Summary: In ancient times, Pallas Athena guided the Hero Odysseus along his trails. Now... Percy has found himself with a Divine Sponsor... but the kind of advice offered by Aphrodite Pandemos is a bit different.
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Chapter One: Girl Troubles
“Hey, Percy! Over here!”
Percy was always impressed by Grover's ability to stand out. He met his scruffy friend in a park that ran alongside their college’s campus.
He was lounging out in the middle of the greenery on a large tie-dye rug with what looked like a hand-woven wicker basket by his side. Percy knew it’d be full of snacks. Grover loved food.
“You alright, man?” He asked as he approached. As Grover turned his head, Percy wasn’t surprised to see him gnawing on some hard snack bar that looked suspiciously like tree bark.
Grover let out a groan mid-laugh that had him wincing and holding his side, “Y-yeah. I’ve still got a bit of a bruise, but it’s nothing, really. Bet I won’t even feel it tomorrow!”
“...” Percy wore an apologetic expression as he sat down beside him.
“Hey.” Grover punched his shoulder and laughed it off, “Relax, man. It’s nothing compared to the other guys, right? Hahahah!”
Percy snorted and shook his head. He was amazed and very grateful that this guy could make so light of the disaster that happened over the weekend. Percy put a hand on his shoulder, “Thanks, man.”
How many times had he said those words to Grover by now?
Grover brushed his hand away and waved him off, “Forget it! I’m just amazed that pretty face of yours isn’t swollen purple today. You got clocked pretty hard by that big dude!”
Percy’s left eye stung, and he lightly touched it with his hand. Miraculously, it hadn’t bruised.
Grover poked fun at him, chuckling, “Man, the whole class would be in an uproar. The girls would be out for blood if that mug of yours got marred. Imagine the look on Nancy’s face!”
Percy scowled, “Yeah, I’m sure it’d make her day.”
Grover gave him a bit of a weird look, “...right.” He pushed the basket over towards Percy, “Help yourself.”
“Thanks.”
Grover then asked the question, “So... how’d it go with Alice?”
“Ugh.” Percy groaned loudly.
“Hahah, no good, huh?” Grover laughed it off.
“Yeah. She didn’t want to see me again after that mess.” Percy winced. He still felt his left eye sting from an invisible bruise.
“Good riddance,” Grover said and crunched down on his snack bar.
“Hey!” Percy looked at him with offense.
Grover shrugged and chuckled at him, “What? You knew I didn’t like her. No offense Percy, but dude... for a guy so popular with ladies, you really don’t know how to pick’em.”
“...” He had nothing to say. It stung a bit for his friend to say that right after one of his messiest breakups, but Percy couldn’t deny it either.
Even so, he felt like biting back, “I’d like to see you do any better.”
Grover snorted with amusement, smiling, “Told you, Percy. I’m a taken man.”
“Oh, right...” Percy rolled his eyes, “Your secret girlfriend. Where does she live again? Rhode Island?”
“Long Island, actually.” Grover corrected in an unoffended tone.
He was so casual about it that Percy found it hard to doubt Grover, but if she was only three or four hours away, he figured Grover would visit her occasionally. But Percy had never heard of it.
“If you guys are so serious, then can you show me a picture of her?”
Grover sighed with irritation, “I told you Percy. I can’t. It’s... a complicated subject.”
“Alright.” Percy didn’t really intend to grill him about it. Especially not after the mess he pulled Grover into over the weekend.
He sighed to himself, just remembering it. Despite Grover’s apparent distaste for his newly ex-girlfriend, Percy had been smitten by the pretty young woman. He really had a good feeling about that relationship... only for it all to go up in flames overnight.
Percy felt his phone vibrate in his pocket.
He pulled it out and saw a new text notification.
Lover💋: Girl troubles?
“Something wrong, Percy?” Grover peeked over to him, scowling at his phone. His scruffy friend was always quick like that. It was like the guy could sense any time Percy was uneasy.
The message from his phone was from an unknown sender. A while ago, Percy wasn’t sure quite when, he’d received a text like this. The sender was already marked down in his contacts as ‘Lover💋’ which was creepy enough… but strangely, this didn’t seem like ordinary spam. So instead of blocking them instantly… Percy had replied.
What he found was a strangely welcome penpal. A mysterious person (He doubted was actually a woman) with whom he could vent his problems to. Neither he nor they asked each other’s names, which gave him some comfort in anonymity.
“No…” Percy said, “Just thinking about it again.”
“Hahah, relax, man.” Grover grinned at him, lazing back in the sun, “It all worked out in the end, right?”
Percy didn’t reply. He typed out a response to his mysterious penpal.
Lover💋: Girl troubles?
Percy: Another girl broke it off. Just business as usual.
Lover💋: Don’t let it get you down, sugar. It simply wasn’t meant to be.
That was a hollow comfort.
Percy had suffered many, many broken hearts. It always left him in a slump, no matter how brief the relationship really was. They never lasted long, but Percy couldn’t help himself. Anytime he saw a pretty girl with a sunny smile, he just...
Percy was distracted from his phone by the loud fluttering of wings. He automatically ducked his head. No matter how lovely the campus’ parks were, he reminded himself that he was in the Big Apple.
But thankfully, it wasn’t a flock of pigeons raining terror from above or swooping down to snatch Grover’s lunch. At least Percy wouldn’t call them pigeons. They were far too pretty for that.
“Ah. Again?” Grover panicked and jealously guarded his basket of snacks.
Percy grew a small smile as a little flock of pure-white birds joined them on Grover’s tie-dye rug. They were plucking the bread crumbs from his paper plate and pecking the grass nearby for seeds. These birds must’ve been fearless of New Yorkers because they didn’t hesitate to hop right up to his legs. One even landed on his head, like it was trying to build a roost in his black hair.
Percy just lightly smiled, forgetting about his latest breakup for a moment. His hand fished into Grover’s basket to pull out a little bag of seeds. This wasn’t the first time overly friendly birds had assaulted them in this park. He reached out with a handful, and they were brave enough to pluck it straight from his palm.
Seeing such pure-white doves in a bustling, modern city like New York was always surprising.
“Man…” Grover bemoaned as one fluttered away from his outstretched hand. He eyed Percy, surrounded by birds, with a briefly jealous look, “You can’t be better with animals than me!” He said it matter-of-factly, as if it was something he was entitled to.
Percy laughed at him and very gingerly brushed his fingers against the white dove’s feathers. Animals generally hated him, but strangely, these doves were remarkably calm.
“It’s ‘cause you smell like enchiladas.”
“Really?” Grover sniffed himself, which made Percy chuckle again.
…
“Percy.” Grover whispered, “Don’t look now, but there’s a group of babes at 10 o’clock!” Grover said, obviously staring right at them.
Percy looked over to see some blonde college girls clustered around benches, glancing toward them.
“You should wave at them.” He suggested.
“Are you kidding me? We both know what they’re looking at!” Grover said a bit irritably, looking back at him.
Percy shrugged, “Could be either of us.”
“Oh, I don’t want to hear that from you, Casanova.” His scruffy friend laughed at him.
“I think calling me Casanova would mean I had success with ladies.” He said back quickly.
Grover snorted, “How many girls have you been with? Most guys would call that overwhelming success.”
