Authors Note: Hey everyone, sorry for the delay in the update. Had a bit of trouble getting this chapter out in time, but I thankfully managed. Also, I know I mentioned this before, but I'll say it again. I haven't read Trials of Apollo, at all. I know some stuff happens and what not, but other than that, I'm lost on it. So if I put any locations, characters, references, and what not that may have made an appearance in ToA, and are completely different in this fic, then that's supposed to happen. Also, DeadDredd. This chapter is for you, thank you for the sudden bout of inspiration you gave me for Arc two all those months ago, and which I'm sure you don't know what I'm talking about XD. But you'll probably understand once you read on. Anyway, enjoy the chapter everyone!
Chapter 45: The cities of Apples and Angels
Perseus poked his head from a garbage can, glancing around to see if the coast was clear. He crept out of his hiding place and jogged ahead, coming out back again into the place he had been when the Arai found him. Times Square.
"What makes this a square anyway?" Perseus muttered as he squinted against the dull daylight and once again took in the enormous sights. Even after seeing the development of this place in video format (which he was still wrapping his head around) the bright neon lights and all the advertisements out for display still took Perseus by surprise. And this was just the tip of all the sights and locations mortals had built all around the world, and across the centuries. He really had to see them all, especially Greece. Athens still stands, mostly. Cyprus was more habitable. Skiágis…Perseus frowned when his patron city/island came up. For some reason, Geras refused to elaborate on the island, stating it was something he should discover himself. And he didn't like the sound of that at all.
Perseus then realized he had reached the spot where he first landed in Times Square when he shadow travelled, and sure enough, the little crater he had made was still there, surrounded by cops and a no entry tape. Perseus shoved his hands in his pockets, and stealthily repaired the crater using his terrakinesis. It took a while due to being a bit rusty, but he was able to fill up the hole, and freak out the cops nearby. It looked like the mist was a bit late in responding to Perseus's power.
"I hope it's not because of the death mist." Perseus mumbled, a small smirk on his face as he thought of what he was going to do today. Sightseeing, food and finding Mt. Olympus. Kinda, he wasn't now supposed to go and just 'enter' his home and see how everyone was. But what he could do was at least find where it was located in this admittedly massive city. Geras mentioned it was above a building, though which building now…
"I guess I can club that with sightseeing." Percy thought as he glanced around various places he recognized as restaurants. Various other shops were also present, even one that was selling electronics. Perseus gravitated towards that shop, his eyes landing on the festive theme that the shop and others had, which he had also seen before not too long ago.
"Christmas." Perseus thought, picking up a clump of snow and letting it fall through his fingers. "Interesting…very interesting…"
Perseus smirked and then literally hopped inside the electronics store, garnering the attendant's attention. "Can I help you…?"
"Yes, I would like the latest models of an optical instrument that captures visual images, and a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link." Perseus replied, still in his British accent. "Also known as a camera and a cell phone." He then added with a grin.
"Right…" the attendant muttered, crouching down. Perseus heard something about foreigners, but he was too distracted by a television displaying something. It showed a reporter in Greece, and behind her, there seemed to be an archeological site swarming with people.
"Authorities have still closed down the area until further investigation has been done. Even though a tremendous discovery was made almost a week ago regarding the Greek mythology, the tragedy that occurred here is still fresh in people's minds over here, leading to extreme caution being taken in retrieving any priceless artifacts. Scientists are hard at work in determining the disappearance of the-"
"Your items sir." The attendant said, breaking through Perseus's attention.
"Hm? Oh yeas, of course thank you." Perseus said, grabbing the items.
"Um sir, I must tell you that, that the camera is actually quite expensive. Especially since you asked for the latest model-"
"$1000? Eh, that's fine, I'll be paying with cash. Oh, its polaroid as well, nice."
The attendant opened and closed his mouth. After letting out an undistinguishable sound, he went and disappeared in the back. Perseus then continued to watch the television, and noticed that a man next to him was also watching the same thing.
"Do you know anything about what happened there? I've been kind of out of touch these past few days." Perseus asked the man after getting his attention.
"Aye, quite a tragic and surreal this one. There was an excavation group out there, planning to dig up some Greek god temple, forgot who, but was supposedly important. They found the temple alright, but some freak accident occurred that injured and killed some people. I heard the director of the project died in there, and his son was injured. Grandchild was present too, but was thankfully safe. Though most people are flocking to talk about the ancient metal tree that was excavated, but had mysteriously disappeared."
"Metal tree…" Perseus whispered, glancing at his palm and then at the ground. He did wonder at first that if he had awoken, would that mean Gaia would be awake as well. But so far, neither Nyx, Pontus, or the Fates had given any indication that Gaia could be sleepwalking or something right now. He didn't want to, but it was probably safe to assume the primordial was still slumbering. Not that he knew what exactly happened to a primordial once they were sealed.
"Will you be paying now sir?" The attendant askedd, looking a bit fearfully at Perseus as if he was going to ask for another expensive piece of technology. Perseus internally smirked at that thought. Better than thinking he was going to smite him, like most mortals tended to do. Or did really.
"Thank you. And to you sir as well, for letting me know about that." Perseus said to the attendant and the man from before.
"No worries. Though I must say, and please don't take any offense, but I can't really place if your eyes are blue or black in color. It's really strange." The man replied with a frown.
Perseus smiled. "It's the lighting sir, goodbye." He said, stepping outside. A light chilly wind had begun to blow, though Perseus didn't mind it one bit. He continued to glance at the passing cars, a thoughtful expression on his face.
"I should get a car." He then said with a shrug. "Or a bike…" he muttered when he saw a motorbike zip through. "Can gods own vehicles? I mean, we have chariots…" Perseus muttered to himself as he walked along the footpath. "Or probably had. I bet Ares uses a bike now. Zeus might have one of those limos, most definitely. And Apollo a car."
Perseus shoved his purchase under his hoodie, which he then placed inside a shadow pocket. He then began to lightly jog around the area, exploring whatever the place had to offer. To his surprise, Perseus then saw his first magical being outside of everything Nyx after he woke up, and that was a centaur. Though this centaur certainly looked more dignified than any Perseus had ever seen before. And on top of it, it was even wearing the shirt of a cop, which slightly took Perseus by surprise. Tilting his head to the side, he then decided to approach the centaur, with a mortal sense of casualness of course.
"Hello there, are you busy now?" Perseus asked, startling the centaur from dozing off. "Were you sleeping? And you're supposed to be on duty sir." Perseus said, biting back a smile.
"Huh? Oh, uh, yes. I am on duty." The centaur said, it's tail swishing back and forth. "Can I help you with something?"
"Well, I was wondering if you could tell me some places I could visit here in the city." Perseus replied.
"Do I look like a tour guide to you?"
"Nope, but you're a cop, so you must surely know your way around here." Perseus replied, an innocent look on his face.
"…Is that what cops do?"
Perseus shrugged. "They help people, so I suppose yes."
The centaur didn't look that convinced, but then sighed. "Uh…you could see Central Park? There's some museums around it I think, Natural History, very famous. Uh…Rockefeller Center? Then Empire State building, Oly- all these places, and more."
"…Yes?"
"I know only that much, now leave me. I'm busy." The centaur grumbled, turning around. Perseus huffed, noting that there were the words 'Party Ponies' spray painted on the back of the centaur's shirt. Keeping that in the back of his mind, he was about to prepare to jump when he remembered that he was supposed to remain inconspicuous to the Greek world. So even though he didn't have to worry about mortals pointing at him and shouting if he was a bird or a plane, he now had to worry about Zeus's literal eagle eyes if he dared entered his air space. Shadow travel was out of the question, unless he had a picture of the location. But neither did he not know how the places looked, nor could he just ask random people for a picture of the rocking center or whatever it was called.
Perseus sighed and then began walking again, eyeing the various Broadway show posters that decorated the billboards. He almost contemplated going inside a movie theatre to check out a new horror movie it was going to premiere, ("What kind of title is 'Scream'?") when he saw some pegasi fly above him, making him almost fall on his backside. Because last he remembered, there was only one. And he literally saw it being born
Perseus turned back and hurriedly followed the pegasi, wondering where the winged horses would even go to in a concrete jungle such as this. He managed to jog across the entire stretch of Times Square before taking a right. He then broke into a run, and soon came across Radio City Music Hall, where he then found the pegasi, the group all being petted by unsuspecting mortals.
