Third POV:
The fact of the matter is that Percy is lost. Like really lost. After a couple of weeks traveling through the mountains, a massive snow storm hit. In the blizzard there was no way to know which direction to go, the usual landmarks were hidden behind the white that swirled so densely. Even the pines directly in front of him was little more than a crude outline of a shadow mostly erased by the storm. The soft crystals he would have found so bewitching from the other side of a of this raging storm, found their way into his clothes in every possible way. They packed down on his head and between the fabric that flapped endlessly in the wind. He could feel his blood cool and his skin become icy. He shouldn't have come, not in this weather. Disorientation was a given; and the cold was a killer. He cried out to the storm to turn but the wind carried his voice faster than he could speak. The world was being erased around him, and he'd be with it if he didn't find shelter...
Even in the past, Percy was never really bothered by the cold. Yet, this storm had an odd feeling about it. Something... strange. Percy didn't know what exactly. The raw cold sucking the heat from his very being. He just couldn't go on anymore. With every step taken, it was like something was forcing him to freeze over. He needed to stop, just until the storm blows over.
Digging himself a cover in the ever increasing snow. He made himself a snow cave, capable of fitting the one and only Percy. Fit with absolutely no comfortably, no heating; and of course who could fall asleep in the blistering cold without the ominous howl of the wind seeping it's way to his ears. So, sleeping was so far off the table, dogs were eating it in an alley way.
Once Percy woke up, the storm was all, but gone. Just dimmed way the hades down. Clouds covering the once pristine blue skies... That was all a couple of weeks ago. Ever since that mind bending storm, the skies haven't cleared once. With no clear skies, Percy couldn't navigate properly. The stars were always his escape and now he couldn't even gaze upon them. To top it all off, the landscape was utterly buried in the snow. Like he woke up to a whole new world. Everywhere he looked were shades of white to black. Not a single speck of color.
He was hopelessly lost. In gods know where... Actually they don't. Great. Now he is lost and alone.
Just where in the hades could he be? No signs of civilization anywhere. In fact, the only time he noticed something remotely human was a dirt road. Back at the foothills. Now how is that possible? When humans are literally everywhere on earth.
Percy just kept on moving, training, and hunting whatever he could find. Which is not much in that godforsaken landscape. But he makes do. Plus his training with the bow was taken on a whole other level. Percy manages to hit the target on a tree from twenty-five feet away. Not quite the bullseye he was hoping for, but after a whole month of training with a single arrow. He was doing extremely well; considering he was a terrible shot before.
So, as he was walking in the perpetual colorless mountains in the ever decreasing daylight. A splotch of some lights caught his attention, far off into the distance. The only thing he's seen in over a couple of weeks other than snow and more snow. Naturally he made his way over. Only to be stopped as nightfall hit. Percy decided to make his way over in the early morning.
Yet, as he was trying to find a nice spot to catch some shuteye, Percy noticed a parallel line cutting through the valley beneath him. As far as he knew there is no natural thing in the known world that could possible be that perfect. Only something manmade. 'Screw it' Percy thought and began his trek down the rest of the mountain.
The mountain path grew wide where the soil was hard and pact then narrow in the rocky passes. There were times it was barely there at all, only able to fit one car perhaps. No more than a mild disturbance to any passerby. But always it lead upward to the peak, or down further. The way down lead them towards the lights he saw earlier. Following the dirt road for over an hour, through the wild twists and turns. Stopping abruptly by the edge of an asphalt road. The road was a smooth black river, the sort wheels float so effortlessly along. And so as his feet made its steady way along, the scenery took on an almost meditative quality.
This was the first time Percy ever saw a road and as such took his time enjoying the new experience. Somehow the never ending flakes of ice avoided plastering the asphalt. Keeping the road glistening wet and a clear sign that people continuously use it.
