After a few moments of silence, Hestia quietly spoke up. "How about we break for fifteen minutes?" She asked, eyeing the Percy and Paul trying to calm Sally down. It was just hitting her, at the end of the chapter, how close she had come to losing her son.
Everyone agreed and everyone moved out of the throne room except for Annabeth and Poseidon. The rest went out to stretch their legs, while the sons of Hephaestus and their father merely put up a barrier to block out sound, that way the family could have privacy. They couldn't leave now, the whip was in a delicate stage of the enchanting.
Triton even dragged Gabe out of the room by the back of the ropes he was still bound with.
Fifteen minutes, when everyone came back, they were relieved to see that Sally was calm and laughing quietly with her family.
"How about I read?" Katie volunteered once everyone was seated again, after a few of them got drinks from the cappuccino machine still in the corner. When everyone agreed, she retrieved the book from where Rachel left it and opened up to read. "I Become a Known Fugitive."
Sally could only sigh. Why was it always her son?
Katie looked at her in sympathy before all the older demigods shot Percy a glare for making his mother worry so much. He just sighed when he noticed their looks. It wasn't his fault that the mortals that were nearby always saw the bits and pieces that painted him in the worst light possible!
It was the stupid Mist! He swears Hecate has it out for him.
(I'd love to tell you I... face of death, et cetera.)
All the older, more experienced demigods snorted. Yeah, right. Whatever mortal came up with all that, was a moron. And those that laugh in the face of death, well...
Let's just say they didn't stay laughing for long once Thanatos got ahold of them.
(The truth? My only thought was: Aaaaggghhhhh!)
The demigods started laughing. That was more like it.
(The river raced toward... in and out of my vision.)
Percy winced as he remembered this. He couldn't tell which was up and which was down, he was just tumbling. "On the bright side, the wind was enough to put out most of the fire!" He said, trying to sound upbeat. If he tried for cheerful, he was liable to be burned at the stake or something.
Going off the dirty looks, that might happen anyway.
(And then: Flaaa-boooom!)
Katie said that as dramatically and loudly as she could, trying to imitate the sound. She grinned at the looks she got from the others, while Travis just looked proud.
(A whiteout of bubbles... of mud and lost forever.)
"No. I don't think the mud goes that far down..." Poseidon said. He was enjoying teasing his son regarding learning more about his abilities and just what being a Son of Poseidon meant. He considered taking all three of his demigod sons that were present for this reading and working with them on their abilities as his son. Maybe tonight or something? He could see what the two older ones had figured out over the years and start instructing them on what they hadn't yet.
And start instructing the younger one period. Maybe give him instructions on how to get ahold of his times Poseidon without alerting Zeus or something... he should probably write a letter and have the boy hang onto it. Just in case he wasn't here for the entire reading.
It seemed like the Fates were just going to have people coming and going.
Percy just scowled at his father's teasing, but didn't say anything.
(But my impact with the water hadn't hurt.)
"Didn't feel a thing, actually." Percy shrugged. It hadn't felt the least bit uncomfortable, and he didn't feel it afterward, either. Poseidon smirked slightly.
(I was falling slowly now... A catfish the size of my stepfather)
A few people blinked. "That's a big catfish." Leo commented, glancing at Gabe, who glared back.
"Yes, they can get big. That one sounds to be about average for a wild fish." Amphitrite commented, looking at Gabe and comparing his bulk to what she knew catfish could get to.
"You're not going to find any that big in the pet store though, there's not enough room in the tanks for one thing. For another, they stock varieties that naturally shouldn't get too big." Poseidon said in agreement. All the other sea-dwellers and the Percy's nodded in agreement.
(lurched away into the gloom... bags-swirled up all around me.)
Rachel and Grover growled, angry at hearing about such a thing. Poseidon and his family glared at nothing, with both Poseidon and Triton gripping their main weapons so hard their knuckles turned white.
"Disgusting." Katie spat.
"Mortals. They do not care about the planet they live on. They make no effort to keep it clean or take care of it in any way. No respect for their home." Demeter said in agreement with her daughter.
"Why haven't you done something about this, Uncle P?" Apollo asked, surprised at how bad it was. He didn't pay much attention to stuff like this, wasn't his territory.
Poseidon's glare spun and focused on him, making him gulp slightly. "Why do you think it looks as clean as it has been described? The mortals are fouling up the waterways faster than the river spirits can clean them. I have measures in place to help... those that will accept my help. But unless the mortals start cleaning up after themselves, there is only so much we can do. Now, if the rivers were part of my jurisdiction... I could do more. But they are not. I do what I can." He said, icily.
Apollo realized he had overstepped, big time, and apologized if it sounded like he was blaming his uncle. Before his uncle decided to feed him to a shark.
