12/27/20
I hope you all had a Happy Holidays, and we can only hope that next year isn't absolutely dogshit like this year was.
Wordcount: 2066
A Call Home
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Percy POV:
A sea spout erupted near the bow of the Argo 2, and a human figure stood atop it. He hopped to the wooden deck of the ship with a quiet thump. The night sky was dimly lit by a full moon, revealing the person's face. It was Percy Jackson, who had returned from his walk on the seafloor. Despite having left a little after breakfast, and it being just after midnight now, he wasn't particularly hungry.
It was… Strange. He could tell it was night from the stars and moon shining overhead, but he could see just fine. Sure, it was darker than during daytime, but he could still see perfectly fine, maybe even a little better. Strange indeed.
A puff of white smoke escaped his mouth as he exhaled, his eyes drifting to the stars that covered the sky.
"Damasen says hello," he whispered, and the wind whisked his words away. He stood there for a long while, leaning against the railing that stopped people from falling overboard, simply staring at the stars and sea.
It was two minutes till one in the morning when he heard someone approach, (how he knew what time it was confused him, he hadn't even looked at his watch.) and from the power radiating off them, a god.
They settled against the railing next to him, but he made no move to acknowledge their presence, eyes staying glued to the stars. If they wanted something from him, they had to work for it.
"Perseus," The god, or rather goddess, spoke. He frowned at the use of his full name and examined the goddess out of the corner of his eye. Auburn hair and a silver uniform stuck out like a sore thumb against the bronze and brown of the Argos deck.
"Artemis," he greeted, "How is Zoe?"
"She is well. She woke briefly earlier before falling back asleep. The passage from the underworld to the surface is tough, but she is strong. She should wake completely by the morning."
The news lifted a tremendous weight from him. She was ok. He wouldn't have to watch her die for a second time.
"Speaking of Zoe, I suppose I owe you a thanks." Now that surprised Percy. Gods never said thanks, much less to demigods. Even when they had died defending Olympus, the ungrateful brat Zeus had never thanked anyone directly, then immediately closed Olympus.
She turned to look at him, silver eyes glimmering in the moonlight, "Thank you, Perseus, for bringing Zoe back."
Percy lightly chuckled, meeting the maiden goddesses eyes, "She saved me just as much as I saved her."
She smiled, before casting her eyes back to the stars, "Humble as always. In other news, Camp Half-Blood is distraught at the loss of their leaders, and with the Legion on their doorstep, Chiron fears that campers may start fleeing the safety of camp. Your mother is also very worried about you, not having received any news since your voicemail from Alaska."
He cast her a funny look, "You saw that?"
She shook her head, "The land beyond the gods is beyond our sight, but word travels fast in the mythological world. Our time grows short, I'm afraid, my hunters require my presence, but I have a gift for you," The goddess set two items down on the railing, and he immediately recognized them. There were two gleaming gold drachmas and a ballpoint pen.
"She wanted you to have it," the goddess whispered, "As for the drachmas, it is dinnertime at camp, and your mother is home." Artemis turned to leave, but Percy shouted, "Wait!"
The goddess turned to face him, eyebrow raised. He continued, "I just wanted to ask, why? Why are you giving me these drachmae? Why even say thanks? Most gods wouldn't say anything, but you did, why?"
Artemis paused, as if the question amused her, "Why?" She mussed, "Perhaps because Zoe believes you to be a good person. Perhaps it is because you constantly value others over yourself. Perhaps because you are different than every other hero before you. Perhaps, Perseus, it is because you have gained my favor."
Percy blinked, not quite believing what he had just heard, "I-Wha-? Since when?"
"Since your quest to save me and Annabeth. You snuck onto the quest not for glory or fame, but to save a friend. When you realized you could not defeat atlas, you took the sky and let someone else fight. This is not the first time I have helped you, either. I guided your arrow when you killed that horrible animal abuser Geryon."
Percy frowned, "I thought Hera said she did that?"
Artemis scowled, obviously not pleased with the queen of cows, "Hera often lies and deceives others in the guise of helping them, claiming others exploits as her own and pushing her mistakes onto others. But I'm afraid my time is up, I must return to my chariot and make sure the moon stays aloft. Goodbye, Perseus."
The goddess began to glow, and Percy looked away out of habit. He didn't know if his special situation with mortality would let him look at a god's divine form, but he wasn't going to bet his life on it. The light died down, and when he looked back, she was gone.
He sat in silence for a few moments, absorbing what Artemis had said. He picked up Riptide, looking it over before slipping it into his pocket.
He knew it was probably not a good idea to contradict a god, especially a goddess who was likely to turn him into a fluffy animal and hunt him for sport, but he couldn't help but think that Artemis was wrong. He was no hero. Hero's saved people, all he did was lead others to their deaths. Names rolled through his head, a blinding pain forcing his eyes closed. Beckendorf. Silena. Micheal Yew. Lee Fletcher. Ethan Nakurama. Luke.
