Chapter Text
The gods are real.
And no, I don’t mean God, like from Christianity. I mean the Greek gods. Athena, Persephone, Hecate, Dyonysis… They’re all alive, real.
As I stare at the coral sky, punctuated by the Manhattan skyline, and I remember Tia Perillian, daughter of Olive Perillian and Apollo, yes the god of music and poetry and medicine and all that schmuck. I hate him. I hate how little I see Tia because of him. I hate how I miss her so much. I hate that I can’t look up to the sky without remembering my friend. I hate that I can’t listen to music without remembering her alleged father. I hate. I hate. I hate…
But even so, without him, Tia wouldn’t be my sunshine, wouldn't have that impeccable aim, wouldn’t love to share her favorite songs with me, wouldn’t even exist.
…
Maybe I don’t hate Apollo.
But I don’t like him either.
Since I have the time, I should probably explain what that has to do with me…
Ever since I was little, I could see things other people couldn’t. Some people had 1 eye, some had goat hooves or green skin… I once pointed to a lady-- she had blue skin and hair like waves --that was swimming, only to be told nobody was there. I looked back and they were right. But as I grow older, the less times that works on me. The more years I live, the larger, scarier, meaner these things become… Instead of winged horses, I met Lastrygonians, Empousai, Hellhounds… all from Greek myths.
Since forever and up until last year, I had Tia with me to confide in. To talk to about… everything. She and I convinced each other that we weren’t crazy. I remember late nights, talking on my roof because she never did like spending time with all her half-brothers. We’d chat about anything and everything, bouncing from topic to topic.
And when the sun came up and I opened my eyes to her sleeping form beside mine, her sun-kissed hair catching the sun, her eyes a brilliant blue that was sealed away by her eyelids… I’ll admit, I don’t think I’m straight, necessarily.
But then a satyr, one of those guys with goat behinds, came by with a guy who looked just like her and some girl who I also don’t care about. The satyr said that they had to take her, that it was unsafe for her, a 13-year-old ‘demigod’ to be in the wild, without protection.
The guy-- Will Solace, he’d said --had to hold me back from her when she was taken away, tears streaming from my eyes. I curse that Will Solace.
She wrote to me only later about her experience at ‘Camp Half-Blood’. There were so many kids like us, kids who saw so many things that others couldn’t, kids who were children of the gods, half-bloods. She confided in me that she, too, was a half-blood, a child of Apollo. She told me that she couldn’t say much because I was ‘mortal’, or whatever. I still have that letter, my tears warping the paper, smudging the ink. I’d write back, but there was no return address…
And then came the horrors I saw without her.
I woke up one morning to the whole of Manhattan asleep. I looked out the window to see a guy walking through the streets. By what I felt from him, he was the one who was doing it. But my instinct said not to fight him.
I always trust my instinct.
Next, there was a big battle. It was happening all around. I saw this group of girls, all in their teens, running through the sleeping streets, all in silvery clothing with shining ring-crown-things on their heads and bows in their grasps. I saw a lineup of monsters walking towards the Empire State building. I saw this kid-- Perseus, I think. I remember him from the news a few years back from when he somehow survived a drop from the Gateway Arch and later a gunfight in California. My mom turned off the news every time he came up.
Right. My mom. Faith Greene. She never was really worried about me or close to me. She hates the ocean with a passion, like she has thalassophobia or something. I never really minded. She paid for my living and schooling, let me live my life however I wanted. I never minded it, but it's just us and Harlo, my cat. We lived like roommates, strangers in the same home. Harlo was my only friend in that year… It was a painful 8th grade without her…
Anyway, I saw even more; a giant lizard on the buildings, all these people in chariots fighting a big serpent in the sky. I could recognize them as the Greek gods from my times of fascination with Greek mythology. I saw the relief on all the faces of kids fighting in this battle when they heard it was over. I saw how they left in groups back to, I assume, Camp Half-Blood.
Then, after all of it was over, I heard nothing from anyone.
Now, almost a year later, it’s late May. School let out yesterday and I’ve been walking the streets alone. Tia would be with me, but… well…
Then, as has been happening for the past few months, I see a monster. The empousa spots me, almost as if she sensed me, and I run in the other direction when I see her give chase. Over these few months worth of near-daily encounters, I’ve built up a crazy amount of stamina. I run past some guy on the sidewalk who yells something at me. I’m not listening.
