DISCLAIMER: All the characters except the OC's, belong to Rick Riordan.


Chapter 9: I'm coerced into a free 'travel' agency.

The dark-haired duo dashed ahead at full speed in the woods behind the warehouse. The summer noon had created several slanted shadows for them to blend in and whiz past the trees till they reached a clearing—their usual hunting grounds.

Percy crouched down to pick a corn-size black pellet, "Rabbit droppings. They're still fresh."

"Look," Piper pointed at the faint footprints in the soil and dashed forward with Percy trailing behind her.

It has been a week since summer break started and the duo was using every bit of their time to hone their skills. They were heavily rattled after the last incident that nearly brought them to the death's jaw. They were fortunate to the hunter's timely arrival but they can't always rely on lucky encounters to save them.

They used the nearby trees as leverage and jumped onto a branch that could firmly support them. Piper crouched down and hefted her bow. She nocked an arrow and aimed at the target ahead.

A hundred feet ahead, under a tree in the clearing, was a wild hare, nibbling on an acorn. The wild gray rabbit looked glaring in contrast to the greenery surrounding it.

Even though they have attended several wilderness survival programs conducted by their combat studio, they weren't up to the mark of mythical standards. Piper learned hunting and camping from the hunters during her winter break and was now teaching them to him.

It had been a huge risk on Percy's part. He had hoped to gain much from this endeavor and Piper didn't disappoint him. Revealing his secret identity to an immortal just for Piper to learn a few life-saving skills was a pretty bad deal, as far as he was concerned.

As a result, his top-secret became an open secret in the mythical community. Though it wasn't mentioned anywhere that Artemis was a gossiper, she would probably reveal about him to a few of her close confidantes.

Currently, they were hiding behind the tree branches, providing them with camouflage while waiting patiently for their prey to reach an appropriate distance.

"If the prey was startled and tries to flee, the sudden increase in body temperature decreases the meat's flavor," Piper commented while adjusting her aim. Her voice was barely above a whisper.

"Damaging the organs could cause the meat to give off an unpleasant odor. It spoils the meat too." Percy added.

"Sure. The quality of meat drastically falls if we unknowingly kill the prey. The best way to hunt delicious meat is to bring it down with a single headshot." Piper released her arrow at the target. The arrow whizzed past trees in the silent forest.

The wild rabbit squealed in panic before it was knocked out. To take out the target without killing, Piper had used blunt arrows. The force behind the blunt object merely knocked the rabbit unconscious.

They both jumped down the tree and picked their hunt to return to the training ground. On their way back, Piper was lost in the revelry of her time with the hunters.

Artemis had invited her to the hunt but also warned her about Aphrodite's possible revenge against them. There were several historical shreds of evidence to it. Though he was skeptical about it, Piper had—ultimately—decided to refuse the offer but spent her winter break learning archery and hunting. Understanding her circumstances, Artemis had made a special exception to let Piper join them whenever she liked. She had gifted a pair of Requiem silver daggers to the godling.

She had also assured them to keep his identity a secret, even though she claimed her first choice would've been to capture and hand him over to her father, Zeus. She had grudgingly approved him as an honorable person for helping a maiden in need. But Percy had gleaned some important conclusions from this.

The Olympians are selfish individuals who always consider themselves foremost. No matter how much they bicker and argue, everyone's principle of operation always leans towards the collective interest of the council. They might turn hostile for individual benefits, but they always band together against a foreign threat.

But there was something else that made him uncomfortable too. Artemis had suggested Piper keep him from getting a bighead and Piper had obeyed wholeheartedly. Asking one of them to keep an eye on the other was unsettling, to say the least. It was like Artemis was asking Piper to keep him under a leash like he was a mad dog.

He probably would've laughed it off as a joke if not for the changes in Piper's behavior and manners during the second term.

Piper has always had her feminist side, which had motivated her to stand on her own feet and Percy never had any problems with that. He was essentially raised by Sally alone all these years, so associating with a tough girl wasn't a problem for him.

But lately, she was crossing the realm of being independent into becoming more bossy and haughty, almost as if she thought herself above Percy. She has had her opinions on everything regarding women empowerment but now she sounded demanding and authoritative.

