The other end of the line for silent for a moment before the Collector spoke up again, "ah, Mr. Jackson. I expected your call sooner. I take it you are ready to ask for your prize?"
"Yes," Percy's voice was crisp, "where are you?"
"I'll send a car," the Collector said, "oh, and I assume you have figured out how to block the tracking signal on the card. Please do not do that, at least until the car arrives."
Percy sighed, "you want me to take a car through New York city during the afternoon lunch rush? No, just tell me where you are, I can get there faster on foot."
The Collector hummed before he spoke up, "very well. Come to the One MetroTech center located in Brooklyn. I will be on the top floor present this card to my receptionist. I eagerly await you Mr. Jackson. We have a lot to discuss."
Percy took the card away from his ear causing it to deactivate. Percy put it into his inventory and took off. He crossed over to Brooklyn via the Brooklyn bridge and sure enough the building in question was located right as the bridge ended.
The inside was the same as any office as Percy took the elevator to the top floor. When the doors opened up it felt like Percy had stepped into another world.
While the lobby of the building was plain like a simple office building, this floor was the very definition of luxury. The walls were black marble with red lights fixed along the sides of the wall. The Collector was really going for the red and black theme here.
Percy saw paintings hanging up on the wall, most were of a biblical nature featuring pictures of angels and demons or some story in the bible. The couches pushed to the side were all made from shiny leather and the table was made out of black marble.
On one of these couches was a very grumpy looking man dressed like he was going to go to works. He had a suit and tie on along with a brief case. He looked very normal, generic even, but when Percy looked at his name he realised this guy was as unique as they came;
Nameless God, God of traffic
Lv— ?
Percy blinked, 'what the hell is a nameless God? Is his name itself Nameless God? Like were his parents Mr and Mrs God and they named their son Nameless' He wondered but kept quiet. If this was a God, then it would be best not to stare. He already looks pissed off as it is. Oh, maybe he's the God of slow moving traffic.
Percy walked to the receptionist, a young man with blonde hair and green eyes. He was in his early twenties wearing a suit and tie and smiled when he saw Percy approach him.
"Can I help you sir?" the man asked.
Percy nodded, "yes," Percy looked at his name, "you can Greg." The receptionist was surprised that Percy knew his name but said nothing, whether in shock or politeness Percy didn't know.
Percy took out the Abyss card from his inventory and gave it to Greg, "he's expecting me."
The receptionist looked at the card and nodded, "right sir. Please step to the door on your left."
Percy nodded, "thanks," he pocketed the card and went through the door in question.
Ping!
You are entering a space gate!
Percy raised an eyebrow that that. The only other space gate he entered was the one he used to go to Persephone in the Underworld. Was this the same? Some sort of automated security system that took him through another world? Percy shrugged, it made sense, after all Joseph was a rich and powerful man, why would he have an office in the middle of Brooklyn without any security features?
The doorway lead to a long grey hallway that was devoid of all the luxury in the previous room. Percy looked to the corner and saw two, no four security cameras. Percy could also feel some static electricity running across the walls, after spending so much time with Thalia, who was basically a human lightning rod, Percy tended to pick up on these things.
As he walked down the hallway Percy sent a wave of mana out and felt several magical wards and barriers around him. The information he gained from his mana sense skills basically told him that if the wards were activated he would basically be assaulted by 20 different lethal spells. At the same time.
Percy finally reached the door at the end of the corridor and opened it. And again, the demeanor of the room was different.
Ping!
You are entering a space gate!
Percy again ignored the message and walked on through. The room in front of him was big, around 40 feet wide. A couple of couches were located in the center of the room with a fireplace in front of them and a table between. Like the first room this one's walls were also decorated by paintings, only these seemed to be created by the same person.
The thing that stuck out to Percy though were the windows. Two walls of the room were made out of glass giving Percy the view of the ocean. It was almost like this room was built into the side of a cliff with the ocean far below it.
Percy blinked, 'guess I was right about the space gates.'
"Ah, Percy, nice to see you again," a voice came from behind him. Percy turned and saw the Wandering Jew walk in through the same door he came through, only this time instead of the long grey corridor it was a living room.
