Better late than never, I guess.


Percy

XV

Winter 2010

If you've never been to New York, here's a brief introduction. The buildings are enormous and glassy, the streets smell strongly of piss, and the people are so busy bustling around that they don't even notice a group of grubby-looking teenagers carrying weapons while wandering the sidewalks.

It took Gwen about thirty minutes to get too frustrated by the traffic to continue driving, so we decided to ditch the FedEx truck not too far from Central Park and made our way around on foot. While we wandered the streets, everyone—even Dakota—was gazing around in awe at the grandeur of all the skyscrapers and hectic crosswalks. I know they believed that this city was the most dangerous place for demigods, but honestly I hadn't seen anything inherently dangerous yet.

Melody nudged my rib cage with her elbow, pointing south of us. "I can't believe our parents are just chilling somewhere over there."

I knew I should probably have felt more shocked by the idea of it all (the Roman gods? Living in the heart of Manhattan over the Empire State Building? Sounds ludicrous) yet it barely even registered to me as something interesting. Making our way south on 5th Avenue, I expected to feel out of place in the city, but I started to get a weird feeling in my chest like this place was familiar. Maybe Melody was right: maybe I was from here.

"Have you ever met your dad?" I asked her.

She nodded, but her expression stayed neutral. "Yeah, a handful of times."

I waited for her to elaborate, but she didn't offer anything else. I looked up at the sky above the city. "I wonder if I've ever met my dad."

An amused smile danced across her lips. She wryly said, "I bet you and Neptune went on cute little father-son fishing trips all the time."

"Ha ha," I said flatly, rolling my eyes at the joke. I did wonder: had my father ever taken time to come visit me in my past life? Was he aware that I was currently experiencing a kidnapping by Juno and now had amnesia? Would he even care?

From all the conversations I've had with the others about parents, none of them seemed to have much of a connection with their godly side. I figured I should mentally prepare myself to have the same non-existent relationship with my old man.

"We're so close to Tiffany's!" squealed Gwen, grabbing onto Bobby's hand in excitement and pointing ahead.

His cheeks reddened at the sudden touch and I stifled a laugh. He managed to sound pretty cool and collected when he responded, "Yeah, want to go for breakfast there? A little brunch for two, just you and me? Get a hotel so I can eat dessert?"

He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, and it was her turn to blush. She scoffed and coyly replied, "You wouldn't know what to do even if I said yes."

Bobby shrugged. "Only one way to find out if I'll prove you wrong…"

Hazel groaned loudly. "Please stop flirting within earshot of me!"

Bobby smiled. "You want us to get out of your space? I'm sure we could wander off on our own to give you all some quiet time."

Melody rolled her eyes. "The worst primordial god of all time is slated to come back into consciousness tonight—this is no time to be horny, Bobby."

Gwen straightened up and took a step away from him. "There is time to go shopping though!"

Of course, the daughter of Venus' eyes lit up as she stared at the iconic blue storefront of Tiffany & Co. Dakota scowled at her. "It's not like we can afford jewellery with the handful of cash we have left."

"You're right," Gwen pouted. "But you can't stop me from at least trying on expensive perfumes in Saks!"

She sprinted away from us, down the sidewalk, and between the slew of cars stopped at a red light to the other side of the road, her black hair streaming behind her. We took off after her, but by then traffic had resumed. When we reached the crosswalk, we lost sight of her as she slipped through the entrance.

Dakota scowled. "We don't have time for shopping sprees!"

Melody shrugged, a small smile tugging at her lips. "One of us is probably going to die tonight, so I think we might actually deserve to have a little fun. I wouldn't mind holding a Prada purse."

The corners of Bobby's amused grin fell, as if he had completely forgotten about the looming threat of death until now. Taking in the city and the sights this morning, I had kind of pushed off the words of the prophecy: the promise that one of us wasn't making it back.

I tried to swallow the lump in my throat, but it didn't dislodge as I allowed Mel to drag me into the front doors of Saks.