Percy looked over to the group of girls. Whatever they’d been walking through the park for had been quickly forgotten as they stared over at him and Grover with dreamy-eyed expressions.
But Percy knew Grover was being honest. Those girls were looking at HIM. So much so that they probably hadn’t even noticed Grover sitting there beside him.
The girls were swooning, like they were watching a picturesque scene: a beautiful young man with a sparkling smile sitting under a tree in a park, hand-feeding a flock of pure-white doves.
Percy had vehemently denied a realization until he turned eighteen… but he was attractive. Or, as Grover put it, extremely attractive. Percy had gotten used to heated gazes following him everywhere he went. Either from ladies who turned their heads as he passed or, more importantly, glares from their furious boyfriends.
‘Lot of good it does.‘ Percy thought bitterly, sighing to himself. The only thing it seemed to attract was vultures. Throughout high school, Percy couldn’t hold a girlfriend to save his life. He thought things would be different now. A new school with no reputation, but...
In his first year of college, Percy went through a girlfriend a week. Sometimes he even managed two.
It wasn’t like it was trying to ruin his relationships. No, they always seemed to go well… until he found out she had a boyfriend of three years that she started two-timing with Percy… Or that she was just looking to score with the hottest guy on campus so she could brag on her social media pages...Or... the list went on.
It was hard to stay with a girl who was already claiming to have ‘rocked Percy Jackson’s world’ on a public platform just three days into exchanging names and numbers.
Nine days. That was his all-time record relationship… and she’d been sick in bed six of them.
Something always went wrong. And not just, ‘blew the second or third date’ kind of wrong. No, he meant REALLY WRONG. Jealous boyfriend with a baseball bat, or daddy with a shotgun kind of wrong. And that wasn’t even counting the strange cases.
He figured God must want to see him alone.
The only good thing about this happened to be Grover. The thin, scrappy guy looked utterly harmless. He walked funny, like he was always limping, and had such a disarming face… but the guy was quick and crafty in a fight.
…and was always there to pull Percy out of whatever dumpster fire his newest relationship had turned into. This last time was particularly bad. He’d got caught by a group of her ‘friends’ who didn’t like a ‘womanizer’ like him involved with her. Things quickly grew heated. Percy ended up decking a guy when Grover popped up out of nowhere and knocked one flat from behind.
By the end of it, they were both a little bruised up… and the cops had to call in three squad cars to haul all those crazy bastards away. Weirdly, Percy and Grover weren’t brought in for questioning with them.
His date was quick to blow him off after that, though.
“Cheer up, man!” Grover clapped his back like he could see the downward spiral in Percy’s mind. The dove on his head fluttered off with an indignant chirp.
“Yeah, yeah.” Percy cracked a smile. If nothing less, he was happy to stumble across Grover at this place. The dude had an enviable positivity.
They’d met through a single shared course. Just an extra cred, ‘Classical Studies’, which was a course focused on old myths, poems, epics, etc.
Grover grinned at him, jerked his head over, and started waving the girls over.
“What are you doing?” Percy asked.
“Helping you out!” He grinned and nudged him, “Look, Emma was a failure, but that just means you’re free again! We’ve got a whole campus of hot college girls for you to work through!”
“Her name was Alice.”
“Oh, right.” Grover smiled.
Percy sighed as the girls looked at each other and started slowly walking over, staring shyly right at him, “You know, you’d attract some girls yourself if you wore something nice for once.”
Grover was stylish... for a style at least forty years ago. He always dressed in a hipster/hippie kind of way, with colors of warm brown or green. He always had a loose beanie covering his curly brown hair, and wore wool sweaters and baggy pants no matter how hot it was.
“Told you man, I’m spoken for.” Grover said automatically.
“Oh, right.” Percy said back.
Grover rolled his eyes, “Besides, the girls I’d attract wearing luxury brands wouldn’t be the type I’d be interested in anyway.”
Percy wondered what Grover’s ‘type’ was and if the tie-dye blanket and brown wool sweater were supposed to attract them. He pictured Grover's mysterious secret girlfriend in a denim jacket with braided hair and aviators.
A group of about four girls came over, and Grover said, “Hey, girls! You wanna join us? My friend here was too shy to call you over himself, but he was just telling me-!”
Percy put on a plastic smile as the girls all looked at him. They were all pretty young college girls, and he was charmed by them. With Grover practically pushing them into his lap, he couldn’t help himself. In just a few minutes he’d somehow gotten all four numbers in his phone.
He felt a little smitten by them. Despite his awful experiences with women, Percy couldn’t help but think, ‘Maybe this time...’
It was the same feeling he always had. If Percy could say one thing about himself, it was this: He fell in love way too quickly.
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“Hey, Percy.” Grover gave him a smile and a nod.
Later that week, Percy slid into his usual seat beside Grover in the front row of Mr Bruner’s ‘Classical Studies’ class. It was the only class he cared enough to be in the front, mostly because of the Professor himself. Mr Bruner was maybe the only good teacher he’d ever had. Something about how he talked and taught had even Percy’s ADHD brain focused on his lessons.
“Morning.” A feminine voice spoke to him from the side. A tone that was slightly guarded.
Percy resisted the urge to sigh. Sliding into the seat beside him was a familiar face.
Nancy Bobofit.
Percy honestly couldn’t believe his luck. Nancy was a nightmare from his youth. At Yancy Academy, she was a prissy, annoying imp who seemed to feed off tormenting him. He would argue that she was even the reason he got expelled (that time).
That was way back in sixth grade. Then, when he reached high school, he was shocked to meet her again there. Somehow, he suffered four years without swapping schools, which meant he suffered four years of Nancy Bobofit.
Then, as he graduated high school, he’d been asked where he was going. He mentioned this college and how he’d study for Marine Biology.
...Only for Nancy to appear behind him and say two dreaded words, “Me too.”
He wondered if this was some kind of twisted karma. Since he’d broken his record of swapping schools yearly, he’d been cursed to have Nancy follow him instead.
...But the girl that sat down beside him was NOT the Nancy Bobofit from sixth grade.
Her orange mess of freckles had lightened up over the years. She’d fixed her crooked teeth and acne long ago and put some work into her ginger hair and choice of clothing. Now, she was turning the heads of the guys around campus. (Though Percy would never admit it out loud, he’d been looking at her, too)
It wasn’t just her appearance that had grown up. Somewhere in high school, she must’ve gotten tired of harassing or spreading rumors about him because Nancy had been acting surprisingly cordial around him in the past year or two.
“Hey.” He said back in an attempt at a polite tone. He still glanced at her like he was waiting for her to sprout horns and a tail.
Seriously. What were the odds that Nancy would not only show up at this specific college but also share so many of his classes, including Classical Literature, which was a completely optional course? Sure, they were still Freshmen studying basics, but this was a little too coincidental to be believable.
She’d sat beside him all year, claiming ‘You’re the only one I know here’. Maybe that was why she was being so civil. If she was alone in the city, a familiar face was welcome, even if they’d been at each other’s throats in the past. Percy still had trouble trusting her.
He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. The lesson wasn’t set to begin for a few more minutes, so he ignored Nancy and pulled out his phone.
A familiar line awaited him.
Lover💋: Girl troubles?
