Percy talking
Percy thoughts
Adamos talking
Adamos thoughts
Chapter 40
Normal Camp Activities
"Ok so I was reading this book recently…" Adamos starts to speak after a long bout of silence. I was currently sitting in the camp infirmary, patiently waiting as the camper on duty went to retrieve Chiron so that he can see our camps 'newest' addition for himself.
"Yeah? What kind?" I wonder with lukewarm enthusiasm.
"Romantic comedy."
"Seriously?" I ask, a questioning expression no doubt on my face. "You read romance novels?"
"I read a lot of genres. Anyways, I was reading this book and it was decent enough. Kind of generic as far as some plots go but it was pretty well-paced with some interesting scenarios."
"Now I'm curious. What's got you so interested in THIS particular book because it doesn't sound to outstanding."
"It was…interesting because it made me both laugh and kinda angry at the same time."
"How so?" Ok, now I was kinda invested.
"Ok so the story starts like a generic romcom. Girl moves to big city from country town, dreams of making it big with her new job, parents reluctant support yada, yada."
"And then she bumps into the romantic interest right?"
"It was a complete misunderstanding. The girl hires a masseuse for a massage after a stressful first day and in comes the guy. One massage and one conversation later and the two are satisfied but here's the twist. The girl gets a call later saying her masseuse is late."
"So, she got a massage from a complete stranger." I snort.
"Turns out the masseuse love interest is actually the apartment building owner and supervisor, and when she gets upset, he actually tells her that she invited him in and asked him to do it. So, no legal ramifications."
"Sounds like a decent start to a relationship." I mentally say sarcastically.
"Oh yeah. They dislike each other and then through the book they have a few interactions, get to know each other, go on dates, learn surprisingly deep things about the RI, the whole turn of events for this sort of thing. Then they are dating and then comes the meet the parent's chapter."
"If its anything like what my mom watches on TV it won't end well."
"It does not. Those parents? They are actually slightly racist country folk."
"Okay...I guess that fits."
"Now, because it wasn't an issue in the city. The only other person like the RI is the local baker who one of their other daughters works for, and they only like him because they know him."
"And I'm guessing they try to separate the two?"
"By actively trying to set up the MC with dates with 'nice' local folk who surprise surprise, are also racist." I could practically hear the quotations around nice. "But it turns out that they have a support group in the form of the baker and the sister as they are apparently having a secret affair."
"Well that's nice." I mentally say. "The support group i mean, not the racists."
"Yeah, and then everything's over and they go home, go on a few more dates, heartwarming moments and it finally end with the proposal."
I don't even know when but at some point, I was on the edge of my seat, my hands supporting my chin as I listened. "And then what."
"RI guy pulls out the stops with dinner at a fancy place with sentimental value, then drops to one knee, pulls out the box, and then… her phone rings."
"Wait really? Her phone rings?"
"Yup. She was so stunned by the whole proposal that she answered it. Turns out it's the sister calling to tell her that the baker proposed and they are eloping."
"But…but! But that ruins the entire scene! All the build up and everything is ruined."
"The worst part is that the MC, the girl, settles down and doesn't even know if she wants to get married, which makes the RI walkaway because the entire night is ruined."
"But they get together later right? These kinds of books usually have happy endings."
"Yeah no. That's where it all ends. Out of pages. Fin. The author even wrote in the last page that there won't be a sequel."
"But! But—"
The sound of a door slamming against the wall nearly gives me a heart attack as I scramble to not fall out of my chair.
"Percy." Chiron says after he practically stampedes through the door with a few other campers behind him. Annabeth was at the forefront of the group and I think that I saw Lou somewhere in the middle of the pack.
"Percy? I-Is that..." Annabeth desperately asked as she pushed her way through the Apollo campers that rushed to the bed to start their checkups.
The reason for their sudden bout of anxiousness was because of the sleeping girl in front of me.
Thalia Grace.
The daughter of Zeus and the former spirit of the pine tree that protects the camps boundaries. The girl that fought off an army of monsters to save to others, though you would never imagine it with how pale she looked. Though she is doing much better than she was earlier after I traced the rune for healing on her bed. It wasn't the most powerful one I could do but it didn't need to be since she wasn't in any real danger.
"I, uh…ehm." I cleared my throat as I sat back in my seat. "I was hanging around Thalia's tree, er, I guess its just the tree now. Any ways I was there and then the tree kind of just…spit her out." I explained kind of lamely. Chiron only looked at me with a grim expression before he switched his attention to the sleeping girl.
"This is not good." Chiron mumbled, something that I probably wasn't supposed to hear, so I didn't comment. Instead I sat there and watched as they went to work on her. While they were handling her treatment with greater skill than myself it was only going to come back to the same conclusion that I did.
She just needed rest.
It was still interesting to watch Chiron go to work though. Watching as he weaved the mist like an artist, muttering his own incantations.
Unfortunately, I couldn't stand sitting in there for long, my ADHD was killing me already after waiting for them for so long, so I decided to step out since I was no longer needed. Besides Annabeth looked like she was starting to cry from joy, and it was honestly making me uncomfortable being there during such a personal moment.
I walked out of the infirmary and made my way to the beach, a place that always managed to calm my nerves and provided a good spot in case i needed to figure things out.
And boy did I need to figure things out.
I reached out my hand and felt the waves respond to my will. The water flowed back and forth, following the movement of my hand. With a flick of my wrist three orbs of water the size of my head float in the air. I felt an increase in difficulty controlling them but it was only a by a bit. I split them in half, dividing them even further into six smaller orbs before rotating them around a single water orb, like the atoms that i learned about in Adamos's lectures.
