It wasn't Connor's fault.
At least, that was what he would tell everyone.
It had been going smoothly, at first.
Connor and Bianca had been searching on the opposite side of the warehouse. They passed through a section of home appliances and toys. Well, he used the term 'toys' lightly. They were dolls with celestial bronze internals and laser eyes.
How did he know?
They were priced in drachma, which only immortals and demigods dealt in, and also they were labeled as such on the tablet. Hephaestus made some weird products. He was also a filthy fucking traitor by allowing the Amazons to carry his goods.
Bianca stared around the aisle in confusion. "I thought the Amazons were warriors?"
"They are," Connor responded.
"Then why are they delivering packages? It doesn't make sense. Isn't that too… mundane?"
"Unfortunately, war is a business," Connor explained. "And the bloodier it is, the more profitable. Especially nowadays."
"They're supporting the Titans?"
"Yes and no. They sell to everyone. Money is all the same to them. No matter whose blood ends up getting spilled for it."
They passed over a slightly dented mortar from the Civil War. Beckendorf would've loved it. Argus would have a seizure at the sight of it.
"Why don't the gods do anything about it?" Bianca frowned at the information. "Why not just stop them?"
"A lot of stupid reason honestly," Connor huffed. "Gods have a certain 'hands-off' policy regarding mortal affairs. It's also a huge time sink to inspect every single package. Unless they operated using mortal labor to the same scale as the Amazons, they'd probably just get bored and vaporize the place. And this is just one of thousands. In my opinion, they should just be run out of business. No inspections, no procedures, nothing, just get rid of them."
"You must really hate them," Bianca said, looking over a stack of boxes.
"They just copy all the things that the Hermes Express does! Free shipping! Tax evasion! Underpaying their employees! It's all imitation with none of the soul that makes the Hermes Express special!"
"Hermes doesn't pay taxes?"
"Pfft, who does?" Connor scoffed. "Even Chiron doesn't bother with it. What's the IRS going to do? It's not like they can get past the border. For all they know, we just run a lucrative strawberry farm."
"I get more concerned the more I learn about the Camp."
"You get used to it after a while." It was an odd feeling when the sight of Argus just became a normal occurrence. "Honestly, the mortal businesses are weirder, mostly because of the number of gods involved in them. Did you know that Nike owns Nike?"
"What?" Bianca turned away from a miniature Scylla and Charybdis statue.
"Nike, like the shoe brand." He elaborated
"Yeah, what about it?" She knit her eyebrows in confusion.
"It's owned by the goddess Nike."
"There's a shoe god?"
"Yeah, but Shu is an Egyptian god, those guys aren't real." At least, he didn't think they were. The Greek pantheon was enough trouble as is. "But my dad has been known to dress up as Thoth for Halloween, so technically they could be real."
Bianca elected not to reply to that.
They walked into another section when a white label caught Connor's eye.
Kymopoleia, 6th Palace Ruins, Mediterranean Sea, Bottom of the Ocean 34.5531° N, 18.0480° E.
"How do you even deliver that?" He wondered aloud. The box was large and rectangular. It rattled as he grabbed it, making a cacophony of hollow clinking noises. "Hope it's supposed to sound like that. Let's find the others."
He turned around to face a bronze cage with two mounds of serpentine tendrils. Dozens of bright slitted yellow eyes glared at him from emerald-scaled heads. They stared at him in hunger and curiosity.
Connor would recognize hydras anywhere. He had been trying to… procure some for a while now. They'd make an awesome prank! Unfortunately, they were expensive. Like, sell the wheels of the sun chariot levels of expensive. Although, he could just steal them from the Amazons. Well, not these. It'd be really dangerous to move these. Maybe there were smaller ones?
"What are those?" Bianca asked wide-eyed at the monsters.
"Hydras, big investments but bigger payoffs."
"Why would anyone invest in a monster?"
Connor rubbed his chin. It was complicated, but there was a way to connect a monster's life force to a building or business. Most monsters are pretty bad subjects for it because they have a limit. But a hydra? Potentially unlimited. "A hydra regrows two heads for each one that is cut off. With a bit of magic and gumption, you can bind it to say… a franchise or brand. Now, whenever heads grow back, a new building is created. Take, for example, the one we're currently in."
Bianca's eyes widened. "That sounds awful."
"It is," Connor agreed. But damn if it wasn't effective. It was originally a child of Hermes who invented the technique. That was another idea that the Amazons had so shamelessly ripped off. "But don't feel too bad for them, if these guys weren't locked up, we'd be monster chow right now."
He gave one final glance at the hydras' cage and noticed a stack of comically oversized egg cartons next to a control panel.
"Jackpot! Grab one of those, will ya?" Connor moved over to the stack.
"Why?" She frowned at the cartons.
"These things cost a fortune."
Bianca sighed as she reached for the one on top. Her fingers barely scraped the bottom of them and she resorted to jumping to try and nudge it further out. A big mistake.
The stack wobbled and came crashing down, causing hydra eggs to crack and splatter over them.
"Gross!"
"I think I'm going to cry." Just when Connor was about to finally get his hand on hydra eggs, calamity struck. It was just too cruel.
The hydras slammed their heads against the bars, screeching at the two of them.
