The last minute task clearly put Percy in one of his bad moods, especially since he discovered that they wanted to celebrate the son of Jupiter's return without his presence to destroy the ambience and the joy of him returning.
Despite the return of his quest, he barely had made enough bonds with other legionnaires. He only had Praetor Jess, Reyna and Frank by his side.
Percy stepped out of his taxi in front of the Amazon headquarters. He curiously looked around, wondering what Mack had meant with that they'll accept a fight from him. He had sent mail before, it wasn't that difficult.
He stepped into the office and the air changed almost immediately, the girl behind the desk noticed immediately and eyed Percy's mail, "You're different than the usual carrier." She had a sadistic grin on her face, "Inexperienced too, aren't you?"
"Inexperienced?" He questioned as he followed her to the backdoor of the office. The scenery changed around him, from the modern office, it changed into a medieval cellar type.
"Normally they send a centurion, but you're barely a legionnaire aren't you?" The girl chuckled and pushed open what looked like a heavy door. "We haven't had any visitors in a while so we'll see what we are going to do with you." She hummed happily and Percy felt the great discomfort creep into him.
Percy was led to a dungeon of sorts and the mail was taken from him by a man in an orange jumpsuit. "You guys have prisoners?"
"We have boyfriends," The girl smiled, "Unlike those Hunters of Artemis." There seemed to be a sort of dislike towards the group of Huntresses, the gut feeling was feeling stronger and stronger, especially because Lady Lupa spoke so fondly of the huntresses.
He squeezed his empty hands, he didn't know what to do now that the mail was taken from his hands. He couldn't walk with his hands in his pockets otherwise he won't be able to defend himself if he would get attacked out of nowhere.
He relaxed his hand and saw the color return to his palm. The downstairs was something right out of a Dungeons and Dragons nerd's dream. The torches were lit and light was sucked out of the room, only the warm hue of the light encased the room.
Hestia wasn't there with him, he'd know, he'd feel her comfort. The thoughts of comfort ran around his head and suddenly the ache for his mother spiked. He just wanted his mom. Her cookies and her smile when she sees him after she opens the door.
His head snapped up in the matter of a second as a loud cracking noise sounded, "You should bow before the queen, or not, I'm fine with watching the consequences." The girl who guided him downstairs said, an innocent smile that filled with malice as she looked up at him from the ground.
Perseus dropped down a knee and looked at the ground until a smooth voice sounded, "What do we have here?" She hummed and he heard the clicking noise of a boot walk closer and closer. He'd recognize the sound of a military booth, he'd have to by now, especially after hiding under his blankets, hiding his laughter from the supervisor at the military school.
"Does this fresh meat know of the mail carrier initiation?" Percy looked at the shadow of the woman and saw her tilt her head at him. He could feel the warmth radiate off of her, the mischievous body language and he knew whose child she is.
"We made haste to get down here." Percy was getting more and more confused, the more confused he felt the more it started to look like a trap made by Mack, maybe it was the person who was behind Ares' acting out against Zeus.
"Look up fresh meat," The voice distorted to a more authoritative tone. Percy looked up to meet her gaze, "You were sent by who?" Her head tilted to the right as she questioned, "Mack, or Jess?"
"Mack sent me." Percy stated as he didn't blink and held her gaze.
"That's a pity." She hummed and stood back up straight, "If Jess had sent you, she would have saved you from harm." Percy's mouth dried and he tried to stutter out a reply to what she said.
They might know one another, he realized, no-one can have a dislike towards Mack without knowing him. He was the typical Roman politician, charming and promising until you learn how he thinks. "I'm Blue." Percy blurted out.
The woman's eyes turned sharp and all of the workers stopped to look over at them, each one of them holding their breath. "Are you feeling blue about your destiny?"
Gods, Percy was hoping that Jess would have talked about her past in New York with other demigods. All Percy could do was slowly shake his head 'no'. "Jess is my babysitter." He blurted out, a few snickers sounded throughout the room. "She used to be," He said, "She's my mentor now."
