Death and Champagne
Chapter I:
When the doorbell rings at three o'clock in the morning, it is never good news.
Percy was woken from his dreams by the first chime, his eyes flickering open from where he lay, sprawled on the beaten-up futon. For a moment, he stayed still, believing that what he heard was an aberration, but then it rang a second time,
Ring!
Rolling off the couch with a groan, he made his way towards his apartment door. The bell chimed a third time, and before it could annoy him for a fourth, he swung open the door. Expecting one of his old buddies, he instead found a woman doused in blood. He thought himself hallucinating at first, until he blinked and realized that yes, she really was still standing right in front of him.
"Uh…"
"Thanks!" She yelled, slamming close the door.
Percy reached for Riptide as she collapsed on top of his couch, but stopped short of drawing the blade when he saw her.
She was wearing a military jumpsuit that may have once been white, but was now bloodied red and with holes. Whatever skin she showed was caked in soot and grime. Her dirty blonde hair was still fraying out of her bun, looking more like a peacock's tail than anything else.
"Ermmm," Percy drawled, delirious from the rather rude awakening. "I think you got the wrong apartment?"
The woman, heaving from exhaustion, lifted her head to expose an unintentional double chin.
"Sorry, didn't have much of a choice."
Percy knew he had his fair share of questionable moments, but he was not dull enough to believe her words. His first thought was that the Stoll brothers were pulling a fast one on him. After all, it was close to Halloween, and you could never rule out a child of Hermes to pull some outlandish prank.
"I'm sorry," he blurted. "Are you some sort of… escort?"
The woman scoffed and sat up, giving him a first-class view of her rigid face. Despite all the visible carnage, her features were arrestive; her eyes especially, sharp black surrounded by wild brown that could have belonged to a wolf.
"If I was, I'd be the world's worst escort." She laughed with a Russian accent, like she was alluding to some sort of inside joke.
He wondered what she had done to look the way she looked, while also considering how much of a lunatic he was for letting her stay this long. Hell, she was leaving blood marks all over the damn carpet flooring, how was he going to explain that to the landlord?
"Listen," he started, keeping his voice level as she already looked threatening enough. "I don't know who you are, but if you could leave that'd be great, fantastic even."
"Yelena Belova." The woman grunted as she fished an unfinished bag of chips from underneath her bottom. "Now you know."
"Percy Jackson." He felt obligated to say back, biting the inside of his cheek as he did so.
He was positive this was another one of his fever dreams. As a demigod, he experienced plenty. Before she arrived, he had dreamt himself dining at an Italian restaurant with Thanatos, the Greek personification of Death. Definitely on the crazier side when it came to even his dreams, the god had extended to him an offer, a chance to undo what was his life's greatest failure. It was rather simple. All Percy had to do was choose between two glasses of champagne. Champagne roulette, if you will.
Of the two glasses on the table, one had the potential to bring his loved ones back to life. The other, a wildcard, contained an infinite amount of possibilities within it, good or bad. He had chosen the drink on the left, and whoever this Yelena character was had come ringing his doorbell right as the fizzling liquid breached his lips.
"What flavor is this crisp?" She asked, examining one of the triangle chips from the bag in the dim lighting.
"Chips, you mean?"
Yelena gave him a dangerous look.
"Cool Ranch." Percy answered, bewildered, reading off the blue bag's label. "You can keep the rest on your way out."
She frowned at his hospitality, or lack thereof, sliding the foreign chip into her mouth.
Was it possible for eating chips to be... erotic?
"I can't leave… yet." She mused.
Percy's half-baked conscience did not yet possess the necessary bandwidth to understand a statement such as that.
"But... why?"
"They're after me." She said, biting down on another chip, like he was supposed to know who 'they' was.
"Who?" He asked, feeling like the odd man out in his own living space. There was something about her gravity that kept him on a knife's edge.