"Yeah, yeah." He muttered to the monsters. "I'm just as disappointed as you guys. Let's just find the others and get out of here."
He turned on his heel to go back the way they came. Another big mistake. The yolk and egg whites made the floor a bit slippery. His foot slide on an eggshell and he started falling backward. Connor swung his arm out wildly to brace himself against the wall. His hand clamped down on the panel that the egg stack had been near.
There was a click as a button was pressed.
A robotic voice barred on the speakers as an alarm started blasting throughout the warehouse.
"Warning. The release for the hydra cage has been activated. Please clear the area while the monsters are being transported. Maintain a safe distance of a hundred and twenty feet at all times."
There was a hum of machinery as the bronze bars of the hydra cage began to rise.
Connor looked over to Bianca. "Run."
Lou Ellen was pretty sure it was her fault that everything went wrong.
She had been a bit… overzealous with Plan Z and, well, wasn't paying attention.
It had been an accident, of course. She didn't mean to be standing in their way. But all it took was an Amazon tripping over her to break her concealment spell.
She stared at the two women pointing swords at her. They stared at the bottle of Greek fire in her hand. And then they saw the chalk runes and markings that connected along the wall to numerous other bottles.
It put her in a rather sticky situation that wasn't easy to explain.
"Sorry, I just started working here today, you guys wouldn't happen to know where the bathroom is, would you?"
Lou Ellen got the feeling they didn't believe her when one of them raised a walkie-talkie and spoke something into it.
An alarm sounded.
She hurled the bottle at the wall and ran away as emerald flames ignited the chalk in a chain reaction.
Plan Z stood for 'Zero Competition Allowed.' Half of Hermes cabin had an intense rivalry with the Amazons. Lou Ellen wasn't one of those campers. But she did enjoy a good prank and being a thorn in the side of a mythological conglomerate like the Amazons had a certain appeal. Travis, being the mastermind that he was, created numerous plans on sabotaging the competition. Plan Z was also the only one that directly involved magic.
In general, magic has two rules. The first is that there is always a cost. The more powerful the spell, the more it would exhaust the caster. There were certain ways around it, like slowing down the spell by breaking it down into segments as she did with the chalk and bottles. Each segment took more time but left her with plenty of energy. The second is that magic tends to be volatile. There was always a degree of a spell going rogue. There wasn't much you could do about it except try and be careful.
Lou Ellen was never good at being careful.
Sure, she could have utilized a complex spell to detonate the Greek fire without much risk to her. But where was the fun in that? Her spell was simple, it was just the word 'spread' inscribed at set points where the bottles were. Once it was triggered, it would burn along the entirety of the wall until nothing was left.
The downside?
To light a fuse, you need a spark. If she didn't get caught, she would've started with a line of chalk all the way back at the stairwell. Unfortunately, she did get caught. And she ended up lighting the fuse only thirty feet away.
If it was Alabaster, he could've had a mistform set the entire thing up while he never set foot inside the building. But he wasn't here and she wasn't him. She just had to improvise. Think on the fly. Try not to die from her mistakes and learn from them.
The wall crumbled and melted under the sheer heat of the magical flames.
"Get back here!" One of the Amazons shouted as they chased after her.
"Sorry, I don't think this job is going to work out! Consider this my resignation!" Lou Ellen reached for one of the vials on her belt and desperately turned the bottle to read the label.
Speed.
She uncorked it and downed the lime green liquid. She gagged a bit at the taste of lemon and mud. Potions were time-consuming but allowed her to plan ahead. She needed to work on the taste though, so far, she only managed to make the healing potions palatable.
Lou Ellen felt light as a feather and quick as cheetah as the liquid took effect. Her surroundings became a blur as she sped unnaturally fast through the warehouse. It would only last thirty seconds or so, but that gave her enough of a lead to lay down traps. Probably non-lethal ones, but there was always a five percent chance that something would just explode… or turn you into a mushroom.
She took out her chalk again and wrote the Greek word for 'sand' and 'pit' on the floor. They glowed a faint blue for a brief second and settled back into a dusty white. She got more vials ready.
Blue and Spider.
She didn't remember what Blue did, but Spider was either cobwebs or eight legs. Her labeling system needed more work. At least something to specify what it did. Maybe some pictures.
"There she is!"
Lou Ellen started running again.
"Just wait until we—" The Amazon was cut off as the ground crumbled beneath them, sending the women down a ten-meter deep hole. "We know your face! Your packages will never arrive on time again. They'll always be delayed. Kept in a permanent limbo!"
Lou Ellen ignored their threats. She tossed both of the vials behind her as more shouting and screaming began closing in on her position. This would buy her some more time. But there was another pressing issue at the moment.
How was she going to find the others?
It was a hundred percent Travis' fault.
Let it be known that Lee warned him not to touch the display case. And what did he do? He fucking touched the display case! He triggered some sort of alarm and smashed the thing open instead.
And that was how they ended up with a priceless artifact in their hands and an angry mob after them.
Lee and the son of Hermes sprinted through the aisles as workers and Amazons chased them down. He clutched the bow and quiver of Heracles as Travis fired his rubber bullets wildly behind them. Either out of practice or sheer luck, they all hit the same target.
There was a sharp inhalation as one of the employees fell over, clutching at his crotch and wheezing pitiably. He was stepped over as his coworkers ignored his suffering. A dozen or so Amazons and orange goons chased after them.
