I don't PJO, HoO, or ToA, and its characters, all characters belong to Rick Riordan.
I only own the Original Characters.
Genji looked out the window of the train, appreciating the view and the journey; however, the presence of a certain Satyr made things more difficult.
He heard him ask, "Are you a Godling?"
"Yeah, what giveaway?" he asked sardonically.
Of course, the satyr didn't understand that.
"Well, you smell different from a demigod; it's stronger, but you don't have the same presence as the gods. It's like something in between both," he answered.
He decided to indulge the Satyr.
"Okay, Satyr," he started but was interrupted by the Satyr.
"Hello, my name is Grover."
"I don't care," he continued. "So, Grover, are you able to tell all of this with only your sense of smell? I thought it didn't work on gods."
"Well, it's not that it doesn't work; it's that the Gods embody their domains so powerfully that they smell so strong that it burns our senses," he answered him
"So basically the gods are undetectable to you because they smell like their domains?"
"Yes, in general."
He said humorously, "Great!"
He looked out the window again to see the view, but it seemed that Grover was not done talking.
He heard him ask, "Who is your mother?
He decided to stop him there.
"Does it matter? I am only here because of the Master Bolt; after that, we go on our separate ways. We are not friends, so stop acting like we are," he said, giving only a side glance.
He saw Grover get a bit crestfallen after that sinking a little more in his seat.
Genji sighed.
"We should get some sleep while we can, especially since we have yet to face any adversity."
"I thought even Godlings could stay up for days without getting tired?"
"Well, I don't need to, but I do like sleeping, so only wake me when we get to our destination, got it?"
Grover nodded and with that, proceeded to close his eyes and sleep, but not before discreetly placing a marker on the demigods so this way he would still be able to know where they were even if they tried to ditch him while he was asleep.
He dreamed of his time with his father when he was 8 years old; they were in the living room in front of the fireplace, it was one of his most vivid memories because it was on this day that his father warned him about the nature of the Olympians.
He was sitting on his father's knee when he asked his question.
"Dad, why does Mom get angry whenever I mention wanting to visit Olympus? She always frowns and says I'm better off staying away from there." He didn't know how to finish and looked up to his father, who was surprisingly smiling.
Zeus looked at him.
"Away from that pit of snakes," his father finished for him.
Genji nodded in agreement.
"Well, I can assure you she is not angry that you want to visit Olympus; she gets angry because of what could happen to you if you go there."
"What do you mean by that?" Genji asked, confused.
"Let's just say that your mother is right about Olympus being a pit of snakes," he said, looking into the fireplace.
Genji remained confused.
He saw his father sigh and decided to elucidate.
"Olympians are ambitious and powerful; often, when they offer their aid, they always expect something in return. And they are not afraid of using that against you if it suits them, just as they are not afraid of throwing one of their own into the fire if it means that they can get away with something they did. If you ever have to interact with one of them, remember that they want or need something from you and that nothing that they offer will come for free - there is always a price to pay. Remember this."
"Even you?" Genji asked.
His father looked upon him.
He said, "Especially me."
He was awakened by the daughter of Athena who told him they were going to visit the Gateway Arch.
He grumbled.
He asked, "Why do you want to visit that place? Don't we have bigger priorities?"
"This might be my only chance to visit; you either come with us or stay here." She answered him.
He role his eyes.
"Fine, I'll go, but this better be quick."
And so they went to the underground museum, and while Annabeth tried to make it less boring, he was tuning out most of what she said; he just wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible.
He let the three of them talk among themselves, and they started to discuss Hades's Helm. He ignored their conversation until they asked for his opinion on the matter.
He said to them.
"If the Lord of the Dead were here, we would be dead before we could even blink."
"Oh, that's good to know," Percy said nervously.
He then saw the elevator that was going to take them, and without further ado, he entered the elevator and indicated for the three to get inside quickly; he really wanted to get this done quickly, or else they might miss the train.