"I gave the Hudson and East River spirits half a sand dollar each, it seemed to really help." Percy cut in, looking at his father.
Poseidon sighed. "Sand dollar's, huh?" He leaned back and thought about it for a minute. "I'll think about it. But that won't solve the problem, it will just be a temporary solution. A small rock, stopping a tidal wave." He said, shaking his head. He motioned for Katie to keep reading.
"If how it was described is clean..." Piper whispered to Jason, who nodded in agreement. He wondered if part of the reasons the gods were weakened compared to back in ancient times, wasn't just the lack of acknowledgement or worshipers, but because of the loss or pollution to their domains. All their power was going towards maintaining what was left, instead of being available for when it was needed.
(At that point, I realized... in my veins anymore.)
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, while Luke frowned slightly. Chimera poison wasn't that far behind pit scorpion venom on the scale of deadliness. So, why had the water healed Percy this time, but not then? Unless Percy just hadn't immersed himself in the water enough?
(I was alive, which was good.)
"Yes, yes it is." Sally said in relief.
"That's also a very good observation." Thalia said, being sarcastic. Percy just grinned at her.
(Second realization: I wasn't... clothes had been quenched.)
Percy sighed, thinking about how lucky they were that nobody had noticed the fact that all his clothes were practically hanging on by threads, not to mention all the burn marks on what was left of the fabric.
(But when I touched my... an old cigarette lighter.)
"Not gonna happen." Leo immediately said. Percy and the other sea-dwellers smirked.
"I beg to differ." Triton murmured to Percy, grinning mischievously. It was an expression that had many doing double takes and glancing between Percy and his half-brother. Only to find that Percy had the same expression on his face while he watched Leo.
(No way, I thought.)
Poseidon grinned as his face turned to watch his son. He loved hearing about his reactions to learning more about his abilities.
(I flicked the lighter. It sparked.)
Leo's eyes widened and he stared at them all. "Flame at the bottom of the river." He muttered in disbelief. That shouldn't even be possible, only Greek fire could burn under water, and even that would go out before too long. Beckendorf watched Percy curiously, too.
"Put us in the water, and there's not a whole lot we can't do when it comes to stuff that shouldn't be possible." Percy murmured. They were still smirking at Leo.
"Whoa." A few others murmured, honestly shocked. They hadn't expected that.
(A tiny flame appeared, right there at the bottom of the Mississippi.)
Leo shook his head. As a fire user, he knew about fire. And he knew that that shouldn't be possible.
(I grabbed a soggy hamburger... into a slimy rag. Weird.)
"Ah, you should have let it burn itself out. One less piece of trash in the water." Poseidon said, making a face.
Percy blinked. "I didn't even think about it." He said sheepishly. "I think I still have that lighter, though. I keep it in my quest bag." He offered. Then he frowned. "The bag that is sitting back in my cabin while I'm about to go on a quest without it." He muttered, not happy about that. Hera couldn't have given him his bag before she kidnapped him? He had nectar, ambrosia, basic survival gear, clothes, Drachma, some food that could store for a long time, a few pictures of his friends and the camp...that bag could really come in handy on the trip to Alaska. Poseidon sighed.
"Pack for quests?" Annabeth asked, speaking up for the first time in a long time.
"Yeah, most of us keep a bag packed at all times, just for being called for a quest." Clarisse said with a shrug.
"It's from during the war, we were going out on combat missions all the time. It wasn't too unusual for the stronger fighters to come back, get a shower and food, and be sent right back out again. Often our siblings would repack our bag for us while we were in the shower because of the chances of that happening." Chris added.
"Not even we'll prank somebody's quest bag." Travis said, gesturing between him and his brother.
"Yeah, messing with somebodies bag when they needed to be able to grab-and-go?" Connor shook his head. "Not cool man. Every second counted sometimes."
That's when all the younger demigods realized just how serious the war that they kept talking about was. If Connor and Travis Stoll passed up the chance to prank somebody, it must have been really serious. And really bad.
That's also when an old, battered bag appeared at Percy's feet, to his joy. When he dove in to check his supplies, he was surprised to find that the food was still good, even though it had been in there for about a year now. None of it stored that good. "Did you repack it?" He asked Annabeth, she nodded.
"I was getting supplies around for the Argo II, so I grabbed your quest bag. It seemed fitting." Percy just grinned and kept going through it. This thing was coming to Alaska with him, whether Hera liked it or not.
(But the strangest thought... I was breathing normally.)
"You know, most people would have drowned already by the time you realized you were breathing normally." Triton said in amusement. Percy was mature, and stuck his tongue out in answer, while a few others snickered. Poseidon barely concealed his grin.
Perhaps he should have let more of his children figure out their abilities on their own, his reactions to discovering something new were amusing.
