Project Percy (Kotlc Meets Percy Jackson)

Chapter 16

Percy spent the first twenty minutes of being awake just trying to pick an outfit. Eventually he settled on a blue-green tunic and brown pants, the simplest items in the closet. When he got downstairs, he saw Poseidon and Sally finishing up breakfast. Poseidon moved the scrolls he was reading to make room

"Morning," Sally said. "Breakfast?" Her voice sounded tired, and the shadows around her eyes were so dark they looked like bruises. At Percy's nod she handed him a bowl of blue glop. Each bite tasted like warm, buttery banana bread, and Percy was tempted to ask for seconds.

He didn't know how to talk to them, so he stared at Poseidon's scrolls. The sloppy handwriting was impossible to read upside down, but he did notice a symbol in the corner: a hooked bird's neck, with the beak pointing down. The image tickled his mind, like he should know what it meant, but he couldn't find the memory it belonged to.

Poseidon caught him looking and rolled them up, "Boring stuff from a long time ago." He said it with a smile, but it was obvious he didn't want him seeing the scrolls, which only made him more curious. Especially when he spotted a line of runes running along the bottom, and this time they made sense.

"Project Moonlark," he read.

"You can read that?" Poseidon asked.

Percy nodded. "Usually I can't, but this time I could. What's Project Moonlark?"

Poseidon's mouth tightened. "Nothing you need to worry about."

But Athena had said the word he used to babble as a baby meant 'moonlark.' That couldn't be a coincidence.

Poseidon sighed and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. It's just, these are extremely classified documents, and those are cipher runes. No one is supposed to be able to read them unless they've been taught the key."

"Why can I read it, then?"

"I have no idea." He shared a look with Sally. "Maybe the way the humans taught you to read, or write, made your mind see things a little different."

That was the same excuse Athena had given for why he couldn't read normal runes. It wasn't particularly believable, but he couldn't think of any other explanations. He was pretty sure he'd remember being taught cipher runes.

"If you're ready to go, we need to pick up some devices," Sally interrupted. "A treasury cube, an Imparter, a registry pendant..." She trailed off.

Poseidon nodded. "Say hi to Hephaestus and Esperanza for me."

Sally groaned. "This is going to be interesting."

Percy glanced at Poseidon, and he gave Percy a small smile. Then Sally took his hand and they glittered away.

They leaped to an island called Mysterium. Small, identical buildings lined the narrow streets like they'd been cut from a mold. Street vendors filled the air with the scent of spices and sweets, and conversation buzzed around the crowded sidewalks. Sally's gown stood out among the simple tunics and pants of the other elves.

"Why isn't there as much crystal?" Percy asked.

"Mysterium is a working-class city."

"Oh. But wait. Doesn't everyone get the same amount of money in their birth fund?"

Sally nodded. "Money has nothing to do with social rank. Our world is 'talent based.' Those with simpler abilities work simpler jobs."

"Seems kind of unfair," Percy muttered. "You can't control how much talent you're born with. Why should you live a lesser life?"