We Both Walk Among the Dead: A Percy Jackson Fanfiction

Ch. 17 :)

Ok here it is, sorry about taking so long to write it! Things are starting to come to the end, the next couple of chapters will be very drama-packed :) Enjoy :)

            The line inside Starbucks was insanely packed, but sitting at the corner with a god had its advantages. After settling into the hard wooden seat, and taking off his glasses to wipe them, Caerus had waved his hand, making a load of steaming drinks appear from nothing. The twins grabbed the two expressos on the table, and started chugging them down immediately, stopping only to choke on some when Ree elbowed them harshly. They turned and gave a theatrical ‘thank-you’ to Caerus, who smiled like he was their uncle and waved off their gratefulness. I thanked Caerus as well before grabbing a hot chocolate, the only one on the table. He winked at me like he knew I preferred the drink over any coffee, since caffeine would only make me crash later and was therefore a harmful substance. I smiled back at him, before catching a glimpse of Caleb’s face, blank but a little hostile towards the cheerful old god.

            I frowned, getting ready to snarl at him lowly to be nice, but he moved to look at Al at the last moment. The movement caused the hoodie haphazardly thrown over his shoulders to slide slightly, revealing a dark bruise-like circle on his neck. I felt my breath hitch in while the temperature in my face went up 30 degrees; turning so I was facing Caerus, I tried to ignore the blatantly revealed hickey on Caleb’s neck, and blink away flashbacks of us on the bed.

            Lips still feeling swollen, I took a sip of the hot chocolate, letting the rich taste flood my mouth and erase the taste of somebody else’s before swallowing and asking brusquely, “So you know, then? How many Underworld gods have had children?”

            Caerus, bald head gleaming and reminding me of a turtle for some reason, nodded and slurped his double-frachemo-caramel-mocha-thing. He took off his circular glasses, wiping them while he answered me seriously over the chatter of the store, “Why, every god or goddess in the Underworld has had a child in some point of time; but that was quite a while ago, when opportunities were more inconspicuous.”

            “But still, what about the gods and goddess that have had children within the last generation?” Ree spoke up, sipping her French vanilla after she spoke.

            The god before us, forever polishing his glasses on his crisp white blouse, squinted at her, then replaced his glasses and blinked his magnified brown-yellow eyes. “Oh, in the last generation?” he exclaimed, before sitting back with a thoughtful expression, “Hmm, let me see…well, there were the three Hades children…yes…then the Titaness…Nyx asked me…but I believe I refused her…oh!”

            At the ‘oh’, we all lunged forward, making Caerus jump and spill his coffee on his shirt. He muttered something, and the coffee floated out of his shirt and back into his mug, from which he took a sip. “I believe,” he said slowly, blinking his huge eyes, “I’ve only let three Underworld deities have the opportunity to have children. Two, of which, you most certainly know about.”

            I glanced at Caleb, who glanced back with an excited gleam in his dark eyes. I smiled back at him, my chest pounding suddenly, but dropped his gaze hastily when I saw the uncovered hickey again. Turning back towards Caerus, I concentrated utterly on him, trying not to draw attention to the one thing I’d die of embarrassment of if the others found out.

            “I’m sure…nineteen years was it? No….eighteen…eighteen years ago, I was approached by Tykhe. She collaborated with me to let a certain god have the happiness of his last child…before he faded, due to lack of belief in him from the oblivious human race. When I granted him the opportunity he thanked me most graciously for it, and bade that I help him keep watch on the child. I did, but it was most unfortunate when-“