Camp Olympus
Chiron sighed, the demigods to go on the quest for Olympus had finally been selected. 3 demigods who stood out from the rest managed to convince the rest of the demigod council to let them take the quest, with many objections which were expected of a generation of demigods who had yet to be on a quest.
In front of him stood Hector a son of Hermes who had inherited his father's speed and skills with a sword his skill with a sword was head and shoulder above other campers and his speed only exacerbated this, Anastasia a bubbly daughter of Apollo her blonde her and startling blue eyes meant there was no mistaking her heritage when she first entered the camp, her bow skills further confirmed Chiron's initial suspicions. She was the best archer out of her siblings and was frequently targeted by her aunt to sway her to join the hunters. And the last demigod present was Chloe who was the youngest out of the 3, but as she was a daughter of Hectate she was a powerful mage even at a younger age. She specifically excelled in more combative magic, unlike her siblings who focused closer on illusions and other manipulations of the mist. She used her variety of magic to be a formidable opponent on the battlefield, the three together would be perfectly capable of handling any monster attacks they may encounter. They all looked expectantly at Chiron who seemed abnormally quiet.
"Before I start, I need all of you to swear on the Styx that you will not give out any details regarding this quest to any of the other demigods in camp" Chiron stated firmly, the demigods looked at each other concerned as to why a serious oath was needed
"Uh Chiron why do we need to swear on the Styx it's only a quest, we won't be able to tell anyone about it afterwards how come?" Anastasia asked the legendary trainer, who shifted under the scrutiny of the three demigods who all nodded in agreement with their quest mate.
"Some elements of this quest are sensitive and it would be in the best interest of the camp if others were not informed of the specifics " Chiron carefully worded in response to the demigod " If you do not swear the oath, I will not be able to send you on the quest " he continued, he felt a slight pang of guilt flow through him as he manipulated the demigod's eagerness to go on a quest to swear the oath. His manipulations went unnoticed by the demigods who went wide-eyed and suddenly started agreeing to swear the oath. Before long all three demigods swore the oath set out by the centaur which was sealed by 3 booms in the sky confirming the sealing of the oaths.
"Your quest as issued by Zeus is to find and be Percy Jackson to Olympus" Chiron announced, following this the jaws of all three demigods dropped in unison, before breaking out of their stupor,
"HE'S ALIVE?"
"HE'S NOT A GOD?"
"HE'S MISSING"
All the demigods shouted as they bombarded questions at Chiron who simply raised his hand to allow him to explain, not before Hector managed to get one last question in
"Chiron if Percy Jackson has turned against the gods, how are we meant to fight him he is the most powerful demigod there is" the son of Hermes exclaimed, Chiron looked dangerously at the demigod. Before interrupting,
" I'd advise you to stop that line of thinking immediately Hector, Percy has not turned against the Gods by any means. The story of what happened to Percy is not mine to tell, I promised him that I would not tell. The only thing I can tell you all is that there will be no threat to you from Percy, but he may be displeased at your presence" Chiron said firmly to all three demigods who looked at him incredulously, Anastasia took the initiative of the situation and understood that Chiron was not willing to go into any further details as to what had happened to the legendary demigod.
" How do we find him Chiron?" She asked whilst the cogs in her head started turning planning how the quest would turn out, she was a little disappointed one of the first quests was to just find someone and take them to Olympus, but she was buzzing at the prospect of meeting the Percy Jackson, the man she had prayed too countless times like every other demigod in the camp.
Chiron grimaced " Unfortunately, Percy never saw fit to tell me where he resides all I know is that he lives as a mortal and a teacher also. Potentially some of his old friends such as Nico or Grover may be of more use in that area for you. " He answered the demigod. He knew that revealing everything he knew would be a betrayal of Percy's trust, but Zeus ordering this quest would lead to bad news for all beings, especially if Chiron didn't send anyone. The demigods nodded as the situation sank in for all of them. They would meet Percy Jackson! But all were hesitant at the lack of information they had been given to find the legendary demigod. Chiron continued to inform them to attend the supply building where they would be kitted up with any provisions they needed for the quest before setting off.
Anastasia had been thinking of a plan ever since Chiron had revealed the nature of the quest that they would be setting off on. She tossed and turned in her bed a knot of anxiety in her stomach which refused to go away kept her thinking of how she would have to approach the quest before she got an idea. Leaping out of her bed, she went outside into the camp skilfully navigating the streets she had lived within since she was only 5. After around 10 minutes of walking around, she stopped at a house. Going to the door she knocked firmly before stepping back slightly, she waited a short while for the occupants to answer before the door swung open revealing a muscular man who was rubbing his eyes whilst yawing
"Can I help you?" the man asked, as he started looking at the demigod before him. His eyes almost analysed Anastasia for any threats she could pose. She cleared her throat slightly
" Yes Lord Frank, I need your help please," The daughter of Apollo asked the immortal hero who simply raised his eyebrow,
" And this couldn't wait until the morning?" He asked with a hint of annoyance in his voice, as his gaze hardened slightly, Anastasia simply shook her head at the immortal before replying,
"It's urgent, if you can spare just 5 minutes, I'll explain everything to you please " she pleaded with Frank, who stayed silent for a second before huffing in annoyance he opened the door fully allowing the demigod into his home before directing her towards the living area where she sat down on one of the chairs. The immortal son of Ares stayed standing and gazed at her before gesturing for her to start talking, the young demigod took a deep breath before starting. " It's about a quest Chiron has given me, the quest is to find Percy Jackson and I know you used to be friends with him "
The moment the name Percy was mentioned Frank looked like he had been struck with a lightning bolt his eyes narrowing dangerously at the daughter of Apollo.
