Welcome to Lord of Alaska! Sorry if this fanfic has mistakes. I will try to revise and edit as much as possible. Disclaimer: The characters and places that you know belong to Rick Riordan, everything else is mine.
Thank you so much for all the followers, favorites, and reviews!
Aster opened his eyes. The brightness hit him like a truck, and he covered his eyes with his hand. Once he adjusted, he could see miles of fields of yellow corn surrounding him and another figure.
Demeter. She was as lovely as ever, with glowing copper hair and an infinite green dress that stretched out to the corn. But her face was emotionless. Before, she was never emotionless. She was always happy, laughing, crying, or glaring. Except when they banished him. Then, she had a face of stone.
He looked down at himself. He was not Aster anymore. He had recovered his strong godly form, as tall as the corn stalks, and was wearing a blue tunic. "What have you done?" he asked.
"I have dressed you," said Demeter, "like a real god. Why are you hiding like a demigod, Perseus? Or, should I say, Aster?"
Although she said the last part mockingly, her voice was lovely. It was sweet, melodious, entrapping, like honey injected in his ears. He could feel his heart beating faster. Her beauty mark on her upper cheek had gotten darker, hadn't it? It was mesmerizing.
"Perseus!" Demeter snapped. "Will you answer my question?"
He snapped out of it. Now, she was impatient. Thank Chaos, because an un-emotionless sister he could deal with. "Is anybody listening?" he asked, eyes darting around.
"Are you hearing yourself? You have godly powers, do you not? See for yourself. Or did you forsake them completely when you wrapped yourself with half-blood?"
He checked the aura of the corn fields. Nothing. It was only him and his sister.
"I still have my godly powers, Demeter. I just haven't used most of them since I came to the demigod camp."
"Why have you come South?"
"I have been asked to help with finding the Master Bolt by select gods. Since many ancient laws don't apply to me."
"Hestia, then. Didn't think she would stoop that low."
Aster didn't reply to the taunt. Something was wrong. His arms were getting itchy. He looked at the cornfields. Who was watching him? "You are lying," he said. "Who is here?"
"Nobody."
"If you won't answer, I will leave. I can feel someone. Who?"
Demeter tilted her head, staring at him like a cat. Blood rushed up to his cheeks. Was she not expecting him to be like this?
"There is nobody but you and I," she repeated.
She was toying with him, he realized. And he liked it. But what was he supposed to do? He scanned the corn field again. There. He could feel Demeter's aura, a few yards to the right of him. She was covering someone. He ripped the aura off.
A youthful goddess appeared, frowning. She looked like Demeter, except washed with black paint. Aster stepped back.
"There it is," said Demeter. "I've always liked you when you did action instead of words."
"Who is she?"
"I am Persephone," the young goddess said. Demeter's only goddess-daughter.
"Why are you here?"
"I needed her," said Demeter, picking her nails. "When you became physically absent from the demigods, transporting your mind to Chaos-knows-where, I had to shield your babbling from the other gods. She transported you to these fields."
"What do you mean, babbling? I last remember Medusa calling me…" P-star. He flushed. It would be embarrassing to say, especially to Demeter.
"You do not remember? Medusa's poison was strong indeed. I will refresh your memory."
Demeter snapped her fingers. Aster found his world blurring like a roller coaster. The green and yellows of the corn field seeping together, darkening, becoming black and mossy green. His stomach gurgled. He could see Aunty Em's Emporium in view. Medusa was wildly fighting Grover's uncoordinated attacks. His demigod self was lying against a potted plant. Percy and Annabeth were whispering rapidly under a table. Aster opened his ears to hear them.
Annabeth tossed Percy a glass ball. "Just look at her in the glass," she said. "Never look at her directly."
Grover went in another attack with a tree branch, hobbling Medusa.
"Hurry," said Annabeth. "Aster's somehow having a mental breakdown. Grover's got a great nose, but he'll eventually crash."
Percy Jackson uncapped his sword, walking forward carefully by looking at the glass ball. His old namesake, the Greek hero Perseus, had done something similar with the mirror. "Hey ugly!" the son of Poseidon shouted.
Percy's lips curled as he got closer to Medusa. Aster wondered, why was Medusa perceived as ugly? She was Cassiopeia with snakes for hair, and that woman was beautiful.
"You wouldn't harm an old woman, Percy," Medusa crooned. "I know you wouldn't."
He hesitated. That was all it took for Medusa to lunge forward with her talons.
Percy slashed up.
Medusa's head was lobbed off, hitting the ground, and her body fell opposite. It soon disintegrated. Now dead, Aster could clearly see the monster's face. It was ugly. It was not the face of Cassiopeia. How did he find himself attracted to that… monstrosity? He looked away.
Annabeth explained that the head was a spoil of war, and covered it up with Medusa's old black veil. Grover joined them to walk towards Aster's rambling self. They told him to get up, but he kept on mumbling. Grover shoved him, but it did nothing to stop the muttering. Percy was walking away to get a bottle of water, but it was unneeded, as a hard slap from Annabeth on Aster's face brought him back to reality.
