Chapter 24: Alien From Earth

"Are you sure you're okay, young man?"

Hmm? Percy glanced back at the old lady who was nice enough to invite him, the decently-dressed, handsome and not-so-ragged homeless teenager, into her house for something to eat. He was happy that people were nicer today. The kids would need them. "Yes ma'am. Thank you for the food."

"It was a pleasure having you over."

He bowed to her, as respect, and continued on his way. To east. To Olympus, so he could meet the Olympians.

Well, he didn't know that he'd just eaten with one. In principle, she wasn't one... but yeah.

From what he could gather, the jet dropped him off (technically he jumped off) at South Dakota or Nebraska or wherever near those two. He was tempted to go to camp... like, his camp, which he assumed was vaguely in the south somewhere, in the middle of the continent. But he knew he had to go to Olympus first.

Something was drawing him toward the north though, but he wasn't sure what.

Now, naturally and stupidly, he went against it. Although his teachers have taught him to follow his hunches, his instincts, for some reason he had a hard time stamping that into his brain and that was why he seemed so out of it sometimes. There were most times, which also turned out to be the right and inevitable times, that he followed them, but unconsciously, those times also were branded the worse-looking ones, and such was the reason he was branded a reckless guy.

And so he headed for New York by foot. More than a time he'd bumped into cops, mindless drunks, some demigods, and of course, people who just didn't care who they bumped into as long as they don't bother them other than that. Well, there was this one time that he'd almost bumped into Apollo (it was easy to tell the blonde dude hanging around and flirting with women) and for some reason, his instinct, this time, told him to stay away.

And, well, this time, he followed it. Probably the best decision of his life.

Ahem. Anyway, he was wondering how he would reintroduce himself. Should he go by the usual, Hi guys, the name's Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon. Or maybe with the extra title, Hi guys, the name's Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon and Chaos. Or maybe, Hi guys, the name's Percy Jackson, son and heir of Poseidon and Chaos.

Okay, maybe that last one was a little over-assuming of him..

According to Hades, the Olympians already knew that he was alive. ...alright, even the demigods knew. So they should be on the hunt for him. But where were they? He'd barely seen anyone suspicious... maybe he was going with the right side of the crowd; the thought made him smirk proudly. ...or maybe they were just blending in as well as he was.

Well yeah whatever. As long as he gets to Olympus.

But... oh yeah, he was thinking of how he'd introduce himself. Maybe he should say the full title. But then he snorted as a thought came to him. Why would he need to introduce himself again, anyway? They knew him already. Maybe to tell them the little fun additions to his uber-long epithet. Yeah... he could see it now.

(Not to be that narcissistic or whatever) Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon, son and heir of Chaos, bane of monsters and titans, finished seven (or was it eight?) prophecies yada yada, hero of Olympus twice over, survivor of Tartarus..? (okay, technically he didn't get out without help, but still,) boyfriend of Artemis (oh nononono that was going to jeopardize his literal deadline), Master of the Sword (self-proclaimed), and father of Arc Jackson..

The last one was just... right.

Yeah, okay, well; he won't say anything if they won't ask. It was as easy as that.

Anyway, as he had been walking down the deserted, paved highway, there was a sign: Entering Faucett, Missouri / 69 KM.

Percy looked at the sign funnily.

Regardless, that meant that he was in Missouri. Maybe he could cover more than half the distance across in half a day. He won't walk for forever, after all. And then through that, take a break, buy something to eat, rinse and repeat. Estimating, without the monsters and emergencies in mind, he could make it to West Virginia in about two days and then portal from there... if the plan wouldn't be jeopardized.

Hugging that plan close to his mind, he looked around for any onlookers. Seeing there was none, he let his wings tear through his shirt—dang he forgot to wear the special clothes before he went. Shrugging the thought off, he flew.

And then a thought hit him. He was in the touchy domain of the touchy god with the touchy feelings. Would it actually count if he flew on his own, just like when he flew with Blackjack?

He didn't get to think about it more when suddenly, there was a loud pounding in his head—and he fell out of the sky.

Again.

Percy was groaning as he woke up. The last thing he remembered was falling out of the sky for the second time, but this time he went unconscious when he landed.

But man, did it feel good to get slapped by Gaea again. At least he knew one of them were looking out for him. Maybe Zoë was, too, but the only sign he could get from her was her shining constellation... and it was daytime.

And when he woke up at that daytime, not knowing exactly what time it is, he now knew that he wasn't anymore in Missouri.

