And so it begins- I'll be honest I don't feel as confident about this one as I have the other fics in this series but we shall see.
Percy had almost enjoyed the two days of relative peace- she'd spent most of the time with Annabeth and Rachel- who had become fiercely protective of her, though she'd also spent a lot of time with the others- And when Piper's knife, Hazel's magic, Nico's death sense, Annabeth's gut instincts and Rachel's prophetic abilities had all agreed on one thing it was pretty clear that they followed all of that.
And that thing was that they needed to get information from the incredibly large gathering of evil spirits.
Spirits which were gathered at the ruins of Odysseus' palace.
Percy and Annabeth had been obvious choices for going there of course- between the two of them they knew more about Odysseus than anyone- and Percy had heard the tales of his defeat of the suitors- who would undoubtedly be gathered there, in person.
They had also decided to send Piper- for her charmspeak if they needed it- and Jason, under a disguise- admittedly that made it a group of four of them- not ideal, but Piper had seen Jason in her dagger so he would come, ideal or not.
Percy might not like magic, but she could appreciate Hazel's skill with it- he looked like an ancient man- and given the speed at which he climbed the hill they were heading up, he felt it too.
Thankfully, whilst Hazel had used magic to summon up Piper and Annabeth's new outfits Percy hadn't needed her too- after all Percy had her own chiton- the one she'd worn to meet Hercules, and she was used to wearing it in a way that the others weren't.
She had her dagger- she'd given Annabeth back her own dagger not long after her return from the pit- strapped to her thigh beneath her dress, and Riptide was tucked into her hair.
Hazel had managed to enchant it- temporarily, into it's original form, that of a hair clip.
In any case, she was much more comfortable than Annabeth or Piper looked. But then neither of them were the type to choose to wear something like they were- dressing up like serving maidens wasn't their style- whereas Percy quite liked it- though she usually just went for the Greek Princess look rather than serving maiden.
In any case, neither of them looked fully comfortable- though Piper was handling it better than Annabeth was- and as much as Percy loved her girlfriend it was kind of funny to see the way she kept hunching her shoulders to keep the dress from slipping. Her pinned-up blonde bun had come undone in the back and her hair had several loose locks in the back- at least Piper's was braided and somewhat out of the way.
Percy tilted her head up, closing her eyes and enjoying the feeling of the sun on her face as she breathed deeply- she could hear Piper urging Jason on reassuringly- and she opened her eyes and turned her head as Jason stopped, leaning against a Cedar tree and wiping his forehead.
"This was a terrible idea. Hazel's magic is too good. If I have to fight I'll be useless."
"Awe, don't worry." Percy shot him a teasing grin, "We'll protect you-"
Which earned her a gentle nudge from Annabeth. "Be nice Seaweed brain. Jason, it won't come to that. We have our plan. We infiltrate the palace, get the information we need, and get out."
"Ah yes, a simple plan." Percy drawled, "We all know how those usually work out."
"Percy." Piper laughed, "Stop being pessimistic." as she spoke she set down her amphora, which had been sling over her shoulder- all three girls had one- Annabeth and Piper had their blades hidden inside of them. "Jason- we can rest for a second. You should catch your breath Jason."
"I'm cool with that." Percy moved slightly, staring across out below them at Afales Bay as she heard Jason trying to catch his breath.
The water was so blue that it almost looked fake somehow- and Percy could see the Argo II a few hundred yards offshore- it looked small in the distance, but Percy had no doubt that Leo and Nico were watching using Leo's spyglass. They'd been very unhappy about the idea of her leaving the Argo II- and she'd have felt the same if their roles were reversed, if she was being honest. But, well, they had to be willing to give each other some space eventually.
"Stupid Ithaca." Jason muttered the words- and Percy laughed softly.
"Hey, don't diss on Ithaca- it's beautiful here-" and it was, with it's spine of forested hills twisted down its centre. Chalky white slopes plunged into the sea. Inlets formed rocky beaches and harbours where red-roofed houses and white stucco churches nestled against the shoreline.
The hills were dotted with poppies, crocuses and wild cherry trees. The breeze smelled of blooming myrtle.
The only minor issue was the heat- and it was very hot, the air was as steamy as a Roman bathhouse. Even Percy- who had a certain level of immunity to heat, found it somewhat uncomfortable. Which was part of why the others looked and felt so uncomfortable.
"Are you sure this is the right hill?" Jason asked suddenly, "It seems- I don't know it just seems to quiet."
Percy glanced at Piper- who stared in the direction they were headed, "The ruins are up there." she promised after a long moment, "I saw them in Katoptris's blade. And you heard what Hazel and Nico said. 'The biggest gathering of evil spirits they've ever sensed'"
"Yeah." Jason grimaced. "That isn't actually comforting you know that right?"
"I mean-" Percy rolled her shoulders, "I'm not afraid of any evil spirits-"
"Of course you're not." Annabeth kissed Percy's shoulder. "Still, we will have to be careful. The suitors were nasty customers while they were alive- if they find out who we are."
"Hazel's magic will work- our disguises look fine-"
"And we know what we're in for. I know a fair bit about most of the suitors from Odysseus' stories."
"I'm still jealous about that." Annabeth pouted, "You talk about it all so casually. Like 'Hey, by the way I'm friends with some of the most legendary heroes to have ever lived'."
