Despite them mostly living in Manhattan, Cressida and Percy still had their fair share of demigod problems.
For starters, Percy's task of dealing with the crocodile that had been terrorising Long Island for weeks did not go as planned. And for once, it wasn't completely his fault.
"The crocodile. Where did it go?" the dark-skinned boy said.
Percy just frowned. He'd had a lot of mixed reactions to saving people's lives before, but this was certainly not one of them. He'd rather save his girlfriend where he'd get a kiss, or they'd bicker and then they'd kiss.
"You're welcome."
"What?" the boy with the weird sword said after Percy had freed him from the crocodile's mouth.
"I stuck that croc in the ass." He mimicked the action with his sword. "That's why it vomited you up. So, you're welcome. What were you doing in there?"
"I was resting," the boy snapped. "What do you think I was doing? Now, who are you, and why are you fighting my monster?"
"Your monster?!"
Percy trudged through the water, the mystery boy seeming a little concerned. "Look, man, I don't know who you are, but that crocodile has been terrorizing Long Island for weeks. I take that kind of personally, as this is my home turf. A few days ago, it ate one of our pegasi. Not to mention my girlfriend -"
"Did you say pegasi?"
Percy waved the question away, getting a little annoyed with this kid, even though he was younger than him. Where was his semi-peace-maker girlfriend when he needed her?
Oh, that was right. She was taking the skills she learned from Beckendorf and Leo to put together his little sister's new crib because Paul and Percy couldn't make heads or tails of the instructions to save their lives.
"Is it your monster or not?"
"I don't own it!" the boy growled. "I'm trying to stop it! Now, where-"
"The croc headed that way." He pointed his sword to the south. "I would already be chasing it, but you surprised me."
Percy was sizing the kid up which was disconcerting since Percy was a foot taller than the kid. And the kid was also taking in Percy's strange appearance as well. Finally, Percy shook his head. "I give up. Son of Ares? You've got to be a half-blood, but what happened to your sword? It's all bent."
"It's a khopesh," the boy said, clearly getting angry. "It's supposed to be curved. Just get out of here. I've got a crocodile to catch."
Percy huffed at his audacity (it definitely wasn't attractive when it didn't come from Cressida). "Dude, I have to catch the crocodile. Last time you tried, it ate you. Remember?"
The boy's fingers tightened around his sword hilt. "I had everything under control. I was about to summon a fist -"
And suddenly a giant fist the size of a dishwasher shimmered into existence and slammed into Percy's chest. He was literally knocked out of his shoes and his feet were now bare as he was knocked from the river so far that he disappeared from sight.
The boy hit himself on the forehead. "Oh great." and he started to wade across the marsh. "Man, I'm sorry!" he yelled. "Are you-"
See, Percy Jackson was ridiculously in love with his girlfriend; he had been for years. And as such, some of her traits and talents had rubbed off on him. Such as his ability to make a dramatic entrance.
The wave came out of nowhere.
A twenty-foot wall of water slammed into the boy and pushed him back into the river before he came up spluttering. And Percy leapt at him, sword raised.
The mystery boy raised his khopesh just in time to deflect the blow and manage to keep his head with how strong and quick Percy was. The boy could tell quite quickly that he was outmatched. Percy had a lighter blade, and he was a better swordsman.
And while the boy had trouble speaking, needing all his concentration to stay alive, Percy didn't have that problem. As Cressida would say, it was getting him to shut up that's the trick. Man, he loved her.
"Now I get it," he said as he swung at his head. "You're some kind of monster."
The boy managed to intercept the strike but he staggered back. "I'm not a monster," he managed.
The boy raised what looked like a wand as the air between the two of them flashed and crackled as Percy stumbled back. Blue sparks popped around him as Percy's eyes flashed purple for a split second as Cressida's magic kept his mind safe as it sensed magic trying to harm him (it was safe to say that she had layered magic and poured a lot of her power into protecting his head from any type of magic that would change anything inside after what Hera did. He didn't know if her power could actually take on a god, but he definitely wouldn't underestimate her. Ever).
