Chapter 9
Thor
Percy and Thor headed to Central Park. They managed to get there fast, but it had been a little difficult for them to hide in the crowd due to their good looks and mighty auras, which mortals could feel without understanding what it really was.
Thor didn't know if Percy noticed the way the crowd opened a path for him unconsciously, probably affected by the feeling of power and leadership that emanated in waves off him. Some people with great egos would refuse to move aside and all Percy would do was walk around them absentmindedly, without even thinking that these people took his aura as a kind of challenge. The 'I'm super powerful and important so move or I'll walk over you' type of aura. It was ironic because Percy was exactly the opposite.
When they finally reached their destination, they encountered more people than the ones they expected.
Not that Thor was complaining.
'Oh my gods, oh my gods, oh my gods, these are the seven and Nico Di Angelo!' He had a hard time keeping back from hugging them.
Perch didn't keep back.
As soon as he saw them all, he took off running towards them, hugging first Annabeth, then Nico- who looked stunned-, Jason, Piper, Leo, Hazel and Frank.
The hero looked somewhere between happy, sad and relieved, which led the god to believe that he had a secret. He wouldn't push him to reveal it, though.
Thor was also amazed by the way he hugged them, with a strong grip that showed his desperation but a delicacy that no doubt meant care and love. It was something touching to see.
But then, the new demigods noticed him. Thor's happiness and tenderness towards the situation were completely erased as he saw each of their faces harden while they discreetly took out their weapons. It was something poignant to see and only then did Thor realize how fucked up the situation was. Sure, he knew that they were heroes but he somehow managed to forget that they were dragged into it. It wasn't their decision. And it left scars. Not only physically.
So he bowed.
He was down on his knees, and he wasn't ashamed. The only feeling in him was respect. Respect for these kids who had the weight of the world on their shoulders and managed to hold it. Respect for their bravery. Respect for their perseverance and faith. Respect for their actions, always so good. Respect for their strength. Respect for them.
When he stood back up, he met flabbergasted faces. In normal situations he would laugh but this time he only smiled sadly.
"Di-did a god just bow to us?" Leo asked.
"Yeah," was Percy's response. His voice seemed to get Annabeth out of her stupor and she stepped forward.
"Who are you?" she asked. Thor wasn't able to answer, though, because Percy started warning them.
"Do not freak out, ok?" Percy said. Everyone nodded, confused.
"I'm Thor, Norse god of thunder" he made thunder rumble on the distance. Everyone groaned.
"Not another Zeus!" Nico complained in a whisper, which led to Jason slapping his arm playfully.
"Well, he's not. He bowed and that's something none of ours would do," the daughter of Athena said, emphasizing the world 'ours' to remember the others that they were in public and that there were probably cameras nearby, so they shouldn't talk about the gods.
"I already took care of the cameras when we arrived, it was easy to locate them and even more to shut them off," Leo said.
"Did you say Norse?" Piper asked Thor, only then coming out of her shock.
"Yeah, I know. But at least he isn't sending us on dangerous quests to retrieve something he lost, or to avoid another world war, or to save the world. So who cares? Let's enjoy it," Percy replied for him.
"Alright so, what are you doing here?" Hazel asked as if she couldn't think of other reasons why a god would visit them other than give them a quest. Then she seemed to remember he was a god. "If you don't mind me asking."
"You do not need to be polite, young Hazel. And I am here to watch Percy's training. He invited me."
"First of all, he knows all of us because in Asgard there are books about us. So don't freak out if he knows something you didn't tell him. Second of all, if I invited a god then that means something," Percy told them. That convinced them and suddenly they all relaxed.
"Yes, Seaweed Brain would never voluntarily spend time with a god unless they are really nice," Annabeth commented and everyone nodded.
Percy
Leo left to put some fake construction barriers around their zone so no one would get close. Piper and Hazel left too, to make sure no one trespassed the barrier. They discovered that charmspeak was very similar to the mist and, together, their powers were immensely strong. Charmspeak alone would wear off, and the mist would too. Both combined was another story. The people would see or hear something and they would completely believe it. If they saw a construction barrier, he wouldn't even think of the possibility of entering either way.
"So, let's start," Nico said. "Do you wanna spar? Or do you wanna practice your water powers?"
"Today I'd rather train my powers. Yesterday I found out something interesting and I'd like to try it." Everyone looked curious so Percy decided to show them instead of explaining. "Does someone have a water bottle?" Frank threw him his. Percy caught it and then left it on the ground. He concentrated on the bottle as a whole, not just the water but also the plastic that covered it. It slowly rose and Percy was soon sweating. He stopped when it reached his hands height, took it and then drank from it to regain energy.
"But you knew you could levitate water, what's new? And why are you so tired?" Annabeth asked, confused.
"The fact is, Wise Girl, that I wasn't only levitating the water inside the bottle, but also the bottle itself. It contains water, it is in contact with water, it is wet, but it isn't water so it still takes a lot of effort. That's why I need to train. It may be useful," Percy explained and his girlfriend looked amazed.