He was in a cell. A smelly, hot, and cramped cell, with nothing but pants on. He had steel handcuffs around his wrists, and a gag in between his teeth. Did someone just rape him?

Okay, bad thought. The handcuffs and the gag were too insubstantial to be Order's work, and the cell was too smelly and cheerful to be a dungeon, which usually was dank and dark.

Which just meant that he was captured by some mortals.

He frowned as best as he could with the gag on. He was only so thankful that the handcuffs were at the back, so he'd be able to hide his now unbound wrists, but the gag needed to be on. He needed to get the mortals' attention, whether they were cops, kidnappers, or psychopaths.

He approached the bars and kicked it with a foot. His hair stood at the ends, and he was thrown back ungracefully onto his damp mattress. His boot was smoking. It's an electric force field, he thought in horror. Maybe these guys were working for Order.

But if they were, they would've gotten better handcuffs... and a better cell.

So shoot, these were mortals.

Percy approached the bars again but was cautious not to touch anything. He opened his mouth wider and, "AGHHHH," he screamed.

There was a crash, and then he heard rapid footsteps coming toward him. He had to think of something, quick. He had to make the guy or whoever it is to deactivate the force field. But how?

Just as he thought this, a police guy came into view. The first thing he saw was a plastic key card hanging with the keys in his belt loops. He fought back a grin, which wasn't hard with the gag on. Now he just had to make him let him out.

"Yo sergeant," he greeted, which he reckoned wasn't that all perceptible with the gag. Well, he had to try. "Lemme outta here."

The guy looked at him weirdly. "Is that alien language?"

He blinked. What the hell was he talking about? Though he did know Void-speak, but he would, in no way, use it with them. "No, no!" He glared at the guy and moved his jaw erratically.

The guy frowned. "Oh. The gag." He thought for a few moments. "Can't you, like, burn it with fire powers or something?"

Percy stared at him incredulously. How did he know that? Unless, of course, Order was turning the mortals against him. But they didn't seem hostile enough towards him. He shook his head. "I can't."

The policeman looked conflicted, before turning the force field off and reaching towards his gag, untying it from the back of his head.

Great, the force field's off. Since they seemed to think that he was some kind of alien (which, technically, he was,) he was going to prove them otherwise.

"Hey, thanks man."

The policeman looked surprised. "You speak English?"

It wasn't hard to look disbelieving. "Of course I do! I'm an American, aren't I?"

"B-but," he stammered, stepping back as this big information overwhelmed him. "He said—the metal jetpack wings—the Chief said—"

"What, you think I'm some kind of alien?" the son of Chaos asked incredulously. "Dude! I'm an assistant of Professor... uh Professor Our... Uriel, you know," he laughed nervously, "the inventor? The aeronautics scientist, yeah?"

The policeman nodded slowly. "Uh, yeah.."

"Yeah! He asked me to test launch that, those metal... jetpack wings that you said you saw." He offered a small grin, a grin that said please just buy it just buy it just buy it. "Kind of failed, as you've known; crashed me somewhere."

The guy nodded, appearing decisive. "Yeah. Sorry 'bout that." He put his key card into somewhere in the wall, a place he couldn't see from inside the cell. The bars opened a gap wide enough for a person to pass through. "We thought you were the alien from the news."

"What do you mean?" Percy asked, and then adding, "I haven't really been in a, uh, home like a... home, you know, heh. No TV."

"Oh." The nice police dude stepped back to give him space to get out of the cell. "They say there's a weird jet that flew around in the sky, and then dropped a thing off, like hundreds of feet above ground. Because the jet is, uh yeah, weird, and no living thing could possibly survive that fall—except maybe a bird but it's too big to be one—they assume it's an alien." Then the policeman snorted. "Whatever the hell is the kind of government I'm working for. Grown men and believing in aliens. They went even so far to contain an assistant of a scientist here!"

"Uh yeah, I agree with you on that." The son of Chaos laughed again, more nervously. His damned mindlessness caused the mortals to see the transport jet. "Um, where's the exit?"

"There." The officer pointed down the hallway. "Just turn at that, it should lead you to the reception desk. It should be empty since it's lunch break of most but the cell guards. If it isn't, tell them you just visited a friend. They shouldn't notice."

Percy nodded, patting the guy on the shoulder. "Thanks, man. I'll make sure to give you and your family some protection."

