Zeus nodded his head. "That appears to be the case. And if that is so, we need to protect it at all cost. Athena, who could possibly be coordinating these attacks?" he asked.
Athena appeared to have a stumped look on her face. "Hmm, I'm not sure, father. It could be anyone, really. Anyone who wants to overthrow Olympus and rule the Earth. But that's assuming there is a mastermind behind these attacks. Which I do believe is the case," she noted.
Poseidon nodded in agreement. "I hate to say this about her, but I think she is right."
Many of the other gods agreed.
"Very well," Zeus boomed. "Then we will send out the minor gods and demigods to watch over the hallmarks of Western Civilization."
"What about us?" Percy asked. "We aren't chained to ancient laws like before. There has to be something we can do." That was the last question Zeus wanted to hear. Although he was sure someone was plotting these attacks, he didn't want to stoop to the level of someone on patrol.
"I suppose some of us could do that," he suggested. "Whoever wants to be on patrol, talk to Percy. For now, meeting adjourned," Zeus said, with him and Hera disappearing with a bolt of lightning. Almost all of the other gods left, except Artemis, Hestia, Hades, and Poseidon.
Percy was disappointed all the other gods left. "It appears the gods aren't as concerned with this as I thought they would be," he told them.
Hestia nodded her head. "You're right. They believe monitoring the mortals is below their pay grade," she claimed. "But someone is deliberately trying to destroy everything we stand for. I can tell. The hearth isn't burning like usual. I can sense all of us slowly becoming weaker and weaker with each attack."
There was silence among the five of them. After time, Percy slowly nodded his head.
"Well, let's see what we can do. I can keep an eye on New York City," he offered.
"The hunt and I can stay around Washington DC," said Artemis. Although Percy didn't want her doing a lot of work with the pregnancy and everything, he knew that their survival may have depended on it.
"Very well, and I can monitor the West coast," Poseidon told them.
"And I will interrogate those who sacrificed themselves for the cause in the Underworld," Hades told them.
Percy nodded his head. "That's great. Hestia, do you mind overseeing all of the things going on? If there are any attacks elsewhere, let one of us know."
Hestia nodded her head. "That sounds like a great idea."
"Alright gang," Percy said. After saying that, everyone looked at him with slight curiosity. He realized what he said, and his cheeks slightly reddened. "I don't know why, but I was experiencing major Scooby Doo Vibes right there..." They all stared at him. "Looks like I am Freddy," he joked. None of the others looked amused, except Hestia, who was too nice to scrutinize him for it.
Hades just gave a blank expression. "Can I be Shaggy?" he asked sincerely with a dull voice. Percy looked him over, wearing all black with a black, pointed beard. 'Just like Shaggy' Percy quipped to himself.
Percy laughed. "Absolutely. Hestia, you can be Daphne. And sorry Dad, but you're going to have to be Velma."
Artemis scoffed. "What? But I'm a girl," she argued.
Percy shook his head. "Sorry Arty, but someone has to be the talking dog." He was lucky they were around other Olympians, or she would have surely tried to beat him up for that.
"Alright everyone, good luck," Percy told them. They all flashed out to their designated spots.
Percy enjoyed watching over New York City. At one point in his life, he was just a kid living there. But now he was trying to save it once again. He decided to go and visit Sally, Paul, and Estelle.
He knocked on the apartment door. He was greeted by his mom. "Oh, look who it is!" she welcomed. "Mr. Olympian himself," she joked. She opened the door for him.
Inside, reading the newspaper was Paul. He set it down and smiled at him. "Percy, how are you doing?" he asked.
Percy smiled. "A few problems at Olympus, but hopefully nothing too serious."
Sally looked at him, concerned. "What do you mean?"
Percy told her of all the attacks going on throughout the world, including the one he stopped at Ellis Island. He didn't really say the implications of Western Civilization symbols being destroyed, as he didn't want to scare her too much. In fact, Percy didn't even want to think of it for himself. He didn't like the idea of everything he fought for, disappearing.
Crawling from the playroom was Estelle.
"There she is!" Percy cooed. He went over and grabbed her. Her hair was starting to grow a little longer. It was sort of a mix between Paul and Sally's, a dirty blonde color. Her eyes were definitely her mother's, though- a bright blue that changed its hue in the light.
Percy had visited Estelle a handful of times before. She always seemed very attached to Percy, finding it necessary to grab his nose and wag it as hard as she could. Which was what she did as soon as he picked her up.
"Gaaahh," she mouthed.
"Gaaahh," Percy replied. Sally just shook her head.
"Percy, how are you so good at interacting with kids?"
"Probably because he is one." Everyone turned around to find Artemis standing at the door. Sally went over and gave her a hug.
"Sorry for the intrusion, I just needed to talk to Percy quick." Percy handed over Estelle to Sally, and the two of them walked into his old room, which now had a cradle and chew toys for Estelle.
"Nice room," she told him.
"This is Estelle's now," he replied.
