"Alright, spill," Thalia said sternly, sitting with Uta and I at Zeus's Fist- a rock formation in the forest that sort of looked like a fist if you were standing at the right angle. "How are you both here?"
After Uta had finally let go of Thalia, Annabeth- the blonde girl- had finally asked Thalia how she knew us, given that she'd never heard Thalia mention the two of us before. It was clear to me that Annabeth seemed hurt that she didn't know something about Thalia.
Penelope- the female Percy Jackson (and boy, wasn't THAT a fucking surprise)- had done her best to calm Annabeth down so she wouldn't flip out.
We'd had a very tense tour that had lasted to right before we were shown the cabins, at which point Thalia said that she needed to talk to Uta and I in private and had asked Penny for a good place to talk without being overheard. Penny had proposed Zeus's fist and was likely doing her best to stop Annabeth from putting on her invisibility cap and coming to eavesdrop on us.
Instead of answering out loud- just in case there were gods eavesdropping- I opened the chat and pulled Thalia and Uta into a private chatroom.
Yuno: Use the Chat, just in case any gods are listening in. Better safe than sorry.
Both Thalia and Uta looked surprised before they quickly opened the chat with a mental command.
Thalia: I'm still waiting to hear, spill.
Uta: Shortly after your message about waking up, we got a mission notification from the Chat- a World Mission. We're supposed to aid you in some sort of task… We're supposed to save someone before the Winter Solstice too.
Thalia: Before the Solstice… Ugh, shit, that's only 6 months away… Let me look in the main chat, gimme a sec…
Both Uta and I patiently waited as we watched Thalia's face run through a series of emotions before settling on resignation.
Thalia: Well, shit. At least the rewards are nice… I hadn't even been paying attention to the notifications, let me go through them real fast…
Suddenly, Thalia's face lit up.
Thalia: I take it all back! Best day ever!
Yuno: I take it your skill was good.
Thalia: Fuck yeah it is! I obtained something called Lightning Empowerment! Usually, I can only use lightning for attacks, but with this I can channel lightning through my body to enhance my bodies abilities, including my reflexes and speed!
Yuno: And given that more speed means more force behind your attack, probably more power too.
Uta: That's amazing, congratulations Thalia! That will help us a lot!
Thalia: What did you get, Uta?
Uta: Oh, I got Conqueror's Haki! It's an ability from my home world; it's sort of like forcing your will onto others! You can even channel it into your body to increase your power!
My eyes widened at that… Thalia's Lightning Empowerment was already pretty good; she could probably even develop it into something like the Raikage's Thunder Armor with a bit of work… But Uta obtaining Conqueror's Haki? And from the sound of it, she obtained it immediately at the level she could use Conqueror's Infusion.
Shanks would be so proud.
Thalia: What about you, Yuno? What did you get?
Yuno: Oh, nothing special. It's not really a combat based ability, and it probably won't be useful to us. It's not even worth mentioning.
Thalia: Really? Damn, that's a shame.
Uta: Don't feel down, Yuno. I'm sure that next time, you'll get something better.
"They have no idea," Tez purred out with glee, while Pandora giggled mischievously.
I just smiled… It was true, the skill I obtained was something a bit more… Uniquely suited to my abilities.
Thalia: But still, now I've acted like I know you; we need to hash out some kind of backstory.
Yuno: Make it simple. We were your friends before you ran away from home, your only friends. You didn't know we were demigods, so you didn't want us getting involved in your divine problems, and you decided to not mention us and leave us in the past.
Thalia looked at me in surprise.
Thalia: … Damn, that's good. You thought of that on the fly?
Yuno: Been thinking about it ever since Uta decided to just hug you right away.
Uta had the decency to look a bit sheepish.
Thalia: Alright, sounds good… Leave Annabeth to me, but based on how she's been reacting I wouldn't count on you being best friends with her or anything.
Uta: Aww, I wanted more friends…
Yuno: You can make plenty of friends from your siblings in the Apollo Cabin, Uta. Plus, you can finally perform your songs now, right?
Uta's eyes lit up with excitement and she began to bounce around. "Let's go and finish the tour, I need to get more practise in!"
Thalia just shook her head, but she had a small smile on her lips as she stood up. "Alright, alright, let's go," she agreed as she took the lead, guiding us back to the camp.
Both Annabeth and Penny were waiting for us. Annabeth looked as though she'd calmed down a fair bit, but she still scowled at the sight of both Uta and I.
"Done with your talk?" Penny asked.
"Yes, it was good," Thalia nodded at her words. "Please show us the Cabins now."
"Right," Penny nodded and took the lead, able to see Annabeth was still upset.
From there, we finished off the tour as we were shown to the Cabins. Thalia was staying in Cabin One. Uta was staying in Cabin Seven.
And I was staying in Cabin Eleven, since- even of Tez claimed me- there was no way for me to get my own Cabin. I probably would never get claimed for the duration of my time in this world… Or, if I did get claimed, Tez would make sure to do so at the most dramatic, fantastical moment.
"Is there any way to let Yuno stay in my cabin?" Thalia asked, a bit uncomfortable after seeing how crowded Cabin Eleven was.
