Silence filled the restaurant as Percy narrowed his eyes as Jason.
"My help? With what?"
"There's an attack coming. And you, your people, might be in danger. I need warriors that can step up to stop this threat. Warriors like yourself and others, enhanced with special abilities," Jason explained.
Percy scoffed. "Special abilities? Sorry to disappoint you, buddy, but if you're looking for people with ... special abilities, you're looking in the wrong place. Because ain't no one around here with special abilities."
Jason stood up and faced Percy, meeting his gaze at his level. "You can't bullshit me. I know who you are. Percy Jackson, the protector of the oceans ... Riptide."
Percy stepped forward, bringing his face within a foot away from his face as he glared into his electric blue eyes. "What did you just call me?"
"Riptide," Jason repeated. "That's you, right? You're the one everyone's been talking about. The one who saved the French crew from those pirates. You're the one who put those whaling services out of business. You've helped people that have been trapped in sea storms. You're the one with ... distinguished roots."
"And how are you so sure about that?" Percy questioned.
"Because let me tell you a little secret," Jason said. "You're not the only one inside this building with abilities." Jason raised his hand and Percy watched with intriguing curiosity as blue lightning sparkled between his fingers.
Percy gave Jason an expression of reverence before jerking his head. "We should go talk outside."
...
Percy found himself standing on the walking pathway of the Brooklyn Bridge, cars and pedestrians passing by them as he stared down at the East River. Even from the height of the bridge, Percy could smell the putrid water, the result of centuries without proper filtering. Jason stood next to Percy as he went on and explained about the event that had happened in the recent days, mostly covering the topic of the attack against him, running into his old friend, and learning everything there was to know about the Elder Gods, the Titans and the Celestials, more specifically, the Titan Lord of Time, Cronus.
"I have reason to believe Cronus will be after the other items," Jason explained. "I also have reason to believe that the Atlanteans have one of said items in their possessions. These Titans, they could be after your people."
"My people?" Percy questioned.
"The Atlanteans," Jason said, as if it explained everything. "They are your people, aren't they?"
Percy sighed and turned away from the river. "Not exactly."
"You er, ... care to elaborate?"
Percy rubbed his arm. "Yeah. My dad ... yeah, he was an Atlantean king. King Poseidon was his name, that's ... all I ever really found out about him. Besides his name, I don't know much. I mean ... he left when I was really young. For most of my childhood, I was raised by my mom, Sally Jackson. I lived a pretty average life. But only like a few years ago I started ... this. This thing of ... protecting the oceans and everything in it. From whaling to overfishing to oil spills and pollution. I mean you have no idea how much shit gets dumped into the ocean. It's sickening. It's destroys habitats of marine life. And then I found about the pirates. And not the swashbuckling, eyepatch-wearing kind. These were mercenaries of the seas armed with automatic weapons." Percy pursed his lips. "I've just been around. Never have even stepped foot in Atlantis. I can hardly call the Atlanteans as my people."
"Even if you haven't stepped foot in Atlantis, if it's true that the trident of Neptune is in their possession, they'll come for them," Jason reminded.
"Yeah," Percy agreed. "That's true. Although, from what I do know, Atlantis is pretty well-guarded. So, a Titan might come, but he'll probably won't even past the border."
Jason considered this. "Atlantis might be well-guarded but the other items, they're not as protected. I have a friend that's going to New Orleans to find someone who might have Hecate's talisman. They might come after her, and the others."
Percy took a deep breath. "Yeah, I guess."
"So ... Percy, when the fight comes, we'll need you. What do you say?" Jason asked.
"Don't count on it, Bolt," Percy replied.
Jason looked disappointed. "Why not?"
"My business is not with land-dwellers. Plus, no offense, but you coming here and intruding, calling me out like you did at the restaurant, I don't know, it doesn't sit right with me," Percy said.
"Percy, you help people," Jason said. "I'm a reporter, I've seen your good deeds and I make sure the world knows about them." Jason gave him a pleading look. "Come on, Percy. We'll be stronger if we work together."
