AN: Heyo, time apparently doesn't exist for me so here we go. A month or so later than I wanted to post this. Just as a heads up chapter four will likely take a while to get out. I'm having a little trouble with the flow and making sure relationships aren't too stilted. Chapter title from Imagine Dragon's Natural.
The meetings the next day were mind-numbingly boring while her only duty was to shadow Athena. She wasn't expected nor invited to talk at any of them. She passed the time by identifying the different shades of gold around her and which one was most like the gold of time.
The more time she spent in Asgard the more she disliked it. While there were notable women around they were, by far, a minority. It was like they were stuck in the ages they were born from.
She started getting antsy part way through the meeting. On Olympus she was allowed to fidget or play with her powers. Council meetings were really just family meetings. She often ended up sitting sideways on her throne. Visiting Asgard just really hammered in that the Greeks were really lax.
She forced herself to walk at a reserved pace keeping a placid look on her face when all she really wanted to do was get away from the stuffy workings of Asgard. She was a princess but she never had to deal with any of that.
"Lady Percia," Loki turned from another hallway. "How was your meeting?" Loki had been absent from it. From what she had been gathering over the past few days was that no one was all that fond of Loki, except maybe his brother. Athena told her he was only included if it regarded magical business.
Remembering the frankness of his answer from last night she responded in kind. "Slow," she shook her head, trying to shake her restlessness, "I was actually heading out to burn off some energy and walk through that market that Fandral had taken me to."
"May I walk you to the exit?" He tilted his head, presumably towards the exit.
"Oh," Percy scanned his face. She hadn't the faintest clue why he would want to walk such a relatively short distance with her. "Sure," she promptly mentally slapped herself. What happened to talking pretty to the princes, huh Percy?
They took maybe four steps before Loki spoke up, "I wanted to know if you were willing to elaborate on your answer from last night. About the ring." He glanced down to see the ring missing.
Percy also looked to her finger briefly before glancing at Loki. She had been aiming to talk to Odin about the trade her father sent her on. But if Loki was the magic expert around here shouldn't she talk to him? "Well-"
"Mi'lady!" Despite Fandral's awkward behavior after she declined a private dinner yesterday he still lit up when he saw her. "Loki."
Percy looked between the two as they stopped. For some reason, Fandral calling Loki by only his name was different from when he did the same with Thor. With Thor is was familiarity. If what she had been seeing was true, then with Loki it was a lack of respect. She didn't know how he got away with it. Loki was a prince and Fandral, from her understanding, was a warrior that happened to be friends with Thor.
"Fandral," Loki droned, neatly hiding the fact he wanted to grind his teeth in irritation. Percy was fully willing to tell him what he wanted when this oaf had to stumble across them. There was a chance she would change her mind the next time he asked.
"Hello, Fandral, I was actually just heading out," she wasn't sure if she could handle being around him. His flirting and appearance made her think of Apollo which then made her think of all the pain Apollo wrought.
"With Loki?" He kept the incredulous tone out of his voice well enough but he couldn't keep his eyebrow from twitching up slightly.
"No, Prince Loki was just walking me out." She kept her tone light.
"Where are you going?" Fandral rocked back on his heels slightly.
"I was going to return to that market. There were some stalls I wanted to look at that we didn't get to yesterday."
Loki watched Fandral's face with interest. It twitched from a genuinely pleased smile into a slightly forced pained one. He wondered at the story there. "Ah, sorry about yesterday, I didn't mean to..." his eyes flicked to Loki before choosing his words carefully, "bring up those memories."
"I know you didn't, it's alright. But I would really like to head out." She dipped her head slightly before walking slightly quicker than normal away from the two. Loki did not follow.
She drifted stall to stall, looking more at accessories and clothes now than she did with Fandral. She was admiring a bracelet and contemplating whether Thalia would like it or not when a familiar voice spoke up.
"While primarily known as the god of the moon, Máni is also associated with timekeeping and magic," Percy turned towards the voice and met golden eyes.
A smile spread across her face. "Saiya right?"
"Siya," she corrected, a difference of Say-ya to See-yuh.
"I'm sorry," Percy gave an apologetic smile. "What were you saying about...Máni? Is this his symbol?" She raised the hand holding the bracelet.
"Yes, it is," Siya smiled, "but as I said he's also associated with timekeeping and magic."
"Timekeeping..." Percy muttered as she turned the jewelry around in her hands. "Do you think he'd mind a bracelet made for him being worn by a follower of Artemis?"
Siya hummed. "Artemis, your moon deity, correct?"
"Yeah, among a couple other things."
"Well, he's not the only moon god, he doesn't own the rights to the moon now does he?" Siya stepped closer to let someone pass behind her. She didn't know what it was but Siya smelled nice. Percy took a slightly deeper breath.
"I-uh, I suppose not. But like, there's no magic embedded in this that I can't feel is there?" Siya only wordlessly held out a hand.
She copied Percy's motion of turning the bracelet over, her eyes focused on it. Percy couldn't help but watch Siya. There was a spark in her eye and the time goddess wasn't sure if it was metaphorical or magical.
Siya handed the bracelet back. "The only magic I can detect is the residual magic it has picked up from its surroundings. Something that would be replaced with your Greek magic in time."
"Like a scent." Siya looked amused at her comparison.
"Yes, rather like a scent." Siya stayed close but let her eyes wander over the other wares.
"Norse magic, uh, seidr? I was curious about it." Percy shuffled to the side and took a bigger step when Siya followed.
"I like to say I'm rather advanced in it. What were you wondering about?"
