I'm back. And also back home. PC still dead, but this should change by next Monday. Also, I might change this story to T rating here on FF since I don't want to write smut and I don't think some themes are gonna be that infuriating in a T story. But lemme know what you think. Reviews:
Death Fury and Le Connoisseur: thank you very much, I appreciate it a lot!
bdcrisco98: like Percy said in PJGG, names are confusing. But thank you for the heads up!
Percy was not thrilled to be back here so soon.
Having already been to Pittsburgh recently, he didn't really expect to come back after such a short amount of time had passed, especially with Kelli possibly roaming around. That alone made him feel uncomfortable, at best. At worst, he was furious.
But if he was to help Mississippi, he had to be here. Point State Park was right below them, with the city of Pittsburgh itself nearby. Fortunately, thanks to the Mist, no one would notice the big black winged horse that was flying above the park.
Okay, that sentence was quite weird. Hopefully Blackjack didn't get a chance to hear his thoughts.
Speaking of Blackjack… scratch that, speaking of the person behind him that was also mounted on top of his pegasus, Percy still wasn't too credulous on the conversation that they held in the night before while on course to the park.
Never in a million years would he have predicted him venting to Lady Artemis, the man-hating goddess. Sure, even before they started to roam around together, Percy already considered her one of the best deities, especially compared to the other lunatics present in the Council. But he would have sooner bet that Gaea would come back only to start distributing plushies than for yesterday's conversation to ever happen.
How she dealt with his confessions was one of the most shocking things to experience. How Artemis, an Olympian goddess, admitted that she also made mistakes, she also held regret in her heart over things that she had done millennia ago.
And most importantly, the way that she held his hand and hugged him. It made him feel appreciated again. Kind of like how meeting Thalia and Reyna had felt after all that time separated.
Kind of. But there was more to it now.
He could feel the divide inside him. One part of him screaming to perhaps jump at the opportunity. Maybe, just maybe, this crazy idea would work out.
The other, in his opinion the one that was most likely the sane part of his mind, was telling him not to be ridiculous to think that he could realistically fall in love with the god-damned Goddess of the Moon, and especially for her to start liking him back. For Christ's sake, she had an oath on the Styx to reject the company of men. Even with his shattering of expectations, he would still say that it's more likely for a lightning bolt to fall on his head than for this stupid romance stuff to ever happen.
Okay, maybe the lightning comparison wasn't too fair considering that some individuals could throw lightning at him at any given time. But still, the point remains firm.
And it wasn't fair for Annabeth's memory to be desecrated by his current feelings. No matter how alone he had become since her death. He couldn't simply forget his first love. His only love.
This was what his mind told him. His feelings said otherwise. He didn't know where to look, or who to choose.
As for now, he would throw his luck on common sense. It would at least keep his head connected to his body.
Blackjack landed near the park's fountain, where there were no mortals around. The sun was very much present, but it was still the early morning. Artemis seemed to glance over directly over to the lone star in the sky, perhaps for family reasons, but she soon diverted her look.
"Here we are." She stated the obvious fact. From where they stood, Percy had a good view of the city surrounding them, along with, of course, the Monongahela and Allegheny Rivers coursing nearby, the confluence of them forming the Ohio River.
Percy approached the waters, with Artemis following him, while Blackjack watched from a distance. He crouched down, examining the water. For a while, there was no sign of anything abnormal.
However, they didn't have to wait very long. Soon, bubbles started to form in front of them. Two figures then emerged from the water. A better term would be jumped from the water, taking Percy by surprise, who got up quickly. Artemis was also taken aback, drawing her bow.
"Whoa, whoa, point that thing away!" One of the figures said, a slim man with a pointy nose, and who was wearing… swimming clothes? Weird. Apart from that, he had a light skin tone and his medium sized hair seemed black, but with the hair ends tinted dark blue for some inexplicable reason.
"Easy there. Don't wanna scare our guests." The woman by his side responded. She was pretty much all brown. Her hair was brown, along with her eyes. Her nails had the same color, with her dress that went all the way to her knees also possessing the same tone.
"Whatever." The man answered, turning his attention to Percy right after, to whom he extended his hand. "Greetings, Percy Jackson."