"It's not that big a deal." Percy flushed and shrugged, "I mean- I only met them because I died-"
"It is pretty cool." Annabeth's hands were resting on Percy's hips, "Getting to say that I'm dating the greatest hero to have ever lived.
"You flatter me-" Percy leaned in, her lips brushing against Annabeth's- and Jason let out an embarrassed little cough- and then a yelp-and when Percy turned her head she saw Jason rubbing his shoulder and Piper trying to look innocent, a wide smile on her lips.
"Piper-" Jason whined the name, a wounded look on his face.
Annabeth laughed and Percy's lips twitched. "Did you just-"
"You guys deserve to have cute moments." Piper said firmly, "No interruptions. It's amazing to see you smiling like that again."
"It is." Jason admitted, "It's nice. You guys do deserve to be happy-"
"Yeah, well after so long in the pit... I just- I want to be happy." she admitted. "And with Alabaster gone I actually have a chance so- so I'm taking it."
"And we're not ever letting you leave us again." Annabeth's chin was on Percy's shoulder, her arms sliding around Percy's waist. "We're keeping our Seaweed Brain. No returns, no take backs-"
"You're adorable you know that." Percy turned her head, smiling softly as she brushed her lips against Annabeth's cheek. And Piper almost cooed at that.
"You guys really are sweet." she declared.
"As sweet as they are," Jason straightened up, steadying himself with his walking stick- which Percy didn't didn't find hilarious, "We should get going. And I don't think we need to worry too much about the disguises- if I look half as old as I feel my disguise must be perfect. Let's get going."
And Percy laughed brightly at that, "I'm not gonna lie dude- you do look super old."
And so they took off again, Percy glancing back at the others every so often- and she did notice that Jason looked pale even with his disguise- he looked slightly distracted, a distant look in his eyes. And- was he shivering? Percy wasn't sure how that was even possible.
She shook away that thought, looking forward.
"We're almost there." Annabeth spoke up eventually, "Let's-"
BOOM! The hillside rumbled. Somewhere over the ridge, a crowd roared in approval, like spectators in a coliseum. The sound made Percy skin crawl. It reminded her of their battle against the twin giants- the ghostly audience. She wasn't anxious to repeat that experience.
"What was that explosion?" and Percy had a feeling that his thoughts were running along the same line as hers based on that look on his face.
"Don't know," Piper said. "But it sounds like they're having fun. Let's go make some dead friends."
"So very tempting." Percy declared with a wink as they finished their journey to the top of the hill.
They didn't rush straight in of course- there were some olive bushes which were very useful for the four demigods to hide behind, and Percy was willing to admit that it didn't look good for them.
The ruins themselves weren't that impressive: a few stone walls, a weed-choked central courtyard, a dead-end stairwell chiselled into the rock. Some plywood sheets covered a pit and a metal scaffold supported a cracked archway.
But superimposed over the ruins was another layer of reality, and Percy glanced at Annabeth and she could see the look of awe on her girlfriends face, this would be a dream come true for herβ It was a spectral mirage of the palace as it must have appeared in its heyday. Whitewashed stucco walls lined with balconies rose three storeys high. Columned porticoes faced the central atrium, which had a huge fountain and bronze braziers. At a dozen banquet tables, ghouls laughed and ate and pushed one another around.
Percy's eyes narrowed. If it had just been the suitors it would have been 108 of them, but there were at least twice that number milling about, chasing spectral serving girls, smashing plates and cups, and basically making a nuisance of themselves.
Most looked like Lares from Camp Jupiter β transparent purple wraiths in tunics and sandals. A few revellers had decayed bodies with grey flesh, matted clumps of hair and nasty wounds. Others seemed to be regular living mortals β some in togas, some in modern business suits or army fatigues. Percy even spotted one guy in a purple Camp Jupiter T-shirt and Roman legionnaire armour.
In the centre of the atrium, a grey-skinned ghoul in a tattered Greek tunic paraded through the crowd, holding a marble bust over his head like a sports trophy. The other ghosts cheered and slapped him on the back. Percy's eyes narrowed as she saw the arrow in the ghosts throat- and oh she knew exactly who he was. She glanced to Annabeth- who gave a short little nod of agreement, Annabeth knew who he was too. Antinous. The worst of the suitors- at least in Percy's opinion- but then again she'd met Telechmaus and she quite liked him, so she very much disliked the man who had plotted to kill him.
She leaned forward slightly- was that a statue of Zeus? It was hard to tell from this distance."
"Our next offering!" The ghoul shouted the words, his voice buzzing from the arrow in his throat. 'Let us feed the Earth Mother!'
The partiers yelled and pounded their cups. The ghoul made his way to the central fountain. The crowd parted, and Percy realized the fountain wasn't filled with water. From the three-foot-tall pedestal, a geyser of sand spewed upward, arcing into an umbrella-shaped curtain of white particles before spilling into the circular basin.
The ghoul heaved the marble bust into the fountain. As soon as Zeus's head passed through the shower of sand, the marble disintegrated like it was going through a wood chipper. The sand glittered gold, the colour of ichor β godly blood. Then the entire mountain rumbled with a muffled BOOM, as if belching after a meal.
Percy blinked rapidly as the dead partygoers roared with approval. "Well." she whispered, "Isn't he delightful."
