Thor POV

I arrived at this mortal dwelling a few hours ago. Honestly, I'm surprised we were not attacked. I glanced over at the unconscious demigod who lay on the ground a few paces from me.

His skin was a sickly yellow, his eyes clenched. Every few moments he would shake as if he were freezing, though the cut looked as if it burned. I had rolled up my cape and placed it under his head. It seemed to help him breathe, having his head raised.

Perseus' eyes clenched tighter for a moment.

I sighed. To see such a glorious warrior felled so easily made me uneasy. To die a glorious death in battle is one thing, but to be beaten by one cut from those who could have been allies? Absolutely horrible.

I can still remember the first time we met, though it was for but a moment. My lips twitched at the memory of our second meeting.

It was the third time I had seen Loki sneak out. I had no idea where he was going, or why he didn't simply use his magic like the twig he was. Deciding I had had enough of guessing, I followed him.

It failed.

Loki turned and saw me just as we made it to Heimdal. "What?" he demanded.

"Where are you going?" I asked. He crossed his arms.

"None of your business."

I frowned. "I'm your brother, that makes it my business."

Loki held up a finger. "Younger brother. Don't try to argue that you're older, I was there for your birth." He shivered. "If you must know, I'm visiting a friend."

"But all of your friends are here." I said, confused. Loki didn't have many friends, just me and my friends. Who could Loki be visiting?

"No they're not." Loki continued. He walked over to Heimdal and nodded. Heimdal opened the Bifrost and Loki made to leave. I grabbed his arm, determined to figure this all out.

"Let go, Thor." Loki growled.

"No," I replied. "Tell me where you're really going." Loki glared at me, though looking back, I can't see the fire I saw before.

Loki sighed, nodding the tiniest bit. I can now see the smirk that flew across his face, though I was oblivious to it before. "Fine, you win. I am visiting a friend, on Midgard. Do you perhaps know of Perseus Jackson, son of Poseidon and Sally Jackson?"

I gaped at him and his smirk, my hold loosening enough for him to get out. "How... You are friends with the warrior of Greece?"

Loki nodded. "Indeed, though he does not appreciate being called such."

My surprise turned to excitement. "Well then, let's go!"

It was Loki's turn to look shocked. "What? No! I'm not taking you to Midgard! You would destroy everything in sight you oaf!"

I laughed heartily. "I would not! Only things I did not like! Let us be off!"

Loki waved his arms wildly. "No no no! I don't want you blowing up Mistress Jackson's dwelling! You are not coming with me, end of story!"

Eventually, I wore him down a bit.

"Fine! I will just have to bring Percy here!"

"Wonderful! I'll go get some food!" I ran off, almost missing Loki's next comment. "Percy doesn't eat seafood! Don't insult my friend with your stupidity!"

