This is gonna be a longer chapter with a bit of hand waving near the end. As a reminder, if you seen any confusingly written parts of the story, send me a DM and I'll have it fixed. Thank you and enjoy.
California
Atreus hurt all over, it reminded him of the early days of his training with Father. During those times, Father would make him work so much he felt as if his bones ached. This felt like that, but at least he was lying down.
Opening his eyes, Atreus quickly squinted them back closed as the light was near blinding. Also when did it get hot? Atreus sat up and gathered his senses, it was hot, his hand rubbed the ground and felt sand, and there was a lot of noise. With his eyes finally adjusting to the light, Atreus quickly realized he wasn't alone. Around him were countless people, more people than Atreus had ever seen! Which wasn't a lot to be honest, he could count the people he personally knew on one hand.
Atreus stood up and took note of his equipment, his bow and quiver still stuck to his back, his knife was snug at his side, everything seemed to be in check. This was one of the first lessons Father instilled into him, his equipment was vital to his health after all. The next lesson was to observe his environment, so Atreus observed. And the results confused him.
"What the?" Atreus watched the people around him, and noted their clothing…or lack thereof. Many of the men were bare chested with shorts, while the women wore various straps to cover them, he quickly avoided them. He was reminded of an awkward conversation he once had with Mimir, he ended that thought there.
The more he looked, he realized they were running and enjoying the water, were they bathing? Some had set up stands where they cooked meats and ate and drank from glass. All of them were clearly enjoying their time.
"Third lesson, find Father." Atreus recited the next of his fathers lessons, by himself Atreus was formidable, but together the two of them were unstoppable. Being alone meant that he had no back up, he lacked the second (and third) pair of eyes and ears that could catch any would be enemy.
Atreus walked away from the beach, going inland was a good idea because it meant dealing with less crowds. He made his way past the people of this land, some gave him questioning - or maybe pitiful - glances, most decided to ignore him. As he finally made it past the mass of people, he was awestruck by the city before him. He had never seen anything quite like it. These buildings looked ornately carved, was it wood or stone? Atreus didn't know, but they were busy. Many people came and went across a road that held metal boxes that moved.
"Whoa." That was the only thing that could sum this all up, it was a lot.
Atreus shook his head, he needed to find his father. He put his hands together and made the hunting call the two of them used. He walked for what felt like an hour, going up and down the roads, there was no response from his father. He couldn't return to a spot they both knew like their home, and he didn't like sitting on the beach. What was he to do? He stopped and sat down on a nearby bench, the heat from the sun was much appreciated against the cold winter from home but even this was a bit much. It felt oppressive.
"Gods it's hot." Atreus removed the pelt that laid over his clothes, the bear pelt, while useful in the frigid winter, was unnecessary for this summer heat. Another of Fathers lessons rang in his head, unneeded equipment was best left aside if it would weigh him down. So Atreus shirked the pelt, leaving it on the bench as he stood up.
"If I can't find Father by myself, I'm gonna need help." Maybe the locals could help him? He didn't like asking locals for help, but this was a dire situation. His first attempts were unsuccessful, people either ignored him or said something he could vaguely tell was them wanting to be left alone. He eventually approached an older woman, she looked old. Her skin was wrinkling and her hair was graying to the point of being white.
"Um, excuse me, can you help me?" Atreus tapped her shoulder, the woman turned around shocked, her eyes looked at him with pity. She said something, but Atreus couldn't understand her, she reached into a bag hanging off her arm and pulled out green paper. She patted him on the shoulder before leaving. Suffice to say, Atreus was confused.
He looked at the paper he was given and quickly realized it was cloth, why would they make these? It didn't seem particularly magical. Atreus could only sigh and try to read this piece of cloth, the print on this cloth was different from what he was used to but he was naturally gifted at language. Father once taught him his home language, he took to it very well but the lessons stopped when winter set in full a few years ago.
Atreus sighed, pocketing the piece of cloth and went to move on, he was lost with no idea where to go, "What I'd give to see someone familiar."
"Be careful of what you wish for." Atreus snapped to his bow and readied it at the voice, he turned around stance ready, and spotted Freya, Queen of the Valkyries.
"Freya," Atreus kept his stance low, ready to move if the situation called for it.
"I have no ill will towards you child, just tell me where your father is. It will be quick." She made a step towards him, he quickly made one back.
"We saved your life, you've done nothing but try and kill my father for 3 years, why should I do anything you tell me?" Atreus notched his arrow back, not ready to loose it just yet.
"You are too young to understand, how could you? You can't understand what it's like to lose your own flesh and blood. Not in the same way. So I ask again, where is he?" She slowly unsheated her sword from her back, the two of them stood ready for the other.
It was a standoff, neither moving, both ready for the other to make the first move. Atreus was good, but even he had some reservations. This was Freya, her skills were formidable, and he doubted he was good enough to win this fight.
