Ch37
Ms. Jackson greeted them both at the door with a wide smile. "Magnus and Annabeth thank you for coming."
"Thank you for having us," he said as they walked into the apartment.
"Yeah hey Ms. Jackson," Annabeth said nervously.
"Hey guys thanks for coming," Percy said as he greeted them.
"Glad to be here dude," he said as Percy introduced them to a small number of guests which included Tyson. Percy introduced Annabeth to Paul Blofis and the two seemed to get along. Magnus noticed that his cousin seemed a bit nervous but she quickly became comfortable at the party.
He and Annabeth chatted with Percy a bit and played some games with him and Tyson for a while. Everything was fun, yeah Percy was approaching his sixteenth birthday but it was pretty fun and he could tell that Annabeth was enjoying it too.
"Um excuse me Percy can I talk to you for a minute," Paul Blofis asked.
"Um sure be right there," Percy said. "Sorry guys I'll be right back."
He and Annabeth nodded as they watched Percy talk with his mom's boyfriend. "So how are you liking the party?" He asked.
Annabeth blushed, "I think it is fun. I don't really attend many parties with my friends so this is fun."
He smiled at his cousin, "I am glad to hear that, we enjoy your company you know."
Annabeth avoided looking at him, "Th-Thanks. I am glad that you both want to hang out with me," she said looking at her cup of soda.
"Of course we enjoy you hanging out with us," he said. His cousin continued to avoid his gaze, suddenly taking a lot of interest in her cup of soda. "I mean you're smart and we appreciate you being with us."
"Thanks it means a lot," she said giving him a small smile. Percy eventually came back looking surprised.
"Did something happen?" He asked.
"Um its kind of between my mom and her boyfriend nothing bad though," Percy said as they returned to their game.
The rest of the party was pretty cool, Percy's mom made a bunch of blue cakes for them to eat. Just as they were about to blow out the candles they heard a knock at the door. "Who could that be?" Percy's mom asked as she answered the door.
There was a collective gasp as Poseidon entered the room. He was wearing Bermuda shorts and had a Hawaiian shirt and Birkenstocks. His black beard was neatly trimmed and his sea green eyes twinkled.
"Hi Sally you look as beautiful as ever may I come in?" He asked.
Sally Jackson made a few sounds as the god entered the room.
Paul Blofis who was trying to figure out what was going on approached Poseidon, "Hi I am Paul Blofis."
"Nice to meet you I am Poseidon," Poseidon said with a smile.
"Well um glad you could drop by," Salley said with a nervous smile. "Paul this is Percy's father."
"Oh I see," Paul said with an awkward look. Magnus looked at Annabeth who was pretty shocked and at Percy who was surprised at his father's visit.
"Now I don't mean for any trouble I was just in the area on some quick business and could not miss Percy's fifteenth birthday," Poseidon said in a calm voice. "If we were in Sparta Percy would be a man already."
"True, I used to teach ancient history," Paul said.
Poseidon smiled at Paul, "That's me, Ancient history. Sally, Paul, and the rest of you," Poseidon said looking at him, Annabeth, and Tyson. "May I borrow Percy for a minute?" They all nodded as Percy got up and led him to his room.
"I wonder what they are talking about?" He asked as he looked at Annabeth.
"I'm not sure must be important," Annabeth said as she looked over at Percy's room. "I better go help Ms. Jackson," she said. He turned and saw that Sally Jackson was explaining Poseidon to Paul who looked a little irritated but not angry.
He sat and chatted with Tyson a bit and after a while, Percy came out. "Hey Magnus my dad wants to speak to you."
"Um sure but about what?" He asked in surprise.
"He said it is nothing serious," Percy said with a sigh. "Don't worry I told him to go easy on you," he said with a smile as he patted his back.
"Thanks," he said with a sigh as he got up and headed towards Percy's room. He entered the room and found Poseidon sitting on Percy's bed looking at him with his sea green eyes which showed no emotion. He closed the door behind him and did a deep bow. "Lord Poseidon how may I help you?" He didn't really know what to ask, but he did not want to piss off Percy's dad.
Poseidon stared at him with his green eyes, they were like Percy's and he could see no anger in them but he still knew that he did not want to get on his bad side.
"First off I want to thank you for befriending my son. You have been by his side since the beginning and he can use friends like you," Poseidon said calmly.