"What happened?" Aster asked. He shook his head, blushing as Annabeth stepped away. Grover shouted to Percy that they didn't need bottles of water.
"Percy killed Medusa. He claimed her head as a spoil of war."
"Good, good." Aster got up, shaking himself off.
"What happened, man?" Grover asked. "You got completely crazy, like a schizophrenic patient or something."
A moment of hesitation. "I didn't expect Medusa to be that strong. I think the food was poisoned and I ate a lot, right? We were hungry."
Annabeth and Grover looked at each other. "Medusa said some pretty weird things about you, Aster. She said you were a god. We saw you looking straight at her. You didn't turn to stone. Only immortals can do that."
"I wasn't looking at her. My eyes were in her direction, but I was looking at the neon signs. And I am a demigod. Maybe she misplaced my aura. I don't know, guys!" Aster said, shouting at the end.
"What's happening?" Percy asked, just arriving with Medusa's head wrapped in a plastic bag.
"Aster's explaining why he just went insane," Grover said with an accusing tone.
"It was the poison, guys!" Aster said. He put a shield over the four of them to stop observers from hearing what happened next. If he had to do what he should have done from the start, he didn't need Olympus seeing what happened.
"Doesn't explain why Medusa said Zeus threw you down Olympus," Annabeth shot back. "And you said you left 'whole'. What does that mean?"
Never mind. The shield was useless. The gods had to have already heard Medusa talking about him, how he was the seventh child of Kronos and Rhea and how Zeus banished him. He couldn't change their memories, but he could change those of the demigods in front of him.
Snap! He delved into their minds and stole the conversation he had with Medusa where they revealed who he was and this conversation. He buried the memories into a small worm on the ground and stomped on it. As easy as pie. That was how you killed memories, according to the titaness Mnemosyne. He got rid of the soundproof shield.
But how to explain his rambling? If he took away the memories of him rambling, they wouldn't remember how he didn't help them fight Medusa, and then he would have to make up memories for the fight. Remove the least that must be removed, another thing Mnemosyne drilled into him as a young godling. He needed a way to explain the rambling.
Go to sleep, Perseus, a voice told him.
Aster jerked around. The three demigods were asking about why he was rambling, but now without suspicion on if he was a god. Suddenly, they stopped. Grover's mouth opened in shock, and Annabeth, wide-eyed, put her hand over her mouth.
Aster looked up. A holograph of a green bushel of corn hovered above him. Demeter, he told the voice.
The demigods knelt deeply. Annabeth said, "All hail Aster Strabo, son of Demeter, goddess of grain and the harvest."
Go to sleep, the voice said. I will explain.
The demigods were talking rapidly to him, voices intermingling loudly with each other. Oh boy. He followed the advice and closed his eyes.
Aster had seen enough. He willed himself out of Demeter's vision and onto the corn field. He only had one question: "Why?"
"We are siblings," Demeter replied. "Kin helps kin."
"Not me. You became Zeus' sibling instead of mine. You voted for my banishment."
"Why do you think so? You were so possessive of me, of Poseidon, of Hestia. You were so scared of not owning us anymore. You always liked controlling us, and you were scared that Zeus was out of your control. That he was going to take us away from you."
"He already had you! He was the king of the gods. I was protecting you from more of his influence. He was tilting the council towards him with all the kids he was having. Through bastardry! I was the only one stopping him!"
"Bullshit. Only you could convince Hestia, and we all listened to her." Aster opened his mouth, but Demeter cut him off. "I am not here to rehash what we view the past as. You have found your home up North, and I have found mine in Olympus."
"Sure. Just remember which god took you without consent and permitted the abduction of your daughter."
"And I have found my two homes on Olympus and the Underworld. I am happy with the status quo, and so is my mother. It seems like only you are stuck in the past, uncle," said Persephone.
"Thank you, Persephone," said Demeter sharply with a glare. "You may leave now."
The queen of the underworld huffed and left in a puff of black smoke.
"She has a spine," said Aster. "But why did you help me?"
"I need something. I have a daughter called Meg. Her home was burnt by some being in California for a project her father was conducting with the Meliai seeds."
"The Meliai seeds? The first dryads? But they died and their essence was scattered all over Cyprus."
"They reincarnated. Meg's father found them and was trying to revive them. The two are traveling to New York City, and monsters are waiting to attack them here. I need you to protect them both. You're the only one who I can ask."
"Because I don't apply to the ancient laws. And because I won't blackmail. But what monsters? And who burnt their house?"
"I don't know the answer to either question. But the one who burnt their house has stayed in California. New York is safe. And I need you to destroy the Meliai seeds Meg's father has. I have no doubt he will continue to work on that project despite all my warnings, and it will get him and my daughter killed. The Meliai are too powerful. Someone will take advantage of them or they will become uncontrollable, and Zeus will kill Meg's father to prevent that. I need some delicateness."