"Mom, I'm serious! That horse has wings!"
"Mhmm, sure Michael."
Perseus glanced to his left, where a family of three were waiting to cross the road, and the parents were listening to their son talk animatedly.
"Like the Greek horse bud?" the father asked.
"Yeah!"
"There is a statue of a Greek man in Rockefeller too sweetie, why don't we go see that?"
Perseus's eyes widened on hearing this, and quickly fell behind the family at a good distance as they began to cross the road. He gave the pegasi one last look to see if they weren't going to cause any trouble, and followed the family into some kind of open area. Perseus had already lost the family from earlier as he tried to navigate. The only problem was; he didn't know where he was going at all. After managing to get inside a building through a super quick shadow travel, Perseus finally sucked up the courage and approached a woman for directions.
"Where you could find a Greek statue over here?" a woman said, closing her eyes. "Hmm, there are two Greek statues in Rockefeller Center actually. Though I would suggest going to see Atlas first, and leave Prometheus for last. You'll find out soon enough, but oh! Make sure to visit Rockefeller again during nighttime, you wouldn't want to miss it especially during this time of the year. For a special tree is up at this time you know."
"…The mortals made a statue of Prometheus and Atlas?!"
Perseus went left, and sure enough, he found the statue of Atlas, which was right in front of a church. Perseus almost snickered out loud when he saw Atlas's face. Not that it looked hilarious or hideous, but the face was too tame to be Atlas's. Nor did that craggy old Titan look this grand and majestic when holding the sky up, which for some reason, was represented as a globe. A really cool looking globe though.
After making enough fun of it and taking funny pictures of himself and the statue with the camera, Perseus then headed back to the other side of the Center, where he was told the statue of Prometheus was. He ended up going across the road and entering from some kind of garden, and soon came across the statue. But that wasn't what caught Perseus's attention first.
Perseus let out a low whistle as he stared at the ninety feet tall Christmas tree, decorated from the top to the base with an assortment of decorations and lights. Sadly, the latter was not lit due to it being daytime, though Perseus mentally reminded himself that he could always come by again during the night. As he continued to walk ahead, the sounds of laughter and excited cries drew his attention to the ice skating rink that was at the bottom of the tree, making his eyes light up. He never got to ice skate back in Greece, the weather hardly even allowed it and rarely did a lake ever get frozen over. He finally spotted the golden state of Prometheus, which elicited a soft chuckle from Perseus on seeing how the Titan was depicted.
Perseus then relaxed in his place, and resorted to just watching the various people and families all spending time together, and in their own little bubble of fun. He once again made a mental reminder to visit the place again. And who knows, he could come here with Artemis too. He wondered if she had seen all these places as well, maybe when they were being built too. No, that's not really like Artemis, taking an interest in urbanization.
"After the battle, you want to head somewhere?"
Ah shit. He was definitely going to whisk Artemis away if he ever got a chance to meet her. That is, unless she didn't send him to Tartarus first.
"Or just reject me since she's sworn off men." Perseus muttered glumly, letting out a low groan. When did his life even get this complicated.
Perseus soon left Rockefeller Center and then roamed a bit around Bryant Park before he continued along Fifth Avenue. As he walked, he felt a strange, but familiar presence creeping up him that had him glancing around with curiousness. Momentarily glancing up, his eyes caught the largest skyscraper he had ever seen yet, even bigger than the one in Rockefeller. The familiar presence only increased as he approached the building, and that was when Perseus finally recognized it. It was ancient, but it was his kind of ancient. And familiar, not to mention powerful. Perseus was now directly below the building, just in front of the entrance with the words 'Empire State' standing out, written in bold and gold letters.
"This is the Empire State Building?" Perseus asked with slight shock, remembering Geras's earlier words. "And this is where Olympus is located?!" he then said out loud, leaning way back. "On top of this…" he said, his voice slightly cracking. "Holy shit…"
Perseus quickly hurried away from the building, knowing fully well he would have done something rash if he stuck there any longer. He then shadow travelled, and ended up back outside the Natural Museum of History, which he had mistaken for a palace earlier. The memory brought a small smile on his face. He then began to walk around Central Park, and after a while, found a vendor selling those hot dogs (not the same person from before thankfully) and after a light debate on why the food item was called such, Perseus was sitting back in front of a lake as he relished in his snack, and watched as a light sprinkle of snow began to fall from the sky. Not able to resist himself, he stuck his tongue out and caught a snowflake by the tip. He lightly chuckled and embarrassingly waved at an old couple who were watching his antics, and smiled and waved back in response. Perseus then let out a sigh as he stared at the lake. If Umbra was here, she would have probable eaten all the snow and ice on the lake. But she wasn't. From what he heard from Geras, Umbra had died at one point while defending Skiágis from a sea monster that Atlantis had in control. The two island nations were supposedly rivals back then. Umbra had regenerated, but no one was really sure where the orca had ended up. Best Geras could provide was that Umbra could be somewhere in the Arctic. Mostly because most of its 'species' roamed there.
Perseus then felt a spike of energy flow through him, signifying that the twilight hour had begun. The sky had already started to darken considerably, prompting Perseus to get up. He was about to check out a small castle nearby when his eyes landed on a newsstand. But that wasn't what really caught his eye, it was the bright bold font on a magazine cover that prompted Perseus to grab the magazine from the stand.
GRACE DOES IT AGAIN!
"Please don't tell me that's her." Perseus muttered as he shifted through the pages until he found the page he was looking for. After taking a moment to adjust to the language text, he then began to carefully read the contents of the article, his eyes slowly narrowing.
"Bungee jumping off her apartment building…and brought her daughter to do it as well…" Perseus mumbled, taking a moment to collect himself. "What the hell is this..."
Perseus bit his lip and glanced up at the sky, narrowing his eyes as he imagined a disapproving Nyx staring down at him. "You didn't say anything about interfering with mortals or demigods." He muttered. He wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but he thought he saw a flash of blue ripple through the night sky. "Also, I'm supposed to create misery for the Fates. And I'm just going to assess the situation, only to assess."
Nothing else happened, making Perseus nod. He then again checked the magazine in order to gauge any details of Beryl Grace. The only concrete one so far he found was that she was staying in Los Angeles and that she was last seen staying in the Roosevelt Hotel for a winter party most likely.
"Los Angeles…Los Angeles…The Angels? Nope, getting sidetracked." Perseus mumbled, spotting the shopkeeper of the newsstand. "Excuse me, do you by any chance have a picture of Los Angeles?
The shopkeeper frowned on hearing that question, but then began rummaging through some magazines. He then handed one to Perseus, where the cover displayed a familiar landmark which made Perseus groan.
"Out of all the places, the Hollywood sign?" Perseus asked with an incredulous expression.
The shopkeeper shrugged. "Best I could do." He said, his arm out. "You don't want it, give it back."
"I'll give it back alright, let me just concentrate on this." Perseus muttered, staring intently at the picture. While he was doing that, he reached below into the shadow plane, and tried to find a suitable path he could use to travel. After fixing a path, he then handed back the magazines to a confused shopkeeper, and then broke into a run. He jumped left into a bunch of trees, and may have just scared a dryad by literally jumping inside a shadow casted on the tree. He was once again hit by the chilling air of the shadow plane, and stayed within the shadows as he tried to find an opening to Los Angeles. It was only a few minutes later when he found one, and ripped a tear through it. Perseus then threw himself forward, and immediately banged his head on something metallic.
"Ow!" Perseus yelled as he tried to steady himself, but ended up falling out of the second 'O' in the Hollywood sign. He ended up rolling down the hill, until he made himself stop with his terrakinesis. Perseus then slowly got up, wearily taking in the new city out in the distance.
"Los Angeles. In California…phlegh. That's disgusting…there's dirt in my mouth, why is there dirt in my mouth. Is this how Atlas felt, ugh…"
"And where's the snow, and why is the sun out, it's supposed to be…oh yeah, time zones. That's a weird concept."
