'Visitation'

26-Aug-2030, 0900R

MAJ Paul Blofis, US Army (Ret.)

1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment

Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA

Author's Note: this first scene was made in reference to the following video (it seemed appropriate; I've noticed that dads and combat veterans have strange senses of humor, so what happens when a girl's father and big brother, both of whom are combat veterans, decide to see her off at school?):

https://youtu.be/bUFBfJ3tFJc

"Okay, you kids have everything you need?" I asked as I pulled the Suburban into the high school's parking lot.

"We're good!"

"I'm ready!"

"Unfortunately..."

A mix of responses came from the five teenagers in the back: Estelle, Justin Hanaway, Jack Davis, Kim Davis, and Alyssa Davis. Estelle, Jack, and Kim were on their first day of sophomore classes, while Justin and Alyssa were on their first day of junior classes. Percy—who sat shotgun—and I were initially driving Estelle and Justin to school, but we also picked up the Davises due to Jenny getting sick and Noah staying home to take care of her. The girls seemed more or less excited for the first day back to school, in contrast to the boys, who showed barely any enthusiasm.

"Alright, guys. Have a good day!" I said as I stopped at the curb.

"Bye, kiddos. Bye, Esty!" Percy said with a smile. "Be good and play nice with the other kids!"

"Augh, Percy!" she spluttered, embarrassed. Of course, like the proper dad I was, I decided to engage in the fun too.

"Bye-bye, sweetie! I love you!" I declared through the car's open window.

"DON'T FORGET TO HYDRATE!" Percy shouted, making several confused students look our way. Estelle, meanwhile, covered her face as much as possible and quickened her pace.

"I LOVE YOU, ESTY! DON'T ENGAGE IN FORNICATIONS!"

"HAVE A GOOD DAY AT SCHOOL! DON'T DO DRUGS!"

"BYE, ESTELLE! BYE, JUSTIN! BYE, JACK! BYE, KIM! BYE, ALYSSA!"

"HI, PRINCIPAL MORRIS!" Percy loudly greeted as he sighted the school's principal, Morris Downey, by the school doors.

"Good morning!" he replied with a cheerful wave.

"I'M ESTELLE'S BIG BROTHER AND I LOVE HER!"

"AND I'M HER FATHER!" I added. "WE'RE GONNA MISS HER SO MUCH WHILE SHE'S AT SCHOOL!"

"I FEEL YOU!" he shouted in sympathy, a father himself. "BUT IT'LL GET BETTER! HANG IN THERE!"

"THANK YOU FOR YOUR KIND WORDS!"

"TAKE CARE OF YOURSELVES, GENTLEMEN! STAY STRONG!"

"THANK YOU! I LOVE YOU, ESTELLE! BE GOOD!" Percy finally shouted before we started moving again.

"Nice one, fellas!" said the school resource officer—Officer Keith Shaw—as he walked towards us, keeping an eye on the drop-off traffic.

"Hi, Officer Keith!" Percy greeted as the two men exchanged a high-five. "How've you been?"

"Oh, same old, same old. Patrolling and paperwork are boring. Seriously, the only good parts of being a cop during the summer are all the lemonade stands and water fights with kids. It's nice to be an SRO again, though. My wife even packed me a juice box in my lunch and took my back-to-school picture!" he replied excitedly. Officer Keith has been the SRO for the past three years, and is immensely popular among the students and staff. Then again, it's not surprising, considering that he's the human embodiment of a golden retriever.

"Good to see you," I said with a smile as we began to move forward in the line. "Have a great first day back!"

"Y'all have a good one!"

We pulled out, and as soon as we were back on the road, Percy and I began laughing like hyenas.

"'Don't engage in fornications?!?'" he laughed. "I don't think they even know what that means!"

"She better figure it out, considering I ain't ready to be a grandpa yet," I chuckled.

"I dunno... you've got the age and the wisdom... and the wrinkles."

