Against All Odds
Chapter 2
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August 18th, 1993
The Leaky Cauldron
Sitting at a booth in the back of the pub was a young woman who couldn't be older than twenty-two, if immortal deities didn't exist. She had black hair trimmed to a bob with highlights interspersed throughout. To the pub-goers, they'd appreciate the magic involved in her highlights changing between golden and auburn tones. Her irises were a mix of grey and turquoise and if she were walking around Big Ben, even the most mortal passerby would note how her eyes match the River Thames.
Those eyes moved repeatedly towards the pub entrance every time the door opened, and when those expressive eyes shone with disappointment at the new entrants, they'd wander over to the basket of chips and she'd nervously eat another, then resume waiting patiently.
Britannia was quite young for a goddess in both the Greek and Roman Pantheons. She was so young she tended to make Dionysus feel old at those Solstice parties on Olympus. She stood out from the rest of them, both in age and behaviour. In the grand orchestration of an immortal lifespan, she was still closer to mortals than the multi-millennia old deities. When Western Civilization had continued moving West in the centuries following the fall of Rome; Poseidon and thus Neptune really hadn't liked being slighted by the Romans, so he and Amphitrite tried for another child. Like her older sister Rhode, she was the personification of an island, or in this case several isles.
As the baby of the Atlantean royal family, she'd been taken in by all her siblings. Rhode had helped her mingle and do meet and greets with the other pantheons in the area. Triton taught her how to wield a trident, and even called in a favour from Athena to assist in her strategic education. And Kymopoleia, well, she tried to teach Britannia how to call down the fury of the sea and sky, but it ended up just making things really cloudy all the time, which Kym assured her would scare off any enemies. All in all, she adored her siblings, and they adored her.
Britannia didn't tend to fall prey to the divine tendency of self-indulgence, but those early years when the gods had moved Western Civilization to be seated in her land were splendid. She'd had a wonderful opportunity to lay the groundwork for a powerful monarchy similar to the early Caesars (only more naval!), and she'd taken it, much to Athena's chagrin (something about Athenian democracy).
Better still, her influence had spread Western Civilization further around the globe than any of her predecessors could've managed. Sure, there'd been way more infighting amongst her people than she would've liked, but Poseidon had told her that was normal with managing any kind of large population. She did care about her people though, and for several centuries she worked tirelessly at trying to keep peace within the Isles.
When the bubonic plague hit hard, she'd issued a quest, and sure enough three up-and-coming demigods accepted. Thomas Farynor, a son of Hephaestus; Tabitha Terrace, a daughter of Hermes; and Canis Black, a magical-born son of Dionysus; banded together to try to end the Black Death. She expected the answer would have involved some sort of healing magic like the blood from the right side of a gorgon or the Golden Fleece. Instead, they'd discovered Nosoi, plague spirits from Pandora's box, in a bakery in downtown London. Her loose understanding of the events that followed is that the plan devolved into some kind of burn-it-till-it-drops mantra. Thus began the Great Fire of London, or as Britannia remembers it, one big headache.
This led her to beseech the Roman camp to put out the fire, which made the Greeks surly and slighted at what they saw as a success (especially since it was just the Roman portion of the city aflame). Ultimately the other gods told her the whole tragedy was a wonderful learning opportunity about not worrying so much about the mortals. Her friend, Hecate, told her to remember that the Olympians exterminated two other attempts at mortals before they settled on this one.
When the gods moved Western Civilization across the pond... well... she had felt slighted. This led to several... phases... in Britannia's life. Phases that in hindsight are tinged with... disappointment? In Britain? The mortals? Maybe even herself? It was during that time that she realized the value of friends and family, and she made regular trips to visit her undersea relatives. Hecate even stayed in the area to create some kind of inter-pantheon magical alliance.
She'd been bracing herself to meet some of her younger half-mortal siblings when the second World War unleashed itself within her family. Demigods and magicals all undergoing their own civil wars while the mortals toiled away in a conflict that made Ares take a step back. By the time it was over, she'd fully agreed with the formation of the Pact of the Big Three. It wasn't until the late 60's that she realized she wouldn't get to be an older sibling for quite some time.
