Chapter 68
Percy
I knew Harry would come as soon as I asked, and while we waited Hermes filled me in on gossip around Olympus. Things were actually pretty quiet. Hephestus was still trying to catch Aphrodite and Ares together, and the big three had decided they no longer needed to be celibate as they now had myself, Annabeth and our company of minor deities to raise their children and make sure they didn't start World War III. I wasn't sure this was a good idea, but I guess after seventy five years even Zeus had enough of it.
I saw Harry walk by my window and waved him in.
"So its on?" He asked by way of greeting.
"What? And good morning." I replied.
"Our quidditch match. The students won't shut up about it and are demanding that the Americans play Griffyndor as we were the next scheduled match. Oh, I'm sorry, I thought we were alone."
"Harry, you may not have met Hermes, Hermes, Harry Potter. Harry, Hermes, messenger of the gods and all round good guy to have in your corner. He saved my ass in the Sea of Monsters."
"That was a few years ago Percy, and... why are you kneeling Harry? Your an immortal of Olympus now. Save that for formal occasions, like when Zeus is around."
Harry rose, embarrassed.
"Its going to take time for everyone to work out the etiquette I fear." I said. "Anyway, no I didn't call you about the quidditch match I..."
"Oh? Backing out? Could it be that you heard we would protest Hazel being seeker? It seems your team has an advantage of someone who can summon gold to her." Harry grinned.
"You finally figured it out. Good for you."
"No Neville did. Apparently Renya let it slip that summoning precious metals and gems was her demi god gift."
"She is gifted in many ways. Truthfully, she is one of the more powerful of us. But no, quidditch isn't why I asked you here. Did you bring the sword? Backbiter?" I asked.
"Yes, of course" he replied as he reached into his messenger bag and drew it. It was just as I remembered it, perfect and unflawed. It showed no sign of being destroyed by Hestia.
"No doubt that was Luke's sword in life" Hermes said.
"No, I remember it well. It almost killed me." I replied.
"It almost killed all of us." Hermes added.
"Uh, so... whats up with it?" Harry asked.
"Well, it was supposed to be destroyed, and it is now here. Its very existence is a conundrum, and given its past, well, frankly, we are concerned as to who brought it back into existence and why it was given to Luke to give to you." Hermes replied.
"Oh. Uh..."
"Harry, after the first war I was in, against the Titans, the sword was taken from Luke's body by Hestia, she's big twelve, but one you don't hear a lot about. She guards the hearth and is the goddess of home and family, that sort of stuff, and architecture. She and Annabeth are pretty tight, well as tight as a demigod gets with a god that isn't their parent. Well, a godling, semigod, whatever we are now. You know what I mean. Anyway, the blade was originally made from the sickle blade of Kronos. He's the guy that led the Titans and when defeated he was cast into thousands of bits in Tartarus. That's the place Annabeth and I had to go through. That the blade is back is worrisome because..."
"Because it might mean that Kronos is back." Harry interrupted.
"Exactly" I concluded.
"Okay, so what do we do?"
"Well, I think Lord Hermes is bringing us a quest. I'm going to call the company in this evening and we'll talk about it and organize it, but I wanted to let you know up front and get your feel for it."
"You want me to be the guardian?"
"No, I figured Nico for that. But you should probably go. Of course that means Ron and Hermione will want to."
"And Will" Harry suggested.
"No, Will is smart enough to avoid the place. Any ideas on non immortals you could work with?"
"Well George and Fred" Harry started to say.
"The practical jokers? No, probably not appropriate for that venue." Hermes said.
"How did you know that about them?" Harry asked.
"Uh... its an area I have patronage." Hermes replied.
"Well there is Seamus. He strong with both wand and sword these days, and would be good to have in a fight."
"He's Catholic too, so all that Dante driven visions of hell will have given him some conditioning to Hade's realm." I suggested. "Okay, who else?"
"Well I really only know the Hogwarts kids. You thinking.." Harry said as I interrupted.
"Yeah, maybe one from the school, and one from each camp, with you and Nico as guardians. Perhaps we should ask Reyna and Chiron who they would suggest." I said.
"For a quest? Good idea, I will ask them while I'm out." Annabeth said as she swept into the room, as beautiful as the day I first fell in love with her, kissed me on the cheek and put a baby in my arms and one in Hermes. "You guys don't mind watching the kids while your mom and mine take me shopping do you?"
I looked over her shoulder to see my mom and Athena just behind her, grinning at me.
"No of course not." I replied to Annabeth, the returned to Harry "Make sure they know we're going to track down who gave Luke's sword to him so they won't give us someone that will die of a heart attack." I said as I smiled at mom and my mother in law. Herme's eyes lit up and he was soon in one of my office chairs rocking little Grover to sleep.
I asked Harry to gather the company that evening. Hermes and I relaxed and played with babies all afternoon, both of whom seemed to poop more than they eat. It was a great afternoon.
