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First of all I didn't mean to break anything. I really didn't. But when you're a demigod, stuff is just fragile. I think Achilles and Hercules got in trouble for stuff like that before and I did too. Stuff tended to break around me whether that was by accident or on purpose. And let's be perfectly honest, I was good at breaking stuff.

That being said I tried to be careful and not summon storms and earthquakes and stuff just because I was in a bad mood but this wild goose chase was putting me in a bad mood. I know that wasn't a very good excuse but that's what happened.

First the wind gods around Sears tower shot me and Blackjack down. They were assholes who didn't think I should be flying so close to them. Fine. Whatever. But they hurt my friend and that pissed me off.

"You're alright?" I asked Blackjack.

"I'm fine boss. Might take a nap though."

"Rest easy. I'm going to have a look around with Mrs. O'leary and see what we can't scare up."

I left Blackjack behind by the shores of lake michigan. If I whistled for him he'd come but for now I gave a different call and my own shadow rose up. I held out Pandora's pithos to my dog and asked her to track Prometheus. "Think you can find him, girl?"

She gave a bark that sounded like a canon and started sniffing her way down through a park and down the street. I followed close behind. Evidently giant dogs had the right of way in Chicago because cars stopped and people stared but at this point in my life I really couldn't be bothered. The mist would do its thing and that was that. I wasn't sure what they thought they saw, I didn't have the veil over my eyes, not anymore.

My dog sniffed along the street, I couldn't pick up whatever she was laying down and just kinda had to trust she was leading me towards my target. I snorted absently. Listen to me. 'My target.' Like I was some kind of fancy hitman or something and not just a murderer.

I should really go see my mom and tell her I love her. She'd be happy to hear from me and I kind of wanted to talk to her.

Such were my musings. And maybe I'd been in a dark place. I needed the distraction of a mission to help me cope. I'd rather hunt down some member of my family than directly confront my losses. My friends counted on me and I failed them. Annabeth had been counting on me…

I could reach out to Nico and talk to him about Annabeth's shade; at least find out whether she made Elysium. Knowing her I bet she'd choose to be reborn and shoot for the isles of the blessed. She liked to push herself. I just hadn't yet. I wanted to but I didn't really want to.

It was as though that would somehow make it real. I mean it was real but like I was in a dream still. Mrs. O'leary led me to a high green house. Or multiple of them. What? I didn't know anything about plants. She sat and barked once in a way that shook glass.

"He was here then? Or is here currently?" I asked her knowing full well she couldn't answer. She let out a ringing bark.

"Let's do this then. Game face on Jackson," I whispered to myself. There was a charge to go in which I waved my hand and manipulated the mist to bypass. I walked through the conservatory and felt the humidity in the air. There was so much water in the air and I felt powerful. I would realistically only be more powerful underwater. I could sense everyone in the room by the way they displaced the water in the air and by its absence and there were something like two hundred people in the conservatorium. I waved my hand and manipulated the mist. All the people started filing for the exits except one handsome blond man who smiled at me.

I tried to analyze him but couldn't realistically do that. He gestured at me to follow him through the conservatory. I did. I clutched riptide in my pocket. He was taller than me by a couple of inches with chiseled features and bright blue eyes.

"Persues Jackson, the savior of Olympus… tell me… why did you turn down the god's offer of immortality?" He asked gently with a musical voice.

He didn't appear armed but that didn't make him defenseless. I grimaced and thought of Anabeth. "I just couldn't… not with…" Not with her in Hades. "I have things to die for," I finished.

"When my beloved Apollo resurrected me I spent all my free time in heaven with him. When I first died he cursed his immortality and desired to die with me. I understand. In Hades I missed him until he found a way to bring me back as a spirit."

"You're Hyacinthus," I observed. "The spartan prince."

He nodded. "In my youth the wind gods Boreas and Zephyrus pursed me. When I chose Apollo over them Zephyrus killed me. Apollo tried to save me with medicine and ambrosia but I was beyond saving. I died."

"What…" I started and stopped. I pressed on. "What's dying like?"

"It's peaceful, at least under apollo's care I died peacefully. In the heat of battle it may be different but under his care I died peacefully. Imagine being a child and your mother carries you to another room after you've fallen asleep at a dinner party. You can still hear the laughter from your bedroom."

"You're lying to me," I disagreed.

He smiled softly. "Why are you in Chicago, Perseus?"

"I tracked Prometheus here. He escaped his crimes after the war and… it's personal…"

"After everything else we talked about?" He sounded bewildered. I nodded and sighed.

"He threatened some horrific shit on my friends. I want him stopped. He needs to be stopped," I finished.

"I see," he nodded. "In Sparta, in the old days I pursued my enemies with vigor. I was never as attached to people as you seem to be but I had duties to my city. I loved my people in my own way. It's similar."

I frowned and nodded. "Can you tell me anything? Was he here?"

"He was," Hyacinthus informed me. "He actually stole something rather precious from me during his stay. Or had someone steal it." Hyacinthus frowned. We passed a giggling dryad. I smiled at her and she flushed green and vanished into the foliage.

Hyacinthus sat at a bench and motioned for me to join him.

"What did he steal?" I pressed him for information.

"A cloak, a cloak of winds and sunshine," Hyacinthus answered. "My cloak actually."