"It'll be fine, brother!" I yelled back.

~~~~

Loki returned not long after with Perseus and a box of something that smelled heavenly.

Perseus smirked when he saw me. "Hey there, Goldilocks!" he greeted. I frowned, but clasped his forearm anyway.

"That is not my name."

"Leave it," Loki said. "He has a habit of giving out ridiculous names." Perseus turned and pouted.

"C'mon, Lokes, you love the name!" Loki sighed and waved his hand dismissively.

"Yes, yes, child."

"I'm hungry!" I said. "Let's eat! Then we can go battle a beast!"

Perseus winced, though I didn't bother to notice then. "Yes food, maybe beast. How's that?" I simply laughed at his joke. "Of course we will destroy something at your level, Perseus son of Jack! Perhaps a lindworm?"

"Thor, your food is getting cold." Loki reminded me. Instantly, my focus switched to the roasted boar that sat before me.

Loki sent a glance at Perseus, who sent one back. I couldn't read what they were thinking, but it looked playful.

The meal continued, stories of my victories the main event. Then something happened.

Loki leaned over and whispered something to Perseus. The greek hero gasped and flicked some water from his goblet at my brother. I expected Loki to grumble and leave as he always did whenever someone started a food fight, but this time he didn't react at all.

Until he used his magic to throw a boar bone at Perseus, hitting him in the head.

The bone thunked against Perseus' skull in the center of his forehead. He blinked, shaking his head a bit.

"Ow." he said, though he did not sound pained. Loki laughed softly, a smirk on his face. Perseus blinked again, then narrowed his eyes playfully. "Oh, it's on now, Lokes!"

And suddenly the entire hall was a mess of meat, sauces, and water. I joined in, throwing a pie at Loki. He dodged and the pie landed on Perseus. Perseus laughed and sent a jet of water my way.

Eventually, Perseus and Loki tired, though I was still itching for a fight.

"Ugh," Loki groaned. "We have to clean now. This is why I don't enjoy food fights." I tilted my head to the side. "Why don't you just use your magic to clean it?" Loki sneered weakly at me, rolling his eyes at my 'ignorance'.

"My magic doesn't work that way."

"Then what way does it work?"

"I can't make this disappear! I can make it invisible, but it will still be there, and Mother will see right through my illusions."

I quieted at that. Mother is not a creature to trifle with.

"Wait, so how much can you do with magic, Lokes?" Perseus asked. It surprised me, because shouldn't he know already? He had spent much time with Loki, shouldn't he understand the extents of his powers? Then I remembered that I lived with Loki, yet I knew next to nothing about his weakling skills.

"I can make apparitions, visions of something that isn't there. I can make things invisible, including myself and others. I can change form-"

"So you could be a horse?"

Loki sighed but nodded. "Yes, I can be a horse."

Perseus grinned widely. "Do the magic, do the magic! I wanna see if I can understand you when you're a horse." He grabbed Loki's wrist and ran out, calling over his shoulder, "C'mon, goldilocks!"

"You do realize I also have weak telepathy- Vættimni slow down!"

I slowed to a stop, listening to them bicker playfully. For just a moment, I had a moment of clarity. For just a moment, I saw beyond my own two feet.

Loki had a friend. A wonderful, loyal, powerful friend. One that wasn't just tolerating him for my sake, one that actually cared about him.

Lokes. Vættimni.

Close friend.

For the first time in a while, Loki was truly, blissfully happy.

Then the clarity was fogged up by my own ego again, and I ran to catch up.

After all, I had to be there to take the credit for whatever Loki did.

~~~~

Yes, it was a wonderful dinner battle. One Loki and I spent hours cleaning up. But it made me wonder, what had gone wrong?

Loki and Perseus were close. They were practically brothers. I know Loki spent much of his time on Midgard when he wasn't with me or Mother. Perseus was loyal, Loki was strong-willed, where had that changed?

When had Loki decided he no longer wanted to be a part of my family? When Odin told him he wasn't.

When had Loki decided he no longer wanted to be a part of Perseus' family? That was what worried me. There near the end, when Loki was farthest from me yet still in reach, I admit Loki had been closer to Perseus than I.

So why-! Argh, it didn't make sense! For a person as strong-willed and loyal as Loki and a person as loyal and powerful as Perseus to suddenly forget their bond, it just didn't make sense!

Before I could get further into my furious confusion, a knock came from the door. I pushed off from the wall and walked over. The first thing I saw when I opened the door was a flash of green, then a mess of colors.

"Ow! Magnus- Get off!"

"Move!"

"Hey how- what ran into- move!"

"Um, excuse me, I- ow! I'm sorry, my transport seems to have- ow- messed up a bit."

After a moment, four young midgardians were standing in front of me.

There was a green haired one with black at the roots, glaring at a blond with a runestone around his neck. Another, this one with a green wrapping over her head, was looking at the fourth child. This one wore an orange shirt, nearly identical to the one Perseus wore, except Perseus' was a bit torn up.

The first one to speak to me was the blond norse child. "Man, you're a lot less ugly than our Thor."

