AN: Everyone a little head s up about this chapter, you will see Percy thinking some things that may confuse you but it will all be explained later in the chapter so just remain patient. If you have any questions please ask.
Son of the Moon
Chapter 8
-Percy-
Climbing off the train followed by Clarisse and Amanda Percy looked around the almost empty Vegas train station. "Alright guys let's find a hotel," he said seeing how dark it was "we'll stay there for the night and continue on in the morning."
Yawning their agreement the three set off and eventually found themselves in front of the Lotus Hotel and Casino. "Alright let's get our rooms and go to sleep." he managed out around yawning. They quickly checked in and crashed in their rooms. Then next day they got up and explored the casino some to see what all there was to do as they had a surplus of time. Amanda and Clarisse walked over to the shopping center while he slipped on some black jeans, a silver t-shirt, and a silver hoodie with some supplies in the expanded pouch and headed over to the buffet line. Walking in he instantly groaned at the long line that he saw there before he felt a hand clap on his shoulder accompanied by a laugh. "Pain in the ass isn't it?" a voice asked him amused.
Turning he saw a boy who looked around his age accompanied what looked like his twin sister who was glaring at her sibling. "Nico!" the girl scolded "How often do I have to tell you not to use that kind of language!".
"Every day and twice on Sunday." Nico told his sister happily which made him laugh. "See!" Nico yelled pointing towards him "He agrees with me!".
The girl glared at them before grabbing both of their ears and pulling "Ow!" he yelled out in pain while Nico, probably used to the treatment, grimaced "Why does everyone grab the ear!".
"Who does it to you?" Nico asked, only wincing occasionally at the assault on his ear.
"It was, OW, my mother. I used some cuss words I, OW, learned from my grandfather. Can you let go please?" he said still in pain as he tried to fend the girl.
Rolling her eyes the girl let their ears go, Nico simply rubbed his ear but he fell back due to his struggling before she let go. "Not funny." he deadpanned, sticking a finger up and pointing at the laughing twins.
"Sorry about that." the girl said with a sheepish look that he thought was cute, 'No!' he mentally slapped himself 'I'm a part of the hunt! I'm not supposed to love anyone like that. I can't leave my family!'.
The twins, seemingly unaware of his internal struggle, stuck their hands out to him happily, "I'm Nico by the way," the boy said smiling "Nico DiAngelo and this is my twin sister Bianca.".
"Hi." the now named Bianca said with a wave that made him begin to blush before he regained control of himself again.
"Percy Jackson," he said with a nod determined to not lose control of himself again "is the line here always like this?".
"Pretty much," Nico said shrugging as they got into line "the food is good so the lines are long.".
The twins chuckled at his groan before Bianca turned to him "So are you here by yourself Percy or did you bring anyone with you?".
"I'm here with a couple of friends, Amanda and Clarisse." he said shrugging, not noticing the flash of pain that flitted across Bianca's eyes. "We've been traveling for about a week and are on our way over to Hollywood to see a relative of mine.".
"Cool," Nico said grinning "are you dating of them or…?".
"Dating?" he asked laughing "No, Amanda and Clarisse are like my sisters so dating them would be extremely weird.", like before he didn't notice the flash of emotion, this time happiness, flit across Bianca's eyes.
The three eventually got their food and struck up a conversation at their table, laughing, and just generally having a good time. When he laughed a little too hard however he felt something fall out of his hoodie pocket and onto the floor. Looking down he cursed at what had fallen, it was a crystal his mom had given him that determined if someone was a demigod by glowing. Before he could do anything however Bianca reached down and picked it up causing it to glow before he covered it up with a napkin.
"What was that?" Bianca demanded, sounding scared.
"Before I tell you," he began cautiously "I need Nico to touch it as well to see if it reacts the same.".
Tentatively Nico reached forward and pressed a single finger to the crystal garnering the same reaction that it had for Bianca before pulling his finger away as if it had been burned.
"Now explain!" Bianca hissed, still clearly scared.
"Follow me," I whisper standing up "we need to talk in private.".
I headed up to my room followed by the slightly cautious twins and closed the door behind them. Taking a deep breath I began, "What do you two know about the Greek gods?".
