Percy's New Brother chapter 2

Ncalkins does not own anything but the thought, ooc, au, thanks beta!

"And that's what happened," Percy said as another cabbie kicked them out for not having their parents or enough money. He sat on the edge of the sidewalk. "The Greek gods are real, I'm a demigod, and the world's gonna end because I can't get a cab!"

He huffed, tears stinging his eyes, and buried his face in his arms. He was such a failure. His mom was in the underworld, his friends were trapped in a monstrous hotel, and the world was about to end. He flinched reaching for Riptide as someone touched his shoulder.

Nico jerked his hand away. His large brown eyes held worry and hurt; he rubbed his arm as he said. "What if we try to summon Hermes? He's the Greek god of travelers, so he should help us, right?"

"I don't have anything to offer him," Percy said running his hand through his hair. "Besides, I have no idea how that works." Annabeth and Grover would know. "Do I just call out to him? Do I need to do a special dance? Can he even help?" He shifted, climbing to his feet. Electricity zinged through him, making him tap his foot and look at every item and person who came near. That person could be a monster, that piece of trash could be one, Tartarus, the sidewalk could open up and swallow him for all he knew.

The warm night air tugged Bianca's hair into her face. "Why wouldn't he be able to help?" She tucked her hair behind her ear as she tilted her head.

"Zeus might have forbidden him," Nico said.

Bianca scowled. "That's stupid." She crossing her arms. "He wants his nightlight back." Her hair raced out from behind her ear to dance in her eyes.

"Lightning bolt," Percy corrected, his eyes flitted up to the clear, purple, skies. Was that thunder he heard or a passing car?

"I know what I said," Bianca snapped. "He wants it back, why would he forbid Hermes from helping us?"

Nico shrugged.

"You'll find out pretty quick that the gods don't make sense." Percy sighed. He squeezed his eyes shut, wishing things did make sense.

"Oh, Hermes, hear my prayer."

Percy opened his eyes and turned to look at Nico, who was standing next to him with his deck in his hand staring out into the street. He glanced at Bianca who shook her head, so he looked back at Nico to see what he was doing. He noticed that people were staring at Nico as they passed, so he stepped over to shield him; he clutched Riptide, thumbing the cap, ready to release it in case anyone attacked.

"My name is Nico di Angelo and the world's about to end," Nico said. "Literally, we need a ride, or well Percy does, and we don't really have anything, or well, all I have is my cards." He swallowed. "It's not much, but...They're my favorite possession." He held his deck out to the empty air in front of him. "So...please, accept my offering."

Percy glanced at the street, watching cars drive past. Tension coiled in his stomach as he waited for a mail-bag to get thrown at Nico for daring to bother Hermes. Nothing happened. He sighed, bowing his head. "Thanks for trying." He kept his thumb on Riptide's cap.

"It was a nice attempt," Bianca said. "But I don't think he has any use for your cards."

Percy jerked as a new voice said, "I don't know. I'll have to take a look." He flipped Riptide's cap off, the sword growing into size as people around them scattered, screaming. He pointed it at a man in a tan button-down shirt and khaki shorts with a mailbag slung across his chest.

The man was tapping at his phone; he glanced up and sighed. "Put that away." He snapped his fingers, and the mortals calmed down; they passed Percy giving him curious looks.

Percy could see out of the corner of his eye an umbrella flickering over Ripetide as if a hologram had been placed on it. He hesitated dunking down to scoop up Riptide's cap and pressing it against the sword's tip. The sword shrunk down inch by inch until the cap touched the guard, and the guard folded in on itself melting into a pen shape. Percy kept it in his hand, thumb on the cap. "Lord Hermes?"

"The one and only." He held out his hand for the deck as his other hand continued to tap on his phone without looking at it. He smiled, laugh lines crinkling around the corners of his eyes. "Ya gonna keep staring, kid, or are you going to let me look at the cards?"

