A/N ...hi, yes, I've not abandoned any of my stuff, I'm just really bad at posting. If I actually get stuff finished like I want to, I'll have another chapter for Moon and Tides within the next week, and Pax Olympia the week after that. Thanks for your patience!
Also, here's hoping the Disney+ series is as good as we're all hoping! RR seems very excited so I'm optimistic.
Character rights belong to RR.
5 – Multiple
Grover
"We kinda just stood around in shock for a while after they left, to be honest. Thankfully we were stopped right before the edge of Olympus' territory, so once we managed to get ourselves together and back on the boat it didn't take long."
"That's wild, Percy," Grover replied after his own stunned silence. Percy grinned and wiggled his eyes brows and Grover huffed and rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes, Lord of the Wild makes unintended pun." He gestured to their surroundings. "How long did it take you to find this place, then?"
"Well, we actually made it ourselves," Percy answered. "Looked for a bit, couldn't find any islands that were the right size or topography. Annabeth wondered if I could just raise a new one from the seafloor, Hearth mentioned that the wards would be stronger if the whole land was 'imbued with familiar magic' or something like that, and, well…" The demigod trailed off and smiled. "It was exhausting, lemme tell ya, but so worth it." Grover heartily agreed with that assessment.
Blackjack had flown Grover up to the aptly named New Promise, Alaska, home of the new Jackson stronghold after Percy had IM'ed him about helping to organize some nature spirits up north. It had taken two weeks, even on pegasus, to get all the way up to the island. Grover had just about fallen off Blackjack's back upon arriving. Dense storm clouds swirled above a thrashing sea, and an almost physical weight filled the air. Percy has warned them that the magic barrier surrounding the island would be intimidating, so they grit their teeth and flew into the storm. Once they were through, the sky cleared, revealing their destination in all of its glory.
Approaching from the south, the island was roughly in the shape of a backwards n, surrounded by a breaker reef with a small bay serving as an obvious port. A hill stood to the left of the bay, while a high cliff swept in from the right. Sandy beaches and dunes hugged the western shore, inward of which was a large, open field. Just north of there, a moderately sized lake lapped the feet of a stout mountain of dark stone. The eastern end of the island was hillier, with a large cliff in the northwest point. Grover could make out a lake nestled in the cliffs, feeding a river that ran to the center of the island, where it split in two and wound about a plateau to empty into the bay. Atop the plateau, Grover could make out temporary shelters, and so that's where he and Blackjack descended.
Upon landing, they were directed to the center of the budding town, where they found their old friends directing some other demigods amidst a huge pile of blueprints. After a tearful reunion, Percy and Grover made their way to the northern field behind the plateau while Blackjack agreed to help Annabeth with coordinating the building projects by helping move supplies.
"Seriously, Perce, this is amazing." Percy gave him a small smile and Grover clapped his shoulder. "So, what did you want my help with? It looks like you've got the basics down."
"Yeah, the town's coming along nicely so far. Between some of the more discreet demigods and magicians we know, and the Amazons who arrived two nights ago with supplies, it's been pretty smooth sailing on that front. What we need you to help with is this." Percy gestured to the expanse in front of them. Grover looked at it confused for a moment before turning back to Percy.
"You wanna explain it a little better this time?"
Percy rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, you smart goat. Take another look. What don't you see here yet?" Grover's gaze roamed over the dip and curves of the land, taking in the dark soil and small patches of rock. While he admitted the browns and greys were alright, he preferred the deep greens of the woods back at Camp –
"There's no trees! Or grass!" Grover exclaimed.
Percy nodded. "Not many plants grow on the ocean floor, and the few that do don't survive surfacing. We were hoping that you'd be able to at least start helping us to seed the island. We'd like a forest in the north, but otherwise just field grass and stuff if we can manage it. Obviously any dryads or nymphs or other nature spirits are welcome here so long as they can get through the barrier."
"What do you mean?" Grover asked.
"They designed it so only those who truly need either safety or our help can enter. Once you've been here, you can come and go as you please, and if you're invited that'll work too. It should keep any hostile monsters out." Percy explained. "So as long as they aren't trying to find us to turn us over to Olympus, they'll be allowed."
"Makes sense," Grover mused. "I'll put out a discreet word."
"Thanks G-man," Percy grinned. "So, greenery?"
"Should be doable," Grover replied. "Let me get it started, and then any dryads that move here will be able to help finish it." He reached into his knapsack and fished out his old reed pipes and a handful of dirt. He tossed the dirt out in a wide arc and began playing an upbeat tune. Soon enough grass started to sprout where the dirt landed, tufts of green breaking up the grubby terrain. As Grover stopped playing, he and Percy stood in the middle of a patch of green roughly twenty yards in diameter.