Perseus then cracked his knuckles and jumped up, his feet then landing on a stone pillar. More began to erupt in front of him which he then parkour upon, and soon landed in the middle of a road. He spotted a bus that looked to be heading towards the city. Perseus then turned himself invisible and jumped up, landing directly on the roof of the bus, though he wasn't able to mask the noises he made. The god winced when he felt the bus jerk a bit to the side of the road, but then breathed a sigh of relief as it continued on, soon reaching a highway. Perseus then stretched his limbs as he prepared himself for a long ride, taking in momentarily various uninteresting places, and exit points for shadow travel. He noticed the moon popping out of the horizon, and smiled when he saw it was a full moon tonight. No wait, it looked like a three-fourth moon. Or lesser. He really couldn't keep up with all the phases, no matter how many times his girlfriend grilled it into his head. He softly chuckled to himself as he remembered when he asked what was so special about a crescent moon, and got a one-hour lecture about its significance, and an agitated Artemis repeatedly pointing at her tiara which did feature a crescent moon. The memory made him smile sadly. Perseus then frowned, glancing around him. He then sighed, and took out his sweatshirt.
"Why is it so warm here. I'm back in Greece I think." Perseus said sullenly, lying back on the roof with a thud which made him jump and curse. It was almost an hour later when Perseus realized he was in the city, and noted he was going past a road that had stars on the footpaths of either side of it. Perseus then decided to leave the bus and jumped off it, landing outside a building which reminded Perseus of Chinese architecture. And for some reason, there seemed to be hand prints and even foot prints dotting the area.
"This is…the name is at the tip of my tongue." Perseus muttered to himself as he paced around, his eyes catching the stars on the footpath once again. "Hollywood fame…Hollywood walk…walk of fame- Hollywood walk of fame!" Perseus said excitedly, turning around. "And that…is Grauman's Chinese Theatre! Ha, I know my stuff." Perseus said, a proud look on his face. "Now, Beryl Grace. Where could she be staying…Beverley Hills? Probably." Perseus muttered with a shrug as he once again began walking. He really wanted to do his own thing, and that was explore this new country that the Olympians now call home. But for some reason, his mind kept wandering to the prophecy, and the child revolved around it. Or maybe he was trying to distract himself from the twilight line, or any other line for that matter. But the thought of the kind of condition the child would be living in didn't bode well for Perseus at all. And he had his fair share of children living in that kind of household before, and if the type of people that took 'care' of the children still existed, then Perseus had to prepare for disapproval. They really seemed to hate him for that.
"It can't be that easy, if I could just ask a person where she stays, right?" Perseus muttered to himself, approaching a man. "Excuse me, do you by any chance know where the television star Beryl Grace lives?"
"That actress? She's here alright in L.A., in Wilshire. Lives in Wilshire Royale with her family if I remember correctly."
"It can be that easy." Perseus whispered to himself. "Do you know where I can get a cab?"
Twenty minutes later, Perseus found himself in Wilshire Boulevard, just outside the twelve story building. It looked pretty nice according to Perseus, and there was even a big neon sign of the buildings name lit up on the roof. And speaking of the roof, Perseus could hear voices and music coming from up there, most likely from a party. He didn't linger long though and entered the lobby of the building, where there was a receptionist and a couple of people mingling around. Perseus spotted another television in the lobby, this one showing a recording of a Michael Jackson dance piece.
"Can I help you, sir?" the receptionist, a middle aged man, asked Perseus, the latter momentarily distracted by the TV. Perseus bit back a groan, as he had wanted to sneak in using his shadow travel, but now a mortal had seen him. He would have probably used the mist, but he wasn't used to its workings in this current period. And the death mist may pose a problem too with it.
"Um…yeah sure. I guess-"
"Are you here for the party?" the receptionist interrupted, already removing out a book and going through the pages. "Name, or a late comer?"
Perseus tilted his head to the side. "Late comer?"
"That Mr. Banks, always calls people last minute, even when the party is going on. Can't bother to update the list too…" the receptionist mumbled, scribbling something down. "You look new though, not from the neighborhood?"
"Huh? Oh yes, I'm new here." Perseus said quickly. "I'm a friend of Mr. Banks. From…England."
"Ah, that's nice. Never been to the U.K. …" the receptionist said, setting down his pen. "I will need your name and id sir, just so I could cross reference with Mr. Banks."
"You do? Right, you probably do." Perseus said, giving a nervous glance at his pocket where his cards were kept. He took it out and stared at his blank name and then at the receptionist who was staring back at Perseus expectantly, making the latter clear his throat. "Right, the name is Perse- …Percy."
The receptionist nodded and wrote something down, glancing up with the same expectant look. "Last name?" he prompted.
Perseus drew a brief period of silence. His eyes once again caught the television, and he then blurted out the first thing that came in his mind.
"Jackson! Jackson…Percy Jackson. My name is Percy Jackson."
The receptionist raised an eyebrow, glancing at the television and then back at Percy. "I see…"
"It's why I'm a big fan of him." Percy blurted out again, gesturing towards the television. "Because we share the same last name. among other things, I mean not related to him. Like, I like him because he makes good music, and can dance too. Not just because of the name…"
"…Right." The receptionist said, slight suspicion on his face. "Can I see your id?"
"Yeah of course, sure. Just, here." Percy replied, handing over the card to the receptionist. He took a look at it and then nodded, handing it back to Percy with a small smile. "Well, you are who you say you are."
"Of course I am who I say I am." Percy said with a chuckle taking back his card. "Why wouldn't I say who I am."
"Uh yes, I apologize. Well, the party is on the roof, you could access it by going to the twelfth floor. And…you seem like a responsible person so can you make sure if no cops are called here because of some rowdy guests? I would hate to deal with the police for the second time in a week."
Percy slightly winced. "That must be a pain. No promises, but I'll try my best." Percy then made his way to the elevator, momentarily glancing at his id to see that his name was indeed what he said out loud. Great, he officially was now 'Percy Jackson' in the mortal world. Apollo would be happy to learn that. He wondered if he would have to go to every single floor to find for the apartment he was looking for, but lucky for him, there was a board that showed the apartment holders names and the floor they were on. And to his no surprise, Beryl Grace was on the twelfth floor.
"The previous lover of Zeus living on the highest floor of the building? What are the odds." Percy said aloud with mock surprise. He then called the elevator which was already on the ground floor, and stared at it with a raised eyebrow. Technically, this was the first time he was going to enter an elevator, and this was the only mortal invention he had his reservations on. He blamed it on the movies that showed elevator accidents.
"Bloody hell, I'm a god for crying out loud." He muttered, entering the elevator with a long stride. He then pressed the necessary buttons and rested back, letting out a sigh. The music chiming made him smirk, closing his eyes. But not even a second later, Percy opened his eyes and found himself floating in the world of all ends, the thick blanket of mist spreading away from him. Before Percy could do anything, his Umbra Ore braces that were hidden inside his sweatshirt appeared, and formed into the familiar shapes of two ends of half a cube. Percy's throat tightened as he felt himself curl up, desperately trying to push away the closed in feeling that he was experiencing. The music inside the elevator had changed into repeated chanting, which soon drowned out Percy's thoughts.
"Tetrekar, Solosia. Tetrekar, Solosia"
A white stream of energy then appeared on top of Percy, its power pulsing. It then crouched down in front of Perseus, and-
"Are you alright mister?"
"Eh.." Percy said, on the ground and with half of his face stuck to the wall. "I'm…fine." He told the person who asked him. "I just…lost my contact lens."
"Oh." The person said. "Well, I hope you find it."
The person didn't sound convinced.
After the person had reached his floor, which was thankfully the twelfth floor, Percy waited for a few minutes and then shadow travelled outside, grasping the walls for support as he let out a shuddering breath. "What the fuck was that." he thought, letting out a deep breath. Did he actually go back to the world of all ends…but he couldn't? He must have imagined the scenario, but why, how. What even prompted that wretched place to enter his head in the first place. the sound of the party on top soon snapped Percy out of his dilemma, prompting him to shake and slap his head. Once again, he was a god. No way he was going to let some hallucination freak him out. It was then that he realized that he was actually on the twelfth floor, and more than likely outside Beryl Grace's house. After finding her apartment, 12A, Percy then took a deep breath as he composed himself, and knocked on the door. He heard some shuffling behind the door, and then the sound of the glass breaking. A few moments later, the door creaked open, revealing a bloodshot blue eye caked with ruined eyeshadow peering at him.