Percy decided to shake his hand. Better than to be rude. "It's a pleasure. Who are you?"
A weird bright passed through the man's dark eyes. "I would have assumed Mississippi had told you. But she has been very stressed as of late, to be fair. I'm the god of the Allegheny River."
"Oh." Percy said, causing the brownish woman to chuckle.
"Seems like an appropriate reaction." The woman commented, bowing hear head slightly right after. "Monongahela, at your service."
"We just call her Mon." The spirit of the Allegheny said, earning him a glare from the other river deity.
"And we just call him Al." Mon promptly retorted. Al rolled his eyes at her.
"Nice to meet you both." Percy said respectfully, bowing to both river gods. "However, I believe we were supoosed to meet Mississippi?" He asked, taking a quick glance at Artemis, who shrugged.
Both Mon and Al exchanged a nervous look with each other. Percy once more looked at Artemis, who gave him the exact same expression as before, confirming that she didn't have any answers for the river spirits' weird behavior.
"About that…" Al started, but never got to finish his sentence. Roughly where the other two river deities had emerged from, more bubbles began to appear, and a being jumped at Percy with a loud screech.
The demigod barely had time to react before he was thrown to the ground by a figure with long hair, who was screaming like a teenager, and… hugging him for some reason? He couldn't tell, since right as he fell, he banged his head on the ground, causing his vision to fog up for a moment and for him to become very disoriented.
"It's you! It really is you!" He heard the person, undoubtedly a girl, screaming in his ear. Percy saw, albeit with difficulty thanks to the mass of hair currently sitting on his face and added with the fact that his vision was still clouded, movement to his right, and managed to recognize the silhouette of his godly companion, pointing an arrow at his attacker.
"Five seconds to let go of him, unless you want to go to Tartarus the quick way." Artemis warned, her voice incredibly venomous. Percy felt the figure retreat, causing him to realize that he was previously unable to breath. Only now he started to take breaths, and heavy ones at that.
Artemis looked at Percy with worry, kneeling down to check on him. "Are you okay?" She asked, her voice one million times friendlier than before.
"I think so." Percy got up from the ground with the goddess's help. His head was still a bit dizzy from the impact, and having Artemis so close to him didn't really help with his recover. He scratched the back of his head and tried to look around him. "Who…?"
Artemis pointed with a nod in the direction of something. He turned to where she had signaled, only to find out that instead of only two people, there were now four.
He recognized Mississippi, standing alongside Mon and Al, glaring at a seemingly teenage girl. Said girl looked fifteen, much like the average high schooler. The only thing that denounced the fact that she was most likely immortal were the unnatural dark green eyes that she possessed. Dark green eyes that were directed at him.
"I apologize for Ohio's behavior." Mississippi started, still glaring down at the now revealed to be the spirit of the Ohio River. "She is an avid admirer of your work."
"What Miss here is trying to say is that Ohio is a fan girl." Al clarified. Percy felt his head aching even more from this line of thought, and Artemis had to hold him so he wouldn't fall again to the ground.
"Gods." He heard Artemis mutter as she placed his right arm around his neck.
"Sorry." Percy managed to whisper back in response. The goddess lightly glared at him.
"I'm not talking about you." She directed her look at the spirit of the Ohio River, who shrank down as the glare of the Goddess of the Moon became as sharp as her hunting knives.
"See what you've done? He probably suffered a concussion or something." Mon stated.
"Don't joke with that!" Ohio answered with anger. Percy got a better look at the water spirit. She had long brown hair reminiscent of Mon, and was wearing a white shirt, along with simple jeans. Percy noticed that the word Anaklusmos was written in gold in her shirt. The sight didn't help with his headache.
"It was your fault that he is now like this, so don't pick a fight with me." Answered Monongahela.
"Are we done?" Miss asked, her tone almost motherly, as if she was reprimanding her children. Both Ohio and Mon shut up, while Al had a smirk on his face. "Thank you." She said with a sigh, and approached Percy.
"Hello." The demigod greeted, still holding onto Artemis.
