Praetor's legacy

Chapter 22

"Thanks for picking me up from the airport, Siren," Percy told the shy daughter of Aphrodite.

After the long airplane ride, Percy was finally glad to be safe and sound on the Earth instead of in Zeus's domain. Right after thinking these thoughts of course, a monster threw itself in the way of the camp van, causing Siren to have to swerve to avoid the collision. Thankfully, the side street Siren had been driving on was unoccupied at the time and no mortals noticed the near-accident.

Percy rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He needed to be alert because the moment he stepped foot into camp he was going to be asked many questions he may not have answers for.

Percy still didn't understand how he found the Inuit camp so easily. He figured it would take hours, maybe days, to discover the greatly concealed camp holding the demigod children of the Inuit gods. The minute he stepped off the plane though, he sensed a pulling that made him want to step into a deserted clearing. The pulling caused him to fall (literally) right into the Inuit camp that was hidden in plain sight. No one would ever notice two tree branches bending into what looked like an archway or the ripple of the Mist every few minutes that revealed where the camp was.

Instead of just being Bear and Raven as Percy had thought, nearly every single Inuit god had arrived for the discussion. He fell right into the middle of an argument going on between the gods. It reminded him of solstice meetings on Mount Olympus. Some were just sitting there looking bored while others were out of their seats throwing their arms in every direction, trying to get their point across.

At least they were in their human forms instead of all being animals or hybrids or whatever...

Percy shifted his feet back and forth awkwardly. Was he supposed to join the discussion or wait to be called on? Should he raise his hand or something?

Percy cleared his throat. Every god became silent and turned to face him.

That may have been the wrong choice.

Percy shifted his feet again. Appear confident and cool... Appear confident and cool...

"Er, hi." Smooth.

Ravena stepped out of the shadows. "Perseus! You came!" She ran and hugged him. He patted her on the back since he didn't want to turn down her hug but at the same time, this is the first time he remembers meeting her in person.

A god that looked like he could snap him in two with his hands, wearing a parka and moccasins stepped towards Percy. "You are Perseus Jackson? Son of the Greek god yet praetor of the Roman camp?"

"Er, yes sir I am," replied Percy.

"Hm, you don't appear like much." He chuckled. "I am Bear. Myself and the rest of my brethren are prepared to hear you out."

A speech? But he had nothing prepared! It looks he'll have to pull a classroom presentation emergency. Percy's going to have to wing it, and wing it well.

Secretly, Percy had no clue what he said. Words just seemed to pour out of his mouth with no sign of stopping. Sentence after sentence flowed, yet he still had no clue what he was saying. The gods seemed to be hanging onto every single word he said, nodding along and appearing fascinated. Was this some type of godly influence? Percy ruled it out. He was in Alaska, away from the Greek and Roman gods' influence. This was him. He was doing this?

Percy's head banged the car window when Siren made a sharp turn. He had lost himself in the memory. He struck up a conversation with the daughter of Aphrodite as the van neared camp. Percy could see Thalia's tree. Apparently Siren was the only one during her free period that could legally drive. She didn't mind picking him up though, since it got out of her listening to Drew give her "tips" about different ways to do her hair and makeup, since she was also able to skip dinner.

Siren and Percy joked like old friends as they made their way towards the Big House. Percy bid her goodbye and entered the front door to try to find Chiron. He instead found Mr. D who regarded him with what looked like respect. "Nice job on convincing the Inuit gods, Percival Jameson."

Percy just rolled his eyes and didn't even try to correct him. He knew that Mr. D did it on purpose just to annoy him now. "Thanks Mr. D. Do you know where Chiron is?"

Mr. D nodded his head towards Chiron's office. "He and the rest of your little posse are waiting for you in there."

Percy nodded his head in thanks. The second his foot passed the threshold of Chiron's office, Reyna's arms were wrapped around him tightly, refusing to let go.

She breathed a sigh of relief. "You're okay."

Percy laughed and hugged her tighter. "Yeah Rey, I'm fine."

Hugs were exchanged between everyone in the office. Frank and Grover were also in attendance along with all the girls in Percy's life. Chiron nodded respectfully from in his wheelchair behind his desk. "Well done, Percy. We all had the greatest confidence in you, but we're still glad you were able to return safely to us."

Percy smiled. "Thanks Chiron. I ended up winging a speech for every single Inuit god instead of just Bear and Raven as I had thought, but it turned out well. They refuse to be with random mortals and they're doing a background check on every mortal they consider, but it's progress. I guess the Greeks and Romans are more open."

Chiron shook his head while laughing. "The Greek and Roman gods just don't really care as long as they get more kids to represent them at camp."

Percy laughed. "Yeah, that too."

Chiron shooed all of the kids out of his office. "The kitchen harpies saved you and Siren dinner just in case you didn't grab some on the way back."

"No thanks Chiron," Percy called over his shoulder. "We got food at the airport. Just offer it up to the gods."

Chiron nodded his head at Percy's retreating form and returned to his office. Percy nodded over at Mr. D and, with his posse, left the Big House.

Mission complete.