Hermes grimaced.
"That time?" he asked Percy and Annabeth
Annabeth nodded as Percy was still staring into space.
"Brother, focus on the reading right now." Tyson said gently
Percy nodded.
I love New York. You can pop out of the Underworld in Central Park…loping along behind you, and nobody even looks at you funny.
The demigods chuckled slightly.
Of course, the Mist helped…seeing as I was at the mythological center of the world and all.
"That's pretty cool." Beckendorf said
Percy nodded.
But I didn't want to see what my mom's roaming charges were going to be.
A few snickers.
This time, Annabeth picked up…We've been worried sick!"
Percy rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.
The demigods chuckled.
The gods were in much too shock to react but then they decided on focusing on the book for now.
"I'll fill you in later," I said, though how I was going to do that…anticipation of what I was about to do
"The anticipation." Lee said
"Most probably." Percy agreed
If this didn't work, being invulnerable wasn't going to save me…swerve away and look confused when she came close.
"They probably don't see dogs licking cabs." Silena said
"Yeah, especially tamed ones." Michael said
I whistled for her to heel as three white vans pulled up to the curb…they shuttled our fresh produce into the city.
"I love how we have personal vans. I mean it seems as if we're some professionals." Percy said
"Well we are professionals in killing monsters." Thalia said
"That's true." Percy said, giving a small chuckle
The first van was driven by Argus, our many-eyed security chief…Annabeth, along with most of their siblings.
The campers smiled.
Chiron came out of the van last…Clarisse was a stubborn idiot. End of story.
Clarisse looked down guiltily.
Chris squeezed her hand.
I did a head count: forty campers in all.
"What?" Reyna frowned
"Just forty?" Frank asked in worry and concern
"Yeah. Many died and some turned." Connor sighed
The gods grimaced and so did the demigods.
Not many to fight a war, but it was still the largest group of half-bloods…very monster in the northeastern United States knew we were here.
The gods grimaced while the demigods nodded.
As I looked at their faces—all these campers I'd known for so many summers…They will always let you down.
"Bullshit." Percy said
"Nobody's letting anybody down here." Thalia nodded
The demigods smiled. Silena's was a little strained.
Annabeth came up to me. She was dressed in black camouflage…ready for stabbing or surfing the Internet, whichever came first.
Everybody snickered.
"Stabbing while surfing the internet." Annabeth laughed
"Badass." Percy grinned
Annabeth blushed.
She frowned. "What is it?" "What's what?" I asked…"It's, uh, nothing." I turned to the rest of the group.
"Oh it is something." Nico smirked
Percy blushed.
"Look at him blushing and all." Thalia teased
Percy turned redder.
The demigods laughed good naturedly.
"Thanks for coming, everybody. Chiron, after you."… Meanwhile, you called the campers here, Percy. You are the leader."
The sea gang and Chiron smiled proudly.
Percy blushed and smiled softly.
"Yeah he is!" The Stolls whooped
The demigods cheered.
Percy smiled shyly.
I wanted to protest, but everybody was looking at me expectantly…Remember, we can't take no for an answer."
"He can be very persuasive." Triton nodded
"Who? Zeus?" Lee asked
"No, Percy." Triton said
"It's my specialty." Percy said, doing a hair flip
Everybody laughed.
I asked Argus to watch Mrs. O'Leary, which neither of them looked happy about.
Everybody chuckled.
Chiron shook my hand. "You'll do well, Percy…but I nodded and tried to give him a confident smile.
Chiron sighed. Some part of him was glad that Achilles had listened to him. HE was a great fighter but he was arrogant.
"Let's go," I told the campers…so I guess he wasn't fooled by the Mist.
"We won't have a regular mortal guarding Olympus." Demeter said
Percy nodded.
"There is no six-hundredth floor, kid." He said…You really want us hanging out in your lobby?"
"Got him there." Hermes grinned
Percy grinned back.
"Good one Perce." Apollo grinned
Percy grinned.
"Why, thank you." He said
He thought about that. Then he hit a buzzer…"You don't want us going through the metal detectors," I added
"No, that wouldn't be good." Poseidon chuckled
Percy smiled.
"Um, no," he agreed. "Elevator on the right…Apollo in bell-bottom pants and a slinky silk shirt.