"Oh!" Nico shoved the deck toward Hermes; he sucked his bottom lip in as the god took the cards. He shuffled closer to Percy. "Percy," he hissed. "That's Hermes! The Greek God of Travelers, thieves, and the messenger of the gods!" He bounced on his toes, a wide grin spreading over his face. "I can't believe it!"

"Yeah, I know," Percy said keeping his eyes on Hermes. Thieves? More of a chance to trick them or hurt them. He noted that Hermes had the same chin, the same nose, as Luke. Probably had the same streak of mischievousness that most children of Hermes had. Would he really help them, or just make things more complicated? Faster than Percy could track, Hermes flickered through the cards plucking one out before handing the rest back to Nico.

Hermes winked as he smirked. "Keep the rest. Thanks, kid."

Nico squeaked. "No problem!" His hands trembled as he put his cards away.

Was it Percy's imagination or did Hermes's smile seemed a bit softer, a bit more authentic when he looked at Nico? Did Hermes favor him because he was so star struck with him? Percy fought a snort. He doubted Nico's star-struck behavior would last long.

"I'll give you all a ride to DOA Studios." Hermes waved his hand. A mail truck appeared beside them, rocking from the speed it had arrived. "Don't complain about the ride. I have a lot of stuff to deliver, so it's a bit crowded."

Percy bit his lip. "I need to go to the Santa Monic Pier, my dad told me to." His stomach twisted into a knot at the thought of meeting his dad. Could he ask him questions? Why didn't he ever call of visit, that shouldn't be too hard for a god, right?

"Poseidon?" Nico whispered, gobsmacked. "You talked to him?"

"Well, no," Percy said rubbing his neck. "A, a," his mind went blank, "a water lady told me to go there."

"A water lady?" Bianca squinted, shook her head, and then crossed her arms. "It could be a trap."

The back of Percy's neck burned; he wanted to snap at Bianca that she didn't know anything, but his jaw clenched instead. A trap. The word made him think of the hotel; it had been too good to be true, and if he did think about it, it sounded suspicious. He wanted to believe his dad would never–but he didn't really know his dad, did he? Mythology stories aren't the most flattering, and his mom rarely talked about him.

"I'm not a taxi cab." Hermes glanced at his hissing phone. "I'll take you to DOA Studios because of Nico here." He jabbed his thumb at Nico who looked at him with wide eyes. "Asked me to give you a ride because it's the end of the world. I don't have time to be driving you all over the country."

"Ow! Don't squeeze us so tight!" A female voice said.

"You owe us two juicy rats for that!" A raspy male voice said.

"I don't have any rats." Hermes shook his phone. "Keep asking and I'll put you on vibrate."

Percy's eyes widened; the snakes were talking, slithering along the back of the phone. He wanted one.

"Can't you snap your fingers and put us there?" Bianca eyed Hermes in a way that made Percy want to take several steps away from her. "I mean, you're–" she hesitated for a moment. "You're powerful, right? It shouldn't be a problem."

"I'm busy." Hermes tapped away at his phone. It vibrated, and Hermes sighed as the girl snake reported that he had two hundred and fifty new messages. "I got over a thousand different packages to deliver before sundown, and that's if the world doesn't end, so I'm taking you to the entrance of the underworld."

"Okay, thank you for your help, Lord Hermes." Percy figured it was better to be polite than to be a smudge on the ground.

Hermes nodded as he waved for them to follow him around the back of the van. He opened the large metal doors and stepped back. "Go toward the front and make room."

Percy pressed his lips together and nodded, silently apologizing to his dad. He stepped up into the van, it rocked with from his movement and smelled like chili-cheese dogs. He squeezed around towers of packages that trembled each time he brushed against one–he prayed Hermes didn't take any sharp corners.

"You'd think a god would have better transportation," Bianca whispered from behind him.

