hiraeth

three

iii. Enne

They can't be soulmates. At least, it doesn't seem right.

Enne contemplates this idea as she walks behind Nia and Percy, who are bickering like little children over a toy. The toy in question is Percy's sword, apparently called Riptide and made of celestial bronze, though she isn't quite sure what the "celestial" part entails.

"I can't just give it to you, geez!" Percy dodges Nia's attacks.

Nia punches him in the shoulder. "Give. Me. Sword. Right now."

"No! This was a gift!"

It's not that Nia and Percy don't get along, but romantically, something's off.

They remind me of...

Of what, exactly? She can't remember.

After some more observation, Enne decides they have big sibling energy, if anything.

She's just about to ask Percy if he happens to have soulmate marks himself when Nia finally persuades Percy to hand his sword over. She swings it around haphazardly, and all is well until she accidentally lets go and it flies out her hands.

"Yikes," says Nia, wincing as it shoots towards an old man casually walking a few meters away.

"Nia! What if it hurts...him?" Enne trails off as they watch the sword pass right through the man's body and skitter to the concrete before disappearing. "Woah."

Percy reaches into his pocket, shows them an ordinary ballpoint pen, and uncaps it. The sword appears.

They stare in silence, then:

"I want one," Nia deadpans.

After getting on another train, they arrived in Times Square, the entertainment center of the city. Enne learned quickly to never take photos with the seemingly friendly people dressed up as cartoon characters; they pestered her for twenty dollars afterwards, and she couldn't get out of it until Nia yelled at them to get off her back.

Pictures didn't matter anyways, since Percy made them ditch their phones right after. His reasoning had to do with monsters picking up on demigods' voices through electronic communication. Enne had felt disoriented.

Demigod.

Another new word she has to acquaint herself with.

Nia, having gotten over her initial shock with the monsters, appeared to be handling everything well. Enne would go so far as to say she had never seen her friend this excited about anything, and it brought her some comfort.

Nia beams in awe at Percy. "So, you attend Camp...?"

"Half-blood," he answers with a nod. "It's the safest place for demigods to be, away from the monsters. Mortals can't see 'em though. The Mist hides them from their sight."

"Does this mean I have a Greek god for a parent?"

"Most likely. Grover asked me to look out for you two." Percy tilts his head. "Um, this might be insensitive, but did one of your parents ever disappear or do anything strange?"

Enne and Nia glance at each other nervously. They told themselves they wouldn't say anything about their sudden appearance in New York until they had at least some answers. As it turned out, Percy gave the impression he knew nothing about their memory loss. "Well, we, uh..."

Percy waves his hand, looking a bit sorry. "Nevermind, I don't want to pry."

Relieved, Enne changes the subject. "Grover?"

Percy laughs and scratches his head. "Yeah, he's one of my best friends. He sort of has a knack for finding our kind."

"Wanna bet Hades is my godly parent?" Nia asks Enne, a gleam in her eyes. "Five bucks."

"No, thanks. I'm saving my money. Also, the monsters literally said he's upset."

"You almost lost your money to Mickey Mouse!" Nia exclaims, stifling a laugh. "You owe me. Also, it's not my fault Hades has anger issues."

Enne crosses her arms. "In my defense, they seemed nice."

"Your gullibility is your fatal flaw."

"Pfft, no."

"Uh-huh."

Eventually, Percy leads them into a shaded alley between two buildings.

"This is not sketchy at allll." Nia pinches the bridge of her nose and follows after Percy cautiously. Enne gulps and treks after her, hoping Percy won't lead them to another monster.

Instead, he takes then to a pegasus named Blackjack, along with two other pegasi.

"I've seen too much today." Enne waves at Blackjack, who says something to Percy.

Percy smiles. "We're gonna bring them to camp, okay?"

Enne isn't shocked when Nia backs up at the speed of light.

"Absolutely not," she maintains, eyes wide. She wrings her hands, shifting her weight anxiously. "There's no way you're gonna make me fly high enough where I could potentially drop to my death."

"Agreed." Enne gives Percy a pleading look. "Any other way?"

"This is the fastest method," explains Percy. "Your showdown in the Bronx attracted all sorts of monsters. They'll be hunting you down in no time."

"Damn," Nia complains, looking over her shoulder wistfully. "I wanted to see a musical."

"Eh," says Enne jokingly, "we can perform our own on the ride there. "

Percy exchanges a hurried look with Blackjack at her suggestion. "You really don't have to do that."

Sensing his vexation, a wicked grin spreads across Nia's face. Whatever tension was in her body seemed to have melted away. "Oh no, we insist."

Enne chuckles nervously. "This should be fun."

*cue Nia and Enne singing Hamilton songs the entire flight. Percy wants to ditch them.*

~~~

A/N: the pacing of the plot is kinda slow dksnsns apologies -- also I hope it's clear who Nia's soulmate is now, but if not, stay tuned ✌