Chapter 68: Bittering

Prytaneum

Bittering​

Brushing through the crowd was easier than I thought it'd be, but I suppose I had experience from dealing with the sometimes daily skirmishes at Camp. All I really did was smooth my expression, set my shoulders, and walk like I'd had it up to here with their shenanigans, and the crowd parted a bit to let me through. Or maybe they just recognized me? I wasn't sure, but either way, I got to the front door, no problem.

Then, I just knocked.

"Why do people keep showing up!?" Someone seemed to snap on the other side, voice clear even before the door swung open. A large, brown haired man in armor looked up at me once door was open, looking pissed off. "Hey jackass, see that crowd of people? See the sign on the door? That's because there's been a goddamn murder—so get lost!"

"Uh, okay," I said, blinking once and then furrowing my eyebrows at the prompt rejection. After a moment of silence, I caught the door when he tried to swing it closed in my face. "Just to make sure, though, would you like to tell that to the Ganesha Familia when they get here?"

That seemed to give the man pause and while a flash of annoyance flickered in his eyes, he took a deep, calming breath before replying.

"Who the hell are you?" He asked me, almost politely.

"Percy," I answered. "Friend of the Familia. I'm looking for someone and I was told he might be here."

"The only people here are a dead guy and a bunch of assholes," He said.

At least he was honest about it, I thought.

"I'm after a guy named Hashana," I said. "He was supposed to turn up awhile ago and he didn't so I'm here to see if it's him—because if it is, Shakti Varma's really gonna want to know when she gets here."

The man grunted again and glared at me.

"How do I know that's not just bullshit?" He asked. "Lying assholes have been showing up all day—everyone wants to see a goddamn dead body."

"Ask Bors," I replied. "He's in there, right? He still owes me one."

The idea of having to walk inside and ask someone what to do seemed to fill the man with even more irritation, but apparently, so did looking at my face. With a huff of annoyance, he left the door wide and walked into the hotel, leaving me to follow.

I did, wondering what to do now. I'd gotten through the door, which was step one, but now I had to think of what to tell Bors and the Loki Familia. I considered it for a moment before shrugging and deciding to just stick to the truth as much as possible, partially because I wasn't sure if I'd be able to lie to Finn or Riveria in the first place, partially because it was simpler, and mostly because I just didn't see much point in lying. Like I'd told Ryuu, I could just not mention her or Fels. I'd just...figure the rest out as I went.

"Here," My guide grunted, kicking the door frame lightly. "If you're lying and Bors kicks your ass, don't blame me."

I ignored him, turning the doorknob and entering. As it swung open, I got a good look at everyone inside, all of whom had already turned to look at me in turn. Aiz, Finn, Riveria, the two Amazonian sisters, Bors, an elf I didn't know, and—

"Hey everybody," I said, looking around. "Bete's not here? Man, what a shame."

"Isn't it, though?" One of the Amazon's said with a beautiful smile. I remembered their names were Tiona and Tione, but I wasn't sure which was which. Also, I never understood parents who decided to give twins such similar names. Weren't they gonna have enough problems? "I've almost started to miss that dog's whining bark. They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, so maybe if I never saw him again, I'd—"

"Tiona," Riveria said disapprovingly, glancing at her out of the corner of her eye. For my part, I did my best to memorize Tiona's features without letting my eyes drop from her face. Sure, it was the easiest way to tell them apart, but they weren't identical twins and my Mom had raised me better than that.

"And it is, actually," Finn answered, still smiling absently. "His nose comes in handy at times like this. Hello again, Percy. What brings you here?"

"Yo," I said, lowering my gaze to the body on the floor. It was surprisingly intact below the shoulders, something I could tell because it was all but naked—there weren't any cuts or bruises or anything to imply that he'd even had time to struggle. But above that, his neck looked like it had been crushed and twisted and everything above his jaw was flatout gone, with bits and pieces lying in a puddle of flesh and blood. Seeing it, I felt my expression turn severe. "I'm looking for someone."

"Was he a friend of yours?" Finn asked.

"Friend of a friend, more like," I said. "His name was Hashana."

"Oi, kid," Bors began, his one eye annoyed as he prepared to tell me off for barging into his crime scene—and then, abruptly, he stopped. "Wait, did you say Hashana? As in, Hashana Dorlia, of the Ganesha Familia!? H-hey, are you kidding me!? That guy's Level 4!"

"I wish," I said, crouching. "You can ask them when they get here, though."

"The Ganesha Familia is coming here?" The elf I didn't recognize said, glancing at Aiz.

"Of course," Finn said, glancing at her. "Because a member of his Familia was murdered--someone who loves their Familia as much as Ganesha couldn't possibly forgive something like that. Whether they were a Level 1 or a Level 4, the Ganesha Familia would move immediately."

