Preview LPII ch 3

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“Wait, hang on.” Carter pinched the bridge of his nose. The past two hours had been without a doubt the longest and strangest two hours of his fifteen year old life. And that was coming from the same magician that had restarted the cycle of Ra’s birthday. “The Greco-Roman Pantheon still has Demigods? Like, they keep coming around, and they, uh...erm, they–?”

“Keep procreating with mortals?” The older boy – Naruto, Carter clarified to himself, repeating the strange name in his head; a name that was given very begrudgingly due to ‘being raised with manners’ by his mother – finished the awkward inquiry with a small smirk. He huffed, maybe a laugh, maybe a dismissal of Carter’s ‘prudish’ take on life. Regardless of what it was, he kept his eyes forward as they walked out of the swamp toward the park’s visitor center, where the older boy’s pickup truck was parked. “Yes. They do. My girlfriend is one.”

It was due to his incredulous amount of self-control that Carter didn’t immediately press on that topic. Instead, he was more interested by the subtext implied by the affirmation.

“The way you said that, um..Are you saying that you...aren’t?”

“No. I am not a demigod.”

Yikes, Carter wasn’t the best with reading body language, but you’d have to totally be blind to see the scowl that crossed Naruto’s scarf-covered face. That topic was definitely a landmine he had no intention of triggering. Unfortunately, it raised more questions than it answered.

“Then why did, um, that Sun God call you his nephew?”

“I’m adopted.”

“...Like, legally or–?”

“As far as I’m aware, yes it’s considered legal by mortal standards.” He grumbled, then pinched the bridge of his nose. “Don’t even start.”

“Okay! Okay, I won’t pry.” Carter acquisited, holding his hands up. He furrowed his brow and frowned as the older teen started to pick up the pace once they reached the parking lot. The implications of Naruto’s answers meant that while Apollo and presumably, erm – was it Artemis or Selene? The latter was the initial Moon Goddess of Greco-Roman mythology, as far as historians were concerned anyway, and the former was the more well known one. But she was a notable ‘man-hater’ so Carter doubted the Goddess of the Hunt Artemis, or the Roman’s equivalent Diana, was the one to adopt his new companion. He’d just assume it was Selene, for now – his mother saw the older boy as family, the rest of Olympus might not. That was concerning in its own way, now that he thought about it. The Olympians were infamous for their short tempers, and if the teen he was working with was raised by one...that must have been some serious self-control on his end to not flip out after Carter sent the blessed crocodile flying.

That does beg yet another question; what was a Non-Demigod of the Greek Pantheon doing searching for an Egyptian artifact? Carter glanced at the blond again. Taller, tanned, odd markings on his face - did Selene have some kind of boon that required physical representation? - and clad in a white shirt with an outline of a toned male body that had a crescent moon printed in the center of the chest. It almost looked like one of those super hero shirts he’d occasionally see kids around his age wearing, but there was no way a (nearly) grown young man would wear something like that. Well, maybe they would in the States. Carter was exposed to a more intellectual-based culture, and with that came a certain dress code that he rarely ventured out of.

“Preserve me–Kane! Get in the truck!” Oh, whoops, Carter got side tracked again. He grimaced and climbed into the passenger seat, buckling up as soon as he was comfortable. The radio blasted something foul and definitely not suitable to repeat in front of children, before Naruto grumbled and turned the volume down.

After he backed up and peeled out of the lot, a now cowed Carter, who was questioning so many life choices, heard the driver utter an apology.

“J-just try to stay within the speed limit–”

“What? No, that’s not what I’m apologizing for.” The older boy scoffed. “I wasn’t talking to you, Kane.”

But he was the only one in the car, unless…Oh, no. The teen beside him must have some kind of mental health disorder.

000

There ya go folks, the snippet I promised as delivered!