I told you, Aster wanted to say. Zeus had more control problems than him.
"And if I do this, what happens? You will always be able to hold this secret over me."
"I promise on the river Styx that if you guide my daughter Meg to New York safely and destroy her father's Meliai seeds, I will never reveal your identity to the Olympian gods."
"Then, I will fulfill this quest. I assume I should not bring the demigod questers?"
Demeter sighed in relief, her mouth curving upwards in a smile. "Do not bring them. And I have one more request for you." She opened her left fist, revealing a plump red rose in her hand. "Once done, give it to my daughter. Tell her it is from her mother."
Aster nodded. He placed the rose in his hand, letting his fingertips brush against his sister's. "Of course. See you when the Fates bring us together again."
Demeter smiled. She leant in, Aster tensing a moment for a threat or an attack, but she only kissed him shortly on the lips. She whispered, "See you." With a wave, she faded away.
Aster stood still. She kissed him. He hadn't thought that she would kiss him. He had always been more interested in her than she was in him. In any world, he had always made the first move. Why did Demeter kiss him? He rubbed the place on his lips where she kissed him. Nothing was there to rub off. Never mind. He shook his head and disappeared from the corn field, back to Aunty Em's Emporium.
Aster awoke as a short demigod with his power inhibited. He groaned. Everything was so dimmer. As a god, senses were heightened, and as a demigod with a dampener, everything seemed numb.
"The son of Demeter finally wakes up," said Grover, smirking. He passed me a red glass of water. Aster took a few sips.
"What happened?" he asked. What did they remember when he took their memories?
"We battled Medusa," Annabeth replied. "You were in the bathroom when she tried to kill us, and when you saw Grover's injuries, you fainted and got a bit crazy."
"Wait, did you say Demeter?"
"Oh yeah, after Percy slayed Medusa, a kernel of corn appeared over your head. I guess she was proud of you fainting? Don't ask us to understand the gods."
Aster made a fake laugh. "I'm just queasy. Damn, I cannot believe that I'm a child of the grain goddess. Makes sense why I've always liked cereal."
Grover tapped Annabeth on the shoulder. "Let me wake up the sleepy water boy. Nice to see all of us claimed, Aster," he said, smiling.
Everything seemed happy. The questers and Aster had no problems, not like what really happened after Medusa revealed that he was a god. All the conflicts had healed. Except one.
"Hey, Annabeth, I'm sorry about calling you entitled and possessive," he said. He stood up, taking Annabeth's hands into his own. He would fix this. He was not possessive as Hestia or Annabeth said. He could be likable and kind.
"I was just on my nerves because everyone on this quest has been claimed and not me," Aster continued, "and I was thinking that it meant I was less, so I took it out on you. You were the first person I met at camp, and I thought that we would have become friends, so when that didn't happen, I felt like I had to take revenge on you."
Annabeth removed his hands from hers. She held her arms behind her back, scratching them slightly. "It's fine. I'm also sorry for calling you nothing. You're a child of Demeter, for gods' sake! You do matter. And I don't normally make friends. I can count on one hand the amount of friends I've made at camp. I just have bad experiences with them."
Her face turned a bit sad and wistful. Aster waved a hand in front of it. "Oh sorry," she said. "Memories. It's just that whatever attitude I have against you isn't because of you specifically. We just have different personalities, I guess."
"Right," he replied with a tinge of joy. "Let's join the others."
They walked to the others. Grover brought up how he had befriended a poodle called Gladiola who would give himself up to his family so that the questers could get the prize money. Then, they could move West on a train. But all Aster could think about how he had fixed bad blood between him and Annabeth. He had healed a rift. In Olympus, he was known as cold rage, the one behind all arguments, and his sister as the mediator to heal those arguments. But now, he had become the mediator. He had proven all those Olympian sissies wrong. He could grin.
The four of the questers got on the Amtrak train to Denver. They got settled in the seats, Grover playing with music on his iPod, Annabeth studiously reading some science magazine, and Percy fiddling with his pen-sword Riptide. Aster settled on watching the countryside and the occasional centaur.
Schlink. He had split himself in two: one on the train and another free wherever to go.
Aster waved goodbye to his friends, to Annabeth, and transported himself to wherever Meg McCaffrey was. In Pittsburgh, surprisingly. With a pack of Stymphalian birds and harpies at their tail. He was going to have some work to do.
Here is my ninth chapter of Lord of Alaska!
I hoped you liked the connection to the Trials of Apollo with Meg McCaffrey. This is not just 'PJO series through another POV'; this is a whole new story with separate plot lines. I also forgot that gods could split themselves up (thank you Trials of Apollo), so Aster can do it.
To all who say Aster is weak, guess you'll have to wait until he shows the extent of his powers. It's called *literary omission*. Thank you for the comments though! They make my story more visible.
I mentally recoil everytime I talk about Aster being interested in Demeter because holy shit that's incest, but the gods are gods are gods. They don't care about those mortal ideals. Just know that I suffer when writing.
Have a great day and let's all Mystify!