"Head out into a monster infested sea to grab a magical sheep's skin," I turned slightly to see Lou standing behind me. "Swimming to Atlantis, dealing with gods, battling a cyclops, and now you get a tree to give birth to a girl that should be dead." Lou says as she sits in the sand next to me and her hand glows a rather mystical shade of green. She forms a hand gun and a small bolt of magic fires from her fingertip, blowing up one of the orbs I'm controlling. "Only you could have such a life Percy." She said with a playful smirk.
"To be fair," I immediately changed the rotation of the orbs, making Lou's second shot miss. "the fleece revived her so I didn't really have much say in the whole process."
"But you were there." Lou makes her shot curve as I tried to move an orb away, barely hitting it but making it explode anyway. "Like I said. Only you would have the luck to be there."
The two of us spent those moments in companionable silence. Me, maneuvering the water in intricate ways while Lou shot them out of the air. It was only when the last water ball popped that Lou chose to ask the one question that was on my mind.
"So of she's here, what does that mean for you with the prophecy?"
I stayed quiet as I looked at the sea, thinking about the implications of Thalia's arrival. It had to be both the simplest and the most complex answer at the same time. On one hand Thalia was older than me, making her the child of prophecy and moving me to the position of ordinary camper.
Boom. Easy answer.
On the other hand, I have been training specifically to be the child of prophecy. Working harder than anyone else. Working with gods, going out on my own, and going on quests. If I wasn't the child of prophecy where did I fit into this entire thing. Was I just spare parts at this point? The backup.
Will Adamos leave me for Thalia?
I know it's just dumb insecurities. He's my brother and we've been through a lot, but there's just this little voice in the back of my head that isn't him saying that it's a possibility. Thalia was friends with Luke, who works for Kronos. I know Adamos wouldn't leave her open to Kronos's forces.
"Do you really think I would just leave behind one of my investments. After all the effort I took to train you?" Adamos broke his silence with the question.
"But what about Thalia? She's the prophecy child now. I've been demoted."
"It will take a lot more than a second prophecy child to trip me up. I will have to change things a bit but it shouldn't be a problem. Trust me on this. I have it handled." Adamos says resolutely.
I let out a small sigh of relief before turning to look at Lou. "I honestly don't know." I reply. "But we'll deal with it as it comes."
"We?" Lou says with a surprised yet glad expression.
"Yep. You and me and the others." I say confidently. "I know I can rely on you and your crazy witch powers."
"R-Right." Lou responds with a…blush? "You can count on me."
I gave her a soft smile as the two of us sat there under the stars playing with the water.
X
It wasn't until dinner of the next day that I saw Thalia again. She was only just released from the infirmary before we all sat down because Chiron wanted to give her a full checkup, a day of bed rest, and some light physical therapy to make sure that there wasn't anything wrong with her in any way.
I mean who knows if being stuck as a tree for years had any negative side effects.
Does this technically make her a dryad?
Anyways, as soon as she arrived the entire pavilion went quiet. Everyone knew who she was so the whole introduction thing from Mr. D (who called her Teresa Green) was completely redundant.
The entire time Thalia looked like she was about to bite someone's head off. Every time someone stared for too long at the lone occupant of the Zeus table, she would send a withering glare until they inevitably turned away. I think I even smelled some ozone in the air when the Aphrodite cabin started whispering about her.
We did make brief eye contact for a moment, her electric blue eyes glaring at me from the across the way. I didn't look away from her glare but I would be lying if I didn't think she was at least a little bit intimidating.
I didn't even get the chance to introduce myself to her before we were all ushered along to the campfire sing along. I of course didn't participate as usual, opting instead to head to my little secluded beach for more training.
Although I did feel like someone was watching me as I walked off.
X
"Kevin! Long time no see." I waved to the stone golem that lives in my little secluded beach.
Kevin raised his stone hand and gave me a mechanical wave in return before going back to his little table.
…Wait what?
All around Kevin there were various pieces of furniture arranged like it was an outdoor patio. The furniture seemed to be made of a variety of different materials, from wood to stone and even metal.
Where he got metal and how he forged it, I had no idea.
Kevin himself was sitting at a table that looked like it was carved from granite. The top was smoothed and glassy while its body was hollowed in four areas where wooden chairs were placed. There was even a small foot stool in the indention for people who like to have their feet raised as they sit.
"Did you make all this?" Despite Kevin's lack of a voice I couldn't help but ask as I looked at one of the chairs that rested in the table. It was carved in such a way that it looked like vines and roots had grown and formed the chair naturally. If it wasn't for the lacquer applied, I probably would have thought it was!
Kevin, as usual, didn't respond and just stared at me with his blank face before slowly bringing a ceramic cup to his face to drink. Though due to a lack of mouth whatever was in the cup just spilled all over him.
"Percy stop messing around with Kevin and take off your shoes. I want ten laps over the lake. Following that we are working on your temperature control for water." Adamos ordered, seemingly not bothered by the apparent autonomy that the golem seemed to have.
I had to look away just as Kevin took another sip from whatever was in his cup, nearly missing him waving goodbye at me as I ran on the surface of canoe lake.
What the hell does that golem get up to when I'm not here?
X
"Sleep, oh beautiful sleep what I wouldn't give for your comforting embrace." I stumbled away from the eating pavilion like a zombie, my eyes having the smallest signs of bags beneath them. It took a lot of will power not to face plant into my pancakes halfway through breakfast but I managed.