She felt conflicted about the new development over this past summer. In one sense, there was disappointment in her dad for breaking his word and cheating, again. And in another, unbridled excitement for the chance to meet and have a baby brother. On their weekly London Cuisine Mystery Tour, Hecate told her that Perseus was, "a good kid, who is terrified about what his powers can do." When she said that he'd be receiving tuition from Circe before coming here, Bri had choked on a piece of naan. She hadn't talked with Circe since she had scratched Britannia's vinyl of Abbey Road, then claimed that a reparo spell was enough to fix it. Still, she was curious, so, she'd sent Circe an Iris Message and gotten to hear the juicy gossip about how Percy fared in the magical arts, as well as his attempts to befriend the male-despising daughter of Bellona.
She felt another divine presence enter the pub, and she turned around to see Circe cross the threshold of the door, followed by a beardless mini-Poseidon. Circe's hair was an ethereal silver today, which matched her eyes and the trim of her robes. Her grace and poise carried her through the dingy pub with an air of nobility.
Next to Circe was Perseus with a duffel bag strapped over his shoulder. He had on Nike branded trainers (which hurt her inside), and dark blue jeans with uneven distress... no... claw marks. As he walked his gait reminded her of Poseidon, only where their father would flaunt his muscles by leaving his Hawaiian shirt open, Perseus' white button-up opened to an orange-tee fashion disaster that Aphrodite would've incinerated. His hair crashed about like high tide and hue of his green eyes were still actively shifting from the bright waters of the Caribbean to the deep depths of the Atlantic.
Approaching the booth, Circe beamed, "Perseus, I'd like you to meet Britannia, she will be your host and guide in London until you board the Hogwarts Express. Britannia, this is Perseus Jackson." His eye twitched at the use of his full name.
Meanwhile, Britannia stood up and shook his hand excitedly, "Please call me Bri! It's so exciting to meet you!" Her bright smile turned towards Circe with an edge, "How was teaching a boy?"
Circe grimaced but still smiled, "There were some... rough patches, but things improved once Percy understood not to be so barbaric like most men. He made a wonderful guinea pig for testing some cutting-edge teaching methods for magical demigods." Bri noticed Percy's shudder at the mention of the teaching methods. "He should be caught up through the Hogwarts second year curriculum, all he needs still is to get himself a personal wand. But, more importantly, as one of my students he will not besmirch my name in Potions. Isn't that right, Per-cy?" She emphasized his name with a glare and a small jab from her finger. At his assent, she smirked, "Excellent, then I must get back to the resort. Do send us an Iris message or an owl if they ever forgive you. I am curious how formal magical education differs." With another farewell for Britannia, Circe left the two siblings alone.
"So..." Percy began, "You know about both magic and...?" He led on trying to probe.
"Oh! Yes, she didn't give me a proper introduction," she cleared her throat for a proclamation, "I am Britannia, Goddess of the British Isles, Daughter of Poseidon and Amphitrite. Nice to meet you, little brother."
Stunned, Percy looked at her wide-eyed, "You're a goddess, daughter, thing of Poseidon?"
"Isn't it great? I'm not all aquatic like Triton though, but our eldest sister, Rhode, says that we really get the best of both worlds as islands." She beamed, and held out the plate with the few remaining chips, "Here, have you had lunch?"
"Um, French fries are always good. We did have a big farewell brunch. So maybe a late lunch?"
"Sounds delightful! Anyway, I have been the youngest child of the sea since that pact, so imagine my surprise when I hear news that you've been claimed! Then not even a week later 'Cate and I were watching Hephaestus TV expecting the usual classic comedy of Aphrodite and Ares' date being ruined, when BAM there's you, my new little brother, and one of Athena's brain-babies." She didn't even stop to breath, and Percy idly wondered if goddesses required that at all, "I snorted nectar all over the telly. Barely a week later 'Cate comes by telling me that you're magic, and will be attending school here in Britain! By the way, you should know, there are rumours that Aphrodite has been trying to get producers to create a series about you at Hogwarts. Last I heard, Eros mentioned the working title was Fish Out of Water." Her hands gestured across an imaginary title. "It's quite the debate over who actually has domain rights; really, the wind spirits were all aflutter." She finished with a casual tone.
