PERCY
A few days have passed and now I am at the Empire State Building, about to steal a keycard to get in the elevator.
I step through the doors and freeze time and go behind the desk and take the card. I step into the elevator and once the doors close, time resumes as it was. I frown when I listen to the awful music.
"They have terrible taste in music. Play some rock or something, damn."
The elevator beeps and the door opens and I take a slow step forward and stay close to the shadows.
"You say you don't know the boy?"
"No, I don't. Artemis says he looks like me but I haven't had any children."
"Well he can't be a child of the other gods."
"Then whose child is he? He's a demigod because he got through the barrier."
The voices fade away and I take a peak into the hall to see two males, deep in conversation. I look around before I find huge doors and shadow-travel to the other side.
Inside are twelve thrones and I take a slow step towards them. I spot a rod leaning against one of the thrones and quickly run to it.
I reach out my hand but quickly retract it. Gods aren't allowed to take another god's symbol of power. What if the firecracker thinks I'm a god? I begin internally panicking because I'm not a god but the gods are my siblings.
I say just fuck it and breathe out a sigh of relief when my fingers curl around the lightning rod.
"Thanks for not calling me a god, Mr. Rod." I let out a small laugh. "That rhymed." I take off my blue back pack and stuff the rod into it and shadow-travel to the elevator. I quickly press the button and lean on the elevator wall.
"I thought I was gonna get caught." I let out a breath of air. Once the elevators opened I stepped out the building and went into a dark alley. I shadow-travelled to Camp Half-Blood and walked into the Hermes cabin. I thanked Chaos that everyone was still asleep and put my bag into the trunk.
I change into some more comfortable clothes and I lay down in my bed and let sleep overtake me.
~~~~~~~
I was being shaken awake and I turned over in my bed.
"Five more minutes."
I heard a laugh. "Perseus, it's time for breakfast. Get up."
I groan and slowly open my eyes to be met with bright blue ones.
"You're a terrible husband, Luke. You should let me sleep."
He rolled his eyes. "I'm great and you know it. Now get up. I'm hungry."
I sat up in my bed and stretched out my arms. I walked over to the bathroom and took a quick shower.
I stepped out and brushed my teeth. I didn't even try to brush my hair and instead just dried it with a towel. I open the door and Luke is waiting patiently on my bed. He grins at me and stands up.
"Ready?"
"I'd rather sleep, but yeah."
Luke nods and we make our way to the dining pavilion.
We sit down at the Hermes table and begin eating breakfast.
"I love pancakes. They're like fluffy cakes filled with goodness." I mumbled as I put another piece in my mouth.
Luke let out a tiny laugh and shook his head at me. Suddenly bright flashes of light appeared and everyone covered their eyes.
Well everyone except me. "Perseus close your eyes."
I tilted my head in confusion but did so anyway. When the light died away I looked over to see a twelve people. No, not people. The gods. I stare at them wide-eyed.
"Oh shit."
I look over at Luke. "What? Why are they here?"
He shrugs. "They only come for something important."
I looked back over at the gods. Guess they found out about the missing firecracker.
"Who stole my lightning bolt?" Zeus boomed. "Only a demigod could have stolen it!"
Chiron steps up. "Your symbol of power? When was it stolen."
"Last night. Someone snuck into Olympus and stole it. And the man at the front desk hadn't given the card to anyone."
By now, the campers were whispering and trying to figure out who stole it when someone asked if there would be a quest to look for it.
Suddenly someone shouts something about a mummy. I look over to see a walking mummy with green smoke surrounding it.
"What the fuck is that?"
Luke stares wide-eyed. "That's the Oracle of Delphi. She normally doesn't leave the attic of the Big House."
I look over at her and suddenly I'm filled with curiosity. "Oh shit." I whisper. If she knows that I stole it then she'll probably tell the gods.
When she got close enough, the pavilion went silent and she spoke, green smoke coming out of her mouth.
"There is no need to issue a quest
For the one who stole, is no pest.
The item stolen shall return at noon,
But beware the war shall be starting soon."
Everyone stares wide eyed at the Oracle as she leaves to go back to the Big House.
She came here for that? Okay...
