Chapter Text
It had been a slow morning. Quiet, freezing, noisy.
Until some weird dude came crashing down from the sky.
Magnus wasn’t being facetious there either. He had just been sitting there, trying to stay warm in his extremely thin sleeping bag when a teenager just crashed into a dumpster. On fire? Or maybe that was a trick of the light.
Knowing New York though, someone probably lit the guy on fire and pushed him off the fire escape or something.
He stepped out of his bag, wincing at the air and packed away his things. Whatever was going on, sitting here wouldn’t do any good. At least he was more immune to the cold than most people.
At least the guy was alive since he could hear him crying in the dumpster. Like full out sobbing.
Fair enough, it looked like it had been quite a painful fall.
Magnus was honestly ready to leave and call 911 to deal with the guy when he started mumbling away and shouting indiscernibly in intermediate intervals. He really didn’t want to be around for the rest of this but curiosity was tugging at him so he shifted all his things and just crept beside one of the garbage so he could see what had happened but not necessarily get involved.
Like he would, if it was serious but ever since Blitz and Hearth had bundled him into a train straight to New York about two weeks before, he had wanted to stay out of trouble and just do his thing. Which, at this point was pretty much trying not to die, either from the cold or starvation.
He got lucky with the weather though. Even when it was freezing, he never got that cold, just a bit chilly. When others (and he had seen this), started passing out, turning cold as ice, catching chills and frostbite and hypothermia, hell, they were dying ; he was fine.
The guy was trying to clamber out of the dumpster, with mixed success. One one hand, he was out of it, on the other, he looked ready to pass out. Magnus almost ran over to help but there was a pit growing in his stomach that this wasn’t for him to get involved and if there was one thing being homeless had taught him: trust your instincts.
A raspy voice called, “Hey, Cade, take a look at this loser.”
Blocking the alley’s exit were two young men: one squat and platinum blond, the other tall and redheaded. Both wore oversize hoodies and baggy pants. Serpentine tattoo designs covered their necks. All they were missing were the words I’M A THUG printed in large letters across their foreheads. He had seen these kinds of guys all about, both in Boston and here. They thought they were tough, and some of them were. Others would start crying for their mothers the second a knife was pulled on them. Magnus thumbed the cover of the switchblade in his pocket and deeply hoped they were the latter.
Immediately, they took the guy’s wallet. Idiot for having it out in such a place, honestly. He must be some newbie or a high school student facing the consequences of a very bad trip.
The Guy stood up straight, perhaps hoping Cade and Mikey would be intimidated by his weird posture and slightly suicidal attitude.
“I am Apollo,” He announced, in a voice that may have meant to boom but instead cracked. “You mortals have three choices: offer me tribute, flee, or be destroyed.”
Magnus was trying to feel for this guy, root for him even, but, man , was he making it difficult.
The redhead Cade grinned even wider. “What do you think, Mikey?” he asked his friend. “Should we give this guy tribute?”
Mikey scowled. His cropped blond hair reminded him of a truly terrible haircut he’d had when he was six and had caught lice. He ran his hand through his shoulder length hair. Never doing that again .
“Not feeling the tribute, Cade.” His voice sounded like he’d been eating lit cigarettes. “What were the other options?”
“Fleeing?” said Cade.
“Nah,” said Mikey.
“Being destroyed?”
Mikey snorted. “How about we destroy him instead?”
Cade flipped his knife and caught it by the handle. “I can live with that. After you.”
The Guy slipped the wallet into my back pocket and raised his fists. “I warned you,” He said. “My powers are far beyond your comprehension.” Magnus had to really try not to cut a biting statement at that. What kind of drugs had he been on?
Mikey cracked his knuckles. “Uh-huh.” He lumbered forward.
As soon as he was in range, The Guy punched him, putting his everything into it. Which wasn’t much but considering he’d fallen out of the sky less than half an hour before, he was inclined to cut him some slack.
Still, the punch was awful, no form whatsoever and Mikey predictably dodged and he stumbled forward, struggling to stay upright which was all for naught because Mikey promptly kicked him in the back, knocking him onto his face. Magnus winced in sympathy, his now-eternally crooked nose twinging a bit from the memory of that happening to him once.
