Chapter 4

Percy didn't wake up well.

That wasn't abnormal for him, waking up in a cold sweat or feeling like he was about to die, he was a half blood after all, but evidently it counted for double on a plane. He didn't get the blessing or liberty of waking up like a normal person, no, instead he was shaken awake by another bout of turbulence.

He woke with a grunt and a yawn, rubbing his tired eyes with his hands before instinctually reaching next to him towards Zoe.

Only to be met with an empty seat.

He sighed to himself, running his hand over his eyes as he realized she'd probably just gone to the bathroom. He sighed, clicking the air hostess button hoping they had some nice, strong alcohol on board. The kind that's get him nice and drunk. Maybe scotch? Yeah, he could go for some scotch right about now.

He waited for a minute, then another, then frowned and hit the button again. He waited another minute and nothing happened.

That was when he got nervous.

He stood up and walked into the aisle and felt his heart drop when he did.

No one was on the plane.

He whirled around as worry started to fill his heart. Where the hell was everybody? The plane had been at least half full when he'd gotten on. What? Did they all go to the bathroom at once?

"Zoe?" He called out. There wasn't an answer, and his hand traced nervous lines over his neck because of it.

"Zoe where are you?" His voice was hoarse now, emotion slipping through as he realized no one was here. He was completely alone on this plane.

He turned toward the cockpit and surged forward, moving past the seats and vaulting the abandoned food cart as he made his way towards it. He got to the door and didn't bother with any formalities. He pounded on it like a damn fool.

"Hello? Is anyone in there?"

There wasn't an answer so he pounded some more. There still wasn't an answer. He felt his breath get heavy and his hand moved on its own, fishing out his lighter before he struck it, feeling Moskstraumen extend into its full length in his grip. He drove the blade into the lock, watching as it cut through the door like butter before he kicked it open completely.

He felt his breath hitch as his heart froze in his chest.

The pilots were gone. Two empty seats sat at the front of the plane with not a soul in sight. Lights and dials on the console flashed and beeped, but no one was around to tend to them.

Percy panicked, he felt his heart pick up as he stumbled back, his grip instinctually tightening around Moskstraumen. He rotated in a circle, scanning the plane for anything, anything that might give him a hint as to what was happening. Anything that might tell him what was wrong.

Anything that would tell him where Zoe was.

His throat tightened as the panic really set in, with fear nestling in right next to it.

"Zoe?" He cried, in a voice that barely hid his terror.

There was no noise. There was nothing but silence.

Until there wasn't.

A low noise grumbled out, from the window to Percy's immediate right. His head turned, snapping to the sound as he tightened his grip on his sword. His eyes narrowed and his teeth grit and he fought back the terror as he approached the window.

He looked out, and there was nothing. Nothing but the black empty sky.

Until there wasn't. Until he saw a single, massive, glowing yellow eye open out in the darkness. It was reptilian in nature, with a single slit of an iris that ran its entire length. A pair of jaws opened just below it. Massive jaws, filled with razor sharp teeth, that he could only see open because an orange glow shone from inside them.

This... thing, whatever it was, scared him. It was big, and terrifying, and from what he could tell, it could fly, and damn fast too. It's yellow eye scanned over the plane, going from window to window, until it landed on him. The eye narrowed, glowing even brighter as the glow from it's jaws did the same.

The beast turned, pointing its head towards him as it opened its maw wide and Percy got a good look at what was making the glow that emanated from it's teeth.

Fire. Fire, that burned in the back of it's throat. Fire that churned as it turned.

Percy backed away from the window, hefting his sword in an instinctual motion, knowing he could do nothing more than watch.

Watch as the beast drew a deep breath and shot a massive plume of flame directly at him.

He closed his eyes tight as the fire burst through the window, covering him completely.

Before he snapped them open and woke with a gasp, ripping breaths in and out of his lungs as he sat in his seat. His seat. He was in his seat, in the plane. He was safe.

It was just a dream.

But it had felt so real...

Zoe was still next to him, thank the gods, and had risen off his shoulder in shock when he'd awoken with his little display. She was groggy, and tired, but forced words out regardless.

"What... what happened?" She asked, trying stiffle her yawn as she wiped the exhaustion from her eyes, "What's wrong?"

He drew a couple shaky breaths as he turned to look at her. She had the aisle seat and was staring at him, brows deeply furrowed in concern.

She looked worried, really worried, but it kinda helped that she looked cute when she was worried.

"It's... it's nothing." He said, forcing a smile, "Just a bad dream is all."

She kept her eyes locked on him before they narrowed slightly. She reached out and gripped his hand tight, running a gentle thumb over it.

"Just a dream? Didn't sound like just a dream, Percy."

He breathed deeply in and out through his nose, "I... I'm alright Zoe."

