ã€ŠLost in Foreign Seas (Worm / Percy Jackson)ã€‹


 Chapter 1 - Cast Adrift

    I awoke to crashing waves, cold rain, and the soft creak of aging wood. There was something digging into my shoulder. It didn¡¯t really hurt, very few external things did these past few months, but I could still feel a very unpleasant sort of pressure that I had grown very familiar with.

    I felt¡­ sore. That was the best word I could think of to describe the sensation, but it doesn¡¯t really capture the bone-deep ache that pervaded my entire body, the constant throbbing of my muscles, and the knife-like sensation of air tickling my lungs. The closest thing I could compare it to was the horrible moments I remembered from when I¡¯d first washed up on Calypso¡¯s island, but more¡­ earthy. Okay, that made more sense in my head. Think less fire and more¡­ earthquake? Ugh.

    I groaned softly, the gentle pitter-patter of raindrops splashing against my skin sending waves of soothing chill through my body. The waves beneath me moved in time with my heartbeat, rising up to cover my legs and then crashing down and sending a pleasant splatter of seawater over me. Despite the falling rain, raging sea, and the heavy fog, I was completely warm and dry, the waters around me refusing to even soak into my clothes, much less harm their prince.

    I¡¯m not quite sure how long I laid there. The pain wracking my body gradually receded minute by minute, hour by hour. Slowly but surely, the sea settled and the rain subsided. A warm trickle of sunlight fell across my face, painting the inside of my eyelids with a rosy glow. I stiffly raised a hand to shield my face and was surprised when the motion didn¡¯t send renewed waves of agony radiating down my spine.

    I sat up slowly, celestial bronze plates clinking softly against one another. Refreshing seawater tickled my toes. The tide had gone out and waves that had once reached almost up to the bottom of the pier now struggled to brush against my dangling sneakers.

    Without having to open my eyes I knew exactly where I was. Massachusetts, a few hours north of Boston. A son of Poseidon was never lost at sea and sitting on a pier extending out into the bay was good enough to qualify.

    On the other hand, how I¡¯d gotten here was a much more difficult question. I had been exploring the depths of the ocean a few hundred miles off the coast of Florida and then¡­

    ¡°Aghh!¡± I winced and clutched my head, a cry of pain wrenched from my lips by the sudden stabbing pain in my skull. I could remember darkness¡­ a woman¡¯s voice, booming like thunder in my ringing ears¡­ and pain.

    The memories burned, each static image outlined in stabbing knives and scorching flames. Something had swallowed me, chewed me up, and spit me out¡­ here? No, a few miles away from here, deep under the ocean. I could remember commanding the waters to bring me to shore, but that was it. A friendly pod of dolphins had dragged me most of the way and then the ocean had risen up, depositing me gently on the pier before withdrawing.

    Without really thinking about it, I commanded the sea beneath me and the waves rushed to obey. I gasped in relief as a huge wave crashed over me, dousing me in a deluge of icy, refreshing seawater. The ache behind my eyes receded slightly, my migraine going from actively debilitating to simply agonizing.

    I collapsed back onto the pier breathing heavily and instantly remembered why I¡¯d decided to sit up. Bright light plus piercing headache. Certainly not in my top ten favorite sensations. I hadn¡¯t felt this terrible since the day after our victory against the Titans. Drowning my sorrows in godly wine had seemed like a good idea in the moment, but the aftermath of so much nectar and divine spirits had left me a groaning, whimpering husk for hours.

    It was almost ironic: fighting Kronos had hurt so much less than celebrating his death. I could almost see Annabeth¡¯s crooked smile, hands on her hips as she stared down at me with her beautiful, stormy-gray eyes. ¡®Why the hell did you think that was a good idea? Even a Seaweed Brain like you should know better!¡¯

    My heart clenched, phantom pain momentarily overwhelming the very real pain in my head. It had been nearly six months now, but hot tears pooled at the corners of my eyes. Oh Annabeth, I would have died for you ten-thousand times over. That wasn¡¯t how it was supposed to end. It was supposed to be me. My choice, my soul, my life¡­

    Another wave rushed over me, shocking me out of my downward spiral. My mind cleared for a moment and I forcefully shoved painful thoughts and memories down into the lightless depths where they belonged. I had already spent long weeks drifting in the ocean currents, lost in hopeless thoughts and wracked by pain and guilt. Now was not the time.

    I struggled to my feet and opened my eyes. I needed to gather my bearings and get back to camp, or, barring that, Atlantis. I had no idea what Tartarus-cursed horror I had stumbled across, but anything that could leave me half-dead was serious bad news. I didn¡¯t like to brag, but I¡¯d fought a titan to a standstill and this time I¡¯d literally been in my element. Hopefully Chiron or Dad would know something.

    Looking around, I found myself standing on a dilapidated wooden dock surrounded on all sides by some of the worst urban decay I¡¯d ever seen. On one side there was a long stretch of beach covered in debris. Bits of scrap metal, broken bottles, and a small mountain of other washed-up junk almost completely covered the sand and the crumbling concrete road running along the shoreline was littered with deep potholes and trash.

    On my other side, a number of boxy, dilapidated warehouses led to what had once clearly been a busy cargo dock, complete with a number of cranes and massive concrete docks extending out into the deeper waters of the bay. The majority of the cranes looked completely inoperable, broken in places and horribly rusted. Only one in the far distance seemed to be in any sort of working order.

    One of the docks was occupied by an enormous, rusting hulk extending half out of the water. The former container ship lay on its side in waters far too shallow for it. A number of empty, badly damaged containers were just barely visible on its upper deck and there were several gaping holes in its hull. I could feel its history singing to me, a proud career of two decades ended in passion and tragedy.

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    Where was I? I wasn¡¯t exactly a great student¨C¨Cbetween my dyslexia and getting kicked out of every school I¡¯d ever attended my education had been rather spotty¨C¨Cand geography was in no way my best subject, but I didn¡¯t remember learning about any city like this. New England was dotted with ports, some much busier than others, but this was a massive installation that I¡¯d never heard of. I¡¯d spent the better part of five months swimming up and down the east coast of the United States and I would have absolutely noticed a place like this.

    I turned around, intending to dive into the sea to get a better sense of where I was, and my jaw fell open as I beheld the massive structure standing proudly at the center of the bay. A refitted oil rig rose from the sea, surrounded by what was unmistakably a giant force-field¨C¨Clike something out of those goofy science-fiction movies my stepdad Paul loved too much.

    Arches and spires gleamed oddly through the force-field, the bright morning sunlight making the entire structure shine like one giant, prismatic jewel. A glowing bridge connected it to the mainland, one long line of color supported by nothing at all, along which a small convoy of black cars inched along, each one looking barely larger than an ant from this distance. If not for the way the force-field seemed to refract the light shining through it, I might have thought that they were flying.

    What in Amphitrite¡¯s lacy panties was that? Had Hephaestus decided to move one of his workshops out of a volcano and slapped it right off the coast of some big city?

    No, that didn¡¯t feel right. There was no way he would use a disguise like this. Even the dumbest mortal wouldn¡¯t ignore that. Rachel and Chiron had been giving me some lessons and I couldn¡¯t feel a single bit of Mist clouding my eyesight. This wasn¡¯t some trick of the eye or anything like that, and those cars were cars, not chariots. Somehow, this was a mortal construct. Di immortales, what was going on?

    I spun around and quickly hobbled down the dock towards shore. Taking a deep breath, I stuck two fingers in my mouth and gave a New York whistle; the whistle a cabby could hear from a block away and over the ever-present din of pedestrians and honking cars.

    There was no response. I reached the shoreline and leaned heavily against a half-rotten wooden fence, unreasonably exhausted by the sudden exertion.

    I frowned and tried again, my piercing whistle echoing down the empty streets and bouncing off the sides of boarded-up buildings and crumbling masonry. Mrs. O¡¯Leary had never failed to come when I called her before. She¡¯d been one of my most constant companions these past few months, happily meeting me in every port I visited and even descending into the depths of the ocean to visit me while I stayed at Poseidon''s court.

    Maybe she was busy? Or perhaps the distance from here to Florida, the last place I¡¯d seen her, was just too far for her to hear me? It was probably that. Yeah, definitely that. Or maybe it was just taking her a few minutes to get here, shadow travel was fast but not really instantaneous.

    I waited for several minutes, doing my best to stretch out my sore muscles without taking off any of my armor or dropping my guard. Riptide¡¯s pen-form was a comforting weight in my back pocket. The sword had never truly failed me, no matter what Ares had said or done.

    Now that I was away from the water I realized that it was actually pretty cold, the wind blowing off the ocean biting into the exposed skin of my face and hands. I was very glad for the jean jacket and gray hoodie I always wore over my armor. In the aftermath of the war, I never really felt comfortable walking around without it, but the Mist could only do so much to hide what I was wearing from mortals. Sure, they didn¡¯t see me decked out like a hoplite, but kevlar and cosplay were both rather distinctive regardless.

    I was just considering trying for another whistle when I heard something¨C¨Cno, someone¨C¨C approaching. I turned around slowly, wincing in pain as my back protested the motion, and saw a sickly looking man in a ragged brown coat and too-big boots hurrying towards me.

    Seeing me turn around, he sped up, a wild look in his bloodshot eyes and a strained smile on his nearly emaciated face. ¡°You! You!¡± he cried out, his voice high and reedy. He reached behind him and pulled out a large handgun, brandishing it in the air in my general direction.

    ¡°Gimme your wallet, hands up in the air where I can see them!¡± he gasped out, ¡°Your phone too! And, and, and that jacket you got there looks mighty nice, off, off, off!¡±

    I stared at him quizzically. Was he¡­ mugging me? It was hard to take him seriously; he looked like he belonged in a hospital, not out on the street. I had lived in the seedier parts of the Big Apple for most of my life, but no one had ever tried to mug me before.

    ¡°You deaf or something, stupid fucker? I said hands in the air and gimme your wallet! Now! I have a gun!¡± He waved his pistol violently and I was worried for a moment that he was going to shoot himself. ¡°I¡¯ma shoot you, man! Don¡¯t test me!¡±

    He was almost on top of me now and I could smell him, the stench of unwashed clothing, moldy food, and cigarette smoke reminding me unpleasantly of my old stepdad Smelly Gabe. I waved my hand through the air, trying to remember Chiron¡¯s lessons on how to hide myself from mortals with the Mist, but nothing happened. My head was pounding, the dull thump of my heartbeat making me grit my teeth in discomfort.

    The man looked desperate, hungry, and the gleam in his bloodshot eyes told me that he wasn¡¯t really all there right now. I raised my hands slowly towards him, palms out. ¡°Calm down,¡± I began, but my voice caught in my too-dry throat and I coughed loudly.

    The sudden motion sent a renewed wave of pain arcing down my spine and shaking my limbs and I slumped forward, caught in a very unpleasant coughing fit. Unfortunately, that seemed to be the last straw for the man¡¯s already fraying nerves.

    There was a loud, sharp bang and I felt something slap against my shoulder. A small piece of flattened metal tinkled to the ground, bouncing several times on the cracked pavement before coming to a rest by my foot.

    I straightened just in time to see the man scrambling away from me, eyes wide with fear. ¡°Cape!¡± he called out loudly, his voice shaking with fear, ¡°Cape! I diden realize you was a freaking cape! Don¡¯t hurt me, I¡¯m sorry man, I¡¯m sorry!¡±

    He stumbled, fell, crawled for several steps, then lurched to his feet and bolted away down the road, disappearing a moment later around a corner.

    I stared after him, bemused by his reaction but unwilling to chase him down. I had much bigger things to worry about, like Mrs. O¡¯Leary¡¯s continued absence. I was mildly curious what exactly the Mist had shown him to make him react like that, but it didn¡¯t really matter. He¡¯d probably just remember this as a bad drug trip or something like that. It was probably whatever, even if he made a big deal of it I doubted anyone would ever believe him, nor would anything come of it.

    Wiping my fingers on my sweatshirt, I stuck them back in my mouth and whistled a third time. I would give her another ten minutes and then I was jumping back in the water and taking the long way back to camp. It was less than two-hundred miles back to Long Island. Even in my current state I could make the trip in under an hour.

    This time however, there was a response, just not the one I expected. A figure blasted down out of the sky like a comet and came to a sudden stop just a few feet away from me, floating motionlessly an inch above the ground. She was tall and curvy, her figure highlighted by the sleek white dress she was wearing.

    Despite the weather, she was wearing a skirt that ended at her mid-thigh, though her high boots and shoulder-cape did look rather warm. Her platinum-blonde hair was held back by a gleaming golden tiara and she radiated a palpable aura of menace that seemed to fill the air around me and made my skin prickle uncomfortably.

    I had no idea what goddess she might be, but knowing my luck she had probably been one of the minor ones that sided with the Titans. She didn¡¯t feel particularly powerful¨C¨CI¡¯d met a lot of gods since the war ended and had learned a bit about how to distinguish someone who could turn me into a smoking husk in the blink of an eye from just a very immortal waste of time¨C¨Cbut it was honestly hard to tell.

    She didn¡¯t really feel like any goddess I¡¯d ever met, but I had no idea what else she might be. Flying plus weird spiky crown plus weather-inappropriate outfit sounded pretty goddess-like to me. I wanted to sigh. At least she probably wasn¡¯t a monster, not that my track record with non-monsters wasn¡¯t that much better.

 Chapter 2 - Glorious Confusion

    In my experience, the best way to deal with gods is to not deal with them at all. Take it from someone who¡¯s met way too many of them. Most gods are assholes. Even my dad, one of the nicest and most personable gods I¡¯d met, had a rather hefty reputation for being a dick when offended or minorly inconvenienced.

    Unfortunately, gods tend to be a bit pushy and don¡¯t really like taking no for an answer. When you do have to deal with a god, it is important to be wary but respectful. Gods don¡¯t take insults lightly, and it''s very hard to know what will and won¡¯t insult a god. Sure, some things are obvious; don¡¯t call them mean names, don¡¯t murder people in their temples, don¡¯t slaughter their worshipers, don¡¯t rape their priestesses, don¡¯t break oaths sworn in their name, don¡¯t feed them dead babies, don¡¯t say you¡¯re better than them at something they do, and so on.

    Others are less straightforward. Especially if you don¡¯t know anything about the god or goddess in question, just try to keep your mouth shut and get through things. That isn¡¯t always foolproof¨C¨Csome gods are offended when mortals don¡¯t beg and grovel on sight, but if you run into one of those you¡¯re probably fucked anyway.

    Fortunately I had a bit more leeway than most mortals or even demigods. Being the Hero of Olympus had its perks. Even outside of that, unless I was dealing with a major god or goddess, between the Curse of Achilles, my demigod powers, and the slowly blooming blessing I received at the end of the war, I could probably take them if I really had to. Since I didn¡¯t recognize this floaty, princess-looking goddess, she probably wasn¡¯t anyone super powerful.

    Still, that was no reason to get cocky. I carefully shifted my weight slightly, my left hand drifting towards where I could feel Riptide¡¯s pen form in my back pocket. I was only a few steps away from the sea. If a fight broke out, I would leap back off the pier into the surf. I wasn¡¯t in great shape right now, but the saltwater should give me enough of a boost that I could at least make a hasty retreat.

    In any case, I hoped that wasn¡¯t going to be necessary. I had enough enemies as it was. ¡°Hello,¡± I greeted, bowing my head slightly without breaking my line of sight. ¡°Way to make an entrance, solid ten out of ten.¡±

    She narrowed her eyes and I had to hold back a sigh. Someday I would remember not to joke around with goddesses. None of them ever had a sense of humor.

    Expecting some sort of rebuke, I was surprised when she looked around, scanning our dilapidated surroundings with practiced ease, then turned back towards me. My skin prickled and I could see suspicion in her eyes. ¡°I thought I heard a gunshot,¡± she called out loudly, ¡°Did you see anything? Is anyone hurt?¡±

    That was not what I had been expecting at all. She sounded genuinely worried. I¡¯d never heard a god worried about the affairs of mortals before.

    ¡°Yeah, there was a bum with a handgun. Tried to mug me.¡± I poked the flattened bullet with the tip of my sneaker, sending it clattering loudly across the concrete. ¡°I don¡¯t think it really worked out for him.¡±

    It took a moment for her to take in what I¡¯d said, and when she did she shot up and away from me, stopping only once she was well out of arm''s reach even if I lunged. Her hands were balled up into fists and the faint smile on her face was replaced by a look of wary caution and barely-restrained violence.

    ¡°Are you a hero?¡± she asked sharply.

    Huh? ¡°Well, I¡¯d like to think so, yes. That¡¯s certainly what people keep telling me, at the very least.¡±

    She instantly relaxed somewhat but did not fly back down towards me. ¡°Good, that¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s good. Are you new? What¡¯s your name?¡±

    This conversation was not going at all the way I had expected it to. I was starting to reassess my initial conclusion that this girl was a goddess, though I still wasn¡¯t sure what else she could be. She actually looked more like one of those superheroes I sometimes saw on movie posters. What was that lady¡¯s name, the one with a metal red white and blue bikini? Wondrous Woman? Superb Woman maybe? Something like that.

    The Stoll brothers loved those things and would talk your ears off about them if you gave them a chance, but I never really had time for that. I had always been too busy trying not to die, and after the war I spent as little time at camp as I could manage.

    I bit my tongue before I could blurt out something stupid and refocused on her question. It had been a while since I¡¯d introduced myself to anyone. After the fifteenth ¡®Oh yes I know who you are, Perseus Jackson¡¯ I had mostly stopped bothering except to correct it to Percy, not Perseus.

    This was somewhat refreshing. Savior of Olympus was a heavy title that could get tiresome at times. I was a little tempted to lie and give her a fake name, but that seemed needlessly complicated and likely to backfire.

    ¡°Oh right, sorry, I should have introduced myself.¡± I extended a hand up towards her. ¡°Hi, I¡¯m Percy, Percy Jackson. It''s a pleasure to meet you.¡±

    The girl¡¯s eyes widened slightly and she drifted several inches down towards me. ¡°No, no, I mean¨C¨Cnot your name name, your cape name! We just met and I promise I won¡¯t tell anyone, but you should never, ever tell anyone¨C¨CLook, New Wave is different, but your identity is a big deal! So, I¡¯m Glory Girl. What¡¯s your name?¡±

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    I blinked rapidly. I was somewhat confused. And worried. It had been less than a minute since this girl descended from the sky and she suddenly looked about halfway to a panic attack.

    ¡°Uh, like a¡­ nickname you mean? I guess Ann¨C¨CAnnabeth used to call me seaweed brain, but that¡¯s kinda a her thing. I¡¯d prefer if you didn¡¯t call me that, actually. Usually I¡¯m just Percy, that¡¯s already a nickname sort of. Technically I¡¯m Perseus Jackson, but my mom only calls me that when I do something really dumb.¡±

    I was rambling, I realized, and there was an ache in my chest from when I¡¯d stumbled over Annabeth¡¯s name. Pausing, I looked up towards Glory Girl (and what sort of a name was that? It really did sort of sound like something a superhero would call themselves). If anything, the floating girl looked even more freaked out than she had a moment ago.

    ¡°Um, are you¡­ okay?¡± I asked slowly.

    Floaty-girl took several deep breaths. ¡°You¡¯re new to all this, aren¡¯t you,¡± she said flatly. Then, without giving me a moment to respond, continued. ¡°I know it doesn¡¯t feel super important right now, but your secret identity is a big deal when you¡¯re a cape. The unwritten rules mean most people won¡¯t use your identity against you, but a lot of villains only pretend to care about the rules. Especially with villains like Hookwolf and Lung around here, you don¡¯t want people coming after your family.¡±

    I was¡­ honestly even more confused now. I spent a lot of time being very confused, but usually I had Ann¨C¨Csomeone around to help me figure things out, plus a bunch of Greek history to fall back on in a pinch. Lung, Hookwolf, secret identities, villains¡­ this really did sound a lot like a superhero comic.

    ¡°Look at what happened to my aunt Jess. My parents really thought we were doing something when they all unmasked, but then an Empire wannabe went and shot her out of costume. If they¡¯re willing to do something like that to an entire family of capes, you don¡¯t want to know what they¡¯d do to your family if they knew who you were.¡±

    That did sound slightly concerning. I certainly didn¡¯t want anyone coming after mom or my stepdad, though it would be funny to see anyone trying to go after my dad to get to me. That was like stealing the Mona Lisa to prepare for baby¡¯s first burglary.

    She paused, mumbling something under her breath that I couldn¡¯t really make out. I heard ¡®what else¡­ mum¡­ new cape¡­¡¯ but that didn¡¯t mean much to me. Suddenly she snapped her fingers and pointed at me. ¡°Right, the rules. This is your first time out, right? Not much of a costume, but that''s not unusual. No one has explained the rules to you yet, right?¡±

    ¡°I¡­ rules?¡±

    ¡°The unwritten rules are sort of a framework, a code of honor, for heroes and villains, though not everyone follows them very closely. No killing, no going after secret identities, respect the truce, no attacking civilians, that sort of thing. It''s all pretty much common sense and if anyone breaks it, everyone else is supposed to team up and go after them. Usually.¡± She mumbled something very rude under her breath, then sighed. ¡°But some villains are strong enough that they can get away with breaking them, so you have to be careful.¡±

    Okay. I was feeling thoroughly out of the loop. There was clearly some kind of misunderstanding going on here and I was really, really sick of it. By now, I was pretty sure this girl wasn¡¯t a goddess. That didn¡¯t leave me any closer to figuring out what she actually was, but she neither felt, talked, nor acted like any goddess I¡¯d ever met.

    I had heard rumors that there were other things out there, more than just the Greek gods and myths. Monsters that didn¡¯t fear celestial bronze and didn¡¯t disappear into dust when killed. Strange people that couldn¡¯t see through the Mist but clearly weren¡¯t just regular mortals. When I¡¯d asked my dad about it he had very quickly changed the subject. Chiron had simply refused to talk about it when Lacy, one of the Aphrodite girls, came to camp talking about some weird siblings that ¡®smelled a bit too much like gods¡¯. Maybe this was one of those things?

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I don¡¯t think I¨C¨C¡± I began, only to be cut off by the loud sound of a cell phone ringing. Glory Girl reached into a pocket hidden under her skirt and dug out an expensive-looking phone.

    ¡°Hey Amy, sorry I¡­ No, no, I heard a gunshot and¡­ No one¡¯s hurt, it¡¯s alright. I ran into a new hero and¡­ Oh shit, that¡¯s tonight? I¡¯ll be there in five!¡±

    She hurriedly shoved the phone back into its pocket and looked back down towards me. ¡°Sorry, I have to run. I need to pick up my sister from the hospital and I¡¯m running really late. Here,¡± she dug into another pocket¨C¨CI would have to ask her where she got a skirt like that, the Aphrodite campers would kill to get that many pockets¨C¨Cand pulled out a business card and a pen. She rapidly scrawled something on the back and handed it to me.

    ¡°That¡¯s my private PHO, send me a message if you have any more questions. Say something about like, um, that nickname you gave me, or something like that so I know it''s you. Us heroes have to stick together, alright? Got to go!¡±

    And then she was gone, shooting into the sky like a comet, her short cape snapping in the wind behind her from the speed of her liftoff. I watched her go for several seconds until she vanished behind a row of warehouses, then looked down at the card she had shoved into my hand.

    ¡®Point_Me_@_The_Sky¡¯ it read. I had no idea what PHO was, it sounded like a website maybe, but she seemed to think I would know what it was. She seemed to think I would know a lot of things, actually. I shoved the card into my pocket. Maybe I could give it a look after I checked in with Chiron.

    For the moment, I put the bizarre encounter behind me. Mrs. O¡¯Leary was still missing and I was starting to get worried about her. She¡¯d never taken nearly this long to find me. I knew that she was a big girl and could take care of herself¨C¨Cvery few things were willing to mess with a hellhound the size of a bus¨C¨Cbut that didn¡¯t stop me from worrying. It was possible she was too injured to get to me, or perhaps she couldn¡¯t hear me because of some sort of magic, but I didn¡¯t like any of the possibilities that were coming to mind.

    If she was injured, hopefully she knew to run back to camp. The defenses around Camp Half Blood were stronger than they¡¯d ever been and nothing short of a full-on assault could hurt her there. With any luck, I¡¯d find her in an hour and we could laugh this off with a game of Get the Greek.

    Moving slowly to avoid inflaming my remaining injuries, I clambered down the side of the pier and then dropped heavily onto the dirty beach below. Two painful steps later, my feet were in the water and vitality rushed into my aching body. Of all the days to not be carrying any Ambrosia¡­

 Chapter 3 - Lost

    It was gone. All of it. Just¡­ gone. Missing. Absent. Camp, Olympus, Atlantis, my mom¡¯s apartment, all of it. Just¡­ just gone. I didn¡¯t understand. What the hell had happened? Where was I? When was I? What was I going to do?

    The sea beneath me felt strange, though that might just have been the panic clawing at my throat. It had taken less than an hour to get from Brockton Bay to the north shore of Long Island, except instead of Camp Half Blood¡¯s familiar beachfront I found a big hotel and a few restaurants.

    In hindsight, that was when the denial started to kick in. I decided I must have somehow forgotten the location of one of the most important places in my life and spent the next hour zooming up and down along the shoreline trying to find it.

    I found nothing. Not a single sign that the camp had ever existed. I even stopped at a small local library that I had no memory of and checked the phonebooks. There was no entry for Delphi Strawberry Service. The old, tired-looking librarian told me there had never been a local strawberry grower here as far back as she could remember.

    My next attempt took considerably less time. Finding an isolated bit of shoreline, I used my powers to create a misty rainbow and tossed a gold drachma through it. ¡°Oh Iris, goddess of the Rainbow, please accept my offering.¡±

    I didn¡¯t even bother trying to give a location. The coin fell straight through the mist and plopped onto the wet sand. It seemed like Iris wasn¡¯t taking calls today. I picked up the coin, rinsed it off, and dove back into the sea.

    From there I headed inland, moving deep underwater following the east river until I was nearly at the Empire State Building. Or well, the place where the Empire State Building should have been. Instead, there was a new-looking skyscraper that very much wasn¡¯t it. There were similarities, but it was shorter and squatter, and the spire above it was considerably less impressive looking. More than that, even focusing as hard as I could to push the Mist away from my eyes, I couldn¡¯t see a single sign that Olympus was hanging high overhead.

    As a matter of fact, everything around me looked unfamiliar. I¡¯d been on this street a hundred times by now, fought and killed right here, but I could not recognize so much as a single building. Only the street signs were the same, their presence a glaring hole in many of the theories swirling through my head.

    Furthermore, while the Empire State Building was missing, I could recognize another rather conspicuous building, or rather pair of buildings, towering high above me. I was too young to remember seeing them in real life, but high school had certainly taught me what the World Trade Center had once looked like. I could see both towers, neither looking singed, much less destroyed.

    My head spun, but I wasn¡¯t done yet. It took another hour to get from 34th Street to the apartment that Paul and my mom lived in. Along the way I checked a few other local spots. Some were there. An old bakery Mom had sometimes got discount bread from was open, but it had a new storefront and I didn¡¯t recognize the girl behind the counter. Others had been replaced by completely unfamiliar storefronts at addresses where I knew they did not belong.

    By the time I arrived, I already knew deep down what I was going to find. The entire neighborhood looked completely different, newer and with a lot more construction going on than I remembered. The apartment building wasn¡¯t there, replaced by a much shorter building with a restaurant on the ground floor and three stories of offices above it.

    I barely remembered stumbling my way back to the sea, carried along more by the promise of saltwater and healing than anything else. The trip down to Atlantis was a blur of gentle, soothing water and hot tears burning my eyes. As I expected, there was nothing there but sand and fish. No palace beneath the waves, no forges filled with my cyclopean brothers, no Triton with his wry humor and warm smile, no Poseidon waiting to greet me with a smile and a pat on the shoulder, no nothing. I would have even welcomed Amphitrite¨C¨Cas much as my father¡¯s divine wife didn¡¯t like me, at least she would have been a sign that I wasn¡¯t going insane.

    I broke down then, kneeling in the murky depths with a school of fish swimming around me as tears leaked from my eyes only to be immediately washed away by the current. I was so confused, so lost, so hopeless.

    What was going on? Where was I? What happened? I could only make half-hearted guesses and baseless assumptions.

    I¡¯m not quite sure how long I spent down there. It must have been at least a few hours, maybe longer. Slowly but surely, the panic receded as years of experience reasserted themselves. I had been in more hopeless situations before. Had I panicked when I faced Kronos face-to-face in the throne room of Olympus? No. I had kept my wits about me and through my choice I had banished the titan back into the depths of Tarturus. Had I panicked when I met Hyperion in Central Park, his armies arrayed around him and his body burning with divine power? No. I had fought and raged, dousing his fires and suppressing his martial skill until my allies could deal with him permanently.

    I had not folded then, and I was not going to fold now. I took several long, slow breaths and stood up, my power anchoring me to the seafloor. Looking around, I finally allowed myself to acknowledge something that I had noticed hours before. The ocean here felt different. Colder. Not so much in temperature, but in the way it welcomed me.

    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

    I focused inward, feeling the thrum of divine ichor rushing in my veins and echoing through the waters around me. There was no answering thrum, no sign of my father¡¯s might suffused throughout his domain. It was something Poseidon had shown me before he allowed me to go off on my own to explore the depths of the sea. If ever I could not feel his presence, it likely meant I had stumbled onto something dangerous. Certain monsters, lesser sea-gods, and even places of power could suppress Dad¡¯s reach.

    Here though, it felt different from how he¡¯d shown me. There was nothing in the water at all, or perhaps it was simply too faint to feel. When Triton asserted his own dominance over the waves around him, I could feel his divine power in every drop of water. Amphitrite¡¯s touch was lighter, gentler and more refined, but even still I could sense it with time and effort. No matter how hard I focused, no matter how much I strained my senses, I could find nothing but the faint traces of my own power echoing back at me.

    I shivered. For a moment, the icy depths around me felt like Stygian iron pressed against my throat. The ocean, no matter how cold and dark, had never felt so suffocating before. It still welcomed me as its prince, my eyes cutting through the murk even as I stayed warm and dry, but it didn¡¯t feel the same. I could almost imagine a shadowed shape flitting in the distance, just out of sight. A dark, malevolent creature watching me, hunting me, looking for an opening.

    Moving purely on instinct, I slammed my hands into the ground and the earth and sea answered me. Knife-like currents tore through the waters around me for a hundred feet in every direction. Seaweed, too-slow fish, bits of human garbage, and an unfortunate crab were torn to shreds in seconds. Massive clouds of sand erupted from the ocean floor, rendering the already dark waters completely opaque.

    I knelt there for a long moment, waiting for something, anything, to happen. A threat to appear, a monster to make itself known, even just a dolphin to swim by and apologize for spooking me. I would have welcomed a good fight, or even just a swarm of lesser monsters to exterminate. After Kronos¡¯s defeat, there had been a lot of those that needed disposing of before they could hurt someone, but that had mostly been taken care of months ago. I wanted a distraction, something to take my mind off the growing worry building in the back of my mind.

    Nothing happened. Then I just felt rather silly. What an overreaction to an imagined threat. I thought back to the curious haddock that had greeted me when I first came down here and felt slightly bad. Most fish were kind of stupid, but I hadn¡¯t meant to kill them. I hadn¡¯t even left them in an edible state, what a waste.

    I stood up and shook myself, gentle currents brushing away what few grains of sand had landed on me and clearing the waters in a small bubble around me. Taking another deep breath, I refocused on the situation at hand.

    The evidence was undeniable. Wherever I was, there was no Poseidon here. No sea god at all. I could imagine a few ways such a thing could have happened, but I didn¡¯t like any of those possibilities.

    Olympus was missing. Camp was gone like it had never existed in the first place. By Hades, the Empire State Building just wasn¡¯t there! What the fuck?! I needed answers, and I needed them yesterday.

    I tried to think back, tried to remember the voice I¡¯d heard. It had been talking, saying¡­ something. The attempt left me doubled over and gasping for breath as a renewed spike of agony cut through my brain like Riptide through an Empousa. Even completely submerged in healing seawater, it felt like a bad idea to keep trying. I wasn¡¯t sure how much more of that my brain could handle.

    If that was a dead end, where did that leave me? I fell back on Chiron¡¯s lessons. ¡®If you don¡¯t know what to do, start by taking stock of what resources you have and what you know about your situation. That will at least tell you what your options are.¡¯

    Fair enough. First of all, what did I have on me? I sat down on the seafloor and began to take stock. Pockets first. Gum, wallet, keys, a few gold drachma, the card the weird flying girl had given me, Riptide, two chocolate wafer bars in blue plastic wrappers, a broken pencil, the pen I accidentally stole from the old librarian, a bit of lint, and a nice carbon-steel knife that Rachel gave me for my birthday.

    What else? I had my armor¨C¨Cthough I was only wearing the chest plate right now, I could easily summon the rest of it by tapping my chest. I rarely did so¨C¨Cwith the curse of Achilles, my skin was harder than even god-forged celestial bronze, but it was handy to help hide where exactly my Achilles heel was. The armor had been a gift from Hephaestus himself, a reward for the hero of Olympus. It fit me perfectly, was temperature controlled, and could shrink down until all that remained was a nearly-invisible harness that conveniently covered the small of my back. I had only taken it off a few times since I had received it, and only reluctantly at that. Never again would someone die trying to cover for my weakness.

    I was also wearing my favorite blue sneakers, navy blue sweatshirt, blue jeans, and orange camp T-shirt. With that all accounted for, I grudgingly unbuckled the Mist-covered fanny pack that I always kept hidden under my sweatshirt. Inside was my camp necklace, a small baggie of ambrosia squares that I was suddenly happy I¡¯d forgotten about (who knew when I¡¯d be able to restock), more drachma, Tyson¡¯s latest transforming watch-shield, and a plastic bag that I reached into without looking and then tucked away. Annabeth¡¯s cap, knife, and camp necklace with its nine painted beads were all there, but those were memories I did not need to deal with right now.

    With everything laid out on the sand in front of me, it was easy to see the one option that might tell me something about where I was and what the Hades was going on. I picked up the paper card and stared at the words written on it. ¡®Point_Me_@_The_Sky¡¯. The strange flying girl had told me to send her a message on PHO, whatever that was. It wasn¡¯t much, but it was the only clue I had to go off.

    It took only a few moments to tuck everything away. I stood up, made sure I hadn¡¯t forgotten anything, and then shot off like a bullet towards shore. Hopefully Glory Girl and Brockton Bay would hold the answers I needed. Otherwise¡­ well, I would cross that bridge when I got to it.

 Chapter 4 - Low Humidity

    It was morning by the time I finally made it back to the city, the sun just barely peeking over the distant horizon. It was cold and windy, but the sky was clear and the sunrise painted the sea with streaks of glorious gold.

    Before making landfall I spent a half-hour exploring the bay, crisscrossing the sandy depths and watching the coast from beneath the waves. I¡¯d found over the past few months that there was a lot you could learn about a city from exploring its coastline, and Brockton Bay was no exception.

    I noticed a few things of interest during my exploration. First of all, there were a lot more fish than I was expecting, particularly just outside the bay and in the surrounding waters. A few of my distant relatives in my dad¡¯s court had told me about how badly mortals had damaged the ocean¡¯s biosphere, but I hadn¡¯t really paid them much attention. Now, I think I understood where they were coming from. There were a lot more fish than there should have been. Like, considerably more.

    Putting that aside¨C¨CI had no idea if that piece of information was at all significant, but it didn¡¯t really seem very applicable right now¨C¨CI continued my exploration. The next thing I noticed was the ridiculous number of sunken ships filling the waters. A harbor full of colossal, rusting wrecks was blocked off by a titanic cargo ship embedded in the sand just beneath the surface.

    Even without really knowing what had happened, I could feel the tragedy of it written in the waves. One sunken ship had spelled the doom of dozens more. Forty-seven ships large enough to carry tens of thousands of tons of cargo reduced to nothing but rotting, rusting scrap. Even if that wasn¡¯t connected to what was going on, it certainly bore investigating.

    Finally, I concluded that the bay contained what my ninth-grade math teacher would have called a ¡®statistically significant¡¯ number of corpses. The ocean had a lot of corpses in it, but the majority of those were found far out to sea. The majority of them also tended to die of drowning, not bullets or, in a few cases, genuine concrete shoes. It seemed the mortals of this city were rather violent, or at least had a very violent past.

    By the time I was done, the sun had mostly risen and I spent a few minutes finding a good place to emerge from the sea. I hadn¡¯t noticed it at first, but now that nearly a full day had passed, I was starting to realize that the Mist here felt astonishingly thin. Thinner than I had ever felt it. It was still there, a barely perceptible film of static that buzzed against my tongue, but that was all. It was nothing like the dense fog that lived up to its name surrounding Camp Half-Blood and Olympus, nor even the permanent background haze that I had grown so used to that I hadn¡¯t even been able to notice it until Triton purged it from the water around him and showed me the difference. I was glad now that he had; I couldn¡¯t trust that it would stop people from noticing me doing something strange and being forewarned was a lot like being forearmed. Briares would probably disagree, but I personally thought that four arms was plenty for most things.

    Thus, instead of walking out onto a beach fully clothed and completely dry, I found an empty, out-of-the-way pier a few minutes walk away from a rather nice looking stretch of boardwalk and used it as cover to get back onto dry land. A short walk later, I emerged from a side alley and joined seamlessly with the other early-morning pedestrians.

    In the early morning chill, my sweatshirt and jeans fit in perfectly. My plan was to walk around, find a map, hopefully find a library, and then go from there. I didn¡¯t really like libraries; my head was wired for ancient Greek, and English books tended to make my eyes hurt and my brain spin. The letters had a bad tendency to just float right off the page while I was trying to look at them.

    Still, I knew that it was probably my best bet for finding a usable computer with a serviceable internet connection, and it wasn¡¯t like I¡¯d be able to stay there for long anyway. Demigods and technology didn¡¯t mix very well. Computers weren¡¯t as bad as cell phones, but anything more than half an hour on the internet would attract every monster in the city straight to me.

    That wasn¡¯t as much of a problem for me as it was for most demigods¨C¨Cthere were very few monsters that could pose a genuine threat to me. Hades, I¡¯d taunted monsters on purpose a few times over the past few months as a public service. It was all too easy to attract a big crowd with a long call to my Mom and then take care of them all at once. However, between the especially thin Mist and the number of innocent mortals that would be stuck in the library with me I didn¡¯t want to risk it.

    Step one was easy enough, there was a map posted barely a minute¡¯s walk away from where I entered the boardwalk. Step two was going to have to wait a little bit longer. The map happened to be posted right outside a coffee shop, and the dazzling spread of pastries behind the glass combined with the smell of freshly baked bread wafting through the half-open door made my stomach growl and quickly reminded me that I hadn¡¯t eaten anything in more than twenty-four hours.

    Step two rapidly became step three. Thankfully, it seemed like American dollars still looked the same despite the MIA gods. Ten minutes later I was digging into a slice of warm blueberry pie, the table around me heavily laden with plates. Four thick slices of bacon, three eggs, two blueberry nutella crepes, a slice of blueberry pie, and a large cherry coke. The latter was tragically not blue, but I refused to drink blue gatorade on principle and that was the only properly-colored beverage they had available.

    It had eaten through a large chunk of my cash, but I didn¡¯t want to risk paying with my Poseidoncard or the Lotus Cash Card before I could test if they still worked and I was absolutely ravenous. I reasoned that I wasn¡¯t going to get anything productive done on an empty stomach, so it was a worthy expense. Worst comes to worst, I¡¯d figure something out. I always had.

    As I was eating, I still kept my eyes and ears peeled for anything interesting I might overhear. The majority of it was just random gossip¨C¨Cwhich coworkers were sleeping together, who they thought was the hottest Protectorate hero, plans for the weekend¨C¨Cbut I did learn that it was March seventeenth, which meant that I had either spent much longer than I thought swimming around down in Florida or that I¡¯d been unconscious for the better part of three entire days. I had left my hotel in Tampa on the morning of the thirteenth, and I was pretty sure that I had run into that Glory Girl person yesterday afternoon. That was certainly something to keep in mind.

    I was trying to decide if the Protectorate was some sort of celebrity group or if it had something to do with Glory Girl and her rambling when I noticed a young woman with dark blonde hair and green eyes stumble blearily into the cafe, her eyes glued to her phone screen and a laptop bag tucked under her arm.

    She looked for all the world like any other tired teenager, but there was something about her that instantly highlighted her to my senses. It was the Mist, I realized after a moment. The Mist around her seemed to recoil from her presence, the barely-there haze pushed back as though she was walking around in her own personal giant hamster ball.

    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    My spoon froze for a fraction of a second and then I went back to eating my crepes. They were absolutely delicious, the combination of the sweet blueberry preserves, light whipped cream, gooey hazelnut spread, and perfectly cooked crepe able to match my mom¡¯s cooking despite its lack of proper coloration.

    The girl didn¡¯t seem to notice anything, silently joining the short queue at the counter and occasionally reaching up to rub her eyes or massage her forehead. I kept a wary eye on her as she moved up the line, ordered a very large hot coffee and a blueberry scone, and then shuffled over to a table next to the window that was conveniently well within my line of sight.

    Riptide¡¯s pen form was a comforting weight in my hand as I slowly spun it between my fingers, making sure to keep my hand under the table and out of sight as I did so. It was a good trick, something one of the younger Apollo campers had come up with. It was so much easier to focus on something when your hands were kept busy. The girl in question typically fiddled with her hair bands. Riptide was an even more convenient alternative, keeping the blade in my hand and ready at a moment¡¯s notice. Like this, I could be across the room with my sword buried in a monster¡¯s chest in a fraction of second.

    Despite my caution, nothing did end up happening while I was eating. The girl drank about half of her oversized cup, nibbled on the scone, and then pulled a sleek-looking laptop out of her bag and began fiddling with spreadsheets. I was almost tempted to go up and ask her if she knew what PHO was, but decided not to risk it.

    She was certainly rather cute and might know something, but I was in no position to take risks right now. If need be, I could probably hunt her down sooner or later. A bubble in the Mist like that would probably be pretty noticeable even from a distance. If all it took to make me drop my guard was a pretty face then I never would have survived as long as I had. Maybe if she was wearing something a bit more form fitting¡­ No. Stupid Percy.

    It was only as I was leaving that she finally seemed to notice my presence. Her eyes initially passed over me as I walked towards the door, carefully making sure to never show her my back, but then she stiffened and her head snapped back around to stare at me. I paused momentarily, turned to look at her, and then walked out of the restaurant. If she was a well-hidden monster, that would have been more than enough for her to know what I was. If she was something else then, well, I honestly didn¡¯t know.

    I waited for several minutes on a nearby bench, but she did not come out to follow me. Eventually I decided to just head towards the library. There was only one visible on the map I¡¯d seen, and it was on the complete opposite side of the boardwalk from where I was and several blocks deeper inland beside.

    I considered taking a shortcut through the water, but ultimately decided against it. There was still plenty of daylight left and it was entirely possible the place wasn¡¯t even open yet. Yes, I could take my time and maybe poke around a bit before I had to go in there. So many books, ugh. I really wasn¡¯t looking forward to it. The too-short amount of time I¡¯d spent in the Athena cabin library with¨C¨CI closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and bit my tongue¨C¨Chad fully spoiled other libraries for me. I somehow doubted the local library would have their collection translated into ancient greek.

    I was about half way to my destination, ambling along the wooden walkway and chewing slowly on a piece of blue raspberry salt water taffy, when I noticed them. I hadn¡¯t been paying very much attention to the people around me, my attention primarily focused on the bizarre fortress standing at the center of the bay. That was another clue that definitely bore looking into, I¡¯d never seen or heard of anything like it existing in the mortal world before, but that was another thing to return to once I had a bit more of a general understanding of what was going on. For that reason, I had avoided getting too close to the thing¡¯s legs while I was exploring the bay.

    Two brightly-clothed figures, a man and a woman, were walking down the boardwalk towards me, the Mist rippling around them as it fled their presence and rippled in their wake. The man was dressed in bright red body armor, the top of his face covered by a matching visor that left his eyes and mouth exposed. The woman was wearing a skin-tight gray and white body suit covered in shimmery lines of cobalt-blue.

    They looked like superheroes. Even more so than Glory Girl, their costumes instantly brought the idea to mind. Now that alone didn¡¯t mean anything¨C¨Cpeople dressed up as superheroes all the time¨C¨Cbut more importantly, the people around them treated them as though they were superheroes.

    The pair stopped every few steps to take pictures with passersby and give autographs. People greeted them respectfully, didn¡¯t get in their way, and generally responded much more favorably than I would have expected for a pair of out-of-place cosplayers on a chilly spring morning. They smiled and talked with people and radiated an aura of confidence and security.

    I momentarily weighed my options, then decided to follow my gut and turned to walk towards the duo. I wanted a chance to scope them out. My initial suspicion would have been that they were disguised monsters, but that wasn¡¯t possible given the way that the Mist was actively avoiding them and I¡¯d never seen or heard of a monster that could really mimic a normal human without its help.

    I¡¯d also only ever seen one other person who elicited that sort of response from it¨C¨Cthat sleepy girl from before. Did that mean she was a hero too? I tried to remember if Glory Girl had had the same effect as these three, but I just hadn¡¯t been paying enough attention to say one way or the other. Maybe that was just normal here, some variation of a clear-sighted mortal that couldn¡¯t exist back home?

    I pushed those thoughts aside¨C¨CI wasn¡¯t much of a thinker, and coming up with pointless theories with so little information to go off of was pointless. Furthermore, it was almost my turn.

    ¡°Thank you for all the work you do for our city,¡± I told the red-armored man, reaching out to shake his hand. It felt like an easy guess, something you could tell a firefighter, a policeman, and maybe even a superhero without it sounding strange.

    He took it after a moment, his grip firm and confident. ¡°Of course! It¡¯s my duty and pleasure to help out you fine folks!¡± He smiled at me broadly. ¡°Just remember: stay in school, don¡¯t do drugs, and always be the best person you can be!¡± Then he winked and his smile turned cheeky. ¡°But don¡¯t forget to have some fun either. You¡¯re only young once.¡±

    The woman beside him finished with the mom and daughter duo that she was talking to and turned towards us, playfully smacking his shoulder. ¡°I saw that Assault, don¡¯t you go filling the boy¡¯s head with bad ideas.¡± Then she winked at me again.

    It was clearly a well-practiced bit¨C¨CI wasn¡¯t the most observant camper, but even I could tell that¨C¨Cbut it was still fun and clearly had a lot of heart in it. I spent another thirty seconds with the pair, getting a signed picture showing the two of them standing back to back with the giant oil rig fortress thing behind them for my trouble. Apparently the woman was Battery and the man was Assault. I¡¯d never heard of either of them, but they seemed to be pretty popular.

    The two spent another few minutes talking to the growing crowd before moving on further down the boardwalk. I watched them go, then turned and hurried off towards the library. I was starting to feel much more confident that the internet would have some answers for me. Back home that would have been a futile endeavor, but here it seemed like these superheroes, if they were indeed superheroes, were popular, public figures among the mortals. I probably wouldn¡¯t be able to find anything about where the hell the gods were, but some basic knowledge should be pretty easy to find.

    Usually, something like that would have been Ann¨C¨CAnnabeth¡¯s job. She was the smart one, the one who knew everything, had all the answers, and told me who I needed to stab and where. Without her, I had to step up and do it myself. I wiped a tear from the corner of my eye without breaking stride. I really wished she was here with me. Hopefully my research skills weren¡¯t too shabby and I could make her proud.

 Chapter 5 - Rising Tide

    Hours later, I found myself sitting on an old bench staring out at a nearly empty stretch of beach. Low tide was just a few minutes out here, the ocean having retreated to reveal a long stretch of smooth, wet sand. Despite the cold, two barefoot teens were running along the waterline, leaving shallow footprints in their wake.

    Without really meaning to I watched their path, my eyes instinctively drawn to the only movement in my field of vision. I could feel the water welling up from the sand to fill their heel-prints, the way spray from occasional shallow puddles beaded on their water-resistant jeans, and even the bouncing and shaking of their water bottles.

    Did that count as a thinker power, I wondered idly. Or perhaps it was all part of one big shaker power? I didn¡¯t really know, nor did I particularly care. The way the locals classified their abilities was¡­ strange, if potentially rather useful, but I had only briefly glanced over them before I decided it was high time to leave the library. For now, I had bigger things to worry about.

    I leaned back, folded my hands behind my head, and crossed my legs. The cool sea breeze wasn¡¯t the same as a dunk in the ocean, but it was still rather pleasant and I really just needed some time to think.

    My current situation honestly reminded me a little of those first few days at camp. It felt like it had been a lifetime, but in reality only six short years ago I hadn¡¯t known the first thing about gods, demigods, monsters, and all the baggage that came with my family history.

    It had taken days for me to even begin acclimating to everything, but once I had, everything had felt so natural. I¡¯d known the truth deep down in my blood even when it had been hidden from me for my safety. I doubted that was going to happen this time.

    Everything here felt so¡­ alien. Wrong. Just, fundamentally not how it was supposed to work. I had spent nearly four hours at a computer, browsing the internet and looking at forums and wikis, and not a single monster had been attracted to the library. I¡¯d even taken periodic breaks to scout around outside at first, once I realized there was too much to learn in just half an hour, but before I discovered that there was no horde ready to break down the doors to feast on demigod flesh.

    Was it strange that I missed getting attacked by hordes of monsters? So many demigods would have given an arm and a leg to never have to worry about monsters again, but here I was freaking out because of the opposite situation. There were no monsters here, at least not in the way that I understood them. I¡¯d found references online to monster capes and the Endbringers, but those weren¡¯t monster monsters. With the Mist this thin, it should have been impossible for people not to notice Empousai and cyclopes, gorgons and satyrs hidden among the mundane population.

    More than that, these ¡®monsters¡¯ could be hurt by mortal weapons and didn¡¯t explode into dust when they died. Morbid or not, I¡¯d found plenty of pictures of dead ¡®monster¡¯ capes. They just looked¡­ dead. Like people. Not monsters.

    And then there were the Endbringers. I¡¯d only found a scant few pictures of them online, but everything I¡¯d read painted them as impossible, unstoppable horrors. Still, they were modern horrors. Not ancient calamities, but something that, like ¡®superpowers¡¯, had only appeared in the past decades.

    I¡­ I didn¡¯t know what to think. Heroes, villains, capes, parahumans, and so many more words spun through my head like sand sucked into a hurricane. They weren¡¯t demigods. I was absolutely confident that they weren¡¯t demigods. The internet was rather cagey about how exactly people became capes, but I¡¯d met several of them now, and they didn¡¯t feel like demigods.

    Glory Girl, Assault, Battery, that girl¡­ No. No, they weren¡¯t demigods. Or gods. Or monsters. They were¡­ something else. They were an impossibility. I knew what all those felt like, the way my blood rushed and sang in the presence of danger and divinity. The way Mist swirled around monsters and demigods alike.

    I¡¯d seen videos online of what some capes could do, and it was intimidating, but also¡­ strange. They were powerful, but oh so limited in so many ways. Their abilities almost seemed like specialized Magic, but that was impossible given how they repelled the Mist like a Mets fan at a Yankees game.

    I clenched my teeth as my thoughts drifted back towards the Endbringers, and the one they called ¡®Leviathan¡¯ in particular. I didn¡¯t know what I could do about the other two, but that beast¡¯s days were numbered. Now that I knew what I was looking for, I could feel the barest echoes of its power rippling through the ocean depths.

    Just thinking about it made my blood boil. It dared to infringe on my father¡¯s domain, to bring to bear the rage of the seas without his say. Entire cities, regions, millions of innocent mortal lives, gone. The nearly imperceptible traces of golden ichor in my veins burned at the thought of it. Thief, intruder, blasphemer! I had a sudden urge to dive down into the lightless depths and hunt this beast that dared to style itself as master of the waters.

    The barely screwed-on cap of the water bottle clutched in one of my hands burst off, dousing my hair and neck in sea water and pulling me out of my daze. I took several long, slow breaths and dropped the crumpled plastic bottle on the bench beside me.

    As much as I wanted to go hunt down that monstrous creature, now was not the time. I couldn¡¯t get distracted. Certainly the next time it dared to emerge from the sea to menace mankind I would be there to face it. I could wait that long. Figuring out more about this strange world in which I¡¯d found myself and how I¡¯d gotten here took priority.

    I stood up and jogged down towards the ocean to refill my bottle. Along the way I also scooped up a handful of seashells and tucked them away in my pockets. It was always a good idea to have a little bit of the ocean with me wherever I went.

    I was tired of sitting around. Of reading and thinking. I needed to move, to run, to do something. I didn¡¯t typically go out looking for trouble, usually trouble found me, but I could make an exception. According to what I¡¯d read, the docks here were filled with villainous capes and evil gangs. With the curse of Achilles I wasn¡¯t scared of a few mortals with guns, and a good fight would help me gather the measure of these local villains.

    Apparently one of them could turn into a dragon! I¡¯d never had a chance to fight one for real¨C¨Ca few had appeared during the battle for Olympus, but I had always been in other parts of the battlefield at the time. The idea was exciting, intoxicating even. Ever since my dip in the Styx, I¡¯d found myself eternally hungry for a good fight, and heroes fighting dragons was a story as old as time.

    First though, I needed to make sure I could blend in with the locals if it came down to it. When in Rome, do as the Romans, right? I wasn¡¯t a parahuman, no more than these capes were demigods, but I was pretty sure I could do a rather convincing approximation.

    The easiest option would probably be to deploy my armor fully. I¡¯d only ever used it a few times to acclimate myself to fighting in full armor, but in its third mode it fully covered my body and the helmet left my face completely unrecognizable.

    However, that came with its own downsides. The armor was¡­ a bit much, to say the least. That was one of the reasons I tended to wear a hoodie over it even when I just had the chestplate deployed. Gleaming celestial bronze scale armor embossed with my father¡¯s trident symbol and polished to a mirror shine tended to be noticeable even through the Mist. If I also decided to use the helmet to hide my ¡®secret identity¡¯, the bright blue horse-hair plume, taken from one of Poseidon¡¯s prized hippocampi, and featureless faceplate would stand out like a beacon in any crowd.

    That was something I could bring out quickly enough if a fight did break out, I decided as I knelt down on the edge of the water. Angling the crumpled bottle towards the incoming waves, I directed a powerful stream of water into the warped plastic, carefully ballooning it back out to its original size.

    The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    For now, I could probably just settle for the classic disguise of comic book heroes everywhere. I had seen a shop selling domino masks as I scouted around checking for monsters after I¡¯d left the library. Seeing a good opportunity to test out my credit cards, I hid my face under my hoodie and bought a half-dozen.

    The Poseidoncard turned out to be a dud, but thankfully my Lotus Cash Card still seemed fully functional. I noticed a barely-perceptible drop in Mist density around it when the wary-looking cashier swiped it through his machine, so that probably meant that the bank accounts Dad gave me access to were invalid, but the magic on the cash card still worked fine. It was probably best not to use it for any large purchases, there wasn¡¯t really very much Mist for it to work with, but for groceries and basic necessities it was probably good enough.

    Well, there was no time like the present. I stood up, brushed the sand from my knees, and headed purposefully towards these so-called ¡®docks¡¯. I really didn¡¯t like that name. Judging from the maps I¡¯d seen, the majority of the docks weren¡¯t even near the water! It was a stupid name.

    <hr>

    Four entire hours later, my not-so-charitable opinions about the docks hadn¡¯t gotten any brighter. The only good thing I could say about the past few hours was that the chicken lo mein I got from a tiny hole-in-the-wall place was good enough. Though I probably should have taken off my domino mask and hood before ducking into the restaurant; the lady behind the counter had clearly been put off by my attire and spent the entire time I was waiting for my food throwing me fearful glances.

    In hindsight, it was probably my own fault. I¡¯d gone out looking for criminals during a weekday afternoon. Even with my very fringe understanding of how this superhero thing worked, I should have known better.

    Of course as soon as I decided to take a bit of a break, that was when something finally happened. I had just sat down and torn open the plastic wrapping of a half-crushed fortune cookie when I suddenly felt several gaps in the Mist, something I had been focusing on intently in the past hours, rushing in my direction.

    I roughly shoved the cookie in my pocket and hurriedly scanned the surroundings. I saw them nearly immediately. Three massive tiger-lizard-dog monster things were bounding down the road towards me, each just a bit smaller than Mrs. O¡¯Leary.

    I was on my feet with Riptide in hand a moment later, though I didn¡¯t take the cap off the blade yet. Standing up gave me the angle to see the costumed figures riding in pairs on two of the monstrosities.

    I¡­ didn¡¯t recognize them. There were four of them: a guy, two girls, and a fourth who¡¯s gender I wasn¡¯t quite sure of from this distance. None of them resembled any of the heroes or villains I had read about in this city, though honestly that didn¡¯t really mean much. Apparently this city had a huge number of capes, and I had only looked up the rosters of several of the more important teams.

