CHAPTER 7: OLD FRIENDS AND NEW PROBLEMS

"Percy?" Steve asked in a state of mind numbing shock

"Huh?" came the bored reply.

How exactly did you get your hands on this amount of weapons, within a span of five years in the human world?"

The four runaways were currently in one of Percy's penthouses, which strangely was located underground with walls that were designed in a manner similar to that of a bunker.

Percy stubbornly insisted that it was a penthouse.

Oh and they were all staring in awe at the sheer magnitude and multitude of his weapons stash. The word multitude used because there was a shitload of them and magnitude because there wasn't a single conventional weapon in sight.

These things were higher than your everyday military grade weapons.

"I'm curious as well Percy, care to enlighten us?" Natasha asked as well.

The psychotic avenger shrugged, "Money, thefts, mist and having a hyper active demigod… er,former demigod, current immortal blacksmith for a bro, speaking of which… I can see the both of ya, no point in hiding"

"shit" a small voice muttered.

All the occupants of the room (except Natasha of course) jumped in fright as two figures melted out of the shadows.

"That is the last time I am letting you keep me in the shadows dead boy"

"Yeah right, like I'll ever let you hide me in fire in the first place"

"Hello Nico, Leo" Natasha greeted in a manner akin to a wife welcoming her husband's friends into their matrimonial home… friends that she did not approve if whatsoever because of the suspicion that they would lead her husband astray… in a night club… usually with two or more girls involved.

"Hello sis In-law, how's it holding up for ya?" Leo quipped.

"Oh you know, killing for a living, running for my life when time demands it and threatening girls who get too close to my Percy" came the dull reply.

Nico coughed uncomfortably at the subtle threat that showed that she still had her eyes on him.

"I have a wife you know?" he grumbled quietly.

The two immortal heroes yelped in surprise as Percy scooped the both of them in for a bro hug, "It's so good to see you guys again! What's it been four months? Three… twenty?"

The both of them wheezed as they felt their airways seal up due to the strength of his hug.

"Percy… *wheeze*… Can't… *wheeze*… Breath" they both rasped in tandem.

Whoever said that gods and immortals didn't need to breathe was only delivering half truth, they needed to breathe considering their status as living beings, but not necessarily 'breathe' in the natural sense which involved intake of oxygen of expulsion of Carbon dioxide. Rather the air they needed to live was air from the upper heavens which was generated by the Primordial god Aether and distributed to all immortals by the king of Olympus himself for their consumption.

A little fact that came in handy whenever Percy was strangling immortals… but that was a story for another time.

Said Raven haired youth blinked, "Oh, sorry", and then promptly dropped them without warning.

Both of them landed on their rears with individual 'oofs' before rubbing their backsides as they glared at their brother in all but blood.

"What was that for" Leo whined.

"For not visiting me soon enough" came the simple reply.

Nico threw his hands up in exasperation, "We're sorry okay! But the Greek divine world is a mess, I can't really elaborate on that for fear of punishment on the Styx…" thunder rumbled in the distance, "… but I can tell you it's got Olympus' pants in a twist and the fact that Artemis was found in a bad condition a few hours ago without her Symbol of Power isn't helping matters" the last part was stated with the two immortal heroes staring at Percy accusingly.

"Oh my, that sounds bad" came the dry sarcastic response and the duo clenched their jaws tightly in anger.

Seeing that the atmosphere was becoming tense, Natasha decided to usher the other two out of the room, "Let's get some food first, after that we can stock up on some weapons ammo and supplies. You guys dragged me out my home today without letting me have a proper breakfast and I'm not following you guys around for another second till I've had my fill"

On that note, the red head ushered Steve and Sam out of the 'weapons room' before leaving as well, giving the brothers (in arms) some privacy to sort out whatever it was that they wanted to sort out…

… hopefully it wouldn't come to blows, because if it did she'd really feel sorry for the both of them…

… Percy would destroy them.

Seeing that they were alone, Percy broke the tense silence with a quip, "Soooo… you guys thirsty or something" he asked in a carefree tone.

Nico's scowl deepened, "I'm being serious Percy, we talked about this. This vendetta you have against Olympus, it's consuming you just like said" he growled.

Percy raised an eyebrow, "Eh, okay. I take it you guys aren't thirsty, but I know I am" he spun on his heel and walked off to the living room to (a rather large one at that) to get a can of Pepsi from his 'personal stash'.

"How can you be thinking of Pepsi at a time like this" Leo snapped, "Yes, what they did to you was unforgiveable and I know you need a coping mechanism for what they did to you, but letting yourself fall deeper and deeper into insanity isn't going to help!"

He took calming breaths and furiously blinked away the tears that threatened to spill.

"I want you back Percy, the real you, not some twisted alter ego that you're trying to make us all believe is the real you. I… no, we… we want you back. I know that you don't know this, but Annabeth's a wreck without you, I'm not saying that the both of you should get back together, it's just that… she's been through a lot Percy, at the very least she deserves some closure"

"…"

"…"

The sound of vicious game play cut through the emotional silence and the immortal duo blinked in confusion only to realize that Percy was not in his previous position and was instead seated on the couch playing a brutal level of God of War 3…

…ironically, they turned just in time to see Kratos run Zeus through with the Blade of Olympus.

"Take that mother fucker!" he cheered before turning back to them, taking another gulp of his favourite beverage as he did so, "Sorry about that, I lost you guys after the part where the cucumber killed the sausage" he apologized with a straight face.

Leo blinked before gaping at him in disbelief while Nico pinched the bridge of his nose and muttered something that suspiciously sounded like 'my cousin is a schizophrenic sociopath'.

"… isn't sociopath-y the new face of badassery?" Percy asked with twin sea green orbs that radiated innocence that Nico and Leo were sure did not belong there.

Looking at the time, the two immortals wordlessly agreed that their time was wasted.

"Look Percy, if you need someone to talk to, I'm always just a shadow away, you don't have to carry this burden on your own"

Leo nodded his agreement.

On that note, the two were gone in burst of shadows and a burst of flames respectively.

Percy's care free smile dropped into a menacing smirk at that.

He crumpled the Pepsi can into a ball and then closed his eyes in focus. Within a few seconds, the reason of his focus was made known and a figure very similar to him split from his person.

Opening his sea green eyes that were glowing, a sure sign that his powers were in use, he spoke to his carbon copy.

"Join up with the others in Quebec, Boreas has put the final nail in his coffin by rejecting our initiative, convey this mental message to them… and end the wind god"

AN; There she is, the brain child of my imagination, polished to a consumable state by my beta... oh? You guys didn't know I had a beta reader? Well I do, and his name is... sonofcreation, and he is the only one with the exclusive right to give suggestions to what can be added to this story... and I'm with the one with the exclusive right to say yes or no...

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