Glancing at her again, he was starting to think that she was a demigod as well. This would explain her appearance to some extent, and who 'they' was. Perhaps she was chased over here by some rabid monster. Why she had arrived at his doorstep? Well, he could chalk that up to the Fates deciding that his boring life needed a little bit of extra spice; Cool Ranch-flavored spice, apparently.
Yelena tipped the remaining crumbs into her palm as she said, "Some damn aliens."
"What?"
Percy felt his eyes narrow with confusion, to which she stared at him like he had sprouted a third eyebrow. Either she was on drugs, or he was, and at this point he was willing to concede to a coinflip to decide.
"Some... damn... aliens." She reiterated, this time slower. But enunciating the syllables did nothing to help him.
"Aliens? W-what are you talking about?"
Some damn aliens? What was this? Was he living in some Michael Bay action flick sequel?
Yelena quipped a frown, crumpling the chip bag inside her meaty fists before standing up. The more she talked, the more certain he was that he overdosed on his one-a-day multivitamins.
"Let's slow this roll," Percy held up his hands. He was beginning to wake up now, his dry humor activating. "What is this? Some sort of sick joke? Aliens? Are you kidding me?"
"Look," Yelena gave an aggravated sigh, "I'm not sure what boulder you hit your head on, but unless you can somehow help me fight, which… I'm not sure you can," she gave him another once over, making him subconsciously flex his abdomen in spite of himself, "I need to hide out here for as long as possible."
"Well…" he started.
Yelena walked forward. Percy took some steps back.
Before she could get any closer to him, a shuddering boom rattled the ceiling, making them both jump in place.
"Shit, nevermind! They're here now!" She cursed in both English and what he guessed was Russian, as two batons appeared in her hands.
Percy, with the two hemispheres of his brain still living in dysfunctional cohabitation, felt into his pocket to reveal his own weapon. Riptide's celestial bronze sprung to life, the pen transforming into a wicked sword in a blink.
Yelena paused mid-stride, her now frenetic eyes ogling at the bristling metal.
"Wha—we'll talk about this later." She declared.
Another massive boom shook the ceiling, this time causing cracks to form in the corners. Percy cringed, hoping that his renter's insurance would be enough to cover the cost. This was not how he imagined a girl spending the night at his place would turn out.
Not a fan of explanations, Yelena bolted out the door, thankfully opening it by the knob instead of drop kicking the entire thing. Something he expected her to do going off their brief introductions.
"Follow me!" She ordered, activating something within her batons that saw them spark with electricity.
"My life is a simulation." Percy was left to mutter to himself as he slipped on his shoes, pausing briefly to look off to the side. "It's almost like… I'm in a story."
-Ω-
It was still two months away from Christmas, yet somehow Santa's elves were out in full force.
"Who the hell even are these guys?" He yelled over the raging commotion that had overtaken the parking lot.
So far, a couple things had been made very clear. Yelena was definitely not a demigod, this was for sure not his apartment building they stepped out of, and the aliens were some vile combination between what he imagined Santa's elves looked like, and farm pig.
"Dark Elves!" She grunted while electrocuting one in the groin.
"They couldn't come up with an edgier name?" Griped Percy in reply, causing the elf in front of him to snarl viciously and rend the air with some unintelligible war cry.
"I don't think Baconator here likes me." He then concluded, swinging Riptide in a circle that sent the elf's head into near-Earth orbit.
Yelena could only roll her eyes back at him as she fought off another two.
Despite no practice, the demigod still wielded Riptide effortlessly, the celestial bronze coated from tip to hilt in thick blackish blood.
Yelena, whoever she proclaimed herself to be, was no slouch either, fighting with the gusto of a child of Ares and the brains of an Athenian, her weapons wreaking havoc amongst the pack of thirty or so Elves.
Making his way closer to her, catching another handful of Elves off guard in the process, he asked,
"Why are they after you?"
"I got framed! They think I killed their king or whatever."
"Did you?"
"Of course not!"
