"Ugh... Where the hell are we?!" Percy questioned as he woke up with a headache. He then looks to his companion in concern. "Apple! Are you okay?! That was a nasty fall."
The goddess smiled at him for his concern, before giving him a reply. "It's fine Percy, the water broke my fall." Choosing to scan the area, Apple asks the demigod a question this time. "Where are we?"
Percy however, felt like he had been on the island before. "This place feels familiar..." He trailed off as he walked around to see what's in their vicinity. The more they walked, the more he felt the familiar feeling in his chest.
The sun goddess however, was intrigued at the familiarity that the demigod was experiencing. "Have you been stuck in an island before?"
"Well not really, but I was sent in one." The demigod answered as the two of them continued walking. Percy looking around the island's greenery. "Do you perhaps, know where we are right now, Apple?" Percy turns to her and asks.
"We're probably in Ogygia." The goddess answers. "This is the only place where gods take a vacation if they get too tired from their duties."
"Ogygia?"
Apple heard the demigod ask before seeing him run off. "Percy wait!" She exclaimed as she quickly followed the running man. "Percy! Where are you going?!"
"Just checking the center of the island!" Percy shouts back as he continued to run towards the middle of the island. When they reached the center, Apple saw the demigod look around as if he's trying to find something. She quickly walks up to him and asked him.
"Are you looking for something?"
Without missing a beat, Percy quickly answers her question. "I'm looking for someone." He stops looking around and faces the goddess. "Remember when I said I was sent to an island before? That island was Ogygia." The goddess was surprised at his words. "When I was there, I met someone who became my biggest what if."
"Who?"
"Calypso." Percy responds as he looks around and was amazed at the flora. "Ogygia looks the same as I left it with, but we both know it's not the same as it was."
"Wait..." Apple says as she couldn't believe the demigod. "Why would Cali be in Ogygia in your world?"
Percy answers the question with a sad smile. "It was her punishment for helping her father. It became her prison, never to be able to leave."
"What happened to her now, in your world?" The goddess asked in concern. Even if it wasn't actually her friend, it was still a version of her.
"One of the demigods found her after the war, and successfully rescued her. Last I heard of her, she was getting married to him." The demigod answered.
"Who rescued her?"
"Leo Valdez. Hephaestus' demigod son." Percy decided to ask the goddess about what happened to this universe's Calypso. "What about here? What happened to Calypso in your world?"
"She never helped his father; therefore, she was never punished. She lives in the northern part of America, probably near Toronto, Canada."
"That's good to know." The son of Poseidon sighed in relief. "She didn't deserve to be imprisoned here; you know? While I'm sad that I'm not able to meet her... well a version of her, I'm glad that she's free to do whatever she wants."
"So that's why you ran here? To check if Calypso's here?" The goddess sees him nod, and smiles at his antics.
"If she's not here, then who takes care of this place?" Percy asked about how the island was maintained. Seeing that the island looks the same as the one from their world, he found it hard to believe that there's nobody who at least maintains the place.
"You do know that Ogygia's a magical island, right?" Apple asks a somewhat sarcastic and rhetoric question. "It maintains itself. You can trash the place around by having the wildest party and the place will look like how it was before the party."
"Is that also the reason for the time difference this island has?" The son of Poseidon fires another question. "When I left here, it has been weeks for my friends who were battling for their lives." Percy then grabs an apple from one of the trees and takes a bite. "How are we going to ask for help then? It's not like we can IM from here or something, right?"
In response to the demigod's words, the goddess pulls out a drachma from her bust, goes near the fountain near a small shack and prays to the goddess of rainbows. 'Oh Iris, my dear friend and the goddess of rainbow, please accept my offering.' Apple thought as she creates the mist to complete the process.
Ten seconds later, the two were still staring at the rainbow that the mist created.
"Guess we're not IM'ing from here." The goddess of the sun sighs as she felt that her efforts were all for naught. "How're we gonna call for help?" The blonde goddess turns toward Percy, who went silent in contemplation.
