Upbeat, mortal music greeted my ears. An upbeat piano was supported by a truly funky fresh synth. It was a Frankie Valli song if I recalled correctly. I did my best to keep track of godly offspring, but whether or not Valli was a son of a Muse or Apollo or simply a talented mortal slipped my mind.

My tongue was still slightly singed from Thalia's thunderbolt. Even some of Zeus's strikes weren't that powerful.

For the first time, I looked around the room I was in. It wasn't exactly Tartarus, but it wasn't Orthys either. During the Second Raid on Olympus, Koios had taken everyone to a bar to celebrate the capture of Nico de Angelo. This was another one of those bars.

Movie posters for films I didn't recognize were tacked up all over the walls.

"Hello." I said, awkwardly. It was partially relieving to know that my deep, booming and all around awesome voice didn't change in my human form. It was partially worrisome, because if I wanted to set my roots down in human society, especially mortal society, having a scary voice would be a challenge.

My anxieties, thankfully, were eliminated almost at once.

"Hey!" shouted one of the humans "New guy!"

They cheered as one. I was confused. My brief experience with mortals had lead me to believe that they mostly were frustrated by each other, often for superficial reasons. This didn't seem to be the case. At least, not here.

"Question. Where am I?"

The human that had shouted before stepped forward. Even in my human form, I towered over everyone. "You're in Ogunquit, Maine, of course. The cutest little town off the 95."

I blinked a few times. Most of those words didn't make any sense to me. Ogunquit. Maine. Cute.

"You okay, big guy?" asked a different human, this one female "You look like you've had a rough day."

I had yet to look in a mirror, so I didn't know what I actually looked like. The only hints I had were that my skin had turned from a reptilian green to a more coffee like brown and my precious dreadlocks were intact, but the weapons woven artfully inside of them were gone.

The woman turned to a different man behind the bar, a profession I remember being called a bartender "Hey, Johnny, can you get our new guy some fries?"

Johnny nodded "Of course, Lucy." He threw open a door behind him and skittered inside, not unlike a hellrat would.

Lucy looked a little bit like Hyperion, in a funny way. She radiated warmth and kindness, just like Hyperion did whenever one of his little siblings was upset. Like every human in the bar, she was bundled up in several layers of clothing. A hoodie underneath a parka which was underneath another parka. Her eyes were electric blue, almost like Thalia's, but hers were more understated. More, normal, I guess. The roots of her hair were dirty blonde, but the further you got down her head, the lighter the hair became. She wore black, closed rimmed glasses and her bangs nearly reached her eyebrows. I was not great at guessing mortal ages, but I surmised that she was between 25 and 32.

"What's your name, honey?" asked Lucy.

"Porphyrion." I answered. I saw no reason to lie, as long as they didn't assume I was the real deal.

"Neat name." said the man "I'm just Ed."

I clapped Ed on the back "There is nothing wrong with such a name."

Ed shot me a grateful look, but turned away before I could return it. Ed was the second tallest being in that room, the first being me. Out of everyone in that room, he was probably dressed the warmest. That wasn't exactly saying much, though. He wore a dark gray sort of trench coat that went down to the back of his knees, heavy pants, a sweater and long johns underneath.

Johnny clambered out of the kitchen, a plate of scorched French fries ready for me. I took a seat at the bar and gently put a fry in my mouth. I closed my eyes and exhaled deeply, absorbing the uniquely crunchy, fluffy and salty experience that French fries held.

"Thank you, Johnny." I said, genuinely appreciative, "I don't believe I have the means to pay you."

Johnny shrugged "It's just a plate of fries." he said. He whirled on me and jabbed a finger in my face. "Don't make a habit of it, though." It took all my effort not to expand to my full size and pound Johnny into a smattering of atoms. But this was not my domain. This was Johnny's domain, and I was a guest.

One of the other men raised his hand "If you're looking for a job, you can be a repairman for me. I work with heating and AC. You get a lot of problems with that sort of thing around here."

"I have nowhere to stay." I said, shrugging my shoulders.

"Nonsense, I have a spare room upstairs." offered Johnny. "Smells like burgers, though. I won't even charge rent for the first two months."

I thought about Johnny's offer. Part of me was cautious about it. Not that the Ogunquitians would attack me or secretly be some sort of enemy of Gaea. I could only be killed through the teamwork between a god and a demigod, and I sensed neither. Although, demigods with non-Olympian heritage slipped through the radar sometimes. No, I was worried that Thalia and her Hunters would attack the Ogunquitians simply because I was holed up here. In my long life, I had seen a lot of destruction and death.

I had caused a lot of destruction and death.

I didn't want to see anymore.

At the same time, there was no sign of them anywhere. Or any sort of civilization. And if anyone threatened the people of Ogunquit, well, I was still the king of the Gigantes.

I turned to the man who had offered me a job. He was shorter and squatter than Ed, and tanner, too. His hair was wild and curly and a beard covered his chin and reached down to his collarbone. All of his hair was stark black. "What time should I arrive tomorrow?"

"7 should work," he said.

"Thank you...what is your name?"

The bearded man chuckled "Wyatt."

I bowed deeply in gratitude "Well, I am tired. And apparently, I have work in the morning." I grabbed the plate of French fries and went up to the room, a chorus of 'goodnight' and 'sleep well' echoed behind me.

My new headquarters was mostly painted white, with more movie posters hanging on either side of my room. One was for a film named Grease and another named Saturday Night Fever. Johnny must've been a pretty big movie buff. There wasn't any sort of bedframe around the mattress, which I actually preferred. Even in my human form I likely wouldn't have fit on any proper bed. Compared to the depths of Tartarus, Johnny's old mattress felt like perfection. A few nautical decorations were on the walls, including a model of a swordfish, an anchor and a painting of an octopus.

As soon as my head hit the dark blue, saggy pillow, I started to dream.

Thalia was kneeling before a twelve year old girl. At first, I thought it was a strange sight, but then I realized who I was looking at. Artemis. Goddess of the hunt. The implications of her simply blessing the Roman Praetor to kill Orion made me fear her immensely. Loopholes, the true bane of the Gigantes.

"He escaped, my Lady." said Thalia, shamefully.

"He...escaped?" asked Artemis, disbelief spilling into her voice. "He didn't want to kill you? A daughter of Zeus?"

"I'm not even sure it happened." admitted Thalia "It doesn't feel real."

"Something with him has changed." said Artemis "I have someone en route to Maine to figure out what Porphyrion is up too."

"Do you think he's changed?" asked a third hunter with short, pageboy brown hair.

"I'm not sure, Katherine. But Porphyrion, if left to his own devices, will always be a threat."

I believed her.