Percy recalled the blood he had seen on her when she first entered his apartment, his facial expression revealing what he thought.
"I was on some other stupid mission," Yelena admittingly clarified, "and they just so happened to be there with me."
"So you did kill Santa Claus?"
His terrible joke flew over her head, her confusion resulting in her almost clobbering.
Rearing the brunt of his attention back to the matter at hand, away from his foul attempts at getting some cheap laughs, he clashed blades with another elf. With a simple flick he disarmed it, reversing the motion seeing the alien cut down to the asphalt.
The remaining Elves retreated in terror, reaching a baseball throw away before a pistol appeared in Yelena's hands. Three pulls of the trigger sent them on a one-way ticket to Hades realm.
"That's not fair." Percy exclaimed, taking a moment to catch his breath.
For late October, the night was swelteringly hot, the ebbs of adrenaline seeping out of his body as sweat.
"What are you talking about?"
He pointed his sword at her gun, making her stiffen for a second.
"Can't bring a gun to a swordfight, that's cheating."
"You're weird." She declared, picking a piece of elf from her hair. With class, she spat on it.
Brushing off the snide comment, Percy looked back at his apartment—or more accurately, what should have been his apartment. It was a different building altogether, one that was green instead of blue, about twenty years older, abandoned and lacking twenty stories.
It was nothing short of impossible, putting it simply. He had somehow stepped out of his door into a different world.
"Shit, there's more up ahead," Yelena cursed.
On cue, a futuristic spaceship in the shape of a 'T' flitted overhead, the harrow slicing through the dead of night into the nearby forest that replaced what used to be a grocery store.
Without so much as a verbal warning, Yelena bolted in that direction, leaving him no time to ponder. Descending into the thicket, the sound of shouts and heavy steps grew as they approached. Not long was it before the spaceship appeared through the festering tree line, surrounded by a hell of a lot more Elves.
About a hundred yards away, she crouched and he mirrored her, the two of them concealed in the bushes that sprouted just outside of the rough clearing.
"What do we do now?" He whispered, hints of excitement noticeable in the spaces between his words.
After so many years of down time, these past thirty minutes were a breath of fresh air, a nice long stretch after a hard workout. He could not remember the last time he felt this wired up and ready to go; the sensation was scarily addicting.
Yelena pouted, showing him two fingers to the lips, before crawling to the right, away from the Elves amassed in front of them.
Percy still could not make out what the Elves were saying, but if he had to place a bet off just the tone of their voices, they definitely were not planning anything good.
Luck soon ran dry, a loud snap from a twig broken underneath Yelena's boot ruining their stealth. Immediately the Elves reared their ugly heads, their ears twitching at the sudden sounds.
She cussed again in Russian, the curse word sounding horrendously vulgar.
These Elves were significantly larger than those previous, with masks and insectoid armor that showcased bulging biceps, making them appear like action figures instead of Santa's little helpers. The first Elves were the tutorial, these guys were the real Dark Elves.
"Maybe we should b—"
Percy's suggestion of a tactical retreat was cut short by Yelena, springing up from the bush. The woman clearly had a penance for death greater than his.
The Elves hissed in surprise, unveiling their weaponry, which just so happened to be massive rifles ripped straight from a Halo game.
"Oh great, they got guns now too?" He groaned, realizing he was now the odd man out in that department. "Where's mine?"
Yelena could only do so much as squint her eyes at him before the Elves opened fire.
Percy reacted with a roll behind the closest tree, an elf reducing his bush into burning atoms. Daring a glance to the other side, he barely made out Yelena, her face gritty with determination as she returned fire.
The elf acting as their leader barked an order in a foreign tongue. The words were indecipherable, but the intent was: kill. Not like Percy did not already know that.
Another war cry erupted as the Elves formed a horde and charged.