"Looks like we'll have to help ourselves then." Murmured the demigod as he used his control over water to form blades and cut the trees near them. "Let's just build a raft and hope for the best. I'll try my best to complete the raft as quickly as possible." The son of Poseidon tries to assure the goddess, who retreated to the shack.
It took Percy almost a week before he completed the raft, mainly because he had to gather copious number of vines which was the most time-consuming part of the process.
"Hey Percy!" The sun goddess, Apple, ran up to him and gave him a hug. "Looks like you've completed the raft." The goddess giggles as the demigod becomes flustered at the display of affection, the goddess was giving him. As the week progressed, both Percy and Apple were getting to know each other. This also led to them being closer to the point where Apple demands to cuddle with the demigod before going to sleep.
Not that he would mind though.
"Well thanks to your help with gathering vines, we can now set sail." The son of Poseidon notices the sad look the goddess sported. "What's wrong?"
"Do we really need to leave?" The goddess of the sun was wishing she wouldn't have to leave, especially with the demigod beside her. "We could stay here, you know?"
"Your world needs you Apple... I also need to go back to mine. I'm sure both Artemis and Hera are worried about me, and your brother's worried for you as well." The demigod reasoned as she saw the goddess' reluctant look. Looking towards the fading sun, he gave Apple a smile before speaking once more. "But I guess we could leave tomorrow, seeing as the sun is already setting. It's better for us to go next morning."
"Okay!" The goddess gives a radiant smile that may or may not have made his heart skip a beat. "I'll grab some firewood and start the fire." The goddess said as she ran towards the treeline to grab some wood.
'What a radiant smile.' Percy smiled one more as he recalls Apple's smile, before going to the sea to get some fish for dinner.
A quick trip to the seaside to grab dinner, the son of Poseidon is now sitting beside the goddess of the sun, looking at the flames of the fire slowly cooking the fishes he caught. He felt the goddess lean onto his shoulder. Looking at her eyes, the demigod sends her an inquisitive look.
"It was tiring to grab some wood for the fire!" The goddess explains. "Let me rest up a bit before we eat dinner."
"Sure." Percy replies as the two of them sit in silence, which Percy's ADHD couldn't handle. "How was your life before all this mess happened?"
"It was monotonous, but kinda fun." Apple answers. "I used to run to this island when I was younger, but I learned to love my duties. I used to loathe being a god and wished to become mortal, just to see if it was better than being a god, but I've since learned that being a mortal won't wake me happier than being a god."
"And why's that?"
"Because to me, gods and humans are the same." The sun goddess answers. "The only difference between us is that we're immortal and have powers. Everything else is the same. That's why I said that it won't make me happier if I was mortal, because at the end of the day, If I wasn't content on being a god, being a human won't either. I'll have to find ways on how to become happy and content."
"I think you're right about that." The demigod remarks. "Did you know that I was offered godhood twice?"
"Really?!" The goddess was shocked. "Twice?! That meant you rejected the first one! How could you reject it?" Apple was shocked at the fact that he rejected godhood. She straightened up and gave the demigod a shocked look.
"I rejected the first one because that would mean that I would be leaving my friends and family. I wasn't quite ready for that." Percy explains. "The second one, I rejected because I'm not ready to see the one who broke my heart for eternity." He gave the goddess a solemn smile.
"You rejected both of them?! Are you crazy?!"
"Also, I rejected the second one because of my experience in the pit. I still have nightmares of that place." The goddess, who was in disbelief earlier, now gained an understanding. She knew of the pit and the horrors of the place.
"You've been in Tartarus? How did you end up in that place?"
"In the midst of the war against the gigantes, I had to save someone from being pushed to the pit. So I used my momentum to swing her towards safety." Percy sighs as he speaks once again. "The stupid things I did for love..."
"What happened to the girl you saved? From the sound of it, it was someone close to you, or used to be." Inquired the goddess of the sun.
"She cheated on me while I was down the pit. I found out about it when I saw them kissing each other after the war ended." The son of Poseidon responds to the goddess. "There were 7 of us who were crucial to the war, and all of us were offered godhood. I'm the only one who refused the offer, because I couldn't bear seeing her and the guy she cheated on me with. Eternity's a long time you know?"