He wasn't, and she could tell. She always could.

"Are you sure? You can tell me if somethings wrong, Percy."

He really wanted to, to say he just had the shit scared out of him by a very, very real feeling dream, but he knew it wouldn't do any good. All it would do was worry her, and they weren't supposed to be worrying right now, they were on vacation. Besides, what was he supposed to say? Sorry, I had a dream where all the passengers and crew disappeared and a monster shot fire at the plane. Neither of them needed to deal with that right now.

He let his smile change into a small smirk as he gave her hand a small squeeze.

"Don't worry, I'm alright Zoe. Really, I am." He narrowed his eyes a bit, "Don't you go worrying about me, now. Were on vacation, remember?"

She rolled her eyes at him, "Yeah, I remember. I also remember what you said in the house." She puffed up her chest, mocking him as she deepened her voice and flexed her arms.

"I always worry about you, Zoe." She said in her fake Percy tone, before she let that worry slip back into her voice, "Well... the feeling goes both ways, dummy."

He smiled at that, "I know it does..." He brought his hand up and slid it over her cheek, "That's why I love you."

She blushed at that, pretty hard too, as another Percy-Zoe moment happened between them. She perked up a bit, peeking over her seat, then over the seats in front of them. He watched in confusion as she did a half-assed impression of a gopher for him.

"Zoe? What're you-"

He stopped talking when she pressed a palm over his mouth, leaning in close to his face with a devilish grin as she whispered right into his ear.

"Making sure no one's watching."

His eyes widened, then narrowed, then settled as he smiled against her palm. She removed her hand and replaced it with her lips, kissing him softly as her hand gently caressed his cheek.

It was a sweet moment, the kind he lived to share with her. The kind he lived for, honestly. The kind that, of course, had to be ruined when another bit of turbulence made her stumble forward and fall onto him.

She let out a soft noise as she landed on his lap, the plane shifting as the speaker overhead crackled with the pilots voice.

"Ladies and gentlemen we are now making out descent into Heathrow airport. The weather is a chill, crisp 8 Celsius and the weather is, to no one's surprise, rainy. Local time is 10 A.M. and the estimated flight duration was a cool 15 hours. Please wait for the plane to come to a full stop before you disboard and have a lovely evening."

The speaker shut off as Zoe let out a gentle laugh from on Percy's lap.

"Well, we're here." She said as she looked Percy in the eye with a small smirk, "Still worried, Jackson?"

He let out a gentle chuckle as he met her eyes, "Much less so."

She smiled at his joke and let her hand slide up his cheek. Her eyes fluttered closed and she pressed close to him, letting her lips draw close to his.

She got close, real close, before the sound of a clearing throat snapped both their attentions to the aisle. It was the flight attendant, hand son her hips and a frown plastered firmly across her lips as she watched the two all over each other.

"We'll be beginning our descent shortly." The attendant said in a mock friendly tone, "And, though I'm sure you'd prefer otherwise, it's required all passengers remain in their own seats."

Zoe muttered out an apology through a crimson blush as she shifted back into her seat, all while Percy tried and failed to stiffle his laughter.

She got in her seat, did up the buckle, and shot him a side eyed glare.

"Oh, shut it, Jackson." She grumbled.

He let his smile fade into a grin as he turned to the window and took a look out, watching as they descended into the city.

The continent, he had to remember that too. They weren't just in some new city or town or state or even country. This was a whole new continent, or at least one he hadn't been to in years. It was foreign territory, both figuratively and literally. They were in a new country, with new people, and new possible threats, and new possible enemies, and-

Those thoughts all slipped on the back burner when he felt her hand slip into his and her head rest itself on his shoulder. He eased into his seat, turning to give her a smile as she settled against him.

"Wake me when we land?" She asked. He planted a kiss on her hair.

"Of course."

She frowned, snapping her eyes up to him.

"You missed."

He narrowed his eyes with a smile, "You'll get plenty when we're on dry land."

That seemed to be enough for her, so she tucked herself into his neck a little tighter as they began the slow descent.

On dry land. He probably could've chosen his words better, because the second they stepped off the plane it was evident.

This was not dry land.

The was rain. Buckets and buckets of rain thay poured down from the sky like Poseidon had a point to prove. It soaked the concrete, dripped from the awnings, and guaranteed every person there had an umbrella.

Percy and Zoe didn't.

They left the airport, heading out to the terminal and the very second they did they were met with the rainfall. Percy sighed as they stepped out, giving a slight upward look at the sky from under his hat.

"Well would you look at that." He said in a gentle tone, "It's your favorite."

Zoe smiled next to him and gave him a poke with her elbow, "It's not that bad. Kinda nostalgic, actually."