"You mean like from the Mythomagic Card game?" Nico asked surprised by the question, "Hades, Zeus, Artemis, and all the others?". When I nodded Nico continued, "Yeah we know about them. What does that have to do with anything though?".
"Because," I grimaced at how crazy this was going to sound "they're real.".
There was a pause for a moment before the two laughed, not an amused kind of laughter but the laughter one does when they feel they're with a crazy person. "I'm not crazy." I said making them look slightly sheepish at how easy it was to tell what they felt, "And I can prove it to you.".
"How?" Nico asked intrigued.
"I'm a demigod," I said "how do you think?", before they could respond I pulled out a bottle of water from the mini fridge, opened it and then walked away from it and back to the twins.
"That doesn't prove…" Bianca began before I held up a hand and willed the water out of the bottle and to come over to me.
"That might though." Nico said awed.
"My name is Perseus Jackson," I said willing the water back into the bottle "I am the son of Artemis.".
"I thought Artemis was a virgin goddess?" Bianca said confused, "And what does this have to do with the freaky crystal?".
"I was adopted," I said simply "my birth mother was killed by a monster usually loyal to my biological father and he refused to save me. I may use the powers I was born with but I refuse to call that man family.".
The twins winced at my words, "I'm not going to say that I'm sorry because I know you don't want to hear that," Nico said firmly and I could tell that he had experienced loss as well.
Nodding thankfully I took in a deep breath and said "The crystal is an indicator. It glows whenever it is touched by a demigod.".
It took a few moments for his words to sink in but when they did the twins fell back in shock, "We're demigods?" Nico asked excited "Who's our parent?".
"I don't know," I said shrugging, "the only way to tell is usually when your divine parent claims you.".
Before he could continue Amanda and Clarisse burst into the room in a panic, "Percy!" Clarisse yelled before checking him over for injuries while Amanda threw their few belongings out into their packs.
"What's wrong guys?" he asked scared as both Clarisse and Amanda were tough.
"This place is a trap!" Amanda yelled, "It's the lair of the lotus eaters!".
Paling he yelled, "Shit!" before helping Amanda. Glancing at the confused twins he said "Do you two have anything of value or that you don't' want to leave?".
"Well no but…" Bianca began before he cut her off.
"No time!" he yelled shoving them towards the door, "We have to get out of here now! This place is a trap in time!".
"Trap in time?" Nico asked confused while Bianca paled.
"Please tell me that it's still 1945." Bianca begged them desperately.
Shaking off his shock he looked at his friend sadly, "Bianca," he said softly "it's 2005 (AN: the year the book was published). The two of you have been trapped here for the past sixty years.".
"Percy who are…?" Clarisse began before she was cut off.
"I'll explain later but they're demigods." he said quickly as he herded the shocked twins into an elevator followed by Clarisse and Amanda. They quickly made their way out of the casino and he hailed a cab were he got the driver to take him to Hollywood and paid using the Lotus Cash card he still had.
All throughout the drive he found himself stealing glances at Bianca before slapping himself and forcing the feelings away, earning worried looks from Amanda and Bianca all the while. When they finally reached Hollywood and the cab driver left they looked around to find out where they were. Turning he noticed a store with a sign labeling it 'Crusty's water bed palace' and pointed towards it. "Hey guys I think we should go there for directions. I remember that it was listed in Medusa's log book as having placed orders for a 'hellhound sculpture' so they know about our world at the least.".
Nodding they cautiously entered the store and a giant of a man walked out to greet them. The giant continued to give sales pitches to try and sell his water beds, not giving them a chance to talk. When Nico, for the fourth time, declined testing one of the beds out Crusty shoved both the DiAngelo twins onto water beds before snapping his fingers and saying "Ergo!" making ropes appear and bind the two before stretching them. Before he could do anything Crusty did the same to Clarisse and Amanda.
"Let them go!" I yell angrily as I summoned my falcata.
"I'm making them fit my beds," Procrustes said grinning maniacally, "it's so rude of them to not fit. All of my beds are exactly six feet you know, I am Procrustes after all.".