Seeing the sadness on the demigod's eyes, Apple scoots closer and embraces the young man. "You're a strong person Percy. I think anybody who experienced that would break already, but you never did."
"I was on the verge of breaking. Good thing I thought of secluding myself from everything else and tried to live my life as a mortal." The son of Poseidon remarks. "Instead of godhood, I wished to have my own place and used it to cut off myself from the greek world." The demigod smiles as he remembers the past events that happened at his place. "Having my own place was the best decision I could've ever made as it helped me heal and got to know amazing people."
"Like the moon goddess of yours, right?" The sun goddess couldn't hold her laughter as Percy looked at her with surprise written on his face. "Everyone can see the way she looked at you Percy, she always looked at your direction every time, even when you're not the one talking."
Percy laughed at scratched the back of his head. "Artemis was never as subtle as she always claimed to be."
"I guess both of them are." Apple chimes in as the two of them laugh together, content with each other and enjoying the moment.
"So... I guess this is it huh?" Percy noted that the sun goddess really didn't want to leave. Whether it being because of the change of pace compared to her daily life, or the fact that he was with her, he didn't know.
"Yeah... once we can't see the island, I'll be able to feel our location." The demigod answers her as he lowers the raft using his power over water. "I'm sure your brother is worried sick about you."
"This is one of the best moments of my life Percy. Thank you for rescuing me from that norse god who kidnapped me." The goddess thanked him. "I wanted to stay here with you, but I guess I can't keep you to myself." Percy expected her to say those words.
What he didn't expect was the said goddess giving him a quick kiss to his lips, which made stare at her dumbfounded.
"That's my way of saying thanks! Don't think of it as anything else!" Apple quickly hops onto the raft, leaving the son of Poseidon to contemplate what just happened. "I thought you wanted us to go Percy. Come on let's go!"
'Now how can I not think of it as something else when she blushes while saying it?' He pondered as he followed the goddess as he boards the raft he made and used his powers to propel them forwards. As they moved forwards, Apple clung onto the demigod and talked.
"What do you think would happen once we get back?" The clinging goddess asked.
"Once we reach open waters, as soon as I can sense where we are, both your brother and the goddess I am with would flash to where we are. They would question the both of us about what really happened, then they would try to berate us or something." The demigod replies. "Or maybe we'll reach New York, then we'll arrive at Olympus. They'll be waiting there to ask us questions."
"It's so frightening how you got it so accurately." The sun goddess giggles at the demigod's words. "But you're right, I think that's a very Artemis thing to do."
The ride towards open water was silent, due to the goddess taking a nap while the son of Poseidon was focused with trying to see if he can sense their position already. By the time the two were in open seas, it was already high noon. The demigod wasted no time as he woke up the sleeping goddess.
"Apple, wake up." Percy said as he nudged the sleeping goddess. "We're in open seas and I think your brother and Artemis will flash in here in the next ten seconds."
"Could you repeat your words? I think what you said made zero sense."
"I'm saying that I think your brother and my Artemis are coming to get us." Percy explained his earlier words. "I think they're flashing here to get us."
Apple, who now wanted to get back to her palace, responded to him. "Not if I flash us to Olympus first." That's what the sun goddess did. Seeing as she was still leaning onto the demigod, she just closed her eyes as her powers teleported them to Olympus.
Since she wanted to get done with the interrogation that she knew would come, she flashed the two of them in the center of the Olympian council.
"And now, let's discuss abo-" The king of the gods stopped speaking as he saw the missing goddess and demigod flash in in the middle of a council meeting. "Well that's quite convenient, we were going to talk about you two." Zeus said as the council smiled at the return of their goddess.
Hera turned to the messenger god and ordered him to move. "Quick, summon my counterpart and the moon goddess, tell them their companion has returned." Receiving a salute from the god, Hera turned her attention back to Apple. "We were worried about your whereabouts."
Before the goddess could answer, the aforementioned brother of hers quickly came up to her and gave her a hug, shoving the demigod who was beside her. "I was so worried about you!" The god of the hunt said as he turned to the demigod and gave him a glare. "You! You better explain why you were with Apple, or you will answer to my blade." The god threatened as he pointed his trench knives at the demigod, who was clearly not enjoying the said threat.