"Hold on." Percy coughed wide-eyed, having choked on a couple of chips just seconds before, "Domain rights? Shouldn't that be me? Wait, shouldn't I have a say in this?"
"Well, as you aren't a god it goes to whose domain it belongs to." Bri explained, "Aphrodite claims it is hers since the show will be a romance, it will require Hecate's permission to film at a magical school, and... technically I have a slight claim since they'll be filming in Britain, but that'd be harder to swing. Meanwhile, Hephaestus made the claim that it would be a spin-off of All is Fair, but he's mostly saying that to be contrary to his wife. Aphrodite countered by saying that's only true if you end up with Athena's daughter," she watched Percy's face heat up, "or technically the satyr," he visibly recoiled, "this of course got Athena involved, who said that you're more likely to end up dea... second thought, let's ignore what Athena said. The debate is actually on the agenda for the Winter Solstice meeting in December. I think father is going to try and put a stop to the show altogether, but Zeus is likely to overrule that out of spite." Despite all of her name dropping in this gossip session, it was only the last part that actually caused a rumble of thunder.
Percy's face fell against the table, "Uggggghhhh, I just want to live my life without a bunch of stalker-gods."
Bri laughed, "Don't worry, the Olympians follow their own flights of fancy, right now you're a hot topic because you saved everyone from a war and helped two of the big three in one go. Not to mention the fans you got for knocking Ares down a peg. Be careful, he's itching for a rematch. Give it a year of calm at school and I'm sure everything will smooth over." Percy felt something clench inside forebodingly, "Besides if nothing happens at school then the show will be a flop, like Athena's public broadcast educational program, one episode in and Apollo had 'Another Brick in the Wall' cranked up to eleven in protest."
"Right." He looked very doubtful about the content of the conversation. However after a deep breath he continued, "So... moving on, do we want to go shopping soon?"
Bri's eyes widened, "Yes! Triton never lets us take him shopping, maybe next time we can invite Rhode!" Bri grabbed him by the arm and half-dragged him over to the dead-end bric wall in the back of the Leaky Cauldron. "Hmmm..." She started poking random bricks. "Why do wizards make things so complicated, just have a door for gods' sake!" She got frustrated.
Percy just stared, "Ummm, Britannia, shouldn't we head to Diagon Alley now, that's where the letter said we could pick up books and supplies."
Bri paused, "Call me Bri, 'Britannia' just reminds me of Roman occupation," she resumed prodding the wall, "and that's. What. I'm. Doing! Ah, got it." After one of her fingers left an indentation in the brick, the wall began to shuffle into a doorway. Suddenly Percy was hit by a wave of sound, life, and chaos coming from this newly appeared street. "Welcome, Brother," she giggled, "to Diagon Alley."
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The alley was bustling with activity. Some students were shopping with their families, and others were adult witches and wizards milling about. Percy saw a skinny black-haired teen gazing longingly into a window at a broom on display. He snorted in disbelief, "Brooms. Talk about a stereotype."
Bri followed his gaze, and shuddered, "Magicals and their obsession with flight, don't they realize the sky is being held away from us for a reason?" Percy agreed with the sentiment, as he had a brief flashback to his five-hour flight of death on the airplane a couple months ago.
"Right then, first things first, we need to bring you to Gringotts so that you can switch from civilized pound currency to the horrendous goblin one." She paused at Percy's stare.
"I have $150 to my name for school supplies, how far will that get me?" He asked. Looking at Bri's expression, he winced, "Is there a magical thrift store or something?"
