Wrath of a Halfblood (A Percy Jackson Fanfic)

1.2

The world around Percy blurred into white noise as she walked down the beach, just as her father commanded. The salty sea air was the only thing keeping her on her feet as she trudged her way down the water's edge. 

As the sun began to set, she finally met the steps of a grand temple. 

She couldn't help the choked laugh that escaped her as she recognized which god the temple was built for. It was like her first day in Camp Halfblood all over again, lost and alone but finding sanctuary in the hospitality of Hermes. 

The irony of her accommodations didn't escape her as she scaled the crumbling steps into the temple. The sound of crashing waves grew distant as she crossed the threshold. 

She entered the empty hall and noticed that the temple seemed to have fallen into disrepair from years of neglect. Sand blown up from the beach covered the floor and the stone of the altar was cracked from the roots growing.  

Percy examined the statue of Hermes that stood behind the altar, "Thanks for the hospitality... again..." The casual nature of her prayer caught a certain immortal's attention as she dropped one of the golden bracelets her father had gifted her on the altar as an offering. 

Percy was startled as she heard footsteps approaching up the stairs. She shifted her weight into a fighting stance as she turned on the intruder. 

"Oh! I'm terribly sorry... I didn't expect anyone... No, one comes to this old place anymore but me." A kind old man smiled at her looking equally startled to see a traveller. 

Percy's stance didn't change. If there was one thing she learned from being a demigod, it was never to trust what you first see. She examined the old tattered man, he leaned heavily on a walking stick as he stepped closer. 

"What is your name, child? What brings a beauty such as yourself to such a desolate place?" As he moved closer Percy examined his face, halting full stop when she came to look into his eyes. 

She knew those eyes. 

The same eyes of her first childhood crush turned traitor, Luke. The same eyes as the mischievous still brothers. The same eyes she had met a dozen times in a dozen different people, all fathered by the same being. 

"Hermes." Percy acknowledged, reveling slightly in the shock that filled the god's face. That familiar mischievous twinkle returned to his eye as the illusion faded. There stood the confused, yet delighted face of the messenger god that she remembered. 

"Well, well, little mortal. Rare is it to be recognized, even rarer to be spoken to like a friend when we have never met. Believe me, I would have remembered a beauty such as yourself." It was clear that the god was flirting with her, but his suave smirk quickly faded into confusion upon seeing the raw, unfiltered look of disgust on Percy's pretty face. She looked as if someone asked her to French kiss a gorgon. 

Hermes could not be more confused. He was a god, no mortal could match him in beauty. He knew he wasn't vile to look upon and yet this little being responded to his advances with visceral disgust. Even Artemis' Huntresses would glare at his flirting but never look disgusted.

He really had no idea how to proceed from there so he just stood awkwardly waiting for her to pick up the conversation. 

"Your eyes... I know your eyes. They are the same as your son's." Percy admitted, turning her back to the painful reminder of her trusted friend turned enemy.

"Oh!" Hermes exclaimed, having no idea how to navigate the conversation from there. It was clear that whichever son she was referring to caused her deep distress to think of, but at least now he knew how she recognized him. He wanted to clarify which of his children she was referring to but it didn't seem she was in the mood to disclose such information.