"Can I pet your robot dogs?"
That might have been the best sentence Percy had ever had the pleasure to say in his entire life. His voice came out both giddy and a little bit desperate. The sky bearer could feel Aphrodite giggling, even from a few feet away and with his back turned.
But, c'mon. Robot dogs. That shit was awesome.
The demigod Percy had directed the question towards only blinked up at him. "They might bite you." The woman's defined, regal features were caught somewhere between amusement and complete bewilderment. "Just a warning."
"I think I'll be fine." Percy chuckled. "I'll back off if they don't like it." He had held up the sky. He doubted their teeth could even pierce his skin if he didn't want them to. "I won't blame you if they do bite me."
The young god had quickly learned that adding little assurances like that helped to smooth over conversations with Camp Half Blood's various residents. He would call it paranoia, if it wasn't completely warranted when talking with most Olympians. Chatting with his divine family was like talking with a shady lawyer - always get everything in writing.
The dark-skinned woman nodded slowly before turning to look at her two silent canine companions. Their silhouettes were those of typical hunting hounds, if on the larger side. Those long snouts and lithe bodies were distinctive of their breed, with perked triangle ears that came up somewhere near Percy's upper thigh. If you only saw them from a distance, and could somehow ignore the complete lack of fur, the two automatons seemed innocuous enough.
It was only when one drew close that the illusion fell apart - when you could make out the faceted gemstone eyes that glowed red from within and hear the distant ticking of their clockwork hearts. When you could see the hairline seams between the thousands of flowing, moving segments that made up their remarkably constructed forms. The hound's eerie stillness was like those statue performers on Times Square but a thousand times more convincing because it was real. They even matched the typical colors, one a shining gold and the other a polished silver.
The dogs were even cooler up close. They must have some wicked bite strength. Percy had to fight the urge to rap his knuckles against one canine's chest, just to see what noise it would make.
"You may attempt with Argentum." The demigod finally decided, motioning to the silver hound. She was still eyeing Percy. "He seems to be in the better mood today."
Percy wasn't sure how the woman could even tell. The sky bearer personally didn't think the automatons had even moved an inch since sitting obediently at their master's feet, other than to stare up at him as he approached. He couldn't shake the feeling they were glaring at him, though the fact that there had been no growls or other negative behavior was emboldening.
"Thanks." Percy smiled. The prominent worry-line around the half-bloods eyes only pinched, as if she was hiding confusion.
The sky bearer crouched down in front of the two hounds. As he inspected them from multiple angles, Percy's reflection warped and distended in their reflective metal torsos like a circus fun house mirror. One gold and one silver head moved to follow him in exact lockstep. It was creepy but also awesome.
Percy slowly reached out a hand. Neither canine moved, even as his fingers approached Argentum's polished snout. The young god was still somehow surprised by the lack of airflow he felt across his skin, as if his brain expected breathing even where he knew there would be none. After a moment of hesitation, he dared a quick brush across the top of the automaton's shiny scalp.
"Hmm." Percy couldn't decide whether or not the demigod's hum was impressed or disappointed when the hound didn't react.
Argentum was cool to the touch at first, and the little gaps between the plates of the automaton's skin just caught on the pads of Percy's fingertips as they skimmed past. He could feel energy thrumming from beneath the hound's metal shell tingling against the center of his palm. It tasted of heat and fire and earth, something similar to Hephaestus but not quite right. That same inner fire shone through the silver hound's motionless gaze.
"That's so cool." Percy couldn't help his smile, nor the way his eyes were probably shining. It was hard not to marvel at the canine's immaculate construction. The young god had to crush his desire for a second swipe.
"Consider yourself lucky, Lord Perseus." When he straightened, Percy was met with a pair of dark, appraising eyes. "They are remarkably loyal, and not good with most strangers. Especially Aurum." The gold hound's ears twitched. The smile that crossed the demigod's face then was relaxed, yet sharp as a blade. "It seems they like you."
"They're amazing." Percy chuckled, shaking his head in wonderment. He ran a hand through his hair before returning it to spin his engagement band at a slow and leisurely pace. "Thanks for that, Reyna." The son of Poseidon tacked on his smoothest and most practiced smile, the one he most often used on his mother. He received a polite tip of the head in response.
Truthfully, it wasn't just her two robotic companions that had drawn Percy close to Reyna RamÃrez-Arellano. Everything about the seasoned praetor was striking, from her glossy black hair to her tan Puerto Rican complexion. She was tall, as far as mortals went, with a stern aurora to match that was only accentuated by her beauty. Those high cheekbones and flawlessly smooth skin wouldn't have looked out of place with the rest of Aphrodite's children.
Reyna even stood differently than most - composed and vigilant, a soldier on duty even when surrounded by partying half-bloods. Her gaze was never still, yet it also never lingered. She had been the only camper to show up wearing armor, though it was only a chestplate covered by a glittering purple cloak. Aurum and Argentum were the woman's two silent metallic shadows, prowling across the grass with perfectly calculated steps.
Even from a distance Percy had been able to see how the crowd parted around Reyna and her metallic entourage, like a planted rock in the middle of a stream. The flow was occasionally interrupted by a formal salute from a passing Roman camper. All of them received the same controlled nod.
She reminded Percy of Annabeth at first. The sky bearer figured it was a fitting comparison, since the daughter of Athena had been the one to drag him over.
"This is Reyna. She's one of two praetors, basically the people in charge of all the Roman campers." Annabeth's introduction had been clipped and factual, just like the clipboard she still clutched in one hand. "With . . . the whole situation surrounding Mr. D, she's probably one of the best people you should get to know today." The blond had given Percy a smile that was as much fake as it was real. "Good luck."
That was it.
Reyna had barely even had the time to turn around before Annabeth was gone. Although it must have been quite the shock, coming unexpectedly face to face with the newest Olympian, the only reaction Percy received was a quick widening of the eyes that was gone as soon as it appeared.
"Greeting, my Lord." Reyna's voice was smooth like melting chocolate, effortless as her practiced salute. Percy had half-heartedly waved it off, trying his best not to linger on Annabeth's back as she power-walked back into the crowd.
As much as he wanted to call her back, Percy understood the reason the daughter of Athena was so eager to pass him off. The moment Grover and Thalia had taken their leave, to get food and drink respectively, a veil of composed apathy had crashed over her features. Annabeth didn't seem to be able to really find what to say, even when the love deity took pity on them both and turned to greet the rest of her ecstatic mortal children (minus the still missing Drew).
Percy could tell his presence was hard for her. It was obvious that the daughter of Athena was glad to see him - the hug she had given him after the competition had proven that much - but there was still a wall between them, one built with bricks made of forgotten memories and broken, one-sided dreams. Athena may have been the god of architects, but Annabeth seemed as clueless as he did about how to break down that particular obstacle.