Turning the next corner Percy stopped and gasped. It was a city of wide avenues and small places to sit and eat, to relax as folk went about their day, lay abandoned in the cold weather. There were the sky towers in the center, what was once thousands of homes now took up less ground space than an old shopping mall. The rest was parks and wild spaces, a chance to walk among nature or enjoy the trails on bicycles or horseback. Yet perhaps Percy's favorite thing was the river that flowed through the center, crossing the bridges, pausing just to look at the view he saw for the first time today and loved all the more. There are times my mothers speak of the cars man continue to have, the boxes on wheels that moved around cities spread out over the Earth, suffocating the soils and poisoning the air. Percy was so glad to be born in the glory of Pan's true realm, a place where the earth wasn't polluted and everyone got along greatly. It's as if there was a war going on, but nobody noticed, too absorbed with there own selfish views and ideas that locked the mind. Percy wondered what he would have done if he'd have been raised in a city, if he'd have followed the herd or been one of the shapers of the new world, the one he lives in now.
It was well past midnight when the streets were void of life. So no one was out and about concerned for Percy's appearance or dragging him inside and out of the cold. 'I guess my plan to slowly get used to towns is out...' Stopping in the center of the city, Percy took a long look around him. Taking in every single detail. 'I can't believe people are this disgusting. Trash and crap everywhere. I need to leave.' Percy thought as he walked up to a tall building. Named Château Frontenac, but to Percy it was utter nonsense.
That didn't change Percy's abhorrent revelation about modern society... Complete disgust and the fact that people are destroying the wonderous city with garbage. That lead him to wonder what was happening to nature. Are they throwing trash in Pan's realm? Littering the very earth they live on? Gaia herself. His home. Where his moms are. Where his best friend is. Where he grew up. 'I'm never going to step foot in a city again. Or stay as far away from them as I can. I hate this. I hate all of this. Why would people do this? Why would they choose to live like this? This isn't right. I should go.'
Turning around, Percy was pissed. The puddles and river responding to him. Tossing and turning in angst. Growing bigger by the moment.
"What do you think you're doing?" A feminine voice asked Percy. Snapping him out of his thoughts and anger. Turning the water back to it's normal behavior. She has a mane of lush black hair, coffee-brown eyes, and unnaturally pale skin that was the color of snow. She wore a white dress, and had a silver crown atop her hair.
"I was just leaving." Percy said with a little sass laced in his voice. Crossing his arms. She felt familiar for some reason.
"You're not bothered by the cold?" She asked getting a good look at what he was wearing which was barely anything at all. She then noticed the equipment he carried.
"Never was... Uhm have we met before?" Percy said trying to rack his brain. Something about her felt similar.
"I think I would remember meeting a naked child." This lady sassed. He swears that she is familiar. He just can't seem to place his finger on it.
"I'm not naked! I have shorts on!" Percy shouted. Having the lady feel a little irritated that someone was speaking to her like that. 'Who does this boy think he is?' The lady thought. "...You're Khione! Do you know how much I love the snow? And I'm meeting the snow Goddess!" Percy shouted with glee and jumping around in joy. Her identity popping into his brain as if a switch flipped. Finally the familiarity of her made sense. She was the creator of that wicked storm! That's why it felt strange!
Percy was so tripped up on hype he was unable to see that Khione was shocked to a stand still. She was only able to stare at the boy who knows of her for a moment. How does this kid know? She must find out. Grabbing his wrist, she began dragging him into the building they stood in front of. Her icy grip never loosening. Not that she would need to. Percy hopped along with a gleaming smile spread across his face. What could go wrong?
Entering the pristine lobby and the doors slamming shut behind him.
Percy's POV:
'I can't believe I finally got to meet a goddess! What are the odds?! And its Khione!' I just continued to follow her as she lead me to an "elevator" whatever the hades that is. Clicking a button and we began moving. 'What the hell is this!? I'm moving up!' I must've looked like a freak running in circles around the moving room. 'How is it moving?' I just kept thinking about the elevator.
A ding sounded and we stopped. The doors sliding open to reveal a massive room. I think it was called a penthouse suite or something like that. With two demigods in the room, Khione's two brothers Calais and Zethes. Calais was the size of an ox, wearing a red hockey jersey, a pair of baggy sweatpants, and black leather cleats. He has purple wings on his back, icy white hair, black eyes, and he is missing a lot of his teeth, like he'd gotten in too many fights. He uses a jagged bronze sword that looks like an icicle. Zethes had ice-white hair that was long and feathered into a mullet. He wore pointy-toed leather shoes, designer pants that were way too tight, and a god-awful silk shirt with the top three buttons open. He was only about ninety pounds with a horrible case of acne.
