Son Of The Cup Bearer {Percy Jackson x Ejen Ali}

Oops, Bad Timing for a Call?

No need to apologise for the delay, Iman. Really, a man of his wise age must always give way to the ladies. Oh, shut up, Moon.

Anyway, Ali's back again, baby! Now, where did Iman left off...oh right! Pretty sure you'll want an explanation for that, eh?

See, while Iman was off on a date with her girlfriend - sorry, Epsilon - we were ambushed by none other than Digamma and Zeta again. Like seriously, don't they have better stuff to do? Like catching up with their latest shows, causing up hurricanes in America or whatever storm spirits do?

Anyway, it was a joyous occasion when they burst through from the windows, which has just been repaired by - cough - Ali.

It took Ali, Alicia and Moon off-guard, alright. What about Khai, you may ask? Still unconscious, at that time. Thanks for asking.

Long story short, Ali, Alicia and Moon immediately dropped their forks and spoons (hey, they were having dinner!) and subdued the anemoi thuellais with some butt-smacking action, hocus pocus and lots of screaming. In not much than half an hour, Digamma and Zeta had a new home. Made of bronze. You gotta admit, that's hella cool.

P/S: Don't do this at home, kids.

Later, Moon decided that the cage didn't blend with the living room well and decided to manipulate the Mist so that it was hidden from view. Made the atmosphere ten percent more cherish, by the way.

So after a proper lunch, we sat there waiting. Waiting for who you may ask? Iman, of course. The other two girls had told Ali about Iman going to solve the makeup palette issue, and, well, Ali must admit, he had half the mind to follow her straight away. But when Moon and Alicia informed Ali that they had tried to too, Ali gave up. So there they sat, tick tock...tick tock....

Until Moon brought out a deck of Uno cards!

Halfway through the game, Khai came crashing down the stairs. He literally did. Like, he slipped at least five times before anyone noticed he was there. Then he had some noodles and joined the game of Uno. Everybody was happy!

And Iman comes in with the news their next stop was the Underworld. Yippee. Though the look on her face when she saw the trapped anemoi thuellais were slightly amusing.

"You..." Iman stammered, apparently struggling to form words. "You guys captured the..."

"Yeah, apparently," Khai murmured.

"But...how?"

"I'll explain later," Alicia promised. "Let's get you some food first."

She went into the kitchen and came out holding a bowl of noodles, a spoon and a fork. Her action surprised Ali, Moon and Khai. When was she ever this kind? Usually she was so...fierce.

When she noticed the three pairs of eyes staring at her, she stopped in her tracks and said blankly, "What?"

"You...nevermind," Moon muttered, sinking deeper into the couch.

Suspiciously, Alicia set down the noodles and the cutlery on the glass coffee table and sat back down beside Moon on the couch.

"Since we're planning for a trip into the Land of the Dead, we're going to need an experienced tour guide," Alicia said.

"Why can't we just pop in and out?" Moon questioned quizzically.

"Hmm...let's see, there's the matter of Cerberus, the three-headed dog, the Furies, Hades' servants-"

"OK! Point taken," Moon grumbled.

Alicia nodded satisfyingly. "Luckily, I am in contact with someone who can be of help."

Curious, Khai looked up. "And who might that be?"

"The son of Hades, of course," Alicia said absently. "Nico di Angelo."

As if given an electric jolt, Moon jumped onto her feet. "I have to use the toilet." And she scurried away.

Ali watched her retreating figure enter a hallway under the stairs and disappear. He turned back to the others. "What's her problem?"

The three shrugged, so they let that matter slip off their minds.

"I'm going to IM him to see if he can give us a directions for a safe passage to the Underworld, so hush," Alicia ordered. She took out a glass pyramid from her pocket, got up and beckoned for them to follow her.

"Umm...you know what?" Iman said awkwardly. "I'm not finished yet, so I'll stay."

Alicia tilted her head. "Fair enough. Boys, follow me."

They had barely walked a few steps when Iman said, "Wait."

Iman hadn't moved a muscle, but her eye was twitching uncontrollably. 

"Please," she said. "Ask di Angelo about the camp. I need further confirmation that the Hunters- that the camp is safe."

Ali, Khai and Alicia shared a glance and came to a silent agreement. 

"Sure, of course we'll ask," Khai said.

With that, Iman visibly relaxed back into her chair.

The three of them made their way to the backyard through a back door. They approached a green water hose connected to the house's wall by a stopcock. Alicia nodded at Ali to do the honours, as she had briefed him two days ago. Khai, being a Roman demigod, stood obediently aside while they laid out the area. 

Once Ali got the water running, Alicia placed the glass pyramid on the ground where it would reflect the sun's orange rays perfectly. The thing nearly blinded Ali, but luckily he managed to look away quickly enough and send a fine stream of mist into the beam of light, creating a small rainbow.

Alicia fished out a drachma from her pocket (geez, how many stuff does she keep in there?) and threw the coin into the mini rainbow. And here comes the interesting part...the drachma disappeared! 

Amazing, right?

"O Iris, goddess of the rainbow, accept my offering!" Alicia chanted. "Show me Nico di Angelo at Camp Half-Blood."

The rainbow rippled, and next thing they knew, hovering in the air was an image of a black-haired boy wearing black clothes lying comfortably in the arms of a shaggy blond-haired boy in a dark, ghostly lit cabin. Let's just say, their appearance shocked the two of them as much as they themselves.

"Holy Hades," the black-haired boy cursed. "Kheng, I swear, we weren't doing anything-"

Alicia grunted, her arms crossed. She shot a nervous glance at Ali, probably daring him to tease her surname, but he smartly kept his mouth shut. "Save whatever you have to say for later, di Angelo. I have no such interest."

The blond boy simply looked uneasily at Nico, then at Alicia. "I'll be outside if you need me, Neeks." He got up abruptly and left the vision range of the image. 

It was only when there was the sound of a door snapping close, did Nico started.

"If I'm receiving calls, I'm guessing it's not good."