    From a glance, I assumed that these were supervillains. The monster mounts and skull helmet certainly made me think they were villains. Everything I¡¯d seen mentioned how important public relations was to the local heroes and I doubted they would let their members get away with black motorcycle leathers and a skull motif.

    I uncapped Riptide and stepped into the middle of the road. ¡°Hello there!¡± I called out loudly, ¡°You lot wouldn¡¯t happen to be supervillains by any chance, would you?¡±

    Two of the figures, the one in a skull mask and a blonde girl wearing very flattering skin-tight lavender spandex, exchanged looks, and I realized that they weren¡¯t going to stop. In fact, the other girl shouted something to the dogs and they began to turn towards the nearby intersection.

    Very rude. I was really getting sick of the recent tendency for monsters and other enemies to try and run away when they saw me. These people didn¡¯t even know who I was! Sure none of the demigods that had sided with the Titans wanted to face Percy Jackson, the Hero of Olympus. Unlike some of the other campers, I didn¡¯t take prisoners. Here though, I was a nobody and they were still trying to run away!

    Well, I couldn¡¯t have that. Fortunately, I had a lot of practice stopping people from running away. Sometimes, water was not readily accessible or simply not the most optimal tool for the job. For years I had stayed away from certain abilities for fear of the damage they could cause. After what had happened to Michael Yew, I had honed my skills with other parts of my dad¡¯s divine portfolio until I was certain such a tragedy would never be repeated.

    I raised one foot and then slammed it back down into the already cracked and weathered pavement. As the dogs readied for another long bound, the earth beneath their feet rippled and rolled, sending all three of the beasts sprawling as they tried to push off from the suddenly moving street.

    Casually spinning Riptide at my side, I walked towards the downed group. None of them were injured; they hadn¡¯t even fallen from their makeshift saddles and my stomp had barely even damaged the road beneath them. I just wanted to slow them down, not hurt them.

    ¡°Hello there,¡± I called out again. ¡°Running away when I¡¯m trying to talk to you is very rude. So, I take it you guys are supervillains then?¡±

    The muscular girl wearing a plastic dog mask glared at me and the dubiously gendered renaissance reenactor sitting behind her reached down to grab what looked like a gaudy gold scepter strapped to the saddle beside him. The other two exchanged hushed words before the skull-masked guy turned towards me.

    ¡°We are, and if you don¡¯t get out of our way we¡¯ll show you exactly what that means.¡± Dark smoke poured out from beneath his helmet and his voice was deep, echoing, and vaguely hollow. He sounded confident and intimidating. Perfect.

    ¡°Sounds good to me!¡± I said cheekily, ¡°I¡¯m new around here and I¡¯m curious to see what you can do!¡±

    That turned out to be a poor turn of phrase a moment later when billowing clouds of black smoke erupted from the supervillain, hiding him and the others and plunging the world into total darkness.

    Huh, that was pretty neat. Darkness generation was a damn cool superpower for a villain, very spooky. It wasn¡¯t super effective against me, I could still feel seven distinct blobs of water moving around and sense the disturbance the four capes made in the Mist, but I imagined it was probably pretty useful against most people.

    Even more interestingly, I felt a sort of¡­ quiver in the Mist around him when the smoke first emerged. It was like nothing I¡¯d ever seen before and I didn¡¯t know what it meant, but it felt significant.

    I waited patiently to see if they would try to use the cover to attack me. Judging from their movements, only the big guy could see through the smoke he made and the others were just following his directions. I was pretty sure they were talking, but I couldn¡¯t hear a word. In fact, I couldn¡¯t hear anything but my own heartbeat and slow breathing. A few experimental swishes with Riptide told me that the smoke pushed against me when I tried to move. It felt a bit like when Kronos tried to freeze time around me, but much less effective. Apparently the darkness muffled more than sight.

    I was rather disappointed when the group decided to flee. I waited for the three monsters to bound up onto a nearby rooftop, then followed after them. Focusing on the nearby ocean, I leapt up and out of the darkness onto the nearest roof, the ground beneath me rippling to give me a bit of extra height .

    ¡°That was pretty cool!¡± I called out after them. The blonde girl spun around in the saddle, staring at me with wide eyes beneath her domino mask.

    ¡°Bitch, get us out of here,¡± she called out to the other girl. ¡°Grue, I don¡¯t think your darkness is going to stop him, but it might slow him down!¡±

    Grue and Bitch, huh, Well, the first one was probably a cape name and the second one made it sound like those two didn¡¯t have a great relationship, but it was something to go off of the next time I was at the library.

    The so-called ¡®Bitch¡¯ let out a piercing whistle and the three monsters accelerated. I shrugged, recapped Riptide, and set after them. I might not be a son of Hermes, but I was still considerably faster than any mortal.

    After less than a minute, it was clear that I was catching up to them. Grue summoned walls of smoke in my way, but I simply ran through them and used my water sense to avoid losing the group when they tried to descend back down to street level. Several times I felt something trying to grab at my limbs and muscles, but grabbing a seashell from my pocket and calling a slow trickle of salt water from it to run down my hand quickly put a stop to that as well.

    They seemed to realize that as well. ¡°Judas, Angelica, stop! Brutus, hurt!¡± The dog-masked girl called out suddenly. The dogs stopped and the riderless one turned and lunged towards me, crossing the street in a single leap, its tooth-filled jaws open wide.

    I danced nimbly out of the way and drew Riptide. As the monster came in for another bite, I experimentally slapped it on the nose with the flat of the blade and was surprised when I felt a solid impact and the monster reeled back in pain. I had been half expecting the celestial bronze to pass clean through the thing¡¯s head. It seemed this creature really was a monster. Curious.

    I dodged around two more lunges, then slammed my elbow into the side of its bony jaw, sending the monster crashing to the ground. If this was a tame monster like Mrs. O¡¯Leary I didn¡¯t want to hurt it too badly. As much as I wanted a good fight, a conversation was probably going to be much more productive. Hopefully this show of force was enough to stop them from running off again. Like my stepdad Paul always said, primary sources are the best when you¡¯re trying to figure something out.

    I spun Riptide around and turned to face the watching group of supervillains. ¡°So, do you guys think you could answer a few questions for me?¡±

 Chapter 6 - Telling Tales

    Tattletale was concerned. Worried, even. Stressed too. As much as she would like to deny it, she was scared. Her eyes flickered between Brian¡¯s broad back, the laid-out form of Brutus, and the nonchalant looking cape that seemed to be the source of all her headaches today.

    Brian turned to look at her and, even without using power, she could hear the unasked question. What do we do? He may officially be their leader, but only a fool discounted the voice of the team¡¯s Thinker.

    She bit her lip and glanced back towards the unknown cape. He was just standing there, casually spinning his glowing sword as though he hadn¡¯t just knocked one of Rachel¡¯s dogs out with a single blow.

    He was dressed like a total newbie¨C¨Cjeans, a hoodie, and a dollar-store domino mask that did almost nothing to disguise his features. It was almost insulting, but something told her he wasn¡¯t nearly as green as he appeared. There was an easy confidence in his stance and cool certainty in his sea-green eyes that spoke of experience.

    Despite already knowing what she¡¯d find, Tattletale dropped the walls around her power and focused on the cape in front of them. She was going to pay for it later¨C¨Cwas already paying for overusing her power today¨C¨Cbut she had to know. She had to make sure.

    Instead of the usual flood of information, the roar of a raging sea filled her ears. Waves crashed inside her mind, pounding against her skull like it was a breakwater, and the unmistakable briny smell of fish and saltwater filled her nose. Behind it all was an almost panicked, confused buzzing that set her teeth on edge and made her left eye throb.

    She slammed the floodgates shut before she could be overwhelmed. Well, not really overwhelmed per se, but hopefully this way the headache would only last for two days and not three or four.

    She didn¡¯t like this. She didn¡¯t like it one bit. This was unmistakably that same boy from this morning. Her power had never reacted to anyone else the way it was acting now and she refused to believe that there were multiple capes in the Bay who could completely no-sell her powers.

    Who was he? Was he following her? Did he know who she was? Did he work for Coil? She had no idea, and that terrified her. She¡¯d gotten so used to seeing all the cards that not knowing was driving her insane. Worse, he was not only completely opaque to her power, but he was also an A-list Brute and more on top of that. Someone had certainly won the power-lottery here, and it certainly wasn¡¯t her.

    ¡°I guess we talk,¡± she quietly told Brian. ¡°I don¡¯t think we¡¯re going to get away the old fashioned way and I¡¯d really rather not wake up in a PRT holding cell. We can always make a break for it later.¡±

    Brian considered her words, then nodded minutely. He turned back towards the strange cape, new trails of black smoke leaking out from behind his motorcycle helmet as he used his power to disguise his voice.

    ¡°Perhaps we can,¡± he called out, ¡°but I¡¯d like some assurances first. If we answer your questions, will you let us be on our way?¡±

    Tattletale felt an itch to interject, but for once managed to avoid living up to her cape name and stayed silent. Normally she¡¯d be able to answer a question like that for Brian without him having to ask it, but today was proving to be anything but normal.

    The cape spun his sword around one more time then stabbed it into the ground, concrete parting around the blade like butter. Tilting his head to the side, he seemed to consider Brian¡¯s words for several seconds. Then he shrugged. ¡°Maybe. I¡¯ll think about it.¡± He smiled broadly at them, showing two rows of pearly-white teeth. ¡°That¡¯s the best you¡¯re going to get from me, I¡¯m afraid.¡±

    Brian¡¯s shoulders were tense, but she trusted that he wasn¡¯t going to do anything stupid. She glanced down at her phone where she was holding it out of sight between her and Brian¡¯s bodies. There was no response from Coil. She¡¯d messaged him that they were fleeing from an unknown cape, but he hadn¡¯t gotten back to her yet. As much as she didn¡¯t like her boss, sometimes the devil you knew was the safer bet. You could never know what a new cape might do.

    ¡°I guess that¡¯s true enough,¡± Brian called out grudgingly, ¡°but don¡¯t be surprised when we don¡¯t go spilling all our secrets.

    ¡°That¡¯s fine, I wouldn¡¯t expect you to anyway.¡±

    Tattletale wasn¡¯t really sure what she was expecting next. This certainly wasn¡¯t it.

    ¡°So you guys are supervillains, right? We already covered that. But like, what do you actually do? I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve heard of the four teenage musketeers and their giant monsters, so what? Planning to steal the moon? Kidnap the mayor maybe? World domination?¡±

    Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    Brian seemed just as lost as she felt and Alec laughed, though it sounded slightly forced. Anxious. Worried. Afraid of capture. Power isn¡¯t working right. Afraid of¨C¨CShe cut her power off before she could waste any more of her already very limited remaining usage. Damn it, that complicated things even more.

    She squeezed her eyes shut, the glare from her still silent phone stabbing into her brain like shards of broken glass. Keeping a tight hold on her power, she refocused on Brian¡¯s words.

    ¡°Uh, no, no, nothing like that. We¡¯re the Undersiders, not Lab Rat or the Elite. We just do heists, quick in and out. No muss, no fuss, no injuries if we can avoid it. We keep a low profile because it''s safer that way. When you live in the same city as Lung and the Empire, it¡¯s best to stay out of the way.¡±

    ¡°Huh. Fair enough, I guess. Then why all¡­ this?¡± he waved in their general direction, ¡°Why be villains at all?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s personal,¡± Brian said gruffly. ¡°It pays the bills and that¡¯s all I¡¯ll say.¡±

    The cape¡¯s eyes turned to her and Tattletale shrugged. Without her powers, she didn¡¯t have any particular advantages in reading people, but hopefully she was interpreting the cues she was picking up correctly. ¡°About the same. I don¡¯t want to hurt anyone, but a girl¡¯s gotta eat!¡±

    He turned towards Rachel and Alec, but Rachel was too busy staring at the down form of Brutus. ¡°Bitch!¡± she called out loudly and Alec poked Rachel from behind.

    It took her a moment to understand the cue, but when she did she turned briefly towards the still-smiling cape. ¡°Need to take care of my dogs. Money for food, kennels, shelter. I¡¯m going to check on Brutus.¡±

    Without another word, she slid out of the saddle and marched across the street towards both Brutus and the unknown cape. Tattletale frowned, but the boy didn¡¯t look particularly worried or like he was going to attack her. Hopefully this wasn¡¯t going to screw things up for them.

    He watched Rachel for a few seconds as she began to fuss over Brutus, then turned towards Alec, the last member of their team who hadn¡¯t answered yet. He raised his arms at his sides and shrugged casually. ¡°What they said basically. It pays the bills and means I can order all the pizza and Chinese food I want while I¡¯m gaming.¡±

    Tattletale waited with bated breath as the other cape studied them intently for several long seconds. He had one hand still firmly around the handle of his sword, but the other bounced erratically up and down on the pommel, something small clenched tightly in his fist.

    ¡°I¡­ guess that makes sense,¡± he said finally. ¡°So what are you guys out doing tonight?¡±

    ¡°We were robbing a casino,¡± Brian answered frankly. ¡°Ruby Dreams, I don¡¯t know if you¡¯ve heard of it. They have decent cash reserves and good insurance. We went in, got the money, and got out. No one got hurt, not even the security guards. Like the others said, we have to make a living somehow, and this is as close as we can get to a victimless crime. The cash we got will keep us taken care of for a few weeks, maybe longer if we¡¯re careful. It''s not a huge haul, but it¡¯s something. Now we¡¯re just trying to get away without attracting too much attention. We can fight if we have to, but we would rather just go about our business in peace.¡±

    Tattletale approved. If this guy really was a hero, focusing on the lack of victims might help their case. If he was another villain scoping out the competition, focusing on the low-profile nature of their operation and the small scale of their gathered loot could only be a good thing as well. Usually she would have preferred to do the bulk of the talking, but she really wasn¡¯t feeling very up to it right now.

    ¡°Wow, that is much tamer than what I was expecting. The darkness must be great for crowd control and covering your escape and those monsters of yours are pretty fast.¡±

    ¡°Something like that.¡±

    He clicked his tongue loudly. ¡°Okay. Tell me a bit about yourselves. What you can do, your cape names, how long you¡¯ve been around, that sort of thing. I promise I won¡¯t spread it around, I¡¯m just curious. Do that, and maybe answer some questions about a few of the capes around here, and I think I¡¯ll get out of your hair for tonight. Sounds like a deal?¡±

    Brian glanced over at Alec, who waggled his hand, then nodded. ¡°I think we have to,¡± Tattletale whispered, ¡°but keep it short.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t like it, but we have a deal. You can probably find most of this online anyway.¡±

    ¡°I like this way more,¡± he interjected, then waved for Brian to continue.

    Brian soldiered on. ¡°I¡¯m Grue, this is Tattletale, Regent, and the girl over there is Bitch, though in the interests of being PG, the good guys and media decided to call her Hellhound instead. Together we¡¯re the Undersiders and we¡¯ve been doing this for almost a year now.

    ¡°Like you¡¯ve probably already noticed, I can generate this darkness. It blocks sound, sight, and a bunch of other things. Bitch has her dogs,¡± he patted Angelica¡¯s back, ¡°Regent can make people trip up and drop things, and Tattletale is our brains. I¡¯d rather not say anything else.¡±

    He nodded.¡°That''s fine, I¡¯ve heard enough.¡± Tattletale relaxed slightly. As much as she loved showing off, one powerful cape knowing too much about what she could do was more than enough.

    He was silent for nearly a minute then, his hand continuing to bounce up and down and his foot tapping rhythmically against the street. Then he sighed. ¡°Well, I guess there¡¯s no real harm in letting you guys go. You¡¯re not really the sort of supervillains I was looking for anyway. First though, I¡¯m pretty new around here and I¡¯d like to hear your thoughts about the¡­ cape scene around here. I imagine people like you keep a close eye on the competition.¡±

    Okay, that was a much better direction for this conversation to take. Maybe if she played her cards right she could even point this powerful newcomer¡¯s interests towards Coil. Something told her they hadn¡¯t seen the limits of his abilities yet.

    ¡°I think I can help with that,¡± she called out before Brian could answer. ¡°What would you like to know?¡±

 Chapter 7 - Marooned

    Hours later, curled up on a makeshift bed of soft sand and wrapped in a blanket of warm currents, my eyes finally closed as sleep took me into its comforting embrace. It had been a very long two days and I was utterly exhausted.

    Despite my weariness, sleep did not come easily to me tonight. My conversation with the Undersiders had left me with far too many questions and far too few answers. They were just¡­ people. Ordinary mortals with mortal problems and mortal ideas. Well, maybe they weren¡¯t quite ordinary mortals, ordinary mortals didn¡¯t have super powers after all, but they weren¡¯t gods, monsters, demigods, or anything else I had ever seen in my life.

    They were just so very human. These weren¡¯t cartoon supervillains like I remembered seeing in movies, with their grand plans and impractical ambitions. Grue, Bitch, Tattletale, and Regent were all doing this for such¡­ common reasons. Simple mortal greed and necessity combined with supernatural abilities. I didn¡¯t know how I felt about it. How I was supposed to feel about it.

    In the end, I¡¯d spent about ten minutes interrogating the group before I finally let them go. Tattletale had proven to be a fountain of information, happily answering each and every question I bothered to ask about the other local villains. I hadn¡¯t learned all that much more than what I¡¯d already seen online, but I found hearing it again from someone to be much more informative than reading it all myself.

    Somehow, the biggest shock tonight had been seeing a perfectly ordinary dog climb out of the fleshy remains of the monster I¡¯d knocked aside. Bitch had cleaned the dog off somewhat with a towel and then done something that made a new meat suit to grow around it until there were once more three giant monsters. Well, not monsters. Just ordinary dogs in monster costumes apparently. That had been very, very weird.

    Despite my curiosity, I had held back in checking if Riptide could hurt the dog itself. The information would probably have been rather valuable, but it would have also needlessly antagonized the dog-loving girl. It was something I would have to do sooner or later¨C¨Cit would be really, really bad if my sword suddenly passed through someone while I was fighting them instead of, well, stabbing them¨C¨Cbut that could wait for now.

    After I¡¯d let the Undersiders leave, the villains bounding off into the distance on the backs of their dog-monster-thingies, I¡¯d spent another few hours wandering futilely around the docks before finding an abandoned pier and diving back into the sea for the night. I needed time to process and decompress, and a full night¡¯s rest in the depths of my dad¡¯s domain sounded like just what the doctor ordered.

    Of course it was never going to be that simple. It never was for a demigod. My eyes closed at the bottom of the sea and opened within the crumbling ruin of an ancient temple.

    ¡°Oh for fuck¡¯s sake,¡± I mumbled, my voice echoing within the confines of my mind. ¡°Of all the nights¡­¡±

    The temple sat at the peak of a mountain, surrounded on all sides by little more than barren rock and scraggly bushes. A winding road led past the ruins and down towards a distant town. Far below I could feel the sea, gentle waves lapping the hulls of small fishing boats and crashing against high cliffs.

    I felt at home. At peace. This was where I belonged. For a moment I could almost imagine that I was standing in the halls of Atlantis, surrounded by pillars of shining coral and warm water.

    This place was mine, something familiar in an alien world. For the first time in days I could feel the comforting echo of my Father¡¯s power, a boundless storm of the ocean¡¯s fury lurking just out of sight, but tinged with warmth and love.

    I took a step forward and ran my hand along sun-kissed marble. I could feel the sea in it, in every inch of once-pristine marble now worn and weathered by the passage of time and the hands of man. This place had been loved and cherished once. The target of countless pilgrimages and hopeful petitioners.

    In my mind''s eye, I could almost see the temple¡¯s former glory. Echoes of prayer and sacrifice rang in my ears like forgotten song lyrics, ancient Greek words hanging at the tip of my tongue before fading into darkness. Burnt offerings filled my nose and I smiled as I remembered joyful meals at Camp.

    The place was beautiful. Perhaps it was not the match of the temples I¡¯d seen on Mount Olympus or within Atlantis, but so much more because this place had been made by mortal hands. Craftsmen had poured their lives and souls into this place, seeing the beauty within the marble and freeing it to see the light of day.

    A statue of Poseidon dominated the temple, bronze polished to a mirror-gleam and easily thrice the height of a mortal man. His face was twisted into a dark scowl, but I could see humor glinting in his bronze eyes and the barest hint of a smile in his teeth. This too was mortal work and made so much more because of it.

    Beneath it stood the altar, heaped with gifts and sacrifices. Bronze brazier burned with green and orange fires, casting dancing shadows on the walls and filling the room with warmth and light. A child sat against the back wall, staring up at the statue as she carefully whittled a stick with a bronze knife. She raised her makeshift trident into the air, comparing it against the statue¡¯s bronze weapon, and smiled. The statue smiled back and she vanished into memory.

    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

    Faint shapes moved around me¨C¨Cpriests, sailors, and countless others; shadows of shadows without mass or substance brushed against my skin and moved through me as though I wasn¡¯t there. Some few were darker, richer than others. I could see faint impressions of familiar green eyes and black hair. They came and went bearing sacrifices and singing prayers for safety and fair weather.

    I was in Greece¨C¨Cthe Ancient Land. Maybe I wasn¡¯t standing in the sea itself, but this place remembered that it had once been just as much within my Father¡¯s domain as any ocean current. Cape Sounion. I mouthed the name, rolling it on my tongue and searching my memories.

    I had never heard of it before, but the name was written in the waters around me. The Aegean Sea sang like no waters I had ever ventured within, danger and riches both hiding just beneath the surface. My silent question was answered by the sea-breeze and the crashing of the waves far below.

    The Mist was thicker here. Just a little, but after hours of focusing the difference was instantly apparent. It lurked within the stone and billowed in the wake of nameless shadows. My voice joined in alongside a severe-faced priest¡¯s prayer, my words inaudible even to me, and the Mist swirled and sang with every word.

    I blinked and suddenly I was in another time. Looking to the horizon, I could almost see a fleet of black-sailed ships. Upon the cliffs stood a sobbing man in the garb of a king. He raised his hands to the sky and cast himself down the mountainside, plunging into the merciless depths below with nary a splash.

    Moments later, he was replaced by a man that could have been my twin. Jet black hair and sea-green eyes stared back at me from an older, nobler face. This time I needed no aid to know before whom I stood. I soundlessly mouthed the name of one of my most famed half-brothers. Theseus, founder of Athens. Son of Poseidon.

    He turned towards me and smiled ruefully. I smiled back. It felt almost like looking in a mirror. Here we were, two brothers separated by nearly three millennia, yet united by divine blood and the death of one uppity cow. Then he took one look down towards the sea, wiped tears from his eyes, and vanished beyond the horizon.

    Countless more images flashed past me and the world changed with every moment. Priests came and went, the land shifted with the seasons, roads were built and washed away by rain, and wooden vessels grew more and more complex and sophisticated.

    Finally, another black-haired, sea-green eyed man stood before me. He looked old. Tired. Barely more than the idea of a man. There was no priest in the temple. No sacrifice on the altar. No prayers echoing in my ears. He leaned heavily on a golden trident covered in barnacles.

    I recognized him. How could I not? His smile had warmed my dreams as a child and in the past six months I¡¯d spent more time with him than almost any demigod child could dream of. ¡°Poseidon?¡± I called out. ¡°Dad?¡±

    He did not respond. A single tear ran slowly down his nose and then fell down, down, down to splash silently into the emerald waves. Waters raged and storm winds blew. When they passed, nothing but the faint smell of the sea and an invisible glimmer of gold remained.

    Then even that was gone. ¡°Dad?¡± I asked softly. There was no answer.

    A profound, overwhelming sense of loss filled me, grief crashing against the hole in my heart where Annabeth had once been and knocking my legs out from under me. I knelt alone surrounded by sixteen weathered columns and bare fragments of once well-polished marble. I could still smell the sea, still feel the salty breeze ruffling my hair, but there was something missing.

    I was there for what felt like an eternity, tears leaking down my cheeks like rain water pouring down a storm drain. I didn¡¯t understand. Couldn¡¯t understand. What? Why? How? The world felt cold and empty. Something crucial was gone and the world knew it, even if people could not see the hole.

    Eventually the tears ran dry. I rose to my feet and walked forward, stopping at the edge of the cliff where once King Aegeus had stood and looked out for the sails of his son¡¯s returning ships. There was a storm on the horizon, dark and terrible, but painfully mundane. There was no eagle fighting a horse, no flying chariot or Master Bolt. Only water vapor, strong winds, and the faint smell of salt and ozone.

    Something glimmered in the depths. Something gold. It called to me. The sight of it made the ichor in my veins twist and writhe in agitation. It was something familiar, but unknown. Mine but forbidden to me.

    ¡®This is not the time,¡¯ a voice whispered suddenly in my ear. Sand and rock shifted beneath my feet until I stood facing the temple ruins with my back to the sea.

    There was something here. Something massive. Just out of sight. Just out of reach. The weight of countless millennia pressed down on my shoulders. The voice was weak and tired. It sounded small and scared, a child asking their mother to check for a monster under their bed, and yet it dwarfed me like a mountain dwarfs an ant. The voice was familiar, but not. A different note played on the same instrument

    I looked up at the sky and found that it had been replaced by a sea of stars. Something lurked up there, two coiling shapes that blocked out the sun and dwarfed the moon. It hurt to look, hurt to see. There was something in the way, not the Mist, not anything I¡¯d ever seen before, but a massive hand peeled back the curtain for a single fraction of a moment. ¡®Know. Awaken, but do not forget.¡¯

    My eyes shot open, my brain feeling like it was about to burst out of my skull and burning knives stabbing my eyes. Well, that was certainly one way to spend the night. Not nearly as restful as I would have liked, but¡­ informative. I had so many questions and no one to ask them. Just the way I liked it¡­ Not. Sometimes it really did feel like the Fates hated me. Stupid old ladies with their stupid giant socks.

 Chapter 8 - Preperations

    It took more than two hours of tossing and turning, but eventually I did manage to fall back asleep despite my racing thoughts and the stabbing pain behind my eyes. Several times I was tempted to reach for my meager reserves of ambrosia, but I was disciplined enough to push through the pain while I let the soothing waters around me do their work.

    As tempting as it was, I could work through this pain, and ambrosia was simply too valuable to waste like that. If something managed to hurt me despite the curse of Achilles, it might be my only chance at recovery. And in a world filled with mortals with strange and powerful¡­ powers¨C¨Cwell, I certainly had some ideas. Sometimes even Chiron¡¯s warnings were filled with tactical advice.

    This time, thankfully, I slept like a log. No demigod dreams disturbed my rest. No horrible memories or haunting nightmares plagued me. I wasn¡¯t even bumped awake early by a worried dolphin or turtle tangled in a six-pack ring, an unfortunately common occurrence when I was resting in shallow waters like these.

    I woke up with the sun, feeling much less rested than I would have liked despite having spent hours literally in my element while I slept. It was still mostly dark down here, only a smidgeon of sunlight reaching down this far this early in the day, but rising early had become a habit over the years.

    It was around seven, seven-thirtyish, maybe. I was feeling rather hungry¨C¨Cthe curse of Achilles meant I needed more food and sleep than an ordinary demigod. Unfortunately, today was Friday which meant that the little cafe I¡¯d gone to yesterday didn¡¯t open until nine, and I wasn¡¯t really feeling fast food right now. That blueberry pie had been absolutely delicious and I¡¯d been craving another slice since lunch.

    I also kind of wanted to see if that girl would be there again. I was almost certain she was a parahuman and maybe I could try to talk to her. I knew capes were pretty protective about the entire secret-identity thing¨C¨Coutside of a few exceptions I¡¯d read about¨C¨Cbut maybe she¡¯d be willing to talk? She¡¯d definitely noticed something about me, so perhaps capes had some way of recognizing each other?

    Wait no, that didn¡¯t make sense because I wasn¡¯t one of them. I was a demigod, not a parahuman. Weird. Well, it didn¡¯t really matter now. I¡¯d cross that bridge when I got to it.

    The promise of blueberry pie kept me going through my usual morning training. I opened up a big bubble of air around me, leaving only a few inches on the ground to keep the sand wet and so I could still move around like I was in the open while benefiting from the rejuvenating touch of the sea. Sometimes I did just train underwater, but for my sword fighting and general fitness it was better to train in an environment that didn¡¯t actively help me through every motion.

    I spent a few minutes warming up, then spent another hour and a bit doing sword drills with Riptide, unarmed fighting drills Chiron had taught me, calisthenics, and some basic practice using my demigod abilities to finish things off. By the end of it, I was feeling a lot more awake and energized.

    I also spent some time trying to see if I could still use any of the techniques I¡¯d learned to manipulate the Mist. What I¡¯d found was that controlling the Mist around here was tricky. You had to be a lot firmer with it than I was used to. Thalia had always said the trick was just making a suggestion and letting the Mist do the rest. Here, that just simply didn¡¯t seem to work. It was going to take a lot more practice to get anywhere with it, but at least I now knew not to try anything like that until I had a better grip on things.

    I made it to the cafe, Buns ''n'' Roses according to the sign, just a few minutes after it opened. The place was almost empty. There was a red-headed young woman sipping a large coffee with her eyes closed in the corner and a mom with a stroller looking at the different breads on display, but other than that it was just me and the impressively built man behind the counter who was busily filling the baskets behind the glass with freshly baked pastries and breads from a large rolling rack.

    I ordered a slightly smaller spread than I¡¯d eaten the day before and this time paid for it all with my Lotus Cash Card. The cashier gave me a strange look when I asked for three slices of pie for here, then shrugged and waved it off. I also got a free loaf of whole wheat garlic chive bread because I was one of the first five customers today. I didn¡¯t really need it, but it was apparently a new recipe (as the man told me three different times in the space of thirty seconds) and smelled absolutely delicious, so I wasn¡¯t going to say no.

    I finished most of my food in about twenty minutes, then spent another fifteen savoring my last slice of pie while I watched the morning news on the TV in the corner. The villains I¡¯d talked to were on the news, though I only recognized them because one of the newscasters mentioned the casino they robbed by name. They just called them ¡®local villains¡¯ and the only pictures they had showed clouds of darkness billowing out through the front doors of the casino. I was happy to see that I hadn¡¯t been lied to yesterday. No one had been hurt during the attack, just like Grue had told me.

    To my disappointment, the girl did not come back while I was eating and I wasn¡¯t willing to wait for her any longer than I already had. I had a lot of things to do and figure out today and I could always try to find her another time or just talk to some other cape. I still had Glory Girl¡¯s card safely tucked away, and if the need arose I could try to reach out to the Protectorate. I glanced out the window towards where I could see the repurposed oil rig standing out in the bay, its force field shimmering in the morning sunlight. Their base wasn¡¯t exactly hard to find.

    I brought my plates over to the bin in the corner, waved to the man behind the counter, and left the cafe swinging the brown paper bag with my bread in it. Today I was heading back to the library with a new goal. Yesterday, I had gotten acquainted with this strange new world I found myself in. Today, I needed to figure out what I was going to be doing next.

    If I was going to get anywhere with all this, I needed a plan, a base, and allies. Only then could I safely focus on that bizarre dream and the horrifying voice that still made my head hurt just thinking about it. Even without really digging deeply into it, the implications were¡­ disturbing. That bit at the end especially. That had been my dad, I was sure of it. I¡­ I didn¡¯t like the thought of what I¡¯d seen.

    I shook my head to clear it and focused on the boardwalk beneath my feet. Library first, freak out later. Focus, Percy.

    <hr>

    ¡ö

    Welcome to the Parahumans Online message boards.

    You are currently logged in, Riptide

    You are viewing:

    <ul>

    <li> Threads you have replied to</li>

    <li> AND Threads that have new replies</li>

    <li> OR private message conversations with new replies</li>

    <li> Thread OP is displayed.</li>

    <li> Fifteen posts per page</li>

    <li> Last ten messages in private message history.</li>

    <li> Threads and private messages are ordered chronologically.</li>

    </ul>

    ¡ö

    Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    ? Topic: Kyushu, Newfoundland, Who''s Next?

    In: Boards ? News ? Events ? World

    SurpriseFornax (Original Poster) (Kyushu Survivor) (Newfoundland Survivor)

    Posted On Jul 9th 2009:

    I think you''ve all seen the pictures by now. It''s been two years since Newfoundland and all I can think of is who''s next? I haven''t been able to look at the ocean without having a panic attack in years and I moved what''s left of my family to Montana and I still don''t feel safe.

    (Showing page 9 of 111)

    ?BigDEnergy (Verified Cape) (RIP)

    Replied On Jul 9th 2009:

    Oh shit man, I heard their were people like you, but I''d never met any before. Glad you and your folks made it out. I was on one of the teams doing evacuations, I''m sorry we couldn''t do more. It was horrible, really just awful stuff. Seeing all the bodies in the water, all the rubble... That shit hunts my nightmares to this day. We have got to do something about Leviathan and the other endbringers. We can''t keep doing what we''re doing. On a good day sometimes we drive them off, but sometimes we don''t and either way a lot of innocent people die. I don''t know what, but something needs to change. For now, I''m going to keep fighting and keep trying. Its the least I can do.

    End of Page.   1, 2, 3 ... 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 ... 109, 110, 111

    ¡ö

    ? Topic: The Dangers of Tinker/Mover Dimensional Travel

    In: Boards ? Discussion ? Capes ? Theoretical

    Mr. Dr. Buzzkill (Original Poster) (Cape Husband) (Actually a Doctor)

    Posted On Mar 5th 2009:

    So I know that by now, Earth Aleph is old news. We''ve been trading for their movies for more than a decade now (my wife exclusively watches Aleph productions these days. She hates what capes have done to Hollywood) and everything is alright, but that''s not what I want to talk about here. That portal is tightly controlled and regulated by the government to make sure that nothing dangerous can come through in either direction.

    No, I''m thinking about potential new capes. New capes who are young and careless and might bring about the end of the world while they''re just trying to play around with their powers. We know that Aleph diverged back when Scion appeared, but imagine something else. Lets call it Earth Gimel. An earth that diverged a thousand years ago because they had the white death instead of the black death.

    Now imagine that Mr. Portal Boy opens a portal to Earth Gimel and just prances on through to talk to the locals. Well, maybe Mr. Portal Boy catches a simple case of the White Death, something the locals have become all but immune to over the centuries. Then, Mr. Portal Boy goes to school! Suddenly we''re dealing with an epidemic the likes of which we can barely imagine. It gets even worse when we try to quarantine the issue and Mr. Portal Boy opens up a portal to France because he wants a baguette for lunch and suddenly they''ve got White Death in France too!

    Edit: Don''t tell me the PRT has it all under control! It doesn''t even have to be a cape here on Bet, what if a Mr. Portal Boy triggers on Gimel!? Huh? What then? Or Earth Dalet, Earth He, whatever! You get the point! Shit like this keeps me up at night!

    (Showing page 113 of 159)

    ?Procto the Unfortunate Tinker (Not a tinker) (Banned)

    Replied On Mar 6th 2009:

    You''re right man, that does sound freaky. Imagine if they have like, fish tails or something. That would be so fucking cool! Do you think fish ladies are hot and do they have, you know, the right equipment down there? I think I would bang a fish lady if she was hot, I''ve always thought mermaids were pretty dope.

    ?RegularPosterPoster

    Replied On Mar 6th 2009:

    @BoberTheHober dude wtf

    End of Page.   1, 2, 3 ... 111, 112, 113, 114, 115 ... 157, 158, 159

    ¡ö

    ? Topic: Simurgh Attacks Madison, Copies Haywire Tech

    In: Boards ? News ? Events ? America

    Nokra (Original Poster) (Veteran Member) (The Guy in the Know) (Unverified Cape)

    Posted On Dec 23rd 2009:

    ¡ö

    ? Topic: New Wave: A History and Maybe a Future

    In: Boards ? Boards ? Places ? America ?Brockton Bay

    Bagofmarbles (Original Poster) (Cape Groupie)

    Posted On Jan 2nd 2009:

    ¡ö

    ? Topic: Brandish Wins Case, Fights Hookwolf!?

    In: Boards ? Boards ? Places ? America ?Brockton Bay

    Bagofmarbles (Original Poster) (Cape Groupie)

    Posted On Sep 1st 2010:

    ¡ö

    ? Private messages from Point_Me_@_The_Sky:

    Riptide: Hey Glory Girl, it¡¯s me the cape from Wednesday who introduced themselves wrong?

    Riptide: You said I could message you if I have any questions and I sort of do.

    Riptide: You were completely right, I¡¯m really new to this cape thing and I could really use some advice and support, but I¡¯m not really comfortable messaging you about it on here. Is there any chance we could meet up in person to talk about it?

    Point_Me_@_The_Sky: Oh, hi! Sorry i hd to rush off on you like that, I lost track of time! Yeah I think we could probably do something like that. PHO is pretty secure but I absolutely get it. I see you made a new account, is Riptide your cape name?

    Riptide: Yes, I guess it is. It felt like a good fit.

    Point_Me_@_The_Sky: Totally! I like it! Catchy, rolls off the tongue, and I don¡¯t think it¡¯s taken?

    Point_Me_@_The_Sky: Its not! Just checked!

    Riptide: That¡¯s good.

    Riptide: So, would you be willing to meet with me sometime? Maybe tomorrow since it''s the weekend?

    Point_Me_@_The_Sky: Yeah that should work! How about the boardwalk?

    Point_Me_@_The_Sky: I normally wouldn¡¯t ask this sort of thing, but do you want to do it in or out of costume? I mean since I already know your name and face and I don¡¯t know if you have a costume or not or whatever?

    Riptide: I¡¯m fine with out. I have a costume but it''s pretty eye-catching. That''s one of the things I want to talk to you about actually.

    Point_Me_@_The_Sky: K, 1 work?

    Riptide: Yeah that sounds good. I¡¯ll wait for you outside of the Buns ¡®n¡¯ roses cafe in the same sweater as last time if that''s alright with you?

    Point_Me_@_The_Sky: kk. Do you mind if I bring my cousin? My mom¡¯s insisting on it.

    Riptide: Sure that¡¯s fine with me. I¡¯ll see you then. Thank you.

    Point_Me_@_The_Sky: C u then!

    ¡ö

 Chapter 9 - Meeting Young Waves

    I shifted nervously from foot to foot, my eyes warily watching the gloomy, overcast sky. It had been a very rainy, unpleasant morning, with thick fog blanketing the coast and making it hard for normal people to see anything. It didn¡¯t really bother me much, my clothes stayed dried unless I wanted them not to and the fog actually improved my senses rather than hindering them, but it had left the boardwalk all but deserted.

    I¡¯d half expected that the cafe would be closed when I arrived to get breakfast. I hadn¡¯t seen a single other person walking around, but it seemed that it took more than a little bad weather to keep them from opening on time.

    The weather had mostly cleared up in the hours since then, but it was still unusually foggy. Normally I wouldn¡¯t mind, but the Mist here was so thin that the mundane mist interfered with my usual methods of sensing it. I¡¯d never been particularly good at seeing the Mist, or even seeing through it to be perfectly honest, but with practice I¡¯d learned to sense it the same way I could sense water around me. I¡¯d thought it was a very clever workaround, but now it was coming back to bite me in the ass.

    I squinted up as I saw two shapes moving in the sky far above, but quickly realized they were just seagulls. I sagged back against the wooden fence separating the boardwalk from the beach and tried to focus on the crashing of the waves behind me. The sea was choppy today, rough and uncertain like my racing thoughts.

    Taking a deep breath, I tried to calm myself. I was making the right choice. Probably. No, not probably. I¡¯d done my due diligence, researched the topic, and made the best choice I had available to me given my current circumstances. This was the right choice.

    I did a lot of reading yesterday. Like, more than I had in the past four years if you didn¡¯t include the research I¡¯d done yesterday. Things had been a bit rough at first, especially with the lingering pains of my dream-headache, but then I found the accessibility settings on PHO and suddenly my reading got a lot easier.

    It wasn¡¯t ancient Greek, but big letters, big spacings, and no fancy italics to distract my eyes made things a lot easier! It also helped that it really was a matter of life or death¨C¨Ca bad choice here could cause me a lot of problems very quickly¨C¨Cso my demigod instincts didn¡¯t act up quite as much as they did in school. I still had to take frequent breaks, but not nearly as many of them as I had been expecting. There were definitely still moments where I would have gladly dealt with a monster attack instead of reading one more drifting, letter-scrambled word, but unfortunately no helpful minotaur presented itself for me to vent my frustration on.

    Thankfully the library wasn¡¯t too busy and the middle-aged man behind the checkout counter showed minimal interest in verifying my story about being home schooled. After some poking around I had managed to find an out-of-the-way row of ancient-looking computers tucked away in the foreign-language and culture section, snagged a small pile of one-time login codes from an unattended desk, and gotten to work.

    Even outside of the whole ¡®dyslexia makes reading words hard¡¯ thing, I wasn¡¯t really good at this research stuff. I was born to sail and fight, not for all this nitty-gritty planning and preparing. I kept getting sidetracked, losing my train of thought, and struggled to find the information I was looking for. Still, I persevered and eventually managed to come up with my current plan.

    First of all, I¡¯d concluded early on that claiming to be a demigod was going to get me nowhere. People around here had a very firm belief that the supernatural was all just made up nonsense and tended to belittle the capes that claimed their abilities came from divine intervention or magical abilities. I would need to look into some of those just in case they were telling the truth, but that was something to worry about later.

    I¡¯d also learned that this world was already familiar with the concept of dimensional travel, though information about it was very, very limited. Only Earth Aleph as they called it (though why this was Earth Bet and that was Earth Aleph I really couldn¡¯t say) was well known by the public. Just like this world, Earth Aleph had capes, though apparently they were much rarer and far weaker than the ones around here.

    Okay, perfect. My new story seemed obvious enough and very hard to verify one way or another. It also helped that it was sort of true if you squinted. I was Percy Jackson, cape name Riptide (it was the first thing that had popped into my head when Grue asked), and I was a cape from another Earth. Earth Gimel maybe¨C¨CI was pretty sure that was the next letter?

    On my Earth, heroes and villains were a lot more low key than they were around here and we used different terminology. I would do my best to avoid saying anything about gods or the war or demigods, but I had a feeling something was going to slip through so it was best to be prepared. Gods could be senior heroes, demigods were like sidekicks maybe? Or Wards, that was what they called the official junior heroes around here.

    Anyway, I had gotten caught in some sort of¡­ shaker, maybe mover, effect and spit out here on Earth Bet. Simple enough. No need to mention the voice that made my brain hurt just thinking about it or that strange dream I¡¯d had last night.

    For the sake of simplicity, I was also going to pretend to be eighteen here. Sixteen-and-a-half was basically ancient by demigod standards anyway. I had no desire to go back to school or whatever and I was both tall and broad-shouldered enough to pass for an adult.

    Once I¡¯d had that figured out, it became a question of where did I go from there. Well, I was pretty sure that I could feel my preferred answer to that question walking towards me, so hopefully I¡¯d be able to get that settled soon. Plan B was just wandering up to the oil rig superhero base thingy and hoping for the best. That wasn¡¯t a very good plan, not even for me.

    I waved to the pair of blonde girls walking towards me down the boardwalk. I¡¯d expected them to fly in, but in hindsight this made more sense. New Wave was one of the few superhero groups in the United States that didn¡¯t really do the whole ¡®secret identity¡¯ thing, but maybe they still shied away from obvious power usage in public? Or maybe not. I could feel that Glory Girl¡¯s clothing was completely dry despite the morning¡¯s foul weather..

    ¡°Hey,¡± I called out once they were close enough, ¡°Glory Girl and Laserdream, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s us!¡± Glory Girl answered cheerfully. ¡°I¡¯m Victoria, but everyone calls me Vicky, and this is my cousin Crystal!¡± Her voice dropped a half-dozen volume levels. ¡°Riptide, right? Or can I¨C¨C¡±

    The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    ¡°Percy is fine.¡±

    Her grin widened and I found myself smiling back at her. Her joy was infectious. I was so happy that someone so amazing had¨C¨C

    A wave crashed against the beach, cold water rushing up the surf to soak into the drier sand at the edge of the water. The sound of it echoed in my mind, the roar of the ocean drowning out the faint whine of alien fingers brushing the edges of my consciousness.

    It took me a moment to realize what was happening. Her wiki page on PHO said Glory Girl had some kind of emotional aura, evoking awe in her allies and fear in her enemies. It was a little annoying, but it wasn¡¯t nearly on the level of charmspeak and I knew how to deal with mind-altering abilities.

    Stuff like this was easier with actual seawater, but I could manage without it. The sea rose up within me. The golden ichor in my blood flashed with divine might and the questing touch of her aura lost all purchase on my mind.

    Without skipping a beat, I extended a hand towards the pair. It hadn¡¯t felt like an attack, no more than the way Silena sometimes accidentally let her charmspeak slip into her voice during heated arguments.

    ¡°I really appreciate you guys coming out to meet me, especially on a day like this.¡±

    Glory Girl vigorously shook the offered hand. She had a very firm grip, particularly for someone with no noticeable calluses. She was supposedly basically invulnerable, right? Did her power protect her from that sort of thing? The curse of Achilles certainly didn¡¯t¨C¨Cit had been a constant source of jokes for the Aphrodite campers. My calluses were just as indestructible as the rest of me now. ¡°Of course! I¡¯m always happy to help a new hero out! Brockton can use all the heroes it can get.¡±

    Crystal¡¯s handshake was a lot more like what I would have expected from a teenage mortal. ¡°It¡¯s nice to meet you, Percy. Thank you for trusting me with your secret. I promise I won¡¯t spread it around.¡±

    I was confused for a moment. ¡°Huh?¡± It took me an embarrassingly long time to realize she meant the whole secret identity thing. ¡°Oh, right. Yeah it''s no problem. We¡¯re all heroes here, I trust you guys.¡± It wasn¡¯t like Percy Jackson was anymore a meaningful name here than Riptide was. I had no identity or family here to worry about.

    We exchanged a few more brief pleasantries before I noticed how Crystal was shivering in the sea breeze. The mist and earlier drizzle had left her jeans and coat damp and she was clearly getting cold just standing out here with me and Vicky.

    ¡°It''s getting a bit chilly standing out here, do you guys think we could move this inside somewhere?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, let''s do that,¡± Crystal chimed in immediately. Her teeth clacked together loudly between words and Glory Girl finally seemed to notice the same thing that I had.

    ¡°Great idea. I know a nice brunch place with private booths not too far from here?¡± she chimed in.

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    Fifteen minutes later the three of us were tucked away in the back corner of the restaurant in question. I was sitting on one side of the booth, with Crystal and Vicky sitting across from me. It was quite warm inside and the air was filled with the smell of frying bacon and the soft hum of classical music.

    The restaurant was busier than most of the places we¡¯d passed along the boardwalk, but that still left it half-empty just after noon on a Saturday. If that wasn¡¯t a sign of urban decay, I didn¡¯t know what was. Everything I knew about brunch places meant that I¡¯d been expecting a thirty minute wait and then another twenty before we finally got a server. Instead, we¡¯d been seated as soon as we¡¯d come in and the waitress had come by almost immediately to get our orders.

    ¡°So,¡± Glory Girl began once we all had our drinks and the waitress had walked away, ¡°you said on PHO that you had some questions about heroing?¡±

    I shifted uncomfortably. Just talking to the two girls had been fine, they honestly reminded me of some of the newer campers after the end of the war and it had been nice to talk to people without the weight of who I was hanging over us. Now that the moment of truth had come, I was suddenly questioning my decision again.

    I took a deep breath and let the waves within me settle into a smooth expanse of blue-green depths. Nothing ventured, nothing earned. I could always fall back on plan B if I had to. Or plan C and D once I figured out what those plans were.

    ¡°Yeah, something like that. Uh, you know how I said I¡¯m new to all this, right?¡±

    ¡°Yup! Don¡¯t worry, we were all there once! Everyone has to start somewhere!¡±

    Even with her aura still futile scrambling for purchase in mind, Vicky¡¯s positivity made me smile. She was so genuine and cheerful, and she clearly believed in being a hero.

    ¡°Thanks. Well, it''s a little bit more complicated than all that. I guess like, well, I¡¯m not really new to being a hero, but I am new to how you do it here. I¡¯m not¡­ from around here, I guess. Not Brockton Bay I mean, but like. Here. Earth Bet.¡±

    Crystal, who had been taking a sip from her steaming cup of coffee, choked and spluttered and would have spilled her drink if not for the crimson force field that snapped into place over it like a lid before it could go everywhere.

    Vicky wasn¡¯t much better. She¡¯d clearly been preparing to say something, but my words had knocked her off-kilter and left her just staring at me.

    I hurriedly continued, ¡°A few days ago, just a bit before you ran into me really, I ran into some kind of shaker or mover effect. Sorry, I¡¯m not super familiar with the terminology you guys use here. There¡¯s only so much research you can do at a public library in two days. It grabbed me and spit me out around here. Well, like a bit out to sea but this was the closest city to where I came out. I was a bit banged up but I¡¯m pretty durable so it turned out okay.

    ¡°The Earth I come from, well, it''s definitely not Earth Aleph and I couldn¡¯t find any references to it online. We also have powers and heroes, but we¡¯re a lot more low-key about it. I¡¯ve never had to worry about my secret identity before so I was a little confused about what you were talking about.

    ¡°Anyway, I spent the last few days getting my bearings and trying to figure out what was going on. I considered just approaching the PRT, but I haven¡¯t been able to find anything online about what they might do to accidental dimension travelers so I wanted a bit of a safety net before I did anything. I¡¯ve seen some of the work your team does and it''s pretty amazing. Plus your mom is like a big-shot lawyer and a hero. I was hoping you guys could maybe help me out?¡±

    The two girls were silent for several long moments and I was afraid that I¡¯d managed to screw everything up. That had all come out a bit faster than I¡¯d meant for it too but I had never been particularly great at first impressions. Half the people I met tended to want to kill me before minute five.

    Crystal cleared her throat, then turned to her cousin and poked her shoulder. Victoria, who had been silently staring at me since a few words into my explanation, jumped. ¡°Sorry! That¡¯s uh, not quite what I was expecting,¡± she said slowly. ¡°I have¡­ questions. I thought you just¨C¨C¡±

    Before she could continue, the waitress returned with a tray stacked high with brunch staples. Eggs, french toast, piles of bacon, hotcakes, and breakfast potatoes, and more filled the booth with a dizzying array of wonderful smells and I heard her stomach rumble hungrily. I had a feeling that her questions had suddenly become a secondary priority.

 Chapter 10 - Like Diamonds in the Sky

    I¡¯m not really sure if they believed me. They certainly didn¡¯t at first. My trainwreck of an introduction to Glory Girl certainly helped my case¨C¨Cbasically everyone around here understood the whole cape secret identity thing and even a brand new hero should have had at least that much figured out¨C¨Cbut it wasn¡¯t enough to reassure them that I wasn¡¯t crazy.

    Still, I¡¯m glad I chose to start talking only after we¡¯d ordered, because I have a feeling they might have just up and left otherwise. As it was, both girls looked¡­ let¡¯s say very skeptical as I continued my story.

    In all honesty, I didn¡¯t have that much proof to go off of. I just hoped it would be enough to get a foot in the door. Presumably the PRT would have some way of checking my story, but I¡¯d been in enough trouble throughout my life (and heard enough stories from my former classmates) that approaching the local authorities without someone like a lawyer behind me seemed foolish.

    As we ate I laid out what I did have. First of all, a handful of crumpled one-dollar bills and pennies minted in the last decade. Apparently they didn¡¯t have either of those around here. They only used dollar coins and pennies had been phased out years ago. I¡¯d managed to dodge a bullet by paying for my food that first day with just twenties and a five. Getting the police called on me for counterfeiting would have been really, really embarrassing without the Mist to get me out of trouble.

    Unfortunately, that was really the end of my tangible proof. Everything else was just me rattling off other differences I¡¯d noticed. We had a different president, and not the guy they had in Aleph either; I¡¯d double checked just to be sure. There had been an attack on nine-eleven, just like in Aleph.

    Most of that was easily accepted. The one that really raised some eyebrows was when I mentioned that Brockton Bay didn¡¯t exist back home. Not that it had been totally destroyed, but rather that it had just never been founded in the first place as far as I could remember.

    Vicky frowned at me and told me that was nonsense because Aleph and Bet only started diverging when Scion showed up. I had no real answer to that. I¡¯d already decided to keep the entire god/monster/demigod business on the down-low for now so I couldn¡¯t really go out and say that I knew that the divergence point was not that. Instead I just shrugged and moved on.

    By the time I was finished, the food was mostly gone and Vicky and Crystal were staring silently at one another. Eventually Crystal turned to me and flashed me a small smile. ¡°Do you think you could give us a few minutes?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, sure. Not a problem.¡± I stood up and headed to the bathroom.

    Once they were sure I was gone, the two girls broke into hushed whispers. If I had been a normal mortal, there was no way I could hear them through the bathroom door and across half the restaurant. I wasn¡¯t a mortal. I wasn¡¯t even your run-of-the-mill demigod, as much as any demigod can be run-of-the-mill.

    I felt a bit bad intruding on their private conversation, but not as bad as I would feel if I walked into a trap and had to hurt someone to get out. I strained my ears, focusing intently on the both where we¡¯d been sitting. A gentle sea breeze blowing in through the crack in the door caught their words and carried them to my ears. It wasn¡¯t a perfect solution and I lost a lot of words, but it was enough.

    ¡°...sounds completely crazy, but he seems¡­¡±

    ¡°...give him a chance¡­¡±

    ¡°...could be a Master¡­¡±

    ¡°...my aura...flattened a bullet against his shoulder¡­¡±

    ¡°...Haywire¡¯s been dead for¡­¡±

    ¡°...said it was someone on his side¡­¡±

    ¡°...he could be making things up¡­Madison¡­¡±

    ¡°...call Mom...Amy could check if he¡¯s telling the¡­¡±

    ¡°...don¡¯t know if it¡¯s safe to¡­¡±

    ¡°...we¡¯re heroes. Helping people¡­He gave me his secret identity like it was¡­¡±

    ¡°...fine, Aunt Carol can¡­¡±

    I washed my hands, cleaned a bit of maple syrup off my cheek, and headed back. It didn¡¯t seem like they were plotting anything nefarious and I counted that as a win in my books. Just in case, I grabbed a plastic water bottle filled with seawater from my hoody, soaked a paper towel, and then wrapped it around my bare bicep before covering it back up with my sleeve. This way I could finally stop focusing on blocking out Vicky¡¯s aura.

    I got back to the table just in time to get my glass of soda refilled. Vicky waited until the waitress was gone, then took a deep breath. ¡°Okay so I don¡¯t know if I totally believe your story, but I think that even if you¡¯re just crazy you deserve our help.¡±

    Crystal elbowed her cousin. It had exactly as much impact as it would have if she¡¯d tried to elbow me¨C¨CVicky didn¡¯t even move¨C¨Cbut it did make her shoot Crystal a sharp glare.

    ¡°I¡¯m just paraphrasing what you said,¡± Vicky hissed.

    ¡°But you didn¡¯t have to just go out and say it like that!¡±

    I laughed. ¡°It¡¯s fine, don¡¯t worry about it. It¡¯s a pretty crazy story.¡±

    ¡°Right. Anyway, as I was saying before someone elbowed me, we think that what you¡¯re saying makes sense. I sent mom a text. She went into the office this morning, but she should be home in a few hours. I think if you talked to her she¡¯d be willing to give you a hand, or at least point you at someone who can.¡±

    ¡°If you really want to go through with this, she¡¯s going to need to hear your story as well. I know it''s one thing to unmask to Vicky and me, and a whole other deal to do it in front of an adult like my aunt.¡± She paused for a moment, ¡°On that note, how old are you? I know you said you¡¯ve had your powers for a few years now and you probably didn¡¯t bring a legal guardian with you from your Earth, but that sort of thing could be important.¡±

    ¡°Honestly I thought Vicky would have told everyone who I was already. I don¡¯t really care much one way or another. As I said, I don¡¯t really have a secret identity, nor any friends and family to protect. I doubt Percy Jackson exists here, and if he does he¡¯s a completely different person than I am.¡±

    I paused for a moment, suddenly curious if there was a Sally Jackson in this world. If so, what did her life look like? In this world she never would have met my dad, never had me, never married Smelly Gabe, and so much more. Maybe her parents had never even died, maybe her uncle had been saved by a parahuman healer, maybe, maybe, maybe. It was impossible to say now, but perhaps I¡¯d look into it someday.