Before he could reply, the heir bolted down the hallway and swerved at a turn. And then he flattened himself at the same wall the desk was beside, him and the person manning the desk facing the same wall.

There was an officer there. That guard who let him out must've been a new guy. New people were a pain in the ass sometimes, but right now he was thankful for them.

Closing his eyes, he breathed in and turned himself into vapor. He slipped past the other people and went straight out a window. Faintly, he could hear an angry male voice shouting at someone, like berating a child, or in this case, a newbie.

Poor guy, he thought, but decided that if he didn't use the newbie he'd be telling that to himself while the FBI or the CIA or whatever contained the 'alien'.

And so he traveled the next few miles in vapor form, since he found out that he was a bit famous in the news. He'd no doubt they've snapped a photo of him already. And he would be in the newspapers, again. Just like old times.

(Okay, he wasn't really sure where he was, but he knew he was going east after seeing the position of the sun. ...okay, at least he thought he was going east.)

Eventually he'd grown tired of using so much energy in traveling (however efficient it was) and so he changed back into human at the back of a restaurant. Better to eat and regain strength while he's at it.

Percy sat at a table and ordered his food. Once the waitress finally went away (she stayed for a few more minutes to flirt with him, unsuccessfully he might add), he leaned back in his seat and sighed, ducking his head as people passed by the large window. He was ready to commend celebrities on how they expertly hide their faces from the crowd. He reckoned that they usually don baseball caps and sunglasses and other clothing that covers more than their skin. He could've bought some, but curse his unforgiving mind to forget before he entered the restaurant.

His food came and soon he was eating like a savage wolf. Man, he did miss Earth food. Those servants at his mother's palace just loved to cook the cuisines from the foreign planets. Most of them had names that were too complicated for his ADHD brain to remember. The Khaos cuisines—now that, those were probably the best he'd consumed. He was pretty sure it was influenced by the other planets, not that he'd tried the food of said planets. But still, Earth food was the food he'd grown up on, and it was still the best for him, especially when he's hungry.

A light flashed briefly in his eyes, and he froze, the piece of meat lodged into his fork stopping halfway through his mouth. With that flash, he'd heard a small click.

Oh no. Sometimes he really hated being renowned. No scratch that—he'd always disliked it.

He ducked his head and slipped a hand to his pocket, feebly hoping for some change. Something materialized in his hand, and he almost jumped. He swallowed and thought sheepishly, Thanks Mom. And sorry.

Percy dropped the $100 note onto the table and stood up, turning to leave. On second thought, he grabbed the fork and caught the piece of meat between his teeth; and then he sprinted out of the restaurant.

While in a mall, Percy passed by an appliance store. There were TVs on the display window. All of them showed the news channel. He stopped to watch.

The caster was just starting. Or, well, maybe she was for another new one, which interrupted the one that she was currently reading out.

She was saying something about a jet... a flying human... metal jetpack wings.. The screen even showed a picture of a guy eating at a restaurant.

He shrugged it off as the mortals' many craziness, and was about to walk away when another picture came forth. It was the picture of a guy with his eyes closed.

And on closer look.. Oh gods it was him.

He was beginning to regret agreeing with his mother that putting mirrors in the palace only instilled insecurity. Because seriously, what kind of person didn't know what he looked like? A person like him, yes.

Percy glanced at the mortals around, the ones watching the TV with him, and was thankful to see that they didn't seem to notice that the guy in front of them was on TV. Not wanting to stay any longer, he turned to leave.

Now, he would like to say that he left swift and stealthy like how a ninja would do, how a guy trained to feel the air and shadows and the other elements themselves would act.

But no.

Someone just had to be behind him.

With a quick exclamation from the person, the others were on to him in seconds. He managed a nervous smile. "Hi."

And then, instead of what he was expecting that they call out, they started whispering to themselves. It wasn't comfortable to be whispered about, but it was better than being handed over to the authorities.

Because the last thing he needed was a prison. He'd had enough prisons for a lifetime.

So he just turned and ran as fast as he could, which was saying something. He'd been training hard in Khaos so he could now run as fast as... well, as cliché as it sounds, as fast as lightning. But it was true. The only thing he couldn't outrun was Ouranos in his lightning and winged form. It was big progress in itself, since because when he was twelve he couldn't even outrun a tree.

When he stopped, he saw that he was somewhere... uh, dark and eerie. A cemetery. It was creepy. But it was silent, and no one was in sight. It was just what he needed.

