Papa

It's funny how humans can wrap their mind around things and fit them into their version of reality. Chiron had told this long ago.

According to the L.A. news, the explosion at the Santa Monica beach had been caused when a crazy kidnapper fired a shotgun at a police car. He accidentally hit a gas main that had ruptured during the earthquake.

This crazy kidnapper (a.k.a. Ares) was the same man who had abducted Percy and three other adolescents in New York and brought them across country on a ten-day odyssey of terror.

Poor little Percy Jackson wasn't an international criminal after all. He'd caused a commotion on that Greyhound bus in New Jersey trying to get away from his captor (and afterward, witnesses would even swear they had seen the leather-clad man on the bus-"Why didn't I remember him before?"). The crazy man had caused the explosion in the St. Louis Arch. After all, no kid could've done that. A concerned waitress in Denver had seen the man threatening his abductees outside her diner, gotten a friend to take a photo, and notified the police. Finally, brave Percy Jackson had stolen a gun from his captor in Los Angeles and battled him shotgun-to-rifle on the beach. Police had arrived just in time. But in the spectacular explosion, five police cars had been destroyed and the captor had fled. No fatalities had occurred. Percy Jackson and his three friends were safely in police custody.

The reporters fed them this whole story. They just nodded and acted tearful and exhausted (which wasn't hard), and played victimized kids for the cameras.

"All I want," Percy said, choking back his tears, "is to see my loving stepfather again. Every time I saw him on TV, calling me a delinquent punk, I knew ... somehow ... we would be okay. And I know he'll want to reward each and every person in this beautiful city of Los Angeles with a free major appliance from his store. Here's the phone number." The police and reporters were so moved that they passed around the hat and raised money for four tickets on the next plane to New York.

There was no choice but to fly. They just hoped Zeus would cut Percy some slack, considering the circumstances. But it was still hard to force themselves on board the flight.

Takeoff was a nightmare. Every spot of turbulence was scarier than a Greek monster. Y/N was humming a tune while they were holding their hands together.

Because of all the chaos with reporters and police, she didn't find the right time to sing and heal him. Upon finding both of them holding hands, the reporters immediately wanted a good bite on how young love bloomed during their terrifying time with the kidnapper. Percy did have a blush and started stuttering but Y/N's acting of being scared of everyone and everything made the reporters stop. It looked as if she needed some assistance and Percy was just handling her.

But this was a good moment. In the flight, Percy was holding on to her hand tight, and it hurt a bit but that wasn't what she focused on. She sang a hymn to heal and energize him on the way, something he was too distracted to understand at that moment.

They didn't unclench their hands until they touched down safely at La Guardia. Y/N wanted to hold on to his hand a little longer, savoring the minutes before they completed the quest and he got together with...Annabeth. Yes, she felt like an awful friend but the heart wants what it wants. Besides, there was no stopping it. It was clear that Percy felt nothing for her and was just friendship from his side. Other than that, Annabeth was smart and she was expecting him to ask her out soon.

The local press was waiting for them outside security, but they managed to evade them thanks to Annabeth, who lured them away in her invisible Yankees cap, shouting, "They're over by the frozen yogurt! Come on!" then rejoined them at baggage claim.

They split up at the taxi stand. Percy told Annabeth and Grover to get back to Half-Blood Hill and let Chiron know what had happened. They protested, and it was hard to let them go after all they'd been through, but if things went wrong, if the gods didn't believe then ... Percy wanted Annabeth and Grover to survive to tell Chiron the truth.

He skipped Y/N. He did try to make her go and said that he would inform about her and tell them but she disagreed. It was something she was waiting to do since the beginning and the thought of meeting her father was a bit nerve-racking but she herself wanted to ask him about this, about why she remained undetermined. Yes, it was a risk but it was worth it. Besides, if things went down, she wanted to be with Percy to make sure he was fine.

They hopped in a taxi and headed into Manhattan. Thirty minutes later, they walked into the lobby of the Empire State Building.

They might've looked like a homeless kid, with their tattered clothes and their scraped-up face. They hadn't slept in at least twenty-four hours.

Percy went up to the guard at the front desk and said, "Six hundredth floor."

He was reading a huge book with a picture of a wizard on the front. Percy wasn't much into fantasy, but the book must've been good, because the guard took a while to look up. "No such floor, kiddo."

"I need an audience with Zeus."

He gave me a vacant smile. "Sorry?"

"You heard me."

Percy was about to decide this guy was just a regular mortal, and he'd better run for it before he called the straitjacket patrol, when he said, "No appointment, no audience, kiddo. Lord Zeus doesn't see anyone unannounced."

"Oh, I think he'll make an exception." Percy slipped off his backpack and unzipped the top.

The guard looked inside at the metal cylinder, not getting what it was for a few seconds. Then his face went pale. "That isn't..."

"Yes, it is," Percy promised. "You want me take it out and-"

"No! No!" He scrambled out of his seat, fumbled around his desk for a key card, then handed it to me. "Insert this in the security slot. Make sure nobody else is in the elevator with you two."

They got in and Percy did as he told him. As soon as the elevator doors closed, he slipped the key into the slot. The card disappeared and a new button appeared on the console, a red one that said 600.

He pressed it and waited, and waited.

Muzak played. "Raindrops keep falling on my head...."

Finally, ding. The doors slid open. They stepped out and almost had a heart attack.

They were standing on a narrow stone walkway in the middle of the air. Below was Manhattan, from the height of an airplane. In front, white marble steps wound up the spine of a cloud, into the sky.

