A STORM IS BREWING | PERCY JACKSON

Chapter Eleven

Peter walked into Delmar's and greeted the man behind the counter. He enjoyed his visits to the small deli. With his salt and pepper hair that very vaguely reminded Percy of Paul, in addition to his friendly personality and adorable cat, Mr. Delmar was the type of guy that you could talk to without feeling judged. His deli was a staple in Queens and everybody loved him.

Peter came to the bodega so often, that the guys in the back started making his sandwich when they saw him come in. Peter often thought that if he wasn't Spiderman he would try to get an after school job there. He did however, have to voice his desire for two additional sandwiches.

"How's your aunt?" Mr. Delmar questioned, striking up a conversation as Peter stood there waiting. He made a comment to the men in the back of the store that most likely had something to do with her appearance.

Peter looked down uncomfortably. For some reason, most of the men he knew (Stark) thought Hestia was attractive. He couldn't just say that she was actually a Greek goddess who took a vow of eternal maidenhood and preferred the form of a twelve year old. Everyone would think he was crazier than he actually is. He decided to deflect instead of answering the question.

"How's your daughter?" Peter asked with a smirk and a joking glint in his eyes.

Mr. Delmar put on a serious face but his mouth was upturned just a tick. "Twenty dollars."

Peter gestured incredulously to the large menu hanging on the wall. "It's fifteen."

Mr. Delmar raised an eyebrow at him. "For that comment, twenty dollars."

Peter laughed a little as he fished fifteen dollars from out of his pocket and handed it to the man.

"So, how's school?"

"Oh, you know, it's boring. Got better things to do," Peter responded.

"Stay in school kid," Mr. Delmar reprimanded jokingly. "Otherwise you're going to end up like me."

Peter looked around as he grabbed the bag of sandwiches from the shop owner and put them in his backpack. "That'd be great. Best sandwiches in Queens."

Peter ran out of the store and across the street before heading down an empty alleyway. Once he was a few feet in he started stripping down and throwing all of his clothes into his backpack. He pulled out his Spiderman suit and quickly put it on as he walked. As he reached a dead end he tapped on the spider emblem which caused the suit to stick to him instead of being baggy. Peter grinned to himself from under the mask as he felt it mold to his form. It was another cool feature that he loved about being Spiderman. Holstering his backpack, Peter jumped onto the top of the building before starting to web across Queens.

Peter loved this part of the day where he could fly across New York in relative peace. It gave him time to think and clear his head. He only had to stop a few times to catch a bicycle thief and a car thief. The latter was slightly embarrassing because it turned out the guy was just trying to get into his own car. There was lot of yelling from the people in the surrounding buildings so he left as quickly as possible. Having arrived at his destination, Peter landed in the alley next to the building where he quickly changed back into his civvies.

This next part was more difficult. Peter closed his eyes and took a breath to steady himself. Slowly, he called up the memories from his previous life. His head filled with flashes of memories from throughout his life. He saw himself, Annabeth, and Grover in the smelly truck with the circus animals on his first quest. He saw Tyson, running towards him for a bone crushing hug. He saw his memories of seeing both Thalia and Nico for the first time. With that came the images of Bianca and Zoe and their subsequent deaths that left such a large impact on his life. He saw the Labyrinth, Calypso, and Daedalus dying. He saw the Battle of New York and all the deaths that accompanied it. He felt the pain of the River Styx as its curse caused his skin to become impenetrable. He saw Luke sacrificing himself and proving that he was a hero. He saw himself denying godhood and kissing Annabeth in the lake.