"Ah. Hm. Conversion rates, those are the issue here. What you've got is only two thirds as much in pounds, and then that will only translate to around twenty galleons, if my conversions are right." After a moment of thinking, her head whipped up, golden highlights flashing in her black hair, "I got it! I shall issue a quest to you." Percy's face blanched, so she clarified, "I can't just give you money, Percy. That'd be against the Ancient Laws. There would be consequences involving Fate and usually tragedies if our family history is anything to go by." Her eyes focused upon him and seemed to absorb every detail, "I Britannia, do hereby grant thee, Perseus Jackson, a noble quest as follows: There is a young citizen of Britain in that side alley, and he is in need of your help finding something, once you've assisted my resident, I will fund you appropriately for your school supplies." She pointed him towards the boy investigating the alleyway. "Do you accept my noble quest?" Her eyes were the cold sharpness of a being who had seen nations rise and fall, and assisted in said endeavors.
With a gulp, Percy nodded, "Yes, I accept."
The edge left her expression, and she smiled happily, "Brilliant, I'll hold onto this, and you can meet me at that ice cream parlor once you finish your quest, and do hurry! We still have shopping to do." She took his duffel bag, and he watched in sadness as it morphed into a handbag that matched her outfit.
Watching her walk over to the ice cream shop, Percy released a sigh and told himself that this wasn't a real quest, just more like a chore to get an allowance. That thought took his ADHD mind down a rabbit hole, what if his mom had been secretly preparing him for quests his whole life. What if every time he was asked to pick up some groceries from the convenience store, she was grooming him for life as a hero. All those "lessons" about coping mechanisms and not letting his ADHD distract him from a goal could've been just a subversive manipulation to turn him into a tool for the gods.
Now suitably distracted, Percy continued spiraling down into demigod conspiracy theories, and he walked right past the struggling teen who was calling out to him. Reluctantly, Percy conceded to himself that there might be some merit to this particular manipulation, er, life skill.
"E-excuse me, have you seen a toad, his name is Trevor?" The fair-haired boy softly asked once Percy's attention fell upon him.
"A toad? Named Trevor?" Percy questioned disbelievingly, the Hogwarts letter had said he could bring a pet toad, but he hadn't thought that was a real thing.
"Oh, are you... American?" the boy asked, seemingly perplexed by this tidbit.
"Uh, yeah, I'm Percy." Percy offered a hand to shake. The boy shook his hand with practiced social manners.
"Ah, my name is Neville Longbottom. I was doing some school shopping with Gran when I noticed Trevor'd run off."
"Right, nice to meet you, Neville... Is there some magic that you can do to find the toa—I mean, Trevor?" Percy asked.
Neville ashamedly muttered, "I'm not that great of a wizard." Embarrassed he backpedaled, "Thanks anyway, I'll... I'll find him on my own."
Realizing he'd hit a sore point, Percy tried again, "My bad, has he run away before, is there someplace he ends up usually?"
"Well, he likes damp places," Neville scratches his chin trying to remember, "at school he ends up at the Black Lake all the time. The Giant Squid has returned him a few times, actually."
A grin broke out over Percy's face, and he gives Neville a pat on the arm. "I think I'm just the guy to help you." With a good grip on Neville's robes, Percy dragged the young wizard towards the nearest source of water.
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Neville followed the American teen to three fountains, a flooded shop where the pipe had burst, and a tributary of the Thames that Neville wasn't aware touched Diagon Alley. Though a fish had literally jumped out of the water at them, Trevor hadn't been at any of those spots.
As they'd talked en route to the possible locations, Neville'd learned that Percy was also 13 and would attend Hogwarts with him this year. Naturally, this led to Neville trying to sort him into a house. The first thing he did was compare him to the other Percy he knew, and that was a stark contrast. New Percy was more active and exciting than Perfect Prefect Percy ever was. As he started to mentally remove him from Gryffindor, he realized that nobody else in Gryffindor seemed to be like the third eldest Weasley. After all, Hermione had also helped him with finding Trevor on the Express, and she's a Gryffindor.