Last night's training was more brutal than normal. After the whole Sea of Monster's quest Adamos wanted to push the whole training a bit further. Test everything from strength to durability to speed to multitasking. Last night I was balancing on rocks on one hand while floating balls of water.
Star Wars style.
I let out a yawn as I made my way through camp while the other campers were doing their activities at their respective stations. If my memory was right the archery class was just starting while I believe the arts and crafts class was just finishing up.
"Hah! Hyah!"
The sound of grunting followed by heavy thwacks reached my ears as I passed by the training area.
No one was supposed to be in the training grounds until this afternoon, yet it was clear that someone was practicing and quite hard judging by the sound of it. But since combat classes aren't for a few more hours than that means they were by themselves, and only the cabin leaders were allowed to use the training area unsupervised. A rule that was established after numerous younger campers kept leaving the equipment laying around rather than returning them to their proper storage.
I tried to head on my way but in the end my curiosity got the better of me and my feet began to lead me in the direction of the sounds. I doubted it was the other cabin leaders as they all had duties or morning classes to teach. I was the odd man out as I didn't have anyone in my cabin besides myself, or at least that was the case until recently.
I walked up to the training area but didn't enter, instead I leaned against one of the stone pillars content to watch.
Down in the dirt circle of the training arena was the familiar form of Thalia Grace, the daughter of Zeus and former tree person. Her black and blue tipped hair was matted against her head as a thin sheen of sweat clung to her body, soaking into the sleeveless Iron Maiden shirt that she wore. The athletic shorts she was wearing showed off much of her toned legs as she maneuvered around her target with deft footwork. Her face was set in a snarl as she stabbed the dummy with her spear before bashing it with the front of her shield. They were a standard spear and circle shield pulled from the racks set up at the edge of the training grounds.
Thalia struck, funnily enough, like lightning. Her spear hit fast and hard into the training dummy's guts repeatedly in a three-fold strike, nearly taking it off its wooden post before resting on the rim of her shield.
Her form shifted to a more defensive one. Her form lowered, putting most of herself behind her shield. I noticed what looked like blue electricity arc around her body, primarily her legs, and then without so much as a warning she dashed forward into a blur, striking the base of the training dummy with her shield.
I watched with wide eyes as the training dummy flew through the air and into the stone wall behind it, straw guts flying everywhere. The wooden post that it was attached to had snapped in half, an impressive show of strength as those things were as thick as the steel and concrete bollards used to stop cars, which has a 6-inch diameter.
Her forms were impressive but I could tell they still needed adjustment. Her feet were a bit too wide and she wasn't using her hips enough in her thrusts.
I watched as she dragged the broken dummy and reattached the post together, the magic in it repairing it as good as new, a scowl still on her face. Was she not satisfied with her performance? Did she already know about the minor flaws in her form? She was very skilled, clearly having a lot of experience fighting, but her skills were obviously raw and unpolished.
"You know," Thalia spoke loudly, the emptiness of the training area letting her voice carry. "I don't take stalkers watching me very well. And they usually don't take it very well either." She turned to my direction, settling a glare on me.
I'll admit that I almost turned to look behind me before realizing that she was talking to me.
"Sorry." I said apologetically while trying to put on my friendliest smile. "I heard you practicing and got curious. How'd you know I was here?"
"You're not exactly quiet. You were muttering very loudly." she said dryly.
"I was? Crap I really have to work on that." I thought, my hand going through my hair as I let out a laugh. "You heard all that?"
"Yeah. I did." Thalia said with an edge in her voice before turning back to the dummy. Whatever magic it was laced with had finished re-stuffing it while we were talking. "Now if you don't mind." Thalia reset her stance, silently dismissing me; her spear was level with the top of her shield but…
"Gods I'm going to probably regret this."
"You need to lower your shield a bit more, your cutting off a lot of your sight." I spoke, interrupting her concentration once again.
Thalia let out a deep breath through her nose as she fell out of her stance. She turned and walked up to me, getting into my personal space. She was close enough that I could count the freckles on her face. Her electric blue eyes seemed to spark as her gaze bore into me, and I could practically hear the air humming around her.
"Look," Her voice was low as she spoke. "I don't know what it is your trying to do here, but I don't need you telling me what to do and I certainly don't need this macho bullshit of you trying to prove your better than me."
"I'm not trying to do anything I—" I tried to explain only for her to cut me off.
"I know who you are." She poked me in the chest. "Percy Jackson, the camp hero. What? Just because you found some bolt, you think I should bend over for you? Listen to what you say like your word was fucking gospel?"
"What the Hades are you talking about?" I practically growled back at her, the feeling of anger settling in my chest as she quite literally pushed me around. "I'm just trying to help you out."
"I. Don't. Need. Help." Thalia emphasized each word with a jab to my chest. "Not from some campers I don't know, not from some centaur or some deadbeat god, and most certainly not from you. I've survived alone for more years than you've held a weapon. I didn't need anyone then and I don't need people treating me like a charity now."
"Apparently." I growled as I snatched her finger before it could jab me in the chest again. "The rest of the camp will probably leave you alone if you be a big enough bitch about it." I notice the surprising amount of strength she has as the two of us push against each other. After doing Adamos's training I had become a lot stronger than I was when I first came to camp, so imagine my surprise encountering someone who could match me after undergoing such extreme training, but with one solid shove I managed still to over power her and move her a few feet.
She clearly wasn't expecting me to push her back as something in her look changed. The anger was still there but now there was something else. "So, I'm a bitch now? Didn't take long to drop the 'nice' act."