The dam broke.

The green haired one hit the back of the norse blond's head, the head wrapped one put her head in her hands, and the greek lifted an eyebrow.

"May we come in?" The greek said. Then his eyes trailed around me, landing on Perseus. His expression hardened. "Sir, I need you to move. If you do not, I will be forced to move you myself." I did not doubt he would, as I knew a healer when I saw one, so I stepped out of the way. The greek rushed in, opening the satchel around his shoulders I hadn't seen before.

The norse demigods followed in a bit slower, but grew more confident when they saw the downed hero.

It was silent for a moment as the two blonds moved around Perseus. Then the green haired one spoke up.

"Right, I don't really care who you people are, but seeing as how Sam's been working so very hard on my manners, I will humor her and start introductions."

The blonds spared them a single glance, then went back to work.

"I am Alex Fierro, my pronouns right now are she/her, thank you very much. Seeing as how we're all a bit mixed up, I will add that I am from the norse pantheon, a dead spirit, and the best enherjar in all of Valhalla!"

The norse blond smirked and shook his head, but didn't move from where his hands were hovering over Perseus.

"I'm Samirah al-Abbas," The green covered one said. "I'm norse as well, but a valkyrie, not dead. Also Alex is my sister."

"At least today. Tomorrow I might be your brother."

"Right."

The norse blond spoke next. "Guess I'll keep the pattern going. I'm Magnus Chase, norse-" He stopped when the greek's head snapped up.

"Chase? As in, Annabeth Chase?"

Magnus furrowed his brows. "Yes. You know Annabeth?"

I couldn't see the greek's expression, but remembering what I had found out just hours ago, I can imagine.

"I'll let Percy tell you." the greek said. An uncomfortable silence followed.

"Yeah, okay. Anyway, I'm Magnus, son of Frey. I'm also a dead norse person. I specialize in healing, though, so Movie-Thor called me in."

"Movie-Thor?" the greek prompted. Magnus nodded.

"Yeah, this Thor looks like he's from a movie. Our Thor, the truly Norse god Thor is a lot less-"

Alex cleared her throat. "Areful-cay with the escription-day, idiot."

Magnus nodded. "Yeah, sure. Anyway, we have our Thor, mortals have theirs. Don't know about the other gods, but yeah, so..."

He trailed off, having run out of things to say apparently. The greek picked up the conversation though, and introduced himself. "I'm Will Solace, son of Apollo, god of music, truth, prophecy, plague, poetry, and healing, god of the sun. Greek, not Roman. I'm head doctor at camp."

The norse children blinked.

"That's a long name, dude." Magnus said. Will laughed noiselessly. "That's just Dad's titles. Wait until you hear Percy's." Magnus looked down at his patient. "So who is this dude?"

Will laughed. Alex frowned. "What's so funny?" Will caught his breath. "Sorry, I shouldn't have laughed. It's just odd, having someone who doesn't know who he is. Kind of refreshing, actually. I mean, ever since the Romans met him and the Egyptians took a liking to him, then of course theres these weirdos-" here he motions at Thor. "It's been like no one can walk outside without everyone knowing their names."

He was quiet for a moment.

"To answer your question, Magnus, this is Percy Jackson." Thunder rumbled. The norse children turned to me, but I couldn't claim the thunder. Will waved a hand, dismissing it. "That's just Zeus being, as Percy put it, a drama queen. Zeus doesn't like Percy, mostly for his cheek and balatant disrespect to Zeus, his wife Hera, and his sons Ares and Dionysus."

Will reached into his back and pulled out a vile of gold liquid. He tipped a bit into Perseus' mouth and rubbed his throat to make him swallow. Almost instantly the demigod's clenched fists loosened.

"He's the son of Poseidon, god of the sea, Earthshaker and Stormmaker, creator of the horse. This is the two time savior of Olympus and the world, defeater of loads of different monsters, and the one who turned down immortality. And if he can survive Tartarus, then you'd better survive this, or you'll regret turning down the gods' offer, kelp-head!"

