AN: Hey guys, I hope you enjoyed the last chapter. Sorry that I haven't uploaded in a while, I've been really busy with personal stuff. I've also needed some time to myself, and I know that it's selfish, but I needed time to decompress and release the stress in my body. I really hope you guys understand, and I will try my best to upload consistently. I want to try and post every week after this one, and I'll try my best to keep going. Thank you for the feedback, I'm sorry if the story isn't as enjoyable, and I completely understand. I am not the greatest writer, and I never will be, so I am trying my best to make the story compelling. Anyways, please enjoy!
Recap:
"I forgot how curious Athena and her children were," Perseus said light-heartedly.
"Is that an insult?" Annabeth said angrily. Max tried to calm her down, but Perseus quickly responded.
"No, of course not. Curiousness is a good trait, but what is better is asking the right questions," Perseus responded.
"Now, if you would allow me to introduce myself," Perseus said, to which Annabeth eagerly nodded.
"My name is Perseus, son of Thetis and brother of Achilles."
Present:
Annabeth's jaw dropped and Grover almost fainted. Max almost laughed at his friends' reactions. "You're...you're serious right?" Annabeth asked shakily.
Perseus chuckled. "Of course I am."
Annabeth looked at the ancient demigod shakily. "You're...you're lying. In the Odyssey you died in the sack of Troy," Annabeth sputtered out.
Perseus laughed. "Apollo, as much as we have come to be friends, is not a good close quarters fighter. Take away his advantage of range and it isn't as hard as you think. I told your mother the same thing during the fall of Greece."
Annabeth looked at the demigod in awe. "What is your relationship with my mother?"
"I don't know," Perseus said. "I think she might have had a crush on me, if that's what you guys say these days. I'm not 100% up to speed. She was definitely interested in me, as nobody knew who I really was except for my brother, my mother, probably your mother, and two other people that I aware of. However, I am assuming that multiple people know that I am alive, but I'm not sure who."
"Who knows who you are?" Annabeth asked.
"I'm not telling you that easily, Little Annabeth," Perseus said with a smirk.
"Don't call me little!" Annabeth shouted, causing Perseus to chuckle and ignore her statement.
Perseus discreetly winked at Max before looking at the two other clueless quest members. "So, Zeus lost his firecracker, huh?" Perseus asked. Thunder rolled overhead as Perseus rolled his eyes.
"Yeah," Maximus said with a nod. "Zeus thinks it was Hades."
Perseus scoffed. "I assure you, it was not Hades. It must have been someone else. However, Hades might know who did steal it, so you guys might as well continue your journey to his realm. Come, I will explain a few parts of my story to you if you guys are up for it until we get to Denver."
Annabeth nodded her head quickly and dragged them over to a car and waited for Perseus to tell his story.
LINE BREAK:
As Perseus told his story, ranging from his brother's death to his duel with Apollo, Maximus noticed that there were some things he skipped. He knew there must have been a woman in his life, as Perseus was handsome, but he didn't want to strain his relationship with his newly-found brother.
When they reached Denver, they got off the train and Perseus led them to a shady spot behind a gas station. "I suggest you contact your camp about the progress of your quest," Perseus said sagely. "However, don't mention me, only Chiron knows I'm alive, and I suspect your camp director doesn't know, and I would like to keep it that way."
"Why?" Annabeth asked.
"Because I defeated an Olympian, Zeus probably thinks I am too powerful, and will want to kill me. Apollo told the council I wasn't dead, and that he had to use his godly form to kill me, but if they find out I coerced him to say that, they will definitely kill me," Perseus said grimly.
"How are we going to contact camp?" Max asked stupidly.
Annabeth sighed as Perseus turned to his brother. "We are going to IM them," Perseus replied happily. Max had a blank look on his face. "Maximus, please don't tell me you don't know what an IM is." Max shook his head. "What do they teach you at that camp?" Perseus asked to himself. "Anyways, an IM, or Iris Message, is a way to contact people using a rainbow or some mist and a drachma. That is how your mother contacted me before she disappeared."
Perseus fished a drachma out from his pockets and gave it to Annabeth before waving his hand and making mist appear, causing Annabeth to look at him in shock. "What? My mother is a water goddess and I am over 2,000 years old. Don't you think I had time to practice my abilities?" Annabeth looked at the demigod, before looking towards the mist.
"O goddess, accept out offering," Annabeth said as she threw the drachma into the rainbow in the mist, which disappeared in a golden shimmer.
