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Percy hates what ifs.
Over the past couple of years years he had learned to move on from what had happened on the Andromeda. Made peace that he couldn’t have changed with what had happened.
However there seemed to be one what if he had never been able to fully shake. Because there was one question he just didn’t seem to have a full answer to even after all these years.
“Drachma for your thoughts?” Triton’s voice cuts through his thoughts.
“Just something that’s been bothering me about the rules about what I could have been told about the Great Prophecy.” Percy admitted.
Triton tilted his head, curiosity evident in his expression. “Even now?”
Percy couldn’t help a bit of a sardonic laugh at that. “Yeah you would think I would have moved on by now right?” He trailed off for a second. “But no. I tried to dismiss it but I just kept coming back to it eventually.”
“Must be quite the problem.”
Percy let out an annoyed sigh. “It’s not even my problem really if I’m being honest. I just keep wondering if I had a bit more information if we would have handled things a bit differently and we could have saved one of my friends from dying on the ship.”
Of course there was the matter of Silena spying for Luke that would have complicated matters. But at the same time…
“I thought the issue with the ship mission going wrong was due to a spy?” Triton asked, frowning.
“It was.” Percy agreed. “Luke promised one of the campers as long as she cooperated her boyfriend would remain safe. Unfortunately it didn’t work out that way.”
“But there was another potential outside factor besides the spy?”
“Yeah. Or at least I think there was.”
“And you're hesitating, why exactly?”
Well considering he would be accusing Chiron of messing up a mission the level of the Andromeda by withholding information. He knew this was an accusation that couldn’t be exactly taken lightly to say the least.
“Because it's not exactly kind of a minor accusation.”
“Perseus you have thrown hands with literal gods in the past. Why would you hesitate over this?” Triton asked, raising an eyebrow.
Yeah well Gods weren’t supposed to be the ones that were supposed to be training them. This was different.
This was Chiron.
“It’s different.”
Triton waited for a moment for him to elaborate. But when he didn’t he sighed. “Fine. I think at this point we are best just to go talk to father because I do not understand your talking in circles. To be able to help you on this matter.”
Yeah that was probably a fair judgment call to make at this point Percy agreed.
It was interesting how things had changed in the last couple of years. Since up until recently Percy wouldn’t have guessed he would ever be having this kind of conversation. But after Gaea things had changed. And he had started to get close to his Dads side of the family.
However close to them or not. This conversation was probably going to be a bit awkward. Between Zeus’ laws and the first two wars he had only really gotten to know his immortal family after the conclusion of the second war. So it wasn’t like they had any way of knowing how he had gotten to know the prophecy he had.
Extremely haphazardly to say the least.
So this was really the first time he had ever talked about it. Since if it hadn’t been for the fact it had been bothering him so much. He probably never would have talked about it if he was being honest.
“How did you even find out about the prophecy the way you did anyway? It does not seem like Chiron would have been the one to inform you in such a haphazard way normally.” His Dad said with a frown.
Right he had forgotten his Dad hadn’t even known he hadn’t technically known parts of the prophecy. Since with the limited contact they had had. It wasn’t like he had time to tell him that Annabeth had told part of it to him during their second summer.
And also yeah Chiron wouldn’t have. The problem was Chiron wasn’t the one who had told him about the prophecy to begin with.
“That’s because it wasn’t Chiron. Annabeth mentioned parts of the prophecy to me when I was 13 during the quest to the Sea of Monsters. Said she had been told part of it.” Which ended up being not true but that was a whole other issue. “Through being allowed to read it when she was younger.”
“Your girlfriend knew part of the prophecy?” Triton said, making a face.
“Yeah she was allowed to read the prophecy when she was 10 for some reason. I don’t know the exact details of how she went about it but I think Chiron shared it with her?”
Though to be honest he wasn't 100 percent sure about that. He was sort of basing that on how much he knew Chiron tended to favor his girlfriend at times. And that he knew Chiron had made that promise of their being a kid she would eventually go on a quest on.
And it just seemed like a natural conclusion to draw.
But the only people that would know for sure would be Chiron and Annabeth. And he had a feeling if he actually asked them they wouldn’t say.
“That was a foolish choice that he told her in the first place.” Amphitrite said with a shake of her head.
Percy didn’t try to argue that not now anyway.
As much as he loved his girlfriend. He had come to realize it had been a bad decision to let her see it back then. So many things could have gone wrong with that. She could have easily told Luke in the two years before he left camp.
Or even Luke could have tortured it out of her during the winter he had held her captive.
He loved Chiron. But he had endangered Annabeth so badly with that choice. And over what? He said he had thought Annabeth was involved in the prophecy. But there had been no way he could have known it at the time.