He snorted. His back and forth with ‘Lover’ always ended up revolving back to his lousy soap drama of a love life. So much so that ‘Lover’ just started opening up their conversations about it.
Percy: Other than my usual mess? Just Nancy being Nancy.
Lover💋: Her again, hm? You know, she’s the only girl with whom you’ve shared a name with me. Is there something you’re not telling me, hun?
Percy scowled deeply.
Percy: Don’t even joke about that.
Lover💋: You know I’d never joke about love, sugar. Is she unattractive?
Percy stared at the screen. Against his better judgment, he looked to the side.
Nancy herself was just as immersed in her phone as he was, which meant her usual tight scowl was nowhere to be seen. Her peach lips were curled into the faintest smile. Her freckles, which once marred her face, had lightened with age, giving her a gentle charm.
Percy: Even if she is attractive, what does it matter? We’d never get along.
Lover💋: Never say never, sugar. How well do you REALLY know her?
Percy: Are you seriously suggesting what I think you are?
Lover💋: Give her a chance.
Percy: What? No way. She hates my guts.
Lover💋: You really think she’s there for Classical Literature, sweetheart? Girls don’t like a guy who can’t take a hint.
Percy’s mouth slightly fell open. He resisted the urge to look to the side. He’d always thought it was strange that Nancy happened to follow him straight out of high school to a college in New York City. Especially since she was the only one from his entire school that did. But stranger things had happened, right?
There’s no way a girl would really choose her college just because HE was heading there, right? That’d be insane...
While Percy was lost in this back-and-forth messaging, something pulled him back to reality.
“Huh..? Who is...” He heard Nancy mutter at his side.
Percy wore a similar look of confusion as a woman who was very much NOT Mr Bruner, who walked onto the lecture hall podium. She looked mean, nothing like a substitute teacher. With a black leather jacket that-
“Not good...” He heard Grover whisper in disbelief beside him, “S-she can’t be here..! Mr Bruner isn’t...”
Percy heard a slightly panicked tone sink into Grover’s voice.
“Percy..!” Grover hissed in such a fierce whisper that it startled him.
Percy saw a shockingly severe expression on his usually jovial friend. Grover looked shaken as he stared at the podium of the lecture hall.
“We need to leave. Now..!” Grover insisted.
“What?”
“Trust me, Percy..! Please..! Let’s go!” Grover said with rising intensity. Grover grabbed his hand and started pulling him out of his seat.
“Grover, what’s-” Percy’s eyes looked down to meet the strange woman’s. Her eyes seemed to glow with wisps of fire, and Percy had a familiar, very bad feeling.
“Mr. Jackson!” The lady spoke from the center of the lecture hall, and her voice filled Percy with unease. Something about it was like knives on chalkboard.
Percy shut his mouth and followed Grover, practically running, out of the hall.
“Run, Percy! If she catches us-!” Grover shouted as soon as they left the hall, with a tone like he was about to get murdered.
This was the same guy who would leap into a brawl to fight at Percy’s side, just because he was his friend. If something had Grover THIS startled, then Percy didn’t want to wait to find out what it was.
He chased Grover’s odd trot out of the building and into the open campus.
Then, together, they froze.
There was a woman in a black leather jacket waiting for them there. It was the same woman he’d seen in the lecture hall... but that was impossible. There was no way she could-
“Stupid Keeper...” She hissed cruelly, “You should know you can’t run from ME.”
“Grover... who is-”
“Quiet Percy..!” Grover said quickly. He glanced at Percy with a deeply worried, conflicted look on his face before he gave one deep sigh. He made some strange motion with his hands.
...and pulled the wool from Percy’s eyes.
Percy gasped audibly as the image of a thin, angry-looking biker lady fell away, revealing the woman’s true nature. Something not human.
Large, bat-like wings outstretched behind her, holding her several feet off the ground. A thin, slender womanly shape yet with pale, greyish blue skin. Her features looked human enough, he’d even say beautiful, but she had on the most hateful, vicious expression he’d ever seen, with evil, glowing eyes.
She was wearing what looked like some sort of Greek toga over a skin-tight black undershirt. A toga that was blood red. She was adorned in jewelry. An armlet, a circlet, and some fancy spiked-looking shoulder pads. In her hand was a long, coiled whip.
Percy stared, slack-jawed, at some kind of demonic woman that floated above the ground. This was far above any glimpses he’d seen of ‘one-eyed’ men or fire-breathing dogs. This was something he couldn’t just justify away as hallucination.
“What the...” Percy said in a stupor.
“Hahah, finally got your eyes open, boy?!” The woman said in a vicious tone, fixing her evil glowing eyes on him, “Good..! Good! I’d hate to see you suffer and not even know who’s been sent to torture you!”
“...” Grover was silently trembling at his side.
Percy was too unnerved by the she-devil glaring at him with such hatred that he hardly even noticed Grover by his side. His heart was pounding fiercely in his chest as he felt a cold chill on his neck. No matter how bad his experiences had been in the past, he’d never felt like this before. Like he was about to die.
“Mmm~ That’s a good look, halfling!” The she-devil seemed to thrive off his growing anxiety, “I’m gonna enjoy picking you apart..!”
“Percy...” Grover whispered and looked at him.
Percy didn’t like the look on his friend’s face. Like he was about to share his last words.
“Survive...”
“What..?” Percy gasped as Grover suddenly turned and bolted away.
“Run Percy!” He shouted loudly, “And hide! Do whatever it takes to survive!”
“Hahahahah! Run, tree-hugger! Your kind has always been cowardly!” The she-devil mocked as he fled.
Percy stood there stupefied for the briefest second before his own survival instincts kicked in.
Crack~!
Percy barely took one step in the opposite direction of Grover- when the concrete in front of him exploded. The whip held by this she-devil extended far beyond what its size would betray and struck the ground strongly enough to shatter it.
“Ah~ Ah!” She said with a mocking laugh, “I’d love to see you run and beg, halfling, but the boss is serious this time. You’re coming with me..!”
He stared at the massive gash in the stone. The mark that was carved by the whip in the demon’s hands. That kind of power would tear his feeble body in half. His mind raced as adrenaline kicked in. He had to figure out some way to survive but-!
‘Talk to her Percy..!’ A whisper said in the back of his head, feeding him a truly awful plan to survive. If he kept her talking, he could buy time to think of a way out of this mess.
“That sounds lovely!” He shouted as he ducked behind one of the white stone pillars of the campus’ Literature building.
“What?” The devil said back in a slight tone of surprise... and didn’t immediately blast the pillar to rubble with her whip.
So Percy did what he did best. He kept talking, “An evening with a beautiful lady is not something I’d ever turn down!”
“..!”
Percy kept running his mouth while he could, “You know, I just happened to become available myself, so I’m open to talk about it! How about over dinner? My treat!”
“...are you flirting with me halfling?” Came a biting, vicious voice. The demon lady said ‘halfling’ like it was some terrible curse.
“Hahah, sorry, was I coming on too strong?” Percy’s voice was remarkably steady for how badly his hands were shaking. He felt his entire body tense, but his heart was steady. He had a strange, swelling confidence. A feeling that if he just kept talking, he’d survive.
“I’ve just never seen someone with such beautiful eyes! It’s like you’re staring into my soul! They really took my breath away!”