"You said the crocodile was yours!" Percy scowled, anger blazing in his eyes that turned green again. "You lost your pet, I suppose. Maybe you're a spirit from the Underworld, come through the Doors of Death?"
And he didn't give the boy a chance to answer as Percy thrust out his free hand and the river reversed course and swept him off his feet.
Percy charged again as the boy reached into his backpack.
"TAS!" he yelled just as Percy's sword cut into his wrist and Percy was knocked down. He sat waist-deep in the water as the magical rope the boy threw wrapped around his sword arm and lashed it to the side of his head. He was unable to let go of his sword, and he looked kind of dejected just sitting there.
Percy glared at the boy. "I'm really starting to hate you."
"Hate me?!" the boy protested. "I'm gushing blood here! And you started all this by calling me a half-blood!"
"Oh, please," Percy huffed as he rose unsteadily. "You can't be mortal. If you were, my sword would've passed right through you. If you're not a spirit or a monster, you've got to be a half-blood. A rogue demigod from Kronos's army, I'd guess. Though I didn't understand what those blue sparks were. If Cress's magic-"
"So, when you say half-blood...." the boy asked, and Percy tried to imitate the incredulous look his girlfriend gave him quite often - actually she gave it to him when he was trying and failing to put that crib together an hour ago.
"I meant demigod. Yeah. What did you think I meant?"
"What are you?" he demanded. "Part combat magician, part water elementalist? What nome are you with? Those purple eyes-"
Percy laughed bitterly. "Dude, I don't know what you're talking about. I don't hang out with gnomes. Satyrs, sometimes. Even Cyclopes. But not gnomes. Cress says to stay far away from gnomes if I ever run into one and she gets annoyed when I don't listen to her."
The kid just furrowed his brows as he seemed to put the pieces together that whatever Percy was, he was Greek.
"Look," the kid said. 'I'm sorry about hitting you with that fist spell. It was an accident. But the thing I don't understand ... it should have killed you. It didn't. That doesn't make sense."
Percy actually laughed a genuine sound. "Don't sound so disappointed," he said with a grin. "A lot of people, monsters, gods and everything in between have tried to kill me. Didn't stick. Cress won't let it."
The boy seemed confused by the Cress name that he kept bringing up, but Percy continued before he could voice the question.
"But while we're on the subject, you should be dead too. Not many people can fight me that well. And my sword should have vaporized your crocodile."
"For the last time, it's not my crocodile."
"Okay, whatever," Percy said tiredly. He'd love nothing more than to be sitting at home with Cressida and eating popcorn and ice cream as they watched a movie, savouring some of the last moments they had before they had to buckle down and start studying. "The point is, I stuck that crocodile pretty good, but I just made it angry. Celestial bronze should've turned it to dust."
"Celestial bronze?"
Their conversation was cut short by a scream from the nearby neighbourhood - the terrified voice of a kid.
Percy locked eyes with Magic Boy (probably an obvious nickname that Cressida would tease him for if she was here) as Magic Boy said, "We've got to stop the crocodile."
"Truce," Percy suggested.
"Yeah," Magic Boy agreed. "We can continue killing each other after the crocodile is taken care of."
"Deal. Now, could you please untie my sword hand from my head? I feel like a freaking unicorn."
There definitely wasn't any trust between them but for the moment, they united against a common enemy. Percy summoned his shoes out of the water before helping the Magic Boy wrap his hand with a strip of linen while he downed a so-called healing potion.
And then they were racing each other to the sound of the screaming.
"What's your name?" Magic Boy asked, and Percy gave him a cautious glance.
"I'm not sure I should tell you. Names can be dangerous."
"Fair enough," Magic Boy said. "I'll go first. I'm Carter."
Percy seemed to relax a little.
"Percy," he offered in return.
"Just to warn you, you can't kill the monster," Carter said.
"Watch me," Percy scoffed.
"No, I mean it's immortal."
"I've heard that before. I've vaporized plenty of immortals and sent them back to Tartarus. I've also got 30 points on the board at risk here."
There were so many things in that sentence that confused Carter, but he didn't have time to worry about that as they were now halfway up the hill.