"Oh, I'm more than willing to place nice with other people." I responded coolly. "But I like to treat people how they treat me. You be nice, we'll get along just fine. But if your just gonna be a complete ass…" I let the statement hang with a frown.
"Is that right?" Thalia said with a bit of challenge in her tone. Her grip on her spear tightened. "Well tough guy if you're so insistent on helping me out why don't you grab a weapon and show me how you treat those assholes. Beating a dummy lost its appeal a while ago and I want to see if your just like the hype everyone says you are." She says, her taunting making me frown deeper.
My first thought was to refuse. I was tired from training last night and planned on taking a nap before I had to report to the next activity. I had nothing to prove to her, there was no reason to react to her challenges.
But something inside me didn't want this challenge to go unanswered. Something was telling me I would lose if I walked away now.
"Fuck it." I walked over to the shelf and grabbed one of the camps spears. I traced a rune into the wood and I felt the wood harden as I pumped mana into it. It still held its normal flexibility but now it was reinforced to the point of being harder than steel. "Maybe this will be enough to wake me up."
Thalia watched me with a confused yet hard look, her eyes roaming my figure as I circle her while twirling the spear in my hand. "What's with the spear?" She questioned "From what I've heard your supposed to be a swordsman."
"Oh, I can use a few different kinds of weapons. Got it beat into my head to branch out." I spoke as I watched her. "She's never once left her back to me. Her posture is relaxed yet she's not giving me any openings. If that's the case," The spear in my hand spins faster and faster as I circle her. "Then I'll just have to make one!"
In one swift move I caught the end of the spear and swung with both hands as hard as I could. The suddenness of the swing nearly caught Thalia off guard, forcing her to raise her shield in a less stable stance.
It really spoke of her experience and skill that she was able to react so quickly.
Sparks flew as the tip of my spear met her shield, a long mark horizontally cutting across the middle of the defensive armament. I didn't let up and struck the middle of her shield with a heavy kick, forcing her back a few feet.
I could see Thalia's narrowed eyes as she peeked over her shield. "All right. Now you have my attention." Her voice was steady as she spoke, her focus fully committed to me as she raised her spear and shield. I kept the pointed end of my spear facing the ground as the blunt end was held high. The two of us then started circling each other. Like two predators searching for weakness in our prey.
This time she was the one to initiate as she lunged forward with a thrust at my torso, taking advantage of the fact that my defense was more limited since I only had a single weapon compared to her spear and shield combo. I twisted my body at the last moment using my own spear to deflect hers, saving myself from a ruined shirt.
I then felt my instincts scream at me, making me duck and narrowly avoiding the shield that would have clocked me over the head. I swung my own spear in a wide arc at her feet forcing her to leap back and give me room lest I fracture her leg.
From my low point on the ground I lunged at her, thrusting my spear twice into her shield. The first thrust came from below, the force staggering her while the second one came down on her from above as I leapt into the air.
The daughter of Zeus rolled with the blow, directing it into the ground with her shield and forcing the celestial bronze tip into the dirt like a hot knife through butter. Her foot slammed down on the tip of my spear, locking it in place in the dirt. Her shield arm then came down like a guillotine on the shaft of my spear.
Now normally this would have been a well-executed maneuver that would have broken that spear in half leaving me with half a weapon and earned me a scolding on proper care of camp resources from Chiron and the Hephaestus cabin.
But the rune had done its purpose. The spear might as well have been made of industrial grade steel, and all Thalia had to show for her efforts was a dent in the wood of the spear. The surprised look on her face was priceless and only got funnier when I pulled the spear out from under her, throwing her off balance.
Before she had a chance to recover I moved the spear around my body in a flourish, striking with both ends of the spear in rapid swings at her head, body, limbs, and feet as I maneuvered it around my body, pushing her back on step at a time. Despite her disadvantageous position Thalia held herself remarkably well as she weathered each strike. Other campers, even some from the Ares cabin, would have already crumpled from the quick and heavy strikes. Though sticking to the defensive wasn't going to get her anywhere because…
Wait. Is she glowing?
Electricity was violently arcing across Thalia's body forming a pale blue shroud around her form as her eyes glowed with power. When I looked in to those blue orbs it was as if I was looking directly into a bolt of lightning right before it hit me, the world slowing down as you knew death was about to hit.
I didn't even have time to react before I felt a heavy pain in my gut courtesy of the shield attached to Thalia's arm.
The force of the blow knocked me on my ass hard and I barely managed to roll with it back onto my feet. Thalia was basically a blur as she followed after me, electricity trailing behind her as she moved.
Her spear was like a bolt as she attacked me and it was taking all of my concentration to ward off her thrusts. I was throwing counters at her every chance I had but her speed and strength were on a whole new level, leaving me with very few chances.
Is this what its like to fight me in a body of water? Because if so, it sucks hard.
Knowing that this was only going to get worse as it went on, I decided to take a risk and silently cast a Quen spell to protect me. I raised my arm just a little too high as I tried to stab her, creating a small opening in my side. It wasn't a big one, but I had a feeling that Thalia would try to capitalize on it.
And I was right.
I felt a sharp pain in my side as the Quen shattered, her strength alone was enough to punch through the one-time barrier but I grit my teeth and powered through the pain as I clutched her spear to my side. The shock from spell must have caught her off guard, because her grip slackened just a bit. It was enough though that a pull followed by a swift kick to the gut forced Thalia to let go of her spear as she flew back, landing on the ground.
She groaned as she rubbed her stomach. Her shield was still positioned to cover most of her body and I had a feeling that she was like Clarisse in that she would fight me with nothing but the shield.
