Ch41

Percy sighed as he packed his bag, "Are you ready Magnus?" He asked as he turned to face his friend. They were both in Magnus's apartment and were about to head out to find the sword Balmung, a weapon that will supposedly be of help to them, and frankly he was a bit nervous but excited that he could do a small quest with him.

"Yeah I am," Magnus said as he fixed his hair and put on his backpack. "Lets go," he said with a determined look on his face.

He nodded as they both grabbed their bags and exited the apartment. Magnus locked the door and they both headed out to their Pegasi. Blackjack and one of his friends would be bringing them to Pennsylvania, Blackjack knew that they were going on a super secret mission and was excited to go. Hopefully Chiron doesn't find out he said as he got onto Blackjack. Chiron probably wouldn't even notice since he borrowed Blackjack often for various other things. He watched as Magnus got onto the other Pegasi and soon they were both up in the sky.

"TJ said that they will meet us there. Hearthstone and Blitz are scouting the area with him and Samirah," Magnus said as they flew through the morning air.

"That's good; hopefully we can find this weapon without a problem," he said as he looked at his friend. Magnus was wearing a regular camp t shirt and jeans as if he were going out to the beach while he was wearing a coat. He really never gets cold does he? Apparently due to his parentage Magnus could with stand extreme temperatures.

"Yeah I know, Gram has been telling me that Fafnir was a monster and a powerful dragon. If he really has awakened then we will need all of the help we can get," Magnus said.

He only nodded. He had to admit that he still found it weird learning about all of this stuff from the Norse world. With all that was happening, he honestly wasn't surprised that there were other Gods besides the Olympians. His father is super chill and his Norse friends are cool too. He had to admit he enjoyed hanging out with TJ, Blitz and Hearthstone. He even was getting used to Samirah who was a bit cold but he was starting to warm up to her. It was awkward at first but he learned to like them and enjoyed being in their company. I even learned a little bit of sign language he and Rachel were learning a bit of ASL it in order to communicate with Hearthstone and while he wasn't as good as Magnus he could still communicate with the elf and Magnus if they wanted a private conversation.

"Hey Magnus say if this dragon does help Kronos how bad do you think it will be?" He asked.

Magnus looked at him and sighed, "Well Gram is saying it would be very bad. Fafnir is apparently really strong and can fly and breath fire."

"Great then we will definitely need to find a way to take it down," he said with a sigh. He kept his 16th birthday in the back of his head but he still he knew that the coming showdown with Kronos was approaching. "Oh Magnus how is Annabeth doing?"

"Oh she is doing fine. I Iris messaged her not too long ago; she is busy with school and other camp related stuff. She wouldn't elaborate," Magnus said with a sigh.

"Wow well I hope she is well," he said. He and Magnus both knew that she was busy with life so they gladly gave her space. I haven't even seen her since summer. To be honest Magnus was the only one from Camp he saw on a regular basis. He saw some other campers here and there such as Thalia, Nico, and even Clarisse for random quests around the area destroying Kronos's army and disrupting their supply routes. But other than that he didn't see a lot of people from camp.

"I think she is, she probably is just busy with everything," Magnus said.

He just nodded, they both knew that they could not tell her about Magnus's parentage and the Norse world. They both felt guilty about hiding a secret from her but they knew it was for her own good. Besides its not like she never hides things from us. As much as he hated to admit it, he felt happy that he and Magnus had a secret that they shared between them since he was pretty sure that she had her fair share of secrets she kept from him.

They both flew to Pennsylvania and as they approached the mountain he couldn't help but notice the fog around it. "That mountain looks super creepy," he muttered as he felt apprehension as he looked at the mountain. He looked around and swore he saw what he hoped to be a large bird enter the mountain. Hopefully we won't have too much trouble. He sighed as he and Blackjack both landed at their meeting place.

Samirah, TJ, Hearthstone, and Blitz were at the base of the mountain sitting at a park bench. He and Magnus landed next to him. "Hey Percy," TJ said with a smile. The Norse demigod was wearing a Civil War outfit and had his musket at his side. While Samirah wore a normal outfit with her green hijab.

"Hey TJ, how are you guys doing?" He asked.

"Good, we just scouted the area and found the most possible route to the sword," TJ said.

"Is it far?" Magnus asked.

"Not really but the problem is there are wyverns around," Blitz said with a frown. "But we should be able to take care of them, you guys are tough after all."

