Ocean Song flew through the air at his fastest speeds.
He arrived in New York in the blink of an eye. After his last time in this part of the region, his strength had increased a bit, and he was even faster now!
He was free and unfettered; his robes billowed heroically and handsomely.
He was on a mission; he was going to find his brother.
A second younger brother that he had forgotten about. He felt bad, but the memories of certain ancient texts were vague at best, and unless something jogged his noggin, he couldn't claim to recall every detail.
However, that didn't matter in this moment.
He was focused.
Nothing would stop him.
Except for the bolt of lightning that fell from the sky and slammed right into him.
Ocean Song hit the ground face-first.
He twitched slightly as the lightning surged through his body a few times before being expelled. Slowly, he rolled over, looking up at the sky, as if waiting for another bolt of lightning to strike him, but nothing came.
Gradually, he stood up, brushed himself off, and found his sword that was stabbed into the ground next to him and cautiously waved it at the sky.
Ocean Song was confused.
He had been warned not to go near Olympus, but the circumstances were…extenuating. And he admitted he was a tad worried that a certain god would hold a grudge, but there was no follow-up.
He decided that the best way to answer the questions in his mind was to be direct.
"Is that the best you got!" He shouted up at the sky, flinching slightly for the inevitable retaliation, but nothing came.
Confused still, Ocean Song simply shrugged and threw his sword out before ascending back to the sky. Yet once he began flying away, another bolt of lightning dropped down, and he found himself back on the ground, twitching involuntarily as his body worked to dispel the rampant lightning that penetrated his body.
Ocean Song decided, completely by his own hand, that it was a good day to walk and certainly not take to the skies near Mount Olympus at the moment.
Because it became rather obvious that Zeus was just zapping anything nonhuman near the vicinity of Olympus in the skies automatically.
Ocean Song came to this conclusion because he fully believed it wouldn't have ended in one or two simple little zaps if Zeus knew it was him.
It took a moment for Ocean Song to find his bearing, where he was in New York, and he realized that he wasn't far from Madam Jackson!
Truth be told, he had no idea where to even begin looking for his junior brother. He vaguely recalled that he was homeless around a school that Percy went to—not the one he…currently went to?
It was confusing.
Instead, he had a better idea and went to find Madam Jackson's apartment.
(Line break)
It took a few tries, but he found the apartment that she lived. And the door was ajar when he approached, he heard some sounds, like banging and heavy things being tossed and assumed the worse as he barged in.
A startled Sally Jackson yelped in surprise as Ocean Song nearly kicked the door in, anticipating having to beat someone up, only to find her with plenty of boxes around and her packing things up.
"You're alive!" She blurted it out before Ocean Song could speak.
And before he knew it, she was hugging him affectionately.
"Thank you, thank you so much." She whispered.
Ocean Song relaxed slightly, smiling as he let her get it out. "It was my duty, Madam Jackson. I'm sorry for intruding; I heard the sounds and was worried…"
She let out a small laugh as she wiped her eyes, which were a little red. "No, never apologize for that. You're always welcome. Because of you, I'm alive. Because of you, my son is alive. I'll never stop being thankful for that."
She gently started to fix his clothes that she had creased and messed up with her abrupt actions.
Ocean Song felt a warm tingle in his chest.
He forgot what it was like to have motherly care.
"Are you moving?" He asked, peeking around as clearly things were being sorted… well, what could be sorted. It wasn't a secret that there wasn't much in this apartment worth the hassle.
He also spied Gabe on the ground near the table. He had a very distinct lump on his forehead again, and there happened to be a frying pan on the counter nearby.
"It's time, since I don't need to protect Percy anymore." She smiled like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.
"Do you need me to dispose of the body?" Ocean Song offered, glancing at Gabe.
Sally paused, actually considering it. "Can you make it so it doesn't come back to me?"
Ocean Song nodded. "It would be unfortunate if, after he lost his prized car, he decided to take a jump from the nearest bridge."
"How unfortunate." She snorted. "Couldn't happen to a better person." Though she perked up rather quickly. "Would you like some tea?"
"That would be lovely, thank you." He took a seat at the table after pushing away Gabe's unconscious body.
"Are you okay after everything that happened?" She asked.
"I'm fine, Madam Jackson. Even if I die, I'm a monster, so I'll come back eventually."
She pursed her lips, not liking that answer, but still continued. "I'm sure Percy will be thrilled that you're fine. Where have you been? What have you been up to?"
It was strange for Ocean Song; he wasn't used to having polite conversation like this. He usually spoke to…well, he's spoken more to gods than anything else in his life thus far.
