I will not be reading reviews. If you have a comment you would like me to read, please contact me directly using PM and I can respond to you privately.

/-/-/-/

Ch. 4

"It doesn't seem odd to you?"

"Artemis, you're the one that says we're in another dimension. I feel like anything and everything we see here has a decent chance of being 'odd'." Percy continued to fiddle with a randomly chosen water fountain, wedging anaklusmos in a manner that popped off the bottom cover. Behind him, a tapping foot increased its pace, reflecting its owners growing impatience.

"Yes, of course… still, it seems… unnatural." The tone of her voice drew his gaze back to their topic of conversation and, if he was being honest, the sight also unnerved him just a bit. They were ears. Rabbit ears. Legitimate, authentic, real rabbit ears. Not ornamental, not a headband, not fake, not a costume. They were actual rabbit ears on top of a girl's head. Their attachment appeared completely natural. One of them twitched, jerking as if to flick away some incessant flea. The girl, most likely aware of the additional appendages, chatted animatedly with another girl while making minor gestures to a small camera. The other girl wore an outfit that screamed edgy fashion, elegantly blending light brown and black fabrics with two belts of bullets, one around her waist and the other hanging off her shoulder. Capping off the image were a pair of sunglasses, a black beret, and ember dyed strands of hair highlighting the right side of her face. Percy shook his head and snorted.

"It's funny how you call that unnatural when there are stranger things in our reality. Like really strange. Harpies, naiads, satyrs, dryads, centaurs - and that's only the tame stuff. We've seen chimeras, manticores, gorgons..." That fish-cow thing...

"Yes, Perseus, I see your point. The point I'm trying to make is that she looks like someone that has been cursed by the gods." His hands froze and he slowly turned back to look at her.

"... What?" He had the feeling that the look on his face had been a little more hostile than he'd intended.

"Millennia before your time, we walked the Earth far more regularly. This obviously led to an increased interaction between gods and mortals. Not all mortals carried an equal amount of respect for the gods."

"So you cursed those that disrespected you." Percy finished, looked back over at their topic of conversation. "With animal parts and partial transformation from the sounds of it." His frown shifted to a grimace.

"It wasn't just me! Bac-" She froze, eyes imperceptibly wider by a small margin, and coughed into her fist. "Dionysus did the same to a group of pirates."

"Io, Medusa, … jeez, that even reminds me of Circe." He turned back to her, a question evident in his expression. "What about the mist? Maybe we're the only-"

"Her friend can see them. She's trying to ignore them and credit to her for it but she can still perceive them. We have no guarantee that the mist or any other magical force exists in this dimension."

"We also have no guarantee that gods exist in this dimension either, so we have no way of knowing whether or not she was or wasn't cursed by a god in the first place. Maybe people like her are common here." He turned back to the fountain, ducked his head under the rim and reached into the fountain mechanisms. "And," a muffled curse had him yanking back his hand and rubbing a pinched patch of skin, "if you keep angrily staring at her, you're going to draw attention to the fact that a pair of strangers are currently breaking a water fountain in the middle of a subway station."

His comment had her glancing back at the pair, both of whom were in fact looking their way. The anomaly herself eyed them through the corner of her eye with a somewhat fearful expression and her ears pulled back fully over her head. Her compatriot tilted her nose down and glared at Artemis over the rim of her sunglasses. Scowling, the former goddess walked behind Percy and gently tapped his backside with her toe.

"How much longer are you going to keep at this?"

"Well, I don't want to break anything and we really just need a spray-" Percy closed his eyes and sighed heavily to a loud clanging noise and a fizzling spray of water. Rising fully from his crouch, he stared at the broken water fountain head. Artemis looked away, completely devoid of remorse. When it became clear that she wasn't going to apologize, the demigod sighed again and partially covered the spray with his thumb so as to direct it towards a nearby ceiling light. Quickly fishing a golden coin out of his pocket, he lazily tossed it into a more colorful area of the spray.

It passed right through, clinking harmlessly against the wall. Artemis grimaced.

"This was a stupid idea."