    ¡°Oh, and I¡¯m an adult, you don¡¯t need to worry about that,¡± I lied quickly, ¡°I turned eighteen in August.¡±

    Crystal seemed to relax slightly at my words. ¡°Oh that''s good. Vicky told me she knew your name, but she didn¡¯t tell any of us who you are. I know it doesn¡¯t feel important to you right now, but maybe it will someday in the future if you¡¯re stuck here. At the very least, other people will think it''s a big deal. You sh¨C¨C¡±

    Vicky cut in before Crystal could finish. ¡°Yeah, yeah, I think he gets it, right?¡± Without waiting for an answer she continued. ¡°I¡¯ve been dying to ask, so what¡¯s your power? I saw that bullet on Wednesday so I know you¡¯re a Brute, but like, are you a full Alexandria package? How strong are you? How durable? I¡¯d love a new sparring partner¨C¨CUncle Neil, uh Manpower I mean, and Aegis are the only ones around who I can really practice with and I sometimes have to be a bit careful with them. Do you think¨C¨C¡±

    This time it was Crystal¡¯s turn to stop her exuberant cousin. ¡°Breathe, Vicky. He can¡¯t answer your questions if you¡¯re just going to talk over him.¡±

    Vicky deflated instantly, ¡°Sorry, I got a little too excited.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I completely understand. I¡¯ve had trouble finding practice partners before too. I¡¯m not super familiar with all the categories, but I think I¡¯m a Brute/Shaker? I¡¯m pretty strong, invulnerable, and I can control water. Oh, and I can sort of sometimes cause earthquakes, but only little ones. I collapsed a bridge once. Long story. No flying for me unfortunately, but I can swim pretty quickly in a pinch. I really don¡¯t know enough about all the numbers to say where I fall. PHO seems pretty hazy on what they all mean and I had other things to focus on.¡±

    Our conversation was once more disrupted by the arrival of the waitress, this time with a small woven basket with our check. She collected our plates and hurried away, leaving me with a sudden quandary: Here I was sitting in a restaurant with two sort-of-law-enforcement-people. The only money I had on me was either functionally counterfeit or a magic credit card that was¡­ probably also not great.

    ¡°So, uh, I¨C¨C¡± I began awkwardly.

    Crystal seemed to realize the problem about five seconds after I did. ¡°I¡¯m not going to ask how you paid for things, though Aunt Carol definitely will. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ve got it.¡± She slid several bills into the basket, then stood up and turned to look back at us. ¡°I¡¯ll go pay up front.¡±

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    We watched her go for a second, then Vicky turned to me curiously. ¡°So how have you¨C¨C¡±

    I looked around in an exaggeratedly furtive way, then leaned forward and whispered, ¡°I have a tinkertech credit card. My normal card is a dud, but this one still seems to work.¡±

    She blinked several times, then tilted her head to the side. ¡°Huh. I guess that''s not too weird. The PRT headquarters have a tinkertech elevator. A credit card seems a lot more useful than that. How does it work?¡±

    I shrugged. ¡°No idea. I know the money on it is real and it only works for small purchases, but it comes in handy.¡± I probably shouldn¡¯t, but I couldn¡¯t resist. ¡°May as well be magic for all I know.¡±

    Glory Girl thankfully seemed to appreciate the ¡®joke¡¯. ¡°Tinkers are kind of bullshit, huh?¡± she asked rhetorically.

    ¡°They sure are. Back home we have this giant bronze dragon automaton thingy named Festus. It''s as big as a house and weighs a bajillion pounds, but I know for a fact they have some wings somewhere that they can stick on him in a pinch.¡±

    I paused for a moment, considering if this was something I wanted to reveal now or hold off on for later. Well, it was whatever. Trust had to start somewhere and Glory Girl seemed nice. ¡°I also have a tinkertech sword that turns into a pen for storage. It¡¯s actually where I got my cape name, the sword¡¯s called Anaklusmos, that¡¯s Greek for riptide.¡±

    ¡°That sounds sweet! You¡¯ll have to show me later!¡± Her expression suddenly turned serious. ¡°Though I¡¯m not sure how long you¡¯ll be able to use it for. Unmaintained tinkertech can be dangerous.¡±

    ¡°It should be fine, I think? I guess if something is damaged it''s going to be hard to fix, but the sword is pretty durable, as is my armor. I¡¯ve never had to go back and get them maintained before, hopefully that won¡¯t change anytime soon.¡±

    She looked unconvinced. ¡°If you say so¡­¡±

    We sat in awkward silence for a few seconds until Crystal finally came back. Glory Girl instantly perked up. ¡°Let¡¯s go! Mom shouldn¡¯t be home for a few hours yet. We can go practice!¡±

    ¡°Vicky¨C¨C¡± Crystal began reproachfully, but I was honestly just as eager as Glory Girl seemed to be.

    ¡°Sure! That sounds like a great idea.¡± According to PHO Glory Girl was one of the strongest up-and-coming heroes in the city and I was very curious to know what exactly that meant. My excursion two nights ago had been informative, but not very satisfying. The curse of Achilles meant I was always ready and itching for a fight, and it had been days since I¡¯d faced a meaningful opponent.

    Crystal sighed. ¡°Fine. But you two need to promise you¡¯ll be careful and we should get Amy before we go.¡±

    ¡°Yup! Promise! I¡¯ll go get her. See you guys at the place, okay? Bye!¡± Glory Girl blurted out. A moment later she was gone, rushing out of the restaurant and launching herself up into the air.

    Crystal watched her go for several seconds, then sighed again. ¡°Sometimes it''s exhausting just looking at her,¡± she mumbled. ¡°I feel so old.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s certainly something,¡± I agreed. She reminded me a little of Annabeth. Not the way the other Athena girls did¨C¨CI could never stand to talk to any of Annabeth¡¯s sisters for more than a few minutes, the resemblance was just too painful¨C¨Cbut they had the same sort of build and the obvious passion and intensity in Vicky¡¯s eyes and words reminded me of her.

    Honestly it was a good thing that both Crystal and Vicky¡¯s hair was more platinum-blonde than Annabeth¡¯s honey-colored hair and that they had bright blue eyes instead of Annabeth¡¯s stormy gray ones (really the two of them could have easily passed for sisters, not cousins like I knew they were). Annabeth¡¯s face haunted my dreams as it was and I always did my best to avoid things that reminded me too much of her.

    I squashed that thought. Not the time, not the place.¡°So, uh, I guess Amy is Panacea, right? That one makes sense just in case someone gets hurt, but what is ¡®the place¡¯?¡±

    Crystal laughed. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s just a bare stretch of beach a little past the boat graveyard that we sometimes use for our practice sessions. Mom found it ages ago and we¡¯ve been using it on and off ever since. It''s isolated and basically impossible to get to by car so it''s a pretty convenient spot for us. Ever since Eric and I triggered we¡¯ve had enough fliers that we can just carry dad and my aunt and uncle over without having to bother with driving. Saves us a lot of time and trouble.¡±

    ¡°That does sound pretty convenient.¡±

    Crystal suddenly looked a little bit unsure of herself. ¡°Are you fine with me carrying you?¡± she asked quietly. ¡°My force fields aren¡¯t really strong enough to carry a person on their own so I¡¯m going to have to hold you.¡±

    A twinge of worry flickered through my mind at the mention of flying. Zeus was a huge jerk and me and flying rarely got along. Still, getting carried sounded a lot more like flying on a pegasus than in an airplane, and anyway I was pretty sure Zeus¡­ wasn¡¯t around here. Not anymore at least.

    ¡°Yeah, that¡­ should be fine. Can we stick to flying over the water? I¡¯m pretty durable but I¡¯d feel more comfortable with the ocean under me than concrete.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, yeah, definitely! I promise I¡¯ve never dropped anyone by accident before, but if it makes you feel more comfortable I¡¯d be happy too.¡±

    ¡°I appreciate it,¡± I told her with a smile.

    ¡°Great!¡± She looked away quickly, ¡°We should get going. I¡¯m faster than Vicky when I¡¯m on my own, but carrying someone slows me down a lot more than it does her.¡±

    We headed out of the restaurant and down towards the beach, talking about mostly inconsequential things as we went. Crystal wanted to know more about my life and world and I was happy to oblige her. I told her about camp¨C¨Cthough I did my best to avoid saying anything about gods and demigods so I had to tweak some details¨C¨Csome stories about my past quests, and a little bit about my life before I found out I was a demigod.

    In exchange, she was equally happy to answer my own questions. Research was all well and good, but there was no substitute for a first hand account. She told me a little bit about what it meant to be a hero in Brockton Bay, gave me some funny anecdotes about her family and the protectorate, and even a little bit about herself as well.

    She was eighteen, just like I was pretending to be, and was going to be starting at Brockton Bay University in the fall. She didn¡¯t really know what she wanted to do with her life, unsure if she wanted to become a full time hero in the future or go for a law degree like her aunt.

    Once we had walked out of sight of the boardwalk, Crystal stopped and a bubble of nearly-opaque crimson-red light snapped into place around. ¡°So uh, I can either like, hold you in my arms, or I can hook my elbows under your armpits and carry you like that?¡±

    Neither sounded particularly dignified, but I was much more concerned with not getting dropped and/or struck by lightning so I didn¡¯t particularly mind. ¡°Whatever you¡¯re more comfortable with.¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± she said with more hesitance in her voice than I was fully comfortable with. ¡°Brace yourself.¡±

    She leaned down and scooped me up in her arms, a few small crimson force fields appearing beneath me to take some weight off her arms. I found myself cradled against her chest like an oversized dog, with one arm under my knees and the other supporting my head. In hindsight, perhaps the other option might have been better. Crystal was wearing a coat and blouse, but my side was still basically pressed directly under her chest.

    Once she had a firm grip, we lurched up into the sky and I felt my stomach drop momentarily as we rapidly gained altitude. For all that Crystal had said that flying with someone really slowed her down, she was still very fast.

    Even as the earth fell away beneath us, Crystal continued to keep a bright red force field around us, blocking out both the wind and any unwanted observers. I did my best to focus on the sea far below and not on the minimal support beneath me and Crystal¡¯s presence beside me.

    After about a minute, Crystal seemed to notice my discomfort. ¡°Are you doing okay? I know flying can be a little rough. It makes me nauseous sometimes even when I¡¯m the one doing the flying.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Yeah. I¡¯m fine. I just¡­ I don''t like flying very much.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sorry. I should have¨C¨C¡±

    ¡°No, it''s all fine. I appreciate you offering. I¡¯m not like, scared of heights or something. It''s just my world has a really powerful cape with uh, weather powers, and he has a bit of a grudge against me. I try to avoid airplanes because of it.¡±

    ¡°That sucks. What did you do to him?¡±

    ¡°Me? Nothing, but my dad¡¯s a cape too, though I didn¡¯t know about that until a few years ago, and the two of them have some beef that goes way back.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I see. I didn¡¯t realize you were a second generation cape like me. Do you guys have similar powers?¡±

    ¡°Something like that. His water powers are stronger than mine, but I¡¯m a bit more of a Brute than he is. I think your family is pretty similar, right?¡±

    Crystal nodded, ¡°Yeah. Second generation capes are pretty rare, especially since secret identities make it really hard to identify people like that, but powers do run in families sometimes. Me and my brother have basically the same powers as my mom, though my lasers and flight are better than hers and Eric¨C¨CShielder I mean, has stronger shields than both of us.¡±

    Did that mean that powers were genetic like demigod abilities? But no, I knew what Glory Girl¡¯s mom and dad could do, they were both capes with public identities, and neither did anything close to what powers Vicky ended up with. What did laser weapons, turning into a ball, and light grenades have to do with flight and super strength? That wasn¡¯t even mentioning Panacea, their other daughter, whose powers were even more different than what the rest of New Wave could do.

    ¡°We have a lot more capes like that back home than you guys have here. I think it''s probably because we don¡¯t worry about secret identities and there are a lot fewer capes in general. Most of the people at camp have a cape parent and powers similar to theirs.¡±

    ¡°That sounds pretty cool! I sometimes wish I had more people outside my family I could talk to about both normal life and being a cape. My friends try, but sometimes they really just don¡¯t understand, you know?¡±

    I considered her words. I¡¯d never really had any friends that weren¡¯t involved with the supernatural, I realized. Well, not close friends at least. Still, I¡¯d spent enough years at school to know a little bit about what she was saying. ¡°Yeah, I get that.¡±

    She grinned down at me, her cheeks red from the cold. I suddenly realized that her coat was still somewhat wet from before and it was pretty cold this high up.

    ¡°Here,¡± I willed the water out of her clothing, leaving her dry and hopefully much warmer, ¡°you looked cold.¡±

    ¡°Oh! Ah, thank you. Yeah, that¡¯s much more comfortable.¡±

    A few more minutes passed in silence. I kept my eyes closed and my hands clutched over my chest. Not thinking about flying didn¡¯t seem to help, but flying over the water really did make the experience much more pleasant than it could have been. Worst comes to worst, I could have a column of seawater catch both of us as we fell and protect me from any further wrath from above.

    ¡°Okay, we¡¯re basically here. Hold on tight!¡±

    I wanted to ask what exactly I was supposed to hold onto, but my words vanished as we suddenly dropped from the sky. Wind howled outside our shield and my stomach leapt into my throat. A handful of seconds later it was over and Crystal decelerated, coming in for a gentle landing on a stretch of rocky beach.

    ¡°Hades,¡± I swore softly, my heart hammering in my chest. Crystal made to set me down, but I just sort of rolled out of her arms and hit the ground face down with a thump and a clatter of loose stones.

    ¡°Percy!¡± Crystal exclaimed, ¡°Are you okay?¡±

    I rolled onto my back and looked up at her. There wasn¡¯t a single bruise anywhere on me and I had barely felt the impact.

    ¡°Oh right, Brute. Sorry. I forgot.¡±

 Chapter 11 - Fly Like a Brick

    We hadn¡¯t managed to beat Glory Girl here. She was standing off to the side next to a folding chair where Panacea sat bundled up in two coats and with a thermos filled with hot coffee cradled in her arms. She shot Crystal and I a glare, then turned back to her sister. They were arguing, or maybe just talking passionately, about something, but I had neither the desire nor energy to listen in.

    ¡°Give me a second,¡± I mumbled to Crystal. I felt¡­ strange. Weirdly tired. Flying had never taken so much out of me before, at least not when I¡¯d done it on pegasus-back, and airplanes were always super stressful but not like this.

    ¡°Take your time.¡±

    By the time I was good to go, Glory Girl had finished arguing with her sister and flounced over to join Crystal and I. She¡¯d taken the time to change out of her mundane clothing into the same outfit I¡¯d seen on Wednesday. As I¡¯d noticed then, like this she really did look the part of a superheroine.

    Between the short skirt, cape, golden tiara holding back her long hair, and white heeled boots, she wouldn''t have looked out of place on the cover of a comic book or on a movie poster. Before she looked like any other pretty teenage girl. Now she looked every inch the young heroine I knew her to be.

    ¡°So how are we doing this?¡± I asked.

    Glory Girl grinned, showing off a row of pearly-white teeth. ¡°Full contact. Powers, costumes, the works. Obviously nothing like, super lethal? But Amy can patch us up if anything goes wrong as long as we¡¯re careful.¡± She paused for a second. ¡°You do have a costume, right? You said on PHO that you did. Is it like your sword?¡±

    ¡°That works for me!¡± It was exactly what I¡¯d been hoping for in fact. I didn¡¯t bother answering the rest of her question, she¡¯d see it soon enough.

    Without further ado, I peeled off my sweater and tossed it aside. Crystal looked like she wanted to say something, but thought better of it and bit her lip as she stepped away.

    Stretching my arms out above my head, I cracked my knuckles, then cracked my neck one way and then the other. It was mostly for show¨C¨CI could actually crack basically any part of my body on demand with a bit of effort. Turns out synovial fluid, the stuff that lubricates your joints, is basically just water and making some tiny little nitrogen bubbles was a piece of cake compared to some of the training dad put me through.

    Then I grinned at Glory Girl and slapped my chest, where the harness-form of my armor lay waiting, twice in rapid succession. Shimmering waves of bronze rippled out from the center of my chest, spreading out along my torso and then down my limbs. In their wake, layers of armor appeared.

    The first wave covered me in a skin-tight layer of liquid bronze, the metal shining like well-polished gold despite the gloom. The second wave refined the liquid metal into proper armor. Layers of gleaming fish-like scales emerged from the undefined mass, each one no larger than a fingernail.

    My usual chestplate and greaves flowed into existence, sweeping lines molded perfectly around my body to provide maximum protection with no impact on my speed and flexibility. My helmet came next, growing out of the metal around my neck to fully cover every inch of exposed skin until only two narrow slits remained for my eyes. Despite the obstruction, I could still see perfectly. The metal was completely opaque when looking in, but for me it was as clear as water.

    Finally the third wave passed, leaving behind the intricate ornamentation that Hephaestus had painstakingly designed into the armor. Each and every scale was inscribed with my father¡¯s trident, the metal work so fine that it was nearly impossible to see with the naked eye. Two more tridents adorned my back and chest, surrounded by an intricate design of hippocampi swimming through a coral reef. Lastly, a plume of blue and red hair grew from the top of my helmet like a mohawk, completing the image of a classical Greek warrior.

    ¡°Holy shit that¡¯s so cool,¡± Crystal whispered under her breath.

    I raised my arms on either side of me, barely feeling the weight of the armor on my shoulders. The movement was completely silent, scales rolling against one another without so much as a clink.

    Brushing my hand across my hip, Riptide¡¯s pen form appeared in my hand and I flicked the cap off with my thumb. ¡°A bit like my sword, yeah,¡± I told Glory Girl, who was staring at me with wide, delighted eyes like a kid in a candy store for the first time.

    She shook her head and floated up a few inches off the ground. ¡°Showy, but let¡¯s see if you have what it takes to back it up! You said your stuff¡¯s pretty durable, yeah? Don¡¯t want to wreck anything.

    I twirled Riptide. ¡°It can take a beating and the armor can repair itself as long as the mechanisms aren¡¯t damaged. I¡¯ll tell you to stop if I¡¯m worried.¡±

    ¡°Sounds good! Ready?¡±

    Crystal hurriedly shot away, landing on the ground beside Panacea and surrounding the two of them in a transparent forcefield tinged with crimson like the rest of her abilities. Panacea looked less annoyed than she had before, though she had eyes only for her sister and her coffee. I imagined one of the greatest healers in the world had seen some pretty impressive stuff over the years.

    ¡°Ready!¡± I confirmed, and it was on.

    Vicky took the initiative immediately, shooting towards me like a bullet with her fist extended. My first instinct was to meet her blow for blow¨C¨CI¡¯d faced down Kronos, or at least a limited version of him, what was one teenage superhero compared to that¨C¨Cbut that was the curse talking. Even if I could do so, that wasn¡¯t the point of this the same way I wasn¡¯t just going to drown her under a million gallons of seawater. This was not a battle to be won, but rather a learning opportunity.

    Riptide came up and I sidestepped just far enough that an uncontrolled projectile would have missed entirely. Glory Girl, for all the demeaning nicknames I¡¯d seen on PHO, was very much not a wild wrecking ball. She stopped on a dime and threw a sharp, well practiced straight punch at my chest.

    I swung Riptide up to knock her arm aside but underestimated the needed force. Her arm shifted to the side a fraction of an inch as Riptide¡¯s edge slipped frictionlessly along her bare forearm and then a battering ram slammed into my shoulder and sent me skidding backwards leaving two long trenches through the sand in my wake.

    Huh, interesting. I straightened and found her floating several feet away from me where we¡¯d exchanged hits.

    ¡°You¡¯re pretty fast,¡± she told me simply.

    ¡°That was a good punch.¡±

    A second later she was on me again. I dodged the initial charge, then ducked under the follow up punch and caught her leg between my armored elbow and side.

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    That barely seemed to slow her down though. Like some of the more annoying monsters and gods I¡¯d fought over the years, her strength completely ignored any sort of principles of physics.

    That was probably because of her flight¨C¨Cshe didn¡¯t seem to have any issues leveraging her strength despite not having touched the ground a single time in our first exchange. Sort of like the opposite of that annoyingly durable monster I¡¯d killed in the labyrinth, except without the healing.

    She spun like a windmill blade, folding her arms over her chest as her long hair dragged through the sand. I let go of her leg before she could do a full three-sixty and slam me into the ground, but I was still sent flying on a narrow arc up and over her.

    I twisted in mid air to get my feet under me, but decided against using my powers to catch myself. That proved to be a mistake. She took absolutely no time to recover, not even bothering to finish her spin as she rocketed towards me with her hands still folded over her chest and her legs extended together towards me.

    The literal flying kick caught me under my ribs and launched me nearly fifty feet through the air. This time, I was much less reluctant to use the rest of my abilities. She was strong, stronger than almost any demigod I¡¯d ever faced. I¡¯d met Laistrygonian giants who didn¡¯t hit like she could.

    A column of seawater rose from the surf and caught me before I could hit the ground. ¡°Being able to fly is such bullshit!¡± I called out loudly. Even if she wasn¡¯t as strong as Ares or Kronos or even my brother Triton, the way she used her strength was completely different. Fighting two people like her would be a total nightmare; they could just bounce me back and forth through the air at their leisure without giving me a chance to fight back.

    Glory Girl very maturely stuck her tongue out at me. ¡°Giving up so soon?¡± she asked teasingly.

    ¡°Not in the least. My turn, I think.¡±

    I waved Riptide dramatically through the air like a conductor¡¯s baton. There was a wrenching in my gut and a half-dozen geysers blasted out of the waves beneath me, each one curving unnaturally through the air to home in unerringly on my sparring partner.

    The look of surprise on her face was both comical and endearing. Had she somehow missed that I¡¯d told her I was a hydrokinetic or was she so distracted by our first few exchanges that she¡¯d forgotten?

    Whatever the case, she didn¡¯t let it distract her for long. She wove expertly between foamy columns of seawater, moving in three dimensions in a way that spoke of either natural aptitude or long hours of practice. Fighting underwater, or evidently in the sky, was very different from doing so on land. You had to really think about your positioning in a way that just didn¡¯t happen on land outside of some particularly showy dodges.

    Even for me it had taken some time to wrap my head around it. Being able to dodge up and down was just the start of it, particularly if you were nimble enough to rotate your body every which way fast enough. She was no master, but her level of skill was impressive for a mortal as young as her.

    Eventually, the sheer number of attacks filling the sky overwhelmed her. She dodged one column, spun like a top to avoid a second, and folded nearly in half at the waist to evade a third. The fourth, coming up through her blind spot, smacked straight into her butt and sent her flying.

    These were not the narrow, blade-like jets of water moving fast enough to cut clean through steel beams I¡¯d gotten used to using in recent months, but rather much more gentle pillars of foam-filled cold water. Still, the simple mass and volume of water hit like a battering ram and knocked her out of the sky.

    She recovered right before she hit the ground, but by then it was too late. A dome of water nearly two yards thick surrounded her like the cupped palm of a very wet giant. She experimentally punched the barrier and the blow sent water spraying out from the outer edge of the barrier, but more water quickly flowed into place, trapping her fist in the process.

    She tilted her head to the side and said something I couldn¡¯t hear. I shrugged and tapped the side of my head meaningfully with my finger. She shrugged back, then shoulder checked the barrier hard enough to turn a tree into pulp. More water sprayed, but that was about it.

    She shrugged again, then tapped the ground several times with her free hand, prompting me to drop the barrier.

    I let the column of water still holding me up drain back into the sea and walked over to where my temporary opponent was studying the circle of dry sand and rocks she was standing on surrounded by a thick band of waterlogged earth.

    Despite the loss, there was a huge smile on her face and she laughed loudly as I approached. ¡°That was awesome!¡± she exclaimed. ¡°Do you want to go again?¡±

    ¡°Do we still have time?¡±

    ¡°Plenty! It''s like¡­ not even three yet, right? Mom won¡¯t be home till five at the earliest, maybe even six or seven.¡±

    ¡°Great!¡±

    Crystal, who had hurried over when she saw us stop fighting, sighed loudly. ¡°You¡¯re welcome to join us!¡± Glory Girl quickly glanced over towards me, ¡°right Percy?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, of course.¡±

    That only made her sigh again. ¡°Maybe later.¡±

    The next hour was honestly pretty great. We had two more no-holds-barred fights, both of which I ended up winning. After that however we had a few much more interesting fights. Some were physical only, others restricted only certain parts of our powers, like no barriers for me or flying for her.

    About half-an-hour in I retracted most of my armor, mostly to prove that I was just as indestructible without it as I¡¯d claimed, and we had a lovely boxing match that quickly devolved into wild, super-powered wrestling that left craters in the sand and kicked up great sprays of seawater. By the end of it she was breathing heavily and I had to quickly dry her costume off with my powers while Panacea ranted about hypothermia and reckless idiots. She seemed¡­ prickly.

    It didn¡¯t take me long to notice a few peculiarities about Glory Girl¡¯s strength, though I didn¡¯t mention any of my suspicions just yet. She always made sure to back up for a moment after any particularly hard exchanges and the first time I¡¯d left any actual mark on her actual body was when I double-tapped her with a column of water and a nearly-dodged blow from Riptide. She¡¯d waved things off, the tiny cut quickly healed by her sister, but once I had that single data point, it didn¡¯t take long to confirm things.

    Crystal joined us for exactly one fight, right after the wrestling match that had pissed off Panacea. That time we all limited ourselves to ranged abilities and she proved herself to be a real menace with her speed, lasers, and barriers that could momentarily block the waves and geysers I was limiting myself too.

    Funnily enough it was Glory Girl who got her in the end, before herself falling before my barrage. Turns out super strength plus an easy supply of very throwable rocks was a rather dangerous combination.

    Having to heal her cousin also didn¡¯t seem to endear me anymore to Panacea, even though it was her sister who had injured Crystal and not me. It was just a slightly broken arm, barely even a scratch, and she dealt with it in literal seconds anyway.

    Eventually however, both of us were starting to get tired and it looked like it was about to rain, so we decided to move things to the Dallon family home. Once again Crystal carried me in her arms while Vicky, who had changed out of her Glory Girl costume into skinny jeans and a cute red sweater, carried her sister.

    As the rain began to fall, we flew together inside one of Crystal¡¯s red domes and chatted about the fights and their lives as outed superheroes. Eventually this transitioned into Vicky complaining about her on- and off-again boyfriend Dean, with whom she¡¯d broken up for (at least) the fifth time a few days earlier. Apparently he¡¯d said something ¡®just horrible¡¯ during their double date with Amy and some other boy that Vicky knew and that had been enough to make her break it off again.

    I didn¡¯t pay very much attention towards the end¨C¨Cflying felt really, really not great, though being carried by a pretty girl like Crystal certainly made it better. From what I gathered, Vicky was considering breaking things off all together if she could find ¡®someone new, someone who really gets me, you know?¡¯ Amy seemed to be all for it at first, then changed her mind, while Crystal thought she should give this guy Dean another chance and stick with guys in her own year.

    I had no real opinion one way or the other. I just wanted to get back to the ground, or even better, into the sea. Fish weren¡¯t meant to fly and clearly neither was I. Give me a nice, rocking boat or even a horse any day of the week. Or honestly I¡¯d take a flying boat or a flying horse. Damn, a flying boat would be so cool. Maybe we could stick like a dragon head on the front or something? I¡¯m sure we had some dragon heads gathering dust up in the big house at camp¡­

 Chapter 12 - Dealings With the Worst Kind of Monster

    Carol Dallon was¡­quite the person. She had an air about her sort of like one of those super strict teachers, the ones who don¡¯t really like kids very much and you can never quite understand why they decided elementary school was for them. Just looking at her I never would have guessed she was actually a superhero with more than a decade of experience, even if from the sound of things she¡¯d been focusing more heavily on her civilian career in the past few years.

    She was in the dining room waiting for us when we arrived, sitting at the head of the table in a well-fitted charcoal suit. Her short, golden-blonde hair was perfectly styled without a single strand out of place and she had a very stereotypical-looking briefcase open on the table beside her. If not for the family photos and other minor signs of habitation, I would have thought I¡¯d walked into the boardroom at some hoity-toity company and not a house.

    She made us wait for nearly a minute as she finished filling out a document, signing it with a flourish before tucking it away into her briefcase and snapping it closed. Victoria introduced me, and I couldn¡¯t help but notice how her body language shifted in her mother¡¯s presence. She instantly went from friendly teenager to stern and closed off. At the same time, her sister almost seemed to hunch in on herself further and quickly vacated the room, scurrying up the stairs and out of sight without so much as greeting her mother.

    I did my best to make a good first impression¨C¨CCrystal had quietly given me a heads-up about how seriously her aunt took everything while I¡¯d dried us off with my powers¨C¨Cbut I¡¯m really not sure how well I succeeded. She had a great poker face. It probably came with the whole ¡®being a lawyer¡¯ thing.

    We shook hands, exchanged what I was pretty sure could be classified as polite greetings even if hers sounded rather more passive-aggressive than what I would have hoped for, and then she got right down to business.

    ¡°So my daughter tells me you claim to be a Case-22, is that correct?¡±

    A what? ¡°Umm¡­¡±

    ¡°A dimension traveler, I mean. The PRT classifies such people as Case-22s, though I believe the term has not disseminated into the public consciousness the same way it has for Case-53s.¡±

    ¡°Oh. Then yes. I am. Or at least that''s the best explanation I¡¯ve been able to come up with.¡±

    She nodded slowly, ¡°Reasonable. Victoria mentioned some of the evidence that you presented. I can¡¯t say for certain that it is necessarily compelling, but I believe the PRT likely has further tests they could use to confirm such things.¡±

    Pausing, Carol picked up a thin stack of documents lying on the table beside her, tapped them on the table to straighten them, then set them down on top of the stack in front of her. ¡°I took the liberty of referencing the PRT¡¯s public documents concerning such cases. Policy is to immediately present any potential Case-22s to the nearest office, but I can not fault you for seeking out a legal professional beforehand.¡±

    ¡°It seemed like a good idea.¡±

    She actually smiled at that, though it was a very narrow, joyless smile. I wasn¡¯t sure her face even could make a proper smile. She looked way too adult-y for that. ¡°Good. I just wish more capes had that much sense. How you present yourself to both the public and before government entities has an oversized impact on future outcomes for new heroes.¡±

    She paused again, then continued. ¡°Now then, before I can tentatively agree to assist you, I do have a number of concerns. Firstly, the PRT documents stress the dangers of interdimensional diseases and potential long-term connections. Would you consent to an examination from my daughter Panacea and do you have any more information about how you arrived here?¡±

    ¡°Uh, yeah sure, that first thing sounds fine. My power makes me really resistant to diseases so I don¡¯t think it will be a problem anyway. For the second bit, I¡¯m really not sure. It was a pretty rough trip though, so I doubt anyone less durable than me could have survived it. I can probably find the spot I came through, but that''s probably more something for the PRT to worry about.¡±

    ¡°That seems reasonable to me. As long as you agree to cooperate with the PRT¡¯s investigation into such things, I am willing to work with you.¡± She turned to Vicky, who was standing off to the side watching the two of us talk. ¡°Victoria, could you please fetch your sister for me? Crystal, I¡¯m afraid I will have to ask you to leave for the time being, or at least step out of the room so I can speak privately with Mr. Jackson as his attorney.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, sure Aunt Carol. Percy, if you need somewhere to stay tonight, there is an open guest room at my house and I¡¯m sure mom wouldn¡¯t mind. We live just down the street.¡±

    ¡°That would be great, thanks Crystal!¡±

    She smiled at me, then left the room just as Vicky came back with a frumpled looking Panacea wearing half of her distinctive costume.

    ¡°I see you¡¯re getting ready to head to the hospital. Good timing then, Victoria can take you in her car once you¡¯re done here.¡±

    This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    I turned to Panacea and offered my hand. ¡°Thanks for coming out earlier, I realize we were never really introduced. I¡¯m Percy.¡±

    ¡°Panacea. Do I have your permission to heal you?¡± Well that was kind of abrupt. ¡°Just yes or no, I need your verbal consent.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, sure. Go for it.¡±

    She grabbed my bare hand, her face an image of boredom that quickly transformed into an interested frown, then confusion.

    We stood in silence for several seconds and I could see Carol starting to stand up out of the corner of my eyes, a frown on her face.

    ¡°There¡¯s something wrong with your DNA,¡± Panacea said suddenly, ¡°I¡­I can¡¯t see all of it? Like, half of it. It''s weird. And I can¡¯t affect you, like at all. I can look, but I can¡¯t touch. If you get hurt, I don¡¯t think I could fix you. It¡¯s¡­¡±

    ¡°Does he have any unfamiliar diseases we should be worried about?¡± Carol asked sharply.

    Panacea shook her head quickly. ¡°No, no, I don¡¯t think so? Nothing he could spread anyway. I can see the remnants of some stuff, but nothing contagious or recent.¡±

    ¡°Good. Then you and Victoria can go. I may need you again tomorrow when we go to speak with the PRT, be sure to be free.¡±

    ¡°Yes Carol.¡± Her voice sounded almost mechanical as she said it, and it seemed to take her a great deal of effort to let go of my hand. Vicky smiled, waved goodbye, and then the two of them were gone, leaving me alone with the scary lawyer lady. Lovely, just my favorite.

    The next forty-five minutes faded into a blur. Carol said a lot of words, asked a lot of questions, and none of it really seemed to amount to much. I did remember telling her that if she was worried about compensation, I could probably go find some sunken treasure for her. That devolved into a whole thing about NEPA-5, legal claims, and responsible uses of parahuman powers that I did my best to listen to but still barely understood.

    She did eventually ask for more details about my powers. As I¡¯d decided before, I told her about most things, but not quite everything. I told her about all the stuff I mentioned to Vicky and Crystal¨C¨Cdurability, water control, and mini earthquakes¨C¨Cthen also added a few of the other minor powers that being a son of Poseidon gave me like talking to fish and horses, controlling boats, and always knowing where I was on the sea.

    I deliberately didn¡¯t say anything about the curse of Achilles, just saying that I was invulnerable, nor did I mention being able to summon water and the way seawater made me stronger, faster, and let me regenerate. Those were cards that I wanted to keep to my chest, at least for now. I wasn¡¯t sure how much I trusted the heroes around here yet.

    I also said nothing about the Mist. I was not sure how I felt about parahumans repelling the Mist. That seemed¡­bad. The Mist also sounded a lot like a master or stranger power, and people around here had a big bias against those.

    She seemed both impressed and a little confused, calling me the strongest grab-bag cape she¡¯d ever heard of. I mentioned that having a mix of different abilities wasn¡¯t uncommon back home and she metaphorically threw her hands up in the air and moved on.

    Eventually we hammered out all the technicalities, I signed a paper saying that Carol was representing me in this one specific case and related issues, and then we started to figure out our plans going forward. The agreement did include some language about how Carol was going to get paid in the end, but I both didn¡¯t mind that and ultimately I didn¡¯t really expect a lawyer, even a superhero lawyer, to work for free. If someone was paying me, it could come out of that. Otherwise, I¡¯d go like, find some gold or rare fish or something. I¡¯d make it work.

    Sometime in the middle of everything, Carol had ordered us both takeout from a nearby restaurant. It was pretty good and Carol finally seemed to relax a tiny bit after we ate, so maybe part of her grouchy exterior had just been hunger. Probably not, but I could hope. She seemed like a good woman, very principled, though I¡¯d seen too many times how such things could go very wrong very quickly.

    She really hadn¡¯t liked it when I mentioned letting the Undersiders go after I fought them the other night, but she also approved of my decision to not escalate and risk property damage since I hadn¡¯t been willing to contact the PRT at the time anyway. She really didn¡¯t like villains, even when I mentioned some of their motivations for why they did what they did. Actually, that might have made things worse.

    What we eventually decided on was pretty simple. We¡¯d go meet with the PRT tomorrow¨C¨CCarol had a good enough relationship with them that we could figure something out even with it being the weekend¨C¨Cand then we¡¯d go from there. She mentioned a bunch of maybes and contingencies, but it really did mostly just depend on what the PRT came up with.

    She told me I would probably have to subject myself to power testing, that was fine. I¡¯d also need to answer a bunch of questions about my world and stuff, figure out my new identity, and take care of a bunch of stupid bureaucracy (my words, not hers).

    Apparently it really helped that I ¡®was¡¯ eighteen. I also didn¡¯t have any government documents on me that listed my actual birthday, so they didn¡¯t really have any way to prove otherwise. People had been telling me all year that I looked older than I was and Carol hadn¡¯t questioned it when I¡¯d told her I turned eighteen in August, so hopefully it wouldn¡¯t even come up.

    Worst case scenario, I would do my best to bust out of whatever cage they tried to put me in. If it really came down to it, they had a giant, very expensive looking base out in the middle of the bay. I could smack it around a bit as a distraction and then flee into the ocean. That would kind of suck, but I could do it.

    Hopefully it didn¡¯t come down to that. Vicky and Crystal both seemed nice and they¡¯d probably get caught up in things. That would be sad.

    Eventually everything that needed my input out was taken care of and Carol shooed me out of the house with directions to the Pelhams, instructions to get some sleep, and a firm demand not to get into any trouble before tomorrow. I was honestly impressed that she had to add that last bit¨C¨Cmost people had to know me for at least a week before they figured out I could cause three major disasters in two blocks.

 Chapter 13 - Meeting Heroes

    I made it to the Pelhams a little after ten. Crystal met me at the door, a finger on her lips as she told me that her parents were already asleep. She led me up the stairs to a sparsely-furnished bedroom at the end of the hall, showing me the bathroom, her room, her parent¡¯s room, and the room where Eric was still awake doing his homework along the way.

    She let me get settled in, which mostly consisted of putting the sheets she¡¯d brought me on the bed and taking off my hoodie. I was very thankful that my powers made cleaning myself and my clothing rather easy¨C¨Csweat was basically just salt water and I could dry things on command¨C¨Cbecause otherwise I imagined I would have looked and smelled considerably worse after several days with no changes of clothes.

    About ten minutes later, Crystal came back wearing sweatpants and a long white t-shirt and carrying two mugs of hot tea. I wasn¡¯t really much of a tea person¨C¨Cunless of course it was of the twisted variety¨C¨Cbut it was a nice gesture. I thanked her and she handed me a brown mug decorated with a stylized bear wearing jeans and a bright yellow hat.

    I was expecting her to leave after that, but instead she curled up in the papasan chair in the corner of the room, watching me silently as I sipped at my tea. It was slightly sweet and a little grassy, with notes of some sort of fruit or berry. I couldn¡¯t say whether it was good tea, but it was hot and didn¡¯t taste bad so it was kind of nice after walking through the chilly March evening.

    ¡°Could you tell me a bit more about your world?¡± Crystal asked suddenly. ¡°Only if you want to, I mean. I know it''s getting late and you¡¯re going to talk to the PRT tomorrow, but I¡¯ve never met someone from another earth and it sounds so fascinating! They say Aleph only diverged from us a few decades ago but it''s already so different, and it seems like your world is also pretty different from Bet.¡±

    ¡°Uh, yeah, sure. I don¡¯t mind. I don¡¯t think I could fall asleep right now anyway.¡± I was tired, but the anxiety about my meeting tomorrow was still getting to me. I¡¯d gotten pretty used to meeting gods, but somehow mortal bureaucrats sounded even scarier. Getting my learner¡¯s permit with my stepdad had been an experience, and I¡¯d had the Mist on my side at the time. Dealing with a super-powered DMV sounded like a literal nightmare. ¡°What do you want to know?¡±

    We ended up staying up a teensy bit longer than I think Crystal fully intended. I spent about an hour telling her slightly altered stories about some of the monsters I¡¯d fought and quests I¡¯d gone on. Then the topic had shifted to more personal anecdotes. I told her about my mom¡¯s affinity for blue food. She told me about some of her and her brother¡¯s hijinks after they¡¯d first gotten their powers.

    Around two a.m I suddenly remembered Carol¡¯s instructions to get some sleep. Whoops. Crystal was really fun to talk with. She was smart, had a good sense of humor, and seemed like a genuinely good person with a passion for helping others. For a moment I¡¯d almost managed to forget that I was impossibly far from home and possibly permanently cut off from everyone I¡¯d ever known.

    I hoped my mom was doing okay. I was really glad she had Paul now to support her. I had a feeling she wasn¡¯t going to take my disappearance well.

    ¡°Are you alright, Percy?¡± Crystal asked quietly. I opened my eyes and realized that she was still standing in the doorway, loosely holding our two empty mugs at her side.

    ¡°I¡­I think so,¡± I answered quietly, but the lump in my throat probably made my words sound unconvincing. ¡°I hope everyone¡¯s doing alright. My mom¡­¡±

    Crystal set the mugs down on the bedside table, then sat down beside me on the edge of my borrowed bed and wrapped me in a tight hug. She didn¡¯t say anything, but it was probably better that way. Any reassurances she could have tried to give me would have been completely empty and we both knew it.

    After a moment, I hugged her back, savoring the warmth of another person pressed up against me. Her hair was very soft and smelled of lavender. ¡°Thanks,¡± I whispered into her shoulder, my voice muffled.

    ¡°Any time,¡± she whispered back. ¡°You should get some sleep. Aunt Carol told me your meeting is at nine, so you need to be up pretty early.¡±

    ¡°Late and sleep deprived probably wouldn¡¯t make a good first impression,¡± I joked weakly.

    ¡°Probably not.¡± She stood up, smiled, and left the room, turning off the lights on her way out.

    It still took me more than an hour to fall asleep, my eyes staring blankly up at the dark ceiling as I listened to the inaudible crash of distant waves, but the hug helped. Oh Annabeth. How I missed her. How I wished that she was here with me. She¡¯d know exactly what we needed to do. There was no way she couldn¡¯t figure out a way to get back home.

    Not for the first time I cursed that traitorous scum Ethan Nakamura. A quick death had been far too good for him. I hoped Hades had found a suitably horrible fate for him. May his soul suffer for eternity in the fields of punishment.

    A single tear leaked down my cheek and vanished into nothingness. Oh Annabeth¡­

    Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

    <hr>

    ¡°So what do you make of him?¡± Armsmaster muttered, his words audible only to the sensitive microphones inside his armor.

    ¡°I¡¯m not seeing anything,¡± Dragon answered promptly. ¡°Facial recognition found nothing and there is no record of a Perseus or Sally Jackson living in New York pre Behemoth. I also can¡¯t find any cape that matches his powers or shares his tinkertech. There aren¡¯t very many high end bruits who also have hydrokinetic powers.¡±

    Well, not outside the obvious example, Armsmaster thought grimly.

    ¡°Per PRT protocol, I¡¯ve taken the initiative to forward his information to Watchdog. Hopefully they¡¯ll be able to tell us for certain in the next few hours.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    Armsmaster shifted his gaze back to the large display covering one wall of the conference room. The potential Case-22 was sitting beside his lawyer, Brandish, slowly working through a tall stack of forms and tests with her help. He¡¯d mentioned dyslexia during the initial interview and his behavior matched with what Armsmaster knew of the learning disorder.

    Perseus Jackson. The display in his helmet zoomed in on the young man¡¯s face. Once again, the facial recognition program connected to his armor found no precise matches, not that he had expected it to do so.

    He was tall and well built, with what Armsmaster¡¯s software told him were very handsome features. His immediate disregard for masks contributed to his story¨C¨Ccape culture had become deeply embedded in the public consciousness over the past few decades. His accent matched what he would have expected from someone growing up in New York, but anyone like that should have had an instinctive understanding of maintaining a secret identity.

    The door to the conference room opened and Director Piggot strode into the room, followed closely by Miss Militia and the Deputy Director. ¡°Armsmaster, good. What do you have for me?¡± she asked briskly, taking a seat at the head of the long table facing the display.

    Armsmaster waited for everyone to sit down, then began. ¡°I was contacted last night by Carol Dallon of New Wave just after nine p.m. The potential Case-22 contacted her for legal representation and presented sufficient preliminary evidence for her to believe his story. He also consented to examination by Panacea, who found that the subject did not appear to be carrying any dangerous diseases from his home dimension, though his power apparently makes him impossible for her to affect directly.¡±

    ¡°At least that¡¯s something,¡± the Director muttered loudly.

    Armsmaster continued. ¡°Wanting to get this issue settled as soon as possible, I set up a meeting for nine this morning, to which Mrs. Dallon agreed. The subject, whom I will henceforth address as Riptide, the cape name that he has chosen for himself, and Mrs. Dallon arrived promptly at the specified time. Since then he has fully cooperated with questioning and testing, though no final conclusion has been determined as of yet. He does not exist on any database that I or Dragon have access to, and the issue has been forwarded to WEDGDG.¡±

    ¡°You were present for the initial evaluation. What is your impression so far?¡±

    ¡°According to my software, Riptide does truly believe that he is a Case-22, though it is possible that his memory may have been tampered with by a master or stranger cape. Based on his account, he arrived in Earth Bet on Wednesday of this week and spent several days gathering information before approaching us and Mrs. Dallon via her daughter. Glory Girl was the first cape who he encountered and she left him her contact information after mistaking him for a regular new hero.

    ¡°According to him, he stumbled across some form of dimensional passage while exploring the ocean in his home reality. The passage was incredibly hazardous and he claims that only his Brute power allowed him to survive the experience and he was badly injured regardless. He does not know the precise location where he emerged, but is willing to assist us in locating the point.

    ¡°After some initial questioning, Riptide consented to basic power testing. He is a highly-durable Brute and a hydrokinetic Shaker. None of the equipment present in the PRT headquarters was able to injure him and he had no difficulty standing beneath the hydraulic press, though he mentioned that he is not necessarily able to lift the same sort of weight that he can endure. I was unable to independently verify this fact.

    ¡°His hydrokinesis is similarly impressive. He has fine control of water in a large area around him, though he was unable to pin down a specific range limit. We were also unable to find a mass limit for water he could control as of yet, but he has agreed to further testing near the shoreline at a later date.¡±

    ¡°Levithan. You¡¯re describing Levithan. You¡¯re telling me we have a mini-levithan Case-22 on our hands?¡± Piggot asked, her voice hard.

    ¡°Essentially, yes.¡±

    ¡°Wonderful. What else have you got?¡±

    Notes appeared on the display within his helmet. ¡°The Earth that Riptide comes from, tentatively labeled Earth Gimel, appears to have diverged from our world at some point in the recent past, though the exact date is currently impossible to pin down. The world appears to have a smaller cape population than we do and have established a very different cape culture. The existence of capes is mostly kept secret from the general population and the majority of their efforts are focused on combating some form of monster-capes or potentially bio-tinker creations.

    ¡°Furthermore, the world has a much higher concentration of second-generation capes such as Riptide himself. According to Riptide, his father is a much stronger hydrokinetic than he himself is, but does not have the same level of Brute abilities as Riptide. Most second-generation capes in his world tend to be weaker than their parents. This is generally consistent with trends observed in Earth Bet, though proper studies are difficult to conduct due to secret identities.¡±

    ¡°And what about Riptide himself?¡± Miss Militia asked. ¡°I assume we will be attempting to recruit him into the Protectorate?¡±

    ¡°Riptide considers himself a hero, though the term seems to mean something slightly different in his own world. I have not seen enough to make a firm determination one way or the other, but I do not believe he would have approached us if he intended to become a villain.¡±

    The director clicked her tongue loudly. ¡°We¡¯ll try for a soft sell. From the sound of it, he¡¯s certainly not someone we want as a villain. If he does turn out to be a Case-22, we¡¯ll need to help him figure out a new identity. Hopefully that will help ingratiate him to the PRT. If he isn¡¯t, well. We¡¯ll take that on a case-by-case basis.¡±

    ¡°Understood, Director.¡±

    ¡°Good. Keep me informed. I¡¯ll be in my office. I may as well get something productive done if I¡¯m coming in to work on my day off.¡±

 Chapter 14 - Blah Blah Blah Please Join the Heroes

    Sometimes I¡¯m not the sharpest sword in the armory. I¡¯ve made some pretty dumb decisions over the years and even taking into account my dyslexia and ADHD my grades pretty clearly reflect my academic talents. I¡¯ve had like, a B-. Once. Out of sheer dumb luck. Hades, I¡¯m a sixteen year old highschool dropout. Like I said, academics were never really my thing

    On the other hand, I¡¯ve also had some pretty great ideas over the years. Like dropping out of school (though my step dad probably thought that was one of my dumber choices, sorry Paul!) to do demigod stuff full time, giving Luke Annabeth¡¯s dagger, and shipping mom Medusa¡¯s head that one time. Now I had another thing to add to my list of really fucking great plans. ¡®Hiring¡¯, for all that I hadn¡¯t really paid her anything yet, Carol Dallon to represent me to the PRT was an absolutely ten out of ten banger of an idea.

    I honestly don¡¯t know how I would have managed without her. Not only had she somehow gotten us a meeting with the PRT on less than a day¡¯s notice, and on a weekend to boot, but she also cut through mountains of papers and questions like Riptide sliced through empousa.

    Without her, I¡¯d probably still be working on that first evaluation test they¡¯d given me, a thick ream of papers that reminded me of those horrible standardized tests I had to take every year. That was if I even managed to get that far without doing something stupid¨C¨Chaving someone else to do most of the talking and keep me from putting my foot in my mouth was really, really handy. Carol¡¯s presence had probably saved the annoying, well-dressed PRT agent they¡¯d sent to talk to us from a fist to the face

    Instead, we¡¯d spent less than an hour dealing with random bullshit and then I got to talk to Armsmaster, a Protectorate hero wearing some super cool looking power armor, and show off a little. The dude was a little abrupt, but Carol told me that was just how we was, and I didn¡¯t begrudge him being a little grumpy about getting pulled away from what he actually wanted to be doing on a lovely Sunday morning to help me out.

    I answered a few questions for him, doing my best to stick to the story I¡¯d established ahead of time. It was even mostly true since I just sort of avoided talking about all the blatantly supernatural stuff. Dad and the other gods were just powerful parahumans and anything silly I said was just a difference in terminology, nothing more.

    Then we went down to this cool little testing room they had set up. It really did look like something out of a movie, complete with two scientists with clipboards in white lab coats and a big glass window on one side of the room to let people look in.

    I lifted some weights, moved some water around, and let the scientists futilely poke and smack my hand with an entire cabinet of high-tech mallets, needles, and even this crazy blowtorch looking thing that kinda reminded me of when I fought Hyperion. None of it did anything¨C¨Cit took more than brute force to bypass the Curse of Achilles¨C¨Cbut it made them happy and staying on the good side of an international superhero organization seemed like a good call if I was going to be stuck here for the foreseeable future.

    After that, I had a bit of a break while Carol reviewed some preliminary documents and a nice PRT trooper brought us a cart of food from the cafeteria. It was honestly kind of good, much better than what I expected when I heard it came from a cafeteria. I still had nightmares about some of the disgusting goop American schools tried to pass off as real food. They even had some kind of sour blue soda that I¡¯d never heard of! Not my favorite, but very blue and pretty tasty to boot.

    And now I was sitting in a different meeting room with Carol, this one two floors higher in the building with a larger table and a few more chairs. I was sitting on one side of the table, Carol beside me with her briefcase in front of her and a severe look on her face. She was very, very good at severe looks.

    Across from us sat Armsmaster¨C¨Cwhose armor was honestly starting to make me feel a little self conscious (maybe I should be wearing my armor too?)¨C¨Calong with another hero by the name of Miss Militia and two PRT people, a man and a woman, in matching suits.

    ¡°We were told you would have confirmation for us more than an hour ago, but all I¡¯m seeing are delays and more tests for my client. I would like an explanation.¡± Carol fixed the PRT man with a firm stare, ¡°My client wishes to resolve the situation he finds himself in as soon as possible, but it seems to me that the PRT is dragging its feet on anything but preliminary documents and examinations.¡±

    ¡°Mrs. Dallon, please, we are working on¨C¨C¡±

    A raised palm from Armsmaster cut the man off before he could keep going. ¡°We have encountered some moderate issues in terms of confirming Riptide¡¯s story. Certain elements that we typically utilize have proven to be unreliable when it comes to your client. We have found no evidence of Riptide¡¯s civilian identity existing on Earth Bet, but have not been able to rule out all other potential cases.¡± He turned his head to address me directly, ¡°It appears that a number of associated Thinkers have experienced complications when attempting to ascertain the validity of your claims. Are you aware of the effects your power has on such individuals?¡±

    I played back Armsmaster¡¯s words in my head and still wasn¡¯t quite sure what exactly he was saying, so I turned to Carol. ¡°Uh, what?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s saying that Watchdog is having trouble verifying that you¡¯re really a Case-22 and they think it might be because of something your powers are doing.¡±

    ¡°Oh, that makes more sense.¡± I paused for a moment. ¡°Wait, why are they having trouble? Or I guess what kind of trouble?¡±

    ¡°Armsmaster?¡± Carol prompted.

    He remained silent for several seconds, his lips moving soundlessly, then set his armored arm back down onto the table with a heavy clunk. ¡°We believe that Riptide may possess some form of secondary power that causes Thinker effects directed at him to fail. We would ask that Riptide consents to further power testing to confirm the validity of this claim while we continue to ascertain the truth of his story.¡±

    ¡°Riptide?¡± Carol asked.

    My immediate thought was that this was something the Mist was doing passively, since unlike all of these parahumans I actually attracted the Mist towards me instead of pushing it away. In fact I¡¯d noticed that the Mist around me and in places I went was considerably thicker than it was on average. When I woke up this morning, it was noticeably denser in my room than it had been when I¡¯d gone to bed. That wasn¡¯t necessarily a great theory, but I had no idea what else they might be talking about.

    ¡°Um, I guess that''s¨C¨C¡± Carol shot me a sharp look, ¡°Uh. That''s maybe okay, but I¡¯d like to hear more before I agree to anything,¡± I hurriedly corrected. ¡°I don¡¯t think my powers do anything like that though?¡±

    ¡°There is precedent for certain Brute powers to provide resistance to other types of powers,¡± Miss Militia chimed in. ¡°For example it is well known that Alexandria is immune to Master powers. It might be something like that.¡±

    ¡°Maybe?¡± I shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t think anyone back home ever had any problems, but maybe they just never told me.¡± I¡¯d been part of too many prophecies to think I was immune to the sort of stuff they classified as Thinker abilities around here, but perhaps it was a matter of different power sources? I had no idea how the powers around here worked, but they were clearly not the same as what gods, monsters, and demigods could do.

    The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    From there, the conversation once again turned to specific details, most of which were hashed out between Carol and the PRT guy with little input from me. Basically it was going to take a while because they didn¡¯t have any real Thinkers on their team and they needed to bring someone in, but that was complicated and annoying to set up or something.

    On the bright side, once I¡¯d agreed to that they finally started moving forward with the actually important stuff that I wanted; namely getting me set up in this new world. Apparently what they had found so far was convincing enough that they were going to give me a chance even if their fancy acronym superhero organization hadn¡¯t been able to confirm things one-hundred percent.

    Apparently the PRT had a small fund set up for dimensionally displaced individuals like me to help us get back on our feet, which was a pretty cool thing for them to do. Also they wanted me to join the Protectorate. They also offered me some free housing while I got acclimated to Earth Bet, and maybe I could do that by joining the Protectorate.

    Did you know that the Protectorate pays its heroes a competitive salary? Wow, what a fun fact. Oh, you mentioned that you have some fancy tinkertech armor? Well, Brockton Bay¡¯s Protectorate had two Tinkers who might be willing to maintain it for you, but only if you joined up! There were also three different pamphlets about joining the Protectorate shoved in with the other papers they gave me about places I could choose to live and basic information I needed to know.

    I had a feeling that they kind of wanted me to join the Protectorate. Me getting papers and having a new identity drawn up wasn¡¯t conditional on joining, but they certainly did seem to just keep slamming the sales pitch down my throat. It eventually got to the point that Carol would loudly clear her throat every time someone mentioned the idea, which mostly got them to shut up. Mostly.

    ¡°So Riptide,¡± Miss Militia asked, ¡°have you considered what you¡¯d like to do going forward? There¡¯s a spot for you in the Protectorate if you¡¯re interested. We could really use another experienced hero like you. Triumph only just graduated from the wards you know, he¡¯s about your age.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m really not sure, to be honest,¡± I told her truthfully. ¡°Ideally, I think I¡¯d want to go home. I miss my friends and family a lot.¡± I sighed heavily, ¡°But from everything I¡¯ve read that''s not very likely now, is it?¡±

    Miss Militia said nothing. The only permanent connection Earth Bet had to another Earth was with Aleph, and even then it was data-only. Furthermore, Professor Haywire, who might have been able to actually help me, had been dead for several years and there was no Tinker or Mover with comparable capabilities. I¡¯d tentatively floated the idea earlier and Armsmaster had told me flatly that the Protectorate was likely unable to help me, or any other Case-22, get home.

    ¡°I¡¯m probably going to keep being a hero,¡± I eventually said. ¡°It''s the only thing I really know well. I guess I could be like, a fisherman or something, but that¡¯s mostly a spare time thing, you know? Heroing¡­ Well, it''s in my blood. Literally.¡±

    Miss Militia nodded, ¡°Of course. As a Protectorate hero you would not be expected to work at all hours of the day, with some exceptions for emergencies and the like. Heroing is my calling, but it''s important to work in moderation to avoid burning out. If fishing is how you relax after a long day, well, the Rig is certainly in a good spot for you to do so.¡± Then she did this thing with her eyes that told me she was smiling even though her mouth was covered. It was¡­weird.