“Anyways I mentioned this to Chiron later the wording she had told me. Which was only partially correct as it turned out. Which wouldn’t be a problem except for well-”
“It impacted some of your decision making since he never bothered to correct your incorrect choice of wording?” His father asked, frowning.
“Nope. I only found out about it when I finally got to read the prophecy.” He admitted. “Which wouldn’t have been a problem except for the fact that well-”
He got that Chiron was restricted in what he could tell him. But he also knew that Chiron at that point knew he had certain points of knowledge about the prophecy.
Couldn’t it have hurt to at least make sure that he was correct on certain things?
“You tried to confront father on the ship.”
“Well less I tried to confront him. And more when he found me on the ship. I thought I should try to take advantage of a situation to fight him. Because I didn’t know about the whole ‘reach 16 against all odds’ part of the prophecy.”
Which meant there was no way he would have been beating Kronos at the time. Or at least he was pretty sure there was no way the Fates would have allowed it.
“Ah.”
“I didn’t want to have to make us fight a war any more than we didn’t have to.” Percy said quietly. That had been the whole point of the Andromeda mission. Go in, blow up the Titan Army and take out Kronos.
They had never known they couldn’t take out Kronos. Since one he has had the Styx blessing. And two, the decision to end the war had to wait until he was 16.
And sure they had already been fighting in the war for over a year up to that point. But the point had been to keep it from further escalating. To keep Kronos from getting Manhattan. To try and keep him from mortals.
Something he thought was possible partly because of the misinformation on the 16 thing.
“The invasion had already begun by that point with Typhon’s escape.” Triton pointed out.
“Yeah I actually didn’t know about that either. Chiron decided that he ‘wanted me to have a few more days of normalcy’. And I’m guessing he told Mom something similar. Since she didn’t tell me about it. So I didn’t find out about Typhon until after I returned to camp which was after the Andromeda attack. Which from what I could tell was a few days late.”
Like he had known the invasion was happening. Or was coming or whatever you wanted to call it at that point.
But he had wanted to limit the casualties as much as he could at that point. There were only forty campers. And they were about to be up against an army that numbered in the hundreds.
Anything they could do to beat the enemy…would be considered a victory in his mind at that point. And if that meant taking down Kronos then so be it.
(Of course at that point it would have been impossible because of the blessing of the Styx. Along with the Great Prophecy. But he hadn’t known about either at that point.)
Amphitrite frowned. “That’s not the first time you’ve mentioned him withholding information from you besides the Great Prophecy.”
Percy winced. “Yeah he did that sometimes.”
Most of the time it was when he said he couldn’t say something because the Gods said so. But then there were times that just didn't fully add up. When Percy knew other campers knew stuff that he didn’t.
It could be Chiron playing favorites. Or even Chiron supposedly protecting him again. Or any amount of reasons Chiron had given him over the years. He honestly didn’t know.
He just knew it had happened a lot.
“Why would he do that?”
Percy shrugged. “I don’t know. He said he was trying to not overwhelm me because I had enough on my plate. Which was probably true. But at the same time…”
“Finding out information later in the game can be just as dangerous and even more overwhelming.”
Yeah that.
Plus there were times it felt like he was being undermined. Where he was put on missions with other campers where they knew things and he didn’t. So he had to be filled in by them.
In the best case scenario the other camper he had been paired with was mildly annoyed by his lack of information. And just gave him what they had. In the worst case scenario he had been accused of being lazy or not doing his half of the work more than once.
It had led to some precarious missions to say the least.
He had learned to start looking for information on his own eventually. But he didn’t always have access to it for one reason or another. Sometimes he was pulled onto a mission after being in the mortal world. And if Chiron hadn’t been keeping him updated…
Then well he was left scrambling.
And people he should have been able to rely on information, like Annabeth, at times liked to play games and withhold information from him when they got annoyed at him.
So he couldn’t even entirely rely on back up sources other than Chiron to get more information.
Thankfully as the year of the war had worn on. Most of the campers had gotten used to filling in the gaps that Chiron had caused at times. But they really shouldn’t have had to do that.
Chiron had been the leader of the camp for most of the war. Right up until the Battle of Manhattan when he had suddenly handed the title over to him without much warning.
Which Percy hadn’t minded at the time. But he also really hadn’t time to process the position he had been put in if he was being honest. Or what Chiron’s decisions or lack thereof had influenced his position as leader.
In hindsight Chiron’s meddling probably hadn’t made things easier.
And that still wasn’t even starting on the issue that was the fact that he had never clarified he needed to be 16 to fulfill the prophecy.
“Do you know how much wiggle room Chiron would have had to tell me this kind of thing?”