The demigods were quiet for one second before roaring with laughter.
"I'd look great in that." Apollo grinned
"Sure brother." Artemis laughed
"You'd look so great." Reyna laughed sarcastically
Apollo grinned.
I was glad when the elevator doors finally dinged open…I'd seen Olympus several times, but it still took my breath away.
Hera smirked.
The mansions glittered gold and white against the sides of the mountain…Then I realized the mountain was silent—no music, no voices, no laughter.
"That's depressing." Will said
"Yeah." The demigods agreed
Annabeth studied me. "You look…different," she decided…but their hearts didn't seem to be into it
Apollo and his kids sighed.
A lone Cyclops swept the street with an uprooted oak tree. A minor godling spotted us from a balcony and ducked inside, closing his shutters.
"I wonder why he did that." Pollux said
"He probably knows that a fight is coming." Castor said grimly
The demigods nodded seriously.
We passed under a big marble archway with statues of Zeus and Hera…Annabeth made a face at the queen of the gods.
The demigods laughed.
Thalia high fived Annabeth. Hera sneered at them.
"Hate her," she muttered.
"Ditto." Percy and Nico said
"Mom or Hera?" Annabeth teased
"Uhh." Percy and Nico swallowed
"Never mind." Annabeth said
"Well we aren't fond of you either." Zeus said
"When did we say you had to be?" Nico said
Percy fist bumped him.
Zeus made to get up.
"Don't come close to our children." Poseidon said
"You better not." Hades agreed
"I wasn't talking to you, you boneheads. Go polish your shoes." Zeus snarled. Poseidon and Hades looked down.
The next second Zeus had two knives embed on the wall inches from his face.
Everybody froze. Zeus looked on his side shakily.
Percy and Nico marched up to him and snarled at his face.
"Say something like that again and we won't miss." Nico snarled
Then they walked back to their couches.
"You know High and Mighty King of the gods and Athena, if the two of you are going to be two faced then at least make one of them pretty. Janus looked better than you two." Percy growled
The demigods and gods' eyes widened.
This time Athena made to get up but even she found a knife next to her face in the wall.
"We don't differentiate in treatment. Just a warning. If you happen to forget that then just remember the way we acted after Aphrodite's therapy." Nico said
Artemis raised her eyebrows. The boy had a point.
"Fair point." Zoe said
Nico smiled.
"Guy-ys?" Travis asked, his voice cracking
"Yeah?" Percy asked as he smiled
"What's going on? I mean this much frustration…" Chris asked
"Nothing." Nico said
"Percy, how did you get such good aim?" Lee asked
"Lol my aim sucks. This was just a frustrated aim." Percy said
Lee's eyes widened.
The demigods who didn't know knitted their eyebrows. The gods were swallowing. What was going on with the group of six demigods? Percy, Nico and Will were acting angrier than other times and the other three made no move to defend their parents.
"Hey it's okay." Hades said to Nico and Percy
"No it's not but please continue reading Aunt Hestia." Percy said
"It's fine guys. He calls us worse stuff all the time." Poseidon said and his eyes widened as he realized his mistake.
Everybody froze as they looked at Percy and Nico.
"Percy, Nico no…" Annabeth swallowed but she was too late. Percy and Nico had already reached Zeus and punched him right on the nose again. He yelled in pain.
"Guys, his bone is already damaged and now it's gonna be even worse. I know you're angry but please sit down." Apollo said gently
Thalia, Jason, Will and Annabeth dragged the duo back to their seat.
"Come here and fix this Apollo." Zeus said
Will almost launched himself at Zeus this time.
"Will no!" Annabeth shouted and pulled him back. Will growled.
"Guys calm down. I know he deserved it and I'm not gonna stop you the next time either but let's continue reading for now." Thalia said
"She's right. He deserved it and so did Athena. Both of them have at least three knives embedded in the wall and Zeus has a broken bone which is going to take a lot of time to heal. You guys can think of something else next time and we aren't going to stop you." Jason said
Annabeth and Will nodded in agreement.
Percy and Nico nodded.
Zeus reeled back in shock. So did Athena.
The gods were in shock. They were all massaging their temples.