"…Yes?" The person behind the door said, a slight disapproving tone in her voice.
Percy blinked a couple of times, and drew a blank. It was then that he realized he didn't prepare at all with introductions or his purpose here. He doubted he could say he was a cop or something, didn't really look the part. Before Percy could say anything though, the woman swung the door open, revealing a woman with a disheveled mop of blonde hair, and ruined makeup on her face. She was wearing a brown bathrobe and had a lipstick in one of her hands. She regarded Percy with a scowl, and then said. "You're a god, aren't you."
Percy blinked with surprise. "Yes. How…how did you know?"
Beryl sniffed. "I asked my husband to remove the mist's effect within my apartment. I even had him do it to me too, but it didn't really work that well." Percy noticed that Beryl's eyes shone, but with a fractured sort of light.
"And though I can't get any of that 'godly presence' I felt with my husband, your eyes gave it away, very unusual. Are you some messenger from Zeus? Wait…are you the god named after that fashion brand?"
Percy raised an eyebrow. "No ma'am, I'm afraid I'm not Hermes. You can call me Percy though."
"…Doesn't ring any bell." Beryl muttered.
"Brilliant. Can I come in?" Percy asked. Beryl grunted but stepped back into her apartment. Percy slowly entered, and was soon hit with the light smell of cigarettes. He glanced at Beryl, who was unsuccessfully trying to cover some broken glass pieces with a rug.
"You look like a cartoon character." Percy replied, spotting a picture frame on a table. "Is this your actual place?" he asked, picking up the frame, which contained a picture of quite different looking Beryl Grace, and a man that Percy was sure was Zeus. He recognized that stern face and storm blue eyes anywhere, and Percy was baffled to see the god dressed in a casual t-shirt and tracks. He honestly pegged his uncle for the suit kind of guy.
"Did Zeus send you?" Beryl asked as she disappeared somewhere.
"No, I came here on my own accord." Percy replied, setting the frame down. A couple of minutes passed by, and Beryl reentered, clutching a butter knife in her hand.
"And why…may I ask?" Beryl asked tightly, her eyes nervously fitting towards a closed door.
"Curiosity." Percy replied. "I mean, if you didn't know already, you are the first mortal lover Zeus ever had in almost fifty years. That's quite something. The king of the gods, and you had his children. You must clearly be someone special."
A pained look passed through Beryl's face when Percy mentioned children, but a smile adorned her face on hearing Percy's compliment. "Of course I am special dear; I am the Beryl Grace of course. A world famous actress, the wife of Zeus, the-"
"Yeah, yeah, I get the picture. Though I never heard of you until yesterday." Perseus said thoughtfully, enjoying the look of disbelief on the woman's face. "Is this really the state of your home you're living in though." Percy asked, noticing the empty wine bottles underneath the sofa.
"Who are you, the god of home management." Beryl shot back. "And this place is perfect for me to live in."
"And what about for a child?" Percy replied coolly. Beryl stumbled back, her shocked expression replaced by one of anger. "Who told you about her." Beryl growled out.
"She's the daughter of Zeus, of course I and a lot of other people will know about her. Especially the monsters."
Beryl gritted her teeth. "Yes…the monsters. And? Let the monsters come, it's up to her anyway to kill them all. Which I doubt she can do, since they all only seem turn to dust. How am I supposed to prove I have the head of a snake woman, if all I have is some pixie dust that can't even do anything huh? And if one of the monsters kill her, then she was weak. I don't have time to raise a child like that. Especially if the monsters manage to kill me, which I doubt my husband will allow. Because then that's on her."
Percy's eyes widened, and then narrowed. "Is that how you view your own daughter, like some sort of tool for fame that's not even real or yours? And if you die, that's on her?! What kind of mentality are you brewing!"
"Nothing of your concern, whatsoever." Beryl snarled. "My child is the daughter of Zeus, of course she should be able to do anything possible. Haven't you read the myths? All the great heroes are Zeus's children, and my child, who is also the daughter of a famous actress, should be no different either. Now leave, before I call upon my husband and tell him there's a trespasser here."
"Like hell Zeus would come on your calling." Percy replied with a snort. "You really believe you're someone special? Pathetic. You're just number four hundred and seventy-two, a godly one night stand which Zeus has most likely forgotten by this point, in favor of another. Which I really hope is not another mortal woman, cause that would be problematic."
"You-!" Beryl cried out, almost lunging at Percy. But they were both stopped when a nearby door began to rattle. Percy watched as the knob clicked open, and the door swung open with a black blur toppling out of it. Percy watched as a little girl slowly got up, pushing her shoulder length black hair out of her face, and staring at Percy with bright electric blue eyes.
"I thought-" the girl whispered, turning towards her mother. "I thought that was dad…"
"Thalia!" Beryl hissed. "Who said you can come out of your room?"
"But-"
"And you unlocked it…with a pin? You ruined the lock you stupid girl!" Beryl shouted and raised her hand, making Thalia flinch. "I'll deal with you later. But first, you…" Beryl said, pointing a finger at Percy. "Leave my home, now."
But Percy didn't respond, and instead glanced at Thalia, who was staring back at him with frightened but wary eyes. He could actually sense the lightning coursing through her, and believed with no doubt that she was a child of lightning. And that made him think of all the hardships she would possibly face, the life of a demigod, was never easy. But this…this should be something no child should go through. Percy internally sighed when he came to a realization. Though to be fair, he had an inkling something like this was going to happen. He really was going to make life difficult for everyone, wasn't he…
"No."
Beryl looked confused and then frowned. "Excuse me?!"
Percy smirked. "Oh no, you must be mistaken. I will leave your…home. Don't want to even spend another ten minutes here. But I'm not going alone."
Beryl barked out a laugh. "You think I want to go with a lowly god like you? Do you know who I am?!"
Percy smiled. "Actually, I'm afraid I didn't mean you, your grace."
Beryl frowned. "Then…who-" she muttered, her eyes widening. She turned her head to face Thalia, while the child was looking on at the conversation with a confused expression.
"You dare…try to take my daughter?" Beryl asked calmly, but was breathing heavily.
Percy shrugged. "I hate the fact of taking children away from their families. But if the situation is like this, belittlement and dare I say, an abusive nature, then I am not taking any chances. For no child shall live like this, not under twilight's watchful light."
Beryl let out a cry of rage, grabbing a glass and throwing it at Percy, though it missed considerably by a foot. But Beryl didn't stop, and continued to throw more glasses and even a couple of bottles at Percy. The god merely rolled his eyes, though they did widen when he saw some of the glass pieces fly towards Thalia, making her shriek.
"Okay that's enough." Percy said quickly, approaching Beryl. "I said- hey, that's enough!" Percy yelled grabbing Beryl's wrists. The woman screamed and kicked Percy's legs while the god picked her up by the wrists and gently dropped her on the sofa.
"Stop it, you're being a nuisance." Percy replied, sighing when Beryl got up again and tried to shove him back. "That's not going to work ma'am, you might as well push a tractor."
"You…" Beryl snarled, turning towards Thalia. "Go get my weapon!" she shouted. But Thalia remained at her spot, likely paralyzed with fear.
"You good for nothing brat!" Beryl shouted, grabbing a bottle and smashing it at Percy's face. The god blinked a couple of times as he tried to get the glass pieces out of his eyes, and raised an eyebrow when Beryl returned, gripping a peculiar looking sword in her hands. For Percy, it looked like the sword was fully made out of glass, blade, hilt, and handle. Beryl then raised the sword above her and brought it down at Percy who smirked in response. He raised his hand up and caught the sword mid swing with his palm, the sharp side of the blade barely even doing anything to him.
"Look Beryl, I suggest you give up. There isn't anything in this place you can use to try and fight me with, because nothing is going to harm me…" Percy said, but faltered when he felt a wet sensation on his palm that was blocking the sword. He brought his hand along with the sword down, and noticed a cut forming on his palm, with little bit of ichor already leaking out of it.
"…At all?" Percy asked. Beryl smirked in response and brought the sword back, swinging it back towards Percy who once again caught it, this time with both his hands. But the blade still dug into his skin, and Percy noticed that while Beryl was holding the sword very tightly, her hands didn't seem to lose any color because of blood loss. Instead, it only stayed the same, though Percy wasn't sure if he could see correctly, but he was quite sure the handle of the sword was slowly turning red in color.