"I hope you're not talking about the mountain." He said in a nervous tone, "I wouldn't really call that nostalgic."

"Some parts were." She said as she reached over to hold his hand, "Remeber the gondola?"

He let a smile spread over his own face. He reached up and plucked his hat off his head, running a hand through his hair before he dropped it back down.

"Alright." He said, as he rubbed his hands together, "Let's see if these New Yorker instincts still work."

She gave him a look of confusion as he stepped don't from under the covering into the rain, holding his right hand up and bringing his left hand up to his mouth before he let out a sharp taxicab whistle.

A second went by, before a large black taxi pulled up. Percy looked dover his shoulder and shot Zoe a grin, who just rolled her eyes and made her way over before they stepped into the cab together.

They gave the driver the hotels address and settled in for the ride, watching as the streets went by.

London was... different.

That applied to just about everywhere Percy had been, whether that be Alaska or New York or anywhere in between. It wasn't like anywhere he'd been before.

The streets were narrow, with smooth paving and cobblestone sidewalks that ran along their borders, lit by tall cast iron streetlights that shone overhead in the glum, early morning light. The buildings that surrounded them were virtually identical to each other, but nonetheless beautiful. Tall, granite structures with decorative arches and red brick adornments that were more often than not capped in sharply inclined roofs with sheet metal sheathing.

Besides the buildings the place oozed English culture. Percy tried to keep count of how many red telephone booths and double decker busses he saw, but gave up when he hit double digits for each within five minutes.

It was a beautiful place, a beautifully designed place, somewhere that Percy could tell someone like Annabeth would kill to see. He smiled at that thought as he reached for his bag and unzipped it, pulling out the other thing he'd remembered to bring.

The camera, the one from the mountain, which made Zoe sigh the second she saw it.

"You're unbelievable..." She said, reading through a pamphlet on London Tourism, "You pack maybe three things, and one of them is that."

Percy shrugged with a smile, "What? We're on vacation, remember? People take pictures on vacation." He held the camera up to his eye and aimed it at her, "Now smile. We're about to pass the Palace of Westminster."

She rolled her eyes with a sigh and shot him a smile as the British parliament building passed behind her. He grinned behind the camera and snapped a photo, shaking the photograph so it would develop quicker before holding it up for them.

"Wow." He said, eyeing up the photo.

She shot him a look, "Wow?"

"Yeah, wow..." He tucked it into his pocket with a smile, "...I think I found my new favorite picture of you."

She sighed, "Y'know, it kinda feels like every picture you take of me is your favorite one."

He narrowed his eyes at her with a mock frown, "How could you tell?"

She blushed a bit at that as a small smile worked its way over her face. He smiled, tucking the camera back into his bag as their cab came to a stop in front of their hotel. They piled out, thanking the driver as Percy paid the fare, before making their way in. They grabbed their keys from the front desk, with the concierge giving Percy quite the look when he saw his cowboy hat, all before they made their way up to their room, and stepped in, with Percy putting their bags by the door as gently as he could.

He then wasted absolutely no time in collapsing face first onto the bed with a rumbling groan.

Zoe wasn't impressed. To be fair, she wasn't impressed by a lot of things her boyfriend did, usually just accepting it with a roll of the eyes and forgetting it with second he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and planted a kiss on her cheek. But she was especially unimpressed at this particular moment.

"What do you think you're doing?" She asked, hands on her hips and in a tone that let Percy know those hands were on her hips.

"Not too sure." He muttered through his pillow, "But I think I'm about to be sleeping."

She took a step toward him and leaned over the bed.

"I recall you saying we were on vacation, Jackson. Aren't people supposed to do things on vacation?"

He shrugged, rolling over onto his back.

"Sleeping is a thing. Plus you can't tell me you aren't tired."

She shook her head, "I got plenty of sleep on the plane, Percy, and I thought you did too."

He shrugged, "To be fair I've been waking up at 7 A.M. Alaskan time for six and a half years, Zoe. Not exactly easy to change that on one flight."

He took a deep breath through his nose before a flash of a dark look passed behind his eyes, "Not to mention what little I got...wasn't exactly good sleep."

He let his eyes drift up to hers, taking note that she was already looking at his and had an extremely concerned look plastered over her face. She took a few steps over to the bed and crawled on top of him, sitting on his lap as he tucked his hands behind his head.

"Y'know... I've got a place in mind we can go." She said in a soft tone as she held up the Tourism pamphlet, "A place I think we'd both enjoy. A place that's very... familiar to us."

He met her eyes again and let his brow furrow in curiosity, "You're not taking me to a dam, are you?"

She scowled and lightly smacked the pamphlet on his forehead, making him chuckle to himself as she flipped through the pages.

"No, dummy. This."

She held it open for him and he took a read.