Percy's lips twitched up as Nico shushed her; part of him hoped Nico would get over his star-struck attitude when it came to the gods, but at the same time it would probably help him. He grimaced at the thought of Nico seeing the camp and having his awe stripped away, piece by piece. Perhaps, it would be better if he warned him a bit.

He had to shove a brown, rough-textured, bag stuffed with mail out of the way so he could sit on the floor. Letters spilled out of the bag as it tumbled onto its side. "Oops."

"Leave it!" Hermes sat down in the driver's seat, snapping his buckle into place. "It's just one more thing for me to do."

Percy curled in on himself muttering an apology as Bianca sat beside him. Their sides touched, and Percy tried to shift away but with the limited room, he was still pressed against her. He couldn't help but wonder what it would have been like if Annabeth and Grover were with him instead. Butterflies flapped away in his stomach at the thought of Annabeth being so close; Grover would have probably eaten some of the mail and got into trouble.

To take his mind off of his trapped friends, Percy called Nico's attention to him. "Do you want to know more about the camp?"

Hermes started the car. The soft rumble tickled Percy's feet.

"Yeah!" Nico beamed as he sat forward until his forehead hit a box causing him to pull back a little rubbing his skin.

Percy chuckled as Bianca called Nico stupid. "There's sword-fighting, cabins, and a lot of tasty food," Percy said, halting the brewing squabble, figuring it was best to start with the good stuff. "You can play volleyball, swim, have races with Nymphs, and learn how to shoot a bow."

"Woah!" Nico's eyes widened as he beamed, bouncing in his seat.

Percy suppressed a smile at Nico's exclamation, even Bianca seemed interested; her head tilted toward him despite her eyes staring straight ahead. Now he had to prepare them for the unawesome stuff. "It's not all good though." He frowned. "Mr. D always forgets our names and is a bit of a bully."

Hermes snorted. "He's hungover and cranky."

"That too." Percy glanced at Hermes thinking of what he could and couldn't say with a god so close. "The bathrooms are a mess." He might have had something to do with that, but it was a mess before he got there–at least he didn't make it any worse.

"When are bathrooms not?" Nico shrugged. "I mean, they're bathrooms."

Percy had to agree with that; though Bianca wrinkled her nose. "There's a lot of fighting amongst us."

"That's what families do," Nico said.

Percy had to suppress a groan. Time to pull out the big guns. "You'll have to live in the Hermes cabin."

"That's fine!" Nico smiled at Hermes's chair. "I like Hermes!"

Hermes shot him a thumbs-up as he turned the wheel. Percy pressed his back against the wall as boxes rattled around them; he bit his lip praying they wouldn't fall on them. The snakes on Hermes's phone kept hissing, reporting every urgent message that came up–a lot of gods and goddesses wanted to know where their new hair spray was.

"Look," he said. "I love the camp, but it's not a perfect place. The Hermes cabin is cramped and overcrowded."

"Not my fault," Hermes grumbled. "Zeus won't let me expand." His finger tapped against the wheel. "Will you two shut up?" He snapped at his phone.

"We're just doing our job!" One snake said.

"Rude," the other snake said. "You owe us at least two, plump, juicy rats."

"I should put you both on vibrate."

Percy shook his head at the weirdness coming from the driver's seat. "Being a demigod is dangerous."

"Like almost getting eaten by plants?" Bianca waved her hand. "We don't have much choice unless there are other places we can go?"

"Um." Percy paused. "I-I don't think so?" What happened to other demigods out there who were far away from camp? Did they die? What about the ones in other countries? He glanced at Hermes, opening his mouth to ask when the car stopped.

"We're here," Hermes said. "Everyone get out." He met Percy's eyes in the review mirror. "You better succeed, Jackson. Do you know much I've been set back doing this for you?"

Percy closed his mouth and nodded. "Right, sorry, thanks." He got up, grunting as his funny-bone hit a box; he stepped on Bianca's heels. "Sorry."

"It's fine."

"Hey, Mr. Hermes," Nico piped up as Bianca pushed him toward the door. "Why don't you create an underground bunker for your kids?"

