Return of the Disgraced Archangel

Official Business

    Percy landed in San Francisco, right on the Golden Gate Bridge. He had landed on one of the giant supports, giving him a nice view of the strait that the bridge was named after. He remembered when it was first built. By dad, he was old. 

    Percy sighed, before de-aging himself to about 17. He felt a little shorter, but that was all the changes that he really felt. He took in one last breath of freedom, before extending his wings and jumping off of the bridge. 

    His wings caught some lift, and he glided over to Oakland Hills, where Camp Jupiter lay, hidden from the world. 

    The city had changed since he had last been there. Like that road was new, and that subdivision hadn’t been there before. And they closed down the bar that had been down that road! That was preposterous. 

    He took in the changes, before coming across the Caldecott Tunnel. He entered, and went through a little tunnel off to the side. Nothing more than a maintenance tunnel, to mortals at least. 

    Percy entered it and came out the other side to a longer tunnel. At the end were 2 guards, dressed in armour. One held a bow, and the other a spatha. Ironically, the smaller guard wielded the heavier weapon, while the stockier dude held the bow. 

    Percy walked to the end of the tunnel. Both guards readied their weapons. Percy held his hands up. “Peace, I mean no harm.”

    The stocky guy didn’t loosen his bow. 

    “I need you to take me to Reyna.” Percy tried.

    Probably wasn’t the best thing to say. The dude let the arrow loose. Percy sighed, before catching it and tossing it back to him. “Look, I’m kind of in a hurry. I have shit to do. SO if you could take me to praetor Reyna, that would be amazing.”

    “Why should I?”

    Percy sighed. He didn’t want to do this, but sometimes fear was the best motivator. He lit his pinky on fire. “I don’t know Frank Zhang, but I think that piece of firewood would surely appreciate it.”

    Frank’s eyes widened. “How did you know?”

    “I know lots of things. Like the fact there is currently an army of monsters marching their way to this camp. Or maybe the fact that Death has been chained and is being held hostage in Alaska. Or the fact that Gaia is trying to awake. All the more reason to let me see the praetor.” 

    “Frank, let's just do it. I’m sure that Reyna will deal with him if he’s lying.” The girl said.

    “And she’ll deal with us too!”

    Percy scoffed. “I never lie, thank you very much.”

    The two whispered back and forth while Percy stood there watching. Finally, Frank turned around. “Follow us.” He said, sounding resigned. 

    Percy looked like he related. “Ah Frank, you just learned a valuable lesson. You’ll rarely win an argument with a woman.”

    Percy followed the two demigods as they led him into the camp. Hills rolled everywhere, while a city rose in the distance. They walked along a road made of stone, following the path to the principa, where the praetor’s office was. 

    They left Percy in the office, telling him that the praetor would be with him in a few minutes. Percy nodded as the door shut, before taking a look around the office. The walls were covered in bookshelves, and those were covered in not only books, but also model weapons, banners, and even a blueprint here and there. Wherever a bookshelf wasn’t hiding the wall, a plaque or something hung. There was armor, actual weapons, and some banners.