They were joined by a fat woman and her dog; the dog was a Chihuahua, which appeared to be growling at the demigods. The woman was wearing a floppy denim hat and a denim dress that bulged so much, she resembled a blue-jean blimp.
It didn't take long for Genji to figure out who those two were, especially with his divine senses. But now it comes to the question of whether he should interfere more on this quest than he already has. His father's orders were to keep his distance and only tail them and then catch Percy in the act. But now it seems that the boy was only a victim in the schemes of the Olympians; they likely knew he was innocent, but to please their father, they don't have problems sending a twelve-year-old one on a mission that could very likely kill him.
He was so focused on his musings that he completely forgot when the fat lady started talking with the demigods and asking them about their parents, but he did hear her ask about him.
But before he could answer her, Percy answered first.
He told her, "He is my older brother."
"Really, how old are you?" she asked.
Genji said curtly, "I'm 15."
"Oh, I see," the fat lady said.
When they finally reached the top, he immediately took the demigods out of the elevator, all the while staring at the fat lady and her dog, and they, in turn kept their eyes on him, as if challenging him to do something against them. And he was very tempted to do so.
They kept playing this little game until the park ranger announced that they would be closing soon; when he did, the demigods left, except for Percy, who insisted on staying. Annabeth and Grover offered to leave without him, but Percy refused.
He could only shake his head; he hoped the boy was ready for a fight.
Percy started to interact with the fat lady, who showed him her forked tongue and told him the dog's name was Chimera.
Then he grabbed Percy and pulled him away from them, placing himself between Percy and Echidna.
The dog began to grow, and its barking transformed into roaring. It grew until it was the size of a lion. It had the head of a lion, complete with a blood-caked mane; the body and hooves of a giant goat; and a serpent for a tail—a ten-foot-long diamondback, growing right out of its shaggy behind.
"Well, well, when Lord Zeus told me that I could finally use one of my children to test a hero, I didn't think that he would be protected by a Godling."
"Well, I didn't think my father would send you and your son to deal with a mere child, so why did he send you?"
Echidna scoffed.
"Why the usual? After the boy sent Medusa's head to Olympus, Lord Poseidon started to brag that his son would be even greater than Heracles himself. And so Lord Zeus decided to see if that was true and gave me permission to use one of my children to test Perseus."
He started to rub his eyebrows; of course, it would be those two. Couldn't they solve their rivalry like two adults? He was starting to see why his mom and grandmother had told him that when it came to Poseidon, his father simply forsook common sense.
He heard Percy ask him, "You're going to help me, right?"
And for a moment he was tempted to simply say no and let Percy handle them himself, but he stopped this line of thought; if Percy died, so too would his chance of retrieving the Master Bolt, and that was something that he couldn't let happen, so he gave Percy his answer.
"Leave Echidna to me; you focus on the Chimera, and aim for its tail?"
Percy agreed.
And with that, he finally focused on his ring, finally summoning his weapon from it.
It was a beautiful katana; the blade was made of Kami-Steel, while the handle was made of Imperial Gold. The name of this sword was Inazuma no Hikari.
He immediately engaged in combat with the Echidna, while Percy proceeded to distract the Chimera's attention away from the mortals.
At first he didn't think much of Echidna until she revealed her true form, discarding her clothes to reveal that the lower half of her body was that of a snake and scales began to cover her body; her nails became claws, and he could even smell the poison coming from them.
The first thing he noticed was how ridiculously fast she was; if he hadn't kept his guard up, he likely would have lost his throat.
She attacked with her claws, trying to get a scratch on him, and he knew it; one scratch would be enough. He parried each of her attacks and tried to cut her head off with a slash. Turns out, though, her scales were very resistant; he would have to apply more force to the cut.
She then tried to use her tail to grab him, but he simply used his lightning to electrocute her every time she tried to do that. He started to infuse lightning into his sword to deal more damage on her, and proceeded to try to cut her arms off. However, she saw what he was trying to do and used her claws to stop the attacks. How she didn't get affected by the electricity, he didn't know, but it didn't matter; she was going to fall one way or another.
