If his girlfriend didn't kill him first, Percy was going to murder Nico.
The last thing he remembered was the usual darkness that came with shadow-traveling. Then came the blue light and water. Lots and lots of water.
His father's domain swirled around him, cushioning his fall. The pressure increased until he could take it no longer, and all at once, the water swelled, exploding outwards, drenching the shores and leaving nothing untouched but the demigod at the center of the explosion.
As the water drained back to its usual position, Percy climbed out of the riverbed, looking around curiously. He appeared to be in the middle of a forest, and he also appeared to be alone.
Having deemed his surroundings safe for the moment, he took a moment to take stock of himself. Riptide was in his pocket like always, never failing to come back to him. He still had his necklace commemorating his years at Camp, and further inventory revealed a pen ( a regular one that didn't turn into three feet of deadly bronze), a couple of squares of ambrosia, and a stick of gum in his pocket. He then turned his attention to the two biggest problems at the moment.
Where were his cousins.
"Nico?" "Thalia?" He called out. Either his cousins were nowhere to be seen or they were playing an elaborate and not very amusing trick on him. However, Percy had spent enough time as a half-blood to know this was no joke. "Nico! Thals! Where are you?" Still no response.
Nearly everyone else would have panicked by now; getting transported to an unknown place and losing his two cousins was not an ideal situation for a teenager. But Percy was a demigod; these things happened every other day to him.
"Well," Percy thought, staggering to his feet, "Sitting here's going to do no good."
Standing wearily, he started towards the cover of trees before the hair on the back of his neck rose. Percy froze, trusting his instincts that were warning him he was not alone.
"Show yourself!" He called, feeling slightly stupid as he yelled at the trees. "I, uh… I come in peace?"
There was no reply, but the uneasy feeling did not leave him. He decided to uncap Riptide despite not knowing if this potential threat was monster or mortal.
As the three feet of shining celestial bronze sprung out of nowhere, Percy heard a gasp - one that was quickly stifled but showed that there was definitely someone there. Sea-green eyes narrowed and Percy raised his sword, cautious. He crept forward, approaching the trees warily before two children, soaked to the bone, stepped out of the bushes.
No, not children, Percy realized upon further inspection. They were short enough to be children, but their elderly facial features revealed them to be adults. And, Percy noticed with some interest, they were carrying swords like he was. So, this meant he was somewhere they either didn't have guns or chose not to use them; a relief, as it would have been awkward explaining why a nineteen-year-old had an eighteenth-century weapon.
The two looked remarkably alike; not twins, but similar, like the Stolls. They both wore long traveling cloaks atop coats and very bright vests. Curly One, as Percy had dubbed him, stepped forward and gave a short bow, addressing Percy.
"Greetings good sir. I am Peregrin Took, Thain of the Shire and Knight of Gondor. But you may call me Pippin!"
Curly Two then stepped forward, and gave a similar bow, saying, "And I am Meriadoc Brandybuck, Master of Buckland and Esquire of Rohan, at your service. But you may call me Merry!"
"Um…" Percy was momentarily taken aback by these two small yet energetic beings. He tried to mimic their greeting, giving an awkward bow and saying, "I'm Perseus Jackson, but please call me Percy. Perseus makes me sound like an old man."
Large smiles broke out across their faces. "Oh I like him, Merry," Pippin said as if Percy wasn't standing right there.
"I do too Pip. I wonder where he comes from." Simultaneously the two turned to look at him.
At this question, Percy started panicking internally. These two were obviously not human based on their attire and stature, although they seemed to wish him no harm either. And he was pretty sure he wasn't in Kansas anymore - or New York, to be precise. But he still didn't know where he was or why he was there. He decided to err on the side of caution for now by avoiding the question entirely and instead said, "I'm looking for my cousins. One - a girl - has spiky black hair and a silver tiara. The other's a boy, wearing all black. Have you seen them?"
Even before he finished asking, he could tell what the answers would be. To confirm his thoughts, Pippin shook his head. "Sorry, we haven't. Merry and I were just traveling to Gondor for King Elessar's birthday, and there was this ginormous wave that washed over the river banks and soaked everything, including us, and you were at the center of it. How'd you do that by the way? Are you a wizard?"
Briefly, Percy wondered if this was some intense LARPing (Rachel made him go to a convention with her once - long story), but the expressions on their faces were too earnest.
"Uh…no. By the way, I don't mean to sound rude or anything, but… what are you?" He had decided not to reveal his powers yet, and didn't want to say he was a wizard without knowing what the hell that implied yet.
"Why, we're hobbits, of course!" Pippin said as if offended that someone had asked such a ridiculous question. Percy opened his mouth to apologize, but Pippin continued regardless.
"You're not the first of the Big Folk not to hear of hobbits, of course. Still, we were right there in the Battle of the Black Gate, fighting Sauron just as hard as any of you Big Folk." Here he preened a little, in a good-natured yet prideful manner.
In his head, Percy connected Sauron to Kronos or Gaia. If they had helped, then they could probably tell him more about this different world. He decided to throw caution to the wind.
"So, uh, how exactly did you defeat him?" Percy wondered aloud. At his question, the two hobbits seemed to deflate a little. "Well, it was Frodo mostly," Pippin said proudly, but sadly, speaking Frodo's name as one would of a great hero, a fallen hero. "He cast the Ring into the fire and destroyed Sauron for good."
"And then he sailed" Merry continued where Pippin left off. "Just last summer. Sam's taking it worst than most-although Rosie Cotton's helping a bit. Anyway's, he's off in Gondor already, getting ready for Aragorn's birthday." Percy just tried not to look too confused and nodded at what he thought were the right places.