"Hello again, Percy." Miss greeted with a smile. The other water deities kept looking from a distance, exchanging glances at each other. "I hope your journey was without any issues."
"It wasn't a problem." Artemis guaranteed.
Miss smiled. "Great, Lady Artemis. So, I think we could start working on our little problem."
"Yeah." Percy removed his arm from around Artemis's neck.
"Wait, you're not recovered yet." She motioned to get him again, but he stopped her with a raise of a hand.
"I'm fine." Percy assured, but Artemis did not seem convinced at all. "How about we have a look at the fountain while we discuss the situation?"
Mississippi took a moment before answering, watching him with her light blue eyes. "Seems reasonable." She turned to the other water deities. "Come on."
They started to make their way to the fountain, with Percy noticing that Artemis was constantly glancing over to him, as if she was afraid that he would collapse to the ground again. While they walked, a thought sprang up on Percy's head.
"Lady Mississippi. I'm almost sure you're a goddess and not just a simple naiad."
Miss gave him an apologetic smile. "Granted, I didn't want for you to think that you would be doing an impossible task for a goddess. I've heard of your… resentment, you could say, towards immortals."
"I'm sure Percy wouldn't have any problems helping someone in need." Artemis said out of nowhere. It seemed weird for her to talk like that. Her tone was noticeably nervous.
"Have I ever?" Percy said, rubbing where he had hit the ground earlier. "And it wouldn't be a problem. Now I can see why you reminded me of Amphitrite."
Miss seemed surprised by his comparison. "I feel flattered. Being compared to the Queen of the Seas isn't something that one would usually hear."
"Come on, Miss, you're being too humble." Mon interjected, speeding up her pace so she would catch up with them. "We all know you're wonderful and all. No need to pretend to be out of touch with reality."
"For once, I agree with Mon." Al said, he too sprinting up, followed shortly by Ohio, who was now staring at Percy.
"May we finally know what the problem is, Mississippi?" Artemis asked in a voice that, to Percy, screamed like 'I am an Olympian, and you shall do my bidding immediately!' It surprised Percy mostly because he never actually heard the Goddess of the Moon speaking like that before. Not recently at the very least.
Miss seemed to swallow, and hesitated for a moment. "Yes, of course, Lady Artemis."
They finally reached the fountain, where Blackjack stood, eyeing the newcomers. Percy stood right alongside his pegasus, and to his mild surprise Artemis also walked until she was right by his own side. The way she looked at the group of water deities made him afraid of a potential clash. Who knows? Gods are that temperamental. And Artemis seemed quite angry.
"So, it all started around the time of the Giant War." Mississippi started to tell.
"Let me guess. It involves the Doors of Death?" Percy sighed.
Miss looked surprised by his assumption. "Precisely. What started out as simple skirmishes were soon revealed to be… old pirates."
"Pirates?" Percy asked.
"Indeed. Men that had terrorized the region centuries ago." Miss continued. "Apparently it ties back to one man…" She paused, looking at Ohio for a second. Even with its teenage appearance, it still looked like she had aged considerably throughout Mississippi's words. "His name is Colonel Plug."
At that, Percy chuckled loudly. Maybe he wasn't supposed to, because soon every person was now staring at him like he had just spoken in another language.
"Wait, are you serious?" He asked. Miss blinked, confused.
"Yes, I am. What's the matter?"
"I think it's because of the Colonel's name." Mon suggested.
"What's wrong with it?" Miss questioned.
Percy wanted to facepalm himself. "Nothing, there's nothing wrong with it." Behind Miss, he saw the previously sad looking Ohio snickering with both her hands covering her mouth. He bit his tongue so he wouldn't let out a loud laugh at the situation. Percy also noticed the pointy and killing glare that Artemis was giving him. He decided to pretend like he didn't notice it. "So, what is he doing right now?"
This time, Ohio came forward to speak. She coughed once, maybe to also remove the humorous thoughts from her mind. "At first, it was mostly involving mortals. Some muggings, along with several million dollars in property damage." She explained too casually for Percy's taste. "The Mist covered most of this stuff up. But now they are actively tormenting our rivers. Killing any and all magical beings. Polluting the river with their new modern ships." Ohio's dark green eyes became filled with hatred as she grimaced. The other river deities seemed equally angry. "That's why we need your help, Percy." She pleaded in a much softer voice.