(I stood up, thigh-deep... My hands trembled.)
Ares nodded. "Combination of adrenaline and fear." He said, leaning back. Now that the action was over, he was already bored again.
"Probably the last of the poison leaving your system, as well." Apollo added.
Percy just blinked at him, although it was odd that he was healed so quickly... with that much potent poison in him, it should have taken a few minutes for it to have been purged. Especially since it had already reached his heart and was doing its damage there. He didn't know that Poseidon was having the same thoughts, while internally hoping that he'd had something to do with that.
(I should've been dead.)
Sally paled and made a choked noise at this reminder that he barely survived. Paul grimaced and just held onto her.
(The fact that I wasn't seemed like ... well, a miracle.)
"Sadly, miracles like this are something you get used to in our lives." Chris said, looking around at his half-siblings and cousins. They grimaced, but nodded, while Paul looked horrified at the reminder of how much death and danger these kids were exposed to. Almost daily, especially those who lived outside of camp.
(I imagined a woman's voice... Percy, what do you say?)
"I don't think you would be imagining it..." Poseidon said, leaning forward in interest. He got a few startled and confused looks.
"If this is a Naiad messenger, then whoever she is should take this as a compliment." Amphitrite whispered to her husband. He quirked a quick grin at her in response.
("Um ... thanks." Underwater... "Thank you ... Father.")
"It wasn't me, so much as it was your own natural ability, but you're welcome, son." Poseidon said, slightly amused. Percy gave him a small smile, happy to be called 'son'.
(No response. Just the dark drift of garbage downriver,)
Poseidon scowled. Downriver and straight into the ocean. He also winced at the 'no response' comment. He was really hoping that he took this chance to at least send a messenger. Something... this would be a perfect chance for a messenger.
(the enormous catfish gliding... the color of butterscotch.)
"It would have been beautiful if it was cleaner." Percy said wistfully. He earned a few strange looks, but he ignored them. So what if he appreciated the beauty of anything aquatic, he was the son of Poseidon, he was allowed that.
Triton smirked. "It was. Way back before industry started to kick off. I'll have to show it to you sometime." He said with a grin, making everybody look confused except for his mother and father. None of them offered to explain, either.
(Why had Poseidon saved... the more ashamed I felt.)
"Ashamed of what? There's nothing about this situation to be ashamed about." Poseidon said, confused. Percy didn't answer, instead he watched Katie as she kept reading after a moment of silence, when it became clear he wasn't answering.
(So I'd gotten lucky a... never stood a chance.)
"That's nothing to be ashamed over. You only had two, three weeks of solid training, if that. There was nothing wrong with your performance on the Arch." Poseidon said, shaking his head, to much agreement from those Percy fought beside. Annabeth just sighed and rubbed his hand between hers in silent support. She knew how he could get sometimes.
(Those poor people in the Arch were probably toast.)
"No." Poseidon and Annabeth immediately denied. They both glanced towards the younger Percy. His eyes were wide, he didn't know what to think in this instance, where he might be responsible for somebodies death.
"As soon as you jumped, the Chimera and Echidna would have left. They have no interest in mortals, especially if they're there to hunt a specific demigod." Poseidon said, reassuring his youngest, who still looked a little unsure.
(I couldn't protect them... join the bottom feeders.)
Annabeth sighed. "Do you have to be so dramatic sometimes?" She asked, shaking her head. Percy just grinned sheepishly while Sally and Amphitrite shook their heads.
"Don't worry dear, his father is the same way." Amphitrite informed, looking at her husband fondly. He didn't even pretend to be sheepish about it.
Everyone else was staring at Percy like they'd never seen him before.
(Fump-fump-fump. A riverboat's... hilt sticking up in the mud.)
"Whoa. You're lucky it didn't sink in all the way. Especially since it didn't come back to your pocket immediately like it normally does." Leo commented from his corner, looking up from where he was still putting pieces of his whip together.
(I heard that woman's... father believes in you.")
"Yes, I do." Poseidon murmured quietly.
(This time, I knew the... water like dolphin sonar.)
"How would you know what that sounds like?" Piper asked, cocking her head.
"Instinct." Percy said, shrugging. "Same way I knew it was a conch shell my first night at camp, despite never hearing one before." She nodded in understanding.
("Where are you?" I called... the color of the water,)
"If it wasn't for all the dirt and trash, I never would have seen her." Percy said, shaking his head.
(a ghost in the current, floating just above the sword.)
Poseidon's eyes narrowed. Now why would she be holding onto the sword, and keeping it from returning to Percy's pocket?
(She had long billowing... my throat. I said, "Mom?")