All the while, the locals around them paid them no mind. Here was a god about to do battle against him and no one paid it any mind. Were they truly this blind? A question for later, right now he had to focus on Freya.
"So be it, I'll get the information out of you by force. Ragh!" She roared as she charged him, her sword pointed straight at him. Atreus rolled away, and loosed his arrow. Freya swiped it away with the flat of her sword, the arrow crashed into a nearby window. The shattering caused some cries from someone inside, but Atreus didn't pay it much mind his enemy was in front of him.
Atreus shot more arrows, like the first one they didn't hit their mark. Freya strode towards him and swung when she was in reach, but she only hit the ground as Atreus narrowly dodged the steel. blade He swung his bow, aiming for her midsection to crumple her, but she blocked it with her blade and pushed him off. With distance between them, Atreus shot more arrows, again all being deflected or dodged. Freya shouted, a spell he remembered hearing years ago, as roots erupted from the ground and made to grapple him. Atreus ran, as well as the locals watching, the roots grabbed whatever they could and hurled it at him. The roots weren't very accurate, some hit wide, some got really close, he watched one particularly large piece of debris land on a shiny red metal box, the man standing beside it could only cry in agony.
Atreus scrambled behind one of the larger pieces of rock that was thrown his way, "If Baldur killed you, then what? You would have just been okay with that?" He caught his breath, calming himself, and notched another arrow.
"Who gave you that right, to choose whether I live or die?! You're just a child! You wouldn't know what I would give for him!" Atreus felt rumbling beneath him and dove from his position. A large root erupted from the ground, it grew taller than the surrounding buildings and at its peak it started coming down.
Atreus ran away, above him the root got closer and closer, again he dived away. He twisted himself in mid-air and let loose his arrow, he watched as it sailed through the debris and hit Freya in the shoulder. Finally he got a shot in. Her shoulder leaked red blood, Freya quickly took the arrow out. Without the arrow, her skin healed the wound, leaving no sign of the injury.
"You'll pay for that!" Freya ran across the debris and jumped, she brought her sword down towards Atreus, who raised his bow to block it.
The two of them were locked, Freya's sword bit into Atreus' bow, both struggling to push the other. The two were so caught up in their fight, they didn't even notice the emergence of a third party.
"Excuse me, can you not kill each other in the middle of public?" Atreus and Freya looked to the source of the voice.
Standing on the fallen root was a girl, older than Atreus, with blonde hair and lightly tanned skin - likely from staying out in the sun - her eyes were a storm gray, and she wore an orange shirt.
"Mind your place mortal, I have no issue with you." Freya told the girl, her grip on her sword was still strong and keeping Atreus down, she hadn't even turned away from Atreus.
"You should run, like the rest." Atreus also pushed up against the goddess, but the two remained in a stalemate.
"Oh please, this isn't my first fight, certainly not the first time I've seen a god and demi-god fight before." The girl stepped down and approached the two, Freya backed off and pointed her sword towards the newcomer. Without the weight of a sword bearing on him, Atreus got up and aimed his bow with an arrow drawn.
"This is your last warning, I have no qualms with you girl." Freya kept her eyes on the two children.
The girl put her hands up, as a truce, "Hey, I'm just here to talk. So why don't we put the weapons down, and we can settle this like adults."
"I don't think she's in the best of moods right now." Atreus said, Freya scowled at him as she kept her sword straight.
"And if I prefer this?" It was a threat, but one the girl didn't seem too fazed by.
The girl pointed up, "You may be a god, but even I doubt you'd have it easy taking on all of us," Freya and Atreus looked up, standing on the roofs were kids just like her and even younger. All of them were pointing various weapons at them, bows, spears, he even spotted a ballistae.
Freya took it all in, she hesitantly lowered her sword, "Fine, let us talk." The girl smiled and looked at Atreus.
"Hopefully you won't be an issue too, right?" Atreus also lowered his bow, and nodded.
Atreus was the first to talk, quickly wanting to defuse the situation, "This is just a misunderstanding," Freya whipped her head towards him, her anger reigniting.
"You dare call murder a misunderstanding!?" Freya made a step towards Atreus, but the girl stepped between them.
"Hey, obviously I'm stepping into some serious beef, but I can't have you two destroying a whole city block. Well, you already did that, but let's try and spare any other roads of your anger. We need to get you two out of here, so please, follow us?" The girl put her hand out, attempting to make peace.
Freya looked at Atreus, then at the girl in between the two, "Fine, let us leave." Freya stretched her arm out and shook, she sheathed her sword behind her back as a final gesture of goodwill.
"Good, now I hope you won't be causing any issues either?" The girl turned to Atreus who turned wide eyed.
"I was always for the peaceful solution," What was left unsaid was who started the fight, but Atreus felt like that would be bad mannered especially when the tension between himself and Freya was frayed already.
