"This is New York, nothing is easy." ~ Zeus Grace
"No kisses!" Leo cried. "What kind of a date is that?"
"At least they seem to be getting along pretty well." Reyna noticed.
Hazel eyed the video and shook her head. "Guys, is this right? Firstly, we set them up on a 'date' and they weren't exactly thrilled about it. Well, Annabeth wasn't anyway. Percy is probably thanking us but neither of them know Leo placed a secret camera to spy on them."
"Yeah." Frank agreed. "It's kind of mean to both of them."
"Well, not really mean." Hazel stated. "More like rude."
Frank didn't understand the difference between 'mean' and 'rude but agreed anyway.
"Let's ask Percy how was it." Reyna suggested. "It'll be fun if he exaggerated it a lot since we know the truth."
"Yeah, nobody tell him about the camera though." Leo said quickly.
As Reyna took her phone to call Percy, the door opened.
"Hey guys!"
"Ah! Percy!" Leo screamed quickly shutting the lid down.
"Percy!" Frank looked surprised. "We..weren't expecting you!"
"Are you guys watching porn or something?" Percy frowned. "Why did Leo shut his laptop screen so quickly? Is there something you don't want me to see?"
"Porn?" Reyna repeated laughing. "No way!"
Hazel looked pretty mortified that Percy thought she might even be looking at that sort of thing. "No! No!"
"It's a secret." Leo said. "Like FBI worthy. Obama might send people after us if it leaks."
"Alright." Percy shrugged as if the answer was 'oh, it's just maths homework. You can't copy off us'.
Hazel smiled. "So how was it with Annabeth?"
"Fine." Percy replied. "Nothing much. She was telling me about her life and stuff. It's okay, I guess."
"No couple sort of things?" Reyna prompted him. "Like cuddling? Kissing? Or just holding hands?"
Percy shook his head. "Nah, it was awkward though."
"I can imagine." Frank said. "As my grandmother used to say-"
"No, Frank." Reyna said firmly. "I don't care what your grandmother says."
"Bu-but, it might actually be useful!" Frank protested. "She makes me memorize all those ancient chinese sayings."
"And I don't want to hear it."
"Okay." Frank muttered. It was those types of 'okay' he act like everything's alright but really, he felt insulted Reyna didn't want to hear anything from him. He is usually those really shy guys who would barely talk but when he did, it seemed like people don't even want to hear him. He knew it was just Reyna being herself but it wasn't really helping.
"Your mansion is amazing!" Jason complimented. "It's like those you see off movies."
Piper laughed. "You should see the ones own by actual millionaires."
"Would anybody notice we're here?" Jason asked. "I mean, Percy's dad made it pretty clear we're not to be seen."
"I don't think so." Piper told him. "My family doesn't usually have anybody here unless it's holiday to which sometimes, my family comes over for a little vacation. You should never be sure though. We could have creepers, stalkers, reporters, basically anybody bursting through the doors."
"Well, that's..reassuring."
"Don't worry." Piper smiled. "Everything will be fine. Technically, you can just go inside any toilets or anything to change. You can borrow my cousin's things. I think he left a few clothing before he went to Amsterdam in the toilet next to the kitchen. I mean, the kitchen on this floor."
"How many kitchens do you even have?"
"Uh..well, if you mean big as in those normal sized ones, there'll be three but we have like mini bars, freezers, boxes of food around." Piper replied.
Jason shook his head. "The life of a celebrity who owns a freaking mansion. I'll probably be able to find that bathroom."
"Bathroom." Piper giggled. "Are you British or something?"
"No, why?"
"I think Americans say toilet." Piper wondered. "I always though bathroom is used by British people."
"Then how about washrooms? Or water closet?" Jason pointed out.
Piper shrugged. "I'm not sure. Australians?"
Jason laughed. "Alright. So we can wash up and go back to Percy's dad's apartment?"
"I guess so. Won't hurt if I bring some quality food, internet connector or something, plugs, and all those nessicity. Ooh, and if you need anything, feel free to press those white buttons you see around the house. It's like an intercom. We're suppose to use it to call our butler when we stay here but yeah, I can hear you if you use it."
Jason took one last glance at Piper who's heading upstairs to her room and started to go search for the bathroom..or toilet Piper's cousin left his clothes in. "Butler." He muttered. "Intercom."
"Is your husband home?" Leo knocked on Brad Marshall's door for the second time to find his wife, Lilah Marshall answering.
Lilah Marshall rolled her eyes. "Oh, it's you again. What survey do you have installed for me now?"
"It's the second part of our survey, ma'am. We'll need your husband to answer it." Leo answered as professionally as he can. "It's important, please."
"He's home." Mrs. Marshall shrugged. "Ryan's at his tantrum again. I'll tell him to come out after he calmed him now. I am impossible at calming babies."
