Percy comes to Camp Jupiter in a carpet.
sequel to egyptiote.
Aegyptus
The carpet smelled like grandmas and mothballs.
After running away from the Greek demigods in New York and monsters across the US, he settled in the one place monsters wouldn't dream of looking. Their own evil lair, and not just any secret evil lair, but one of Arachne's spawn spider holes. A carpet warehouse amid one of California's bustling cities.
Percy knew if he explained this to an audience, they would ask the obvious. What kind of seasoned magician with an ounce of self-preservation would willingly choose to hide in a monster's den and not just a regular monster's den, but a Greek spider monster's den with a taste for his very yummy flesh? This one, he thought as he pointed to himself.
Yes, if one thought about the problem logically, they would conclude the risk was too great. However, the owner of his brain cell, Zia Rashid, was in Egypt, while Master Iskander banished him to the United States. This wasn't Percy's fault.
These past couple of days, he mostly slept. He came out of his chosen carpet every once in a while to stretch, do his business, find some food, by which he meant he ate his no regret fill on Monster Donut and Geryon's Grill (also a business run by monsters; monsters and capitalism worked well together) and charge his protective amulets.
Despite the beginning seeds of regret, this had been a good hideout where the others lacked. He was warm. He had a full belly. In a weird way, he was safe as well. The warehouse reeked of spiders and regular humans, masking his powerful scent. It proved an unlikely haven. Something he had needed as monsters chased him across the US.
No one told him just how dangerous the United States was. How any demigod survived in this land he hadn't a clue. Probably with lots of trauma and a few missing limbs. It seemed everywhere he turned there was something with big sharp teeth and long claws wanting to kill him. Maybe it wouldn't have been so awful if it were just monsters out there, but adults added to the mix. They were the worst. They never listened and often made the situation a thousand times more terrible.
Thinking about it, he pulled his lips to the side.
Where to next? Part of him wanted to find the next payphone and call Amos. He was an exception among a lot of awful adults. If he admitted he needed help from his caretaker, Amos wouldn't nag him or tell him how stupid he was for running away. Percy imagined he would set him up in a super fancy hotel with room service and ask him to wait patiently because he would pick him up as soon as possible. In the same vein, asking Amos meant going back to Brooklyn, a stone's throw away from Manhattan, Greek territory, and they would find him again.
So the only option left was to stay on the run and maybe contact Zia when he reached his majority. By then, he could very well make his own choices.
He could totally do this for six more years. Totally.
The warehouse doors squeaked open. Percy froze in place, listening to shuffling feet and exasperated sighs of two guys.
"This is the carpet? It's purple. I've never seen a purple carpet. And how much was it?" said one guy who Percy imagined was the type of guy who wore hoodies, vans, and was muscular.
"I don't know. Five-thousand?" said the other and Percy decided he was the type of guy that was old, grey, and disillusioned and wore loafers on his off days.
"Shoot! What's it made out of? Gold? It has to be made of that good shit like Egyptian cotton."
"Don't know, doesn't matter. It just needs to go to the Berkeley Hills. Grab the other side."
"Can't we have a conversation then and again? Just trying to comment on these monsters trying to make a buck over some poor, actually, rich schmuck's taste."
Percy heard a grunt, and he caught the startled sound in his throat as they lifted from the ground. What in the Duat? Where was he going?
This would be a good time to push from his hole and yell Wait, you're kidnapping a little boy! If not for the fact he was wrapped tighter than a pig in a blanket with tape zipped around to keep the carpet from loosening. Also monsters. Old and young guy were a little sweaty and dirty, but they were human labor. As he was being hauled to what he assumed was the back of a trunk, he got a strong whiff of the nest of spiders.
One and two he could take in a fight, no problem, but ten of them? His senses tingled, alerting him to the obvious. Don't breathe unless he was ready for it to be his last.
They dumped him in the back of the trunk. He was happy for the plush carpet absorbing most of the shock. Before he got his bearings he heard the loud rumble of the engine and his world rocked.