"Shame really," Pippin sighed. "Frodo was such a nice hobbit, to everyone. And he threw the bast parties- after Bilbo of course."
"Yes," Merry agreed. "I bet he could have helped with the Haradrim problem."
"Wait a sec," Percy cut in. "The who?"
Both hobbits looked at him like he was crazy. "Mind you, you really have been out of it, haven't you?" Thankfully, Percy didn't need to come up with an explanation, because Pippin was plodding on regardless. "The Haradrim were the Men who fought on Sauron's side during the War of the Ring. Now, they're stirring up trouble again."
Percy frowned. What if it wasn't an accident that he was here. What if the Fates wanted him to take part in this Haradrim problem? Percy barely refrained from snorting. He had just gone through two wars and the loss of many friends; scars that were slow to heal. Now he was being put through another fight, not even in his own universe this time? He wondered if there was a way to bribe the Fates to stop messing with him? Maybe bringing them some of his mom's blue cookies.
Unaware of Percy's thoughts, Merry finished Pippin's explanation. "But since the Elves, Dwarves, Hobbits, and Men are united, and we've got the Ents on our side, I don't see why they would attack."
Pippin added in a conspirational whisper. "Some say that they've got their own allies, new monsters ten times worse than orcs of Urak-Hai. Anyways," he continued, abruptly changing the subject. "We wish you luck finding your companions, but we must get back to our party and start on our way again. We have to get to Gondor on time."
"You could join us, of you like? If there's anyone who can help you find your cousins, it'll be Aragorn," Merry offered, having taken a liking to the young man in front of him. "You can travel with us to Gondor and plead your case with him."
Percy thought for a second. The two hobbits seemed nice if a little strange, and probably didn't mean him any harm. Besides, he did need any help he could get finding Nico and Thalia.
A few hours later, the sun was setting and Percy was seated around a small bonfire, surrounded by other hobbits traveling with Marry and Pippin (guarding), who were apparently important peo-hobbits, and needed guards.
They were all unexpectedly friendly towards him, but they all clammed up and got suspicious when he started questioning them. They didn't take too kindly to a 'Big Folk' asking lots of questions. He figured that since he had arrived with a large wave, which had flooded river banks all over, Thals and Nico entrance probably had something to do with their heritage as well. But what will he do, wait for an undead soldier to just walk by the camp asking for directions?
Next to him, Merry and Pippin were on their fourth helpings of food each. Percy had thought he had a big stomach, but he was impressed, and slightly scared, at how much these small beings could put away. Suddenly, a voice cut through his thoughts.
"It was an earthquake, I swear, but there wasn't nothin' natural about it."
In a flash, Percy was walking towards the hobbit, a guard, who was carrying a small sword - more like a dagger - similar to the ones Merry and Pippin had. He walked up to the hobbit and tapped him on the shoulder. "Uh, excuse me, Sir, but I couldn't help overhearing something about an earthquake…?" he trailed off, unsure if he had offended the hobbit or not by barging into his conversation. Thankfully, this one seemed glad to share his thoughts.
"You see, young master -" Percy tried not to get offended by someone half his height calling him young - "I was out gathering supplies from a nearby village today, as we were running low on dried meat and fruits, and they had a delicious cheese wheel, I should have bought some-" Percy cleared his throat, trying to keep the hobbit on task. "Oh, my apologies. Well, I was buying some dried beef when I heard some villagers talk about an earthquake that had occurred a day ago, over by Amon Hen, and how right before it there was a bright flash of blue light. They were curious, they said and tried to climb up to investigate, but then an earthquake started, the biggest one in years, they say. There's no way an earthquake can start up so suddenly like that, unless by magic. Some of us think it might have been the Blue Wizards, as they haven't been seen in years, or Radagast the Brown, because Gandalf has sailed and Saruman is dead-"
By that time, Percy had stopped listening. He didn't even make a comment about 'Sauron' and 'Saruman'. While the hobbit was still talking, Percy had spun around to see Merry and Pippin standing right behind him, also listening to the tale.
"That's my cousin," Percy said urgently to the hobbits. "Amon Hen, is that close?"
"About four days walk," Merry replied. "Less on horseback."
Percy cursed. He needed to get to Nico, and then find Thalia and leave before war broke out. "Thank you for all your help, really Merry and Pippin. But I have to go find my cousin. Could you tell me how to get there?"
"They looked at each other, then simultaneously broke into matching grins. "We can do better than that Percy," Pippin declared. "We can take you there!"
Percy blinked in surprise. "You will?"
Merry nodded sagely. "Of course. He's family, after all. Pip here's my cousin, and we both know how completely helpless he is without me."
Pippin turned to him, offended.
"Well you are," Merry pointed out.
"And besides," Pippin said as if he hadn't heard Merry. "We haven't had an adventure in years! The Shire's been getting a bit boring and quiet for us, hasn't it Merry?"
"Indeed it has," Merry agreed. "Just let us grab some food and intrust the men, then we'll head into that town, buy you a mount, and head on our way."
Percy protested profusely as they headed into the town, where Pippin and Merry bought him a large gray mare, and despite his worry for his cousins, he had to grin. At least he would have friends to talk to and some in-journey entertainment on the way.
So, Percy shows up somewhere around Rohan, and Pippin and Merry are traveling to Gondor for Aragrons birthday.
Frodo did sail, but it was only recently so all the hobbits are still feeling the loss.
They would probably have some sort of guard if only an honor guard. They are important hobbits.
As I said, they are important hobbits who come from large wealthy families and probably wouldn't bat an eye at buying their friend a horse. However, Percy, who didn't exactly grow up well off, is not ok with them doing that for him, and will probably find a way to repay them somehow.
If you want to know look up 'blue roan Percheron' on google images to see what horse Percy got