She gave him a curious look. "Oh, so that means it was yours at one point?" Percy nodded. "I assume they didn't even have to buy anything to change it for Estelle. They just left your cradle and toys from when you were twelve."
Percy fake-laughed. "Very very funny, Scooby," he told her.
A moment of realization struck her face. "Oh ya, that reminds me." She slapped him across the face. "Now we're even." She smirked at him.
Percy held his cheek and had a look of bewilderment. "Why did you come here, Artemis?" he asked her.
She sat in a chair next to the cradle, and her face turned serious. "I just wanted to remind you to be careful, Percy," she admitted. "Whoever is behind these attacks is probably after you."
Percy looked surprised. "Why do you think that?" he asked.
She shrugged her shoulders. "It's just odd that this is happening right after you defeated the Fates. I just can't help correlating the two."
Percy grabbed her hands, and she stood up from the chair. "Artemis, you don't have anything to be concerned about. It will all be fine, I promise."
She looked at their hands interconnected and hesitantly nodded her head. "I hope you're right. I'll be honest, this feeling of nervousness might just be from the pregnancy," she told him.
Percy smiled. "Yea, it might," he chuckled. "Artemis, you were born the godly way right?" She nodded her head. "Then I'm assuming you grew up quick, and didn't really have to deal with puberty. But this whole mortal birth thing you are trying out... you are going to have hormones galore running through your body."
"So?" she asked, assertively.
He put his hands up. "It's nothing bad. Not at all. You just... you might be acting a little different. Didn't Hera mention mood swings were a part of it?" he asked.
She looked back at their hands. He was rubbing hers with his thumbs. "Maybe," she admitted.
"Don't be sad about it," he told her. "It's just a natural part of life. It's not like they are affecting you right now. And even if they were, I'd understand. I love you, after all," he told her, looking into her eyes. She had a semi-smile on her face, looking sort of sympathetic.
"I love you too, Percy," she mumbled. Percy lowered his neck and they kissed. Percy wrapped his arms around her, and she rested her hands on his sides. She started to smile after a while, which always happened to one of them when they kissed. Maybe it was because they never thought they would be with the other person, and it was ironic. Or maybe, it was because they enjoyed having each other.
Then, Artemis rested her head on his chest, and he placed his chin on top of her.
"Everything is going to work out fine."
Just like every morning for the past week, Percy took his usual walk across the city. He was sort of enjoying this patrol duty, although it helped that there weren't any issues yet.
He walked by Sweet on America, where his mom worked when they lived with Gabe. He remembered how hard times were then. She always did everything she could to make him happy. He walked inside the store and bought some blue candy for her. It was a little reminder of how far they had come in the last couple of years, as Sally was now a best-selling author. He stuffed the bag in his pocket.
Percy continued his surveillance over the city. He was sitting on a bench on 34th Street, not too far away from the Empire State Building. He watched the doves eating a derelict bagel that someone couldn't throw away.
But then, something caught his eye. A businesswoman walked out of an apartment, lugging around a huge backpack. What struck Percy were her eyes. They seemed to have no life in them, as if her usual source of humanity was put in the passenger seat. A janitor from the building was sweeping the stairs. When he greeted her, she didn't even look at him.
She just walked by, and took a left. Right towards the Empire State Building.
Percy decided to follow her, as he was slightly suspicious.
She walked amongst a crowd of people on the crosswalk, and Percy lost sight of her. He decided his best bet was to go to the Empire State Building and hope that she wouldn't show up there. He went to the nearest alley and vaporized in one of the bathroom stalls of the building. When he walked out, he saw her there.
The receptionist greeted her, but she just walked past her. She found a small bench in the lobby and sat down. She took off her giant backpack, which was clearly causing her troubles taking off. Whatever was in it was heavy. Then, she immediately stood up and walked away, still in her trance.
Percy ran towards the backpack and took a peak inside.
There was a timer in it. 00:05 remaining. It was a bomb. Percy quickly ran to the corner of the hall, not to be seen by the business people walking by, and vaporized.
He threw the backpack on the beach and ran for the cabin at Montauk. After a minute and no detonation, he decided to see what happened. He unzipped the backpack fully and took out the device. Inside were a bunch of wires from the timer to different pipes. He used his godly strength to open the pipes. They were all empty, not even any accelerants... except for one.
Inside it was two pieces of paper.
The first one showed a picture of the lady who delivered the backpack. She was standing next to another man. They appeared to be married. It was a newspaper article... an obituary for her husband. Percy was very confused as to why that was in there.
Then, he grabbed the other piece of paper, which was rolled into a scroll and appeared to be written on parchment paper. He opened it.
Dearest Percy Jackson,
You are the best thing that ever happened to me.
Because of you, I am one step closer to what I desire most.
You also are the last obstacle in my path.
This bomb was a test, but the next attacks will not be.
Percy looked at the bottom of the letter. There was no name attached to it. As soon as he read it, it disappeared in a cloud of blood red vapors.
Thank you for reading. It's ๐plot๐time๐. Have a great day!
