1: Fate Just Loves Making Percy Fight

Perseus smacked aside a thug who had tried to sneak up on Rosalind. She was nimbly tapping away buttons on her glowing blue bracelet screen.

He took in the men who had decided to attack them. There were six of them, all wearing a black leather jacket. He could easily beat all of them down and Rosalind wouldn’t even notice. Not when she was so focused on doing whatever the heck it was she was doing.

Knowing her, probably some programming.

‘Gentlemen,’ he said, knowing these people were anything but gentle, ‘We’d prefer it if you let us go without any reason to hurt you. It’d be best for you.’

One of them-seemingly the leader-stepped forward and said in raspy voice, ‘We want the girl. Hand her over and no one gets hurt.’

Perseus restrained a snort, as if.

He risked a quick glance at Rosalind, who still hadn’t noticed that they were surrounded. That didn’t make much of a difference. He sort of preferred it if she stayed distracted and unaware of the possible threat.

He looked at the leader dead in his green eyes, ‘No.’ His mouth tightened into a straight line.

‘Well, then I guess we’re just gonna have to take her by force.’

Lovely, He thought. Honestly, he tried to avoid getting into fights. But oh no! Fate had different plans. Fate just seemed intent on shoving him into situations where he has to fight his way out.

The first guy attacked. He feigned a punch for Perseus’ jaw and as Perseus grabbed his wrist, he used his other hand to punch him in the gut.

Perseus stepped back with a grunt. That was a nice attack, but hey, he wasn’t the second best martial artist for nothing. Just as he moved in for another punch, the tall agent grabbed his wrist and judo-threw him over his shoulder. He heard him land on the hard ground behind him and presumed he had passed out.

He caught a blur of movement from the corner of his eye and realised that one of their goons was trying to close in on his auburn haired friend.

He wrapped an arm around Rosalind shoulders, and gently moved her to his other side-the girl was completely unfazed.

‘Percy, what are you doing?’ she asked in a muffled voice.

‘Hey, Rosa, I need to do some... business. Stay with me, kay?’

She nodded, ‘Uh huh, yeah, okay.’

He rolled his eyes to himself. He seriously loved her, but she could be so oblivious sometimes. A small weird part of him found that cute.

He wrapped his arm around the guy’s neck, pressing against his throat. He grasped at his muscular arm helplessly and soon, fainted from the lack air.

Perseus let go of him and he dropped to the ground like a sack. He looked over at the four remaining members, all of them trembling vaguely.

‘So, what’s your choice, leave me and the girl alone, or get a good smack down?’ He growled.

‘We will get your girlfriend someday, Milestone,’ the man hissed as they back away.

‘I’ll be waiting,’ he shrugged and placed an arm across Rosalind’s back, leading her out of the alley. He thought back to what the man had said.

So many people assumed he and Rosalind were dating, but in reality, they really weren’t.

‘And done!’ she looked up, beaming.

‘What was that all about?’ He asked, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his coat.

‘Updates to my new program,’ she said cheerily.

‘What needed updating?’

‘Some glitches in the avatar section.’ She shrugged.

‘Okay then.’

They turned around a corner and started walking down an empty street, the lamps flickering ominously. There were tall black gates at the end of it, and they were intimidating to say the least.

They reached it and he pulled out a small plastic card from inside his pocket. He held it in front of a small black screen on the gate and it let out a small beep. There was a loud creaking sound as the gates unlocked and opened. Not fully though. They only opened fully if needed.

Rosalind walked inside without a second thought and he followed. Once they had entered, the gate automatically closed.

On the other side of the gate was a whole society. POWER had been established for people who had magic, or powers, whatever you want to call it, to have a safe place to live. Naturally it also had a spy/investigation agency. Cars drove around on the roads. There were playgrounds where children played without a care in the world.

He let out a breath that might have been a laugh. Children were such imaginative and free little things. Usually he adored them. Though at times they could be annoying.

Rosa would kill him if he said that out loud.

They walked over to stand by the stream that ran along, little fishes swimming around.

‘Who’s gonna meet us here?’ Rosalind asked.

‘Reyna,’ he looked at his watch; 3:46 p.m.

‘She invited us over for dinner and tea tonight, right?’

He nodded in answer.

‘There she is!’ Rosalind announced after a minute or two, pointing at an approaching car.

Reyna drove her black Audi R8 up to them and lowered the window.

‘Well, what are you waiting for?’ she raised an eyebrow, ‘Get in.’

‘I call shotgun!’ Rosa was at the seat before he knew it.

He huffed and opened the back door, climbing in.