"I've done just fine on my own," Percy argued.
"What about your friends?" Jason asked. "Your mom? She's still around, isn't she?"
Percy nodded.
"Where's she now?"
"Probably in her apartment," Percy said. "With her new husband."
"You pay her any visits?"
"Sure, occasionally."
"Well, if you don't want the Titans taking that away from you, I'd highly recommend you help us out here," Jason said.
Percy sighed. "I'll think about it. I have some other stuff to take care of, anyways."
Jason nodded and handed him a business card. "If you make up your mind, you can find me here at this address."
"'Leo Valdez'?" Percy read.
"That's the friend I was telling you about," Jason said. "He's gathering other people we found with abilities, the one from New Orleans and another one in D.C."
"Small world," Percy commented.
Jason nodded in agreement. "Well, I better get going. There's someone else I need to find to ask for help. Sleep on it. I really need you to consider this."
Percy's jaw slacked in astonishment as he watched Jason hover above the ground until he floating several feet above him. "Huh ... will you look at that? The guy can fly."
"There's a lot more to it than just flying, Riptide," Jason pointed out. "But sure, you can call it that. I hope we can meet again. If not ... well, it was good to meet you, anyways."
Percy's eyes followed Jason as he flew away, speeding off with a sound-reasoning boom.
...
Percy lied.
He didn't have anything to take care of. But after his little chat with Jason and his proposition, Percy needed advice. And when he needed advice, he went to the only intelligent person that he ever relied on for that ... Mom.
Percy looked up the apartment complex, memories of his childhood flooding his thoughts as he stared at the apartment still in decent condition. An apartment like this in New York had outrageously high rent, but hey, what could anyone do? With Paul's job as a high school teacher and Sally's job as a literature writer, they made just enough for the rent.
Percy walked in through the lobby and made his way towards the elevator coolly until he spotted a certain familiar individual that he immediately from the curly red locks that draped down her back. Percy started to panic, pressing the close button in the elevator button panel quickly and repeatedly, muttering 'close, close, close, close' under his breath multiple times. Unfortunately for Percy though, the doors did not close fast enough and Percy's ex-girlfriend spotted him.
"Percy?" Rachel called in surprise and quickly bolted for the elevator and stuck her hand inside, opening the doors back up. "Oh my God, it is you! I haven't seen in such a long time. Ever since-"
"High school," Percy finished. "I know."
"You look ... gosh, you look just as fine as you did back then," Rachel complimented. "How you've been?"
Percy shrugged. "I've been doing fine."
"How's your mom?"
Percy nodded. "She's good. She had another kid."
"Estelle, she wanted to name her, right?" Rachel said. " I remember that's what she said before we ..."
Percy didn't finish her statement that time, but he knew damn well what she wanted to say. It was what she remembered before they broke up.
"So ... you going up to visit your mom?" Rachel asked.
Percy nodded awkwardly. "Yeah."
"Well ... since we're here, before you go ... do you want to go out for coffee sometime, maybe we can catch up properly there?" Rachel asked.
Percy gritted his teeth. "Oh, Rachel ... I would ... but I have this thing, I don't know if I'm gonna do it just yet. But when I make up my mind about it, I'll let you know."
Rachel looked disappointed. "Oh ... well ... okay. I'll let you go now." Rachel paused mid-turn. "It was good to see you, Perce."
Percy watched Rachel leave the lobby. "Wish I could say the same," he muttered under his breath.
Frankly for Percy, the less said about his ex-girlfriend, the better. With that in mind, Percy stepped back into the elevator and headed up for his mom's apartment. He took out the spare key from his wallet and opened the door, letting himself in quietly.
He was hoping to take them by surprise, but his actions were unfortunately discovered, anyways.
"Mommy! Pewcy's here!"
Percy playfully glared at his little sister. "Oh, you little rascal, you had to go telling them, didn't you? Come here!"