    ¡°True enough, I¡¯m just not sure I want to get tied down like that. Joining the Protectorate feels like a big commitment, and I¡¯m still trying to figure everything out.¡±

    Miss Militia jumped on that immediately. ¡°If you¡¯re worried about that, how about we start with something less formal? I¡¯m certain the director would not mind you accompanying some of us on our daily patrols¨C¨Cit''s not that uncommon for prospective members to do so. I believe Triumph and Velocity are on duty today, they should be heading out in a little over an hour. Perhaps you¡¯d like to join them? I can¡¯t imagine you¡¯re enjoying sitting around here all day.¡±

    ¡°That does sound pretty good. Carol¨C¡±

    Carol looked up from the papers she was reviewing. ¡°I think we¡¯re probably wrapping up for today anyway, especially if you aren¡¯t planning to join the Protectorate right this minute. We should be able to finish filling out the paperwork for your new civilian identity in about half an hour and I know the PRT affiliate documents forwards and backwards by now so those shouldn¡¯t take long either if they haven¡¯t changed anything. After that it will take a few days for them to process everything so we¡¯ll need to come back later in the week.¡±

    ¡°And there¡¯s no problem with me going on a patrol?¡±

    ¡°It shouldn¡¯t complicate anything. Just keep your mask on, remember that your name is Riptide, and don¡¯t do anything reckless.¡±

    Great, I could do two of those things! ¡°Then that sounds like a great idea,¡± I told Miss Militia.¡±

    ¡°Wonderful, I will go get everything set up for you then.¡± She shook my hand, nodded to Carol, and left the room.

    Carol promptly shoved a pen into my hand. ¡°Now, we¡¯re going to need your signature here, here, here, and here. This one is¡­¡±

    <hr>

    Nearly two hours later, Triumph, Velocity, and I were walking together through central Brockton Bay. It had taken us slightly longer than anticipated to get going, mostly because of my armor. Apparently I hadn¡¯t done a very good job of describing it and they¡¯d expected something a little less¡­eye-catching. On the bright side, according to Triumph my armor would make the apparently nightmarish image team leave me mostly alone if I did join up.

    So far the patrol had been pretty boring. We hadn¡¯t run into any trouble and while my armor did stand out, the two well-known heroes with me attracted the majority of people¡¯s attention. I briefly introduced myself to a few of the people that had come up to talk to us, but that was about it.

    It was honestly really, really weird to walk around in public in my armor and have people actually see exactly what was in front of them. Normally if I did something like this, people would see me as wearing something like SWAT gear, not shiny plate armor. It certainly led to a lot more people taking pictures, and Velocity said I was probably going to be all over PHO by the end of the day.

    On the bright side, Triumph did seem like a pretty cool guy. He was really into baseball and had a lot of interesting stories from his time in the Wards. It was also a good opportunity for me to get some first hand information about what it was like to be in the Protectorate, which was probably a good thing because what I¡¯d heard so far hadn¡¯t really impressed me very much.

    He didn¡¯t go out and say it outright, but the Protectorate seemed horribly passive, only ever reacting to what the villains were doing and mostly working to keep the status quo. Maybe things were different here, but I¡¯d found in the past few months that it was much better to be active than reactive. In the wake of the war, I¡¯d gone out with some of the other campers and massacred every monster we could find in the vicinity of New York, working out from Camp in a growing spiral.

    It was not a permanent solution of course, monsters would always keep coming, but the new Athena head counselor had told me that they expected upwards of a twenty percent drop in demigod casualties in the next year. The right way to deal with monsters was overwhelming force applied with brutal efficiency.

    Perhaps I was being a little over dramatic¨C¨Cthe villains here and monsters back home were two very different types of fish¨C¨Cbut the war against Kronos had left me very short on mercy when it came to those who endangered the people I cared about.

    And then something finally happened. There was a crackle in my ear and a voice came out of the little earbud communicator they¡¯d given me before I¡¯d gone out with the other heroes. It was connected to my new phone, apparently something they gave to all PRT affiliated heroes, and was how the people back at the Protectorate base could communicate with the three of us.

    ¡°This is console, we have reports of independent hero Browbeat engaging with Victor and Othela near your location.¡±

    Velocity, who¡¯d been scouting around us using his power, suddenly blurred out of an alleyway and stopped beside Triumph and I. He tapped his ear, ¡°Velocity responding, here with Triumph and Riptide. Where are we headed?¡±

    Console gave us a location, the street names meaning absolutely nothing to me but Velocity nodded sharply. ¡°I¡¯m on it. ETA two minutes. Triumph, Riptide, follow along when you can.¡± And then he was gone again, disappearing into a red blur that rushed away down the sidewalk.

    Triumph clicked his tongue. ¡°I know where that is, we can be there in a few minutes if we hurry. Do you want to come along? I know this was supposed to be just a ¡®learning the ropes¡¯ kind of thing but¨C¨C¡±

    ¡°Of course I¡¯m coming! Don¡¯t worry about me Triumph, I can handle myself.¡±

    ¡°Fair enough. Looks like we¡¯ve got some excitement for your first patrol, then. Let¡¯s go!¡±

 Chapter 15 - The Easy Part of Heroing

    ¡°So, Victor and Othala?¡± I asked. ¡°I know that Othala is the healer, but what¡¯s Victor¡¯s thing?¡±

    Triumph, who was staring out the window of the PRT van that had picked us up barely thirty seconds after console had contacted us, turned to look at me. ¡°Oh, right, I forgot for a moment that you¡¯re new to Brockton. Um, Othala isn¡¯t just a healer, she can give anyone she touches one of several powers. Invulnerability, fire control, and regeneration are the big ones, but she can also do flight and super strength. Maybe some others, but we¡¯re not entirely sure.¡±

    I nodded, filing that factoid away for later. That sounded like a pretty handy ability. ¡°And Victor?¡± I prompted.

    ¡°He¡¯s a skill thief. If you¡¯re close to him, he can slowly take your skill at certain things, faster if you make eye contact. He keeps the skills permanently so he¡¯s pretty dangerous, but unless he drains a skill completely you¡¯ll get it back pretty quickly.¡±

    Now that was a dangerous power. ¡°Got it.¡±

    ¡°Good, because we¡¯re here.¡±

    The van pulled over and Triumph threw open the doors at the back, barely waiting for the van to screech to a stop before jumping out onto the pavement. I followed after him, rapidly scanning the street around us to assess the situation.

    Two rows of dilapidated apartment buildings stood on either side of a poorly maintained street. There were a half-dozen cars parked along the sides of the road, with large stretches of garbage-strewn asphalt littered with potholes between them.

    It was strange to see such a rundown part of the city so close to the considerably nicer street that I¡¯d been patrolling down with Triumph. The difference was night and day, and there wasn¡¯t a single person out and about, though I could see a number of people watching furtively from upper-story windows up and down the street.

    Our target was pretty obvious. It was the one with a broken-down door surrounded by three zip-tied skinheads. The gunfire I could hear ringing inside was also a bit of a clue.

    Velocity was nowhere in sight, and Triumph was clearly waiting for the half-dozen troopers accompanying us to pile out of the van, but I didn¡¯t feel like waiting. Riptide appeared in my hand and I charged up the half-dozen steps leading to the apartment building¡¯s entrance, ignoring Triumph¡¯s shout of surprise as I blitz past him.

    I could feel the fighting up on the second floor. Velocity¨C¨Ca weirdly blurry mass of water to my senses¨C¨Cwas running down a hallway while two more figures seemed to be fighting in close quarters. The gunshots had fallen silent by now, but I could still feel half-a-dozen men standing clustered around a much smaller shape that I assumed must be Othala.

    The apartment¡¯s lobby was empty except for another skinhead, this one with a very prominent eagle tattoo on his neck, lying bent-over on the ground near the door. I barely spared him a moment of attention, instead slamming the door to the stairs open and taking them two at a time.

    Beneath my armor, I carefully unscrewed a water bottle from the inside, allowing the seawater within to pour out and flow up to fill the space around my shoulders. I was instantly energized, my movements coming faster and my senses going into overdrive as I rushed into the hallway.

    My assessment had been completely correct. A man I assumed had to be Browbeat¨C¨Cmassive muscles, mask, clearly fighting the dude who was probably Victor¨C¨Cwas getting slowly taken apart and pushed back down the hallway. His opponent, a masked man wearing a black breastplate over a bright-red shirt and black pants, was clearly far more skilled than he was, and looked completely unaffected by Browbeat¡¯s occasional grazing hits.

    On the other side of the hallway, Othala stood surrounded by six more skinheads. Two of them were using rough walls of fire to keep Velocity from getting close, while another was floating in the air behind her. The other three seemed content to simply shield her with their bodies, making me think that they must have been granted invulnerability just like Victor probably had been.

    I made a snap judgment call. Browbeat was getting pushed back, but he seemed to be keeping Victor reasonably occupied and was mostly uninjured. Velocity also looked fine, but was making no headway against the two fire controllers. They would be okay for a few more seconds while I dealt with the biggest threat.

    The pipe I could feel almost directly above Othala¡¯s head burst open, and a powerful torrent of water punched clean through the flimsy ceiling panel and flowed down towards the neo-natzi supervillain. Fortunately at the last moment I remembered that this was a person I was trying to capture, and not a monster that needed killing. Instead of cutting straight through her skull like I¡¯d originally planned to, the torrent of water simply knocked her off her feet.

    A moment later, the water split into seven streams. Six knocked the gangsters off their feet and away from Othala, while the last streamed down to join the original burst in enveloping my primary target.

    The two fire controllers yelped and cried out in pain as they were sent sprawling on the floor. The flier managed to get out of the way at the last second, but the stream turned one-hundred-and-eighty degrees directly behind him and hammered him into the wall. The invulnerable trio barely seemed to feel it, but they were no stronger than ordinary men and it was easy enough to pin them each to the ground with strands of water as hard as steel beams.

    Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

    ¡°Victor!¡± Othala just managed to cry out before suddenly Velocity was there. He stopped directly above her and dropped a containment foam grenade directly on top of her, enveloping her body in rapidly-expanding yellowish foam.

    The moment she was taken care of, I was already turning to deal with Victor. I¡¯d emerged from the stairs just a scant few feet behind him, and dealing with Othala and her escorts hadn¡¯t taken long at all.

    Hearing Othala¡¯s scream, he sharply kicked Browbeat in the knee with his boot, then spun around to see what was going on as the independent hero dropped to the ground. The point of my blade was there to meet him as I cooly leveled Anaklusmos towards him, the blade hovering a scant few millimeters from his exposed neck.

    I felt something touch my mind, worming, questing tendrils brushing against the edges of my thoughts, but the crashing of waves shoved them away in an instant and Victor flinched. ¡°Surrendered,¡± I ordered firmly. Then I remembered that I was trying to do the superhero thing. What did superheroes say again? ¡°You¡¯re under arrest,¡± I added after a moment¡¯s thought.

    Victor¡¯s eyes flicked between me, Velocity, who was still standing over Othala¡¯s rapidly expanding prison of containment foam, and then the window a few feet to his left. His hand came up, swatting my sword away with his palm, and he lunged towards the window. We were on the second floor, but if he was invulnerable like I thought he was that wasn¡¯t really a problem.

    Unfortunately for him, I hadn¡¯t let my guard down. Victor lunged at the window and he was several steps closer to it than I was, but ultimately he was a skilled mortal and I was a demigod.

    I lunged after him and caught him by the scruff of the neck like a disobedient kitten trying to run away from its mother. ¡°I guess we can add resisting arrest to your charges,¡± I quipped, remembering a similar line from a TV show Paul sometimes liked to watch.

    I turned towards Velocity. ¡°Do you have another one of those grenades, or should I just hold onto him for now?¡± I shook Victor slightly for emphasis.

    Velocity blurred over to stand beside me, looking almost like he¡¯d just walked over except with the motions played in fast-forward, and looked down at Victor¡¯s limp body. ¡°Could you get him down to the troopers? They should have proper restraints in the truck and whatever power Othala gave him is probably going to run out any second.¡±

    ¡°Yeah sure.¡± I gestured to where I was still holding the six Empire gang members down with watery nets. ¡°Watch out for the guy with the black shirt, he¡¯s trying to grab his gun.¡±

    ¡°Thanks! Send the solvent team up here when you get down, we should try and secure both Victor and Othala as soon as we can before any other Empire members arrive. We¨C¨C¡±

    And that was when an air conditioner crashed through the wall and nearly turned Victor into paste. His eyes bulged as I pulled him out of the way in the nick of time.

    ¡°Rune! Watch where you¨C¨C¡±

    This time it was a chunk of pavement, and I roughly tossed Victor aside before I smashed the hunk of masonry into the floor with my armored elbow. Victor tried to scramble to his feet, but water was still flowing out of the pipe I¡¯d burst open¨C¨CI felt a little bad about the property damage, but the two big holes in the side of the building were considerably more damagey than what I¡¯d done so maybe it wasn¡¯t so bad¨C¨Cand I used a few gallons of water to pin him in place.

    Looking out through the new gaps in the wall, I saw a girl with blonde hair in a black and red robe standing on a floating manhole cover, three more chunks of pavement floating around her. Triumph was shouting up at her from the street, standing protectively in front of several PRT troopers. The van we¡¯d arrived in was a total loss from the look of it¨C¨Cthe girl, Rune probably, had half-crushed it with a makeshift boulder.

    ¡°Give me Victor and Othala and no one has to get hurt,¡± she told me authoritatively, but I could hear a faint tremor in her voice. ¡°I don¡¯t know who you are, but you don¡¯t want to cross the Empire!¡±

    Yeah, no. She didn¡¯t sound nearly as scary as she clearly thought she did. ¡°How about instead you drop those rocks and go to jail, go directly to jail, do not pass go, do not collect your buddies?¡± Okay that sounded a lot better in my head.

    Rune¡¯s answer was to launch another one of her floating projectiles at me. I waited for it to widen the hole in the wall, then dodged easily out of the way and rushed forward. Two steps took me across the hallway and then I leapt, twisting my body to fit fully through the awkwardly-shaped gap in the wall.

    Rune clearly wasn¡¯t expecting that and reacted far too slowly. Her platform flew back several feet and then I crashed into her anyway, pinning her arms against her sides and sending both of us careening clean off her platform.

    Rune shrieked like a little girl on her very first roller coaster, or maybe an Aphrodite camper that had just found a rat in her makeup kit. I tucked her thrashing body against my chest and then turned my body just before we hit the ground, absorbing most of the impact on my indestructible back. Rune still certainly felt the impact, my armor didn¡¯t make for a particularly soft landing, but I was pretty sure that even a squishy mortal like her could survive such a tiny fall. She kept screaming even after we hit the ground so that was probably a good sign.

    I stood up and pinned her to the ground with my armored foot. ¡°Are you guys alright?¡± I called out to Triumph and the troopers. ¡°Was anyone in the car?¡±

    ¡°Everyone got out in time!¡± Triumph called back. ¡°How did everything go up there? Is Rune okay?¡±

    ¡°Velocity foamed Othala and I think probably Victor too by now,¡± I rattled off quickly. ¡°Browbeat looked hurt, and Rune¡¯s still moving so she¡¯s probably fine.¡±

    ¡°Good. Console says there''s another van on the way. Good work, Riptide.¡±

    ¡°I was happy to help!¡±

    And that was about the end of my first ever fight as Riptide, superhero extraordinaire. Easy enough. Unfortunately as I would soon learn, fighting bad guys really was the easy part.

 Chapter 16 - The True Enemy

    ¡°And they do that sort of thing after every patrol?¡± I asked, already dreading the answer.

    Carol didn¡¯t even bother looking up towards me. ¡°Quite likely. If it''s a quiet patrol I¡¯m certain it takes less time, but the PRT certainly loves its paperwork.¡± She meaningfully indicated the terrifying piles of papers scattered across the table.

    I groaned and let my head fall to smack soundly against the table in front of me. Going out on patrol with Velocity and Triumph had been pretty great. We¡¯d wandered around, chatted, and then ended things with a nice easy fight¨C¨Cjust enough to get the blood humming, but not really a challenge.

    I¡¯d thought that would be the end of things. I¡¯d done my best to follow the lead of the Protectorate heroes with me and what I knew of their organization. Instead of turning them into red smears I had barely hurt any of the three supervillains we¡¯d apprehended, even catching Rune after I knocked her off her floaty manhole cover and making sure she didn¡¯t break anything hitting the ground..

    And wasn¡¯t that a doozy! I, Percy Jackson, was a real superhero now! I¡¯d gone out and beat up three supervillains, nazi supervillains even! The mere idea of it brought a grin to my face, even if I¡¯d never really cared about all those comic books and movies my classmates often talked about.

    But no. That hadn¡¯t been the end of things at all. No, after that fun distraction came the much, much less fun followup. Debriefing I could do. I¡¯d done a bunch of it over the past few years every time I came back to camp, though we didn¡¯t really call it that. But the paperwork. The paperwork.

    Oh Hades, I¡¯d had to fill out like, thirty different forms and write down everything about the fight. It was terrible. Absolutely terrible. I¡¯d rather hold up the sky again than spend another minute behind that green plastic abomination of a desk.

    I groaned again, louder this time, and turned my head towards Carol. ¡°So, purely out of curiosity, is New Wave looking for any new members?¡±

    Carol hummed softly and tapped her pen against the table. ¡°I think that is something to discuss after we finish here.¡±

    ¡°And that is going to be¡­when?¡± I asked hopefully. I didn¡¯t mean for it to come out as a whine, but it really did.

    Carol graced me with a small smile. ¡°Soon. This is the last of it. The PRT is offering to provide you some temporary housing but that sort of thing takes a few days to set up, so it''s best to get everything moving as soon as possible.¡±

    I definitely remembered her saying something about that right after I¡¯d come back from the patrol. I think I¡¯d agreed with her at the time, but the paperwork monster had completely wiped that from my short term memories. ¡°You¡¯re probably right.¡± I sighed heavily, remembering that I hadn¡¯t actually paid Carol anything yet and that she was working on the weekend to help me. ¡°Thanks Mrs. Dallon. I really, really appreciate all of your help.¡±

    Carol nodded sharply. ¡°I¡¯m happy to help a new hero get on their feet. You did a good thing today. Because of you there are three less villains on the street to endanger the people of Brockton Bay. Now, I do believe we are just about done. I¡¯ll need you to sign here, here, here, here¡­¡±

    I picked up a pen, my hand already dreading the coming torture. If not for the Curse of Achilles, I probably would have worn a furrow into my purlicue by now. I could do this. I could do this. Oh Hades, I could do this.

    I did manage it. Eventually. Carol really was a godsend. For all that Crystal had told me that her aunt was a bit abrasive and uptight, and she really was, I was very glad to have someone like her with me to face this enemy.

    An hour later I was finally free of it all. The PRT offered me a room in their building for the night, but I much preferred Crystal¡¯s offer to stay with her family and the PRT seemed fine with me leaving so that was good. From there, Vicky and Crystal both independently invited me over for dinner and one thing led to another and I eventually ended up here, sitting at the Dallon¡¯s dining room table with the entirety of New Wave.

    ¡°And then I picked up the telephone pole Hookwolf knocked over and smacked him clean across the street into Menja¡¯s ankle! So then she trips, flails around, and boom! You should have seen the look on her face when she accidentally punted him right into the bay!¡±

    Vicky, Eric, Crystal, and I all laughed as Neil Pelham, Crystal¡¯s dad, finished his story. Neil, Manpower when he was in costume, was a massive, well built man. I was pretty tall for a guy my age, but Neil absolutely towered over me at a colossal seven-feet. It wasn¡¯t often I had to look up at someone who wasn¡¯t half-horse or a god. He also had a great sense of humor and could cook a mean steak.

    Sarah Pelham¨C¨CLady Photon in costume, Neil¡¯s wife and the leader of New Wave¨C¨Csighed in amused exasperation and gently patted her husband¡¯s shoulder, though she had to reach up quite a distance to reach it. ¡°Fenja, love, it was Fenja. I¡¯ve told you a thousand times and it seems I¡¯ll have to tell you a thousand more before you remember.¡±

    Neil laughed boisterously and leaned down to peck his wife on the cheek. ¡°Of course, Fenja, how could I forget!¡±

    I looked away for a moment and my eyes met Crystal¡¯s, who was sitting beside me. She smiled at me and rolled her eyes, shrugging slightly at her parent¡¯s antics. I smiled and shrugged back. They seemed quite happy together¨C¨CI was glad they¡¯d found each other. Too many marriages I¡¯d seen looked like the one between Zeus and Hera and, for a goddess of marriage, Hera¡¯s was not a very happy one.

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    ¡°So Percy!¡± Neil boomed, and I turned back to look at him. ¡°I hear you¡¯re interested in joining New Wave! It''s been many years since we¡¯ve added a new member, outside of our children of course. Why the interest?¡±

    I floundered for a moment. ¡°Uh, I guess it just seems like a good option, you know? I¡¯m new around here and Vicky and Crystal, and Mrs. Dallon, of course, have been a huge help to me. I¡¯m a hero, it''s what I¡¯ve been doing and training for my whole life, but I don¡¯t know if I¡¯ll really fit with the Protectorate very well and you guys, well, you guys do some good work! I did some research before reaching out and the area around here is one of the safest in the city. Plus there¡¯s all the patrols you do, Amy¡¯s healing, and it''s not like you don¡¯t also coordinate with the PRT so I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be missing out on much from that angle.¡±

    ¡°Those are all reasonable points,¡± Sarah told me with a smile, her voice at a much more reasonable volume than her husband¡¯s constant half-yelling. ¡°But are you not worried about some of the issues that come with being a member of our movement? We may have stalled out some years ago, but my family still strongly believes in the accountability of capes. We¡¯d need you to unmask if you do end up joining.¡±

    I shrugged. ¡°Honestly the whole mask thing you guys do here doesn¡¯t really make that much sense to me. I didn¡¯t grow up with it and I¡¯ve never bothered to hide my face back home. Basically everyone knew who I was and what I looked like.

    ¡°And anyway, it''s not like there is a huge difference between me having a secret identity and not having one. Officially Percy Jackson didn¡¯t exist here until like, a few hours ago. He doesn¡¯t have any friends or family that could be in danger. And I guess I¡¯m just not too worried about people going after me either¨C¨CI¡¯m just as invulnerable in my pj¡¯s as I am in my armor.¡±

    That prompted another round of laughs, and even Mark Dallon, who was sitting silently on one side of the table poking a lone brussel sprout around his plate, cracked a smile.

    ¡°True enough. But you know Percy, New Wave is a family team! You seem like a fine young man. You know my daugh¨C¨C¡± he cut off when a blast of red lasers from Crystal smacked him in the chin, rocking his head back but not leaving any visible signs of damage.

    ¡°Dad!¡± she exclaimed loudly, her cheeks almost matching her lasers in color.

    ¡°No powers at the dinner table,¡± Carol snapped, but there was no real heat in her words and there was a hint of a smile on her face.

    Eric, who was sitting on Crystal¡¯s other side, cackled widely and Crystal spun around in her chair to scowl at him too. ¡°Eric! Don¡¯t think I won¡¯t blast you too!¡±

    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t!¡± he called out between peels of laughter.

    A nimbus of red light appeared around Crystal¡¯s upraised hand and a moment later a bright-blue forcefield appeared between the two of them.

    ¡°Eric!¡± Carol said sharply, and the boy pouted dramatically but stopped laughing and dropped the shield.

    Neil turned to me and cupped one hand in front of his mouth. Then, in a whisper that was closer in volume to a smaller man¡¯s yelling than any actual whisper said, ¡°I guess that team tradition is going to have to wait. Crystal¨C¨C¡±

    He fell silent as his wife placed a hand gently on his arm. ¡°You¡¯re embarrassing her,¡± Sarah said softly.

    Neil pouted, the expression looking completely out of place on his massive frame. A moment later it vanished. ¡°Fine, fine. Well, who''s ready for dessert? I picked up a cheesecake on the way home!¡±

    ¡°From Miller¡¯s?¡± Crystal asked in excitement, any trace of anger at her father vanishing in a fraction of a second.

    ¡°Of course! Where else?¡± Then he reached across the entire table and ruffled Crystal¡¯s hair. ¡°I know it''s your favorite.¡± While she was distracted he turned to me, wiggled his eyebrows, and very deliberately jerked his head towards his daughter.

    I nodded slowly and he grinned at me. I could be oblivious at times, but I was pretty sure I could see what he was going for, even if I wasn¡¯t sure why he was doing it.

    As I got up to help everyone clear the table, Vicky elbowed me in the side. ¡°You know, I usually go patrol in the afternoon after I¡¯m done with classes. You should join me tomorrow!¡±

    ¡°You won¡¯t make me fill out a post-patrol report, right?¡± I checked.

    Vicky laughed, ¡°Nothing like that! Though even us independents sometimes have to deal with some forms, especially if we want to hand off any captured villains to the PRT. But you don¡¯t have to do most of it if you don¡¯t want to.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s just the two-page one, ten-seven-fifty-three or something?¡±

    ¡°Uh, something like that? I think it might be ninety-three? It takes like, ten minutes max, and only one person needs to fill it out even if a bunch of people are part of the action.¡±

    ¡°Oh thank Poseidon,¡± I mumbled dramatically.

    Crystal appeared beside me a moment later. ¡°Percy, do you want anything to drink with dessert? Mom¡¯s making tea but they have a bunch of other drinks down in the basement.¡±

    ¡°Anything blue?¡± I asked hopefully. There had been a tragic lack of anything blue with dinner.

    That seemed to stump her for a moment and she turned to Vicky questioningly.

    ¡°I think we still have those Japanese sodas, the ones with the glass balls, somewhere? There were a couple of blue ones in the box.¡± Vicky looked around, then called out to her sister who looked poised to slip out of the dining room. ¡°Amy, do we still have any of those clicky sodas in the basement?¡±

    ¡°The ramune ones?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, what you said.¡±

    ¡°We should.¡±

    ¡°Could you grab Percy a blue one please?¡±

    Amy¡¯s eyes flickered between me and Vicky, who was standing very close to me. Then she frowned, nodded, and disappeared through the doorway.

    ¡°So Percy,¡± Vicky began loudly, ¡°when we go on our patrol tomorrow, do you want to stop by the boardwalk with me? That cafe we met outside of smelled really good, but I¡¯ve never been.¡±

    ¡°Buns ''n'' Roses, you mean? Yeah sure, they have some great food!¡±

    There was a loud clatter as Crystal set the pile of plates she¡¯d been carrying down on the table. ¡°Percy, I was meaning to ask. I don¡¯t have any classes at BBU until the evening tomorrow. I¡¯d love to show you around the city a little. Brockton has its problems, but there are some real gems hidden around the city.¡±

    ¡°That would be great as long as it''s not too much trouble and we make it back before Vicky heads out for her patrol.¡±

    Vicky and Crystal scowled at one another and Eric, who was still sitting down in his seat and staring at his cellphone, began to cackle again. I just felt slightly confused. At least the cheesecake was good. And I got to try another blue soda I¡¯d never had before! That was two in a single day!

 Chapter 17 - Why Would You Say That!?

    In hindsight, I think I knew that everything was going to go wrong right from the start. ¡°Have fun kids, stay out of trouble!¡± Neil had said. Crystal had just laughed and hugged her father, but his words had sent a cold shiver down my spine. Nothing good had ever come from words like those.

    Everything started off well enough. That¡¯s probably why I dropped my guard. Living in this strange, monster-less world was really killing my combat reflexes. How was I supposed to stay on guard twenty-four seven without the threat of hellhounds, giant cannibals, and mattress salesmen lurking around every corner?

    Like sure, they have supervillains around here instead, and giant city-destroying monsters too, but it''s different! It certainly doesn¡¯t help that, well, none of the supervillains I¡¯ve come across have been particularly¡­scary. I know from PHO that there are some real dangerous people around, even here in Brockton Bay, but I just haven¡¯t met any of them yet. I knew twelve-year-olds more dangerous than the randos I beat up yesterday!

    Anyway, I¡¯m getting ahead of myself. I ended up spending the night at the Pelhams again, though this time we all just headed to bed when we finally made it back to their place near midnight. In the morning I got up just in time to wish Neil, Sarah, and Eric a good day as they all headed out one by one. Despite three-quarters of the family being able to fly, they actually had two cars. A tiny blue compact and a large white minivan.

    That left just Crystal and me and by mutual agreement we ended up having a slightly slow morning. I took advantage of their big backyard with its high privacy hedges to do some light training while Crystal sat on the back porch with a cup of tea and did homework.

    After about an hour, I¡¯d worked up a big appetite and Crystal managed to finish all the work she had due for class later today. I was once again very happy about my decision to tell the PRT I was already eighteen. On one hand, if I never went home I¡¯d never see any of my friends or family again. On the other hand, I¡¯d never have to go back to high school either. That didn¡¯t make it worth it, but it certainly helped.

    I¡¯m not even a quarter of the cook my mom is, but I know my way around a kitchen. The Pelhams had a well-stocked pantry and I quickly whipped up some pancakes and scrambled eggs while Crystal fried some weird-but-tasty chicken sausages with little bits of apple in them. Everything turned out pretty well and Crystal happily ate everything on her plate so I took that as a win.

    Once we were both full, I took a quick shower and then we headed out for the day. Crystal offered to fly us around, but I declined as politely as I could. Flying, unless it was on pegasus-back, did not agree with me. It wasn¡¯t like I was going to get tired from a little walking around and I already knew Crystal was going to cheat by hovering everywhere anyway¨C¨Cit was what she and Eric had both done when they¡¯d walked home from the Dallons.

    We wandered around for a few hours, slowly meandering through the city. True to her word, Crystal cheerfully showed me some of her favorite places in her neighborhood and in the city beyond. She pointed out the park where and her cousins used to play as children, her favorite ice cream shop, the locations of a number of prominent cape-fights, and a lot more besides.

    After some convincing I even let her fly me up to the top of one of the biggest buildings downtown from where we could see the entire city stretched out below us, the Protectorate¡¯s retrofitted oil rig gleaming like a jewel suspended out in the bay. It was rather beautiful, though from this height the blocked-off bay and beach covered in rusting hulks looked like a dark scar.

    That was nice, and I did appreciate how Crystal made sure to stick close to me and hold onto my hand in case I fell. It wasn¡¯t really necessary, falls weren¡¯t really something that could hurt me anymore, but I¡¯d probably shatter some pavement or crush a car so maybe she had a point.

    Once we were back on the ground Crystal didn¡¯t seem particularly inclined to release my hand and I let her drag me to a quaint italian restaurant for lunch. The food was good and Crystal¡¯s company made the experience even better. It was nice to just be able to sit down in a restaurant without worrying that the soft-spoken middle-aged waitress was going to turn into a snake-haired monster.

    While we waited for food, Crystal helped me set up the expensive-looking smartphone the PRT had given me the day before. A trooper had shown me how to connect it to my earpiece and how to call the emergency hotline, but that was about it and I¡¯d never had a cell phone before, much less one this fancy-looking.

    Crystal seemed rather surprised by my lack of knowledge, but she was happy to help me once I explained in very general terms how monsters in my old world could track down us demigods using phone calls. I finally understood why all my old classmates were obsessed with these things¨C¨Cyou could access PHO and the entire internet with the push of a button, plus this game with the flying machine-gun man was incredibly captivating.

    We left the restaurant hand-in-hand in high spirits and headed towards a bakery that Crystal claimed had the best red bean buns in the city. I¡¯d never had a red bean bun before, and the idea of a sweet pastry filled with beans sounded rather strange to my ears, but Crystal was literally glowing as she described them to me so I was willing to give it a shot.

    We never did end up making it to that bakery. The first sign that something was wrong was the muffled sound of explosions and gunshots going off in the distance. Though they were clearly happening a ways away, the street around us quickly began to empty as people suddenly decided that they had places to be.

    Crystal and I exchanged glances. Neither of us needed to say anything. This wasn¡¯t exactly the sort of heroics I was used to, but there was no way I could just stand by while people were getting hurt.

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    ¡°I¡¯m going to go take a look,¡± Crystal told me quickly. ¡°Wait here.¡±

    I didn¡¯t let go of her hand as she tried to take off into the air. ¡°Could you boost me up onto a roof before you go?¡±

    She nodded and did just that, depositing me in the shadow of a large air conditioning unit. Then a shield of red light appeared around her and she flew off in the direction of the ongoing shooting.

    I watched her go for several seconds, then took a deep breath and slapped my chest twice in rapid succession to summon my armor. Then I was off as well, bounding across the rooftop and leaping across the street to land on the roof of the neighboring building.

    Less than a minute later, I was standing at the top of an apartment building, Crystal floating slightly behind me to remain out of view of the ground. Beneath us, battle raged. Twenty or so skinheads, with guns engaged with a similar number of red-and-green clad asian men, members of the Azn Bad Boys gang, who were slowly retreating down the road.

    Bodies littered the ground on both sides and the automatic gunfire was almost deafening even from five stories up. However, the gangsters were not the focus of my attention. That was primarily drawn to two men. First was Hookwolf, one of the most dangerous villains in Brockton Bay. He was transformed into his changer form, a giant mass of twisting metal blades and hooks in the rough shape of a massive wolf, and was raging across the battlefield. He bulldozed straight through the gunfire and had already reduced a number of the ABB men into red paste.

    Fighting him was another villain I recognized from the research I¡¯d done over the past few days. A blur of black and gray flickered around the battlefield, his bright red demon mask a bright splash of color among the clouds of gray ash he left in his wake. Oni Lee was everywhere and nowhere all at once, expertly teleporting around Hookwolf¡¯s charges and slowly whittling down the ranks of the Empire¡¯s unpowered gang members.

    ¡°Jesus christ,¡± Crystal whispered, her eyes wide as Hookwolf plowed through yet another group of Oni Lee clones and slammed into an unlucky ABB member who¡¯d tripped and not managed to get out of the way in time. He barely had time to scream before his entire body was torn to bloody shreds.

    I turned to look at Crystal. She looked vaguely ill, one hand over her mouth as she stared unblinkingly down at the carnage. I¡¯d seen that look before. It was easy when it was just monsters that dissolved into dust when they died. It was a lot harder when you had to watch an enemy demigod slowly bleeding out on the ground, hands desperately trying to stem the bleeding.

    ¡°Call the PRT,¡± I ordered firmly. ¡°Then stay back and try to catch Oni Lee if you see a chance. I¡¯ve got Hookwolf.¡±

    ¡°Huh? Oh, right. Call the PRT. I can do that,¡± then she suddenly gasped. ¡°Wait no, Percy, you can¡¯t¨C¨C¡±, but it was too late for that. I had already stepped off the roof.

    I hit the ground like a bronze meteor. Riptide plunged deep into the pavement beneath my feet and the entire street rolled and shook, knocking nearly everyone fighting off their feet. I straightened to my full height and tugged Riptide out of the ground with a flourish. ¡°You¡¯re all under arrest,¡± I declared loudly in the sudden silence. ¡°Come quietly. Or don¡¯t. I¡¯m fine either way.¡±

    Typically I would just have come in swinging. The best fight was one where your opening move was also your closing move. That tiny little baby earthquake could have been considerably larger, burying the entire street and everyone on it under a dozen feet of rubble.

    However, these weren¡¯t monsters, nor even hostile demigods. Most of the people here were just ordinary mortals, if particularly not-nice ones. Plus the locals were really touchy about that sort of thing and I really didn¡¯t feel like getting branded a criminal.

    Thus, my entrance was reduced to a little threat and some posturing. Unfortunately it didn¡¯t seem like anyone was going to take me up on my first offer. Perhaps next time I could be just a tiny bit more energetic.

    Hookwolf¡¯s body collapsed in on itself and a moment later the giant metal wolf was replaced by a tall, shirtless man wearing a metal wolf mask. He was heavily built and had long, greasy blonde hair and a gang tattoo on each bicep.

    He turned to face me, arms folded over his chest, and I met his gaze squarely. Hookwolf threw back his head and laughed. ¡°Hah hah hah! Little baby hero thinks he¡¯s hot shit, huh? You¡¯re that stinking heeb that captured Rune, Victor, and Othala. Well, thanks for saving me the trouble of tracking you down. Maybe I¡¯ll leave enough of you to bury.¡±

    ¡°Big words from an ugly metal dog.¡± I looked around, my eyes moving but my helmet giving no indication that I wasn¡¯t simply staring back at Hookwolf. The regular gang members were all slowly getting up and backing away from the fight that was about to ensue. I could see the ABB slowly starting to withdraw, Oni Lee standing motionlessly among them with a wicked looking knife held loosely in his hand. ¡°You¡¯re going to need a cone by the time I¡¯m done with you.¡±

    Oni Lee and Hookwolf were the priority. Rank and file troops were easily replaceable, but powerful minions like them were much harder to find. I wasn¡¯t sure how much I could really do about Lee. I was confident he couldn¡¯t really hurt me¨C¨Cno amount of knives and grenades were going to so much as scuff the polish¨C¨Cand if he tried I could take him out easily enough, but I also wasn¡¯t really sure how I was going to stop him from just teleporting away the moment he decided to flee.

    Hookwolf on the other hand? I¡¯d seen videos of him online. This was going to be fun and he wasn¡¯t going anywhere. Especially since without Rune, the Empire didn¡¯t really have a great way to move its capes around quickly. I would just need to be careful to avoid having him hurt someone else while I was taking him down.

    Okay. Priority one, Hookwolf. Priority two, keep Oni Lee here until someone from the Protectorate showed up who could box him in. Priority three, keep the goons safe and contained. That seemed like a plenty good plan for me. Should be easy enough.

    ¡°And what about you,¡± I called out towards Oni Lee, brandishing Riptide in his general direction. ¡°You look¨C¨C¡±

    A knife skittered off my armor, mortal steel bending in the face of divine bronze. Riptide flashed through the air and ash rained down behind me. The Oni Lee I was looking at collapsed into more ash a moment later. A moment later I noticed a new Oni lee standing in the dark shadow of a doorway on the opposite end of the street.

    Yeah that was going to be annoying. I was going to focus on priority one for now then.

    I twirled Riptide and pointed it directly at Hookwolf. ¡°Down boy! Bad dog! Bad!¡±

    Hookwolf growled and charged towards me. Between one step and the next his body rippled and suddenly it was no longer a man running towards me, but rather several tons of writhing, rippling metal.

    Beneath my helmet, my lips stretched into a wide grin. Finally! Now this was shaping up to be a real fight. It had been way too long.

 Chapter 18 - My Fightéˆ¥?ntil it Wasnéˆ¥æª›

    There was something deeply nostalgic about having a giant monster charging wildly towards me. Over the past few years, a not insignificant percentage of all Greek monsters have done just that to me. From the minotaur¨C¨Cduring that very first frantic rush to Camp¨C¨Cto laistrygonian giants, giant crabs to the minotaur again¨C¨Cthis time wearing armor instead of tighty-whities and wielding a giant axe.

    There¡¯s one common factor between almost all those monsters. They¡¯re stuck down in Tartarus and I¡¯m standing right here. I wonder how that could have happened.

    Hookwolf was pretty big and scary looking¨C¨Clike a big ol¡¯ pile of blenders shoved together into the rough shape of an ugly dog¨C¨Cbut I wasn¡¯t too worried. He was one of the heavier-hitters in the city, but compared to some of the foes I¡¯d faced over the years¡­Well, he just didn¡¯t really measure up.

    He was a bit bulkier and stabbier than the minotaur, but not as physically powerful. Being made out of knives and hooks did a lot to make up for not being able to throw a sedan quite as far, but between the curse and my armor I was not overly concerned. And compared to the Nemean lion, a metal dog may as well be made out of bubble wrap.

    A small part of me was tempted to meet his charge head on. I obviously didn¡¯t do that. I wasn¡¯t going to throw away years of experience just because I was a little harder to hurt than I used to be. Instead, I followed one of the very first bits of advice anyone had ever given me. Sure it came from my mom and not Chiron or some other demigod, but it was still damn good advice. And anyway, my mom was pretty amazing.

    I waited until Hookwolf was almost on top of me, Riptide held loosely in my hand, then dove out of the way like a matador except without the little red towel thingy. Riptide flashed and steel parted easily in the face of celestial bronze, bits of Hookwolf raining down onto the pavement.

    I rolled once, then sprang back to my feet. ¡°Nope, not quite! Better luck next time!¡± I called out. Hookwolf, looking none the worse for wear, skidded to a stop and turned towards me again. Even though I could see the bits of his metal ¡®skin¡¯ I¡¯d cut off lying on the ground, he looked completely unharmed, new blades rising from his mass to replace those I¡¯d removed.

    About as I¡¯d expected. For all that I didn¡¯t really like doing it, I¡¯d done at least a little research on the more dangerous capes I might run into here. Particularly villains like Lung, Kaiser, Purity, and of course Hookwolf. I didn¡¯t know how his power worked specifically, but I knew that Hookwolf was supposed to be pretty damn hard to meaningfully injure.

    I would either need to whittle him down until he ran out of metal or, if that didn¡¯t work, I could finish him off with one overwhelming hit. I wasn¡¯t really sure which of the two I would have to go with, but either one was manageable. For now, I first needed to get a proper measure of how he fought, how strong he was, and how he reacted to injuries.

    Hookwolf came at me again, but this time his movements were slower and more measured. Instead of a single reckless charge, each attack was carefully measured and filled with deadly purpose. He clearly was an experienced fighter and really knew what he was doing, but so did I.

    I danced smoothly between his strikes, not letting him get in a single solid hit. Whenever he overextended the slightest bit, my sword out in a measured arc to remove the offending limb. Hookwolf was good, but he wasn¡¯t Luke and from his movements I could conclude that most of his combat skill came from fighting as a man and not as a metal wolf. It made sense, not many things could stand up to him just running into them, but it left exploitable gaps in his movements.

    As we fought, I took the time to study my opponent. I might not be the sharpest knife on the block¨C¨Cright now that was clearly Hookwolf, he was basically made of them after all¨C¨Cbut without centuries of mythology to lean on it was up to me to figure out the weakness of my enemy.

    Hookwolf fought simply, but well, without any unneeded flourishes. I imagined that when he was human shaped he probably fought like a boxer or a wrestler, and that carried over into his changer form as well. It felt somewhat suboptimal, but given that any contact with his body was probably pretty fatal for most people, I guessed that was a huge problem for him.

    His body was kinda cool. It looked like the sort of thing that Hephaestus might throw together if he stumbled into his Junkyard while drunk. Instead of one big piece of metal, Hookwolf looked like a big pile of knives, needles, hooks, and other pointy bits of metal all mashed together into a single whole. Furthermore, the entire thing was spinning and violently grinding together, turning an already fearsome sight into a veritable murder blender.

    After nearly a minute, I could tell that Hookwolf was starting to get frustrated. After all, he hadn¡¯t so much as touched my armor yet, while I¡¯d removed a good forty pounds of scrap from his body.

    ¡°Stand. Still!¡± he growled, his voice blending with the whirring and screeching of his body until it was nearly unintelligible.

    I stopped mid step and tilted my head to the side. ¡°Now why would I¨C¨C¡±

    He lashed out at me with a massive metal ¡®paw¡¯ and I bent over backwards until my spine was nearly parallel with the ground to avoid it. A moment later, Riptide came up and severed the offending limb with a single smooth stroke and a loud screech as countless bits of metal scraped against one another.

    ¡°Oops! Didn¡¯t see you there!¡±

    Instead of straightening, I rolled sideways and Riptide cut a furrow through the pavement beneath me. My gut wrenched as I channeled divine power through my sword. When Hookwolf tried to use my momentary ¡®distraction¡¯ to jump on top of me, the earth beneath his feet shook and gave way and he fell to the ground with a thunderous crash.

    ¡°Too slow!¡±

    I was back on my feet in an instant and this time, instead of shearing off another layer of metal, I lunged forward and plunged Riptide nearly down to the hilt into Hookwolf¡¯s side.

    Hookwolf screamed, a horrible sound somewhere between nails on a chalkboard and Mrs. Dodds¡¯ usual speaking voice. I swept Riptide out to the side, leaving a gaping wound in Hookwolf¡¯s side that quickly vanished as more blades and needles rushed in to fill the gap.

    That didn¡¯t look like it accomplished anything, good to know. Perhaps if Riptide was another five feet longer I could have cut the mean doggy in half, but as it was removing limbs seemed much more effective.

    Hookwolf used the opportunity of finally being close enough to actually reach me to punch me in the face. A new paw grew out of his side and slammed into my helmet. There was an ear piercing screech as metal ground against metal and I actually stumbled back a few steps. It didn¡¯t really hurt, but it certainly rocked my head back and the sound was somewhat disorienting as well.

    Hookwolf immediately pounced on the perceived weakness. I took a powerful hit on the chest, then blocked the next two blows with my arms, but Riptide was knocked out of my hands during the exchange.

    The next few seconds were a blur as our fight devolved into a furious grapple. I was much better with a sword than I was at hand-to-hand, but no hero trained by Chiron was going to be a slouch in a brawl like this. The centaur trained freaking Hercules, the undisputed king of smacking monsters around with his bare hands. I wasn¡¯t Hercules, but Hookwolf was no Erymanthian boar either.

    I got a nice firm grip on Hookwolf¡¯s torso, whirring blades blunting themselves on my skin and gauntlets, and promptly heaved him over my shoulders. Hookwolf¨C¨Cseemingly utterly baffled by the move¨C¨Ccrashed into, then through, a brick wall. I stumbled a little from the sudden shift in weight, then quickly took the moment of respite to draw Riptide again, the ever-faithful blade having returned to its usual place in my back pocket.

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    Looking around, I found the street to be both much emptier and much more beat up than it had been when I¡¯d arrived. I couldn¡¯t see Crystal, but I could feel a single watery silhouette in the air a few hundred feet away behind a building that I assumed was her. Oni Lee and most of his men were gone, taking the bodies of their fallen with them. A bunch of the Empire goons had also fled, though I could still see a couple of them lurking around in what I was sure they considered adequate hiding spots. Fun fact: wrecked cars don''t block my water sense.

    I couldn¡¯t blame them for hiding. Hookwolf was not kind to his surroundings, his bulk turning asphalt to gravel and reducing every obstacle in his path to scrap. Near the start of the fight I had dodged past a telephone pole and he had simply charged through the obstruction, turning the thick wooden pole into kindling and sawdust. I had absolutely no doubt he would have no compunctions against doing  the same to any of his own men that got in his way.

    A scant few seconds after I threw him, Hookwolf charged out of the rubble like a bull elephant, dust and bits of shattered masonry pouring off him in thick clouds. I tensed, pretending like I was going to dodge out of the way at the last moment like I had the first time. Hookwolf gleefully pounced towards me, his entire body stretching out mid air to catch me as I tried to get out of the way.

    Instead, I dodged forward, sliding underneath him like a baseball player with Riptide raised up above my head. Hookwolf crashed into the ground like a meteor. A moment later there was a second, smaller impact as what had just been his back left leg fell to the shattered pavement beside him.

    ¡°Nope!¡± I exclaimed loudly, deliberately popping the p. ¡°Damn doggy, missed again! I know twelve-year-olds that could kick your ass six ways to Sunday!¡±

    Hookwolf didn¡¯t so much turn around as he shifted towards me. One moment his head was facing away from me, the next a new head sprouted from his torso and fixed me with a furious glare. ¡°I¡¯m getting sick and tired of your shit!¡± he swore loudly, ¡°Kaiser said to just rough you up, but I think I¡¯m just gonna rip your fucking head off instead. And I¡¯m going to enjoy every minute of it!¡±

    The taunt probably would have been more intimidating if not for the hundreds of pounds of scrap hook-metal scattered in heaps and clumps all up and down the street. As it was, I had trouble taking him too seriously. Like, really. How many times could you listen to someone plotting your death before it all just got a little old?

    Still, I did agree with Hookwolf. This fight was starting to get a little old.

    My eyes became unfocused for a moment and I looked through Hookwolf to the sea. Though I was quite deep into the city, I was still all but within my domain. Waves crashed against the shore. Water rushed through countless pipes. Far below I could sense a massive reserve of water resting just beneath the bedrock, a constant presence on the very edge of my awareness.

    I could have easily called the sea to me from here, but I didn¡¯t want to show my hand to that extent just yet. I was starting to feel a lot more comfortable trusting the local heroes than I had been just a few days ago, but underplaying my abilities still seemed like a good idea. Just in case, you know?

    I wasn¡¯t carrying a lot of my supplies with me today. Despite some misgivings I had decided to leave my bag at the Pelhams. After all, there weren¡¯t any monsters here and I hadn¡¯t been planning to fight anyone today. That was a mistake I wasn¡¯t going to repeat; I had a feeling I wasn¡¯t going to leave home without my handy bottle of seawater ever again.

    However, what I did have were my shells. They were small, unobtrusive, and I¡¯d instinctively shoved a few into my pockets before I left the house with Crystal. I reached out to those shells now, feeling for the echoes of the sea trapped within them.

    I didn¡¯t need much. Certainly nothing like the massive geysers I could summon from within them. With a thought and a tiny wrench in my gut, seawater began to slowly trickle from one of the shells and dripped slowly down my leg.

    Instantly my body was filled to the brim with new energy. The slowly building fatigue in my bones and muscles¨C¨Can unfortunate consequence of the Curse of Achilles¨C¨Cvanished like it had never been there in the first place.

    This time when Hookwolf charged towards me, I rushed forward to meet him. Riptide flashed once, then twice, and nearly a quarter of his bulk was gone in an instant. I jumped over his whip-like tail, then removed the offending appendage with a perfectly timed flick of my wrist.

    I took a few steps back and Hookwolf followed after me. There was a manhole just a few feet away from me. If I could get Hookwolf right up next to it I could easily pin him down without bursting any pipes. Hookwolf was getting tired, I could feel it. Furthermore, he was visibly smaller than he had been at the start of the fight. His mass was regrowing, but not nearly as quickly as it had been before.

    Unfortunately, that was about when everything suddenly went wrong.

    I slipped past another far-too-predictable jab and moved to remove the overextended limb, only for Hookwolf¡¯s entire body to warp out of the way. The massive wolf shifted into a smothering blanket of death, growing up and around in an attempt to surround me.

    It was a clever idea, but ultimately meaningless and self-defeating. He simply wasn¡¯t fast enough to actually catch me, and in his attempt to create more surface area he had conveniently made himself thin enough that I could slice fully through his body with Riptide once I had a good angle. I shifted my stance, ready to backpedal the moment Hookwolf tried to envelope me.

    ¡°Riptide! Look out!¡± a high pitched, familiar voice cried out fearfully.

    I looked up just in time to see Vicky¨C¨Cno, she was in costume so it was Glory Girl right now¨C¨Cplow into Hookwolf¡¯s broad back with her knee and elbow extended.

    Suddenly, timing became a moot point. I didn¡¯t even have a moment to roll my eyes. Really. Really? Of all the stupid¨C¨C

    Then Hookwolf crashed over me like a wave, propelled far faster than he could move himself by the force of Glory Girl¡¯s blow. My back hit the ground hard and I barely managed to avoid having the breath knocked from my lunges. I grit my teeth in discomfort as the screeching of metal on metal became deafening, every inch of my armor surrounded by Hookwolf¡¯s violently skirring body.

    I tried to move, but Hookwolf had much better leverage and was doing a commendable job of keeping me pinned. I wasn¡¯t on the ground for long. Hookwolf recovered quickly and began to envelop me fully, his metal body tearing through the ground under me as he did his best to pull me into his mass where he could attempt to crush me or grind my body into paste.

    Well, this was a little awkward. Boy was I glad for my armor right about now, because this was exactly the sort of situation where having one glaring vulnerability would have really, really sucked. Dying because my opponent attacked every possible spot on my body all at once would have been just super lame.

    Realistically, while it looked bad I honestly wasn¡¯t actually in a bad spot. Sure I was a little stuck right now, but there was running water a scant few feet beneath me and more and more seawater was slowly trickling out from my shell and pooling inside my armor.

    I had been hoping to avoid doing too much damage to the local infrastructure¨C¨Creplacing pipes was expensive and might deprive a lot of people of water until it was done¨C¨Cbut at this rate they were going to have to dig up and replace this entire stretch of road anyway so it wasn¡¯t that big a deal.

    The problem was, my new friends didn¡¯t seem to be thinking about any of that right now. As a matter of fact, they didn¡¯t seem to be thinking much at all. I could sympathize, they had just seen me get swallowed up by the scary-looking blender blanket, but they were only making things harder for all of us except the stupid blender in question.

    I mentally tracked the two blobs of water flying through the air around me. Hookwolf¡¯s body shook as what I assumed were Laserdream¡¯s lasers pounded into him. Glory Girl looped around for another hit and I actually felt it when she crashed into him like a wrecking ball for the second time.

    She began to fly away when suddenly a terrible cry of pain reached my ears even through all the metal surrounding me. I felt water splatter across the ground and suddenly the other blob, which had flown slightly too close to the ground, was reduced by nearly a third and its flight became erratic.

    Oh shit. Hades, Zeus, Dad, anyone who was listening! Please let her be okay! This wasn¡¯t supposed to happen. This was my fight. I¡¯d told her to call the PRT and stay out of the way. What was she doing getting so close to someone so dangerous!

    The pipe beneath me burst open and a pillar of freezing water punched clean through plastic, dirt, gravel, asphalt, and living metal. Ichor roared in my veins and a moment later the pillar split into a dozen tiny streams, each one moving fast enough to sheer clean through solid steel.

    I was free in an instant, Riptide appearing in my hand like it had never disappeared in the first place. I was barely paying attention as I methodically tore the Empire cape to pieces, blades of water and celestial bronze reducing one of the most dangerous villains in the Bay to scrap.

    It was over as quickly as it began. Metal shifted, warped, and then Hookwolf¡¯s human body emerged from the scrap, his skin covered with countless tiny cuts and scrapes. He tried to stand up, but I kicked his legs out from under him, then slammed the flat of Riptide¡¯s blade into the side of his head. It took all the self control I had left not to remove his head, but I knew that would only cause me more problems in the long run.

    He dropped like a puppet with its strings cut, but that didn¡¯t matter. He didn¡¯t matter. I had eyes only for the massive bloodstain slowly spreading across the street and the horrified look on Glory Girl¡¯s pale face as she cradled her cousin¡¯s limp body in her arms.

 Chapter 19 - Rivers Like Blood

    There was so much blood. I could feel it, hot and salty like brackish water, but filled with the essence of life. It flowed slowly along the cracked and worn pavement and soaked into Glory Girl¡¯s pristine white costume. It flowed far too quickly from Crystal¡¯s wounds, torn open veins and arteries weeping scarlet tears like falling rain.

    Crystal¡¯s legs were all but gone from the knee down. I could almost see how it had happened in my mind¡¯s eyes. She¡¯d gotten just a bit too close and trusted her flimsy shields too much. A tendril from Hookwolf¡¯s amorphous body had caught her as she tried to fly away, shattering her defense like a soap bubble and shredding everything it touched.

    I winced as my eyes focused on the extent of the damage. Hookwolf¡¯s strike had shattered and then powdered bone, turned muscles into bloody scraps, and left horrible cuts and gouges in the remaining flesh. Nearly five years as an active demigod had gotten me rather used to violence, however I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d ever get used to the sight of blood splattered clothing and mangled limbs.

    Monsters were everywhere, but at least they had the decency to turn to dust when they died, and if a demigod got hurt like that odds were you¡¯d never find the body. What was left of Crystal¡¯s legs had the rough consistency of ground meat and suddenly I found the usual hunger I felt after a good fight die with a little whimper. I had a feeling I wasn¡¯t going to be eating any hamburgers anytime soon.

    Glory Girl looked as pale as a ghost. She was holding her cousin in her arms, eyes wide with fear and panic as she desperately stared down at the bleeding girl. For all that she¡¯d been a superhero for two years now, she was still just a mortal kid with a fraction of the experience a demigod her age would have. She was in shock¨C¨Cfrozen by fear and indecision.

    She shouldn¡¯t have been here. Neither of them should have been here. Hookwolf might not have been much of a danger to me, but to an ordinary mortal¨C¨CHades, to an ordinary demigod even¨C¨Che may as well have been Ladon himself. An untouchable, unhurtable, painful death.

    I fucked up. I had been treating this like a game, testing myself and trying to hide the extent of what I could do. I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d been totally wrong to do so, but now someone had gotten hurt and that was on me. Crystal and Vicky had just been trying to help me. I hadn¡¯t needed any help, but they didn¡¯t know that.

    Memories of Annabeth rose unprompted to the forefront of my mind. She had looked so very pale at the end. Pale and fragile and scared. Nothing like the brash and ever-confident girl I¡¯d grown to love.