"Still worth the try. Wouldn't you be more upset if we tried later and found out that it did work?" He stooped to grab both the drachma and the fountainhead. Repositioning the latter, he felt a tugging sensation in his gut as the water began to coalesce around the fracture point and flow back down the pipes, the last bit of it snatching the metal fragment and pulling it into place with frozen edges around the rim for good measure. It wouldn't hold indefinitely but by the time it melted, they wouldn't be here anyway. The sound of approaching footsteps snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Coco, we really shouldn't-"

"That's a neat trick." Armed with a sharp wit and a sharper tongue, 'Coco' strolled over to the demigod pair with a stride radiating the confidence of a queen and a swagger as though the world rightfully bent to her every whim. Trailing behind, the girl with rabbit ears hunched behind Coco's shoulder, cheeks a rosy shade of pink. "I got worried that I'd have to ask if you actually had the lien to pay for that. Mind me asking why you were breaking a water fountain in the first place?" Looking to the former goddess for her guidance, only to be met with an indifferent shrug, Percy blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"I got really thirsty and the water wasn't coming out." A full beat of silence passed before Artemis hid her mouth behind a fist and laughed quietly. "... I'm still thirsty by the way. I don't have any money to buy something to drink."

"Yeah well, next time you should just go and use the water fountain 20 meters that way." peering in the direction that she pointed, both demigods could in fact make out the second water fountain to which she pointed. Percy scratched at the back of his head, grinning sheepishly.

"Um, yeah, we'll make sure to do that." As they turned to walk away, the girl cleared her throat sharply.

"You two wouldn't happen to be huntsmen, would you?" The demigods shared a look and Artemis let her hand subtly brush her bow. After a beat of silence, her body relaxed and she smiled.

"You're the ones that fight the monsters outside the wall. You hunt those animalistic nightmares. This place calls you Huntsmen."

"In training, yeah. And by nightmares, I assume you mean the Grimm. Are you also huntsmen?"

Artemis began to laugh, a tangible mirth bubbling to her lips. It was the first time Percy had ever experienced such a phenomenon. She might as well have tried to convince them she was the type to casually wear pink dresses. "Over a dozen beasts fell to my companion's blade last night. I slew twice that number and one of a giant avian variety. Yes, I think we qualify as huntsmen. Perhaps not officially but we are making our way." Her eyes widened slightly and she gently drew Percy's attention with a quick tap on his elbow. "The huntsman training school must be nearby - the one we're looking for."

Looking for? We aren't looking for... "Uh, yeah. Right." He brought up his right hand and sheepishly ran it through his hair. "It's called… ah crap, I'm forgetting the name right now-"

"Beacon." The rabbit-eared one chirped, finally having emerged from behind her friend's shoulder. "You're looking for Beacon."

Percy snapped his fingers one final time and pointed to her with a finger gun. "Yeah, that's the one. Beacon." What a stupid name. Then again, 'Camp Half-Blood' over here. He glanced down at his orange shirt and the glorious words emblazoned on it, proudly proclaiming the name of his home. Uh… whoops. He quickly crossed his arms over his chest. "Huntresses in training. I'm guessing you're also Beacon students then. My name is Percy Jackson and this is Artemis… uh…"

"Hunt." she provided, rolling her eyes at her companion's eyebrows racing into his hairline.

"Coco Adel and the shy one here is Velvet Scarlatina." Coco took a step forward. "So, as one pair of huntsmen to another, mind explaining why the two of you were staring at my partner?" Behind her, Velvet lost all color in her face and stared at Coco in abject horror. The display had Artemis and Percy glancing at each other before turning back.

"Honestly, we've never actually seen somethi- I mean someone like you before." If her furrowed brow was anything to go by, Coco did not appreciate his answer. Velvet wore the look of someone who wished she could curl up into a ball and vanish.

"Really? You've never seen a faunus before?"

"...Faunus. That's a person that has rabbit ears?" Coco's expression became that much more incredulous while Velvet traded a look of despair for troubled curiosity. Behind Percy, Artemis's expression became unexpectedly rigid.