"Half-Blood Hill," Annabeth requested. After a moment, strawberry fields appeared, and the questers could see the Long Island Sound in the backdrop. The three questers stood in the middle of the IM, while Perseus stood to the side unseen, yet still being able to see everything.
Perseus saw a blonde kid in an orange shirt holding a bronze sword. "Luke!" Max called.
The blonde kid, Luke, turned around and gave the group a crooked smile. "Hey guys. You alright?"
Perseus chuckled as Annabeth smoothed her hair and straightened her shirt. "We're...we're fine," she stammered, and Perseus had to cover his mouth from laughing at the red 12 year old. "Where's Chiron?"
Luke's crooked grin faded. "There's been some problems. The Zeus-Poseidon standoff was leaked, and fights breaking out. It's like the Trojan War again, campers are taking sides."
Perseus shook his head at the older boy's words. He knew it was nothing like the Trojan War, but he kept his mouth shut.
"So, what's your status?" Luke asked.
"Nothing much has happened," Maximus said as Annabeth and Grover went to check out a disturbance at the gas station. "Someone visited me in the form of my mother in the Mississippi River, they told me to take a detour to Santa Monica." Perseus' eyes shot open. A Naiad visited Maximus. He really needed to chat with his brother. He zoned out as Maximus told Luke about the rest of the quest, hoping his brother wasn't stupid and would mention him.
Luke sighed. "I wish I was there. I haven't been on a quest in a while, and I can't help you from here at all. However, it has to be Hades who stole the bolt. He could have been invisible using the Helm. I know gods can't steal other symbols of power, but he was there at the Winter Solstice meeting. Who else could sneak into the throne room?"
There was silence before Luke spoke again. "I didn't mean Annabeth with her Yankees hat," Luke protested weakly. "She's like a sister to me, she would never..."
Perseus chuckled, wondering how Annabeth would react to that description.
"What was that? Who just laughed?" Luke asked.
Maximus, realizing it was his brother, just shrugged. "I don't know, I'll check it out in a minute."
Perseus crouched from his hiding place and signaled to his brother to be done.
"Take care of yourselves in Denver!" Luke called. "Tell Grover it will be better this time, and no one will be turned into a pine tree!" With that, Perseus stopped the mist and slumped over for a few seconds, regaining his strength.
"What did that mean?" Maximus asked.
Perseus shook his head. "It isn't my place to tell."
Suddenly, Annabeth and Grover came back. "What did Luke say?"
Maximus looked at Perseus, who shrugged, before looking at his quest mates. "Nothing important," he lied. "Let's find dinner."
Perseus shook his head as he led the teens to a diner and got them a booth. After a few moments, a waitress came over raised her eyebrows.
"We would like to order dinner," Maximus said, and Perseus almost snorted at his eloquence.
"You kids have money for that?" the waitress asked, ignoring Perseus.
The three teens started to quiver, as they hadn't eaten a good meal in a little while, and Perseus was about to pull out some money when a motorcycle pulled up in front of the diner.
"Skatá," Perseus swore. "Annabeth, give me your baseball hat."
Annabeth looked at him strangely. "Now!" Perseus ordered. Annabeth quickly gave him her baseball hat and he disappeared right as the biker removed his helmet.
The biker was wearing red shades that barely covered his scarred face, and a red tank top, showing his rippling biceps. As he walked into the restaurant, all the people suddenly stood up, but the biker waved his hand and they all sat down. Perseus knew he was coming to sit by them, so he left their table and sat at an adjacent empty booth.
The waitress turned back to the three questers. "Do you guys got any money to pay for it?"
"It's on me," the biker said, taking a seat next to the teenagers.
The waitress' jaw dropped. "Are you still here?" The biker asked. Perseus quietly snarled. The waitress looked at the biker stunned before walking away quickly.
The biker, who was obviously Ares to any person not named Maximus, laughed at Maximus' attempt to intimidate him. He took off his shades, revealing his blood red eyes, and gave the questers a proposition as he threatened the waitress again, making Perseus' blood boil at the treatment Ares was giving the woman.
After Ares gave Maximus a task, to get his shield after a date with his girlfriend, also known as Aphrodite to anyone well versed in the history of the gods, and Max kept taunting him, Ares promised passage west and mentioned Sally.
Perseus was fuming. He left the kids and put the invisibility hat on the table before vanishing, leaving the questers in shock. "Where did he go?" Annabeth asked.
"I don't know," Maximus responded. "But we better get that shield." Annabeth and Grover nodded in agreement before they headed to the Tunnel of Love Ride.