    It hurt to remember her that way. On the rare nights I let myself remember, I liked to think of evenings spent sitting around the bonfire, of carefree laughter and Annabeth¡¯s seriously beautiful smile. Not of that day. Not of hot blood splattering across my back. Not of the fear and love in her stormy eyes.

    I was already reaching for the meager few squares of ambrosia I had tucked away under my armor when I realized those wouldn¡¯t help. I hadn¡¯t yet risked trying to feed a parahuman the food of the gods, but something inside me told me that they would burn up just like any other mortal.

    Even if it did work, I wasn¡¯t sure that what I had would be enough. Crystal¡¯s wounds looked horrible, the sort of injuries that would have had Will Solace called over immediately to¨C¨C

    My eyes widened. ¡°Vicky!¡± I barked. ¡°Your sister. We need your sister! Go! I got Crystal.¡±

    It took a moment for her to realize what I was saying. Then I suddenly found Crystal¡¯s body shoved into my arms and Glory Girl was off like one of Zeus¡¯s thunderbolts, leaving a small crater in the ground beneath her feet as she vanished up into the sky.

    Amy Dallon, the moody girl I¡¯d met during our spar on Saturday who had noticed that I was missing half my DNA, was apparently one of the best healers in the world. She could heal anything that didn¡¯t touch the brain, from cancer to heart attacks and even severed limbs. If anyone could help Crystal now, it was her. I just hoped and prayed she would get here fast enough.

    My armored gauntlets vanished and I pressed two fingers against her neck. I could still feel a pulse, and the shaky shuddering of her chest told me she was still breathing, but it was just a question of how much longer that would last. She was losing a lot of blood. She was losing a lot of blood, and I was just sitting here and watching her slip away.

    Fuck, focus Percy. Here I was criticizing Glory Girl and yet I was doing just as little as she had. After the number of people we¡¯d lost during the Battle of Manhattan¨C¨Cseventeen shrouds lined up by the bonfire, but my eyes wouldn¡¯t budge from gray silk embroidered with countless golden owls¨C¨CI¡¯d worked tirelessly to make sure I never felt so horribly, awfully helpless again.

    Blood dripped onto my bare palm and flowed over invulnerable skin. Closing my eyes, I focused on the Sea. I pushed past the roar of distant waves, past the rushing of pipes and the deep, steady thrum of the aquifer far beneath my feet. I felt the moisture in the air, the seawater still trickling down my leg and pooling in my boots, and the slowly drying puddles of rainwater still lingering beneath dumpsters and in dark corners.

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    I pushed further, further, further, ignoring the growing pain in my gut as I searched for something that I knew was possible, but rarely had reason to use. Water was water, and all that flowed fell within my domain. I was Percy fucking Jackson, Son of Poseidon, Prince of the Seas, Slayer of Hyperion, Hero of the Prophecy, and Savior of Olympus, and I would not let any more of my friends day Hades damn it.

    And then I had it. For a moment, everything fell away except Crystal. Water flowed over my hand and dripped down onto the pavement. It was not pure water, but neither was the sea. Salt and little bits of life flowed through it, just like within the oceans I commanded.

    An incredibly complex network of underground streams and rivers lay before me, one end of it torn and tattered. At its center, a pump slowly thumped out a double rhythm, driving more and more precious water out through the ruined edges to splash across the ground.

    ¡®Not like that,¡¯ I whispered to it. ¡®Remember.¡¯

    And so it did. The water knew where it belonged, the paths it and the water that came before it had traveled many thousands of times. Water flowed out from damaged arteries and looped gracefully through the air to find well-remembered veins. Interrupted flows resumed as my divine will replaced mortal forces, commanding water to flow and move regardless of what nature demanded.

    I¡¯m not really sure how long I knelt there, my mind razor focused on the particular mindset I needed to command blood as though it was water. At some point I felt Hookwolf stir so I used the water still pouring out through the pipe I ruptured to slam him against the ground over and over again until he stopped moving. Was it a little brutal? Perhaps. But it was better than shredding him from the inside out with his own blood.

    My healing, though really it was more a stopgap measure, wasn¡¯t perfect by any means. Crystal had still lost a lot of blood, as well as both her legs, but it didn¡¯t need to be perfect. It just needed to be good enough. Every moment I could still feel her heart beating and her lungs drawing in ragged breaths was another victory. Help was coming. She just needed to last long enough for it to reach us.

    The first people to reach us were two vans filled with men and a motorbike. The vans screeched to a stop at the end of the street and a half-dozen troopers piled out. The motorcycle continued towards me, its armored rider only stopping once he was all but on top of me. I raised a hand to forestall any questions and jerked my head towards where Hookwolf lay in a growing puddle of water, blood, and bits of shattered metal.

    Armsmaster nodded and didn¡¯t try to distract me, so I put him out of my mind for the moment. I was sure he had questions¨C¨Che worked for the government, of course he had questions, but that could wait. As long as Crystal pulled through¨C¨Cshe was so cold. It had only been a few minutes but she already felt so cold¨C¨CI¡¯d even happily fill out another one of those torturous forms.

    Come on, come on. Please. It hadn¡¯t even been a week yet. This wasn¡¯t going to end like Bianca. Like Beckendorf. Like Silena. Like¡­ Like¡­

    A comet fell from the sky and two new rivers appeared beside me. There was a sharp gasp and something¡­alien, huge and sparkling like crystal, but shifting and soft like flesh, prodded up against my control. I could almost feel its attention. It couldn¡¯t see me, but it could feel my touch. It felt ancient and off putting, and I momentarily wanted to fight it. I needed to keep going, keep pumping the water to make sure Crystal was safe.

    Then the rational part of my brain took over and I recognized Amy and Vicky. I let my control slip for a moment and instantly blood began to move, rivers sealed over, and Crystal¡¯s body went slack in my arms as the painful tension in her muscles vanished without a trace.

    I released a breath I hadn¡¯t been consciously holding and let my mind relax. The tight pain in my gut loosened and I let the pounding of waves roll over me, washing away fatigue like sand from a beach.

    ¡°Is she going to be okay?¡± I asked, my voice coming out weaker than I had meant it to.

    Amy, her eyes closed and her lips drawn into a narrow frown, nodded once.

    Thank Apollo. Before my eyes I could see flesh shift and warp, scrapes and cuts from where Crystal had hit the ground closing in moments even as Amy worked on the more serious injuries. Damn, that was impressive to look at. Will and his siblings were good, but I was left silently wondering how many more campers might have survived if we¡¯d had someone like Amy with us. Seeing really was believing; suddenly her cape name, Panacea, didn¡¯t seem nearly as presumptuous as it had when I¡¯d first heard it.

    ¡°Vicky, could you¨C¨C¡±

    She nodded and I carefully handed her cousin back to her, both of us making sure that Amy had no problem keeping her hand planted firmly on Crystal¡¯s bare forearm. Then I turned around to face the approaching hero.

    ¡°Riptide,¡± Armsmaster greeted me firmly.

    ¡°Armsmaster. I appreciate you not interrupting me.¡± I probably could have worked past the disruption, but I was still glad he hadn¡¯t said or done anything stupid.

    ¡°I moved to secure the prisoner.¡± He paused for a moment. ¡°Good work subduing Hookwolf. I believe Laserdream reported that Oni Lee was also in the area?¡±A bit abrupt, but he seemed to mostly have his priorities straight. I could respect that.

    I shrugged. ¡°Last I saw him, he was running off that way with his tail between his legs and I was too busy to catch him.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡± He paused again. ¡°Laserdream will recover?¡± His voice remained as flat and monotone as ever, but I thought I could hear a hint of his concern.

    ¡°I think so? I hope so. She shouldn¡¯t have gotten hurt.¡± She shouldn¡¯t have been anywhere near Hookwolf. Perhaps it was patronizing for me to say that. I''d tangled with tons of monsters way outside my weight class over the years and come out the other side just fine, but that was different.

    ¡°Injuries are unfortunately common in our line of work. It is good to have a heroic healer in our city. Few Protectorate teams are so lucky.¡±

    Lucky. Maybe. If Panacea had been there. Next to me. Or perhaps safely tucked away in one of our command points. Would that have made a difference? Would she have been fast enough? I didn¡¯t know. But I had a feeling the thought was going to be keeping me awake tonight.

 Chapter 20 - Not Very Brief-ing

    Even though he¡¯d been sitting in on such meetings for nearly two years as the leader of the Wards, Rory still sometimes felt a little out of place sitting with the rest of the Protectorate during official briefings. Sometimes he still felt like that little kid that just wanted to be a bit better at baseball and not like a veteran hero in his own right that deserved to be here.

    The briefing room was packed today. Most of the Protectorate was present, sitting together on one side of the long table. Armsmater was on one end, sitting to the left of the director, with his second, Miss Militia, on his left. The rest of them were seated in no specific order. Velocity, him, Assault, Battery, and then Aegis in his role as Ward leader. Only Dauntless wasn¡¯t present, out on patrol while the rest of them were otherwise occupied. He¡¯d be read in on the details later.

    The other side of the table was filled with members of the PRT. Rory only recognized a handful of them. There was of course Deputy Director Renick, who sat on Piggot¡¯s right. Then there were a few captains he¡¯d worked with before, officer Clair who typically ran the console when he was on duty, a few well-dressed consultants he¡¯d probably met before, and a handful of others he¡¯d only ever seen at meetings like these.

    His eyes flickered towards his old spot near the end of the table where Carlos was sitting in his rust-red costume. His friend was really stepping up and doing a much better job than he had when he¡¯d first been thrust into the role of Ward leader. Carlos fit right in with the PRT officers sitting across from his, his back straight and eyes focused.

    Rory straightened slightly in his seat, suddenly feeling rather self conscious about his slumped posture. Assault¨C¨Che still wasn¡¯t fully used to thinking of the senior hero by his real name¨C¨Cglanced over at him and winked, then leaned back in his chair and folded his arms behind his head. Battery quickly elbowed him in the side and he sat up with a pout before refocusing on the meeting.

    Rory shook himself and quickly did the same, cursing himself for getting distracted again. In his defense, they hadn¡¯t exactly been talking about anything that concerned him. Something about repairs for van-mounted foam cannons. However, that was no excuse for losing focus. Both Velocity and Miss Militia on his right looked completely engaged, even though the conversation didn¡¯t affect them either. Even Carlos, his junior by several months, was doing better than him, and the Wards had even less to do with the operations of PRT troopers than he did as a full Protectorate hero.

    He tuned back into the conversation just in time for the Director to put an end to the brewing argument. ¡°They¡¯ll be fixed just as soon as we get the funds to fix them. Johnson, stop sending in new requisition reports every day, it''s just making more paperwork for everyone. Stevens, stop tiptoeing around and just schedule a meeting with my secretary!¡±

    The Director took a deep breath, then turned to Armsmaster, sitting in full armor in his specially reinforced chair. ¡°Right, onto the next issue. Armsmaster?¡±

    Armsmaster sat forward, his midnight-blue power armor shifting silently. ¡°Yes Director,¡± he said shortly, inclining his head towards her. Then he turned to look down the table. ¡°It is my understanding that everyone here has been read in on the Riptide situation.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t a question, but Rory found himself nodding anyway, along with most of the other people sitting in the room. For all that Armsmaster wasn¡¯t the most outgoing person¨C¨CRory had been working under the man for nearly three years and could count the number of non-work related conversations they¡¯d had on one hand¨C¨Che cut an imposing figure and his words demanded attention.

    ¡°Good. Then I shall omit details mentioned in the initial briefing.¡± He made a sharp gesture and the image on the screens positioned around the room changed. Rory¡¯s eyes widened behind his mask as he immediately recognized the bloody, battered figure lying sprawled on the hard ground in the photo.

    Hookwolf was an unmistakable figure to anyone familiar with the villains of Brockton Bay. The man was one of the most dangerous capes in the entire city, and likely the one with the highest body count. Twice he¡¯d been captured and sentenced to life in the Birdcage, and twice he¡¯d escaped from his prison transports with the help of the Empire 88.

    Rory had fought the man on a few occasions, and retreated from fights with him on more than a dozen others. He was one of the capes that Wards were not permitted to engage with, his long rap sheet meaning that he wasn¡¯t nearly as afraid to seriously hurt a Ward as most villains were. After all, he¡¯d already been sentenced to the Birdcage; there wasn¡¯t much more the government could add on top of that.

    Hookwolf was an absolute terror to fight. The villain could shrug off his shouts and blows from both Assault and Battery, nigh endlessly regrow any parts of his metal body that Armsmaster could chop off, and before Panacea triggered, just getting too close to him could permanently end a hero or trooper¡¯s career. Even in his human form, metal hid just beneath his skin, making him both incredibly strong and hard to hurt, and his transformation sometimes allowed him to break free of containment foam¨C¨Cthe typical counter the PRT employed against brutes.

    Never in his life¨C¨Cnot even when he¡¯d caught a glimpse of the neo-nazi cape getting loaded into a prisoner transport truck after a massive cape fight¨C¨Chad he ever seen the man look like that. Hookwolf looked like he¡¯d gone three rounds with, well¡­himself, and lost badly. His entire body was littered with small cuts and scrapes, and he lay unconscious in a slowly spreading pool of pink-tinged water, shards and shattered scraps of pointy metal blanketing the ground around him like snowdrifts.

    Rory was still staring at the high-definition photo, likely taken from Armsmaster¡¯s helmet camera judging by the angle, when his leader continued. ¡°Early yesterday afternoon, Riptide and Laserdream of New Wave encountered an ongoing battle between elements of the ABB and E88 gangs. Hookwolf and Oni Lee were both present and Riptide moved to engage while Laserdream remained out of sight and called for reinforcements. I was the closest Protectorate hero to the scene and I, along with teams three and seven, moved to respond.

    ¡°According to later testimony, the first additional hero on the scene was Glory Girl of New Wave. Once she arrived, Glory Girl and Laserdream moved to assist Riptide in dealing with Hookwolf. Oni Lee and ABB gang members had previously retreated and Riptide was unable to give chase while engaging Hookwolf.¡±

    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

    Armsmater paused for a moment and the picture on the screen changed, this time showing a wide angle shot of the entire street. The entire road was littered with bits and chunks of Hookwolf¡¯s metal body. From this angle, the giant man almost looked tiny, utterly dwarfed by the amount of scrap around him. Rory could also see a small hole punched clean through the road a few steps away from the unconscious man through which water was slowly leaking out onto the street, though it was nothing like the dirty geyser he¡¯d once seen when a water main burst not far from one of his patrols.

    It wasn¡¯t until Armsmaster continued that he saw who else was in the photo, his eyes too focused on Hookwolf to notice the small figures in the background. ¡°Towards the end of the fight, Laserdream was badly injured by Hookwolf. Riptide then decisively defeated Hookwolf using his hydrokinesis and proceeded to provide first aid to Laserdream using his power.¡±

    The picture changed again, this time zoomed in on the crouch form of Riptide, Laserdream held protectively in his arms. The young woman¡¯s injury was slightly blurred, but Rory could still see just how bad the damage was. He could also see the thin streams of blood floating through the air where the rest of her leg should have been, forming a rough outline of her missing leg and foot.

    One of the captains swore loudly. ¡°Holy shit! He¡¯s not Manton limited.¡±

    It took a moment for Rory to parse what the woman had just said, and then he suddenly understood why the room had just gotten very quiet. A non Manton-limited hydrokinetic, one who could clearly control blood just as well as water. And, if he remembered the briefing correctly, had an absolutely enormous range to boot.

    ¡°How the hell do you fight someone like that?¡± someone whispered.

    ¡°You don¡¯t,¡± another captain said solemnly. ¡°There¡¯s a reason nine-plus ratings exist.¡±

    Rory tried to remember what the measures for dealing with high-level shakers were like. Something about intercity missiles. He knew the Rig was equipped with some pretty serious heavy weapons, but as far as he knew, none of them had ever needed to be used.

    ¡°And he¡¯s a hell of a brute too, at least when he¡¯s wearing that armor of his,¡± one of the squad leaders chimed in. ¡°Look at him, he¡¯s just as shiny as in those photos from the lab. Does that look like a man who just went toe to toe with Hookwolf?¡±

    Armsmaster moved on before anyone else could respond. ¡°By the time we arrived, Hookwolf was fully subdued and unconscious, and Riptide was working to stabilize Laserdream. Glory Girl was not on the scene, having left to retrieve Panacea. Once I ascertained that the situation was fully under control, I moved to secure Hookwolf. I must commend squad three¡¯s work in successfully transporting the prisoner to the PRT headquarters and Hookwolf is currently being held under sedation to prevent attempts to escape.¡±

    There was a brief round of applause and several people clapped the captain of squad three on the shoulders and back. Rory joined in¨C¨Che certainly didn¡¯t envy having to sit in a cramped, fast-moving box with god damn Hookwolf, even if the violent lunatic was covered in containment foam and bound in brute-rated chains.

    ¡°It will unfortunately take several days to prepare a birdcage convoy to transport the prisoner. We expect a response from the Empire in the coming days, but we hope that without several of their capes, they will be less capable of mustering a force to free their fellow villains. For the time, the specific locations of Rune, Victor, Othala, and Hookwolf are need-to-know only.¡±

    ¡°And what exactly are we doing about Riptide?¡± one of the consultants asked sharply, cutting off Armsmaster before he could continue. ¡°He has clearly proven himself to be a serious danger.¡±

    Despite usually staying silent during this sort of briefing unless he was giving his own report, Rory felt compelled to say something. ¡°To villains, maybe. I¡¯ve spent more time with Riptide than anyone else here and he¡¯s a good guy. A real hero. He¡¯s been active for what, barely a few days, and he¡¯s already taken several dangerous criminals off the streets.¡±

    ¡°Perhaps, but he¡¯s still both a virtual unknown and possibly one of the most dangerous capes on the entire east coast. We should¨C¨C¡±

    Director Piggot raised a hand in the air, cutting both of them off before things could devolve. ¡°Armsmaster, your summary please?¡±

    ¡°Our analysts have him tentatively as a Brute seven, Shaker nine, and with a Trump/Stranger null subrating for his effect on certain Thinkers. He has so far shown himself to be generally heroic, immediately jumping in to engage Hookwolf when he saw that there were lives at stake. He has also shown himself to have a positive relationship with New Wave, with Carol Dallon acting as his lawyer during interactions with the PRT. Though it is hard to say definitively due to his Trump/Stranger ratings, we have tentatively accepted his status as a case-22 and are working to help him establish himself on Earth-Bet.¡±

    Director Piggot¡¯s lips were pulled into a narrow frown. ¡°As you can all imagine, he¡¯s not someone we want going villain, no matter the circumstances. As such, we¡¯re going to stick with our current policy. Soft sells only, and we¡¯ve streamlined his applications for case-22 resources and aid programs. While I would prefer to have him sign on as a member of the Protectorate, having him as an independent hero with a good relationship with the PRT is preferable to many other outcomes.

    She clearly didn¡¯t particularly like what she was saying, but Rory understood where she was coming from. The director didn¡¯t tend to trust independents¨C¨Clong standing teams like New Wave notwithstanding¨C¨Cand it was Protectorate policy to aggressively recruit new triggers. However, Riptide¡¯s situation was somewhat special. He wasn¡¯t really a new hero with all the mental baggage and inexperience that typically came with it. According to him he¡¯s been an active cape since he was twelve, roughly six entire years. That was longer than him and Dauntless combined, and it sounded like he¡¯d been much more active than any normal Ward his age.

    Rory had to suppress a sigh as an argument broke out about Riptide¡¯s ¡®excessive¡¯ force when taking down Rune. It was rather stupid¨C¨CRory had seen Riptide deliberately break her fall, turning a potentially fatal impact into just a handful of bruises.

    Before he could speak up again, Piggot slammed her hand against the table.

    ¡°This is going nowhere. So far he hasn¡¯t shown any dangerous signs. Though both Rune and Hookwolf sustained a number of injuries, it''s clear that Riptide has experience modulating his strength and has so far been careful to minimize damage. If he ever does go too far, our response will change to reflect the new situation. Understood?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Director.¡±

    ¡°Good! Now then, let''s see what we can do to make sure the Empire doesn¡¯t get its capes back this time. Stevens, what¡¯s the situation with the birdcage transport?¡±

    Rory shifted in his seat and glanced over at Aegis again. He was still sitting up straight, but this time he noticed the glazed look in the other boy¡¯s eyes. Maybe Carlos wasn¡¯t paying quite as much attention as Rory had thought initially.

 Chapter 21 - Warm Crystals

    I stayed around until I was sure that everything was under control, my hands never straying far from Riptide¡¯s pen form. I was glad that Armsmaster and the PRT troopers had gotten Hookwolf into their van and out of my sight before I¡¯d handed Crystal¡¯s care over to her cousin. I wasn¡¯t sure how well I could have controlled myself if I¡¯d had to look at him every time I scanned the street for new threats.

    I was honestly slightly shocked I hadn¡¯t killed him there at the end. I¡¯d torn his metal body to pieces in a matter of seconds, but he¡¯d just reverted to his human form and collapsed with only a few minor wounds. That was some very impressive durability. I¡¯d only ever fought a handful of monsters¨C¨CKamp¨º, Antaeus, Echidna, perhaps a few others¨C¨Cwho wouldn¡¯t have been reduced to dust by the amount of force I¡¯d used against him.

    I wasn¡¯t really sure how I felt about that. On one hand, killing Hookwolf would have probably gotten me in trouble with the PRT. Everything I¡¯d read on PHO told me that they didn¡¯t look kindly at independent heroes killing people, even dangerous villains already sentenced to the birdcage like Hookwolf.

    I could have probably handled it, but at the same time the PRT were the ones providing me with a legal identity and housing so pissing them off right now was probably kind of stupid. Not the stupidest thing I¡¯d ever done, but still the sort of thing that would have had Annabeth calling me seaweed brain and yelling at me for days.

    On the other hand, it pained me to leave a dangerous¨C¨Cif not to me, than to people I was starting to care about¨C¨Cenemy alive, particularly with the PRT¡¯s track record of keeping villains contained. Crystal had cautioned me not to believe everything I read on PHO, but the sheer number of people complaining about revolving-door prisons for supervillains was concerning. At least when I was sending monsters back to Tartarus, it usually took them a while to reform. Some villains were apparently back on the street mere days after they¡¯d been captured! I could beat Hookwolf up as many times as was needed, but how many people would die or be horribly injured before that?

    Only once it looked like Amy was finishing up with Crystal, Glory Girl floating beside her with her hands balled into fists, did I carefully close off the pipe I¡¯d torn open and sharply turned off the street. A few of the PRT agents still on the scene looked poised to follow me, but they were neither close enough, nor fast enough.

    The alley I stepped into was narrow and windowless, a tiny, dirty pathway between two towering apartment buildings. Between one step and the next, my armor vanished, withdrawing back into the unobtrusive harness under my clothing. Nothing Hookwolf had thrown at me had so much as scuffed the godforged celestial bronze, much less gotten close to injuring me, but I still felt utterly exhausted by the fight.

    I could feel the agents approaching, but I really just didn¡¯t have the energy to talk to them. I could feel the comforting call of the sea and I just needed some time to close my eyes. To think. To rest.

    The Curse of Achilles was powerful, but as I¡¯d learned over the past months, that power came at a cost. Fighting was exhausting in a way it never had been before I¡¯d taken a dip in the Stix, even when I was using my armor and not relying on the curse to protect me. The revitalizing energy of the sea helped, but there was only so much it could do to stave off the effects. According to Chiron, Achilles used to take twenty naps a day and spend most of the time he wasn¡¯t fighting either eating or sleeping. I didn¡¯t have it nearly that bad, but my stamina certainly wasn¡¯t what it once had been.

    The hat was in my hands almost before I thought of it. I turned it around to face me, my finger tracing the hard white lettering. Then I spun it around and placed it on my head at just the right angle, Annabeth¡¯s smirk dancing before my eyes before it vanished just like she always had.

    When I looked down, there was a thin, smoky haze covering my body and I could feel the Mist around me humming softly. I swallowed heavily past the sudden lump in my throat, then let my feet carry me away. When the agents rounded the corner they found no one.

    I only made it back to the Pelhams hours later, the last rays of sunlight painting the gloomy city with rosy colors. I¡¯m not really sure what I had been expecting. Anger maybe? I was supposed to get access to my PRT-provided apartment in a few days; I could just sleep in the sea or maybe find a motel room to stay in until then.

    I almost didn¡¯t come back, but that would have felt too much like running away. And I needed to see it for myself. I knew of Panacea¡¯s reputation as a healer, but there was a difference between hearing about something and seeing it for yourself. It was hard to believe that anything short of divine medicine could fix the injury that Crystal had sustained, and yet Amy had looked focused, but confident when she¡¯d told me that Crystal would be okay.

    I knocked softly on the heavy door, my eyes focusing on minute scratches and imperfections in the shiny white paint. I felt awkward and out of place, and, as the moments dragged on, I was tempted to turn around and leave.

    Injuries were common among demigods. It had been years since anyone actually died at camp¨C¨Cthe battle of the labyrinth notwithstanding¨C¨Cbut even before the war, injuries were common. Between training, capture the flag, the climbing wall, and some of the other activities we got up to, it was a rare day where no one didn¡¯t hurt themselves. That didn¡¯t even go into the many injuries demigods arrived or returned to camp with. Chiron and the Apollo kids were never lacking work.

    It was different for mortals though. I¡¯d seen how parents reacted when one of my classmates in school broke his leg during gym class. Even my mom, as amazing and understanding as she was, didn¡¯t see things the way we demigods did, and my stepdad Paul always looked so worried when things like that came up during my stories.

    The door was pulled open and suddenly I was looking down into Vicky¡¯s bright blue eyes. She had changed out of her blood-splattered costume and was wearing a loose-fitting long sleeved gray shirt and sweatpants. There was a hint of red at the edges of her eyes, but before I could see anything else I was swept into a hug that could have broken a bear¡¯s back.

    ¡°Percy!¡± Vicky exclaimed, a tiny hitch in her voice. ¡°You¡¯re back!¡±

    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    I awkwardly patted her on the back, not entirely sure how I was supposed to respond. Vicky pressed her face into my chest and mumbled something, but her voice was so quiet and muffled that I couldn¡¯t make out what she¡¯d said. Vicky was pretty tall for a girl her age, only a few inches shorter than Annabeth. However, I had something like two-thirds of a foot on her and she was left talking to my shoulder, not to me.

    Behind Vicky, I could hear footsteps rapidly approaching down the stairs. I tried to pull away, but Vicky was clinging to me like a barnacle and the amount of force needed to dislodge her probably would have damaged the doorway I was standing in.

    ¡°Are you okay Vicky? Did something else happen? Is Crystal alright?¡±

    Vicky looked up at me. I had been right, her eyes really were pretty red, and there were unshed tears brimming up around their edges. ¡°Ah, I¡¯m alright, yeah. And Crystal¡¯s fine. Amy finished up with her about an hour ago.¡± She took a deep breath and choked back a sob, then continued shakily. ¡°I¡­I should be asking that. Are¨C¨Care you okay? You looked fine, but¨C¨C¡± She choked back another sob. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry. It was my fault! I wasn¡¯t thinking and I¨C¨CI could have killed you! I could have¨C¨C¡±

    At that moment, Eric rounded the corner and paused, slowly looking between me and Vicky. ¡°Uhhhhhhh. Hi Percy, welcome back. We were starting to get worried about you. Crystal was asking for you earlier, she¡¯s up in her room with mom. You guys take your time. I¡¯m just¡­gonna go.¡± And then he very quickly vanished back around the corner.

    Vicky and I exchanged looks, Eric¡¯s sudden appearance and disappearance having broken Vicky out of her brewing apology.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay. I¡¯m completely fine. He didn¡¯t even scratch my armor,¡± I quickly interjected before she could say anything else. ¡°I¡¯m just happy that you and Crystal are okay. You guys really scared me.¡±

    Vicky took a deep, shuddering breath, and her grip slackened slightly. ¡°That¡¯s good. But still, I¡¯m really sorry. Mom always told me it was dangerous to interrupt an ongoing cape fight, but I wasn¡¯t thinking. I just saw him about to grab you and¨C¨C¡±

    ¡°And you just moved,¡± I finished for her. ¡°It''s alright. It happens. You¡¯re alive, Crystal¡¯s alive, I¡¯m alive, and Hookwolf is in jail. Everything worked out in the end.¡± I thought back to another person who had ¡®just moved¡¯. She¡¯d had the best of intentions. She¡¯d probably saved my life. I so fervently wished she hadn¡¯t.

    It was my turn to choke back the sob I could feel rising up in the back of my throat. I swallowed heavily and patted Vicky on the back again. What would Chiron have said? ¡°What¡¯s important is learning from your mistakes and making sure they never happen again. That¡¯s why we train.¡±

    Vicky laughed weakly. ¡°You sound like Uncle Neil.¡±

    ¡°Well, your uncle sounds like a wise man then.¡±

    Vicky sighed and finally let go of me, her arms falling slack at her sides. ¡°You should go talk to Crystal. Amy regrew her leg and woke her up, but she¡¯s still pretty worn out and Aunt Sarah has been fussing over her since she got home. I bet she¡¯d love to see you now.¡±

    Vicky looked and sounded so despondent. It reminded me of talking to some of the campers in the wake of the Battle of New York. No one had died, but Vicky clearly wasn¡¯t handling things particularly well.

    I wrapped an arm gently around her shoulders. ¡°Let¡¯s go. I¡¯m sure she¡¯d love to see her cousin right now too. I don¡¯t want to imagine what might have happened if you hadn¡¯t gone to get Amy when you did.¡±

    Vicky¡¯s smile looked hollow, but she didn¡¯t protest when I dragged her with me up the stairs and down the hall to Crystal¡¯s room. The door was open slightly and a ray of warm purple light shone through the crack and under the door.

    The light cut out as we approached, and Sarah, Crystal¡¯s mom, opened the door for us. She was still wearing the same white suit as she had been this morning, though it looked significantly more rumpled than it had before. She smiled tightly at the two of us. ¡°Don¡¯t keep her up for too long, okay? Amy said that she needs her rest. I should go get changed¨C¨Cdinner will be ready in about an hour.¡±

    I was expecting more, but she simply nodded her head and brushed past us, leaving the bedroom door open behind her.

    I stopped just outside the door, my eyes focused on the corner of Crystal¡¯s bed that I could just barely make out from this angle. Of all the people I¡¯d met so far in this strange new world, Crystal was the one I knew best. I¡¯d only spent more time with Carol Dallon, but that had all been work related. Even though it had only been a few days, I liked to think of her as a friend. I hoped¨C¨C

    Vicky pushed me forward and I stumbled forward through the doorway, more out of surprise than any actual force Vicky had used. Crystal was half-sitting on her bed, propped up by three big pillows and with her phone held loosely in one hand. She was wearing an oversized baby-blue t-shirt and had the sheets bundled up around her legs.

    She smiled at me brightly and I instinctively smiled back. ¡°Hey Percy. Hey Vicky. I hear you saved my life.¡±

    ¡°It was my fault that you were in danger in the first place,¡± I began, but Crystal negligently waved my words aside.

    ¡°You didn¡¯t make me do anything. It''s my own fault. I know how strong Hookwolf is, I shouldn¡¯t have gotten so close. I was being stupid and I¡¯m lucky everything worked out as well as it did.¡± Crystal sat up fully and scooted to the side, then patted the bed beside her. ¡°Come on, take a seat and tell me about the fight! I missed all the good parts!¡±

    I felt rather strange as I took a seat beside her, but slowly my discomfort faded as I told her about my fight with Hookwolf. Towards the end of my story, Vicky took over, telling me that I was completely underplaying how cool I had been and completely overblowing the last few seconds Crystal had missed while she¡¯d been unconscious.

    From there, the conversation shifted slightly. Vicky complained about me completely missing our lunch together, Crystal whined about how much she¡¯d need to eat and exercise to make up for some of the biomass Amy used to heal her, and soon it felt like nothing at all had happened.

    At one point, Crystal clambered out from under her sheets and I saw that both her legs looked completely fine. The only difference was that one leg was slightly more tan and had visible stubble, but with it being the middle of winter, even that was barely noticeable.

    Eventually, Vicky was called down to help set the table and I was left alone with Crystal. She slumped back slightly the moment Vicky was gone. ¡°You know Percy,¡± she began softly, ¡°Amy told me what you did. She said I lost a lot of blood. If you hadn¡¯t been there, I could have bled out before she got to me.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m just glad it was enough. You scared me.¡±

    ¡°Sorry about that. And thanks again. You saved my life Percy. I won¡¯t forget that.¡± And then, without any warning, she leaned in and gently kissed me on the lips.

    I froze. Her lips were very warm against mine and suddenly I was very aware that I was alone in the room with her and that she wasn¡¯t wearing anything at all under her wide-necked t-shirt.

    Crystal pulled away, smiled, and then stood up and slowly walked out of the room, her hips swaying with every step. ¡°I¡¯ll see you at dinner, Percy,¡± she called out behind her. ¡°Mom made stuffed shells and they¡¯re absolutely to die for.¡±

 Chapter 22 - Too Many Blondies

    For obvious reasons¨C¨CI think¨C¨Cit, uh¡­took me a couple of minutes to get down to dinner after that. I spent most of that time sitting on Crystal¡¯s bed like an idiot, my eyes staring blankly towards the doorway and two fingers pressed against my lips.

    I wasn¡¯t exactly the best with girls, but even I could take a hint when someone slapped me in the face with it. Well, I think I could at least. In hindsight, it seemed like getting kissed out of the blue was par for the course for me figuring out that a girl was actually interested in me. Rachel, sorta kinda Calypso, Annabeth¡­and now Crystal.

    My cheeks turned scarlet as I remembered the dancing spark in Crystal¡¯s shining blue eyes as she kissed me. I¡¯d seen her walk before and that sway she¡¯d put into her hips had been very deliberate. There had been a promise in her smile that set my heart racing and made it somewhat uncomfortable to stay seated.

    And then I remembered my previous kiss before today and my blush died in an instant. Annabeth¡¯s lips had felt like ice cubes against mine, except without the revitalizing touch of ice slowly melting into water. For all that we¡¯d gone into things knowing either one of us might die, I think we both expected that it would be me that wasn¡¯t going to be coming back to camp.

    I tried to take a deep breath, but the air caught in my throat and I leaned forward to cradle my head in my hands. My skin felt almost feverishly hot and my fingernails pressed futilely into my scalp, invulnerable nails finding no purchase in equally invulnerable skin.

    It should have been me. It should have been me. It should have been me.

    The words chased themselves endlessly through my mind, a mantra I¡¯d found myself repeating on far too many nights over the last half-year. I knew it was pointless. I knew it was self destructive. I knew Ann¨C¨CAnnabeth would have hated to see me like this. But I just couldn¡¯t get it out of my head.

    ¡­shouldhavebeenmeshouldhavebeenmeshouldhavebeenmebeenmebeenmememememe¡­

    With the words came regrets. I, Percy Jackson, the savior of Olympus, who had ventured into the underworld more times than nearly any other demigod in history (not counting the ones that lived there of course, Nico clearly didn¡¯t count), had never mustered to the courage to visit her in the Elysium fields. Even with the offer of godhood on the table, the Council had refused my pleas to bring her back, and after that I¡¯d never had the strength to face her.

    And now, it felt so very much like it was too late. I had no idea how to get home. I had no idea what would happen if¨C¨Cwhen¨C¨CI died here. Where would my soul go? Where did the countless souls of everyone who died here go, even? For months that had been one of the few things that kept me going; the dream that when I finally was reunited with Annabeth, I¡¯d be able to face her with my head held high knowing that I had lived a life she could be proud of.

    ¡°She would have wanted you to be happy. You did it, Percy. We did it. We paid a steep cost for this victory, but don¡¯t forget the countless lives we saved by stopping Kronos. If she truly loved you, and I think she did, she would hate to see you throw your life away like this, Percy. I miss her too Percy, but this isn¡¯t healthy¡±

    The words had felt strange coming from a Huntress of Artemis, but they echoed what everyone else had told me too. I just didn¡¯t want to hear them.

    In the end, it really was our flaws that defined us. I would have died to save Annabeth a thousand times over. Loyal to a fault, even if it killed me. And yet, what was loyalty in the face of hubris. Annabeth hadn¡¯t wanted to die, and yet she¡¯d thought nothing of taking a knife for me when the time came. Even in her final moments, I don¡¯t think she ever truly believed that someone like Ethan Nakamura could spell her end.

    I couldn¡¯t just move on. I didn¡¯t think I would ever forget Annabeth. But if Annabeth had been willing to give something so precious for me, then how could I spit on her sacrifice by throwing it all away?

    Someday, I would see her again. It was not a question of it, but merely when. I didn¡¯t know how, I didn¡¯t know where, I didn¡¯t know when. But the sun rises, the earth spins, and I would see Annabeth again.

    Until then though, I would live. So when I see her again, I can face Annabeth squarely and meet her eyes with certainty and pride.

    I took a deep, ragged breath, and, with an enormous effort, managed to stand up. No one saw me as I shambled to the bathroom, delicious smells and laughter rising up the stairs and tickling my senses.

    I splashed my face with water, fresh and clear, but good enough for now. I was the ocean. Deep and calm now, but dark and terrible when my fury was roused. Crystal was alive. Vicky was alive. Dinner smelled amazing.

    I willed myself dry, brushed a hand through my messy black hair, and looked at myself in the mirror. Sea green eyes met their own reflection and for a moment I thought I could see just the barest glint of gold shining in the endless depths of the sea. I frowned. Right. That dream.

    It was by far one of the saddest and least coherent demigod dreams I¡¯d ever had and even a few days later I didn¡¯t know what to make of it. For what must have been the thousandth time, I wished that I could go back to camp and talk to Chiron. The ancient centaur had forgotten more about the world than I¡¯d ever learned and was a veritable geyser of advice.

    Vicky¡¯s voice echoed loudly up the stairs and down the hallway. ¡°Percy, food¡¯s getting cold!¡±

    My frown vanished. Dreams and grim thoughts of the future could wait. Dinner couldn¡¯t. Crystal¡¯s taste in food hadn¡¯t steered me wrong yet, and if she said the shells were good, I absolutely believed her.

    Despite telling me that she wanted to talk later, Crystal ended up falling asleep basically right after dessert. The girl put away enough pasta, sauce, and leftover cheesecake to feed a (very pretty) grizzly bear¨C¨Ca side effect of Panacea¡¯s healing according to Vicky¨C¨Cand was out like a light barely fifteen minutes later.

    Vicky stuck around for another hour and helped me work through the forms I needed to file as a PRT affiliated hero. It was terrible, but not nearly as terrible as the looming mountain I would have been dealing with if I was an actual Protectorate hero, and Vicky¡¯s help cut the daunting process down to barely fifteen minutes of work.

    You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

    It turned out I could do everything right from my new phone. Vicky showed me how to navigate the preinstalled app and, while typing everything out on the tiny keyboard took forever, the amount of hassle it saved was pretty dang great. This cell phone thing was really growing on me. Just another amazing innovation denied to demigods by stupid monsters.

    Thankfully, Vicky seemed to be over whatever had taken hold of her when I¡¯d first arrived at the Pelhams. She¡¯d made a heartfelt promise to be better and that was that. Ultimately nothing bad had really happened so I was just happy that she¡¯d gotten a valuable learning experience out of the fight.

    After extracting a promise to actually go to Buns ''n'' Roses together tomorrow, Vicky flew off, leaving me alone with the Pelhams. That ended up being, uh¡­kinda awkward honestly. There was this whole thing with Crystal¡¯s mom and dad both tearfully thanking me for looking after their daughter while I just desperately wanted to be anywhere else. Thankfully they went to bed soon after, leaving just me and Eric awake.

    Eric raised an eyebrow. ¡°I hope you aren¡¯t expecting me to get all sobby too?¡± he asked jokingly.

    I slumped back against the couch. ¡°Oh gods please don¡¯t.¡± That had been exhausting.

    Eric laughed. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t.¡± Then his expression turned deadly serious, his face in sharp contrast with the fluffy, cartoon animals on his sweater. ¡°But like, thanks Percy. Seriously. Just don¡¯t go breaking Crystal¡¯s heart and we¡¯ll be all g, capisce?¡±

    I was curious if Crystal had said something to him, or if it had just been obvious to everyone except for me. Still, there was only one way I could reasonably respond. ¡°I wasn¡¯t planning to.¡±

    Eric grinned widely. ¡°Good. Good night, Percy. Don¡¯t go sneaking into Crystal¡¯s room just yet, she needs her sleep. At least take her out on a second date first.¡±

    I was still trying to splutter out a denial when Eric calmly left the room.

    Very annoyingly, I didn¡¯t get to talk to Crystal in the morning like I wanted to. I stayed up way too late, plagued by intrusive thoughts. Crystal¡¯s kiss, Eric¡¯s words, my fight with Hookwolf, and a thousand other things that had happened over the past week swirled in my head like fish caught in a hurricane.

    I could barely believe that it had been less than a week since I¡¯d first appeared here. Today was Monday, well, basically Tuesday, and I¡¯d fallen through whatever weird portal or whatever had brought me here on Wednesday morning. Six days and yet a lot had happened. Then again, most of my quests hadn¡¯t really been much longer than that, and those could fill an entire book each with ease.

    Anyway, apparently Crystal had classes all day on Tuesdays and Thursdays and she, along with everyone else, was long gone by the time I finally dragged myself out of bed around nine. Apparently our talk was going to have to wait until tonight, though maybe that was for the best. I wasn¡¯t really sure what I wanted to say to her, nor how I felt about what she¡¯d done.

    Crystal was smart, pretty, kind, and a whole bunch of other good stuff. I¡¯d only known her for a handful of days but she seemed like a great person. She could totally do better than me. More than that, I wasn¡¯t really sure I was ready for¡­whatever it was she wanted. As much as I wanted to live a good life and be happy, I was still actively grieving and maybe it would be better to wait and take things slowly.

    Realizing that I was getting nowhere, I spent a few hours training out in the backyard, then ate lunch and messed around with my new phone for a bit. It was really great to be able to access the internet without having to go use one of the grimy computers at the library, though I quickly discovered that sunlight made trying to see anything on the screen completely impossible.

    Around two o¡¯clock, I left the Pelhams home and headed down towards the boardwalk. It was a bit of a run and I didn¡¯t actually know the way, but that just meant I jogged all the way down to the coast¨C¨Ca son of Poseidon would never get lost trying to reach the ocean¨C¨Cthen followed the water until I found the boardwalk. It was a bit of a detour, but I was never going to say no to spending more time next to the ocean and it wasn¡¯t like I was running late or anything.

    I got there with plenty of time to spare. It was a gorgeous day, a bit cloudy, but not windy at all and warmer than it had been the last few days. Instead of waiting up on the boardwalk itself, I stayed down on the beach and lay down a little on the damp sand where the tides had soaked the ground but waves couldn¡¯t quite reach.

    There was something profoundly relaxing about just lying next to the ocean. It wasn¡¯t as nice as lying in the ocean, but that would probably have looked suspicious to anyone on the boardwalk and some variety was nice too. Also, this way none of the nearby fish could come ask me to deal with their ¡®problems¡¯. Like, come on. Most of the stuff they asked for was pretty damn stupid and I just didn¡¯t want to be bothered with it right now, but I was way too nice to say no if they asked and I wasn¡¯t doing something else.

    My phone buzzed in my pocket, nearly making me jump out of my skin, but I quickly realized what it was. I didn¡¯t bother checking my messages, already knowing exactly who was texting me. After all, I could feel Vicky flying towards me, a big, person-shaped mass of water bigger than any bird zooming through the sky high above me.

    I was up on my feet and jogging towards the cafe when Vicky landed. She spotted me immediately¨C¨Cmy bright orange camp t-shirt stood out in a crowd¨C¨Cand waved happily as I hurried up the stairs that led from the boardwalk down to the sand.

    ¡°Hey Percy!¡± she greeted me, her aura brushing gently against my mind as she expressed her happiness.

    I washed it away and smiled back. ¡°Hey Vicky, how was school?¡±

    Vicky deflated dramatically, ¡°Oh it was awful.¡± She grabbed my arm and started dragging me towards the bakery. ¡°Dean has been so insufferable lately, you know? I¡¯m not talking to him, but he¡¯s being such a dick about everything! We¡¯re partnered up in a chem and it''s just been the worst. Then a bunch of people were pestering me with questions about the new hero Riptide,¡± she winked, ¡°but mom said I can¡¯t talk about him yet so it was like a whole thing.¡±

    The bell on the door rang as we entered the bakery and Vicky paused for a moment to look around the cafe and just breath in the smell of all the bread and other baked goods. A song I vaguely recognized was playing softly in the background and I found myself humming along with half-remembered lyrics.

    ¡®Cause nothin'' lasts forever, even cold November rain,¡¯ the man in the recording sang passionately, ¡®Don''t ya think that you need somebody? Don''t ya think that you need someone?¡¯

    The red-headed woman I remembered seeing the first time I¡¯d come here was standing behind the counter, also humming along with the song as she loaded cookies off a tray into a basket behind the glass. She looked up and smiled at us as we came in, then went back to work.

    ¡°Oh damn,¡± Vicky whispered, ¡°I can¡¯t believe I haven¡¯t been here before. This place smells so good!¡± She took a deep breath and swooned, leaning heavily against my side with her hair draping down my arm.

    ¡°Bakeries do that.¡±

    Vicky snorted in amusement then straightened, her feet floating several inches above the ground so she could stand level with me. ¡°So what¡¯s good here?¡±

    I shrugged. ¡°Everything I¡¯ve tried so far has been pretty great, but I¡¯ve only been here a few times. I¡¯m sure she can recommend something.¡±

    She could, in fact, recommend some things. Lots of things. Brownies and blondies, rich pies and wonderfully flakey croissants. We both ate more baked goods than was strictly a good idea. Then, with Vicky lamenting the terrible damage all these carbs would do to her figure, we went and spent an hour sparring at the isolated stretch of beach New Wave used for training. It was pretty great.

    Well, up until right at the end when I helped Vicky to her feet and she decided to plant a searing kiss on my lips. To be perfectly honest, that part was also pretty great. After that though, I was just confused.

 Chapter 23 - The Time for Talking

    Dinner that evening was somehow even more awkward than it had been the night before. Vicky ended up leaving me alone on the beach soon after our surprise kiss so she could go pick up her sister from the hospital where she was volunteering. As much as I wanted to talk to Vicky about what in Hades name she thought she was doing, I welcomed the opportunity to clear things up with Crystal before I had to open a whole new pandora¡¯s box, so I headed back to the Pelhams, hoping that she would be done with her classes by the time I got there.

    Instead, by the time I finally made it back Vicky and her sister were already there, having invited themselves over for dinner since Carol had gotten stuck in the office and wasn¡¯t going to be home until late in the evening. I tried to pull Crystal aside, but things just kept knocking me off track.

    First Neil asked for my help bringing in groceries, than I got talking with Sarah about my food preferences, next Eric insisted on a retelling of my patrol with Triumph and Velocity, and so on until suddenly I found myself sitting at the dinner table flanked by two very pretty girls with no more answers and a lot more questions than I¡¯d had that morning.

    For what was probably the very first time in my life, I wished that someone from cabin ten was here. Most of the time dealing with them was something of a nightmare¨C¨Cthey caused nearly as many problems as the Hermes kids and often shirked their less glamorous duties¨C¨Cbut this seemed like exactly the sort of situation where their expertise would have been helpful.

    Tartarus, I¡¯d honestly settle for their mom too! I hadn¡¯t had the best relationship with her over the years, but maybe Aphrodite could tell me what was going on and what I was supposed to do about it. Preferably before I messed up, hurt someone, or had everything blow up in my face.

    Like I¡¯d told Eric yesterday, I didn¡¯t want to hurt Crystal, nor Vicky, but I didn¡¯t know how I was supposed to avoid doing so. Give me a titan or a horde of monsters any day and I¡¯d kick their asses six ways to Sunday. I could even totally go for an ominous, cryptic prophecy that may or may not directly mention my death right about now.

    This however was not in my wheelhouse. Right at this moment I didn¡¯t know what scared me more, the horrifying piles of paperwork I¡¯d seen at the PRT or the way Vicky and Crystal were crowding me from either side like sharks herding a lone seal away from its pod.

    Unfortunately, no divine messenger or helpful demigod of love arrived to answer my prayers for salvation. I momentarily wondered what my dad would tell me if I tried to ask him for help, then remembered that male Greek gods did not exactly have a stellar reputation when it came to relationships. Sure he wasn¡¯t as much of a horndog as Zeus, but who was? He¡¯d probably make a crass joke, then encourage me to go for both cousins¡­at the same time. Maybe in Zeus¡¯s cabin for good measure.

    Doing my best to ignore Crystal¡¯s hand on my right thigh, I smiled at Amy, who was sitting across the table from me, and tried to engage her in conversation. ¡°So Amy, how was working at the hospital today? Have you been doing that sort of thing for long?¡±

    Before Amy could respond, Vicky reached past me to grab the tray of tater tots sitting between me and Crystal, very deliberately using the action to press her chest against my side and give me a clear view down her low-cut top. Vicky, it turns out, was wearing a very frilly blue bra that matched her eyes. That was absolutely not the sports bra she¡¯d been wearing during our outing earlier and it did a lot less to hide her¡­prodigious assets.

    Amy¡¯s resting frown shifted into a momentary glare and she violently jabbed a meatball with her fork. ¡°It was fine. I¡¯ve been volunteering almost every week since I¡¯ve gotten my powers.¡±

    I tried to not let her hostility get to me. Her attitude made perfect sense after what had happened with Crystal and she honestly looked exhausted to boot. ¡°That¡¯s amazing, I can¡¯t imagine how many lives you¡¯ve saved over the years. We had some¡­capes with healing powers back home, but none of them were anywhere close to as good as you are. Will could have probably healed Crystal¡¯s leg, but she would have been stuck in bed for a few days, maybe even weeks, and it would have taken much longer to boot.¡±

    Amy didn¡¯t respond, choosing to instead aggressively bite into her meatball while continuing to fix me with an angry stare. Instead, Vicky beamed at her sister, a wave of her aura washing over the table. ¡°Yeah, my sister¡¯s pretty amazing, isn¡¯t she! I¡¯m taking Parahumans 101 at Brockton U this semester and she actually came up in class a bit ago. There¡¯s not very many capes out there that can heal at all, only a tiny handful in the entire US, and among them Amy¡¯s one of the very best!¡±

    Amy¡¯s frown faded slightly and she ducked her head in embarrassment. ¡°Vicky¨C¨C¡± she began, but her sister cut her off before she could continue.

    ¡°It''s true! Brockton Bay is super lucky to have someone so amazing living here, but way too many people take her for granted.¡±

    ¡°Your sister is right,¡± Neil boomed from his place at the head of the table. ¡°New Wave is very lucky to have you, Amy! You are a credit to our family. Really, all of you kids are! Carol, Mark, Sarah, and I, we¡¯re all getting old, letting things slip in our old age. It''s all of you that are keeping the heroic spirit of New Wave going strong.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not that old yet, dad,¡± Eric drawled.

    ¡°Perhaps not, but I¡¯m certainly not as young as I once was. Times where I¡¯d go on a late evening patrol, stay up all night with your mother, and be ready for work the next day spry as a spring chicken, but that''s in the past now I¡¯m afraid. Best I can manage most nights is two out of three.¡±

    ¡°Dad!¡± Crystal exclaimed loudly, her cheeks blazing red with embarrassment.¡±

    Sarah tilted her head to the side and fixed her husband with a playful glare. ¡°Two out of three, huh? Well, I think you can do better than that darling. I see a lot of late night¡­patrols in our future. Perhaps together, down by the bay. Like we¨C¨C¡±

    Crystal made a strangled, choking sound and Vicky looked like she was about to burst out laughing. ¡°Mom!¡± Eric cut in, sounding rather scandalized. ¡°Get a room!¡±

    Eric had barely stopped talking when Neil immediately pounced. He wiggled his eyebrows and smiled at his son, his pearly white teeth flashing. ¡°Maybe we should, Sarah darling. I¡¯m sure Eric can take care of cleaning up and¨C¨C¡±

    Eric quickly backpedaled, the threat of extra chores instantly making him reconsider his words. ¡°After dinner, I mean. And dessert. And maybe just wait until after I¡¯ve gone to bed like normal parents.¡±

    Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    While the Pelhams were distracted, Vicky, who had been watching the proceedings with a big smile on her face, leaned in towards me and whispered, ¡°You know, I could go for a late night patrol too, you know. Just the two of us. I know a lot of great, out-of-the-way spots where two heroes can patrol¡­vigorously.¡±

    I knew I could be oblivious sometimes, but even I couldn¡¯t miss the obvious connotations, nor the way her voice dropped at the end of her sentence. My heart skipped a beat and my breathing hitched momentarily as I remembered the touch of Vicky¡¯s lips against mine and the promise of more blazing in her eyes.

    I didn¡¯t know how to respond. Everything was moving so fast. I still hadn¡¯t talked to Crystal, whose hand had at some point creeped dangerously far up my leg without me noticing, and right now I didn¡¯t even know what I wanted to say when I did. I felt a bit like I had towards the end of the Titan War, pulled in too many directions by fires I needed to put out before it was too late, but this time I had no idea who I could turn to for help.

    At least the stakes were lower. If I fucked up, I¡¯d just ruin two of the few positive relationships I¡¯d managed to form since I¡¯d arrived in the bizarre land of superheroes and not doom the entire world to Kronos¡¯s tyranny. Somehow that didn¡¯t actually make me feel any better, Olympus damn it.

    ¡°I¡¯d be happy to go patrolling with you sometime,¡± I said quickly, then shoved another bite of pasta into my mouth before I could put my foot in my mouth more than I already had.

    Vicky¡¯s smile turned sultry and she slowly licked the bright red sauce off her fork. Despite my best efforts, my eyes were briefly drawn to the way her tongue trailed along the shiny metal, then down to her chest and the deep square neckline of her blouse. I quickly tore my eyes away, but not before Vicky noticed where I had been looking.

    I bit my lip and hurriedly refocused on the conversation going on. At some point while I¡¯d been distracted, the topic had moved away from Sarah and Neil¡¯s flirting and onto the merits of different desserts. Also Amy was glaring at me again, and honestly I couldn¡¯t blame her this time either. She¡¯d obviously caught me checking out her sister and I sheepishly looked away when our eyes met.

    Crystal¡¯s voice shook me out of my reverie. ¡°What do you think, Percy?¡±

    ¡°Huh? Oh, uh. Honestly, as long as the dessert is blue, I probably like it. My mom used to make me all sorts of blue foods and desserts and they bring back a lot of good memories. Blueberry pie and those sorts of things are great, but I also like blue candy. If I really had to pick¡­chocolate chip cookies. My mom makes these amazing blue chocolate chip cookies and I just can¡¯t get enough of them. I¨C¨C¡± my voice caught in my throat.

    I missed my mom. I really, really missed her. I wished I could talk to her right now. She wasn¡¯t a god or Chiron, but there was no one else whose opinion mattered more to me than hers. I hoped she was okay. I wondered if she knew I was missing yet. Had anyone bothered to tell her? Did they even know I was missing? It was more than possible that people just thought I was out in the depths of the sea somewhere. I¡¯d disappeared for longer than a week at a time before, and there were plenty of places out in the world where even the gods¡¯ power couldn¡¯t reach.

    Crystal¡¯s hand squeezed down on my leg comfortingly and I cleared my throat. ¡°Or maybe brownies. I do love brownies. Anything with a lot of chocolate in it, really.¡±

    It was obvious that everyone had noticed my pause, but I was thankful when no one commented on it. Still, the mood at the table dropped noticeably. Great going, Percy! First you let everyone down, then you get everyone down! That¡¯s the Percy Jackson way!

    After a few awkward moments, Neil loudly cleared his throat and clapped his hands together. ¡°Well, it looks like everyone¡¯s finishing up. They won¡¯t be blue, but I¡¯m pretty sure we¡¯ve got some cookie dough left in the freezer. How do people feel about having those for dessert?¡±

    ¡°That would be great, dad,¡± Eric said softly when it looked like no one else was going to respond.

    ¡°Great!¡± Neil stood up quickly, his chair scraping loudly against the floor as he pushed it away from the table. ¡°I¡¯ll go pop those in the oven, then.¡±

    I sighed heavily and looked down at the remaining food on my plate. The pasta and meatballs were both great¨C¨CSarah Pelham was a fantastic cook¨C¨Cbut suddenly I didn¡¯t feel nearly as hungry as I had just a few minutes before. I was still going to eat it all, the Curse of Achilles meant that I always cleaned my plate even when stress took away my appetite, but my next bite tasted like nothing, as did the one after that.

    I picked up a meatball with my fork and stared blankly down at it. ¡°Everything alright, Percy?¡± Crystal asked softly.