"No," Cater persisted. "This monster is a petsuchos - a Son of Sobek."
"Who's Sobek?"
"Lord of crocodiles. Egyptian god."
Percy halted in his tracks as he glanced at the khopesh in Carter's hands and the wand in his belt. "Where are you from? Honestly."
"Originally? Los Angeles. Now I live in Brooklyn."
That didn't make Percy feel any better. "So this monster, this petsuck-o or whatever –"
"Petsuchos," Carter corrected. "It's a Greek word, but the monster is Egyptian. It was like the mascot of Sobek's temple, worshipped as a living god."
Percy groaned as his head fell back. "Damn Greek History class. Damn you, Cress - I still love you though."
"What? Who is -"
"Nothing. Just skip the history lesson. How do we kill it?"
"I told you -"
From above came another scream, followed by a loud CRUNCH, like the sound made by a metal compactor.
And they went sprinting up the kill then hopped the fence of somebody's backyard and ran into a residential cul-de-sac.
Unfortunately, the all-American scene was kind of ruined by the monster crocodile, who was busily eating a green Prius hatchback with a bumper sticker that read MY POODLE IS SMARTER THAN YOUR HONOUR STUDENT.
He was about forty feet long, as tall as a delivery truck, with a tail so massive and powerful it overturned cars every time it swished. His skin glistened blackish green and gushed water that pooled around his feet The creature's eyes glowed with a sickly yellow light. His jagged teeth gleamed white. But the weirdest thing about him was his bling. Round his neck hung an elaborate collar of gold chains and enough precious stones to buy a private island.
Carter charged first, hoping to get the monster's attention on him and not on the little kids that were running scared in the street. "Get away from it!" he warned. "Run!" And he then threw his wand straight at the crocodile's head. "Sa-mir!"
The wand hit the croc on the snout, and blue light rippled across his body.
Everywhere it appeared, the croc's skin smoked and sparked, causing the monster to writhe and bellow in annoyance. The kids scattered, hiding behind ruined cars and mailboxes. The petsuchos turned his glowing yellow eyes on Carter.
Percy whistled under his breath. "Well, you got his attention."
"Yeah."
"You sure we can't kill him?"
"Yeah. Even if we could destroy his body, he would just reappear somewhere nearby. That necklace? It's enchanted with the power of Sobek. To beat the monster, we have to get the necklace off. Then the petsuchos should shrink back into a regular crocodile."
"I hate the word should," Percy muttered. "Where is Wine Vine and her vines when I need her? Fine. I'll get the necklace. You keep him occupied."
"Why do I get to keep him occupied?"
"Because you're more annoying," Percy said. "Just try not to get eaten again."
"ROARR!" the monster bellowed, his breath like a seafood restaurant's dumpster.
Percy dashed towards the monster's right flank as Carter got angry, thinking about all of the things he's been through and that he was not going to back down from an overgrown gator.
The air crackled as a combat avatar formed around Cater - a glowing blue exoskeleton of Horus. It lifted him off the ground and he was suspended in the middle of a twenty-foot-tall hawk-headed warrior.
"Holy shit! What the -" Percy yelled before the crocodile slammed into Carter.
Carter fought the massive crocodile for a while before he noticed that Percy was just standing, stunned in the middle of the street. Apparently, he'd been startled so much that he'd forgotten his part of the plan and with no Cressida around, there was no one to yell adoring insults at him to get him to focus again.
"What the creeping crap is that?" he demanded. "You're inside a giant glowing chicken-man!"
"Hawk!" Carter yelled as he made a mental note to never let this guy meet his sister Sadie. "A little help here?"
Percy unfroze and ran towards the croc. He jumped on the creature's tail and ran up his spine. The monster thrashed around, his hide shedding water all over the place, but somehow Percy managed to keep his footing.
Carter and the crocodile were wrestling for the blue glowing sword in the crocodile's mouth, making its teeth crumble to sand.
"Percy!" Carter shouted. "Any time now!"
Percy lunged for the necklace. He grabbed hold and started hacking at the gold links, but his bronze sword didn't make a dent.
