I'm not dead! I had a mental breakdown, but I'm not dead! I am not abandoning this story, I promise. Didn't you guys see the part of my A/N where I said that I would never abandon this story, just take a tiny hiatus. And I'm proving that now by uploading this.
Anyway, this chapter is pretty long, so I hope this makes up for not uploading for months. I'm in the middle of doing a bio final, which is my second to last one! I'm so excited to be done with this school year. I've literally been calling my school Hell.
Also, I'm adding disclaimers to each chapter cuz I forgot to do that, so yeah act like you're smart enough to know that I don't own Marvel or PJO. Please stay safe and happy pride month🏳️🌈!
- your author
PS if you didn't know, I'm pan so...not just an ally or something.
Ω ♆ Ω
The demigods were silent the entire trip back. The group hadn't wanted to explain why the Avengers were there, so they'd left before the authorities had shown up. The quinjet had survived the storm with the ability to still fly, so they took that back to the tower. Despite the multitude of people with ADHD on the plane, nobody had spoken a word. However, the Seven seemed to be silently communicating to Percy their confusion and anger. As far as they knew, they did not have permission to tell the truth of the gods yet! They trusted Percy, but he had been through a lot recently, and maybe his judgement was a little off.
But they couldn't risk slipping anything to the Avengers, so they settled for just glaring at the son of Poseidon. The boy in question, however, just sat there staring at his lap, where he was playing with Riptide.
He was trying to figure out the best way to break it to the Avengers that their entire world was basically a lie. It was a lot to take in. He could attest to that. He was half-convinced that he was hallucinating when he first got the explanation.
Tony was finding the silence particularly difficult to withstand. First, Percy tells them that he's finally going to tell them the full truth, and then he just walks away and gets on the quinjet without following up on that comment! Anticlimactic much?
"Alright, that's it! Somebody say something!" he yelled. "I can't take this anymore!"
Percy responded without looking up, "Wait until we're at the tower. Then, I'll tell you everything. It's time you guys know." He whispered the next part under his breath, "You're going to need it where we're going."
Unfortunately for Steve, he could still hear that last comment. "That's reassuring," he said.
"Sorry," Percy muttered.
He didn't have time to worry about the Avengers' feelings. He had already figured out how he would tell them the truth. The best way was to be completely open and make sure there weren't any chances for fighting to break out.
Right now, he was worrying about Annabeth. Every second they wasted was one more second the monsters had to hurt her. It was taking everything within him to not make Piper's water bottle explode.
Ω ♆ Ω
Percy was the first one out of the jet when they landed on Avengers Tower. He ran all the way to his room, where he grabbed as many godly artifacts that he could find. He had a feeling that the mortals would want some proof before they started believing anything. He grabbed a couple of drachmas, some ambrosia and nectar, a picture of Coach Hedge, Mellie, and little Chuck, and his trident (yes, he has a trident now). The trident folded into itself until it was the size of a water bottle. If he wanted to use it, he had to say it's name, ακουαρέλα (waterbringer). The greek lettering of its name on the side glows, and it shoots open. It was a gift from his father as an early eighteenth birthday present.
Godly parents are weird that way; giving their kids weapons as presents. But spend enough time in this world and you get used to it.
He rushed back to the living room, where JARVIS had told him everyone was gathered (a tiny voice in his head reminded him that it wasn't everyone. Not yet). They seemed to have resorted back into their first day together: opposite sides of the coffee table, mistrustful glances sent across, and a general awkward aura surrounding the place. If Percy wasn't in such a rush to save Annabeth, he would've laughed at the sight.
Tony was the first to notice him, "Oh, you're here finally! Great! Now can you tell us what the hell is going on?"
Again, a strange sense of déjà vu washed over Percy, but he ignored it.
"Yes. It's important you know the truth before we leave," Percy answered.
He turned to his friends and spoke again. "And before you try protesting, my dad gave me permission."
Jason's open mouth snapped shut.
He dumped his artifacts on the table, motioning for his friends to do the same with anything they had on them. It wasn't a lot; just a couple of drachmas and their weapons. Leo did take off his entire toolbelt, though.
