Thor of Asgard
for a second, Odin left the group near the entrance to the dining hall while a receptionist called him over, so he only gave them the general direction.
And it wasn't hard to find it. Besides, Odin wasn't lying when he said it would be impossible not to find something to eat. After all, right now, in front of Percy and the group, all they could see were endless tables filled with every kind of food imaginable; every nation, every taste… and in ridiculous excess.
It was like an all-you-can-eat buffet, literally.
On top of that, the walls were decorated with weapons everywhere. Really different from how the hotel looked on the outside.
And besides that…
"Ugh," was heard as someone went flying before crashing into a wall. But the guy immediately stood back up with a huge grin.
"Hahaha! Bastard, that hit was actually good," the man said while fixing his broken shoulder with a simple movement before running back and rejoining a group that, for some reason, had now started fighting each other.
There were even guys literally throwing axes at each other while laughing.
"What the hell…?" Thalia muttered.
"Do you think we can ask for room service?" Malcolm asked while crouching to dodge a giant chicken leg and staring at the warriors fighting with huge manic smiles.
Everywhere you looked, there were what had to be einherjar competing in arm wrestling matches, fighting, and gambling, while others proudly told stories while drinking from massive mugs filled with alcohol like it was water.
Honestly, this place was like a Viking festival, luxury dining hall, and stadium all at the same time.
Everyone seemed to notice them for a moment, while for some reason the entire place started to grow quiet, the fights stopping as everyone now looked toward the young demigods standing there.
"Greeks?" someone suddenly said, while many others made somewhat disdainful expressions.
"Definitely."
"What are Greeks doing here? Did they get lost or something?"
"Wow… they really don't like Greeks. Why am I not surprised?" Percy muttered with a faint smile.
The atmosphere seemed to shift slightly, while some of them even started murmuring things under their breath while smiling and passing clinking coins between themselves, like they were betting on something. Which, of course, looked like it would become a real problem very soon.
One of them, a massive warrior covered in scars and wearing armor that looked like it was made from bear hide, stood up and started walking toward them while releasing a dangerous aura.
Luckily, before anything could happen, Percy suddenly felt something approaching. A presence that felt enormous.
The dining hall doors burst open.
Boom.
"FATHER! I'VE RETURNED!"
A powerful shout echoed through the entire hall as a gigantic man, packed with muscles and looking like a giant compared to everyone else, walked in. Red hair and a red beard. He wore a sleeveless shirt with a denim vest over it and carried a massive hammer on his back. And every step he took seemed to make the floor creak.
"THOR!"
"THOR'S BACK!"
The people there suddenly got excited like a legendary hero had just walked in.
Thor walked in proudly under everyone's gaze. Then he saw Percy.
And grinned widely.
"Oh. There you are."
His smile grew even bigger as he approached Percy in recognition, raising his hand and slapping him on the back. Suddenly, Percy felt every bone in his back crack for a moment. He even felt like, at any second, he might become one of the permanent residents of this hotel if Thor hit him one more time.
"Looks like you got strong again since the last time we met, brat. When was that?" Thor said with a friendly grin.
Percy caught his breath while twisting slightly for a moment under the gaze of his group, all of whom had shocked expressions while staring at Thor's enormous size, which was honestly quite intimidating.
"My master's battle against Ares," Percy said after finally getting air back into his lungs.
"Oh right… when you wiped the floor with that pathetic weakling war god," Thor said while laughing loudly with complete contempt.
For a moment, Clarisse couldn't help but glance at Thor before slightly looking away. After all, Ares was her father, even if they were on terrible terms. You could say it was kind of interesting hearing Thor call him pathetic.
Though, to be fair, Percy's master really had made him run away with his tail between his legs last time, which only made Clarisse's amused smile widen a little more.
Thor noticed the group with Percy, looking at them with interest for a moment. His gaze moved first to Grover and down toward the satyr's goat legs, which for a moment made Grover feel a chill.
But Thor muttered:
"Too skinny."
Then he looked at Malcolm for a moment, followed by Bianca, who seemed slightly nervous because of the atmosphere. Then Clarisse; he paused on her for a second with interest.
And finally, his gaze locked onto Thalia, staring directly at her while, for a moment, it looked like Thor's eyes sparked.
"No," a voice suddenly said, making Thor turn around and find Odin standing there, who had briefly left Percy and the others outside the dining hall because a valkyrie had called him over for something.
"Oh, old man, there you are," Thor said with a grin, pretending to act innocent for a moment.
"Don't even think about it. One thing is the boy; his father is the rational side. But you cannot have both," Odin said while looking at his son like he could read his thoughts.
"I know, old man. Training one brat is already annoying enough. I have to be careful not to kill him all the time. I don't know how Miraak does it," Thor said while glancing toward Percy for a moment. "If I knew I'd find you here, I should've brought him so they could fight and we'd see who's the better teacher, Miraak or me," Thor said while bursting into laughter at the idea, like at any moment he'd run off and kidnap someone from his camp just to make them fight Percy.
"You can do it later. Didn't you bring something for them? They're waiting for the message from Miraak's other student," Odin said in a somewhat tired tone.
"Oh, right, what a shame. Well, after you kick the Greeks' asses maybe," Thor added casually.
Which made Thalia unable to stop herself from slightly frowning.
Thor slipped his hand into his vest and pulled out what looked like a seashell, tossing it carelessly toward Percy.
"Here. The baby cyclops sent this," Thor said calmly with a grin. "Miraak's lucky finding students. Should I find another one?" Thor said while his gaze couldn't help drifting toward Thalia again.
"Enough," Odin said immediately. "If you want a student, just choose one of your children. You're focusing so much on your disciple that they've started feeling left aside. It would be good if you took the chance to reconnect with them before it's too late," Odin added in a serious tone toward his son, though his words seemed to carry something more. "A little competition between them would help too."
"Sure, why didn't I think of that before? Then I'll beat all of them up together," Thor said while clapping his hands, the sound creating a wave of air for a moment.
Though Percy was pretty sure that wasn't what Odin had been trying to say, he didn't comment much while looking at the shell in his hand. And as if he instinctively knew how to use it, he simply pressed it against his ear.
The moment he did, he felt like he was hearing the sound of the sea… and nothing else.
Which made Percy look confused. Just as he was about to pull it away from his ear to ask Thor if he was sure this was the message, he seemed to notice something, listening more carefully.
"Great… now I know where Luke is," Percy said while, for a moment, his gaze turned dangerous.
Both Thor and Odin, looking at Percy, couldn't help but show faint smiles, sensing the warrior's aura coming from the young demigod. Even Thor nodded slightly in a sort of a silent acknowledgment.
And the idea of Percy facing Jason seemed to grow more and more.
"Sir, thank you for bringing us here, but we need to go. Could we take something to eat?" Percy asked Odin politely. Something Grover and the others couldn't stop staring at in surprise, because Percy normally wasn't this polite with gods. Or rather, they usually started being rude toward Percy first, and Percy simply answered in kind.
While gods like Thor, who were pretty simple, cheerful, easy-to-understand battle-loving muscle-brains, were easier to deal with.
Obviously, Odin still made you feel like every step he took was completely calculated. But at least so far, he genuinely seemed pretty calm.
"And maybe some transportation," Percy added somewhat shamelessly.
Odin smiled calmly before speaking.
"Thor, take them. And… you may have a little fun," Odin added.
Thor's eyes widened in surprise for a moment.
"You sure, old man?" he asked while barely containing the huge excitement bubbling across his face, electricity crackling all over his body.
"Yes," Odin said calmly before murmuring to himself, "It's time to test a few things."