
An hour later, the six boys were landing softly on a conveniently vacant area of Central Park. It was odd for Jesse, being back home. For one, it made him miss his mother. But the other reason was that he hadn't been home since Andrew removed the Mist from his vision. As they left the park, Jesse spotted dozens of Nyades, Dryads and a few Satyrs.
"I've been meaning to ask," Jesse said, walking besides Andrew as they made their way towards the museum, "Why am I the only son of Apollo able to be part of the quest? I know that all of the ones at camp were killed, but what about the adults? How do we know the prophecy isn't about them?"
Andrew frowned, obviously not happy with the answer he had to give. "Well, there aren't any. Only the really powerful ones last over the age of thirty." He said, "And not just Apollo's kids, there are no half-blood adults left, those of Olympians at least. There are the children of minor gods around, but they don't give off enough of a scent to be in serious danger. We, however, are hunted by monsters all of our lives and if that doesn't kill you one of the gods you've pissed off in the past will. And trust me, you will piss of a few Olympians. Hera's already declared her hatred for me. Actually, she hates most heroes now that I think about it. It used to be that we'd last a bit longer, but nowadays we're dropping like flies. Billy Mayes was the last one of his generation if I remember right."
Jesse nodded, with an adulterating husband like Zeus, Jesse could understand why Hera would be upset. "So…we're cursed to a miserable existence that will eventually lead to a terrible death?"
"Well, yeah. But that doesn't mean we can't try our best to prove it wrong. Life is all about the fight." Andrew said.
Jesse grinned, remembering what Oliver had said to him in his trance.
"Anyway, the Elysian Fields should make it all worth while." Andrew continued.
Jesse knew from his lessons with Chiron that the Elysian Field was the part of Hades where the heroic would spend the rest of eternity. "Wonder what it's like." He said.
"Hopefully you won't have to find out for a while." Andrew said. "But in the meantime, it's time to meet the son of Hades." They had arrived at the museum.
Jesse shifted his sword that hung at his belt restlessly as they climbed the stairs. He felt awkward walking through the crowd with a sword at his belt, but knew that the Mist kept him disguised as a normal person. He couldn't help but wonder how much the Mist could hide. He was glad that he was able to keep his bow hidden at least. Charlie had come up with the idea to shrink it down and tape it to Jesse's forearm.
As soon as they entered the building, Jesse waited for a chill to go up his spine, as it did in his vision. But nothing happened.
"Alright," Andrew said as he paid for their tickets. "Henry, you and Noah sweep the upstairs. If you run into Mark let us know, I don't trust him yet. Derek and Charlie, you're watching the door. I don't want us to be caught by surprise by any monsters. I'll be checking out this floor while Jesse clears the third and above."
Jesse shrugged, it wasn't debatable that he was the fastest, and he chose not to voice any concerns of being alone. The young men parted ways. Jesse walked up the stairs with Henry and Noah, and climbed up a second flight of stairs, reaching the third floor.
Jesse walked through the various exhibits, wishing that he could run at full speed, but didn't want to draw attention to himself. He did a quick sweep of the third floor, trying to seem as inconspicuous as possible. After a few minutes he decided that Mark was not on that floor.
After doing a quick 360 to double check that Mark wasn't there, Jesse stood in front of an elevator. Suddenly remembering what had happened last time he took an elevator, Jesse almost turned around to take the stairs, but instead pressed the button, and the doors slid open.
Instead of a Cyclops waiting inside, the elevator contained a child, about nine, and his mother. Smiling at them, Jesse entered and moved to press the button for the fourth floor, but the button lit up just before he touched it. Jesse was shocked at first, but realized that it must have had something to do with his power over light. He glanced to the side to make sure the other passengers didn't notice.
"I like your sword." The kid said. Jesse smiled and looked away, and then back at the kid. He was smiling at Jesse, his eyes switching from him, to the sword. The boys mother stared at Jesse nervously, holding onto her sons shoulders.
Unsure of what to do, Jesse tried to look confused. "I don't have a sword." He tried to laugh, but his voice cracked. To answer, the boy only pointed at Jesse's weapon. What was wrong with the Mist? Jesse asked himself. He glanced at the boys mother, who was now purposely looking away from him.