"Good, now come with me, we'll settle this away from mortal eyes." The girl motioned the both of them away from the road.
Atreus looked at the girl, "Wait, you said mortal, does that mean…?" The girl turned towards him and smiled.
"You caught that huh? Honestly, I'm surprised it took you that long to figure it out. My names Annabeth, Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena." That name, he's heard of it before.
"You're a descendant?" Freya asked, she sensed something wasn't right either.
"Descendant? No, legacies don't really call themselves children of the gods. Grandchildren and beyond, sure, but my mom is Athena." She looked up at the other kids and said something in a language he understood to be the common language around here. He didn't understand it yet, but he could hear the similarities from all the other locals he couldn't understand.
"Wait," It hit him, why the name was so familiar, "Athena, she's a Greek god." Annabeth turned to look at him, done speaking to the other children.
"She is, from the looks of you I can tell you aren't from my neck of the woods. Sorry to burst your bubble. If it's any consolation, my cousin is one of you guys." Annabeth guided them from road to road, until they stood in front of one of those metal boxes he had seen. Atreus could only guess what she meant by 'one of you'.
"Step in, we can talk and drive, don't worry I have my license." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small card that had her smiling face and a bunch of words he didn't understand.
"License for what?" Atreus looked confused.
"This, it's a rental." She motioned toward the metal box, on closer inspection he realized it had wheels on the bottom and seats inside.
"What is a Rental?" Freya also looked confused, Annabeth looked at Freya concerned but turned back to the rental.
"C'mon, I'll take you two to camp." Annabeth opened the rental and sat in front. Atreus approached the door in the back and pulled like Annabeth did. The door opened and he sat inside, Freya took up the seat in front of her.
The three of them rode in silence for a few minutes, eventually making her way to a dirt road and up a hill. Annabeth was the first to break the silence.
"Just so you know, Camp Jupiter is a bit overwhelming at first, but you'll get used to it in time." The three of them crested over a hill, eventually overlooking the camp Annabeth mentioned.
It was huge, not as large as the mortal city, but still very large. As the three of them rode toward the camp, he couldn't help but notice how different it was. The buildings were articulately made, bright white like marble and audacious unlike the mortal city which were very similar in terms of size but less colorful.
"You've built up quite the camp," Freya said, looking at the upcoming buildings.
"Thanks but I didn't do anything, I'm as much a guest as you are. The only difference is I have some friends who maintain all this. These are the Roman demi-gods, I'm Greek, we currently have a mutual understanding but it took some time for us to reach it." Roman demi-gods? Atreus never heard of such a thing, what even was Rome?
"This all seems impossible," Freya remarked.
"Last year I would have agreed, but I've had a lot of eye opening experiences. So many pantheons lay claim to their own parts of the world, you'd be surprised." The rental eventually stopped near a gate, where another child around the same age as Annabeth stood. The boy had dark skin and hair, he wore a breastplate and held a spear in his right hand. The two talked, again in the local language, and the boy motioned to Freya and Atreus. Annabeth responded and let them through.
"What did you two say?" Atreus asked, Annabeth looked at him confused.
"Just to alert the camp heads of your arrival, plus to bring a potion for the two of you. I noticed you two aren't speaking English, so it's not your first language I presume?" Atreus shook his head, he'd never heard of the language, Annabeth turned to Freya who also shook her head.
Annabeth stopped the Rental alongside a row of others like it, now parked, the three of them exited the rental, but were shortly stopped by Freya.
"I think we deserve some answers," Freya said, Annabeth turned toward her and crossed her arms.
"So do I, like why is a Greek demi-god and a Norse god fighting in the streets of San Francisco?" Annabeth turned to Atreus, wanting answers.
Atreus sighed, rubbing the back of his head, "My Father and I are responsible for her son's death." Atreus let out, like his father he wouldn't apologize for saving whom he considered a friend. Even if Freya didn't agree.
"You murdered him against my will," Freya growled out, her fist clenching.
"Your father, on the godly side? Why would you?" Annabeth probed for more answers.
"Her son was going to kill her, we couldn't let him do it!" Atreus stood his ground.
"It was not your right to kill Baldur," Freya scowled, her bad mood was back.
"Baldur, huh?" Annabeth cupped her chin, in thought. "You're Freya." She pointed at the Vanir God.
"I am." She nodded.
"What was your name again?" Annabeth turned to the boy in front of him.
"My name is Atreus." Annabeth murmured to herself in response, still in thought.
"Interesting." Annabeth cupped her chin, contemplating. She quickly stopped herself, as she shook her head and returned to the conversation at hand, "I'm sorry to hear, but from what I know, Baldur has been dead for centuries. I doubt a kid like Atreus here could have been part of that." Atreus turned to Annabeth, centuries?! No, it couldn't be.