It frustrated him to no end that he still didn't know how to help. So, Percy would let her set the pace. If Annabeth wanted space, he would give it. There wasn't much else he could do, anyway.
Wasn't that a familiar sentiment.
"I have a question, Lord Percy." Even Reyna's polite tone commanded attention. The sky bearer broke himself from his musing to give the armored woman his full attention. "If I may?" She added on, idly stroking the golden Aurum's neck with a hand.
"Oh. Sure." Percy snagged the cold soda he had been holding with his wind back into his right hand, lifting it to take a sip. "Shoot." It tasted . . . acidic and chemically, honestly, but everyone else was drinking them and he didn't want to stick out any more than his massive bulk and frankly insane height already made him.
Reyna glanced around, apparently only content to ask when she was confident there weren't too many people paying close attention. Percy wasn't sure how worried she would have to be. Besides Aphrodite, who was basically always listening, things had really kicked up a notch and the party was well underway.
Annabeth's preparation had done its job and done it well. Over a hundred purple and orange clad demigods were currently in the midst of pigging out, plowing through an entire Walmart's worth of soft drinks, or competing at the various games stations. It was an ungodly cacophony, but the sounds of fun and laughter made any discomfort Percy felt an afterthought. The range had quickly become the most popular destination after Percy and Thalia's bout. Alaredy, the line to shoot at the targets was at least two dozen deep.
"I got here just in time to watch the end of your match with the huntress." Reyna turned to follow Percy's gaze, her sharp eyes tracking the passing faces of the mingling crowd. "I don't think I've heard cheering so loud since the war ended." Her lips lifted a bit before falling again. "It made me wonder." The praetor shot him a look, a calculating sort of one that made her look years older than her early-twenties appearance would suggest. "Why'd you do it?"
Percy raised an eyebrow. "Why'd I do what?" He took another sip to hide his expression.
"Why did you throw the match?" Reyna pressed. Her eyes flicked between his own, their force somehow unfiltered by the misty green shroud surrounding them both. "Why choose to lose?"
"I didn't lose." Percy answered, trying to sound petulant and probably failing. "It was a tie." He sniffed. The sky bearer couldn't quite manage to sound upset enough to pull it off. It was obvious the praetor felt similarly.
"A tie between an Olympian and a demigod might as well be." Reyna chuffed a single laugh. "Every god I've met would say the same." The lift to her lips took the bite out of her words. That spark to the demigod's gaze was back, as if he was a particularly interesting puzzle to solve. "Especially my mother."
Ah, yes. Bellona.
It had taken Percy some time to even place the Latin name, and even that much would have been impossible without Aphrodite's sparse memories of Ares' twin sister. Or, rather, Venus' memories. Regardless, at least from what the love deity remembered, the woman was strict and commanding, fierce and cunning, a demon with both blade and word.
The sky bearer could see the resemblance.
Percy mulled over Reyna's words for a moment, taking another drink to delay his own response. The sky bearer's wandering attention landed on where Aphrodite was in the midst of trying to tame Mitchell's remarkably curly hair, teasing the locks with a few practiced fingers that had her son basically a pile of mushy happiness on the ground. Percy could relate.
From the way Valentina was smiling and the half-siblings crowded around, apparently the love deity was going down the line one-by-one. They were the only demigods within fifteen feet. Drew was nowhere to be found.
"I'm not like most Olympians, I guess." Percy chuckled. "I think it's a good thing," The sky bearer tapped his fingers against the half-empty soda can, rolling the motion up and down the side. "Plus, I'm pretty sure there was something wrong with my bow." Percy was sure his smirk ruined his innocent tone.
Reyna actually had the gall to roll her eyes at him. "You could have won with or without the bow. There wasn't a single person here who couldn't tell." She planted her free fist on her hip, exasperated like a scolding older sister.
"Probably." Percy admitted, not bothering to keep his lips from turning up into a full smile. "But Clarisse was right. I didn't really see the point." He watched the praetor's face out of the corner of his eye.
"You didn't see the point in winning?" Reyna, for the first time, looked lost. Her other hand was still on the crown of Aurum's head.
"Not really." The sky bearer shrugged one shoulder. "Just look around." He made a short sweeping motion with the soda can. The daughter of Bellona followed the motion with her head.
While Percy couldn't be exactly sure what she was seeing, the difference had been obvious to him right away. The moment Annabeth had denoted Thalia as the winner of the round and declared the match as an outright tie, the huntress had been swarmed with excited campers. It was like they were on the field for a football game, and the daughter of Zeus had just won it for the home crowd on the last play. Percy had been half surprised they hadn't lifted her onto their shoulders there at the beginning.
Even Chiron had come over to clap Thalia on the back, though his warm smile felt like it was really for the both of them. No matter how many times she locked eyes with Percy, letting him know that she knew exactly what he had done, the dark-haired huntress hadn't been able to resist the atmosphere and was soon strutting about with her confidence fully restored. It looked better on her than the sullen desperation from before.
That seemed to be the last straw, and after that the party really started to feel like . . . well, a party. The drinks and food were flowing as fast and loud as the cheering Reyna had described. For, really the first time in a long while, the whispers in Percy's ears were content. He had marveled as demigods of all ages and colors and divine affiliation roamed without that lurking anxiety that he had seen far too often on his walk through the heart of the camp. And the most important part?
Percy was right there with them.
"I think I see what you mean." The daughter of Bellona eventually decided. Her smile this time was wide enough to actually lift those stress-lines from her forehead just a touch. "It's good." Reyna shot a glance his way. "Perhaps an Olympian should lose more often."
Percy laughed into his can, shaking his head. "Perhaps." He parroted. "But don't let them hear you say that." He could only imagine how the rest of the council would take such a suggestion.
"It's a bit too late." Reyna smirked.
"Your secret's safe with me." Percy mimed zipping his lips closed with a few fingers. A moment later he tacked on: "And Aphy." Despite being out of mortal earshot, the love deity chose that time to flick her hair over her shoulder and bless Percy and Reyna with a smile that had her betrothed blushing to his roots.
"Of course." The predator, cheeks a bit pink, firmly shook her head and resumed petting her golden hound. Those two pairs of glowing red eyes only watched impassively.
Reyna was right, though. 'Losing', as she had put it, was probably the best thing Percy could have possibly done to endear himself to the half-blood audience. That hadn't been his reasoning at the time, but in hindsight it was pretty obvious. From the way Aphrodite had been smiling, he was probably the very last person to figure that out. His mother would have been teasing him about it already.
Not only did Percy think Clarisse might have popped a blood vessel if it turned out he was actually a decent shot with the bow, but he had eventually figured out that until that point most hadn't been able to see Percy as Percy. Hades, he had a hard enough time with that. He was an Olympian, a god, a divine force rather than the mortal boy that many had known and that many more had heard stories about (that still embarrassed him, but he was working to get over it).
