[AN: Have you guys seen Avengers: Endgame yet? I went to a 7:00 showing opening night and I'm still in awe. Like if Infinity War was level one, Endgame kicked it to eleven. All the Easter eggs, music, lighting, and emotion were on point (these people love their jobs). I could never hope to tell a story a thousandth as good as that. So naturally, I will set myself up for failure and shoot for one-thousandth of Endgame. Alright, enough fanboying.
Thank you to the 4 readers that followed, 3 that favorited, and Anonymously96 for reviewing (again).
Yes, someone has already stolen Zeus' master bolt and Hades' helm of darkness, same as canon, but I want to keep my options open with everything. I also wanted to get Grover out looking for Pan ASAP and have less important support characters so I can focus on developing Percy as much as possible. I want to reasonably get him from where he is now (mentally and emotionally) to the point he will be at until book five so in the time in between, I can focus on the action and support characters, their developments, and their interactions with Percy. As for Percabeth what I meant was I wanted ideas of a less popular long-term couple to do. PercyxArtemis, PercyxThalia, PercyxBianca, PercyxReyna, PercyxZoe, PercyxAthena, PercyxNico, PercyxLuke, PercyxJason, PercyxSadie, PercyxCalypso, or something like that. I have played with a few possible scenarios for some of these (not as much as I have for PercyxAnnabeth though) and didn't really like any of them so I was hoping for something random but do-able to experiment with. Of course, I'm going to keep as many options open for as long as possible and Percy isn't going to be starting any deep relationship like that this book but we got 9 to 26 books to go (depending on where I feel like stopping) so… yeah HMU with an input you wanna give and I'll do my best to experiment with it and see if I can write it good enough for someone other than my crazy self to read. (Sorry for the rant.)]
Chapter 3: Why Are There So Many Creepy Old Ladies?
Apparently, cars suck. That was all Grover would talk about during the ride.
"These pedals aren't very hoof friendly."
"Cars are so bad for the environment. At best combustion driven engines are 20% energy efficient (AN: Heard this on an "Outrageous Acts of Science" episode I think. Energy and fuel efficiency are two different things. Chill.)."
"This traffic causes so much pollution it's a wonder the Kindly One was able to sniff you out at all."
"STUPID HUMANS!"
Now, this may make me a bad friend, scratch that I know this makes me a bad friend, but I tuned Grover out after the first twenty minutes or so of this. I watched out the window as the not-so-scenic New England roadside passed by.
After a few hours, we stopped at a gas station. While Grover watched the employee pumping gas to make sure we weren't getting overcharged, I went inside to use the bathroom. Unfortunately, it was one of those bathrooms that attached to the back of the building and was padlocked shut. The lady at the register gave me the key and I walked around back. After I finally got the rusted padlock open, I did what I had come to do, locked it back, and started to make my way back to the front of the building. As I was walking on the sidewalk that ran beside the building and a fence that was overgrown with ivy an old lady stepped into my path. I stopped. I could have sworn she wasn't there a second ago.
"Perseus Jackson."
My hand instantly went to my pocket, where Riptide seemed to turn colder than that block of dry ice, I made the mistake of touching once.
"There is no need for that."
"Why? Who are you?"
"You do not need to take that sword out because I am not here to harm you. I am only here to meet the one that my daughters have been so obsessed over (AN: Reading that back… It sounds way creepier and, in a way, that I did not intend but we'll roll with it.). As for who I am… hmm… You may call me τον κλώστη."
It wouldn't register until later, but my mind translated: The Spinner. That caught me off guard. I expected something like Mrs. Dodds 2.0 or Hell Demon. It didn't comfort me much and I still half expected her to grow leathery wings and attack me, but I relaxed slightly and asked,
"Who are your daughters?"
"Look at you. So quick to get more information. I like you. Looking forward to the future just like me. But I won't spoil the surprise for you. It's not long now till you meet them, and they try to influence you."
"Influence me how?"
"Didn't I just say I wasn't going to spoil the surprise?"
I was getting a bit frustrated at this point and it must have shown because she started laughing.
"Anyways," she continued, "They can't influence you like they can everyone else so they have to take a more direct approach to ensure what you will choose later. But since you gave me a gift no one has given me in a while, something to laugh at, I will give you a gift in return."
She surged forward way faster than she should have been able to, grabbed my free arm with one hand and touch my forehead with her other hand.
"You are now free of my daughters' indirect influence. Introduce a little anarchy." (AN: Who knows where I got the idea for the last sentence? I'll give you a hint. It both starts and ends with 't'.)
And with that, she was gone.
PLINK.
I looked down and saw I had dropped the key to the bathroom. The feeling came back to my hands. I left Riptide in my pocket, pulled my hand, then looked at both of them. Back and front. After a few seconds, I figured I didn't really feel any different, so I bent down, picked up the key, and brought it back to the lady at the cash register.
When I got back in the car Grover asked me if I was okay. I said I was and was sure Grover didn't believe me, but he didn't try to get me to talk about it.
We rode for about another hour before smoke started coming from under the hood of the car. Grover got out to see if he could get it to stop. I got out because the car was getting hot. We were right beside one of those roadside fruit stands. There were three old ladies. I should have learned my lesson earlier, really, I should have but it was hot and there was shade.
When I walked up two of the three seemed to be arguing over something. As I got closer I heard something along the lines of, "Where did you put the scissors?" which earned the reply, "What do you mean, 'what did I do with the scissors?' you always do the cutting? Where did you put the scissors?" I noticed a huge, like big foots XXXL sized, sock they must have knitted. I listened to them squabble for a few minutes and pretended to look at the fruit until I noticed a gleam near the silent one's foot.
"Are you looking for those?" I said, pointing to the shiny set of shears.
"Yes. Thank you, Perseus Jackson."
That got my attention. I looked a little closer and saw they looked vaguely similar to the woman at the gas station. Her daughters. That must have been what she meant, "It's not long now till you meet them…" I took a step back. They cut the sock and tied it off. Then they went to cut an extra piece of yarn, maybe eighteen inches long (AN: Yes, I'm a filthy American.), but when the shears closed around it there was a clang and the yarn pushed out of the end like they were trying to cut steel cable. Their faces changed from grim anticipation (left), sadness (middle), and maniacal glee (right/cutter) to shock.
"I FIXED IT!" That was Grover. I turned quickly and sprinted back to the car.
"What's wrong?" Grover asked when he saw my face. I just shook my head. He turned to the fruit stand and paled. Looking back to the road he floored the gas.
[AN: There you guys go. Chapter 3. Took me just under two hours to do this (I multitask). Just had to find a day with the free time to do it. Next chapter: The Minotaur, Easter eggs, introduction to camp, and some random stuff.
1. Should I do shorter updates but update more often or keep going like I am and gradually make them longer and longer?
2. Who should Percy be with?
3. Who should Percy take on his quest with him?
4. How long should the quest take approximately?
5. Should Percy have his 'demigod dreams'?]