"So, how are you finding your first quest?" Percy sat next to Bianca.
They five questers took one of the boats tied to the pier of their camp, usually used for fishing. Although the sea nymphs tended to make that a difficult job.
While the boat wasn't large it was enough for everyone to have space to sit comfortably without feeling cramped. More importantly, the boat was small enough to Bessie to tow without much problem.
"Does it always this crazy high stakes?" Bianca joked.
"Normally they shouldn't, or so I'm told." Percy laughed. "I never went on a normal quest. Would be nice to try it sometimes?"
"Really?" Bianca raised an eyebrow.
"Yep!" He grinned. "First quest? Had to find Zeus' lightning bolt that I was accused of steal, when I literally never knew about gods or anything. Second quest? Barrier around camp was failing due to someone poisoning Thalia's Tree. Had to get the Golden Fleece, or Camp Half-Blood would stop being a safe place from monsters." He frowned at the thought of that. Wondering how Luke could have poisoned Thalia's tree, and then about Thalia being kidnapped and held prisoner by him.
"And mine is literally about saving a goddess." Bianca said, while looking at the sea around them turn into a river, and the landscape seem to move around too fast.
"Guess us Great Prophecy kids don't get a break." Percy shrugged.
"Really hope I'm not the prophecy's child. And neither would be Nico, but let's wait and see if my luck stays the same." Bianca chuckled.
"Well, at least we seem to be making good time. Maybe we'll finish everything quickly and without a fight. Just sneak in, get Artemis and get out." Percy hoped.
"Is it ever that simple?" Bianca gave him an amused side look.
"No. No it never is." Percy sighed with an exaggerated whine.
Bianca's laughed, her laughter has a nice chime to it. It was different from Annabeth who tended to have be reserved in her laughing, but when she did it sounded like a cat shouting. It just made him smile more when he heard it.
His thoughts turned to Annabeth now being a Hunter of Artemis. That when the year was done she would be gone forever.
...Well, maybe not forever. Maybe she can visit? Can Hunter visit friends that aren't Hunters? Or would him being a boy make that not allowed?
Seriously. This is like having a friend move to a different country and you can't see them anymore. This sucks.
Maybe they can still Iris Message? That should be okay, right? Could be a favor to ask from Artemis when they rescue her.
"Still," Bianca spoke, breaking him out of his thoughts. "Better than being at camp right now." She said with huge relief.
"Really?" Percy tilted his head in surprise.
Bianca blinked at his expression, before snorting for some reason.
"Yeah, the Aphrodite Cabin would not stop hounding me. Asking questions about FTK, asking if any of the monsters have the same forms as in the game, and how accurate are the personalities. Asking if I ever got together with Asterios, which is..." she bit her lips before shaking her head. "Ridiculous as it just a game."
"Annabeth says it's pretty prophetic." Percy shrugged before grinning. "So how accurate did you guys get me?"
"Well for starters, in the game, Percy is short for Percival." She smiled back.
"Oh?" Percy chuckled. "Ha, okay that's pretty neat. What else?"
"Game Percy is twenty, he discovered the moonlit world, I mean, supernatural world because he stumbled on an old lady being attacked by a demon dog, and helped her out. The danger of the sudden life or death battle causes him to awake his powers for the first time. He is then found by Mr. Ron, that we hint heavily to be Chiron still alive in the modern era. Mr. Ron trains him and Percy make friends with a guy named Lance."
"That's who Luke's suppose to be?" Percy frowned at the thought of the traitor, but the game seem sort accurate so far.
"Yep." She nodded. "Lance wants to get revenge on the Russian mafia who worship the Baba Yaga, and joins the Holy Grail War in Macedonia to get his wish to be able to slaughter them all. Percy joins the war to try and stop him from injuring innocents in his revenge quest, and gets entangled in everyone else's plots."
"Huh." Percy nodded, with an impressed look. "The overall picture is kinda accurate, but the details are completely wrong." He said. "Like Luke. There is no helping him, I just wanna stop him. Also the Russian mafia bit seems out of nowhere."
"Yeah," Bianca laughed and nodded. "The mafia bit, and along with other details that don't seem to fit completely in the plot of FTK, are meant to be plot hooks for other storyline in future games. The Baba Yaga is suppose to open up to how folk tales fit into the magical world and all that. Also stuff like Game Percy's powers being an intro into how magic works in the setting."
"How complicated could it be? It would just be elemental magic with me using water magic, right?" Percy asked, finding himself invested in the world building.
"You have water powers." She pointed at him. "In the game we, uuuh, we kinda went, how to explain it, poetic? Mysterious? Heh, in how magic works." Percy raised an eyebrow, as he waited for the explanation. Annabeth usually starts off with some info or tangent before getting to the important bits. "Okay, for example, if someone has Fire as their Elemental Affinity, you'd think they can just use fire spells, right?"
