Percy Jackson - The Record of The Journey of a Mortal Who Become a God

Ikki looked at his friend, who seemed to be having an internal struggle due to all these revelations.

He placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, pulling him out of his thoughts, and said,

"Don't worry, you're not alone in this. Besides, whatever we face, we have each other. I will take care of you. Don't forget that, okay?"

Hearing Ikki's words, he smiled and nodded.

Ikki had also been summoned for this mission and would have to face the Lord of the Dead alone if he didn't go along. How could he abandon his best friend? Moreover, his mother was in the underworld too... So he had many reasons to go on this mission.

"Despite the somewhat sappy words, they are still true," Percy said with a crooked smile on his lips, to which Ikki just rolled his eyes at his offense.

He looked at Grover, who was trembling. The satyr had started eating pinochle cards as if they were potato chips. The poor kid needed to complete a quest with them to earn his searcher's license. But how could he ask the satyr to follow them if the oracle said they were destined to fail?

"Look, if we know it's Hades," Percy said to Chiron, coming up with an idea that would make their lives much easier, "why can't we just tell the other gods? Zeus or Poseidon could come down to the Underworld and make some heads roll..."

"Suspecting and knowing are not the same..." Chiron scratched his beard and continued, "Besides, even if they suspect Hades... I imagine Poseidon does... the other gods couldn't recover the lightning themselves. Gods cannot enter each other's territories unless invited. That's another very ancient rule."

"Heroes, on the other hand, have certain privileges. They can go anywhere, challenge anyone, as long as they are brave and strong enough to do so. No god can be held accountable for a hero's actions. Why do you think the gods always act through humans?"

"You're saying we're being used," Percy asked, frowning.

"I'm saying it's no coincidence that Poseidon took you on now. It's a very risky move, but he's in a desperate situation. He needs you..." Chiron said to Percy.

In light of the centaur's comforting words, Ikki looked at his best friend. Percy displayed various emotions in his sea-green eyes, similar to a kaleidoscope.

Was he having a flashback like those protagonists in various stories he had read?

Percy looked at Chiron and stated, "You knew all along that I was Poseidon's son, didn't you?"

"From you, I had my suspicions. But Ikki was unexpected," Chiron glanced at Ikki as if hesitant to discuss something regarding him, hiding many things from both boys... He sighed and continued, "And as I said... I also spoke to the Oracle..."

Percy merely looked at him but decided to put the subject aside for now.

Ikki also glanced away, making the same decision as his friend, but for his own reasons.

"So let me see if I understand," Percy said slowly, "We have to go to the Underworld to face the Lord of the Dead..."

"That's right," Chiron nodded.

"To find the most powerful weapon in the universe..."

"Correct," Chiron repeated with a slight smile.

"And bring it back to Olympus before the summer solstice, in ten days..."

"Exactly..." Chiron nodded again.

Percy looked at his friend, who seemed almost eager for the adventure, before turning to Grover, who had just swallowed an ace of hearts.

"Did I mention that Maine is really nice this time of year?" Grover asked weakly.

"You don't have to go," Percy said to Grover. "I can't ask that of you."

"If you're worried about Percy, don't. I will make sure he doesn't mess things up..." Ikki said calmly and confidently.

"You talk like I always do that," Percy groaned. "... I hate you so much."

"Nah… Seaweed Brain, I know you love me and wouldn't survive without me..." Ikki said with a shrug, as if he were certain.

Percy made a face at the nickname. "Don't call me that..."

"Okay. Seaweed Brain..."

"Back to the point. If you don't want to go, you can stay, Goatsucker..." Ikki said, ignoring Percy and looking at the satyr.

"Ah..." The satyr shifted his hooves and explained, "No... it's just that satyrs, and places underground... well..."

He took a deep breath, then stood up, shaking the bits of cards and aluminum off his shirt, and spoke with as much seriousness as he could muster.

"You saved my life, Percy and Ikki. If... if you're serious about wanting me to go along, I won't leave you hanging. Besides, if Ikki is looking out for Percy to make sure he doesn't mess things up, who's going to take care of you two?"

Ikki smiled inwardly; he didn't need protection, but the gesture was very sweet. He really had true friends in this life.

"Together until the end, Goatsucker," Percy said contentedly. He turned to Chiron. "So, where are we going? The Oracle only said to go west..."

"The entrance to the Underworld is always to the west. It changes location from era to era, like Olympus..." Chiron said thoughtfully. "Currently, of course, it's in the United States..."

"Where?"

Chiron looked surprised by the question and said, "I thought it was obvious. The entrance to the Underworld is in Los Angeles..."

"Ah..." Percy said stupidly. "Of course. So we just take a plane..."

"No!!..." Grover shouted, interrupting the son of Poseidon. "Percy, what are you thinking? Have you ever been on a plane in your life?"

Percy shook his head negatively.

"Percy, you're Poseidon's son. My dad's most bitter rival. If you flew, you'd be in his domain and would never come down alive..." Ikki said calmly.

"Yeah, even if it's to recover his symbol of power and with his son aboard. You can't risk upsetting Zeus..." Chiron said with a sigh.

Above them, lightning cracked. Thunder roared.

"Alright," Percy said, determined not to look at the storm. "Then we will travel by land..."