"I gotta say," I talk as I twirl her spear in my hand while keeping a grip on mine. "I never expected the Super Saiyan thing. Really packs a punch." I wince as the pain in my side flares.
"You don't live long without learning a few tricks." Thalia says as she spits onto the ground before giving me an inquisitive look. "But I guess you have a few tricks of your own. What was that barrier thing you did? And making it so the spear didn't break? I doubt it's just something you sea kids can do."
"Magic." I reply coyly as I stop twirling her spear and pointing the blunt end at her.
Thalia just let out a snort as she grabbed the blunt end and pulled herself up. "I call bullshit."
"In my experience they are almost the same thing." I joke as I released her spear when she was standing.
"You do know this means I'm just going to kick your ass harder now right?" Thalia smirk viciously as she rolled her shoulders, cracking her neck in the process. It was hard not to wince at the sound. It was only the neck that grossed me out.
I was about to respond when I felt the band on my wrist heat up slightly and vibrate against my skin. The concealed divine weapon was trying to tell me something and I felt Adamos nudge for me to leave.
"Yeah well not today." I said with a sigh as I walked over and put away the practice spear, undoing the rune in the process.
Thalia frowned at me and I see the disappointment etched onto her face. She obviously wanted to continue and despite her loss she seemed to be in a bit of a better mood. She still seemed standoffish and aggressive, but less so than before. and I doubt that one fight was going to be enough to help her get over her situation but having a focus for her teenage angst would do her good.
"So, your just gonna bail after winning." She said with a noticeable edge, which I could probably understand since I showed up and beat her in a spar before leaving.
"Not because I want to." I quickly try to ease her down. I know that I can be an idiot sometimes but I'm not stupid. Coming in and beating her in a spar and then leaving was not a good way to welcome them to camp. "I have to meet with one of my friends soon." I explained. "They apparently need me for something."
Thalia let out a low huff in disappointed acceptance before turning back to the dummy. "Fine. Go on then."
"Sorry." I apologized, earning me a 'whatever' from her. I turned to walk off but I stopped before I could take that first step. "You know…" I called from over my shoulder causing her to stop as she was about to stab the dummy to look at me. "My schedule is pretty much open. If you want to spar again, I'd be willing to go again tomorrow."
Thalia sent me a challenging smirk in response. "If you come, I can't promise you won't get an ass kicking."
"Which of us was just on the ground again?" I sarcastically remark, chuckling as her face grew a bit redder from indignation. Before she could get another word in, I was already off.
X
"So, what's up with it?" I asked Adamos as I look at the concealed weapon strapped to my wrist.
"It's receiving a message." Adamos explained. "I believe that someone is trying to contacts us."
I couldn't help but blink in astonishment. "You mean this thing can get phone calls?"
"The object strapped to your wrist is one of the powerful weapons in the universe." Adamos huffed in amusement. "Of course, I designed it to make phone calls."
"I'm honestly starting to think this thing is a literary McGuffin with the amount of vague shit you talk about it." I speak dryly as I begin to poke the Spear of Ruin in its band form. "How do I work this?"
"Two fingers down and one finger from left to right."
I follow his instructions dragging two fingers down in the band followed by the finger across, creating a cross shape. The band glowed in reaction to the motion and a magic circle about as wide as baseball formed above the band. The multiple rings rotated in opposing directions and almost gave me a major headache as I tried to figure out the coding and structures of the circle before giving up when I realized that it was way too complex for me to understand. "What's the deal with this thing? It is way too complex to be a cellphone."
"It's actually rather simple considering it's supposed to be make calls across variable dimensions."
"Seriously!?" I can't help but feel a bit of awe as I look at it. "So, if I make a call does that mean I could call a different Percy? A Percy that's me but also not me? Like a real pirate Percy or maybe a Percy in Harry Potter? What about ninja Percy or a—" I start to ramble before I feel a sharp pain in my head much like an ice cream headache.
"Your talking about the multiverse, which is a whole different can of worms. Variable dimensions are places like Olympus and Asgard. Places that separate from the mortal world but are still linked."
"…So, I could be prank calling Thor…"
"Or you could pick up the call so they aren't on hold for the next year."
"OH! Right, right, right," I start tapping the holographic circle before me and I guess I did something right as I heard a beep before what looked wiggling line spread across it. "Hello?" I asked unsure if what I just did.
"Percy?" a very familiar feminine voice speaks through the circle making the little line dance.
"Is that you Aunt Hestia?"
"Oh, thank goodness that this still works. I honestly didn't think it would still go through since nobody uses it anymore after Iris messaging took over." Hestia explained with a laugh and I felt Adamos grumbling. "You know I actually remember when Adamos and Hecate first came up with this. It was the talk of the rebellion against the titans when we could talk over long distances unhindered. I still don't think anyone has managed to intercept the calls even after all these—"
"Um? Aunt Hestia?" I cut her off as I get the feeling she probably would stop once she got started. "Not that it isn't interesting but what is it that you were calling for?"
"Oh, I need you to meet with me quickly. I need you for a job. Don't keep me waiting." I try to speak up to ask for more information about this job only to realize that she already hung up.
I let out a sigh as I change my destination to the bonfire area where the other campers have their sing along. The camp fires here never actually go out, meaning the I just need to go to the nearest one in order to find Hestia.
When I arrived at the pit, I was pleased to find that it was empty. Not even a straggler was there taking up the seats or just goofing off in their free time.
"Aunt Hestia? Are you there?" I called to the small bonfire that sat in the middle of rows of seats.