"You better not touch Perseus, or I swear you will answer to me." The overpowering voice of the female Artemis said as she pointed her bow towards the god, who lowered his blade in response. "Percy, you better start explaining, or I'll shoot you myself."
Both Percy and Apple's explanation took about fifteen minutes for them to fully explain what happened to the two of them. Both omitting the details on the island they were stuck in.
"So you were kidnapped by a norse god?" The king of the gods questioned, to which the two nodded. "Then you managed to escape him and ran away..." Zeus trailed off before his wife continued for him.
"How did you guys get into Ogygia?" The queen questioned, seemingly confused as to how they were transported there.
"We don't know ourselves." The son of Poseidon answered. "When we were running away from Baldr, I suggested for us to go to an abandoned warehouse under the brooklyn bridge. The reasoning for that was because that abandoned warehouse in my world was my place."
"What we didn't expect was for that place to lead us to Ogygia. When I opened the door of that warehouse, both of us fell and suddenly, we were in Ogygia." Apple continued the explanation, which most of them seemed to believe. "As to why we took so long... well we didn't, we were only there for a week before Percy completed building a raft."
"So it wasn't him that kidnapped you, but rather, he saved you from the kidnappers?" The worried twin of Apple questioned. He was still not sure about the young man in front of him. "Why did you try to help her, knowing that it might paint you as the bad guy?" The god of the hunt asked.
"Because it was the right thing to do." Percy replied without hesitation. "While I admit that what I did was mostly idiotic on my part, I wouldn't change a thing about what I did back then. It was quite unfortunate that I didn't count the werewolves correctly, since if I did, we wouldn't be in this situation at all." The son of Poseidon explained. "But if I wasn't there, I'm sure that Apple here would've been the god's slave and you would still be searching for her till this day." The demigod finished explaining.
"I'm sure you guys have more questions, but as much as I enjoy gossip, and some drama, I'm sure that the two of them wants to take a break and us questioning them about what happened is not helping, like at all." Surprisingly, the voice of reason came from the goddess of love.
"That was surprising, coming from you." The god of the underworld said with an eye roll. "But you're right..." Hades turns toward his brother. "Let's end the meeting here today brother. I'm sure the topic of Apple missing was the last topic anyway."
"Right." The sky god said as he claps his hand. "So if there's nothing else, then all you guys can return to what you guys have been doing prior to this meeting. If you two need to have counseling, just head to Dionysus' palace or his clinic down the city. The meeting's adjourned, you guys are free to go." The sky god dismisses the meeting, with all the other gods leaving for their domains.
All that remained were Zeus, Percy, both Heras, the two Artemis and the love goddess.
"It's good to see you again my dear daughter." Zeus says as he embraced the goddess. "I would love to talk to you about what happened, but my domain doesn't run itself. See you later, daughter." The god leaves with a lightning bolt, leaving a scorched earth behind.
"I'll visit you tonight." Apple's brother said as he too gave the goddess a hug. "But for now I have a monster or two to hunt." The male Artemis leaves in a silver flash.
"Why are you still here, Aphrodite?" It was the queen of the gods who questioned the love goddess.
"Oh nothing much..." The goddess smirked. "I just wanted to ask Apple about Percy. Specifically, her feelings about him." The smirked turned in a cheesy grin. The look of surprise from the goddess of the hunt was just pure comic relief to the love goddess.
"Her what?!"
A/N: Apple and Percy returned to civilization. Apple caught feelings for our bro Percy. But the most surprising thing was the love goddess being the voice of reason! What would happen next? Find out on the future chapters of His Place!
Hello! Life has not treated me well these past few months. Sorry for the slow updates but I think that'll be the norm for now. But I won't abandon this story. I love this story and I think I'll continue writing here until I die or something.
So how's the chapter guys? Let me know in the reviews!
No answers for the reviews for now but I promise the next one will have one, so keep the reviews coming.
Follow and Fave if you liked it, leave a review for your thoughts and as always, thank you for reading!
-Jass slowly walks out through the door.