"Hush your mouth. Oh, and 'don't forget to hydrate?'"

"C'mon, Dad! Don't you know that water and ibuprofen are the answer to all medical problems?" Our laughter became hysterical at his words as we remembered that joke from military medicine.

"What about changing your socks?"

"Huh, good point!"

Another round of laughter.

"Now that," I breathed, my stomach hurting from laughing so hard. "Was so much fun."

"Oh, yeah."

We sat in a comfortable silence as I drove us back home. The school reminded me of my time in Goode High School back in New York City, which I ultimately hated. However, I don't consider the time a waste, as I gained knowledge, wisdom, a wife (one that was faithful, unlike my first one... long story), a (step)-son, and eventually, a daughter.

After moving back down south, I worked as a part-time military and American history, civics, economics, and English lecturer at Old Dominion University, often helping out the university's Reserve Officer Training Corps programs. After retiring from the university some time back, I maintained involvement in a nonprofit veterans' group therapy organization and worked as a firearms instructor. Still, I had a lot of free time which I spent with my family.

Speaking of which...

"Hey, Perce? I just realized, I never gave you your birthday present for turning thirty-seven."

"Dad, you don't need to—" he began before I interrupted.

"No, no. I insist. I've got it all laid out."

"Alright, fine. What am I lookin' at?"

"Well, for starters, you think you're ready to swim for a bit?" I asked as we pulled into the driveway of the house.

"What are you thinking?" he asked curiously.

"You'll see. Grab your swimsuit, a towel, and some clothes."

Some hours later, the two of us were looking at the clam dredge Gulf Hustler at its resting place in seventy feet of water. We both wore SCUBA (Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus) gear and wetsuits, exploring the wreck.

Now, Percy obviously didn't need it, but we both had SCUBA diving certification after taking some courses over twelve years ago. We've witnessed quite a few sights over our excursions (granted, which weren't many, but still), from dolphins to sea turtles to sharks. Unsurprisingly, they were all rather friendly towards Percy while being relatively puzzled about my mere existence.

It's my fault, I suppose. Unfortunately, Neptune and Percy both got to my head.

"Go explore the ocean," they said. "It'll be fun," they said. "You'll see many cool sights," they said.

Although, to be fair, they weren't entirely wrong.

While initially nervous, due to my relatively minor experience with the water, I began to enjoy it, and considered it another way for Percy and I to bond. Plus, I got to know Neptune better due to our downright strange co-parenting situation.

I'll be frank: Neptune is an anomaly to me. He's a relatively decent fellow, but with a dubious past (although, based on my knowledge, all of the Greco-Roman pantheon members had pasts riddled with crimes and immoral circumstances). I never trusted any of them initially, and never considered his title as Percy's father to hold any weight.

But, I remained polite and professional. After talking to him more, I began to understand him and the rest of the gods. The simple problem was the lack of structure in their lives. Granted, most of this can be attributed to their Greek halves, as the Greeks were generally less disciplined. However, their Roman halves had the issue that they were tested by few. Something consistent with all of the gods in both forms is that none of them had particularly good childhoods growing up, especially with the lack of father figures to keep them in line.

Now, I'm not trying to justify their actions. I believe that people should take responsibility for their actions, and not try to blame it on something or someone else, as it will never solve anything. However, there is a lesson to be learned: it all starts in the home. If parents fail to discipline children and teach them what is right and wrong, the kids are more likely to grow up to make poor choices. Those were their choices, but such terrible decision-making could've been prevented.

Now, though, I consider Neptune a friend, and I'm somewhat optimistic for him and his fellow immortals. I've ended up giving him relationship advice for him and Salacia, and the two have (somewhat) mended their marriage over the past twenty years. While I never met the goddess, Neptune informed me that the main reason she tolerated his visits with my family (and Percy, in particular) was that I, despite practicing a faith far different from theirs, was making Neptune a better husband and man. Hell, he's even managed to make up with Pluto somehow. Trivia explained that it was the talk of the Olympus for a while, and the two brothers have a healthier (although I'm not sure by how much) relationship.