"I can wait." Leo grinned. He felt like he needed to assure Mr. Marshall's wife somehow to make her feel that Leo is safe and won't harm them in any way.
"Brad?" Lilah Marshall called. "This kid wants to see you!"
"Who is it?" Mr. Marshall yelled back. "Oh god, Ryan, shut up! What do you want? Your sippy cup? Crackers? Thomas the Train?"
"I don't know.." Mrs. Marshall's voice faltered.
Leo prompted her. "Leo."
"Leo!" Mrs. Marshall shouted.
"Wait!" Brad Marshall sighed. "A moment. Or Lilah, can you get him to sleep?"
"You know I'm not good with babies!" Lilah stomped her foot in frustration. "But fine. Better be quick."
"What do you want, kid?" Dr. Marshall exchanged places with his wife and sighed. "As you can probably tell, it's not exactly the best time."
"How much is it?" Leo whispered softly making sure nobody can hear him.
"What?" Brad Marshall frowned. "Oh god. You mean you want to get that, do you? How do you know I'm a dealer?"
Leo smirked. "How else do you repay your debts so quickly? I did a school survey on your wife a few weeks back and she accidentally revealed that information to me. Don't worry, it's confidential. Why would I tell anyone when I'm buying it from you anyway?"
"Fair point." Dr. Marshall nodded. "It's going to cost, boy. These things aren't exactly cheap. 50 dollars."
"Shit." Leo shook his head. Wow, they really aren't kidding when they say it's expensive.
"40?" Dr. Marshall offered. "These are premium."
"Premium?" Leo repeated. He didn't know cocaine can be premium. Perhaps it was a lie since he is a first-timer or there are somehow premium cocaine but he didn't question. He didn't want to make a fool out of himself. "Is there any that aren't premium?"
"Sorry, kid. This place only sell those with class. If you want those cocaine that I don't even know is real or not, go to the alleys. You're bound to find a few stoned kids there." Dr. Marshall replied. "Fine, last offer. 30."
"Deal." Leo nodded reluctantly as he took the cash out and handed it over.
"Bitch, that disguise makes you look like a retard." Poseidon laughed as Zeus took a seat next to him. "Actually, you could do that just fine without the disguise!"
"Shut up." Zeus scowled under his fake mustache. "I seriously don't want to be seen with you without any costumes."
"Oh, I don't want to be seen next to you either. It'll be like the beauty and the beast. I'm the beauty and you're the beast." Poseidon taunted him.
"That's right." Zeus agreed. "I'm the guy and you're the princess who's crazy enough to fall in love with an ugly creature."
"So you admit you're ugly."
"Get lost." Zeus snapped. "You called me to meet you. Tell me what you want to tell me so we can both get out of each other's face and avoid each other for the next century."
"You wanted to meet me too. We both know - Hades too - that it won't be the last of us since high school. You can't diminish something like what we had before it ended. Now that Hades is dead, we can't hide anymore. Somebody's out there for us. They're coming for us. We can't pretend it's nothing anymore. They could harm our families."
"Yes, Captain Obvious." Zeus rolled his eyes. "And what can we do about it? Hades is just as strong as us and he's fallen. If he can die like that, the thing is out of our control. It's not like our bond can make all problems disappear. This is New York, nothing is easy."
Poseidon raised his eyebrows. "So you're just going to sit there counting for your days to be over? Are you not even going to try to stop this? It can save your life!"
"My life is already done." Zeus laughed rather strangely. "What else is there to do anymore? I've done them all. You know that metaphor? Life is just like a roller coaster with all the ups and downs? Well, my roller coaster ride is finished. There's no more tracks to go but for some reason, I'm still alive. There's nothing else to do. I'm just watching every day pass. There's nothing special anymore, it's all predictable."
"Oh really?" Poseidon challenged. "Then do you know the winning ticket for tonight's lottery? No! Buy the lottery ticket and you'll feel the suspense watching the lottery show tonight."
Zeus shook his head. "I don't care about that but you're right. Actually, there's one more track for me to go. I'm watching the story unfold itself right now. It's amusing watching other people fall into the traps and lies I put them into."
"What is it?" Poseidon whispered softly.
Zeus waved his hands around majestically. "Oh, nothing you need to know about. It's no biggie anyway. Kind of like watching my daughter trying to get an A but seriously, she can never do that. What a disgrace. (AN: haha, Thalia Grace..disgrace….okay, I'm probably the only one who laughed at that) It's not that though, but something equivalent in the minority of it."
"That's not worth watching." Poseidon sniffed.
Zeus smirked. "You'll be surprised by it actually. It might even affect you but I don't really care. I mean, what do those teenagers say again? Carpe Diem? Momento Mori? Ah, yes. Yolo! Yes, Poseidon, yolo! You only live once. I'm doing whatever I want to do in my life just for fun. It's amazing how greatly it affects people. It's like watching a movie, but that movie is so good it can win every Oscars award. It's realistic and you're actually living in it."