He also knew his Dad could have said something. But he also knew his Dad’s situation had been…well his Dad had been embroiled in a full out war. So while he wished he had maybe said something sooner.
He at least was more understanding of why his Dad wouldn’t have thought to say something. Since at least he wouldn’t have realized he didn’t know the words of the Great Prophecy until they were talking after Andromeda.
Unlike with Chiron. Who definitely knew for sure when and where how much he knew the words.
“I am not fully sure. I knew it was mostly my brother’s rule admittedly about when to tell you. However at that point with it being so close to your 16th. It would have seemed mostly logical to realize clarifying would be reasonable. Even if word choice might have to be…creative.”
“So he could have said something?”
“If he felt your life was in danger, yes he should have.”
Well that was nice to know. But part of him was trying not to have doubt in the centaur at the moment. But after this conversation old doubts had started to creep back into his mind.
He just had to wonder.
But at the moment. The only person that still could answer his question really was Chiron.
Talking to his family had only answered half the question. It had told him that Chiron could have answered the question if he had gotten creative. Which part of him had known.
But not if Chiron would have actually done it.
“Perseus?”
“This isn’t getting me anywhere. I need to talk to Chiron.” Which he had always known was going to be the end result in the back of his mind. Talking to his family probably had only been delaying that conversation.
So why had he started this conversation at all. Maybe because he had been hoping that some miracle answer lay here? Maybe because some part of him felt like he was opening up Pandora’s Pithos in a way that he was going to regret?
Though even he couldn’t fully understand why?
There really shouldn’t be any earth shattering information here. Right?
Percy decides to bring Rhode along to the conversation. Out of his entire immortal family it felt like Rhode or Benti were the least likely to have a volatile reaction to whatever Chiron might say to his questions.
And it really could have been a toss up between the two of them if he was being honest. Since either would be welcome at camp for different reasons at this point. But he decides to bring Rhode.
(He guesses he doesn’t really need someone else along for the conversation. He can handle talking to Chiron alone just fine. It’s not like the centaur can exactly do anything to him.
But he would like emotional support on some level. And he knows he can rely on Rhode to provide it.)
Percy makes sure to pull Annabeth aside before he goes to talk to Chiron. Since he doesn’t want Annabeth to be completely caught off guard by this conversation.
He knows with how close she is to Chiron that this conversation is probably not going to go well for her as it is going to go for him depending on what is said..
And like he expects she is automatically on the defensive with even the idea of questioning him on why he never clarified about this. “Do you really need to ask Chiron about this?”
“Yes. Look, I don't like this either. But I can’t stop thinking about this. If I don’t put this to rest it won’t stop bothering me. It hasn’t stopped bothering me for the last two years, Wise Girl.”
He’s not surprised by Annabeth’s defensiveness. Even if he isn’t asking her the question. It’s still her father figure he’s going to be questioning. And well he guessed he wasn’t the only one that had wondered this.
It’s just neither of them wanted to point out the elephant in the room apparently.
Honestly Annabeth’s not the only one he’s a bit worried about the questioning. Chiron’s a camp staple. And he’s about to ask a question that is going to be really uncomfortable no matter what answer he gets. It’s partly why he decided to drag Rhode along with him as back up.
“Couldn’t the Gods have prevented him from doing this though?”
Rhode decides to interject herself into the conversation at this moment. “Technically with some creative word choice. Chiron could have gotten around God King’ law about not saying anything about the prophecy to warn my brother about the lock in at 16. He would not have been able to repeat the specific words of course. But clever word choice would have been enough.”
“Oh.” Annabeth said. “Maybe it just didn’t occur to him?”
“Maybe.” He agrees. And that’s honestly what he is hoping is what happened. That is just a simple occurrence of it never occurred to Chiron to just be creative in his wording.
That there was a simple way to warn him that he couldn’t fight certain people until he was 16. That he was maybe a bit too set in his ways to get a bit creative.
“I’m honestly hoping it’s just the case. But honestly the only one who knows the answer to that is Chiron.”
Annabeth crossed her arms as she followed behind him. “I just don’t get it, Seaweed Brain. It’s been almost two years since it happened. What’s the point of asking about it now?”
Percy shook his head. “Like I said I need it for my peace of mind, Wise Girl.”
He needed to know what Chiron’s reasons were. If it simply had just never occurred to him or if he couldn’t just talk around the rule or what.
On the mission that had nearly cost them the Great Prophecy…why hadn’t Chiron thought it was important for him to know an important fact beforehand. Had he simply forgotten that he didn’t know that he needed to be 16.
Had he thought that he would avoid Kronos?
Cause that seemed really risky considering whose ship he was about to be stepping onto in his opinion. But he was giving the centaur the benefit of the doubt.
There had to be a reason here.