My general philosophy echoes that of Full Metal Jacket's Gunnery Sergeant Hartman: "[everyone is] equally worthless." This, combined with my own old-school teachings from my parents, pastor, Bible, and even some folks in the military, helped to round out my morals to what they are today.

Also, let me be perfectly clear: I will sometimes call them gods and goddesses, but it's due to a slip of the tongue, since I don't see them as gods. The way I see it, Neptune, Jupiter, and the rest are simply humans that refuse to die.

There's only one god, and after meeting the members of the Greco-Roman pantheon, I'm pretty sure He doesn't dress like that.

Anyways, back to Neptune: he didn't actually show up for Percy's thirty-seventh birthday, but he did send me a letter, telling me to take him to the Gulf Hustler on the 26th. Something to do with a practical item.

Speak of the devil.

Seemingly from nowhere, he swam up towards us, stopping a few feet away before reaching out to us via mental communication. (Author's Note: underlined is Paul, bolded is Percy, italicized is Neptune).

Good afternoon, gentlemen.

Afternoon!

Father. How are things?

Oh, quite well. I'm sorry I couldn't come for your birthday, it's just that the whole gift took eight days longer than necessary.

Father, you know it's not—

No, no, I insist. It's quite practical, in fact.

Okay, then. Do you have it with you, or...?

It's on the larger side. I'll come with it on shore. And no, it's not a boat or something along those lines. Meet me at Chic's Beach in three hours, and bring your car. I'll be there with the crate.

Crate?

... shouldn't have said that. I should not have said that...

He swam away quickly before Percy could question him further, while I was silently laughing.

Immortals just can't keep their mouths shut, can they?

Three hours later, we were sitting in the sand at Chic's Beach, having finished the sandwiches we picked up on the way.

"Guess it's a good thing we ain't gonna go swimming. Otherwise, we'd have to wait for twenty minutes," Percy joked.

"Too true, son," I replied, patting him on the shoulder.

"Hey, you see that?" he asked, pointing towards a man in full SCUBA gear as he slowly emerged from the ocean, dragging a crate with him.

"Neptune?"

"Neptune."

"Hello there!" Neptune greeted, removing his rebreather and lifting his goggles.

"General Kenobi!" Percy jokingly replied.

"Neptune, this is highly irregular!" I said as Percy and I hurried towards him, picking up the box. Upon closer inspection, I found that it was actually a footlocker that somehow survived the ocean.

"Damn right! Father, SCUBA divers don't just show up in the middle of the beach! Won't that look the slightest bit suspicious?"

"And a man in coastal fishing attire makes more sense than a man in a SCUBA suit?" the immortal quipped as we reached the car, with everyone thankfully too distracted by other things to notice us.

"Touche," Percy acquiesced as we loaded the footlocker into the back. We then loaded up into the Suburban, pulling out of our parking area and making our way back home.

"I sincerely hope that this crate is not full of treasure from the ocean floor," Percy began.

"What? No! That's not terribly practical, now is it?"

"No, unless you take it to a pawn shop," I suggested.

"... I forgot about that. Anyways, there's more to this than monetary value. Do you recall the last time we met, Vulcan provided you with ammunition?"

"Yeah, monster-killing ammo," Percy replied. "We haven't tested it on monsters, but it works with every firearm we've got. Why?"

"Well, the footlocker possesses similar value."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, quite simply, it is a storage container that will provide whatever you need. Its capacity extends beyond that which is defined by its dimensions, and all of the lockers access the same space."

"Hang on, hang on. 'All of the lockers?'" I interjected.

"Well, yes. There are lockers at key locations of interest to Percy. Among other places, there is Camp Half-Blood, Camp Jupiter, and of course, your house. The last one is the one in the car's trunk, and you can stash it how you see fit."

