Chapter 9: Show time

I felt a small poke in my consciousness, subtle at first but quickly growing in intensity. Something was trying to wake me up.

It was a dark night when I opened my eyes. I looked down. Hera had certainly done a number on my clothes. Dangit, I was fond of this shirt! Now it was so faded and worn that the only thing that said it was my camp Half-Blood shirt was the faded shade of orange. I looked over at what was poking me.

A massive wolf was standing by the entrance to the cave, studying me carefully. Two equally massive wolves stood behind her, like guards. For a moment, I felt surprise, and admittedly a little fear. But then, as though she were speaking to me in clear English, I could hear her thoughts, seemingly.

'Another one, I suppose? Do you know your heritage, child?' the great she-wolf asked.

Hera had said that I couldn't be aware of my world, and I got the feeling that she meant that I had to try to act stupid about my half-blood blood.

"I mean, I knew my mother, but I…"I said, thinking a quick prayer to Dad for apology, "…I never knew my father."

The she-wolf looked at me for a moment, studying me. She must've found what she was looking for, because she turned and began walking out of the cave, accompanied by her two guards.

'Follow us, if you wish to survive.' The she-wolf said over her shoulder.

Hesitantly as I could fake it, I began walking after them. The cave allowed me to pass through, thank Poseidon. That would've been embarrassing if I had had to explain why and how I knew that a goddess wouldn't let me out.

The she-wolf eventually told me her name was Lupa. Whether that was supposed to have any significance to me, I'm not sure. Annabeth would probably know.

Oh gods. Annabeth.

I couldn't help myself from thinking about her, looking for me everywhere. I had told her that she had to fake it just as much as I was, but I was still worried, and I'm sure that she was worried about me too. Lupa noticed my expression before I could hide it.

'What's the matter, child?' Lupa asked.

"I—I just…" I said, wondering how I was supposed to keep this a secret. Lupa was actually very good at sniffing out a lie, and I still don't know how I managed to convincingly tell her that I never knew my father. She would immediately know that I was lying if I told her that it was nothing. That was something that even a normal mortal could've discerned. "…I just remembered someone."

Lupa metaphorically raised an eyebrow at me, but didn't question it. It wasn't her business, it wasn't the pack's business. She knew I would've brought it up on my own if it had been important. That's how the pack worked.

And still, I couldn't help but keep thinking about Annabeth. What if she needed my help? What if the whole camp needed my help? Had Annabeth forgotten about me? Six months was a long time to wait for someone to show up.

Inside, I was sure that she hadn't forgotten. She was safe, and so was the camp. And I knew that six months, six years, or six millennia wouldn't be long enough for her to stop waiting for me. Still, I couldn't help but be a little paranoid.

Lupa 'taught' me how to survive on my own. She taught me the basics I would need to know to survive in a world where monsters hunted my kind down, and how I was from an ancient power. I learned, once again, that my father was a god, and I tried to proportionately be shocked.

It was only on the day that Lupa sent me off from the pack that I suspected that the old she-wolf knew more than she let on. Honestly, she probably knew more than 'the more she knew that she let on'. She probably hadn't been fooled by any of my lies and acting, and I couldn't tell if I was relieved she had decided to help me anyway, suspicious of her reasons, or worried that my acting was really not as good as I thought it was.

She had told me simply to follow my instincts. While my first and foremost instincts would always be to home in on Annabeth, I had a feeling that wasn't where Lupa exactly wanted me to go. She had another place in mind when she told me to go. Somewhere that was unknown to me.

So I went. I followed my instincts. I never stayed in one place for too long, I could sense that something or someone was following me.

At one point, I ran into two gorgons. At first glance, I shielded my eyes to avoid being turned to stone, but it dawned on me eventually that not all gorgons shared that special talent. 'Beano' (I had read the name tag wrong when I crashed into her in a Bargain Mart. It had said, 'Stheno', but the name just stuck) and her sister, Euryale chased after me, and I quickly discovered a problem. It didn't matter how many times I killed them, they always reformed within an hour. I knew that there was no way I could be killed by them, despite their seemingly unstoppable regeneration factors. I had the blessing of Achilles on me, not to mention the immortality I now possessed.

Slowly but surely, I found myself in California. San Francisco, to be specific. I had bad memories of this place from an encounter with a certain Titan, but I pushed on. As I came to a hill in specific, I felt the instincts that Lupa had given me go crazy. I was here. Even though nothing was… here.