Carter's combat avatar was starting to flicker, and he was already sweating and breathing hard. "Hurry!"
"Can't cut it!" Percy called back.
"A clasp! There's gotta be one!" he urged before he spotted it. at the monster's throat, a golden cartouche encircling the hieroglyphs that spelled SOBEK. "There – on the bottom!"
Percy scrambled down the necklace, climbing it like a net, but at that moment Carter's avatar collapsed. When the sword disappeared, the monster lurched backwards and stumbled over a Honda.
The mortal kids scattered. One dived under a car, only to have the car disappear – smacked into the air by the croc's tail.
Percy reached the bottom of the necklace and hung on for dear life. His sword was gone.
Meanwhile, the monster regained his footing. The good news: he didn't seem to notice Percy. The bad news: he definitely noticed Carter, and he looked mightily torqued off.
"Stay boy," Carter said as he backed up to the kerb.
The crocodile snorted as if knowing that Carter was done for.
Carter desperately reached into his backpack and pulled out a lump of wax. "Percy!" he called as he began furiously trying to soften it.
"I can't unlock the clasp!" he yelled pounding his fist against the base of the necklace. "Some kind of magic?"
To Carter, that was the smartest thing he'd said all afternoon. The clasp was a hieroglyphic cartouche. It would take a magician to figure it out and open it. Whatever and whoever Percy was, he was no magician.
The crocodile then stopped savouring the moment as he decided to just eat him. As he lunged, Carter threw the wax and shouted the command word as the world's most deformed hippopotamus sprang to life in mid-air. It sailed headfirst into the crocodile's left nostril and lodged there, kicking its stubby back legs.
The crocodile hissed and stumbled, shaking his head, as Percy dropped off and rolled away, barely avoiding the crocodile's stomping feet. He then ran to join Carter at the curb.
"You ok?" he asked Carter as he gasped for air and nodded weakly. "You guys," Percy told the kids, "you hear those sirens? You've got to run down the road and stop the police. Tell them it's too dangerous up here. Stall them!"
For some reason, the kids listened. Maybe they were just happy to have something to do, but, from the way Percy spoke, Carter got the feeling he was used to rallying outnumbered troops.
"Good call," Carter managed and Percy nodded grimly.
"You've got some moves, Carter," Percy admitted. "Anything else in your bag of tricks?"
"Nothing," he said dismally. "I'm running on empty. But if I can get to that clasp, I think I can open it."
"Guess it's my turn to distract the croc," he said. "Get ready to run for that necklace."
"You don't even have your sword," Carter protested. "You'll die!"
Percy managed a crooked smile. "Just run in there as soon as it starts."
"As soon as what starts?"
Then the crocodile sneezed, launching the wax hippo across Long Island. The petsuchos turned towards them, roaring in anger, and Percy charged straight at him.
He stopped in front of the crocodile and raised his arms and the water that shed from the crocodile's skin began swirling counterclockwise. It started around the croc's feet and quickly built-up speed until the whirlpool encompassed the entire cul-de-sac.
But by the time Carter realised he should start running, the current was already too strong, and he'd have to reach the necklace some other way.
Summoning the last of his strength, Carter transformed into a falcon as he made for the necklace. But with his enhanced vision, Carter could see just how impressive Percy's distraction was.
The entire cul-de-sac was engulfed in a hurricane. Percy stood at the edge, unmoved, but the water was churning so fast now that even the giant crocodile lost his footing. Wrecked cars scraped along the pavement. Mailboxes were pulled out of lawns and swept away. The water increased in volume as well as speed, rising up and turning the entire neighbourhood into a liquid centrifuge. The crocodile stumbled and struggled, shuffling in a circle with the current.
"Any time now," Percy muttered through gritted teeth.
And Carter dived.
He turned back into a human as he reached the necklace's clasp and hung on. He was exhausted and Percy was probably in no better shape and couldn't hold his hurricane for long.
The crocodile bellowed and stomped, fighting to stay on its feet. Percy yelled in rage and frustration, trying to keep up the storm, but the whirlpool was starting to slow. They had a few seconds at best before the crocodile broke free and attacked and then both boys would be dead, and Cressida would kill Percy or worse.... she'd dump him.