    ¡°Yeah Percy, you don¡¯t look so good,¡± Vicky chimed in. ¡°We can take a rain check on that patrol later if you¡¯re not feeling up for it.¡±

    ¡°That¡­¡± I sighed again, ¡°might be for the best. Sorry Vicky. It''s been a long couple of days.¡±

    ¡°I get you, don¡¯t worry about it. The offer is always open.¡± Vicky looked me straight in the eyes and slowly licked her upper lip. ¡°Any time, but maybe don¡¯t wait too long, ¡®kay?¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t,¡± I told her, doing my best to project more confidence than I felt.

    ¡°Great! You know, I¡¯ve never tried to make them blue, but I know a great chocolate chip cookie recipe. Maybe when the PRT finally gets you your own place I can come over and we can make some together. Christen the new kitchen, you know?¡±

    Vicky grabbed her glass and stood up. ¡°More water?¡±

    ¡°Yes please.¡±

    She grabbed my glass and then Crystal¡¯s when her cousin shoved the empty cup towards her, then headed towards the kitchen.

    ¡°Maybe we could both use an early night today,¡± Crystal told me after Vicky was out of sight. ¡°You¡¯re right, it''s been a long couple of days. I could use some time to destress.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡± I took a deep breath. ¡°We need to talk sometime. About what happened yesterday, I mean. Sooner than later. You don¡¯t have classes tomorrow morning, right?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t.¡± Crystal bit her lip and looked away. ¡°Yeah,¡± she echoed, ¡°we do.¡±

    I thought that would be the end of it for today, but apparently Crystal and I had very different ideas of what our ¡®talk¡¯ was going to look like. Two hours later I was sitting on my borrowed bed, Annabeth¡¯s magical Yankees cap held loosely in my hands. The house was silent, Vicky and Amy long gone and the other inhabitants all dispersed to their own rooms.

    The door to my room creaked open and I looked up to see Crystal peeking in through the door. ¡°Can I come in?¡± she asked softly.

    I set the hat down on my bedside table. ¡°Sure. I thought you were going to bed?¡±

    ¡°I am.¡± She padded into the room, her bare feet nearly soundlessly on the carpeted floor, then closed the door and locked it behind her. She was wearing a bathrobe, the heavy fleece fabric drawn tightly around her.

    ¡°You know, our house has some great soundproofing. The family that lived here before us were musicians you see. With the doors closed, you can¡¯t hear a thing even from the neighboring rooms.¡±

    ¡°Okay?¡± I began, and then my voice abruptly cut out.

    Suddenly, Crystal was no longer wearing a fleece bathrobe. Nor anything else, for that matter. She hung her bathrobe up on one of the hooks on the door, then turned back towards me and planted her hands on her bare hips. ¡°You¡¯re a bit overdressed for our¡­talk,¡± she cocked her hip and leaned forward slightly, ¡°would you like some help with that?¡±

    I opened my mouth, but no sound came out.

    ¡°I¡¯ll take that as a yes.¡±

 Chapter 24 - The Best Demigod Power

    One of those cool perks of being a son of Poseidon is that neither I nor my clothing ever gets wet unless I want it to. I can jump in a river, walk through a thunderstorm, and then dance under a waterfall for a few minutes and when I get out, my clothing will be bone dry and there won¡¯t be so much as a drop of water left in my sneakers. It''s a pretty handy perk¨C¨Cfrom the few times I¡¯ve needed to let my clothing get wet to blend in, I know just how unpleasant wet jeans and soggy socks are.

    Anyway, I¡¯m getting off track. What I¡¯m trying to say is that that''s about what my mouth felt like right now as I stared wide-eyed at Crystal. Bone dry, without so much as a drop of water left to wet my lips.

    Crystal sashayed towards me, her hips rocking from side to side hypnotically, and then she stopped right in front of me, giving me a perfect view of absolutely everything. Crystal was a¡­very pretty girl. No, that wasn¡¯t right. Crystal was gorgeous. Stunning. Beautiful. She was also standing right in front of me and was very, very naked. I really felt like that last part was important.

    I honestly didn¡¯t know where to look. The gentleman inside me told me to focus on her face, except there were two rather sizable, perky obstructions in the way that my eyes were drawn too whenever I tried to look up at her. When I tried to look away, I just ended up looking straight forward instead, and that wasn¡¯t exactly much better. The bed in the Pelham¡¯s guest bedroom was pretty low to the ground and that put my face right about at Crystal¡¯s crotch level.

    ¡°Do you like what you see?¡± Crystal asked, her voice soft and low in a way that sent shivers down my spine. ¡°Don¡¯t be shy, look all you want. I¡¯m all yours tonight, Percy¡­and any other night you want.¡±

    Maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe I shouldn¡¯t have just gone along with things. Maybe everything was all happening too quickly. I still wasn¡¯t over Annabeth and I barely even knew this girl. We¡¯d shared one kiss and gone out on one date¨C¨Cin hindsight, Crystal¡¯s intentions seemed obvious even if I¡¯d completely missed them at the time¨C¨Cand it was entirely possible we would both regret this very soon.

    Maybe, maybe, maybe. But in that moment, I could hear the desire in Crystal¡¯s voice and see the visible signs of that passion. My pants felt three sizes too tight and the thought of stopping things now barely even crossed my mind.

    My eyes devoured every inch of Crystal¡¯s exposed skin. Crystal was tall and slender, with toned legs that went on for miles and wide hips that I was just itching to sink my hands into. Her breasts were slightly smaller than her cous¨C¨Cnope not thinking about Vicky right now¨C¨Cvery perky, and capped by puffy, rosy-pink nipples.

    Crystal took half a step forward and posed for me, one hand sweeping her long, silvery-blonde hair over her shoulder while the other remained planted on her hip. The motion made her breasts bounce as she thrust her chest out toward me, but my eyes were drawn to the gap between Crystal¡¯s thighs.

    She was clean shaven, her skin looking silky smooth without a single trace of hair below her neck. The prominent outer lips of her pussy hid most of her most sacred spot from view, with just a tiny bit of her pink flower peeking out between them, but I could feel the moisture building up between her legs and the nearly invisible trails of fluid on her inner thighs.

    ¡°You¡¯re beautiful.¡±

    I hadn¡¯t meant to say that, the words just slipped out, but Crystal blushed and giggled so I guess I hadn¡¯t screwed up. Crystal did a small spin, my eyes instantly locking onto her bountiful butt, then sat down sideways on my lap and threw an arm over my shoulder.

    ¡°You¡¯re not so bad looking yourself, handsome.¡± She leaned in and planted a brief but passionate kiss on my lips that sort of made my brain feel like it was melting.

    Crystal could one-hundred percent feel my erection digging into her butt. She grinned at me and wiggled her butt, grinding her bare cheeks against my crotch and making my painfully throbbing cock twitch against the cloth prison struggling to contain it. ¡°I see someone is excited to see me,¡± she whispered, her hot breath tickling my ear. ¡°Let¡¯s get you out of those clothes. I want to see you, Percy. All of you.¡±

    I didn¡¯t need any more encouragement than that. Crystal slipped off of my lap and knelt down on the floor beside the belt, her nimble fingers working swiftly at my jeans. I almost ripped my shirt in my haste to get it over my head, the moments spent with fabric obstructing my view of Crystal¡¯s body feeling like an eternity.

    By the time I had roughly thrown my shirt somewhere off to the side, Crystal had finished with the zipper on my pants and was incessantly trying to tug them down my legs. I obligingly leaned forward and Crystal winked up at me, then hooked her fingers under the waistband of my boxers and, with one swift motion, pulled both them and my pants down until they bunched up around my ankles.

    My cock sprang to attention and it was rather gratifying to see Crystal¡¯s eyes widen and her blush deepen as she stared at my nearly painfully hard cock. A soft gasp slipped out from between her lips and she leaned in until her face was nearly touching the tip of my shaft.

    ¡°Can I¡­¡±

    I nodded, not fully trusting my voice.

    Crystal reached out and wrapped a hand around the middle of my shaft. Her fingers could barely close around it, but just the touch of her soft, warm hands made my cock twitch and sent another shiver of pleasure down my spine.

    Crystal looked up at me, her eyes slowly trailing along the muscles in my arms and abdomen until our eyes finally met. Sea green eyes met shining blue ones, Crystal¡¯s eyes sparkling like her namesake. She looked almost hungry, but it was not the hunger of a monster looking at its next meal. It was the same hunger I could feel rising up in my own chest as I looked down at her, a passionate hunger that made my blood sing and filled my ears with the roaring of the sea.

    Crystal stood up abruptly, her fingers leaving hot trails on my skin as she pulled away momentarily. Then she practically tackled me backwards onto the bed, the mattress springs creaking beneath us as we collapsed together onto the bed sheets.

    I hastily kicked off my pants and then we were rolling across the bed together, our hands exploring each other¡¯s bodies with frantic intensity. I don¡¯t know who kissed who first, but soon our lips were mashed together and my entire body felt like it was on fire.

    Crystal lay on top of me, her weight pressing our bodies together and sandwiching my cock between us. I could feel her rock-hard nipples and the hot cushions of her breasts pressing against my chest and my hands roughly kneaded her perky, yet pillowy-soft ass cheeks, electing breathless moans from her mouth.

    Crystal shifted slightly and one hand went behind my head while the other continued to grope at my muscles. I felt her tongue against my lips and my mouth opened of its own accord, allowing our tongues to dance together as Crystal deepened our passionate kiss.

    After what felt like an eternity, Crystal came up for air and sat up slightly, her cheeks flushed red and her hair a mess. ¡°We need¡­to get you some¡­tighter shirts,¡± she gasped out between deep breaths, ¡°I can¡¯t believe¡­you were hiding all this¡­this whole time!¡± She ran her hands along my pecs and traced the smooth outlines of my abs with her fingers.

    ¡°Only if we get you some too,¡± I fired back breathlessly. I reluctantly released one hand from where I was still tightly holding onto her plump buttocks and reached up to brush my hand across Crystal¡¯s abdomen. She might not have the same sort of build that I did, but Crystal was still in amazing shape and I could feel the tight muscles hidden under just a thin layer of fat.

    ¡°I like these,¡± I demonstrably squeezed her butt, then reached up and cupped one of her large breasts with my other hand, my thumb gently teasing her nipple. ¡°But this,¡± I poked her belly button, ¡°is brilliant too.¡±

    Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

    Crystal laughed, which did some rather amazing things to her chest and completely stole any shred of focus I had left. ¡°Anything if it means getting you into a muscle shirt. I mean, I work out Percy, but you¡¯re built like a freaking greek god! I¡¯ve seen statues less cut than you are. I bet you could grate cheese on these abs!¡±

    My heart skipped a beat at her words, but Crystal didn¡¯t give me any time to worry about her ¡®greek god¡¯ comment. She leaned back down and kissed me again, then pulled away after only a handful of seconds. ¡°You know,¡± she said teasingly, ¡°It really feels like someone¡¯s feeling a little left out. Or well, a lot left out, there¡¯s nothing little about him at all.¡±

    Then her hand closed around my shaft once again, pressing my rock-hard length against her belly. ¡°Big strong Percy down here feels like he could use some love and affection too, don¡¯t you think.¡±

    Crystal didn¡¯t wait for a response and crawled backwards on the bed, licking and kissing her way down my neck and chest until she was crouching over my legs with her face directly over my crotch.

    Crystal looked up at me and for the first time tonight I saw something other than eager passion in her face. My instincts screamed for me to reach out and take her right then and there, push her down and use her body until I was completely satisfied. I roughly shoved those instincts aside.

    Despite the tiny voice screaming in my ear that I was about to do something stupid, I pushed myself up on my elbows and looked her dead in the eyes. ¡°You don¡¯t have to do anything you¡¯re not comfortable with,¡± I began softly. The words almost physically hurt to say but my mom hadn¡¯t raised an asshole that would act like some of the less flattering myths I¡¯d read about my divine family. ¡°If you want we can¨C¨C¡±

    Crystal smiled back at me. ¡°Thank you, Percy. But I know exactly what I want from you tonight.¡± Her smile turned into a smirk and she planted a tongue-filled kiss on the head of my cock, her eyes never leaving mine. My arms went as limp as noodles and I collapsed back onto the bed with a gasp. ¡°You¡¯re going to be screaming my name by the end of the night.¡± Crystal told me firmly.

    I let my body relax, content in the knowledge that Crystal was an adult that could make her own choices. My cock twitched as Crystal kissed the tip again and began to slowly stroke my shaft with her hand. Still, I was Percy Jackson and that wasn¡¯t going to be the last thing I said. ¡°Prove it, Crystal,¡± I taunted, my heart doing flip flops in my chest as I looked at her.

    ¡°It would be my pleasure.¡±

    I didn¡¯t really have anything to compare it to, so I couldn''t say one way or another if Crystal¡¯s blowjob technique was particularly good or not. Frankly, I¡¯d only ever heard of the term before in whispered conversations at Camp and one time when I¡¯d caught one of the Aphrodite girls and her boyfriend hiding behind the amphitheater after curfew one night.

    Well, whatever the case may be, it absolutely worked wonders. Crystal had me seeing stars after just a few minutes, the sensation of her hands, lips, tongue, and mouth on my cock sending me up to the heights of mount Olympus.

    She lavished every inch of my shaft with little licks and kisses, her nimble tongue leaving lines of blazing pleasure in its wake. One hand moved languidly up and down my shaft, a combination of her saliva and my precum allowing her hand to glide smoothly across my skin. The other alternated between fondling my heavy balls and roughly groping my thighs, glutes, and abs.

    Before long I felt ready to burst, only a desire to keep the incredible pleasuring going holding me back from blowing my load all over Crystal¡¯s face and chest. My entire body was tense, my muscles throbbing with excretion.¡°Crystal, I¡¯m going to¨C¨C¡± I choked out between gasps and groans of pleasure.

    Crystal¡¯s grin was almost maniacal. ¡°Cum for me, Percy! Cum all over¨C¨C¡±

    Her words were the last straw, the mental image of her pale skin splattered with my cum pushing me over the edge. The first spurt of cum exploded out of me like a cannon shot, dousing Crystal¡¯s face in hot, sticky seed. Crystal¡¯s grip on my cock and balls tightened and she flinched backwards slightly, just in time for the second spurt to pain her breasts an even paler white. Finally she seemed to realize what was happening and hurriedly leaned forward with her mouth open, catching the rest of my climax in her mouth.

    ¡°Holy shit, Crystal,¡± I breathed, ¡°that was amazing.¡±

    Crystal sat back on her heels, a slightly dopey expression on her face. She grinned at me and I could see streaks of white all over her pearly teeth that matched the splatters all over her cheeks, breasts, and lips. Then she opened her mouth and showed me the big pool of cum sitting on her tongue.

    Crystal closed her mouth and swallowed, letting out a low moan, then showed me her now-clean tongue again. If I hadn¡¯t still been rock hard, that would have been more than enough to get me ready to go again.

    ¡°That was the hottest thing I¡¯ve ever seen,¡± I told Crystal plainly.

    ¡°The hottesting thing you¡¯ve seen yet,¡± Crystal corrected me, then scooped up a strand of cum off her chest with her finger and raised it to her mouth. Over the course of a few seconds she swiftly licked up every drop of cum from her finger like it was a lollipop, then licked her fingers and grinned at me with newly-cleaned teeth. ¡°I¡¯m certainly not done yet, and Percy junior down here doesn¡¯t look like he¡¯s done yet either.¡±

    She gathered up another blob of cum from her cheek this time and swiftly swallowed it down as well. ¡°You know, your cum kind of tastes like sushi,¡± she told me suddenly. ¡°And now I¡¯m hungry. We should go get sushi some time.¡±

    That was an interesting fact that notably did not make me want to go get sushi, but watching Crystal chow down on my cum wasn¡¯t really leaving me in much of a mood to refuse her suggestions. ¡°Yeah sure, we can do that. Do you know any good spots?¡±

    ¡°A few. Right now though I¡¯m definitely in the mood for something a bit¡­meatier.¡±

    Abandoning her impromptu snacking for the moment, Crystal shuffled forward until her belly was once again pressed up against my cock, leaving a slight trail of moisture in her wake. As much as I had enjoyed Crystal¡¯s efforts, I was glad to see that she too seemed to be having fun. I could sense that her core, which had already been rather damn since the moment she¡¯d stepped inside the room, was practically soaked with arousal that was slowly leaking down her thighs and onto the bed sheets.

    Crystal took a deep breath. ¡°Percy, I¡­¡± She paused and bit her lower lip, her hand seemingly unconsciously pumping up and down my shaft and sending waves of pleasure up my spine. Then she took another deep breath and continued. ¡°Percy, tonight I want you to make me a woman.¡±

    My brain felt like it was going to explode and I wanted to say something, but Crystal wasn¡¯t done. ¡°What happened with Hookwolf¡­it wasn¡¯t your fault, it was mine. I was stupid and I got way too close to him, and it all worked out all right in the end, but it reminded me that something can happen at any moment and that I should cherish and take advantage of every moment and chance that life gives me.

    ¡°You¡­I¡¯ve only known you for a few days, but you¡¯re an amazing guy and a great hero¡­and you saved my life and¡­if there¡¯s any guy I would want to have my first time with, then it would be you. You¡¯re kind, heroic, super hot, can cook, have an enormous cock¡­¡± Crystal¡¯s composure broke and she burst out laughing

    I wished I could say all those same things back to her, but in my heart of hearts there was one part of what Crystal had said that I couldn¡¯t repeat with any true sincerity. Still, Crystal deserved a response. I reached up and cupped her cheek with one hand. ¡°You¡¯re pretty amazing too, Crystal. You¡¯re kind, heroic, super hot, your mom can cook¨C¨C¡± Crystal pouted but I wasn¡¯t done yet, ¡°and I¡¯m lucky to have my first time with an amazing girl like you too.¡±

    ¡°Huh, a guy like you¡­I didn¡¯t expect that.¡±

    I shrugged. ¡°It''s true.¡±

    ¡°Well then, let¡¯s make it extra amazing. For both of us.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll do my best.¡±

    ¡°Good. Like I said before, I¡¯m going to have you screaming my name before we¡¯re done here and so far all I¡¯ve heard is a whisper!¡±

    ¡°Then it sounds like you haven¡¯t been trying hard enough.¡± I winked.

    ¡°Oh god damn it just fuck me already!¡± Crystal exclaimed suddenly.

    ¡°Well, I guess if you insist¡­¡±

    More than an hour later, we lay together on top of some very, very messy bed sheets, Crystal spooned against me and my finally half-hard cock poking into her butt. In the end, Crystal certainly got her wish and we really put the soundproofing of the room to the test.

    Crystal shifted slightly and let out a soft groan of discomfort. ¡°Damn it, I can¡¯t sleep like this.¡± She sighed and tried to sit up, but I just tightened my grip on her waist and pulled her back into me. ¡°Come on, Percy, we both should get cleaned up and I need to go get some fresh sheets.¡± She took a deep sniff and groaned again. ¡°And we should probably air the room out before morning, there¡¯s no way anyone will miss what happened if they walk into here.¡±

    I didn¡¯t really want to get up. Nor let go of Crystal for that matter. I felt both exhausted and utterly content and getting out of bed right now sounded like torture. I was a son of Poseidon. I wasn¡¯t supposed to have to worry about Hades-damned wet and soiled sheets.

    I buried my face in Crystal¡¯s hair and focused on the distant crashing of waves. A cool, salty breeze blew through the room, whipping away dirt, grime, and the lingering scent of our coupling.

    Crystal froze momentarily, then relaxed back into my arms. ¡°Or I guess that works. I didn¡¯t know you could do that. Very convenient.¡±

    Crystal was very warm and soft in my arms. I started to mumble something into her hair, but never finished as I fell fully into Hypnos¡¯s warm embrace. For once in my life my dreams were utterly peaceful, filled with nothing but half-remembered warm touches and a glittering, stormy smile.

 Chapter 25 - Like No One Ever Was

    An alarm beeped once and my eyes shot open, my hand already reaching towards where I usually left Riptide resting on the nightstand. It was still mostly dark outside, only the faint light of a street lamp shining in through the gap between the curtain and the windowsill.

    Crystal shifted slightly and my hand changed course. The alarm managed one more loud, ear-piercing beep before I snatched up Crystal¡¯s phone and clumsily jabbed the snooze button glowing on the too-bright screen. Squinting towards the phone, I found that it was only five in the morning, a solid two hours before sunrise and well before any reasonable person would want to be awake. Sure I¡¯d woken up earlier before, but only if I had too. Sleepless nights and early mornings during the war had taught me to value not needing to be up till after the sun rose.

    Still, if Crystal had set an alarm for five in the morning, that probably meant she wanted to be up at five in the morning. I dropped the phone back down onto the bedside table and looked down at Crystal.

    She was still in much the same position that she had been when we¡¯d fallen asleep together, her body spooned against mine and her head resting on my upper arm. A thin line of drool connected her mouth to the bedsheet beneath her and our legs were tangled together beneath the bedsheet we¡¯d all but kicked off the bed at some point during the night.

    I shook Crystal gently. ¡°Crystal, wake up,¡± I whispered loudly, ¡°your alarm just went off!¡±

    Crystal mumbled something unintelligible and shifted again, the motion grinding her bare bottom against my crotch and making my heart flip flop in my chest as the memories of last night suddenly flooded in.

    I swallowed heavily and wondered if maybe I should just let Crystal sleep. For all that Crystal had called what we¡¯d done last night a ¡®talk¡¯, there hadn¡¯t been very much talking involved and we did still need to have an actual conversation about¡­a lot of things, actually, now also including our ¡®talk¡¯ last night. Crystal¡¯s kiss, what happened with Hookwolf, what we both wanted out of this, the whole possible mess with Vicky, what Crystal decided to do last night¡­

    It was kind of a lot, and talking to girls had never really been my strong suit. Things I was good at mostly included making monsters very dead. Unfortunately there seemed to be a lot less of that going on around here and a lot more of all those things I wasn¡¯t particularly gifted at.

    I took a deep breath, Crystal¡¯s hair tickling the tip of my nose and her scent filling my mouth, and strengthened my resolve. No, this was something that needed to happen. Putting it off would just make things worse, especially if I did end up taking Vicky up on her offer of patrolling with her or even just ended up spending time with her for some other reason. Dealing with Vicky was a whole other kettle of fish that I wasn¡¯t sure how to start on, but figuring things out with Crystal first seemed like a step in the right direction.

    I shook Crystal again with a bit more force, but all that ended up doing was making her wiggle even deeper into my arms. It was rather distracting, but I persevered and looked for more options. Shaking didn¡¯t work, nor did loud whispers. I was a little trapped by her head on my arm, and anyway it was still quite dark outside, so opening the window to let the sun in wasn¡¯t an option either.

    As I considered what to try next, my hand instinctively moved down to one of Crystal¡¯s breasts, cupping it gently as my thumb teased at her nipple. Crystal moaned softly and my morning wood twitched where it was digging into her butt.

    I might be slightly biased, but I personally thought that Crystal had very nice breasts. They¨C¨C

    Focus Percy, not the time.

    What it was time for was the nuclear option. I focused intently on my discarded hoodie where it hung loosely over the back of a chair. I could feel the plastic water bottle inside the front pocket and I very delicately twisted the cap from the inside until it popped off and the water inside could flow smoothly out into the air.

    I directed the stream of water towards me until it was floating in a single long snake directly over Crystal, then let my control lapse for a moment.

    ¡°Gah!¡± Crystal exclaimed loudly, her head jerking backwards to slam into my chin. ¡°Fuck!¡± she flailed around for a moment, then her hands went up to rub the back of her head.

    Unmoved by the impact, I flicked my fingers and directed the water slowly soaking into the sheets beneath us and splattered all over Crystal to rise back into the air and return to the bottle from where it came. Unfortunately, Crystal wasn¡¯t blind and very quickly noticed what I was doing.

    Crystal sat up and slapped my arm. ¡°Jerk,¡± she mumbled, ¡°that hurt.¡±

    I sat up as well and gently kissed the top of her head. ¡°Sorry Crystal, I didn¡¯t think you¡¯d react like that. ¡°Nothing else I tried was waking you up.¡±

    Crystal collapsed back against my chest and rubbed her eyes. ¡°Jesus christ it''s way too early to be awake.¡±

    ¡°Well, it''s certainly not my alarm that just went off in my ear,¡± I grouched back.

    Crystal pulled her hands away from her face and blinked rapidly. ¡°Oh, right. Ugh. Well, it was either that or no cuddling last night. I might be an adult, but I don¡¯t want my parents to know whose bed I spent the night in today.¡±

    ¡°I figured it was something like that.¡± I rubbed the sleep out of my own eyes, then wrapped both my arms around Crystal¡¯s waist. ¡°What time do your parents wake up?¡±

    ¡°Dad¡¯s usually up at five-forty-five on work days to make¨C¨C¡± Crystal yawned widely, ¡°¨C¨Ccoffee, then brings it up to mom around six, six-fifteen. So we have some time. I thought¨C¨C¡± she yawned again and slapped her hand against the bed beside her, ¡°¨C¨Cwe¡¯d need to run the laundry too, but these feel fine.¡± She sniffed loudly. ¡°Maybe a little salty. That was a sweet trick, I didn¡¯t realize you could do something like that.¡±

    It felt bad lying to Crystal, especially after last night, but I managed to rationalize it away as just¡­putting things in terms she was familiar with. ¡°I¡¯m a bit of a grab-bag,¡± I said, using the term I¡¯d come across a few times on PHO, ¡°water control is my main power, but I can do a few other things too.¡±

    Crystal laughed, ¡°If mom and I aren¡¯t grab-bags, I don¡¯t think you are one either. Grab-bag capes usually have a bunch of unrelated minor powers, and I don¡¯t think I¡¯d call what you can do minor.¡± Her smile suddenly turned very lewd and she wiggled her butt. ¡°Nothing about you is particularly minor.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± I asked, suddenly curious. I¡¯d thought that she and Mrs. Pelham, along with her brother, did count as grab-bag capes, what with their three different powers. That was probably something I should look into if I ever wanted to reveal some of my other demigod abilities. ¡°Why not?¡±

    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    Crystal threw her arms up in the air, ¡°Beats me, but we¡¯re not apparently. You should ask Vicky, she¡¯s taking Parahumans 101 at BU this semester so maybe she knows. As long as I know what I can do and what the other cape can do, I don¡¯t really care what the stuffy eggheads decide to call it.¡±

    My mood fell slightly as Crystal brought up her cousin. It wasn¡¯t a great way to start the day, but this might be the only time today that me and Crystal could talk while everyone else was still asleep and she deserved to know.

    ¡°I¡¯ll have to ask her then. Speaking of Vicky, uh,¡± I bit my lip, my tongue feeling like a lead-weighted practice sword in my mouth. How was I supposed to tell my¨C¨Chonestly I had no idea what to call whatever was going on between Crystal I, or even if there was anything namey going on at all¨C¨Cthat me and her cousin had kissed just a handful of hours before we had sex.

    ¡°Um, I mean, uh¡­¡± Crystal leaned to the side and craned her neck to look up at me. In the dim light trickling through the windows, her eyes looked like the dark waters where the land fell away suddenly to reveal the inky depths of the sea, beautiful and mysterious.

    My voice caught in my throat, and then Crystal suddenly winked. ¡°Vicky told me she kissed you after your date yesterday,¡± she said simply. ¡°She was so proud of herself, thinking she stole a march on me. Boy was she surprised when I told her she was an entire twenty-four hours late to the party.¡± Crystal paused for a moment. ¡°That is what you were going to say, right?¡±

    Crystal¡¯s words left me reeling for a moment. ¡°And you¡¯re¡­not mad?¡± I asked slowly.

    ¡°At you? Nah, that would be dumb. It was her idea and I already knew how you respond when a pretty girl gives you a smooch.¡±

    That was infinitely better than what I had been expecting. ¡°So we¡¯re all good?¡± I checked again.

    ¡°Yep. I¡¯m not mad, you didn¡¯t do anything wrong.¡±

    I let out a huge sigh of relief. ¡°Thank gods,¡± I mumbled. ¡°So um, I¡¯ll make sure it doesn¡¯t happen again?¡± I said tentatively.

    Crystal smiled toothily. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, Percy. Seriously. Let her try. I¡¯m better, I know I¡¯m better, and I¡¯ll fucking prove it every time.¡± Crystal grabbed the back of my head and kissed me hungrily, and, after a brief moment of surprise, I eagerly reciprocated.

    After more than a minute, Crystal pulled back, her cheeks flushed and her breathing heavy. ¡°Vicky can throw herself at you all she likes, I don¡¯t care. I¡¯m not really into girls and even I can see that my cousin¡¯s smoking hot. I¡¯d like to be with you, Percy, but I¡¯m not going to pull you into something that maybe you don¡¯t want just because you feel obligated after what happened last night. I want you to know your options, know what you¡¯re getting into, and then choose me anyway because I¡¯m better.¡±

    Crystal stood up and turned on the lamp, illuminating her body in all its naked glory. ¡°Last night was awesome, Percy. If you ever want a repeat¡­¡± she sensually ran her hands down her body, ¡°I¡¯m all yours and you know where to find me.¡±

    Crystal winked again and walked away, her butt swaying back and forth with every step. I suddenly felt like I had a very good understanding of a line I¡¯d once heard in a movie. ¡®I hate to see you go, but I love to watch you leave.¡¯

    My eyes followed her as she threw her bathrobe over her shoulder and slipped out, closing the door behind her. Crystal had been right. Now that was the hottest thing I¡¯d ever seen. The utter confidence in her voice and the resolve shining in her eyes¡­they did things to me.

    I slowly raised a hand to my chest. My heart was pounding a mile a minute and I could feel the divine ichor in my blood rushing through me like I was in the middle of a fight. Apparently I liked hot, confident women. Who would have thought?

    <hr>

    Crystal¡¯s heart was racing as she slipped out of Percy¡¯s borrowed bedroom. She could almost feel Percy¡¯s eyes burning into her back and prayed that he couldn¡¯t see the blazing-hot blush on her cheeks or the faint shaking of her hands.

    On one hand, she couldn¡¯t believe she¡¯d just done that, said that, just¡­everything. She¡¯s been planning to come talk to Percy last night, but had kept chickening out. Every time she¡¯d looked in the mirror and tried to open her mouth, she imagined his stern, handsome features, his warm, inviting smile, and turned into a stuttering mess. By the time she finally mustered her courage, it was getting late and she¡¯d been worried that Percy had already turned in for the night. Just imagining peeking into his room and finding him asleep after she¡¯d spent an hour hyping herself up sent waves of embarrassment through her body and had left her standing outside the door for nearly ten entire minutes.

    And then her speech just now¡­well, she meant every word but she had no idea where she¡¯d grown the confidence to say them. Well, no. She knew exactly where that confidence had come from.

    On the other hand, holy shit, holy shit, holy shit¡­She remembered the feeling of Percy¡¯s strong hands on her body, his tongue and lips, his cock¡­He was everything she¡¯d been imagining and so much more. The way he¡¯d held her this morning, the feeling of his muscles against her back and his warm hands on her belly¡­

    Well, she certainly wasn¡¯t going to be lacking for fantasies anytime soon. She needed a shower. A cold shower. Otherwise she had no idea how she was going to get through the day. She was sore, but that couldn¡¯t bother her because she was walking on clouds and oh god, she wanted to turn around and go back right now but what would Percy think if she¡­

    ¡°Hey sis. You look like you¡¯ve had a nice night, huh?¡±

    Crystal tripped over her own feet and barely caught herself with her flight before she could faceplant onto the floor. ¡°Eric?¡± she hissed, equal parts shock and fear filling her voice. She turned around in mid air, and there he was.

    Her little brother was hovering down the hallway in his pj¡¯s, his toes barely a millimeter above the hardwood floor and smirk on his face.

    It took her a moment to process what she was seeing, and then her hands snapped up in a futile effort to cover up her breasts and privates, her bathrobe falling from her shoulder at the sudden movement.

    One of Eric¡¯s blue shields caught it before it could hit the ground and he averted his eyes. ¡°Sorry, didn¡¯t mean to startle you,¡± he mumbled.

    Eric waited while Crystal hurriedly shrugged on the robe and tied it closed at the front, then turned back towards her and grinned. ¡°So, how was Perc¨C¨C¡±

    ¡°Eric,¡± Crystal said flatly, ¡°if you say one more word, I¡¯m going slap you.¡±

    He raised his hands in front of himself defensively. ¡°Sorry, not sorry!¡± he sang, floating back a step. ¡°I was just up to run to the bathroom, and it''s not like there are many other doors down this way. I doubt you were dressed like that in parents¡¯ room, so there¡¯s not really another option.¡±

    Crystal sighed, suddenly feeling very self conscious. ¡°Don¡¯t tell dad?¡± she asked hopefully.

    ¡°Course not,¡± he hurriedly reassured her, miming zipping his lips. ¡°My lips are sealed. But tell me, those biceps, is he compensating for something?¡±

    Crystal felt her blush darken even more than it already was. ¡°Percy doesn¡¯t need to compensate for anythin¨C¨C¡± she said defensively, then slapped her hand over her mouth as she realized what exactly she¡¯d just said and before anything else could slip out, but the damage was already done.

    Eric chuckled, then held his hands up in front of him about half a foot apart. ¡°So like this? Bigger? Smaller?¡± He moved his hands back and forth, searching her face for a reaction.

    ¡°Nope, I¡¯m done. Go see for yourself if you¡¯re so interested,¡± she fired back.

    Eric snorted loudly. ¡°Fine, fine, I¡¯m done. I¡¯ll go downstairs, the shower¡¯s all yours.¡±

    Then he floated away, leaving Crystal alone in the hallway. Almost without meaning to, her eyes closed and she imagined Percy in all his glorious¡­glory. Her hands rose into the air as she tried to estimate what she¡¯d seen. Her eyes opened and she looked down at the distance between her two hands, then down at her belly.

    Crystal swallowed heavily, rubbed her throat, and hurried off towards the bathroom before someone else decided to be up at five in the freaking morning.

 Chapter 26 - The Real Treasure

    It uh, took some effort, but I did eventually get back to sleep. I woke up what felt like a moment later with sunlight streaming through the gap in my curtains and a growl in my stomach demanding food.

    I clambered out of bed and started to get dressed, then thought better of it. There was only one other person in the house right now and they were downstairs, leaving the way clear for me to hurry over to the bathroom with my clothes bundled in my arms and my towel wrapped around my waist.

    A brief shower later, the water turned up hot enough that I could really feel the heat sinking into my bones and pounding against my skin, I finally got dressed and headed down stairs. On the way, I noticed that I had a new message waiting for me on my PRT issued phone. It was from Mrs. Dallon and for a moment I wondered if I was about to get yelled at for kissing her daughter.

    I worriedly checked the message and found it to be a simple update on the work she was doing for me. Apparently the PRT was moving ¡®uncharacteristically quickly¡¯¨C¨Cher words, not mine¨C¨Cand that the apartment and full documents they had promised me should be ready by the end of the week at the latest.

    Though it wasn¡¯t something I had been particularly worried about, I was glad that everything there had seemingly gone so well. Mrs. Dallon and the rest of New Wave had been really good to me and I definitely owed them a debt of gratitude.

    Speaking of which, I really did want to pay Mrs. Dallon for the work she was doing for me. If there was one thing I knew about lawyers, it was that their time was very expensive and so far she hadn¡¯t seen a single penny for all the time she¡¯d spent helping me.

    I knew the PRT was going to be giving me a small stipend along with the apartment I¡¯d been promised, but that was just intended to help me get on my feet and pay for food and living expenses. It certainly wasn¡¯t going to be lawyer-paying money, that was for certain.

    It felt like there was one very obvious way I could quickly get the money I needed, I just wasn¡¯t sure how best to go about not screwing something up while I did it. The others at camp had joked about it plenty of times but someone had always brought up salvaging laws and all sorts of historical regulations so I assumed I would need to follow some sort of rules if I tried to do so here or else Mrs. Dallon and I might get in trouble with the IRS. There were plenty of stories about how scary the IRS could be back in my world, and around here they had superheroes on their payroll to boot, making them even scarier.

    After a moment, I texted Carol back a heartfelt thank you, then asked if she could look into marine salvage laws. Finding and dredging up some Spanish treasure ship or whatever shouldn¡¯t take too long and those things were probably packed with enough gold and historical artifacts to pay her and leave me with some extra spending money, right?

    Carol replied almost immediately, telling me that she was happy things were progressing so well and that she¡¯d ask around about the laws. A moment later, she added a warning about not doing anything too dangerous and reminded me of the ever-present danger to this world¡¯s shipping industry¨C¨CLeviathan.

    Despite my rather excellent mood from the night before, a frown appeared on my face at the mention of that particular monster. I could occasionally feel what I was nearly certain was its presence in the distant depths of the sea. Its passage left an unpleasant dark stench in the water that I could sense even from thousands of miles away, a taint on my domain that made my blood stir with anger.

    I huffed and put it out of my mind for the moment. As I¡¯d thought in the past, the beast¡¯s days were numbered, but today was not yet its day.

    Crystal was sitting in the kitchen when I finally made it down the stairs, her laptop open on the counter off to one side and her pen flying across the page of a notebook. She looked up when I entered the room and smiled at me, a pale blush dusting her cheeks with a hint of pink. ¡°Morning Percy. Did you manage to get some more sleep?¡±

    Feeling rather bold all of a sudden and wanting to put my dark thoughts behind me, I took a step forward and hugged her around the shoulders, then leaned down and kissed her cheek. ¡°It was much harder without someone special there beside me.¡±

    Crystal¡¯s blush darkened slightly. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± she began teasingly, ¡°things felt pretty damn hard while I was there.¡± I burst out laughing even as Crystal¡¯s eyes widened and she slapped her hands over her mouth. ¡°It''s not that funny!¡± she whined, but there was no real anger in her voice.

    ¡°Yes it was, it really, really was.¡±

    Our eyes met and we stared at each other for several seconds, then Crystal turned away, her shoulders shaking slightly as she held back her own laughter. I held her for several moments longer, then stepped away so she could get back to whatever homework she was working on.

    Sarah had told me that I was welcome to anything in the fridge so I dug around and found a somewhat forgotten and rather stale half-loaf of bread. ¡°Want some french toast?¡± I asked Crystal, swiftly collecting the other ingredients I needed.

    Crystal glanced up from her work, ¡°What? Oh, um, yeah. Thanks Percy.¡±

    I stopped distracting her and got to work on making the two of us breakfast. Though I rarely used them in such a way, demigod powers really could come in handy in the kitchen sometimes. Eggs and milk were both basically just water with stuff in them after all, and as long as I kept a mental eye on things I didn¡¯t need to dirty a bowl, whisk, or my fingers trying to soak the bread.

    Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!

    The first batch was sizzling away on the stove, filling the air with the sweet smell of bread and cinnamon, when Crystal sighed heavily, pushed her notebook aside, and snapped her laptop shut. She looked me dead in the eyes and mimed slitting her throat, ¡°Dr. Schmidt is a great lecturer, but I swear to god I think he just hates us students.¡± She slapped her notebook. ¡°He grades us on our notes! Notes! What sort of college professor grades notes?¡±

    I shrugged. ¡°I guess that one does? I never went to college so I can¡¯t really say one way or another.¡±

    She huffed loudly. ¡°No idea how mum conned me into majoring in finance. I should switch to psych or uh, communications! Those guys never have to do any work.¡±

    I turned around to flip the french toast before it burned. ¡°To be perfectly honest, I have no idea what you can do with either of those degrees. What does it even mean to major in communications?¡±

    I felt Crystal shrug. ¡°Fuck it if I know. The only communications majors I know are some idiots I met at a party and some of the football players.¡± She paused for a moment. ¡°Please don¡¯t mention that first bit to my mom?¡±

    ¡°My lips are sealed,¡± I reassured her. ¡°Speaking of which, did everything work out alright earlier?¡± I had been far too distracted burning the memory of Crystal¡¯s swaying hips into my brain to follow her with my water sense.

    ¡°Mostly? I ran into Eric, but he promised he wouldn¡¯t say anything.¡±

    ¡°Your brother seems like a good guy. He really cares about you a lot.¡±

    ¡°He is pretty great. I know Eric always has my back, whether it''s in a fight or at home.¡±

    I felt a pang of longing. I missed Tyson. He was a bit of an idiot, but he was a great guy and even before I¡¯d somehow gotten here it had been too long since I¡¯d last seen him. I missed¡­a lot of people, really. Hopefully¡­hopefully I¡¯d be able to find a way back to them soon. The PRT had promised to look into things, but something, my demigod instincts, told me they wouldn¡¯t find anything. With every passing day I felt like I was further and further from getting home.

    This time it was Crystal¡¯s turn to wrap her arms around me, though my shoulders were too high up for her so she settled for my waist instead. ¡°You alright Percy?¡± she asked softly, her voice slightly muffled by my sweatshirt. ¡°You look sad.¡±

    ¡°I will be. Just¡­a little homesick.¡±

    I could only barely feel the pressure, but I still noticed when Crystal¡¯s arms around my waist tightened. ¡°You left a lot of people behind, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    I nodded slowly. ¡°A lot of people,¡± I whispered, and I could feel a tear slowly starting to form in the corner of my eye.

    ¡°Do you want to tell me about them? I can¡¯t say I¡¯ve ever gone through anything like what you¡¯re going through, but everyone always tells me that talking about things can help.¡±

    ¡°Maybe. Not right now though.¡±

    ¡°Okay. Just let me know and I¡¯ll be there for you when you¡¯re ready.¡±

    I squeezed my eyes shut and took a deep, shaky breath.

    Annabeth¡­Annabeth probably would have pried. She always wanted, needed, to know everything. I probably would have told her too, she had a way of making big problems feel very small and manageable. Even when I¡¯d been resigned to my own death, she¡¯d done everything she possibly could to help me and make sure I came home alive.

    Right now though, I appreciated Crystal¡¯s quiet support. I didn¡¯t really want to talk about it, any of it, but I would have probably buckled if she¡¯d tried to push. ¡°Thanks Crystal. I appreciate it. I really do.¡±

    She held me for a few moments longer and then I heard her take a big sniff. ¡°Percy?¡±

    ¡°Yeah?¡±

    ¡°I think the french toast is burning.¡±

    I opened my eyes and she was totally right. I hurriedly snatched the spatula up off the counter and transferred the three slightly blackened pieces onto a plate I¡¯d covered in paper towels. Three new pieces of bread floated down from where they¡¯d been soaking in my egg mixture, the water soaking them carrying them smoothly through the air and into my pan.

    I looked at the three pieces of toast, examining the one golden-brown side and the one¡­slightly not brown anymore side. ¡°Probably still edible.¡± I decided.

    Crystal reached past me, blindly groping for the plate. ¡°Gimme! Gimme!¡±

    I picked the least burnt piece and transferred it to Crystal¡¯s plate, then sprinkled it with powdered sugar and handed the plate to Crystal. ¡°Enjoy!¡±

    She grabbed the plate, squeezed my butt, then snatched the maple syrup off the table beside me and ran back to her spot at the counter. I served myself but stayed by the stove as I began to eat, keeping an eye on the pan to make sure I didn¡¯t burn this batch.

    I felt Crystal¡¯s eyes boring into my back and turned back towards her. ¡°The next batch will be ready in just a minute.¡±

    Crystal waved her hand, ¡°It''s not that. I just realized that you¡¯ve been wearing basically all the same clothing this entire time. I totally need to take you shopping, and not just to buy you some tighter shirts.¡±

    I definitely remembered something about how going shopping with girls was a terrible fate, but she was absolutely right. My current clothes were some of the few things I still had left from home, especially my camp t-shirt, and at this rate I was going to wear it all out pretty quickly. ¡°You¡¯re probably right,¡± I agreed easily, ¡°but I hope you remember our deal about that.¡±

    Crystal blushed again. She was very cute when she blushed and I just wanted to go over and kiss her again, but if I did that I would absolutely burn the second batch of toast too. ¡°Yup, tight shirts for everyone. I remember. Um, how about tomorrow afternoon? I¡¯ve got to head to class soon, but I should have some time then.¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­I don¡¯t really have any money right now, but I¡¯d be happy to go as soon as the PRT comes through for me. Well, that or I can find some sunken treasure, whichever one happens first.¡±

 Chapter 27 - Like a Wrecking Ball

    Apparently there are a lot of laws about using parahuman powers to get rich quick. I mean like, just a gigantic number of laws. NEPEA-5 was the big one that everyone knew about, but there were all sorts of other restrictions out there both in the States and abroad to stop capes from one-upping normal humans.

    Fortunately for me, a lot of that wouldn¡¯t be a problem as long as I got far enough away from the coast. Unfortunately for me, there were a ton of other problems I would need to deal with. There were apparently all sorts of stupid, tricky regulations and political shenanigans that could get in the way based on who owned what and which countries had a claim to the wreckage for whatever historical reasons.

    To my surprise, the one issue I¡¯d been expecting Carol to warn me about¨C¨Cthe giant, city-destroying sea monster lurking in the ocean¡¯s depths¨C¨Cwas apparently not that big a deal. Outside of occasionally attacking a coastal city and leaving it a sunken ruin, Leviathan was shockingly passive.

    He had only ever been observed attacking people at sea a handful of times, and each of those had just been a case of the people being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He¡¯d wrecked two submarines, a few deep-sea drones, and one very unlucky ship whose bow had rammed directly into the monster during a routine crossing of the Atlantic.

    After some back and forth with Carol over the phone, we decided that Carol would have some of her associates look into the least-troublesome ship they could think of for me to salvage, and then I would go grab it. She was rather skeptical of my ability to find an arbitrary sunken wreck from centuries ago, but I was absolutely certain I could do it and she seemed willing to humor me.

    That left me with no particular plans for today. After Crystal left for university, I spent an hour in the Pelham¡¯s backyard doing drills, ate again, washed my clothing, and then found myself floundering for a bit unsure of what I should be doing. Eventually, I decided to go look around some more. It seemed that this city was probably going to be my base of operations for the near future, so I should probably get to know it a bit better.

    Barely ten minutes after I left the Pelham¡¯s house, the phone in my pocket started buzzing and beeping loudly, startling me briefly before I remembered what exactly I was carrying in my pocket and swiftly dug it out.

    I stared blankly at the flashing red and green buttons on the screen, then jabbed the green one and raised the phone to my ear. ¡°Hi?¡± I began slowly before I was interrupted by the flat, emotionless voice on the other end of the call.

    ¡°This is an automated messaging syst¨C¨C¡± the voice cut out and was replaced by that of a middle-aged man.

    ¡°This is console, please confirm your identity?¡±

    I glanced around, but there was no one particularly close to me on the street. ¡°Uh, I¡¯m¡­Riptide?¡± I said haltingly, still slightly unused to the name.

    I heard a whisper that sounded suspiciously like ¡®thank fuck¡¯ and then the man¡¯s voice reapeared. ¡°Riptide, I¡¯m agent Parker with the PRT. Headquarters is being attacked by the Empire 88 trying to bust out their buddies and we¡¯re calling in whatever reinforcements we can get. Can you¨C¨C¡± a muffled crash echoed through the phone¡¯s tiny speakers, drowning out the rest of the man¡¯s words, but I¡¯d heard enough.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be there soon,¡± I said sharply, hoping that the agent could still hear me, then poked the end call button and shoved my phone in my pocket.

    I¡¯d been expecting something like that to happen soon, and realistically I was pretty sure the PRT had been too. PHO had taught me that the organization had a bad reputation for its ¡®revolving door¡¯ prisons, with many villains being taken into custody and then broken out by their fellows days later.

    The E88, the biggest gang in the Bay, had lost four capes in less than a week, a crippling number for most organizations and a damaging blow even to the largest cape group in the city. Getting all their members back was a major priority for them, and especially Hookwolf.

    I¡¯d looked into the man who hurt Crystal and he¡¯d already been sentenced to the Birdcage¨C¨Can inescapable cape prison for the worst of the worst¨C¨Cbut escaped on the way there twice. If they didn¡¯t get him out quickly, he would quickly be put out of their reach forever.

    I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Carefree Percy enjoying his walk vanished in an instant, replaced by Percy Jackson, Hero of Olympus and Vanquisher of Titans.

    Carol and I had driven to the PRT headquarters, but I had a pretty good sense of direction and I knew generally how to get there. I ducked into a narrow pathway between two houses, stepped around a pair of overfilled trash cans, and summoned my armor. I didn¡¯t particularly care about how secure my secret identity was and that was all the delay I was willing to tolerate.

    A moment later I was springing down the road faster than the cars driving around me, my body little more than a shining bronze blur. I dodged around some cars and jumped over others, carefully avoiding running into any pedestrians. When I ran out of road going in the right direction I moved up onto the rooftops, jumping onto the roof of a two-story building and using the added height to boost me over the small office building in my way.

    I reached the PRT headquarters less than five minutes after I¡¯d gotten the agent¡¯s call, crossing the entire distance at a ground-eating sprint that put the greatest mortal athletes to shame yet didn¡¯t even leave me winded.

    I slid to a stop on the roof of the office building across the street from the blocky concrete monstrosity that was PRT¡¯s Brockton Bay headquarters. On most days, it looked much like any other office building. The exterior was all mirrored windows, with only a shield logo with the initials P.R.T emblazoned on it to distinguish it from the dozens of similar buildings that filled downtown.

    On one side of the building was a four-story parking garage that I knew also extended several floors underground. On the other side was a small, blocky hospital with its own parking lot that primarily served the needs of the PRT but also had an emergency room that was open to the public.

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    Today, it was very obvious that the headquarters wasn¡¯t just any old office building. The street in front of the building was utterly destroyed, the concrete pockmarked with craters and dozens of long, metal blades protruding from the ground. Several patches of containment foam covered the ground, the broken remains of two foam cannons sticking out from either side of the building¡¯s doors.

    Fenja and Menja were fighting Assault and Battery in the street, the two giant valkyries swinging their enormous weapons around and causing a huge amount of property damage, but completely unable to hit the two heroes. They were however successfully keeping the two heroes occupied, and I know that when it came to numbers, the Empire still had an advantage over the Protectorate even with several of their members behind bars.

    Of the rest of the heroes and villains, there was no sign. I assumed they were all inside the building while Fenja and Menja ensured they didn¡¯t get surrounded and kept a few of the heroes busy. From what I knew, the twin villain¡¯s strength and durability scaled with how big they grew, making them pretty useless inside the confines of a building.

    I took a deep breath and out of the corner of my eye noticed a young man staring at me from behind an air conditioning unit. He had his phone out and pointed at the fight between the two three-story giantesses and the heroes.

    Well, that probably meant that whatever I did next was going to end up on PHO later, huh. That was kind of weird¨C¨CI was still used to the mist blinding people to what was really going on, but here recording cape fights seemed to be the norm, even if people tended to get yelled at online for not running away. At least this guy had chosen a pretty safe spot to record from.

    I gave him a small wave, then broke into a sprint and leapt from the edge of the roof. The first two times I¡¯d gone into a real fight in this world¨C¨Cmy little brawl with the undersiders didn¡¯t count¨C¨CI hadn¡¯t been feeling particularly serious. Things just hadn¡¯t felt urgent or dangerous the same way they had back home. I was fighting people, not monsters that wanted to kill and eat me. I had been treating it like practice, like sparring with some of the other half-bloods at camp, and not a real battle with stakes that mattered.

    I¡¯d done a lot of thinking since my fight with Hookwolf. Crystal had gotten hurt because she thought I was in danger. I¡¯d been messing around, and she could have very well died if Hookwolf had been just a bit faster or I a bit slower.

    I¡¯d promised myself that I¡¯d do better in the future, and the time for that was now. I could see blood on the edges of some of those blades and splattered across the sidewalk. There were no bodies, but I remembered the two PRT troopers that had been standing by the doors of the building when I was here the first time around. I hoped they were okay.

    There were a lot of people inside the building. Hundreds of visitors and employees caught up in violence that they should have no part in. The PRT troopers and heroes were one thing. This was their job, something they¡¯d signed up for. The cooks in the cafeteria, the secretaries, the assistants and janitors¡­they were probably terrified.

    I twisted in mid air and slammed feet-first into Menja¡¯s helmet like a celestial bronze comet. I timed the blow perfectly, slamming into the giantess at the same time as Battery crashed into the back of her knee.

    Her leg buckled from the force of Batteries impact, but she managed to brace herself with her spear and keep her footing. Then I crashed into her as well from the opposite side and she lost her balance, her massive hands flailing through the air as she toppled to the ground.

    I didn¡¯t wait to see what happened. Using Menja¡¯s head as a springboard, I leapt away and landed heavily on the ground, cracking the already horribly damaged pavement beneath my feet. My gut clenched and the fire hydrant beside me burst open, spewing a fountain of water into the air. A moment later, a pipe that had been badly damaged by the fighting tore open as well and a column of cold water tore through the pavement above it and into the open air.

    Menja¡¯s body crashed into the ground beside me, shaking the earth and knocking the air from her lungs with a huge whooshing sound. Before she could recover, the water streaming from the fire hydrant rushed to cover her, pouring into her cavernous nose and open mouth and binding her limbs to the ground with watery chains. Menja choked and sputtered, her arms and legs flailing as she fought against the bindings, but she wasn¡¯t strong enough to fight through my control of the water.

    With her taken care of, I turned to her sister who was just starting to react to what had happened. Assault was bouncing around the battlefield like an over-excited five year old after eating an entire chocolate cake. Every few seconds he would slam into Fenja from an unexpected direction, keeping her constantly off balance but never quite able to bring her down.

    I charged towards the two of them, the water rushing out of the burst pipe flowing towards me and starting to coalesce into a personal cyclone. Assault leapt out of the way just in time for Fenja to turn around to see what had happened to her sister and receive a towering torrent of violently spinning water to the face.

    She swung her sword at me, but the blow was slow and clumsy. I parried the tree-sized blade with Riptide, then slid between her legs and slashed my sword through the back of her ankle, metal and flesh effortlessly giving way before Riptide¡¯s blade.

    Fenja screamed in pain, her voice all but lost in the torrent of water, wind, and noise surrounding us. Her leg collapsed out from under her, the injured limb no longer able to hold up her weight. I spun around, lunged, and made a matching cut on her other leg.

    Then I leapt up into the air, the water around me propelling me up into the sky on a makeshift waterspout. My knee slammed into the small of her back, tearing another shout of surprise and pain from the giantess as she collapsed face-first onto the street.

    As with her sister, the water around me flowed down to cover her limbs and then flooded into her open mouth. She struggled and writhed, but it was no use. Menja was already unconscious, her body shrinking down to the size of an ordinary, if unusually tall, woman. I pulled the water from her lungs, allowing the villain to breath before I could inflict any permanent damage.  Just in case, I kept a cocoon of water around her with just her head exposed to the air, but that could easily change at a moment¡¯s notice.

    I spun around as Assault suddenly landed beside me, the man¡¯s bright red costume covered in dust and grime. He was breathing heavily and there was a pained, but relieved smile on his face. ¡°Riptide, thanks for coming.¡± He looked over at Fenja, whose writhing was starting to die down as she ran out of oxygen. ¡°Good takedown, nice and fast.¡± He took a deep, gasping breath, ¡°Really saved my bacon, I owe you a drink sometime.¡±

    He was injured, I could see it in the way he was holding his weight on just one leg, but it didn¡¯t seem overly serious. Panacea should be able to deal with it after the fight, but I wasn¡¯t sure how effective he¡¯d be from now on.

    Battery ran over to us a moment later, the lines on her costume glowing brightly. She looked unharmed, but still winded. She stopped beside Assault and he wrapped an arm loosely around her shoulders and leaned on her for support.

    Battery looked between the two of us. ¡°They¡¯re still fighting inside. Armsmaster is trying to stop them from getting to the containment cells, but he¡¯s losing ground. Riptide can¨C¨C¡±

    I cut in before she could finish what she was saying. There was no time to lose. ¡°Assault, can you watch Menja and Fenja? I¡¯ll try to keep them bubbled up, but my focus might slip if I get too far away. Battery, I need you to show me where to go.¡±

    Assault frowned, but we both knew his injury would make him a liability when facing down some of the more dangerous Empire capes. ¡°I got it,¡± he told me tightly, ¡°puppy, stay safe, okay?¡±

    Battery rolled her eyes, then pulled away from the other cape. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

 Chapter 28 - Not the Worst Odds Iéˆ¥æªe Faced

    The lobby of the PRT building was a veritable warzone. The door to the building was torn off its hinges, and cracks crisscrossed the probably bulletproof glass that had once surrounded it. Clumps of solidified containment foam were scattered around the lobby, interspersed with metal spikes rising from the floor and emerging from the walls at sharp angles.

    The remains of a metal gate covered the front of the gift shop, the glass wall that had once separated it from the lobby now nothing but a mountain of shattered safety glass that had rained down across the floor and into the bins of Ward and Protectorate merchandise for sale.