“Mikey,” said Cade, “are you comprehending this guy’s power?”
“Nah,” said Mikey. “I’m not comprehending it.”
“Fools!” The Guy croaked. “I will destroy you!”
“Yeah, sure.” Cade tossed away his knife. “But first I think we’ll stomp you.” Cade crushed his boot down on The Guy’s face with a sickening crack and The Guy was knocked out.
Magnus knew he needed to step in - to do something - but now he had seen what Cade and Mikey were willing to do to some random guy, he felt himself hesitate.
The Guy curled into a ball, trying to protect his ribs and head. He retched and shuddered and When my attackers got tired of kicking him, they hit him over the head with a bag of garbage, which burst and covered him in coffee grounds and moldy fruit peels. Gross .
At last they stepped away, breathing heavily. Rough hands patted him down and took his wallet.
“Lookee here,” said Cade. “Some cash and an ID for…Lester Papadopoulos.”
Mikey laughed. “ Lester? That’s even worse than Apollo.”
“Blood,” he muttered. “That’s not possible.” The Guy - Lester - seemed utterly mystified by the mere concepts of bodily fluids. Magnus hoped for his sake that he didn’t have any Biology tests coming up soon, he might do as badly in those as he had done in this “fight”.
“It’s very possible, Lester.” Cade crouched next to me. “And there might be more blood in your near future. You want to explain why you don’t have a credit card? Or a phone? I’d hate to think I did all that stomping for just a hundred bucks.”
Lester tried to sit up but his hand hit a banana peel and he fell again. His attackers howled in delight. Magnus tried to creep forward. There was no way he could stand to be a bystander in all this. Even if he just waited until Cade and Mikey left, he could help Lester with the nose and get him away from a world he was not suited for. That, or at least mock him a bit. God? Sure .
“I love this guy!” Mikey said.
“Yeah, but the boss told us he’d be loaded,” Cade complained.
“Boss…” Lester muttered. “Boss?”
“That’s right, Lester.” Cade flicked a finger against the side of his head. “‘Go to that alley,’ the boss told us. ‘Easy score.’ He said we should rough you up, take whatever you had. But this”—he waved the cash under my nose—“this isn’t much of a payday.”
“Who—who is your boss?” Lester struggled to his feet, coffee grounds dribbling from his shoulders. “Did Zeus send you? Or perhaps Ares? I demand an audience!” Oh great, he’s still on about that. He’s gotta be concussed.
Cade picked up his knife. “You don’t take a hint, do you, Lester?” Magnus sighed deeply internally. He’d have to get involved now.
Mikey pulled off his belt—a length of bike chain—and wrapped it around his fist. Magnus was about to get a run on the two, knife drawn a bit hesitantly when a voice yelled, “HEY!”
The hooligans turned. Above them, on the second-story fire escape landing, stood a girl of about twelve. “Leave him alone,” she ordered. She looked nothing like her but for a split second, Magnus was reminded of his cousin, Annabeth, all scary and determined.
The girl on the fire escape did not exactly inspire fear. She was small and pudgy, with dark hair chopped in a messy pageboy style and black cat-eye glasses with rhinestones glittering in the corners. Despite the cold, she wore no coat. Her outfit looked like it had been picked by a kindergartener—red sneakers, yellow tights, and a green tank dress. Perhaps she was on her way to a costume party dressed as a traffic light.
Still…there was something fierce in her expression. She looked like Annabeth had when she was talking about her stepmother and father, the last time they had seen each other.
Mikey and Cade did not seem impressed. “Get lost, kid,” Mikey told her.
The girl stamped her foot, causing the fire escape to shudder. “My alley. My rules!” Her bossy nasal voice made her sound like she was chiding a playmate in a game of make-believe. “Whatever that loser has is mine, including his money!”
“Why is everyone calling me a loser?” Lester asked weakly. Magnus forcibly stopped himself from saying “Because you are one.” .
Cade glared at the girl. The red from his hair seemed to be seeping into his face. “You’ve got to be kidding me. Beat it, you brat!” He picked up a rotten apple and threw it. The girl didn’t flinch. The fruit landed at her feet and rolled harmlessly to a stop. “You want to play with food?” The girl wiped her nose. “Okay.”
