Hi, how are you people doing? Still jobless, but things are happening. Working on my big rig license, so that is something. Anyway, do enjoy.
Percy Jackson
Life was slowly picking up speed again. His godly training was sadly taking a setback for the moment. Only a few days later, Zeus had summoned him back to the Throne room. After inquiring how Khione was acclimating to her new accommodations, he announced with that same generous grin he had with Khione, that Percy was to journey back to the Sea of Monsters and arrest the pariah sorceress Circe who had apparently moved right back into her old lair after Edmund Teach and his band had left. After reminding him that there was no rush, Zeus departed in his usual theatric manner.
No rush? While he enjoyed working without the usual impending doomsday deadlines, this did offer Annabeth and him some more time for planning. Things like how to travel through the sea of monsters? What to take along? Who to take along? How to get the bothersome immortal back to New York? Waiting too long didn't sit right with Percy.
While Zeus might not consider Circe's capture a top priority, all the poor fellows that Circe was turning into Guinea Pigs would probably consider the matter more time pressing. Piper and Annabeth had also set the moving date in stone to the following month.
One afternoon Percy stepped into Khione's pleasantly cool cell he found his unwilling guest sitting at her small table. He had checked on her occasionally and while he seemed to have earned himself a cordial treatment from Khione, likely for saving her from the centaurs, she was by no means warm.
"You doing alright, Lady Khione?" Percy asked.
Khione looked up at him expressionlessly. "I am even still a lady?" she inquired.
Percy shrugged. "I do not have the faintest idea."
"So, what brings you to me?" Khione finally asked.
"Out of curiosity, have you had any dealings with the sorceress Circe recently?"
Khione cocked her head, and her elegant lips curled into a wintry smile. "How recently?"
"Past five years? Any time after Annabeth Chase and I destroyed her spa?"
"I fear not, Perseus," Khione replied. "Now, had the goddess chosen to build her resort in the Swiss Alps, perhaps I would be more of use, but you might appreciate that tropical islands are outside of my sphere of influence."
"Fair enough, it was worth a try."
"Well, it isn't as if I have much else to do," Khione reasoned.
"Cheer up. If I capture her, you'll have someone to talk to down here." Realizing that it comes out a lot more spiteful than intended, he added. "Do you need anything, Ambrosia? Nectar? Netflix?"
"No, thank you."
"Very well," Percy replied and left the goddess alone. When he stepped through the vault door, he found Silena leaning against the wall next to it.
Silena at least seemed to cheer up again somewhat and had gone back to her normal self. It might sound sexist, but he preferred cheerful Silena to mopy Silena. There was also the fact that she occasionally ran around the house in a bikini top and shorts, a development he approved off. They might be back to platonic now, but that didn't mean that he didn't appreciate the view. Considering that technically Silena was exclusively there for his enjoyment, he felt pretty good about how little he ogled her. There was also the fact that his mother and Silena were now friendly, which was more than awkward.
He had also noticed that she was also wearing her bead Camp Half-blood necklace again.
"I thought she would cause more trouble," Silena announced, her arms crossed, incidentally pressing her breasts together in a rather distracting manner. Percy forced himself not to look.
"Maybe she's given up," Percy offered after sealing the heavy door.
Silena raised an eyebrow. "She is a millennia-old goddess and you seriously believe she will give up after a few months of inconvenience? Just be careful, you are a nice guy and nice guys are easy to manipulate. Her options are limited and none of those that she has are very tasteful. She will probably try to get in your head, and in your pants for that matter."
"Jealous?" Percy joked.
Silena snorted. "Of what?"
Being the mature god that he was Percy stuck his tongue out.
"Just be careful," Silena pressed again.
"Hey, I always am!"
Silena gave him an insultingly doubtful look. "Anyway, just remember. You are making choices for both of us..." Silena trailed off.
"You worry too much," Percy mused lightly and familiarly touched her elbow. "Nothing is going to happen Silena, you are going to be fine."
"Not that I wish to sound ungrateful, but so far, things haven't really been working out for me. So forgive me my skepticism."
"Aren't you alive?"
"I am," she agreed. "Would like to keep it that way."
Percy's expression softened. "Silena, I won't let anything happen to you. Okay?"
Silena sighed deeply. "I believe you."
Together, they headed back up upstairs. "What do you want to eat tonight?" Silena finally asked.
He shrugged. "I really don't know. Just make whatever you want, for two."