"Can gods go into shock?" Will asked
"Y-yes. If something this crazy happens." Apollo said
"Oops." Percy said
"I'm just going to read." Hestia said shakily
"Just one second Aunt Hestia. We want to tell our friends something." Nico said
The demigods nodded and followed them outside. Nico and Percy explained everything to them. By the end of it, the demigods were growling and snarling as well. They all went inside and acted normal. They knew they won't be stopping Percy and Nico but instead might just help them but at least they won't be so confused. They had been requested to not tell anybody so they couldn't tell anything to their parents either.
Hestia continued reading.
"Has she been cursing you or something?" I asked…"Her sacred animal is the cow, right?"
"Yeah, bovine majesty." Thalia said
Everybody snickered.
"Right." "So she sends cows after me."… I have to be careful where I step."
"I feel bad for you Annabeth." Connor laughed
Annabeth chuckled.
"Yeah it was annoying." She said
"Look!" Pollux cried, pointing toward the horizon…"Like infrared scopes," Michael Yew muttered. "We're being targeted."
"You know how to man guns?" Frank asked
"Yep." Michael grinned
"Awesome." Frank grinned
"Wanna practice?" Michael asked
"With paintballs I hope?" Frank asked
"Yeah, what about we have something like the Divergent paintball game?" Michael asked
"The one in which Four and Tris climbed the wheel?" Percy asked
Michael nodded.
"I'm in." Frank said
The demigods cheered.
"You guys are playing too." Travis said to the gods except Hera, Athena and Zeus
The gods smiled.
"I'm definitely in." Ares grinned
The demigods and the gods grinned.
"Let's get to the palace," I said. No one was guarding the hall of the gods…Despite all the serious stuff going on, I had to smile
Percy smiled.
Two years ago we'd spent a lot of time trying to save the Ophiotaurus from the Titans…I'd originally thought he was a girl and named him Bessie.
The demigods snickered.
Percy grinned sheepishly.
"Hey, man," I said. "They treating you okay?"… My friends followed my example
Hestia smiled from behind the book.
Hestia regarded me with her red glowing eyes.
"I quite like red eyes especially after watching twilight." Nico said
"What's up with you and twilight?" Percy asked
"Hey it's one of my favorite movie series." Nico said
"It's a good series." Travis agreed
"That Aro dude is creepy." Connor shuddered
"That's true." Hermes agreed
"Dad's watched twilight, dad's watched twilight." The Stolls danced
Everybody chuckled. Hermes grinned.
"So have the rest of us." Apollo grinned
The demigods grinned.
"I see you went through with your plan. You bear the curse of Achilles."… Luke nodded. "Something down here. I sense it."
"It's the time when they found Annabeth I think." Castor said
"Most probably." Pollux said
"It was." Percy said
A rumble echoed from the alley, like someone had banged on a sheet…little girl flew at him with a hammer. "Whoa!" Luke said.
Everybody snickered.
Annabeth grinned sheepishly.
The girl had tangled blond hair and was wearing flannel pajamas…, but she would've brained Luke if he hadn't been so fast
"Whoa Annabeth." Chris said
Annabeth looked sheepish.
He grabbed her wrist, and the hammer skittered…"We're not going to hurt you. I'm Thalia. This is Luke." "Monsters!"
"PTSD?" Jason asked
"No, not exactly, though a little similar. I was just used to running into monsters and it was scary so that's why." Annabeth said
Jason nodded in understanding.
"No," Luke promised. "But we know all about monsters…"My family hates me," the girl said. "They don't want me. I ran away."
Annabeth sighed.
Thalia and Luke locked eyes. I knew they both related to what she was saying.
Thalia and Jason sighed.
"What's your name, kiddo?" Thalia asked…Works a lot better than a hammer."
Annabeth smiled. She had been quite honored to carry that knife.
Maybe under most circumstances, offering a seven-year-old kid a knife would not be a good idea…they can find weak spots in your enemy's armor.
"They're quite useful actually." Percy said, looking at the knives embedded in the walls.
"Yeah, you can't really throw swords like that." Nico agreed. He got up and plucked a knife from Zeus' side, twirled it and stuck it back into the wall.
Percy snickered.