He sat down at the most comfortable spot he could find, leaning on a tombstone. He patted it, murmuring, sorry, before closing his eyes to sleep.

When he opened his eyes, he was in a forest.

Percy's lips twitched into a small smile. It had been a while since he had a dream connection with Artemis. It was needless to say that he missed her. He just hoped that she was alright, not in another sort of coma or something. It did kind of suck for her, but at least they got together.

Oh, the memories.

He made to sit down, but she then suddenly appeared before him, like, she just popped out. No glittering, no fading in. She showed up wholly just like that.

He was more surprised than she was. He hadn't even gotten to react when she pounced on him like a predator, her yellowish silver eyes wild and anxious and... desperate.

But he recovered, embarrassingly enough, after a couple of seconds. He tried to give her comfort in that one kiss, trying to use that one opportunity to bring the problems and gloominess out of her. He told her how much he missed her, how much he wanted this to be real (-er), in that one kiss.

She pulled away then, resting her head in the crook of his neck. She didn't let go from the hug just yet, but he wasn't complaining.

After a few minutes of silence where they just held each other, Percy chuckled, the happy sound penetrating the thick, tense air. "What did the bad boyfriend do to deserve such a greeting?"

He felt her smile against him. He ached to see it, so he gently held her away and boy, he had never seen a much more beautiful sight than that. "Can't I just greet him that way?"

He grinned, and she punched him in the gut, disentangling herself from him. "I missed you, Alien Head."

His eyebrows shot up. "Alien Head? That's new," he joked, and she punched him again. He sputtered out a laugh. "Missed you too, Moony." She raised an eyebrow, but smiled. Hey, he didn't have too much imagination—yes, even he would admit that—to invent a new nickname for her.

"So... what happened?" Percy asked, truly curious as to why she jumped at him. She doesn't normally do that, of course.

Her face darkened. Uh-oh. It was bad. It has to be something bad.

"Let's... take a seat, why don't we?" Artemis suggested, dragging him down with her anyway. If she'd been Pontus, he would have smacked her arm away. The only people he would let to do that to him was Artemis... maybe Zoë... Nyx... Chaos... Gaea.. Okay fine yes he had a soft spot for girls. All guys should have.

Anyway, she'd started to pluck the string of her silver bow, the way she did when she was anxious or tense or any of the sort. If she wasn't feeling it, she'd probably do it with a knife or an arrow. Deadly weapons. He'd noticed the habit a while back, so he knew not to prod her unless he wanted a sharp object to his throat, or, if it was an unfortunate day, his little man and his basketballs.

After about forever, (his knees were beginning to bounce at the lack of action) she finally sighed and looked at him. "Percy, look. I think Arc knows something."

Percy frowned at this. "About what?"

She sighed again. "Let me tell you about how the quest went first."

And so she did, starting from the journey through Ohio and Chicago and all the other cities they went through. She mentioned a traitor, and that was when he began to show uneasiness, but she said that the traitor was dead now. It gave him some relief, but he still couldn't help but feel bothered by it.

And then came the part at Minnesota, where it became more detailed. She also explained his son's part, which made him undoubtedly proud. But by the way she mentioned his name, he knew something bad had happened about him. He worried his lip in apprehension, but tried to look otherwise as he continued to listen to her tale.

Then as Artemis told him about how Arc reprogrammed the teleportation tile, he couldn't resist interrupting. "He always did best with machines. He was so much better than me and brags about it to Enkeli all the time that it was annoying. I mean the part where's he's great with machines."

And then the part where they came back from Thalia's cell, and left the building crumbling, heading eastward. He had a feeling there was more to it than that, about Arc.

Percy was right.

"...Arc... he knew something. When we were at that room, he talked to me like... I can't even explain it."

"Okay," he said, taking a deep breath. "Relax. Your forehead's all scrunched up." He reached over and smoothed the creases, and she leaned into his shoulder.

"Okay. So you told me that he and Enkeli knew that we're in a relationship, right? And you knew that they knew, which basically means that both of you are acquainted with the truth." She nodded, still looking a bit anxious.

He sighed and thought about it. "You know how Arc only has me as a parent figure, right? Sure, he has a closeness with his Aunt Nyx and his Grandmother Chaos, but he was, in a certain way, too distant to other adults to consider them as his other parent." She nodded again. "Well... maybe he sees you as his mother figure."

He saw her face light up with a gold hue as she realized what he was hinting at. "But why..?"