"I fail to see the reason of why he in particular needs to do this." Artemis retorted, pointing at Percy. "Can't you take care of your own rivers? I would assume you could easily detect and deal with the pirates."
"Well, Lady Artemis," Ohio was the first to answer in a particularly hostile tone. Percy saw Miss look at the teen goddess in panic. "Just like you and your brother up in the sky can't really see everything down here, neither can we cover so much water." She signaled with her arm towards the still panicked looking Mississippi, who seemed desperate to shut Ohio up. "And also, unlike you Olympians, we can't simply snap our fingers to deal with any problem that appears! Not like you would do it anyw-"
"That's enough!" Mon yelled, and Ohio finally stopped rambling. She was actually trembling in anger, which made Percy skeptical of her self-control. Nonetheless, the dark green eyed goddess was finally quiet. Percy himself was quite afraid to look at how Artemis was reacting.
When he did move his gaze towards his companion, it sure gave him a deep shiver down his spine. Artemis, unlike Ohio, was perfectly in place, standing tall. But her eyes… Her eyes were like her arrows. Deadly. Piercing. Terrifying. Percy wondered if his eyes ever looked like that before. If he saw someone staring at him like that, especially if it was Artemis, he would totally plead for mercy on his knees.
"A wise decision," Artemis said, as cold as ever. Her voice screamed danger to Percy. She truly looked and sounded like an Olympian at that moment. One that you shouldn't annoy. That you shouldn't bother, or be disrespectful to. "To keep your mouth shut. Beware of your words, minor goddess. Insolence will not be tolerated."
Miss stepped forward, placing Ohio behind her like a child. "I deeply apologize on her behalf, Lady Artemis. Be sure that this won't be repeated."
"I should hope so. For your own good." The threat resonated in the air, the tension incredibly palpable. Percy decided that it was probably the best moment to break the awkward silence that had surged.
"I will help you in dealing with these pirates." He announced. "We can leave immediately if you want."
"That would be delightful." Miss answered quickly, as if she was eager to finish this conversation. Percy couldn't really blame her. "It is likely that you will find them at the confluence between Ohio and myself. From above, it will be noticeable enough."
Percy nodded. "Understood. We will probably see you soon. Until then, farewell."
Miss gave him a short bow, and Percy made the same gesture. Both Mon and Al nodded their heads and turned around, following the blue eyed deity. That left Ohio, standing in place for a moment, looking at the three river deities, and then to Percy and Artemis. Finally, she locked her eyes on Percy, but only after terror had taken over her face when her gaze had switched to Artemis for a second.
"Could you sign an autograph for me?" Ohio asked, conjuring a pen out of thin air. Percy looked at Artemis briefly, expecting a light reaction, but the Goddess of the Moon's look couldn't have been more threatening to him. Nevertheless, he turned his gaze back to Ohio.
"I… suppose?" He said with a sigh, grabbing the pen. He expected her to present him with a piece of paper, but instead, she turned her back to him.
"You can sign the shirt, Percy." Ohio said suggestively. With caution, he signed the back of her shirt near the shoulder, careful not to look anywhere he would regret it later.
"Done." Percy announced. The water deity turned and got the pen back.
"See you soon." She said with a wink, making a final turn and running towards the waiting deities near the waters. After she arrived, they all jumped in, disappearing from sight.
Percy looked at Artemis, who had her jaw so clenched that it realistically appeared like she could crack her teeth if she kept doing it. "Well, we got some pirates to spot, right?"
She finally relaxed her jaw, looking back at him with her silver eyes, now much friendlier than before. "Yes. Yes, you're right. Let's go."
To his surprise, she grabbed his hand and pulled him towards Blackjack. They both mounted on the pegasus, and the winged equine took off from the ground, making his way to the skies above.
Artemis being quite protective, huh. Anyway, lemme know what you all think about the rating change. Also for those who follow all my works, Painting The Streets Red and Shadow Lady are probably gonna be continued as soon as I have my PC back. Thank you so much, and bye!