"Yeah." He nodded.
"Well, we expanded on that so that it means, Magi—Mages with Fire Affinity means their spells can cause warmth or dryness. That they are suited for destructive Magecraft—Magic, I mean. We kind divided magic into Magecraft, which is anything science can do, and True Magic, which is anything science can't do yet."
"Wouldn't that mean flying is True Magic?" Percy raised an eyebrow.
"Used to be, and yeah. So Fire Affinity means, destructive magic, life, death, consumption, heat, entropy, fuels, energy transfer and thermodynamics." Bianca explained.
Percy's eyebrow raised to his hairline. "That sounds like way too much physics at the end."
"Yeah, it is." She laughed. "Water for example, which surprisingly is what your character's Element also is."
"Neat."
"Is about liquid manipulation, sure. But it's also energy flows, forms, cycles, combinations and manipulations. We basically went with Game Percy being good at one thing, which was Energy Flows. Basically he can sense energy flows and change it. Someone hits him, he just sends the kinetic energy back. That kinda stuff. Then it get crazier later on in the story."
"Wait. Game Percy doesn't know how to use water?" Percy blinked in surprise. Letting out a half-chuckle.
"Nope," Bianca shrugged. "He can redirect a river's momentum, but he can't actually control water. We thought to try and subvert 'Water Wizard just controls water' expectation."
"Welp, that's another different between me and Percival then." He smirked.
"Not really." Bianca said, making Percy look at her with confusion. "Your father is called Earthshaker for a reason. You probably have earthquake powers too."
Percy blinked in confusion a few times.
"I don't have that, I just have wate—Wait, Game Percy have earthquake power!? Okay that's really cool! I'm definitely playing it when we get back." Percy said excitedly.
Bianca winced. "Okay, but fair warning. One, the game has adult content in it, and I didn't know you were real. Two, we didn't expect it to get as popular as it did."
Percy furrowed his brows. "Isn't one of the characters literally your name but with a different spelling?"
"Yeah, that's the 'didn't expect it to get popular' thing creeping in. My CS teacher, Mr. Bullman did warn me about making a character with basically my name, but my friends thought it would be funny and cool to basically have me in the game." She said.
"Huh." Percy nodded. "So how did you guys get it so accurate?"
"Literally don't know. There were like eight people counting me, all did their own character, and made them to match the Servants, Mr. Bullman gave to the class about the game. We each chose a Servant, and then build a character to compliment them, or be opposite to them for the sake of drama." Bianca explained. "How we ended up matching closely to real life people, we don't know. Mr. Bullman told me, it felt like the Fates might have had a had in inspiring us about the game as a laugh, but beyond that I don't know."
"Huh? How could your CS teacher know about..." Percy then remember how Bianca reassure Nico she would be fine by mentioning "Mr. Bullman" as her bodyguard. "Mr. Bullman, your teacher was also your bodyguard!" He realized.
"Yeah," she nodded. "My dad hired him to protect us. When we found out about gods and everything, he taught us about the world, how to use our powers, even trained me." She smiled fondly at the memory. When summer came, he took us to a studio in Los Angeles that lead to the Underworld."
"DOA Studio?" Percy said, and at Bianca's surprised look elaborated. "Had to go there for my first quest." He explained, before telling her more about his first quest. How it happened, how he was thrown into the demigod world, meeting Annabeth, Luke, and everything.
Bianca told him about how she and Nico found out about the demigod world, going to live with her dad for the summer and training there.
"Say, the way you descript Mr. Bullman, he almost sounds like the minotaur. Which would be funny with his name and all." Percy chuckled.
"He's name is Asterios Bullman."
"...I feel I should know that." Percy narrowed his eyes in thought.
"He is the minotaur." Bianca said, watching his expression with amusement.
There were many different things Percy wanted to say at this sudden revelation. That Bianca should remember that her dad hired a monster, which made sense if Zeus sent one to kill him, or if Hades sent some to kill Thalia—And boy was it weird that he was going with a Daughter of Hades to save a Daughter of Zeus.
He wanted to tell her that she shouldn't trust the minotaur outside of her dad's contract. And many other things, but the one thing that stood above all in his head was.
"The minotaur taught computer science?"
Bianca burst out laughing.
"Yeah, yeah he did." She nodded.
"Why?" He frowned in confusion.
"He said he wanted a hobby. Something new to do with his life, after the last version of him died a hilariously depressing death." Bianca explained.
Percy recalled the myth of the minotaur and wondered if him killing the monster with his own horn really was that traumatic. He supposed if there was a story about someone beating him with say, a wedgie, and some kid he didn't know did that, he would also be depressed.
"So, not feeling bummed out anymore?" Bianca said.
"Huh?" Percy blinked at her.
"You kinda looked sad since we started this quest." She commented.
"NO, no. It's just Annabeth, I'm kinda... worried that we won't see each other for a long time." He found himself saying.