Despite no prior experience fighting together, Percy and Yelena timed their counter perfectly, both leaping out the tree line in unison. An elf was the first to strike, aiming to sweep Yelena off her feet with a brutal kick, but she moved like a gazelle, avoiding what would have been a low blow with a hop, punishing their decision thereafter with her batons.
With Riptide, Percy drew the next closest. Dodging the shots, he jammed his sword into the elf's chin, a fountain of black ichor spouting from the wound as he retracted the blade.
The hot air ruptured with the cadence of shrieks and cries, the battleground a warzone. It was like fighting the Manticore all over again, except now there were fifty Dr. Thorn's frothing at the opportunity to blast him to smithereens.
Twisting, Percy saw his new partner in the midst of her own battle, standing atop a fried elf carcass as she locked arms with another that was hellbent on revenge. Color him impressed; Yelena was a badass.
"Stop looking!" She berated when she caught his glance.
"Sorry!"
Focusing, he dodged, weaved, and swung as fast and accurately as he could. For a death defying experience, it was all going swimmingly, but as the battle raged on, Percy's lack of training was exposed. Too often did he allow himself to take unnecessary blows, strikes his younger-self avoided without a mere thought.
With overwhelming numbers, the Elves split them apart, neither now able to come to the other's aide. Grunting from exertion, Percy swung and missed at his next target. Through the mask, he could tell that the elf was smiling as it shot, the laser grazing the side of his abdomen, sending up a flare of instant fiery pain.
Angered, Percy swung again and this time connected, ending the last of his opponents. His ribs burned like lava, blood splaying his throat.
"Percy!"
Dread filled his spine as he found Yelena's voice. The leader of the Elves was over her, his alien face revealing silver teeth in an evil smile.
"You can run as much as you want, Terran." The Elven Leader declared, sounding like Morgan Freeman and Optimus Prime's illegitimate son. "But death would've found you soon enough."
Knowing that Riptide would come back to him if he missed, Percy threw the sword without hesitation, aiming straight for the elf's thick head.
For one feverishly long second he watched as it twirled through the air.
An audible thunk followed by a meaty thud greeted his ears as Riptide exacted his wrath, skewering right through the elf's skull. Instant kill.
Percy appeared by Yelena as she stubbornly tried to rise back up on her own.
"Woah there," he said cool, calm and collected as he checked to see if she was bleeding. "Take it easy."
She spat blood from her mouth, which managed to find its way onto his face by accident. A moment that definitely was not one for the scrapbook.
"Thanks," she mumbled as she rolled off, her eyes fluttering as she mumbled again, "did we win?"
"Uh yeah, about that."
The Elves, now down to less than ten, their leader currently a Percy-style shish kabob, were regrouped at the other side of the clearing. For some reason though, they were cheering, their guns over their heads in a sign of victory.
Staggering to her feet successfully this time, Yelena pointed upwards, directing Percy towards the sky. From the gloom, another cluster of black harrows descended, ready to disgorge more armed Elves upon them.
"You know, if you got any superpowers, now would be the time." She laughed, shaking her head. "If not, we're so dead."
Percy blinked, the pain in his ribs suddenly disappearing at the thought.
"Oh."
"Oh?" Yelena stared at him unabashedly. "Oh, what?"
Percy gave her a sideways glance.
"I got superpowers."
Even Yelena's snorts had a matter-of-fact delivery to them. "I can't tell if you're kidding or not."
To answer her, the area of forest behind them began to rumble, from the trees emerging a roaring wall of water.
"I uh, I can control water." Percy tried for an explanation, patting the wall with his hand, feeling the healing strength flow into his body.
Yelena did not even try to resist the urge to punch him, hitting him right where it mattered.
"And you waited until now to tell me?"
Percy raised his arms defensively, grimacing. "Okay, oww, and to be fair—"
Yelena cut him off with what he assumed was a trademark glare for her, then waved her batons at the Dark Elves. For reasons unbeknownst, they were still parked on the other side.
"Hey guys!" She yelled. "Thanks for waiting while we sort this out!"