"Lemme break it down Barney-style for a sec," Percy began. "It's a magic footlocker which contains anything and everything, and there's at least three of them, with all being able to access the same gear."

"In essence, yes," Neptune answered. "Also, Vulcan seems to have gone into a phase of creating mortal technology, especially weapons. He will be placing gear in the lockers, and will request you to test them in the field as a favor."

"Damn! That is practical! So if he wants me to test out a rifle, he'll just put it in the locker for me to find and send me a message of some sort?"

"Yes, that's correct. Just keep in mind, however, his version of a test boils down to you having to engage in combat. Besides, the request I mentioned? It's not so much of a request as it is you holding up your end of the deal I made with him."

"Of course it isn't," Percy replied with an eye roll. "When is it ever?"

"Here's a hypothetical," I began as we pulled into the driveway of our house. "Can it transport humans? Suppose, for instance, Percy wanted to visit one of the camps."

"Hmm... I did not consider that, and would not advise using the footlockers as teleportation devices. Seems rather dangerous," Neptune replied.

"Crap! Now that would've been cool," Percy muttered.

We brought the footlocker inside, stashing it in Percy's room. Meanwhile, Neptune was telling Percy more about the footlocker.

"... and to open in, you needn't do more than unlock the combination lock and turn. The lock is merely there as a deterrent, and isn't actually needed, as the footlockers will only open for you," he finished as we walked back to the living room.

"But if this is the case, how can Vulcan access it?" Percy asked confusedly.

"I believe the analogy is that you have an account on a computer while he is the administrator of that computer," I offered.

"Quite right, Paul! Well done!" Neptune congratulated. "I will add, however, that the magic will keep him from trying to kill you and whatnot. There's just enough access for him to make gear and deliver it into a space that only you can access."

"This is an amazing present! Thanks, Father!"

"Quite all right, my boy. Now, I believe you two need to pick up Estelle."

"Nuts," I cursed as I checked my watch. It was already 1515 hours, and we needed to get moving. "Perce, we gotta roll. Good seeing you, Neptune."

"Likewise, Paul. Oh, good afternoon, Sally!" he greeted as Sally walked into the room.

"Poseidon," she replied with a nod. For a brief second, I could see a flicker of his more carefree Greek form, but it settled back into his relaxed, yet vigilant, Roman form. To this day, Sally regards the god of the seas as Poseidon, but he seems to be more comfortable with Neptune, likely due to Percy. "How's couple therapy?"

"Believe it or not, it's actually working. Gods can change, it seems," Neptune admitted, referring to the sessions he and I have been having to help him mend his marital and familial relationships. Matters between him, Jupiter, Minerva, and some others were still (of course) terrible, if not worsened, but things have improved otherwise.

"Oh, gods can definitely change. Remember that time in New Jersey with the dolphin—"

"Anyways," Neptune interrupted, evidently embarrassed. "Don't you have somewhere you need to be, Paul?"

"No, no, Estelle can wait. They most likely won't be out until fifteen fifty-five. Please, Mom and Father, do tell us," Percy replied with a smirk.

"Poseidon and I were in waters off the coast of New Jersey. Poseidon decided to show off a bit, turning into a dolphin and doing every trick in the book," Sally explained. "Honestly, it was rather impressive. However, he was so focused on that, he failed to notice the pod of dolphins moving along, and they crashed into each other! He was practically seeing stars and canaries for a minute!"

"It wasn't funny," Neptune grumbled, while Percy and I burst out laughing. "Those blasted dolphins would've made the oceanic gossip chain explode if I didn't make them shut up first."

"Ironic. He could save others from humiliation, but not himself," Percy said in a raspy voice.

"Yes. Ha-ha. Keep laughing," the immortal muttered as he rolled his eyes. "Don't you two need to be somewhere?!?"