"Velvet is a rabbit faunus. People that have animal-like traits are called faunus."

"They're all around us." Artemis's tone of voice had Percy mirroring her gaze as she did a full rotation to completely observe the subway. "Horns on that one… retracted claws… you can make out the wings stuffed under her jacket."

"That one's got a wolf tail. Oh wow, how'd we miss that?"

Coco shook her head. "Most faunus will try to hide their traits and appear human. Not everyone is exactly all that accepting of faunus as normal people." Artemis's lips tugged upwards, an almost smug air sweeping around her that only Percy could really notice. He shook his head subtly.

"So," Coco continued, "you two have really never seen a faunus?"

"Not at home at least, no."

"Really? How fascinating. Where are you from?"

"Manhattan." Open mouth, insert foot. Percy could hear Artemis making strangling motions with her hands. "It's rather small. I'm not sure you'd have heard of it."

"Sounds the exact opposite of interesting. Please tell me more."

"Nah - I'd rather not. It's nothing all that speci-"

"Listen, the reason my companion and I don't have any money is because our supplies got stolen on our way here." Percy wasn't at all surprised that Artemis chose to interrupt him, if a little miffed at the fact that she held a literal finger under his nose. "We lost our identification, spare clothing, camping supplies, money and every other resource we left at the campsite. Do you think that you can lend us a hand?"

Coco lips parted ever so slightly when a palm slapped over it and Velvet stepped forward. "Absolutely." Coco rolled her eyes.

"Sure. Why not? Only met you two minutes ago, let's hand out the rich girl's money. I'm not running a charity here, Vel." The faunus in question turned to face her and, though neither Artemis nor Percy could see it, the expression she wore was powerful enough that Coco folded in a matter of seconds. "Fine. How can we help?"

Percy glanced at the silver armor set that Artemis still wore over a tunic outdated in style by several centuries. "How about some new clothes?" Coco dashed over in an instant, smug grin and eyes glinting so intensely that he actually took a step back.

"... You. Don't. Say…"

/-/-/-/

"I didn't ask you to make me look like some child's doll."

"My money, my choice. Now go put it on."

Grumbling, Artemis's grip tightened on the outfit she had in hand. She huffed and swiveled, loudly locking the door to the changing room behind her and leaving Percy to serve as their sole source of intrigue for their newfound companions. Coco crossed her arms under her chest.

"I'mma level with you Percy: that tunic was disgusting. I don't know how she managed to walk around in that thing without getting ogled at by every random passerby. Talk about common sense and not wearing something so blank?"

"Is it such a big issue?" Percy sighed, leaning forward while resting his elbows on his knees. "Fashion isn't really something that she cares about. It was actually more about effectiveness and functionality than anything else." He looked to Velvet for confirmation, only to wince as the girl's expression turned slightly sour. "Her…" fellow Olympian councillor? Celestial peer? Complete opposite?... "...sister." Inside the cubicle, a low groan emanated through the walls followed by a loud slam that rattled the door. "Her sister also has a somewhat messy reputation and is obsessed with the way she looks. Constantly wears make-up and expensive clothing. Takes hours to doll herself up every day. Practically Artemis's complete opposite so it'd make sense if she'd lean the other way. If she could wear it during combat and it worked fine, then what else mattered?" The beat of silence that followed filled the atmosphere with an underlying sense of decay.

"... I'mma level with you Percy: that tunic is not something that anyone should have to fight in." All three of them ignored the loud scoff. "Anyway, you can take this," she said, forcefully shoving a clump of fabric into his hands, "And go change."

"What? I thought this looked good." Stuffing his hands into his jacket pockets, the demigod spread out his arms to make his point. His new outfit was rather simple, consisting of a pair of jeans, black top, navy hoodie and jacket with cuffs. For some reason, Velvet had also recommended a set of fingerless biker gloves that matched the dark green of his jacket.

