Chapter 15: A Sunday Drive to Alaska

[Percy's POV:]

"Now I see why dogs love doing this so much! This is great, the wind is amazhang!" I currently have my head stuck out the window letting my tongue flap around in the winds sorry not sorry upcoming drivers prepare for Percy's homemade wolf slobber! We hadn't yet left the Camp's surrounding field lands, but the pickup truck had more than strong enough torque and suspension to let it speed through the hilly grasslands that surrounded it. Reyna had been telling me about the way out, It was a portal in a car park near a tunnel, At first I was curious how that would work since they have to pay and to leave and stuff, but apparently the car park had a mini garage-like area that, thanks to the mist, was "no longer" in use. Well for mortals at least.

"Sometimes I forget you're basically a dog.. Just be careful not to fall out the window" Hey, I know some humans love doing this thank you very much. I mean technically I am one but that's besides the dam point. We approached a small building with an entrance large enough for a truck to fit through, I suppose they order in Amazon delivery... oh this is gonna be good.

"Say, you know your sister Hylla?" I could barely keep my smirk off my face even with a snout to hide it.

"Yeah? What about her?" she looked intrigued that I'd bring her up.

"Does she make a lot of money?" the anticipation of the punny joke was killing me.

"Why would I know that, she in charge of the Amazons not some company" and that was my que.

"But Amazon is the world's most valuable brand! It's worth Billions!" There was silence. One that made me start to question certain life choices.. She turned to face me before giggling a bit. Her laugh gave me a strange sense of joy and dread at the same time.

"Oh Hylla is gonna love and hate this when I tell her, she is gonna kill you, you know that right, well better start searching for another praetor" I'm starting to think she wasn't laughing at my pun, but instead at what Hylla is gonna do to me when she finds out... I opted to remain silent after that.

The vehicle came to a stop inside the building where a male demigod with a strange shade of red hair came up to the wound down window on Reyna's side.

"G'd evening Praetor, where to?" He spoke as he was supposed to be a butler not, whatever he is here.

"Just to Birch Ct, we want to drive along the shore" the guy gave a court nod taking a quick peek over to where I was with a respective nod. I gave one back in mutual respect. Hey portal controlling butler people deserve respect to you know.

He went over to a smaller control room where he began pressing a few buttons that didn't really match the roman theme going on. Soon the exit of the building began to change as if someone had pressed the next slide on a slideshow, revealing what looked to be the interior of an underground car park. Reyna restarted the car and drove through, a completely underwhelming sensation. I was like walking through a door, you wouldn't guess that we had just practically teleported a few miles in a direction I did not care to figure out.

"Well that was boring" of course I had to voice my opinion.

"Sorry, next time I'll have balloons and confetti shall I?" Was I going to sass back? Are blue foods better than normal? [If you said no leave my dam life book you uncultured reader.]

"Yes, that would be much better, maybe some fireworks too? oh and blue confetti. Lots of blue confetti." she looked at me with the world's biggest deadpan face, before focusing on the road ahead.

"This is gonna be a long ride" she muttered to herself. And yes yes it was if I had anything to say about it.. Speaking of which...

[Olympus:]

[Artemis POV:]

"You want us to what?!?" I screamed at my father.

"I said, you are to take the hunt and arrest Percy Jackson. He is a werewolf with powers of Big three demigod, A demigod monster. I cannot allow such a thing to exist unrestrained, he will end up a threat to us all!" What is up with him and threats, this is getting out of hand!

"Father did you forget the boy has saved our lives more than twice? Not to mention his flaw! He would sooner take his life than harm us" the room went silent, not because of the amazing point my big brain cousin made, but the fact that she made it.

"Athena, why do you defend him? I was under the premise that you despised him, right?" his bolt crackled to life by his throne. Classic father, if your child doesn't agree with you, threaten them with over a million volts. Though I too was interested in why.

"I despised him for his father, not for his personality for that alone is what made him... Tolerable " Crap, Why is Aphrodite mouth open like that? She can't... Athena surely doesn't.. But she hated him!