Percy looked around appreciatively. "That is awesome."
Grover grinned and grabbed another handful of dirt. "C'mon, I can do this a few more times around the island and it'll spread from there."
"Sounds like a plan," Percy agreed. "Lead on!"
Carter
Unfortunately, Carter was in the middle of a meeting with Amos when Percy's IM started to materialize.
As the thick mist started to materialize over the table between Carter and his uncle, his guards' eyes widened, and they started to draw their various weapons and staves. Amos looked at the mist warily. Carter groaned and hoped that the piles of paper underneath the message would stay dry.
"Stand down," he commanded. "It's just a message."
"Sir?" The lead guard asked. Before Carter could respond, the mist shimmered and an image of Percy materialized. Amos' eyes widened at the message while Carter's guards looked dumbfounded.
"Not one word of this to anyone outside of this room," Carter ordered his guards. "Sorry, Uncle, but that includes you."
Percy winced at Carter's tone. "Sorry, dude. I was hoping to catch you alone but we don't exactly have cell service up here and we need your help for a bit." Carter raised an eyebrow at the statement.
"Why not message Sadie then?" he asked.
"Well, she's not exactly the most focused magician," Percy admitted sheepishly. "Mostly we need some help setting up our- er, project, and Annabeth had a few complicated magic questions she was hoping you'd be able to help her figure out."
"Yeah, Sadie still tends to blow stuff up first, ask questions second." He looked at the paperwork he still had to do and grimaced. "I really do need to finish this stuff before I can make it out your way, so it might be another hour."
"That's fine on our end," Percy replied. "You're welcome to eat when you get here if that will make it easier on you; it's still breakfast time for us but we can find some dinner food for you if you'd like."
"I appreciate that, thanks. What's the portal destination?"
"New Promise, Alaska, but we've only got two anchors so far so make sure you've got everything you'll need. I'd plan on it taking a couple days, if only so you don't die of jet lag."
"Will do. I'll see you soon."
"Wait!" Percy said before Carter could swipe through the mist and end the message. "I forgot I gotta do this first." He cleared his throat and continued formally, "I hereby invite Carter Kane, Eye of Horus and Pharaoh of the House of Life to New Promise." He rolled his eyes as he finished the sentence. "There, now you won't bounce off the wards. Later!"
Carter blinked as Percy cut off the message and sighed. "Well, at least he remembered before I tried going there," he muttered. He looked back at Amos, who was staring at him. Carter flushed slightly.
"Who's magic was that?" he asked, voice strained. Carter's eyes narrowed at the question, noticing the word choice. He glanced at his guards, pondering his choices before smothering a groan.
"This particular discussion is also not to be shared with anyone, anywhere unless I give you express permission. However, the general facts aren't top secret, so if there's a need to share, so be it. Understood?" One by one the guards all nodded and Carter's shoulders relaxed slightly. "That, Uncle, was the Eye of Nekhbet I've mentioned before. His name's Perseus Jackson."
"Perseus… Why does that name sound familiar?" Amos mulled over the name for a moment before looking up sharply. "Is he your age?"
"A few years older," Carter answered.
"Then it's likely…" Amos took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Many years ago, now, I was tracking down some monsters in Manhattan. Normally we ignore the west side of the river, as you know, but these monsters were attacking both sides, crossing every other day or so. I finally decided to take care of the group myself, so I crossed over and tracked the group down. To my great surprise, there was already a group fighting the monsters when I finally found them. A bunch of kids in orange shirts, wielding straight swords of gleaming bronze. The monsters were odd to me, too. Half snake, half humans with spears and nets, giant black dogs, and a large man with one eye.
"I was able to surprise the monsters, attacking from behind as they fought the other group, and working together we were able to destroy the lot. The kids seemed far more surprised to see me than I was them. Apparently, they had only ever met one other adult like them, and it was a bad experience.
"We parted ways before really learning about each other as tensions were too high, but in the little time we did talk, they mentioned a Perseus multiple times. It took me months of research afterwards before I discovered who they really were."
During his whole story, Amos' eyes stayed locked on to Carter's, searching for some sign of recognition. Carter slowly nodded. "Yes, Percy is a Greek demigod." His guards all gaped at him while Amos seemed to be fighting between multiple emotions. After a flash of satisfaction, he settled on curiosity. "I assume that's why you warned me about other gods being in Manhattan when we first came to the 21st?"
Amos nodded. "Clearly you met somehow anyways. I'm impressed it didn't come to bloodshed."
"Well…" Carter trailed off, embarrassed. "We did fight each other briefly when we first met. We were both hunting the Son of Sobek that got loose a few years ago and thought the other was to blame. He shrugged. "It turned out alright."