The Royal Armouries Museum.

He took the pamphlet from her and gave it a read, or at least as much as he could through his dyslexia, reading out loud when he got to a very notable sentence.

"...Featuring an all new exhibit, The Weapons and warriors of Greek Mythology..." He gave her a look, followed by a soft smile, "I knew you were feeling nostalgic."

She shrugged with a smile, taking the pamphlet back from him as she shifted off his lap and stood back up.

"Come on." She said, "You can sleep when the days over, Jackson. There's stuff to do and I'm not doing it alone."

He sighed, swinging his legs off the bed and standing up before he took a nice, long, Percy-stretch, cracking his shoulders as he stuck his hands in the sky.

"Alright, I could go for some Greek nostalgia today." He said, shifting his head side to side before he poked her in the stomach, "But let's just hope none of the displays come to life, Alright?"

She caught his hand, slipping her fingers into his as she shot him a soft glare.

"As if we couldn't handle it if they did."

He didn't answer, choosing to just smile as she led them both out to the door. He plucked his hat off his head and tossed it on the coat hanger as they got moving, but stopped when she whipped around and glared at him.

"That had better be going back on your head immediately, Jackson."

He sighed, "Do I really have to dress like a sheriff here? I already look American enough." He said, gesturing to his denim and bomber.

She shook her head, grabbing the hat and putting it right back on his head.

"It's so I can spot you, remember? It's... tactical."

He raised an eyebrow, "Tactical?"

She nodded, adjusting the hat so it sat straight, "Tactical."

He sighed, digging into his pocket, "How about I give you something a little more tactical."

He handed her something, a small bronze sphere with an ornate button protruding from the center. She observed it for a second before he shifted his pant leg up.

"Press the button." He said. She did, and the orb immediately shifted. It sprouted two pairs of simple, bronze wings that started fluttering, bringing the orb to a hover. It floated towards Percy's prosthetic and started hovering in circles around his leg. Percy plucked it out of the sky and hit the button, collapsing it back into an orb.

"A little present from Leo." Percy said with a grin as he slapped his leg, "One of the many little James bond spy gadgets he tucked away in this thing. It'll fly towards the leg if we ever get separated, slow enough that you can follow too."

He handed the orb back to Zoe, who took it back with a soft glare.

"And when we're you planning on giving this to me?" She asked him. He nervously ran his hand over the back of his head.

"Ah, well... right now, to be honest."

She narrowed her glare, tucked the orb into her pocket, and crossed her arms.

"Alright." She said in a firm tone, before she pointed at the hat, "But that stays on. Now come on, it's a four hour drive."

His eyes bulged out of his head, "Four hours?"

"Yes, Percy. Four hours. That's why we're leaving at noon, now come on..." She reached for the door handle and cracked a small smile, "... I want you to show me how to do that taxi whistle."

He just let out a soft sigh and a small smile as she straightened the hat on his head and led them both out the door.

It was just a little past four when they got to the museum.

The taxi ride had been interesting, a long and pretty boring ride that had Percy teaching Zoe how to taxicab whistle the whole way, much to the driver's annoyance. That annoyance stopped when they got to the museum and Percy handed him a hefty tip with a look that said sorry she blew spit all over your cab the whole ride.

They took a look at the building before they entered, taking in it's details. It was a modern building, mostly covered in glass curtain walls and with concrete detailing. Maybe three or four stories tall.

Zoe led them in, admittedly a little more excitedly than she'd usually be and Percy had some idea why. This was a weapons museum, and weapons were a notable topic for her.

They grabbed their tickets and started making their way through the crowds, going deep into the museum.

Zoe was... well, a lot of words could describe how she was right now, but the most accurate one was aggressive. She marched them past the modern weapons section, past the old west section, even past a full size replica of an elephant in war armor.

Percy couldn't help but picture Hannibal in New Rome when he saw that.

Zoe kept leading him along, slowing down when they got to the entrance of the exhibit.

"I have a question." He said as she led him forward.

"Shoot." She replied. He felt a soft smile pull at his lips.

"Are we just doing this to see if we can spot you and Arty in paintings?"

He didn't need to look at her to tell her eyes had narrowed, the elbow she jammed into his side reassured him of that. He softly grunted as his smile grew a bit and she led him forward.

"Maybe we are," She said, pulling him into the exhibit, "Or maybe I just wanna see if they got the stories right."

He felt his smile grow as they walked through the exhibit. Percy would be lying if he said his eyes didn't wander a bit, but he couldn't really help it. This stuff was interesting, and relatable, and enough of either to keep his mind focused on it, adhd be damned. There were lots and lots of weapons, and paintings too, depicting all sorts of things from the slayings of monsters to wars that had been waged to in depth, intensely accurate descriptions of weapons.