"Well," Bianca scowled, which Percy hoped she didn't have a problem with Annabeth, since she was his best friend besides Grover. "She should be able to leave at any point she wants, as long as she doesn't break her oaths. So if you can become immortal, you two can hang out more again. Also, nothing says you have to stop being friends." She sighed and stood up.
"Err, where are you going?" Percy blinked.
"You don't have a lot of time with Annabeth, right? So you should spend the time you do have together and have fun hanging out." Bianca stepped away from the bench. "Besides, I need to talk to Zoe about some stuff."
Percy looked back to see Bianca head to Zoe and Annabeth sitting together. Grover was sitting at the front of the boat, where Percy left him.
A few moment later, Annabeth came by his side, while Bianca and Zoe sat together.
"Hey, what is this about you needing history lessons on the minotaur?" Annabeth said with that cute frown she always had, when he didn't understand something.
Also.
Why Bianca? Just why? Now Annabeth was gonna lecture him for hours. He still smiled and bore through it.
"So, is the minotaur's name really Asterios?" He asked. "Because it turns out he took a job at Bianca's school last year, and called himself Asterios Bullman."
"Wait, what!?"
Bianca and Zoe sat together with an uncomfortable silence.
"Does thou hate the Hunters so much that you wish to corrupt a newly converted one?" Zoe asked.
"...Did 'convert' mean something else a hundred years ago?" Bianca said, disgruntled.
"Yes. To turn towards the light. In this case, the light of Lady Artemis." She nodded.
"Okay," Bianca held back from rolling her eyes. She took a deep breath before she began. "Zoe, you're old, right? Because of Artemis' granted immortality and all?"
"...Is this the start of an age joke to mock me?"
"No." Bianca deadpanned. "It's me asking to be sure. How long ago did you join the Hunters?"
"More than a milliennia." Zoe said vaguely, but looked surprised at the pleasant gladness she saw in Bianca's eyes.
"Then you are experience in dealing with monsters and dangerous quests to have lived this long, yes?" Bianca asked, eagerly.
"Of course." Zoe nodded, looking confused, yet couldn't help but relax at sensing no hostility from Bianca.
"In that case, should anything happen to me in this quest, it's your job to complete it in my stead, and most importantly, bring back everyone alive." Bianca said.
"What?" Zoe's eyes widened in shock.
Bianca looked away in thought.
"The prophecy all but said someone is likely to die. Despite what I joked about, that Percy is indispensable due to his position as the Child of Prophecy, likewise I don't think we have that same luxury. Some of us will obviously make if fortune is us. Grover as he should only be with us till we reach our destination, then he and Bessie can run back to camp."
"I still can't believe the boy named the Ophiotaurus, Bessie." Zoe sighed and shook her head.
Bianca smiled. "Annabeth should be smart enough to not do anything stupid in battle." She met Zoe's eyes. "That leaves me the most likely candidate to get 'lost in the land without rain'."
"Thou do not know that." Zoe shook her head. "Trying to interpret prophecy or get ahead of them isn't likely to turn out well." She said. "And aren't thee worried I'd abandon the boys, as thou seem to think?" She said. "I do not hate them blindly as thou seem to think. I simply do not expect anything of them. That is the wisdom I've gained in my time with Lady Artemis."
"Zoe, I don't know who it was who hurt you. I do know this thought, they aren't Grover or Percy." Bianca said, before shaking her head. "Regardless, I'm asking you because a leader is one who looks after everyone following them. So," she gave a pointed look. "Can I count on you should the worst happen?"
"...Yes." Zoe finally said, nodding her head.
"Good." Bianca smiled and nodded back.
The two sat quietly together. Zoe looked like she was contemplating something, unsure if she should broach such topic.
"Bianca," she finally spoke. "About the General..."
Before Zoe could say what she wanted, a loud ship whistle sounded out.
The scenery around them slowed so fast, the boat almost tilted.
A giant mist was in front of them in the river they were in, the Colorado River, and suddenly there was a yacht before them.
"What the hell?" Percy shouted as he and Annabeth stood up. Grover fell overboard and Percy brought him back.
The questers looked on with surprise and shock at the sudden boat.
"Bessie's gone!" Percy noticed.
Bianca felt like the quest troubles she expected just arrived.
"Hey!" A gruff voice came from the yacht's deck. The group looked to see a man in a biker jacket and sunglasses.
A man Percy knew very well. As well as he knew that there were fire behind those sunglasses rather than eyeball.
"Ares!" Percy said out loud.
"Jackson." He smirked. "Fancy meeting you all here." Ares chuckled, before pointing with his thumb behind him. "Come on up. We'll give you a ride." He wasn't a request.
"'We'?" Annabeth asked.
"She really wants to meet you." Ares said with a sharp teeth showing grin.
The questers really weren't looking forward to meeting who "she" was.