On closer observation, everything pointed towards the hunters and their influence on her. She has absorbed some of the hunters' worse qualities and was on her way to imitating them. He had known about her admiration for Artemis' bravery but never had he thought for her to fall for the goddess' vigor and charm.

She must've felt empowered staying with the hunters and fighting monsters as one of them, rather than treading that line of life and death with him. But she has decidedly declined the invitation. He was unable to understand the contradictory opinions at play.

If this continues, it hurt him to mention it, but he's afraid that perhaps they couldn't stay together for long.

They reached the training ground quickly, only to find another fascinating image—Bill looked like the world didn't make any sense to him anymore.

He crouched before a big container filled with an assortment of items that couldn't even be accurately described—skins, feathers, limbs, fangs, bones., There was a stupefied look on his face like he couldn't simply believe what was before him anymore. He caressed each object with such adoration and affection that Percy finally lost it.

What's going on here?

He coughed loudly to let the dude compose himself but Bill exclaimed and jumped like a cat that has its tail stepped. He whirled around to face them but the expression on his face made Percy speechless.

It was the expression of a lost child in a country fair who found his parent at last.

"What happened to you? You look...lost!" Piper asked, suppressing a grin.

Bill had reached the training ground at the beginning of the summer to escape the politics in Atlantis. He believed that he might not get another chance to visit later down the line. Something heavy was about to go down.

It was the first time Bill and Piper met each other and Bill took a liking to her immediately. The three of them bonded during their training and the mer-hero had nothing but genuine praise for her.

Feints had become impossible on Piper. No matter the person, they leak out some emotions towards their opponents during a fight, unless they're inhuman. And Piper became so good at sensing emotions towards her that it worked even better than her charm speaks in battles.

Bill even predicted that the accuracy with which she could predict an attack and dodge without the aid of other senses, down to anticipating every blink of an eye and muscle movement, would be transfixing if mastered to the peak.

Despite the huge compliment and his difficulty to land a hit on her in the beginning, Bill overcame his drawback quite quickly. Since she can gauze emotions, he fought her dispassionately. He completely masked his emotions and fought her like Piper was an inanimate object.

It was a thorough execution to cut-off Piper's advantage in a battle that no matter how much he tried, Percy couldn't copy the technique at all. So he changed his strategy to leak his emotions aggressively and fiercely during his fight till Piper had trouble sorting through them.

He had let his thoughts run wild during their sessions. It had become obvious that getting into his head was not an easy task.

Bill twisted his mouth. "Perseus... these are remains of some ancient monsters..." he was shaking as he picked a gauze sheet-like skin.

"Sure they are! I know!" Percy rolled his eyes and said, "I am not a fool. I fought them myself. Do you think I have no idea what they are?"

That meant 'How can you ask me such a stupid question? I truly have doubts about your intelligence now.'

Bill felt dizzy. He swore in his mind. I'm simply playing the harp to a cow.

He placed the skin aside and picked a pickle jar with a pair of mesmerizing eyes floating in oil like burning candles. "Do you know how valuable these are? You stored them in cooking oil?" he gritted his teeth and failed to remain calm.

"Let me think," Percy thought about it for a while. "There was this snake monster with wings and a head on each end." he went on. "Man, that was a close call. It was pretty tough, you know," he exclaimed once he remembered the fight.

"That was a rare species, Perseus. These are Amphisbaena's tail eyes. Do you understand what I mean?" Bill yelled, getting worked up. "Super rare. The nobles in Atlantis would fight with you for this. This—" Percy interrupted Bill's agitated monologue.

"Well, they are monster trophies. So what? Before I fought them, it was a mythical creature that I'd never seen. However, I succeeded. These are just some trophies, nothing more." Percy hmphed.

Bill's eyes were glued to the pickle jar. The amphisbaena's eyes were oddly hypnotizing that Percy had to drag his gaze away from it.

"Perseus...Can I...I..." Bill stammered helplessly. "I know I'm speaking out of my turn but may I..." He muttered some incoherent words but failed to speak his mind.

"Sure," Percy easily agreed. "They're some trophies. Do as you please." he really couldn't understand. "Do you have to treat it like some precious treasure? Really?"