But I didn't get the chance to say hi. Khione immediately grabbed my hand and dragged me into a separate room, off to the side. The two dudes laughing between themselves. Probably not a good sign. She threw me inside, or tried to, and shut the door behind her. "I have questions and you're gonna answer them. Are we clear?"
I wasn't paying attention. I mean I heard her, it just didn't register in my brain. "Are those two out there your brothers?" I asked.
"Yes they are-"
"Awesome! I never had any siblings, but I guess Phoebe was like a sister to me. Oh and I can't forget about the other nymphs. So I guess I did have siblings. But I never had a brother, actually I have only met two dudes in my entire life. Only for a moment too. One of them was a satyr named Grover, real sweetheart, and the other was a guy named Luke. He gave me an odd feeling. Oh and-" I don't know why exactly I rambled on there for a bit.
"HEY!" I shut my mouth straight away. Thank the gods Khione stopped me. Otherwise I would have kept on going. "I said I was going to be asking the questions here!"
"Oooh. Yea I didn't catch that." She opened her mouth again, but I beat her to the punch, "Hey do you know where I am? I have no clue. In fact I'm really lost. The last time I checked I was in California, but this place doesn't give off that vibe, you know." I asked her swiveling my head around the room. Never keeping my eyes on one thing for too long. What stopped me was Khione's icy grip clenching my arm.
"Give me one good reason on why I shouldn't freeze you here and now. Saving me the trouble of dealing with a brat like you." Her steely voice threatened.
"A threat? Damn, the first goddess I meet and she is already threatening me." I said acting like she wasn't there. She began pressing harder, "Fine, sheesh. Because you don't have what you want."
"Tsk." She let me go, "You will answer my questions." Khione said rather forcefully.
"Only if you answer mine."
"Are you negotiating with a goddess!?" She didn't sound too pleased. "I should kill you right now for your insolence."
"Go right ahead. Just be sure to let my moms know how I died. Make the story a little spicy. Like we fought and I died valiantly protecting someone." I told her. She had a very confused face and seemed to struggle on the whole murder concept.
"Fine. But I go first." I nodded in agreement. Finally. "How do you know of me?"
"Well you are Khione. Goddess of the snow. It would be a little weird if I didn't know who you are." That seems pretty obvious.
"No, I mean who told you about me." Rethinking her own question.
"My mom taught me about you and your family. Not just you guys, but also the many different gods and goddesses affiliated with Greek mythology. There are a lot of you guys out there, you know. I learned a lot in seven years." Khione seemed to contemplate my answer. A barely noticeable smile laced on her mouth. "Now my turn. Where am I?"
"Quebec City."
"OH F ME! How in the hades does this crap keep happening to me!? I'm being tossed around the whole freakin' continent!" None of this makes any sense! Am I just bad at geography?
"Only one question at a time." Does she know something I don't? Probably, she is a goddess. "Who are you?"
"Percy."
"No last name?"
"I never really had one. You see, my birth mother was killed when I was very young. So I barely remember her, let alone her last name. And since nymphs and naiads don't really have last names, or at least I don't think they do, I don't either." I actually never even thought about my last name. Never came up before. "Do you know how I ended up in Quebec city of all places or how I ended up in California either?" This question was a doozey.
"Of course I know. I teleported you to both places." Ooooookay. "Now who is your godly parent? Pan?"
"Hold up! You teleported me across the country and you have no idea who I am? Why in the hell would you do that?" Goddesses are weird.
"Nuh-uh you have to answer my question first." She said while wagging her finger.
"Poseidon." She was definitely not expecting that to fly out of my mouth. "Now tell me why." She took a moment to register my answer before continuing herself.