"Well, um, you're my girlfriend after all.."

"Not that, but," Artemis paused, lifting her head up to look at him in the eye, "he's only known for less than a day! And only before he fixed that tile did he act weird."

Percy managed a weak smile. "You know how people get kind of sentimental if they're aware they're about to lose something."

She suddenly looked down. "That's it," she whispered.

"What?"

She choked. "Some mother figure I am," she lamented, sounding miserable. "Letting him off like that."

"W-what do you mean?"

"He—" she growled softly to herself, a sound of self-loathing. "He just had to be the hero. He just had to be your son. If he had been more selfless and thoughtful he wouldn't have stayed there."

Percy opened his mouth to respond, but no word came out. This was how the goddess Artemis blamed herself. She would tell herself that it was another's fault. It would have to be another's fault.

It was Arc's, apparently. His son stayed. He stayed to let them, the quest, get away. It was just what he would do. He now understood how the others must have felt when he stayed to let Annabeth get away from Mount Saint Helens. When he stayed to let Annabeth pass through the Doors of Death.

It made people who cared about him absolutely miserable, and now he was in the receiving end of it.

He held Artemis as she cursed like she never had before. She was cursing the Fates, Order, but mostly the Fates. The damn Fates. That was pushed out of his mind, however, as he felt the privilege of having to be the one to hold her at her worst, to be the one to be with her when she needed it the most. It made him want to be stronger.

"There's more, you know," she said after a while that she calmed down. Well, he might have helped by planting a kiss on her lips after that thought. Call him tacky or clingy or whatever, but it worked. It shut her up. "Nico promised to tell us after we're rested."

"Does he know about me? I mean being from Khaos and all like Thalia does?"

"No."

Percy nodded, exhaling slowly. "What about Enkeli? How is she faring?"

She sent him a look. "She's actually the one who killed the traitor."

He looked down. He tried to think where his son might be, where Order might have taken him. He knew for a fact that he wasn't dead. If he was really his son, he would manage to avoid that. Gods forbid, he would even avoid that with wits that Percy never had.

His mind came up blank. "Well.. I'll try to find Arc. I would."

She looked like she wanted to ask how, but decided not to. She remained silent.

But then she asked, "When would you come back?"

He blinked, and then sent her a big smile. "To Earth?" He considered surprising her. "Real soon. I trust you'll be somewhere we could meet?"

Artemis raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Mm, yes. Maybe... maybe at that cliff where we first met?"

His smile widened. "Westover Hall? Sure. Very romantic right there." He received another punch.

It was silent then, "Hey," Percy whispered to her hair, "I know it sounds silly and cheesy and all that, and you probably won't believe me, but if there was such a thing called true love, it's what I'm feeling now, and it's what I'm feeling towards you." He then smiled softly. "I love you; I'm in love with you."

She clenched her jaw, looking to him. He realized that he never actually said it before, that sentence, as she stared at him. He looked into her eyes, hoping to get the reply.

And he received a damn good one.

Percy woke up, feeling better despite hearing bad news.

He now had a newer goal before the previous one: find Arc, fight monsters, try to get to Camp Half-Blood in time, fight more monsters. Maybe he could all do those in one go, who knows.

He looked around at the eerie cemetery. Wait a second..

He stood from the ground and walked about, searching for any distinct ground. If this was where he thought it was, then..

There it was. A barely noticeable camouflage pit, hidden in the dirt and grass. He spun, and instantly spotted the charred ground, splattered with dry, black blotches of something. Or in this case, blood.

He was here. Fort-smelly whatever. It was the same cemetery they landed at.

Which just meant that if they were resting, they must be near here somewhere. Unless they went ways away before doing so.

But it also meant that he was near the place where Arc had..

Percy pursed his lips and looked somewhere to the southwest. Arc was his first priority, and he had been there. It would be some work to get up to the venue and look for tracks, really find them, and actually follow them. Sure, it would be hard, but this was his son. He was the one he loved more, if not as much, than Artemis.

However.. He turned to the east. It was where Nico, Thalia, Enkeli, and best of all, Artemis were. It would be easier to look for them and get help. But they still had the prophecy, which still wasn't done, to mind, and he couldn't lead them away.

For one thing, there was a line called order was replenished, and he highly doubted that order was the positive abstract noun. It could mean that he gained allies, pawns, hostages. It could also mean that he would replenish a place with Ordians.