I racked my brain for cloaks he could be talking about. Chiron spent a lot of time drilling myths into my head because they could save my life but to be honest there were so many.

"Why?"

"A trade for safe passage through Boreas' domain," Hyacinthus shrugged. "Boreas has long desired it both out of love for me and due to its personal value."

"He still loves you?" I started, surprised.

Hyacinthus grimaced. "Love isn't something time takes from you. The heart wants what it wants. A part of growing up is realizing Eros and Aphrodite are more terrifying than Aries and Phobos."

I had reached similar conclusions actually. Aphrodite in her ever shifting and hypnotizing form had paralyzed me when I first got close to her. And Annabeth… well. That wound was still fresh and it was like lemon in the cut.

Maybe I'd meet someone else and move on but I doubted it. Even in heaven there weren't people like Annabeth.

"Do you regret it?" I asked Hyacinthus. "Being whatever you are to Apollo?"

"No. Not for a moment," he gave me his warmest smile. "I would appreciate it if you could return my cloak to me. I know that isn't usually how demigods operate…"

"It's how I operate," I thought of Anaklusmos and Zoe. "I'll get it back to you if I can. Is there anything else you can tell me?"

"There is a powerful wizard who lives here in Chicago. A mortal with incredible power and allies. You should be wary of him. He tries to do the right thing but he can be extreme. I've never conflicted with him myself but I am essentially retired. My days of fighting are over."

I raised an eyebrow. A mortal? With power? Was he clear sighted like Rachel or something more? Not that Rachel wasn't more, she was Apollo's oracle.

"Thanks. I'll keep that in mind. Do you know where Prometheus went from here?"

"The World Market building." Hyacinthus nodded. "At least that's where he said he was going."

I raised an eyebrow at that and felt something suspicious rise up. Hyacinthus wasn't telling me the whole story.

But that was nothing new. Gods and spirits were assholes. I guess I'd been hoping that because Hyacinthus had been mortal once he'd be an exception. I was surprised by my lack of surprise.

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The world market building was big enough that it had its own zip code, or at least it used to. I walked in and encountered several murals which were fairly colorful and statues. The murals were bright enough that I thought Rachel would appreciate them.

To be honest I wasn't sure what I was looking for. The noose was closing on Prometheus but not quickly enough. If he bought safety among the boreans who knows if I'd ever catch him. I thought the wind gods were on Zeus's side since they defended Olympus during the war but wind spirits were fickle. Prometheus must be desperate to go to them for help. Good.

Desperate people made impulsive actions and I could maybe trap him.

I had my head on a swivel as I made my way to the arts center. Some nymph in disguise was working the desk. She looked up as I approached.

"Hello," she greeted me when I stopped in front of her. "What can I do for you?"

"My name is Percy," I informed her and she did a double take.

"You shouldn't be here…" she whined.

"Why not? Are you in trouble? Do you need help?"

She shook her head. "I work here but any time someone like you shows up its always bad news."

I couldn't exactly argue with that. "Have you seen anyone suspicious?" I asked her.

"Besides you?" She wondered. I nodded. "A man with lots of scars saw my mistress yesterday. He just walked right in without an appointment."

"Who is your mistress?" She shook her head.

"Leave. Get out," she snapped.

"I need to talk to your mistress. We can do this the easy way or the hard way."

She pressed a panic button. I let her. Guards, wind spirits, swept into the lobby. They were armed with spears of lightning and guns and tasers.

"Stand down boy!" One shouted. I yelled and a storm burst from my flesh. They were all swept aside. One threw a lightning bolt at me and I deflected it off my sword. At the touch of celestial bronze the spirit cried and dissolved. I crushed one with a wave of my hand and cut another in half. There was a fountain in the corner and the water splashed out of the pool and into the air. I hit one like a truck and he simply flattened under the sudden pressure. When I was done the room was a mess and I was left with the nymph.

She was calling someone frantically. I paced up to her desk and set one palm on it. "Now, lets talk about your mistress."

The door behind her burst open. A kind of harpy stalked out. She hissed at us. Her form didn't bely her voice which was soft a melodic.

"What are you people doing to my lobby?!" She demanded with a voice that almost made me sway on my feet. I grounded myself with the water and refocused.

"Miss Aello…" the nymph whimpered. "It's his fault…"

I racked my brain and tried to think of people named Aello. She was clearly a harpy of some kind with bird wings and sharp talons. I came up blank.

I smiled at her. "Miss Aello, do you have a moment to discuss Prometheus?" I asked pleasantly.

"Demigod scum!" She roared. I was covered in water and she still managed to surprise me with her speed. She swept at me and her claws raked at my flesh but bounced right off. She roared in agitation and with a gesture slammed me into the wall of the lobby. I hated to destroy what looked fine art but I made the plumbing burst and in a wave I rushed her down. She met me and the shockwave of our clash sent waves of wind coursing through the room and across the surface of the water. I sliced at her and she blocked me with a claw. She took flight and slammed me all the way to a glass window overlooking the atrium.

With a gesture she shattered the glass and reversed it at me. I blew it away and tackled her out the shattered window. She tried to claw me as we fell but I was impervious. I stabbed her through the chest as we landed in the atrium in a mess of glass. She dissolved there and I sighed. One of my leads had just dried up. I held out a hand and did my best taxi whistle. Mrs. O'leary swept me away from my own shadow.

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-WG