Demons, Demigods and Hunters (Percy Jackson/Supernatural)

Chapter 8

Anna

Sunday morning Anna opened her closet and dragged out the large trunk in the back. It was an old steamer trunk, just like the kind people might have used on the Titanic. She pulled up the chain of her necklace, and removed a small silver key. Leaving the two textured iron and jade rings on the chain she unlocked the trunk. She removed the top tray that was filled with notebooks and photographs; letters from friends and small sketches and drawings she made along the way. She held up a finely cut glass pendent, the lights filtering through the facets to throw rainbows around the room. She added it to her camp necklace.

Beneath the tray was her own personal stash of weapons. Most of her personal arsenal had been given away or donated to the camp armory but she held onto enough of them to assuage her paranoia. She removed her katana, its' blade made from blessed damascus steel; perfect for the supernatural but still functional for some of the mythological monsters she would have to fight off once she leaves the Bay Area. She found her bracelets, from which twin straight swords would emerge and left them to the side. The magical weapons were a gift from Hephaestus when she had left one of his many traps for his wife and Ares alone. To obviously magical to carry around mortal hunters.

She took out the celestial bronze throwing knives, each sharp enough to cut through bone, but no longer than the palm of her hand. Monster attacks may have lessened on the camps, but individual demigods were still at risk. Her bow and its' quiver of arrows was also left inside. But she did take out an imperial gold dagger, its handle carved from the bone of a drakon. At camp she had asked Beckendorf to plate it in a duller steel, so that the weapon would be less flashy. The only problem was that it could harm both mortals and monsters. But on the road with mortal hunters, it was perfect.

Finally she lifted out her xiphos; a sword with a leaf like blade styled the same as the ancient warriors of Greece. Eleos. It translated to mercy in greek. The blade was beautiful, four metals running through it in a mesmerizing pattern. Black stygian iron, shining silver from the Hunt, bright imperial gold and the earthy celestial bronze. A weapon that could kill anything, mortal, immortal, supernatural or mythological. The blade was four feet of bad ass, the leather she had wrapped around the hilt worn and familiar in her hand.

She sheathed Eleos into the scabbard that straps to her back, hooked the katana onto a belt and dug out the straps for all twelve of her throwing knives. She also removed the perfectly mortal weaponry she owned, including an extendable baton and a pair of brass knuckles, although those were made from imperial gold. She found tangled in a heap at the bottom of the trunk in a crushed velvet bag the retractable claws Bast had gifted her after the disaster with Ptolemy's crown. Anna slide each one on, the cool weight of the metal reminding her that she was as Dean had put it semi active.

Anna flinched when she heard a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" she called, hastily shoving her weapons under the bed.

"Blu, it's me. I brought you what you asked for." Came Nico's quiet voice. She heard Jess's muffled voice through the door.

"Who are you?" Anna quickly replaced the tray in the trunk and slammed the lid shut. The swords and knives hidden by her sheets she raced to the front door just as Nico began to introduce himself.

"Little brother!" she called out cheerily, yanking Nico down into a hug. Nico looked shocked.

"Stick to Blu or Anna. The mortals don't know my name Nico." She whispered. Letting Nico up, she invited them both inside.

"Jess this is Nico, my little brother. Nico this is my friend Jessica." Jess smiled at Nico, looking confused.

"Hi Nico..." Jess trailed off. Anna winced. Two surprise reunions in the same weekend. And Anna never talked about her family. She was even more close lipped about them than Sam was. Not even counting the fact that they look nothing alike. They both have dark hair, but that was where the resemblance ended.

"Blu and I grew up together. Orphan's lot and all." Nico said, a smile pasted across his face. Anna smirked. If anyone from Camp Half Blood could see him now they would fall over. Even when happy Nico didn't sound cheery. But Anna knew better, he was quite the actor when he needed to be.

"Yeah, the Ghost King and I go back a long ways." She ruffled his hair affectionately. Jess laughed.

"So it isn't just Sam you do that too huh?" Nico scowled as he smoothed his hair back into place. He lifted a bag with the camp logo emblazoned on it.

"I'm just dropping this off. We may have added more to it than what you asked for. A care package if you would. I gotta go Blu, Will has some sort of surprise for me." Anna kissed Nico on the cheek before sending him out the door.

She dropped the bag with a gentle clank on the floor of her bedroom. She poured Jess a mug of box wine and sat down on the couch with her friend.

"So... Blu?" Jess snickered. Anna smiled indulgently.

"It's a long story. And honestly it's embarrassing." She scratched her head absently. Jess nodded, her smile falling away to reveal her concern. Anna reached over to give her friend a quick hug.

"I'm worried about Sam. I haven't heard from him all weekend, and his brother? What was up with him? I understand that they haven't seen each other in a long time and that their dad is missing but breaking in through a window? In the middle of the night? Then Sam drops everything to go looking for their dad? I'm just worried." Jess abruptly took several long swallows from her glass. Anna serenely sipped from her own glass of cheap wine. She twisted her lips as she stares into the red liquid.

"I don't know why I buy this wine. I never like it. But every time I go to the store, I end up buying the same disgusting cheap wine. My uncle is a bit of a wine connoisseur." Anna adds as she contemplates the terrible wine. Jess looks at her confused. Putting her mug into her lap, she smiles lightly at her friend.

"Family is the same way. No matter how many times you're disappointed by it, you can't help but be drawn back into buying it again and again. I can't say much about Sam and his family, but it always sounded like they don't approve of his choices. If he can prove to them that he is better than them, he thinks it will make him happier." She smiled at Jess over her glass.

"It sucks for Sam, and it sucks for you. But remember that at the end of this weekend he comes home to you." Jess raised her glass in toast.

"I suppose I can drink to that. I just wish he would pick up the phone." The two women clink their cups together and drink the terrible boxed wine.