Even though I didn't remember anything from my life before a couple weeks ago, I was pretty sure that I could say I'd never been inside a store like this. The tables displayed purses with designer names I probably couldn't pronounce even if I wasn't dyslexic. The gold accents around the store clashed horribly with our grubby appearance–the security guard watched us closely as we navigated deeper inside.

Dakota groaned. "Common, let's divide up and find her."

Bobby, Hazel, and Dakota went off one way while Melody and I walked in another. I felt out of place amongst the luxury goods, but Melody was having fun with it. I was swivelling my head trying to catch a glimpse of Gwen's long black ponytail while Mel tried on different pairs of sunglasses on a display. She turned to me, her face sporting oversized black cat-eye frames,

"Purrrrr," she joked, throwing her hand out like a cat's paw.

We meandered from section to section until we reached the perfume area. Melody sauntered up to the counter and looked up earnestly at the sales associate. "Can I try that one that looks like a shoe?"

The sales associate brushed her blonde hair off of her shoulder, giving Melody a once over in distaste. "I don't think that's within your price range sweetheart."

Melody gave a sunny smile. "Now, why would you say that?"

The sales associate's eyes narrowed. "You're lucky I haven't already called security; you don't quite look up to the part of our clientele and we don't tolerate shoplifters here."

Behind us, a woman with a voice as smooth as silk spoke. "Oh, leave the kids alone: they're just having fun."

I turned to look at her. I can honestly say that I had never seen a more beautiful woman in my life. Her golden hair was loosely waving over her shoulders, shining in the lighting. Her large eyes were a bright blue–like the clearest sky I'd ever seen. Her features were simultaneously sharp and soft: high cheekbones, full lips, a straight ski-slope nose, and blemish free skin. She wore a black knit dress that hugged her curves perfectly.

I had to force myself to keep my jaw from dropping.

The woman sauntered up next to us and flashed an unfriendly smile at the sales associate, who huffed and turned away. "It's time for my break anyway."

Once she was gone, the beautiful woman smiled warmly at the two of us. "The sales girls here can be quite pretentious at times. Don't let her get to you."

Melody stared at the woman in shock, almost as if she couldn't take in her beauty either. "Thank you for that."

The woman's pink-lipsticked mouth curved up. She reached over and pushed some of Melody's hair that had fallen loose from her braid behind her ear. "No worries, darling. You know, when they described you to me, they failed to mention that you were beautiful."

"You think I'm beautiful?" Melody asked. I'd never heard her sound so shy before.

The hair on the back of my neck stood up straight though, thinking of the woman's words. "Who described her to you?"

The woman let out a light laugh before focusing on me. "Oh, Percy Jackson, I've heard about you too. You have quite the reputation in the Underworld. I hear you bear the same strengths as a man I once watched fight."

My stomach fell. "I have a reputation with the dead?"

"Why, of course you do! For years, I've heard stories about the son of Poseidon who sent Hyperion to Tartarus and fought off armies of monsters and men. I can't lie: I was intrigued to hear of another boy who decided to follow in the footsteps of Achilles."

"I'm flattered," I forced out, my tone flat. "Not to be rude, but who are you?"

The woman smiled coyly. "Just another demigod who once got caught up in a very infamous war."

Melody's brown eyes widened as she figured it out. "Helen of Troy."

"Just 'Helen' is fine, sweetheart," Helen replied, a hint of humour in her voice. "You know, that whole 'Troy' part really didn't look good on me."

Melody gazed at her in a mixture of awe and confusion. "But… I thought you were dead?"

Helen shrugged. "I mean, I was, but why fixate on the past? I've done that before and all it does is make me angry."

"It makes you angry?" I blurted out incredulously. "Weren't you the one who started the war and caused thousands of deaths?"

Helen's lips curved into a humourless smile. "You see, I tend to get the blame for the war, but in reality, what did I do? Venus promised me as a prize to Paris just so that she could win some stupid golden apple and he came to collect. Some boy wanted his little prize and didn't care about the cost, yet somehow I end up being the one blamed for the whole ordeal. Do you know how humiliating it is to have your whole life reduced to the fact that you were pretty and some horny guy wanted you?"

Melody frowned. "I thought you went willingly, or did someone else make that part up?"