"Anyways," he continued, "a lot of these logistics I've had you helping me work through is for setting up a new nome. New Promise… it's supposed to be a place all the pantheons can meet in peace and learn from each other. Percy approached me a month or so ago asking if the House of Life was interested. Sadie helped set up some of their defenses."
"An ambitious project to be sure." Amos frowned. "What brought this about? I'm assuming this isn't a spur of the moment project."
"Percy and his wife got in a rather large fight with Olympus," Carter said flatly. "Their deities are a bit more recalcitrant than our own and dislike change and people who disagree with them. Percy pretty much embodies both." He paused for a second. "Also there's a big prophecy that they feel is soon to be fulfilled that's going to affect all of us. I've tried having some of our diviners look into it but all they come back with is feelings of either deep cold or scathing heat before a wave of Chaos stops their divining." Carter grimaced. "They tend to refuse looking more than twice."
Amos flinched at the description. "What exactly are you asking them to look for?"
"The Great Union," Carter answered. He grinned slightly as Amos paled and stared into space. "Yeah, Horus wasn't thrilled either." Carter sorted through some of the paper on the table as Amos talked with his hosted god, pleased that they had indeed stayed dry. After a couple of minutes, Amos shook his head and regained some of his color.
"Well, Set's of two minds about the Great Union but agrees it's important. Why don't you go see what they need help with and I'll try to wrap all of this up so you can move forward with setting up a hidden nome."
"Thanks, Amos," Carter agreed. "I'll try to be back soon, but until then, you're in charge." Amos nodded his agreement and Carter left to go pack for his trip.
Carter shook the sand from his clothes and adjusted his satchel as he exited the portal. Studying his surroundings, he found himself in a small park. A fountain burbled behind him, bracketed by a pair of obelisks made of marble. The park was full of thick green grass, and while it wasn't large it was still beautiful.
Surrounding the park was a town, though not like any town he had seen. Given his travels, it was an impressive fact. The houses here were modest in size, but eclectic in architecture, with a mix of styles Carter didn't completely recognize. He started for the entrance of the park, figuring he could follow the road to whichever building Percy and Annabeth were leading from.
Before he made it more than 20 steps down the street, a shadow swooped over him and a pegasus landed in front of him, trotting to a stop as Percy patted its mane.
"Thanks, Blackjack," the demigod said. The pegasus whinnied, and Percy dismounted to allow it to fly back to wherever they had come from. Percy grinned at Carter. "Thanks for coming on such short notice."
Carter waved off his thanks. "Eh, it got me out of some paperwork. Nice town you've got here; I'm surprised you've built so much so fast."
Percy shrugged. "The Amazons have helped a lot more than we anticipated. Between the extra supplies and the extra hands, we're ahead of schedule." He glanced around at the neighborhood. "Annabeth still hasn't decided if letting the residents pick their own housing style was a great idea or a terrible one, though."
"I can imagine," Carter chuckled. He glanced around once more, and with a sigh got to the reason for his visit. "So, what kind of spell questions does Annabeth need my help with? Is something Sadie cast when you started this whole project acting up?"
"No, her spells have all held fine. I don't quite understand how they managed to tie it all together, but it's been working really well. If I hadn't specifically invited you, or if you didn't have an honest need for help or safety, you'd have bounced off to a different portal exit. If you had come to fight... Well, let's just say it would be a bad idea."
Carter winced. "Got it, avoid breaking in." He thought for a moment. "Wait, so if a god truly was looking for help they could come here?"
"Yeah," Percy answered, "but I doubt it'll happen anytime soon. I could see some 'minor' deities joining up in the next couple of years, but major gods? Pffft."
"Can your gods even get here?" Carter asked curiously.
"I think so?" Percy frowned in thought. "If I recall Annabeth's theorizing correctly, they'd lose the bulk of their powers crossing the border of their territory, and they'd be stuck in whatever form they crossed in until they returned to Olympus."
"That's a pretty serious weakness," Carter replied. "Monsters and spirits aren't affected the same?"
"Nope. Monsters actually seem to get just a bit stronger, but I haven't noticed a difference in the dryads or nymphs as of yet." Percy shrugged. "Regardless, if they can reach the island, we'll help. Doesn't matter who or what they are."
"A noble goal." Carter let the conversation momentarily die as they rounded the corner, his attention demanded by the large framework that was at the end of what was clearly the main street in the budding town. Huge slabs of marble and panes of glass were piled to the sides of the construction site, and the base of the structure seemed to be made of a dark stone. The size of the framework suggested the building would be around 4 stories when finished.
"What is this building going to be for?" Carter asked. Percy grimaced.