But would a god spectacularly whiff that arrow? Would an Olympian willingly tie with a demigod, let alone one born from their parent's greatest rival? It clearly confused Reyna, and so it must have confused many more besides. With how fast a demigod's brain moved from thought to thought, there was little room for that sort of grating cognitive dissonance.
Gradually, perhaps even unconsciously, Percy had felt that the way the demigods viewed him began to change.
Where the son of Poseidon had been given a wide berth before, now he was only given a foot or two. Where demigods used to blatantly flee from his path, now they only stepped casually out of the way. Even the various nature spirits relaxed - when Percy had grabbed a couple of bites from the food tables, the green nymph with the eggplant dish from earlier had actually sneakily spooned a bit onto his plate when she thought he wasn't paying attention. Her cheeks had been flushed a green darker than any pine tree Percy had ever seen.
For as much celebrity as Thalia had gained, Percy was already the Greek or Roman equivalent of a rockstar. That was particularly true for those young enough to have been little more than toddlers before the war. The small children trailed in his wake in groups, copied the motions of his wind with their hands, stomped through the creeping trail of his fog he left behind. Each little step was like a shot of warmth directly to the sky bearer's heart. He couldn't wait to go home and tell his mom.
The only downside was the sting to Percy's pride when he had been forced to admit that Apollo might have actually been doing him a favor.
"Sup, Percy."
Suddenly there was a short-cut bob of sleek black hair in Percy's peripheral vision and pop rocks on the back of his tongue. Thalia was grinning wide when he looked over, her blue eyes sparking with a sort of energetic fervor. The tank-top, camouflage-wearing huntress had appeared clutching her own drink, face literally glowing as she snapped open the tab with a loud 'hiss.'
"Sup, Reyna." The sky bearer was thrown by the extremely casual greeting, and then doubly so when the armored daughter of Bellona only rolled her eyes good naturedly.
"Hello, Thalia." Underneath the playful exasperation there was something warm about Reyna's tone. Just as they had with Percy, neither of her automaton guards reacted to the daughter of Zeus' penchant for appearing out of thin air. "Congratulations on your . . . tie." The dark-skinned woman's eyes flicked to Percy with the jab.
"Thanks, asshole." Thalia snipped back, but there was no bite to it. The huntress couldn't even pretend that she wasn't preening from all the attention - Percy was sure that the part of her with Zeus' blood was contributing to that. "How's being a praetor suitin' you?" Thalia smacked her lips after a long pull of her soda. "Still think you made the right decision?"
"I'm sure." Reyna delivered her answer with a completely deadpan expression.
"Good to hear." Thalia was either unsurprised or unaffected. Percy could only watch the interaction with growing curiosity, his face pinging back and forth between the two women. "I mean, you did make the right decision, but the boss told me to ask so here I am." The huntress sighed, sounding more like a tired office worker than an immortal follower of Artemis. "You know how it is."
"You can consider your duty fulfilled, then," Reyna said with another one of her half-smiles. Had he not seen it briefly earlier on, Percy might have thought that the two sides of her mouth weren't even connected. "My answer remains unchanged."
Thalia tipped her can in the praetor's direction before taking another sip. The way the two demigods looked at each other was practically screaming about some deeper history - like when two fast-food workers happened to work the night shift together and formed a deep bond of exhaustion and spite.
"Um, sorry to interrupt." Percy's mouth finally couldn't keep itself shut any longer, and the words practically spilled forth. "What duty?"
"Oh." Thalia turned to Percy, shooting him a quick smile. "My bad for hijacking your convo, Percy." That same expression twisted in a sour manner not a moment later. "I just wanted to get my Lady off my back real quick."
Now it was Thalia's turn to roll her eyes, though it looked much more irritated than Reyna's had earlier. Percy turned his head back to the daughter of Bellona, an eyebrow perked. Oh yeah, there was something here all right.
"Diana, or I suppose Artemis now, was part of the group that escorted us here after New Rome fell." Reyna's open willingness to talk about the subject was a bit astonishing. Percy's other eyebrow raised to join the first. "She asked me to join her Hunt several times over the trip." The praetor didn't look as sour at the idea as Thalia. "I refused." Her expression was more tired than anything.
"Now that the war is over-" Thalia tagged back in. "-Artemis wanted to try again. When she knew I was coming to this she practically ordered me to ask." The huntress fiddled with her can, glaring at it like she wanted to crush it with both hands. "If you weren't here, she probably would have come herself." Percy could only note the simmering dissatisfaction in Thalia's tone.
Could it be. . .?
"I still would have said no." Reyna shrugged. The praetor moved her free hand over to the silver Argentum, running her fingers up one of its tall, pointed ears. "I am needed here just as much as I was needed back then." There was a thrumming conviction to her tone that made Percy understand why the other demigods gave the woman so much respect.
"Artemis doesn't like being turned down." Thalia added sullenly.
Percy scoffed. He knew that much with intimate clarity. He could feel Aphrodite's agreement against his aura. The fuzzy line where pink embraced teal felt like their fingers were still laced together.
The huntress smiled a bit at the sky bearer's noise of disdain. "You should have seen her when I turned down her offer to be the Hunt's lieutenant." The daughter of Zeus grumbled under her breath. "Flipped her shit."
Apparently Percy wasn't the only one with sharp ears, nor the only one surprised by that little tidbit. Both he and Reyna visibly perked up, their gazes shooting over in tandem. Even the two automaton hounds swiveled their snouts around.
"Why'd you do that?" Percy couldn't help but blurt out the question. He didn't miss the incredulous look Reyna shot him, but his lips were already moving again. "I mean, I'm glad you did but-"
"I get it." Thalia cut him off, her tone snappy. When he shut his mouth the raven-haired woman shuffled in her thick combat boots. "Sorry." Percy quickly nodded at the short but sincere apology. The huntress took a deep breath before continuing. "There were a few reasons. I don't know."
The daughter of Zeus was messing with her drink again, avoiding their eyes. It reminded the sky bearer of the way she had fiddled with the hilts of her knives back on Olympus, or of the way his fingers always found his engagement ring, or of how Reyna's hands never strayed far from her hounds. Birds of an unfortunate feather, it would seem.
"Big shoes to fill, I guess. Didn't like being shoved in just as a quick, shitty replacement." Thalia shrugged, the motion stiff and uncomfortable. Her fingers were white around her can, the surface skittering with static. "She basically blindsided me right after I found out you didn't make it out with us. Didn't feel right for someone who only joined to escape a fucking prophecy to be the one the lead all the girls." The daughter of Zeus flipped her hair with a sharp jerk of her chin. "Most of them are way older than me anyway." Her smile was a clear, obvious front.
"Right." Percy made sure to snip his growing frown at the bud, somewhat awkwardly transitioning into another smile.
"That would be ridiculous." Reyna added on, her tone warm.