"If the bolt was stolen, why would they give it back?" I only need it for a little something that's why.
"I don't know. But noon is in a few hours."
"She never said a specific day. It could be tomorrow." Yes, tomorrow. I was going to visit Tartarus tonight.
Zeus sighs. "I guess there is nothing we can do. But if anyone sees anything suspicious, report it immediately." They flash away and I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.
Luke looks at me curiously. "You okay?"
I nod. "I didn't think I'd meet them after only a week."
Luke smiles. "So now that you've met them, do you think they're dicks."
I looked into his eyes. "Absolutely."
He looks at me, shocked, then grins.
"Why are you smiling? Aren't you supposed to worship the gods or something?"
Luke scoffed. "No. They don't care for us. They came down here to accuse us of stealing something and didn't even bother to see how we are doing. The gods have children but they use us for quests and to get ourselves killed. That's how I got this scar."
My eyes trailed down to look at the scar under his eye.
"Didn't know that. I thought everyone here thinks the gods are such great beings."
Luke shakes his head. "Well, not everyone thinks that. I think the gods have hurt this earth for far too long." My eyes widen slightly as I study his face. He looks angry at the gods and like he would stop at nothing for them to be out of rule. He looks at me and smiles. "But of course that won't happen."
I shrugged. "You never know. The Oracle did say something about a war."
Luke froze. "A war?"
I nodded, studying his reactions.
"With who?"
I shrug. "Beats me. I'm not fortune teller."
"You got some crazy stories that could rival a fortune teller though."
I grin at him.
"Now let's finish eating. I want to train. And you've got to teach me how you beat the hunters."
I nodded as I began eating again.
~~~~~~~~
Luke's a fast learner. Or maybe I'm just a good teacher? Either way I've been showing him some moves that the Titans use, mainly because I want him to join Kronos and his army. I really don't want to kill him. It's nice to have friends that know about the mythological world. Or I could convince Father to let the demigods live. They haven't done anything, after all.
I know that he dislikes the gods but I don't know if it's to the point where he'd fight against him.
"Perseus? Percy! Earth to the weirdo!" I snap out of my thoughts by Luke snapping his fingers in front of my face. I look at him.
"What?"
"You spaced out for a second. What were you thinking about?"
I shrugged. "What the Oracle said."
Luke put his sword down and walked over to me. "About the war?"
I nodded. "If you had a choice, would you let Olympus crumble and have a new ruler, or would you fight to protect it?"
Luke hesitates.
"I wouldn't care with either answer. I won't think higher or lower of you. I just want the truth. And I won't say anything to the gods if you pick that answer. I promise."
Luke looks into my eyes before sighing. "I wouldn't protect Olympus. I'd let it fall if I knew that the ones that brought it down would be better rulers." I smiled at him.
"Thank you." I said softly.
"For what?"
"Being honest. Most people wouldn't say that."
Luke grinned. "Well I'm not like most people."
I shook my head. "No, you're not." I smiled. "You're an idiot."
He put a hand to his heart. "That's no way to talk to your husband."
"Then I call for a divorce so I can."
"You can't do that!"
"I can and I will."
A new voice spoke from behind us. "Do what?"
Luke pointed at me. "He said he was gonna divorce me!"
Annabeth looks at me with an eyebrow raised. "I wouldn't blame him. You're nuts." I crack a smile and Luke pouts.
"I am not!"
"Close enough." I mumble with a smile.
He glares playfully at me.
"Trouble in paradise?" Thalia speaks from behind Annabeth.
"There's no paradise to begin with!"
Luke looks at me in pretend shock. "You're saying.. that you never loved me? We got married, Perseus." He wipes an invisible tear.
I pat his back. "Sorry to say Lukey, but I lied."
"B-but Perseus!"
"I guess this is goodbye." I say and stand up. "It was nice knowing you." I salute him and I turn around but he grabs my hand.
"Please don't leave me." He says with big, blue eyes.
I sigh and sit back down. "Only for you."
He grins and soon we just burst out laughing.
"You could be an actor!" He says between laughs.
"We'd make a great team." I pointed out. I looked over at Thalia and Annabeth to see them staring at us. "Hey."
The blink. "What the hell did we just watch?"