He'd asked Percy if he likes reading and school, and Percy awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck and admitted to having something called dyslexia. After hearing Percy describe it, Neville suggested he talk to a healer since it could be some kind of blood curse. Percy'd laughed in good humour and said, "Oh definitely, it's from my dad's side." His nonchalance threw Neville for a loop, and Neville's sorry attempt to smile along didn't quite reach his eyes. Either way, Neville didn't think Ravenclaw would suit Percy.
He'd asked if Percy played any sports like football since he seemed fit and athletic like his roommate, Dean. Percy'd looked at him askance, "You kidding me? I'm too scrawny to be any good, at best I'd be a kicker." As far as Neville knew, that was what the whole sport was about, but muggle games had always left him confused, they didn't make as much sense as gobstones or quidditch.
As they continued talking, Percy led them down a dark alleyway, and Neville was trying to figure out how to test somebody for being a Hufflepuff. They found themselves in a square of sorts with dilapidated shops and a few magical gas lanterns that flickered in the... night?
Percy, didn't even look up when the sun disappeared. He moved towards the well in the centre of the square. Neville knew there was something in the back of his mind he should remember of this place. He pulled at the memory hoping for details, but to no avail. Percy's voice echoed down a well saying, "Trevor, are you down there?" His voice cracked at the word 'down' and his face scrunched up in a grimace as it replayed back to him over and over again. A sound from one of the offshoot alleyways got Neville's attention and he left Percy at the well to investigate.
Seeing the familiar brown wart-covered skin of his toad, the young wizard let out an exultant "Trevor!" as he scooped up the amphibian. He'd expected to hear a croak in response, instead a mad cackle erupted from the dark murky alleyway. "I thought I smelled dinner" the voice croaked out.
Pale with fear, Neville started stepping back, "You can't eat Trevor! He's my toad!" What came afterwards didn't fill him with confidence.
Stepping out of the shadows of the dark alley was the most disgusting woman Neville had ever seen, her hair was greasy and there were bald spots covered in warts and scar tissue. "Oh no, dear boy, the toad is best used for seasoning." Her skin had a greenish hue, and her eyes were putrid yellow with black slitted pupils. "Imagine our surprise when the most delicious smell wafted into our hidey-hole." Her voice was rough and sing-song; scratching the ear with the finesse of Seamus Finnegan in Potions class. "It's soooo hard to settle for squirrel when such a delicacy comes to us." The hag, for what else could she be, gave him a grin that revealed teeth honed only for ripping sinew off bone.
Neville's heart beat rapidly as he attempted to remember what Professor Lockhart had said in his book. Then as he processed her words, the wind knocked out of his lungs. "Our?" Neville choked on the word. In his hands Trevor let out an uncertain croak. His eyes widened, and he turned away from the immediate danger in front of him to run towards Percy. With one hand fumbling for his wand in his trousers and the other holding his toad, Neville couldn't stop his face from hitting the ground as the hag's clawed hand snagged his cloak.
Face in the muddy alley, and the sharp sting of exposed air on a wound on his back, Neville couldn't remember the spell Professor Lockhart had used. He knew it was supposed to put the hag into a beauty sleep that would undo the dark magic their coven used to turn beautiful witches. He remembered the spell from duelling class though, and blindly fired it behind him, "Expelliarmus!" The cackle at his feeble attempt suggested his magic failed him, again.
Neville's expression grew dour as he realized that he would die here. His lungs were breathing hard as the panic attack ensued. As the sound of trainers on cobblestone approached quickly, and Percy's voice called out, "Hey Ugly!" Neville rolled over in time to see the hag try to take a swipe at the American, only for him to duck into a somersault and pull a... sword...? Crouching out of the roll he took a dive, sword first, plunging through her chest. Neville's eyes grew wide as, with a scream, the hag burst into gold dust, and Percy landed ungracefully, covered in the glittering material.