Bill wanted to kill himself. He lowered his head with a dark face, upset and ashamed. He actually got scorned by a weak clod hopper in the mortal realm. His face was dark while holding the jar. Then he set the jar aside and combed through the container for other valuables.

He didn't talk to Percy at all. He didn't know what to say. What could he say anyway? He had had enough of being shocked already.

Percy spoke with the attitude of 'You're a clodhopper and an ignorant countryman' That was clearly on his face.

He glanced at the items before him and started shaking. "I'm going to be so rich! So rich..."

"Holy Olympus...A blood fang of a Barghest? There is such a material..."

"This.. could it be the pincer of the fire-breathing crab. I'm so lucky..."

"What is this thing... all in white color? I don't care... let's take it..."

"Is this the golden horn of a Bicorn? It should be...here."

He had been acting like a country bumpkin who came to town for the very first time since he saw the trophies. He just swept everything he saw.

Meanwhile, Percy joined Piper in sharpening her arrows and listening to her rant. She started with the technique of sharpening the arrow's heads effectively to handle the maintenance of other weapons.

Watching her handle the delicate work with such enthusiasm, Percy couldn't help but ask the burning question that has been stuck in his mind for a while.

"Pipes," he called. "Why didn't you join the hunters when you're this passionate about them?" he carefully observed her reaction.

He couldn't help but be surprised when her face turned red—either angry or embarrassed—and yelled at him. "My dad, okay. I couldn't leave him be. And...my mom, and... Sally. And...and..." she coughed awkwardly.

"Oh, I see. I get it now. Good job." he felt relieved. If she had this many constraints, how could she simply join a band of immortals?

Bill marched to them in long strides, carrying several items picked from the container. He wrapped everything in a satin-like smooth cloth.

"I shall immediately deliver these things to Atlantis. I'll return at once," he announced.

He stumbled when Percy praised the cloth as a "Beautiful cover. Must be worth a fortune."

"Clop hopper! Countryman!" he vented his frustration and shouted. He was at his wit's end when yelled in distress.

Percy was embarrassed. He gave a sheepish smile in return for the glare.

Retribution comes fast. Only a few seconds and it was his turn to scorn me.

In fact, Percy was not inconsiderate or stupid. If he directly handed the things over to him, Bill might feel embarrassed to take them. And he couldn't forcefully snatch them from Percy either. No matter, Percy was considered royalty to him. Since it was something useful to him and Percy doesn't need them for anything other than keeping them as spoils, he decidedly played the bad guy part to relieve Bill.

"That aside, I can't simply take these things from you for nothing," he said to the flabbergasted kids. He gritted his teeth, like making a tough decision.

"I'll help you make a custom weapon from the forges in Atlantis. I might get into a little trouble but it's worth it." he decided.

"Tell me what do you want?" he asked.

Looking at the stubborn mer-hero, Percy sighed and decided to take up the offer. He commissioned the custom flying daggers with the same design but with better quality and material. He asked for as many as Bill can get his hands on without getting into trouble.

"What, do I get one too?" Piper exclaimed when Bill turned to her. Piper already has a pair of imperial gold and silver daggers. So she asked for an enchanted sword similar to Percy's.

"You're going to grind me to death, aren't you?" Bill said miserably.

"Come on dude, you know me. We've only met a couple of times but you've got the correct image of me. A hero with manners and kindness of a sage." Percy piously raised a finger and declared.

Watching Percy act pretentious, Bill muttered under his breath, "Pah! You have always been a cunning, shameless, and despicable person with a narrow mind. Since when did you misunderstand yourself as a generous man?" he turned and left without a word.

Percy spluttered at the comeback and gawked at the mer-hero with betrayal while Piper snickered behind him.

oOo

The most awesome god ever, Lord Apollo,

I'm a huge fan of yours. It'd be way cool if you had an immortal band like Lady Artemis, only for boys. Instead of making your followers celibate like your sister, you could make them hit on girls whenever they feel like it or if they ever had any heartbreaks. This group will be like your wingmen in a pub, a boyband in a concert, your squad in a game. That would be so cool. I would be the first person to join such a group if ever feel like making one.

We could also make this boy band promote your awesome poetry, palmistry, face reading, and music concerts—all to flirt and get girls. We could even go after the hunters too. Please, please consider my idea, my lord.