Percy then pushed Beryl back and went to grab the sword. But she was fast, faster than what he a considered a mortal to be as she dodged Percy's grasp, bringing her sword repeatedly on Percy's back. The god winced in response and gritted his teeth, lunging back to grab her again. But she dodged him again, and Percy was this time sure that he wasn't imagining Beryl being fast, she actually was. Deciding to still hold back by a lot, Percy formed a sword from his brace and whirled around too meet Beryl's blade with his own mid strike. And for the first time, fear flashed through her eyes.
"Enough games, this ends now-"
But Beryl didn't let Percy finish, letting out a yell as she shockingly began to push Percy back. Percy noticed that the hilt of the blade was also turning a shade of red, while Beryl's breaths started to become labored, but her strikes more powerful. Percy was worried with what was happening to her, and half wondered if she had consumed some magical item. He pushed Beryl back, making her topple back into a closed window, shattering it completely. Percy swore loudly and rushed forward, gently taking Beryl out from the window. But she didn't seem to have passed out from the collision, and managed to raise her sword and bring it down on Percy's shoulder. The gods right eye twitched, and with an exasperated sigh, flicked the side of Beryl's head with his finger. Beryl's eyes then rolled into the back of her head and fell slack on the ground. Percy recalled his sword back and stared at the crumpled form of Beryl Grace, who was moaning slightly. She had let go of her sword, and Percy was shocked to find that her palms were bloody. Not only that, but there was a pool of blood pouring out of the handle of the sword as well.
Percy frowned and then stepped besides Beryl, bending down to pick her up and somewhat gently lay her on the sofa. He then picked up the glass sword, his frown deepening. It didn't look anything special, just a sword that was made of glass. But he could sense something foreign within it, something he really couldn't place where it was from. Though it was definitely not of Earth. Unable to find anything more on it, Percy then placed the sword next to Beryl and glanced around, wondering where the little child Thalia had disappeared to during the fight. He scoped through all the rooms, and even double checked the room which Thalia came out of. Percy noticed that some drawers were thrown open, with clothes also missing from the closet. But she wasn't anywhere. That is, until Percy noticed a window from the kitchen opened, and looked outside to find a fire escape. And judging from the unlocked latch, he did not have to guess where Thalia disappeared to.
"Shit." Percy muttered, dashing back to the living room and quickly healing Beryl from hopefully no permanent damage. He took one final check around the apartment and even peeked out of the broken living room window, where he saw a police car parked outside the building. Seems like he failed his promise to the poor receptionist.
"Wha…ugh…" Beryl groaned out, unsuccessfully trying to get up. Percy narrowed his eyes and then approached Beryl with a blank expression.
"Where…where is that girl." Beryl grunted.
"She ran away. But all in all, she is safe from your reach." Percy replied.
"…No. No no no, you give her back." Beryl replied, an edge to her voice. "I need her by my side, Zeus would return, he would see she's not here. He's already not here, don't make this worse for me."
"If Zeus comes, then good. Gives you a chance to explain what led Thalia to be absent huh." Percy replied.
"No, you don't understand, I need her. We're family, you can't change blood. You can't take her away, from me, them…"
"But she left by her own accord. And seeing that she took most of her belongings, I can't help but wonder if you drove her to run away. But I will find Thalia, in order to keep her safe from the likes of monsters, and you. I doubt you will see her again, especially with how you treated her, and I don't have to even guess. And if there are any repercussions, I would gladly face them." Percy replied coolly, turning away. He could feel Beryl shift behind him, and was about to turn to reprimand her when instead Beryl cupped her mouth and began shouting at the top of her lungs.
"SHE IS A DISGRACE THAT GIRL! SHE BETRAYED HER OWN MOTHER, TURNED HER BACK ON HER OWN FAMILY! EVERYTHING IS HER FAULT, HER FATHER LEAVING, HER BROTHER DYING! HEAR THAT GIRL, EVERYTHING IS-"
Percy swung and smacked Beryl hard on the face, quickly leaving a big purple bruise on her cheek. Beryl crumpled down on the floor unconscious again, and this time, Percy didn't bother picking her up. He gave one last withering glare at Beryl and the glass sword and jumped out of the window, and began floating in the air. He quickly scanned the streets of the neighborhood, trying to find some clue as to where Thalia could be when he heard the distinct screams of a young girl coming from nearby. He zoomed towards MacArthur Park, and was shocked to find a cyclops chasing down Thalia with a broken tree. Percy let out a yell and flew downwards, crashing into the cyclops before it could swipe the tree at Thalia. Percy took the cyclops inside the shadow plane and after a few minutes, emerged back out of it while punching the cyclops into the sky. Percy then formed a claymore out of his braces and jumped up with a yell, swinging his claymore like a fan and sliced the cyclops in half, from the crotch to the head. He then landed back on the ground as the two separated parts of the cyclops bursted into dust and showered down upon him. All that was left of the cyclops was a tattered t-shirt which fell on Percy, who picked it up and made out the word 'Monica' written on it. He then heard the crunching of leaves and glanced up to see Thalia staring at him with wide, awe filled eyes. And then her eyes rolled in the back of her head.
"Woah-" Percy hissed, grabbing Thalia before she could hit the ground. Exhaustion clearly looked like to have made her pass out, and Percy noticed that her hair and clothes had glass pieces and shards of wood stuck to it. He carefully brushed them off her, and gave her a once over to check for injuries. Aside from a bruise on her neck and knee, everything else was fine. Percy then hefted Thalia in his arms and picked up a bag that was with her. He really wasn't sure what her reaction was going to be now after she woke up, but until then, the best Percy could do now was to make sure she was safe from any threats. The cyclops was admittedly quite sudden, and Percy wondered what else could be lurking around because of Thalia's scent. And since his presence was masked, Percy didn't have to wonder what the dumb monsters would do if they got a whiff of the daughter of Zeus.
It took a while, but Percy miraculously got himself a room in a hotel. Sure, later on he might probably kick himself for the type of hotel he had picked. But he was tired, cranky, and had a technically homeless eight-year-old child in tow. So he was pretty sure he was going to cut himself some slack, and besides. You can never go wrong with the Beverly Hills Hotel.
Percy ended up ordering pizza from room service, and bought extra just in case Thalia got up. The demigod was still out cold, and Percy didn't blame her one bit. The whole ordeal she must have experienced would definitely have been straining, especially for a child. He was going through some channels on the TV when the air besides him rippled. Percy half expected to find the Fates on the other side of the possible Iris message, but was surprised to see that it was Eris instead, a smirk on her face.
"Why hello little brother! How was your first day in the mortal world, did you have fun? Oh are you in a hotel, where are you?"
"How did you make an Iris message? Seeing that you're in Night's place." Percy asked, mouth full of pizza.
Eris huffed. "This is a mist message, not Iris. Big difference. And besides, I can't ask Iris to show me a god who's dead right?"
"True." Percy replied, making sure he was covering most of the message. He didn't want Eris peeking in, and finding the child of the prophecy in his room.
"I'm in Los Angeles, and my first day was pretty cool. Nothing that exciting happened though." Perseus replied
"L.A., oh my! I expected you to be in New Jersey, nice place. You went to New York city?" Eris said with a grin
"Yep, I found the building below Olympus too. Looks quite impressive."
"Really? Did you know, a big gorilla climbed that building once. I got a good view of it too."
"Really, what view? Down on the ground, or from the gorillas arms on the top of the Empire State?"
"…Shit, I forgot you would have watched that." Eris mumbled while Percy laughed. "But tell me, how did you get a room booked? You must have had to thought of a name?"
Percy scoffed. "Yep. The name's Percy Jackson now."
Eris snorted. "Rolls right off the tongue. Poor mother, she will be disappointed to hear that."
Percy narrowed his eyes. "Let her be." He said, glancing away.
Eris raised an eyebrow. "I sense a change of mood. Funny, it changed when I mentioned Nyx."
"And for good reason." Percy muttered, glancing at the night sky. "Tell me, would she hear me right now?"