It was clear he wasn't talking to us anymore. His hands shook as he laid a cool wet rag over the cut. The four of us were stunned into silence. Magnus laid a hand on Will's shoulder and gave him a small smile.

"He'll be okay. I can use my powers to heal him."

But Will was already shaking his head in denial. "This isn't just a battle wound, Magnus. It's a cut from Imperial gold, the weapons the Romans use. It's more deadly than celestial bronze because it's like poison to a Greek or Roman demigod. Only one other person has survived a cut from this stuff, but he's gone now, and I don't know how they treated him. I can guess that it's much like how we would treat any other wound. There wasn't time for anything else. We were at war with the earth herself after all."

Magnus was quiet. Then he lifted his head. "Then I'll heal you."

Will tilted his head to the side. "What?"

Magnus was smiling now. "I'll heal you. You talk like there were more than one person taking care of the guy who survived before, so it's obviously a lot of work. So I'll give you energy and a calm mind, take your place when you need a break."

Will's shoulders lifted, and the room felt more hopeful with the knowledge that we had a plan now. Will nodded. "Okay. Right. Well, I need to make a trip back to get some more supplies. I need you, Magnus, to stay here and watch him. Give him a bit of nectar and water-" he handed Magnus two different flasks. "Every half hour. Keep that rag damp and cool."

Will turned to the girls and I, pointing as he assigned tasks. "Alex, right? And Samirah? Sam? Cool. I need one of you to run gofer. They mention that it took more than a week to heal Jason, so we'll be here a while. We'll need food and water. The other will have to run perimeter. Percy's the most powerful demigod alive right now. His scent will be pulling in every monster from here to Kansas. Swap jobs every hour."

Then he turned to me. "Heard you and Percy had a bit of a run in with some mortals?"

I nodded. "My team, yes."

"Will they be back?" I stopped to think.

My team were men and woman of honor, they would not want to continue to fight. But Fury, he was another matter altogether. "Most likely."

Will nodded. "Keep an eye out for them, keep them away. They might hurt Percy."

I nodded and went outside. The first thing to do would be go to the helicarrier.

Will's POV

The girls and Thor left to do their different jobs, leaving Magnus and I with Percy.

Percy looked a lot worse than I had thought. When Thor had first sent his message to Chiron, I had just thought Percy had broken a bone or knocked himself unconscious again. I never imagined he had gone and done something like this.

He was clammy and shivering, but he was burning up. His skin had a green tint except around the cut, where it was yellow and bruised. Every once in a while, Percy flinched and the wound would open. It was obvious he was reliving some memory, but which ones? Hopefully happy ones.

I poured a bit of water over Percy's arms, trying to get him to relax. It seemed to help a bit. The silence was nice, but a bit awkward.

After a moment, I cleared my throat, catching Magnus' attention. "Yeah?" he asked. I shifted a bit.

"I, um, sorry. For getting all bossy back there. It's just, I owe a lot to Percy, and I'm a healer, it's my job to take care of him, and-"

Magnus stopped me with a raised hand. "I get it. This dude's your friend, and you're worried. I'm actually glad you did that. No one else knew what to do."

I smiled in relief. At least that issue was out of the way. Now for problem number two. I stood, grabbing my medical bag as I did. "I've gotta go get some more supplies. I should be back in about an hour, not counting on monsters or traffic."

Magnus smiled and nodded. "Sure. So the two drinks every half hour?" I nodded, quickly adding, "But just a bit of the one in the orange canteen. If you give him to much of that... well, it'll make it worse. But the water in the blue canteen, give him as much as you want."

I walked to the door. Then I stopped and turned back around. "Thank you, Magnus Chase. You have no idea how much this means to all of us." Then without giving him a chance to reply- Dad was nearly done driving now- I left.

Hopefully camp would have everything Percy needed.