Glow ||A Pertemis Story||

A different hue

It felt warm. Welcoming.

The temperature of the air changed drastically as I entered the office.

The soft buzz of a heater and the light chatter of a small crowd of about 10 people were the first sounds that I noticed.

It felt nice.

"Welcome, to the MPDA." Antonio said.

"Nice place... but how can I trust them?" I asked, still wary.

"We are bound to the oaths, Perseus." He answered.

"The thing we did earlier?"

"Yes, that one."

"Oh, okay."

"Welcome back, commissioner, it's been lonely without you," A short man said.

"Ahh, Mr. Patel, meet Perseus, our first Greek representative." Antonio said, gesturing to me.

"Sai Patel, Hindu representative, son of Hanuman. You probably don't know who he is and I don't judge you." He laughed, raising his hand. This guy must be a gymnast or something, look at those arms.

"Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon." I said, shaking his hand.

"You got any powers?" He asked.

"Yeah,"

"Show me."

I lifted my hands for show and levitated some water from a cup in the back.

"Woah, Percy that's so cool!" He said, smiling like a child.

"Thanks." I reply, scratching my neck.

"How about you?" I asked Sai.

"Well... I'm just extremely flexible and can jump really high. That's probably just it." He answers, looking flustered.

"Okay Perseus, time to meet the others." Antonio said suddenly, not letting me continue talking to Sai.

"Hello." I said, turning to them and offering a small wave of my hand.

"As you can see, Mr. Patel is our Hindu representative, we also have a Christian representative, meet Ms. Green, then our Aztec representative..." He says, that was a long-ass speech.

"So I'd like to call all of your attention," He said with a loud clap of the hand as I got to know most of them. "Perseus here will be our first Greco-Roman representative. Please treat him well and get him fitted." He continued.

"Yes sir!" They all replied in chorus.

"Percy! Come with me, we'll get you fitted." Sai said, grabbing me by my collar. Well, collar because he can't reach my shoulders.

It's pretty weird how fast I took to these strangers, it feels like I'm back to being 12 years old and just getting to know people.

"Woah! Is this even a fitting room?" I asked, the sheer size of it amazes me.

"Over here! Stop gawking at the bots, they don't like that." Sai called out in a corner with some curtains.

"Get inside and just let them do their job."

"Wh-" I didn't even finish my sentence as I felt a push from the man behind me.

As I enter the small room, I see robot arms going towards me with measuring tapes. After being measured, a suitcase ejects from the floor, with the words, Percy J. MPDA Representative, written in english at the front and ancient greek at the back with golden letters.

"Dang, that's a nice suitcase." I say.

"You can come out now, Percy." Sai called out from behind the curtain.

"So what do you think?" He asks.

"It's so cool!" I exclaim.

"There's a changing room at the other side, you can choose to get in your suit to see if it fits. There are glasses there too if that's your style." He said, directing me to a different area.

I get inside the changing room and I see rows of glasses perched on the shelf, along with a mannequin wearing a dark blue suit.

I try on the suit and what do you know. It fits! I walk over to theflasses shelf and try on one of those glasses, I always wanted to look like a smart guy. And I see a row of text in it's case.

This item can only be used by MPDA members, if used by an individual without consent from the MPDA, this product may break immediately.

Oh, okay, so that's how they protect their products.

"So how do I look?" I ask Sai as I get out.

"Looking sharp, man! I see you tried on the glasses?" He says.

"Yeah, I always wanted to look smart." I reply.

"You do! Plus, that thing has a microchip that analyzes english text and translates it to a different language of your choosing." He explains.

"So this'll help my dyslexia?"

"Yeah, now lets go to Anton, he's probably waiting for you."

"Let me change outta this first."

"Okay, I'll wait here. You can put the glasses in your suitcase. That suitcase can only be opened if it observes your energy signature so don't worry about anyone stealing it." He says.

As I reenter the changing room, I take off the suit and change back to my hoodie. I open my suitcase and I see a small box that fits my eyeglasses. The suitcase was pretty much organized for me, a 12-inch tablet, the eyeglass box, a small imperial gold dagger in a sheath and a layer below it that has a dark blue suit, probably a backup.

"I'm done. Let's go." I said, getting out of the room.

•••

"I see that you have you equipment." Antonio says.

"Yes sir." I reply.

"What do you think of the headquarters?" He asked.

"It's nice... warm." I murmur the last part.

"I'm glad you think that," he smiles, "but you are here for a reason, no?" He said.

"Yes, for the incidents on Olympus."

"Very good, now, your mission will be to stop that Civil War. The minor dieties, along with a few major gods, wants the reign of Zeus to end." He explains.

"I see,"

"Your goal is to help those minor gods to dethrone Zeus, but in a peaceful manner." He says.

"How am I gonna do that?" I ask.

"As a small scale organization, that is not within my power, but for you, as a savior of Olympus, you have a good chance of convincing them that they don't need to kill Zeus, all they need is a simple vote." He said.

"That's genius! I'll do it, when do I go?"

"Within this week, or else it would be catastrophic."

"Okay,"

"I'm counting on you, Perseus, for the sake of New York."