"No problem Lord Poseidon. Percy is my best friend and thank you for letting me stay in your cabin with him," He said as politely as he could
"No problem by all means continue being his friend. Percy cares a lot about you," Poseidon said calmly. "Now I want to talk to you about your present for Percy," Poseidon straightened up and he could sense that he was getting serious but not in a threatening way.
"Is my present ok to give to him?" He asked carefully.
Poseidon studied his expression and sighed, "Yes that is not the problem, I know your grandfather Njord and we are friendly these days and I think that Percy would enjoy the present a lot."
His father mentioned that his grandfather was the sea god of Norse Mythology. Hopefully nothing bad comes from that
"Anyway I already claimed your gift to Percy as a part of my territory," Poseidon said. "Though I ask that for the duration of this war you do not use it to go too far from New York, the sea is full of monsters that even I have lost count of."
"I understand Lord Poseidon," he said.
Poseidon nodded, his gaze turning serious. "Good, also while I do not mind you interacting with your father or even visiting him. I want Percy to remain here."
"I understand Lord Poseidon," he saw that Poseidon's eyes were very much serious.
"Good, by all means learn from your father and visit his realm but I want Percy to remain here where I can find him," Poseidon said as he got up. "Its not that I don't trust your father but the last thing Olympus needs right now is some sort of diplomatic incident."
He nodded as the atmosphere became slightly tense. "I understand sir."
Poseidon nodded at him, "Maybe if things calm down in the future he can visit but for now it is not the best. Now go and have fun with your friends, I am sure my son will enjoy your present," he said with a wink.
Magnus nodded as Poseidon disappeared. "Well that went surprisingly well," he said as he exited Percy's room. He didn't have time to tell Percy about his talk with Poseidon as they immediately went to cut the cake. He explained to Paul Blofis that Poseidon had taken the fire escape since his car was parked there and that Poseidon spoke to him to thank him for helping Percy with something.
Overall the rest of the evening went by well. Annabeth had to return to camp early so she left but thanked Percy and his mom for having her. Thus he was left with Percy and Tyson, "So what did my father want?" Percy asked as they ate some blue birthday cake in his room.
"Oh um he wanted me to make sure I don't bring you to my father's realm," he said as he explained the meeting with Poseidon. "Overall it was good, he is a cool guy."
"Ah ok that's good. I wondered why he wanted to see you," Percy said. They both ate their cake and talked until they hear a knock at Percy's window. "Nico?" Percy asked as he went over and opened the window.
"Oh I didn't know you had company," Nico said as he looked at both of them with an awkward gaze. Then he looked at their plates. "Is that blue birthday cake?"
Percy nodded, "Yeah come on in there is plenty for everyone." Nico looked reluctant and nodded as he entered the room.
Magnus smiled at him and Nico only nodded at him though he felt him look him over as if he were checking him out a bit. Damn he has grown a lot. Nico was taller in the light and looked much older than he actually was yet he still appeared to be half starved.
"I wanted to talk to you about something but we can do it later," Nico said as they both led him to the front room and gave him some cake and ice cream. They chatted and ate some cake for a bit until they were done.
"Oh Percy my present for you is out on a nearby dock; do you want to see it now?" He asked.
Percy's eyes lit up and he swore Nico rolled his eyes, "Sure I wonder what it is," Percy said with a bright smile.
"Oh you will see. Nico you can come to if you want," he said. Nico only nodded as they told his mom that they will be going out for a bit. He guided Percy and Nico to a nearby dock and had Percy close his eyes. When they got to the pier he looked at his present and turned to Percy, "Ok dude you can open your eyes, happy birthday!"
Percy opened his eyes and his draw dropped at the sight of his present Nico also looked in surprise but said nothing. It was a large wooden Viking ship complete with a bunch of shields on the side and a carved dragon on the front. "Wow cool, where did you get this?" Percy asked as he stared at the ship with wide eyes.
"Uh a present from an old friend. Want to check it out?" He asked. Percy nodded his head eagerly while Nico nodded as well, clearly impressed by the ship. He let them on the ship and showed them around, it had various weapons on it and he told Percy that it was enchanted so that one did not need multiple people to row it.
"Dude this is sweet thanks man," Percy said as he checked out the various items on board. There were shields, swords, spears, and a variety of other Viking-related items on board.
"Do you like it?" He asked as Percy looked overboard.
