Summary:
Veko arrives in America, and finds himself in an unexpected Situation
I want to thank my brother, who proofread the whole thing 3
Disclaimer: The PJO universe belongs to Rick Riordan
Notes:
Thoughts
"English"
Ukrainian/українська
Chapter 6: Arrival
After enduring 20 long days on the cruise ship, Veko was on the brink of madness from boredom when they finally arrived in the port of New York City.
Veko did every activity on the ship that sounded fun to him. He played Videogames, watched lots of movies, played Minigolf, volleyball, Tennis and football and he talked to the various marine animals that were occasionally swimming with the ship.
He also participated in a cooking course, where he created a monster of a shake, which he dubbed the 'Super-Hyper-Ultra-Mega Death-Shake of Doom and destruction'. To put it easy, he mixed everything together that he could find.
Of course, normal things like milk, Cocoa powder and bananas were included, but also more 'Interesting' Ingredients like a Kiwi, A whole glass of Nutella, Belgian waffles, M 's, cornflakes, Marshmallows, Ice cream, a piece of an Apple Pie, Milka Chocolate bars, Snickers, Kinder Chocolate, and a piece of Toast.
Most of the other participants didn't even want to try it, something Veko wasn't upset about, since then he had more of his masterpiece to himself.
As fun as these things were however, Veko spent most of his time on the ship training. As a Demigod, Veko of course knew that his life was dangerous , and that he always needed to be on edge. He did his usual fitness and endurance training exercises, as well as his daily meditation sessions in his own cabin or in the ship's gym. Training with his weapons on the other hand however, proved to be difficult and boring without any opponents to give him a challenge, since he killed all monsters on the ship on his first day aboard. He had also written to Luka and Jasna about the voyage, and his meeting with Hebe.
These thoughts raced through Veko's mind as he stood on the top deck of the cruise ship, looking over the approaching Harbor of New York City. He had checked four times already if he had forgotten anything on the ship, and four times he checked his list, he found that he had all of his Belongings in his trusty backpack.
The ship had just passed by some Island with a tall, green statue of a woman that held a book and a torch. This had to be New Yorks famous Statue of Liberty. Veko wondered if she represented some Greek goddess, but he quickly concluded that this couldn't be a Greek statue for one simple reason:
The statue wasn't naked.
Not able to wait any longer, Veko want to the other side of the ship, manipulated the Veil to send the mortals away, and jumped straight into the water, after telling Atesh to wait at the port for him.
As he dived into the water, he refreshed, reinforced and more complete, as it felt simply great to be in the water again He felt again like he truly belonged here, in the ocean, an incredible feeling!
Taking a deep breath of water, he glanced around, looking at the bottom hulls of the various ships, before swimming to the next dock, where he climbed up to solid ground again.
He was here.
Finally in America.
Atesh landed again on his shoulder, trilling softly as the Phoenix looked eagerly around on the new continent.
"Come on, let's get to that Greek place before we are picked up by something. These Hydras I read about sounded unpleasant to say the least".
After walking for a while, Veko finally found a relatively quiet place in a park. He reached into his backpack and pulled out the map.
"Okay, we need to get from here", Veko pointed at the red point on the map. "To the blue point here". The blue point on the northern part of the map, named 'Табір напівкровок(tabir napivkrovka)/Camp-Half-Blood' was still a few Kilometers away from his current location, which was some rock named Staten Island. Having also a map of the city's transportation system at hand, Veko tried to determine the best route.
"Okay, its around 7 o'clock right now, I say we move as quickly as possible to Camp-Half-Blood, no sightseeing, and no distractions from our destination. We should take the next ferry to the mainland, then the subways until the eastern most station. We can then hijack a car and drive the rest, it shouldn't take us too long, my friend".
Once the two reached land again, Veko took a deep breath of fresh air before walking down a bustling street filled with honking cars and blaring music.
He turned a corner and was greeted by the sight of a subway station ahead—its fluorescent lights flickering enticingly as people scurried in and out like ants carrying their burdens around.
"Okay, I suppose you don't want to you be crammed in a train for a long time with me, right?" Veko asked Atesh, who nodded his furry, blue head.