They continued their dance, with him trying to cut off her head while she tried to poison him with her claws; he tried to make multiple slashes at her, but she was able to match all of them. Then she proceeded to lunge at him, but thankfully, he was able to dodge this attack and immediately slashed her chest. She howled in pain.
But before they could continue, they heard the Chimera roar in pain, and they looked to see what had happened; they saw the Chimera trying to tear Percy apart. What took their attention, however, was the snake that used to be the Chimera's tail lying on the ground, severed from the body.
She screamed, "Sonny!" and proceeded to attack Genji with renewed fury.
Her attacks became more careless, so he merely waited for the opportunity while he blocked slash after slash. He got his chance when she overextended one of her attacks, and he took advantage of it. Immediately, he slashed her arm off, and she screamed in pain. Before she could clutch her severed arm, he immediately cut her other arm. Before she could even react, he infused more lightning into his blade and proceeded to cut her head, finishing the fight.
After decapitating her, he stopped to take a small breath; if his father hadn't limited his powers, she wouldn't even be a concern to him. But thanks to those limitations, he needed to be careful - he knew Echidna could have easily incapacitated him with her poison; she was considered the "Mother of Monsters" for a reason after all.
He then realized that everything was quiet and proceeded to look at Percy, and he couldn't help but smile at the sight.
Percy stood in front of a pile of golden dust in the same spot where the Chimera had been, the boy seemed to be okay, a little out of breath but otherwise okay; he proceeded to walk over to him.
"Well, it seems like you are going places, Percy. First the Minotaur, then Medusa, and now the Chimera; it seems that Poseidon might be right about you surpassing the heroes of old." He said with a smile while fistbumping Percy's chest.
Percy somehow still found the strength to look at him and smile, nodding in acknowledgement.
But now they had more pressing matters they needed to get out of there and fast; thankfully, while Genji was looking around, he saw the hole in the wall that the Chimera had opened up with its fire breath.
The only problem was getting down; he could jump, but Percy couldn't. And then he saw the Mississippi River, and he had an idea.
He called Percy closer to him and proceeded to tell him his plan.
Percy was not amused by the situation.
He said, "It's madness."
"Calm down, it's just water, and you're the son of Poseidon; it won't hurt you, and besides, we need to get out of here fast, so it's not like we have much choice." He replied.
He saw him slowly nod his head.
"Okay, I will count to three and then I will throw you okay?" Genji said.
Percy nodded his head in agreement.
Genji proceeded to grab Percy and began counting.
"3,2,1"
And then he threw Percy into the Mississippi River and watched him land in it.
With that out of the way, he proceeded to jump off the Gateway Arch.
When he landed on the ground, he simply used the Mist to disguise himself from others. After that, he began using the marker he placed on Annabeth to find her, and sure enough, he found her alongside the satyr. Needless to say, she had some questions.
"What happened? What were those explosions, and where is Percy?" she whispered to him so they wouldn't attract attention.
"First of all, calm down," he said. "And as for the rest, here's a summary of what happened."
After he told her what had happened, they immediately made their way towards the river, and from there they saw Percy emerge from it.
Grover immediately crushed him into a hug, and Annabeth proceeded to tell him that Genji had already told her what happened above.
"Okay, guys, it's great that we are all back together, but we need to get away from here now, or else the police will start coming after us; let's go." Genji told them.
As they left, they heard that the reporters were accusing Percy of causing the explosions, giving them even more motivation to leave that town as quickly as possible.
They managed to make their way toward the Amtrak station and boarded the train, leaving St. Louis behind.
Any constructive criticism is welcome.
Reviews:
Echoxenvy: Yes it was mostly Annabeth but the rest of the trio definitely helped and well let's just say that Genji's presence will change some details.
Death Fury: Yeah, Genji is officially in the quest now.