"I haven't detected anything nearby but I will assist you all as well," Samirah said as she gripped her ax

"Thanks," he said. Great dragons, well this is going to be interesting.

"Don't worry boss you got this," Blackjack said in his head.

"Thanks man," he said as he turned to the dwarf and elf. "So how will we do this?"

"Me and Hearth here will watch over your Pegasi," Blitz said. He nodded, from what he knew the elf did not like dark places. "TJ and Samirah will go with you both into the cave and find the sword. Be careful for the monsters and get the sword without any problem.

"Sounds great," Magnus said with a sigh.

"Don't worry we haven't detected any strong monsters in the area," Samirah said as she gripped her ax.

He and Magnus nodded, "Well then lets do this. The sooner we do this the better," he said. Everyone nodded and after Hearthstone and Blitz wished them good luck they left to the mountain.

They climbed up the trail which was devoid of people and monsters. It's a little too quiet he thought as they all watched out for their surroundings.

"The entrance should be here," Samira said as she pointed to a cave. He and Magnus nodded as they followed Samirah into the cave while TJ guarded their rear. It was dark so they used flashlights to make their way through the cave.

"This place is kind of creepy," Magnus said as he shined his flash light around the cave walls.

"Yeah but you get used to it," TJ said as he guided them through the cave. "I've seen worse when I was in the Civil War."

"Really how was that?" He asked, he found it both weird and cool that TJ lived and fought in the Civil War.

"Oh it was interesting," TJ said with a sigh. "I actually met a lot of Greek demigods when I was fighting."

"Really?" He said in surprise.

TJ nodded, "Yeah a lot helped in the fight against the Confederacy," he said sounding as if he wanted to say something else. "The Greeks were pretty cool to fight with, they were more accepting of people like me than the others."

"Well I hope I am just as fun to work with," he said. He doesn't seem to like talking about the war though but I get that.

TJ smiled, "Well you and Magnus are already cool so I can't complain there." Percy couldn't explain it but it sounded as if TJ was hiding something but decided it wasn't his business.

They all chuckled as they found a stone path cut in the middle of the mountain. "Be careful, there may be monsters down here," TJ said.

He and Magnus nodded as they carefully descended on the steps. The entire way down it was quiet, too quiet. When they reached the bottom of the staircase and suddenly the area around them lit up with torches. The room they were in was in a circular shape and in the middle was a pile of gold.

"Wow that's a lot of gold," Magnus said in awe.

In the middle of the pile of gold was a table and what appeared to be a sword, "There it is!" He said. He was about to go up when TJ pulled him back.

"Wait there is something here," Samirah shouted as she stood in front of them and gripped her ax

He and Magnus looked at each other and that was when they heard the growling sound. He drew Riptide while Magnus drew Gram just as a creature came out of the pile of gold. It was a long wingless dragon about the size of a small truck, it glared at the and roared spewing out fire.

"It's a drake watch out!" Samirah said as they all scattered from the creature's fire.

"Damn it," he swore as the creature locked eyes with him and charged at him. He managed to dodge the attack and slash at it with Riptide but the creature only got madder and slashed at him with its large claws.

He barely managed to avoid the claws just as TJ and Magnus charged at the creature. TJ slammed his bayonet into the monster causing it while Magnus slashed at it with Gram causing the dragon to roar in pain.

Samirah slashed at the dragon with her ax and swore as she narrowly avoided its claws. She managed to block another claw with her ax before TJ helped her escape from its grasp.

"Is there a way we can stop this thing?" Percy asked as he slashed at it with Riptide.

"Dragons usually protect treasure we might have to kill it," TJ said as he stabbed the dragon with his bayonet. "We should try aiming for its neck or underbelly, dragons are usually the most vulnerable there."

"Hey guys Gram said that he could take care of it but he is afraid of unleashing his full power here since the cave might collapse on us," Magnus said as he dodged a claw.

"Lets work together to take it down. We can try to decapitate it," he said as he tried to look around for anything that can be used as a weapon. Nothing we will have to improvise.

"I can distract it while you both go for its neck," TJ said as he approached the gold.

"Sounds good," Magnus said as he readied Gram. The two smiled at each other and nodded while TJ tried to get the dragon's attention.

