FREE FALLING | percy jackson

ii. half human-half god

HANA LEUNG

Even though, temporarily, Annabeth's mood improved, it didn't last long. While they were looking for a taxi, Annabeth sped up so she was a few feet in front of Hana and Percy and whenever one of them tried to speed up to talk to her, Annabeth would only speed up again. So it didn't take long for Percy to get the message and they both stopped trying. Instead, he was giving Hana the rundown on the godly world.

He explained how all of the Greek myths were all true. How the gods were born in Ancient Greece but over time, they moved to where they held the most power, it just so happened to be in America at this time. He told her how half bloods-or demigods as they were also called, were the children of the gods. For example, he was the son of Poseidon, the god of the sea and Annabeth was a daughter of Athena, the goddess of wisdom. Apparently, Hana's mom had visited Percy in a dream and told him to make sure she stayed safe. Hana was pretty sure she died in embarrassment listening to that.

"You're telling me, Aphrodite, the goddess of love visited you in a dream and told you to look out for me?" Hana asked incredulously. She heard him the first time but it didn't feel real.

Percy shrugged, like it happened all the time, "Pretty much. Half bloods get crazy dreams all the time, it's pretty normal for the gods to visit us."

He said it so casually. He could have said, 'Oh yeah, sometimes I call my friends', but no, he was talking about gods.

Then, Hana hesitated, "Do I smell?"

Percy looked so genuinely confused, "Huh?"

"Do I smell? Like in a bad way?" Hana repeated, "Because first Tammi mentioned it and then so did Annabeth. I just don't want to smell gross, you know?"

The boy laughed and Hana blushed bright red, "Oh my gods! I do, don't I? This is so embarrassing." The brunette covered her face with her hands.

"No, no, no! You don't smell, Hana," Percy assured the embarrassed girl, "Trust me, you smell fine. You smell good, even. But half bloods, we all have a scent that attracts monsters. The older you get, the more noticeable the scent is so more monsters will find you. But no one else can notice the smell, don't worry."

Hana looked up at him, not quite sure if she believed him, "You promise?"

Percy smiled, "I promise. I don't think it is even possible for a child of Aphrodite to smell bad."

The girl still raised her eyebrows unconvinced but she let it go. She didn't think Percy was the type of person to lie about that sort of stuff anyway. They continued to make small talk until Annabeth abruptly stopped walking and waved a taxi over.

All three of the demigods crammed into the back of the taxi, Percy being squished in between the two girls. Percy took the forced proximity to try to talk to Annabeth and instead of completely ignoring him, the girl gave him one word answers which was better than before. Apparently, Annabeth had been chased by monsters all spring, just like they had; she went back to camp twice since Christmas and Percy pressed her to know why but Annabeth refused to tell him; and that she still hadn't learned anything about where Nico di Angelo could be. Percy had said that he was a younger camper who ran away over Christmas. Also, the guy who was trying to start a war, Luke, wasn't at Mount Tam, even though it was overrun with monsters which he was on the same side as.

Then, Percy asked to borrow her phone-which Hana thought was a ballsy move-but, with a glare, Annabeth passed her phone over. Percy called his mom, then offered the phone to Hana so she could call her parents. Hana smiled and accepted, she still thought she owed it to her dad to at least call him since she blew up another school and then ran with a couple strangers.