"What the fuck?" Poseidon bursted into laughters again. "Yolo? What are you going to talk about now? The fact you have swag?"
"Fuck off." Zeus growled. "I'm trying to make a serious point and you're making it sound like a joke."
"To me it is kind of like a joke." Poseidon's sea green eyes glittered mischievously. "No offense but really, everything you say is a joke. Actually, scrape that. You are a joke."
"You called this meeting. Sure, I had a few things I would like to tell you but still, I wouldn't if you somehow got my phone number and called me." Zeus reminded him. "I think it would be more sufficient if we actually talk so we can get this over with sooner."
"I did talk." Poseidon said. "And I'm telling you that you shouldn't sit back and do nothing like you're planning to. I'm not going to watch you fall like Hades."
"Then fall alongside me." Zeus offered. "If I'm going to die anyway, feel free to die with me."
"My family needs me. I'm not going to go with you down to the Underworld. You can go to hell yourself. What do you think your family is going to think of you?"
"Well, Joan would probably cry but she'll get over it. I mean sure, it would be pretty tough if I'm gone especially when..well, none of your business but she'll cope. I'm sure she will. Thalia…Thalia will be fine. She doesn't even give a damn about me. She's in that teenage stage of her life where she's such a rebel she doesn't care about anything. She'll be okay. It's Jason which I'm most worried about if I am worried about anything. That poor boy finally got off coma to find out things aren't any simpler. He is still stuck in a web trying to find out who the Shooter is. Again, like Joan, he'll be fine though." Zeus answered.
"Where's Piper?" Nico asked urgently while banging on Percy's door at 11 pm. It was a terrible hour to wake somebody up especially when Percy was just comfortably in his bed almost falling asleep. Percy was tempted to leave his friend outside knocking impatiently but realized he couldn't go to sleep knowing somebody is stuck outside. Sighing, Percy got up and opened the door.
"What?" Percy asked, slightly annoyed. "You're lucky my dad's not home."
"Where's Piper?" Nico repeated as if it was super important.
"Huh?" Percy frowned. "Haven't you heard? She's staying in California with Jason for a while. Didn't she send you a text? It was something about..I don't know, normal celeb stuff? Why the sudden interest?"
Nico shook his head. "No..I never got any texts and nobody told me."
"Oh that's right." Percy said. "You practically locked yourself in your house for the past day without communicating with anybody."
"I was busy." Nico retorted defensively. "But she's not alone, is she?"
"Again, she's with Jason." Percy shook his head. "Really, you came all the way here, interrupted my sleep just to ask this stupid question you could have asked tomorrow morning?"
"Sorry!" Nico bowed his head, faced the ground and mumbled. "I swear, it's really important though. It's a good thing she has company but I don't know..Jason isn't that good. I mean, he's strong and he can protect Piper but it wasn't so long before Jason got back from his coma. He's probably still confused about everything."
Percy laughed. "Jason woke up in September. It's been quite a while and protect Piper? Why would anybody need to do that? She's a celebrity..well, sort of. She probably have more bodyguards than the bank my mom goes to."
"If I tell you something, can you promise to keep it a secret? As in, tell nobody type of secret? Not even your favorite toy or your cheesecake?"
"Sure." Percy shrugged. What kind of secret is it anyway? It can't be that bad. A kid like Nico can't possibly know something like when aliens are going to attack Earth.
"Remember the time Piper was knocked out in Halloween? I paid her one visit when she was in hospital. Being knocked out, she obviously didn't see me but Jason was there. I told him to shut up and he's nice and loyal, he probably didn't tell anyone. Anyway, I knew from a tip off my dad that Piper holds some kind of a clue to the big mystery we're living in. It can't be any more obvious at that time that Piper was holding the clue and I was right. I opened her fist - funny how nobody checked there - and found a piece of paper. I kept it of course and didn't show it to anyone. Jason probably has no clue."
"Yeah?" Percy raised his eyebrow. "Nico, you never crease to surprise me."
"That note is important." Nico stated. Percy thought it was a bit silly since it was pretty obvious by now the note had some huge role to play. "Piper needs to know. She could be in danger."
"In danger? Well, she's in another state. The danger won't really follow her all the way to the other side of America, would it? Who has the time to take a plane ride - not to mention pay for it too - just to get Piper into trouble?" Percy said, trying to persuade himself it's not really happening. To be honest, Percy isn't sure. From what has been happening lately, it's almost like anything can happen. Percy and Piper have that close bond where they think of and treat each other like siblings. They have their moments of arguing but at the end of the day, they care about each other deeply like they're related. Percy is like the big brother Piper never had and they're both protective of each other.