"Hey lizard over here," TJ said as he picked up a golden goblet and threw it at the creature. The goblet hit the dragon in the head and caused it to roar loudly. TJ and Samirah threw more golden objects at it and the creature charged at the two demigods ready to claw them to bits.

"Magnus lets go!" He said as he ran at the dragon. He saw Magnus run from the other side with Gram. Magnus jumped and went for the neck while he gripped Riptide and aimed for an opening he saw in the dragon's armpit. He felt Riptide enter the soft flesh of the dragon just as Magnus brought his sword down on its neck. TJ ducked just in time and thrusted his bayonet just underneath the dragon's jaw while Samirah swung her ax and brought it down on its eye.

The dragon tried to scream and TJ slammed his bayonet through its mouth while Magnus and Samirah brought their weapons down on it decapitating the dragon. When they were finished they pulled out their weapons and watched as the dragon disappeared into golden dust. "Wow that was interesting," he said completely out of breath.

"Yeah you guys have good teamwork," TJ said with a sigh. "I haven't fought a dragon in a while."

"Thanks, do you think there are any more around here?" Magnus asked as they looked around the room.

Samirah shook her head, "I don't feel the presence of any other monsters. Lets get the sword."

He and Magnus nodded as they carefully approached the table. As they walked on the gold he couldn't help but admire how shiny it was. As he walked past the various golden objects images of what he could do with it flashed through his head. He saw himself and his mom in a nice house having everything they could have ever wanted. His mom would not have to work another day in her life and she could live with him and Paul in luxury. He suddenly had the desire to take it, to take it all and use it to help those important to him.

"Percy Magnus snap out of it!" TJ yelled as he shook both of them. He shook his head and realized that TJ was shaking both him and Magnus who appeared to have been in some sort of daze.

"What?" He asked confused.

"This gold is cursed do not take it," TJ warned. "Your minds were probably filled with thoughts of what you could do with it am I right?" He and Magnus both nodded. "I thought so, anyway many people have fought for this gold. Many lives have been ruined and lost because people fought over it. Friend against friend and father against son, this gold will only bring sorrow if you tried to take it."

"Oh thanks for the heads-up," he said as he forced the remainder of the thoughts out of his head. Magnus nodded as well and they both approached the table which had a rusted long sword on it. "This is it? This is Balmung?" He asked as he looked at the rusted blade. This is pretty anticlimactic.

"Its rusted, its been here for a while. It will need to be reforged," Samirah said with a sigh.

"I thought so," TJ mumbled as he looked at the blade. "It has rusted and will have to be reforged. Lets go back to the others and remember don't take anything," he said seriously. He and Magnus nodded and even showed their pockets to him before they left. They exited the mountain without any trouble and found Hearthstone and Blitz at the table with their Pegasi.

"Hey guys we got the sword," Magnus said.

Blitz and Hearthstone's face lit up, "Great how was it?" Blitz asked.

"Well we were attacked by a dragon and got the sword," He said as he held it out. "But it does not look like it is ready to fight anything anytime soon."

Blitz sighed, "I figured so. If you give it to me I can see to it that it is reforged."

He nodded and gave the dwarf the sword who took it and held it tightly. "It will take a while for it to be reforged but don't worry, Balmung will be just as strong as when he was used by Sigurd I mean Siegfried."

Hearthstone nodded and signed, "We are glad you are all safe. Do you guys want to get lunch?"

"Sure sounds good," he signed. Magnus, Samirah, and TJ nodded as well.

"Great there is an amazing place near Philadelphia we want to try to you guys want to go there?" Blitz asked.

"Sure why not," Magnus said.

"Great," Blitz said as they told them the direction of the restaurant before they parted ways to meet there.

He and Magnus got onto their pegasi and flew off to the location. TJ and the others had their own means of transportation and told them not to worry. "Well that was an adventure in of itself," he said as he flew next to Magnus.

"Yeah it was. Gram was excited to slay a dragon again though he was distraught to see his brother in such a condition," Magnus said with a sigh.

"Yeah but I am sure that he can be reforged. Dwarves are good at that stuff right?" He asked, he learned a bit about dwarves but he still relied on Lord of the Rings for a lot of his information, which was actually pretty helpful.

"Yeah from what I hear they are," Magnus said as they flew through the sky. "I'm not worried, I think that they can reforge it without any problem. Though I don't know how long it will take."