"I'm going to have to repair the walls." Annabeth grumbled good naturedly
Percy grinned sheepishly.
"Sorry Annie." He said
Annabeth kissed him on the cheek. Percy grinned.
The demigods Ooh'ed.
It takes a clever warrior to use a knife. I have a feeling you're pretty clever."… "Deal!" Annabeth said happily.
Annabeth and Thalia looked down. They still believed that Luke didn't let them down. He was manipulated. Though some part of them did feel betrayed but they didn't want to dwell on it.
"Now, come on," Thalia said. "We can't stay put for long!"… She was limping on her left leg.
Zeus clutched his leg.
They scrambled to a ridge and looked down the other side…And you've got to treat that leg wound."
"Yeah. You should treat that leg." Will said
Thalia nodded.
"This is your house?" Annabeth said with amazement…Annabeth shrunk away from him, like his anger surprised her.
Annabeth sighed.
"I…I'm sorry," he said. "Just wait here…"You should not have come home."
"Why shouldn't he have come home?" Chris asked his father
"I thought that he would see his mother again and she would be traumatized about that fact. Then I was there as well so I thought he would most probably blame me." Hermes swallowed
"Oh." Chris said
The vision shut off. My knees buckled, but Annabeth grabbed me…But why had she shown me those scenes?
"To understand his family and to know who he cared about." Hestia said
Percy nodded.
"How long was I out?" I muttered…I could feel everyone's eyes on me. I couldn't afford to look weak
The demigods chuckled.
"You're our leader Percy. Passing out won't change that." Connor said
Percy smiled and gave them all grateful looks.
They chuckled.
The sea gang grinned proudly and Chiron smiled.
Whatever those visions meant, I had to stay focused on our mission…In the crook of his arm was a long staff entwined with two living serpents.
Hermes grinned.
"I like that description." He said
"You know I don't get why the gods have changed their appearances now. I mean I like the changes but I'm curious." Travis said
"I look better with dark brown hair." Hermes grinned
"That you do dad." Chris grinned
"I will leave you now," Hestia said…Hermes, the God of Messengers, did not look happy.
"Um excuse me, you forgot heraldry, speed, tricksters-" Hermes started with a grin
"Travel which means god of merchants, messengers, ambassadors, traveling performers, and herders and bandits, thieves, drifters , thieves, commerce, trade, boundaries, hospitality, languages, telling fortunes with dice, gymnastics, athletic competitions, feasts." The Hermes kids rattled off in unison
Hermes squealed in excitement and hugged his children. The demigods laughed and chuckled.
"We're similar there." Lee said and winked at Rachel, Michael and Will
"Apollo is the god of practically everything – including but not limited to music, poetry, art, prophecy, truth, archery, plague, healing, sun and light. He is also patron of herdsmen and shepherds. Some of his duties are protection of herds, flocks and crops from diseases, pests and predators. Apollo presides over all music, songs, dance and poetry." The Apollo kids and Rachel rattled off.
This time Apollo squealed in happiness and hugged his children and Rachel who grinned.
The demigods laughed and cheered.
The gods were chuckling and grinning.
"So you all know the domains?" Hestia asked
"Every single one." Percy grinned
The gods grinned.
"We also know their giant banes, family, some lovers, symbols and signs." Nico rattled off
The gods' grins widened.
Hestia smiled and Chiron chuckled.
"Hello, Percy." His brow furrowed as though he was annoyed with me, and I wondered if he somehow knew about the vision I'd just had.
"No, I wouldn't have showed him the visions. I wouldn't want to hurt him like that." Hestia said
Hermes smiled.
I wanted to ask why he'd been at May Castellan's house that night…But I could tell from Hermes's expression that this was not the time to ask.
Hermes sighed.
I bowed awkwardly. "Lord Hermes."… Too busy for rats? George said. That's just sad.
Everybody chuckled.
I decided it was better not to get into it with George…May I take a message?"
"What happened dad?" Travis frowned
"I was a little upset about something." Hermes sighed
His kids gave him side hugs which he accepted gratefully.
Behind me, the other demigods shifted restlessly. This wasn't going as planned. Maybe if I tried to speak with Hermes in private…
"That's probably better." Hazel nodded
Reyna, Dakota and Frank nodded.