Coco jammed her choice further into his sternum. "I'm not here to make you look good. Good is what every other person can get at any other random clothing store. I'm here to make you look out of this world. If you and your girlfriend walk out of this store with substandard quality and people find out that I let you walk out of this store with substandard quality, I'll be a laughing stock till the day I die."

"Seriously? That's your biggest concern?" Percy's eyes narrowed. "And, she's not my girlfriend."

"Uh huh. Sure." Coco sniped, rolled her eyes. A quick glance at Velvet only offered an apologetic smile and helpless shrug. Without a word, and very much with a heated blush, the demigod slipped into his own changing booth. The new outfit in his hands differed significantly from the casual attire he wore. He couldn't step into the black trousers so much as drag the sleeves up past his knees, and even then he had to stuff the bottom bits into the rims of his black boots. The lower cuffs featured bulks woven into the fabric, hinting that the baggy quality was an intentional design. The shirt slipped on far more easily, even thinner and softer than the silks that he'd worn on Calypso's Island. Black cloth lined the rim of the sheet, sewn in with golden thread. Rather than button up normally, the left side of the shirt folded over the right, creating a line crossing from his left shoulder to his right hip. A thicker sheet of fading blue with more golden lacing hooked from his right hip and wrapped around his thighs just above his left knee. A sea blue overcoat extended the outfit, the length of which trailed down his back and behind his calves while the collar flared around his neck. The sleeves cut off just after his shoulders, leaving his forearms exposed. The final touch as a set of metal forearm guards dyed black. They were remarkably thin and appeared surprisingly durable for what should have been a mere aesthetic touch. Having not yet purchased the clothing, he resisted the temptation to test out the guards with his `pocket pen`.

Looking himself over in the mirror one more time, something felt off about the look. Unable to pick out anything specifically, he simply stepped out and inspected the ceiling while the two natives roved over his form. The faunus smiled widely and nodded.

"Look at that. Seems like a mix of Vacuan and Mistralian was the right call."

"A blend, Velvet. We're not in a kitchen." Coco tipped her head to the side, chin almost brushing her chest while she leaned against the wall. "That said, I can't disagree with that. It's passable." Percy rolled his eyes. The door hinge to his right creaked loudly.

"Glad to know he'll be fine. I still feel like a pampered brat in this garb." Artemis stepped out, arms spread out wide and eyes peering down at her outfit. Coco thankfully had not cursed her with high-heels, though the shoes still featured elevated heels with the shoe's rims resting underneath the ankles. Just above the ankles, bare skin yielded to dark leggings, over which a thin dark translucent skirt hung from her waist. A layer of peach-colored satin sloped down from her shoulders, creating elongated sleeves that draped just shy of her wrists. On top of that, golden cloth wrapped around her shoulders and waist, folded in a kimono-like style with the right edge of the sheet falling off just before the knee. The silk-like material, bearing a crimson-dyed border with bronze threading, reflected light in a single wave like a rushing tide. A single strip of black cloth wrapped around her waist before folding inward and trailing down her right leg.

"I'll try not to take that comment too personally." Coco drolled, rolling her eyes. Arching her back, she pushed her shoulders against the wall and lurched forward into a standing position. "Well, that'll do just fine. I think that concludes our busi-", she paused as brown rabbit ears shot directly into her path, "... Vel."

"They need money."

"Vel."

"They lost everything!"

"Vel, those suits aren't cheap and I'm not exactly rolling in lien at the moment. Also, lost everything?" Coco nodded to the bow Artemis had then slung over her new outfit and the array of accompanying quivers. "She still has her weapons and I'm assuming the guy at least stashed his away securely." Percy nodded. "Then they'll be fine. Initiation is in a couple of days and they're set."

Velvet adamantly shook her head. "They have to be low on dust, right? They just said they fought Grimm last night."

"Dust is really expensive right now. Besides, I'm sure they're fine-"

"Hey!" Velvet turned on her heel to face Percy and Artemis, planting both hands on her hips. "Do either of you have any dust left?" The two paused to look at each other. Artemis dipped a hand in her quiver and ran her hand along the feathering of the arrows, almost chuckling while doing so.

"No. We seem to be rather short on that."