Sally and Amphitrite both winced. "No, dear. That's probably one of my sisters." Amphitrite said softly. Annabeth looked at Percy in concern when he looked down, while Triton pulled Percy closer to him when the boy looked down at the reminder that his mother had disappeared.
Hera smiled, here was what a mother-child relationship should be like... she looked towards her sons and frowned. Why couldn't they be like that with her? Ares and Hephaestus noticed her looking and glanced at each other, rolling their eyes. They knew what she was thinking about.
She would never get it, would she? She was never a mother to them, so they were never the sons she wanted them to be. She never made any effort towards having any kind of meaningful relationship with them, and eventually they just gave up trying to have one with her. That was the only thing the brothers agreed on, and that was that she was a terrible mother. Aunt Amphitrite was more a mother to them. (That, and she threw Hephaestus off the mountain side because he didn't look like her vision of perfect. Of course, that didn't help his looks at all...)
The other demigods looked at Percy in concern, too. And, of course, the usual jealousy about having such a good relationship with his mortal parent. But, still. He thought his mom was dead at this point. And then for somebody who resembled her so much to suddenly appear...
This was going to be cruel when the messenger left.
("No, child, only a messenger... hopeless as you believe.)
"I imagine that knowing she was still alive is the only reason I wasn't marching my own armies down to the Underworld by now." Poseidon mused thoughtfully. Nico and Hazel blanched at the thought of that happening while Hades scowled.
Oh, he better not do that, ever.
(Go to the beach in Santa Monica.")
"She won't be able to stay there for much longer. Too much pollution. But, she would be able to hold a longer conversation with him at Santa Monica, and it's in LA, which is where he's going anyway." Poseidon said in satisfaction. He was also a little frustrated, knowing that he wouldn't be able to meet with his son himself. Zeus would be watching him too closely, and he would be overseeing war preparations and trying to keep tempers cooled so that nobody did anything rash.
Including his own temper...
He could only hope that Percy succeeded and those war preparations wouldn't be needed.
("What?"
"It is your father's will... is too foul for my presence.")
Amphitrite nodded. "She is a Naiad from the ocean, she cannot survive in fresh water. Especially fresh water as polluted and filthy as that river is." She said, worried about her kin. Either way, she would be a member of Poseidon's court, whether she was one of Amphitrite's own sisters or cousins was another question. The description Percy gave was not enough to tell who she was, they all had similar green eyes.
("But ..." I was sure this... or a vision of her, anyway.)
Sally and Amphitrite winced again. This was going to be torture on the boy, this messenger wouldn't be able to stay long, not in this river.
("Who-how did you-"... jammed up in my throat.)
Nobody said anything. Sally suddenly leaned over and murmured something to Hestia, who nodded and Sally disappeared off to somewhere. When Katie looked at her uncertainly, Hestia smiled and urged her to keep reading. Sally was going to keep herself busy in the kitchens for a bit. She would be back when she was ready to be.
Everybody glanced towards the doors in concern, but let Katie continue.
("I cannot stay, brave one,"... gifts..." Her voice faded.)
"Oh!" Annabeth suddenly gasped, grabbing Percy's arm in a death grip.
"What?" Percy yelped, startled and in a little bit of pain.
"The gifts." She hissed. "What if she was talking about the shoes? Or the bag of supplies and transport we got from Ares?" She asked quietly. They all ignored the questioning glances, or the fact that Percy and Annabeth were having a similar conversation in the corner.
"How would she have known about the supplies and transportation?" Grover asked, having heard her. "Ares didn't show up until we were in Denver the next day."
"Ok, then, maybe not the supplies and transport. But the shoes?" She asked.
"You think maybe my father knew something was wrong with them? And sent her to warn me about them?" He asked.
"Maybe, unless she was talking about something else entirely. And obviously he didn't know what was wrong with them." She said, shrugging, and finally releasing his arm. She turned to Katie expectantly, waiting for her to keep reading as if she never interrupted.
("Gifts?" I asked. "What gifts? Wait!")
"The only gifts you've received so far... is Riptide and the shoes from Luke..." Apollo said thoughtfully. "Why would she be telling you not to trust them?" He knew that Luke had something to do with what was going on, he just didn't know how deep over his head the son of Hermes was.
"One of them might be tampered with in some way." Poseidon offered. And he knew it wasn't Riptide. Which meant the shoes... he knew that Luke was the one who stole the Bolt, question was, why would he curse the shoes? Athena scowled in frustration, not knowing what was going on and not liking it at all.
(She made one more attempt... but the sound was gone.)
"She was there too long as it was, the river spirits had to get her out of there before the pollution and freshwater started affecting her health in the long term." Amphitrite said, grimacing. "She probably still had to spend a day or so with the Healers." She explained.
"I thought you said earlier that water was water." Annabeth said, tilting her head.