From the top of the clouds rose the decapitated peak of a mountain, its summit covered with snow. Clinging to the mountainside were dozens of multileveled palaces-a city of mansions-all with white-columned porticos, gilded terraces, and bronze braziers glowing with a thousand fires. Roads wound crazily up to the peak, where the largest palace gleamed against the snow. Precariously perched gardens bloomed with olive trees and rosebushes.

Y/N nervously looked around, scared of finally getting to see him. Unlike Percy, who got claimed she went unnoticed for six whole months. It scared her to think that her father would not be happy to see her. It would probably stay with her forever, to get shut down in front of every god.

They could make out an open-air market filled with colorful tents, a stone amphitheater built on one side of the mountain, a hippodrome and a coliseum on the other. It was an Ancient Greek city, except it wasn't in ruins. It was new, and clean, and colorful, the way Athens must've looked twenty-five hundred years ago.

The tip of a mountain hanging over New York City like a billion-ton asteroid? How could something like that be anchored above the Empire State Building, in plain sight of millions of people, and not get noticed?

Their trip through Olympus was a daze. They passed some giggling wood nymphs who threw olives at Percy from their garden. Hawkers in the market offered to sell them ambrosia-on-a-stick, and a new shield, and a genuine glitter-weave replica of the Golden Fleece, as seen on Hephaestus-TV. The nine muses were tuning their instruments for a concert in the park while a small crowd gathered-satyrs and naiads and a bunch of good-looking teenagers who might've been minor gods and goddesses. Nobody seemed worried about an impending civil war. In fact, everybody seemed in a festive mood. Several of them turned to watch them pass, and whispered to themselves.

They climbed the main road, toward the big palace at the peak. It was a reverse copy of the palace in the Underworld.

There, everything had been black and bronze. Here, everything glittered white and silver.

It made them realize that Hades must've built his palace to resemble this one. He wasn't welcomed in Olympus except on the winter solstice, so he'd built his own Olympus underground. Despite the bad experience with him, they felt a little sorry for the guy. To be banished from this place seemed really unfair. It would make anybody bitter.

Steps led up to a central courtyard. Past that, the throne room.

Room really isn't the right word. The place made Grand Central Station look like a broom closet. Massive columns rose to a domed ceiling, which was gilded with moving constellations.

Twelve thrones, built for beings the size of Hades, were arranged in an inverted U, just like the cabins at Camp Half-Blood. An enormous fire crackled in the central hearth pit. The thrones were empty except for two at the end: the head throne on the right, and the one to its immediate left. They didn't have to be told who the two gods were that were sitting there, waiting for Percy to approach.

"I will wait outside.." Y/N said, her voice was quivering. She was clearly affected by the empty throne of her father. "He's...not here."

"Ï will talk to them about it," Percy said. Y/N smiled weakly at him and waited outside. Even if he wanted her out of there, to make sure she wouldn't get hurt, Y/N knew that his father was different. He would not allow anything to happen to his son in his presence.

When she walked out of the palace, she sat down on the stairs. Taking off her necklace, she looked at it with tears in her eyes. In the end, she wasn't able to do what she came for - what she promised to do.

She felt something warm, some light approaching her. Y/N looked forward and saw him.

Him.

She gasped and got up hastily, also immediately kneeling down in respect. She could understand who it was.

Ofcourse, it was her father, Apollo. Soon, the heavy light dimmed and she felt hands on her shoulders, pulling her up.

She stood and looked at his face. Hesitantly she said, "F-Father?"

Apollo sighed and said, "I couldn't help it. I had to...see you."

Y/N suddenly felt angry. Why was he acting as if he was the one suffering? He was the one who abandoned her.

"I understand your bitterness but I realized my anger is misplaced. You don't deserve this."

She quietly looked at her father in confusion and he continued saying, "I was...not happy that you found a father that quick. And accepted him faster than..."

"She looked happy!" Y/N immediately said, "Mother was happy. He made her happy and he's a nice person."

"I see, but are you happy though?"

Y/N smiled at him and nodded, "Yeah..I am."

"That's all I want. I heard your hymns for me Y/N, your voice is as beautiful as your mother."

She blushed at the compliment and said, "Thank you father. It means a lot to me and..." she clutched her necklace.

"Oh, I have a question," Y/N said and was about to ask about her bow and arrow, when her father interrupted and said, "You'll find it out in time."

"So? Is there a certain song that's stuck in your head that you haven't been able to sing to anyone?" Apollo smiled looking at her blushing face, "Or a song you want to sing to certain someone?"

"Um...h-how do you kno...no ofcourse you know," Y/N chuckled and said, "It's not mutual papa."

His face turned grim for a moment but he smiled again, "Well you're just fourteen. There's a lot of life left in you."

"...I know," she said looking down.

"I like that," he smiled, "being called papa."

She returned his smile and Apollo said, "I've to leave now. I'm proud of you Y/N. You learned a lot faster than I expected."

And he left shining bright, just like the way he came. She wanted to stop him and talk a little longer, but she knew that he was busy. He needs to go.

The door of the palace opened. Percy stepped outside with a smile on his face. He walked to her saying, "I talked to them about-"

"He was here," Y/N said putting her brightest smile, he couldn't help but laugh at her cute reaction.

"I'm glad," he said, "We are going to need to do a detour before going to the camp."

"Oh," Y/N furrowed her brows in worry and asked, "Where?"

"Well, my mom's back."