A STORM IS BREWING | PERCY JACKSON

Chapter Three

"I've never seen anything like it," Will commented after he finished examining Thalia and Percy's hands. "It's like your hands are stuck together but there's no visible adhesive that I can see."

They had been stuck together for almost forty-five minutes and Thalia had become impatient. "Can you fix it? Because I'm willing to chop a hand off."

"You'd be willing it to live without your hand?" Percy asked rhetorically, eyebrows raised.

"It wouldn't be my hand that I'm chopping off," Thalia muttered darkly, glaring at their intertwined hands.

Percy audibly gulped and turned to Will. "You can fix it, right?"

"I wouldn't know where to start," Will admitted. "My dad would know. You could probably head to Olympus and ask him. After everything, I doubt he would refuse to help."

"Yeah, because we can just walk into Olympus and demand that Apollo help us," Nico said sarcastically. Will raised an eyebrow at him and he started to blush. "Sorry," he muttered, ducking his head down.

"I would at least try," Will suggested. "Unless you want to be stuck like that?"

"We're going," Thalia and Percy said in unison.

***

The trio walked into the Empire State building. The sun had set over an hour ago so there was no one in the lobby beside a janitor in the corner and the receptionist sitting behind the desk with his feet propped up, reading a newspaper.

They approached the desk drawing the man's attention. He took his feet off of the desk and and raised an eyebrow at them. They made for an odd group. Nico was walking in front of Thalia and Percy who awkwardly had their arms crossed due to their interlocked hands. Thalia was glaring at Percy every few seconds while he made funny faces at her.

"Six hundredth floor, please," Nico asked, holding out his hand expectantly.

The man raised his other eyebrow before picking up his newspaper. He didn't look at them when he said, "Ain't no such thing kid, get lost."

Thalia shouldered past Nico, pulling Percy with along with her. "Do you know who I am?" she asked, annoyed. She didn't give the man time to respond as she leaned in closer, glaring at him. "My name is Thalia, Daughter of Zeus and ex-lieutenant of Artemis. These two are my cousins Percy Jackson, Son of Poseidon and Nico di Angelo, Son of Hades. So you better give me the keys or I will kick your-"

"I think he gets it, Thals," Percy cut in, taking pity on the trembling guard.

The man fumbled for the keys as he pulled them out of his pocket. He thrust his hand out and Thalia snatched the keys from them with her free hand before walking towards the elevator, head held high.

They rode the elevator up to Olympus in comfortable silence, disregarding the horrible songs playing. After five minutes the elevator dinged and the trio stepped out, admiring the grandeur of the place for a moment. Thalia started leading the way towards the area of personal temples and altars in a private section of the gardens. As they walked, nymphs, satyrs, and various minor gods watched them pass, whispered conversations following them.

Apollo's temple looked like every object and surface had been touched by Midas. The walls were solid gold and glowed softly. There was an ornate, three-tiered fountain in front of the temple, with a lyre statue at the top. There were four braziers placed in the corners of the temple with a larger brazier in the direct center of the temple. Thalia marched into the middle of the temple and shut her eyes.

Nico and Percy watched her for a minute, unsure of what she was doing. They didn't have to wait for long; Thalia opened her eyes and a satisfied smirk settled across her face. A moment later there was a bright flash from outside and the three teens instinctively looked away. Once the light faded, they looked outside to see Apollo's sun chariot, transformed into a convertible, in front of the temple.