"I was keeping an eye on the Hunters of Artemis because of reasons. When I saw you man-handle those hunters and maybe I wanted to give you a hand. Then I saw your progression in your training, plus your natural affinity to nature. I was curious and that rarely happens to any god... You're special Percy. I wanted to meet you, so I tested you with my storm. To see if you were worthy of it." I will never understand gods. Messing with my life like that. "Are you sure your father is Poseidon and not Pan? You have a very strong nature aura."
"Yes I'm sure. Otherwise I would've drowned plenty of times by now. And fish love calling me royalty. That might be a part of it too..." I tried to come up with another question, but nothing pooped into my head, "I'm all out of questions, but you can continue."
"Are you sure you're a demigod?"
"What kind of questions is that!? Of course I'm a demigod! Weirdo." What's with this goddess.
"What do you really know about your father?" Seriously what is she getting at?
"I know that he's the god of the seas, storms, earthquakes, droughts, floods and horses. But I have never met him, so I don't know what he's like personally, just stories."
"Ah... Is that all?"
"What are you getting at?"
"Hmph people tend to forget that your daddy just so happens to be the father of many monsters. Cyclops. Charybdis. Polyphemus. Procrustes. Some giants even... Which is why I asked, are you sure you're a demigod? Or are you just another monster your father cooked up." I-I completely forgot about them, "Like you said you don't remember your birth mother. Was she human? Monster? What do you really know Percy?!" She began shouting towards the end. Khione was adamant to attack my psyche.
"...hahahahHaHAHAH." I couldn't help myself. I just started laughing and couldn't stop. I laughed so hard I fell to floor and began rolling around. I finally managed to get ahold of myself. "Hehe. You're funny, you know that... Trust me, I'm a demigod. I don't bleed ichor, or turn to dust when I get hurt. I know exactly who I am. A sarcastic demigod with water powers destined to either save or destroy the world." Khione calmed down and thought about what I said.
"How do you know the prophecy is even about you?"
"Because I'm gonna make it mine." I probably don't know how much that statement is gonna impact me, but I don't care.
"Heh, I like you Percy. I've made my decision." That's not good.
"What decision?"
"I'm wanna adopt you."
...
...
"What!? Why would you want to do something like that!?" I swear gods make no sense whatsoever. "Oh my gods, I'm gonna have five moms. I'm so gonna die. I don't know how I'm going to deal with five moms." I started to mumble.
"Oh calm down. I'm not going to become your mother or actually adopt you." Khione said while looking at her nails. 'What?' "I want you to become my brother. You see, this conversation has been the most fun I have had in a long time."
"Don't you already have two brothers? Why would you want me?"
"Those two dunces? Please, I can hardly stand them. But you? I like you. Do you know how many mortals or demigods I have met that actually knew who I was? It's insulting! I'm a goddess for crying out loud! Yet no one knows the goddess of snow." She buried her head into her hands. Damn I didn't know it was that bad. I wonder if it's the same with the other deities.
"Oh I'm sorry. But I was raised a little bit special I guess." That didn't seem to drag her out of her mood. "I would love to become your brother. How many people get to say that their sister is a goddess of snow?"
"Really?" She didn't sound to convinced.
"Of course! I was getting pretty bored of being alone anyway. A sister would be pretty awesome." Aw she was smiling a little. "Now is there some sort of thing you have to do in order to make this official?"
"Of course there is!" She seemed pretty happy about that. She stood up and extended her right hand, beginning a soft chant. I didn't make out any of the words, I zoned out. Stupid ADHD. "There. Here take a look." Khione conjured up a frozen mirror and I walked up to it. I didn't look any different except for the fact I now had an icy-blue ring around my normal sea-green one. "With this you and I can be in contact from anywhere. Plus there is a little surprise there."
"...Why are you doing this? I mean you're a goddess and I'm a child. It doesn't make sense that you would want to adopt me as your brother."
"*Sigh* Do you know what it is like to be forgotten? Passed over like you don't mean anything?" 'In a sense yeah.' "Plus the two morons outside don't care about me and Boreas is a real dick." 'That I don't know how it feels.' "Then you came along. You cared. Not like those Olympians. You remembered who I was. Do you have any idea how much that means to a minor god?" 'I guess not. Maybe I should try and meet the others? They do deserve some recognition.'