"I think that was the one," Travis said as he reloaded his pistol.
"Great, can you deal with the rest?" Lee knocked over a stack of boxes sending them crashing and resulting in a few people stumbling and tripping.
"I'm gonna need more bullets or maybe… oh yeah!"
The son of Hermes swung his backpack over in front of him and took out one of the tear gas grenades. He pulled the pin and tossed the cylinder over his shoulder like litter. The canister spun as it released a thick white smokescreen. Their pursuers were stopped as the gas forced them into coughing fits.
As they rounded another aisle, they heard a massive explosion and the roar of rushing water. The walls were coming down as Greek fire ate away at them, letting the water in. That wasn't good at all.
Gunshots rang out from somewhere else in the warehouse and Lee got a sinking feeling in his gut. More explosions blared from all directions. People screamed as monsters somehow got free from their cages. Pegasi were flying in panicked circles in the air. All in all, it would be a bad day for the janitor.
Somehow the two of them managed to get to the stairs but the rest of their group wasn't there. The water was up to their ankles and didn't look like it was about to stop. They were running out of time.
"Where are the others?" Lee shouted.
Travis fumbled for another holster on his belt and Lee wanted to slap the guy.
"Seriously? You have more guns?"
"Also non-lethal!" Travis pulled out a pistol with a metal frame and a circular orange barrel. He aimed it upwards and fired. A streak of red light burst from it, illuminating the area above them. "Never know when you might get lost!"
Another explosion blasted his eardrums but this time he could pinpoint the source.
Lou Ellen ran from a group of very blue and very angry women covered in cobwebs as she dropped test tubes filled with iridescent liquids behind her. The glass tubes bobbed on the water for a few seconds before detonating. They burst into shimmering clouds of colorful dust and covered the Amazons. The women ran out of the clouds walking backward as their legs had been reversed. They were like dolls who had their lower bodies twisted a hundred and eighty degrees.
The daughter of Hecate pointed her index finger at the tiles on the floor. The tiles shot up from the water and formed a series of knee-high hurdles. Lee watched as the scene unfold like a Looney Tunes episode with Amazons tripping and piling up on top of each other. They struggled uselessly as their reversed legs made it hard to stand up correctly and just ended up splashing around.
Lou Ellen sprinted over to them looking exhausted but with a big grin on her face. "Travis, Sunshine! You guys find the target?"
"No," Lee said. "What happened with the Mist?" It was extremely inconvenient when one of the workers came over to check the weapon display and immediately noticed them and called for security. Turns out, the security comprised of heavily armed Amazons. He should've seen that coming.
"Yeah, that was my bad," She rubbed the back of her neck. "Wasn't paying attention when I set up the distraction, and someone tripped over me, broke it for all of us, unfortunately."
"Oh, so it wasn't me who triggered the alarm," Travis looked relieved.
"No, I'm pretty sure it was because of this!" Lee shoved the bow of Heracles in the guy's face. Travis grimaced slightly at the sight of his slip-up.
"Nice find!" Lou Ellen grinned but then she furrowed her brow and started looking around frantically. "Where's Connor and Chatterbox?"
She got her answer almost immediately.
One of the aisles in front of them was knocked over as a fully grown hydra slammed into it. The aforementioned demigods barely avoided being crushed as the metal frame collapsed behind them. They both had a splattering of yolk on them and Connor had a few eggshells still in his hair. He also clutched a large rectangular box in front of him with his left hand.
Bianca fired arrows at the hydra's heads but they were like toothpicks against the massive monster. The muzzle of Connor's revolver flared as he took shot after shot at the beast using his right hand. The rubber bullets ricocheted dangerously off the scaly hide.
The creature was gaining on the pair.
Lee tried to pull back the bow of Heracles but the bowstring didn't even budge. Stone was probably more flexible than whatever fiber was used to string the bow. He was suddenly reminded that Heracles was not only the greatest demigod of all time but also the physically strongest. There was no chance he could use this. He desperately swapped it for his usual bow and grabbed three of the explosive arrows from the quiver at his hip.
He nocked all three of them and aimed for the mountainous chest of the monster.
Another streak of red light came from Travis' flare gun, but this time at the hydra. Several of its heads turned towards it and hissed as the round passed over it, but the body still moved towards them.
The monster lunged five of its heads forwards only to be met with a cluster of cylindrical arrowheads in their path.
The explosion sent a blast of heat rushing over them as the monster's heads caught fire and burnt like candle wicks.
Connor and Bianca rushed past them and up the stairs, not even bothering to look at the three of them.
He shared a look with Lou Ellen and Travis.
"Don't just stand there!" Connor shouted. "Get your ass in gear before the second one gets here!"
"Second one?" Lee muttered.
A series of hisses echoed in front of him as an even larger hydra charged toward them, sending water splashing in all directions. It barreled over the corpse of its brethren and beelined for the stairs getting far too close for another barrage of the volatile arrows. Oh, that would be number two.
Needless to say, they followed their friends out of the building.
The hydra somehow not only managed to squeeze up the staircase after them but also break through the tiny doorway.