"It is... but you can't take a freshwater fish and expect it to survive in salt water. Naiads are the same way. Some can survive in both salt and fresh, but some can only live for so long in one or the other. Besides, most of the problem here would be the pollution." Percy was the one that answered her. When she still looked like she didn't quite get it, Poseidon picked it up.
"Say, you go from living at Camp, where the air and water are clean. Then, you go somewhere like... say Delhi, India. One of the most polluted cities in the world. You would have quite the hard time breathing for a while. It might even make you sick because you're not used to it and your body won't know how to handle the contaminants your suddenly breathing in." He explained. "It's the same principle." Now she understood.
(Her image melted away... I had lost her again.)
"Oh, Percy." Sally suddenly sighed, she came back just in time to hear that. With a batch of cookies in one hand. How on earth could she make them so fast?
(I felt like drowning myself... was immune to drowning.)
"I wouldn't call that a problem." Sally deadpanned, while looking at her son in worry.
"At that moment it seemed like one." Percy muttered, munching on his cookie with less enthusiasm that usual. He looked up and sighed. "This is the only time I've felt like it, don't worry." He reassured. A few still didn't look convinced, but they let Katie keep reading.
(Your father believes in... was talking to the catfish.)
Everybody laughed, grateful that at least Percy's humor didn't take long to come back. After that last chapter, they needed something to laugh about that wasn't somebody trying to break tension, however momentary it was.
(I waded toward Riptide and... waiting to finish me off.)
"No, they would have left as soon as you entered the water. The rivers may be outside my jurisdiction, but the water itself is still technically my territory." Poseidon instantly denied.
"And I just love the descriptions he comes up with." Travis muttered to his brother, who nodded. Only Percy would dare call one of the most feared monsters a 'snaky, fat mother'.
(At the very least, the... they'd have some questions.)
"Oh, yeah." A few people blinked. In all the excitement about the Chimera, they'd forgotten that Percy also happened to be in trouble with the mortal authorities.
"You might want to stay away from the police." Luke advised. It was the first he'd spoken in a while.
"No kidding." Percy grumbled. Annabeth hid a smile and patted him on the shoulder consolingly.
(I capped my sword, stuck... again to the dark water.)
Poseidon smiled again. Again, it wasn't him as much as it was his sons own natural abilities as his son. Percy was very powerful, possibly the most powerful of his sons that he ever had.
(Then I kicked up... a floating McDonald's.)
Nico immediately moaned and started drooling with his eyes glazed over just thinking about it. Everyone looked at him sideways and started inching away. The Romans in particular, although Hazel looked more embarrassed than anything, she'd already been exposed to her brothers, ah... habits.
"I knew the kid liked McDonald's, but..." Percy muttered to nobody in particular.
"Give him a cookie, maybe that will snap him out of it." Annabeth suggested. Sally slowly got up and approached him as if she would a wild animal, cookie in hand. She held it up, and, sure enough, Nico snapped out of it, giving her a polite thank you as if he didn't just go off into dreamworld over McDonald's.
"Ok, then." Clarisse breathed. "Moving on." She turned to stare at Katie, who took the hint and started reading.
(A block away, every emergency... surrounding the Arch.)
"Yeah, I bet." Travis muttered, shaking his head.
"You really know how to stir up trouble, Perce!" Connor said cheerfully. Percy just gave him a dry look and acted like they never said anything.
(Police helicopters circled... Square on New Year's Eve.)
"It's amazing how fast a crowd will gather." Will said, whistling. "I mean, it can't have been, five to ten minutes, tops, since the Chimera blew up the Arch? And a crowd that large has already gathered?" He shook his head in amazement.
"What I find amazing, is how mortals will always run towards the danger, instead of away from it." Was Persephone's response. "You ever notice that? Something happens, and a crowd gathers, instead of getting as far away as possible in case it happens again." The mortals and half-mortals in the room looked at each other before they admitted she had a point.
Sally and Paul just shrugged. "Don't ask me, I teach ninth graders, who knows why they do anything." Paul muttered.
(A little girl said, "Mama!... out of the river.")
"Huh." Annabeth said, tilting her head to the side. "Either she was just watching the river instead of all the action, or she's clear-sighted."
"Well, obviously she was watching the river. She saw me walk out of it." Percy said, confused.
"No, but the Mist would have shielded you leaving the river. Now, most kids are clear-sighted, but the Mist will affect as they grow up, and it's put down to having an active imagination. Not all kids grow up to be affected by the Mist." She gestured towards Sally and Rachel as her examples. "So, either she was just paying more attention to the river, or she's going to grow up to be clear-sighted." She explained more.
"Interesting." He muttered.
("That's nice, dear,"... watch the ambulances.)