Nico shook his head. "Danger can follow you all the way to China if you go there. It's unavoidable especially in the society we live in. There's the internet, phone, pizza deliveries, you can never be safe."
"Wow, pizza deliveries." Percy chuckled. "I'm thinking of ordering a pizza tomorrow night, am I in danger?"
"Oh, you don't want to know about pizza deliveries." Nico said suppressing a smile at Percy's sarcasm. "My sister had enough of those."
"What does the note even say?"
Nico had a strange look on his face and suddenly, Percy didn't really want to know anymore. It was creepy. It's one of those situations, you know you're better off being ignorant in. "It's a note from my dad, not the person who assaulted Piper. He told me to open it after Halloween for the full effect to take place. The note states that he already knows he's dead, that's why he asked me to open it after Halloween. He knows he won't be around when I see the note. He knew he was going to die, yet he went away. "
"That must be..brave." Percy nodded, he didn't know what to say.
"Here, look at it yourself. Just don't tell anybody what you read on this note. It's confidential and seriously, people who tell are always the ones who get killed in the end."
Percy wanted to say something like 'dramatic' as he found that pretty hard to believe but he didn't. Instead, he took the note from Nico's hands and read it silently.
Dear Nico,
I love writing letters and notes. You must have known that from all those stuff I left behind you probably found. Instead of telling you in person, a letter is more dangerous in a way. The fact that anybody can pick it up despite it being addressed to you creates the thrill of writing letters. I like thrills and I love dangerous stuff. Obviously, I don't want anybody but you, Nico, to read this letter but the fun begins when I leave this note and if anybody else but you read it. I don't want to just send it to you by mail or something. That's too easy. Anybody can do it. You have to find this yourself for the possible clues I might reveal later on in this letter.
Percy stopped. "Should I continue, Nico? I mean, it does say pretty clearly that he doesn't want anybody but you to read it."
"No, don't stop." Nico urged. "Read it." So Percy shrugged and kept on reading.
Funny how I told you that there'll be something that Piper McLean contains which might help you while I still want you to search for this. I honestly don't even know what I'm suppose to think or do but oh well, whatever. Piper is your friend, isn't she? She is a very special person. Extremely important for things to play out. Sure, she's just your average daughter of a famous celebrity but it isn't her that people are after, it's her status, her role in society. She is probably the first person they're after. When she's gone, everything with crumble bit by bit. Nico, they are after her and that's what I'm going to tell you.
Don't worry much about Piper though. There's always a weak link in the group but trust me, it's not Piper. She'll be fine. Even if she has been captured, she doesn't have to freak out. She won't be affected, it's her friends (yes, that might include you) that will be the victims. The Shooter - and anyone that might have something against you - have an odd way of working.
This note isn't all about Piper. Well, it mostly is but I'll leave you with a couple of sentences that is focused on you. Watch out, son. It's not a pretty world out there are you are wanted by people. You, Percy and Jason. You guys are powerful, don't underestimate yourself. It's almost my time to join the Underworld so I see things better than most people. However, I'm not like everyone else. I'm not going to reveal everything to you. I can tell you that you guys couldn't split apart or have anything to tear you apart like what happened with me and their dads. That's what went wrong, well, it's one of the factors anyway. Nico, by the time you read this, I'm gone. I'm not living anymore, like how I'm not when you read the other notes or letters. I know I'm going to die soon and that's why I left you all these clues. It's your turn now and I can't really do anything to help you physically. Follow my clues, follow me and you will be avenging my death and bringing honor to our family. I promise you that, Nico.
Love, Hades Di Angelo.
Percy gripped the note rather tightly. "It's about me too." He muttered hoarsely.
"That's why I want you to read it." Nico told him. "It affects us all. Everything happening to us is affecting the people around us too."
"Are you going to show Jason?"
"I would but he's in another state." Nico said. "I hope he's fine with Piper. They should be able to cope but I wish them luck anyways."
"Send it to them through email, text or messaging." Percy suggested.
"Nah." Nico shook his head. "My dad doesn't trust electronics, they're easy to hack. I'm not going to take that risk either."
AN: Naughty Leo, going to buy cocaine? ;) I hope that part is okay...let's hope Leo won't actually go and take the cocaine, shall we? He is a very interesting character to write and Hades' letters...I think they're pretty appropriate and I love the idea of Hades hiding all these clues for Nico to find.
I'm so excited since my easter break starts next week and it's going to be for 2 weeks! ahah, okay, the awkward moment when I'm even more excited for April Fools Day than Easter itself... I don't know, I just love April Fools! Review or PM me your favourite pranks to prank my friends, family... I'd love to play more pranks on them! :P
One last note, do any of you watch Pretty Little Liars? And if you do, have you seen the finale of Season 3? asdfghjkl;, if you do please PM me! I'd love to discuss theories with you and fangirl over Spoby :')
~Kisses, Emily