"You guys," I said. "Why don't you do a sweep of the city? ... "Connor and Travis, you two lead."
"Yeah, thanks for that Annabeth." The Stolls smiled and said gratefully
Annabeth smiled at them.
The Stolls seemed to like that—getting handed an important responsibility right in front of their dad.
Hermes smiled and then felt guilty about the fact that such a small thing would make his children happy.
He hugged his children.
"I'm proud of you guys." He said
The Stolls and Chris hugged Hermes.
"Thank you." They said
The demigods smiled.
They usually never led anything except toilet paper raids.
Hermes laughed and high fived his kids who beamed.
"We're on it!" Travis said…George and Martha muttered Ow, ow, ow
Everybody snickered and Hermes grinned sheepishly.
"I love those two." Connor laughed
The demigods chuckled and Hermes grinned.
"Don't get me started on your mother, young lady…And so naturally he sent me to talk to you."
"Dad are you…okay?" Connor asked
"Right now? Yeah I'm not awesome but I'm good but then, no." Hermes said
His children swallowed and squeezed Hermes' shoulders reassuringly.
"But it is a trap!" Annabeth insisted. "Is Zeus blind?"
"Not just blind." Percy and Nico said at the same time.
"Hypocrite and two faced and crazy." Nico and Percy said
Zeus glared at them.
"Rude, mean and selfish." The Apollo kids, Hermes kids and Dionysus kids said, remembering everything Zeus did to their parents.
Apollo, Hermes and Dionysus' eyes widened.
Zeus scowled and glared.
Thunder rolled through the sky…but you may have noticed they aren't doing any damage.
"Hey!" Hazel protested
"Sorry Hazel." Hermes grimaced
"It's fine." Hazel smiled
Olympus has strong magical wards…"Um…what about that materializing/ teleporting thing you guys do?"
"That's air travel as well." Hephaestus said
Percy nodded.
"That's a form of air travel too, Jackson.
Percy grimaced.
"Sorry Lord Hermes." He said
"Lord…?" Hermes grimaced
"You called me Jackson." Percy shrugged
"Sorry Perce." Hermes said
"All good." Percy grinned
"We're discussing the water sports place in the break." Hermes said
Percy's eyes widened.
"You were serious about that?" he asked
"Of course we were." The gods except Hera, Zeus and Athena said
Percy's face broke into a smile and he gave them all hugs or fist bumps. They chuckled. The demigods grinned.
"That's a form of air travel too, Jackson…Can you see him doing this?"
"That's what happened." Pollux said
Hermes made it sound pretty ridiculous—hordes of monsters going up in the elevator twenty at a time, listening to "Stayin' Alive." Still, I didn't like it.
Everybody snickered at the mental image.
"Maybe just a few of you could come back," I suggested…"Met her at the Arch," I muttered. "Not nice."
A few chuckles.
"—and the father of all monsters. We can never forget how close he came…Poseidon because he's fighting his own war.
The sea gang sighed.
Hades sits in his realm and does nothing, and Demeter and Persephone follow his lead.
Some gods glared at Hades. He swallowed guiltily.
It will take all our remaining power to oppose the storm giant…Hermes was trying to convince himself.
"Yeah, I was." Hermes sighed
In the corner, the Ophiotaurus mooed sadly…t's always about other people's messages."
"We care what you have to say dad." Travis said
The demigods nodded.
"You can tell us and we'll listen to you too." Annabeth said
Hermes gave them all a little watery smile.
Rodents, George mused. I'm in it for the rodents…big-pleading-gray-eyes thing.
Everybody snickered.
"Bah," Hermes said
Everybody laughed.
"Your mother said to warn you that you are on your own…Why they pay her to be the wisdom goddess, I'm not sure."
Athena glared at Hermes. Percy and Nico high fived him.
"Anything else?" Annabeth asked…'Remember the rivers.'
"Looks like you're gonna use the sand dollar soon." Triton grinned
Percy grinned back.
And, um, something about staying away from her daughter."
The demigods roared with laughter. Percy and Annabeth were redder than a tomato.
"It was so awkward." Hermes laughed
Percy and Annabeth were blushing like crazy.
"Thank you, Hermes," Annabeth said. "And I…I wanted to say…I'm sorry about Luke."