Having said that, Finn looked my way. I could tell just from the look in his eyes that he was suspicious—how could he not be, with someone barging in with all the facts on the case? Especially someone who wasn't a part of the Ganesha Familia to begin with.

Even so, he hid it pretty well with his smile.

"Although, I'm a bit surprised they'd send someone from the Hestia Familia ahead of them…I hadn't realized you were on such close terms with the Ganesha Familia, Percy."

I shrugged, because to be fair, I'd literally never spoken to anyone from the Ganesha Familia. Seeing as they were friends of Ryuu, I didn't mind helping them out, though.

"Like I said, friend of a friend," I replied. "I'm here as a first responder, since I can get here the fastest. Shakti is getting her Familia together, so I'm just here to check things out."

"Hm," Finn mused, tone pleasant and also non-committal--but he relaxed very slightly, probably having heard of Mrs. O'Leary. Come to think of it, the Ganesha Familia were a Taming Familia, right? He might have been making some assumptions. Well, whatever. "Do you have any idea what they were after?"

I nodded.

"He was delivering a package," I said. "And before you ask, no, I don't know what it was, but I know he was supposed to give it to a girl from the Hermes Familia named Lulune Louie. We haven't heard from her, either."

"Lulune Louie," Finn repeated, eyebrows furrowing slowly, but I guess even he couldn't memorize the names and faces of every adventurer in Orario. After a moment, he glanced at Bors.

"Don't see much of the Hermes Familia around these parts, oddly enough," Bors said with a grunt, still somehow managing to make it sound shellshocked. "Those guys were always too cheap to stay in town."

"Isn't it just because you rob everyone who passes through blind?" The other Amazoness, Tione, muttered. Bors seemed to ignore her.

"She's a Chienthrope though, right?" He asked, and I nodded an affirmative. "Should be easy enough to find, then. I'll just have the boys round up everyone and—"

"Bad idea," I said, cutting him off quickly.

"Agreed," Finn stated, almost beating me to the punch. "There was no signs of a struggle and even with the element of surprise, Hashana was still a Level 4. To have been killed so one-sidedly, the culprit must be at least Level 5. If we gather everyone together and a battle starts…"

Finn let the implications hang, not that they were particularly difficult to imagine.

Bors grunted his agreement after a moment, eye glancing down at the corpse. He was probably facing the realization that someone who could do that to a Level 4 would have no trouble doing it to a Level 3, much less a bunch of 2s and 1s.

"Mm, but...if we don't gather everyone, finding her quickly could be tough," He muttered. "Especially if she's trying to hide. And there's a killer on the loose…"

"Don't worry about it," I said. "I'll find the killer before that."

Bors wasn't the only one to raise an eyebrow at that, but he was the first to ask.

"Hey, kid—how the hell do you intend to do something like that?" He asked.

"It should be simple enough," I said. "Since I can measure someone's Level by looking at them."

Finn blinked slowly, smile twitching slightly before returning. It was the only sign of his surprise. Riveria, who'd closed her eyes as she considered the situation, opened one and looked at me out of the corner of it.

The rest of the room was less subtle about it. The elf released a sound of surprise, the Amazons' eyebrows went up, Bors stared at me with a wide eye, and Aiz turned to stare at me. I wasn't sure how much of that was because of my ability and how much was on my admission to it, but either way…

"A skill of yours?" Finn asked.

I nodded, though now that he mentioned it, I had to wonder. I'd never given it much thought because I'd discovered pretty much all my powers by trying something and succeeding. I knew I could block a bullet, for example, because a skeleton man had shot at me and I'd blocked the bullet. I'd realized I could control water after I'd turned it on several of my attackers, learned I could breath underwater by taking a dive off the St. Louis Arch, and talked to a horse by talking to a horse. Being a demigod doesn't come with an instruction manual or anything; you grew up to get superpowers by growing up and getting superpowers.

So the whole sensing power levels thing wasn't that odd for me, really. It wasn't the first time I'd suddenly had an awareness for something unnatural, after all, and it really reminded me a lot of the rippling sensation I'd had when I blocked a bullet for the first time. But it wasn't something I'd ever done before. Maybe it was a Demigod thing, reacting to the Falna.

Or, building off my recent concerns, maybe it was a monster thing. I honestly wasn't sure.

"Hm," Finn said, considering me. I was sure if he was finding me more or less suspicious now, but from the way he was looking at me, I didn't think he thought I was the killer, just a puzzle to be solved. I'd seen that look a lot, in Annabeth's eyes. "Then can I assume you came to us for assistance?"

I shrugged.

"I know when I'm out of my league," I admitted. "You willing to help me out again?"

"Before that, let's make sure of things first," He replied. "Bors, do you have that Status Thief ready yet?"