Third Person POV
It had been three days since they'd left Sleipnir and Norway. That had been forced to cut their trip short because they could no longer fly. The skies had been continuously getting darker and stormier for the past few weeks. At first they had thought it was just irregular weather, but Percy and Natasha had seen strange figures among the clouds, leading them to believe the storms were more super than natural.
Because air travel was no longer an option, especially for Percy, they had decided to go via boat. Percy was enjoying the voyage far more than the first one. Natasha had been entirely unsuccessful in restraining, or even slowing down, the young ADHD quadrigod while on the boat. That was another thing that had changed, they had discovered Percy was no longer truly a quadrigod, they honestly had no idea what she should be defined as. So they had just decided to keep it as quadrigod until they could talk to Sally and Poseidon.
When they had left Sleipnir it was on good terms, he had agreed to visit them when he could. It was actually easy for him to do, he was the fastest horse being in existence,or so he claimed, but he had mumbled about someone winning "that one time". He had hugged Percy and shook Natasha's hand before waving them off at the pier and shifting back into his eight legged horse form, disappearing.
Their trip was supposed to take seven days but with Percy being a child of the sea, their speed went beyond what it should have been. Speaking of Percy, she had stayed in her female form since she had shown Sleipnir, stating that she had spent too much time as a boy lately. She could almost always be seen running around their private boat talking to various fish and sea life. So far they had met twelve pods of dolphins, a herd of whales, an uncountable number of fish schools and one giant squid, named Jeff. Even Natasha had liked him, although she couldn't directly talk to him. But he had to leave saying he had a school and a lake to get back too. (^-^)
Eventually after three days of constant movement, Percy's seemingly unending supply of energy faded away, only leaving her the option of going to her cabin to sleep and giving Natasha some much needed peace.
Percy's POV
I was really enjoying this trip. Flying had been torturous, but sailing was beyond fun. I loved talking to all of the sea creatures and the sheer amount of energy I had from being surrounded by the ocean made it so I hadn't needed to sleep in three days. Sadly my energy had finally run out and I really needed a nap. So I waved goodnight to Natasha, who looked relieved and took one last look at the clear starry sky, before going below deck to my cabin. I pushed on the door and entered my room, not even bothering to see what it looked like, as I literally fell onto my bed, letting sleep claim me.
At first it was just normal sleep, dark, peaceful, etc, but the quiet was interrupted by an ancient voice.
"Interesting... I haven't had a" It said before cutting out. "Wow.... New... Oh! tha.. fun I can't wai... Fateless! Oh... I'll.... h..p.. Soon young ..god.. I'll.... month." With that short and very confusing message the voice left, leaving me trapped in my sleep held body, trying to find the speaker.
As soon as I wrenched control of my body from the grip of sleep, I bolted upright scanning for the source of the voice. I didn't see anyone or anything in my room, but I knew from experience that things are not always as they appear. So I stalked around my room and the surrounding area, searching for threats under the boat's artificial lights. Yet after searching for a good hour, even employing the help of Natasha, we still couldn't find anything. Reluctantly we had to give up our search when we spotted the shadowed outline of the New York skyline, glowing under the uncertain light of dawn.
I went and started to ready the ship for docking, while Nat went down to her cabin and doubled checked our identification and ownership papers. I walked along the perimeter of the deck, still on edge from the voice, tightening ropes, ensuring the doors were locked and making sure any lose objects were tied down or put away. When I was done I went and sat down on one of the two deck chairs I had left out, and waited for my sister.
Thankfully she came up soon after, lounging in the chair along side me. To anyone else she would have looked completely at ease, but I knew better. She was still tense and wary, the voice had unnerved her and coupled with the events of the last few weeks I knew she needed something to focus on, even if it wasn't something good.
"Hey, Nat."
"What is it Percy?"
"So I told you about the voice, right." She nodded, confirming her knowledge. "Well I was actually able to make out a little of what it said, it was like a bad phone connection but I heard it say something about Fateless." She looked thoughtful and then stiffened.