I looked down. There was a highway cutting through the bottom of the hill, and I was on a really, really big hill. Could it be that there was something under…?

I looked around me. The slope was not really so much of a slope as an eighty-foot drop. There was no way a normal teenager, or even a normal demigod, could survive that drop. Which meant that I couldn't simply jump down without even popping my ankles without gathering unwanted attention.

"There you are!"

I sighed and turned around. At this point, the two gorgons were simply annoying me. It was like they just couldn't smell that I was a god, but just a normal, everyday half-blood.

Beano clambered over to him. There in her hand were the infamous platter of her indestructible samples that she toted across country. Cheese 'n Weiners. Percy was at a loss as to how Beano always had more Cheese 'n Weiners to offer him before she tried to kill him. They seemed to be able to reform as fast as the two gorgons themselves did. And they always looked perfectly fine, too.

"Try one?" Beano asked, offering me her platter.

"Where's the second one?" I asked, drawing my weapon.

"Oh, put that sword away. You know you can't kill us for long. Have a Cheese 'n Weiner! They're on sale, and I'd hate to kill you on an empty stomach!"

"Stheno!" a second voice said. Euryale stormed up to her sister. "I told you to sneak up and kill him!"

"But," Beano said, her expression drooping a little, "Can't I give him a sample first?"

"No, you imbecile!" Euryale snarled, extending her claws and turning towards me.

I tuned out as Euryale began monologuing to me, and Beano occasionally spouting random Bargain Mart jargon. I looked down at the cliff-like slope behind me. Too steep to run down, or even walk down. I would survive, but it would raise suspicions that Hera would not want raised. I needed something to slow down my fall…

Beano's silver platter glinted in the corner of my eye. An idea began to form in the back of my mind.

"Reconsidering?" Stheno asked. "Very wise, dear. I added a little gorgon's blood to these so your death will be quick and painless."

I blinked. "You added blood to your Cheese 'n Weiners?"

"Just a little nick on my arm, but it's sweet that you're concerned." Stheno said. "Blood from our right side can cure anything, y'know, but blood from our left side is deadly—"

"Stheno, you nitwit, he won't eat it if you tell him that it's poisoned!" Euryale said, turning on her sister.

I really kind of wanted to just pop one of them in my mouth and see the looks on their faces when I didn't die. But alas, I was on an undercover mission, so it couldn't be helped…

"He won't?" Stheno pouted. "But I told him it would be quick and—"

"Thanks!" I said, snatching the platter from Stheno's hands.

Both the gorgons just stood there for a moment, actually surprised that I was actually about to eat the poisoned samples. I used the opportunity to slice my sword across Euryale's waist, and threw the rest of the samples into the bushes nearby.

Stheno gasped and immediately said, "Cleanup on aisle three!"

She got down on her hands and knees and went rifling through the bushes as I put the platter under me and jumped off the side of the hill. As I began to speed downwards, I could hear Euryale screaming at her sister, "YOU IDIOT, HE'S GETTING AWAY!"

I really hoped that the sled would follow the correct path, and not end up throwing me off into the middle of the highway. I saw someone familiar at the bottom of the hill.

Hera sat on a bench, calmly waiting for me. I walked over after disentangling myself from a bush I had crashed into. She looked over at me as I came over, and smiled. Immediately, I knew something was up.

"Ah, you finally found your way here. I was beginning to wonder if Lupa had taught you anything yet," She said.

"Gimme a break. I just woke up from a six-month-long nap," I said, sarcastically. "So, since you're here I assume that there's a reason?"

"Yes. This is an essential part of my plan. Otherwise, you will very probably stand no chance to step into the next phase."

"Fine. What do I do?"

"I need you to 'carry' me into the entrance to camp over there." Hera said, nodding behind me.

I turned, and saw two guards standing near a large, bunker-like door. But the way they carried themselves, and the armor style they wore was setting me off. Something about it felt foreign. Dangerous. Like I couldn't and shouldn't be here. I felt a mild headache coming on for a moment, but it didn't last long.

"Camp? Camp Half-Blood?"

"No, godling. It is the entrance to a different Camp." Hera said. She waved away my next question, and looked up over my shoulder. "You and I are both shrouded in the Mist, currently. Nobody will know of our identities as we reach the borders. Now hurry, Perseus."