Estelle giggled and ran as Percy chased after her. She made way for the kitchen and hid behind her mom's legs as Percy halted in his tracks.
"Hey, Percy," Sally Jackson greeted with a smile as she mixed batter.
"Mom," Percy greeted back. "This was supposed to be a surprise, but, well ... that's gone."
"What you been up to?"
Percy shrugged. "Oh, you know. The usual."
"That's good to hear," Percy's step-dad, Paul Blofis, called from the dining table as he read through the daily paper.
"What you reading there, Paul?" Percy asked curiously.
"An interesting headline," he replied. "'French crewmen saved from pirates by stranger of the sea.' That is very noble and generous of the stranger to do."
"Maybe he was bored," Percy suggested.
"I doubt it," Paul said. "I believe that everyone who does good actions like these have their heart in the right place, even if they don't want to admit it."
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Percy said. "But he did get in a bit of a scuffle with government officials because of his actions. Didn't know that the whole thing was being recorded."
"Alright, we can stop talking in third-person now," Sally said. "We know it was you. What happened with the government officials? They didn't hurt you or anything, did they?"
Percy scoffed. "Mom, you know how thick my skin is. Nothing they had with them could hurt me."
"Still ..."
"Okay, maybe they did put me in cuffs," Percy admitted. "And I figured it would be smarter if I didn't try to break out of them and just denied everything. An Agent Annabeth Chase questioned me about the whole ordeal, but she didn't get anything out of me ... yet. Chiron was there to bail me out."
Sally smiled. "I always did like Chiron."
"Yeah, me too," Percy agreed as he went over the dining table and pulled a chair, sitting down. "I figured you guys should know about that. I might have to lay low for a bit, maybe be away for a while. Wouldn't want the feds knocking on your door and asking you questions."
"Please, we can handle government officials," Sally said.
"Maybe you can, but personally, I have to agree with Percy here," Paul said.
"Paul, we can't just not help Percy out here," Sally chided.
"Mom, I'm a grown-ass man now," Percy reminded.
Paul gestured his hands towards Percy at Sally. "See?"
Sally sighed. "Yeah, I tend to forget that. In my eyes, you're still just my sweet little boy."
Percy rolled his eyes.
"And what about ... what was her name?"
"Calypso," Percy answered.
"Yeah, Calypso. Beautiful name," Sally commented. "Has she still been visiting you?"
Percy sighed. "Yeah. Still the same old. King Triton wants to go to war with land-dwellers. He just needs a reason to. And she wants me to dethrone him before anything bad happens."
"Maybe you should consider it," Paul said.
"I'm not cut out to be a king," Percy argued. "Do you know how many responsibilities I would have? It's ruling over a whole kingdom. Plus ... I don't think they'd ever take me seriously, being only half-Atlantean and all."
"But that makes you special," Paul said. "What do you think, Sally?"
"The motherly part of me wants you to stay out of that, so you wouldn't have to be in danger of anything," Sally admitted.
Percy smirked. "Of course."
"But the logical side of me ... it tells me that you should consider it, Percy. Sure, they might not take you seriously at first, but I know you, Percy. I know you can prove to them that you're worthy of the throne. Someone like you wins the hearts of anyone when you put your mind to it. I think you could even surprise yourself with how much of a great leader you prove to be," Sally said.
Paul looked impressed. "Wow ... you even outdid me there."
Percy sighed and stood up, leaning up against the wall, his back facing away from his family. "I'm not sure if I even want to be king."
"The best leaders don't ask to be the leader, Percy," Paul said. "They are looked up to. It is the people themselves whom will decide that you need to be because you are the most qualified to lead. You may not think it, but you are. And you wouldn't want to let your people down, would you?"
"There's wisdom in that," Percy admitted.
"So what are you going to do about King Triton?" Sally asked.
Percy rubbed his head. "I'll think about it. Besides, there's other pressing matters at hand. This guy, Jason Grace, he talked to me today. Said there was an invasion of sorts coming."