Your biggest fan at camp,

Joseph Witwicky.

Percy glanced at the letter and smiled mischievously.

This could get me in serious trouble, but it's so worth it.

From what he has heard from Piper, Artemis and Apollo tend to bicker over silly things all the time. No matter how absurd the idea looked, to relieve his boredom, Apollo would definitely go with this plan and present it to the council. Since there wasn't precedence of a demigod pranking a god in the past either, it was the most likely for Apollo to fall for this.

And knowing Artemis, she'd be out for blood—err, ichor, whatever—and hunt him down.

Since he used a fake appellation, and an easy see-through allegory in his name (Wit & Wicked), he'd out of questioning too. No one can find it without his consent.

Sweet! Revenge is damn sweet!

He managed to get the Olympus postal address from Bill and faked his address before posting it.

"So, what do you want to know?" Bill asked.

"Oh, nothing. Just about our consignment. How long will it take?" he asked nonchalantly.

That question quickly put Bill on the edge and he made a bitter face. "You got me good, kid. Your batch of the weapon is going to cost me a fortune. I've just finished stockpiling the raw materials. It'll take a month for it to finish. Where the heck did you find such a design?"

"What about it? Doesn't Atlantis have several Celestial bronze deposits too? How much could it take to make a bunch of daggers that small?" he was annoyed.

Bill sighed and launched into a description of metal forging and the requirements of making custom weapons. Apparently, the warriors of the sea cannot use weapons forged on land. Either they must be forged underwater or the weapon must have some materials from the sea as a catalyst for them to wield.

And the handle-less daggers that Percy had commissioned cost more than he had expected. To attain a perfect balance and make them light, there are several other materials added to the forging. Percy didn't tell his idea about making them without a handle to Bill.

"Celestial bronze, Imperial Gold, Stygian Iron, and lastly Requiem silver are materials deadly to immortals, monsters, and demigods." he nodded. "But there are several materials needed to make them durable and long-lasting. And a lot of them are found in the sea."

Then he went on with the minor differences between the holy materials. Celestial bronze affects everyone, but timely medication can avoid fatalities. Imperial Gold affects the life force, mostly leading to death.

Stygian Iron is an ore from the banks of River Styx in the Underworld, hence effective against spirits, ghosts, and ghouls. Demigods of Hades and deities of Underworld are the only ones capable of wielding Stygian Iron.

The hunters of Artemis use Requiem silver—arrows heads, daggers, and hidden weapons. They work well against cursed and damned beasts. All wild beasts come under her domain and silver works on all of them.

"Nightmare steel, Meteorite Iron, Red Cloud Wrought Iron. There are much more, depending on the properties a weapon requires, are added to the forging process." he sighed while listing the material.

Percy remained silent, processing the huge amount of information thrust upon him.

During the training session, the war spoil collection continued and became their favorite pastime activity during the summer holidays. Since they know Bill could exchange monster remains for valuable items, they eagerly dispatched monsters to earn maximum profits. They continued their practice sessions, mist manipulation skills, and other activities.

Piper proved to be a genius in mist manipulation. Only a few words with persuasion and the target easily got pushed into her illusions. Before, if someone told him that the children of Aphrodite were super scary with mist control, he'd have laughed it off as a joke. He was already extremely jealous of her for her ability to control the mist to her desire.

Comparison truly kills.

With their growing frames and elongated limbs, managing combat schedules at the studio, training with Bill, and still finding time for their parents occupied the summer holidays. Within no time, it was Percy's birthday and the end of summer.

Their parents came up with a plan to celebrate the last few days along with his birthday at their rented cabin in Montauk. It didn't surprise them that his mom and Piper's father build a rapport and got along well. But their wishful thinking was drowned when they displayed a sibling-like relationship between them.

It became obvious to the younger ones that the adults were still not over their flings yet, but formed a harmonious relationship with one another to cope with their loneliness.

So it was a surprise when the adults announced. "We have something to tell you." The kids exchanged a confused glance and settled on a couch.

"I've thought this through and decided to join the writing classes," Sally said. "Since you're both capable, it's time for me to focus on my dream. So we both came to a proposition." her announcement bewildered Percy, even more, when she said 'we'. Piper looked lost and turned to her dad.