I sighed. Time to carry the queen of the gods across the street, I supposed. I bent down and lifted her up, and began jogging to the entrance to the 'Camp'.

"Hey! You two!" I shouted, jogging a little faster into the tunnel, carrying her royal absurdness all the way. "I could use a little help?!"

The two guards looked at me for a minute, surely deeming me as a crazy passer-by.

That is, until the two gorgons swooped down into view.

The larger guard yelped and drew a bow, while the other guard drew a cavalry sword. Now that I got a closer look at the two, the shorter one had a few locks of long auburn hair peeking out from under her helmet, and her armor was definitely modified. The larger guard let his arrow fly, and it slammed into Euryale's forehead. She veered off course and got slammed into a passing semi. But she just crawled over the top, tore the arrow out of her head, and swooped down.

"That should've killed her!" the larger guard complained.

"Welcome to my world." I said.

"Frank get them inside! Those are gorgons!" the girl shouted.

"Gorgons?" the larger guard squeaked. "Will the door hold against them?"

"No, no it won't." Hera cackled, using some strange raspy voice, as if she was trying to impersonate a hobo. "Onward, Percy Jackson! Into the valley and through the river!"

"Percy Jackson?" the girl shouted. "Okay, obviously you're a demigod. How— Y'know what, nevermind. Frank, take them inside! I'll hold them off!"

Frank looked like he wanted to protest, but he didn't, and motioned for me to follow him.

'Smart man,' I thought.

'Indeed,' Hera thought back.

I ran after Frank, and eventually came out into an open clearing. In the bowl-shaped valley below stood a gleaming city of marble buildings, shaped into a sort of a 'G' shape. A river surrounded the encampment, and Mount Diablo was in the distance.

Hazel came running up to them a minute later, looking somewhat torn up. She had a loose "%50 percent off!" sticker hanging from her chestplate, which also sported a newly made large gash.

"I slowed them down, but they'll be here any minute," she said, panting.

"Hazel, go with Percy and escort him across the river. I'll hold them off for a bit." Frank said, turning.

Hazel nodded, and began running down towards the river. The nearer I got to it, however, the more I felt like it would be bad to cross it.

"The Little Tiber," Hera said. "This would be your last chance to back out, if you hadn't already agreed to help me. The mark of Achilles will be washed away, as you can't retain a Greek blessing in Roman territory."

"That might've been nice to know beforehand, your majesty," I whispered back to her.

Hera shrugged. "Slipped my mind."

Despite all my Greek instincts shouting at me not to go through the river, I decided that it would probably be best to do so. I forged through, and I could feel every part of my skin steam, as the blessing of the mark of Achilles was washed off. As I clambered out the other side, however, I heard a yelp. I turned around.

Frank had been grabbed by one of the gorgons, and was being carried off into the air. I began to raise my hand, but Hera grabbed it and kept it down.

"Do you want to alert the entire Camp that you are a godling already!?" Hera whispered. "You cannot use your powers!"

I frowned. Fine. No godly blastings. I raised my hand again, but a familiar tug on my gut responded this time.

The Little Tiber in front of me rose up, creating two fists of water which mimicked my every move. I grabbed Euryale and Stheno out of the air, both of whom squawked and dropped Frank into the river. Then, when he clambered out, I made a smashing motion, and the gorgons burst apart. I churned the water to make sure they could not reform, before turning once again to face the new camp I found myself in.

Nobody was moving. Nobody was blinking. They were all just staring at me like I'd just spontaneously caught on fire in front of all of them. Hazel and Frank were the only ones moving in my peripheral.

"Ah, thank you for the lovely trip, Percy Jackson," Hera said, "Thank you for bringing me to Camp Jupiter."

There was a sound like someone getting throttled for a moment. I turned, and saw a girl that looked familiar, but I couldn't place her. She was obviously the leader. Her purple cloak, and her many various medals decorating her chest. "P-Percy Jackson?"

I was about to ask her who she was, possibly making me look like a huge fool, but a soft glow to my right indicated that Hera was up to something. I turned and looked.

I watched as I felt the Mist fall away around her, her disguise shed. The campers all gasped and knelt to the ground hurriedly. I alone remained standing among them, something that I saw Hera note with a twinge of annoyance.

"You'll all have such fun together!" she said, clapping her hands.