And he needed to know what it was.
Even if he might not end up liking it.
The conversation with Chiron was going about as well as he was expecting to be honest.
Chiron’s habit of hiding information was so ingrained. And so well known that he was expecting it to be a fight to get a proper explanation and for him to understand why it was a problem.
That didn’t make it any less frustrating for Percy however.
“My boy would have known that difference in wording made that much of a difference ultimately?”
Something in Percy snapped at the comment. And he ended up saying something he had probably never planned on saying under normal circumstances.
“Yes it would have because I ended up fighting Luke. Partly because I didn’t realize I had to be 16 to beat Kronos. I ended up taking a blow from the scythe. And I nearly had my soul reaped right then and there. If I had known I couldn’t beat him there. I would have avoided certain areas of the ship entirely Chiron.”
He had had his fair share of near death experiences over the years. But nothing had ever quite compared to nearly getting his soul reaped by Kronos, before or after.
Though he hadn’t actually intended to tell Chiron that. He had just grown so frustrated with the centaur. With the fact that he didn’t seem to understand how much danger he had been inadvertently put in by not knowing the fact he had to be 16.
That he had let the detail of the near reaping slip out. Before he even realized what he was saying if he was being honest.
He only realized his mistake only after Rhode tensed up next to him and he saw Annabeth go stiff as a board next to him. He hadn’t actually meant to say that last part out loud.
He had never told anyone about what had happened on the Andromeda. The only people who knew about that before today were long dead. He had made a point of keeping it a secret.
Camp had been reeling from the loss of Beckendorf. His Dad had been in bad shape from dealing with Oceanus. The last thing they had needed to know was he had nearly screwed things up as the Prophecy Child by confronting Kronos in one to one combat on the Andromeda.
He had planned on taking this secret to his grave. No one was supposed to know he had nearly died twice thanks to the Andromeda.
No one was supposed to know about that fight against Luke.
Chiron gave him a critical look. “You never mentioned any of this after you returned from Atlantis.”
Percy couldn’t help the sardonic laugh. “Yeah because I felt like we were dealing with enough things at the moment. Beckendorf was dead, we had just found out we had a spy. I didn’t think adding to it was such a good idea.”
Especially after they found out about the Great Prophecy.
Especially when Annabeth had reacted that way to some of his simple questions again about seeing Rachel again.
He hadn’t felt like he could talk to anyone about the full nature of what had happened on the Andromeda. The one friend who he had felt like he could turn to. Had just made it very clear they were angry with him.
And Chiron was great…but he wasn’t the best at emotions at times.
“We had already lost so many people fighting against the Titan’s Army. I was just trying to save more people if we could. Since no one told me that he couldn’t be defeated until I was 16 the fight didn’t seem like a stupid idea at the time.”
He had just wanted to save more lives. Was that such a bad thing?
Rhode gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. He mouthed a quiet thank you to her. Before turning his attention back to Chiron.
Sure another child had existed that was in line to become the child of prophecy. Sure Nico would eventually have turned 16 in 4 years. But what would have remained of the world in 4 years time.
Would their have been anything but a technicality at that point to make the Prophecy come into realization at that point?
Maybe he shouldn’t have asked this question at all in hindsight. Because he was now realizing just how much more stress not knowing the full words of the prophecy before going on the prophecy had nearly caused the end of the world.
(It’s not that he didn’t think Nico couldn’t handle the job if it came down to it. He probably could. Even if Percy never wanted it for him.
But he doesn’t know if the world would survive four years of Kronos being around like that. And that is what scares him on another level.)
“He most likely wouldn’t have killed you before your 16th birthday since he knew that he cannot change fate's design.”
“That doesn’t mean he wouldn’t have made my brother’s life miserable for the preceding remaining few days.” Rhode decided to interject into the conversation at that moment. “The Titan King is not a merciful individual. And he would not have made my brother’s remaining days comfortable.”
No death would have been something he would probably have wished for. Percy had to agree with his sister on that front. Which just made him wonder again why Chiron hadn’t thought to give him the warning.
“I get that you thought you were trying to protect me. I understand that. But all it seemed to do was put me in more danger from my point of view.”
And that wasn’t even starting on what Chiron’s decision had really cost them.
Because he couldn’t stop circling around Beckendorf. Maybe it was silly to think about the possibility that the older camper might have lived. Since the clarification of the line wasn’t the only determining factor. There was also Silena’s spying to keep in mind but at the same time…
He had to also consider that if he had known the fact that he couldn’t beat Kronos for another week. That he probably would have handled the Andromeda differently.
And that’s what was ultimately haunting him even more so right now.