Connor yelled "I was wrong! I was wrong! Hydras aren't funny at all!" as it cornered them on the roof and raised all of its heads back and puffed up its neck. Panic spread throughout Lee's body like wildfire, all senses in his body screamed danger. The monster was going to release its poison breath.
Lee placed himself in front of the others. He couldn't afford to mess this up or they would all end up as fleshy puddles. He focused on the incoming poison as if it was the only thing in the world. As the noxious green gas spilled from the many jaws of the monster, Lee felt blood run down his nose again and stomach acid build up in his throat. The miasma condensed into thousands of little green beads and started bouncing and rolling around harmlessly on the floor.
He clutched his chest and vomited. His muscles ached and sweat trickled down his face. Lee's heart beat rapidly as if he'd just run three marathons back-to-back. He would've collapsed if Travis didn't sling Lee's arm over his shoulder. Lee slumped against his fellow counselor, teetering on the brink of unconsciousness.
The monster in front of him was, fortunately, preoccupied. Dozens of confused heads darted around the newly created marbles in confusion. It must've realized that they weren't food because it turned back towards his group. The monster flicked dozens of forked tongues and unhinged its jaws, ready to devour them.
A giant bronze disk slammed into the creature and sent a cascade of monster dust into the air like the world's nastiest piñata.
"Well," Kym flashed a razor-sharp grin. "Seems like you lot have made a mess of things down there. I am quite pleased!"
Lee's world spun and he puked again.
"Dude! My shoes!"
"Sorry, Travis."
For once in his life, it wasn't Percy's fault when something exploded.
He'd been having a slightly deadly sibling bonding moment with Kym when his friends decided to commit corporate terrorism. Not just that, but with Greek fire, one of the deadliest substances in the world! And Lou Ellen had the audacity to accuse him of being a domestic terrorist? Unbelievable!
"Thanks for the assist!" Connor grinned. Both he and Bianca were covered in what appeared to be egg yolk.
His sister smiled smugly as she wiped the hydra splatter from her disk. "I prefer not to dig around a hydra's stomach for my order. Now, hand it over."
She snatched the package from Connor and used a razor-sharp fingernail to slice through the tape. Percy took the opportunity to ask for his freedom.
"Could you let me out?" He glanced at Kym.
The goddess waved her hand and his bubble burst with an audible pop.
Percy fell flat on his back and just laid there like a starfish on the beach. It felt so good to be able to stretch his limbs. "No one talk to me, let me have this."
"No can do, Bubbles," Lou Ellen said. "Sunshine's lookin' pretty rough and I'd rather not stick around to be fired."
Percy did not appreciate the nickname. But he spared a glance at the son of Apollo. Lee had lost his healthy glow and was back to the sickly pale complexion from earlier.
He sighed begrudgingly and looked to his sister who was holding up a LEGO box for a model of the Titanic. "Wait, that's what you flooded an entire city for?"
"It was very expensive. Speaking of which…" Kym pulled out a smartphone and tapped on the screen a few times. "There we go, order canceled. I refuse to let them keep my money."
"Dude, your sister is awesome," Travis said.
"Of course I am," She preened over the compliment. "Brother, your compatriots have wise heads on their shoulders. I approve of the company that you keep."
"That's great, but can we get out of here?" Bianca asked, she was wringing the yolk from her hair. "Lee's thrown up three times today and I really don't want to witness a fourth if we get attacked."
They could take the raft, but as far as he knew, Kym had only flooded the city of Boston. They would need to make the rest of the way on foot, and the Amazons probably had cars or trucks. They needed a faster way out of there. Percy raised an eyebrow at his sister. "Any chance you could give us a ride?"
"Hmm, that wasn't part of our agreement," Kym's eyes narrowed but her lips revealed the faintest of smirks. "But your friends have pleased me, therefore I will allow you to negotiate."
Really? Percy thought they had gotten along swimmingly, but maybe siblings just didn't do favors without getting something in return. "I'll sign your petition."
"Oh, you didn't have a choice with that." That's what Percy was afraid of.
"Y-you could have these," Lee held up a handful of those small green orbs that the counselor had made from the hydra's breath.
"Ah yes, hydra venom," Kym commented. She waved her hand and the little spheres littering the rooftop levitated and swirled around her like an emerald asteroid belt. "Nasty stuff. Very difficult to neutralize, even more so to condense it into a solid-state. Even one of the Hekatokheires cannot withstand a heavy dosage." Her eyes sparkled with malice. "This is a start, what else can you offer?"
Lou Ellen scratched her head. "I don't know what petition you've got going but we're on our way to rescue Apollo, he'd probably be very grateful if you helped us out."
"Poet boy's gotten himself captured? You didn't mention this, Perseus. It isn't nice to keep secrets from your big sister."
"You didn't even give me a chance to explain the situation before you put me in a bubble."
"The opportunity was still present once you were contained."
"We could bring whatever your issue is to Apollo," Travis said. "A god's signature is worth more than a couple of demigods. We'd still sign it too. I'll even forge Chiron's signature."
Percy narrowed his eyes. "You'll what?"
"And Argus' too. Actually, I could probably fake all the counselors' and the rest of the campers' too."
"A compelling offer," Kym hummed.
The sound of footsteps echoed up the stairwell.
"We'll get you an exclusive lifetime discount with the Hermes Express!" Connor shouted. "If you get us out of here now, we'll even prevent Eris from handling any of your future orders!"