"Yeah thanks this is super cool." Then to his surprise, Percy went over and gave him a big hug. He hugged Percy back though he swore that Nico was glaring daggers at him before turning away to look at the water.
He explained how it worked and that they only needed to say where to go and the ship would take them there. Percy was excited to try it out but it was too dark so they decided to head back to his mom's place.
"Oh um Percy can I speak to you in private?" Nico asked when they got to Percy's place.
"Um sure," Percy said.
"I'll go help your mom clean up," he said. Percy smiled at him and thanked him while Nico just rolled his eyes. Percy took Nico to his room
"Hey Ms. Jackson let me help," he offered as he took out a new trash bag.
"Oh Magnus I can't have you do this," Ms. Jackson said.
"Yeah Magnus it is alright we got this," Paul Blofis said with a smile on his face. "Where is Percy?"
"Oh Nico wanted to have a private conversation with him. Percy really likes the present I got him," he said as he grabbed a new bag and helped put trash in it.
"Oh what did you get him?" Ms. Jackson asked.
"Oh um just a gift," he said with a wink. Percy's mom seemed to get the hint and allowed him to help clean up. He helped clean the dishes and insisted that Ms. Jackson and Paul Blofis relax, Sally Jackson thanked him and decided to go out for a nice walk with her boyfriend.
After he finished helping out with the dishes and cleaning up he rested on the couch when he heard Percy's door open. "Hey guys," he said as he watched Percy and Nico enter the room. Nico had a blank look on his face though Percy looked as if he were thinking about something deep.
"Hey Magnus where are my mom and Paul?" Percy asked as he and Nico sat across from him.
"Oh they went for a walk or something," he said.
He felt Nico look at him weirdly, "Magnus you are different?" Nico said eyeing him up and down.
"What do you mean?" You've been checking me out all day as if I'm trying to steal something.
"Like your aura it seems colder and that ship how did you get it?" Nico asked eyeing him carefully.
"Um I go it through some connections," he said avoiding Nico's gaze.
"Yeah Magnus has a habit of getting strange stuff," Percy said nervously.
Nico looked at both of them and he had a feeling that Nico knew that they were hiding something. "Fine whatever. By the way your spirit, why is it attached directly to my father's domain almost as if it were tethering it there."
Magnus gulped, "Y-Yeah when I visited your father's domain to retrieve Zeus's bolt he said did something and said that my soul will be tied to his realm."
Nico looked at him as if he said something weird, "Well that seems pointless I mean if you already recognize the Greek Gods you should already be going to my father's realm."
He exchanged a nervous look with Percy, "Yeah I mean I don't know either," he said nervously.
"Well here let me undo it," Nico said as he got up.
He was going to protest but before he knew it Nico was in front of him and placed his hand on his chest right over his heart. He said nothing as he felt Nico's hand on his chest, "It appears that the seal my father placed is weakened almost as if he doesn't want it anymore I think I could get rid of it."
Magnus gave Percy a nervous look but he didn't resist Nico's touch as he muttered some incantation. When Nico finished he felt a rush of energy throughout his body, it wasn't painful but he felt like yelling. When Nico was done he pulled away from him, "There I don't know why my father still had that on you."
"Are you ok Magnus?" Percy asked with concern.
"Yea I am ok," He muttered as he shook his head. "Um thanks for whatever you did."
Nico nodded and avoided his gaze, "No problem, I don't know why my father put that thing in place I mean its not like you would go anywhere else."
"Haha yeah I know but um thanks," he said awkwardly. Percy gave him a concerned look but Nico just sighed.
"Well I better get going see you both around," Nico said.
"Alright Nico thanks for coming," Percy said.
Nico nodded. "No problem and Happy Birthday." The son of Hades left as quick as he came leaving them alone.
"So Nico undid what his father did huh?"
"I guess though I don't know what happens now," he said with a sigh as he looked up at the ceiling.
"I mean since your dad is from a different pantheon would you like to go to their underworld?" Percy asked avoiding his gaze.
"I honestly am not sure man," he said with a sigh. He looked up at Percy and saw that his green eyes had worry in them. "I mean yeah I met my father but I still identify more with the Greek Pantheon to be honest."
"Yeah I know but what if you don't go to our underworld?" Percy asked.