Before Procrustes could continue Bianca let out a loud yell of pain and I felt myself snap. Roaring in anger I charged the giant monster that had once been a man before his evil consumed him. I spear-tackled the giant Procrustes to the ground and drove my sword through his chest causing him to explode into golden dust which in turn released the ropes now that their master had fallen. Taking the ropes which I knew still had magic I turned to the back room, "I'll be back in a minute." I said shakily before running and slamming the door, not noticing the worried looks the others sent my way.
-Nico-
"What's wrong with Percy?" Bianca asked confused and I mentally sighed, I could tell my sister was crushing on my new friend but I couldn't tell if he felt the same way.
"He's in turmoil," the girl Amanda said sadly "he's scared.".
"How can he be scared?" he asked shocked "I've heard some of the things he's done and that guy doesn't seem as scary as the Chimera or the Minatour.".
"That's not what he's afraid of," the other girl, Clarisse, said quietly before turning to Bianca "the source of his fear, is you.".
"Me?" Bianca asked shocked, "Why would he be scared of me?".
"Not because of you exactly," Amanda said slowly "more like how he feels about you.".
"How he feels about me?" Bianca echoed, "What do you…".
"Percy likes you Bianca," Clarisse said, cutting her off "and that terrifies him. His mother is a Virgin goddess and he has spent his whole life living in the hunt were, if you fall in love, you get kicked out forever. He's scared that loving you, even though he isn't an official member of the hunt and isn't a girl, will force him to be separated from his family for eternity.".
He gasped in shock along with his twin, "Will it?" Bianca asked tentatively.
"I don't know," Amanda said softly "nobody really knows all how the hunt works except for Artemis herself. But he can tell his feeling for you are strong, it showed in his fight just now. His fighting style is to either shoot them with a bow if they're far away and if he's using his sword to use quick fast movements were they won't catch him, never relying on brute savagery. But when he heard you yell in pain he spear tackled a Procrustes, a man so evil that he became a true monster.".
"I hope he'll be alright." he said softly but it carried and the others nodded their agreement.
-Percy-
After sending the ropes off to Hermes as a gift he used a device that some immortals use to create rainbows for iris messages and called his mother. "Percy!" she exclaimed in shock when she saw the iris message which quickly got the attention of the rest of the hunt behind her.
"Hey mom, hey everybody." he said weakly.
It must have been noticeable because his mom quickly looked concerned, "Percy what's wrong.".
Taking a shaky breath he asked, Mom, can I talk to you? Alone?".
She looked surprised but nodded and sent the others off to do what they wanted somewhere else while she talked to him. When the other hunters were gone she turned back to him and asked "What's bothering you Percy.".
"I'm scared Mom." he said softly making her eyes widen in alarm as she had hadn't seen him scared in years.
"What's happened Percy?" she asked panicked.
"I-I'm afraid I'm going to be kicked out of the hunt." he said before curling up in the fetal position on the ground, showing vulnerability for the first time in years.
"Why would you be kicked out Percy?" she asked confused "This is your home.".
"I'm afraid I broke the most important rule of the hunt Mom." he cried, rocking back and forth.
"You fell in love." she said softly, eyes wide to which he could only nod. "Percy," she said softly "you won't be kicked out of the hunt.".
His head shot up at these words," I won't?" he almost pleaded while wiping away his tears.
"No Percy you won't," she said smiling softly at him "I made my oath of maidenhood on the river Styx which allowed me to have my hunters. A few days after I adopted you I went to go see the Lady Styx and asked her what rules would apply to you while in the hunt as opposed to the girls.".
"What she say?" he asked knowing who his mother was talking about having been babysat by the lady Styx a few times when he was younger. "As long as you don't break a woman's heart in cruelty or intentionally and do not betray Olympus without a good reason you may remain in the hunt. Whoever you love though must join the hunt but shall take a different oath than the oath of maidenhood the others take.".
Standing up shakily he nodded and said "Thanks Mom.".
"You're welcome Percy." she said warmly, "Oh and I got the gifts for myself and for Elizabeth. She is really liking her new spear and it's actually helped with her nightmares.".