"I'm planning to fire Jane," Tristan announced, out of the blue. "And appoint Sally to look after you both and manage my work schedules. You don't need the extra details."

Percy and Piper couldn't stop the excitement and glee from the announcement. The undertone and implications were not lost on them. They understood their parent's plan to make them stay together.

Sally needed a job to complement her writing classes and time to look after the kids. Tristan needed a manager to plan his work schedules and assist his profession. By recruiting one another, they're creating a seamless system to focus on their respective careers and helping each other out in their personal lives.

It was a win-win situation.

The adults were busy sorting out the work schedules, locations, and commute timings while the demigods sat on the sidelines and watched the fun.

They need not care about the complications in their parent's work. They were happy to have a time together with one less place to secure all the time.

The harmonious scene came to an abrupt end with a knock on the cabin. Standing on the porch was a man in fisherman attire. He was Poseidon, in all glory. Percy doesn't need a nameplate to recognize the god anymore, with such a flashy—Bermuda shorts and palm tree Tommy Bahamas shirt—outfit.

Percy quickly stepped out of the cabin and followed Poseidon to the beach. "Not that I'm happy or anything but why are you here?" he asked cautiously.

The father of horses sighed. "It's your birthday, isn't it? I came to celebrate with you." Percy stared at the god. In fact, he was speechless.

He didn't know what to feel. He was surprised to have Poseidon show some paternal responsibility towards him at last. He couldn't help grow some suspicion regarding some ulterior motives behind the kind gesture. He felt complicated to be on the receiving end of it. All kinds of emotions churned inside him.

"Thanks, I guess," he added lamely. Silence enveloped them for a while, making things awkward.

"I brought you something." Poseidon tried to diffuse the tension in the air. He took out a ballpoint pen and handed it to him. "Once again, happy birthday. I thought I should refrain from giving it to you, but no better time than the present. You've earned this." he added.

After the inspirational speech, Percy thought the god was playing a sick joke on him when all he received was a cheap ball-point pen worth no more than five cents. He doubted Poseidon to care so much about his academics to present a pen as a reminder. No matter how much he looked, it looked nothing more than a pen.

"As they say, a pen is mightier than a sword." Poseidon joked but it was obviously lost on Percy, who was busily deciphering the actual intention behind the present.

"Do you want me to finish my summer homework with this?" he asked. Black lines covered Poseidon's forehead. He thought his son was messing with him. It has always been him who messed with others, but to be on the receiving end of it didn't sound so appealing to him.

Before he could ask the god about the lame joke, Percy clicked the pen in frustration. The pen morphed and elongated until he was holding a sword similar to Hurricane. Unlike his sword, there was an ancient Greek name etched on the cross-guard. It read: ἀνακλυσμός.

It was a three-foot-long, Celestial bronze Xiphos similar to his sword in balance and sharpness. The swords looked eerily similar that the impression they left behind as they were likely forged from the same element by the same master.

"Riptide," he blurted out. "The current that takes one by surprise. Before you know it, you've already been swept out to the sea." he quoted and was surprised by his action. It was like the words flew out of his mouth without his consent.

"This must be providence." Poseidon beamed. "Similar to how a wielder chooses his sword, the sword chooses its wielder too. It had a long and tragic past. It seems it has finally found a worthy wielder." he praised.

Percy lowered his head, but he could feel a slight bit of heat creep up his neck at the praise.

"Thank you...father." the foreign word didn't sound so foreign anymore. The pen seemed like a token of recognition from Poseidon. Even if it wasn't, it was to Percy, at least.

Poseidon's eyes sparkled a bit and his smile line became prominent on a summer night. He grinned from ear to ear and was lost in some fantasy world to care about everything around him.

He coughed awkwardly after realizing he had lost his composure. To cover his screw-up, he did something that would make him regret it for a very long time. The clean-up he was going to handle would make him spit blood—ichor—in frustration.

"I have something more for you. Well... it's a movement technique." Poseidon started with a proud bearing and ended with an awkward feeling.

"Oh." Percy's interest was piqued. He was more curious about a new ability that he was unaware of.

