DEUS EX MACHINA | PERCY JACKSON

My Knight in Shining Armour, Literally

After a few more hours in the car, the sextet arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the place Ares hid his mothers scepter.

"A cruel joke he played on me, hiding my mothers scepter in the place my brother and I were born." Seph scowled.

"It took Rose and I traveling all across the world for three years just to discover it was hidden right under our noses. What a waste." She shook her head.

"At least we had some good times together though, didn't we?" Rose smiled and grabbed Sephs arm. Seph couldn't help but smile.
"We did."

"Where did he hide the scepter anyways?" Grover asked.

"It was hidden here, at the top of The Philadelphia Museum of Art. There is a replica of the pediment sculptures of the temple of Zeus at Olympia, it was placed in the hand of the Zeus statue. An obvious insult to my mother." Seph said as she climbed the stairs and pointed up to the top of the building.

There sat statues that represented the Gods, Zeus in the middle, Demeter to his left and Aphrodite on his right.

"Dickhead." Clarisse grumbled.

They continued to climb the stairs before entering the front doors of the museum. "Check for any sign of him inside, Rose and Clarisse, search the first floor, Grover and Annabeth, you take the second. Perseus, you're with me." She said before B-lining for the stairs.

He jogged after her before catching up. "You know this place pretty well." Percy commented.

"My father used to bring Leo and I to Philly for our birthday every year." She explained. He nodded as he gazed up at the paintings residing on the walls of the stair case.

"When is your birthday?" He asked. She went quiet.

"Leo was born on August 22nd, 11:59 pm. I was born however, August 23rd at 12:01 am." She explained, she hated her birthday since Leo had died.

"Wow, twins born on two different days, you don't see that a lot." He exclaimed. "You don't see twins being born as different Zodiac signs either, we are right on the cusp. Leo was born to Leo, of course, and I was born as a Virgo." She explained, Percy opened his mouth to ask more questions but Sephs stopped him.

"I don't want to talk about this anymore." Seph stated before picking up her pace as she climbed the stairs. They arrived at the top floor of the museum. No one was up there besides them.

"Okay, creepy." Percy said. "Something is wrong." She proclaimed as she glanced around the room.

"Perseus, move!" She called. He ducked before a flying spear from the Arms and Armor section shot towards them. Seph held her hand up and the sword stopped in its tracks, before falling and clattering against the floor.

"You have telekinesis?" He asked. "Doesn't everyone?" She responded. They watched as empty suits of armor began marching towards them.

"Ares knew we were coming, he cursed the suits." Seph gasped as she grabbed Percy's hand, pulling him up to follow her. They ran through the hallways of the third floor before finding a closet. They opened it and locked themselves inside.

It was dark, and very small, most likely a broom closet for the janitors. Percy held the door handle from moving and Seph stood behind him.

"I can't see anything." Percy whispered. In her palm, Seph held up a ball of glowing light. And moved it around the small room.

"Its a closet full of old exhibit displays. Here hold this." She gave him the orb of glowing energy, before rummaging around the artifacts inside.

"We don't have all day, Seph." He muttered. "I'm looking for something, hush." She whispered back.

"I knew it!" Seraphina pulled out a golden breast plate and matching helm. She threw Percy the golden helmet and she began putting on the breast plate.

"One year, my father brought us here for our birthday to see the exhibit of Hera. We never knew why, but it makes sense now. Here are some of her old armor pieces that they stowed away." She explained before materializing her twin swords in her hands.

"You gotta teach me how to pull my sword out of thin air when we're out of here!" Percy said before opening the door and uncapping Riptide.

He kicked suit of armor square in the chest as it fell backwards. The pieces spilled across the floor in different directions. They began making a pathway from the closet to the main room of the top floor. Seph struck her blades together causing white flame to erupt on the floor and followed a few of the empty soldiers before they fell apart under the heat.

She swung d'état in her left hand, removing a helmet from the full body before it fell over in its entirety.

Percy had tripped a few as they fell to the floor and shattered. The last one stomped towards Seraphina, she readied her weapon. Before she could strike Percy had slain it from behind. The two heaved.

"You don't have to protect me, I'm very much capable of defending myself. I had that one under control." She snapped.

"Just say thank you!" Percy huffed, and she frowned.

"Thank you for stealing my thunder." She said, walking away. "Where are you going?" He called after her.

Seph walked into the room of Arms and Amours displays, searching for any clues. A banner that hung from the ceiling read, Medival Suits of Armour, Newest Exhibit! 6/21-7/24.

"Perseus look!" She pointed up. "This is a new exhibit, so Ares must have put the curse on these recently." She explained. She searched around more before finding a few boxes full of more helmets, weapons and chainmail in the corner. She crouched to read the inscription. The box was labeled, To: Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pennsylvania, Sent from: Frist Art Museum, Tennessee.

"Ares wouldn't dare step inside here, it would be too risky for him to come anywhere close to where he hid my mothers scepter. But he knew we would come here. He must have cursed the suits in Tennessee before they shipped!" Seph exclaimed as Percy helped her stand.

"Then what are we waiting for, let's go find the bastard." Percy smirked.

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A/n

Sorry for the shortish chapter but it gives us a segway to really dive into the storyline. Hope you enjoy reading!

Xx

RCP