"I've been running errands. And I'm setting up a sect; I'm even recruiting my first member!" Ocean Song said proudly, like a child excitedly looking to their parent for acknowledgment. "It's a group of people to help one another for a mutual goal!" He vaguely explained it since everyone asked.
Sally understood some of what he said. He was apparently recruiting some people for a group or something. "And who did you recruit? Is it anyone I know?" She sat down at the table, putting a cup of tea in front of him.
"Medusa."
"....." She blinked a few times. "The one who turns people to stone?"
"Yes!" Ocean Song nodded enthusiastically.
"Isn't she a..." Sally was trying to find the right words.
"Monster?" Ocean Song offered.
"I didn't want to use that word." She said quietly, knowing that Ocean Song was a cyclops, and still a Monster by definition. "But isn't she….bad? Why would you accept her?" Even if Sally didn't know the context behind what he was doing, it was strange to her that he would be taking in a evil thing like Medusa – atleast from the legends.
"Fate and Destiny can lead one to unexpected places. Enemies of today can be friends of tomorrow. One must grasp any Heavenly opportunities." Ocean Song spoke fluidly.
"..."
"She was famous, and I knew where she was." Ocean Song admitted.
Sally face palmed.
Ocean Song looked down at his tea. "I wanted strong potential allies, so Medusa was a good choice. But that doesn't mean I'm oblivious to what she's done in the past. She has killed many innocents. However, can I call myself Righteous if I shun such a person when even my father has done such things as well? How many sailors have met their ends at my father's temper? Do I condemn one but embrace the other because one is a monster? My objectives were self-fulfilling, but I also wanted to offer her a chance to change her fate. A monster of circumstances who embraced the role, with willful innocent blood on her hands. If I can offer her a chance to be better, is it not my duty to do so?"
Sally was silently. She was processing what he just said. Partly because it was genuinely something she felt had deeper meaning, and partly because she was surprised that Ocean Song could say something that was…profound.
"You're a good boy." She smiled, patting his arm.
Ocean Song beamed right back rather happily.
"Ah!" He suddenly blurted out. "I almost forgot the reason I came! Madam Jackson, I need your assistance."
She adjusted herself in her seat. "I'm happy to help with anything you need." And it was rather truthful; she truly didn't know if she would reject anything he asked of her at this point.
"If you were going to enroll Percy in a school next year that wasn't the one he was going to now, where would you do so?"
".....school?" She was unsure of why he asked, but she answered nonetheless. "If he was not going to Yancy anymore…" She bit her lip. "I think the next closest school is Meriwether College Prep? But…they're not nearly as good as Yancy. And they're not very good at handling 'troubled teens,' so I had to get Percy into Yancy to make the judge happy."
"Do you know where it is?"
"Sure, I have the pamphlet somewhere…." She snapped her fingers and got up to go into the bedroom. He could hear her rummaging around for a bit before she came out with a creased and bent pamphlet that she set on the table. "The address is there and everything."
"Thank you, Madam Jackson!" Ocean Song grabbed it with glee before running out the door.
She didn't even have the chance to ask him why he needed to know about potential schools for Percy.
Though right as she stood up, Ocean Song ran back in, smiled at her, then picked up Gabe and ran back out of the room.
Sally just hummed to herself as she began packing again.
(Line Break)
Ocean Song was very pleased with himself.
Truly, he was a cultivator of such wisdom, to seek out Madam Jackson to figure out where Tyson is by those clues.
He hopped onto his Sword and shot back up into the air.
Moments later, a crack of thunder rang out, and Ocean Song hit the ground again, a bit of a sizzling coming off him as Lightning jolted down his spine.
He got back up, pretended that didn't happen, and looked around to see where he dropped Gabe.
Unfortunately, Gabe wasn't in a very good spot.
Ocean Song wasn't even sure he was alive.
He mulled that over for a moment and realized he didn't care. Thankfully, there was a bridge nearby. However, the water running under it was enough to be barely called a stream.
Once more, Ocean Song stopped caring and hefted Gabe over his shoulder before weaving through the mists to make it look like Gabe was walking by himself through the streets as people passed, none any wiser as to what was happening.
Once he got to the side of the bridge, Ocean Song unceremoniously tossed Gabe over the side, watching for a moment as the man landed with a loud thwap into the ground below.
The water wasn't even enough to cover him up.
Ocean Song, very pleased with himself, wiped his hands with a job well done before leaving as people ran to the edge of the bridge, loudly proclaiming the fact that someone had just jumped off.