"How would he know?" Sally asked.
"He dealt with one of them. They're called the Elder Titans. He warned me that they might be going after Atlantis and other places, looking for the Elder Gods' possessions. According to him, the one Jason dealt with took Zeus's bolt."
"And one of those items is in Atlantis?" Sally asked.
"Neptune's trident," Percy said. "Chiron told me about it before. Back in ancient times, there was this king who ruled over his own kingdom that stood by the sea. His name ... was Atlan. He worshipped Neptune with every fiber of his soul and he made a vow to himself that he would do whatever it took to find Neptune's lost trident. He embarked on a long quest and eventually ... he found the trident. As the rule went, whoever found the trident would be granted one wish from Neptune himself. Atlan wished that he could take his people under the sea and create a whole race of people that could adapt to the underwater. A terrible sea storm would be brought on the kingdom and it sank underwater, but Neptune's trident itself provided protection for the people to survive the collapse. King Atlan would put his name into stone, naming the city Atlantis and its people, Atlanteans. To this day, Neptune's trident stands proudly in a confined vault in the middle of the city, guarded by the fiercest warriors of Atlantis, providing a magical barrier that protected and concealed the kingdom from the outside world."
Paul and Sally were listening to the story recounted with nothing short of heedful attention.
"If someone, say a Titan, wanted to get to the trident, they would have to get through the barrier itself and then flanks of the combined forces of three kingdoms; Atlantis, Xebel and the Fishermen; to even get through the city," Percy explained.
Paul scoffed. "You think you know what it's in the sea, but you don't."
Sally frowned. "Is that why you sound so hesitant to go?"
"That, and I don't know how much believe this Jason Grace guy," Percy said. "I mean, sure he has lightning powers and can fly, but I don't how much of his actions are just in his self-interest."
"Percy, if you keep thinking like that, you're never going to be able to trust people," Paul warned.
"How much can I trust people?" Percy questioned.
"You trust us," Paul said.
"And Grover and Chiron," Sally asked.
"Yeah, but, like ... you guys all trust me," Percy said. "Atlanteans, land-dwellers, they tend not to trust me, so why should I?"
"Give him a chance, at least, Percy," Sally suggested. "What do you have to lose?"
Percy sighed. "Well ... you do have a point there."
"You might even make a new friend," Paul added.
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves."
The conversation was suddenly disrupted by a sudden beeping that came from the watch on Percy's wrist. Paul furrowed his brow as he eyed the watch.
"Is that a watch?"
"Atlantean tech," Percy explained. "It's a way for me and Chiron to communicate when we need each other."
"So that's how Chiron bailed you out," Sally realized.
Percy nodded in confirmation before tapping his watch and answering the call. "Hey, Chiron, what's up?"
"Percy?! Where are you right now? I need you this instant!"
Percy frowned at the panic in Chiron's voice. "What's going on?"
"Atlantis is under attack."
So that's Chapter 6 for you. I'm actually starting to enjoy this a bit now, not gonna lie. It's probably why I've been posting regularly. Making this story about our characters in an alternate universe where they exist as enhanced meta-humans/mutants rather than being children of gods, it's kind of fun.
We had Jason and Percy's meeting and then he talked a bit with his mom, teaching a history lesson about the Atlanteans and Neptune's trident. The rule in Chapter 2 was that the gods' possessions granted one single wish to whomever found it and I continued with that rule, who happened to go to Atlantis's first ruler, Atlan. And as for what happened with Rachel ... well, that might be something for another story. Perhaps something for Riptide's solo movie ...
I know, I know. Stupid cliffhanger but I promise Percy's POV of the attack on Atlantis will be continued in later chapters. With Percy's two chapters out of the way, I return back to Jason's POV for Chapter 7, where he meets up with the one and only ... Nico di Angelo, the Ghost King. We'll be learning his backstory as well, and it'll be interesting to say the least, for a guy who came back from the dead.
Stay tuned.