"Very well!" The goddess gave them a menacing grin. "I will hold you to your word. Do not disappoint me."
A large shadow fell over them as a colossal ship precariously floated in Boston Harbor. It was long, incredibly long, more like an island made of steel than a ship. Percy could barely make out the flat asphalt deck. They were staring at a U.S. aircraft carrier.
Kym spread her arms wide in a grand gesture. "Welcome aboard!"
Water funneled around him and his friends like a hurricane and a second later they were atop the massive vessel.
Percy looked around to see the barren sheet of a built-in runway. Slowly but surely, the ship started moving as Kym began heading below deck. She stared at the group expectantly with luminous eyes. "Are you not going to accompany me?"
They hurried after her. Well, most of them. Lee was being dragged along by Travis.
The goddess led them into a room filled with computer screens, buttons, and blinking lights. This was the control room. She sat down at a large table in the center and set down her LEGO box in the middle. The hydra venom beads stopped circling her and flowed like a river into a large metal crate in the corner of the room.
"Brother, take a seat, I require your aid." She commanded. Percy didn't like being bossed around, but he enjoyed being alive, so he acquiesced to her demand. His friends shuffled nervously behind him.
"Uh, is there a sick bay somewhere?" Travis asked. "Not to be a bother, but our leader's not looking too good right now."
Lee was noticeably green. "Sorry, I don't do well on boats."
"Starboard side," Kym said. "And do not make a mess on my ship." Her gaze was fierce and unsympathetic.
"What about a kitchen?" Lou Ellen looked at the goddess hopefully. "It's almost dinnertime and I'd rather not eat an emergency ration."
"There are several galleys. Wander around a bit and you will run into one. Oh, and do sign the petition before you leave." Kym laid the scroll flat against the table. The inkwell and quill appeared next to it. His friends quickly jotted their names down. Except for Travis. He took fifteen minutes and had to request a refill of ink. Percy would have to go over the amount of identity fraud that the son of Hermes just committed later.
With that, his friends split up and he was left alone with his sister. Again. But at least he had freedom of movement this time.
"Where is your destination?" Her white eyes held a faint curiosity.
"Maine, if it isn't too much trouble." Aside from Hermes, this was probably the most help Percy had ever gotten from a deity. Only it required much more bargaining on their end.
"Please, I relish in trouble. And if I cannot find it…" Kym's grin was wicked. "I will create it."
"That's very accommodating of you," Percy was as always, terrified of the goddess' violent nature.
"The journey will be short, you may rest overnight aboard my ship. But in return…" Percy shuddered. Why was she adding another condition? "You will assist me with this." She patted the LEGO box next to her.
"Oh," That was much more peaceful than what he had in mind. But he wasn't complaining, at least it wouldn't result in bodily injury for any party. Right? "Sure, that sounds like fun."
Percy spread out the instruction manual as Kym separated the LEGO pieces into piles based on which bag they were stored in. The newly met siblings got to work.
"So, you like building LEGO sets?"
"I find enjoyment in them if that is what you are implying." Kym clicked two rods together.
Percy nodded. "Is it just ships or do you like building other things?"
"I only collect the things which I have personally destroyed."
Percy dropped the piece he'd just assembled. "That was you? You sunk the Titanic?" Everyone knew about the infamous 'unsinkable' ship. Percy's mom loved the movie. The captain was seriously challenging the gods with that nickname and now Percy knew who answered that challenge.
"Surprised?" She smirked. "Yes, it had none of my signature style. Father would have caught on if I utilized a storm. An iceberg is dull, but it got the job done."
"Over a thousand people died!"
Kym nodded sadly. "Unfortunate, isn't it?"
Was that remorse on her face?
"It should have been all of them."
Nope.
"That's, uh, too bad," Percy didn't know what he was expecting. His sister had shown no inclination of being able to acknowledge the worth of human life. But, at least she showed slight interest in demigods. Which might not be the best of things now that he thought about it. She really demanded a lot from them just for a ride.
"Well, it's not like I would receive any of the credit for my work." Kym muttered bitterly. "I've become so obscured that my name is barely spoken. In fact, that Titan spawn is the only one who knew of me in decades. What a miserable existence I lead."
Percy frowned. "Titan spawn? Are you talking about Lou Ellen? She's a demigod like the rest of us."
"She is not," Kym replied. "A daughter of magic? Yes. But Hecate is a goddess in title only. She is a Titaness, one of those who originally aided the gods."
It wasn't Percy's place to judge. Lou Ellen had seemed friendly enough, even if she had a strange habit of nicknaming people, and was a bit odd. Besides, if Percy had learned one thing, it was that you couldn't choose who your parents were. He was lucky enough that his mother was a wonderful woman who bled and sweat for him for all those years. One day he'd be able to repay her for love and kindness.
Percy focused on another detail that bothered him: her desire for attention. "What's so important about people knowing who you are? I thought you didn't care about mortals?"
Kym looked at him like a particularly disgusting mollusk that she had found clinging to the side of the ship. "Are you aware of the concept of fading?"
"Not particularly." It didn't ring a bell.
"Gods who are forgotten by mortals, fade away into nothingness."
His eyes widened. "Gods can die?"