"Yes, it will be useful! Wow, I never thought of the possibility of you lifting things with water. I'm proud of you." She smiled warmly and him. Some part of him was a little hurt that she didn’t believe that he could come up with great ideas, but he didn't show it. It was ironic how the daughter of the goddess of wisdom couldn't see that his 'stupid' facade was that: a facade. But he still loved her as he loved no one else; she was still the most intelligent woman he had met and it didn’t change all they had been through, all the times they had saved each other. That didn’t stop it from stinging, though.
"Yeah..."
"Well, we'll have to go slowly if it tires you so much. Let's continue with some of your old powers and then..." she smiled mischievously, "I have a little idea"
So Percy trained for about an hour and a half his powers, trying to master them (mind you, he was almost there). He started by controlling the water of the lake to do the littlest of forms. 'If you can perfect details, huge things will be a piece of cake,' Annabeth had said. Then he tried solidifying and vaporizing water, which was surprisingly easy.
After that, he decided to move to his earthquake powers, which turned out to be more powerful than he remembered. Of course, he couldn't make a big earthquake in New York so he tried to make only a stone shake.
It exploded.
Turns out he can make anything shake, not just the earth. Percy was sure that someday he would forget one of his powers because of the number of things he discovered he could do.
Anyway.
An hour and a half went by quickly and soon it was time for Annabeth's little idea. To say that Percy was nervous would be an understatement. He faced demigods, gods, monsters, titans, giants, primordials and more beings than he cared to remember, but his girlfriend... Oh, he just hoped he hadn't made her angry without noticing.
"So," Annabeth started. "I'll need Piper's help for this" the alluded one went to her side, a little confused. "You will be training to become immune to charmspeak. Piper, you're free to do whatever you please with them."
"But what about you? Aren't you joining us?" Jason asked.
"I already trained for this," she shrugged and when all of them looked at her questionably she added "You never know when you may need it."
"Fine, what's the worst thing that could happen?" Percy agreed.
Oh how he regretted his words later.
Piper made them believe they were horses, do gymnastics, try to sprout wings and more things that won't be mentioned for the sake of their dignity.
"I never thought I would see the savior of Olympus neighing," Thor said while he cried of laughter. "Do you sound like that when you speak mentally with Blackjack?" He kept on laughing. The answer he got from Percy was another neigh, as he was still under the effect of charmspeak. When he came back to his senses, he was just a little bit ashamed. Thor never stopped laughing.
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Percy and Thor stopped going up the stairs at the dining room floor. They were speaking animatedly, like life-long friends. Then, out of the blue, Thor started cracking up.
"What now?" Percy asked after groaning.
"When-when you slapped yourself-" he stopped for breath- "while declaring you undying love for Frank."
"What happened there stays there!" Percy tried to glare but it was difficult to take him seriously when he was blushing of embarrassment.
"What the actual fuck?" Tony asked, looking at them.
"Language," Steve said uselessly, without taking his eyes off the pair of newcomers.
"Anyway, where were you two? We looked everywhere but it was like you disappeared off the face of the Earth. Not even facial recognition from all of the New York cameras could find you. Now you come back laughing your ass off as if nothing happened while we are planning your rescue!" Tony said, getting more and more annoyed after each statement.
"Relax, man of iron, we were just with Percy's friends. There is no need to look for us when we disappear together," Thor said.
"How did you even get out? Jarvis had specific orders not to let Percy leave so the doors that lead to the elevator and the stairs were blocked," Clint said.
"Flying down the window," Thor answered, but Percy was aware of the way he didn't say anything about flying him down the window, just that they left that way.
"Why were you with Percy's friends?" Bruce was the one to ask this time.
"We agreed to meet because we always work out together so we went to work out. And, before you ask, I invited Thor because I felt like it."
"Couldn't you train here? We have a huge gym so space wasn't the problem, that's for sure." Natasha said.
"Oh no, space wasn't the problem. The problem was that I need to be with my friends to train and if we were all here together, the tower wouldn't survive." He not only meant it for their powers but also for the monsters that would inevitably be drawn to them (and maybe because they were all an unpredictable mess but whatever). "Any more questions?" Percy asked. Tony raised his hand. Percy ignored him.
"None? Alright, we'll meet you here for dinner," the demigod said and then left in direction of his room, followed closely by the god of thunder. "Jarvis, turn off all the recording devices here, please."
"Right away, sir," the British voice replied.
"Please call me Percy."
"No problem, Percy."
"Well... Thor I was thinking about something. It seems that the team hasn't had a good laugh for a long time. What about we prank them?"
"Pranking with you would be an honor. Maybe you could IM the Stoll brothers for advice, so they will not have a chance of getting away of it." The hero's only reaction towards this idea was a smile that undoubtfully meant mischief.
The Avengers were doomed.