Images painted themselves against his eyelids like a movie projector. A dragon. A cruise ship. A bridge. Zeus fist. A dagger and a broken promise. He whimpered in pain as the headache grew worse until he thought his head was about to burst when it subsided.
He hesitated for a moment before picking up the drachmas. They were stamped on one side with the Empire State Buildings and the other side with a crescent moon. Was camp really as bad as Artemis had said? What was his mother like? Was she ok? And Paul?
The prow of the ship displaced a lot of water as the ship moved along, causing a fine mist of water to be thrown into the air, which the light from the moon hit, creating a rainbow, or was it moonbow? Who cared.
Now, any other time he would of definitely IM'ed his mom first, he couldn't bring himself to do it. What if she was mad at him? What if she didn't want to talk to him? What if she hated him?
He would deal with that later, he needed to let Camp Half-Blood know he was alive first. He threw one drachma into the rainbow, "Oh Iris, accept my offering, show me Chiron at Camp Half-Blood!"
The rainbow fizzled, and the dining hall from camp faded in. What should have been lively and loud was dead silent, sans the scaring of forks and knives. Over a hundred campers all ate in silence, even some new faces that he didn't even know. Had he and Annabeth really affected them that much?
The head table was empty, except for a certain centaur in a wheelchair. Where was Dionysus? Certainly not on the Argo.
Time to make an entrance, Percy joked in his head.
"You know, never in my life would I have thought I would see Dionysus not at camp. Your lucky day, huh?"
The scaping of silverware stopped and the campers looked up, eyes wide and mouths agape. Chiron spun around his wheelchair, as the Iris message was behind him. When his mentor caught sight of him, his face went slack for a moment before he controlled himself.
"Perseus, my boy, is that truly you?" Chiron's voice was frail, showing just how old the centaur was.
"In the flesh. Well, I suppose not technically because this is an Iris message but you know what I mean." Percy grinned his signature troublemaker grin, and the camp erupted in cheers and applause. Shouts of "Percy's alive!" and "Percy's back!" Drowned out almost everything else.
After a minute or so, the cheers died down, allowing Chiron to speak, "My boy, the gods had told us you perished, how are you…?" He trailed off, unsure how to phrase it.
"Alive? Turns out even Thanatos won't venture into Tartarus to take your soul."
Chiron slowly stroked his beard, deep in thought.
"Enough about me, how is camp? Everything ok? Are the Romans near yet?"
Chiron nodded gravely, and spoke in a hushed tone, "The Romans have closed around camp, letting nothing enter or exit. Thankfully, the Hecate campers were able to modify the barrier to keep the Romans out, but eventually, they will find a way around it. They have began construction of several catapults to attempt to shell is into submission, but only time will tell."
Things at camp were not all good, as it seemed. The edges of the Iris message began to fade, and Percy spoke up before it could disappear completely, "I'm out of time, I'm afraid, but I will be back soon. See you soon."
The message faded even more and with a few last shouts of, "Kill some monsters for us!" and a voice that sounded suspiciously like Clarrise warning him that she would run him through it he died again, the message disappeared with a soft pop!
He rolled the other drachma in his hand. On one hand, he desperately wanted to see his mom again, but on the other, even thinking about it sent his heart racing, which made no sense. It was just a stupid Iris message, he told himself, mom's gonna be so happy when she knows we're safe. But what if she isn't? His mind whispered back, what if she hates us for constantly disappearing on us? What if she already got over us and is happy without us? What if she doesn't want to see us ever again?
He clenched the drachma until the edges dug into his palms, but his grip never loosened. His mom would want to see him, right?…. Right?
He steeled his nerves. He had fought Kronos, slain gods knows how many monsters, and walked through Tartarus, a little Iris message shouldn't scare him. He tossed the drachma into the mist and recited the line once again, "Oh Iris, goddess of the mist, please show me Sally Jackson, Upper east side, Manhattan."
The rainbow shimmered, and the picture formed. Sally Jackson stood over the sink in her Apartment, silently scrubbing dishes. Based on the pots and pans, and red stains on the dishes, she had spaghetti. The thought of spaghetti made his stomach grumble, a reminder of how little he had had to eat. The last time he had spaghetti was when he had freed Leto, and while his mother's recipe was great, Letos was godly, or was it titanly? Whatever.
Apparently, his stomach growled loud enough for his mom to hear, as she turned around and locked eyes with him. A half washed plate slipped out of her hands, shattering against the floor. Tears brimmed in her eyes as she managed a small, "Percy?"
Percy smiled, tears building in his eyes as well. He pushed past the lump of emotions in his throat, "Hey mom."
Tears streamed down his mother's face as she stood stock still, eyes still locked into him.
Pauls's head appeared from around the corner, "Sally? I heard something fall and you-" he stopped mid-sentence when he caught sight of Percy, eyes the size of dinner plates.
Percy gave a watery smile, fighting to keep himself from crying, "Hey Paul."
For a beat, all was silent, sans for his heart pounding in his ears. Then, the dam broke, and the tears began to flow.