"We're movin', we're movin'," I chuckled as Percy and I walked out to the Suburban. Still in humorous disbelief at the fact that the sea god had been so worried about showing off that he forgot his own domain, we drove back to the high school.

"On a scale from one to ten, how successful do you think we were in embarrassing her?" I questioned.

"If we did it right, eleven," Percy joked. "That is my job, after all: to mess with my little sister as much as I can!"

"You remember that time at the car wash?"

"Do not get me started! Now that was epic on your part!"

"She chose... poorly. Esty decides to gawk at shirtless boys doin' a car wash, she'll get all of them washing her window, and hers alone!" I laughed, recalling the incident. I consider it one of my proudest moments as a father.

"You really should've recorded that."

"I wish."

"But in all seriousness, you'd be okay with her bringing a boy home?" Percy asked curiously.

"Oh, hell no! At least, not an improper one. If he's decent enough, has morals, and can fend for himself, I'd be okay with 'im."

"At least Esty knows that you and I are serious guys, even without a shotgun or AR (ArmaLite rifle) in hand. Pretty sure that she won't bring home a boy that can't handle that."

"I guess it's like the saying goes: 'an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,'" I replied as we pulled into the school.

After picking up the children and dropping them back at their respective homes (during which we found out that the kids discovered the meaning of the word "fornications," courtesy of their English teacher), we arrived back home.

"That reminds me, I still haven't given you your present," I said as we walked into the living room, with Estelle going upstairs to work on her homework.

"Dad, it's fine—" Percy began before I interrupted, picking up some papers off the table, handing them to him. He perused the documents for a few seconds before looking up.

"A plane ticket to LaGuardia?" he asked.

"I figured you might wanna go meet some of your old friends. It's been twenty-somethin' years, hasn't it?"

"Dad, this is great and all, but don't y'all need me here? Esty's gonna need help with her homework. And you and Mom—"

"Oh, please," I snorted. "Sally and I are old, but we ain't incapable of getting work done. We'll take care of business here and tell your boys that you're goin' on a little trip. You need a break, son."

"How long have you been planning this?"

"Well," Sally began as she walked in, joining the conversation. "Sometime after you returned. I was against it, but Paul and Poseidon—for some reason—said this was a good idea. You haven't seen any of your friends in a long time: Grover, Tyson, Annabeth, Frank, Hazel... I haven't met the last two, but they sounded nice. Don't you think they're wondering what happened to you?"

"Well, if they're anything like Thalia, they probably think I'm dead," Percy replied, making Sally's eyes widen.

"Well, if that's the case, why not give them a little scare, as if you're back from the dead?" I suggested. Mischievous grins grew on both of our faces while Sally rolled her eyes.

"You two are terrible!"

"C'mon, Mom. It'll be funny, at the very least!" Percy argued.

"Just be careful. You may not have a scent anymore, but everyone else will," my wife pleaded to our son.

"When have I not been safe, Mom?" he cheekily asked as he started walking towards the stairs.

"Enough times to give me plenty of gray hairs," she replied sarcastically.

At 1745 hours, I was nearly finished grilling some steaks in the backyard whilst Sally prepared sides in the kitchen. It may have been a Monday and a school night, but I was grilling for two reasons: I felt like it, and Percy would be away, likely for a while. I figured it would only be proper to give him a good send-off.

"Sally, we're good! Call the kids!" I shouted through the back. A few minutes later, we were chowing down on steaks, roasted vegetables, and mashed potatoes in the cool evening. Estelle told us about her first day of sophomore classes, including the talk on fornications that earned me a thoroughly exasperated look from Sally.

Oh well. Even if she tries to make me sleep on the couch, I'll just give her a little reminder of what she's missing.

"Perce, you ready to go?" I asked at around 1845 hours, when we finished cleaning up.

"Sure, Dad. I'll just hit the head real quick," he said as he went inside.