Percy couldn't help but think about how excited someone like Clarisse would be to see this place, so he figured it would hurt to take some memories home.

He slipped his hand out of Zoe's and reached into his pocket, immediately getting a look from his girlfriend.

"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere." He reassured her, hefting his phone with a grin, "I just know some Ares campers who'd probably kill to see this stuff."

Zoe scrunched up her face and shot a look over her shoulder, glancing at a couple of exhibits.

"Alright, take your pictures. But that..." She said, gesturing to his hat, "...had better stay on. I can't be losing you, alright?"

He held his hands up with a smile, "As you command."

She shot him one last smile before she went off deeper into the exhibit. Percy chuckled to himself as he brought his phone up and started snapping photos. He didn't even really focus on one thing, instead he just snapped picture after picture of everything he could.

He started to drift a little bit, straying a little from the Greek exhibit and venturing a little deeper into the museum. It wasn't really a conscious thing, but he wasn't complaining. He liked Greek mythology, but also knew Greek mythology and knew it well, and figured he may as well use the opportunity to broaden his horizons at least a little bit.

He started drifting between different exhibits, wandering about as his phone continued to snap pictures. There were a couple of weapons from the Ottoman empire, an exhibit of Roman armaments, even a Norse exhibit with some very familiar looking swords.

All that was interesting enough, but there was an area that, for whatever reason, really caught his eye and made him slip the phone back in his pocket.

Medieval and Arthurian Legend.

It just... called to him, and he wasn't even sure why. Something about the section made his brow furrow and his mind focus and drew him in like nothing else.

He wandered into the section which was, a bit surprisingly, not very full, with only a few guests here and there. There were quite a few pieces hanging off the walls. Intricate looms depicting adventures, paintings showing knights in beautiful Armour, and weapons.

Lots and lots of weapons.

Swords, spears, shields, axes, daggers. They had it all.

Everything from big two handed claymores to brutal looking Morningstars. The room was packed with everything someone would need to get some killing done circa the year 1100.

That wasn't really what drew Percy in though. No, it was a display that sat in the middle of the room, far away from all the others. A simple glass case with a plaque in front of it displaying a sword. The sword was just the most ridiculous thing Percy had ever seen. An ornate, broad, overly embellished piece of various metals that looked like it hadn't been designed for any fighting style, and rather had been designed for what it was doing right now.

Sitting in a museum.

Percy got up to it, feeling himself again drawn to the weapon as he forced himself to read the plaque.

It almost made him sputter out a laugh when he read what it said.

Excalibur.

Right. Bullshit. That was complete bullshit, and more importantly it was bullshit he was certain was bullshit. He remembered what Brokkr had told him on the mountain when he'd taken his sword, what names had been engraved on the blade.

One of them had been Arthur. A king named Arthur.

Excalibur wasn't in this museum, it was sitting in Percy's pocket.

Something else was in one of Percy's pockets, too. Something that made him stiffen up as he remembered one of the main reasons he was here.

He stuck his hand in his coat pocket and ran his fingers over the case, feeling the box that held the ring that held just about every ounce of worry Percy had in him.

He sighed, removing his hand from his coat as he looked over at the plaque again, forcing his eyes to read more of the words. There were some at the bottom, that were underlined and bold, which made Percy feel a little less snide towards the display.

Not the authentic Excalibur. Imitation, based on historical descriptions.

Percy let out a soft hmm as he continued to read the plaque, leaning towards it slightly as he did. He figured he may as well get some learning done, considering he was the one who now held Excalibur after all. Despite the fact that he mostly used it to light the fire pit in his backyard whenever he and Zoe felt like spending nights under the stars.

It listed off some rather interesting facts if Percy were being honest. Owners before and after Arthur, tales of foes that had been slain by it, hell, even where it had come from.

Given to king Arthur by the Lady of the lake, and now it was held by the son of the sea. Percy took note of how poetic that was.

He was trying pretty hard to read it, hard enough that he didn't really notice when a man walked beside him until he spoke to Percy in a thick, cockney accent.

"It didn't really look like that."

Percy felt his gaze snap over to the man who'd spoken, taking him in as he stood. He was a younger man, maybe a few years older than Percy. He had a strong figure, with a body Percy could tell was lean and fit even under the tailored suit he was wearing. He had on a nice pair of dress shoes and a silver watch and a ring that sat on his right hand with a logo Percy couldn't quite make out. A pair of horn-rimmed glasses sat over his piercing blue eyes and his hair, that was a light chestnut colour, was undercut and slicked back on his head.

He had a very defined face. Not too broad but not too narrow, with defined cheekbones, a strong jaw, and a hint of five o'clock shadow over his face.