"Uh, no? She doesn't pry in our thoughts or hear what we have to say if that's what you're-"
"Good, because she's a fucking asshole! And she can take her big mask face and shove it up her oblivion body. And now that the headpiece won't have any use, she can go and chuck that into the abyss of Chaos where she threw me!" Percy shouted, getting up and banging his fist on a wall. He then sat back, and noted that Eris was staring at him with a bizarre expression.
"I'm…lost."
"No, you're Eris- oh fuck this shit." Percy cried out, shoving a pizza into his mouth. "I'm too mad and agitated to be joking."
"Yeah…" Eris said slowly. "I bet taking care of a child is tough."
Percy's head shot up. "I beg your pardon?"
Eris pointed behind Percy, which led to the god banging his head on his knees. "You saw her when I got up didn't you." He said from his position.
Eris nodded sympathetically. "I won't fault you for taking in a child, though it is out of the blue. Though I shouldn't be surprised, you had the hunt so you must have some part missing. And now that you can't have children with Artemis, or even be with her-"
"Woah, woah, woah. …The hell are you talking about?" Percy replied with a groan. "This isn't some permanent thing, or guilt smoothening thing or whatever you want to call it. I just couldn't handle knowing that Thalia was living in the kind of environment I found her in. Not to mention, I'm going to either drop her off at the Hunters, or that Camp Half Blood thing. Whichever one she wants to go to."
Eris's eyes widened. "Thalia as in the child of the prophecy?"
"Yeah. No use hiding it now."
Eris pursued her lips. "I don't think sending her to camp or the hunt during this time is the right choice Perseus."
Percy raised an eyebrow. "And why not?"
Eris sighed. "Look, the Olympians are going to find out that the child is missing. Remember, there are some gods who wish to see her dead, and that mentality is not helped by the fact that Zeus is neutral on her daughter's fate. Whether she's dead or alive, it doesn't matter. And once they find her, and hopefully not harm her, she'll be brought to the council where she will be judged. If you take her to camp, Dionysus would turn her into a bunch of grapes, or present her to the council. If you take her to the hunt, Artemis would definitely grant protection. But ultimately, will have to present her to the council. Without your involvement, the child will go to the council once a god finds her, and will most likely decide the inevitable. Honestly Perseus, the best case scenario is that you could be with her until she has grown a little, and maybe learnt more of our world. You don't have to take care of her fully, but may be you can until…Amaltheia."
Percy frowned. "Amaltheia, the magical goat? Wasn't she Zeus's nursemaid…who he then later skinned to make a shield. Which later became the Aegis?"
"Yep. Just like she was Zeus's nursemaid, she also acts as a sort of guide to children of Zeus. Not as prominent as you, but enough to suffice the demigod. It's a farfetched idea though, because Amaltheia moves constantly. But don't worry, I can track her down, mostly. And once you find her, she will then devote her time into guiding the child."
Percy nodded. "I guess that could work. but yeah, I could definitely take care of Thalia by then, you just have to find the goat, and then we could shadow travel where she is."
Eris's eyes widened on hearing Perseus's words, a flash of fear passing through her face. "Oh no, Perseus? Did you by chance shadow travel with the child as well recently?"
Percy tilted his head. "Yeah, I did. But it was like a short travel, very short. Like, lobby to the room?"
"Lobby to room…okay, that's probably fine. Though I'm not sure how much with the mist…" Eris said with a sigh. "I'm afraid shadow travel is not going to be a good mode of transport, especially city within shadow travel, and anything higher. Hades has his domain in the shadows too, and a little bit of stake on the shadow plane. So if he senses a child of Zeus going through his territory, it's not going to be good. Because unlike the other gods taking Thalia to the council, Hades is going to slay the child there and there only. And would probably throw her disembodied body into the shadow plane for good measure."
Percy frowned, and then shook his head. "Yeah right, as if Hades would do that. Sure he has a grudge against Zeus, but that doesn't extend to his demigod children at all."
Eris had a pained look on her face. "Maybe back then, two millennia ago. But times have changed Perseus, circumstances have changed. And Hades's circumstance…is tragic."
Percy frowned, but motioned for Eris to continue. "Close to the end of the second world war, and just a couple of weeks after the great prophecy was issued, Hades already had two demigod children, actual siblings. They were like toddlers, a girl and a boy. But, because of the prophecy, those two children actually became the next candidates of being the child of the prophecy, they hadn't reached sixteen yet, and no else remained. And well, Zeus didn't like this at all. And because of that, he killed the two children as well as their mother by collapsing a roof on top of them. They were the last ever children of Hades to exist, and the last to die. Hades was of course, heartbroken over this. And he's not pleased at all that Zeus had a demigod child, and broke the oath which he did not as well. So if the child were to garner the Lord of the Dead's attention in the shadow plane, there would be no stopping his onslaught of demons. He will do that possibly one day, but this will just accelerate the process."
Percy fell silent, taking a glance at the sleeping from of Thalia. She looked so peaceful there, unbeknownst to the horrors that were waiting to strike upon her. And Perseus wasn't going to allow that.
"Thank you for telling me all this Eris, it was useful."
"No problem! Say, you want to rant about mother now, I bet you have some pent up emotions you want to throw out. And which better person to throw them all upon, than the goddess of-"
"Maybe another day Eris, I've taken up enough of your time." Percy replied, getting up to grab his wallet.
"Where are you going?" Eris asked.
"Out. I need a map." Percy replied, gently brushing back Thalia's hair from her face. "Might have to plan a classic road trip."
"That's boring." Eris said a bit later. "Oh yeah, one more thing. Death mist. I don't know if mother already mentioned this, but the masking also extends to the people around you. You will be able to mask Thalia's demigod scent from monsters and gods, though only from a distance, not close by. Something about death being closer to them when the monster is near, hence they'll be either to smell. A god won't be able to tell where Thalia would be though unless in close proximity. And the shadow plane…the rules are much different there when it comes to the death mist according to Akhyls. I'm not sure either, something about abstract beings. Other than that, it's very vague, I'm confused too. Alright yep, bye!"
"Wait, Eris!" Percy whisper-shouted, but the goddess had already cut the connection. Percy then let out a tired sigh, putting away the food except Thalia's, and after giving the demigod one final glance, slipped into the shadows outside.
It was early in the morning when Thalia roused up from her sleep, blearily taking in the room she was in. It took her a few moments for last night's events to come back to her, and the sudden realization that she was in a foreign room to make her almost fall of a bed, if it weren't for Percy catching her with a shadow tendril.
"Slow down there kid, your sheets are all tangled up." Percy replied from the other side of the room. "Can you get out from there?"
"W-Who are you! And what is that?" Thalia stuttered, staring with slight fear at the shadow tendril that was slowly receding back.
"My power. I can more or less manipulate the shadows, don't ask me how." Percy replied, revealing himself. As soon as Thalia saw him, she visibly relaxed, but still held a look of uncertainty. Percy smiled slightly and handed Thalia a glass of water which she hesitantly took. "How are you feeling? After last night that is…"
Thalia looked confused as she stared at Percy's hands. "Why are there no wounds?"
Percy lightly frowned. "You mean my injury? Well, that healed actually. I have fast healing. You were there when your-"
Thalia shook her head. "No, the blood that comes on your hand when you use a sword." She replied, her eyes widening. "You can heal fast?" she asked.
Percy hesitated, Thalia's words ringing in his head. "Why did she expect the same thing to happen to me, like her mom?" he thought. "Yep, I can heal very fast. It's a thing if I'm a god." He then said
"Y-You're a god?" Thalia asked with slight awe. "Like an actual god? Greek?"
"Yeah." Percy said with a small smile. "Look, I'm really sorry that I came into your home, and got into a fight with your mom…"
Thalia looked confused. "She shouldn't have attacked you though." She replied. "But you did say…you said you were taking me away from her. Really?"
"Ah…maybe?" Percy said rubbing the back of his neck. "I wouldn't force you to come with me at all, you're technically here now because I had to watch over you to keep you safe. And while I don't…mind, if you want, you can still stay with your mom. Though I will check like every other week then to see if you're properly treated-"
"No!" Thalia yelled, leaning forward to clutch Percy's hand tightly. "I don't want to live with her, I don't want to live with her…"
"Hey, hey, shhh. You're alright, it's fine." Percy replied soothingly, rubbing Thalia's back slowly and trying hard not to curse Beryl into oblivion. "I'm not going to leave you there if you don't want to, I won't force anything okay? Shh, it's alright, do not worry, shhh…"
After Thalia had calmed down, Percy brought another glass of water over with a shadow tendril. He turned to face Thalia, and raised an eyebrow on finding her staring at him strangely.