I turn the corner to a plaza, remembering the time I saw all the statues get up from their spots, and instead of a missing statue, I see an addition, facing right towards me.
2 gorgons.
I reel back, avoiding looking at them, then remember I’m being chased and duck to the side. As I’m catching my breath, I hear a sword unsheath. Huh? I glance back and lo and behold, a familiar mop of black hair is before the Chimera. Perceus. Next to him is a girl, blonde and tan, holding a Yankees cap in her hand as if she just took it off. I have to stifle a gasp when another kid appears from the shadow of a building, shorter and more tired than the other two.
All three of them are wearing bandanas over their eyes, as if they were ready for this. I surely was not. I rack my brain for who the two monsters may be, hiding behind a small outjutting wall, and land on the conclusion that these are Stheno and Euryale. Sure, one of them could be Medusa, and it could just be some random Gorgons, but Medusa is more separate from these two, and… recently the monsters I’ve been dealing with have been anything but background characters of Greek myths.
Perceus and the other guy take on one each, the former much more wild and crazy with his movements and the latter yelling the gorgons’ positions such as ‘Euryale on your left!' or 'Stheno behind me!'. The girl, on the other hand, takes off her blindfold and walks away from the fight, seemingly looking for something.
I watch the fight, silent. Well, up until the point where I spot one of the gorgons beside Perceus and something tells me he’s in danger.
I always trust my instinct.
My arm moves before I know it and a candy bar from my bag is now flying through the air. Euryale, the gorgon in question, swipes at it instead and misses him by just a few inches. Unluckily for me, the girl sees me from that sudden motion I just did and turns directly to me. Then, she starts walking over to me, her expression signaling to me that she’s found what she’s looking for.
I stumble back as she gets closer, landing on my backside with a thump. 'Please don’t hurt me!' I whisper to her urgently. She stops, glances at the battle as if calculating something, then turns back to me with a crouch.
'You’re Dylan Greene?' She says, with a hint of the same confusion teachers have when they realize that my name correlates with a female human. I nod, unsure if I should be admitting my identity to a stranger.
The girl extends her arm for me to grab her hand. 'My name’s Annabeth. Nice to meet you, fellow demigod.' Her smile is warm, but my brain is running a mile a minute when she says that. What? Huh? I know I’m staring at her like she’s grown a second head, but what do you mean I’m a demigod?
Annabeth sighs and grabs my arm, pulling me up. 'Listen, if you’re gonna be this slow, I’ll just drag you all the way to camp myself.'
I shake my head to clear it. Freak out later. Focus now. 'Sorry, yeah. Right. What are we going to do about Stheno and Euryale over there?'
She gives me a glance like you know their names? Then, she yells over to the boys. 'Percy! Nico! I found them!' Annabeth starts for the battle, still trailing me along. I immediately look down-- to avoid looking at the gorgons, and try to keep pace.
We walk into battle and then run out of it as Perceus/Percy and Nico take care of the gorgon sisters finally. The four of us run away, only to begin another chase with that empousa, who seemingly brought along her friends now. They give chase and we all start running, the boys taking off their blindfolds, Percy looking around for something.
Eventually, he spots it, and runs towards a car. ‘Get in!’ He exclaims and the four of us sit down, Percy in the driver's seat, Annabeth in shotgun, Nico behind her, and me on the other side of the backseat. Percy starts the drive, kinda slamming the gas and starting for somewhere. Once we get out onto the road, Annabeth and Nico turn to me. ‘So, Dylan… Good reflexes you got there…’ She says, lip curling upward. Now that danger isn’t particularly imminent, I can actually take in the three people, all demigods presumably, that just saved my butt.
First, there’s Annabeth, the one I’m drawn to first. She reminds me of Tia, and my heart pangs at the thought. Big differences include her grey eyes rather than sky blue, her hair being golden curls, a white streak cutting over her scalp, instead of having those perpetual sun-bleached waves Tia always had, and she carries herself much more seriously. She has a dagger strapped to her thigh and she wears an orange tee colored much like fanta. I can assume she’s a camper of Camp Half-Blood by the looks of it.