"I'm right here Percy." The young voice of Hestia said from behind me nearly making me jump. I give her a glare at scaring me but it must not have been very good as she just giggles at my look.
"Ok I'm here. You said you needed me for a job?" I as getting to the bottom of it. It's not that I don't want to spend time with Hestia, but its not often that she calls me to do something for her and when she does its usually pretty important.
"Yes, I have a very important favor to ask of you. You see there's an infestation of ants in the forests around the camp. The nest has been there for a long time, decades even, and normally isn't a problem as the campers keep the numbers to a manageable level. But the numbers began to escalate quite recently…" Hestia explains as she walks over to one of the seats around the fire and sitting down. She pats the seat next to her, offering me a spot, one that I gladly accept.
"Because of Tantalus." I say, my tone as dry as a desert as I sat down and made myself comfortable. Even after he's gone, he still finds a way to torment the camp. "But if its an infestation of ants why don't you just call an exterminator or something?"
"I'm afraid that these ants would be far too dangerous for any normal exterminator." Hestia says with a warm laugh as she pulls out the Tome that Adamos gave her. She flips through the pages before finally settling on one of the pages.
One the page was a picture of a rather large ant standing next to what I assumed was an average sized man.
The thing was the size of a damn golden retriever!
"What the Hades am I looking at?" I ask looking over the information on the page. There were entire passages on their parameters and abilities. From spitting low level acid to the hardness of their shells, it explained everything about them.
"These are called Myrmekes." Hestia explains. "An insect monster discovered when Greek sailors arrived near India."
"A race of ants giant ants that loves to collect valuable treasures, especially gold." Adamos added.
"I can see that." I say still looking at the dog sized ant on the page, though at the mention of gold my interest was piqued.
"Normally Chiron is the one to coordinate the effort, but with fixing all the problems that Tantalus left behind and teaching the other campers he has had no chance to do so. All he can do is warn the campers not to go into the woods unsupervised." Hestia shakes her head in disapproval.
"But if its dangerous enough for you to call me why isn't he focusing on it?" I ask, not really understanding shy Chiron isn't doing something about it. I knew that he cared deeply about the camp and its inhabitants and would never allow for any dangerous monsters to get out of control near camp.
"The Myrmekes generally stay within their own territory and only venture farther to steal shiny treasures. I can only guess that he deemed them something to be done later since they won't go out of their way to invade camp and attack the campers."
"I guess that makes sense." I say with a nod before standing up. "Well if all I have to do is kill a couple of ants then I better be on my way."
"I think you have enough drachmae to order a few hundred gallons of Windex from Hermes Deliveries." Adamos suggests and i remember that one time my mom found and infestation in our apartment and I used the cleaning liquid to kill the ants.
"Oh no you don't." Hestia grabs the back of my shirt before I have the chance to walk off. "I'm not letting you do this alone. Your going to have to find others to help you."
"You really think I need help to do this?" I asked, not a hint of offense in my voice since I knew Hestia didn't think I was weak at all, rather she was just that genuinely worried.
"Myrmekes can range from the size of a small dog to a bear, and they can number into the high hundreds." Hestia lets out a small huff before looking at me with those big eyes, which combined with her child form made a very lethal combo. "I know you are a good fighter but these numbers are too much even for you. I just worry about you okay."
"If it makes you feel better, I'll ask some of the other campers to help." I agree though I couldn't look her in the eyes any longer. She's practically weaponized her cuteness! "If that's all you need than I'm gonna go and prepare to kill some ants. Maybe grab a sledge hammer from the forges if my sword doesn't work."
"I'll have a dinner prepared for you and your friends when you come back." Hestia says waving to me cheerfully, an action that I return as I walk off. The prospect of one of Hestia's cooking spurring me forward as I go and look for anyone who wanted to help me kill some ants.
Omake: The Office
Within an alternate dimension, separate from earth there exists a land untouched by human hands. A land where myth and legend still thrived and nature is unspoiled from the creations of the mortals. This land was a paradise, a true garden of Eden that could rival the beauty of any divine kingdom yet still rival the Earth in its size.
And at the center of its largest landmass stood a giant tree of the purest white wood, the color of pure marble and the greenest leaves that seemed more precious than any emerald. Its trunk spiraled upwards until it practically scrapped the heavens, its roots spread out to the earth below and became indiscernible from the hills and mountains around them.
This world was truly a fantasy come to life from a story book.
And yet even it was not exempt from the one constant torture that has existed since Chaos first created the universe.
Paperwork.
"Pandemonica do you have those reports for last month that I asked for?" Adamos asked without looking up from a stack of papers in his hand as he walked through a rather well decorated room filled with desks on his way to his own personal office. "The Shinto pantheon has been asking about the progress of their order and I need something to give them so they can stop flooding me with messages."
"I got it right here sir." A short, tired looking woman says as she hands him a stack of papers. The bags under her red eyes being quite prominent due to her pale complexion and curled white hair. Despite the exhausted look on her face she still managed to hold a certain beauty to her that could draw the eyes of many lovers, that is if they didn't notice the dark horns on her head or the arrowhead tail that poked out from her black and red suit, a clear sign of her demonic heritage. "And I got you the projections for the next year on your desk."
"Thank you Pandemonica," Adamos said, sparing the demoness a grateful nod before she walked away. "Cera, Beryl, Ris." He called and from the shadows, as if they had been there the entire time, three identical girls stood at attention with peppy smiles on their faces. Their resemblance to Pandamonica was quite apparent, bearing the same red eyes and white hair and barbed tail as other demons, though rather than horns these three had a set of dog ears atop their heads.