"I'd have to get permission for Hades, and I'm too busy to sit down and talk to him."

"I'll ask him!" Nico promised as he jumped out of the car.

Percy groaned. "Nico, Hades won't want to talk to you about camp." They were at the mouth of an alleyway. He narrowed his eyes, but it seemed empty, hopefully, there weren't any monsters disguised as piss filled bottles.

"I can at least try!" Nico looked around. "So where's the entrance?" He turned around. "Hey! Lord Hermes is gone!"

"Five minutes," Bianca said glancing at her watch. "It took less than five minutes for him to get us here, and yet he complained the whole time of how much we set him back?" She shook her head. "Ridiculous."

Nico bit his lip. "I bet he had his reasons." He took her hand, turning toward the nearby crowded street. "Come on, let's find the door!"

Percy wrinkled his nose. "I think this is the entrance."

"An alleyway?" Bianca raised an eyebrow. "Why would he put the entrance in an alley?"

"To keep humans away?" Percy uncapped Riptide; he occurred to him that Riptide hadn't left his hand since it reappeared–he supposed it was a good thing.

Bianca nodded. "I suppose that makes sense." She pressed her free hand to her throat. "So we're really doing this? Going into the underworld?"

"Are we sure it's that way?" Nico learned around Bianca to look at Percy. "It could be in the back of that ice cream parlor." He cast a wistful glance at the shop down the street.

Percy chuckled. "Pretty sure. It's never where we want to be." He looked over at the people buzzing around the tables as they ate their cool treats. "You guys don't have to come with me." He dug his free hand into his pocket–he wanted them to come with him, but it wasn't their quest. "Get some ice cream."

"No."

"No way!"

The siblings looked at him with similar looks of determination.

Nico grabbed Percy's hand. "We can have ice cream at any time." He tugged Percy and Bianca toward the alleyway. "But we only get to save the world once!"

Hopefully, Percy loathed the idea of having to do this all again.

"Besides," Bianca said. "We don't have any money."

Percy snorted. The damp smell of the alley invaded his nose, so he forced himself to breathe through his mouth. The air tasted like dirty gym socks; Percy still cursed the bully that shoved those things in his mouth back at one of his old schools. He eyed the overflowing dumpster as they passed it; praying a monster wasn't hiding in it.

"Are you sure it's down here?" Bianca asked.

"I don't know." Percy shivered; goosebumps popping up on his arms. "All I know is Hermes said he would drop us off at the entrance."

Bianca muttered something in Italian, that Percy was willing to bet wasn't flattering.

"There's a door!" Nico tightened his hold on their hands.

They stopped in front of it. Percy glanced down the dead-end of the alley before turning back to the door. It was made of dark steel, rusted around the edges, and graffitied by some guy named Les.

"Is it getting colder?" Percy half expected his breath to appear before him.

"No?" Nico glanced at him. "It feels fine."

"Says the walking ice cube," Percy muttered as he read the letters on the metal door.

"What was that?" Bianca asked.

Percy pointed at the faded, blood-red, pain under Les's name. "DOA studios," he said. "This is it." He glanced at Nico and Bianca. "Not too late for you two to back out."

"And do what?" Bianca demanded as she reached for the rusty handle. "Get eaten because we don't have any way to protect ourselves?"

Percy grimaced. "Right."

Bianca pushed open the door; its pained squeal set Percy's teeth on edge. Metal stairs led downward into a dark basement.

"Huh," Nico said. "I was kind of hoping for something a bit more dramatic."

"So far this whole greek god thing has been a letdown," Bianca said.

Percy sighed. Wasn't that the truth? He took a step onto the staircase. The metal step groaned under his weight. "Just...watch your step." He kept hold of Nico's hand as he led them down into the blackness. It smelled earthy and he swore he tasted rotting fruit. The stairs swayed under his feet. He prayed they would hold. He wished he was at home; that he'd wake up to the smell of pancakes, and hear his mom cluck at him for drowning them in syrup until they were soggy.