Great another Dam rival, first male I fall in love with and every goddess wants him for themselves. And I guess the demigod girls do too looking at them.[Nearby Forest:]

[Aria POV:]

I was sitting up in daddy's 'Tree' , the one he loved to sleep in anytime we came back to this forest, I can still see all the claw marks he left behind. Strangely this tree, except for the claw marks, was the healthiest looking tree in the forest. As someone that's lived in the forest most my life, the differences were like the night and day to me though my fellow hunters didn't seem to make such observations, maybe I'm just weird.. I kinda hope that's the case Dad always said "weird is good, just look at how amazing blue cookies are!" when I asked him. The memory brought a smile to my face, I was sad that he was missing for so long, but I know he will be back, he's always been here for me plus Thalia says he tends to do a disappearing act every now and then. And technically he was in a disappearing act from camp till recently.

A few moments of silence settled over me as the bedding like leaves under my rustled in the wind. I started to think of the past. The time the hunt confessed to Dad, when we found my little sister who was currently talking to aunt Natasha's about our uncle Tyson since he was apparently a cyclops as well. I also recalled the time he told us about our grandma, Sally Jackson, I had forgotten very little of what he told me when I was 4. She was 'the inventor of blue foods' as well as the world's bestest mother, though dad thinks she left him, abandoning him because of the demi dangers. I didn't believe him still don't, after all the stories he told me of her, all the things they went through, she wouldn't just leave him and knowing dad he probably made a mistake. Again.

I took out a picture I had 'borrowed' from dad years back. It was of Grandma Sally, A little old and wrinkled, but clear enough. I held it close to me as my greatest treasure, second only to the deep blue scarf filed with depictions of the moon that mu- Lady Artemis and Dad had tried hard to sew on, dad had given it to me a few years ago for my birthday. Thinking back to the picture buried by my heart I was certain "She must still care about him, I know it!" I said to no one.

"Are you looking at oba-chan's picture in Tou-Chan's tree again? Can I see too? PLEASEEEE" shouted my younger sister using her Japanese honorifics again, I was used to it now, but it's still funny to hear from someone that never met or saw a Japanese person in their life, Hell she had never even heard Japanese before.

"Yeah, come on up!" while my 'little' sister wasn't so little she scaled the tree trunk with a huntress's finesse that made me a proud older sister.

"Wasn't you going to speak to Aunt Russia?" she giggled at my new nickname for her, dad had a habit of giving a nickname to anything that could think and or move and that passed on to me I guess. Lady Luna was my name for Artemis when I had to butter her up, else I'd just call her Lady Moondeer, which she HATES making it perfect hehe.

"I did, she said she barely met Tyson since he stays down in grandpops' forge." I always loved how she called our grandad 'grandpops' instead of the Japanese version even though we had never met him.

"Well scoot on over so you can see!" Coral was just as excited as I am to see the picture of the famed Sally Jackson or as we call her grandma Sall.

"Tell the story again onee-chan!" pleaded Coral, she had been infatuated with it ever since I first recounted it to her. When Dad had told me it we called it the story of "what if" since it was all about if grandma Sally was still there, if she knew we were here. We hadn't yet found coral so she'd only heard it from me.

"Alright fine, but only once. I'm not telling it all day like last time!" she REALLY liked the story, i did too but it gets a little annoying after the 4th time. Since it was more sentimental rather than engaging to tell.

Holding the picture in front of us, with my little sis cuddled up, I began to tell the story. "This, My little sister, is the story of what if".

I spoke mimicking dad feeling my memories drift back to when he told me it. Back to this very tree where I'd often fall asleep into his fur softer than anything and so thick I could nearly lose myself in it.