Coco didn't bother waiting for the faunus's reaction, instead fishing out a rather plain-looking wallet. Striding forward, she shoved a large stack of thin plastic cards into Percy's arms.

"Here! 28,000 lien! That ought to do." Tipping her beret, she turned back around and began stalking away. Glancing over her shoulder, she lazily raised her right hand and waved. "Well, good luck you two and have a good night." Her shadow quickly rushed after her.

"Do you think that'll be enough?"

"Velvet, shut up."

The demigod waited until the two were out of earshot, hands clenched on the freely given money threatening to spill from his fingers. "Dust? Like dirt? Is dust supposed to mean something different here?"

"I've not the faintest clue." Something jostled his elbow, causing him to dump the cards into a waiting quiver. "However, I do know that none of my weapons utilize a foreign substance. Do yours?"

"No."

"Well, then." Slinging the quiver over her shoulder, she turned and gestured towards a nightclub with a short line que and several meandering well-dressed men in black suits, bowler hats, red ties, and red glasses. "How about we put this small bounty towards a more productive use?"

/-/-/-/

"Miss, read my lips. N. O." The bartender proved rather resilient to the former goddess's glare promising absolute murder.

"Listen, 'Junior', was it? My request is very simple." Leaning forward, she held the cards halfway between them. "Just grant us two sets of documentation capable of passing any identity verification in this city."

"First of all." His hand fell onto the counter-top, glass in hand. The subsequent crack caused the nearby suited men to flinch and turn their way. "My products don't just 'pass' verification. They exceed them. If a paying customer makes good on the price, then not even the best PI would tell the difference between my goods and the regs. That's called good business. That's our rep. And second." Picking up the glass once more, he began wiping the insides with a damp rag. "You aren't a paying customer."

"Are you blind?!" Her hands crashed down, rattling the arrayed variety of alcoholic beverages. She swiftly pushed her body into a standing position and aggressively leaned forward. "This is 28,000 lien!"

"And only about a quarter of what you'd need for just 1 job. You are rather rudely demanding that I give you two sets. I'm not about to generously hand out jobs for an eighth the price." Through the bumping club music, pounding loud enough to mute most chatter, a metallic clink reverberated from the countertop. Both Junior and Percy glanced down to Artemis's right hand resting on the hilt of her silver dagger.

"Perhaps we can discuss significant discounts then." Bodily, Percy blocked anyone else from seeing her action, yet it seemed as though all surrounding suited men tensed at once. The demigod gently pushed her hand away from the weapon while Junior lazily dropped the rag and gripped the countertop with both hands. His shoulders hunched down, squared, and he leveled a very unamused glare at the goddess.

"Here's the thing about you huntsmen types. I'm all for the brave boys and girls that go beyond the walls of Vale to cull the Grimm threatening humanity. Kudos to them, bless their souls for keeping us safe. But when those same boys and girls get it in their heads to trounce about, kicking down normal citizens and startin' shit, I'm less inclined to give any two shits about what they think." He pushed off the counter-top and replaced the glass under the shelf. "I'll let you off with one warning. Try and muscle me again, Huntress, and there'll be more consequences than just no business."

A vein briefly pulse on Artemis's forehead and her fingers curled inward, knuckles white and creaking. Her partner quickly grabbed a couple of lien and offered them forward with a smile. "Why don't we start over, huh? No need for a rocky start. How 'bout just a couple drinks? Nothing alcoholic." The bartender gave him a once over glance and then slid over two cups of carbonized dark liquid.

"Cola's. That'll be 10 lien." Percy snatched both, each perched between two fingers, and swiftly dragged Artemis away to a smaller table.

"That was… that did not go well." His counterpart dislodged his grip like her wrist was comprised of fluid, leveling at him a simmering irritated stare.

"Truly? By Zeus, what a profound intellectual deduction. I can't wait to see what other insights you'd like to share." Percy rolled his eyes and slid over her glass.

"Why'd you try that anyway? How'd you even know he had what you wanted?"