"That is so weird. And you speak weird too." Thalia then said.
Percy shrugged. "I am weird. What about you."
"My mom calls me a dis…disruptive child." Thalia replied, shuffling in her place.
Percy once again told himself that putting Beryl in hospital was not ideal at all. He then got up and sat beside Thalia, extending his hand. "I'm Percy Jackson."
Thalia slowly brought her hand out and tentatively shook Percy's hand. "Thalia Grace."
"Nice to meet you Thalia. Here, let me…" Percy muttered, untangling her hair.
"Thank you. Wait…did you heal that wound of mine on my neck? And my knee is fine!" Thalia asked with surprise
"It didn't hurt did it?" Percy asked worriedly. "But yeah, I did heal them."
"It was itchy." Thalia replied.
"Itchy. That sounds bad." Percy muttered, noticing Thalia's heavy sigh. "Something on your mind?
Thalia shrugged. "Just surprised that this is real." She mumbled. "I always thought of running away, but I didn't think I would actually do it. And then, if anyone would care enough to help and take care of me."
Percy smiled sadly. "You actually thought of running away. For real?"
Thalia wordlessly nodded.
Percy sighed. "Gods…now I'm kind of glad I found you then before anything were to happen. Like that cyclops…"
Thalia smiled slightly, but then frowned. Before Percy could ponder on that however, Thalia's stomach growled, making her blush slightly.
"Oh yeah, you completely skipped dinner. Uh…I only have some salad and pizza for breakfast, unless you want to go for actual breakfast food?" Percy asked.
Thalia shook her head. "No, this is fine. You don't have to get me anything more."
Percy nodded, but still went out quickly and brought some milk. He easily heated the pizza and handed it over to Thalia, who ate the food with relish.
"Where are we though?" Thalia asked between bites.
"Beverly Hills."
Thalia squeaked. "The place or the hotel?" She asked cautiously.
Percy looked at her with a grin. "Both."
Thalia was staring at him with disbelief, making Percy chuckle. "Don't be so surprised or worried, I can handle this. Besides, you seem fairly knowledgeable about hotels for some reason.
"She always cried about them and their prices." Thalia muttered. "And I am quite smart for my age too."
"I can definitely see that." Percy replied, clasping his hands. "Okay listen, there's something that I have to tell you. Now that you're…technically in my care, which you can still opt out of, not a problem at all. But we will be leaving L.A. soon, and heading…somewhere. I hope it isn't anywhere far, but I will be taking you to this magic goat who could take care of you instead of me. Not like a babysitter thing, more like a guide? But yeah, the goat has experience with Zeus's kids too so it's not random."
Thalia frowned. "Why a goat? What about you?"
Percy blinked with surprise. "Me? You're asking me why I can't take care of you."
"You seem nice." Thalia mumbled, giving Percy a cheeky smile. "And you stay in cool hotels."
"Oh now that's just rude." Percy said with a laugh, ruffling Thalia's hair who giggled in response. "Sorry, force of habit with kids. But honestly, my life has gotten flipped-turned upside down. So until I get myself on track, I don't think I'm eligible enough to take care of a kid right about now."
"Oh." Thalia replied. "But now you're taking care of me."
"Only because of circumstance, a bit of my willingness, and your consent." Percy replied. "But just to be clear, we're not going to be spending every night in big fancy hotels you know. Maybe once a while, but mostly we'll be either sleeping out in the wilderness, or in an overnight bus. Is that fine with you?"
Thalia had a thoughtful look on her face. "As long as I don't have to go back to my mother."
"And I don't plan to allow that at all." Percy replied, glancing at the clock. "Well, check-out is in another couple of hours, why don't you go freshen up. We'll be leaving for the city in the afternoon."
Percy found himself back on the Hollywood walk of fame, this time with Thalia in tow. He didn't actually expect to wind up back here, but this was technically the most civilized place he knew to be located in L.A. so far, and he needed rations and directions. Besides, there was one place Percy wanted to check out, and it didn't hurt taking Thalia along too. The only problem was, he decided to keep it a secret. And that never settled great with kids.
"Is it Universal Studios?"
"Nope."
"Disneyland!"
"Ah yes, the happiest place on Earth. But only for children, and not for adults…"
Thalia whined. "I don't get it. Please don't tell me you're going to a boring museum."
"Nothing wrong with a museum you know. But no, this is something else. It's somewhere along the coast too."
Thalia tapped Percy's forehead. "We are on the coast."
"…You really are smart huh."
In the end, Percy bought Thalia a Walkman and distracted her from asking more questions with AC/DC music. Percy on the other hand drowned himself with the map he bought of the country, marking various locations he could go to, possibly with Thalia as well until they find Amaltheia. He had just finished marking Seattle when they had arrived. Thalia was already pressed against the window to see where they were, turning back to Percy with widened eyes.
"The beach?" she said, looking a bit hesitant. "My mom always said that the beach was bad and dangerous."
"Really? I wonder why." Percy replied, glancing up at the sky. "But we're in Santa Monica pier, surely you must have come here at some point?"
It was Percy's turn for his eyes to widen, when Thalia shook her head with a no. "Okay…you at least heard of it? Phew, that's a relief. And come on, the beach isn't that bad all the time. And the pier even got a new amusement park recently, a roller coaster too. And, there's an arcade I've been meaning to check out…"
"Okay. But no beach." Thalia said, though she sounded unsure when she said that. Percy smiled instead and led Thalia out, soon reaching the main area of the pier. Percy navigated through the crowds with a sigh, while he made sure Thalia didn't leave his hand at all. The two soon came across the amusement park, with Thalia checking out the rides while Percy seemed to be searching for something.
"Wait, if you're a Greek god, which Greek god are you?" Thalia asked.
"I'm Perseus. God of eclipses, twilight, mountains, and other cool stuff. You heard of me?"
"Here and there. My father mentioned you in a story once, but that's about it." Thalia replied, frowning when she mentioned Zeus. "What's twilight and eclipses?"
"Well…twilight is basically late evening time, till very early morning time. And to put it lightly, eclipse…uh…"
"You don't know how to say it?" Thalia asked.
"…The sun and the moon does cool things to the sky while making an eclipse. There." Percy said with a shrug.
"Oh. Why do you talk like that though?"
"You mean my accent? Well, I kind of…adopted it? But I plan to change it, in order to fit with this country. Still not sure if I should go with a New York accent, even though it's kind of similar to British? Then there is the elusive Californian accent, though most people say that's a myth…"
Thalia nodded her head. "As long as you don't speak like a cowboy. Can I have a pretzel?"
Percy did buy some pretzels, and played a few carnival games with Thalia. But after the first wave of not winning any prizes, Percy played the games again (Thalia was more than happy to do so) and this time he used his powers subtly, while distracting the attendants. Ten minutes later, Percy was putting all the prizes Thalia had won in his shadow pocket, while he listened to the little girl rambling excitedly with a smile.
"So, what powers do you exactly have?" Thalia asked.
"Well, I have the basic 'god' powers such as super strength, speed, agility. They do vary though amongst the gods, but its super. But then I also have more prominent powers, like my shadow manipulation you saw before. I can control the earth to a certain degree as well, and I'm immune to water hazards. Accelerated healing magic, intuition with the wild, excellence with weapons. I can go on honestly…" Percy replied nervously, but Thalia took everything with awe.
"All I saw my dad do was fix a lightbulb." Thalia said with a sigh. Percy didn't know why, but the mental image of the king of the gods fixing a lightbulb manually sent him to a fit of laughter, which only increased as he bursted out laughing on seeing Thalia's confused face. Thalia cracked a smile on seeing him like this, and then she too started giggling as well.
"Why are you laughing!"
"Sorry, just thought of something funny." Percy replied with a chuckle.
"You really are weird." Thalia said with a giggle.