Magnus didn’t see her kick the apple, but it came flying back with deadly accuracy and hit Cade in the nose. He collapsed on his rump. Mikey snarled. He marched toward the fire escape ladder, but a banana peel seemed to slither directly into his path. He slipped and fell hard. “OWWW!”
Lester backed away from the fallen thugs, hobbling on weak ankles, so close to Magnus, nearly backing into him but not noticing for a second.
The girl climbed over the railing. She dropped to the ground with surprising nimbleness and grabbed a sack of garbage from the Dumpster. “Stop!” Cade did a sort of scuttling crab walk to get away from the girl. “Let’s talk about this!” Mikey groaned and rolled onto his back.
The girl pouted. Her lips were chapped. She had wispy black fuzz at the corners of her mouth.“I don’t like you guys,” she said. “You should go.”
“Yeah!” Cade said. “Sure! Just…”He reached for the money scattered among the coffee grounds.
The girl swung her garbage bag. In mid arc the plastic exploded, disgorging an impossible number of rotten bananas. They knocked Cade flat. Mikey was plastered with so many peels he looked like he was being attacked by carnivorous starfish.
“Leave my alley,” the girl said. “Now”
In the Dumpster, more trash bags burst like popcorn kernels, showering Cade and Mikey with radishes, potato peelings, and other compost material. Miraculously, none of it got on me. Despite their injuries, the two thugs scrambled to their feet and ran away, screaming.
Lester turned back from the girl and immediately ran into Magnus. “Hello?”
“Are you okay?”
Lester immediately turned sour, well, more sour, “Were you sent too? Did Zeus send you? I’m sorry please tell him I’m sorry. I’m sorry!” He had to hold Lester at an arm's length, unwilling to get snot and blood on his only shirt.
“Who the fuck is Zeus? Are you on drugs? Did you eat something weird last night or have a spiked drink or something?”
He looked infuriated, “What do you mean, ‘who the fuck is Zeus?’ Stop messing with me! I am a god-”
“A god who just got his ass kicked-”
“An Olympian God! The Son of Zeus and Leto. Zeus! King of the Gods! Please,
please,
tell me that rings a bell.” The sky rumbled a little bit, even though the day was clear.
“Sorry, no.” Magnus gave him a once over, “You need a hospital. Or like, a first aid kit.”
The voice came from behind him, the voice of that terrifying girl, “Hellooo.”
Lester gulped slightly. Magnus stood there, extremely confused
“Thank you,” Lester ventured.
The girl crossed her arms. On her middle fingers she wore matching gold rings with crescent signets. Her eyes glinted darkly like the ravens that sometimes hung around Blitz and Hearth.
“Don’t thank me,” she said to Lester. “You’re still in my alley.” She then turned to Magnus, “You too.”
Magnus shrugged, “Sorry. Nowhere else to go.”
She walked a full circle around Lester, scrutinizing his appearance as if he were a prize cow. Magnus took a hesitant step away, unanxious to get on her bad side.
“You’re the god Apollo?” She sounded less than awestruck. She also didn’t seem fazed by the idea of gods walking among mortals.
“You were listening, then?”
She nodded. “You don’t look like a god.”
“I’m not at my best,” He admitted. “My father, Zeus, has exiled me from Olympus. And who are you?”
“I’m sorry,” Magnus cut in, “Why are you people talking about gods like they’re real?”
Lester turned to him but the girl got there first, “Because they are, idiot. Anyways, name is Meg,”
“Short for Megara? Or Margaret?”
“Margaret. But don’t ever call me Margaret.”
“And are you a demigod, Meg?”
She pushed up her glasses. “Why would you think that?”
What the hell was a demigod. Magnus also voiced this question. Lester answered, “A child of a human and a god. You’re one, I can feel some summery feeling off you.”
He had to laugh. This was some stupid prank. “I don’t even know who my dad is, how can I be a demigod, you guys are-” He trailed off, Meg and Lester glaring at him, “What?... Fine, I guess. Glowing wolves, now this. Why not? So my dad’s a god?”
Magnus didn’t really give two shits about his dad but it would at least be cool to know if he was some all powerful being or whatever.
“Could be your mother,” Lester shrugged, “I have a daughter with another man at camp at the moment. It happens.”