"Can they understand English?" He whispered out the side of his mouth.
"Probably not."
"Are we fighting?
"Absolutely not." Yelena gritted her teeth and spat more blood into the grass. "Just cover us until we can get to their ship."
"What?" Percy gave her a crazed look, not his first of the night. "Why!?"
"We need to draw them away from Earth!" She shouted again over her shoulder as she took off, leaving him with no choice other than to follow.
The sight of them sprinting towards their ship seemed to do the trick for the Elves, Percy's water shield shaking them from their stupor as they opened fire, their reinforcements emerging from their neck of the woods at the same time.
Using Riptide as his magic wand of sorts, the son of Poseidon blocked their shots, the red lasers swallowed up by his watery force field as Yelena sprinted up the ramp and into the heart of the spacecraft. Trailing close behind, Percy sent the water back at the Elves as he too ran up the ramp, disappearing into the dark interior.
For his first time inside a spaceship, it was strangely barren, and he fumbled his way into the cockpit where Yelena was already strapped into the pilot seat, impatiently waiting.
"Finally," she complained as her hands flew across the alien interface, pressing what seemed like random buttons to Percy, "took you long enough."
He shook his head in disbelief, and let out an embarrassing yelp when they suddenly took off, Yelena pulling the throttle all the way back as they shot away into the sky.
"Who the hell are you, again?"
-Ω-
It would be difficult to describe the feeling of traveling through space. Being that he was a son of Poseidon, Percy had never flown in anything other than the Argo II, and while that voyage had been tumultuous in its own right, flying in a spaceship was in an entirely different league. Nothing could have prepared him for the mind-bending maneuvers that it entailed. Yelena being the pilot did not help either.
Sure, they somehow managed to fend off the Dark Elves, but he was more than certain that it had been thanks to a combination of pure luck and dark magic, rather than skill. On the bright side, however, all their time spent cursing allowed them to start getting to know each other. As they were, by choice or not, stuck together for the time being.
"So you're a demigod." Yelena stated, wiping the sweat from her forehead as she finally relaxed into the pilot's seat.
"And you're supposed to be some secret Russian spy." Percy said in return, not allowing himself to relax quite yet, his blood still pumping.
She regarded him in displeasure, switching the ship to autopilot to grant him her full attention.
"Supposed? And it's ex-secret Russian spy to you. I'm an Avenger now."
"Right, the group of superheroes you recently became a part of. Why weren't they there to help us?"
Percy saw Yelena frown, worrying at her lower lip. Several long, tense moments seemed to pass as she considered what he told her, before she met him once more with an unnervingly intense expression.
"Well, they're not alive yet."
He stared back enigmatically, not for the first time unsure if he heard her correctly.
"What? How does that make sense?" He asked, his hands finding the underneath of his seat as she unnecessarily pulled the throttle back again, retaking control of the ship.
"I'm not from here either, just like you." She started to explain, punching in something into the console as she spoke. "Only, I was sent back in time. While you just seemingly… appeared here."
Percy swept his hands through his unruly hair.
"This just keeps getting better, huh?"
"You Greeks never had to deal with beings that can control time?"
He recalled his bouts with Kronos, "Actually yeah I did, but I don't think any of them could ever go back in time."
"Well, in this universe, my universe, there are some that can," Yelena made clear, "and that's the reason why I'm here. Because you see, currently, we've got a big, bad primordial on our hands that wants to kill us all."
That was nothing new to Percy. If there was anything that he could relate to, it was that.
"Which one is it?" He asked, intrigued. "Gaea? Nyx? Tartarus?"
"Dormammu." She said instead.
The name sent a slight shiver running down Percy's spine in spite of himself. There was something about the way the syllables rolled off her tongue that made the temperature in the cockpit drop.
"The Destroyer of Worlds. He's attempting to merge my world with the Dark Dimension," she continued, her brow furrowing further with every word spoken.