"Why thank you. Say, you want to go on a roller coaster now?" Percy asked Thalia, who for some reason paled a little. "Um, I'm not sure I can go on one…"
In the end, Thalia didn't go on a roller coaster because of her height, while Percy was the loudest as he went over the various loops on the ride. After he was done, Percy caught Thalia at the entrance where he left her, but his eyes widened when he noticed something else. Standing a few meters behind Thalia were two small cyclops, who were both wearing 'Santa Monica' t-shirts and were staring at Thalia with confused expressions. Percy bit back a curse and hurried ahead, coming in the way of the cyclops view.
"You had fun?" Thalia asked, oblivious to the monsters behind her.
"Yeah. Not as great as actually flying, but I never got to experience that leisurely though." Percy replied, glancing at the cyclops who were now staring at him with confused expressions, and missing Thalia's shocked expression on hearing he could fly. "Come on, let's go for a walk."
"Where?"
"Here only, just around the pier." Percy muttered, leading Thalia out of the park. As he began to walk towards the beach, Percy heard a strange zipping noise behind him. He ignored it however, but his eyes widened when he heard Thalia shriek, and turned around to find her being dragged away from him by some invisible force. Perc then realized it wasn't an invisible force, and that it was actually a fishing line that had attached itself on to Thalia's shirt. As for the fishing line, it was coming from a fishing rod held by the same cyclops from before.
"The hell-" Percy said aloud, lunging for Thalia, only to miss. He quickly got up and glanced around to see that the mortals were staring at the sight with blank faces or amused looks. "Probably thinking two kids were playing with a doll and a fishing rod." Percy thought bitterly as he summoned his bow, taking aim at the cyclops. The cyclops noticed this and began to cry loudly, which made Percy roll his eyes. But before he could take his shot, he began to hear loud thumping sounds coming from behind, as if something large was coming his way. He then grabbed Thalia before she could go any further, and a disgusting smell then hit his nose. On turning around, he soon found the cause of the thumping noise, and the smell. For there was a twelve-foot-tall female cyclops, glaring down at Percy with her one red eye.
"Who dare makes my dear boys cry?" the cyclops growled out. "No one can mess with Ma Gasket's children, except Ma Gasket herself. Me!"
"Wow, the family resemblance is uncanny." Percy drawled, glancing at Thalia. "Are you alright?"
"What are you supposed to be?!" Ma Gasket interrupted, smelling the air around Percy. "I can't get any scent out of you. But, I can smell the storm. From her."
"Oh no, that's me. I'm the storm smelling guy." Percy said, getting up with Thalia in his arms. "Though how can you smell that is beyond me, because that rotten fish and gasoline smell coming from you? Ugh…you sure you can't smell yourself?"
"Ma!" one of the small cyclops whined. "That man is taking our toy."
"Silence Sump. Be quite like Torque." Ma Gasket snapped. "I'm trying to figure out how to kill this…whatever he is."
"Pity." Percy replied with a smirk. "Because I've already decided how to kill you."
Percy dropped Thalia to her feet and formed his attached blades, desperately hoping that the dumb mist was obscuring all this. He barrel-rolled under Ma Gaskets legs, swiping them with his blades. The Cyclops let out a cry of pain and knelt down, allowing Percy enough momentum to jump on her back and run on it. He noticed Thalia taking out a mace canister from pocket and sprayed it on the other cyclops eye's, effectively blinding them. Percy then jumped again, and formed a spear out of his brace which he then lodged directly into Ma Gaskets skull, making her screech. She lumbered back as she tried to grab Percy, but instead landed on the steps behind her, making her fall down. Percy then vaulted out from her and landed on top of the steps, while he watched the cyclops land on the ground with a thud, and slowly disintegrate. He then felt Thalia clutch his leg, and gave her a smile in return as he once again summoned his bow, and launched two arrows simultaneously at the other two cyclops head's, killing them.
"That was wicked Thalia, great job." Percy said with a grin, ruffling her hair. "I didn't notice that can before, where did you get it."
"From home. My mother had lots lying around, so I took it for protection." Thalia murmured. "But I didn't do much…"
"Nonsense, you blinded those two idiots with that admittedly dangerous object, and gave them hell. I would have just killed them there and there only." Percy replied. "Give yourself credit, you did really good against them."
"But I didn't defeat them with a sword. Or a spear." Thalia protested.
Percy frowned, and was about to reply when the mortals nearby started clapping their hands and cheering at Percy and Thalia. Not really wanting to know what they saw, he scooped up Thalia and ran down the steps towards the underneath of the pier, until he remembered that he couldn't exactly shadow travel with Thalia. He then instead ran towards the beach, and only stopped besides the surf after noting that there wouldn't be any mortals chasing him, and that Thalia was beginning to act skittish next to the water.
"Do you actually have a fear of the beach or something, or did your mother fill your head with some shit."
Thalia gasped. "You said shit. That's a bad word."
Percy blinked in response. "Since when is shit a 'bad word'." He replied with a deadpanned voice.
Thalia shrugged. "Since it was made? And I'm not really scared of the beach. It's just, both my mother and father acted strange around it, so I thought maybe something bad will happen if I go near one."
"Nonsense, Poseidon isn't that aggravating with Zeus's kids and spouses. Besides, would Poseidon even be able to sense you if you step in the water." Percy muttered glancing at Thalia. "Eris mentioned that death mist wouldn't really work its side effects in the shadow plane…what if earth is the neutral territory. And other places, the death mist won't have effect on you."
Thalia frowned. "You're speaking weirdly again."
Percy smiled. "Sorry bug, just a lot in my head right now."
Thalia had a look of shock on her face. "Bug?!"
Percy blinked and then cracked a smile. "Huh, didn't realize I called you that."
"Why am I a bug." Thalia asked sullenly. "Just because you're a god, doesn't mean I'm a bug."
"I promise, it's not like that." Percy replied with a grin. "Though I've been meaning to ask you something. Why do you think you didn't do 'anything' when you clearly defeated those two cyclops before? Was it because you didn't use actual weapons?"
Thalia was silent, but then slowly nodded.
"That's honestly stupid to think that, though I'm not calling you that. Because I have a feeling, this is something your mother may have put in your head right?"
Percy sighed when Thalia again nodded. "Gods… . Look Thalia, what your mother thinks about you, is wrong. You don't have to be some great demigod just because you're the daughter of Zeus. Just be who you are, you have nothing to prove to anyone. Not all of Zeus's kids were heroes, and not all were great heroes either."
"But I should be like one of them, but I don't know if I can. And I just used some dumb spray-"
"Which was ingenious. How many demigods can say they defeated a monster with a mace canister. I bet if you could, you could even kill them with one." Percy said with an enigmatic wink. "Don't try to be someone that you can't be, be someone that's you. And if you can, the best version of you. I don't want to see a default child of Zeus in front of me, I want to see Thalia who will kick serious ass. Or butt…are both of them bad words now?"
Thalia giggled. "Yeah. But I…I don't want to disappoint anyone. Especially…my father." She whispered.
Percy snorted. "I have a feeling your father's expectations, if he cares, are already sky high, pun intended. And if he's not happy, screw it. Like I said, you don't need to prove to anyone. Not to your father, and not to me as well. Though…I can't help but be proud with how you handled yourself back there, and you're like eight! That's seriously awesome bug, don't sell yourself short."
Thalia remained silent, though Percy noticed that her eyes were shining brightly. She grasped Percy's hands tightly, while the god relaxed in his place, admiring the setting sun. He then broke into a story of him and Artemis, keeping Thalia entertained for quite a while, and even helped build a sandcastle with her. It was almost six when Percy called a cab, while a dozing Thalia tried to stay awake. And later on, as Percy contemplated the next hotel he was going to crash into, adjusting a sleeping Thalia's form so she could rest better in the car, his eyes glanced at the map in front of him again, and the words he scribbled next to the city he was planning to go next.
'Possibility of seeing Artemis- Low to Mid. Location: Las Vegas.'
And done! Man, the amount of research I had to do for this chapter, and it wasn't even for Greek myths XD. But I had serious fun writing this chapter, and I hope you guys enjoyed it to. And yes, there's going to be a lot of Thalia, and, reappearances from other gods? That's a secret ;) But one more thing, next update on Saturday won't be possible as I have to move back to campus again. So expect the update in another two weeks or so. All I could say about the next update is…it's going to be long T_T. Why am I doing this to myself… . Though thank you guys for reading this chapter, and I will see you guys, next month XD. Bye!...\/