I glance to my right to look at Nico. He looks like a scrawny kid with a scrawnier diet, emo for whatever reason. His void-like sunken eyes carry the weight a kid his age shouldn’t; perhaps grief. His hair is matted and he wears a tattered aviator jacket. His sword lays at his side and he looks at me like trying to figure me out.
Lastly, Percy. Perseus. Whatever his name is, he looks astonishingly familiar. I can’t say for sure that it’s because of the several appearances he has on TV, but that too. I only see the back of his head, but I remember his sea green eyes from the several news appearances and his hair falls over his brow now, a matching white streak somewhere in that mix, I’m sure. He too wears an orange camp tee like Annabeth, but I see no weapon on him. Wherever he put that large bronze blade, it’s well hidden.
Finally, after just a couple of seconds, Nico speaks. ‘So you’re Dylan.’ His voice is dark for a kid his age, whatever age that is. He seems both young and timeless. I nod.
Annabeth smiles a warm smile, much too similar to Tia’s. I don’t like it. ‘Well, as you already know, I’m Annabeth. That’s Nico.’
‘Nico Di Angelo.’
‘Yeah, yeah. I’m Percy.’ The boy added from the driver’s seat. ‘I hope this doesn’t shock you too much, but the gods-- the Greek ones, not Christian --actually exist.’
I nod. ‘I know.’
The two teens that can look at me and not the road do so with confused looks. ‘What?’ Nico murmurs.
I look to the side, nervous under their scrutiny. ‘Y- Yeah… I, er, saw the whole thing that happened last year too… That was terrifying, but not completely nonsensical if you account for Greek mythology.’ I lie, hoping nobody catches me on it. I can guess that the letter Tia sent me is against the rules and getting her in trouble is not on my to-do list.
Annabeth tilts her head and then shrugs, turning to Percy. ‘Well, I guess that’s one less thing to worry about. Now.’ She turns back to me and starts talking. She talks about how the gods have children, how children of the big three shouldn’t exist and yet two of them are in the car with us. She talks about the Battle of Manhattan and the Titan War, which explains a bunch about what I had seen in those years, and even talks about Camp Half-Blood, CHB for short, and how great it is. Nico and Percy add in sometimes with their own experiences or details that bring the story to life, but both seem less focused on the explaining bit, Percy focusing on driving and Nico on something else entirely.
Everything starts to fall into place as they talk. Memories, stories, nights with Tia where it all seemed like a nightmare followed by many more trying to convince ourselves that we’re sane. It was all a glimpse into this world, into the life I would now be living…
We round the corner and ended up face-to-face with a flock of harpies. Percy hits the breaks and says something in Greek that I would rather have not understood, Nico glances up, only for his eyes to widen, and Annabeth is already grabbing her cap and jumping out of the car, yelling ‘Get away you creepy hags!’
Percy is about to go join her when Nico exclaims, much louder than I ever expected him to be able to reach. ‘Everything’s alright! They’re here on good terms. Father’s orders.’
The other two stand down, Annabeth resheathing her dagger. The harpies grin, sharp teeth showing. The one in the front speaks first. ‘That’s right. We have been sent to ensure she makes it to camp…’ The lady doesn’t seem too happy about it.
Neither does Percy. ‘Dodds,’ he starts, which is weird because I don’t recall a Dodds in any mythology, ‘I just want to ensure you’re here on good terms. All three of you have to swear it on the River Stix.’ He glares at the birds, but doesn’t move a muscle.
‘We swear it on the river stix, we are not here to harm.’ they all say in unison, then the one labeled Dodds speaks again. ‘Just mercenaries and messengers is all. Your father will be pleased to see you out of Camp for this, Nico…’ The boy mutters something under his breath that sounds suspiciously like ‘He should be here to tell me that himself.’
The birds all fly up and Annabeth’s gaze, along with the loud thunk on the roof of the vehicle, implies that they now perch on the roof of the vehicle. ‘Get out, Dylan.’ Annabeth calls, and the three of us in the car get out. ‘Right up there is Half Blood Hill.’ She gestures to the tree with a large golden serpent. ‘That’s our destination.’ And she leads us to trek up the hill in her dust.
‘Well…’ Percy shrugs. ‘Let’s get going.’ And up the hill he goes, Nico and I close on his heels.
Yeah. This is gonna be a fun summer…