He’s sure the possibility of being tortured by Kronos will come crashing down later. (Even though really he’d already lived through that in some ways. So he’s not sure how much more crashing that can do at this point.) But all he can think about right now is Bechendorf.
About how he had been caught up in that fight with Kronos when he had found out Bechendorf was trapped. And how maybe if he hadn’t been fighting Kronos/Luke. Maybe they could have both gotten out alive.
(Some part of him knows there is no way to know for sure. There were other factors that were out of their control. But he just can’t stop thinking about the fact that he was trapped in a fight when Bechendorf was captured. And now he’s spiraling at the thought of not taking the fight if he had just known that one crucial detail.)
“You should have made sure I should have known. I get you thought that it was better for me not to know certain things. I don’t really understand why you kept thinking that. Because that really just hurt us more in the long run.”
Chiron started to protest at that. “My boy-”
“This isn’t just about the Andromeda Chiron. I mean sure the Andromeda was one incident. But there were several times you thought it was better to keep information from me. So did Annabeth, I love you Wise Girl but I definitely know where you got that habit from.”
And by the Gods he wished she had never gotten that habit at all. Because at least with Chiron he could think he was doing it from a place of good intention. Even if it was executed poorly a lot of the time.
Annabeth though… he knew she had withheld information more than once just because she was angry at times. Which had led to more than one argument between them. Because he shouldn’t have to play peacemaker just to know something.
Not when it came to crucial information.
He can see Rhode persing her lips out of the corner of his eyes. And part of him is starting to second guess the decision to bring a family member along. Even if he is glad for the moral support.
He knows for a fact some of the comments will be reported back to the rest of the family. And the family is already not fond of his relationship with Annabeth as it is. And anything semi critical will be taken with a critical lens by them.
Well it's too late to change things now.
“I was just trying to do what I thought was best to protect you. You know that. And it worked out”
“Sure sometimes that worked out. ” Percy could see the good intention, he wasn’t going to deny that. “But other times all you did was just make things take more time. Or give Annabeth the lead to make things more difficult.”
Or be outright petty. He shouldn’t have had to learn about Mrs. O’Leary the way he had. Or about Grover’s hearing in the middle of it. Just because Annabeth was jealous of Rachel.
And all of that was learned behavior from Chiron.
Who he was realizing wasn’t understanding that. Or maybe he was, but refusing to take accountability. He wasn’t entirely sure which at this point.
He stood up to let himself out. Which led to Chiron asking. “Where are you going?”
“Out. I can see this conversation isn’t going anywhere at this point.”
He was afraid at this point he might say something he would regret. And he really didn’t want to ruin his relationship with Chiron. Or more importantly the rest of camp. Over what had happened now in the past. Even if he was extremely frustrated with the centaurs choices.
It wasn’t worth it if the centaur refused to see his mistakes at this point.
They barely made it out of the Big House before Annabeth started arguing with him about the whole conversation. Particularly him never mentioning what happened with Luke.
Not that he really expected anything else if he is being honest. He knew the moment that can of worms was opened, it was going to be a hot topic for the whole camp. Let alone between him and Annabeth. Since he had purposely kept it from everyone.
“You never even mentioned this before-”
He internally groans. He’s not surprised that the first thing out of her mouth is about the Andromeda fight. Because of course it's about that stupid fight. Of course that’s the first thing she wants to talk about.
Not about anything else that was revealed during that conversation.
Well at least they’re talking he guesses. He wasn’t even sure if she would follow him after the conversation with Chiron if he was being honest.
“Yeah because I knew how well that was going to go.” Percy cut her off. “Look everyone was already reeling from losing Bechendorf. We had just found out I was about to die. I didn’t want to add fuel to the fire by going ‘Oh yeah I nearly messed everything up by getting my soul reaped!’”
Especially since he wouldn’t know until later that Chiron could have told him. Chiron just seemed to think withholding it was the better choice.
Which even after talking to him now he didn’t understand. Hopefully Apollo’s questioning would clear that up.
“I would have been supportive of you.” Annabeth tries to argue back.
Percy couldn’t help the small scoff at the statement. Since he has his serious doubts about that. Considering first of all how well this conversation is going right now. And considering how well the conversation after he had returned from camp had gone right after the Andromeda.
He doesn’t know if Annabeth remembers what she had said to him after they had first revealed the prophecy to him, but he had never forgotten those words. And while he had understood that she was just hurting at the time and hadn’t really meant them, the words still had hurt.
“What?” Annabeth asked.
“Do you remember what you said to me after we read the Great Prophecy Wise Girl? Do you remember what you called me? Or how you acted when I really could have used a supportive shoulder back after Beckendorf passed? Because I do.”
The small flinch that comes from Annabeth is all the answer he needs to that question. She definitely remembers how that conversation went. And probably remembers that she had never properly apologized for those words either.
