The man was just what the council could have hoped for in a national leader to smoothen the transition to reveal the mystic world.
… And now he was dead.
...
"Whose legacy?" Percy couldn't help but ask, just to fill the air as he wondered who did him in and for what.
Given Garfield's track record and physique, Percy would had thrown down money on Mars, Bellona, or hell, even Minerva, as rare as her roman demigods were. And, given Garfield had been a third gen, it wasn't out of the question that he'd been a descendant of the Big Three. Not likely, given that Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades wouldn't miss the existence of a grandchild easily, but possible.
"Bacchus," Nico answered after a moment and Percy almost snorted in disbelief.
For all that could be said about the drunk, even he could be the source of a noteworthy demigod. Any Olympian could have a powerful child or descendent if the cards were dealt right.
"Think the old porker knows?"
Because if Dionysus knew about his great grandchild, then this would just throw more disarray into New Rome as it was… Or he could not know and worse, not care even if he did. That was a possibility too.
"Unlikely," was the succinct response. "… But this isn't just some political foul play."
Percy looked at his peer, waiting as Nico narrowed his black and crimson eyes and crossed his arms. "His death was too quick, and they haven't found a trace of how it happened other than his snapped neck but get this, no prints. No signs of any sort of forced entry, nothing disturbed, and no one was around him other than his wife when they guess he died. Hell, his wife didn't even notice he was dead right beside her until she woke up and finally noticed before screaming her head off."
"Any traces left on her?" he asked next, not liking the picture Nico was painting.
A man like Garfield would not go silently and even if he were physically overpowered enough that his killer made the kill so quick, it wouldn't have been silent enough for a mortal in the same bed to not notice.
"Lingering traces of Mist manipulation, but too small and faint for even Hecate to guess who did it," Nico muttered.
Percy sighed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "This screams monsters at best, another god's play at worst."
"… Monster would have been messier, even the more intelligent ones, and killed the wife too," Nico added.
"I know."
Neither spoke for a moment, just staring at the presser. The speaker looked shaken and pale, security was armed to the teeth in the background and Percy could even see some crowds starting to gather farther away outside the White House lawn from other screens showing different angles.
"He made another move," Percy stated, getting a heavy exhale from Nico.
"And probably with the goal of destabilizing the mortals even more," the hellish god pointed out.
"But for what?" Percy asked lowly as he resisted the urge to pace. "As far as we know, he has no gods under his command that gain power from discord and other such messes, so there shouldn't be a direct benefit."
"Sometimes gods don't need a reason other than spite and I'm sure that fossil hates most surface life anyways," Nico observed.
Percy conceded that point. He didn't like it, but it would fit with some of what Nyx had told him about her nephew.
"I'm guessing this is the talk everywhere?" Percy asked with a nod at the screen.
"Pretty much. Stuff about you too, for that matter," Nico answered getting a look from Percy. "… People know there's more to the world than they thought and suddenly one of the world leaders mysteriously dies without any evidence to point to who did it. Yeah, remember the days of you being Zeus' scapegoat?"
Percy groaned, already knowing this would be a headache down the road. Now if he made a personal trip to greet any world leaders, he was going to start from the back foot the moment they connected the dots with the footage of him from the moon. Andy was going to have to work double time to soothe any feathers and worries floating around the higher ups of the Canadian government and certain parts of the British now for that matter.
In fact, now that Nico pointed that out, Percy noticed the dull buzz near the edge of his mind felt more insistent and agitated, for lack of better words. It only took a glance to see what kind of prayers he was being flooded with at the moment. Mostly the kind begging for forgiveness of some imagined slight or just praying that he didn't give any surprise visits in the middle of the night.
"And the VP?" Percy asked, leaving the mental backlog of prayers for later.
He'd probably divide things up with his Shadows and sort it out in one session later today while helping Raven with her training.
"Barely treading water but I can't really blame her," Nico replied, waving his hand to change the channel.
This one was being broadcast from the House chambers with Vice—or now acting—President Maya Demetri was trying to rally a chaotic room. To her credit, she didn't look as frazzled as most of those around her, but there were plenty of tells so show she'd been deeply shaken by the news. Most politicians, as could be expected, were flipping their lid at the slightest upset without them having a clear plan or at least someone obvious to follow. And sadly, Demetri probably wasn't what most of them had in mind.
She was a relatively young one, barely into her forties and still somewhat fresh-faced to the political scene. Her choice as VP had some looking at Garfield oddly but he'd be adamant that she had the stuff to do it. Now knowing of Garfield's origins, Percy could assume those instincts of a Roman demigod to spot and recruit potential showed its hand.
And for the most part she'd been doing good. Not perfect but definitely learning and as far as the populace could tell, had her heart in the right place. Percy could easily see her learning and growing during the stint as VP, gain some credence for herself, get her name out there more, and then making her own presidential run in as little as a decade. Whatever plans there may have been, that was firmly out the window and Demetri was stuck in the driver seat for one of the world's biggest runaway trucks.
"Think we should reach out to them?" Nico asked, getting Percy out of his thoughts.
Percy looked back at the screen, eyes narrowed as he got pensive.
They'd been on the fence about reaching out to the Americans. For all the good open relations with them could do, the size and bloat of their government left too many openings for screw ups. Political parties with constantly shifting lines and agendas, all manner of interest groups and lobbyists that had to stick their fingers in all the pies. And naturally, the ever-volatile populace.
"… Maybe," Percy muttered. "But priority should be getting a handle on the mortals that already know about us first. Their backing could go a long way to easing any tensions."
"We'll need it at this point," Nico agreed.
The pair tapered off into silence, their eyes on the screens. However, Percy then caught the sound of approaching steps. He turned to see that Hestia, dressed in one of his spare shirts as was her habit, had come out of the room to check on him. If he'd been broadcasting his thoughts across the bond, the other two would have come too, but he'd kept a lid on it for the moment. And he was glad he did. He didn't want to go and disturb their morning when Nico had pulled him away. As it was Rhea and Andy were doubtlessly still in bed and likely entertained with each other at the moment.
Hestia on the other hand, tended to be somewhat of a worry wort at times.
The fact that he'd been a while and was purposely limiting the bond definitely caught her notice, so he wasn't surprised at her coming out to check on him. And, going by the look she had, he was probably showing some irritation. Without a word she simply walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his waist, her face snuggling into his chest. He gladly returned the embrace, nuzzling into her hair as he let her presence calm him as she knew it would.
They were half turned towards the screen, so it only took her a glance to see what all the fuss was about.
"That can't be good," she murmured against him, getting a snort from him.
"That's one way of putting it."
Percy shared one glance with the otherwise silent Nico. His fellow primordial got the message, excusing himself with a nod and headed on towards the exit of the villa. Percy was pretty sure Nico was on his way back to the mountain in search of Styx. With Will probably busy as always in the early hours, Nico and Styx were a common sight together and given how annoyed he probably was at not knowing more about the situation, he'd seek her out for his own comfort.
"Let's head back to the others," Percy murmured, getting a nod from Hestia.
There was plenty to do and they'd already had their day to themselves, but Percy could at least enjoy some of the morning before they got back to all of it…