Panting, Percy rose to his feet to help Neville up, "You okay?" He asked, and at Trevor's resounding croak from Neville's hand, he smiled, "Ah, hi Trevor, glad we found you." Mistakenly reaching with the arm that had the cut shoulder, Neville lets out a gasp of pain, and Percy's smile falls into a frown, "Ah, let's get out of here and get you bandaged up."
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Percy had helped Neville get to one of the local plant stores on Diagon Alley, and after purchasing and applying some dittany to the scratch, the fair-haired teen was already feeling better. Percy found himself trying to come up with a good explanation for what happened, internally he knew he couldn't just tell anyone about demigods and monsters, but the bursting into gold bit is rather... unique. He'd slipped the hag's talon into his pocket with the other two while Neville was still making sure he had all his fingers and toes. Percy was pretty sure Trevor had noticed, but he hoped the toad would be chill about it.
The other two hags clearly didn't know his heritage, since they chose to jump him at a well. While he slashed into one with his sword, he'd reached for the tug and felt the water react like a third arm to grab the green, greased, and gnarled lady. Riptide made short work of her as well, and then he'd ran over to save Neville. He knew he'd have to check all the different potion ingredients guides that Circe made him pack.
Unintentionally, he had a momentary flashback to his early days on Aeaea, when an incensed Ms. C.C. had lectured him on not picking up whatever piece of Procrustes was left behind as a trophy.
"Do you know what I could do with a tendon of the Stretcher?" She'd demanded, "Those short gods would give their first borns to be an even six feet tall! The horny Olympians would owe me a Favor for increased flexibility!" Sparks flew from her fingertips in frustration, and poor Percy shuddered letting out several nervous, "tuiee twee tuwee" noises.
"Yes, I know you won't make that mistake again, Perseus, dear." Circe sighed as her hands unclenched from their sparking fists. Picking up the demigod-guinea pig-wizard-teen and setting him in the training area, "Alright, for this next lesson in Defense Against the Dark Arts, since you are still determined to use your fists instead of your magic, here is your 'weapon' to defend yourself with." The small celestial bronze cocktail sword was placed in front of him, and with a low rumble noise somewhere between the guinea pig equivalent of a sigh and a curse, Percy picked it up in his tiny hand. "You will be up against the Common Cornish Pixie, please think about how you would handle this with magic so we can move past your boorish boyish tendencies..."
Remembering the expression in the black eyes of that pixie, Percy shuddered and his throat let out an involuntary squeak that cracked with the awkwardness of puberty. With new determination at the forefront of his mind, Percy wanted to get his wand as soon as possible.
After the elderly plant store teller gave Neville an awkward pinch on his cheeks and told them both not to "rough-house" any more, the two headed back towards the entrance to Diagon. A few uncomfortable seconds later, and Neville spoke up, "Thank you for saving me, Percy... I-I-I-I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you and... If you need anything, I will do my best to help..." His voice choked up and that dark look that Percy knew too well passed over, "I'm not very good at magic, but—"
"Neville, stop." Percy placatingly shook both hands in front of him, "Look, it was my fault, I have a..." he trailed off looking for the words, "... a bit of a curse? Regarding monsters, that's part of why I'm going to school across the sea." He put both hands on Neville's shoulders, "I've been training all summer to handle this, and you shouldn't have ever gotten caught up in that problem..." Thinking for a second about what his mom would say, Percy looked Neville in the eye, "And look, everyone has to grow into their abilities, but I saw what you did." Neville started to look away, "No, no,look. You were down for the count, she had you dead to rights, but you still kept fighting. That's the key, don't ever stop trying, you'll get there eventually."
Wide-eyed, Neville soaked up the encouragement, "I will, I swear." A grin broke across Percy's face, and the two resumed walking back to where Neville's gran was awaiting him. A block away, they said their goodbyes, and Percy left towards Florean Fortesque's to meet Bri.
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Percy found the ice cream shop, and a woman with bubblegum pink hair and a fierce blush was leaving as he was walking up. He gave a quick thanks as she held the door open with her foot, her hands were full with small to-go bowls of ice cream. He entered into a shop that was in mild disarray, everyone was staring at Bri who like the girl from before was also blushing up a storm.