"Percy? Are you okay?" Nico asked. "You're shaking."

"Fine." Percy's eyes stung. He wanted his mom to hug him.

"Are you sure?" Bianca whispered.

"Yeah." Riptide's glow brushed against the rusted step in front of him, refusing to go any further. Percy sighed. "I can't see anything."

"What do you mean?" Bianca asked. "There's nothing down there to see."

Percy strained his eyes. "How do you know?"

"Bianca's always been able to see really well in the dark," Nico said. "Maybe she should go first?"

"No way." Percy shook his head. "I'm the one with the sword, the one who knows how to use it, I'm going first." Not that it would help if they were attacked from behind. He tried to push that thought away as they descended. He wanted someone, anyone, to tell him he didn't have to do this. That this wasn't his responsibility. A scream built up in his chest; begging to be sobbed out, he fought it down by biting his quivering lip. His mom needed him, he had to do this, but gods he wished he wasn't a demigod.

Smooth concrete met his foot as they finally reached the end of the stairs. He expected there to be ice on it from the way his foot cramped. A concrete hallway laid before them with a glass door at the end. Bright light spilled out of it. Was that what people meant when they saw a light at the end of the tunnel?

"Kind of chilly, huh?" Nico asked.

Percy scoffed. The tip of his nose was numb. He glanced at the Di Angelos but they seemed more perturbed by the room that waited for them than the cold. Why weren't they affected? He tugged Nico forward, keeping Riptide's point aimed toward the ground. Part of him whispered that it would have been better if he had never been born. He bit his tongue as he ignored that part of him. Every step closer to the sterile light made Percy want to flee, and from the way the siblings dragged their feet, they were feeling it too.

"We have to do this," Percy muttered, flexing his hold on Nico's hand; glad to have someone with him.

"I think," Bianca said. "I think we should go to church again."

They stopped in front of the glass door. A man sat behind a large wooden desk flipping through a magazine guarding an elevator against empty chairs and plastic plants.

"Why?" Nico asked. Percy could feel him press closer to his side, trying to see around him into the room. "We already know the Greek gods are real."

"I don't want to," Bianca said.

Neither did Percy, to be honest; knowing they were real had brought him more trouble than he cared for. He laid his hand on the thin, ice-cold, door handle and pushed. A bell tinkled over his head as he stepped in; smooth jazz waltzed out from a small arch-shaped radio. Percy spotted movement out of the corner of his eye; he flinched, jerking around to look. An empty chair. He tightened his grip on Riptide, glancing around.

"Look at all the people," Nico gasped.

"What are you talking about?" Bianca asked.

Percy glanced at Nico who gestured to the chairs and walls.

"They're everywhere!" His wide eyes swept over the room. "How can you not see them?"

Bianca shrugged. "How come you and Percy needed that sword of his to see while we were walking down the stairs? I could see just fine."

"If you're not dead," the man behind the desk said. "I suggest you get out."

Percy swallowed as he stepped forward, raising the tip of Riptide an inch. "I need to see Hades."

"You'll see him soon enough." The man flipped a page. "Just wait a few days."

"Is that a threat?" Bianca snapped.

Percy stumbled as she shouldered her way in front of him. He stared. He was the one with the sword, so shouldn't he be in front?

She placed her hands on her hips. "Look," she said. "We need to see Hades so we can get the stupid bolt!" Her hands flew off her hips and blurred in front of her. "So we can stop Zeus and Poseidon from destroying the world." She took in a deep breath, pointing at the man. "That includes you."

"This place is protected," the man said. "I'll be fine."

"You'll have a lot more work to do," Nico said. His brown eyes scanned the room; part of Percy worried that Nico had lost his marbles somewhere between this place and Los Vagus. "Is this room built to hold so many humans?" He glanced at the radio on the desk. "Will you be able to hear your music over their chattering?" He rubbed his ear.