Carter stared at the hieroglyphs on the clasp and pushed the fourth symbol, but nothing happened.
The storm was failing. The crocodile started to turn against the current, facing Percy who dropped to one knee.
The third hieroglyph. Nothing happened.
The storm died. The crocodile bellowed in triumph, ready to feed.
Carter's hand formed a fist as he slammed into the third hieroglyph with all his strength and the clasp clicked as it sprang open.
Carter dropped to the pavement, and several hundred pounds of gold and gems spilled on top of him.
The crocodile staggered, roaring like the guns of a battleship.
What was left of the hurricane scattered in an explosion of wind as Carter closed his eyes before everything went silent. No sirens. No crocodile roaring. Nothing.
The mound of gold jewellery disappeared, and Carter was lying on his back in murky water as he stared at the empty blue sky.
Percy's face appeared above him. He looked like he'd just run a marathon through a typhoon, but he was grinning as he held a vial of gold liquid in his hand.
"Nice work," he said. "Get the necklace."
And he downed the gold liquid as the colour began to return to his face.
"The necklace?" Carter murmured, his brain still feeling sluggish as his fingers closed around the necklace which was normal sized ... well, at least normal for something that could fit around the neck of an average crocodile.
"The – the monster," Carter stammered. "Where –?"
Percy pointed. A few feet away, looking very disgruntled, was a baby crocodile not more than three feet long. It was actually kinda cute.
"You can't be serious."
"Maybe somebody's abandoned pet?" Percy shrugged. "You hear about those on the news sometimes."
Down the street, voices started yelling, "Up here! There's these two guys!"
It was the mortal kids. Apparently, they'd decided the danger was over. Now they were leading the police straight towards them.
"We have to go. Cress is going to kill me if I get into it with the cops again," he said as he scooped up the baby crocodile, clenching one hand around his little snout. "You coming?"
And together they ran back to the swamp.
******************************************************************
Half an hour later, they were sitting in a diner off the Montauk Highway. Carter downed another healing potion which Percy called nectar and the gold liquid he'd drunk earlier had seemed to heal him and restore his strength.
They tied the crocodile in the woods on a makeshift leash, just until they could figure out what to do with it.
Percy's hair was swept to one side and tangled with pieces of grass. His orange shirt was ripped down the front. Carter didn't look any better. There was water in his shoes, and he was picking falcon feathers out of his shirt.
They were too exhausted to talk as they watched the news on the television above the counter.
Police and firefighters had responded to a freak sewer event in a local neighbourhood. Apparently, pressure had built up in the drainage pipes, causing a massive explosion that unleashed a flood and eroded the soil so badly several houses on the cul-de-sac had collapsed. It was a miracle that no residents had been injured. Local kids were telling some wild stories about the Long Island Swamp Monster, claiming it had caused all the damage during a fight with two teenage boys, but of course, the officials didn't believe this. The reporter admitted, however, that the damaged houses looked like 'something very large had sat on them'.
"A freak sewer accident," Percy said. "That's a first. Or a second really."
"For you maybe," Carter grumbled. "I seem to cause them everywhere I go."
"Cheer up," he said. "Lunch is on me."
He dug into the pockets of his jeans and pulled out a purple rectangle with silver writing on it saying Olympus Express.
"A magic credit card?" Carter questioned with a chuckle and Percy grinned.
"It's my girlfriend's. She lets me borrow it from time to time."
"Handy," Carter remarked and Percy laughed.
"Tell me about it."
And soon there were cheeseburgers and fries in front of them and life was looking up.
"Cheeseburgers," Percy said. "Food of the gods."
"Agreed," Carter said as he considered the fact that they were talking about different gods before Percy inhaled his burger, like seriously, the guy could eat as he ordered a second one.
"So, the necklace," he said between bites. "What's the story?"
Carter hesitated for a moment before relenting. "The necklace is enchanted. Any reptile that wears it turns into the next petsuchos, the Son of Sobek. Somehow that little crocodile got it round his neck."