"All right, then fly to this location. To the exit of this station. I'll be there, well, when I arrive. No idea how long it might take". Veko shrugged his shoulders, while Atesh gave him a look that said something among the lines of 'You better show up there or I'll drag your sorry ass there' "All right, I knew I could count on you Atesh. See you buddy". With a smile, he stroked over Atesh's soft and warm feathers, before the majestic Phoenix took off, on his way east.
He quickened his pace to the metro station, when he heard something.
Turning around, Veko noticed movement and saw a girl, probably 11 or 12 years old, running into a side alley, as if he was chased by a dragon she had pissed off.
Probably stole something is running from the cops.
Just as Veko turned around to be on his way again, his attention was caught yet again.
This time however, by a black thing that was chasing this girl. The mortals on the sidewalk didn't seem to notice it, which caused Veko to put two and two together. A (probably Greek) monster was chasing a demigod. And this demigod seemed unarmed and or uniformed about her heritage.
Veko didn't need long to make up his mind. He sprinted over the street, dodging two cars on the way, as he reached he other side and stood in front of the alley. Again Veko drew his sword, Zastupnik. Holding it cautiously with both hands, Veko went further into the Alley, poised and ready to strike whatever enemy was waiting here, his green eyes glowing in the dark.
Reaching the dead end of the Alley, Veko was finally able to make out the Hunter and the prey.
The black thing he saw earlier had strong similarities to a Slavic Drekavac. Looking like black colored version of a dog, or a fox, but being slightly larger, and the hind legs looked less muscled that those of a Drekavac. He couldn't see its eyes however, as the thing was still looking at his prey.
Lifting his eyes up to the monster's prey, Veko's eyes found a girl, dark haired, with brown skin and eyes, and tattered clothes. She was panting, and had look of fear on her uncleaned face.
The dog-thing growled and came closer, seemingly not having noticed Veko behind it. Or not caring
"Hey asshole", he shouted, as he stepped out of the shadow and into the light of of a lamp, "How about fighting someone who can actually give you challange!" He taunted as he got into position.
The thing immediately turned around, and growled at him, so Veko could see its sharp teeth and glowing red eyes. So not a Drekavac, they had usually black or white eyes, but maybe they were related to each other, the similarities were obvious.
Veko's experience from fighting Drekavacs taught him to be prepared to defend against a jumping attack, but maybe this thing wouldn't do it.
The thing charged at Veko, seemingly having forgotten the other girl. He charged Vekos legs instead of pouncing on him like he thought.
Shit. New tactic.
Veko dived to the side, as the dog-thing barely missed his legs. Getting into position again, Veko crouched slightly, in order to lower his bodies center of gravity, making it easier for him to defend his legs, which the dog had seemingly chosen as its new morning snack.
Probably doesn't know that human flesh tastes like ass.
Both waited for a moment, just staring into each others eyes.
Veko took the opportunity and feigned a move to the right side of the monster, hoping to deceive it into exposing the left flank.
The dog, not particularly smart it seemed, fell for the classic maneuver, and reacted like Veko expected, and so he changed his direction, now moving to the monster's left flank.
The monster, suddenly realizing that its prey was close to killing it, moved around and snapped at Vekos arm with its sharp teeth, but the sudden movement caused its coordination to be slightly off, and the monster's jaws missed Vekos arm, who took the oppertunity to drive Zastupnik deep into the beast's belly.
The dog let out a loud howl as the blade shredded its organs, and the magic of the material contaminated its innards.
The monster fell on its unharmed right, and to Veko's fascination, didn't turn into the black mucus he was expecting, but instead exploded in a cloud of golden, sand-like dust.
Interesting, this must be the essence of Greek monsters.
Taking a deep breath, but not sheathing Zastupnik, Veko slowly made his way to the terrified girl that was still standing at the dead end of the alley. She mustered him with wide eyes in a fightend, yet also in a relieved and thankful way.
Probably doesn't know she's a demigod.
"Please don't hurt me", she whispered as Veko approached her. She backed up fully against the brick wall behind her.
His voice was gentle, a soothing balm to her panicked mind. "I'm not going to hurt you," he reassured her, his gaze scanning over her body for any signs of injury.
As he examined her, his eyes fell upon a gash on her right upper arm. It was clear that it hadn't been properly cleaned and had become infected. The angry red edges were oozing and inflamed.
"You're injured", he stated.
"Nothing to worry about", she grit out, but it was clear the wound caused her pain. Veko rolled his eyes at her.