Ignoring the looks around them, he sat down with Britannia and said, "Well, it took a bit longer than I expected, but we found the toad!" Everyone in the shop looked rather confused at his proclamation, and Bri just shook off whatever else had occurred, and grinned at Percy.
"I'm glad! Let's get you to the bank, and then... Shopping!" She exclaimed. Gathering his duffel bag turned purse, she gestured for him to follow, and they left. The stares of the other customers followed her out.
Once back in the bustle of the Alley, Percy whispered, "Was everything okay in there?"
Strangely, this elicited another blush from the goddess, and she scoffed, "Oh, uh, pssh, yeah. Definitely, just-" she cut herself off, "See the marble pillars down the way, that's Gringotts." She blatantly changed the subject.
Ahead was a building that would've made Annabeth boggle, Percy thought. The pillars were holding each floor up from an angle, and seemed rather unsupported. "A bank like that is trusted with money?" He said a little too loudly, and an older passerby in nice robes let out an undignified scoff of "Muggle-born." Bri's eyes narrowed, but they pressed on.
"Yes, anyway, um, per payment of your noble quest to save... Travis?"
"Trevor."
"Right, Trevor. That's what I said. Anyway, per payment, I will make sure you have enough galleons for your school supplies." Together, they approached the doors of the bank. Percy froze in fear at the words on the side of the building. Not that he could read their flowery poetry full of threats, no, he'd seen something far worse chiseled into the marble. The Greek Eta.
Panicking, Percy grabbed Bri's wrist, "We shouldn't go in there!" he loudly whispered.
The goblin guards at the door looked on in interest at the proceedings, and Bri looked perplexed. Percy pointed out the Eta, and she nodded, "Yes, the goblins have long been a favored people for Hephaestus due to their expert forging techniques. To slight them would be a slight against him. Truth be told, he's never been fond of wizards for that reason."
Whispering poorly, again, Percy responded, "The last time I entered somewhere with an Eta, I almost was mauled by mechanical spiders! And worse I got put on TV!"
"Oh! From All is Fair! Yes, that was great, don't worry, plenty of people go to the bank each day, it's not a trap like that." She reassured him, though he already saw the goblin guards giving him a wary look.
"...Okay." He acquiesced.
Entering the bank, he immediately felt on edge, his hand mindlessly reached for Riptide in his pocket, but seeing the guards tense, he attempted to cover it by pretending to swat at a fly. Bri rolled her eyes, and took them towards the teller. Percy's battle awareness kicked in as he realized two goblin guards were following just at the fringes of his periphery.
The teller peered over the marble counter, and his face drooped at Britannia with disgust, which seemed to be the default setting, for when his gaze settled on Percy, he snarled in absolute loathing. "You dare bring a thief," he spat the word, "into these walls."
Britannia raised an eyebrow, looked at Percy, and then responded, "He was falsely accused, and all we seek is currency exchange. Pounds to galleons." She tapped the counter with a stack of bills, manifesting the air of an impatient business woman.
Percy, still rattled at being accused of theft, again, gritted out between his teeth, "I didn't steal it, I just returned it." The goblin maintained that stoic sneer, and Percy felt a flash of anger stir underneath the surface.
Putting a hand on Percy's shoulder, Britannia, calm and collected, once more told the Goblin to do his job and exchange the currency. The goblin guards behind Percy both had their hands on the hilts of their swords, muscles ready to spring, but the goblin teller moved his sneer from Percy to Bri. "Fine." He flipped through the bills like an experienced Vegas bookie, "Surprisingly real." He muttered, reaching under his desk and pulling out a leather pouch filled with coinage. "Do keep your sticky hands to yourself, wizard." He snarled as a farewell.
Bri's grip steered Percy back out of the bank, face like the placid sea before the raging storm. On her way out she paused, considered something, then took a deep breath and shook it off. Percy asked her if they are always like that, or if it is just him. "They're known for being rather ornery," at his blank look, she added, "annoying greedy blighters." At his dawning comprehension, she continued, "Though I daresay their poor relations with merpeople might've exacerbated the situation."