Her voice didn't shake or give any noticeable sign of discomfort, but there was something almost imperceptible in her tone that let me know something was wrong. "Percy, I had forgotten about it with all of the confusion about Loki, but the Norns didn't just announce your parentage, they also gave you a tittle, it was Fateless. I don't know what it means but considering the goddesses that control fate and now an unseen voice have mentioned it, it's probably pretty important."
I had to agree with her, from the few interactions I'd had with the mythological world, every action seemed to have a purpose or hidden agenda. The problem was whether or not that agenda would impact me.
As much as I wanted to continue our conversation, we were rapidly approaching the harbor and needed to be ready to dock. We stood returning to our respective posts, Natasha to the helm to steer and I portside to watch for any hidden obstacles. Thankfully we were able to dock without any trouble and we registered our boat for a prolonged stay, under alisases of course.
We leisurely strolled around the harbor, taking an impromptu tour of the amazing boats, at my insistence. I hadn't seen it before Poseidon officially claimed me as his grandchild, but now I could see every stat imaginable about each and every boat. Without even needing to think I knew how to sail them and due to some experimenting on our trip I could psychically manipulate the ships, meaning I could sail most ships, no matter the size by myself.
Eventually Natasha forced me to leave my own private heaven by hailing a taxi and threatening me with the bill. I left pretty quickly after that. The ride to the apartment was entirely uneventful, the driver forced us to listen to terrible music, the seats were oddly sticky and it smelled strongly of puke. So like I said, a normal taxi ride.
When we did reach the apartment, despite New York traffic doing everything it could to stop us, we paid the driver and hopped out. We greeted the kind old doorman and decided to go up the stairs rather than have to deal with elevator music that would make what we had listened to in the taxi sound like Beethoven. I checked to make sure no one else was in the looming stairwell and turned off the public cameras, before I motioned to Natasha that we could go. With a matching grins we grabbed the railing and started our customary parkour race up the eighty flights of stairs to my floor. Since it had first happened around three months ago we tied, before Natasha had always beat me, but now I was able to go head to head with her.
With exhilarated and slightly breathless expressions we walked to the stairwell's door. I inserted a small metal key into a seemingly normal keyhole, however this door was not ordinary. They key was made of a unique alloy and there were only three of them in existence, owned by my mom, Natasha and me. When the key was inserted it activated a hidden hand scanner on the door handle and an iris scanner, which were once again only programed to recognize the three of us.
How did I afford all of this you may ask? Well the program I made, Frozen Ocean, I refined it and sold it for quite a pretty penny when I was around seven. The company I sold it to wanted me to work for them, but I made sure they never even saw my face, let alone actually meet me. Instead of just spending the money and running out a few years later, I decided to make my own company. Less than a year later my company ,Ripple, was a fortune five hundred Tech company and was the top competitor of Stark industries. Which ironically was the company that bought my program. I knew Tony Stark was furious about our ability to create tech just as good or better than him and it didn't help that no one could find out who I was. That's right, I was good enough to have never been spotted by the media, the only people in the company who actually knew what I looked like were the top five executives and of them only my vice president knew my name.
I had invested my money all over the world under different aliases, simultaneously making money, creating safe houses and an intelligence network. However the place I had invested the most in was this building. I had it built to be able to withstand every natural disaster known to man, made it strong enough to not even get scratched by missiles, put enough weapons in it to arm a small country and installed so many cameras I could easily make a perfect 3D model. Not to mention the computer system my mom and I had designed together, which was probably one of the powerful and secure systems in the world. I should know, even I had a hard time hacking it and I regularly played around shield's systems just for the heck of it. I had let some regular people live in the building to reduce suspicion but the top twenty floors were completely private. The reason I had made the building was pretty simple, I wanted to make sure the people I loved were safe and the best way to do that was to make a literal fortress.