In a vague dim memory, he remembered sitting opposite of his mother and her encouraging cajole to follow her lead and spin a wheel. The faster he turned the wheel, the faster they spun until it was like his head was filled with circles and loops. This felt like that with a heavy side of bumper cars pushed hard with each turn and zipping merge.
Would he survive this? He wasn't certain but he knew in the afterlife he would have two friends waiting for him. Lil Ammit, the cutest most awesome best girl heart-eating gator in the world, and Anubis, who was okay by comparison but still cool and still very much likely to chide him upon the judgment of his soul for making so many decisions leading to his untimely death.
The vehicle lurched forward, then came to a stop. Grateful for the minor miracles, he bit his tongue as the doors open. He was picked up once more.
"What's with the kids running around with swords and breastplates?" asked the old guy.
"What are you talking about, Cato? All I see are dirty sneakers and purple camp shirts. This place must have a purple policy."
Percy was jostled. He guessed the young guy was trying to spot kids running around with swords. He didn't blame the guy.
"C'mon. I'm tired of your jokes. Hey, kid-yes-what's the game here? We've got a carpet and you've got some weapons."
"You can see our swords- I mean-yeah it's a kids' LARP camp. We pretend we, um, live as if we're ancient Roman soldiers. We're given prop swords."
Percy made a face in the carpet. Not to be a total nerd, but he couldn't stand Roman stuff maybe more than Greek stuff. Ignoring his family issues for a second, the Ancient Greeks were pretty cool people with a bunch of original contributions to society. In comparison, the Ancient Romans were over-hyped. They were just deeply unoriginal country bumpkins and only known for the coo-coo-bananas emperors.
He would be making his escape as soon as possible.
For the rest of the conversation, he blanked out. Bits of important bubbled back to him. An adult, someone at least sixteen, needed to sign the papers and release the carpet. Tent. He was going to the praetor's (what was that?) tent. Payment. LARP camp had real gold coins but a serious lack of greenbacks and change.
Someone led Cato and the hoodie guy to the vending machine. "There's one at the university cafeteria," and Percy bid them a silent adieu. He liked those guys and hoped the monsters were paying them a living wage and pension or whatever adults needed to pay their bills instead of using them as food slaves.
He started the makings of his escape interrupted by two loud growls. Monsters growls they were not, but the relief was short-lived. They were intimidating dog growls. Absolutely ready to tear the enemy, him, into shreds. He gulped. "Nice dog," he whispered to them in the hopes they understood human language. "I'm not here to hurt anyone. I'm stuck, but as soon as I'm free, I'm out of your hair. You can bet on it."
"Argentum. Aurum. Guys?" a voice. A female voice.
Gods below.
"The new carpet," she said. "It arrived."
Percy heard the scuffle of shoes. Flip-flops if the annoying clack were anything to go by.
"What's wrong, guys? It's a just new carpet-"
Light and air rushed Percy as the carpet was split open. He laid gasping in the tatters inhaling breaths.
"What the-" didn't even make it out of his mouth.
Standing above him was a girl about his age. Her hair was glossy and black, braided into a single severe braid. Her dark eyes were hostile and piercing. Despite his tumbling into another imminent death of sitch, he felt a longing stir in his bones for Zia.
"Who are you? Some people were easy to punk out. Instinctively, Percy knew this girl wasn't the type. Her real sword edge pressed at his delicate skin. One wrong move and he'd have a sword in his throat. "Answer wisely because my dogs don't like liars."
"Percy Jackson, uh, a magician of Egypt. Nice to meet you."
"What are you doing here?"
Percy held up his hands. His throat jumped under her sword's edge. "Um. I think there's been a misunderstanding. Where is here? Who are you?"
"I'm the daughter of Bellona. I'm a child of Rome, legionnaire of the third cohort, the best swordsman in the Twelfth Legion. And now I've recognized you as an enemy of Rome. Give me one good reason I shouldn't slit your throat."
A sinking feeling started in the pit of his stomach.
What rotten luck he had to run from the Greeks and end up with the Romans.
yes, i know reyna isn't supposed to be in new rome rn but im obvi not looking to match canon with canon. also quick editing please point out any obvi mistakes.
just a little taste of a possible sequel to egyptiote.