"It's obviously infected already, and look, I'm no Biology Professor, but I'm quite sure that infections are not good for you".
Reaching into his backpack, Veko took out a red colored healing potion, which the girl eyed with suspicion.
"What's that? I'm not gonna drink anything you give me, just saying."
"Good instincts you have there, but I was only gonna put some drops on your wound. It won't heal instantly, but the infection should be combated by this quite effectively".
And a little test to see if the potions work on Greek demigods as well. Heh, for science.
"Tell me your name first", she demanded. "My name is Vjekoslav, but you can call me Veko if you want. What's yours?",
"Nyssa", she replied stiffly, as she allowed Veko to administer the potion to her wound.
The red drops hit her wound, which caused light hissing sound to emit from the wound, as the worst of the yellow infections bulbs started retracting, which caused Nyssa's wound to drop down to
"Thanks for both", she muttered quietly.
Then she looked up at Veko again, her eyes seeming quite desperate.
"But I don't understand, why couldn't anyone else see this thing, it's not the first time I saw them. I once saw a guy with only one once, but nobody believed me, told me I was mad", it broke out of her.
Veko wasn't prepared for this, he wasn't quite sure how he, a Slavic Demigod could explain this whole world to a Greek one, but it was his duty as a demigod to care and protect fellow his demigods, not matter where they came from, so he tried to give it his best shot.
"Well, you're a demigod, probably", he said.
Nyssa looked at him like he had lost his mind.
"What in the fuck?"
"You have ADHD right? And probably dyslexia too". She tensed even more, as her eyes darted around the alley.
"Are you a stalker, or how do you know this?"
"I am a demigod, that's why I have both of them too, you know. Your ADHD are battle reflexes, and your dyslexia is caused by your brains focus on reading probably Greek, at least that's what I'm assuming".
"Wait, so what exactly do you mean by demigod?"
"Half human, half god, you know", Nyssa looked like she wanted to say something, but Veko continued. "No, not THE god, but like, a Greek god, probably".
"Like Poseidon, Hephaestus, and so on?".
"Yeah, most likely".
"But what does this have to do with this dog-thingy, or the fact that nobody could see it besides me ?"
"Well, not only the gods are real, but also the monsters that you've maybe once heard of". Nyssa's expression was one of interest, suspicion and disbelief all at the same time.
"How do I even know you tell the truth?" she asked him.
Veko couldn't help but looking a little smug as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"Simple, you don't, but I saved your life, and currently I'm on my way to the Greek demigod camp, yes there is apparently one. And I think it would be in your best interest to accompany me there", he told her firmly, but Nyssa still seemed quite suspicious of his motives.
"I can't force you to come with me, of course, but I would recommend it to you. Should you choose not to come along, and another monster corners you, you will probably end up as a monster's dinner."
"That still doesn't explain you nobody could see the monster that way chasing me". she said, seeming desperate to prove him wrong.
"The Veil. A layer of magic that tricks the mortals to not see the demigod's world".
He held up his sword.
"Instead of a sword, maybe see a tennis racket or a baseball bat".
Nyssa's mouth formed an 'O' shape as she figured out.
"So that Veil-thinghy hid the monsters, and so nobody had a clue what I was talking about, because they couldn't see what I was seeing, right?".
Veko nodded.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
"I hope I won't regret this, but I'm gonna join you and go to that camp". she sighed. "Do you know how to get there?"
Veko pulled out his map. "This useful piece of paper will guide us".
"Here. I am the red point, and we need to get to the blue point. My plan was to take the subway to the east, then hijack a car and drive the rest",
Nyssa looked at him. "Do you know how to hijack a car?
"Sure, I've done it often enough. You'll get the hang of it eventually",
The two walked out of the alley and made their way to the next subway station.
Veko couldn't sit still as he waited for the train. He constantly glanced up and down the platform, expecting that someone, or something would come down the stairs to try and kill them. When the train finally pulled into the station, Veko and Nyssa hopped on it and took seats near the middle, so they were easily able to take off in both directions of the train.
Or we jump out the window.
All the while Nyssa was bombarding Veko with questions about the world and the life of a Demigod. Veko tried his best to answer her questions, but some things he couldn't answer.
After some time, Nyssa asked him something she had been thinking for some time.
"What god is your parent Veko?"