"Believe it or not, it's actually emptier now than when Penny first arrived at camp a year ago," Annabeth muttered.
The Demigods Luke had managed to convince to join him and left the camp, many of them being the unclaimed or the unappreciated in Cabin Eleven. As a result, while the Cabin was still packed full, it was actually emptier compared to how it normally was.
"Feh, I'll deal with it," I shrugged. "It won't be so bad if I just think of it like its one big party… Maybe…"
Except I was anti-social… I didn't have confidence or social anxiety issues like I used to in my past life, but I was still very much an anti-social person… Or maybe Anti-Social wasn't the right word, I just preferred to talk to people who I thought were worth my time.
Was it arrogant?
Yes.
Did I care?
Hell no.
"Right, I don't know about all of you, but I've about hit my limit for social activity today," I joked. "I'll see all of you at dinner…" I paused. "Maybe, separate tables and all."
"Get some rest," Thalia nodded in agreement before she lifted her hand to her mouth and yawned. "Crap, I think I need some rest too… Who knew being a tree for so long could make you so tired?"
"Rest actually doesn't sound terrible, a nap before dinner sounds lovely," Uta agreed with a smile. "Hey, Thalia! How about we talk before a nap?" Uta suggested as the two began to walk off, with Annabeth and Penny trailing behind.
I noted Annabeth's look of jealousy, and couldn't help but ponder… Was Annabeth bisexual in this world? The jealousy she was showing was a bit excessive for Uta just taking Thalia's attention… It was almost like she saw Uta and I as competition.
Maybe I was overthinking it, and she was just upset about the fact that Thalia had 'secrets' that she hadn't told her about.
I shook my head and made my way inside, lifting my hand in greeting to everyone. They all just grunted and eyed me carefully, as if checking if I had anything worth stealing.
I placed my hands over my pockets and, relieved nothing had yet been taken, I stored everything on my person except my clothes into my inventory.
A sleeping bag was passed over to me, and I gratefully took it and found a semi-decent place on the floor. I opened up the sleeping bag and lay down, staring up at the ceiling before I opened up the chat.
'System, are we still able to talk to the other chat members while doing this mission?'
[The user cannot speak to other chat members during this mission. Other chat members are still capable of talking with one another, however, and only a day will have passed in their worlds regardless of mission length.]
I frowned… How annoying, I'd gotten used to talking with everyone, but now that wouldn't be happening.
No matter, I'd just use the time to instead organise my thoughts…
First priority: training. While I did temporarily obtain several talents, I would still need to actually train my abilities in order to use them properly.
However, I also knew that wouldn't be a problem for me. The Talents given out by the system- or talents acknowledged by the system- weren't normal talents. They were the cream of the crop, the peak of the mountain. They were sort of like nerfed CYOA Meta Essences.
While not on the same level of broken, they still represented the highest peak of talent one could have in that particular field.
I had obtained the talents of shadow, weapons, and fire. That meant that, while doing this mission, I was practically a prodigy in matters related to those three things. Any weapon I wielded would be learned in no time, and controlling the shadows and fire…
Well, I already had an affinity for those things as a Dark Signer. My control over the Shadows was going to be something incredible…
Next priority, getting on the quest. Zoe wouldn't pick me, there was no question about it. She might pick Uta- since I'd no doubt she'd inherited some good talents as Apollo's daughter- but me? Unlikely.
However, the Mission we were given wouldn't try to lock me out so easily.
So, there was a chance that the Oracle would instead give the quest to Thalia instead of Zoe… After all, this wasn't the canon Percy Jackson world- the female Percy made that abundantly clear.
More importantly, the Chatroom had powers beyond our understanding. We were only at Trust Level 2, implying there were higher trust levels from the Chat- and potentially even more features that could be unlocked.
However, failing getting on the quest, I would just follow along in secret regardless of anything else. There was a very real chance that, since I was Aztec instead of Greek, the Prophecy might not count me as a Quest Member… Even more so since I was Isekai'd, changing Fate was sort of a special skill of Isekai protagonists after all.
'Wait, am I a protagonist…?'
"You're more like the hidden boss," Tez told me.
'I'll take that.'
And the last priority… The hidden objectives of the Chatroom's Mission.
Obviously, the main objective would be saving whatever Goddess was trapped under the sky… It might be Artemis, but it also might be another Goddess- I'd read stories where Athena ended up under the sky instead of Artemis, after all. The Quest would likely update once we knew who was getting trapped under the sky.
But the Hidden Objective, that was trickier… Any number of things could be the hidden objective, it was 'hidden' for a reason… However, I didn't believe they'd be impossible to do. Just difficult… And even if we failed the hidden objectives, the rewards were pretty generous as it was. I was just a greedy bitch who wanted more.
'That's probably the Dark Signer in me talking.'
"Oh, don't act like you aren't one of the greediest bastards in the world," Tez snorted in amusement.
I just chuckled in amusement, earning some odd looks from my new cabin mates…
Well, regardless of everything, all I could do right now was train and prepare for what was to come. Because I had no intention of dying on this quest… After all, I'd promised Akiza that I would come back.
'This is going to be a long six months…'