So many things had happened afterwards it had never really bothered him at the time. But now that they were dredging up old wounds. It was starting to bother him.
Why had Annabeth called him a coward?
“I needed support. I needed a shoulder to lean on. But when I was already freaked out about the possibility that I might die you had already called me a coward. So pardon me for not thinking that telling you at the time that I had nearly died was the right moment.”
“You never mentioned it bothered you.”
“ I shouldn’t have too. ”
He got that they struggled with communication at times.
And he got Chiron wasn’t the best example at teaching emotions. But by the Gods it felt like it should be obvious that saying something like that would be painful.
Nico, bless him, had somehow managed to get a better read on the situation and make him feel better by just passing on Bechendorf’s message then any of Annabeth’s handling in the whole two hours after he had returned back from camp.
And Nico was four years their junior. Sure he had been forced to grow up fast. But so had all of them.
If anything it drove home the point that Annabeth should have understood that what she had said was just all the more wrong. And yet she had still said it. And had never ever properly apologized for her comment afterward.
Heck she still wasn’t apologizing for the comment now.
“I wasn’t the one talking about running away on a vacation with a mortal.”
Percy barely contained a tired groan at the Rachel situation being brought up again. He still wanted to know how she had known about that. Considering he had never really talked about that with anyone other than his Mom, Paul, and Rachel. Maybe his Mom had mentioned it to her?
He guessed it didn’t really matter. He should have been able to have a friendship with Rachel before they knew she was the next Oracle. Annabeth’s weird territorialism aside, he was allowed to have relationships outside of camp.
That was something they had worked on getting her to accept. And still had a hard time getting her to accept. But it was improving just slowly.
“First of all I wasn’t actually considering that vacation. That was just a little fantasy I was considering to destress with everything going on. Be for real wise girl. With an invasion on the horizon, I wasn’t going to go galavanting off when the world was at stake.”
He may have been young and occasionally foolish. But he wasn’t that young and foolish. He would never have made that decision to raze Olympus.
“Did you actually think that would have been the decision I would have made, to raze Olympus? Seriously? Did you know me so little that you thought I would have put the world at stake for a vacation?”
That seemed to catch Annabeth off guard. Since she hadn’t seemed to consider the full implications of her words before. “I-”
But he wasn’t done. “Second of all, considering the amount of times you went home to try and work things out with your Dad. You should know of all people what it's like to try and think of maybe what seems impossible.”
Maybe that was a bit of a low blow. But he knew it would drive the point home. That they had been thinking of something that would never actually happen. But they had wanted to at least entertain.
And going by the step back Annabeth took at the comment. He knew he had finally got his point across. That it had never been about actually going on the vacation.
It had always been about entertaining the idea of the impossible. Never about actually doing it.
And this…this wasn’t even the first time he had kept something from her he realized. The Andromeda incident was one of several incidents where he had nearly died that he had just never talked to her about.
Because he had never really felt like for one reason or another it had been the right time. Or that she would fully understand. Or that they had bigger larger issues to fry.
Which probably wasn’t the best thing part of his brain realized. But he also didn’t really want to bother her with the problems. They really did have enough on their plates. Without her realizing everything he actually went through he rationalized.
“You could have just avoided Luke.”
“Never mind that he found me? And that once I was in that position it seemed like the best idea to take care of an enemy before he became too dangerous, Wise Girl? Especially knowing I was supposed to apparently save Olympus around my 16th birthday ? ”
It was all fine and dandy to say he should avoid Luke. If he had known he should avoid him in the first place. But he hadn’t even known that he should be doing that. And that had taken away a layer of precaution that he most likely would have had in the mission to begin with if he was being honest.
And it wasn’t like there was anything in the prophecy that said it had to be done on Olympus after all. So with what he had known it had seemed like a good idea.
Unfortunately he just hadn’t had all the information at the time.
“I was trying to do the right thing. I am not going to sit here and be made to feel guilty over doing that. Just because I didn’t have all of the information because Chiron didn’t stop to make sure I knew I had to be 16 before I went up against Kronos.”
“One of the gods could have clarified.”
Okay at this point she was just trying to protect Chiron. Because he knew she had to know how hollow that had to sound.
“And who was I going to ask? Dad was in the middle of a war and I hadn’t seen him in over a year. Mr. D. was off doing stuff for Olympus. No one had heard from the rest of the Olympians for God knows how long. Or did you forget about the whole reason I turned down Godhood in the first place?”
Going by the surprised noise Rhode made at the comment. Part of him realizes his Dad may have never told the family about that little thing. Well that was going to be a fun conversation to have after this.