The woman held up a hand and closed it, the laughing died down immediately. Her eyes softened and she let out a small smile. "You're the Blue kid?" She questioned, "The one that gave her the excuse to get out of her apartment."
Percy managed to reciprocate the smile after slowing his heart down. "She helped me as well." He said softly.
The woman gave the others around her a strict look and work resumed just like it had before. The girl who had led him into the basement dispersed along with her boyfriend or prisoner and Percy went up to his full height, hesitantly. "I'm hoping that I don't have to participate in your initiation." He said, trying to crack a joke.
"Not when you're Jess' kid." The woman said and smiled. She held out her hand to her, "Riley Para." She introduced herself. "I used to be in the same cohort as Jess before I got recruited to the Amazons." She began walking and Percy followed after her.
"You know, we are sworn to secrecy, same as the Huntresses." She said and looked at Percy expectantly.
Percy's mouth dried up again, he wanted to deny everything because he knew what she was talking about and all she wanted was confirmation that it is all true. "If you force an answer out of the child, the river Styx herself might drag him into the depths of her rivers of hatred." A voice said, the power simmering beneath the surface.
The way Riley dropped down to her knees at an instant made Percy follow as well. He recognized the traits of a god or goddess. The overwhelming need to fall in line and to listen and beg.
"Perseus Jackson." She stated.
Percy looked down at the ground, the pale eyes of the goddess still staring at him, almost looking through him. "I've got an errand for you to run, a fast one before you go ahead with my bastard son's problem that he created on his own."
Realization kicked in for Percy, the power and the location, the Amazons known for their patron goddess being Hera, or Juno. "Yes Lady Juno." He said loudly, as if replying to his drill sergeant.
"Go to the Garden of Hesperides and take the youngest on a walk out. Let her come back to her home with a scratch that does not belong and it will be the end of your life." She threatened slowly, clearly holding care for the residents of the garden. "You'll then follow the oldest of their requests regarding taking care of the area."
Percy just verbally made sure to let Lady Juno know that he is listening, latching onto every word she was saying. While he had no choice in the matter, he was still eager to get out of the dungeon regardless of the Amazonian queen taking a liking towards him for being Jess' apprentice.
When the bright light came, Percy and Riley stood back up to their full height, the queen looked over at Percy, a bit wary now. "What did you do to get yourself in this trouble, Blue?" She asked, momentarily, Percy felt comfort at hearing the sound of his nickname, just up until he heard her question.
"You know why I am in this situation." He said softly, hoping that she'll take the hint towards her earlier question regarding the validity or credibility of his origin. "A forbidden child doesn't sound all that new in camp." He said.
Riley put a hand on his shoulder and just rubbed it, "You could always come and work here." She offered, he laughed under his breath, hoping that he didn't offend her. He looked up at her to see her understanding smile.
"Duty is a weird thing, isn't it?" She hummed.
All Percy could do was agree with her. Duty was indeed a weird thing, why was he, barely started his puberty having to shoulder the responsibility of the gods, of the whole errands. He's just a kid and he has to remind himself of it before he starts to lose track of who he is.
But for as long as he is Perseus Jackson, he will be the errand kid of the gods and goddesses, he will be the bastard that managed to befriend the crown prince of his father's land.
For as long as he is Perseus Jackson, he will be a mere puppet between the strings of fate. So yes, he gave Riley a smile and reassured the older girl that he is fine, that he'll have to listen to live and that he has to know where the exit and the Garden is.
Riley knows off of duty, she is a former camper of Camp Jupiter, where duty is a born trait. She is the queen of a ferocious group of women and girls and she is the owner of a huge business. Riley knows what duty is, so she shows Percy the exit and gives him a gift card from Amazon along with a lunch box.
Percy promises that he'll visit again, he doesn't say that he hopes that Riley will see him grow up, because his fate is unknown to him and only known to the Fates. He steps out with an empty promise.
Riley's heart just warms up at the hope that the kid held, because she knows that the gods are cruel, regardless if you are their child. The gods are cruel and they're their spawn. She waves goodbye and hopes that she did well in helping Jess' apprentice the best she can.
Fate isn't a thing they can control. Everyone knows it.