"Yeah boss?" "What did you need?" "We just finished our work." The three spoke one after the other, which was a common occurrence considering that they were actually one entity with three bodies rather than three individual people.
"I need you to get Lucifer and Michael for me. I need to brief them on the upcoming schedules."
"You got it boss." "We'll have them here," "Before you know it." The three saluted before running off, giggling. Adamos stood in place for a moment before he started to count down on his fingers, and hearing a loud crash followed by screams and a rushed apology when he got to zero.
The god shook his head in amusement before he made his way to his office to be greeted by his ever-delightful secretary Gabriel. The blonde woman was a beauty that could that could probably rival even the most gorgeous of goddesses, while also possessing an innocent and kind personality that simply melted hearts. Currently she was typing away on her magically projected keyboard before turning and giving her god a delighted smile. The halo that hovered above her head that signified her status as an angel stayed in place over the top of her head even as she bowed. "Good day your highness." She said with a bright smile. "I have all of your appointments lined up for you and your lunch ordered already."
"What did you get me this time?"
"A club sandwich with a tomato puree instead of the slice."
Adamos nodded in approval and was about to leave before stopping and turning back to the secretary, seemingly remembering something. "Gabriel, could you send a message back to my residence. Tell Sella and Leysritt that I won't be returning home until much later so I will be eating dinner here."
"Of course sir." She responded dutifully.
Adamos nodded with approval making the woman smile even brighter before he walked into his office. It was a rather large room that that was filled with an assortment of different items. Against one wall was a massive bookshelf filled with everything from magic tomes, reference books, to even literature. And at its center between the bookshelves sat a large TV. While the other side of the room there was a small bar with different treasures and trophies standing on pedestals around it. In the back center of the room, in front of a glass wall that lead to a balcony that let whoever went out see the edge of the world, was a large desk made from unknown materials in a modern style with matching twin chairs in front of it for guests.
It was the exact moment that he made his way to his desk and sat down that two people entered. One woman and one man.
The woman was Lucifer, or Lucy for her friends, a demoness bearing the same white hair, barbed tail, and red eyes as Pandemonica and the other demons, even having the same red and black color scheme for her suit though with a black pin on her lapel showing her higher status compared to the others. However, where they all had black horns growing from their heads, she had white horns, signifying her also as a fallen angel.
The man, Michael, stood a full head and a half over the shorter woman. He had handsome features and a head of shoulder length hair the same shade of gold as the halo above his head that signified his status as an angel. He wore over his lean form, deep blue dress pants with a matching vest and tie over a white collared shirt. A white pin sat on his vest, one similar to Lucifer's, that showed his higher status.
"Well. You called for us." Lucifer said in a well-spoken English accent as she helped herself to some of Adamos's wine from his bar, acting as if she owned the office. Not that Adamos cared as he had long since replaced the contents of each bottle with lower quality alcohol, hiding the good stuff for himself. "It must be quite important if you are calling both heads of the HELL and HEAVEN departments."
"Must you always be so rude Lucifer." Michael gave the demoness a chastising look, a look she outright ignored as she swirled her filled wine glass. "His highness's wine is not something for you to take every time you visit."
"Oh, sod off Mikey." Lucifer waved of her angelic companion, the nickname making Michael's eye twitch in irritation. "If the boss man really cared about his wine, he would have told me already."
Of course, Michael knew the real reason and only refrained from say it because he enjoyed watching the demoness make a fool of herself when she showed off her appreciation of 'fine' alcohol while not knowing she was drinking wine that came in a box from the grocery store. Instead he turned to his god choosing to ignore the woman. "What did you need us for sir?"
"The time for the prophecy had finally arrived, meaning that I will be gone for quite a while. As such I will be leaving the day to day operations to—"
"I'll do it!" Before Adamos could finish Lucy was already in front of his desk, her tail wiggling from sheer excitement before realizing she had gotten ahead of herself. She awkwardly coughed into her hand before reestablishing the air or elegance and sophistication she had before. "I mean I will gladly take over in your absence."
Adamos gave the demoness an amused smile before reaching into his desk and grabbing a stack of papers. "Good. I've already written up a list of regulations and instructions for you to follow while I'm gone along with everything you need in case of an emergency. Anything beyond that I leave at your discretion." Lucy reached out and grabbed the papers only to find that they weren't moving. "I'm putting a lot of trust in you for this Lucifer. I hope you will live up to my standards." The head of the HELL department was silent as she felt the power of his stare. She never looked away though as she nodded her head, refusing to show weakness in front of her boss. Then it all but disappeared as Adamos went back to smiling. "That's good. Now you will be having to pack up your things because you will be moving into the office next to mine for the foreseeable future."
"Of course, sir." Lucifer nodded before holding the paper under her arm and waling out the door with poise and grace.
"Your highness I…" Michael started only for Adamos to shush him. He didn't understand why until he heard a very childish 'WOOHOO!' followed by a 'YIPPEE!' a few moments later. Choosing to ignore the childish exuberance of the demoness that just left he spoke to his lord. "Your highness I seriously question why you would leave Lucifer in charge of your kingdom in your absence. There are plenty of better choices."
"Probably," Adamos says with a shrug. "But despite her attitude and her ambitions I know she just wants what's best for everyone who lives here. She believes that she can do as good of a job as I can and I'm curious to see how she does." Adamos explained as he rifled through his desk, pulling out more papers. "Besides, I already have Judgement and Justice here to keep an eye on her anyways. Even she wouldn't want to cross both of the High Prosecutors while I'm gone."