"Thank you," Percy told the stall attendant when she was handed her change. "I dunno, I don't know that much in the first place." Percy contemplated as they walked into the crowd and she slipped the bracelet into the pocket of her dress. "Okay, how about the source for it? Magics have different sources."
"Seidr comes from your own core. Not everyone has a magical core or the ability to access it. Typically those who do have a core but no way to consciously tap into it but want to go into the rune business." Siya glanced at her companion.
"Are runes much different than seidr?"
"Runes are like..." Siya hummed, "pockets of seidr. They sit in the rune and, in turn, are directed by the rune. Typically they act as a sort of magnet for what the rune represents. What about Greek magic? Do you have a name for it?"
"Not that I'm aware of." Percy shook her head, drifting towards another stall. There were some pretty wicked looking daggers she wanted to check out. "I don't even really know if we have a direct equivalent. Pretty much all gods have," she paused to think, "baseline powers? Teleportation and such. From there powers and abilities can range dramatically depending on domain and parentage." Percy spun a dagger around, admiring its balance. Most weapons still felt off, even the dagger she carried, but she had learned to compensate. "I suppose there's this externally sourced magic that gods and their children can tap into but I don't understand it very well."
"Interesting," Siya hummed as she brushed her fingers along the blade of a sword, "What about runes? Do the Greeks have any of those?"
"No," Siya's eyes narrowed as Percy was distracted putting the dagger down. "Some people assume we do because of our alphabet but really, that's all it is." Percy scanned the surrounding stalls. "Hey, do you wanna get something to eat?" She didn't want to stop talking to Siya.
"I would like that," Siya smiled, "I have an idea." Instead of going to another stall Siya tugged her out of the crowd.
"Where are we going?" Percy laughed as Siya pulled her along in excitement.
"To get the best food in Asgard!"
The time goddess couldn't hold back a giggle. "I've been staying in the palace, is that not the best food?"
Siya scoffed theatrically. "Definitely not!"
Despite being the goddess of time she had lost track of it talking to Siya. Her presence wasn't required for dinner but was expected in the meeting that would follow.
With a hasty goodbye, she flashed to just outside the gates as it would be poor etiquette to just appear inside. Definitely an easy way to get attacked. Even though she promised herself to limit the use of her powers while in Asgard she slowed time slightly so she wouldn't be late to the meeting. She hoped the guards just thought she was really good at speedwalking.
She slipped through the doors and took her seat next to Athena just as Loki was taking his. She got a displeased eye from Odin but was otherwise left alone.
Athena stood to address the room. "Three hundred years ago there had been an encroachment into our territory by the princes. The Olympian Council requests an explanation and, in the case of any future encroachments, it goes through the proper channels."
Percy could feel the sigh of exasperation that Athena was holding back. It was pretty obvious why Thor was there using his powers as there was an alien army pouring from the sky. But Zeus just wanted her to bring it up to make some sort of convoluted power play.
She was there for at least part of the battle. Her transformation into a goddess was almost complete but she was mortal enough to help. She hadn't gotten a hang of flashing yet but with Blackjack, a favor from Hermes and a tentative grip on her time powers she got there within the hour. It was hard to stay undetected with Iron Man flying around with her. He was usually too distracted to see her helping the mortals. Whatever the aliens were Riptide did not work so she swept by a fountain and started stabbing them with the hardened water.
"The situation was rather abrupt. We had no time to consult the Olympian Council." Odin responded.
"The only gods on the ground were the princes. Someone in Asgard should have contacted us. If that was not doable then a briefing afterward would have sufficed." They had no response to that. They could have debriefed afterward but they did not. The Olympian Council had sent an inquiry but had not received any response.
"I apologize for trespassing and the use of my powers within the mighty King Zeus's domain. Circumstances after the event prevented our reaching out." Thor replied. Percy could tell Athena wanted to ask but the barely there tightening of Loki's eyes kept her quiet. Whatever had happened must have been bad. "I will endeavor to seek an audience with the Olympian Council the next time I must use my powers within their domain." Athena nodded her assent.
Despite Loki also trespassing Athena wasn't instructed to bring it up. Zeus didn't care that they were physically in their territory. He only cared that another god with similar powers showed up. Thor was lucky he used the Chrysler building and not the Empire State building as a giant lightning rod.
She kept quiet about her own involvement in the battle. As far as the Norse were aware, besides the princes, no other (almost) gods were involved.
The rest of the meeting was to cover grievances either side had. It was a way to have a clean slate and make sure a millennia old grudge wasn't brought up (a relatively new practice in actuality). There weren't many given that the Norse spent much of their time in Asgard and the Greeks spent all their time with the mortals.
As they wrapped up the meeting Percy felt a flash of regret for just leaving Siya. It was chance that they had met up today. They hadn't exchanged any information that would help Percy contact her again. If Siya wanted to she could try to reach out to Percy. Anyone in the Greek pantheon could point the woman to Percy. But would a citizen think it was worth reaching out to a goddess? Siya seemed confident enough but who knew what she thought.
She pushed away the feeling. She had to focus on her mission here. Even though hanging out with Siya had been a breath of fresh air. A lot of the gods back home were still weird about her divorce. Some were too careful not to mention Apollo. Others would utter the sun god's name and freeze, side-eyeing her. Things were different and she didn't like it. Siya didn't know the drama. Siya was fun, she was smart. Siya was...
pretty
AN: Sorry to end it so abruptly but I thought it was a pretty good place to end. Also, I just live for disaster bisexual Percy. Lemme know if you want any other Asgard shenanigans before Percy leaves. I'll see if they fit in.