In My Heart (You'll Always Be)

Chapter 6

Perseus sighed for what felt like the third time in a span of five minutes. "Aaron, where are you taking me?"

The child of Hephaestus looked back at the god and grinned brightly, eyes mischievous, "Leo and I wanna show you something. He fixed it and all but I helped make some other stuff. Just- You'll see!"

"Okay," He said in amusement, allowing Aaron to tug him in the direction of the forest. "Are we heading to the Bunker?"

"You know about that?" The brunette asked in surprise.

Percy looked away, his lips twitching up a bit, "No."

"Riiight... Anyways, we're not going to the bunker that you totally don't know about. Just somewhere close to it."

The god nodded and the two walked mostly in silence, the child of Hephaestus occasionally talking about how their classes were going in high school and how they were now a sophomore with mainly straight A's with a C in choir because they didn't do their sight readings on time.'

"I can assist you on that," Perseus said. "Loki is very fond of music and he has taught me a fair amount."

Aaron practically lit up, "Really? Awesome!"

"Percy!"

The two looked up to see Leo running over to them, parts of his clothes covered in some type of oil. It reminded Perseus a bit of his son, making him smile fondly a bit.

"Hello, Leo," Perseus inclined his head, kissing the back of the teen's hand in greeting because he found it amusing when he turned red. It was a typical greeting on Asgard depending on the person and the god knew he didn't have to do it on Midgard at all.

Predictably, Leo's face turned tomato red. "Right, hi," He said a little breathlessly and shook his head when he heard Aaron's snort of laughter. He knew Perseus was humoring him, it was all in good fun. Everyone knew about Perseus and Loki, and how the two were soulmates and all that. "Come on, I have to show you something."

"By all means, lead the way."

Once again, they began walking again, though this time the god was in framed by two children of Hephaestus. He knew that the two adored him but not in the way of a lover. He was a god and they were children trying to impress him with their creations in hope that he would not leave them, not lock himself away where they could not reach like their parent had already done. There would be a time, however, where Perseus would have to leave because it wasn't his place to stay on Midgard anymore. He had changed too much, seen too much, and the realm didn't hold what he yearned for daily.

While he was on Midgard, with the time he had, he would grant the children their wish for praise and acceptance in that they are not alone. Not anymore.

"Okay," Leo spoke up, drawing the god out of his thoughts. "Wait here, I'll be right back." He darted off between the trees, leaving Perseus with Aaron, who was positively vibrating with barely restrained excitement.

"You're going to love it," Aaron declared, though there was a hint of hesitation in their voice. "It's so awesome, you'll be impressed."

"I am always impressed by you and your siblings' work, Aaron," Perseus said with a tilt of his head.

Aaron's cheeks colored slightly before they shook their head, "Yeah, but this will blow those all away!"

"I have no doubt." Perseus looked up when he heard heavy footfalls and he couldn't help as his eyes lit up with awe as he saw Leo riding a large metal dragon. He remembered seeing the creature when he was in the forest with the children's older brother... The one he could not save. It felt right to have Leo and Aaron find the dragon and put him back together, to fix its metal mind. "Amazing," He breathed out, not bothering to cover the impressed look on his face like he would in Asgard.

Leo hopped off the dragon's back to stand proudly next to Aaron, "You really think so?"

"Yes," Perseus nodded. He took a step forward, his hand reaching out and he couldn't help the widening of his eyes when the creature nudged its snout into his palm. "What is their name?"

"His name's Festus," Aaron and Leo said at once, grinning at each other when they did.

The god's lips twitched up slightly, "A good name. Fit for a mighty warrior such as this one. Have you shown him to the others?"

Leo shook his head, "We wanted to show you first. I think- I'm hoping we can use him for the quests."

Just the day before, it was revealed that Leo, Piper, and Jason were chosen to go on the first quest. Rachel Elizabeth Dare, one of Perseus' old friends, was the oracle and had pointed at each of the three demigods individually as her eyes glowed an acid green.

"That is a wonderful idea." Then, Perseus' eyes lit up with mischief and he grinned just like his heartmate would when he thought of a positively amazing idea, "I know how you can tell the others..."

--

No one was expecting the giant metal dragon that ran landed heavily down in front of the Big house, and they most definitely weren't expecting to see Leo controlling it. They could hear the Latino's cackling, along with Aaron's, and Perseus' soft chuckles. The campers never expected to see the Greek-Asgardian accompanying the two children of Hephaestus on their crazy scheme. He always seemed too calm and aloof for that. but apparently not.

"That was quite fun," Perseus said, somehow managing to look graceful as he slid off the back of the dragon. He turned and caught Leo, who practically threw himself at the god, and did the same with Aaron. For some reason, the two demigods enjoyed acting like old-timey damsels from the movies. It never failed to make them start giggling like small children.

"Good to see you're still crazy," Annabeth laughed when Perseus came over to her while the rest of the seven went to see Festus.

Perseus raised an eyebrow at her, a smirk making its way onto his face, "My Angassiar is a trickster god, Annabeth."

She laughed, shaking her head, "Of course, how could I forget?" She looked over his shoulder at Jason, Piper, and Leo, who were talking about the quest they would be going on. "Is it time?"

"Today," Perseus nodded. "Very soon." He held out his arm, quirking an eyebrow up at his best friend, "Shall we see them off?"

"Yeah," She laced her arm with his. "Let's do that."

The two made their way over to where the rest of the seven were talking to each other, giving advice on anything they felt might help in some way. It was nice to see Romans and Greeks managing to get along despite the bad history between them. Perseus hoped it would be like that for the Greeks and the Asgardians one day.

"Perseus Jackson!" Leo turned on the god, his eyes wide and his mouth fighting a grin, "Why didn't you tell me Festus meant 'happy' in Latin?"

"As I have said," Perseus' shoulders shook from barely restrained laughter. "It is a name fit for a mighty warrior."

Leo pointed at him, "I'm on to you, asshole." He ignored his friend's gasps because the god was now outright laughing. "You're a trickster god yourself, aren't you?"

Perseus caught his breath, "No, I am simply engaged to one."

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Words: 1,241

Song: Right Hand Man - Hamilton (musical)