“Look I get Chiron wasn’t the only one that could have clarified it at some point. But he was the only one that definitively knew about the mission on the Andromeda. And the only one that I knew for sure who knew the full wording of the prophecy. Because you told me that you didn’t read the full prophecy when we were younger.”
He honestly didn’t care that Annabeth had lied about that now. Since really it should have been up to Chiron to tell him that he needed to be 16. But the point was he didn’t know he could have asked her at the time.
Chiron was the only one around he could have asked.
“Oh you're just so annoying.”
Which pretty much meant he had won the argument. And that he was right in the fact that Chiron should have said something to him before he went on the Andromeda. But she didn’t want to admit it. Because she almost always would defer to Chiron as her father figure over him.
Even after everything else that was said today.
“That was…unpleasant.” Rhode says over his shoulder. As he watches Annabeth storm off in the direction of the cabins. Apparently finally having decided she was done with their argument.
Which was fine by him. He was tired of their argument and he had a feeling if it had kept going if anything that had been said probably would have been regretted in the morning.
He had a feeling she wanted to say something much more harsh. But was holding back her tongue for his sake. And for the moment he was grateful. He couldn’t deal with his sister’s actual unfiltered faults on Annabeth and his faults at the moment.
“I’m used to it.” He just said with a shrug.
Now that he was done yelling he was just tired. More then likely nothing was going to change between them. He knew that. Annabeth never changed no matter how much they argued.
Annabeth’s temper had always been volatile. It wasn’t the first time she had blown up at him about something she was angry at something she was actually angry at someone else over. It wasn’t fun but he knew not to take it personally by this point.
She would apologize in a day for some of the things she had said. Hopefully. Though there was also a chance she wouldn’t apologize knowing her. And things would probably go back to how they were before. No amount of pushing her seemed to ever change things.
And maybe that was a problem in itself…
He looked up, noticing the way Rhode was scrunching her nose. “What?”
“Perseus how often does this happen that you are used to this?”
Percy just shrugs. Honestly he wasn’t sure at this point. These kinds of arguments between them had been happening long before they had been a couple so it wasn’t something he had been tracking. “Don’t know. Why?”
“I just find it…concerning. Especially after what was said today.”
Part of him knows she has a point. And part of him is starting to realize it. But at the same point he really doesn’t want to have this argument right now. “Rhode-”
“You know what, one thing at a time for the moment. We’ll deal with this later.” Rhode apparently decides. “Was she serious in thinking you should have avoided the other boy?”
He just shrugged at the question. “Don’t know maybe? Honestly, it seemed like she was just trying to look for ways to defend Chiron more than she was trying to find genuine excuses. Annabeth always hasn’t the easiest time realizing when Chiron might be in the wrong about something.”
The you’re a coward incident was a perfect example of that. He had realized in the months after that it was her anger being displaced because she had wanted him actually back at camp because of that.
When he hadn’t been back at camp because of Chiron withholding information again. Something Chiron had openly admitted in front of both of them the day he had returned from Atlantis.
But because Annabeth had always struggled with the idea that Chiron could be in the wrong over something. She had turned her anger onto him. And had instead decided to call him a coward when he had just been trying to ask some questions. And was still trying to process the enormity that was the Great Prophecy.
Rhode pursed her lips at that. “That is not healthy.”
“I know that.” And he had tried to talk to her about that before. But it had always ended up going in circles. And if she refused to acknowledge it was a problem. Then what could he do about it?
“Percy-” Rhode began.
Which caused him to internally groan. He could see the start of a lecture about the relationship he and Annabeth had coming from a mile away. But he guessed this was what happened when he decided to bring along one of his immortal family members to camp.
There was always a risk of them seeing the more messy side of his relationship with Annabeth. That he tried to keep on the downlow. Because he knew they didn’t like what little he did talk about.
And they probably wouldn’t approve of it if they knew how it tended to get at times.
His feelings must have been obvious on his face because she sighs. “She just concerns us, you know that.”
“I know.” He knew they were coming from a good place. He got that. He just didn’t want to deal with whatever thoughts they were having today.
Not with everything else that had come today. Today had already been enough.
“And her behavior during your argument didn’t exactly earn her ‘brownie points’ as you like to say.”
“I know.”
He realized it didn’t look good. It hadn’t felt good either. It had dragged out things they hadn’t talked about in years. And not just the Andromeda situation. Made him realize that there were some things they had never really talked about.
Some things that he wondered if they were ever going to really talk about. At least with the way she got.
Like he wanted to believe she was capable of talking about it really. But also after so long…
He might need to be doing some serious evaluation of what today had brought. But he needed to do it alone and away from her and his family. That much was for certain.
Rhode, thankfully, decided not to push the topic any further instead deciding to ask. “Are you going to stay around camp or are you coming back to Atlantis?”