"Oh, please. Over two dozen well-dressed and armed guards walking around the same building? Three different nearby alleyways showing signs of illicit drug use and exchange? Multiple unmarked black vans shuttling in hidden goods? The signs of a local mafia are all over this establishment."

The son of Poseidon cocked his head to the side. "How… how would you even-"

"Every so often, the hunters would track our prey into a mortal metropolis. I never really understood the appeal and, to be honest, most of the hunters didn't either. There was always that disgusting stench, like a sewer attained sentience and then vomited onto the streets."

"Eh. Enough time and you get used to the smell."

"Ah, yes." Artemis drolled, rolling her eyes and nodding sarcastically. "The guaranteed progressive sensory damage over time. I will pass on that, thank you." Her head tipped back and she raised the glass to her lips, sampling a few drops of the Cola. Nose scrunched, she quickly shook her head and stared down at the drink. "That's… odd. Normally, mortal beverages lack a certain quality, what Apollo calls the 'Olympian kick.'"

Percy re-sampled his own and paused with the liquid on his tongue. "I don't really taste anything different. Do you mean something godly?"

"Almost celestial but applied as though by a novice who didn't understand what she possessed." Rotating her glass so that the drink swirled inside, she took another sip. Her glass clinked down onto the marble surface of their table. "Moving about from here without proper documentation could be difficult. Any activity that violates the laws of this city, with which we are not familiar, could result in a lengthened incarceration or perhaps even an exile beyond the walls of Vale."

"Okay. So where do we go from here?"

"HUWOOOOOUUUUUGH!" The ungodly screech drew the eyes and ears of everyone inside the club, to the point that the DJ stumbled and scratched the record. Junior stood in front of the bar, legs ramrod straight and eyes wide open. His teeth shook while his jaw lost all willful ability to close. Upwards of the torso, he bent forward so that his chin sat right on the shoulder of a blonde teenage girl. She drew back, revealing an outfit that left very little to the imagination: a brown jacket with an orange scarf, two golden bracelets, boots, and the shortest skirt that both Percy and Artemis had ever seen. Her purple eyes glinted with a purposeful malice, her right arm extended and hand clamped down mercilessly on Juniors… nuggets.

"People say you know everything." Her voice carried over a silent dance floor. Drawing out her mobile device, she extended the holographic display and held a small image up to Junior's eyes. "Tell me where I can find her and I'll let you go." Beads of sweat began rolling down the older man's sideburns.

"I've never seen her before! I swear!"

"Excuse me?" The girl squeezed and an audible crack accompanied Junior's soul-shattered whimper. Percy nervously crossed his knees.

"I swear, Sir!" All surrounding suited and red-tied men rushed forward, hesitating just a foot away from the pair with drawn red axes at their hips.

"Hm. Looks like we have an audience. This must be kinda embarrassing for you, huh? Awkwaaaaaaaaard." She drawled out the last word.

"Listen, Blondie, Sir." Junior's words slipped through gritted teeth like nails on a chalkboard. "If you'd like to leave this club alive, I'd suggest letting go. Now!" He almost collapsed when she did, an explosive sigh blowing past his lips. Standing as upright and properly as any man can - provided they've just had their marbles crushed rather roughly - the mob boss leveled a finger at the girl. "You'll pay for that."

He didn't even get a chance to walk away in peace before the girl dashed in front of him, hands linked behind her back.

"Oh, Junior. I was just playing with you. No need to get all sensitive." Her hand shot out and gripped the man's shoulder. "Come on, let's kiss and make up, okay?"

A full second of silence passed between them, the man in question staring down at the girl with a look of pure disbelief. Then, without prior warning or indication, his face rushed down and his body flew backwards, crashing through a glass pillar and impacting the darkened wall. The girl let her extended arm hang in the air, glancing around her.

Artemis downed her glass in one go and stood up, right hand drifting down to her dagger once more. "How fortunate, Perseus. I believe we've happened upon a rare opportunity."

/-/-/-/

I will not be reading reviews. If you have a comment you would like me to read, please contact me directly using PM and I can respond to you privately.