"No," Kym said as she put another LEGO piece on miniature Titanic. It was starting to come together and resemble the picture on the box. "Death implies that they stop living. Fading causes a god to cease their existence. They disappear. There is no afterlife, no consciousness, there is just nothing. That is what happened to our brother-in-law."
"Wait, who's that?" At least this extended family member wouldn't interfere with the quest or his life.
Kym snarled. "Oh, I had the impression that you would recognize Rhodos' husband, Helios. It seemed like she was the only sister you knew of."
He winced at his earlier mistake. "But I thought Helios…"
"You thought he what? That he retired? Ridiculous! Apollo didn't inherit the sun out of nowhere! Only the people of Rhode continued to worship him, but it wasn't enough. He disappeared from the memory of this world and Apollo took the mantle as the new sun god. The same is with Selene and Artemis."
Percy felt genuine pity for his divine sister. "Is that what's happening to you?"
"Ha!" She laughed at him. It was both shrill and melodic. "As if I'd let the opinion of lesser lifeforms bother me. No, because even if they don't know my name, they still fear the ocean. The unknown danger of the open seas. The dark clouds above restless waves. They fear me because the waters have always been cruel and merciless!"
"But I thought you—"
"You thought I was in danger of fading?" Kym gave that same sharp and unnerving smile. "Your concern is appreciated and completely irrelevant. I would fade away in the sense of being unrecognized for my work! I want mortals to know my name! I want to be revered for my strength! I want to be the monster that children hide from at night!"
Percy realized one fact about his sister that was absolutely true: Kymopoleia was a complete and utter egomaniac. And honestly? He felt a bit of relief because at least he knew how to appease her from here on out.
The siblings settled into rapid progress on the model Titanic and a few hours later, a complete LEGO ship sat in front of them. It was rather detailed and large once complete. Around two feet long. It even had had little flags included.
"Hmm, this brings back memories," Kym said. Her eyes twinkled with fondness. "It has been some time since our fateful encounter." She stroked the hull gently, almost lovingly.
Percy watched as his sister lifted the model and inspected every inch of it. He wouldn't lie, he felt a bit of pride at what they had built together. It reminded him of spending time with Tyson. The precious moments of peace where he didn't need to worry about fighting for his life. And they could just have fun and be normal… or as close to normal as demigods get. It put his mind at ease.
He thought he was an only child for most of his life. Percy didn't realize how lonely it was until Tyson left for Atlantis. It was weird having a brother, but it was worse when you couldn't see them anymore. Did Kym feel the same way? She was bitter and angry about not being accepted. Was she just lonely and wanted to spend time with him?
"If I recall correctly, you broke right… here." His sister traced a line down the center of the ship. "Splintering and crumbling beneath my power. What a sight you were."
Kymopoleia raised the model above her head and threw it at the floor so hard it dented the metal plating. LEGO pieces flew everywhere as the Titanic split down the middle once again, only on a much smaller scale and with no casualties. Well, there was one casualty: Percy was completely distraught at the destruction.
"Why?" he despaired over the remains of their creation. It was silly, but he spent a couple of hours pouring over the instructions and putting the pieces together with his sister. It would have been a nice memory to reminisce on in the future, but it was ruined, like the wreckage of the LEGO ship in front of him. And she just casually obliterated it like it was nothing.
"Yes, that's it," Kym sighed in satisfaction as she took a picture of his face with her smartphone. "How I've longed to see such anguish again. This has made the purchase so much more enjoyable. Perseus, you make such an excellent playmate." She pulled him into a hug. It was cold, too tight, and felt more predatory than familial. It was like she had never embraced another person before. "I am going to have so much fun with you."
Her definition of 'fun' sounded a lot like torment to Percy.
Travis didn't know what he was doing, he was just following instructions.
"Just a drop of the orange juice," Lee coughed from the cot beside him. "Mix it with half a cup of nectar and water."
"Should you be drinking any more of this?" Travis questioned. He carefully measured out a tiny dot of orange juice using the jug's lid as an impromptu measuring cup. "You became a lamp last time."
"I also had a thousand times the normal serving size."
"Fair enough." He twirled a disposable plastic spoon into the drink. The concoction was pale gold, almost like nectar, but clearly diluted. "Here you go."
Lee took gradual sips. The deathly pale pallor gave way to his normal complexion. He also wasn't glowing this time.
"How are you doing?" Travis asked. "The hydra venom took a lot out of you. When you said the poison was your specialty, I didn't expect you to be able to control it."
"It's not exactly controlling," Lee explained. "Think of it more like distilling or making it more potent. I can shift the state of poison, but not make it move. Usually, I just extract it from a person and prevent it from doing any more damage. Snake bites or scorpion venom at the most. I never tried it on anything on the scale of a hydra."
Travis raised an eyebrow. "Were you the one who cured Percy of the pit scorpion venom?" Shortly after the theft of Zeus' Master Bolt, Luke had used one the of little monsters to try and kill the son of Poseidon. Luckily, they found him in the woods pretty quickly. Otherwise… well, it was best not to think about it.
"Yeah," Lee confirmed. "It put me on bed rest for a few days."
"You usually this suicidal?"
"What are you talking about?"