Which told him that he really should go east, since Mount Olympus was there. Then again, he could attack at Camp Jupiter... or Camp Perseus..

And because of the hard choices on going eastward, he decided that the decision to look for Arc was more solid and doubtless, and so it's what he followed.

Percy, with his altered appearance of a man with brown hair and bright grey eyes, approached the officer standing at the outside of the yellow police line. He'd changed into a special holed shirt that he'd made himself, a cheap and straggled brown jacket that could make Aphrodite rip her hair out, jeans, and combat boots.

The shirt was a bit shambolic, thanks to not learning how to put proper wing slits on clothing. He made a mental note to always throw off his jacket before take-off.

He never was given any armor or clothing as hard as armor, which was pretty bumming since it was the most important thing (because of the defense and the badass-y look) to have. But, well, he was invulnerable without any weak spots anyway, so he guessed that it wouldn't count anyhow.

The appearance was the best he could do. He'd found plenty of brown hair dye at a hair salon that he'd broken into (he'd no remorse this time since he did it a couple times during missions) while he could change his eye color at will. Well, to an extent. He could only change into shades of black since it was Chaos' colors. He couldn't change it into something other than that and his normal eye color, which he assumed was a mix of sea green, black, and silver. He thought that maybe he could change it into a mix of sea green and a shade of black, which was changing it but not so. But a simple grey would lessen suspicions.

And so when he asked the police officer a question, the guy didn't even look up from his clipboard. "Not much as I could gather. But there was this particularly unconscious teenager gone to the hospital by a bald Elvis wannabe. Everyone who got out alive was conscious, which was the weird part about that."

Percy asked about an ambulance and the hospital name, and directions. "I'm sorry sir, are you a relative? The guy insisted they go there on their own." The man finally looked up, only to point northeast. "I'm assuming they went that direction. You need a phone to ring them up, sir?"

"No, no thanks. You have an idea what caused this?"

The officer grunted, glancing at the fallen mall distastefully. "Terrorists, most likely. I don't know what's up with the men, saying things about the alien on TV."

"Uh yeah, thanks." The man nodded, looking him in the eye for the first time. He had ancient dark eyes for someone as young as he was in his early-thirties. Percy felt alarmed, feeling like this man knew him. He turned and started walking east.

And then, when he turned a corner into a (nearly) deserted street, he unfolded his wings and flew east, not northeast. If Order would attack Camp, he had to be there. He had to assume every attack was the final attack. Or else he wouldn't know where Order would retreat to, if he would be wise enough.

(Assuming they win the attacks, that is; but he was being optimistic here.)

"Oh shhh.." Percy covered his mouth to keep himself from cursing out loud.

He'd found the quest easily enough. He wanted to join them, but there were already many Ordians attacking them constantly; having him go down there would put them in more danger than they already were.

So he declared himself as their little watcher and protector from afar since it was the best he could do. He made sure they wouldn't know, though.

Right now, they were in Indiana, near that lake. Artemis had practically thrown the Ancient Laws back to her dad's mouth and was now trying to summon her chariot. From what she said in his dream, they lost it somewhere after they got in and out of the mall. It was harder summoning it this time around since she had no idea where it'd gone (usually she could sense where, but whatever) but anyway, it was on its way after making that splitting image thing while flying over whichever country was nighttime.

So then while she was waiting for her chariot, that left her three immortal companions Nico, Thalia, and Enkeli, to hang around without her divine goddess-y presence. Percy shouldn't be too worried since they could defend themselves more than well. They're immortals, after all.

Come to think of it... almost all the people in the quest were immortal. Enkeli, Artemis, Nico, Thalia. Technically, they weren't allowed to interfere... but it was Artemis' (maybe Arc's) quest. A god level quest. It sort of had a point since the Ordians might be too strong for campers. Not that he was patronizing them in any way.

And, yeah, so the three (Nico, Thalia, Enkeli) were immortals. Strong as they were, they could still be beaten in terms of numbers.

And that was what was happening right now. They got carried away and let their guard down, which allowed the Ordians to sneak around and box them in. It was a dozen Ordian Earthborn and he couldn't help but be annoyed that Order was using his sister's creation against her. (She sided with the Olympians this time, duh.)

These Earthborn were definitely stronger, and much larger than the original with around twelve feet in height. Being immortal, sadly, didn't change anything except that you reform in Tartarus after getting killed (which sucks either way). No added powers. Strength, yes, but it could be no match against these monsters.

