An Assassin's Guide to Family

Chapter 52: Present

(A few months after previous chapters)

—————Percy's POV————

I closed my eyes as the wind blew through the holes in my mask and cooled the back of my neck as it pushed my hair back, it waved behind me like a cape in the wind. The cold wasn't too much, it was refreshing, it calmed me from my situation and it seems that I was finding myself here more and more often. It was sobering compared to the high intensity my life has taken to.

I stood with my hands clenched, my nails digging into my palms to keep me grounded and not allowing my mind to spiral. I swear I see small dents that have been permanently embedded into my hands. It wasn't a good sight to look at.

I sighed as the wind backed off for a second, my hair covering my neck once more. I opened my eyes. I was on top of a random tall apartment building. I briefly knew from a previous mission that the building itself was too tall, at least, for the horrible support it was built with. The resident were basically one tremor in the earth from being covered in brick, it was a nasty thought but the city didn't properly watch over the construction, or maybe they didn't care, and now it's a death trap.

I looked down at the stone below me just as the wind picked back up, surrounding me in the cool weather I loved. Something about the cold seemed to make my body feel warmer on the inside. Maybe it was Hestia. The thought brought a small smile to my face. She'd told me once that she likes to watch over me and my adventures, she claims it's because she doesn't have anything better to do but I once heard dad mumble that she thought of me like a daughter and that he was gonna outdo her on Christmas so I never complained. She was the one goddess I wouldn't mind intervening in my life all the time.

The light from the exit flickered and the feeling of warmth flickered with it. I felt my brows narrow as a thought popped into my head, a foreign thought that wasn't my own.

"Hey Love, check the tracker." It sounded vaguely like Hestia. Had I summoned her? As much as I wanted to smile the implications were not as positive as I'd like our conversations to be.

"Hey Hestia, I thought gods weren't supposed to talk to their kids?" I asked sarcastically. I brought the tracker from my watch up, something Deathstroke used to keep me under his watch and his way of guiding me to him when he needed me. It was a leash really.

The warmth grew drastically and I smiled despite the circumstance.

"Well you're special, plus they can't tell me what to do, they still feel bad about the whole no marrying thing." She sounded snarky which only made me smile harder. That was until I saw the tracker. Deathstroke told me he was going to stay at the base, instead he was on a random building nearby. I frowned.

"What is hera's awful name are you doing there?" I looked up. Hestia's warmth flickered again.

"Go child, I can't help all the time but I don't want you to lose another" instantly the warmth disappeared and I jumped off the building without thinking. As I reached the height of another building I clapped and a bunch of water vapor slapped together to create steps for me to use.

What did she mean by "lose another"? I wanted to ask but a part of me knew she wasn't there to ask questions anymore, I was on my own. I ran as fast as my legs would take me, using the entirety of my Demi-strength to push me leagues ahead of what I could normally do. It's been a while since I did so, I didn't want to remember when. I'd lost someone then too. I wouldn't this time.