"All gods can shuttle between realms without any problem." Poseidon sighed. Since he slipped up, he couldn't take it back easily.

"As for demigods, you too can move across the mortal plane by relying on your respective elements. The pre-requisite is being able to influence your godly domain." he went on. Percy's face lit up at that.

"Zeus uses lightning, Hades uses shadows and I use the water. I'll show you how to do it." Poseidon was soon lost in happiness from the amazed expression on Percy and promised incredible things to his son. "Watch this."

With that, the immortal dissolved into a shower of water droplets, swept aside by a gentle sea breeze. The water droplets further disintegrated into fine mist particles and drifted along with the breeze. The drifted mist gathered a little distance away and merged into a proper shape for Poseidon to reappear.

"It's like instant teleportation. That is so cool." Percy failed to restrain his ADHD and exclaimed.

Poseidon felt proud to have aroused a kid's interest and taught him the steps involved in the restrictions applied.

Percy was pumped up to learn a life-saving secret skill but was bummed out once he carefully went over the restrictions and the limitations it placed on mobility. All he could think of was 'This is such a pain!'

At the base, it was a simple technique. It was like tearing a fissure in space between two points and traveling through them at once. As long as the physical body can endure the avulsion, one can go between two places instantly.

That's where the simplicity ends. The time-space continuum will rip any mortal to shreds even before they enter a space node. No mortal can endure the tearing and survive. The technique was ineffective on mortals, hence Percy can't use it on his mom to help her.

Even the demigods are not susceptible to this limitation. Disintegrating and enfolding in the influenced domain was a clever process to sustain the avulsion.

"We transform into fine mist to reduce the strain and space ripple on physical bodies." Poseidon had said.

If the restriction was limited to this, Percy might've probably screamed in delight till he was hoarse. There were no downsides to the technique. But...

The distance traveled, the topography, the available moisture content in the relative locations, and the number of people carried, all affect the instant transportation. One can travel as far as his senses extend to or to a nearby known place under the restraints.

To put in an analogy, Percy could jump anywhere in New York and the surrounding states if he can satisfy every condition mentioned above. He might not do it in a single jump, but still possible. But it's impossible to make a jump from Manhattan to Los Angeles, despite the conditions.

Percy collapsed on all fours on the beach after successfully moving a few meters. He was drained and his legs gave out under him. He panted out of breath and his whole body twitched violently.

"How's it? The whole disintegration and the restructuring sequence. Did you get the hang of it? Remember that feeling. It helps you when something goes wrong with the process." Percy weakly nodded to Poseidon's powerful speech.

Once he made sure Percy was just exhausted and didn't injure himself, Poseidon let out hearty laughter at the sky. He pumped his fists victoriously.

"Take that, you knuckleheads. This is a record. I'm going to hold it over your heads for decades to come!" he gloated.

Percy felt speechless at the childish antics of an immortal deity.

Wow! Look at you! Getting hyped up over this. Why not tell the whole world about me then! he mocked the god internally.

Once Poseidon calmed down after an hour, he was lost in thought. While Poseidon was contemplating, Percy pushed the god to reveal the details. It was obvious to him that the god was hesitating to tell him something.

Percy was a man—err, boy—who was always content with the thing as they were. To put it more understandably, he was a man who would resign himself to adversity. He figured since there was nothing he could do to change the facts, he should make good use of it to the utmost extent.

A member of the Olympian council was right before him, so he was going to get as much information as he could from the god. It would be unacceptable for him if he didn't get anything for the years of hardships he faced.

He finally learned about the details of the whole mess surrounding his restricted life. He came to know about the possible decision a big three demigod has to make to either save or destroy the Western civilization when they turn sixteen as mentioned in the Great Prophecy. He didn't think much about the prophecy either, with Thalia way ahead of him.

He didn't ask Poseidon about her either. That would raise many red flags and he'd rather avoid questions going in that direction.

"It's time for me to leave. The council is in shambles because of the twins. Whoever was behind this was very devious indeed."

"Oh," Percy's interest was piqued at the mention of the twins. "What might've happened?" he asked curiously.