Reyna chuckled, her hands on the steering wheel. Her dark locks were in a braid hung over her shoulder. She wore a midnight colored pea coat, the belt embellished with small but sparkling jewels.

She pressed the acceleration, turning the steering wheel, and they were out of that street and into an other one.

‘Who else is gonna be there, Rey?’ He asked her.

‘Just us.’ She kept her violet gaze on the road, ‘And Nico.’

He nodded. Reyna wasn’t friends with many people. She and Percy were childhood friends, and up till now they were as close as ever. She had eventually befriended Rosalind thanks to yours truly. Other than that, she was good friends with Jason Grace.

Those were all.

Except for Nico, of course. Nico and Reyna’s relationship... well, Perseus thought Reyna should explain that herself.

They got off the car and he helped Reyna with the bags.

Apparently she had gone to the store.

And apparently, she hadn’t helped herself to the books section.

‘Be careful with the books,’ she warned, inserting the key into the lock. Her house wasn’t as grand as one might expect POWER Agency’s best agent to have, but it was quite nice. Her front porch had a lot of little potted plants. There were two clay bowls on the railings. One was filled with bird feed, the other with clean water. Her front lawn had a lot of plants too. Different fruits and flowers. Roses, strawberries, she even had a cocoa tree!

Thanks to her gardens, the atmosphere there had the pleasant fragrance of cocoa, warm strawberries, and many other things he couldn’t guess specifically. There was a beautiful rainbow macaw perched on the railing. When they entered, it said hello to them- yes, Reyna’s bird could talk. Perseus thought that was cool. What was even cooler was that she had taught him herself.

Her bird- whose name was Prism - now fluttered beside her as she pushed open the door.

‘Nico, we’re home!’ she announced as they stepped inside. There was the sound of footsteps and Nico appeared in the doorway he remembered led to the kitchen. He came up to them.

He took the bags from Reyna and kissed her cheek before facing Perseus and Rosalind.

‘Hello, Perseus. Rosalind.’

Perseus smiled at him. His black hair hung in front of his dark eyes. He wore a black T-shirt and jeans.

‘Nico, I’ve told you. Just Percy and Rosa is good,’ Rosalind told him.

‘Don’t bother telling him that,’ Reyna’s voice called from the kitchen, ‘He used to call you Mr. Milestone and Ms. Nerite before. At least now he’s using your first names.’

A hint of red tinted his pale cheeks and he scoffed.

‘Place those books on the table,’ the boy said to him.

He placed the books down on the table carefully.

Rosalind took off her dark green coat and hung it on the rack. He did the same. Reyna’s house was nice and warm, much better than the chilly atmosphere of outside.

Nico gestured for them to follow as he led them to the garden at the back. Yes, she had gardens at the front and the back of her house.

On the front porch was a circular table with four chairs. They were made of metal and painted a soft pastel blue, decorated with butterflies.

Prism was perched on the back on one seat, flapping his wings at them, then the seats.

‘Sit,’ he squawked.

Rosalind nearly bumped into him as she stumbled. He caught her arms. Oh right. She didn’t know that Prism could talk. Nor did she seem to remember the macaw’s greeting from earlier.

‘It talks?’ she asked him.

‘He talks,’ Perseus corrected.

He took one of the seats and Rosalind sat on his left. Nico stayed standing patiently.

After a minute or two Reyna emerged from inside, carrying a stand filled with delicious looking cupcakes, and another jar. Nico took those from her hands and placed them on the table.

‘Sit down, Nico,’ she ordered, ‘I can do it. Don’t worry. I won’t ruin anything.’

She quickly went back inside and came out. This time she was holding a tray. On the tray was a teapot and four identical tea cups. He glanced at Rosalind. She was excited. His auburn haired friend loved tea parties and aesthetically pleasing stuff. And this tea party was more than aesthetically pleasing.

‘You made all this yourself?’ she asked the black haired girl.

Reyna smirked. She ruffled Nico’s hair.

‘Nico made most of it.’

‘That’s so awesome!’ Rosa squealed then sent a look towards him, like, Nico can make cupcakes by himself without covering everything in flour! And then there’s you...

He scowled. He didn’t even like to bake. Nico seemed pleased with himself. Obviously the boy loved cooking, which was great, he admitted. Plus, it wasn’t his fault that every kitchen utensil or ingredient seemed to hate him.

Nico settled down beside Rosalind. Reyna sat down on the chair between Percy and Nico.

Prism hopped from the chair to her shoulder.

‘Hey buddy,’ she stroked his red plumage, and he affectionately nipped at her ear.

Perseus took the liberty of using his telekinesis to pour tea into their cups.

‘Well then,’ Reyna said, picking up her cup, ‘How have you two been keeping?’