"Why does everything have to start with dark?" He joked, trying to lighten the mood somewhat, despite this being a lot more serious than she was putting on.
Yelena looked at him confused. "Huh? What do you mean?"
"You know, Dark Elves and now Dark Dimension." Percy counted using his fingers while he spoke. "What's next? Dark Pikachu or something?"
Yelena's eyes momentarily became slits. "Did I tell you that you're weird?"
Percy shot her a sly smile back. "May have mentioned it once or twice, amongst other things."
"I hate you."
"That was one of those other things."
"Good."
Not wanting her to think that he was a complete idiot, Percy picked up where she left off.
"So the Dark Dimension, what is it?" He asked honestly. "Sounds pretty bad."
"It is," she responded. "It's an alternate reality, Dormammu's domain, and if he's able to fully bridge the gap between his and ours, then it's game over. We're done."
"And that's why you've gone back in time?"
"Yes," Yelena sighed as she put the ship back on autopilot. "I'm here on a time heist; I need to find six of the most powerful objects in existence."
She spoke as if that were no big deal, but he knew good and well that it was the other way around, if the nervous bouncing of her legs was anything to go by.
"Only with them, do we have a chance of stopping Dormammu," she finished.
"So the Dark Elves that were chasing us?" He asked.
"They were guarding the Reality Stone," she further explained. "One of the six Infinity Stones that I have to collect and bring back, before Dormammu consumes everything."
At the behest of Yelena's fingers, a helpful graphic appeared on the monitor in front of Percy, showing six glowing rocks that were perhaps no bigger than a walnut. She pointed to the red one, indicating that it was the Reality Stone she was talking about. And after taking some more time to explain to him the Infinity Stone's origins, what each one meant, and could do, Percy then finally popped the big question.
"So you're doing all of this, by yourself?"
Yelena nodded her head sullenly. "I was the only one they could send back, before Dormammu began his attacks. Everybody else… ran out of time."
There was a hitch in her speech that made Percy want to reach over and give her a hug, though smartly, he refrained from doing so.
Staring at the distraught expression that crossed her face, he struggled to find the correct words to tell her that he could relate to some degree. Having fallen into Tartarus with Annabeth, and tasked with the impossible mission to reach the Doors, he knew better than most what it felt like to have the fate of the world on your shoulders.
"Well Yelena, you're not alone anymore," Percy declared, offering a fist bump which she surprisingly returned, even though doing so looked like the last thing she wanted to happen. "I guess I'm stuck with you, now. Fates be damned."
"Great, that was the last thing I needed," she retorted playfully, before genuinely giving thanks. "Thanks, Percy."
They sat in a peaceful silence afterwards, watching the stars slowly trickle by as they flew off towards wherever Yelena was leading them. In movies, space had always been portrayed as this crazy, inhospitable atmosphere, but sitting here right now, Percy could not stop himself from taking in the serenity of it all. It was beautiful, unlike anything he ever experienced; almost akin to the first time he saw the crashing waves of the ocean.
Looking over, he saw Yelena taking it all in as well.
She certainly had the most attractive dirty blond hair he had ever seen, and he secretly watched as the hair swayed and bounced as she breathed, her chest rising up and down with steady breaths. He watched, captivated, utterly drawn into the way the light from the stars reflected off her wolfish eyes. Like the gleam of a twilight over mid-morning, they stood out from their surroundings in stark contrast.
"Wait," he blurted, dragging himself out of his trance, "you said the Dark Elves were guarding the Reality Stone, so where is it?"
To answer, she produced an armored, luminous red vial from out of nowhere, whose dull shining light emitted ominous undertones. The temperature of the air dropped even further.
"The Reality Stone." She declared.
"What the hell?" Percy exclaimed. "That was in your pants the entire time?"
"Where else was I supposed to keep it?"
"I don't know, maybe in like a metal suitcase or something? You were just telling me how much shit that thing could do!"