“Wretched son of Phobeus!” The devil cursed full of hatred.
Then her tone lightened, almost matching his own in its playfulness, but with a hidden dagger in its undertone, “Want to play with ME, little halfling? You’ve got some balls, I’ll give you that. But do you really think you’ll charm me by hiding like a coward? I hate spineless men! If you have something to say, then come out and say it to my face, pretty boy!”
Percy took a second to think about his next move and slipped around the pillar. He leaned on it casually, brushing dust off his clothes, “Hahah, sorry!” He flashed her a charming smile, “I’m just feeling a little shy! I’ve never had a woman show such an intense interest in me! I’m flattered, honestly. So, what do you say? Italian?”
The demon woman’s face curled into a grin, and as beautiful as it was, it still sent a shiver down his spine. It was a cruel, terrible grin that promised nothing but pain and torment. It was shocking that such a pretty face could look so malevolent.
“Oh, I’m afraid I’m far too much of a woman for you, halfling!” She said in the same threatening tone... but hadn’t split him in half with that monstrous whip in her hands.
“I’m up for the challenge!” Percy quickly replied, keeping the bright, sparkling smile on his lips, “I love a woman with confidence. Give me a chance to show you what I can do and I’ll give you a night to remember..!”
“Smooth talker...” She looked back at him with an expression that was almost disarming. All that cruelty and hatred on her face disappeared for a moment.
In that brief moment, Percy’s heart leaped in his chest as he saw this woman’s true beauty. He wondered if he’d actually charmed her, and he’d spend the night with this strangely sexy demoness.
“You wouldn’t last a night with me, halfling!” She replied with a bit of bite in her tone, “Men like you always talk big, but break the moment a woman takes control.”
Percy’s heart sank in his chest as that brief look curled back into a mocking, cruel grin. She pulled a length of her whip taut in her hands, and now he could see sharp barbs protruding from its length.
Her cruel smirk was still layered with a slight bit of sensuality, “Still want to play, pretty boy? I’ll enjoy seeing you squirm beneath me... Hearing that silky voice of yours cry out in sweet, blissful agony!”
Percy shivered. Her fiery eyes sent images right into his head. Images of blood and suffering. The sharp bite of a barbed whip splitting his skin. The demon’s savage grin above him as he cried out in agony, her claws digging into him.
‘Breathe, Percy...’ The images were banished from his mind. He calmed himself down.
That calmness in his heart was shaken, but he tried to keep it from showing on his face. He grinned, “Oh, I don’t mind letting a lady take control, but let’s take it slow. I’m sure a night with you would be life-changing, but maybe we should hold off with gags and whips. My skin’s a little tender, and I think it might be too much for a first date.”
“Too bad.” The devil smirked at him and stretched out her wings, “I only know how to play rough... Now, enough of this..!”
Percy barely moved behind the pillar in time for a significant chunk of white stone to fly off with a thunderous ‘Crack!’
He dashed for the nearest corner of the building and made a break for it.
“Nothing left to say, halfling? Running from ME? I told you... I HATE spineless men!”
Crack~!
Percy felt white-hot pain explode into his side.
Percy felt his body be flung like a ragdoll and crash into the brickwork of the building. He would’ve thought his spine would snap from such an impact... but it didn’t. The bricks shattered and crumbled around him while he clutched a bleeding wound. He felt like he had just got hit by a semi-truck and had to gasp air back into his lungs... but he was still conscious.
“Hmm? You’re not dead!” Her dark grey lips smirked cruelly, “I thought I might have overdone it and split you in half with that one, pretty boy. You must be the spawn of someone great.” She cackled as she floated down.
As her legs touched the ground, Percy heard her heels click on the concrete as she drew near. He desperately thought of some way to save himself, but there was no way he could move.
“Too bad for you, you’ll never find out who.” She looked down at him as she drew closer, “You must have done something truly terrible for Hades to send ME after you. I can't wait to hear you scream out all your secrets.”
‘...Hades..?’ Percy thought blearily.
His heart hammered in his chest as she drew nearer and nearer. He felt like death was approaching and wanted to shout out at her. The words, “Who the fuck are you?” Were on the tip of his tongue as he opened his mouth.
Instead, he felt that same sense of calmness take over him as he coughed up dust and flashed a shaky smile, “If you wanted to leave me breathless, sweetheart, you could’ve just kissed me—but hey, your way certainly gets the point across! What’s your name, hot stuff?”
Percy couldn’t believe the cheesy lines that came out of his own mouth. Had his survival instincts turned into flirting when he hit his head? Or had he been possessed by some overly provocative spirit?
Miraculously, she paused in her step.
Her voice once again dropped its vicious cruelty as it filled with incredulity, “You’re still talking?” She turned her eyebrow up at him, eyes wide with shock. Then her grin grew wide as she let out a blood-curdling cackle, “Hahahaha! I think I like you, after all, halfling! I’ve never met a man so shameless!”
She turned her very eyes toward him, “Very well... If you really want to know...”
“I am Alecto.” She said with massive pride in her taunting, cruel voice, “Of the three vengeful Erinyes!”
Her words drew something deeper from Percy’s mind. With those words uttered from her lips, he realized something. She wasn’t speaking English. It was Greek, and he understood it. The name ‘Alekto’ meant ‘relentless’ or ‘unappeasable’, while the ‘Erinyes’ translated to ‘those who pursue’... but he knew them as the ‘Furies’ from Greek Mythology.
His head spun, ‘What the hell... this creature is claiming to be from myth?’ He didn’t know what to make of it, but one thing was sure. This creature was not human. Every fiber of his being was telling him that, screaming at him, DANGER. Even her voice was cruel and not in the usual sense. It seemed to thrum and echo in the air, like tormented spirits were cursing her every word.
“The Furies...” Percy coughed, looking down at his bloody chest, “...and Hades?”
“Watch your tongue, pretty boy.” Alecto warned, drawing dangerously close. She held her whip tight in her hand, “Do not speak my lord’s name so carelessly, or I’ll rip out your throat-!”
Whatever vile curses she was about to tie to that sentence were cut off. Percy saw something fly through the air as Alecto turned and jerked her whip. There was a loud crack as shards of something clattered to the ground around him.
“You wretch! So you’re still around, forest creature? I’m in a hurry, so I’ll gut you quickly..!”
“Grover..!” Percy moaned. He didn’t know what she meant by ‘forest creature’ but he had a strange, almost overpowering sense of Déjà vu.
It brought back memories of a time he’d been at the mall with a girl, and some tall men in thick trench coats approached him. Percy thought he’d hallucinated when he saw wisps of fire in their eyes. Before he knew it, he was knocked flat on his back, clutching a broken nose. Grover, who’d been at the food court by happenstance, had broken a chair over one’s back and tackled another to the ground.
“Crazy ex-boyfriends, right?” Grover had laughed at the end of the day, holding an icepack to his own face.
It had sounded so believable at the time. Or all the other times Grover had just ‘happened’ to be there when Percy needed a hand... or a pair of fists.
Percy remembered the intense sense of fear he’d felt back then, the way his hands had tightened around the neck of the monster that was attacking him. How he squeezed and squeezed until it choked... and turned to gold dust.