The Great Cultivator Ocean Song hummed to himself until he found a passing monster, grabbing him by the collar.
I took a moment for the mists to twist to reveal what was underneath.
Some sort of humanoid rat monster, Ocean Song didn't know.
The Rat Monster snarled, about to say something, perhaps with teeth and claws added in, but as soon as he saw Ocean Song, his eyes widened and his neck reeled back. "I didn't do anything!"
"Greetings, fellow Daoist." Ocean Song greeted him politely.
"I've been good; I didn't do anything; you can ask anyone!" He shrieked.
"I need information." Ocean Song sat him down gently, then took out a Drachma coin, holding it up for him to see.
Very quickly, the rat monster changed tunes, greed flashing in his eyes as he snatched the coin from Ocean Song's hands. "I know a lot of things, whaddy'a want to know? Aint nothin that happens in these streets that I can't find out about."
"I'm looking for a younger Cyclops. Homeless, probably doesn't like fighting, so he gets bullied a bit."
"Y-yeah, yeah! I know somethin like that. A big guy, but he's a softie so a lot of the local monsters like to go rough him up when they're bored."
Ocean Song put a hand on the rat monster's shoulder. "I would very much like to know where this is."
For some reason, the rat monster felt like his life was hanging on by a thread even if Ocean Song didn't visibly show his anger.
"I-it's 72nd Street… I can show you!?" He squeaked out under an invisible pressure.
"I am thankful, fellow Daoist. Let us make haste."
The Rat Monster never ran so fast in its life, and Ocean Song kept pace as it huffed around several street corners until they found an abandoned alleyway. Lots of boxes and garbage littered the sides.
Ocean Song wasted no time going deep into the alley until he heard lots of shouting and laughing.
He saw a small group of monsters standing over a very large person. The latter of whom was kneeling over, clutching their arms over their head protectively. He was much larger than any of the other monsters, yet he was whimpering as they taunted and kicked him a few times.
A gust of wind swept past before anyone realized Ocean Song was right behind them, hand on their shoulders. "Greetings, fellow Daoists. It seems you're having a bit of fun. Allow me to play along as well." He grabbed them one by one before they could utter a response and buried them quite literally into the ground upside down.
Their bodies went limp and couldn't properly fall over as from their head up to about their shoulders was completely enveloped in the dirt below.
Let them die from either hunger or suffocation if their physiologies didn't allow them to persist.
Ocean Song quickly shifted demeanor, looking down at the larger monster. Getting a better look at him, he was just a boy.
His face was soft and childish, despite his large size.
"Hello there." He said softly. "You don't have to worry, no one is going to hurt you anymore."
"No more bullies?" The Cyclops looked back at him.
"No more bullies." Ocean Song promised as his junior brother slowly unfolded himself, looking around as if to check.
Rather quickly, though, he smiled brightly. "I'm Tyson. who're you?"
"Hello Tyson, I'm your older brother. You can call me Ocean Song. I'm here to take you away from this place."
"Brother?!" His eye lit up excitedly. "I have a brother! We're brothers!"
The larger boy wrapped Ocean Song in a big hug, not once questioning his words whatsoever.
Even if Ocean Song didn't have knowledge about his brother, he could easily tell that he was a pure soul that deserved protection.
Eventually, he set Ocean Song down, with a big goofy smile on his face, just pure and utter happiness.
Ocean Song looked around at his living conditions. It seemed like he put together several large boxes as shelter and had been rummaging through garbage for food.
The thought made him frown, but he didn't want to cause his junior brother any worry.
His brother in general, well, his clothes were stitched and torn, barely held together. Nothing he could call 'proper,' but he was impressed that his little brother could survive in these conditions at least.
Once more, Ocean Song found himself frowning because there were quite a few tears on his back, and he could see some old and fresh scars between the pieces of fabric.
Ocean Song put a hand on his little brother's back and began to let his Qi flow into him. "Where did these come from?" He asked softly.
"Err! That big cat bully! She comes over here and is always mean to me, laughing at me, and her claws hurt!" Even when Tyson expressed anger, Ocean Song found it sort of adorable. "That feels nice and warm." He laughed. "It tickles too."
"Describe the mean cat."
"It has a people face and a big fluffy cat body. And she has mean, sharp claws. I asked her if I could touch her fluffy hair, and she got mad and would scratch me every day!"
"Don't worry, you won't have to deal with her anymore." Ocean Song kept his tone gentle, but his Divine Sense burst out as it covered block after block, expanding outwards until he found his target.