He hesitated at the question. He didn’t want to deal with Annabeth or even Chiron but... “Staying.”
“You don’t have to if you don’t want to. Today has been a lot.” Rhode pointed out.
Yeah it definitely had he internally agreed but at the same time… “I just think if I don’t stay around I’m not sure what Ananbeth might say about what is going on with Chiron to the other campers.” It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Annabeth not to tell the truth. But well she was probably struggling with the situation more than any of them were going to for obvious reasons.
“This is about damage control then?” Rhode asked.
“Pretty much.” He doesn’t like doing damage control. He would rather let other people do the talking under normal circumstances. But under these circumstances. Considering who was involved.
He didn’t have much of a choice. He needed to stick around.
“You really shouldn’t have to worry about doing damage control around people that should be your friends.” Rhode pointed out with a frown.
Yeah he wasn’t going to disagree with that sentiment. Partly when he was already tired from his own conversations already with Chiron and Annabeth. So he knew trying to argue that he was okay with doing damage control. Probably was going to sound flat to Rhode.
At least right now.
Maybe when he had more time to process the full implications of Chiron withholding information again. He could put on a brave face and lie that he was actually okay with everything.
But he just couldn’t right now.
“I’ll update father on what has happened.” Percy winced at the reminder that their Dad needed to know about this. He was definitely going to blow a gasket about this he was pretty sure. “He is going to want to know about this Perseus. And he is going to ask questions if I don’t tell him anything.”
“I know. Doesn’t mean I have to like this can of worms being opened even further.”
Especially since he knew it was going to lead to even more questions about what the heck the conversation with Annabeth was about. And he wasn’t entirely sure that it would survive them finding out about the comment.
Not with their relationship already being such a contentious topic within the family as it was.
He’s surprised at first that Clarisse is the one that seeks him out first of the other campers. But then again considering her friendship with Silena. And how much she had been impacted by all of this. It does make sense that once word starts spreading.
That she would be the first one to start asking questions about Chiron’s choice in withholding information he realizes as she joins him on the beach.
“If you had known, do you think Bechendorf and Silena would still be alive?” Clarisse asked.
“I don’t know.” He honestly confessed after a moment of thought. “I think…there’s at least a chance?”
Which was maybe the worst part of it. It wasn’t even the fact that he had nearly died thanks to Chiron’s actions or lack there of. It was that he might have been able to save Bechendorf if he had never confronted Luke.
He probably would have taken an entirely different path through the ship. Probably would have stayed far away from the levels where Luke would have been normally. No reason to tempt fate. Maybe he would have stuck close to Bechendorf to make sure he planted the bombs safely.
They realistically probably still would have gotten hurt because of Silena’s spying. But with his abilities if they had stuck together since he knew he couldn’t take on Luke he could have gotten them off the ship alive that time.
But he hadn’t because Chiron had never told him to avoid Kronos until he was 16.
“I know I at least would have done things on the ship differently if I had known I couldn’t beat Kronos at the time. And while that might not have guaranteed Beckendorf’s survival if I stuck close to him and thus Silena’s…”
“That would have probably at least increased it.” Clarisse finished for him.
“That.”
“Of course Annabeth thinks I should have been able to avoid confronting him.” Never mind Luke found him and not the other way around.
“Never mind most people would have done what you did in your shoes?” Clarisse commented. Seeing the look she got. “Your guy's conversation wasn’t exactly the most private and you know camp’s gossip train.”
“Noted. And yeah despite that obvious fact most people would have tried to stop a war. And that was part of the mission on the Andromeda. She can’t seem to see reason on this. I’m not sure if it's because of Chiron or what.”
He really hopes it's just Chiron and not something else at this point. Cause if it's anything else he’s pretty sure they’re relationship is over.
Though it might actually be anyway something about this argument had felt different than the last ones had felt. And harder to come back from.
This hadn’t just drugged up the issues with Chiron after all. This had drugged up other things they had ignored arguably. Being reminded of the ‘you’re a coward’ argument had hurt and he wasn’t sure entirely if he wanted to come back from that a second time.
“So what are you going to do now?”
“Honestly I haven’t figured it out. I hadn’t really thought about it beyond talking to Chiron. I hadn’t really thought about the consequences of what that might be.”
Partly maybe because he hadn’t thought there would be consequences to them. Even if Chiron had done something to mess up the Andromeda mission. At most he thought he would get a long lecture.
He had found his closure with the Chiron mystery.
But that had only opened up so many doors in the process. Some that he had never really anticipated opening ever again. And now he’s not sure what he is going to do with them reopened.
“Guess I’ll just wing it as I go.”
And hope that was enough.