I stayed outside, breathing in the evening air. I had my own reservations about Neptune's suggestion (it was his idea, in the first place), since it would be putting Percy back into a world I couldn't help him in. I knew that he was more than capable of taking care of himself and that I had experience dealing with Greco-Roman monsters in the past, but there were two issues: my paternal instincts nearly overpowered the former and the latter was nothing but dumb luck, considering I was being assisted by experienced demigods at the time.

Still, Neptune had a point: when Percy found a life in the Navy, he left another one behind, and it was an abrupt leave at that. If he wasn't going to reconnect, he at least had to take care of any unfinished business and seal it off for good.

"Hello? Can you hear me?"

I jumped at the sound of the voice, turning to see—

"Neptune? What's with the Arcus-message?" I asked, staring at the magic Percy and I jokingly called "Rainbow VTC" (video tele-conference). "Boy, it's lucky you called while there was still some sunlight out."

"I needed to give you some information: firstly, I've arranged for Percy to be able to quickly go from LaGuardia to Camp Half-Blood. However, there is an issue: Trivia and Juventas were made aware of this, and due to the latter, Vulcan found out. Diana is requesting Percy's presence for... well, a hunt. Vulcan, of course, thought this would be the perfect opportunity for Percy to test out some new equipment."

"Hold the hell up," I said, anger seeping into my words. "What business does that blasted woman have in asking my—well, our son to join her on one of her little escapades? And can't Vulcan get someone else to test it?"

"Test what? Hey, Father. Why the Rainbow VTC?" Percy asked as he walked back into the backyard, rucksack in hand. Neptune proceeded to explain, Percy's eyes widening as he did so.

"Well, this should be an interesting trip," he joked.

"Percy, I don't like this," I interrupted. "You barely walked away last time."

"Dad, it's fine," Percy said, trying to placate me. "Diana may be way better than Artemis, but I'm not going for her. I don't fully trust her, but I do trust Thalia, and it'll be good to reconnect with an old friend. She's always on the move because of their doctrine, and it'd be nice to chat before she moves along."

"And by 'chat,' you mean get into a battle alongside, risking death," I deadpanned.

"Dad, I get your concern, I really do. But there's two things to consider: one, it's practice for me; and two, I won't be alone," he replied with a grin growing on his face.

Having been around him for over twenty years, I've gotten to know Percy extremely well. This particular smile meant that he had a... shall we say... interesting plan.

"I know that look," Neptune said, a similar smirk growing on his lips. Like father, like son, after all. "What's your idea?"

Percy proceeded to explain his entire plan, eliciting several bellows of laughter from his father. While I chuckled along, I couldn't help but silently pray that my son would be safe on his trip.

At the same time, my playful side was looking forward to hearing about how this plan would go down...

Paul is nothing like the canon version, I know.  Still, I'm trying to flesh out his character, or at least, my version of his character.  As such, be prepared to see more involvement of him over Sally.  She'll still be a supporting element in the story, but not to the same extent as in canon.  I'm hoping to give Paul a character, so to speak, beyond the few lines he gets in the books.

I'm not sure if there are any service members (former or current) reading this, or if there are folks in the audience related to service members, but if so, what do y'all think of the way I'm writing the story, especially in the parts involving the military?

Now, onto some important announcements.

I apologize for not getting back sooner.  The past few months have been filled with personal problems that I had a tough time getting through.  It's getting better, but I still can't write as frequently as I used to, to my dismay.

Worse, I'm starting to have increased difficulty in articulating my thoughts.  Given this, along with the aforementioned personal issues, uploads will be sporadic.  I hope to finish this story, but it will take time to do it right.  For this reason, I kindly request everyone to refrain from asking for updates.  It's overwhelming my inbox.

I appreciate that everyone took the time to read and comment, but I don't think I can get back to everyone's comment this time around, as far too many are in my inbox.  I'll read as many as I have time for, but I can't reply to all of them.  Once again, I apologize.

That's all I've got. Take care of yourselves and each other. Until next time.

- ADF-2