He sighed, "I don't know honestly. I mean I am pretty sure I would still go to the Greek underworld but I don't know how it works." Percy gave him a sad look and he decided it would be best to change the topic. "But hey I have my entire life ahead of me so I'm sure it will work out. So how do you like your present?"
Percy smiled at him and laughed, "It is cool man, we should take it out for a spin one day."
"Yeah man we should. Though your father said we shouldn't go out too far from New York," he said as he told him about his conversation with Poseidon.
Percy sighed when he finished telling him the story, "Yeah my dad is a little overprotective of me in certain ways. But I guess we should stay close by just in case after all the fighting is going to get tougher."
He nodded, "Yeah things are only going to get worse from here, I know Kronos and Luke will soon be making their move." Percy nodded as they both chatted about their upcoming year, they knew they only had so much time before their next battle began.
"Come on freak is that all you got," one of the muggers said as he flung his fist at her. Alex Fierro tried to avoid it but the mugger's friends were holding her down.
She let out a scream as the man and his friends continued to beat her. I hate my damn life she thought as she felt herself spit out blood. Sadly for her all she was thinking about was how her father disowned her, after years of abuse by his hands she was finally kicked out and disowned.
Don't worry daddy's friends will soon come to help you a voice said in her head. She sometimes heard it, it told her to do things and even had helped her throughout her life. She thought she was crazy at first but she found the voice helpful at times, especially on the streets.
"Fuck off," she spat as she glared at the men.
The men only laughed, "A freak like you should die but first maybe we should have some fun," the leader of them said with a sinister smiled as he rubbed her leg with his hand.
Alex tried not to appear afraid as she tried to break free. The men only laughed as she felt various hands on her, she swore a stream of profanities as she resisted all the way when suddenly the men stopped at the sound of footsteps approaching her.
"I would stop if I were you," said another man's voice. Alex and the men turned around at the sight of a guy in his late teens with an orange shirt. He had blonde hair and a scar on his face, "She did not consent to be touched," he said in a cold voice. The man was flanked by two other men, one looked Asian and had an eye batch and the other had a skinny build and with brown hair and green eyes. And behind them, she swore she saw what looked like various monsters from some sort of horror movie.
Who are they she could tell immediately that there was something not normal about them.
"Beat it kids we found this freak first," said the man who was beating her. Alex looked up at the men and for once she had a glimmer of hope inside of her, yeah they were young and fewer in numbers but she could feel something in them.
The blonde haired kid laughed, "Well have it your way. Ethan you Alabaster take care of them." The blonde snapped his fingers, it happened so fast that Alex could not process it. The man with the green eyes raised his hand and muttered something and men around her were thrown up against the wall as a wide smile spread across the boy's face while the one-eyed Asian kid ran and kicked the man who was beating her causing him to pass out.
The blonde kid then stepped forward, "You pigs should learn your place," he said coldly as he drew a sword. The men began to beg but to her luck, the blonde ignored their pleas and brought the sword down on each of them ending their pathetic lives.
"Wh-Who are you people?" She asked breathing heavily
The blonde kid smiled at her and extended a hand and helped her up. "We are here to help you; we know what it's like to be kicked out of our home by our so called parents. We were all tossed aside in one way or another," the man said. His voice was like honey and Alex felt comforted and for once she felt safe as his words entered her head. The blonde kid gave off a strong powerful aura that she had never felt before.
"Come with us; you will be safe and accepted," The Asian kid said.
Accepted? It was an idea that was foreign to her, she had been rejected every day of her miserable life. She looked at the guys in front of her and did not know what to think. Is this a trap? But they did save me and something is different about them. There was also another reason she thought of, it was approaching fall, and winter in Boston was not going to be easy.
She stared at the blonde who only smiled at her, "The choice is yours of course. We can protect you and help you if you want revenge against those who have wronged you You will be accepted among us."
"Accepted" she mumbled almost as if she were in a trance, a smile spread across her face.
The blonde smiled as he extended his hand, "Yes and those who have wronged you will pay the price we will build a world for people like you. You won't have to hide who you really are and be afraid of not being accepted."
Alex looked at the hand and slowly took it. The handshake was firm and for once she felt stability. "I am Alex Fierro."
The blonde haired kid smiled at her, "Welcome you are the newest member of our family. Join me and people like you won't have to live in fear."
Alex smiled back she couldn't explain it but with this man, she felt safe and accepted.