[Flashback]

"It's a story that takes place in this very world far from the impossibilities you're used to and the ones you aren't. It's the story of the greatest woman to walk this earth, your Grandmother and what would've happened had she not fled the fear of demigod dangers we brought our very scent. For this we must go back to the best and arguably worst day of my life, finding my daughter. You being what made it such a special day. Before I found you, I tried returning home to see if I could have gotten my... wolfishness sorted. But I was greeted with an hastily emptied house signs of having been abandoned for a long time, door left ajar. When I walked in my heart was In my throat I feared someone had broken in, but luckily or well maybe not luckily it wasn't. She had left, the fear of my demigod's life endangering my little sister scared her to her flee."

He took on a sombre look, before realising he wasn't telling her the story he wished to. I couldn't help but think how did you know? Before I had the chance to ask, he moved on

"Well enough of that, this is a story not of what happened. But what would have happened had she stayed. Well assuming I still found you, you probably never would've met the hunt, at least not so soon. Oh you would've been filled with the bluest cookies you'd ever lay eyes on. The best ones too. Must be a blue thing.. the bluer the tastier... I wonder if that applies to purple since it's slightly blue... Dam ADHWID... Anyway! Your grandma would've helped me raise you like you were a princess in her castle not to mention your hair wouldn't be such a mess... I thought I told you to have Thalia do your hair, which thinking about it now may not have been the best idea..."

I remember giggling, but avoiding the question, deciding quickly to take an interest in a loose piece of bark I had found on the branch's surface until he chose to continue.

"Hmm, we'll talk about that one later." we didn't. "We'd all visit the beach you and my little sister, your aunt, Estelle, who is actually slightly younger than you, you two would've been so close I just know it. Every night she'd be there to tuck you in after a belly full of her cooking that even Hestia asked the recipe for. just like Artemis does now... well minus the cooking part we agreed to leave that one to me and I'm a wolf haha... she's doing her best for us" I caught his blush when he realised just how close they had become.. Dad is so dense sometimes... all the time...

"As you know your mother is Iris and she is a powerful goddess, not in strength, but in value. If Zeus ever found means to exploit and monopolise her communicative abilities that can even reach the underworld, he'd do it in a heartbeat. And you, my little rainbow fish, would be perfect leverage. It's one of the reasons why I came to the hunt." While it was interesting to hear about my mother, I didn't know how it related to grandma and so I asked him just that.

"It's because your grandma could not be intimidated by any God, rather she sooner bring the mighty Olympians to their knees!" the sky rumbled at the notation showing thunder pants had heard. It was weird how the gods could do that... not be aware of something yet have their domain respond.. Almost like an auto-email service in a way.

"Yeah yeah Zeus you wouldn't dare say that to her directly" there was no reply. Heh super grandma alright!

"Anyway your grandmother would probably march up to Olympus herself and scold Zeus himself if he ever tried. Not that I wouldn't be there tearing him a new one! and..."

[Flashback over]

"Dad's eyes held such a sparkle as he spoke to me sis, even after being abandoned by her he held her so close to his heart" I continued telling our story of what if for an hour till an idea popped into our heads.

"He nee-Chan? Why don't we find grandma for Dad?!" I stopped my story dead in its tracks before eagerly agreeing without a second thought. The idea of finally meeting my Grandmother driving my thoughts.

And so we packed up a few things and set off to find Grandma Sally and her famed blue cookies!

[At ?????:]

[Medusa:]

"Medusa, Your time for revenge has come. Sources have told me Percy Jackson will be heading your way. Intercept his travels, He cannot reach the Titans if my plan is to work they must remain out of my hair." His voice faded away giving me no time to respond. He had been there since I was reformed, I know not who he is, but I fear he isn't someone I can simply ignore. I'm still unsure why he wants Percy Jackson dead so much and That Half blood has killed me once already! it was a miracle I reformed so soon and I will not be killed again, not when I finally have something to live for.

"Mummy! I'm hungry again! More foooood!" her snakes hissed the same thing my what a troublesome child I have... I chuckled before grabbing some pasta for her and some mice for her snakes. She was the product of a lover who left at the first signs of a child... her father may have abandoned us, but I will protect her at any and all costs. No matter the price to myself or the world. If that means killing Percy Jackson I will not hold back.