"Don't ask. Apollo suddenly presented this awful idea to create a boyband to flirt and woo girls to the council. Artemis went on a warpath and swore to castrate him when he said he wouldn't leave her hunters out of it." Poseidon sighed. "This issue turned into a mess and Zeus was busy trying to liaison between them."

"Is that so? That's too bad." Percy commented like a good boy he was. He acted like he was ignorant of worldly stuff and as if he had nothing to do with the issue.

oOo

"No—freaking—way!" Piper exclaimed once Percy materialized before her and narrated the whole story.

It was the end of the summer break. A few days and they're going to enter the sixth grade at the school they'd enrolled in last year. The year went without any hitch for them and they both managed to stay out of trouble. In turn, they avoided getting expelled from the school.

Both of their parents were happy and started their respective work for their careers. They've planned their work schedules and new apartments. Percy and his mom moved to a better apartment on the upper East side to reduce her commute time.

"Humph!" she crossed her arms and turned away from him.

Percy sighed helplessly. A girl's jealousy knows no bounds. It was his turn to cajole and coax her with a lot of benefits and gifts. Only when he promised to take her to the places of her liking did she turn normal.

So he was turned into Piper's travel agent for the rest of the term once he successfully mastered the instant teleportation with a passenger. She even went so far as to dismiss her chaperone and called him every time she wanted to visit some places.

In his free time, just to sate his curiosity and spite Gwen, he had tried to spy on the Roman camp in San Francisco. It took him a lot of time to figure out the general location and much time to infiltrate the camp incognito.

Even after all the efforts, he could only stay away from the valley and observe whatever he could find out from afar. For some odd reason, the river surrounding the entrances to the camp spooked him out. Percy had a feeling that he would be spotted immediately once he crossed the river and stepped on the land. It was an instinct, but he would bet his every penny on his gut feelings.

The security around the area was pretty tight to infiltrate the camp. On a whole, the impression of the Roman camp was a harsh military training ground.

Despite the harsh requirements to join and serve the legion, every honorable member of the legion earns the chance to settle down in New Rome, the city built within the borders, away from bloodshed and disturbances.

Camp Half-Blood, on the other hand, was a contrast to the harsh Roman style. All Percy could watch once he reached the possible camp location was a Christmas pine tree on a hilltop. He didn't know where exactly he was in Long Islands, but the address to the camp was basically in the middle of nowhere; a fitting choice.

He got on one of the pine branches and watched the valley below. It was a strawberry farm with surrounding meadows, overshadowed by hills and woods on three sides and the beach on the other side. A middle-aged man was lazing on the porch of a four-storied Vatican house at the base of the valley.

The Greek camp was different from its Roman counterpart. it was—all in all—a summer camp where demigods go year-round and learn to survive monsters and face the world once they turn adults. There were demigods, nature spirits, and wild animals living in harmony in the meadowed valley and the forest surrounding them. Their life is much more relaxed, too much relaxed compared to the Romans, but the activities would prepare a demigod for the mortal world.

The Romans were dressed in purple togas and tees, to showcase their noble birth and illustrious dignity while the Greeks were dressed in orange tees and jeans to demonstrate their passion and zealousness. Each camp was on the far end of the coastline and was secured by some kind of force field.

The Greek camp only consisted of teenagers ranging from ten to nineteen and was like a stop-gap measure for the crisis. The Romans on the other hand were thorough with a well-established lifestyle with veterans prying for power with politics and schemes.

He stepped on the branch a little harder, rustling the leaves on the tree branch.

"Who's there!" an exclamation rang from the base of the tree. He had been careful to avoid anyone but still got caught. The cry was likely from a girl at the base—mostly a camper—startled from his sneaking around. Percy made a quick decision and disappeared from the tree. He caught a faint shadow of a person at the base but nothing concrete to discern his assailant.

That one incident nearly traumatized him. He didn't fear any threats from just about anybody, but the possibility of his identity being revealed placed everyone around him in grave danger.

A week before the winter break, Poseidon visited him once again. Before he could ask him anything, the somber expression on the god's face told him much more than words could.

"Perseus, I need your assistance. Would you mind helping me out?" he asked gravely.

XxX

A/N: I wonder who was the one who almost caught Percy at camp. And I wonder about the urgent task Poseidon required Percy's help. What do you think?