"On the rooftop, you jumped in front of us," Travis recalled the incident. He thought it was monumentally idiotic… or heroic. Those concepts usually went hand in hand. "I know if it wasn't for your powers, we'd probably be in one of those beds next to you… or worse. But it left you half dead in front of the monster."
Lee sighed. "I didn't want you guys to get hurt. At least with me, I have some resistance. It turned out alright. Kymopoleia was there. And it helped get us a ship going to Maine—wait, did we tell her where we were headed?"
"Eh, Percy's got it handled," Travis said. "But back on topic. It went well this time, but we shouldn't push our luck."
"You know I could say the same about your slip-up with the bow." Lee examined the golden relic they 'liberated' from the Amazons. "You've done that a million times before, huh?"
Travis laughed nervously. "Oh come on! That isn't remotely the same."
"You turned a simple package retrieval into a chase sequence."
"I still think that it was my bad," Lou Ellen said from the doorway of the sick bay. She held a tray of steaming sandwiches. The smell was amazing. "Grilled cheese, want one?"
"Yes," Both of the boys said.
Travis wolfed his down. Lee chose to enjoy the treat.
"It couldn't be," Lee said as he chewed. "The alarm went off as soon as Travis touched the display."
"Really? I thought it was because one of the Amazons called in security after they found me."
"I'd like to believe that it wasn't my fault," Travis chimed in.
"What happened? You fuck up on disarming a trap or something?" Connor said as he walked into the room. He had just showered and was currently still drying his curly brown hair with a towel. "It happens to the best of us."
He narrowed his eyes at his brother. "How did you guys end up getting chased by hydras? You found the package first, what happened on the other side of the warehouse? Actually, why were the two of you covered in eggs in the first place?"
It was suspicious now that he thought about it.
Connor paused. "One of the mortal workers accidentally hit the release button for the monster cages." His brother wasn't meeting his gaze. The little rat was lying!
"That's false," Lee said after swallowing a bite of his grilled cheese. "You drum your fingers against your leg when you lie, same as Travis."
As it turned out, Lee did inherit the lie detector. Also, he didn't actually have a tell, did he? It made Travis self-conscious.
"I might have slipped on hydra eggs and opened one of the cages," Connor admitted. "It triggered a safety alarm or something."
"See," Travis looked at the son of Apollo. "It wasn't my mistake."
"Actually, you smashing the glass alerted them to our location." Lee pointed out. "I think it definitely was problematic."
"I also caused the explosions," Lou Ellen said. "I think we all messed up, but mine was more… obvious."
Lee sighed. "I didn't think you'd cause a distraction with Greek fire. Think about how many people lost their jobs because of it."
"Right… it was a distraction." Travis glanced at his brother and the daughter of Hecate. He silently coerced them to nod along. Lee didn't need to know that peace was never an option. "Anyways, at least we picked up a new shiny bow for you."
"It's completely useless."
"What?"
"I can't pull it back," Lee demonstrated as he tugged on the bowstring. His arms shook but the cord remained straight and unmoving. "You'd literally need to be as strong as Heracles to use this." He shoved the golden bow into his backpack. "Maybe Chiron can find a use for it whenever we get back to camp."
"What about the quiver?" Travis asked. He really wanted it to be worth the trouble. "That any good?"
"Works fine," Lee turned it upside down. The arrows spilled out with some of the hydra venom sticking to the arrowheads, giving it a sinister green gleam. "It's enchanted to prevent the poison from spilling out. I'm not sure if I want to be using this though."
Lou Ellen picked up one of the arrows from the floor. She spun it gingerly between her index finger and thumb. "You might have to. Whatever captured Apollo was strong enough to overcome an Olympian god. We won't stand a chance fighting fair."
"Magic, poison, even plan B. We need every advantage we can get." Connor agreed.
Lee frowned. "What the hell is plan B?"
Travis smirked. "Plan Bathroom Lord." He glanced at Lou Ellen and his brother, they nodded in solidarity. It was chemical warfare at its worse. However, it needed the son of Poseidon to execute. "It's usually a last resort, but it might just be what we need."
"What is wrong with you guys?" Lee muttered, he ran a hand through his blond hair. "What goes on in this cabin of yours?"
"You wouldn't like what you'd find out, Sunshine."
Bianca thought the stars were beautiful tonight.
After a few minutes of getting lost in the massive ship, she found a restroom to clean up in. She wandered up to the top deck after having washed out the remnants of hydra egg from her hair. The expanse of endless black skies was enthralling,
The snow fell much less now than it did earlier in the day. There weren't many clouds overhead at the moment and it allowed for an almost clear view of the night sky. The stars seemed much brighter than usual, more visible and noticeable.
It was nice. The gentle rocking of the sea. The salty breeze of oceanic air. Bianca took a deep breath as she sat down in the center of the runway. She just stared at the celestial bodies overhead.
She missed Nico. Solitude had always bothered her. Even when the two of them were together, she always felt that deep sense of loneliness. That at any moment, something would happen. An accident. An argument. Or some sick twist of fate. It would result in her being by herself for the rest of time.
Maybe it would end up that way now. Maybe Nico wouldn't forgive her for not letting him come along. But she was glad he wasn't here. The hydras were even more terrifying than the manticore. She shuddered at the sheer mass of the beasts. They didn't have the intelligence that Thorn had, but they had that animalistic tenacity, the drive to fight for their survival.
