Percy Jackson - Cursed to Forget

A Brand New Planet

The market was crazy. Given it was a futuristic city I was sort of expecting a giant mall or massive shopping complex, but no instead it was more like a farmers market, except  on a much larger scale. Some streets were lined with pop up stalls that looked more permanent then pop up, while other streets were purely actual shops and workshops that had been built. It actually made a nice contrast to the flying vehicles that were going around above and the skyscrapers looming in the distance.

I had come here to find a place that sold swords, but given the fact that I can be easily distracted, I spent most of my time looking at everything and anything I could. There were stalls that sold foods that I could never imagine, clothes that didn't even look like clothes, jewellery that looked surprisingly normal. I paid a bronze coin for something that looked like an apple, except it was purple and when I took a bite it was sweet with a taste of something that I didn't recognise. It was also very juicy but non the less, tasty.

The next thing I bought was a little bit more practical.  I had continued to notice that I seemed to be drawing the eyes of people passing by, while I couldn't be sure it was because I was acting strange or different, I had a feeling it was more due to my outward appearance, more specifically my outfit. So when I passed by a stall that was selling clothing, I found myself a nice cloak. It was a muted brown in colour, making it look worn and old, but it was definitely new. It reached down just below the back of my knees and had a hood on it which wasn't needed as I already had one of those. The thing that I found best about it was that while it was quite thick and somewhat tough it felt light weight  and didn't hinder any of my movements. As an added bonus it can also keep me warm and I found that I wasn't drawing the attention of people like I was before.

The only problem I found was that it had to be worn over the top of my backpack, so it was a bit strange having a large bulge underneath but it didn't seem to bring any extra attention to me. I guess that's the benefits of being in an alien filled market place, everyone can look different. I would have to deal with the bag situation in the future though, wearing a backpack while running and fighting is definitely not ideal. But that is a problem for future Percy.

After I had spent an unnecessary amount of time just randomly browsing the different shops and stalls I finally came to a blacksmith. At least I'm pretty sure it was a black smith, judging by the hammer and sword crossed above an anvil sign hanging out the front. When I pushed open the door there was a dinging sound that rung through the shop. I noticed that there was a bell hanging above the doorway, something that hadn't been in other shops and reminded me a lot of home.

The store was surprisingly empty compared to the others that I had been into, where those had several people browsing and going about their business, this store had no one except me. The shop was split into 3 areas, on the left side of the store was all armour and shields and other bits of equipment someone would use as protection. On the right side of the store was weapons, and at a quick glance I could see everything ranging from swords, spears, axes, hammers and some other things I had never seen before. The third part of the store was the far wall. There was a glass counter where I assume you made the purchases and on display inside it looked like jewellery. Hanging on the wall behind it were some more weapons. These however looked a fair bit more expensive then the others in the store and I could have sworn I saw a feint glow on some of them. The final thing back there was an entrance which seemed to lead to a back room, and judging by the slight smell of smoke lingering in the air, I'm guessing that's the forge.

Walking over to the weapons side of the store and started browsing the things on display. Each time I saw a sword that I liked I picked it up and gave it a few test swings, and each time I had to put it back down. Some were to long, while others felt to heavy, but all of them were very out of balance. I sort of expected this, given I've been using a perfectly crafted sword for the last 10 years, but I never expected the difference to be this big. After trying out a couple more I was almost ready to give up and try something else when a sword shoved right in the corner caught my eye.