So Percy had to help somehow.

He grimaced when he thought that he had to keep himself unknown. He knew for a fact that if Order knew he was there, the monsters sent would probably have multiplied. These dozen giants could have turned into two dozen. Maybe even three.

With that thought, he twisted his ring for it to turn into the bow that Artemis gave him on his birthday. It still felt weird to pray to someone who wasn't a god, or goddess in this case, but he closed his eyes as he notched a black arrow into his bow. Zoë, hey, I hope I absorbed some of your inner archer whatchamacallit.

He took a deep breath, opened his eyes, and fired. The giants were moving, of course, as they fought, so he only hit one of the arms of one. The giant groaned, feeling its monster will being sipped away by the black metal tip. But heedless, it continued fighting the immortals.

Percy grinned. If the giant hadn't been moving, the arrow should've pierced its heart. He made a mental note to practice with moving targets next time.

He fired at a slow pace, one arrow at a time. He would only serve to weaken the giants so his friends could kill them and they wouldn't notice. Since he could make his quiver disappear at will, he hoped he could do the same to the fired arrows.

And then he thought of something. He tried his best to avoid shooting one of them, but no such luck. They were shuffling too much and Nico's skeleton warriors kept pushing them back against each other. His eyebrows furrowed as he set his bow aside. They had to keep one alive if they wanted to know where Arc was. He needed to trust them to because he couldn't do anything himself without getting discovered by them, except maybe tracking.

Fortunately, Enkeli seemed to realize this as well.

"Guys, keep one alive because we could—"

But unfortunately, he groaned and interrupted her. There goes his position.

He found himself not caring, looking into his injury first. He spun a one-eighty, but there was no monster in sight, at least the ones onto him. There wasn't any stab holes. His stomach just began bleeding spontaneously, with only pain and golden blood proving it to him. It could only mean one thing, and it wasn't anything good.

Percy started running away, clutching his stomach to stop the bleeding somehow.

"Hey! Yo fella! Hey stop! I could help you with that injury you know! Yo!" Enkeli chased after him, determined to help. She must've figured out that he helped them; smart girl.

"Yo god person! Hey! Are you rogue? Come back or I'll make you!" Percy didn't stop. He needed to throw her off somehow. He thought of something. Was it fine for her to know that he, the son and heir of Chaos, was there? He was positive that Order already knew he was on Earth, and perhaps his niece and the quest knew as well. But the specific place... yes, that shouldn't be known.

So he circled a tree, created a portal and jumped in, leaving Enkeli to wonder where he'd gone.

She wasn't the only one, really.

He'd accidentally landed on many bad places in Khaos before. A burning house of white fire, a chaotic weapons den, a xenophobic family home, a women's bathhouse. He knew the horrors and the agony of landing somewhere helpless and uncalled for, unfamiliar and dangerous. Simply depressing.

He thought he had it worse there, when in fact, he did. Well maybe not. He'd lived on Khaos for forty years. He'd explored its everywhere. He'd lived on Earth for only seventeen years, approximately, and he'd only gotten around America. He hadn't even seen everything in there yet.

Looking around now, maybe he was in Colorado. Or maybe it was Texas. Or maybe he was in New Jersey? Maybe back in Minnesota, if he was lucky. If not, maybe it was Brazil. Or Africa. Or Egypt. Or maybe even somewhere in Asia. But he couldn't even portal across the state, so those latter three were out.

Dang, he was lost.

..Okay, it turned out that he neither knew nor cared.

Percy sat himself at a nearby tree, trying to nurse his seemingly nonexistent wound. It still hadn't stopped bleeding. Gods, what happened to her?

He was going out of his mind with worry. He needed to get back. He needed to check on her. But combined with the amount of power he used to portal to Chaos-knows-where, the power he used to tail and fight with the quest group, and the painful spontaneous wound sapping his strength, he was beat, and he was beaten hard. He needed to stop moving for a second. He needed to..

But he wouldn't. He shouldn't. He had to find a way. He needed to keep moving. He couldn't rest, not right now. But he won't be able to do something big in this state. Perhaps..

He searched his pockets. Not here, not here, gods freaking—ah finally! He made a rainbow, inwardly cursing himself for not thinking about this earlier. "Iris, accept my offering."