He remembered Grover’s soothing words calming him down and the strange fog that settled into his mind, making him forget all about it.
All those moments flashed before his eyes in a dizzying sense of Déjà vu. As Alecto turned and called out to the side, Percy felt strangely calm. He relaxed in his pile of brick rubble. Grover came back to help him. The pain in his bloody wound ebbed away.
“I’ll flay the fur from your legs and mount your horns on my wall, goatman!” Alecto shouted with terrifying cruelty. Her words spawned horrible images in Percy’s head of Grover drenched in blood.
“..!”
Alecto jerked her head toward him, evil eyes smoldering like fire.
The brick he’d thrown broke on the concrete at her feet. Not even carrying the strength to smack that smirk off her face. Her expression seemed frozen, whether it was in shock at his audacity to throw a brick at her, or his patheticness for failing to reach her with it.
“You’re right, halfling.” She suddenly said before cracking her whip in the air. Another shower of splinters rained onto the concrete, “You’re far too important. If I bring you back... then my lord will finally...”
Percy stared at the ground. Something metal slid toward his feet. It was golden, shining in the mid-day light, and carved with intricate patterns. The triangular shape told him what it was: an arrowhead.
“Let’s go halfling.” The fury, Alecto ignored Grover and stepped toward him.
Another voice made her pause.
“Are you planning on lying down all day, Percy?” It was calm and familiar.
‘Mr Bruner?’ Percy doubted his ears. He tried to move, but his body disobeyed his commands.
“Mmm. You’ve taken quite the beating. My apologies... but you’ll be quite all right, son. Stand up now.”
“...” Percy was in shock. Mr Bruner’s voice was strangely comforting at the moment, and the Fury was strangely silent.
“You’re stronger than that, Percy. On your feet!”
Percy felt another incredible, strange sensation. Mr Bruner’s voice suddenly barked in a tone of command. He felt like a soldier on a battlefield, with his general calling for him to stand. His heart hammered like a war drum as strength filled his muscles. Before he knew it, rubble and bricks fell away, and he realized he was standing on his feet again.
“You..!” Alecto cried out with rage trembling in her voice... and Percy watched her take a half-step back.
Percy turned his head to the side and saw a surreal sight. Mr Bruner, donning a full, shining set of sparkling bronze armor... and that was just on his top half. His lower half was that of a white horse.
Beyond him, he saw Grover’s head peeking out from the open doorway, looking very relieved he was alive.
“What ho, Percy!” Mr Bruner cried.
A flash of gold spun toward him, and he reached out to catch something heavy. Percy stared in surprise as a bronze gladius weighed down his hand, shining with a terrifyingly sharp point.
Alecto, who seemed to be reasoning between attacking Mr Bruner and finishing off Percy, lashed out with her whip. She let out a shriek full of hatred.
Percy watched, jaw hanging open, as Mr Bruner caught it.
“Now, now, settle down.” He held the fury’s whip in an iron grip, even as it grew taut, and Alecto pulled back against him. He didn’t budge an inch.
“You..!” Alecto’s voice trembled with the promise of pain and torture, “Hades will NOT forgive you for this! I swear..! You’ll PAY!”
“I’m sure.” Mr Bruner said calmly and turned his head toward Percy.
Percy looked back toward Alecto, who was raging, locked in a tug-of-war with Bruner’s strength. He didn’t think anything of it the first time, but once again, he heard the name Hades—the Greek God of the Underworld. Then there was the Furies and Alecto... and Mr Bruner, who had become a Centaur.
Stranger than all that was how calm he was, holding a shining bronze sword and bleeding from his chest.
Mr Bruner nodded at him, “Are you alright, lad?”
“Yeah.” Percy said with an impossibly level voice, “I’m alive... I think...” He looked down at his bloody chest, wondering how he was still standing with such an injury. He wondered if this Centaur had cast some sort of spell on him.
“Good. A young warrior shouldn’t be stricken down without a chance to raise his blade.”
Warrior? Blade? Percy stared down at the bronze sword in his hand.
“...Mr Bruner..?”
“Yes?” The man looked at him with the same calm, insightful gaze he wore in his lectures, then glanced down at himself. Mr Bruner said, “Ah. Please allow me to reintroduce myself. My name is Chiron, the trainer of heroes.”
“Chiron,” Percy repeated, remembering the story of Chiron, the wise centaur who taught Achilles and Heracles from Greek Myth.
“You wretched nuisance..! Don’t think for a moment that my lord will overlook-”
“Ah.” Chiron looked back at her as if suddenly remembering she was there. Then he suddenly let her weapon go, “This is a good opportunity. On your guard, Percy!”
“What?” Percy said dumbly.
“Move! Now!”
As if controlled by Chiron’s command, Percy’s body leaped to the side. Far further and higher than he’d ever expected, he could leap. The ground exploded beneath him as Alecto’s whip came down furiously.
“Good.” Mr Bruner nodded, “Your body is far stronger than you realize, Percy. You have the blood of a God in your veins.”
“What?” He repeated.
“Eyes on your opponent now.” His Classical Literature Professor said calmly, making Percy jerk his head back to Alecto.
This time, when the fury cursed at him and the whip came cracking down, Percy was able to move in time. As Alecto raged, splitting apart the campus paths with her flailing whip, Percy heard Chiron’s voice commanding him.
Duck, Percy. Dodge now. Jump back.
Percy’s body moved in ways he didn’t know it could. There was a hidden strength awakening within him.
And between these sharp commands, he broke into a lecture, “You are a demigod, Percy. A son of a mortal and one of the Gods themselves. From the sheer presence of your aura, you must be the son of a mighty Olympian.”
Percy found it hard to listen to this devilish woman screaming hellish curses and tearing apart the campus grounds to murder him. Her whip’s onslaught broke momentarily as she pulled her other hand back.
His eyes focused intensely as it looked like she was winding up a frisbee. But when she threw it, he saw it grow into a giant, blood-soaked buzzsaw the size of a car.
“Shit!” He bent his body backward as it flew over his head, making a terrible grinding noise as it sawed through the building behind him like butter.
“Demigods, or half-bloods as they’re called, like you, attract Monsters-”
Percy shouted as Alecto started flinging buzzsaws out of thin air and fought desperately not to be sawed in half. Her whip lashed out like a snake, and with nothing else to do, he raised his sword in front of his face.
Percy slid back a dozen feet with a loud clang, shaking from head to toe with reverberations... but he didn’t get knocked off his feet. Somehow, he’d blocked this monster’s whip.
She raged and spun in place, flapping her large green batwing at him. Blood-red spikes shot toward his throat in a scatter like a shotgun. He didn’t know where to move, and there were too many to dodge.
“Ah. I suppose I’ve gotten carried away.”
Percy looked up as Alecto started cursing his name again. The blood-red spikes were knocked out of the air by thin golden whistling arrows.
Thunk-!
Alecto’s shrieking voice was silenced by a thin arrow piercing her throat.
Percy’s eyes went wide as he watched Alecto’s face give a look of fury toward Chiron. The tall Centaur had an ornate long bow in his hands. He calmly pulled back the drawstring.
“Well fought, Percy.” The Centaur commended him, even though he hadn’t done anything but run around.
Thunk, thunk, thunk!