“Sure. Okay. And you think that she,” Magnus pointed at Meg, “Is a demigod because, exactly?”
“Well,” He said, “she obviously has some power. She chased off those hooligans with rotten fruit.” He turned to Meg, “Perhaps you have banana-kinesis? Or you can control garbage? I once knew a Roman goddess, Cloacina, who presided over the city’s sewer system. Perhaps you’re related…?”
Meg pouted. Magnus rolled his eyes at Lester’s confused expression.
“I think I’ll just take your money,” Meg said. “Go on. Get out of here.”
“No, wait!” Desperation crept into his voice. “Please, I—I may need a bit of assistance.”
“Say I believe you…” Meg’s voice took on a singsong tone, as if she were about to announce the rules of the game: I’ll be the princess, and you’ll be the scullery maid . “Say I decide to help. What then?”
“We…we are in Manhattan?”
“Mm-hmm.” She twirled and did a playful skip-kick. “Hell’s Kitchen.” Lester glanced at Magnus who nodded to confirm that statement.
“I know someone who might help. He lives on the Upper East Side. Take me to him, and I shall reward you.”
Meg made a sound between a sneeze and a laugh. “Reward me with what?” She danced around, plucking twenty-dollar bills from the trash. “I’m already taking all your money.”
“Hey!”
She tossed him his wallet.
Meg sang, “I’ve got your money, I’ve got your money.”
Lester noticeably stifled a growl. “Listen, child, I won’t be mortal forever. Someday I will become a god again. Then I will reward those who helped me—and punish those who didn’t.”
Okay whatever.
She put her hands on her hips. “How do you know what will happen? Have you ever been mortal before?”
“Yes, actually. Twice! Both times, my punishment only lasted a few years at most!”
“Oh, yeah? And how did you get back to being all goddy or whatever?”
“ Goddy is not a word,” Magnus interjected.
“Usually Zeus requires me to work as a slave for some important demigod. This fellow uptown I mentioned, for instance. He’d be perfect! I do whatever tasks my new master requires for a few years. As long as I behave, I am allowed back to Olympus. Right now I just have to recover my strength and figure out—”
“How do you know for sure which demigod?” Magnus could feel the gears turning in both his and Meg’s head and she shared a grin with him.
Lester blinked. “What?”
“Which demigod you’re supposed to serve, dummy.”
“I…uh. Well, it’s usually obvious. I just sort of run into them. That’s why I want to get to the Upper East Side. My new master will claim my service and—”
“I’m Meg McCaffrey!-”
“I’m Magnus Chase” They chanted in unison, Meg blowing a raspberry. “And I claim your service!”
Overhead, thunder rumbled in the gray sky. The sound echoed through the city canyons like divine laughter.
“I walked right into that, didn’t I?”
“Yep!” Meg bounced up and down in her red sneakers. “We’re going to have fun!” She high fived Magnus who was smirking a bit. Like yeah, Blitz and Hearth had told him to stay out of trouble at all costs but this was just too interesting. With a start, he realised the pit in his stomach had completely disappeared. Things still felt wrong but… less wrong. Closer to being right anyway.
And maybe he could get into a proper bed and a nice meal at some point over all these trials .
“Are you sure you’re not Artemis in disguise?” Lester sounded like he was on the verge of crying.
“I’m that other thing,” Meg said, counting my money. “The thing you said before. A demigod.”
“How do you know?”
Just do.” She gave him a smug smile. “And now I have a sidekick god named Lester and a new buddy, Magnus!”
Lester raised his face to the heavens. “Please, Father, I get the point. Please, I can’t do this!”
“Cheer up,” Meg told me. “Who’s that guy you wanted to see—the guy on the Upper East Side?”
“Another demigod,” I said. “He knows the way to a camp where I might find shelter, guidance, food—”
“Food?” Meg’s ears perked up almost as much as the points on her glasses. “ Good food?” Magnus was listening intently too. Something warm and hot and filling. Soup, or curry or maybe some falafel.
“Well, normally I just eat ambrosia, but, yes, I suppose.”
That was some weird god thing wasn't it? What had he gotten himself into?
“Then that’s my first order! We’re going to find this guy to take us to the camp place!”
“As you wish,” Lester said. “Let’s find Percy Jackson.”