If you didn't see my update on my profile (quick reminder that I post updates for delays on my profile and you should check it once in a while), this would have been out last week but I was terribly sick. Because of that this is coming out today instead of on Thursdays as usual. As stated on the last chapter, I will be next updating To Become A Dragon for the next two chapter updates. See you all there and thank you for reading.
Having gotten all three targets, the trio left Hermes' Depot. Percy looked at Kratos, the god had not said anything since abruptly leaving, the head had given Percy a look of apology. It seemed Mimir was as much in the dark about Kratos as they were. Percy didn't exactly know how to start the conversation, and gave a look to Clarisse for help. She shrugged, she didn't know what to do either.
"We start with Medusa," Kratos started, he turned back to the two demi-gods, "The Gorgon Queen is a formidable foe, but one I have beaten before."
"Same," Percy said, "It was a little rough but me and my friends pulled through."
Clarisse snorted, "You almost got yourselves turned to stone,"
Percy gave her a disapproving look but did not retort because she was not wrong, he had let his guard down for a moment and that almost cost them their lives.
"So, Lady Artemis, we supposed to see her about this?" Clarisse asked.
Percy looked down to the business card he was handed from Hermes, "Iris Emergency Line," He read aloud, "For your urgent calls, tear the card in two and speak the name you wish to connect with."
"Well, if that isn't helpful," Mimir quipped.
Percy took the business card in two hands and ripped the tear, immediately a rainbow arch formed in front of him and a voice spoke, "Thank you for using the Iris Emergency Line business card, this line is exclusively made for Premium Cloud tier members like you!" The voice of the goddess Iris happily rang through the air.
"Please say the name of the god, demi-god, mortal, monster, or otherwise sentient being to be connected with." Iris' voice waited for an answer.
"Lady Artemis," Percy requested.
"...You would like to reach Lady Artemis, correct?"
"I hate automated calls," Clarisse mumbled.
"Yes." Percy answered.
"...Wonderful, I will connect you to Lady Artemis. As a Premium Cloud tier member, this call is private and will not be recorded." There was silence for a moment, almost as if the phone was ringing but no one had yet answered.
The rainbow arch parsed in half, showing an image of a young girl, "This is Thalia Grace answering for Lady Artemis, who am I speaking with?" The bored/annoyed voice of the daughter of Zeus spoke up. She sat in a tent with a matching expression slouched over a desk.
"Thalia, is that you?" Clarisse asked.
The once bored looking Thalia perked up, "Oh Percy, thank the gods, I was soooo bored. What's up?"
"Where's Lady Artemis?" Percy asked as he looked around Thalia, there was no one in the tent besides her.
Thalia leaned back in her chair and groaned, "She's on a hunt with the rest of the Hunters, they should be back in a couple hours. Usually when she's out her calls come to me, like I'm her secretary." Her tone was spiteful, "Why, what do you need?"
"We require her skills," Kratos said.
Thalia turned to the god of war and looked him up and down, news of his appearance obviously had reached her ears and she now was given an opportunity to see a relative she did not know about.
"Well if you want her you're gonna have to come speak to her, that fine with you?" Thalia asked.
"Yeah, that's fine," Percy answered, "Where are you exactly?"
"Washington D.C., we'll be staying here a couple days so don't worry about missing us. I'll let Lady Artemis know you're coming too, I'm sure she will extend our stay if you're late."
"Thanks, if our luck is consistent we might need it." The cousins waved each other goodbye as the Iris message dissipated.
"Great, we have our destination, now we need a ride to Washington. You got a car yet Jackson?' Clarisse asked.
"Yeah but it's at my moms place. Gotta go pick it up." Percy pointed his thumb behind him.
"Any opportunity to see Sally," Clarisse shrugged and started walking.
"I don't like how you're on a first name basis with my mom." Percy followed after her.
Kratos followed wordlessly behind the two demi-gods, with enough distance between them now allowing a private talk. "Do you want to discuss what happened back there, brother?" Mimir asked.
"No."
Mimir sighed, "You have confided in me all that you have done, and I promised in good faith that I will give you sound advice whenever you need it. I can't do that if you don't talk to me."
Kratos did not speak, for a while Mimir thought that was where the conversation ended. "The target was the protector of Pandora's Box," Kratos started, "When I last saw her, she sacrificed herself to give hope to the world. She was a pawn in a game played by the gods, she deserved better."
Mimir silently nodded, as well as he could being as he was simply a head with no body. He remembered when Kratos told him of the girl, she was an innocent girl who was the key to Kratos' revenge but it would mean ending her life. She also slipped into a sort of surrogate daughter role for Kratos, a fact that he did not relent until a few hours of poking and prodding.
"Opening old wounds is not easy, and these last few days have definitely not been kind to you on that front." Kratos did not respond, "If you need to talk, you know where to find me."
It didn't take much longer until the trio reached Percy's home, it was a small abode but away from the crowded city and into a smaller and more quiet area.
"Small place," Clarisse said as they passed by another house.
"Maybe, but it's home. At least until me and Annabeth move out west. Plus it makes mom and Paul happy, and with the baby on the way…" Percy shrugged, "We make do."
"I hope we aren't intruding lad," Mimir spoke up.
"Nah, it's okay," Percy waved his hand, "Mom loves having guests over, means she can cook something special."
"Trust me," Clarisse followed up, "Mrs. Jackson's cooking is to die for."
Percy was the first to reach the door and knock, "I'm back!" He called out as he opened the door.
As the trio entered, Kratos could smell something sweet in the air. He hadn't smelt anything quite like it before, even ambrosia didn't compare to this. "I'm in the kitchen," The voice of an older woman responded.