Thalia's answering expression to them both was probably twice as grateful as she meant it to be.
"Hey, guys!" Grover's secret talent must have been something to do with interrupting potentially awkward conversations. Percy had already let out a sigh of relief before he could help it. "What's goin' on?"
The satyr sidled up, his fluffy hair bobbing the breeze. Grover's voice was a bit muffled, strangely enough. When Percy looked over, instead of the plate of food he was expecting the satyr was actually hauling an armful of soda cans. And it wasn't because he was drinking from them - no, Grover was smoothly lifting the empty aluminum to his mouth and tearing off chunks as casually as if the cylinder were a slice of perfectly crunchy toast. His wide, flat molars shredded through the stuff like they were industrial grade.
"What?" Grover caught Percy staring. A few curled, sharpened shearings fell from the corner of his mouth.
The sky bearers blinked before wrenching his eyes away. "Nothing."
"Alright." The satyr shrugged, turning back to the center of the little four-person circle they had created. "Hey Reyna!" The praetor gave him a little wave, her face amused. "Hey Thals." Grover leaned over to gently pop the huntress' shoulder with an elbow. "Congrats on the tie!"
"Thanks, G-man." Thalia shoved him back in reply, though she was smiling.
"I don't get one?" Percy raised a questioning eyebrow, faking a displeased frown.
"Oh. Sure." Grover cocked his head, before putting his opposite elbow into Percy's side with all the force of Aphrodite's downy, silk-lined pillows. "Good job, Percy. I mean, I knew it was over when you agreed to do archery, but you gave it a good shot!" His smile was wide and shiny, though that was probably half from his current diet.
"Thank you, Grover." The sky bearer shot the huntress a smug grin of his own. She discreetly flipped him off before Grover turned back around. Reyna shook her head, her perfectly controlled expression only marred by the twinkle in her dark eyes.
"This is awesome!" The satyr was beaming as he chomped through another soda can. The sight made Percy want to gawk like he was witnessing a car crash in slow motion. "There's way more people here than I was expecting, dude. Gotta give props to Aphrodite's cabin."
Grover casually used his finger to pick out a piece of his meal from between his teeth, the edges of which looked more like a knife than food. "They handled all the marketing stuff. What a turnout!" The satyr shot Percy a quick look. "Guess we should be callin' it your cabin too, sorta. Either way, Piper really pulled out all the stops." The scruffy half-human was radiating so much genuine excitement that Percy couldn't help but smile along. "So, where's Annabeth?" And bye-bye, smile.
"Dunno." Thalia took pity on Percy's twisting expression by cutting in quickly. "Busy, probably." The huntress fiddled with her drink, tone carefully nonchalant.
"Sounds about right." Grover chuckled. "I'm surprised you're still here, Reyna." Another can was lifted to its unfortunate demise between the satyr's jaws.
"I couldn't exactly miss it." Reyna sighed with that same crooked, one-sided smirk. "Lupa made that clear enough. Besides." The daughter of Bellona met Percy's eyes for a moment, absent fingers still petting her silver hound. "I figured I would meet the god I've heard so much about myself." Well that wasn't nerve wracking at all.
"Hopefully I didn't disappoint." The sky bearer pinned his smile back in place. The clouds around his shoes were swirling.
"I wouldn't say so." The praetor's dark eyes were glinting dangerously.
"Nice!" Grover chirped innocently around a mouthful of aluminum.
"I suppose." Reyna chuckled to herself, finally removing her hand from Argentum's snout and folding both behind her glimmering cloak. "I don't want to break this up, but Grover has a point. Frank can only run things for so long without my help." Her expression tinted in a drawn, exhausted direction that emphasized the worry lines around the armored woman's eyes. "I should be going after I grab something to eat." Quick as a flash, the tired veil was gone and her normal facial control returned. The praetor met Percy's gaze. "Besides, Aphrodite is calling you."
As if spoken into reality, a ghostly set of fingers started tap dancing up and down the junction between the young god's neck and shoulder. Suppressing a shiver, Percy expanded his aura outwards instead of turning around. The effort made the teal misting from his pores especially saturated for a moment, and from the way Thalia and Reyna blinked it was clear they could feel the difference.
Like parting through a thematically appropriate fog, Percy could soon see that Aphrodite's head was indeed turned in his direction. Those swirling irises were square on the back of his head. When she noticed his increased attention, the love deity slowly swiped her tongue across her pillowy bottom lip.
"Ah." Percy had to clear his throat when the word came out a bit squeaky. "You're right. Thanks." He didn't even try to explain why his cheeks were suddenly hot, but from the way the three mortals were looking at him it must have been obvious already. "It was nice meeting you, Reyna. And your robot dogs." The sky bearer couldn't help but tack on that last bit.
"Of course." The armored woman tipped her head respectfully. "My pleasure." Aurum and Argentum didn't say anything. Percy forgave them, obviously. Without any more fanfare, the daughter of Bellona swept around and vanished into the crowd, cloak whirling like a weaved starscape.
"I need to get a cape." Grover mumbled to himself.
"Oi. Percy. You better not keep your lady waiting, casanova." Thalia snorted in Percy's direction. "I can feel her watching us." The thin, dark hairs on the back of her neck were standing straight up. Apparently the huntress wasn't as immune as she had first appeared.
"I'm going." Percy went to turn around, stopped, and then faced the huntress again. She watched his stuttering motion with a raised eyebrow. "Good match, Thalia." Instead of another hug, which seemed a step too far, the sky bearer held out a closed fist. Thalia stared at it, incredulous, before barking out a laugh.
"Call me Thals." The daughter of Zeus slammed her own fist into his hand with more energy than was probably necessary. "We can be nickname buddies." Her smile was genuine despite the excessive force. "Now get outta here, Percy. I'll see you later."
"I'll be around a lot from now on, I think." The sky bearer shrugged, face twisting.
The huntress only nodded sympathetically. "Probably more than me, if we're being honest." Her tone wasn't quite cheerful there at the end.
"We'll figure it out." The sky bearer meant the words with every fiber of his godly being. The words and the sentiment behind them were fueled by a flare of team flame that had his hair rising for an instant. "Thals." The nickname was smooth off his lips.
"We always do." Grover stepped forward to pitch in, but instead of turning towards Thalia he rotated to face Percy instead. "You're not getting away from me that easy though, dude." With a quick hop forward, the satyr's arms were thrown around Percy's torso and a pair of small horns was poking him in the clavicle. "It was good to have you here, man."
Grover's voice was small, subdued compared to his previous infectious energy. To Percy's credit, he only froze for a second or two before returning the embrace. The fact that the satyrs arms were both free, and the lack of any dropped aluminum, must have meant that he had chewed through his entire pile in only a matter of minutes. As Percy let himself relax into the shorter man's hug, he found that thought both morbid and impressive. The contact went on for several moments, but he didn't mind.