"Ah, I see that you are confused," Joseph said smiling, "you see these door are connected by-"
"-A Space Gate," Percy cut him off, "I know. I used one before."
"Really?" Joseph asked sounding disappointed that he couldn't give his explanations, "well.....I suppose it's time to get down to business. Please, sit," he pointed to the couches.
Percy nodded, as he sat down opposite to Joseph. The Wandering Jew cleared his throat, "so, what do you want?"
"A few things," Percy opened his inventory and took out one gold brick putting it on the ground, "I need you to get me some who is willing to buy these off of me."
Joseph took the brick of gold and looked at it, "hmm, unstamped, but it looks pure enough. Maybe worth....500,000$? Maybe even 505,000 if you can stretch it. If I was to guess you got this through some divine power yes? Maybe charmed a child of Hades into creating it for you?"
Percy was surprised but Gamer's Gamer's mind helped him keep his facial features in check. "Impressive," Percy said nodding, "and you are right. The brick was extracted through magical means, but not with the help of any child of Hades."
The Collector raised a pale eyebrow, "really? I find that hard to believe."
Percy shrugged, "believe what you will Joseph, can you or can you not help me?"
The Collector sighed, "I can help you," the Immortal Jew took out a business card and gave it to Percy, "this is one of my businesses if you have any gold or other precious metals to trade simply go there and do so."
Percy nodded as took the card and looked it over. The business in question wasn't far from here, it was located in Queens, it would take Percy seconds to reach it. After making sure that it too didn't have some kind of tracking device of spell on it Percy slid the card into his jeans pocket and nodded, "thanks."
The Collector nodded, "you are welcome. Now, is that really all you wanted from me?"
Percy shook his head, "no. I also wanted to know whether you know where I can get a few large plots of land for sale."
The Collector raised an eyebrow, "large plots of land? Why?"
"I am planning to build a haven for demigods," Percy freely admitted, "I need land to do so. So....do you? I obviously have enough cash to pay for it," he said motioning towards the gold brick.
"Really? A Haven for demigods? Don't you all already have that?"
Percy shook his head, "camp half-blood is more of a training camp than a place of protection. People go there to learn how to survive and serve the Gods, most don't live up to 20. I want to build a place for them to grow old in, a place to raise a family and a place which actually helps them have a future for themselves."
The Collector scratched his chin, "I see.....well I do have some properties in mind. How much do you need?"
Percy shrugged, "around 6 square kilometers."
The Collector raised an eyebrow, "that's 1,500 acres of land. You sure you can....right, you can basically summon an unlimited supply of gold, I forgot. Well then the question turns to where you want this land to be. In New York? The state I mean, not even you can afford 6 square Km on New York. Well you could, but it would be to much of a hassall."
Percy smiled, "yeah, I know. I actually once thought of buying the Empire State Building so that I could...never mind." Percy stopped himself, he didn't want to reveal the locations of the home of the Gods.
The Collector smiled, "relax, I already know where Mount Olympus is located," the man shrugged, "it's a giant mountain floating in the middle of the city, kind of hard to miss."
Percy sighed, "guess you are right. Anyway, yeah, I would like the place to be in New York, but that's not a completion. I need the land to be in a safe place, it should also be easy to gaurd. And maybe not to far away from roads, for easy transportation."
The Collector rubbed his chin, "well I may have a few places in Clinton county and St. Lawrence. But they are pretty remote....I'll see what I can do. Come back at the end of this month, I should have what you need ready for you by then."
Percy nodded, "great. Then I suppose we are done here."
Joseph smiled, "yes, we are. Now tell me, what do you want?"
Percy blinked, "what? I already told you what I want. I wanted some place to trade my gold and your help finding a pieces of land to buy."
The Wandering Jew smiled, "ture, ture. But those weren't requests, they were business deals. I still owe you a reward."
Percy raised an eyebrow, "are you really that keen on giving me something?"
The Wandering Jew nodded, "indeed, I am. You have given me something I can never repay, you deserve fair treatment, to say the least."