A set of tightly grouped golden arrows pierced into Alecto’s chest, and the Fury fell out of the air.
“Curse you..!” She shrieked one last time as her voice faded like a tormented spirit.
Percy watched in pure astonishment as the she-devil turned into golden dust right before his eyes.
Chiron trotted up to him.
Percy turned his head speechlessly. There were about a million questions to ask but no way to reason where to start.
Then, the clacking of hooves caught his ear as Grover walked up beside him, “Percy!”
Percy opened his mouth with an incredulous question, “Grover... what happened to your pants?”
The young, brown-haired man from his college classes wasn’t a man at all. He was a Satyr. Those baggy brown pants he always wore were actually his fur-covered legs.
Even more surprisingly, there was a gnarled short bow in his hand that looked like it was fashioned straight from a tangled branch, with green leaves still growing on the top. Yet somehow, the bow in his hands and the quiver slung over his back looked so natural on his figure that Percy struggled to picture him without it.
“...” Grover was oddly silent and looked toward Chiron.
“We owe you quite the explanation, young man.” Chiron said as he reached into his pouch and grabbed a pinch of some glowing blue powder. He flicked it against Percy’s wound, which made the dull pain start to fade.
Percy didn’t know what to say. Here he was, staring at two creatures of myth, with a real, genuine sword in his hands and blood soaking his clothes. His blood was drawn by a Fury, a vengeful spirit, or monster, or god, or whatever, that crawled out of the Underworld to kill him.
“Yeah...” Percy said with an exhausted breath, looking at the two of them, “Let’s hear it.”
So, they told him. They told him about the modern pantheon of Gods, how the Olympians had moved into the Western world in the modern era, and how one of these Gods was allegedly his father.
They explained Camp Half-Blood and how Demigods fight to survive against the threat of monsters in modern society. About the Mist and how it obscures the mythical world from the society of mortals.
“...and why..?” Percy asked, sitting in a chair in Mr Bruner’s office, “...was this kept from me all my life?”
Chiron nodded and gave him the answer, “Your mother.”
“What..?” Percy softly gasped. His eyes turned hard, fiercer than even when he faced down Alecto, “My mother would never lie to me..!” He said firmly.
Chiron raised his hands, and Grover looked uncomfortable.
“Lie to you? Perhaps not... but she had good reason to obscure the truth. It was her wish to let you live a normal life, free of the danger your blood poses to you. We would shroud you in Mist, and you’d never know...” Chiron trailed off. He gave Percy a sad look.
Grover clenched his fists and finally spoke, “...but a Kindly One showed up...”
“Indeed. Something truly terrible has happened, Percy. A disaster so grave that no amount of effort would keep you hidden any longer.”
“What?” Percy asked, wondering where all of this lead.
Chiron said gravely, “The Gods are about to go to war... and they think you’re the cause.”
“...” Percy stared at him with pure disbelief.
“...Percy...” Grover began slowly, choosing his words carefully, “...the... ‘Kindly Ones’ aren’t just monsters. They’re some of the most frightening servants of the Underworld. They don’t hunt Demigods like monsters do. If they’re above ground... they’re looking for someone specific...”
“...and that someone is me?”
Chiron and Grover shared a glance. The trainer of heroes said, “Alecto-” Grover winced at the spoken name, “may be relentless wrath, but she is as capable as all the others. She would not appear before you randomly nor attack you without good reason. She was suspicious... I expect—of the same thing we are.”
“Suspicious of what? Starting the world’s biggest civil war?” Percy said irritably, “I’ve been cramming for finals all week! I can’t even keep a girlfriend, how did I piss off the Gods?”
“What we suspect...” Chiron continued patiently, “...is your father’s identity.”
Percy went silent.
...
...
...
“Be sure to drop in with Ms Rosemont! Doors will be open until next Friday!” Mr Bruner called as he left the lecture hall with a heavy heart.
Percy still couldn’t wrap his head around it. The ancient, immortal Centaur, Chiron, called out to him in a polite reminder to visit his college counselor’s office. As if the weight of the world hadn’t just been dropped on his shoulders.
He still felt a faint throbbing in his chest. A thin red line from his hip on his side traveled up and curved around to the top of his chest. Whatever Chiron had sprinkled on the wound and forced him to drink had sealed the wound fast and dulled the pain... but he was left with a stinging reminder that it was all very much accurate.
He walked outside wearing a burnt orange hoodie over his shredded shirt. It was something Mr Bruner had pulled out of a closet in his office. The front had a black silhouette of a Pegasus—apparently, a hoodie from ‘Camp Half-Blood’.
Percy didn’t feel like walking home, not with his chest stinging like this and his head cloudy with thoughts. Instead, he walked up the campus toward the Counseling Offices.
He had enough of thinking about Centaurs and Satyrs... so filled his thoughts with worry about his mother.
He never once blamed his mother or felt betrayed by his choice. Sally was the one person in the world that Percy knew was on his side. If she truly believed that hiding all of this mess was best for his sake... then he would accept that.
Instead, he worried how he’d explain that a Fury came from the Underworld to drag him down to hell to be tortured and worse. How he knew all about the Gods and Goddesses now, something she’d hidden for nineteen years now. He wasn’t looking forward to it. He hoped the wound on his chest would fade entirely by the time that conversation came.
Before he knew it, Percy’s legs took him across campus and he walking through the door into Ms Rosemont’s Office.
“Girl troubles?”
Percy’s head jerked up, “What did you just say?”
A young woman smiled at him with full, red lips, “Oh, don’t be so surprised. I’m a woman too. One look at your expression, and I could tell.”
Percy stared at her for a moment, thinking, ‘...was Ms Rosemont always this... hot?’ He tried to banish those thoughts from his head, knowing what a terrible idea it would be... but he couldn’t help himself. His eyes were open to the woman in front of him.
Ms Rosemont was a shapely young woman with gorgeous blonde hair. Her fair skin and luscious lips were truly beautiful, but it was her strikingly blue eyes that took his breath away. Her makeup was flawless, accenting her extraordinary beauty.
He snapped out of a daze before making a fool of himself and opened his mouth, “Well, what can I say-” He suddenly bit his tongue.
Ms Rosemont smiled at him and waited for him to continue.
He had barely been able to contain himself. Even after everything that happened today, this woman had charmed him with that smile. He was about to force himself to forget all his troubles with some playful flirting... but stopped.
He remembered Alecto the Fury... and his mother. Was he really about to try and seduce his college counselor..?
“Yeah.” Percy said after a minute, sinking into his chair, “You could say I’ve got some girl problems...”
“Oh?” Ms Rosemont didn’t seem bothered at all by the subject lingering on this, rather than his schedule for next semester. She put on a playful grin, “Want to share? I’ll listen.”
Percy thought about springing the issue of a timeless ancient Fury that was trying to drag him down to the Underworld for some kind of Divine punishment.
Instead, he said, “Well... There’s a girl in my class named Nancy Bobofit...”
...
…
…
Percy sat alone in a window booth at one of the campus’ popular coffee shops. He stared down at the screen of his smartphone, lingering on a message from his ‘penpal’.
Lover💋: Give her a chance.
He figured this was probably the worst possible time to be doing this... but his thoughts were such a mess that he had no better ideas.