"Hey, Percy?" A tiny, familiar tug on the young god's pants had both him and the satyr glancing down. He was met by the fiercely colored and seriously cute eyes of Aphrodite's youngest daughter. "Ma said you were takin' forever and I was s'posed to fetch you."
Eloise delivered the line with what Percy was coming to understand as her trademarked southern straightforwardness. Even one look at her face and Percy knew he couldn't say no. Aphrodite, you clever vixen. The young god couldn't help the laugh that escaped him as Grover stepped away.
"I'm coming, I'm coming." He shot the satyr one last grateful look, but the scruffy half-human only waved him off.
Eloise nodded seriously, her unruly hair flipping with the motion. It was so earnest that the sky bearer felt his heart melt that little bit more. Blackjack, it seemed, had some competition in the 'make Percy grin' competition. The sky bearer hadn't smiled this wide and this frequently since, well, ever.
His cheeks were starting to hurt.
"C'mon." Apparently Percy had been standing still for too long, since the small half-blood started pulling on his pant leg. "Hurry up." Her light-up sneakers flashed with LEDs as the sky bearer let himself be dragged away, all to the tune of Thalia laughing about how much of a softie he was.
As they walked over to Eloise's mother and the rest of her present half-siblings, Percy let himself check in on how things were going. The party seemed to be right at the peak before winding down - the game stations were busy and the demigods were energetic, but the almost empty food and picked-through beverage tables lacked the necessary calories and caffeine to keep the whole thing going for that much longer.
Despite the surrounding hustle, Aphrodite and her children had maintained their twenty or so foot buffer. The circle was wide enough to make obvious how relatively untrampled the grass was inside. The love deity's misting pink didn't even extend half that distance, controlled as it was, but the demigods apparently were all airing on the side of caution. It was a survival mechanism, probably.
Most went as far as to avoid turning in Aphrodite's direction completely, though the sky bearer caught sight of many a male having to be physically shaken out of a drooling stupor when their gazes strayed too close. Eloise, the darling firecracker that she was, dragged Percy through the artificial no-man's land without even a hitch in her step. As they sank into that wafting pink air, Percy couldn't help but feel a bit more comfortable in his own skin.
"Excellent, ma fille." Aphrodite's silk sleeves curled about her arms as the love deity reached down to pat her daughters head with a proud smile. "You did marvelously, dear." Eloise skipped over to her siblings with a blinding smile. Percy only had time to feel jealous for a second before those hypnotizing eyes were turned his way.
"Took you long enough, mon coeur." Aphrodite met his pout with one of her own, teasing and mischievous as the tone of her voice. One of her hands reached up to gently slide across one cheek and down to the point of his chin before the love deity snagged his jaw and turned his face side to side. "Good. The demigods left you still in one piece." The love deity playfully mused, her fingers trailing goosebumps down his neck before she started fiddling with some non-existent crease in his collar.
"They aren- mmph." Percy was very rudely interrupted when Aphrodite's hands fisted the fabric of his shirt, pulling his face down into a positively searing kiss. "Mmm~." The sky bearer couldn't help the sigh he made, nor the way his own eyelids fluttered closed.
Kissing Aphrodite was the most addictive drug Percy could have possibly imagined. Her lips were so full, so soft, so firm and demanding against his own. Even with their bodies separated save for the single point of contact, the sky bearer's entire form was filled to bursting with roaring, burning fire of the most pleasant sort. Gods, he loved this woman.
The party almost ground to a complete halt around them. Someone in the crowd starting jeering, though a quick elbow to the side followed by a loud 'oof' had things silent once again. After several long seconds, the atmosphere regained its momentum and things picked right back up again. Percy, of course, noticed almost none of this.
"Ew, they're kissin' again." Eloise's complaint sounded a million miles away, especially when Aphrodite had the gall to nip teasingly at Percy's top lip. The slight prick of pressure had something rumbling deep in his chest. "Piper, make 'em stop." The sky bearer could almost hear the subsequent foot stomp, but just barely over the sound of his own heartbeat in his ears.
"I'm not sure that's such a good idea." That smooth, slick-sounding drawl could be none other than Nicholas. "That's pretty intense." If he wasn't using one hand to smooth back his hair to try and look as cool as possible, Percy would eat his hat. Once he was done kissing his betrothed, of course.
"I'd have to agree." Valentina airily agreed. Her tone was anything but unsupportive, however.
"You'd have to be crazy." Lacy's familiar cheer was unfettered by the scene of her mother and Percy locked together. "I know I wouldn't want Piper interrupting me and Bennett. I might smack her!" The teen laughed. There was silence for a moment. "No offense, Pipes." The last line was sheepishly added.
"None taken." Percy hadn't heard Aphrodite's camp counselor since their brief meeting on Olympus, but even he could sense her eyes rolling. "We'll just have to wait." Her sigh was heavy. "You going to be alright, Mitch? Don't melt into your shoes."
"Oh!" The second male sheepishly barked. His blush must have been nuclear, since Percy could feel one specific section of his aura heating several degrees. "Yeah, I'll be fine." The kind-voiced demigod managed to squeak out. "I'll just . . . look away. I think." The blob of warmth spun around.
"You think he'd be used to it by now." Nicholas chuckled. "That softie's kissed more boys than anyone else here."
Aphrodite chose that moment to finally separate from Percy. Her mouth left his own with a not-so-subtle wet smack, which was probably partially the sound of his bottom lip snapping back into place from where she had trapped it between her teeth. A single strand of saliva, sparkling in Apollo's sunlight, connected the two until the love deity stepped back fully.
When Percy opened his eyes his vision was blurry and his fingers were numb and he was smiling so wide he probably looked like a complete idiot. So, doing pretty good all things considered.
"Don't tease your brother." Aphrodite sounded a bit out of breath as she flipped her hair with a hand, the darker bottoms fanning in the wind like she was mid-strut on a fashion show catwalk. Her cheeks weren't quite as dark as Percy's red flush, but close. "You could kiss plenty of boys if you wanted to, Nicholas." Her son's name rolled off her mouth with a pleasant French twist. Even after letting go of her death grip on Percy's shirt, his goddess left her palm flat against his bicep.
"I know." Nicholas grinned.
When the sky bearer finally got his eyes working again, the dark-haired half-blood was doing that mid-air backwards lean that probably had other demigod's hearts fluttering. Having that much calculated suave in a garish orange shirt was practically a crime.
"Can we not talk about kissing?" Percy moved his gaze to find Piper clad in a pair of faded jeans and a similar, if much more baggy, greek camp shirt. The tan woman was covering her multi-color eyes with an exasperated hand. "I get enough of that from Drew." The only noteworthy changes to Piper's fashion choices from last time was the absence of those golden armbands and the addition of a couple of bright yellow feathers hanging inside her choppy hair.