"That's great!" he said happily, "Well I've got to go Mom. I just killed Procrustes and need to look up the address for the Underworld entrance.".
A moment later he realized that what he said might not have been the best idea as his Mom paled, "You fought Procrustes!?" she yelled out in shock. "He was one of the few mortals to become evil enough to turn into a monster without being cursed! How'd you beat him!".
Blushing he mumbled "I spear tackled him before driving my sword through his chest.".
"Spear tackled?" she asked in surprise "That's not your normal style.".
Blushing harder he continued "He had Bianca on the rack.".
"Is Bianca the girl…" his mother trailed off but he knew what she meant so he nodded. Shaking her head she said "Just be more careful. And the entrance is called D.O.A. recording studios and is about a block away from Procrustes lair. Just take a left outside the shop and keep walking till you see it.".
"Thanks Mom. I've got to go though, I love you!" he said happily.
"I love you too Percy." she said laughing as she waved her hand through the message. Walking back out more confident than he had been going in he collected the others and set out for D.O.A. recording studios.
"What's the D.O.A stand for?" Bianca asked confused.
"Dead Or Alive." he said shrugging as he opened the door and walked in.
"Charon!" he called out getting the ghouls attention and surprise "We need passage to Hades. I'll pay triple the normal rate for the five of us if you take us to Hades.".
"Deal!" the ghouls said greedily as he tossed over a sack of gold coins. They were quickly led to an elevator and taken to the far bank of the River Styx, where he was sure he saw the head of Lady Styx pop out and wink at him before diving back in. "Here we are demigods!" Charon said once they reached the opposite shore, "Good luck and pray the boss doesn't kill you.".
Rolling his eyes he set off towards shadowy silhouette of Hades palace before he stopped seeing the security gates ahead of them. Turning to Amanda he asked "You see a way through?".
The daughter of Hermes looked around before noticing a path off to the side that lead past the gates which they quickly used to get in silently. After about an hour of walking they were in front of the palace as the doors opened automatically to grant them entrance. Quickly they entered and were led by a pair of skeleton guards to the throne room. "Hello Perseus Jackson I see you have…" the lord of the dead stopped dead when he saw who was with him. "N-Nico?" he asked shakily, "Bianca?".
"How do you know who we are?" the twins asked nervous.
"Because," Hades sighed, "I'm your father.".
-Omake-
-Hera gets Percy's letter-
Walking through her gardens the Queen of the gods contemplated the new development that was Percy Jackson. Originally she had believed that he was Artemis' child by birth and that she could use that against her husband's brat but was surprised to find out that the boy was abandoned by Poseidon, her brother. While she thought about this Hermes showed up and bowed, "Lady Hera," he said getting her attention "I have a letter for you.".
"Very well Hermes," she said sighing as the god of messengers handed over the envelope.
Once Hermes was gone she opened the letter and, in surprise, read:
Queen Hera,
I would like to apologize if I seemed rude to you during the meeting earlier as that was not my intention. I write this letter due to the fact that I know about how you punish Hercules and why and simply wished to offer some suggestions.
• Give him to Nemesis as a new toy
• Turn him into a spider and lock him in a room with Athena
• Curse him so all of his clothes become dresses for a century
• Take away his strength
• Force him to take lesson in manners and academics from Athena
• Give him to Apollo and Hermes to test pranking inventions
• Give him to Ares as a punching bag
• Give him to Zoe Nightshade so she can 'entertain' herself
• Have him take over Dionysus' job at Camp Half-Blood with restrictions to force him to be respectful
• Castrate him
• Force him to weed Demeter's gardens
• Turn him into a small rabbit and send the Hunt's wolves after him
• Take away all his strength and fighting skill and force him to spar with every demigod at Camp-Half blood and the Hunt
• Give him to Eris as a pet
• Give him to the furies to test new ideas for the fields of punishment
I hate that bastard for what he did to my sister so please, give him a good punishment for me.
Yours truly,
Perseus Jackson, Son of Artemis.
Folding up the letter she chuckled at some of his suggestions, especially liking the first one, and planned to keep an eye on Perseus Jackson.