Anyway I opened the door and there was my actual apartment. It was modern in style, with white, silver and blue being the primary color scheme. I walked over to a wall display and typed in a few commands, the east and south walls became opaque then clear, revealing the still rising sun and the New York skyline. On the outside the building would still look like a typical skyscraper, but the selected walls now acted like giant multistory windows. I walked to the kitchen, wanting to apease the never ending pit that was my stomach. Natasha was already there, lounging on one of the dining chairs, eating Pocky and looking quite pleased that she had found my stash. We both loved the chocolate covered sticks and currently we were having a Pocky war. I had found her stash in her suitcase while we were in Norway and she was obviously holding a grudge.
Sighing but resigned that I would not get my Pocky back, I walked over to the fridge and grabbed a yogurt. It wasn't as good as Pocky, but it quieted my rumbling stomach.
After eating I went to find my mom, she shouldn't have left for work yet, but I couldn't find her in the apartment. I looked through every room and her usual hangouts, but no matter where I looked I couldn't find her. I was starting to worry and so I asked my virtual assistant, Quinn, to scan the building. She replied in a monotone voice "I scanned the building and found one thousand five hundred and twenty three humans in total. On your personal floors I have found two humans, which I have identified as you and Ms. Natasha."
I sighed and wondered where my mother could have gone, I was about to ask Quinn to scan the other floors for my mother specifically, but I was interrupted. Quinn's overhead voice said "If you are searching for your mother, she has left me a message, do you want me to replay it?"
I felt like banging my head against a wall, I vowed to upgrade the AI as soon as I had time. Indicated for Quinn to replay the message and my mother's warm voice started to play. "Percy, I have been sent to retrieve a demigod. And as much as I know that you want to go to the last two weeks of school, I think it would be safest to go to camp now. I doubt I'll be back in time to bring you to there myself. Please don't go by yourself, have Natasha accompany you. Anyway, be safe and I'll be back as soon as I can, love you, have fun at camp."
Percy released some tension she hadn't even realized she was holding, her mother was just on a mythological errand and was probably fine. Now she just had to go to a magical camp for half gods and try to fit in. Easy, right? Thankfully her mom and granddad had told her where the camp was when they had suggested she attend.
I walked back to the kitchen, where Natasha was still eating my Pocky, still looking very happy with herself. I told her, "Nat, my mom's not going to be back for a while, she told us to go to camp. I'm going to pack, I'll meet you in living room in ten." She nodded, her mouth full of Pocky.
I rolled my eyes and went to my room. It was a beautiful room. Because while I had helped design most of the building actual architects had helped, but my room and the gyms were the rooms of which I was the sole creator. It had walls I had painted myself, swirling masses of cool colors writhing like ferocious beasts. Like the living room the walls could shift from clear east facing windows to the regular painted wall. The main part of my large room had dark wood floors, while the alcoves and lounging areas were covered in thick rugs. As I walked to my closet I passed the floor to ceiling bookshelves and my giant waterbed. With a few swipes of my hand my the lights in the closet turned on and the clothes I had selected were rotated to the front.
I easily found what I wanted, mostly jeans, graphic tees, long sleeved shirts, sweat pants, sneakers and underwear. I did pack a single pair of dress pants, two dress shirts and one dress, just in case. Then I walked to the bathroom and grabbed a toothbrush, shampoo, conditioner, a hairbrush and fistfuls of hair ties.
Instead of carefully folding my things, like I probably should have done, I just threw everything in my suitcase and called it good. Even though I knew I was in one of the most secure buildings in the world I still quickly glanced around, just to make sure there were no unwanted eyes. I walked over to a control panel on the wall, typed in code and scanned my hand, then I walked over to my bookcase and pulled on The Art of War. With a quiet click, the bottom half of the tall book case swung open leading to a door with even more security measures. When that door finally opened, it revealed a weapon lovers paradise. I had every weapon imaginable, made both normal steel and plastics, but also some made of Aura steel and other unique materials. Some of the weapons were actually monster spoils.