"The town hall or city council or whatever the final name decision ends up being," Percy grumbled. "Since most of the people we have here come from hierarchical cultures, they're insisting on building it as a 'seat of power' of sorts for us since we're in charge of this whole place."
Carter thought for a moment before replying. "I can see where they're coming from, though. It's a good way to project confidence and power during meetings. It'll help solidify your image among those you're trying to help, and also help intimidate aggressors." Percy gave him a flat look and Carter laughed. "I have my own throne, remember? I had to learn how this stuff works."
"Touché," Percy grumbled, fighting a grin. They made their way past the town hall and down the steppe, eventually making it to a large, mostly flat field. There were some sheds dotted around the area, and a pile of broken training dummies off to the side. Some ways away yet, they could see some flashes of fire. As they drew close, Carter was startled to realize the figure flinging flames was Annabeth using a magician's wand.
"Annabeth, we've got visitors!" Percy called out. She lowered her wand and turned to look at them, her face tight with frustration. She relaxed minutely as she realized Carter was there.
"Hey Carter; glad you could make it out," she greeted him, touching the wand to her collarbone where it shrunk into a necklace. She kissed Percy as he came into range, pushing him away playfully after a moment. "Why don't you go practice yourself while we talk magic, Seaweed Brain?"
"Probably should. I can't seem to keep the strength of my ice control consistent." The demigod ambled off to a semi-distant target, frost growing along his arms. Annabeth turned back to Carter.
"Sadie said that you intentionally cast that spell at your wedding, but I wasn't sure I believed her until just now," he admitted, gesturing to the wand on her necklace. "what changed?"
Annabeth sighed. "I was hoping you could help me figure that out. I never noticed having any sort of magic control before the incident with Setne. It went away for a while afterwards, and I don't remember Sadie's true name, but now..." The demigoddess pursed her lips in frustration. "It's come in handy plenty of times, I just don't understand how it happened, and I don't want to push my limits until I know what I'm working with. The last thing I want is to unknowingly activate some curse or favor or something."
"A wise move," Carter agreed. "What sort of magic came back first?" Annabeth blinked.
"Egyptian, then Mist magic. I haven't tried any Norse runes yet." Carter frowned in thought.
"What's your mythical ancestry look like? Any old bloodlines or demigods?"
"Well..." Annabeth frowned in thought. "The Chase's are definitely descended from Swedish royalty, and Magnus has mentioned a lot of them were descendants of Frey, but that wouldn't let me use Egyptian magic."
"I wonder..." Carter muttered. He rummaged around in his satchel for a moment before withdrawing an old scroll. As he carefully unrolled it, he explained. "This is a ledger called The Blood of the Pharaohs. It lists all of the family names for every descendant of the pharaohs of old. Now, with the way the hieroglyphs are protected, I can only read my own. If you can read any of these, it might explain who you're connected to that lets you use Egyptian magic."
Annabeth carefully took the scroll from Carter and looked it over for a few minutes. While she investigated the writings, Carter watched Percy training. He could see what his friend meant by not being able to keep it consistent; some of Percy's strikes were accurate, piercing the training dummy with icicles or covering an appendage in frost, while others caused huge explosions of snow or giant, icy stalagmites that Percy had to dodge as well. Carter turned his attention back to Annabeth as she inhaled sharply.
"Apparently the Chases are also descended from a line of pharaohs," she explained. "I've no idea how to track that lineage. My guess is that it's older than the Swedish line, but any reason for an Egyptian noble to end up that far north is beyond me." Annabeth carefully rerolled the scroll and handed it back to Carter, who tucked it away.
"Maybe they were investigating something?" Carter postulated. "I know I considered going up north on and off over the years to find any information on Felix's powers."
Annabeth frowned. "Who's Felix?"
"Right, you haven't met," Carter answered sheepishly. "He's one of the initiates in the 21st. He decided back after our apocalypse was averted that he was going to follow our god of ice, as his powers very much reflect that." He shrugged. "I haven't had a whole lot of time to really research as I needed to learn everything involved with being pharaoh, but I don't know of any Egyptian god of ice."
"He could be channeling Qebui?" Annabeth suggested. "He's your god of the north wind."
Carter blinked. "Sometimes I forget how smart you are." He frowned as another thought occurred to him. "But Felix uses penguins all the time, and they're from the south."
Annabeth shrugged. "Mortal powers are just as weird as godly powers, if not weirder. Anyways, thank you for the scroll. At least now I know I come by my magic honestly enough."
"Of course, glad to help," Carter replied. "I can stay for a few days and show you how we normally train magicians if you'd like? You'll need to know eventually anyways once we get a nome up here."
Annabeth smiled brightly. "Sounds fun! Thanks again." Carter waved off her thanks and drew his own wand with a grin.
"Alright, so the first thing you need to know is..."