"I like talking about it." Lacy was swinging her hips back and forth. Without Drew here to shoot her down this time, the pigtailed teen's comment was allowed several seconds to marinade before dissipating.
"I don't." The words were mumbled below a normal mortal's hearing range, but Percy picked them up just fine. At the edge of the circle Mitchell was still turned ninety degrees, though at least his head was facing the right direction. Sorta. The flustered young adult was clutching his arms with either hand.
"How bashful." Aphrodite whittled pleasantly, her eyes flashing pink. Mitchell's complexion only darkened back to a complete red.
"Anyway-" Piper not so subtly moved the conversation along. "Nice to see you again, Percy." She smiled in his direction, the brightness like looking at a miniature Aphrodite for a moment. "What do you think? Of the party, I mean."
"I've had fun." The sky bearer grinned. That was the best way he could sum it up, and what a surprise it was! "Grover said you guys handled getting the word out?" That had all of the half-siblings nodding at varying speeds, with Lacy's being the fastest. Her pigtails nearly whipped her closest sisters on the arms. "Good job."
"Wasn't that hard." Nicholas shrugged. "We just had to shove Lacy or Elie in someone's direction and they caved pretty hard. Bring out the shy boy if the big guns were needed." The debonair demigod jerked a thumb in his half-brother's direction. Mitchell only shuffled in his shoes, but didn't deny it. "Without Drew around to put people off things went pretty smooth, if you catch my drift."
"Is she alright?" Percy was surprised he beat Aphrodite to the question. "Is she here?" When he glanced at his goddess, the son of Poseidon still couldn't detect any more than a twinge of motherly worry beneath her mask. Maybe the topic had already been discussed?
"She's, uh . . ." Piper shook out her wrists a bit, temporarily searching for her words. "It's complicated?" Her tone pitched up a few notes at the end. "She was hungover all yesterday and then mopey all today. It was so bad she actually volunteered to patrol to avoid the party. Annabeth accepted, which was surprising." Piper's face pinched before relaxing. "You don't need to worry, though." The cabin counselor squared her shoulders. "I- We can handle it."
"I previously offered my assistance, even if it's only an ear to lend." Aphrodite reassured, adding an extra squeeze to Percy's arm for good measure. The smile that crossed her face was blindingly beautiful. "De telles choses prennent du temps- such things only take time, you see." The love deity giggled to herself a bit. "Stubbornness runs in the family, for better or for worse." All of her children nodded along, completely in sync.
"Alright." Percy allowed after a contemplative pause, breaking away from Aphrodite's gaze to meet Piper's eyes. "If you say so." Perhaps a visit wasn't on the cards, then. For some reason, that didn't quite sit right.
"Hey!"
From Piper's side, Eloise perked up like a meerkat, shooting a hand up and pointing back towards the Big House and the town beyond. "Look! Percy's pegasus is comin' back!" That drew every eye, including said sky bearer's. Indeed, a small black dot was rapidly becoming not-so-small right over the center of town. "Can I ride him when he gets here? I'll be careful, promise!" The small demigod whirled around to give her mother her best puppy-dog eyes (the force of which apparently ran in the family as well), but Percy was otherwise occupied.
From the mortal girl's perspective, things probably looked fine from so far away. To Percy's physical eyes Blackjack's great wing beats were only small little blurs, at first no longer than his fingernail but soon the length of his second and third knuckle. But the young god was no longer limited in such a way. That was why, the instant his eyes landed on the black pegasus?
Percy's blood ran cold.
"Boss!" Let it never be said that the midnight equine wasn't quick nor loud. Even as he literally and figuratively flew over the last few lines of buildings, Percy could hear the panicked whinny all the way at the top of the hill. "We got a situation, boss!" The sky bearer could feel Aphrodite's hand stiffen on his arm - she must have also noticed.
Blackjack was lisping, one wing beating just so slightly off-beat from the other.
As the pegasus drew closer, even Aphrodite's children were able to make out that something was amiss. They weren't unique in that regard. Several gasps erupted from the crowd, and one nymph by the archery range cried out in disbelief. It wasn't long before a few authoritative figures were pushing through the throng, stepping up into the empty space behind Percy's back.
Reyna was first, her two metallic hounds growing audibly with hunched backs. The armored praetor's face was a calm, calculated mask. Clarisse was next, bulldozing her way to the front and gripping a bronze spear in one calloused hand. The daughter of Ares was sneering, eyes alight and deadly. Thalia wasn't far behind, electricity sparking from her hands with Grover only a second behind. Annabeth was last - the daughter of Athena made that clipboard look like a deadly weapon, with the way she gripped it and how serious her expression had become.
Then Blackjack crested the roof, and things only got more tense.
"I got bad news, boss." Although the mythical equine's words were only understood by Percy, the pitched breathing of his broad chest was visible to all. "Bad, bad news." Specks of foam stood out like bright white like stars against his midnight coloring. Blackjack made the last few yards wobbly, before dropping onto the grass with a graceless thud. "It's a good thing you're here. Shit went sideways real quick, yeah?" Blackjack threw his head back, snorting heavily and restless on his hooves. A few of the closer demigods took a fearful step back from the large, agitated horse.
"Gods." Percy breathed, pushing gently past Piper to make his way to the pegasus' heaving flanks. He couldn't believe his eyes as he ducked past one awkwardly extended wing. "What happened, Blackjack?" The son of Poseidon felt a step disconnected from his own hands as they raised to hover just a hair above Blackjack's withers.
"I just told ya'." Blackjack was probably going for a horse version of a smirk, but to Percy it only looked like a pained grimace. "Shit went sideways." When the pegasus went to retract his wing it hitched in the middle of the motion, and the sky bearer watched as shivers of pain flashed across his neck and shoulders. "Well, upside down would be a better way to put it."
No matter how Blackjack wanted to phrase it didn't change the truth of the matter. The pegasus was in a bad way - it looked like he had come straight from a battle, rather than a standard patrol. Something had obviously put the mythical equine through the wringer, maybe more than once. His coat was all askew and the still-extended wing was missing a couple chunks of feathers. That wasn't the worst of it though.
Long, thin gashes ran from the horse's chest all the way to his hips. The gory slashes were red and oozing blood like angry lines of splashed paint. There was a nick taken out of his left ear, too, and when Blackjack caught Percy staring he folded them both back and shuffled away a pained half-step.
The young god could only categorize every injury with his flashing gaze. He could feel his own teeth grinding together, flares of sympathy fueling the fire in his core. Percy could only hover his hands, sure that touching would be the wrong decision but unable to completely disregard the instinct. The slices on Blackjack's flanks were deceiving until he had gotten close, so visibly small but so worryingly deep.
"Oh Tartarus." Grover breathed from a few steps away. His face had gone pale as a sheet, the lack of color only making his wispy facial hair stand out even more than usual.
"No." Piper was frozen in time, her expression carved from dread.