The laughter went away in a split second.
"You shouldn't have said that." Thalia grimaced
The god's expression hardened like he'd turned to marble."… "SORRY doesn't cut it!"
Hermes grimaced.
The demigods froze.
George and Martha curled around the caduceus…"You're the only one who could have."
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Clarisse asked
"It'll most probably come up." Annabeth said
I tried to step between them. "What are you talking about? ... "Maybe if you hadn't abandoned Luke and his mom!"
Percy and the Hermes gang flinched.
"Percy." Poseidon groaned
"I'm really sorry Hermes. I didn't know." Percy said apologetically
"It's quite all right. I mean you were right in one way." Hermes said
The demigods exchanged scared and worried glances.
"No, it was not. It wasn't your fault. You did visit May and you did try to stop her. Zeus doesn't allow anybody to visit. Even Luke doesn't blame you anymore." Percy said
Hermes sighed.
"Thank you guys. It makes me feel better." Hermes smiled
The demigods sighed in relief.
Hermes raised his cattle prod. He began to grow until he was ten feet tall…He lowered the cattle prod, and it turned back to a staff.
"I owe those snakes." Percy said
"A rat." Nico said
"Yeah, I'll do that." Percy said
"Percy Jackson," he said, "because you have taken on the curse of Achilles, I must spare you…"My son, my greatest pride…my poor May…"
The Stolls and Chris winced at Luke been referred to as their dad's greatest pride but they didn't say anything and tried to hide the facial expression as they didn't want to hurt Hermes.
He sounded so devastated I didn't know what to say. One minute he was ready to vaporize us. Now he looked like he needed a hug.
The Hermes kids hugged Hermes who looked pretty upset.
Percy got up hesitantly. The Hermes kids beckoned to the demigods. The Greek campers got up and all of them gave hugs and fist bumps to Hermes. Apollo joined in. Hermes gave a watery smile.
"Look, Lord Hermes," I said. "I'm sorry, but I need to know. What happened to May? She said something about Luke's fate, and her eyes—"
"Not the time Percy." Poseidon said to his son who was sitting on the Hermes couch for some time.
Hermes glared at me, and my voice faltered. The look on his face wasn't really anger, though. It was pain. Deep, incredible pain.
They hugged him once more and went back to their places.
Hermes smiled softly at all of them.
"I'm sorry Hermes." Percy said again.
"It's all right Percy." Hermes smiled
"I will leave you now," he said tightly…Good luck, Percy, Martha the snake whispered.
Percy smiled.
Hermes glowed with the light of a supernova…I wanted to comfort her, but I wasn't sure how.
Percy gave Annabeth a hug.
"Annabeth," I said, "it's not your fault…I shifted uneasily. "Um, you didn't, right?"
Annabeth winced.
She didn't answer. Her Celestial bronze knife was strapped to her arm…Did you…did you bathe in the River Styx?"
"Now she gets it." Thalia grinned
"Don't change the subject." "Percy! Did you or not?"… "So now you're worried about Luke again," I grumbled.
The demigods gave slight grimaces.
"He's jealous." Aphrodite said
"That was kind of insensitive…" Travis trailed off
"Yeah, I mean… Percy was your friend and…." Connor said awkwardly
"Let it be guys." Percy said
The Stolls nodded. Annabeth grimaced.
She stared at me like I'd just dropped from space. "What?"… The last thing I wanted to hear about was more of her history with Luke.
Annabeth grimaced.
"The point is he didn't die in the Styx," I said…Campers were using every single one.
"What happened?" Clarisse asked
"Morpheus, if I'm not wrong." Reyna said grimly
I looked down at the city. I could see almost everything from here…Even in the dead of night, New York is never silent.
"Yeah, New York is never silent." Zoe agreed
But it was now. I felt like my best friend had suddenly dropped dead…"What did they do to my city?"
"Kronos is in for some hard times. Percy's angry." Hazel chuckled
Percy grinned.
I pushed Michael Yew away from the binoculars and took a look…"Morpheus has put the entire island of Manhattan to sleep. The invasion has started."
"Oh gods." Reyna muttered
"Done." Hestia said
"I'll read." Aphrodite said
Hestia gave her the book.