A sphinx was living under a nearby overpass.
"Little brother, would you wait here for a moment? I'll be right back."
"Okay!" Tyson was completely clueless as to what was happening as Ocean Song shot into the air again.
Same as before, a bolt of lightning fell from the sky as he reached high enough, but this time, he was in no mood for it.
He snatched the Lightning out of the sky, then shot down right towards the Sphinx.
It barely had time to open its eyes from its sleeping position as Ocean Song shoved its lightning-covered arm right into its mouth and let the light discharge.
The Sphinx looked at him, confusion and fear in its eyes as the lightning rampaged within it, destroying its body in what Ocean Song assumed was agony.
"The Cyclops you like to bully is my brother." Ocean Song whispered just before the Sphinx was turned to ash.
He flicked his arm away, flinging off any disgusting remnants. He picked up the trophies the Sphinx left behind before heading back to his little brother, this time, without flying.
Just as happily as a few minutes ago, Tyson was still sitting there with a big smile on his face, ever so excited to see him again.
"Would you like to come with me, Tyson? I'm in the process of building a proper home, but once it's done, I would love for you to join us."
"Okay!" He agreed without hesitation.
And with that, Ocean Song felt like the role of Artifact Refiner had been filled!
(Line Break)
"We're flying like birds!" Tyson clapped his hands from behind Ocean Song as they flew across states.
He went a little bit slower for Tyson's sake, and he only made sure to mount up after they got away from Olympus, of course.
He had to enlarge his sword quite a bit to accommodate his not-so-little brother, but it was worth it to see him so happy.
It didn't take long to return back to Medusa's home.
Tyson looked around, fascinated by the new sights. He also was trying to pick up some of the stone statues and most likely wasn't just stone statues.
The commotion had Medusa coming outside to see the two brothers at her doorstep.
"Your brother, I assume?"
"This is Tyson." Ocean Song introduced. "He'll take the position of our Elder Artifact Refiner for the sect."
Medusa looked at Ocean Song, then at the Cyclops playing with the not-stone statues.
"Wonderful."
"Pretty snake lady!" Tyson looked at her and smiled.
Medusa blinked, and Ocean Song noted that even the snakes on her hair seemed to pause as Tyson waved at her.
"Hello, pretty snake lady, I'm Tyson. What's your name?" Tyson came over and revealed that he does know proper manners in introducing himself.
".....Medusa." She said softly before shaking her head. "Well, come in. I've been doing some research, and I think I narrowed down some…appropriate locations."
Medusa led them indoors, going into the back to where her actual home was, sort of sectioned off from the main building.
She led them into an office with a computer and plenty of paperwork and file cabinets around.
"Don't' mind the mess; I was in the middle of filing my taxes before you came by the other day. It seems irrelevant at this point, so I didn't bother to clean up."
"You do taxes?" Ocean Song questioned Ocean Song.
"Of course I do. Do you think I want to get in trouble with the IRS? Do you think simply turning a handful of auditors to stone is going to magically make what I owe go away?" She snorted. "Two things are true in this world. Zeus is going to make a mess because he can't keep it in his pants, and the IRS will get what they owe. Even the gods pay their taxes on their mortal earnings."
Truly, Ocean Song underestimated the power of the IRS sect.
"Anyways, I have a few mountains that I think will work. It depends on what you want. I have their good and bad points listed. Number of humans visiting, relations to nearby towns. Climate, wildlife, vegetation…." She paused. "What, why are you looking at me like this again?"
".....You're surprisingly competent."
"What's that supposed to mean?" She glowered.
Ocean Song coughed lightly. "What I mean to say, fellow Daoist, is that your skills humble this lowly Cyclops."
Though truthfully, Ocean Song was just surprised he managed to recruit someone who had any idea what they were doing.
She glared at him with a harumph.
"It's all coming together." Ocean Song, said, very pleased. "Tyson, don't eat those; crayons taste bad."
"Bleh." Tyson spit out what he did try to eat.
Medusa let out a sigh.
She didn't know what was worse, that the supposed 'Elder' that he brought was eating Crayons, or the person whom's hands she was putting her fate into apparently also knew what they tasted like.
(Line Break)
A/N
Just a heads up because people were asking, this is a weekly upload. I try to do it earlier in the week, maybe Sunday/Monday, but sometimes it doesn't quite work out. But generally, once a week unless something comes up.
If you want to read 1 chapter ahead or support me, visit my p.a.t.r.e.o.n.c.o.m / astoryforone
I also have a boosty if you can't use the above under the same name.