I shrugged. "Trouble in Paradise, starring Luke Castellan and Perseus Jackson. The movie will be coming out in a quarter to never but it's said to be real stupid."
"Guess it means we have to watch it, doesn't it."
Annabeth nods her head. I lean to Luke and whisper in his ear. "I don't think they caught the quarter to never part."
"I don't think they did either."
"Or maybe their just playing us."
"That could be it too."
We stare at them with narrowed eyes until we all crack a smile.
The conch horn blows, telling us it's time for bed. I let out a sigh and we begin walking to our cabins.
"See you guys tomorrow." Thalia says and walks to the Artemis cabin.
"Bye dorks!" Annabeth says and a smile."
"You're a dork, you dork!"
"Idiot!"
"Idget!"
"Put a sock in it Jackson."
"I don't need a sock."
"Whatever!" And she opens her cabin door and disappears.
Luke and I continue walking until we get to our cabin and we slowly open the door. We go to the back of the cabin and separate to get changed. I slowly get into my bed and wait until everyone falls asleep.
~~~~~~~
It's about one in the morning and I'm dressed in my normal black clothes with a blood-red jacket. I grab my dark blue bag and quietly leave the Hermes cabin. I watch out for the harpies and finally make it outside of camp. I make a little entrance to Tartarus and begin to walk down the deep tunnel.
Let me tell you when my father heard that I could create a tunnel into Tartarus from the surface he was pissed that Tartarus gave me such a power at a young age. He didn't want me to come to the surface all the time and risk me being caught by the gods. Tartarus finally sorted everything out and Kronos isn't as mad about it.
It seems it works in his favor now.
When the tunnel finally levels out, I grin as I breathe in the Tartarus air. It may not be easy to breathe but it's home. I run all the way to the fortress and burst through the doors.
"Father! I'm home!" I shout out and only have a wait a few seconds before my father scoops me up into a hug.
"I've missed you so much, Perseus." I bury my head in his chest.
"I've missed you too Dad."
"How's life at Camp Half-Blood?"
I groan. "The campers are stupid and weird and I met the gods, not pleasant I'll tell you."
"Of course they aren't. What did they do?"
"Well because I stole Zeus's bolt he and the gods went to camp and asked us who stole it and all that jazz. The Oracle came and told him not to issue a quest and whatnot. They didn't ask how their children were or even say hi to them. It's unbelievable."
My father looks at me. "And this is why I say they aren't my children. You are my child."
I smile at him. "Oh I have the bolt with me." I take off my back pack and take out the bolt. "So how do we do this?"
Kronos shrugged. "I don't know."
I stared at him. "What do you mean you don't know?"
"I've got a hunch." He says but he looks away from me.
I roll my eyes. "Oh come on Father. I'll be fine. Just do it."
He looks at me hesitantly. "This might hurt a bit, Perseus."
I nodded and gripped the rod in my hands. My father put up both hands and started talking in the Ancient Language. His hands begin to glow and so do I.
Pain flows through my body as I clench my teeth so I don't let out a scream. I close my eyes tightly and the pain finally fades away. I fall to my knees and take in deep breaths.
"That hurt." I breathed out.
"Told you." I let out a small smile and got to my feet, wobbling a bit. "How do you feel?"
"Like I was just electrocuted a hundred times. Do you think it worked?"
"Only one way to find out." He held his hand out and I grinned. I took it and he quickly retracted his hand.
"Ow!" I shrugged.
"You asked for it Father."
He grumbles. "At least we know that now you have Zeus's lightning powers."
"Yup." I frown. "I don't have the sky though. Kinda glad about that, I hate flying." I shiver.
I looked up at my Dad and gave him a sad smile. "I have to go back now."
He nods slowly and pulls me into another hug.
"Stay safe Perseus. Please. And try to have fun while your there."
"Okay." I say quietly and let go of my father. "See you next time." I say and walk out the fortress doors.
~~~~~~
After exiting Tartarus, I shadow-travel inside the Hermes cabin and check to make sure everyone's asleep. I put my blue bag that holds the bolt into the trunk on the side of my bed and get into some different clothes.
I collapse onto my bed and pull the covers over me, slowly drifting off to sleep.