"True," he said as they made their way to the restaurant. They landed their pagasi and he told them to wait around and Blackjack said they will get their own food and to call them if they need help.

They went to the restaurant and found Blitz, Hearthstone, Samirah, and TJ waiting for them. The restaurant was a diner and the food smelled pretty good. Blitz and Hearthstone were paying and they had a good time eating. They had hamburgers, fries, and pie for dessert which were all pretty good. When they were done they all went outside and chatted for a bit.

"Well we and Hearth will go back now and see what we can do about Balmung," Blitz said.

"Great, thanks for lunch guys," he said as they said goodbye to Blitz and Hearthstone.

"Oh can I talk to you both in private before I leave? It's a little private," TJ asked as Samirah gave him a look.

"Sure no problem," Magnus said. He nodded and they all made their way to a small park away from other people. "What did you want talk about?" Magnus asked.

TJ sighed as he looked at both of them, "We have reason to believe that a Norse demigod is working under the control of Kronos," he said in a tone barely above a whisper. He noticed Samirah look down and clench her fists in anger.

He and Magnus's eyes widened, "What do you mean?" He asked.

"It appears a child of Loki was recruited. We don't know much of anything else. Gunilla and the rest of our group here are trying to make sure Loki doesn't do anything but he is tricky," TJ said with a sigh.

"Yes one of my siblings," Samirah said as she gripped her ax in anger.

Oh yeah she mentioned being a daughter of Loki he thought as he wracked his brain for the bits of Norse mythology he remembered.

"Wow ok, well thanks for letting us know," he said.

"Yeah Kronos is strong and he is very convincing," Magnus said.

TJ nodded, "Yeah we know, anyway I enjoyed working with you both. Percy fighting with you reminded me of when I was alive, you Greeks really are fun."

He laughed, "Thanks man. Hopefully, we can see each other again."

TJ nodded, "I hope so too, you both are super cool. Anyway see you guys around," he said. He and Magnus both said goodbye to him as he turned around and jogged away.

Samirah looked at them and sighed, "Yeah I will be off as well. I enjoyed this I am glad I am watching over you Magnus Chase."

Magnus nodded, "No problem we appreciate your help."

"Yeah you are really good with an ax," he said.

Samirah smiled at him, "Thanks and for my sibling that joined Kronos's side don't underestimate him or her. I've never met this person but I know that whoever they are they are someone tough"

He nodded, "We won't. I take it in the Norse world children of Loki are looked down upon?"

Samirah nodded as a dark look spread across her face, "Even in the Norse world there is discrimination. Children of Loki are looked down upon a lot and seen as untrustworthy."

Sort of like how we view Hades. "Well you are trustworthy and we appreciate your help."

Samirah smiled at him, "Thank you Percy I enjoy hanging out with you both as well. Its hard to believe that there are Greek demigods too. Well I better get going see you guys around," she said as she waved and ran off in another direction as they said goodbye to her.

"Well that was fun," Magnus said.

"Yeah lets get going," he said as they both turned around and walked out of the park. However, just as they were walking out they noticed a person walking on the other side of the street.

"Is that Clarisse?" Magnus asked pointing to her.

Clarisse saw them and her eyes widened before returning to her usual demeanor. "It looks like it, lets just act natural," he whispered. Magnus nodded as Clarisse approached her.

"Hey Clarisse what's up?" He asked.

Clarisse looked at them and for a second he swore he saw her look them over as if they were enemies, which was normal. "Chiron sent me to scout this area. What about you two?" She snorted.

"Oh um Chiron sent us on a mission nearby we just came here for lunch," he said looking her in the eyes. Magnus nodded two, he couldn't explain it but something about Clarisse was off. More off than usual, she seemed tenser as if she were suspicious of something.

However, Clarisse just rolled her eyes, "Well when you two are done with your date you should return home. We shouldn't take vacations now that this war is getting started." He felt his face flush a bit and he noticed Magnus avoid his gaze slightly.

"Right we were just doing that," Magnus said looking at her. "See you around."

Clarisse nodded, "Yeah see you both around." He and Magnus nodded and walked down the street trying to appear normal, he looked back slightly and swore he saw Clarisse glaring at them. What's her deal he thought as they went to where Blackjack was. It wasn't her usual glare but it was like someone stabbed her in the back. He didn't think much of it but he had this nagging feeling that something was not right with her, especially since she was glaring at Magnus in particular.