Jesse pressed the button that stops the elevator, and felt it halt, a loud ringing noise sounded as it did. The mother immediately pulled her son close to her. Jesse raised his hands, "I'm not here to hurt him." He told the mother. "What's your name?" He asked the boy.
The kid looked confused by his mother's behavior. "Caleb…"
Jesse smiled, "Tell me Caleb, do you ever see something that isn't supposed to be there? Something that other people can't see?"
Caleb nodded. "Sometimes I see monsters. But my friends don't believe me, even when they're just on the other side of the street!" Above him, his mother had started to cry. Jesse reached out and touched Caleb's shoulder, trying to appear as friendly as possible.
Suddenly, Jesse was no longer in the elevator. In fact, he had no idea where he was. He was standing in front of a wreckage that had once been a house. Knowing what would happen, Jesse passed his hand through the mailbox.
"Yup, another vision." Jesse said to himself. He walked towards the wreckage, wondering if he would see Oliver. Not bothering to open the door, Jesse simply walked through it. As soon as he phased through the door he saw Caleb.
The boy was lying on the ground, his stomach cut open. His entrails were hanging over his left side, as if someone had pulled them out. His face was frozen in an expression of pain and terror. One eye was wide open, while the other was too mangled for Jesse to look at without grimacing.
Jesse fell to his knees, feeling bile rise in his throat. It was the second time he had seen a human death, the first being his mother. Unable to suppress it, Jesse let out a scream of anguish and anger. He turned around and saw a man behind him.
"I warned you." Oliver said.
And then, just like that, Jesse was back in the elevator, covered in sweat. Caleb and his mother were still there. Both alive. The woman looked even more frightened than she had before.
"Listen to me," Jesse said. "I don't know how much you know about your son, but I bet you know that he isn't like everyone else."
The woman only nodded.
"He needs to get to a safe place," Jesse said. "Do you know what a half-blood is?"
"A half what? What's happening?" The woman asked, crying even more.
"I'm going to leave this elevator." Jesse said. "You need to take your son to the main entrance. Caleb, you need to look for my friend Charlie. He's tall and will be carrying a sword, just like mine. Can you do that?" Caleb only nodded.
"You need to stay with him until I come back for you. Understand?" Jesse asked, while re-activating the elevator. The woman nodded, obviously confused, but too scared to do anything else.
Jesse suddenly had a vision different than those before. He saw Caleb and his mother both riding on a Pegasus horse. It was only for an instant, and it felt as if he was remembering something that had happened a long time ago.
Jesse reached down and took the celestial bronze knife he kept strapped to his leg and handed it to Caleb. "If anyone tries to hurt you, use that." He said as the doors opened.
"Wait!" The mother shouted, "He's just a child!"
Jesse walked out of the elevator and faced the woman. "We both know he's more than that. Now do what I said." With that, he made the doors close and turned around.
A security guard jogged towards the elevator, obviously sent to see why it had stopped. "The kid was playing around with the buttons." Jesse said. He made brief eye contact with the man and had a flash of a vision. He saw the man before him, not in the museum, but as a boy, being beaten by a drunken father.
It was over in a second, but Jesse felt completely drained. Trying not to collapse he nodded to the man and walked away.
"Goddamn it, Oliver." Jesse muttered under his breath. His brother had spoken the truth in his vision hours before. He was changing. His powers were evolving. But he couldn't let them get in the way of finding Mark. He made his way through the mammal exhibit, searching for the black haired demigod.
However, his search was hindered every time he made eye contact with someone. As soon as his eyes met with another's, he would have a sudden flash of that persons past or future. Some were normal. He saw an old man watching baseball. A middle aged woman reading to her daughter. But others were disturbing. He saw a man paying a woman for sex. A teenage girl cutting herself.
Jesse had to sit down. He stumbled towards a bench and eased onto it. He covered his eyes and waited for his heart rate to go down. Looking at the ground, he saw a pair of boots in front of him. He slowly looked up and saw a familiar face.
"I spy with my little eye… A demigod going through half-blood puberty."
Jesse had found Mark.
Again.