"What's this stuff? Is this supposed to answer all our questions?" Natasha said.
"No, this is just proof. I'll be explaining it all to you." He paused, unsure of how to start.
"Oh for the gods' sake, Percy, just start with the simplest answer!" Piper exclaimed, jumping up, "We're demigods, sons and daughters of the gods."
A beat of silence passed.
Steve broke it, "I didn't know Thor had any children..."
Jason groaned, "How did I know you would say that? Honestly, open your minds a little bit. We're Greek and Roman demigods. Thor isn't even a real god! He's just an alien with superpowers!"
Percy stared, amused, at his cousin. Clearly the son of the lightning god was not happy with Thor running around and calling himself a god (especially when Magnus was proof that he wasn't).
Piper patted him on the back sympathetically.
"I'm sorry, are you saying that there are more gods?" Tony asked, eyes wide in shock.
"Yes," Percy answered simply.
"Oh. Ok. That's fine, I guess. Nothing unbelievable about that," Tony commented sarcastically.
Percy sighed, preparing himself, "I am the son of Poseidon. Annabeth is the daughter of Athena. Piper is the daughter of Aphrodite, and Jason is the son of Jupiter. Hazel is the daughter of Pluto, and Frank is the son of Mars. And Leo is the son of Hephaestus. We aren't lying. We wish we were, but we're not. This is the truth."
Clint said, "I want to see this proof you were talking about."
Percy nodded, reaching down and grabbing a drachma.
"This is a drachma. How do you think we have so many of these? They are the godly currency," he said, tossing the coin over to Clint.
"Okay, I'll admit that it's odd for you to own so many of those things, but I need some proof of magic," Tony said.
Percy gritted his teeth, wondering if it was possible to kill Tony with Riptide. The man had already seen Percy turn a pen into a sword, but of course he had to see something else. There was no way to convince him that magic was real, he would just try and find some scientific answer to anything he showed him. It was an impossible task.
"Fine," he ground out.
Percy grabbed the folded version of his trident and made a show of moving it around so Tony could see that there were no tricks. Then he said the "magic words" and it popped open into a trident. It was still a little odd for Percy to hold it. He wasn't used to the weighting of it yet. Of course, he knew how to use it, but it still seemed weird. It didn't help that the weapon only gave Leo more reason to call him Aquaman, too.
"Is this enough proof for you?" Percy asked.
Tony learned forward in interest, "What did you do to get it to fold into that tight of a space? It must be the same tech as the pen, but I'm still not sure how it gets activated by those words..."
"It's magic, Mr. Stark," Hazel informed him.
"No such thing," Tony muttered offhandedly.
Hazel rolled her eyes, giving up. He would be proven very wrong soon enough. You can't spend much time in their world without starting to believe it.
"So that's how you guys have all your abilities? You are half god?" Bruce asked.
He was always more open to the scientifically-unproven than Tony. He was living proof of what could happen. Some might say the Hulk is magic.
"Yes. We are constantly hunted by monsters who can smell the scent we put off. They wanted to take revenge on Olympus, but it just grew to enjoyment from there. There aren't many safe havens in this world for us. That's why we don't tend to live that long. I am the oldest living Greek demigod alive," Percy said, acting like it was everyday you basically stated that you should be dead.
"That's awful! Why don't your parents do anything about it?!" Steve exclaimed.
"They are forbidden. Plus, godly parents suck. Most don't give a crap about their kids," Piper answered. "We're just the result of their mistakes."
"Well, they should. It's not right to leave kids to die," Bruce said.
Thunder rumbled in the distance; a warning from Drama King himself.
Percy glared up at the sky, "Oh, don't act like they're lying! You know it's wrong! At least have the guts to admit it, Uncle Z!"
The Avengers paled at the thought that the gods were watching them. It was a truly terrifying thought, to learn that you aren't in control of your fate. And the fact that Percy was yelling and accusing the king of the gods was not helping one bit.