And that tenacity almost killed them. Cornered against the edge of the roof and about to breathe in the entirety of its poison breath or get swallowed whole. If Percy's sister didn't interfere… well, she didn't want to imagine the result. From what she gathered from the goddess' comment, it would've been a painful way to die. Her hands still shook from leftover adrenaline.
"Are you watching right now?" Bianca asked to the night sky. She waited for a response or a sign. Any confirmation that her godly parent was present.
The boat continued to gently cruise along. The stars glimmered in the distance. There was no indication of anything.
"Are you my mom or dad?"
Bianca had believed that she and Nico had always been orphans, but the existence of the gods disproved that. It also meant that there was someone out there who could've looked after them. They must've had something to do with the lawyer… but why didn't they bother to claim them? Kymopoleia could summon an aircraft carrier. Hermes cared enough about Travis and Connor to give their group supplies. Were Nico and her that much of a bother?
"Do you even care?" Bianca stared at a particularly bright dot in the sky. Polaris, the north star. "If I died today, would you even bother showing up? Would you look after Nico for me, if I did? Why won't you give me a sign? Anything?"
Bianca raised a hand and traced the Big Dipper with her index finger. She remembered that the seven stars were used to help navigate. That if you were ever lost, just look for the Big Dipper, and at least you would know which direction north was. She felt pretty lost right now. Lost and unwanted.
"You could at least have the decency to say something," She muttered bitterly.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to bother you."
Bianca turned her head to see Percy standing to her right. The son of Poseidon rubbed his neck as he continued talking. "I saw the others in sick bay and you weren't there. I got worried."
"It wasn't about you. I was just…"
"Venting?" Percy took a seat next to her.
She nodded.
"When I first came to camp, I wasn't claimed either." He said. "I stayed at the Hermes cabin originally. I wondered why Poseidon didn't recognize me as his son. Well, I got my answer pretty soon. I was a mistake, one that he tried to hide, maybe he thought it was for the best. That it would protect me. Keep me safe from Zeus' wrath. But it still hurt."
Bianca sighed. "What if you never got claimed? What would you have done?"
Percy stared off into the distance. "I don't know. I didn't go on my first quest for him anyways. I just wanted to save my mom. She was all I had."
"Are all quests like this?" She asked. "The first day isn't even over and we almost died."
"Unfortunately, that's just how it goes."
Bianca's gaze wandered over to another collection of stars. She could almost imagine it as a person. Almost because they would've been a trapezoid with flailing limbs.
"That's Heracles," Percy pointed at the constellation she was staring at. "I think he's my favorite Greek myth."
"Why?"
"Because his life sucked."
She frowned. "And that's a good thing?"
"Nah, it's just, no one's had it as bad as him." Percy sighed. "His life was ruined by Hera because he was a son of Zeus, something he couldn't control. She drove him to insanity and caused him to murder his own family. Everything was rigged against him from the start. From the moment he was born, a goddess was set on killing him, making every step absolute hell."
"That's horrible."
"It is," he agreed. "He endured twelve labors for a crime that he was forced to commit. And he overcame all of them. No matter how bad my life is, it has never been as terrible as his. I don't think it could ever be."
"Yeah, I'm not sure anyone could match that," The voice came from behind them. Travis was standing there with Connor, Lou Ellen, and Lee by his side.
They took seats nearby.
The son of Apollo directed their attention to another constellation. "That's Perseus. The original one. Another son of Zeus. He had to kill Medusa, but that's not really a big deal anymore now that you've done it too, Percy."
"I dunno man, I could be a lawn ornament right now if things went badly."
Travis pointed at Sagittarius. "Chiron, back when he died. The gods honored him for the life he led training demigods."
"Over there is Orion," Connor said. "Your big brother, Percy."
"Please no more siblings," Percy groaned. "I've been bullied enough."
"Aw, Kym seems nice, Bubbles." Lou Ellen giggled.
"You didn't build a LEGO set with her."
"That sounds like so much fun!"
"It was, until she sunk the Titanic again."
The daughter of Hecate laughed and turned back towards the skies. "Pegasus is over there, next to Perseus. The two are famous for being a pair, but it was Bellerophon who tamed it first."
Bianca frowned. "Who's that."
"Another one of Percy's brothers—"
"He's dead, right?"
"Yeah, he fell off of Pegasus' back flying to Olympus. He was the only son of Poseidon that Athena ever favored."
"Must've been some hero," Percy whistled. "Those two Olympians hate each other."
Lee chuckled. "Maybe if we're lucky, we'll end up as stars too."
Bianca hoped not. It sounded like a lot of pain and close encounters with death. But she chose to take in the serenity of the night with the rest of their group.
They drifted off into sleep on the deck as the ship drifted towards Maine.
The six of them would have woken up cold and shivering in the morning if it wasn't for the goddess watching over her little brother.
Author's note:
No preview this time. Fun facts instead.
General ages of the characters for this story are as follows:
Lee-16
Travis-15
Connor-14
Percy-14
Lou Ellen-13
Bianca-13
The LEGO model of the Titanic has over 9,000 pieces and goes for around six hundred dollars.
Polaris is the current pole star. The one before it was Vega.
My IRL Amazon delivery was delayed recently, which I believe was an act of cosmic retribution.