"Merpeople?" Percy questioned, as she led him towards the wand shop.
"Hmmm, yes. Believe it or not, you're a prince to them. Son of the Sea God and all." she smirked at his expression of horror, "Don't worry, I don't think we'll be betrothing you to some pufferfish until you're at least 15." As she walked away from where Percy had frozen in place, she had to hold a hand over her mouth to stifle the giggles.
"Bri! Bri! You're joking, right? Tell me you're joking. I will run away. I swear."
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Author's Note:
Hey everyone! Thanks for the great response to my first fanfic! One of the first questions I got regarded an update schedule, and I would love to be one of those visionaries who can pump out chapters daily. Unfortunately I'm not there yet, or maybe I just need too much sleep. Right now, this pace is doable for me, switching from mocha's to earl grey has seemed to help my writing productivity, so fingers crossed that I might one day reach the laudable twice a month update schedule.
I've seen some authors do notes about the chapter and that seemed nice, since I didn't to do that for last chapter I'll include that too. Several lines in The Lightning Thief have always sat funny with me. Two of them being the main inspiration for how Percy got his magic. If the Master Bolt would really dwarf a nuke to such an extent, in my comic-book oriented mind there should be consequences to handling such a thing. After reading plenty of HP fanfic, doing so on the Summer Solstice equals crazy ritual magic stuff. After exploring some of the mythology regarding Hecate, she's one of the few goddesses that Zeus seems to value and appreciate without trying to get in her pants. Once I saw that she is another one of the few trusted deities who is allowed in all three realms of the Big Three, it seemed meant to be for this story. The Cover Art is a public domain image of The Wheel of Hecate, which I believe means more to the modern mysticisms than it would've ever to those in the Classical age.
My partner's one complaint with that first chapter was that I took away Sally's vengeance upon Gabe. Which I'll admit, I felt pretty bad about, because Sally is a delight and deserves the best kinds of happiness from purging him from her life. Anyways, as much as I would read and enjoy a Sally-centric crossover fic, (maybe with Paul being a muggle-born?) it isn't going to be in the cards for this one at this time.
The second line that always left me wanting more has to do with the implications about the gods moving with Western Civilization. Chiron says they spent several centuries in England after also mentioning several other European nations. I think in actuality he's referencing the Renaissance periods that flew through Europe in that time, but especially when Riordan'd made the Roman aspects, I was expecting some kind of British storyline in the future. Again, seemed like the perfect groundwork to merge the two worlds over. Britannia is an OC, but I think she fits really well with the timeline Rick has given us, the idea that the gods stopped having babies with each other even as their world changed always seemed a little strange.
Finally, one of those things that both Riordan and Rowling are guilty of, which I personally think you shouldn't do in Urban Fantasy in the 21st century, is that they introduce an alternate subversive history for WWII, and Riordan does to the Civil War too. It takes away a lot of the crimes and atrocities committed when it becomes about the Crimes of Grindelwald or an ambiguous Children of Hades instead of those committed by the Axis. Similarly, with the American Civil War being the last time the Greeks and Romans mixed, suggests that the camps would've been split between North and South which is... disconcerting. Don't get me wrong, there're ways to read it differently, but it's always been a source of discomfort when I try to piece together some kind of history. The whole children of the Big Three fighting in WWII also suggests that the gods were definitely searching for affairs across the globe.
Anyway, I tried to break several HP/PJO crossover tropes by not having a secret Vault of the Big Three or him be some kind of magical OP badass. Don't get me wrong, you can ask my DnD group I am a huge proponent of giving away power-ups, since it means I can unleash the really powerful monsters instead. I just think that first Great Prophecy gives a lot of room for Percy to struggle on his way to becoming powerful. I love consequences and how they will balloon from canon towards new and wonderful changes.
Thanks so much for reading, and feel free to review or PM any questions!