I grabbed whip that looked like a braided belt, a ring that could twist into two small throwing knives, a garrote disguised as a bracelet and a few extra spike strips that I always braid into my long hair. I grabbed a few other small hidden weapons but because I wouldn't be able to explain to the campers why I already had weapons, I knew I couldn't bring anything large or obvious. It was annoying, because I felt naked without my usual hidden knife sheaths and concealed pistol, but I persisted and finished packing.
The final thing I did was shift into my male form, then I walked out to meet Natasha.
---Time Skip---
Natasha's POV
Percy tried to convince me to let him drive, just like he did every time we drove together and like always I said no. He pouted and gave me the silent treatment, but he wasn't able to maintain it for long, he was too nervous. He startled to ramble a cute, if mildly annoying, tell of his comfort level. The only two people who had experienced his unfiltered and unpunctuated dialogue were Sally and me. When ever he rambled with other people near, he always withheld some information or kept up a slight mask.
I drove through the hazy twilight, half listening to his unintentional monologue, until I heard his tone shift from nervously theorizing to a small, scared voice. I started to actually listen. He spoke with a childlike voice that reminded he was only nine and said, "Natasha, what if they don't like me? I'm already a freak among normal people, but I'm not even normal among abnormal people. What should I do?"
I was about to answer but a strange noise made me pause. It sounded like an animal, and it seemed to be coming closer. Percy cocked his head, confused and a bit hurt that I hadn't answered him, but I motioned for him to listen. He figured out what I was trying to say, but instead of calming down his eyes widened in shock and a scream started to erupted from his mouth.
But with a deafening roar he was cut off, as the car was hit with an unstoppable force and the scenery flipped, going by at incredible speeds. When the view finally settled I realized we had been in an accident. I desperately looked for Percy, but he wasn't in the passenger seat and the windshield was shattered. I couldn't be sure in the half light, but a oddly shaped lump was lying ten feet from the car, unmoving. I tried to rip my seatbelt off, but the material was sturdy and the buckle was jammed, so I grabbed one of my knives, tearing at my restraints, unworried about hurting myself. Percy was far more important than some cuts.
In my haste I didn't notice a small figure running towards us with an odd gait. By the time I got to Percy, the figure was there as well. I instantly got into an offensive stance, ready to fight to protect Percy, however the figure raised their hands and said with a boy's voice, "Please, I'm here to help."
I would have questioned him more, but Percy was stirring and I heard the roar again. So instead I lifted Percy as gently as I could and motioned for the boy, who looked to be a Styr, to lead us. He looked hesitant, but was motivated by my death glare.
He guided me through the woods, with every step the roar sounding closer and closer. Percy woke up and I wordlessly put him down, discretely taking out a pistol and a dagger. Percy took out a small blade, but had to mainly focus on staying upright.
With no warning a giant bat like creature swooped down and would have grabbed me if Percy hadn't thrown his dagger. It wasn't a kill shot, probably due to his injuries, but it made the creature temporarily retreat, giving us a clear look at it. It was vaguely human, like a mix of a cruel old woman's head, and bat demon's body.
With a cackle the creature yelled out "Good, we can punish the thief and it's mother, Lord Hades will be pleased. Sisters to me!"
Then with a roar the minotaur, who must have hit our car, crashed through the trees, two more of the bat women behind it. The Styr visibly paled, but stayed with us and as we desperately ran through the forest, fending off attacks from the four monsters.
We had almost reached a shimmering barrier, when everything went wrong. The monsters finally seemed to adapt to working together and had recognized that Percy was weakened, so they started to focus their attacks on him. He was having a hard time, his balance and aim were off and so his attacks were sloppy, looking amateurish. The minotaur swung his giant double sided ax and Percy would have easily dodged it but at that moment one of the bat women pushed him back, right into the weapon's path.
Time seemed to slow as I watched the deadly arc inch closer to Percy. Without realizing I had moved I jumped in front of Percy, my gauntlet covered arms between my body and the blade. They spread the force out, so instead of cutting me in half, my arms broke and I flew back hitting a tree.
The last thing I saw before the blackness consumed me was the minotaur stalking over to me, a satisfied snarl on it's face.