"Oh, I did and I didn't. Venus used some sort of love magic to get me on board with running away with Paris and, next thing you know, I'm snapping out of a trance two years into the bloodiest war known to man." Helen's expression softened. "But I'm sure you, of all people, would understand."

Melody's mouth transformed into a confused frown. "Me?"

Helen's eyes flicked up to something behind us with a mischievous glint. "Oh, you never found out about what your friend did?"

I whipped around to see Bobby, Hazel, and Dakota standing with Gwen. Her normally beautiful face was pale and her eyes were wide, like a child caught with their hand in the cookie jar.

Melody blinked. "What is she talking about Gwen?"

Gwen opened her mouth to speak, then immediately shut it. Her eyes focused on her shoes.

I watched a series of expressions fly over Mel's face in the span of a second: confusion, contemplation, and then the sunken look of devastation. "Oh my gods."

"I thought I was making things easier!" Gwen burst out, her eyes welling with tears. "You guys seemed like you would be good but you were always so focused on training that you'd never stop to consider it. I just wanted to help the inevitable along and—"

Dakota's face went bright red with embarrassment before his fists curled at his side. Melody was speechless, her eyes glassy. Hazel and Bobby were looking at Gwen as though they couldn't believe it or, worse, wondering if they'd ever been manipulated before too.

Helen gave her a sympathetic look. "It's an awful thing, isn't it? Finding out someone was just toying with you to fill an agenda?."

She reached up to brush back the loose strands of Mel's hair from her face in a motherly way and, to my surprise, Melody let her.

"I wonder if my patron would let me spare you," Helen cooed, her fingers tenderly pushing her hair behind her ear.

My ears pricked up. "Your patron?"

Helen smiled coyly. "What, you thought I magically just came back from the dead on my own? I promised my patron that I would deliver her this ragtag team of demigods in return for her letting me come back up here from the Underworld. Pretty good tradeoff, if you ask me."

Melody recoiled from Helen's touch, but Helen grabbed her wrist and pulled her back in.

Her beautiful blue eyes flickered dangerously. "You'd do better to stick with me, girl. Let your fake, lying friends take the fall. Did they ever even really care about you, or did they always just like what you were capable of?"

Riptide was already in sword-mode at my side. "She's baiting you; don't listen to her."

Melody looked like she was in a trance though, staring at the soft features of the face that launched a thousand ships. "I—"

"I understand you in a way most people can't," Helen purred as the air started to crackle uncomfortably around us. "I too have had people only latch onto the part of me that appealed to them and then act like the rest of me didn't even exist. You know, everyone remembers me as being a pretty face—they all like to tell stories of my beauty—but very rarely do they remember that I am a daughter of Zeus."

The room suddenly burst into a bright white light, and the ceiling exploded.

I blinked, my eyes gritty from the swirling dust in the air, desperately trying to clear my vision in the haze. The alarms at the store were blaring loudly and shoppers were screaming in the chaos. Luxury clothes were on fire from the lightning strike, smoke filling the disaster zone.

Bobby was coughing loudly, pulling himself up off the ground. Hazel was struggling to get her leg out from a large chunk of cement that had fallen from the ceiling. Squinting, I still couldn't see Dakota and Gwen through the smoke, rubble, and dust.

"Not cool, Helen!" I yelled, trying to figure out where exactly she was located now. I raised my sword up, poised to attack.

The ancient woman laughed and the sound was annoyingly beautiful. "Don't worry, son of Poseidon, we aren't going to fight. Your ride is already here."

Hazel jostled herself free, standing up on shaky legs. "We have to get out of here now."

A new voice suddenly spoke. "It's a little too late for you, my dear."

I recognized the voice as the shadowy woman from my dreams. I whipped my head around in her direction, only to finally see her: a silhouette pitch black against the atmosphere around us with no features. She looked like pure darkness moving toward us.

Helen's voice permeated the haze. "Can I keep this one, Nyx?"

"No," Nyx spoke softly–not even remotely sounding villainous, to my surprise. "She said to bring them all. But thanks for collecting them so well."

And then, just like in my dream, everything went black.


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