Hera narrowed her eyes. "She should pay more attention to her child." She said, crossly.
"While I do agree, in this instance, her inattention is a good thing." Sally pointed out. Hera narrowed her eyes, but huffed in agreement and waved Katie on.
("But he's dry!"
"That's nice, dear.")
Sally, Hera, and Hestia sighed. Of course.
(A news lady was talking... early in the investigation.)
A few people winced. "Yeah, I can see how the first thing they would jump to was terrorists." Clarisse said quietly.
"A National Monument, a big city..." Chris agreed. They glanced around at each other. Sally and Paul were silent, they were remembering the last big attack, when the Towers fell... Sally had a few friends who lost somebody that day. Paul was lucky, his school was supposed to take a field trip there that day, but it got cancelled last minute, they ended up having too few chaperones after a few of them got sick.
Hades tilted his head towards the two mortals when he got their prayers for those lost to that attack.
(The damage, as you can... some of the survivors,)
Everyone who cared breathed a sigh of relief. It was one thing to know that the Chimera should leave the people alone, and another to know that it actually did leave the people alone.
(to question them about... falling from the Arch.")
"I don't think it was hard to miss, unless they thought you were just another piece of flaming debris." Clarisse said, tilting her head to the side in thought. Percy just shrugged.
(Survivors. I felt a surge of... Annabeth and Grover were okay.)
Annabeth slapped his arm. "Of course we were ok, we had just stepped out of the elevator when we heard the explosions. You should worry more about yourself sometimes." She scolded him, while Grover nodded in agreement.
He wished Percy had more self-preservation. He got lucky a lot, and his luck wouldn't hold out forever.
Sally grimaced, but nodded too. She didn't want to lose her son anymore than those two wanted to lose him.
A few of the gods looked thoughtful, his concern for others was what made him a true hero, not like some others. Not like Hercules.
Zeus could be as proud of his son as he wanted, even he couldn't stand the boys attitude and pride. That boy was so full of it... yes he was strong, and yes there was very little he hadn't done. But, at the end of the day, his attitude... He had ended up being somewhat of a disappointment.
So far in the books, Percy was everything Hercules had promised to be, he just needed to training to get there.
(I tried to push through... inside the police line.)
"Don't do that!" Percy was the one to speak this time. He was staring at his older self incredulously. "They'll know you were up there as soon as they spot your burned up clothes!" Sally just sighed and muttered something about not wanting to know how much experience her son had with remaining unseen by the police.
Percy sighed. "I had to know what happened to everybody else that was up there. This reporter seemed to have answers, so." He shrugged. "And I was being inconspicuous." He defended, although he still didn't know how on earth nobody noticed the state of his clothes from this point, up until he replaced them at Waterland. Percy narrowed his eyes, but admitted that his older self had a point about the people.
"I thought the Mist was covering him." Rachel spoke up.
"It wore off by the time we found him." Annabeth shrugged. "It would have just covered him leaving the river so nobody thought it strange."
("... an adolescent boy," another... on the observation deck,)
"Ah, any chance those cameras missed your face?" Nico asked hopefully. He didn't remember this, this was when he and Bianca were still in the Casino.
"Sorry, man. Not how things work around me." Percy said, shaking his head. Sally sighed.
"I love how one reporter said they had no idea who could have caused the explosion, while another one has access to the security tapes from the observation deck." Chris muttered to his girlfriend. She raised an eyebrow and nodded.
(somehow setting off this... Again, no confirmed fatalities ...")
"No fatalities, period. Luckily." Percy muttered. They had been lucky that none of the mortals got caught up in the explosion or fire. A few heard what he said and nodded in agreement.
(I backed away, trying to keep my head down.)
"And, no. I was not obvious about it." Percy but in while looking at his younger self, who blinked at him innocently. Percy just rolled his eyes and started petting Mrs. O'Leary when she laid her massive head down beside him and whined. All he needed now was Blackjack. He... actually, kind of, missed his Pegasus right now. As much as he didn't want to admit how fond of him he really was.
(I had to go a long way... reporters were everywhere.)
"Ugh, I hate that." All the children of Hermes exclaimed. They then started sharing times when they were trying to get away but the police were all over the place. Chiron just looked at them in exasperation.
He couldn't stop them, not entirely. It was in their natures as children of Hermes, all he could do was try to limit them and make sure they didn't get caught by the mortals. If they started causing too many problems, though... then it was his job to drag them before the Council for punishment.
He was here to limit and teach them to control their impulse so they didn't go on sprees.
He must be doing something right, because there were fewer children of Hermes in prison than one would think.
Sally just gave them all strange looks while Paul looked like he was wondering if he should be hearing any of this, because his first instinct right now was to be calling the police. Sally noticed and whispered in his ear. He looked pained, but he nodded his understanding.