Percy looked in surprise, "what did I give you?"
The pale red eyed man smiled, "that doesn't matter. All that you have to know is that you can still ask anything of me, and I will give it to you. Be it money, power...women. Anything, ask and it is yours."
Percy's heart was beating, he had forgotten just who he was talking to. This man was the unofficial head of Abyss. They sold things from nuclear warheads to man made plagues. An aura of danger alway hung around the Collector, but Percy thought he could take him on. But he was once again reminded just how small he was in the scope of the world.
Percy gulped, "n-no, thanks. I'm good. I'll ah, I will collect on my prize later," Percy got up and walked towards the door. But before he could even touch it, the door flung itself open.
Percy turned to Joseph, "my door is open to you any time young demigod," the immortal man said with a smile, "please, don't be a stranger."
Percy gulped and walked through the door slamming it behind him. Joseph was left alone in his room as he smirked.
"You really poured on the freakyness there brother," said a voice from one corner of the room. Suddenly a figure appeared out of nowhere as she smiled at the man she called brother.
"You really should be more careful sister," Joseph said walking to one wall and pressing up against it. A secret compartment opened up revealing a bottle of scotch that was older than New York and two glasses.
"I had the invisibility spell on, he wouldn't have seen me and I doubt that his mana sense would have been able to detect me at the level it is at," the woman huffed as she sat down where Percy sat smiling as she felt the warmth of the recently sat on seat, "it's still so warm."
Joseph huffed as he poured two glasses of scotch, "you really do have a problem sis."
"Bite me Jojo," the blue haired woman hissed as she narrowed her sulphuric yellow eyes, "I have been waiting for this for a long time. A really, really, really, long time."
The immortal man nodded as he brought their drinks, "yes, I know."
The blue haired woman took her glass as the two toasted, "to Percy Jackson," the woman said with a smile, "the demigod who will save the world."
With Percy;
Percy couldn't get out of that building fast enough. He didn't want to think about what had just happened. He actually was dreading the day he visited that man again. But for now he had something to do.
Percy reached into his pocket and pulled out the business card. After memorizing the address Percy took of reaching Queens in a minute and talking one more to find where he needed to go.
The 'business' Percy found was in fact an ATM machine built into the side of the wall of a bank. Percy might have even missed it, if it was not for the fact that the machine was giving of mad amounts of mana.
The ATM itself, was blue with grey highlights. It's screen was black with an 'Not Working' sign taped on it. But Percy could tell that it was working perfectly fine.
Percy approached the machine and looked it over, 'no special levers, not blinking buttons. Hm.....well he did technically give me a card to use.'
Percy took out the card the Collector gave to him and slid it into the Atm card slot. Suddenly the ATM started to whir into life as it ejects the card back into Percy's hands and slowly went into the wall revealing a set stairs leading under the machine.
Percy grinned, "cool."
The son of Poseidon entered the staircase as slowly the ATM slide back into place closing the entrance. Percy shrugged, 'no going back now.' He walked further down the set of stairs, he was least 20 feet underground when the stairs ended in front of a door.
The door was wooden with it's top half made out of frosted glass with the words, 'Seller's & Buyer's' written on it in bright tacky golden letters. Percy turned the knob on the door, which was also gold, and walked in.
"Hello?" Percy asked as a bell chimed above him, signaling his entrance. The room inside was what Percy expected a pawn shop located in a bad neighborhood would look like. It was small and very hot. There was a counter a few feet in front of Percy with seats on the side for people to wait on.
The counter itself was covered with bullet proof glass, but Percy could tell that it was also reinforced against magical attacks as well. If he was to guess it could probably stand up to a couple of Percy's full power attacks;
Charmed defence wall;
A wall charmed not to allow mana through. All physical objects will also be denied passage, but if the said object is a precious metal or a precious stone, said object will be allowed to pass through without any hassle.
Defence— 2,000,000
It really didn't seem like a good defence, after all Celestial bronze was considered a precious metal, with that Percy could easily get through the barrier. And that's not even mentioning what damage Alcyoneus could do.