He looked... well, if Percy was being honest, he looked British. Like a dictionary definition, perfect example of what Percy thought of when he thought of a British man. Dapper and handsome. Clean and groomed. In a tailored suit and making it look good.

He even had a thick as all hell accent to boot.

Percy got over his inspection of the man to get out a response.

"Pardon me?"

"I said it didn't really look like that, mate." The man stuck his hands in his pockets and shifted slightly on his feet, "Or at least, so I've been told."

Percy nodded slowly before he turned back to the display, "Really? Mind if I ask who told you this?"

The man clicked his tongue on his teeth, "Couple of blokes I trust."

Percy stood back up straight, and shot the man a slight smirk and a side eye.

"Well honestly? I'm with you on that one."

The man smiled, "Is that so?"

"Oh yeah." Percy replied, gesturing at the sword, "I mean, does that look like the kind of thing anyone would take into battle?"

The man's smile grew a bit, "Not a chance, mate. You'd be too busy staring at the bloody thing to actually use it."

Percy nodded in agreement, "And the design of the blade, and the handle, it's just so..."

"Unfocused." The man concluded, "Like it's different parts of different swords all tossed up together."

"Exactly." Percy replied, "It's just a mess."

"Not the kind of thing someone would want keeping their ass alive if you ask me." The man added.

Percy nodded, taking a glance back at the viking section.

"Now one of those?" Percy said, pointing at an ancient looking ulfberht, "That's something I could trust."

"Oh really?" The man replied, "An ulfberht?"

Percy gave the man a raised eyebrow glance, "You're familiar with them?"

The man nodded, "Oh yeah, mate. Believe it or not..." He leaned in a bit to whisper to Percy, "...I've been told Excalibur was actually one of those. That it was some viking blade the lady of the lake handed him all those years ago."

Percy bit his tongue, stopping the immediate response that he'd thought of before he could say it. He instead just swallowed what he was going to say and nodded, letting out a simple "I never knew that."

"Most don't." The man replied, "One of those little details that's just lost to time, I suppose."

The man turned to Percy, looking him right in the eye, "Y'know, I don't think I ever caught your name, mate."

Percy let a smile crack through, reaching forward to shake the man's hand.

"It's Percy. Yours?"

There was something that happened to the man's face when Percy spoke. Some lightning quick flash of something that skittered across his face before Percy could make sense of it. The man's smile wavered, his eyes flickered, and his brows furrowed a slight bit, all happening in less than a second before he regained his composure and his features went pack to normal.

"Gally." The man replied, reaching out to shake Percy's hand, "Call me Gally."

Percy gripped his hand tight, letting his eyes flick down to the ring on his hand now that he could get a proper look at it.

It was a simple, cast thing. With a logo embossed on the front. A logo of a crown inside a perfect circle.

Gally pulled his hand away and turned back to the display, shoving his hand back in his pocket.

"You here on vacation, Percy?" He asked in a inquisitive tone.

Percy cleared his throat and turned towards the display too, "Uh, yeah. Me and my girlfriend are here together, just the two of us."

Gally nodded, gesturing at Percy's hat, "I'll take it you're from across the pond, right?"

Percy nodded, "We're Alaskans, me and her."

Gally let out a soft whistle, "Awful far from home, aren't you?"

Percy nodded, feeling his body tense up a bit at Gally's tone, "Yeah, we've made a bit of a habit of doing that."

Gally nodded, reaching into his coat pocket and pulling something out. A business card.

"Percy, this is gonna sound a bit odd, but I'd like to make you an offer." He handed the business card to Percy, who took it from the man and held it up. It was a simple thing. No name, no address, no nothing. Just a phone number and the same logo that was on his ring. The crown inside the circle.

"Alright." Percy said in a hesitant tone, "What kind of offer?"

"I work for... a company. A defense company, more or less, that specializes in dealing with... abstract problems. One that's been trying to expand, so to speak, for quite some time." He brought his hands together, running his left fingers over the ring, "One that I believe thou might be interested in."

Percy was still examining the card, only really half paying attention to what Gally was saying, but felt his attention suddenly focus itself when he spoke.

"Pardon me?" Percy said in a slightly nervous tone, "I didn't quite catch that."

Gally closed his eyes, stuffing his ring hand back in his pocket as his left hand straightened his tie, before he cleared his throat and looked over at Percy.

"I said it's one that I believe you might be interested in."

Percy met the man's eyes and saw... quite a bit in them. An intensity, a palpable want to either say or do something, but an equal amount of restraint holding him back.

Gally cleared his throat again, turning to face Percy directly as he clapped his hand on his shoulder and offered him a smile.

"Why don't you think about it? I don't need an answer right away, but if it's something that interests you?" He gestured at the card with his chin, "I'm just a phone call away."