"If your relying on those two then I am to assume that I won't be around to watch her as well."
Very astute." Adamos nods as he hands the angel a thick folder. "You will be taking Azazel and a team to the new realm we acquired from those trespassers I killed." Adamos says motioning to the heads of a golden eastern style dragon and a dark purple western style dragon that were mounted on his wall.
Michael remembered the events vividly. They were originally two deities that had come from the stars and landed on this planet that the god in front of him created with things he got from a few primordial entities and other gods he knew. It apparently had everything that they needed in order to start their experiment to create the perfect mortal race to worship them. The only problem was that this planet was already inhabited by the angels, demons and multitude of other mythical races that called it home.
Their answer?
Either evict the current inhabitants or wipe the slate clean.
Of course, Adamos took exception to that, and since Thor and Sun Wukong were visiting to get drunk, they were more than happy to help Adamos hand those two their self-righteous ass after they blew up the bar the three were in.
"Remnant? Sounds like a name for a fairytale place." Michael said as he read the file.
Adamos snorted. "And 'Avalon' and 'Eden' don't? What about 'Alter Earth' or the 'Reverse Side of the world'. I swear its like the other pantheons get together just to give us ridiculous anime names." Adamos shook his head with a 'what can you do' look. "Anyways you understand the parameters of your assignment?"
"Of course, sir." Michael said with a nod. "Observation, classification and research. Preferably no contact with the planets inhabitants and recovery of any traces of their former hosts."
"Exactly." Adamos said with a nod. "Although if you find any demigods or anyone with traces of divinity in them try to extract them discreetly and safely. We aren't trying to hurt them."
"Of course, sir." The angel bowed before leaving out the door.
The moment he was alone Adamos let out a sigh before slumping in his fine leather chair. With a lazy snap he turned his computer on and groaned as he watched the notifications of emails roll across his screen by the hundreds.
He couldn't wait to get out of here. He didn't care if the fate of Olympus was at stake. He was turning this into his much needed vacation.
A/N: Hey everyone. Once again, I give to you a chapter of lost god and the start of the relationship between Thalia and Percy. Are they friends? Not yet. At the moment Percy is just being nice and trying to help Thalia fit in while Thalia is using Percy as a form of stress release via sparring. To me Thalia has always been an aggressive and confident character in the canon material. She knows what she wants and will do what it takes to get it. Percy in canon however was her opposite in that he was less sure of himself, though now with Adamos in the picture that changes. Right now I have a something to do in between now and the next book that will involve Thalia. As for the Omake you can consider that canon if you want. All the demons mentioned are from the Helltaker series while the Angels are just OCs. I said in earlier chapter that Adamos controls what amounts to the biblical pantheon and i was honestly thinking for a while that angels and demons all work together in a an office building. As for the whole Remnant thing that's just a nod to RWBY, which I love reading fanfics about. Don't expect a crossover though.
That's all I have to say.
Stay well you sexy beasts!
Reviews:
DaoGodPrimus: While I'm sad that you don't like the pairing I chose Perlia because I can get more out of it than other pairings in my opinion. Calypso will be to late into the story for me to do a proper pairing for the story and Hestia has been delegated to 'best aunt' status. Thanks for the compliments though.
tana100: I can't promise that Thalia won't be a major part of Percy's adventures because she will but I will take your suggestion into consideration about the other girls. I'll try to explore other avenues for relationships for both characters as i go. As for the whole submissive thing that's a no go. Adamos has made Percy more confident and while he a generally laid back and fun guy he isn't going to roll over for other people.
Smile Giver11: Thanks, it would be weird if there were spelling errors considering that English is my first language. Nothing ruins a fic for me like literary inconsistency and badly structured sentences.
JoJo 'Perlia' Jesus: Indeed it has begun.
Guest: Thank you kind person of unknown gender. :) and as for the other guest I will see if I can do an Athena POV in an upcoming chapter.
diablohunter123: Thanks and i guess genderbend isn't for everyone.
AthenianShakespeare: Adamos was never able to make any proper different aspects so instead he has personas he goes by when he visits different pantheons. Had he never been exiled he would have a roman aspect called Adamos-Quirinus. In real mythology the god Quirinus was worshiped by the people that would later become the Roman empire but he was pushed aside when they started worshiping the roman gods. As for the minor gods? Adamos has a good relationship with the minor gods and he's on good terms with Thanatos since they are life and death. There are some that her doesn't like though.
HughJasz: It was a bit of back story while giving Percy a way onto Circe's Island. Sorry you didn't like it.
DudeBeingaDude: While those are good swords i have decided on an arthurian sword for Percy.
Matt: Yes i realized that they are the same person after I posted. I was too sleep deprived to care.
Jason wu: Jojo poses with lights and dramatic music in spades. Or something like that hehe.
MSKN: Artemis at the current moment doesn't like Percy so prepare for some aggression. Tyson is in Atlantis. When I wrote the chapter of Percy visiting Atlantis I had Poseidon out doing business. That business was retrieving Tyson and escorting him to the cyclops forges himself. The project given to Beckendorf is a secret until later and as for the Lou idea. I'm still thinking how i want that go down so I'll take it into consideration.
ThatCat413: Thalia will never let him live it down when she sees the photos. Right now she's too caught in her own angst to notice them.
Sultan Asil Arslan: A lot of deitites were pissed when Adamos was banished. Hermes, Hestia, Apollo, Hera, and Artemis on the council( though that didn't keep some of them from being forced to vote him out) and many minor gods that he has good relationships with. Aphrodite would later come to regret voting him out.