~~~~~~~
"Perseus you're a pain to wake up."
"Perseus."
"Percy!"
I turn around on my bed and open my eyes. "Hi Luke." I rub my eyes and slowly sit up. "Time for breakfast?" Luke nods and I get out of bed to get ready.
Once I get out of the bathroom, Luke and I walk to the pavilion and sit down in our normal seats when a Hermes camper turns to us.
"Do you think the gods will tell us when they get the bolt back?"
I shrug. "Probably not. They'll probably get the bolt and not tell us if they have it or not but if they want us to know they'll make it super dramatic so there may be lightning storms all day but I guess we'll never know."
The camper stares at me as I continue eating my food.
"Don't mind him. He makes weird future scenarios in hopes that one day they'll come true." Luke says to his brother.
The kid nods his head and looks away from me.
"You're gonna scare everyone with your weirdness." Luke jokes.
"I didn't come here to make friends. I was forced to come to this camp. Not of my free will." I look at Luke. "But I guess coming here did have its pros."
"Like what?"
I tilted my head to the side. "I got to meet you and Annabeth and Thalia. You guys are decent enough."
"Decent? You wound me Percy."
I growl at him. "Don't call me that."
He grins. "You growling at me won't make me stop. I like giving you a nickname."
"Choose something else."
"Nah. Maybe I'll come up with another one someday but for now, you're Percy."
I roll my eyes. "No."
He shakes his head and eats his breakfast.
"Yo dorks! Wanna train with us?"
I grinned at Annabeth and stood up, Luke following close behind. We walked to the arena and I took a sword.
"So how are we gonna do this?" Thalia says.
I grin. "We could do three on one." I suggest.
"Us against you?"
I shrug. "I could do it."
Luke nods. "He's pretty good."
The other two nod slowly before we all get into a stance.
At once, the three of them run at me but I run out the way, turning around quickly to duck from Annabeth's dagger and trip her in the process. Thalia throws a knife at me which I quickly dodge and jump into the air when Luke swipes at my feet.
Annabeth comes out behind me and I swing at her but she dodges. I block an attack from Luke and kick out my leg when Thalia tries to get me from behind. I quickly disarm Luke and run up to Annabeth to disarm her from her dagger. Thalia is left with only one knife so she runs at me and I jump over her, putting my arm out to send her down with me.
By the end we're all panting and the three stare at me with wide eyes.
"That was fun." I say with a smile.
"How did you do that?"
"Practice."
"Who taught you?"
I shrugged. "I told you how I moved a lot right?" They nodded. "Well I wouldn't stay at the house for that long so I had to learn to take care of myself. Things came after me a lot so overtime I picked up on things to help me. I switched foster homes because they would say I got into too many fights. Bullshit if you ask me."
"Damn."
I nodded. Okay so I feel a little bad about lying to them but the only thing I lied about was the whole foster shit. I would get attacked in Tartarus a lot either by the monsters or my uncles training me by suddenly attacking me out of nowhere. And I had to learn to take care of myself when I went to the surface. Hard times bro, hard times.
"He was teaching me yesterday and he is fast."
"I can't believe he beat all three of us."
"I beat four hunters at once." I pointed out. "Plus, I didn't even hurt you guys."
"Whatever show-off."
"I'm not a show-off. I'm just stating facts." I look up at the sky. "I've got to go. I'll look for you guys in a few."
They nod and we go our separate ways. I run to the Hermes cabin and get my bag from the trunk and run to the woods.
I go to a shadow and shadow-travel to the Empire State Building. I freeze time to steal the keycard and I'm on my way back up to Olympus after I resume time. I take a snack from my bag and eat a bite to keep up my energy. Once the elevator opens and I'm finally free from those terrible tunes, I walk through the shadows to the throne room. I shadow travel behind Zeus's throne and when the coast is clear I place down the rod.
I quickly shadow travel to the elevator and begin my descend. I tap my foot against the floor impatiently and when the doors open I launch myself out and go to the dark alleyway I went to before. I take a few deep breathes before I shadow travel myself to the woods within camp boundaries and check the time. 12:00.
Guess I did return it by noon.
I let out a sigh of relief before my whole world goes black and I fall to the ground.