"Meaning someone put it round his neck," Percy said.
Carter nodded reluctantly.
"So who?"
"Hard to narrow it down. I've got a lot of enemies."
Percy snorted. "I can relate to that. Any idea why, then?"
"Someone wanted to cause trouble," Carter speculated. "I think maybe...maybe they wanted to cause trouble that would get our attention. Both of our attention."
Percy frowned. He drew something in his ketchup with a French fry – not a hieroglyph. Some kind of non-English letter. Greek, Carter guessed.
"The monster had a Greek name," he said. "It was eating pegasi in my ..." He hesitated.
"In your home turf," Carter finished. "Some kind of camp, judging from your shirt."
Percy shifted uncomfortably in his bar stool before he finally faced his comrade. "Look, Carter. You're not nearly as annoying as I thought. And we made a good team today, but –"
"You don't want to share your secrets," Carter said. "Don't worry. I'm not going to ask about your camp. Or the powers you have. Or your girlfriend. Or any of that."
He raised an eyebrow. "You're not curious?"
"I'm totally curious. But until we figure out what's going on I think it's best we keep some distance. If someone – something – unleashed that monster here, knowing it would draw both of our attention –"
"Then maybe that someone wanted us to meet," he finished. "Hoping bad things would happen."
"But we've met now," Percy said. "You know I'm out here on Long Island. I know you live in Brooklyn. If we went searching for each other –"
"I wouldn't recommend it," Carter advised. "Not until we know more. I need to look into some things on, uh, my side – try to figure out who was behind this crocodile incident."
"All right," Percy agreed. "I'll do the same on my side." That really meant that he'd ask Cressida and Annabeth if they'd learned about anything like this in Greek History Class. He really had to start paying attention to that.
He then pointed at the petsuchos necklace, which was glinting just inside Carter's backpack. "What do we to do about that?"
"I can send it somewhere safe," Carter promised. "It won't cause trouble again. We deal with relics like this a lot."
"We," Percy said cautiously, mentally trying to count how many Greeks and Romans would be on his side if he needed to rally them. "Meaning, there's a lot of ... you guys?"
Carter didn't answer as Percy raised his hands in surrender.
"Fine. I didn't ask. I have some friends back at Ca– uh, back on my side who would love tinkering with a magic necklace like that, but I'm going to trust you here. Take it."
Carter exhaled in relief. "Thanks. Good."
"And the baby crocodile?"
Carter gave a nervous laugh. "You want it?"
"Gods, no."
"I can take it, give it a good home. Yeah, it'll fit right in."
Percy didn't seem to know what to think of that. "Okay, well ..." He held out his hand. "Good working with you, Carter."
They shook hands and no sparks flew, nor thunder boomed, and yet, Percy couldn't help but think how similar this was to bringing the Greeks and Romans together. They'd opened a door.
"You too, Percy."
He stood to go. "One more thing," he said. "If this somebody, whoever threw us together ... if he's an enemy to both of us – what if we need each other to fight him? How do I contact you?"
"Can I write something on your hand?"
Percy frowned, a sense of déjà vu washing over him. "Like your phone number?"
"Uh ... well, not exactly." Cater took out a stylus and a vial of magic ink.
Percy held out his palm hesitantly (Cressida was definitely going to read him the riot act for this).
Carter drew a hieroglyph there – the Eye of Horus. As soon as the symbol was complete, it flared blue, then vanished.
"Just say my name," he instructed, "and I'll hear you. I'll know where you are, and I'll come meet you. But it will only work once, so make it count."
Percy considered his empty palm. "I'm trusting you that this isn't some sort of magical tracking device."
"Yeah," Carter said. "And I'm trusting that when you call me you won't be luring me into some kind of ambush."
Percy studied him for a second, and decided not to bring up the fact that his magical girlfriend would surely come after him if that symbol turned out to be something different and that even though Carter was powerful, he didn't think anything could stand against Cressida.
"Fair enough," Percy said. "See you when I see you, C-"
"Don't say my name!"
"Just teasing." He pointed at Carter and winked. "Stay strange, my friend."
And then he was gone.