LINE BREAK
Perseus reappeared at the Tunnel of Love ride at the waterpark. He scoped out the waterpark, seeing an open souvenir shop, knowing that the teens would definitely need to go there. He walked towards the ride, which had a sign saying THRILL RIDE O' LOVE: THIS IS NOT YOUR PARENTS' TUNNEL OF LOVE. He saw a dozen cupid statues and on the side of one, he saw a Greek letter carved into it.
Perseus laughed. "Hephaestus, you cheeky bugger," he said, knowing what would happen if someone came here. He looked into the bowl and saw Ares' shield, a bronze circle in the middle. "I wonder how different his shield is compared to Mars'," Perseus pondered as he went to go retrieve it. However, he realized that Ares didn't know he was here, and nor did the rest of the Olympians. He assumed that since the sign of Hephaestus was here, it would be broadcasted somehow, so he knew he couldn't interfere.
Perseus waited for a little while, whistling the tune of 'Sweet Caroline' and packing three backpacks full of clothes and other things they might need on their quest, waiting for his brother and his friends reached him.
A while later, the three questers reached the waterpark, and heard someone whistling 'Sweet Caroline'. They approached the sound, and they saw a certain green-eyed person sitting there with three bags full of clothes.
"Perseus?" Max asked.
"Finally," Perseus said, breathing out a sigh of relief. "Anyways, I brought you these, now go change." The two demigods and the satyr went off in their own directions and came back decked out in full Waterland gear.
Perseus led them towards the Tunnel of Love ride. "So, there is good news and bad news," Perseus started, causing the demigods and satyr to look at him questioningly. "The good news is that I found the shield. The bad news is that I cannot help you."
"Why?" Max asked.
"Well, for starters, you guys are strong enough to get it anyways," Perseus said casually. "However, I saw the sign of Hephaestus, so there might be something different about the ride. So get going 'lovebirds'," Perseus said shoving Annabeth and Max together, causing their faces to turn a bright shade of crimson.
As they reached the boat, Annabeth and Max found a scarf, which Annabeth quickly snatched away from her counterpart, giving it to Perseus. "I'm sure you know what this is, right?" Annabeth asked. Perseus nodded, chuckling, and put it to the side as they went towards the boat.
Perseus watched as Hephaetus' trap sprung, and they were trapped. He watched as Annabeth was immobilized by the spiders, and saw the gears in Max's mind churning. Suddenly, he told Grover to turn the ride on, and watched in shock as Maximus guided the boat through the ride, short-circuiting the spiders and bringing Annabeth out of her shock.
As they were about to spring themselves forward out of the ride, Perseus ran over to Grover. "Grover, go catch them, I'll help from the shadows," Perseus said over his shoulder as he went to help his half-brother.
As Grover grabbed them from behind, Perseus manipulated the water from the pool they overshot by launching themselves forward and created makeshift beds that helped slow their fall. He wanted the Olympians to believe that it was Maximus who manipulated that water, and didn't want to make it too advanced.
Unfortunately, Perseus couldn't stop them from falling. The three of them smashed into a photo wall. Slowly, but surely, the three quest members helped each other up and thanked Grover.
Maximus turned to the Cupids, who were still filming. "Show's over, good night!" He said, and the cupids returned to their positions and the lights shut off.
Perseus ran over to his brother. "Are you guys okay? I'm sorry I couldn't do more," he concerningly asked.
Annabeth looked at them curiously. "Yeah, I'm fine," Maximus managed to squeak out.
Perseus gave each of them a look over. "At least let me heal you guys," he said. Perseus pulled some water from the pool and it spread over Grover, Annabeth, and Maximus, causing their cuts to close. They looked in shock as the water worked its magic on their injuries.
"Thanks!" Annabeth said quickly. Perseus nodded curtly before turning away.
"You three need to have a chat with that scumbag Ares," Perseus said. "Unfortunately, I can't do anything, but I'll be there if you guys need help beating him up."
Maximus cracked a smile and put his arms around his friends, causing Annabeth's face to turn red once more. Perseus laughed before following them out of the waterpark and back to the diner.
AN: Hey guys. Again, I'm so sorry about not uploading in a while. I will try to write every week, as I really like this story, and I hope you guys do as well. Anyways, I was thinking, do you guys want good Luke, or Evil Luke? I don't mind either, but I don't really have a plan for Luke, as I plan to keep the same seven members of the prophecy. What do you guys think? Also, I might be starting an Arrow/Percy Jackson story soon, so look out for it! Anyways, thanks so much for your patience and please review!