Drowning in the Siren's Song -II

Chapter 8

Previously

Percy has left the Wolf House after deciding that he has learnt all there is to learn form the Wolves. 

He had originally gone there to escape from the 'Greeks' who had started to notice the imbalance of power in the world as Percy grew stronger.
Apollo helped Percy by giving him a 'quest' which allowed him to enter the world of Roman culture where he honored his Roman heritage by learning the way of the Wolves from Lupa.

As he journeys back to the Nature Reserve, he becomes determined to face his fears of crowds and apprehension regarding men. 
He tries busking to earn money but earns an extraordinary amount of attention due to his good looks, young age and beautiful voice. 

He gets overwhelmed by the crowd and is rescued by Leo.
Percy chooses to reveal a little part of the world of mythology- the mist to him. He shows Leo the appearance of Keria without the mist but doesn't go into a detailed explanation of what it is. He couldn't even give it a name without knowing if Leo was Greek or Roman.

He wanted Leo to know that he was as different as he was.
Leo also tries to test Percy by showing him the unhinged side of him but Percy surprised him by showing him his own feral side.
They bond quickly over the incident.

***

"You can help me with that dammed monster." 

Leo was suddenly struck with the thought as he processed what had happened in his eventful day. He had learned so much. And to his brain, application of new knowledge was second nature. He didn't even realize that he'd spoken out loud until he felt Percy's eyes on him.

It was always a little unnerving to meet his eyes. It was such an unusual color. Not to mention the fact that he'd seen them glow. His toes curled under the table but his enthusiasm to talk about his new idea completely overcame him, making him continue. 

"There are monsters, aren't there." There was a little bit of fear in his eyes, but he didn't hesitate. He knew the answer. "With all that I've been seeing, there have to be monsters as well." He scoffed as he spoke but they both knew he was serious. "Mythology is real, huh? Gorgons? Medusa? Snakes-"

"Quiet!" Percy rapped his knuckled on the table, making the heavy plates rattle. He spoke so urgently that he didn't realize he spoke Greek. His eyes hardened as he glanced at the window.

Leo was surprised in silence. His brain had automatically translated his command, letting Leo worry about the other thousand things going around in his mind.
If Leo was right, Percy looked.... annoyed?

Confused, Leo flailed his arms around, trying to say who knows what. He knew he'd hit something but was too afraid to disobey a direct order from Percy. So all he could do was widen and squint his eyes, trying to make eye contact with him. 

Percy waved at him, telling him to calm down. He looked like he was training a puppy. 'Stay' he seemed to say, 'Wait'. He held his palm up, stopping Leo.

People had started to look when Leo started vibrating around. Once he realized Percy was not going to give him an answer, he quieted down, letting the old couple across the table to see a little pout on his face.

They looked like a pair of siblings. Typical except for the fact that they looked nothing alike. The old couple smiled at their cuteness and passed it off thinking that their parents must have super diverse DNAs. 

Percy on the other hand was fixated on the paneled window of the diner. He looked equal parts annoyed and worried. He completely ignored his warm plate of sandwiches and kept sighing. 

He knew he was being unfair to Leo and his sandwiches but how was he supposed to tell him that he'd been ganged by several gorgons just recently? He really did not want to kill them again and especially not with Leo. 

Calling their names, especially by two strong blooded demigods was like personally handing them a pamphlet explaining how they were the tastiest and closest meat available. 

Once Percy was assured he wasn't going to have to get gold dust all over his sandwich, he turned to Leo, decided that he didn't care whether he was Greek or Roman. That kid needed to learn how to increase his survival rate. 
And seeing what fire Leo was made of, he was sure the number was already pretty low. 

"Never call out names." He warned him, low and serious. "You must never use the names of higher beings." He made steady eye contact and forced Leo to memorize his words. 
"They do not hear as we do. They hear the attention. When you materialize that attention, they will be drawn to you."

Naturally, Percy did not mean only monsters when he used 'they'. The first thing Grandma Oak had taught him was to never use names outside of stories. The moment you believed they were real, they would prove it. 

But unfortunately, Leo didn't understand his shielded words. "The monsters," he waved at the general direction of the door, "will be alerted of your presence when you use their names. They will come after you." 

Finally it clicked for Leo. Percy resisted the urge to roll his eyes. 

This made him realized that the English language was much more straightforward than how Greek or Latin was spoken. In hindsight, it could also be because he was mostly surrounded by beings from another era itself. Except for the few newer hunters, everyone else was old. 

But he much preferred a metaphorical language. It was more beautiful and lyrical. It encouraged the listener to truly listen and gauge out the meaning. 

But he wasn't with the dryads or wolves now. He was with humans. Particularly a human who had a monster on his tail. 

He sighed again.
This was going to be annoying. 

Monsters who could follow a trail were usually the stronger ones. It took greater intellect for a monster to track a demigod and have the determination to follow through. Furthermore, stronger monsters had more presence and that meant that defeating it would definitely draw attention. 

That was exactly what he was worried about. He was pretty sure he could deal with it, but he absolutely didn't want the attention and chaos which would follow. 

 "Lets go out and then talk about the thing after you. Finish eating first."

Finally Leo was validated. He quickly started to stuff his face and eagerly waited for Percy to finish his food. After basically being dragged outside, Percy led him to his 'fountain', calling Keria there as well. She had been taking care of her own food. 

"Describe." Percy sat down on the edge and dipped his hand in the water. A small smile fluttered on his face. 

As Leo spoke, Percy's attention switched from the water to him. The monster he described was what he'd only heard about from Grandma Oak. He'd met many monsters, both greek and roman, but he'd never gotten the chance to play with this one yet.

He could see Leo was uncomfortable remembering it. He had started sweating lightly and his fidgeting increased by the second as he continued, but Percy needed to know everything if he was to fight this guy without him or Leo getting hurt.

Even though he was sympathetic towards the thin kid, the previous annoyance he felt vanished in an instant. Hearing about this monster evoked a new emotion in him- eagerness. The mist could barely shield him as he subconsciously allowed his power to leak.

Leo didn't see, but felt it. The subtle shift in the mood after he finished his description. It felt as if there was a heavy pressure in the air. But somehow, this pressure also seemed reassuring to him. The chills he was feeling thinking about the monster was residing due to this heaviness. 

Percy was unaware of how Leo was feeling.
He was gazing in the far distance, looking almost looked hopeful, his face serene but eyes ruthless. The glow was back.

He was so, so ready to hunt down that monster.
And that was exactly what he was going to do.