Percy Jackson: Trouble In The Land Beyond The Gods

"Says the person who sets their nose on fire randomly,"

Percy's POV

It took a day for the crew of the Argo II to reach the North Mountains. The main problem they had found, however, was locating them - the reason being that the North Mountains didn't really exist.

They were purely magic, powered by the very creatures that inhabited it or passed through it. They were, for the same reason, invisible to the mortal eye. Demigods could see them - of course - but there wasn't exactly a map to the mountains and they didn't trust me to guide them either. Rude.

I had protested against this but they refused to work with the monster friend - because apparently, if 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend' then 'the friend of my enemy is my enemy', and that was something they were taking seriously.

These events somehow lead to me be being stood on the top deck, staring into the distance next to Festus. I squinted carefully, trying to make sense of the tall flickering smudges of land ahead.

Wait -- flickering?

I allowed a loose grin to fall onto my face and pulled my staff of my back. I gripped it tightly and slashed through the air between the mountains and I. The flickering stopped and I emerged myself in the wonder and awe that always filled me when I saw these elegant and towering mountains.

"Leo," I called over my shoulder.

I heard a light creaking of wood behind me, "Yeah?"

"There are the North Mountains."

There was no answer and so we fell into the deafening silence once again, disturbed only by the wailing of the winds and the controls of the ship at work. I hefted my staff from where I held it, adjusting the length of certain spikes and the curve of the hook.

It must have looked very peculiar as Leo soon spoke up from behind me. "Dude, what are you doing?" He asked me, "It's weird."

"Says the person who sets their nose on fire randomly," I retorted, then pausing. "I'm sorry, would you like some ice for that burn?"

I heard Leo gasp mockingly and a few laughs from below deck, so we were being watched-- or spied on, because they can't really see us if they're below deck, can they?

I shrugged it off despite the shaky feeling the idea gave me, gazing longingly at the mountains, "Leo, call the others up, we've arrived."

"You could just go and get them." Leo retorted.

"Well, if you want the gateway to close then be my guest, but they'll only stay open for me - I've been her before, it recognises me."

Leo dramatically sighed, his footsteps following him away as he went below deck. A faint ringing of a bell could be heard and I smiled in satisfaction, knowing Leo would be gone for a while.

My eyes slowly scanned the horizon, lingering for a second at the North Mountains before they nervously darted away. Bile rose in my throat and I swallowed uneasily, my nerves tingling and heart pounding against my chest.

This was where it all began four years ago, and this where it would all happen again.