Percy wrinkled his nose as he touched his numb ear. He swore he could hear whispers now that Nico mentioned it.

"I'll get a pay raise." The man lowered his magazine. Light reflected off of his name tag as he crossed his arms. Percy noticed the name, but couldn't concentrate enough to read it.

"Why don't you have one now?" Percy asked; the whispers fading as if they had been illusions, a trick? "I mean, you must do a lot of work."

"I do." The man nodded. "I keep all the riffraff out of the underworld." He leaned forward. "That includes you lot. So unless you plan to commit suicide right here, right now, and pay the fee to get in, you're not going anywhere."

A fee? "What if we ask Hades to give you a raise?" Percy asked.

"He's not going to listen to you." The man tugged at the cuff of his silk, black, jacket. His hands moved to raise his magazine again.

"You're not going to get a raise if the number of dead increases." Bianca lifted her chin until she could look down her nose at him. "Hades will be too busy to manage your wages."

The man's bloodless lips tightened into a frown; his movement halted.

"I bet," Nico jumped in. "He'll give you a big reward like a raise and paid vacation if you stop the unnecessary death of millions of humans."

The man rubbed his smooth chin, humming, lowering the magazine.

"Maybe even benefits," Percy said. He didn't have a clear idea of what benefits people got; he did know his mom wished for them and Smell Gabe complained about having to share his ever since he married her, so it seems important.

"I could use better dental coverage," the man muttered. His dark eyes, which might as well be black holes, surveyed them. "Tell you what," he said, placing the magazine on the desk. "Pay double the fee and I'll take you over."

Percy dug around in his pockets. He had a drachma, right? He must have. He used one to call camp. Ares had paid them for getting his shield back. "Annabeth can you check–" His heart stopped. The drachmas were in the bag; the bag was in the hotel, and Annabeth wasn't here.

"Don't have anything, do you?" The man cooed, resting his chin on the back of his hand, his sharp smile cutting into Percy more than a sword ever could. The man tsked. "Kids never do have payment on them. Credit cards, change, dollar bills. Such a shame."

"But," Nico said, looking around. "There are no kids here."

The man tensed. "What?"

Nico looked at him with narrowed eyes. "There are no kids here."

The man shifted and shrugged. "Kids don't die that often."

Nico's mouth dropped open; Percy could see from the furrow of his brow that he was ready to argue, so he tapped his foot with his. Nico glanced at him and Percy shook his head. Nico snapped his mouth shut and crossed his arms.

"I have payment." Bianca stepped forward, brandishing a platinum card. She pushed it toward the man. "Here."

The man hummed taking the card. He held it up to the light. A minute passed before his cackle broke the silence.

Percy jumped, grabbing Bianca and pulling her behind him. He raised his sword pointing it at the man as he continued to laugh.

"A Lotus Hotel and Casino card!" He slapped his knee. "I can buy tons of Stuart Hughes Diamond suits!"

He stood up, stuffing the card into his coat pocket. "Come on, come on!" He waved his hand for the kids to follow him to the elevator. "I'll take you across! Tartarus! I'll give you a round trip if you can make it back to the boat!"

Percy tilted his head as the elevator doors opened. What did he mean by taking them across? He knew that they had to cross a river to get to the underworld, but why were they taking an elevator? If he kept questioning this mythology stuff, he'll lose his mind.

The man stopped and looked at them, holding the doors open. "Are you coming or not?"

Percy grimaced but stepped forward. His fingers were numb, and Riptide seemed to grow in weight the closer he got to the elevator. His mom was waiting for him; he had to save her–maybe it would lessen the pain in his chest when he thought of Grover and Annabeth.

He maneuvered the siblings so they were on the other side of him away from the man.

"If anyone touches my radio station, you'll be here for another thousand years, got it!"

"That's not fair!" Nico snapped.

"Tough."

The elevator doors closed.