(I'd almost lost hope... Annabeth and Grover)
"I wasn't kidding when I said it was crowded." Percy grumbled. "How did you find me, anyway?" He asked, honestly somewhat confused.
Grover simply tapped his nose, and Percy scowled while Annabeth laughed at him. Grover never would tell him just what he was supposed to smell like, hopefully he didn't smell bad.
(when a familiar voice bleated,... to Hades the hard way!")
"Actually, that would have been the easy, if not more permanent way." Hades helpfully informed the room... and promptly tried to ignore Sally's glare.
That mortal was scary...
(Annabeth stood behind... seemed relieved to see me.)
Annabeth turned red while everyone else laughed. She grumbled something that nobody quite caught, but were pretty sure they knew what it was about.
("We can't leave you alone for five minutes!)
"No, you really can't." Grover informed the group, smiling apologetically at Hazel and Frank, who just sighed. She was already going over their planned route so they could hopefully make it to Alaska in one piece and come back. She had a general idea that Thanatos was being held nearby where she raised him, but she didn't know for sure. There were so many glaciers just in that area alone... let alone the rest of Alaska that he could have moved to.
Apparently, the trick wasn't going to be finding him, it was going to be getting there in one piece with Percy Jackson on their side attracting trouble.
(What happened?"
"I sort of fell.")
"That's one way of putting it." Reyna mumbled, torn between being unimpressed and amusement.
("Percy! Six hundred and thirty feet?")
"That's far." Somebody said. They hadn't known the exact height, until Annabeth mentioned it. They hadn't wanted to know the exact height. Jason had to put his arm around Thalia when she whimpered just thinking about that height.
(Behind us, a cop shouted... a woman on a stretcher.)
"What? Did somebody get caught up in after all?" Will asked, concerned. His Healers nature was making an appearance.
Percy bit his lip as he tried to remember. "She didn't look hurt..." His eyebrows furrowed as he tried to remember why she was on a stretcher and not walking.
(I recognized her immediately... fire-breathing Chihuahua-")
"Oh, yeah." He remembered now. "Physically, she was fine. But the memory of what happened sent her into shock." Percy said. When everyone looked at him, he held his hands up in defense. "I overheard one of the medics muttering about it." He said with a shrug.
"The Mist wasn't keeping any of the fight hidden?" Annabeth muttered, shocked. She hadn't picked up on that part earlier. She thought they were scared because the Mist was showing Percy with a weapon or something. Not that they actually saw the Chimera for what it was.
("Okay, ma'am," the... is starting to kick in.")
Sally flinched, thinking back to when she was younger, before she finally figured out that she shouldn't talk about the monsters she saw. Before she met Poseidon. Back then, every teacher, doctor, even her uncle. They were all shoving medication down her throat, convinced she was crazy.
She was convinced she was crazy.
Until she met Poseidon. She'd made the mistake of mentioning the monsters she thought she saw sometimes, but instead of calling her crazy or playing along like he thought she was but he was going to play along anyway, he'd revealed the truth to her. No, she was not crazy. They were really there, hidden behind the Mist. Although, when he told her that he was a god, she was convinced that he was the crazy one.
Well, after she got over her anger and hurt that she'd let herself be strung along like that.
It didn't take long after that to convince her, especially since they were at the beach...
Rachel noticed her flinch. "You, too, huh?" She asked the older woman. Sally just nodded. Poseidon shot her a concerned look, he knew her past with doctors just like this paramedic. She waved him off. She was fine.
She just didn't like doctors trying to medicate her all the time, and then later on when teachers tried to demand her son be medicated... and the school's kept bringing in doctors to make that call, no matter how many times she had to tell those doctors they brought in, 'no'. She refused to let them medicate her son for being different. Refused to have him medicated for something that was his nature as a demigod.
("I'm not crazy! This boy... is! That's the boy!")
"Good thing for you they think everything she's saying is the ramblings of a crazy person." Rachel said with a wince. She felt sorry for the poor woman. She would be lucky if the doctor's didn't try to put her in a mental institute for this. If they didn't, then they would try to have her on medication for the rest of her life.
Hopefully Apollo and Dionysus would step in so that didn't happen. This was their area, after all.
Everyone else grimaced, too. This woman should never have been in this position. Wrong place, wrong time.
(I turned quickly and pulled... on?" Annabeth demanded.)
"I had no idea what had happened. All I knew was that there was an explosion at the top of the Arch right when the elevator reached the bottom. I thought maybe Zeus had used how high up Percy was as an excuse to try and throw another lightning bolt at him." She said with a shrug. She'd really been beating herself up over it, too. She hadn't even thought about how high up they were going and that Percy, as a son of Poseidon, really shouldn't be that high off the ground when Zeus already wanted him dead.