"You are wrong, this boy and his father killed Baldur, a god from your pantheon." Freya pointed to Atreus, not entirely happy with the shift of blame.
"From our pantheon? If one of the gods killed Baldur I'm sure we'd know. But it wouldn't be the first time history wasn't correct." Behind her Atreus could see a boy and girl around Annabeths age, they looked much more important than her with flowing white robes with gold pauldrons and a purple garb underneath it.
The girl spoke from afar, while he couldn't understand he did feel an air of regalness from her, she was the kind of person who commanded respect even if he didn't understand. The boy beside her seemed much more laid back than his colleague.
"Ah good, Freya and Atreus, these are the Praetors of Camp Jupiter, Frank and Reyna." Annabeth introduced the two leaders of Camp Jupiter, the boy held two cups in hand…was it green?
Frank held out his arms to the two of them, "This will help clear up any communication issues, it has a bit of an aftertaste though." Atreus carefully reached out to the cup and grabbed it, before he downed it he looked at Annabeth who nodded. With a quick swig, Atreus swallowed it fast, and quickly understood what Annabeth meant.
His stomach rumbled, the taste settled in slowly and his tongue felt numb, "Whoa."
"Looks like it worked!" Atreus looked at the boy, Frank, Annabeth said his name was.
Atreus looked at the remnant of the drink and saw some chunks still left behind that didn't look particularly appetizing, "I can understand you, how did you do that?"
"Not the first time we've had campers whose second language is English, or didn't know English at all." Frank shrugged, "I had some of the campers pour some ready for you two."
"We have some questions for you, it's not every day a Greek demi-god and a Norse god end up destroying a city block in California. But it's been a long day, perhaps we can settle this tomorrow. Will that be alright with you?" Reyna turned to Freya, who in turn raised her brow.
"I have nowhere I can go, so yes." The answer front he goddess brought a wave of concern over Reyna's face, one that quickly was set aside for her natural mood as a leader. She turned to Atreus who quickly nodded in agreement.
"Good, I will have one of the campers escort you when you're ready. In the meantime, you are guests in my camp, please do not take advantage of it." Reyna turned to Annabeth, "I leave them in your care."
"Enjoy your time here, I'm sure you will." Frank and Reyna turned to leave, off to go do something else maybe? Atreus didn't know, but he did know that today was exhausting. He could use a cot to sleep on.
"Follow me, I'll show you to the guest houses they built, with my help." So they did, and as they walked Atreus saw a lot of strange people he never saw before. Half goat men and ghosts littered the land, many dismissed them as annoyances.
"Strange huh?" Annabeth asked in front of him, Atreus could only nod.
"I've never seen so many people before, especially all in one place." Again, he only knew a couple handful of people at any given moment.
"You must have lived quite isolated then, where are you from anyway?" Atreus stopped, where was he from? Midgard was a realm, but he never really thought about his specific place in it.
"Midgard?" Atreus shrugged.
"All of Earth is technically Midgard, I think, so not very specific." Annabeth was right, but Atreus really didn't know how to locate his own home.
"The woods behind her house?" Atreus pointed to Freya, who did nothing but grunt.
"Not very specific either, but we can figure that out later. We're here." The guest house looked…good.
Atreus will be the first to admit his appreciation of the arts was lacking, Mimir once tried to teach him how to appreciate poetry and wordplay but it was lost on him. The same can be said about the building before him, it looked adequate but nothing really stood out to him. When he looked at Annabeth he could see a sense of pride in her eyes, "So, how do you like it?"
"It's…good, I think." Annabeth's pride wavered, she sighed as she opened the door.
The three of them were the only ones inside, the house was divided into two parts, the inner part of the building was a sort of living room with many tables and chairs. The outer portion were rooms that were also divided by doors, each had about 4 beds.
"Before you sleep, do you mind me asking you another question, Atreus?" Annabeth put her hand on Atreus, before he could leave.
Atreus turned to Annabeth, "What is it?"
"Do you know who your parents are?" That was a weird question.
"Yes, I do, why?" Atreus raised his brow, what was she getting at.
"So you know who your godly parent is?" Oh.
Atreus knew his lineage, his father was a Greek god, his mother a Giant from Jotunheim. Both gods in their own right, making him the last of his kind. But no one was supposed to know that, "Yes, my father. He's a god."
Annabeth smiled, "Good, so you know who they are?" Atreus made to answer, but it was Freya who responded.
"His name is Kratos, the last god of his pantheon, ghost of sparta, the god of war. And the man who killed my son."
I didn't know how exactly to cross the language barrier, as far as I looked there has been no spell to comprehend languages in PJO and I figured "There has to be some demi-gods who don't speak English." so I just hand waved it. Hope you enjoyed this absolute chonker of a chapter, it's not even the longest chapter you will get, next one is 4k words long.