"Just a heads up, I have company." Percy turned from the foyer to a dining hall and through that into a kitchen.
Standing in front of an oven with a blue apron and a very obviously large belly was a woman that was likely Mrs. Jackson. She pulled a sheet of metal from the oven and set it down on a marble countertop. "Hey I didn't expect you back so-" She turned to Percy to see her guests.
Her view stopped at Kratos, she was stunned for a moment, not quite sure how to respond to his presence, "Soon." She finished.
"Heya Mrs. Jackson, sorry for dropping by unannounced," Clarisse apologized.
The sea demi-god's mother simply shook her head, "It's no problem, and it's Mrs. Blofis now Clarisse." She extended her left hand to show a ring on her finger.
"That's new," Percy pointed out.
"Paul bought us a matching set after our anniversary a few months ago." She told him, her eyes moved away from her son to Kratos standing behind them, "Ah, where are my manors, Percy won't you introduce us?"
Percy looked up from the ring on his mothers hand back to Kratos, "Oh right, sorry. Mom, this is Kratos, he's a god of war. Kratos, this is my mom. Oh and Mimir."
"Mimir?"
"That would be me!" Kratos pulled the head from his place on his belt and presented him to the room, "A pleasure to meet you ma'am, I apologize for my quite unsightly appearance. I promise I won't dirty anything up. And might I say your cooking smells delicious."
Sally laughed, "Well, you wouldn't be the first unsevered head in my home. But you're certainly the first that could talk."
She guided everyone to the table where she set down a plate of cookies, all of them strangely colored blue. Percy took straight to eating a few of them, Clarisse also didn't bother to hesitate. "So Percy, why are you here? You should be at camp, no?"
"Well I…" He spoke as he ate another cookie, pausing to swallow, "I was, but then things happened."
Percy caught his mother up to speed, explaining how Annabeth had contacted him one day speaking about a young demi-god and goddess she was guiding but then disappeared, how Kratos had come to camp searching for his kid who just so happened to sound like the boy Annabeth had described, and how he and Clarisse opted to help him in his search for his son.
"Now that we spoke with Hermes, he wants us to take down a few stragglers from the Giant War. And for that, we need to borrow the car." Percy told her, "I was kinda hoping Paul would be here."
Sally didn't immediately speak, processing what she just learned, "Who are the monsters Hermes sent you to find?"
"We got Medusa, Echidna, and a minotaur," Clarisse told her, "A pretty stacked list of 'Who's who' of monsters."
"Doesn't sound easy, but we have Kratos with us, certified god strength to back us up." Percy motioned to Kratos, who had remained mostly quiet.
"Do you agree?" Sally asked.
Kratos had done a familiarity with most of their targets and had done a basic breakdown. They were strong, to say the least, each were infamous for their strength, guile, or ferocity.
"They will not be easy," Kratos started, "The first is Medusa, Queen of the Gorgons, I faced her once before many years ago. She had ambushed me, cornered me into a small room, trying to coax me to look at her."
"Me and my friends walked into it, she disguised herself as a nice old lady with a bunch of statues." Percy added, "But then I cut her head off and my mom used it to turn her last husband to stone."
Kratos nodded, "Then you know her ways, fighting her is difficult when you could not look at her, no doubt she will have a grudge against you after slaying her. That will make her even more motivated. She will be eager for revenge, but our collective knowledge against her will be more than sufficient."
Percy nodded, "It won't be a cakewalk, but when is anything that easy?"
"Alright, what about Echidna?" Sally asked.
"I have not battled Echidna, so I cannot say" Kratos deferred to the closest person of expertise, Clarisse.
"Probably the toughest one on the list," She claimed, "Echidna isn't called the 'Mother of All Monsters' for no reason, I already told them it took about a handful of my guys to bring her down during the Battle of Manhattan. She's not going down without a fight, I'm kinda looking forward to it" Clarisse cracked her knuckles to emphasize the fact.
Kratos suspected it was less the battle the daughter of war was looking forward to, but the approval of Ares. He couldn't say for certain if that was it, but he had a sneaking suspicion.
"Echidna has had centuries of experience, our lack of experience with her will also hinder us." Kratos concluded.
"There's also the fact that she's not hiding at all, she's being pretty open about her location. She's going to be ready for a fight." Percy added.
"Ok, what about this minotaur?" Sally asked.
Percy and Clarisse looked to Kratos, as he was the one most familiar with it. "He is large."
"That's it?" Clarisse asked.
"Last I saw he was gifted armor from Hephaestus, I do not know what has become of him." It was true, Kratos was unsure what state he would find the guardian in. If the guardian was sent to Tartarus it must have had its gear taken from it. Whatever the case may be, he did not have the answers the demi-gods were looking for.
"Well, at least we have some information," Percy rubbed the back of his neck.
"It'll all work out lad," Mimir piped up.
At that moment, the door to the house clicked and a man walked in, "Hey Sally I'm ho-" The man turned the corner to the scene in the dining room, "Uh, am I walking into a private conversation?"
Percy stood up and walked up to the man, "Hey Paul, glad to see you. You mind if I borrow the car?"
Paul looked at the dining room and back to Percy, "Are you on a quest?"
The son of Poseidon simply shrugged, "Just doing a favor, you don't mind if we take it do you?"
"We'll take great care of it, on my honor!" Mimir claimed.
Paul was speechless for a moment, "Is that a talking Magic 8 ball?" He pointed to Mimir.
Kratos looked to Clarisse, who also shrugged, "Mortals see whatever makes sense for them."
"Come on Paul," Percy guided the mortal man away from the dining room, "Let's talk about that car, I promise there won't be any horse prints on it this time."