Yelena carefully slid the vial back into whatever pocket she had been keeping it in, before shooting him a shrug.
"I guess I'll keep that in mind for next time."
"Hold up," Percy raised his hands. "Why couldn't we have used it back there to kill the Dark Elves? Surely that thing has some secret button that can just blow anything up."
She shook her head vehemently before responding,
"Not even they could use it. The last one that tried was consumed by its power."
"Are you talking about Santa Claus?"
"I can't believe you're not done with that stupid joke," Yelena deadpanned.
Now it was Percy's turn to shake his head. "My bad humor is here to stay, sunshine."
"Don't call me that, I'll turn your testicles into cow leather."
"I've had worse things done to me."
Yelena bit her bottom lip. "Whatever you say."
"Okay seriously though," Percy gestured to the graphic. "Why are we getting these stones if it might kill us to use them? How can you be so sure that this is going to work?"
"I'm not sure," was her answer, "but the Avengers have done this once before, now we have got to do it again."
The way she said the word 'we,' made him feel slightly warm and fuzzy inside. Excitement had overtaken his psyche, knowing that he was now back in the fray. He was positive though, that there were going to be plenty of moments in the future where he would regret every decision he ever made.
"But right now, the Avengers don't even exist." He said for clarification purposes.
"Correct." She responded.
"So does that technically make you... the first Avenger?"
Yelena heaved a great sigh. "Sure... I guess."
"I can tell that you really don't like guys." Percy retorted.
A quick elbow to the ribs made him flinch.
"What made you think that?" She puckered innocently.
"Not a clue." Percy mumbled in return, carefully rubbing the sore spot. "Do you even know what year it is?"
Yelena shook her head once. "Strange didn't have time to tell me—"
"Time, that's ironic." He joked.
"You don't ever shut up, do you?"
"No," Percy grinned. "Not really."
Yelena sighed again. "As I was saying, Strange didn't have time to tell me. One second I was fighting, and the next I was standing right next to an altar, which just so happened to be where the Dark Elves had been storing the Reality Stone."
"Strange, he's the guy that controls the Time Stone?" Percy asked, recalling what she told him earlier.
"Yes."
She stayed quiet for a while after that, making Percy question whether he said anything wrong. And for the first time since he met her, she looked almost… vulnerable, afraid of what might happen next. Even though he still barely knew her, and had next to no connections with this new world he had been thrust into, he silently swore to himself that he was going to do anything in his power to help her. Evidently, his days of being a hero were not gone just yet.
Santa Claus, Dormammu, it did not matter. Percy Jackson was here to kick some major alien ass. Turning his attention back to the six stones on the screen, he built up the courage to ask,
"So, which one are we going to get next?"
Yelena blinked and stiffened, before answering.
"The Power Stone," she said, pointing to the purple one next to the Reality Stone. "Then Space, Mind, Time and Soul."
"Any reason why?"
"Not really," she shrugged. "Well, except for the Soul Stone. Strange did tell me that it should be the last one I get. Other than that, I've got nothing."
Percy let out a low whistle and scratched the back of his neck.
"Do you have any idea where the others are?"
"Only for some of them," Yelena admitted, before inputting something into the console.
A picture of a planet replaced the stones on the screen. It looked like Earth, except almost all water, with only one body of land present on its face.
"Morag," she revealed. "This is where the Power Stone should be, if my sources are correct."
"So that's where we're heading next?"
"Not yet, we're getting food first."
Percy raised his eyebrows. "What? Why?"
Despite what he just said, he was not against the notion, but were they not on a time crunch?
Yelena patted her abdomen as she said, "I may not have uterus, but I have a stomach. And unless you want to eat whatever crap is in the back of this ship, we're stopping for food."
"Wait, you don't have a uterus?" Percy questioned, abhorred at the prospect.
A grin reappeared on Yelena's face. "We'll talk about it while we eat."
Author's Note:
A concept-one shot of a story idea that I may revisit in the future.