"At your own peril," was all Silena said. Percy's taste in food had never been overly lavish. He had been a simple man, and now a simple god. It was at that moment that he realized Silena might prefer a more refined pallet than the one she had provided him with.
"Well, then. I'll be doing some groceries," Silena announced.
Suddenly, he breathed in the thick, warm, and sweet scent of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies and paused. When he froze, Silena looked up at him with mild concern, as if worried he was having a stroke or something.
"Are you alright Percy?" Silena asked.
Just then, a familiar voice rang out in his head. Somehow he knew that it was Juniper, even before he heard that gentle voice. "Hello, Percy? It's me Juniper," Juniper began and then fell silent again for a few long moments as if weighing her next words. "As you are probably aware, Grover and I have parted ways. I really hope you don't hate me now and I would understand it if you ignored me in light of this. I didn't want to hurt Grover, it's just that he never had time for me. I know he is busy, but still. I don't know if this makes me sound like a bad Dryad, but still. Please make contact with me over the next few weeks, should you have any time to spare me. There is something that I would like to discuss with you in private."
Juniper's voice fell silent, and over the next few moments, the heavy scent failed.
The scent was the kind of scent that could drag one into a content trance. However, paradise was lost when Silena snapped her fingers in front of his face. "Is my glorious overlord still present?"
"Ahm yeah, just got another prayer," Percy announced.
When she looked at him with an empty, doubtful expression, Percy elaborated. "Juniper, she wants to meet to talk about something."
"I see," Silena said. "Again, don't get us in trouble."
With that, she smiled and left to do her groceries.
As had been planned earlier, Annabeth came by to discuss their quest, now that fresh information where available.
Percy welcomed her in the entrance hall and received a hug that was just a moment too long to be casual. Before long, they were walking down Olympus's main boulevard together, enjoying the late summer afternoon.
Honestly, there wasn't that much to plan. They had already set the cornerstones for their quest.
The general idea so far was that they would embark on a yacht from Camp Half-blood. It would be a trip of a few days at the very least, just him and Annabeth stuck on a small boat together. As annoying as Annabeth could get at times, there were worse things than spending time with his beautiful and formidable and still interested ex-girlfriend.
Expecting things to go wrong, Percy had suggested they bulldoze through all the usual monster attacks and sentries of the Sea of Monsters.
As straight forwards as that seemed, he didn't really know what to do about the likes of Scylla and Charydbis. The sirens, in his opinion, would pose less of a problem. When Percy had joked about popping by Polyphemus to inform him that he had failed to kill Nobody afterall, Annabeth had only rolled her eyes.
Fortunately, he still knew the coordinates to Circe's island, so finding it again would be the simple part. Unless Circe had an army hidden away somewhere up her sleeve, they would toss the place mafia-style, put a sack over another minor goddess's head, and drag her back to Olympus.
The thing was, Annabeth was a planner. She wanted to firmly establish useless details like what route they would be taking down to the Sea of Monsters, or what they should pack. Honestly, it was as if Annabeth had never gone on a quest. When had any plan they had ever made actually worked out as intended?
Percy didn't complain though, he got to spend time with his favorite daughter of Athena.
Annabeth was wearing that old, worn-out Camp Half-blood shirt that promoted her figure in all the right ways, and adored that she neither noticed nor cared.
It was then that they ran into one of Percy's least favorite goddesses.
"Mother?" Annabeth asked, surprised.
The similarities between Annabeth and Athena were still striking, even after a few years. That frown, that doubtful look, those intelligent eyes. If Athena didn't have dark hair where Annabeth was blond, he might have mistaken one for the other from a distance. The goddess of Wisdom was dressed casually, with worn-out jeans, a tank top, and hiking boots.
"Annabeth, Perseus," Athena greeted them with a disapproving frown. "I see you are consorting with the Sea spawn again. Must I assume the two of you have rekindled your carnal relationship?"
The goddess's hard gray eyes bore into Percy. However, after being subjected to that same glare by Annabeth ever since he was twelve, he had grown acclimated and could weather it just fine.
"With all due respect, I do not see how this is any of your business," Annabeth replied, meeting her mother's glare.
Athena paused for a moment as if taken aback by her daughter's defiance. Why Athena would be surprised was beyond Percy, but perhaps the goddess was simply not used to being talked back to. Regardless, the goddess's eyes narrowed. "I was not passing judgment, merrily making an observation. You haven't exchanged a single word in months. Suddenly you have a suspicious hematoma on your neck and I've noticed that you and the Seaspawn are spending time together again. Is my assessment faulty?"