The Seven had gotten slightly more used to Percy's reckless ways, but it was still worrying whenever he decided to rebel and yell at the most powerful beings in the universe when they were in the same room.
There wasn't an answer to Percy's rant, but there was a significantly less amount of sulfur in the air, so they took it as a sign that Zeus was letting it slide.
"But why are you telling us this now?" Natasha asked, always the observant spy.
She had remained silent thus far because she wanted to learn more about these mysterious "gods" before she acted. By how serious Valdez was acting, though, she was leaning towards it being the truth (or, at least, what the kids thought was the truth). She would have to report this to Fury as soon as possible.
Percy turned towards her, "Because my dad told me where Annabeth is being held. It's a dangerous place, and you need to be prepared if you're going to come with us. I won't force you to come, though. I would understand if you said no after you hear what it's like."
The Sea of Monsters was not a place for the weak. It would take a lot of willpower to get them all through. He had to make sure that the mortals were completely sure they wanted to come before they took off.
"Where are we going?" Steve asked.
"The Sea of Monsters," Percy answered in a grave voice.
"That's a reassuring name," Tony commented, "This'll be a blast."
"You do not need to come, Tony! None of you should want to after you hear what it's like," Percy said.
Tony stood up in anger, "You know what, kid? I don't need you yelling at me! I am a hero, and just because you tell us you are part god doesn't give you the right to act all high-and-mighty! We can handle it! We're the Avengers!"
Percy glared at the billionaire, "Trust me, you can't. I am trying to get across how dangerous this quest will be. The last time I was there, I almost died many times. It is NOT a good place to be."
"Where is that, exactly? Where are we going?" Clint asked.
The only son of Poseidon sighed, "The Bermuda Triangle."
Tony seemed to be shocked out of his angry mindset, "Wait, that myth's real?"
Leo spoke up, "Let's just assume that all things are real. It's easier that way."
"Is there anything else we should know before we get ready?" Steve asked, deciding that it was best to just cut off that conversation at the head.
"Just one more thing. We can fill in the rest on the way," Percy said, "You need to know that the gang we are fighting is not a normal bad guy. They are mortals Hades-bent on exposing the gods to the rest of the world. Somehow, they partnered with monsters. Annabeth theorized that it was because it would be easier to find demigods if the mortals were already searching for them. Basically, the monsters are using the gang for their own agenda and have the mortals convinced that they are their partners."
"Bad guys double-crossing each other. That, I can understand," Steve said with a relieved smile.
Ω ♆ Ω
The team had dispersed to go get ready, which meant packing a couple things and suiting up for the demigods. Well, they didn't know they had anything to suit-up in, but they were about to.
"Oh, guys! I have some good news!" Piper exclaimed. "The Aphrodite cabin finished our suits!"
Leo's head snapped up. "How do they look? Were my designs okay?"
Piper nodded, "Yep. And we don't even have to wear masks or anything because the Mist will distort our faces for any cameras. The Hecate cabin assured me."
Now Leo was bouncing up and down in excitement. "Can we see them? Can we? I wanna see them!"
Hazel raised an eyebrow at her friend, still never completely used to his antics. Leo Valdez was one of a kind, that's for sure (even if he was physically identical to her old boyfriend).
"Of course. We need to use them for the quest, don't we?" Piper smiled.
"Yay!" Leo exclaimed.
Piper let out a laugh, "Follow me, guys. They're in my room."
Sure enough, when they walked into Piper's room, there was a clothes rack with seven suits on it. Even from a distance, they looked amazing.
When Percy went and picked his suit up, he was in shock. It had a celestial bronze chest and shoulder plate, while the rest was a wetsuit-like material. The shoes were connected to the suit, and they seemed to be designed after water shoes. There were fingerless gloves with it, too. The gloves had air pockets, but Percy wasn't exactly sure what for.
"The gloves create water for you to use at any time." Leo answered his silent question.
"Oh. Awesome!" he said.
Percy didn't really get it, but science and magic weren't really his expertise. As long as they worked, he was okay with not knowing how.