"I'll gather the cohorts." Reyna's face was chiseled stone. Argentum barked in loud, angry agreement. "We can be at the line in ten minutes or less."
"I'll handle the Greeks." In that moment, Annabeth could have been the praetor's twin, skin and hair color be damned. They even shared the same tick in their jaw. She had drawn a knife from somewhere.
"The Hunt is already camping in the woods." Thalia's growl was a rumble of distant thunder. "We'll only need five." With a sizzle-pop of superheated air, the daughter of Zeus was already half-way through the crowd and sprinting towards the distant treeline.
"What happened, Blackjack?" Percy's question rumbled the ground beneath his feet and upset the surrounding air. The young god had eyes only for the wounded pegasus. "Tell me." The words barreled out of his mouth, low and overlapping with tone and heat and flame.
"I gotta be quick, boss. No time for too many details, yeah?" Blackjack still couldn't seem to find a steady stance, anxiously hopping on his hooves. Blood trickled from his ear down the left side of his snout, his eyes locked onto Percy's glowing teal irises. "Patrol was all wrong from the start. The guys were anxious, the kids were more wired up than an electric plant. I thought it was just 'cause you were here, but it was more than that."
Blackjack kept trying to work out his injured wing, flexing and relaxing the feathered appendage and wincing through his words. Something inside the joint was grinding, bone against bone and flesh against flesh. Percy had to resist the urge to grab it and tell him to stop, please.
He contented himself with fisting his hands and biting the inside of his cheek.
"We were flyin' over the forest, normal stuff, and then outta nowhere we were under attack." As he spoke something fell over Blackjack's voice, a smothering aura that sucked all the personality out and left him sounding like a soldier giving a debrief. "Only a coupl'a arrows at first, but then a lot more after that. We banked to get outta there, but Joey got hit in the wing and went down. Took his rider with 'im." Percy's veins were roaring with teal flame. "I didn't have a kid, so I tried to see if I could help before they hit the ground."
"Arrows?" Percy whispered distantly. "A lot of them?"
The 's' at the end had already implied more than just a single monster, but the second part spelled out more than just a small roving party of archers. Percy wasn't the first to come to that conclusion - soon, any sounds of merriment were drowned out by shouting and rushing footsteps as Reyna and Annabeth twirled around to begin barking out orders. A group of bright-haired demigods flashed about, plucking up the youngest children and depositing them into a tightly packed group surrounded by heavy-faced veterans on all sides.
Blackjack shook his head ruefully, snorting and stomping in agitation. His long face was drawn, haunted. "Right from the field comes this fiery whip, slashing at me and Joey like somethin' possessed. The thing was held by some massive, snakey woman freak I couldn't get a decent look at. Got me good right across the pecs, boss." The pegasus' chuckle was anything but amused. "Damn near cut Joey in half, and nicked Frankie bad enough he had to break away. Last thing I saw, Joey's girl was tumbling across the grass." He shrugged again. It felt helpless, self-deprecating. "She was screamin', so she was still alive, but I knew I couldn't do nothin'. Came here fast as I could."
Percy raised a shaking hand, placing it on the flat of Blackjack's snout. His body and his brain were disconnected, the motions somehow in slow motion and moving at a hundred times speed. He couldn't stop his eyes from trailing the wet, dark path that the blood had left across the pegasus' distressed face.
Percy saw, and he burned.
"You did good." When his mouth moved next, Percy wasn't sure the voice that came out was fully his own. The sky bearer turned his head, locking eyes with a shaking Grover. A rushing gale of wind flattened every blade of grass within sight. "A patrol went down over the woods. One pegasus dead, one camper missing. Female." The words came out flat, factual. "The force is stronger than just a few monsters. Something big, too."
"We know, Percy. Well, not the details, but-" Grover was clutching at his shirt. "The girls already figured it out." His expression was the picture definition of helplessness. The satyr's usually warm eyes, now cold and withdrawn, flicked over to Aphrodite before turning back. "Annabeth set up that patrol herself."
For the first time, Percy noticed how all of the love deity's demigod children appeared set to faint. Mitchell, in particular, looked like he was about to be sick. Valentina was covering a horrified face with both of her dainty, pale hands. The puzzle pieces clicked in his head right before Piper breathed it out.
"Oh, gods. Drew."
The dark-skinned woman shook herself, eyes flaring all sorts of angry reds and pinks and horrible gaping blacks. "Drew was the only girl on that patrol." Piper spun around, the feathers in her hair whirling about. "Mom! We have to help Drew!" The demigod's voice was equally desperate and hopeful. When Percy followed her gaze towards his betrothed, the sight that met him had his heart skipping a beat or two.
Not since Hades' stunt on Olympus had he seen Aphrodite so close to her true form.
The first clue was the blackened, light-absorbent ink that stained everything from the tips of her fingers up near the bend of her wrist. Although they could be barely called 'fingers' anymore - jointed talons would have been more appropriate. Aphrodite's eyes were black inside save for a spinning circle of neon pink. Her hair was floating, wreathed about her head like a deadly cobra's mane.
When the love deity turned her gaze to Percy, the force of her aura felt like a sledgehammer to the sternum. Her next words hit far harder.
"I cannot."
"What do you mean-"
"I cannot assist directly." One glance had Piper's panicked interruption withering away. The love deity's rapturous face was searing itself into the sky bearer's eyes, the contact only fueling the flame inside his skin. "There are too many eyes on this place, vous comprenez. The entire council's attention remains fixed, here, on this very spot." She jabbed a clawed finger towards their feet.
Aphrodite didn't even touch the ground as she floated close. "They are watching us." She reached out to caress Percy's face with one dark hand. "Watching you, Percy." Despite the nails sharp enough to cut through his skin like paper, her touch was nothing but gentle. "I have pushed the boundaries too much recently to intervene, called in too many favors for such an egregious breach to remain overlooked. My father would look for any excuse to diminish your position, and your sire would look for any reason to have us split apart." The idea was so offensive, so unthinkable, that Percy could only shake his head.
Mitchell nearly collapsed, only saved from the ground by his brother. Eloise was clutching to Lacy, her eyes wide and fearful with the sort of fractured understanding of a scared child. Valentina was whispering under her breath to herself, her voice circling lyrical and repeating phrases in some cold, arctic language. Grover had made it to Piper's side, wrapping her shoulders in his best half-hug.
"You said 'directly'." The sky bearer's brain was moving a mile a minute. "You said you can't help directly." Much like the fates, Aphrodite's flowery words were more than just verbal dressing - they had meaning. Purposeful, directed, important meaning.
"Oui." Aphrodite's eyes sparked with something that looked like pride the moment he grasped it. "I cannot." Her hand fell down to tap a finger into Percy's chest. "But you can."
"My domains." Percy breathed, captured completely by her gaze.