"Right," Chiron nodded, saying, "Two companions can accompany you. Grover is one. The other has already volunteered to help, if you accept her help..."

"Who else would be stupid enough to volunteer for a mission like this?" Percy asked with a strange look.

The air shimmered behind Chiron.

Annabeth became visible, shoving her Yankees cap into her back pocket, something that surprised the two boys. But Ikki already knew she was there all along due to his heightened senses.

"I've been waiting a long time for a quest, Seaweed Brain and Superman," Athena's daughter said confidently, looking at Percy, and then at Ikki.

"Athena isn't a fan of Poseidon, but if you're going to save the world, I'm the best person to prevent you from messing it up..."

"If you say so, Ann..." Ikki said with a shrug. Her cheeks flushed.

If it had been anyone else calling her Ann, Athena's daughter would have torn them apart, but with Ikki, she felt her heart race and became a little shy.

Needless to say, in the past few days, when they had talked a lot about various things, and even played games like chess, they had grown very close.

"Do you want my help or not?"

"A quartet," Percy said, agreeing to the help. "This will work..."

"Excellent," Chiron said, somewhat relieved but also worried. "This afternoon, we can get you to the bus terminal in Manhattan at the latest. After that, you'll be on your own..."

A lightning bolt crossed the sky. The rain poured mercilessly, the downpour was not supposed to be so violent.

Ikki sighed in his mind.

"There's no time to lose..." Chiron said, shooing the group off the porch. "I think you all should pack your bags..."

With those words spoken, after a few instructions from the centaur, they all went to pack their bags.

After a few minutes, Ikki stood in front of the Zeus Cabin. A backpack was among his belongings, a kind gesture from the campers who had gifted him a backpack full of everything he might need when he said he was going on a quest.

Inside his backpack were a toothbrush, Ambrosia and Nectar, ten gold drachmas, fifty dollars in mortal money, along with some clothes just in case.

Putting that aside, Ikki waved goodbye to the demigods who were watching him and walked toward where they had agreed to meet after an hour; plenty of time for them to pack their bags.

As he walked, he remembered some of Chiron's instructions.

He had given them some drachmas and told Percy and him that besides being used to use Iris Messaging; a means of communication, the drachmas were also used for non-mortal transactions.

One fact was that these coins were as big as a giant cookie, had pictures of various Greek gods stamped on one side and the Empire State Building on the other. The drachma he picked had Artemis stamped on it.

The dracmas of the ancient mortals were made of silver, Chiron told them, but the Olympians never used anything less than pure gold.

Chiron also gave Annabeth, Percy, and him a canteen of nectar and a hermetically sealed bag full of squares of ambrosia, to be used only in emergencies, if they were seriously injured. He emphasized a lot for them to be careful.

That was the food of the gods; it would heal them from any injury, but it was lethal to mortals. In excess, it could leave a demigod with a very, very high fever. An overdose would literally make us catch fire.

Remembering this fact, Ikki imagined the scene. What would it be like for a demigod to catch fire? It would be very bizarre and funny...

Ikki hummed in his mind and continued until he reached the meeting place. He was the last to arrive.

Annabeth was wearing her magic Yankees cap — which she had told him about in one of their daily chess games, having received it as a gift from her mother for her twelfth birthday — She also carried a book on famous classical architecture, written in ancient Greek, perhaps to read when she was bored; she had a fetish for buildings.

In addition, she also had a long bronze knife hidden in her shirt sleeve.

Percy had a simple backpack; he didn't seem to be bringing much. Just the basics offered by the camp's mentors.

Grover was wearing his fake feet and pants to pass as human. He wore a green rasta-style beanie — because when it rained, his curly hair flattened, revealing the tips of his horns — His backpack was, as the Aphrodite campers said, garish and hideous; it was orange and was full of metal scraps and apples for snacks.

In his pocket, he had a set of bamboo flutes, although he only knew two songs: Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 12 and Hilary Duff's So Yesterday, and both sounded very bad on bamboo flutes.

The campers who had followed the four to see them setting out on a mission, an event they never thought would happen again after Luke; were looking at the four with a mix of emotions.

They said their goodbyes.

Ikki had sweat running down his back at this point. When the demigods saw him leaving, the vast majority seemed to have lost someone they loved more than anything in this world. And other campers looked like they had escaped from hell; they cried with joy!

Basically, the entire camp was crying, with both joy and sadness. Percy looked confused by all of this, and Annabeth and Grover had looks of understanding.

They took one last look at the strawberry fields, the ocean, and the Big House, then climbed Half-Blood Hill to Thalia's tree.

Chiron was waiting for them in his wheelchair. Next to him was a surfer? That Percy and Ikki had never seen before. According to Grover, the guy was the camp's head of security.

The satyr said he had eyes scattered all over his body to never be caught by surprise. That day, however, he was wearing a chauffeur's uniform, so only the extra eyes on his hands, face, and neck could be seen.

That was bizarre beyond measure.

"This is Argos..." said Chiron introducing the surfer to the group: "He will drive you to the city and, ah, well, keep an eye on everything..."

He seemed amused by his words.

Ikki let out a sigh and said: "Chiron, never make jokes again. Never."

The centaur looked embarrassed by his words.