All of the boys' suits seemed to be designed the same, minus the water-gloves. The only difference was the color of the pants. Percy's were sea green (not unlike his eyes), Jason's was electric blue, Frank's was blood red, and Leo's was bright orange.
"These are amazing!" Jason told Piper and Leo.
Piper thanked him and Leo just did an invisible hair flip in response.
The girls' suits were similar to the boys', but also completely different. There was a celestial bronze breastplate and celestial bronze plating going all the way down their sides and to their ankles. There are grey knee and elbow pads, as well. They also had fingerless gloves, but they did not go up to their wrists like the boys' suits did. Half of the glove is their suit's main color, as well as some of their arm and leg material. Piper's coloring was pink, Hazel's was purple, and Annabeth's was red. Every suit had a black Avengers symbol on their shoulders, which must have been a last-minute add-on because for a while the Seven were adamant on not becoming part of the Avengers (they still were, but it was hard to fight it when they were literally about to go into battle together).
Looking at Annabeth's suit made Percy miss her even more, but he didn't let it show. He had to be strong for his friends and teammates. He was the only one who had been through the Sea of Monsters before, so he had to guide them through.
It was going to be a tough task, that's for sure.
Ω ♆ Ω
The Seven separated to change, and once that was done, they met in the corridor of their rooms. Jason had to admit, they looked BADASS. It was clear that they were all a team, but every suit had its own individuality.
"We look awesome!" Leo exclaimed, jumping up and high-fiving Piper.
Percy strapped his sword to the clip on his waist next to his trident. "Yeah. You really did a great job, guys. Thanks. But we have to focus now. We're the only ones that are even partially prepared for what we're about to walk into, so we need to be at 100%. The Avengers may think they know what's coming, but they are clueless."
The Seven steeled their expressions, their teammate's seriousness washing over them like a wave. This was an important mission, not just for them, but for the Avengers, too. They may be rescuing their friend, but they were also stopping terrorists. This was big.
"Your confidence in us is truly heartwarming, Hercules." Tony's voice popped their bubble.
The Seven turned to see that the Avengers were all standing in the hall, suited up and ready (minus Bruce, of course).
"Hercules?" Percy asked, dawning a disgusted expression.
Tony stepped up. "Yeah. You said your greek demigods, and he's the first one that popped up. Plus, you got that whole hero-complex thing going."
Percy scowled, "Hercules is a dick."
"Agreed," Piper said, mirroring his expression.
"I really want to ask, but we've gotta get going," Bruce said, "We need to get there fast."
"Yeah. Where exactly are we going, again?" Tony asked.
"First, Florida. Then, The Bermuda Triangle." Percy answered.
"Why can't we just fly straight to the place?" Natasha asked, crossing her arms.
Percy sighed and then ran a hand through his hair, messing it up even more. "Because we'd just die faster. The only way to even have a chance of making it in and out is to go in by boat. Flying to Florida is the quickest way to get as close as possible. From there, we'll go by boat."
Natasha nodded, accepting the answer. However, she was still nervous about all of the "gods" stuff. Sure, they had met Thor, but he was just a glorified alien. What she had seen in Las Vegas was not like Thor and Loki. That was...a lot.
The group remained silent, unsure of what to say or do next, for another minute. Then, finally, Leo broke the silence. "What are we waiting for?! Let's get going, gang! We've got a world to save! I'm not getting any younger!"
He gave them his signature maniacal grin before leading the way down the hallway. Serious pep talks weren't his thing. He much preferred the sarcastic, self-deprecating kind to anything else.
They went up to the roof, where a repaired quinjet was waiting for them. Percy and Hazel still looked a little queasy about the flying, but chose not to voice it and instead clutched onto their seatbelts for dear life.
Once everyone was situated, Natasha called from the cockpit, "Seatbelts on, kids! We're taking off."
Clint grinned, "Death and doom, here we come."
Ω ♆ Ω
Remember to comment, vote, follow, and add to your library! If you wanted to see what the Seven's suits looked like, I posted that on my Tumblr, which can be found on my profile page. Happy pride month 🏳️🌈!
- your author