Percy wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
("Was she talking about... the underwater lady's message.)
"While leaving a lot out." Annabeth gave him a reproachful look, to which he cringed at.
("Whoa," said Grover. "We've... a summons from your dad.")
"Well, I could..." Percy said with a small grin. "He would be a little annoyed for a few days before using me ignoring him as an excuse to come find me anyway... maybe spend the day together." He shrugged. Poseidon had done that a few times. Sent him a 'summons' that Percy would then ignore, and then a few days later, they were in New York spending time together as father and son. Everyone caught the jealousy that the other demigods were trying to hide.
Jealousy at the kind of relationship Percy had with both his parents. The kind of relationship every demigod wished they had.
"Why didn't I think of that?" Hermes asked, stunned. Well, besides the fact that he didn't have time to do that... he was lucky if he could take thirty seconds in a day to just sit and do nothing without his phone blowing up with at least a hundred emails or phone calls all at once. As it was, he'd managed to use the time-bubble the Fates had put them inside to finish up the paperwork and delivery orders that he was behind on. As well as go through the fifty thousand emails he'd had cluttering up his inbox, they had all piled up because he just didn't have time to read his emails, especially since they all came in all at once and he other things to be doing.
This way, once these book readings were done, he could leave the palace with everything caught up and hopefully be more on top of everything for at least a week before things started getting away from him again.
He needed an assistant or something... that way he could spend some time with his children.
(Before Annabeth could respond... he said, "Percy Jackson.)
"Oh, that's not good." Everyone said. Percy winced, before shaking his head.
(That's right, Dan. Channel... is a photo of Percy Jackson.")
"That's even worse!" Thalia groaned.
"Well, that explains the 'wanted fugitive' bit. His name and face just got plastered all over national television. It's not just the east coast that's looking for him, now." Rachel said, then she tilted her head. "Actually, I think I remember this now." She thought for a few minutes. Then her face cleared up and she snapped her fingers. "Yeah! Dad was going on and on about how no child of his would ever be pulling stunts like that... and how Clarion's was going to be a good school for making sure I didn't follow your example." She finished with a glare.
Percy went wide-eyed. "How is that my fault?" He yelped. "You said Clarion's was your mothers old school, and your dad wanted you there because of that!" He exclaimed.
She shrugged. "True, but he didn't become so insistent about it until after hearing about you on the news." Percy groaned.
(We ducked around the... to get out of town!")
"That's a good start." Nico agreed while munching on cookies, content. He'd been quiet so far.
Percy shook his head fondly, give the guy some of Sally's baked goods or McDonald's, and he was like a whole other person sometimes. He was actually acting his age, for the most part. It was amazing, really.
(Somehow, we made it... without getting spotted.)
"Which was a miracle of its own." Annabeth grumbled.
"Not really, I knew what I was doing." Percy said with a frown. She just tilted her head at him while Sally planted her face in her hands and shook her head. She really did not want to know.
(We got on board the... the St. Louis skyline behind us.)
"Huh." Leo said from his corner. "You would think that, after a national monument got blown up, that they would shut down the train and bus stations." His head was cocked to the side.
"They did... after our train left. They didn't get the call out fast enough to keep us in the city. I found out later that Hermes temporarily cut communications and such, between the train station and the police." Percy said. "On dad's orders." He clarified.
Poseidon grinned.
Hestia looked at the time. "How long is the next chapter?" She asked Katie.
"Umm... it's fairly long." She frowned at the chapter title. "A god buys us cheeseburgers, what kind of chapter is that?"
"Um, the kind that Ares is going to read." Percy immediately said.
"Wha- I'm not reading that thing!" Ares insisted. "How is there any action in buying cheeseburgers?"
"Well, those were pretty good burgers..." Percy said fondly. Despite where the burgers came from... Next thing Ares knew, the book was in his hand and Percy was glaring at him from underneath his hood, silently making it clear that he was reading.
"This should be an interesting chapter..." Dionysus drawled, finding himself interested despite himself.
Ares glared around the room one more time before starting to read after Hestia announced lunch and some free time after this chapter. Chapter fifteen: A God Buys us Cheeseburgers
Despite how strongly I am coming on about these topics, I am not an environmental activist. I do, believe strongly that people should take better care of our planet and the environment around us, however. It is our home, you wouldn't leave trash and such laying around your house, why do people think it's ok to leave trash and such laying around our planet? That just doesn't make sense to me.
Wrong month, wrong day. But, that doesn't matter when it comes to honoring fallen heroes or victims to an attack like that. Take a moment and just think about them. I myself was too young at the time to know what was going on on 9/11, most of the country now, is too young to really understand, but that doesn't mean we can forget.