    Two men lay slumped motionless across the front desk. One was a PRT trooper with a massive gash in his chest piece that oozed with blood. The other was just an unlucky worker, a metal spike extending through the dark skinned man¡¯s shoulder and out the other side.

    A third body lay off to one side near the door. From the look of things, the trooper had been standing near the wall and had been hit by the front door when it was thrown aside. His helmet was knocked askew and a trickle of red ran down his neck and was splattered across the broken remains of his visor.

    A thick metal blast door in the far wall was kept open with several bent and twisted metal blades that stopped it from sliding shut and the regular door behind it had been bashed in with inhuman strength. Another door directly behind the front desk was also hanging open, while several others had been sealed shut by more blades. Kaiser had made excellent use of his power to control the battlefield, blocking off doors, cutting defenders off from one another, and disabling the cameras and foam cannons scattered around the room.

    I took it all in with a glance, my fist squeezed tightly around Riptide¡¯s handle. The Empire had come in hard and fast, giving the defenders as little time to respond as they could. Battery, who had followed me inside, swallowed heavily and a glance showed the lower half of her face looking rather pale.

    ¡°I still can¡¯t believe that the Empire would be bold enough to attack us like this here,¡± Battery said softly. ¡°We were expecting them to attack the convoys of course, but this is a big step up from their usual tactics. They must have found out somehow that we¡¯re really short-staffed today.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± I asked. ¡°Actually, it can wait. Lead the way, you can tell me as we go.¡±

    ¡°Right.¡± Battery shook herself, then pointed to the jammed-open door. Her voice was slightly choked, but she was clearly doing her best to push through it. ¡°Through there, then down the hallway and then we should take the first left. The elevator should be disabled, but I know the override, assuming the empire didn¡¯t wreck it on their way down. Prisoner containment is on subfloor three and I¡¯d rather avoid fighting Kaiser in a stairwell if I can help it.¡±

    ¡°Okay. Stay behind me, let¡¯s go. Now what was that about today?¡±

    We jogged towards the door, dodging around the debris. I could probably go faster, but I didn¡¯t really know the way very well and I didn¡¯t want to leave Battery alone. I knew her power also let her move pretty quickly, but only in short bursts.

    ¡°There¡¯s a special training going on in New York that Dauntless and Triumph are both at today. The exact date is supposed to be kept secret, but I guess it must have gotten out somehow. Plus, Velocity is off today, so he¡¯s on his way, but even as fast as he is it takes him some time to get his costume on and get to headquarters.¡±

    We turned the corner and Battery cursed when she saw the dozens of metal blades blocking off access to the elevator. If that had been everything, I probably could have cut our way through, but there were more blades growing out of the elevator doors and into the walls, rendering it essentially unusable.

    ¡°Okay, new plan. We go straight, then through the cafeteria and down the service stairs. Where was I, oh right. Militia was on duty on the Rig, and Assault and I were out patrolling, so Armsmaster was the only person on duty here today. I don¡¯t know if it''s a good or bad thing that the Wards weren¡¯t here when they attacked; we could have used their help but the Empire is being more violent than they usually are.¡±

    We didn¡¯t run into anyone until we reached the cafeteria, where we found the doors barricaded shut and a pair of troopers guarding two-dozen support staff members. Thankfully it didn¡¯t take them long to let us through, and we directed them back the way we came.

    The door to the service stairs was inside of a maintenance room next to the kitchen. Battery deftly entered a code to two different heavy, reinforced doors, then led the way down two flights of stairs and through another locked door.

    We emerged into a room filled with pipes, air ducts, and what I was pretty sure was a backup generator and found two more hiding maintenance workers in PRT uniforms. They seemed relieved to see us, but we didn¡¯t stop to talk to them, instead rushing out into a well-lit hallway lined with numbered but unmarked doors.

    ¡°Without the elevator, there¡¯s only one way down to where we¡¯re going, so we¡¯re probably going to run into Empire capes soon.¡± Battery warned me.

    I nodded sharply. ¡°Okay, stay behind me. I¡¯m more bulletproof than you are.¡± We ran together down the hallway, our footsteps and the hum of the fluorescent lights the only sounds in the eerily silent corridor.

    The entrance to the stairwell was through a door numbered S2-173. I pulled the door open and instantly the sounds of loud voices and fighting reached my ears, distorted by echoes until it was all just a mess of noise.

    I took the stairs down four at a time, no longer bothering to slow down to let Battery keep pace. I didn¡¯t need her guidance any more, my water sense telling me more than enough about where I needed to go. Pipes told me where the walls were and I could feel two-dozen blobs of water milling around just below me.

    Inside my armor, a small flask of salt water burst open, dousing my shirt and pants, and I made sure that it soaked into my clothes and pooled against my skin. The boundless strength and fury of the sea filled my muscles and bones, washing away the strain of my earlier fight, training, and run in an instant and leaving me feeling fresh and raring for a fight.

    My blood was roaring as I came to a landing, Riptide at the ready and my gut churning, ready to call the water I could feel moving through the walls to me at a moment¡¯s notice. There were two men with guns at the bottom of the stairs, both bald, wearing makeshift body armor, and covered in prominent nazi tattoos. By the time they saw me coming, it was already too late for both of them.

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    I leapt from the top of the stairs, kicking off the side of the top step and extending my arms out on either side of me. One of them let out a short yell and a bullet ricochet off my helmet, a half-dozen more going wide and leaving pockmarks in the concrete behind me. Then I was upon them, my arms clotheslining both of them simultaneously across the tops of their chests.

    They were lifted off their feet and thrown into the back wall. I winced as the bald one¡¯s head slammed into the hard gray cement behind him with a painful-sounding crack. The second man was at least wearing a helmet, but I doubted either one was going to be getting up without help.

    I bunched up my arms and rolled, crashing through the propped open double doors, then sprang to my feet, my eyes and demigod senses scanning the scene in front of me. I could see nineteen Empire members, a worrying seven of them capes while the rest were armed goons.

    My heart fell slightly when I saw that Rune, Othala, and Victor had all been freed already. All three looked tired, but gleeful, their identities protected by black domino masks. The two young women were at the back of the group, Rune wearing her typical black-and-red robe over an orange jumpsuit while Othala was still just dressed in her prisoner clothing. Victor on the other hand was near the front of the group, wielding an oversized gun with ease.

    My time spent on PHO over the last few days came in handy, helping me identify the other Empire capes. The man in metal armor was Kaiser, the leader of the Empire. He could grow metal objects like spikes and walls out of the ground. The SS cosplayer next to him was Krieg, a powerful brute and one of Kaiser¡¯s lieutenants. The creepy-looking pale guy was Alabaster, he was some kind of reset-based regeneration, basically impossible to kill apparently but otherwise not much more dangerous than a normal person.

    The last cape was Crusader, an armored man with a long spear surrounded by ghostly duplicates. He was either the biggest danger to me here or possibly a complete non-issue. His duplicates were known to pass right through walls and body armor, and I wasn¡¯t sure how exactly that was going to interact with my celestial bronze armor, nor with the curse. Well, it looked like I was probably about to find out.

    That was almost the entire Empire roster, an insane amount of resources to commit to a single attack. They really wanted to free their allies. The only capes missing were Stormtiger and Cricket, and I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if they were somewhere nearby ready to help bale out their friends if it came down to that.

    Past the crowd of Empire members, two-dozen PRT troopers with shields, foam cannons, and assault rifles getting slowly pushed back by potshots from the goons and a bunch of ghostly copies of Crusader. Armsmaster, who was standing near the front and center of the group in his shining blue power armor was the only thing really keeping the Empire capes back. His halberd danced through the air, the blade glowing with a faint orange tint that could interact with Crusader¡¯s ghosts, parrying their spears and making them fade away whenever he managed to get a clean hit on one.

    This¡­could be a problem. One on one, I was pretty sure I could kick every cape in the hallway¡¯s butt six ways to Sunday. Crusader might be able to give me some trouble with his crude flight and duplicates, and Seven on one with eleven other armed men to back them up in a relatively enclosed space? That was a bit trickier. Especially with Othala able to give the goons around her powers of their own. These weren¡¯t nearly the worst odds I¡¯d ever faced, but it wasn''t a great spot to find myself in either.

    Othala and Crusader were my first two priorities. I was relatively confident that god-forged celestial bronze was more than a match for the man¡¯s ghostly friends, but they were also a major threat to the PRT troopers and I would really prefer not to test that theory if I could help it.

    Stopping Othala before she could empower too many of the goons and capes around her was also very important. She could only give each person one power, and they didn¡¯t last very long, but even an ordinary man with a gun was dangerous if they were invulnerable or had super speed.

    My rather loud entrance hadn¡¯t gone unnoticed. Several of the goons and some of the capes at the back were already starting to turn towards me when I rolled through the door, but they all had the speed and reflexes of normal humans, even Krieg, the only true brute among them. They had clearly been expecting slightly more warning before reinforcements arrived, but Battery and I¡¯s route through the service stairs had avoided the sentry I could feel waiting near the top of this stairwell and the two men outside hadn¡¯t really had a chance to warn anyone before they were subdued.

    Had the number been anywhere close to even, I probably would have asked them to surrender before engaging. That just seemed like the thing that heroes in this world did. However, with so many dangerous foes to contend with, I wasn¡¯t willing to take any chances.

    I would try to pull my hits enough to avoid killing anyone, but that was the only consideration I was willing to make. The Empire had already shown that they were willing to kill to free their captured allies, and I had a firm belief that turnabout was fair play. I had spared Ethan Nakamura¡¯s life and freed him from the Titans¡¯ army. He had repaid my kindness by trying to kill me and running a poisoned blade through Annabeth¡¯s chest.

    Never. Again.

    The mere thought of the traitorous, wretched son of Nemesis filled me with white-hot rage, and I directed that fury into the water I could sense around me. Every pipe in the hallway burst at the same time and access panels in the walls blew open as a torrent of water flooded through them. It wasn¡¯t as much water as I would have liked, but it would have to be enough.

    Othala, who was putting on proper shoes instead of the orange slippers she¡¯d been wearing, was kneeling just a little bit too close to exactly the wrong panel. A tide of searing-hot water crashed into her like a Colchis bull, knocking her off balance and sending her crashing into the far wall with an agonized cry of pain. She collapsed against the wall and lay still, her orange jumpsuit completely soaked through and clinging to her body

    Her scream made my heart clench painfully. That water was really hot, easily hot enough to burn, and it had also hit her really hard. I grabbed control of the hot water soaking her clothing and pulled it back into the rest of the water, but that was all I had time to do.

    My other attempts at an opening attack went far less well. I managed to knock a few goons around, but that was about it. I knocked Alabaster into a wall just like Othala, but he just shrugged it off after a second, his body resetting to perfect health a second after I slammed him into a wall.

    Any water that got too close to Krieg was slowed down to a crawl, my control over it unbroken but the water itself felt like it was pushing through thick mud. That completely ruined my plan to take out Crusader, who was standing right next to his nazi buddy. Similarly, Kaiser and Victor were also both too close to Krieg, the torrents of water I sent at them reduced to nothing but lazy rivers floating through the air.

    Rune wasn¡¯t too close to Krieg, but she was still in an awkward position, surrounded by a bunch of goons and far from any convenient walls. I did splash her a bit, but not enough to do more than momentarily distract her. The thug standing directly to her right went down, but I would have much preferred to take out the telekinetic and not just another random guy with a gun.

    Kaiser turned around to face me, his hands folded behind his back in a picture of composure. ¡°Ah, Riptide. You¡¯ve made yourself a very inconvenient thorn in just a matter of days.¡± His voice was cool and smooth, filled with absolute confidence. ¡°From your actions, I take it you¡¯re not here to beg for forgiveness. You could have had a place among us, far above the lesser peoples of our great nation. Such a shame.¡± And then his voice turned cold and vicious. ¡°Well, no matter. We have already fixed the majority of the problems you¡¯ve caused. How kind of you to present yourself here so we can burn that nasty thorn before it can ruin any more lives.¡±

    There was a retort on my tongue, but I had no time to use it. Before I could so much as open my mouth, my instincts screamed at me and I threw myself to the side, dodging out of the way of a metal pole rapidly growing out of a rippling patch on the wall beside me. And so the battle was on.

 Chapter 29 - Right Where I Want You

    Riptide whistled through the air, my sword nothing but a streak of shining bronze as I cut through the metal blades and obstructions that Kaiser was growing from the walls around me. Water continued to flow from the broken pipes in the walls and I drew it all towards me, slowly building up a personal hurricane like the one I¡¯d used to fight Hyperion.

    A bent metal panel whistled towards me and I recognized it as one of the places where water had burst through the wall. I leaned back and to the right slightly and cut it out of the air as it flew past me. Rune¡¯s control slipped and it clattered onto the ground behind me, but I was already focused on the next attack.

    Thundering retorts filled the hallway, echoing loudly up and down the bare walls, as several of the Empire men opened up on me with their guns. Just on reflex I cut a few out of the air or deflected them away from me, but the rest either missed on their own or bounced uselessly off my armor. I barely felt the impacts¨C¨Ceven a high-caliber rifle would have no chance of penetrating my skin or armor and these bullets felt like raindrops pitter-pattering against my skin.

    Though not dangerous, what the bullets were was distracting. I nearly tripped over a steel blade as it grew from the floor right beside my foot, and a moment later a hunk of masonry whizzed past my ear, Rune¡¯s projectile blown off course by the building winds of my hurricane. Water condensed from my storm and then shattered the broken piece of concrete into fragments.

    The Empire capes and goons were reorganizing. Crusader remained at the front of the group, the part furthest from me, but several of his ghosts broke off their attack on the PRT troopers and Armsmaster to drift towards me. Kaiser moved from the front of the group to the middle, while Krieg annoyingly stayed standing beside Crusader, joined by several new armed men to make up for Kaiser¡¯s absence.

    Victor had broken off form the fight entirely and was kneeling beside Othala¡¯s unconscious body, tending to her injuries with his stolen skills. Rune had also moved to stand next to Krieg, who was now using his brute strength to prepare projectiles for her, while her posse of gun-wielding goons had moved forward towards me. Alabaster was moving deliberately towards me as well, a long serrated knife held loosely in one hand and a gun in the other.

    I was almost offended. They really weren¡¯t taking me seriously, but I¡¯d make them regret it soon enough. Well, more likely they just considered Armsmaster, a skilled veteran hero with years of service behind him, a bigger threat then some no-name who¡¯d appeared barely a week ago. It wasn¡¯t an unreasonable assumption, but it was definitely going to bite them in the bum.

    The next time a blade sprouted by my foot, I slammed my heel into it hard enough to bend it backwards with a screech of tortured metal. Then I kicked off of it like a makeshift starting block and lunged forward, Riptide extended at an angle in front of me.

    Alabaster¡¯s blank wide eyes barely had a chance to widen before I was on him and then past him, a spray of blood dying the walls and floor red as Riptide sliced effortlessly through his lightweight costume, skin, muscle, bone, and then out the other side, bisecting from his waist to the bottom of his ribcage.

    I didn¡¯t wait for him to reset and continued forward, the storm around me sending Alabaster flying in two different directions. I ducked under a clumsy swing from one of the goons and then I was inside their formation. Wind and water buffeted their bodies and tore at their faces, making most of the men around me stagger away from me.

    Riptide flashed, the sword¡¯s blade a shining blur barely visible through the rapidly swelling storm. Guns clattered to the ground in pieces and one man screamed as Riptide, to my surprise, removed the finger he¡¯d had sitting on the trigger guard. I had already confirmed that the blade could cut capes, but I hadn¡¯t expected that a normal mortal would be affected, even a nasty racist one. Still, that was a mystery I could consider at another time.

    One of Crusader¡¯s ghosts jabbed his spear towards me and I instinctively moved Riptide to parry the strike. For a moment, it seemed as though the blade was going to pass right through the shaft of the spear, leaving it free to stab me. I scowled and glared at the projection, my blood roaring through my veins like the thunder of a waterfall.

    The sea could not be stopped. The tides were inevitable. My strength was the strength of towering waves that sank ships and battered the coastline into sand and dust. A sheen of saltwater coated Riptide¡¯s blade and it sliced cleanly through ghostly wood, sending the speartip flying through the air. I stepped into the thrust and sliced the disarmed ghost in half from hip to shoulder, then removed the head of the one behind it.

    The Empire capes were finally responding, the shock of my sudden bull rush having left them momentarily disoriented. Kaiser took a step back and more blades began to grow from the ground and walls, but he had to be careful to avoid hitting his allies. Krieg, the only member of the Empire present who might be able to genuinely fight me in close quarters, began to turn around, but he was too far away to affect the fight for the moment.

    Crusader cursed loudly, calling out, ¡°He can fucking pop my ghosts, damn it! First Armsmaster, then this clown?¡±

    I smiled beneath my helmet at his frustration¨C¨Cthat was probably how Atlas had felt when Bianca and Nico began to destroy his Spartoi. Then I put it out of my mind, focusing on the battle at hand before I could get lost in my memories.

    Another stream of water condensed out of my hurricane and sent Victor, who was crouching over Othala, sprawling across the ground. Two more shot towards Kaiser, whose heavy armor was protecting him from the intensifying storm, but he managed to raise metal walls in front of the blasts before they hit him, water spraying in every direction as it flew into the newly formed barriers.

    ¡°Shoot him, fucking shoot him!¡± someone was shouting, but the handful of remaining gang members were too focused on the PRT troopers to waste bullets on me. Well, most of them. A single shot plinked off the back of my helmet and I negligently swept a hand backwards, a small wave sending the newly regenerated Alabaster flying backwards.

    Most of the water pulled back, rejoining the hurricane around me, but a single gallon remained behind and slithered over his face like a living thing, tendrils of water flooding into his mouth and nose and pouring down into his lungs.

    ¡°Krieg!¡± Kaiser barked, ¡°switch places!¡±

    A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

    The neo-nazi villain pretending to be a real nazi charged towards me as Kaiser fell back to join Rune and Crusader. As he moved closer towards me, my storm began to falter as the water and wind blowing near him slowed to a crawl. I slashed Riptide at him, but found the blade moving as though through honey, my muscles straining against air that had suddenly turned as dense as syrup.

    Armsmaster and the PRT troopers were not content to sit idly while I did all the fighting. With a textbook perfect sweep of his halburd, Armsmaster dispersed three of Crusader¡¯s ghosts that had gotten just a bit too close to him, and then vaulted over the troopers¡¯ defensive line and charged towards the trio of capes in front of him. The two normal goons on either side of the capes tried to shoot him, but a shotgun shell to the shoulder didn¡¯t so much as slow him down, nor did the handgun the other man tried to unload into his armored helmet.

    I lost track of Armsmaster as I had to duck away from a blisteringly fast punch from Krieg, which left visible cracks in the concrete wall beside me. I leapt backwards, luring him further and further away from his leader and squishy cape friends.

    Krieg clearly thought I was trying to escape from his slowing aura and charged after me. I danced away, Kriegs small edge in speed not nearly enough to make up for the gap in skill and instincts between us. He wasn¡¯t bad, in fact as far as I knew he¡¯d been an active cape for literally longer than I¡¯d been alive, but ultimately he was a mortal with a secret identity and I was a demigod born for battle.

    A perfectly timed sweep of my blade nearly took his hand off. A careful dodge left him overextended and he stumbled an extra step further forward than he meant to. Riptide slapped against the side of a goon¡¯s head and then I bodily threw the man at Krieg, buying a few more seconds and a few more inches.

    Krieg threw half a gun at me with the force of a falling boulder and I slapped it aside with Riptide, even as he finally took one last crucial step forward. I grinned at him, even though he couldn¡¯t see my face under my helmet. ¡°Good try, but it''s over! Maybe try being less of a racist idiot next time!¡±

    And then the water that had been slowly pooling on the ground rose up behind him and swallowed Rune and Crusader. The two frantically tried to free themselves, but neither had the strength nor mobility to escape my grip. They choked and sputtered as the crushing weight of the ocean squeezed in around them, bubbles leaking rapidly from their lips.

    Crusaders ghosts rushed to free him, but fresh water turned to salt water and glowed with divine authority. Spears skidded off a smooth sheet of crystal-clear water and translucent hands scrabbled at a prison they could not hope to damage.

    Armsmaster instantly capitalized on the opportunity I had given him. Without Crusader and Rune to assist him, Kaiser was no match for Armsmaster at such close range. Blades grown from the floor skittered off tinkertech armor, and Armsmaser swiftly removed any that tried to appear on his armor itself.

    Krieg, his back to the fight, saw none of that. ¡°Yes, it is over indeed. Surrender and perhaps Kaiser will allow you a place within our Empire!¡± He spoke with an obviously faked German accent and it was honestly kind of painful to listen to someone so stupid. I mean, I¡¯m not exactly a ten out of ten when it came to brains, but at least I didn¡¯t dress up as a war criminal and beat up minorities.

    I stared at him blankly for a long moment, then pointed Riptide at him. I could feel his power affecting me, pushing against my movements and empowering his own. It was a powerful ability and honestly reminded me a little of something Kronos had once done, though far less powerful.

    There was a tugging in my gut and the bottle worth of sea water inside my armor expanded, droplets forcing their way through every crack and tiny gap in my armor and dripping down the celestial bronze scales.

    I swept Riptide through the air and suddenly I no longer had to struggle to move or even breath. Krieg had a pretty good power, but it was nothing compared to stopping time around me, and that hadn¡¯t managed to slow me down for more than a few seconds. And I was a lot stronger and more experienced now than I had been back then.

    My storm was still struggling to push through his kinetic manipulation, but I didn¡¯t really need it for this. It had done its job throwing the Empire capes and gangsters around and stopping Rune from nailing me in the head with a cinder block or something, but I didn¡¯t need it against someone like Krieg.

    I moved forward and this time it was Krieg who couldn¡¯t keep up with me. He frantically dodged once, twice, and then Riptide¡¯s flat slapped the side of his head hard enough that he was sent several steps before sprawling onto the ground unconscious. I¡¯d expected him to dodge that one and had only barely had time to turn my blade. It seemed like his mask blocked just a tiny sliver of his peripheral vision and he just hadn¡¯t seen it coming in time to get out of the way.

    I flicked Riptide, sending a spray of water flying through the air. Kaiser and Armsmaster were still fighting, while the last few unpowered Empire members were being viciously subdued by the PRT troopers that had been barricading the hallway.

    Every droplet of water swirling around me stopped in mid flight, then began to rapidly condense into a single sphere floating directly in front of me. Armsmaster, seeing my plan, disengaged from Kaiser and hurriedly moved several steps away from the would-be nazi leader.

    I gave the sphere of water a single command: flow. It rushed forward like a tsunami and bodily lifted Kaiser off his feet. The wave swept past Armsmaster and the troopers, barely splashing their feet, and crashed into the wall at the far end of the corridor before withdrawing, leaving a groaning Kaiser sprawled on the ground in his waterlogged steel plate armor.

    I pointed to the downed cape and looked questioningly at Armsmaster. The older hero looked between me and Kaiser, then nodded decisively.

    The water which had been flowing away from him like a receding tide gathered back up and engulfed him, armor and all, in a full body prison. Kaiser thrashed once, tried to pull himself free with a summoned metal handhold, blindly filled the hallway with blades, and then finally went still. I waited a moment longer, then the water around his head and filling his lungs withdrew, covering the ground around him in a thin sheen. The rest of the prison binding his arms and legs remained in place.

    I took a deep breath and looked at the soaking wet, limp bodies scattered around me. Then I twirled Riptide through the air and capped the blade, Riptide¡¯s pen form swiftly vanishing into my armor.

    ¡°Glad I made it in time!¡± I called out to Armsmaster. ¡°Battery, it''s over! Come on out!¡±

    A moment later the heroine hurried into the hallway, the markings on her suit glowing brightly. She stopped in shock, staring at the devastation around me.

    ¡°Sorry I didn¡¯t leave you any nazis to punch,¡± I joked.

    ¡°Uhhhhhh¡­You know what? I¡¯ll take it.¡± Then she sagged against the wall beside her, running a hand through her hair and exhaling loudly. ¡°That¡¯s all of them, right?¡±

    Armsmaster walked slowly towards us, his halberd held loosely in one arm. ¡°I believe they are all accounted for. Thank you for your timely assistance, Riptide. I will ensure that you are commended for your actions today.¡±

    ¡°Happy to help! Though uh, we should probably take a look at a few of those guys. I¡¯m pretty sure I cut some guy¡¯s fingers off.¡±

    Armsmaster looked down at the red slowly seeping into the layer of water covering the hallway floor. ¡°You are regrettably correct. And we must restrain and process the prisoners.¡±

    One of the PRT troopers loudly mumbled something about how failed prison breaks resulted in the worst sort of paperwork and I reflexively shuddered. Oh Hades I hope I didn¡¯t need to do any of that.

 Chapter 30 - Things that Get Me Going

    Despite wanting nothing more than to go curl up in bed and sleep for sixteen hours straight, I offered to help with the cleanup. The building was a mess, there could still be Empire capes or goons lurking somewhere, and I couldn¡¯t imagine that any of the people that had been in the building when the Empire had arrived wanted to be here a minute longer than they had to. A lot of people had lost friends today; it was only right to lighten the load on their shoulders.

    Armsmaster let me stay and help for about fifteen minutes¨C¨Cthe time it took to get all the Empire capes present dragged into individual high-security cells. My ¡®help¡¯ mostly consisted of staying out of the way and keeping the defeated villains secured in watery bonds. Well, that and draining out all the water that had started to fill up the gaps in the walls. I probably saved the PRT a hefty repair bill by quickly drying everything out.

    Once that was done, Armsmaster rather briskly told me to go home. Battery, who was nearby, quickly repeated what Armsmaster had said in a much more diplomatic tone, though honestly I didn¡¯t really mind that much. I knew how the Hephaestus kids could get when they were really focused on something, and Armsmaster had had a very long day.

    In any case, I barely even heard the words, my gut tight and my lightweight armor feeling like one of those lead aprons they gave you when you were getting an x-ray done. Something about PRT policy and appreciating my timely assistance? It probably didn¡¯t matter, and I very deliberately ignored the mention of ¡®coming in later to file a report¡¯. Hopefully no one would notice if I just¡­didn¡¯t. Or maybe I could just give someone a verbal rundown later? That was a problem for not-post-battle Percy to deal with.

    Sometimes I really loved the Curse of Achilles. Like sure it''s called a curse, but being mostly invulnerable has saved my life more times than I can count. Plus the extra strength, speed, and everything else was a damn nice bonus. I certainly couldn¡¯t have fought Hyperion without it, and Kronos would have turned me into mincemeat before I ever had a chance to get through to Luke.

    Other times, usually after a big fight, I remembered why it was the Curse of Achilles and not the blinging-bath-buff of Achilles. The fights against the two giantesses and the rest of the Empire capes had lasted a handful of minutes if that, and the run before that wasn¡¯t really that long either. A year ago I could have taken a salty shower and been back on my feet in an hour or two. Now I felt like a walking corpse.

    Despite my exhaustion, I was aware enough to avoid being sloppy. I found a blind alley, made sure there wasn¡¯t anyone watching, then popped Annabeth¡¯s cap onto my head and shifted my armor back to its harness form. The original plan was to find another corner to take off the hat, but by the time I did so I was already getting pretty close to my temporary home and just¡­didn¡¯t bother doing so. I invisibly vaulted over the high hedge around the backyard, entered the kitchen through the back porch, and only then took off the Yankees cap.

    The original plan was bed, but food was also really tempting. There were a few pieces of leftover french toast¨C¨Cthe ones I¡¯d burned just a little but didn¡¯t want to throw away¨C¨Cand I scarfed those down in thirty seconds flat. I didn¡¯t have the energy to cook, but I did find a bunch of packets of instant noodles of a brand I didn¡¯t recognize in one of the cupboards, so that became the rest of my lunch and I washed it down with several glasses of milk. Not the healthiest or tastiest combination, but it silenced the grumble of my stomach.

    I barely remember stumbling up the stairs, down the hallway, and then falling into bed. I was out like a light the moment my head hit the pillow. Obviously, that wasn¡¯t the end of it. Apparently after a few days of good dreams, my sleeping luck had run out. My eyes opened and I found myself elsewhere and elsewhen, drawn into yet another demigod dream.

    I stood in a sparse forest, the earth beneath my feet rocky and covered in feet-catching roots and unstable rocks. Taking a deep breath, I could taste the life in the air, moss and rain and pine sap tickling my nose. I took a single step and something drew my eyes to the sky.

    The stars were oh so bright tonight, brighter than I¡¯d ever seen them. Not even those days when I had slept floating in deep ocean miles and miles from boats or cities had I seen them shine quite so clearly.

    My eyes instinctively sought out the constellations I¡¯d learned from Chiron. Orion, Perseus, Draco, and Ursa Major. My smile faded when my eyes passed where Zoe¡¯s stars should have shone and saw no trace of the young woman with her faithful bow.

    I made to look away, then paused suddenly. There was a bright shine high above me, but it looked like no star or comet I¡¯d ever seen before. With every passing moment it got bigger and bigger, and I cautiously drew Riptide¡¯s pen form from my pocket. That was no star, nor even a meteor. I knew it in my gut the same way I knew the sea.

    Far in the distance, a craggy hill, more a small mountain really, jutted out from the treeline. The object slowly became more and more defined, a writhing mass of silver and crystalline flesh that made my eyes hurt when I looked too closely.

    With a thunderous boom that shattered trees and sent chunks of rock flying in every direction, the mass crashed down into the distant mountain. The earth shook, trees shattered, and I could feel as the Mist around me was shredded and torn until only scraps remained.

    I blinked and suddenly I was on the mountain. It was daytime, and I could see the crater left by the impact, filled with twisted flesh and extending out in ways that I could not quite make out. It filled more space than it should, flesh and crystal moving in directions that could not exist in the natural world.

    There were people around the crater, strangers milling around wearing a hundred different styles and including just as many complexions. A girl descended down into the crater, moving with surety and purpose, while a dark skinned woman followed cautiously behind her.

    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

    At the bottom was a forest of unnatural growth, parts of human bodies stitched together in ways that they were not meant to move. Gentle heartbeats, breaths, and whispers tickled my ears and Riptide was suddenly in my hand, the blade thrumming in time to my own heartbeat.

    The girl walked with utter confidence and then I was beside her, my feet moving on their own as the flesh around me changed. Each tree was a body, each just slightly more perfect than the last. And, at the center of it all, a woman. Naked and marked with the unnatural beauty of a goddess but none of the awe that the divine should have inspired. She was slowly pulling herself from the ground, shapeless flesh taking form with every passing moment.

    The girl raised her knife, then faltered. I took a step forward, Riptide raised for a blow even as I knew that this was all nothing but a dream. The black woman joined the girl and they exchanged a few words. The woman took the girl¡¯s knife and, with a single firm stroke, severed the wretched thing¡¯s spine.

    I felt a sense of rightness. The earth and the trees and the wind sighed in relief. The girl and the woman spoke, but I only really heard the girl¡¯s final words. ¡°There is one more of these things somewhere out there,¡± she whispered.

    And then¡­

    ¡­I woke up.

    ¡°Percy? Are you awake?¡± Crystal¡¯s soft voice whispered from the doorway.

    I groaned softly and half sat up. ¡°Probably?¡± I mumbled back. I waved my hand in the general direction of the desk and the glass of water I¡¯d left there the night before flew into my hand, a few drops of room-temperature water splashing down onto my bare chest and sending waves of clarity through my muscles.

    I took a long drink, nearly draining the cup dry, then poured the rest out onto myself. ¡°Yeah. Yeah, I¡¯m awake,¡± I said, louder this time.

    The door creaked open and I turned towards Crystal, finally opening my sleep-encrusted eyes. It was dark in my room, the only light the pale shine of the moon, stars, and street lights trickling through the half-open curtains.

    I had half expected to find Crystal naked again, and I wasn¡¯t sure whether to be disappointed or not when I finally blinked the last dregs of sleep from my eyes and realized she was wearing a t-shirt and sweatpants. On one hand, the obvious. On the other hand, maybe going right back to bed after I¡¯d just woken up wasn¡¯t a great idea. And that dream¡­

    ¡°Oh, sorry! Did I wake you up?¡± she asked apologetically.

    I shrugged. ¡°Sorta? Don¡¯t worry about it.¡±

    ¡°Okay. Um, how are you feeling?¡±

    I considered the question. ¡°Uhhh,¡± I stretched my arms out above my head and twisted my shoulders back and forth. My neck was a little stiff, but my muscles felt alright and my head was no longer stuffed full of cotton. ¡°Pretty good I think.¡±

    Crystal was staring at me.

    ¡°Do I have something on my face?¡± I brushed a hand over my cheeks and forehead, then scratched my neck. There was something kind of weird about the feeling of indestructible nails trying to scratch indestructible skin but at least it got rid of that phantom itch I sometimes felt. It would be a real curse if I couldn¡¯t scratch my back properly when my shirt got bunched up just wrong.

    Crystal jolted, ¡°N¨C¨Cno, uh. Sorry!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re fine, it was probably about time for me to wake up anyway. Actually, what time is it?¡± I groped around for my phone, but I was pretty sure I¡¯d left it in the pocket of my jeans, which were thrown haphazardly over the chair in the corner. Unfortunately, unlike cups of water, phones were not filled with water, so I couldn¡¯t just make it fly over to me with a thought. They really ought to get on that. A water powered phone would be pretty sweet if I said so myself.

    ¡°Right, yeah. Uh. That. Sorry. I mean, uh. It''s like a little after eleven?¡± The last few words came out as a sort of squeak, an absolutely adorable sound from the typically confident and composed Crystal.

    I kicked the sheets tangling around my feet away and clambered out of bed. I was still a little tired and my legs were a tad sleepy, but that was easily taken care of by a quick stretch. I leaned down and touched my toes, then shook my feet out and bent my body over to the left and then the right.

    ¡°Ah,¡± I sighed softly, ¡°much better.¡± I turned back to Crystal, who was patiently waiting by the door. ¡°Sorry about that, I¡¯m sometimes a bit stiff when I wake up.¡±

    ¡°I noticed!¡±

    I grinned at her, though I doubted it was really visible in the barely lit room. ¡°That¡¯s why I like training in the mornings, or maybe just getting in a bit of a workout,¡± I told her sagely, ¡°It doesn''t have to be much, just whatever you have time for, but it always gets me going for the rest of the day.¡± That tip from Chiron had been a real pain for the first few months, but once I¡¯d buckled down and finally got used to waking up before school for a jog or some sword drills, it had really borne fruit.

    I cracked my knuckles, rolled my neck, then squared my shoulders and bent backwards, feeling a satisfying shift in my spine. Suddenly my stomach growled and I blushed a little. ¡°Oh right, uh. Is there something I could eat? I¡¯m starving. I promise I¡¯ll pay you guys back once I get some money, I know I eat a lot.¡±

    Crystal considered the question for several seconds before answering. ¡°Yeah, mom put some of the chicken and rice aside for you in case you woke up hungry. There isn¡¯t much of the rice left, but we¡¯ve got a rice cooker so I can make you some more.¡±

    ¡°Oh gods bless! You¡¯re a lifesaver Crystal.¡±

    Crystal laughed softly. ¡°From what I heard on the news and PHO, I should be the one calling you that.¡±

    I waved her off. ¡°Eh, I was in the right place at the right time. It happens.¡± I¡¯d have to look up what people were saying later. Having a phone was so convenient.

    ¡°That¡¯s not what I heard,¡± Crystal said doubtfully. I walked over to where I¡¯d left my pants and started rifling through the pockets for my phone. ¡°I¡¯ll, uh, go set the rice to cook!¡± she said quickly, and I heard her reopen the door.

    I grabbed my phone and turned back around. ¡°One sec, I¡¯ll come with you,¡± I called out, but Crystal was already gone. I was nearly out the door when I stopped and looked down at myself. All of myself.

    Ah. ¡°Maybe I should put some pants on first,¡± I mumbled. And maybe a shirt and underwear while I was at it. Ugh, Crystal was right, I really did need some new clothes.

 Chapter 31 - Those We Didnt Leave Behind

    I came downstairs several minutes later to find Crystal with her head buried in the refrigerator. There was an odd-looking plastic contraption on the counter with a thin column of steam rising out of a small hole in the top and she¡¯d already set out a plate, cup, and fork on the island where she¡¯d eaten breakfast.

    I walked up behind her and found her balancing two differently-sized tupperware containers in her left hand while she continued to rifle around the bottom shelf with her right looking for something else. She was kneeling on the floor, her butt pointed up into the air and wiggling back and forth as she moved. Her shirt had ridden up somewhat, revealing a band of smooth, pale skin and, even in baggy sweatpants, she made for quite a sight.

    I admired the view for a moment, then made my presence known. ¡°Anything I can do to help?¡± I asked softly.

    Crystal yelped and jerked backwards, slamming the back of her head into the plastic shelf above her. ¡°Fuck!¡± she swore loudly. The two containers she was holding went tumbling and I snatched them out of the air before they could burst open against the floor. ¡°Percy!¡± she exclaimed, turning around to face me and raising a hand to rub the back of her head, ¡°I didn¡¯t hear you.¡±

    ¡°Sorry,¡± I apologized, setting the containers I¡¯d caught down on the counter. I rubbed the back of my head awkwardly as well, remembering the pain of slamming my head into things before I¡¯d gotten the Curse. ¡°That looked painful.¡±

    ¡°It was,¡± she grouched. She finally pulled her other hand out of the fridge, revealing a bottle of blue gatorade held triumphantly in her fist. ¡°I knew we had one here somewhere! I remember you said you liked blue foods and drinks, so¡­¡±

    ¡°I do. I really appreciate it.¡±

    She stood up and handed me the bottle, still rubbing the back of her head. Feeling impulsive, I tilted her head down and planted a kiss on the top of her head like my mom used to do to me. ¡°There, all better,¡± I told her jokingly.

    Crystal snorted in amusement. ¡°When Amy does that, it actually works, you know. That¡¯s how she used to heal Vicky before Carol made her stop.¡±

    I pouted. ¡°Well, maybe my kisses don¡¯t heal, but,¡± I leaned forward and gently kissed Crystal on the lips, then pulled back, ¡°I hope they still make you feel better?¡±

    Crystal stopped rubbing her head to grab my shoulders. ¡°I don¡¯t know, I think I need to run another experiment.¡± Our lips met in the middle and this time the kiss lasted significantly longer, our tongues dancing together and my heart pounding in my chest. This time it was Crystal¡¯s turn to break the kiss. She pulled away, red faced and panting.

    ¡°So?¡± I asked, winking at her despite knowing that my face probably looked just as flustered as hers did.

    She sighed dreamily. ¡°I think it works, but I¡¯ll need more trials to run a proper study.¡± My stomach growled and we both laughed. ¡°But that can wait until later.¡±

    I loaded a large portion of chicken, two eggs that were floating in the sauce, and the remaining tablespoon of rice onto my plate and Crystal put it in the microwave for me. It looked a little bit unfamiliar, but it smelled absolutely amazing. Crystal told me it was called adobo and it was a recipe her mom had learned from one of her coworkers.

    While I waited for everything to warm up, I twisted the gatorade bottle open and took a drink. It was cold and refreshing, but tasted a bit different than the blue gatorade I was used to. I turned the bottle around and squinted at the label. ¡°Huh.¡±

    Crystal, who was standing beside me by the microwave, leaned over and peaked past my arm. ¡°Is something wrong?¡±

    ¡°Nah, it''s just¡­I don¡¯t think we have this one back home.¡± It was called Raspberry Rime, or at least I was pretty sure that was what it said. There was a picture on the bottle; a lady in a dark blue visor and a skintight blue costume with fur around the collar.

    ¡°Oh, yeah, I guess you wouldn¡¯t. Rime is a Protectorate hero over in Philly. It''s pretty common for big brands to partner with big-name heroes, particularly if they¡¯ve been around for a while, but I can¡¯t imagine you have the same names in your world. ¡±

    ¡°Definitely not, no,¡± I said, distracted by studying the label on the bottle.

    It was a weird thing to think about. At camp, sure we honored each other, but not like this. I imagined picking up a can of soda or a bag of chips and seeing the Stoll brothers grinning up at me from the packaging. Beckendorf¡¯s broad shoulders and kind smile on some fancy brand-name power tools. Silena Beauregard looking all elegant on a magazine cover. Annabeth¡­maybe on a package of notebooks, or a fancy kit with three different protractors, two set squares, and a nice compass.

    I squeezed my eyes shut. We¡¯d saved Olympus. Saved the world, even. And barely anyone knew or cared. In a few years¡­we¡¯d all just be stories, if that. Maybe, if we were really lucky, we¡¯d end up in some new myths that Chiron could tell around the bonfire. Few demigods, even the best and brightest, lasted long. There was a reason that Camp Halfblood was a summer camp and not a town. No one really expected any of us to live long enough to need anything more than that.

    I hadn¡¯t been at camp for very long compared to some people, but even I¡¯d noticed. There were new faces every year, and a lot fewer old faces. New head counselors were chosen not when the old ones retired, but when they just didn¡¯t come back one day. Annabeth had once confided to me that she was the only person in her cabin left from when she¡¯d arrived at camp. Four head counselors and nineteen of her other siblings had disappeared one-by-one, replaced by new gray-eyed boys and girls looking to their eldest surviving sister for guidance.

    It was a horrible thing to contemplate. Just horrible. I¡¯d done my best to help, to change things, but I knew deep down that I was just sticking a bandaid on a gushing wound. No matter how many monsters I killed, they would always come back. No matter how much I tried to improve the conditions at camp, there was no changing the fact that, in the end, it was still just a summer camp for children. No matter how much I insisted that all children needed to get claimed, some slipped through the cracks or came to camp and died anyway.

    I didn¡¯t know the names of any of the nine campers that had once welcomed Annabeth into Cabin Six. I wasn¡¯t sure that anyone at camp did, not anymore. Maybe Chiron. Maybe. I was closer than most campers to the ancient trainer of heroes, and I¡¯d seen the way he would sometimes pause and look through a camper. No doubt seeing generations of their dead brothers and sisters whom he¡¯d helped to the best of his abilities, but ultimately lost anyway.

    Sure not everyone died. Some campers were strong, clever, or lucky enough to make it out in the world. I¡¯d even met a few of them in the past few months. There were a good number in the army, for one. Even if you were the only one with Celestial Bronze, it was a lot safer to run into a monster surrounded by friends with guns and the wherewithal to back you up in a fight.

    PMCs were another popular choice. Argus made sure to point older demigods with the right temperament towards Elysium or ARGOS, both demigod owned and run companies. That way, not only did you have plenty of armed demigods around you, but they also mostly took jobs in parts of the world that had never been the center of western civilization. America and the old world were both filled with all sorts of gods, monsters, and nasty dangers, but the Middle East, Africa, and parts of Asia were a lot safer. Most never looked back

    But not everyone had the temperament for that. Lots of demigods wanted to go to college. Start a business. Get a job. Have a family. Leave all the violence and the danger behind. Some succeeded. We talked about those ones sometimes, gods bragging about their famous and successful children. Others though¡­

    This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    Lots of demigods left for the mortal world and simply vanished.

    ¡°Percy?¡± Crystal asked, worry bleeding into her voice. She had her hand on my shoulder and a concerned frown on her face.

    The microwave beeped, announcing that my food had long since been fully heated and that I should go get it. I shook myself and tried to smile reassuringly. ¡°Sorry, I, uh. Got lost in thought.¡±

    I opened the microwave and grabbed my plate, ignoring the feeling of the too-hot ceramic against my invulnerable skin. I was invulnerable, but so many others that I¡¯d left behind weren¡¯t. My hand was shaking slightly and I set my gatorade down and used both hands to carry my plate back to the table.

    ¡°Are you okay?¡± Crystal asked. I nodded. ¡°Percy, you don¡¯t look okay.¡±

    I sat down and took a drink from the bottle. It was too salty and too sweet at the same time, but I still drained half the bottle.

    Crystal pulled up a stool and settled down beside me, close enough that I could feel the warmth radiating off her body. ¡°You¡¯re shaking,¡± she whispered, ¡°Is it something I said?¡±

    ¡°No¡­no. I mean, yes. Sort of. But it''s alright. I¡¯m just thinking about¡­home.¡±

    Crystal¡¯s expression softened. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t mean to upset you.¡±

    I speared a piece of chicken on my fork and took a big bite in lieu of answering. It tasted just as good as it smelled, salty and tangy and just a little sweet and spicy.

    ¡°I know I already asked this morning, but¡­do you want to talk about it now?¡± Crystal asked after a moment.

    I took another bite, chewed, swallowed, and then sighed heavily. ¡°Maybe. I don¡¯t know.¡±

    ¡°Then how about I just ask you some questions, and you can decide if you want to answer them? I won¡¯t mind if you don¡¯t want to say anything. I just hate to see you hurting like this.¡±

    I considered her words as I cut an egg into three pieces with my fork and popped one in my mouth. I didn¡¯t usually like boiled eggs much, but this was quite nice. Well done, but not dry at all and with a great flavor.

    ¡°Sure, I guess,¡± I decided. I smiled at Crystal tightly, my lips straining to make a familiar face. She looked so earnest, so open and welcoming.  ¡°Why not. I guess¡­it probably can¡¯t hurt.¡± I ate another forkful, one with rice, chicken, and another piece of egg. I chewed slowly, appreciating the work that Mrs. Dallon, Sarah, had put into cooking the food. I wasn¡¯t part of her family, but she¡¯d welcomed me into her home as though I was.

    She was a good woman. All the members of New Wave that I¡¯d met so far were good people. Perhaps they had their flaws, but who didn¡¯t? In a way, I was glad that they didn¡¯t live in my world. I never could have stayed with them if they did. My presence would have attracted swarms of monsters, something no mortal family¨C¨Cnot even one with superpowers¨C¨Cwas prepared to deal with.

    ¡°So uh¡­¡± Crystal looked around, suddenly seeming unsure of herself. Her eyes landed on the gatorade bottle. ¡°...what¡¯s your favorite gatorade flavor?¡±

    I snorted in amusement. ¡°You know, that¡¯s not really the question I was expecting you to start with.¡±

    Crystal threw her hands up in the air. ¡°Like it or not, I¡¯m a finance major. I have no idea what I¡¯m doing.¡±

    I picked up the bottle and turned it over in my hands a few times. ¡°Probably Frost Glacier Freeze,¡± I answered after a moment. ¡°It''s the bluest blue one.¡±

    Crystal¡¯s face fell slightly. ¡°Oh. I don¡¯t think we have that one here.¡±

    ¡°Cool Blue is also pretty good.¡±

    Crystal snapped her fingers and pointed at me. ¡°That one we definitely have.¡± She lowered her hands, resting both elbows on the table in front of her. ¡°So, does Gatorade do any hero sponsorships back in your world?¡±

    I shook my head. ¡°No, definitely not. We uh, never really did anything like that.¡±

    ¡°Oh right, I remember you telling us that heroes in your world didn¡¯t really go out in public much.¡±

    ¡°Something like that, yeah. We weren¡¯t like, celebrities, not like heroes here are. Just ordinary people with slightly less ordinary lives.¡±

    Crystal sighed softly. ¡°That sounds kind of nice, actually. I know it''s not like that for most heroes, but sometimes it''s really exhausting to have random people recognize me when I¡¯m just trying to get to class on time or get some coffee.¡±

    I said nothing, just rolling the other egg around the outside of my plate with my fork. It wasn¡¯t really a situation I could relate to. Most of the time, if someone (or something) recognized me in the mortal world, they were either another demigod from camp or they immediately started running.

    Crystal quickly shifted tracks. ¡°So you guys don¡¯t have any sort of sponsorship deals and stuff?¡±

    ¡°No¨C¨Cwell, not really. Maybe a little bit internally?¡± Didn¡¯t Hephaestus TV sometimes use demigods to promote products? ¡°But nothing like this, big and public.¡±

    Before she could say anything else, the plastic contraption on the table beeped and Crystal stood up. She cracked the top open to reveal a big pot full of steaming white rice and used a matching plastic scoop to serve some into a bowl that she slid towards me.

    ¡°Thanks,¡± I murmured.

    Crystal shrugged. ¡°You made breakfast. And it''s not like running the rice cooker is hard. Mom did all the real work.¡±

    ¡°Maybe,¡± I shrugged, ¡°but I still appreciate it.¡±

    Crystal walked back around the island and retook her seat, this time leaning on one elbow and facing towards me. She watched me silently for nearly a minute as I slowly ate. I was not a very quiet person by nature, but it was a comfortable silence. And I was very hungry.

    ¡°So¡­what was Camp like?¡± she asked finally, ¡°That shirt you¡¯re always wearing. It¡¯s from your hero camp, right?¡±

    It wasn¡¯t the question I¡¯d been expecting, but it was one I¡­probably could answer. ¡°It was¡­it was nice. The last time I was there, a few weeks ago I guess even if it feels a lot longer, there was a lot of construction going on. We um,¡± I scrambled for a good way to phrase things. ¡°We decided to expand a bit. When we live at camp, we have cabins based on¡­what sort of powers you have, but for a long time a bunch of people were just shoved into cabin eleven instead of having their own place to live. Now we are adding eight new ones so there¡¯s more space and no one feels excluded.¡±

    ¡°Oh that¡¯s cool. So did you like, live in the Brute cabin? Or I guess you¡¯re also a shaker?¡±

    I shook my head, ¡°Uh, it''s a bit more complicated than that. Powers here¡­capes are a lot more varied in what they can do. Back home, we¡¯re a lot more like New Wave. You guys would all have your own cabin, then like there was the cabin with all the Thinkers with similar abilities, that sort of thing.¡±

    ¡°Oh. Huh. That¡¯s pretty cool, I guess. So which cabin did you live in?¡±

    ¡°I spent a couple nights at eleven, most people do. Then I moved to cabin three.¡±

    ¡°Were there a lot of people living with you?¡±

    I shook my head again. ¡°No. No, it was just me¡­most of the time. There was another boy. Tyson. But he wasn¡¯t around for very long.¡±

    ¡°I guess that makes sense. Hydrokinesis is a pretty rare power from what I¡¯ve heard.¡±

    I decided not to say anything there. There was no reason to get into the whole ¡®A half-blood of the eldest gods¡¯ thing.

    After a moment, Crystal seemed to realize that I wasn¡¯t going to respond and changed directions. ¡°What about the other cabins? You said eleven was too packed so you needed more space, but it sounds like cabin three wasn¡¯t very full.¡±

    Our conversation progressed slowly. There were lulls and pauses, we jumped from topic to topic, but slowly I began to open up more and more about life at camp. I tried to stay away from the more unpleasant or divine details, but Crystal had been right. It was nice to talk to someone about how.

    Eventually however, it suddenly veered in a direction I had been half expecting and half dreading. ¡°So, I remember what you said last night,¡± Crystal teased, leaning towards me until she was almost pressed up against my arm. ¡°I was surprised. Either all the girls at camp must have been blind or you had to have been beating them off with a stick.¡±

    My slowly widening smile froze and I nearly bent the fork I¡¯d been toying with in half. I dropped it before I could further destroy the piece of cutlery and it clattered down onto my empty plate.

    Crystal leaned back, a soft ¡®oh¡¯ slipping from her lips.

    I squeezed my eyes shut. ¡°It''s¡­complicated. There¡­there was someone.¡±

    Crystal looked torn. ¡°I¡¯m¡­I¡¯m so sorry, Percy. I didn¡¯t realize. I should have asked before¨C¨C¡±

    ¡°It''s not that. She¡­I didn¡¯t leave her behind. She¡­she isn¡¯t around anymore.¡± I stood up abruptly, nearly knocking over the stool I¡¯d been sitting on. ¡°Thank you for dinner, Crystal. I think I¡¯m going to go back to bed now.¡±

 Chapter 32 - Words in the Dark

    The ceiling of the Pelham¡¯s guest room was painted a lovely shade of pale green. Probably. I¡¯d been staring at it for well over half an hour now, but it was hard to see precise colors only by the light streaming through the small gap in the curtains. It was possible that it was just my eyes playing tricks on me.

    If I wanted to, I could find out easily enough. The light switch wasn¡¯t that far away and there was a lamp close enough that I wouldn¡¯t even need to stand up to reach it. Hades, if I was feeling particularly lazy, I could pour some water onto my eyes and check that way¨C¨Ca neat trick that one of my long-ago brothers had figured out. Turns out, dark vision underwater could be converted into some handy-dandy night vision goggles if you did it right.

    I didn¡¯t do any of those things, though. Instead, I just lay there. Eyes open, body motionless, and my mind racing round and round like a chariot race. I had Anaklusmos¡¯ pen form held loosely in my hand, the pen¡¯s familiar shape and weight a comforting anchor in a turbulent sea of emotions.

    It was kind of funny. Earlier today I¡¯d been in a life-or-death fight with a bunch of neo-nazi super villains. It sounded completely crazy and was probably having all sorts of life-changing ripple down effects all over the city right now. The Empire had been a staple of this city for years, decades even. Multiple generations of supervillains had come and gone, but the Empire had outlived them all.

    And now¡­who knows. I¡¯d helped the PRT capture a lot of capes. So many that it was doubtful that the remainder would be able to spring their compatriots free the way it seemed to happen over and over again. It was entirely possible that the Empire would be gone soon. There were probably tons of important people fretting over what had happened, what I¡¯d done, and what was going to happen next.

    Me though? The Empire had barely crossed my mind in the last hour-and-a-half. I also wasn¡¯t thinking about that freaky demigod dream I¡¯d had. I probably really needed to, but I just couldn¡¯t muster the mental capacity to do so right now. It could probably wait for now. It didn¡¯t feel like one of those ¡®in the moment¡¯ kind of dreams, but rather a ¡®oh look, here¡¯s something you need to know about¡¯ dream.

    Kind of like that weird, melancholy, and very worrying dream I¡¯d had a few nights ago. That was another can of fish I still needed to unpack. I was pretty sure I understood¡­part of it? Dad had been here, but he¡¯d faded. I wasn¡¯t sure how that was possible¨C¨Cpeople around here knew who Poseidon was, knew all the old myths¨C¨Cbut that sure was what it had looked like to me.

    No, I wasn¡¯t thinking about any of that. I was thinking about Crystal. About the time we¡¯d spent together, and the ways in which we¡¯d spent it. Walking around the city. Fighting Hookwolf. Chatting over dinner and in the kitchen. Doing things right here, in this room, in this bed.

    We hadn¡¯t even known each other for a full week. Today had been one week since I¡¯d gotten¡­gotten here in some way that I was very deliberately not going to think about because, ow, just thinking about thinking about it hurt my brain.

    We met for the first time on Saturday. She¡¯d kissed me on the lips on Monday night. And then we¡¯d done the horizontal tango together Tuesday. That was fast. That was crazy fast. That was Aphrodite girls trying to get a new car before they needed to come back to camp fast. It''s a long story¨C¨Cdon¡¯t ask.

    It was probably too fast for me.

    Crystal was nice. She was beautiful. She was smart and sexy and had a good sense of humor.

    She was also a veritable stranger who I barely knew.

    Annabeth¡­What we¡¯d had¡­It had been something special. Something really special. I was an idiot, but even I could see that much.

    We¡¯d been together through thick and thin, saved each other¡¯s lives too many times to count. She was my best friend long before I knew that we could be something more than that. When it had been time to step into the River Styx, it had been her face that had anchored my mortality and stopped me from being washed away.

    For the first time in what felt like hours, I moved. I pushed my back up off the bed and slid my free hand down until my fingers were just barely brushing the tiny celestial bronze plate that separated my mortality from the world. My nail tapped slowly against it, each tiny impact sending a shiver down my spine.

    It felt so tiny. So fragile. Like I could just slip a nail under it and pull it free. I couldn''t¨C¨Cit was very firmly attached. Hephaestus did good work. But it felt like I could. Like my mortality was just a touch away.

    My nail slid skidded off invulnerable flesh and scraped against polished celestial bronze. I jolted and quickly pulled my hand away, shaking my head to clear it of the sudden thoughts. Bad Percy!

    My mind quickly turned back to what I had been thinking of before. Crystal. Me. Our relationship. No. Whatever was going on between us.

    If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    What we had wasn¡¯t a relationship, it was a hookup. It had been amazing. It had felt amazing. But now that it had happened, I just felt a little empty inside. That wasn¡¯t what I was like. That wasn¡¯t me. I wasn¡¯t, well, Zeus. Or Dad. Or one of the other gods.

    I was Percy Jackson. I was loyal. Too loyal.

    And yet¡­I didn¡¯t regret it. It was fun. Nice. A necessary distraction. Crystal¨C¨C

    The door creaked open slightly and, as if summoned by the mere thought of her, Crystal¡¯s head poked through the opening.

    ¡°Percy, are you awake?¡± she whispered softly, her voice barely more than breath.