After a while...
“...Hey, Percy...”
Nancy’s cautious voice came as she slid into the seat across from him.
Looking at her again, it was like he saw all her good features for the first time. Her lighter dust of freckles complimented her pretty features as she looked at him with a little nervous glint in her eyes. Charming green eyes, he thought.
She wore a light jacket over a stylish black top and pulled her ginger hair back into a ponytail.
“How’d you get my number, anyway?” She quickly asked.
“The counselor gave it to me.”
She raised her eyebrows, “We have the same counselor?”
“I guess so...” He said simply.
“So then... why did you call me here out of the blue?”
“Well... I guess I thought it would be better to do this face-to-face...” Percy began.
Nancy grew nervous at the way he was speaking. Her eyes were both watching him carefully like she was trying to figure out what he was about to say before he said it and watch the door for a chance to bolt.
“So... I know we’ve had a bit of a troubled history... But these last few years have been okay, right?” He began slowly.
“Uh... yeah?” She crossed her arms beneath her modest bust and leaned back against the booth.
Percy said, “Look, what I want to say is... I don’t like walking on eggshells around you. We’ve both grown up, right? I don’t want to feel uncomfortable about stuff that happened between us when we were dumb kids. So... can we... start over?”
Nancy stared at him with a look of pure surprise. It broke that tight, tense look on her face.
“You mean... you want to be friends?”
“Uh... yeah.” Percy wore what he hoped was a disarming smile, “If you want.”
Percy’s breath caught in his throat as the girl across from him made a face. To his surprise, it wasn’t shock or even disgust... It was a familiar face. He saw the same cute, bashful look on the pretty faces of girls when he asked for their numbers or met them around the city.
“...I’d like that...” Nancy gave a slightly sweet smile, a tone more tender than he’d ever heard from her.
‘Oh shit...’ Percy swallowed, feeling a familiar sensation growing in his chest. That sweet smile of hers tickled his heart. It made him forget all about gods and monsters.
What the hell was he thinking..?
But a voice in the back of his head whispered, ‘Go for it, Percy.’
“So...” Percy said slowly, looking into her eyes, “It’s getting a little late... Want to grab dinner?”
...
Gods, Goddesses, Satyrs, Centaurs, Furies and Monsters.
All of that was easy to believe.
But nothing could’ve convinced Percy Jackson he’d be walking into Nancy Bobofit’s apartment tonight.
And certainly not like this..!
The door slammed behind them as Percy kicked it closed with one foot. Their hands were far too busy to manage it otherwise.
Nancy’s slender feminine shape was lifted in his strong arms like she was weightless. Her own hands were cradling his face as she leaned down to seal his lips in a searing hot kiss. She softly moaned as her back hit the wall. Percy’s hands held her thighs as he lifted her up and kissed her back just as passionately. Nancy’s legs wrapped around his waist, pulling their bodies closer together.
Their lips met together in a frenzy of passion. Percy carried her into the apartment and into her bedroom. As they tumbled onto the bed, Nancy’s voice came out in a breathless gasp. Together, they started fumbling with each other’s clothes. Nancy tugged his shirt up over his head, gasping at his well-toned chest.
Percy gave her another hot kiss and started stripping her down layer by layer.
Nancy gasped, “P-percy..!”
Once her jacket slid down her shoulders and her thin black top was tossed across the room, Percy’s hands reached around behind her back. He unclasped her bra with a dexterous, practiced hand.
Percy saw the almost shy look that Nancy was giving him, her supple, pale breasts bare to his eyes. This was the same girl that had been such a menace to him for years. She gently moaned as he leaned down to cup her breasts and give them a gentle squeeze. Her light pink nipples were hard nubs under his fingers, proving her excitement.
He leaned down to kiss her neck, delighting in every gasp and moan that slipped through her lips. She held his hair, moaning as she felt his lips on her collarbone, “Yes..!” She let him do as he pleased.
They were both beyond words, indulging in the physical passion for each other.
Percy rose, trading one last sweet kiss from her eager lips before he slid down her slender shape. Nancy raised her hips while Percy tugged her slim jeans down her thin legs. She laid back on the bed with her legs spread open for him.
“A-are you going to..?” She asked, wearing an expression he’d never seen on her face before. Shyness. She brushed her ginger hair out of her face as she watched him slink down between her legs. He flashed a smile full of promise as he slid down the thin black panties she wore.
A small triangle of trimmed hair sat above her tender, pink pussy. He lowered his head down, kissing her spread thighs. She softly moaned, and he felt her hands slide into his black hair, urging him to go on. He gave her what she wanted and started to lick her slick, pink folds tenderly.
Nancy’s voice rose high in pitch as she moaned freely. Her fingers dug into his hair as she started moving her hips. Every little delicate movement of his tongue sliding across her sensitive petals drove her closer and closer to an incredible peak.
“P-percy..!” She gasped his name again, unable to find any other words to express her emotion. The fact that it was Percy’s tongue so skillfully teasing her sensitive pussy made her excitement rise even higher.
Percy’s tongue slid through her folds with practiced technique. His tongue worked her up steadily. He made her gentle gasps come out incessantly as he firmly pushed her pleasure up to its unforgettable climax. With his tongue delicately stimulating her clit, he pushed two fingers into her clenching pussy and made her squeal.
“Ooooh~! Percy..!” Nancy squealed in a shuddering climax, writhing like she was trying to get away from his tongue, but he wouldn’t let her.
He greedily lapped at her gushing pussy, enjoying the sweet taste of her nectar. She let out long, gasping moans as he worked her through her quivering climax. Then she fell back against the bed, panting with a cute, dazed look in her eyes.
“W-wow…” She breathed, tingling from head to toe.
“…” Percy softly smirked. As bad as he was at relationships, he was confident in his ability to please a woman.
Nancy looked up when she heard Percy’s belt hit the floor. He climbed back up on the bed and slipped between her legs.
Nancy shuddered and spread her legs a little wider. Her dark green eyes were locked on his stiff erection with a look of honest surprise.
He climbed on top of her, his big cock poised at the entrance of her tender lips. He looked at her with desire in his eyes but also a question—one last chance to change her mind.
She pulled him down for another searing kiss, swirling her tongue between his lips. She held his face and gasped wet lips, “…go ahead… give it to me..!”
He slowly pushed into her hot, clenching tunnel. Her slick walls parted for his member to slide deep into her depths as they moaned in unison. Both of them felt an intense pleasure from their connected sexes as their spontaneous desire for one other finally found its outlet.
He filled her soaking tunnel with his large cock, stretching her tight walls as she bit back a loud moan. She pulled him closer, gasping in his ear as she wrapped her slender arms around his back and urged him deeper inside of her.
“…give it to me..!” She whispered again in his ear.
Percy indulged in the same wild emotions she was feeling. He rocked his body against hers while she gasped into his ear. His fat cock carved through the pleasurable, pleated walls of her juicy sex, driving both of them mad for each other.
The heat only rose between the two of them as Percy’s thrusts came in deeper, firmer strokes, and Nancy’s voice grew louder in his ear. The two of them were overwhelmed by desire. Whether it was venting years of pent-up frustration or simply honest attraction, it didn’t matter. The only thing they were concerned with was the intense sparking chemistry they shared in the moment.