" Swear on the Styx Chiron gave you this quest" He growled at the demigod who promptly swore the oath. The knot of anxiety quickly spread throughout her body as a result of the volatile reaction from the immortal. After swearing the oath, Frank promptly swivelled on his heels before walking upstairs without saying a word to Anastasia. The demigod in question anxious to understand what quiet was happening at the moment, Frank returned downstairs to the awaiting demigod this time accompanied by a woman they approached Anastasia who quickly got up to bow to the other immortal.
" Lady Hazel I'm so sorry" Anastasia quickly apologised to the immortal who had been woken up, Hazel simply waved her hand to stop the demigod from bowing before extending her hand out.
" Just Hazel is fine dear, what's your name" Hazel smiled at the young demigod who took her hand and shook it.
" Anastasia," The daughter of apollo said quickly as Hazel sat down on the sofa, causing Frank to follow suit quickly. " I'm so sorry to bother you both I just had no idea where to start" Hazel simply nodded and gestured for her to start explaining.
Anastasia quickly started to explain what had occurred with Chiron and the quest which had been issued from Lord Zeus himself and how she and 2 other demigods would be leaving tomorrow at dawn to try and find Percy. As she was explaining the two immortal heroes went through a myriad of emotions from anger to sadness to a steely resolve the further that daughter of apollo explained.
" So, if there is anything you can do to help me find him, I need it" Anastasia plead to the two sitting in front of her. Frank and Hazel glanced at each other seemingly going through an internal debate as to whether to help or not. The silence which had fallen upon them did nothing to sate Anastasia's nerves, her ADHD making her impatient. After what seemed like a lifetime Frank cleared his throat,
" We were never as close to Percy as some of the others were, he checked in with us a couple of times to make sure we were okay and to congratulate us on our wedding and daughter but other than that he kept his distance from us" He explained to the younger demigod whose face visibly fell in disappointment, She knew coming here may have been a waste of time but how was she ever going to be able to find him now she thought to herself before she could further berate herself Hazel quickly intervened by grasping the demigod's hand.
" Whilst we can't help as much as you want, I suggest finding Nico. He is the closest thing to a brother he has and will know where he is" Hazel said to Anastasia who looked gratefully at the immortal, her mood switching in an instant.
" Where can I find Nico?" She asked Hazel, who looked away from the demigod into the distance, seemingly deep in thought.
" My brother lives in the underworld, you would need to get to DOA Studios in LA to get in, " She said tersely, before glancing back to the demigod looking at her seriously " I have to warn you, going into the Underworld is no easy task, it is not a natural place for the living." her tone suggested she knew from experience as Anastasia racked her brain before realizing Hazel had been dead for many years before being resurrected by Nico, she felt a wash of guilt overcome her as she had brought up the situation that may have caused some unpleasant memories.
"I'm so sorry, but you've helped me so much I can't thank you enough," The daughter of apollo said gratefully looking between both of the legendary heroes who both smiled slightly,
"Bring back Percy for a good catch-up with me and we will call it even " The son of Mars grinned to the demigoddess, who smiled back before bidding farewell to them both. She went back to her dorms with a small skip in her step at the success of the evening, hopefully, tomorrow would be the start of a good quest.
Percy
Instead of the regular demigod dreams or nightmares Percy normally found himself having, he found himself back in the room in which he had met Phanes who was currently sitting on the sofa smiling at the demigod. Percy sighed slightly before taking a seat on the couch opposite the primordial. He had hoped in vain that the man would forget about the agreement that they had made.
" Hello Percy" The god smiled cheerily, Percy looked at the immortal in surprise, it was not often that immortals were this cheery.
" Phanes " He grunted out in reply,
" So as per our agreement, please proceed and tell me your story from the beginning," Phanes responded in an upbeat tone
Percy looked at the immortal silently for a second, he could not fathom why the man wanted him to tell a story which was known by most beings in the Greek world and for a literal Primordial who probably knew more about it than most. After his internal debate, he folded on himself and decided to start telling him his life story. From when he was born from strangling snakes in cribs to the weird 1-eyed man standing outside of his school, continuing his tumultuous time in schools and the various ways he had been expelled. When telling stories about war cannons and the aquarium trip visit, he could not help but be a little embarrassed by the stories, which was visible to the god opposite him who simply chucked at Percy's expense. Percy continued through various details of his life, deciding to gloss over the details about Smelly Gabe which was noticed by God but instead of responding he simply raised an eyebrow allowing Percy to continue his stories.
After explaining how he had first come to know he was a demigod including the Fury incident and the Minotaur situation and the first quest he had received to get the master bolt back and his mother. He stopped to look at the immortal who was grinning ear to ear and gestured for him to continue, so Percy continued to explain his quest within the Sea of Monsters which started with Luke's betrayal of the camp and ended with the resurrection of Thalia, which got a small chuckle from the deity, Percy paused for a minute as he relieved moments from his memories of Annabeth were tough.
"Is it okay if we stop here for tonight, I need some time to think?" Percy asked quietly.
Phanes started clapping softly to the demigod, a smile plastered over his face.
" Of course, we can but I must say young Percy, the stories certainly live up to expectations and I am thoroughly enjoying myself. I would love to continue this further but unfortunately, I'm sure you would like to wake up at a reasonable time" Phanes said brightly, Percy baulked slightly, had he been talking that long or it is dream time which messes things up?
" It would be the second thing by your explanation Percy, I look forward to our next meeting" Phanes smirked at the demigod, but before Percy could object to his mind being read, Phanes waved his hand and Percy found himself back in his bedroom the sun shining through the blinds indicating a new day.
Percy sat up whilst in bed, thinking back on what he had discussed with Phanes and considering taking a sick day from work so he could work on his training, but he knew that he needed to brief his swimming team on the finals. After a mental debate, he dragged himself out of bed and got ready for his day.