"Veles, a water god".
"Who is he? I've never heard of him."
"I thought so, he is not a Greek god, but a Slavic one".
"Oh, so you are not from here then?"
"No, I'm from Eastern Europe. In this area are other gods the dominant power."
"But why are you here then?"
"You could say I'm on an educational vacation that was forced on me".
Nyssa raised an eyebrow at him. "How can you be forced on vacation?".
"Basically my dad told me that I have to go here because he had promised some Greek god to send me here, without asking me first"
"Do gods tend to do this often?". Veko shrugged.
"I have no idea how its here, but back home it depends, some gods ask you if you can do a favor for them, others don't however, and just tell you to hurry up".
"Good to know, do you have siblings?"
Nyssa noticed how Veko became stiff at the question, and his eyes became hard.
Ouch, I think I hit a nerve
"No", he muttered in a hard voice that made clear the topic was over.
„Sorry, I di-
„You don't have to say sorry for anything, you couldn't know", he stated stiffly.
Nyssa knew better then to pry further.
2 hours later, the duo arrived at the eastern portion of the city, the ride on the subway had gone surprisingly smoothly, no monsters had attacked them, though the Veko had the feeling that they were being watched by something or someone.
The two searched for an alley where they could comfortably hijack and steal a car. It took them a while to finally find one that was devoid of mortals, and so Veko got to work, just as Atesh returned to them, which was quite a surprise to Nyssa, who looked at the fiery bird with awe and fear.
"Veko?" she asked, "What is this thing? Is it a monster too?".
Is the bird glaring at me? And why is it warm around here?
Veko laughed as he softly stroked over Atesh's head, who disliked being called a mere bird!
"Hes not a monster, his name is Atesh, a Phoenix, a proud, intelligent, and powerful being, so please don't call him a thing, or worse, a monster again. He takes quite the offence to being called any of these, but I don't think he will hold it against you this time".
"Oh, okay, um, I'm sorry?" she asked uncertainly.
Man, it felt awkward talking to a bird.
Atesh looked at her, before he nodded his head at her.
"I'm pretty sure he has forgiven you".
Turning their gaze back to the white Audi they were going to steal, Veko got to work.
Nyssa watched him, but something inside of her told her that she could also do it, as if she knew exactly how a car was built and what was inside of it.
Veko meanwhile was whistling a happy tune while he got to work.
He had actually learned hijacking cars from Lovro, who taught it to him, Luka and Jasna, just before their first ever quest when they were eleven years old. Needless to say, his mother wasn't fond of the idea that Veko would casually steal cars, but Lovro could convince her that this was necessary to them.
When Veko had finally manged to short-circuit the white Audi and he and Nyssa had climbed in, Nyssa thought of something.
"Hey Veko, what if the cops pick us out while we are driving? I mean both of us are too young to drive, and you won't pass for an Adult. And two teenagers driving a car, with me looking pretty messed up could lead to unwanted attention and suspicion".
Veko slapped his face, why did someone who was completely new to this world have to remind him of such a simple thing!
"Kurva! How could I forget such simple thing, I'm supposed to be responsible one here!"
So Veko left the car, concentrated, and put a layer of the Veil over the car, so that mortals wouldn't notice that he was technically too young to drive. "What did you do exactly?" Nyssa asked, eager to learn.
"I put a layer of the Veil over the car. That way mortals won't notice us, we're basically invisible to them"
"So we can use the veil to our advantage. Does it also work on demigods or monsters?"
Veko thought for a moment before answering. "Yes and no. Think of it a bit like the force from Star Wars. We can use the Veil to let mortals see what we want them to see. But it takes a lot of training to properly manipulate it at a level that you can fool demigods with it."
"Wow, that sounds cool". Her gaze found the map on the cars headboard.
"Do you want me to tell you the way to that camp thingy?"
"Okay"
Taking the map into her hands, Nyssa began guiding Veko through the crazy traffic of New York City. Thankfully, Veko had gotten a fair bit of driving practice when he, Jasna, Luka and their parents visited the beautfiul city of Beirut in Lebanon for some time, while paying a visit to some demigod friends of the Mesopotamian Pantheon.
And man, Lebanese people are driving crazy.