Then he hesitated. Should he check on Artemis first? Or maybe try to look for Arc first? Contact the Olympians and warn them of an impending attack? Maybe he should go ask Chaos for reinforcements, but no, after running away and disobeying her, his pride, although not too manipulative, would not allow it. Besides, he had no idea how to contact them. Maybe a dream-connection, but he wasn't sure about them sleeping.

Okay, so that left three options.

If he called for Artemis, he couldn't help with anything but encouragement, anyway. He already knew where she was and where she was going, so it'd be no use. Despite how worried he was, he needed to make everything count. That took her out.

Now, if he called for Arc... well, he didn't even know where he was. For all he knew, Order might have taken him somewhere in the Void. But he wouldn't lose anything if he tried.

"Uh, Arc Jackson... Earth..?"

The mirage shimmered, but it didn't turn into another image. A voice came from out of nowhere. Possibilities too wide. Please specify.

"Um.. America."

Possibilities too wide. Please specify.

Percy ran a hand through his hair in frustration. He would have to say all the states and cities if that was what Iris needed, and there was a high probability that he would end up not finishing and threatening to gouge his eyes out with a fork. That left the Olympians.

But the Olympians were old enough to carry for themselves. All they needed was a warning, and they would be off to work in no time. Especially right now, since they so obviously didn't want their rule go to waste by letting Order kill off their children. Arc was only sixteen. Eight years old in Earth time. He was still so young. And he was his son.

He decided that he'd let himself heal, forcing himself to deal with his patience. Just for Arc. Just for his son. And for Artemis.

He took out the ambrosia baggie that he had with him. Looking at it, he remembered something so obvious that he wanted to smack himself.

There was actually a fourth option.

He stared at the waiting rainbow. What did he have to lose? A golden drachma. There was plenty more. He could use this one for his own, personal, selfish purposes. But if Order found out... he'd be putting them in danger.

He closed his eyes in indecision. A glimpse won't hurt. "Blofis Residence. New York."

The mist was now probably shimmering, but he couldn't bring himself to look. How would he explain to them his supposed resurrection? How would he explain why he couldn't visit? More importantly, how could he explain that he was about to engage in another big war?

There is no Blofis Residence in New York. Relocate?

Percy's eyes flew open in astonishment. No Blofis Residence? They couldn't have moved out, could they? That apartment was a little stuffy, yes, but that didn't mean it wasn't homey, at least for him. But now that left him the problem of figuring out where they were. Surely, Iris could do that.

"Just get me to the Blofis Residence. You can do that, right?"

Of course, the voice said, sounding offended. Don't take my services for a sucky call center.

He couldn't stop the smile that lit his face up as the mist shimmered. It then showed a living room. Not the old apartment, for sure. Thankfully, there was no one in sight, as he yet didn't have the courage to face his mortal family. He brought up more mist to disrupt the image, just as a woman with brown hair walked out of a door, practically looking in his direction. His last sight of the room was the woman's widening blue eyes, before the mist shuffled and the image disappeared.

He sighed. That was so wimpy of him. He knew she'd probably think the same, now that she'd seen him. He tossed another drachma to the rainbow. "Um, Iris, could you please do me a favor and send a message to the Olympians?"

This time, an image of a familiar white-haired girl appeared in the mist. "Nope, this is Fleecy."

"Fleecy.." Percy's face blanked out for a second, before he remembered. "Iris' assistant? You're still there?"

"Got that right!" she agreed with him, bubbly as usual. "I'm immortal, you know. Nebula."

"Oh, well." The heir cleared his throat, feeling awkward as his message briefly escaped from his mind's grasp. He ate a piece of ambrosia, chewing slowly. "You don't seem surprised."

"Look, Percy. For a veteran, you sure don't know the basics," Fleecy teased half-heartedly, but she was still smiling. "Iris is the messenger goddess, same as Hermes being the messenger god. If he could see the mortals' news on TV right as it rolled, Iris could, too! Of course, only when she wanted to. She usually let Hermes deal with all the Mist stuff. But Zeus had us looking for you, so, ah, you know what comes next."

"Um, okay." He laughed nervously. "So, um, could you please send the Olympians a message? I'm kinda busy."

"Oh, trying out every state, huh? I'll make sure Iris gets right into it," the girl replied kindly. She took out a notepad. "Well then, what's your message?"

After a moment's hesitation, Percy told her, feeling like he would regret not sending them the message himself. Soon enough.

AN: I don't actually know if nymphs were ever immortal; although Calypso is a nymph. Thank you for reading, have a nice day! ~SmartzyFan