"Indeed. As god of this place and bastion of demigods, your locus standi- your right to intervene, cannot be challenged." That pink sun in Aphrodite's eyes flared brightly. "And I shall help." She smiled, revealing teeth sharp enough to make Grover's can munching spree look tame. "Indirectly, of course."
The last words were whispered, slithering out of her seductive mouth and wrapping around Percy's whole body like an invisible suit of armor. It was the same as the blessing she had given him before his encounter with Kronos, that familiar rush of energy that had every strand of hair on his body standing straight up. Teal dripped from the ends of his fingers, nearly physical in its strength, hissing and bubbling as it dropped to the ground. Percy had to take a deep breath to hold it all in. His exhale also released his greatest fear.
"She could be dead by now, Aphy." Even the admittance was painful. "I can't help her then." The sky bearer tried to keep his voice down, but it came out rough. Percy couldn't stand to focus on the picture of grief that stood only a few feet away in the form of Drew's half-siblings. He hated being useless.
"She isn't." Aphrodite's soft reply was firm as granite, sure as the foundations of Olympus. "She is hidden from me, but Drew's thread is connected still." Her irises were a wrathful pink sun in the center of an infinite void. "When she is safe, I only ask for one thing."
Percy nodded instantly, captivated. Aphrodite's tongue leisurely pressed across her sharpened canines, knowing he was watching and reveling in it. The press of her aura on his skin was insistent, demanding, raging in equal measure.
"Rip the one who hurt her to shreds." The love deity's hand tapped his chest once, a motion that would have been playful under normal circumstances but instead it came off as spectacularly chilling. "Would you do that for me?" Her smile was anything but innocent. If Percy hadn't been so caught up in the moment, he might have actually been a bit frightened.
"Yeah." Instead, he only agreed without hesitation.
"That's one scary mare you got there, boss." Blackjack had both ears folded against his skull, his eyes wide and lips drawn back.
"Fuck yes! That's what I'm talkin' about!" Percy had almost forgotten that Clarisse was still watching until the daughter of Ares was jumping forward, bashing the bottom of her spear into the grass with a feral grin. "It's been way too long since I got to kill some shit." So fierce was the woman's bloodlust that not even Aphrodite bothered to try and point out her foul language.
"Clarisse!" Grover bleated. "Isn't that thing blunted?"
"Who cares?!" The muscular blond bellowed, her form flaring red. The expression on her face was positively frightening. "I'll sharpen the blade on their bones." Clarisse crashed a fist against her unarmored chest with enough force to bruise a tank. "What are we waiting for, prissy? Think your ride can take both of us?" It took Percy a blink to realize that she was talking to him.
Blackjack, on the other hand, looked completely fearful for a single instant. The fright was quickly smothered by more accented bravado. "'Course I can." The pegasus snorted, flexing his body in a way that bent and warped the still weeping slashes on his flanks. "You doubtin' me, wide-face?" Apparently the fact that he still couldn't quite close one wing was to go ignored.
"Here." A shock of shining blond hair appeared out of the surrounding bedlam. The curls belonged to none other than Will, the scarred demigod Grover had called out before the beginning of the party. "I'm not quite my dad, and I've rarely healed pegasi before, but I can try." When the orange-clad camper held his hands up, they were glowing slightly yellow.
"Do it."
Percy had nodded his assent before any other thought could even cross his mind. His voice must have still sounded strange, because Will gulped audibly before crossing the distance to rest a hand on Blackjack's uninjured wing. The sky bearer was only partially surprised when the son of Apollo began to hum a haunting, beautiful tune. Soon, Blackjack's whole flank was shimmering gold and the pegasus was wincing and tap-dancing in place in discomfort.
"Damn. Stings." That was the only complaint he voiced. Percy's old mount really was a badass.
"Where do you think you're going?" Grover, apparently satisfied Piper could stand on her own, stepped up to grab at Clarisse's arm with wide eyes. "You need to get to the defensive line, dude! To the trench!" The daughter of Aphrodite had picked up right where the satyr had left off, tightly embracing Valentina with a face of composed comfort. Her quick turnaround was remarkable. "You aren't actually considering-"
"Fuck off, satyr." Clarisse threw Grover off with ease for the second time, idly spinning her spear in one hand before slamming it back down again. "This shit ain't tower defense." Dark, angry eyes flashed Percy's way and inside her gaze he found a surprising understanding. "Not anymore."
"It's a rescue mission." Percy said, grim.
Clarisse nodded in reply.
Over the sounds of campers rushing down the hill towards the town and a dozen commanders rallying troops, it was like he could somehow hear the pitched, panicked screams that Blackjack had described. If he were to look down, the sky bearer would have seen how his billowing clouds were swamping the lawn. If he looked up, he would have spotted the massive, growing cumulus literally coalescing in the sky above his head. Percy did neither.
"I'm done."
When Will stepped away he looked significantly harried, with face drawn and his hair all askew. Blackjack, on the other hand, looked better - not incredibly so, but at least the most visible of his wounds were scabbing over and blood no longer leaked from his ear and down his neck. When the pegasus tested his wings, they moved smooth and natural. His equine face broke into an exhilarated smile.
"Alright, let's do this thing, yeah?" The mythical horse trotted in place, hooves slamming into the dirt with renewed confidence. "Kill the baddies, save the girl, save the town. Easy peasy for us, boss." Blackjack's wings flared. "I'll even try not to drop this other chick, just to be nice."
"I might not know what you're saying but I'll still beat your face in." Clarisse stomped over, gripping Blackjack's mane with a wide hand and flawlessly swinging into a bareback riding position. "You comin', or what?" The daughter of Ares staunchly ignored the pegasus' retaliatory attempt to bite at what parts of her his long neck could reach.
When Percy pulled away Aphrodite let him go, but not without one last brief kiss. "Go with love." She whispered the words onto his lips. When the young god pulled away it felt like he could take on the entire world.
Finally, finally pulling out Riptide in that moment felt like his soul breaking free from its chains. The explosive sensation of perfect correctness was gasoline thrown onto a roaring bonfire. The blessed xiphos sprang free from its pen form with a clear, ringing chime that swirled the very atmosphere around the blade's sharpened edges. It felt as ready as Percy did - all that training, all that learning, all that fury and pain and regret was coming to a head.
Riptide wanted blood. Percy was going to provide it.
"What did you say, Blackjack?" The sky bearer's voice boomed across the grass. Riptide's leather grip creaked in his hand, the grip tight enough to pulverize stone. "That muscle memory would never let me forget how to fly?"
The pegasus laughed, sharp and loud, throwing his head back. Percy grinned first at him and then next at Clarisse, whose borderline unhinged expression he imagined he was copying quite closely. The daughter of Ares smacked her chest again and matched Blackjack's guffaw. Percy strode towards them with single-minded purpose, his skin alight with teal and his eyes burning spotlights of green green green.
"Let's put that to the test."