Annabeth faltered and looked over at Percy, not sure how to answer. She clearly didn't want to concede the point to her mother, but then she was clearly worried about how he would take whatever she said.
Percy, by now, had some experience in dealing with unreasonable Athenians. Being the responsible god he was supposed to be, Percy folded his hands and met Athena's hard, gray eyes. "Lady Athena, Annabeth, and I have known each other for a long time and while things might be complicated right now, she is still my best friend."
"I see, and the hematoma on the side of her neck?" Athena pressed.
Percy offered the goddess his best innocent smile, which likely wouldn't even have fooled a blind man. But hey, no one could blame him for trying. "She bumped herself?" Percy suggested.
"Bumped herself?" Athena echoed. To Percy, at least it seemed fairly obvious that the goddess didn't believe a single word he had just said. "I do hope you are only bumping yourself on one person. Your sister is already acting like a daughter of Aphrodite. It is an unpleasant irony when my children fall guilty of poor judgment."
With that, the goddess turned into a dark owl with gray eyes and took to the heavens with powerful wingbeats.
"What's up with her?" Percy asked. "She seems to even disapprove of me more than she used to."
Annabeth shrugged, and they continued on. "I think she is still spooked about Clementine. Turns out Clem is pregnant. I think she secretly worries about us."
"Wait, isn't Clementine like seventeen?" Percy suddenly remembered.
Annabeth bit her lip. "Just turned sixteen. It's quite the scandal in my cabin. I am surprised the Aphrodite cabin didn't inform you of our fall from grace when you visited."
"And what's with Athena accusing you of sleeping around?" Percy asked.
Annabeth stayed silent for a long moment. "We aren't exactly sure who the father of Clementine's unborn baby is. Malcolm and I narrowed it down to four guys. Her mortal family was away for the weekend and apparently, she organized this big pool party. Her boyfriend made out with some cheerleader so she fucked a few of his friends as revenge."
"Oh fuck!" Percy exclaimed, remembering the younger daughter of Athena from camp, a bright-eyed girl with alert eyes and a mischievous grin that even made the Stoll's anxious. "What's going on with her?"
"Her dad remarried. I think she is just acting out," Annabeth reasoned.
"Why do I keep on missing these things?" Percy marveled, astonished at how this juicy piece of gossip had escaped him for so long.
Annabeth laughed. "You are a god now. What gave you the impression that gods are well-informed?"
Percy shook his head in disbelief, still surprised even Piper had brought this up.
"So, any ideas on where we get a sailing yacht?" Annabeth finally brightly.
"I do not have the faintest idea," Percy replied, grinning.
"I'll probably ask Dad. Maybe he can raise the Bismark or something."
Annabeth looked over at him thoughtfully. "Well, eight fifteen-inch guns would certainly take care of Scylla and Charybdis in short order. I am not sure where you get a crew of roughly two thousand German-speaking trained specialists from."
Percy blankly stared back at her. "I am joking, you know that right?"
Annabeth blankly returned the stare. "Wasn't sure. I assumed raising a shipwreck would be well within your father's abilities."
That evening when Percy returned home, he found Silena and his dog wrestling next to the pool, though it looked quite comical because Mrs O'Leary was many times Silena's size.
Percy and Silena finally sat down for dinner together at the pool with Mrs O'Leary taking an early nap a few feet away. Percy was more than eager to be the one sharing gossip for once. Silena's jaw dropped when she heard what had happened to Annabeth's half-sister.
"Are you joking? Clementine?" Silena asked in disbelief and again.
"Seems like it," Percy agreed, and Silena rubbed her temples. "And they always worried about my cabin?" she muttered. "In all my years, my cabin never had a pregnancy like that," Silena informed him matter-of-factly. "It's usually the Apollo or Hermes girls. Actually, it's mainly the Hermes girls. But it is always Cabin Ten who get to listen to stupid comments. Cabin six having an incident like this...honestly, I am surprised it hasn't happened before. Those owl heads always overthink things... . That's what always gets them in trouble."
Strangely enough, Percy found himself agreeing.
Well, I hope you enjoy yourself. This is it for now, but I hope you have enjoyed these roughly two and a half thousand words. If my calculations are somewhat accurate there is some spicy stuff coming up in two chapters.
Do leave a few Reviews, they always brighten my day. And pop by on Discord, the code is posted in all the last chapters. I have my Khione Art posted, and some more pictures are coming in a few days. If you see any typos, feel free to post them in the section dedicated to such things on Discord.
Henry James Locker over and out.