With that, he gave Percy's shoulder one last squeeze and left, quickly exiting the room and making for the exit.

Percy stayed still as the man left, his eyes still lingering on the business card. That was... weird. No, not weird, what that was was concerning. It gave Percy a nervous tingle in his spine when he was talking with that man and it only got worse when he'd told him his name. The way Gally had reacted... it was almost as if Percy's name was important to him. Like it held some weight in the man's heart that Percy couldnt possibly understand.

He sighed as he pocketed the card and took another look at the sword on display. He let his eyelids droop and his lip curl a bit as he pulled his lighter out of his pocket and held it up in front of him.

"Excalibur..." He said to himself, pocketing the lighter and turning out of the exhibit, "I'll stick with Maelstrom."

He left the exhibit and made his way back over to the Greek display. His eyes scanned over the crowd, trying his best to pick out his girlfriend from the groups of tourists. It wasn't nearly as crowded as it had been before, but still. He kinda wished she had taken the cowboy hat instead of him so he could spot her quicker.

He eventually spotted her, standing in front of an alcove that he assumed held an exhibit. He smiled when he saw her and started making his way over, but that smile feell when he got close and got a good look at her.

She looked... tense. Like her body was wound up like a spring and ready to launch. Her arms were crossed over her chest with her hands clenched into tight fists and despite her head being held straight, her eyes were pointed at the ground.

He got up close to her, concern evident on his face. He wondered why she was like this, why she had this body language and this facial expression. He turned to the exhibit they were in front of and it all kinda clicked into place.

It was a statue, a massive one at that. The kind of statue that would've made sense if it were standing in a courtyard somewhere in ancient Greece. It depicted a man, heavily muscled and clad in a simple loincloth and sandals, wrestling with a massive lion.

Percy didn't need to read the plaque to know who it was, or why it was making Zoe so upset.

Percy stood for a moment, remaining in silence as he looked up at the statue and Zoe kept her eyes on the floor. It wasn't fun, seeing his girlfriend like this. He knew whybit was upsetting her and, on top of that, he knew this wasn't something she was gonna get over quick.

Then again, if Percy was anything he was stubborn, and that didn't mean he wasn't gonna try to help.

He brought his hands up and crossed them over his chest, mirroring her pose as he cocked his head to the side, giving the statue a calculating stare.

"Y'know." He said in a confident tone, "I think I could've taken him."

He didn't need to look at her to tell she'd started to smile, he heard it on her voice the second she spoke.

"Oh really?" She answered in a soft tone.

He nodded, "Yeah, I mean, c'mon now. He wasn't that tough." He shot her a side eye and a gentle smirk, "Not to mention, most of those labours he did?" Percy jerked a thumb at his chest, "I did too."

Her smile grew a bit, but her eyes stayed on the floor, "Is that so, Jackson?" She said in that same, soft tone.

He nodded, turning back to the statue with his arms still crossed, "Killing a hydra? I did that. Clean the Augean stables? Took me ten minutes tops."

He shot her another side eye as he watched her smile grow, "Not to mention, as I recall..." He leaned toward her a bit to whisper into her ear, "...it was Percy and Zoe who killed the Nemean lion."

She smiled a little harder, "Percy, Zoe, and some disgusting astronaut food."

Percy smiled as his girlfriends mood seemed to lighten, "And, not to mention, I held up the sky, too..." He wiggled his eyebrows at her, drawing a soft laugh from his girlfriend, "...and I'll bet I complained a whoooole lot less than he did."

Her smile grew a bit more as her eyes flicked up to meet his, "I never knew you cleaned the Augean stables."

He shrugged, "That's fair, after all it happened after you'd already-" He stopped talking very suddenly as what he was going to say jammed up in his throat.

Died. It was after she'd already died. The one topic he didn't like to talk about just so happened to be the one that came up.

They had all of a sudden swapped places. Now it was Percy who had his arms crossed and his eyes on the floor and Zoe was the one who was looking at him in concern.

She turned back towards the statue, the one that not even a minute ago she couldn't even bring herself to look at and now, after what he'd said, didn't matter at all to her.

He'd done that for her, and she wanted to return that favor.

She cleared her throat drawing his attention even if his eyes stayed locked on the ground.

"Y'know, for the record," She said, her voice a soft tone, "if it had been you who'd shown up at the garden all those years ago?" A small smile played at her lips, "I'd have been a lot more eager to help you trick dear old dad."

It was his turn to crack a small smile, "Oh really?"

She nodded, mirroring his earlier movements and cocking her head to the side, "Yeah. I can picture it now. You show up, hair a mess, wearing some ridiculous loincloth, spouting out milady this and fair maiden that."

He clicked his tongue and let his gaze rest back on the statue, "I don't think I'd have even bothered with the labours at that point."