Percy fucked her tight pussy with growing enthusiasm, holding her slender figure tight in his strong arms. Nancy clung to him like a lover, letting him hear just how beautiful her voice could sound, warped with pleasure. Her legs locked behind his hips as her nails clawed at his back.
“Percy..! Nnngh..!”
He felt her tight walls clench down around his cock as she muted a long moan and trembled beneath him. He only pushed her harder, driving his cock deeply to make her mind go numb with pleasure.
Their bodies continued to rock in unison, skin starting to sweat with the growing intense heat and raw passion between them.
Finally, after who knows how long their frenzied fucking continued on the bed, Percy hugged her body tight and pushed his cock deep into her quivering cunt. Nancy let out a muted shriek, clutching at him tightly as she felt him swell inside her walls. Together they let out a groan as Percy’s twitching cock pumped her pussy full of cum.
…
“Mmnngh… Sllrrrrrpp~”
Percy let out a gentle groan and brushed her pretty ginger hair behind her ear. Nancy looked up at him with horny green eyes as she sucked his hard cock clean, working him back up for another round of steamy sex.
Neither of them could really understand what had just happened, and maybe that’s why neither had much to say.
“…another round..?” Percy suggested with a playful smirk.
Nancy moaned and pushed him deeper into her mouth, softly gagging as his shaft prodded the back of her throat. She slurped wetly off the tip of his cock and gasped, “Lay back..!”
Percy let her shove his chest on the bed and watched the beautiful, slender redhead climb naked onto his lap and slide her hungry pussy down on his stiff erection.
They looked into each other’s eyes with matching desire, watching each other’s expressions change as their hips rocked together in rising passion.
_________________________________
Later that night…
Percy looked at the slender, bare shoulder of the girl naked in his bed. (Which was, in fact, HER bed)
He still couldn’t believe how this crazy day had turned out. Attacked by a real monster. A fury straight from Myth, sent by Hades himself from the depths of the underworld to kill him for having the blood of Gods in his veins.
...And yet that was somehow more believable than the sight of Nancy Bobofit’s naked body curled up in his sheets.
He glanced at his phone with a strange feeling in his heart. He pulled up a message history and stared at it. The name ‘Lover💋’ was at the top of the list.
For the first time, Percy typed out a message and started the conversation himself.
Percy: You were right.
The response came quick.
Lover💋: I always am, sugar. Are you feeling a little better now?
‘Are you feeling better?’ was the response. ‘Lover’ didn’t ask for elaboration or details about his night with Nancy. They just asked about him. It was strangely personal, yet the lack of details kept a distance between them that made him feel comfortable to share more.
He let out a long sigh. Despite how crazy things were today, he did feel better. It was like he finally received the answer to some horrible mystery that had been plaguing him all his life. He tried not to think about Gods and Monsters and just focused on the gentle breathing of the woman lying beside him.
Percy: Yeah. She was sweeter than I thought.
Lover💋: I’m happy for you.
That little message brought him comfort. It felt good to have someone cheering for him after so many failures.
Percy: Thanks.
Lover💋: Don’t mention it, hun. Just answer me this. What do you want from her?
He paused and glanced to the side. Nancy released a soft breath and nuzzled her cute, sleeping expression deeper into the pillow.
Percy: Love, I guess.
Lover💋: You guess? You didn’t just want a quick fuck?
Percy scowled deeply, but strangely, he didn’t feel judged by this message. It made him think.
Percy: No. Sex is fun, but that’s not what I’ve been looking for.
Lover💋: What then? Tell me.
Percy: I’ve wanted a real relationship, but it’s just never worked out. The girls I meet always break it off fast. I must be destined to be alone.
Lover💋: I don’t think that’s true.
Percy stared at the screen as Lover sent another message.
Lover💋: You’ve been burned badly in the past, and that’s made you guarded. Have you considered that your relationships might have failed because you are expecting them to? You need to open your heart if you want to find love, darling.
He scowled. How could he explain the situation to this stranger? That the girls he dated were always surrounded by psycho ex-boyfriends... or that real monsters chasing after him had scared the good ones off.
Percy: I don’t think it’s that simple.
Lover💋: It can be. What’s your idealistic relationship?
Percy didn’t have to think about it for long. He’d done plenty of that already throughout his young adult life.
Percy: Love and acceptance? Is that too much to ask?
Lover💋: Not at all. That’s the basis of any relationship, darling. But that’s not what I asked. What’s your real answer?
“...”
Percy: A partner I can trust. Someone who won’t betray me or cheat on me. And someone who’s not just using me for some cheap fling or only fixated on my appearance.
Lover💋: That’s better, but we’re not there yet. Those feelings are from your own personal experiences... but what do you truly want from your partner?
Percy should’ve felt a little strange digging this deep with someone he’d only randomly met through texting... but he was calm as he thought about his next response.
Percy: I guess someone who loves me unconditionally. A partner I could spend my life with, who would support me with all their heart. Someone I could commit my entire life to and live happily with them.
...
Lover💋: That’s cute❤
Percy felt a little red-faced at this response. For the first time, he felt offended by this messenger, who’d just urged him to open his heart. He quickly typed out a biting response, but before he could send it-
Lover💋: That’s what I like that about you, sugar. If more people shared that view, wouldn’t the world be such a beautiful place?
“...” Percy calmed down and stared at the message.
Lover💋: I can help you, Percy.
Percy felt an intense sinking feeling in his stomach. He felt a strange sensation come over him as he stared at the screen. At the word ‘Percy’ from his anonymous penpal. One with whom he’d never shared his name.
Lover💋: Just answer me one little question first...
Her following message confirmed that strange feeling in his gut.
Lover💋: What is my name?
‘Her’ he’d thought, despite never once hearing her name. Because ever since that conversation with Mr. Bruner, Percy had a prevalent thought. ‘Chiron’ had told him that the gods walked among them. That they’d appear sometimes still before mortals and demigods.
He remembered the conversations he’d had with her. How she always seemed to message him right when he needed advice, particularly with women. She was there to urge him to go out and explore new relationships and she was always there to offer comfort when those relationships didn’t last.
He remembered the doves in the park. A flock of birds far too pretty and perfect for a city like New York. Yet they appeared when he felt down, immediately after talking to this messenger.
“Mount Olympus is on the 600th floor of the Empire State Building.” Chiron had told him, “The gods are here in the West.”
This mysterious stranger gave him an impossible task. To guess a name he’d never once been told. And yet, there was one name that stuck in his head.
Percy let out a breath and muttered, “Aphrodite..?”
Immediately, he heard a sultry voice, like a lover whispering sweet nothings in his ear. A voice so seductive that it made his body grow hot.
“Mmm, you got it, lover💓” The Goddess of Love whispered in his ear.
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End of Chapter - Thanks for Reading!
A/N: Whew! I mentioned this in my community tab, but this story kind of took over my brain this week. I’ve got probably the most extensive notes I’ve ever taken for a First Chapter, so hopefully you guys like this too so we can continue!
The lemon was quick and dirty, as it sort-of has to be for a first chapter like this. We’ll get into longer, steamier scenes in the future. Hopefully with some erotic fun/hijinks with Aphrodite looming over Percy’s shoulder.
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