After what felt like hours, where Veko had used just about the entire Inventory of his extremely vast library of swears, they finally left New York City behind them, making their way to the north-east of Long Island on a highway, while Veko hummed Slavic folk songs, like the ballad of Morana, while he answered more of Nyssa's questions,
"Veko? Aren't we going a bit too fast?" Nyssa looked pretty uncomfortable, and slightly green in the face.
"We're only driving 160 kilometers per hour, we can go up to 270 if you want"
"Oh no, please don't, and please go slower for fucks sake, or I'm gonna barf"
Veko sighed and decelerated down to 120 km/h.
"Better?"
"Yes, thank you"
"Spoilsport" he muttered.
As the two drove further through the countryside in the 'borrowed' Audi, Nyssa fell asleep, the exhaustion of the past week catching up to her.
At the same time, Veko's thoughts once again wandered to the near future. His brain raced with thoughts and possibilities of what could happen.
Will I even be welcomed by the Greeks?
Would Nyssa find her place?
Were the Greeks cowards like Pawlina had claimed, or were they brave and good fighters?
Were they arrogant and self entitled like Luka thought they would be?
Nyssa didn't seem like a coward to me…
Will I even live to see tomorrow?
What can I learn?
Will I make new friends there?
What is my destiny here?
I will become stronger and more powerful.
Gods please grant me strength.
All these questions raced through Veko's mind, and he was thinking so hard about it that Atesh had emit a loud screech to get his attention.
Startled by this, Veko made a hard break, stopping on the side of a farm road, his brain instantly thinking of a possible attack or an ambush.
"Wha… Whas going on?" Nyssa muttered sleepily. "Five more minutes please…".
"What's going on buddy, is there a monster?!". Atesh slowly shook his head, but Veko knew that his trusty and loyal Phoenix wouldn't deliberately do something like this. Something was in the bush, and Veko was more than ready to find out what it was.
"I think", said Veko while he softly shook Nyssa awake again, "We're there"
"Really? You sure?"
Veko stepped out of the car, slinging his backpack over his shoulders, his eyes scanning the area for anything useful or dangerous. Atesh sat down on his shoulder again. Nyssa left the car as well, the map in her hands as she studied it, while yawning.
"Something has to be around here".
"According to the map, we have to follow this farm road", Nyssa chimed in.
Veko looked over the map too, seeing that the red point was very close to the blue point. They were almost there!
Like Nyssa assumed, It seemed that following the farm road was the way they had to take, the path where destiny led them.
And so Veko and Nyssa started walking, passing woods, farm fields and rolling green hills. Slowly, very slowly, he started noticing differences.
"The Veil is getting thicker", he stated.
"So you can you feel it? Like the Jedi in Star Wars can feel when something's wrong through the force?"
"Kinda"
Nyssa's gaze turned back to Atesh, who was gliding along next to Veko.
"Um, Veko? Why is Atesh named, well, Atesh. Is there a meaning behind the name?"
"Atesh means fire in the language of the Crimean Tatars, which are the original inhabitants of the Crimean Peninsula, and I thought the name was good for him".
"It does, it's quite fitting, and have you been to this Crimean Thingy",
„I have, several times already. It's a pretty popular holiday destination, both for mortals and non-mortals".
„Wow, so you have been traveling around ?"
„A little bit, mostly in Europe"
„Damn, that's awesome. I haven't ever been to another country, but when I'm older I want to see the world"
Veko smiled at her enthusiasm „Me too Nyssa, I still have so much to see, and to learn"
"And does your name have a meaning as well, Veko?"
"Yes, It means Glory through the ages"
"Also cool, wish I knew what my name meant, though."
"I'm sure its something good", Veko assured her.
This seemed to cheer Nyssa up a bit.
The further the duo walked, the thicker the Veil seemed to get, its density and strength now on similar Levels to those which lay over the the Slavic Demigod Towns. Mortals had no chance to ever find or destroy it.
When they left a small forest, Veko and Nyssa found themselves on a grassy plain, where on the end was a large hill, on the top of it stood a large, towering tree. From the distance, Veko couldn't make out what kind of tree it was, but what he could make out was golden light that shone brightly from the tree's upper branches.
Huh, that's weird
One last view on the map told both of them all they needed to know, and Veko's lips formed a small smile.
The red point was now laid over the blue point.
"We're there, aren't we?" Asked Nyssa, seeming nervous and excited at the same time.
"I think we are", replied Veko.