    I considered staying silent. Just lying back, closing my eyes, and pretending I didn¡¯t hear anything. Seeing Crystal now, talking to her¡­And if she¡¯d decided to come ¡®talk¡¯ again like she had last time, I didn¡¯t know what I would do. I didn¡¯t know what I would want to do.

    But what if it was something important? Some kind of monster attack. Another breakout attempt by the Empire. A natural disaster.

    Or even just something small that she needed my help with.

    I turned my head towards the doorway. ¡°I¡¯m awake,¡± I whispered back. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    Crystal slipped into the room and shut the door behind her. She was wearing an oversized t-shirt that covered her from the neck to the middle of her thighs and slippers, and her hair was pulled up into a messy ponytail that made my heart ache just looking at it.

    I stared at her for several seconds, then looked away. I could see the lines of her body beneath the thin fabric of the shirt, imagining exactly how she¡¯d looked standing in nearly that same spot yesterday. I mentally cursed myself when I couldn¡¯t decide if this was better or worse than her just coming in wearing nothing but her birthday suit again.

    Out of the corner of my eye I watched Crystal look down at her feet and take a deep breath. Then she looked up at me. ¡°I¡­I wanted to apologize. For yesterday, I mean.¡± She looked back down at the floor. ¡°I¡¯ve been doing some thinking, and what I did¡­it wasn¡¯t right. I pushed you into doing something you probably didn¡¯t want to do and I¡¯m really sorry about it.¡±

    I sat up. ¡°Crystal¨C¨C¡± I began, but she quickly cut me off.

    ¡°Let me finish, please, Percy?¡± She waited for a second and I stayed silent so she quickly soldier on. ¡°Consent and boundaries. It''s something we talked about in college, but I never really thought about it that way. I mean, like, about me. It was always guys pressuring girls in the examples and I didn¡¯t even think about what it might look like in the other direction.¡±

    She took another deep, slightly shaky breath. ¡°I should have talked to you. Like, actually talked to you. I regret what I did, but I don¡¯t regret what happened afterwards. You¡¯re pretty amazing, Percy, and I hope we can still be friends after this. But I¡¯d understand if¨C¨C¡±

    I sighed heavily and opened my arms. ¡°It''s alright Crystal. It''s¡­maybe it''s not what I would have done, but I don¡¯t regret what happened either. And stewing over it isn¡¯t going to help anybody.¡±

    Crystal looked surprised. ¡°Even though¡­¡± she trailed off, but I understood what she was asking.

    ¡°Annabeth¡­¡± I sighed again and remembered what Thalia had said. ¡°Annabeth would have wanted me to be happy.¡±

    ¡°Annabeth,¡± Crystal whispered, ¡°Was that her name?¡±

    I nodded, not trusting myself to say her name a third time.

    Crystal lay down on the edge of the bed, her head resting lightly beside my hand. I tilted my head towards her and huffed softly. My hand snaked out and slipped around her shoulders, allowing me to pull her in to lie by my side. ¡°It''s warmer under the covers,¡± I explained, ¡°You¡¯ll get cold.¡±

    Crystal laughed and rubbed her cold nose against my bare shoulder. ¡°You¡¯re plenty warm.¡± She slowly relaxed, some of the tension I could feel in her muscles easing. ¡°Tell me about her?¡± she asked suddenly. Realizing what she¡¯d said, she quickly followed it up with, ¡°I mean, if you don¡¯t mind. I wouldn¡¯t want to¨C¨C¡±

    ¡°It''s alright. I¡­I think I¡¯d like that.¡± I remembered the advertisements. All the capes in the news, in TV shows, on billboards, just everywhere. People knew their names, learned about their exploits, and studied their deeds. Not as myths and legends, but as current events. ¡°She was pretty amazing. I wish more people knew that. I don¡¯t even know where to start.¡±

    ¡°How about with how you two met?¡± Crystal suggested.

    I closed my eyes, looking back to my very first day at Camp Half-Blood. It had only been a few years, but it felt like a lifetime ago. I¡¯d been a completely different person back then. It was a wonder how much could change in what felt like just a single blink of an eye. I¡¯d only known Chiron as my substitute teacher, Luke had still been at Camp, and I thought the biggest baddie in Greek Myth was Hades and I had nothing to worry about because it was all just musty old stories.

    ¡°Yeah. Yeah, that¡¯s probably a good place to start. So there I was, lying half-dead in bed after nearly dying fighting this big stupid cow. I didn¡¯t know anything about anything yet and I thought I was just having some crazy dreams. So I open my eyes and she¡¯s right there, scrapping little bits of uh, medicine pudding, off my chin with a spoon. She asked me a question, I stared at her like an idiot, and then she shoved some more pudding in my mouth. Next thing I know it''s like two days later and I still had no idea what was going on.¡±

    I sighed and scratched the back of my head. ¡°Actually, that¡¯s probably like half the story. Me not knowing what¡¯s going on and Annabeth bailing me out.¡±

    ¡°It sounds like you really cared about her,¡± Crystal said softly.

    ¡°I did. I still do. I don¡¯t think I ever won¡¯t. Anyway, so the next time I saw her after that¡­¡±

    We lay there together for what must have been an hour or two. Maybe longer. I spoke softly, often pausing to reminisce between stories. Crystal mostly just lay beside me and listened, her warmth a comforting reassurance that, even though I was so far from home, I wasn¡¯t alone. Her few questions helped me keep going when my throat felt like it was going to close up and she laughed at all the right moments.

    It was nice. Crystal was right. It did help.

    Eventually, my words slowed to a crawl and my eyelids drooped. Crystal nuzzled her face into the crook of my neck and I pulled her close against my chest. I felt light as I drifted off into Hypnos¡¯ realm, lighter than I had in many, many nights.

 Chapter 33 - Freaking Breakfast

    For the second time in as many nights, I woke up with a beautiful girl cradled in my arms. My nose was pressed into her messy blonde hair and she was spooned against me, her body a warm weight pressed tightly against my chest.

    And that was about where the similarities ended. For one, she was actually wearing clothes this time; an oversized t-shirt that had ridden up around her belly and a pair of bright-red boyshorts that had been hidden from my sight the night before. It was also clearly not five in the morning¨C¨Cthere was sunlight streaming in through the narrow gap in the curtains¨C¨Cand, unlike last time, it was Crystal and not me who¡¯d woken first and was now trying to wake the other up.

    There was something tickling my palm. ¡°Percy!¡± Crystal hissed for what probably wasn¡¯t the first time, and I sleepily shifted my head a fraction of an inch to peek down the front of her body.

    Ooo boobies. The wide collar of her oversized sleeping t-shirt had ridden down, revealing both one pale, smooth shoulder and the fact that she very clearly wasn¡¯t wearing a bra. I could see just a hint of one puffy pink nipple leaving a visible bump in the thin fabric covering her chest. One of my hands was resting lightly on one luxuriously soft peak and I squeezed gently.

    After a too-long pause, my gaze continued downard and I found her futilely clawing at the hand resting lightly on her bare belly. She¡¯d managed to hook a single finger beneath my palm and was straining to move my hand to no real effect. Wedge-shaped red force fields appeared and shattered over and over again as her powers failed against divine strength.

    I blinked slowly, not quite registering what I was looking at. Before I could really figure out what she was doing, Crystal let out a long, exasperated sigh and her body relaxed, prompting me to pull her more tightly against myself. I had one hand on her bare belly and another on her shirt-covered breasts, and Crystal was very soft and warm. And squishy. Squish!

    ¡°Damn it,¡± Crystal mumbled. I closed my eyes and buried my face in her hair. It was silky smooth and smelled vaguely earthy and floral, like some sort of big tree covered in beautiful, flowering vines.

    Crystal said something else, but I didn¡¯t really register it. And then, out of absolutely nowhere, Crystal pulled her head forward¡­and then slammed it directly into my poor, innocent nose.

    ¡°Gah!¡± I yelped, more out of surprise than pain.

    ¡°Jesus christ!¡± Crystal swore simultaneously, ¡°I forgot you¡¯re made of fucking steel, god damn it!¡± She reached up to rub the back of her head. ¡°Okay, bad idea, bad idea. Damn it, that¡¯s going to leave a bruise and I¡¯m definitely going to be late to class¡­¡±

    I blinked slowly, more and more awareness returning to me with each passing second as I finally drifted fully from Hypnos¡¯ grasp. I yawned hugely, my jaw briefly feeling like it was going to crack, then hugged Crystal again. ¡°Wha¨Cat was that?¡± I asked, yawning again.

    Crystal sighed heavily. ¡°Good morning, Percy.¡±

    ¡°Good morning, Crystal.¡±

    There was a pregnant pause, Crystal¡¯s hand rubbing circles on her head and thoroughly mussing her already messy hair. Then she sighed again. ¡°Percy, could you please let go of me? I have class this morning and I can¡¯t even reach my phone like this.¡±

    I blinked, having not really noticed how exactly I was holding her. ¡°Oh, uh. Sorry.¡± I quickly let go of Crystal and she slipped out of my arms and sat up, grabbing her phone off the bedside table. She stared at the screen for a moment, then groaned and collapsed back onto the bed. ¡°Fuck, how late did we stay up yesterday? It''s eleven freaking o¡¯clock. I guess that¡¯s what I get for not setting an alarm. I guess corporate finance isn¡¯t a real class anyway.¡±

    ¡°Sorry?¡± I tried. I pushed myself partially upright with my elbows and scooted backwards until I could lean my shoulders against the headboard. The varnished wood was cool and smooth against my skin and I put my arms up into the air, stretching broadly.

    Crystal waved her hand dismissively before letting it drop back down to her side. ¡°Eh, it''s whatever. The professor doesn¡¯t take attendance or anything. My own fault for staying up so late. I just hope no one noticed that I wasn¡¯t in bed.¡±

    Oh right, that was why she¡¯d woken us both up so early yesterday, wasn¡¯t it? Even though we hadn¡¯t, uh, done anything last night, I wasn¡¯t sure Sarah and Neil would see it that way. I felt bad about deceiving them in such a way¨C¨Cthey¡¯d been nothing but good to me and had welcomed me, a stranger, into their home¨C¨Cbut the teenage boy inside me absolutely rebelled at the idea of saying anything.

    ¡°Is that going to be a problem?¡±

    Crystal exhaled loudly. ¡°I really freaking hope not. Mom doesn¡¯t usually check on me before she leaves for work, but it''s happened before.¡±

    The room fell silent. I continued stretching while Crystal stared up at her phone, her thumb lazily swiping up and down the screen. Eventually, she huffed and dropped her phone on the bed beside her before rolling onto her side to face me. ¡°I guess no classes for me today! So uh, I guess I should do something productive today. Shopping?¡±

    ¡°Still broke,¡± I reminded her gently.

    ¡°Blagh. We can just windowshop or whatever. I can afford to grab you a few shirts and some new jeans¨C¨Cyou can just pay me back later or something.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure? I wouldn¡¯t want to impose.¡± I sucked in a breath through my teeth. I was already staying in their house and eating their food. ¡°More than I already am, I mean.¡±

    ¡°It''s totally fine, Percy. Helping people, it''s what we do. And anyway, what you did yesterday more than pays for whatever help we¡¯ve given you. I know how to read between the lines¨C¨Cyou took down like, a half-dozen Empire capes while the Protectorate sat around and twiddled their thumbs.¡±

    Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

    ¡°The heroes helped!¡±

    Crystal stared at me flatly and raised an eyebrow. I looked away. After a moment, she shoved her phone at me. ¡°There isn¡¯t any footage of what happened inside, but some guy uploaded this last night.¡±

    I looked down at the screen and almost instantly recognized the scene. Fenja and Menja were fighting Assault and Battery, wildly flailing their weapons around and absolutely tearing up the surrounding street. Then the camera shook and panned around, taking a moment to focus before showing me crouched in my armor on the edge of the building, close enough that you could clearly see every detail Hephestus had worked into the surface of the celestial bronze.

    I knew what was coming next. This must be the video that guy behind the AC had taken. I watched myself wave at the camera, then leap from the roof. The camera followed me, but there was a slight delay. The next thing I could see was me slamming into the closer valkyrie and her collapsing, Battery¡¯s contribution completely invisible from this angle.

    Crystal pulled the phone away before the video could continue. ¡°People were already talking about you after what happened with Hookwolf, but that time there was barely any video. This guy captured like, the whole fight. You tore them apart in like, thirty seconds. If I hadn¡¯t seen you sparring with Vicky, I would have been terrified for you.¡±

    I felt a need to defend the other heroes¡¯ contributions. They were just mortals, fighting monsters that would give plenty of campers pause. Those two giant villainesses had been tougher than anything a normal demigod could expect to run into on a day-to-day basis. ¡°Battery was a huge help. You can¡¯t see it in the video, but she knocked out Menja¡¯s knee. That¡¯s why she went down so hard.¡±

    Crystal waved her hand dismissively. ¡°Yeah, yeah, there¡¯s another angle that shows that bit, though it''s a lot blurrier. Not every day a gang attacks the PRT headquarters. A ton of people stopped to record the action. Anyway, that¡¯s not what matters. The PRT put out a press release and they actually went out and publicly thanked and acknowledged you for your help. They hate doing that for independants, so everyone knows you must have basically done all the heavy lifting yourself.¡±

    I considered what had actually happened and nodded slowly. I¡¯d need to take a look at that press release, out of curiosity if nothing else. I¡¯d just been thinking about how demigods never got any publicity, I guess it was time to pay the piper on that one.

    Crystal tried to sit up, gave up, and then floated up out of bed kinda like that one possessed girl from that horror movie, except she looked a lot better doing it. She floated horizontally out of bed, her long hair dragging across the bed sheets, then rotated ninety degrees and dropped lightly onto her feet.

    ¡°Do you need the bathroom? I want to go take a shower.¡±

    ¡°Go ahead. I¡¯ll make breakfast then.¡±

    Crystal pumped her arm. ¡°Fuck yeah! Breakfast!¡±

    Even though she had her back to me, I did my best to raise an eyebrow. ¡°So almost getting caught my your mom is only worth a ¡®freaking¡¯, but breakfast is worth a ¡®fuck¡¯?¡±

    ¡°Only if you don¡¯t burn it this time,¡± Crystal fired back instantly.

    ¡°It sounds like someone doesn¡¯t want pancakes.¡±

    ¡°It sounds like someone doesn''t want a fu¨C¨C¡± Crystal slapped her hand over her mouth, cutting off the rest of the sentence, seemingly in shock at her own response. She took a deep breath. ¡°I¡¯m going to go take a shower now.¡± Then she literally flew out of the room, her toes only barely brushing the floor in her haste to flee.

    It took a truly godly effort, but I managed to hold my laughter until the door slammed shut behind her.

    Nearly half-an-hour later, Crystal walked into the kitchen, her hair wrapped in a towel. She was wearing a simple t-shirt and short exercise shorts that hugged her butt and thighs in a way that drew my eyes like a siren¡¯s call, and I could feel drops of water from the shower glistening on her bare neck and arms that she hadn¡¯t quite managed to dry off.

    She¡¯d spent nearly half an hour in the shower, only to rush down here almost as soon as she got out, drawn by the alluring scent of pancakes drifting up the stairs. She barely seemed to notice me, her eyes fixed on the plate piled high with freshly-cooked, golden-brown deliciousness.

    I looked up from my own phone and watched with amusement as Crystal walked right past me and leaned down over her plate to take a deep breath, an almost loopy smile on her face. She blindly groped for the maple syrup which I¡¯d set out for her, then poured a¡­very generous portion of it onto her plate.

    She set the bottle aside and then waved her hand around looking for something else. Only after nearly ten seconds of failure did she finally look over and realize that there was nothing else there. Crystal finally turned to me, a pout on her lips.

    I shrugged from my spot by the fridge. ¡°I didn¡¯t know what else you liked on your pancakes.¡±

    ¡°Nutella, the cranberry jam, and butter,¡± she listed off.

    ¡°As you command.¡± Thankfully I¡¯d gotten well-enough acquainted with the Pelham¡¯s kitchen to know where everything she wanted was. Her toppings of choice were quickly assembled beside her, and she proceeded to bury her plate until only tiny spots of the fluffy pancakes remained visible.

    Once she was done, she dug in with gusto, by some miracle managing to avoid smearing her face with toppings. Wait no, not a miracle. She was using tiny force fields around her mouth and lips to make sure not a single spec of sugary goodness could escape. It was an inspiring sight.

    ¡°Do you want me to take care of your hair?¡± I asked after a moment.

    Crystal shoved another bite of pancakes in her mouth, chewed, swallowed, and looked up at me. ¡°Can you do that without like, messing it up? My hairdresser told me I should dry it slowly so it doesn¡¯t get frizzy.¡±

    I grimaced. ¡°I can. My powers are¡­convenient like that.¡± That had been a harrowing fact to discover, no matter how popular it made me with a certain portion of the camp¡¯s population.

    ¡°Then yes please!¡±

    I flicked my fingers in her general direction, focusing on the water I could feel soaking her hair and commanding it to gently move into the towel.

    ¡°Ooo that tickles!¡± Crystal unwrapped the towel from around her head and tossed it onto the stool beside her. She ran her fingers through her hair, brushing it back away from her face. ¡°Very handy. Maybe I¡¯ll have time to brush it before we leave.¡±

    ¡°Oh, right. Do you think we¡¯ll have time to stop by your aunt¡¯s house? Carol said the PRT finally finished processing all my paperwork and they delivered some stuff to her house this morning. The apartment is apparently going to take a few more days, but they delivered my new card to her this morning. Looks like I¡¯ll be able to pay for my own clothes today.¡±

    ¡°Huh, that¡¯s a lot faster than I would have expected.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what Carol said too.¡±

    Crystal grinned at me, her teeth stained with a little bit of nutella. ¡°I guess saving their collective butts really got the ball rolling. How much money are they giving you?¡±

    I looked back down at my phone, scrolling up to Carol¡¯s messages from earlier this morning. ¡°Uh, I¡¯m not quite sure, but Carol says it¡¯s enough to live off of, especially since the apartment is paid for separately by the PRT. There should be exact numbers in the papers they sent her.¡±

    ¡°Nice! Yeah, we can totally swing past their place. I don¡¯t know where mom keeps our spare key, but uncle Mark should be around.¡± She floated up off her stool and spun in a circle. ¡°This is going to be great! It''s been ages since I¡¯ve gone shopping!¡±

    A cold shiver of dread ran down my spine. There was something deeply sinister about the gleam in Crystal¡¯s eyes.

 Chapter 34 - Enemy of Man

    I¡¯d initially assumed that we were going to go to the Boardwalk, but in hindsight it made sense that a city as big as Brockton Bay would have more than one place you could go shopping. It was no Big Apple, but it was still silly to think that three-hundred-fifty-thousand people would all flock to one rather nice but ultimately not-that-big street when they needed a new pair of pants or something.

    No, according to Crystal, the Boardwalk was mostly just a tourist trap. It had some nice restaurants and cafes, as well as some fancy boutiques that Vicky loved to browse, but outside of that it wasn¡¯t really a good place to get clothing and stuff. Most of the shops sold stuff like themed t-shirts and other overpriced, low-quality junk.

    Instead, we boarded the bus and headed downtown. I was a bit hesitant about that first part¨C¨CI hadn¡¯t really had good experiences with buses over the past few years. School buses were mostly fine, but ever since I''d gotten jumped by the Furies in one during my very first quest, I¡¯d done my best to avoid depending on buses in general. Flimsy, confined spaces with few (intended) exits and lots of mist-blinded mortals around were not good places for demigods to hang around.

    Thankfully the bus was both mostly empty and blessedly monster-free. There weren¡¯t even any of the local mortal types of monsters. Crystal and I found a spot next to the emergency exit¨C¨Cjust in case¨C¨Cand I spent the trip entertaining her with a lightly-edited retelling of my not-so-good past experiences with buses.

    It was still painful to talk about Annabeth, but it was easier than I¡¯d thought it would be. Definitely easier than it would have been a few days ago. I think it helped that I was talking about just how badass she¡¯d been. Not many twelve-year-olds, even demigods, would be both willing and able to physically wrestle a Fury. The image of Annabeth hanging from around Mrs. Dodds neck like a some kind of novelty scarf while Grover tied her up with her own whip was one that I doubted I¡¯d ever forget.

    We made it to Hillside Mall without any trouble. It was about a twenty minute trip by bus, but Crystal¡¯s company made that time fly by. She was very easy to talk to. Normally I never knew what to say when I was talking with mortals¨C¨CI couldn¡¯t exactly bring up Camp, or demigod business, or what I¡¯d spent most of my time doing these past couple of years, but it was a lot easier without the Mist getting in the way and Crystal¡¯s own experience. She¡¯d seen some weird stuff in Brockton Bay over the years. Not demigod weird, but close enough that she understood.

    Sure I had to change a word here or there, but I was starting to get used to doing that. I think Crystal probably noticed that I wasn¡¯t saying everything, but she didn¡¯t pry. I guess the whole secret identity business was good for something. It probably wasn¡¯t unusual for capes to gloss over certain important details when they were talking about their lives.

    Hillside Mall was, well. A mall. I wasn¡¯t exactly a particularly popular teenager, but I was still a teenager! I¡¯ve been to my fair share of malls over the years. Mostly with my mom, I guess, but sometimes on my own or with my classmates!

    It was a big, blocky building on the opposite side of downtown from the PRT building, not far from where Crystal had gone to school. It had two levels, a big round food court in the middle, a huge department store at both ends of the building, and a whole bunch of different little shops and outlets along the walls.

    The place was pretty empty when we got there, but apparently it tended to fill up around four when Arcadia High and the other schools in the area let out for the day and people started to get off of work. Crystal pointed out the big candy store near the entrance that she used to frequent with her friends, as well as a few other shops she liked.

    We stopped at the center of the wide hall that cut through the mall. I looked one way, squinting at the huge, blocky sign at the end of the hall, then the other way, and finally turned to Crystal. ¡°So, uh¡­¡± I¡¯d never really had to buy myself a new wardrobe before. Especially not at like, an actual mall.

    Crystal looked around, looking slightly lost herself, then straightened her back and squared her shoulders. ¡°I guess we should start at KCDimes for the essentials, and then we can move onto filling things out at some of the other stores?¡± She started off strong, but by the end her voice became hesitant, turning her words into more of a question than a statement. ¡°Sorry, I, uh, usually go shopping with Vicky. She¡¯s the one that¡¯s¨C¨C¡±

    I cut her off, flashing her a big smile and a thumbs up. ¡°That sounds good to me!¡± It seemed like a reasonable plan, at least. ¡°It''s not like we can¡¯t always come back later if we miss something.¡±

    Crystal smiled back at me, looking a bit more confident than she had a moment earlier. ¡°Right. Plus it''s probably better not to spend all the money right away. At least not until you get everything sorted with Aunty and uh,¡± she looked around, glancing at the handful of people walking through the mall around us. ¡°...them,¡± she finished lamely.

    Oh right. Normal people didn¡¯t get money from the government like I was. ¡°I don¡¯t really think that will be a problem. It''s just clothing.¡± I¡¯d briefly flipped through the papers Carol had left for me and Crystal had helped me read through the rest. The sort of small black print the PRT used on all its documents was killer for my dyslexia. The words just floated right up off the page and got all tangled together like seaweed.

    I honestly wasn¡¯t sure how to judge how much money the PRT was giving me. Stuff didn¡¯t cost quite the same around here as it had back home, and I¡¯d never really had to live off my own income before. By the time I was old enough to start really trying to figure all that stuff out, I had dad¡¯s Poseidoncard in my pocket and I had much bigger things on my mind.

    It felt like a lot of money, though apparently inflation had been a lot worse around here than it had been back home. Carol¡¯s notes mentioned trying to get even more out of the PRT, but that hadn¡¯t gone anywhere. She did note that she might be able to make the number go up in the next few months, though that might not be as relevant if she managed to figure out the whole salvaging shipwrecks thing.

    Still, according to Carol and Crystal, it was enough to live on, especially if I didn¡¯t need to pay Carol out of it, and since my housing was otherwise taken care of. And like, no matter how much more expensive a loaf of bread was here then back home, I was just buying some new clothing. How expensive could that really be?Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

    Crystal stared at me for a long moment, then burst out laughing. ¡°One thing I¡¯ve learned from shopping with Vicky,¡± she told me between peels of laughter, ¡°is that you can spend any amount of money when you¡¯re trying to buy clothing. It¡¯s worse for girls, but men¡¯s clothes can be pretty expensive.¡±

    I looked at her doubtfully, but there was a shred of doubt in my own mind as well. The wallet in my pocket suddenly felt very light, even though it was mostly full of cards, not cash. ¡°I mean, I just need some basics, right?¡± I hedged.

    Crystal finally managed to get her laughter under control and gave me a speculative look. ¡°Hmm. Something like that.¡±

    I felt a cold shiver run down my spine, that same sort of ill feeling that came from shadow travel or suddenly running into a Titan. I swallowed heavily. Those jokes about going shopping with girls were just jokes, right? Right? I¡¯d bought stuff with Annabeth a few times, and it had always been perfectly fine.

    Then again, I¡¯d also heard plenty of stories from the boys and girls in the Aphrodite cabin. There were always a lot of campers in that cabin¨C¨CAphrodite had a lot of kids and actually bothered to claim them most of the time¨C¨Cand they loved to talk.

    ¡°Let''s go.¡± Crystal grabbed my hand and began pulling me down the way-to-white hall towards the black sign in the distance. What could I really do but let myself get dragged along?

    The meeting room was silent. Though the footage that they¡¯d been watching had come to an end nearly a minute earlier, no one seemed quite willing to be the first to speak up.

    Shawn¡¯s mouth was uncomfortably dry and he couldn¡¯t quite stop himself from bouncing his fingers up and down on one of the armored pieces that covered his thigh. The piece had received only a scant handful of crystallizations, just like most of the rest of his armor. Only his breastplate had gotten a reasonable amount of his attention, and he¡¯d definitely been neglecting it as well.

    It just always felt like a waste. He¡¯d always felt that it was better to not get hit in the first place. He had his helmet to help him avoid getting hit, his boots to get him out of harm¡¯s way, and his arclance to put the other guy down before they could get too close. If he really needed to take a hit, that was what the shield was for.

    He could feel the day¡¯s power welling up inside him, slowly getting close to the point where he could channel it into another boost. Another hour, maybe two. Just in time for his afternoon patrol.

    Maybe today he¡¯d put it into his breastplate again. Or one of the other pieces of his armor. Image had been subtly poking him to get another part of his kit to the point where it gained his distinctive look, and his breastplate was his best bet for that. Sure his helmet held more days worth of power than any other part of his kit, but he liked to keep that a secret from the public. From experience, it would probably only take a week or two to push the breastplate to the next level.

    But would that matter? Everyone expected that he¡¯d someday be on the same level as the Triumvirate. He was Brockton Bay¡¯s rising star, a real ¡®hometown hero¡¯ according to all the magazines. But how long was that going to take? How long before he could reasonably stand up to that?

    Riptide had cut through a half-dozen veteran capes and a number of armed gangbangers in a matter of seconds. He¡¯d tangled with most of the villains in question at least once since he¡¯d joined the Protectorate, and none of them were pushovers. Riptide had made it look easy, with plenty of time to crack jokes between cracking skulls.

    His arclance certainly wouldn¡¯t do the job. Judging from how easily it shrugged off those bullets and Kaiser¡¯s blades, his best weapon wouldn¡¯t so much as scratch Riptide¡¯s armor, much less hurt the apparently invincible cape. Not unless it had a very favorable interaction with the tinkertech, and he really couldn¡¯t count on that.

    Then there was Riptide¡¯s sword, brute rating, and hydrokinesis. If he turtled up behind his shield, he¡¯d probably be fine for a little while, but the barrier he could summon with it wasn¡¯t infallible. Miss Militia could take it down with sustained fire and he¡¯d taken enough science classes to know just how much kinetic energy a big wave could carry.

    No, if it came down to a fight, his best bet was to fly away and hope to get out of Riptide¡¯s range. The protection his breastplate and helmet provided him with was pretty good, but it wouldn¡¯t save him from drowning if Riptide decided to force a few gallons of water down his throat. Shawn shuddered slightly at the idea. He¡¯d gotten to the PRT building in time to help Assault and the PRT troopers deal with Fenja and Menja and there was something chilling about seeing the twin Valkyries helplessly cocooned in their watery prisons.

    Well, at least he was a hero. That was something. Hopefully he stayed that way, and the PRT didn¡¯t screw things up with a hard sell. They probably wouldn¡¯t, but you never knew for certain. Director Piggot was pretty reasonable in his experience¨C¨Cthey weren¡¯t close, but he respected the severe woman¨C¨Cbut she wasn¡¯t the only senior official in the organization.

    There was a loud thump and Shawn nearly jumped out of his seat, his boots sparking beneath the table. He recovered quickly, his helmet smoothly helping him realize that it was just Deputy Director Renick¡¯s arm.

    ¡°Well,¡± the man said softly, unfazed by the dozen sets of eyes that had just turned towards him, ¡°I guess you were right after all, Director. I thought it was just hyperbole, but he really is like a mini-leviathan.¡±

    A number of people looked rather unhappy with that particular comparison. Bringing up an Endbringer like that was in rather bad taste, no matter how apt the comparison really was. Shawn had so far avoided attending any Endbringer battles¨C¨Cthe higher ups didn¡¯t want to risk him, and he didn¡¯t want to risk it either¨C¨Cbut he¡¯d heard the horror stories.

    Armsmaster, as serious as ever, frowned as he considered something on his helmet¡¯s display. ¡°Not near as fast, nor as strong, but it is not a wholly inaccurate comparison.¡±

    The director looked like she¡¯d bitten into a lemon. ¡°Thank you Renick, Armsmaster.¡± She turned towards where several of the non-cape members of the meeting were sitting. ¡°So, does anyone else have something they¡¯d like to say about how I¡¯ve been dealing with the Case-22 situation?¡± she asked pointedly.

    No one said anything. Not even Commander Calvert, who¡¯d been rather outspoken with his opinions about the newest cape in Brockton Bay. Shawn could somewhat see where the man was coming from¨C¨Cit was rather disquieting to have another powerful cape in the city, one with fewer ties to ground his behavior than even Lung¨C¨Cbut at least he¡¯d seemed wholly heroic so far.

    Sure he¡¯d prefer that Riptide join the Protectorate, but he was honestly fine with the man staying independent as well. Especially if he was as receptive to emergency calls for assistance in the future as he had been the previous day. As the local Protectorate¡¯s sole flier, Shawn had worked closely with New Wave and didn¡¯t have any problems collaborating with unaffiliated heroes. Lady Photon, Laserdream, and Shielder were all competent, reasonable heroes, and he¡¯d heard good things about Glory Girl and the other members.

    ¡°Good,¡± Piggot said flatly. ¡°Then we should move on. Riptide did us a huge favor, but this is just the start of the shitstorm. Without most of their capes, the Empire is all but done with, and there¡¯s going to be a huge power vacuum that we¡¯re going to have to deal with.¡± She leaned forward, bracing herself on her elbows. ¡°It¡¯s going to be a busy couple of months, but let¡¯s make the best of it. Commander Jenkins, your report on the sweep up of Empire assets?¡±

 Chapter 35 - Torturous Beauty

    Everything started well enough. Trying on clothes was kind of tedious, but I pretty quickly found some stuff I liked well enough. Plus, sizes seemed to be pretty much the same around here as they were back home so I could just snag some packs of comfortable-looking generic boxers and socks without needing to think about it.

    Crystal¡¯s presence kind of slowed things down, but I didn¡¯t really mind. By myself I probably would have been in and out in about twenty minutes, but I trusted her to have a better eye for things than I did¨C¨Ctwo different pairs of jeans were all basically the same to me¨C¨Cand it wasn¡¯t like I was in any sort of rush. She might think that Vicky had a better fashion sense than she did, but both of them blew me clean out of the water in that regard.

    Soon enough, the pile of yesses contained two cozy hoodies¨C¨Cone turquoise and another the same shade of bright red as Crystal¡¯s shields¨C¨Csome matching sweatpants, three pairs of subtly different jeans, and a few plastic packages of socks and underwear. I also managed to snag a brightly colored Hawaiian shirt that reminded me of something my Dad would wear. Crystal was initially rather unhappy by the pick, but once I¡¯d tried it on she quickly warmed up to it.

    Things slowed down a bit after that. In my mind, I just needed a new pair of sneakers and some tees, but Crystal was absolutely insistent that I get myself something a bit fancier. I didn¡¯t really see the point. When was I going to need a suit of all things? That was a Zeus and Hades thing. My Dad had a much better fashion sense than his brothers.

    Eventually, I gave in and agreed to try on some slacks and button downs, but nothing more formal than that. It would probably just end up gathering dust most of the time, but it would make Crystal happy and that was reason enough.

    Plus, a passing saleswoman made an excellent point. There were plenty of restaurants and other places that required a certain level of fancy. I probably wasn¡¯t going to visit those places on my own, but maybe with Crystal¡­Well, her blush while the middle-aged employee loudly whispered to me was pretty telling.

    However, after a brief look around and a half-dozen outfits Crystal decided that could wait until we were done here and went somewhere a bit more specialized. KCDimes sold men¡¯s formalwear, but it wasn¡¯t really their focus and it showed.

    They did however have quite a selection of t-shirts, both mens and womens. I might not have a sense for fashion, but I knew enough to say that a tight shirt plus big breasts plus lean muscles was going to be a winning combination.

    Not to say that she wasn¡¯t pretty as it was. Crystal was hotter than a Colchis Bull. Even without literal godly genes and not a drop of ichor in her veins, her figure was nothing short of divine and it showed no matter what she was wearing. The way her current t-shirt hung down loosely from the curve of her breasts, occasionally revealing a tantalizing flash of her trim, muscular belly, was pretty great too.

    The two of us spent some time wandering around the store picking out shirts, both for ourselves and for one another. We ended up needing to do a couple of laps because on the way back to the fitting room we¡¯d been using in the men¡¯s section, Crystal decided to snag some tank tops with big cutouts around the shoulders for me in addition to the shirts she was already carrying. I wasn¡¯t going to take that lying down and turned us right around and headed back to grab a couple of things in the woman¡¯s section that I¡¯d noticed but passed on originally, not wanting to go overboard. But if she was going to go there first, I was happy to play along.

    After a bit of back and forth, we decided to do things simultaneously. The fitting room had a couple of private sections where you could change so we would each go into one, put on the next shirt, then come out to assess how it looked.

    We¡¯d gotten through maybe a half-dozen options when it happened. I was wearing a dark blue short sleeved tee that was just a little bit too tight around my shoulders to be fully comfortable. Meanwhile Crystal was trying on a long-sleeved black crop top that left a good four-inch gap between the waistband of her leggings and the hem of the shirt.

    Crystal was posing in front of a mirror, a barely visible blush dusting her cheeks, when Vicky flounced into the fitting room. She¡¯d clearly only just gotten out of school, her backpack slung casually over one shoulder, and she pouted when she saw the two of us standing together. ¡°I knew it! You guys should have told me you were going clothes shopping today! I¡¯d have ditched after lunch and come join you!¡±

    Without waiting for a response, Vicky dropped her backpack on the ground with a thump that belied just how easily she was swinging it around, then began to pick through the two heaps of shirts Crystal and I had picked out. ¡°Oooooh, this is nice!¡± she exclaimed cheerfully, her pout vanishing as quickly as it had appeared.

    She lifted the shirt up in front of her. It was one of the ones I¡¯d picked out for Crystal towards the end. It was a mostly white crop top with a high neckline and black circles around the neck and the ends of the short sleeves. It was also made of some sort of stretchy, slightly-sheer mesh that would probably become only more translucent when pulled taut.

    ¡°One sec,¡± she told us, and promptly vanished into the fitting room I¡¯d vacated a minute earlier, bringing the shirt with her.

    Crystal and I looked at one another. Neither of us had had a chance to say anything since her cousin had rushed in, nor did we really know what to say.

    ¡°How the hell did she know we were here?¡± Crystal asked softly after a long moment of silence.

    I shrugged helplessly. ¡°No idea. Maybe someone recognizes you and posted the pictures online?¡±

    ¡°Hmm, maybe,¡± Crystal hummed, not sounding convinced. ¡°But Arcadia only let out like, five minutes ago. She must have flown straight here and the school has a faraday cage to stop students from calling and texting while in class.¡±

    I shrugged again.

    ¡°I was wondering if you were back from class yet and checked your location,¡± Vicky suddenly called out. We¡¯d been talking quietly, but clearly not quietly enough.

    Crystal facepalmed. ¡°Oh right, stupid. I forgot that these new phones do that.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    Crystal grabbed her small purse from where it was hanging off the side of the mirror and dug out her cell phone. It looked a lot like the one the PRT had given me, except hers was encased in a red plastic shell. She held it up by the corner and wiggled it in the air. ¡°These new models have this feature where you can share your location with someone else. Mom and Aunty insisted that we keep it on in case something happens to one of us.¡± She turned towards Vicky¡¯s changing room and raised her voice pointedly. ¡°Not so we could stalk each other.¡±Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

    ¡°Hey!¡± Vicky exclaimed, sounding slightly offended. ¡°I¡¯m not stalking you! I was gonna ask if you or you-know-who wanted to go on a patrol later, but when I saw that you were at the mall I decided to come by and see if you could use some fashion advice!¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Crystal rolled her eyes. ¡°Sure.¡±

    ¡°Hey!¡± Vicky whined, ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡±

    Crystal turned back towards me and gave me a deadpan stare. I had to cover my mouth to stifle my laughter.

    ¡°Anyway,¡± Vicky said firmly, doing her best to change the subject, ¡°I guess you guys are getting Percy some new clothes? I¡¯ve never met a guy who looks so good in orange, but there¡¯s a lot of other colors and styles out there to choose from! He totally rocks the t-shirt and jeans vibes, but some variety is probably good too. Gotta spice things up sometimes, ya¡¯ know? It''s like if I wore my costume around all day every day. Sure I¡¯m gonna look amazing, but eventually it will get old.¡±

    Crystal leaned against my side, ¡°And humble too,¡± she mumbled, this time making sure her voice was soft enough that Vicky definitely couldn¡¯t hear her. She rolled her eyes again. ¡°We were planning to go see if we could find something at Cabbage Kingdom or British Beagle once we were done here.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a great idea! I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll be able to find something good! And I¡¯ve been meaning to get a new swimsuit. Summer¡¯s right around the corner you know! Percy, do you think you could help me pick something out? Crystal, your old suit is getting kinda worn too and I saw that Ohohorange is having a pre-summer sale!¡±

    Vicky fell silent for a moment, but didn¡¯t give either of us a chance to respond. The lock on the door of the fitting room stall she was in clicked and she stepped out into the open. She posed, one foot forward and a hand on her hip as she ran the other hand through her hair, pushing it back and away from her upward-tilted face.

    ¡°So, how do I look?¡±

    Well. That was a hard question. A really hard question. Because the very first thing I noticed was that Vicky wasn¡¯t wearing a bra. She had been wearing a bra¨C¨CI could see it hanging from a hanger behind her¨C¨Cand its absence was, uh¡­very noticeable?

    Crystal and Vicky looked a lot alike. They could easily pass as sisters, not cousins, what with their matching hair, eyes, facial features, and general builds. However, of the two, Vicky¨C¨Cdespite being more than a year younger than her cousin¨C¨Cwas the better endowed. She was a little bit taller than Crystal and just a tiny bit curvier as well.

    It was probably a result of their powers. The sort of exercise that Crystal did every single day to stay in shape just didn¡¯t work for someone like Vicky and it showed. Sure Crystal would never be stronger than her super-strong cousin, but she looked visibly fitter.

    Anyway, I was getting off track. Vicky looked amazing. I probably would have been struck completely speechless, but after everything I¡¯d done with Crystal, half-naked boobs just didn¡¯t hit quite as hard anymore.

    Saying that however was tricky, because I was standing right next to Crystal doing my best to avoid blatantly staring at her cousin¡¯s chest. I really wanted to. It was a very, very nice chest. The shirt was clearly a size too small on Vicky, riding up way higher than it had on the mannequin and stretching until I could plainly see her rosy pink nipples poking through the thin fabric.

    But, well. It was complicated. It was already complicated, and this seemed like just the sort of thing to make things even worse.

    Not saying anything though was going to be just as bad. I couldn¡¯t say she looked bad, because she didn¡¯t. I also couldn¡¯t say nothing because Vicky was waiting for an answer and wasn¡¯t going to relax¨C¨Cor change back¨C¨Cuntil I gave her one.

    ¡°I think it might be a bit too small,¡± I tried, ¡°it''s a bit too tight around your shoulders and it doesn¡¯t really go with your jeans.¡±

    Inwardly, I pumped my first. Perfect, Percy. And people said I wasn¡¯t good at being diplomatic.

    Vicky straightened and looked down at herself. ¡°Hmm, you might be right.¡± She looked back up and hopped slightly in place. ¡°Percy, do you think you could go grab another one of these in the next size up? Or maybe two? And a size down too, just in case.¡± She winked. ¡°Women''s sizes can be really unintuitive sometimes.¡±

    Ah. Ahhhhhhh. Bit too soon with the fist pump, Percy.

    I looked at Vicky. She was bouncing in place as she dug through the other clothing that Crystal and I had grabbed, swiftly sorting it into a half-dozen piles via some unknowable, arcane metrics. I looked at Crystal, who had her arms folded under her chest and was staring daggers at her willfully oblivious cousin.

    I swallowed, gave my camp t-shirt¨C¨Cwhich was hanging right next to Vicky¡¯s dark purple bra¨C¨Ca longing look, and hurried out of the room before they noticed me again. Hopefully none of the salespeople would mind me running around in one of the store¡¯s tees, because there was no way I was sneaking past Vicky back into that changing room.

    Needless to say, things only devolved from there. I had been genuinely worried that Crystal was going to try and strangle (or maybe laser) Vicky¨C¨Cshe¡¯d certainly looked pretty pissed off at her cousin¨C¨Cbut instead she seemed to have decided to take Vicky¡¯s presence and actions as a challenge.

    Apparently, she was taking her vow to prove herself ¡®better¡¯ than Vicky very seriously. And uh, exactly in the sense she¡¯d made it clear she would when she¡¯d made that particular promise. Every time Vicky tried to do something, Crystal doubled down. It was kind of awe inspiring. And very, very sexy.

    By the time we left KCDimes an hour-and-a-half later, I was carrying a half-dozen shopping bags, only four of which were mine. One of those bags also happened to contain two bras. One purple and one white. No awards for guessing where those had come from.

    The other two bags contained a lot less fabric than the number of items Vicky and Crystal had each purchased would typically suggest. I was pretty sure that my three new pairs of jeans weighed more than both bags combined.

    I had foolishly hoped that the two girls were as tired of shopping as I was at that point, but it was not to be. Three stores later, I found myself the proud owner of some rather comfortable brown dress shoes, a new pair of sneakers, and no less than four collared shirts, two pairs of dress pants, and an honest-to-gods tie. At least I¡¯d managed to avoid buying a suit jacket, though from the way Crystal had been eyeing me, it was only a matter of time.

    I¡¯d also had the uh, great fortune to watch Crystal and Vicky try on a truly staggering number of outfits, culminating in me rating some swimsuits I doubted anyone ever actually expected to wear at the beach. They all looked absolutely amazing, but neither girl would hear it, agonizing over this or that detail that I really couldn¡¯t see.

    They¡¯d even ended up buying two of those suits. Vicky¡¯s was a white ¡®monokini¡¯, whatever that was supposed to be, and consisted of a handful of white straps held together by two metal rings¨C¨Cone just over her left breast and the other on her right hip. Meanwhile Crystal had settled on a criss-cross sling bikini, which left her entire belly and most of her butt uncovered while a pair of diagonal black lines struggled to cover her nipples.

    As we finally headed home, I breathed a silent sigh of relief. At least we¡¯d managed to avoid the worst store we could have visited. I¡¯d noticed the Elizabeth¡¯s Conspiracy on the second floor while Vicky was dragging me and Crystal towards the British Beagle, and I didn¡¯t think my heart could survive going there with the two of them. Not when they were acting like this.

    ¡°This was a ton of fun!¡± Vicky exclaimed. ¡°We should do this again sometime. Maybe next week? There are still a couple of stores I¡¯d like to visit, and I¡¯d love your input Percy!¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Crystal agreed, squeezing my wrist so tightly that I could believe that she was the super-strong girl of the family. ¡°Maybe on a weekend so we don¡¯t have to head home so early. Isn¡¯t the mall open till ten on Saturdays?¡±

    Oh Tartarus. I was doomed.

 Chapter 36 - Swords Not Found

    We did eventually make it back to the Pelhams.

    Eventually.

    Instead of taking the bus, Vicky offered to drive us back to the neighborhood where both halves of New Wave lived. It would be both faster and easier than dealing with so many bags on public transportation and she was heading that way anyway.

    Well, her initial suggestion was that we should fly home. She offered to carry me and Crystal could use her forcefields to bring all of our bags along without risking losing something along the way.

    Thankfully, Crystal shot that idea before I needed too. I think she was much more upset about the idea of Vicky being the one carrying me than the argument she actually used with her cousin, but I¡¯d take it. Flying really didn¡¯t agree with me, and I wasn¡¯t too keen on Vicky carrying me all the way home either.

    It wasn¡¯t that I didn¡¯t trust her to not drop me. I did. Trust her, I mean. After all, she often flew around with her sister, who, unlike me, wouldn¡¯t be completely fine even if something did make her lose her grip. But well¡­you know. Things were already complicated enough, I didn¡¯t need to throw more fuel on the fire.

    And I really hadn¡¯t enjoyed my most recent flight with the two girls. Even though we¡¯d flown a lot lower than I usually did with Blackjack, not having a horsey bit of dad¡¯s power up in the sky with me had left me feeling rather unwell. Even without Zeus around (probably) to blast me out of the sky for my impudence, flying sucked.

    Vicky left Crystal and I to watch our bags while she flew off back in the direction of Arcadia High School where she¡¯d left her car. Despite being able to fly, she drove to school most days, both to avoid Brockton¡¯s frequent bad weather and so she could bring Amy with her in the mornings in comfort.

    As soon as Vicky flew behind the mall, Crystal slumped down on the bench and exhaled hugely. For several long moments, she cradled her head in her hands, her hair falling forward in a pale curtain to cover her face. Then she sat up, shook her head, and looked at the bags piled around her like she was seeing them for the first time.

    She turned towards me with big, round eyes. ¡°That, uh, just happened, huh? I didn¡¯t imagine it?¡±

    If I was one of those people who could raise one eyebrow at a time, I would have. Since I couldn¡¯t, I settled for just looking at her flatly. ¡°Sure did.¡±

    Crystal buried her rapidly reddening face in her hands again. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry,¡± she told me, her voice muffled. ¡°I don¡¯t know what came over me. I mean we just had that conversation about boundaries and stuff and then I go and do something like this. Vicky can be¡­ a lot, but I¡¯m supposed to be the older, responsible one. I should have put my foot down.¡±

    She peaked out from between her hands and I saw her head turn towards one particular bag lying innocently among its neighbors. I was pretty sure I knew exactly which one that was. It was from the last store we¡¯d visited, the one with the terribly overpriced swimsuits¨C¨Cif you could even call what they¡¯d bought that. I didn¡¯t think you¡¯d be able to do much swimming in them without the help of tape, glue, or demigod powers. They were more like beachsuits or poolside suits. Or possibly never-see-the-light-of-day suits.

    Crystal¡¯s blush darkened and she made a slightly choked sound before swiftly clapping her hands together over her eyes once more. ¡°Oh god, mom can never know about this,¡± she mumbled. ¡°She¡¯d ground me till I was forty. And what if someone got a picture of us in the changing rooms? Aunty Carol would kill me.¡±

    I was pretty sure I wasn¡¯t supposed to hear that part, but enhanced senses were part of the whole demigod package. ¡°I don¡¯t think anyone did?¡± I tried. ¡°Maybe while we were picking out clothes, but definitely not while you and Vicky were trying them on.¡±

    Crystal turned towards me, spreading her fingers apart just wide enough that I could see her shining blue eyes from between the digits. ¡°Is that another¡­¡± she trailed off, then let go of her face and used her hands to pantomime¡­ something. I assumed she was trying to refer to my demigod powers, so I nodded my head a fraction of an inch.

    I had a pretty good sense for when someone was watching me and could feel people moving around me. It wasn¡¯t perfect, but it tended to be reliable and I was pretty sure we¡¯d managed to avoid drawing too much attention.

    I would have liked to have offered her more reassurance, but unfortunately, the Mist here just wasn¡¯t thick enough to properly hide someone from the sight of mortals, particularly with the weird anti-Mist aura that Crystal, Vicky, and every other parahuman I¡¯d met had around them. Or well, not thick enough for me to hide someone. Hecate or one of her more talented kids could probably have pulled it off.

    ¡°Huh.¡± Crystal sighed again, this time in relief. ¡°I guess that¡¯s something. But I still made a total fool of myself.¡± She picked up the bag she¡¯d been looking at earlier and peaked into it. ¡°Like, when the hell would I even wear this?¡±

    I shrugged. ¡°No idea.¡±

    Crystal groaned, dropping the bag and picking through some of the others whose contents I was less sure of. ¡°I can¡¯t wear like, half of this out in public. What the hell were you thinking, Crystal?¡±

    Despite generally agreeing with her, I still felt the urge to raise her spirits. ¡°You know, back home there are some absolutely gorgeous islands out in the middle of the Atlantic with no one around for hundreds of miles. I bet most of them are just as deserted here and I can swim pretty dang fast, even with a passenger.¡±

    Crystal looked up and started to say something, then paused, one finger half extended towards me. ¡°Uh, hold that thought. My last final exam is on the 29th of April. If I haven¡¯t managed to completely screw everything up before that,¡± her voice dropped to a bare whisper, ¡°not likely at this rate,¡± she muttered under her breath before continuing at a more normal volume, ¡°then I¡¯m going to hold you to that.¡±

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    I managed not to laugh and smiled broadly at her instead. ¡°Sure. That sounds good to me.¡± Then, feeling mischievous, I snatched up the bag with the two bathing suits and peaked into it. ¡°You know, there¡¯s two suits in here. You don¡¯t happen to know when Arcadia lets out this year, do you?¡±

    I had to dodge a half-dozen swipes from Crystal, but it was worth it to see the last traces of her worried frown vanish from her lips. By the time Vicky finally pulled up to where we were sitting, Crystal was animatedly telling me about Miller¡¯s Cakes and Confections¨C¨Cher favorite bakery in Brockton Bay¨C¨Cher earlier embarrassment all but forgotten.

    Vicky was going to just drop Crystal and I off, but our stuff was all mixed up in the same bags so instead she parked in the empty driveway and helped us carry everything up to Crystal¡¯s room where we could sort it out in peace. As she was getting ready to leave, she turned around towards me, her hands full of bags.

    ¡°Hey Percy, I need to finish up some homework, but I was planning to go out patrolling after dinner. Wanna come? Last time was great, and I think this time will be even better. There¡¯s a few spots I¡¯d love to show you.¡±

    A couple of days ago I would have thought nothing of the wink Vicky gave me as she spoke. Now, it took all my self control to fight down a blush every bit as red as Crystal¡¯s had been earlier. ¡°Uhh,¡± I started to stammer, but Crystal cut in before I said something stupid.

    ¡°That sounds like a great idea! I¡¯ll come with you guys. I¡¯ve really been slacking on that since I started at BBU. What time are you thinking?¡±

    I felt Vicky¡¯s annoyance wash over me for a single moment, her expression fixed in a smile the whole time. Crystal definitely felt it too, but she remained undeterred. Vicky looked between the two of us, and then her smile widened. ¡°Hmm, how about eightish? Of course you¡¯re welcome to tag along too, cous. Well, as long as Percy doesn¡¯t mind. You don¡¯t mind, do you, Percy?¡±

    Both cousins were staring at me. I could feel Crystal¡¯s eyes boring into my skull and Vicky had a dangerous smile on her face.

    This felt like a trap. ¡°I¡­don¡¯t mind?¡± I tried?

    ¡°Great,¡± both of them chorused.

    I looked between Vicky and Crystal, who were staring daggers at each other and seemed to have completely forgotten I was still here.

    Yeah. Great. Great.

    At least the rest of the afternoon wasn¡¯t so bad. Crystal really did have homework she needed to be doing, no matter how much she didn¡¯t want to do it, and I took the opportunity to head to the backyard to do some training.

    I started with sword forms as usual, but quickly got tired of just going through the motions. Maybe Vicky would be up for some sparing during or after our patrol? Or I could try to reach out to Armsmaster. From what I¡¯d seen from his fight with Crusader¡¯s ghosts, he was pretty damn handy with that halberd of his. At least as good as Clarisse was with her spear, but more technical compared to her ferocious style.

    Were there any other sword-wielding heroes in Brockton Bay? Armsmaster¡¯s name implied that he could use all sorts of weapons, but I¡¯d only ever seen pictures of him with a halberd. Then there was Dauntless, who also used a spear, and I was pretty sure one of the Wards had a crossbow, but that was all the weapons I could think of.

    Ugh. Maybe I could convince someone from New Wave to pick up a sword? Vicky and Neil would both make fantastic sparring partners.

    My phone chimed and capped Riptide and reached into my pocket for my phone. I had a new text from Carol asking me to come talk to her when I had some time tonight. I was about to text her back when I stopped and blinked rapidly, suddenly feeling like an idiot.

    I¡¯d completely forgotten that there already was a member of New Wave who used a sword. I¡¯d been thinking of Carol as a lawyer first and a hero a distant second, completely forgetting about her role as Brandish, one of New Wave¡¯s founding members.

    I deleted the last sentence that I¡¯d typed out and painstakingly poked out a new message. Crystal made it look so easy, her fingers flying across the little tiny keyboard, but I had to go letter by letter, carefully double checking my progress after every other word.

    I squinted at it one last time. I was pretty sure that looked right, and none of the words had the little red underline that meant they were spelled wrong. Crystal had shown me how to make the font on my phone big enough that my dyslexia didn¡¯t make it completely unreadable, but it was still a struggle sometimes.

    I hit send and made to put the phone away, but Carol¡¯s response arrived so quickly I doubted I¡¯d have been able to read my first text that fast, much less compose a reply. ¡®Come at seven,¡¯ it read. A moment later I got another message from her. ¡®Will discuss over dinner¡­¡¯

    I waited for another minute, then shrugged and tucked the phone back into the pocket of my jeans. I was wearing one of the new outfits Crystal and I had picked out¨C¨Cjeans plus my new hawaiian shirt. The jeans were black and super stretchy in a way I didn¡¯t know jeans could be and the shirt reminded me of home.

    Maybe it wasn¡¯t exactly the perfect clothes for exercising, but it wasn¡¯t like I needed to worry about getting them sweaty and gross. Plus, Chiron always said that you should practice in the same gear you expected to fight in, which for demigods usually meant everyday wear like this. Practicing in my armor could wait until tonight.

    It was five thirty, so I had plenty of time left. I could just keep doing drills, but Crystal¡¯s comment earlier had reminded me that I really needed to buckle down and spend some time relearning how to manipulate the Mist. Chiron always said that a demigod needed to know how to use all the weapons in their arsenal, not just the ones they were most comfortable with.

    Even if the Mist wasn¡¯t really dense enough around here to cloud the eyes of mortals the way it did back home, that didn¡¯t mean it was useless to me. For one, it so far seemed like a pretty foolproof way of detecting parahumans. Every hero and villain I¡¯d met so far had repelled the Mist in a bubble around them, burning it away if it got too close and repelling it otherwise.

    That meant that that girl I¡¯d seen at Buns ''n'' Roses had probably been a parahuman too, and I was pretty sure I¡¯d seen at least one or two other people while out and about with Crystal who had the same effect on their surroundings without really giving it much thought.

    Normally, I didn¡¯t really bother focusing on the Mist too much. There usually wasn¡¯t much of a point. It had taken a few years, but these days I could see through most of the lies it showed mortals without really needing to think about it. I

    However, my experience with the Undersiders showed that in this world, it was a lot more useful to be able to perceive the Mist rather than see through it. Shifting to that mindset for a few minutes at a time or while I was focusing wasn¡¯t too hard, but making it my new normal was going to take some time and effort.

    Plus, I was pretty sure that, in a pinch, I still could use the Mist the way everyone did back home. It wouldn¡¯t work if I was standing right next to a parahuman, but my gut told me I could probably do a good job hiding from one if I was standing on the other side of a big room or something, and normal mortals would be just as susceptible as ever.

    I just needed to practice gathering up the Mist that wafted off of me and the magic items I¡¯d brought with me to this world instead of depending on what was already present in the environment. The tricks Thalia had shown me just didn¡¯t work here, so it was up to me to figure out what did.

    I groaned. This was going to be so boring.

    Well, no time like the present!