She frowned a bit in confusion, "Why's that?"

He turned to her and let their eyes meet, "Because I'd have been waaaay too distracted by the beautiful girl in front of me to care about some golden apples."

Zoe felt her mouth fall open a bit as a blush spread over her cheeks. She turned back forward, arms still crossed and tried to suppress the smile she knew Percy could see. He grinned and turned back forward, staring at the statue with his girlfriend.

They were quiet for a moment, before she eventually sighed and uncrossed her arms, reaching over to weave her fingers into his before she shuffled a little closer and leaned her head on his shoulder.

"Thanks Percy." She mumbled, "For all of that, I... I really needed that."

She let her eyes flick up to his face as any and all worry seemed to melt right out of them.

"I really needed you."

It was his turn to blush. He awkwardly cleared his throat as his grip loosened around her hand, sliding up her back so his arm was wrapped around her shoulders.

"What do you say we head out somewhere that doesn't bring up bad memories."

She smiled a bit as he led her out of the museum, "Got any place in mind?"

He rubbed his chin, "Well, there was a pub just up the street..." He shot her a side eye and a smirk, "...and it's not really a British vacation if we don't visit a pub, right?"

She smiled, reaching up to grab his arm and remove it from her shoulder, weaving his fingers into hers instead.

"Well then..." She cracked a smile as she put on what was just an atrocious attempt at a British accent, "...why don't you lead the way?"

He smiled, "I'd be happy to."

They left the museum without a second thought, already fully removed from any of the sadness they'd felt. Zoe hadn't even realized it, not until she'd left the building, but the second Percy was in her line of sight? Hercules wasn't on her mind, not even a little.

Then again, she only ever had one hero on her mind these days.

The bar did not come off as promising as he'd hoped.

They walked into the place, hands clasped and clad in their outfits, his cowboy rancher getup and her hunters garb as every head in the place turned just about immediately.

A silence washed over the crowd, so present that Percy could probably hear a pin drop, before a voice called out from near the bar.

"You two Yanks?"

Percy gave Zoe a look, taking note of the hesitant look in her eye. He turned back to the crowd, cleared his throat, and put on his best Texan accent.

"H'wats it to ya, partner?"

There was another moment of silence, before a handful of laughs rang out and everyone went back to their business. Zoe rolled her eyes at Percy and led him towards the bar.

They put in their order and got their drinks, with Zoe giving Percy's hand a quick squeeze before she wandered over to the dartboard shed been eyeing up since they'd entered.

He smiled as he watched his girlfriend start landing bullseye after bullseye, fully intent on performing his role as Percy the cheerleader, but something was distracting him. Something that he couldn't shake from his mind no matter how hard he tried.

The business card.

He set his drink aside and put his hat down on the bar before he reached into his pocket, fishing out the card and giving it another look over.

It was so simple. A perfectly smooth, laminated, eggshell colored business card. He flipped it over and checked both sides, seeing if there was any other details on the card, but there weren't any. All there was was the logo, and the phone number.

00000-000001

Percy sighed, grabbing his drink and taking a sip as he looked back over at Zoe, who was putting on quite a show for the patrons who were all staring mouths agape at her little performance, downing her own glass while still nailing that bullseye like it was going out of style.

Percy smiled softly at the sight as he heard the door open behind him. He caught the sound of rain hitting the ground and thunder rumbling overhead and sighed to himself as he realized that the ride back to the hotel would probably be even longer than the ride to the museum. He motioned at the bartender to pour him another glass as a person walked up next to him at the bar and leaned into it.

The bartender filled Percy's drink and looked over at the person who'd just walked in.

"What'll it be, miss?" He asked her.

"Rum. Straight. No ice, either."

Percy felt his blood run cold the second he heard the voice. It wasn't because it was some horrifying voice, or because it was some long lost enemy. No, this was someone he knew well.

A friend. More or less.

The girl got her drink and brought it up to take a sip all while Percy kept his eyes locked forward. He heard the girl take a sip, then put her glass down, then lean into the bar as a series of words came out that only confirmed what he'd assumed.

"What're you doing here, Percy?"

He felt his eyes close and his hands clench on the bar as a whole mess of thoughts wrangled themselves together in his brain.

He turned towards the girl, picking up his own glass as he leaned into the bar and took a sip, taking in the figure that stood before him. Her choppy black hair. Her electric blue eyes. Her leather jacket and torn denim. Hell, he even took second notice of the thunderstorm that was swirling outside.

One that he assumed she was to blame for.

"Well I don't know." He replied, setting his glass back down on the bar, "I could ask you the same question..."

He met the girls eyes, the sea meeting the storm, just as they had years and years ago.

"...couldn't I, Thalia?"